In this study, a total of 206 lactic acid bacteria were isolated on De Man–Rogosa–Sharpe agar from 20 fermented Turkish "sucuk" samples. Twenty-five isolates were identified as Pediococcus spp. and were tested for their antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus luteus, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus, Salmonella Typhimurium and two strains of Escherichia coli. Only eight strains (32%) of pediococci showed a significant degree of antibacterial activity against L. monocytogenes and S. aureus. According to sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis results, among eight isolates, two showed different protein profiles. The size of proteins that made the difference was calculated from 60 to 80 kDa. After partial purification, the highest degree of inhibition against L. monocytogenes was caused by the protein fractions collected after 40% ammonium sulfate precipitation. Therefore, these isolates, which produce antimicrobial substances, have a potential especially to control L. monocytogenes in fermented meat products.


A cornerstone of human statistical learning is the ability to extract abstract regularities from sequential events. Here we present a unique method to derive the generating functions for the waiting time of sequential patterns, then compare these functions with the neural mechanisms for learning sequential structures. We show that the way the neocortex integrates information over time bears a striking resemblance to the way these normative functions operate. They both operate by organizing combinatorial objects into meaningful groups then compressing the representations by discarding irrelevant information. As a result, discrete-time signals are converted into frequency signals, and similarity-based structures are converted into abstract relational structures. Our analyses not only reveal surprisingly rich statistical structures embedded in the seemingly random sequences, but also offer an explanation for how higher-order cognitive biases may have emerged as a consequence of temporal integration.


Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) quantifies the gene expression of individual cells in a sample, which allows distinct cell-type populations to be identified and characterized. An important step in many scRNA-seq analysis pipelines is the classification of cells into known cell-types. While this can be achieved using experimental techniques, such as fluorescence-activated cell sorting, these approaches are impractical for large numbers of cells. This motivates the development of data-driven cell-type identification methods. We find limitations with current approaches due to the reliance on known marker genes and sensitivity to the quality of reference samples. Here we present a computationally light statistical approach, based on Naive Bayes, that leverages public datasets to combine information across thousands of genes and probabilistically assign cell-type identity. Using datasets ranging across species and tissue types, we demonstrate that our approach is robust to low-quality reference data and produces more accurate cell-type identification than current methods.


Objective To determine the risks of bleeding and other complications in pediatric patients who require noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (PPV) in the immediate posttonsillectomy period. Study Design Case series with chart review. Setting Single tertiary pediatric hospital. Subjects and Methods Sixty-nine patients who had undergone tonsillectomy from July 2007 through December 2013 and required postoperative PPV were reviewed. Data collected included age, sex, medical history, preoperative polysomnogram parameters, length of use and type of noninvasive ventilatory support, and postoperative complications. Bleeding rate was calculated. Results Sixty-nine children met inclusion criteria for the study. Most had comorbid conditions. The mean age of these patients was 6.4 years. The postoperative bleeding rate of children who required operative intervention for control was 5.97%. Patients did not experience other complications. Conclusion This is the largest study in the literature investigating bleeding in pediatric patients undergoing tonsillectomy who required postoperative noninvasive PPV. Some hesitation may exist in using this form of ventilation when open pharyngeal wounds are exposed to pressure, but this study suggests that it can be used as a suitable alternative to invasive ventilation.


2003 Banff Mountain Image Award Winner and 2004 Gold Independent Publisher Book Award in Environment, Ecology, and Nature The most comprehensive, photographic documentation of the biodiversity and indigenous cultures of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge One hundred and twenty full-color photographs by author and photographer Subhankar Banerjee, winner of the prestigious Alaska Conservation Foundation Daniel Housberg Wilderness Image Award Essays by Peter Matthiessen and David Allen Sibley, among others The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is America's Serengeti, comprising 19.8 million acres of land in the northeast corner of Alaska and adjoining Ivvavik and Vuntui National Parks in the Yukon Territory in Canada. Photographer Subhankar Banerjee, in collaboration with six essayists, presents a portrayal of a unique landscape made up of equal parts beauty and hazard. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one of the last intact ecosystems on earth, is being impacted by forces that may change its existence forever: global warming and the encroachment of modern society through the potential for oil drilling. Jimmy Carter, George Schaller, and Bill Meadows narrate the story with essays that delve into the history of the Refuge, the political battles -- past and present -- and the fragility of the ecosystem. Wildlife biologist Fran Mauer writes of the areas geological and geographical uniqueness while Debbie Miller describes the cultures of the Inupiat Eskimos and the Gwich'in Athabascan Indians. David Allen Sibley explores the prolific bird life and migrations at the refuge with an eye toward the delicately balanced ecology of the region. Peter Matthiessen, reflecting on his journey through the Refuge with Banerjee, passionately defends the need to preserve these lands and the people and the wildlife they shelter. Visit the photographer's website at www.subhankarbanergee.org


Autoimmune diseases (ADs) are chronic and heterogeneous conditions that affect specific target organs or multiple organ systems. They are caused by the interactions over time between hereditary and environmental factors leading to a breakdown in immune tolerance and the ensuing tissue damage. The fact that these disorders share several clinical signs and symptoms (i.e., subphenotypes such as arthritis, alopecia, fatigue, photosensitivity, Raynaud's phenomenon as well as non-specific autoantibodies, e.g., antinuclear antibodies, rheumatoid factor, anti-Ro antibodies), physiopathological mechanisms (e.g., type I interferon activation, reduced B and T cell regulatory function), and genetic factors at both the MHC and non-MHC loci, has been called the autoimmune tautology and indicates that they have several common mechanisms [1]. One of the strongest arguments supporting the autoimmune tautology is polyautoimmunity, defined as the presence of more than one AD in a single patient [2,3]. When three or more ADs coexist, this extreme phenotype is called multiple autoimmune syndrome (MAS) [4]. Polyautoimmunity has been described in most of the ADs including systemic lupus erythematosus (41%), type 1 diabetes mellitus (35%), Sjögren's syndrome (33%), primary biliary cirrhosis (32%), antiphospholipid syndrome (28%), vitiligo (27%), systemic sclerosis (26%), autoimmune thyroid diseases (15%), multiple sclerosis (15%), rheumatoid arthritis (15%), myasthenia gravis (13%), and alopecia areata (10%). The main factors associated with polyautoimmunity are familial autoimmunity (i.e., the presence of diverse ADs in a nuclear family) and Amerindian ancestry. Based on polyautoimmunity and depending on severity, ADs may be categorized as major and minor diseases. In this sense, how polyautoimmunity affects major ADs has not fully evaluated. The main difference between polyautoimmunity and the overlapping syndromes lies in the fact that the former is the presence of two well-defined ADs while the later is the partial presence of autoimmune signs and symptoms. Nevertheless, most of the overlapping syndromes evolve over time towards the full spectrum of an AD. When this does not happen, protective factors are considered to be responsible for preventing the progression of the overlapping conditions towards a complete phenotype. The identification of the common mechanisms of ADs through the study of polyautoimmunity will enhance our understanding of these complex, frequent, and sometimes devastating diseases and will allow us to predict them at the population level in order to establish preventive measures for at-risk individuals for whom healthcare should be personalized and participatory. Anaya JM. Arthritis Res Ther. 2010;12:147. Rojas-Villarraga A, et al. Autoimmune Dis. 2012;2012:254319. Anaya JM. Autoimmun Rev. 2014;13:423-6. Anaya JM, el at. Clin Rev Allergy Immunol. 2012;43:256-64. Disclosure of Interest None declared


The authors present an unusual case of a 28-year-old male with a painful plantarflexion deformity of all toes on the right foot. Past medical history was contributory and unique in the etiology of the deformity. To date, this deformity has not been reported in the literature, and the authors describe their experience with its surgical management. The patient, now 10 months postoperative, is functioning without pain at his desired level.


High-mass clusters at low redshifts have been intensively studied at various wavelengths. However, while more distant objects at lower masses constitute the bulk population of future surveys, their physical state remain poorly explored to date. In this paper, we present resolved observations of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect, obtained with the NIKA2 camera, towards the cluster of galaxies XLSSC 102, a relatively low-mass system (M500 ∼ 2 × 1014 M·) at z = 0.97 detected from the XXL survey. We combine NIKA2 SZ data, XMM-Newton X-ray data, and Megacam optical data to explore, respectively, the spatial distribution of the gas electron pressure, the gas density, and the galaxies themselves. We find significant offsets between the X-ray peak, the SZ peak, the brightest cluster galaxy, and the peak of galaxy density. Additionally, the galaxy distribution and the gas present elongated morphologies. This is interpreted as the sign of a recent major merging event, which induced a local boost of the gas pressure towards the north of XLSSC 102 and stripped the gas out of the galaxy group. The NIKA2 data are also combined with XXL data to construct the thermodynamic profiles of XLSSC 102, obtaining relatively tight constraints up to about ∼r500, and revealing properties that are typical of disturbed systems. We also explore the impact of the cluster centre definition and the implication of local pressure substructure on the recovered profiles. Finally, we derive the global properties of XLSSC 102 and compare them to those of high-mass-and-low-redshift systems, finding no strong evidence for non-standard evolution. We also use scaling relations to obtain alternative mass estimates from our profiles. The variation between these different mass estimates reflects the difficulty to accurately measure the mass of low-mass clusters at z ∼ 1, especially with low signal-to-noise ratio data and for a disturbed system. However, it also highlights the strength of resolved SZ observations alone and in combination with survey-like X-ray data. This is promising for the study of high redshift clusters from the combination of eROSITA and high resolution SZ instruments and will complement the new generation of optical surveys from facilities such as LSST and Euclid.


We propose a new element containing a two-mode nonlinear waveguide consisting of Kerr-like material for all-optical logic circuits. The proposed element, incorporated into the Mach-Zehnder interferometer, functions like a phase shifter. Although the optical waves propagating in the proposed element are monochromatic and identical in polarization, its function is insensitive to the relative phase difference between the incident beams. Using this element, we can realize various logic functions. In this paper, we demonstrate such logic circuits as inverters, distributors, and AND gates.


