Being a scientist, especially a clinical research one, is a noble but tough job. Scientific job is different from other jobs in terms of working hour and pressure; they need more freedom in their job & research that also put lots of responsibility on them. Research is funded by public money and it is the responsibility of scientists to gain maximum output from it. Clinical research is very complex and involves the use of animal, microbial as well as human samples and volunteers which make it more prone to ethical scrutiny. Minority of researchers who commit fraudulent use of public money & unethical clinical practice threaten public support for science. Now a day, there is growing concern of public and politicians on the freedom of scientists and unethical scientific practice in clinical trials. The most efficient measures to prevent scientific misconduct are awareness—notably, self-awareness— education and transparency. Most of the developed countries have formulated their own guidelines to ensure proper utilization and ethical clinical research and trials. Bangladesh is still lagging behind in terms of regulation and monitoring of clinical research and trials. This review aims to make related peoples to be aware of the necessity of its own guidelines for clinical research and trials. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bioethics.v4i1.14266 Bangladesh Journal of Bioethics 2013; 4(1):30-34


How did slavery and race impact American literature in the nineteenth century? In this ambitious book, Michael T. Gilmore argues that they were the carriers of linguistic restriction, and writers from Frederick Douglass to Stephen Crane wrestled with the demands for silence and circumspection that accompanied the antebellum fear of disunion and the postwar reconciliation between the North and South. Proposing a radical new interpretation of nineteenth-century American literature, "The War on Words" examines struggles over permissible and impermissible utterance in works ranging from Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" to Henry James' "The Bostonians". Combining historical knowledge with groundbreaking readings of some of the classic texts of the American past, "The War on Words" places Lincoln's Cooper Union address in the same constellation as Margaret Fuller's feminism and Thomas Dixon's defense of lynching. Arguing that slavery and race exerted coercive pressure on freedom of expression, Gilmore offers here a transformative study that alters our understanding of nineteenth-century literary culture and its fraught engagement with the right to speak.


Our ethnographic research focuses on the perception and use of components of the natural environment in terms of routine activities carried out by the residents of a rural community in the Calchaqui Valley (Salta, Argentina). Life in this community is characterised by the presence of traditional subsistence activities – agriculture, cattle farming, textile manufacturing and ancestral medical practices – coexisting with business ventures focused on monoculture and export, tourism centred on landscape intervention and promotion of native products, and the growing key role of public policies in the areas of health and human development. In this context, a joint reflection on viability and sustainability of local and global practices and resources must be undertaken. Implementing intersectoral forums and focus-group discussions, governmental and non-governmental actors, researchers and local people must work conjointly to achieve a fresh patrimonial awareness of livelihood strategies based on their long interaction with a specific environment.


Part I Chapter 1.....A physicochemical study of the DNA molecules
from the three bacteriophages, N1, N5, and N6, which infect the bacterium,
M. lysodeikticus, has been made. The molecular weights, as measured
by both electron microscopy and sedimentation velocity, are 23 x 106
for N5 DNA and 31 x 106 for N1 and N6 DNA's. All three DNA's are capable
of thermally reversible cyclization. N1 and N6 DNA's have identical
or very similar base sequences as judged by membrane filter hybridization
and by electron microscope heteroduplex studies. They have identical
or similar cohesive ends. These results are in accord with the close
biological relation between N1 and N6 phages. N5 DNA is not closely
related to N1 or N6 DNA. The denaturation Tm of all three DNA's is the
same and corresponds to a (GC) content of 70%. However, the buoyant
densities in CsCl of Nl and N6 DNA's are lower than expected,
corresponding to predicted GC contents of 64 and 67%. The buoyant
densities in Cs2SO4 are also somewhat anomalous. The buoyant density
anomalies are probably due to the presence of odd bases. However, direct
base composition analysis of N1 DNA by anion exchange chromatography
confirms a GC content of 70%, and, in the elution system used, no peaks
due to odd bases are present. Chapter 2.....A covalently closed circular DNA form has been
observed as an intracellular form during both productive and abortive
infection processes in M. lysodeikticus. This species has been isolated
by the method of CsC1-ethidium bromide centrifugation and examined with
an electron microscope. Chapter 3.....A minute circular DNA has been discovered as
a homogeneous population in M. lysodeikticus. Its length and molecular
weight as determined by electron microscopy are 0.445 μ and 0.88 x 106
daltons respectively. There is about one minicircle per bacterium. Chapter 4.....Several strains of E. coli 15 harbor a prophage.
Viral growth can be induced by exposing the host to mitomycin C or to
uv irradiation. The coliphage 15 particles from E. coli 15 and E, coli
15 T- appear as normal phage with head and tail structure; the particles
from E. coli 15 TAU are tailless. The complete particles exert a
colicinogenic activity on E.coli 15 and 15 T-, the tailless particles
do not. No host for a productive viral infection has been found and the
phage may be defective. The properties of the DNA of the virus have
been studied, mainly by electron microscopy. After induction but before
lysis, a closed circular DNA with a contour length of about 11.9 μ is
found in the bacterium; the mature phage DNA is a linear duplex and
7.5% longer than the intracellular circular form. This suggests the
hypothesis that the mature phage DNA is terminally repetitious and
circularly permuted. The hypothesis was confirmed by observing that
denaturation and renaturation of the mature phage DNA produce circular
duplexes with two single-stranded branches corresponding to the terminal
repetition. The contour length of the mature phage DNA was measured
relative to φX RFII DNA and λ DNA; the calculated molecular weight is
27 x 106. The length of the single-stranded terminal repetition was
compared to the length of φX 174 DNA under conditions where single-stranded
DNA is seen in an extended form in electron micrographs. The length of
the terminal repetition is found to be 7.4% of the length of the nonrepetitious
part of the coliphage 15 DNA. The number of base pairs in
the terminal repetition is variable in different molecules, with a fractional
standard deviation of 0.18 of the average number in the terminal
repetition. A new phenomenon termed "branch migration" has been discovered
in renatured circular molecules; it results in forked branches, with
two emerging single strands, at the position of the terminal repetition.
The distribution of branch separations between the two terminal
repetitions in the population of renatured circular molecules was studied.
The observed distribution suggests that there is an excluded volume
effect in the renaturation of a population of circularly permuted molecules
such that strands with close beginning points preferentially
renature with each other. This selective renaturation and the phenomenon
of branch migration both affect the distribution of branch separations;
the observed distribution does not contradict the hypothesis of a
random distribution of beginning points around the chromosome. Chapter 5....Some physicochemical studies on the minicircular
DNA species in E. coli 15 (0.670 μ, 1.47 x 106 daltons) have been made.
Electron microscopic observations showed multimeric forms of the minicircle
which amount to 5% of total DNA species and also showed presumably
replicating forms of the minicircle. A renaturation kinetic study
showed that the minicircle is a unique DNA species in its size and base
sequence. A study on the minicircle replication has been made under
condition in which host DNA synthesis is synchronized. Despite
experimental uncertainties involved, it seems that the minicircle replication
is random and the number of the minicircles increases
continuously throughout a generation of the host, regardless of host
DNA synchronization. Part II The flow dichroism of dilute DNA solutions (A260≈0.1) has been
studied in a Couette-type apparatus with the outer cylinder rotating
and with the light path parallel to the cylinder axis. Shear gradients
in the range of 5-160 sec.-1 were studied. The DNA samples were whole,
"half," and "quarter" molecules of T4 bacteriophage DNA, and linear
and circular λb2b5c DNA. For the linear molecules, the fractional
flow dichroism is a linear function of molecular weight. The dichroism
for linear A DNA is about 1.8 that of the circular molecule. For a given
DNA, the dichroism is an approximately linear function of shear gradient,
but with a slight upward curvature at low values of G, and some trend
toward saturation at larger values of G. The fractional dichroism
increases as the supporting electrolyte concentration decreases.


