ABSTRACT Adoption studies have identified gender as one of the factors that determine technology uptake and this has been linked to women's access to farming information or lack of it. Technology scaling up systems should utilise pathways that are compatible with the needs of rural women, who have to juggle farming with other household chores. Unfortunately, there has been limited effort to evaluate the suitability of the information pathways used to specific gender. The current study evaluates the appropriateness of field days with respect to gender of the participants. Data were collected from selected farmers who attended field days in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in 2014. A total of 2 615 participants were interviewed out of 6 221 who attended field days. Descriptive analysis and ordered probit and logit models were used for analysis. The majority of the participants in Kenya and Tanzania were women (51.3% and 62.6%, respectively), whereas in Uganda the majority of participants were men (57.4%). Most participants were middle aged (42 years for women and 45 years for men). The majority of the women (54.1%) had primary level education, with only 29.1% having secondary education, whereas 41% and 40.1% of men had attained primary and secondary education, respectively. The results from the econometric models shows that gender, age, education, being push-pull farmers, perceptions on Striga severity were the main significant determinants of knowledge for the ordered probit. Conversely, gender of the participant, perception on stemborers and Striga weed severity and having mobile phones were the significant determinants of willingness to adopt. The two models were significant at 1% (p < 0.001). The significance of the gender variable in the two models shows that women farmers understood more about push-pull (coefficient of ordered probit = −0.112) when trained during field days. Furthermore, the willingness to adopt push-pull after the training was much higher for women (coefficient of logit = −0.367) compared with men. The findings demonstrate that field days can be more appropriate for training farmers, especially women who are often disadvantaged in information access, as a result of their socio-economic circumstances.


— This paper proposes MISSA, a novel middleware to facilitate the development and provision of stream-based services in emerging pervasive environments. The stream-based services utilize voluminous and continuously updated data streams as their input. The characteristics of data streams bring new requirements on the development and provision of the services. To satisfy the requirements, a unique service model and a runtime system are designed in MISSA. The key concept of our service model is to separate service logic from handling data streams. This significantly mitigates the burden on service developers by allowing them to only concentrate on the service logic. Job of handling data streams is completely delegated to the runtime. In this paper, we first present the importance of stream-based services and their requirements. Also, we describe a best route finding service as an example to motivate the need for MISSA. Then, we envision overall architecture for provisioning of stream-based services and detail our design of service model and runtime. Lastly, we demonstrate the efficiency of service model and runtime through experiments.


Abstract This paper presents the growth of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using Ni catalyst and C2H2/NH3 feedstock. The role of plasma in aligning the carbon nanotubes during growth is investigated both experimentally and computationally, confirming that the field in the plasma sheath causes the nanotubes to be aligned. Experiments using a plasma analyzer show that C2H2 is the dominant precursor for carbon nanotube growth. The role of NH3 in the plasma chemistry is also investigated, and experimental results show how the interaction between NH3 and the C2H2 carbon feedstock in the gas phase explains the structural variation in deposited nanotubes for differing gas ratios. The effects of varying the plasma power during deposition on nanotube growth rate is also explored. Finally, the role of endothermic ion-molecule reactions in the plasma sheath is investigated by comparing measured data with simulation results.


Previous research on the relationship between shocks in the local labor market and disability pensioning has shown that negative shocks, such as plant closures, have led to increases in disability up-takes. One interpretation of these findings is that there is a pool of workers for which disability pension is possible, but only utilized if the local labor market is difficult. In this paper we exploit the development of the Snow White gas field — which led to a boom in the local labor market in the Norwegian county of Hammerfest — to examine the impact of a positive local labor market shock. Employment and wages increased in Hammerfest during the development period and disability pensioning decreased at the end of the period. The effects on employment and disability pensioning are however purely driven by people moving to Hammerfest in response to the shock.


In this paper, a family of nonlinear congruential generators (NLCGs) based on the digitized Reacutenyi map is considered for the definition of hardware-efficient pseudorandom number generators (PRNGs), and a theoretical framework for their study is presented. The authors investigate how the nonlinear structure of these systems eliminates some of the statistical regularities spoiling the randomness of sequences generated with linear techniques. In detail, in this paper, a necessary condition that the considered NLCGs must satisfy to have maximum period length is given, and a list of such maximum period PRNGs for period lengths up to 231-1 is provided. Referring to the NIST800-22 statistical test suite, two PRNG examples are presented and compared to well-known PRNGs based on linear recurrencies requiring a similar amount of resources for their implementation


Application of magnesium alloy is restricted by its bad formability and low corrosion resistance. In order to resolve these problems, rolling-bonding has been tried as a new method. Pre-heating, rolling and annealing were used in the process of bonding, and aluminum cladding magnesium alloys obtained. The effects of many parameters in the processes of pre-heating, rolling and heat-treatment on bonding strength have been analyzed, and the mechanism of rolling-bonding been studied. It was found that intermediate phase played an important role in the bonding. Good bonding of aluminum cladding magnesium alloys achieved after annealing at 200oC for 1 hour.


Several international studies point at the efficacy of bicycle helmets in reducing head injuries. In Sweden, observational studies show that from 1988 to 1996 helmet use increased in all categories of cyclists. The objectives of this study were to analyse the trends of bicycle-related head injuries based on their main diagnosis and external cause of injury by different age groups. Our study area was the whole population of Sweden from 1987 to 1996. Outcome evaluation was based on data from the Swedish National Hospital Discharge Register concerning all bicycle-related injuries from 1987 to 1996, which presented 49 758 reported in-patient care. The trends in incidence rates (IRs) were studied with regression analyses. The results show that children under 15 years had the highest IRs. For these children, the IR decreased by 46%. The head injuries in children decreased both in collisions with motor vehicles and in other accidents. Similarly, the IR of concussion and skull fracture decreased. For non-head injuries, there were no significant changes for children. On the other hand, the incidence of both head and other injuries for adults aged 16-50 years increased. Ages above that showed no significant changes. Our conclusions are that the decrease in IR for bicycle-related head injuries refers to children in ages for whom bicycle helmet use during the period increased. This could not be explained by any general decrease in bicycle-related accidents or by any changes in the distribution of injuries after collision with motor vehicles. The increasing helmet use among younger schoolchildren probably contributed to the decrease in head injuries.


Psychiatric disorders such as depression, schizophrenia and anxiety disorders are seen more common in diabetic patients. The present study investigated the effect of an antianxiety drug, buspirone on blood glucose and plasma insulin level in healthy humans. Twelve healthy adult male volunteers were administered single oral doses of buspirone (10 mg) or placebo, in a randomized, crossover way, followed by oral glucose challenge (75 g in 200 ml) at reported T max of the respective administered drugs. The blood samples were collected as predose, postdose and post oral glucose load at 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 h. Blood glucose and plasma insulin concentrations were estimated by glucose hexokinase and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay methods respectively. The concentration of blood glucose was significantly ( p <0.05) decreased after oral glucose challenge following administration of buspirone in comparison with placebo. However no significant change was observed in the fasting blood glucose and fasting and oral glucose challenge induced plasma insulin. These results suggest that buspirone may have important risks particularly for diabetics, glucose intolerant and nondiabetics who are on long therapy with buspirone.


B cells arise from stem cells precursor and develop through a tightly regulated and selective process that lead to the generation of different B cell populations such as transitional, mature, memory and plasma cells. These B cell subsets can be identified using flow cytometry by the expression of specific surface antigens. The growing knowledge of the pivotal role played by B cells in the development and progression of autoimmune diseases combined with the advances in monoclonal antibody technology, led in the last years to the generation of different biological agents targeting B cells. In this context, nuclear medicine can offer the possibility to use a panel of biologic radiopharmaceuticals for molecular imaging of inflammatory diseases. Radiopharmaceuticals bind to their targets with high affinity and specificity and have an excellent imaging diagnostic potential for the evaluation of disease activity, selection and monitoring of immune therapies. Several molecules have been radiolabelled for the imaging of T lymphocytes whereas, by now, the anti CD20 rituximab is the only biological therapy targeting B cells that demonstrated to be efficiently radiolabelled and used to detect inflammation in autoimmune patients.


This study investigated the removal of ciprofloxacin (CIPRO) from aqueous solution at a concentration of 10 mg l -1 and the permeate flux behavior during dead-end stirred-cell filtration system using six type of commercially available loose and tight NF membranes (NP010, NP030, NF90, NF270, CK3001 and DS-5DK). The rejection of CIPRO and permeate flux value were evaluated according to the effects of different parameters such as volume reduction factor (VRF), membrane type, transmembrane pressure (TMP) and pH. Contact angle and SEM measurements were also performed for the analysis of the pollution occurring in the pores and on the surfaces of the membranes. Filtration experiments for all membranes used indicated that the flux reached the steady state at VRF 3. CIPRO rejection was found to vary especially with both pH and membrane tightness. Despite the fact that, the loose NF membranes showed poor and variable CIPRO removal, the highest rejection was obtained with NF90 tight membrane at the original pH value (pH 5.65) and 10 bar of applied pressure. NF90 membrane achieved 98.3% TOC, 98.9% COD, 96.9% TDS and 95.7% E c rejections at 24.39 l m -2 h -1 permeate flux at the predefined operating conditions.


