Anti-M�llerian hormone appears to play central role in regulation of oocyte recruitment and folliculogenesis. Serum AMH concentration was found to be one of the best predictors of ovarian performance in IVF treatment. Consequently many fertility centres have introduced AMH for the assessment of ovarian reserve and as a tool for formulation of ovarian stimulation strategies in IVF. However published evidence on reliability of AMH assay methods and the role of AMH-tailored individualisation of ovarian stimulation in IVF appear to be weak. Consequently, I decided to conduct a series of studies that directed towards an improvement of the scientific evidence in these areas of research. The studies on performance of Gen II AMH assay revealed the assay suffers from significant instability and provides erroneous results. Consequently, the manufacturer introduced a modification on assay method. In view of the observed issues with Gen II assay, I conducted a critical appraisal of all published research on the previous and current assay methods that reported AMH variability, assay method comparison and sample stability. The literature indicated clinically important variability between AMH measurements in repeated samples, which was reported to be more significant with Gen II assay. The studies on between-assay conversion factors derived conflicting conclusions. Correspondingly, the review of studies on sample stability revealed conflicting reports on the stability of AMH under normal storage and processing conditions, which was reported to be more significant issue in Gen II assay. In view of above findings, we concluded that AMH in serum may exhibit pre-analytical instability, which may vary with assay method. Therefore robust, international standards for the development and validation of AMH assays are required. In the analysis of determinants of ovarian reserve, I evaluated the effect of ethnicity, BMI, endometriosis, causes of infertility and reproductive surgery on AMH, AFC and FSH measurements using data on a large cohort of infertile patients. Using robust multivariable regression analysis in a large cohort of IVF cycles, I established the effect of age, AMH, AFC, diagnosis, attempt, COS protocol changes, gonadotrophin type, USOR operator, regime and initial dose of gonadotrophins on oocyte yield. Then, I examined effect of gonadotrophin dose and regime on total and mature oocyte numbers. The study found that, after adjustment for all above variables, there was no increase in oocyte yield with increasing gonadotrophin dose categories beyond the very lowest doses. This suggests that there may not be significant direct dose-response effect and consequently strict protocols for tailoring the initial dose of gonadotrophins may not necessarily optimize ovarian performance in IVF treatment. In summary, studies described in this thesis have revealed instability of Gen II assay samples and raised awareness of the pitfalls of AMH measurements. These studies have also demonstrated the effect of clinically measurable factors on ovarian reserve and provided data on the effect of AMH, other patient characteristics and treatment interventions on oocyte yield in cycles of IVF. Furthermore, a robust database and statistical models have been developed, which can be used in future studies on ovarian reserve and IVF treatment interventions.


Systems-on-silicon or systems-on-a-chip (SOC) are becoming more common as the capabilities of the silicon foundries, and the supporting technologies of hardware description languages and simulation continue to mature. Successful development programs for SOC-based designs will require that these tools continue to evolve and that the development teams also evolve their project methods in order to take full advantage of the capabilities of these emerging SOC design and development tools. Presently, one of the most promising techniques is HW/SW co-design and co-verification. Co-design enables the HW and SW designers to jointly attack the SOC project by giving the SW designer access to the virtual hardware under development before silicon is available and enables the hardware designer to exercise the design with the actual operational software, rather than laboriously generated test vectors.


How many times have you heard the term 'curate' in the past few years? But what exactly does it mean? Curating has been a key concept both in and outside the art world in the past few years, with the remit of what a curator does having changed and expanded with each new exhibition or biennale. With an emphasis on the 'now' and the most recent exhibitions, this book examines the variety and richness of curating practices today, from public commissions by Art Angel to experimental projects such as the 'Ghetto Biennale' in Haiti or the Rhizome digital archive.

Each highly illustrated case study is structured around an interview with the curator responsible for the show. The text both tells the story of the show's making and fills in background information about the curator's work.

An interview with Katrina Brown included in the 'Beyond the White Cube' section.


The paper presents some experimental results concerning parallel genetic algorithms. Genetic algorithms are a well-established technique for the solution of large optimization problems; a parallel version has been proposed for them, based on the concept of migration. Several parameters concerning migration deeply affect the performance of the approach, but it is often difficult to optimize their value in order to obtain the best result. The paper presents a system which produces good solutions to the traveling salesman problem using parallel genetic algorithms, and reports some results concerning the influence of the parameters on the performance of the system.<<ETX>>


An enzyme has been isolated from flaxseed (Linum usita-tissimum) which utilizes the product of lipoxidase for its substrate. The enzyme, termed hydroperoxide isomerase, converts the conjugated diene hydroperoxide of linoleic acid to the corresponding monoenoic ketohydroxy fatty acid. The structure of the latter has been determined by ultraviolet, infrared, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy; periodate and permangate oxidation; gas chromatography; and thin layer chromatography. Hydroperoxide isomerase activity has also been demonstrated in crude extracts from barley (Hordeum vulgare), wheat germ (Triticum aestivum), mung beans (Phaseolus aureus), and corn (Zea mays) and from partially purified extracts of soy bean (Glycine max). The hydroperoxide isomerase enzyme from flaxseed has a pH optimum of 7.0. The enzyme was not inhibited by nordihydroguairetic acid, p-chloromercuribenzoic acid, or cya-nide, but it was inhibited by cupric ion. One hundred per cent of the activity was lost by heating the enzyme for 1 minute at 68 C. Both linoleic and linolenic acid hydroperoxides can serve as substrates for the enzyme. The pH optimuim for the hydroperoxide isomerase enzyme from barley is 6.2; from wheat germ, 6.1; and from soybean, 6.1. The identification of the hydroperoxide isomerase enzyme clarifies the role of lipoxidase in plant tissue and suggests a participation of lipid in the electron transport system.


Guy Maddin started making films in his back yard and on his kitchen table. Now his unique work, which relies heavily on such archaic means as black and white small-format cinematography and silent-film storytelling, premieres at major film festivals around the world and is avidly discussed in the critical press. Into the Past provides a complete and systematic critical commentary on each of Maddin's feature films and shorts, from his 1986 debut film The Dead Father through to his highly successful 2008 full-length 'docu-fantasia' My Winnipeg.William Beard's extensive analysis of Maddin's narrative and aesthetic strategies, themes, influences, and underlying issues also examines the origins and production history of each film. Each of Maddin's projects and collaborations showcase his gradual evolution as a filmmaker and his singular development of narrative forms. Beard's close readings of these films illuminate, among other things, the profound ways in which Maddin's art is founded in the past - both in the cultural past, and in his personal memory.


Background Genetic variants on chromosome 9p21 confer a robust risk for coronary artery disease but inconsistent risk for stroke. This study investigated whether such genetic variants exert differential risks on myocardial infarction (MI) and ischemic stroke in a Taiwanese population. Methods The study recruited 425 MI patients, 687 patients with ischemic stroke, and 1377 healthy controls. Four key single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on chromosome 9p21 were genotyped. Results Multivariate permutation analyses demonstrated that the risk T allele of rs1333040 and G allele of rs2383207 were associated with MI (P = 0.045 and 0.002, respectively). Subjects with the rs2383207 GG genotype had a 1.85-fold (P = 0.021) risk for MI when compared with the subjects with the AA genotype. Further analysis showed that significant results only exist in the young MI group (<65 years) but not in the old MI group (≥65 years). These SNPs were not statistically significant for stroke (adjusted P ranged from 0.097 to 0.540). Haplotype analysis showed global P values of 0.032 for MI and 0.290 for stroke. Conclusions Genetic variations in the 9p21 region are associated with MI but not with stroke in a Taiwanese population. Early-onset MI was more likely to carry the risk genotypes of 9p21 SNPs.


Lab-cultured Ulva pertusa were exposed to three selected types of contaminated areas (industry, mariculture and living) and one relatively clean area near Dalian seashore for 1, 3, 5 and 14 days. Relative growth rate, chlorophyll content and activities of two kinds of antioxidant defense enzymes (superoxide dismutase and catalase) were measured and compared with their lab controls at different time points, respectively. No significant change was observed in either relative growth rate or chlorophyll content in 1-day exposed samples, while obvious decreases were observed in relative long-period (3, 7 and 14 days) exposed samples. Antioxidant defense enzymes activities were stimulated to increase after 1-day exposure and decrease after relative long-period exposure. Significant statistical decreases were found in the relative growth rate, chlorophyll content and antioxidant defense enzymes activities of samples from industry pollution area, which indicates a more serious pollution situation in industry area than the other two areas near Dalian seashore. Above results demonstrated the established method would be useful for biological evaluation of multiplex pollution in real situation.


The last decade has seen appreciable advancements in efforts towards increased portability of lab-on-a-chip devices by substituting microfluidics with molecular motor-based transportation. As of now, first proof-of-principle devices have analyzed protein mixtures of low complexity, such as target protein molecules in buffer solutions optimized for molecular motor performance. However, in a diagnostic work-up, lab-on-a-chip devices need to be compatible with complex biological samples. While it has been shown that such samples do not interfere with crucial steps in molecular diagnostics (for example antibody-antigen recognition), their effect on molecular motors is unknown. This critical and long overlooked issue is addressed here. In particular, we studied the effects of blood, cell lysates and solutions containing genomic DNA extracts on actomyosin and kinesin-microtubule-based transport, the two biomolecular motor systems that are most promising for lab-on-a-chip applications. We found that motor function is well preserved at defined dilutions of most of the investigated biological samples and demonstrated a molecular motor-driven label-free blood type test. Our results support the feasibility of molecular-motor driven nanodevices for diagnostic point-of-care applications and also demonstrate important constraints imposed by sample composition and device design that apply both to kinesin-microtubule and actomyosin driven applications.


