The theory of Resource Based View (RBV) posits the use of internal resources for competitive advantage which is often evaluated using four questions on value (V), rarity (R), imitability (I) and organisation (O), also known as the VRIO framework. This research focuses on the organisational resource of tacit knowledge which is characterised by knowledge that is difficult to transfer. Identification and transfer of tacit knowledge stock is one of the major research problems in the knowledge management discipline. The purpose of this research is to explore whether tacit knowledge stock can be identified using self-assessment of skills to enable knowledge transfer. The research questions of this study include: RQ 1: To what extent can self-assessment of skills help to identify tacit knowledge stock? And, RQ 2: What role does identifying tacit knowledge stock play in knowledge transfer?

Using Design Science Research (DSR) methodology, an artefact is developed, implemented and evaluated to answer the research questions. The artefact is represented as a model that expresses the relationships between three constructs namely: (i) self-assessment of skills, (ii) tacit knowledge stock and (iii) knowledge transfer. The model is operationalised using a software tool based on the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). The model is evaluated via semi-structured interviews with twenty-one staff of the Information Technology (IT) department in a case study organisation. This research found that knowledge transfer could be enabled by the identification of tacit knowledge stock. Other enabling factors that affected tacit knowledge transfer were also identified, namely, sender's prior understanding of the receivers' tacit knowledge stock, sender's willingness to transfer knowledge, person-organisation fit, similar knowledge area, organisational culture and self-awareness of tacit knowledge stock. This research argues that the self-assessment of skills is a useful method of identifying tacit knowledge stock. Majority of the research participants found that the self-assessment of skills was effective for identifying tacit knowledge stock at an individual level as compared to an organisational level.

The major contribution of this research is the development of the model that can be used to facilitate tacit knowledge transfer based on self-assessment of skills. This model extends the literature of the knowledge management discipline by explaining the relationship between tacit knowledge stock and transfer based on self-assessment of skills. The evaluation of the model confirms its practical application in knowledge-intensive organisations that intend to understand tacit knowledge stock in order to facilitate tacit knowledge transfer.


Diffraction arrivals are important data that have increasingly been used to delineate the sources of diffractors and to explore subsurface discontinuities. In prestack data, diffractions are both zero- and non-zero offset hyperbolas while reflections are only zero-offset hyperbolas. An iterative algorithm using an apex-shifted Radon transform (ASRT) approach is presented in this paper that uses the diffraction hyperbolic trajectory similar to that of prestack time migration in order to locate diffractors and to estimate their corresponding background velocities. Because diffraction energy is generally weak in seismic data and particularly in prestack data, noise attenuation and edge enhancement methods are applied on the instantaneous phase of the seismic data instead of the amplitude data. This means that the phase data are input to the ASRT algorithm. The method is then tested on two synthetic datasets (a point-diffraction model with randomly distributed diffractors and the 2D BP/SEG salt model) and one real data example. Results show that this method can locate the diffractors reasonably well on the rough surfaces of the salt dome and the discontinuities associated with structures such as paleo-channels and faults. Our analysis of the estimated velocities suggests that they are generally valid for diffraction delineation; however, the accuracy of the estimation decreases as background velocity and depth increase.


This descriptive research paper examines the impact of Vedic Science based education on the economic and social development of Cambodia between 1980 and 2015. Specifically, the long-term impacts of a largescale
social renewal and healthcare program begun in 1992 and the
establishment of an innovative university, called Maharishi Vedic University, at the beginning of 1993 are considered using the Social Impact Assessment model.

Prior published research, both in Cambodia and elsewhere
throughout the world, has suggested that the applied programs of Vedic Science can play a vital part in personal, social and educational renewal and in the removal of poverty. In Cambodia, ranked the poorest country in
the world in 1992, the contribution of Vedic Science-based education has been significant, not only in the lives of thousands of students but also in the welfare of the broader community. For example, research has found
that a Vedic Science-based approach to higher education in Cambodia increased non-verbal intelligence, reduced anxiety, depression and the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, and improved the general Impact of Maharishi Vedic University in Cambodia health of university students when compared to students at other universities.

It has also been shown that in the 1990s, 70 nations sought to change their systems of government to multi-party democracy. Of these, 33 nations did not experience war either before or after their transition to democracy, nine had civil war both before and after elections, and 26
nations had no war prior to democratic elections but bloody civil conflict soon thereafter. Only three nations out of 70 during this period had war before, but peace after, democratic elections—Cambodia, Mozambique and Namibia. All three of these countries benefited from intervention of
Vedic Science-based education, health and social-welfare programs. This paper explores the economic and social impact of this phenomenon in Cambodia beginning in the early 1990s with the establishment of a "coherence-creating group" of students at Maharishi Vedic University.


The literature provides support for the hypothesis that some major repeaters (individuals with >=5 lifetime suicide attempts) are addicted to suicidal behavior (SB). This study explores whether major repeaters are addicted to SB or not using 7 criteria: tolerance (Criterion 1), withdrawal (Criterion 2), loss of control (Criterion 3), problems in quitting/cutting down (Criterion 4), much time spent using (Criterion 5), substantial reduction in activities (Criterion 6), and adverse physiological/physical consequences (Criterion 7). Total dependence on SB was indicated by the presence of 3 or more of the 7 criteria in the last 12 months. This cross-sectional study at Puerta de Hierro University Hospital (Madrid, Spain) recruited 118 suicide attempters including 8 major repeaters (7%, 8/118), who were all females. The association between each SB addiction criterion, physiological dependence and total dependence with major repeater status was tested for significance and for effect size with odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals. As hypothesized, major repeaters met significantly higher frequency of criteria for total dependence on SB, OR=62.9 (6.4-615). A backward stepwise logistic regression model was used to provide an OR between major repeater status and total dependence status corrected by confounding variables. Age, panic disorder without agoraphobia, borderline personality disorder, history of psychiatric inpatient admission, and total dependence on SB were introduced as independent variables with major repeater status as the dependent variable. The model selected total dependence and age as the remaining significant variables in the last step. Accordingly, major repeaters appear to be addicted to SB.


Low-power wireless networks allow for easy-deployment and low-maintenance solutions for sensor applications. Glossy, an often used communication primitive to build such low-power wireless networks, is a flooding protocol providing high reliability and resilience. Even though the list of protocols building on top of Glossy is extensive, the current approach to implement Glossy-based protocols could be significantly improved by separating low-level complexity from highlevel protocol logic. The Glossy Middleware presented in this thesis provides system designers with a well-defined, yet versatile interface. Building on top of a round-based framework, the Glossy Middleware offers a vast amount of control over important Glossy parameters on a high-level. This report presents the design and features of the Glossy Middleware in detail, while also serving as an user manual. The evaluation displays the low performance overhead in terms of memory and energy usage as well as the high usability by reimplementing different existing protocols in addition to others, illustrating the various features of the middleware. The middleware has been designed with hardware portability in mind: currently it is fully supported on the DPP platform and to some extent on the TelosB platform. This thesis concludes by illustrating possible improvements on the existing work while also outlining exiting possibilities of the developed Glossy Middleware.


Background Research exploring the intersection of communicable and non-communicable diseases, as well as, the lived experiences of persons with multiple chronic morbidities, is limited. This study sought to explore how persons living with HIV (PLHIV) and Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) experience and manage the burden of treatment related to these comorbidities in the context health systems and culture in small island developing states. Methods Participants with a diagnosis of both HIV and T2DM for more than 2 years were purposively selected with the assistance of HIV treatment centres on the islands of Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago. Twenty individual, face-to-face semi-structured interviews (10 in each country) explored self-care, health care delivery, socioeconomic support and internal resilience. A total of 13 females and 7 males aged 39–65 years were interviewed. All interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis with constant comparison. ATLAS.ti(7) data management software used to manage the data analysis process. Results Aspects of T2DM self- care such as daily blood glucose monitoring and controlling diet were more onerous than perceived minimal HIV care actions of adhering to oral anti-retroviral therapy ('you just take your medication and go') and clinic visits. While HIV was experienced and perceived as having lower physical workload than T2DM, there was a higher psychological workload throughout the disease trajectory, particularly related to stigma and discrimination in health care settings and in general. T2DM's lower psychological workload was perceived as due to the absence of stigma and discrimination attached to the disease, but adhering to multiple modalities to controll blood glucose increased the physical workload. The impact of having HIV on social determinants such as housing and employment, increased the psychological burden, and impacted on participants' internal resilience. A preference for centralised integrated care (instead of de-centralisation to clinics throughout the health care delivery system), with a more holistic approach within health care settings on both islands was also identified by participants (i.e. having comorbidities such as diabetes also checked and treated at routine HIV clinic visits). Conclusion Integrated communicable and non-communicable care models which assess both physical and psychological workload should be considered in healthcare, especially since HIV treatment now follows a more chronic treatment pathway. In addition, addressing stigma and discrimination in the general population as well as in health care delivery settings, and their impact on health outcomes for PLHIV, is still an area for public health concern within the Caribbean.


Many apps and analyzers based on machine learning have been designed to help and cure the stress issue. The chapter is based on an experimental research work that the authors performed at Research Labs and Scientific Spirituality Centers of Dev Sanskriti VishwaVidyalaya, Haridwar and Patanjali Research Foundations, Uttarakhand. In the research work, the correctness and accuracy have been studied and compared for two biofeedback devices named as electromyography (EMG) and galvanic skin response (GSR), which can operate in three modes—audio, visual, and audio-visual—with the help of data set of tension type headache (TTH) patients. The authors have realized by their research work that these days people have lot of stress in their lives, so they planned to make an effort for reducing the stress level of people by their technical knowledge of computer science. In the chapter, they have a website that contains a closed set of questionnaires from SF-36, which have some weight associated with each question.