For a year now, Archimedes has sought to assist practising clinicians to give the best care to patients and families; paediatricians need to integrate the highest quality scientific evidence with clinical expertise and the opinions of the family by providing "evidence based" answers to common questions which are not at the forefront of research, but are at the core of practice. In doing this, we are adapting a format which has been successfully developed by Kevin Mackway-Jones and the group at the Emergency Medicine Journal—"BestBets". A word of warning. The topic summaries are not systematic reviews, though they are as exhaustive as a practising clinician can produce. They make no attempt to statistically aggregate the data, nor search the grey, unpublished literature. What Archimedes offers are practical, best evidence based answers to practical, clinical questions. The format of Archimedes may be familiar. A description of the clinical setting is followed by a structured clinical question. (These aid in focusing the mind, assisting searching, and gaining answers.) A brief report of the search used follows—this has been performed in a hierarchical way, to search for the best quality evidence to answer the question. A table provides a summary of the evidence and key points of the critical appraisal. For further information on critical appraisal, and the measures of effect (such as number needed to treat, NNT) books by Sackett and Moyer may help. To pull the information together, a commentary is provided. But to make it all much more accessible, a box provides the clinical bottom lines. The electronic edition of this journal contains extra information on each of the published Archimedes topics. The papers summarised in tables are linked, by an interactive table, to more detailed appraisals of the studies. Updates to previously published topics will hopefully be available soon from the same site, published as "rapid responses" to the original article.


In the past few years more and more data have become available on the important role of vitamin D in immunological processes and inflammation. The role of vitamin D deficiency in the pathogenesis as well as in disease progression of different autoimmune and inflammatory conditions is suspected. Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in several autoimmune diseases, including systemic sclerosis. Hypovitaminosis has been found to be associated with low bone mineral density and higher prevalence of osteoporosis in this group of patients. Determinants of low bone density in SSc are poorly understood. Studies have shown the importance of both traditional osteoporotic as well as disease-specific factors (extent of skin involvement, presence of internal organ manifestation, malabsorption, systemic sclerosis subtype, serological profile, medication) in the development of low bone mineral density. The relationship between low bone density in systemic sclerosis patients and the above mentioned risk factors may be more complex and the real role of each factor is unclear. Yet very few studies reported clinically relevant low bone mass outcomes such as fracture risk assessment and fracture associated mortality in scleroderma. This review aims to synthesize data about the essential role of vitamin D in immune homeostasis as well as the prevalence of hypovitaminosis, low bone density, changes in bone turnover markers and presence of osteoporosis in scleroderma patients. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(32): 1252-1258.


Abstract This paper presents an intelligent system for generating face shapes from only fingerprints without knowing any information about faces. The proposed system based on artificial neural network has got a number of modules including two biometric data acquisition modules, two feature extraction modules, an artificial neural network module, a face re-construction module and a test &evaluation module. Experimental results have shown that the faces can be successfully generated from only fmgerprints. Although the proposed system is an initial study, the performance of the system is very promising for the future developments.


Old guitars, they lean against the parlor wall, gourds crawl the smokehouse and morning glories last 'till noon, all the comings all the goings, sending loved ones away with quartet music ("If We Never Meet Again") hiding flowers tossed upon the Rock of Ages behind Mount Vernon Baptist Church the silence is everlasting the memories bittersweet, and the crowd is waiting for the rapture. An Order for Wildflowers


Insulin and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) stimulate glucose transport in skeletal muscle through separate receptors. The proximal postreceptor events in coupling insulin and IGF-I receptors to glucose transport have been suggested to differ. Denervation of skeletal muscle produces a postreceptor insulin resistance presumably at an early step in the signaling cascade. We examined the effects of denervation and phenylarsine oxide (PAO), an agent believed to block insulin action on transport at a postreceptor step, on insulin and IGF-I stimulated 2-deoxy-D-glucose transport in isolated solei. Denervation (24 h) produced severe IGF-I resistance without affecting IGF-I receptor number or affinity. PAO inhibited insulin and IGF-I stimulation of transport in control muscles by approximately 90 and approximately 70%, respectively. In denervated muscle PAO inhibited transport stimulation by both hormones less than in controls. Conclusions are that 1) skeletal muscle insulin and IGF-I receptors signal transport mainly through a PAO-sensitive mechanism, but IGF-I's action involves a larger PAO-resistant component; 2) the denervation-induced postreceptor resistance of glucose transport to both hormones involves primarily the PAO-sensitive pathway.


Abstract Present-day energy systems are shaped by past decisions, which were informed by contemporary considerations about different energy sources and visions of the future. Hence, today, at a time when a new energy transition is on the agenda, it is important to understand those past rationales that account for previous energy transitions, notably the introduction of large-scale nuclear power in the 1970s. This article argues that in the debates in the European Parliament, representatives of West European mainstream parties specialising in energy and environmental policy used arguments that reflect the key components of what we today call sustainability. The analysis of the debate on nuclear energy megaprojects in the European Parliament in the mid-1970s examines the arguments used, reflecting expectations about the future that shaped long-term energy planning. Transnational protests at the building sites of nuclear power plants of the mid-1970s were viewed as a threat to what most European policymakers at the time considered an indispensable energy transition. The debate thus offers unique insights into the arguments that underpinned the planned transition to nuclear energy and nuclear megaprojects and attempts to improve popular acceptability, including via better information and participation. The article highlights that those advocating a transition to nuclear power used arguments surprisingly similar to those mobilised in current debates about energy transitions and megaprojects, including the search for nuclear waste disposal sites.


Cannabis is the most consumed psychoactive substance by young people. Chronic use of cannabis can lead to cannabis arteritis, which is a very rare peripheral vascular disease similar to Buerger's disease. It is affecting young adults, especially men, consuming cannabis. A 27-year old woman, with no particular past medical history except for long-term use of cannabis and tobacco developed a digital necrosis in the left hand. She denied using other illicit drugs. Doppler ultrasound examination of the upper limbs was unremarkable. Toxicological analysis revealed the presence of cannabis in both biological fluid and hair strand. Despite medical treatment, cessation of the cannabis and tobacco consumption and hyperbaric oxygen therapy, an amputation of necrotic parts was then required. This case shows the prolonged use of cannabis could be a risk factor for young adult arteritis. Faced with a rapidly progressive arteritis occurring in young adult, the physician should consider the history of use of cannabis. Hair analysis can be useful for confirmation of the chronic consumption of drugs.


Clickbait, which has become very common in social media in recent years, is a technique which uses exaggerated and unreal headlines in order to manipulate people and attract them to their websites. Since the content mentioned in the title is not presented in the main text or the content of text is low-quality, clicked on links often disappoint people. In this study, we attempt to detect clickbaits in Turkish news using Twitter posts. For this purpose, headlines of news were collected from Twitter accounts of Limon Haber1 and Spoiler Haber2 for clickbait data and from Twitter accounts of Evrensel Newspaper3 and Diken Newspaper4 for non-clickbait data. Experimental results on news headlines show that using an artificial neural network, our model performs for clickbait detection with an accuracy of 0.91 with an F1-score of 0.91-which is the highest score in Turkish data sets.


The effect of epinephrine on Cori cycle activity has been studied by a tracer kinetic technique. The subcutaneous injection of epinephrine into fasted adrenodemedullated rats activated gluconeogenesis and increased glucose utilization. Most of the glucose utilized in epinephrine-treated rats was converted to lactate, and the conversion to the metabolites other than lactate was markedly suppressed by epinephrine. As a result, not only hyperglycemia and hyperlactacidemia developed, but also the contribution of the Cori cycle to glucose metabolism increased after epinephrine. The glucose-alanine cycle, which is roughly one-third as active as the Cori cycle, was only slightly activated by epinephrine. No evidence was obtained, in vivo and in vitro, for the increased formation of lactate from muscle glycogen which decomposed in response to epinephrine. It is suggested that, in epinephrine-treated rats, blood glucose was converted to blood lactate predominantly while muscle glycogen selectively yielded the metabolites other than blood lactate. This suggests compartmentalization of glycolytic pathway in the peripheral tissues of epinephrine-treated rats.


Aspirin has been extensively investigated in the context of the prevention of cardiovascular disease. It has one of the strongest cumulative evidence supporting its use in colorectal cancer (CRC) chemoprevention. Epidemiological, clinical, and observational studies have demonstrated that aspirin and non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including COX-2 inhibitors, can protect against CRC and significantly reduce its incidence. Moreover, prospective randomized controlled trials of colorectal polyp recurrence and in patients with hereditary CRC syndromes have shown that aspirin can produce regression of existing colorectal adenomas and prevent the formation of new polyps. However, the lowest effective doses, treatment duration, target populations, and the effects on survival are not entirely clear. Although not common serious side effects and in particular gastrointestinal and intracerebral hemorrhage do occur, better selection of individuals who might benefit the most from aspirin use must be carefully performed in order to maximize their risk/benefit ratio. In the era of precision medicine, genetic information, blood and/or urinary biomarkers, could potentially help in tailoring chemopreventive therapeutic strategies, based on aspirin use, while limiting adverse toxic effects. The current review will cover the use of aspirin for the prevention of colorectal adenomas and CRC, potential markers for chemoprevention, and patient stratification.


This study presents a method for computing likelihood ratios (LRs) from multimodal score distributions, as the ones produced by some commercial off-the-shelf automated fingerprint identification systems (AFISs). The AFIS algorithms used to compare fingermarks and fingerprints were primarily developed for forensic investigation rather than for forensic evaluation purposes. Thus, in some of those algorithms, the computation of discriminating scores is speed-optimised. In the case of the AFIS algorithm used in this work, the speed-optimisation is achieved by performing the comparison in three different stages, each of which outputs scores of different magnitudes. As a consequence, all scores together present a multimodal distribution, even though each fingermark-to-fingerprint comparison generates one single score. This multimodal distribution of scores might be typical for other biometric systems or other algorithms, and the method proposed in this work can be also applied to those cases. As a result, the authors propose a probabilistic model for LR computation that presents more robustness to overfitting and data sparsity than other traditional approaches, like the use of models based on kernel density functions.


