The paper presents the results of research involving a long-term stationary field experiment with chernozem typical of forest-steppe area of the region. The experiments were carried out in the Chechen Agricultural Research Institute from 2011 to2017 within the framework of state order, Russian Agricultural Academy topic no. 02.04.02.01, later substituted with the Russian Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations topic no. 0741-2014-0003: "Development of resource-saving techniques for use of renewable bio-resources and organic fertilizers in growth practices of crops". The research studied dependence of soil fertility on plowing with soil overturning, surface treatment with disk tiller and subsoiling with a chisel cultivator against the background of varying quantities of manure. At the beginning of the experiment, agro-environmental evaluation of soil revealed low content of humus, nitrogen, phosphorus, average content of potassium and low level of physical properties. The results of the experiment have demonstrated a positive influence the organic fertilizers and soil treatment had on the soil condition and physical state. The best indicators were obtained in the variant with disk harrowing combined with 30 t/ha of manure, where humus content increased by 8.7 %, availability of nitrogen and phosphorus increased to average level, availability of potassium reached above average level, physical properties of the soil improved as well. This research is a scientific lead to the topic no.0741-2019-0002 of the state order of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia: "Development of scientificallysubstantiated system of resource-saving soil treatment to actualize biological potential of highly productive agrophytocenozes and seed productivity of main fodder crops using organic fertilizers, green manure crops and biological preparations on typical chernozem soil".


Particulate matter (PM) has been sampled from a compression ignition engine using a differential mobility spectrometer (Cambustion DMS 500) and for imaging in a transmission electron microscope (TEM) with the aim of coupling these two measuring techniques. A known issue when coupling these two methods is that a devise like the DMS samples all PM, and the TEM only soot. To help resolve this issue, a thermal denuder was designed and built to remove all volatile organic compounds (VOC) from the sample prior to entering the DMS. For TEM imaging, soot was either collected directly onto a TEM grid using the thermophoretic effect or collected onto quartz filters with the soot then transferred onto the TEM grids. The direct to grid technique did not work after the denuder due to the gas temperature being too low for the thermophoretic effect; hence the reason to collect some soot using the quartz filters. Soot was removed from the filters using an ethanol wash/sonication technique. Morphology; diameter of gyration, projected area, primary particle size and fractal dimension have been compared between the two TEM sampling techniques, with or without the denuder. Denuder effectiveness has been assessed using TGA analysis of sampled soot. Issues concerning the sampling process itself are outlined. A comparison between the TEM and the DMS results is conducted with the discrepancies between them discussed. Direct and filter sampling gave similar results as long as the sonication process and grid prep is done properly, otherwise the filter wash technique results in a number of clusters of agglomerates which distorts the post processing and morphological data.

https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/1e8fe822-e5dd-4819-8b42-72610d2b35de/1/On soot sampling - 2019 - Emberson Rohani Wang Saeterli Lovas.pdf


Service in two years of the great war, with an interval visit to civil life, leads one readily to comparative views. The periods of service have been passed at base hospitals and casualty clearing stations under British Expeditionary Force control. About one half of the base hospital work was performed under clearing station conditions, and it is desired to convey to readers in the United States a general conception of the progress of war surgery and of the detailed work of advanced casualty clearing stations. ORIGINAL FUNCTION OF CASUALTY CLEARING STATIONS The original function of casualty clearing stations was to act as a very advanced collective depot for patients from contributory field ambulances with their outlying dressing posts. The position selected was one within a few miles of the firing line, fairly well isolated and remote if possible from the danger of active shelling (chance shelling and aerial bombing must


The origin of the dissolution of methylammonium lead trihalide (MAPI) crystals in liquid water is clarified by finite-temperature molecular dynamics by developing a MYP-based force field (MYP1) for water-MAPI systems. A thermally activated process is found with an energy barrier of 0.36 eV consisting of a layer-by-layer degradation with generation of inorganic PbI2 films and solvation of MA and I ions. We rationalize the effect of water on MAPI by identifying a transition from a reversible absorption and diffusion in the presence of vapor to the irreversible destruction of the crystal lattice in liquid due to a cooperative action of water molecules. A strong water-MAPI interaction is found with a binding energy of 0.41 eV/H2O and wetting energy of 0.23 N/m. The water vapor absorption is energetically favored (0.29 eV/H2O), and the infiltrated molecules can migrate within the crystal with a diffusion coefficient D = 1.7 × 10-8 cm2/s and activation energy of 0.28 eV.


Introduction: As HbA 1c is now widely used for the diagnosis of diabetes with WHO cut-off ≥ 48 mmol/mol/6.5%, it is debatable whether the value should vary by ethnicity. Aim: This study compares plasma glucose and HbA 1c in white European WE, South Asian SA, unknown/other U and Afro-Caribbean AC people admitted as an emergency. Methods: Electronic patient records were interrogated over 1 year (2014/5) for a clinical audit, CARMS-12031R. Glucose was measured on wards with meters/gas machines or the laboratory along with HbA 1c on Tosoh G8 HPLC analysers if haemoglobin normal. Results: There were 30,664 people of whom 22,045 (72%) had glucose recorded and 2,083 (7%) HbA 1c . 1,904 (6%) had both glycaemic markers and were aged 64 (50-78) years, median (IQ range); 839 (44%) female; 560 (29%) prior diabetes diagnosis; 1,405 (74%) WE, 296 (16%) SA, 112 (6%) U and 91 (5%) AC. Glucose was 7.4 (5.8-10.6), 8.6 (6.2-12.3), 8.1 (5.9-10.7), 7.0 (5.9-11.6) mmol/L and HbA 1c 42 (37-55), 50 (41-70), 42 (38-60), 46 (39-70) mmol/mol/6.0 (5.5-7.2), 6.7 (5.9-8.6), 6.0 (5.6-7.6), 6.4 (5.7-8.6)%, respectively. HbA 1c was higher relative to glucose in SA and AC compared to WE and U, p Conclusions: Haematological differences related to red blood cell turnover may account for the variance; this should be recognised by those involved in producing protocols/guidelines for diagnosis. More research is required on using HbA 1c to confirm undiagnosed diabetes in admissions. Disclosure S.E. Manley: None. R. Susarla: None. R.A. Round: None. P. Nightingale: None. J.A. Williams: None. I.M. Stratton: Consultant; Self; Novo Nordisk A/S. Research Support; Self; Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH. J. Webber: None. G. Gkoutos: None. W. Hanif: Advisory Panel; Self; Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH. Consultant; Self; Novo Nordisk A/S. Research Support; Self; AstraZeneca, Janssen Diagnostics, Sanofi. Speaker9s Bureau; Self; AstraZeneca, Novartis AG, Novo Nordisk A/S. G. Roberts: None. S. Ghosh: Advisory Panel; Self; Abbott. Other Relationship; Self; Mylan.


Using thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes is an effective method to obtain high CO2/CH4 separation performance as compared to traditional mixed matrix membranes (MMMs). In this study, high CO2 permeable TFN membranes comprising coated Pebax as a CO2-philic layer filled with Zr-MOFs over the highly permeable polymethylpentene (PMP) support with substantial free volume and desired thermal stability were fabricated to achieve efficient CO2/CH4 separation. A series of pure CO2 and CH4 gas permeation tests were carried out to evaluate the influence of Zr-MOFs on the gas transport properties of the as-synthesized TFN membranes. The use of amine-functionalized UiO-66 intensified the interaction between the polymer phase and embedded MOFs that led to improvement in the CO2/CH4 selectivity. The results obtained from FESEM and TGA/DSC analyses confirmed that the TFN membranes showed superior compatibility between the polymer and filler without non-selective voids at the polymer/filler interface. Moreover, the pure gas separation performance of the TFN membranes was examined under various feed pressures within the range of 2–7 bar. The CO2/CH4 separation improved as the feed pressure increased, such that the CO2 permeability of 393.8 barrer and CO2/CH4 selectivity of 39.8 were achieved for TFN membranes containing 1.5 wt% UiO-66-NH2 at a feed pressure of 7 bar. Further, the mixed gas separation experiments revealed reasonable CO2 permeability and CO2/CH4 selectivity for TFN membranes under both dry and humid conditions.


Channel expansions provide a transition from a narrow to a relatively wide channelsection,
which is necessary in many hydraulic structures. In the transition, flow tends to separate
from its diverging sidewalls and create turbulent eddies, if the angle of divergence exceeds a
threshold value. This phenomenon can cause undesirable flow energy losses and erosion to the
sidewalls locally and even further downstream. Previously, researchers have tried to optimise the
transition's horizontal shape in order to reduce flow separation; the results are inconclusive. The
purpose of this study is to extend earlier investigations about fitting a hump in the vertical to
eliminate flow separation. This study uses the CFD modelling approach. This approach permits
an efficient and systematic exploration of the effects of different angles of divergence, crest
height of the hump and the Froude number of subcritical flow. The model results are validated
using existent analytical solutions under simplified conditions and available experimental data
for a limited number of cases. Flow quantities presented in this thesis include details of the
velocity, vorticity, eddy structure, and cross-sectional area of flow reversal; these quantities are
distributed at selected vertical and horizontal planes, and are available for the cases of with and
without a hump. It is shown that the use of a hump effectively reduces flow separation and eddy
motion in the transition. This is because the flow is forced to accelerate over the hump, and as a
result, the otherwise adverse pressure gradient, which is known to be responsible for flow
separation, diminishes. A hump in the vertical can easily be incorporated into the bed of existent
channel expansions, and would be less expensive to construct than to modify the horizontal
shape (or the sidewalls) of existent expansions. The results presented in this thesis are of
practical values for the optimal design of humps.