Abstract Objective COVID19 outbreak has put a tremendous physical and mental burden on frontline doctors. A limited amount of literature is available in this area. The present study was done to assess the depressive symptoms and depression levels in doctors working at COVID-19 Hospitals. Method This study was based on an online survey that was started on May 2020 and ended on 30th June, 2020. An online questionnaire which included details such as age, gender, and 21 items to assess depressive symptoms was sent through social media to doctors from various countries. Depressive symptoms were measured by Beck's Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Items of a total of 220 questionnaires were responded. Out of these, only 200 responses were analyzed using SPSS software. Results Out of 200 subjects, 110 (55%) had depressive symptoms and 90 (45%) had no symptoms. Males had more depressive symptoms (42.5%) than females (12.5%). Those who worked at COVID-19 centers 75 (37.5%) had higher depressive symptoms. The number of males working at COVID-19 centers was much higher (36%) than females (12%). Depressive symptoms were significantly higher in males than females (35.35±10.25 vs 16.90±7.76; p<0.0001). Conclusion Doctors, especially males working at COVID-19 centers have higher depressive symptoms than their female colleagues. Multicentric studies with larger sample sizes are needed to study the impact of COVID-19 on frontline doctors.


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The main purpose of this study is not to compare online and traditional face-to-face instruction merely to prove which one is better. This paper aims to highlight some of the possible risks and strengths which may help to improve the role of teachers in both methods. The study can be designed using a quantitative and qualitative methodological combination, and focus on the dimensions of "theoretical content", "practical content", "tutor/student interaction" and "design" of the training activity. Teachers in online classrooms primarily need to understand distance education and how it differs from conventional methods. These people are required to be subject matter experts, education designers, social facilitators and teachers in an online environment. The "face" of an e-learning course may not be an actual face, but more the overall look and feel of the design. Classrooms are teacher-driven, whereas an e-learning course is student-driven. Instruction in higher education has developed significantly over the past two decades, influenced by two trends. They are (1) promotion of active learning methods and (2) integration of Web technology in e-learning. Many studies found that active teaching improves students' success, involvement and thinking skills. Let us consider teacher (t) as source and student (s) as a customer. We establish various parametric impacts on teachers and students and represented in the form of general mathematical model. e-learning is to integrate technologies and new knowledge to allow learners to learn new knowledge anytime and anywhere without constraints of time and space. With the increasing prevalence of e-learning, many cram school operators have released their own instructions based on e-learning methods, including CD or cassette-based distance learning, single-learner online learning, and multi-learner multimedia-assisted instructions. Their primary purposes are to promote e-learning among students. Moreover, effectiveness and satisfaction of learning, instructors, and environments can be compared between E-learning and face-to-face learning. Students who used e-learning method will be more satisfied on learning materials and learning environment compared to traditional face-to-face learning method, using data mining techniques.


This paper is concerned with a novel proposal of the utility AC interactive three-phase soft commutation sinewave PWM power conditioner developed for solar photovoltaic power generation system and parallel processing UPS with new type battery and super capacitor energy storage devices. The prototype of this power conditioner is composed of two quadrant soft switching PWM chopper with step-up and step-down voltage operating modes, three-phase V-connection soft switching PWM inverter incorporating a single two-switch auxiliary resonant DC link snubber into one phase of three-phase bridge legs with divided capacitors, and the three-phase utility AC power source grid. The operating principle of the proposed power conversion conditioning circuit and system including some unique features and based upon high-frequency soft switching sinewave PWM scheme is described and discussed. The operating performances; waveform quality and actual efficiency of cost effective utility interactive power conversion conditioning and processing circuit treated here are evaluated and discussed on the basis of experimental data.


STUDY OBJECTIVES
Maternal and infant sleep are significant health concerns for postpartum families. The results of previously published studies have indicated that behavioral-educational strategies promote infant sleep, but these reports relied on parental report and did not include maternal sleep. This pilot study of a maternal-infant sleep intervention evaluated feasibility, acceptability, and effects on sleep and other outcomes in the early postpartum period.

DESIGN
Randomized controlled trial with concealed-group allocation.

SETTING
Hospital postpartum unit with home follow-up.

PARTICIPANTS
First-time mothers and their infants randomly assigned to sleep intervention (n = 15) or control group (n = 15).

INTERVENTIONS
The sleep intervention included a 45-minute meeting with a nurse to discuss sleep information and strategies, an 11-page booklet, and weekly phone contact to reinforce information and problem solve. The control group received a 10-minute meeting during which only maternal sleep hygiene and basic information about infant sleep were discussed, a 1-page pamphlet, and calls at weeks 3 and 5 to maintain contact without provision of advice.

MEASUREMENT AND RESULTS
Questionnaires were completed at baseline and 6 weeks; sleep diaries and mother and infant actigraphy were completed at 6 weeks. The mothers in the sleep intervention group averaged 57 minutes more nighttime sleep, and fewer rated their sleep as a problem, as compared with the mothers in the control group. Infants in the sleep intervention group had fewer nighttime awakenings and had maximum lengths of nighttime sleep that were, on average, 46 minutes longer than those in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS
A behavioral-educational intervention with first-time mothers in the early postpartum period promotes maternal and infant sleep. Further evaluation of the intervention in a larger, more diverse sample is needed.


Systematic drug repositioning identifies digoxin as a potential treatment for groups 3 and 4 medulloblastoma. Digoxin on the brain Groups 3 and 4 medulloblastoma (MB) are highly heterogeneous in nature and have therefore proven difficult to target, resulting in corresponding meagre survival rates. Using a sophisticated systematic drug repositioning approach, Huang et al. identified the already-approved drug digoxin as a possible treatment for these MB subtypes. Application of digoxin to orthotopic patient-derived xenograft models produced an increase in survival; this increase in survival was further extended upon combining digoxin treatment with radiation, and, importantly, occurred at blood concentrations of digoxin that might be feasible in patients. These findings could mean a possible inroads in improving outcome for patients with these hard-to-treat cancers. Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common malignant brain tumor of childhood. Although outcomes have improved in recent decades, new treatments are still needed to improve survival and reduce treatment-related complications. The MB subtypes groups 3 and 4 represent a particular challenge due to their intragroup heterogeneity, which limits the options for "rational" targeted therapies. Here, we report a systems biology approach to drug repositioning that integrates a nonparametric, bootstrapping-based simulated annealing algorithm and a 3D drug functional network to characterize dysregulated driver signaling networks, thereby identifying potential drug candidates. From more than 1300 drug candidates studied, we identified five members of the cardiac glycoside family as potentially inhibiting the growth of groups 3 and 4 MB and subsequently confirmed this in vitro. Systemic in vivo treatment of orthotopic patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models of groups 3 and 4 MB with digoxin, a member of the cardiac glycoside family approved for the treatment of heart failure, prolonged animal survival at plasma concentrations known to be tolerated in humans. These results demonstrate the power of a systematic drug repositioning method in identifying a potential treatment for MB. Our strategy could potentially be used to accelerate the repositioning of treatments for other human cancers that lack clearly defined rational targets.


This paper investigates differences in productivity and cost structure between private and public utilities in Newfoundland, 1956-91. A conventional accounting approach, and a four-input translog cost function and associated share equations are used to estimate total and partial factor productivities, own and cross-partial elasticities of input demand and substitution, technical change, and scale economies. Differences in productivity are traced to the patterns of factor-bias of technical change, factor complementarities, and returns to scale. We find capital-using bias and diseconomies of scale in private utilities, and capital-saving bias and economies of scale in public utilities. The implications of these findings for policy warrant further study. Although preliminary, our results do not support the hypothesis that private utilities are more efficient than those in the public sector.


Purpose: To develop and validate a method to improve existing deformable image registration (DIR) algorithms for the registration between the high‐dose‐rate (HDR) brachytherapy CT image and the intensity‐modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) CT image of gynecologic cancer patients for dose accumulation. Methods: Deformable registration of brachytherapy CT images and external beam CT images is challenging due to the presence of the applicator in the brachytherapy image. We have developed a method to adapt DIR algorithms to this situation. A segmentation step is used to remove the applicator, which is imaged in the HDR CT image but not in the IMRT image, leaving an empty virtual cavity. An artificial deformation vector field is then generated in the tissue around the applicator to deflate this cavity toward the center at each slice and restore the vagina to a state without applicator. Different schemes are employed for two different registration tasks, i.e., deforming HDR CT image to IMRT CT image, or vice versa. In both cases, demons algorithm is used as the main DIR method to perform registration. The generated final deformation vector fields are used to deform the dose grid from one CT anatomy to another for dose accumulation. Results: Visual inspection of the DIR results indicates that our proposed method can suppress the interference of the applicator to the DIR algorithm, and successfully and accurately register the HDR and IMRT CT images as well as deforming and adding doses from both treatment modalities. Conclusion: We have developed a novel and robust DIR scheme that can perform registration between IMRT CT image and HDR CT image for dose accumulation, and can yield accurate registration results. This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no 30970866), Major Program of Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province of China (no 10251051501000007)


