Pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism (PDH) is a frequently encountered endocrinopathy in dogs. Transsphenoidal hypophysectomy is an effective treatment of PDH in dogs. However, for pituitary surgery to be successful information about the size of the pituitary gland and the exact location of the pituitary gland in relation to the surgical (bony) landmarks is essential. Because CT dimensions of the pituitary gland have been used frequently, but no information was available on the reproducibility and the accuracy of these values, this has been determined in healthy dogs. CT measurements of the pituitary gland had a low intra- and interobserver variability. The CT dimensions were, however, systematically underestimated when compared with true dimensions in a phantom study. For accurate measurements different window settings have to be used to identify the different tissue interfaces between pituitary gland, brain and bone. Microadenomas, that do not affect the size and shape of the pituitary gland, may not be detected because of isoattenuation of the adenoma and the surrounding unaffected pituitary tissue. Dynamic contrast-enhanced CT, which includes a series of scans of identical slice thickness, at the same slice position through the center of the pituitary gland, during and after IV injection of a bolus of contrast medium, has been described in healthy dogs and dogs with PDH, which subsequently underwent transsphenoidal hypophysectomy. In healthy dogs, dynamic CT of the pituitary gland reveals the difference in enhancement between the neurohypophysis, seen as the pituitary flush, and the adenohypophysis. In dogs with PDH, it has been found that displacement, distortion and disappearance of this pituitary flush is diagnostic for an abnormal pituitary gland. Displacement and distortion of the pituitary flush reveals the location, size and shape of the pituitary adenoma. For more accurate pre-surgical localisation of the adenoma, a dynamic CT examination of the entire pituitary gland, rather than a single thin slice, should be performed. Therefore, dynamic CT examination of the entire pituitary gland has been described in healthy dogs, using helical CT. It has been found that dynamic helical CT can be used for visualisation of the enhancement pattern of the entire pituitary gland and also gives information about the surrounding vasculature of the pituitary gland. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the imaging modality of choice for the evaluation of the pituitary gland in humans. A protocol for pituitary gland imaging with an 0.2 T open MRI scanner has been developed. Thin slice MRI imaging of the pituitary gland in dogs using an open 0.2 Tesla MRI scanner is best performed using 3D gradient echo sequences in transverse and/or dorsal imaging planes, both before and after contrast medium injection. Both dynamic helical CT and MRI of the pituitary gland may give valuable information on the pituitary gland in dogs. A comparative study between helical CT and MRI should be performed in dogs with PDH to assess which of the techniques gives the most valuable information, with special reference to the bony surgical landmarks.


The problem considered is inference in a simple errors-in-variables model where consistent estimation is impossible without introducing additional exact prior information. The probabilistic prior information required for Bayesian analysis is found to be surprisingly light: despite the model's lack of identification, a proper posterior is guaranteed for any bounded prior density, including those representing improper priors. This result is illustrated with the improper uniform prior, which implies marginal posterior densities obtainable by integrating the likelihood function; surprisingly, the posterior mode for the regression slope is the usual least squares estimate. Copyright 1989 by The Econometric Society.


The essay examines the way US-Greek relations evolved during the first critical year after the collapse of the seven-year military dictatorship in Greece. It is argued that the new prime minister of Greece, Konstantinos Karamanlis, wished to promote cooperation between Athens and Washington but on condition that this cooperation would be equally beneficial for Greece and the United States. That the Americans did not seem prepared to undertake any serious initiative to promote a solution of the Cyprus question or to relieve Ankara's pressures on Athens in the Aegean Sea made relations more complicated.


Background: The current study is part of a broader study which explored relationships between teacher perceptions of School Administration Trustworthiness and teacher burnout and trust. Gender issues were of apparent importance due to increasing feminisation of the teaching workforce in Australia. Aim: This study sought to explore possible differences in teachers regarding perceptions of school administration trustworthiness, which may well pertain to gender. Sample: Participants were 90 currently serving teachers in Queensland Independent Schools. Method: Survey instruments included measures for perceptions of administration trustworthiness (ability, benevolence and integrity), morale, participative decision making, trust, burnout and job stress. Results: There were significant effects for gender and school, with female primary teachers experiencing more burnout job stress than male primary teachers, and secondary teachers (male and female). Female primary and secondary teachers reported less confidence in school administration trustworthiness when compared to male primary and secondary teachers, although this differentiation was more pronounced in the primary school. Conclusion: It is proposed that further study using empirical measures of work overload, a more useful measure of burnout and a qualitative survey instrument be undertaken to further differentiate dissatisfactions of female primary teachers. Current practices which contribute to emotional exhaustion and inefficacy among female teachers require scrutiny. Possible inequity in primary schools is worthy of more sustained investigation.


A model for a virtual circuit in the form of a tandem of servers that process incoming packets using a FIFO (first-in, first-out) discipline is proposed. The service times are assumed to be known completely. These may differ from packet to packet and from server to server. The model permits a variety of buffer or transit time constraints to be incorporated into the model. Several results that help one to understand the transient behavior of a virtual circuit are presented. On the basis of these results, a number of schemes that may be used to determine the time when the next packet must be sent over the network are presented. Transit delay and throughput are used to evaluate a given schedule. Solutions are given for maximum throughput, minimum transit delay, and maximum throughput under transit delay constraints. It is expected that these results will have a substantial bearing on the study of congestion control policies in computer networks, particularly those based on predicting network behavior. >


Issues of sexual orientation are relevant to multiple levels of the school community, including students, school professionals, and schools as institutions. School counselors, with their developmental training, systems perspective, and commitment to diversity, are uniquely positioned to be leaders in efforts not only to provide support for students engaged in the process of recognizing and accepting their own sexual identities, but also to promote more sophisticated dialogue about issues of sexual orientation in schools. This article presents a three-tiered action plan that will provide school counselors with tools necessary to address the issue of sexual orientation in their schools.


One of the most challenging issues in robotic machining process is to know the vibration/chatter characteristics. To reduce the trial and error frustration, this paper presents the underline mechanism and theoretical analysis to provide physical understanding for the onset of chatter problem and principles to prevent that. First, the cutting force model and robot structure model are established for a systematic analysis of chatter mechanism. Completely different from common woes of regenerative chatter in conventional CNC machine paradigm, another type of chatter, namely, mode-coupling chatter was identified as the dominant source of vibrations in robotic machining, largely due to the inherent low structure stiffness of industrial robot. In-depth analysis for stability criteria and experimental verifications are then presented followed by the guidelines of process configuration and parameter selections to achieve chatter free machining operation.


In this paper we first study $k \times n$ Youden rectangles of small orders.
We have enumerated all Youden rectangles for a range of small parameter values,
excluding the almost square cases where $k = n-1$, in a large scale computer
search. In particular, we verify the previous counts for $(n,k) = (7,3),
(7,4)$, and extend this to the cases $(11,5), (11,6), (13,4)$ and $(21,5)$. For
small parameter values where no Youden rectangles exist, we also enumerate
rectangles where the number of symbols common to two columns is always one of
two possible values, differing by 1, which we call \emph{near Youden
rectangles}. For all the designs we generate, we calculate the order of the
autotopism group and investigate to which degree a certain transformation can
yield other row-column designs, namely double arrays, triple arrays and sesqui
arrays. Finally, we also investigate certain Latin rectangles with three
possible pairwise intersection sizes for the columns and demonstrate that these
can give rise to triple and sesqui arrays which cannot be obtained from Youden
rectangles, using the transformation mentioned above.


Arthritis is a very common condition that affects people of all ages and from all stages of life, including children and arthritis affects mostly between the 30-50 age groups. This is a prospective interventional study aimed in monitoring the influence of non-pharmacological approach in patients with knee arthritis. The study was conducted for a time period of 11 months from March 2017 to January 2018 and approved by the institutional ethical committee to conduct in hospital out-patient setting in a tertiary care hospital. A total of 100 members were included in the study, 13 members were excluded from the study as the patients did not respond properly. Among 87 members 44 patients were set as Test and the remaining 43 members were set as control. Most of the subjects who are suffering knee arthritis are in mild-moderate stage. The counseling about non-pharmacological approach which includes dietary modification, life style modifications and exercises through this counseling, the subjects who are in the moderate to severe category, got shifted to mild-moderate stage. Subjects who are in mild-moderate stage were moved to satisfactory knee score in which they can do their normal activities somewhat better when compared to the previous. So finally, we conclude that counseling about non-pharmacological approach in subjects with knee arthritis, brought about statistically significant improvement among the test group when compared with control group.


Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is characterized by chronic excessive alcohol consumption, often alternating with periods of abstinence known as alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS). Diazepam is the preferred benzodiazepine for treatment of alcohol withdrawal syndrome under most circumstances, but the specific mechanism underlying the treatment needs further research. Methods: We constructed an animal model of two-bottle choices and chronic intermittent ethanol exposure. LC-MS/MS proteomic analysis based on the label-free and intensity-based quantification approach was used to detect the protein profile of the whole brain. Weighted gene correlated network analysis was applied for scale-free network topology analysis. We established a protein–protein interaction network based on the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes (STRING) database and Cytoscape software and identified hub proteins by CytoHubba and MCODE plugins of Cytoscape. The online tool Targetscan identified miRNA–mRNA pair interactions. Results: Seven hub proteins (Dlg3, Dlg4, Shank3, Grin2b, Camk2b, Camk2a and Syngap1) were implicated in alcohol withdrawal syndrome or diazepam treatment. In enrichment analysis, glutamatergic synapses were considered the most important pathway related to alcohol use disorder. Decreased glutamatergic synapses were observed in the late stage of withdrawal, as a protective mechanism that attenuated withdrawal-induced excitotoxicity. Diazepam treatment during withdrawal increased glutamatergic synapses, alleviating withdrawal-induced synapse inhibition. Conclusion: Glutamatergic synapses are considered the most important pathway related to alcohol use disorder that may be a potential molecular target for new interventional strategies. Graphical Abstract


Introduction No clear understanding exists about the course of a patient's blood pressure (BP) during an emergency department (ED) visit. Prior investigations have demonstrated that BP can be reduced by removing patients from treatment areas or by placing patients supine and observing them for several hours. However, modern EDs are chaotic and noisy places where patients and their families wait for long periods in an unfamiliar environment. We sought to determine the stability of repeated BP measurements in the ED environment. Methods A prospective study was performed at an urban ED. Research assistants trained and certified in BP measurement obtained sequential manual BPs and heart rates on a convenience sample of 76 patients, beginning with the patient arrival in the ED. Patients were observed through their stay for up to 2 hours, and BP was measured at 10-minute intervals. Data analysis with SAS PROC MIXED (SAS Institute, Cary, North Carolina) for regression models with correlated data determined the shape of the curve as BP changed over time. Patients were grouped on the basis of their presenting BP as normal (less than 140/90), elevated (140–160/90–100), or severely elevated (greater than 160/100) for the regression analysis. Results A statistically significant downward trend in systolic and diastolic BP was observed only for those patients presenting with severely elevated BPs (ie, greater than 160/100). Conclusion We demonstrate a statistically significant decline in systolic and diastolic BP over time spent in the ED only for patients with severely elevated presenting BPs.


To study the mixing of a passive scalar in nearly isotropic turbulence, experiments have been made in isotropically mixed thermal fields with thermal mesh size Mθ (a) equal to the momentum mesh size M, (b) larger than M (obtained by heating only alternate rods of the turbulence generating grid), and (c) smaller than M. This last condition was achieved by inserting a fine heating screen with Mθ < M, at locations downstream of the turbulence grid. The heating screen was designed to produce negligible statistical change in the velocity field a short distance downstream. In all the heated grid experiments, for a given initial configuration of the thermal field, the intensity of temperature fluctuations θ normalized by the mean temperature rise ΔT, and the decay rate of $\overline{\theta^2} $ were both independent of the temperature of the grid. The principal effect of having Mθ > M was an increase in the relative intensity of temperature fluctuations compared with the Mθ = M case, and a marginal increase in their decay rate; contrary to expectation, the ratio R of temperature to velocity integral scales in the region of approximate homogeneity did not differ from that corresponding to Mθ = M. In heated screen experiments, the relative decay rate was independent of Mθ/M and ΔT. For the three locations of the heating screen used in these experiments, the decay rate was also independent of the relative distance xs of the heating screen from the turbulence generating grid; however, larger xs was associated with larger relative intensity of fluctuations. To a first approximation, the ratio R approached unity according to the empirical relation R = 1 − A exp [− αxθ/(UT0)], where xθ is downstream distance measured from the heating screen, and T0 is a characteristic turbulence decay time scale at x0 = 0. It was also verified that the skewness of the streamwise temperature derivative is approximately zero sufficiently downstream of the heating screen. Where the present study overlaps with previous measurements, an extensive comparison reveals several points of agreement as well as departure.


Multi-label learning has been extensively studied in the area of bioinformatics, information retrieval, multimedia annotation, etc. In multi-label learning, each instance is associated with multiple interdependent class labels, the label information can be noisy and incomplete. In addition, multilabeled data often has noisy, irrelevant and redundant features of high dimensionality. As an effective data preprocessing step, feature selection has shown its effectiveness to prepare high-dimensional data for numerous data mining and machine learning tasks. Most of existing multi-label feature selection algorithms either boil down to solving multiple single-labeled feature selection problems or directly make use of imperfect labels. Therefore, they may not be able to find discriminative features that are shared by multiple labels. In this paper, we propose a novel multi-label informed feature selection framework MIFS, which exploits label correlations to select discriminative features across multiple labels. Specifically, to reduce the negative effects of imperfect label information in finding label correlations, we decompose the multi-label information into a low-dimensional space and then employ the reduced space to steer the feature selection process. Empirical studies on real-world datasets demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed framework.


Aims: Mitochondrial functional transformation contributes to the carcinogenesis of the prostate by meeting the metabolic needs of cancer cells. Mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) is a pivotal regulator that maintains homeostasis of mitochondrial function. However, its role in prostate carcinogenesis has not been well elucidated. Materials and Methods: In the present study, we analyzed the expression of TFAM in normal prostate tissue and prostate cancer using public databases; a prostate-tissue chip was used to verify the results. The expression of TFAM in normal cells and in prostate cancer cells was determined by western blotting analysis. We knocked down TFAM in the prostate cancer cell line PC3 using a specific shRNA to explore the potential effects of TFAM in prostatic carcinogenesis. Results: We observed higher expression levels of TFAM in prostate cancer tissue than in normal prostate tissue and tumor adjacent normal tissues. A receiver operating characteristic curve was drawn that demonstrated the diagnostic efficacy of using TFAM expression for prostate cancer prognoses. Elevated levels of TFAM may indicate poorer overall survival in prostate cancer patients. Western blotting assays also showed that relative to the normal prostatic epithelial cell line RWPE-1, prostate cancer cell lines PC3 and DU145 expressed more TFAM protein. Furthermore, knockdown of TFAM inhibited the colony-formation capability of PC3 cells. Conclusion: Collectively, these results suggest that TFAM promotes carcinogenesis of the prostate, and may constitute a marker to be used in the diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer.


Abstract This paper examines the sale of council housing between the wars and discusses the implications which findings on early council house sales have for an understanding of the owner occupied market at a critical period of its development. The paper first looks at the sales policy in England and Scotland and then focuses on Edinburgh, where, because of the political constitution of the Corporation, sales were actively encouraged. There then follows an analysis of the class structure of tenants and owners on the main 1919 Act estates in the city. The reluctance of sitting tenants to purchase council houses, together with information on their alternative choices, supports the argument that the move into owner occupation at this time was not the result of an innate desire to own but was a rational decision. What was important were the relative costs of renting and buying, and the attractiveness and availability of owner occupied housing compared with housing in other tenures.


With the increasing demands for portable electronic devices and the use of electrical vehicles (EVs) for green transport, the application of high energy density Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has been widely recognised. As an important part of Lithium-ion battery, LiNixCoyMn1-x-yO2 (NCM) cathode material, especially high nickel NCM material, has attracted much attention due to high capacity, low cost, good cycling stability and safety. Today, the preparation process of LiNixCoyMn1-x-yO2 is commercial and mature. The synthesis conditions of high nickel material are harsh and its surface activity is high, plus, its long synthesis time, which restricts its popularization and application. Hence, developing a simple and cost-effective method instead of the traditional preparation way is urgently needed.
In this work, a Lobed Taylor-Couette reactor (LTC) has been applied to synthesize the NiCoMn hydroxide, a precursor of LiNixCoyMn1-x-yO2cathodic material used in batteries. A steady state is attained when the reaction time is about 3~4 times of the mean residence time. The effect of shear rate on the agglomerate shape and sizes of the hydroxides was studied. It was found that the particle size decreases with increasing from low shear rate to high shear rate while the morphology of particles changes from irregular to spherical-like in shapes. The molar ratio of NH3/MSO4 (0.4~1) would be desirable for getting spherical precursors. A relation correlating turbulent energy dissipation rate and the molar ratio of NH3/MSO4 is proposed for estimation of the particle sizes.
Following the study on synthesis of the NiCoMn hydroxide, the electrochemical performances of synthesisedLiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 cathode materials were evaluated. Calcination of (Ni0.6Co0.2Mn0.2)(OH)2 with LiOH at a proper temperature leads to a high tap-density of materials. The effect of various parameters such as stirring speed and molar ratio of NH3/MSO4 on the electrochemical performances of LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2was investigated. It has been revealed from the present study that our developed material has been demonstrated to have good electrochemical stability.
Based on the preceding studies, numerical simulation to predict the electrochemical performance of LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 during the discharge process was performed. In the simulations, an electrochemical Pseudo 2D model with modifications was adopted, taking the electrochemical reactions into consideration. The effects of calendaring and particle sizes on the physical and electrochemical property of LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 cathode were investigated using this model. The simulation results indicate that the estimated porosity by fitting the experimental data, which was used in the model, shows consistency for numerical simulation of electrochemical properties of the LIBs. Meanwhile, the simulation results have illustrated that decreasing the particle size of active materials can be beneficial to the enhancement of diffusion of the solid phase, characterized by an increase in the diffusion coefficient (Ds).
The material doping was also explored, aiming to improve the electrochemical performance of LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 cathode material. The effects of the Mg doping for Ni on the structure and the electrochemical properties of Li(Ni0.6Co0.2Mn0.2)O2 samples are assessed. The use of the Rietveld refinement has shown that addition of a small amount of Mg will be beneficial to the lowering of the bonding distance of Li-O and M-O and increasing the structural stability of the material, thus to the improvement of the electrochemical performances of Li(Ni0.6Co0.2Mn0.2)O2.


The main objective of this study is to identify different types of drought (moderate, severe and extreme) in the Dobrogea region based on three indicators: the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), the Standardized Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and the Standardized Flow Index (SFI). The dry periods, from a meteorological point of view, were identified based on a drought index that takes into account only precipitation (SPI) and another one that takes into account both precipitation as well as mean air temperature (SPEI). To highlight the dry periods from a hydrological point of view we applied the procedure for calculating the SPI to monthly discharge time series, through the Standardized Flow Index (SFI).


