The major requirement of pearl millet [Pennisetum gJaucum
(L.) R. Sr.] breeding programmes targeting environmentally
frC!gile arid regions is to breed genetically diverse materials that are both adapted to environmental stresses and also have an improved yield potential to allow them to respond to favourable conditions in good rainfall seasons. Genetic diversification of indigenous landraces using selected exotic, elite sources couid be an effective mean to achieve this objective. This study evaluated 13 diverse, exotic populations for their phenotypic characteristics, their productivity under arid zone conditions, and their potential usefulness as sources of diversification for local landraces. The biomass productivity, which was the major determinant of both grain and stover productivity, varied between 747
9 m-2 and 942 g m-2. A higher panicle number and early
flowering favored greater grain yield, while later flowering and greater height fC!vored higher stover yield. Although biomass and HI were negatively correlated, grain yield was similarly and positively correlated to both, suggesting that both biomass accumulation and its partitioning to grain are important in determining grain yield performance in arid environments. The best populations for grain yield were ICMV 98792, MCNELC and ICMP 96132, which outyielded two improved checks (Raj 171 and CZP 923) by 16-24%. The magnitude of superiority of best populations over two checks for stover yield was 55-83%. There existed a good opportunity to select exotic sources with different combinations of panicle length and tillering. In addition, the downy mildew reaction of elite exotic sources is not likely to be a deterrent factor in utilizing the selected elite populations as sources of diversification of landraces.


Thailand's success at pursuing development over the past century has fostered economic growth, urbanization, and the rise of an educated urban middle class. However, many middle class Thai feel that economic success has not bred happiness, but rather, new and bigger problems. They hope for guidance from Buddhism, but traditional Buddhism seems irrelevant, focused on the traditional dichotomy between the Thai elite and the rural masses. Thus, a number of urban middle class Buddhist reform movements have developed. We examine four of the most prominent movements using Rawlinson's (2000) four-quadrant taxonomy, which classifies religious traditions by the type of psychology they address. The 'hot-cool' dimension distinguishes whether traditions stress an 'other' beyond oneself, to which one must refer to attain salvation (hot), or see salvation as essentially a matter of self-realization (cool). Structured traditions follow some roadmap, with or without help from an 'other'. Unstructured traditions do not distinguish stages or a map, but aim for realization that truth/God is present always, and one only needs to see it.The reform movements have diverged to reoccupy all four quadrants. 'Reform-from-within' remains within official Thai Theravāda's 'cool-structured' framework, itself based on official reforms of the 1800s and early 1900s. Wat Dhammakāya has re-integrating esoteric elements into a 'hot-structured' form similar to Vajrayāna in many respects. Santi Asoke diverged along the other dimension, becoming a 'cool-unstructured' form sharing many characteristics with Zen, a Mahāyāna tradition. Kuan Im, the Chinese Kuan Yin, was brought to Thailand by Thai-Chinese. She is often associated with Pure Land Buddhism, and offers salvation to her followers through her compassion and grace, a 'hot-unstructured' traditions.


A 1.5 Tb/s super-channel is generated using all-optical orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) and dual-polarization 16QAM modulation without guard interval. We investigated the effects of DSP oversampling and receiver bandwidth using experimental results and numerical simulations to evaluate our receiver design. The super-channel is transmitted over 1200 km of standard single-mode fiber on existing 100 GbE network using only 200 GHz of optical bandwidth and detected using digital coherent receiver, achieving a spectral efficiency of 7 bit/s/Hz the highest reported to date for all-optical OFDM techniques.


It has been reported that, in animals trained to discriminate ethanol, stimulus control generalized to the non-competitive NMDA antagonists phencyclidine, ketamine and dizocilpine. In the present study, rats were trained to discriminate a dose of ethanol (1 g/kg, i.p.) and substitution tests were carried out with phencyclidine, dizocilpine, CGS 19755, eliprodil, triazolam, chlordiazepoxide, abecarnil, alpidem and d-amphetamine. Phencyclidine and dizocilpine produced dose-related substitution for ethanol as did the competitive NMDA antagonist, CGS 19755, and the benzodiazepines, triazolam and chlordiazepoxide. Eliprodil, an NMDA antagonist acting through the polyamine modulatory site, neither substituted for ethanol nor modified the ethanol dose-response curve. d-Amphetamine, and the non-benzodiazepine anxiolytics, alpidem and abecarnil, did not substitute for ethanol. The results show that both NMDA antagonists and compounds acting through GABA receptors (benzodiazepines) can substitute for ethanol, emphasizing that the ethanol cue may involve several mechanisms. As all the drugs substituting for ethanol, like ethanol itself, are known to produce ataxia and muscle relaxation, it is proposed that this property may be an important aspect of the ethanol cue.


Rotary clock is a recently proposed clock distribution technique based on wave propagation in transmission lines. In this paper, we investigate the problem of power minimization of rotary clock designs. Specifically, we have developed a software tool based on the method of partial element equivalent circuit that is capable of extracting the SPICE netlist from the layout specification of a rotary clock design. Using our tool, we have performed extensive analysis that links various design parameters of a rotary clock design to its oscillation frequency and power dissipation. Based on the results of our analysis, we then propose a power minimization algorithm. Our algorithm derives a rotary clock structure that dissipates the minimal power while satisfying the clock dimension requirement and oscillating at the target frequency with the given clock load. Experimental results have demonstrated that, for target operating frequencies ranging from 0.5 to 5 GHz, rotary clock designs can achieve power savings of up to 80% in comparison with conventional clock tree implementations


A key parameter in the design of 3.5 inch magnetic disk drives is the start-up motor torque needed to guarantee a spin-up. Stiction force depends strongly on the following parameters: head dwell-time, texture height in the landing zone, lubricant chemistry and thickness, temperature, volatile gasses from disk-drive components, slider size and rail geometry, and drive history. A large number of single disk spin-stand experiments are performed in order to optimize the head-disk interface, and still the experienced disk-drive engineer remains nervous about the correlation of test-stand to drive-level data. To verify the validity of component data on the drive we use the standard disk drives under development by our company as test vehicles. Depending on the design each disk drive tests between 2 and 8 head/disk interfaces at the same time. The challenge now becomes to detect the first movement of the disk. As the motor current is increased the heads at first stick, then drag at very low velocities and then finally enough torque is produced to cause the motor to spin. At the initial break-out point, the applied current is not sufficient to do more than rotate the disk by a few degrees. Yet this is the point that provides the stiction data of tribological interest. Because the rotor of our disk drive motor includes a segmented annular magnet, and because the drive base-casting is made of a non-magnetic material, some of the rotor field leaks extemal to the disk drive and can be detected by Hall-sensors mounted on the outside of the base-casting. Very small rotor motions (1 ") relative to the fixed Hall-sensors can thus be readily detected in the sealed drive. Two sensors are in a differential arrangement to improve the signal to noise ratio. Furthermore, the arrangement allows one to determine the start-up position of the motor relative to :he stator poles. A number of experimental results are presented for identical drives built with different heads and media combinations. We can clearly see evidence of fly-stiction and humidity sensitivity, as well as a sensitivity of stiction performance to lasertexture bump height. We discuss correlation issues between drive-level and component level tests and the possible confounding effects of spindle stiction.


Hearing loss and dementia are conditions that impact similar populations. Many adults do not seek audiologic care for their hearing loss and thus are seen in the primary care physician's office with an undiagnosed hearing loss. This study sought to determine the impact of undiagnosed hearing loss and thus decreased audibility on the items of the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) commonly used to diagnose dementia. Many physicians use the MMSE along with self-report of cognitive decline to diagnose dementia. Previous studies have suggested that self-report of cognitive decline is impacted by hearing loss. This study suggests that a decrease in audibility that would be associated with an undiagnosed hearing loss significantly impacts performance on the MMSE. Physicians should be cautious when using the MMSE and self-report of cognitive impairment to diagnose dementia without accounting for hearing loss as both may be significantly impacted by undiagnosed hearing loss.


Objective: to evaluate the effect of breed, reproductive season, dose and time of application of equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) on the estrous cycle and ovarian activity in hair ewe lambs.
Design/methodology/approach: 216 Hair lambs were used (62 Dorper, 69 Katahdin y 85 Pelibuey), 91 in the high reproductive season and 125 in the low reproductive season, they were synchronized with intravaginal sponges containing 20 mg of fluorogestone acetate (FGA) and equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG; 200 and 300 IU) intramuscularly. The treatments are the breed, reproductive season, dose and time of application of eCG. The presence of estrus was analyzed under a logistic regression model, the interval to estrus and ovulation rate were analyzed by analysis of variance using a completely randomized design with a 2x2x2x3 factorial arrangement with the PROC LOGISTIC and PROC GLM procedures.
Results: the breed influenced (P<0.01) the presence of estrus, Dorper ewe lambs presented 9.74 times more possibilities than the Pelibuey. The interval to estrus was shorter in duration (P<0.05) in Dorper (29.5±0.9 h) and Katahdin (29.1±0.9 h) compared to Pelibuey (34.8±0.9 h). The interval to estrus was lower (P<0.05) with the application of 200 or 300 IU of eCG 24 h before the end of the protocol, compared to the application of 200 IU of eCG at the time of progestogen withdrawal. Ovulation rate was only affected by breed (P<0.05), being higher in Pelibuey (2.4±0.1) compared to Dorper (2.0±0.1) and Katahdin (1.9±0.1).
Study limitations/implications: To complement the study, it would be convenient to take the research to a second phase where the gestation part of the females is included to relate it to the ovulation rate, and also to make measurements of ovarian structures by means ultrasound.
Findings/conclusions: Estrus and ovarian activity in hair ewe lambs synchronized with progestogens is mainly influenced by breed.


