This paper introduces a hardware method of improving the performance of any synchronous digital system We exploit the well known observation that typical delays in synchronous systems are much less then the worst case delays usually designed to typically by factors of two or three or more Our proposed family of hardware solutions employs timing error toleration TIMERRTOL to take advantage of this characteristic Brie y TIMERRTOL works by operating the system at speeds corresponding to typical delays detecting when timing errors occur and then allocating more time for the signals to settle to their correct values The reference paths in the circuitry operate at lower speeds so as to always exhibit correct values worst case delays The nominal speedups of the solutions are the same as the ratio of worst case to typical delays for the application system The increases in cost and power dissipation are reasonable We present the basic designs for a family of three solutions and examine and test one solution in detail it has been realized in hardware It works and exhibits substantially improved performance


This dissertation investigated whether different forms of praise could affect the latency of help-seeking in young children. Two forms of praise were investigated: person- praise and process-praise. Previous research found that process-praise led to greater task persistence than person -praise. In experiment 1, four-year-old children were asked to solve a series of wooden jigsaw puzzles. The children received either person-praise or process-praise upon solving the first four puzzles. The children were then provided with incorrect, yet highly similar puzzle pieces for two subsequent puzzles to create experiences of failure. Results replicated previous task persistence findings, however no effect on help-seeking was found. It was postulated that the obviousness of providing incorrect puzzle pieces created inauthentic failure experiences. Experiment 2 sought to tease apart the results from experiment 1 by using stimuli that created genuine failure experiences. Results revealed that person-praise reduced the latency to seek help compared to process-praise when children experienced genuine failures. In addition, experiment 2 examined the generalization of the task persistence findings by using stimuli that were different from those used when the children were praised. Results revealed that the effects of praise on task persistence did not transfer to dissimilar tasks. Individual differences were also examined in both studies using parent reported temperament ratings. The temperament domain of effortful control moderated the influence of praise on help-seeking behavior in both studies. Results showed that the type of stimuli used influenced the interactions in different ways. These findings were the first to suggest that praise could influence help-seeking behavior in young children, but only after experiencing genuine failures. We discussed possible implications this finding has on the interpretation of previous research and proposed future studies to further examine the possible influences of praise on young children's adaptive learning strategies


Many methods are available to analyze rank ordered data. We used a spectral density analysis to identify most preferred options of Formosan Subterranean Termites (FST) control as ranked by Louisiana homeowners. Respondents are asked to rank four termite control methods form the most preferred option to the least preferred option. Spectral analysis of both complete and partial ranked data indicates that the most preferred termite control choice is a relatively cheap ($0.13 per square foot) option of a Liquid treatment.


May 30, 2019 – Private equity deals are key to fueling the growth of small firms, as well as the Canadian economy, according to a report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In "Growth Surge: How Private Equity Can Scale Up Firms and the Economy," Daniel Schwanen, Jeremy Kronick and Farah Omran examine the role of private equity as a stepping stone for growth by home-grown firms and recommend governments implement measures that can help firms grow, or gain a more solid footing, beyond the initial venture stage.


OBJECTIVE To investigate possible differences in Th1 and Th2 cytokine mRNA expression in the synovial tissue (ST) of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and seronegative spondyloarthropathies (SpA) with diagnostic and/or pathogenic interest. METHODS Eleven RA patients and 14 SpA patients (10 with undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy (USpA), two with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and two with psoriatic arthritis (PsA)) were included. Th1 (interferon γ, interleukin 2) and Th2 (interleukin 4, interleukin 5 and interleukin 10) cytokine mRNA levels from arthritic knee ST were quantified by using an optimised polymerase chain reaction method with a computerised analysis system. Protein levels of proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin 1, tumour necrosis factor α and interleukin 6) in synovial fluid were quantified with a specific ELISA test. RESULTS Th1 cytokines were detected in all of RA ST samples in contrast with 58% (interferon γ) and 71% (interleukin 2) of SpA samples. Th2 cytokines were expressed in 90% of RA ST samples, but the findings in SpA were interleukin 10 in 90%, interleukin 4 in 60% and interleukin 5 in 40% of ST samples. However, when the mRNA levels of each cytokine were quantified and corrected for T cell mRNA levels, only interferon γ levels were significantly higher in RA than in SpA (p<0.003). Thus, the Th1/Th2 cytokine ratio in RA was fivefold that of SpA. Synovial fluid interleukin 1β concentrations were higher in RA than in SpA (p<0.05); there were also higher synovial fluid levels of tumour necrosis factor α in RA than in SpA, but without statistical significance. CONCLUSION This study has detected both Th1 and Th2 cytokine gene expression in ST from RA and SpA patients. Synovium interferon γ mRNA levels and SF interleukin 1β protein levels were significantly higher in RA than in SpA, so reflecting the known proinflammatory activity of interferon γ through macrophage activation. Thus, the Th1 (interferon γ)/Th2 (interleukin 4) ratio is significantly higher in RA than in SpA ST. These data confirm previous studies on ST Th1/Th2 balance in RA and extend previous work in comparing ST RA with subgroups of SpA distinct of ReA.


Abstract The Death Valley area of California, USA, exposes an outstanding record of a Neoproterozoic (Cryogenian) glaciated margin: the Kingston Peak Formation. Despite the quality of the exposure, however, the outcrops of glaciogenic strata are fragmentary, forming isolated, laterally offset outcrop belts at the western extremity of the Basin and Range province. Excellent evidence for glacially modulated sedimentation includes (1) ice-rafted dropstones in most ranges, (2) thick diamictites bearing a variety of exotic (extrabasinal) clasts, (3) striated clasts and (4) local occurrences of glacitectonic deformation structures at the basin margins. In tandem with this, there is a distinct signature of slope collapse processes in many ranges, including (1) up to kilometre-scale olistoliths, (2) extensional growth fault arrays, (3) dramatic proximal-distal thickness changes and (4) basalt occurrences. New sedimentological observations reinforce long-held views of rifting superimposed on glaciation (or vice versa), with both processes contributing to a complex record whereby rift and glacial processes vie for stratigraphic supremacy. We consider that a mechanism of diamictite accumulation in a series of rift-shoulder minibasins produced greatly contrasting successions across the Death Valley area, under the incontrovertible influence of hinterland ice sheets.


We introduce a new rank-based key encapsulation mechanism (KEM) with public key and ciphertext sizes around 3.5 Kbytes each, for 128 bits of security, without using ideal structures. Such structures allow to compress objects, but give reductions to specific problems whose security is potentially weaker than for unstructured problems. To the best of our knowledge, our scheme improves in size all the existing unstructured post-quantum lattice or code-based algorithms such as FrodoKEM or Classic McEliece. Our technique, whose efficiency relies on properties of rank metric, is to build upon existing Low Rank Parity Check (LRPC) code-based KEMs and to send multiple syndromes in one ciphertext, allowing to reduce the parameters and still obtain an acceptable decoding failure rate. Our system relies on the hardness of the Rank Support Learning problem, a well-known variant of the Rank Syndrome Decoding problem. The gain on parameters is enough to significantly close the gap between ideal and non-ideal constructions. It enables to choose an error weight close to the rank Gilbert-Varshamov bound, which is a relatively harder zone for algebraic attacks. We also give a version of our KEM that keeps an ideal structure and permits to roughly divide the bandwidth by two compared to previous versions of LRPC KEMs submitted to the NIST with a Decoding Failure Rate (DFR) of $2^{-128}$.


A feeding study was conducted to assess the value of Tamarind, Tamarindus indica seed meal as dietary carbohydrate in the diets of Nile Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus . Tamarind seeds were used to replace maize at 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 % substitution levels for treatments 1 to 6. Growth trial was conducted in outdoor concrete tanks for 56 days. The fishes were fed at 4 % body weight twice daiy. There were no significant variations in the mean weight gain, specific growth rate (SGR), food conversion ratio (FCR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) (p >0.05). The apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC) of protein and energy of the fishes fed diets 1 – 6 were similar (p > 0.05). There were nosignificant differences in the bood total erythrocyte counts, (TEC), pack cell volume (PCV) and red bood cells count (RBC) (p >0.05). Based on the findings, complete replacement of maize with tamarind seed meal in the diets of O. nilotcus is recommended. Keywords : Tamarind, Replacement, Maize, Oreochromis niloticus Animal Research International Vol. 1 (3) 2004 pp. 164-168


Writing code to interact with external devices is inherently difficult, and the added demands of writing device drivers in C for kernel mode compounds the problem. This environment is complex and brittle, leading to increased development costs and, in many cases, unreliable code. Previous solutions to this problem ignore the cost of migrating drivers to a better programming environment and require writing new drivers from scratch or even adopting a new operating system.

We present Decaf Drivers, a system for incrementally converting existing Linux kernel drivers to Java programs in user mode. With support from program-analysis tools, Decaf separates out performance-sensitive code and generates a customized kernel interface that allows the remaining code to be moved to Java. With this interface, a programmer can incrementally convert driver code in C to a Java decaf driver. The Decaf Drivers system achieves performance close to native kernel drivers and requires almost no changes to the Linux kernel. Thus, Decaf Drivers enables driver programming to advance into the era of modern programming languages without requiring a complete rewrite of operating systems or drivers.