Enhancing atmospheric CO2 levels in commercial glasshouses is a widely used technique to increase productivity, but has high-energy costs and detrimental environmental impacts due to frequent ventilation of the glasshouse (to prevent plant diseases) releasing CO2 into the atmosphere. Previous studies suggest that enrichment of the root zone (RZ) with CO2 (RZ CO2) may be a more economic and sustainable alternative to aerial CO2 enrichment. This thesis aimed to compare the effects of RZ dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) enrichment by adding either bicarbonate (HCO3-) or gaseous CO2 to hydroponic and aeroponic systems, and to determine the physiological and molecular mechanisms by which plants respond to RZ DIC. Supplying hydroponically grown plants with high bicarbonate concentrations (20 mM) inhibited growth of lettuce, pepper and tomato. However, lower concentrations increased biomass accumulation in lettuce (10% increase at both 1 mM and 5 mM HCO3-) and pepper (10% increase at 1 mM HCO3-), but had no effect in tomato. Exposing plants to 1 mM NaH13CO3- significantly increased shoot δ13C values over time, therefore confirming the uptake of DIC by the roots. Root δ13C values also significantly increased over time, however higher values at the beginning of NaH13CO3- exposure suggested root-to-shoot transport of DIC. Nutrient solution pH did not affect root carbon uptake, but shoot δ13C values were lower in those plants exposed to lower pH levels (5.8) compared to those exposed to fluctuating pH (between 6.3 and 6.7), suggesting differences in root-to-shoot transport of DIC. Thus, root carbon uptake was independent of the form in which CO2 was provided (gaseous CO2 at pH 5.8; HCO3- at higher pHs). Adding 1 mM HCO3- to hydroponically grown plants did not change foliar nutrient content, but K, P, N, Zn, Cu and Mn concentrations decreased at 20 mM HCO3-, suggesting nutrient deficiencies could limit growth. Applying 2000 ppm RZ CO2 to hydroponically grown lettuce, tomato and pepper did not affect biomass accumulation. Applying 1500 ppm CO2 to the RZ of aeroponically grown lettuce increased shoot biomass between 19-25% (in 4 independent experiments) compared to those grown with 400 ppm RZ CO2. However, leaf gas exchange measurements were inconsistent and therefore increased biomass could not be attributed to higher photosynthetic rates. In another 3 independent experiments, applying 1500 ppm CO2 to the RZ of aeroponically grown lettuce did not stimulate biomass accumulation, probably because the plants were exposed to higher night temperatures. Similarly, pepper and tomato did not show any biomass response to elevated RZ CO2, suggesting that the responses to RZ CO2 concentration are environment- and species-dependent. Nutrient analysis indicated that aeration with high RZ CO2 decreased lettuce foliar Mg and S concentrations, whereas root N concentrations were higher than control plants. Multi-hormone analysis of foliar and root tissues revealed that lettuce plants showed few differences in hormone status following RZ CO2 enrichment. High RZ CO2 increased foliar jasmonic acid concentration of lettuce, but the physiological significance of this change is not clear. Pepper plants showed significantly higher foliar 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid and lower trans-zeatin and salicylic acid concentrations, as well as lower root N6-(Δ2-isopentenyl) adenine and higher salicylic acid and gibberellic acid concentrations. These hormonal responses were associated with lower leaf area expansion of pepper plants exposed to elevated RZ CO2. Finally, transcriptome analysis of lettuce plants indicated that fatty acid biosynthesis, amino acid biosynthesis and carbon metabolism appeared to be the major pathways enriched in roots exposed to elevated RZ CO2. In addition, proteins related to the cell walls and membranes seemed enhanced under elevated RZ CO2. Although increased CO2 concentration around the roots caused major transcriptomic restructuring, the aerial parts of the plants showed limited transcriptomic changes. Taken together, this thesis is the first study of the responses of several horticultural species to elevated RZ CO2 within different growing systems in order to decipher the impact that elevated RZ CO2 has on crop productivity. Although bicarbonate enrichment of hydroponics and RZ CO2 enrichment of aeroponics stimulated biomass accumulation of lettuce in many experiments, further work is required to fully understand the physiological response mechanisms to RZ CO2. Whether the root transcriptomic changes in response to elevated RZ CO2 represent an adaptive response to their environment requires a better temporal understanding of changes in specific genes. Ultimately, whether these changes are functionally significant to shoot growth seems to be strongly environmentally regulated.


Abstract This article explores the gendered impacts of a development project that provided dairy training and a superior breed of cattle to households as part of a broader effort to develop a smallholder-friendly, market-oriented dairy value chain in the Manica province of Mozambique. The project first targeted households, registered cows in the names of the household heads, and, initially, trained these cow owners in various aspects of dairy production and marketing. Subsequently, the training was expanded to two members per household to increase the capacity within households to care for cows, a change that resulted in the training of a significant number of women. Using qualitative and quantitative data on dairy production and consumption, and on gendered control over income and assets, the article explores how men and women participated in and benefited from the Manica Smallholder Dairy Development Program (MSDDP). We found that despite being registered in the name of men, in practice, dairy cattle are in some cases viewed as jointly owned by both men and women. Beneficiary households dramatically increased dairy production and income, with men, women, and children all contributing labor to this endeavor. Women's incentives for participation in dairy were less clear. Despite their recognized rights and responsibilities related to dairy cow management, women exercised relatively little control over milk and milk income as compared to men. This article explores the various monetary and nonmonetary benefits of MSDDP and dairying for women along with their implications for the level of effort put in by women, and the overall project outcomes.


In Colombia's borderlands, the COVID-19 pandemic adds a third dimension to the double crisis of continued insecurity rooted in Colombia's ongoing armed conflict and the humanitarian emergency triggered by Venezuelan mass migration. Exacerbated through the border effect, the Colombian government's border closure and armed groups seeking to capitalize on growing uncertainty pose a severe risk to the country's peace agreement, regional stability, and hemispheric security.


The mechanism by which arcuate kisspeptin (ARNKISS) neurons co-expressing glutamate, neurokinin B, and dynorphin intermittently synchronize their activity to drive pulsatile hormone secretion remains unclear in females. In order to study spontaneous synchronization within the ARNKISS neuron network, acute brain slices were prepared from adult female Kiss1-GCaMP6 mice. Analysis of both spontaneous synchronizations and those driven by high frequency stimulation of individual ARNKISS neurons revealed that the network exhibits semi-random emergent excitation dependent upon glutamate signaling through AMPA receptors. No role for NMDA receptors was identified. In contrast to male mice, ongoing tachykinin receptor tone within the slice operated to promote spontaneous synchronizations in females. As previously observed in males, we found that ongoing dynorphin transmission in the slice did not contribute to synchronization events. These observations indicate that a very similar AMPA receptor-dependent mechanism underlies ARNKISS neuron synchronizations in the female mouse supporting the "glutamate two-transition" model for kisspeptin neuron synchronization. However, a potentially important sex difference appears to exist with a more prominent facilitatory role for tachykinin transmission in the female.


A preliminary study was conducted to determine the potential for cement deep soil mixing (CDSM) technology as a method for in-situ solidification of contaminated river and estuarine sediments. The study was conducted in Newark Bay, near the mouth of the Passaic River, New Jersey. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the viability of CDSM for the in-situ S/S with a focus on: 1) determining the correct mix of the cement slurry, which provides rapid stabilization of the sediment matrix, 2) potential resuspension of solids during CSDM operations, 3) the effects of high organic content on the solidification process, and 4) the feasibility of using conventional dredging/extraction methods once the sediments have been stabilized and allowed to cure. The results of the study show CDSM slurry mixtures, as low as 7% in cement content, result in significant solidification and strength gain of in-situ sediments under ambient conditions. In sediments with very high organic contents (> 20%), the slurry mix would need to be adjusted to account for retardation effects of organics on cement hydration. Sediment resuspension during application was shown to be minimal at a distance of as little as 75 feet from the mixing head. Strength gains were considerable, effectively consolidating the sediment particles in a secure matrix, but not so high as to preclude extraction of solidified sediments with conventional dredging equipment. Dredged solidified sediment exhibited characteristics of a stiff glacial clay, and as such was easier to handle and transport than untreated dredged sediments. This technique has high potential to be used as an interim remedial measure prior to either extraction and decontamination/disposal or proper capping.


Reliable predictions on the risk and survival time of prostate cancer patients based on their clinical records can help guide their treatment and provide hints about the disease mechanism. The Cox regression is currently a commonly accepted approach for such tasks in clinical applications. More complex methods, like ensemble approaches, have the potential of reaching better prediction accuracy at the cost of increased training difficulty and worse result interpretability. Better performance on a specific data set may also be obtained by extensive manual exploration in the data space, but such developed models are subject to overfitting and usually not directly applicable to a different data set. We propose DWCox, a density-weighted Cox model that has improved robustness against outliers and thus can provide more accurate predictions of prostate cancer survival. DWCox assigns weights to the training data according to their local kernel density in the feature space, and incorporates those weights into the partial likelihood function. A linear regression is then used to predict the actual survival times from the predicted risks. In the 2015 Prostate Cancer DREAM Challenge, DWCox obtained the best average ranking in prediction accuracy on the risk and survival time. The success of DWCox is remarkable given that it is one of the smallest and most interpretable models submitted to the challenge. In simulations, DWCox performed consistently better than a standard Cox model when the training data contained many sparsely distributed outliers. Although developed for prostate cancer patients, DWCox can be easily re-trained and applied to other survival analysis problems. DWCox is implemented in R and can be downloaded from https://github.com/JinfengXiao/DWCox.


Surgical robotic systems and virtual reality simulators have introduced an unprecedented precision of measurement for both tool-tissue and tool-surgeon interaction; thus holding promise for more objective analyses of surgical skill. Integrative or averaged metrics such as path length, time-to-task, success/failure percentages, etc., have often been employed towards this end but these fail to address the processes associated with a surgical task as a dynamic phenomena. Stochastic tools such as Markov modeling using a 'white-box' approach have proven amenable to this type of analysis. While such an approach reveals the internal structure of the of the surgical task as a process, it requires a task decomposition based on expert knowledge, which may result in a relatively large/complex model. In this work, a 'black box' approach is developed with generalized cross-procedural applications., the model is characterized by a compact topology, abstract state definitions, and optimized codebook size. Data sets of isolated tasks were extracted from the Blue DRAGON database consisting of 30 surgical subjects stratified into six training levels. Vector quantization (VQ) was employed on the entire database, thus synthesizing a lexicon of discrete, task-independent surgical tool/tissue interactions. VQ has successfully established a dictionary of 63 surgical code words and displayed non-temporal skill discrimination. VQ allows for a more cross-procedural analysis without relying on a thorough study of the procedure, links the results of the black-box approach to observable phenomena, and reduces the computational cost of the analysis by discretizing a complex, continuous data space.


A linear stability analysis for dune and ripple formation is presented that implements a rotational two-dimensional flow model valid in the smooth as well as in the transitional and rough flow regimes. Sediment is assumed to be transported as bedload, disregarding the role of suspension. Therefore, the main mechanism driving instability, for both ripples and dunes, is the phase lag between bed shear stress and bed elevation. Ripples are shown to be confined to relatively low values of the Shields parameter and of the particle Reynolds number. For higher values of the Shields parameter and of the particle Reynolds number (and thus of the Froude number and of the roughness Reynolds number), ripples are replaced by dunes. The present analysis ultimately allows for a successful unification of the theories of dune and ripple formation and for a clarification of the debated role of ripples on the formation of dunes. A good agreement between predicted and observed wavelengths for both ripples and dunes is found.


The study of some guanidine derivatives influence on free radical oxidation intensity and aconitase activity during the development of brain ischemia-reperfusion at rats has been carried out. The biochemiluminescence parameters increasing at the brain pathology changed toward normal values under the influence of N-[4-(chlorbenzoyl)benztiazol-2-yl]guanidine, N-[imino(1-piperidinyl)methyl]guanidine and N-[imino(4-morpholinyl)methyl]guanidine. The aconitase specific activity decreased in brain and blood of animals with ischemia-reperfusion. Administration of guanidine derivatives during brain ischemia-reperfusion development increased aconitase specific activity. These results suggest that investigated substances can play a role of neuroprotectors, preventing free radical oxidation development.