This article relates experiences and knowledge gained in providing sport psychology consulting services to professional hockey teams over a 6-year period. The process of getting involved in professional hockey is described and the importance of obtaining ample consulting experience before working with professional athletes is discussed. Philosophical and organizational components of service delivery are presented along with the range and type of service provided. The development of trust and confidence in the player/consultant relationship is seen as the key to effective sport psychology consulting. Also, the importance of being able to read situations, fit into the professional sports environment, and adopt a low-key, behind-the-scenes approach is discussed.


The public trust doctrine (PTD) has sometimes been mischaracterized as applicable only to state-owned resources. But this "proprietary PTD" is only half of the scope of the PTD, for the doctrine also contains a "sovereign" component. The latter has been recognized for over a century and is not dependent on state ownership of the public trust res.

This article examines the evolution of both the proprietary and sovereign PTDs. We first trace the development of the former from Roman and English law through several prominent and recent decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. We then turn to the lesser-recognized sovereign PTD, which grew out of a largely overlooked, but highly influential, decision of the Minnesota Supreme Court. The article explains the legacy of that case, Lamprey v. Metcalf, which established the now-dominant state-law view that the PTD applies to waterbodies whose beds are privately owned. Unlike the proprietary PTD, which employs the federal test for title navigability, the sovereign usufructuary PTD is not tethered to the federal title test, but is instead the product of state definitions of navigability, which often are much broader than the
federal test.

The article assesses the implications of widespread judicial recognition of the sovereign PTD as distinct from the proprietary PTD, spotlighting a case pending before the Oregon Supreme Court involving a 400-acre Oregon lake, Oswego Lake, in suburban Portland. But the implications are much broader than that controversy and point to the application of the PTD to all resources of public concern like wildlife, groundwater, and the atmosphere.


A 66-year-old man was investigated for increasing forgetfulness and frequent falls. Following appropriate investigations, the cause was presumed to be senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. He was reviewed one year later and found to have impaired vertical gaze and a hoarse voice. Progressive dementia, nuchal rigidity, anarthria, and sphincteric incontinence developed subsequently. A diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy was made. He died four years after the initial assessment. Neuropathological examination revealed changes characteristic of progressive supranuclear palsy, and suggestive of Alzheimer's disease. Globose tangles, granulovacuolar bodies and gliosis were present in the midbrain, the pons, the dentate nucleus of the cerebellum, and the globus pallidus. Senile plaques and occasional neurofibrillary tangles and granulovacuolar bodies were found in the hippocampus, amygdala, and temporal cortex. The coexistence of two disease processes resulting in dementia is discussed.


Urban environments are densely populated areas buzzing with a wide range of anthropic activities that cause disturbances like air pollution or the heat island effect, threatening both human and environmental health. Mitigating its impacts implies understanding the integrated effects that those disturbances exert on urban environments. Lichen biodiversity is frequently used as an ecological indicator, being able to integrate its effects in a quantifiable way. The poleotolerance response trait classifies lichens according to their tolerance to human disturbance, but it was developed for Italy's flora and has seldom been applied outside Italy or in urban context studies. The aim of this work was to assess this trait suitability as an indicator of urban anthropic disturbance and test it outside Italy. For that, we sampled lichen diversity in 41 green spaces in Lisbon. Lichens were classified into the respective poleotolerance trait functional groups and their community weighted mean related with three type of environmental variables used as surrogates of urban disturbance. We showed that disturbance-tolerant functional groups could be used as an ecological indicator of the integrated effects of environmental disturbances. Some species were clearly misclassified, so we propose reclassification for those. Natural and seminatural functional groups did not behave as expected. Nevertheless, disturbance-tolerant functional groups have the potential to be used in in other Southern European cities.


Adaptive reservation multiple access protocol (ARMAP) has been designed to provide explicit support for integrated services over wireless radio networks. It allows terminals to communicate with multiple traffic types, including data, voice, and digital video, providing quality of service (QoS) guarantees to video connections and a high priority to voice connections. The regularity in the video packet generation process is exploited in the protocol to provide timely and contention free channel access for dynamic reservations. An adaptive reservation-slot scheduling algorithm ensures near-optimum bandwidth usage and near-optimum power consumption by the radio terminal. Simulation with realistic parameters reveals that ARMAP achieves a promising combination of bandwidth efficiency, and quality of service for time bounded isochronous traffic.


We propose a new approach for IP traceback which is scalable and simple to implement, and introduces no bandwidth and practically no processing overhead. It is backward compatible with equipment which does not implement it. The approach is capable of tracing back attacks, which are composed of just a few packets. In addition, a service provider can implement this scheme without revealing its internal network topology.


This paper reports on a focus group study of senior and middle-level public managers' perceptions about barriers to the implementation of code of conduct in the public sector in five Anglophone West African countries. The paper adopts a qualitative research strategy using focus group interviews for 35 serving senior, middle and junior level manager drawn from the five Anglophone West African Countries of Ghana (8), Nigeria (9), Gambia (7), Liberia (6) and Sierra Leone (5). The study reveals that all the countries are making frantic efforts at improving the ethical conduct of public sector managers through the introduction of various reforms measures including code of conduct as key components. However, the practical application of the code of conduct in public administration remains limited. The reasons for this state of affairs include among others deficiencies in code implementation, lack of exemplary leadership, ineffective reward and punishment system and unsupportive public service organisational culture. Among others, a strong leadership, rigorous application of a reward and punishment system and supporting organizational culture were the noteworthy remedial actions suggested by discussants.


Microalgae are the most important primary producers of biomass on Earth. They inherit enormous technological potential to harness photosynthesis for the sustainable production of biofuels, proteins, and food components. In aqueous environments, microalgal surface colonization and biofouling cause severe implications on anthropogenic structures. Despite the fundamental interest in understanding microalgal adhesion, the biological mechanisms that trigger microalgal adhesion to surfaces and the surface forces that govern their adhesion remain unknown. In this work, the flagella-mediated adhesion to surfaces of soil-dwelling, green microalgae is studied quantitatively on a single-cell level. Micropipette-based force spectroscopy experiments are performed to quantify microalgal adhesion to model substrates in various experimental configurations and environmental conditions. In vivo force measurements show that the adhesion of microalgae to surfaces can be reversibly switched on and off within seconds by tailoring the light conditions. The light-switchable adhesion appears to be based on a relocalization of the adhesion-mediating protein. An active adhesion process, termed auto-adhesion, enables the alga to establish adhesive contact to surfaces once a small part of one flagellum adhered to the surface. Experiments with other species of the family Chlamydomonadaceae suggest that the light-switchable flagellar adhesiveness might be a generic trait of soil-dwelling microalgae. Force spectroscopy experiments on model substrates with tailored intermolecular interactions with the Chlamydomonas flagella demonstrate that Chlamydomonas inherits an universal adhesion mechanisms that allows the algae to adhere to virtually all types of substrates. In conjunction with light-directed motility, the ability to adhere to any surfaces that provide optimal light exposure might have evolved as an adaptation of photosynthetic organisms to heterogeneous light conditions in their natural habitats. The findings of this work will raise the interest of an interdisciplinary audience, from biologists working on behavior and evolution of microalgae to biophysicists to bioengineers, and might stimulate further work on the molecular biology and functionality of eukaryotic flagella.


SUMMARY: Suspensions of Methylococcus capsulatus strain Bath oxidized dimethyl ether, methyl formate and bromomethane. The rate of disappearance of dimethyl ether was enhanced up to 11-fold in the presence of co-substrates such as formaldehyde. Dimethyl ether was oxidized by the purified methane mono-oxygenase from M. capsulatus (Bath) to give various amounts of methanol and formaldehyde. As M. capsulatus (Bath) cannot grow on dimethyl ether it was concluded that this ether is a non-growth substrate which can be fortuitously oxidized. Possible reasons for the lack of growth on dimethyl ether are discussed. Methyl formate and bromomethane were oxidized by the purified methane mono-oxygenase to yield equal stoicheiometric amounts of formaldehyde and formic acid, and formaldehyde alone, respectively. Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) grew on methyl formate but not on bromomethane and it was concluded that the latter is a non-growth substrate which can be fortuitously oxidized. Preliminary evidence is presented for carbon assimilation during the oxidation of bromomethane.


This paper experimentally evaluates the combined effects of eccentricity, relative spacing, and viewing directions on the wetting conditions and the three-phase contact line shapes of hydrophobic surfaces patterned with discrete micropillars. Different techniques to depict the tortuosity of the contact line between the water droplet and microstructured surfaces are presented. First, square micropillars with different values of normalized eccentricity, e*, and relative spacing, D*, were fabricated using a double casting replication technique. Subsequently, the contact angles were measured along different viewing angles by gradually rotating the sample from 0° to 180°. The contact angle distribution was found as a periodic function of the viewing angle whose period depends on the micropillar eccentricity. The results showed that anisotropy increases by increasing the micropillar eccentricity or decreasing the pillar relative spacing. However, the effect of changing the micropillar eccentricity was much more pronounced. Micropillars with e* = 0.75 and smaller D* showed maximum degrees of anisotropic wetting and droplet distortion corresponding to 7% and 15%, respectively. Using the measured droplet aspect ratio, corrugated shapes of the three-phase contact line of the micropillars were also reconstructed. Finally, a simple yet effective semi-analytical model, based on Fourier series curve-fitting of the experimental data, was developed to describe the equilibrium 3D shape of the droplet on anisotropic surfaces. Experimental and simulation results reveal that the degrees of anisotropic wetting and droplet distortion were directly proportional to the energy barriers of the system, resulting from the noncircular corrugated shape of the three-phase contact line. The obtained results may further shed light on the underlying mechanism influencing anisotropic wetting on micropatterned surfaces.