L-Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the CNS, where it activates both its ionotropic and metabotropic receptors. Excessive levels of glutamate lead to increased intracellular free calcium concentrations, which activate calcium-dependent events resulting in the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as nitric oxide, superoxide and hydrogen peroxide. Glutamate-induced neuronal damage in stroke and neurodegenerative diseases may be mediated by these ROS, which are known to promote oxidative stress. Glutamate receptors are also expressed in non-neuronal peripheral tissues such as bone, where osteoblasts actively secrete glutamate and express glutamate receptors showing striking electrophysiological, biochemical and molecular similarities to those found in the CNS. The responses of osteoblastic and neuronal cultures to culture conditions, glutamate and ROS-generated oxidative stress were therefore the focus of this study. Further experiments focussed on ROS, especially H2O2, which produced concentration- and time-dependent viability reductions in the two cell types that correlated well with morphological damage, although the osteoblasts were less sensitive to its effect. The more differentiated (switch) osteoblast cultures proved more sensitive to peroxide damage than the less differentiated (non-switch) cultures. An attempt to probe whether mitochondrial impairment underlies the differences in sensitivities of MC3T3-E1 and CGN cultures to oxidative damage revealed that the integrity of the osteoblasts was not significantly compromised in the presence of the mitochondrial poisons: potassium cyanide (KCN) and 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NPA) (except for 24 h application of 3-NPA at 100?M and 1mM). The neurones "succumbed" to lower concentrations and shorter exposures to the poisons. The neurotoxic effects of the poisons were mediated by the NMDA receptor, since they were blocked by the antagonist D-AP5. Thus, while neurones depend critically on mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation for energy production (ATP synthesis), the osteoblasts might follow preferentially the glycolytic pathway. The stable adenosine analogue, 2-chloroadenosine (2-ClA), and the A1 and A2A receptor agonists, CPA and CGS21680, respectively, each conferred partial but significant protection against H2O2 damage to osteoblasts, while the respective A1 and A2A antagonists, DPCPX and ZM241385 had no effect. Glutamate- and H2O2-induced damage to CGNs were significantly prevented by CPA and ZM241385, but not by DPCPX or CGS21680. Therefore, while osteoblasts and neurones may be similar in terms of glutamate receptor expression, they exhibit differences in their manner of responses and the degree of sensitivity to toxic agents. Further elucidation of underlying mechanisms may be furnished through molecular biology-based approaches.


A portable mobile stereo vision system designed for the assessment of road signage and delineation (lines and road studs or 'cat eyes') in low light conditions is presented. This novel system allows both geometric and photometric measurements to be made on objects in a scene. Using the system, it has been shown that retro-reflectors, and in particular road signs, can be identified by nature of their reflective properties. In addition, a novel imaging application has been investigated that facilitates the detection of defective road studs. Any objects examined can also be positioned on a national grid through the fusion of stereo vision with global positioning system technology. Automated feature extraction and analysis routines make the system fully autonomous.


This paper is focused on the increasing amount of data collected by governments and big private companies: the manuscript considers the strategic and economically relevant value of this information and the informational power held by only a few subjects. From this perspective the article suggests the adoption of adequate measures to control those who have this power, in order to limit possible abuse and illegitimate advantages, and, at the same time, to increase access to information, in order to spread informational power


The weathering of almandine garnet in the oxidized, vadose zone of saprolite near Otto, North Carolina, begins at grain boundaries and along fractures traversing the garnet grains. Radially oriented fibrous intergrowths of gibbsite and goethite form layers of uniform thickness, which grow by centripetal replacement as weathering proceeds. The contact between the garnet surface and the layer of weathering products is sharp and smooth, and garnet corners are rounded. Large, well-defined etch pits are absent on the underlying garnet surface. These observations suggest that diffusion (transport) of reactants and/or products through the gibbsite-goethite layer is the rate-limiting step in the weathering of almandine garnet in the oxidizing environment of the saprolite.

In soils overlying the saprolite, garnet surfaces are directly exposed to weathering solutions without the intervening surface layer. Such "unprotected" grains in soils (and stream sediments) exhibit numerous large, well-developed etch pits. Surface-reaction control, rather than transport control, prevails during weathering of almandine garnet in the absence of protective surface layers of weathering products. Biochemical or biological processes in the soil apparently prevent the gibbsite-goethite layer from forming or persisting. Soil solutions can therefore react directly with the garnet surface, rather than requiring reactants or products to diffuse through the gibbsite-goethite coating as in the saprolite. The mechanism, and rate-limiting step, of almandine garnet weathering is apparently strongly dependent on the chemical environment in which weathering occurs.


A simple and novel SO2 release method for the synthesis of controllable nanostructured BaSO4 and BaSO3 crystals was developed based on the oxidation of HSO3− to SO42− by dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in a binary system of triethylene glycol (TEG) + DMSO. The binary system was successfully re-used for SO2 absorption and production of BaSO3 crystals at least three times. Aggregation and self-assembly mechanisms for the preparation of BaSO4 and BaSO3 crystals were proposed. This controllable synthesis strategy for BaSO4 and BaSO3 crystals has offered an alternative way for the comprehensive utilization of SO2, and provided a scientific foundation for the development of DMSO oxidation chemistry.


ABSTRACT Due to a significant increase in the complexity of the care demands of older people having multiple care needs, the necessity for integrated care is increasingly acknowledged. Proposing a qualitative approach based on a secondary literature analysis and an empirical survey, this paper explores the integration policy of health and social care for older people having complex needs in two European countries – France and Sweden – where various policy measures aiming at developing and delivering integrated care can be identified: at the national level, through the supportive measures of organisational, institutional and/or professional integration from central government, and at the local level, with the implementation of concrete integrative initiatives. Using a comparative qualitative approach, the authors investigate both of these levels, as well as the interplay between them. They show the importance of this double – local and national – approach of the issue of integration and highlight the continuous negotiation process which underlies the integration activities. Local integration initiatives are in fact constantly reshaped by top-down and bottom-up dynamics which appear to be strongly interconnected.


We conducted a quasi‐experiment to evaluate the impact of a Medicare waiver which allowed the use of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physicians assistants (PAs) to deliver primary care to Massachusetts nursing home patients and removed the limits on the reimbursable numbers of visits per month. A carefully matched set of 1,327 Medicaid patients from 95 non‐participating homes in the same areas of Massachusetts was compared to 1,324 Medicaid demonstration patients from 75 homes. Information came from specially designed record reviews and the Medicaid and Medicare information systems. Separate analyses were done for newly admitted cases and rollovers. Comparisons of quality of care suggested that the medical groups using NPs and PAs provided as good or better care than did the physicians in the control group. There were no differences in functional status changes or in the use of medications. The demonstration patients received more attention, as reflected in more orders written and an average of one additional visit a month. Demonstration patients showed higher scores on three of seven specially designed quality tracers, congestive heart failure and hypertension for both new admissions and rollovers, and new urinary incontinence for new admissions. Rollovers had significantly fewer emergency and total hospital days. A cost analysis suggests that the use of NPs and PAs saves at least as much as it costs and may save additional money with more sustained use.


Differential privacy (DP) has emerged as a de facto standard privacy notion for a wide range of applications. Since the meaning of data utility in different applications may vastly differ, a key challenge is to find the optimal randomization mechanism, i.e., the distribution and its parameters, for a given utility metric. Existing works have identified the optimal distributions in some special cases, while leaving all other utility metrics (e.g., usefulness and graph distance) as open problems. Since existing works mostly rely on manual analysis to examine the search space of all distributions, it would be an expensive process to repeat such efforts for each utility metric. To address such deficiency, we propose a novel approach that can automatically optimize different utility metrics found in diverse applications under a common framework. Our key idea that, by regarding the variance of the injected noise itself as a random variable, a two-fold distribution may approximately cover the search space of all distributions. Therefore, we can automatically find distributions in this search space to optimize different utility metrics in a similar manner, simply by optimizing the parameters of the two-fold distribution. Specifically, we define a universal framework, namely, randomizing the randomization mechanism of differential privacy (R2DP), and we formally analyze its privacy and utility. Our experiments show that R2DP can provide better results than the baseline distribution (Laplace) for several utility metrics with no known optimal distributions, whereas our results asymptotically approach to the optimality for utility metrics having known optimal distributions. As a side benefit, the added degree of freedom introduced by the two-fold distribution allows R2DP to accommodate the preferences of both data owners and recipients.


Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4i) are useful antidiabetic medications that prevent cleavage of incretin hormones by dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4). As DPP-4 targets diverse substrates besides incretin, DPP-4i may exert nonglycemic pleiotropic effects. Recent studies have reported that hepatic DPP-4 expression is upregulated under nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) condition in animals and humans. We investigated whether DPP-4i could ameliorate the pathological phenotype of NASH and evaluated the underlying mechanisms in a mouse model. Mice were randomly assigned to one of three groups: Group 1, chow-fed mice with vehicle treatment for 20 weeks; group 2, high-fat, high-fructose, and high-cholesterol AMLN diet-fed mice with vehicle treatment for 20 weeks; group 3, AMLN diet-fed mice with vehicle treatment for 10 weeks followed by DPP-4i (teneligliptin 20 mg/kg/day by oral gavage) treatment for 10 weeks. Serum and liver tissues were analyzed. Administration of DPP-4i significantly reduced the body weight, liver to body weight ratio, and serum liver enzyme levels in AMLN diet-induced NASH model. DPP-4i-treated AMMN diet-fed mice revealed a marked alleviation in liver steatosis and fibrosis compared with vehicle-treated AMLN-fed mice. NASH alleviation in vivo significantly correlated with the suppression of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) receptor-mediated apoptosis and decreased DPP-4 expression in the liver. In vitro assay of palmitate-treated hepatocytes, treatment with DPP-4i significantly attenuated the hallmarks of TRAIL receptor-mediated lipoapoptosis, suppressing DPP-4 expression. DPP-4i may efficiently attenuate the pathogenesis of AMLN diet-induced NASH in mice by suppressing lipotoxicity-induced apoptosis, possibly through the modulation of hepatic DPP-4 expression. Disclosure S. Lee: None. M. Lee: None. E. Shin: None. Y. Kim: None. E. Kang: None. B. Cha: None. Funding Handok Inc. (2017-31-0006)


SummaryAn analysis of pollen and honeydew elements was carried out on 36 samples of honey from the province of Alberta, Canada, most of which were collected in 1983. Results indicated three pollen types characteristic of the province; Brassicaceae (mustard family), Melilotus spp. (sweet clover) and Trifolium hybridum/T. repens (alsike clover and white clover). Almost all of the honeys were uniflora! with two types predominating: Brassicaceae and Trifolium hybridum/T. repens. Honeydew elements were present in very small quantities. Several regional characteristics are shown.


Genome copy number is an important source of genetic variation in health and disease. In cancer, clinically actionable Copy Number Alterations (CNAs) can be inferred from short-read sequencing data, enabling genomics-based precision oncology. Emerging Nanopore sequencing technologies offer the potential for broader clinical utility, for example in smaller hospitals, due to lower instrument cost, higher portability, and ease of use. Nonetheless, Nanopore sequencing devices are limited in terms of the number of retrievable sequencing reads/molecules compared to short-read sequencing platforms. This represents a challenge for applications that require high read counts such as CNA inference. To address this limitation, we targeted the sequencing of short-length DNA molecules loaded at optimized concentration in an effort to increase sequence read/molecule yield from a single nanopore run. We show that sequencing short DNA molecules reproducibly returns high read counts and allows high quality CNA inference. We demonstrate the clinical relevance of this approach by accurately inferring CNAs in acute myeloid leukemia samples. The data shows that, compared to traditional approaches such as chromosome analysis/cytogenetics, short molecule nanopore sequencing returns more sensitive, accurate copy number information in a cost effective and expeditious manner, including for multiplex samples. Our results provide a framework for the sequencing of relatively short DNA molecules on nanopore devices with applications in research and medicine, that include but are not limited to, CNAs.


We present the first results of OSL‐dated fluvial sands extracted from a riverside cave in the tropical Andes. The excellent agreement between the ages of the various samples allowed the calculation of a late Quaternary valley incision rate forced by ongoing uplift of an active Subandean fault‐propagation fold in NE Peru. A structural cross‐section was constructed to understand the relationship between the geometry of the fault‐propagation fold, historical damaging earthquakes and the cave system. The calculated uplift rate is 2.3 to 2.6 mm a−1 over the past 70 ka and can be directly linked to active propagation of west‐verging basement thrusts. It is similar to uplift rates calculated from fluvial terraces in the Subandes of Colombia and Venezuela. The results will help to better assess the seismic hazard and confirm that OSL dating of fluvial sands in caves is a powerful tool to quantify uplift rates of active mountain fronts.


This thesis shows the effect social learning has on various stakeholders involved in a project aimed at tackling a stormwater challenge in the city of Uppsala in Sweden and if social learning is a useful tool to address such an issue. Due to the onset of climate change societies are having to deal with increasingly complex issues. Finding sustainable answers to these challenges is proving difficult so alternative methods such innovation competitions much like the one studied in this paper are becoming attractive alternatives to conventional climate change mitigations approaches. By using an active participation method, this thesis attempts to study whether or not social learning is taking place in the innovation competition and if it is having an impact on the innovation competition. The study found that social learning is in fact taking place during the meetings which were attended but whether or not the resulting knowledge created as a result of the social learning was being used to the advantage of the stakeholders was compounded by communication issues outside of the project meetings.


Digital Libraries currently face the challenge of integrating many different types of research information (e.g. publications, primary data, expert's profiles, institutional profiles, project information etc.), for which to date no general model for knowledge organization and retrieval exists. This causes the problem of structural and semantic heterogeneity due to the wide range of metadata standards, indexing vocabularies and indexing approaches used for different types of information. The research presented focuses on integrating reference data for publications and survey data in the social sciences, but also applies the problems existing in other domains. We present a model for the integrated retrieval of factual and textual data which combines the traditional content indexing methods for publications with the newer, but rarely used ontology-based approaches which seem to be better suited for representing complex information like that contained in survey data. The benefits of our model are (1) easy re-use of available knowledge organisation systems and (2) reduced efforts for domain modelling with ontologies.


Objectives: To quantify the likelihood that a shared truck used to ship pigs will be contaminated with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) virus at the end of a given day, and to evaluate the efficacy of cleaning and washing protocols for trucks, using a Bayesian approach. Materials and methods: PRRS virus-infected farms, from which trucks had shipped pigs, were deemed to be the source of contamination. A quantitative stochastic model was built using farm- and animal-level PRRS prevalence data, the number of times a truck is typically shared on any given day, shipment size, travel time between farms, and the efficacy of three different cleaning and disinfection procedures. Results: The model predicted a median probability of 0.525 that a truck would be contaminated at the end of any given day, without considering the number of previous shipments made by that truck or whether or not it had been washed and disinfected between shipments. Truck washing alone resulted in a negligible decrease in probability that a truck would be contaminated, while washing and disinfection followed by drying had the highest impact, with a greater than 99% reduction in probability of contamination. Implications: Findings of this study suggest that under current biosecurity practices, a substantial risk exists for the spread of PRRS virus due to truck sharing. This model could also be utilized in understanding the risk of truck sharing on the spread of other swine diseases (such as porcine epidemic diarrhea) where transportation is believed to spread the virus.


This paper deals with the problem of structure determination for generalized orthonormal basis models used in system identification. The model structure is parametrized by a pre-specified set of poles. Given this structure and experimental data a model can be estimated using linear regression techniques. Since the variance of the estimated model increases with the number of estimated parameters, the objective is to find structures that are as compact/parsimonious as possible. A natural approach would be to estimate the poles, but this leads to nonlinear optimization with possible local minima. In this paper, a best basis algorithm is derived for the generalized orthonormal rational bases. Combined with linear regression and thresholding this leads to compact transfer function representations.


Респираторно-синцитиальный вирус (РСВ) инфицирует иммуно-дефицитами. В 2016 г. РСВ был переименован в Orthopneumovirus в связи также в семейство Pneumoviridae . известное название вируса — РСВ. РСВ-инфекция Abstract. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infects children as well as elderly and immunocompromised subjects. In 2016, RSV was renamed to Orthopneumovirus owing to virus taxonomy latinization and was also included into the Pneumoviridae family. However, in this review we will use the old and more common RSV name. RSV infection may occur throughout human lifetime as it does not induce sterilizing immunity. During RSV infection, diverse immune cells such as dendritic cells, macrophages, T cells, B cells and eosinophils are involved in the antiviral response. Some of them play an important role in eliminating RSV, while the others can provoke tissue damage. An interaction between these cells occurs through the induced cytokines and chemokines, some of which emerge at early disease stages, whereas the others — at later stages. In addition, the mentioned cells can affect the course of both primary and secondary RSV infection. A prolonged or persistent RSV infection is observed in children with T-cell immunodeficiency, emphasizing the importance of T cells in resolution of acute infection as well as for virus-specific immunological memory development. Almost all the adults and children bear RSV-specific antibodies, but that doesn't protect against the repeated infection. It was shown that high mucosal rather than serum IgG level correlated better with reduced RSV load. A growing body of RSV vaccine candidates has emerged: live-attenuated, protein-based, whole-inactivated, particle-based, subunit antigens, and nucleic acid-based vaccines. While developing vaccines, there should be taken into consideration features of anti-RSV immune response as well as age of subjects to be vaccinated. In particular, to avoid vaccine-associated ag-gravation of RSV infection it is justified to use live attenuated vaccines in children, whereas middle-aged and the elderly subjects might be applied with subunit vaccines. Currently, no licensed vaccine for RSV infection is available. In this review, we will detail an interaction of the RSV with diverse immune cells as well as our contemporary understanding regarding preventive vaccines in RSV infection.


In lieu of traditional training of examiners to identify cerebral palsy on a neurologic examination at age 1 year, we proposed an alternative approach using a multimedia training video and CD-ROM we developed after a two-step validation process. We hypothesized that use of CD-ROM interactive training will lead to reliable and valid performance of the neurologic examination by both pediatric neurologists and nonpediatric neurologists. All examiners were asked to take one of six interobserver variability tests found on the CD-ROM on two occasions. In the first interobserver variability evaluation, 89% (531 of 594) of the responses agreed with the gold standard responses. Following annotated feedback to the examiners about the two items that had a 60% correct rate, the correct response rate rose to 93% (114 of 123). In the second interobserver variability evaluation, 88% (493 of 560) of the responses agreed with the gold standard responses. Following annotated feedback to the examiners about the four items that had a 70% correct rate, the correct response rate rose to 96% (104 of 108). Interactive CD-ROM examination training is an efficient and cost-effective means of training both neurologists and non-neurologists to perform structured neurologic examinations in 1-year-old children. It provides an effective means to evaluate interobserver variability, offers a route for feedback, and creates an opportunity to reevaluate variability, both immediately and at periodic intervals. (J Child Neurol 2005;20:829—831).