In this paper the current crowding phenomenon in complementary 6H-SiC JBS structures using numerical simulation tools MEDICI and DYNAMIT-2D is investigated. The influence of ambient temperatures, barrier height (work function) and epilayer concentration on behaviour of current flow is treated. Three different types of current crowding mechanisms could be observed in JBS devices. Two of them take place under forward bias conditions (caused by the inhomogeneities at the SiC metal interface or introducing the comparable lateral current component through the arbitrary pn-junction). When the change of the barrier height has a very strong influence on current flow distribution, then in other situations a clear current crowding effect can be seen only in some special combinations of influencing parameters and especially around the areas where the arbitrary pn-junction reaches the upper contact of the structures near the edge of the Schottky interface. Under reverse bias, when the current flows away from region under the arbitrary pn-junction of the JBS device and concentrates into the section under the Schottky contact due to the built-in electrical field inside the JBS device, which deforms the Schottky barrier height and width as well, a clear current crowding situation is followed. In this paper both of the last two mechanisms are discussed.


A new technique for estimation of the instantaneous frequency based on simultaneous sampling of three-phase voltage signals is presented. The structure consists of two decoupled modules: the first is for adaptive filtering of input signals, and the second is for frequency estimation. A suitable and robust algorithm for frequency estimation is obtained. This technique provides better performance, compared with the technique based on a single-phase signal in relation to waveforms with noise. The technique is particularly important when asymmetric sags generate zero voltage in one of the three phases. In addition, it allows the measurement of the instantaneous frequency value of real signals for single- or three-phase systems. To demonstrate the performance of the developed algorithm, computer-simulated data records and calibrator-generated signals are processed. The proposed algorithm has been put to test with distorted three-phase voltage signals.


An entirely analytical theory is provided for describing the resonance properties of optical nanoantennas made of a stack of homogeneous discs, i.e. circular patch nanoantennas. It consists in analytically calculating the phase accumulation of surface plasmon polaritons across the resonator and an additional contribution from the complex reflection coefficient at the antenna termination. This makes the theory self-contained with no need for fitting parameters. The very antenna resonances are then explained by a simple Fabry-Perot resonator model. Predictions are compared to rigorous simulations and show excellent agreement. Using this analytical model, circular antennas can be tuned by varying the composition of the stack.


This research is based on the fact that while learning a foreign language, translation ability is important for various purposes, yet not easy for the learners to acquire. This study was therefore aimed to: (1) identify the difficulties facing the students in translating different types of texts, especially descriptive, narrative and argumentative; (2) measure the student's ability to translate the text of three different types; and (4) provide feedback to the faculty about the students' ability to translate descriptive text, narrative and argumentative texts in particular. For the purpose of this study, only non-fiction texts were provided for the students. And it is assumed that different text types require them to take different ways of translating. The subjects were 30 students of the Department of French Language Education, at a state education university in Bandung, who attended a French-Indonesian Translation class. Data collecting instrument used was a translation test consisting descriptive, narrative and argumentative texts to be translated from French into Indonesian. The findings showed that half of the students had difficulty translating the three types of text, particularly in paragraph cohesion and fairness criteria. But they were more able to translate narrative and argumentative texts than descriptive text due to text structure and characteristics as well as students' lack of vocabulary acquisition. However, in general the students had a slightly sufficient ability to translate those three text types from French into Indonesian. Errors in translation were also identified in relation to their knowledge of both source and target languages.


In recent years, the railway transportation system has become one of the main means of transportation. Therefore, driving safety is of great importance. However, because of the potential of multiple breaks of elastic rail clips in a fixed rail, accidents may occur when a train passes through the track. This paper presents the development of a computer visual recognition system which can detect the status of elastic rail clips. This visual recognition system can be used in mass rapid transit systems to reduce the substantial need of manpower for checking elastic rail clips at present. The visual recognition system under current development includes five components: preprocessing, identification of rail position, search of elastic rail clip regions, selection of the elastic rail clip, and recognition of the elastic rail clip. The preprocessing system transforms the colored images into grey-level images and eliminates noises. The identification of rail position system uses characteristics of the grey-level variation and confirms the rail position. The search system uses wavelet transformation to carry out the search of elastic rail clip regions. The selection system finds a suitable threshold, using techniques from morphological processing, object search and image processing. The recognition system processes characteristics and structures of elastic rail clips. Experimental testing shows the ability of the developed system to recognize both normal elastic rail clip images and broken elastic rail clip images. This result confirms the feasibility in developing such a visual recognition system.Copyright © 2007 by ASME


The memory of the 1994 genocide marks Rwanda's politics, its social relations and its landscape, yet it has so far received remarkably little critical attention. This paper uncovers the politics of the genocide memorialisation, examining its meaning in the present and implications for the future. The few existing studies of commemoration in Rwanda suggest that it is employed by the government to construct political legitimacy or to promote national unity—these studies tend to be loosely informed by an established conception of memorials as instruments of the state. In contrast, this paper draws on a rich literature on the politics of memory, and argues that while public remembrance is often harnessed to nationalist agendas; it is ordinarily a site of contestation over the meaning of the past and a practice of mourning, with a unique role in expressing and affirming our moral responsibility to others. Because the sources of public remembrances are diverse, we need to look at particular examples in depth and context, identifying the agencies involved; exploring their aims and attitudes and detailing the symbols and rituals they produce. This paper focuses on the role of genocide survivors in the construction of public memory, highlighting their dedication and influence. It reveals that their demands for accountability and for the restoration of the human dignity of the victims of genocide are a vital dimension of the politics of memorialisation in Rwanda.


Erosional remnants of volcanic fields in west-central California form a linear northwest-trending belt growing younger in age to the northwest. Major fields within the belt are represented by the Neenach Volcanics, Pinnacles Volcanic Formation, Quien Sabe Volcanics, volcanic rocks in the Berkeley Hills, Tolay Volcanics, Sonoma Volcanics, and Clear Lake Volcanics. Dispersion in the age-distance relation is reduced by restoration of inferred offsets on transecting right-lateral fault systems. The offsets include 115 km on the San Gregorio–Hosgri fault, 314 km on the San Andreas fault, 43 km on the Hayward-Rodgers Creek fault, and 28 km on the Carneros-Franklin-Sunol-Calaveras fault. On the basis of the age and restored position of the volcanic rocks, we judge that the locus of initial active volcanism migrated northwestward ∼3.75 cm/yr from 25 to 12 Ma, and ∼1.35 cm/yr from 12 Ma to the present. The volcanic rocks apparently formed south of the northwardly retreating edge of the subducted part of the Juan de Fuca plate, corroborating one corollary of a published model of an expanding hole in the subducted Farallon-Juan de Fuca-Cocos plate. The present position of the locus of melting at Clear Lake, California, requires substantial overthrusting of the Juan de Fuca plate by the Pacific plate, as was postulated on the basis of foreshortening of magnetic anomalies in the Gorda basin. The change in rate of northwestward migration ∼12 Ma reflects a change in spreading direction of the Juan de Fuca plate vis-a-vis the Pacific plate, previously recognized from changes in orientation of oceanic magnetic anomalies. From the migration rates, it can be inferred that the relative movement between the Pacific plate and the westernmost fringe of the North American plate averaged ∼3.5 cm/yr from 27 m.y. ago to the present.


BACKGROUND
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the main method of treatment of symptomatic gallstones. Drains are used after laparoscopic cholecystectomy to prevent abdominal collections. However, drain use may increase infective complications and delay discharge.

OBJECTIVES
The aim is to assess the benefits and harms of routine abdominal drainage in uncomplicated laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

SEARCH STRATEGY
We searched The Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group Controlled Trials Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Science Citation Index Expanded until March 2007.

SELECTION CRITERIA
We included all randomised clinical trials comparing drainage with no drainage after uncomplicated laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Randomised clinical trials comparing one type of drain with another were also reviewed.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
We collected the data on the characteristics, methodological quality, mortality, abdominal collections, pain, nausea, vomiting, and hospital stay from each trial. We analysed the data with both the fixed-effect and the random-effects models using RevMan Analysis. For each outcome we calculated the odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) based on intention-to-treat analysis.

MAIN RESULTS
We analysed six trials involving 741 patients randomised to drain (361) versus no drain (380). The only patient with abdominal collections requiring intervention belonged to the drain group. Wound infection was significantly higher in those with a drain (OR 5.86, 95% CI 1.05 to 32.70). Drainage was associated with nausea, but this was not statistically significant. Hospital stay was longer in the drain group and the number of patients discharged at the day of operation was significantly reduced in the no drain group (OR 2.45, 95% CI 0.00 to 0.57, 1 trial). We also reviewed one trial with 41 patients randomised to suction drain (22) versus closed passive drain (19). This trial suggests that suction drains carried less pain than passive drains.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Drain use after elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy increases wound infection rates and delays hospital discharge. We could not find evidence to support the use of drain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.