Atorvastatin and suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) were evaluated for chemoprevention of mouse lung tumors. In Experiment 1, lung tumors were induced by vinyl carbamate in strain A/J mice followed by 500 mg/kg SAHA, 60 or 180 mg/kg atorvastatin, and combinations containing SAHA and atorvastatin administered in their diet. SAHA and both combinations, but not atorvastatin, decreased the multiplicity of lung tumors, including large adenomas and adenocarcinomas with the combinations demonstrating the greatest efficacy. In Experiment 2, lung tumors were induced by 4‐(methylnitrosoamino)‐1‐(3‐pyridyl)‐1‐butanol in strain A/J mice followed by 180 mg/kg atorvastatin, 500 mg/kg SAHA, or both drugs administered in the diet. SAHA and the combination of both drugs, but not atorvastatin alone, decreased the multiplicity of lung tumors and large tumors, with the combination demonstrating greater efficacy. In Experiment 3, lung tumors were induced by 1,2‐dimethylhydrazine in Swiss‐Webster mice followed by 160 mg/kg atorvastatin, 400 mg/kg SAHA, or a combination of both drugs administered in the diet. SAHA and the combination, but not atorvastatin, decreased the multiplicity of lung tumors with the combination demonstrating greater efficacy. The multiplicity of colon tumors was decreased by SAHA, atorvastatin, and the combination, without any significant difference in their efficacy. mRNA expression analysis of lung tumor bearing mice suggested that the enhanced chemopreventive activity of the combination is related to atorvastatin modulation of DNA repair, SAHA modulation of angiogenesis, and both drugs modulating invasion and metastasis pathways. Atorvastatin demonstrated chemoprevention activity as indicated by the enhancement of the efficacy of SAHA to prevent mouse lung tumors.


The antioxidant activity of caseins and casein-derived peptides was evaluated by using three free radical producing reactions-the lipoxygenase- and AAPH-catalyzed oxidation of linoleic acid and the hemoglobin-catalyzed oxidation of linoleic acid hydroperoxide. Caseins and casein-derived peptides were able to inhibit enzymatic and nonenzymatic lipid peroxidation, suggesting they were preferred targets for the free radical intermediates. The antioxidative feature was not lost with the dephosphorylation or the proteolysis of the proteins. The fractionation of the tryptic beta-casein digest yielded peptides with antioxidant activity. A structure-function relationship between the amino acid sequence and the antioxidant capacity and effectiveness is proposed. In addition, indirect evidence suggested that the trapping of free radicals by the proteins/peptides was accompanied by the oxidation of proteins/peptides, according to a sequence-specific mechanism.


Epidemiological studies indicate that smoking is a negative, and exposure to pesticides, a positive risk factor for Parkinson's disease (PD). The purpose of this study was to assess the interplay between these two factors in a rodent model of nigrostriatal damage. To approach this, mice were administered nicotine, the agent in smoke implicated in neuroprotection. They were then treated for 3 weeks with the pesticide, paraquat, while nicotine was continued. Paraquat treatment decreased (25%) nigral dopaminergic neurons, consistent with previous results. Chronic nicotine administration significantly protected against nigral cell damage, with only a 16% decline in mice treated with both nicotine and paraquat. Paraquat treatment also decreased (14%) the striatal dopamine transporter, an effect that was partially prevented by nicotine. These changes in the striatal dopamine transporter paralleled those in a select striatal α6β2* nicotinic receptor (nAChR) subtype. In contrast, striatal α4β2* nAChRs were not decreased with paraquat treatment, suggesting they are on a differential subset of dopaminergic terminals. The results show that nicotine treatment partially protects against paraquat‐induced declines in nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons to which a select population of α6β2* nAChRs are localized. Moreover, these data support epidemiological findings that environmental influences can elicit opposing effects on nigrostriatal dopaminergic integrity.


Justification of the paper Cement production is one of the largest contributors to global CO2-emissions. However, the context and characteristics of the production and the cement products vary a lot. A significant part of the production must be characterized as rather linear, for example, to a large extent based on fossil fuels and involving material flows that are not closed. But there are also much more synergistic examples, involving industrial by-products, renewable energy, etc. Clearly, there are opportunities for improvement within the cement industry and it is interesting to analyze to what extent increased industrial symbiosis can lead to improved climate performance. This has been done by studying the production of cement clinker and three selected cement products produced within the Cluster West in Germany, consisting of three cement plants that are owned by the multinational company CEMEX. The methodology is mostly based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), from cradle-to-gate.PurposeThe overall purpose is to contribute to a better understanding of the climate performance of different ways of producing cement, and different cement products. The climate impact is assessed for "traditional", rather linear, ways of making cement, but also two more synergistic alternatives, where the by-product granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) is utilized to a large extent, substituting cement clinker. It is also shown how the climate performance of the West Cluster has changed from 1997 until 2009 (the main year of study), and investigated how further industrial symbiosis measures could improve the performance.Theoretical frameworkTo a large extent this project has been based on mapping and analysis of relevant flows of material and energy, where LCA methodology has played an important part. Theoretical and methodological aspects related to the fields of Industrial Ecology and Industrial Symbiosis have played an important role. The findings are discussed in relation to some of the key ideas within these fields. The paper generates insight into the methodological challenge of quantifying environmental performance of different production approaches and basically what CO2 improvement potential cement industry has by taking industrial symbiosis measures.ResultsThe results showed that the cement clinker produced at Cluster West is competitive from a climate perspective, causing CO2-eq missions that are a couple of percent lower than the world average. During the twelve year period from 1997 to 2009 these emissions became about 12 percent lower, which was mainly achieved by production efficiency measures but also via changing fuels. However, the most interesting results concern the blended cement products. It was manifested that it is very advantageous from a climate perspective to substitute clinker with granulated blast furnace slag. For example, the CO2-eq emissions were estimated to be 65 percent lower for the best product compared to "ordinary cement".ConclusionsInformation and measures at the plant level are not sufficient to compare products or to significantly reduce the climate impact related to cement. To achieve important reductions of the emissions, measures and knowledge at a higher industrial symbiosis level are needed.


This paper reports a study that investigated the social interaction pattern of collaborative learning and the factors affecting the effectiveness of collaborative learning in a social networking environment (SNE). A class of 55 undergraduate students enrolled in an elective course at a Chinese university was recruited for the study. The participants used an SNE to support their learning activities over a semester. Data was collected through interviews, classroom observations, and from digital artifacts created in the SNE. Social network analysis and content analysis were adopted to analyze data. The results showed that social interaction in the SNE tended to be teacher-centered, social-oriented, fragmented, and short-lived. Pre-existing social relations, perceptions of the teacher and peer feedback, preferred learning approaches and collaboration strategies, nature of the task, and the individualistic nature of social networking technology were factors that influenced how students interacted with each other in collaborative learning mediated by the SNE. The findings have both practical and theoretical implications.


Ethnographic research is a form of qualitative inquiry that creates deep and rich understanding of a studied naturalistic phenomenon. Traditionally, ethnographic research has focused on uncovering the meanings and interpretations of those studied. In other words, ethnographies have focused on uncovering the social construction of the world that reflects underlying interpretive stance. However, recent theoretical developments within Information Systems (IS) and management research emphasize that it is not only social constructions but 'matter' that matters. Research that aims at taking matter seriously in their theorizing are referred to as sociomateriality. Despite that empirical sociomateriality research seems to prefer ethnography as research approach, explicit reflections on the applicability of ethnography for sociomaterialist studies lack. This paper aims at contributing by arguing for the applicability of ethnography for sociomaterialist studies, building especially on agential realist worldview. Applying sociomaterial stance for ethnographies emphasize (1) studying the entanglement of social and material in lieu of social constructions; (2) sensitivity to performativity over representations; and (3) viewing researcher as part of, in lieu of, within, the phenomenon studied. The study contributes to the discussions on sociomateriality by lowering the barrier to conduct sociomaterialist empirical work. Conclusions are drawn.


Classrooms are complex systems, with dynamic interactions of different kinds among their composing varied elements. Such complex interactions lead to the system's unpredictable emergent learning behaviors. To support teachers' lesson planning and monitoring in the complex environment of classrooms, the present article examines the core metacognitive skills of goal-directed lesson planning and monitoring and presents a novel tool for scaffolding teachers' self-regulated instruction by increasing their awareness of goals, activities, discrepancy cues, and instructional time management. The chapter describes a qualitative pilot study with two experienced teachers working in a secondary school and a particular teachers' professional development program. It investigates their utilization of this metacognitive scaffolding tool that has been previously validated as promoting ninth graders' metacognitive awareness and adapted for teachers' use. This Lesson Planning-Monitoring Scaffold (LPMS) supported teachers' lesson planning (including activities sequences, learning settings, and time management), monitoring of plans' enactment, and postlesson as well as yearly reflections on lessons' goal achievement and tool's support. The rationale and structure of this metacognitive tool are described, and teachers' use of the tool is analyzed. Finally, implications for future research on the LPMS and its uses are discussed.


Oxygen-dependent metabolism of peripheral neutrophils was compared for viral hepatitis and acute yersiniosis patients. The metabolism inhibition was seen in both the diseases with lower values for viral hepatitis. Neutrophil function was dependent on the disease gravity. Its recovery went in parallel with other clinical and laboratory signs of convalescence. A luminol-dependent chemiluminescence test is proposed for differential diagnosis of viral hepatitis with jaundices in generalized bacterial infection.