We studied the role of Homer1 gene products on the presence of synaptic Ca2+-permeable AMPA receptors (AMPARs) and long-term potentiation (LTP) generation in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons, using mice either lacking all Homer1 isoforms (Homer1 KO) or overexpressing the immediate early gene (IEG) product Homer1a (H1aTG). We found that Homer1 KO caused a significant redistribution of the AMPAR subunit GluA2 from the dendritic compartment to the soma. Furthermore, deletion of Homer1 enhanced the AMPAR-mediated component of glutamatergic currents at Schaffer collateral synapses as demonstrated by increased AMPA/NMDA current ratios. Meanwhile, LTP generation appeared to be unaffected. Conversely, sustained overexpression of Homer1a strongly reduced AMPA/NMDA current ratios and polyamine sensitivity of synaptic AMPAR, indicating that the proportion of synaptic GluA2-containing AMPAR increased relative to WT. LTP maintenance was abolished in H1aTG. Notably, overexpression of Homer1a in Homer1 KO or GluA2 KO mice did not affect LTP expression, suggesting activity-dependent interaction between Homer1a and long Homer1 isoforms with GluA2-containing AMPAR. Thus, Homer1a is essential for the activity-dependent regulation of excitatory synaptic transmission.


A novel, integrated approach in thermal management of electronic products, based on two-phase cooling, is presented. A flat miniature heat pipe, integrated inside the laminated structure of a printed circuit board (PCB) has been developed, based on mainstream PCB fabrication processes. Hot spots on the PCB, caused by heat dissipating components, can be cooled with relatively small temperature gradients across the board. An analytical model is presented to predict the behavior of the embedded heat pipe for various geometries, orientations, and operating temperatures. Experimental verification has shown successful heat pipe operation. The heat pipe exhibited a measured equivalent thermal conductivity more than seven times higher than solid copper. Low-thermal resistance values establish this concept as a promising thermal management solution for future electronic products. As mainstream manufacturing techniques are applied, thin PCBs with integrated cooling support can be produced at low-cost.


The paper analyses the problem of intentionality in Levinas's and Waldenfels's phenomenology. By offering the critiques of intentionality and living present, Levinas traces the problem of Husserl's phenomenology which raises when he solves the problem of the giveness of the other. Levinas believes that the giveness of the other already as the meaning determines the being of the consciousness as closed, self-sufficient structure which conditions the impossibility of appearance of alterity. By seeking to ground the possibility of the alterity's appearance, Levinas defines consciousness not by intentionality but unintentionality. Precisely the description of consciousness by unintentionality uncloses an approach to radical alterity, which, on the one hand, lets to define consciousness itself as un-synthesized rupture, and on the other hand, brings us back to the problem of intentionality by raising the question of its significance in grounding any experience of the consciousness. The appearance of alterity, although differently than the meaning, implicates its appearance already as "something", therefore in the phenomenology of Waldenfels the problem of alterity is approached not by refusing intentionality but by rethinking it. By appealing to rethinking of intentionality Waldenfels interprets the appearance of alterity also as unsynthesized rupture but in the bounds of intentional consciousness.


Background & Aim: Mammea africana sabine (Guttiferae) stembark commonly used traditionally to treat various diseases and ailments was evaluated for nephroprotective activity against paracetamol – induced kidney injury in rats to confirm its use in the treatment of kidney diseases. Experimental: The nephroprotective effect of the extract was evaluated by the determination of some kidney function parameters such as serum urea and creatinine, electrolyes (K + , Na + , Cl - and HCO - 3), antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), reduced glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA) and histopathological study of the liver. Results & Discussion: The administration of the stembark extract caused significant dose-dependent reduction of high levels of serum creatinine and urea. The electrolytes levels were not affected. Histology of the kidney sections of extract and silymarin- treated animals showed reductions in the pathological features compared to the paracetamol- treated animals. The chemical pathological changes were consistent with histopathological observations suggesting marked nephroprotective effect of the stembark extract of M. africana Recommended applications/industries: The results show that the stembark extract of Mammea africana has nephroprotective potential which may be due to its antioxidant effect activity.


The stationary phase technique is used to calculate asymptotic formulae for SO(4) relativistic spin networks. For the tetrahedral spin network this gives the square of the Ponzano–Regge asymptotic formula for the SU(2) 6j-symbol. For the 4-simplex (10j-symbol) the asymptotic formula is compared with numerical calculations of the spin network evaluation. Finally, we discuss the asymptotics of the SO(3, 1) 10j-symbol.


Parallel instruction issue is essential for performance improvement in current microprocessor designs. Just extra function units are, however, little beneficial in non-numerical applications since control dependence severely limits exploitation of instruction-level parallelism (ILP) and frequent branches consume ILP due to its long latency. Boosting is an interesting technique to reduce control dependence. It allows general speculative execution with little cycle time penalty. From the cost/performance point of view, we propose the efficient implementation of boosting, which requires the small support hardware and maximizes performance gain from boosting in the limited hardware. We also propose a new branch scheme to reduce the branch penalty which has a particularly big performance impact in a parallel issue machine. Our scheme fetches from both directions of the branch with small hardware cost through integration of a code movement and hardware support. We evaluate our schemes and find that they significantly contribute to performance improvement.<<ETX>>


Due to the significant impact of port performance on overall performance of global supply chains, enhancing the efficiency of terminal operations is an important task for ports to achieve a competitive edge. By acknowledging the role that efficiency plays in port competition, there are many research in the literature revealing the relative efficiencies of ports that are under investigation and providing managerial implications for the ones that are relatively inefficient. However, in many cases, the results obtained from the efficiency analysis can be misleading on its own as the ports may have different natures in terms of their size, cargo flow potentials or the environment that they are embedded in. Therefore, focusing on Turkish container ports, our study aims to classify the ports by taking both their physical attributes and efficiency scores into consideration. In order to determine the efficiency scores our study applies data envelopment analysis and the classification of the terminals is carried out by the application of cluster analysis. Results of the clustering lead to better assessment of benchmarking options for the ports and provide a general overview of the characteristics of Turkish container port industry.


Interpersonal communications is widely viewed as both a source of conflict in many social relationships and a cure-all for resolving such conflict. Some theorists assert that we simply do not interact, or talk, enough in modern society; others point out that our communication styles seem increasingly argumentative, exclude important potential contributors, or are strategically facile but shallow. The author discusses the various forms of dysfunctional "talk" in which people engage, then reviews four recent books, all of which focus (at least in part) on how we might talk (and negotiate) with one another more constructively: Bargaining for Advantage, by G. Richard Shell; Winning 'Em Over, by Jay C. Conger; Difficult Conversations, by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton and Sheila Heen; and The Magic of Dialogue by Daniel Yankelovich.


The Web 2.0 phenomenon has produced a number of technology companies that in various rounds of venture capital funding, have attracted very indicative valuations. Following these rising valuations, Investment Banks took an interest in the sector. However, while the companies concerned seem stable as private entities, their novel approach to business makes their financial characteristics difficult to predict. Parallels are drawn between the 2001 dot-com bubble and the current Web 2.0 sector. This thesis highlights a dependency between modern highlights a dependency between modern web companies, and the established technology sector. It aims to identify the extent to which the contemporary technology sector (encompassing Web 2.0) has exhibited characteristics similar to those of the dot-com bubble. to that end, this thesis identifies characteristics of modern and historic bubbles, and uses them to formulate a hypothetical set of indicators, in the form of a conceptual model. To determine whether these indicators exist in real data, a novel, repeatable statistical test is developed. It first identifies statistical heuristics representative of bubble circumstances, and then compares other periods to them. Thus, given sufficient data, any period may be tested. Periods are analysed prior, during and after the dot-com bubble. During the dot-com bubble, consistently strong venture capital activity is observed, and linked to the growth in people using the internet. This is indicative of the poor decision-making by investors, documented at the time. In recent periods, patterns in venture capital investment describe an industry that is much more cautious that before, reducing the probability of the formation of a similar bubble. Looking at the past, this thesis observes investor activity that 'caused' the dot-com bubble as early as 1995-96, which raises questions about when the bubble started, and the lead-times on market collapses.


To decrease dependence of effectiveness of isolation of nucleic acids of composition and amount of applied sample a kit was developed for hybridization extraction of DNA HBV RNA HCV and RNA HIV from blood serum in two formats using up to 250 mkl and up to 1 ml of sample. This kit, in complex with kits for detection using polymerase chain reaction technique in realtime, forms a test characterized by high analytical sensitivity i.e. HBV50 copies per ml, HCV 37.5 copies per ml, HIV 13 copies per ml. The developed kit for extraction of target nucleic acids permits to get rid of total DNA and inhibited effect of heparin. It can be adaptedfor application wit factors B and automated stations of sample preparation.


Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) is a well studied research topic in many fields and applications from data mining to image processing. Data arising from these applications can be represented as a matrix where this matrix is large and sparse. Most existing algorithms are used to calculate singular values, left and right singular vectors of a largedense matrix but not large-sparse matrix. Even if they can find SVD of a large matrix, calculation of large-dense matrix has high time complexity due to sequential algorithms. Distributed approaches are proposed for computing SVD of large matrices. However, rank of the matrix is still being a problem when solving SVD with these distributed algorithms. In this paper we propose Ranky, set of methods to solve rank problem on large-sparse matrices in a distributed manner. Experimental results show that the Ranky approach recovers singular values, singular left and right vectors of a given large-sparse matrix with negligible error.


