The effect of L-carnitine on retinal ischemia-reperfusion injury was evaluated in guinea pigs. 90 min of pressure-induced retinal ischemia followed by 24 h of reperfusion was established in both eyes of 2 groups of animals receiving either L-carnitine (100 mg/kg repeated in 5 doses) or saline intraperitoneally. After enucleation of all the eyes, including those of a control group, malonyldialdehyde (MDA) levels and the thickness of the retinal tissue were measured in 3 groups. The mean MDA value and the tissue thickness of the L-carnitine-treated group were statistically insignificant versus the control group (p > 0.05 and p > 0.05, respectively). However, these values were significantly different in the group receiving saline versus the control group and that receiving L-carnitine (p < 0.001, p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, p < 0.001 respectively). L-Carnitine might be an alternative drug for ischemia-reperfusion injury of the retina.


General problems of classification and nomenclature of human diseases caused by agents of biological nature are reviewed. From biological and epidemiological position, prion diseases that belong to non-infectious human pathology are analyzed. Directions of improvement of ecologic-etiologic and ecologic-epidemiologic classifications and nomenclature of human diseases caused by infectious, invasive and prion agents are determined.


The development in recent years of methods for the chemical analysis of the fatty constituents of blood has made possible the study of the partition of cholesterol and lecithin between the blood plasma and cells, a matter of great interest in view of the reported antagonism existing between these substances. This article is part of a group of studies on the concentration and distribution of these lipoids in normal and pathologic blood, and the relation of these factors to certain physicochemical properties of the red blood cells possibly dependent on them. It is also planned to study from this standpoint the balance between free and combined cholesterol. The investigation herein reported is concerned only with the lipoid partition in the blood of normal subjects and of patients suffering from a variety of conditions in which abnormalities in blood lipoids were expected. It has been reported by Bloor, 1 Chauffard, Laroche and


The significance of ultraviolet light as a cue in diet vertical migration of free-swimming copepodids of the ectoparasite salmon louse Lepeophtheirus salmonis (Kroyer) and adults of the holopelagic Calanus finmarchicus (Gunnerus) were examined in the laboratory. Copepodids of salmon lice were photopositive in 1 m deep water columns when illuminated with visible light (VIS) only, but when VIS was combined with ultraviolet light, with a spectral irradiance maximum at 313 nm, the copepodids gathered significantly deeper in the water column. In similar experiments C. finmarchicus did not show upward migration as a response to VIS, and a combination with ultraviolet light did not alter their normal behaviour. In 250 ml beakers, however, C. finmarchicus showed avoidance behaviour upon being exposed to UV-light; the copepods swam vigorously with prosome pointing downwards as if they were trying to escape from the irradiation. We conclude that these copepods must have sensory structures not yet described which can detect UV-radiation. Possible implications of these findings are discussed in relation to vertical migration and to host-finding in the salmon louse.


Erythrocyte deformability is known to be compromised due to the increased stiffness of the membrane of malaria-infected erythrocytes, and the latter also exhibit abnormal adherence to the endothelial cells that line all the blood vessels. This leads to alterations in the cells' shapes as well as in the viscosity, flow properties, and oxygenation of the blood, which are all altered by malaria in a specific pattern that is different from that in other diseases. As the red blood cells are the main particles of the blood flowing through the cardiovascular system, these changes result in impaired hemodynamics. The impairments are mostly because of the spatial distributions (arrangement) of red blood cells. A large number of earlier studies into the characteristics of erythrocytes have been invasive and conducted on animal models, and more recently performed with experimental \textit{in vitro} optical assay models. However, recent technological and theoretical breakthroughs in biomedical research are enabling the application of non-invasive imaging techniques, yielding clinically relevant information on humans \textit{in vivo}. In this thesis, we first prove convincingly that the optical technique of laser-Doppler flowmetry (LDF) can be used to evaluate blood flow dynamics in dark-skinned individuals, a matter that has been subject to doubt and discussion since the introduction of the LDF technique. We then address the long-standing question as to whether malaria can be detected at an early stage by investigating the alterations in blood flow and cardiovascular dynamics in febrile and non-febrile malaria patients. The alterations were evaluated not only by optical methods, but also by use of several other sensors, and the resultant time series were analysed based on techniques specifically developed for non-strictly-periodic, but rather time-varying signals. Numerous investigations utilising optical methods have previously reported impaired oxygen delivery, reduced metabolic rate, ATP deficiency and respiratory distress in relation to metabolic acidosis in malaria. However, biological oscillations that manifest in the blood flow and cardiovascular dynamics, and how they change over time, have not yet been utilised. Several measurements of human blood flow and oxygenation \textit{in vivo} have demonstrated the manifestation of these oscillations in cardiovascular dynamics, and their physiological attribution have been established as being significant. These physiological oscillatory processes can in principle provide valuable information about the underlying dynamical properties of the system. Blood flow and cardiovascular dynamics were found to differ markedly in malaria and it is proposed to use such signatures in the development of a diagnostic test for the disease. Besides characterizing the blood flow and cardiovascular dynamics in malaria, probable mechanisms in the causation of the observed alterations are explored. They are associated with two well-known characteristics of malaria: the effect of variant gene expression, race or environmental factors on vascular function; and the long-term effects of malaria recurrence. The former is investigated through the comparative measurements and analyses of microvascular blood flow and tissue oxygenation dynamics in white Caucasians and black Africans. The latter is explored by comparing the blood flow and cardiovascular data recorded from patients of black African origin who had suffered episodes of malaria in the past, and recovered from it, with that of subjects with no history of malaria.


We describe a novel approach to identifying specific settings in large collections of passively captured images corresponding to a visual diary. An algorithm developed for setting detection should be capable of detecting images captured at the same real world locations (e.g. in the dining room at home, in front of the computer in the office, in the park, etc.). This requires the selection and implementation of suitable methods to identify visually similar backgrounds in images using their visual features. We use a Bag of Keypoints approach. This method is based on the sampling and subsequent vector quantization of multiple image patches. The image patches are sampled and described using Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) features. We compare three different classifiers, K Nearest Neighbour (KNN), Multiclass Linear Perceptron (MLP), and Support Vector Machine (SVM), and present results for classifying ten different settings across one week's worth of images. Our results demonstrate that the method produces good classification accuracy even without exploiting geometric or context based information. We also describe an early prototype of a visual diary browser that integrates the classification results.


Cultured hippocampal slices exhibited prominent ultrastructural features of brain aging after exposure to an inhibitor of cathepsins B and L. Six days of treatment withN-CBZ-L-phenylalanyl-l-alanine-diazomethylketone (ZPAD) resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of lysosomes in the perikarya of neurons and glial cells throughout the slices. Furthermore, lysosomes in CA1 and CA3 pyramidal cells were not restricted to the soma but instead were located throughout dendritic processes. Clusters of lysosomes were commonly found within bulging segments of proximal dendrites that were notable for an absence of microtubules and neurofilaments. Although pyknotic nuclei were sometimes encountered, most of the cells in slices exposed to ZPAD for 6 d appeared relatively normal. Slices given 7 d of recovery contained several unique features, compared with those processed immediately after incubation with the inhibitor. Cell bodies of CA1 neurons were largely cleared of the excess lysosomes but had gained fusiform, somatic extensions that were filled with fused lysosomes and related complex, dense bodies. These appendages, similar in form and content to structures previously referred to as "meganeurites," were not observed in CA3 neurons or granule cells. Because meganeurites were often interposed between cell body and axon, they have the potential to interfere with processes requiring axonal transport. It is suggested that inactivation of cathepsins B and L results in a proliferation of lysosomes and that meganeurite generation provides a means of storing residual catabolic organelles. The accumulated material could be eliminated by pinching off the meganeurite but, at least in some cases, this action would result in axotomy. Reduced cathepsin L activity, increased numbers of lysosomes, and the formation of meganeurites are all reported to occur during brain aging; thus, it is possible that the infusion of ZPAD into cultured slices sets in motion a greatly accelerated gerontological sequence.


During the life of a producing oil field, several production stages are encountered. Initially, when a field is brought
 into production, oil flows naturally to the surface due to existing reservoir pressure in the primary phase. As reservoir
 pressure drops, water is typically injected to boost the pressure to displace the oil in the secondary phase. Lastly,
 the remaining oil can be recovered by a variety of means such as CO2 injection, natural gas miscible injection, and
 steam recovery in the final tertiary or enhanced oil recovery (EOR) phase. Nowadays, despite of new technologies
 in petroleum industries, the volume of oil and gas production in many oil fields are plummeted because most of the
 wells in Iran and other countries were being produced for several years. Hence, recovery factor was a reduction
 trend. Petroleum engineers due to their field studies and experimental evaluation wrapped up and showed that
 drilling wells in forms of horizontal, the contact of reservoir formation and production facilities were merely increased.
 Therefore, the recovery factor was rose gradually. In most of scenario's injection, CO2 is the best gas compound
 that should be injected to the model. Thereby, the results that was received from the injection methods for taking
 appropriate results were be compromised. This comparison included gas continuous injection and using horizontal
 wells impact.