The characteristics of food allergen labelling are relevant for avoiding accidental exposure to the allergens of interest but no Latin American country has evaluated these characteristics. Our aim was to evaluate the characteristics of food allergen labelling and precautionary allergen labelling (PAL) in six Latin American countries. All data were collected directly from the supermarkets surveyed. A total of 10,254 packaged food products were analyzed, of which 63.3% (n = 6494) and 33.2% (n = 3405) featured allergen labelling and/or PAL, respectively. Most products complied with local regulations (≥87.4% for both locally produced and imported). Thirty-three types of PAL statements were detected; the most frequent was "may contain traces of…" (35.1%). Countries without regulations on the characteristics of allergen labelling had two-fold more products that contained allergens in their ingredients lists but no food allergen labelling. The use of PAL in countries that regulate it (38.2%) was as high as that in countries without PAL regulations (19.2%–44.7%). The findings suggest that the lack of regulations for the characteristics of allergen labeling increases the risk of accidental exposure to allergens of interest. Our findings also suggest that beyond regulations, a scientific approach is required for minimizing and standardizing the use of PAL.


We here present an early-stage prototype tool for defining and analyzing communities in Twitter. The tool takes a set of Twitter users and profiles them based on their tweets. This profiling is based on earlier work, where we map entities mentioned in tweets to Wikipedia entries, which in turn lets us profile a user based on the Wikipedia categories are related to his or her tweets. From here, we can define ad hoc topic-based communities (e.g., all users who discuss Wikipedia topic K). The tool is focused on contrast analysis, where we have baseline behavior or another community to compare against.


Abstract Purpose: The effect of high-dose imatinib (800 mg/day) on survival in the adjuvant treatment of patients with resected KIT exon 9–mutated gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) is not established. Here, the association of dose and other clinicopathologic variables with survival was evaluated in a large multi-institutional European cohort. Experimental Design: Data from 185 patients were retrospectively collected in 23 European GIST reference centers. Propensity score matching (PSM) and inverse-probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) were used to account for confounders. Univariate and multivariate unweighted and weighted Cox proportional hazard regression models were estimated for relapse-free survival (RFS), modified-RFS (mRFS) and imatinib failure-free survival (IFFS). Univariate Cox models were estimated for overall survival. Results: Of the 185 patients, 131 (70.8%) received a starting dose of 400 mg/d and the remaining 54 (29.2%) a dose of 800 mg/d. Baseline characteristics were partially unbalanced, suggesting a potential selection bias. PSM and IPTW analyses showed no advantage of imatinib 800 mg/d. In the weighted multivariate Cox models, high-dose imatinib was not associated with the survival outcomes [RFS: hazard ratio (HR), 1.24; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.79–1.94; mRFS: HR, 1.69; 95% CI, 0.92–3.10; IFFS: HR, 1.35; 95% CI, 0.79–2.28]. The variables consistently associated with worse survival outcomes were high mitotic index and nongastric tumor location. Conclusions: In this retrospective series of patients with KIT exon 9–mutated GIST treated with adjuvant imatinib, a daily dose of 800 mg versus 400 mg did not show better results in terms of survival outcomes. Prospective evaluation of the more appropriate adjuvant treatment in this setting is warranted.


CONTEXT. Complex societal factors have been obstructing implementation of quality improvement education (QIE) and interprofessional learning (IPL) of perioperative teams. Mistrust between physician anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist, and payment models that promote competition instead of teamwork, are two of the drivers that shape that picture. METHODOLOGY. In the first part of this critical-realist case study, thematic analysis and activity theory draw a complex picture of how perioperative clinicians perceive QIE, IPL, and technology-enhanced learning (TEL). Following that, critical realist abduction and retroduction logic define one mechanism shaping perceptions of QIE, IPL, and TEL in perioperative context.  FINDINGS. Perceptions of QIE, IPL, and TEL of perioperative teams are intertwined, and perception of one phenomenon can have a transformative impact on perceptions of other phenomena in the context, creating a very dynamic picture. On the other hand, a learning healthcare system (LHS) is not part of the picture since technocentric and managerial visions of LHS promoted by the Institute of Medicine don't support social complexity of QIE and IPL.  THE MECHANISM shaping complexity of perceptions is: Our world acts as an agglomeration of nested learning systems. On each level, the mechanism is guiding ontological and epistemological transformation of the learning system, through four phases: egocentric >> technocentric >> ecocentric >> holocentric. Those transformations emerge on any level of agglomeration: from cells gathered to create the first multicellular organism to networks of individuals and groups creating professional societies or perioperative teams. The thesis contributes to knowledge by shedding additional light on how the complex world of perioperative healthcare is structured and how various systems involved in perioperative care interact. On a practical level, the map of QIE, IPL, and TEL perceptions, and insight into one mechanism that is shaping those perceptions, can help perioperative leaders better navigate the transformative changes affecting perioperative teams.


The deep-ultraviolet (UV) to visible wavelengths are efficiently generated for the first time by the cross phase modulation (XPM) between the red-shifted solitons and the blue-shifted dispersive waves (DWs) in the fundamental guided mode of the multi-knots of a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber cladding (HC-PCFC). When the femtosecond pulses with a wavelength of 850 nm and average power of 300 mW are coupled into the knots 1–3, the conversion efficiency ηuv−v of 11% and bandwidth Buv−v of 100 nm in the deep-UV region are experimentally obtained. The multi-milliwatt ultrashort pulses are tunable over the deep-UV (below 200 nm) to visible spectral region by adjusting the wavelengths of the pump pulses in different knots. It is expected that these widely tunable broadband ultrashort deep-UV–visible pulse sources could have important applications in ultrafast photonics, femtochemisty, photobiology, and UV–visible resonant Raman scattering.


Presented paper considers the experimental analysis of vibratory manipulation and interdependent alignment of the parts prior to automated assembly. Different values of vibration parameters and parameters of the dynamic system provide possibility to influence the duration of part alignment process. Mating part manipulation on the plane, excited along two perpendicular directions, was also analyzed and different search trajectories were considered.


PURPOSE
The aim of this study was to evaluate choroidal and retinal microvasculature with optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) after panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) for diabetic retinopathy in a primarily Hispanic and Asian population.

DESIGN
Retrospective study.

METHODS
Eyes were examined by OCTA in the macula (3 × 3 mm) just before PRP treatment and 1 to 3 months afterwards. Choroidal thickness (CT) and central retinal thickness (CRT) were measured. Choroidal flow signal voids (CFSV) and choriocapillaris flow signal voids (CCFSV) were acquired. Retinal microvasculature parameters, including superficial and deep vessel density, superficial and deeper perfusion density, foveal avascular zone area, perimeter and circularity, were calculated. Ocular examinations and demographic information were analyzed.

RESULTS
CT at a location 1000 μm temporal to the fovea increased significantly after PRP (from 278.64 μm to 313.44 μm, P = 0.026). CCFSV increased slightly from (46.72 ± 8.52)% to (47.07 ± 10.77)%, but the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.782). A similar finding was observed in CFSV (increase from 35.81% to 36.64%, P = 0.165). The change in all retinal microvasculature parameters was also not significant. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) decreased from 0.218 ± 0.153 to 0.262 ± 0.147 (P = 0.034). Increased CRT (from 245.41 ± 33.18 μm to 251.14 ± 38.97 μm, P = 0.007) was observed. The change in CRT positively correlated with pre-PRP CRT (r = 0.434, P = 0.019) and BCVA reduction (r = 0.418, P = 0.024). Neither BCVA reduction nor CRT increase correlated with OCTA metrics.

CONCLUSIONS
OCTA demonstrates redistribution of choroidal circulation from the periphery to the macula after PRP, with increased macular CT and stable choroidal blood flow density. Eyes with greater macular thickness are more likely to experience an increase in CRT.


With the Kyoto and Paris climate agreements countries worldwide agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. As a consequence, renewable energy sources are introduced and power systems are facing new challenges. This paper gives a survey of the challenges occurring in distribution systems worldwide with a focus on their automation and control including situational awareness, monitoring and supervision. Through the first part, the paper discusses the changing framework for distribution systems, the current industry practices, future enhancements and available options. An overview of sensors, actuators, communication systems and control center functions required for observability and controllability is given. Further, notable research activities and pilot projects all around the world are introduced. Microgrids and so-called Smart Grids are particularly discussed and differences and similarities of the projects are indicated. Progressing beyond research towards industrial practice is only possible if driven by the markets or government legislation. Thus, an overview on market issues for future distribution grids is given and new market mechanisms and government regulations are critically evaluated. Changes in distribution systems will also impact their interaction with generators and transmission systems. The new responsibilities of distribution system operators and the need for advanced data exchange between distribution and transmission operators are discussed. Finally, an outlook is provided and challenges and opportunities of prospective distribution grids are summarized.


In management studies, the ecosystem metaphor is often utilized without clear definition and, thereby, several partially overlapping concepts such as industrial, business, service, innovation, and knowledge ecosystems have been introduced. The purpose of this conceptual article is to go beyond the confusion to define what is meant by different concepts regarding an ecosystem and especially describe the relationships between the three different ecosystem types: business, innovation, and knowledge ecosystems. The article contributes to the literature by describing how the ecosystem types differ in terms of their outcomes, interactions, logic of action, and actor roles. The results show that the three ecosystem types are interconnected from the viewpoint of the ecosystem actor. For practitioners, the article sheds more light on how the rules of the game (i.e., the logic of action) differ in the different types of ecosystems and demonstrates that different models are needed in order to operate in different ecosystems.