This study examined attachment in association with preschoolers' emotional functioning among 54 predominantly low-income families living in Appalachia. Attachment was assessed at age 4 years using the Strange Situation (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978) and classified with the PAA (Crittenden, 2004). Emotional competence was measured via an interview about children's memories for six emotions, rated in terms of both emotion understanding and regulation. Parent-, teacher-, and self-reports of children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms were also completed. Questionnaires and interviews assessed socioeconomic risk and parental symptoms and negative childhood experiences. Children's PAA strategies were significantly associated with risks, emotion regulation and understanding, and symptoms. Children using highly coercive strategies showed the greatest difficulties. Emotion regulation and understanding also were associated with parent- and teacher-report of symptoms. These findings suggest that intervention efforts with at-risk youngsters should target not only attachment security, but also emotional competence skills.


Most people believe that it is permissible to kill a nonresponsible threat, or someone who threatens one's life without exercising agency. Defenders of this view must show that there is a morally relevant difference between nonresponsible threats and innocent bystanders. Some philosophers, including Jonathan Quong and Helen Frowe, have attempted to do this by arguing that one who kills a bystander takes advantage of another person, while one who kills a threat does not. In this paper, I show that the proposals offered by Quong and Frowe have unacceptable implications. I then argue that those who claim that nonresponsible threats may be killed face a dilemma generated by the possibility of a stationary threat, or someone who endangers another person's life without moving. Unless we arbitrarily distinguish between stationary and moving nonresponsible threats, it is unclear how the permission to kill nonresponsible threats is to be explicated. I conclude that nonresponsible threats are not legitimate targets of self-defence. Language: en


Objective: The growing global public health concern of workplace assaults has necessitated that workers' health and safety be given same priority as patient's safety. The study assessed the prevalence of workplace assault and its' impact on service delivery among dental professionals at tertiary hospitals in Northern Nigeria.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 60 dental professionals working in tertiary hospitals actively involved in undergraduate and postgraduate trainings for dental workforce in Northern Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was used in selection of respondents and participation was voluntary. Data was collected using structured self-administered questionnaire. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 23.0 and p-value ? 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Ethical approval was received.
Results: Sixty percent dentists and 40.0% dental auxiliaries participated in the study. Assault prevalence was 38.3% observed more among dental professionals (44.0%) in their first year in practice. Types of assaults experienced were; non-physical 19 (82.6%) with loud shouting and threats as most frequent, physical 3 (13.0%) with bullying and mobbing most frequent, and combination was 1 (4.4%). Patients (60.9%) and relatives (52.2%) were major culprits, and long appointment (65.2%) and treatment cost (60.9%) were main reasons for assault. Respondents (39.1%) expressed impact on their productivity and 69.6% respondents were ill-prepared to handle it.
Conclusion: The prevalence of workplace assaults on dental professionals was fairly high and those in their first year in practice suffer more assault than others. Assault preventive programs should however specifically target this group in consideration with the unique nature and varied needs of each healthcare institutions.


Leather industry plays an important role in the economic development of the country and the wastewater from this industry is a major source of pollution among all industrial sectors considering both volume and composition of effluent. During leather processing, a number of size reduction, levelling and purification operations are carried out which results in generation of untanned and tanned proteinaceous waste materials which pose as a major environmental problem if not managed effectively. Large-scale production systems are adopted for leather processing and so this industry receives focus of environmentalists and society. Consequently, tremendous pressure is exerted by various pollution regulatory bodies to treat the effluents before disposal. The tannery effluents contain tannins, high suspended solids, and dissolved solids, BOD and some inorganic compounds such as chlorides, sulphides, sulphates, sodium and some toxic heavy metals, which affect the environment. Thus there is a need for innovative treatment technologies for the removal of these heavy metal ions from wastewater. Numerous physical and chemical methods such as screening, flow equalization, primary sedimentation, chemical flocculation, aerobic activated sludge treatment, secondary sedimentation have been employed for the disposal of wastes. These methods are very expensive and therefore the most reliable way seems to be the biological treatment using microorganisms that serve as efficient detoxifiers of pollutants. Fungi contribute a major role in the reduction of pollution by possessing superior aptitudes to produce a large variety of extracellular proteins, organic acids and other metabolites, and for their capacity to adapt to severe environmental constraints. Fungi are mainly used in leather production in different steps like soaking, dehairing, bating, dyeing, degreasing or in effluent and proteinaceous solid wastes treatment. During the bating process, fungi remove the degraded hairs and epidermis and promote the removal of non structural proteins and help on carbohydrates removal. Free mycelia, mycelia pellets, immobilized fungi or their enzymes have been reported in treatment of leather effluents. Thus the use of fungi to treat leather effluent is cost effective and therefore highly suitable for reduction of pollutant load of tannery effluents.


Website Localization is an important part of international technical communication. Its goal is to make an existing website culturally, linguistically, visually, technically, and rhetorically adapted (customized) to the target audience so that they can read and use it as if the website were written for them. Web localization places two tasks on technical writers: To have a good understanding of the target culture and to make their own culture and its related elements easily accepted by the target audience. As a website mainly contains verbal information, translation naturally plays an important role. Therefore, the appropriate use of translation theories helps achieve successful web localization. This article mainly focuses on how to apply translation theories to teaching website localization, using Chinese culture and American culture as examples. It analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the major translation criteria and explains how they can be used to communicate as much cultural information as possible from the source language and to increase the readability and acceptability of the target audience in the course of the website localization. Major findings are that no single translation criterion is able to handle all the translation cases effectively. In light of the nature of works to be translated, the purpose of translation, and the audience needs, various translation criteria need to be used. Suggestions are also made for customizing colors and graphics in light of the dynamic equivalence. With economical globalization, companies are competing with one another for international markets. Successful Website localization helps companies achieve this goal. So, the article is of great practical significance.


Objectives: Recent studies showed the advantage of TDI in the indirect ventricular assessment of fetal atrio-ventricular (AV) time intervals for the early detection of fetal first-degree heart block. Precise determination of the fetal atrial contraction is crucial for an accurate evaluation of the mechanical AV-delay and opens a new window for the diagnosis of atrial dyssynchrony and diastolic function. Methods: Out of 4054 raw data loops, recorded on a Toshiba Aplio 80 ultrasound system, we analyzed matched pairs of 20 transversal (T) and 20 longitudinal (L) four-chamber views (FCV) of normal fetuses (20th – 33rd week). The inclusion criterion was adequate image quality of the atria. Offline analysis (TDIQ-software, Toshiba) was preceded by isolation of one single heart cycle starting from the beginning of diastole. Automatically tracked ROIs were placed subsequently into one of six segments of the atrial wall, extending from above the right AV-annulus over the atrial roofs to the left AV-annulus. Angle corrected peak diastolic values (PDV) of atrial movement for the parameters velocity (mm/sec) and strain (%) were measured. Results: The quantification of atrial velocity and strain peaks was feasible. T-FCV PDV velocity/strain were measurable in 95%/75% versus 51%/23% in the L-FCV (mean global atrial peak (MGAP) T-FCV 23.0/28.2; L-FCV 8.4/7.1). Global right PDV velocity/strain in T-FCV showed measurability in 98%/92% versus 43%/23% in L-FCV (MGAP T-FCV 27.4/33.4; L-FCV 8.6/7.4). Conclusions: For the first time our study showed the possibility of quantifying active atrial movement by velocity and strain imaging in the fetal heart. The transversal FCV showed a clear superiority versus longitudinal FCV concerning measurability of velocity and strain peaks as well as significantly higher results. These findings are of major importance for future analysis of atrial and diastolic function, the detection of atrial dyssynchrony and the direct identification of mechanical AV delay.


A cross sectional epidemiological study was run on subclinical mastitis to determine its prevalence and to identify associated risk factors in total of 261 dairy cows of different breeds and ages distributed in different villages in Rajshahi and Rangpur division of Bangladesh during January 2008 to December 2010 through field screening surveys by using of the California mastitis test (CMT) for each quarter milk sample. The dairy cows were differed from the breed point of view as 147 local Zebu breed and 114 Holstein x local Zebu cross (LxHF) breed. All dairy cows were apparently healthy with clinically sound udder secreting apparently normal milk. Based on CMT results, prevalence of subclinical mastitis was significantly (p<0.01) higher in crossbreeds (53.5%) as compared to indigenous Zebu cattle (36.1%) at cow level; and at quarter level 31.6% and 19.2% in crossbreds and local Zebu, respectively. In the present study, some potential risk factors such as age of cows, parity, stage of lactation, body condition in addition to some environmental factors and farm management factors were studied to find out their effects on the frequency of subclinical mastitis of lactating cattle. Among the host related potential risk factors breed, age, parity and body condition were found significantly (p<0.01) associated with the high prevalence of subclinical mastitis. Some environmental factors including type of housing, different husbandry systems, periodical disinfection of floor and hand washing before milking also influenced the prevalence of subclinical mastitis in lactating dairy cows. Some recommendations as intervention strategies were forwarded for improved control of mastitis in the region. Key word: Epidemiology, Subclinical mastitis, California mastitis test (CMT), Intramammary infection, Risk factors.