The electrophysiology of hippocampus demonstrated by O'Keefe and Mosers is yet unattainable to explain the same memory function of mammillary bodies. The limbic-reticular coupling theory I proposed previously suggested the descending limbic system regulate the ascending reticular systems to consolidate and recall declarative memories. On electrophysiology, the hippocampal CA3 neurons can regulate the raphe nuclei and ventral tegmental area in their activities, while the cholinergic-mediated gamma wave is also coupled to theta activities. In this way, through these limbic-reticular electrophysiological couplings, the hippocampus can synchronously recall several components of a memory dispersed in various cortical areas. Therefore, here is outlined the alternative part of hippocampal electrophysiology on memory recall different from O'Keefe and Mosers.


In recent years, the supplier relationship aspects of the supply chain management, has observed many attentions in academia and literature. However, in terms of the agribusiness, there are limited number of scientific studies focusing on importance of supplier relationships and the essential of stronger integration between the buyer and suppliers and its effect on the food safety. This study contributes to the food safety science by developing a semi-qualitative and practical model for supplier-buyer relationship in the food industry, aiming to improve food safety and quality at upstream supply network.


We examined the effects of daily melatonin (Mel) infusions in pinealectomized prepubertal male Siberian hamsters in three different conditions. In one study we investigated the body weight maturation response to one hour daily infusions of 10 ng, 25 ng, or 50 ng of Mel in pinealectomized hamsters. Animals received, at day 15 of life, programmed subcutaneous infusions of Mel or vehicle at one of five time points (1900-2000, 2000-2100, 2100-2200, 2400-0100, and 0300-0400 hours) for 30 days. In long-day-born (16L) animals, Mel infusion right after lights off (2000-2100 hours) significantly inhibited body growth; this dose was ineffective at other times. Doses of 10 ng and 25 ng Mel were ineffective at all time points. In a second study, hamsters received either 4-or 8-h infusions of Mel (either 50 ng/h or 50 ng/day) at various times throughout the day and night of a 16L or 10L photoperiod. Daily 4-h, 50 ng/h, Mel infusions at 1700-2100 hours inhibited body weight growth in 16L and daily 4-h Mel infusions (either 50 ng/h or 50 ng/day) inhibited body weight growth at 1700-2100 hours in 10L. In all cases, daily 8-h infusions suppressed body weight development. In a third study, long-day-born pinealectomized hamsters were infused with two signals of four hours separated by an interval of two hours. Mel infused groups had significantly inhibited body growth compared to vehicle infused animals. Body weight development was maximally inhibited only in those groups in which the period of Mel sensitivity was identified in the first study (2000-2100 hours) overlapped or immediately followed a period of Mel infusion These results show that the photoperiodic body weight response in juvenile Siberian hamsters is regulated by the coincidence in time of exogenously administered Mel with an intrinsic rhythm of sensitivity to Mel, and the duration of the Mel signal alone cannot explain the results.


Movement artifacts during whole body scanning are a major concern when reproducible results are required. To determine the magnitude of the artifacts, 11 subjects were scanned with and without a positioning device on the head. The sway of the body was determined by a force plate. It was shown that the pointer on the head reduced the magnitude of the forward/backward sway by over 50%. The resulting standard deviation is less than the resolution of the scanner. Movement artifacts within the body, like head rotation, are hard to control. Again, the pointer on the head assists in reducing the artifacts. The ventilation depth during the scan determines the shape of the chest and should be standardized to get reproducible results.


Reward and sanction are reactions of a person or an instance to a behavior that supports, respectively affects norms, values and people that are part of a constituted group (the collective of a classroom that is supervised by a teacher or the school community). If reward is always accompanied by positive affective states which value people and place them in a positive light, sanction, which has the role of correcting by showing that the way things are in the present is wrong becomes a "two blade knife": it can do good (fix things by showing the right way they need to be done) or wrong (by humiliating the person who is sanctioned, by punishing), depending on how it is designed and used. Our purpose in the present article is to present several considerations on the rather non-educational way in which sanction is used in Romanian schools.


To provide fault tolerance for cloud storage, recent studies propose to stripe data across multiple cloud vendors. However, if a cloud suffers from a permanent failure and loses all its data, we need to repair the lost data with the help of the other surviving clouds to preserve data redundancy. We present a proxy-based storage system for fault-tolerant multiple-cloud storage called NCCloud, which achieves cost-effective repair for a permanent single-cloud failure. NCCloud is built on top of a network-coding-based storage scheme called the functional minimum-storage regenerating (FMSR) codes, which maintain the same fault tolerance and data redundancy as in traditional erasure codes (e.g., RAID-6), but use less repair traffic and, hence, incur less monetary cost due to data transfer. One key design feature of our FMSR codes is that we relax the encoding requirement of storage nodes during repair, while preserving the benefits of network coding in repair. We implement a proof-of-concept prototype of NCCloud and deploy it atop both local and commercial clouds. We validate that FMSR codes provide significant monetary cost savings in repair over RAID-6 codes, while having comparable response time performance in normal cloud storage operations such as upload/download.


OBJECTIVE
The profile and associated factors for re-admitted epileptic patients with complications was determined. Repeated re-admission to Komani Hospital initiated the study to identify preventable factors aimed at reducing readmission of these patients.

DESIGN
Descriptive study.

SETTING
Komani Hospital, Queenstown, South Africa.

SUBJECTS
101 patients previously diagnosed with epilepsy and who were re-admitted to Komani Hospital with post-ictal complications, were included.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Epileptic patients were identified on admission and were interviewed. Information of the post-ictal events was gathered from people accompanying the patient and who had witnessed the seizure. Patient information about associated factors like substance abuse, level of education, employment status, compliance, drug regimes and other issues were explored.

RESULTS
Many (63%) patients were unemployed, 54% of the patients used alcohol and 24% had a history of substance abuse (cannabis). Most patients (71%) gave no family history of epilepsy. 10% of the patients had frequent seizures (once a week or once every two weeks) and 55% of the patients had infrequent seizures (once a month). More than a third (35%) of the patients had good control of seizures (once a year up to a maximum of three attacks per year). Most patients (97%) were on monotherapy. For (35%) of patients this was a second admission, with second and third admission representing more than 60% of patients. Most patients (56.4%) experienced myoclonic seizures (data gathered from patient notes, referral letters and collateral information) with a seizure frequency of at least once a month. Post-ictal psychosis was the most common cause of admission (68%).

CONCLUSION
The onset of epilepsy in most patients was on or after 20 years of age. According to patient notes, referral letters and-collateral information, the majority of patients experienced myoclonic type seizures with a frequency of at least once a month or more. Most patients were stabilized on monotherapy and post-ictal psychosis was the most common cause of re-admission. Cannabis and alcohol use in the study group is of note.


Due to high energy consumption by building and a resultant increasing cost, it is imperative that a solution be sought after with the aim of achieving low energy housing delivery. This study aimed at assessing the availability, knowledge and importance of low impact building materials in the delivery of low energy housing. Low impact materials suitable for low energy housing delivery and how they are locally obtained in the study areas were identified, occupants' preference in the selection of low impact construction material for housing delivery were examined and the application of low impact material for low energy housing delivery in the study area were determined. The research focused mainly on three states in north central Nigeria namely; Niger, Kogi and FCT Abuja. Quantitative research method was used and weighted mean of responses were ranked in an ordinal manner from 236 respondents. The respondents were not aware of low impact materials as they were only aware and accustomed to using sandcrete blocks and burnt clay bricks. The outcome of the correlation established that the most preferred building material is the sandcrete block, showing a positive relationship with durability and structural performance as the influencers.


Recent approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of dabigatran etexilate, an oral direct thrombin inhibitor, for the prevention of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation will likely extend its administration in elderly patients. The risk of major overdosage of dabigatran etexilate in this population is, however, much increased owing to frequent renal function impairment, low body weight, drug interactions that cannot be detected with a routine coagulation test, and no antagonist available. We report herein 2 clinical cases, including 1 fatal case, illustrating our concern regarding the risk of bleeding events in elderly patients.


BACKGROUND
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and is associated with permanent renal impairment and death. Although guidelines increasingly emphasize AKI prevention, whether increased awareness has translated into reduced AKI rates is unclear.

METHODS
Among 33,249 consecutive hospitalizations in 31,532 unselected patients with AMI across 56 US centers from Cerner Corporation's Health Facts database, we examined the temporal trends in AKI incidence from 2000 to 2008. Acute kidney injury was defined as an absolute increase in creatinine level of at least 0.3 mg/dL or a relative increase of at least 50% during hospitalization.

RESULTS
From 2000 to 2008, the mean age of patients increased (from 66.5 to 68.6 years), as did the known AKI risk factors, including chronic kidney disease, cardiogenic shock, diabetes mellitus, heart failure, coronary angiography, and percutaneous coronary intervention. Despite this, AKI incidence declined from 26.6% in 2000 to 19.7% in 2008 (P < .001). After multivariate adjustment, the trend of decreasing AKI rates persisted (4.4% decline per year; P < .001). In addition, in-hospital mortality also declined over time among patients developing AKI, from 19.9% in 2000 to 13.8% in 2008 (P = .003).

CONCLUSIONS
In a large national study, AKI incidence in patients hospitalized with AMI declined significantly from 2000 to 2008 despite the aging population and rising prevalence of AKI risk factors. These findings may reflect increased clinician awareness, better risk stratification, or greater use of AKI prevention efforts during this time period.


