The slow natural regeneration pattern of the Shea tree due to the long gestation period and intense harvest has limited the domestication and genetic improvement of this tree. These limitations have necessitated the need for an alternative method of conserving the Shea tree outside the natural habitat. The propagation of the Shea tree by the in-vitro clonal technique presents such an alternative method. The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal concentration of 2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2, 4-D) and Picloram in Murashige and Skoog medium for callus formation and regeneration. The first experiment was done to achieve the best surface sterilization method and the effect of different concentrations of 2, 4-D or Picloram on callus formation. Callus induction percentage (CI%) of the explants in Murashige and Skoog medium were evaluated. The basal media were supplemented with 30 g/L of sucrose, 2.8 g/L phytagel and combinations of 2, 4-D or Picloram in various concentrations (1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5 mg/L) replicated four times with five explants in each bottle. From the result, the leaf explants soaked in 70% ethanol for 1 min and 1% sodium hypochlorite for 15 min with 1 µl of tween 20 had the highest percentage (100%) of sterile leaf explants and showed no contaminations both in the leaf and media. Callus was induced at 2 weeks of culturing in all the treatments except for MS basal without growth hormone which induced no callus. A concentration of 1.5 mg/ L 2, 4-D gave the best callus. The highest CI% (100%) was shown at 4 weeks in MS + 3.5 mg/L picloram media. The callus was light in colour and friable in texture. The result indicated that Picloram gave better callus compared to other treatments and will give a better response for regeneration of Shea tree.


Low muscle mass is common in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and is associated with poor quality of life and increased need for surgery. Our aim was to compare body composition in patients with IBD to controls, active and inactive IBD, and before and after biologic induction therapy.

 Body composition was prospectively analysed in patients with IBD and gender-matched controls. Active disease was defined as a faecal calprotectin (FCP) ≥150 µg/g. In patients with active IBD commencing biologic therapy, body composition was measured at baseline and after induction, at ≥14 weeks. Patients were considered responders if the FCP reduced by ≥50%. All participants underwent whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) (GE Lunar Prodigy), hand-grip strength, an International Physical Activity Questionnaire, Australian Eating Survey and a Subjective Global Assessment for malnutrition. Low skeletal muscle index (SMI) was defined as men ≤7.26 kg/m2 and women ≤5.45 kg/m2. Protein intake <15% of total daily macronutrient intake was considered low.

 Patients with IBD (54% Crohn's disease, 56% male) had a median age of, 29 years (IQR, 23–40) and, 5-year duration of disease (IQR, 1–11). Body composition was similar between, 48 patients with IBD and, 30 controls, including body mass index (25 vs, 23 kg/m2), fat mass (24.5 vs, 18.7 kg), estimated visceral adipose tissue (437 vs, 318 g), total lean body mass (46.6 vs, 47.9 kg) and appendicular skeletal mass (21.3 vs, 23.2 kg).

 These markers were also similar when comparing active (n=28) to inactive (n=16) patients with IBD, stratified by gender. Low SMI was more common in the IBD cohort compared to controls (19% vs., 3%, p=0.048). Only one patient with low SMI had low hand-grip strength to meet the criteria for sarcopenia in the IBD cohort. More patients with IBD had low protein intake (13% vs, 0%, p=0.027) and were mild to moderately undernourished (25% vs, 0%, p=0.003) compared to controls. No difference was found with physical activity and hand-grip strength. In the IBD cohort, patients with low SMI were more likely to be undernourished (56% vs, 18%, p=0.019) but had similar protein intake compared to those with normal SMI. In, 7 of, 14 patients who responded to biologic therapy, SMI (7.9 to, 9 kg/m2, p=0.028) and total lean body mass (50.6 to, 54.3 kg, p=0.043) increased, while total fat mass or body mass index did not change. Low SMI was found in, 3 responders at baseline and increased after induction. There was no change in any body composition parameters in non-responders (n=7).

 Body composition was similar between patients with IBD and controls, however low SMI was more common in IBD. Increasing muscle mass can be detected at ≥14 weeks after active disease is treated.


Ag presentation via HLA class II molecules in B lymphocytes depends on the coordinated action of HLA-DM, the catalyst of class II-peptide loading, and HLA-DO, a pH-dependent modulator of DM, the expression of which is almost completely restricted to B lymphocytes. The relative expression levels of both class II modulators are critical for the composition of the HLA class II peptide repertoire. The data in this work demonstrate that DO and DM expression are both dependent on the cellular activation status in primary human B lymphocytes. In vivo low-density activated primary human B lymphocytes show a prominent reduction in DO and DM expression when compared with high-density resting primary B lymphocytes. In vitro, reduction of DO and DM expression can be induced by B lymphocyte activation via the B cell receptor or by use of the phorbol ester, PMA. Specific inhibition of protein kinase C resulted in a significant reduction of HLA-DO and is potentially due to protein degradation in lysosomal compartments as the phenomenon is reversed by chloroquine. Thus, the expression of the dedicated HLA class II chaperone DM and its pH-dependent modulator DO is regulated and tightly controlled by the activation status of the B lymphocyte. The Journal of Immunology, 2001, 167: 6849–6858.


The Vietnam War remains a topic of extraordinary interest, especially in light of the invasion of Iraq. In The Vietnam War, Mark Lawrence offers readers a superb short account of this key moment in U.S. as well as world history, based on the latest European and American research and on newly opened archives in China, Russia, and Vietnam. While focusing on the American involvement from 1965 to 1975, Lawrence offers an unprecedentedly complete picture of all sides of the war, drawing on now available communist records to capture the complicated brew of motivations that drove the other side. Moreover, the book reaches back well before American forces set foot in Vietnam, describing for instance how French colonialism sparked the 1945 Vietnamese revolution, and revealing how the Cold War concerns of the 1950s warped Washington's perception of Vietnam, leading the United States to back the French and eventually become involved on the ground itself. Of course, the heart of the book is the "American war," ranging from the overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem to the impact of the Tet Offensive on the political situation in the US, Johnson's withdrawal from the 1968 presidential race, Nixon's expansion of the war into Cambodia and Laos, and the final peace agreement of 1973, which ended American military involvement. Finally, the book examines the aftermath of the war, from the momentous liberalization-"Doi Moi"-in Vietnam that began in 1986, to the enduring legacy of the war in American books, films, and political debate. A quick and reliable primer on an intensely relevant topic, this well researched and engaging volume offers an invaluable overview of the Vietnam War.


Using biodiesel fuel in diesel engines for heavy-duty transport is important to meet the stringent emission regulations. Biodiesel is an oxygenated fuel and its physical and chemical properties are close to diesel fuel, yet there is still a need to analyze and tune the fuel injection parameters to optimize the combustion process and emissions. A four-injections strategy was used: two pilots, one main and one post injection. A highly advanced SOI decreases the NOx and the compression work but makes the combustion process less efficient. The pilot injection fuel mass influences the combustion only at injection close to the top dead center during the compression stroke. The post injection has no influence on the compression work, only on the emissions and the indicated work. An optimal injection strategy was found to be: pilot SOI 19.2 CAD BTDC, pilot injection fuel mass 25.4%; main SOI 3.7 CAD BTDC, main injection fuel mass 67.3% mg; post SOI 2 CAD ATDC, post injection fuel mass 7.3% (the injection fuel mass is given as a percentage of the total fuel mass injected). This allows the indicated work near the base case level to be maintained, the pressure rise rate to decrease by 20% and NOx emissions to decrease by 10%, but leads to a 5% increase in PM emissions.


Technological advances in implant dentistry have substantially increased the number of rehabilitations of patients with immediate esthetic needs, particularly when the use of removable prosthesis during osseointegration does not meet patient expectations and demands. The placement of dental implants and the adequate immediate provisionalization should ensure high-quality functional and esthetic results and a good prognosis. However, questions remain about whether rehabilitation should be immediate in case of fresh sockets, particularly when the gingival phenotype is unfavorable. This report describes a clinical case of extraction of teeth #8 and #9, immediate dental implant placement and placement of a provisional using the crown of the natural teeth freshly extracted. Results are compared with findings reported in recent studies, and the ideal treatment to maintain gingival architecture is discussed.


Grain boundaries (GBs) that inevitably appear in CVD-grown graphene affect the electronic properties of graphene-based nanomaterials. In this paper, we introduce 558 GB (composed of a pair of pentagons and one octagon alternately) into armchair graphene nanoribbons (AGNRs) and divide them into three groups in light of the end configurations of 558 GB at the ribbon edges. By using first-principles calculations, the variations of electronic and magnetic properties with two adjustable parameters W (ribbon widths) and NZ (the distances between 558 GBs) are systematically investigated for each group. The results show that different electronic and magnetic behaviors versus W and NZ are presented for varying end configurations of 558 GB, including nonmagnetic metals, ferromagnetic metals and nonmagnetic semiconductors. By introducing 558 GB into AGNRs, the impurity states that are completely contributed by 558 GB appear around the Fermi level. Furthermore, a ferromagnetic ordering on the two zigzag chains of 558 GB occurs for the ferromagnetic metals due to the spin splitting energy bands near the Fermi level. These unique electronic and magnetic properties of AGNRs with 558 GB would find their potential applications in electronic and spintronic devices.


The acicular iron intermetallic compound, β-Al5FeSi, is often quoted as disadvantages in aluminum based alloy ingots because of its brittleness. This undeniable phase, however, is found to show less effects on the ingots properties if trace manganese is added. The modified round ended and Chinese script-like structure showed significant higher ductility. The present work reports results of prospective experiments designed for obtaining shape modification of the iron intermetallic compound exclusively from readily available scrap aluminum cans as a source of manganese. A356 aluminum alloy with 1 wt.% iron and 10 wt. % manganese calculated from recycled aluminum can was melted in a laboratory furnace. The molten metal was soaked at 800°C for different aging times ranging from 15, 60 to 120 minutes before undergoing the conventional casting process. The produced ingots were characterized concerning their microstructures, hardness and final composition, which allows estimating the proper aging time for the microstructure improvement. It was observed that the 60 minute-aging time yielded the best modification of 14 micron round ended needle morphology. However, the longer aging time resulted in lower hardness as the result of the obtained Al15(MnFe)3Si2 as a majority phase.