The authors have been involved in teaching on the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Postgraduate Diploma (now re-titled the Professional Postgraduate Diploma) Analysis and Decision paper (case study, now re-titled Strategic Marketing in Practice). The pressures faced by mature, professional students in maintaining a balance between work, home and study prompted the authors to undertake a study to ascertain whether the teaching methods employed on the case study are the most efficacious in terms of learning styles and work-life balance. The case study requires a great deal of student participation and group work and not all students enjoy, or benefit from, this approach. Those who do not engage in-group work tend to experience a higher risk of failure in the examination. Teamwork, interaction and peer knowledge transfer are all-important aspects of success. Those who benefit most are able to link theory with experience to provide comprehensive analysis and solutions to case problems. The potential value of the case study method of teaching has been demonstrated by leading practitioners such as the London Business School and Harvard Business School (Christensen & Hansen, 1987, cited in Kreber, 2001). Gross Davis (1993) summarises research into good case study practice as: - A good case study tells a story with a thought-provoking issue - Contains elements of conflict which promotes empathy with the main characters - Lacks an obvious straight-forward answer or solution - Requires students to develop a strategy and make a decision - Group work is important in case study analysis and development The output from classroom based case study work depends strictly upon student input and how active a role they are prepared to play. According to Leenders, Erskine and Leenders (1997, p7) to achieve positive outcomes students must: - Help by teaching others through plenary sessions - Actively participate - Take risks - Learn from instructors and classmates. Questionnaires were distributed to 60 current and ex-SBS students who had studied since October 2000. Twenty-eight (28) completed questionnaires were returned to support the research. Structured questions utilised the Likert scale technique enabled respondents to express degrees of relative preference (Easterby-Smith et al, 2002). Respondents were also asked to rank preferred learning modes across the range of CIM modules studied. The data highlights that evenings only, or afternoons and evenings, are an acceptable mode of study to the cohort. On line/distance learning is also shown to be an acceptable mode. However, the most preferred mode of study is evenings only. Students' least preferred modes of learning were intensive courses, online or distance study and in-company courses.


Abstract Objective: Examine campus experiences and relationships of college students with mental illnesses compared to general student norms using the College Student Experiences Questionnaire to understand potential sources of distress and retention issues. Participants: Responses were obtained from 449 former and current students with mental illnesses from more than 300 colleges and universities around the country. Methods: Participants completed an online survey available from July 2005 to July 2006. Results: Multivariate analysis of variance and t test results indicate that college students with mental illnesses report less engagement on campus and poorer relationships, and that these factors were associated with lower graduation rates. Students reporting they were treated differently "most of the time" because of a mental illness had the lowest levels of engagement and poorest relationships. Conclusions: More attention is needed to developing interventions that enhance social functioning and engagement and address stigma on campus in order to reduce distress and enhance retention.


Credit-to-GDP gaps are valuable early warning indicators for systemic banking crises. As such, they are useful for identifying vulnerabilities and can help guide the deployment of macroprudential tools such as the build-up of countercyclical capital buffers. In line with Basel III recommendations, credit-to-GDP gaps can be further improved by taking account of all sources of credit to the private non-financial sector, rather than just bank credit. Drawing on a new BIS database, this special feature finds that total credit developments predict the risk of systemic crises better than indicators based solely on bank credit.


We study in this paper the network spectral efficiency of a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) ad hoc network with K simultaneous communicating transmitter-receiver pairs. Assuming that each transmitter is equipped with t antennas and each receiver with r antennas and each receiver implements single-user detection, we show that in the absence of channel state information (CSI) at the transmitters, the asymptotic network spectral efficiency is limited by r nats/s/Hz as Krarrinfin and is independent of t and the transmit power. With CSI corresponding to the intended receiver available at the transmitter, we demonstrate that the asymptotic spectral efficiency is at least t+r+2radictr nats/s/Hz. Asymptotically optimum signaling is also derived under the same CSI assumption, i.e., each transmitter knows the channel corresponding to its desired receiver only. Further capacity improvement is possible with stronger CSI assumption; we demonstrate this using a heuristic interference suppression transmit beamforming approach. The conventional orthogonal transmission approach is also analyzed. In particular, we show that with idealized medium access control, the channelized transmission has unbounded asymptotic spectral efficiency under the constant per-user power constraint. The impact of different power constraints on the asymptotic spectral efficiency is also carefully examined. Finally, numerical examples are given that confirm our analysis


Background Cross country comparison facilitates examination of health-system and country-level similarities and differences on disease burden. Diabetes is a leading global health issue with outcomes influenced by psychological comorbidity. Diabetes is consistently associated with depression in different populations but any association is influenced by variations in prevalence, study design and measure used. We compared depressive symptom prevalence in older adults with and without diabetes across three health systems using a validated measure to examine the causal association between diabetes and depression. Methods We used data of adults aged 50 years and older, from three nationally representative ageing datasets; The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), the English Longitudinal Study on Ageing (ELSA) and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Data were collected during 2009–2011 (TILDA), and 2010 (ELSA, HRS). Variables; country, gender, age, education level, marital status and smoking status, were selected a priori using literature and a directed acyclic graph. Variables were self-report, with the exception of 'country', which was linked to the original dataset. The 20-item (cut-off-score>16;TILDA) and 8-item CESD (cut-off-score>3;ELSA and HRS) were used to categorise depression. Prevalence was presented as a percentage with corresponding 95% confidence intervals and group-specific differences presented using Pearson's chi-square test for categorical data and Student's t-test for continuous data. Binomial logistic regression examined the odds of depression by diabetes status, adjusting for pre-selected variables. Analyses of country-specific factors related to depression is ongoing. Data were analysed using Stata v15. Results Diabetes prevalence varied across the countries (Ireland; 8%[(95%CI:7.5–8.6), England; 11%(95%CI:10.6–12.0), USA; 22%[(95%CI:21.7–22.8); p<0.001]) and was consistently higher among males than females (Ireland; 10%(95%CI:8.9–10.8) vs. 6%(95%CI:5.3–6.7), England; 13%(95%CI:12.4–14.5) vs. 10%(95%CI:8.7–10.3), USA; 24%(95%CI:22.9–24.7) vs. 21%[(95%CI:20.3–21.8); p<0.001]). Depression prevalence was significantly higher among people with diabetes in all countries (Ireland; 12%(95%CI:9.8–15.1) vs. 10%[(95%CI:9.0–10.4), p=0.035], England; 34%(95%CI:31.0–37.0) vs. 22%[(95%CI:20.8–22.6):p<0.001], USA; 20%(95%CI:19.0–21.4) vs. 14%[(95%CI:13.6–14.7); p<0.001], in females (Ireland; 19%(95%CI:14.6–23.9) vs. 12%[(95%CI:11.0–12.9); p=0.001], England; 39%(95%CI:34.2–43.4) vs. 25%[(95%CI:24.0–26.6); p<0.001], USA; 24%(95%CI:21.9–25.3) vs. 16%[(15.4–16.9); p<0.001]), and in males (Ireland; 8%[(95%CI:5.3–10.8) vs. 7%[(95%CI:6.1–7.9); p=0.644], England; 30%(95%CI:25.8–33.9) vs. 17%(95%CI:15.7–18.3); p<0.001], USA; 16%(95%CI:14.4–17.7) vs. 11%[(95%CI:10.6–12.2); p<0.001]. After adjusting for all model variables, people with diabetes had 1.5 increased odds of depression compared to people without diabetes [(95%CI:1.4–1.6), p<0.001]. Conclusion In older people in three countries with different health systems, depressive symptom prevalence was (1) consistently higher among men and women with diabetes than non-diabetes counterparts and (2) varied across health systems. While use of self-report data may limit the accuracy of the results, use of the CESD to categorise depression and of large nationally representative datasets strengthens the study. Interrogation of additional country-level factors associated with depression will further explain variation in depressive symptom prevalence across health systems.


Abstract : A summary of Bragg deflection theory and various approaches to direct detection acoustooptic spectrum analysis (AOSA) modeling is presented. A suitable model is chosen and extended to include the effects of diffraction efficiency, transducer efficiency, irradiance profiles of incident laser illumination, aperture size of the Bragg cell, and the acoustic attenuation experienced by the acoustic wavetrain generated by the input r-f signal. A Fortran program is developed to model the AOSA and predict the output image plane intensity profiles. A second version of the program includes a time variable permitting dynamic simulation of the system response. (Author)


The properties of paper sheets can be tuned by adjusting the surface or bulk chemistry using functional polymers that are applied during (online) or after (offline) papermaking processes. In particular, polymers are widely used to enhance the mechanical strength of the wet state of paper sheets. However, the mechanical strength depends not only on the chemical nature of the polymeric additives but also on the distribution of the polymer on and in the lignocellulosic paper. Here, we analyze the photochemical attachment and distribution of hydrophilic polydimethylacrylamide-co-methacrylate-benzophenone P(DMAA-co-MABP) copolymers with defined amounts of photoreactive benzophenone moieties in model paper sheets. Raman microscopy was used for the unambiguous identification of P(DMAA-co-MABP) and cellulose specific bands and thus the copolymer distribution within the cellulose matrix. Two-dimensional Raman spectral maps at the intersections of overlapping cellulose fibers document that the macromolecules only partially surround the cellulose fibers, favor to attach to the fiber surface, and connect the cellulose fibers at crossings. Moreover, the copolymer appears to accumulate preferentially in holes, vacancies, and dips on the cellulose fiber surface. Correlative brightfield, Raman, and confocal laser scanning microscopy finally reveal a reticular three-dimensional distribution of the polymer and show that the polymer is predominately deposited in regions of high capillarity (i.e., in proximity to fine cellulose fibrils). These data provide deeper insights into the effects of paper functionalization with a copolymer and aid in understanding how these agents ultimately influence the local and overall properties of paper.


Gallium nitride (GaN), a wide-bandgap III–V semiconductor material with a bandgap wavelength λg = 366 nm (for Wurtzite GaN) and transparency window covering the visible spectrum, has a large number of applications for photonics and optoelectronics. However, the optical quality of this material suffers from growth imperfections due to the lack of a suitable substrate. Recent studies have shown that GaN grown on (−201) β – Ga2O3 (gallium oxide) has better lattice matching and hence superior optical quality as compared to GaN grown traditionally on Al2O3 (sapphire). In this work, we report on the fabrication of GaN waveguides on Ga2O3 substrate, followed by a wet-etch process aimed at the reduction of waveguide surface roughness and improvement of side-wall verticality in these waveguides. The propagation loss in the resulting waveguides has been experimentally determined to be 7.5 dB/cm.