With five drivers converted to Java, we show that Decaf Drivers can (1) move the majority of a driver's code out of the kernel, (2) reduce the amount of driver code, (3) detect broken error handling at compile time with exceptions, (4) gracefully evolve as driver and kernel code and data structures change, and (5) perform within one percent of native kernel-only drivers.


In this study we have investigated a number of technical aspects of a sensitive solid-phase radioimmunoassay (microtitre-plate RIA) for the quantitative determination of antigen-specific IgG antibodies in the sera of patients suffering from farmer's lung. Microtitre-plates were coated with antigens of Aspergillus fumigatus, Micropolyspora faeni, Aureobasidium pullulans, Alternaria tenuis, Thermoactinomyces vulgaris and hay. Optimal antigen concentration and serum dilution were determined, the temperature-dependence of the assay and the kinetics of the binding of antibodies and protein A were studied. A comparison between glutaraldehyde-activated and non-activated microtitre-plates showed that the RIA with activated microtitre-plates produces values approximately 10-times higher than those with non-activated plates. However, the use of activated plates did not significantly increase the ratio between patient and control values.


In this paper we develop a novel parallel spectral partitioning method that takes advantage of an efficient implementation of a preconditioned eigenvalue solver and a k-means algorithm on the GPU. We showcase the performance of our novel scheme against standard spectral techniques. Also, we use it to compare the ratio and normalized cut cost functions often used to measure the quality of graph partitioning. Finally, we show that the behavior of our spectral scheme and popular multi-level schemes is starkly different for two classes of problems: (i) social network graphs that often have power law-like distribution of edges per node and (ii) meshes arising from discretization of partial differential equations. Although in our numerical experiments the multi-level schemes are almost always faster, we show that our spectral scheme can achieve a significantly higher quality of partitioning for the former class of problems.


Discrimination towards members of low-status groups takes a variety of forms, and results in a variety of negative consequences for its victims. Furthermore, discrimination may influence its targets either directly (for instance, when housing discrimination makes insurance, mortgage rates, or rents higher for African Americans than for whites) or indirectly, that is via perceptions on the part of the stigmatised. In the latter case the outcomes are caused or amplified by perceptions on the part of the victim that he or she is the target of discrimination. This chapter focuses on current research concerning factors that influence the perception of discrimination and its indirect influence on individuals. We review work from our own lab as well as from the field more broadly, focusing on research that attempts to explain contextual and individual variability in how events that are potentially due to discrimination are initially perceived, subsequently interpreted, and then publicly reported or withheld.


Introduction Public expectation, media scrutiny and political posturing around early cancer diagnosis continue to escalate. Primary and secondary care face increasing demands to diagnose and treat cancer earlier and more quickly. Nottingham Colorectal Service receives 2WW referrals at 2 sites: Nottingham University Hospitals and a private Diagnostic Treatment Centre. To address increasing referrals and failure to treat within 62 days we introduced a "Direct to test (DTT)" initiative as part of our 2WW pathway. Method We amended our 2WW referral form to include ECOG performance status and Charlson co-morbidity. GPs were asked to provide eGFR and FBC/Ferritin. 2WW referrals received between 1/8/14 and 30/11/14 were vetted by a Colorectal Consultant and selected for DTT according to a pre-defined protocol. DTT patients were telephoned by a Nurse Specialist (NS) to confirm suitability and explain the process. Those not deemed suitable for DTT were offered outpatient assessment (OPA). All referrals were logged in a database and outcomes of investigation and treatment were analysed. (Statistical comparisons: GraphPad Prism). Results 553,2WW referrals were received - mean age at time of referral 67.6 y (Range 18.9–93.7y). 355 patients (64.1%) were deemed suitable for DTT but 64 (11.6%) failed telephone assessment. 11 (2.0%) failed to complete the pathway. 291 patients were sent DTT: 222 patients for colonoscopy, 45 OGD/colonoscopy, 4 colonoscopy/CT scan, 13 flexible sigmoidoscopy and 3 flexible sigmoidoscopy/CT scan, and 4 CT scan only. 280 patients successfully completed a DTT pathway (50.6%). 233 (42.1%) completed OPA/investigation. 40 patients (7.2%) excluded due to inappropriate referral, patient choice/DNA, or OPA that investigation was not appropriate. The DTT group (mean age 64.9y) was significantly younger (p < 0.0001) than the OPA group (71.0y). In the OPA group, 105 (19%) were seen by a consultant and 128 (23.1%) by a NS. 37 colorectal cancers (CRC), including anal SCC, were detected from all 2WW referrals (6.7%). 15 CRC were detected in the DTT group (5.4%) and 22 CRC in the OPA group (9.4%). The lower CRC detection rate in DTT did not reach statistical significance (Fisher's Exact Test p = 0.087). Notably our local BCSP hub had a CRC detection rate of 8.5% in patients with positive FOBT. Conclusion DTT was safe and effective at selecting out a group of symptomatic patients who could proceed straight to test – usually involving endoscopy (98.6%). Unsurprisingly, this group was younger and fitter and yielded a lower CRC detection rate. In fact, CRC detection rate in all of our symptomatic 2WW referrals was lower than BCSP patients with a positive FOBT. Is it time to re-evaluate our symptomatic 2WW screening programme? Disclosure of interest None Declared.


Alzheimer's disease is a debilitating and progressive disorder. As Alzheimer's progresses, disease-driven changes occur in the individual. These changes include not only cognitive decline but also erosion of sensory perception and eventual loss of the individual's ability to interact and communicate. Communication problems experienced by those with Alzheimer's make interaction with family members and loved ones challenging. Family visits have been shown to have a therapeutic benefit. While the quality of family visits directly correlates to the quality of life for people with dementia, continued involvement of family members with loved ones in care facilities has implications for the quality of life of the family. Although family interaction and visits are important and may be desired, decreased communication abilities of people with Alzheimer's disease often make family and loved ones uncomfortable when anticipating a visit. Too often, such uneasiness and apprehension leads to abbreviated visits, if the visits even happen at all. Accordingly, developing interventions focusing on visits between people with Alzheimer's disease and their families is appropriate. Other interventions that focus on family visits of this sort have been developed, however, the intervention studied here, the Family Visit Program, is unique in that it explores the potential of the physical environment to enhance the quality of the visit experience. The Family Visit Program is an example of evidence-based design and includes four components: conversation corner, digital picture frame and stand, image selection process, and orientation process and communication strategies. The conversation corner served as the setting for the visits. Designed as a seating unit, it employs an upholstered curved bench with a high back, a canopy, and partitions at each end. The digital picture frame and stand were intended to serve as the display medium for the primary source of stimulation, personally meaningful photographs. Image selection was the process by which the families sorted through family photo collections to select images likely to evoke positive reactions from the resident as well as family. Family members were asked to complete image selection prior to the preparation meeting with the researcher. The orientation process consisted of the preparation meeting held with individual families during which images were scanned and communication strategies were discussed. The presented strategies were intended to enhance the quality of interaction and flow of conversation during the visit. This thesis was exploratory in nature. As such, the intent was not to test hypotheses but instead to identify a range of issues surrounding family visits with people with Alzheimer's disease living in care facilities. More specifically, the intent was to gain understanding about the potential of the Family Visit Program and each of its components to enhance the quality of the visit experience. The research was conducted at Longview, an elder care facility including both independent apartments and assisted living suites, located in Ithaca, NY. This study included three groups of participants: residents of Longview, family members of those residents, and Longview staff members. Four families participated in the research, though there were five resident participants. Two staff members participated in interviews. Each family participated in one visit as part of the Family Visit Program. There were three methods of data collection in this study: video recording of visits, interviews, and field notes. These three types of data were analyzed separately. This exploratory study was successful in attaining feedback on the potential and viability of the Family Visit Program and its components. The study demonstrates not only that the Family Visit Program components establish an appropriate framework for rewarding family interaction, but also that each component could benefit from further refinement.


This paper explores the relationship between explicit and predictive models of incremental speech understanding in a dialogue system that supports a finite set of user utterance meanings. We present a method that enables the approximation of explicit understanding using information implicit in a predictive understanding model for the same domain. We show promising performance for this method in a corpus evaluation, and discuss its practical application and annotation costs in relation to some alternative approaches.


Notable Social Studies Trade Book (NSSTB) lists include books selected annually by the Book Review Committee of the National Council for the Social Studies in conjunction with the Children's Book Council. These lists are excellent resources for teachers who use children's literature to support social studies instruction in their classrooms. We report our analysis of award-winning titles for primary grades published from 2001-2011. Biographies and books that address topics about families are featured as a starting place for primary grades teachers to begin incorporating NSSTB into their social studies instruction. We conclude by suggesting ways for primary grade teachers to utilize the book lists each year.