The extent of soil microbial diversity is seen to be critical to the maintenance of soil health and quality. Different agricultural practices are able to affect soil microbial diversity and thus the level of suppressiveness of plant diseases. In a 4-year field experiment, we investigated the microbial diversity of soil under different agricultural regimes. We studied permanent grassland, grassland turned into arable land, long-term arable land and arable land turned into grassland. The diversity of microbial communities was described by using cultivation-based and cultivation-independent methods. Both types of methods revealed differences in the diversities of soil microbial communities between different treatments. The treatments with higher above-ground biodiversity generally maintained higher levels of microbial diversity. Moreover, a positive correlation between suppression of Rhizoctonia solani AG3 and microbial diversity was observed. Permanent (species-rich) grassland and grassland turned into maize stimulated higher microbial diversities and higher levels of suppressiveness of R. solani AG3 compared with the long-term arable land. Effects of agricultural practices on Bacillus and Pseudomonas communities were also observed and clear correlations between the levels of suppressiveness and the diversities of these bacterial groups were found. This study highlighted the importance of agricultural management regime for soil microbial community structure and diversity as well as the level of soil suppressiveness.


Indirect immunofluorescence studies using an antiserum to purified porcine gastric inhibitory polypeptide indicate, in the gastrointestinal tract of dog and man, that this polypeptide is present in cells situated predominantly in the mid-zone of the glands in the duodenum and, to a lesser extent, in the jejunum. Absolute correlation of the gastric inhibitory polypeptide cell with one or other of the known endocrine-like cells identified by electron microscopy awaits confirmation by electron immunocytochemistry. It is here identified as an endocrine polypeptide cell of the APUD series and, provisionally, as the D1 cell. While the hormonal status of a given polypeptide depends ultimately on physiological experiments the present results strengthen the view that gastric inhibitory polypeptide is indeed a hormone.


Purpose Axenfeld-Rieger syndrome (ARS) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by extraocular anomalies and developmental defects of the anterior segment. PITX2 (paired-like homeodomain transcription factor 2) is considered the major causative gene. In this study, we characterized the molecular defect in PITX2 in a Chinese family with ARS. Methods Two generations of the family with ARS were enrolled in the present study. In addition to ophthalmologic examinations, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and nucleotide sequencing of all coding exons of PITX2 were performed. Exon 5 (region 1) was also sequenced in 100 healthy controls unrelated to the family for comparison. Results A novel PITX2 mutation, c.840G>T, was identified in all affected members of the family with ARS that causes an amino acid substitution from tryptophan to cysteine at codon 86. Conclusions We found a novel p.W86C mutation in PITX2 in a Chinese family with ARS. The tryptophan residue at position 86 is strictly conserved in PITX2a proteins from several species and in homeodomain proteins. We suggest that this mutation in PITX2 is the cause of typical ARS in patients. Our results may be useful for better understanding of the spectrum of PITX2 mutations and the role of PITX2 in the development and progression of ARS.


This paper presents a versatile approach to the synthesis of accurate state observers for flexible link mechanisms and manipulators. The design of a state observer should be always based on a model providing an adequate description of the system dynamics. However, when flexible link mechanisms are considered, the synthesis of a state observer becomes very challenging, since only nonlinear models may be adopted to reproduce the system dynamic response with adequate accuracy. In this work the possibility of employing a Kalman estimator together with a suitable piecewise-linear model is investigated. Numerical results prove the effectiveness of the proposed approach when it is applied to the synthesis of a state observer for a four-bar linkage with all the links flexible. Key-Words: modeling, flexible, link, mechanism, linearization, state, observer


Nonlactating cows were fed diets containing 88% grass forage and 12% concentrate (DM basis). Starting 14 d prior to anticipated calving, the concentrate was changed to provide 0 or 200 g of supplemental fat and 0 or 890 IU of supplemental vitamin E daily. Following parturition, cows were fed for 14 d a 50% concentrate diet that provided the same amounts of supplemental fat and vitamin E that were fed during the dry period. Plasma was sampled and analyzed for alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene. Supplemental dietary fat elevated plasma concentrations of both nutrients during the peripartum period. Supplemental dietary vitamin E elevated concentrations of alpha-tocopherol during that period. Dietary fat also increased concentrations of plasma cholesterol. When alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene were expressed per unit of plasma cholesterol, fat supplementation did not affect concentrations. Dietary treatments did not influence concentrations of alpha-tocopherol in blood neutrophils and did not affect intracellular kill of bacteria by neutrophils. Essentially no beta-carotene was found in the neutrophils. For colostrum, dietary vitamin E increased concentrations of alpha-tocopherol and decreased concentrations of beta-carotene.


The use of visual and creative methods, specifically photo-elicitation in qualitative research has seen an increase in popularity in applied social science research, particularly in studies of psychology. This paper considers the evolution of the photograph as a research tool, particularly when combined with one-to-one interviewing. This paper situates the use of the photograph within historical and disciplinary contexts whilst offering new perspectives on its application to psychological fields of study. We argue that there are interesting benefits associated with supplementing qualitative methods such as one-to-one interviews with photographic stimuli. We present a recent systematic review of photo-elicitation used in research which identifies as being informed by Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Interpretative phenomenological Analysis is a particular qualitative approach which aims produce an account of lived experience. It is often unconcerned by adhering to the application of pre-existing theoretical preconceptions and instead offers an inductive, iterative and highly idiographic account of a phenomena of which the participant has direct experience of. This may be phenomena linked to personal changes in health and illness, or even adapting to new learning environments. Central to the purpose of IPA is the recognition that this account of lived experience is an interpretative endeavor between both participant and analyst. We argue that this need for interpretation and co-construction offers space for creative methods to 'bridge the gap' between simply describing a phenomena and entering into the symbolic, metaphorical interpretative world of meaning making which pushes IPA research from mediocrity to excellence. In this review we aimed to capture information related to the use of photographic methods in IPA research with particular interest in exploring the body of published work across the following protocols; 1) sample for inclusion, 2) domain of study, 3) orientation of research questions, 4) design features, 5) variation of photo-method, 6) outcomes of research and 7) critical appraisal of study. There are 14 published articles utilising photographs in IPA from 2010-2018. These studies were conducted internationally and reach across different topic domains including health, developmental, education and occupational research. The reviewed studies extend across the age span and there was notable younger age participants involved. Using photographs offered particular advantages in comparison to interview alone. These include; (a) to empower marginalized, 'hard to reach' groups (b) to facilitate in-depth interpretative discussions of abstract, 'metaphorical' concepts, sensitive issues (c) to synthesise data with other methods to strengthen and d) enhance trustworthiness of findings. There was considerable variation in how photographs were 'produced' ranging from photos, 'elicited' by participants or as a secondary artefact produced by researcher as a stimulus for discussion. Visual methods using photographs vary, and include photo-narratives, photo-journals, photo-montage, photo-questionnaires. We situation our review within fast moving changes and opportunities for this method within a wider 'open science' framework and also pay particular attention to exploring ethical issues to ensure confidentiality, consent, privacy and wider 2018 General Data Protection Regulation adherence.


Can traditional investors improve financial performance by adding a farmland real estate investment trust (F-REIT), gold and oil to their investment portfolios? This study shows that for the period 1972–2011, financial performance was significantly improved with the addition of F-REIT, gold and oil to a portfolio of traditional investments of T-bills, bonds, stocks and REITs. A Canadian F-REIT is considered relatively low risk, enters the efficient portfolios at low to medium risk levels and adds the most financial improvement to medium risk portfolios. Gold and Oil are higher risk assets with no dividend yield but because of their low correlations with other assets, they are able to reduce portfolio risk and add significant financial improvement in all portfolios.


Digital drawing is becoming a favorite technique for many artists. It allows for quick swaps between different materials, reverting changes, and applying selective modifications to finished artwork. These features enable artists to be more efficient and creative. A significant disadvantage of digital drawing is poor haptic feedback. Artists are usually limited to one surface and a few different stylus nibs, and while they try to find a combination that suits their needs, this is typically challenging. In this work, we address this problem and propose a method for designing, evaluating, and optimizing different stylus designs. We begin with collecting a representative set of traditional drawing tools. We measure their physical properties and conduct a user experiment to build a perceptual space that encodes perceptually-relevant attributes of drawing materials. The space is optimized to both explain our experimental data and correlate it with measurable physical properties. To embed new drawing tool designs into the space without conducting additional experiments and measurements, we propose a new, data-driven simulation technique for characterizing stylus-surface interaction. We finally leverage the perceptual space, our simulation, and recent advancements in multi-material 3D printing to demonstrate the application of our system in the design of new digital drawing tools that mimic traditional drawing materials.


Apart from heterosexual route, mother-to-child transmission is the next most important route of HIV transmission accounting for over 90% of infections in children.This retrospective study is aimed at assessing the prevalence trend of HIV infection among pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic of University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital in Northeast Nigeria within a five year period, 2005-2009. Pregnant women who consented to HIV testing after receiving voluntary counseling were tested for HIV using the parallel rapid testing algorithm with support PEPFAR (President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief). Of a total of 9018 pregnant women tested, 722 (8.0%) were found to be HIV positive with the highest prevalence occurring in 2007 (9.5%) while, the lowest was noted in 2009 (6.2%). The rate of decline in HIV prevalence between 2008 and 2009 was about 2-fold compared to previous years. There was an initial increase in the HIV prevalence in 2005 (7.1%), peaked at 9.5% in 2007 and then decline in 2009 (6.2%). There was a consistent increase in HIV prevalence with age. However, teenage pregnant women within the age bracket of 10 – 14 years had the highest rate of infection (23.5%) over the years. In conclusion, HIV prevalence increased by about 4-fold higher than the earlier reports. The implication of early marriage in this part of the country vis-a-vis teenage pregnancy as observed in this study has grievous implications to the success of HIV prevention programmes. Innovative strategies and approach such as integration of reproductive health and HIV services is hereby recommended to cater for cases of early marriage and teenage pregnant mothers. Efforts should be consolidated to further stem the HIV scourge among pregnant women.