CRISPR-Cas9 deletion (CRISPR-del) is the leading approach for eliminating DNA from mammalian cells and underpins a variety of genome-editing applications. Target DNA, defined by a pair of double strand breaks (DSBs), is removed during non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ). However, the low efficiency of CRISPR-del results in laborious experiments and false negative results. Using an endogenous reporter system, we demonstrate that temporary inhibition of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) – an early step in NHEJ - yields up to 17-fold increase in DNA deletion. This is observed across diverse cell lines, gene delivery methods, commercial inhibitors and guide RNAs, including those that otherwise display negligible activity. Importantly, the method is compatible with pooled functional screens employing lentivirally-delivered guide RNAs. Thus, delaying the kinetics of NHEJ relative to DSB formation is a simple and effective means of enhancing CRISPR-deletion.


The solubilities and enthalpies of solution in water of 2-cresol and 4-cresol at 25 °C and the solubility of 4-t-butyl-phenol in water at four temperatures have been measured. The thermodynamic parameters for solution of the three phenols are combined with the parameters for sublimation to give information on the transfer of the phenols from the gas phase to aquous solution. The free energies of hydration of seven substituted phenols are linearly related to the Hammett σ-parameters for the substituents. Either electron accepting or donating substituents in phenol make the enthalpy of hydration more negative. The greater the dipole moment of the phenol the stronger is the attractive solute–solvent interaction. The increment to the entropy of ionization of phenol produced by alkyl substitution results from partial compensation of larger increments to the entropies of hydration of both the phenoxide anion and the neutral phenol.


A rational and multicomponent design of hierarchical CoFe2Se4 (CFS) nanorods adhered to CoNiSe2 (CNS) microsphere composites is prepared for the first time via facile and eco-friendly synthesis methods. The hierarchical CFS–CNS robust architectures enhance the specific surface area and porosity and also increase the availability of electrochemically active sites, which provides ideal pathways for electrolyte diffusion and facilitates electron transportation. As a result, the as-prepared fabric-based CFS–CNS electrode delivers a maximum specific capacity of 183.4 mA h g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1, with an excellent rate capability of 172.4 mA h g−1 at 8 A g−1 and outstanding cycling stability with 99.2% retention over 3000 cycles in aqueous 3 M KOH electrolyte solution. Moreover, the assembled fabric-based CFS–CNS//CFS–CNS symmetric SC achieves a high energy density of 80.2 W h kg−1 at 1000 W kg−1 and delivers an exceptional cycling stability with 97.02% retention over 3000 cycles as well as exhibiting excellent flexibility to sustain various deformations including bending and twisting. Utilizing the outstanding energy storage performance, the symmetric SC can light up a light-emitting diode for real-time applications.


Semiclathrate hydrates can entrap gas molecules (e.g. CO2, H2, CH4, and N2) and can form at atmospheric pressure and near ambient temperatures. Therefore, semiclathrate hydrates have been extensively studied for applications such as gas capture and storage, gas mixture separation, and refrigeration. In this study, we experimentally and theoretically investigate the dissociation condition for gas semiclathrate hydrates formed with alkyl-substituted quaternary ammonium salts on the purpose of H2 storage and H2+CO2 gas mixture separation. Paricaud (2011) [1] proposed a model to determine the formation conditions of gas semiclathrates hydrates and determined parameters for CO2+ tetra-n-butyl ammonium bromide (TBAB) + water system. The aim of this study is to extend the model to other semiclathrate hydrate systems. Since there are many experimental data for CO2+ tetra-n-alkyl ammonium salts +water system, we have first modeled CO2 semiclathrate hydrates with the following salts: tetra-n-butyl ammonium fluoride (TBAF), tetra-n-butyl ammonium chloride (TBAC), and tetra-n-butyl phosphonium bromide (TBPB). Good predictions were obtained over a wide range of concentrations of the salts: 0.03≤wTBAB≤0.55, 0.04≤wTBAC≤0.34, 0.02≤wTBAF≤0.448, 0.05≤wTBPB≤0.6 and pressure up to 5 MPa. Some experimental data for H2+ tetra-n-alkyl ammonium salts +water systems have been reported in the literature [2], but such data are still scare. Therefore we have conducted experimental measurements of the dissociation temperatures for TBAC semiclathrate hydrates in the presence of H2 using pressure-controlled differential scanning calorimetry. Measurements were conducted at wTBAC = 0.10, 0.20, 0.35, and 0.50 in pressure range up to 15.5 MPa. The amount of hydrogen stored in the semiclathrate hydrate was estimated to be 0.43 wt% at 289.75 K and 15.5 MPa.


The northern part of the Yucatan Peninsula is a relatively flat, low-lying carbonate terrane with no geomorphic expressions of stream channels. It is estimated that mean annual recharge to the groundwater system is 150 mm. For the 65,500 km 2 study area, mean annual discharge (equivalent to recharge) is 9.8 × 10 9 m 3 , or 8.6 × 10 6 m 3 for each 1 km of the 1,100-km-long coastline. In the interior of the peninsula, the recharging water annually dissolves about 37.5 t (metric tons) of calcite per 1 km 2 . When the groundwater has become saturated with calcite, little additional water-rock interaction occurs until the active mixing (dispersion) zone is reached near the coastline. Theoretical calculations and laboratory experiments have shown that when two waters, each calcite saturated and with different salinities, are mixed, the resulting solution generally becomes undersaturated with calcite and, therefore, is capable of dissolving additional calcite. On the basis of our study of the Xel Ha lagoon on the east coast of Yucatan, we calculate that as much as 1.2 mmol/L additional calcite can be dissolved in the brackish groundwater zone of dispersion. This indicates that if the total solution potential of the amount of water discharging at Xel Ha has focused within the lagoon area, the lagoon could be chemically incised in less than 3,000 yr. We postulate that chemical mass wasting by dissolution in the zone of groundwater mixing is an important geomorphic process in coastal areas of limestone terranes.


Eating disorders were previously thought to be isolated to achievement-oriented, upper and middle class individuals in Western countries. It now appears that these disorders may be increasing in other sectors of society and in a number of diverse cultural settings. We review the studies that comprise the relevant cross-cultural research literature on eating disorders. We also discuss the changing cultural factors that may be contributing to the apparent increase in these disorders around the world and directions for future research on such factors.


This study explores the determinants of political incorporation of Latino immigrants in the U.S. from multiple perspectives. The objective is to identify the factors that promote political incorporation along a pathway to citizenship—specifically, those that promote naturalization; lead to a speedier citizenship acquisition process; and are associated with greater political participation. Findings show that the effect of transnational political activity on political incorporation varies according to the stage of immigrant integration. In particular, such behaviors have greater effects at the stage of citizenship acquisition. During the citizenship acquisition phase, associational ties to social institutions play an outsized role such that immigrants with these ties are more likely to seek out citizenship. Other findings show that once naturalized, Latino immigrant political participation is affected by acculturation processes and differences in ethnic origin. Findings also reinforce the continuing importance of ethnic origin as, Mexican immigrant political incorporation is distinct from other national origin groups.


The purpose of the study was to gain a greater understanding of how the amount of stress and workload that exists in Swedish social services affect the clients. The study was based on interviews with socialworkers responsible for childcustody enquiries. I chose to interview socialworkers in two different cities that resembled eachother. One of the interviews was individual and two was in focusgroups. The socialworkers were interviewed with a semi structured interview manual. The results showed that one of the cities social services, the socialworkers had a more difficult worksituation than the other city. The reason to why one city was more well functioning than the other depended on how the organization had handled the past years amount of workload. Both differences and similaritis was found. In the city that had a more difficult work situation the socialworkers had to prioritize with their time more and their clients were more affected than in the other city. Prioritizing time is something that was found in both cities but the city with more difficult worksituation had to prioritize more with their time and that lead to less time with their clients. It also lead to lower quality enquiries.