Introduction The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has overwhelmed the health systems of several countries, particularly those within the African region. Notwithstanding, the relationship between health systems and the magnitude of COVID-19 in African countries have not received research attention. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the pervasiveness of the pandemic across African countries and their Global Health Security Index (GHSI) scores. Materials and methods The study included 54 countries in five regions viz Western (16); Eastern (18); Middle (8); Northern (7); and Southern (5) Africa. The outcome variables in this study were the total confirmed COVID-19 cases (per million); total recoveries (per million); and the total deaths (per million). The data were subjected to Spearman's rank-order (Spearman's rho) correlation to determine the monotonic relationship between each of the predictor variables and the outcome variables. The predictor variables that showed a monotonic relationship with the outcome were used to predict respective outcome variables using multiple regressions. The statistical analysis was conducted at a significance level of 0.05. Results Our results indicate that total number of COVID-19 cases (per million) has strong correlations (rs >0.5) with the median age; aged 65 older; aged 70 older; GDP per capita; number of hospital beds per thousand; Human Development Index (HDI); recoveries (per million); and the overall risk environment of a country. All these factors including the country's commitments to improving national capacity were related to the total number of deaths (per million). Also, strong correlations existed between the total recoveries (per million) and the total number of positive cases; total deaths (per million); median age; aged 70 older; GDP per capita; the number of hospital beds (per thousand); and HDI. The fitted regression models showed strong predictive powers (R-squared>99%) of the variances in the total number of COVID-19 cases (per million); total number of deaths (per million); and the total recoveries (per million). Conclusions The findings from this study suggest that patient-level characteristics such as ageing population (i.e., 65+), poverty, underlying co-morbidities–cardiovascular disease (e.g., hypertension), and diabetes through unhealthy behaviours like smoking as well as hospital care (i.e., beds per thousand) can help explain COVID-19 confirmed cases and mortality rates in Africa. Aside from these, other determinants (e.g., population density, the ability of detection, prevention and control) also affect COVID-19 prevalence, deaths and recoveries within African countries and sub-regions.


This paper investigates whether peer firms affect trade credit policy. Using data on US listed firms for the period 1997–2015, we document strong evidence of peer influence on trade credit provision. This result remains significant after using alternative trade credit measures, different peer proxies, and addressing endogeneity concerns using an instrumental variable approach based on the stock price shocks of industry peers. Our cross-sectional analysis further shows that peer effects in trade receivables only exist among suppliers that face fierce product market competition, consistent with the notion that firms closely mimic their peers due to competitive pressure. There is, however, fixed, and weak evidence on the argument that peer mimicking is driven by learning and reputational motives. Overall, our study highlights the important role of peer firm behavior in shaping a firm's trade credit policy.


This paper describes a novel rough terrain traversability analysis and behavior generation method for mobile robot navigation. We focused on the scenario of mobile robot operation in complex environment such as disaster sites. The proposed method enables mobile robots to analyze terrain traversability of surrounding area and select safe course direction. According to the selected course direction, appropriate control input is calculated and mobile robot moves following the calculated control input. Terrain traversability analysis and course direction judgment are realized based on feature value calculation of terrain, fuzzy inference and vector field histogram. Mobile robot's behavior generation is realized based on control method which takes advantage of reference posture tracking. The experimental results show that the proposed method can navigate mobile robot successfully to the target location in complex environment including terrain area.


Mobile apps have become the main channel for accessing Web services. Both Android and iOS feature inapp Web browsers that support convenient Web service integration through a set of Web resource manipulation APIs. Previous work have revealed the attack surfaces of Web resource manipulation APIs and proposed several defense mechanisms. However, none of them provides evidence that such attacks indeed happen in the real world, measures their impacts, and evaluates the proposed defensive techniques against real attacks. This paper seeks to bridge this gap with a large-scale empirical study on Web resource manipulation behaviors in real-world Android apps. To this end, we first define the problem as cross-principal manipulation (XPM) of Web resources, and then design an automated tool named XPMChecker to detect XPM behaviors in apps. Through a study on 80,694 apps from Google Play, we find that 49.2% of manipulation cases are XPM, 4.8% of the apps have XPM behaviors, and more than 70% XPM behaviors aim at top Web sites. More alarmingly, we discover 21 apps with obvious malicious intents, such as stealing and abusing cookies, collecting user credentials and impersonating legitimate parties. For the first time, we show the presence of XPM threats in real-world apps. We also confirm the existence of such threats in iOS apps. Our experiments show that popular Web service providers are largely unaware of such threats. Our measurement results contribute to better understanding of such threats and the development of more effective and usable countermeasures.


The scope of this paper is to discuss the use of Internet Technology in the process of procurement currently employed by the Brazilian Federal Government. The focus of this analysis is on the Internet‐Based Reverse Auction system employed by the Federal Administration to purchase goods and services from the standpoint of efficiency, efficacy and accountability. An explanatory single case study methodology addressing web‐based purchase of pharmaceutical products by the Ministry of Social Security is used to answer the research questions raised in this paper. Technical, human and structural obstacles, as well as legal constraints that must be overcome, are also addressed. Conclusions detailing some findings and the advantages and disadvantages of this new modus operandi are also presented in this work.


This review describes the possible mechanisms by which fungal hyphae, especially those of vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VA) fungi, bind microaggregates of soil ( 0.25 mm), and suggests a model of the formation of a stable macroaggregate by fungal hyphae. Factors which affect the growth of VA mycorrhizal hyphae in soil and their production of extracellular polysaccharides are discussed in relation to stable macroaggregates. The interactions between clay particles and hyphae are described. The review suggests areas of future research on stabilization of aggregates by VA mycorrhizal hyphae.


This study examines whether hurricanes have any impact on performance in standardized examinations. The analysis uses a panel of thirteen Caribbean countries and over 800 schools for the period 1993 through 2010. In particular, the effect on subjects in the humanities and sciences are examined. A generalized difference-in-difference technique is utilized to study the relationship at the school, parish, year and country level. The results show a negative and significant effect on performance in the sciences if hurricanes strike when school is in session and a positive or no effect when school is not in session. In addition, subjects in the humanities remain unaffected.


Malaria is caused by the parasite belonging to the genus Plasmodium; however, creation biologists maintain this organism was not always parasitic. Plasmodium is probably a degenerate form of algae. Mosquitoes, the vector of Plasmodium, were probably designed to be pollinators, not parasite vectors. In this article, we present both the evolutionary and creation explanation for the origin of malaria with a mention to its vector, the mosquito. The purpose of this article is to provide a reasonable explanation for the genesis of malaria. Microbiology and parasitology research based on the creation paradigm appears to provide some answers to these puzzling questions regarding the Plasmodium "kind" (Family Haemosporidae). Although we cannot be dogmatic (beyond the biblical text) regarding details of Plasmodium's origin during Creation Week, we believe that a reasonable extrapolation from Scripture and biological data can be made about the nature of protozoans in a fully mature creation.


Nosocomial viral infections have not been well studied. In this context, the aim of this work is to review epidemiological and therapeutic data published on the main viral agents that can produce nosocomial respiratory infection. The study thus aims to expand knowledge of behaviour of these agents in nosocomial infections and provide information to improve the implementation of preventive measures. The concepts of mimivirus, herpes simplex virus, varicella-zoster virus, cytomegalovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, parainfluenza virus, influenza virus, adenovirus, metapneumovirus and measles viruses are discussed in detail.


INTRODUCTION: Iron-deficiency anemia is a relatively common but preventable condition in children that may have significant adverse implications on children's growth and development. Iron-deficiency anemia has also been sporadically reported in association with cerebral sinovenous thrombosis (CSVT). OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to describe the largest case series to date of iron-deficiency anemia in association with CSVT as an advocacy measure for its prevention in children. METHODS: Patients were identified through the Canadian Pediatric Ischemic Stroke Registry database (Toronto site). Included were patients who were older than 1 month to 18 years, met criteria for iron-deficiency anemia, and had radiographically confirmed CSVT. RESULTS: Thirty-six patients who had CSVT and were older than 1 month to 18 years presented to the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, from January 2004 to December 2005. Six (17%) of these patients had iron-deficiency anemia; 2 were female adolescents, and 4 were male toddlers. All patients had historical and laboratory evidence of iron-deficiency anemia. Other risk factors, such as dehydration or inflammatory disorders, were present in all patients, but we did not detect significant inherited hypercoagulable disorders or acquired thrombophilia in any of them. CONCLUSIONS: This report strengthens the evidence of an association between iron-deficiency anemia and CSVT. We suggest that children who have CSVT should be screened for iron deficiency. Advocacy to prevent iron deficiency is important, because this condition may have serious long-term and irreversible developmental consequences.


In this study, we investigated the photovoltaic properties of newly synthesized low bandgap conjugated polymers, poly(4-(4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophen-2-yl)-8-(5-(2,6-didodecylbenzo[1,2-d:4,5-d′]bis(thiazole)-4-yl)thiophen-2-yl)-2,6-didodecylbenzo[1,2-d:4,5-d′]bis(thiazole)) (P1) and poly(4-(4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophen-2-yl)-8-(5-(2,6-didodecylbenzo[1,2-d:4,5-d′]bis(thiazole)-4-yl)selenophen-2-yl)-2,6-didodecylbenzo[1,2-d:4,5-d′]bis(thiazole)) (P2). P1 is a thiophene-based conjugated polymer (TCP), and P2 is a selenophene-based conjugated polymer (SCP). These two different conjugated low bandgap polymers were characterized by NMR and gel permeation chromatography. The physical properties of the polymers were studied by thermogravimetric analysis and conductivity. Moreover, we also investigated the optical, electrochemical and morphological properties of both polymers by UV-vis spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and atomic-force microscopy (AFM), respectively. Later, we studied the photovoltaic properties of both low bandgap polymers blended with PC61BM in different ratios with different thicknesses. In addition, post thermal annealing at different temperatures for both polymers was investigated, and the results show that P2 (SCP) exhibited stronger molecular orientation properties as compared to P1 (TCP).