Background/Aims: Despite the cystic fibrosis gene product, the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, being widely expressed throughout the kidney, there is no clearly defined renal phenotype in patients with cystic fibrosis. As patients with cystic fibrosis survive longer progressive pancreatic destruction may lead to abnormal glucose tolerance and diabetes mellitus, which in the kidney may be associated with the characteristic changes of nodular glomerulosclerosis. Methods: The adult cystic fibrosis service at the Alfred hospital consists of a cohort of 200 patients. We describe 3 cystic fibrosis patients with impaired renal function who had renal biopsies performed as part of their diagnostic work-up. All patients had fasting plasma glucose levels, oral glucose tolerance tests and measurements of HbA1c performed to assess for the presence of cystic fibrosis-related diabetes mellitus. Results: The renal biopsies of all 3 patients showed histological changes characteristic of diabetic nephropathy. In all cases described characteristic Kimmelstiel-Wilson nodules were present. However, in all 3 patients the presence of impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes mellitus was excluded using standard biochemical diagnostic criteria. Conclusion: We describe 3 adult CF patients, who on renal biopsy had histological evidence of nodular glomerulosclerosis in the absence of abnormal glucose metabolism. We speculate that the pro-inflammatory cytokine profile, typical of cystic fibrosis, predisposes to the lesions described.


This paper uses a decomposition of the data into common and idiosyncratic components to develop procedures that test if these components satisfy the null hypothesis of stationarity The decomposition also allows us to construct pooled tests that satisfy the cross-section independence assumption In simulations tests on the components separately generally have better properties than testing the observed series However the results are less than satisfactory especially in comparison with similar procedures developed for unit root tests The problem can be traced to the properties of the stationarity test and is not due to the weakness of the common-idiosyncratic decomposition We apply both panel stationarity and unit root tests to real exchange rates We found evidence in support of a large stationary common factor Rejections of PPP are likely due to non-stationarity of country-specific variations


Artificial nanostructures have improved prospects of thermoelectric systems by enabling selective scattering of phonons and demonstrating significant thermal conductivity reductions. While the low thermal conductivity provides necessary temperature gradients for thermoelectric conversion, the heat generation is detrimental to electronic systems where high thermal conductivity are preferred. The contrasting needs of thermal conductivity are evident in thermoelectric cooling systems, which call for a fundamental breakthrough. Here we show a silicon nanostructure with vertically etched holes, or holey silicon, uniquely combines the low thermal conductivity in the in-plane direction and the high thermal conductivity in the cross-plane direction, and that the anisotropy is ideal for lateral thermoelectric cooling. The low in-plane thermal conductivity due to substantial phonon boundary scattering in small necks sustains large temperature gradients for lateral Peltier junctions. The high cross-plane thermal conductivity due to persistent long-wavelength phonons effectively dissipates heat from a hot spot to the on-chip cooling system. Our scaling analysis based on spectral phonon properties captures the anisotropic size effects in holey silicon and predicts the thermal conductivity anisotropy ratio up to 20. Our numerical simulations demonstrate the thermoelectric cooling effectiveness of holey silicon is at least 30% greater than that of high-thermal-conductivity bulk silicon and 400% greater than that of low-thermal-conductivity chalcogenides; these results contrast with the conventional perception preferring either high or low thermal conductivity materials. The thermal conductivity anisotropy is even more favorable in laterally confined systems and will provide effective thermal management solutions for advanced electronics.


This thesis is concerned with fault-tolerant quantum information processing using quantum error-correcting codes. It contains two major pieces of work. The first is a study of coherent noise in the context of stabilizer error-correcting codes. The second is a proposed scheme for a universal set of fault-tolerant logical gates in a particular code family built out of the 3D toric code. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to quantum computation and fault tolerance. Many basic concepts in error-correcting codes are defined. Special attention is paid to the set of code properties that are most likely to determine how easily a given fault-tolerant scheme might be implemented on a physical device. These include the fault-tolerant noise threshold and the overhead. In Chapters 2 and 3 we study the effectiveness of quantum error correction against coherent noise. Coherent errors (for example, unitary noise) can interfere constructively, so that in some cases the average infidelity of a quantum circuit subjected to coherent errors may increase quadratically with the circuit size; in contrast, when errors are incoherent (for example, depolarizing noise), the average infidelity increases at worst linearly with circuit size. We consider the performance of quantum stabilizer codes against a noise model in which a unitary rotation is applied to each qubit, where the axes and angles of rotation are nearly the same for all qubits. In Chapter 2 we introduce coherent noise and incoherent noise and a number of methods that are useful for the study of coherent noise. We study the repetition code as a basic example, and we also study a correlated noise model. In Chapter 3 we show that for the toric code subject to such independent coherent noise, and for minimal-weight decoding, the logical channel after error correction becomes increasingly incoherent as the length of the code increases, provided the noise strength decays inversely with the code distance. A similar conclusion holds for weakly correlated coherent noise. Our methods can also be used for analyzing the performance of other codes and fault-tolerant protocols against coherent noise. However, our result does not show that the coherence of the logical channel is suppressed in the more physically relevant case where the noise strength is held constant as the code block grows, and we recount the difficulties that prevented us from extending the result to that case. Nevertheless our work supports the idea that fault-tolerant quantum computing schemes will work effectively against coherent noise, providing encouraging news for quantum hardware builders who worry about the damaging effects of control errors and coherent interactions with the environment. Chapter 4 is connected to another aspect of fault tolerance, fault-tolerant logical gates. The toric code is a promising candidate for fault-tolerant quantum computation because of its high threshold and low-weight stabilizers. A universal gate set in the toric code generally requires magic state distillation, which can incur a significant qubit overhead. In this work we construct an error-correcting code in three dimensions based on the toric code that features a fault-tolerant T gate with no magic state distillation required. We further describe a subsystem version of our code which supports a universal set of fault-tolerant gates. This code can be converted into the stabilizer version using gauge-fixing. We also argue that our code can be converted to a (2+1)-D protocol, where a 2D lattice undergoes a measurement-based protocol over time. In this way, a fault-tolerant logical T gate can be realized in a 2D toric code structure.


This paper deals with the evaluation of chosen areas in human resources management. These areas were inquired by questionnaire survey with respondents working in limited liability companies. The chosen areas are linked to communication and motivation of employees. Basic information of this limited liability companies were found out as well.


Holographic polymer dispersed liquid crystals(HPDLC)are a kind of novel photoelectronic information functional materials. It has the perfect characters including high diffraction efficiency, rapid response and easy manufacture. HPDLC devices are potentially useful for optical communication, panel display, information storage and integrated optics. Based on the study of the diffraction properties optimization of HPDLC,we have established the measurement system for electro-optical properties of the HPDLC device. The influence of different surfactants loading on the anchoring energy of liquid crystal have been explored, which was demonstrated to be a good way to decrease the operating voltage. The experimental results indicated that the index matching plays an important role in improving the contrast ratio of device. The response time was measured and the average response time of 100μs was obtained.


Following the publication of our paper (Attrill et al. 2007), we became quickly aware of a couple of errors. We have subsequently been collaborating with Dr. Chris Lynam (Lynam et al. 2004, 2005) to bring together our two datasets, explore the common patterns within our data, and attempt to provide a consensus on how climate is affecting gelatinous plankton in the North Sea. During this reanalysis, two errors within the data were discovered, one involving a transcription error of a column of residuals during de-trended analysis, the other a major data entry error deep in the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) database for sector B2. Here we present a revised version of table 1 from Attrill et al. (2007) to incorporate corrections to these transcription and data entry errors. These corrections alter some of the results in our original data table, mainly to increase and strengthen the number of significant relations we found (e.g., for sector B2 and whole sea area); all previous main results remain robustly significant. Following discussions with Dr. Lynam, two clarifications of statements made in Attrill et al. (2007) are also required. Page 482, Results, last line of first column: ''There were no...robust, consistent relations between jellyfish frequency and any environmental variables for B and D… contrary to the findings of previous shorter time series (Lynam et al. 2005).'' The Lynam et al. (2004, 2005) papers presented no data for the D sector and found no link in the B sector, contrary to our revised results. Page 482, Discussion, paragraph 1, last sentence: ''… positive association … North of Scotland (Lynam et al. 2005) … does not appear to be maintained.'' Our paper did not report on any data that covered Lynam et al.'s (2005) North of Scotland area so the statement is not directly supported, although their positive relation North of Scotland, when considered in conjunction with inflow, may agree with the C2 and B2 results of Attrill et al. (2007).


THE 'OXEN OF THE SUN' episode of Ulysses is set at the National Maternity hospitalin Dublin and by Joycean standards its plot is relatively unambiguous. It presentsa group of young Dubliners, some of whom are students or professionals inthe field of medicine, discussing national politics, demographics and sexuality. Theirdebate dips in and out of the social theories concerning history, economics, philosophy, naturalhistory, anthropology, eugenics and social Darwinism, with state-of-the-art refractions ofthe narrative voice through canonical styles of English prose. In contrast to the predictable,evolutionary trajectory of the plot, the debaters' say-sos, the barrage of mild indecencies andthe explicit subject matter generate a dense textuality and ambiguous ideologies.


Further improvements in gas turbine efficiency can be sought through more advanced cooling systems—such as the double-wall, effusion system—which provide high cooling effectiveness with low coolant utilization. The double-wall system, as described here, comprises two walls: one with a regular array of impingement holes and the other with a closely packed, regular array of film holes (characteristic of effusion systems). These walls are mechanically and thermally connected via a bank of pedestals which increase coolant wetted area and turbulent flow features. However, a lack of data exists in the open literature on these systems. This study presents a novel experimental heat transfer facility designed with the intent of investigating flat plate versions of such double-wall geometries. Key features of the facility are presented including the use of recirculation to increase the mainstream-to-coolant temperature ratio and the use of infrared thermography to obtain thermal measurements. Some rig commissioning characteristics are also provided which demonstrate well-conditioned, uniform flow. Both coolant and mainstream Reynolds numbers are matched to engine conditions, with the Biot number within around 15% of engine conditions. The facility is used to assess the cooling performance of four double-wall effusion geometries which incorporate various geometrical features. Both overall effectiveness and film effectiveness measurements are presented at a range of coolant mass flows with conclusions drawn as to preferable features from a cooling perspective. The results from a fully conjugate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the facility are presented which utilized boundary conditions obtained during experimental runs. Additionally, a computationally efficient decoupled conjugate method developed previously by the authors was adapted to assess the experimental geometries with the results comparing favorably.


