BACKGROUND: Respiratory muscle weakness occurs in sarcoidosis and is related to decreased exercise capacity, greater fatigue, dyspnea, and lower quality of life in sarcoidosis patients. The effects of inspiratory muscle training in this population have not been comprehensively investigated so far. This study was planned to investigate the effects of inspiratory muscle training on exercise capacity, respiratory and peripheral muscle strength, pulmonary function and diffusing capacity, fatigue, dyspnea, depression, and quality of life in subjects with sarcoidosis. METHODS: This was a prospective, randomized, controlled, and double blind study. Fifteen sarcoidosis subjects (treatment group) received inspiratory muscle training at 40% of maximal inspiratory pressure (PImax), and 15 subjects (control group) received sham therapy (5% of PImax) for 6 weeks. Functional and maximal exercise capacity, respiratory and peripheral muscle strength, pulmonary function and diffusing capacity, fatigue, dyspnea, depression, and quality of life were evaluated. RESULTS: Functional (P < .001) and maximal exercise capacity (P = .038), respiratory muscle strength (PImax [P < .001] and PEmax [P = .001]), severe fatigue (P = .002), and dyspnea perception (P = .02) were statistically significantly improved in the treatment group compared with controls; no significant improvements were observed in pulmonary function and diffusing capacity, peripheral muscle strength, fatigue, depression, and quality of life between groups after inspiratory muscle training. CONCLUSIONS: Inspiratory muscle training improves functional and maximal exercise capacity and respiratory muscle strength and decreases severe fatigue and dyspnea perception in subjects with early stages of sarcoidosis. Inspiratory muscle training can be safely and effectively included in rehabilitation programs. (ClinicalTrials.gov registration NCT02270333.)


Mobile apps have to satisfy various privacy requirements. App publishers are often obligated to provide a privacy policy and notify users of their apps' privacy practices. But how can we tell whether an app behaves as its policy promises? In this study we introduce a scalable system to help analyze and predict Android apps' compliance with privacy requirements. Our system is not only intended for regulators and privacy ac- tivists, but also meant to assist app publishers and app store owners in their internal assessments of privacy requirement compliance. Our analysis of 17,991 free apps shows the viability of com- bining machine learning-based privacy policy analysis with static code analysis of apps. Results suggest that 71% of apps that lack a privacy policy should have one. Also, for 9,050 apps that have a policy, we find many instances of potential inconsistencies between what the app policy seems to state and what the code of the app appears to do. Our results sug- gest that as many as 41% of these apps could be collecting location information and 17% could be sharing such with third parties without disclosing so in their policies. Overall, it appears that each app exhibits a mean of 1.83 inconsistencies.


Virtual reality technologies offer emerging potential for design review processes in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. These technologies simulate physical presence in an interactive, three-dimensional setting. Previous research has suggested that consultancy and engineering firms in the AEC industry could use these technologies in design review processes - where designers and clients exchange information to resolve any design-related issues. I therefore created a virtual environment for design review and implemented it in two design review processes in the Netherlands: one dealing with the definitive design of three buildings for the production of drinking water and one dealing with the draft design of a parking garage. In this research, I explored the impact of individual design review sessions using a virtual environment prior to a design review meeting. By comparing theoretical patterns with empirical ones, I concluded that design review processes using a virtual environment prior to a design review meeting lead to a better understanding of the design, more involvement within the design review process, an increase in useful feedback on the design, and, to some extent, more efficient design review meetings. This enables consultancy and engineering firms to make a more informed choice about when to apply virtual reality technologies, offers a possibility to create more client value, and contributes to theories about design processes, virtual reality technologies and their integration. Future research should replicate the procedures followed here in contexts that are less proximally similar to this study, investigate the technical, social and economic factors that influence the adoption of virtual reality technologies, and explore the use of these technologies in other parts of the design process.


The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is making in-roads into many spheres of life, including workplace coaching. The introduction of a new class of support technologies ('e-coaching systems' or 'AI Coaching') promise to deliver personalised, timely, around-the-clock coaching in a wide variety of domains and to a broad audience. Chatbots as a type of e-coaching system and a form of Weak AI in particular, has the potential to replace or augment human coaches in certain instances, however it seems that speculation and hype is clouding our understanding of its true potential. This is reminiscent of the lack of evidence-based practice in coaching itself. To prevent AI Coaching from following a similar route, empirical research is needed. In this paper we summarise the findings of one of the first ever studies on the use of AI in organisational coaching. We used the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) as a theoretical framework to examine the determinants associated with individuals' behavioural intention to use an AI Coach (a goal-attainment chatbot called Vicci). A total of 226 users had a coaching conversation with Vicci and then completed the UTAUT survey. Determinants of behavioural intention were measured: performance and effort expectancies, social influence, facilitating conditions, attitude and perceived risk. Structural equation modelling analysis revealed that performance expectancy, social influence and attitude are the main determinants of behavioural intent, while age, gender and level of goal attainment play a moderating role.


Requirements elicitation is the first activity in the requirements engineering process. It includes learning, surfacing and discovering the requirements of the stakeholders of the developed system. The elicitation process involves actors of different roles, backgrounds and domain knowledge. Therefore, it is a communication-intensive process. Overcoming communication barriers between analysts and stakeholders, partly caused by a gap in their domain knowledge, is essential. Various elicitation techniques exist for helping analysts extract the requirements from the different stakeholders. During the elicitation process, the analysts are not limited to one specific technique and can use different techniques according to the situation, time and resources available. Analysts may have domain knowledge prior to the elicitation process. This prior knowledge may have an impact on the elicitation process, affecting the analysts' decisions and conduct within it. This paper reports an exploratory study in which the perceived and actual effects of prior domain knowledge on the requirements elicitation process were examined. The results indicate that domain knowledge clearly affects the elicitation process and the way the analysts conduct the elicitation. The findings provide insights as to both positive and negative effects of domain knowledge on requirements elicitation, as perceived by participants with and without domain knowledge. Furthermore, these insights can be utilized in practice for supporting analysts in the elicitation process and for forming requirements analysis teams. They highlight the different contributions that can be provided by analysts with different levels of domain knowledge in requirements analysis teams and the synergy that can be gained by forming heterogeneous teams of analysts with and without domain knowledge.


This paper aims to evaluate microbiological and physical-chemical parameters of 31 commercial brown sugar. Microbiological analysis (total mesophilic bacteria, mold and yeasts, total coliforms, Escherichia coli and Salmonella) and physico-chemical analysis (polarization, moisture, condutimetrical ashes, ICUMSA color, reducing sugar, total reducing sugar and pH) were carried out. The microbiological results indicated that only the mesophilic bacteri were above the limit of "National Food Canners and Processors". The Brazilian legislation establishing the minimum content of 90oS for sucrose as the unique parameter to evaluate the brown sugar and only 7 samples met the standard. The results of moisture ranged 2.13 to 6.02% ashes; 1.15 to 3.45%; reducing sugar 1.17 to 8.51%; total reducing sugar 68.90 to 98.21%; pH 5.24 to 7.8 and ICUMSA color 174.6 to 574.5 U.I. Therefore, the brown sugar commercialized in Brazil don't follow a pattern of production, storage and fi nal quality, justifi ed by the signifi cant differences of the value of almost all evaluated parameters.


In order to overcome this shortage of organs, scientists have considered the possibility of using animals as a source of organs. Xenotransplantation, or xenografting, is the process of transplanting live organs between different species. ne choice of source animals will be of prime importance for xenotransplantation. Ideally, the donor animal would show immunological, anatomical, and physiological similarities to humans, possess organs of similar size to those of humans, would have a short generation interval, produce large litters, and show minimal risk of transmitting infectious agents to humans. Two groups of animals have been considered as potential donors: nonhuman primates and pigs. For several reasons, pigs, rather than nonhuman primates, are currently viewed as the most promising xenograft donors.


A wider use of renewable energy is emerging as a viable solution to meet the increasing demand for global energy while contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. However, current literature on renewable energy, particularly on wind power, highlights the social barriers and public opposition to renewable energy investment. One solution to overcome the public opposition, which is recommended by scholars, is to deploy a collaborative approach. Relatively little research has specifically focused on the role of effective communication and the use of a knowledge-broker in collaborative decision-making. This study attempts to fill this gap through the proposition of a participatory framework that highlights the role of the knowledge-broker in a wind project decision-making process. In this paper, five illustrative wind projects in Ontario are used to highlight the current situation with public participation and to address how the proposed framework could have improved the process. Based on the recommended collaborative framework, perception must shift from the dominant view of the public as "a risk to be managed" towards "a resource that can be tapped". The developers need to improve sharing what they know and foster co-learning around questions and concerns.


1. Secondary-amine mono-oxygenase (proposed EC group 1.14.99.-) was partially purified from trimethylamine-grown Pseudomonas aminovorans by (NH4)2SO4 fractionation, gel filtration, hydrophobic chromatography on 5-aminopentylamino-Sepharose, and affinity chromatography on Sepharose-bound NADH. 2. Some problems in the affinity-chromatography step are discussed. 3. A steady-state kinetic analysis varying substrate, oxygen and electron-donor concentrations was performed, which, over the concentration range studied, gave a series of families of approximately parallel double-reciprocal plots. From secondary and tertiary plots, Michaelis constants of 0.160 mM, 0.086 mM and 0.121 mM were obtained for dimethylamine, NADPH and oxygen respectively. 4. Product-inhibition studies supported the postulated Hexa Uni Ping Pong (triple-transfer) reaction mechanism.


