Between early 2007 and mid-2008, global food prices increased by more than fifty percent.' For people living in poverty in developing countries, who might spend sixty to eighty percent of their income on food, such a severe increase was devastating.2 The debilitating price increases resulted in food riots across over forty developing nations.3 Although food prices have fallen considerably since that period, they are still substantially higher than 2005 levels.4 Thus, in a March 2009 interview with the Financial Times, Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, stated that the "food crisis is not over." Dizzying price volatility and ensuing street demonstrations motivated policymakers to enact various new measures. For example, India introduced "draconian export restrictions" on rice and Argentina "attempted to expand export taxes," both of which contributed to the price increases. 6 Such panicked attempts at addressing the food crisis highlight the need for reasoned, comprehensive governance reforms to ensure global food security. The Global Food Crisis: Governance Challenges and Opportunities, a collection of essays based on a December 2008 workshop held at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, presents individual authors' perspectives on causal factors influencing the food


Paroxysmal sympathetic hyperactivity (PSH) affects a significant minority of people in the intensive care unit after severe traumatic brain injury. Systematic research has yet to elucidate or quantify the extent of the role of the catecholamines or adrenocortical and thyroid axis hormonal influences in the condition. Data were prospectively collected on 80 consecutive patients, 18 of whom developed clinical signs of PSH (22.5%). Catecholamine and hormonal data were collected sequentially at 4-h intervals or during and between episodes of PSH. Evaluated variables showed 200-300% increases in catecholamines and, to a lesser extent, adrenocortical hormones during paroxysms. The majority of PSH episodes (72%) were noted to be in response to an observable triggering event. These changes were not observed in subjects without PSH. These data go some way to explain why PSH produces adverse consequences in survivors of TBI with the condition.


Abstract: Increasing demand for aquaculture has led to the development of new production systems. Inland saline aquaculture, defined here as land-based aquaculture using saline groundwater, occurs in several countries including Israel, the USA, India and Australia. A number of species are cultured, or are being evaluated for their potential, including finfish such as tilapia, Asian sea bass and trout, shrimp and oysters. Sources of saline groundwater include ephemeral and permanent saline lakes, saline water extracted with coal seam gas and saline groundwater extracted from aquifers. Saline groundwater is extracted in some areas to protect the root zone of plants. Characteristics of saline-affected land are described, with particular focus on Australia and India. Another emerging source of saline groundwater is the coal bed methane gas industry. Saline water accompanies extraction of the gas and, while it can be a major environmental problem for the gas industry, it presents an opportunity for aquaculture. Saline groundwater can differ in chemistry compared with coastal seawater and adjusting the chemistry or choosing species that are tolerant to the differences is one of the major challenges for expansion of inland saline aquaculture. The chemistry of different sources of water is described and common methods of adjusting the chemistry described. Finally, case studies of inland saline aquaculture are presented for Australia, India, Israel and the USA. Novel food production methods, such as inland saline aquaculture, are needed to increase aquaculture production and meet increasing demands for seafood.


Turbidity currents in submarine canyons are the main contribution for sediment transfer across the continental margins. Geological studies of submarine canyons and associated turbiditic systems for more than 30 years led to an extraordinary breakthrough in the understanding of how turbidite systems evolve. However, these studies remain limited to a posteriori interpretations, based on the distribution of deposits and morphological evidences. The overarching aim of this thesis is to apply a 2DH process-based model to simulate large-scale turbidity currents on two different submarine canyons in the western Mediterranean coast.The work in La Fonera canyon, in the Catalan margin, focuses on the modelling of sediment transport and accumulation resulting from trawling activities on the canyon flanks. The numerical process-based provides a 3D visualization of potential trawling impacts on sediment dynamics. The study represents a starting point for the assessment of the sedimentary impact of bottom trawling in deep continental margins. The present work can help in the identification of trawling areas with lesser impacts. The Var Sedimentary System, located in the vicinity of Nice (France), is connected to the Var River during both low and high-stands and it can be considered as a natural laboratory for the study of the climatic control on the turbiditic activity. The influence of Coriolis forces on the spatial evolution of the hyperpycnal flows and hence in the construction of the Var Sedimentary Ridge (VSR) is evidenced and supported for the first time.The major drawback is the limited amount of information for the necessary initial and boundary conditions; hence modelling results might not be of predictive quality. However, modelling results provide a full-scale vision of the system allowing the identification of sediment pathways and deposition areas on the basis of physical processes and enlarge the present knowledge of the canyons studied. The results obtained may help in the identification of strategic mooring and coring sites to further advance the state of our knowledge on sediment dynamics of the different cases studies.


In the last decade the emerging activities in the field of quality and safety improvement in health care are resulting in new practices of governing medicine and posing challenges to prevailing notions of what it means to be a good doctor, patient, manager, or even health-care system. Following the seminal work of Wennberg and Gittelsohn (1973), who analyzed high variation in treatment patterns in neighboring communities in New En gland that could not be explained by clinical differences or "case mix" (Wennberg 1984), and based on reported adherence rates to clinical guidelines by medical professionals of approximately 50 percent, institutions for healthcare improvement have created an awareness among patients, policy makers, and clinicians that receiving treatment is actually a risky business.1 Health care is not simply a domain where patients are cured or cared for: it is a field full of dangers, and hospitals in particular are increasingly seen as risky places.


