International Relations (IR) – whether in pursuit of wealth or power – have been traditionally predicated upon the dominance of the State and the effectiveness of geographical boundaries. The Internet has shattered these assumptions. Consequently, the properties of information goods such as information security, control, or freedom, or those of international activities such as trade, or diplomacy must be framed in the context of emergent behaviors of a system where the Cyberspace interacts with traditional IR. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize the hitherto separate domains of Cyberspace and International Relations into an integrated socio-technical system that we jointly call Cyber International Relations (Cyber-IR) System, and to identify and analyze its emergent properties utilizing the methods of engineering systems. Our work is an exploration in both theory and methodology. We begin by identifying important actors in Cyberspace and IR, and the core functions they perform for their respective systems. In doing so, we disambiguate important questions of system boundary. We then create a domain structure matrix (DSM) of the interdependencies among the core functions of the various actors. This method enables us to integrate the domains of Cyberspace and IR that we then examine in two ways. First, we qualitatively analyze DSM to show how Cyber-IR is characterized by the activities of multiple actors who are interdependent in various ways, and who are highly heterogeneous in their roles and capabilities. Second, we perform quantitative analysis using several matrix-based techniques to illustrate and verify how certain core functions are more important than others, and why attributes such as geographical location, economic status, etc., of the actor shape their influence in Cyber-IR. This work forms a baseline for further understanding of the nature of the heterogeneous influences of the various actors, and the various outcomes that could result from it.


The Mathematical Mesh ?The Mesh? is an end-to-end secure
infrastructure that facilitates the exchange of configuration and
credential data between multiple user devices. The core protocols of
the Mesh are described with examples of common use cases and reference
data. This document is also available online at
http://mathmesh.com/Documents/draft-hallambaker-mesh-reference.html
[1] .


The adsorption capability of nano-barium-strontium titanate coated by dithizone(BST- dithizone) for mercury in environmental water samples was studied. The optimum experimental parameters for the adsorption and desorption of the mercury, such as pH values, contact time and eluent, have been investigated. The results showed that the mercury ion in water could be adsorbed on the BST- dithizone. The adsorption capability was affected by the pH value of medium and contact time. In the medium of pH 3-8, the adsorption time was more than 15 min, and capacity of adsorption was 15.3 mg·g-1. The used adsorbent could be completely regenerated using 2 mol·L-1 HNO3. A new method for the removal of mercury in water samples was proposed. The method has been applied to the removal of mercury in waste water samples with satisfied results.


During preimplantation mouse development stages, emerging pluripotent epiblast (Epi) and extraembryonic primitive endoderm (PrE) cells are first distributed in the blastocyst in a "salt-and-pepper" manner before they segregate into separate layers. As a result of segregation, PrE cells become localised on the surface of the inner cell mass (ICM), and the Epi is enclosed by the PrE on one side and by the trophectoderm on the other. During later development, a subpopulation of PrE cells migrates away from the ICM and forms the parietal endoderm (PE), while cells remaining in contact with the Epi form the visceral endoderm (VE). Here, we asked: what are the mechanisms mediating Epi and PrE cell segregation and the subsequent VE vs PE specification? Differences in cell adhesion have been proposed; however, we demonstrate that the levels of plasma membrane-bound E-cadherin (CDH1, cadherin 1) in Epi and PrE cells only differ after the segregation of these lineages within the ICM. Moreover, manipulating E-cadherin levels did not affect lineage specification or segregation, thus failing to confirm its role during these processes. Rather, we report changes in E-cadherin localisation during later PrE-to-PE transition which are accompanied by the presence of Vimentin and Twist, supporting the hypothesis that an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition process occurs in the mouse peri-implantation blastocyst.


The deactivation mechanism for the methanol conversion reaction at low temperature was comparatively investigated over HZSM-5 and HSAPO-34 catalysts. Two obviously different deactivation phenomena were directly observed: two-staged deactivation behavior over the HZSM-5 catalyst and exponential-type deactivation behavior over the HSAPO-34 catalyst. Since the start of the deactivation, the amount of the retained species over the HZSM-5 catalyst kept unchanged while the amount over the HSAPO-34 catalyst obviously increased. Both types of deactivation behavior presented an intimate relationship with the accumulation of retained species and their changing reactivity. After detailed characterization and analysis, it was interestingly found that the deactivation of the HZSM-5 catalyst originated from the "overloading effect" of methylbenzenes (smaller than pentamethylbenzene) which are intrinsically active during the autocatalysis reaction stage, while the deactivation of the HSAPO-34 catalyst was caused by accumulation of inactive methyladamantanes, and it was further deduced that the deactivation proceeded from "external to internal" for the HSAPO-34 catalyst. Enhancement of the catalyst diffusivity could effectively extend the catalyst lifetime for the HZSM-5 catalyst, but seemed less effective for the HSAPO-34 catalyst.


The theory of phase formation is generalised for any arbitrary time dependence of nucleation and growth rates. Some sources of this time dependence are time-dependent potential inputs, ohmic drop and the ingestion effect. Particular cases, such as potentiostatic and, especially, linear potential sweep, are worked out for the two limiting cases of nucleation, namely instantaneous and progressive. The ohmic drop is discussed and a procedure for this correction is indicated. Recent results of Angerstein-Kozlowska, Conway and Klinger are critically investigated. Several earlier results are deduced as special cases. Evans' overlap formula is generalised for the time-dependent case and the equivalence between Avrami's and Evans' equations established.


The study examined the effect of fallow generational cycles on the buildup of nutrients in the soil. Fallow sequence of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th generations were studied. The quadrat approach of sampling was employed to collect soil samples (surface and subsurface) from five plots of 10m x 10m across the five fallow generational cycles. Result showed that the mean proportions of organic matter (OM), total nitrogen (TN), cation exchange capacity (CEC) and available phosphorus (Av. P) increased substantially in the 1st and 2nd generation of fallows probably due to reduced cropping frequency. The PCA result further revealed that topsoil available phosphorus, topsoil exchangeable sodium and topsoil exchangeable potassium constituted the most significant soil properties that progressively increased across the fallow generations. As usual, nutrients in the fallow generations were confined to the topsoil. The increase in soil nutrients was attributed to the increased in tree size, vegetation cover and adequate ground cover which helped to conserve and build-up essential nutrients in the soil by minimizing the loss of nutrients through soil erosion. The study suggested that for efficient conservation practices, fallow land mostly the 1st generation fallow which was fast approaching climax should be considered for reserve. For this to be feasible, alternative means of livelihoods should be provided to reduce the wanton destruction, concentration and dependence on forest resources for sustenance. Keywords:  Fallow Genealogy, Vegetation Development, Soil, Physical Property, Chemical property, Disturbance frequency


The major proteins of the yam tuber, which were identified as storage proteins by virtue of their abundance (c. 85% of the total protein content) , amino acid composition (high in amide content), and location within the tuber, were isolated by ion exchange chromatography and characterised using in particular, polyacrylamide gel techniques. They consist principally of one size of sub-unit, molecular weight 31,000, N-terminal amino acid glutamine/glutamic acid, of which there are a number of charge isomers; these in general contain one intra-chain disulphide bond. The sub-units associated into polymers depending on the protein concentration, pH and ionic strength of the milieu, and therefore a value for the molecular weight of the native protein(s) is not given. The storage proteins are not glycoproteins, and do not exhibit lectin activity. They are intracellularly located as protein "aggregates" within both cytoplasmic vesicles and cellular protein vacuoles. Their characteristics and other aspects of their biology are compared with those of the storage proteins of the potato tuber. The first nutritionally limiting amino acids of the tuber protein are the sulphur-containing amino acids although tryptophan was not detemined. Comparative amino acid data from several sources, together with the fact that the sub-unit composition of genetically different tubers did not vary greatly, suggests that the potential for breeding for improved protein quality is limited. The protein content of yam tubers can be adequately evaluated by the Kjeldahl technique, since the non-protein nitrogen content of genetically different tubers grown under different environmental conditions was found to be relatively constant.


The green biomass of horticultural plants contains valuable secondary metabolites (SM), which can potentially be extracted and sold. When exposed to stress, plants accumulate higher amounts of these SMs, making the extraction and commercialization even more attractive. We evaluated the potential for accumulating the flavones cynaroside and graveobioside A in leaves of two bell pepper cultivars (Mavras and Stayer) when exposed to salt stress (100 mM NaCl), UVA/B excitation (UVA 4–5 W/m2; UVB 10–14 W/m2 for 3 h per day), or a combination of both stressors. Plant age during the trials was 32–48 days. HPLC analyses proved the enhanced accumulation of both metabolites under stress conditions. Cynaroside accumulation is effectively triggered by high-UV stress, whereas graveobioside A contents increase under salt stress. Highest contents of secondary metabolites were observed in plants exposed to combined stress. Effects of stress on overall plant performance differed significantly between treatments, with least negative impact on above ground biomass found for high-UV stressed plants. The usage of two non-destructive instruments (Dualex and Multiplex) allowed us to gain insights into the ontogenetical effects at the leaf level and temporal development of SM contents. Indices provided by those devices correlate fairly with amounts detected via HPLC (Cynaroside: r2 = 0.46–0.66; Graveobioside A: r2 = 0.51–0.71). The concentrations of both metabolites tend to decrease at leaf level during the ontogenetical development even under stress conditions. High-UV stress should be considered as a tool for enriching plant leaves with valuable SM. Effects on the performance of plants throughout a complete production cycle should be evaluated in future trials. All data is available online.