This paper focuses on the effect of metal oxides on the mechanical properties of PA1010 composites, such as the tensile strength, compressive strength, shear strength and hardness. The experimental results show that the tensile strength of PA1010 composites filled with CuO and Al2O3 particles slightly decreases with the oxide contents increasing. However, the tensile strength of PA1010 composites filled with Fe3O4 particles increases, which has the average increment in tensile strength of 23.7% than the pure PA1010 materials. The results indicate that the compressive strength can be increased by adding CuO, Al2O3 and Fe3O4 particles into PA1010 polymer. The results exhibit that Fe3O4 particles have significant effects to increase the shear strength of PA1010 composites. However, Al2O3 particles filling reduce the shear strength of the composites.


In this paper, we address the issue of performance of linear multiuser detectors for a multicasting application in an ad hoc wireless network. Using a code-division multiple-access (CDMA) framework, we demonstrate how capacity results for multiuser detectors can be adapted to do session admission control for the multicasting problem. We then develop a multicast routing algorithm for ad hoc wireless networks. Using the session admission control mechanism and the multicast routing algorithm, we evaluate the performance of three different linear multiuser detectors for the multicasting application.


Traditionally, mortgage loan originators relied on credit lines from commercial banks for short-term funding while aggregating portfolios of mortgage loans to sell or securitize. Recently, however, an increasing number of the largest non-bank mortgage loan originators have established their own funding conduits that allow them direct access to the capital markets. A single-seller mortgage loan warehouse funding facility ("Single Seller Facility") functions without the use of commercial credit facilities or back-up liquidity lines by issuing extendible, asset-backed commercial paper notes. This article examines a typical structure for a Single Seller Facility; some of the related structural issues such as types of notes and related liquidity features, liquidity and interest rate protection, credit enhancement, structural protections, and taxable mortgage pool issues; benefits to the issuer/sponsor of establishing this type of facility; and how this market may develop in the future for other financial assets.


With the rapid adoption of mobile devices and location based services (LBS), applications provide with nearby information like recommending sightseeing resort are becoming more and more popular. In the mean time, traffic congestion in cities led to the development of mobile public transportation systems. In such applications, mobile devices need to communicate with servers via wireless communications and servers should process queries from tons of devices. However, because users can not neglect the payment for the wireless communications and server capacities are limited, decreasing the communications made between central servers and devices and reducing the burden on servers are quite demanding. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a cost-effective intelligent public transportation system, ACE-INPUTS, which utilizes a mobile device to retrieve the bus routes to reach a destination from the current location at the lowest wireless communication cost. To accomplish this task, ACE-INPUTS maintains a small amount of information on bus stops and bus routes in a mobile device and runs a heuristic routing algorithm based on such information. Only when a user asks more accurate route information or calls for a "leave later query", ACE-INPUTS entrusts the task to a server into which real-time traffic and bus location information is being collected. By separating the roles into mobile devices and servers, ACE-INPUTS is able to provide bus routes at the lowest wireless communication cost and reduces burden on servers. Experimental results have revealed that ACE-INPUTS is effective and scalable in most experimental settings.


Motivated by the recent concept of Space-Time Shift Keying (STSK), we propose a novel cooperative STSK family, which is capable of achieving a flexible rate-diversity tradeoff, in the context of cooperative space-time transmissions. More specifically, we first propose a Coherent cooperative STSK (CSTSK) scheme, where each Relay Node (RN) activates Decode and-Forward (DF) transmissions, depending on the success or failure of Cyclic Redundancy Checking (CRC). We invoke a bit to-STSK mapping rule, where according to the input bits, one of the Q pre-assigned dispersion vectors is activated to implicitly convey log2 Q bits, which are transmitted in combination with the classic log2 L-bit modulated symbol. Additionally, we introduce a beneficial dispersion vector design, which enables us to dispense with symbol-level Inter-Relay Synchronization (IRS). Further more, the Destination Node (DN) is capable of jointly detecting the signals received from the source-destination and relay destination links, using a low-complexity single-stream-based Maximum Likelihood (ML) detector, which is an explicit benefit of our Inter-Element Interference (IEI)-free system model. More importantly, as a benefit of its design flexibility, our cooperative CSTSK arrangement enables us to adapt the number of the RNs, the transmission rate as well as the achievable diversity order. Moreover, we also propose a Differentially-encoded cooperative STSK (DSTSK) arrangement, which dispenses with CSI estimation at any of the nodes, while retaining the fundamental benefits of the cooperative CSTSK scheme.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the proprioceptive sense of elbow flexion through a robot-assisted rehabilitation system, RehabRoby, and to understand the usability of RehabRoby as a robotic system in physiotherapy.

METHODS
The study included 20 volunteer, healthy students studying either physiotherapy (PT) (5 females and 5 males) or electrical and electronics engineering (EEE) (5 females and 5 males). Using the RehabRoby, they were asked to flex their elbow joints in pronation actively and then against a comfortable resistance to the target angles (20°, 45° and 90°), with eyes open and closed. Angle of movement and applied torque for each target angle and error of movement with respect to the target angle (error of matching) were recorded as absolute values. Participants' socio-demographic and physical features were also evaluated.

RESULTS
Physiotherapy students had less matching error at 45° with eyes opened than EEE students. A negative correlation was found between resistive elbow flexion and applied torque while eyes closed at 20° (p<0.05). Biceps brachii strength and being female were significant predictive factors for the least matching error in active elbow flexion at 20° with eyes closed. Error of matching at 45° without vision was lower in the PT group (-0.31) than in the EEE group (0.77). In addition, it was noticed that biceps brachii muscle strength played an important role in the proprioceptive sense of the motion at 20°.

CONCLUSION
The RehabRoby can be considered a usable system for the evaluation of joint proprioception sense. With future validity studies, the RehabRoby may be used to assess, diagnose and improve the proprioceptive sense of patients.


CONTEXT
In rural areas of the United States, emergency departments (EDs) are often staffed by primary care physicians, as contrasted to urban and suburban hospitals where ED coverage is usually provided by physicians who are residency-trained in emergency medicine.

PURPOSE
This study examines the reasons and incentives for rural Oregon primary care physicians to cover the ED and their reported measures of confidence and priorities for additional training.

METHODS
We conducted a cross-sectional survey of primary care physicians in rural Oregon who are members of the Oregon Rural Practice-Based Research Network (ORPRN). The survey was sent to 70 primary care physicians in 27 rural Oregon practices.

FINDINGS
Fifty-two of 70 (74%) ORPRN physicians representing 24 practices returned the questionnaire. Nineteen of the 52 responding physicians reported covering the ED. The majority (75%) of physicians covering the ED did so as a requirement for practice employment and/or hospital privileges. Physicians covering the ED reported low confidence in pediatric emergencies and expressed the need for additional training in pediatric emergencies as their top priority.

CONCLUSIONS
Almost two fifths of surveyed primary care physicians in a rural practice-based research network provide ED coverage. Based on these physicians' low levels of confidence and desire for additional training in pediatric emergencies, effective education models are needed for physicians covering the ED at their rural hospitals.


In this paper, we define the delta derivative in the integer group ring and we show that the delta derivative is well defined on the free groups. We also define a polynomial invariant of oriented knot and link by carrying the delta derivative to the link group. Since the delta derivative is a generalization of the free derivative, this polynomial invariant called the delta polynomial is a generalization of the Alexander polynomial. In addition, we present a new polynomial called the difference polynomial of oriented knot and link, which is similar to the Alexander polynomial and is a special case of the delta polynomial.


A biofouling simulation system consisting of a flow cell and a recirculation tank was used. The fluid circulates at a flow rate of 350 L· h−1 in a semicircular flow cell with hydraulic diameter of 18.3 mm, corresponding to an average velocity of 0.275 m· s−1. Using computational fluid dynamics for flow simulation, an average wall shear stress of 0.4 Pa was predicted. The validity of the numerical simulations was visually confirmed by inorganic deposit formation (using kaolin particles) and also by direct observation of pathlines of tracer PVC particles using streak photography. Furthermore, the validity of chemostat assumptions was verified by residence time analysis. The system was used to assess the influence of the dilution rate on biofilm formation by Escherichia coli JM109(DE3). Two dilution rates of 0.013 and 0.0043 h−1 were tested and the results show that the planktonic cell concentration is increased at the lower dilution rate and that no significant changes were detected on the amount of biofilm formed in both conditions.


Author(s): Zhi, Deng; Cheng-xin, Wang | Abstract: Rodent pest problems and their control in China are reviewed. Three commensal species, Rattus norvegicus, R. flavipectus, and Mus musculus, are important pests both in urban and rural regions. Mus musculus is the most widely distributed species in China. Its population density is cyclic, unique for a commensal species in being found in the arid Xinjiang (Sinkiang) Autonomous Region in Northwest China. In South China, R. losea and Bandicota indica are serious problems in rice and cane fields. Many different genera of field rodents are considered pests to agriculture and/or are reservoirs of rodent-borne diseases. These include Citellus, Marmota, Meriones, Cricetulus, Microtus, Apodemus, Ochotona, Myospalax, Clethrionomys, Sciurus, and Eutamias. The ecology and control of these rodents are included. There are a series of efficient administrative organizations responsible for rodent control. Most campaigns of commensal rodents have relied on a combination of rodenticides and different types of traps, but in the case of field rodents the reliance is heavily placed on poison baits. Diphacinone (Na-salt) is most frequently used for control of commensal species. Zinc phosphide, fluoroacetamide (1081), sodium fluoroacetate (1080), glyftor, and 0.2% diphacinone (Na-salt) are used for field rodent control. Information is supplied on the susceptibility of important rodents in China to different rodenticides, including difenacoum and brodifacoum, and on other means of rodent control.