Amino acid and nucleotide pools were measured in nitrogenase-containing Rhodospirillum rubrum cultures during NH4+- or dark-induced inactivation (switch-off) of the Fe protein. A big increase in the glutamine pool size preceded NH4+ switch-off of nitrogenase activity, but the glutamine pool remained unchanged during dark switch-off. Furthermore, methionine sulfoximine had no effect on the rate of dark switch-off, suggesting that glutamine plays no role in this process. In the absence of NH4+ azaserine, an inhibitor of glutamate synthate, raised glutamine pool levels sufficiently to initiate switch-off in vivo. While added NH4+ substantially increased the size of the nucleotide pools in N-limited cells, the kinetics of nucleotide synthesis were all similar and followed (rather than preceded) Fe protein inactivation. Darkness had little effect on nucleotide pool sizes. Glutamate pool sizes were also found to be important in NH4+ switch-off because of the role of this molecule as a glutamine precursor. Much of the diversity reported in the observations on NH4+ switch-off appears to be due to variations in glutamate pool sizes prior to the NH4+ shock. The nitrogen nutritional background is an important factor in determining whether darkness initiates nitrogenase switch-off; however, no link has yet been established between this and NH4+ (glutamine) switch-off.


ABSTRACT The incidence of malaria is increasing, and there is an urgent need to identify new drug targets for both prophylaxis and chemotherapy. Potential new drug targets include Plasmodium proteases that play critical roles in the parasite life cycle. We have previously shown that the major surface protein of Plasmodium sporozoites, the circumsporozoite protein (CSP), is proteolytically processed by a parasite-derived cysteine protease, and this processing event is temporally associated with sporozoite invasion of host cells. E-64, a cysteine protease inhibitor, inhibits CSP processing and prevents invasion of host cells in vitro and in vivo. Here we tested allicin, a cysteine protease inhibitor found in garlic extracts, for its ability to inhibit malaria infection. At low concentrations, allicin was not toxic to either sporozoites or mammalian cells. At these concentrations, allicin inhibited CSP processing and prevented sporozoite invasion of host cells in vitro. In vivo, mice injected with allicin had decreased Plasmodium infections compared to controls. When sporozoites were treated with allicin before injection into mice, malaria infection was completely prevented. We also tested allicin on erythrocytic stages and found that a 4-day regimen of allicin administered either orally or intravenously significantly decreased parasitemias and increased the survival of infected mice by 10 days. Together, these experiments demonstrate that the same cysteine protease inhibitor can target two different life cycle stages in the vertebrate host.


First-principles calculations based on Density Functional Theory has been employed to simulate the structure of Trans-Polyacetylene with two monomers per unit cell and also with four monomers per unit cell. Structural parameters have been measured. Electron density of states, dielectric constant and phonon modes have been computed in both cases and the results have been reported in the present paper. Calculation of the electronic component of dielectric constant along different directions indicates that the conformation having four monomers per unit cell is not that stable as compared to the conformation with two monomers per unit cell


Introduction Endoscopy within 24 h of admission with acute upper GI bleeding (AUGIB) is associated with improved outcomes.1NICE guidance2recommends endoscopy to be available 24/7 but such standards are difficult to meet. A dedicated 8 until 9 am list has been suggested to minimise out-of-hours endoscopy.3An audit at PAH of AUGIB related massive transfusion protocol activations in 2011 and 2013 showed a reduction in mortality (from 10/19 to 0/3 mortality per activations) after implementing a dedicated list. This descriptive study analyses how this list has evolved and identifies areas for improvement. Method We audited endoscopic procedures between 8–9 am on weekdays between the 22/12/2014 and 27/01/2015. Patient demographic, referral dates, indications and findings were analysed. Results Fifty patients (mean age 73.5 range 20.7– 93.5, 60% male) were audited (86% OGD, 24% flexible sigmoidoscopy, FS). Twelve percent of procedures (4 OGD 2 FS) were cancelled because of haemodynamic instability (2/6), low SpO2 (1/6), inappropriate palliative patient (1/6), non-consent (1/6) and no MCA2 declaration (1/6). Mean time between referral and procedure was 2.5 days (range 1–13). Procedures were done within 24 and 48 h after referral in 48% and 80% of the time, respectively, while 50% suspected UGI bleeds had an OGD within 24 h. OGD referrals were for assessment of suspected UGIB (72%), dysphagia (12%), varices screening (7%) and dyspepsia (6%). Endotherapy was performed in 23%. A probable cause for UGIB was found in 44%, blood in upper GI tract in 11% and haemostatic endotherapy was delivered in 22%. In those with dysphagia, oesophageal stricturing (3/5, 2 requiring dilatation), post-oesophagectomy (1/5) and oesophagitis (1/5) were seen. Conclusion This list allows an average of 2 extra procedures to be performed daily, without interrupting elective work. Since over 10% of patients are sent back to wards we propose optimising use of list capacity. We report similar waiting times for suspected UGIB to other UK endoscopy units, although still not in line with NICE recommendations. Around 1 in 5 patients required endotherapy. We suggest that our current endoscopy referral triage to an early morning endoscopy list effectively manages AUGIB locally but could be optimised by improving time to endoscopy in suspected AUGIB and decreasing non ultilisation rates. Disclosure of interest None Declared. References Chak A, et al. Effectiveness of endoscopy in patients admitted to the intensive care unit with upper GI hemorrhage. Gastrointest Endosc. 2001;53:6–13 NICE Guideline:Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding:management, CG141, June 2012 Provision of Endoscopy Related Services in District General Hospitals. BSG Working Party Report 2001 Acute Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding:An overview of out of hours service provision and equity of access. NHS Improving Quality/BSG, January 2014


In this paper, a deep learning convolution neural network (CNN) is applied in web query session mining for effective personalised web search. The CNN extracts high-level continuous clicked document/query concept vector for semantic clustering of documents. The CNN model is trained to generate document/query concept vector based on clickthrough web query session data. Training of CNN is done using backpropagation based on stochastic gradient descent maximising the likelihood of relevant document given a user search query. During web search, search query concept vector is generated and compared with semantic clusters means to select the most similar cluster for web document recommendations. The experimental results were analysed based on average precision of search results and loss function computed during training of CNN. The improvement in precision of search results as well as decrease in loss value proves CNN to be effective in capturing semantics of web user query sessions for effective information retrieval.


This is a report of our final year project title "Develop a Remote Control Aircraft for Crop Spraying". This final project was supervised by Mrs. Wan Mazlina Wan Mohamed. Through this project, we are encouraged to find in detail about the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) application on agriculture. We have to analyze how far the used of the UAV in agriculture sector at Malaysia. From the discussion with our advisor, Mrs. Wan Mazlina, we have to develop a prototype model of a sprayer that can be used either to spray fertilizer or pesticide by a remote control aircraft. We had to decide which type of the UAV that is suitable for this project whether it is fixed wing type or rotary wing. After we had developed the sprayer model, testing was conducted in order to make sure that the model can be function well. Then, we manage to measure the volume flow rate and the coverage besides to find the dimension of the model. Finally, there must be some recommendation to improve the prototype model. With that recommendation, we hope that it can be used as a guide to other students to build a better model in the future.


In 1987, a British-based team competed in the Tour de France for the first time in almost two decades. The ANC-Halfords squad were decimated by the punishing pace, the manager walked out during one of the Alpine stages, five of the nine riders and some of the staff never made it to Paris, and most of the personnel went unpaid. ANC were the definitive innocents abroad and it became one of the great sporting misadventures of all time. If that wasn't bad enough for ANC, a tabloid journalist travelled with them for the full three weeks. Jeff Connor's account of the Tour, Wide-Eyed and Legless, became a classic and was later voted number one in Cycle Sport's list of the best cycling books of all time. Now, 25 years on, Connor revisits the scene of the crime, tracks down the participants and discovers exactly how their fortunes were changed, some irrevocably, by the '87 Tour. Field of Fire tells a moving tale of sporting disillusionment, heartbreak, anger - and humour.


Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is recognized as a motor neuron disorder affecting the structure and function of the brain and neuromuscular system. Very little is known, however, that the nervous system degeneration is dependent on disease phenotypes of ALS. The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of brain white matter (WM) structure degeneration in four ALS patient groups characterized by their clinical signs and neuroimaging measurements. Fractal dimension (FD) of three-dimensional (3D) brain WM images was quantitatively analyzed to evaluate the WM structural complexity, including complexity levels of the WM skeleton, surface and general structures in ALS patients and control subjects. A total of 100 participants were assigned into five groups: ALS patients with frontotemporal dementia (ALS-FTD, n=20), ALS patients with predominantly upper motor neuron (UMN) signs and hyperintensity MRI signals on corticospinal tract (CST) (UMN-CST + , n=20), ALS patients with predominantly UMN signs but without hyperintensity signal on CST (UMN-CST-, n=27), ALS patients with an equal amount of UMN and lower motor neuron (LMN) signs (ALS-classic, n=22), and a neurological control group (n=11). The brain was extracted


Evidence indicates that satisfied customers defect at a high rate in many industries. Because satisfaction alone does not translate linearly into outcomes such as loyalty in terms of purchases, businesses must strive for 100 percent, or total, customer satisfaction and even delight to achieve the kind of loyalty they desire.