Using count models, this paper assesses the intensity of land and water management practices among smallholder maize farmers in Ghana and the factors driving the number of practices adopted. Farmers' use of fertiliser, non-burning of farmland and ploughing-in of vegetative cover are the practices adopted the most. The paper cautiously notes that the farmers who combine three of the land and water management practices have the highest average productivity. Access to extension contact, credit and farmers' experiences of food shocks are important driving factors. The findings have implications for a comprehensive land and water management policy within which different strategies are articulated to increase the productivity of the farmers. Fertiliser application, no burning, zero tillage and ploughing-in of the vegetative cover are important. However, the regression results for maize yields suggest that the adoption of a high number of the technologies might not necessarily result in better yields.


By X-ray structure analysis it could be shown that from the solution equilibrium of pyochelin I and II, differing in the stereochemistry at C-2 (1a and 1b), crystals of the Fe3+ complex of the steroisomer 1a are formed with a 1:1 metal-to-ligand ratio. Ligand sites are the carboxylate and the phenolate anions and the two nitrogen atoms. Two equivalent ferri-pyochelin moieties are held together by a hydroxy and an acetate unit which satisfy the remaining two coordination sites of Fe3+.


In 2006 the InterLabs Research Institute (IRI) at Bradley University (Peoria, IL, U.S.A.) organized and managed multiple face-to-face and online surveys worldwide regarding 2006-2010 perspectives of various aspects of top quality Web-based education (WBE). The experts from more than 30 countries volunteered to participate in those surveys and provided detailed answers regarding technologies, courseware and services for WBE that expected to be most used in 2006-2010. Project multiple findings [1] will be useful for administrators and faculty-innovators who want to succeed in WBE projects and provide top quality WBE. This paper is focused on types of courseware, learning managements systems, technologies, instructional approaches, types of courses and workers that will be in great demand in Web-based education area in 2006-2010.


This thesis entails an experimental work that tries to investigate the effects of different diameter ratios and the angle of attack of steady flow on the piggyback cylinders arranged normal to the flow. Three different diameter ratio cases were investigated: D+0.5D, D+0.32D and D+0.25D, where the main cylinder diameter, D = 5cm. Attack angles of 0°, 30°, 60°, 90°, 120°, 150° and 180° were tested for these 3 diameter ratios giving a total of 21 cases. The work was aimed at studying a flow induced vibration called galloping on piggyback type of pipelines commonly used on offshore installations in the oil and gas industry. The tests were carried out in a 12m long, 0.7m wide and 1.2m deep current flume tank located at the NTNU/SINTEF Hydrodynamic Laboratory in Trondheim, Norway. The tank has a test rig with the cylinders suspended horizontally on a set of springs mounted on it. Reduced velocities range from 4 to 15 depending on the equivalent diameter of the piggyback pair. The results showed at the end of this work that, for all cases of diameters ratios, high response amplitude ratios as high as 1.7 can occur at reduced velocities less than 10 when the angle of attack is at 90°. The results also showed vibrations that are characteristic of galloping instabilities at attack angle of 180° for the D+0.5D and the D+0.32D configurations. For the D+0.25D case, the response amplitudes were similar to a VIV situation. However, this results were limited by the reduced velocities (max=15) and the damping of the system. Comparing the response of the different diameter ratios showed that the largest ratio always gave the largest responses for all attack angles.


There is ample empirical evidence to vindicate the relationship between the performance of insurance industry and economic development. In spite of it, there is a dearth of empirical research in developing countries and analytical studies are limited in number, particularly in developing countries like India, where the insurance penetration and density are very low compared with international levels. In India, the growth rate of number of new policies issued and the insurance premium are experiencing a negative trend for the last three years. Reasons and contributing factors for this state of affairs is highly essential. The present paper primarily deals with these aspects of insurance industry and a comparative analysis of both private and public sectors of life and non-life insurance industry. Four indicators-Premium incomes, Market Share, New Policies Issued and Claims Settlement Ratio-- have been used to analyze the performance of Insurance industry. Besides, an overview of share of Indian insurance industry in the global insurance industry and inter-state variations in insurance penetration and density in India have been presented to assess the current status of insurance industry in India. As observed by the World Insurance Report -2014, the insurance industry has to inquire into these basic indicators of performance measurement and initiate the measures for improving its performance in the coming years.


As we rush around attending to the essentials of our lives (family, friends, clients, employers), what is left? Nursing Forum invites readers to engage in thoughts and activities that may awaken an untouched place. We hope these writings will kindle your personal involvement in something that was previously avoided--because of bias, fear, or uneasiness--in order to stretch your mind and spirit. The purpose of this paper is to explore the act of speaking up as a moral obligation and its relationship to moral courage and habit. The difficulties of speaking up and the consequences of silence are examined. The benefits of speaking up are raising self-respect, gaining courage, forming good habits and passing on that legacy. Language: en


fr. 29 Bergk, and Pindar only 0.14, / . 7 and fr. 64 Bowra; whereas Tyrtaeus has 118 lines, including the unworthy (and probably spurious) fr. 6/7. The text is mainly that of Diehl's first edition, with some readings from other sources, notably Bowra's Greek Lyric Poetry; two, not further identified, are credited to suggestions by Professor Jaeger. New readings in the text are Archil. 92 b 2-3 ex yijs T* aviwraaOai. npos vifnjXov myov | apBelaav ovrws and Xenoph. 13. 1 jSoes 8' imroi r iQiXovrcs. Of the notes (pp. 49-112), M. says: ' I have tried to be accurate and helpful, and to be brief without being sphinx-like.' Brief the notes certainly are; but far too many are devoted to mere 'chatter' or to information which could be found without trouble in the most elementary reference-books. On major questions M. seems to hold that omission is the soul of brevity, even where, as in his notes on the iambic trimeter and trochaic tetrameter, omission results in suppressio veri. A good anthology of Greek elegiac, lyric, and iambic poetry would be very valuable to university students; but M.'s book is not a good anthology. J. A. DAVISON. University of Manchester.


Objective: The current study aimed to apply the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) method for investigating the spontaneous brain activity alterations and their relationships with clinical features in patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR). Patients and Methods: In total, 35 patients with DR (18 males and 17 females) and 38 healthy control (HC) subjects (18 males and 20 females) were enrolled in this study. All participants underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scanning, respectively. The ALFF method was used to assess the spontaneous brain activity, while the mean ALFF signal values of patients with DR and HCs were classified by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Correlation analysis was performed to calcu-late the relationship between the observed mean ALFF values of the altered regions in patients with DR and their clinical features. Results: Compared with the HCs, patients with DR had significantly lower ALFF values in the left and right middle occipital gyrus (MOG). In contrast, patients with DR showed higher ALFF values in the left cerebellum (CER), left inferior temporal gyrus (ITG) and left hippocampus (Hipp). However, no relationship was observed between the mean ALFF signal values of the altered regions and clinical manifestations in the patients with DR. Conclusion: We mainly found that patients with DR showed abnormal intrinsic brain activities in the left and right MOG, left CER, left ITG and left Hipp, which might provide useful information for explaining neural mechanisms in patients with DR.


The inhibition effect of glutaraldehyde on the corrosion behavior of aluminium in 1.4 M nitric acid solution was studied using weight loss method, adsorption studies and characterized instrumentally by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopic (FT-IR) analysis. The effects of inhibitor concentration, temperature and surface coverage were all investigated. The effect of inhibitor concentration and other parameters were evaluated for different inhibitor concentrations and the probable mechanism for the studied inhibitor was also proposed. The results showed that glutaraldehyde possess an excellent inhibiting effect toward the corrosion of aluminium in nitric acid solution with highest inhibition efficiency of 84.68, 81.34 and 76.87 % at 308, 313 and 318 K in the presence of 0.1 M inhibitor concentration. The values of the activation energy, rate constant, half-life and rate constant in uninhibited acid solution were 31.84 kj mol-1, 3.9 k ×10-3 hr-1 and 1.76 × 102 hr which changed to 57.64 kj mol-1, 0.60 k ×10-3 hr-1 and 11.55 hr in the presence of 0.1 M inhibitor concentration. The positive values of enthalpy reflect the endothermic nature of the reaction. The negative values of entropy (ΔS) signified that the activated complex in the rate determining step represented an association, rather than dissociation. The adsorption of the inhibitor on the metal surface followed Langmuir adsorption isotherm.

Cite as:Husaini M, Usman B, Ibrahim MB. Study of corrosion inhibition performance of Glutaraldehyde on Aluminium in nitric acid solution. Alg. J. Eng. Tech. 2020; 2: 003-010.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3923029
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Deepa P, Rao P. Corrosion inhibition of aluminium aaloy by coriuandrum sativum L seed extract in phosphoric acid. Mater. Environ. Sci. 2013;4(5):732-743.
Ezeokonkwo MA, Ukoha PO, Nnaji NJ. Green Inhibitor for Aluminium and Mild Steel in Acidic Media: A Case Study of Exudates of Eucalyptus Citriodora. International Journal of Chemical Science. 2012;10(3): 1365-1373.
Olasehinde EF, Ogunjobi JK, Akinlosotu OM, Omogbehin SA. Investigation of the Inhibitive Properties of Alchornea laxiflora leaves on the Corrosion of Mild Steel in HCl: Thermodynamics and Kinetic Study. Journal of American Science. 2015;11(1):32-39.
Udom GI, Cookey GA, Abia AA. The effect of Acanthus montanus leaves extract on corrosion of aluminium in hydrochloric acid medium. Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology. 2017:1-11.
Husaini M, Usman B, Ibrahim MB. Study of corrosion inhibition of Aluminum in nitric acid solution using Anisaldehyde (4-methoxy benzaldehyde) as corrosion inhibitor. Algerian Journal of Engineering and Technology. 2019;1(1):11-18.
Ebenso EE, Alemu H, Umoren SA, Obot IB. Inhibition of mild steel corrosion in sulphuric acid using alizarin yellow GG dye and synergistic iodide additive. J. Electrochem. Sci. 2008;3(12):1325-1339.