Peace in Tatters: Israel, Palestine and the Middle East, by Yoram Meital. Boulder, CO and London, UK: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc., 2006.209 pages. Appends. Bibl. to p. 238. Index to p. 251. n.p. This book challenges the conventional wisdom widely accepted in Israel and the United States that the Palestinians destroyed the Oslo peace process (1993-2000) and forced Israel to abandon negotiations for peace and turn to unilateral action to defend itself. It joins a growing body of books and articles that persuasively revise this narrative and assign at least as much responsibility for the collapse of the peace process and the Palestinian intifada to Israel's leaders and failed American diplomacy. Peace in Tatters did not anticipate the victory of the rejectionist Hamas Party in the January 2006 Palestinian legislative elections. But it describes Israeli policies that weakened the secular Palestinian leadership and the rejection of negotiations during the last five years that were factors in the anger and protest against the status quo that brought Hamas to power. In a well-documented analysis, Yoram Meital, a senior lecturer at Ben Gurion University in Israel, makes a compelling case for his thesis that Israel and the United States share the blame for the failure of the Oslo peace process. After a brief history of the conflict and an analysis of the breakdown of the Oslo process, he devotes the bulk of the book to the collapse of the Camp David Summit and events leading up to Israel's disengagement from Gaza in August, 2005. Like other writers who reject the popular Israeli narrative of the conflict, Meital believes that the Oslo Declaration of Principles was deeply flawed and unlikely to succeed. There was no agreement on the definition of a two-state peace, and the two sides had very different expectations. Israel sought an abbreviated Palestinian entity with no presence in Jerusalem and the preservation of settlements, whereas the Palestinians, having accepted the existence of Israel and the principle of a two-state peace in 1988, assumed they would get a state in all of the West Bank and Gaza and a capital in East Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian Chairman Yasir 'Arafat were undermined by rejectionists on both sides. Rising terrorism, harsh Israeli security measures, and rampant settlement growth ultimately destroyed mutual confidence, which was never deep. There was no third-party monitor to call the parties to account, and public hopes for peace grew even more tenuous after the assassination of Rabin on November 4, 1995 and the election of Binyamin Netanyahu in May 1996, who opposed any compromise. Meital is deeply critical of Ehud Barak, who succeeded Netanyahu, for his unrealistic vision of what the Palestinians could accept, his erratic and tactless diplomacy with 'Arafat, his "take it or leave it" posturing at the Camp David Summit in July 2000, and his rush to condemn the Palestinians after the summit failed. Meital points out that Barak sought to use the summit to rescue his vanishing leadership, "win or lose," and spoke of "unmasking" the Palestinians, as if to prepare the public for failure. The author is equally critical of US President Bill Clinton for mismanaging the summit. He argues that Clinton and his team underestimated 'Arafat's political constraints, often played the role of "postman" for Barak to the Palestinians, and were ill informed about the issues. He says too little about 'Arafat's passive and inflexible performance at the summit and the lack of unity and preparation in his delegation and, in general, faults Barak and Clinton. Meital rejects the popular view that Barak's final offer at Camp David was "generous," since it would not have created a sovereign, independent state, but rather a series of segmented cantons interspersed with Israeli settlements and military bases and did not deal adequately with the issues of Jerusalem and refugees' right of return. …


Modern Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZs) are extensive and prevail in most of the world oceans. Anthropogenic and climate induced changes will cause OMZs to expand, while coastal hypoxia is assumed to increase in extent and severity. Particularly in Eastern Boundary Upwelling Ecosystems (EBUEs), such as the Humboldt and the Benguela upwelling system, severe OMZs prevail. Animals living in these areas have to physiologically and/or behaviourally adapt to the low oxygen levels or will be excluded from these areas or at least their vertical distribution ranges will be limited. It is assumed that some areas may experience a shift from an abundant and diverse regime to one that is lean and dominated by vertical migrators. Further, temperature is known to impact the hypoxia tolerance of animals negatively.
Euphausiids are known as pronounced diel vertical migrators, thus facing different levels of oxygen and temperature within 12 hours and are an important trophic link between primary producers and higher trophic levels throughout the world oceans. The critical oxygen pressure (Pcrit) and the regulation index (RI), as a method to differentiate between oxygen conformity and regulation, were used to assess hypoxia tolerances of different species from different ecosystems. Furthermore, diel vertical migration behaviour was monitored in some species. We will present and compare hypoxia tolerances of different dominant euphausiids species, show how oxygen availability may affect their vertical migration behaviour and assess how future climate scenarios (warming waters and decreasing oxygen content) may alter horizontal and/or vertical distribution of these species.


Abstract

In the information age, negative news affects corporate performance due to its powerful ability to spread and disrupt. Existing studies examine the linear relationship between negative news and corporate performance and explore the ex-post response mechanism of negative news. However, the nonlinear relationship between negative news and corporate performance and the role and mechanisms of ex-ante prevention of negative news by corporate control factors are unclear. We explore these issues using a sample of Chinese strategic emerging companies from 2012 to 2020. Our results show that: there is an inverted U-shaped effect of negative news intensity on corporate performance; internal control dampens negative news intensity; corporate shareholder responsibility and corporate violations degree partially mediate the negative relationship between internal control and negative news intensity, with the joint mediation effect of the two accounts for 39% of the total effect. Our study identifies an 'optimal range' of negative news intensity that is beneficial to corporate performance and finds the role of internal control in the governance of negative news intensity and the mechanisms of action, which contributes to further understanding of the impact of negative news on firm performance and has important implications for the governance of corporate opinion.

JEL classification numbers: G30, M10, M20.
Keywords: Corporate performance, Corporate shareholder responsibility, Corporate violation degree, Internal control, Negative news intensity.


The yield of hydrogen peroxide in the sonication of argon-saturated water was studied in the presence of various solutes. The efficiency of OH radical scavenging is expressed by the reciprocal value of C 1/2, the solute concentration at which the H2O2 yield is decreased by 50 per cent. C 1/2 ranges over several orders of magnitude. It is not related to the specific reactivity towards OH in homogeneous solution. However, it is correlated to the hydrophobicity of the solutes. The competition of I- and a second solute for OH was also studied. The competition between I- and HCO2- follows similar kinetics as in homogeneous solution. However, many other solutes compete in the manner which would be expected if radical scavenging occurred in different phases. The effects are explained in terms of OH radical formation in gaseous argon bubbles, combination of OH radicals to form H2O2 in an interfacial area, and enrichment of hydrophobic solutes in the bubbles.


Background: Head injury causes significant morbidity and mortalityand accounts for about 10 million cases globally. In Tanzaniait's the most common type of injury contributing about 32% to 50% of all trauma patients. Favorable outcomes for head injury patients depends on initial evaluation and proper timely intervention. This study aimed at determining the prognostic indicators for short term outcomes in operated head injury patients at KCMC. Method: Operated head injury patients meeting inclusion criteria were enrolled and followed to the point of discharge.Age, cause of injury, time of injury to surgery, indication for surgery,GCS, ISS were recorded on admission. Outcomes of interest(GOS and hospital stay) were recorded ondischarge. The association between age, GCS on admission, ISS and time of injury to surgery and outcomes was done using Chi square test. Results: A total of 57 patients were enrolled in the study with the median age of 34 years (range 22-44 years). Males accounted for 71.9% of participants. The mean admission GCS 11.9 (+/-3.4) and median ISS of 9(range 4-52). RTA was the leading cause of injuries with 56.1% followed by falls and assaults. The median hospital stay was 5 days (range 1-66) with median GOS of 5 (range 1-5). The overall mortality was 14%.Of those with fatal outcome (n=8), 87.5% had ISS ≥ 16 (P=0.004) and Unfavorable GOS of 84.7% (n=13) (P=0.01). GCS ≤ 8 was associated with mortality of 63% (n=8) (P=0.003), unfavorable GOS in 61.5% (n=13) (P=0.015) and 90% of those who stayed > 8 days had GCS< 13. Time of injury to surgery and social demographic characteristics had no significant association with fatality, GOS and hospital stay. Conclusion: ISS and GCS were important predictors of outcomes and thus their use in patient assessment should be encouraged. Furthermore GOS may be used as a primary measure of outcomes for patients with head injury. Keywords: Head injury, outcomes, injury severity score, Glasgow coma score, Glassgow outcome score


The aims of the present study were to map the level and distribution of aggressive and antisocial behaviors in a sample of Moroccan high school students and to define the level of these behaviors in adolescents who reported parental alcohol use problems and/or experienced abuse. In total, 375 high school students completed the ?Mental and Somatic Health without borders (MeSHe)? survey that includes the Life History of Aggression scale. Male students had significantly higher scores for aggression and antisocial behaviors than female. The students who reported experience of abuse or parental alcohol use problems scored significantly higher for aggression, self-directed aggression, and antisocial behaviors compared to students not reporting these negative psychosocial factors. Previously shown gender-specific patterns in aggressive and antisocial behaviors, but not in self-harm behaviors were confirmed in these Moroccan high school students. Reported experience of abuse and/or parental alcohol use problems were associated with increased frequency of aggressive and antisocial behaviors.


Limited road funds and the ever increasing demands being placed on the existing road system mean that the relative importance of effective maintenance of roads is also increasing. The rca's metropolitan region maintains some 240 km (some 1100 lane km) of road varying from major urban freeway facilities eg, eastern freeway, to two lane two way rural highways eg, calder highway, but the majority of the region's maintenance task is that of maintaining heavily trafficked urban roads. The region's maintenance organisation is area based, with the work largely by direct labour using specialist crews working under the direction of a roadmaster located in one of four depots. A major problem affecting inspections and works scheduling is that of very heavy traffic volumes, and hence all activities have to take due account of the pertaining road traffic conditions. It has been recognised that a systematic maintenance management system is required for maintenance to be as effective as possible. Work has been done on establishing standards for maintenance work, and further steps towards developing a better management system, such as compiling adequate road condition information, and adequate cost information are at present underway (a).


Numerical simulations have been conducted for LH 2 massive releases and the subsequent atmospheric dispersion using an in-house modified version of the open source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code OpenFOAM. A conjugate heat transfer model has been added for heat transfer between the released LH 2 and the ground. Appropriate interface boundary conditions are applied to ensure the continuities of temperature and heat fluxes. The significant temperature difference between the cryogenic hydrogen and the ground means that the released LH 2 will instantly enter in a boiling state, resulting in a hydrogen- air gaseous cloud, which will initially behave like a dense gas. Numerical predictions have been conducted for the subsequent atmospheric dispersion of the vaporized LH 2 for a series of release scenarios - with and without retention pits - to limit the horizontal spread of the LH 2 on the ground. The considered cases included the instantaneous release of 1, 10 and 50 tons of LH 2 under neutral (D) and stable (F) weather conditions. More specifically, 3F and 5D conditions were simulated with the former representing stable weather conditions under wind speed of 3 m/s at 10 m above the ground and the later corresponding to neutral weather conditions under 5 m/s wind speed (10 m above the ground). Specific numerical tests have also been conducted for selected scenarios under different ambient temperatures from 233 up to 313 K. According to the current study, although the retention pit can extend the dispersion time, it can significantly reduce the extent of hazards due to much smaller cloud size within both the flammability and explosion limits. While the former has negative impact on safety, the later is beneficial. The use of retention pit should hence be considered with caution in practical applications.