Current studies attribute a higher degree of emotionality to the dissatisfaction end of the satisfaction continuum than in the past. For example, customers who have experienced service failures feel annoyed or victimized. Although victimization is felt at a deeper emotional level than irritation, both can result in outrage. By focusing on more intense customer emotions, such as outrage and delight, the authors explore the dynamics of customer emotions and their effect on customer behavior and loyalty.

Schneider and Bowen base their conceptualization on people's needs rather than the more conventional model that focuses on customer expectations about their interactions with a firm. The authors propose a complementary needs-based model for service businesses that assumes customer delight and outrage originate with the handling of three basic human needs ? security, justice, and self-esteem. By recasting a situation as one that has violated any of a customer's fundamental needs, the deeper emotional outcome (e.g., outrage) does not seem incongruous. The authors describe each need and offer specific managerial tactics for avoiding outrage and creating delight.

Recent emphasis on relationship marketing ? that is, attracting, developing, and retaining customers ? is pertinent because building relationships requires that companies view customers as people first and consumers second. Service is an exchange relationship in which customers swap their money and loyalty for what Schneider and Bowen argue is need gratification ? a psychological contract with service firms to have their needs gratified. The authors discuss strategies that help firms gratify and, in some cases, delight customers, while avoiding the perception that they do not respect customer needs.

Companies must manage how they show concern for customer needs in all actions, including the activities of the back office (e.g., billing, shipping), not just front-office personnel who directly contact the customer.


Genetic distances (GDs) based on molecular markers such as simple sequence repeats (SSRs) have been proposed as an appropriate tool to assess the genetic conformity between putative essentially derived varieties (EDVs) and their initial varieties (IVs). However, for maize (Zea mays L.) and other crops, no consensus has been reached regarding GD thresholds for identification of EDVs, mainly because reliable benchmark data are lacking. Our objectives were to (i) determine the variation in the parental contribution (p) to the genome of homozygous progeny lines derived in recycling breeding programs; (ii) investigate the power of SSR-based GD estimates for discriminating between progeny lines derived from F 2 , BC 1 , and BC 2 populations (BC = backcross); (iii) compare theoretical and simulated results of a companion study to our experimental data; and (iv) draw conclusions with regard to various EDV thresholds suggested hitherto. A total of 220 European and U.S. maize inbred lines comprising 163 triplets were genotyped with 100 uniformly distributed SSRs. A triplet consisted of one F 2 -, or BC 1 -derived progeny line and both parental lines. The SSR-based estimates of p varied from 0.25 to 0.74 for F 2 -derived lines with a mean (0.49) close to the expectation (0.50), and ranged from 0.51 to 0.80 for BC 1 -deived lines with a mean (0.66) significantly smaller than the expectation (0.75). Relative to the variation in p, the GD between progeny lines and parents was little influenced by the variation in the GD between the parents, particularly for BC 1 -derived lines. Suggested GD thresholds for EDVs resulted in different Type I (α) and Type II (β) errors, depending on the germplasm pool. Considerable overlaps in the GD frequency distributions of F 2- , BC 1- , and BC 2 -derived lines indicate that the resolution to discriminate these types of progeny is poor unless a much larger number or a set of extremely polymorphic markers is used.


Pigments from various sources such as annatto seeds, cochineal, beet root, and microalgae are widely used in food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, textile and other industries. However, these sources of pigments have various limitations such as toxicity and environmental pollution of synthetic pigments, and low productivity of pigments from higher organisms due to long period of growth. The objective of this study was to screen for pigment producing fungi to overcome some of the above limitations. A pigment producing fungus was isolated from soil sample collected from cassava processing site and was identified as Talaromyces purpurogenus based on the colony morphology and characteristics, microscopic observation of the conidia and conidiophores and analysis of the gene sequence of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rDNA. The nucleotide sequence was deposited in Genbank (DDBJ/ EMBL) and was assigned the accession number LC128689. Pigment production by the isolate in solid state cultures using PDA as substrate in Petri dishes was investigated. The optima culture conditions were pour plating method with agar overlay (4 mm thick) and sealed edges, inoculum spore concentration of 2×108 spores/Petri dish and incubation in dark at 30°C. Under these culture conditions, the red, orange and yellow pigments produced were 11.2, 7.3 and 8.21 unit optical densities per gram of wet agar respectively after 96 h of cultivation. The isolate has good potential for production of different shades of pigments for various applications.

 Key words: Talaromyces purpurogenus, pigments production, solid state cultures, pigment-producing fungi.


A performance assessment system (PAS) is an important instrument to provide a cost-effective and sustainable management of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Despite the fact that many PASs have been developed in recent years, important aspects of WWTP evaluation have not yet been considered. This paper presents the framework and the overall performance indicators of a PAS developed for urban WWTPs.


With the fast development of Internet, e-Business is prospering in the recently five years. Many traditional companies have been convinced of this revolutionary change, and they are exploring a feasible way to adapt to the transition. Chinese companies have weaker bases than the developed countries, but they are also cognizant of the big trend, and are making great efforts to grasp the opportunities. This paper introduces a practical Chinese case that illustrates the increasingly strategic role of e-business applications in traditional manufacturing industries. The company we studied is a large Chinese tobacco corporation, which locates in Shanghai, one of the most developed areas of China. After the WTO entry of China, the regulation system of Chinese tobacco industry will be transformed from STMA (State Tobacco Monopoly Administration) to a more open one. This will bring about more competitive pressures to Chinese tobacco enterprises. How can traditional large corporations adapt to the real new economy in the new environment, it is a big problem that most of the Chinese tobacco corporation faced on. Sensing the challenges and opportunities, Shanghai Tobacco Group Corporation started to search after a new development way, and they intend to develop an e-business application model to improve its distribution processes to integrate their purchasing, manufacturing, delivering, logistics, and sales. Studying such a typical large company , it may be helpful for other large company in other industry. This paper first reports the background of Chinese tobacco industry and a brief history of the IT applications in Shanghai Tobacco Group Corporation (in the next part we use SHTG for short), then we discusses the environment and business factors that led to the e-business application. Based on the above introductions and discussions, we illustrate an e-business solution to handle the situation SHTG faced.


Summary: In pithed rats, the selective α1-adrenoceptor agonists St 587 and cirazoline show preponderant calcium influx-dependent and -independent vasoconstriction, respectively. By using these agonists, selective (competitive) antagonists for either process of vasoconstriction were sought. For this purpose, antagonism was analyzed for eight structurally different antagonists (prazosin, BE 2254, AR-C239, R 28935, corynanthine, phentolamine, sulpiride, and chlorpromazine) opposing the pressor responses evoked by cirazoline and St 587. Where pA2 values ( -log dose antagonist evoking a twofold shift for the agonist dose-response curve) could be calculated, no significantly different pA2 values against either agonist resulted. However, with respect to the slopes of the Schild plots, deviations from unity were found for prazosin, R 28935, AR-C239, sulpiride, and chlorpromazine, but not uniformly against both agonists. Following treatment with phenoxybenzamine (PB) (30 μg/kg) and nifedipine (1 mg/kg), which produced calcium influx-sensitive and -insensitive vasoconstriction to cirazoline, respectively, Schild plots were constructed for BE 2254, prazosin, and chlorpromazine. Using cirazoline as an agonist, unity slopes were now obtained for prazosin and chlorpromazine. The Schild plots of BE 2254 versus cirazoline after PB or nifedipine administration, however, exhibited a slope deviating from unity. For prazosin and chlorpromazine, identical pA2 values still resulted against both processes of vasoconstriction to cirazoline. The results are compatible with the view that α1-adrenoceptors mediating calcium influx-dependent and -independent vasoconstriction in vivo are not distinctly different entities, but are separate recognition sites of the same receptor.


: We describe two cases of a bronchopleural fistula developing in a calcified fibrothorax several decades after the initial pleurisy. In a follow-up lasting many years, the fistulae are persistent, with only minor symptoms. We suggest that this benign course without serious illness is due to the fact that the calcified shell effectively seals off the infection, and that a conservative approach is likely to be successful.


Replication is a well-known technique to improve the accessibility of Web sites. It generally offers reduced client latencies and increases a site's avai lability. However, applying replication techniques is not trivial, and various Content Delivery Net works (CDNs) have been created to facilitate replication for digital content providers. The su ccess of these CDNs has triggered further research efforts into developing advanced Web replica hosting systems. These are systems that host the documents of a Web site and manage replication automatically. To identify the key issues in designing a wide-area replica hosting system, we present an architectural framework. The framework assists in characterizing different systems in a systematic manner. We categorize different research efforts and review their relative merits an d demerits. As an important side-effect, this review and characterization shows that there a number o f interesting research questions that have not received much attention yet, but which deserve exploration by the research community.


Unilateral stereotaxic injections of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the nigrostriatal bundle of marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) produced substantial losses of tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactive neurons from the substantia nigra, and mean dopamine (DA) depletions of 98-99% in the caudate nucleus, putamen and nucleus accumbens, and of 91-97% in frontal cortex, on the side of the lesion. Noradrenaline (NA) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) levels were also affected. Behavioural tests conducted pre-operatively and at regular intervals during the 6 mths following surgery revealed persistent deficits in the lesioned marmosets as a group compared with sham-lesioned controls, although individual marmosets sometimes recovered or showed no initial deficit on some tests. The main behavioural effects of the lesion were as follows: (i) an increase in the time spent with the head positioned ipsilaterally with respect to the rest of the body; (ii) ipsilateral spontaneous and amphetamine-induced rotation, although occasional intermittent periods of contralateral rotation and head biases were also recorded; (iii) contralateral apomorphine-induced rotation; (iv) reduced spontaneous activity; (v) ipsilateral hand preference on a conveyor belt task, although hand skill (measured as percentage errors when the speed of the belt was increased) was not affected; (vi) neglect of contralateral stimuli, both at the conveyor belt where lesioned monkeys often failed to respond on trials on which apple pieces arrived from the contralateral side, and on a test of sensorimotor neglect in which adhesive labels were placed around both feet. Comparisons of biochemical measures of the lesion with behavioural scores in individual monkeys suggest that DA depletions in excess of 95% are essential for long-term behavioural deficits.