Cold‐formed steel (CFS) members, when subjected to optimisation, can significantly increase their ultimate load carrying capacity leading to a more economical and efficient structural system. This paper presents the details of an investigation on optimisation of CFS beams subjected to bending capacity and an investigation of shear and web crippling capacities of optimised sections. The optimisation was aimed to meet construction constraints reported in Eurocode 3 (EC3). In this research, 4 different CFS sections were considered including the introduction of 2 novel sections (Super Sigma and Smart Beam) which has closer shear center to the web and less susceptible to web buckling. The bending capacity of the available sections were obtained based on the effective width method reported in EC3, while the optimisation procedure was performed using particle swarm optimisation (PSO). The capacities of the optimised CFS beams were also obtained using the nonlinear finite element (FE) analysis and the FE results were compared with EC3. The FE results showed that the Smart beam and Super Sigma claim dual advantage of increase in section moment capacity and restrain against torsional effect than the conventional CFS channel sections with the same amount of material. These optimised cold formed steel beams can be employed in light gauge steel building constructions.


To understand better the mechanisms by which thyroid hormone can exert its effects on the hair follicle, we looked for the expression of members of the thyroid hormone receptor (TR) family in human hair follicles. Immunoreactive TRs were detected in both dermal and epithelial compartments of the human pilosebaceous unit. Using reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction, we established that TRβ1 was the predominant form of TR expressed in the human hair follicle. In addition, we investigated the effects of 3,3′,5‐triiodo‐ l‐thyronine (T3) on the survival of human hair follicles in vitro, to understand the role of this thyroid hormone on hair follicle homeostasis. A physiological level of free T3 significantly enhanced human hair survival in vitro.


Our understanding of the human visual system has advanced significantly over the past quarter-century. With the availability of modern computers and development of sophisticated algorithms, it is now possible to efficiently predict human attention patterns for images and video. A saliency map can easily be generated, which provides a measure of how important each portion of a scene is, with respect to the human visual system. A region with a high saliency value is more likely to be fixated upon by a human than a region with a low saliency value. In this work, we explore the application of saliency to video processing. In our first project, saliency is applied to Frame Rate Up-Conversion. By enforcing motion vector refinement only for salient regions, we reduce processing time while maintaining a high level of visual quality for the up-converted video sequence. In our second project, we propose a new method for saliency detection which considers object scale using a scale-space model. Excellent results are demonstrated, including improved performance of our saliency-based Frame Rate Up-Conversion algorithm. Finally, an experiment is conducted on the salient power of the stereoscopic depth feature using two different datasets. While local contrasts in luminance, color, orientation and motion are known to be highly salient, less is understood about local contrasts in depth. Using a mirror stereoscope for 3D display to subjects and an eye-tracking system, we measure human fixations for 2D (no depth) and 3D scenes. We determine that contrast in stereoscopic depth repels human fixations for natural scenes, while attracting it for synthetic scenes. This conflict may arise from different stages of human attention (bottom-up vs. top-down), activated by the different scene content in the two datasets


ABSTRACT Megaquartz, typically as individual crystals showing a number of euhedral faces, inclusion-rich or inclusion-poor, is disseminated throughout the interior of a large specimen of the stromatoporoid Hermatoporoidea from the Middle Devonian Burdekin Formation, northeastern Australia. It represents a replacing, late diagenetic phase occurring after the occlusion of pore space within the skeleton by carbonate spar and was contemporary with, and concentrated near, microscopic pressure-solution seams. Skeletal tissue rather than carbonate spar sponsored megaquartz growth that occurred while an intimate contact between growing quartz crystal faces and the carbonate it replaced was maintained. Spherulitic quartzine, the common type of silicification in limestone of the Burdekin Formatio , replaced the exterior surfaces of carbonate skeletal debris in a similar manner. Diffusion on intergranular films is considered to be the mechanism by which both megaquartz and quartzine were emplaced, and the two modes are considered to reflect different replacement rates. Rapid replacement, associated with short diffusional pathways, is attributed to quartzine, whereas megaquartz is thought to represent slow replacement associated with long, diffusional pathways.


Coefficient multipliers are the stumbling blocks in programmable finite impulse response (FIR) digital filters. As the filter coefficients change either dynamically or periodically, the search for common subexpressions for multiplierless implementation needs to be performed over the entire gamut of integers of the desired precision, and the amount of shifts associated with each identified common subexpression needs to be memorized. The complexity of a quality search is thus beyond the existing design algorithms based on conventional binary and signed digit representations. This paper presents a new design paradigm for the programmable FIR filters by exploiting the extended double base number system (EDBNS). Due to its sparsity and innate abstraction of the sum of binary shifted partial products, the sharing of adders in the time-multiplexed multiple constant multiplication block of the programmable FIR filters can be maximized by a direct mapping from the quasi-minimum EDBNS. The multiplexing cost can be further reduced by merging double base terms. Logic synthesis results on more than one hundred programmable filters with filter taps ranging from 10 to 100 and coefficient word lengths of 8, 12, and 16 bits show that the average logic complexity and critical path delay of the programmable FIR filters designed by our proposed algorithm have been reduced by up to 47.81% and 14.32%, respectively over the existing design methods.


Abstract. Recently, Shalimov et al. (1999) proposed a new mechanism for large-scale accumulation of long-lived metallic ions in the mid-latitude ionosphere driven by planetary waves in the lower thermosphere. In this mechanism, the combined action of frictional and horizontal magnetic field forces at E-region altitudes causes the plasma to converge and accumulate in large areas of positive neutral wind vorticity within a propagating planetary wave. The present paper provides a theoretical formulation for this mechanism by modelling both horizontal and vertical plasma transport effects within a planetary wave vortex, of cyclonic neutral wind. Non-steady-state numerical solutions of the ion continuity equation show that the proposed accumulation process can enhance the ionization significantly inside the planetary wave vortex but its efficiency depends strongly on altitude, whereas on the other hand, it can be complicated by vertical plasma motions. The latter, which are driven by the same planetary wave wind field under the action of the vertical Lorentz force and meridional wind forcing along the magnetic field lines, can lead to either plasma compressions or depletions, depending on the prevailing wind direction. We conclude that, for shorter times, vertical plasma transport may act constructively to the horizontal gathering process to produce considerable E-region plasma accumulation over large sectors of a planetary wave vortex of cyclonic winds. Key words. Ionosphere (ionosphere-atmosphere interactions; mid-latitude ionosphere; sporadic E-layers) – Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (waves and tides)


This article discusses Scholars Portal Journals (SP Journals), a library consortium-run platform that aggregates and archives licensed scholarly journal content in the province of Ontario, Canada. Born in the early days of e-journals out of a need to provide consistent and long-term access to scholarly materials in the sometimes volatile world of online publishing, SP Journals has evolved into a major digital repository and archive. With over 55 million full-text articles and serving a student population of just under half a million, SP Journals represents a major investment in access to online scholarship. This article explains the lifecycle of content on the platform, from initial publisher negotiations to delivering usage reports, and discusses considerations of running a locally hosted journal platform.


Abstract We investigated the effects of thinning young (35- to 45-yr-old) Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests on density, survival, body mass, movements, and diets of northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus) in the northern coast range of Oregon. We used a repeated measures, randomized block design with 3 treatments (control, moderate thinning, and heavy thinning) and 4 replicates to study diets and population characteristics from 1994–1997. Densities of flying squirrels were variable in space and time, but they were positively correlated to biomass and frequency of fungal sporocarps, suggesting they were responding to food resources rather than forest structure. Fungal sporocarps comprised a major portion of the squirrel's diet, and other vegetative material made up the remainder of the diet. Several fungal genera including Gautieria, Geopora, Hymenogaster, Hysterangium, Melanogaster, and Rhizopogon were found more frequently in diets than on the trapping grids and therefore appeared to be selected by the squirrels. Flying squirrel movements were negatively correlated with the frequency of occurrence of fungal sporocarps at trap stations, suggesting that squirrels traveled greater distances to find fungal sporocarps where these food items were more sparsely distributed. We hypothesized that flying squirrel densities would be relatively low in these young, structurally simple forests; however, densities on some of the grids were >1.5 squirrels/ha, which was comparable to densities described for the species in late-successional forests. Our results indicated that commercial thinning did not have measurable short-term effects on density, survival, or body mass of flying squirrels.


Flash floods are some of the most devastating weather-related hazards in South Africa. The South African Flash Flood Guidance (SAFFG) system is a hydro-meteorological modelling system that provides forecasts for the next 1 to 6 h of potential flash floods in support of the flash flood warning system of the South African Weather Service (SAWS). The aim of this paper is to investigate the increase in the lead-time of flash flood warnings of the SAFFG using probabilistic precipitation forecasts generated by the deterministic Unified Model (UM) from the United Kingdom Met Office and run by the South African Weather Service (SAWS). As a first step, calculations of bias-corrected, basin-averaged rainfall from the UM model are provided. An ensemble set of 30 adjacent basins is then identified as ensemble members for each basin (the target basin), from which probabilistic rainfall information is calculated for the target basin covering the extended forecast period. By comparing this probabilistic rainfall forecast with the expected Flash Flood Guidance (FFG) of each basin, an outlook of potential flash flooding is provided. The procedure is applied to a real flash flood event and the ensemble-based rainfall forecasts are verified against rainfall estimated by the SAFFG system. The approach described here is shown to be able to deal with the uncertainties associated with UM rainfall forecasts, particularly regarding location and onset-time of convection. The flash flood outlook for the 18-h extended forecast period investigated was also able to capture the location of the flash flood event and showed its ability to provide additional lead-time for flash flood warnings to disaster managers.