The vinylepoxide - diliydrofuran rearrangement offers a route to substituted 2,3- dihydrofurans with a high degree of diastereoselectivity. The rearrangement proceeds via an ylide-type intermediate arising from the thermolysis of a carbon-carbon epoxide bond. This thesis discusses work aimed at developing the rearrangement, introducing asymmetric control, and application of the dihydrofuran products in target molecule synthesis. Synthesis of the vinylepoxide rearrangement precursors is described, and development of the rearrangement to achieve a moderate scale rearrangement process is discussed. Alternative rearrangement technologies are also explored. Asymmetric induction into the rearrangement was approached by the use of chiral auxiliaries and in particular C2 symmetric amines. A novel synthesis of (S,S)-2,5-diphenylpyrrolidine and (S,S)-2,6-diphenylpiperidine is reported. High degrees of enantiomeric purity were achieved through the application of an effective oxazaborolidine catalyst in the reduction of dibenzoylethane and dibenzoylpropane. Use of this chiral reduction catalyst on further diketones is described. Application of the dihydrofuran products in the synthesis of several 2,6-disubstituted- 3,7-dioxabicyclo[3.3.0]octanes. These compounds, commonly termed furofuran lignans exhibit a wide range of biological properties. The dihydrofuran products were combined with a range of dimethylacetals, in a one pot synthesis, with high degrees of stereocontrol, by a Noyori type transacetalisation. Further derivatisation of these bicyclic compounds was accomplished and is discussed.Finally, with the vinylepoxide - dihydrofuran rearrangement established a preliminary exploration of the related vinylaziridine - 2-pyrroline rearrangement is reported.


We consider the classical finite-state discounted Markovian decision problem, and we introduce a new policy iteration-like algorithm for finding the optimal Q-factors. Instead of policy evaluation by solving a linear system of equations, our algorithm involves (possibly inexact) solution of an optimal stopping problem. This problem can be solved with simple Q-learning iterations, in the case where a lookup table representation is used; it can also be solved with the Q-learning algorithm of Tsitsiklis and Van Roy [TsV99], in the case where feature-based Q-factor approximations are used. In exact/lookup table representation form, our algorithm admits asynchronous and stochastic iterative implementations, in the spirit of asynchronous/modified policy iteration, with lower overhead advantages over existing Q-learning schemes. Furthermore, for large-scale problems, where linear basis function approximations and simulation-based temporal difference implementations are used, our algorithm resolves effectively the inherent difficulties of existing schemes due to inadequate exploration.


Majority opinion in Europe holds that Europe has all it takes to become an economic and political power comparable to, and consequently independent of, the United States…. I believe that Europe suffers from three major handicaps that rule out such a comparison. First of all, the northern part of the American continent…is endowed with natural resources incomparably greater than the part of Europe to the west of Russia…. Secondly, Europe is made up of a good number of historically distinct nations whose diversity of political cultures…has sufficient weight to exclude recognition of a "European people"… In the third place…capitalist development in Europe was and remains uneven, whereas American capitalism has developed in a fairly uniform way throughout the northern American area, at least since the Civil War. Europe, to the west of historic Russia…is composed of three unequally developed sets of capitalist societies. This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website , where most recent articles are published in full. Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.


The aim of the present study was to assess if low and moderate doses of caffeine delivered in a carbohydrate-electrolyte solution (CES) late in exercise improved time-trial (TT) performance. Fifteen (11 male, 4 female) cyclists (age, 22.5 ± 0.9 years; body mass, 69.3 ± 2.6 kg; peak oxygen consumption, 64.6 ± 1.9 mL·min(-1)·kg(-1)) completed 4 double-blinded randomized trials. Subjects completed 120 min of cycling at ∼60% peak oxygen consumption with 5 interspersed 120-s intervals at ∼82% peak oxygen consumption, immediately followed by 40-s intervals at 50 W. Following 80 min of cycling, subjects either ingested a 6% CES (PL), a CES with 100 mg (low dose, 1.5 ± 0.1 mg·kg body mass(-1)) of caffeine (CAF1), or a CES with 200 mg (moderate dose, 2.9 ± 0.1 mg·kg body mass(-1)) of caffeine (CAF2). Following the 120-min cycling challenge, cyclists completed a 6-kJ·kg body mass(-1) TT. There was no difference between respiratory, heart rate, glucose, free fatty acid, body mass, hematocrit, or urine specific gravity measurements between treatments. The CAF2 (26:36 ± 0:22 min:s) TT was completed faster than CAF1 (27:36 ± 0:32 min:s, p < 0.05) and both CAF1 and CAF2 TTs were completed faster than PL (28:41 ± 0:38 min:s, p < 0.05). Blood lactate was similar between trials and rose to a greater extent during the TT (p < 0.05). In summary, both doses of caffeine delivered late in exercise improved TT performance over the PL trial and the moderate dose (CAF2) improved performance to a greater extent than the low dose (CAF1).


Abstract Improvement of a method based on OECD 209 "Respiration Inhibition Test"; was studied. The method involves measuring the oxygen uptake rates of activated sludge microorganisms exposed to different concentrations of inhibitors. Six organic and three inorganic test compounds listed by EPA as priority pollutants were selected and their IC50 values were determined. More reliable results could be obtained, in terms of inhibition types, by prolonging the exposure time. Instant effect measurements of inhibitors gave misleading data for determining and evaluating the inhibitory behaviours.


A quick, reliable and sensitive analytical method for the confirmation and quantification of pyraclonil was developed using high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) with an electrospray ionization source (ESI) in positive mode. In this study, pyraclonil was extracted from soil, water and rice (hull, rice and stalks) by acetonitrile and cleaned with dispersive solid phase extraction using octadecylsilane (C18) and a primary secondary amine (PSA). The limits of detection (LODs) were in the range from 0.00025 mg kg−1 to 0.0006 mg kg−1, while the limits of quantification (LOQs) were from 0.0007 mg kg−1 to 0.002 mg kg−1. Quantification was performed by calibration curves of standards from 0.001 to 1.0 mg kg−1, and the correlation coefficients (R2) were higher than 0.99. The average recovery range was 78.1–112.5% with the relative standard deviation values below 11.8% at three spiked levels of 0.01, 0.1 and 1 mg kg−1 for all samples. This method was used to determine pyraclonil residues in rice, soil and water samples.


BACKGROUND
Percutaneous angiography with iodinated contrast in patients with chronic kidney disease carries a risk of contrast nephropathy, which is independently associated with renal disease progression and increased mortality. Gadolinium contrast is a potential alternative to iodinated contrast for percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty (PTRA), and appears to be safe and well tolerated. The aim of this study was to assess the results of gadolinium use to facilitate PTRA in patients with chronic kidney disease.

METHODS
Clinical outcomes were compared between patients with serum creatinine (Cr) >/= 176 micromol/L (2 mg/dL), who had either gadolinium (n = 57; gadoteridol or gadodiamide), iodinated (n = 68; iohexol or iodixanol) or a combination of gadolinium and iodinated-contrast-enhanced (n = 38) PTRA.

RESULTS
Despite similar degrees of pre-procedural renal insufficiency, the incidence of immediate contrast nephropathy [defined as an increase in serum Cr of 44 micromol/L (0.5 mg/dL) within 7 days without other identifiable causes] was lowest in the gadolinium group (3/57, 5.3%) compared to those receiving a combination of modest iodinated contrast in addition to gadolinium (4/38, 10.5%) or solely iodinated contrast (14/68, 20.6%). This was associated with a reduction in the 30-day progression to need for renal replacement therapy (RRT) (P < 0.005). Yet, over a mean follow-up of 40 +/- 22 months, renal function outcomes or all-cause mortality were not different between the contrast groups. The type of contrast used had no effect on technical success and both short- and long-term blood pressure outcomes were comparable between the groups. Two patients developed pathology-proven nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy, a serious skin condition that has been seen in patients with kidney disease following administration of gadolinium.

CONCLUSIONS
Gadolinium contrast appears to be an effective agent for interventional renal angiograms. Compared to iodinated contrast, gadolinium contrast is associated with a significantly lower incidence of contrast nephropathy and early progression to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in patients with pre-existing chronic kidney disease. The risk of fibrosing dermopathy however and remains to be established.


The question of culture is virtually absent from the debate on contemporary design and especially from what in this paper I refer to as emerging design: a problem-based, solution-oriented design, the defining characteristic of which is not the products, services, and communicative artifacts it produces, but the tools and methods it uses. But, although rarely discussed, emerging design also has its own culture—a culture that is rather limited and limiting precisely because of this lack of debate. To go beyond this somewhat reductive culture (to which the paper refers with the expressions solution-ism and participation-ism), we need to return to the discussion on issues that are or should be typical of design: from the criteria by which to orient and assess the quality of local solutions, to the broadest visions of the world toward which we work. This discussion, and the design culture it generates, must be undertaken through a dialogic approach, in which the various interlocutors, design experts included, interact as they bring their own ideas and define and accept their own responsibilities.


Abstract This paper examines how post-secondary agricultural education and training (AET) in sub-Saharan Africa can contribute to agricultural development by strengthening the capacity to innovate—to introduce new products and processes that are socially or economically relevant to smallholder farmers and other agents. Using the AET system in Mozambique as a case study, this paper examines the role of AET within the context of an agricultural innovation system. This innovation systems perspective offers an analytical framework to examine technological change in agriculture as a complex process of interactions among diverse actors who generate, exchange, and use knowledge, conditioned by complex social and economic institutions. The paper argues that while AET is conventionally viewed as key to the development of human capital, it also has a vital role to play in building the capacity of organizations and individuals to transmit and adapt information, products and processes, and new organizational cultures and behaviors. The paper emphasizes the importance of improving AET systems by strengthening the capabilities of organizations and professionals; changing organizational cultures, behaviors, and incentives; and building innovation networks and linkages. The paper offers several recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of AET for agricultural innovation and development. Key reforms include aligning the mandates of AET organizations with national development aspirations; inducing change in the cultures of AET organizations through the introduction of educational programs and linkages beyond the AET system; and enhancing innovative individual and organizational capacity by improving incentives to forge stronger links between AET and other stakeholders.