The work described In this then is was initiated in response to motivation from the needs of industry, the desire to investigate the performance of a process control computer in a relatively novel application as well as to provide training in methods of research.

Ever-increasing labour costs have caused the automotive and petroleum industries to seek new means of maintaining the throughput of engine testing work. Their task has been made more difficult by the stringent test regulations that have been introduced with the very commendable intention of reducing atmospheric pollution. In consequence, any means by which the efficiency of testing could be improved and the throughput of work increased were deemed worthy of investigation.

Engine testing involves a diversity of simple repetitive operations. These include the collection and processing of data and the execution of logical operations. The digital computer has proved itself to be ideally suited to performing such tasks, but the problem of integrating a computer with such an activity remains only partially solved. It is hoped that the work described in this thesis will go some way towards solving this problem.

A description of the instrumentation and interfacing used on the test rig is included together with a description of the program structure and functions. These are not regarded as exemplary but it is hoped that they will aid the identification of the requirements for similar systems.

A linearised mathematical model is developed to represent both the static and dynamic behaviour of the engine and dynamometer. This aspect of the study has provided useful insight into the problems associated with the control of engine test rigs. As a result it has been shown that effective control can be made available without recourse to highly sophisticated techniques.

Optimisation systems as applied to the control of spark timing and mixture strength are considered. The limitations imposed on their operation by the inherent nature of combustion are outlined.

Finally some computer controlled tests that were implemented are described as a means of illustrating the very extensive capabilities of such a system.


We report on new observations made, when 4H-SiC, Si-face substrate mesas, having either low tilt-angle (< 1°) with steps or step-free top surfaces, were exposed to three separate HCl etching conditions for five minutes at temperatures of 1130°C, 1240°C and 1390°C. We observed that HCl was ineffective at 1130°C, as etching was incomplete with abundant surface contamination. At 1240°C, screw dislocations were aggressively etched by HCl, while multiple shallow flat-bottomed etch pits were formed on step-free mesa surfaces. At 1390°C, step-flow etching dominated as large etch pits were formed at screw dislocations and previously step-free surfaces etched inward from mesa edges to form parallel rows of organized steps.


The Rare-isotope Accelerator complex for ON-line experiments is a heavy-ion accelerator facility that accelerates a stable or rare isotope beam up to 400 kW with an energy of 200 MeV/u. Various heavy-ion beams are generated from the Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Source, with an energy of 10 keV/u and separated according to A/Q at the first dipole magnet (DM). To measure beam transverse emittance at the Low Energy Beam Transport section, two Allison scanners are installed behind the DM for the X and Y directions. It consist of a servo motor for driving, a Faraday cup for current measurement, deflection plates, and electronic device. The measurable range of beam angle in of the Allison scanner is determined by the structure of the deflection plate and designed based on mathematical calculations. Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is adopted to integrate and control a variety of devices. To control the complex measurement sequence of the Allison scanner, an EPICS sequencer module was used. Normalized emittance is calculated by python code with Pyepics module using phase space distribution data. In this paper, we present the detailed design of the Allison scanner, the configuration of the control system, and the experimental results using an Ar9+ 30 μA beam.


Selective breeding programmes for desired phenotypes in animals provide a good resource for researchers to understand the genetic basis underlying those phenotypes. Most traits of economic importance in animals are quantitative traits, which are controlled by genetic as well as environmental factors. Previous studies have shown that the mapping of the genomic regions containing genetic factors, which control the diverse phenotypes in complex traits of interest, resulted in the successful identification of causative mutations. The same forward genetics approach, which endeavours to identify the genetic basis of phenotypic diversity, was followed in this study. To identify and functionally evaluate the mutations controlling diverse phenotypic differences between the High-weight and Low-weight chicken lines, the previously fine mapped interacting quantitative trait loci (QTL) for growth in chicken were scanned for the presence of genes. Gene databases (Ensembl, RefSeq) and gene prediction tools (Genscan and N-Scan) were used to reveal as many genes as possible. To identify candidate genes for growth, the conservation pattern of those genes was studied using the phastCons programme in the PHAST package. The genes most conserved in evolution were identified and selected for further analysis. The evidence based, well-supported and annotated Ensemble conserved genes were identified as candidate genes for growth in general. Gene ontology terms for the candidate genes were obtained from the Gene Ontology (GO) database to study the molecular and biological functions of those candidate genes. KEGG biological pathways were mapped for the presence of identified candidate genes.
The candidate genes were found having roles in many biological pathways. The biological pathways that contained candidate genes from multiple interacting QTL were identified as candidate pathways. Major candidate pathways include the Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) signalling pathway, which affects growth in general, and Adipocytokine signalling pathway, which imparts its anorectic effect through the leptin hormone. Further studies are required to analyse the functional effects of those candidate genes and pathways and eventually to identify the mutations affecting growth.


This study explores the structure of liquid/gas coaxial jets under forced and unforced conditions. The forcing is in the form of a transverse acoustic resonance within the confined space where the mixing occurs. The studied flows are relevant to combustion instabilities which involve an interaction between acoustic waves and reactant mixing. A variety of local and global signal processing methods were applied to digital flow visualization data to identify spatial and temporal features. The unforced case is in particular chaotic and influenced by a broad range of spatial and temporal phenomena. Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) was able to extract flapping and convecting features, and spectral content of these behaviors is presented. The forced case results in organized structures that emerge above the background turbulence, including harmonics of the forcing frequency and nonlinear interactions between specific frequencies. The dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) performs the best in the forced case, clearly isolating all of these features. Wavelet analysis showed that forcing tended to reorganize energy from longer to shorter time scales. Bicoherence analysis of the data showed that the forcing causes a much different energy exchange in the outer and inner shear layers. The outer-to-inner jet coupling during forced conditions appears to be limited to an axial extent of about one to three inner jet diameters downstream of the jet exit. The recirculation zone between the inner and outer jet, extending about one inner jet diameter downstream, appears to disrupt the influence of forcing on the inner jet.


CONTEXT
Follistatin is a glycoprotein that binds and neutralizes biological activities of TGFbeta superfamily members including activin and myostatin. We previously identified by expression profiling that follistatin levels in white adipose tissue (WAT) were regulated by obesity.

OBJECTIVE
The objective of the study was to elucidate the role of follistatin in human WAT and obesity.

DESIGN
We measured secreted follistatin protein from WAT biopsies and fat cells in vitro. We also quantified follistatin mRNA expression in sc and visceral WAT and in WAT-fractionated cells and related it to obesity status, body region, and cellular origin. We investigated the effects of follistatin on adipocyte differentiation of progenitor cells in vitro.

PARTICIPANTS
Women (n = 66) with a wide variation in body mass index were recruited by advertisement and from a clinic for weight-reduction therapy.

RESULTS
WAT secreted follistatin in vitro. Follistatin mRNA levels in sc but not visceral WAT were decreased in obesity and restored to nonobese levels after weight reduction. Follistatin mRNA levels were high in the stroma-vascular fraction of WAT and low in adipocytes. Recombinant follistatin treatment promoted adipogenic differentiation of progenitor cells and neutralized the inhibitory action of myostatin on differentiation in vitro. Moreover, activin and myostatin signaling receptors were detected in WAT and adipocytes.

CONCLUSION
Follistatin is a new adipokine important for adipogenesis. Down-regulated WAT expression of follistatin in obesity may counteract adiposity but could, by inhibiting adipogenesis, contribute to hypertrophic obesity (large fat cells) and insulin resistance.


Background : : : : The canine osteosarcoma is characterized by being an aggressive bone tumor that affects mainly large dogs, middle-aged and male, accounting for 80-85% of bone tumors and 5-6% of all tumors. The risk of developing this tumor is, on average, 125 times greater in dogs weighing over 36 kg than in dogs weighing less than 9 kg. This cancer develops more frequently in the appendicular skeleton (75%), preferably the bones of the forelimbs, where approximately 60% of body weight are sustained. The canine osteosarcoma is very similar to human, in which the metaphyseal region of long bones is the most affected, causing lameness and swelling of the affected limb. The diagnosis is made from epidemiological data, history of the animal, X-rays and laboratory tests such as cytology fine-needle aspiration (FNAC) and measurement of the enzyme alkaline phosphatase (ALP). The staging of the disease becomes a major method for the treatment, whereas primary bone tumors are highly complex and end up interfering with the animal organism in whole. The objective of this study is to report a clinical study of 12 dogs with osteosarcoma, showing the procedures performed from diagnosis to treatment. Material, Methods and Results : Dogs were assisted at the Clinic of Small Animals VUH - UFSM and after the clinical examination were referred to the Department of Radiology. After the radiographic study, blood samples for biochemical and material for cytological analysis of the tumor were collected. After the confirmation of the neoplasm, the physician who prescribed the treatment, depending on the case, the accession to it was left to the owner. In this study, we observed the development of osteosarcoma in dogs from two to 14 years old. Furthermore, in 10 animals (83.3%) the tumor was located in one of the members and nine of these (75%) affected forelimbs. Still, eight dogs (66.7%) were males. The animals weighed on average, 30 kg and five were crossbreeds. Eight dogs (66.7%) had an elevation in enzyme ALP. In this study, five dogs (41%) received no treatment, four (33.3%) were killed and three (25.7%) had the treatment as prescribed by the clinician. Three of the dogs treated survived for a few weeks and two of those who received appropriate treatment survived more than a year. Discussion : The clinical and epidemiological findings of this study corroborate the literature, making them increasingly used in the auxiliary tests cited. For a proper diagnosis it is necessary for the veterinary practitioner to know which tests to determine use. Approximately 98% of the patients have micrometastases at diagnosis, however, only 5% of dogs with osteosarcoma have radiographic evidence of pulmonary metastasis. These will only cause clinical signs in advanced stages, leading the majority of dogs to euthanasia. Moreover, the appearance of bone thinning and explosion in the limb are strong indications of osteosarcoma. The FNAC is one of the main tests for diagnosing neoplastic, because the laboratory technician can visualize the tumor cells in proliferation and other features visible only under a microscope. The enzyme alkaline phosphatase is of great value in the diagnosis and prognosis of this tumor and may demonstrate metastases when elevated. Epidemiological data along with auxiliary tests make the diagnosis of this neoplasm safer, which assists the owner in the decision for the treatment of the affected animals. As there is still little understanding of the anticancer treatment by the owners, treatment schedules may not be implemented, which prolongs the disease and causes more suffering to the dogs.