The fundamental problem of automatic speech recognition is the variability
of speech signals. Each written word has several possible spoken variants.
In addition, the speech signal is often distorted which results in a reduced
success rate of speech recognition systems (SRS). Undesired influence of
distortions is addressed in different ways. The most common procedure is
inclusion of expected distortions in a training phase. In practice this is
difficult to do because of diversity of audio devices, channels and
acoustical environments that take part in spoken communications. This means
that in real applications recognition systems meet with different types of
distortions. In such situations it is very important for them to maintain
their success rate as much as possible.

Symmetric windows are widely used in the field of digital signal processing
due to ease of design and linear phase property. But it is a well known fact
that asymmetric windows can be, despite their nonlinear phase, better in
other properties. In speech recognition this can lead to a more robust
signal representation from the parametrization process. A shorter time delay
can also be achieved. The last property is gaining importance in
contemporary spoken communications.

Human listeners perform substantially better than SRS in the presence of
distortions. Therefore more and more properties of human hearing are taken
into consideration when SRS are designed. But inside SRS there still exist
several details that disregard human properties. Symmetric window function
in frequency analysis of speech is certainly one of them. Human speech
perception is quite insensitive to phase distortions of speech signal - this
fact is disregarded when symmetric windows are used in existing SRS.

Design of asymmetric windows and even more their use in SRS are not
thoroughly researched. Little is known of the influence of window properties
on success rate or robustness[1] of SRS. However, the popularity of
asymmetric windows in speech coding suggests that their advantages could be
applied to practical systems. Our previous research on application of
asymmetric windows to speech recognition confirmed a noticeable increase in
recognition robustness. These facts contributed to motivation for this
thesis. Its basic purpose is enhancement of knowledge about asymmetric
windows and their influence on the robustness of SRS.

The first part of the thesis gives a general overview of automatic speech
recognition and of reference testing environment (two SRS and two speech
data bases) that was used for practical experiments. In the second part the
possibilities for asymmetric window design are discussed. Their properties
and influence on SRS robustness are examined. We start with potential
advantages of asymmetric window properties and their expected positive
influence on recognition robustness. Since very little is known about this
properties we used knowledge from the related fields of general frequency
analysis and automatic speech recognition. On such basis some typical
asymmetric windows were designed, each with an enhanced selected property.
It is important to note that the SRS success rate was used as a criterion.
Due to diversity of design possibilities, the use of the general
optimization methods was carefully examined. These methods provide a
framework for manipulation of different criterions and desired properties of
optimal solutions.

Several methods for the design of asymmetric windows were tried. We started
with methods for the design of FIR digital filters. Despite good results,
these methods proved to be computationally too demanding. We therefore
examined two additional groups of simpler methods. These solutions are less
flexible and have a specific shape of amplitude response, but the design
procedures are much faster. The first group relies on a parametric model
with properties that are very close to those of human hearing (IIR family of
windows). This model reduces the number of free system parameters. The
resulting windows however, are in some respects even better than those of
FIR filters methods. The second group of methods is based on simple
operations that are applied to symmetric windows. Their properties are
merged giving an asymmetric window. The main advantage of this method is
reuse of knowledge about the symmetric windows. This approach was used to
define the ITU asymmetric window that is popular for speech coding because
of shorter time delay. The ITU window was tested on speech recognition
although the results were not promising.

Our approach to the design of asymmetric windows was to first examine their
properties from a general frequency analysis viewpoint. This was followed by
experiments that gave results of their influence on the robustness of SRS.
To ensure the generality of conclusions we used two different SRS
implementations. The first one is based on the statistical approach using
the Hidden Markov Models. The second system uses neural network in the form
of a multi-layered perceptron. All experiments were carried out on two
different speech data bases: one in English and one in Slovene. The
architectures for both systems were left unchanged and standard procedures
for calculation of MFCC features were used. This reduced the influence of
less important factors.

Practical evaluation showed a considerable increase of robustness for both
SRS when asymmetric windows were applied in comparison to the standard
symmetric Hamming window. It should be stressed that replacing a window
function is a simple procedure that does not increase the time or space
complexity of a SRS. Results of sequential tests confirmed a similar
increase of robustness even on SRS that were trained using the Hamming
window. These effects make the windows replacement routine much simpler and
cheaper in comparison to the other procedures for enhancing robustness.

Practical experience with implementations of SRS shows great importance of
robustness. It is reasonable to expect that the importance of the robustness
will become even more important in the future because of growing diversity
of acoustical environments. Robustness of automatic speech recognition and
procedures for its enhancement will therefore remain an important research
target.

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[1] Robustness means successful recognition even in presence of distortions.


Maternity leaves can affect mothers' and infants' welfare if they first affect the amount of time working women stay at home post birth. We provide new evidence of the labor supply effects of these leaves from an analysis of the introduction and expansion of job-protected maternity leave in Canada. The substantial variation in leave entitlements across mothers by time and space is likely exogenous to their unobserved characteristics. This is important because unobserved heterogeneity correlated with leave entitlement potentially biases many previous studies of this topic. We find that modest mandates of 17-18 weeks do not increase the time mothers spend at home. The physical demands of birth and private arrangements appear to render short mandates redundant. These mandates do, however, decrease the proportion of women quitting their jobs, increase leave taking, and increase the proportion returning to their pre-birth employers. In contrast, we find that expansions of job-protected leaves to lengths up to 70 weeks do increase the time spent at home (as well as leave-taking and job continuity). We also examine whether this increase in time at home affects infant health, finding no evidence of an effect on the incidence of low birth weight or infant mortality.


Background: Gastric and colorectal cancers are the second and the fourth most common cancers in Iran, respectively. The presence of Murine Double Minute 2 (MDM2) has been identified in many cancers and its relationship with prognosis is under investigation. This study aimed to assess the status of MDM2 and its relationship with prognostic factors in gastric and colorectal carcinoma. Materials and Methods: This study was performed on 99 paraffin blocks of gastric and colorectal cancers, during the years 2001 to 2007 from Mostafa Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Tissue sections were prepared, stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin and immunohistochemistry to evaluate for MDM2 expression. The type of tumor, lymph node involvement and tumor grade was determined. Results: Of the 99 cases, 34.3% and 65.7% cases were diagnosed with gastric and colorectal adenocarcinoma, respectively. The average tumor size was 5.5 cm. MDM2 expression level was 82.4% and 90.8% in gastric and colorectal adenocarcinoma, respectively. No statistical difference was found between MDM2 expression and various prognostic factors; however, significant correlation was observed between gastric (P = 0.03) and colorectal (P = 0.03) tumor size and the percentage of MDM2 immunoreactivity. Conclusion: Considering the role of MDM2 in cell growth and its positive correlation with tumor size (an established prognostic factor), it can be indirectly concluded that MDM2 is also important in prognosis. However, additional investigation is needed.


The following paper explores the possible inter-linkage of the Ganges and Brahmaputra River Basin and analyzes its effect on future water allocation between the upstream country, India, and the downstream country, Bangladesh. We find that water transfer from the Brahmaputra River could be mutually beneficial for both countries. However, the only possible motivation for the richer upstream country, India, to agree to transfer water to the poorer downstream country, Bangladesh, is political altruism. Using a political economy model we find that, if there is a good political relationship between India and Bangladesh, then India could be altruistic toward Bangladesh and transfer more water downstream. Changes in political altruism factor, however, could entice India to exercise unilateral diversion, in which case simulations predict that Bangladesh would incur large environmental damages. Political uncertainty may also result in unilateral diversion of water by India, and could prevent agreement on water transfers from the Brahmaputra. We therefore explore the conditions under which Bangladesh could accept an Indian proposal to transfer water from Brahmaputra, despite political uncertainty.Length: pp.373-395


In the Southern California Bight, the common dolphin Delphinus delphis is the most abundant dolphin species and preys upon small pelagic fish, mesopelagic fish, and cephalopods. Mesopelagic fish and many cephalopods are available throughout the year, and they form deep scattering layers, some of which characteristically undergo strong diel vertical migrations. The extent of vertical migration depends on the degree of sea surface solar and lunar illumination. At their daytime depth, mesopelagic prey are beyond the range of shallow-diving dolphins. Autonomous acoustic recorders were used to monitor dolphin echolocation at 2 offshore recording locations from 2009 to 2014. Manual and automated classification techniques were used to identify periods of high echolocation activity, indicative of common dolphin foraging. Clear lunar patterns existed in cool months, when echolocation activity was highest during the darkest periods of the night and lunar month, indicating times when dolphins were foraging, possibly on mesopelagic prey. Echolocation was more abundant during warm months, but diel and lunar patterns in echolocation were weaker. Generalized additive mixed models show that the observed patterns in echolocation activity are correlated with lunar day and position of the moon in the night sky. Seasonal patterns may represent geographic shifts in common dolphin populations, shoaling scattering layers, or prey switching behavior during the warm months, whereby dolphins target small pelagic fish not associated with the deep scattering layers. Overall, dolphin foraging activity declined from 2009 to 2014 during warm months, which may be related to a declining abundance of small pelagic fish.


India, with vast agricultural lands has different crops ranging from paddy to tomato. But few crops are destroyed due to animal menace and hence a protection is required to save the crops from animal. For this project, an attempt is made to save these crops from such menaces by using solar fencing. In this, a triple lift additional circuit is used instead of transformer and rectifier bridge to produce high voltage with low current in order to safe-guard the animals to a larger extent so that they experiences high voltage but low current shock for a very short time there by saving their life.


The majority of the optical fiber access network is currently dominated by Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) technology, which is able to provide various services on the network. Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation (DBA) is used for control the upstream bandwidth on GPON. This DBA method alocates an unused timeslot for another Optical Network Termination (ONT) with a particular priority and set the maximum permitted frame length to be transmitted in order to get equal opportunities in data delivery. We proposed Multi partition DBA that divides time cycle into four groups. Simulation was conducted to compare the performance of Multi Partition DBA with two different schemes. This method improved the total delay performance since the number of partitions resolved the idle period and made DBA computation time more effectively.