Studies of post-conflict behaviour in primates have two aims, 1) to uncover the fundamental mechanisms underlying conflict resolution, 2) to integrate patterns of reconciliation within broad models of socio-ecology. Comparative studies are vital in answering questions related to both of these problems. So far, research has focused mainly on members of the cercopithecine family and the great apes. Hypotheses derived from these studies predict that the "quality" of dyadic relationships, measured according to their value in terms of reproductive fitness, is a good predictor of the tendency to reconcile; and that high conciliatory tendencies are often associated with a high degree of social tolerance. In this study, two groups of spectacled langurs (members of the colobine family) were demonstrated to reconcile at high rates (41.3% and 51.3% of conflicts) and display relatively egalitarian social structures. Highly affiliative dyadic relationships were associated with high conciliatory tendencies. Other variables such as kinship and rank had little effect. In agreement with previous studies concerning highly conciliatory species, former opponents engaged in a specific behaviour (ventro-ventro hugging) during reconciliation which make these reunions highly visible or "explicit". Victims of aggression also contacted uninvolved third parties at high rates, and here too, hugging was demonstrated to occur significantly more often in this context than during control periods. There was some evidence of consolation, the first for any monkey species, where the distribution of hugging following a conflict was examined in one of the groups, although small sample sizes precluded its confirmation.


Peatlands are important carbon reservoirs both nationally and globally, because they have the potential to be both sources and sinks of carbon. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is carbon lost from peatlands via the fluvial pathway. UK upland peatlands have a history of atmospheric deposition, degradation, and erosion as well as being extensively managed. Management of the upland peatlands presents an opportunity to maximise carbon storage and water quality benefits.
The research aim was to contribute toward the understanding of vegetation management effects upon peatland carbon exports and water quality. In the context of two studies: 1) bare peat ecological restoration (Bleaklow); 2) heather management through cutting and burning (Goyt Valley). Multi factorial designed in-field experiments were set up. Between 2007 and 2013, sites were monitored monthly for CO2 fluxes, water table (WT) depth and water samples were collected and analysed for DOC concentrations. The results were statistically analysed using general linear models and were critically discussed.
In both studies, water sample DOC was better explained through inter-annual monthly variation than variation between sites. Bleaklow bare peat restoration and Goyt Valley management did not significantly influence soil pore water DOC concentrations. However findings supported the use of gully blocking and stabilisation techniques to revegetate bare peat, raised WT, promoted CO2 influx through gross photosynthesis and reduced site acidification. Goyt Valley heather management through cutting was a good alternative to burning in dry localities (to raise WT). Runoff water and peat through-flow (at 10 cm depth) DOC was influenced by managed cutting and burning. Water sample DOC significantly varied along a peat profile (horizontally) and catchment. Through-flow DOC concentrations were greater than soil pore water at the wet locality and lower at the dry locality. The findings emphasised the importance of temporal and spatial scale when considering vegetation management effects on peatland carbon exports.


A priming X-ray exposure to 0.05—0.10 Gy or 0.3—0.5 Gy imparts radioresistance (decrease in bone marrow death rate after high-dose X-rays) in mice 2—2.5 months or 9—17 days postexposure, respectively. This radiation-adaptive response in whole animals differs from that in cells observed several hours to several days (at most) later. An adaptive response was observed in ICR and C57BL/6 strains of mice, but not in BALB/c and C3H strains. The biological mechanisms of an acquired radioresistance induced by a priming exposure to 0.45 Gy in C57BL/6 mice have been studied. The recovery of blood-forming stem cells, determined as endogenous spleen colonies, was markedly stimulated by priming irradiation. The reduction in bone marrow death seems chiefly due to the stimulated recovery of blood-forming stem cells. But mice pretreated at this priming dose did not show a marked recovery of peripheral blood cell counts after challenging irradiation with mid- or sublethal X-ray doses (a significant, albeit slight, increase in the blood cell counts in the preirradiated group was observed after a lower challenging exposure to 5.0 Gy). The adaptive response depends on p53, as observed in cell experiments. The stem cells might produce an unknown factor(s) that contributes to acquired radioresistance. In a preliminary experiment, the life span of C57BL/6 mice after ascertaining their 30-day survival rates was not shortened by preirradiation.


Sustainability, the capacity to endure, is fundamental for the societies on our planet. Despite its increasing recognition in software engineering, it remains difficult to assess the delayed systemic effects of decisions taken in requirements engineering and systems design. To support this difficult task, this paper introduces the concept of sustainability debt. The metaphor helps in the discovery, documentation, and communication of sustainability issues in requirements engineering. We build on the existing metaphor of technical debt and extend it to four other dimensions of sustainability to help think about sustainability-aware software systems engineering. We highlight the meaning of debt in each dimension and the relationships between those dimensions. Finally, we discuss the use of the metaphor and explore how it can help us to design sustainability-aware software intensive systems.


In the last years the researches in engineering have moved towards customer-oriented manufacturing. The individual customer's requirements are very important for the company's activities. It results highvariety production. High-variety production like mass customization is facing the challenge of effective variety management. Applying methods of mass customization to the empirical process can improve product development process efficiency and reduce time and cost. The manufacturing process requires documentation of the production. Very often, the documentation process and the time of its formation is limited. The article includes an analysis of the modern manufacturing systems and answering the question: how is it possible to produce without having a documentation in paper form. The presented solution is used during the highvariety products manufactured in the SMEs. The method was validated in the conditions of best practice high-variety production.


Research objective: Leading brands increasingly adopt sensory marketing, a strategy focused on the engagement of multiple senses in the consumer environment. The rising field of multisensory experience lacked insight in the way multisensory marketing strategies could contribute to packaging design. A hypothesized framework of packaging design was developed to underlie an effective multisensory packaging strategy for the beverage category. This framework hypothesized that inclusion of brand or product congruent stimuli in packaging design would affect brand and product perception and evaluation in a favorable direction. Two studies investigated how multisensory packaging does affect brand and product perception and evaluation by testing the validity of the hypothesized framework within the beer category. Study 1: In an online survey 42 participants evaluated five images of beer bottles on a list with the most common brand values and taste descriptors among beer brands and on tactile, auditive and olfactive stimuli. The study confirmed that consumers hold a semantic associative network of relationships among beer brand values, taste descriptors and sensory stimuli which makes them perceive certain brand values and taste descriptors as matching or mismatching with specific sensory stimuli. Study 2: In an experiment was investigated how brand and product congruent tactile attributes of a beer bottle design affected brand and product perception and evaluation. 90 participants evaluated two beer bottle designs of distinctive brands which differed in weight (heavy vs. light) and texture (rough vs. smooth) on tactile perceptions, brand values, taste descriptors and brand and product evaluation. The study demonstrated that 1) tactile stimuli in beer bottle design affect brand and product perception and evaluation; 2) the facilitating role of semantic congruency works in some, but not all cases and sometimes a facilitating effect of semantically incongruent stimuli was found; and 3) individual characteristics (gender and age) moderated the effect of tactile stimuli on perception and evaluation. Conclusion: A framework of multisensory packaging design was developed which implied that: 1) sensory stimuli in packaging design affect product and brand perception and evaluation; 2) consumers hold semantic associative networks of stimuli that match or mismatch with brands and products; 3) semantically congruent, but also incongruent stimuli in packaging design may facilitate brand and product perception and evaluation; and 4) individual characteristics may moderate the effects of multisensory packaging. Based on these insights a multisensory packaging strategy is formulated for brand owners within the beverage category.


Biodiversity degradation is a national and global problem which is interconnected with land use and climate change. All these are major unsolved questions and their interactions are only partly understood. Agriculture and especially cattle farming is under keen societal focus because of its significant role in soil carbon losses, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and biodiversity preservation. We reviewed the Finnish scientific literature to assess the impact of intensive contra extensive grass production on biodiversity using vascular plants, vertebrates, invertebrates and soil biota. Still a few decades ago, mixed farming was prevailing almost everywhere in Finland, but nowadays cereal production is essentially clustered in the southwest and milk and beef production in the northeast. This is reflected in the distribution of intensive (connected with cattle) and extensive grasslands (both types of farming). The bird community was most abundant and species rich in farmland which provides small fields in large blocks of farmland and many kinds of crops, including both intensive and extensive grasslands. Overall permanent grasslands with rather simply vegetation diversity can maintain a diverse community of spiders and leafhoppers, and act as overwintering habitat for polyphagous predators in field ecosystems. The ecological requirement of all species and species groups are probably never met at one site and consequently target should be in having differently managed areas at regional scale. For some of the taxa, ecosystem services could be indicated, but a research-based quantitative assessment is available only for carbon sequestration and weak impact of dung-beetles in diminishing GHG emissions from cow pats. Our review demonstrated that quite much is known about biodiversity in extensively managed grasslands, but very little in intensively managed grasslands. An important question is whether there is some threshold for the proportion of grasslands under which regional biodiversity will be reduced. Intensive production offers limited value to replace the high biodiversity value of semi-natural pastures.