Abstract Within the general framework of 'lifestyle migration', the paper explores three materialities associated with the arrival and settlement of British, German and Dutch later-life migrants in the Italian region of Marche, a relatively new 'frontier' region for international retirement migration. The first is about the aesthetics of landscape and the scenic and emotional qualities of the physical and social environment. The second concerns 'home', where we examine house types, property location and home-making practices in terms of 'authenticity', material objects and the cultivation of land for productive purposes. The paper's third thematic focus is on consumption patterns. Most of the 69 participants interviewed for this study hanker after what they perceive as a simpler, more genuine way of life, in tune with the surrounding mixed-farming agricultural environment and distinct from other regions where tourism has taken hold. Many grow their own produce, including some who have small vineyards and olive groves. They enjoy shopping in local markets, eating out in inexpensive local hostelries, visiting museums and cultural festivals, and exploring the many pretty villages and historic towns of the region. The participants embody later-life migration as 'active ageing', but those who are older and/or frailer must consider, often reluctantly, the reality of a less-active and more isolated life in the Italian countryside.


This article considers the 1970s television career of the writer Tom Hadaway, drawing upon archival holdings, public and personal, to analyse and contextualise his dramas made for the BBC. Hadaway, who spent much of his professional life working in the fishing industry, has some reputation in his native north-east of England for his stage and television plays, mostly dealing with the people, customs and history of the coastal area of North Shields. Beyond his birthplace, however, Hadaway remains an obscure figure. Through an analysis of his work within the climate of its production, this article argues for the writer's unique contribution to British television culture; it also offers a case study for the historical opportunities and limitations for the 'regional' voice in British broadcasting.


Energy efficiency of data centers (DCs) has become a major concern as DCs continue to grow large often hosting tens of thousands of servers or even hundreds of thousands of them. Clearly, such a volume of DCs implies scale of data center network (DCN) with a huge number of network nodes and links. The energy consumption of this communication network has skyrocketed and become the same league as computing servers' costs. With the ever-increasing amount of data that need to be stored and processed in DCs, DCN traffic continues to soar drawing increasingly more power. In particular, more than one-third of the total energy in DCs is consumed by communication links, switching and aggregation elements. In this paper, we concern the energy efficiency of data center explicitly taking into account both servers and DCN. To this end, we present VPTCA, as a collective energy-efficiency approach to data center network planning, which deals with virtual machine (VM) placement and communication traffic configuration. VPTCA aims particularly to reduce the energy consumption of DCN by assigning interrelated VMs into the same server or pod, which effectively helps reduce the amount of transmission load. In the layer of traffic message, VPTCA optimally uses switch ports and link bandwidth to balance the load and avoid congestions, enabling DCN to increase its transmission capacity, and saving a significant amount of network energy. In our evaluation via NS-2 simulations, the performance of VPTCA is measured and compared with two well-known DCN management algorithms, Global First Fit and ElasticTree. Based on our experimental results, VPTCA outperforms existing algorithms in providing DCN more transmission capacity with less energy consumption.


Epilepsy cannot be successfully treated through medications or resection in about 30% of patients. Furthermore, an estimated 0.1 percent of epileptic patients suffer sudden deaths resulting from injuries sustained during seizures. For this reason, patients with intractable seizures need alternative therapeutic approaches. An engineered device tailored toward seizure prediction that warns patients of an impending seizure or that intervenes to prevent its occurrence may significantly decrease the burden of epilepsy. Although much research efforts have been directed at the development of a seizure prediction algorithm, a therapeutic or warning device that meets stringent clinical requirements is still elusive. In the present study a novel patient-specific seizure prediction method is proposed. The method is based on time-frequency analysis of scalp electroencephalogram (sEEG) and the use of state-of-the-art unsupervised feature representation learning techniques: reconstruction independent component analysis and sparse filtering. In a moving window analysis, a novel engineered bivariate EEG characterizing measure named Normalized Logarithmic Wavelet Packet Coefficient Energy Ratios (NLWPCER) was extracted from all possible combination of EEG channels and relevant frequency sub - bands. Thereafter unsupervised representation learning algorithm adapted to each patient through Bayesian optimization procedure was used to learn NLWPCER features representation or transformation suitable for data classification task. Two classification models: Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) were developed and trained to learn preictal (pre-seizure) and interictal (normal) EEG feature vector patterns. The output of the classifiers was regularized through a post processing operation aimed at reducing false prediction rate (FPR) and making decision on the generation of prediction alarms. The proposed method was evaluated using approximately 545 h CHB-MIT scalp EEG recording of 17 patients with a total of 43 leading seizures. On the average, with SVM classifier the proposed seizure prediction algorithm achieved a sensitivity of 87.26% and false prediction rate of 0.08h-1 while with ANN classifier the algorithm achieved average sensitivity and false prediction rate of 75.49% and 0.13h-1 respectively. The proposed method was validated using an Analytic Random Predictor (ARP). The results obtained in this work opens a pathway for a robust and consistent real-time portable seizure prediction device suitable for clinical applications.


Previous studies analyzing the U.S. food industry have used national data and/or have focused on a particular sector of the industry. However, regional differences in resource endowments, income opportunities and population distribution imply that the impact of changing economic environment will not be the same for all regions. A farm to retail multiproduct sectoral model for the Northeast food industry is developed and estimated. This regional approach is used to analyze the effects of changes in exogenous variables on the Northeast region's food production and consumption. Empirical results are presented in terms of intrasectoral flexibilities and elasticities. Selected results from other regions are also presented and compared with the Northeast results.


Aggregation capacity of chicken embryo chondrocytes decreases when transformed by Rous sarcoma viruses. Cell-to-cell aggregation capacity of chondrocytes infected with a T class temperature-sensitive mutant (tsNY68) (with the temperature-sensitive lesion at the src gene) of Rous sarcoma virus is dependent upon the temperature at which these cells are grown. When grown at the permissive temperature (36 degrees C), where the transforming gene is expressed, aggregation capacity was lower than normal while infected cells grown at the non-permissive temperature (41.5 degrees C) had similar capacity to aggregate to that of normal chondrocytes. However, after a prolonged period of culture (10 days), chondrocytes transformed by wild type SR-RSV regained the normal level of aggregation capacity. Cells transformed by tsNY68 and incubated at the permissive temperature for 10 days also regained the normal level of aggregation capacity. It appears therefore that RSV-transformed chondrocytes first become less adhesive but during long-term cultivation they regain their property to aggregate. The decrease of aggregation capacity due to T class mutants of RSV at 36 degrees C is dependent on constant maintenance of protein synthesis because addition of cycloheximide restored the aggregation capacity even at the permissive temperature.


The Marco Model-1 keratometer was compared for accuracy and precision with the El Hage Corneal Topography System (EH-270). Five consecutive readings of three steel calibration balls (40.50 D, 42.50 D, 44.75 D), one PMMA hemisphere (48.00 D), and 14 eyes (seven patients) were obtained using each instrument. Keratometry was found to be statistically more accurate and precise for measuring the two steeper steel balls and the hemisphere. Values obtained from patients demonstrated excellent correlation between keratometry and the EH-270. Although more variability was observed in measuring corneas greater than 43.00 D using the EH-270, we found these differences to be clinically acceptable. The EH-270 has a number of clinical advantages.


One of the objectives of the Farm Seed Opportunities (FSO) project (www.farmseed.net) is to develop on farm breeding methodologies for the conservation and development of landraces, amateur and conservation varieties. The starting point for the development of these methodologies are the already existing experiences of farmers, small scale seed producers and researchers. To be able to draw on the expertise of these practitioners, we have selected five breeding initiatives for in depth case-studies. Prior to the selection of the five cases we carried out an inventory of all known initiatives within the European Economic Area. Results are presented in this article.


This study was conducted to investigate the properties of lightweight concrete produced by the inclusions of polystyrene beads and perlite that can be used for production of Canoe. Different percentages of polystyrene (20, 35, 50 and 65%) were used. Besides, the 50% of polystyrene beds with different percentages of perlite (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60%) as partial replacement of sand were used. The fresh density, compressive strength, flexural strength and absorption capacity of the mixes were tested. The results show that the uses of 50% of polystyrene with 50% of perlite as partial replacement of sand exhibit suitable ranges of density, compressive and flexural strengths of lightweight concrete used for canoe production. Thus, the Canoe produced from these inclusions of polystyrene and perlite show a clear success in terms of floating.


The depositional model for the Tor Formation at the Valhall and Hod fields has been revised to reflect the influence of syn-depositional faulting and reworking on reservoir thickness variations. New ideas for the structural and depositional model were based on detailed reservoir interval correlations in the Valhall–Hod area using biostratigraphy and graphic correlation techniques. Three-dimensional seismic data was also integrated and applied to develop the model. The Tor Formation was deposited during a tectonically active time in the Late Cretaceous and the Early Tertiary. During this time Valhall and Hod anticlines were forming as a result of inversion along the Lindesnes Ridge. Regionally the Tor and Hod formations thicken away from the Ridge. This indicates that the area was a structural high which is interpreted to be a large shoal. A major unconformity is present at the Hod/Tor Formation boundary. During continued uplift, crestal areas collapsed forming a series of horsts and grabens. The Tor Formation (Campanian and Maastrichtian, with documented Danian reworking) filled in the lows formed by these graben. Seismic data and well control demonstrate that the Tor Formation is thicker in graben and thinner over horsts. Removal of the Hod and Tor formations from local structural highs can be best explained by wave action and winnowing across a large shoal. The graben areas, sheltered from waves and protected from scouring and erosion, became local depositional centres for thicker slumped and reworked Tor Formation chalk. In the Tor Formation there is strong evidence for local erosion, formation of hard-grounds, grain size sorting, and down-slope movement through slumping and debris flows. Thickness and facies variations in the Tor Formation of Valhall and Hod fields can be linked to syn-depositional faults. Recognition of a fault controlled depositional model along with detailed mapping of thick reworked chalk in local graben led to the definition of additional reserves in the Valhall–Hod area.