The object of this article is to make research on the influence of transverse magnetic field and pulse bias on macro-particles on the surface of film, find the systematic law and analyze the influence law and reasons of the two parameters (transverse magnetic field and pulse bias), according to the mechanism of arc spot movement and the interaction between macro-particles and plasma. Moreover, this article aims at seeking the most important influence parameter and comparing the effect of the two parameters. Research in this paper indicates that: the key factor is the magnetic field controlled arc spot movement, because the influence of magnetic field on reducing macro-particles is much larger than bias, and the influence degree of bias on macro-particles varies with the magnetic field intensity; action of bias is obvious under the condition of low magnetic field intensity, but as the magnetic field intensity increases, its action becomes weaker and weaker; besides, purification effect of bias on particles in larger size is better than on particles in smaller size.


Dike inspection is currently done by a labour intensive network of trained people. To inspect dikes in a more efficient manner, dike inspection could be done by a group of autonomous walking dike inspection robots. Arising problem of those walking dike inspection robots is the low energy efficiency of the walking mechanisms. This low energy efficiency comes from the repeated acceleration
and deceleration of the walking mechanism for consecutive steps, where kinetic energy of the mechanical system gets lost. To improve the energy efficiency, actuation of walking robots could be done by a continuously variable transmission driven by a spring. The amount of spring force which is exerted on the payload can then be controlled by the variable transmission. By reversing the transmission ratio, the force exerted on the payload can be reversed and deceleration of the mechanical system can be used to store energy in the spring. This stored energy can then be used to actuate the system for consecutive steps.
The continuously variable transmission which has to be developed for this purpose has to be able to create a positive and negative transmission ratio to reverse the actuation force. Besides negative and positive transmission ratios, a transmission ratio of 0 should be possible. Furthermore high efficiency of the continuously variable transmission is of high importance, as the goal of the system is to obtain a more efficient actuation. This also holds an high efficiency for alternating the transmission ratio, as the transmission ratio has to be continuously adjusted for the considered use-case. First of all translational concepts are considered which are based on a lever with adjustable pivot. Those translational concepts appeared to have fundamental issues regarding an uncontrollable pivot position or high actuation forces for reconfiguring the transmission ratio. Because translation concepts appeared to be unsuited for this purpose, focus is set at rotational variable transmissions.
Already existing concepts for rotational continuously variable transmissions appeared to require high actuation forces for reconfiguring the transmission ratio
or a lacking of high running efficiency. A new concept for a rotational variable transmission is conceived which is based on friction wheels where the contact angle between both friction wheels can be alternated. This concept has high running efficiency and requires only low actuation forces for reconfiguring the transmission ratio. The problem which arises for this concept is the lack of
ability to achieve a negative transmission ratio. This problem is overcome by using a planetary gearbox, which functions as a differential. This makes it possible to achieve both negative as positive transmission ratio's. This combination resulted in a continuously variable transmission which is able to achieve a transmission ratio from -3.5 to 3.5, including a transmission ratio of 0. This variable transmission is then driven by a clock spring which makes it possible to store a relatively large amount of energy in the spring. By using this system, a walking
mechanism could be driven with high efficiency by a spring, where energy which is released by deceleration of the mechanical system can be stored temporarily. The stored energy can then be used for actuating the walking mechanism in consecutive steps. When driving a walking robot with such a mechanisms, only an small actuator is needed to reconfigure the transmission ratio and an small actuator for rewinding the spring to compensate for energy losses.


detail), the female persona runs through most of chs. 1-24. Chs. 25-39 abandon the female guise, except as memory. In 40-48, where the city is restored in glory, the female character is eliminated by emphasis on purity and the exclusion of foreign males from its precincts. Nevertheless, it 'retains an affinity with the defiled woman it replaces', its waters an amniotic life-giving flow (154). The feminine role remains, but filled by an object, which the prophet and his god can control, not by a woman. PRD


Cicaprost is a new synthetic prostacylin analogue which is metabolically stable and bioavailable after oral administration; in previous studies it has been shown to have vasodilator antiplatelet effects. In this pilot study, we investigated the clinical efficacy of and patient tolerance to two dosage levels of cicaprost (2.5 micrograms tds and 5 micrograms tds) in the treatment of Raynaud's phenomenon secondary to systemic sclerosis (SSc). This was a three centre, double-blind, placebo controlled study of 49 patients carried out over four winter months. For a period of 10 days, 16 patients were given a placebo, 16 received cicaprost 2.5 micrograms tds and 17 received cicaprost 5 micrograms tds. Response was assessed based on the total number and duration of Raynaud's attacks, the average severity of the attacks, the number of painful attacks as a proportion of all attacks, a digital ulcer count, and the patients' opinion of the treatment. Although the clinical and laboratory parameters of digital vasospasm did not show statistically significant improvement in those who received cicaprost compared with those on the placebo, the severity of attacks lessened in the patients who received cicaprost 5 micrograms tds, and a statistically significant difference was seen in the average severity at week 2 post-treatment (p = 0.02). The apparent lack of overall significance was probably related to the short treatment period and relatively low doses of cicaprost used in this exploratory study. Longer studies with dose titration are probably needed to demonstrate the beneficial effects, if any, of cicaprost in patients with Raynaud's secondary to SSc, and these are being planned.


To provide a Flick of the non-alcoholic beer is granted tangy taste and drink for the purpose. Wherein the weight ratio of the total amount of polyphenol extract of minutes to provide a non-alcoholic beer flavored beverages within a specific range.


Disaccharides and oligosaccharides are important as the units of structure of polysaccharides and as molecules that associate with glycoproteins and glycolipids. This research addressedthe high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of disaccharides labeled by 4-aminobenzoic acid ethyl ester (ABEE) on a reversed-stationary-phase column. The results of this study demonstrated the successful resolution of ABEE-labeled disaccharides and their UV detection at 305nm.


The ecological impacts of shrimp trawling on juveniles of selected benthic fish were studied in the southwestern Gulf of Maine. The fish community and selected environmental variables were sampled at two sites in summer and winter during 1998 and 1999. The community was composed of 24 species in 12 families. Site 1 was dominated by longhorn sculpin, Myoxocephalus octodecemspinosus , while American plaice, Hippoglossoides platessoides, was the dominant species in Site 2. Red hake, Urophycis chuss was abundant at both sites. There were also seasonal differences in the flux of fish at the two sites. Correlation analysis showed the abundance of M. octodecemspinosus (Site 1) and H. platessoides (Site 2) to be predictable from environmental variables ordered into principal components (PC1--PC3) as predictors. These PCs represented a depth and sediment composite, a temperature and salinity composite, and an epibenthic macroinvertebrate composite, respectively. There was a strong overall correlation of the two species with PC2 (r c = 0.921). This was largely attributed to a significant correlation of the abundance of M. octodecemspinosus with this PC (F [1,4] = 21.703, p = 0.010). American plaice (H. platessoides), silver hake ( Merluccius bilinearis), winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus), and Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) were the four species selected for study. Only H. platessoides and M. bilinearis were caught in sufficient numbers to enable the correlation of their abundance with environmental variables ordered into PCs. The result was not significant ((RAdj.2 = 0.0; rc = 0.8545). Spatial and temporal differences in abundance of the two species tested with MANOVA were also not significant (F[2,4] = 2.7915, p = 0.1742; and F[2,4] = 4.9998, p = 0.0816, respectively). The population structure of H. platessoides analyzed with length frequency analysis and scale-age determination revealed four age classes, Age 0+, 1+, 2+ and 3+, to be present in the study area. The diet of H. platessoides was also analyzed to understand potential impacts of trawling on its trophic ecology. Ampharetid polychaetes, other polychaetes, amphipods, bivalves and cyclopoid copepods were the dominant prey taxa. These taxa were also abundant in the environment. A number of recommendations were proposed from these results on how such studies could increase our understanding of fishing gear impacts on benthic habitats, enabling appropriate management decisions to be made.


A raft of recent studies has highlighted a major decline in large mammal populations in many of Africa's protected areas. A recent continent-wide assessment represented a major step forward also in terms of quantifying the decline on a regional basis, but fell short in its sampling and analysis. In this paper, a way out of the "black box" of large mammal declines in Africa's protected areas is formulated, with the aim of assisting in the preparation of further assessments in the future. First, large mammal assessments are categorized, highlighting the importance of using and sometimes juxtaposing peer-reviewed sources. The importance of the length of time series of large mammal counts is stressed, allowing one to distinguish between natural variation (especially rainfall) and human-induced changes. Setting reference dates, such as 1970, often gives biased results, showing the need to interpret large mammal population assessments in a historic context as well. This holds true particularly for West-Central Africa, which has experienced a considerable decline in rainfall since 1970. Building on a framework that connects herbivore physiology and behavior with environmental gradients, examples are given to explain some striking observed changes. The declines in Africa's protected areas are not limited to large mammals, but have also been observed for large birds of prey. Assessments of large mammal populations should be accompanied by the identification of proximate drivers of change, for which a framework is suggested in this paper. To conclude, some suggestions for countering the declines in large mammal populations are presented.


Safety management may be improved if managers implement measures based on reliable empirical knowledge about how psychological factors cause or prevent accidents. While such factors are often investigated with self-report measures, few studies in the maritime industry have investigated whether self-report measures predict objectively registered accidents. The current pre-registered study used structural equation modelling to test whether "Safety attitude," "Situation awareness," "Reporting attitude" and "Safe behaviour" predicted "Number of reports" and "Number of safety events" in the following year. The study was conducted among crew on chemical tanker vessels operating in Arctic and Baltic waters. The pre-registered model of expected associations between self-reported safety factors and recorded safety outcomes was not supported. However, an exploratory model based on the pre-registered hypotheses supported an association between self-reported "Safe behaviour" and the overall number of recorded safety outcomes. While much safety research in the maritime industry builds on the assumption that self-reported behaviour, attitude or cognitions are causally related to actual accidents, the current study shows that such a relationship can be difficult to confirm. Until more conclusive studies are performed, the assumed causal relationship between self-reported psychological factors and safety outcomes should be treated with caution.