This study examined the expression of TGF‐β cell‐surface receptors, the response to exogenous TGF‐β1 and the autocrine production of TGF‐β in normal and squamous cell carcinoma‐derived human oral keratinocytes with variable degrees of cellular differentiation. TGF‐β receptor expression, the response to exogenous ligand and the autocrine production of TGF‐β appeared unrelated to cellular differentiation. Cells expressed variable proportions of type‐I,‐II and‐III TGF‐β receptors. The expression of type‐III receptors correlated inversely with the expression of type‐I receptors, but there was no relationship between type‐II and either type‐I or type‐III TGF‐β receptors. Normal cells and the majority (7 of 8) of tumour‐derived keratinocytes were inhibited by exogenous TGF‐β1 and the degree of inhibition correlated with the expression of type‐I, but not type‐II or type‐III, TGF‐β receptors. One tumour‐derived cell line was refractory to exogenous TGF‐β1 although it expressed all 3 receptor types. Endogenous TGF‐β was produced by both normal and tumour‐derived keratinocytes and correlated inversely to the expression of type‐I, but not type‐II, TGF‐β receptors. Further, cells that produced more autocrine TGF‐β had a diminished response to exogenous TGF‐β1. The data indicate a complex interaction between the expression of TGF‐β cell‐surface receptors, endogenous ligand production and the cellular response to exogenous TGF‐β1.


The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of play expansions in increasing play diversity and complexity of preschool children with visual impairments. The study was conducted using a multiple baseline design. Participants of the study were three children with visual impairments whose ages were ranged between 5 and 6, and attended a public school for students with visual impairments located in Ankara. Two participants attended a classroom and the other student attended another classroom at the same preschool. All three students had severe visual imapirments without having other disabilities. The findings of the study showed that play expansions were effective in increasing play diversity and complexity of children with visual impairments. The results also showed that the participants continued to display an increased level of play diversity and complexity five months after the study was completed.


Context: Gamification is defined as "the use of game design elements in non-game contexts" (Deterding, Dixon, Khaled, & Nacke, 2011). Gamification is a valuable approach as regards making non-game products, services or applications more enjoyable, more motivating and/or engaging to use (Deterding et al., 2011). Gamified Software has undergone a very important growth. It is, therefore, currently very popular, and this means by which to engage users is becoming a growing trend (Deterding et al., 2011). We therefore believe that the impact of gamified software on users and many areas of society and economy will probably be very high and that the assessment of and improvement to its quality may be necessary. Although there are standard quality models that can be used to assess the quality of any software product, such as the ISO 25010 (ISO, 2011b), they are generic and need to be tailored to specific domains, since quality models can differ considerably from one domain to another (Franch & Carvallo, 2003). Objective: Although researchers have addressed the quality of gamified software, there is currently no quality model that considers the specific quality attributes and quality characteristics of gamified software. Therefore, the main objective of this PhD thesis is the development and validation of a Quality in use model for gamified software, which has been denominated as the QU-GamSoft model. This quality model is an adaptation of the Quality in use model (ISO, 2011b) that considers the specific quality attributes and quality characteristics of gamified software. Method: The main objective of this PhD thesis has been achieved using several research methods that we considered to be most appropriate for each partial objective. A "Systematic Mapping Study" research method that was used to carry out the literature review in order to analyze the state of the art and to discover the existing initiatives on gamified software quality. The "Survey" empirical research method that was used to refine the QU-GamSoft model by gathering the opinions of experts in gamified software development as regards the understandability and relevance of the proposed quality attributes. Finally, the "Case Study" empirical research method that was used to investigate the applicability and usefulness of the QU-GamSoft model in industrial and real-life contexts. Result: A quality in model for gamified software (QU-GamSoft) have proposed and developed. The construction process of the QU-GamSoft model followed a top-down approach (Franch & Carvallo, 2003) and it was based on the ISO/IEC 25010 (ISO, 2011b) standard and on the results of an SMS on gamified software quality. The QU-GamSoft model was refined by means of a survey of experts on gamified software development as regards the understandability and importance of the quality attributes. Results of this survey show that the definitions of the quality attributes are understandable for most of the respondents of the survey and that most the quality attributes of the QU-GamSoft model are to some extent important. Finally, in order to demonstrate the applicability and usefulness of the QU-GamSoft model in industrial or real-life contexts two case studies were carried out. Conclusion: We have developed and validated a quality in use model for gamified software (QU-GamSoft) that is an extension of ISO/IEC 25010 standard (ISO, 2011b), but specific for gamified software, that has been agreed on by experts on gamified software development. The QU-GamSoft model considers attributes that are not considered in the standard quality in use model and is useful in practice, in order to allow gamified designers and developers to evaluate and improve the quality of the gamified software they build.


Context. Anomalous cosmic rays (ACRs) are well-suited to probe the transport conditions of cosmic rays in the inner heliosphere. We revisit the HELIOS data not only in view of the upcoming Solar Orbiter experiment but also to put constraints on particle transport models in order to provide new insight into the boundary conditions close to the Sun. Aims. We present here the energy spectra of galactic cosmic ray (GCR) carbon and oxygen, as well as of ACR oxygen during solar quiet time periods between 1975 to 1977, utilizing both HELIOS spacecraft at distances between ~0.3 and 1 AU. The radial gradient ( G r ≈ 50%/AU) of 9–28.5 MeV ACR oxygen in the inner heliosphere is about three times larger than the one determined between 1 and 10 AU by utilizing the Pioneer 10 measurements. Methods. The chemical composition as well as the energy spectra have been derived by applying the d E ∕d x − E -method. In order to derive these values, special characteristics of the instrument have been taken into account. Results. A good agreement of the GCR energy spectra of carbon and oxygen measured by the HELIOS E6 instrument between 0.3 and 1 AU and the Interplanetary Monitoring Platform (IMP) 8 at 1 AU was found. For ACR oxygen, we determined a radial gradient of about 50%/AU that is three times larger than the one between 7 and 14 AU, indicating a strong change in the inner heliosphere.


Introduction: Dermatofibrosarcoma is a sarcoma of intermediate degree of malignancy with strong local aggressiveness with a low but real metastatic potential. Its breast location is very rare. Observation: It was a 40-year-old woman who has never been pregnant who was followed for a retro-areolar tumor of the ulcerated left breast that had been evolving for more than eight weeks. A mammary cytopract was done which was in favor of a phyllode tumor. We performed a large surgical excision on the patient and the histology of the operative specimen was in favor of a dermatofibrosarcoma of Darier and Ferrand with healthy resection margins. Discussion: The mammary location of Darier and Ferrand syndrome is rare. With early diagnosis an infectious and hemorrhagic complication can be avoided whereas, wide excision improves the prognosis.


In this work, we consider the challenge of delivering high-quality multimedia content to users concentrated in a small physical location, e.g., a sports stadium in which fans may view extra video content on their mobile devices. Because each user experiences a different wireless channel condition, it is difficult to deliver this content efficiently to all users. A hybrid network architecture has been proposed that uses a peer to peer exchange of packets over an assistant network to supplement the primary infrastructure network in this scenario. We describe an implementation of this popular technique which may be used in a variety of network environments and applications. In trials on a wireless networking testbed, using WiMAX as the primary network and WiFi as an assistant network, we find that our implementation can recover up to 92% of packets lost over the primary network.

http://catt.poly.edu/~panwar/publications/Implementation of a Protocol for Cooperative Packet.pdf


Objective: To discuss the concepts of the duty to protect and the associated threat to confidentiality and their impact on practice for Canadian psychiatrists. Method: We review these concepts and provide a synthesis of legal cases impacting psychiatric practice. Conclusion: The onus is on the psychiatrist to make him or herself aware of the current state of the legal obligation with respect to duty to protect. The evolving concept of duty to protect has and will continue to have significant impact on the practice of psychiatry.


The Supreme Court's 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder relied on the "fundamental principle" and "historic tradition" of equal sovereignty to hold one of the Voting Rights Act's key provisions unconstitutional. Yet almost three years after Shelby County, and despite a recent wave of equal sovereignty challenges to major federal programs, the equal sovereignty principle remains largely unexamined. This Article seeks to provide some clarity — both to establish the contours of the equal sovereignty doctrine and to evaluate whether it is a sound rule of constitutional federalism. The principle of equal sovereignty, as initially articulated by courts and subsequently explained by Shelby County, is an invented tradition that courts have used to justify independent determinations about federalism. Equal sovereignty was initially invented to address the constitutional challenges posed by the admission of new states. Conditions on the admission of new states sometimes diverged from then-common understandings about the proper balance between federal and state authority. And courts relied on appeals to equal sovereignty to ward off these challenges and adhere to contemporary rules about the scope of Congress's delegated powers and the spheres in which the states were sovereign. Shelby County similarly used equal sovereignty to justify an independent claim about the states' proper role in the federal system — that the states' dignity entitles them to be viewed and treated as morally well-behaving institutions. Critically analyzing how courts have used the equal sovereignty principle reveals equal sovereignty for what it is — a set of arguments about the states' proper role in the federal system — and allows us to engage with these arguments as such. While some early state admissions cases re- present sensible contemporary efforts to balance competing principles of structure, Shelby County's claim about federalism rests on highly questionable ideas related to state dignity.