Konjac glucomannan (KGM) was converted into water insoluble konjac glucomannan (WIKGM) by treating with NaOH through completely deacetylated reaction. Adsorption study was carried out for the adsorption of Pb2+ from aqueous solution using water insoluble konjac glucomannan. The influences of pH, contact time, temperature and initial Pb2+ concentration on the absorbent were studied. Results of kinetic data showed that the Pb2+ adsorption rate was fast and good correlation coefficients were obtained for the pseudo second-order kinetic model. The equilibrium process was described well by the Langmuir isotherm model with maximum adsorption capacity of 9.18 mg/g on WIKGM at 25°C.


This paper describes some of the features of science lectures in French higher education and analyses their didactic implications when training foreign students in French for academic purposes. The first critical feature is the nature of discourse in lectures, both in the sciences and in the humanities : it is a form of dialogic monologue with tokens of interaction even when the audience produces no verbal reactions. The second feature is the presence of written discourse on the blackboard. The lecturer writes down elements as she/he goes on with explanations. This form of written discourse is clearly linked to the oral one and this link is manifested in many prosodic, lexical, morpho-syntactic and discursive features in the oral discourse produced by the lecturer, resulting in a sort of double discourse. The second part of the paper shows that, whether considered as an aid or as an obstacle to comprehension, these discursive features have to be included in any work on listening comprehension for foreign students preparing for academic work in France.


Context. Sub-stellar objects exhibit photometric variability, which is believed to be caused by a number of processes, such as magnetically-driven spots or inhomogeneous cloud coverage. Recent sub-stellar models have shown that turbulent flows and waves, including internal gravity waves, may play an important role in cloud evolution.
Aims. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of internal gravity waves on dust nucleation and dust growth, and whether observations of the resulting cloud structures could be used to recover atmospheric density information.
Methods. For a simplified atmosphere in two dimensions, we numerically solved the governing fluid equations to simulate the effect on dust nucleation and mantle growth as a result of the passage of an internal gravity wave. Furthermore, we derived an expression that relates the properties of the wave-induced cloud structures to observable parameters in order to deduce the atmospheric density.
Results. Numerical simulations show that the density, pressure, and temperature variations caused by gravity waves lead to an increase of the dust nucleation rate by up to a factor 20, and an increase of the dust mantle growth rate by up to a factor 1.6, compared to their equilibrium values. Through an exploration of the wider sub-stellar parameter space, we show that in absolute terms, the increase in dust nucleation due to internal gravity waves is stronger in cooler (T dwarfs) and TiO2-rich sub-stellar atmospheres. The relative increase, however, is greater in warm (L dwarf) and TiO2-poor atmospheres due to conditions that are less suited for efficient nucleation at equilibrium. These variations lead to banded areas in which dust formation is much more pronounced, similar to the cloud structures observed on Earth.
Conclusions. We show that internal gravity waves propagating in the atmosphere of sub-stellar objects can produce banded clouds structures similar to that observed on Earth. We propose a method with which potential observations of banded clouds could be used to estimate the atmospheric density of sub-stellar objects.


In our study urine protein composition of 18 healthy volunteers was compared with that of 18 patients with ischemic heart disease and concomitant hypertension. Liquid chromatography-mass-spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis of the second fraction of morning urine was carried out using nano-line high performance liquid chromatograph and hybrid mass spectrometer. The analysis revealed 23 proteins expressed in the endothelium, according to the information contained in the database Bgee, and 49 proteins, with direct functional link with the processes in the endothelium in the reconstruction of associative networks using ANDSystem program. Comparison of urine proteome of healthy people and patients with postinfarction cardiosclerosis revealed proteins specific for patients with cardiovascular disease. Thus, proteins vitronectin, syndecan-4, a histidine rich glycoprotein, endothelial protein C receptor, colony stimulating factor, cathepsin D and sekretogranin-1 may be considered as potential markers for cardiovascular diseases. Further research in this area should be conducted for clinical and experimental verification of these hypotheses.


Subsidizing the geographical mobility of unemployed workers may improve welfare by relaxing their financial constraints and allowing them to find jobs in more prosperous regions. We exploit regional variation in the promotion of mobility programs along administrative borders of German employment agency districts to investigate the causal effect of offering such financial incentives on the job search behavior and labor market integration of unemployed workers. We show that promoting mobility - as intended causes job seekers to increase their search radius, apply for and accept distant jobs. At the same time, local job search is reduced with adverse consequences for reemployment and earnings. These unintended negative effects are provoked by spatial search frictions. Overall, the unconditional provision of mobility programs harms the welfare of unemployed job seekers.


In Culture Shock, participants explore the potential influence of organizational culture and national culture differences on communication, interaction, and reaching agreement. The role play, with observers, involves two employees from different organizations involved in a strategic alliance who come together to plan an upcoming meeting. Their respective role information instructs them to behave and communicate in ways consistent with their own organization's culture, which also is affected by national culture. During debriefing discussions afterward participants explore the impact of cultural differences—as well as other kinds of differences—and how employees can more effectively work across organizational cultures and national cultures. Facilitators can suggest "cultural due diligence" as a way to increase the likelihood of successful interaction and discuss steps that could be taken if the role play interaction does not achieve its objectives.


Introduction: The pulse pressure is an important marker and/or predictor of atherosclerotic cardiovascular accidents risks. Objective: To determine what relation there is between the pulse pressure and the myocardial acute infarction (MAI) in hypertensives and non-hypertensives, to establish observational criteria and the control of this component of blood pressure. Methods: A case-control, analytical and retrospective study was designed including a study group of 200 patients diagnosed with myocardial acute infarction, admitted in the Coronary Ward of the "Enrique Cabrera" Hospital during 2006-2007 and other control study in 200 patients admitted in Medicine Wards without cardiovascular disease excluding the diabetic a those aged under 30 according to a random selection. Study variables included: age, sex, smoking, systolic arterial pressure (SAP), diastolic arterial pressure (DAP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), pulse pressure (PP) high blood pressure (HBP) and presence or not of myocardial infarction. Groups of pulse pressure = 50 mmHg and < 50 mmHg were created in hypertensive and nonhypertensive patients. Results: La myocardial infarction frequency in patients aged 30-39 was of 2 % and in the group aged over 60 or more, it was of 68,5%; the 54 % was of male sex, the HBP frequency was of 85,5 % and that of smokers of 51,5 % and with a PP = 50 mmHg, 76,0 %. The relation among SAP, DAP, MAP and HBP with the increase of pulse pressure (p = 0,000). The association of pulse pressure with MAI in hypertensive patients was significant with a OR 6,46 CI 95 % (3,72, 11,21) and in those non-hypertensive also it was significant with a OR 8,9 CI 95 % (3,51, 22,56). Conclusions: The pulse pressure may be a very useful tool in the observation, treatment and control of patients with MAI risk, both, in hypertensives and non-hypertensives.


Objective : To evaluate the effectiveness of fusiform surgical excision of intradermal melanocytic nevus and to document the aesthetic outcome of post-excisional surgical scar. Study Design : Prospective longitudinal study. Place and Duration of Study : Tertiary Care Hospital, Gujranwala Pakistan, from Apr to Oct 2021. Methodology: Patients with intradermal melanocytic nevus were enrolled after informed consent. Close-up photographs of the nevus and the site post-excision were taken. Local anaesthesia was injected with 2% Lignocaine with Adrenaline under aseptic measures. An elliptical incision with scalpel blade-15 was made around the nevus. The length of the incision was almost three times its width. Nevus and the involved tissue were removed to its full depth. A visual analogue scale was used to assess the scar cosmesis. Results: A total of 37 intradermal melanocytic nevi, were included in the study. The size of the intradermal melanocytic nevus ranged from 0.5-2cm with a duration of 3-10 years. The mean visual analogue scar scale on day 5 of surgical excision was 7.23±1.423, and on day seven was 5.37±0.575. Surgical sutures were removed on day 5 in 13(35.1%) cases and day-7 in 24(64.9%) cases. Conclusion : Surgical excision is an effective treatment modality for intradermal melanocytic nevus.


With the tremendous growth of social networks, there has been a growth in the amount of new data that is being created every minute on these networking sites. Twitter acts as a great source of rich information for millions of users on the internet and therefore is apt for applying data mining. The notion of community in this social networking world has caught lots of attention. Such algorithms are even harder to analyse users on Twitter as it is an asymmetric micro blogging service. If you follow me, I do not have to follow you. This means that the connections of Twitter depend less on in-person contact, as many users have more followers than they know. Studying Twitter is useful for understanding how people use new communication technologies to form social connections and maintain existing ones. We begin with a few discussions of how geo-tagged tweets in Twitter can be used to identify useful user features and behaviours as well as identify landmarks/places of interests. We then present an analysis of clustering algorithms and propose different similarity measures to detect communities. We conclude with a brief discussion about different similarity features that affect the event of a future mention between users on Twitter.


A discrete-trial choice procedure was used to examine the reinforcing and subjective effects of four anorectic drugs (mazindol, benzphetamine, phenylpropanolamine and phenmetrazine) in groups of normal healthy adults. For each experiment, subjects first sampled placebo and a dose of one of the drugs (mazindol: 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mg; benzphetamine: 25 and 50 mg; phenylpropanolamine: 12.5, 25 and 50 mg; phenmetrazine: 25 and 50 mg; all p.o.). Subjects were then allowed to choose between drug and placebo on five separate occasions. The relative frequency with which active drug was chosen over placebo was used as an index of the drug's reinforcing efficacy. Subjective effects were measured with an experimental version of the Profile of Mood States, a short form of the Addiction Research Center Inventory and a series of visual analog scales. The rank order for reinforcing efficacy was benzphetamine approximately phenmetrazine greater than placebo greater than phenylpropanolamine much greater than mazindol. Ratings of drug liking were positively correlated with number of drug choices for each drug. Benzphetamine and phenmetrazine produced subjective effects characteristic of amphetamine-like drugs and increased ratings of drug liking. Mazindol produced only dysphoric subjective effects and decreased ratings of drug liking. Phenylpropanolamine had no significant effects on subjective measures or drug-liking ratings. These findings are consistent with the presumed dependence potential of these compounds, and demonstrate the validity of this experimental paradigm for assessing the reinforcing effects of anorectics in normal human volunteers.


