Emerging, on-demand applications (e.g., ultra-high definition TV, grid computing, e-health, digital cinema, etc.) will dominate the next generation optical networks. Dynamic on-demand provisioning of optical channels is advocated as a promising solution to fulfil the high bandwidth requirements of these applications. Among the various on-line strategies proposed to provision such applications, the ones exploiting the connection holding-time knowledge and the flexibility provided by the set-up delay tolerance exhibited a good potential in improving the overall network blocking performance. Considering the fact that the users are willing to wait for provisioning until their set-up delay tolerance expire, it is not of prime importance to establish connection on the earliest available resources. Rather, effective results in terms of network blocking performance can be achieved by provisioning connections on optimal instead of earliest available resources that exist within the set-up delay tolerance. This paper presents novel connection scheduling strategies that efficiently exploit the set-up delay tolerance and holding-time knowledge for dynamic wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) networks. The proposed scheme computes the set of all available provisioning opportunities (at different time instants) within set-up delay tolerance and selects the one that is most efficient in terms of network resource utilization. This scheme is investigated for two different scenarios, that are, for connection requests that cannot be provisioned at the time of their arrival due to resource unavailability and for every request irrespective of whether the required resources for set-up are available or not. Simulation results confirm that the proposed strategies attain significant improvement in network blocking probability compared to earlier presented techniques.


A numerical model has been developed to calculate the magnetic potential and temperature distribution in a RF heating system used for a SiC vapor growth system. The magnetic vector potential is calculated by solving the Maxwell equations. The heating power generated in the graphite susceptor is obtained using the Joules law. The temperature profile in a growth chamber is then calculated by solving the energy transport equation with induction heat as a source term. Two sets of grid system have been used to speed up the calculation. The frequency of RF heating and coil current are found to have significant impact on heat generation and its distribution in the graphite susceptor. The maximum temperature in the crucible has a linear relationship with the input power; however, the power input does not influence significantly the temperature gradient. To optimize the heating system for a SiC vapor growth system, the current, frequency, and geometry need to be carefully designed.


We apply the vectorized non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) method to the post-processing of the direct imaging data of exoplanetary systems such as circumstellar disks. NMF is an iterative approach, which first creates a nonorthogonal and non-negative basis of components using the given reference images and then models a target with the components. The constructed model is then rescaled with a factor to compensate for the contribution from the disks. We compare NMF with existing methods (classical reference differential imaging method, and the Karhunen–Loève image projection algorithm) using synthetic circumstellar disks and demonstrate the superiority of NMF: with no need of prior selection of references, NMF not only can detect fainter circumstellar disks but also better preserves their morphology and does not require forward modeling. As an application to a well-known disk example, we process the archival Hubble Space Telescope STIS coronagraphic observations of HD 181327 with different methods and compare them, and NMF is able to extract some circumstellar materials inside the primary ring for the first time. In an appendix, we mathematically investigate the stability of NMF components during the iteration and the linearity of NMF modeling.


Adsorption mechanisms of hydrogen sulfide and alkanethiols on GaAs (001) surfaces prepared in a vacuum were studied using first principles calculations. The need for a physisorbed precursor was confirmed based on energetic arguments and molecular dynamics simulations of the transition from a physisorption to a chemisorption state. The preference for S−Ga bond formation was found, resulting from a weak non-dissociative chemisorption state formed by the overlap of a sulfur lone pair orbital with an empty Ga dangling bond. Physisorption energies and the height of the transition barrier from physisorption to chemisorption on GaAs were found to be very similar to those on gold, while the main difference from gold was that hydrogen remains on the GaAs surface upon S−H cleavage. Obtained results allowed for a more advanced interpretation of experimental data concerning H2S and thiol adsorption on GaAs.


Customer demand is the driving force behind the development of enterprises. It is the core of mass customization production mode that access to customer demand information, analysis and management. Questionnaire is an important way to get customer demand. This paper presents a design of closed-end questionnaire about electric bicycle which has two characteristics: (1) highlighted the access to subject features of customer. (2) the numerical answers will be processed using fuzzy logic.


This letter is in reference to the article published in the International Journal of Dermatology about pemphigus' and pertains particularly to the causes of death in pemphigus. We have been following patients with pemphigus since 1980, with follow-up evaluations ranging from 1-7 years. Our treatment regimen consists of prednisolone, 80 to 120 mg daily, as a starting dose for the first 4 to 6 weeks. Then, we gradually taper the steroid until a maintenance dose is reached. For steroid sparing activity, we add cyclophosphamide. Of the 20 patients followed since 1980, three patients have died, one of fulminating tuberculosis and the other two of staphylococcal pneumonia. There was not a single case of gastrointestinal perforation or hemorrhage, which is mentioned by the authors' as one of the common causes of death. We attribute this to the routine use of ranitidine 300 mg at hedtime. We invariably prescribe this during the high dose phase of steroid therapy which may last from 8 weeks to 4 months. In comparison with our previous records, we think that routine use of ranitidine during the intensive phase of steroid therapy practically obliterates an important cause of death in pemphigus.


This paper shows how one can directly apply natural language processing (NLP) methods to classification problems in cheminformatics. Connection between these seemingly separate fields is shown by considering standard textual representation of compound, SMILES. The problem of activity prediction against a target protein is considered, which is a crucial part of computer aided drug design process. Conducted experiments show that this way one can not only outrank state of the art results of hand crafted representations but also gets direct structural insights into the way decisions are made.


In this study, twenty-two new [1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-b][1,3,4]thiadiazoles (5a-n, 6a-h) were synthesized under microwave irradiation (MWI). The chemical structures of the compounds were elucidated by their IR, 1H-NMR, LC-MS, and elemental analysis. The compounds were tested for antinociceptive activity by using the tail clip, tail flick, hot plate, and writhing methods in mice. The varying levels of antinociceptive activity of the compounds were compared with those of aspirin. Among these compounds, compound 5g and 5j were found to be significantly more active than the other compounds and the standard in the tests. Also, inhibitory effects of the test compounds on COX-1 and COX-2 activities were investigated. DuP-697 for COX-2 and SC-560 for COX-1 were used as reference standards.


Road traffic has been steadily increasing worldwide for several decades. With the rising number of vehicles using the transportation network, the effectiveness of traffic management is becoming more crucial, since new road construction does not keep up with the growth of the traffic volume. As a key for effective traffic management, monitoring traffic flow is of growing interest. Recently, new imaging-based systems have been introduced for traffic flow monitoring. These pole- or bridge-mounted cameras show encouraging performance, and the trend of switching toward imaging technologies is expected to increase. Vehicle (feature) extraction from the imagery is a computer vision task. Due to the oblique viewing angles of the pole-mounted cameras, the imagery is significantly distorted, and therefore to support the feature extraction process, it is important to rectify the imagery. This paper proposes a practical approach for rectifying the oblique imagery to the plane of the road surface. The method does not require an available digital elevation model for the rectification, it only requires measured distances from the camera to at least three points on the road surface well distributed in the image area. The paper provides a detailed description of the proposed method and an initial performance analysis.


Swimming-type robotic fish are being developed as mobile sensor platforms that have the potential to outperform existing underwater vehicles in terms of manoeuvrability, miniaturisation and silent operation. Conducting polymer actuators are potential candidates for propelling a flapping tail fin for a robotic fish. This study introduces a method for directly measuring the thrust force generated by a polypyrrole (PPy) powered tail fin. The effects of voltage stimulus (waveform shape and frequency) and tail fin shape on the thrust force were determined. A square wave voltage input was shown to generate the highest thrust forces as fast bending actuation was induced. The thrust force tended to decrease at higher operating frequencies as a result of the reduced actuation occurring in the PPy layers. Increases in the tail fin area tended to lower the frequency where the peak in thrust force was achieved. Tail fin shape was also shown to be important to the force-frequency behaviour. When attached to an untethered robotic fish, the swimming speed tended to increase with increasing voltage input frequency. There was also an optimum frequency that enabled the fastest acceleration from rest that happened to be higher than the frequency that gave the peak thrust force. This was presumed to be due to the complicated swimming behaviour involving the side-to-side movement of the fish nose at low flap frequencies. The study provides valuable insight into the means for tailoring polymer actuator performance to achieve maximum fish swimming speeds. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry


An adaptive noise canceling technique was applied to word boundary detection problems observed in a word recognition task under noise in a car. Many word boundary detectors previously proposed only made use of sample statistics of the short‐term energy of incoming signal and noise, the operation of which is often found unreliable and prone to errors with the existence of radio talk and background music. In this study, an adaptive noise canceler was employed that was based on a projection algorithm, and it was integrated into the signal processing front end of a word recognizer as the pre‐processing to its word boundary detection, in order to reduce deletion errors and to improve accuracy of detected boundary of the utterances by suppressing the effect of co‐channel components. Also observations were made of the behavior of the integrated boundary detector in terms of the estimated profile of the short‐term energy, and its effect on the recognition accuracy were analyzed.


A small fauna of ostracods is described from the Early Eocene of the Rusayl Shale of northern Oman. The fauna is dominated by Neocyprideis rusaylensis sp. nov., forming 95% of the ostracods. The other species present are Stigmatocythere siddiquii sp. nov., Krithe sp. and Paracypris sp. None of these taxa has been previously recorded, but there is a close resemblance to the fauna described from the upper part of the Lower Eocene of Pakistan. The fauna indicates restricted conditions, probably of fluctuating salinities in coastal lagoons, which were often hypersaline.