A tunable Lyot filter can serve as a spectroscopic device rendering wide-field 2-D pseudospectroscopy of solar structures and follow-up crude reconstruction of a spectral line profile at each pixel within the field of view. We developed a method of inferring of the Doppler shift, the core intensity, the core width, and the core asymmetry of the Hα spectral line observed by the Lyot filter installed on the Dutch Open Telescope (DOT). The spectral characteristics are inferred through the fitting of five intensity samples, separated from each other by 0.35 Å, by a 4-order polynomial, a Gaussian, and a parabola. We use the atlas Hα profile as a reference in estimating deviations of the derived spectral characteristics. The Gaussian is the most preferable means for measurements of the Doppler shift with deviations smaller than 1 km s. When using the 4-order polynomial, deviations are within the interval ±2.5 km s, but it renders comparable deviations of the core intensity and the width as the Gaussian. The deviations are largely insensitive to the shape of the filter transmission, but depend mostly non-linearly on the Doppler shift. Therefore, they do not cancel out if the spectral characteristics are represented by their relative variations. Results can be used as corrections of spectral characteristics extracted from area-averaged Hα profiles acquired by the DOT Lyot filter.


Gas chromatographic method was applied to the study of the fatty acid composition (in Br. melitensis, Br. abortus, Br. suis, and Br. ovis strains. Fatty acid composition was similar in the mentioned brucellae species, except Br. suis No. 1330 significantly differing by this sign. Methyleneoctadecanoic acid content was considerably elevated, and that of octadecenoic -- reduced in brucellae grown on liver agar with the addition of serum and on meat-peptone agar in comparison with brucellae grown on liver agar; apparently this represents one of the mechanisms of the microorganism adaptation to the less favourable conditions of the nutrient medium. Passage of Br. ovis strain through the guinea pig organism led to the appearance of brucellae forming two types of colonies when grown on liver agar with the addition of serum. The fatty acid composition of brucellae forming small transparent colonies was the same as that of the initial culture with the prevalence of methyleneoctadecanoic acid; as to brucellae with larger colonies with irregular margin and nontransparent centre of the colony--octadecenoic acid prevailed in their fatty acid composition, i.e. their composition was similar to such in brucellae of the melitensis and abortus species grown on liver agar.


Objectives of this thesis This thesis has the following objectives: - To study the effects of 'referral bias' and 'casemix and coding issues' on the current Dutch HSMR calculation. - To identify potential adjustments in the estimation of the HSMR to improve its validity as a performance indicator. Outline of this thesis The thesis starts with investigating the theoretical method underlying the calculation of the HSMR, the so-called indirect standardisation method. In chapter 2, the indirect standardisation method is compared with the direct standardisation method. Also, pitfalls of HSMR resulting from the indirect standardisation method are discussed, and recommendations are given to reduce the shortcomings of this method. Subsequently, the thesis investigates potential modifications of the currently used model for HSMR calculation. To adjust for casemix differences between hospitals, parameters of comorbidities are included in the model underlying the HSMR calculation. In chapter 3, the commonly used Charlson comorbidity measure is compared with the Elixhauser comorbidity measure. Discriminative performance of the casemix correction models based on these two comorbidity measures is compared and their effects on the HSMRs of individual hospitals are explored. The Dutch HSMR is currently based on in-hospital mortality. However, discharge patterns, average length of hospital stay, and transfers all affect inhospital mortality. In chapter 4, effects of the inclusion of post-discharge mortality on HSMRs are compared with those of in-hospital mortality. In the final part of the thesis we zoom in onto the mortality ratios of specific patient populations, rather than that of an entire hospital population. In chapter 5, the focus is on SMRs of specific diagnosis groups requiring specialised care offered by specialised hospitals. The SMRs of specialised and nonspecialised hospitals are compared and the influence of referral patterns on SMRs is investigated. Current HSMR calculation is based on administrative databases and said to lack important clinical predictors. In chapter 6, the casemix adjustment model for cardiac surgery patients, based on an administrative database, is compared with the validated clinical EuroSCORE prediction model, based on a clinical database. Also influences of the two models on eventual SMRs are compared. Finally, in chapter 7, the results and implications of this thesis are summarised and discussed together with insights and recommendations to improve the validity and utility of HSMRs.


This paper reviews a selected sample of 24 doctoral dissertations in language assessment (broadly defined), completed between 2006 and 2011 in Canadian universities. These dissertations fall into five thematic categories: 1) reliability, validity and factors affecting test performance; 2) washback (impact) and ethics; 3) raters, rating and rating scales; 4) classroom-based research: teaching, learning and assessment; and 5) vocabulary learning, lexical proficiency and lexical richness. The themes were categorized according to the International Language Testing Association (ILTA) bibliographical categorization index. We identify trends such as the methodological strength of complex mixed methods research design, which enhances the validity of the research findings: 16 (67%) took a pragmatic (rather than paradigmatic) approach in their use of mixed methods, with four (17%) opting for multi-method quantitative approaches and four (17%) for qualitative. We also discuss the depth and breadth of these dissertations and situate their scholarly contributions within Canadian and international research on language assessment.


Haemonchus
contortus is a blood-sucking abomasal helminth of small
ruminants responsible for major economic losses to small farmers worldwide.
Widespread resistance to synthetic anthelminthics has stimulated a need for
alternative strategies of parasite control, among which is the use of medicinal
plants with natural anthelminthic properties. This study assessed in vitro the efficacy of infused and macerated aqueous extract as well ethanolic extract
of Moringa oleifera against fresh
eggs, embryonated eggs, L1 and L2 larvae of H. contortus. For this purpose, five different
concentrations (0.625, 1.25, 2.5, 3.75 and 5 mg/ml) were prepared from dry
extracts via serial dilutions with distilled water. Fresh eggs obtained from
artificially infected goat feces were exposed to these different concentrations
for 48 hours, while embryonated eggs and larvae were exposed for 6 and 24 hours
respectively. Distilled water and 1.5% DMSO were used as negative control. The
results were expressed in terms of mean inhibition percentage of egg embryonation,
mean inhibition percentage of egg hatch and mean percentage of larval
mortality. An overview of results revealed that ethanolic leaf extract of M. oleifera was most efficient on eggs
by inhibiting 60.3% ± 8.2% and 92.8% ±
6.2% eggs embryonation at 3.75 and 5 mg/ml respectively with a significant
difference (P 0.05), which contributed to obtaining the lowest LC50 value of 0.985 mg/ml. This extract also inhibited 99% ± 2% egg hatching of H. contortus at 5 mg/ml with an LC50 value of 1.7 mg/ml. Concerning activity on larvae, the ethanolic extract was
also most potent against them by inducing 98.8% ± 2.5% and 100% ± 0% mortality
of L1 and L2 larvae at 5 mg/ml respectively. Infused
aqueous extract was more efficient on eggs than on larvae with an IC50 value less than 2 mg/ml and an LC50 value more than 3.5
mg/ml. Macerated aqueous extract showed good activity against the four
developmental stages with LC50 values ranging from 2.08 mg/ml for L2 larvae to 2.92 mg/ml for L1 larvae and 2.37 to 2.52 mg/ml for
embryonated and fresh eggs respectively. The current study showed that all
three extracts of M. oleifera tested
possessed potential ovicidal and larvicidal activities against H. contortus. However, further in vivo studies are necessary to
validate the anthelminthic property of this plant.


We consider an infinite-allele Markov branching process (IAMBP). Our main focus is the frequency spectrum of this process, that is, the proportion of alleles having a given number of copies at a specified time point. We derive the variance of the frequency spectrum, which is useful for interval estimation and hypothesis testing for process parameters. In addition, for a class of special IAMBP with birth and death offspring distribution, we show that the mean of its limiting frequency spectrum has an explicit form in terms of the hypergeometric function. We also derive an asymptotic expression for convergence rate to the limit. Simulations are used to illustrate the results for the birth and death process.


Lentil is a nutritious food and one of the world's oldest domesticated legumes. The present studyevaluatedthe nature and magnitude of variability, heritability, genetic advance and association among the yield and yield contributing traits in 24 lentils (Lens culinaris M.) genotypes. From the 13 traits considered, phenotypic coefficients of variation (PCV) were found higher than genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) which indicates less effect of the environment for the expression of traits studied. Seed weight per plants demonstrated the highest PCV and GCV (60.26 & 59.87) followed by number of seeds per plant (49.14 & 48.97) and number of pods per plant (48.58 & 47.95, respectively). Most of the traits showed high heritability as days to maturity exhibited the highest heritability (99.96%) followed by number of seeds per plant (99.33%). Genetic advance as percent of mean was higher for seed weight per plant (122.58%) and number of seeds per plant (100.56%). Among the traits, number of seeds per plant (0.95& 0.94) and number of pods per plant (0.94 & 0.92) showed positive and significant correlation with seed weight per plant at both phenotypic and genotypic correlation. Consequently, path analysis revealed positive and direct effect of number of pods per plant (0.310&372) and number of seeds per plant (0.770&0.659) on seed weight per plant in both genotypic and phenotypic level, respectively.  Based on the genetic analysis of 13 characters, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per plant,1000-seed weight and seed weight per plant were found as the most superior traits can be used in hybridization program for the development of high yielding lentil genotypes.
Progressive Agriculture 32 (2): 107-116, 2021


The primate corticobasal ganglia circuits are understood to be segregated into parallel anatomically and functionally distinct loops. Anatomical and physiological studies in macaque monkeys are summarized as showing that an oculomotor loop begins with projections from the frontal eye fields (FEF) to the caudate nucleus, and a motor loop begins with projections from the primary motor cortex (M1) to the putamen. However, recent functional and structural neuroimaging studies of the human corticostriatal system report evidence inconsistent with this organization. To obtain conclusive evidence, we directly compared the pattern of connectivity between cortical motor areas and the striatum in humans and macaques in vivo using probabilistic diffusion tractography. In macaques we found that FEF is connected with the head of the caudate and anterior putamen, and M1 is connected with more posterior sections of the caudate and putamen, corroborating neuroanatomical tract tracing findings. However, in humans FEF and M1 are connected to largely overlapping portions of posterior putamen and only a small portion of the caudate. These results demonstrate that the corticobasal connectivity for the oculomotor and primary motor loop is not entirely segregated for primates at a macroscopic level and that the description of the anatomical connectivity of corticostriatal motor systems in humans does not parallel that of macaques, perhaps because of an expansion of prefrontal projections to striatum in humans.