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 Genetic determinants of essential hypertension remain poorly understood. To date, the focus of molecular genetic research has been primarily on the nuclear genes, whereas the role of the mitochondrial genome has not been ascertained. Although mitochondrial genome is just 16.5 kilobase pairs in length and comprises less than 1% of the total nucleic acid content in mammalian cells, mitochondria occupy pivotal position in human cellular bioenergetics, and mitochondrial defects have been implicated in a wide spectrum of human genetic disorders. In contrast to nuclear inheritance, mitochondrial genome is inherited exclusively through the mother. To assess the relative maternal and paternal contributions to the familial aggregation of hypertension, we examined family history data obtained from 310 hypertensive probands (65 African American, 149 US Caucasian, 96 Greek Caucasian) ascertained without respect to parental hypertension status. Proportions of affected mothers and fathers were compared using a χ
 2
 test. Cumulative lifetime risk for hypertension in mothers and fathers was estimated using a maximum likelihood extension of Kaplan Meier survival analysis. We found that the proportion of hypertensive mothers was significantly greater than the proportion of hypertensive fathers in all three ethnic groups. The proportions of hypertensive mothers were 83.9, 63.2 and 83.3% for African Americans, US Caucasians and Greek Caucasians, respectively. In contrast, the observed proportions for fathers were, respectively, 53.2, 47.3 and 48.8%. In conclusion, we observe a consistent maternal component in the inheritance of hypertension in three ethnic groups. Although environmental and epigenetic influences can not be excluded, our findings provide a new dimension in the search for the genetic components of hypertension and suggest that hypertension may prove to be not only polygenic but also "polygenomic" disorder. Furthermore, our data indicate that when assessing a patient's risk for hypertension, particular attention should be paid to the maternal portion of the family history.


This study examines whether the national minimum wage has changed aspects of individuals' work arrangements, other than just their hourly wage, drawing on data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings and the Labour Force Survey. In contrast to earlier U.K. studies, the analysis includes worker fixed effects, thereby controlling for all time-invariant factors that influence employment outcomes. The results indicate that the minimum wage has a negative effect on a person's likelihood of remaining in the same job, although its effect on the probability of exiting employment altogether is modest, since many workers change firms within a year of a minimum wage rise. Among those who remain with the same employer, the minimum wage reduces hours and weeks of work. It has little effect on levels of non-basic pay, the use of temporary contracts or flexible employment arrangements or the provision of pensions. Measurement error and the shortness of the panel in the Labour Force Survey limit the ability to derive accurate estimates using these data.


Abstract In computational chemistry, the molecular structures are modelled as graphs which are called the molecular graphs. In these graphs, each vertex represents an atom and each edge denotes covalent bound between atoms. It is shown that the topological indices defined on the molecular graphs can reflect the chemical characteristics of chemical compounds and drugs. In this paper, we report several degree based indices of some widely used chemical molecular structures by means of edge dividing technology.


This study looks at the social network that exists during information systems development (ISD). By introducing a social network perspective of information systems project management, social network analysis and its concepts of embeddedness, structural holes, and centrality can be used to reveal organizational phenomena that might otherwise be overlooked. In this study we analyze the social network from a successful systems development project in a health care setting, looking particularly at the emergence and role of change agents. The results of this research suggest that the ISD transactions are embedded in the social relations, implying that social relations and ISD must be managed jointly to achieve a successful (system solution) project. Social network analysis allows simultaneously measuring the ISD project transactions and the social relationships that tie them together, providing a new perspective that can be used to build an effective project management infrastructure.


SIR,-I suggest that the difficulties in Dr. D. F. C. Deacon's area, and in some others, may be partly ones of communication (7 October, p. 53). The term " geriatric " carries too many meanings. Some speakers mean any patient over 65, but most exclude surgical cases; some mean any chronic illness; others only chronic illness of the elderly; some think only of confused or incontinent patients, or patients with social difficuties, or possibly both. I fear that our administration will never be rid of this word, once coined to describe certain new medical knowledge, but now applied to beds, chairs, wards, doctors, and anything else in need of an adjective. May I plead for caution when recommending patients for admission ? Ambiguity at such times can be disastrous. "Geriatric emergencies" are not always medical emergencies. They may prove to have chronic dementia, longstanding hemiplegia, or simply no home. Some small crisis, domestic or medical, has exacerbated long-standing difficulties. Admitted in haste, they block precious beds for months, for the longstay unit, geared carefully to an assessed waiting-list, cannot suddenly take them over. Small wonder that "acute" wards try to exclude them. Chronic dementia is a particularly serious problem. I hold strongly that these cases should be nursed apart from fully sane patients of any age and that they are as unsuitable for the acute geriatric wards as for the acute medical wards. Dr. Deacon's patients evidently agree with me. Confusion or delirium due to acute illness seems, however, to be tolerated by sane patients, who see the necessity for urgent physical treatment of so sick a man. Differential diagnosis may be difficult, but the relevant history helps greatly, and the general practitioner may know this best. If we are to separate these cases it is not enough to hold special beds empty for psychogeriatric emergencies. We must direct the right cases to these beds, and need a clear diagnosis on the telephone. The phrase " I have a geriatric emergency case" is too vague. Please can we avoid it ?I am, etc., G. DALAWELL WALKER.


The current assortment of pot azalea (Rhododendron simsii hybrids) has been created from a relatively narrow basis of collectors material (botanical gardens, private collections) brought from the far east. R. simsii, the main ancestor, originates from hilly areas in China (Chang Jiang valley), Thailand, Laos and Burma. However, several other species from the Tsutsusi subgenus, from South-Asia and Japan, might have contributed: e.g. R. indicum, R. mucronatum and R. scabrum. From the Kunming Institute of Botany (China) 33 seed lots from natural populations in mountain area's with an altitude ranging from 250 to 3500 In were obtained. The majority of these Rhododendron species belong to the Tsutsusi subgenus; 8 are R. simsii. per population 10 plants were analysed by AFLP using 3 primer combinations. They were compared to the breeders pot azalea genepool (70 plants, some with common pedigree and bud sports). AFLP was performed using the commercially available kit (ABI-Perkin-Elmer) for fluorescent fragment detection on an ABI Prism 377 DNA Sequencer. The genetic diversity of the different gene pools was analysed by comparison of the marker frequencies, by calculating similarity indices, by multivariate analysis and AMOVA. Small differences within populations were observed. Large variation was observed within the R. simsii species and between the different species from the Tsutsusi subgenus. The pot azalea genepool was clearly distinguishable from the Chinese accessions. On dendrograms it was more closely clustered to R, simsii and X. mucronatum than to less related species.


On 23 June 2016, the British people decided to leave the European Union (EU). Although the withdrawal process has not yet started, it is not surprising that some concerns have emerged in relation to the situation of British citizens residing outside the United Kingdom (but within the EU) who do not possess the nationality of another EU Member State, and citizens of the Union residing in the United Kingdom. From 'the leave date', British citizens will no longer possess the status of citizens of the Union, and will subsequently become third-country nationals for EU law purposes. Conversely, the United Kingdom will no longer be part of the EU territory and EU citizens can no longer exercise the rights and freedoms conferred to them within the EU. In this scenario, the right to reside in the EU for British citizens and in the United Kingdom for citizens of the Union could become legally uncertain. This contribution departs from the EU law perspective and takes a human rights approach to dealing with the issue of residence rights. It will be argued that residence rights, in an EU context, can be retained by operation of the provisions of the ECHR.


AIMS
To investigate whether genetic variants of CYP2C9 and VKORC1 have different effects on the dose of warfarin in 180 Han Chinese patients who were recruited from the Fu Wai Hospital. All were on maintenance treatment with stable daily warfarin doses for a period of at least 3 months.

METHODS
DNA was isolated and genotyped using a Warfarin dosage Prediction Kit for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of CYP2C9 and VKORC1.

RESULTS
The VKORC1 and CYP2C9*3 polymorphisms are significantly associated with warfarin maintenance dosages. Patients with AG and GG genotype in VKORC1 needed higher doses than those with AA genotypes (4.55 ± 1.27 mg/day vs. 2.90 ± 0.97 mg/day, p < 0.001). Patients with *1/*3 genotype in CYP2C9 need doses lower than those with *1/*1 genotypes (1.73 ± 0.95 mg/day vs. 3.23 ± 1.13 mg/day, p < 0.001). There were no significant differences between the warfarin maintenance dosages in patients with atrial fibrillation (3.09 ± 1.16 mg/day), patients with heart valve replacement (2.95 ± 1.21 mg/day) and those with both atrial fibrillation and heart valve replacement (3.36 ± 1.13 mg/day) (p > 0.05). The mean warfarin daily dose requirements in the genotypes of VKORC1 and CYP2C9 were not dependent on the medical indication(s) present.

CONCLUSIONS
Genetic variants of CYP2C9, VKORC1, and age are significant determinants of the maintenance dose of warfarin. The medical indications atrial fibrillation, valve replacement, or a combination of both are not determinants of the warfarin dose requirements.


This letter presents a vertical gate-all-around silicon nanowire transistor on bulk silicon wafer utilizing fully CMOS compatible technology. High aspect ratio (up to 50: 1) vertical nanowires with diameter ~20 nm are achieved from lithography and dry-etch defined Si-pillars with subsequent oxidation. The surrounding gate length is controlled using etch back of the sacrificial oxide. N-MOS devices thus fabricated with gate length ~150 nm showed excellent transistor characteristics with large drive current (1.0 times 103 muA/mum), high Ion/Ioff ratio (~107), good subthreshold slope (~80 mV/dec) and low drain-induced barrier lowering (~10 mV/V). Along with good electrical characteristics, the use of low cost bulk wafers, and simple gate definition process steps could make this device a suitable candidate for next generation technology nodes.