The application of SNI is indeed to accelerate and facilitate the managing agency in assessing market performance, but in actual conditions in the SNI field, it still needs to be detailed because each criterion still has standards that must be met in more detail. The purpose of this study was to analyze the performance value of the Tempuran Public Market, Magelang Regency based on SNI and the detailed status for sustainability with Multidimensional Scaling (MDS). MDS analysis is used to assess the status of successful implementation and market sustainability. The result of the current combat market value status based on SNI was 56.32 while based on MDS detailing, it was 46.32 and after weighting, it became 45.17. Status improvement was carried out with various scenarios for a detailed MDS assessment. Optimal scenarios in the short term could be increased to 54.76, so that this increased the status from less sustainable (unfavorable) to sustainable (good), whereas if the overall important factor policy was applied it could be increased to 72.17. The policy scenario of the Tempuran Market management was to prioritize economic aspects, technical aspects and other aspects followed. Leverage factors from each of these aspects included increasing revenue from market management and digitization, technical management specifically for meat storage, security and community management, parking management and market cleanliness management.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the intraoperative and postoperative analgesic efficacy of intratesticular or epidural injection of analgesics for dogs undergoing castration.

DESIGN
Randomized controlled trial.

ANIMALS
51 healthy male dogs.

PROCEDURES
Dogs were assigned to a control group that received analgesics systemically (hydromorphone [0.1 mg/kg {0.045 mg/lb}, IM] and carprofen [4.4 mg/kg {2.0 mg/lb}, SC]; n = 17), an epidural treatment group that received analgesics systemically and morphine (0.1 mg/kg) epidurally (17), or an intratesticular treatment group that received analgesics systemically and bupivacaine (0.5 mg/kg [0.23 mg/lb]/testis) intratesticularly (17). Dogs were anesthetized and castrated by veterinary students. Responses to surgical stimulation were monitored intraoperatively, and treatments were administered as required. Pain scores were assigned via a modified Glasgow composite pain scale after surgery. Serum cortisol concentrations were determined at various times. Rescue analgesia included fentanyl (intraoperatively) and hydromorphone (postoperatively).

RESULTS
Compared with control dogs, dogs in the intratesticular bupivacaine and epidural morphine treatment groups received significantly fewer doses of fentanyl intraoperatively (11, 1, and 5 doses, respectively) and hydromorphone postoperatively (14, 7, and 3 doses, respectively) and had significantly lower postoperative pain scores (mean ± SEM score at first assessment time, 71 ± 0.5, 4.8 ± 0.2, and 4.5 ± 0.4, respectively). At 15 minutes after removal of the testes, serum cortisol concentrations were significantly higher than they were immediately prior to surgery for all groups and values for the intratesticular bupivacaine treatment group were significantly lower versus the other 2 groups.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Intratesticular or epidural injection of analgesics improved perioperative analgesia for dogs undergoing castration.


Dyskinesia affects ∼30 to 40% of patients with Parkinson's disease but treatment options for the prevention of dyskinesia induction and for the suppression of established dyskinesia are limited. This situation is made more difficult by a poor understanding of the pathphysiology of the processes underlying both the priming for dyskinesia and the manifestations of involuntary movements. Loss of tonic stimulation of striatal dopamine receptors in PD and its replacement by pulsatile dopaminergic stimulation using short acting drugs has been proposed as leading to the abnormalities that cause dyskinesia induction. As a consequence, the concept of continuous dopaminergic stimulation (CDS) was introduced to explain why longer acting dopamine agonists do not produce the same intensity of dyskinesia. Key to these ideas has been the use of both 6‐OHDA lesioned rodent models of PD and, in particular MPTP‐treated primates. Comparison of the ability to induce dyskinesia of the same dopamine agonists given by pulsatile or continuous administration or more constant administration of Levodopa (L‐dopa) has shown that constant drug delivery (CDD) dramatically reduces dyskinesia induction. Similar conclusions have been reached from clinical investigations in PD. Recent studies in MPTP‐treated primates have also suggested that switching from pulsatile drug delivery to CDD can be utilized to inhibit dyskinesia expression. However, CDS does explain some important features of dyskinesia induction in PD but it may not apply to early PD when remaining dopaminergic neurones buffer against pulsatile stimulation. In addition, CDS may not apply when comparing between drug classes and it appears that it is CDD which is more important in regulating therapeutic efficacy. Recently, studies in MPTP‐treated primates have suggested that a range of nondopaminerigic drugs might be useful in suppressing dyskinesia. These have included 5‐HT‐1A agonists and α‐2 adrenergic antagonists and a variety of other molecular entities. Unfortunately, these findings are not always reproducible in the same models and do not translate into clinically useful effects. Preclinical studies have suggested a number of directions that might be utilized to prevent dyskinesia in PD. However, much of what is proposed is empirically‐based and we still do not have a good understanding of why dyskinesia appears, why it persists or how to bring the movements under control. Certainly, the use of CDD can reduce dyskinesia intensity but other factors also influence its appearance and it is these that we need to study at the preclinical level if effective therapies are to be developed. © 2008 Movement Disorder Society


Leaf trichomes can protect plants against herbivory and drought, but can be costly to produce. Theory suggests that selection for reduced costs of resistance may result in the evolution of inducible defences. We quantified variation in tolerance to drought and defoliation, and tested the hypotheses that (a) tolerance is associated with cost, (b) leaf trichome production increases tolerance to drought, and (c) trichome production is increased in response to defoliation and drought stress in Arabidopsis lyrata (Brassicaceae). Eight maternal half-sib families were exposed to two watering regimes and four defoliation treatments in a factorial design. Tolerance to drought varied among families and was inversely related to leaf size, but was not related to trichome density. Family mean performance in the low-watering treatment tended to correlate negatively with that in the control treatment. Trichome production was not induced by defoliation or drought stress. The results suggest that there is genetic variation in tolerance to drought in the study population, that tolerance to drought is associated with a cost, and that trichome production does not increase tolerance to drought in A. lyrata.


Artificial reservoir operation is expected to affect significantly the flood disaster. It becomes more complicatedly towards the large systems where the operation of each reservoir has to meet fully with the systematic objective. Consequently, reservoir operation optimization is considered as a key factor to control the flood disaster at downstream area. Due to energy demand, more than twenty hydropower plants have been constructed over 10,350 km of Vu Gia Thu Bon river catchments. The system has contributed importantly for economy development when provides annually a green electrical quantity up to 6 Terawatt-hour (TWh). Therefore, operation of system has still several limitations. It is judged to make the natural disaster increase in recent years. In order to reduce negative impacts of artificial reservoir system, four largest reservoirs are selected to simulate in this study. The simulation is carried out via Structure Control (SO) module of MIKE 11 model (DHI). The performance of operational scenario is demonstrated via the relation with the water level at two stations. The study is expected to provide an overview of the impact of artificial reservoir operation to flood disasters, as well as propose a new strategy to operate optimally the hydropower plants in Vu Gia Thu Bon catchments.


Agricultural extension work should be seen as an important instrument of agricultural and rural development and it requires more serious attention regarding it's organization and planning. Extension planning is a complex issue, both in theory and practice. Planning requires expertise and interdisciplinary cooperation, due to it's multidimensional character that comprises many problems. The approach to extension planning is from the standpoint of rural sociology. In the paper we present key problem areas and give explanations of basic elements of extension planning that must be fulfilled in order to have positive impacts of extension process.


CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE
High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) is considered to be the best method for detailed pulmonary evaluation. The aim here was to describe a scoring system based on abnormalities identified on HRCT among premature infants, and measure the predictive validity of the score in relation to respiratory morbidity during the first year of life.

DESIGN AND SETTING
Prospective cohort study in Instituto Fernandes Figueira, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz.

METHODS
Scoring system based on HRCT abnormalities among premature newborns. The affected lung area was quantified according to the number of compromised lobes, in addition to bilateral pulmonary involvement. Two radiologists applied the score to 86 HRCT scans. Intraobserver and interobserver agreement were analyzed. The score properties were calculated in relation to predictions of respiratory morbidity during the first year of life.

RESULTS
Most of the patients (85%) presented abnormalities on HRCT, and among these, 56.2% presented respiratory morbidity during the first year of life. Scores ranged from zero to 12. There was good agreement between observers (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC = 0.86, confidence interval, CI: 0.64-0.83). The predictive scores were as follows: positive predictive value 81.8%, negative predictive value 56.3%, sensitivity 39.1%, and specificity 90.0%.

CONCLUSION
The scoring system is reproducible, easy to apply and allows HRCT comparisons among premature infants, by identifying patients with greater likelihood of respiratory morbidity during the first year of life. Its use will enable HRCT comparisons among premature infants with different risk factors for respiratory morbidity.


The primary task for IoT-based hyper-connectivity communications lies in the development of direct communications technique among IoT devices in RPL (Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks) environment without the aid from infras such as access points, base stations etc. In a low-power and lossy wireless network, IoT devices and routers cannot keep the original path toward the destination since they have the limited memory, except for a limited number of the default router information.. Different from the previous light-weight routing protocols focusing on the reduction of the control messages, the proposed scheme provides the light-weight IPv6 address auto-configuration, IPv6 neighbor discovery and routing protocol in a IoT capable infra-less wireless networks with the bloom filer and enhanced rank concepts. And for the first time we evaluate our proposed scheme based on the modeling of various probability distributions in the IoT environments with the lossy wireless link. Specifically, the proposed enhanced RPL based light-weight routing protocol improves the robustness with the multi-paths locally established based on the enhanced rank concepts even though lossy wireless links are existed. We showed the improvements of the proposed scheme up to 40% than the RPL based protocol.