In this study, the performance of an impeller according to blade length and pitch angle was studied experimentally by building a variable pitch impeller while changing blade length to review the effect of blade length and pitch angle on a fan`s performance. The pitch angle was changed in six steps from at intervals of while the blade lengths were changed to 90 mm, 100 mm, 110 mm and 120 mm with an identical airfoil shape while carrying out the experiment. The results are summarized as follows : The air flow per static pressure of axial fans increased linearly with increase of pitch angle, but the high static pressure showed a decrease at a pitch angle of . The shaft power increased proportionally to the pitch angle at all blade lengths; the larger the pitch angle, the larger the measured increase of shaft power. This is because the drag at the fan`s front increases with the pitch angle. In the axial fans considered in this research, the flow and incre.


Methods are presented for evaluating the economic benefits of agricultural economics research (AER). Decision theory and economic surplus analysis are used to evaluate returns to five representative types of AER. Benefits stem from effects of AER on economic efficiency through reduced uncertainty about optimal resource allocation or improved institutional design.


International competitiveness receives much attention nowadays, but until recently its assessment has been heavily based on goods trade statistics. This paper addresses the need for competitiveness indicators that cover services trade and sets out initial proposals for developing a multilevel integrated framework to measure international services trade competitiveness. The approach undertaken here aims at examining the international competitiveness of the Romanian services trade and its structure of specialization on the EU-25 services market. In other words, this research attempts to identify Romania's ability to overcome difficulties and challenges that might arise from the hard competition within the enlarged EU, in the field of foreign trade in services. The primary changes in the international competitiveness of three major services sub-sectors in Romania – transport, travel, and other services - are analyzed.


In this paper we examine the impact of electoral laws on overall turnout, and class bias in the electorate. We look at the impact of changes in registration laws on who votes, with particular attention to the discriminatory impact of legal changes on persons at different segments of the income distribution. By aggregating turnout for different demographic groups - persons with different levels of education and income - by state, and then pooling those state level turnout rates over time, we can use cross sectional time series analysis to estimate the impact of electoral reforms. This gives us much more powerful estimates of these effects than were previously available. We do not suffer from the problems of cross-sectional analyses which rely on the assumption that the choice of electoral regime is independent of the likelihood of voting. And by using all presidential elections from 1972 thru 2004 we have much more statistical power than has been provided by previous analyses simply looking at difference of means tests across two elections. We consider the impact of: the number of days prior to election day that registration closes; the availability of election day registration; the availability of early voting, and the availability of absentee voting.


Holistic processing (HP) and hemispheric lateralization are both expertise markers of object recognition. For example, expertise in face and sub-ordinate object perception is shown to be associated with HP and stronger right hemispheric lateralization. However, HP is modulated by experiences of selective attention to parts such as writing experiences of Chinese characters (Tso, Au, & Hsiao, 2014) and drawing experiences of faces (Zhou et al., 2011). Meanwhile, hemispheric lateralization is associated with the decoding strategy employed in object recognition, such as left hemispheric lateralization for reading alphabetic scripts and right hemispheric lateralization for reading logographic scripts. This study aims at training participants to recognize the same sets of artificially-created scripts using either wholeword (Logographic) or grapheme-to-phoneme (Alphabetic) approaches. We found that both approaches induced strong HP, though the alphabetic approach induced stronger left hemisphere advantage than the logographic approach. This training study demonstrates that HP and hemispheric lateralization are separate processes that are associated with different perceptual mechanisms.


In this paper we explore the notion of mobile users' similarity as a key enabler of innovative applications hinging on opportunistic mobile encounters. In particular, we analyze the performance of known similarity metrics, applicable to our problem domain, as well as propose a novel temporal-based metric, in an attempt to quantify the inherently qualitative notion of similarity. Towards this objective, we first introduce generalized profile structures, beyond mere location, that aim to capture users interests and prior experiences, in the form of a probability distribution. Afterwards, we analyze known and proposed similarity metrics for the proposed profile structures using publicly available data. Apart from the classic Cosine similarity, we identify a distance metric from probability theory, namely Hellinger distance, as a strong candidate for quantifying similarity due to the probability distribution structure of the proposed profiles. In addition, we introduce a novel temporal similarity metric, based on matrix vectorization, to capitalize on the richness in the temporal dimension and maintain low complexity. Finally, the numerical results unveil a number of key insights. First, the temporal metrics yield, on the average, lower similarity indices, compared to the non-temporal ones, due to incorporating the dynamics in the temporal dimension. Second, the Hellinger distance holds great promise for quantifying similarity between probability distribution profiles. Third, vectorized metrics constitute a low-complexity approach towards temporal similarity on resource-limited mobile devices.


To the Editor: Diversity of genotypes among Pneumocystis jirovecii (human-specific Pneumocystis species) isolates mainly involves internal transcribed spacer (ITS) loci (1). Type Eg, one of the most frequently detected ITS genotypes, has been found worldwide (2). The locus of dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) is also of interest because DHPS is the target of sulfonamides, the main drugs used to treat Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP). Studies of the DHPS locus have found mutations at positions 165 and 171, which confer potentially lower sensitivity to sulfonamides to mutant P. jirovecii organisms (3).

Airborne transmission of Pneumocystis ssp. has been demonstrated among animals and probably occurs among humans (4). Reports of clusters of PCP cases in hospitals (4,5) provide a rationale for considering the possibility of nosocomial P. jirovecii infections. Moreover, we recently quantified P. jirovecii in the air surrounding patients with PCP (6). Our findings suggested that the fungus is exhaled from infected patients and then spreads into their surrounding air.

Because matches of P. jirovecii genotypes between pulmonary and air samples would strengthen these findings, we conducted DHPS and ITS typing of P. jirovecii isolates from PCP patients and from the air in their close environment. We assayed P. jirovecii DNA that we had previously detected in pulmonary samples (bronchoalveolar lavage and induced sputum) from 15 PCP patients and in 15 air samples collected 1 meter from each patient's head (6).

ITS genotyping was based on sequence analysis of ITS 1 and 2 regions after amplification with a nested PCR, cloning, and sequencing, as described (7). ITS alleles were identified by using the typing system by Lee et al. (2). DHPS genotyping was based on a PCR restriction fragment-length polymorphism assay that enables detection of mutations at positions 165 and 171, as described (8).

Among the 15 pulmonary samples, ITS genotyping was successful for all 15; among these, 8 ITS genotypes were identified (Table). Type Eg was most frequently identified. Mixed infections, which correspond to detection of >1 genotype in a given sample, were detected in 5 samples. DHPS genotyping was successful for all 15 pulmonary samples. A wild genotype was identified in 9 samples, a 165 mutant genotype in 1 sample, and a 171 mutant genotype in 2 samples. Mixed infections were identified in the 3 remaining samples.

Table

Genotyping of Pneumocystis jirovecii in pairs of pulmonary and air samples from 15 patients with Pneumocystis pneumonia*

Among the 15 room air samples, ITS genotyping was successful for 7; among these, 4 ITS genotypes were identified (Table). Type Eg was again most frequently identified. A mixed infection was detected in 1 of the 7 samples. These results enabled us to compare ITS genotypes for 7 pairs of pulmonary and air samples. A full match was found for 4 (57.1%) pairs of samples, and a partial match, defined as at least 1 common genotype for pulmonary and air samples in mixed infections, was found for 2 (28.6%) pairs. No matches were found for the remaining pair of samples. DHPS genotyping was successful for 6 of the 15 air samples. A wild genotype was identified in 4 samples, a 165 mutant genotype was identified in 1 sample, and a 171 mutant genotype was identified in 1 sample. These results enabled us to compare DHPS genotypes for 6 pairs of samples. A full match was found for these 6 pairs. DHPS and ITS genotype matches were found for 4 pairs.

Several lines of evidence suggest that P. jirovecii is exhaled by infected patients and transmitted by the airborne route to susceptible persons (4). In the study reported here, ITS or DHPS genotype matches between pairs of pulmonary and air samples are consistent with the possibility that P. jirovecii organisms in the air originated from patients. DHPS mutants were detected in 6 (40%) of the 15 pulmonary samples; none of the15 patients had received sulfonamide treatment at the time of PCP diagnosis. These results were not unexpected because frequency of finding DHPS mutants in PCP patients in Paris who had no prior sulfonamide treatment is high (8). The exhalation of DHPS mutants from infected patients can spread potentially sulfonamide-resistant organisms.

Matches of P. jirovecii genotypes in pairs of pulmonary and room air samples argue in favor of P. jirovecii exhalation by infected patients. The exhalation of P. jirovecii organisms emphasizes the risk for their nosocomial transmission. Our data provide additional arguments in favor of the application of measures to prevent the airborne transmission of P. jirovecii in hospitals.


This study evaluates the safety and potential pharmacokinetic interaction between indinavir and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMZ). In a randomized, three‐period crossover fashion, 12 healthy adults received 1 week of indinavir sulfate 400 mg orally every 6 hours with placebo, TMP 160 mg/SMZ 800 mg orally every 12 hours with placebo, and indinavir sulfate with TMP/SMZ. Plasma indinavir, SMZ, and TMP concentrations were determined after the last dose of each treatment period. Concomitant administration resulted in a 17% decrease in geometric mean trough plasma indinavir concentrations (p = 0.032), an 18% increase in geometric mean AUC0‐12h and Cmax TMP values (p = 0.031 and 0.030, respectively), and a 5% increase in geometric mean AUC0‐12h SMZ values (p = 0.039). None of these effects was considered clinically significant. The combination of indinavir sulfate and TMP/SMZ is generally well tolerated, with no clinically significant pharmacokinetic interaction being noted.