A well-known issue with the widely used Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method is the neighborhood deficiency. Near the surface, the SPH interpolant fails to accurately capture the underlying fields due to a lack of neighboring particles. These errors may introduce ghost forces or other visual artifacts into the simulation. In this work we investigate three different popular methods to correct the first-order spatial derivative SPH operators up to linear accuracy, namely the Kernel Gradient Correction (KGC), Moving Least Squares (MLS) and Reproducing Kernel Particle Method (RKPM). We provide a thorough, theoretical comparison in which we remark strong resemblance between the aforementioned methods. We support this by an analysis using synthetic test scenarios. Additionally, we apply the correction methods in simulations with boundary handling, viscosity, surface tension, vorticity and elastic solids to showcase the reduction or elimination of common numerical artifacts like ghost forces. Lastly, we show that incorporating the correction algorithms in a state-of-the-art SPH solver only incurs a negligible reduction in computational performance.


An innovative titanium dioxide (TiO2) mesh electrode was prepared by anodisation, in which 0.5 M sulphuric acid was used as electrolyte and titanium (Ti) metal mesh was anodised in a two stage anodic process. The innovated mesh electrode was examined using Raman spectroscopy to determine the formation of TiO2 layer when different potentials of 120 V, 140 V, 160 V, and 180 V were applied in anodisation. Microporous surface of the electrode was also examined using scanning electron microscopy. The photocatalytic (PC) oxidation and photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) oxidation were studied using the new electrode for treating synthetic wastewater solutions of dye and trichlorophenol (TCP) respectively. The colour removal efficiency of 68% was achieved using the 160V-mesh electrode for treating wool dye solution after 80minutes reaction time. However, it was found that a significant substrate adsorption on the surface of the mesh electrode could not be avoided when pH was below pHIEP of TiO2=6.3. In this condition, electrostatic adsorption occurred between the anionic substrate molecules and positively charged TiO2 surface. The adsorbed substrate anion occupied most active sites of TiO2 on the mesh electrode surface and significantly reduced the performance efficiency of photo-oxidation, when the TiO2 mesh electrode was reused. The experiment demonstrated that TCP adsorption on the mesh electrode could be significantly eliminated, when pH of TCP solution was adjusted to above 7. When raising pH in TCP photodegradation eliminated substrate adsorption, it was confirmed that PC oxidation with application of a potential bias could enhance the photo-oxidation rate and a repeatable photo-oxidation rate could be maintained when the same mesh electrode was reused in its following tests.


The substantive 1968 work contains a short introduction to the Italian Civil Code of 1942 and the changes which followed in 1944. There are no explanations of the differences between American and Italian Law but this omission is not so important as there exists a 1967 text on the Italian Legal System (Cappelletti, Merryman and Perillo, Stanford University Press). The Civil Code supplement is a joy to read as it contains on even pages the original Italian text and on the facing page the English translation. There is a most useful table of concordance so that the state of the code on any particular topic (it is largely family law which has been amended) can be found easily. The existence of these works, whose cost of production probably far exceeds the likely return, is of very great assistance to those who wish to be better informed in matters of European Law and I welcome their availability very much. D. R. CHAMBERS


Three applications of Geographical Information Systems for surface water studies in the Badia region of Jordan are presented, hi the first application, a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the study area was generated from the available contour maps. The channel drainage network was enforced into the created DEM to ensure accurate emplacement of the extracted drainage network. The channel drainage network was extracted from the DEM at a threshold value of 250 pixels. At this threshold, the drainage density of the extracted channel network is equivalent to the wadis network on the topographic maps In the second application, a hydrologically-oriented GIS database was developed. The database aimed to provide detailed description of the watershed characteristics and the hydrological processes relevant to surface water studies. A menu-driven application was built on the database to extract and analyse the database information at the sub- watershed level. The third application involved building a spatial model for generating surface runoff hydrographs from the rainfall data. The model applies GIS data structure and the raster processing techniques to simulate the rainfall-excess generation and flow routing processes. The distributed structure of the model allows for representing the hydrological processes and modelling the watershed response at the level of details that fits the resolution of the available data.


ABSTRACT Emerging reports have indicated that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play pivotal roles in multiple cancers, containing cervical cancer. LncRNA ARAP1 antisense RNA 1 (ARAP1-AS1) was previously identified as a tumor-promoter in bladder cancer. However, the expression profile and possible modulation mechanism of ARAP1-AS1 in cervical cancer need to be further studied. In the current research, ARAP1-AS1 was discovered to exhibit a high level in cervical cancer cells. Besides, the knockdown of ARAP1-AS1 repressed cell proliferative and migratory capacities in cervical cancer, as detected by loss-of-function assays including CCK-8, EdU, colony formation, and transwell assays. Additionally, dual-specificity phosphatase 5 (DUSP5), lowly expressed in cervical cancer cells, was found to be negatively modulated by ARAP1-AS1. In subsequence, mechanism experiments proved that ARAP1-AS1 recruited enhancer of zeste 2 polycomb repressive complex 2 subunit (EZH2) to regulate DUSP5 expression. Finally, rescue assays certified the oncogenic function of ARAP1-AS1/EZH2/DUSP5 axis in cervical cancer. This research probed the expression level and regulatory mechanism of ARAP1-AS1 underlying cervical cancer, which might shed novel lights into the exploration on cervical cancer treatment.


A summary of the linear trends estimated from the USU Rayleigh Lidar (41.74o N, 118oW) temperature data set. The data set covers a time span from September, 1993 to August, 2003 and an altitude range of 45 to 80 km. The data set includes 584 data points at 45 km to 580 data points at 80 km. Cooling trend profiles are calculated and compared to results from other researchers. Collinearity and bias are also considered as issues that could affect the regression results. Also considered is the possibility that the Mt. Pinatubo eruption has influenced temperature trend estimates. This is important because the Pinatubo-related mesosphere temperature response occurred about the time the USU lidar came on line, which could be affecting our trend estimates. A visual comparison of the annual and semiannual oscillations are also presented.


INTRODUCTION: Health protection of railway workers of various professional groups increases the safety of railway transport, the prestige of the profession and reduces morbidity and mortality from the most common causes in this group of patients . AIM: To analyze the risk factors of sudden death among Russian Railways workers . MATERIALS AND METHODS: The design of the study is made according to the 'case-control' type . Analysis was carried out of all cases of sudden death (SD) of employees of JSCo 'Russian Railways' (RR) in the period from 2009 to 2021 (n = 412) .The comparison group consisted of 411 employees of RR who were undergoing periodical medical examination . The groups were formed on the basis of age, employment period, gender, profession . To assess the diagnostic significance of the quantitative signs in predicting a certain outcome, the method of analysis of ROC curves was used . RESULTS: The chances of death for workers of RR increased in case of past myocardial infarction, and also depended on the type of intervention (p < 0 .001) . The threshold value of the BMI index in the cut-off point, which corresponded to the highest value of Youden index, was 27 .1 kg/m 2  . In the group of sudden deaths, there were 1 .8 times more smokers and 2 times less individuals with total cholesterol level exceeding 5 mmol/l than in the comparison group (p < 0 .001) . A prognostic model was developed by ROC-analysis to determine the probability of mortality . The sensitivity and specificity of the model were 79 .5% and 91 .9%, respectively . CONCLUSION: A prognostic model was developed to determine the probability of sudden death in Russian railway workers, with the sensitivity and specificity 79 .5% and 91 .9%, respectively . However, the present study did not permit to reveal predictors of sudden death specific of the workers of RR .


Background: The role of bacterial co-infection and superinfection among critically ill COVID-19 patients remains unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the rates and characteristics of pulmonary infections, and associated outcomes of ventilated patients in our facility. Methods: This was a retrospective study of ventilated COVID-19 patients between March 2020 and March 2021 that underwent BioFire®, FilmArray® Pneumonia Panel, testing. Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) was defined when identified during the first 72 h of hospitalization, and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) when later. Results: 148 FilmArray tests were obtained from 93 patients. With FilmArray, 17% of patients had CAP (16/93) and 68% had VAP (64/93). Patients with VAP were older than those with CAP or those with no infection (68.5 vs. 57–59 years), had longer length of stay and higher mortality (51% vs. 10%). The most commonly identified FilmArray target organisms were H. influenzae, S. pneumoniae, M. catarrhalis and E. cloacae for CAP and P. aeruginosa and S. aureus for VAP. FilmArray tests had high negative predictive values (99.6%) and lower positive predictive values (~60%). Conclusions: We found high rates of both CAP and VAP among the critically ill, caused by the typical and expected organisms for both conditions. VAP diagnosis was associated with poor patient outcomes.