This paper aims to discuss displacements in size and materiality as an option to stylistic and typological approaches in archaeology. Although displacements in dimensions often have a practical and functional background, the cumulative result of such shifts often have unforeseen and unintended effects which may result in new forms and material constellations. In this sense, relations between the material and size constitute a platform that partially bypasses relativism and one-dimensional links between materiality and ideology that often are the case of interpretative and representational methodologies. As an alternative, a non-representational and relational approach is explored. It is illustrated by two examples concerning rock art of the Late Neolithic – Early Bronze Age in northern Europe. The petroglyphs are perceived as 'material articulations' that are not simply representing or reflecting past worlds – but are integrated parts of them. By stressing displacements in dimensions it is apparent that the petroglyphs are part of relations that transgress cultural and regional contexts.


Antarctic sea-ice mass, -extent, and -properties are expected to experience significant changes in the next decades. Long-term and consistent time series of in-situ measurements are crucial to reveal insights into this system, and are needed to validate satellite derived sea-ice parameters and numerical simulations. Following the need for a coordinated approach on the monitoring of Antarctic landfast sea ice, the Antarctic Fast
Ice Network (AFIN) was initiated as a legacy project during the 2007-2009 International Polar Year. As part of AFIN, a regular observation program was started in 2010 on the landfast sea ice of Atka Bay, in the northeastern Weddell Sea. The measurements are carried out by the German Antarctic station Neumayer III, situated on the Ekstrom Ice Shelf at 70◦40'S, 008◦16'W. This field report describes our measurement activities between June 2011 and January 2012, and presents some preliminary results.


Modern video-text retrieval frameworks basically consist of three parts: video encoder, text encoder and the similarity head. With the success on both visual and textual representation learning, transformer based encoders and fusion methods have also been adopted in the field of video-text retrieval. In this report, we present CLIP2TV, aiming at exploring where the critical elements lie in transformer based methods. To achieve this, We first revisit some recent works on multi-modal learning, then introduce some techniques into video-text retrieval, finally evaluate them through extensive experiments in different configurations. Notably, CLIP2TV achieves 52.9@R1 on MSR-VTT dataset, outperforming the previous SOTA result by 4.1%.


The delegitimation of neoliberalism has restored some credibility to the radical socialist case for transcending capitalism as necessary to realize the collective, democratic, egalitarian and ecological aspirations of humanity. It spawned a growing sense that capitalism could no longer continue to be bracketed when protesting the multiple oppressions and ecological threats of our time. And as austerity took top billing over free trade, the spirit of antineoliberal protest also shifted. Whereas capitalist globalization had defined the primary focus of oppositional forces in the first decade of the new millennium, the second decade opened with Occupy and the Indignados dramatically highlighting capitalism's gross class inequalities. Yet with this, the insurrectionary flavour of protest without revolutionary effect quickly revealed the limits of forever standing outside the state. A marked turn on the left from protest to politics has come to define the new conjuncture, as opposition to capitalist globalization shifted from the streets to the state theatres of neoliberal practice. This is in good part what the election of Syriza in Greece and the sudden emergence of Podemos in Spain signified. Corbyn's election as leader of the British Labour Party attracted hundreds of thousands of new members with the promise to sustain activism rather than undermine it. This transition from protest to politics has been remarkably class oriented in terms of addressing inequality in income and wealth distribution, as well as in economic and political power relations. All this compels a fundamental rethink of the relationship between class, party and state transformation. If Bolshevik revolutionary discourse seems archaic a hundred years after 1917, it is not just because the legacy of its historic demonstration that revolution was possible has faded. It is also because Gramsci's reframing, so soon after 1917, of the key issues of revolutionary strategy – especially regarding the impossibility of an insurrectionary path to power in states deeply embedded in capitalist societies – rings ever more true. What this means for socialists, however, as we face up to a long war of position in the twenty-first century, is not only the recognition of the limitations of twentieth-century Leninism. It above all requires discovering how to avoid the social democratization even of those committed to transcending capitalism. This is the central challenge for socialists today.


This study examined relationships between firm performance, the degree of aggressiveness a firm exhibits in its competitive orientation, and the environmental dimensions of technological sophistication and hostility. Subgroup (correlation) analysis was used to analyze data collected from 143 small manufacturing-based firms. The findings suggest that high-performing firms often exhibit an aggressive competitive orientation when faced with environmental hostility, while low-performing firms tend to be more passive when operating in hostile environments. No overall difference was observed in the correlations between competitive aggressiveness and environmental technological sophistication for the high- and low-performing subgroups. However, younger firms generally performed better when they were not highly aggressive in technologically sophisticated environments.


This article described the Web Services security protocols, and the policy description language XACML was analyzed in detail in the Web Services. XACML is characterized by the strong ability of expansion and the favorable inter-operation in the access control of the Web Services, which are concluded from the comparison in both SOA strategic architectures. A collection of XACML policy combination algorithms and decision algorithms were discussed in the policy-based service-oriented computing, then the policy control and access control mechanism were also illustrated, and the corresponding decision model was described, at last the development of XACML was prospected.


Aiming at the data security problem of Android platform, a transparent encryption system based on file filter driver is designed and implemented, according to the technology of file transparent encryption and decryption system based on hook transparent encryption technology and file filtering driven transparent encryption technology used on windows platform. This system is different from the traditional APP development method of Android system. By intercepting the system call function and using the secret-key converted from the host MAC address, the encryption and decryption algorithm is written into the kernel, which fundamentally guarantees the security of user information. At the same time, the user's security experience is improved by putting authentication on the screen unlocking. The system design and implementation are described in this paper from system requirement analysis to overall design and detailed design of each module. Android application development technology and cross-compiling principle are used in the coding process. The system test results show that the system can effectively transparently encrypt files and protect the privacy of mobile files. 1


The use of active dry yeast (ADY) in the brewing industry is becoming increasingly attractive due to several key features, including its capacity to be stored conveniently and to be prepared rapidly for use. However, some studies have reported that undesirable effects may occur when employing lager strains in the ADY form, such as abnormal flocculation, haze formation and a less stable foam structure. These effects have been linked to reduced viability, caused by cell death during the drying and rehydration processes. It is known that the means by which yeast is rehydrated is important to maintain membrane integrity and to prevent potentially lethal damage from occurring. In order to determine the impact of rehydration conditions on yeast viability, three industrially manufactured ADY strains were examined. Each strain was rehydrated using a variety of parameters and monitored for cell viability using slide culture and a variety of brightfield and fluorescent stains.


Enzyme immobilization in metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as a promising strategy is attracting the interest of scientists from different disciplines with the expansion of MOFs' development. Different from other traditional host materials, their unique strengths of high surface areas, large yet adjustable pore sizes, functionalizable pore walls, and diverse architectures make MOFs an ideal platform to investigate hosted enzymes, which is critical to the industrial and commercial process. In addition to the protective function of MOFs, the extensive roles of MOFs in the enzyme immobilization are being well-explored by making full use of their remarkable properties like well-defined structure, high porosity, and tunable functionality. Such development shifts the focus from the exploration of immobilization strategies toward functionalization. Meanwhile, this would undoubtedly contribute to a better understanding of enzymes in regards to the structural transformation after being hosted in a confinement environment, particularly to the orientation and conformation change as well as the interplay between enzyme and matrix MOFs. In this Outlook, we target a comprehensive review of the role diversities of the host matrix MOF based on the current enzyme immobilization research, along with proposing an outlook toward the future development of this field, including the representatives of potential techniques and methodologies being capable of studying the hosted enzymes.


Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films are well known for their excellent tribological properties; however, poor adhesion limits the practical applications of DLC films. In order to clarify the effect of atmospheric controlled IH-FPP (AIH-FPP) treatment for pretreatment on durability and adhesion of carbon steel AISI1045 coated DLC films, wear tests were carried out with a focus on the coating damage and delamination behavior. A Cr particle which indicates high chemical affinity to carbon which constitutes the DLC films was selected as shot material for the AIH-FPP treatment, and AIH-FPP was performed with two types of treatment conditions; the one generates the Cr transferred layer and the other generates the Cr diffused layer on the substrate surface. After AIH-FPP treatment, DLC films were coated on them by using an unbalanced magnetron sputtering (UBMS) method to a thickness of 2 m. The specimens which have a Cr diffused layer at substrate surface and DLC films on it indicated low friction coefficient and maintained the excellent wear properties in the long-term region compared with practical DLC coated specimens. Consequently, it can be concluded that AIH-FPP with Cr particle is appropriate pretreatment before the coating process to achieve high durability and adhesion.