George Neville Watson was born at Westward Ho! on 31 January 1886. His father, George Wentworth Watson, taught mathematics and geography at Westward Ho! school and was later an army coach. But his absorbing interest was in genealogy. He took a large part in preparing both editions of The Complete Peerage and Vicary Gibbs, who edited the second, 'found it quite impossible to overstate the sense of obligation. The special articles which he has re-written are duly acknowledged in their place but they do not represent a tithe of the assistance which he has rendered, for he has scrutinized every word, nay, every comma, of the proofs with a minuteness which could not have been surpassed'. His son was to exhibit these same qualities in mathematics. Watson was educated at St Paul's, where he held the Campden Exhibition and the Keen Scholarship. The staff included F. S. Macaulay, later F.R.S., a famous teacher of Senior Wranglers and Smith's Prizemen and among his contemporaries was J. E. Littlewood, some eight months his senior. Watson was already a dedicated scholar. His sister's chief recollections are of long hours closeted with his father in his study and of occasions when he was so absorbed that he could pass his mother and sister in the street without recognizing them. His first paper, a note on a method of extracting square roots, dates from these days.


DESCRIPTION Getting mixed signals in your signals and systems course? The concepts covered in a typical signals and systems course are often considered by engineering students to be some of the most difficult to master. Thankfully, Signals & Systems For Dummies is your intuitive guide to this tricky course, walking you step-by-step through some of the more complex theories and mathematical formulas in a way that is easy to understand.


A method that utilizes the Fresnel diffraction of light from the phase step formed by a transparent wedge is introduced for measuring the refractive indices of transparent solids, liquids, and solutions. It is shown that, as a transparent wedge of small apex angle is illuminated perpendicular to its surface by a monochromatic parallel beam of light, the Fresnel fringes, caused by abrupt change in refractive index at the wedge lateral boundary, are formed on a screen held perpendicular to the beam propagation direction. The visibility of the fringes varies periodically between zero and 1 in the direction normal to the wedge apex. For a known or measured apex angle, the wedge refractive index is obtained by measuring the period length by a CCD. To measure the refractive index of a transparent liquid or solution, the wedge is installed in a transparent rectangle cell containing the sample. Then, the cell is illuminated perpendicularly and the visibility period is measured. By using modest optics, one can measure the refractive index at a relative uncertainty level of 10(-5). There is no limitation on the refractive index range. The method can be applied easily with no mechanical manipulation. The measuring apparatus can be very compact with low mechanical and optical noises.


This article scrutinizes the emergence and transformation of bullying as a novel form of legally cognizable transgression in twenty-first century America with the goal of highlighting an incipient shift away from the logic of individual action and intent that dominated twentieth-century criminological thinking. Through a survey of bullying definitions employed in various state statutes and an intensive examination of the genealogy of a seminal 2010 Massachusetts law, the article explores the shifting relationship between competing modes of carving out a determinate legal offense from the formerly colloquial concept of bullying. Specifically, it demonstrates that bullying legislation may be divided into laws focused on the culpability of individual offenders and those structured around broader, but less personal, social and institutional conditions. Massachusetts' antibullying legislation in turn serves as an illustration of a broad trend marking the ascendency of this second, depersonalized, mode of defining transgression. The article concludes by considering the larger implications for criminal law of this new legislative attitude, which displaces the subjective individual as the central figure of morally salient transgression and legal intervention.


AIM
To investigate the effects of amifostine, a cytoprotective agent, on pathophysiological changes in vasogenic brain edema induced by an experimental cold injury model and to compare these changes with dexamethasone.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
A total of 138 rats divided into 6 groups. Brain water content (BWC), malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity in brain tissue were calculated to evaluate the pathophysiological changes following experimental cold injury. In addition, effects of cold injury on cell structure were assessed with direct light and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

RESULTS
Extent of edema, MDA and MPO levels were significantly higher in cold injury groups than in controls. Although a decrease was noted in these parameters in both the amifostine and dexamethasone groups, the differences were significant only for MDA concentration in dexamethasone group, and for MPO activity in both groups. In addition, there was a significant difference between the group in which amifostine was administered prior to cold injury and dexamethasone group for MPO activity. Histopathologically, positive effects were observed in treatment groups.

CONCLUSION
Despite several positive effects of amifostine, its superiority to dexamethasone could not be clearly demonstrated. Further experimental and clinical studies are warranted to better delineate the neuroprotective effects of amifostine.


The increasing competition due to globalization and e-Business development has stimulated manufacturers to pursue supply chain alliances more aggressively. The primary motivation for this is to minimize overall costs and gain mutual benefits through supplier-manufacturer integration. Supply chain alliance is one of the key strategic co-operations adopted by manufacturers to simultaneously reduce costs and improve service. The advancement of supply chain alliance is moving from a Third-Party Logistics System to a Lead Logistics Provider Management System. The Lead Logistics Provider plays the role of logistics manager who lead the logistics operations across the entire supply chain with the ability to provide superior expertise in transportation services, warehousing capabilities, information technology, and materials replenishment among the other logistics activities. A Lead Logistics Provider system framework is composed of three components that include Resources Management, Information Central System, and Logistics Synchronization. This study presents a case of a Taiwanese automotive supply chain illustrating the application of supply chain alliances via the Lead Logistics Provider system. Significant improvement on inventory costs and improvement on the transportation performance is reported resulting from the application of this system. This scheme also showed enhanced service quality that creates business opportunities among the supply chain partners.


The facultative endosymbiont of aphids, Hamiltonella defensa, kills parasitoid wasp larvae, allowing aphid hosts to survive and reproduce. This protection may depend on toxins that are encoded by the genomes of H. defensa and of its bacteriophage (APSE). Strains of H. defensa vary in degree of protection conferred upon Acyrthosiphon pisum (pea aphid). Although H. defensa is known to undergo some horizontal transmission among aphid maternal lineages, divergence, recombination, and population structure in H. defensa and APSE have not been characterized. We performed a multilocus sequence analysis of 10 bacterial and five phage loci for strains isolated from A. pisum and other aphid species. The H. defensa chromosome was found to be largely clonal, allowing us to generate a well‐resolved H. defensa strain phylogeny. In contrast, APSE chromosomes undergo recombination and numerous H. defensa strains have probably lost the phage. Within a set of H. defensa strains that are indistinguishable on the basis of chromosomal genes or restriction digests of chromosomal fragments, loss of APSE is associated with decreased protection, strongly suggesting that APSE‐encoded genes contribute to the defensive phenotype. Thus, homologous recombination of APSE genes and sexual transmission of symbionts and phage are likely factors influencing the exchange of ecologically important genes among symbionts. Although H. defensa has been lost, transferred and gained within A. pisum, one subclade of H. defensa appears to be universal within a subclade of the aphid genus Uroleucon, suggesting a transition from facultative, horizontal transmission to strictly vertical inheritance.


It has been established that the adjoint network and network sensitivities play important roles in automated network design algorithms. The present paper derives a related adjoint network representation and sensitivity coefficients for networks containing a very broad class of elements: those that admit a parametric representation. A brief discussion is given as to how these results may be exploited in a general automated network design scheme.


RA has an intricate pathogenesis and several inflammatory mediators can be targeted with treatment. One such a mediator is the B lymphocyte. B cells act as antigen-presenting cells, secrete proinflammatory cytokines, produce rheumatoid factor autoantibodies and activate T cells. RF autoantibodies play an important role in the pathogenesis of this disease, because they contribute to further release of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α. B cell treatment would therefore eliminate the cells responsible for the production of pathogenic autoantibodies and cytokines. Rituximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody against the CD20 surface marker on B cells and treatment with it leads to prolonged depletion of normal B cells from peripheral blood. The drug was first registered for nonHodgkin's lymphoma, but has been found to be helpful in a number of autoimmune conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis. Adverse events of rituximab in rheumatoid arthritis are similar to those experienced in patients with nonHodgkin's lymphoma, and consist mainly of infusion reactions. Opportunistic infections like TB have not been reported in patients receiving treatment for RA, but testing for hepatitis B and C before starting with rituximab treatment should be considered. A number of clinical studies have provided evidence of the efficacy and safety of a single course of rituximab in RA, notably the DANCER and REFLEX studies. Many patients require subsequent treatment courses. Preliminary long-term data for patients who had received ≥ 3 courses show sustained clinical response without substantially more adverse effects, but more investigation on this is required. The average time interval for patients to receive subsequent courses of treatment varies between 6 and 12 months. Results in terms of improved radiological outcomes after treatment with rituximab seem promising, although there is no direct comparative data with anti-TNFs. In patients who have failed treatment with one anti-TNF agent, there is currently debate as to the choice of a second or even 3 rd anti-TNF agent as opposed to rituximab. An observational study seems to suggest a better outcome using rituximab, but randomised controlled trials are required before definite conclusions can be made. At first glance, cost appears to be a problem with rituximab, but this is also the case with the anti-TNFs, which are currently widely used. It must also be noted that total treatment costs of either drug class are strongly influenced by administration costs and frequency of treatment. Despite many questions still remaining, rituximab represents a valuable addition to current therapeutic strategies in managing RA.