Background Inflammation is emerging as a potential mechanism of cervical carcinogenesis. However, few studies have investigated the association between host inflammatory status and the natural course of cervical precursor lesion. The aim of this study was to assess the probability of LSIL regression, associated with an inflammatory biomarker, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). Methods In a longitudinal cohort study, female participants were examined annually or biannually using cervical cytology between 2006 and 2015. Incident LSIL cases were included in the analysis, with regression defined as at least one consecutive normal cytologic result. A total of 520 women aged 22–64 years were followed up for LSIL regression. The multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for LSIL regression were estimated using a parametric proportional hazards model. Results During 827.5 person-years of follow-up, 486 out of 520 subjects (93.5%) showed LSIL regression. After adjusting several important potential confounders, a higher quartile of hs-CRP levels was significantly associated with a lower rate of regression (for quartile 4 vs quartile 1, inverse HR 1.33; 95% CI, 1.04–1.69; P for trend = 0.028). Conclusions The low rate of spontaneous regression recorded in women with higher hs-CRP lends support to the role of the perturbated host inflammatory status in cervical carcinogenesis, and suggests that hs-CRP level could help monitor LSIL.


Most of the modern electronic devices are still based on the electrical properties of metals and semiconductors. Yet, the transition metal oxides show a variety of spectacular physical effects like, e.g., high-temperature superconductivity, the giant or tunnel magneto resistance, spin-polarized transport,
metal to insulator transitions, or multiferroic order. If ways could be found to make use of these phenomena, one could obtain devices with unprecedented functionalities. This, however, requires a profound understanding of the electronic structure of these compounds. Electron-electron correlations are very important here, thereby requiring a more sophisticated theoretical ansatz. An effective first order approach to take these correlation effects into account is to neglect the translational symmetry of the real crystal and to describe the electronic structure in a local single-site impurity model. This is done for example in the so-called configuration-interaction cluster calculations where the system is reduced to a single ion and its ligands, and also, at least for the correlations, in dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT). The underlying idea is that the ground state and near ground state properties
as well as the excitation spectra can be described on an equal footing as far as the many body aspects are concerned. It is not always easy, however, to judge about the applicability of the results for the real bulk systems. An experimental test is highly desired.
In this thesis we have, therefore, set out to study the electronic structure of selected transition metal impurities in oxides using photoemission (PES) and x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). We have simulated our experimental data using a single-site cluster model and compare the results to the respective bulk systems. We found that transition metal impurities in oxides are fundamental model systems to study the electronic structure of strongly correlated oxides. A detailed study of their electronic structure yields essential information on the importance of local and non-local interactions in the associated bulk compounds and even more complicated materials.


The drying dynamics in three dimensional porous media are studied with confocal microscopy. We observe abrupt air invasions in size from single particle to hundreds of particles. We show that these result from the strong flow from menisci in large pores to menisci in small pores during drying. This flow causes air invasions to start in large menisci and subsequently spread throughout the entire system. We measure the size and structure of the air invasions and show that they are in accord with invasion percolation. By varying the particle size and contact angle we unambiguously demonstrate that capillary pressure dominates the drying process.


A novel general neural network (GNN) is proposed for two-class data mining in this study. In a GNN, each attribute in the dataset is treated as a node, with each pair of nodes being connected by an arc. The reliability is of each arc, which is similar to the weight in artificial neural network and must be solved using simplified swarm optimization (SSO), is constant. After the node reliability is made the transformed value of the related attribute, the approximate reliability of each GNN instance is calculated based on the proposed intelligent Monte Carlo simulation (iMCS). This approximate GNN reliability is then compared with a given threshold to predict each instance. The proposed iMCS-SSO is used to repeat the procedure and train the GNN, such that the predicted class values match the actual class values as much as possible. To evaluate the classification performance of the proposed GNN, experiments were performed on five well-known benchmark datasets. The computational results compared favorably with those obtained using support vector machines.


of a thesis at the University of Miami. Thesis supervised by Professor Diego Lirman. No. of pages in text. (49) Seagrass communities display complex population dynamics that are presently poorly understood. While most studies of disturbance on seagrass habitats have focused on changes in biomass at small, quadrat-level scales, limited information is available on the impacts of disturbances on seagrass patch dynamics on a broad scale. In this study, a landscape approach based on remote sensing imagery and population modelling were applied to understand seagrass patch dynamics and forecast the fate of these important communities in Biscayne Bay, Miami, Florida, US. The seagrass communities of Biscayne Bay are especially influenced by the modifications of the Everglades watershed that has significantly changed the timing of freshwater deliveries and nearshore salinity patterns over the last 70 years. This research evaluated the historical influence of salinity on seagrass communities and how changes in salinity may cause seascape fragmentation by documenting the long-term population dynamics of seagrass habitats found adjacent and distant to freshwater canals. A positive outcome of this study is that the historical analysis covering > 70 years revealed remarkable persistence of seagrass cover even in habitats that were modified by the construction of freshwater canals. Fragmentation rates of the seagrass patches varied spatially and temporally but were higher in sites adjacent to canals compared to sites removed from these influences. Furthermore, there was a clear trend in mortality rates in relation to the size of seagrass patches, with the smallest patches undergoing 57% annual mortality on average. Model simulations based on observed patch dynamics suggest that seagrass meadows can persist as long as the recruitment of new patches compensates for patch fragmentation. The combination of higher fragmentation rates and the higher mortality of smaller seagrass patches in habitats exposed to pulses of low salinity raises concern for the long-term persistence of seagrass meadows in nearshore urban habitats of Biscayne Bay that are presently targets of Everglades restoration. The combined remote sensing and population modelling approach used here provide evaluation and predictive tools that can be used by managers to track seagrass status and stress-response at seascape levels not available previously for the seagrasses of South Florida.


Esophageal cancer is the sixth most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Novel therapeutic intervention is urgently needed for this deadly disease. The functional role of PI3K/AKT pathway in esophageal cancer is little known. In this study, our results from 49 pairs of human esophageal tumor and normal specimens demonstrated that AKT was constitutively active in the majority (75.5%) of esophageal tumors compared with corresponding normal tissues. Inhibition of the PI3K/AKT pathway with specific inhibitors, wortmannin and LY294002, significantly reduced Bcl-xL expression, induced caspase-3-dependent apoptosis, and repressed cell proliferation and tumor growth in vitro and in vivo without obvious toxic effects. Moreover, significantly higher expression level of p-AKT was observed in fluorouracil (5-FU)-resistant esophageal cancer cells. Inactivation of PI3K/AKT pathway markedly increased the sensitivity and even reversed acquired resistance of esophageal cancer cells to chemotherapeutic drugs in vitro. More importantly, the resistance of tumor xenografts derived from esophageal cancer cells with acquired 5-FU resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs was significantly abrogated by wortmannin treatment in animals. In summary, our data support PI3K/AKT as a valid therapeutic target and strongly suggest that PI3K/AKT inhibitors used in conjunction with conventional chemotherapy may be a potentially useful therapeutic strategy in treating esophageal cancer patients.


An automotive hood hinge assembly is adapted to act as a safety device in the event of a collision with a pedestrian. The hood hinge assembly is constructed from a series of linkages and an energy storage actuator that is configured to raise the rear of a vehicle hood in response to a pedestrian collision. The deployed system forms a rigid structure that restrains rearward movement of the hood while providing a vertical motion path and resistive force capable of efficiently dissipating the energy imparted by the pedestrian and therefore significantly lowering injury levels. The linkages are configured to provide conventional rotary opening and closing motion of the hood when the system is in the retracted position and also provide a reset function so that a simple opening and closing motion of the hood when the system is in the deployed position resets it to the retracted position.


Chaos exists in the Buck converter due to the switching action of the controlled switch and this nonlinear phenomenon results in unreliable working performances. Hence, this paper uses a self-feedback control method with two adjustable parameters to suppress the chaotic behavior in the Buck converter. First, the self-feedback control method is presented by introducing a generic second-order chaotic system. Then, from the perspective of transfer functions obtained in terms of the piecewise linear model of the controlled Buck converter, effects of controller's parameters on system performances are discussed. On the basis of the Jacobian matrix of the discrete iterative mapping model of the controlled Buck converter, the stability of the period-1 orbit is analyzed. Finally, numerical simulations confirm that without determining targeting orbits in advance, this self-feedback control method can stabilize the chaotic behavior of the Buck converter to the stable period-1 orbit.


We report on the design, construction and test of a generic form of sensor for making distributed measurements of a range of chemical parameters. The technique combines optical time-domain reflectometry with chemically sensitive water-swellable polymers (hydrogels). Initial experiments have concentrated on demonstrating a distributed water detector; however, gels have been developed that enable this sensor to be readily adapted to distributed pH measurements.


High-quality Josephson junctions, with both electrodes made from niobium and with an aluminum-oxide insulating barrier, were introduced in 1983. This niobium junction is very stable, reliable, controllable, and reproducible. Because of these excellent characteristics, these junctions can be applied to large-scale integrated (LSI) circuits, such as microprocessors having a few thousand gates and a few kilobits of memory. These circuits operate much faster and consume less power than any semiconductor circuit now available. Integrated Josephson circuits are now being tested in a closed-cycle refrigerator. The next step is to design a special-purpose, small-scale Josephson computer and to demonstrate its high performance.