The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of germination on the minerals constituents (calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, copper, iron, manganese and zinc) of soybean. For the assays the soybean cultivars-Glycine max (L) Merril-BR-13 and Paraná were used. These were germinated in camera of germination at 25 degrees C and 100% of moisture, from 0 to 72 hours, collecting the samples in intervals of 6 hours. The analysis of variance and comparison among the means indicated that the minerals constituents remained constant up to 72 hours of germination.


Construction procedure of the tie arch bridge with steel-concrete composite girders affects the mechanical behavior of the whole bridge significantly. Space finite element model of Jiubao Bridge was established. Different construction procedures of the tie bars and bridge decks were proposed and the stress of upper and lower flange of the girder and the concrete bridge decks under construction schemes had been analyzed. The calculation results show that the scheme that the tie bars are stretched finally can reduce the tension stress of the bridge decks significantly. The construction scheme that the bridge decks are constructed on full space supports is favorable to the girder over the V-shaped piers.


Objectives The appropriate strategy for enteral feeding in critically ill patients still remains controversial. Therefore, we conducted this meta-analysis to compare the effect of intermittent versus continuous enteral feeding method for critically ill patients. Methods Electronic databases including PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Cochrane Library were searched up to April 10th, 2023 for randomized controlled trials evaluating the effect of intermittent versus continuous enteral feeding for critically ill patients. The primary outcomes were feeding intolerances, including diarrhea, vomiting, distension, constipation, gastric retention, and aspiration pneumonia. The secondary outcomes were mortality in intensive care unit (ICU), length of stay in ICU, and achievement of nutritional goal. Results Thirteen studies with a total of 884 patients were analyzed in this meta-analysis. Overall, the use of intermittent enteral feeding was associated with higher incidence of diarrhea (OR 1.66, 95%CI 1.13 to 2.43, I2 = 16%) and distension (OR 2.29, 95%CI 1.16 to 4.51, I2 = 0%), lower incidence of constipation (OR 0.58, 95%CI 0.37 to 0.90, I2 = 0%), and longer length of ICU stay (MD 1.09, 95%CI 0.53 to 1.64, I2 = 0%). Moreover, no significant difference was identified for other outcome measures. Conclusion In critically ill patients, the implementation of intermittent enteral feeding was associated with higher incidence of diarrhea and distension, longer length of ICU stay, but lower occurrence of constipation. Nevertheless, the absence of sufficient high-quality randomized controlled clinical trials precludes any definitive conclusions regarding the optimal approach to enteral feeding in this population. There is an imperative need for more studies to further assess the efficacy of the two enteral feeding strategies.


The goal of this work was to evaluate the storage effects under different temperatures, relative humidities (RH) and packaging types on the seed physiological quality and pod moisture content of Arachis pintoi cv. BRS Mandobi. The fruit of this herbaceous, perennial, leguminous species consists of an indehiscent pod containing a single seed, which is not dehulled for planting purposes. Pod samples presenting an initial 5.8% moisture content and stored under atmospheres presenting 30, 50, 70, 80 and 90% RH at 21±2 °C reached, respectively, the following equilibrium moisture content (EMC): 5.1±0.3%, 6.2±0.2%, 7.4±0.3%, 8.5±0.2% and 11.6±0.4%. Pod components (pericarp and seed) differed from one another in terms of EMC when stored under the same RH's; on an average, the pericarp EMC was 4.2% higher than that of the seed. A drastic physiological quality reduction was observed in seeds contained in pods that presented a 6.9% moisture content when storage temperature was raised from 21±2 °C to 30±3 °C. The physiological quality of seeds was preserved for a longer time in semi-permeable packages; this contributed either to maintain low EMC's or to delay reaching higher pod EMC's, depending on the RH under which they were stored.


The research and development of virtual humans, and the virtual worlds
 they inhabit, is inherently complex, requiring interdisciplinary approaches
 that combine social sciences, computer science, design, art, production, and
 domain expertise. Our previous work in managing this complexity has resulted
 in the release of the Virtual Human Toolkit (VHToolkit), aimed at lowering
 the burden of creating embodied conversational agents. In our current
 efforts, we are integrating the VHToolkit with the Rapid Integration &
 Development Environment (RIDE), a rapid prototyping modeling and simulation
 middleware platform that leverages real-time game engines. This integration
 results in the ability to mix and match commercial AI services from AWS,
 Azure, and Google, as well as leverage novel 3D geospatial terrain creation
 pipelines. Combined with dedicated authoring tools that have been developed
 through human-centered design processes, the platform enables researchers,
 developers, and domain experts to rapidly create digital worlds with virtual
 humans for both military and civilian contexts. Our approach is highly
 interdisciplinary, including academia, government, and industry
 collaborators. The demonstration shows a user interacting with an embodied
 conversational agent embedded within real-world captured and virtualized
 terrain. Further research and development features of the platform are
 shown, including scripted agent behaviors, networked team play, and machine
 learning interfaces.


The experimental demonstration of a diode-pumped passively mode-locked femtosecond laser based on an Yb3+:CaGdAlO4 single crystal is reported. The oscillator is directly diode pumped by a high-brightness 5 W fiber coupled laser diode, and pulses are produced by use of a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror. It permits the production of pulses as short as 47 fs at 1050 nm, which are to our knowledge the shortest laser pulses obtained from an oscillator based on Yb3+-doped bulk materials. The average power is 38 mW, and the repetition rate is 109 MHz.


ABSTRACT Counterterrorism responses in Australia have mirrored trends in other nations with a focus on pre-emption, including the criminalisation of activities defined as preparatory offences. Security-based transnational approaches to combat terrorist activity and propaganda alone are ineffective. Sometimes security measures can actually damage efforts to counter the appeal and take-up of violent extremism. While such measures should be used in domestic contexts where threats are critical or imminent, robust soft power initiatives are needed. Even though governments recognise the importance of soft power approaches, public discourse and commentary frequently reproduces negative stereotypes of young Muslim people linking them, through their religion, in negative ways to radicalisation and terrorism. This article describes empirical research investigating the impact of such discourses on the lives of young Muslim Australians. It demonstrates how dominant public discourse and counter-narratives add to feelings of marginalisation, even in those who are well integrated into Australian society. It argues that such social marginalisation contributes to the conditions of possibility for radicalisation and concludes by discussing some of the ways that young Muslim Australians maintain resilience in an environment that could easily be perceived as increasingly hostile and divisive.


Even though pig feed is ground, it must still be broken down into even smaller molecules in order to be absorbed from the digestive tract. For example, proteins must be broken down into amino acids and starch must be broken down into glucose. The digestion of feed in the pig is achieved through the use of enzymes that the pig naturally secretes from its stomach, pancreas and small intestine. However, the pig's array of enzymes is not capable of breaking down all components of its diet. Since the pig is unable to fully utilize all components of its diet, specific enzymes can be added to the feed to help break down complex carbohydrates, protein and phytate. These enzymes are called carbohydrases, proteases, and phytases, respectively. They are derived from bacteria and yeasts. At the time of writing, almost 200 different enzymes and enzyme products were available worldwide to the pork industry.


The flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) has increased dramatically in the last two decades. However, the distribution of FDI is highly unequal and the competition among countries to attract foreign investors is fierce. This report investigates the determinants of FDI inflows to developing countries in general and to the Federal Region of Kurdistan (FRK) in particular. The emphasis is on the impact of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) active policy measures to encourage inward FDI to the region and at the same time to discourage outward FDI, respectively. We explore whether factors that affect FDI to developing countries affect Kurdistan differently and estimate the magnitude of heterogeneity and its effect by location and level of their development. The current regional investment law, the weaknesses and strengths of the law and infrastructures, institutions and their effectiveness in coordinating the efforts to facilitate inflow of FDI to the region, are investigated. Finally, we emphasize the need for the KRG to further promote investment in infrastructure and to impact economic growth, which in turn reinforce each other by attracting more investment in infrastructure and the productive sectors.


A survey of the Simulium breeding and the transmission of Onchocerca volvulus was carried out in and around the Tukuyu valley, S.W. Tanzania, S. damnosum s.l. was found breeding in the midstretches of the main rivers in the valley and their bigger tributaries, and also in the boundary river to Malawi and the most northerly of the three rivers draining the Livingstone Mts. to Lake Nyasa (L. Malawi). A total of 19,500 S. damnosum s.l. females was caught and 13,200 dissected. The annual biting rate varied between 2,000 and 23,800. 7.6% of all the flies were infected with O. volvulus and 1.5% carried infective larvae in the head capsule, on average 2.7 per fly. The transmission was mainly in the dry season and the annual transmission potential varied between 0 and 1,120. The entomological data showed many similarities to those from the Mahenge Mts., Tanzania, and correlation of places with comparable transmission potentials suggests a similarity in the relationship parasite-human host between the West African rain forest and the two Tanzanian foci.


Now it is widely acknowledged that genetically caused diseases or disorders (e.g., cancer, AIDS, and obesity) stem from the dysfunction of molecular biological systems, not only their isolated components (e.g., genes, proteins, and metabolites). With advances in high-throughput measurement techniques, large-scale biological data have been and will continuously be produced. Such data contain insightful information for understanding the mechanism of molecular biological systems and have proved useful in diagnosis, treatment, and drug design for genetically caused diseases or disorders. In this special issue, we reported the recent progress in computational approaches that have been developed for analyzing complex networks constructed from high-throughput data and their applications to human diseases.

