The Cooling System Design Assistant (Coolsys), developed by the Knowledge Based Systems Laboratory at Texas A&M University for Chrysler Motors Corporation, is an integrated set of tools for engineering design support in the automobile cooling systems domain. In its primary mode of operation, the system models the reasoning process of an engineer as he develops design specifications for engine box cooling systems. The reasoning model has been effectively implemented using a situation specification technique that operates in the context of a history of design experimentation. Coolsys incorporates an existing engineering analysis model used to predict the performance of a proposed cooling system design. The incorporation of this program, called the Thermal and Airflow Model, poses problems of symbolic / numeric computing that have been addressed in Coolsys.


The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is involved in the pathophysiology of many neuropsychiatric disorders. Increased HPA axis activity can be observed during chronic stress, which plays a key role in the pathophysiology of depression. Overactivity of the HPA axis occurs in major depressive disorder (MDD), leading to cognitive dysfunction and reduced mood. There is also a correlation between the HPA axis activation and gut microbiota, which has a significant impact on the development of MDD. It is believed that the gut microbiota can influence the HPA axis function through the activity of cytokines, prostaglandins, or bacterial antigens of various microbial species. The activity of the HPA axis in schizophrenia varies and depends mainly on the severity of the disease. This review summarizes the involvement of the HPA axis in the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders, focusing on major depression and schizophrenia, and highlights a possible correlation between these conditions. Although many effective antidepressants are available, a large proportion of patients do not respond to initial treatment. This review also discusses new therapeutic strategies that affect the HPA axis, such as glucocorticoid receptor (GR) antagonists, vasopressin V1B receptor antagonists and non-psychoactive CB1 receptor agonists in depression and/or schizophrenia.


We examined the reasons why registered nurses do not practice nursing and the correlations between their characteristics and nonpractice factors. One hundred twelve 22-item, six-category questionnaires were completed. Nurses' main reasons for not practicing nursing were "salaries are not adjusted with workload changes," "insufficient staff or excessive staff reduction," and "salaries disproportionate to workload." Health departments and hospital administrators should adjust nurse-to-patient ratios, include on-leave coefficients in human resource considerations, and arrange part-time staff. The related advocacy could encourage recognition of nursing work and respect for the nursing image. Manual operations should be simplified and positive work environments maintained.and "social living" and build the chance of "independence from parents" through the use of respite care. This result points to the educative contribution of respite care to the development and independence of disabled children.


Handwritten autobiographical manuscript describing the author's thoughts and memories, starting with notes about the his father who was a farmer in Virginia. There appear to be several sections, including one labeled "To my MOTHER November 1st 1848"; that section is also signed by C. B. Moore. A portion of the pages near the lower-right corner is missing and several pages at the end of the booklet are blank. Some text on the cover is repeated on the first page.


JAGUAR (JAva GUi for Applied Research) is a Java software tool providing an advanced text editor and graphical user interface (GUI) to manipulate DAKOTA (Design Analysis Kit for Optimization and Terascale Applications) input specifications. This document focuses on the technical background necessary for a developer to understand JAGUAR.


Maternal hypothyroidism disrupts fetal brain development in the rat; affected parameters include several neuron-specific cytoskeletal proteins and neurotransmitter metabolic enzymes. The aim of this study was to determine whether maternal hyperthyroidism also impacts upon fetal neuronal development.

Partially thyroidectomised rat dams were subcutaneously implanted with osmotic pumps to infuse either 1.5 micrograms thyroxine/100 g body weight/day (HYPER) or vehicle (TX). Age-matched normal dams were also implanted with pumps infusing vehicle (N). Fetal brains were obtained at 21 days gestation and alpha-internexin (INX) and neurofilament-68 (NF68) protein abundance were determined by Western blot analysis, and neuronal and glial isoforms of monoamine oxidase (MAO-A and -B, respectively) were determined by conventional enzyme assays. Data (n = 4 dams per group) were analysed by one-way ANOVA with Fisher's PLSD.

Relative to N dams, maternal serum thyroxine levels were increased (by 176%; P < 0.05) in HYPER dams and decreased in TX dams (by 82% P < 0.05). Fetal brain weights were increased in HYPER dams versus N dams (by 15%; P < 0.05), but fetal brain protein and DNA concentrations were unaffected. Relative to TX dam fetal brain, INX expression was lower (by 62%; P < 0.05) in HYPER dam fetuses and, conversely, NF68 expression was increased (by 60%; P < 0.05), although clear-cut differences between HYPER or TX dams and N dams were not apparent for these parameters. However, the specific activity of MAO-A was increased (by 30%) in HYPER dams relative to N and TX dams (P < 0.05), whereas MAO-B was unaffected.

In summary, preliminary findings indicate that maternal hyperthyroidism throughout pregnancy in the rat is associated with accelerated neuronal development in late fetal brain.


Yes. Group purchasing organizations help hospitals lower the cost of providing quality patient care, and every hospital can benefit from joining a GPO. GPOs help hospitals obtain the best price on medications and supplies, realize opportunities for cost savings, and access information that can help improve supply-chain performance.


A novel derivative of camptothecin, 9-aminocamptothecin (9-AC), is currently under Phase II evaluation in various cancers. Exceptionally mild toxicities were observed in patients with brain tumors who were treated with anticonvulsants. To investigate a pharmacokinetic interaction between 9-AC and anticonvulsants, and to evaluate the pharmacodynamics of 9-AC, we investigated the clinical pharmacology of 9-AC, administered by a 72-h infusion, in three Phase II studies. Plasma concentrations of total 9-AC (lactone plus carboxylate) at a steady state were measured in 56, 10, and 14 patients with non-small cell lung cancer, malignant glioma, and head and neck cancer, respectively. For lung cancer or glioma patients, 9-AC was infused at 45 (51 patients) or 59 (15 patients) microg/m2/h, and 9-AC was infused at 35.4 microg/m2/h in head and neck cancer patients. All glioma patients had been treated with phenytoin or carbamazepine. 9-AC clearance did not differ among the dosage rates, but differed according to the diseases (P = 0.002). Glioma patients had a higher clearance (1.0-18.0; median, 2.0 liters/h/m2) than lung cancer patients (0.3-5.1; median, 0.9 liters/h/m2). A logistic regression model described the relationship between the 9-AC concentration and the probability of grade 4 neutropenia, which was the main toxicity. Observed incidences of grade 4 neutropenia for patients with model-predicted probability of 0-20%, 20-40%, and 40-100% were 10%, 32%, and 67%, respectively, and corresponded to 9-AC concentration of <54, 54-86, and >86 ng/ml, respectively. Anticonvulsants seem to induce the clearance of 9-AC, and the concentration of 9-AC predicts the probability of grade 4 neutropenia.


Ionizing radiation dose levels due to home radon can rise to levels that would be illegal for workers in the nuclear industry. It is well known that radon levels within homes and from home to home, and also from month to month, vary considerably. To define an Isle of Man radon seasonal correction factor, readings were taken in eight homes over a 12 month period. An average island indoor exposure of 48 Bq m-3 (range 4-518 Bq m-3) was determined from 285 homes selected from a cohort of 1300 families participating in the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ELSPAC) in the Isle of Man. This compares with a UK home average of 20 Bq m-3 and a European Union average (excluding UK) of 68 Bq m-3. Ten homes of those measured were found to have radon levels above the National Radiological Protection Board 200 Bq m-3 action level. There are 29 377 homes on the Isle of Man, suggesting that there could be some 900 or more homes above the action level. No statistical difference was found between the NRPB and Isle of Man seasonal correction factors.


Electric power industry chain refers to the chain composed by upstream and downstream subjects, which consist of the four segments--electric generation, transmission, attribution, and marketing. At present the main components of electric power industry chain in China incorporate power generation enterprises, power supply enterprises, users, etc. Electric power industry chain mainly composed by these three kinds of enterprises can maintain smooth operation within a certain period. However, if the external economic environment changes, such as change of national economic policy, may influence the major components. In addition, if risks of mutation appear in a certain kind of enterprise, it will certainly affect other enterprises in the industry chain. By analyzing the risk element system of electric power industry chain, this paper studies risk element transfer path and establishes the risk element transfer model of electric power industry


This paper discusses how the phonologies of Dutch, West-Frisian and Afrikaans are represented in Taalportaal, a digital grammar of the three West-Germanic languages. These languages have similar consonant inventories, but differ in the vowel phonemes that they use. The phonological processes and phonotactic restrictions that refer to laryngeal properties are comparable in the three languages, but for other processes and phonotactic restrictions, it is not quite clear in how far they occur in all three languages or in how far they are unique for one individual language. This part seems to be incomplete in Taalportaal. For Dutch, West-Frisian, and Afrikaans, we find different descriptions of word stress assignment and it is therefore difficult to find the underlying generalisations. Also, the part on phonological processes at morpheme boundaries and other cases of phonology-morphology interaction lack a full description in Taalportaal. Nevertheless, this platform will be highly appreciated by linguists and other researchers who are interested in the sound systems of the languages represented in Taalportaal.


In this paper we attempt to break down the barrier of choosing a supportive technology for learning. We try to simplify the process by reducing it to a set of elementary steps. A perfect fit is difficult to achieve, in part due to the multitude of subjective interpretations. Having an in depth understanding in the different elements involved in choosing a appropriate technology, will make the decision process easier. We propose to evaluate both the technologies and courses on basis of a rating on characteristics. This forms the basis for the matching. The closer the match, the more likely the technology will be appropriate.