This paper, through a detailed examination of one of the biggest and most significant strikes in the East London region, suggests its importance lies both in the events and processes of the strike itself, and in its longer term impact on political traditions of union and popular struggle. It argues that a dynamic relationship developed between a newly emergent industrial working class in the textile industry, and an equally rapidly established local ATWIU, and local ANC branch. This resulted in the merging of a pattern of worker discontent and strike action with the ANCs Defiance Campaign in particular, and in so doing, the nature and direction of the strike was transformed. Finally it is argued that the defeat of this 'mass' strike of defiance by the textile workers, laid the patterns and built the disillusions of future labour struggles in the region.


Background: Testicular tumors are commonly diagnosed reproductive age group tumors. Color Doppler ultrasound can identify the tumor location as well its perfusion. It is an easily available modality and can differentiate intra-testicular and extra-testicular scrotal pathologies.
Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of color Doppler Ultrasonography to diagnose testicular mass / tumors taking histopathology findings as gold standard.
Patients and methods: A cross sectional study was conducted at Radiology Department of Civil Hospital Karachi during the period of 1st January 2016 to 1st July 2017. Total 413 patients having scrotal pathologies/masses since more than 2 months were included. Color Doppler ultrasonography was performed by 2 senior radiologists with more than 5 years post fellowship experience. Transverse images were obtained in all patients and tumor was defined as heterogeneous mass in testes with increased vascularity. Patients were followed till histopathological findings were noted. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and diagnostic accuracy were calculated. Stratification was done. Post stratification chi-square test was applied. A p-value ≤0.05 was considered as significant.
Results: The mean age was 38.72±7.58 years. Mean duration of scrotal masses was 4.64±1.33 months. In Color Doppler ultrasound 58.8% patients were found positive for malignancy. Histopathological confirmation of testicular tumour was obtained in 48.4% of these patients. The sensitivity of color doppler ultrasonography was found to be 87%, specificity 67.6%, PPV 71.6%, NPV 84.7% and overall diagnostic accuracy 77.0%.
Conclusion: The diagnostic accuracy of Color Doppler Ultrasonography was found to be higher in the diagnosis of testicular tumor.


Although, every planning and scheduling has been carried out perfectly and closely, this will not guarantee that the project will be completed successfully. A project will not be
successful if monitoring and controlling process is not being executed according in the implementation of the project. Normally, when it comes to big budget project, no known project was able to complete on time, budget and quality: Due to this, it is important for us to avoid or minimise the problem as much as we can. On the other hand, we need to make a good start by effectively and efficiently planning and scheduling in order to achieve our ultimate goal in the project life cycle. A good starts means a good planning with approximately precised duration estimation and in order to achieve the best planning factors that contribute to the duration estimation process need
to be identify. The main objective of this study was to find the procedure in making duration estimation and factors that contribute to duration estimation process at planning stage. Contractors can thus use a project's characteristics, as given in the tender documents, to estimate the actual amount time it would take them to complete the construction works. In this study, factors affecting the duration of a construction project were investigated. Within this framework, duration estimation process and factors influenced were detected and analyses were conducted on data related to three case study of residential construction project around Pahang. This data was obtained from the three selected companies that responsible in the construction of those three case studies. The closeness in estimation of the duration analyses was investigated and finally factors that influence the duration estimation process was obtained. After acquiring the most considerable factor in duration estimation, several suggestions can be created for the development of strategies with the purpose in improving construction planning practices and can be as a guideline for juniors in planning and scheduling.


Effect of women cooperatives on the livelihood of their members was assessed using descriptive statistics. The study covered Ohafia, Umuahia and Aba Agricultural Zones in Abia State. Respondents comprised 180 members of cooperatives (cooperators) and 180 nonmembers (non- cooperators) respectively for comparison, giving a sample size of 360. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistical tools such as means scores, percentages, frequencies and tables. Results showed that all (100%) of the respondents were literates but 93.3% were married, while age range of the respondents was 40 – 59 years. About one half (50%) and 36% of the respondents were farmers and traders respectively. Effect of the cooperatives on the livelihood of members revealed that 74% of the cooperators acquired higher educational qualification as against 44% of the non-cooperators. Similarly, 66.7% of the cooperators and 23% of the non-cooperators lived in houses with rugged palours. Cooperative members had about seven (7) contacts with Agricultural Extension Agents (AEAs) per month while non- cooperators had about three contacts with AEAs per month. Cooperators earned 50 – 90.9% higher income (N21,000 – N 30,000/ month) than noncooperators (N 11,000 – N 20,000/ month ). Consequently, cooperators had 100 children in higher institutions as against 48 children of non-cooperators suggesting that cooperators are economically advantaged over non- cooperators. From the foregoing, it is concluded that membership of women cooperatives is a roadmap to improved livelihood of rural women and their farm families and therefore should be encouraged among the rural women.


The role of hypocretin (orexin; hcrt/orx) neurons in regulation of arousal is well established. Recently, hcrt/orx has been implicated in food reward and drug-seeking behavior. We report here that in male rats, Fos immunoreactivity (ir) in hcrt/orx neurons increases markedly during copulation, whereas castration produces decreases in hcrt/orx neuron cell counts and protein levels in a time course consistent with postcastration impairments in copulatory behavior. This effect was reversed by estradiol replacement. Immunolabeling for androgen (AR) and estrogen (ERα) receptors revealed no colocalization of hcrt/orx with AR and few hcrt/orx neurons expressing ERα, suggesting that hormonal regulation of hcrt/orx expression is via afferents from neurons containing those receptors. We also demonstrate that systemic administration of the orexin-1 receptor antagonist SB 334867 [N-(2-methyl-6-benzoxazolyl)-N″-1,5-naphthyridin-4-yl urea] impairs copulatory behavior. One locus for the prosexual effects of hcrt/orx may be the ventral tegmental area (VTA). We show here that hcrt-1/orx-A produces dose-dependent increases in firing rate and population activity of VTA dopamine (DA) neurons in vivo. Activation of hcrt/orx during copulation, and in turn, excitation of VTA DA neurons by hcrt/orx, may contribute to the robust increases in nucleus accumbens DA previously observed during male sexual behavior. Subsequent triple immunolabeling in anterior VTA showed that Fos-ir in tyrosine hydroxylase-positive neurons apposed to hcrt/orx fibers increases during copulation. Together, these data support the view that hcrt/orx peptides may act in a steroid-sensitive manner to facilitate the energized pursuit of natural rewards like sex via activation of the mesolimbic DA system.


The problem of human traffick is transnational, wide-ranging character and threatens national security of states is considered. The OSCE data indicating a number of socio-economic and political factors that cause the growth of human traffick in Ukraine are presented. In the review of the main legislative acts of Ukraine the organizational and legal regulation of counteraction to human traffick, directions of public policy and international cooperation are denoted. Researches of Ukrainian experts studying socio-psychological factors that may be of significant importance for crimes related to human traffick are considered. Object, subject and tasks of the forensic psychological research on the victims of crimes falling within the scope of Art. 149 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Analysis of note 2 to this article was performed from the positions of legal (qualifying) signs of the vulnerable state of the injured person, as well as from the standpoints of scientific psychology and forensic psychological examination. In particular, since the legal concept of "vulnerable state" refers to the category of appraisal, the tasks of psychological research are determination of individual psychological characteristics of victim's personality, specifics of his motivational, intellectual and emotional spheres, specific activities in the situation of the particular offense, and other psychological factors that may be premorbidity for the formation of dependence on another person or on certain life circumstances that can create favorable conditions for manipulating the consciousness and volitional activity of victim while making a vital decision, limiting the regulation of his activities. Result of psychological research is a degree determination of victim conscious activity who has (or does not have) all the necessary signs of complex volitional behavior. Corresponding expert methodology for psychological research is being developed taking into account the relevance of this topic and increasing requests of judicial investigating bodies to perform appropriate psychological examinations at Poltava branch of the KhRIFE.


Moderately porous Y-TZP dental ceramics were designed to combine the high strength and fracture toughness of densely sintered Y-TZP and the relatively low elastic modulus of porous Y-TZP ceramics. The materials were produced by biscuit-sintering dry-pressed pellets at different temperatures in an ambient air atmosphere. The flexural strength progressively increased with the fractional density, starting from 150–200 MPa at 55–60 % of theoretical density (TD), and exceeding 500 MPa at >80 % TD. The elastic modulus of the early-stage sintered material was matched with that of dentine, but the flexural strength was too low for a practical application. Strength values equal to or higher than those of the existing dental glass-ceramics and glass-infiltrated ceramic materials were achieved with specimens sintered to 8085 % TD, but the elastic modulus of these ceramics (100130 GPa) was about two times higher than that of dentine. Soft grinding of the biscuit-sintered samples resulted in a noticeable increase in the surface roughness, also leading to a significant strength reduction.


As a common type of bridge, the reinforced concrete simply supported T-girder bridges have some usual disease problems such as web vertical cracks, incline cracks near the supports and diaphragm damage, and so on injured by transportation loads. In Shanxi province most of T-girder bridges appear to be under strength for current vehicle loads because most of which are designed by conventional methods and the old codes so it is important to evaluate how the existing damage influence the ultimate bearing capacity of the bridge. The destructive test is a directive mean of verifying the ultimate bearing capacity of bridges. This paper provides details of a destructive load test of a T-girder bridge called Zuojiabao Bridge. It describes the analysis performed prior to testing, aimed at predicting the response of the structure at both serviceability and ultimate states, and discusses the results obtained.The development rule of strain, deflection and crack and the ultimate bearing capacity of the bridge were obtained through the destructive test process. The results showthat although the old T-girder bridge has enough bearing capacity to satisfy the new vehicle standard, it is strongly recommended to strengthen or retrofit the bridge. And the finite element analysis can be effectively applied to the failure analysis of the reinforced concrete T-girder bridge subjected to destructive load.


