Modulation characteristics of single-longitudinal-mode semiconductor lasers are sufficiently well understood to permit meaningful modeling of high-bit-rate dispersive optical fiber communications systems. Semiconductor laser modulation dynamics are briefly reviewed with an emphasis on the interdependence of wavelength chirping and damping of relaxation oscillations. Beginning with the basic equations governing the laser optical field, computer simulations are described which evaluate the system 'eye closure' resulting from chirping and related laser modulation constraints. The effects of laser structure, parasitics and intentional transmitter and receiver current filtering are explored. Tolerances for deviation from the zero dispersion wavelength are estimated for bit rates up to 16 Gb/s. The analysis indicates that proper choice of linear transmitter and receiver filtering can significantly reduce degradation resulting from inherently nonlinear chirping-induced dispersive distortion.<<ETX>>


Major change is underway in Irish social care. Toward the professionalisation of social care workers in the Republic of Ireland, standards of proficiency were drafted and published in 2017 by the Social Care Workers Registration Board. These standards represent the threshold of what a worker must demonstrate at the point of entry to the register and as such, critical inquiry into their nature and merit is both indispensable and required, be it through stakeholders in the field, or from social care academia. Theoretically informed appraisal of standards of proficiency in this paper occurs through a composite social constructionist frame. Therein, four core conventions of social constructionism theory underpinning the framework, are critically applied in this paper, across five domains overarching the standards of proficiency. The four assumptions are as follows. Firstly, the historical and cultural specificity of standards should be considered. Here, it is imperative that the role of history and culture in developing, appraising and applying standards is scrutinized. Secondly, knowledge should be understood as sustained by social processes. Within this, knowledge surrounding social care and standards of proficiency is deemed to be socially constructed. Thirdly, knowledge and social action should be seen as occurring together, and in this way, mutually influential. Fourth and finally, one must adopt a critical stance towards taken for granted knowledge. The intention of analysis is modest. Namely, to provide fodder to fuel critical understanding of the implications of standards of proficiency, for students and practitioners, now confronted by a complex and evolving occupational milieu.


The dairy industry is related to the people's livelihood and a lot of attentions have been paid to its current situation and future development tendency.This paper introduced the current situation of Chinese dairy industry and analyzed the main problems occurred during the developing process.Moreover,the development tendencies of the basic research,and quality control were also discussed.


The conditions which must be met at the slipstream boundary are developed, after which it is shown with the aid of the reflection method how these limiting conditions may be complied with in the case of an airfoil in a propeller slipstream in horizontal flow as well as for the propeller in yaw and with allowance for the slipstream rotation. In connection herewith, it is shown how the effective angles of attack and the circulation distribution with due regard to slipstream effect can be predicted and what inferences may be drawn therefrom for the distribution of lift, drag, and pitching moment.


Background. The COVID-19 lockdown could engender disruption to lifestyle behaviors, thus impairing mental wellbeing in the general population. This study investigated whether sociodemographic variables, changes in physical activity, and sleep quality from pre- to during lockdown were predictors of change in mental wellbeing in quarantined older adults. Methods. A 12-week international online survey was launched in 14 languages on 6 April 2020. Forty-one research institutions from Europe, Western-Asia, North-Africa, and the Americas, promoted the survey. The survey was presented in a differential format with questions related to responses "pre" and "during" the lockdown period. Participants responded to the Short Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire, and the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Results. Replies from older adults (aged >55 years, n = 517), mainly from Europe (50.1%), Western-Asia (6.8%), America (30%), and North-Africa (9.3%) were analyzed. The COVID-19 lockdown led to significantly decreased mental wellbeing, sleep quality, and total physical activity energy expenditure levels (all p < 0.001). Regression analysis showed that the change in total PSQI score and total physical activity energy expenditure (F(2, 514) = 66.41 p < 0.001) were significant predictors of the decrease in mental wellbeing from pre- to during lockdown (p < 0.001, R2: 0.20). Conclusion. COVID-19 lockdown deleteriously affected physical activity and sleep patterns. Furthermore, change in the total PSQI score and total physical activity energy expenditure were significant predictors for the decrease in mental wellbeing.


Transient fluid overpressure development appears to be a major control on the contrasting petroleum systems of Faroe–Shetland Basin (FSB) on the UK North East Atlantic margin and the northern North Sea North Viking Graben (NVG). Middle and Upper Jurassic shales are the main source rocks in both the NVG and the FSB, but the hydrocarbons within these basins differ significantly. Oil is predominant with only minor associated gas in the FSB while the NVG has a significantly higher proportion of dry gas. Both are rifted basins but the amount of rifting, heat flow and depth of burial were all considerably greater in the FSB, and consequently higher maturity hydrocarbons should be present in the FSB than in the NVG. The difference in hydrocarbon type between the basins arises from the different Cenozoic burial and, importantly, pressure histories in the two basins. Oil generation commenced during the early Cretaceous in both basins and some Mesozoic reservoirs may have been charged at this time. Rapid burial of thick argillaceous sediments in both basins from the late Cretaceous into the Tertiary led to overpressure development. The thermodynamic effect of this fluid overpressure in the source rocks was the retardation of hydrocarbon generation. In the NVG, regional uplift during the Tertiary resulted in transient overpressure reductions in the source rocks such that hydrocarbon generation, which had ceased prior to the uplift events, restarted due to the pressure reduction outstripping the effects of reduced temperatures. Although the source rocks were cooler than those in the FSB, the reduction in overpressure was sufficient to result in gas generation from both the Middle Jurassic and lower part of the Upper Jurassic source rocks. Conversely, although the FSB was also uplifted during short-lived Paleogene and Neogene events, the greater thickness of argillaceous late Cretaceous sediments reduced the transient overpressure loss in the source kitchens compared with the NVG. The maturity of the source rocks in the FSB was therefore held in the late oil window and, as a consequence, oil is the predominant hydrocarbon phase in this basin. The importance of overpressure development (or lack of it) and its subsequent release has major implications for petroleum prospectivity of basins. This is illustrated using the NE Kwanza Basin (Angola) and the Mississippi Fold Belt in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Whereas there are no commercial hydrocarbon discoveries in the deepwater Kwanza Basin due to lack of regional seal between the oil mature Pre-Salt source and the overlying migration conduit into the shelf, significant oil reserves occur in the deepwater GOM where the source rock depth (∼10 km) might be expected to preclude the presence of oil. The key to the release of oil from the source kitchens is the salt movement that occurs during the Neogene with the formation of salt canopies. As the salt moves vertically, it reduces the overpressure, thereby enabling oil generation to restart and migrate vertically along faults.


Serial music, which is mainly non-tonal, superimposes compositional freedom onto an unusually rigorous process of pitch-sequence transformations based on 'tone rows': a row is usually a sequence of notes using each of the 12 chromatic pitches once. Compositional freedom comprises forming chords from the sequences, and in multi-strand music, also in simultaneously presenting different segments of pitch-sequences. The present project coded a real-time serial music composer for automatic or interactive music performance. This Serial Keyboardist Collaborator can perform keyboard music which is impossible for a human to realize. Surprisingly, it was also useful in making more tonal music based on the same rigorous pitch-sequence generation.


Newcastle disease virus (NDV) belongs to the family Paramyxoviridae. It causes Newcastle disease, mainly by the virulent strains of avian paramyxovirus serotype-1 (AMPV-1). This virus represents a huge problem on the world's economy than any other animal virus, especially in developed countries. ND infection is not obstructed and many studies have attributed the spread of the disease to changes in the genome of the virus and emersion to new strains. We aimed to design a peptide vaccine for NDV particularly for the haemagglutininneuraminidase protein (HN) using computational methods to predict epitopes inducing immune system and can be used later to create a new peptide vaccine could replace conventional vaccines. A total of available 60 virulent strains of HNNDV were retrieved from NCBI for bioinformatics analysis using Immune Epitope Data Base (IEDB) to predict B and T cells Epitopes. We used human MHC class I and II alleles in this study due to the difficulty to determine MHC B complex alleles in Poultry. Then we docked the best predicted CTL epitopes with B-F alleles (BF2*2101 and BF2*0401). Four CTL cell epitopes namely ( 548 ISNTLFGEF 556 , 546 AEISNTLFG 554 , 88 VALESPLAL 96 and 526 YTTSTCFKV 534 ) interacted with MHC class (B-F) I alleles and we suggested them to become universal peptides based vaccine against NDV. We found these CTL epitopes to be T helper epitopes also. The overlapping between MHC class I (B-F) and (B-L) II T cell epitopes suggesting the possibility of antigen presentation to immune cells via both MHC class I and II pathways especially the overlapping between 548 ISNTLFGEF 556 and 546 AEISNTLFG 554 . We considered this study distinctive because no research ever dealt with peptide based vaccine on virulent strains of NDV using in silico approach. Keyword: Newcastle disease virus (NDV), poultry, MHC B complex and vaccine.


Domain-specific languages (DSLs) for complex financial contracts are in practical use in many banks and financial institutions today. Given the level of automation and pervasiveness of software in the sector, the financial domain is immensely sensitive to software bugs. At the same time, there is an increasing need to analyse (and report on) the interaction between multiple parties. In this paper, we present a multi-party contract language that rigorously relegates any artefacts of simulation and computation from its core, which leads to favourable algebraic properties, and therefore allows for formalising domain-specific analyses and transformations using a proof assistant. At the centre of our formalisation is a simple denotational semantics independent of any stochastic aspects. Based on this semantics, we devise certified contract analyses and transformations. In particular, we give a type system, with an accompanying type inference procedure, that statically ensures that contracts follow the principle of causality. Moreover, we devise a reduction semantics that allows us to evolve contracts over time, in accordance with the denotational semantics. From the verified Coq definitions, we automatically extract a Haskell implementation of an embedded contract DSL along with the formally verified contract management functionality. This approach opens a road map towards more reliable contract management software, including the possibility of analysing contracts based on symbolic instead of numeric methods.