This study is aimed at determination of concentration of essential (Ca, K, Na and Mg) and heavy (Cd, Cr, Pb, Hg, Cu and Zn) metals using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (FAAS) of samples taken from fresh roots of Moringa stenopetala. A wet digestion method involving use of mixture of (HCl and HNO3, ratio 3:1) and 10 ml of 30% H2O2 at an optimum temperature and time duration was deployed during sample preparations. Results show that concentration of essential elements Mg, Ca, Na, and K range from 10.12 to 10.99 mg/kg, 2.6 to 5.64 mg/kg, 4.3 to 5.26 mg/kg, and 1.26 to 1.77 mg/kg, respectively. Among the heavy metals, concentration of Cu fall in the range of 0.81_1.44 mg/kg while that of zinc fall in the range of 0.37_2.34 mg/kg, both lying below toxic level. The levels of toxic metals (Cd, Cr, Pb and, and Hg) were not detected. The results of the study indicate that the concentration of the entire essential and heavy metals are below the range of WHO/FAO limits.

 Key words: Moringa stenopetala, essential metals, heavy metals, roots, flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS)


We performed a structure-function analysis of the plasma membrane-localized plant-specific barley (Hordeum vulgare) MLO (powdery-mildew-resistance gene o) protein. Invariant cysteine and proline residues, located either in extracellular loops or transmembrane domains that have been conserved in MLO proteins for more than 400 million years, were found to be essential for MLO functionality and/or stability. Similarly to many metazoan G-protein-coupled receptors known to function as homo- and hetero-oligomers, FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer) analysis revealed evidence for in planta MLO dimerization/oligomerization. Domain-swap experiments with closely related wheat and rice as well as diverged Arabidopsis MLO isoforms demonstrated that the identity of the C-terminal cytoplasmic tail contributes to MLO activity. Likewise, analysis of a progressive deletion series revealed that integrity of the C-terminus determines both MLO accumulation and functionality. A series of domain swaps of cytoplasmic loops with the wheat (Triticum aestivum) orthologue, TaMLO-B1, provided strong evidence for co-operative loop-loop interplay either within the protein or between MLO molecules. Our data indicate extensive intramolecular co-evolution of cytoplasmic domains in the evolutionary history of the MLO protein family.


In the last years the image-based pipeline for 3D reconstruction purposes has received large interest leading to fully automated methodologies able to process large image datasets and deliver 3D products with a level of detail and precision variable according to the applications. Different open issues still exist, in particular when dealing with the 3D surveying and modeling of large and complex scenarios, like historical porticoes. The paper presents an evaluation of various surveying methods for the geometric documentation of ca 40km of historical porticoes in Bologna (Italy). Finally, terrestrial photogrammetry was chosen as the most flexible and productive technique in order to deliver 3D results in form of colored point clouds or textured 3D meshes accessible on the web. The presented digital products are a complementary material for the final candidature of the porticoes as UNESCO WHS.


Reading Kahneman's book and thinking about a tribute to Ed Cooper that has more substance than a bouquet have caused me to reflect on a phenomenon within the world of legal scholarship. I would call it a cognate phenomenon, but that would dishonor the empirical basis of Kahneman's work by suggesting a firmer basis for my reflections than the power of analogical reasoning. The phenomenon is the view that the goal of legal scholarship is or should be big ideas, particularly if they can claim the mantle of theory, rather than small ideas, particularly if they can be tarred with the feathers of doctrine. My reflections about this phenomenon and the work and career of Ed Cooper led me to the title of this essay.


In an effort to elucidate the functions of secreted phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) enzymes in vivo, we generated transgenic (Tg) mice for group V sPLA2 (sPLA2-V) and group X sPLA2 (sPLA2-X), which act potently on phosphatidylcholine in vitro.We found that sPLA2-V Tg mice died in the neonatal period because of respiratory failure. The lungs of sPLA2-V Tg mice exhibited atelectasis with thickened alveolar walls and narrow air spaces, accompanied by infiltration of macrophages and only modest changes in eicosanoid levels. This severe pulmonary defect in sPLA2-V Tg mice was attributable to marked reduction of the lung surfactant phospholipids, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylglycerol. Given that the expression of sPLA2-V is greatly elevated in human lungs with severe inflammation, our present results raise the intriguing possibility that this isozyme may contribute to ongoing surfactant hydrolysis often observed in the lungs of patients with respiratory distress syndrome. In contrast, sPLA2-X Tg neonates displayed minimal abnormality of the respiratory tract with normal alveolar architecture and surfactant composition. This unexpected result was likely because sPLA2-X protein existed as an inactive zymogen in most tissues. The active form of sPLA2-X was detected in tissues with inflammatory granulation in sPLA2-X Tg mice. These results suggest that sPLA2-X mostly remains inactive under physiological conditions and that its proteolytic activation occurs during inflammation or other as yet unidentified circumstances in vivo.


The Olkaria geothermal
field is located in the Kenya Rift valley, about 120 km from Nairobi.
Geothermal activity is widespread in this rift with 14 major geothermal prospects
being identified. Structures in the Greater Olkaria volcanic complex include: the ring structure, the
Ol'Njorowa gorge, the ENE-WSW Olkaria fault and N-S, NNE-SSW, NW-SE and WNW-ESE
trending faults. The faults are more prominent in the East, Northeast and West
Olkaria fields but are scarce in the Olkaria Domes area, possibly due to the
thick pyroclastics cover. The NW-SE and WNW- ESE faults are thought to be the oldest and are
associated with the development of the rift. The most prominent of these faults
is the Gorge Farm fault, which bounds the geothermal fields in the northeastern
part and extends to the Olkaria Domes area. The most recent structures are the
N-S and the NNE-SSW faults. The geochemistry and output of the wells cut by
these faults have a distinct characteristic that is the N-S, NW-SE and WNW-ESE
faults are characterized by wells that have high Cl contents, temperatures and
are good producers whereas the NE-SW faults, the Ring Structure and the
Ol'Njorowa gorge appear to carry cool dilute waters with less chloride
concentration and thus low performing wells. Though the impacts of these faults
are apparent, there exists a gap in knowledge on how wide is the impact of
these faults on the chemistry and performance of the wells. This paper
therefore seeks to bridge this gap by analysis of the chemical trends of both
old wells and newly drilled ones to evaluate the impacts of individual faults
and then using buffering technique of ArcGis estimate how far and wide the
influence of the faults is. The data was obtained after the sampling and analysis
of discharge fluids of wells located on six profiles along the structures
cutting through the field. Steam samples were collected with a stainless steel Webre
separator connected between the wellhead and an atmospheric silencer on the
discharging wells whereas the analysis was done in house in the KenGen
geochemistry laboratory. The results indicates that Olkaria field has three
categories of faults that control fluid flow that is the NW-SE trending faults
that bring in high temperature and Cl rich waters, and the NE-SW trending Olkaria fracture tend to
carry cool temperature waters that have led to decline in enthalpies of the wells it cuts through. The faults
within the Ol Njorowa gorge act to carry cool, less mineralized water. Though
initially, these effects were thought to be in shallow depths, an indication in
OW-901 which is a deeper at 2200 m compared to 1600 m of OW-23 well that proves otherwise. This is, however, to be proved later as
much deeper wells have been sited.


ABSTRACT This paper contributes to discussions surrounding interest group representation in the European Parliament. Drawing from conceptualizations of legitimacy, and theoretical work on information-access we argue that different procedures bestow a different type of authority to parliamentary committees affecting their legitimacy orientation, in turn impacting the balance between private and public interests mobilised. We assess a population of 10,000 accredited lobbyists, and the procedural output across the 7th legislature's committees (2009–2014). Our analysis indicates that committees with a higher ratio of Ordinary Legislative Procedures to Own Initiative Reports see greater private interest mobilisation. Conversely, in committees where the procedures' ratios are inverse we observe greater public interest mobilisation. Theoretically, we provide a novel approach for framing the committee's nature from a procedural perspective, bridging discussions on interest group mobilisation and the democratic deficit. Empirically, the results overturn the premise of business dominance across the institution's committees through a unique dataset.


There are many formulations mentioned in Ayurvedic classics to treat various disease used as internally as well as external applications, Guggulu Kalpana is one of them. It is a very popular, safe and effective formulation for mitigation of Tridosha mainly Vatadosha. Two methods for preparation of Guggulu Kalpana areused; 1. Kuttana (pounding) and 2. Analapaka (heating). Mostly small production of Guggulu Kalpana is made by Kuttana and large production is made by Analapaka. Amidst of all Guggulu Kalpana, Triphala Guggulu is one of the most momentous and widely used in Vrana Shodhana and Vrana Ropana Karma in practice. Triphala Guggulu is indicated in Bhagandara, Gulma, Shotha, Arsha, Vatarakta, Kushtha, Pakva-vidradhi, Gandamala, Asthibhagna which is described in Sharangdhara Samhita, Yogaratnakara and Bhavaprakasha. Three batches of Triphala Guggulu were prepared with reference of Sharangdhara Samhita and follow the in house quality control parameters to standardized the medicine in large scale production by heating method. The size of Triphala Guggulu was form 10.27mm to 10.28mm in diameter, pH 5.9 to 6.2, loss on drying 0.8% to 1.6%, ash value 6.0%w/w to 7.5%w/w, acid-insoluble ash value 0.8%w/w to 1.2%w/w, alcohol-soluble extractive value 16.4%v/w to 30.2%v/w and water-soluble extractive value 32.0% to 38.0%. Phytochemical screening of Triphala Guggulu shows that Glycoside, Amino acid, Protein, Carbohydrate, Flavanoid, Tannin, Steroid, Saponin and Alkaloid were present in all batches. On the basis of this study it is clear that, if we follow the same procedure with authentic drugs then large scale production also have quality assurance.