Children 4 to 7 yr in age were reinforced with trinkets and pennies on chained and tandem schedules. The schedules used were chain DRL FR, chain DRO FR, chain FI FR, tand FI FR, and tand DRO FR. Chain DRL FR and chain DRO FR schedules almost always produced strong schedule and stimulus control, but chain FI FR schedules rarely did if additional techniques were not used. Strong control was produced with chain FI FR schedules, however, if: (a) the FR component was increased in size; (b) schedule and stimulus control was first established with chain DRL FR or chain DRO FR schedules before shifting to the chain FI FR; or (c) an external clock was attached to the FI. Tand FI FR schedules never produced regular or repeatable patterns of responding when additional procedures were not used. Rate patterns resembling those of chain FI FR schedules were produced by tand FI FR schedules, however, if: (a) an external clock was attached to the FI component or (b) control was established by means of tand DRO FR schedules before the tand FI FR was used. Stimulus control was found to be exercised by specific visual stimuli, change of stimuli, and schedule order. Control exercised by schedule order was probably mediated by the child's own behavior which had assumed discriminative stimulus properties.


Aim: To avoid recurrence and scarring following surgical treatment, the present study demonstrated a sutureless excision of the Bartholin's gland cyst or abscess using hydro-dissection and bipolar coagulation hemostasis. Materials and methods: In a retrospective case series, we studied consecutive cases who had received surgical treatment of the Bartholin's gland cyst or abscess for benign indications in our private hospital. Results: Of the total 28 cases, Seven cases received incision and drainage of the Bartholin's abscess, 21 cases underwent excision of Bartholin's cyst or abscess by the described procedure using hydro-dissection and bipolar coagulation haemostasis.No suture was used for layer closure of the wound. There were no major intraoperative complications. All cases experienced less postoperative pain. Spontaneous apposition of the vaginal wound margins was observed 24 hours after operation in all cases. None of the cases developed a postoperative hematoma, severe cellulitis, or abscess of the operation site requiring readmission. Postoperatively, five cases developed postoperative pyrexia, that subsided with broad-spectrum antibiotics. None of the cases developed severe postoperative scarring at the operation site following sutureless excision. None of the cases complained of difficulty in sexual function after 6 weeks. The median operation time was 17 min (13– 23 min). None of the 21 cases reported recurrence of the cyst or abscess. All those seven cases who received incision and drainage of Bartholin's abscess developed recurrence. Obstet Gynecol Res 2021; 4 (3): 180-185 DOI: 10.26502/ogr066 Obstetrics and Gynecology Research Vol. 4 No. 3– September 2021. 181 Conclusion: Sutureless excision of Bartholin's gland cyst using hydro-dissection with bipolar coagulation hemostasis can be performed to avoid postoperative scarring and recurrence.


Wind turbine blades are complicated components for inspection by nondestructive techniques because they are multi-layered, have variable thickness and are made of anisotropic materials. This paper proposes the use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) for the detection of crack location and crack depth in wind turbine blades. Wind turbine blade is approximated by a laminated composite, cantilever tapered beam with a transverse open surface crack. The natural frequencies which are influenced by crack specifications are obtained by a Finite Element Method (FEM) via ANSYS software. Experimental setup has been developed to validate the results obtained from the finite element software ANSYS. The numerical data obtained from (FEM) are then used to train a feed-forward back propagation neural network using Matlab environment. The input parameters to the neural network are the first three relative natural frequencies, while the output parameters are the relative crack depth and relative crack location. Simulations are carried out to test the performance and the accuracy of the trained network by comparing the results for the crack depth and crack location obtained from (ANN) with those obtained from (FEM). The simulation results show that the proposed Artificial Neural Network can precisely detect the crack location and crack depth.


Thyroid nodules in patients with Graves' disease are common and raise concern about coexistent thyroid malignancy. Alternative etiologies for such nodules are more frequent, and separation from thyroid malignancy is important for rational management. To characterize the types of thyroid nodules present in patients with Graves' disease, evaluate the response of these nodules to treatment, and stratify the risk of thyroid malignancy, we report on a retrospective single center study in an ambulatory setting of 468 Graves' patients ages (12-75) followed for 1-31 years (mean = 5.1) treated with radioiodine (n = 345), near total thyroidectomy (n = 19), thionamide antithyroid drugs (n = 88) or observation (n = 18). Sixty patients (12.8% of the total) had nodules and were classified as: (1) Graves' disease with a solitary hypofunctional nodule (n = 27, 5.8%); (2) Graves' disease with multiple nodules (n = 21, 4.5%); (3) Graves' disease with autonomous nodule (n = 4, 1%); or (4) patchy Graves' disease (n = 8, 1.7%). Six patients (1.3% of total or 10% of nodule patients) had cancer: 5 in group 1 and 1 in group 4. Based on the response to therapy or surgical and fine-needle aspirate pathology, the remaining patients demonstrated pseudo-nodules of autoimmune thyroid disease, autonomous nodules of Marine-Lenhart syndrome, colloid goiter, hyperplastic adenomatous disease, and Hashitoxicosis. In conclusion, Graves' patients present with or may develop nodules commonly (12.6%) and the majority of these are benign expressions of autoimmune changes and coexistent nodular goiter. Thyroid cancer occurs in 10% of all nodules, 19% of palpable solitary cold nodules and 1.3% of the total patients. If the fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) cytology is benign, it is reasonable to use nonsurgical therapy. Any single cold nodule that remains or develops after treatment needs careful re-examination due to the high risk of malignancy.


Spermidine (Spd) is one of the most important polyamines (PAs) showing important roles in growth, development and stress responses in plants. The role of Spd in regulation of a dominant glutathione S-transferase (GST, E.C.22.214.171.124) and ionic balance of Na+ and K+ in onion leaves were examined. Onion GSTs were separated from fresh bulb tissue using DEAE-cellulose chromatography. Three GSTs were eluted at 56, 120 and 169 mM of KCl. Among them, GST2 containing >60% of total activity was termed as dominant GST and it was subsequently purified using affinity chromatography S-hexylglutathione-agarose. This purified protein was used for western blotting analysis of the GST in leaves of two months onion seedlings imposed on NaCl induced 16 dSm-1 salinity with or without foliar spray of 100 µM Spd on 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th days of stress. The results suggested that dominant GST accumulated by salinity in onion seedling with or without Spd spray. However, at early saline stress, accumulation was significantly stronger in leaves without Spd than in those with Spd. At 7th day, GST band was increased and apparently seemed to be intensified in Spd sprayed leaves than those without spray. The values of Na+/K+ suggested that Spd maintained ionic balance better at early stage of stress than late stage.

 Key words: Onion glutathione S-transferases (GST), ionic balance, salt stress, spermidine.


Background Robots are seen as one of the possibilities to provide care to older people, especially when care by humans becomes scarce and too expensive. In the past sixty years, however, robots have diversified into many different types with a very broad range of functionalities. Despite this large variety of operational robots that have been developed in the past decades, the majority of existing types of robot will currently not be capable of carrying out reliably and effectively meaningful care tasks. For one thing, the communication between the more traditional types of robots and humans is severely underdeveloped. This is only logical as robots were intended to replace human practice in which human-robot communication was either undesirable or of limited value. Aim Fortunately, exceptions to this are increasingly appearing, and these will be treated. At this stage it will not be surprising that an overview of types of robots for care will be a categorization of types of robots, rather than types of care. As it is, current prototypes of robots for care also have different functionalities, and with those, also a very different architecture indicating that no single planned robot can perform all care tasks that are necessary or desired. This manuscript presents an overview of the main types of care robots that are currently under development, and partly even operative in actual care locations. Results It is evident that also the care robots in actual use still have quite limited capabilities, and, coupled with this, a short endurance of about an hour. Yet it also has to be concluded that even the simplest types of robots with a very limited behavioural repertoire can be successful with cases of cognitive decline and early dementia. In view of the potential capabilities of robots a categorization of care activities is proposed that can be stated as (i) physical assistance, (ii) social assistance and (iii) medical assistance. Physical assistance can be provided by relatively large and heavy-weight robots that can lift and transport people with limited mobility. For the great majority of care robots, social assistance is envisaged, to be realized by humanoid robots, looking like real humans but mostly half-size or less. Active research in this field is focusing on robot locomotion, gestures, speech recognition, understanding and production, face recognition and autonomy. Somewhat disconcerting is the observation that medical assistance robots are practically absent in current development efforts, though it can be argued that there are definitely many relatively simple and frequently occurring medical actions that could be successfully carried out by a robot.