High-throughput experimental technologies, along with computational predictions, have produced a large amount of protein-protein interaction (PPI) data and thus PPI networks, which makes it possible to understand the role of proteins or genes at the network level. Protein complexes are molecular aggregations of proteins assembled via multiple PPIs. Most proteins are functional only when they are assembled into a protein complex and interact with other proteins in this complex. Therefore, identification of protein complexes from PPI networks has become a key problem for understanding cellular life in postgenomic era. In the paper "ABC and IFC: modules detection method for PPI network," X. Lei et al. proposed a novel clustering model which combined the optimization mechanism of artificial bee colony (ABC) with the fuzzy membership matrix to detect protein complexes from PPI networks. The experimental results on MIPS dataset showed that their proposed ABC-IFC method not only got improved in terms of several commonly used evaluation criteria such as precision, recall, and P value but also obtained a better clustering result. Due to the limitation of experiments, there are a substantial number of false positives of the PPIs which can compromise the utility of PPI networks for protein complex detection. To address this issue, a number of data integration and affinity scoring schemes have been devised to get a weighted PPI network. In the paper "A novel algorithm for detecting protein complexes with the breadth first search," X. Tang et al. proposed a novel protein complex mining algorithm ClusterBFS (cluster with breadth first search) to detect the protein complexes from the weighted PPI network. The experimental results showed that ClusterBFS performed significantly better than the other computational approaches in terms of the identification of protein complexes.

Most existing computational methods were applied on static PPI networks to identify the protein complex. However, proteins and their interactions are dynamic in reality. Therefore, identifying dynamic protein complexes is more meaningful and challenging. In their paper "Identifying dynamic protein complexes based on gene expression profiles and PPI networks," M. Li et al. integrated static PPI data and dynamic gene expression profiles to construct dynamic PPI networks and further proposed a novel algorithm, named DPC, to identify dynamic protein complexes. Their proposed algorithm DPC was applied on the data of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the experimental results showed that DPC outperformed CMC, MCL, SPICi, HC-PIN, COACH, and Core-Attachment based on the validation of matching with known complexes and hF-measures. In their paper "msiDBN: a method of identifying critical proteins in dynamic PPI networks," Y. Zhang et al. presented a comprehensive way of modeling the dynamic PPIs and further proposed a novel method, named msiDBN, for modeling a common representation of multiple PPI networks. Experiments were implemented on data of yeast cell cycles. The results of comparison showed that msiDBN had better reconstruction rate and identified more proteins of critical value to yeast cell cycle process. In F. Liu et al.'s paper "Mining seasonal marine microbial pattern with greedy heuristic clustering and symmetrical nonnegative matrix factorization," they developed a novel method called HCsNMF to detect the marine microbial association patterns. The results showed that the four seasonal marine microbial association networks had characters of complex networks.

Cancer is characterized by uncontrolled cell growth as a consequence of activating protooncogenes and/or inactivating tumor suppressor genes. Searching for consistently up- or downregulated genes, proteins, or clusters of them has been the mainstream in identifying potential biomarkers for early cancer diagnosis. However, tumorigenesis as well as cancer progression is a complex and dynamic process. The recent study showed that the characteristics of biomolecular networks for disease cells could be significantly different from those for normal cells. Based on this observation, B. Ling et al. tested the hypothesis that correlations for gene expressions could serve as valid indicators of early cancer development in their paper "Gene expression correlation for cancer diagnosis: a pilot study." Their results showed that strong correlations were observed between genes that are even not on the same pathways during the progression of different cancers, implicating that the correlations for cancer network gene expressions could serve as a supplement to current clinical biomarkers. Cancer starts from normal cells, acquires mutations, and evolves to be malignant cancer cells that are metastatic and/or resistant to therapy. Therefore, identifying driver mutation is important in understanding disease mechanism and future application of custom tailored therapeutic decision. In their paper "Pathway-driven discovery of rare mutational impact on cancer," T. Ahn and T. Park suggested a new approach for discovering rare mutations that have real impact in the context of pathway, which could sensitively capture mutations that change pathway level of mRNA expression. Finding effective anticancer therapies is a major goal of biomedical research. Recently, synthetic lethality (SL) has emerged as a novel anticancer strategy that is promising to be highly selective. In the paper "Syn-Lethality: an integrative knowledge base of synthetic lethality towards discovery of selective anticancer therapies," X. Li et al. presented Syn-Lethality, the first integrative knowledge base of SL that is dedicated to human cancer.

Traditionally, gene sets enrichment analysis of survival related genes is commonly used to reveal the underlying functional mechanisms of complex disease. However, this approach usually produces too many candidate genes and cannot discover detailed signaling transduction cascades, which greatly limits their clinical application such as biomarker development. In the paper "A network biology approach to discover the molecular biomarker associated with hepatocellular carcinoma," L. Zhuang et al. proposed a network biology approach to discover novel biomarkers from multidimensional omics data. Compared with traditional enrichment analysis, this approach can provide concrete and testable hypothesis on functional mechanism. Furthermore, the identified subnetworks from eighty hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) expression profiling arrays can potentially be used as suitable targets for therapeutic intervention in HCC. In their paper "Multiple regression analysis of mRNA-miRNA associations in colorectal cancer pathway," F. Wang et al. adopted a regression model to identify the significantly associated miRNAs targeting a set of candidate genes frequently involved in colorectal cancer (CRC) pathways. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to construct the model and find the significant mRNA-miRNA associations. The results generated from their study would be helpful in the diagnosis and treatment of CRC. In the paper "Network of microRNAs-mRNAs interactions in pancreatic cancer," E. Naderi et al. constructed the network of miRNA-mRNA interactions for pancreas cancer and illustrated that this network could be used to refine miRNA target predictions for developing new therapeutic approaches.

FangXiang  Wu

Luonan  Chen

Jianxin  Wang

Reda  Alhajj


OBJECTIVE
To explore the clinical features and strategies for treatment of spinal fracture complicating ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

METHODS
The clinical data of 15 patients with spinal fracture in AS, 13 males and 2 females, aged 49.8 (10 - 45), with the average history of AS of 24.6 years, were studied. Fractures were found in the cervical spine in 6 patients and in the thoracolumbar spine in 9. Of the 6 cervical spine fracture patients, 2 were treated with conservative therapy, 2 underwent anterior internal fixation and fusion, 1 was stabilized with posterior fixation and fusion, and 1 underwent decompression, posterior fixation and fusion. Seven of the 9 thoracolumbar fracture patients developed thoracolumbar kyphosis with a mean Cobb angle of 64 degrees (46 - 106 degrees). Three techniques were used in thoracolumbar fracture: posterior transpedicular vertebral osteotomy coupled with internal fixation and autogenous bone grafting was performed in 3 patients; anterior interbody fusion and internal fixation was performed for 2 patients; and combined anterior and posterior surgery (using posterior osteotomy with instrumentation and autogenous bone grafting in stage 1, and anterior focal debridement and autogenous bone grafting in stage 2) was performed on 4 patients.

RESULTS
Of the patients with cervical fracture, three had the fracture lines through the disc spaces; the other 3 had their fracture lines through the vertebral bodies near the end plate. Both the two patients treated with conservative therapy died of severe pulmonary infection. One patient with incomplete neurological deficit undergoing posterior decompression and fixation could independently ambulate with the help of walking device at the final follow-up. Radiographic evidence of fusion was observed in the four patients with cervical fracture who underwent anterior or posterior fixation in the final follow-up. Of the patients with thoracolumbar fracture, three had the fracture lines through the vertebral bodies near the end plate; the other 6 patients had their fracture lines through the disc spaces with the formation of pesudoarthrosis. Postoperatively, the thoracolumbar kyphosis ranged 26 degrees (22 - 42 degrees) and the correction of the kyphotic angle was 38 degrees. In the latest follow-up, the range of thoracolumbar kyphosis was 28 degrees (24 - 44 degrees) with 2 degrees loss of correction. At the final follow-up, solid bony fusion had been achieved in all patients.

CONCLUSION
The cervical fracture in AS patient tends to be unstable, and conservative treatment cannot get better outcome. Prompt anterior or posterior stabilization can achieve reconstruction of spinal stability and fracture union. Thoracolumbar fracture patients without kyphosis deformity can be treated with anterior debridement and fusion with autogenous bone grafting. The transpedicular osteotomy technique can be used in patients with fracture or pseudoarthrosis with kyphotic deformity in AS, which can not only correct the kyphosis deformity, but also facilitate the union of fracture simultaneously. After posterior osteotomy, in order to prevent the intervertebral disc space anteriorly opening, which may result in deficiency of anterior column, anterior fusion with autogenous bone grafting is needed to strut anterior column and to prevent failure of correction.


The aim of this study was to validate the long second version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ II) in the Greek language. The study was carried out in two phases following a mixed-method design. Six hundred and fifty-two Greek employees (response rate 93.3%) responded in the second phase of the study, either online or in writing. Both types of participation to the study were confidential for the participants and the companies as well. Most participants were females (68.1%), married (47.4%), aged 30-49 years (60.9%), with high educational level (60.4%). The majority were occupied in the health and the social care services (37.4%) and employed by the private sector (63.2%). Internal consistency of the GR-COPSOQ II was assessed with the Cronbach alpha criterion (Cronbach's a) and it was acceptable (0.8>α>0.7) for most of the scales. Mean scores were high in many scales that describe exposure to psychosocial risk factors at the workplace. Construct validity was established by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for the entire study sample and scales. In conclusion, the Greek version of the COPSOQ-II (GR-COPSOQ II) has good psychometric properties and can be recommended as a valid tool for the assessment of psychosocial risk in Greek employees.