Military network-centric communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems to be fielded in the near future will make extensive use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The high data rates and sophisticated networking waveforms to be used in these systems often require a high-gain agile beam antenna subsystem to meet throughput requirements. An antenna subsystem with the required capabilities - that is compatible with the size, weight, power and cost constraints of a UAV - thus becomes an enabling technology for these future systems. This paper presents an example of a Ku-band switched-beam tactical CDL antenna designed for the predator UAV. The paper also discusses emerging technologies for further weight-reducing these antennas, showing a path to a 2-lb switched beam antenna capable of extending these capabilities to very small UAVs.


Aim: Minimal intervention seeks to prevent and detect oral diseases at the earliest stage in order to minimize invasive treatment. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical and radiographic outcomes of permanent molar teeth with deep lesions treated by complete or partial removal of carious dentin after follow-up over a 24-month period. Methods: A total of 20 adolescents from Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil were screened; 11 had at least one deep carious lesion in permanent molars. Adolescents in whom 18 permanent molars required attention were randomly allocated to receive interventions. In the control group, nine teeth were submitted to complete removal of carious dentin, protection with calcium hydroxide and glass ionomer cement and restoration with resin composite. In the experimental group nine teeth were submitted to partial removal of carious dentin, protection with glass ionomer cement and restoration with resin composite. Radiographic examination and pulp vitality tests were performed 12-24 months after cavity sealing and the teeth were not reopened. Results: Complete data were available for 16 teeth. One volunteer in the experimental group felt pain during the pulp vitality test after 12 months; however, there was spontaneous remission of symptoms and no image suggestive of periapical lesion. No teeth presented unsatisfactory clinical and radiographic response to treatment. Conclusions: The results suggest that partial removal of carious dentin in a single session in permanent teeth could be indicated to maintain pulp vitality since no unsatisfactory clinical and radiographic results were shown. *Corresponding author: Professor Maria da Luz Rosário de Sousa, Department of Community Dental Health, Piracicaba Dental School, P.O. BOX 52, University of Campinas–UNICAMP, 13414-903, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil, Tel: 00 55 19 21065364; Fax: 00 55 19 34210144; E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Received September 13, 2013; Accepted October 09, 2013; Published October 11, 2013 Citation: Rando-Meirelles MPM, Tôrres LHN, Sousa MLR (2013) Twenty-Four Months of Follow-up after Partial Removal of Carious Dentin: A Preliminary Study. Dentistry 3: 162. doi:10.4172/2161-1122.1000162 Copyright: © 2013 Rando-Meirelles MPM, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.


Graph neural networks (GNNs) gain significant interest in the domain of network representation learning. To obtain a graph level vector representation from individual node embeddings, hierarchical pooling algorithms are proposed in the recent literature which adhere the hierarchical structure of an input graph. A major limitation for most of the existing supervised GNNs is their dependency on large number of graph labels (often 80%-90%) to train the parameters of the neural architecture. But obtaining labels of a large number of graphs is expensive for real world applications. So in this work, we propose an unsupervised hierarchical neural network, referred as GraPHmax, for obtaining graph level representation. We propose the concept of periphery representation and show its effectiveness to obtain discriminative features of an input graph. Further, inspired by the concepts from self-supervised learning, we propose to maximize periphery and hierarchical information in the context of hierarchical GNN. Thorough experimentation on both synthetic and real-world graph datasets shows that GraPHmax is not only able to outperform unsupervised graph embedding techniques, it often achieves state-of-the-art performance even with respect to a set of popular supervised GNN algorithms.


The article deals with elaboration of electronic terminological dictionary-minimum in the context of cognitive and methodological challenges. It is known that the reliance on cognitive processes, such as representation, storing, processing, interpretation and reproduction of new knowledge, creates conditions for effective foreign language professional communication teaching. The article substantiates a cognitive approach as a conceptual basis for elaborating a new model of dictionary-minimum of terminology units. This approach enabled the authors to set the unit of the dictionary selection - the term-concept (TC) as "operative unit of memory". When mastering TC, learners' mind has a complicated chain of cognitive processes of emergence and forming of scientific notions, which are professionally-coloured ones.
Definitely, TC as a specific mental unit, is verbalized in the language system by the lexical unit of terminology character, which represents a fragment of professional reality and determines a special concept of engineering field of knowledge. Following cognitive imperatives, the authors revealed lingvodidactic and cognitive principles of ?? selection. Taking them into account, methodological and cognitive grounds for organizing dictionary-minimum of terminologically-marked lexis have been substantiated. The conceptual field as a unit of terminological dictionary-minimum has the property to integrate all grounds for creating an optimal, systemically-modelled dictionary-minimum. In accordance with cognitive ideas about the mental essence of the concept, the selected contour of the dictionary-minimum field is some kind of professionally-organized environment, which helps to model in the cognitive mind of students the whole integrity of concepts, or integrated fragment of professional concept-sphere, which reflects systematic knowledge of specific highly-professional educational disciplines.
The cognitive vision of the process of a new format dictionary-minimum elaboration enabled the authors to shift accents from linguistic phenomena to mental processes. Organization of the dictionary-minimum predetermined the necessity of using praxeological approaches, in the course of which the authors elaborated a cognitively-set algorithm of students' work with the electronic version of the dictionary-minimum.
Thus, electronic dictionary-minimum in the context of cognitive and methodological challenges becomes a guide to the terminological world of students' specialty with specific professional shell, and serves a kind of catalyst of adequate understanding of foreign language terminology.


Federal elections may be good for democracy, but the campaigns — particularly the lengthy one recently held in Canada — can be crippling for plans to better arm our military. Just before the election was called, there were public signs of important progress being made in what has long been a frustratingly slow and bureaucratically complex procurement process. But then the campaign left the Department of National Defence and other federal departments unable to secure approvals from either a defence minister or the Treasury Board, until the election ended and the new prime minister appointed the current cabinet. There had already been upheaval prior to that: In the first seven months of 2015, the three senior leaders at the Canadian Forces and the Defence Department (including the minister) had been replaced, along with many other people critical to the procurement process. In addition, there had been changes in the Public Works Department and the Defence Procurement Strategy Secretariat. Frustrating and disappointing delays have long been a matter of course in Canada's defence procurement process. In 2014/15, the number of ministerial or Treasury Board approvals to allow projects to proceed was half of that in 2009/10. Yet the demand for approvals has not abated. In addition to the turnover of key figures involved in the procurement and approval process, delays have come from a number of major steps added to the process, making an already lengthy and complex system even more so. To be sure, these steps were added in the pursuit of improved financial management and project management, with the aim of addressing longstanding problems. But it will take years to see if those objectives have been realized. An irony here is that the budget for military procurement has increased. Between 2004 and 2009, the Defence Department's procurement budget nearly doubled. But the funding was never matched by the capacity to manage it. In 2003, the Material Group had a ratio of 2,600 staff for every $1 billion in procurement funds. By 2009, the ratio had become 1,800 staff for every $1 billion in procurement funds. Since then, the ratio has only gotten substantially worse. New systems now require extensive analysis to determine if a more intensive Treasury Board review is required. A recently created panel designed to provide a "third-party challenge function" on requirements for major procurements has created some confusion among officials as to what documentation they should be producing to support procurement initiatives. And the panel's terms of reference are extensive, ranging from evaluating a project's alignment with government policy and the level of its fit with allies' capabilities, to the role of Canadian suppliers and the anticipated support concept. Still, there are some indications that changes enacted in 2014 to the procurement process may eventually help mitigate delays in the future. There are continual improvements being made to the way the Defence Department conducts project costing as well as how the Treasury Board Secretariat evaluates the costs, which will help improve the compatibility between estimates and newly introduced frameworks. New methods of better prioritizing projects have also been introduced. And there are plans underway intended to reduce the time involved in the department's internal approval processes. For now, however, these attempts at improvement have been focused on the lower-dollar-figure approvals done by the minister. It remains to be seen if, first, they work, and secondly, if they can then be used to facilitate Treasury Board approvals, as well.


We address the synchronization properties of two pulse-coupled resonate-and-fire neuron (RFN) models. The RFN model is a spiking neuron model that has second-order membrane dynamics with a threshold and a reset value. Due to such dynamics, the RFN model exhibits subthreshold oscillation of the membrane potential, and is sensitive to the timing of stimuli. So far the existence of anti-phase synchronization states and their stability in a system of two pulse-coupled RFN models have been reported. However, the effects of the reset value after firing on such synchronization states have not been considered. The reset value may affect the sensitivity to the input timing, leading to change in synchronization properties in the pulse-coupled RFN models. We newly found out-of-phase burst synchronization states and related bifurcation phenomena depending on the coupling strength in the system as the reset value was changed. Focusing on the symmetry of the system, we analyzed the stability of such phenomena by using a firing time difference map constructed from ID return maps with respect to firing time difference between two neurons. The analyses revealed the global stability of the out-of-phase synchronization states and the existence of the type I intermittency chaotic behavior.


Through the use of selected works by Philip K. Dick, Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert and H.P. Lovecraft, this thesis explores the question of what it means to be human in the universe when occidental cosmologies no longer align with the universe they seek to describe. Within its view of the universe, H.P. Lovecraft's philosophy of cosmicism offers the human creature an answer to this question, but in doing so also limits that creature to an isolated life ending in madness or death within an indifferently cold universe.

While this thesis seeks to demonstrate the validity of cosmicism as a lens through which to critically interrogate science fiction texts; it more importantly endeavours to address cosmicism's inherent limitations as a philosophy of the human creature's place in the universe. This is done by developing neocosmicism as an outgrowth of cosmicism that offers an alternate experience of the universe and a revitalisation of the human creature's relationship with the universe. By recognising the significant shift in the human creature's understanding of the universe – from a Cartesian view to a Quantum view within a broader post-modern context – neocosmicism is developed as an interrogative philosophy that provides a framework for opening up a critical space in which to explore alternatives to modernity's questions rather than offering mere reactions or polarising oppositions.