The newly emerging wireless powered communication networks (WPCNs) have recently drawn significant attention, where radio signals are used to power wireless terminals for information transmission. In this paper, we study a WPCN where one multi-antenna access point (AP) coordinates energy transfer and information transfer to/from a set of single-antenna users. A harvest-then-transmit protocol is assumed where the AP first broadcasts wireless power to all users via energy beamforming in the downlink (DL), and then, the users send their independent information to the AP simultaneously in the uplink (UL) using their harvested energy. To optimize the users' throughput and yet guarantee their rate fairness, we maximize the minimum throughput among all users by a joint design of the DL-UL time allocation, the DL energy beamforming, and the UL transmit power allocation, as well as receive beamforming. We solve this nonconvex problem optimally by two steps. First, we fix the DL-UL time allocation and obtain the optimal DL energy beamforming, UL power allocation, and receive beamforming to maximize the minimum signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio of all users. This problem is shown to be still nonconvex; however, we convert it equivalently to a spectral radius minimization problem, which can be solved efficiently by applying the alternating optimization based on the nonnegative matrix theory. Then, the optimal time allocation is found by a one-dimensional search to maximize the minimum rate of all users. Furthermore, two suboptimal designs of lower complexity are also proposed, and their throughput performance is compared against that of the optimal solution.


A racialization of crime exists in American society with Black men in particular being associated with crime. The purpose of this research was to examine whether perceptions of criminal sentencing decisions and perceptions of male criminal offenders would vary as a function of race and are associated with explicit and implicit racial bias. Four studies were conducted utilizing a within-subjects design in which participants viewed fictitious case records for Black and White criminal offenders and completed measures of bias and perceptions of the sentencing decision and the offenders themselves. Two studies included samples of White American adults (n = 113 and 111) obtained through online paid research participation systems and two more were conducted with samples of undergraduate participants (n = 111 and 150). The first set of studies examined this in the context of individuals accused of drug crimes with both an adult and undergraduate sample and the second set examined this in the context of violent crimes also with both an adult and undergraduate sample. For the adult samples, perceptions did not differ as a function of race but individual differences in explicit and implicit racial biases were significantly associated with negative evaluations and harsher sentencing for the Black target. For the student samples, perceptions significantly differed as a function of race in favor of the Black target, while individual differences in explicit biases were consistent with those of the adult samples. This work can add to our understanding of the factors that can impact the decisions made about accused offenders of color as they progress through the criminal justice system in America.


Spherical C@PSt microspheres with average size around 2 μm were successfully prepared using high-speed homogenization-assisted suspension polymerization of styrene in the presence of carbon black modified by oleic acid. The effects of initiator varieties and initiators concentration on the fractional conversion were investigated. Compared with BPO, AIBN has higher efficiency to initiate the polymerization. LPSA, SEM and OM results showed the prepared microspheres had spherical morphology with the carbon black in the core and PSt in the shell. About 10 weight percentages of carbon black were encapsulated in the complex microspheres proved by TGA results.


The engineering design of a novel imaging detector, operating on gaseous solid-state ionization principles for slot-scan imaging radiation in two dimensions, is presented. The detector has two basic functional components: a noble gas filled detector volume operating on gas microstrip principles and a solid-state detector volume. An experimental arrangement has been established, where incident X-rays spend part of their energy in a xenon gas detector volume, and the other part through interactions with the solid-state detector volume, producing charge pairs in both cases. An applied electric field imparts a constant drift velocity to these charges, driving them toward their respective signal collectors. The detected signal and noise contributions were measured and related to the X-ray tube setting parameters within the diagnostic energy range at 1 and 2 atm (atmospheres) of xenon. Preliminary experimental results indicate that the test detector exhibits a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and linear response. The research imaging detector system allows one to investigate methods to improve the detection and imaging performance parameters as part of the development of a slot scanned dual-energy digital radiographic system.


The influence of low-frequency ultrasound on the chemotactic, ingestive and digestive activity of peritoneal macrophages in rats was studied. The intraoperative treatment of the peritoneum with ultrasound enhanced chemotactic activity 3.3-fold in comparison with that in the control animals. The digestive function of peritoneal macrophages considerably increased, the stimulation of their ingestive capacity also occurred. The activation of the phagocytic function of macrophages was observed within 7 days after a single sonar treatment. The authors believe that the stimulation of the macrophage system is probably one of the mechanisms of the sanative action of ultrasound which is used at present in purulent surgery.


The aim of the current study was to investigate if children's language abilities could be improved using a mind mapping approach during interactive book reading. Previous research has shown that visual aids like mind maps are effective in supporting students to get a better grasp of the content, structure and concepts of a text (Birbili, 2006; Darch & Eaves, 198 6). Graphic organisers offer students a framework to relate new knowledge to existing knowledge, which supports the processing of new information (Carney & Levin, 2002; Vekiri, 2002). However, the effect of mind mapping on children's language abilities has not yet been investigated. According to the sociocultural perspective on learning, learning is established when students jointly construct meaning. This can be accomplished through interactive reading during which a teacher and students collaboratively construct a mind map of the story. A pre -post -test -control group -design was used to evaluate if mind mapping during interactive book reading was more effective compared to traditional interactive book reading. Ethical approval was obtained from the authors' Faculty. Prior to the study, participating teachers were informed about the purpose and the procedures of the research. Active informed consent was asked from children's parents. Results indicate that mind mapping has an effect on children's vocabulary knowledge and listening skills. This study shows that the use of mind maps to improve children's language abilities is promising. Teachers are enthusiastic about working with mind maps, they experience that mind maps provide students with a better overview of the structure of the story.


reveals the interaction and tension between the distinctive elements of the Russian situation and the desire to imitate western models


The p53 tumor suppressor is tightly controlled by MDM2 which binds p53 and negatively modulates its transcriptional activity and stability. Many tumors overproduce MDM2 to impair p53 function. Restoration of p53 activity by inhibiting the p53-MDM2 interaction may offer a novel approach to cancer therapy. Recently developed potent and selective small-molecule MDM2 antagonists, the nutlins, interact specifically with the p53-binding pocket of MDM2 and release p53 from negative control. Treatment of cancer cells expressing wild-type p53 with nutlins stabilized p53 and activated the p53 pathway. Although half of human tumors retain wild-type p53, the function of the tumor suppressor could be compromised by defective signaling in the pathway. Using nutlin-3a to probe downstream p53 signaling we find that the cell cycle arrest function of p53 is preserved in all tested cancer cell lines expressing wild-type p53 but many have compromised ability to undergo p53-dependent apoptosis. The p53 transcription target and potent CDK inhibitor, p21, has been shown to inhibit the apoptotic response to genotoxic p53 activation. Although it is strongly upregulated by MDM2 antagonists in all tested cancer cell lines, p21 does not affect the apoptotic outcome of nutlin treatment, suggesting that it does not play anti-apoptotic role during non-genotoxic p53 activation. MDM2 controls p53 stability and activity through a feedback mechanism by which both proteins mutually regulate their cellular levels. Nutlins disrupt this regulatory circuit leading to upregulation of both p53 and MDM2. They selectively block the p53-MDM2 interaction but do not affect MDM2 E3 ligase activity that is elevated in the presence of the drug. MDMX, a known p53 inhibitor and MDM2 ubiqutination target decreased with the increase of MDM2, suggesting that MDM2 contributes to antitumor activity of nutlins at least in part by facilitating MDMX degradation. Elevated MDM2 contributes to the apoptotic outcome of nutlin treatment also by interfering with the maturation of subsets of microRNAs. Nutlin-3a doses that shrink xenograft tumors activated p53 signaling in mouse tissues but caused only mild changes in bone marrow, thymus and spleen. These results suggest that p53 activation by MDM2 antagonists may provide an acceptable safety window for cancer therapy. A member of the nutlin family of MDM2 antagonists is currently undergoing Ph I clinical testing in patients with solid and hematological malignancies. Citation Format: Lyubomir T. Vassilev. Targeting the p53-MDM2 interaction for cancer therapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr SY18-01


Rocks, minerals, and powdered catalysts, not considered "typical" positron annihilation spectroscopy materials were included in these studies, to find the optimal way to characterize atypical materials by the most appropriate set of parameters in a well-defined environment. The positron annihilation spectroscopies: the Doppler broadening and positron lifetime were compared with other supplementary techniques to validate, interpret, and understand the results in different materials better. It was found that although rocks are heterogeneous mineral aggregates, some positron annihilation spectroscopy values were specific for various types of rocks, potential oil deposits, and their conditions; and quite different for opals due to Ps formation there; moreover in order to characterize properly samples with small mass and density (catalytic powders), their measuring geometry, matrix effect, and set of operational parameters needed to be well-defined.


The arrhythmogenic mechanisms involved in the triggering of the polymorphic ventricular tachycardia called torsades de pointes (TdPs) remains to be elucidated. In this work, we investigated the static and dynamic profiles of the repolarization interval from the surface electrocardiogram recorded in healthy individuals and in cardiac patients with TdPs. We implemented this analysis just prior to the arrhythmia onset and we computed the delta values based on baseline periods (1 hour prior to event). We measured QT/QTc prolongation, QT variability, ventricular ectopic beats (VPBs) frequency, T-wave amplitude, T-peak to T-end interval, and T-wave complexity. The analysis of these parameters in reference to baseline revealed 1) an increased QTc variability, 2) the presence of VPCs, and 3) the profound changes in T-loop morphology in patients developing TdPs.