As the articles in this journal issue show, gun violence affects children and youth in many ways: psychologically, emotionally, financially, and legally. But first and foremost, gun violence affects children's physical safety. Therefore, this issue opens with an overview of the physical toll that firearms exact upon children and youth, reviewing the incidence of firearm-related injury and death among Americans under age 20. This article analyzes trends and current status in firearm death and injury, based on nationwide data collected by the federal government. Several key findings emerge from the data: Firearm death rates among children and youth in the United States have declined dramatically since 1993, but remain high compared with historical rates in this country and rates in other developed nations. A majority of these deaths are homicides. Certain groups of children and youth, especially adolescents, boys, minority youth, and those residing outside the Northeast, are particularly at risk for firearm death. The problem is most acute among black teenage males. Firearm injuries are much more likely to result in death than are other injuries for which children and youth visit emergency departments--a reflection of the extreme lethality of firearms. Given these findings, the authors call for a concerted effort to reduce youth firearm deaths to levels comparable to those of other industrialized nations, using a wide variety of approaches that span the public health, criminal justice, and educational spheres. They also recommend improved data systems to track firearm injury and death, so that researchers can better analyze these incidents and evaluate intervention strategies.


ABSTRACT Looking at the French approach to migration in four key political moments between 2014 and 2018, three main narratives can be seen as dominating the French debate on migration, namely the Westphalian, the humanitarian and the multilateral, each related to various justice claims. Surprisingly, a securitarian approach was not as dominant as expected. However, different justice claims were used to support various political interests, often in a clearly instrumental way. In France today, the politics of migration are still important for the country's foreign policy and are not just a domestic issue.


Author(s): Shiels, Aaron B.; Pitt, William C. | Abstract: Three rat species, the Norway rat, black rat or ship rat, Pacific or Polynesian rat, and the house mouse are among the most widespread and destructive invasive mammals affecting islands. Through mostly unintentional introductions by humans, these rodents occupy g80% of the major islands worldwide. As a consequence of their omnivorous diet and large incisor teeth, introduced rats are probably the invasive animals responsible for the greatest number of plant and animal extinctions on islands. The effects of house mice on island ecosystems are less well known when compared with rats. We have reviewed past diet studies of these 4 omnivorous rodent species. Our review suggests that due to the high variability in diet, as well as direct and indirect effects of predation, all 4 species pose potential threats to many plants and animals on Pacific islands. Although rodent diets greatly differ among sites, diets appear to roughly follow this pattern: Norway rats and house mice generally consume proportionally more animal than plant (Norway rats consume many vertebrates and house mice mostly consumes arthropods), whereas black and Pacific rats generally consume proportionally more plant than animal. Studies specifically linking rodent diets with the population status of surrounding biota are needed in order to clarify the effective impacts of these rodent species. Much could be learned from rodent removal experiments, which could further expand our knowledge of invasive rodent species effects, and native species conservation, on islands.


Algorithms are described and analyzed for the efficient evaluation of the primitive operators of a relational algebra on a database machine architecture. The architecture contains a RAM divided up into partitions, each partition having a separate server. Tuples from the first operand relation are stored in linked lists in the partitioned RAM via bit and pointer arrays based on hashed column values. Each tuple in the second operand relation is either deposited in the corresponding partition server queue based on the hashed value, or it is ignored. Cross-referencing involved in the operations is removed without performing a sorting operation, which significantly reduces the time complexity. A procedure is also presented for computing the optimal number of partition servers for different applications.


The hydration water distribution around the main chain protein rubredoxin has been analysed using the crystal data at high resolution obtained earlier. The analysis was based on the consideration of all nearest neighbour atoms around the N and O atoms of peptide groups. The atoms which can form hydrogen binds were the subject of final analysis. The nitrogen atom of a peptide NH group has only one vacancy for neighbours. The oxygen atom of a peptide CO group has one, two or more neighbours, some of them are oxygen-water atoms. About 27% of NH and 53% of CO peptide groups are hydrated, that corresponds to 0.12 H2O per gram of protein. A detailed analysis shows that NH and CO groups of the main chain are hydrated according to the principle of maximum possible in situ saturation of hydrogen bonds. Thus the peptide groups incorporated in the peptide hydrogen bond network were not hydrated as a rule. Consequently, for rubredoxin a pleated sheet region, some regions for the large and small main chain loops, and Fe-containing pocket are not hydrated. A method for evaluation of the main chain hydration is proposed when the coordinates of protein atoms are available.


Visual process management tools have been developed by lean practitioners as communication aids and are used to help drive operations and processes in real time. Three case studies from aerospace companies describe the physical visual tools that have been implemented to facilitate performance measurement and communication in different engineering processes. Rolls Royce presents an example of how ERP outputs are communicated and controlled in a lean manufacturing process. At Airbus UK (Filton) visual process boards are used to manage a complex knowledge and people based process bringing together multiple supplier inputs in the production of aircraft maintenance manuals. Senior management at Weston Aerospace are using visual process control to run and report on work packages, resources and processes throughout their organisation. These systems act as an extension to metrics, and in themselves may be considered as a dynamic measurement system as they provide instant feedback and can be used to predict a probable outcome if no action is taken. The learning and themes that have made these implementations successful is presented and collated into a set of guidelines for consideration when implementing visual process management tools.


There are several methods of accurately measuring the contours of the papilla and rim. Of these methods, photogrammetry and its refinements are known to provide reproducible results. Unfortunately, there is a discrepancy between the accuracy of these methods and the biological "background noise". This noise does not allow the precision of these methods to be improved beyond a certain level. This also applies for determination of the color of the papilla. An alternative to this problem is to use the "provocation" test. In this article, we try to show the importance of the dynamic test of the papilla (dynamic provoked circulatory response): measuring the change in pallor of the rim during an artificial increase in the intraocular pressure.


The systemic dose levels of eye-drop drugs are relatively low in comparison with that of systemic routes such as oral administration. We undertook overall risk assessment of eye-drop drugs for developmental and reproductive toxicity (DART) by comparing the estimated systemic dose level of eyedrop drugs with the known threshold of toxicological concern (TTC) for DART. The systemic dose level of eye-drop drugs in human were estimated to be 0.0005 to 0.05 mg/kg/day on the assumption of 0.01% to 1% of eye drop formulation, 0.04 mL/eye/time of instillation volume, and 60 kg body weight. The TTCs for DART ranged from 0.003 mg/day (0.00005 mg/kg/day; for anticacer drugs) to 7.860 mg/day (0.131 mg/kg/day). Therefore, the range of estimated systemic dose level of eye-drop drugs was almost overlapped with known TTC values for DART, excepting for that applied to the anticacer drugs. These knowledge simply indicates the safety of eye-drop drugs for DART from a view pont of absolute dosage levels, implying allowance of case by case basis planning non-clinical DART study.


Cisplatin is drug of choice toward cervical cancer despite having many side effects, thus researches are conducted in order to find the effective and synergistic co-chemoterapeutic agent combined with cisplatin. In this study, we observed the potential of the cinnamon essential oil (CEO) isolated from Cinnamomum burmannii as co-chemoterapeutic agent of cisplatin on HeLa cells covering cytotoxic effect, cell cycle modulation and induction of apoptosis. Cytotoxic effect was determined by using MTT assay; while induction of apoptosis and cell cycle profile were observed by using flow cytometry. At 24 hours of incubation, CEO showed cytotoxic effect on HeLa cells with IC50 value of 250 μg/ml, while cisplatin showed cytotoxic effect with IC50 value of 18 µM. Combination of CEO and cisplatin reduced cells viability compared to cisplatin solely. Moreover, flow cytometry using annexin-V and PI showed that CEO and its combination with cisplatin induced apoptosis lower than cisplatin alone at 24 hours of incubation. Further analysis on the cell cycle progression showed that CEO induced S-phase arrest on HeLa cells, cisplatin induced G1 arrest, while combination of CEO and cisplatin induced G2/M arrest. Thus, the inhibition of HeLa cells growth at 24 hours is likely through cell cycle modulation rather than apoptosis.


In 2019 the Austrian Citizen Science Conference (ACSC) celebrated its 5th anniversary.
We would like to take this anniversary as an opportunity to reflect on the development of the conference over the past 5 years. Since the beginning, the ACSC has been an
annual milestone in the development of the Citizen Science Network Austria (CSNA)and its associated online platform Osterreich forscht, www.citizen-science.at (Dorler and
Heigl, 2019). Osterreich forscht was launched in 2014 by a collective of students under the supervision of Johann Zaller at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Austria. Part of this students collective were Daniel Dorler and Florian Heigl, the authors of this article, which are today also the coordinators of Osterreich forscht, the CSNA and co-organizers of all ACSCs so far. The objectives of Osterreich
forscht (since 2014) and of the CSNA (since 2017) are to (I) connect all citizen science (CS) stakeholders in Austria, (II) further develop the method of CS, (III) quality management on the platform and (IV) foster CS as scientific method in the scientific as well as the non-scientific community.


The critical micelle concentration of double chained cationic surfactant didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDAB) are determined in the presence of added counterions, viz., bromide, chloride and, benzoate, using surface tension, conductance and fluorescence methods. The main highlight of the article is the existence of two break-points in the surface tension isotherms of DDAB, depending on the type and amount of added counterion. At some concentrations of added counterions, normal surface tension behavior is also observed with only one break-point in the surface tension isotherm. The variation in the cmc value of DDAB with counterion concentration is studied using well-known Corrin-Harkins and modified Corrin-Harkins equations. The information gathered about the aggregation behavior of DDAB in the presence of added counterions is expected to be useful in view of DDAB's wide utility in commercial, chemical and pharmaceutical field.


An improved synthesis of aminoferrocene has been carried out that adheres with the basic green chemistry guidelines. Amination from aqueous NH3 as the nitrogen source, with the inexpensive CuI/Fe2O3 couple as cocatalyst in ethanolic solution, makes the process environmentally attractive as well as a viable alternative for all practical purposes. This procedure has also been applied to prepare aminoruthenocene, being reported for the first time.