The applications of information technology, specifically web applications, in the business sector, have led to changes in paradigms, techniques and tools used in performing audits. The applications of large scale of (enterprise) web applications in the business organizations have also been increasing the failure risks that depend on non-functional requirements, such performance (concurrency, response time, capacity/throghput) and reliability. Audit of enterprise web applications become an important part of the implementation process of large scale of web applications in organizations. In this paper, we propose a model to audit enterprise web applications. The model is adopted from Information System Audit and Control Association (ISACA's framework) and software quality model (ISO/IEC 25010) with some customizations. The main contribution of this research is to cover the weakness of ISACA's audit framework, specifically on the lack of attentions to non-functional aspects of large scale web applications. We also propose Integrated Web Test Environment (IWTE) tool that can be used to automate the testing process of non-functional aspects for the web applications.


Herpes simplex virus replicates its DNA within nuclear structures called replication compartments. In contrast, in cells in which viral DNA replication is inhibited, viral replication proteins localize to punctate structures called prereplicative sites. We have utilized viruses individually mutated in each of the seven essential replication genes to assess the function of each replication protein in the assembly of these proteins into prereplicative sites. We observed that four replication proteins, UL5, UL8 UL52, and UL9, are necessary for the localization of ICP8 (UL29) to prereplicative sites natural infection conditions. Likewise, four of the seven viral DNA replication proteins, UL5, UL52, UL9, and ICP8, are necessary for the localization of the viral DNA polymerase to prereplicative sites. On the basis of these results, we present a model for prereplicative site formation in infected cells in which the helicase-primase components (UL5, UL8, and UL52), the origin-binding protein (UL9), and the viral single-stranded DNA-binding protein (ICP8) assemble together to initiate the process. This is followed by the recruitment of the viral polymerase into the structures, a step facilitated by the polymerase accessory protein, UL42. Host cell factors can apparently substitute for some of these viral proteins under certain conditions, because the viral protein requirements for prereplicative site formation are reduced in transfected cells and in infected cells treated with drugs that inhibit DNA synthesis.


Section 1.1.1 of RFC 3986 defines URI syntax as "a federated and
extensible naming system wherein each scheme's specification may
further restrict the syntax and semantics of identifiers using that
scheme." In other words, the structure of a URI is defined by its
scheme. While it is common for schemes to further delegate their
substructure to the URI's owner, publishing independent standards
that mandate particular forms of URI substructure is inappropriate,
because that essentially usurps ownership. This document further
describes this problematic practice and provides some acceptable
alternatives for use in standards.


In this paper, we study a novel task that enables partial knowledge transfer from pre-trained models, which we term as Partial Network Cloning (PNC). Unlike prior methods that update all or at least part of the parameters in the target network throughout the knowledge transfer process, PNC conducts partial parametric "cloning" from a source network and then injects the cloned module to the target, without modifying its parameters. Thanks to the transferred module, the target network is expected to gain additional functionality, such as inference on new classes; whenever needed, the cloned module can be readily removed from the target, with its original parameters and competence kept intact. Specifically, we introduce an innovative learning scheme that allows us to identify simultaneously the component to be cloned from the source and the position to be inserted within the target network, so as to ensure the optimal performance. Experimental results on several datasets demonstrate that, our method yields a significant improvement of 5% in accuracy and 50% in locality when compared with parameter-tuning based methods. Our code is available at https://github.com/JngwenYe/PNCloning.


About twenty suppliers of electronic health records (EHR) battle for the favor of about hundred hospitals in the Netherlands. The Minister of health has been promising for over a decade that every citizen in the Netherlands can have an EHR. Until now this promise has not been met. One of the main requirements for this national EHR is an agreed definition of an open EHR by both vendors and users. This paper first studies the demand side using the results of thirty eight interviews with end users asking them their core processes and their expected value of an EHR. Next we have a look at the supply side with an overview of the Dutch market and a focus on open EHR's as possible overall solution. This solution is further elaborated by using the experience with enterprise application integration (EAT) in industry. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First from a combined analysis of our data our main conclusion is the supply of EHR in the Netherlands is not open yet. Only suppliers with a small market share really offer external process integration. Only if the main suppliers are stimulated (by the government) to open up, a national EHR can arise. Secondly from a detailed analysis the following results stand out: majority of the end users (demand side) do not get support in their relevant working processes. Communication is badly supported and direct patient contact (what they think most important in their work) is even endangered by new systems. Availability, a benefit where all stakeholders agree upon, does not seem to be enough to open the market and create a good diffusion of EHR in the Netherlands. Much more focus should be laid on quality of care and communication with patients and colleagues


The amino acid sequence T-P-P-T-P-S-P-S is tandemly duplicated in the heavy chain of human immunoglobulin A1 (IgA1), the major antibody in secretions. The bacterial pathogen Streptococcus sanguis, a precursor to dental caries and a cause of bacterial endocarditis, yields IgA protease that cleaves only the Pro-Thr peptide bond in the left duplication, while the type 2 IgA proteases of the genital pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae and the respiratory pathogen Haemophilus influenzae cleave only the P-T bond in the right half. We have sequenced the entire S. sanguis iga gene cloned into Escherichia coli. A segment consisting of 20 amino acids tandemly repeated 10 times, of unknown function, occurs near the amino-terminal end of the enzyme encoded in E. coli. Identification of a predicted zinc-binding region in the S. sanguis enzyme and the demonstration that mutations in this region result in production of a catalytically inactive protein support the idea that the enzyme is a metalloprotease. The N. gonorrhoeae and H. influenzae enzymes were earlier shown to be serine-type proteases, while the Bacteroides melaninogenicus IgA protease was shown to be a cysteine-type enzyme. The streptococcal IgA protease amino acid sequence has no significant homology with either of the two previously determined IgA protease sequences, that of type 2 N. gonorrhoeae and type 1 H. influenzae. The differences in both structure and mechanism among these functionally analogous enzymes underscore their role in the infectious process and offer some prospect of therapeutic intervention.


The phenomenal rise of Yiddish language and culture is one of the most interesting and colorful sagas of modern Jewish history. In this significant book, Dr. Goldsmith relates the growth of Yiddish to the explosion of Jewish literature, the surge of Zionism, and the popularity of Socialism that impacted upon the Jews of Europe, America, and Israel. Including a study of the major personalities associated with the first Yiddish Language Conference (1908,) this is the first comprehensive work to explore a movement that affected the lives of millions of Jews before the Holocaust and continues to influence Jewish life throughout the world.


In case s having early syphilis, cerebro-spinal fluid:(CSF) was examined 6 months following pencillin treatment in 1173 cases of which 1 case showed some abnormality. In 1288 cases, CSF examination done at 30 months or later revealed abnormality in 3 cases. The initial diagnosis in these cases was primary syphilis in 2 cases and secondary syphilis in the remaining 2 and these cases had initially been treated with 2.4 MU of benzathine penicillin. These 4 cases were now diagnosed as cases of asymptomatic nourosyphifis and retreated with 9 MU Of procaine penicillin. AU these cases were cured following retreatment. Considering this small number (0.17%), it is considered unessential to examine CSF as a routine in early -syphilis.' However in cases where the clinical or serological response to treatment is not satisfactory, CSF examination is advisable.


Using tree-ring data of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica from the Hulun Buir region in northeast China, 12 annual runoff series of the Hailar River spanning the past 202–216 years were established for the first time; these included 11 branches and one for the entire basin. These reconstructions, which could explain 29.4%–52.7% of the total variance for the measured runoffs during 1956–2006, performed well in statistical verification tests. In the whole basin's reconstruction of 212 years, 34 extreme drought years (16.0%) and 41 extreme pluvial years (19.3%) were identified; 4 of the 10 most extreme years occurred after 1980. The consistent cycle and correlation revealed that the Hailar runoff had a teleconnection with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The sharply increasing variance at the end of the reconstruction, accompanied by the increasing intensity of short cycles (4–8 years), indicated that runoff variability in the Hailar River basin has enhanced in the late twentieth century. This is verified by the drastic fluctuations in water level and area of rivers and lakes, and the frequent shift of natural land cover types in the Hulun Buir area in recent decades. The intensified runoff variability can be connected with the concurrently enhanced ENSO activity. Our study is the first to identify the intensification of recent runoff variability in the semiarid to arid region in northeast China from a long-term perspective. With projected enhancement of ENSO activity, the Hailar River basin will face the increased risk of extreme hydrological events.


ABSTRACT The bacterial enhancer-binding protein NtrC is a well-studied response regulator in a two-component regulatory system. The amino (N)-terminal receiver domain of NtrC modulates the function of its adjacent output domain, which activates transcription by the ς54 holoenzyme. When a specific aspartate residue in the receiver domain of NtrC is phosphorylated, the dimeric protein forms an oligomer that is capable of ATP hydrolysis and transcriptional activation. A chemical protein cleavage method was used to investigate signal propagation from the phosphorylated receiver domain of NtrC, which acts positively, to its central output domain. The iron chelate reagent Fe-BABE was conjugated onto unique cysteines introduced into the N-terminal domain of NtrC, and the conjugated proteins were subjected to Fe-dependent cleavage with or without prior phosphorylation. Phosphorylation-dependent cleavage, which requires proximity and an appropriate orientation of the peptide backbone to the tethered Fe-EDTA, was particularly prominent with conjugated NtrCD86C, in which the unique cysteine lies near the top of α-helix 4. Cleavage occurred outside the receiver domain itself and on the partner subunit of the derivatized monomer in an NtrC dimer. The results are commensurate with the hypothesis that α-helix 4 of the phosphorylated receiver domain of NtrC interacts with the beginning of the central domain for signal propagation. They imply that the phosphorylation-dependent interdomain and intermolecular interactions between the receiver domain of one subunit and the output domain of its partner subunit in an NtrC dimer precede—and may give rise to—the oligomerization needed for transcriptional activation.