Abstract This study used a twin paradigm to examine genetic and environmental contributions to pain catastrophizing and the observed association between pain catastrophizing and cold-pressor task (CPT) outcomes. Male and female monozygotic (n = 206) and dizygotic twins (n = 194) from the University of Washington Twin Registry completed a measure of pain catastrophizing and performed a CPT challenge. As expected, pain catastrophizing emerged as a significant predictor of several CPT outcomes, including cold-pressor Immersion Tolerance, Pain Tolerance, and Delayed Pain Rating. The heritability estimate for pain catastrophizing was found to be 37% with the remaining 63% of variance attributable to unique environmental influence. Additionally, the observed associations between pain catastrophizing and CPT outcomes were not found attributable to shared genetics or environmental exposure, which suggests a direct relationship between catastrophizing and experimental pain outcomes. This study is the first to examine the heritability of pain catastrophizing and potential processes by which pain catastrophizing is related to experimental pain response.


In the present work a study of the influence of structural state on magnetic hysteresis properties of (Nd,Ho)2(Fe0.8Co0.2)14B compound was carried out. Starting alloy was prepared by induction melting in an Ar atmosphere. Nd-Ho-Fe-Co-B alloys with a nanograin structure were obtained by severe plastic deformation (SPD). Electron microscopy and X-ray analysis were used for the structural investigation. The magnetization measurements were performed using a SQUID magnetometer. It is shown that the relatively high values of coercive force are observed in case of achieved nanograin structure in (Nd,Ho)2(Fe0.8Co0.2)14B. The effect of structural state on hysteresis properties of Y2(Fe0.8Co0.2)14B is also investigated.


The dynamics of saturated vapor between two intersecting walls is examined. It is shown that, if the angle [Formula: see text] between the walls is sufficiently small, the vapor becomes unstable, and spontaneous condensation occurs in the corner, similar to the so-called capillary condensation of vapor into a porous medium. As a result, an ever-growing liquid meniscus develops near the corner. The diffuse-interface model and the lubrication approximation are used to demonstrate that the meniscus grows if and only if [Formula: see text], where θ is the contact angle corresponding to the fluid/solid combination under consideration. This criterion has a simple physical explanation: if it holds, the meniscus surface is concave—hence, the Kelvin effect causes condensation. Once the thickness of the condensate exceeds by an order of magnitude the characteristic interfacial thickness, the volume of the meniscus starts to grow linearly with time. If the near-vertex region of the corner is smoothed, the instability can be triggered off only by finite-size perturbations, such that it includes enough liquid to cover the smoothed area by a microscopically thin liquid film.


We investigate the modulatory effects of subcutaneous administration of different doses of KB-2796 (1, 5 and 15 mg/kg), a new calcium channel blocker, and BAY K 8644 (0.25, 0.5 and 1 mg/kg), a calcium agonist, on fentanyl-induced analgesia (20 micrograms/kg) in rats. The drugs were tested individually as well as in combination with fentanyl. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was used as a control. Nociceptive sensitivity was assessed by the tail-flick technique. When KB-2796 and BAY K 8644 were used alone, only KB-2796 at the dose of 15 mg/kg produced an effect that was significantly different from that of DMSO (p < 0.01). The effect was antinociceptive. When administered with fentanyl, KB-2796 at 5 and 15 mg/kg potentiated the analgesic effect of fentanyl (p < 0.05), but suppression of fentanyl analgesia by BAY K 8644 was not significant at any of the doses tested. Our data supports the hypothesis that the calcium ion is partially involved in fentanyl-induced analgesia.


The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of computational services, devices, and people, which share information with each other. In IoT, inter-system communication is possible and human interaction is not required. IoT devices are penetrating the home and office building environments. According to current estimates, about 35 billion IoT devices will be connected by the year 20212. In the IoT business model, value comes from integrating devices into applications, e.g., home and office automation. In general, an IoT application associates different information sources with actions which can modify the environment, e.g., change the room's temperature, inform a person, e.g., send an e-mail, or activate other services, e.g., buy milk on-line.
In this thesis, we focus on the commissioning and verification processes of IoT devices used in building automation applications. Within a building's lifespan, new devices are added, interior spaces are refurbished, and faulty devices are replaced. All of these changes are currently made manually. Furthermore, consider that a context-aware Building Management System (BMS) is an IoT application, which measures direct-context from the building's sensors to characterize environmental conditions, user locations, and state. Additionally, a BMS combines sensor information to derive inferred-context, such as user activity. Similar to IoT devices, inferred-context instances have to be created manually. As the number of devices and inferred-context instances increases, keeping track of all associations becomes a time-consuming and error-prone task.
The hypothesis of the thesis is that users who interact with the building create use-patterns in the data, which describe functional relations between devices and inferred-context instances, e.g., which desk-movement sensor is used to infer desk-presence and controls which overhead light; additionally, use-patterns can also provide structural relations, e.g., the relative position of spatial sensors. To test the hypothesis, this thesis presents an extension to the new IoT class rule programming paradigm, which simplifies rule creation based on classes. The proposed extension uses a semantic compiler to simplify the device and inferred-context associations. Using direct-context information and template classes, the compiler creates all possible inferredcontext instances. Buildings using context-aware BMSs will have a dynamic response to user behaviour, e.g., required illumination for computer-work is provided by adjusting blinds or increasing the dim setting of overhead ceiling lamps. We propose a rule mining framework to extract use-patterns and find the functional and structural relationships between devices. The rule mining framework uses three stages: (1) event extraction, (2) rule mining, (3) structure creation. The event extraction combines the building's data into a time-series of device events. Then, in the rule mining stage, rules are mined from the time series, where we use the established algorithm temporal interval tree association rule learner. Additionally, we proposed a rule extraction algorithm for spatial sensor's data. The algorithm is based on statistical analysis of user transition times between adjacent sensors. We also introduce a new rule extraction algorithm based on increasing belief. In the last stage, structure creation uses the extracted rules to produce device association groups, hierarchical representation of the building, or the relative location of spatial sensors. The proposed algorithms were tested using a year-long installation in a living-lab consisting of a four-person office, a 12-person open office, and a meeting room. For the spatial sensors, four locations within public buildings were used: a meeting room, a hallway, T-crossing, and a foyer. The recording times range from two weeks to two months depending on scenario complexity.
We found that user-generated patterns appear in building data. The rule mining framework produced structures that represent functional and spatial relationships of building's devices and provide sufficient information to automate maintenance tasks, e.g., automatic device naming. Furthermore, we found that environmental changes are also a source of device data patterns, which provide additional associations. For example, using the framework we found the facade group for exterior light sensors. The facade group can be used to automatically find an alternative signal source to replace broken outdoor light sensors. Finally, the rule mining framework successfully retrieved the relative location of spatial sensors in all locations but the foyer.


Ginsan, a polysaccharide extracted from Panax ginseng and subsequently referred as ginseng, posses various biological properties as an anticancer and antioxidant agent. Ginseng also approved effective against radiation effects through its immunomodulating actions in whole body irradiated mouse. But its protective effects on radiation induced DNA damage are not thoroughly investigated, mainly in human. This experiment aimed to assess the effects of ginseng at 2 working doses in suppressing radiation effects of human peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) i.e. chromosome aberration and micronuclei yields. The treatment times were 24 hours before, subsequently (0 hour) or 3 hours after and irradiation with gamma rays at doses of 0.5 - 2.0 Gy (dose rate of 3.16 Gy/min). Treated and untreated blood cultivation and metaphase spreading technique was done according to standard procedures. Results showed that without ginseng treatments, radiation significantly increased dicentrics and micronuclei frequencies. Different with the results in mouse study, however, our results indicated that none of the experimental concentrations of ginseng crude water extract tested had an effect on baseline chromosomal aberration and micronuclei (MN) yields in PBL. A protective effect was only seen in chromosome aberration yields of sample irradiated with 2.0 Gy and treated with ginseng 3 h post irradiation rather than 24 h pre-irradiation in one volunteer. Opposite results that ginseng suspected to be a weak radiosensitizer was found in some cases. This may be due to discrepancies exist in route of treatment and its fundamental mechanisms of protective action between both studies. Even though in general it was not effective, the possible mechanism involved in radioprotective influence of ginseng is discussed.


A new white light MOF was constructed from low-cost 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate and nontoxic Zinc(ii) ions. The compound possessed the most sophisticated crystallographic asymmetric unit containing sixteen metal ions and twelve ligands. Near sunlight and human eye friendly white-light emission under a wide ultraviolet radiation range of 300 to 390 nm was observed for this photoemitter, without the use of expensive rare earth and complicated organic ligands.


Cerebellar malformation are increasingly diagnosed in utero. To assess the effectiveness of ultrasound and fetal magnetic resonance in the antenatal prediction of long term neurodevelopmental delay.
STUDY DESIGN: We collected 105 cases of cerebellum malformation in the period 2000-2010 in Bologna and Bari University. Classification included cystic anomalies of posterior fossa and cerebellar hypoplasia.
RESULTS: The greater group included Blake's pouch cysts and mega cisterna magna cases (58/105). These cases seemed to have a good prognosis with a good outcome both in association with other anomalies and isolated. In cases of Dandy Walker malformation, vermis hypoplasia and cerebellum hypoplasia there were few survivors, so it was so difficult to outline some conclusion for child outcome. Despite great neuroimaging advances, in our study, ultrasound and MR reached a similar sensitivity (62-63%) for the diagnosis of posterior fossa anomalies, but the number of MR was lower compared with ultrasonography.
CONCLUSION: Ultrasonography remains the screening method of choice for evaluation of cerebellum anatomy but probably MR imaging can improve some details expecially in the third trimester. Despite the data on Dandy Walker, vermis hypoplasia and cerebellum hypoplasia were conflicting and uncertain, for Blake and mega cisterna magna we can considered a rather good outcome.