We address the role of the Congo River sediment dispersal in exporting and trapping organic carbon into deep offshore sediments. Of particular interest is the Congo submarine canyon, which constitutes a permanent link between the terrestrial sediment sources and the marine sink. The Congo River delivers an annual sediment load of ~40 Tg (including 2 Tg of C) that feed a mud-rich turbidite system. Previous estimates of carbon storage capacity in the Congo turbidite system suggest that the terminal lobe complex accounts for ~12% of the surface area of the active turbidite system and accumulates ~18% of the annual input of terrestrial particulate organic carbon exiting the Congo River. In this paper, we extend the approach to the whole active turbidite depositional system by calculating an average burial of terrestrial organic matter in the different environments: canyon, channel, and levees. We estimate that between 33 and 69% of terrestrial carbon exported by the Congo River is ultimately trapped in the different parts of turbidite system and we evaluate their relative efficiency using a source to sink approach. Our carbon budget approach, which consider annual river discharge versus offshore centennial accumulation rates, indicates that about half of the total particulate organic matter delivered yearly by the Congo River watershed escapes the study area or is not correctly estimated by our deep offshore dataset and calculations.


Places of employment play an important role in people's construction of their social identity. With increasing competitive pressure in the job market, employers are increasingly turning to marketing methodology to improve their recruitment positioning. Vice versa, job-seekers are expected to provide impressive track records of past performances to be considered by the most attractive employers. This combination of businesses' fighting the "war for talent" more fiercely and job-seekers needing to generate a valuable track record provides the foundation for a growing role of prestige in employment. However, this phenomenon's theory, mechanisms, and consequences are understudied: while there is a sizable body of extant research on status, there has been very little research on both the nature and the consequences of individuals' preference for prestigious employers.
This dissertation addresses this research gap by providing two preparatory and four consequential contributions: first, as a preparation, I present a cross-discipline literature review on prior insight on status to arrive at key contributions, scholars, and definitions of key terms in this extensive field. Second, focusing the literature review on the field of application, I highlight key contributions on status in the employment setting. On that basis, I outline the research gap in greater detail. As the first consequential contributions, I build upon insight from consumer behavior (Vigneron & Johnson, 1999) to provide a rigorously theorized, conceptualized, and operationalized measurement construct which I evaluate and contextualize in terms of its nomological network. Second, I follow the first vein of the nomological network to investigate both prestige and value-based person-organization fit in their effect on organizational attractiveness. Third, I follow the second vein of the nomological network to investigate the effect of regulatory focus on confidence in group decision making. Finally, I provide a discussion in which I integrate, contextualize, and operationalize my findings. This dissertation finds that individuals' preference for prestigious employers can be aptly described in terms of five factors: perfectionism, hedonism, association, uniqueness, and conspicuousness. The construct predicts self-enhancement work-oriented values, correlates in its individual part with regulatory focus and in its social part with social comparison orientation. In direct comparison, the satisfaction of prestige preference is found to have a substantially stronger effect on employer attractiveness than value-based PO fit – with both being significant predictors. Furthermore, the related regulatory focus on promotion predicts overconfidence in decision making. Overall, these contributions illustrate the theory, measurement, and consequences of prestigious employer preference – the core construct of a phenomenon akin to Veblen's conspicuous consumption, but in an employment context: conspicuous employment.


The representative agent hypothesis is disputable on theoretical grounds because it is inconsistent with observed trading behavior and the existence of speculative markets. In such markets, the representative agent hypothesis implies agents hold homogeneous expectations. If this were true, speculative markets would fail as only one side of the market would be represented, either demand or supply. Nonetheless, the homogeneity assumption has been maintained in the past to ensure tractability because of the difficulty of explicit aggregation across heterogeneous expectations. In this article, we present and apply an approach for analyzing heterogeneity in specific market settings. To do so, our approach specifies an underlying distribution of expectations that is consistent with heterogeneity across expectations. To demonstrate the utility of the approach, we present results from its application to a time series of commodity futures prices. Results are consistent with the conclusion that significant heterogeneity in expectations exists in speculative futures markets.


Tetraalkylphosphonium bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl)phosphinates show large solubilities for methane, ethane, ethylene, and propane. In these ionic liquids, solubilities of ethane are larger than those of ethylene. Therefore, these ionic liquids may be useful solvents for separation of ethane and ethylene; because the vapor pressure of ethylene is higher than that of ethane, the relative volatility ethylene/ethane is enhanced. However, the viscosities of these ionic liquids are too high for an industrial process. Low-viscosity 1-butyl-3-H-imidazolium acetate([BHMIM][AC]) is a suitable diluent for reducing the large viscosities of trihexyl tetradecylphosphonium bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) phosphinate ([P(14)666][TMPP]) and tetrabutylphosphonium bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) phosphinate ([P4444][TMPP]). Addition of 20 wt % [BHMIM][AC] gives a dramatic drop in the viscosities of these ionic liquids. Mixtures of [P(14)666][TMPP] or [P4444][TMPP] with 20 or 50 wt % [BHMIM][AC] show high solubilities for the four solutes when compared with those in other ionic liquids. In these mixtures, the solubility for ethane is higher than that for ethylene. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 60: 2607–2612, 2014


The neonatal nurse is a vital link in the recognition and management of infants born with congenital heart disease. This article examines the acyanotic cardiac defects with increased pulmonary blood flow: patent ductus arteriosus, atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect, and endocardial cushion defects. The hemodynamics, clinical presentation, differential diagnosis, surgical repair, and medical management of each defect are presented. Parental teaching needs are identified and discussed.


Image inpainting is a technique for restoring damaged old photographs and removing undesired objects from an image. The basic idea behind the technique is to automatically fill in lost or broken parts of an image using information from the surrounding area. The challenge of current inpainting algorithms is to restore both texture and structure characteristic information for large and thick damaged regions. This paper presents a new hybrid image inpainting method based on Bezier curves which combines the exemplar-based inpainting technique and the edge-based image restoration algorithm. For restoring image structures, we first use the segmentation result with iterative Otsu's thresholding to obtain the information of edges. Bezier curves are then used to reconstruct the image skeletons in missing areas. It improves the limitation of the edge-based restoration approach which approximates incoming edges with only lines and circle arcs. The inpainting process is divided into two phases: the first phase restores the image structure by pixel-based interpolation, while the second phase fills holes for preserving texture information with patch-based inpainting method. Experimental results on both synthetic and real images demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. By restoring the curvature structures and textures of the damaged regions, the proposed method achieves content-aware image inpainting.


To improve the stability of receiving power in the wireless power transmission system with unfixed receiving position, a flexible power control strategy without the measurement in secondary side and the wireless communication between primary and secondary sides is proposed. The circuit model of a multiphase resonant inverter (MPRI) with cascaded intercell transformers (ICTs) is developed. The output voltage control strategy of the MPRI is introduced based on the iterative summation method for trigonometric functions. The circuit model of the system is derived to deduce the expressions for the key parameters. Considering the cascaded ICTs and the inductor–capacitor–capacitor (LCC) compensation circuit in the primary side, the design method of the compensation parameters is proposed based on the circuit model of the MPRI. After synthesizing the online monitoring, parameter pre-calculation, prediction of several conditions, and online learning, the flexible power control strategy is put forward for the wireless power transmission system with unfixed receiver position. Without the auxiliary positioning methods, the measurement in the secondary side, or the wireless communication between primary and secondary sides, the recognition of the load access and exit, as well as the power stabilization control after access, are realized. Finally, the theoretical analyses and the control strategy are validated by experiments.


Today's rapidly evolving software systems continuously introduce new changes that can potentially degrade performance. Large-scale load testing prior to deployment is supposed to avoid performance regressions in production. However, due to the large input space in parameterized load testing, not all performance regressions can be prevented in practice. To support developers in identifying the change sets that had an impact on performance, we present TemPerf, a tool that correlates performance regressions with change sets by exploiting temporal constraints. It is implemented as an Eclipse IDE plugin that allows developers to visualize performance developments over time and display temporally correlated change sets retrieved from version control and continuous integration platforms.


: An open non-controlled 12-week study of 30 patients with chronic schizophrenia with mild and moderate depression has been carried out. Ixel was administered in dosage 100-200 mg daily along with the basic antipsychotic therapy (haloperidol, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, paliperidone). Patient's state was assessed with the Clinical Global impression scale (CGI), the Hamilton depression scale (HAM-D-21) and the Positive and Negative Syndromes scale (PANSS). Percentage of responders on CGI was 73.3%. A significant (p<or=0.01) reduction (by 88% from baseline) of mean HAM-D scores was observed. Along with thymoanaleptic effect, ixel exerted an effect on depressive symptoms that were comorbid to negative disorders and resistant to standard antidepressive therapy. Ixel was well tolerated and did not cause sedation and behavioral toxicity and was compatible to both traditional and modern atypical antipsychotics.