Background: Around 45% of Swedish consumers canceled their online purchase in 2018, due to too high delivery fees and issues concerning payments. This research is focusing on epayments by utilizing the Technology Acceptance Model 3 and its determinants perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, and how they contribute to the e-payment method decision. Additionally, the relevance of online trust and online security are examined in relation to purchasing cancellations due to trust and security issues in e-payment methods. Purpose: The purpose of this research paper is to understand how Swedish millennial consumers' perceptions of online security and online trust of e-payment methods effect on online purchasing cancellation. Furthermore, this paper examines how perceptions of usefulness and ease of use contribute as determinants in choosing between e-payment methods according to Swedish millennial consumers. Method: The research is carried out in a qualitative manner by conducting a series of semistructured face-to-face interviews. Fifteen Swedish millennials contributed to the empirical study. The gathered primary data is analyzed and then presented in chapter 4 and connected to the existing literature in chapter 5. Conclusion: For the Swedish millennials, both online trust and online security are perceived as important determinants when evaluating whether or not the e-payment method could be used. When choosing between different e-payment methods, perceived ease of use seemed to be more important. Additionally, the decisions are made based on which e-payment method is secure, trustworthy, and easy to use. The presence of those determinants also increases perceived usefulness. When making purchases online domestically it appears that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness weight heavier. While trust and security are given more importance if the purchase is made from a foreign website.


This paper studies the Cantonese sentence final particle tim1 and more generally the semantics of additive particles. The range of meanings conveyed by tim1 appears quite broad, covering both scalar and non-scalar additive readings as well as mirative ones. We argue in favor of separating an additive tim1-particle and a mirative one. Our claims are based on their semantic differences but also on syntactic and acoustic differences. We formalize the meaning of each of these particles using a probabilistic argumentative framework which helps us define the scale with which tim1 associates, namely an argumentative scale which is relative to speaker's goal in the discourse. In doing so we also contrast the meaning of each particle with similar elements in other languages. We use these descriptions to claim that the mirative reading is the result of a metonymic semantic shift of the additive reading of the particle, and discuss paths of semantic change for additive particles in natural language from a cross-linguistic perspective.


Current global inventories of ammonia emissions identify the ocean as the largest natural source. This source depends on seawater pH, temperature, and the concentration of total seawater ammonia (NHx(sw)), which reflects a balance between remineralization of organic matter, uptake by plankton, and nitrification. Here we compare [NHx(sw)] from two global ocean biogeochemical models (BEC and COBALT) against extensive ocean observations. Simulated [NHx(sw)] are generally biased high. Improved simulation can be achieved in COBALT by increasing the plankton affinity for NHx within observed ranges. The resulting global ocean emissions is 2.5 TgN a−1, much lower than current literature values (7–23 TgN a−1), including the widely used Global Emissions InitiAtive (GEIA) inventory (8 TgN a−1). Such a weak ocean source implies that continental sources contribute more than half of atmospheric NHx over most of the ocean in the Northern Hemisphere. Ammonia emitted from oceanic sources is insufficient to neutralize sulfate aerosol acidity, consistent with observations. There is evidence over the Equatorial Pacific for a missing source of atmospheric ammonia that could be due to photolysis of marine organic nitrogen at the ocean surface or in the atmosphere. Accommodating this possible missing source yields a global ocean emission of ammonia in the range 2–5 TgN a−1, comparable in magnitude to other natural sources from open fires and soils.


When hotel employees feel stress from conflicts between work and family, some of the resulting exhaustion is inevitably reflected in their interactions with customers. This study paired two hundred hotel employees and customers in an analysis of customer satisfaction as it relates to employees' service behavior, which is affected by the emotional, mental, and physical toll of work–family conflict. Employees' exhaustion and emotional displays contain a mixed set of effects on customer satisfaction. The findings reveal that employees' family interfering with work is linked to physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion, while work interfering with family does not have the same effect. Higher levels of physical exhaustion increased the likelihood that employees would display faked positive emotions and simultaneously suppress negative emotions. Customers could spot the fakery, but they judged that the fake positive emotions enhanced the employees' role performance. At the same time, however, customer satisfaction was diminished when employees' emotional displays were obviously not genuine. Thus, hotel managers may be interested in determining whether family issues are impinging on employees' work responsibilities, given that the outcome may be reduced customer satisfaction.


Web based systems are highly useful for extending business as well as information sharing. Many platforms and technologies available for development of Web based systems. For a successful Web based system the design plays a vital role where the business logic is to be realised. Many traditional design approaches available, among which choosing the appropriate one is a challenge. Many Web based systems are developed in a hit and trail manner to meet the business objective. But having a proper design helps in future enhancement and systematic understanding of the system. In this paper Finite Automaton has been chosen as a design approach for Web based transactional systems which are functionally different than Web based informative systems. Finite automaton is an oldest and efficient mechanism for modelling any mathematical problem. Software development or Web based development can be visualized as s mathematical problem hence finite automaton can be used as a design approach for developing Web based Systems. In this paper a comparison on key features has been carried out with other tradition design approaches to justify the Finite automaton is equally efficient for designing a software or Web based system.


High false alarm rates are a problem in anti-submarine warfare in littoral waters using active broadband sonar. Automatic classification algorithms may help combat this problem by filtering out detections due to non-threatening targets. An important feature for classification purposes is knowledge of the target's depth. Using active sonar with vertical beamforming capabilities, the received signal from a target can be used to find an estimate of the target's depth given an initial guess of the target's horizontal distance from the ship, the bottom profile and the sound speed profile. The estimation is done by an optimization algorithm. The algorithm varies relevant parameters and models signals based on these parameters, comparing the modelled signals with the received signal until parameters providing an optimal fit are found. The modelling is based on using a ray tracing procedure to find eigenrays for a candidate target depth, finding vertical arrival angles and arrival times by use of these eigenrays, and synthesizing a signal based on the arrival angles and arrival times. The ray tracing procedure is done numerically using LYBIN, a platform developed by the Norwegian Defence Logistics Organization (NDLO). Three candidate objective functions for comparing recorded signals to modelled signals are presented. The validity of the eigenray finding procedure is confirmed, and results from testing the optimization procedure on synthetic data when applying the different objective functions are presented. The results show that the method produces target depth estimates which are suitable for classification purposes.


When measuring room impulse responses using swept sinusoids, it often occurs that the sine sweep room response recording is terminated soon after either the sine sweep ends or the long-lasting low-frequency modes fully decay. In the presence of typical acoustic background noise levels, perceivable artifacts can emerge from the process of converting such a prematurely truncated sweep response into an impulse response. In particular, a low-pass noise process with a time-varying cutoff frequency will appear in the measured room impulse response, a result of the frequency-dependent time shift applied to the sweep response to form the impulse response. Here, we detail the artifact, describe methods for restoring the impulse response measurement, and present a case study using measurements from the Berkeley Art Museum shortly before its demolition. We show that while the difficulty may be avoided using circular convolution, nonlinearities typical of loudspeakers will corrupt the room impulse response. This problem can be alleviated by stitching synthesized noise onto the end of the sweep response before converting it into an impulse response. Two noise synthesis methods are described: the first uses a filter bank to estimate the frequency-dependent measurement noise power and then filter synthesized white Gaussian noise. The second uses a linearphase filter formed by smoothing the recorded noise across perceptual bands to filter Gaussian noise. In both cases, we demonstrate that by time-extending the recording with noise similar to the recorded background noise that we can push the problem out in time such that it no longer interferes with the measured room impulse response.


Historically leftist ideas and theories have had a profound impact on modern Jewish life. But, the left's impact on the Jewish community has greatly diminished today. Nonetheless, it can still be detected in the tendency of American Jews to vote for the liberal camp. This political tendency has also influenced Jewish communities actions as illustrated by the large numbers of Jews who participated in the civil rights movements of the post-World War II period and in the so-called new Left. Essential Papers on Jews and the Left presents a sweeping portrait of the defining impact of the left on modern Jewish politics and culture in Europe, Palestine/Israel, and the New World. The contributions in the first part, entitled The Jewish Left, discuss specifically Jewish radical organizations such as the Bund and Poale Zion. The second section, Jews in the Left, explores the activities of Jews in general left wing politics, emphasizing their role in the Russian revolutionary movement. In the final section, The Left and the Jews, the essays examine the attitudes of the left in Europe and America toward the Jewish question, including the key issue of Karl Marx and his reputedly anti-Jewish attitudes.