The completeness of a collection of design transformations is an important aspect in transformational design. Completeness guarantees that any correct design can in principle be explored using the transformation system. In the field of transformational design the problem of incompleteness is not well understood and it is often believed that complete transformation systems can be constructed. In this article, we show, using a formal framework based on the theory of computation, that this is not the case if the transformation system is based on an expressive general-purpose design language such as VHDL. Only when restrictions are imposed on the design language and correctness relation, a transformation system can be made complete in theory, but this is expected to result in serious practical problems. It is shown that the incompleteness problem in transformational design is closely related to the syntactic variance problem in high-level synthesis and that this latter problem is not solvable in general either.


When larger market values of equity result in being subject to costly regulation, firms have incentives to shift their sources of financing toward debt and away from equity. We use the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) as a setting to provide evidence of such incentives. Smaller firms were granted several reprieves and eventually exempted from the internal control audit requirements of SOX Section 404, which many consider the most costly and onerous aspect of SOX. Using a difference-in-differences design, we show that relative to control firms, firms just below the regulatory threshold have increased propensities to issue debt, decreased propensities to issue equity, and increased leverage levels in the post-SOX period. These results are consistent with firms altering their financing choices to maintain their exempt status and demonstrate an economic consequence of regulatory regimes that are tiered by equity values.


Scope: Botanicals and botanical preparations may contain natural constituents that are of concern for human health. One group of such natural toxic compounds that may raise a concern is the group of pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs). Especially 1,2-unsaturated PAs are hepatotoxic and may act as genotoxic carcinogens in humans. At the current state-of-the-art, risk assessment of botanicals and botanical preparations is generally not required before they can enter the market, thus may pose a potential risk to human health. Objective: The present thesis aimed to perform the risk assessment for PAs derived from botanical products following daily life-time exposure and also more realistic exposure scenarios. Another aim of the present thesis was to investigate whether animal-free testing strategies could be of use in tackling data and knowledge gaps for PAs by predicting in vivo toxicity of different PAs and whether proofs-of-principle for applying such alternative testing approaches could be provided for two selected PA model compounds, riddelliine and lasiocarpine. Material and methods: Herbal teas, herbal medicines and plant food supplements (PFS) were bought from different counties. LC-MS/MS was used to detect the PA levels in these botanical and botanical preparations. Because PAs are genotoxic carcinogens, Margin of exposure (MOE) approach was applied for risk assessment. For development of the physiologically based kinetic (PBK) modelling to predict in vivo liver toxicity for lasiocarpine and riddelliine in rat and human, the kinetic parameters were obtained from in vitro incubations assays. The microsomal incubation assays were performed with rat and human tissue fractions to determine Vmax and Km values for lasiocarpine and riddelliine clearance, using a substrate depletion approach. The MTT assay was used to detect in vitro liver toxicity for lasiocasrpine and riddelliine.  In a subsequent step, the same approach was used for prediction of genotoxicity in rat, another endpoint relevant for PA toxicity. To this end, the in vitro concentration-responses curves obtained from in vitro genotoxicity studies using the ƴH2AX assay were translated into in vivo dose-response curves using PBK modelling-facilitated reverse dosimetry. Main results: When consumption of one cup of tea a day during a whole lifetime would result in MOE values lower than 10000 for several types of herbal teas, indicating a priority for risk management for these products, these products not only derived from PA-producing plants but also derived from non-PA-producing plants. Using MOE approach, combined with Haber's rule was employed to analyse the risks of shorter-than-lifetime exposure for total of 39 herbal teas, 8 herbal medicines, and 19 PFS. This analysis revealed that shorter-than-lifetime use would result in MOE values lower than 10000 upon use for 40 up to 3450 weeks during a lifetime (depending on the preparation). Only for a limited number of herbal teas and medicines, use of two weeks a year (150 weeks during a 75 year lifetime) would still raise a concern. The PBK models were used for translation of in vitro concentration-response curves to in vivo dose-response curves in rat. From these in vivo dose-response curves, the predicted BMDL5-BMDU5 (lower/upper limit of the 90% confidence interval of the benchmark dose that gives a 5% response) of lasiocarpine and riddelline were obtained which were 23.0-34.4 and 4.9-8.4 mg/kg bw/day, respectively. The predicted BMDL5-BMDU5 of lasiocarpine falls well within the range of the point of departures (PoDs) derived from available in vivo toxicity data. The same Quantitative in vitro to in vivo extrapolation (QIVIVE) method was subsequently used to predict the inter-species and inter-ethnic human differences in liver toxicity of lasiocarpine and riddelliine using a human PBK model. The BMDL5-BMDU5 of lasiocarpine were found to amount to 14.7-41.2 mg/kg bw/day for Chinese and 7.4-23.7 mg/kg bw/day for Caucasian, indicating the Chinese to be less sensitive. The predicted BMDL5-BMDU5 of riddelliine were 1.0-5.9 mg/kg bw/day for Chinese and 0.2-1.2 mg/kg bw/day for Caucasian. These values were subsequently compared to those previously obtained in rat to evaluate inter-species differences. The inter-species differences amounted to 2.0-fold for lasiocarpine and 8.2-fold for riddelliine with humans being more sensitive than rats. When extending the developed PBK modelling to predicted in vivo genotoxicity for lasiocarpine and riddelliine in rat, the predicted BMD10 for lasiocarpine and riddelliine amounted to 8.82 and 3.41 mg/kg bw/day, respectively, and were in line with the experimental data on in vivo genotoxicity available in the literature for these two PAs. Conclusions and implications: The risk assessment of herbal products revealed that daily life-time consumption of some of these products would be a priority for risk management. When considering realistic exposure scenarios, exposure to most of these herbal products would have MOE values higher than 10000 indicating a low priority for risk management. Moreover, this thesis demonstrated that the combined in vitro PBK modelling-based reverse dosimetry approach could adequately predict in vivo liver toxicity and genotoxicity for two model PAs, lasiocarpine and riddelliine. Such QIVIVE methods may prove to be of use in defining more realistic relative potency values for the different food/feed-related PAs. The results obtained reveal the feasibility of this combined quantitative in vitro-in silico approach to determine a PoD for a chemical without the use of experimental animals and to address the issue of how to use in vitro data for risk assessment.


High kidney and salivary gland uptake is a common feature of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted radioligands derived from the lysine-urea-glutamic acid (Lys-urea-Glu) pharmacophore. In this study we investigated if radioligands derived from lysine-urea-2-aminoadipic acid (Lys-urea-Aad), lysine-urea-S-carboxylmethylcysteine (Lys-urea-Cmc) and lysine-urea-O-carboxylmethylserine (Lys-urea-Cms) pharmacophores with/without an albumin binder could retain good PSMA-targeting capability but with minimized kidney and salivary gland uptake. Methods: HTK03177 and HTK03187 were obtained by replacing Aad in the previously reported Lys-urea-Aad-derived HTK03149 with Cmc and Cms, respectively. HTK03170, HTK04048 and HTK04028 were derived from HTK03149, HTK03177 and HTK03187, respectively, with the conjugation of an albumin-binding moiety, 4-(p-methoxyphenyl)butyric acid. In vitro competition binding assays were conducted using PSMA-expressing LNCaP prostate cancer cells and [18F]DCFPyL as the radioligand. Imaging and biodistribution studies of 68Ga-labeled HTK03177 and HTK03187, and 177Lu-labeled HTK03170, HTK04048 and HTK04028 were performed in LNCaP tumor-bearing mice. Radioligand therapy study of [177Lu]Lu-HTK03170 was carried out in LNCaP tumor-bearing mice and [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 was used for comparison. Results: The calculated Ki(PSMA) values of Ga-HTK03177, Ga-HTK03187, Lu-HTK03170, Lu-HTK04048 and Lu-HTK04028 were 5.0±2.4, 10.6±2.0, 1.6±0.4, 1.4±1.0 and 13.9±3.2 nM, respectively. PET Imaging and biodistribution studies at 1 h post-injection showed that both [68Ga]Ga-HTK03177 and [68Ga]Ga-HTK03187 had high uptake in LNCaP tumor xenografts (24.7±6.85 and 21.1±3.62 %ID/g, respectively) but minimal uptake in normal organs/tissues including kidneys (7.76±1.00 and 2.83±0.45 %ID/g, respectively) and salivary glands (0.22±0.02 and 0.16±0.02 %ID/g, respectively). SPECT imaging and biodistribution studies showed that the LNCaP tumor uptake of 177Lu-labeled HTK03170, HTK04048 and HTK04028 peaked at 4-24 h post-injection at ~43-65 %ID/g and was relatively sustained over time. Their peaked average uptake in kidneys (≤ 17.4 %ID/g) and salivary glands (≤ 2.92 %ID/g) was lower and continuously reduced over time. Radioligand therapy study showed that compared with [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 (37 MBq), a quarter dose of [177Lu]Lu-HTK03170 (9.3 MBq) led to a better median survival (63 vs 90 days). Conclusions: Our data demonstrate that that Lys-urea-Aad, Lys-urea-Cmc and Lys-urea-Cms are promising pharmacophores for the design of PSMA-targeted radioligands especially for radiotherapeutic applications to minimize toxicity to kidneys and salivary glands.


Capital flows often confront central banks with a dilemma: to contain the exchange rate or to allow it to float. To tackle this problem, an equilibrium model of capital flows is proposed. The model captures sudden stops with shocks to the country risk premium. This enables the model to deal with capital outflows as well as capital inflows. From the equilibrium conditions of the model, I derive an expression for the accounting of net foreign assets, which helps study the evolution of foreign debt under different policy experiments. The policy experiments point to three main conclusions. First, interest rate defenses of the exchange rate can deliver recessions during capital outflows even in financially resilient economies. Second, during unanticipated reversals in capital inflows, the behavior of foreign debt is not necessarily improved by containing the exchange rate. Third, an economy can gain resilience not by simply shifting the currency denomination of debt, but by both, shifting the denomination and floating the currency.


Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder, affecting 1% of the population, characterised by pain, joint swelling and progressive destruction of joint tissue. EULAR (European League Against Rheumatism) recommends the use of Tumour Necrosis Factor alpha antagonists (anti-TNFα) if methotrexate or Disease Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs fail. Anti-TNFα treatment imposes a significant financial burden on hospital budgets. Purpose To perform a pharmacoeconomic investigation in the Piedmont region (Italy) to identify the cost of the illness RA. To analyse the payer's and societal perspectives, investigating direct costs associated with health care use and indirect costs related to productivity loss. Materials and Methods A multidisciplinary group, rheumatologists, hospital pharmacists and pharmacoeconomists, was established to perform a pharmacoeconomic evaluation of the direct and indirect costs of RA, by a systematic literature review. Afterward, we plan a perspective, observational, multicentre, cost-effectiveness analysis of RA biological drugs, involving 100 patients. Each patient will be recorded, every three months for one year, through personal data, disease duration and characterization, systemic manifestations and comorbidities, prescribed biological medicines. A questionnaire will be submitted, in order to assess direct and indirect costs. Results 40 existing pharmacoeconomic evaluations were critically appraised: the overall mean costs of RA amounted to about €15,000 per year, while the direct annual costs of RA were on average about €4,000. The greatest burden of RA costs was the indirect costs. From a societal perspective the superior clinical outcomes achieved with anti-TNFα are worth their higher costs. The most favourable incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was for etanercept compared to methotrexate. Conclusions The cost-effectiveness of an intervention depends on the maximum the decision makers are willing to pay for an extra unit of health effect. It should be considered that treatments with anti-TNFα, in a societal perspective, decrease the use of health resources and increase productivity. No conflict of interest.


Temperature effects on tensile and compressive behaviours of an (8,8) boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) were investigated via the molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with the Tersoff potential parameters determined by fitting the MD simulations results to those obtained from the density functional theory calculations. The force-matching method was employed in the fitting process. It was noticed that the failure strain of the BNNT decreases from 33.9% at temperature of 50 K to 26.7% at temperature of 300 K and the critical buckling strain degrades from 5.46% to 3.98%. No obvious yielding occurs before the tensile failure of the BNNTs. A chain-like tensile failure mode was observed prior to complete breaking of the BNNT. In addition, when the BNNT was loaded beyond the critical buckling strain it behaves in a symmetrical buckling mode with a flat cross section near the middle of the BNNT.


A crisis is a situation approaching a dangerous phase, which requires urgent intervention to avoid harmful effects on the body of an organization in order to return to normal situation. It is a decisive and critical time for the organization, where the wrong decision can even cost its viability. This situation can shape political, legal, economic, and governmental impact on its activities. From different definitions of crisis, we seek to underscore key elements of a crisis that may threat a public organization and, also, to highlight both the elements of management responsiveness resulting in the loss of control in the organization, regarding the short time demand for decision-making. The key purpose of this chapter is to illustrate the basis available in the international literature, upon which public risk mechanisms can be reviewed and chosen in public sector organizations under the scope of their applicability.


Generally, characterizations of pore structures of porous biomaterials are mainly based on 2-dimensional (2-D) analysis using cross sectional micrographs. However, interconnectivity of each pore may be more important factor, when tissue ingrowth into deeper pores is considered. In this paper, using micro-CT imaging with 3-D image processing software, analyses of porous material based on 3-demensional (3-D) geometrical considerations were successfully performed. Plasmasprayed porous titanium implant (PT) and four types of sintered porous titanium implants (ST50- 200, ST50-500, ST70-200, and ST70-500) that possess different porosities (50% and 70%) and pore sizes (200-500+m and 500-1500+m) were analyzed in this study. A micro focus X-ray computed tomography system was employed to acquire microstructural information from the porous implants. Using 3-D image processing software, we performed three types of 3-D analysis including detection of the dead space (% dead pore), analysis of interconnectivity by blocking the narrow pore throat with caliber less than 52 +m (% pore with narrow throat) and analysis of material construct by contracting thin strut with thickness less than 52 +m (% construct with thin strut). ST50S and ST50L possessed interconnected porous structure with thicker strut; however, pore throat was considered to be relatively narrow. On the other hand, PT implant possesses favorable interconnectivity despite its' low porosity; however, relatively thin strut indicate the structural disadvantage for mechanical property. These results suggest that the 3-D analysis of pore and strut structure using micro focus X-ray computed tomography and 3-D image processing software will provide effective information to develop porous implant.


This article argues that resistance to the Human Rights Act has built up in the context of disputes relating to children and that such resistance is founded in the attachment of the courts to the welfare or paramountcy principle as currently conceived-the principle that the child's welfare automatically prevails over the rights of other family members. It argues that the failure to take account of Convention arguments could only be a legitimate stance if there was no conflict between the demands of the welfare principle and those of the Convention guarantees, but that in fact the approach of the European Court of Human Rights differs considerably from that of the UK courts since it seeks to balance the rights of different family members. The article goes on to argue that, taking account of the Strasbourg stance and of the already established domestic recognition of the presumptive equality of competing qualified Convention rights, it is time to accept the adoption of a new model of judicial reasoning in the context of disputes over children-the 'parallel analysis' or 'ultimate balancing act'.


This paper is a continuation of our research on $X$-extensions and full $X$-AFL's. We discuss the algebraic structure of the class of all full $X$-AFL's and establish a Canonical Form Theorem for full $X$-AFL's (similar to a theorem for full AFL's obtained earlier by Ginsburg & Spanier (1971)) i.e. we prove $\hat{\cal X}(K) = X\Pi(K)$, where $K$ is an arbitrary family, $\hat{\cal X}(K)$ [$\Pi(K)$] is the least full $X$-AFL [pre-quasoid] containing $K$, and $X$ is the $X$-extension. We consider full ($X$-)principal $X$-AFL's and full sub-$X$-AFL's of a given full $X$-AFL from the point of view of universal algebra and lattice theory. In order to fit some well-known results on full (semi-)AFL's in our framework of extensions, we introduce a few subrational extensions and establish the corresponding Canonical Form Theorems for full (semi-)AFL's. For a restricted class of language families we show another Canonical Form Theorem and finally we discuss some semigroups consisting of operators on families of languages.


In the rapidly changing information environment, libraries have to demonstrate that their services have relevance, value, and impact for stakeholders and customers. To deliver effective and high quality services, libraries have to assess their performance from the customer point of view. Moving to an assessment framework will be more successful if staff and leaders understand what is involved in organizational culture change. This paper describes the new paradigm of building a culture of assessment, and places it in the framework of organizational culture change, utilizing a learning organization and systems thinking approach.


Breast cancer is the most common malignancy and a leading cause of deaths of women around the globe. Tumor originated from the mammary gland are the most recurrently diagnosed malignancies worldwide and register around 14% of all deaths, making breast cancer the most fatal neoplasm in women. Breast cancer can starts as a local disease however it can metastasize to distant part of body particularly to lymph node, bone and spine which makes it deadliest. Breast cancer can be categorized into a number of types on the basis of size, possession of specific marker, grades of metastasis etc. Genetic predisposition marks an important place in list of risk factors associated with breast cancer but the sporadic forms are remarkable. Breast cancer is curable if diagnosed at very early stage although there are several therapies like chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, radiation therapy, and targeted therapy etc. which improve expectancy and quality of life in later stages also.


Performance of functions, Public Universities, Student Affairs, Student Leaders The Universities Act, 2012 outlines the responsibilities of student leaders in the provision of student services in universities in Kenya. Despite the universities having student leaders to oversee and plan the welfare of students, there are still regular complaints over the unsatisfactory students' services provision causing students' protests. The study sought to assess how student leaders performed their functions for effective management of student affairs. Descriptive survey research design was adopted and stratified random sampling was used to select student leaders. Data collection instruments were questionnaires. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results from the study revealed low performance as 52.4% of student leaders did not effectively execute their leadership mandate in managing student affairs and only 47.6% effectively performed their functions. This means that to a greater extent, student leaders are ineffective in management of student affairs. The low performance might have contributed to the constant conflicts between the students and university management in the recent past over the management of student affairs. The study recommends that student leaders should take their leadership responsibility more aggressively by being proactive in organizing welfare activities that address students' concerns. KENYA JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL PLANNING, ECONOMICS & MANAGEMENT http://www.emskenya.net


An exciting new development in differential privacy is the shuffled model, in which an anonymous channel enables non-interactive, differentially private protocols with error much smaller than what is possible in the local model, while relying on weaker trust assumptions than in the central model. In this paper, we study basic counting problems in the shuffled model and establish separations between the error that can be achieved in the single-message shuffled model and in the shuffled model with multiple messages per user.
For the problem of frequency estimation for $n$ users and a domain of size $B$, we obtain:
- A nearly tight lower bound of $\tilde{\Omega}( \min(\sqrt[4]{n}, \sqrt{B}))$ on the error in the single-message shuffled model. This implies that the protocols obtained from the amplification via shuffling work of Erlingsson et al. (SODA 2019) and Balle et al. (Crypto 2019) are essentially optimal for single-message protocols. A key ingredient in the proof is a lower bound on the error of locally-private frequency estimation in the low-privacy (aka high $\epsilon$) regime.
- Protocols in the multi-message shuffled model with $poly(\log{B}, \log{n})$ bits of communication per user and $poly\log{B}$ error, which provide an exponential improvement on the error compared to what is possible with single-message algorithms.
For the related selection problem on a domain of size $B$, we prove:
- A nearly tight lower bound of $\Omega(B)$ on the number of users in the single-message shuffled model. This significantly improves on the $\Omega(B^{1/17})$ lower bound obtained by Cheu et al. (Eurocrypt 2019), and when combined with their $\tilde{O}(\sqrt{B})$-error multi-message protocol, implies the first separation between single-message and multi-message protocols for this problem.