The preferred crystallographic orientation (i.e. texture) and the non-transformed austenite can cause serious systematic errors in the structural study of the R-phase in 50.75at.%Ti- 47.75at.%Ni-1.50at.%Fe (hereafter referred to as Ti-Ni-Fe ternary) shape memory alloy. The crystal structure refinement of R-phase synchrotron high resolution powder diffraction (SRD) data using Rietveld refinement with generalized spherical harmonic (GSH) description for preferred orientation correction showed that the sample consists of minor cubic phase and the space group was 3 P [1]. The objective of the present paper is to study the crystallographic phase composition and crystal structure refinement of SRD data of trigonal R-phase martensite and monoclinic (B19¢) martensite in Ti-Ni-Fe ternary alloy during thermal cycling using the GSH description.


A three-dimensional computer memory architecture based on the optical properties of the integral membrane protein bacteriorhodopsin has been previously proposed. However, confirmation of the very important branched photocycle property of this protein has not been shown. Data confirming the existence of a branched photocycle by writing a long term stable bit of information within the center of a cube of protein is presented. The stable photoproduct is formed by pulsing a 635 nm laser followed by an intersecting 690 nm laser pulse. At the point of intersection a stable branched photo-product appears. We found that at elevated temperatures the rate of production of the stable photoproduct is greatly increased and therefore the experiments are performed at 40/spl deg/C. Data representing absorbance changes at 690 nm due to the bacteriorhodopsin photocycle at 40/spl deg/C is presented. This information is required to set the timing of the light pulses required to write a bit. Then the pulse-pulse experiment is performed with a corresponding increase in transmission observed during the 690 nm light pulse. This confirms the production of the stable photoproduct. The experiment is then repeated with both lasers pulsing simultaneously. If the photoproduct is formed from a branch off of the photocycle, the simultaneous pulses should form much less photoproduct, despite an equivalent number of photons. Data showing this result is presented confirming the branched production of the stable photoproduct, thus proving the three dimensional computer memory architecture.


One third of chondrichthyan species (sharks, rays, and chimeras) are threatened with extinction, mainly due to unsustainable fishing. Large accessible international markets for meat and luxury products like dried fins can help drive overfishing by encouraging targeted capture or retention of high-value export species. If this is common, then species in international trade could have heightened extinction risk. Here, we examined the species composition of the Hong Kong shark fin market from 2014 to 2018, finding that traded species disproportionately occur in threatened categories (70.9%) and all premium value species are threatened. A small number of cosmopolitan species dominate the trade, but noncosmopolitan coastal species are still traded at concerning levels given their limited distribution. These coastal species are not generally subject to retention prohibitions, fisheries management, or international trade regulations and without management many could become extinct. The conservation potential of international trade regulations alone for coastal chondrichthyans depends on the extent to which overfishing is driven by export markets; socioeconomic studies of coastal fishing communities are needed to make this determination. Nonetheless, adding international trade regulations for more coastal shark species that are in the fin trade could prompt broad engagement with overfishing in nations lacking effective management.


The 2013 White Paper talks a great deal about reform in Defence. It is notable, however, that the areas of reform that are discussed relate primarily to processes of accountability, planning, reporting, consultation and reviewing. Some advances have been made in these fields. However, their effect has largely been to tune long-standing and well entrenched administrative systems. Deeper strategic or root and branch reform to achieve world's best practice in efficiency and effectiveness is hardly mentioned. If Defence is to win the internal functional savings directed by the 2009 Defence White Paper, much more rigorous and thorough-going processes of reform lie ahead.


A new documentary film, The Widowmaker , has split the cardiology community with its enthusiastic promotion of coronary computed tomography scanning. The dramatic, 93 minute film has made its way on to Netflix, Amazon instant play, iTunes, GooglePlay, and other media platforms. Director Patrick Forbes uses big name celebrities (Gillian Anderson and Larry King), an emotive narrative, and decisive editing to drive home the film's central claim: that millions of young, healthy, asymptomatic people have unexpectedly dropped dead from myocardial infarction and most of these deaths could have been prevented by screening for coronary calcium using CT scanning.

The documentary has received rave reviews in the US. The Hollywood Reporter opined that the scans "have been opposed for years by the health care industry for reasons that have far more to do with commerce than science." A reviewer in Los Angeles Times described it as "lucid and important work."

The only note of uncertainty came from Neil Genzlinger, the New York Times reviewer, who praised the film as "commendable" but also wrote, "the film's only problem is that it may leave you so skeptical that you're not sure you're getting the unbiased story on the scan, either."

The storyline of the film is simple: the bad guys are greedy "interventionists" who want to profit from treating people with advanced coronary disease; the good guys are the "preventionists," like the film's protagonist, Matthew Budoff, who has championed calcium CT scanning as …


The age-related cognitive decline and the increase in dementia patients are large problems in societies with growing ageing populations. No cure is present for dementia, while the available medication only focuses on alleviating symptoms. It is therefore of major importance to find risk factors that can modify the development of cognitive decline and dementia. Pre-clinical and observational studies suggest a role for nutrients. Evidence derived from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is, however, limited and equivocal with most studies showing no effect and only a few studies showing a beneficial effect of a nutritional intervention. In the current thesis, we investigated the acute and longer-term effects of different nutrients, i.e. glucose and sucrose, protein, resistance-type exercise training with or without protein, and vitamin B12 and folic acid in order to optimize and preserve cognitive functions in non-demented elderly people. A comprehensive literature review was performed on the acute effects of glucose and sucrose on cognitive performance ( Chapter 2 ). Glucose is the most important fuel for the brain, and as such, manipulation of the supply of glucose may affect cognitive functions. The main conclusion of our review was that a glucose load may have a short-term beneficial effect on episodic memory. Enhancing effects on other cognitive domains were less clear, partly due to the small number of studies examining these effects. Limited research was also done on the possible effects of sucrose on cognitive functions. Therefore, we investigated the acute effects of 50 g of glucose and 100 g of sucrose on a broad spectrum of cognitive functions reflecting performance on episodic memory, working memory, attention and information processing speed, and executive functions ( Chapter 3 ). This was done by a cross-over study in 43 elderly participants who had self-reported memory complaints. In contrast to the conclusion of our review, we did not observe an effect of glucose or sucrose on episodic memory, though we showed a beneficial effect of sucrose on attention and information processing speed. Protein supplementation was the next nutritional intervention that was investigated. Several amino acids are precursors for neurotransmitters, and their supply may affect the synthesis and release of these neurotransmitters, and may consequently affect cognitive performance. A 24-week randomized placebo-controlled trial was carried out in 65 frail and pre-frail elderly people ( Chapter 4 ). The protein supplementation included twice a day 15 grams of protein in the form of a drink. Reaction time improved more in the protein group compared to the placebo group, but the scores on the cognitive domains, i.e. episodic memory, attention and working memory, information processing speed, and executive functions, or the other single test scores, did not differ between treatment groups. In addition, we investigated the effects of 24 weeks resistance-type exercise training with and without protein supplementation in pre-frail and frail elderly people ( Chapter 5 ). Exercise training without extra protein (n=62) improved performance on the domain attention and working memory. Exercise training together with protein supplementation (n=65) improved performance on information processing speed. Last, the role of vitamin B12 and folate on cognitive health was investigated. Low levels of these nutrients can increase homocysteine levels, which is a suggested risk factor for cognitive decline. The effect of daily supplementation with 500 µg vitamin B12 and 400 µg folic acid was investigated in 2,919 participants for two years ( Chapter 6 ). Global cognitive function and episodic memory were assessed in the total study population, whereas extensive neuropsychological testing was done in a subpopulation (n=856). B-vitamin supplementation did not improve cognitive domain scores. Only a small, though significant, effect was observed on global cognitive performance, measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination, but this was suggested to be due to chance. Brain MRI scans were made in a subgroup (n=218) after two years of intervention to obtain volumetric measures of grey and white matter, and total brain volume ( Chapter 7 ). We investigated the cross-sectional associations between follow-up levels of folate, homocysteine and three vitamin B12 status biomarkers, e.g. methylmalonic acid, holotranscobalamin and serum vitamin B12, and brain volumes. Fully adjusted regression models showed a borderline significant association between plasma homocysteine and total brain volume, with a stronger association in the group that received B-vitamin supplementation. Serum B12 and holotranscobalamin were not associated with brain volumes, whereas high methylmalonic acid levels were associated with lower brain volumes in the group that received B-vitamins. In contrast, higher folate levels were associated with lower total brain volumes. In addition, when comparing the group that received two years of B-vitamin supplementation and those who did not, we observed lower brain volumes in the B-vitamin group, which might be a result of a difference in age between the two groups. To conclude, the nutritional intervention studies showed little evidence for a beneficial effect on cognitive performance in relatively healthy older adults. Given the large problem of dementia, research on modifiable risk factors, including nutrition, should continue, with well thought out research methods, including large and long-term observational and intervention studies with high-sensitive study populations and early biomarkers (e.g. imaging techniques) for cognitive decline in combination with neuropsychological tests. In this way, nutrition can be added to the list of lifestyle factors that can fight dementia.