A 27+2 week gestation baby had a relatively uneventful initial neonatal course. At 3 weeks age, her feeds were increased to 200 ml/kg/day to optimise weight gain. She subsequently developed recurrent desaturations that were felt to be secondary to reflux. Gaviscon was added to her milk. She tolerated her feeds well and there were no abdominal symptoms …


ABSTRACT Platelet microbicidal proteins (PMPs), small cationic peptides released at sites of endovascular damage, kill common bloodstream pathogens in vitro. Our group previously showed that in vitro resistance of clinical staphylococcal and viridans group streptococcal bacteremic strains to PMPs correlated with the diagnosis of infective endocarditis (IE) (Wu et al., Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 38:729–732, 1994). However, that study was limited by (i) the small number of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from IE patients, (ii) the retrospective nature of the case definitions, and (iii) the diverse geographic sources of strains. The present study evaluated the in vitro PMP susceptibility phenotype of a large number of staphylococcemic isolates (n = 60), collected at a single medical center and categorized by defined and validated clinical criteria. A significantly higher proportion of staphylococcemic strains from patients with IE was PMP resistant in vitro than the proportion of strains from patients with soft tissue sepsis (83% and 33%, respectively; P < 0.01). Moreover, the levels of PMP resistance (mean percent survival of strains after 2-h exposure to PMP in vitro) were significantly higher for isolates from patients with IE and with vascular catheter sepsis than for strains from patients with abscess sepsis (P < 0.005 and P < 0.01, respectively). These data further support the concept that bloodstream pathogens that exhibit innate or acquired PMP resistance have a survival advantage with respect to either the induction or progression of endovascular infections.


In cultured granulosa cells, interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) induced a time-dependent (16-72 h) and dose-related (0.3-30 ng/ml) stimulation of nitric oxide (NO) synthase (NOS) activity, as determined by the catalytic conversion of [3H]arginine to [3H]citrulline and NO2- accumulation in the culture medium. Although FSH alone failed to stimulate NOS activity, concomitant treatment with the gonadotropin (200 ng/ ml) or the cell-permeant cAMP analog (Bu)2cAMP (0.5 mM) markedly enhanced IL-1 beta-induced NO generation in cultured granulosa cells. The effect of IL-1 beta on citrulline biosynthesis and NO2- accumulation was abrogated by the NOS inhibitor NG-methyl-L-arginine or the IL-1-receptor antagonist protein. In contrast bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide), interferon-gamma, or tumor necrosis factor-alpha, which are well known inducers of inducible NOS (iNOS) in a variety of immunocompetent and nonimmunocompetent cell types, failed to increase [3H]citrulline formation or NO2- accumulation in untreated or FSH-stimulated cells. As demonstrated by reverse transcriptase-PCR analysis, IL-1 beta-stimulated NO generation was accompanied by a time-dependent increase in messenger RNA levels for iNOS and GTP-cyclohydrolase (GTPCH), the rate-limiting step for de novo tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) biosynthesis. Treatment with FSH augmented only GTPCH messenger RNA expression, and a more than additive GTPCH signal was observed when cells were simultaneously challenged with IL-1 beta and FSH. Treatment with the GTPCH inhibitor 2,4-diamino-6-hydroxypyrimidine prevented IL-1 beta-induced NOS activity in untreated or FSH-stimulated cells, and this inhibition was completely reversed by sepiapterin, a substrate for BH4 biosynthesis, via an alternative pterin salvage pathway present in many cell types. As BH4 is an essential cofactor for NOS catalytic activity, these observations strongly suggest that FSH-induced biosynthesis of endogenous BH4 is essential for full iNOS biosynthetic capacity in IL-1 beta-stimulated granulosa cells.


This study consists of in-depth analysis of six international evaluations of Norwegian research. There was little overlapping competence on the panels, a high degree of task division and the composition of an expert panel, the organisation of its work and lack of group interaction, may have been decisive for the conclusions of the evaluations. Moreover, there seems to have been a serious disparity between the processes and resources of the studied evaluations and the demands that ideally should be met when judging scholarly quality. The revealed weaknesses are believed to be inherent to the concept of expert panel evaluation of research as an instrument for national research policy, and not specific for the studied evaluations. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.


We consider a linear effective vielbein matter coupling without introducing the Boulware-Deser ghost in ghost-free massive gravity. This is achieved in the partially constrained vielbein formulation. We first introduce the formalism and prove the absence of ghost at all scales. As next we investigate the cosmological application of this coupling in this new formulation. We show that even if the background evolution accords with the metric formulation, the perturbations display important different features in the partially constrained vielbein formulation. We study the cosmological perturbations of the two branches of solutions separately. The tensor perturbations coincide with those in the metric formulation. Concerning the vector and scalar perturbations, the requirement of absence of ghost and gradient instabilities yields slightly different allowed parameter space.


In his 1999 AHS Nikolsky Lecture: Technology for Rotorcraft Affordability through Integrated Product/Process Development (IPPD) the author described the cultural change taking place in industry and government due to the Quality Revolution which identified the need for concurrent engineering education and training,as well as new systems approach methodologies that captured the essence of IPPD and Product/Process Simulation. Something like a modern approach to the systems engineering methodology that was developed in the late 1950's and early 1960's for designing and building large scale complex systems, such as ballistic missiles and manned space flight systems, was needed. A generic IPPD methodology was developed by the primary author and his colleagues and taught to industry and government through short courses and professional education. This generic IPPD methodology also became the foundation for the development of the Georgia Tech graduate program in Aerospace Systems Design education and research and led to a large, unique laboratory, the Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory (ASDL), established in 1992, which is now believed to be the largest graduate university complex system design laboratory in the world. With research grants from government and industry the generic IPPD methodology was expanded to include Robust Design Simulation (RDS), Fast Probability Integration (FPI) and Technology Identification Evaluation & Selection (TIES A summary of this evolution to RDS and some of the PhD research that led to this evolution has been documented in Value-Driven Design (VDD) VDD has been at the heart of the IPPD through RDS methodology. This paper will describe how VDD has been applied for numerous rotorcraft designs through the AHS and rotorcraft industry student design competitions. It will also describe planned research efforts to expand VDD to Value Based Acquisition (VBA) to help make Future Vertical Lift (FVL) more capable, available, dependable and affordable.


OBJECTIVES
Since neuropathologic diagnosis in the developing world is hampered by limitations in technical infrastructure, trained laboratory personnel, and subspecialty-trained pathologists, the use of telepathology for diagnostic support, second-opinion consultations, and ongoing training holds promise as a means of addressing these challenges. This study aims to assess the utility of static teleneuropathology in improving neuropathologic diagnoses in low- and middle-income countries.

METHODS
Consecutive neurosurgical biopsy and resection specimens obtained at Muhimbili National Hospital in Tanzania between July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019, were selected for retrospective, blinded static-image neuropathologic review followed by on-site review by an expert neuropathologist.

RESULTS
A total of 75 neuropathologic cases were reviewed. The agreement of static images and on-site glass diagnosis was 71% with strict criteria and 88% with less stringent criteria. This represents an overall improvement in diagnostic accuracy from 36% by general pathologists to 71% by a neuropathologist using static telepathology (or from 76% to 88% with less stringent criteria).

CONCLUSIONS
Telepathology offers a promising means of providing diagnostic support, second-opinion consultations, and ongoing training to pathologists practicing in resource-limited countries. Moreover, static digital teleneuropathology is an uncomplicated, cost-effective, and reliable way to achieve these goals.


PURPOSE
To evaluate the MR appearance of the hypothalamus and its associated white matter tracts.

METHODS
Coronal and sagittal spin-echo images were obtained in cadaver brains. Gross and histologic sections were made of the cadaver brains. The size, shape, signal intensity, course, and pattern of structures in the hypothalamic region were identified in MR images by comparison with the anatomic sections.

RESULTS
The mamillary bodies, paraventricular zone of hypothalamic nuclei, postcommissural fornix, mammillothalamic fasciculus, and anterior commissure were identified on the MR images.

CONCLUSION
This study suggests that, with MR imaging of sufficiently high resolution, some of the tracts and nuclei in the hypothalamus may be identified.


Utilizing alternative materials is an important tactic to improve the environmental performance of products. Currently a growing array of materials candidates confronts today's product designer. While life-cycle assessment (LCA) methods provide quantitative input into this selection decision, their implementations are evolving and disparate. The goal of this paper is to explore several major analytical variations of LCA implementations and the implications of these variants across a range of application contexts. Specifically, this thesis examines analytical variations in valuation method and treatment of recycling by exploring allocation methods that affect product end-of-life. An abstracted case study across a range of materials is presented, including materials that exhibit a spectrum in variation of environmental performance and material degradation between primary and secondary applications. To date, research has shown that the amount of recycled material delivered by, or used in, the life cycle of a product will affect the environmental burdens of other product life cycles. However, explicit consideration has not been given to the question of whether end-of-life allocation methods can lead to different materials selection decisions in early stage product development cycles. Similarly stemming from this question is the issue of, if so, how do these allocation methods differentially favor certain material classes? Results indicate that the choice of analytical method as well as its underlying parameters can have substantial impact on individual metrics that determine environmentally preferred material and that there are sets of analytical variation over which strategic results are strongly affected. Thesis Supervisor: Randolph E. Kirchain Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Engineering Systems Division


We study the butterfly effect by considering shock wave solutions near the horizon of the AdS black brane in some of 3-dimensional Gravity models including; 3D Einstein Gravity, Minimal Massive 3D Gravity, New Massive Gravity, Generalized Massive Gravity, Born-Infeld 3D Gravity and New Bi-Gravity. We calculate the butterfly velocities of these models and also we consider the critical points and different limits in some of these models. By studying the butterfly effect in the Generalized Massive Gravity, we observe a correspondence between the butterfly velocities and right-left moving degrees of freedom or the central charges of the dual 2D Conformal Field Theories.