Backgrounds/Objectives: Data Mining (DM) techniques are extremely utilized for the extraction of useful information which is available in data warehouses and other database repositories. In medical diagnose, the role of DM approach rises quick recognition of disease over symptoms. To classify the medical data, a number of DM techniques are used by researchers. One of such techniques is classification. The classification algorithms predict the hidden information in the medical domain. The breast cancer is the very dangerous disease for women in developed countries like India. Most of the women death happens in the world, they are affected by the breast cancer. Methods/Statistical Analysis: The role of classification is importantin the real world applications in every field. Classification is used to classify the elements permitting to the features of the elements through the predefined set of classes. This research work analyses the breast cancer data using classification algorithms namely j48, Classification and Regression Trees (CART), Alternating Decision Tree (AD Tree) and Best First Tree (BF Tree). Findings: To find the performance of classification algorithms, this work uses cancer data as input. Particularly, this work is carried out to compare the four decision tree algorithms in the prediction of the performance accuracy in breast cancer data. All the algorithms are applied for breast cancer data to classify the data set for classification and prediction. Among these four methods, this work concludes the best algorithm for the chosen input data on decision tree supervised learning algorithms to predict the best classifier. Applications/Improvements: The breast cancer data is analyzed by taking the images using the same algorithms in future. Also, the microcalcifications of the breast cancer imagery are to be investigated in the same work.


Early complex restorative treatment with individualized aerobic physical exercise in 2-4 weeks after surgical myocardial revascularization significantly increased physical working capacity and cardiorespiratory reserve of the body. Pronounced oxidative stress which had been present after myocardial revascularization decreased under the action of restorative therapy. Most pronounced increases of total physical capacity and cardiorespiratory reserve and lowering of oxidative stress occurred in patients with lowest initial parameters of the functional state of the organism.


INTRODUCTION
Ventilator Associated Pneumonia (VAP) is the second most common infection with high mortality (24-50%). Ondansetron is a reliable and safe drug and it is currently used in the prevention of nausea and vomiting and has no side effects.

AIM
The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of ondansetron on prevention of VAP in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The present study was a randomized clinical trial study (IRCT201406156480N6), carried out at Kashani Hospital, Iran, in 2013 on 80 patients aged from 15-65 years. The patients were randomly allocated to two groups: Case group (n=40) and Control group (n=40). The patients in first group were injected with 4 mg ondansetron, twice daily for five days. The patients of other group were injected with distilled water as placebo. The presence of VAP was assessed in the two groups. The collected data were analysed by SPSS software through Fisher-exact test.

RESULTS
Eleven (13.8%) patients were diagnosed with VAP. Among them, 9 (81.8%) patients were male and 2 (18.2%) patients were female. The incidence of VAP in Case group was 5 (12.5%) patients and in Control group was 6 (15%) patients (p>0.05). Results showed that VAP in Case group was less prevalent than that in the Control group, but this difference was not significant.

CONCLUSION
The study did not find an association between ondansetron administration and reduction in VAP incidence; vomiting alone may not be leading to VAP, instead silent micro aspirations may be the cause of it. None of the factor such as age, sex, weight, smoking, drug addiction was found significantly related to VAP. Only variable found related was comorbidity.


Embedded platforms are becoming increasingly more resource-rich (e.g. processing speeds, number of cores, memory, and communication rates). As a result, they are being transformed from `closed', fixed-function devices to programmable and flexible platforms capable of supporting diverse types of services. One approach to enabling service diversity jointly with proper isolation of key critical functionality is to leverage platform virtualization technology. Toward this end, this paper first describes an approach to virtualizing System-on-a-Chip (SoC) platforms, and next explores the opportunities for shared use of such virtualized SoC devices by multiple concurrently executing services. The research is conducted on the Intel Tolapai SoC which integrates an x86 core with a crypto accelerator, and using the Xen hypervisor.


Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are associated with oxidative stress-mediated alterations under pathophysiological conditions, and particularly brain ischemia, brain tumor, and neurodegenerative diseases. Electron spin resonance (ESR) is recognized as one of the most powerful techniques available for the detection of ROS in tissues and cells. We previously developed an in vitro ESR-based technique for the detection of free radical reactions in biological systems. In addition, significant advances in the field of in vivo ESR techniques over recent years have now made it possible to visualize the distribution and metabolism of oxidative stress, and the degree of tissue oxygenation in vivo. Nitroxyl radicals are very useful as exogenous spin probes for measuring free radical distribution, oxygen concentration, and redox metabolism by in vivo ESR in biological systems, using a combination of these ESR methods collectively focused on animal models of disease such as spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) or stroke-prone SHR (SHRSP) for the assessment of antioxidant property of drugs. Our results suggest that ESR could be applied to the assessment of antioxidant property on oxidative stress in target organs, especially brain, using animal disease models, SHR or SHRSP. After screening drugs for antioxidant property using such as in vitro or in vivo ESR assessment, we'll be able to develop and find novel antioxidant drugs for ROS-induced brain disease in the near future.


The electron microprobe provides a complete micrometer-scale quantitative chemical analysis of inorganic solids. The method is nondestructive and utilizes characteristic Xrays excited by an electron beam incident on a flat surface of the sample. This course provides an introduction to the theory of X-ray microanalysis through wavelength and energy dispersive spectrometry (WDS and EDS), ZAF matrix correction procedures and scanning electron imaging with back-scattered electron (BSE), secondary electron (SE), X-ray using WDS or EDS (elemental mapping), and cathodoluminescence (CL). Lab sessions involve hands-on use of the JEOL JXA-8200 Superprobe.


This paper presents case studies of the short-term field performance and material property evolution of four warm-mix asphalt (WMA) projects in Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, and Tennessee, constructed in 2011 and 2012. Each project had one or several WMA overlay sections and a control hot-mix asphalt (HMA). Two rounds of performance investigations were conducted, including a survey of field distress and characterization of material properties. Field cores from the two rounds (the first immediately after construction, the second 2 to 3 years after construction) were used to evaluate the performance of the mixtures in terms of dynamic modulus, creep compliance, fracture testing at intermediate and low temperatures, and the Hamburg wheel-tracking test. The following tests were also used to evaluate the extracted asphalt binders: performance grading, multiple stress creep recovery, and monotonic fracture at two temperatures. This study showed that the material properties (rutting and cracking resistance) evolved over time for both the HMA and WMA pavements; however, pavement maintenance (e.g., chip seals) affected this evolution. In general, the material properties of WMA and HMA pavements for the second-round samples were consistent with those of the first-round samples.


Late infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis is a fatal childhood neurological disorder caused by a deficiency in the lysosomal protease tripeptidyl-peptidase 1 (TPP1). TPP1 represents the only known mammalian member of the S53 family of serine proteases, a group characterized by a subtilisin-like fold, a Ser-Glu-Asp catalytic triad, and an acidic pH optimum. TPP1 is synthesized as an inactive proenzyme (pro-TPP1) that is proteolytically processed into the active enzyme after exposure to low pH in vitro or targeting to the lysosome in vivo. In this study, we describe an endoglycosidase H-deglycosylated form of TPP1 containing four Asn-linked N-acetylglucosamines that is indistinguishable from fully glycosylated TPP1 in terms of autocatalytic processing of the proform and enzymatic properties of the mature protease. The crystal structure of deglycosylated pro-TPP1 was determined at 1.85 Å resolution. A large 151-residue C-shaped prodomain makes extensive contacts as it wraps around the surface of the catalytic domain with the two domains connected by a 24-residue flexible linker that passes through the substrate-binding groove. The proenzyme structure reveals suboptimal catalytic triad geometry with its propiece linker partially blocking the substrate-binding site, which together serve to prevent premature activation of the protease. Finally, we have identified numerous processing intermediates and propose a structural model that explains the pathway for TPP1 activation in vitro. These data provide new insights into TPP1 function and represent a valuable resource for constructing improved TPP1 variants for treatment of late infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis.


In this study, residual stresses state at different scales in the 301LN unstable austenitic steel after deep drawing was determined. The first part of the work deals with the characterization of the martensitic transformation during uniaxial loading. The austenite/martensite content which was determined by X-Ray Diffraction increases until a maximum of 0.6 for 30% strain. Internal stress distribution was determined by coupling in-situ tensile tests with sin²ψ method. As soon as martensite appears, the magnitudes of the internal stresses in this phase were found to be 400 MPa higher than in the austenite. To establish a relation between the complex loading path effect and the phase stress state, deep drawing tests were carried out for different drawing ratios. Both macroscopic tangential residual stresses and residual stresses in the martensite were determined. It appears that the macroscopic tangential residual stresses are positive and increase with increasing drawing ratios and the maximum value is located at middle height of the cup. It is about 850MPa for the Drawing Ratio (DR)=2.00. The tangential residual stresses in the martensite were found to be positive in the external face and have a same evolution as the macroscopic ones.


In order to explore the effect of Pulsed Electric Fields (PEF) with pulses on the order of the charging time of bacterial membranes, we studied the effect of 45 ns pulses on the viability of bacillus subtilis in its vegetative state. A 30 Ω Blumlein generator with a low inductance spark gap switch delivers square wave voltage pulses of 45 ns duration to the electrodes in the bacterial treatment chamber. The rise time, which was varied from 2 ns (f< 200 MHz) to 20 ns (f< 50 MHz), determines the high frequency components in the Fourier spectrum of the pulse. Among pulses of different rise times, having the same total energy, those with the shortest rise time were found to kill bacteria more effectively. These results indicate that the high frequency components in the PEF deposit the electrical energy in the cell and affect intracellular structures.


A simple, economical, sensitive, specific, precise and accurate RP-HPLC method was developed and validated for determination of Zileuton in bulk and pharmaceutical dosage form. Chromatography was carried on an Enable C18 G 250 x4.6 mm column using filtered and degassed mixture of methanol and water (70: 30 v/v) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min in isocratic mode and effluent was monitored at 229 nm. The retention time for zileuton was found to be 3.5 min. The method was linear over the concentration range of 5-30 Cg/ml with correlation coefficient 0.999. Proposed method was validated for specificity, precision, accuracy, linearity, robustness.