WWhen tasked with designing Early Head Start, the Department of Health and Human Services' (USDHHS) Advisory Committee on Services for Families with Infants and Toddlers envisioned the continuation of high quality services after families completed the infant and toddler program. Smooth transitions into high quality Head Start and other preschool programs were seen as "important for ensuring continued accessibility to enriching early child development experiences and for providing ongoing family support services that promote healthy family development" (USDHHS, 1994). This vision, as well as research on continuity of early childhood services, guided the analyses of the prekindergarten followup of the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project. The primary research questions were:


Air pollution is considered to be one of the overgrowing problems of cosmopolitan distribution, due to marked progress in industrialization. The applied epidemiological and environmental studies related to reproductive health in the community, are considered as the main principles for comprehensive health development in industrial cities. The present study focused on the role of air pollution on the occurrence of abortion and stillbirths among married fertile women during the childbearing age (15-50 years) in two industrial areas, namely Helwan in Cairo Governorate and Tenth of Ramadan City in Sharqyia Governorate. A cross-sectional epidemiological study based on community background was implemented in the two studied areas. The unit of observation was the family including married fertile women based on specific inclusion criteria. Cluster sampling procedure was used in which the unit of sampling was the household, selected within a radius of not less than five Kilometers around the factories. Using Epi-info program, the total sample size in the two studied areas was 1934 women. The interview questionnaire was the tool adopted for data collection, which includes gynecological and obstetric data related to reproductive health. The socio-economic status of studied women was determined using scoring system that includes the education and occupation of both couples. The environmental study was carried-out in the two areas in order to assess the levels of air pollutants and their chemical nature. Data management using Logistic regression analysis was done to determine the effect of independent variables, such as socioeconomic factor, exposure to air pollutants on the occurrence of abortion and stillbirths as examples of reproductive health problems. The mean age of the studied women was 33.8+/-8.8 years in Helwan and 28.1+/-6.5 years in Tenth of Ramadan. Also the study showed significant differences in both the socioeconomic status, smoking inside houses and parity between the studied women in Helwan and Tenth of Ramadan City. The overall prevalence of abortion and stillbirths among women in the studied areas were 29.2% and 4.5%, respectively. However, the prevalence of such reproductive health hazards among women in Helwan was significantly higher than in Tenth of Ramadan City. Also the results of environmental study indicated that Helwan has higher mean values of total dust count, suspended and respirable dust concentrations as well as lead concentration in the ambient air than in Tenth of Ramadan City. The Logistic regression analysis showed that the respirable dust concentration in the air and smoking inside houses are the significant independent factors for the occurrence of abortion. Moreover, Lead concentration in the air and women education is the main predictors of both abortion and stillbirths. Accordingly, the Egyptian authorities should attempt to improve air quality in urban industrial communities to promote reproductive health and prevent woman' s health hazards.


In this study, the effect of the COVID‐19 pandemic on electrical energy storage technologies was investigated. The results of the crises and opportunities created by this unpredictable epidemic in the future processes were evaluated according to energy and especially electrical energy storage areas. Home quarantines used to reduce the spread of the epidemic significantly increased the electrical energy needs of home users. In addition, great changes have occurred in public transportation habits during the COVID‐19 pandemic, and it has been observed that approximately 20% of individuals may prefer electric micromobility devices working with lithium batteries due to the risk of infection in closed areas such as public buses or metros. Although the demand for main energy sources has decreased significantly during the COVID‐19 pandemic, it is important that the percentage of energy produced from renewable energy sources increases by about 1%. With the increasing use of renewable energy sources and the increasing importance of the concept of sustainability in all areas of our lives, energy storage systems compatible with renewable energy technologies will become more and more important. At the beginning of these technologies, hydroelectric energy storage systems with closed‐loop pumps are preferred for large‐scale applications.


Fifteen species in six genera of the family Halichondriidae, including two new species, Halichondria (Halichondria) carotenoidea sp. nov. and Halichondria (Halichondria) microbiana sp. nov., are recorded for northern Australia as part of a revision of the order Halichondrida (Porifera: Demospongiae) in this region. Descriptions and discussion of those species are presented here. Eight new combinations within the family Halichondriidae are here established, i.e. Amorphinopsis fenestrata (Ridley, 1884, as Leucophloeus), Amorphinopsis maculosa (Pulitzer-Finali, 1996, as Topsentia), Axinyssa bergquistae (Hooper et al., 1997, as Halichondria), Axinyssa mertoni (Hentschel, 1912, as Ciocalypta), Axinyssa gracilis (Hentschel, 1912, as Ciocalypta rutila gracilis), Axinyssa terpnis (De Laubenfels, 1954, as Phycopsis), Ciocalypta vansoesti (Hooper et al., 1997, as Halichondria) and Topsentia ridleyi (Hooper et al., 1997 as Halichondria) and one species is relocated into the family Dictyonellidae, i.e, Stylissa vernonensis (Hooper et al., 1997, as Hymeniacidon). A lectotype is designated for Ciocalypta stalagmites Hentschel, 1912.


The European starling Sturnus vulgaris is a hole-nesting bird in which the male builds a voluminous nest using a wide variety of materials such as twigs, grass, leaves, feathers, and lichens. The function of lichens in starling nests has not been assessed until now and we hypothesize that this material is related to a mate attraction function or is used to protect nestlings from parasites due to the presence of secondary compounds with insecticidal effects with the lichens. We aimed to identify the lichen species and frequency of lichen use in European starling nests, and to determine if the presence of this material is correlated with mate attraction or with an insecticidal function. We found lichens in 45% of nests, mainly represented by Ramalina celastri . The lichens were added to the nests mainly before the beginning and at the end of nest building and egg-laying started earlier in nests with lichens than those without lichens. No association was found between the presence of lichen and the intensity of Philornis larvae (Diptera), a parasite that infests starling nestlings. Our results suggest that the addition of lichens could be related to mate attraction and a stimulus for the beginning of egg-laying but did not have an antiparasitic function in European starling nests.


Solar micro-type III radio bursts are elements of the so-called type III storms and are characterized by short-lived, continuous, and weak emissions. Their frequency of occurrence with respect to radiation power is quite different from that of ordinary type III bursts, suggesting that the generation process is not flare-related, but due to some recurrent acceleration processes around the active region. We examine the relationship of micro-type III radio bursts with coronal streamers. We also explore the propagation channel of bursts in the outer corona, the acceleration process, and the escape route of electron beams. It is observationally confirmed that micro-type III bursts occur near the edge of coronal streamers. The magnetic field line of the escaping electron beams is tracked on the basis of the frequency drift rate of micro-type III bursts and the electron density distribution model. The results demonstrate that electron beams are trapped along closed dipolar field lines in the outer coronal region, which arise from the interface region between the active region and the coronal hole. A 22 year statistical study reveals that the apex altitude of the magnetic loop ranges from 15 to 50 RS. The distribution of the apex altitude has a sharp upper limit around 50 RS suggesting that an unknown but universal condition regulates the upper boundary of the streamer dipolar field.


Information and communication technology (ICT) has influenced various aspects of human life such as access to information, communication, business, and education. It is recognized that the quality of teaching and learning can be enhanced by using ICT in education. The context of Biology education in Indonesia shows that the students' motivation in learning this subject is considered low. Moreover, students' interest in the lesson was considered low, due to the subject irrelevancy, lack of daily experiences with Biology and monotonous teaching method. This research explored to overcome the common problem faced by the Indonesian Senior High School students in learning Biology especially Renewable Energy. There were two groups involved in this experiment, namely: T0 and T1. The first group (T0) was assigned as the control group and the second group (T1) was assigned to the experiment group. Two objectives were identified, firstly to examine the impact on learning outcomes when the e-AV Biology Courseware is used as a teaching medium. Secondly, it examined the overall feedback of the e-AV Biology Courseware. The findings of research indicated that the e-AV Biology Courseware was able to help students to understand more about the Biology subject, especially Renewable Energy topic, compared to the conventional ways of teaching. The research suggested two key contributions. The first contribution was the design and development of an e-Learning website for Indonesian Senior High Schools, secondly by using e-AV Biology Courseware.


Paris, the storybook capital of romance --of strolls down cobblestone streets and kisses by the Seine --may not be the ideal location to mend a wounded heart. But pragmatic professional writer Anna, who has been unlucky in love in L.A., has come here with keys to her aunt's empty apartment. Bilingual and blessed with dual citizenship, she seeks solace in the delectable pastries, in the company of old friends, and in her exciting new job: translating a mysterious, erotic French novel by an anonymous author.


This paper discusses the findings of a research study investigating user acceptance of bring your own device (BYOD) practice to support teaching and learning in a Hong Kong university. Forty-four undergraduate students and two teachers participated in the study. To collect their ratings of agreement with respect to several BYOD-related issues, student participants were asked to complete pre- and post-user acceptance questionnaires at the beginning and at the end of a 13-week semester. Post-event focus group interview sessions were also organised to further elicit students' and teachers' views on the use of personally owned devices for learning. While most of the findings from this study support the use of BYOD in higher education, a number of concerns about its implementation are raised. Insights derived from this research will help inform pedagogies, research and practices in BYOD-mediated learning environments.


Traffic flow management (TFM) allocates the various airport, airspace, and other resources to maintain an efficient traffic flow consistent with safety. TFM is a complex area of research involving the disciplines of operations research, guidance and control, human factors, and software engineering. Hundreds of human operators make TFM decisions that involve tens of thousands of aircraft, en route air traffic control centers, the Federal Aviation Administration's System Command Center, and many airline operation centers. This paper provides an overview of how TFM decisions are made today and challenges facing the system in the future, and reviews modeling and optimization approaches for facilitating system-wide modeling, performance assessments, and system-level optimization of the national airspace system in the presence of both en route and airport capacity constraints.


We propose strategic games wherein the strategies consist of players asking each other questions and answering those questions. We study simplifications of such games wherein two players simultaneously ask each other a question that the opponent is then obliged to answer. The motivation for our research is to model conversation including the dynamics of questions and answers, to provide new links between game theory and dynamic logics of information, and to exploit the dynamic/strategic structure that, we think, lies implicitly inside epistemic models for epistemic languages, and to make that structure an explicit subject of logical study. Our main contributions are: the notion of a two-person question-answer game with information goals, the existence and computation of equilibria for these games, the correspondence with Bayesian games and their equilibria, and a connection between logic and game theory namely the existence of equilibria for positive goal formulae.