For neocosmicism, this thesis represents a beginning, and in no way provides a comprehensive development or analysis of its nuances. At this early stage of development, neocosmicism asks more questions than it answers; suspects that god and the void are a manifest singularity that is the universe; and suggests that cosmicism's limiting outcome of estrangement between the human creature and the universe can be transformed to a vitalised outcome of relationship between the emotive biological creature [that the human creature is] and the indifferently cold chaos that creature calls the universe.


The role of the basic factors in the wet fiber winding process was investigated from the point of view of the actual wet-wound parameters and the property of composite material. In the present work, a PBO fiber-reinforced epoxy-matrix composite material was prepared by a wet fiber-winding process. The effects of processing factors such as the volume fraction of PBO fiber, the preheating temperature of mandrel, the infiltration temperature and time of epoxy resin, and winding tension, on the tensile strength and interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of the unidirectional composite materials were investigated. To evaluate correctly how the above-mentioned parameters affect the mechanical performances of the composite materials, a pair of standardized pressure vessels with a diameter of 150 mm were fabricated via the winding method. The optimum conditions are obtained as follows: the preheating temperature of mandrel is 60-70 °C, winding tension is 30-40 N, and the penetration temperature and time of epoxy resin into PBO fiber are 45 °C and 1-2 s, respectively. Under the conditions, the ILSS and tensile strength of the composite materials are 30 MPa and 2980 MPa, respectively. The burst pressure and performance factor of the manufactured pressure vessels is as high as 34 MPa and 60.4 km, respectively. It is demonstrated that high quality rings and vessels can be efficiently manufactured by methods described in the paper.


The feasibility of decoding lower limb kinematics in human treadmill walking from noninvasive electroencephalography (EEG) has been demonstrated with linear Wiener filter. However, nonlinear relationship between neural activities and limb movements may challenge the linear decoders in real-time brain computer interface (BCI) applications. In this study, we propose a nonlinear neural decoder using an Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) to infer lower limb joint angles from noninvasive scalp EEG signals during human treadmill walking. Our results demonstrate that lower limb joint angles during treadmill walking can be decoded from the fluctuations in the amplitude of slow cortical potentials in the delta band (0.1-3Hz). Overall, the average decoding accuracy were 0.43 ± 0.18 for Pearson's r value and 1.82 ± 3.07 for signal to noise ratio (SNR), and robust to ocular, muscle, or movement artifacts. Moreover, the signal preprocessing scheme and the design of UKF allow the implementation of the proposed EEG-based BCI for real-time applications. This has implications for the development of closed-loop EEG-based BCI systems for gait rehabilitation after stroke.


CONGENITAL coronary arteriovenous fistula is relatively uncommon, but it must be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients manifesting continuous or to-and-fro cardiac murmurs. Only approximately 100 cases of this anomaly have been reported, and of these just over 50 have been treated surgically. Many of the cases treated surgically have not been recognized before surgery, but if arteriovenous fistula is suspected, the diagnosis can be confirmed readily by cardiac catheterization and coronary arteriography. Surgical treatment is very satisfactory, with a low operative mortality and apparent good long-term results.1-3 We present another case of congenital coronary arteriovenous fistula in which the diagnosis was made correctly prior to surgery and the patient was operated upon with successful closure of the fistula. The clinical features, method of diagnosis, hemodynamics and results of surgical repair are reviewed. The hemodynamics, as measured directly before and after closure of the fistula, seem particularly important


Sumani district had the worst impact by earthquake in West Sumatra  in 2007.  According to a  geologists, Sumani is Sumateran faults area which  passes along by  the mountain of Bukit Barisan start from the Gulf Semangko up to Banda Aceh. The purpose of this study was to illustrate perception of the society of Sumani district about disaster preparedness, because the myths and misperceptions related to natural disasters often give unfavorable impact in disaster management. This is a descriptive research. The population are amount 1376. Sample are 100 people who has experienced in earthquake situation in 2007 and 2009. Technique sampling by using proportionale random sampling from 12 area in Sumani district. The results of the study, 65% of peoples still have the conventional paradigm about the disaster, 80% of peoples believe that they can participate in disaster risk reduction, 68% of peoples thought they need  international medical assistance, 43% of peoples believe they are able to take responsibility for their own survival after the earthquake. Disaster education should be done by continually, so the peoples alert to the threat and they has ability to prevent, anticipate, dodge and re-bounce after disaster


The complexities inherent in managing child sexual abuse stem from the intersection of micro factors (e.g., personal values, histories of learning and trauma in some cases), exo level factors (such as agency mandates and professional codes) and macro factors (e.g., socio-economic and societal attitudes). Professionals in Barbados who deal with gender-based violence (including sexual exploitation) have a key role to play in addressing this problem. The ways in which they respond, through their criminal investigations, child protection assessments and interventions, are critical in assisting with the amelioration of the effects of CSA and reducing its prevalence.

This study furthers our understanding and expands knowledge on the subject by examining professional behaviours in responding to child sexual abuse. Factors such as professional identity and codes of ethics, together with institutional regulations and cultural mores, determine how professionals are likely to respond. A grounded theory approach was employed, in an interpretative constructionist manner, to explore the responses of twenty one (21) participants, comprising ten police officers, eight child care officers and focus group members comprising three new participants and four others previously interviewed individually.

Two theoretical paradigms were employed as conceptual lenses to assist data exploration and analysis of emerged meanings. These were the socio-cultural theory of 'community of practice', and the feminist perspective, which helped to inform how gender and power might impact on responses. Sitting alongside these approaches is the ecological systems theory, which I have used to ensure that the problem (child sexual abuse) has been located within its wider socio-cultural context.

The grounded theory to emerge from the study is that professional responses to CSA result in, and from, multisystem actions within hierarchies of power and status, which validate particular narratives of abuse and minimise others. Professionals are embedded within these systems and, therefore, often find it difficult to respond to CSA in ways that address root causes and provide justice to its victims. The study highlights the need for the training of police officers and social workers to facilitate a greater level of reflection on issues such as power and gender inequality, and to create opportunities for collaborative practice.


To the ASA conference delegates, the importance of building
environmental services is self-evident. However the experience of
teaching this course to architectural students has been challenging
both to the author and other lecturers. In 2006, Mark Luther described
it being 'often … categorised as "one of the least desirable courses in
the curriculum of architecture and building." ' After winning the Prime
Minister's Australian Teacher of the Year Award (2012), James Arvanitakis
wrote an article entitled 'Kill your Powerpoints and teach
like a pirate'. Finding inspiration in his success, and using the ideas
from David Burgess on his book 'Teach like a Pirate' the author shares
some his ideas in bringing an unconventional teaching style to building
services, like bringing in a fog machine to the lecture theatre to illustrate
the importance of fire services, singing a rap with the students
on sanitary and plumbing, and speed-dating with building professionals.
The PIRATE system has been an invaluable way of approaching
building services education, allowing the lecturer to connect with the
students for an intensive course on high-rise structures and services in
one semester, with weekly three hourly lectures to fourth year architecture
students. The paper presents the ideas adopted and the feedback
received from running this course this way for the first time.


To the extent target firms in M&A scenarios adjust to better suit their acquirers, they eliminate the option of walking away from the acquisition and continuing as a separate firm. The authors posit that, as a result of this behavior, target firms should not enjoy the same price for equity that they would have enjoyed had the option of independent operation remained viable for a maximum duration while negotiating the transaction. Target firms that engage in reorganization to become a more suitable organ for transplant into the acquiring firm before the acquisition prices are certain may please the potential acquirer but weaken any other party's willingness to pay for its equity, including their own shareholders.


The ADRICOSM project was launched in October 2001, and ended in March 2005, with the main objective of demonstrating the feasibility of a near real time operational marine monitoring and forecasting system at the shelf and coastal scales, with connections to river basin runoff and coastal town sewer systems. The basic system consisted of an efficient network for the collection of marine data such as in situ temperature and salinity profiles and satellite sea surface temperature, a regional (AREG) and shelf scale modeling system, a data assimilation system and finally a coastal scale modeling system. Every week AREG releases 7 day marine forecasts at 5 km horizontal scales, which are used to nest other hydrodynamic models toward the coastal scale. Two shelf models (ASHELF-1 and ASHELF-2) at a 1.5 km horizontal scale were nested in AREG in order to simulate (and in the future to forecast) shelf scale oceanographic features. Another important aspect of ADRICOSM was the integration of the Cetina river (Croatia) and urban sewage monitoring/ modeling (Split, Croatia) systems with the shelf marine model. This integrated model system was used to simulate the dispersion of sewer discharges from the urban area in the coastal waters for water management performance studies. ADRICOSM is one of the first integrated land and marine waters operational oceanographic systems able to meet the urgent needs for reliable integrated coastal forecasts for the effective management of marine areas.


In this study, by investigating one parameter spherical motion in $\mathbb{D}^{3}$ with two different kinds of dual indicatrice curves, we have obtained the ruled surfaces that correspond to tangent, principal normal and binormal indicatrices of the dual curve are developable. Furthermore, it can be easily seen that this study gives a link between the classical surface theory and dual spherical curves on the dual unit spheres.


STUDY OBJECTIVES
Despite curative therapy, mortality remains high for hospitalized patients with tuberculosis (TB) in the United States. The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics of hospitalized patients with TB and to identify patient characteristics associated with in-hospital mortality.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS
Using the 2000 Nationwide Inpatient Sample, representing 20% of US hospital admissions, we identified 2,279 hospital admissions with a primary diagnosis of TB (International Classification of Diseases, ninth revision, codes, 010.xx to 018.xx).

MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS
Mortality was the main outcome measure. Logistic regression analyses were performed including age, gender, race, insurance status, income, Deyo-adapted Charlson comorbidity index (DCI), HIV status, hospital admission source, and hospital characteristics as explanatory variables. A disproportionate number of patients hospitalized with TB were men (64%), nonwhite (72%), lived in areas with median incomes of < $35,000 (50%), and had publicly funded health insurance (49%) or no health insurance (17%). The mortality rate for patients hospitalized for TB was greater than that for non-TB hospital admissions (4.9% vs 2.4%, respectively; p < 0.001). Patients with TB who died during hospitalization were older (mean age, 65.1 vs 49.4 years, respectively; p < 0.001), had greater comorbid illness (DCI, 1.1 vs 0.55, respectively; p < 0.001), required longer hospitalizations (19.9 vs 13.9 days, respectively; p < 0.001), and accumulated substantially higher charges ($79,585 vs $31,610, respectively; p < 0.001) than did patients with TB who were alive at hospital discharge. In a multivariable analysis, older age, comorbid illnesses, and emergency department admissions were independently associated with mortality. The total charges for TB hospitalizations in the United States in 2000 exceeded $385 million.

CONCLUSIONS
Despite public health efforts, patients who are hospitalized with TB are frequently admitted through emergency care settings, have a high risk of in-hospital mortality, and incur substantial hospital charges. To improve TB health outcomes, more vigorous clinical management and prevention strategies should especially target older patients and those with comorbid medical conditions.


90 patients with acute pancreatitis were observed, in 60 of them laparoscopic drainage was performed. The procedure by sterile pancreatonecrosis is indicated only in presence of extent amount of exudate in abdominal cavity. Duration of draining the abdominal cavity should be strictly limited because of the high risk of septic complications. Contraindications for the abdominal drainage by acute necrotic pancreatitis are not only adhesions in the abdomen and shock state of the patient at the moment of procedure necessity, but also unstable hemodynamics in anamnesis and even by the arterial pressure downtrend.


OBJECTIVE
To study the effect of myopia and spectacle wear on bicycle-related injuries in rural Chinese students. Myopia is common among Chinese students but few studies have examined its effect on daily activities.

METHODS
Data on visual acuity, refractive error, current spectacle wear, and history of bicycle use and accidents during the past 3 years were sought from 1891 students undergoing eye examinations in rural Guangdong province.

RESULTS
Refractive and accident data were available for 1539 participants (81.3%), among whom the mean age was 14.6 years, 52.5% were girls, 26.8% wore glasses, and 12.9% had myopia of less than -4 diopters in both eyes. More than 90% relied on bicycles to get to school daily. A total of 2931 accidents were reported by 423 participants, with 68 requiring medical attention. Male sex (odds ratio, 1.55; P < .001) and spectacle wear (odds ratio, 1.38; P = .04) were associated with a higher risk of accident, but habitual visual acuity and myopia were unassociated with the crash risk, after adjusting for age, sex, time spent riding, and risky riding behaviors.

CONCLUSION
These results may be consistent with data on motor vehicle accidents implicating peripheral vision (potentially compromised by spectacle wear) more strongly than central visual acuity in mediating crash risk.


Analytical solutions to a boundary-value problem of heat conduction for friction pairs consisting of the half-space sliding (braking at uniform retardation) on a surface of the strip deposited on a semi-infinite foundation and the strip sliding on a surface of the homogenous half-space, are obtained. For materials of the frictional system: cast iron – metal ceramics-steel and metal ceramics-cast iron, evolutions and distributions on depth from the surface of friction for temperatures are studied.


A usual interpretation of the high performance of the German economy since 2006 is that the Hartz labour market reforms have boosted German competitiveness, resulting in higher exports, higher production and lower unemployment. We start from the diagnosis that this explanation is at odds with the sequence of observed facts. We propose and model an alternative scenario in which offshoring explains the gains in competitiveness but increases unemployment and inequality, and the subsequent labour market reforms lower unemployment by lessening the reservation wage and expanding the non-tradable sector, amplifying the rise in inequality. The model outcomes are consistent with all the developments of the German economy since 1995: 1) The model explains why Germany offshored earlier and more intensively than other Eurozone countries; 2) The increase in competitiveness and in the exports/production ratio occurs before the setting of the labour market reform, and this comes with both higher inequality and higher unemployment; 3) The setting of the labour market reform reduces unemployment and increases production, and this comes with a decrease in the exports/production ratio and an increase in inequality. We finally discuss (i) the possible extension of this `strategy' to other Eurozone countries, and (ii) alternative policies that act through similar mechanisms, but without increasing inequality.


OBJECTIVE
Serum Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) concentrations have been proposed as a marker of spontaneous puberty and future fertility in Turner syndrome (TS). Gonadotropins during minipuberty may also provide a clue to ovarian function but there is insufficient data to inform utility in the routine clinical management of TS. Our objective was to describe the distribution of AMH in a cross-sectional cohort of patients in a TS specialty clinic, and correlate with spontaneous puberty and karyotype, as well as gonadotropins during the minipuberty of infancy in a smaller subset of patients aged 2-9 months.

DESIGN
Retrospective chart review of patients seen in the TS clinic at Children's National Hospital from 1/1/2019 to 8/24/2022, to assess AMH and correlate with karyotype and spontaneous puberty.

RESULTS
Among 114 patients (median age 9.6 year, 0.08-22 year), AMH values were detectable in only (40/104) 38%, and higher mean AMH (2.7 ± 0.95 ng/mL) was seen in mosaic 45,X/46,XX karyotype compared to 45,X (0.03 ± 0.14 ng/mL) (p < .001), and structurally abnormal-X karyotype (0.11 ± 0.5) (p = .0003). Mean AMH was higher (1.4 ± 1.6 ng/mL) among those with spontaneous menarche compared with spontaneous thelarche but no menarche. AMH was detectable in 2/10 during minipuberty in those with the lowest luteinizing hormone (LH).

CONCLUSIONS
Our institutional data reflects a diverse cohort of patients seen in a TS specialty clinic in the United States, showing correlation of AMH with karyotype and spontaneous menarche, as well as description of gonadotropins during minipuberty highlighting their clinical relevance. Studies in larger, prospective longitudinal cohorts will help determine their predictive value and role in the care of TS.


The occurrence and relative stability of planet-satellite nanostructures, composed of a host micelle (the planet) accompanied by a number of guest micelles (the satellites), in ABCB tetrablock terpolymer solutions are studied using the polymeric self-consistent field theory and dissipative particle dynamics simulations. The theoretical results demonstrate that the self-assembly of the ABCB tetrablock terpolymers with solvophobic A- and C-blocks and solvophilic B-blocks could lead to the formation of various planet-satellite superstructures, where the planet and satellites are composed of the A- and C-blocks, respectively. Furthermore, the number of satellites is controlled by the ratio of the two B-blocks. The arrangement of the satellites surrounding the planet resembles the solution of the well-known Thomson's problem concerning the optimum arrangement of a given number of electrons on a sphere. Besides providing a facile route to engineering novel multicompartment micelles with planet-satellite superstructures for potential advanced applications, the study strengthens the prospect that multiblock copolymers could become a useful platform for the fabrication of complex nanostructures.


In the quest for a sustainable permanent magnetic material, two material systems were extensively studied. The first part of the thesis investigates the Fe-Sn based systems as potential RE-free candidates. The Fe-Sn binary and several multinary systems such as (FeX)5Sn and (FeX)3(SnY) were extensively screened for the discovery of a new hard magnetic material using high-throughput Reactive Crucible Melting (RCM) technique as well as other non-equilibrium methods. The follow-up experimental screening strategies were supported by theoretical calculations carried out by other scientists. For high-throughput characterization, these synthesis techniques were combined with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy as well as magneto-optical Kerr microscopy which enabled the identification of phases with uniaxial magnetic anisotropy, for example Fe3Sn2 in the binary system. The reliability of the reactive crucible melting method was evaluated by a comparison of the phases forming in the reactive crucible with phases appearing in conventionally melted samples. It has been shown that under some circumstances, the phase relations might not always be correctly reproduced. The Fe5Sn3 phase, existing in the equilibrium phase diagram at 800°C and forming in conventionally melted alloys, does not exist in the diffusion zone of the reactive crucible. The problem of "missing phases" is discussed. In addition, by observation of domain structure and by employing different analytical models based on domain theory, the anisotropies of phases with uniaxial anisotropy were evaluated. It has been shown that the consideration of the magnitude of anisotropy is crucial for the selection of a proper model and realistic assessment of anisotropy energy. With the example of materials with high and intermediate uniaxial anisotropy, the applicability of 3 analytical models "Kittel", "Szymczak" and "Bodenberger-Hubert" were investigated.
Another major activity to study the Fe-Sn system was the investigation of structural and intrinsic magnetic properties of its binary ferromagnetic compounds by synthesis and characterization of Fe3Sn, Fe5Sn3, and Fe3Sn2 single crystals. Derived from single crystal X-ray diffraction and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), a new structural model is proposed for the Fe5Sn3 crystals - the threefold twinning of an orthorhombic unit cell with (3+1) dimensional space group Pbcm(α00)0s0. The spontaneous magnetization (Ms) and the anisotropy constants K1 and K2 of Fe3Sn, Fe5Sn3, and Fe3Sn2 single crystals were determined in a wide temperature range using M(H) dependencies and the Sucksmith-Thompson technique. A large however planar anisotropy of K1 = -1.16 MJm-3 appreciable for a rare earth free system and a negligible uniaxial anisotropy of K1 = +0.05 MJm-3 were evaluated for Fe3Sn and Fe3Sn2 compounds, respectively.
The second part of the thesis investigates the effect of partial substitution of Ce and Co in the Nd-Fe-B system. By synthesis and characterization of (Nd1-xCex)2(Fe1-yCoy)14B single crystals, the structural and intrinsic magnetic properties were investigated for y = 0 and x = 0, 0.15, 0.36, 0.63 and 1 as well as y = 0.1 and x = 0 and 0.15. The effect of doping with Ce and Co on crystal lattice parameters a and c, Ms, Ha, TC, TSPT, and K1 were evaluated. Additionally, for Nd2Fe14B and by analysis of single crystal magnetization curves measured under the field of up to 50 T along four different orientations, five associating anisotropy constants were extracted using theoretical models and based on minimization of the total energy of the system.
All intrinsic magnetic properties were gradually decreased by an increase in Ce proportion when it was solely introduced to the structure. Furthermore, Ce substitution resulted in a decrease in spin reorientation transition temperature where anisotropy switches from uniaxial to an easy cone. The addition of Co has not only increased the Curie temperature but also improved the thermal stability of the intrinsic magnetic properties. The reduction of anisotropy energy with Ce substitution could partially be compensated by co-doping together with Co, especially at high temperatures. The improved intrinsic properties of the co-doped Nd2Fe14B was also reflected in their extrinsic magnetic properties by characterization of mechanochemically synthesized sub-micron particles. For the sample with (Nd0.82Ce0.18)2(Fe0.85Co0.15)14B composition, an improved temperature coefficient of coercivity of β = -0.4 %/K was achieved. Comparing these results with single crystal data, it can be verified that the enhanced high-temperature performance of NdFeB-based magnets co-doped with Ce and Co, which have also been observed in various literature, is due to an improvement in intrinsic magnetic properties.