BACKGROUND
Leg-length inequality is common in the general population and may accelerate development of knee osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE
To determine whether leg-length inequality is associated with prevalent, incident, and progressive knee osteoarthritis.

DESIGN
Prospective observational cohort study.

SETTING
Population samples from Birmingham, Alabama, and Iowa City, Iowa.

PATIENTS
3026 participants aged 50 to 79 years with or at high risk for knee osteoarthritis.

MEASUREMENTS
The exposure was leg-length inequality, measured by full-limb radiography. The outcomes were prevalent, incident, and progressive knee osteoarthritis. Radiographic osteoarthritis was defined as Kellgren and Lawrence grade 2 or greater, and symptomatic osteoarthritis was defined as radiographic disease in a consistently painful knee.

RESULTS
Compared with leg-length inequality less than 1 cm, leg-length inequality of 1 cm or more was associated with prevalent radiographic (53% vs. 36%; odds ratio [OR], 1.9 [95% CI, 1.5 to 2.4]) and symptomatic (30% vs. 17%; OR, 2.0 [CI, 1.6 to 2.6]) osteoarthritis in the shorter leg, incident symptomatic osteoarthritis in the shorter leg (15% vs. 9%; OR, 1.7 [CI, 1.2 to 2.4]) and the longer leg (13% vs. 9%; OR, 1.5 [CI, 1.0 to 2.1]), and increased odds of progressive osteoarthritis in the shorter leg (29% vs. 24%; OR, 1.3 [CI, 1.0 to 1.7]).

LIMITATIONS
Duration of follow-up may not be long enough to adequately identify cases of incidence and progression. Measurements of leg length, including radiography, are subject to measurement error, which could result in misclassification.

CONCLUSION
Radiographic leg-length inequality was associated with prevalent, incident symptomatic, and progressive knee osteoarthritis. Leg-length inequality is a potentially modifiable risk factor for knee osteoarthritis.

PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE
National Institute on Aging.


Food waste is an important topic in the context of sustainable development. Although many studies have addressed this topic, there is still limited knowledge owing to insufficient data. This study reports on food waste in two institutional settings in a Swedish municipality: schools and elderly care homes. The findings suggest it is easier to measure and reduce food waste in stable environments, such as exist at schools, than at environments characterized by change and unpredictability, such as exist at elderly care homes. Specific areas examined and compared include cooking and receiving kitchens, infrastructure, communications, and support.


One common feature of biofilm development is the active dispersal of cells from the mature biofilm, which completes the biofilm life cycle and allows for the subsequent colonization of new habitats. Dispersal is likely to be critical for species survival and appears to be a precisely regulated process that involves a complex network of genes and signal transduction systems. Sophisticated molecular mechanisms control the transition of sessile biofilm cells into dispersal cells and their coordinated detachment and release in the bulk liquid. Dispersal cells appear to be specialized and exhibit a unique phenotype different from biofilm or planktonic bacteria. Further, the dispersal population is characterized by a high level of heterogeneity, reminiscent of, but distinct from, that in the biofilm, which could potentially allow for improved colonization under various environmental conditions. Here we review recent advances in characterizing the molecular mechanisms that regulate biofilm dispersal events and the impact of dispersal in a broader ecological context. Several strategies that exploit the mechanisms controlling biofilm dispersal to develop as applications for biofilm control are also presented.


COVID-19 became the subject of concern for all individual, institution and government across the globe by the start of 2020. No country and sector were left unimpacted by COVID-19 pandemic. However, the level of impact was at varying stage. Among all individuals and families, population dependent on informal income sources were the one severely affected by COVID-19. Individuals and families from same group became the prime concern for government across the globe. Three tier government intervened from policy level intervention to direct support. This explanatory research dissected the efforts of three tier government through review of articles related with impact of COVID-19 on daily lives of families relying on informal income sources and government's approaches to reduce an impact. Federal government made the declaration of lockdown while provincial and local government coordinated with non-government and private agencies to identify and address an immediate need of poor and vulnerable families. Solidarity was seen among citizens and government as well as non-government institutions. However, with increased lockdown period, government could not capitalize the act of solidarity showed by citizens further increasing socio-economic issues instead of reducing or ending woes. With COVID-19 crisis, government had enormous opportunity to address an immediate need, make short term to long term strategies and make the three-tier system functional even during crisis scenario. However, besides fulfilling immediate needs in terms of food resources, government at all level could not strategize to meet the need of families relying on informal income sources.


Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) is one of the major wastes generated by palm oil milling which is a part of palm oil diesel production chain. POME contain of methane (about 60-70 %), which contribute to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emission. Due to reduction GHG emission is one of indicator bioenergy sustainability, some alternatives have been implementing to reduction it. One of the alternatives is implementing of methane capture technology which able to capture and/or utilize it for energy source. In this paper, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was employed to identify role of methane capture technology in sustainability of palm oil biodiesel production. By employed cradle to gate LCA on biggest producer of palm oil biodiesel in Indonesia, GHG emission is 23.00 g CO2eq per Mega Joule (MJ) biodiesel production with methane capture, and 40.79 g CO2eq per MJ biodiesel without methane capture. From this result, it was concluded that implementation of methane capture could reduce GHG emission significantly (more than 70 %).


The crystal structures of conichalcite [Ca(Cu,Mg)(AsO4)(OH)] samples obtained from Gozaisho mine, Fukushima, Japan, and Higgins mine, Arizona, USA, were refined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) using an imaging plate detector. The results revealed that conichalcite is orthorhombic and belongs to the P212121 space group. The positions of the hydrogen atom and the donor and accepter atoms in the structure were determined by difference Fourier and bond-valence sum methods. The crystal comprised three highly distorted coordination polyhedra: an AsO4 tetrahedron, a CuO4(OH)2 octahedron, and a CaO7(OH) square antiprism. The CuO4(OH)2 octahedron was distorted by the Jahn-Teller effect. The observed As-O distances were shorter than those predicted by ionic bonding. The electronic structure of the atoms affected the distortion of the polyhedra that did not have a symmetry center. The CuO4(OH)2 octahedron shared its edges to form linear chains, which were further linked by the vertices of the AsO4 tetrahedron and the CaO7(OH) square antiprism to form a three-dimensional network. The arrangement of these linear CuO4(OH)2 chains was very similar to that of CuO6 chains in CuGeO3, a spin-Peierls material. Comparisons with several isomorphous minerals revealed that the Jahn-Teller distortion effect caused by Cu atoms differed significantly between the minerals in the Ca series and those in the Pb series. Because of hydrogen bonding, the Cu-O(5) and Cu-O(5)* distances tended to become shorter than the other Cu-O distances in all isomorphous minerals.


Objectives This study investigates the hypothesis that hearing aid amplification reduces effort within conversation for both hearing aid wearers and their communication partners. Levels of effort, in the form of speech production modifications, required to maintain successful spoken communication in a range of acoustic environments are compared to earlier reported results measured in unaided conversation conditions. Design Fifteen young adult normal-hearing participants and 15 older adult hearing-impaired participants were tested in pairs. Each pair consisted of one young normal-hearing participant and one older hearing-impaired participant. Hearing-impaired participants received directional hearing aid amplification, according to their audiogram, via a master hearing aid with gain provided according to the NAL-NL2 fitting formula. Pairs of participants were required to take part in naturalistic conversations through the use of a referential communication task. Each pair took part in five conversations, each of 5-min duration. During each conversation, participants were exposed to one of five different realistic acoustic environments presented through highly open headphones. The ordering of acoustic environments across experimental blocks was pseudorandomized. Resulting recordings of conversational speech were analyzed to determine the magnitude of speech modifications, in terms of vocal level and spectrum, produced by normal-hearing talkers as a function of both acoustic environment and the degree of high-frequency average hearing impairment of their conversation partner. Results The magnitude of spectral modifications of speech produced by normal-hearing talkers during conversations with aided hearing-impaired interlocutors was smaller than the speech modifications observed during conversations between the same pairs of participants in the absence of hearing aid amplification. Conclusions The provision of hearing aid amplification reduces the effort required to maintain communication in adverse conditions. This reduction in effort provides benefit to hearing-impaired individuals and also to the conversation partners of hearing-impaired individuals. By considering the impact of amplification on both sides of dyadic conversations, this approach contributes to an increased understanding of the likely impact of hearing impairment on everyday communication.


Changes in regulation trigger changes in the innovation environments. They may block specific development trajectories, but they may simultaneously inspire and stimulate completely new openings. In this study, we look into regulation that aims to address environmental problems and facilitate creation and diffusion of sustainable technologies and processes as we examine the responses of innovators to the regulation on plastic use and production—specifically, the so-called SUP-directive. A multiple-case study comprising six companies suggests that companies manage (with) the regulation-induced innovation and needs for change by adopting three distinctive strategies: (1) proactive change orientation, (2) reactive opportunity capturing, or (3) reactive survival mode. Acknowledging that sustainability-oriented regulation may push companies with environmentally friendly innovation activities and solutions towards reactive survival mode highlights the need for managerial agility in adjusting the solutions and the ability to adopt parallel innovation strategies. Observing the strategies adopted by innovators also is informative when evaluating whether the regulation meets its profound goals and intended effects.