Background and Objectives: Eclampsia poses a global threat in terms of feto-maternal morbidity and mortality and all medical practitioners fear the ailment. It is one of the major causes behind preventable maternal death. Etio-pathogenesis of the disease condition is ambiguous and is considered to be multi-factorial. This study was done to analyze cases of eclampsia in relation to maternal and fetal outcomes at a tertiary level care hospital.
Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional observational study was carried out in patients developing eclampsia over a period of five years starting from July 2011 to June 2016 at National Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Birgunj. Relevant data were collected from the statistics section of hospital reviewing the case sheets.
Results: There were 291 cases of eclampsia out of 16,445 deliveries and prevalence of eclampsia was calculated to be 1.77%. Fourty-five percent of eclamptic women had age less than 20 years and two-third was primigravida. Approximately 84% of women were unbooked. Antepartum eclampsia was observed in 78.8% followed by postpartum eclampsia (14.8%) and intrapartum eclampsia (6.5%).  At the time of admission systolic blood pressure more than 140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure more than 90 mmHg were noted in 79% and 92.1% cases respectively. Caesarean section was the preferred mode of delivery and was performed in 62.9% cases. ICU admission was required in 35.7% and remaining cases were managed in general/eclampsia ward. Renal failure was the most common cause of maternal mortality seen in 29.4%. Still birth was noted in 13.4%.
Conclusion: Institutional obstetric patients are gradually facing eclampsia as prime cause of maternal death and unfortunately most of the cases are primigravid at younger age. All health care professionals should be proficient to manage eclamptic women instantaneously.
Key words: Eclampsia; Fetal Mortality; Maternal Mortality; Pre-Eclampsia


The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015 represent a new global consensus to end poverty, promote prosperity, and protect the environment. Goal 8 seeks to improve global resource efficiency in consumption and production and to decouple economic growth (GDP) from environmental degradation while Goal 12 focuses on sustainable consumption and production. While GDP does not capture these broader goals, we suggest that the System of National Accounts which incorporates but goes well beyond GDP, can be used for the measurement of these SDGs and to support policy. We construct a conceptual "super balance sheet" with an expanded asset boundary to include durable consumer goods used to produce services, human capital, and access to resources such as clean water and air, education, health, and infrastructure, to produce an expanded household net worth.


In this paper, we propose a novel gradient index metamaterial lens to focus elastic wave energy in polymer pipes. We investigate multi-mode focusing of guided ultrasonic waves in a poly-vinyl chloride (PVC) pipe by designing and integrating an embedded gradient index (GRIN) lens within the pipe wall. The metamaterial lens is composed of equally spaced cylindrical brass inserts embedded into the pipe wall. All the inserts are of same height which is equal to the half-thickness of the pipe. Insert diameters are varied in circumferential direction to realize hyperbolic secant distribution of refractive index around the circumference of pipe. We explore focusing of three pipe wave modes commonly used for guided wave inspection of pipelines namely, L(0,2), L(0,1) and T(0,1), using a single lens design. We further verify the lens performance through numerical simulations estimating the amplification of wave energy in focal regions of the GRIN lens for these three modes. We also estimate attenuation of guided waves propagating in PVC pipe through experimental measurements.


Technology adoption plays a significant role in changing the way business communicates its financial information. One recently developed, technology-based language that can be used for financial reporting is eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL). Fisher (2008) believes that XBRL is the future of business reporting and various XBRL stakeholders internationally have been promoting the use of XBRL for almost two decades. However, the widespread adoption of XBRL for business reporting has not happened in New Zealand.  Thus, the aim of this thesis is to investigate why business and professional organisations and the New Zealand Government have decided not to adopt XBRL for use in business reporting and the implications of that decision for XBRL stakeholders. The following research questions are addressed:  a) What factors influenced the organisations' decisions not to adopt XBRL for use in business reporting? b) What are the implications of the government decision regarding XBRL use in business reporting for XBRL stakeholders?  To achieve the research aim and answer the research questions, this study developed a research framework that utilizes the Technological, Organisational, and Environmental (TOE) model of technology adoption developed by DePietro, Wiarda, and Fleischer (1990). A longitudinal multiple-case study approach that analyses interview and documentary data related to four key XBRL projects: LEAP+, Project First Step, e-GIF, and SBR, was employed.  The results suggest the non-adoption decision by New Zealand's private and public sector organisations was influenced by a combination of factors from the technological, organisational, and environmental contexts. Twelve predicted and fourteen unpredicted factors have a different degree of influence on the non-adoption decision. The factors of no relative advantage, not being perceived as a problem solver, a lack of human capability, no real championship, ineffective promotion, and communication, over-enthusiasm among experts, a lack of stakeholder involvement and a knowledge gap are the critical influencing factors and are common to all four XBRL projects. One-off factors in particular projects also had a significant influence. These were the copyright issue in the LEAP+ project; a change of laws, rules and regulations in Project First Step; a change of programme sponsor in the e-GIF project; and a change of government and the global financial crisis in the SBR programme. For the earlier projects, under the auspices of professional organisations, the technological and organisational contexts were the most important. However, the organisational and environmental contexts were most significant during projects under the auspices of government organisations.  The non-adoption of XBRL had different short-term and long-term implications for the XBRL stakeholders. In the short-term, the government agencies are potentially unable to perform specific reporting-related data analysis and have limited their ability to share data and improve the efficiency of their processes. In long-term the government agencies have lost an opportunity to detect more errors in financial statements, to get data and information for policy-making purposes and to work in a connected manner. Accounting firms face a lack of XBRL skill development in the short and long-term and have missed the opportunity to free-up time for other purposes. Business organisations have lost the opportunity to improve access and connections with government agencies or other businesses, to reduce their compliance costs and potentially increase their long-term effectiveness.


Historical cost accounting properly interpreted, referred to as the monetary model, is critically evaluated as the main source of financial information relevant for assessment of money capital maintenance, and also as a major component of accountability of directors to shareholders. The formal representation of the elements of the accounting equation in the double entry calculus ( D E C ) portrays the relationships between the elements. Changes in assets and liabilities comprise the primitives of the system. General postulates provide the means for deriving a specific interpretation of the D E C from information needs of users. M o n e y capital maintenance and stewardship of money funds are the needs recognised as relevant in the monetary model. In this interpretation, capital is the money amount of the paid in capital, or "money equivalent" for assets contributed in a form other than money. Interpreted consistently within this framework, monetary profit takes on a unique and definite meaning, although due to future uncertainty its periodic measurement can be no more than a test reading. Central to this explanation is the identification of property rights as the qualitative, empirical property for conferring meaning on the elements of the D E C . For the money capital maintenance information need, ownership is the relevant aspect of property rights. As ownership (of property rights) is changed by contracts, contracts provide the means for the interpretation of changes in assets and liabilities the primitives of the system. Contracts express the consideration as an amount of money. O n execution, contracts give rise to transactions, with their consideration providing the quantity for recording the changes in the elements. The acceptance of transactions (via the money consideration) as the fundamental measurements (Willett, 1987, 1988) contributes to the transactions based research Furthermore, the contracts written by the company include those initial transactions with shareholders, the beneficial owners, when the money capital was contributed. Hence the link to money capital, and to the legal concept of money capital maintenance for the protection of the right of creditors to precedence over shareholders in the settlement of their debts. Writers from both sides of the Atlantic, economists and lawyers as well as accountants, over a long period of time have supported the need for financial information disclosing profits available for distribution. D u e to its future orientation, the concept of economic income does not appear suitable for this purpose. The economic context identified as relevant for this research is Post Keynesian economics, in which future uncertainty, contracts, transactions, money, and time past, present and future are specifically recognised for their role in the economic system. Current cash equivalents (CCEs) are selected as an alternative interpretation of the DEC to contrast with the monetary model. D u e to the emphasis of the property right to dispose of assets, assets and liabilities were interpreted as wealth. Although providing relevant information for the information needs selected (debt paying potential, potential for adaptation, and calculation of net exchangeable asset backing per share), C C E s do not appear to meet measurement theory criteria. However, C C E s do qualify under the conditions suggested by Vickrey (1970). Moreover, a series of surveys initiated by Chambers provided evidence of support for disclosure of measurement of the wealth of a company. Such disclosure would complement the disclosure of the traditional profit statement and balance sheet prepared using the monetary model. Each of these two models provides financial information relevant to different purposes.


MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs exhibiting critical functions as post-transcriptional regulators. Due to the importance and extensive influence of miRNAs on genes, dysregulation of miRNAs has been associated with various types of cancer, with more prominent being colorectal carcinoma (CRC). Increasing evidence suggests that miRNAs mediate the initiation and development of CRC and also act as potential biomarkers for both diagnosis and prognosis. In this review, we summarize the recent advancement of miRNA research in CRC, in particular, the miRNAs which interact with critical pathways such as p53, NF-kappa B, beta-catenin pathways and also play a significant role in the regulation of EMT and maintenance of cancer stem cell.


The Paraphrase Database (PPDB; Ganitkevitch et al., 2013) is an extensive semantic resource, consisting of a list of phrase pairs with (heuristic) confidence estimates. However, it is still unclear how it can best be used, due to the heuristic nature of the confidences and its necessarily incomplete coverage. We propose models to leverage the phrase pairs from the PPDB to build parametric paraphrase models that score paraphrase pairs more accurately than the PPDB's internal scores while simultaneously improving its coverage. They allow for learning phrase embeddings as well as improved word embeddings. Moreover, we introduce two new, manually annotated datasets to evaluate short-phrase paraphrasing models. Using our paraphrase model trained using PPDB, we achieve state-of-the-art results on standard word and bigram similarity tasks and beat strong baselines on our new short phrase paraphrase tasks.