The Seiberg-Witten map for noncommutative Yang-Mills theories is studied and methods for its explicit construction are discussed which are valid for any gauge group. In particular the use of the evolution equation is described in some detail and its relation to the cohomological approach is elucidated. Cohomological methods which are applicable to gauge theories requiring the Batalin-Vilkoviskii antifield formalism are briefly mentioned. Also, the analogy of the Weyl-Moyal star product with the star product of open bosonic string field theory and possible ramifications of this analogy are briefly mentioned.


Summary: The article analyzes the main determinants and the specifics of the borrower right to prepay the loan defined by the financial services consumer protection law of FBH and Law on banks of the Republic of Srpska,ie legislation which is in the national legislation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the entity regulations) transposed Directive 2008/48 / EC on credit agreements for consumers. As a result of inconsistent and non-systematic transposition of EU directives into the BiH legal system, in addition to the above regulations, the right of early repayment of the loan is regulated by the Consumer Protection Act of BiH which have taken scarce solutions of"old" directive on consumer credit (Directive 87/102/EEC on consumer credit). In this way, in Bosnia and Herzegovina both old and new solutions in consumer Directive exist at the same time (although the entry into force of Directive 2008/48/EC terminated Directive 87/102/ EEC), thereby and those related to consumer's right, the borrower right to early repayment of loans. And given the subsidiary application of the provisions of the ZOO on the loan agreement, it is clear that the fragmentation of legislation in these areas often leads to confusion and the various problems related to adequate and complete use of the aforementioned rights.


One of the least constrained contributions to the neutral current (NC) elastic neutrino-proton cross section is the strange axial form factor, which represents the strange quark spin contribution to the spin structure of the proton. This becomes the net strange spin contribution, $\Delta s$, in the limit when the negative four-momentum transfer squared ($Q^2$) is zero. The strange axial form factor can be determined by studying NC elastic scattering events in the MicroBooNE detector. MicroBooNE's unique ability to detect low-energy protons is expected to allow the reconstruction of these events with a $Q^2$ as low as 0.10 GeV$^2$ and to determine the strange axial form factor in a model-independent approach. We present a selection of neutral current elastic events in a subset of MicroBooNE neutrino data, as well as our plan to extract the strange part of the axial form factor and $\Delta s$ from this selection in the full data set.


When I meet someone for the first time and explain what I do, I commonly hear some version of the question "So, what? You write papers for football players?" It was in the spirit of combating this disheartening and marginalizing view of student athletes and athletics support services that I wrote my initial Praxis column, "Supporting Student Athletes." There, I describe the Writing Lab (Lab) at The University of Texas at Austin's (UT's) Football Academics Center and our approach to working with student athlete football players. In beginning this conversation, my intent was to disavow notions that our writing tutors are doing more than they should for our student athletes and highlight writing center work happening in unconventional environments.


Background The initiation of sexual intercourse early in life is associated with an increased number of sex partners and a greater risk for STDs, HIV/AIDS. Methods Data were drawn from Youth in India: Situation and Needs study. It is conducted by International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai and the Population Council, New Delhi and it focused on married and unmarried young women and unmarried young men (50,848) aged 15–24 during 2006–07. Results There was a clear progression reported in physical intimacy and sexual experience with romantic/and/or other partners among the young in India. It is reported that 19percent of young men and 9percent of women had been involved in a romantic partnership and significant proportion of young men (15percent) and young women (4percent) experienced pre-marital sex within romantic and/or other partnerships. Around 11percent of young men and 5percent of young women had experienced first pre-marital sex before age 20. Young men tended to initiate pre-marital sex earlier than young women, moreover, about 47percent of young men in rural areas, compared to 30percent of those in urban areas, and 32percent and 15percent of young women, respectively, reported pre-marital sex with romantic partners. Around one-fourth of young men and little above one-fifth of young women had pre-marital sex with more than one partner and only 13percent of young men and 3percent of young women used condoms in all pre-marital encounters. Unmarried youth were more likely than the married to report contraceptive use at first sex (30% versus 23% among young men; 17% versus 8% among young women). Conclusion This study underscore the fact that youth face numerous challenges while making transition to adulthood and these challenges should addressed by programmes/interventions at the youth, family and service delivery levels.


Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been associated with an abnormal lipid profile. Apolipoprotein C3 (ApoC3) is a key molecule of triglycerides metabolism that is known to be related to inflammation and cardiovascular (CV) disease. In the present study, we aim to study if ApoC3 serum levels differ between patients with IBD and controls, and if the hypothetical disturbance of ApoC3 can be explained by IBD characteristics.

 Cross-sectional study that included 405 individuals, 197 patients with IBD and 208 age- and sex-matched controls. ApoC3 and standard lipid profiles were assessed in patients and controls. A multivariable analysis was performed to analyze whether ApoC3 serum levels were altered in IBD and to study their relationship to IBD characteristics.

 After fully multivariable analysis including CV risk factors, use of statins, and changes in the lipid profile caused by the disease itself, patients with IBD showed significant lower serum levels of ApoC3 (beta coef. -1.6 [95%CI -2.5- -0.7] mg/dl, p=0.001). Despite this, inflammatory markers, disease phenotypes or disease activity of IBD were not found to be responsible for this downregulation.

 Apolipoprotein C3 is downregulated in patients with IBD.


Amber from the Carnian succession of the Dolomites and Julian Alps (northeastern Italy) represents one of the most ancient and quantitatively substantial Triassic fossil resin records in the world. So far, the Carnian appeared to be the only Triassic stage with findings of amber remains. However, the recent reappraisal of historical collections of plant fossils led to the discovery of even older Triassic amber, found on a rock slab from the " Voltzia beds" of the Recoaro area (Anisian) and on a sample from the "Wengener Schichten" of Wengen/La Valle (Ladinian), respectively. Both specimens are associated with conifer shoots of Voltziales. To date, they are the oldest known Triassic fossil resins, demonstrating that the preservation of amber was not restricted to the sediments deposited during the Carnian as suggested before. These finds contribute to partially fill the gap in the amber record between the Carboniferous and Upper Triassic.


Antigen-specific T helper type 1 (Th1) cells mediate protective immunity against a range of infectious diseases, including that caused by Bordetella pertussis. Distinct T cell subtypes that secrete interleukin (IL)-10 or tumor growth factor (TGF)-β are considered to play a role in the maintenance of self-tolerance. However, the antigens recognized by these regulatory T cells in vivo have not been defined. Here we provide the first demonstration of pathogen-specific T regulatory type 1 (Tr1) cells at the clonal level and demonstrate that these cells are induced at a mucosal surface during an infection where local Th1 responses are suppressed. Tr1 clones specific for filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA) and pertactin were generated from the lungs of mice during acute infection with B. pertussis. The Tr1 clones expressed T1/ST2 and CC chemokine receptor 5, secreted high levels of IL-10, but not IL-4 or interferon (IFN)-γ, and suppressed Th1 responses against B. pertussis or an unrelated pathogen. Furthermore, FHA inhibited IL-12 and stimulated IL-10 production by dendritic cells (DCs), and these DCs directed naive T cells into the regulatory subtype. The induction of Tr1 cells after interaction of a pathogen-derived molecule with cells of the innate immune system represents a novel strategy exploited by an infectious pathogen to subvert protective immune responses in vivo.