WHILE IN THE RUNNING for CEO of Lawrence General Hospital (LGH) two years ago, I performed my due diligence: I perused the hospital's website, examined the printed materials sent by the search firm, and scoured the web for LGH stories and recent news. I genuinely admired what I'd seen in person during the interview process-Lawrence General's leadership, staff, and clinical capabilities-but I was concerned with the public face and persona of the hospital. The website was static, out of date, and full of broken links; the marketing materials were bland; and the messaging in no way matched the progressive Lawrence General I'd experienced during my many visits. I knew all aspects of LGH's marketing would require radical change, but I had no idea where to start. When I took the reins and began my work, the to-do list for our small marketing department was long and filled with urgent items-and there was no room for social media on that list. Fast-forward two years, and the scene is much different. We have instituted a vibrant, exciting external mindset. The hospital's revamped website receives more than 50,000 page views per month. Our Facebook page is the fastest-growing in our region, with more than 1,700 engaged fans. Healthcare communications firm UbiCare often ranks us first in New England and has ranked us as high as third in the country for fan engagement (UbiCare 2011). Getting to this point was not easy. I needed to be convinced, as did many of the hospital leaders who for decades had been secretive and guarded with our news and stories. Fortunately, we brought in new marketing leadership from outside the hospital sector who helped us see the benefits of social media. Our new vice president, Nicholas Zaharias, had worked in social media in major college and independent school sectors. From the day he started, Nick was ready to begin our venture into the world of social media. However, I remained a true clinician and healthcare administrator, asking probing questions: I was concerned about confidentiality, upkeep, negative posts about LGH, the constant monitoring required, and whether we could even build a fan base. It was his proposed novel use of our initial page that sold me. Our hospital website needed a total overhaul, and the new site would take six to eight months to be launched. LGH had no time to spare and could not afford to wait for the new web presence to come to fruition, so he recommended that our Facebook page become our interim web page through which to better and more quickly share facts, highlights, and achievements with our audience. He argued that an active and useful social media page would show the public that Lawrence General was progressive and willing to share our news in open, tech-sawy ways. While I still needed convincing about social media in general, this argument made perfect sense. I didn't know how news-starved our audience truly was until we launched the Facebook page and our fan base grew wildly from the first day. Facebook served as the cost-free launching pad for a dizzying switch in our once sleepy not-for-profit community hospital's marketing focus and achievement. LESSONS FROM OUR EXPERIENCE Thielst and Angelle and Rose make excellent points that resonate with what I experienced in LGH 's social media implementation. The following tips and examples are based on what has worked well for us; I hope they help calm the fears of other social media skeptics throughout the healthcare field. Getting off the ground can be daunting. Consider the following starting steps for your social media journey: * Enlist a local expert to help you begin. Ask around your organization or community for someone who has experience with social networking and media. It could be a new staffer, an intern, a local college student, a clinician, or a volunteer. The person who helps you build your presence does not need to be someone in your marketing department (although in most cases that department will be tasked with social media upkeep). …


1 We present results from a long‐term sowing experiment conducted in nutrient‐poor savanna grassland in eastern Minnesota. We examine the effects of a one‐time seed addition of 23 grassland species on plant community dynamics and structure over eight growing seasons. 2 Our goals were to: (i) test the importance of seed availability in regulating plant colonization dynamics and species richness; (ii) assess both the initial effects of sowing on species diversity and community structure and whether these effects increased, persisted or dissipated over the long‐term; and (iii) determine the long‐term impacts of sown species on the structure and dynamics of the existing community, including effects on species diversity, the abundance of existing (non‐sown) species, extinction rate and abundance hierarchy. 3 Sowing led to the successful establishment of several plant species that had not been present in the plots and to increased abundance of other species that were already present. 4 Sowing led to sustained, significant changes in community structure, including increased species richness, increased community evenness, and decreased absolute and relative abundance of non‐sown species. Effects of sowing were large and significant 8 years after sowing, revealing the role of seed limitation in these grassland communities. 5 In total, the results suggest that dispersal limitations, species pools and local biotic processes interact to regulate plant community structure.


New understanding of key microbial players in the nitrogen cycle such as the discovery of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) has sparked a plethora of research aimed at nitrogen cycle processes. Evidence for AOA has been specifically detected in hot springs of Uzon Caldera, Kamchatka Russia. Samples were collected from Orange Thermal Field (OTF) and other thermal fields in Uzon to gain greater understanding of environments in which AOA are found. The geochemistry, microbial communities, mineralogy were examined at OTF from both oxidized and reduced zones. It was hypothesized that crenarchaeol would be more abundant where oxygen and nutrients NH4 + and Cu are more abundant. Instead, a higher abundance of crenarchaeol was observed where smectites were common despite lower Cu and Oxygen levels. Smectites have a greater potential to bind NH4 + and metal cations. It is proposed that in OTF the presence of NH4 -bearing smectites in reduced zones provides a more favorable environment due to the acidity of sediments resulting in greater AOA abundance. INDEX WORDS: ammonia-oxidizing archaea, trace metals, Kamchatka, Uzon Caldera, hot springs, thermophilic ammonia oxidation, redox gradients, expanding-clay UNDERSTANDING THERMOPHILIC AMMONIA-OXIDIZING ARCHAEA ENVIRONMENTS ACROSS EXTREME REDOX GRADIENTS


A re-evaluation of the armoured catfish species of Hypostomus in the Rio Jaguaribe, north-eastern Brazil, was prompted by the discovery of specimens with pale spots on a dark background collected from that basin c. 1936 and deposited at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Recent field collections in the Rio Jarguaribe basin confirmed the presence of the pale-spotted specimens and its distinctiveness as a new species. Hypostomus sertanejo n. sp. is diagnosed from other species of Hypostomus by having fins and dermal-plated regions of head and body with pale spots or vermiculations on darker background, teeth slender, asymmetrically bicuspid and numerous (34-75) on dentary and premaxilla, depressed dorsal-fin spine not reaching adipose spine, unbranched pectoral-fin spine longer than unbranched pelvic-fin ray, seven branched dorsal-fin rays and one (rarely two) predorsal plate(s) bordering supraoccipital. Ancistrus salgadae Fowler 1941 is hypothesized to be a junior synonym of Hypostomus carvalhoi (Miranda-Ribeiro, 1937), a dark-spotted Hypostomus described from the Rio Granjeiro, a tributary to the upper Rio Salgado.


Wireless sensors have started being utilized for process monitoring in factory environments, which are typically harsh for low-power wireless communication due to their complicated layout and plentiful stationary/moving obstacles. Sensor radios available so far have been engineered for consumer-grade applications, featuring low cost, low power, and minimal radio complexity. In order to utilize such radios for factory applications, their channel characteristics and link quality must be investigated for optimal design and reliability assessment. In this paper, a series of measurements were made with IEEE 802.15.4-compliant sensor radios to study both their spatial and temporal characteristics with respect to the factory surroundings found in a university machine shop. Critical communication properties were investigated in terms of received signal strength, link quality indication, and packet error rate. It is found that received signal strength shows dependency on surrounding structures, radio link qualities with respect to received signal strength and link quality indication are stable before a grey zone is reached, and average link quality indicator serves as a better packet success rate indication than average received signal strength indication. The findings in this paper provide a useful guidance to the ongoing explorations for a methodology to predict radio performance at any location within a given factory floor plan and to online assess the time-variant link qualities.


The OECD base erosion and profit-shifting project (BEPS) presents a unique opportunity for the international tax regime. BEPS is taking on an immense challenge, with 15 separate action items on such issues as the digital economy, hybrid mismatches, treaty abuse, intangibles transfer pricing, and information sharing. Dealing with any one of these issues has proven difficult to deal with in the past, but if the reason for these past difficulties has been that these issues are inexorably intertwined, addressing them as part of a comprehensive overhaul not only makes sense, but could also prove crucial to BEPS's ultimate success. If the problems confronting BEPS truly represents a fundamental breakdown of the infrastructure of the existing international tax regime itself, what is needed is a new intellectual framework for BEPS to be a success.This article attempts to sketch the outlines of that framework for a post-BEPS international tax regime. This is not intended to defend any particular proposal or resolve any specific BEPS action item. Rather, it is intended to introduce one possible way to integrate the disparate goals of BEPS into a single, coherent, intellectual framework. Ideally, the presence of a clearly defined intellectual framework itself could contribute to making BEPS (or any similar project) a long-term success, regardless of any specific proposals emerging from it.


State-space models have been extensively used in various applications. When the linearity of the system and the Gaussianity of the noise are assumed, this type of models lead to the implementation of Kalman filter in order to estimate the state. The optimality of the Kalman filter is based on the fact that all the parameters describing the model are known except for the state which has to be estimated. In this paper we consider the case when the measurement and observations noise sequences are correlated. A method to estimate the correlation of this noise sequences is introduced. Illustrative examples are presented where we show the benefits of estimating the correlation between the noises at an affordable computational cost.


Efficient scheduling of heterogeneous tasks to heterogeneous processors for any application is crucial to attain high performance. Cloud computing provides a heterogeneous environment to perform various operations. The scheduling of user requests (tasks) in the cloud environment is a NP-hard optimization problem. Researchers present various heuristic and metaheuristic techniques to provide the sub-optimal solution to the problem. In this paper, we have proposed an Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) based task scheduling (ACOTS) algorithm to optimize the makespan of the system and reducing the average waiting time. The designed algorithm is implemented and simulated in CloudSim simulator. Results of simulations are compared to Round Robin and Random algorithms which show satisfactory output.


In most of the Western hemisphere there is presently an intensive debate regarding the proper pricing of energy. Attempts to internalize the social and environmental costs related to energy consumption are confronted by the wish to maintain national industry in an increasingly free, global market. In this paper it is shown that the energy-consumption in the energy intensive industries can be split into two different categories; the energy which is physically required to make a product and the energy which is lost during the production. Without lowering the production, it is only the energy losses which the industry can reduce and which the society can exploit better. By focusing taxation on these losses, we can create a stronger economic incentive for energy efficient designs in industry. Implementation of such a two-price system is discussed, and it will be shown that this system can be introduced in both free and protected markets without altering the international competitiveness of their industries. On the contrary, in case of a later, global increase in energy prices, the plants and national economies which are already accustomed to a higher marginal energy price will get a competitive advantage.