On August 15, 1990, Pope John Paul II, exercising his Magisterial1 authority in the Roman Catholic Church,2 promulgated the Apostolic Constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae3 to revitalize teaching in Catholic colleges and universities.4 Over several years, controversy relating to the possible implementation of Ex Corde in the United States accelerated.5 The major sticking point in the conflict is over the requirement that professors of theological disciplines6 obtain a mandatum, fundamentally an acknowledgment by a local bishop, that a Catholic professor is in full communion with the Catholic Church.7 In the meantime, critics, both inside and outside of the Catholic Church, have raised questions about the potential impact of Ex Corde on American Catholic universities. Ex Corde's potential impact is significant, especially for faculty members at Catholic universities, by far the largest segment of religiously affiliated instititions of higher learning in the United States. This article is divided into four sections. The first part highlights Ex Corde's salient features. The next section examines the current status of the non-implementation of Ex Corde. The third part of the article reviews critiques of Ex Corde, noting the opposition by university leaders and the reluctance to act on the part of the Bishops. 8 The final section reflects on the status of Ex Corde and why a fully implemented Ex Corde should play a key role in revivification of religious identity in American Catholic universities.


Most of the tests and inventories used by counseling psychologists have been developed using CTT; IRT derives from what is called latent trait theory. A number of important differences exist between CTTversus IRT-based approaches to both test development and evaluation, as well as the process of scoring the response profiles of individual examinees. The purpose of this research is to compare the item difficulty and item discrimination of the Mathematical ability scale using CTT and IRT methods across 1, 2, and 3 parameters. The developed instrument was administered to tenth grade sample of N=602. The data gathered was analyzed for possible relationship of the item characteristics using CTT and IRT methods. Results indicate that the 3parameter logistic model has the most comparable indices with CTT, furthermore, CTT and IRT models (1-parameter logistic model and 3-parameter logistic model) can be used independently or altogether to describe the nature of the items characteristics.


Negative reinforcement is widely thought to play an important role in chronic alcohol‐use disorders (AUDs), and high comorbidity between AUDs and affective disorders highlights the importance of investigating this relationship. Prominent models posit that repeated cycles of alcohol (ethanol, EtOH) exposure and withdrawal produce circuit adaptations in the central nervous system that drive a transition from positive‐ to negative reinforcement‐based alcohol seeking. Evidence supporting this theory has accumulated in large part using forced EtOH administration models, such as chronic intragastric gavage and chronic vapor inhalation. However, recent studies utilizing simple voluntary EtOH delivery systems show that forced abstinence from EtOH intake administered by the animal itself can produce evolving and significant affective disturbances, particularly in female C57BL/6J mice. Here, we highlight these recent studies to support the idea that voluntary EtOH administration in mouse models, as well as a protracted abstinence period and less commonly used behavioral tasks, could unveil affective disturbances during abstinence that have remained elusive using high dosage forced EtOH administration paradigms.


This paper addresses the existence and regularity of weak solutions for a fully parabolic model of chemotaxis, with prevention of overcrowding, that degenerates in a two‐sided fashion, including an extra nonlinearity represented by a p‐Laplacian diffusion term. To prove the existence of weak solutions, a Schauder fixed‐point argument is applied to a regularized problem and the compactness method is used to pass to the limit. The local Hölder regularity of weak solutions is established using the method of intrinsic scaling. The results are a contribution to showing, qualitatively, to what extent the properties of the classical Keller–Segel chemotaxis models are preserved in a more general setting. Some numerical examples illustrate the model. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This paper presents a collaborative procedure for multiobjective global routing. Our procedure takes multiple global routing solutions, which are generated independently (e.g., by one router that runs in different modes concurrently or by different routers running in parallel), as input. It then performs multiobjective optimization based on Pareto algebra and quickly generates multiple global routing solutions with a tradeoff between the considered objectives. The user can control the number of generated solutions and the degree of exploring the tradeoff between them by constraining the maximum allowable degradation in each objective. This paper then considers the following three multiobjective case studies: 1) minimization of interconnect power and wirelength; 2) minimization of routing congestion and wirelength; and 3) minimization of wirelength with respect to the (finite-capacity) routing resources. The maximum allowable degradation in wirelength is specified in all cases. Our multiobjective procedure runs in only a few minutes for each of the International Symposium on Physical Design 2008 benchmarks, even the unroutable ones, which imposes a tolerable overhead in the design flow. In our simulations, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our procedure using five modern academic global routers.


Abstr(lct. Five biopsies from three patients with localized myxedema were studied by electron microscopy. The dermis showed an overwhelmin� accumulation of micro fibrils with knobs (acid glycosaminoglycans) and an amorphous material containingglycoprotein. Furthermore, evidence of degradation without new formation of collagen fibrils was found. Considerable numbers of mast cells with various types of granules, fibroblasts with dilated granular endoplasmic reticulum, and macrophages were seen in the mucinous areas.


Trait rumination is considered a vulnerability factor in major depression (NolenHoeksema, Wisco, & Lyubomirsky, 2008). It has been suggested that rumination is characterized by weak inhibitory processes, which contributes to the uncontrollable nature of negative thoughts thereby increasing risk for depression (Joormann, 2005). However, questions remain on whether the link between inhibition and rumination may be attributed to comorbid depressive symptoms. Therefore, the current study extended previous research by investigating whether ruminative style is associated with deficits in inhibition ability, while controlling for depression status. Furthermore the present dissertation took an initial step by investigating whether inefficient inhibition predict reduced ability to suppress upsetting thoughts during an induced sad mood state. It was hypothesized that high trait rumination would be associated with weak cognitive inhibition, independent of a major depressive disorder, and that weak inhibitory processes characteristic of depressed or high ruminator groups would predict increased intrusions and prolonged sadness follo"":ing thought suppression attempts. Participants (N = 218) completed a list-version directed forgetting task as a measure of cognitive inhibition, and were assigned to suppression or monitor only conditions following a six minute sad movie induction. Thought suppression was measured by number of movie-related thoughts, whereas perceived suppression ability was measured by self-report difficulty ratings for the task. Mood rating scales were administered at four time periods to track reactivity and recovery from induced sad mood. A select group of high and low vulnerability individuals (n =148) with extreme scores on trait rumination were divided into experimental groups (i.e., depressed/high


Inorganic protective silica film was tried on the surface of stainless steel using a sol-gel chemical route where tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and methyltriethoxysilane (MTES) were used. In the coating solution silica nanoparticles with different sizes were mixed. Then the film was deposited on the stainless steel substrate. It was intended that by mixing the small and the large particles at the same time a sufficient consolidation of the film was possible because of the high surface activity of the small nanoparticles and a modest silica film would be obtained with a low temperature heat treatment at as low as 200 °C. The prepared film showed enhanced adhesion when compared with a silica film without nanoparticle additions. The films also showed improved protect-ability against corrosion. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), scratch test, potentiodynamic polarization scan and electrochemical impedance analysis were also used to characterize the films.


Many cancer cell lines and cancers overexpress receptor bound urokinase plasminogen activator on the cell surface. The urokinase plasminogen activator bound to its receptor remains on the cell surface for a prolonged period of time. When urokinase plasminogen activator/urokinase plasminogen activator receptor complex binds plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1), the inhibitor triggers a series of events leading to internalization of the entire complex. This mechanism makes a very attractive target for localization and internalization of PAI-1-based cytotoxic compounds in cancer treatment. We investigated the antitumor activity of PAI-1/A-chain cholera toxin in vitro. Fibrosarcoma-derived HT1080 cells treated with PAI-1 conjugate showed at least 4 times higher cell killing than the control KD normal fibroblast cell line.


In this paper a computational model is presented that describes the role of emotion regulation to reduce the influences of negative events on mood. Emotion regulation is a process based on a set of regulatory strategies used by persons to down-regulate their negative emotions or to up-regulate their positive emotions. For a given situation the selection of specific regulation strategies is dependent on that particular situation. The current paper presents work focusing on a cognitive reappraisal (re-interpretation) strategy, that involves changing the way one interprets a stimulus or situation, or alter the semantic representation of an emotional stimulus in order to reduce the influence of such stimuli. The model incorporates an earlier model of mood dynamics and a model for the dynamics of emotion generation and regulation. Example model simulations are described that illustrate how adequately emotion regulation skills can avoid or delay development of a depression. The presented computational analysis shows how regulation of stressful emotions helps unstable persons to avoid a depression and to postpone it in very unstable persons. Furthermore, the analysis shows that if a stressful event persists for a longer time period, then emotion regulation can also help an unstable person to prevent the mood level from becoming too low, for a certain time.


Bryophytes are small, photosynthetic plants, capable of growing on variety of habitats, so are pioneer of ecological succession. In Nepal bryophytes have been studied floristically in different parts of the country, but the impact of disturbance on floristic composition was lacking. Therefore, present study aimed to determine floristic composition of bryophytes especially on disturbed habitat generated by recently established Cable Car facility in Chandragiri hill, Kathmandu. The study area, highly disturbed at the base (1550-1600 m asl) and top of the hill (2400-2450 m asl), were selected for the collection of bryophytes. Altogether, 17 species of bryophytes including 5 liverworts, 11 mosses and 1 hornwort were recorded from the disturbed habitats. Among the 5 classes, Bryopsida was the most dominant class followed by the class Marchantiopsida, Polytrichopsida, Jungermanniopsida and Anthocerotopsida. Impact of elevation on diversity of bryophytes was observed in both sites of disturbed habitats. The diversity of bryophyte was found higher (13 species) at the base of the hill as compared to the top (8 species). Among the 17 species of bryophytes, 5 taxa (Aerobryidium filamentosum, Anomobryum auratum, Atrichum undulatum var. subserratum, Chiloscyphus profundus and Plagiomnium ellipticum) that have not been enumerated from the study site so far were also documented.