The most important purpose of the work is to determine the role of socio-political lexicon in the lexical structure of Karakalpak Language, studying the lexical and semantic processes that taking place today and to analyze the common features and the peculiarities of the vocabulary of socio-political vocabulary with other lexical-semantic groups. In the article the influence of social factor of independence on the socio-political lexicon, the addition of a new meaning to the basic meaning of the word related to socio-political life, the expansion of the meaning of the word, polysemous state, the formation of new words by methaphorical and metonymic method are analyzed. The object of the article is the sociopolitical lexicon of new words created by polysemy, the metaphorical and metonymic method. The main subject of the research work are texts of "Erkin Karakalpakstan", "Ustaz Joli" and other newspapers which had been published in the years of independence and Internet


Use of deep‐water sediments in submarine fans to reconstruct changing erosion onshore is based on the premise of relatively simple transport between source and sink. However, debate continues regarding the degree of sediment buffering and recycling in the sediment transport process. In this study, we investigate the origin of sediment in the Indus Submarine Canyon since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; ~20 ka) using zircon U‐Pb dates. Zircon grains in the submarine canyon are resolvably different from those at the river mouth, at least before 6.6 ka, implying a disconnection between the river mouth and the canyon up to that time. Sand may be stored near the river mouth as sea level rose, while finer‐grained sediment was directly transferred into deeper water. Since 1 ka the upper canyon has shown big and rapid provenance changes, most notably a sharp increase in erosion from Nanga Parbat, whose influence is minor in the modern river. Such rapid changes imply a lack of buffering in the recent past. The modern river contrasts with sediments in the canyon in terms of its zircon U‐Pb age populations and may be influenced by significant anthropogenic impact on the terrestrial drainage basin, especially damming.


Quartz, in association with coesite and silica glass from two meteorite-impact sites, exhibits prominent cleavage. Individual quartz grains have a shattered appearance and are largely coherent with little or no rotation of cleaved segments. Cleavage was probably induced by brittle fracturing under shock loading and is similar to ruptures developed in quartz by static and shock-loading experiments. The degree of cleavage development and the texture of the shattered quartz is different from quartz deformed by other geologic processes.


Transition metal mediated carbonylation with [11C]CO has proven a useful method to label a wide array of compounds in the carbonyl position. However, the general use in radiopharmaceutical synthesis has been hampered by the low solubility of carbon monoxide in most solvents and the resulting challenge to confine [11C]CO in low volume reaction vessels. This paper introduces a method that utilises xenon to transfer pre-concentrated [11C]CO to a sealed disposable glass vial containing carbonylation reagents. The high solubility of xenon in the organic solvent made it possible to confine the [11C]CO without utilising a pressure autoclave or chemical trapping additives. The utility of the method in 11C-carbonylation was investigated by conducting three model reactions, where [11C-carbonyl]N-benzylbenzamide, [11C-carbonyl]triclocarban and [11C-carbonyl]methyl nicotinate were afforded in decay corrected radiochemical yields of 71?+/-?6%, 42?+/-?15% and 29?+/-?10%, respectively. These promising results and the straight forward technical implementation suggest that 11C-cabonylation can become a viable mean to provide labelled carbonyl functionalities in routine radiopharmaceutical synthesis. Compounds labelled with short lived positron emitters are used in Positron Emission Tomography, a molecular imaging technology with applications in clinical diagnostics, clinical research and basic biomedical research.


Faced with restrictions on revenue and increased demands for municipal services, local governments have often chosen to cut expenses by denying services such as trash and recycling collection to unit owners in condominiums and homeowner associations (HOA). Although these owners continue to pay full property taxes, they are forced to purchase the withheld public services from private contractors. Condominium and homeowner HOA owners in effect are forced to pay twice for services, even though for these purposes they are indistinguishable from other (single family) residential owners. In light of the current crisis in municipal finance, we can expect that states and towns will attempt to balance their budgets by additional service cuts on small groups in the community who are unable to resist the majority's political power. This article analyzes the denial of municipal services to condominium and HOA owners from a public policy and legal perspective. My thesis is that various goals and commonly held values demonstrate that it is poor public policy for municipalities to place the pain of service cutbacks on only one segment of residential property taxpayers. Legislatures should reject service denial proposals because such programs compromise powerful societal policies including efficiency, fairness, shared sacrifice, notice to buyers, and community building. If government still does enact service denials, condo and HOA owners might challenge them in the courts under takings, equal protection, and substantive due process theories. While I offer what I believe to be a plausible equal protection argument against service denials, I do so reluctantly since courts should not generally intervene into state and local regulatory matters. Legislatures need the flexibility to enact programs and judicial intrusion will weaken goals of separation of powers, judicial economy, and experimentation under federalism. The case of service denials, however, where the majority is transferring all costs/burden of a cutback to a smaller segment of society and where there is no plausible distinction between the owners in the majority and minority, might be the rare case where judicial intervention is necessary. One would hope, though, that legislatures will not act unwisely in the first place by enacting no-service laws. I further argue that my analysis of the issues invoked in condo and HOA service denials should inform policy makers and the courts during the current period of significant municipal fiscal crisis and ensuing service cuts. The fundamental questions in the condo and HOA service denial and the current fiscal cutbacks are the same: which citizens should have their services reduced, should the pain of cutbacks be shared equally, and who (legislatures or courts) should make these decisions? The clashing choices and resolutions in the case of denial of municipal services to condominium and HOA owners provide important guidance when redefining general fiscal goals and obligations of state and local governments.


Entrepreneurial profits flow from differences in expectations between buyers and sellers regarding the future value of resources. This article investigates whether differences in expectations can be influenced by an entrepreneur to produce greater profits. It is argued that there are several points in the entrepreneurial process where such interventions can occur and that the use of these techniques should be associated with superior wealth creation. The article also explores the ethical implications of influencing stakeholders in this way.


To improve turning process, a testing system for dynamic cutting force was established. The paper studied the dynamic cutting force theoretically and experimentally with the frequency domain analysis. Cutting experiments were conducted for new tools, worn tools, and broken tools respectively. And a comparison among three forces' power spectrum was made. The results show that the power spectrum value of radial force in the frequency range of 2450~3100 Hz has a close relation to the state of tool wear and tool breakage, which can be used to monitor the cutting process in real time.


Insecticide susceptibility status of P. papatasi to organochlorine, organophosphate and carbamate compounds has been estimated in Pali and Barmer districts of Rajasthan. Tests revealed that this species was resistant to DDT but susceptible to dieldrin, malathion, fenitrothion and propoxur. Efficacies to these compounds at 50 and 95 per cent levels have been estimated by probit-analysis. The LC50 values for both DDT and dieldrin, were found much lower than those reported from other parts of the country. Heterogeneity of the response was found highly significant [X2 = 43.8(3)] in case of propoxur only.


The sedimentology and
geochemistry (major and trace element compositions) of lignite and argillite
(carbonaceous shale and claystone) sequences in a Basin in Bali Nyonga, west of
the Bamenda Mountain have been investigated to determine their sequences and
the prevailing environmental conditions
which control their formation. Ten representative samples were obtained
fromtrenches, pits, and river and stream valleys in the study area. These
samples and their ashes were subsequently examined using X-ray fluorescence
spectrometry (XRF), inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP), and X-ray
diffraction analysis (XRD). The geochemical results revealed that thelithophile,
chalcophile and siderophile elements were dominantly epigenetic in origin,
mainly from detrital sources
supported by high silica and alumina concentrations in all the samples. The
mineral phases identified were quartz, kaolinite, illite, pyrite, hematite, and
minor phases of feldspars,pseudorutile. The relatively high silica (54.10 wt%)
and alumina contents (27.77 wt%) in these samples
can be explained by high detrital input during peat formation. The low contents
of MgO and CaO in the analysed samples agree very much with the continental
setting of the peat formating basin. A clayey microband derived from alkaline
volcanic ashes was identified in the lignite and the dominant composition of
these clayey microbands was mixed-layer clay minerals of illite and kaolinte,
which were interlayered with organic bands. The modes of occurrence of ash
bands indicated that the volcanic activities were characterized by multiple
eruptions, short time interval and
small scale for each eruption during peat accumulation. The ratios of
redox-sensitive traceelement (V/Cr versus Ni/Co and V/V + Ni versus Ni/Co),
Sr/Ba, and major oxides ratio (CaO + MgO + Fe2O3)/(SiO2 + Al2O3) from
the analysed samples from Bali Nyonga indicate a terrestrial, reductive (oxic),
littoral to brackish water environmental conditions which are characteristics
of paludal-lacustrine basin that is filled by Tertiary volcanic materials.


Neural link predictors are useful for identifying missing edges in large scale Knowledge Graphs. However, it is still not clear how to use these models for answering more complex queries containing logical conjunctions (∧), disjunctions (∨), and existential quantifiers (∃). We propose a framework for efficiently answering complex queries on in- complete Knowledge Graphs. We translate each query into an end-to-end differentiable objective, where the truth value of each atom is computed by a pre-trained neural link predictor. We then analyse two solutions to the optimisation problem, including gradient-based and combinatorial search. In our experiments, the proposed approach produces more accurate results than state-of-the-art methods — black-box models trained on millions of generated queries — without the need for training on a large and diverse set of complex queries. Using orders of magnitude less training data, we obtain relative improvements ranging from 8% up to 40% in Hits@3 across multiple knowledge graphs. We find that it is possible to explain the outcome of our model in terms of the intermediate solutions identified for each of the complex query atoms. All our source code and datasets are available online (https://github.com/uclnlp/cqd).