Hormone replacement therapy in menopausal women offers many potential health benefits. Only 15% of patients who are eligible for therapy continue treatment past 3 months. Fear and misinformation prevent them from initiating therapy, and side effects prompt them to discontinue taking their medication. This article reviews menopause and hormone replacement with emphasis on the risks, benefits, and hazards of therapy. New options for treatment are explored.


Background The rating of perceived exertion (RPE) is correlated with physiological variables. The purpose of this study was to assess the validity of using the Borg CR-10 scale and velocity to predict muscle fatigue assessed by surface electromyography during single joint resistance exercises. Methods Fifteen healthy males underwent different fatigue levels of unilateral elbow flexion (EF) and knee extension (KE), consisting of low, medium, and high volumes at 65% of their one-repetition maximum. The RPEs, spectral fatigue index (SFI), and mean velocity of the experimental exercises were assessed throughout the trials. Results Significant differences in overall RPE (p < 0.001) and average SFI (p < 0.001) were observed between the conditions in both exercises. Significant changes in RPE and SFI (p < 0.001) were observed throughout the EF, whereas a SFI increase (p < 0.001) was only observed at the end point of KE. Multiple regression analyses revealed two significant models (p < 0.001) for the prediction of muscle fatigue during EF (R2 = 0.552) and KE (R2 = 0.377). Conclusions Muscle fatigue resulted in similar increases in perceptual responses, demonstrating that RPE is useful for assessing fatigue when resistance exercise is performed. However, velocity changes may not reflect muscle fatigue correctly when exercise is no longer performed in an explosive manner. We recommend combining RPE responses with velocity changes to comprehensively assess muscle fatigue during clinical and sports situations.


There are a million deaths by suicide every year and by 2020 it is expected to be 1.53 million. The global burden of disease by suicide is also expected to increase from 1.8% to 2.4% signifying that suicide is a major public health problem. Around 60% of suicides occur in Asia. Suicide is a complex human behaviour resulting from a maze of biological, psychological, socio cultural and environmental risk and protective factors that interact intricately. The resulting behaviour varies in patterns and the responses it elicits in different countries and regions. In developed countries, the male to female ratio for suicide is between 2 and 4 to 1. Asian countries, show much lower male to female ratio. Mental disorders occupy a premier position in the matrix of causation of suicide, however in developing countries like China and India, social and environmental factors appear more significant. Exposure to violence and Intimate partner violence is also strongly linked to suicide. Worldwide, suicide by ingestion of pesticides is the commonest method accounting for 30% of suicides. It is more so in rural areas of the developing world. Hence, restriction of access to pesticide through safer individual and community storage and stopping sales of more toxic preparations has the potential to reduce suicide. A 10% reduction in pesticide suicide would result in 30 000 lives saved. Several developed countries have established national suicide prevention programmes, but their effectiveness has not been conclusively proven. The enormity of the problem needs a global movement towards significant reduction of suicides. Suicide prevention should not be viewed as a traditional exercise in health sector but as a social objective.


SUMMARY
We introduce BRAT-BW, a fast, accurate and memory-efficient tool that maps bisulfite-treated short reads (BS-seq) to a reference genome using the FM-index (Burrows-Wheeler transform). BRAT-BW is significantly more memory efficient and faster on longer reads than current state-of-the-art tools for BS-seq data, without compromising on accuracy. BRAT-BW is a part of a software suite for genome-wide single base-resolution methylation data analysis that supports single and paired-end reads and includes a tool for estimation of methylation level at each cytosine.

AVAILABILITY
The software is available in the public domain at http://compbio.cs.ucr.edu/brat/.


We propose a generalization of the Wasserstein distance of order 1 to the quantum states of $n$ qudits. The proposal recovers the Hamming distance for the vectors of the canonical basis, and more generally the classical Wasserstein distance for quantum states diagonal in the canonical basis. The proposed distance is invariant with respect to permutations of the qudits and unitary operations acting on one qudit and is additive with respect to the tensor product. Our main result is a continuity bound for the von Neumann entropy with respect to the proposed distance, which significantly strengthens the best continuity bound with respect to the trace distance. We also propose a generalization of the Lipschitz constant to quantum observables. The notion of quantum Lipschitz constant allows us to compute the proposed distance with a semidefinite program. We prove a quantum version of Marton's transportation inequality and a quantum Gaussian concentration inequality for the spectrum of quantum Lipschitz observables. Moreover, we derive bounds on the contraction coefficients of shallow quantum circuits and of the tensor product of one-qudit quantum channels with respect to the proposed distance. We discuss other possible applications in quantum machine learning, quantum Shannon theory, and quantum many-body systems.


The recovery of ancient DNA from preserved human remains provides a unique opportunity to directly study the impact of past events on prehistoric populations. The past event which is of interest to this thesis is the development of agriculture in Europe, also termed the 'Neolithic Revolution'. This event resulted in the transition from a hunter-gatherer to agriculturist lifestyle. The adoption of farming altered many aspects of human culture, including how societies are structured, where we obtain our food from and which diseases burden human populations. This thesis aimed to assess how the arrival of farming in Europe influenced the population structure and health of both prehistoric and modern human populations through the analysis of ancient genetic data. As human remains are a valuable resource, it was also of interest to evaluate the methods used to recover degraded genetic material from preserved remains. The affect of common sampling techniques on the recovery of DNA from skeletal remains was assessed by quantifying mitochondrial (mt) DNA in ancient human and bovid samples (n=42). The key finding is that drilling of bone and teeth under standard sampling conditions can reduce DNA amounts by over five orders of magnitude. Also, it was shown that current approaches do not sample the most DNA rich tissues (the cementum layers of tooth roots) and have failed to show where DNA survives accurately and how it degrades over time. The results promote a standardised approach to the genetic analysis of human remains. To investigate whether a single, continuous population has existed in Central Europe since the Early Neolithic until today, a dataset of ancient mtDNA from Early Neolithic and Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age cultures from Central Europe was compiled (n=108). Population continuity from the introduction of agriculture in the Early Neolithic until today was found to be an unlikely model of demographic history, as indicated by the results from population genetic and coalescent analyses of the ancient mtDNA, which was compared to extant populations from the same region. Internal population changes in Europe between the Early Neolithic and Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age appear to have contributed substantially to the population structure of extant Central Europeans, as all the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age cultures examined (Bell Beakers, Corded Ware or Unetice) were found to be more likely ancestors of modern Central Europeans than either of the Early Neolithic cultures (LBK and Rossen) investigated. Haplogroup distributions suggest that Palaeolithic mtDNA haplogroups which were infrequent in the Early Neolithic, such as haplogroups H and U, became more frequent during the Late Neolithic. These findings alter the traditional view of which past settlement events in Europe have contributed to the current genetic structure of the continent and demonstrate that past events which are not associated with major climatic or economic changes in human history, such as internal migrations in Europe during the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age, can also substantially alter population structure. Ancient pathogen DNA was used to explore how farming affected the health of prehistoric humans. This required the identification of a genetically preserved source of humanassociated microbiota. Dental calculus samples recovered from human remains, which dated between the Neolithic to Medieval period, were found to contain ancient oral microbial DNA. Preserved microbial DNA was extracted from calculus samples (n=28) and used to create PCR amplicon libraries of the 16S rDNA gene. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the diversity of oral microbiota in early agriculturists was significantly higher than that found in modern Europeans. During the early stages of agriculture there was a dominance of bacteria involved in periodontal disease. This suggests periodontal disease was an early consequence of an agricultural diet, which was high in carbohydrates and low in processed sugar and grain. In contrast, modern Europeans have a restricted suite of bacteria, mainly associated with tooth decay. The current dominance of decay associated taxa may be because of the introduction of refined sugar and grain to the diet which occurred during the Industrial Revolution (150-200 years ago). The results highlight the impact of changes in human ecology to the co-evolved mutualism between humans and their microbiota. By using three disparate approaches to research, this thesis has provided original insights into the lives of prehistoric humans. The results have demonstrated that accompanying the early stages of agriculture, there were changes in population structure and the presence of bacteria associated with oral diseases. The application of ancient DNA techniques to examine dental calculus, enabled for the first time, the direct analysis of the past state of human associated microbiota, which will have multiple implications for the study of prehistoric human lifestyle. This thesis also contributed more generally to the field of ancient DNA by highlighting that commonly used sampling techniques were detrimental to the recovery of DNA from skeletal remains. By combining three different approaches to ancient DNA research, this thesis has provided original insights into the lives of prehistoric humans, which advances the fields of archaeology, anthropology, modern and ancient population genetics, forensics and medical research.


A 39-year-old woman developed generalised paralysis, reversible organic brain syndrome, and cardiac dysrhythmias after 15 years of laxative abuse. Under continuous and cautious administration of potassium the cardiac rhythm became normal within four days and two days later the paralysis and organic brain syndrome almost disappeared. The cause of the psychiatric symptoms is thought to be cerebral potassium deficiency and an abnormal sodium/potassium equilibrium. Other clinical signs and symptoms due to extreme potassium depletion are presented. The importance of Na+/K+-activated membrane ATP-ase in myocardium and CNS is discussed.