This article suggests that to understand better what is working in agriculture in order to reduce hunger, a strengthening and transformation of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in agricultural research and development is needed. It presents the Agricultural Learning and Impacts Network (ALINe) as the initiative that has commissioned this IDS Bulletin, reflecting aspects of the current status and role of M&E, how it can be strengthened and ultimately transformed, and some of the reasons for why such change is possible. ALINe argues that asking farmers about their priorities, and what is and is not working and embedding this data into performance management systems is vital for improving accountability, value for money and the impact of agricultural development on people's lives. The article also introduces the other articles in this collection and commentaries on them by Southern practitioners and specialists.


There has been a significant increase in studies on climatic mapping linked to urban planning, with the spatialized distribution of urban microclimates, in order to guide municipal actions, aiming at environmental comfort. In this research, various climatic studies have been reviewed so as to develop maps for climate analysis and to draw up recommendations on the use and occupation of land. Climatic classification was adapted for topoclimates, through the overlapping of layers and by attributing heat accumulation values to the base layers. In the city of Recife, fourteen microclimates were identified, categorized into coastal, plain and hillside macrozones. The neighborhoods of Boa Vista and Soledade presented eight microclimates, synthetized into three classes of heat accumulation, which were predominantly high, chiefly in areas of densification, and verticalization. The recommendations aim to assist in urban management, so as to act more precisely in the critical areas, and thereby, as a result of reviewing the urban parameters, provide guidelines for more effective projects on both urban and architectural scales.


The importance of Arctic outflow events to the budgets of nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons in the North Atlantic region is estimated using a climatology of isentropic airflow trajectories, in combination with current understanding of the levels of these compounds in the Arctic troposphere. We first review available measurements of nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), total reactive oxidized nitrogen (NOy), and major NOy species in the Arctic troposphere to develop best estimate average vertical profiles during January-May outflow events. Measurements of these compounds in the winter-spring Arctic are generally consistent. Average levels during March are ≥500 parts per 1012 by volume (NOy) and ∼20 parts per billion carbon (NMHC). Current evidence for a significant vertical gradient above the boundary layer is weak, although additional measurements are needed. Secondly, the flow patterns and frequency of Arctic outflow events which reach the North Atlantic region south of 50°–55°N are investigated using an 11-year climatology of isentropic forward trajectories originating at 70°N in the months of January-May. The dominant route of trajectories reaching the temperate North Atlantic originates north of Canada at 2–6 km altitude and continues southward along a semipermanent trough located near the East Coast of North America. Trajectories reaching the temperate North Atlantic originated in this region on ∼70% of the days analyzed. Significant subsidence occurs during the southward flow, resulting in warming conducive to photochemical processing of the Arctic pollutants. Based on these analyses, the southward fluxes of NOy and NMHCs out of the Arctic in events which reach the North Atlantic south of 50°N total 7.3 GgN/month NOy and 250 GgC/month NMHC during March. These values are biased low as they include only those trajectories originating below 6 km and exclude trajectories which pass over the United States or southeastern Canada. The calculated NOy flux during May is lower but may be underestimated due to uncertainty in conditions in the Arctic free troposphere in that month. The May flux of NMHCs is larger than that in March as a result of a more frequent occurrence of outflow events. These fluxes impact air parcels which are not affected by direct transport from source regions and appear to be seasonally significant relative to other sources of ozone precursors to the North Atlantic troposphere. If a significant fraction of the peroxyacetyl nitrate and alkyl nitrates which comprise most of the advected NOy decomposes over the North Atlantic, the transport of anthropogenic pollutants through the Arctic may play a significant role in the ozone budget of the North Atlantic troposphere.


It is known that the finite volume and discrete ordinates methods for computing participating radiation are slow to converge when the optical thickness of the medium becomes large. This is a result of the sequential solution procedure usually employed to solve the directional intensities, which couples the ordinate directions and the energy equation loosely. Previously published acceleration techniques have sought to employ a governing equation for the angular-average of the radiation intensity to promote inter-directional coupling. These techniques have not always been successful, and even where successful, have been found to destroy the conservation properties of the radiative transfer equation. In this paper, we develop an algorithm called Multigrid Acceleration using Global Intensity Correction (MAGIC) which employs a multigrid solution of the average intensity and energy equations to significantly accelerate convergence, while ensuring that the conservative property of the radiative transfer equation is preserved. The method is shown to perform well for radiation heat transfer problems in absorbing, emitting and scattering media, both and without radiative equilibrium, and across a range of optical thicknesses.Copyright © 2009 by ASME


Malformations and growth disturbances are two- to threefold more common in infants of diabetic mothers than in offspring of non-diabetic pregnancy. Several suggestions have emerged to explain the reasons for diabetic embryopathy, including enhanced mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species leading to altered activation of protein kinase C. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a -cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHC) and N -acetylcysteine (NAC) addition on morphology and activity of protein kinase C- d and protein kinase C- z in rat embryos exposed to a high glucose concentration in vitro . Day 9 embryos from normal rats were cultured in 10 or 30 mM glucose concentrations with or without supplementation of CHC, NAC, or protein kinase C inhibitors specific for protein kinase C- d and protein kinase C- z . Embryos were evaluated for malformations, crown rump length, and somite number. Protein kinase C- d and protein kinase C- z activities were estimated by western blot by separating membranous and cytosolic fractions of the embryo. We found increased malformations and growth retardation in embryos cultured in high versus low glucose concentrations. These abnormalities were diminished when CHC and NAC or specific protein kinase C-inhibitors were added to the culture medium. The activities of embryonic protein kinase C- d and protein kinase C- z were increased in the high glucose environment after 24-h culture, but were normalized by the addition of CHC and NAC as well as respective inhibitor to the culture medium. These findings suggest


SCNT (Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer) has complemented the toolbox of ARTs offering yet another technique to reproduce animals in an unprecedented way. Despite remarkable achievements, SCNT suffers of low efficiency, high pregnancy losses and higher than normal stillbirth rates that makes it an expensive technique to reproduce animals. Moreover, due to welfare issues associated with gestation and the newborn offspring, it is banned in some countries. It has become evident that these problems are of epigenetic nature associated with incomplete genome reprogramming, observed more frequently in ruminants and less often and of minor degree in pigs and horses. Genome editing is enormously benefiting from SCNT to turn genome edited cells into animals, even if zygote microinjection of CRISPR/Cas9 will become an alternative route in some occasions. SCNT will also be a route to reprogram somatic cell to pluripotency since bona fide iPSC in livestock are missing while embryonic stem cells have been now established. This opens the way to other technologies like the development of artificial gametes or interspecies nuclear transfer. To strengthen its commercial applications, SCNT will face three major challenges, i.e. intellectual property (extremely unclear in genome editing), regulatory approval by the relevant authorities of the potential products resulting and finally acceptance by the public who will eventually decide with its behavior the life or the death of the technology.


Natural floating objects (e.g., logs) have always been a component of the habitat of tropical tunas. However, the introduction of fish aggregating devices (FADs) modifies this environment. To assess the changes due to the deployment of FADs, we compared the spatial distribution of natural and artificial floating objects (FADs), using data from observers onboard tuna purse seine vessels in the Indian Ocean from December 2006 to December 2008. Although natural objects occur more commonly in waters south of 7°S and FADs are more common in waters north of 7°S, all types of floating objects can be found everywhere. Using different spatial scales (quadrats of size 1° 9 1°, 2° 9 2° ,5 ° 9 5°, and 10° 9 10°), we computed the proportion of FADs observed in quadrats without natural objects. The scale of 2° 9 2° quadrats represented a threshold: distributions of the two types of objects were different at scales smaller than this threshold. The strongest change that has occurred since the


The present paper explores the association between earnings management and specific board characteristics and the firm's profitability in the Indian context. In India, the corporate ownership model is the promoter dominated shareholders model. This is the first study based on a panel data framework that employs a fixed effect model to control for time-invariant endogeneity. It also contributes to the literature by exploring the role of the firm's profitability in transmitting the impact of audit committee independence on earnings management. The study finds that profitability is an important variable, as it moderates the association between audit committee independence and earnings management. Managers of a profit-making company would have little need to modify their earnings. This signifies that independent audit committees are more effective monitors of earnings management in profitable firms than in non-profitable firms. Independent directors with multiple directorships are also found to be ineffective monitors. The findings are of material significance to policymakers in analysing board effectiveness and earnings management and improving policymaking for corporate governance by using profitability and related variables.


OBJECTIVE
The first 70 years of critical care can be considered a period of "industrial revolution-like" advancement in terms of progressing the understanding and care of critical illness. Unfortunately, like the industrial revolution's impact on the environment, advancing ICU care of increasingly elderly, immunosuppressed, and debilitated individuals has resulted in a greater overall burden and complexity of nosocomial infections within modern ICUs. Given the rapid evolution of nosocomial infections, the authors provide an updated review.

DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SELECTION
We searched PubMed and OVID for peer-reviewed literature dealing with nosocomial infections in the critically ill, as well as the websites of government agencies involved with the reporting and prevention of nosocomial infections. Search terms included nosocomial infection, antibiotic resistance, microbiome, antibiotics, and intensive care.