An apparatus is described which combines laser Doppler velocimetry and optical plethysmography for a rapid, multi‐parameter characterization of blood flow in cutaneous tissues. The Doppler parameter is determined by analog computation of the square root of the normalized second moment of the photodiode detector output during illumination by laser light scattered from the illuminated tissue. Incident and scattered light are transmitted by fiber optics to permit convenient sampling of local tissue regions. The instrument is compact, portable, and inexpensive. Data are presented which illustrate the utility of this device, and potential applications are discussed.


Optimal voltage regulation is one of the main issues to address in a Smart Grid context. In this domain, the application of traditional hierarchical control paradigms has some disadvantages that could hinder their application in Smart Grids where the constant growth of grid complexity and the need for massive pervasion of distribution generation systems require more scalable and more flexible control and regulation paradigms. To try and overcome these challenges, this paper proposes the concept of a decentralized nonhierarchal voltage regulation architecture based on intelligent and cooperative smart entities. This paper intends to bring two main contributions to the existing literature. The first is the definition of a decentralized architecture aimed at computing the actual value of the cost function and its gradient without the need of a central fusion center acquiring and processing all the sensor acquisitions. The second is the proposal of a distributed and cooperative optimization strategy aimed at identifying the optimal asset of the voltage controllers.


Localanalgesia. 2nd edn CliveJolly pp 144 £5 London: H K Lewis 1979 This book covers the complete field of local anaesthesia in 141 pages. It is obvious, therefore, that it cannot detail all of the anatomical, physiological or pharmacological facts necessary for its successful practice. Nevertheless, the author has succeeded in describing his approach in a logical and easily-followed style. The beginner and occasionaluserof any of the methods would be advised to use this book as an introductory manual to be supplemented by a more detailed standard text. Many of the blocks described involve the use of large doses of local anaesthetics, and while the need for adequate resuscitation equipment and drugs is stressed, greater emphasis on the use of oxygen in the management of convulsions (p 31) should have been made. At £5this bookrepresentsgoodvalueformoney. J MOORE Senior Lecturer in Anaesthetics J WDUNDEE Professor ofAnaesthetics Queen's Unioersity ofBelfast


Modeling the behavior of a system from observation is the first step in understanding a phenomenon. The model then opens the way to simulation in order to reproduce the behavior of the real system with the flexibility to modify, adjust and play with various scenarios. In this paper, we present a simulator of the activity of elderly persons in a Health Smart Home using the HMM "Hidden Markov Model". This simulator aims at modeling the effects of the loss of autonomy for the elderly living independently. We test several correlation methods to evaluate the similarity between real and simulated data. The experimental data was obtained in the HIS "Habitat Intelligent pour la Santé" within the framework of the French national "AILISA" project.


In recent years, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on privatizing social (government) services-from prison to pension to public assistance programs. Traditionally a Republican pet project, now even the Democrats are jumping on this bandwagon of privatization, all in the name of downsizing the government and streamlining government bureaucracy. For example, Vice President Gore made public benefits delivery a cornerstone of his "Reinventing Government" plan (ABA Banking ]ournal1994a). Acting on this plan, both federal and state officials have been exploring electronic benefits transfers (EBT)through private contractors as a mechanism to reduce administrative costs and fraud involved in the delivery of social benefits (Piskora 1995a; Debit Card News 1998b).


Biofilm formation by mycobacteria can lead to enhanced antibiotic tolerance. Herein, we report on the identification of a series of 2-aminobenzimidazole (2-ABI) derivatives that potently inhibit biofilm formation by Mycobacterium smegmatis.


Pharmacist dissatisfaction has manifested itself in absenteeism, poor performance, and turnover. Much has been written on the subject of employee turnover by researchers in the fields of psychology and management. However, there is very little in the literature on pharmacy management concerning the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover among hospital pharmacists. The purpose of this article is to review the major theories and models of employee turnover in an effort to better understand the role of job satisfaction/dissatisfaction in the turnover process of the hospital pharmacist.


In this paper, consensus integral control is applied for energy storage in microgrids to synchronize the state-of charge (SoC) and power levels of batteries with limited information exchange. Both local information (SoC and power level) and neighbors' information (SoC and power level) will be fed into an integral control installed at every battery converter. The design is based on consensus control and takes into consideration of realworld battery coordination requirements, e.g., all batteries should work in the same charging or discharging mode. Compared with the consensus control in the existing literature for voltage consensus or battery SoC/power consensus, this paper offers a simple design. The major assumption of the paper is that each converter should possess an integral control. This assumption is valid since indeed integral controls exist if converters are equipped with secondary frequency control. The designed consensus control is validated by simulations on 14-bus microgrid and IEEE 57-bus power system. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the consensus integral control for variety modes of operation: charging, discharging, and load variation.


: The Upani ṣ ads (ca. 800 BCE) were composed during a transitional time period in Hinduism when Vedic ritual and cosmogonic ideas began to give way to new worldviews. The intriguing Upani ṣ adic notions of time have received little attention in the scholarly literature compared to the elaborate models of cyclical time that develop in later texts. I propose, however, that the Upani ṣ ads represent a seminal reorientation in Hindu conceptions of time. We still find an older view of time in the Upani ṣ ads as something that marks the rhythms of the ritual year, but later Upani ṣ adic texts begin to explore entirely new ways of thinking about time. I propose that the movement away from the more integrated view of the material and immaterial as one reality in the Vedas towards a radical dualism between the spiritual and the material in later Hindu thought informs many of the new ideas of time that emerge in the Upani ṣ ads, including that of time as an abstract construct. The authors of the Upani ṣ ads investigate—and ultimately reject—the notion of time itself as the cause of the visible world, ponder the idea that time is something that is created by a divine being in order to structure the world, speculate that time may be a mere intellectual construct, and postulate that the highest reality may be situated in a realm that is outside of time altogether.


Objective: To evaluate the cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of the Indonesian version of students' motivation by the Science Motivation Questionnaire-II (SMQ-II). Material and Methods: The questionnaire was completed by fourth-year preclinical/clinical dental students who had taken oral medicine. Five components of motivation were assessed: intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, self-determination, grade motivation, and career motivation. Intraclass Correlations (ICC) and Cronbach's alpha coefficient were used to measure internal consistency and reliability. Construct validity was analyzed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. Results: The response rate was 98.33% (419 eligible students). The ICC of 0.855 for the total score showed excellent reproducibility. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.867 for the total score showed good internal consistency, and the reliability of the scale was 0.923. The partial correlation test showed that the level of lecturers' and facilitators' concern about issues during the oral medicine learning process was not a confounding factor (r=0.619; p<0.001). The construct validity using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient showed that the total SMQ-II score was significantly associated with the motivation to learn oral medicine (r=0.625; p<0.001). The discriminant validity using the Mann-Whitney U-test was significant for intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy to discriminate using the global question, and it was significant for self-determination to discriminate using oral medicine grades. Conclusion: This Indonesian SMQ-II version has been cross culturally adapted and has good validity and reliability.


In order to investigate the effect of hydrogen environment on fatigue crack growth characteristics of a low carbon steel JIS S10C, fatigue crack growth tests were conducted in a low pressure hydrogen gas environment. Fatigue crack growth rate in hygrogen gas is higher than that in nitrogen gas. It seems that a crack in the range of low growth rate prefers to propagate along the grain boundaries under hydrogen environment while in the range of high growth across the grains accompanied by brittle striation patterns or river patterns. It is important to clarify how hydrogen affects the crack growth behavior of different stages of crack growth.


This paper demonstrates the tolerable acute oral toxicity of a solution composed of Hydrofluoric acid (HF) at 24% concentration and GQ-300® as a controlling additive. The literature describes pure HF as a liquid, corrosive, colorless, fuming, (identifying CAS number 7664-39-3). GQ-300®, additive consisting of a strongly acidic chemical composition and safe for human use, obtained by the mixing of strong acids with the aim of achieving a balanced mixture of acids which allows, by means of additivation, the control and safe handling of other strong and corrosive acids commonly used in water treatment, cleaning of scale of silicates, in sites with contents of silicates to enhance recovery of metal, non-metal mining and hydrocarbon such as oil and gas. Since there is no precise information about the toxicity of this mixture, or it is expected that the test material is toxic, the study of oral toxicity uses varying volumes of fixed oral doses of three solutions of different concentrations of HF Controlled with the GQ 300® additive Administered in rats in order to know the tolerable acute toxicity of the mixture. Obtaining as a result that the HF mixture controlled with GQ-300®, administered to rats wistar by mouth in a volume of 20 μl with a range of 275 to 289 mg/kg, have a tolerable dose of acute toxicity greater than the pure HF to 48% , which means that this GQ controller minimizes the toxic action of the HF.


When it comes to airline security, there is nothing more important than getting people to their destinations safely. Transportation security is also a key component in the overall mission of protecting the nation against terrorist attacks. But airline security is a tricky goal-how do you achieve acceptable levels of security at a reasonable cost and without unduly inconveniencing passengers or invading their privacy? That's exactly what this book is about. Experts examine the latest thinking and analyze the latest research on air passenger security, discuss current practices, and show how technology can solve myriad problems. The book will, in short, help keep us all safer when flying.