The authors propose a novel solution for decorrelating closely spaced antennas with identical radiation patterns. By proper steering of the directional elements' patterns, the decorrelation distance is reduced to 0.25λ in comparison with the well-established 0.4λ result based on the Bessel-shaped correlation expression. In addition, by proposing the definition of Decorrelation Factor of an antenna pattern, a framework for comparison of correlation behaviour of different antennas is provided. Subsequently, a performance metric characterised by the Jensen upper bound for the capacity of closely spaced antennas is proposed. Finally, we apply our results to two practical directional antennas, namely, the half-wavelength dipole and the vertical electric dipole antennas and compare their correlation and capacity performance.


More than 1.2 million plant and animal species live on Earth. There are dry deserts, icy deserts, rainforests, grasslands, mountains and oceans. All amazing habitats for life on this planet. But the climate is changing... Find out the things YOU can do to help protect our planet.


Non-holonomic leader-follower robot must be capable to find its own position in order to be able to navigating autonomously in the environment this problem is known as localization. A common way to estimate the robot pose by using odometer. However, odometry measurement may cause inaccurate result due to the wheel slippage or other small noise sources. In this research, the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is proposed to minimize the error or the inaccuracy caused by the odometry measurement. The EKF algorithm works by fusing odometry and landmark information to produce a better estimation. A better estimation acknowledged whenever the estimated position lies close to the actual path, which represents a system without noise. Another experiment is conducted to observe the influence of numbers of landmark to the estimated position. The results show that the EKF technique is effective to estimate the leader pose and orientation pose with small error and the follower has the ability traverse close to leader based-on the actual path.


The current study explores some key aspects in connection with forensic linguistics covering its discipline. Therefore, this study sheds some light on prominent types of linguistic evidence such as forensic stylistics, forensic phonetics, forensic transcription, discourse analysis, author identification, and more focus on forensic translation. It includes areas directly related to forensic linguistics like software forensic, plagiarism detection, and document examination. Forensic applications with respect to descriptive linguistics involving forensic linguists, the linguistic investigation of authorship, and text types shall be considered as well. Principles and skills needed for forensic translation will be also provided. In conclusion, the present study proposes that judges, lawyers and legal translators and interpreters, and specialized linguists should work together to have better understanding of law issues. They should benefit from the legal oral and written texts and legal translators should provide consultancy and experience towards legal issues and cases. Further suggestions and recommendations will be presented accordingly.


The aim of this study is to gauge the impact of the production of knowledge on the accumulation of fixed capital in Brazil. The hypothesis is that investment in R&D causes investment in fixed capital in Brazilian industrial firms. The empirical estimates rest on an IPEA database for information on firms and the workers linked to these firms during the period 1996-2003 and on the National Innovation Survey (PINTEC) for information on technological development. In the article, various estimates are made using three empirical procedures. First, the firms that grew most and invested most are described. Second, econometric models relating R&D expenditures, technological innovation and the accumulation of fixed capital are estimated. A model having five equations and a structure similar to that of CDM models is estimated. The system employs instrumental variables to correct for endogeneity and solves the selection problem by including a firm-survival equation. Third, the causal relations between R&D and investment in fixed capital are sought through contrafactual analysis and a difference model. The results support the initial hypothesis, indicating that investments in R&D lead to an average 17% increase in investments in fixed capital among Brazilian firms.


We aimed to summarise recent advances in the therapy of diabetic neuropathy. Although all therapeutic choices in the treatment of diabetes mellitus itself are based on clear pathophysiological basis, this approach is less present in the treatment of the "forgotten complication", diabetic neuropathy. As part of pathogenetic oriented treatment, the role of glycemic control and cardiovascular risk factors are reviewed. The mode of action of benfotiamine is based on inhibition of key alternative pathways, including the polyol, hexosamine, protein-kinase-C pathways, and inhibition of advanced glycation end products formation, just as on activation of transketolase. Alpha- lipoic-acid is considered as the most potent antioxidant. Other forms of pathogenetic oriented treatment, including actovegin, will be summarised. The anticonvulsants gabapentin and pregabalin, as well as the antidepressant duloxetine represent the most important new drugs among agents for symptomatic relief. Most likely, we should offer combination treatment to our patients much more often, first of all combination of pathogenetic and symptomatic drugs. Finally, the broad spectrum of non-pharmacological treatment will be reviewed.


Determining the skeletal bone age is necessary in a variety of fields, ranging from pediatric radiology and endocrinology to crime investigation. Indeed, assessing the skeletal bone age is useful in situations like when developmental delays are present, in order to search for an organic cause, or when human age must be identified and no other evidence exists. One of the most used clinical methods to assess bone is the TW2 approach that, because of its modular nature, can be easily automated by image processing techniques. In the literature, many machine-vision based approaches have been proposed supporting the automation of the TW2 method; however there is still room for improvement since the achieved results are not completely satisfactory. This paper aims at reviewing these automatic methods, highlighting their peculiarities and providing future directions.


Dengue is a major vector-borne disease in Malaysia. Among the symptoms presented in patients with dengue infection are headache, fever, rash, pain behind the eyes as well as muscle and joint pains. Currently, there are no suitable vaccines, specific treatment nor anti-virals for the treatment of dengue. As a result, patients are treated according to symptoms. In Malaysia, the juice of Carica papaya leaves (CPL) has been used as a house-hold remedy for dengue infection. However, there is less scientific evidence to prove this. Thus, this study sought to evaluate the use of CPL juice as a supplement for dengue patients in a designated hospital. CPL juice was given to 50 out of 100 hospitalised patients based on random selection, for three continuous days as a supplement to the existing dengue patient management (termed Intervention (I) group). The remaining 50 patients that solely underwent the standard hospital dengue management were used as the Control (C) group.
The serotype of the patients that were recruited was determined in the first part of the study. This was performed by extracting RNA from patient samples (n=100) and subjecting them to real-time PCR using SYBR® Green. Our results shows that the most dominant serotype in I group were DENV-1 (36 %), followed by DENV-2 (22 %), DENV-4 (22 %) and DENV-3 (20 %). In the C group, the most dominant serotype was also DENV-1 with 32 %, followed by DENV-2 (14 %), DENV-3 (14 %) and DENV-4 (6 %).
The following part of the work investigates the possible role of CPL juice in modulating immune response of dengue patients. The sera from these patients were subjected to two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2D-GE) and the respective protein
ii
profiles were compared using PD Quest 2D Analysis Software. Spots with different altered expression from I and C groups were detected and identified using mass spectrometry. Six proteins were identified to be differentially expressed; four of them were down-regulated and two of them were up-regulated in I group. The down-regulated proteins were vitamin-D binding protein (VDBP), alpha-2-HS glycoprotein (AHSG), clusterin (CLU) and vitronectin (VNR) while the up-regulated proteins were complement C3 (Comp C3) and apolipoprotein C3 (APO C3). Similar pattern of expression was observed when ELISA was performed as a validation step. These proteins are known to be associated with the dengue pathogenesis, except for APO C3. VDBP activates monocytes, stimulates cellular immune response and suppresses immunoglobulin production and lymphocytes proliferation. CLU inhibits the hemolytic activity of the membrane-attack complex of the complement system and the increasing level of this protein has been related to cell death. VNR has also been shown to act as an inhibitor of the cytolytic reactions of the terminal complexes of complement and of perforin. The increased level of Comp C3 assists in removing dengue viral particles and hence influences the antigen-antibody-platelet complex. As a result, less platelet is taken up for the antigen-antibody complex. Our data suggest that CPL juice may exert potential to be used as supplement to aid dengue patienti?½s recovery.


Abstract Objective: To examine the association between fat intake and the incidence of coronary heart disease in men of middle age and older. Design: Cohort questionnaire study of men followed up for six years from 1986. Setting: The health professionals follow up study in the United States. Subjects: 43 757 health professionals aged 40 to 75 years free of diagnosed cardiovascular disease or diabetes in 1986. Main outcome measure: Incidence of acute myocardial infarction or coronary death. Results: During follow up 734 coronary events were documented, including 505 non-fatal myocardial infarctions and 229 deaths. After age and several coronary risk factors were controlled for significant positive associations were observed between intake of saturated fat and risk of coronary disease. For men in the top versus the lowest fifth of saturated fat intake (median = 14.8% v 5.7% of energy) the multivariate relative risk for myocardial infarction was 1.22 (95% confidence interval 0.96 to 1.56) and for fatal coronary heart disease was 2.21 (1.38 to 3.54). After ajustment for intake of fibre the risks were 0.96 (0.73 to 1.27) and 1.72 (1.01 to 2.90), respectively. Positive associations between intake of cholesterol and risk of coronary heart disease were similarly attenuated after adjustment for fibre intake. Intake of linolenic acid was inversely associated with risk of myocardial infarction; this association became significant only after adjustment for non-dietary risk factors and was strengthened after adjustment for total fat intake (relative risk 0.41 for a 1% increase in energy, P for trend <0.01). Conclusions: These data do not support the strong association between intake of saturated fat and risk of coronary heart disease suggested by international comparisons. They are compatible, however, with the hypotheses that saturated fat and cholesterol intakes affect the risk of coronary heart disease as predicted by their effects on blood cholesterol concentration. They also support a specific preventive effect of linolenic acid intake. Key messages Diets high in saturated fat and cholesterol are associated with an increased risk of coronary disease, but these adverse effects are at least in part explained by their low fibre content and associations with other risk factors Diets high in linolenic acid (N-3 fatty acid from plants) are associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease, independently of other dietary and non-dietary risk factors Uncertainty remains on the optimal amount of polyunsaturated fat in the diet for prevention of coronary heart disease Benefits of reducing intakes of saturated fat and cholesterol are likely to be modest unless accompanied by an increased consumption of foods rich in fibre