DATA EXTRACTION AND DATA SYNTHESIS
Nosocomial infections in the ICU setting are evolving in multiple domains including etiologic pathogens plus novel or emerging pathogens, prevalence, host risk factors, antimicrobial resistance, interactions of the host microbiome with nosocomial infection occurrence, and understanding of pathogenesis and prevention strategies. Increasing virulence and antimicrobial resistance of nosocomial infections mandate increasing efforts toward their prevention.

CONCLUSIONS
Nosocomial infections are an important determinant of outcome for patients in the ICU setting. Systematic research aimed at improving the prevention and treatment of nosocomial infections is still needed.


Backgound: A number of studies have documented relationship between various individual outcomes and birth order. This study sought to investigate the relationship between adolescents health behavior, stress and birth order. Methods: The data used in this study were obtained middle and high school students who replied to the 10th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBWS) administered in 2014. We investigated the associations between health behavior, stress and birth order using multivariable logistic regression analysis controlling with age, height, weight, father's education, mother's education, economic status, academic status, sleep duration, sitting time, self-perceived health status, self-perceived happiness, depression mood, suicide idea, suicide plan, suicide attempt, drinking experience, smoking experience. Results: The distribution of first-born was 45.5% and later-born was 54.5%. In multivariable logistic regression the later-born replied higher portion of vigorous physical activity 3 days per week and strength exercise 5 days per week. And later-born replied lower economic status, lower academic performance and higher prevalence of drinking experience, smoking experience. Later-born they had more stress than first-born, but after adjusted for variable factors in multivariable logistic regression, birth order had no relationship with stress significantly. Conclusions: This study offers data for the development of intervention programs to adolescent related to birth order, and further study is necessary in order to clarify adolescent's relationship between birth order and stress and individual outcomes.


In this essay, I provide normative guidelines for developing a philosophically interesting and plausible version of social constructivism as a philosophy of science, wherein science aims for social‐epistemic values rather than for truth or empirical adequacy. This view is more plausible than the more radical constructivist claim that scientific facts are constructed. It is also more interesting than the modest constructivist claim that representations of such facts emerge in social contexts, as it provides a genuine rival to the scientific axiologies of scientific realists and constructive empiricists. I further contrast my view with positions holding that the aims of science are context dependent, that the unit of normative analysis is the scientific community, and that the aims of science are non‐epistemic social values.


Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterised by deficits in verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction. These children depend on lifelong parental care leading to psychological distress and economic burden on the family Objectives: To assess the psychological status of mothers of ASD children attending the outpatient department of a South Indian tertiary care teaching hospital affiliated to Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore. Method: A descriptive study was carried out on mothers of children diagnosed to have ASD. Mothers who had organic psychiatric problems were excluded. The symptom checklist 90 R was used to analyse the psychopathology Results: Thirty mothers of children with ASD were interviewed. Mean age group of the mothers was 28.4 years. Psychological assessment revealed that 20% of the mothers were normal. Depression was the most common psychopathology followed by anxiety seen in 33.3% and 30% of the mothers respectively. Anxiety was more in the mothers of male children (p=0.045) and depression was the predominant psychopathology observed in mothers with first born child affected with autism (p=0.028). More anxiety and depression was noted in nuclear families (p=0.005). _________________________________________ Consultant Paediatrician, Midtown Medical Centre, Kochi, India, Associate Professor, Department of Paediatrics, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal Karnataka, India,Associate Dean and Professor of Paediatrics, Kasturba Medical College Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal Karnataka, India *Correspondence: firstname.lastname@example.com orcid.org/ 0000-0003-4458-3634 (Received on 30 October 2019: Accepted after revision on 23 December 2019) The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest Personal funding was used for the project. Open Access Article published under the Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY License Conclusions: Mothers of ASD children had significant psychopathology. High level of depression and anxiety in mothers of ASD children, male child, first born child and nuclear family were significant risk factors for the psychopathology. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sljch.v49i4.9262 (


Graph Convolutional Neural Networks (GCNs) have been generally accepted to be an effective tool for node representations learning. An interesting way to understand GCNs is to think of them as a message passing mechanism where each node updates its representation by accepting information from its neighbours (also known as positive samples). However, beyond these neighbouring nodes, graphs have a large, dark, all-but forgotten world in which we find the non-neighbouring nodes (negative samples). In this paper, we show that this great dark world holds a substantial amount of information that might be useful for representation learning. Most specifically, it can provide negative information about the node representations. Our overall idea is to select appropriate negative samples for each node and incorporate the negative information contained in these samples into the representation updates. Moreover, we show that the process of selecting the negative samples is not trivial. Our theme therefore begins by describing the criteria for a good negative sample, followed by a determinantal point process algorithm for efficiently obtaining such samples. A GCN, boosted by diverse negative samples, then jointly considers the positive and negative information when passing messages. Experimental evaluations show that this idea not only improves the overall performance of standard representation learning but also significantly alleviates over-smoothing problems.


The second volume of the 24th annual conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education contains full research report papers. Papers include: (1) "What you see is what you get: The influence of visualization on the perception of data structures" (Dan Aharoni); (2) "Exploring the transparency of graphs and graphing" (Janet Ainley); (3) "Describing primary mathematics lessons observed in the Leverhulme Numeracy Research Programme: A qualitative framework" (Mike Askew, Margaret Brown, Hazel Denvir, and Valerie Rhodes); (4) "An analysis of bracket expansion errors" (Paul Ayres); (5) "Knowing the sample space or not: The effects on decision making" (Paul Ayres and Jenni Way); (6) "The development of mathematics education based on ethnomathematics (2): Analysis of Universal Activities in terms of verbs" (Takuya Baba and Hideki Iwasaki); (7) "Maths as social and explanations for 'underachievement' in numeracy" (David A. Baker and B.V. Street); (8) "Year 6 students' idiosyncratic notions of unitising, reunitising, and regrouping decimal number places" (Annette R. Baturo and Tom J. Cooper); (9) "Factors influencing teachers' endorsement of the core mathematics course of an integrated learning system" (Annette R. Baturo, Tom J. Cooper, Gillian C. Kidman, and Campbell J. McRobbie); (10) "Students' conceptions of the integral" (Jan Bezuidenhout and Alwyn Olivier); (11) "The use of mental imagery in mental calculation" (Chris Bills and Eddie Gray); (12) "Readiness for algebra" (Gillian M. Boulton-Lewis, Tom J. Cooper, B. Atweh, H. Pillay, and L. Wilss); (13) "Students' knowledge of length units: Do they know more than rules about rulers?" (Philippa Bragg and Lynne Outhred); (14) "Becoming more aware: Psychoanalytic insights concerning fear and relationship in the mathematics classroom" (Chris Breen); (15) "Same/different: A 'natural' way of learning mathematics" (Laurinda Brown and Alf Coles); (16) "The effect of some classroom factors on grade 3 pupil gains in the Leverhulme Numeracy Research Programme" (Margaret Brown, Hazel Denvir, Valerie Rhodes, Mike Askew, Dylan Wiliam, and Esther Ranson); (17) "'Automatism' in finding a 'solution' among junior high school students: A comparative study" (Gildo Luis Bulafo) (18) "A study of the mathematical behaviors of mathematicians: The role of metacognition and mathematical intimacy in solving problems" (Marilyn P. Carlson); (19) "Bringing out the Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. algebraic character of arithmetic: Instantiating variables in addition and subtraction" (David Carraher, Barbara M. Brizuela, and Analucia D. Schliemann) (20) "The game of social interactions in statistics learning and in cognitive development" (Carolina Carvalho and Magarida Cesar); (21) "Student misconceptions in interpreting basic graphic calculator displays" (Michael Cavanagh and Michael Mitchelmore); (22) "Step skipping during the solution of partitive quotient fraction problems" (Kathy Charles and Rod Nason); (23) "Making, having and compressing formal mathematical concepts" (Erh-Tsung Chin and David Tall); (24) "Mental projections in mathematical problem solving: Abductive inference and schemes of action in the evolution of mathematical knowledge" (Victor V. Cifarelli); (25) "Solving equations and inequations: Operational invariants and methods constructed by students" (Anibal Cortes and Nathalie Pfaff); (26) "The flow of thought across the Zone of Proximal Development between elementary algebra and intermediate English as a second language" (Bronisuave Czarnocha and Vrunda Prabhu); (27) "A didactic sequence for the introduction of algebraic activity in early elementary school" (Jorge Tarcisio Da Rocha Falcao, Anna Paula Lima Brito, Claudia Roberta De Araujo, Monica Maria Lessa Lins, and Monica Oliveira Osorio); (28) "Towards a definition of attitude: The relationship between the affective and the cognitive in pre-university students" (Katrina Daskalogianni and Adrian Simpson); (29) "A memory-based model for aspects of mathematics teaching" (Gary Davis, David Hill, and Nigel Smith); (30) "Involving pupils in an authentic context: Does it help them to overcome the 'illusion of linearity'?" (Dirk De Bock, Lieven Verschaffel, Dirk Janssens, and Karen Claes); (31) "The difficulties students experience in generating diagrams for novel problems" (Carmel M. Diezmann); (32) "About argumentation and conceptualization" (Nadia Douek and Ezio Scali); (33) "Gesture and oral computation as resources in the early learning of mathematics" (Jan Draisma); (34) "Students' statistical reasoning during a data modeling program" (Lyn D. English, Kathy L. Charles, and Donald H. Cudmore); (35) "The 'mathematics as a gendered domain' scale" (Helen J. Forgasz and Gilah C. Leder); (36) "Investigating function from a social representation perspective" (Janete Bolite Frant, Monica Rabello de Castro, and Flavio Lima); (37) "Definition as a teaching object: A preliminary study" (Fulvia Furinghetti and Domingo Paola); (38) "When a learning situation becomes a problematic learning situation: The case of diagonals in the quadrangle" (Hagar Gal and Liora Linchevski) and (39) "From traditional blackboards to interactive whiteboards: A pilot study to inform system design" (Christian Greiffenhagen). (ASK) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.