The Kings Fund, in association with Student BMJ , held a series of consultations in 2009 and 2010 on professionalism in medical students to examine how it might affect their training and practice in the future. The report , 21st Century Doctor: Understanding the Doctors of Tomorrow summarises the consultations' findings .

The development of medical professionalism in undergraduate medical education is intended to ensure that future doctors maintain high professional standards in all aspects of patient care.1 Over the past decade, the importance of teaching medical professionalism has been emphasised by international experts in North America and Europe. However, there are currently no guidelines on the most effective ways of helping medical students to develop high standards of medical professionalism.2 Numerous definitions of medical professionalism have been provided by major medical organisations.2 This report used the Royal College of Physician's definition, which describes medical professionalism as, "A set of values, behaviours and relationships that underpins the trust that the public …


This present study investigated the spatio-temporal variation of nutrients and fluxes from Chlef river, and the examination of the results showed that the Sub basin of Chlef river, upstream waters, and downstream salty waters are controlled by the tidal process. In terms of nutrients, it was noticed that the basin especially holds more reduced mineral nutrients, and generates oxidized forms. High levels of ammonium were observed in times of floods with a 54% upstream annual percentage, which in these fractions were converted to nitrate during the summer, and 66% of these fractions were eliminated by the metabolism growth in reservoirs. For the P mineral, our results indicated high levels in dry period, and low amounts in wet period. These concentrations were generated by the hydro-geochemical comporting phosphorus. For silicates forms, we observed a decrease between upstream and downstream with a high retention by the dam. For nutrients flux, we observed that our estuary contributed less charge of ammonia but high charge of nitrite, while this element generated more charge of dissolved inorganic nitrogen. The N/P ratio indicated the dissolved nitrogen as the generator of eutrophication in the catchment.


Introduction: Functional constipation is a widespread gastrointestinal ailment associated with infrequent defecation, unfavorably affecting quality of life. However, it has not been well studied worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the effects of black bean vinegar (black bean and black bean yeast) consumption in alleviating functional constipation. Methods: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group study involving 70 adults with functional constipation was conducted in Peninsular Malaysia from May till July 2016. Subjects aged 18-60 years diagnosed with a score of more than 15 based on the Constipation Scoring System were included. A third-party-controller assigned black bean vinegar and placebo drinks to two groups with 1:1 ratio using randomisation software. Participants received once-daily doses of black bean vinegar (20 ml daily) or fruit-flavored squash placebo (20 ml daily) which contained vitamins, minerals, trace elements and carbohydrates, without black bean and black bean yeast, for four weeks. Analysis was conducted on an on-treatment basis (i.e., all randomised participants conformed to the study protocol by consuming 20 ml of drinks daily, with less than 10% leftover drinks at post-intervention assessment). Data were analysed using SPSS version 22. Results: Administration of black bean vinegar did not demonstrate statistically significant differences in any of the outcomes when compared with a placebo drink at α=5% level. However, black bean vinegar consumption significantly improved overall score at postintervention assessment compared to placebo group (p<0.05). Conclusion: Since the present study was only able to demonstrate the beneficial effects of black bean vinegar consumption in improving overall score at post-intervention assessment compared to placebo group, further randomised, controlled intervention studies are warranted to confirm whether conventional dietary intervention may play a role in improving functional constipation among Malaysian adults.


For mapping, quantifying and monitoring regional and global forest health, satellite remote sensing provides fundamental data for the observation of spatial and temporal forest patterns and processes. While new remote-sensing technologies are able to detect forest data in high quality and large quantity, operational applications are still limited by deficits of in situ verification. In situ sampling data as input is required in order to add value to physical imaging remote sensing observations and possibilities to interlink the forest health assessment with biotic and abiotic factors. Numerous methods on how to link remote sensing and in situ data have been presented in the scientific literature using e.g. empirical and physical-based models. In situ data differs in type, quality and quantity between case studies. The irregular subsets of in situ data availability limit the exploitation of available satellite remote sensing data. To achieve a broad implementation of satellite remote sensing data in forest monitoring and management, a standardization of in situ data, workflows and products is essential and necessary for user acceptance. The key focus of the review is a discussion of concept and is designed to bridge gaps of understanding between forestry and remote sensing science community. Methodological approaches for in situ/remote-sensing implementation are organized and evaluated with respect to qualifying for forest monitoring. Research gaps and recommendations for standardization of remote-sensing based products are discussed. Concluding the importance of outstanding organizational work to provide a legally accepted framework for new information products in forestry are highlighted.


The TCP-Friendly Rate Control (TFRC) is used as a streaming media transport protocol. Using the TCP congestionresponsefunction and curr ent network conditions, TFRC adjusts its transmission rate to yield the maximum TCP-Friendly thr oughput when sharing capacity with TCP flows. Since TFRC was designedfor wir ed networks, it doesnot achieve the maximum TCP-Friendly thr oughput in multihop ad hoc wir elessnetworks. The reduced wir elessspatial channel reusedue to hidden terminals in multihop wir elessnetworks inducesTFRC thr oughput reductions. Specifically, TFRC is unaware of MAC layer transmission delaysdue to collisions, retransmissions and MAC layer congestion. This paper illustrates that an unmodified TFRC's sending rate overloads the multihop wir elessMAC layer, leading to increasedround-trip times, higher loss event rates, and lower thr oughput. We proposean enhancementto TFRC, called RE TFRC, that uses measurementsof the curr ent round-trip time and a model of wir elessdelay to restrict TFRC bitrates fr om overloading the MAC layer, while retaining desirableTCP-Friendly characteristics. RE TFRC requires minimal changesto TFRC and no changesto the MAC layer and evaluation of RE TFRC show substantial impr ovementsover TFRC for somewir elessscenarios. Keywords—TCP-Friendly, TFRC, IEEE 802.11,MAC, Ad Hoc, Multihop, Wir eless I . INTRODUCTION The TransmissionControl Protocol (TCP) is the current de factotransportlayer protocolusedin wirelessad hoc networks. Designedto operateover wired networks, TCP canperformpoorly in 802.11wirelessnetworks, as demonstratedby recentresearch[1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7]. The TCP-FriendlyRateControl (TFRC) protocol[8],1 which wasdesignedto supportrate-basedstreamingmultimediaand telephony applicationsover wired networks, faceschallengessimilar to thatof TCPin wirelessadhoc The Datagram CongestionControl Protocol (DCCP) has proposed to use TFRC as its congestioncontrol mechanism. See http://www.ietf.cnri.reston.v a.us/html.charters/dccp-charter .html. networks. However, to date, there has beenvery little TFRC-relatedwork donefor wirelessnetworks. At the core of TCP/TRFC' s wirelesschallengeis the wireless Media AccessControl (MAC) layer of IEEE 802.11. 802.11 uses Carrier SenseMultiple Access with Collision Avoidance(CSMA/CA) anda Request-toSend/Clear -to-Send(RTS/CTS)mechanismto reducehidden terminal collisions. However, when the MAC layer is saturated, contentiondelaysandretransmissions caused by the RTS/CTSmechanismbecomethe major causeof TCP/TFRCperformancedegradation. Theseeffects are referredto asRTS/CTSjamming[9] or RTS/CTS-induced congestion[10]. Furthermore,sinceTFRC observes loss eventsaftertheMAC contentionphase,TFRCis unaware of MAC layercongestionanddoesnot compensatefor it. Consequently , TFRCoverestimatesthemaximumsending rate,overloadstheMAC layerandexacerbatesMAC layer congestion.Eventually, a stablestateis reachedin which throughputandround-triptimesaresub-optimal. Previous researchin TCP performanceimprovements over wirelessad hoc network include investigatinglink breakageandroutingfailure issues[1], [2], [4], link layer solutions[3], [7], MAC layersolutions[5], andTCPprotocol modifications[6]. A few recentpapershave focused on methodologiesto improve TCPthroughputby controlling the total numberof packets in flight. Fu et al [7] presenta link layer approachnamedLink-RED (LRED) thatreducesMAC layercollisionsby limiting TCP'ssending window, while Cali et al [5] limit TCP window sizes directly. While thesesolutionssharea commongoalwith ourresearch, aswindow-basedapproaches they arenotapplicableto TFRC,a rate-basedprotocol. Moreover, none of thesestudiesconsiderpacket round-triptimeandpacket lossasmetricsin their optimizations. Our investigationfocuseson solving the problem of the mis-interactionbetweenTFRC and the MAC layer. Specifically, the objective is to make TFRC aware of RTS/CTS-inducedcongestionsuchthat it choosesa nearoptimalsendingratethatavoidsMAC layersaturation.A