Seismology is the primary tool to probe the interior of the Earth. The main requirement to obtain a high quality image of the Earth's structure is the achievement of an extensive dataset of seismograms. The North American and Caribbean regions offer a good opportunity in that matter. The large deployment of broad-band seismological stations over the region, provides a dense regional dataset. Phase velocity measurements and waveforms derived from this data are used to image the seismic velocity structure of the uppermantle, before investigating its thermal and compositional structure.

The phase velocity maps are first obtained by waveform inversion for periods between 40 and 150 s, using fundamental mode Rayleigh waves. The ray path coverage yields a high resolution over most of Canada, the United States and Central America. Comparison with a recent global scale tomographic model shows that regional phase velocity maps present higher resolution and better prediction of independent data. This last statement is an important issue for future moment tensor calculations. The resolution of small scale heterogeneities may, however, be limited, as the inversion method used relies on the great circle path approximation (ray theory), which states that a wave is sensitive to velocity heterogeneities only along the geometrical ray path that links source and receiver. Neglecting off-great circle path effects may affect regional tomographic results significantly. Therefore, in a second step, the effect of finite frequency of surface waves is incorporated
into the inversion of phase velocities measurements (scattering theory). Comparison is made between phase velocity maps obtained with ray and scattering theories. The results show that small scale anomalies (less than $800 km) are not imaged with sufficient resolution. Due to the large uncertainties in the data, a regularization operator is required, leading to the creation of a significant model null space, and a poor constrain of small scale anomalies. The structure of the upper mantle, from 50 to 250 km, is afterwards imaged by ray theory inversion of the phase velocity dispersion curves obtained. The results show high velocities beneath Canada and the eastern United States from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic coast, associated with a thick archean lithosphere (up to 220 km). Low velocities are observed beneath the western Cordillera, along the Pacific ocean from Canada to Mexico, induced by the intense tectonic activity of the region. Mexico is defined as a low velocity zone associated with the subduction of the Cocos plate. Positive anomalies are imaged in the Gulf of Mexico. The Caribbean region displays two low velocity zones: one beneath eastern Caribbean, as a result of back arc magmatism, and the other beneath western Caribbean, separated by a positive velocity arm. Finally, the seismological velocity model obtained is interpreted in terms of temperature and compositional variations in the depth range 60 to 260 km. Seismic velocities are primarily sensitive to thermal perturbations. In order to simultaneously infer temperature and composition, independent data are needed. In this thesis, we use density anomalies as additional constrain on the compositional variations in the upper mantle. Estimates of these anomalies are obtained through the scaling factor between density and velocity, which is derived from gravity anomalies data. Our results show that tectonically active regions consist of a mantle close to the Earth's average in terms of temperature and composition. On the contrary, cratonic areas are underlain by a mantle cooler than average and depleted in iron, which supports the idea that negative buoyancy induced by thermal anomalies are balanced by positive buoyancy due to compositional anomalies. This may explain the stability of cratons over geological times.


The Shun Electronics' KL Radio division wants to expand the three departmental cost centers to eight, each with its own overhead cost allocation rate. As a result, it appears that the total costs for four of their six radios will increase, while two will decrease. The case puts students in the role of having to (a) understand why such a result occurred; (b) explain the specific changes made in the cost allocation system; and (c) evaluate whether the changes are an improvement.


With more than a trillion dollars in cash and a population of over a billion people, the Muslim world should be poised for a remarkable scientific explosion. Yet despite some very high-profile projects in the Gulf, including the building of massive state-of-the-art facilities for research across all disciplines (and serious efforts elsewhere), the reality is that Muslim countries tend to spend less on scientific research itself, as distinct from buildings and equipment, as compared to other countries at the same income scale. Furthermore, even where funding for science has been available, the results in terms of output--research papers, citations, and patents--are disappointingly low. Why?


Neutrinos—weakly interacting subatomic particles often resultant of nuclear processes, including hydrogen fusion—are the only direct insight into the core of the Sun. Previously constructed neutrino detection experiments have successfully detected solar-origin neutrinos, proving hydrogen fusion to be the Sun's energy production mechanism; however, these experiments' large size and Earth-based location limit their capabilities. A solar neutrino detection satellite orbiting the sun with a close approach distance of 7 to 3 solar radii could revolutionize solar interior studies. At such proximity, the neutrino flux increases by several orders of magnitude allowing for a much smaller detector design than Earth-based devices. An off-ecliptic orbital location also allows for fusion core geometry studies. To pursue these improvements, a scintillation detector using gallium-doped liquid scintillator and veto array methods has been devised. Interactions between neutrinos and gallium nuclei can result in a sequentially released electron and gamma-ray/X-ray, giving distinct double-pulse signals in the detector. The veto array is a secondary detection assembly to filter external-source charged particles. Presented here are the methods and results from Monte Carlo simulations of particle events visible to the detector. This code incorporates background event rates obtained from Geant4 simulations of the detector assembly, and neutrino interaction rates based on scaling of similar, Earth-based experiments' performance to the detector's parameters. The code output is examined to find the number of true double-pulse signals versus those of false signals. Establishing experiment parameters necessary for a false event detection rate less than 20% is a primary goal of these simulations.


SIR: Your article on Labrador keratopathy (McGuinness et alii, Journal, November 25, 1972) is a timely one alerting ophthalmologists throughout Australia to the presence of this disease. This is particularly relevant to the more arid parts of our continent. Nevertheless, workers in New Guinea and the Pacific basin should also be on the outlook for Labrador keratopathy. Outside the subarctic, the most florid example of this disease that I have witnessed occurred in a Tolai native of New Britain.


We have proposed possible scenarios based on molecular electrostatic potentials and molecular vibrational modes that can be combined to process and encode information in nanosized circuits. These two intrinsic properties determine how molecules interact or communicate to each other and to themselves. These scenarios may provide the solution to satisfy the urgent need for exponential growth of computational performance and eventually to radically change the way how computation is performed. Presently, the increase in computational power is achieved by scaling down the size of devices. However, already at the nanometer scale, the process of scaling down is seriously limited by physical laws regardless of what materials are used. These limitations lead us to compromise the speed of electronic devices against heat removal, which is one of the consequences of scaling-down. The new scenarios would allow computing with molecules in a molecular friendly fashion and eventually in a way similar to those in biological systems. The molecular potentials and vibronics would indeed address the heating issues, which are the overarching killers at future technology nodes


This study aims to determine the combination of the hatching egg yolk (HEY) and amniotic fluid (AF) in Tris diluent to the type of goat spermatozoa abnormalities after frozen at temperature -80°C. This study used four treatments and 6 replications. The semen is diluted using tris extender and added treatment, there are control group (T 0 ) (Tris egg yolk 20%), T 1 (15% HEY + 5% AF), T 2 (10% HEY + 10% AF), and T3 (5% HEY + 15% AF). After dilution, the semen was equilibrated for 2 hours, then stored using Mr. Frosty and frozen at temperature -80°C in the ultra-freezer for 24 hours. The type of spermatozoa abnormalities type was evaluated on fresh semen and after thawing. The data were analyzed using ANOVA (P<0.05). The results showed that there is no significant difference among treatments. The primary abnormalities in fresh semen, there were macro-cephalic, amorphous, and the secondary spermatozoa abnormalities such as detached head, mid-piece defect, coiled tail, loosehead, shoe-hook tail, and a broken tail. The secondary abnormalities in post-thawing were found both in the control group and treatment, which are detached head, loosehead, coiled tail, shoe-hook tail, and broken tail. The conclusion of this study was the percentage of secondary abnormalities after thawing was increasing both in the control and treatment groups. Keywords: Amniotic Fluid, Hatching Egg Yolk, Mr. Frosty , Type of Spermatozoa Abnormality.


Bán, Gergely Károly: City concepts in the perspective of various disciplines, modern age urban hierarchies
In today's era of interdisciplinarity – when the break-up of formal boundaries between disciplines is a common phenomenon – it is not easy to find a common language, set of concepts and methods for different disciplines to use in their common research fields. A great example to this is the research of urban history, especially the research into city hierarchy. The complexity of this research topic is well illustrated by the fact that it is inherent in geography, history, sociology, statistics and economics. The different disciplines work with different definitions of the city, which are most definitely represented in research papers on urban history in the recent years. Legal (administrative), statistical, economic, sociological or geographic city concepts all have different understanding of the city. If we were to ask what discipline provides us with the most relevant, most fitting definition for the city as a settlement form then the answer would be: each of them. Why should not we talk about the definition of the city in the context of these city concepts, that is, administrative, statistical, sociological, etc. urban hierarchies? The aim of my study is to provide a complex picture of the potential urban hierarchy of the modern age.


We consider two categories of C*-algebras; in the first, the isomorphisms are ordinary isomorphisms, and in the second, the isomorphisms are Morita equivalences. We show how these two categories, and categories of dynamical systems based on them, crop up in a variety of C*-algebraic contexts. We show that Rieffel's construction of a fixed-point algebra for a proper action can be made into functors defined on these categories, and that his Morita equivalence then gives a natural isomorphism between these functors and crossed-product functors. These results have interesting applications to non-abelian duality for crossed products.