Foliar N fertilization is sometimes used as a supplement to soil application in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) production; however, information is lacking about the absorption of foliar-applied N in relation to leaf age and epicuticular wax. A 2-yr field study was conducted to examine the effect of leaf age and epicuticular wax on foliar-applied 15 N-urea absorption and subsequent distribution within the subtended boll. Cotton (cv. Stoneville 506) leaves of different ages (20, 30, 40, and 60 d), at main-stem node 10, fruiting position 1, were selected and treated with 15 N-urea solution using a paint brush. The 15 N analysis of tissues 1 wk after treatment indicated that maximum absorption of 80% was achieved by 20-d-old leaves compared with 27 to 38% for 60-d-old leaves. As the leaves aged, 15 N absorption decreased in concert with increased total wax concentration. A negative relationship between 15 N absorption and total wax concentration of leaves of different ages (r 2 = 0.97) suggested waxes were an important barrier to 15 N absorption in older leaves. The subsequent translocation and distribution of 15 N within the boll indicated that most of the absorbed 15 N was retained in the 20-d-old leaf. As the leaves aged, more 15 N was translocated to the subtended boll. Within the boll, most of the 15 N was compartmentalized to lint and seed, and less was partitioned to the capsule wall, which implicated lint and seed as the major sinks. This study demonstrated that increased wax concentration during leaf aging was associated with reduced 15 N absorption.


The idea of external validity, which is well-known in the social sciences, has recently also been emphasized in experimental economics. It has been argued that external validity is an important criterion in experimental research, which has been neglected by philosophy of science. In connection with this criterion, a methodology has been advanced in which inductive generalization and analogical inference play a central role. The hypothetico-deductive methodology is said to be untenable, or at least insufficient. In this paper, hypothetico-deductivism is defended. The idea of external validity, and the new plea for inductivism, is critically discussed. It is pointed out that the fundamental problems of inductivism are still unsolved. The criterion of external validity is superfluous and misleading. And the problems in experimental research associated with external validity can well be solved on the basis of deductivism.


Historical rural American political behavior has revolved around the three themes of radicalism, conservatism, and apathy. Post-World War II research on urban-rural differ ences reveals little support either for contemporary rural radicalism or greater political apathy in rural areas. However, rural citizens, particularly farmers, exhibit more conservative political orientations than metropolitan populations. The reapportionment revolution of the 1960s, which proponents thought would reduce rural advantage in state and national government, has not noticeably altered social policy outputs of state legislatures or the Congress in a more liberal, urban- oriented direction. The Electoral College currently under- represents rural influence in electing the president, although various alternatives tend to discriminate in reverse. Future trends suggest a diminishing political difference between rural and urban populations. Exposure of rural residents to mass media and the interchange of populations between geographic areas imply a gradual homogenization of social, cultural, and political values which will ultimately render country and city indistinguishable in terms of political behavior. Other social dimensions play a more central role in political conflict than the rural-urban dimension. Leaving aside the possibility of an unforeseen crisis, rural interests are unlikely to capture national political attention.


COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented global health crisis which has an enormous impact on the world population and economy. Many scientists and researchers have combined efforts to develop an approach to tackle this crisis and as a result, researchers have developed several approaches for understanding the COVID-19 transmission dynamics and the way of mitigating its effect. The implementation of a mathematical model has proven helpful in further understanding the behaviour which has helped the policymaker in adopting the best policy necessary for reducing the spread. Most models are based on a system of equations which assume an instantaneous change in the transmission dynamics. However, it is believed that SARS-COV-2 have an incubation period before the tendency of transmission. Therefore, to capture the dynamics adequately, there would be a need for the inclusion of delay parameters which will account for the delay before an exposed individual could become infected. Hence, in this paper, we investigate the SEIR epidemic model with a convex incidence rate incorporated with a time delay. We first discussed the epidemic model as a form of a classical ordinary differential equation and then the inclusion of a delay to represent the period in which the susceptible and exposed individuals became infectious. Secondly, we identify the disease-free together with the endemic equilibrium state and examine their stability by adopting the delay differential equation stability theory. Thereafter, we carried out numerical simulations with suitable parameters choice to illustrate the theoretical result of the system and for a better understanding of the model dynamics. We also vary the length of the delay to illustrate the changes in the model as the delay parameters change which enables us to further gain an insight into the effect of the included delay in a dynamical system. The result confirms that the inclusion of delay destabilises the system and it forces the system to exhibit an oscillatory behaviour which leads to a periodic solution and it further helps us to gain more insight into the transmission dynamics of the disease and strategy to reduce the risk of infection.


Green buildings are committed to create an acceptable standard of living as well as to preserve nature from destruction.As an example, human being need houses for survival, without knowing that these houses actually affect and deteriorate the surrounding nature.This is because conventional houses produce CO2 approximately 10 to 30 tonnes per year.As a consequence, these houses are causes for the global warming and environmental pollution.The green residential concept incorporates houses with minimum energy, water and natural resources that provide good air quality and waste reduction.This study aims to explore the perceptions of potential house buyers towards the green residential concept.Currently, the demand for green residential buildings is very low due to 30% more increase in costs than conventional house.This study utilizes the qualitative methodology where face-to-face interviews are the primary source of data collection.Sixteen respondents were interviewed with a semi-structured interview guide.This study found that 81% of the potential residential agreed that green buildings can save utilities bills and 100% agreed on adoption of air flows and circulation can reduce heat.The study also found that 67% of the respondents were
not aware of the green residential building concept,whereas the remaining 23% acknowledged the existence of the green residential building but with a vague understanding.


Cytochrome P450scc (P450scc) catalyzes the cleavage of the side chain of both cholesterol and the vitamin D3 precursor, 7-dehydrocholesterol. The aim of this study was to test the ability of human P450scc to metabolize ergosterol, the vitamin D2 precursor, and define the structure of the major products. P450scc incorporated into the bilayer of phospholipid vesicles converted ergosterol to two major and four minor products with a kcat of 53 mol min 1 mol P450scc 1 and a Km of 0.18 mol ergosterol/mol phospholipid, similar to the values observed for cholesterol metabolism. The reaction of ergosterol with P450scc was scaled up to make enough of the two major products for structural analysis. From mass spectrometry, NMR, and comparison of the NMR data to that for similar molecules, we determined the structures of the two major products as 20-hydroxy-22,23-epoxy-22,23-dihydroergosterol and 22keto-23-hydroxy-22,23-dihydroergosterol. Molecular modeling and nuclear Overhauser effect (or enhancement) spectroscopy spectra analysis helped to establish the configurations at C20, C22, and C23 and determine the final structures of major products as 22R,23S-epoxyergosta-5,7-diene-3 ,20 -diol and 3 ,23S-dihydroxyergosta-5,7-dien-22-one. It is likely that the formation of the second product is through a 22,23-epoxy (oxirane) intermediate followed by C22 hydroxylation with the formation of strained 22hydroxy-22,23-epoxide (oxiranol), which is immediately transformed to the more stable -hydroxyketone. Molecular modeling of ergosterol into the P450scc crystal structure positioned the ergosterol side chain consistent with formation of the above products. Thus, we have shown that P450scc efficiently catalyzes epoxide formation with ergosterol giving rise to novel epoxy, hydroxy, and keto derivatives, without causing cleavage of the side chain.


If there are local defects in the solar cell module, the output efficiency of the module will decrease. This article introduces the detection of local defect of solar cell module based on the infrared image technology. It finally establishes an image library which contains some infrared images of seven kinds of defects and a basic standard which can judge the quality of the module. The reasons of some defects are listed in the article. The unqualified rate will greatly decrease for the technique. The research is helpful to eliminate the module that contains recessive defects. The life of the modules also will be extended.


Digital government has digitized numerous public services, automated decision-making, and improved the openness of the public administration. Nevertheless, for senior citizens, undeserved communities, individuals with low literacy and limited digital skills, the shift to governmental portals, online payments, and smartphone applications are considerable obstacles in their daily interactions with public authorities. This chapter argues that digital inequality denies vulnerable citizens their rights twice: first, their ethnicity and socioeconomic status may be conducive to a 'negative' ranking or score (e.g., higher risk of welfare fraud); and second, they are also excluded because they do not have adequate access to technology, are not well informed, and do not have the time and skills required to interact with digital government. This chapter explores one of the paradoxes of the digital society: connected citizens in developed countries are also affected by the digital divide and are increasingly being excluded by the generalized digitalization of public services. Drawing on a review of interdisciplinary literature, this chapter contributes to the legal literature with an account of the underlying causes of digital exclusion and a discussion of its most relevant legal implications through the lenses of fundamental rights (e.g., due process, equal treatment) and the principles of good administration. This chapter reflects on potential solutions for more inclusive digital government policies.