Mining industry is known for its appetite to spend sizeable capital on mine equipment. However, in the current scenario, the mining industry is challenged by daunting factors of non-uniform geological conditions, uneven ore grade, uncontrollable and volatile mineral commodity prices and the ever increasing quest to optimize the capital and operational costs. Thus, the role of equipment reliability and maintenance planning inherits a significant role in augmenting the equipment availability for the operation and in turn boosting the mine productivity. This paper presents the Risk Based Maintenance (RBM) planning conducted on mine loading equipment namely Load Haul Dumpers (LHDs) at Vedanta Resources Ltd subsidiary Hindustan Zinc Limited operated Sindesar Khurd Mines, an underground zinc and lead mine situated in Dariba, Rajasthan, India. The mining equipment at the location is maintained by the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) namely Sandvik and Atlas Copco, who carry out the maintenance and inspection operations for the equipment. Based on the downtime data extracted for the equipment fleet over the period of 6 months spanning from 1st January 2017 until 30th June 2017, it was revealed that significant contribution of three downtime issues related to namely Engine, Hydraulics, and Transmission to be common among all the loading equipment fleet and substantiated by Pareto Analysis. Further scrutiny through Bubble Matrix Analysis of the given factors revealed the major influence of selective factors namely Overheating, No Load Taken (NTL) issues, Gear Changing issues and Hose Puncture and leakage issues. Utilizing the equipment wise analysis of all the downtime factors obtained, spares consumed, and the alarm logs extracted from the machines, technical design changes in the equipment and pre shift critical alarms checklist were proposed for the equipment maintenance. The given analysis is beneficial to allow OEMs or mine management to focus on the critical issues hampering the reliability of mine equipment and design necessary maintenance strategies to mitigate them. Keywords—Bubble matrix analysis, LHDs, OEMs, pareto chart analysis, spares consumption matrix, critical alarms checklist. Sidharth Talan is Graduate Engineer Trainee at Vedanta Resources Ltd, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India 313004 (phone: +91-9800126123; e-mail: Sidharth.Talan@ vedanta.co.in). Devendra Kumar Yadav is Engineering Head at Sindesar Khurd Mines, Dariba, Rajasthan, India 313211 (phone: +91-8003699466; e-mail: email@example.com). Yuvraj Singh Rajput is Associate Manager at Sindesar Khurd Mines, Dariba, Rajasthan, India 313211 (phone: +919829205277; e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com). Subhajit Bhattacharjee is Associate Manager at Sindesar Khurd Mines, Dariba, Rajasthan, India 313211 (phone: +919929844560; e-mail: email@example.com).


In order to evaluate the influence of ionic liquid 1- butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ((Bmim)Cl) on the soil micro-ecological system, the toxicity of (Bmim)Cl to soil microorganisms and its impact on soil physico-chemical properties were investigated. Three soil samples, which were taken from the rape land, nursery land and the broad bean land respectively, were used for this study. The toxicity test results show that the (Bmim)Cl inhibited the growth of soil microorganisms including bacteria and actinomycetes. This inhibition became stronger with the (Bmim)Cl concentration increasing. The EC50 of soil bacteria was close to that of the Vibrio fischeri, and the EC50 of soil actinomycetes was near to that of the Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata. The soil physico-chemical properties test results indicate that the organic mass and the soluble salts in soil increased with the increase of the (Bmim)Cl concentration. The (Bmim)Cl also caused the pH change in the soil micro-ecological system. It suggests that the ionic liquid (Bmim)Cl would influence the soil mi- cro-ecological system by inhibiting the growth of soil microorganisms and altering the soil physico-chemical properties when it contaminated the soil system.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the current service provision offered by a mental health service in a young offenders institute (YOI) in England.

Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative exploratory approach was adopted. Five prison officers (POs) (four male and one female) with direct experience supporting young people through mental health intervention were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. Data was analysed using thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006), which allowed evaluation of the current mental health provision to evolve.

Findings
Five overarching themes (process of referrals; intervention and its impact; role and function of the health and well-being team; collaboration and involvement; and feedback, communication and intervention) were found to be highly salient when evaluating service provision. Notably all themes interrelated with one another, demonstrating that changes or improvements made to the service need to consider all factors individually and collectively.

Research limitations/implications
This study was based on a small sample of POs in only one YOI in England, and therefore cannot be generalised to the entire prison estate. However, it does offer a rich insight into local service provision from the perspective of a group whose opinion is rarely sought.

Practical implications
POs' perspectives of service provision are important in informing service developments. Lessons can be learnt from their unique insight into how prison mental health services are run to improve processes and collaborative working in the management of young offenders with mental health difficulties.

Originality/value
This preliminary and exploratory study is, to the best of the authors' knowledge, the first study evaluating service provision by using the perspectives of POs. The findings suggest that POs make valuable contributions to the service development and should be involved in similar evaluations in future.


Ameloblastoma is the second most common odontogenic tumor. It shows a locally aggressive behavior, with a high level of recurrence. Wide resection of the jaw is recommended for treatment of ameloblastoma. However, radical surgery causes an abnormal mandibular movement, facial asymmetry, and masticatory dysfunction.

 Three cases of different types of ameloblastoma is presented, with different reconstruction techniques including Non-Vascularized Bone Graft (NVBG), Osteocutaneous Fibula Free Flap (OFFF), and Deep Circumflex Iliac Artery flap (DCIA).

 In all three cases the tumor site was successfully reconstructed to obtain very good esthetic results as well as functional oral rehabilitation with implants and fixed prosthetics for optimal masticatory function.

 For reconstruction of the mandible, we prefer bone grafts from the iliac crest. The natural curvature and variable bone height offer a very good reconstruction of the defect.


A series of studies in schizophrenia, using several varieties of the twin study method, are reviewed and five major conclusions or hypotheses drawn. A modified twin study design—the co-twin comparison method—is described, with which these conclusions and hypotheses can be tested; and two additional major issues—specificity to schizophrenia, and the antecedent-consequent question—dealt with. A stress model of schizophrenia pathogenesis is presented, which attempts to integrate genetic, biochemical, and experiential variables.


A stable nine-membered aerobic bacterial consortium (BSEN-2) growing on biphenyl as the sole carbon and energy source was isolated from a polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contaminated soil. Characterisation of the members, strains BPSI-1 to 9, revealed three principal genera, Pseudomonas, Sphingomonas and Alcaligenes. Phenotypic analysis based on standard microbiological tests and Biolog identification, showed close relationship between community members with the exception of Sphingomonas paucimobilis strain BPSI-3. Some clusters revealed relationships unrelated to genus groupings. Strain BPSI-3 produced a bright yellow water soluble compound from biphenyl having absorption maxima at 412 and 337 nm at neutral pH. This is similar, but not identical, to those results reported for muconic semialdehydes, cleavage products of biphenyl and other aromatic compounds. Only four of the nine isolates, BPSI-2, 3, 4 and 7, were capable of growth on biphenyl as sole carbon and energy source. Two isolates, Alcaligenes faecalis type II strain BPSI-2 and S. paucimobilis strain BPSI-3, were isolated together and were difficult to separate into pure cultures. Growth studies in liquid culture showed that a co-culture of these two achieved a specific growth rate (μ) approximately twice as high as strain BPSI-2 and four times that of BPSI-3. Both strains grew equally well on benzoate with no significant difference in their specific growth rates. When compared to the original mixed culture, BSEN-2, the co-culture achieved 39% greater biomass and a specific growth rate twice as high. In the co-culture, the yellow colour seen with pure cultures of BPSI-3 was not observed. BPSI-2 was found to be able to utilise the yellow metabolites more effectively than BPSI-3. A model for the interaction of these two strains, based on the utilisation of biphenyl catabolites and degradation at the genetic level, has been proposed.


Flash memory solid state drives (SSDs) have increasingly been advocated and adopted as a means of speeding up and scaling up data-driven applications. SSDs are becoming more widely available as an option in the cloud. However, when an application considers SSDs in the cloud, the best option for the application may not be immediate, among a number of choices for placing SSDs in the layers of the cloud. Although there have been many studies on SSDs, they often concern a specific setting, and how different SSD options in the cloud compare with each other is less well understood. In this paper, we describe how Google Fusion Tables (GFT) used SSDs and what optimizations were implemented to scale up its in-memory processing, clearly showing opportunities and limitations of SSDs in the cloud with quantitative analyses. We first discuss various SSD placement strategies and compare them with low-level measurements, and propose SSD-placement guidelines for a variety of cloud data services. We then present internals of our column engine and optimizations to better use the performance characteristics of SSDs. We empirically demonstrate that the optimizations enable us to scale our application to much larger datasets while retaining the low-latency and simple query processing architecture.


The purposes of this research were 1) to study the state of learning management in the context of Thai schools, and 2) to develop and propose a model of learning management applying the five precepts for Thai Students. Mixed methods research was used for the design. Qualitative data were collected by in-depth interview from 17 key informants, and to confirm results using focus group discussion. Quantitative data were collected by using questionnaires from 390 samples. Content analysis was used for the qualitative data whereas quantitative data was analyzed by descriptive statistics consisted of percentage statistics, frequency, mean, standard deviation. Results indicated that the state of learning management in the context of Thai schools consisted of 1) Learning Management in 4 areas: (1) Basic preparation, (2) Planning and preparation of learning management, (3) using psychology of learning, (4) evaluation and reports. 2) Five Precepts of learning management of the 5 Precepts for Thai students consisting of the 1st Precepts is no slaughtering of animals; the 2nd Precepts is no theft; the 3rd Precepts is prohibited behavior; the 4th Precepts is prohibiting to be posted; the 5th Precepts is prohibition drink alcohol. 3) Schools need to organize learning management applying 5 precepts. There should be participation among administrators, teachers, school board members, monks, parents, students and communities. Therefore, LFS Model was developed composed of 3 important points which were (1) Learning Management, (2) Five Precepts, and (3) School.