Objective
To investigate the effects of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) on proliferation and transdifferentiation of human Tenon capsule fibroblasts induced by transforming growth factor -β1 (TGF-β1) in vitro.

Methods
Human Tenon capsule fibroblasts were cultured and divided into blank control group, TGF-β1 treated group and different concentrations HGF+ TGF-β1 groups.The TGF-β1 at 10 μg/L was added into culture medium of the TGF-β1 treated group, and different concentrations of HGF (25, 50, 100, 200 μg/L) and 10 μg/L TGF-β1 were added into culture medium of the HGF25 μg/L+ TGF-β1, HGF50 μg/L+ TGF-β1, HGF100 μg/L+ TGF-β1, HGF200 μg/L+ TGF-β1 group respectively, Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) was employed to measure the cell proliferation (absorbance at 560 nm). Immunofluorescence staining was used to evaluate and locate the expression of α-smooth muscle action (α-SMA) in the cells.The expression of α-SMA protein in the cells was detected by Western blot assay.

Results
Cultured cells showed fusiform in shape with the positive response for vimentin.The proliferation value of the cells was 0.203±0.025, 0.497±0.101, 0.426±0.062, 0.354±0.040, 0.272±0.084, 0.241±0.011 in the blank control group, TGF-β1 treated group, HGF25 μg/L+ TGF-β1 group, HGF50 μg/L+ TGF-β1 group, HGF100 μg/L+ TGF-β1 group and HGF200 μg/L+ TGF-β1 group, respectively, showing a significant difference among the groups (F=9.210, P=0.003). Compared with the TGF-β1 treated group, the proliferation values of the cells were significantly reduced in the blank control group and HGF+ TGF-β1 group (all at P<0.05). Immunofluorescence staining showed that α-SMA protein mainly located in cytoplasm with the strong red fluorescence in the cells of the TGF-β1 treated group and weak red fluorescence in HGF+ TGF-β1 group, and the expression of α-SMA was absent in the blank control group.The percentage of α-SMA-positive cells was (60.0±4.7)% in the TGF-β1 treated group and (14.3±3.1)% in the HGF+ TGF-β1 group, with significant difference between the two groups (t=19.856, P<0.001). The relative expression levels of the α-SMA protein in the cells were 0.642±0.032, 1.330±0.069 and 0.884±0.040 in the blank control group, TGF-β1 group and HGF100 μg/L+ TGF-β1 group, respectively, showing a significant difference among the groups (F=13.370, P<0.001), and relative expression levels of the α-SMA protein in the cells were significantly lower in the blank control group and HGF100 μg/L+ TGF-β1 group than that in the TGF-β1 treated group (all at P<0.05).

Conclusions
HGF can inhibit the proliferation of human Tenon capsule fibroblasts, down-regulate the expression of α-SMA protein induced by TGF-β1 and arrest the phenotype transformation of fibroblasts in vitro.

Key words:
Tenon capsule/cytology; Fibroblasts/metabolism; Hepatocyte growth factor/administration & dosage; Transforming growth factor beta type 1; Fibrosis/prevention & control; α-Smooth muscular actin; Humans; Cells, cultured


Based on stochastic switching model, an event-driven dynamic load balancing strategy is presented for the streaming media clustered server systems. This strategy increases the server cluster availability by balancing the workloads among the servers within a cluster. Additionally, it improves the access hit ratio of cached files in delivery servers to alleviate the limitation of I/O bandwidth of storage node. First, the load balancing problem is formulated as a two-layer semi-Markov switching state-space control process. Then, an online policy iteration algorithm is proposed to optimize the file grouping policy. By utilizing the features of the event-driven policy, the proposed optimization algorithm is adaptive and with less computational cost. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


Objective. To evaluate rheumatoid arthritis (RA)–related mortality in the state of São Paulo (Brazil). Methods. Data from all death certificates (DC) from 1996 to 2010 were analyzed using a multiple cause-of-death method. We compared the results from 2 subperiods (1996–2000 and 2006–2010). Results. We found 3955 DC related to RA — 27.6% with RA as the underlying cause of death (UCD) and 72.4% with RA as the nonunderlying cause of death (NUCD). Ninety percent of RA-related deaths occurred at age ≥ 50 years. The mean ages at death were 67.1 ± 13.3 and 67.9 ± 13 years for RA as the UCD and NUCD, respectively. The most frequent NUCD associated with RA were pneumonia, sepsis, renal failure, interstitial lung disease, and heart failure. In the last subperiod, there was an increase in infectious causes. When RA was an NUCD, we observed a decrease in the mean age at death for the last subperiod (p = 0.021). The most common UCD were circulatory and respiratory system diseases. Comparing the mean age at death between RA-related deaths and the general population when deaths occurred at ages beyond 50 years, the linear regression analysis showed a downward curve for RA-related death (p < 0.001 and r = −0.795), while for the general population, as expected, the curve had an upward pattern (p < 0.001 and r = 0.993). Conclusion. Unexpectedly, RA-related deaths occurred at earlier ages in the more recent subperiod. Cardiovascular disease remained the most important cause, and infectious diseases are an increasing cause of death associated with RA, raising the question of whether infections were related to the more vigorous immunosuppressive treatment recommended by recent guidelines.


Although polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were banned in the United States in 1977, they persist in the environment. These bioaccumulative chemicals can damage the immune, reproductive, endocrine, and nervous systems. When looking for environmental sources of PCBs, scientists generally measure dietary intake from fish, meat, and milk. However, older wood floor finishes that harbor PCBs may present an underestimated route for exposure, finds Ruthann Rudel, a toxicologist at the nonprofit Silent Spring Institute in Newton, Massachusetts.

Animal studies show that PCBs decrease the size of the thymus gland and suppress antibody production and immune responses. People exposed to PCBs can suffer from skin rashes, changes in blood and urine that can indicate liver damage, irregular menstrual cycle, lowered immune response, fatigue, and headache. In children, poor cognitive development is reported. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies PCBs as probable human carcinogens.

From 1999 to 2001, Rudel and her colleagues monitored 89 indoor pollutants linked to breast cancer in 120 homes on Cape Cod, where breast cancer rates are among the highest in Massachusetts. As reported 13 September 2003 in Environmental Science & Technology, detectable levels of PCBs were found in about a third of the residences, and two houses had exceedingly high levels of PCBs in air and dust.

Five years later, Rudel revisited these two houses to measure air and dust concentrations of the congeners PCB52, PCB105, and PCB153 as well as occupants' blood levels of 10 congeners measured in 1999–2002 as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Air and dust levels remained exceptionally high, with dust values ranging from 21 to 190 μg/g—up to 20 times higher than reported in other studies of indoor PCB exposure. Three of the occupants, all of whom had lived in their homes for more than a decade, showed elevated blood levels of PCBs as high as 1,520 ng/g, placing them in the top 5% of people living in the United States. A fourth occupant, who had lived in her house for only six months, had a blood level of 179 ng/g. The study is published as volume 7, article 2 (2008) of the online journal Environmental Health.

None of the occupants ate enough fish to account for the high blood levels of PCBs. "We were really stumped," says Rudel. Then the homeowner with the highest PCB levels recalled that 50 years earlier he had finished his wood floors with high-gloss "Fabulon" varnish. In the 1950s and 1960s, Fabulon was a popular coating sold nationwide to give floors a "bowling-alley shine." A now-discontinued reference manual, Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products, confirmed that Fabulon contained PCBs between 1950 and 1969. Before being banned, PCBs were not only added to varnishes but also to caulk, paint, linoleum, and ceiling tiles, where they served as stabilizers, sealants, and adhesives.

The same homeowner had sanded one of his floors just before Rudel returned to collect samples for the latest study. However, the floors in the other house had not been refinished in years. Rudel suspects, but has not confirmed, that the floors may be giving off PCBs, with sanding releasing even higher levels of dust packed with PCBs. She hopes to conduct further research—such as whether a peak time for exposure occurs when sanding off PCB-laced finishes, or whether carpets later laid over finished wood floors limit airborne exposure—that might shed light on safer ways to remove PCBs.

What can homeowners do, pending further information? "I'm not happy about how little I can tell people," Rudel admits. Foremost, she advises not sanding old wood floors. PCB analysis is expensive, and Rudel knows of no laboratories that service homeowners. However, some floor-finishing businesses offer a dustless sanding process that pumps toxic dust into outdoor tanks.

"Rudel certainly found an unrecognized source of PCBs that underscores the importance of inhalation as an underappreciated but important source of exposure," says David Carpenter, a public health physician at the University at Albany, State University of New York. The results add to a growing body of awareness that building materials can be a significant source of PCBs indoors. "The assumption that PCBs stay put simply is not true," Carpenter says.


This paper looks at the evolution of the terms of trade between commodities and manufactures in the twentieth century. A statistical analysis of the relative price series for 24 commodities and eight indices reveals a significant deterioration in their barter terms of trade over the years 1900 to 2000. This decline was not continuous, however, nor was it distributed evenly among individual products. As is shown here, the far-reaching changes that the world economy underwent around 1920 and again around 1980 led to a stepwise deterioration which, over the long term, was reflected in a decline of nearly 1% per year in the aggregate indices of real raw material prices.