The interdisciplinary relationship between industrial design and mechanical engineering is sensitive. This research focuses on understanding how one can positively mediate this relation, in order to foster innovation. In this paper, technology is considered for this role since it has, in some historical moments, served as an integrator of these two disciplines, in processes that led to innovation. By means of an extensive literature review, covering three different periods of technological development, both disciplines' positioning in society and their link with technology are analyzed and compared. The three case studies selected help to illustrate, precisely, the technology positioning between both disciplines and society. Literature assumes that industrial design is rooted in the rise of criticism against both the machine and the mechanized production. This is an opposing approach to the current paradigm, in which design plays a fundamental role in adapting technology to society. Also, the social problems caused by the mechanized and massive production triggered the mechanical engineering emergence, as a professionalized discipline. Technology was intrinsically connected with both industrial design and mechanical engineering emergence and subsequent evolution. In the technology conflict with society lays the reform and regulation for design practice, in its broadest sense.


Having 7.7*108 t/a of crops straw, 3.97*109 t/a of poultry and livestock manure, 1.48*108 t/a of municipal waste, China is in possession of good resource condition for the development of bioenergy industries. But the competitiveness of bioenergy industry is low. In order to improving the competitiveness of biomass energy industry, combining with system dynamics, according to the comprehensive evaluation index system, this thesis used the entropy coefficient and introduced TOPSIS method into the comprehensive evaluation of the biomass energy industry competitiveness. It has resolved the problem of artificial weighted evaluation that commonly used in weighted comprehensive evaluation. The results show that this method is practicable.


This paper presents a case study illustrating successful involvement of a shared online 3D virtual world, for teaching Human Computer Interaction (HCI) as a final year course in an undergraduate curriculum. While there is considerable interest throughout academia in using such multi-user virtual environments (MUVE) for education, academics are experiencing many challenges in exploring various possible use-cases. This study was conducted to identify some of the critical issues such as student perception, privacy, ownership, access to practical work for assessment purposes, maintaining an association between institutional and virtual world identities, and the achievement of learning outcomes through the MUVE approach of teaching.


The author explains that the privatisation of state-owned undertakings engaged in economic and commercial activities has become the staple of economic policies of developing countries and many developed countries. In the Russian Federation, the enormity of the process is beginning to be fully understood. This article discusses the interventions by the World Bank and the European Commission to introduce a new legal order in the country to protect private property and economic rights and complete the transformation from a socialist to a market economy. Article by Dr K.V.S.K. Nathan (Barrister / Arbitrator, Italy). Published in Amicus Curiae - Journal of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and its Society for Advanced Legal Studies. The Journal is produced by the Society for Advanced Legal Studies at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London.


: Mandibular saliva was collected at eight flow rates ranging between 0.052 +/- 0.0059 (S.E. of mean) and 4.294 +/- 0.0717 ml min-1 from anaesthetized red kangaroos receiving ipsilateral intracarotid infusions of acetylcholine. The concentrations of sodium (4.04 +/- 0.759 to 75.9 +/- 4.64 mmol l-1) and chloride (51.2 +/- 2.46 to 85.0 +/- 6.90 mmol l-1) and the osmolality (99.7 +/- 4.88 to 178.9 +/- 13.50 mosmol kg-1) were positively correlated with salivary flow rate over most or all of the flow range, whereas the concentrations of potassium (50.3 +/- 2.03 to 19.7 +/- 3.16 mmol l-1), calcium (5.43 +/- 1.696 to 1.26 +/- 0.055 mmol l-1), magnesium (259.8 +/- 49.3 to 19.0 +/- 1.88 mumol l-1), hydrogen ions (457.7 +/- 107.3 to 69.3 +/- 5.64 nmol l-1) and phosphate (2.22 +/- 0.171 to 0.27 +/- 0.040 mmol l-1) were negatively correlated with flow rate. Salivary bicarbonate concentration (15.6 +/- 1.76 to 21.9 +/- 1.83 mmol l-1) showed little flow dependency except possibly at high levels of stimulation. Spontaneous secretion was not observed during anaesthesia. During continuous stimulation of flow at two rates (0.5 and 2.0 ml min-1) for periods of 90 min, rest transients were observed for sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride and phosphate in the initial sample and the sodium concentration rose by 17-56% during the first 60 min of steady-state flow and stimulation. Indications that the gland was capable of responding rapidly to changes in endogenous mineralocorticoid levels were confirmed by intracarotid infusion of aldosterone at 80 micrograms h-1. With the mean salivary flow rate lying between 1.3 and 1.4 ml min-1, the salivary Na+/K+ ratio began to fall at 45-60 min of aldosterone infusion and after 4 h of infusion had fallen to 0.62 +/- 0.116. Administration of deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) for 21 days at 0.25 or 0.3 mg kg-1 12 h-1 caused a further lowering of the Na+/K+ ratio to 0.09 +/- 0.013 at similar flow rates. Biopsy showed this increase to be associated with a moderate level of hypertrophy of the intralobular ducts of the gland. Two types of intralobular duct were identified on the basis of glycogen granulation after DOCA administration.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


We present a finite-element analysis of the temperature rise of switched reluctance motors (SRM) due to electromagnetic losses. We estimate the various components of electromagnetic losses, including core loss in the lamination as well as copper and eddy-current losses in windings, and then predict the temperature rise within the motor due to these losses. We present simulation results for an 8/6 SRM and discuss various aspects of thermal design of SRMs. To validate the procedure for the estimation of electromagnetic losses, we compare predicted and measured losses.


Background
Refractory infectious keratitis is one of the leading causes of corneal blindness. Penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) is a primary approach to serious infectious keratitis patients who did not feasible to drug therapy. However, the comparative study on PKP outcomes of different pathogens-caused severe infectious keratitis is still lack at present.

Objective
This study was to evaluate the therapeutic effect of PKP on severe keratitis infected by fungus, bacteria, virus and acanthamoeba.

Methods
The clinical data of a total of 221 eyes of 210 patients who underwent PKP from severe infectious keratitis at Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from January, 2008 to January, 2014 were retrospectively analyzed and reviewed. The patients were grouped to fungal infected group (155 eyes), bacterial infected group (30 eyes), virus infected group (28 eyes) and acanthamoeba infected group (8 eyes). The follow-up duration was 6-24 months. The effective rate of treatment, eyes in different graded visual acuities, rejected rate and recurrence rate were compared among different groups.

Results
The percentage of fungal keratitis was 70.1% (155/221), and that of bacterial keratitis, virus keratitis and acanthamoeba keratitis was 13.6% (30/221), 12.7% (28/221) and 3.6% (8/221), respectively. The effective rates of PKP were 88.5%, 86.7%, 92.8% and 75.0% in the fungal infected group, bacterial infected group, virus infected group and acanthamoeba infected group, respectively, showing insignificant difference among the groups (χ2=4.022, P=0.259). The postoperative best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was better in the bacterial infected group than that in the fungal infected group or virus infected group (Z=-5.125, -7.504, both at P<0.001), and the postoperative BCVA in the virus infected group was superior to bacterial infected group (Z=-3.189, P =0.001). The grafts were clear in 170 post-PKP eyes, and corneal opacity and neovascularization were observed in 26 eyes, and a few new blood vessels were seen in another 25 eyes after PKP. The number of eyes in different degree transparences was not significantly different among the groups (P=0.325). The rejected rate of grafts was 39.4% in the fungal infected group, which was significantly higher than 20% in the bacterial infected group and 17.9% in the virus infected group (P=0.043, 0.029). The recurrence rate of lesions was 20% in the fugal infected group, 3.3% in the bacterial infected group and 3.6% in the virus infected group, showing significant differences between fugal infected group and bacterial infected group (P=0.032) as well as between fugal infected group and virus infected group (P=0.033). Rejected response occurred within 3 months after PKP in 42.6% fungal-infected eyes, which was earlier than bacterial-and virus-infected eyes.

Conclusions
PKP is an effective treating approach to severe infectious keratitis. The postoperative BCVA is better in viral keratitis than that of bacterial keratitis or fungal keratitis. There is a higher rejection rate of grafts in fungal keratitis than that in bacterial keratitis or viral keratitis after PKP.

Key words:
[Key words] Ulcer, corneal; Infection diseases; Keratoplasty/penetrating; Treatment outcome


The Research Institute for Pharmacy and Biochemistry (VUFB) officially started its activities in 1951 as the successor of the Spofa Research and Control Institute. In the fifties and sixties of the last century, the Institute acquired the profile of a prestigious and actually the only centre of research and development of human pharmaceuticals for the then Czechoslovak pharmaceutical industry. The research of the Institute was focused on substances acting on the central nervous system, blood circulation and coagulation, inflammatory processes, microbial infections and cancerostatics. The remarkable position of VUFB in research and development of pharmaceuticals is evidenced by the fact that 31 original human drugs have been approved for commercialization. Seven of them enjoyed a good reputation on foreign markets and were licensed. The antidepressant dosulepin referred to as Prothiaden and cardiovascular substance metipranolol referred to as Torrat found general appreciation on the European market. Privatization of the Institute starting in 1993 was completed in 1998 by incorporating of the VUFB into Leciva Inc.


OBJECTIVE
Subchondroplasty is a novel minimally invasive procedure that is used to treat painful bone marrow lesions in patients with knee osteoarthritis or insufficiency fractures. The objective of this article is to describe the surgical technique and the pre- and postoperative imaging findings of a small case series acquired at a single center.

CONCLUSION
The radiologist should be familiar with the anticipated postoperative imaging appearances after subchondroplasty and the potential complications.