The influence of different traffic information on drivers' day-to-day route choice behavior based on microscopic simulation is investigated. Firstly, it is assumed that drivers select routes in terms of drivers' perceived travel time on routes. Consequently, the route choice model is developed. Then, updating the drivers' perceived travel time on routes is modeled in three kinds of traffic information conditions respectively, which no information, releasing historical information and releasing predictive information. Finally, by setting a simple road network with two parallel paths, the drivers' day-to-day route choice is simulated. The statistical characteristics of drivers' behavior are computed. Considering user equilibrium as a yardstick, the effects of three kinds of traffic information are compared. The results show that the impacts of traffic information on drivers are related to the random level of driver's route choice and reliance on the information. In addition, the road network cannot reach user equilibrium in three kinds of information. This research results can provide a useful reference for the application of traffic information system.


Agricultural sector is both energy consumer in the form of human labor, fossil fuels, electricity, seeds, fertilizer, and pesticides and energy producer in the form of food, feed, and biofuels. High agricultural use of energy inputs results in adverse environmental issues such as global climate change, pollution of water, soil and air, and unsustainable agricultural production. In this study, 35 agricultural crops such as cereals, fruits, and vegetables were evaluated in terms of consumption of diesel fuel during their production process including soil preparation, fertilization, sowing, spraying, harvesting and transportation, based on minimum and maximum values reported in related literature. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from diesel consumption can be expressed as total carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2eq ) emissions (2.76 kg per liter). a map showing total CO 2eq emissions from diesel consumption for agricultural production. Our estimates showed that minimum and maximum GHG emissions varied between 0.48 and 3.75 Tg CO 2eq for wheat, 17.15 and 65.45 Gg CO 2eq for chickpea, and 0.088 and 0.153 Tg CO 2eq for tomatoes, respectively. In order to reduce diesel-related GHG emissions, there is an urgent need for innovative agricultural practices and technologies to be put into place.


Metal injection moulding (MIM) has over the past decade established itself as a competitive manufacturing process to produce in large quantities small precision components with complex shape which would be costly to produce by alternative methods (Enneti, 2012). MIM is a process which combines the versatility of plastic injection moulding with the strength and integrity of machined, pressed or otherwise manufactured small, complex metal parts. MIM consist in shaping powder particles in injection process and then sintering them. MIM make use of the plastic moulding concepts to shape powder-polymer feedstock into the required geometry. During the injection phase, segregation appears in the feedstock and defects will be appear in the component during the sintering. To limit this effect a vast variety of binder systems have been developed (Enneti, 2012) to improve the homogeneity of feedstocks and limit segregation. Binder is formulated as a mixture of different organic or inorganic substances with several functions. Binder has the main commitments of giving the necessary rheological behavior to the feedstocks for injection moulding to transport the powder particles into the mould cavity and the cohesion of the green part (Enneti, 2012).The goal of this study is to characterize and understand the chemical behavior of feedstocks during the phases of mixing and injection. First the binder was studied. Then based on these results the characterization of the feedstock was made. For this a study of the chemical behavior and interactions on feedstocks based on polyethylene glycol (PEG) and Inconel 718 powder was investigated by Fourier Transform InfraRed spectroscopy (FTIR) (Hidalgo et al., 2013). That methodology was also investigated to study the thermal behavior of the binder at a temperature close to the temperature of mixing and injection. Analyzes shows the thermal degradation of the PEG is not affect by the components of the feedstocks. No chemical interactions between the powder and the binder are revealed. The thermal degradation of the PEG appears during the mixing process and change the rheological behavior of the binder. This result shows the necessity to develop another formulation of binder to preserve the PEG.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


Ethiopia is the leading honey producer in Africa and one of the ten largest honey producing countries in the world. However, low productivity and poor quality of honey and other bee products are the major constraints faced by honey producers. The exact number of people engaged in honey production and the challenges they face are not well known. Lack of documented information on honey production and challenges hinders extension supports. Therefore, a survey was conducted in Chiro district (woreda) in 2013/2014 with the objective of eliciting information on practices of honey production, beekeeping management systems and associated challenges faced by honey producing farmers in the study area. Six representative peasant associations were selected using a purposive sampling method. A total of 120 beekeepers were interviewed on major beekeeping management practice and challenges they were facing. The results were subjected to descriptive statistics using SPSS. Of all the respondents, only 8 (6.7%) were women. A total of 863, 818 traditional beehives and 45 modern beehives were owned by the respondents. The average numbers of traditional and modern beehives owned per respondent were 6.87 and 0.38 respectively. Only 58.8% of the traditional beehives and 46.7% of the modern beehives were colonized by bees while the remaining ones were empty. Most (53.4%) of the respondents kept the beehives under the roof of their houses where as 30.7% kept them in the garden; 15.1% inside the house, and the 0.8% on trees. The main sources of the foundation colony were three, i.e., catching bee swarms, gift from family, and buying. The major challenges were shortage of bee colonies, escalating prices of modern hives and their accessories as well as low level of extension services. It is concluded that honey production in the study area is dominated by traditional practices, and constrained by shortage of bee colonies, inadequate farmers' technical know-how and practical skills, high prices of modern hives and their accessories, lack of practically supported extension services on modern beekeeping technologies, incidences of pests, low participation of women, and lack of year-round availability bee forage. The results imply that the sector needs tangible supports from the extension system in terms of improved technologies as well as in building knowledge of farmers for better management of honey bees to increase productivity and income of households through honey production. Keywords: Absconding; Bee colony; Beehives; Beekeeping; Respondents; Swarming


Independent study skills are essential for student success in the first year of university. Students often need help to develop independent study skills that will enable them to work effectively individually and collaboratively, particularly outside formal class time. Increases in student numbers and more diverse student population have made it both more important and more challenging for universities to effectively and efficiently support students to develop their independent study skills.

This thesis presents research that addresses this gap through a case study of the design, development, implementation and evaluation of a study skills development program for first year university students delivered using mobile phone technology. Specifically, the program operationalised theoretical concepts from self-regulated learning in the form of learning prompts sent to students by text messages. The purpose of the study was to derive design principles to support the development of independent study skills using mobile phone technology, identify practical implications for teachers and institutions, and highlight avenues for future research and development.

This study demonstrated the potential effectiveness of mobile learning to develop self-regulated learning skills by prompting students with relevant study instructions at various times outside of class. While the results of this research study are encouraging, the approach should be trialled with students from other discipline areas and backgrounds, and include research methods that rely less on student self-reports, such as controlled ability tests and online traces. Longitudinal studies could also investigate the impact of this type of support on attrition, study success after first year, further study and employment.


Numerical simulations of time-dependent thermal energy transport in semiconductor thin films are performed using the lattice Boltzmann method applied to phonon transport. The discrete lattice Boltzmann Method is derived from the continuous Boltzmann transport equation assuming nonlinear, frequency-dependent phonon dispersion for acoustic and optical phonons. Results indicate that the heat conduction in silicon thin films displays a transition from diffusive to ballistic energy transport as the characteristic length of the system becomes comparable to the phonon mean free path and that the thermal energy transport process is characterized by the propagation of multiple superimposed phonon waves. The methodology is used to characterize the time-dependent temperature profiles inside films of decreasing thickness. Thickness-dependent thermal conductivity values are computed based on steady-state temperature distributions obtained from the numerical models. It is found that reducing feature size into the subcontinuum regime decreases thermal conductivity when compared to bulk values, at a higher rate than what was displayed by the Debye-based gray lattice Boltzmann method. DOI: 10.1115/1.2944249


The construction of an ethnic or racial identity is considered an important developmental milestone for youth of color. This review summarizes research on links between ethnic and racial identity (ERI) with psychosocial, academic, and health risk outcomes among ethnic minority adolescents. With notable exceptions, aspects of ERI are generally associated with adaptive outcomes. ERI are generally beneficial for African American adolescents' adjustment across all three domains, whereas the evidence is somewhat mixed for Latino and American Indian youth. There is a dearth of research for academic and health risk outcomes among Asian American and Pacific Islander adolescents. The review concludes with suggestions for future research on ERI among minority youth.


Planetary Nebulae (PNe) that are physical members of Galactic open clusters are powerful probes that allow precise determination of their distance and crucially their initial mass on the main sequence. Here, we revisit the physical association of the PN BMP J1613–5406 with the open cluster NGC 6067 and present our preliminary results based on our new ESO/VLT FORS2 data. Our PN spectral data permit the calculation of a precise radial velocity and reddening to the PN that shows a tight consistency with the literature corresponding cluster parameters including importantly the radial velocity. Our measurements, combined with the agreement between the distances of the two objects and the fact that the PN is located well within the cluster boundaries, confirm that the PN is physically associated with the cluster. The cluster has a turn-off mass of around 5 solar masses that indicates a PN initial mass of around 5.6 solar masses. This is closer to the theoretical lower limit of core-collapse supernova formation than has ever been previously observed, providing a unique opportunity for further stellar and Galactic chemical evolution studies using this system.


This workshop will explore the potential creation of a community database of digital musical instrument (DMI) designs. In other research communities, reproducible research practices are common, including open-source software, open datasets, established evaluation methods and community standards for research practice. NIME could benefit from similar practices, both to share ideas amongst geographically distant researchers and to maintain instrument designs after their first performances. However, the needs of NIME are different from other communities on account of NIME's reliance on custom hardware designs and the interdependence of technology and arts practice. This half-day workshop will promote a community discussion of the potential benefits and challenges of a DMI repository and plan concrete steps toward its implementation.