This article reports on three participant observation studies conducted in schools and libraries in South Africa, between 1999 and 2015. The study findings have been reported on elsewhere, thus the focus is on the methodologies used, with the common thread being the author's preoccupation with the information literacy education of South African pupils. The author's purpose was to provide evidence of the impact of the dire lack of resources and libraries at South African schools. The first study in 1999 explored how teachers at an underresourced primary school in Cape Town, Western Cape, were coping with the demands of the new curriculum. The second study in 2006 examined two public libraries in a rural town in Mpumalanga, with seven local schools, but no school libraries. The third study in 2015 involved the library at a high school in Kayelitsha township outside Cape Town, which is part of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) project to employ school leavers to manage school libraries. Participant observation is rare in the Library and Information Science (LIS) research literature and the author's aim is to demonstrate its power to dig beneath the surface. The article uncovers the complex relations and tacit beliefs that existed at the three research sites, which are probably at play in other contexts and which have to be taken into account in planning effective programmes in South African schools and libraries. The article also acknowledges the ethical challenges, arguably inherent in participant observation, which relate to the often sensitive relations among participants, and to the researcher's positioning.


Annals of International medical and Dental Research (AIMDR) is an open-access; freely accessible, online and print quarterly peer-reviewed international journal publishes a wide spectrum of advanced research on all medical and dental specialities including ethical and social issues. AIMDR is a gateway to enlighten the latest research/issues happening all around the world of medical and dental sciences. The journal publishes Original research articles in the form of full length papers or short communications especially those with multidisciplinary nature. The journal welcomes review articles, mini-reviews, case reports, letter to the editor, guest editorial or commentaries.


56 Abstract With the improved treatment of the pulmonary complications of cystic fibrosis (CF), gastrointestinal problems have become more important in the morbidity in CF. A hallmark of the gastrointestinal phenotype of CF, apart from pancreatic insufficiency, is a disruption of bile acid homeostasis. Bile acid homeostasis is important for many gastrointestinal processes including fat absorption, inflammation, microbial composition, as well as regulation of whole body energy metabolism. This review describes the impairment of bile acid homeostasis in CF, its possible consequences for gastrointestinal and metabolic complications and its potential as a target for therapy.


The phenomenology of intersubjectivity is well-trod terrain, often seeming to be a deeply worn rut that leads any steps entering it to move over and over again through the same concepts and texts in a closed field where little real progress is made. It seems that only if one bolts the field and introduces ideas and criticisms from outside this phenomenological round that any meaningful advance becomes possible. The power of texts that originally were striking and stimulating has waned. Moreover the very term "intersubjectivity" is suspect because of its implied affirmation that egoic subjectivity is the basis upon which to understand human community. Outside Husserl's phenomenology, in contrast, it is almost taken for granted that human community is not first established by what an "I" does, but that rather the actions of an "I" emerge from community structures that are antecedent to egoic subjective performances. One can, however, formulate this alternative within phenomenology as well. We can ask: Is human community a community of subjects, so that community means a group of independent subjects working in coordination, "intersubjectivity," or is the joining of subjects in a community other than and prior to the coordination of individuals acting as each an autonomous power, so that any act of autonomous decision is dependent upon conditions and structures that precede and found the actions of subjects? What I wish to do in this short essay is to indicate how phenomenology must itself, out of its very own programmatic principles, raise this very point, and do so in a way that requires continuing and radicalized reconsideration. I. Programmatic Principles Phenomenology is from the beginning a method. But "method" in phenomenology means something beyond the familiar set of investigative techniques and broad conceptual devices"epoche," for example, and "free fantasy variation" disclosing "essences," or concepts such as "intention" and "constitution"; there is a more fundamental sense of "method" that we get in the one treatise on method that we have from Husserl's Freiburg phenomenological workshop. I mean the essay entitled "The Idea of a Transcendental Idea of Method," otherwise known as the "Sixth Cartesian Meditation" written by Eugen Fink for Husserl in 1932.' "Method" here means a radical demand beyond any such set of conceptual techniques or beyond merely general methodicalness. It means the relentless systematic self-critique and self-reinterpretation that is the dynamic heart of the "phenomenological reduction" and phenomenological investigation as such. Beginning as it must with concrete actual experience, phenomenology tries to bring the world and entities and actions within it into focus beyond the naivete and presupposed settled meaning of the conceptions that frame one's already obtaining acquaintance with the matters to be investigated, whether these conceptions arise within ordinary human discourse or from philosophic tradition. The prime example of this is naming the field of phenomena "subjective," and the agency of access to that field "subjectivity." Accordingly, too, the process of "constitution" by which phenomena are "objects" for the "subject," discovered by reflection upon one's own conscious experiencing of the consolidation of things as "objects," gets characterized as "subjectivity," even if this subjectivity is termed "transcendental." Finally, since one's own human consciousness is fundamentally a living performance, the ultimate originative process of constitution is characterized also as a life, "transcendental" life. Now, just what "life" means when applied both to human conscious being and "transcendental constituting process" is rather obscure; but one thing is clear. It is in the temporality of human conscious being that for phenomenology the most profound level of "life-process" is to be found, and that therefore "transcendental life" to best characterized as itself temporalization-proto-temporalization (Urzeitigung). …


Effect of hydroxythiamine, B1 antivitamin, on the incorporation of labelled protein precursor (14C-hydrolysate of chlorella protein, 14C-leucine) and 14C-orotic acid into polysomes and RNA fractions of rat and mouse liver is investigated. Single subcutaneous injection of hydroxythiamine (400 mg/kg) is found to inhibit in 24 hours the synthesis of 28S and 18S rRNAs, polysome profile being unchanged and the incorporation of the label into protein being increased. Hydroxythiamine is proposed to induce the synthesis of TDP-dependent enzyme proteins responsing the decrease of their activity.


1. By the technique of quantitative plasmapheresis the effects of single proteins in artificial synthetic diets were studied with respect to their value in promoting the regeneration of serum protein. 2. The ratio of (a) the amount of serum protein per week removed by bleeding above that regenerated by the dog when eating the protein-free diet, to (b) the dietary protein increment (i.e., above that required for nitrogen equilibrium) was termed the potency ratio. The results indicated that serum protein was slightly superior to casein and lactalbumin in promoting the regeneration of serum protein. However, the respective potency ratios, varying from approximately 0.51 to 0.36, were comparable and not widely divergent as those reported by others. It was concluded that, whereas in some individuals dietary proteins may be able to produce a significant increase in the serum protein concentration, the potency ratios are not sufficiently different to warrant the administration of any one protein in preference to another. 3. The inhibitory effect of the basal protein-free diet with respect to serum protein regeneration in the dog was also demonstrated by the inability of the protein concentration to attain the normal level in spite of discontinued plasmapheresis. However, a subsequent fasting period resulted in a progressive rise in the serum protein concentration until the normal value was approximated. These observations are interpreted as indicating that the products of tissue protein catabolism can be utilized in the formation of new serum protein. 4. The experimental production of what seems to be an inhibition of the serum protein regenerating mechanism was described. This observation together with the hypothetical evidence presented by Bloomfield (17) and Weech and his associates (9) suggests that the most profitable line of approach to solution of the problem of hypoproteinemia lies not so much in the evaluation of dietary factors but in finding a way for stimulating internally the serum protein regenerating mechanism, which seems to involve in some manner the capacity of the tissue to furnish protein for the needs of the plasma. 5. A hypothesis explaining the mechanisms responsible for serum protein formation was presented and the experimental support for it discussed. The rôle of tissue protein catabolism in this function was emphasized.


Much of the fine-grained surficial sedimentary cover of the continental slope in the vicinity of Wilmington Canyon southeast of Delaware Bay has been disturbed by the activity of benthic fish. Underwater photographs and video recordings in the canyon area supplemented by observations of fish swimming over a soft surface in an aquarium provide information on the origin of different fish structures. The resemblance between many fish-produced markings and physically produced sedimentary structures noted in ancient slope and basin deposits is actually quite striking. Preserved fin marks, especially those produced by flatfish, would probably be confused with groove, slide and diverse tool marks preserved as casts on the base of siltstone and sandstone strata. Where fish resting or nesting depressions occur in large numbers, the seafloor surface superficially appears molded by low amplitude, round-crested interference ripple marks. Structures produced by fish burying themselves into the mud bottom disturb lamination; such structures would resemble some forms of load structures in cross-section. The generally random distribution of fish-markings, however, is in contrast with the normally down-slope and downcurrent orientation characteristic of physically produced structures.


Lack of employment has pushed many people into self employment in the informal sector in Nairobi and Kenya at large. Micro and small enterprises (MSEs) are recognized by the government for their contribution to the GDP. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are assisting the operators of MSEs in this sector to become more entrepreneurial. The ICT that is widely used in the sector is the mobile phone. Studies done on the usage of ICTs among MSEs have mostly concentrated on the roles of computers and internet usage, and given contradicting results on the benefits of using these technologies in e-commerce. Evidence on the role of mobile phones among MSEs in Kenya is lacking, especially, the evidence on factors facilitating and preventing their adoption, and the effects of the adoption on the performance of an MSE. This thesis analyzed the determinants of mobile phone possession, the extent of its usage in e-commerce, and the impact of mobile phone usage on the performance of an MSE. The hypotheses that were tested and strongly rejected were: a) e-readiness factors that is, characteristics of the owner, the attributes of the firm and the environment under which the firm operates, have no effect on the adoption of mobile phones and their usage in ecommerce; and b) the adoption of mobile phones and their use to transact business has no effect on the performance of an MSE. Data for the study was collected from the 8 divisions of Nairobi Province. Three models were estimated using these data, namely, the logit model, the probit model and the LPM (linear probability model). The main findings of the thesis are as follows: a) the majority of MSEs in Nairobi's informal sector are poor although a few of them had sales running into millions of Kenya shillings; b) the sector is dominated by literate people, the majority of whom were male operators; c) many of the operators had mobile phones, and they used them for business transactions; d) each MSE paid a daily fee of 20 Kenya shillings to the City Council officers; e) the key readiness factor influencing the possession of the phone is electricity; f) education has a strong influence on the usage of the phone for e-commerce; and g) mobile phone possession and usage for e-commerce are highly associated with sales turnover and with employment creation within the informal sector. It is recommended that MSEs be categorized by the value of items sold and not the number of employees. A clear distinction should be made between MSEs in the informal sector and those in the formal sector. Further, a conducive, operating environment which accommodates electricity needs to be provided. Computer training and innovations associated with the usage of mobile phones should be encouraged and facilitated among MSEs to enhance their performance. Research on business start-ups and innovations due to mobile phone usage should be carried out. Finally, research on specific transactions of mobile phone usage in e-commerce needs to be conducted.