Bacterial cellulose (BC) synthesized by Acetobacter xylinum has been discovered as a potential matrix for impregnating carbon nanotubes (CNT). The main objective of this study is to produce bacterial cellulose/carbon nanotube (BC/CNT) with improved hydrophobic surface. CNT addition is by mean to improve the electrical property of BC to be a conductive
membrane. Hydrophobic membrane is more practical in device development since it can adhere with other hydrophobic material, which is achieved in this study by acetylation process. In this work, the membranes were produced using date extract (DE) culture medium. Three CNT impregnation techniques were tested, i.e. immersion, dispersion and spraying, whilst the acetylation conducted were homogeneous and heterogeneous processes. In this study, morphological characteristic is an important property for sample selection to be characterized further. BC/CNT nanocomposite produced via spraying technique has uniform CNT dispersion and has the most dielectric conductivity value i.e. ~4.66 x 10-1 S/cm than the other techniques. Therefore, spraying was used to prepare BC/CNT acetate nanocomposite. Since the morphology of BC/CNT acetate obtained from heterogeneous process proves that the acetylation only occurred on the surface and the inner core structures of the BC are still intact, this process was used further. The most significant characteristic of BC/CNT acetate is the existence of C=O, CH3 and C-O functional groups of acetyl and higher water contact angle (~77°) than that of BC/CNT (~45°). When tested, decomposition and glass transition temperatures of BC/CNT acetate have reduced by 203°C and 35°C respectively, compared to that BC/CNT. The reduction is occurred mainly because the swollen BC structure of BC/CNT acetate is easily degraded by heat treatment. The acetylated BC/CNT on the other hand, has higher crystal BC fraction, i.e. 51% compared to that of BC/CNT (49%). These findings indicate that the CNT hinders the degradation of nanocomposite and protects the BC crystals. Thus when acetylated, both elasticity and crystallite size of BC/CNT has only reduced by 9%, i.e., from 34 to 31 GPa and from 27.3 to 24.9 nm, respectively. The bigger pore size of the acetate nanocomposite (~22 A) than that of BC/CNT (~-103 A) might allows further functionalization process introduced to the membrane. As a conclusion, the CNT impregnation by spraying technique during the growing fermentation of BC coupled with heterogeneous acetylation treatment resulted in a more water resistant,increased dielectric conductivity and increased crystal BC fraction. While, the sheet elasticity,crystallite size, surface area, decomposition and glass transition temperatures became lower.These characteristics makes acetylated BC/CNT sheet a potential as a biomaterial membrane in device development.


Several DNA-based techniques, developed for identifying and differentiating fungi in the Gaeumannomyces-Phialophora complex associated with take-all diseases of cereals and grasses, were used to compare fungi from maize. Maize isolates obtained as G. graminis (Sacc.) Arx & H Olivier var. tritici Walker, from the UK, having been identified by ascospore morphology and in pathogenicity tests on wheat, were indistinguishable from isolates of the same variety obtained from wheat. Isolates of G. graminis (Sacc.) Arx & H Olivier var. maydis Yao et al., recently described as the maize take-all fungus from China, were identical in DNA tests to the anamorphic fungus Phialophora radicicola Cain and almost identical to Phialophora zeicola Deacon & Scott, whose description was originally based on isolates from South Africa and France. These species appear to represent the holomorph of the same fungus. The late wilt pathogen of maize, from India and Egypt, commonly known as Cephalosporium maydis Samra et al., but suggested as being the Phialophora anamorph of a Gaeumannomyces species, was closely related to other Gaeumannomyces species included in the tests.


BACKGROUND
Several studies describing Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been reported; however, to our knowledge, no case series has been published from the Midwest.

OBJECTIVE
To describe demographic characteristics and outcomes of patients admitted with COVID-19 to a Wisconsin academic medical center.

METHODS
We performed a retrospective analysis of data obtained for COVID-19 patients admitted from March 14, 2020, through April 19, 2020.

RESULTS
One hundred sixty-eight patients were admitted. Outcomes measured include time in the intensive care unit (53%), mechanical ventilation (18%), and death (19%). ICU patients had higher rates of diabetes, obesity, and higher inflammatory markers. The majority of patients admitted were African American (68%).

CONCLUSION
This case series highlights demographic similarities and differences, as well as outcomes, among COVID-19 patients in a Wisconsin Academic Medical Center compared to those reported in other geographic regions.


Developmental assembly of the renal microvasculature requires spatially and temporally coordinated migration, assembly, differentiation, and maturation of endothelial cells in the context of adjacent epithelial and mesangial cells. In this study, endothelial expression and distribution of the receptor tyrosine phosphatase ECRTP/DEP-1 were evaluated during and after developmental assembly of the renal microvasculature. Monoclonal antibodies against ECRTP/DEP-1 ectodomain epitopes localize its expression to membrane surfaces of endothelial cells in glomerular, peritubular capillary, and arterial renal sites of mature human and murine kidney. During kidney development, ECRTP/DEP-1 immunostaining is evident on a subpopulation of metanephric mesenchymal cells and on putative progenitors of glomerular capillary endothelial cells early in their recruitment to developing glomeruli. ECRTP/DEP-1 is prominently displayed on luminal membrane surfaces with punctate accumulations at inter-endothelial contacts that overlap with vascular endothelial-cadherin staining. ECRTP/DEP-1 is recruited to inter-endothelial contacts in confluent cultured human renal and dermal microvascular endothelial cells, yet experimental dissociation of vascular endothelial-cadherin from endothelial junctional complexes fails to redistribute ECRTP/DEP-1. These findings indicate that ECRTP/DEP-1 is expressed in anticipation of glomerular capillary endothelial recruitment during development, and suggest that ECRTP/DEP-1 ectodomain interacts with endothelial surface ligands that are engaged by cell-cell contact.


A multiscale method for segmenting and enhancing lesions of various sizes in mammograms is presented. The method uses two stages. The first stage applies a multiscale automatic threshold estimator based on histogram moments to segment the mammogram at multilevels. The second stage converts the segmented image using pseudo-colour mapping to produce a colour image. An algorithm is presented as well as experimental results. Mammograms are digitalised using a table scanner with a transparency adapter and the algorithm is implemented in Borland C++ 4.02 on a 486 PC. The results are analogous to a breast map which provide an adequate basis for radiological breast tissue differentiation and analysis in digital mammography. Experimental results and judgments from radiological experts are very encouraging.


The transcription factors hepatic nuclear factor (HNF)1α and HNF1β can bind to the HNF1 site on the proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) promoter to activate transcription in HepG2 cells. However, it is unknown whether one or both HNF1 factors are obligatory for transactivating hepatic PCSK9 gene expression in vivo. We developed shRNA adenoviral constructs (Ad-shHNF1α and Ad-shHNF1β) to examine the effects of knockdown of HNF1α or HNF1β on PCSK9 expression and its consequent impact on LDL receptor (LDLR) protein levels in cultured hepatic cells and liver tissue. We demonstrated that infection with Ad-shHNF1α, but not Ad-shHNF1β, markedly reduced PCSK9 mRNA expression in HepG2 cells with a concomitant increase in LDLR protein abundance. Injecting Ad-shHNF1α in mice fed a normal diet significantly (∼50%) reduced liver mRNA expression and serum concentration of PCSK9 with a concomitant increase (∼1.9-fold) in hepatic LDLR protein abundance. Furthermore, we observed a modest but significant reduction in circulating LDL cholesterol after knockdown of HNF1α in these normolipidemic mice. Consistent with the observation that knockdown of HNF1β did not affect PCSK9 mRNA or protein expression in cultured hepatic cells, Ad-shHNF1β infection in mice resulted in no change in the hepatic mRNA expression or serum content of PCSK9. Altogether, our study demonstrates that HNF1α, but not HNF1β, is the primary positive regulator of PCSK9 transcription in mouse liver.


This thesis criticises many psychological experiments on 'pornography' which attempt to demonstrate how 'pornography' causes and/or equals rape. It challenges simplistic definitions of 'pornography', arguing that sexually explicit materials (SEM) are constructed and interpreted in a number of different ways; and demonstrates that how, when and where materials are depicted or viewed will influence perceptions and reactions. In addition, it opposes the overreliance on male undergraduates as participants in 'porn' research. Theories of feminist psychology and reflexivity are used throughout the thesis, and provide a detailed contextual framework in a complex area. Results from a number of interlinking studies which use a variety of methodological approaches (focus groups, questionnaires and content analysis), indicate how contextual issues are omitted in much existing research on SEM. These include the views and experiences participants' hold prior to completing SEM studies; their opinions about those who 'use' 'pornography'; their understanding of key terms linked with SEM (eg: pornography and erotica); and discussions of sexual magazines aimed at male and female audiences. Participants' reactions to images and texts associated with SEM presented in different contexts are discussed. Three main conclusions are drawn from this thesis. Firstly, images deemed 'pornographic' differ through historical and cultural periods' and political, economic and social climates, so 'experimental' approaches may not always be the most appropriate research tool. Secondly, there is not one definition, source, or factor which may be named 'pornography'; and thirdly the context and presentation of materials influence how images are perceived and reacted to. The thesis argues a number of factors influence view of 'pornography', suggesting SEM may be 'in the eye of the beholder'.