A mixture of oligosaccharides produced by beta-galactosidase using lactose as a substrate was fractionated according to degree of polymerization using gel filtration, followed by high-pH anion-exchange chromatography. The fractions obtained were analyzed using monosaccharide analysis, methylation analysis, mass spectrometry, and NMR spectroscopy. Twelve novel non-reducing oligosaccharides were characterized, namely, [beta-D-Galp-(1-->4)]n-alpha-D-Glcp- (1<-->1)-beta-D-Galp[-(4<--1)-beta-D-Galp]m, with n, m = (1, 2, 3, or 4) and beta-D-Galp-(1-->2)-alpha-D-Glcp- (1<-->1)-beta-D-Galp.


Objectives and Method: The success of effective pain treatment can best be established on the basis of a multidimensional assessment of the patient's quality of life. Within the framework of a prospective multicentre observational study, patients suffering from chronic pain were investigated for impairment of quality of life in regard to 32 different activities. The phase prior to and during treatment with fentanyl-TTS were compared. A total of 6,677 patients were included in the study. The source of the pain was, for the most part, non-tumor-relateddiseases. Some 64% of the patients were dissatisfied with their prior medication. The analgesics included nonopioid substances and both weak and strong opioids. 18% of the patients had received no prior opioid medication. Results: During the two-month period under observation, pain intensity decreased from an average of 7.6 ′ 1.3 to 3.1 ′ 1.6 on the visual analog scale. With regard to quality of life, more than 80% of the patients experienced an appreciable improvement. Pain reduction was particularly common in patients with pain associated with the locomotor system, where an improvement in particular in walking, mobility or driving ability and good pain control was reported. In the area of sexuality, too, a significant improvement in quality of life was to be seen. Tolerability was good. Conclusion: Chronic pain can be effectively treated with fentanyl-TTS, which has a very favorable side effect profile. The reduction in pain led to an appreciable improvement in quality of life in all the areas reported by the patients.


There are many challenges to practising medicine well, not least keeping up to date with medical advances, implementing them within the time and financial restraints of ever expanding healthcare and avoiding over or under treatment while keeping the patient safe and avoiding criticism or complaints. In essence, considering the 'whole patient' and managing them using our knowledge, skills and experience which no longer equates to just the medical facts with increased recognition that skills like 'openness', 'listening', 'transparency' and enhanced communication are partly acquired by experience but can also be facilitated by training, mentoring and working in a positive and supportive environment. Multiple new areas of thinking have emerged as priorities—conflict resolution training, the duty of candour, learning from excellence, the need to reflect and active consideration of well being for ourselves, our patients and their families. These concepts need to be embraced as they will help facilitate us practising medicine better and therefore better serve the needs of our patients.

Liz Forbat and Sarah Barclay report the outcome of a new conflict management framework to help staff and identify and de-escalate conflict between staff, patients and families.1 Over the last 5 years, these authors have effectively put together an evidence base for putting a strategy for conflict management in place by publishing data that recognised the problem, categorising it, recognising the predictability of escalation, recognising the factors that trigger conflict and recognising the need for training to help deal with it.2–4 They have now developed a training programme and management strategy and tested it to confirm efficacy.3

The Conflict Management Framework is a …


The Zagros forests are one of the typical crucial ecosystems placed in western Iran. A remarkable area of these forests situated in Kermanshah province. Due to human manipulation, ecological and climate change are deteriorating. In this investigation, microbial isolation and treatments were offered to evaluate their effects on oak growth.
Samples collected from Quercus brant ii of Kermanshah regions, Iran, and were cultivated on ISP2 and NA medium, kept at 28°C for one month. The Microscopic identification and phosphate solubilization assay for primary and nitrogen fixation, hydrogen cyanide, protease, and phytohormone production performed. Lastly, Seedlings with selected isolate treated and growth and survival parameters measured.
All strains were able to produce auxin and gibberellin in different values. All of the isolates able to solubilize phosphate. The outcomes of nitrogen fixation ability, protease, and siderophore production diverged among strains. Picked isolates exhibited hormone production properties as well as biocontrol influences according to tests. Co-treatment of Streptomyces sp. Qb2-Pseudomonas sp. Qb, Streptomyces sp. Qb2-Bacillus sp. Qb and Streptomyces sp. Qb2- Pseudomonas sp. Qb had a notable effect on seedling growth parameters (P <0 •001), oak species survival (P <0 •001), and improved significantly the longitudinal growth, diameter, and dry weight percent of seedlings (P <0 •005) Respectively. Streptomyces sp. Qb2 and Bacillus sp. Qb strains had the highest and lowest inhibition effects on bacterial plant pathogen, Pseudomonas syringae. Streptomyces sp. Qb2 strains significantly promote root formation. To our understanding, this is the first record of Streptomyces endophyte isolation from Iranian oak trees with biocontrol and growthinducing impacts. It is also proposed to apply the co-treatment plan to increase biocontrol effects and growth induction.


Mucosal immunity is the first line of defence of the organism against several pathogens and, at the same time, it is of critical importance in allergic diseases. Oral vaccines have been developed with the aim of enhancing the immune response to pathogens and for the treatment of allergic diseases. One of the major issues concerning oral vaccines is the use of oral adjuvants which could facilitate antigen presentation with the consequent induction of an effective immune response. The present review consists of an analysis, point by point, of the different patents that have been presented in the last 12 months in the different agencies: European (EP), US, and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and a general analysis of the future developments and trends in this emerging area.


This study is the first high-resolution stratigraphic analysis concerning a large and unstudied area (∼97000 km2) of the west-central Alberta foreland basin. We present the first extended correlation of late Cretaceous marine deposits of the Bearpaw Fm. (southern Alberta) to the continental succession of the Wapiti Fm. in the Grande Prairie area (north-central Alberta). We provide new tools used to understand the stratigraphic patterns in correlative marine and non-marine deposits of two time-constrained transgressive-regressive (T-R) cycles. Here, we integrate gamma ray analysis (977 well logs), cross-sections, recent datings and paleontological data to determine sediment distribution, accumulation rates and paleogeographic evolution during the second-order T-R cycle of the late Campanian Western Interior Seaway, when marine waters retired from west-central Alberta for the last time. Recent chronostratigraphic data constrain the two T-R cycles of the Bearpaw Fm. with an unprecedented resolution (∼200 kyr). Seven reference stratigraphic surfaces were mapped from the marine deposits into the alluvial domains and the tridimensionally modelled stratigraphic intervals resulted in isopach and cumulative thickness maps for consecutive systems tracts (ST). Data allowed a detailed interpretation of sediment distribution patterns, ST architecture and high-resolution rates of sediment accumulation mapping. This analysis led to interpret the paleogeographic evolution of west-central Alberta, focusing primarily on inferences of the paleo-coastlines and coastal environments during the two T-R cycles. Data support the interpretation that eustasy provided the main control on the evolution of the Western Interior Seaway during the deposition of the Bearpaw Fm. in late Campanian. The distribution of fine-grained, primarily marine sediments of the Bearpaw succession resulted in an effective seal for hydrocarbon accumulation within the underlying Belly River Group, preventing oil migration upsection, within the Edmonton Group.


When historians discuss the relation between homosexual practice and homosexual identity in England before the eighteenth century, they often note that male same-sex behaviors coincided with neither a set of psychosocial characteristics nor a clear sexual preference. Alan Bray, for instance, describes satirical portrayals of the courtier who engaged in sodomy, arguing that these portrayals were striking from a twentieth-century perspective because of their failure to represent a specifically homosexual identity: "on this point [the satirists] are remarkably consistent: the sodomite is a young man-about-town, with his mistress on one arm and his `catamite' on the other."(1) Following, as he says, "broadly" in the traditions of Mary McIntosh, Jeffrey Weeks, and Michel Foucault, Bray argues that representations of sodomy before the late-seventeenth century reveal the historical contingency of the modern homosexual. He cites Donne's first Satire, for example, which accuses one man-about-town of enjoying the "nakedness and bareness" of a "plump muddy whore or prostitute boy," and he notes that Jonson's Sir Voluptuous Beast makes his wife listen to tales about his sexual exploits, recounting to her "the motions of each petticoat / And how his Ganymede moved and how his goat."(2) The evidence that Bray culls from sources other than satire is equally telling and equally resistant to identifying an exclusively homosexual "type." He describes the reputation of Sir Anthony Ashley, one of James I's courtiers known for his love of boys, who was also known to be a married man and the father of a daughter. He similarly reports Lucy Hutchinson's description of court life under James: The face of the Court was much changed in the change of the king, for King Charles was temperate, chaste, and serious; so that the fools and bawds, mimics and catamites of the former court grew out of fashion and the nobility and courtiers, who did not quite abandon their debaucheries, yet so reverenced the king as to retire into corners to practice them.(3) What emerges from Bray's study is more than simply the absence of what twentieth-century historians would call "homosexuality." These accounts suggest that homosexual practice was part of an aristocratic sexual esthetic, a "fashion," in which the courtier sampled at will from an array of erotic practices, none of which could impose itself upon him as a rigid identity. Even Ashley's apparent preference for boys seems to have been compatible with his role as a husband and father. To reiterate the point that has become associated especially with the work of Foucault, sodomy in early modern England is an act, not an identity. Certainly homosexual desire as imagined by James himself seems to have involved no sense of sexual nature. On the contrary, his letters to his favorite George Villiers enact almost an escape from identity, a sense that one of the pleasures of illicit sexuality was its license to undo the categories of self-definition. James addresses one such letter to "My only sweet and dear child," for instance, and he prays That we may make at this Christmas a new marriage ever to be kept hereafter; for, God so love me, as I desire only to live in this world for your sake, and that I had rather live banished in any part of the earth with you than live a sorrowful widow's life without you. And so god bless you, my sweet child and wife, and grant that ye may ever be a comfort to your dear dad and husband.(4) James thinks of this relationship as if it were a marriage in which both partners are wives at the same time that James is father and husband and Villiers is child and wife. Far from being identified by his desire for another man, James imagines homoeroticism as an undoing of identity itself. In fact, James's words to Villiers resonate strongly with Bray's contention, developed further by Jonathan Goldberg, that sodomy in this period belongs not so much to a system of sexual taxonomy as to a system of unintelligibility, a social order in which sexual contact between men signifies only when it can be associated with chaos, anarchy, heresy, or sorcery. …


Exclusion Basis Systems (EBS) is a combinatorial optimization methodology for key management of group communication. The EBS approach proves to be very scalable for large networks and enables great flexibility in network management. But it is highly vulnerable to collusion attacks. In this paper, a novel secure group management scheme based on EBS and attribute encryption is proposed. Our proposed scheme provides group forward/backward secrecy, and it is resilience to colluding attacks. Moreover, compared to some previous approaches, performance evaluation shows that our scheme is more efficient in communication (O(m) for single leave), storage (O(k) for each group member), and computation (O(k) for each group member), where k and m are the number of the attributes that each member holds or not. As k and m could be relatively small even in large-scale systems, so as to our new scheme works well in large-scale applications.