: Stem cell research is a very fascinating and promising field that provides hopes to treat many disease. It is evident that the stem cell can be able to renew, replicate and can be differentiate itself into 200 cell types. The very first isolation technique of embryonic stem cells was carried out by James Thomson and his team at the university of Wisconsin.(Kaufman, D.S. et al., 1999; Barclay, E et al., 2009.) Stem cell research is very useful in understanding the development of human organ and helps in treating many diseases such as diabetes, spinal cord, Parkinson's disease and Myocardial infarction (Committee on the Biological and Biomedical Applications of Stem Cell Research et al., 2002). The embryonic stem cell research is highly controversial because they are derived from blastocyst. To date, the human embryonic stem cells are derived from In vitro fertilisation. (Guido de Wert et al., 2003)A major goal in this area review is to identify potential new sources for the isolation of progenitor cells or stem cells, without raising the ethical issues involved in embryonic stem cell research. Amniotic fluid cells (AFC) are widely used in routine Prenatal genetic testing , and it is evident that these AFC can be a potent source of pluripotent stem cell in the stem cell research (Andrea-RomanaPrusa et al., 2002)


The impact of ecological and climatological factors on individual organisms over time and space is inherently complex and creates substantial uncertainty about how climate change will influence the global biosphere. To understand some of this complexity, we investigated the factors influencing individual growth of Chamaecyparis thyoides over 61 years within 18 populations across the ca 1500 km and 11 degrees of latitude. We then applied a vulnerability framework to understand how the variability of tree growth response to climate varies between populations and regions across our network. Surprisingly, we found the growth of trees in the central portion of our network responded more synchronously to warming and drought than trees in the southern end of our network, suggesting greater vulnerability in the central populations with continued warming. Our analyses and framework approach revealed substantial complexity in growth responses to climate within and between populations. We found potential resiliency within all populations, but higher inter-population than intra-population variability in response to climate. We found that latitude was an important proxy for the growth response to temperatures during the non-growing season and spring, but that ecosystem structure can modify the growth response and vulnerability to drought during the summer. The range of growth responses to warming is greater in the southern populations than in more northernly populations. This asymmetrical distribution of growth response across our study network provides evidence for a kind of ecological hysteresis, more southerly populations could be more resilient with warming. Despite the fact that this species primarily lives in wetlands, we found drought stress to be an important constraint on growth. Our study and analyses help to explain the disparities between forecasts of how climatic change might impact tree species and ecosystems over space.


SUMMARY

A new technique designed for generating multiple solutions to seismic tomography problems using gradient based inversion is presented. The basic principle is to exploit information gained from previous solutions to help drive the search for new models. This is achieved by adding a feedback or evolution term to the objective function that creates a local maximum at each point in parameter space occupied by the previously computed models. The advantage of this approach is that it only needs to produce a relatively small ensemble of solutions, since each model will substantially differ from all others to the extent permitted by the data. Common features present across the ensemble are, therefore, likely to be well constrained. A synthetic test using surface wave traveltimes and a highly irregular distribution of sources and receivers shows that a range of different velocity models are produced by the new technique. These models tend to be similar in regions of good path coverage, but can differ substantially elsewhere. A simple measure of the variation across the solution ensemble, given by one standard deviation of the velocity at each point, accurately reflects the robustness of the average solution model. Comparison with a standard bootstrap inversion method unequivocally shows that the new approach is superior in the presence of inhomogeneous data coverage that gives rise to under or mixed-determined inverse problems. Estimates of posterior covariance from linear theory correlate more closely with the dynamic objective function results, but require accurate knowledge of a priori model uncertainty. Application of the new method to traveltimes derived from long-term cross-correlations of ambient noise contained in passive seismic data recorded in the Australian region demonstrates its effectiveness in practice, with results well corroborated by prior information. The dynamic objective function scheme has several drawbacks, including a somewhat arbitrary choice for the shape of the evolution term, and no guarantee of a thorough exploration of parameter space. On the other hand, it is tolerant of non-linearity in the inverse problem, is relatively straightforward to implement, and appears to work well in practice. For many applications, it may be a useful addition to the suite of synthetic resolution tests that are commonly used.


The comet assay is an excellent and widely applied method for investigating genotoxicity of engineered nanomaterials (NMs). A great challenge with NMs is interference between the NM and the test assay, leading to a risk of obtaining unreliable results. Here, we describe both the standard alkaline version of the comet assay in vitro and the modified version that allows detection of oxidized DNA lesions by applying lesion-specific endonucleases (e.g. formamidopyrimidine DNA glycosylase or endonuclease III). We highlight critical points that need to be taken into consideration when assessing NM genotoxicity, as well as basic methodological considerations, such as the importance of carrying out physico–chemical characterization of the NMs and investigating uptake and cytotoxicity. Also, experimental design—including treatment conditions, cell number, cell culture plate format and volume of treatment medium on the plate—is crucial and can have an impact on results, especially when testing NMs. Toxicity of NMs depends greatly upon physio–chemical properties that change depending on the environment. To facilitate testing of numerous NMs with distinct modifications, the high-throughput miniaturized version of the Comet assay is essential. Protocols are provided for both standard 2-gel system and 12-gel format slides.


Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a major virulence determinant of the human bacterial pathogen Haemophilus influenzae. A characteristic feature of H. influenzae LPS is the extensive intra- and inter-strain heterogeneity of glycoform structure which is key to the role of the molecule in both commensal and disease-causing behaviour of the bacterium. The chemical composition of non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) LPS is highly diverse. It contains a number of different monosaccharides (Neu5Ac, L-glycero-D-manno heptose, D-glycero -D-manno heptose, Kdo, D-Glc, D-Gal, D-GlcNAc, D-GalNAc) and non-carbohydrate substituents. Prominent non-carbohydrate components are O-acetyl groups, glycine and phosphates. We now know that sialic acid (N-acetylneuraminic acid or Neu5Ac) and certain oligosaccharide extensions are important in the pathogenesis of NTHi; however, the biological implications for many of the various features are still unknown. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry in combination with separation techniques like CE and HPLC is an indispensable tool in profiling glycoform populations in heterogeneous LPS samples. Mass spectrometry is characterized by its extreme sensitivity. Trace amounts of glycoforms expressing important virulence determinants can be detected and characterized on minute amounts of material. The present review focuses on LPS structures and mass spectrometric methods which enable us to profile these in complex mixtures.


We study the competition between Kondo physics and indirect exchange on monolayer black phos-phorous using a realistic description of the band structure in combination with the density matrixrenormalization group (DMRG) method. The Hamiltonian is reduced to a one-dimensional problemvia an exact canonical transformation that makes it amenable to DMRG calculations, yielding exactresults that fully incorporate the many-body physics. We find that a perturbative description of theproblem is not appropriate and cannot account for the slow decay of the correlations and the completelack of ferromagnetism. In addition, at some particular distances, the impurities decouple formingtheir own independent Kondo states. This can be predicted from the nodes of the Lindhard function.Our results indicate a possible route toward realizing dilute anti-ferromagnetism in phosphorene. Received: 19 September 2017,  Accepted: 12 October 2017;  Edited by: K. Hallberg;  DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4279/PIP.090008 Cite as: A Allerdt, A E Feiguin, Papers in Physics 9, 090008 (2017) This paper, by A Allerdt, A E Feiguin , is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 .


Mass spectrometry (MS) has become an indispensable tool for analyzing post translational modifications of proteins, including N-glycosylated molecules. Because most glycosylation sites carry a multitude of glycans, referred to as "glycoforms," the purpose of an N-glycosylation analysis is glycoform profiling and glycosylation site mapping. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) has unique characteristics that are suited for the sensitive analysis of N-glycosylated products. However, the analysis is often hampered by the inherent physico-chemical properties of N-glycans. Glycans are highly hydrophilic in nature, and therefore tend to show low ion yields in both positive- and negative-ion modes. The labile nature and complicated branched structures involving various linkage isomers make structural characterization difficult. This review focuses on MALDI-MS-based approaches for enhancing analytical performance in N-glycosylation research. In particular, the following three topics are emphasized: (1) Labeling for enhancing the ion yields of glycans and glycopeptides, (2) Negative-ion fragmentation for less ambiguous elucidation of the branched structure of N-glycans, (3) Derivatization for the stabilization and linkage isomer discrimination of sialic acid residues.


It has been shown in numerous situations that sharing information between the companies leads to improved performance of the supply chain. We study a positive lead time periodic-review inventory system of a retailer facing stochastic demand from his customer and stochastic limited supply capacity of the manufacturer supplying the products to him. The consequence of stochastic supply capacity is that the orders might not be delivered in full, and the exact size of the replenishment might not be known to the retailer. The manufacturer is willing to share the so-called advance supply information (ASI) about the actual replenishment of the retailer's pipeline order with the retailer. ASI is provided at a certain time after the orders have been placed and the retailer can now use this information to decrease the uncertainty of the supply, and thus improve its inventory policy. For this model, we develop a dynamic programming formulation, and characterize the optimal ordering policy as a state-dependent base-stock policy. In addition, we show some properties of the base-stock level. While the optimal policy is highly complex, we obtain some additional insights by comparing it to the state-dependent myopic inventory policy. We conduct the numerical analysis to estimate the in uence of the system parameters on the value of ASI. While we show that the interaction between the parameters is relatively complex, the general insight is that due to increasing marginal returns, the majority of the benets are gained only in the case of full, or close to full, ASI visibility. DOI: 10.15458/85451.28


The International Pharmaceutical Federation Education Initiative (FIPEd) launched the 2013 FIPEd Global Education Report (available at: www.fip.org/educationreports) in September 2013. This is the first publication of its kind to provide a baseline on the current status and transformation of pharmacy and pharmaceutical science education worldwide.