The following is a section of the deep well and boring recently made under my direction (1858) for the Gosport Water-works Company, at Bury Cross, about one mile and a quarter west of the town. It is, I believe, the most carefully observed, as well as one of the deepest wells executed in that district, where the strata vary so much that the same stratum will scarcely be found with like characters at two places, though only a few hundred yards apart; and frequently the omission altogether of one or other of the strata shows that very considerable disturbing causes must have been in operation either at the period of the formation of these deposits or subsequently. In the upper and middle portions of the stratum of sand noted in the section at from 33 feet 1 inch to 67 feet 3 inches, the fine series of perfect fossils occurred, of which a note is appended. Others occurred in the lower portion of this bed; and where it merged into the green sand below, which was dry and hard, the specimens became much fractured and very rotten. Fossils were not again met with until the depth of 84 feet was reached, and from that to 95 feet. These were similar to the foregoing, but mostly fragmentary and mixed in masses with the sand. At from 95 feet to 104 feet, a few other fossil shells were also found. The yield of water from this well is very copious, supposed to


New U-Pb isotopic data for detrital zircon populations from the Upper Devonian(?) and lower Carboniferous Bragdon Formation add constraints to the nature of source areas for epiclastic rocks in the ensimatic eastern Klamath arc terrane. Bragdon clastic units include lithic-rich sandstone containing quartz, chert, and sedimentary-lithic clasts, volcanic-lithic-rich sandstone, and crystal-rich tuffaceous sand- stone. These three compositions reflect a composite source that contained sedimentary and low-grade metasedimentary rocks, volcanic rocks, and penecontemporaneous volcanic debris. U-Pb isotopic data from detrital zircon indicate an ultimate Precambrian continental source for components of the Bragdon Formation and corroborate the previous suggestion that lower Paleozoic rocks of the Shoo Fly Complex, Yreka terrane, or related rocks may have been the immediate (last-cycle) sources. In modern convergent margins, a complex and ongoing relationship between ensimatic arc volcanism and continental sediment sources may be expected from the pattern of oceanic subduction zones that generally dip toward continents and intervening marginal basin systems, providing a context for understanding the presence of continent-derived detritus in an ancient ensimatic arc.


BACKGROUND
Pharmacological treatment is widely used for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) despite questions over its efficacy.

AIMS
To determine the efficacy of all types of pharmacotherapy, as monotherapy, in reducing symptoms of PTSD, and to assess acceptability.

METHOD
A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials was undertaken; 51 studies were included.

RESULTS
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors were found to be statistically superior to placebo in reduction of PTSD symptoms but the effect size was small (standardised mean difference -0.23, 95% CI -0.33 to -0.12). For individual pharmacological agents compared with placebo in two or more trials, we found small statistically significant evidence of efficacy for fluoxetine, paroxetine and venlafaxine.

CONCLUSIONS
Some drugs have a small positive impact on PTSD symptoms and are acceptable. Fluoxetine, paroxetine and venlafaxine may be considered as potential treatments for the disorder. For most drugs there is inadequate evidence regarding efficacy for PTSD, pointing to the need for more research in this area.


A dentary bone containing several teeth, from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of northwestern Madagascar is described as the type of a new sauropod dinosaur taxon, Archaeodontosaurus descouensi, n.g., n.sp. This taxon is characterised by the unusual combination of a dentary with a deep anterior part, as in advanced sauropods, and teeth with large serrations and a convex lingual side, which resemble the teeth of prosauropods. A more common pattern in early sauropods is the combination of a low, prosauropod-like dentary and spoon-shaped, sauropod-like teeth. Although the condition in Archaeodontosaurus descouensi strongly suggests that basal sauropods had prosauropod-like teeth, what is known of the jaw and dentition in various early and middle Jurassic sauropods indicates mosaic evolution along different paths during the early diversification of the group. Archaeodontosaurus descouensi differs from Jurassic sauropod material from Madagascar, previously described as Bothriospondylus and Lapparentosaurus, which needs revision. It appears that at least two distinct sauropods, with different tooth morphologies, are present in the Middle Jurassic of Madagascar.


This study examines selected literature on Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting (CSRR) in Malaysia, as one of the important economies in Asia. A review of literature on CSRR revealed the importance of governance as a tool to promote Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), thus impressing the greater importance of CSRR. Support from multiple stakeholders, particularly the government, regulatory authorities and shareholders, is needed as they can have a significant impact on a company's operations. With the implementation of mandatory CSRR in Malaysia beginning from the financial year of 2007, appropriate reporting standards could be produced as a guideline for reporting CSR-related information. The enforcement of existing regulations is also needed to ensure the continuous development of CSR and CSRR in Malaysia. This calls for more research in the field of study to be conducted, specifically in Malaysia to provide an Asian perspective.


We investigated the genetic variability within and between cattle breeds. The polymorphisms of 17 microsatellites were studied in 220 unrelated animals belonging to four Italian beef cattle breeds (Chianina, Marchigiana, Romagnola, and Piemontese). Variations of allelic frequencies were examined to characterize the breeds and their relationships. Wahlund coefficients, Polymorphism Information Content values, and Haldane exact test for Hardy-Weinberg proportions were calculated. The results show that the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium is not always maintained. Moreover, in addition to the classical genetic distances, a new method, based on the consideration of a multilocus genotype of each animal, was set up to measure the genetic similarity between animals or within groups of animals. All the results showed that, whereas Chianina occupies an intermediate position and Piemontese is the most distinct of all four breeds, Marchigiana and Romagnola display the strongest similarity. The new method also provides evidence that average similarities are always higher within breeds than between breeds. By comparing pairwise the multilocus genotypes, it was also possible to discriminate the individuals with higher or lower genetic similarities so that each breed could be subdivided into two groups of animals in relation to their similarity to the average breed multilocus genotype. High similarities between breeds were detected, somewhat surprisingly, when the most homogeneous groups of each breed were compared. The microsatellite multilocus genotype is particularly efficient in evaluating the between- and within-breeds genetic similarities and for subgrouping genetically more homogeneous animals.


Do we need to access the spoken form of a word in order to retrieve the word's spelling or in order to understand the meaning of its written form? In this paper we focus on the relationship between lexical phonology and orthography specifically in production and we present the case of a neurologically impaired individual who is often unable to provide the correct spoken name of an object although he may be able to write its name correctly. We argue that this evidence is seriously problematic for the hypothesis of obligatory phonological mediation and conclude that orthographic lexical forms can indeed be independently accessed for production without the mediating role of phonology.


This paper appraises options for research relating to microfinance in India, doing so in the broad context of rival macro pressures to accelerate economic growth, maintain political order, reduce poverty and adapt to climate change. This paper first set out a general well-being regime framework that can be used for this analysis and sketch the role microfinance plays within it. Section 2 uses it to inform a brief introduction of Microfinance. Section 3 is developed by various Microfinance institutions. Section 4 is brief history is Microcredit and difference between Microfinance. Section 5 is used these examples to discuss methodological options for policy-relevant empirical research. It also suggests that microfinance is an important arena for exploring empirically the tension inherent in the idea of development management. The term microfinance is widely used to refer to institutions governing savings, credit, insurance and monetary payments by relatively poor people, including those regulated by both official laws and informal norms. Analysis of microfinance is widely framed as a purely micro issue, centered on the motivation and behavior of specific users and providers. However, such analysis is almost invariably located - whether explicitly or implicitly - in a wider view of how the state, markets and society institute poverty. In India as elsewhere, for example, private microfinance organizations is viewed positively as a force for promoting financial inclusion by 'making markets work for the poor,' and at the same time viewed negatively as a smokescreen behind which the state can retreat from a 'social banking' strategy of mobilizing much larger resources to challenge pervasive and chronic indebtedness.


A non-backtracking walk on a graph, H, is a directed path of directed edges of H such that no edge is the inverse of its preceding edge. Non-backtracking walks of a given length can be counted using the non-backtracking adjacency matrix, B, indexed by H's directed edges and related to Ihara's Zeta function. We show how to determine B's spectrum in the case where H is a tree covering a finite graph. We show that when H is not regular, this spectrum can have positive measure in the complex plane, unlike the regular case. We show that outside of B's spectrum, the corresponding Green function has "periodic decay ratios." The existence of such a "ratio system" can be effectively checked, and is equivalent to being outside the spectrum. We also prove that the spectral radius of the non-backtracking walk operator on the tree covering a finite graph is exactly √ gr, where gr is the growth rate of the tree. This further motivates the definition of the graph theoretical Riemann hypothesis proposed by Stark and Terras (ST). Finally, we give experimental evidence that for a fixed, finite graph, H, a ran- dom lift of large degree has non-backtracking new spectrum near that of H's universal cover. This suggests a new generalization of Alon's second eigenvalue conjecture.


Laboratory testing is critical for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) as most of the infected people usually have no symptoms. It is known that having HIV and STI coinfection increases the risk of HIV transmission. Sensitive tests are required for the infection control. The aim of this study was to compare the 2 different diagnostic tests-an immunochromatographic (IC) test and a real-time polymerase chain reaction (Rt-PCR) assay-for screening Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, Ureaplasma spp. and Mycoplasma spp. in HIV-infected men. The tests were evaluated in terms of sensitivity, specificity, rapidity, sample types and cost per test. Eighty HIV-infected adult men who were admitted to Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine Hospital STIs Outpatient Clinic between October 2017-April 2018 were included in the study. Urine and urethral swab samples were collected from each patient. Urine samples were tested by BDMAX (Becton-Dickinson, Canada) assay, Chlamydia antigen cassette test (Monlab, Spain) and Mycoview test (Zeakon, France). Urethral swabs were tested by Gonorrhoeae cassette test (Monlab, Spain). In 18 (22.5%) of the 80 HIV-infected individuals, the presence of at least one of the four agents was detected by Rt-PCR method. A total of 23 agents were reported as one N.gonorrhoeae (1/80), two C.trachomatis (2/80), seven Mycoplasma spp. (7/80), 13 Ureaplasma spp. (13/80). In five (27.7%) patients, Ureaplasma spp. and Mycoplasma spp. were detected simultaneously. Twelve of 23 bacteria detected by Rt-PCR were also detected by IC tests; however, the remaining 11 bacteria (one N.gonorrhoeae, two C.trachomatis, four Ureaplasma spp., four Mycoplasma spp.) were not detected. When IC tests were compared to the gold standard test Rt-PCR, the sensitivity was 47.8% (11/23) and the positive-predictive value was 100% (11/11). Sixteen patients had STI-related signs and symptoms whereas 64 were asymptomatic. Only two of the 18 men with positive-Rt-PCR test results had STI-related symptoms. It was concluded that all individuals with risky behaviours should undergo STIs screening regardless of their symptoms. As obtaining urethral samples could create difficulty for the patients as well as for the physicians, using urine samples determined to be more convenient. In our study the sensitivity of IC tests found to be insufficiently low. It was concluded that in STI screening the use of Rt-PCR method, which has high sensitivity, specificity and ability to give results on the same day although a high cost test could be preferred on high risk groups such as HIV-infected individuals with no signs of infection.