This research guide was designed to help you get started with research related to issues that impact older adults and your families. It includes reference books to get you started, journal databases, and selected websites.


Indonesia is a country with a large forest area around 124,023,000 ha and forestry is a widely grown industry. Indonesian forest products consist of wood, rattan, bamboo, gum, etc. Wood is needed as a basic material for furniture, home, bearing rail, etc. N-POTS are designed as cultivation media, biodegradable organic planting media and as a substitution for plastic polybags. The raw material of the N-Pots are dried bark, compost, paper, natural adhesive and water. The addition of compost and husk fuel causes a decrease in the strength of organic pot. Bark as a by-product from logging process has the potential of combining with compost, that has elements required by the crops in their early stages of growth. Tanin is used as an adhesive for gluing purpose. Moreover, litter and compost are added to increase rigidity. The combination of basic materials newsprint and compost (50:50, v/v) with tannin gives the best growing influence with compared to other treatments. Newspapers were used as one of the mixing media of making N-Pots to recyle waste paper. Another use of N-Pots is that the media contained in the pot can be used as a planting medium. In addition to that, N-Pots are expected to function as a growing container which provides the nutrients needed for the plant growth and increase the diversity of soil microorganisms. In the study, compost can be used as a base material of organic potting mix and it can add nutrients and stimulate plant growth. The results of the analysis of nutrients in the basic ingredients of organic potting showed that the addition of compost increases the content of N, P and K, by 134%, 450% and 371.4%, respectively, while additon of litter increases the content of N, P and K by 38.3% , 66.7% and 57.1% respectively. Keywords: Wood, Zero waste forestry, Forestry waste, Polybag, N-POTS


The gist of the study was to examine teachers' level of adequacy and their effectiveness in implementing curriculum in public primary schools in Kakamega South District, Kakamega County Kenya. The study was premised on the theory of supply and demand advanced by Hicks in 1986. A survey research design was adopted to guide the study. From a population of 68 primary schools in the study locale, simple random sampling technic was applied to select 23 primary schools to act as our sampling units. From each of the sampled school, 23 Headteachers and 69 members of school management Committee (SMCs) were purposively. One Quality Assurance and Standards Officer(QASO) was also included to   yield a sample size of 93  for the study. Questionnaires previously piloted   to determine their validity and reliability were used to collect data from Headteachers whereas the interview schedules were used to collect data from members of SMCs. Quantitative data generated through questionnaires were analyzed with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to generate descriptive statistics presented in frequency tables charts and percentages. Qualitative data generated through in-depth interviews were analyzed using interview transcription and thematic analysis and reported in direct quotes and narrative form. The major finding was that although enrollment in primary schools had escalated due to the introduction of free primary education (FPE) policy, there were inadequate teachers in the study locale due to the freeze by the Government of Kenya to recruit more teachers, retirement, natural attrition, and frequent transfers.  This had made the average teaching load to increase from 32:1 in 1999 to 45:1 as of the time of the study. The conclusion was that despite the gains made in increasing pupils enrollment in primary schools in the study locale as a result of the introduction FPE policy , these gains were being eroded by the low  quality of  education being provided  due to overstretched instructional resources and the  overloaded teachers who were not effective in implementing curriculum. It was recommended that the Ministry of Education should allocate adequate funds to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to enable them recruit more qualified teachers and distribute them equitably in schools in Kakamega South District, Kakamega County, Kenya.[365  words ]. Key Words : Free primary Education, Primary Schools, Teachers, Adequacy and Equity, Kakamega South District, Kakamega County, Kenya.


From their beginning American railroads developed medical arrangements to care for the large number of workers and passengers they killed or injured. After the Civil War, both labor unrest and liability concerns led them to expand and formalize these arrangements, and three forms of organization arose. Western roads, facing an almost complete lack of medical facilities, developed employee-funded hospital organizations. In the east, companies created medical organizations under a salaried chief surgeon and contracted with local physicians to provide care. A third model, pioneered by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in the 1880s, devised a beneficial society that provided medical care and compensation for injured workers. Although these organizations involved both contract practice and group hospitalization, the AMA seems to have ignored them. In the 1880s railroad physicians developed their own organizations, including the National Association of Railway Surgeons, in which they discussed problems of professionalization and such medical matters as "railway spine." Concern with costs and labor turnover also led the carriers into preventive medicine. Some roads provided smallpox and typhoid vaccinations, campaigned against malaria, improved passenger-car sanitation, required physical examinations of their employees, and trained them in first aid. By World War I, railroad medical organizations provided care to nearly two million employees and employment to about 10 percent of all physicians.


It has been established that all cells carry an array of glycans attached to proteins and lipids that are crucial in the interaction between cells and the surrounding matrix. Proteins are mainly glycosylated on asparagines (N-glycosylation) and serine or threonine residues (Oglycosylation). Compared to N-glycans, O-glycans offer a higher degree of structural ambiguity due to the existence of several types and cores. This is believed to contribute to the relative lack of knowledge on these molecules. Therefore, improvement to the current methodologies of structural studies is a prerequisite to complement the immense functional findings of Oglycoconjugates in biological systems. This thesis discusses the structural characterisation, regulation and biological roles of O-glycans. The overall aim was to optimise O-glycomic mass spectrometric analysis to help illuminate the phenotypic findings from our collaborators in three separate but related projects. The methodologies utilised involving MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS, GCEI-MS, ESI-QTOF-MS and MALDI-QIT-TOF-MS. The first project investigated the effects of core 2 GlcNAc transferase (C2GnT) deficiency in mice. This enzyme exists in three isoforms which are expressed differently in different tissues. Analysis of the single knockout of each of these isoenzymes as well as the triple knockouts has allowed the investigation of their unique and overlapping functions. The outcomes of this study include characterisation of alterations of not just mucin-type O-glycans but also Omannose glycan, which could be associated with several organ lesions and system failures. The second project focused on the gastric mucosa of mice with deficiency in α1,2-fucosyltranferase (FuT2). This enzyme plays an important role in decorating the mucosal mucins with ABH-blood group and Lewis antigens that are known to interact with various gut flora including the pathogen Helicobacter pylori. It has been shown that the binding of H. pylori via BabA adhesins was significantly impaired with the loss of H antigens and Lewis y on O-glycans. The third project investigated the regulation of mucin-type O-glycosylation. The protein Src has been recognised to play an essential role in the localisation of ppGalNAc transferases, the initiating enzyme of Oglycosylation, in the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus. Therefore, it could be inferred that Src influences the regulation of protein O-glycosylation. The NIH3T3 and NBT-II cell lines with different levels of Src or different localisation of ppGalNAcT-2 have been analysed in order to identify the changes on the structures of O-glycans and the relative abundances of cores 1 and 2. Valuable information has been gathered which could lead to further investigative work to better understand the role of Src in the regulation of protein O-glycosylation.


Through the Ministry of Finance and Planning, the Government of Tanzania implemented the Government Electronic Payment Gateway (GePG) system to provide an e-payment gateway platform in order to improve government revenue collection in the country. As of July 2020, the system was implemented in 660 public institutions and is integrated into 28 commercial banks and 6 mobile money operators. While the system has been widely accepted, evaluation of its adequacy and performance is necessary as many similar initiatives implemented in Africa have failed to deliver the desired outcomes. This study evaluated the performance of the system by drawing success measures based on public value: efficiency, effectiveness, and social value. The study adopted a concurrent mixed research design where the questionnaire was integrated within interviews in a single investigation involving 442 respondents from 271 public institutions in 11 regions in Tanzania. The study found that the use of the system increased revenue collection by 44.28% while reducing the cost associated with revenue collection by 27.10% between 2015/2016 and 2019/2020 in the surveyed institutions. Moreover, the use of the system enhanced the trust between citizens and government, increased transparency and traceability in the process of revenue collection. Nonetheless, the lack of integration of the GePG system with institutional billing systems and the lack of self-service facility in some institutions were found to the challenges. The findings from this study contribute to an understanding of the effectiveness of e-government systems based on public value.