A foundation of scientific and professional education and training is a key factor for pharmacists to develop the capability to improve therapeutic outcomes, enhance patients' safety and quality of life and help people to stay healthy, as well as advance science and practice. For pharmacy, contemporary forms of initial education and training are vital for the profession to meet the increasingly complex pharmaceutical and public health care demands of populations. The 2013 FIPEd Global Education Report was conducted using surveys in English, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, and Spanish. This resulted in education and workforce data for 109 countries and territories representing around 175,000 pharmacy students and 2,500 education institutions worldwide. Data indicate that education, in both capacity and infrastructure, varies considerably between countries and World Health Organization (WHO) regions, and generally correlates with a country's population size and economic development indicators. Those countries and territories with lower economic indicators tend to have relatively lower educational capacity and pharmacist production. African countries tend to have lower educational capacity and supply pipelines for pharmacists. This has implications for future parity for access to medicines and medicines expertise. There needs to be an ongoing effort to ensure capacity building linked with initial education and training to meet the health needs of populations. Initial education is key in the development of the health care workforce for the future; better science, better practice, and better health care are all linked to the responsible use of medicines.

The proportion of the female undergraduate population is a majority globally, with some regions having an average female pharmacy student enrolment of more than 70%. The relative costs of pharmacy and pharmaceutical education also varies across countries and territories. Fourteen countries in this sample reported no direct student tuition fees (including Afghanistan, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey and Uruguay). For those countries in the sample that do charge a direct tuition fee (for domestic students in public universities) the correlation of direct tuition fee payments with gross national income (per capita) is significant. Similarly with the total student costs (ie, direct tuition fee plus public capitation contribution) there are strong positive correlations with gross national income. There is an associated variation in the relative contributions of direct (individual) and public contributions for initial undergraduate education in the higher education sectors.

Respondents provided high-level information on quality assurance. Information was sought to characterize whether quality assurance and accreditation was in place within the country and the accrediting body responsible. Sixteen percent of respondents claimed to have no accreditation mechanisms.

Of the 64 countries and territories who supplied data in this section, 38 (59%) indicated the existence of a national core curriculum or syllabus for initial education. Forty-seven countries and territories provided data on the proportion of time spent on science-based laboratory learning in the core curriculum, which ranged from 6% to 70%, with a sample mean of around 36% (one third) of curriculum time spent on laboratory-based learning.

Degree titles and lengths vary, which suggests differences in content and education provision models between countries and regions. This variance suggests that additional research is needed to examine similarities and differences in the educational outcomes associated with differing degree titles and lengths.

The 14 case studies included in the report provide an overview of the transformation that is occurring in pharmacy and pharmaceutical science education globally. Fourteen countries, Chile, Great Britain, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Namibia, Philippines, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE – Abu Dhabi, USA and Zimbabwe, were purposively sampled based on existing knowledge and asked a series of questions about pharmacy education, relating to current drivers, trends, innovations, transformation and links with national strategy for health care services. The case studies provide an overview of the transformation that is occurring in pharmacy and pharmaceutical science education globally. Notably, there is a shift to patient-centered, team-based practice and to clinically focused, integrated curricula with increasing opportunities for patient and practice-centered and interprofessional learning. Nonetheless, there is still a shortage of pharmacist academics and of clinical preceptors worldwide.

The understanding of education and the factors that influence it are essential for human resource planning and for achieving universal access to medicines (Figure 1). We need to provide quality education that meets national and global standards and engage in a socially accountable manner to serve the needs of individual patients and society as a whole. Moreover, there needs to be a strong alignment between the outcomes of pharmacy education and the overall health needs of nations.

Figure 1.

Needs-based professional educational model.


The problem under investigation is violence experienced in schools by students with mental disorders during primary and secondary education. The article is based on an analysis of interviews conducted among 20 adults with mental disorders aged 23-53. It discusses the types of violent behaviours these people encountered in the school environment and focuses on those who committed this violence, namely peers and adults. The method applied was the qualitative in-depth interview with elements of biographical narrative. The basic findings are that regardless of the stage of education, there are students with mental disorders who are subjected to violence in the school environment. The research also shows that schools, and especially teachers, lack up to date knowledge on how to work in the regular classroom with children that have mental disorders. The conclusions are that schools need to keep pace with policy changes and teachers require support. Disability studies need to be introduced into the curriculum of teacher education.


Syagrus romanzoffiana is a palm tree native and widely distributed of South America. The present study investigated the longevity and germination of the buried seeds of this species in an experimental seed bank. Laboratory germination and viability tests were performed for comparison with field results. Pyrenes (seeds enclosed by the endocarp) were buried in a forest fragment edge in July (dry season) in July 2012 and exhumed monthly during one year, for the assessment of water content and percentage of germinated and viable seeds. Germination tests were conducted in a Mangelsdorf-type germinator at 30°C under constant light and the viability was assessed by the tetrazolium test. An additional sample of pyrenes was buried to evaluate the percentage of seedling emergence and survival. Climatic and soil moisture data were recorded. In the laboratory, the pyrenes were stored for one year in a temperature-controlled room at 20oC and 75% (±10%) relative air humidity to assess changes in the percentage of germination and viability over time. In the field, a reduction in seed viability was observed over the study period, with a total loss of viability of non-germinated seeds at seven months after burial. The maximum germination (close to 26%) was observed in the samples that were exhumed between five and seven months after burial. In the field, seedling emergence did not exceed 10% and seedling mortality was not observed. The percentages of germination and of viable seeds decreased both in burial and stored seeds. The stored seeds maintained viability at up to six months, with marked reduction thereafter. After the germination tests (four months) in the laboratory, all of the remaining seeds were nonviable. The ecological, physiological and reproductive characteristics of the species are discussed, and we concluded that S. romanzoffiana seeds have short longevity after imbibition, and low potential for soil seed bank formation.


The Act that established the Greater London Authority (GLA) incorporated many of New Labour's aspirations for modern governance. Among those aspirations was the notion of policy integration, or 'joining up'. The Mayor of Greater London was required to develop a number of strategies, broadly in the planning and environmental policy domains, and to ensure that those strategies meshed into a coherent overall strategy for promoting London's economic, social and environmental well-being. How would this work in practice, given the need for coordination between the GLA and a number of related functional bodies, and given the political imperative for the GLA to make an impact quickly? Through our analysis of the strategy development and integration efforts of the GLA in its first nine months, we have gleaned new insights into the highly complex and difficult process of policy integration. We argue that the high aspirations of the Act for policy integration have not been met, policy integration instead being narrowly interpreted as the coordination of strategies to the Mayor's political agenda. Finally,we reflect on the likelihood of the GLA, as currently constituted, evolving to meet the functional requirement of policy integration.


Video caption refers to generating a descriptive sentence for a specific short video clip automatically, which has achieved remarkable success recently. However, most of the existing methods focus more on visual information while ignoring the synchronized audio cues. We propose three multimodal deep fusion strategies to maximize the benefits of visual-audio resonance information. The first one explores the impact on cross-modalities feature fusion from low to high order. The second establishes the visual-audio short-term dependency by sharing weights of corresponding front-end networks. The third extends the temporal dependency to long-term through sharing multimodal memory across visual and audio modalities. Extensive experiments have validated the effectiveness of our three cross-modalities fusion strategies on two benchmark datasets, including Microsoft Research Video to Text (MSRVTT) and Microsoft Video Description (MSVD). It is worth mentioning that sharing weight can coordinate visual- audio feature fusion effectively and achieve the state-of-art performance on both BELU and METEOR metrics. Furthermore, we first propose a dynamic multimodal feature fusion framework to deal with the part modalities missing case. Experimental results demonstrate that even in the audio absence mode, we can still obtain comparable results with the aid of the additional audio modality inference module.


One of the widely researched data mining problem in the text domains is Clustering. Classification, document organization, visualization, indexing and collaborative filtering are some of the various applications of this problem. Large amount of information present within documents is in the form of text. We cannot always retrieve data in a refined text format. It also contains a lot of Side Information, int the form of different links in the document, user-access behaviour, document provenance information from web - logs or other non-textual attributes. Large amount of information may be contained in these attributes for clustering purposes. To estimate the relative information is very difficult and cumbersome in most of the cases, particularly when some of information is noisy data. In such situation, integrating this side information into mining process can be risky, because it might result in either:1. Addition of noise into the data2. Improvement of quality of data mining process An ethical way is needed for performing the data mining process, and for maximizing the advantages of the use of this available side information. We are proposing the use of K-means algorithm for improved and efficient clustering of the information in this paper.