Temporal and spatial changes in abundance, prosome length, oil sac volume, molting patterns and morphometric parameters were studied in Calanus euxinus from the Black and Marmara Seas. In the south‐western part of the Black Sea and deep shelf zone near Sinop the abundance of C. euxinus was high during the whole studied period (2000–2005), with a maximum 23,400 ind m−2 in March 2004. In the Marmara Sea near the Prince Islands in the deep zone the mean annual abundance of C. euxinus was 47 times lower than in the deep zone of the Black Sea (during 2000–2007). However, this parameter reached a significant magnitude of 12,264 ind m−2 in spring in Izmit Bay. During the warm season, C. euxinus are rare in the Marmara Sea. The high temperature and salinity accelerate development in this species; therefore, preadults and adults possess reduced prosome length and oil sac volume. In the cold period in the Marmara Sea the size and lipid content in late copepodite stages increase, especially in Izmit Bay. Similar size of eggs, prosome length of early copepodite stages in the Black and Marmara Seas indicate that the C. euxinus population in the Marmara Sea originates from the individuals penetrating from the Black Sea through the Bosphorus.


We present an asymptotically exact analysis of the problem of detecting communities in sparse random networks generated by stochastic block models. Using the cavity method of statistical physics and its relationship to belief propagation, we unveil a phase transition from a regime where we can infer the correct group assignments of the nodes to one where these groups are undetectable. Our approach yields an optimal inference algorithm for detecting modules, including both assortative and disassortative functional modules, assessing their significance, and learning the parameters of the underlying block model. Our algorithm is scalable and applicable to real-world networks, as long as they are well described by the block model.


Network Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (NIDPS) are important elements of network security. Their role is to monitor internet traffic for malicious content and, on detection, generate an alert message and/or block the offending traffic. Potential attacks are described in a database of rules known as the rule set, where each rule consists of an IP header part and a payload signature part. The payload signature can be in the form of a fixed string and/or regular expression. This thesis studies the three main stages of these systems, namely TCP/IP reassembly, multi-match header matching and Deep Packet Inspection (DPI).
TCP/IP reassembly is a necessary prerequisite to DPI as attack patterns may span more than one IP fragment or TCP segment. Either target-based reassembly or traffic normalisation is required in order to overcome insertion/evasion attacks. This thesis builds upon existing research by outlining an FPGA-based architecture that handles the common case of reassembling in-sequence data streams in hardware and the much rarer out-of-sequence data streams in software.
Multi-match header matching involves the matching of each packet header against the header section of all rules. This differs from the single-match classification used in routers where there is a single highest priority match per packet. The strategy adopted in this thesis was to adapt a number of single match algorithms to perform multi-matching and to compare their performance with existing solutions. Existing solutions typically involve the use of Ternary Content Addressable Memory (TCAM) and therefore suffer from disadvantages such as high cost, high energy consumption, and low storage efficiency. Algorithmic solutions, which use SRAM instead of TCAM, can therefore have an advantage. The adapted algorithms were implemented in C code and evaluated in terms of speed and energy efficiency on an ARM processor.
DPI is particularly challenging due to the number and complexity of regular expressions. This thesis builds on existing research into Bit-Parallel hardware architectures. The main contribution is an extension for the efficient handling of the constrained {min,max} repetition syntax, including a solution to the issue of counter overlap. This allows for the handling of many additional regular expressions that would otherwise be unsuitable. The design was implemented in VHDL and evaluated using the Xilinx tool set. A comprehensive review of the most significant research works in the DPI field is also provided.


Conventional views of the tunica adventitia as a poorly organized layer of vessel wall composed of fibroblasts, connective tissue, and perivascular nerves are undergoing revision. Recent studies suggest that the adventitia has properties of a stem/progenitor cell niche in the artery wall that may be poised to respond to arterial injury. It is also a major site of immune surveillance and inflammatory cell trafficking and harbors a dynamic microvasculature, the vasa vasorum, that maintains the medial layer and provides an important gateway for macrophage and leukocyte migration into the intima. In addition, the adventitia is in contact with tissue that surrounds the vessel and may actively participate in exchange of signals and cells between the vessel wall and the tissue in which it resides. This brief review highlights recent advances in our understanding of the adventitia and its resident progenitor cells and discusses progress toward an integrated view of adventitial function in vascular development, repair, and disease.


Two cases of paradoxical embolism, one with recurrent cerebral embolism and one with brachial and coronary embolism and both associated with pulmonary embolism, were diagnosed during life. Although there was neither pulmonary hypertension nor intracardiac shunt present at the time of cardiac catheterization in both cases, the presence of a patent foramen ovale with an interatrial right-to-left shunt was demonstrated by a simple ascorbate dilution technique following a Valsalva maneuver. Each patient was treated by surgical interruption of the inferior vena cava and did well. Paradoxical embolism should be included in the differential diagnosis of arterial embolism for which there is no obvious source, especially when there is also evidence of venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism.


This work aims at analyzing three different techniques for synchronizing RF oscillators. These techniques are Injection Locking (ILO), Phase Locked Loop (PLL) and Injection Locked Phase Locked Loop (ILPLL). ILPLL, which is a combination of PLL and ILO, has superior noise performance -compared to all the rest- at medium frequency offsets and the same noise performance at low and high offsets. Furthermore, the ILPLL has better locking range and lower phase noise than the ILO for phase-shifts close to /spl plusmn/90/spl deg/. In this work we present two different approaches for the study of the performance of the ILPLL, which as we show, produce equivalent results concerning the noise. A common gate VCO was used and the injected signal was the same for comparison reasons.


This study adopted a differential land-use/land-cover (LULC) analysis to evaluate dam-triggered land–atmosphere interactions for a number of LULC scenarios. Two specific questions were addressed: (1) can dam-triggered LULC heterogeneities modify surface and energy budget, which, in turn, change regional convergence and precipitation patterns? (2) How extensive is the modification in surface moisture and energy budget altered by dam-triggered LULC changes occurring in different climate and terrain features? The Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS, version 6.0) was set up for two climatologically and topographically contrasting regions: the American River watershed (ARW), located in California, and the Owyhee River watershed (ORW), located in eastern Oregon. For the selected atmospheric river precipitation event of 29 December 1996 to 3 January 1997, simulations of three pre-defined LULC scenarios are performed. The definition of the scenarios are (1) the "control" scenario, representing the contemporary land use, (2) the "pre-dam" scenario, representing the natural landscape before the construction of the dams and (3) the "non-irrigation" scenario, representing the condition where previously irrigated landscape in the control is transformed to the nearby land-use type. Results indicated that the ARW energy and moisture fluxes were more extensively affected by dam-induced changes in LULC than the ORW. Both regions, however, displayed commonalities in the modification of land–atmosphere processes due to LULC changes, with the control–non-irrigation scenario creating more change than the control–pre-dam scenarios. These commonalities were: (1) the combination of a decrease in temperature (up to 0.15 °C) and an increase at dew point (up to 0.25 °C) was observed; (2) there was a larger fraction of energy partitioned to latent heat flux (up to 10 W m −2 ) that increased the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere and resulted in a larger convective available potential energy (CAPE); (3) low-level wind-flow variation was found to be responsible for pressure gradients that affected localized circulations, moisture advection and convergence. At some locations, an increase in wind speed up to 1.6 m s −1 maximum was observed; (4) there were also areas of well-developed vertical motions responsible for moisture transport from the surface to higher altitudes that enhanced precipitation patterns in the study regions.


The adoption of open innovation and peer production, powered by 3D printing technology, is transforming traditional manufacturing methods towards a " third industrial revolution ". The purpose of this research is to provide empirical evidence for an integrated approach, based on collaborative product development and peer production, combined with 3D printing, to deliver more sustainable, yet competitive, marketable products. In particular, this experimental study is conducted in the context of mobile forensics, an emerging market where limited expensive products exist and alternative solutions are needed. The technical viability and economic feasibility of the prototype developed in this research validate the proposed integrated approach, which could be a game-changer in the field of mobile forensics, as well as in other sectors. The sustainability improvements with this approach are a reduction of the total cost, thereby making it affordable for lower income users, and a decrease in energy consumption and pollutant emissions. The validated integrated approach offers start-up opportunities to develop and deliver more sustainable, marketable products, towards the paradigm of Open Sustainable Innovation. While the device developed and tested in this research has similar features to existing products, the methodology, implementation, and motivation are original.


The functional lumen imaging probe (FLIP) measures luminal dimensions using impedance planimetry, performed most often during sedated upper endoscopy. Mechanical properties of the esophageal wall and opening dynamics of the esophagogastric junction (EGJ) can be objectively evaluated in esophageal motor disorders, eosinophilic esophagitis, esophageal strictures, during esophageal surgery and in postsurgical symptomatic states. Distensibility index, the ratio of EGJ cross sectional area to intraballoon pressure, is the most useful FLIP metric. Secondary peristalsis from balloon distension can be displayed topographically as repetitive anterograde or retrograde contractile activity in the esophageal body, similar to high-resolution manometry. Real-time interpretation and postprocessing of FLIP metadata can complement the identification of esophageal outflow obstruction and achalasia, especially when findings are inconclusive from alternate esophageal tests in symptomatic patients. FLIP can complement the diagnosis of achalasia when manometry and barium studies are inconclusive or negative in patients with typical symptoms. FLIP can direct adequacy of disruption of the EGJ in achalasia when used during and immediately after myotomy and pneumatic dilation. Lumen diameter measured using FLIP in eosinophilic esophagitis and in complex strictures can potentially guide management. An abbreviated modification of the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation was used to determine the quality of available evidence and recommendations regarding FLIP utilization. FLIP metrics that are diagnostic or suggestive of an abnormal motor pattern and metrics that define normal esophageal physiology were developed by consensus and are described in this review.