To overcome the problems of thermal, moisture and photo-stability of existing methylammonium based perovskites, formamidinium-based compositions are introduced for photovoltaic application. Formamidinium lead iodide (FAPbI3) and methylammonium lead bromide (MAPbBr3) mixed compositions of hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite type solar cells have shown the highest efficiency of 22.1%. For FAPbI3, two different polymorphs exist at room temperature: one is the hexagonal non-perovskite phase (δ-phase) and the other is the perovskite cubic phase (α-phase). The non-perovskite phase can be detrimental to the solar cell performance. To eradicate the undesired phase, a systematic evaluation of phase formation and crystallization is necessary. Here, we investigated the room temperature crystallization of the perovskite and non-perovskite phases of FAPbI3 by solvent and antisolvent induced crystallization methods using a two-step sequential deposition method. For each phase, the volume fraction is estimated using the X-ray diffraction technique. At room temperature, the δ-phase is found to grow as long one-dimensional nanorods and its volume fraction increases with the dipping time. It is observed that the presence of an antisolvent has a moderate control on the δ-phase growth. Experimentally, with the detailed solvent-induced time dependent crystallization study, we have proved the effective elimination of the δ-phase and the stability of the FA1−xMAxPbI3 perovskite phase.


The recent detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in feces has led to speculation that it can be transmitted via the fecal-oral/ocular route. This review aims to critically evaluate the incidence of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, the quantity and infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 in feces and urine, and whether these pose an infection risk in sanitary settings, sewage networks, wastewater treatment plants, and the wider environment (e.g. rivers, lakes and marine waters). Overall, severe GI dysfunction is only evident in a small number of COVID-19 cases, with 11 ± 2% exhibiting diarrhea and 12 ± 3% exhibiting vomiting and nausea. In addition to these cases, SARS-CoV-2 RNA can be detected in feces from some asymptomatic, mildly- and pre-symptomatic individuals. Fecal shedding of the virus peaks in the symptomatic period and can persist for several weeks, but with declining abundances in the post-symptomatic phase. SARS-CoV-2 RNA is occasionally detected in urine, but reports in fecal samples are more frequent. The abundance of the virus genetic material in both urine (ca. 102-105 gc/ml) and feces (ca. 102-107 gc/ml) is much lower than in nasopharyngeal fluids (ca. 105-1011 gc/ml). There is strong evidence of multiplication of SARS-CoV-2 in the GI tract and infectious virus has occasionally been recovered from both urine and stool samples. The level and infectious capability of SARS-CoV-2 in vomit remain unknown. In comparison to enteric viruses transmitted via the fecal-oral route (e.g. norovirus, adenovirus), the likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 being transmitted via feces or urine appears lower due to the lower relative amounts of virus present in feces/urine. The biggest risk of transmission will occur in clinical and care home settings where secondary handling of people and urine/fecal matter occurs. In addition, while SARS-CoV-2 RNA genetic material can be detected by in wastewater, this signal is greatly reduced by conventional treatment. Our analysis also suggests the likelihood of infection due to contact with sewage-contaminated water (e.g. swimming, surfing, angling) or food (e.g. salads, shellfish) is extremely low or negligible based on very low predicted abundances and limited environmental survival of SARS-CoV-2. These conclusions are corroborated by the fact that over eight million global cases of COVID-19 have occurred, but exposure to feces or wastewater has never been implicated as a transmission vector.


Pipelines have been installed and operated around the globe to transport oil and gas for decades. They are considered to be an effective, economic and safe means of transportation. The major concern in their operation is corrosion. Among the different forms of corrosion, stress corrosion cracking (SCC), which is caused by stresses induced by internal fluid flow or other external forces during the pipeline's operation, in combined action with the presence of a corrosive medium, can lead to pipeline failure. In this paper, an extensive review of different factors affecting SCC of pipeline steels in various environmental conditions is carried out to understand their impact. Several factors such as temperature, presence of oxidizers (O2, CO2, H2S, etc.), composition and concentration of medium, pH, applied stress, and microstructure of the metal/alloy have been established to affect the SCC of pipeline steels. SCC susceptibility of a steel at a particular temperature strongly depends on the type and composition of the corrosive medium and microstructure. It was observed that pipeline steels with water quenched and quenched and tempered heat treatments, such as those that consist of acicular ferrite or bainitic ferrite grains, are more susceptible to SCC irrespective of solution type and composition. Applied stress, stress concentration and fluctuating stress facilitates SCC initiation and propagation. In general, the mechanisms for crack initiation and propagation in near-neutral solutions are anodic dissolution and hydrogen embrittlement.


BACKGROUND
Despite development of novel cancer drugs, invasive ductal breast carcinoma and its metastasis are still highly morbid. Therefore, new therapeutic approaches are being developed and Hsp90 is an important target for drug design. For this purpose, a series of benzodiazepine derivatives were designed and synthesized as novel Hsp90 inhibitor.

METHODS
Benzodiazepine derivatives anticancer activities were determined by XTT cell proliferation assay against human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). Effects of the compounds on endothelial function were monitored on human vascular endothelium (HUVEC) cell line as well. In order to determine the anti-proliferative mechanism of the compounds, in silico molecular docking studies were performed between Hsp90 ATPase domain and the benzodiazepine derivatives. Further, these compounds perturbation on Hsp90 ATPase function were tested. Fluorescence binding experiments showed that the derivatives bind Hsp90 effectively. Expression analysis of known cancer drug target genes by PCR array experiments suggest that the benzodiazepine derivatives have remarkable anticancer activity.

RESULTS
A representative Benzodiazepine derivative D5 binds Hsp90 with Kd value of 3,93 μM and with estimated free energy of binding -7.99 (kcal/mol). The compound decreases Hsp90 ATPase function and inhibit Hsp90 client protein folding activity. The compound inhibits expression of both Hsp90 isoforms and key proteins (cell cycle receptors; PLK2 and TERT, kinases; PI3KC3 and PRKCE, and growth factors; IGF1, IGF2, KDR, and PDGFRA) on oncogenic pathways.

CONCLUSION
Benzodiazepine derivatives presented here display anticancer activity. The compounds effect on both breast cancer and endothelial cell lines show their potential as drug templates to inhibit breast cancer and its metastasis.


In eusocial insects, the division of labor within a colony, based on either age or size, is correlated with a differential foraging (for) gene expression and PKG activity. This article presents in the first part a study on the for gene, encoding a cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris. Cloning of the open reading frame allowed phylogenetic tracing, which showed conservation of PKGs among social insects. Our results confirm the proposed role for PKGs in division of labor. Btfor gene expression is significantly higher in the larger foragers compared with the smaller sized nurses. More importantly, we discovered an age-related decrease in Btfor expression in both nursing and foraging bumblebees. We therefore speculate that the presence of BtFOR is required for correct adaptation to new external stimuli and rapid learning for foraging. In a second series of experiments, worker bumblebees of B. terrestris were treated with two insecticides imidacloprid and kinoprene, which have shown to cause impaired foraging behavior. Compared with controls, only the latter treatment resulted in a decreased Btfor expression, which concurs with a stimulation of ovarian growth and a shift in labor toward nest-related tasks. The data are discussed in relation to Btfor expression in the complex physiological event of foraging and side-effects by pesticides.


Aim: This study aimed at describing the epidemiology and pattern of presentation of oral ulcerations among patients seen in Oral Medicine clinic of Obafemi Awolowo University Complex, Ile-Ife. Methodology: This study was a retrospective cohort study of all cases that presented with oral ulcers in the oral medicine clinic between May 2015 and May 2017. The clinical diagnosis of oral ulcers was based on the WHO guidelines for oral mucosa diagnosis. All the case notes in the unit were retrieved and reviewed. Information extracted from the case notes included age, sex, medical history, clinical findings and treatment received. The data was analyzed using STATA 13 statistical software. Results: Out of 250 patients seen in the Oral Medicine Clinic during the study period, oral ulcerations were seen in 50 patients comprising 34(68%) males and 16(32%) females, giving a prevalence of 20%. The mean age was 35.4 ±14.7 years and patients were most frequently seen in the third decade of life 16 (32%). The commonest site was lower lip (20; 40%) and ulcers were rare on the gingiva (1, 2%). More than half of the ulcers were solitary (26; 52%) and painful at presentation. Recurrent aphthous ulceration accounted for 47 cases (94%), others were traumatic ulcer (2; 4%) and Chemical burns (1; 2%). Physical stress was the most frequent implicated predisposing factor observed in 38 (76%) patients. Conclusion: Recurrent apthous ulcer was the most frequent form of oral ulceration and was commoner in males. Physical stress was the most frequently implicated predisposing factor.


The purpose of this study was to determine the number of procedures necessary to become proficient in flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopic examination. I performed 99 bronchoscopic procedures during a formal training program under the direct supervision of instructors with varying experience. There were no statistical differences in the bronchoscopic accuracy among the instructors whose experience ranged from 100 to 4,000 bronchoscopic procedures. This implied that 100 procedures were necessary to become proficient in fiberoptic bronchoscopic examination. Immediately following the formal training program, I performed 35 consecutive bronchoscopic procedures without supervision. The diagnostic accuracy of these procedures was not statistically different from the accuracy during the training program. This study suggests that 100 flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopic procedures are sufficient to become proficient.