Prion diseases have raised concerns in consumer's minds about food safety associated with meat world-wide. Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) both exist in Canada and consumer markets for beef, bison, elk and deer may have been affected by the diseases. While numerous studies have examined Canadian consumer beef purchasing behavior in the presence of BSE (Lomeli (2005), John(2007)), no examination of the impact of the animal diseases on consumer behavior for households who consume bison, elk and venison as part of their protein intake has been undertaken. In this study, meat consumption behavior for these specific households is examined, in particular, examining meat substitution possibilities between the exotic meats and domestic meats such as beef, pork, chicken, turkey and seafood. CWD was discovered on a Canadian elk farm in 1996 (CFIA) and since has been found on deer and elk farms and in the wild in Saskatchewan and Alberta. While to date no bison have been found with BSE, many of the trade bans put in place at the time of BSE have affected the bison market and consumers may associate bison with BSE through media coverage of the disease and trade barriers. In addition to examining the possible links between food safety concerns and consumption, the demographic characteristics of the households who consume exotic meats, and their responses to relative prices and other economic variables are modelled. No other empirical study exists on Canadian revealed meat purchasing behavior focused on these specific meats. Hobbs et al (2006) examined the potential market for bison in Canada. There are a number of past studies investigating the impact of food safety information reported in the media and product recalls on food demand. For many recent studies of consumers' behavior associated with meat demand and food safety concerns, the linear approximate almost-ideal demand system (AIDS) model has been popular and used. In this study, the behaviour of selected households that include bison, elk and venison meat as part of their total meat consumption will be examined. The revealed impact of BSE and CWD incidences on these household's behavior will be examined using a linear approximate almost-ideal demand system (LA/AIDS) model. Using theoretical concepts, model development can be explained as follow. First the usual LA/AIDS budget share demand functions using a Stone price index to avoid non-linearity are developed. To represent a system of demand functions, a set of three theoretical restrictions – homogeneity, symmetry and adding-up – are imposed and tested. To capture the influence of demographic and food safety factors, like BSE and CWD incidence, on meat consumption, Pollak and Wales (1981) proposed linking the demographic characteristics to the AIDS model as translation tools (Jones et al, 2003). Therefore, following the demographic translating method, demographic data and BSE, CWD media information (collected from tracking print media coverage of the two animal diseases from a national newspaper, in this case from the "Globe and Mail (Canada)") are incorporated into the LA/AIDS model and the extended demand function can be expressed as follows: , where, is the budget (expenditure) share of the ith good; is the intercept net of demographic and food safety effects; is the demographic variables and food safety media indices; are the prices deflated by CPI; and ln Y is the log of total expenditure. In this study, eight types of meats – Bison, Elk, Venison, Beef, Pork, Chicken, Turkey, and Seafood – are used and from the adding up property of the LA/AIDS demand system, one expenditure share equation (seafood) from the system is excluded. Using full information maximum likelihood (FIML) estimation procedures, the above equations are estimated simultaneously. This study used annually aggregated Homescan™ household data (ACNielsen) for the years 2002 to 2008. The price data for bison, elk and venison are from ACNielsen Market TRack. Bison prices are computed as an average of retail prices of ground bison, roast bison and steak bison. For elk and venison, the annual average retail price of all types of elk and venison are calculated. Since there are no regional price indices for bison, elk and venison, the prices used for bison, elk and venison are the same for all provinces. Chicken and turkey regional retail prices are obtained through Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (AAFC) web page. For beef and pork, national retail prices are derived as follows: the national retail prices of beef are computed as an average of prices of round steak, sirloin steak, prime rib roast, blade roast, stewing beef and ground beef. The national retail price of pork is approximated by the price of pork chops. In the next step, regional beef and pork retail prices are calculated by multiplying national retail prices of beef and pork with the regional price indices of beef and pork divided by the national price indices of beef and pork. The media coverage for BSE and CWD cases were collected from the Globe and Mail (Canada) through Factiva.com's search criteria. For the household demographic data, dummy variables are used for the data defined in index numbers, which are language, region, household size, age of children, education of household head, and location (rural or urban). The midpoints are used for demographic data defined in value terms, such as the age of household head and household income. Because households who consumed the above exotic meats are not the same in all years, an unbalanced panel data for 2002 to 2008 was used in this study. Among total households (9304) surveyed by ACNielsen in 2006, only 7.4 percent consumed these exotic meats. If the sample for 2006 in the analysis is compared to the total population from 2006 census of Canada, for example, the sample contains 66 (34) percent of households with size less than or equal to 2 members (greater than or equal to 3 members), while 2006 census population exhibits a breakdown of 60 (40) percent. Similarly, for the sample, data on children's age and being present in the family, the sample contains 30 (71) percent for the presence of children 18 years and under (none), which is a close representation of the 2006 census population of 26 (74) percent. Meat expenditure shares for bison (3%), elk (2%) and venison (2%) are relatively low as compared to those of beef (35%), pork (18%), chicken (26%), turkey (6%) and seafood (7%) in the 2006 surveyed data. However, a significant increasing trend in expenditure share from 2002 to 2008 can be observed for bison (2 to 4 percent), elk and venison (0.6 to 3 percent). A decreasing trend in beef (41 to 34 percent), pork (19 to 17 percent), chicken (27 to 25 percent), and a slightly increasing trend for turkey (4 to 5 percent) and seafood (5 to 8 percent) are also observed for the sampled households. Therefore, exotic meat types are tending to be consumed slightly more replacing domestic meat types beef, pork and chicken. From the results, it can be observed that all the own price elasticities have negative signs and expenditure elasticities have positive signs as a priori expectation showing the right curvature of underlying expenditure function and downward sloping demand (expenditure share) functions. Since the expenditure elasticities for beef, pork and chicken are slightly greater than 1, we may say that they are normal good to slightly luxury goods. Seafood, turkey, bison, elk and venison are normal to necessity goods. More interesting factors can be figured out from the results of demographic characteristics and BSE/CWD media indices. For example, 1) preferences for meat types are different across provinces; 2) pork and turkey are preferred by more English speaking people than French speaking people; 3) the larger the household size, the more elk and venison will be consumed; 4) the households with children under 18 consume less beef and more chicken; 5) elk, venison and turkey consumption increase and beef consumption decreases as income increases; 6) higher educated household heads choose more chicken, seafood and less elk, venison and pork; 7) urban people prefer more pork and less seafood; and 8) consumption will switch from beef/bison to elk/venison/turkey at the time of BSE reports and vice versa for CWD reports.


The Colonial Space Revisited

 The Cultural and Political Experience of Indonesian Natural Disasters in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century

 This contribution analyses the colonial space that encompassed The Netherlands and Indonesia through the lens of historical disasters. In the past as much as in the present, Indonesia's geophysical circumstances made the region vulnerable to volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunami's. During the nineteenth and early twentieth century such disasters confronted its victims, the other inhabitants of the archipelago and Dutch authorities with considerable challenges. Organizing relief and reconstructing the affected places and societies, prompted societal and governmental responses in colonial Indonesia as well as in The Netherlands.
 This article centres around two case studies: the eruption of Mount Awu on Sangihe Besar in 1856, and the earthquake that struck West Sumatra in 1926. We show that cultural and political interpretations of these disasters varied consid-erably between Dutch and Indonesian actors. By building on new insights from the fields of New Imperial History and Disaster Studies, we understand these divergences as the results of the differences in interests, worldviews and political realities faced by those who engaged with disasters in the Netherlands East Indies. On the one hand, Dutch actors tended to frame disasters as joint experiences that bound together motherland and its colony through charity and aid in a single humanitarian space. Yet their decidedly colonial lens led the Dutch to view disasters mainly through their own interests in the archipelago, thereby obscuring the multi-layered nature of local disaster responses. We therefore foreground local disaster responses to expose the limits of colonial disaster interpretations and thereby emphasise the fragmented nature of the colonial space.


The rapid development is leading the demand of colors in biotechnology related to food, textile, medicine and cosmetics. The health hazards of synthetic colors compel industries to adapt natural pigments. "Among them; microbial pigments most important and very diverse in nature." In this group the fungal pigments are of high demand due to mostly being extracellular metabolites, easy to extract and have enormous biotechnological applications. "Almost all genus of fungi produce efficient amount of pigment which depend and vary from species to species. Yeast, basidiomycetes, Zygomycetes, filamentous fungi, endophytic fungi, marine fungi and halophiles are most important groups which produce useful pigments. The pigments mostly found in kingdom fungi include melanin, phenazines, flavins, carotenoids, violacein, indigo, ankaflavins, canthaxanthin, prodigiosin and moascins. These pigments are being extracted on industrial scale for many biotechnological purposes. This review is intended to highlight the importance of pigments produced by fungi. The research on pigments producing fungi can lead to the development of industries related to textile, food, medicine, and cosmetics.


BACKGROUND
Dental implant placement associated with sinus floor augmentation in a severely atrophic maxilla can be performed in a 1- or 2-stage surgical procedure, depending on the height of the residual alveolar bone. A minimum of 4 to 5 mm is recommended for a 1-stage procedure.

METHODS
This clinical study describes the use of hydroxyapatite (HA) bone cement to stabilize HA-coated cylindrical implants placed simultaneously during sinus augmentation in 100 patients where insufficient bone volume did not allow primary implant stability. A total of 26 HA-coated dental implants were inserted in 100 grafted sinuses of 10 patients.

RESULTS
None of the cases presented any difficulty in achieving initial stabilization and parallelism. No clinical complications of the sinuses were evident. Prior to exposure, radiographic evaluation revealed the implants embedded in a densely homogeneous radiopaque mass. At second-stage surgery, there was no clinical evidence of crestal bone loss around the implants. All implants were clinically osseointegrated. All patients received fixed implant-supported prostheses. Mean follow-up was 18 months (range 12 to 24 months).