Sentence embedding is an important research topic in natural language processing (NLP) since it can transfer knowledge to downstream tasks. Meanwhile, a contextualized word representation, called BERT, achieves the state-of-the-art performance in quite a few NLP tasks. Yet, it is an open problem to generate a high quality sentence representation from BERT-based word models. It was shown in previous study that different layers of BERT capture different linguistic properties. This allows us to fuse information across layers to find better sentence representations. In this work, we study the layer-wise pattern of the word representation of deep contextualized models. Then, we propose a new sentence embedding method by dissecting BERT-based word models through geometric analysis of the space spanned by the word representation. It is called the SBERT-WK method. No further training is required in SBERT-WK. We evaluate SBERT-WK on semantic textual similarity and downstream supervised tasks. Furthermore, ten sentence-level probing tasks are presented for detailed linguistic analysis. Experiments show that SBERT-WK achieves the state-of-the-art performance. Our codes are publicly available.


The orbital periods of two Algol-type binaries, S Equ and AB Cas, are studied based on all available times of minima. It is found that the O-C variations of both systems can be represented by a parabolic and a periodic term. S Equ has an accretion region due to mass transfer as shown by Richards and coworkers and Richards & Albright. On the other hand, Zola obtained a light-curve solution with a third light. Our study reveals evidence of mass transfer and third component stars in both systems. The parabolic terms in the O-C variations are due to mass transfer from less massive to more massive components, which is consistent with the semidetached nature of both systems. The periodic terms are explained with the additional third stars in the systems. It is interesting that there is no sign of a magnetic braking effect from the cool secondary in the O-C variation of either system.


Kaipuleohone is the University of Hawai'i digital archive for audio and video recordings as well as photographs, notes, dictionaries, transcriptions, and other materials related to small and endangered languages. It was founded in 2007 to address the need for a dedicated repository for language data collected by researchers affiliated with UH. Since its inception the archive has digitized, described, and safely housed several hundred language recordings, including the personal collections of renowned linguists Derek Bickerton and Robert Blust. Kaipuleohone conforms to international standards for digital archives and is a member of the Open Language Archives Community. Digital files are stored at high resolution and are curated by ScholarSpace, the DSpace repository of UHM. Metadata conforms to the standards of OLAC, Open Archives Initiative, and the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative.

This poster presents four aspects of Kaipuleohone: the history of the archive, the details of the current collection, the archive's ties to the ongoing academic program at UH and the Language Documentation Training Center, and future plans to expand the archive's outreach mission to language communities in the Asia-Pacific region.


An integrated optical mode expander is reported which reduces measured coupling losses between high-NA rib-loaded GaAs/AlGaAs waveguides and standard fibre to 3 dB at 1.3 µm wavelength. By adding a low refractive index buffer layer to an existing waveguide geometry, and laterally tapering a new etched rib of carefully selected depth, an adiabatic and reciprocal 'drive-down' transition to a large spot-size mode is achieved. The wet-etched device does not require semiconductor regrowth or submicrometre patterned features.


Background: Phacomorphic glaucoma arises due to acute angle closure precipitated by sudden hydration of a cataractous lens, which blocks the angle by forward displacement of the iris. During an acute attack, the intraocular pressure is markedly elevated. The initial treatment is aimed at lowering the intraocular pressure followed by definitive treatment in the form of removal of the cataractous lens. We aimed to determine long-term outcome after cataract extraction in patients with acute phacomorphic angle closure. Methods: Fifty-nine eyes of 59 consecutive patients with acute phacomorphic angle closure presenting from June 1998 to December 2008 were included. Patients were treated for initial intraocular pressure reduction followed by cataract extraction and intraocular lens implantation. The presenting features, initial treatment instituted, duration of attack, subsequent visual outcome, intraocular pressure, gonioscopic findings, and optic disc status were reviewed and analysed from patient medical records. Results: The mean patient age was 78.6 (standard deviation, 7.7) years and the mean follow-up period was 58.5 (standard deviation, 36.9) months. The mean  presenting intraocular pressure was 56.0 (standard deviation, 11.4) mm Hg, which was successfully controlled with medications or argon laser peripheral iridoplasty. Cataract extraction with intraocular lens implantation was performed in all eyes 1 to 11 days after remission of the acute attack. All eyes had intraocular pressure of 180° in 16 eyes (27.1%). Ten (16.9%) of the 59 eyes subsequently developed an increase in intraocular pressure of >21 mm Hg, for which medical treatment was given. Final visual acuity improved in 74.6% of the eyes. A more extensive peripheral anterior synechial angle closure was associated with a longer duration of acute attack, but not the method of cataract extraction or the method of initial intraocular pressure control. Conclusions: In acute phacomorphic angle closure, rapid reduction of intraocular pressure and control of inflammation followed by extracapsular cataract extraction or phacoemulsification is associated with favorable long-term visual outcomes.


Introduction Carefully selected pseudotumor cerebri patients with dural sinus stenosis and pressure gradients can be considered for sinus stenting. The tortuous sigmoid sinus-jugular bulb junction and transverse-sigmoid sinus stenosis can contribute to the complexity of stent delivery. Materials and Results Distal access guide catheters as 6Fr 070 Neuron guide catheters and 6Fr 088 Neuron Max sheaths (Penumbra, Inc., Alameda, CA), 6Fr Shuttle sheaths (Cook Medical, Inc., Bloomington, IN), 6Fr Chaperon guide catheters (Microvention-Terumo, Irvine, CA), over a diagnostic insert catheter can provide distal support during delivery of Cordis Precise stents (Cordis Corporation, Bridgewater, NJ). We report nineteen cases where the guide catheter was able to achieve access beyond the jugular bulb and in all cases the stent was successfully deployed across the target lesion. No guide catheter or stent complications were encountered in our series. Conclusion We outline our "conduit" approach in sinus stenting using distal access guide catheters which allows for superior navigability and trackability of the guide catheters across the tortuous and stenotic sinus system, and successful deployment of the stent. Disclosures I. Chaudry: 2; C; Penumbra, Microvention. A. Spiotta: None. H. Hawk: None. A. Miranpuri: None. R. Turner: 2; C; Microvention, Penumbra. A. Turk: 2; C; Penumbra, Microvention.


Research in political communication devotes growing attention to the role of visual information relayed through different mediums, including the news media, in forming political impressions, attitudes, and opinions. An increasing body of research indicates that exposure to visual information on the facial appearance of politicians from one's own state or country affects the favorability of attitudes towards these politicians as well as affecting voting intentions. However, the impact of visual information regarding politicians from the opponent side in a conflict has not been systematically examined. The current study addresses this gap by examining the effect of visual news coverage—regarding the facial features of political leaders from the opponent side in a conflict—on support for peace. In an experiment conducted in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jewish-Israeli respondents received a news item containing a proposal for peace agreement accompanied by a photograph described as portraying the Palestinian political leader offering the proposal. The photograph included a digitized facial image that was manipulated to appear as baby-faced or mature by altering the size of the eyes and lips. In line with my expectations, the baby-faced Palestinian politician was judged as more trustworthy than the mature-faced version of the same photograph and the press-reported peace proposal received higher support when offered by the baby-faced Palestinian politician. Also in line with my expectations, the Palestinian politician's perceived trustworthiness was a significant mediator of the effect of the politician's facial features on support for peace.


ATALLAH, M., MUSTAFA, H., EL-AKHAL, H. & AL-TAJ, M. 2005. Dhahal structure: an example of transpression associated with the Dead Sea transform in Wadi Araba, Jordan. Acta Geologica Polonica, 55 (4), 361-370. Warszawa. The Dhahal Mountains located at the eastern margin of the northern Wadi Araba sinistral fault represent an example of a transpression associated with the Dead Sea transform, which is a sinistral wrench fault. This structure was formed as a result of right bending of the Humrat Fidan active sinistral fault, which is a parallel strand of the Dead Sea transform located east of the main Wadi Araba fault. The fault bend caused uplift and squeezing of the Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks of the transpression. Positive flower structures, folds, fault-bounded wedge-shaped pop-ups and reverse faults are the main structural elements that characterized the Dhahal transpression. Folds are found as sets or as single anticlines and synclines. The major trend of the fold axes is N50°; the principal stress axis (σ1) is perpendicular to this trend (N140°). This trend deviates 26° anticlockwise from that of the Dead Sea stress system (DSS) (as obtained from fault slip data north of the study area), which is responsible for the formation of the Dead Sea transform. Evidence of active uplift in the Dhahal structure is provided by the sharp topography relative to the surrounding areas, and the low mountain front sinuosity index of the western margin of the Dhahal mountains.


The avoidance of a conflict of interest within private and public institutions is closely associated with good corporate governance. This study departed from the question of whether a conflict of interest is possible within a non-decision-making institutional committee. For this purpose, a high-level non-decision-making committee within a South African public higher education institution was selected as a case study. This article reports on an exploratory qualitative study consisting of qualitative content analysis of the constituting and operational documents of this committee, as well as on a study of the perceptions and lived experiences of the selected committee. It was found that the selected committee was established to be a high-level consultative body for the executive management committee of the university on decisions of strategic operational nature. This committee does not have any decision-making duties. Conflict of interest is perceived by committee members in terms of either the explicit or the hidden agenda metaphor. According to the explicit agenda metaphor, a conflict of interest within a non-decision-making committee is not possible, whilst the hidden agenda metaphor holds that a conflict of interest is the reality of members' lived experiences. This article provides a comparison of the two perspectives according to three defining attributes of the concept and shows a need for a logical and principled definition of the concept 'conflict of interest' within the context of higher education and the public sector at large.