Coastal zones and small islands are among the areas most impacted by global climate change and face great challenges for adaptation. While being considered as particularly vulnerable, many coastal communities, nevertheless, have long traditions of living not only by but with the sea. If such ecotones―places where ecosystems intersect―have features distinct from purely continental regions, the question is how life with the shore translates into adaptability towards environmental change. Life at the shore shapes emergent social relationships, local traditions, and collective memory. At the same time, issues such as tourism development, demographic change, and national and international administrations influence how environmental challenges in coastal areas are addressed. In this paper, I analyse how place-specific social structures and conflicting influences in ecotones affect adaptability to sea-level rise in coastal areas. This research draws on quantitative and qualitative data from a comparative study of two case studies, a coastal town and an archipelago, in Southwest England.


Postsynaptic differentiation can be experimentally induced in cultured Xenopus myotomal muscle cells by polyornithine-coated latex beads (Peng, H. B., and P.-C. Cheng, 1982, J. Neurosci., 2:1760-1774). In this study, we examined the time course of this process. Small, punctate acetylcholine receptor (AChR) clusters were detectable as early as 1.5 h after the addition of the beads. Subsequently, both the size and the number of the clusters increased with time until a saturation level was reached between 8-24 h. Because the onset and the site of the AChR clustering could be precisely marked, we were able to examine the early structural specializations associated with presumptive AChR clusters. At 1 h, when less than 20% bead-muscle contacts displayed AChR clusters, 70% of the contacts already exhibited a meshwork of 5-6-nm filaments, which were of the same size as the thin filaments within the myofibrils and thus may contain actin. A system of cisternae similar to the smooth endoplasmic reticulum was suspended within this meshwork, but other organelles were excluded from it. This meshwork, being the earliest cytoplasmic specialization at the presumptive AChR clusters and appearing before the clusters, may be a mechanism for the clustering process.


In our earlier papers,we investigated the parallelization and implementation of Gauss-Seidel (G-S) and Successive Overrelaxation (SOR) power flow analysis on shared memory, (SM) and distributed (DM) machines. For the SOR case, constant acceleration factors obtained from experiments are used to speedup convergence. In this paper, we introduce a new adaptive nonlinear SOR (ANSOR) algorithm which uses an approximated optimal acceleration factor obtained during the iteration process. The algorithm is shown to be faster due to the significant reduction in the number of iterations, and to converge robustly under heavily-loaded conditions on large power systems. We also implement parallel and sequential versions of our ANSOR algorithm on the nCUBE2 machine, and show that our algorithm is competitive with the fast decoupled load flow (FDLF) algorithm. Moreover, the portability of the parallel ANSOR code is demonstrated by porting the code to the Intel iPSC/860 hypercube and the Paragon mesh MIMD machines. However, our new algorithm is not a panacea for all problems, as we demonstrate with an example from transient stability analysis.<<ETX>>


The holistic concept of Food Systems (FS) has emerged as an attempt to tackle the multiple challenges regarding provision of sustainable and healthy diets for a growing population as described in e.g., the sustainable development goals. In this report, we focus on one commodity (bananas) in two contrasting cases: one focused on the banana export system in Costa Rica (CR) (including its exports to the Netherlands (NL)) and another on domestic supply and consumption in Uganda (UG). Here, we followed three conceptual frameworks of FS currently used in the literature. Furthermore, power relations between civil society, private sector and governmental agencies are also taken into consideration. We hypothesized that analysing the functioning of a particular commodity in a FS context adds value, compared to the more linear value chain approach, and will lead to better-informed policy, socio-economic and investment decisions. Our approach sheds light on some parts of the FS concepts that still need a more profound analysis. If we look at the differences in the presented FS frameworks, we think it is wise to look at building blocks as was done in this report, rather than trying to tackle the entire, complex system as a whole.


Purpose: Few studies have focused on the feasibility and accuracy of intraoral
 digital impressions for maxillectomy defects, especially for extensive soft tissue
 defects. Using intraoral scanners alone might be feasible for producing maxillary
 obturator prostheses, albeit with some limitations. It seems logical to investigate this
 ambiguity. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to assessing the feasibility and
 accuracy of using intraoral scanners (IOSs) to digitize maxillectomy defects. Materials
 and Methods: PubMed, the Cochrane Oral Health Group Trials Register, and the Cochrane
 Central Register of Controlled Trials were electronically searched, and five
 prosthodontics journals were manually searched for English-language articles published
 as of December 2020 that assessed the feasibility and accuracy of using intraoral
 scanners to acquire digital impressions for maxillectomy defects. Results: Two in vitro
 studies, three clinical studies, six clinical reports, and three techniques were
 included (N=14). Aramany's and Brown's classifications were used to classify defects in
 twelve and one articles, respectively; the remaining article did not specify defect
 class. The 3M True definition IOS with Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), Computed
 tomography (CT), and/or optical scanners were used in both in vitro studies, mainly to
 evaluate accuracy. The Trios 3 scanner was used in nine studies as the main resource for
 data acquisition (75.0%), whereas the Trophy 3DI, Lava, and Cerec Omnicam scanners were
 used in three articles (25.0%). Four degrees of feasibility were identified: feasible
 (14.3%), feasible with limitations (28.6%), feasible with CBCT or CT (35.7%), and
 feasible with conventional impressions (21.4%). Accuracy was evaluated in four studies
 but was not mentioned in ten studies. Conclusion: The results revealed a low level of
 evidence for the feasibility and accuracy of using intraoral scanners to digitize
 maxillectomy defects. Additional multicenter clinical studies are needed to evaluate the
 feasibility and accuracy of digital workflow compared with the conventional
 approach.


Electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fiber precursor based Carbon Nanofiber (CNF) mats were produced and impregnated with epoxy resin. The mechanical properties of as-prepared nanofibers in the mat and short fiber filled epoxy nanocomposite forms were determined to demonstrate the effect of fiber aspect ratio and interconnecting network on those properties. Our experimental results reveal that epoxy nanocomposites containing Electrospun Carbon Nano Fibers (ECNF) with high fiber aspect ratio and high interconnecting network in the non-woven mat form yield better mechanical properties than those filled with short ECNFs. The ECNF mat in epoxy nanocomposites provides better homogeneity, more interlocking network, and easier preparation than short ECNFs. Mechanical properties of ECNF mat-epoxy nanocomposites, which we obtained using tensile and flexural tests, such as stiffness and modulus increased, while toughness and flexural strength decreased, compared to the neat epoxy resin. Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) results showed, higher modulus for ECNF mat-epoxy nanocomposites, compared to those for neat epoxy resin and short ECNF-epoxy nanocomposites. The epoxy nanocomposites had high modulus, even though the glass transition temperature, Tg values dropped at some extents of ECNF mat contents when compared with the neat epoxy resin. The cure reaction was retarded since the amount of epoxy and hardener decreased at high ECNF contents together with the hindering effect of the ECNF mat to the diffusion of epoxy resin and curing agent, leading to low crosslinking efficiency.© 2007 ASME


The purpose of this research is to improve the creativity students of PG-PAUD FKIP Unsri. The type of research used is action research with Kemmis and Taggart model conducted 4 meetings. Subjects in this study as many as 40 people consisting of 38 women and 2 men. Data were collected by observation, interview, and documentation by using qualitative descriptive data analysis technique. The results showed that with folklore in dance courses can increase creativity, as evidenced by the observations made have achieved 75% success indicator. In the 1st cycle of the meeting 1 aspect  smoothness is in category 63,33%, flexibility is in category 58,33%, orginality are in category 54,16%, elaborate is in category 55,83%, systematic is in category 57,5%. Second in the first cycle of the second meeting, the smoothness of 66.66%, the flexibility aspect of 71.66%, orginality aspect of 74.16%, elaborate 72.5%, systematic by 69.16%. Third on cycle 2 of meeting 1 on the smoothness aspect of 79,16%, variable 75%, orginalitas 77%, elaborate by 78%, systematic equal to 83%. Fourth in cycle 2 of meeting 2, smoothness aspect 80%, flexibility 80,83%, orginality 80,83%, elaborate 84,16%, and systematic aspect equal to 85%. The results of this study show that with folklore in the art of dance can improve creativity in students PG-PAUD FKIP Unsri.


Noise, which is commonly generated in low-light environments or by low-performance cameras, is a major cause of the degradation of compression efficiency. In previous studies that attempted to combine a denoise algorithm and a video encoder, denoising was used independently of the code for pre-processing or post-processing. However, this process must be tightly coupled with encoding because noise affects the compression efficiency greatly. In addition, this represents a major opportunity to reduce the computational complexity, because the encoding process and a denoise algorithm have many similarities. In this paper, a simple, add-on denoising scheme is proposed through a combination of high-efficiency video coding (HEVC) and block matching three-dimensional collaborative filtering (BM3D) algorithms. It is known that BM3D has excellent denoise performance but that it is limited in its use due to its high computational complexity. This paper employs motion estimation in HEVC to replace the block matching of BM3D so that most of the time-consuming functions are shared. To overcome the challenging algorithmic differences, the hierarchical structure in HEVC is uniquely utilized. As a result, the computational complexity is drastically reduced while the competitive performance capabilities in terms of coding efficiency and denoising quality are maintained.