CONCLUSIONS
According to this preliminary study, the hydroxyapatite bone cement appears to hold great promise as a grafting alloplastic material for sinus floor augmentations. Its main advantage is its ability to provide initial stability required for osseointegration and proper implant location and parallelism. Further clinical and histological studies are required before it can be recommended for routine use in sinus lift procedures.


The paper describes the implementation and experiences gathered from the Spade project which is a decentralized mechanism for data management that has been used in High Energy and Light Source physics experiments. The background and motivations that shaped the Spade project are covered, followed by an outline of the current design of the deployed application. The operational scenarios that have been developed from the use of Spade in a number of difference contexts are enumerated, after which there is a short discussion on how the implementation of the application has progressed. The paper finishes with some highlight of Spade's performance and a conclusion about what has been learnt from this project.


Care2BWell was designed to evaluate the efficacy of Healthy Lifestyles (HL), a worksite health promotion intervention to increase child care workers' physical activity. The purpose of this study was to use process evaluation to describe the implementation of HL and determine if different levels of implementation are associated with changes in workers' physical activity. Data were collected from 250 workers randomized to HL, a 6 month, multilevel intervention that included an educational workshop followed by three 8 week campaigns that included self-monitoring and feedback, raffle incentive, social support, and center director coaching. Process evaluation data collection included direct observation, self-reported evaluation surveys, website analytics and user test account data, tracking databases and semi-structured interviews. Implementation scores were calculated for each intervention component and compared at the center and individual levels. Nearly a third of workers never self-monitored and few (16%) met self-monitoring goals. Only 39% of centers engaged with the social support component as intended. Raffle and social support components were perceived as the least useful. Implementation varied widely by center (25%-76%) and individual workers (0%-94%). No within- or between-group differences for high compared to low implementation groups for change in physical activity were evident. Interview themes included limited sustainability, competing priorities, importance of social support, and desire for a more intensive, personalized intervention. Wide variation in implementation may explain limited effects on intervention outcomes. Future worksite interventions designed for child care workers can use these findings to optimize health promotion in this setting.


Objective To present a proposal for normal growth, height and weight. Background Internationally, growth curves (reference, standard or normal curves) are proposed to, explicitly or implicitly, describe normal growth. Comparisons between different curves reveal differences, sometimes huge. When normal growth is discussed does "normal" depend on what population is studied? The answer is no because of a few different factors. Different growth patterns of two populations are very seldomly explained by genetic differences but the environmental exposure (socio-economic, nutritional, psychological) decides to what extent the biological growth potential is realized. For a full effect of a good exposure more than one generation has to be exposed. Populations exposed to good conditions have higher average heights than populations exposed by bad conditions. Privileged groups within a population (socio-economic, nutritional and psychological) have a better growth pattern. Populations with high average heights are nearer the normal and desirable situation. Methods From historical conscript data before the ongoing strong secular change for weight started we can get a relation between height and weight that is desirable and then combine that with data from the big national representative surveys performed before the epidemic of obesity started. Results Comparisons between international reference values are given and from one of the tallest population in the world the Swedish (together with the Dutch, the Norwegian amongst others) a proposal is given for a presentation of normal growth patterns of height and weight. Conclusion Normal values for height and weight from birth to final height is possible to present.


Empty creditors – bondholders who insure against default using credit default swap (CDS) contracts, face incentives to holdout from distressed exchanges (DEs) of debt that aim to avoid bankruptcy because their payoffs are higher in bankruptcy. We provide direct evidence that empty creditors act on these incentives and holdout from DEs. Furthermore, we provide evidence that firms structure and execute DEs to mitigate empty creditor holdout, and by doing so, successfully reduce debt through the DE and avoid bankruptcy. Our evidence indicates that the firm's response to empty creditor holdout is critical to understanding the role of CDS and empty creditors in distress resolution.


When using timber for construction purposes it is important to know its strength. One way to do this is by sorting the boards into strength classes that are defined by European standards. A commonly used method for strength grading is based on dynamic excitation in the longitudinal direction of the board to obtain an average dynamic longitudinal modulus of elasticity (MOE). This in turn correlates with the bending strength of the board in such a way that it can be used as an indicating property (IP) to bending strength. The use of MOE as an IP has proven to give the highest coefficient of determination (R2) to both bending and tensile strength in boards. Through the research described in this thesis, one might find that both reducing the length of a board to half its initial length and by removing the part containing the lowest local MOE in edgewise bending provided similar results, the axial dynamic MOE remaining within a 1% tolerance whereas the lowest IP based on local MOE in edgewise bending increased by 6–7%.


A power estimation approach is presented in which blocks of consecutive vectors are selected at random from a user-supplied realistic input vector set and the circuit is simulated for each block starting from an unknown state. This leads to two (upper and lower) bounds on the desired power value which can be quite tight (under 10% difference between the two in many cases). As a result, the power dissipation is obtained by simulating only a fraction of the potentially very large vector set.


SUMMARY: Seizure development and transference phenomenon were investigated in hippocampal and amygdaloid kindled cats. The behavioral and electrographic findings during the kindling procedures showed that motor seizure development in hippocampal seizures occurred with the emergence of independent discharging in the amygdala, globus pallidus and contralateral hippocampus. Furthermore, secondary site convulsions developed upon the first stimulation of these structures in the hippocampal group but only after over a month of hippocampal stimulation in the amygdaloid group. It was, therefore, concluded that role of the amygdala and globus pallidus in hippocampal seizure development was more essential than that of hippocampal stimulation in amygdaloid seizure development. The common findings between the hippocampal and amygdaloid kindled animals were the systematic progression to seizures, the all-or-nothing nature of the electrical response and the relative permanency of the seizure susceptibility. Seizure susceptibility increased during slow wave sleep and decreased during REM sleep. These latter findings were examined with preliminary data of brain bioassays of catecholamines.


Researchers and scientists in evolutionary psychology, a new theoretical perspective within the field of psychology, have proposed striking insights into human behavior based on our long evolutionary past. These insights and proposals have gained support over the past decade among psychologists, but they have also been roundly criticized. According to proponents, the field of evolutionary psychology seeks to synthesize modern evolutionary theory with the latest psychological findings, informed by the field of evolutionary biology. This new field of evolutionary psychology claims to have discovered insights about our universal human nature, pointing to our supposed millions of years of evolution during the Pleistocene era as the main designer of our minds. Evolutionary psychologists point to such universal phenomenon as feelings of shame, cheater-detectors, standards for female beauty, mate selection, and child abuse by step-fathers as evidence for specialized brain circuits that were designed by evolution. Adapted to a life on the savannas, the human mind is composed of these functionally specialized circuits, and to fully understand behavior today we must understand the pressures of savanna life. Critics of this new discipline, including philosophers, scientists, and evolutionary biologists, have responded with serious counterpoints. This article provides a brief overview of the field and the arguments brought against EP, including evaluating both the empirical evidence and the theoretical underpinnings. Implications for those favoring a theistic world-view are also discussed, and an introduction is given to a new field called Intelligent Design Psychology.


Recombinant soluble lamp-1 and soluble leukosialin can be produced from CHO cells which express sialyl Le(x) structures after stable transfection of fucosyltransferase-III. It was shown previously that those soluble lamp-1 and leukosialin are potent inhibitors for E-selectin-mediated adhesion of human colonic tumor cells (Sawada, R.; Tsuboi, S.; Fukuda, M. J. Biol. Chem., 1994, 269, 1425). In the present study, we have determined the amount of the sialyl Le(x) structure present in recombinant, soluble lamp-1 and soluble leukosialin. CHO cells were metabolically labeled with [3H]-galactose and recombinant soluble lamp-1 and leukosialin were purified from the spent medium. Glycopeptides containing N-glycans derived from lamp-1 were fractionated by sequential lectin affinity chromatography. Similarly, O-glycans released from leukosialin were fractionated by Bio-Gel P-4 gel filtration. The terminal structures of carbohydrate chains were determined by sequential digestion with specific glycosidases. The results clearly indicate that soluble lamp-1 contains much more sialyl Le(x) structure than soluble leukosialin. Considering that soluble leukosialin and lamp-1 are almost equally effective as inhibitors for E-selectin-mediated adhesion, the results strongly suggest that densely clustered O-glycans are better presenters for E-selectin ligands than N-glycans.


Increasing the performance is the best criterion for developing any communication system. The work presented here is aimed at increasing the speed & performance of the OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access) modulator and demodulator. This paper presents a high level implementation of a high performance FFT for OFDM Modulator and Demodulator. The design has been coded in Verilog and targeted into Xilinx Spartan3 FPGAs. The developed OFDMA communication structure is then targeted to the OFDMA based WiMAX communication modules, for increasing their efficiency by utilizing FPGA based FFT algorithm.


The IBM System z10™ Enterprise Class mainframe addresses the modern data center requirements for minimizing floor space while increasing computing power efficiency. These objectives placed challenges on the z10™ packaging design as a result of significantly increased demand on system packaging density, power delivery, and logic and power cooling efficiency compared with the recent IBM System z9® and z990 mainframe generations. Several innovations were implemented to successfully meet these challenges: a more powerful multichip module (MCM) that delivers denser computing capability and a 64-way system; a vertically mated processor unit (PU) book structure that achieves a more efficient thermal implementation and a higher signal bandwidth between processors; and a PU book-centric dc-dc power delivery design that is more efficient. This paper presents the key elements to achieve this design: the novel mechanical load transmission paths and the connector technologies for the MCM, PU book, I/O, and power regulation components; an innovative cooling and thermal design that includes component-level tolerance of failures; and improved power delivery and power code developments to maximize the overall z10 compute efficiency.