The gamma ray energy absorption and exposure buildup factors have been calculated by using the five parameter geometric progression (GP) fitting formula for some polymers and tissue substitute materials in the energy region 0.015–15 MeV up to a penetration depth of 40 mean free paths. From the results, it is worth noting that significant variations occur in gamma ray buildup factors for the given polymers and tissue substitute materials depending on photon energy, penetration depth and chemical composition of the materials. Also, it was observed that there are significant variations between energy absorption (EABF) and exposure (EBF) buildup factors which may be due to the variations in chemical composition of the materials used. Finally, it is expected that the presented buildup factor data may be helpful in (a) estimating the effective dose to be given to patients in radiation therapy and diagnostics, hence allowing corrections to be made to the intensity of radiation, as it is somewhat problematic to evaluate the real absorbed dose in critical organs due to the probability of photon buildup somewhere inside the medium; (b) estimating the health hazards arising from the exposure of the human body to radiation, thus it will be helpful in controlling the exposure of the human body to radiation.


This essay examines a father's quest to find proof of the "inner life" of his physically and cognitively disabled son in Ian Brown's memoir The Boy in the Moon: A Father's Journey to Understand His Extraordinary Son. Through literary analysis and close attention to relevant theories of affect and disability, this paper explores the influence of dominant social and cultural narratives about normalcy and emotion on understandings of disabled lives as well as the limitations of current theories when it comes to recognizing the affective potential of those who fall outside what is considered the zone of normal physical, mental, and emotional experience and expression. I argue here that Brown's quest to understand his son's affectivity leads him toward a greater recognition of possibilities for human relationship beyond the intellectual or verbal. I find that the trajectory of Brown's personal quest has important repercussions for the ways that theories of affect and disability studies can be productively brought together to formulate understandings of intersubjective and interdependent affective relationships for people with cognitive disabilities.

Keywords: disability, affect, emotion, memoir, Canada


In this paper, we examine the effects of location in the social structure and communication processes on whites' responses to societal change conceptions of equality (structural equality): one that entailed beliefs about abstract notions of equality and one that pertained to concrete reference-based (blacks') conception of inequality. A recent national survey provided the data to test eleven hypotheses derived from theorizing in the area of stratification beliefs. Using covariance analysis, all our predictions received at least partial support. We found that those less well placed in the social system were more likely to embrace institutional change solutions to inequality and that those who attend more to television news were more likely to embrace structural racial inequality. On the other hand, while both television news and newspaper exposure had a positive influence on interpersonal discussion, the relationships of this variable with one of the equality measures indicated that engaging in more interpersonal discussion lead to less of an endorsement of structural racial inequality. Finally, those who embraced the general conception of equality were less likely to endorse race-specific structural inequality. We outlined some implications of our findings for social policy with some suggestions for further research.


This video image of static background frame and deduction, the pixel, pixels for sports change monitoring and static pixels. By combining the feature of deformation of human body positioning movement of template, the human body pose detection algorithm put in spatio-temporal detection to human pose recognition using feature matching, accelerate matching speed probability. This method in the testing result is superior to other pose recognition algorithm, and also has the ability to quickly identify.


Opinion Statement Maintenance treatment for AML is an approach to minimize residual disease, optimize quality of remission and prevent a leukemic regrowth over a longer period of time. This intention implies a certain antileukemic activity and myelotoxicity. Thus, a prolonged myelosuppressive maintenance is best exemplified by the optimized protocol of the CALGB published by Kanti R. Rai in 1981 (Blood 58:1203–1212, 1981) and derived by the AMLCG as a therapeutic standard. From our today's knowledge about the impact of various strategies, a lack of postremission therapy is not compatible with durable remissions. Even after an induction-type consolidation, the classic CALGB-type maintenance, or a comparably intensive regimen improved the relapse-free survival over that from alternatives. Some studies which failed to show a benefit used maintenance at low-dosage or short duration. Data about maintenance delivery in patients reaching long-term remissions demonstrate feasibility and compliance, and a low maintenance-related death rate can compete with that from alternative options. Revisiting maintenance, however, requires a comparison with other strategies on the basis of intention-to-treat. Either single prospective trials or crosstrial networking by a common standard arm and general upfront randomization can further assess the relative value of maintenance for AML.


North Indian rāg performance, especially as practised in intimate and informal settings, is often distinguished by a lively interaction involving both musicians and listeners, mediated by gestures and vocal interjections. Performers gesture to each other, to the audience, and expressively with the music, and audiences become part of that process. The premise of this study is that observing the behaviour of audience members, as well as that of performers, should provide a valuable window onto the ways in which rāg performance is experienced by all of its participants. The main questions I aim to elucidate in this paper are: What does observable behaviour tell us about the way people experience the metrical and formal structures of a rāg performance? When and how do listeners become involved in the performance gesturally and/or verbally? I shall address these and related questions through an analysis of a khyāl performance by Vijay Koparkar recorded in Mumbai in 2005. Detailed analysis of this performance indicates that these questions can indeed be answered using observational methods, and also suggests other important issues that may not have done been raised had this approach not been adopted.


The instability of the electromagnetic linearly polarized mode propagating perpendicular to a uniform magnetic field is studied by using the Vlasov equation for a counterstreaming electron plasma with anisotropic temperatures. An instability occurs if the streaming velocity exceeds a certain threshold value which can be below that required to excite the electrostatic two‐stream instability. It is found that temperature perpendicular to the field has a stabilizing effect, while parallel temperature enhances the electromagnetic instability. Typical growth rates are of the order of the electron cyclotron frequency.


Abstract Introduction Metabolic activity of the inner ear is very intense, and makes it sensitive to changes in the body homeostasis. This study involves a group of patients with inner ear disorders related to carbohydrate metabolism disturbances, including hearing loss, tinnitus, dizziness, and episodes of vertigo. Objectives To describe the symptoms of metabolic inner ear disorders and the examinations required to establish diagnoses. These symptoms are often the first to allow for an early diagnosis of metabolic disorders and diabetes. Methods Retrospective study of 376 patients with inner ear symptoms suggestive of disturbances of carbohydrate metabolism. The authors present patientś clinical symptoms and clinical evaluations, with emphasis on the glucose and insulin essays. Results Authors based their conclusions on otolaryngological findings, diagnostic procedures and treatment principles. They found that auditory and vestibular symptoms usually occur prior to other manifestations of metabolic changes, leading to an early diagnosis of hyperinsulinemia, intestinal sugar malabsorption or diabetes. Previously undiagnosed diabetes mellitus type II was found in 39 patients. Conclusions The identification of carbohydrate metabolism disturbances is important not only to minimize the patients' clinical symptoms, but also to help maintain their general health.


The diagnosis of chronic idiopathic IBD and the differential diagnosis between Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis can be made in most cases on cumulative clinical, radiological, endoscopical, biochemical and pathological evidence. Diagnostic difficulties can however, occur in fulminant colitis, in early onset disease and in long-standing disease. The microscopic evaluation of disease activity is based on the presence of active inflammation. Effective medical treatment has however, an influence upon the morphology and the evolution of the lesions and hence can affect the diagnostic features and the microscopic features used for the assessment of disease activity. A literature review was performed on clinical drug trials in IBD and the effect of the drugs upon the microscopic features. Several studies have shown that the diagnostic microscopic features and the features characteristic for disease activity vary with time and treatment. For an adequate analysis of biopsy samples of patients with IBD the pathologist should be aware of the duration of the symptoms and the type of treatment given to the patient.


This study was conducted at the University of Cukurova, Faculty of Agriculture in 2013 and 2014 as a main and double crop growing season. The objective of this study was to compare of agronomic and quality characteristics of some peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) varieties grown as a main and double crop. The experimental design was a Randomized Complete Block (RCBD) with three replications. The Halisbey, Sultan, Osmaniye-2005, Arioglu-2003, Batem-5025, NC-7, Flower-22, Flower-32, Flower-36, Brantley, Wilson (Virginia market type), Florispan (Spanish market type), Georgia Green (Runner market type) and Spantex (Valencia market type) varieties were used as a plant material in this research. Pod number and pod weight per plant, 100 seed weight, shelling percentage, oil and protein content, pod and kernel yield per hectare values of varieties were compared. The average pod number, pod weight per plant, fancy pod percentage, protein and oil percentage, pod and kernel yield values of peanut varieties were higher in main crop than in double crop, whereas 100 seed weight and shelling percentage were higher in double crop than in main crop growing season. According to a two-year average, the pod yield per hectare of peanut varieties varied between 3366-8796 kg ha-1 and 3621-7094 kg ha-1 main and double crop growing season, respectively. The average pod yield of peanut varieties were 6177 kg ha-1 in main cropped, it was decreased to 5456 kg ha-1 in double crop growing season. The highest pod yield was obtained from Sultan and Osmaniye-2005 varieties in both growing seasons.