Chronic inflammation has been linked to a wide range of progressive diseases, including cancer, neurological disease, metabolic disorder, and cardiovascular disease. Epidemiological studies have provided convincing evidence that natural dietary compounds, which humans consume as food, possess many biological activities, including chemopreventative activities against various chronic inflammatory diseases. Here, we investigated the effect of 50% ethanol extracts of pigeon pea, as well as its major component, cyanidin-3-monoglucoside, an anthocyanin, on DNA damage, the activity of antioxidant enzymes, and free radical scavenging capacity in hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2))-treated RAW264.7 macrophages. High-pressure liquid chromatography results indicated that 2 mg of the 50% ethanol extracts of pigeon pea contained 45 μg of cyanidin-3-monoglucoside. A comet assay indicated that 50% ethanol extracts of pigeon pea (2 mg mL(-1)) and of cyanidin-3-monoglucoside (10 μM) protected RAW264.7 cells from DNA damage induced by a 24 h H(2)O(2) treatment. These results can be attributed to the prevention of reduction in antioxidant enzyme activity and lipid peroxidation in H(2)O(2)-treated murine RAW264.7 macrophages by the 50% ethanol extracts of pigeon pea. Moreover, as there is an active interplay between oxidative stress and inflammation, we also evaluated the anti-inflammatory activity of the 50% ethanol extracts of pigeon pea and cyanidin-3-monoglucoside in lipopolysaccharide-treated RAW264.7 macrophages. We found that the 50% ethanol extracts of pigeon pea and of cyanidin-3-monoglucoside suppressed the production of inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6, in these macrophages. These results imply that pigeon pea could be developed as a functional food by the food industry, or could be utilized for the commercial production of anthocyanins as antioxidants.


Recent scholarship on the parlements has minimized their differences with royal administrations. According to the current view, any disputes involving the parlements were less than fundamental, involving no vital interest, and artificial, a ritual ballet in which both sides accepted unwritten rules and kept inside invisible boundaries. Thus the basic issue of royal sovereignty could never come into play, by mutual consent.1 This view is only partially correct. It is true that the parlements did not openly challenge sovereignty or the nature of the monarchy. They looked for no Bastille to storm. But it is not true that they posed no fundamental obstacle to royal government, merely that their behaviour was insidious, marked by stealth. They cloaked their intentions in procedural ambiguity and acted under the cover of a trademark rhetorical dissimulation, seeking not to overturn royal power but to infiltrate and weaken it. Sometimes, however, the disputes involved irreconcilable issues that artifice could not elide. This was eventually the case with the way the parlements treated the king's new laws. Jean Bodin, the most incisive political thinker of sixteenth-century France, identified the giving of laws to all subjects without their consent as the hallmark of sovereignty, by which he meant supreme, permanent power in the state. In France, sovereignty belonged to the king, so that legislative sovereignty coincided with royal sovereignty, or puissance absolue. Bodin also said that sovereignty could not be divided, shared or delegated. On the surface, magistrates of the Parlement of Paris accepted all of this and periodically, sometimes frequently, affirmed their steadfast belief in the king's full legislative sovereignty. But as framers of the American constitution would one day discover, things grew more complicated when political theory gave way to the actual making of laws.2 The kings issued laws and sent them to their parlements to be registered, in order to bring the new legislation to public attention and to make it enforceable within the parlements' jurisdictions. Reduced to its essentials, registration meant that the parlements 'published' the laws by reading them aloud in open


Titanium diboride nanoparticles reinforced copper matrix composite by combustion synthesis technology from titanium, boron and copper powders without other activated methods. Thermodynamics of the system was calculated theoretically. It was found that TiB2 was stable phase in the composite and TiCu interphase compound can convert into stable phase. The phases of the synthesized product were identified using X-ray diffraction and the results showed that only TiB2 and Cu phases, no other phases existed in the product. It is consistent with the calculated result of thermodynamics. SEM microstructural characterization showed that a homogenous distribution of the titanium diboride nanoparticles in the copper matrix.


Machine tool selection is one of the most important strategic decisions in production planning because it directly affects production rates, costs, accuracy, flexibility, and design. Improperly selected machines can negatively affect the manufacturer's overall manufacturing capability. Considering the significance of machine tool selection to production planning, there is a great need for a systematic decision-aid tool which can optimize the machine tool selection decision in the presence of wide-ranging alternatives. In response to such a need, we propose a hybrid decision-aid tool that combines the strengths of quality function deployment QFD, fuzzy linear regression, and zero-one goal programming. QFD is utilized for incorporating the customer service needs into machine tool selection by examining the causal relationships between customer needs and technical tool requirements. Fuzzy linear regression is then used to determine such causal relationships which cannot be expressed in clear and precise manners. Finally, zero-one goal programming ZOGP is used to select the most desirable machine tool alternative. To verify the usefulness and practicality of the proposed method, we applied it to solve actual machine tool selection problem encountered by a steel automobile part manufacturer in Ankara, Turkey.


One of the most common impressions derived from Thomas Pynchon's work is that the author has digested libraries of information. Much of this information is obviously historical, yet the depth and scope of historical detail in Pynchon's fiction almost questions the very notion of the historical event. In Gravity's Rainbow, for instance, the Second World War is made to accommodate such traditionally marginalized matters as the fate of the Hereros, the political significance of the Zoot suit, the extermination of the dodo bird, etc. These are all elements that usually' wind up on the trash heap of traditional historiography. For Pynchon however, they become the very substance of a counter-history.


Background: Doc toxin, of the phd-doc toxin-antitoxin system, belongs to the Fic protein family found in all domains of life. Results: Doc inactivates elongation factor Tu by phosphorylation of a single amino acid. Conclusion: This phosphorylation event inhibits protein synthesis and thereby arrests cell growth. Significance: The phosphorylation activity of Doc toxin represents a new catalytic activity for members of the Fic protein family. The Doc toxin from bacteriophage P1 (of the phd-doc toxin-antitoxin system) has served as a model for the family of Doc toxins, many of which are harbored in the genomes of pathogens. We have shown previously that the mode of action of this toxin is distinct from the majority derived from toxin-antitoxin systems: it does not cleave RNA; in fact P1 Doc expression leads to mRNA stabilization. However, the molecular triggers that lead to translation arrest are not understood. The presence of a Fic domain, albeit slightly altered in length and at the catalytic site, provided a clue to the mechanism of P1 Doc action, as most proteins with this conserved domain inactivate GTPases through addition of an adenylyl group (also referred to as AMPylation). We demonstrated that P1 Doc added a single phosphate group to the essential translation elongation factor and GTPase, elongation factor (EF)-Tu. The phosphorylation site was at a highly conserved threonine, Thr-382, which was blocked when EF-Tu was treated with the antibiotic kirromycin. Therefore, we have established that Fic domain proteins can function as kinases. This distinct enzymatic activity exhibited by P1 Doc also solves the mystery of the degenerate Fic motif unique to the Doc family of toxins. Moreover, we have established that all characterized Fic domain proteins, even those that phosphorylate, target pivotal GTPases for inactivation through a post-translational modification at a single functionally critical acceptor site.


This paper deals with content-based image indexing and category retrieval in general databases. Statistical learning approaches have been recently introduced in CBIR. Labelled images are considered as training data in learning strategy based on classification process. We introduce an active learning strategy to select the most difficult images to classify with only few training data. Experimentations are carried out on the COREL database. We compare seven classification strategies to evaluate the active learning contribution in CBIR.


We reported a Japanese case of spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6) with episodic ataxia type 2 (EA2) phenotype. A 28-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of episodic unsteadiness of gait and dysarthria for 4 years. Neurological examination revealed truncal ataxia and dysarthria during attacks, but no abnormal findings in interictal phases. A brain MRI showed no obvious cerebellar atrophy, whereas proton MR spectroscopy (1H-MRS) disclosed decrease of the N-acetylaspartate/ceatine (NAA/Cr) ratio in the cerebellar hemisphere. We identified the expanded 22 CAG repeats without a missense mutation in the CACNA1A gene. After one year from the discharge, her gait ataxia became gradually obvious even in the interictal phase. To our knowledge, although a few foreign papers had reported the SCA6 cases with EA2 phenotype, there is no particular report on such cases in Japan. 1H-MRS, in addition to CAG repeats analysis, might enable us to differentiate SCA6 from EA2, because the latter showed no decrease of NAA/Cr ratio in cerebellar hemisphere according to the previous reports.


Health professional students must be equipped with the skills necessary to interact with patients. Effective interpersonal skills are difficult to both learn and teach, requiring development, practise and evaluation in both educational and clinical settings. In professions such as physiotherapy, there have traditionally been two approaches to teaching these skills: clinical modelling, and stand-alone didactic teaching of the theory behind communication. These approaches provide limited opportunity for students to practise and receive feedback on their interpersonal and communication skills. This paper describes the implementation of an experiential small group learning approach in an undergraduate physiotherapy program and discusses outcomes and challenges from both student and staff perspectives. Implications for practice are that: experientially based small group learning with opportunities for practise, reflection, self-evaluation and feedback, can improve students' interpersonal skills; consistent and scaffolded participation in experiential learning opportunities and assessment across the program is key to this approach; a small group experiential learning approach can contribute to increased student satisfaction with the support they receive; and interpersonal skills still remain a challenge for new graduates. Support and mentoring in this domain may enhance the transition to work.