IntroductionThe most recent Welsh Antimicrobial Resistance Programme (WARP) report on antibiotic use in primary care found significant variations between Health Boards and hospitals in gross antibiotic use in 2014. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between socioeconomic deprivation and antibiotic prescribing volumes.
Objectives and ApproachWelsh General Practitioner (GP) antibiotic prescribing data for years 2013 to 2016 for patients' resident in Wales were extracted from the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage GP tables. Deprivation was assessed by linking prescribing events to the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) score for the patient's neighbourhood area. The association between deprivation area and antibiotic prescribed (items per 1000 persons per day) was stratified according to the patient's age, sex, prescription year and antibiotic class. A three-level multilevel Poisson regression model of 1.58 million patients nested within 349 GP practices, nested with 67 GP clusters, was specified to assess the associations
ResultsJust over 7.97 million antibiotic items were prescribed between 2013 and 2016. Patients in the most deprived WIMD quintile had an overall prescription rate that was 25.2% higher than those in the least deprived WIMD quintile. The final model revealed that residing in the most deprived WIMD quintile (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.1769, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1768 to 1.1770, being female (IRR = 1,2699, 95% CI 1.2698 to 1.2700), being aged $\geq$90 (IRR = 2.0687, 95% CI 2.0683 to 2.0690), and prescription year being 2013 were associated with significantly higher rate of antibiotics prescription. There were significant primary cares clustering of antibiotics prescription in Wales.
Conclusion/ImplicationsThis study provides evidence that patients in areas of higher socioeconomic deprivation are more likely to be prescribed antibiotics in primary care in Wales. Population health prevention strategies aimed at reducing high antibiotic prescription rates should consider targeting areas of high deprivation.


Evaluating the human condition occurs in many disciplines - for example, epidemiology, sociology, political sciences, criminology, and market research. Despite advances in these fields progress has been sluggish compared with that in the "hard" sciences. A primary force for rapid developments in these sciences has been the discovery and use of new technologies (for example, the polymerase chain reaction, electron microscopy, carbon-14 dating), which increase the precision of measurement and reduce costs, resulting in a rapid accumulation of knowledge.1,2 Human population science has society as its laboratory and "counting humans" as its basis. Counting techniques, however, have changed little this century. The use of capture-recapture techniques could bring about a paradigm shift in how counting is done in all the disciplines that assess human populations.

Historically, the main approach to evaluating human populations has been to find the members of a community with a characteristic of interest and count them - for example, researchers have counted people with a particular disease (epidemiology), income level (economics), and party affiliation (political science). This approach is rooted in the belief that one needs to count and classify everyone to know about them. Complete enumeration, though, is costly and inefficient. Alternatives such as sampling a small group and extrapolating the results to a region or nation have been developed. These techniques may, however, be slow, costly, limited, and "foreign" to the people who need the data for policy - for example, governments.

Governments typically cannot …


Flavonoids are natural polyphenolic compounds produced by many aquatic plants and released in their environments. In this study, the effects of several aquatic flavonoids on cyanobacterial Microcystis aeruginosa, especially in relation to the cell growth, photosynthetic activity, cell morphology, and cell membrane integrity, were investigated. Significant growth inhibition was observed when the cyanobacteria were exposed to three flavonoids, namely, 5,4'-dihydroxyflavone (DHF), apigenin, and luteolin. Luteolin reduced the effective quantum yield, photosynthetic efficiency, and maximal electron transport rate by 70%, 59% and 44%, respectively, whereas 5,4'-DHF and apigenin slightly affected these parameters, which implies that luteolin disrupts the photosynthetic system. Moreover, 5,4'-DHF and apigenin compromised the membrane integrity, and induced membrane depolarization in 52% and 38%, and permeabilization in 30% and 44% of the cells, respectively. The 5,4'-DHF and apigenin showed more pronounced effects on M. aeruginosa morphology and membrane integrity, compared to the luteolin. These results suggest that flavonoids could have significant effects on growth and physiological functions in cyanobacterial species.


The challenge of micro-credit is to judge the risk of whether the self-employed poor will repay their debts as promised. Is scoring-a new way to judge risk-the next breakthrough in micro-credit? Scoring does reduce arrears and so reduces time spent on collections; this greater efficiency improves both outreach and sustainability. Scoring, however, is not for most micro-lenders. It works best for those with a solid individual lending technology and a large database of historical loans. Even when scoring works, it is only a marked improvement, not a breakthrough. In particular, scoring will not replace loan officers in micro-credit because much of the risk of the self-employed poor is unrelated to the information available for use in scoring. This paper discusses how scoring works, what micro-lenders can expect from it, how to use it, and what data is required. Success comes not from technical wizardry but rather from painstaking training of users: loan officers and branch managers will trust scoring to help them make choices only if they understand how it works and only if they see it work in tests. Most importantly scoring changes how micro-lenders think, fostering a culture of analysis in which managers regularly seek to mine their databases for information that addresses business questions.


Background Vasomotor rhinitis (VMR) is one of the most prevalent forms of nonallergic rhinitis. In the past, when maximal medical therapy failed, surgical options were limited. Vidian neurectomy (VN) was one option; however, it was fraught with complications and limited success. The advent of endoscopic sinus surgery revitalized interest in surgical procedures for VMR. This study was designed to review the available literature and assess the safety and efficacy of surgery on the vidian and posterior nasal nerves for treatment of VMR and when possible, compare the different approaches to one another in regard to safety and efficacy. Methods A systematic review was performed of English language articles using Ovid and PubMed. Search terms included "endoscopic vidian neurectomy," "vidian neurectomy," "endoscopic posterior nasal neurectomy" (EPNN), and "posterior nasal neurectomy." Only clinical trials performed on humans with safety and or efficacy data were included. Independent extraction of articles by two authors using predefined data fields was performed. Safety defined by complication rates and efficacy defined as objective improvement on outcomes scores along with the overall length of benefit were the primary measures of treatment effect. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis statement for reporting systematic reviews was followed. Results In comparison with open VN, endoscopic techniques were not associated with any long-term sequelae. Rhinorrhea and nasal obstruction were shown to improve after endoscopic VN (EVN) and the benefits were maintained for several years after surgery. Conclusion EVN is well tolerated, safe, and effective in a majority of patients. Overall, the literature has shown that the endoscopic approach is associated with less morbidity than the traditional transantral approach. Currently, no literature exists on the effect of EPNN in patients with vasomotor rhinitis and further study is needed to elucidate the efficacy of this procedure in this subset of patients.


Abstract The complexation of Eu(III) by hydro-soluble degradation products (HDPs) from a radio-oxidized polyesterurethane is investigated. The polyesterurethane Estane 5703® (PURe) is radio-oxidized at 1000 kGy with γ-rays at room temperature. The polymer is then hydrolysed by a simplified artificial cement pore water solution (pH 13.3) for 31 days at 60 °C. The HDPs within the leachate are characterized using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, ionic chromatography, and TOC analyser. The complexation of Eu(III) is studied by time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy (TRLS). The main HDPs are adipic acid – hexane-1,6-dioic acid – and butane-1,4-diol. Unlike HDPs from non-irradiated PURe, the HDPs from 1000 kGy γ-irradiated PURe do form complexes with Eu(III) at pH 13.3. Neither adipate nor butane-1,4-diol are responsible for this complexation. The existence of several types of complexes is evidenced by TRLS and electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy (ESI-MS): complexation reactions and operational constants are proposed. The complexes formed at high pH (from 10 to 13) are different from the lower pH complexes. The lower pH complexes are studied by ESI-MS and two ligands are identified: adipate and an oligomer.


How to improve the surface quality of large-scale silicon wafer in the ultra-precision grinding process, will always be the most important issue discussed by the silicon wafer manufacturer. In this paper, the advantage of ultrasonic grinding is being explored. These advantages included small macro grinding force, grinding stress, low grinding heat, which will reduce the surface damage. Combined with relatively abrasive, a large-scale silicon wafer can be processed. Through the study, an experimental system for ultrasonic grinding of large-scale silicon wafer is designed. The working parameter is optimized and the expected result is obtained, which searches a new way for the practical implementation.


We tested the importance of aerobic metabolism to human running speed directly by altering inspired oxygen concentrations and comparing the maximal speeds attained at different rates of oxygen uptake. Under both normoxic (20.93% O2) and hypoxic (13.00% O2) conditions, four fit adult men completed 15 all-out sprints lasting from 15 to 180 s as well as progressive, discontinuous treadmill tests to determine maximal oxygen uptake and the metabolic cost of steady-state running. Maximal aerobic power was lower by 30% (1.00 +/- 0.15 vs. 0.77 +/- 0.12 ml O2. kg-1. s-1) and sprinting rates of oxygen uptake by 12-25% under hypoxic vs. normoxic conditions while the metabolic cost of submaximal running was the same. Despite reductions in the aerobic energy available for sprinting under hypoxic conditions, our subjects were able to run just as fast for sprints of up to 60 s and nearly as fast for sprints of up to 120 s. This was possible because rates of anaerobic energy release, estimated from oxygen deficits, increased by as much as 18%, and thus compensated for the reductions in aerobic power. We conclude that maximal metabolic power outputs during sprinting are not limited by rates of anaerobic metabolism and that human speed is largely independent of aerobic power during all-out runs of 60 s or less.