1. Splenectomy was found to cause a marked decrease in the thoracic duct lymph flow and pressure in patients with schistosomal fibrosis. 2. There was no direct correlation between the drop in thoracic duct lymph flow and the drop in portal pressure produced by removal of the spleen. 3. The splenic lymphatics were found to be increased in number and distended. 4. In some patients, the splenic lymphatics contained intact red blood cells. 5. Removal of the spleen caused immediate disappearance of red blood cells from thoracic duct lymph. The pathogenesis of ascites in schistosomal hepatic fibrosis remains unclear. In a previous communication from our center, we reported increased flow and pressure in the thoracic duct of patients with schistosomal hepatic fibrosis where portal hypertension is characterized by presinusoidal obstruction (7). In Laennec's cirrhosis, excess thoracic duct lymph originates from both the liver and extrahepatic portal bed (3, 8, 9). These authors also suggest that, in "early" cases, the liver is the major source of increased thoracic duct lymph, whereas in "late cases excess extrahepatic portal lymph combines with hepatic lymph to overload the thoracic duct. On the other hand, in schistosomal hepatic fibrosis with presinusoidal block, the extrahepatic portal bed is probably the sole source of excess thoracic duct lymph. The observation by Dumont et al. (4) that in patients with hepatic cirrhosis or congestive'heart failure the splenic pedicle contains a number of dilated lymphatics, is similar to that previously described by Baggenstoss and Cain (1) and Baggenstoss (2), at the hilus of the liver. This finding suggests that part of the excess extrahepatic lymph originates from the spleen. To evaluate this possibility, the present study was undertaken to determine the role played by the spleen in excess lymph production in patients with schistosomal hepatic fibrosis, a disorder characterized by presinusoidal portal block.


This paper presents a wavelet-based algorithm for the detection, identification, and extraction of gravity waves from atmospheric pressure traces. The main data processing tool is a nonlinear adaptive filter based on the selective reconstruction of a waveform from its wavelet coefficients. The time-frequency localization of the wavelet transform provides an ideal framework for the decomposition of long-period gravity waves (30 min-6 h), which are characterized by a generally broad spectrum and few oscillation cycles. The procedure is iterative and allows the exhaustive processing of all the events present in a fixed time period. The waveform of each disturbance is reconstructed with high accuracy. This minimizes the influence of the data-processing technique on the estimate of horizontal speed and direction of propagation, obtained by maximization of the cross-correlation functions between the reconstructed waveforms at the different stations. The introduction of coherency criteria through the network of seven stations allows the authors to separate the events into two classes. The first includes the events that propagate with very small distortion through the network, while the second includes less coherent but still highly energetic events. The size of the network and the algorithm developed for the analysis is well suited for the identification and the extraction of those mesoscale disturbances that have a particularly strong influence on the weather as well as on the forecast.


Purpose: The purpose of this study is to find out the determinants that mainly affect the customer service quality perception of internet banking amongst genders and different age groups. Design/methodology/approach: Sample of 120 internet banking customers was used to gather data, which was further utilized to find out how 8 major determinants affect the customer service quality perception of internet banking. Findings: The research found that Web design, security, trust, product diversification, credibility, collaboration, access and communication strongly affect the customer perception about the quality of internet banking service. Research limitations/ implication: The data was gathered from the banks in Bahawalpur which limited the scope of this study particularly to this region so future research can be done to gathered data from all over the Pakistan so that the cross cultural factors could be identified clearly. Keywords : Service Quality Perception, Dimensions of Internet Banking, Bahawalpur.


The patterns of variation in fluctuating asymmetry were studied in four morphological characters of the barn swallow Hirundo rustica. The level of absolute and relative asymmetry was larger in the secondary sexual character "outer tail length" than in three nonsexual morphological traits (wing, central tail, and tarsus length). The extent of individual asymmetry in outer tail length was negatively correlated with tail-ornament size, whereas the relationship between asymmetry of all other morphological characters and their size was flat or U-shaped. Asymmetry in outer tail length was unrelated to asymmetry in other morphological characters, whereas asymmetries in the length of wing, central tail, and tarsus were positively correlated. Male bam swallows exhibited larger asymmetry in outer tail length than females. Asymmetry of most morphological traits exhibited intermediate repeatabilities between years, with the exception of male and female outer tail length, which were highly repeatable. Tail asymmetry of offspring weakly, though significantly, resembled that of their parents. Asymmetry in wing and outer tail length was also significantly related to several fitness components. Male barn swallows that acquired a mate were less asymmetric in wing and outer tail length than unmated males. Females with more asymmetrical tails laid eggs significantly later. Annual reproductive success was unrelated to fluctuating asymmetry. Male barn swallows that survived were less asymmetric in wing and outer tail length than nonsurvivors, whereas female survivors were less asymmetric in outer tail length than nonsurvivors. These results suggest that levels of fluctuating asymmetry in barn swallows are associated with differences in fitness.


Presented at the Central Plains Irrigation short course and exposition proceedings on February 17-18, 1998 at the Camino Inn in North Platte, Nebraska.


In reply:We accept that it is often difficult to identify the culprit with certainty following an envenomation as the specimen is rarely provided. However, in both of our reported cases the victims witnessed the spider bite, and in our second patient the spider was identified as Lampona cylindrata. We believe that current evidence suggests that L. cylindrata can occasionally cause necrotic lesions as described, but agree that it may not be the only major culprit. The second concern raised the lack of scientific evidence for the use of hyperbaric oxygen for this condition. We agree that there are insufficient data in the form of controlled clinical trials and that we have presented only two uncontrolled cases. We make no claim that the issue is proved, but we consider the limited evidence available may warrant the use of hyperbaric treatment ifconventional (and unproved) therapy fails.


The accelerated globalization of recent decades has made the world economy is becoming more integrated, strengthening the global business environment, beyond national and regional environment. This process rises new challenges for the protection of consumer rights. This paper aims to examine consumers' awareness of the rights stipulated in the existing legislation at Community and national level. To achieve this objective, a survey was conducted on a sample of 250 persons in the age group 18-30 in Bucharest, results show the need for information campaigns for consumers on their rights campaigns aimed at awareness knowledge of their consumer rights.


The role of spectro-temporal modulation cues in conveying tonal information for lexical tones was assessed in native-Mandarin and native-French adult listeners using a lexical-tone discrimination task. The fundamental frequency (F0) of Thai tones was either degraded using an 8-band vocoder that reduced fine spectral details and frequency-modulation cues, or extracted and used to modulate the F0 of click trains. Mandarin listeners scored lower than French listeners in the discrimination of vocoded lexical tones. For click trains, Mandarin listeners outperformed French listeners. These preliminary results suggest that the perceptual weight of the fine spectro-temporal modulation cues conveying F0 information is enhanced for adults speaking a tonal language.


In this paper we use computer simulations to examine point defects in systems of "soft" colloidal particles including Hertzian spheres, and star polymers. We use Monte Carlo simulations to determine the deformation of the different crystals associated with vacancies and interstitials and use thermodynamic integration to predict the equilibrium concentrations of such defects. We find that the nature of the lattice distortion is mainly determined by the crystal structure and not by the specifics of the interaction potential. We can distinguish one-, two-, and three-dimensional lattice distortions and find that the range of the distortion generally depends on the dimensionality. We find that in both model systems the deformation of the body-centered cubic (BCC) crystal caused by an interstitial is one-dimensional and we show that its structure is well described as a crowdion. Similarly, we show that the one-dimensional deformation of the hexagonal (H) crystal of Hertzian spheres caused by a vacancy can be characterized as a voidion. Interestingly, with the exception of the FCC crystal in the Hertzian sphere model, in all cases we find that the interstitial concentration is higher than the vacancy concentration. Most noteworthy, the concentration of interstitials in the BCC crystals can reach up to 1%.


A simple analytical Spice-type model has been developed and verified for the first time for 4H-SiC-based bipolar junction transistor (BJT) power module with voltage and current rating of 1200 V and 800 A. The simulation model is based on a temperature-dependent silicon carbide (SiC) Gummel-Poon model for high-power applications. PSpice simulations are performed to extract technology-dependent modeling parameters coupled with static and dynamic characteristics of BJTs at different temperatures and validated against the measured data. Influence of various circuit elements, for instance, stray inductance and base resistance and internal device modeling parameters, carrier life time, and emitter doping, on switching losses has been studied. The performance of the SiC BJT model is fairly accurate and correlates well with the measured results over a wide temperature range.


This article examines the ideological worldview of Sezai Karakoç (1933–), an influential but overlooked Islamist intellectual in Republican Turkey. Through an analysis of Karakoç's writing, the article situates post–WWII era Islamist thought in Turkey in relation to politics of the Cold War competition, global intellectual trends, and decolonization movements. In this context, the article focuses on the Islamist appropriation of Arnold Toynbee's ideas on civilizational relations in world history and how Toynbee's writings were utilized in critiques of modernization theory and westernization movements in postcolonial Muslim societies, as well as the Cold War superpower competition in world politics. Finally, the article reflects on the long-term legacy of the civilizational thinking of Islamism for the post–Cold War clash of civilization discourses and contemporary debates on Turkey's relationship with the European Union.


This paper investigates the international competitiveness of the European ICT sector. We use Labour productivity, R&D expenses and trade performance as proxies of competitiveness. The empirical analysis of 39 countries between 1999 and 2004 confirms our main hypothesis that the EU is performing better in the ICT services industry relative to manufacturing. In general, the average EU production efficiency is larger in the services sector, than in manufacturing. The study has important policy implications. Appropriate policies should be implemented – especially in the ICT manufacturing sector – for making EU more competitive in "non- price factors", such as policies that facilitate the transformation of R&D expenses into product innovation. There are clearly areas for improvement in the way R&D is carried out in the ICT sector within the EU, with respect to both the allocation of R&D investment and the process of producing results from R&D.