This paper investigates the impact of biohazards and pandemics on construction workers' health and well-being. A proper selection of control methods for biohazards and pandemics like COVID-19 pandemic will result in improved public health conditions. Occupational risks in the construction industry are also examined, with a focus on biohazards and pandemics, their containment, and the implications for health and safety. A safer work environment in the construction industry is encouraged. In this study, some statistical methods were used to analyse the data obtained from sampled questionnaire. According to the findings, fewer people in poor developing countries get routine check-ups compared to developed countries. The construction industries studied have little or no insurance plans for staff. It also demonstrates that personal protective equipment (PPE) such as nasal masks, helmets, hand gloves, and work aprons can assist in the control of biohazards in the construction sector, such as asthma, cancer, and asbestosis. There should be safety awareness programmes, conferences, and seminars, as well as How to cite this paper: Amaechi, C.V., Amaechi, E.C., Amechi, S.C., Oyetunji, A.K., Kgosiemang, I.M., Mgbeoji, O.J., Ojo, A.S., Abelenda, A.M., Milad, M., Adelusi, I. and Coker, A.O. (2022) Management of Biohazards and Pandemics: COVID-19 and Its Implications in the Construction Sector. Computational Water, Energy, and Environmental Engineering, 11, 34-63. https://doi.org/10.4236/cweee.2022.111003 Received: December 28, 2021 Accepted: January 25, 2022 Published: January 28, 2022 Copyright © 2022 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). C. V. Amaechi et al. DOI: 10.4236/cweee.2022.111003 35 Computational Water, Energy, and Environmental Engineering first-aid kits and HSE and qualified health workers on all building sites. In addition, the government should examine the site for the usage of PPEs and verify that records of family/personal medical history are maintained.


Mycosis fungoides (MF) is the most common type of cutaneous lymphoma. The term MF should be used only for the classical presentation of the disease characterized by the evolution of patches, plaques, and tumors or for variants showing a similar clinical course. MF is divided into 3 clinical phases: patch, plaque, and tumor stage, and the clinical course is usually protracted over years or decades. Histopathologically, MF is characterized by an epidermotropic infiltrate of T lymphocytes that displays in most cases a helper phenotype. Cytotoxic variants are well described and do not have specific clinical, histopathological, or prognostic features. MF should be differentiated from other cutaneous epidermotropic lymphomas and from many inflammatory dermatoses with some similar clinicopathological features. The therapy of MF is planned mainly according to the stage and extent of the disease. In early phases, nonaggressive options represent the first-line strategy (eg, local corticosteroids, psoralen, and ultraviolet A [UV-A] irradiation, etc.). In patients with advanced disease, good results with potential for cure have been obtained with allogeneic stem cell transplantation, but toxicity is a serious limiting factor for this treatment. Conventional systemic chemotherapy and single-agent chemotherapy (eg, gemcitabine) give usually good results in advanced MF, but recurrences are the rule. Monoclonal antibodies directed against cluster of differentiation (CD)52 (alemtuzumab), CD30 (brentuximab vedotin), and chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4; mogamulizumab), as well as several other experimental therapies, have shown promising results and represent a valid alternative.


Previous decompression tables for humans were based upon unsupported assumptions because the underlying processes by which dissolved gas is liberated from blood and tissue were poorly understood. Some of those assumptions are now known to be wrong, and the recent formulation of a detailed mathematical model describing bubble nucleation has made it possible to calculate diving tables from established physical principles. To evaluate this approach, a comprehensive set of air diving tables has been developed and compared with those of the U.S. and British Navies. Conventional decompressions, altitude bends, no-stop thresholds, and saturation dives are all successfully described by one setting of four global nucleation parameters, which replace the U.S. Navy's matrices of M-values. Present air diving tables show great irregularity, even within sets created by the same authors. In contrast, this new approach is remarkably self-consistent, permitting accurate interpolation and extrapolation.


An experiment was conducted at Agronomy Laboratory of AMK Campus Mardan, The University of Agriculture Peshawar during kharif 2017 to investigate the influence of seeds priming of salicylic acid on sesame germination and early growth. The experiment was comprised on seed priming with different level of salicylic acid solutions (0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4%, 0.5%, 0.6%, 0.7%, 0.8% and 0.9%). Ten seeds of sesame local black was sown in each petri dish. Seed priming with 0.9%, 0.8% and 0.7% of salicylic acid solutions took less days to germination (7.6) while dry seeds took more days to germination (12.5). Germination percentage was noted maximum (72.3 %) in 0.9% and 0.8% of salicylic acid solutions. Mean germination time was noted higher (1.07) where seeds were not treated to salicylic acid solutions. The taller seedling (8.4 cm) was recorded in 0.9%, 0.8% and 0.6% of salicylic acid solutions. Shoot weight of (0.67 mg plant) was found maximum in 0.9% and 0.7% of salicylic acid solutions, similarly root weight (0.38 mg plant) was higher in 0.9% of salicylic acid solutions. On the base of consequences it was determined that levels of salicylic acid 0.6% to 0.9% seed priming performed well for rapid germination and vigorously growth and hence it is recommended under agro-climatic condition of Mardan.


Different animals are adapted to a range of activity patterns, from diurnal to nocturnal. Under normal conditions, the 24-hour rhythm is entrained by changes in light intensity during twilight, i.e. the light and dark cycle. Many rodent species exhibit predator avoidance by adjusting their activity in relation to space or time, which is weighed against the need for food. Hence, an individual's foraging activity consists of a compromise between foraging and predation risk, in addition to competition. Our study species, the Eurasian red squirrel, is diurnal and utilises dense forest habitats. In the present study, we used non-invasive camera traps to model diel activity during the winter months in 2014-2015 (December to February 24-hour day). We found that the Eurasian red squirrels exhibited a strictly diurnal feeding activity pattern and the shape of the modelled activity curve was unimodal and concentrated in the daylight hours, starting at sunrise and peaking in the morning.


With cooperation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), thermal-hydraulic calculations were carried out for conversion of the IAN-R1 Reactor from MTR-HEU fuel to TRIGA-LEU fuel. To establish thermal-hydraulic calculation and analysis research in Colombia, this program was carried out and included training, acquisition of hardware, software and natural convection flow calculations for the TRIGA IAN-R1 research reactor operating at 100 kW. The purpose of the study is to validate the steady state thermal hydraulic analysis that has been carried out by means of the NATCON code. This paper presents the results of the maximum axial temperature distribution for fuel, clad, and coolant. In addition, the Bernath critical heat flux with pool water temperature as a parameter is presented.


Ectopic viral integration site‐1 (EVI1) is highly expressed in certain cytogenetic subsets of adult acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), and has been associated with inferior survival. We sought to examine the clinical and biological associations of EVI1high, defined as expression in excess of normal controls, in paediatric AML. EVI1 mRNA expression was measured via quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction in diagnostic specimens obtained from 206 patients. Expression levels were correlated with clinical features and outcome. EVI1high was present in 58/206 (28%) patients. MLL rearrangements occurred in 40% of EVI1high patients as opposed to 12% of the EVI1low/absent patients (P < 0·001). No abnormalities of 3q26 were found in EVI1high patients by conventional cytogenetic analysis, nor were cryptic 3q26 abnormalities detected in a subset of patients screened by next‐generation sequencing. French‐American‐British class M7 was enriched in the EVI1high group, accounting for 24% of these patients. EVI1high patients had significantly lower 5‐year overall survival from study entry (51% vs. 68%, P = 0·015). However, in multivariate analysis including other established prognostic markers, EVI1 expression did not retain independent prognostic significance. EVI1 expression is currently being studied in a larger cohort of patients enrolled on subsequent Children's Oncology Group trials, to determine if EVI1high has prognostic value in MLL‐rearranged or intermediate‐risk subsets.


In order to meet the contradictory requirements of long range, low power consumption and adaptive throughput, LPWA networks require a decision module based on cognitive functionalities to select the most appropriate RF/PHY configuration and to cover the large variety of LPWA applications. In this paper, we define a new adaptive LPWA network exploiting the flexibility of the Turbo-FSK waveform. The most relevant configurations are selected from the PHY and MAC layers point of view. At the PHY layer, a trade-off between data rate, spectral efficiency, energy consumption and range is considered while the MAC layer deals with the reliability, the latency, the network capacity, the multi-user access (number of users, traffic intensity) to adapt the network. Hence, thanks to this selection, several strategies switching between available selected configurations are defined to adapt the communication to the context and according to the criteria to optimize. The performance for each configuration is evaluated by simulation when all the users select the same configuration. To tackle the three requirements (i.e. range, network capacity and energy consumption), appropriate configurations are identified.


According to (Masters and Wallace, 2010), Self 13confidence is 1CThe sense of personal strength and a belief that you are worthy and talented 1D. Reliance or self-reliance is the condition of relying on our resources as a people in order to accomplish any number of specific tasks and responsibilities that contribute to our liberation and independence (Bennett, 1877). In the history of the development of higher education, the relationship between the lecturer and the students has changed because of many different factors. Before the internet and web revolution, the lecturer used to be the main information source for his/her students. The web, as a modern source of knowledge, is now used universally and this spreading might affect the relationship between the lecturer and his students. Understanding the impact of this change appears to be important as it would be employed in improving teaching techniques. In this area, many studies have focused on the impact of using the internet and web applications on students and lecturers. These studies have widely investigated this impact on student 19s achievements, attitude and also have shown how the role and performance of the faculty have changed. This paper aims to investigate the impact of using web resources as a source of knowledge on the students 19 self-confidence and reliance from students 19 perspectives. The investigation focus on how students 19 knowledge gained from using websites has impacted on students 19 self-confidence and reliance. 1661 students from 30 universities/ educational institutions participated in this research.