Social capital is a rapidly expanding research theme within economics and has become a popular concept with policy makers in both developed and developing countries. Despite this growth in popularity, social capital remains a controversial concept among economists. We argue that this is largely due to a fundamental mismatch between the theoretical coverage and the vast majority of empirical work. Utilising data from a large cross-Europe survey of older people we use principal components analysis to demonstrate that social capital has multiple dimensions, and then explore the extent to which these latent dimensions coincide with the theoretical constructs of social capital. We use the association between social capital and a number of measures of health and well-being to demonstrate the importance of taking account of the multiple dimensions of social capital in empirical work. As well as showing that all the underlying constructs of social capital are significantly associated with health and well-being, our results also reveal that while in general this association is positive, close bonding in the form of household ties is inversely related to health and well-being; this contradicts the implicit assumption, often made in the literature that, in relation to social capital, more is always better.


Background:Organophosphates are commercially available agrochemicals for pest control, but may be abused for deliberate self-poisoning. We report a case of suicidal ingestion of dimethoate, a moderately toxic organophosphate insecticide, which can cause refractory hemodynamic instability, and the successful use of methylene blue (MB) for counteracting this complication.
Case Presentation: An unconscious 47-year-old man was referred to emergency department with history of dimethoate ingestion. He rapidly developed hypotension that was refractory to antidotes, resuscitative hydration and multiple vasopressors including norepinephrine, epinephrine and vasopressin. Pulmonary artery catheterization revealed high cardiac output and low peripheral vascular resistance consistent with distributive shock, a complication previously reported in the setting of acute dimethoate toxicity. MB was initiated for the patient and improved hemodynamic status (increased MAP, systolic and diastolic blood pressures) and seized vasopressor requirement. Laboratory tests revealed that on-admission plasma cholinesterase level and dimethoate serum level were 2247 U and 56 μg/mL, respectively. The patient required 2 week ICU course with eventual tracheotomy for ventilation and later transferred to step down level of care.
Discussion:Although MB therapy has been reported to be useful in managing sepsis-induced hypotension, there has been no similar report of its use in organophosphate poisoning. Our patient had no objective evidence for sepsis, and MB infusion improved hemodynamics within 6 hours and the effect was continued even after discontinuation of the therapy. The underlying mechanism of dimethoate-induced hypotension might be related to increase in nitric oxide (NO) formation. MB is effective to inhibit NO synthase.
Conclusion:MB treatment was effective to reverse hypotension and restore hemodynamic instability caused by dimethoate poisoning. This index case may pave way to further investigation of MB therapy for OP-induced hemodynamic instabilities.


Is sport art? Is dance a sport? Such questions are asked on the pages of social media as well as on the pages of research journals. Debating whether dancers are athletes or sport has aesthetic qualities can reveal broader issues regarding the current health conscious, competitive, and commercialized (neo-liberal) culture: What do dance and sport do when they intersect in the larger operations of power that currently favor particular kinds of physical activity participation and representation? In this paper, I map various intersections of sport and dance first through sport philosophical debates about the aesthetic qualities of sport. Second, I examine what happens when competition is introduction to ballroom dance in the formation of DanceSport. Finally, I depict how dance and sport become intertwined as entertainment in reality television shows Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance.


Hyperimmune serum against feline viral rhinotracheitis was produced in a goat and conjugated with a fluorescent dye. Cell cultures infected with rhinotracheitis virus had positive immunofluorescence. Cell cultures infected with other feline viruses and herpesviruses of other species did not fluoresce. In cats experimentally infected with rhinotracheitis virus, the virus was isolated from nasal and conjunctival swabs 1 to 9 days after inoculation. Nasal smears stained with the conjugated antiserum fluoresced 1 to 9 days after inoculation when clinical disease was most apparent. Conjunctival smears had positive immunofluorescence 1 to 6 days, but not 9 days, after inoculation. On postinoculation day 23, rhinotracheitis virus was not isolated from nasal or conjunctival swabs and nasal and conjunctival smears did not fluoresce. Rhinotracheitis virus or feline calicivirus was isolated from naturally infected cats with upper respiratory tract disease. Nasal and conjunctival smears from rhinotracheitis virus-infected cats had positive immunofluorescence in all cast showing clinical illness. Smears from 1 clinically normal cat from which rhinotracheitis virus was isolated did not fluoresce. Nasal and conjunctival smears from calicivirus-infected cats did not fluoresce.


The role of copyright or related rights collecting societies in legal solutions regarding orphan works. The paper analyses in what way collective management organizations can be useful to solve the problem of so-called orphan works. The issue of orphan works (works whose authors or other rightholders are not known or cannot be located or contacted to obtain copyright permissions) is today one of the most important elements of the debate on the future of copyright law. As the number of orphan works keeps growing it becomes a serious problem which requires to be resolved by creating an appropriate legal framework. It seems that the best way of addressing the problem would be to entrust the management of orphan works with specialized entities i. e. copyright or related rights collecting societies. Namely it is worth to consider the extended collective licensing system that proved to be effective in the Nordic countries. However, the Directive 2012/28/EU on certain permitted uses of orphan works which sets out common rules on the use of orphan works is not based of that system. The absence of mutual recognition implies that an extended collective license is valid only in the national territory in which the statutory presumption applies. It would seem that at least diligent search should be entrusted to copyright or related rights collecting societies. They have access to databases on the works, objects of related rights and rightholders and they interact with similar organizations in other Member States. In the Polish copyright law provisions referring to the collective management of copyright do not fulfill its function. Professional, strong, effective and representative copyright collecting societies with well-defined area of activity are needed to solve the problem of orphan works. This requires amendment to the Copyright Law.


BACKGROUND--Activated neutrophils cause tissue injury in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Upon activation, they shed soluble Fc gamma IIIb receptors (sFc gamma RIIIb). The subsequent inflammatory response is modulated by several mediators, including neutrophil derived leukotriene B4 (LTB4), thromboxane B2 (TXB2), and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). The aim of this study was to determine the value of gut lavage sFc gamma RIII and eicosanoid measurements for the assessment of mucosal inflammation in IBD. METHODS--A total of 18 patients with active IBD, 10 ulcerative colitis (UC), and eight Crohn's disease (CD), and 12 control patients underwent whole gut lavage. Disease activity, endoscopic appearance, and histopathology were graded. Samples were processed for the determination of sFc gamma RIIIb, LTB4, PGE2, and TXB2. RESULTS--Soluble Fc gamma RIIIb concentrations were increased in both IBD groups. Significant correlations were seen between sFc gamma RIIIb and LTB4 values with histology scores. Mean eicosanoid lavage fluid concentrations in control patients were 14.1 pg/ml for LTB4, 5.6 pg/ml for PGE2, and 397 pg/ml for TXB2. Concentrations of all eicosanoids in IBD patients were significantly increased: LTB4 in UC: mean 73.2 pg/ml, in CD: 96.4 pg/ml (both p < 0.01 v controls). PGE2 in UC: 20.2 pg/ml, in CD: 43.4 pg/ml (p < 0.01). TXB2 in UC: 719.3 pg/ml, in CD: 180.6 pg/ml (both p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS--Whole gut lavage fluid analysis is an effective method to study mucosal eicosanoid production. Soluble Fc gamma RIIIb concentrations in gut lavage fluid closely correlate with histological signs of mucosal inflammation and with lavage LTB4 concentration. These data suggest that lavage Fc gamma RIIIb assessment may be used as a simple assay to estimate mucosal neutrophil infiltration in IBD.


We have measured changes in water pressure as a function of shear displacement and time during undrained direct shear of flat joint surfaces in saturated quartz monzonite. During the postpeak shear behavior, the water pressure generally decreases, probably owing to opening of new cracks and enlarging of some of the existing cracks and pores. During the stick part of the stick-slip event, there is an accelerated drop in water pressure ( preseismic ) followed by a momentary rise during the slip ( coseismic ). If it is accepted that the slip part of the stick-slip event is a "laboratory earthquake," then the pore-pressure variations during the stick-slip may have a direct bearing on earthquake prediction through water-level observations in open wells. It is hereby suggested that for more meaningful measurements of water-pressure variations in wells, pressure transducers with a quick response factor be used with packers, rather than measuring the water-level variations in open wells with appreciable time lag.


ABSTRACT Long-term care (LTC) planning is important in helping the older people tackle their future needs better. The needs for LTC services represent generational characteristics as they may be different between the current and upcoming cohorts of older adults. However, very few studies have examined the cohort differences in terms of their expected utilisation of LTC services, while understanding the patterns is crucial in helping policy makers prepare for the development of LTC services. This study fills the research gap by examining the plans and expectations for LTC services of 1,613 middle-aged and older persons in Hong Kong with data collected from a telephone survey. By applying the Andersen Model to examine LTC expectations, this study analyses the LTC needs and plans of the middle-aged and older cohorts of Hong Kong adults, as well as their associated factors, with a multiple logistic regression method. Both gender and birth cohort were examined individually and in combination. Birth cohort and gender have been found to exert an impact on all aspects of LTC needs and planning to varying degrees. The findings are interpreted and contrasted with those of a key study based in the West, with reference to the contextual characteristics of Hong Kong. This study furthers the scholarly understanding on LTC needs and planning and their cohort effect, and draws evidence-based recommendations for LTC development in Hong Kong, a rapidly ageing East Asian society.


We experimentally demonstrate a non-local generation of entanglement from two independent photonic sources in an ancilla-free process. Two bosons (photons) are entangled in polarization space by steering into a novel interferometer setup, in which they have never met each other. The entangled photons are delivered to polarization analyzers in different sites, respectively, and a non-local interaction is observed. Entanglement is further verified by the way of the measured violation of a CHSH type Bell's inequality with S-values of 2.54 and 27 standard deviations. Our results will shine a new light onto the understanding of how quantum mechanics works, have possible philosophic consequences on the one hand and provide an essential element for quantum information processing on the other hand. Potential applications of our results are briefly discussed.