Mini-matrices (multiple unit dosage forms) with release sustaining properties were developed by simple extrusion (die cavity of 3 mm) using ketoprofen a NSAID as a model drug and hydrophilic (HPMC and xanthan gum), hydrophobic (ethyl cellulose) as a sustained release agents and 5% propylene glycol was selected as plasticizer with 10% lactose as channeling agent. In vitro drug release study was calculated for all the formulations and showed maximum drug release of 93.81% for mini-matrices (F15) having HPMC as polymer in a ratio of 1 : 2 with respect to drug along with plasticizer and channeling agent. The drug release has shown first order kinetics with diffusion release systems followed by erosion mechanism. The physico-chemical chracterization of mini-matrices were carried out by performing drug content, weight variation test, friability and uniformity of size. The FT-IR studies have showed no chemical interaction and drug was in an intact form. The SEM studies were carried out to confirm the plasticizing efficiency of propylene glycol. Short term stability studies of all the parameters were done at a temperature of 30 ± 2oC and 65 ± 5% RH and these were stable upto 3 months.


Abstract This article shows different friction prediction models applicable to lubricants in point contacts under an elastohydrodynamic regime. The types of models used are two variations of the Newtonian theory, the Limiting Shear Stress model and the one based on Carreau's equation. The article sets out the theoretical calculation procedures and the ensuing equations for calculating the friction coefficient. The aims of the article are to study the effect of the parameters with influence on friction and to compare the model's results with those given by an experimental stage performed on a mini traction machine. This test system allows the measurement of friction coefficient in point contacts (ball—disc) under a wide range of variation of parameters such as temperature, slide-roll ratio, lubricant, material, load, or velocity.


Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate cyclic fatigue behaviour of a new pin with a thread run-out design in comparison with three other types of pins commonly used for equine transfixation pin casting. Materials and Methods Twenty-four pairs of equine cadaveric third metacarpal bones (MC3) equipped with one transfixation pin placed horizontally in the distal metaphysis were tested using a simplified model, mimicking the biomechanical situation of equine transfixation pin casting. A 6.3/8.0-mm Imex Duraface pin with thread run-out design (ITROP) was compared with a 6.1-mm smooth Steinmann pin (SSP), a Securos 6.2-mm, positive-profile pin (SPPP) and an Imex 6.3-mm, positive-profile pin (IPPP) under cyclic loading until failure in axial compression of MC3. Results All pins broke at clinically relevant load levels and cycle numbers. The SSP endured significantly (p = 0.0025) more cycles before failure (mean: 48685) than the ITROP (mean 25889). No significant differences in cycles to failure were observed comparing the SPPP versus ITROP, and the IPPP versus ITROP, respectively. Clinical Significance A thread run-out design does not necessarily lead to higher resistance against pin breakage under cyclic loading conditions. The SSP was most resistant against cyclic failure in these testing conditions, even though it was associated with more lateromedial displacement and cortical wear-out. This could outweigh reported disadvantages of the SSP such as reduced resistance to axial extraction and pin loosening.


This article analyses the origin and development of the technique of programming of Jorge Ahumada, of the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA),2 and its importance for economists and economic development planning institutions. To that end, it examines the circulation of the technique in various organizations in Argentina and shows how planning gained legitimacy alongside the main economic policy debates of the mid-twentieth century, while describing the institutional circulation of experts and their texts in the country. The ECLA contribution was found to have a direct impact on local institutions, which reinforced the idea of accelerated growth with economic stability and contributed significantly to the theoretical training of economists in Argentina.


The Arabidopsis RNA-binding protein AtGRP8 undergoes negative autoregulation at the post-transcriptional level. An elevated AtGRP8 protein level promotes the use of a cryptic 5′ splice site to generate an alternatively spliced transcript, as_AtGRP8, retaining the 5′ half of the intron with a premature termination codon. In mutants defective in nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) abundance of as_AtGRP8 but not its pre-mRNA is elevated, indicating that as_AtGRP8 is a direct NMD target, thus limiting the production of functional AtGRP8 protein. In addition to its own pre-mRNA, AtGRP8 negatively regulates the AtGRP7 transcript through promoting the formation of the equivalent alternatively spliced as_AtGRP7 transcript, leading to a decrease in AtGRP7 abundance. Recombinant AtGRP8 binds to its own and the AtGRP7 pre-mRNA, suggesting that this interaction is relevant for the splicing decision in vivo. AtGRP7 itself is part of a negative autoregulatory circuit that influences circadian oscillations of its own and the AtGRP8 transcript through alternative splicing linked to NMD. Thus, we identify an interlocked feedback loop through which two RNA-binding proteins autoregulate and reciprocally crossregulate by coupling unproductive splicing to NMD. A high degree of evolutionary sequence conservation in the introns retained in as_AtGRP8 or as_AtGRP7 points to an important function of these sequences.


Executive Summary Distance learning in developing countries has emerged as a way of widening access to education for tertiary applicants who qualify but could not otherwise gain admission due to the limited space in the existing tertiary institutions. The delivery of the program in Ghana, a developing country in Africa, is predominantly print-based and is supported with regular face-to-face tutori-als. In this process students face several challenges that could be supported with information and communication technology (ICT). The study looked at the extent to which, at their personal level, students utilize the few ICT facilities that are available in their localities that could form a basis for making a case for the use of interactive electronic platforms in the distance learning programs. The results revealed that both male and female learners have some access to and utilize ICT facilities. They have moderate knowledge and usage of the Internet. Distance learning institutions in developing countries could, therefore, take opportunity of this and gradually introduce some basic ICT applications such as e-mails, text messages, phone contacts, a website for providing detailed information, application and registration, uploading and downloading supplementary readers and other services to facilitate interaction among learners and the institutions. This way not only will quality be enhanced but also those in the remotest parts of developing countries could be conveniently reached.


Previous research has found that for men, activating a mating motive increases luxury consumption as a way to attract a romantic partner. However, little is known about the role of luxury consumption in women's romantic endeavors. The present research conceptualizes a mate screening motive which explains how women use luxury consumption to romantically signal to men. Six studies and two follow-ups conducted in controlled and field settings show that the mate screening motive boosts women's consumption of luxury goods as a way to signal their mating standards to men and thereby deter undesirable pursuers. The effect is diminished when mate screening is less necessary such as when external screening tools are available (e.g., screening filters on dating websites), the quality of potential mates is high, and the focus is on selecting a desirable partner rather than deterring undesirable pursuers. The findings have important implications for understanding how consumers use products and brands in romantic relationships, and for designing marketing strategies and communication for luxury brands, commercial dating services, and dating apps. Our findings also provide insights for consumers on how to use brands and products as effective communication devices in romantic endeavors.


Adults categorize others into social groups based on language, gender, ethnicity, and age (Brewer, 1988; Fiske, 1998; Messick & Mackie, 1989; Stangor, Lynch, Duan, & Glass, 1992). These groups may help give a sense of reference and identity (Tajfel & Turner, 2004). Children also seek identities in reference to various social groups (Harter, 1999). Kinzler and Spelke (2011) suggested that children as young as kindergarten-age attend to race in social situations and form preferences based on such social categories. Research conducted by Kinzler, Shutts, DeJesus, and Spelke (2009) provides evidence that certain social categories may be more salient than others. Because individuals may be categorized into multiple social categories simultaneously, is it possible that one social category might be categorized more often than others? For instance, are children and adults more likely to categorize an individual based on the race or gender of the individual? To test this question, we designed an experiment that provided children and adults with a dilemma wherein they had to spontaneously categorize images of faces based on either race or gender. Preliminary results suggest that both children and adults are more likely to categorize individuals based on gender in this particular paradigm.


The characteristics of droplets ejected from liquid glycerol doped with carbon are investigated in laser ablation propulsion. Results show that carbon content has an effect on both the coupling coefficient and the specific impulse. The dopedcarbon moves the laser focal position from the glycerol interior to the surface. This results in a less consumed glycerol and a high specific impulse. An optimal propulsion can be realized by varying carbon content in glycerol.


Aiming at to enhance the production of penicillin G acylase (PGA) by Bacillus megaterium, we have performed flasks experiments using different medium composition. Using 51 g/L of casein hydrolyzed with Alcalase® and 2.7 g/L of phenylacetic acid (PhAc), the following carbon substrates were tested, individually and combined: glucose, glycerol, and lactose (present in cheese whey). Glycerol and glucose showed to be effective nutrients for the microorganism growth but delayed the PGA production. Cheese whey always increased enzyme production and cell mass. However, lactose (present in cheese whey) was not a significant carbon source for B. megaterium. PhAc, amino acids, and small peptides present in the hydrolyzed casein were the actual carbon sources for enzyme production. Replacement of hydrolyzed casein by free amino acids, 10.0 g/L, led to a significant increase in enzyme production (app. 150%), with a preferential consumption of alanine, aspartic acid, glycine, serine, arginine, threonine, lysine, and glutamic acid. A decrease of the enzyme production was observed when 20.0 g/L of amino acids were used. Using the single omission technique, it was shown that none of the 18 tested amino acids was essential for enzyme production. The use of a medium containing eight of the preferentially consumed amino acids lead to similar enzyme production level obtained when using 18 amino acids. PhAc, up to 2.7 g/L, did not inhibit enzyme production, even if added at the beginning of the cultivation. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2007;97: 346–353. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Abstract Fall dormancy (FD) is an essential trait to overcome winter damage and for alfalfa (Medicago sativa) cultivar selection. The plant regrowth height after autumn clipping is an indirect way to evaluate FD. Transcriptomics, proteomics, and quantitative trait locus mapping have revealed crucial genes correlated with FD; however, these genes cannot predict alfalfa FD very well. Here, we conducted genomic prediction of FD using whole-genome SNP markers based on machine learning-related methods, including support vector machine (SVM) regression, and regularization-related methods, such as Lasso and ridge regression. The results showed that using SVM regression with linear kernel and the top 3000 genome-wide association study (GWAS)-associated markers achieved the highest prediction accuracy for FD of 64.1%. For plant regrowth height, the prediction accuracy was 59.0% using the 3000 GWAS-associated markers and the SVM linear model. This was better than the results using whole-genome markers (25.0%). Therefore, the method we explored for alfalfa FD prediction outperformed the other models, such as Lasso and ElasticNet. The study suggests the feasibility of using machine learning to predict FD with GWAS-associated markers, and the GWAS-associated markers combined with machine learning would benefit FD-related traits as well. Application of the methodology may provide potential targets for FD selection, which would accelerate genetic research and molecular breeding of alfalfa with optimized FD.