The traditional means of user authentication based on usernames and passwords is subject to a number of behavioral concerns that can significantly reduce the security provided. As such, an important part of proposing a new authentication scheme should involve careful consideration of behavioral factors. Little research has actually examined the role user acceptance plays in different authentication schemes. Our research in progress proposes the investigation of user acceptance of a cognitive password system comprised of multiple authenticators. Specifically we will investigate the role that password characteristics, such as number of passwords and password complexity, coupled with frequency of use, play in users' perceptions and overall willingness to faithfully adopt an alternative authentication system.


This thesis investigates the problem of slamming loads on high-speed planing craft and related global rigid body and local structural responses using numerical simulations and full-scale tests. The aim of this work is to improve the safety and efficiency of high-speed craft structural designs for realistic operational loads. A numerical model for simulating the water impact of two- and three-dimensional rigid and flexible structures is developed. The model uses the commercial CFD software Star CCM+ to solve for the fluid flow and the FE code ABAQUS to solve for the structural response. Two different water entry problems are studied - the water impact of a free-falling rigid wedge and the constant velocity water entry of a flexible composite panel - and the results are compared with the experimental data of Lewis et al. (2010) and Allen & Battley (2015), respectively, for validation. The influence of several numerical and experimental parameters on the solution, including grid and time step size, fluid compressibility, three-dimensional effects, structural boundary conditions and hydroelastic effects, is investigated. The model is then applied to simulate the full-scale drop tests of a realistic hull, also conducted within the framework of this thesis, and the results are compared with the measured data for validation. The effect of three-dimensional flow and spray rails is investigated. Full-scale rough water trials and drop tests on a 9.6m high-speed planing craft have also been performed. Measurements of rigid body motions, accelerations, pressures, strains and global hull deflections were made for various sea conditions, speeds and headings (rough water trials) and drop heights (drop tests). Methods for processing the experimental data, including low pass filtering the acceleration signals, removing baseline drifts from the strain signals and identifying the peaks in the pressure and strain signals are developed and successfully applied. Characteristic results from the rough water trials including, segments of the time signals, histograms of the identified peaks, calculated averages of the largest 1/3rd and 1/10th peak values, and the loads and responses recorded in a typical impact event, and characteristic drop test measurements are presented and discussed. The repeatability and symmetry of the drop test is also investigated. Statistical analysis of the rough water trials measurements is also performed. The Weibull and generalized Pareto models are fitted to the samples of identified pressure and strain peaks for estimating extreme loads and responses. Automated algorithms for fitting the statistical models to the peak value distributions are developed and the goodness-of-fit of the models to the data is examined. The suitability of the design loads used in current practice is assessed by comparing the acceleration and pressure measurements from the rough water trials with the predictions based on the ISO (2008) standard and DNV GL (2015) and Lloyd's Register (2016) rules. Preliminary comparisons between pressure and strain measurements from the rough water trials and the drop tests measurements are also made to examine the relationship between the two tests.


Analysis of 3,300 stocks from nine industrialized countries over the 1980–99 period indicates that whether the capital asset pricing model or some form of international CAPM is used makes little difference in the cost-of-capital estimate for most companies in most countries. The international CAPM yielded an estimate of the cost of equity capital that was significantly different from that of the domestic CAPM in only 4–5 percent of the sample companies. For the vast majority of companies, the domestic market factor is an adequate benchmark against which to measure an individual company's exposure to both global market and currency risk factors. International financial markets are becoming integrated; hence, global risk factors are increasingly important for portfolio selection and asset pricing. Recent research in the empirical finance literature confirms that global risk factors—notably, the global market portfolio and exchange rate risk—are indeed important determinants of asset returns. This research suggests that practitioners interested in estimating a company's cost of equity capital should use an international version of the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) that includes global market and currency risk factors. Recent survey evidence indicates, however, that the single-factor CAPM, in which the local market factor is the only priced risk factor, is still the dominant model used in practice. From a practical perspective, then, whether incorporating global risk factors would significantly alter cost-of-capital computations is of considerable importance. But empirical literature on the subject is virtually nonexistent. We report empirical evidence on the practical effects of incorporating global risk factors in cost-of-capital computations. We analyzed almost 3,300 stocks from nine industrialized countries over the 1980−99 period to discover whether the single-factor domestic CAPM provided a substantially different cost of capital than provided by two versions of the international CAPM—a single-factor ICAPM in which the global market factor is the only priced risk factor and a multifactor ICAPM that includes currency risk factors as well as the global market factor. We found that the choice of model does not make a difference if the domestic market factor effectively captures an individual company's exposure to the global risk factors. In the case of the single-factor ICAPM, our sample yielded an estimate of the cost of equity capital that was significantly different from that of the domestic CAPM for only approximately 4 percent of the companies. In the case of the multifactor ICAPM, the difference was significant for only 5 percent of the companies. The conclusion is that for the vast majority of companies, the domestic market factor is an adequate benchmark against which to measure an individual company's exposure to both global market and currency risk factors. Incorporating global risk factors into cost-of-capital estimations led to an adjustment of roughly 50 bps a year on average for the U.S. sample and 70–100 bps a year for the other countries. Adjustments of this magnitude easily fall inside the confidence interval associated with actual cost-of-capital computations. Specifically for U.S. companies, the change in the cost-of-capital estimate from using an ICAPM is so small that we can conclude that global risk factors do not really matter for computing the cost of capital of U.S. companies. Although empirical evidence indicates that security returns are more and more driven by industry factors than by country factors, we contend that the domestic CAPM is not likely to become redundant in the context of valuation and capital budgeting. This finding has important implications for financial analysts, because using a multifactor ICAPM for computations of the cost of capital can be cumbersome and estimating currency risk premiums and exposures is extraordinarily complicated. Our study reveals that for a large number of companies, practitioners can rely on the straightforward single-factor domestic CAPM for calculating the cost of equity capital.


Wireless channels are characterized by multipath and fading that can often cause long
burst of errors. Even though, to date, many very sophisticated error correcting codes have
been designed, yet none can handle long burst of errors efficiently. An interleaver, a
device that distributes a burst of errors, possibly caused by a deep fade, and makes them
appear as simple random errors, therefore, proves to a very useful technique when used in
conjunction with an efficient error correcting code.
In this work, a novel near optimal seed based random interleaver is designed. An optimal
interleaver scatters a given burst of errors uniformly over a fixed block of data - a
property that is measured by so called 'spread'. The design makes use of a unique seed
based pseudo-random sequence generator or logistic map based chaotic sequence
generator to scramble the given block of data. Since the proposed design is based on a
seed based scrambler, the nature of input is irrelevant. Therefore, the proposed interleaver
can interleave either the bits or the symbols or the packets or even the frames.
Accordingly, in this work, we analyze the suitability of interleaver when introduced
before or after the modulation in single carrier communication systems and show that
interleaving the bits before modulation or interleaving the symbols after modulation has
same advantage. We further show that, in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing
(OFDM) systems, the position of interleaver, whether before or after constellation
mapper, has no significance, and is interchangeable. However, scrambling symbols is
computationally less expensive than scrambling bits.
For the purpose of analyzing the performance of the proposed seed based random
interleaver, simulations are carried out in MA TLAB®. Results show that our proposed
seed based random interleaver has near optimal properties of 'spread' and 'dispersion'.
Furthermore, the proposed interleaver is evaluated in terms of bit error rate (BER) versus
length of burst error in a single carrier system both before and after modulation. The
proposed interleaver out-performs the built in RANDINTLV in MA TLAB® when used in
the same system. It shows that proposed inter Ieaver can convert greater amount of burst
errors into simple random errors than that of MA TLAB® interleaver. The proposed
interleaver is also tested in IEEE 802.16e based WiMAX system with Stanford University Interim (SUI) channels to compare the performance of average BER versus
SNR for both pre modulation and post modulation interleaver. Results show that pre
modulation interleaver and post modulation has same performance.
There is also a side advantage of this seed based interleaver, in that it generates a variety
of unique random-looking interleaving sequences. Only a receiver that has the knowledge
of the input seed can generate this sequence and no one else. If the interleaving patterns
are kept secure then it can possibly be used to introduce an extra layer of security at
physical (PHY) layer. In that way, at PHY layer, one builds an additional entry barrier to
break through and it comes with no extra cost. This property has been investigated by
carrying out key sensitivity analysis to show that the attacks to guess key can be very
futile, as difference at 41
h decimal place in the initial condition can lead to entirely
different scrambling.


Simultaneous determination of oxytetracycline (OTC), tetracycline (TC), chlortetracycline (CTC), and doxycycline (DC) residues in honey was performed using a high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet spectrophotometer ant this method was validated by analysis of precision and accuracy. Honey was digested using perchloric acid of 2% mass concentration. Matrix matched calibration curves showed a linearity exceeding 0.99. The recovery ratios lay between 75.9% and 92.5% and the coefficient variation was lower than 16.6%. Limits of detection and quantitation were below 0.03µg mL-1 and 0.09µg mL-1, respectively, for OTC and TC, and below 0.07µg mL-1 and 0.20µg mL-1, respectively, for CTC and DC. The experiments demonstrated that it is a simple method suitable for detection of residual TCs in honey.


The Qur'an Revealed is a landmark publication in the history of Islamic studies, providing for the first time a comprehensive critical analysis of Bedizuzzaman Said Nursi's 6000-page work of Quranic exegesis, The Epistles of Light. In discussing a wide range of themes, from Divine unity to causation, from love to spirituality, from prophethood to civilization and politics, Colin Turner invites the reader into Nursi's conceptual universe, presenting the teachings of arguably the Muslim world's most understudied theologian in a language that is accessible to both expert and interested layperson alike.