By means of density functional theory (DFT), the mechanism and role of GaCl3 and aldehydes for the GaCl3-mediated reaction of donor–acceptor (D–A) cyclopropanes and arylaldehydes have been reported in this work. DFT calculations reveal that the title reaction proceeds through three main steps: (1) the isomerization of 2-arylcyclopropane-1,1-dicarboxylates r1 to generate the ethylidenemalonate gallium complex 1a or 2-styrylmalonates 1b. (2) Subsequently, reaction between 1a (or 1b) and aromatic aldehydes would induce the formation of substituted indenes (Stage I). (3) Finally, reaction between the formed substituted indenes and aromatic aldehydes would give the polycyclic lactones (Stage II). According to our calculation, aldehydes not only participate in the reaction as a reactant, they can also promote the reaction as a co-catalyst for their proton-shuttle feature. For this reason, some excess of aldehyde is essential for implementing the process. The excess GaCl3 will hydrolyze with the water formed in Stage I, which ensures that the reaction of Stage II is carried out under acidic conditions. Furthermore, the usual [3 + 2] cycloaddition of DACs with aromatic aldehydes has also been studied. The theoretical results not only well rationalize the experimental observations but provide insights into the details of the reaction.


Ever since the first publication of intracavity optogalvanic spectroscopy (ICOGS) in 2008, this novel technique for measuring the (14)C/(12)C ratio in carbon dioxide has rendered considerable attention. As a result, there are currently at least five different research groups pursuing research on ICOGS. With a claimed limit of detection of 10(-15) ((14)C/(12)C), i.e., in the same order as accelerator mass spectroscopy, achieved with a relatively inexpensive and uncomplicated table-top system, ICOGS has major scientific and commercial implications. However, during the past 5 years, no research group has been able to reproduce these results or present additional proof for ICOGS's capability of unambiguous (14)C detection, including the authors of the original publication. Starting in 2010, our group has set up a state-of-the-art ICOGS laboratory and has investigated the basic methodology of ICOGS in general and tried to reproduce the reported experiments in particular. We have not been able to reproduce the reported results concerning the optogalvanic signals dependence on (14)C concentration and wavelength and, ultimately, not seen any evidence of the capability of ICOGS to unambiguously detect (14)C at all. Instead, we have found indications that the reported results can be products of measurement uncertainties and mistakes. Furthermore, our results strongly indicate that the reported limit of detection is likely to be overestimated by at least 2 orders of magnitude, based on the results presented in the original publication. Hence, we conclude that the original reports on ICOGS cannot be confirmed and therefore must be in error.


Clinical Neuro Anatomy by Snell (pp 559; £14-70, $21-95) Little Brown & Co. 1980. A book not to be recommi medical students or to anyon pity. Dr. Snell writes in the "Too many students complaii complexity of the terminc neuroanatomv and the diffici experience in understanding tions of t'ie different parts of I to one another. Unfortunatel: often the fault of the Prof imagine that Dr. Snell is an e tic and popular teacher of an medical students. His text is sational and dilatory; most pa and sentences could be cut their length. There are to figures, photographs, mic graphs and diagrams, often i and sometimes misleading ai all this and the rather uni colour photographs of the br; ably double the size and the is odd that there are no com axial tomography pictures in published in 1980. An ir feature of the book is the clini and problems after each cha answers to clinical problem from an anatomist, on the la five pages. Comparison with texts from this side of the like Nathan's or Brodal's is no able. And by the way, WH bookstalls currently sell an i reissue of Gray's Anatomy f a better buy.


Objectives: eLORETA (exact low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography) is a technique created by Pascual-Marqui et al. [Int J Psychophysiol. 1994 Oct; 18(1): 49–65] for the 3-dimensional representation of current source density in the brain by electroencephalography (EEG) data. Kurtosis analysis allows for the identification of spiky activity in the brain. In this study, we focused on the evaluation of the reliability of eLORETA kurtosis analysis. For this purpose, the results of eLORETA kurtosis source localization of paroxysmal activity in EEG were compared with those of eLORETA current source density (CSD) analysis of EEG data in 3 epilepsy patients with partial seizures. Methods: EEG was measured using a digital EEG system with 19 channels. We set the bandpass filter at traditional frequency band settings (1–4, 4–8, 8–15, 15–30, and 30–60 Hz) and 5–10 and 20–70 Hz and performed eLORETA kurtosis to compare the source localization of paroxysmal activity with that of visual interpretation of EEG data and CSD analysis of eLORETA in focal epilepsy patients. Results: The eLORETA kurtosis analysis of EEG data preprocessed by bandpass filtering from 20 to 70 Hz and traditional frequency band settings did not show any discrete paroxysmal source activity compatible with the results of CSD analysis of eLORETA. In all 3 cases, eLORETA kurtosis analysis filtered at 5–10 Hz showed paroxysmal activities in the theta band, which were all consistent with the visual inspection results and the CSD analysis results. Discussion: Our findings suggested that eLORETA kurtosis analysis of EEG data might be useful for the identification of spiky paroxysmal activity sources in epilepsy patients. Since EEG is widely used in the clinical practice of epilepsy, eLORETA kurtosis analysis is a promising method that can be applied to epileptic activity mapping.


The S. marcescens has recognized as causes of many hospital epidemics and a causative agent of hospitalized nosocomial infection. It causes secondary infections such as urinary, respiratory, wound and septic arthritis, peritonitis and sinusitis. S. marcescens constitutively possesses chromosomally encoded, inducible Ampc β-lactamases and may acquire plasmid- mediated extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs). They have ability to develop resistance to many β-lactame antiobiotics. In this studies totally 222 S. marcescens isolate were used for testing antibiotic sensitivity against antibiotic like Ampicillin, Gentamicin, Cefotaxime, Chloramphenicol, Amikacin, Aztreonam, Ceftazidime, Cephalothin, and Ciprofloxacin. The antibiotic sensitivity were analysed in the presence of zone of inhibition around the antibiotic disc. All 222 strains of S. marcescens gave maximum susceptible (13mm) to ciprofloxacin antibiotic and also S. marcescens gave different resistant spectrum to the other 8 antibiotics. Ciprofloxacin is an effective antibiotic for S. marcescens infections.


The processes of transport and mixing in stratified open channel flows are
investigated in this thesis. Detailed measurements of velocity and salinity were
conducted, through the use of Laser-Induced Fluorescence (LIP) technique together
with Laser Doppler anemometry, so that the effects of secondary current and
stratification on the flow behaviour could be analysed.
Two configurations were investigated: a rectangular open channel, and a compound
open channel. For each configuration, four different stratification levels were analysed.
The main flow characteristics, such as corner flow and velocity dip in a rectangular
channel, and the twin vortices formed in compound channels, were found to be
affected by stratification.
In order to understand the mechanisms involved in secondary flow generation, the
vorticity balance was carried out. Through the vorticity balance, the contribution of
each term in the longitudinal vorticity equation could be evaluated. The mechanisms
involved in the turbulence generation were also verified through the turbulent kinetic
energy (TKE) budget. One of the contributions of this work refers to the
understanding of the effects of stratification on turbulence and secondary flow
generation.
The exchange coefficients of momentum and solute were also investigated. These
coefficients were found to depend not only on stratification level but also on other
flow parameters, like for instance the aspect ratio. A new formulation is proposed for
narrow channels, but more research is necessary in order to evaluate the effect of
other parameters on the exchange coefficients.


The objective of this study is to explore the levels of customer awareness and satisfaction with Islamic financial products and services offered by the Kuwait Finance House (KFH). The attempt is also made to identify reasons behind dealing with the KFH. To achieve these objective, 650 questionnaires were distributed during the period between 15 April and 15 May 2011 to the KFH customers and 429 returned completed. The results of the questionnaire analysis revealed that a significant proportion of the KFH customers are not aware of many of the products currently on offer. The respondents are relatively satisfied with almost all aspects of the KFH, although some work needs to be done to improve the appearance, architecture, internal design and furniture of the bank. They also expect an increase in the parking facilities and to train staff to handle transactions over the phone. The respondents indicated that they deal with the KFH for its name and image, its guaranteed confidentiality, its trusted management and Sharia'h Supervisory Committee. The respondents also demonstrated that they hold accounts in Islamic and commercial banks to diversify their investments.


Allergens obtained from seven strains of staphylococcus cultures (with and without any toxigenic and hemolytic properties) were subjected to fractionation on Sephadexes. It was shown that allergens from strains 209, 3a, 977 contained one protein-polysaccharide, component with molecular weight of 600 000--900 000. Allergens from strains Wood-46, 150a, r-7, O15 were characterized by the presence of two protein-polysaccharide fractions with molecular weight of 800 000--900 000 (I) and 20 000--100 000 (II). There was revealed the influence of lyphilization on the separation of nucleic acids in the preparations not subjected to lyophilization; nucleic acid fractions were separated in gel filtration; no separation of nucleic acids from the protein-polysaccharide fractions followed lyophilization.


This paper studies the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the returns of Canadian stocks. It employs the 3-factor asset-pricing model created by Fama and French (1993) and adds a new CSR factor (2x3 sorts) to examine if the explanatory power of the model is improved by the CSR factor. I, also, introduce an alternative method to create a 4-factor model (2x2x2 sorts). The results of my tests show the CSR factor does not improve the explanatory power of the Fama French models. Furthermore, replacing HML by CSR captures no more excess returns and I conclude that corporate social responsibility is not a priced factor in Canadian capital markets. In addition, the 3-factor model (based on Rm-Rf, SMB, HML) generates the exactly same results as Fama-French (1993 and 2015) models. Finally, I find that large firms, especially big size-low BE/ME companies, tend to be more "ethical".