Direct, particle-resolved simulations of solid–liquid fluidization with the aim of quantifying dispersion have been performed. In addition to simulating the multiphase flow dynamics (that is dealt with by a lattice-Boltzmann method coupled to an event-driven hard-sphere algorithm), a transport equation of a passive scalar in the liquid phase has been solved by means of a finite-volume approach. The spreading of the scalar—as a consequence of the motion of the fluidized, monosized spherical particles that agitate the liquid—is quantified through dispersion coefficients. Particle self-diffusivities have also been determined. Solids volume fractions were in the range 0.2–0.5, whereas single-sphere settling Reynolds numbers varied between approximately 3 and 20. The dispersion processes are highly anisotropic with lateral spreading much slower (by one order of magnitude) than vertical spreading. Scalar dispersion coefficients are of the same order of magnitude as particle self-diffusivities. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 60: 1880–1890, 2014


We sought to describe the strategies used by 2L1 and L2 Basque-French bilingual children and monolingual Basque children to express subject-agent function in a free elicitation context in Basque. Based on a three-year longitudinal study, the analysis focused on transitive constructions requiring a subject-agent noun marked for ergative case. The results showed that the children mastered production of the ergative case marker at different ages, and used different psycholinguistic strategies to refer to the subject-agent. The majority of the bilingual children favoured topological strategy (i.e., marking of the subject-agent in the first position through subject-verb-object word order). However, the children with L1 Basque seemed to engage more in morphological strategy, through the use of the nominal ergative suffix. These data allowed us to discuss variations in the performance of bilingual children in light of the cue cost and cue validity concepts elaborated by the Competition Model applied to language production.


Background: The pressure of caring from patients with cancer can be a form of stress and influence caregivers' daily life and health. Considering the problems caused by the burden of cancer for patients and their families, this study was aimed to investigate the correlation between perceived social support and resilience in the family of patients with cancer.

Materials and Methods: This descriptive-correlation study was conducted on 114 family caregivers of patients with cancer. Data collection tools were Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and demographic questionnaire. The data were analysed through SPSS software (version 21) considering a significant level of 0.05.

Results: The mean resilience score was 90.56 ± 9.64 and the mean social support score was 73.07 ± 11.87. The highest social support score was from the family social support sub-scale (26.46 ± 2.91). There was a positive correlation between resilience score and social support score of caregivers (p=0.001, r=0.32). Sub-scale of family social support showed the highest correlation with resilience (p=0.00, r=0.50).

Conclusions: The results indicated that increased social support improves the resilience of caregivers of patients with cancer. Families of patients and caregivers should be trained to provide timely support. According to these results, it is recommended that health care providers, and especially nurses, use strategies to promote perceived social support and resilience in order to improve the health of patients and their caregivers.


We evaluate the impact of band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) on the characteristics of n-channel junctionless transistors (JLTs). A JLT that has a heavily doped channel, which is fully depleted in the off state, results in a significant band overlap between the channel and drain regions. This overlap leads to a large BTBT of electrons from the channel to the drain in n-channel JLTs. This BTBT leads to a nonnegligible increase in the off-state leakage current, which needs to be understood and alleviated. In the case of n-channel JLTs, tunneling of electrons from the valence band of the channel to the conduction band of the drain leaves behind holes in the channel, which would raise the channel potential. This triggers a parasitic bipolar junction transistor formed by the source, channel, and drain regions induced in a JLT in the off state. Tunneling current is observed to be a strong function of the silicon body thickness and doping of a JLT. We present guidelines to optimize the device for high on-to-off current ratio. Finally, we compare the off-state leakage of bulk JLTs with that of silicon-on-insulator JLTs.


A Gamma Beam System (GBS), designed by the EuroGammaS collaboration, will be implemented for the ELI-NP facility in Magurele, Romania. The facility will deliver an intense gamma beam, obtained by collimatio of the emerging radiation from inverse Compton interaction. Gamma beam energy range will span from 0.2 up to 19.5 MeV with unprecedented performances in terms of brilliance, photon flux and energy bandwidth. For the characterisation of the gamma beam during the commissioning and normal operation, a full detection system has been designed to measure energy spectrum, beam intensity, space and time profiles. The gamma-beam characterisation system consists of four elements: a Compton spectrometer, to measure and monitor the photon energy spectrum, in particular the energy bandwidth; a sampling calorimeter, for a fast combined measurement of the beam average energy and its intensity; a nuclear resonant scattering spectrometer, for absolute beam energy calibration and inter-calibration of the other detector elements; and finally a beam profile imager to be used for alignment and diagnostics purposes. In this paper, a general overview of the ELI-NP gamma characterisation system will be given and the NRSS system will be in particular discussed.


To mitigate the risks faced by private investors, including private equity (PE), strategies such as staging and syndication have been successfully employed. In this article, the determinants and preference of these two alliance-based strategies are explored when PE invests in infrastructure. Known for large capital outlays, project-finance structures, and nonrecourse financing, infrastructure is not a conventional choice for PE but has received enormous PE investment in recent years. Worldwide deals from 1990–2009 in energy, transport, and water and utilities sectors are analyzed in a nonrecursive path model to examine how environment, information, and investment risk determines the probability and preference of these strategies. Results indicate that the experience level of PE, especially in infrastructure, prior infrastructure experience, and proximity to the project determine the choice between staging and syndication, with staging emerging as the preferred alternative.


Silica aerogels are amorphous materials with remarkable properties, such as very high porosity and specific surface area, and low bulk density and thermal conductivity. However, the potential applications of these materials are limited as they exhibit poor mechanical strength. Nevertheless, silica aerogels allow easy incorporation of different compounds into their structure, enabling the production of materials with distinct characteristics from those of the native silica aerogels. The addition of particles, polymers or fibers, for improving the mechanical, optical or thermal properties has been extensively investigated by several authors in the last decade. A relatively recent alternative is their modification with carbon nanomaterials, which include carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, graphene and carbon aerogels. These nanostructures have well-known characteristics, such as high electrical conductivity and high mechanical strength. The combination of these carbon materials with silica aerogels can lead to new materials with unique electrochemical performance, and thermal and adsorption properties that can be useful in several fields such as electronics, insulation and wastewater treatment. This paper presents a literature review on the synthesis of composite systems containing silica aerogels and carbon nanostructures, and describes their new properties and applications. Examples are the treatment of oily water and removal of heavy metals from wastewater, as well as their application as thermal insulators or anode materials. Along with these new properties, very promising results in mechanical reinforcement were already observed with the inclusion of carbon nanostructures in silica aerogel matrices, but there is still room for further developments in this regard.


The problem of mapping the parallel bottom up execution of Datalog programs to an interconnected network of processors is studied. The parallelization is achieved by using hash functions that partition the set of instantiations for the rules. We first examine this problem in an environment where the number of processors and the interconnection topology is known, and communication between program segments residing at non-adjacent processors is not permitted. An algorithm is presented that decides whether a given Datalog program can be mapped onto such an architecture. We then relax the constraint on the architecture by allowing program segments residing at non-adjacent processors to communicate, A theory of approximate mappings is developed, and an algorithm to obtain the closest approximate mapping of a given Datalog program onto a given architecture is presented. >


To enhance worldwide environmental conditions, the air transport industry must drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Electrification of aircraft propulsion systems is one way to meet this demand. In particular, the focus is on obtaining single-aisle aircraft with partial turboelectric propulsion and approximately 150 passenger seats by the 2030s. To develop a single-aisle aircraft with partial turboelectric propulsion, an aircooled interior permanent magnet (IPM) motor with an output of 2 MW is desired. One of the most difficult problems in air cooling is that air-cooling performance decreases with increasing altitude because the air density decreases. To investigate the effect of altitude on air-cooling performance in the IPM motor, the authors formulated mathematical system equations to describe heat transfer inside the target air-cooled IPM motor, and mathematical analytical solutions were obtained. The most severe condition is the top-of-climb condition. For this condition, a designer should choose cooling air mass flow rates that keep the temperature of the permanent magnets below the maximum temperature limit of 100 °C and the temperature of the coils below the maximum temperature limit of 250 °C. Here, the sizes of the air-cooling channels strongly affect air cooling with the IPM motor. In this paper, the authors briefly review the mathematical formulations and their solutions, investigate the effect of channel size on air-cooling performance in an IPM motor, and explore the optimum configuration and settings for the air cooling channels.


Current connectionist models of bilingual language processing have been largely restricted to localist stationary models. To fully capture the dynamics of bilingual processing, we present SOMBIP, a self-organizing model of bilingual processing that has learning characteristics. SOMBIP consists of two interconnected selforganizing neural networks, coupled with a recurrent neural network that computes lexical co-occurrence constraints. Simulations with our model indicate that (1) the model can account for distinct patterns of the bilingual lexicon without the use of language nodes or language tags, (2) it can develop meaningful lexical-semantic categories through self-organizing processes, and (3) it can account for a variety of priming and interference effects based on associative pathways between phonology and semantics in the lexicon, and (4) it can explain lexical representation in bilinguals with different levels of proficiency and working memory capacity. These capabilities of our model are due to its design characteristics in that (a) it combines localist and distributed properties of processing, (b) it combines representation and learning, and (c) it combines lexicon and sentences in bilingual processing. Thus, SOMBIP serves as a new model of bilingual processing and provides a new perspective on connectionist bilingualism. It has the potential of explaining a wide variety of empirical and theoretical issues in bilingual research.