Based on the data from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2018, the number of dysmenorrhea cases in the world is very large. The results of a preliminary study conducted at SMA Negeri 1 Seputih Mataram, Central Lampung showed that from 10 teenage girls who experience menstrual pain, a total of 2 teenage girls complained of pain with a mild pain level, 6 teenage girls complained of pain with a moderate pain level, and 2 teenage girls complain of pain with a severe pain level. This research aims to determine the effect of carrot juice consumption on the reduction of primary dysmenorrhea pain levels in teenage girls at SMA Negeri 1 Seputih Mataram, Central Lampung in 2020. The type of this research is a quantitative research with a pre experimental design namely one-group pretest, one design which is given to 20 people by using accidental samplin technique and by giving carrot juice twice a day with 4 hours interval the Wilcoxon test. The results of the research show that there is an effect of carrot juice consumption to reduce dysmenorrhea pain (p value 0,001 less than 0.05). It is recommended for health workers to be able to make carrot juice as one of the teenage girls reproductive health treatment programs in order to reduce dysmenorrhea pain. It is expected that the results of this research can be used as a source of information and implementation for the students/teenage girls in an effort to reduce the levels of dysmenorrhea pain through the consumption of carrot juice. This is an open access article under the CC– perut bagian bawah, terkadang selama menstruasi dan berlangsung wanita mengalami rasa tidak enak pada , 2013). -group posttest g


Background: Delusions are a central feature of schizophrenia, yet our understanding of their neurobiology is limited. Attempt to link dimensions of psychopathology to putative neurobiological mechanisms depends on careful delineation of symptoms. Previous factor analytic studies of delusions in schizophrenia were limited by several methodological problems, including the use of patients medicated with antipsychotics, inclusion of nondelusion symptoms in the analyses, and/or inclusion of patients with psychotic disorders other than schizophrenia. These problems may have possibly biased the resulting factor structure and contributed to the inconclusive findings regarding the neurobiology of positive symptoms. Our goal is to examine the factor structure of delusions in antipsychotic-free individuals with diagnoses of schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder. Sampling and Methods: We assessed 83 antipsychotic-free individuals with DSM-IV diagnoses of schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder. A principal component analysis was conducted on the delusions symptoms of the SAPS. Results: The principal component analysis resulted in three distinct and interpretable factors explaining 58.3% of the variance. The Delusions of Influence factor was comprised by delusions of being controlled, thought withdrawal, thought broadcasting, thought insertion, and mind reading. The Self-Significance Delusions factor was comprised by delusions of grandeur, reference, religious, and delusions of guilt/sin. The Delusions of Persecution factor was comprised solely by persecutory delusions. The three factors displayed distinct associations with hallucinations, bizarre behavior, attention, positive formal thought disorder, and avolition/apathy. Conclusions: The results indicate that delusions are best described by three distinct subtypes. The authors propose a novel model linking the three delusion subtypes, attributions to self/other, and putative neurobiological mechanisms. Implications for future research are discussed, as well as links to cognitive-behavioral conceptualizations of delusions.


As shown here on the basis of bitten teeth, the diet of the huge, lower to early upper Miocene Tomistoma lusitanica included some of the largest contemporaneous, terrestrial mammals, including adult or senile gomphotheres (Gomphotherium angustidens). One of the latter would be, in a rough estimate, about 50 years old at death. Bite impressions are discussed, including marks resulting from impact, intense attrition and eventual crushing. The teeth of very large-sized tomistomines would have a not restricted to prehension role, they also acted as true cone devices for crushing hard parts. Crushing - non-tectonic efects - have also been observed on a suid fossil. The so far obtained results may point out that the very basic reason of the extant false-gharial, Tomistoma schlegelii's prevailing ichthyophagy may be human pressure that prevents them to attain their possible maximum size, and hence to capture larger prey. The importance of immigration from Asia and biogeographic ainities is stressed. This seems obvious after the simultaneous presence of Tomistoma and Gavialis in westernmost Eurasia. Diferent data from North Africa do not contradict these views. Extrapolations based on the Miocene false-gharials contribute to a better understanding of the surviving species. Similarity is even greater if account is taken of the closer morphological cranial features between the fossil forms under study and the largest known skull of all extant crocodilians, a T. schlegelii. Estimations of Tomistoma lusitanica's overall length, somewhat in excess of 8 meters, conirm this form attained a giant size. These top predators undoubtedly preyed or scavenged upon very large prey. They also scavenged on corpses. Tomistoma lusitanica undoubtedly was one of the largest crocodilians that ever existed and whose maximum dimensions seem to have attained those of the Siwaliks' Rhamphosuchus crassidens, long regarded as the Neogene nec plus ultra in size. Tomistoma lusitanica was one of the largest crocodilians from all times, and even the largest western Eurasia reptile after the age of the dinosaurs.


Reduced instrument responses are presented for Thermal-Hydraulic Test Facility (THTF) test 103, which is part of the ORNL Pressurized-Water Reactor (PWR) Blowdown Heat Transfer Separate-Effects Program. The objective of the program is to investigate the thermal-hydraulic phenomenon governing the energy transfer and transport processes that occur during a loss-of-coolant accident in a PWR system.


The regulation of CYP2E1 and 2B1 was studied by following mRNA levels, catalytic activities and the subcellular distribution of the apoproteins in rat liver 0, 6, 12, 24, 48 and 96 h after a single intragastric dose of acetone. No changes were observed in hepatic CYP2E1 mRNA levels at any time after acetone treatment, whereas rapid rises were observed in the microsomal amount of CYP2E1 protein and CYP2E1-catalyzed 4-nitrophenol hydroxylase and carbon-tetrachloride-initiated lipid-peroxidation activities. However, CYP2E1-dependent catalytic activities declined much faster than the immunodetectable CYP2E1 protein, suggesting that this cytochrome P-450 is inactivated prior to degradation. Similar results were seen in primary hepatocyte cultures. By contrast, concomitant changes in levels of CYP2B1 and CYP2B1-dependent O-depentylation of pentoxyresorufin were observed in the same microsomal preparations. Investigation of the degradative mechanism of both CYP2E1 and CYP2B1 by immunoquantitation of the proteins in lysosomes and by immunohistochemistry indicated their degradation via an autophagic-lysosomal pathway. The data suggest that CYP2E1 is acutely inactivated in the endoplasmic reticulum and that degradation of this isozyme occurs, at least in part, by the lysosomal route. By contrast, CYP2B1 is principally controlled at the level of synthesis.


More than a decade after the signing of the Dayton Accord, which was intended to end the violence and rebuild civil society, Bosnia-Herzegovina languishes under a cloud of many unresolved post-war issues. Fractured Land, Healing Nations makes a compelling case that although religion has been instrumentalised to promote the cause of war, it also can be a positive force for building peace. Religion thus has the capacity to complement the structural and materialist approach to peace-building by addressing the pressing inter-personal needs of a traumatized society. The author presents primary research data to demonstrate the role of religio-national myths in nation-building, and examines why and how the supra-national character of religion contributes to social restoration through locally-generated initiatives of religious faith sodalities. He successfully brings together the disciplines of religious studies, sociology and political science to bear upon the difficult issues facing peace-builders. This in depth study focused specifically on Bosnia-Herzegovina has important implications for those engaged in conflict resolution and peace-building in many other global hot spots where ethno-religious identity and nationalism unite to perpetuate the cycle of violence.


Tests for Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are intended for a disparate and shifting range of purposes: (1) diagnosing patients who present with symptoms to inform individual treatment decisions; (2) organizational uses such as "cohorting" potentially infected patients and staff to protect others; and (3) contact tracing, surveillance, and other public health purposes. Often lost when testing is encouraged is that testing does not by itself confer health benefits. Rather, testing is useful to the extent it forms a critical link to subsequent medical or public health interventions. Such interventions might be individual level, like better diagnosis, treatment, isolation, or quarantine of contacts. They might aid surveillance to understand levels and trends of disease within a defined population that enables informed decisions to implement or relax social distancing measures. In this article, we describe the range of available COVID-19 tests; their accuracy and timing considerations; and the specific clinical, organizational, and public health considerations that warrant different testing strategies. Three representative clinical scenarios illustrate the importance of appropriate test use and interpretation. The reason a patient seeks testing is often a strong indicator of the pretest probability of infection, and thus how to interpret test results. In addition, the level of population spread of the virus and the timing of testing play critical roles in the positive or negative predictive value of the test. We conclude with practical recommendations regarding the need for testing in various contexts, appropriate tests and testing methods, and the interpretation of test results. ( J Am Board Fam Med 2021;34:S233–S243.)


Ruth Ozeki's novel A Tale for the Time Being is an autofiction—a novel whose protagonist is a characterized version of its author and thereby straddles the line between memoir and fiction. In an American literary context, autofiction is a genre dominated by white male authors. This article argues that Ozeki's approach to autofiction is vastly different from that of most of her white, male counterparts in that the author-character "Ruth" does not lay sole claim to authorial authority, but rather works collaboratively with other characters to share creative power and the responsibility that comes with it. This innovative tactic helps chart a potential course for autofiction by women writers and writers of color.