The aim of this paper is to propose a procedure to compute synchronous generator characteristics at steady-state operation. It uses a minimum set of finite-element static calculations to determine the generator electromagnetic performances without loss of accuracy. The load point calculation, consisting on the output voltage and the power factor, is obtained by means of a root-finding algorithm. An application of the procedure is shown for a low voltage generator of 60 kVA. A parametric design case of the rotor is also described, changing the pole shoe span and the ratio between the maximum and the minimum airgap length under the pole shoe.


Background: Helicobacter pylori prevalence rate varies widely from one geographical area to another and marked differences have been noted among different ethnic groups. While several studies have been carried out to review the prevalence of H. pylori among the major races in Malaysia, only one is available to study the indigenous Penan community in East Malaysia. Aims: The aims of this study are to determine the seroprevalence of H. pylori in the indigenous Seletar community in Southern Malaysia and the effectiveness of the eradication program. Methods: A seroepidemiological study was done to determine H. pylori infection by serological assay of H. pylori antibodies and the demographic pattern. Serological assay Original Research Article British Journal of Medicine & Medical Research, 4(9): 1854-1863, 2014 1855 was carried out using the Visual H. pylori Quickpac Test. All serological positive patients were then subjected to an endoscopic study and the Campylobacter-Like Organism-test (CLO-test). Positive patients were then offered for eradication using triple therapy of Omeprazole 20mg, Amoxycillin 1gm and Metronidazole 400mg twice daily for one week. Subjects will be required to perform a Urea Breath Test (UBT) four weeks after therapy to determine the success of eradication. When attending for UBT, the medication diary will be assessed. UBT was conducted using a 13C IRIS (Infra Red Isotope Analyzer) breath test kit. Results: We studied a total of 298 subjects with a mean age of 34.9 years. The seroprevalence was 37.9% and CLO-test positivity on Oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopy (OGDS) was 98.9%. Histopathological examination showed evidence of gastritis in 97% of the positive patients. Majority of subjects (96%) showed evidence of acute or chronic inflammation. The follow-up of patients that came back for the UBT after completing the eradication process was 73.5%. Out of these, 63.9% showed negative UBT. However, only 48.6% complied with medication based on medication diary. Since only two subjects out of 35 who complied remains positive, the eradication success rate was 94.3%. Conclusion: Previous studies have shown that the prevalence of H. pylori in a Malaysian cohort ranges from 26.4% to 55% with the highest in Indians of about 35.6% out of the three major races, followed by Chinese (28.6%) and Malays (28.5%). The indigenous people of Penan in East Malaysia showed 37.7% positivity, which is almost similar to our study that showed 37.9%. The prevalence is supported by the CLO-test that proved that the sensitivity of the serological assay was 98.9%. However, our study also proved that the eradication process was very efficient if subjects were compliant on medication. This study shows that despite the very low socio-economic status of the indigenous community, this is not the sole factor in determining H. pylori infection. This may also be due to genetic factors and probably a recent arrival of H. pylori in this isolated and remote community.


As a result of the research conducted for the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP), a set of new testing methods to characterize the rheological, failure, and durability properties of asphalt binders has been developed. These methods utilize testing devices that are either completely new or have been used before only for research purposes. The methods also call for measuring mechanical response parameters that are not very common for asphalt pavement engineers nor for many asphalt producers. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the following points: 1) the viscoelastic nature of asphalts and its relation to pavement performance; 2) the types of conventional measurements that are used now and the fundamental problems with them; 3) the concept behind selecting the new test methods and the new characteristic properties; and 4) how the new measured properties compare to the conventional properties. The paper addresses these points by providing theoretical-conceptual background about the conventional and new tests and by comparing new and conventional data measured for a large number of asphalts that vary in their source and their grade. The comparison clearly identifies the advantages of the new testing methods and the need to implement the proposed testing and specification system.


The contribution of ions to the electrical impedance of an electrolytic cell limited by perfect blocking electrodes is determined by considering the role of the anomalous diffusion process and memory effects. Analytical solutions for fractional diffusion equations together with Poisson's equation relating the effective electric field to the net charge density are found. This procedure allows the construction of general expressions for the electrochemical impedance satisfying the Kramers–Kronig relations when the diffusion of ions in the cell is characterized by the usual, as well as by anomalous, behavior.


In complex application wherein the signal propagating through free space is subject to multipath interference due to scatter by line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight objects in the propagation channel. The aims is to identify scatter centers in the propagation channel and characterize them based on their subjective characteristics, interpreted based on machine learning algorithm operations. Data-driven models are employed, replacing the traditional analytical approaches, in order to profile the scatter centers as either of absorbing or reflecting types based on the manner in which the signals are affected. A typical multistatic detection scenario is reconstructed under controlled laboratory conditions in order to create spatially independent data sets, while operating in the C-band frequency. The outcomes of this study are then applied to identify the scatter centers based on the distinct signatures they register in the experimental data set. As a converse argument, the process of antenna pattern estimation can now be performed free of an anechoic chamber setup, which is time and cost insensitive. A greater relevance shall be in the context of mid-band 5G-NR cellular communication systems that need to optimize the distributed antenna location attributes on time and cost constrained scales before attempting a large-scale deployment.


Agriculture department programs in 43 states surveyed offer similar services in regulation, market promotion, and natural resource conservation but are organized differently. Two OLS equations were estimated to explain state agriculture department expenditures as a function of gross farm sales, farm receipts mix, degree of government centralization, the proportion of metropolitan area residents, and tax capacity. A positive relation was found between state agricultural spending and gross farm sales and the percent of fruit/vegetables farm receipts. However, the results cast doubt over the Leviathan thesis of increasing government spending resulting from bureaucratic power.


In 1068 sheep of the Forest type, the sudan type, the Nungua Black Head type and their crosses, and in 145 doses of the West African dwarf breed in locations near Legon/Accra, the udders were studied for the occurrence of supernumerary teats. In sheep a frequency of 4.3% was found, in goats of 29.7%. In sheep and goats the supernumerary teats were always cranial to the main teats, and they were found more often on the left half of the udders than on the right half. Because of the high heritability, the relatively high occurrence of supernumerary teats in the goats investigated is attributed to inbreeding.


Mothers' and fathers' employment is of fundamental importance to families and children in two distinct ways. First, parents' work connects families to the larger social system. Because of their choices of jobs and workplaces, mothers and fathers are exposed to trends in the local, national, and global economy; to economic and social policy in such areas as international trade, parental leave, health insurance coverage, and social welfare; and to technology and technological change, including computerization, high speed communication, and robotics. In a more immediate way, mothers' and fathers' work situations connect them to a work culture that encourages certain values and behaviors and discourages others, to work-based friendships and social networks and, sometimes, to certain child care arrangements. A second way in which parents' employment is important for families and children is that, through the nature of the work that parents do and the workplace in which those work activities take place, parents are exposed to a set of occupational conditions that have implications for how they interact with and socialize their children. Some occupational conditions, such as how much time a parent spends on the job or when those work hours are scheduled, are important because they shape the parent's availability to the child. Others, such as the extent to which the job offers the worker autonomy and self-direction (or encourages conformity) or the extent to which the parent experiences work-related pressures and strains, affect the child in indirect ways; that is, they influence the parent's own development or psychological well-being in ways that have implications for parenting.


After intramuscular injection of ca. 3.5 mg kg-1 diminazene diaceturate-(bis-phenyl-U-14C) to two healthy male calves weighing 185 and 180 kg, levels of radioactivity were determined in blood, plasma, urine, faeces, and in edible tissues. The maximal blood level of 4.6 micrograms and 4.7 micrograms equivalents of diminazene diaceturate ml-1 (calculated from total radioactivity) occurred 15 min (calf C1) and 45 min (calf C2) after administration. The decrease in concentration followed a biphasic process with half lives of 2 and 188 hours. Seven days after treatment 47.1% of the dose had been excreted in the urine and 7.1% in the faeces. The respective values were 72.2% and 10.3% after 20 days. The half lives were similar to those in blood. The main product in urine was unchanged diminazene. Distribution studies showed concentrations which were low in general in edible tissues, i.e. in skeletal musculature and fat (below 1 microgram equivalent g-1), but higher in organs with excretory functions. There were 75.5 micrograms equivalents g-1, corresponding to 22% of the dose, in the liver 7 days after injection. This had decreased to 24.4 micrograms equivalents g-1, corresponding to 15% of the dose, at day 20. Only unchanged deminazene was detected in the liver extracts by thin-layer chromatography. Relay-bioavailability studies showed that the total liver residues were only partially available (mean = 23% of the dose) when fed to rats.