Over the past decade, the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) approach has become a preferable way of building information systems. This is largely due to its ability to enable rapid changes in systems by recombining and scaling existing services. However, the more complex the SOA becomes, the more likely are data quality (DQ) issues to be encountered.
Despite numerous SOA projects failing due to data quality problems, many organizations and individuals are still ignoring the importance and necessity of data quality. In spite of the large number of studies that have been done on SOA, findings in literature and practice have
shown that very little has been investigated about the DQ aspect. Most of the DQ evaluation approaches to date do not consider the services' context and semantic accuracy of the data.
The objective of this research is to investigate challenges in data quality within service composition. More specifically, the goal is to create a method of detecting and analysing semantically inaccurate data within a specific Service-oriented context. In order to reach the given objective, a DQ methodology was proposed which suggests techniques and methods
for profiling and assessing data. The proposed approach was developed by following the Data Quality Management (DQM) model. Additionally, to conduct this project, Design Science (DS) oriented methodology for conducting research, which focuses on the development of artifacts, was used. The application and usability of the proposed DQ approach was demonstrated in a home automation system – a specific type of SOA environment.
The contribution of this research is that application of the approach allows practitioners to detect poor data within SOA environment, preventing damages and reducing expenses. It also provides researchers with methods that will serve as a foundation for research in improving
data quality and the decision making in SOA field.


The recent proliferation of large-scale text-to-image models has led to growing concerns that such models may be misused to generate harmful, misleading, and inappropriate content. Motivated by this issue, we derive a technique inspired by continual learning to selectively forget concepts in pretrained deep generative models. Our method, dubbed Selective Amnesia, enables controllable forgetting where a user can specify how a concept should be forgotten. Selective Amnesia can be applied to conditional variational likelihood models, which encompass a variety of popular deep generative frameworks, including variational autoencoders and large-scale text-to-image diffusion models. Experiments across different models demonstrate that our approach induces forgetting on a variety of concepts, from entire classes in standard datasets to celebrity and nudity prompts in text-to-image models. Our code is publicly available at https://github.com/clear-nus/selective-amnesia.


Human papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal small-cell carcinoma (OPSmCC) is a rare malignancy with aggressive behavior, whereas HPV-related oropharyngeal squamous-cell carcinoma (OPSqCC) displays a favorable prognosis. Notably, these two malignancies occasionally arise in an identical tumor. In this case study, we explored the molecular characteristics that distinguishes these two carcinomas using a rare case of HPV-related oropharyngeal carcinoma (OPC) with the combined histology of SmCC and SqCC. Immunohistochemical analysis and HPV-RNA in situ hybridization (ISH) suggested that both SmCC and SqCC were HPV-related malignancies. Targeted exome sequencing revealed that SmCC and SqCC had no significant difference in mutations of known driver genes. In contrast, RNA sequencing followed by bioinformatic analyses suggested that aberrant transcriptional programs may be responsible for the neuroendocrine differentiation of HPV-related OPC. Compared to SqCC, genes up-regulated in SmCC were functionally enriched in inflammatory and immune responses (e.g., arachidonic acid metabolism). We then developed a SmCC-like gene module (top 10 up-regulated genes) and found that OPC patients with high module activity showed poor prognosis in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and GSE65858 cohort. Gene set enrichment analysis of the SmCC-like gene module suggested its link to MYC proto-oncogene in the TCGA data set. Taken together, these findings suggest that the SmCC-like gene module may contribute to acquisition of aggressive phenotypes and tumor heterogeneity of HPV-related OPC. The present case study is the first report of genetic and transcriptomic aberrations in HPV-related OPSmCC combined with SqCC.


ABSTRACT
 Phenology and abundance of bean leaf beetles, Cerotoma trifurcata (Förster), were examined throughout two eastern South Dakota growing seasons in relation to grain yields in chisel-and ridge-tilled soybeans [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] grown in 2-yr rotation with corn (Zea mays L.) with and without added nitrogen (N). Populations were also sampled early and late season in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Beetles were present in alfalfa by late May and most were reproductively active within a week, but their presence in alfalfa did not always precede soybean emergence. Most beetles taken from alfalfa in late fall were teneral; all were previtellogenic and unmated. Reproductively active beetles were detected in soybeans as soon as seedlings emerged. A partial second generation apparently occurred each year. First-generation beetles started to emerge in soybean fields during the first or third week of July but, whether emergence started early or late, most beetles emerging after July seemingly failed to mature their eggs and started leaving soybeans within several weeks of eclosion. This pattern suggested that any second generation arose from only the earliest emerging beetles of the first generation, with later emerging individuals having to overwinter before reproducing. Thus, any factors delaying emergence of the first generation, such as delayed soybean planting, could potentially limit its reproductive capacity through winter mortality. Cumulative seasonal beetle counts were lower in N-treated subplots and in ridge-tilled compared with chisel-tilled plots. Soybean grain yield increased with decreases in peak abundance of first-generation beetles and with N fertilization.


To the Editor .—Modern critical care medicine depends extensively on invasive monitoring techniques to provide timely information about the rapidly fluctuating physiologic environment of the seriously ill or injured patient. The Swan-Ganz pulmonary artery catheter, in particular, provides data that are difficult to gather by other means. Unfortunately, catheter malfunction due to clotting, balloon rupture, environmental misadventure, etc, frequently confronts the critical care staff. Early in the course of a major illness, vascular access is often relatively easily obtained. As a patient becomes a long-term resident of the critical care unit, entry into the venous circulation becomes more difficult. Some patients, notably those who are elderly and obese, pose a challenge to venous catheterization from the time of admission. At our institution, the infection rate for indwelling monitors, especially central venous catheters and intracranial pressure monitors, is relatively low, but rises exponentially after 72 hours. Most catheter-induced infections can be


Sequential chemical extraction has been widely used to study soil phosphorus (P) dynamics and inform nutrient management, but its efficacy for assigning P into biologically meaningful pools remains unknown. Here, we evaluated the accuracy of the modified Hedley extraction scheme using P K-edge XANES spectroscopy for nine carbonate-free soil samples with diverse chemical and mineralogical properties resulting from different degrees of soil development. For most samples, the extraction markedly overestimated the pool size of calcium-bound P (Ca-P, extracted by 1 M HCl) due to (1) P redistribution during the alkaline extractions (0.5 M NaHCO3 and then 0.1 M NaOH), creating new Ca-P via formation of Ca phosphates between NaOH desorbed phosphate and exchangeable Ca2+ and/or (2) dissolution of poorly crystalline Fe and Al oxides by 1 M HCl, releasing P occluded by these oxides into solution. The first mechanism may occur in soils rich in well-crystallized minerals and exchangeable Ca2+ regardless of the presence or absence of CaCO3 whereas the second mechanism likely operates in soils rich in poorly crystalline Fe and Al minerals. The overestimation of Ca-P simultaneously caused underestimation of the pools extracted by the alkaline solutions. Our findings identify key edaphic parameters that remarkably influenced the extractions, which will strengthen our understanding of soil P dynamics using this widely accepted procedure.


Abstract Escherichia coli (E. coli) was identified among the most relevant antimicrobial‐resistant (AMR) bacteria in the EU for dogs and cats, horses, swine, poultry, cattle, sheep and goats in previous scientific opinions. Thus, it has been assessed according to the criteria of the Animal Health Law (AHL), in particular criteria of Article 7 on disease profile and impacts, Article 5 on its eligibility to be listed, Annex IV for its categorisation according to disease prevention and control rules as in Article 9 and Article 8 for listing animal species related to the bacterium. The assessment has been performed following a methodology previously published. The outcome is the median of the probability ranges provided by the experts, which indicates whether each criterion is fulfilled (lower bound ≥ 66%) or not (upper bound ≤ 33%), or whether there is uncertainty about fulfilment. Reasoning points are reported for criteria with uncertain outcome. According to the assessment here performed, it is uncertain whether AMR E. coli can be considered eligible to be listed for Union intervention according to Article 5 of the AHL (33–66% probability). According to the criteria in Annex IV, for the purpose of categorisation related to the level of prevention and control as in Article 9 of the AHL, the AHAW Panel concluded that the bacterium does not meet the criteria in Sections 1, 2, 3 and 4 (Categories A, B, C and D; 0–5%, 5–10%, 10–33% and 10–33% probability of meeting the criteria, respectively) and the AHAW Panel was uncertain whether it meets the criteria in Section 5 (Category E, 33–66% probability of meeting the criteria). The animal species to be listed for AMR E. coli according to Article 8 criteria include mammals, birds, reptiles and fish.