This paper assesses the present state of English studies in contemporary Turkey. It begins by noting the Head of Turkey's Higher Education Board's admission of the Board's failure to improve higher education. The paper then confirms the Head's position, first finding the acquisition of English language skills to be generally unsatisfactory among students and also among locally educated faculty members. It ascribes this problem to poor language-teaching practice, which tends to rely too much on translation. This paper also notes the misconception of viewing English studies as a domain of knowledge rather than as a field of study. It argues that these problems have global implications and arise in relation to the global history of English studies. It undertakes a detailed examination of "Minute on Indian Education," in which Macaulay presents English literature as a new and potentially edifying subject for higher education and a powerful instrument for more effective imperial management. It then places Macaulay's proposal in relation to Gayatri Spivak's recent advocacy of "aesthetic education." The paper shows that English studies in Turkey tends to conform to the Macaulay model, using scholarly articles published in Turkey to evidence the key elements of the argument. The paper ends with a suggestion that Turkish scholars with Anglophone-world degrees may help Turkish scholarship in the humanities approach international standards of quality and achievement.


Metabarcoding of microbial eukaryotes (collectively known as protists) has developed tremendously in the last decade, almost uniquely relying on the 18S rRNA gene. As microbial eukaryotes are extremely diverse, many primers and primer pairs have been developed. To cover a relevant and representative fraction of the protist community in a given study system, a wise primer choice is needed as no primer pair can target all protists equally well. As such, a smart primer choice is very difficult even for experts and there are very few on-line resources available to list existing primers. We built a database listing 179 primers and 76 primer pairs that have been used for eukaryotic 18S rRNA metabarcoding. In silico performance of primer pairs was tested against two sequence databases: PR2 for eukaryotes and a subset of Silva for prokaryotes. This allowed to determine the taxonomic specificity of primer pairs, the location of mismatches as well as amplicon size. We developed a R-based web application that allows to browse the database, visualize the taxonomic distribution of the amplified sequences with the number of mismatches, and to test any user-defined primer set (https://app.pr2-primers.org). This tool will provide the basis for guided primer choices that will help a wide range of ecologists to implement protists as part of their investigations.


In the context of Solvency II, insurance companies access and manage economic capital across various techniques requiring generally heavy Monte Carlo simulation procedures in order to derive an appropriate loss distribution. However, very little attention has been addressed to model Solvency Capital Requirements (SCR) based on the derivation of a closed-form formula. While the current industry standard is to make use of sophisticated algorithms requiring a significant calculation time given the current state-of-the-art computer technology and the amount of computational resources required for some techniques such as the stochastic-in-stochastic valuation that is particularly difficult to implement in practice for large participating Life insurance portfolios, a flexible and realistic modeling structure is proposed. This paper explores a convenient and straightforward solution for quantifying economic capital that aims at investigating notably the limited attempt that has been addressed so far at modeling economic capital via an adequate closed-form formula. The analytical formula proposed has the advantage of avoiding the use of simplified approaches such as the replicating portfolio for instance that has been largely criticized for its poor ability to replicate appropriately liabilities without introducing a significant error in the loss distribution covering against market risk. This paper contradicts the recent trend of highly complex modeling frameworks developed by some insurance companies for producing economic capital that can be hardly produced with high frequency and is in clear opposition with directives provided in CEIOPS. We aim to support the idea of developing a type of partial internal model allowing to better know the risks an insurance company is exposed to while keeping the attractive advantage of a closed-form solution. The approach adopted shows that SCR can be obtained based on the knowledge of systematic risks and conditional moments of order 1 and 2 of the distribution of net cash flows. An explicit solution for SCR is provided based on the derivation of a partial internal economic capital model that is general and flexible enough to further assess SCR via the inclusion of various assumptions largely detailed in this paper and allows to refine the approach. The attractive features of the modeling structure are its analytical formula, accuracy and encompass the interactions between assets and liabilities. Importantly, from our belief, the proposed modeling structure appears in accordance with CEIOPS, the general principles that aim to ensure a harmonized approach to the use of internal models throughout insurance companies.


This paper studied a one-dimensional model of high-vacuum plane circular gas-bearing with a three-stage sealing system, and analyzed the performances of the high-vacuum gas-bearing by combining the finite element method and the flow rate principle of the vacuum technology. For an expected pressure in the vacuum chamber, the zero load-capacity accident could take place. The reasons for the zero load-capacity accident were given through analyzing the flow rate of each sealing stage while the relationship between the pressure in the vacuum chamber and the inlet pressure was obtained. Besides, the influences of many parameters on the vacuum degree limit of the vacuum chamber were examined carefully. The analysis in this paper showed that for a given multi-stage seal system, the vacuum degree limit of the vacuum-chamber was inherent at the nonzero load-capacity condition.


ABSTRACT Settler colonialism eliminates Indigenous sovereignty, enthrones itself, and thereby makes Indigenous land 'ours'. It may do this meta-politically, by absorbing 'them' into 'us'. This article explores three recent lawsuits brought by settlers against Indigenous demoi in US Pacific territories. I show that in each lawsuit, settlers brandished a novel 'tool of elimination': individual voting rights. I trace how settlers wielded this tool to deliver a 'one-two punch', first condemning as 'illiberal' restrictive voting laws flowing from Indigenous sovereignty and then championing race-neutral laws that would in effect enthrone settlers. I show that courts hearing these cases were faced with choosing the appropriate 'framing of justice' – with whether the relevant rights-bearer was the universal individual voter or the 'constitutionally prior' Indigenous demos. Finally, I show that, because the courts ultimately framed these disputes as individual-rights cases, settlers extended control of meta-politics on the US Pacific frontier.


Background: Acute cadmium (Cd) intoxication can be caused by eating foods or drinks that are packed in metal containers coated with Cd. The exposure to Cd enhanced resorption and inhibited formation of the bone tissue resulting in its decreased mineralization and thus may lead to various complications. Zinc supplement can reduce Cd absorption as well as neutralize the Cd-induced toxicity. This study aimed to investigate the protective effect of zinc on bone metabolism parameters in male rats treated with Cd. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, a total of 48 male Wistar rats were randomly allocated into eight groups: group 1 received 0.5 mL of normal saline, group 2 received 0.5 mg/kg zinc, three Cd groups that received three different Cd concentrations (0.5, 1 and 2 mg/kg) and the other three groups received three Cd concentrations and zinc simultaneously. Blood samples were taken over a 30-day period and factors related to bone metabolism were measured. Results: The results showed that administration of three different doses of Cd chloride (0.5, 1 and 2 mg/kg) increased the activity of alkaline phosphatase, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium and decreased the albumin concentration compared to the control group. Moreover, the simultaneous use of three concentrations of Cd chloride with zinc reduced the activity of alkaline phosphatase, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and increased the albumin concentration (P<0.05). Conclusion: Zinc supplementation can have protective effects against the toxicity caused by Cd on parameters of bone metabolism.


The use of IT to support global processes has opened up opportunities for some countries to source skills from other countries often located in very different parts of the world. This study investigates the relationship between ICT Capacity and Skills and their effects on Economic Development from 2001 to 2005 for each of the 183 countries that are members of the United Nations. Following an analysis of ICT Capacity and its relationship to Skills and Economic Development, this paper reports positive correlations. The contribution of this paper is in the development and testing of a conceptual model that illustrates these correlations and explains why digital divides are narrowing in some countries but widening in others. This relationship between ICT capacity and skills has implications for the global sourcing of skills between countries and regions.


Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP) and Kinder Morgan Management (KMR) issue two separate securities that provide essentially identical cash flows. There are, however, minor distinctions between the securities in regard to the form of payout, taxation, control rights, and liquidity. Cornell studies the variation over time in the relative valuation of KMP and KMR to gain insight into the impact of those distinctions on asset pricing. The surprising result of this study is the discovery of a significant and continuing price differential between the two securities, but none of the distinctions between the two securities explains the price differential's level or its variation over time.


At Flight and Systems test Saab AB, a post-processing software is used to process GPS data. A new software by the name GrafNav has been purchased and the purpose of this master thesis therefore became, partly to make a judgment regarding GrafNav's ability to estimate position, velocity and accuracy, partly to if needed improve the estimate and finally find one or several methods to estimate the position and velocity accuracy. The judgment of GrafNav was performed partly by a comparison to the former post-processing software (PNAV) and partly by a comparison to the airplane's inertial navigation system (INS). The experiments showed that GrafNav's ability to estimate the position is comparable with PNAV:s, but its capacity to estimate the velocity is considerably worse. The velocity estimate even showed a more noisy behavior than the original velocity from the receiver. More effort is needed to judge GrafNav's ability to estimate the accuracy thru its quality signals. A few trials were made to improve the velocity estimate thru Kalman filtering (Rauch-Tung-Striebel smoothing). The filtering was first made using only the position data from GrafNav as measurements and afterwards both position and velocity data from GrafNav was used. The outcome of the Kalman filtering showed that the best result is obtained when solely position data is used and that the estimate in general is comparable with PNAV:s estimate, but considerable big deviations is obtained in conjunction to interruptions in position data. More over, is more effort needed using both position and velocity data when performing the smoothing and also replacing the stationary Kalman filter with an adaptive filter. Finally a method was brought out to estimate the position precision and a method to estimate the velocity accuracy. Both methods use the INS velocity to perform an estimation.


Self-interruptions account for a significant portion of task switching in information-centric work contexts. However, most of the research to date has focused on understanding, analyzing and designing for external interruptions. The causes of self-interruptions are not well understood. In this paper we present an analysis of 889 hours of observed task switching behavior from 36 individuals across three high-technology information work organizations. Our analysis suggests that self-interruption is a function of organizational environment and individual differences, but also external interruptions experienced. We find that people in open office environments interrupt themselves at a higher rate. We also find that people are significantly more likely to interrupt themselves to return to solitary work associated with central working spheres, suggesting that self-interruption occurs largely as a function of prospective memory events. The research presented contributes substantially to our understanding of attention and multitasking in context.