This The mineral potential in Egypt is quite high. Almost all sorts of industrial minerals such as metallic and non-metallic commodities exist in commercial amounts. However, Egypt imports many of the mineral commodities needed for the local mineral industries. The main reason for this is that the investors, either the governmental or the private sectors, refrain from investing into the mineral industry for prospecting, evaluation, and developing the mining and mineral processing technologies. This is because the return on investment in the mining industry is generally low and the pay back period is relatively long compared with easy-to-get money projects. Another reason is the disarray of the mining laws and regulations and lack of administrative capability to deal with domestic and international investors and solve the related problems. Also, lack of skilled personnel in the field of mining and mineral processing is an additional factor for the set back of the mining industry in Egypt. This is why the mining technology in Egypt is not very far from being primitive and extremely simple, with the exception of the underground mining of coal, North of Sinai, and Abu-Tartur phosphate mining, where fully automated long wall operations are designed. Also, the recent gold and tin-tantalum-niobium projects are being designed on modern surface mining and mineral processing technologies. The present review presents an overview of the most important metallic mineral commodities in Egypt, their geological background, reserves and production rates. A brief mention of the existing technologies for their exploitation is also highlighted.


Billions of gallons of water are used annually to flush toilets in the United States. Consequences of this usage include consumption of natural resources and construction of new infrastructure to treat and transmit potable water and wastewater. Waterless, or no-flush urinals, may help mitigate these effects and offer other advantages, including lower utility charges, improved restroom hygiene, and decreased fixture maintenance. Some notable caveats include possible lack of acceptance by users, odor control problems, and rejection by code officials. As urine is about 96% liquid, no additional water is really needed to wash it down the drain. The waterless, urinal, looking much like its conventional counterpart, takes advantage of this concept with generally positive results. This paper will discuss the design, applications, operation, maintenance, advantages, and disadvantages of waterless urinals. The results of two surveys of current users will be shared. A case study from a Texas school district will be also presented.


Infectious diseases ranging from hepatitis to tuberculosis can be transmitted or contracted by physicians, nurses, or laboratory personnel during the performance of their ordinary patient care activities. But by acquiring a basic knowledge of how infections are transmitted, complying with infection-control guidelines, taking necessary precautions for patient isolation, and receiving proper immunization, you can protect your patients, hospital staff members, and yourself from unnecessary risk.


This case study reviewed conventional root canal treatment of a maxillary root canal treatment which unexpectedly had a single canal with two foramens. This tooth was recognized as the last frequent tooth appeared neither with additional canal nor unusual root anatomy. Retreatment for this case was successful through widening of the access cavity and the root canal. While trying the master cone, it revealed that the canal splitted and had two foraments. A thorough knowledge of the root canal anatomy as well as careful radiograph interpretations were essential in enhancing the root-cleaning procedure.


The Taurus-Littrow valley on the Moon was the location of intensive geologic fieldwork during three days in December 1972. In situ activities at sampling stations were systematically documented by the astronauts using a series of overlapping images taken with their Hasselblad cameras. We investigated how this Apollo image archive can be used to perform 3-D reconstructions of several boulders of interest using close-range photogrammetry. We specifically focused on seven different boulders located at Stations 2, 6, and 7, at the foot of South and North Massifs, respectively. These boulders represent samples from highland materials, which rolled down the slopes of the surrounding hills. We used the Agisoft Metashape software to compute 3-D reconstructions of these boulders, using 173 scanned images as input. We then used either a web-based platform or a game engine to render the models in virtual reality. This allowed the users to walk around the boulders and to investigate in detail their morphology, fractures, vesicles, color variations, and sampling spots, as if standing directly in front of them with the astronauts. This work suggests that many features can be reconstructed in other sites of the Apollo missions, so as other robotic landing sites. Virtual reality techniques coupled to photogrammetry is thus opening a new era of exploration, both for past and future landing sites.


This thesis is concerned with Siegfried Kracauer's response to the challenges of modernity as exemplified by the Weimar Republic and its culture. A consideration of the literary dimension of Kracauer's work is a central aspect of my approach. Beginning with a brief examination of Kracauer s early, epistemological writings, which adopt an anti-modem tone, my thesis then examines his shift towards a materialist critique of modernity. Using his essay 'Das Ornament der Masse' as a key example, I argue that Kracauer assumes the stance of a flâneur vis-a-vis the culture he examines. While this is consistent with his role as a Feuilleton journalist, the flâneur's detachment compromises Kracauer's political position. Here, and throughout the thesis, Kracauer's narrative approach and its effects are drawn out through comparisons with contemporary literary texts. In the remaining three chapters of my thesis, I analyse the novels Ginster and Georg, as well as the sociological study Die Angestellten. Here, I suggest, Kracauer attempts to transcend the limitations imposed by the flâneur's detachment. In Ginster he critically reflects on his own personal and political development while Die Angestellten is an attempt at social intervention. In Georg, finally, Kracauer returns to exploring crucial factors of Weimar (political) culture and considers his own role, as a journalist, within them.


Vision-based motion estimation and 3D reconstruction, which have numerous applications (e.g., autonomous driving, navigation systems for airborne devices and augmented reality) are receiving significant research attention. To increase the accuracy and robustness, several researchers have recently demonstrated the benefit of using large field-of-view cameras for such applications. In this paper, we provide an extensive review of existing models for large field-of-view cameras. For each model we provide projection and unprojection functions and the subspace of points that result in valid projection. Then, we propose the Double Sphere camera model that well fits with large field-of-view lenses, is computationally inexpensive and has a closed-form inverse. We evaluate the model using a calibration dataset with several different lenses and compare the models using the metrics that are relevant for Visual Odometry, i.e., reprojection error, as well as computation time for projection and unprojection functions and their Jacobians. We also provide qualitative results and discuss the performance of all models.


Protective relaying comprehends several procedures and techniques focused on maintaining the power system working safely during and after undesired and abnormal network conditions, mostly caused by faulty events. Overcurrent relay is one of the oldest protective relays, its operation principle is straightforward: when the measured current is greater than a specified magnitude the protection trips; less variables are required from the system in comparison with other protections, causing the overcurrent relay to be the simplest and also the most difficult protection to coordinate; its simplicity is reflected in low implementation, operation, and maintenance cost. The counterpart consists in the increased tripping times offered by this kind of relays mostly before faults located far from their location; this problem can be particularly accentuated when standardized inverse-time curves are used or when only maximum faults are considered to carry out relay coordination. These limitations have caused overcurrent relay to be slowly relegated and replaced by more sophisticated protection principles, it is still widely applied in subtransmission, distribution, and industrial systems. In this work, the use of non standardized inverse-time curves, the model and implementation of optimization algorithms capable to carry out the coordination process, the use of different levels of short circuit currents, and the inclusion of distance relays to replace insensitive overcurrent ones are proposed methodologies focused on the overcurrent relay performance improvement. These techniques may transform the typical overcurrent relay into a more sophisticated one without changing its fundamental principles and advantages. Consequently a more secure and still economical alternative can be obtained, increasing its implementation area


An early prototype of the Vertical Stabilizer Assembly (VSA) of the Shuttle Orbiter was modal tested at healthy and damaged states to study vibrational nondestructive damage evaluation in aerospace structures. Frequency Response and Coherence functions were collected with a Laser Vibrometer at 84 points when the healthy and damaged VSA was shaken with a continuous random force from 0 to 300 Hz. The measurements were used to extract the resonant frequencies and modal shapes for the healthy and damaged states. After pairing of the mode shapes between the healthy and damaged states through the Modal Assurance Criterion and an analysis of the differences in the frequency response functions (FRFs), the strain energy densities of the elements due to modal deformations were determined through a finite element model. The energy densities were normalized so that the total energy of the structure be the same for the mode pairs of the undamaged and damaged sates. The differences in the modal strain energy densities between the healthy and damaged structures provide features that allow for the localization of damage. This is achieved by implementing fusion techniques that combine competing and complementing information obtained from the energy density differences of several mode pairs. This paper evaluates the detectability and performance of two fusion methods to localize damage in the VSA. These are averaging and Bayesian fusion. The performance is based on detectability and the number of false calls.


ABSTRACT Coastal shell middens represent a well-known element of the archaeological record of island and coastal regions across the world and shellfish have been an important resource for subsistence since the mid Holocene. However, the factors that influence shellfishing remain poorly understood and in many regions investigations into the role of shellfish gathering often have remained focused on prehistoric examples to the detriment of shell middens of later dates. This article reports on the emerging evidence for large-scale exploitation of shellfish during a hitherto understudied period for shell midden archaeology in northwest Europe: the first millennium AD. The article includes a review of a series of previously unknown large mussel-dominated middens in eastern Scotland, an outline of their chronology and character, including Bayesian modeling of dates, and a synthesis of the emerging evidence for shellfish gathering in northwest Europe during the first millennium AD. The research represents the first investigation of large-scale early Medieval middens in Britain and the first review of their international parallels and the important new information they can provide for the early Medieval economy.


After an introduction containing definitions of the terminological entity 'object' from national and international standards, a classification of types of objects is suggested followed by a brief statement of the nature of objects and their forms of representation. Hereafter the question 'what can we know about objects' is posed and the different types of objects are described and illustrated by examples. Another central question is why knowledge about objects should be stored in a terminological databank (TDB). As it is argued, objects are units of knowledge and as such, they are central units in professional communication in an array of fields of knowledge such as history and architecture. Finally, possible data categories are proposed to meet the requirements of professional knowledge storage and transfer. In the conclusion, the main points of the paper are presented in summarised form.