This paper examines recent initiatives to manage 'cross-cutting' issues. Issues such as drugs, homelessness and unemployment cut across government departments and levels of government. Such intractable cross-cutting issues, which are government priorities,require management actions which go beyond traditional approaches such as interdepartmental committees if they are to be tackled effectively. Joined up solutions to the problems need to be found.
In this study, the national and international literature on the management of cross-cutting issues is reviewed, in order to identify good practice examples. Also, a small number of case studies of the management of cross-cutting issues – covering drugs, poverty, civil service management change, and homelessness – are investigated. Lessons are drawn from these experiences and ways of progressing the management of cross-cutting issues identified. The paper is divided into five main parts. Following the Introduction, in Chapter 2 the international and Irish policy context is addressed. In Chapter 3, the
specific role of Strategic Results Areas in developing a strategic framework for crosscutting issues is explored. Chapter 4 investigates the main structures and processes used to facilitate the management of cross-cutting issues. In Chapter 5, the role of cross-cutting teams is examined in some detail. Finally, in Chapter 6, the lessons learned are summarised. The focus is on actions needed at both national and local levels in order to ensure co-ordinated service provision.
Frameworks and processes for managing cross-cutting issues Chapters 2 to 4 of the paper look at frameworks and processes which have been put in place internationally and in Ireland for the management of cross-cutting issues. The
emphasis is on what has been referred to as 'joined up solutions for joined up problems.'Developing a shared vision across participants is important. In this context, the development and tracking of Strategic Results Areas (SRAs) or their equivalent is important. Ensuring that SRAs are stepped down into actionable statements by the agencies involved is vital to their success. Encouraging political/administrative dialogue and commitment to seeing the vision through to reality is a key task – managing what New Zealand officials refer to as the 'purple zone' of conversation between ministers operating
in the policy (blue) zone and officials operating in the administration (red) zone. A common vision must be balanced against the organisation and individual goals of participants. Recognition of self-interest is important in the process of developing common goals and trust.
Co-ordinating instruments are available to facilitate co-operation and co-ordination. In particular, regulatory instruments (facilitating entry or setting up barriers to entry),financial instruments (such as capital investments, tax reliefs) and communicative instruments (the terms used to formulate issues or problems) are available to steer initiatives. Financial incentives can be particularly influential. Pilot funding to encourage joint working can usefully generate innovative approaches. With regard to mainstream
funding, issues such as whether or not funding is once-off, what vote it is allocated through, and how it can be accessed must be clear. Joint budgets may be needed in some circumstances.
The type of co-ordinating structures needed vary depending on the complexity of the problem. At the political level, cabinet committees and/or junior ministers with particular cross-cutting responsibilities are common approaches used to drive initiatives. At the administrative level, super-ministries, inter-departmental task forces and cross-cutting teams are the main structures used nationally. At the implementation level, various models (not necessarily mutually exclusive) are available: first stop shops; co-location of services;administrative integration; and programme integration. A strong role for the centre of government is necessary in addressing particularly intractable issues of government concern. Here, the centre sets priorities, establishes the policy framework, engages in information gathering and analysis and monitors impacts.
An important catalyst for getting things done is the taking of a user perspective on issues.
Where services are evaluated and audited from a user point of view, this helps to prevent organisations from being inward looking. A user perspective can help generate a culture of co-operation and co-ordination with regard to service delivery.
Using cross-cutting teams Chapter 5 explores the role of cross-cutting teams, a new approach to the management of cross-cutting issues. They differ from traditional approaches such as inter-departmental committees or task forces. Teams are drawn, but operationally detached, from the constituent organisations. Co-ordination is provided by a minister/minister of state or
cabinet committee. They are cross-functional in their approach to change, cutting across existing vertical hierarchies.
Clarifying purpose and accountabilities is an important early task for cross-cutting teams.Building trust and respect, within the team and with the implementing agencies, is important in furthering an agreed agenda for action. Time needs to be taken early on to clarify who does what and who is responsible for what. Teams need to establish effective ground rules for behaviour. They also need to set and monitor interim milestones to check progress.
Assigning the right people to teams and ensuring that they have the necessary upports(accommodation, secretarial, IT) to get on with the job is vital to their success. Human resource management policies in organisations must be adapted to encourage participation on cross-cutting teams as a developmental opportunity for staff. A blend of skills and experience is needed on teams. Where appropriate, the inclusion on the team+ of participants from key groupings, such as the community and voluntary sector, can be helpful.
Teams can only do so much themselves. Getting things done through others is crucial for implementation. Within the team, members can be assigned the task of building up relationships with particular groups. Outside the team, the assignment by organisations of staff who can liase with the team and promote change in their own organisations can be helpful. So too is ensuring that agreed tasks are incorporated into divisional and unit business plans.
Lessons learned In Chapter 6 a number of detailed lessons learned from experience are summarised. In general, lack of effective co-ordination is probably one of the most commonly heard complaints about public service delivery. A number of initiatives are now underway to tackle difficult cross-cutting issues and improve co-ordination. Central to their success is a sound understanding of the incentives operating on individuals and organisations to act as they do. Awareness is needed of the opportunities that exist to promote better joint working to arrive at joint solutions to the challenges faced. Structural, process and cultural factors all need to be addressed if effective, well co-ordinated government of cross-cutting issues is to be achieved.


The United States Preventative Task Force recommends screening for all men greater than the age of 65 who have smoked more than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime or have a family history of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). This is largely due to the asymptomatic nature of the presentation of most patients who present with AAA. Symptomatic AAA carries a poor prognosis if not detected in a timely manner. Although abdominal pain remains the most common symptomatic presentation, AAA is notorious to surprise clinicians by its unique masquerading ability. We here present an example of one of these unique presentations. Our case reports a 60-year-old African American male who presented with 4+ pitting edema and shortness of breath. After initial clinical assessment, new onset heart failure seemed to be the likely diagnosis. However, the grossly normal nature of echocardiogram forced us to entertain other potential possibilities. A thorough review of the human anatomy and critical multispecialty decision making paved way for intra-abdominal imaging which revealed a massive AAA extending to the common iliac arteries compressing the inferior vena cava. We discuss the existing literature and try to find reasons why diagnosing AAA is still not a perfected art. J Med Cases. 2016;7(8):361-363 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/jmc2582w


We consider tunneling of spinless electrons from a single-channel emitter into an empty collector through an interacting resonant level of the quantum dot. When all Coulomb screening of sudden charge variations of the dot during the tunneling is realized by the emitter channel, the system is described with an exactly solvable model of a dissipative qubit. To study manifestations of the coherent qubit dynamics in the collector $\it{a.c.}$ response we derive solution to the corresponding Bloch equation for the model quantum evolution in the presence of the oscillating voltage of frequency $% \omega$ and calculate perturbatively the $\it{a.c.}$ response in the voltage amplitude. We have shown that in a wide range of the model parameters the coherent qubit dynamics results in the non-zero frequencies resonances in the amplitudes dependence of the $\it{a.c.}$ harmonics and in the jumps of the harmonics phase shifts across the resonances. In the first order the $\it{a.c.}$ response is directly related to the spectral decomposition of the corresponding transient current and contains only the first $\omega$ harmonic, whose amplitude exhibits resonance at $\omega =\omega_I $, where $\omega_I$ is the qubit oscillation frequency. In the second order we have obtained the $2 \omega$ harmonic of the $\it{a.c.}$ response with resonances in the frequency dependence of its amplitude at $\omega_I$, $\omega_I/2$ and zero frequency and also have found the frequency dependent shift of the average steady current.


A cluster of 3 facial Mycobacterium chelonae infections occurred after cosmetic dermal filler injections at a plastic surgery clinic. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis showed that M chelonae isolated from the clinic tap water were identical to the patient wound isolates. Review of injection procedures identified application of nonsterile ice to the skin prior to injection as a possible source of M chelonae. Surveys of regional laboratories and a national plastic surgery listserv identified no other cases related to the injection of this brand of dermal filler. This is the first report of cutaneous M chelonae infections following the injection of dermal fillers. It adds to a growing body of literature on postinjection M chelonae infections and reinforces the importance of optimal skin disinfection steps prior to percutaneous procedures. Level of Evidence: 5


This article explores The Boondocks and its transition from daily newspaper strip to animated series. The article is particularly concerned with the ways in which the animated series exceeds the expectations set up by the printed comic strip and emerges as a complex, highly inter-textual work with a large number of subtle cultural references. In order to account for The Boondocks, transition from one medium to another, the animated series is analyzed via theories of appropriation and adaptation, with special attention paid to the series' deft cultural borrowing and the use of formal conventions typically associated with Japanese anime. The article also examines The Boondocks' relationship to The Simpsons, and establishes The Simpsons as an important forbear to The Boondocks in terms of realism and social commentary.


The purpose of the study was to find out the extent to which breastfeeding knowledge and awareness of the mothers at Kajiado County of Kenya correlates positively with their practice. The World Health Organization recommends that every country should promote, protect and support breast-feeding program for infants and the mother's health. The study employed descriptive-correlational and participatory action research approach employing data collection techniques such as individual interviews using structured questionnaire. A Sample size of 200 breastfeeding mothers was used for the study. The study showed the mothers have high knowledge in exclusive breastfeeding with a total mean score of 4.27 on a five-point scale. The high exclusive breast-feeding knowledge did not correlate positively with their breastfeeding practice. Even though, 70% of the mothers had a normal delivery, 97% had their babies delivered at the hospital, and 92.5% delivered their babies healthy without any problem. The study showed that only 42% were able to exclusively breastfed for six months. Spearman Rho showed a strong positive correlation between motivation and breastfeeding (R = .421**, P > 0.01). This study is important in devising strategies that will help mothers increase and adopt better exclusive breastfeeding practices at Kajiado County of Kenya.