The synthetic opioid fentanyl is so potent that without proper safety procedures, even opening a bag of the powder to test its contents can be dangerous. To give police and other first responders a faster, safer way to screen suspicious packages for opioids like fentanyl, scientists at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology have been designing sensitive analytical tools. Previously, a team at NIST demonstrated that trace amounts of fentanyl, collected using a simple wipe from the outside of a package, could be detected in seconds using thermal desorption direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry. In collaboration with forensic labs in Maryland and Vermont, NIST researchers have now showed that their method allows them to accurately predict the contents of a suspected drug package 92% of the time (Forensic Sci. Int. 2019, DOI:10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.109939). The team analyzed swabs from 191 pieces of drug evidence, mostly plastic bags, and


This paper provides an in-depth empirical analysis of several hybrid evolutionary algorithms on the one-dimensional spin glass model with power-law interactions. The considered spin glass model provides a mechanism for tuning the effective range of interactions, what makes the problem interesting as an algorithm benchmark. As algorithms, the paper considers the genetic algorithm (GA) with twopoint and uniform crossover, and the hierarchical Bayesian optimization algorithm (hBOA). hBOA is shown to outperform both variants of GA, whereas GA with uniform crossover is shown to perform worst. The differences between the compared algorithms become more significant as the problem size grows and as the range of interactions decreases. Unlike for GA with uniform crossover, for hBOA and GA with twopoint crossover, instances with short-range interactions are shown to be easier. The paper also points out interesting avenues for future research.


The devastation caused by hurricanes during the 2004 and 2005 seasons has been unprecedented and is forcing the insurance industry to reevaluate the role that it can play in dealing with future natural disasters in the United States. As shown in Table 1 the four hurricanes that hit Florida in the fall of 2004 -- Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne---and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 comprised half of the top 12 disasters with respect to insured losses between 1970 and 2005. On a related note, 18 of the 20 most costly disasters occurred between 1990 and 2005 and 10 occurred in the 21st Century. This context is totally different than the scale of economic loss the country has suffered from natural disasters and other extreme events in the 20th century. The first section of the paper addresses the first question by outlining two principles on which a disaster insurance program should be based. Section 3 then focuses on the second question by analyzing the insurability of a risk and examining the challenges facing the private sector in providing coverage against natural disasters. Section 4 turns to the third question and delineates the opportunities and challenges of a comprehensive disaster insurance program. Section 5 poses a set of open issues that are currently being addressed by a research project on disaster insurance undertaken by the Wharton Risk Center in conjunction with the Insurance Information Institute and Georgia State University. The concluding section summarizes the key issues associated with providing disaster insurance in the 21st century.


The hydration effect on the intrinsic magnetism of natural salmon double-strand DNA was explored using electron magnetic resonance (EMR) spectroscopy and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetic measurements. We learned from this study that the magnetic properties of DNA are roughly classified into two distinct groups depending on their water content: One group is of higher water content in the range of 2.6-24 water molecules per nucleotide (wpn), where all the EMR parameters and SQUID susceptibilities are dominated by spin species experiencing quasi one-dimensional diffusive motion and are independent of the water content. The other group is of lower water content in the range of 1.4-0.5 wpn. In this group, the magnetic properties are most probably dominated by cyclotron motion of spin species along the helical π-way, which is possible when the momentum scattering time (τ k) is long enough not only to satisfy the cyclotron resonance condition (ωcτk > 1) but also to induce a constructive interference between the neighboring double helices. The same effect is reflected in the S-shaped magnetization-magnetic field strength (M-H) curves superimposed with the linear background obtained by SQUID measurements, which leads to larger susceptibilities at 1000 G when compared with the values at 10,000 G. In particular, we propose that the spin-orbital coupling and Faraday's mutual inductive effect can be utilized to interpret the dimensional crossover of spin motions from quasi 1D in the hydrate state to 3D in the dry state of dsDNA.


Background: It has been estimated that chronic painful diabetic neuropathy (PDN) affects 1 in 6 (16.2%) of all diabetic patients (Diabetes UK, 2010) yet the symptoms of PDN continue to present a huge challenge in its management both for physicians and patients. Objectives: To ascertain whether pregabalin is effective as a treatment for relieving pain in PDN and to identify which dose: 150/300/600 mg/d is most effective. Search methods: ";Pregabalin"; and ";Painful Diabetic Neuropathy"; were entered into Pubmed and Scirus. ";Humans"; and ";randomised controlled trial"; were entered as limiters. The search was completed using the Athens log in through the University of Plymouth on 28 th February 2011. Selection criteria: Randomised double-blind controlled trials, with patients diagnosed with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes mellitus and a diagnosis of PDN for a duration of ≥1 year were selected. Studies which reported the effectiveness of taking dosages of pregabalin of 150 mg per day (mg/d), 300 mg/d or 600 mg/d and a placebo for pain relief were used in this meta-analysis. Only completed studies were included. Data collection and analysis: The author used strict inclusion criteria to extract the data. Revman 5 was used to analyse the mean difference with 95% confidence intervals and fixed effects for pain relief when taking either pregabalin or placebo. Main results: The search yielded fourteen studies. Thirteen were available via the University of Plymouth subscription and one was requested via the inter-library loans service. Six studies including 1,628 participants were eligible as having the correct inclusion criteria and measuring the correct endpoints. Overall, pregabalin was more effective at reducing mean pain scores in comparison to the placebo with a total mean difference of -0.90 in favour of pregabalin. The dose 600 mg/d had a significant effect on pain relief in comparison to the placebo with a mean difference of -1.19 in favour of pregabalin. The dose 300 mg/d also had a significant effect on pain relief in comparison to the placebo with a mean difference of -0.86 in favour of pregabalin. The dose 150 mg/d had a significant effect on pain relief in comparison to the placebo with a mean difference of -0.38 in favour of pregabalin. There was a significant difference in efficacy between 150 mg/d and 600 mg/d of pregabalin. There was no significant difference between 300 mg/d and 600 mg/d doses. There was also no significant difference between 150 mg/d and 300 mg/d doses of pregabalin. Conclusions: Pregabalin 150 mg/d, 300 mg/d and 600 mg/d effectively reduced pain in patients with PDN. 600 mg/d dose relieved pain most effectively and 150 mg/d was the least effective.


How can we speak of an alterity that escapes vision and knowledge? How can we state an event that is on the hither side of present in which it is manifested and beyond the phenomenon? Levinas tackles these questions within the Husserlian tradition, and, in particular, the immanent intentionality of sensation and temporality. It is in the direction of the passivity involved in the intentionality that Levinas attempts to think the transcendence of the other as other. Through the analysis of texts immediately before Otherwise than Being or beyond essence, we follow Levinas's path for thinking about this transcendence as a way of radicalizing the phenomonelogical method. Far from implicating a rupture with the philosophical tradition, Levinas proposition can be understood as a hermeneutics of the primary signification that animates all philosophical efforts: a hermeneutics of passivity.


Electrocardiogram (ECG), a noninvasive technique is used as a primary diagnostic tool for cardiovascular diseases.
A cleaned ECG signal provides necessary information about the electrophysiology of the heart diseases and
ischemic changes that may occur. It provides valuable information about the functional aspects of the heart and
cardiovascular system. The objective of the thesis is to automatic detection of cardiac arrhythmias in ECG signal.
Recently developed digital signal processing and pattern reorganization technique is used in this thesis for detection
of cardiac arrhythmias. The detection of cardiac arrhythmias in the ECG signal consists of following stages:
detection of QRS complex in ECG signal; feature extraction from detected QRS complexes; classification of beats
using extracted feature set from QRS complexes. In turn automatic classification of heartbeats represents the
automatic detection of cardiac arrhythmias in ECG signal. Hence, in this thesis, we developed the automatic
algorithms for classification of heartbeats to detect cardiac arrhythmias in ECG signal.
QRS complex detection is the first step towards automatic detection of cardiac arrhythmias in ECG signal. A novel
algorithm for accurate detection of QRS complex in ECG signal is proposed in chapter 2 of this thesis. The detection
of QRS complex from continuous ECG signal is computed using autocorrelation and Hilbert transform based
technique. The first differential of the ECG signal and its Hilbert transformed is used to locate the R-peaks in the
ECG waveform. The autocorrelation based method is used to find out the period of one cardiac cycle in ECG signal.
The advantage of proposed method is to minimize the large peak of P-wave and T-wave, which helps to identify the
R-peaks more accurately. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Beth Israel Hospital (MIT-BIH) arrhythmias
database has been used for performance analysis. The experimental result shows that the proposed method shows
better performance as compared to the other two established techniques like Pan-Tompkins (PT) method and the
technique which uses the difference operation method (DOM).
For detection of cardiac arrhythmias, the extracted features in the ECG signal will be input to the classifier. The
extracted features contain both morphological and temporal features of each heartbeat in the ECG signal. Twenty six
dimension feature vector is extracted for each heartbeat in the ECG signal which consist of four temporal features,
three heartbeat interval features, ten QRS morphology features and nine T-wave morphology features.
Automatic classification of cardiac arrhythmias is necessary for clinical diagnosis of heart disease. Many researchers
recommended Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) standard for automatic
classification of heartbeats into following five beats: normal beat (N), supraventricular ectopic beat (S), ventricular
ectopic beat (V), fusion beat (F) and unknown beat (Q). The beat classifier system is adopted in this thesis by first
training a local-classifier using the annotated beats and combines this with the global-classifier to produce an
adopted classification system. The Multilayer perceptron back propagation (MLP-BP) neural network and radial
basis function (RBF) neural network are used to classify the cardiac arrhythmias. Several experiments are performed
on the test dataset and it is observed that MLP-BP neural network classifies ECG beats better as compared to RBF
neural network.