The goal of the paper is to set forth general guidelines that we believe would enhance the usefulness of future social experiments and to suggest ways of correcting for inherent limitations of them. Although the major motivation for an experiment is to overcome the inherent limitations of structural econometric models, in many instances the experimental designs have subverted this motivation. The primary advantages of randomized controlled experiments were often lost. The major complication for the analysis of the experiments was induced by an endogenous sample selection and treatment assignment procedure that selected the experimental participants and assigned them to controlversus treatment groups partly on the basis of the variable whose response the experiments were intended to measure. We propose that to overcome these difficulties, the goal of an experimental design should be as nearly as possible to allow analysis based on a simple analysis of variance model. Although complexities attendant to endogenous stratification can be avoided, there are inherent limitations of the experiments that cannot. Two major ones are self-determination of participation and self-selection out, through attrition.But these problems, we believe, can be corrected for with relative ease if endogenous stratification is eliminated. Finally, we propose that as a guiding principle, the experiments should have as a first priority the precise estimation of a single or a small number of treatment effects.


Daniel C. Dennett has argued that the self is a "theorists' fiction," a narrative self that is spun from the brain and functions like a center of gravity; an abstraction that is "supremely useful," even if an ontological fiction. Various theorists, including Priscilla Brandon, Richard Menary, and Lynne Rudder Baker have retorted that embodiment and a first-person ownership—a "mineness" in Brandon's terms—are both necessary for and prior to such a narrative self. The article proposes that the self that is evident in autobiographical art problematizes both of these accounts, illuminating the possibility for self-detachment: the point at which the self loses its center of gravity, its embodiment and its "mineness," yet remains. Through a consideration of the autobiographical poetry of Charles Bukowski, the article argues that autobiographical art is able not only to construct biography, but to construct identity as well.


Annulate lamellae (AL) are found in the cytoplasm and consist of stacks of flattened membrane cisternae perforated by numerous and densely packed pore complexes lacking both chromatin and a lamina. AL are frequently observed in rapidly growing or differentiating cells, such as male and female gametes, tumor ceils, and virally infected cells. Nuclear and annulate lamellae pores appear morphologically indistinguishable in their basic structure when viewed by a number of different electron microscopy techniques. Since AL are relatively easier to observe in germ cells, most of our knowledge concerning this organelle and speculations as to the proposed function of these cytomembranes has arisen from morphological studies of annulate lamellae during the course of germ cell maturations. Most cells have an inherent propensity towards AL formation . Even though annulate lamellae are not a ubiquitous feature of terminally differentiated cells, it is possible to induce the formation of the AL network in cells. The purpose of this review is to acquaint or reacquaint the reader with this inracellular membrane network and to adres a number of basic questions concerning the orgin, function, and fate this rather intriguing cellular organelle.


Trait-based studies in community ecology have generally focused on the community as a unit where all species occur due to stochasticity, determinism or some mixture of the two. However, the processes governing population dynamics may vary greatly among species. We propose a core-transient framework for trait-based community studies where a core group of species has a strong link to the local environment while transient species have weaker responses to the environment. Consistent with the expectations of the framework, we found that common species exhibit clear linkages between performance and their environment and traits while rare species tend to have weaker or non-significant relationships. Ultimately, trait-based ecology should move beyond applying a set of processes to a community as a whole and towards quantifying inter-specific variation in the drivers of population dynamics that ultimately scale up to determine community structure.

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Introduction: Traditional Kirschner wire (K-wire) stabilization of first metatarsal distal chevron osteotomy involves 1 cortex of fixation; however, unicortical fixation is associated with a high complication rate, including pin migration. A method of K-wire fixation utilizing 3 cortices may be biomechanically superior and potentially equivalent to single-screw fixation. Methods: Cadaveric specimens fixed with tricortical K-wires were tested in both the physiologic and cantilever conditions against specimens fixed with unicortical K-wires (N = 8) and single screws (N = 9) utilizing matched-pair comparison groups. Differences in physiologic and cantilever fixed/intact stiffness ratio and cantilever failure load were determined. Results: The tricortical fixation specimens had a significantly higher stiffness ratio in cantilever loading than the unicortical fixation specimens (60.50% tricortical, 34.17% unicortical, P = .02) but not in physiologic load (15.34% tricortical, 25.75% unicortical, P = .23). In cantilever failure loading, the tricortical fixation specimens had a significantly higher load to failure than the unicortical fixation specimens (132.81 N tricortical, 58.58 N unicortical, P < .01). Stiffness ratio under physiologic load, cantilever load, and ultimate load to failure were not significantly different between tricortical K-wire and screw-fixation groups. Conclusion: Tricortical K-wire fixation for distal chevron osteotomies is biomechanically superior to traditional unicortical K-wire fixation, and equivalent to single-screw fixation. Levels of Evidence: Level V: Cadaver study


Нe treatment and eradication of infectious diseases can be initially performed by diagnostics. Нese infectious diseases have more impact on the mortality and morbidity around the world. Initial step need to take for the treatment as well as for the prevention and disease control. Accurate diagnostic techniques are quite important while LdentLٽcatLon of disease and proper treatment. In order to consider the valuable techniques, the tests could be most appropriate and for the evaluations of these techniques with their factors. For the LdentLٽcatLon evaluation and treatment in most of the developing countries, WHO (World Health Organization) with UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), world bank and UNDP (Union Nations Development program) have been into a special program that to arrange an expert advisor for planning, designing, commencement and conducting of standard diagnostic evaluations for the tests.


In this work, we present a novel caching scheme, PAIC, which is designed for multimedia streaming systems. Caching in a multimedia streaming system is an effective way to improve the performance of multimedia streaming systems and reduce the service latency. Previous studies have shown that request interval based caching and its extension for considering different video popularity performs well for various streaming environments. Although there are many studies for multimedia streaming system, they do not consider the playback pattern of the streaming service. In this paper, we present the new caching scheme that considers the playback pattern of the streaming service. Trace driven simulations with real world VOD traces have shown that the proposed caching scheme improves the performance of the multimedia streaming systems.


Realignment in California comes at a time when the state's prison system is expensive and overcrowded; the response has been to re-evaluate and reconfigure the way counties use state prisons. This paper illustrates the way in which similar problems and solutions were present at the state's founding: issues of expense, overcrowding, and the county-state relationship help explain the origins, size and shape of the California prison system. First, California's lack of money drove it to try to house prisoners on the cheap, starting when it made county jails the state prison system by fiat, continuing through a decade of privatization and convict lease arrangements in San Quentin, and concluding with a state-administered system partly funded by prison labor. By the time the value of prison labor atrophied and the true costs of a non-remunerative prison population revealed itself, the state was locked into fiscal and administrative responsibility for prisoners. Second, California sought to relieve crowding in its prisons, though it generally did so via back-end mechanisms such as pardons and parole, justifying these moves in part on the basis that they would make rehabilitation possible and ultimately save the state money. Finally, there were concerns about whether fiscal arrangements gave local officials incentives to send prisoners to the state. In some instances, the solutions proposed resemble today's Realignment.


This paper proposes a method of improving the extraction efficiency of InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) using textured zinc oxide (ZnO) prepared by liquid phase deposition (LPD). The treatment solution for liquid-phase-deposited ZnO (LPD-ZnO) consisted of hydrochloric acid (HCl) saturated with ZnO powder. The deposition temperature was maintained at 30 °C using a temperature-controlled water bath system. Atomic force microscope images of the LPD-ZnO indicate that the root-mean-square (RMS) roughness of the LPD-ZnO is dependent on the HCl concentration. As compared with conventional the InGaN/GaN LED, the extraction efficiency of the InGaN/GaN LED with the LPD-ZnO-textured layer increases in conjunction with RMS roughness. The maximum light output intensity enhancement of 48% for the InGaN/GaN LED with an RMS roughness of 16.26 nm occurred under a driving current of 20 mA. The calculated optical intensity of the InGaN/GaN LED with a bumplike LPD-ZnO-textured surface indicates that the optimum RMS roughness of the textured surface layer applied to InGaN/GaN LEDs is approximately 16 nm, which agrees with the experimental results. The InGaN/GaN LED with LPD-ZnO with an RMS roughness of 16.26 nm shows a wide light output divergence angle, which satisfies the requirement of the applications of a backlight source.


An understanding of the conditions that determine the factors affecting nurses' intention to leave is important for countries suffering from nurse shortage. Aim: to examine factors influencing intention to leave among female hospital nurses in a large Japanese sample, classified into four generations by age and considering economic conditions. Methods: a cross-sectional survey with convenience sampling was conducted. Anonymous self-administered questionnaires were distributed to all nurses in 30 hospitals. To assess intention to leave, basic attributes, life conditions, work characteristics, and factors of psychosocial work environment were addressed. After classifying data into four generations based on age cohorts, we conducted multivariate logistic regression analysis using the completed data (N = 5074, mean age = 36.24 years). Results: regardless of the generational characteristics influenced by economic conditions, effort and monetary reward were generation-common factors. Over-commitment, social support, and the presence of a role model were generation-common factors in three generations. While having children increased intention to leave in the generation born in 1965–1979, having family members in need of caregiving other than children decreased the risk in the generation born in the 1980s. Conclusion: generational countermeasures considering factors of psychosocial work environment and life conditions are needed to avert female nurse turnover.