Exact solutions of the nonlinear equations for a loudspeaker are extremely difficult to solve as they involve Volterra series expansions and higher‐order system functions and impulse responses [A. R. Kaiser et al., J. Audio Eng. Soc. 35, 421–433]. Indeed, these complex methods are required for exact system simulations, however, they can be greatly simplified with a reasonable assumption about the system. By assuming that the distortion (or nonlinearity) is not so large that it causes an excessive amount of distortion, say about 20% THD, a vastly simplified approach can be developed. It is not always the case that this near‐linear assumption can be made, but clearly, it should be accurate for higher performance units. This presentation will show how to use an algebra processor (Maple) to develop these simplified predictions given the nonlinearities of the parameters. These equations will then be used to show the effect that various loudspeaker enclosure designs have on the distortion of a given (typical) loudspeaker using a commercially available software package written by the author.Exact solutions of the nonlinear equations for a loudspeaker are extremely difficult to solve as they involve Volterra series expansions and higher‐order system functions and impulse responses [A. R. Kaiser et al., J. Audio Eng. Soc. 35, 421–433]. Indeed, these complex methods are required for exact system simulations, however, they can be greatly simplified with a reasonable assumption about the system. By assuming that the distortion (or nonlinearity) is not so large that it causes an excessive amount of distortion, say about 20% THD, a vastly simplified approach can be developed. It is not always the case that this near‐linear assumption can be made, but clearly, it should be accurate for higher performance units. This presentation will show how to use an algebra processor (Maple) to develop these simplified predictions given the nonlinearities of the parameters. These equations will then be used to show the effect that various loudspeaker enclosure designs have on the distortion of a given (typical) l...


The paper provides a brief examination of Lorenzo Veneziano signatures as first step of a research project which aims at gathering and examining on the signature-inscriptions on paintings by the Venetian painters and the painters who worked in Venice in the Gothic age (XIIIth century-early decades of XVth century). The study of the inscriptions will be conducted with an interdisciplinary approach, joining art-history, paleography and philology in a historic, critic and social perspective so as to achieve a better comprehension of the emergence of the artist's figure and name on the works of art as well as in the society; the methods of production of paintings and the organization of workshops; the literacy and 'culture' of the artists and their relationship with the world of the written word; the birth of a biographical and professional 'memory' and self-consciousness; The technical and critical vocabulary of medieval artistic culture.


BACKGROUND
Atrial fibrillation is the most common complication after myocardial revascularization, and it increases morbidity/mortality.

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this prospective randomized study was to test the hypothesis that temporary biatrial pacing is effective in reducing the incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation after myocardial revascularization.

METHODS
Ninety-eight non-consecutive patients who had undergone off-pump myocardial revascularization received two temporary electrodes attached to the right and left atria, which were connected to either pair of atrial pacemaker electrodes, in addition to the leads implanted in the right ventricle. Two groups of patients were randomized (control: 49 patients with no biatrial pacing; therapeutic: 49 patients with biatrial pacing). The variables of interest were atrial fibrillation (present or absent) and length of hospital stay.

RESULTS
The incidence of atrial fibrillation was 36.73% in the control group and 14.29% in the therapeutic group (p=0.0194). Length of hospital stay was 7.00 +/- 2.82 days for patients with no atrial fibrillation (n=73) and 9.20 +/- 2.87 days for patients with atrial fibrillation (n=25) (p=0.0001). Age was an important predictor of arrhythmia and ranged between 62.34 +/- 9.00 years in the group with no atrial fibrillation and 67.20 +/- 7.42 years in the group with atrial fibrillation (p=0.0170).

CONCLUSION
Compared to controls, prophylactic temporary biatrial pacing is effective in preventing atrial fibrillation. Hospital stay was longer for patients who developed postoperative atrial fibrillation, and age was an important predictor for the development of arrhythmia.


Abstract The validity of any glaciological paleo proxy used to interpret climate records is based on the level of understanding of their transfer from the atmosphere into the ice sheet and their recording in the snowpack. Large spatial noise in snow properties is observed, as the wind constantly redistributes the deposited snow at the surface routed by the local topography. To increase the signal-to-noise ratio and getting a representative estimate of snow properties with respect to the high spatial variability, a large number of snow profiles is needed. However, the classical way of obtaining profiles via snow-pits is time and energy-consuming, and thus unfavourable for large surface sampling programs. In response, we present a dual-tube technique to sample the upper metre of the snowpack at a variable depth resolution with high efficiency. The developed device is robust and avoids contact with the samples by exhibiting two tubes attached alongside each other in order to (1) contain the snow core sample and (2) to access the bottom of the sample, respectively. We demonstrate the performance of the technique through two case studies in East Antarctica where we analysed the variability of water isotopes at a 100 m and 5 km spatial scales.


In this paper, we investigate the problem of two-dimensional MHD mixed convection flow over a vertical permeable sheet embedded in a porous medium, with partial slip condition at the boundary. The nonlinear coupled boundary-layer equations have been transformed using an appropriate similarity transformation and resulting ordinary differential equations have been solved by Runge-Kutta fourth order method along with shooting technique. The influence of magnetic parameter M , permeability parameter K , buoyancy or mixed convection parameter λ , suction parameter S , slip parameter δ and Prandtl number Pr has been studied. It is found that these parameters have essential effects on the features of flow and heat transfer. Further, the present solutions are also validated by comparing with the existing solutions.


We address the problem of constructing and identifying a valid joint probability density function from a set of specified conditional densities. The approach taken is based on the development of relations between the joint and the conditional densities using Markov random fields (MRFs). We give a necessary and sufficient condition on the support sets of the random variables to allow these relations to be developed. This condition, which we call the Markov random field support condition, supercedes a common assumption known generally as the positivity condition. We show how these relations may be used in reverse order to construct a valid model from specification of conditional densities alone. The constructive process and the role of conditions needed for its application are illustrated with several examples, including MRFs with multiway dependence and a spatial beta process.


Decrease of aquifer recharge, Increased pumping through deep wells for agricultural purposes, increases in temperature and evapotranspiration, climate change and change the type of precipitation induced reduce of water level and water table which is called Groundwater Drought. Identifying, monitoring and characterization of drought is very important for water resources planning. The object of this study is investigating temporal and spatial variations of groundwater drought using Groundwater Resource Index (GRI) and Standardized Water Level Index (SWI) in the plain area of Sari-Neka. For this purpose, groundwater data of 40 piezometric well from 1364 to 1394 were analyzed. Thus, GRI and SWI indices for time scales of 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24 and 48 months in Minitab and M.S Excel was calculated. Spatial extent of groundwater drought in the plain using IDW in ArcMap 10.3 was obtained. The results show that the severest drought in 3-month time scale using GRI index in Shahrivar 1394 in the amount of -93.3 and SWI index in Mehr 1394, with value of 86.4 occurred. Drought spatial changes in northern parts of the plain are related to Mordad 1384. Zoning maps indicated that Mordad highest amount of drought and Bahman has lowest value; the most important for this is pumping water from groundwater aquifers for agriculture.


This paper discussed the Barotseland claim for statehood from the republic of Zambia with respect to the Barotseland Agreement (1964) signed between the Northern Rhodesian government and the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE) in April 1964.  In discussing the Barotseland question, using a qualitative approach, this paper considered the sentiments that fuel the reasons for seeking separate statehood by Barotseland pro-separatists. An analysis based on the criteria of 1933 Montevideo Convention on Statehood was made, and considerations were also made on the viability of these claims (for statehood) with respect to the possible ramifications of the grant for statehood. Self-determination of people is guaranteed and is a principle or right supported by the United Nations (UN) Charter within the rights of groups seeking self-determination. Ergo, statehood is a matter that requires the satisfaction of the criteria necessary for its pursuit. However, as this paper contended, the status of statehood is usually placed outside the domestic confines of where the claim is being made, and into the international realm. It is therefore imperative to consider these questions within the framework of Public International Law and Politics because ultimately, in a highly-globalized world, statehood or recognition of an entity as a state cannot be conferred without the involvement and resolutions of the international community through the auspices of the United Nations - in which case statehood is concretized as this gives a state legal personality. For comparative and illustrative purposes, the paper drew on some famous statehood questions from different parts of the world. This paper concludes that the Barotseland calls for statehood do not satisfy the 1933 Montevideo Convention and that the feasibility of a separate Barotseland is far from possible.

 Key words: Barotseland, independence, secession, self-determination, sovereignty, statehood, state recognition, Zambia.


This paper explores the potential areas of conflict and cooperation in the Arctic with a special focus on territorial claims and energy resources. The paper will first present the legal framework governing the Arctic region, with a focus on the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Second, it will discuss the territorial claims that have been made by the Arctic states. Third, the paper will look closer into the actual level of tension in the region and discuss whether or not the territorial disputes have the potential of turning into conflicts in the future. The paper finds that although there have been some overlapping territorial claims in the Arctic and an increased military presence, a great deal of this can be explained by national pride and security interests as the ice melts. The paper also finds that most of the energy resources in the Arctic are located within the Exclusive Economic Zones of the Arctic nations and are consequently not contested. The potential for conflict in the Arctic is at the moment not very high.