John Simkin is the creator of the Spartacus history website and was one of the founders of the Tressell publishing co-operative, an independent publisher of print and computer-based materials in the 1990s. John Simkin trained to teach history at Sussex University in 1975, as a mature student aged 30, and taught in schools in Brighton and East Grinstead. He also helped form a co-operative, Tressell Publications, in 1979, which published booklets of source-materials and simulated history 'games' for computers based on research into real historical situations, such as 'Attack on the Somme'. In 1987, he formed Spartacus as a publishing enterprise and went on to create his website to support school history in the mid-1990s. He discusses his own educational background and his commitment to producing history resources which engage children in studying actual historical events and controversies, via the use of authentic sources. Interviewed by Nicola Sheldon.


Attentional biases towards threatening information are considered a highly adaptive process(e.g., Boyer & Bergstrom, 2011). However, differential processing of threat as a result ofindividual differences can result in attentional mechanisms that are biased towards threateninginformation at a level that is considered maladaptive. Previous research has suggested that individuals with high levels of trait anxiety and individuals who exhibit trauma symptomatology as a result of a potentially traumatic event (PTE) exhibit this maladaptive level of attentional threat bias that may in turn result in the maintenance of anxious states and debilitating trauma symptomatology, respectively (Ehlers & Clark, 2000; Kimble et al., 2014). The present study aimed to further explore trait anxiety and trauma symptomatology as they relate to attentional threat bias by examining trait anxiety and trauma symptomatology as predictors of attentional threat bias. A non-clinical sample was given self-report measures to assess trait anxiety, PTEs, and trauma symptomatology, and completed an eye-tracking paradigm to assess attentional threat bias. Though no relationship between trait anxiety and attentional threat bias was found, results suggest a significant relationship between trauma symptomatology and attentional threat bias.


One of the main obstacles hindering the use of large-scale agent-based simulation in practice is its scalability. The ability to run realistic and complex agent-based models is desirable to provide empirically and practically useful results. One of the suggested solutions is to run the agent-based models on top of a scalable parallel discrete-event simulation engine. This proposal raises a question whether an equivalent discrete-event model can be built for any agent-based model. This paper proves that an equivalent discrete-event model can be found for any agent-based model that conforms to a given specification. I show that a translator can be built to convert the agent-based model into an equivalent discrete-event model automatically and transparently. The advantage of this approach is that modellers do not need to change their modelling paradigm and at the same time a highly scalable parallel discrete-event simulator can be used to run the model.


The amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motoneurons death. Mutations in the superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) protein have been identified to be related to the disease. Beyond the different altered pathways, the mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the major features that leads to the selective death of motoneurons in ALS. The NSC-34 cell line, overexpressing human SOD1(G93A) mutant protein [NSC-34(G93A)], is considered an optimal in vitro model to study ALS. Here we investigated the energy metabolism in NSC-34(G93A) cells and in particular the effect of the mutated SOD1(G93A) protein on the mitochondrial respiratory capacity (complexes I-IV) by high resolution respirometry (HRR) and cytofluorimetry. We demonstrated that NSC-34(G93A) cells show a reduced mitochondrial oxidative capacity. In particular, we found significant impairment of the complex I-linked oxidative phosphorylation, reduced efficiency of the electron transfer system (ETS) associated with a higher rate of dissipative respiration, and a lower membrane potential. In order to rescue the effect of the mutated SOD1 gene on mitochondria impairment, we evaluated the efficacy of the exosomes, isolated from adipose-derived stem cells, administrated on the NSC-34(G93A) cells. These data show that ASCs-exosomes are able to restore complex I activity, coupling efficiency and mitochondrial membrane potential. Our results improve the knowledge about mitochondrial bioenergetic defects directly associated with the SOD1(G93A) mutation, and prove the efficacy of adipose-derived stem cells exosomes to rescue the function of mitochondria, indicating that these vesicles could represent a valuable approach to target mitochondrial dysfunction in ALS.


This paper presents a system consisting of the application of gait recognition, a physiological biometric applied in a client-server environment. Now-a-days security plays a very important role in almost all fields and most of the public places like banks, airports, railway stations, etc., which require more security as the thieves and criminals are very intelligent whose objective is to create problems for human life and many untoward incidents. The gait recognition is a biometric used to identify an individual by their walking style. This has an advantage over other biometrics like face recognition because it is an unobtrusive biometric technique. In the early stage of preprocessing, an image is captured using image sensors and later segmentation is performed on the captured image to get foreground from a background. The segmented image is given as input to the Hough transform which generates a line base model from which gait features can be extracted and later gait can be recognized. Later, gait recognition of 10 subjects is stored in a gait database. A number of surveillance cameras with attached computers are connected to the gait database. If the camera identifies a subject in the given area whose gait is matching with the subject present in the gait database, it gives an alarm sound to the security department indicating the presence of a thief. so the security department can take necessary action.


The International Classification of Impairment, Disability, and Handicap Version 2(ICIDH-2), an anticipated addition to the World Health Organization suite of terminologies, has been put forth as a means for standardized representation of generic health and/or functional status data. In an attempt to make explicit the ontology upon which ICIDH-2 is based the authors derived a concept model expressed as a Unified Modeling Language static class diagram through abstraction of concept-terms in the documentation provided with the Full Version Pre-Final Draft of ICIDH-2 (December 2000). ICIDH-2's semantic structure is analyzed and evaluated for its semantic consistency. Discussion is presented on the utility of domain ontology models in terminology development and potential roles ICIDH-2 might play, as it undergoes refinement towards a representational standard. It is intended that the proposed UML rendering will stimulate domain discourse and consensus that will lead to enhancement of conceptual clarity in the ICIDH-2 ontological hierarchy and further enable its study and development as a healthcare classification.


In their seminal paper ACM T. Softw. Eng. Methodol., 61 1997, 1--30, Zave and Jackson established a core ontology for Requirements Engineering RE and used it to formulate the "requirements problem", thereby defining what it means to successfully complete RE. Starting from the premise that the stakeholders of the system-to-be communicate to the software engineer the information needed to perform RE, Zave and Jackson's ontology is shown to be incomplete, in that it does not cover all classes of basic concerns --namely, the beliefs, desires, intentions, and evaluations --that the stakeholders communicate. In response, we provide a new core ontology for requirements that covers these classes of basic stakeholder concerns. The proposed new core ontology leads to a new formulation of the requirements problem. We thereby establish a new framework for the information that needs to be elicited over the course of RE and new criteria for determining whether an RE problem has been successfully addressed.


The article deals with the maintenance and technical diagnostics of machine tools. The basic knowledge about maintenance, distribution of maintenance and also important facts about the diagnostics are provided. Attention is focused on the possibility of using technical diagnostics as an instrument to improve maintenance. Article is describing an experiment in the engineering company. It proceeds from the current state of maintenance and suggests a plan of innovation. This proceeds from FMEA and FMECA analysis and the vibrodiagnostics is submitted as one of the possible methods of improving maintenance of machine tools. The article describes and evaluates the experiment and carry out recommendations for specific conditions in described company.


A study of the reaction kinetics of the copolymerization of two major categories of epoxy monomers, glycidyl ether (GE) and alkylene oxide (AO) derivatives, via the in situ NMR technique has been performed in a combinatorial strategy. GEs or AOs show similar reactivities when copolymerizing within either category, leading to a special azeotropic copolymerization, while they exhibit distinct reactivities between them. The underlying kinetics along with the living anionic copolymerization mechanism allow the generation of gradient and azeotropic copolymers, azeotropic-gradient terpolymers and double azeotropic-gradient tetrapolymers. Through the quantitative determination of rate constants and reactivity ratios with the aid of a numerical calculation in a simulated annealing scenario, we provide a widely applicable design principle for the sophisticated construction of sequence distribution-regulated, functional polyethers via a simple and efficient one-pot approach.


Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of aging on the in-hospital outcomes and efficacy of this treatment in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Materials and Method: 322 consecutive patients with acute STEMI undergoing primary PCI between December 2007 and July 2010 were included in the study. Analyses were performed retrospectively. Patients were divided into two groups according to age. The older group consisted of patients aged 65 or over and the younger group consisted of patients aged below 65 years. The baseline characteristics, primary PCI success and in-hospital outcomes (deaths, recurring infarctions, stroke and major bleeding) were compared between the two groups. Results: There were more women, more patients with hypertension, and with diabetes mellitus in the older group when compared with the younger group. Time from symptom onset to hospital admission was significantly longer in older group. Primary PCI success was similar between the two groups. In-hospital death and recurrent myocardial infarction were observed more frequently among elderly patients. Conclusion: Our results confirmed that, in the elderly there is increased risk of death and complications due to myocardial infarction. Primary PCI is a safe and effective reperfusion strategy in this high-risk population.


Epistaxis has a reported prevalence of 10-12 per cent in the general population and is thus one of the commonest emergencies in Otolaryngology. We suggest that the patient uses a surgical mask to prevent blood spray during epistaxis management. Utilizing the described technique we have found that protective clothing worn by the healthcare professional is consistently 'blood-free' at the end of the procedure. This is in contrast to findings when no facemask is applied.


This book touches on aspects, chiefly chronological ones, that are relevant to the emergence of the Northwest Semitic, South Semitic and Greek alphabets. In chapter two a conceptual and chronological link is suggested between the Middle Kingdom system of transliterating Semitic names and the birth of the Northwest Semitic alphabet. Chapter three traces the early development of the South Semitic scripts in finds from Arabia, Mesopotamia and the Levant, in search of the period most suitable for the emergence of the alphabet in the kingdom of Sheba. The birth-date of the Greek alphabet, a subject on which scholarly agreement is still lacking, is discussed in chapter four. The author combines the relevant Semitic and Greek epigraphical evidence in order to elicit the time of the adoption of the Greek alphabet from the Phoenician one.