Unlike neuroleptic drugs, the effect of antidepressant drugs on the neuroendocrine axis in man is highly variable and may or may not be intimately related to their antidepressant action. However, the limited neuroendocrine data available does shed some light on the mechanism of action of these agents and raises some important questions, particularly about the regulation of PRL secretion and the interaction between various neurotransmitter systems. At one end of the spectrum, the ability of nomifensine and buproprion to lower serum PRL levels, presumably due to their ability to block the reuptake of DA by tuberoinfundibular DA neurons, suggests that it may be necessary to reconsider the conclusion that these neurons lack a DA reuptake mechanism or that these two agents are antidepressant by virtue of their ability to block DA uptake. Similarly, the inability of amphetamine or methylphenidate to decrease serum PRL levels in man suggests important differences between the tuberoinfundibular DA neurons in man and the rat. These findings also call into question the ability of these agents to block DA uptake or increase DA release in the tuberoinfundibular DA neurons. The finding that fluoxetine raises serum PRL levels, even in one subject, whereas zimelidine has not yet been shown to do so, and that fluoxetine does not potentiate the ability of 5-HTP to stimulate PRL secretion, has raised important questions about the role of 5-HT in PRL and GH regulation in man and the relationship between 5-HT and DA neurons in man. The occasional increase in serum PRL levels found in patients treated with lithium or the MAO inhibitor phenelzine are suggestive of important interindividual differences which may be revealed by neuroendocrine studies, differences which could be valuable in understanding the mechanism of action of these agents - e.g., does lithium decrease DA receptor sensitivity? - and fundamental aspects of neuroendocrine regulation - e.g., do the MAO inhibitors stimulate the production of a PRF? Further studies of the neuroendocrine effects of antidepressant treatments are clearly indicated. It is likely that such studies will enrich our understanding of how these agents work, of the difference between agents which have been classed together on the basis of preclinical studies (e.g., DMI, which appears to increase PRL and GH, and NT which appears not to) and provided additional evidence to test current hypotheses about the biological basis of their antidepressant action.


Background: This study examined the neural processes associated with the generalization of the effect of context-specific (CS) training to noncontextual situations among individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: Fourteen and 16 participants with MCI were randomly allocated to a Chinese calligraphy writing (CW) training or a control group, respectively. The CW participants learned how to write Chinese strokes in a semicursive style to construct characters, tapping on working memory functions. The control group, on the other hand, learned how to use a tablet computer without emphasis on working memory functions. They then performed two 2-back tasks with CS semicursive strokes and non-context-specific (NCS) digits. Event-related electroencephalogram signals were concurrently recorded. Results: The CW participants had a significantly shorter reaction time in the CS than in the NCS task (p < 0.05). They showed significantly longer latency in working memory updating (N200; t11 = 4.70, p = 0.05) and shorter latency in the evaluation of visual representation (P300; t12 = 4.67; p = 0.05) than the control group when performing the 2-back CS task. Shorter P300 latency was also revealed in the 2-back NCS task (t12 = 5.15, p = 0.041), suggesting a possible generalization of the training effect among the CW participants. Conclusion: The results suggest that CS working memory is likely to be generalized to NCS domains among individuals with MCI. Future research should extend the scope of the generalization and apply it beyond experimental conditions.


The sexual mores of the contemporary college population have undergone some fundamental changes in the past twenty-five years. Converging evidence from a variety of reliable sources obtained from a wide range of seemingly adjusted subjects, including personal interviews by the author, indicates that sexual involvement between partners of the opposite sex has been sporadic, episodic, without commitment, and accompanied by a deliberate effort of both partners to suppress tender, romantic feelings and intimacy. The sources of this situation are linked to changes in five domains: the ethos, the ascent of women, advances in contraceptive methods, residential mobility, and changes in child-rearing patterns. This premeditated restraint of affect has led to a noticeable diminishment of gratification derived from sexual union. It has contributed to sexual apathy, to discord, and a substantial rise in the incidence of two types of psychiatric disturbance--depersonalization and derealization. Sexual union, instead of enhancing sociability, acts as a barrier and inhibitor of enduring attachment and a sense of continuity. The repercussions on the social fabric are unexplored and merit systematic study. It is suggested that the prevailing sexual conventions of college-age youth clash with the fundamental urge to form human attachments; diminish and often shut out the experience of passion in sexual unions; and bring about inner turmoil that weakens self-confidence. As a result, it is concluded that the prevailing college-age mores are maladaptive on the individual as well as the interpersonal level. In due time, they will be replaced by more fitting conventions. This process of replacement can be hastened by an appropriate educational intervention involving younger age groups.


Small RNA (microRNA or miRNA) is a kind of small noncoding single-stranded RNA that regulates complementary mRNA at the posttranscriptional level in eukaryotic organisms. As important regulatory factors, miRNAs play an important role in the occurrence and development of glaucoma and widely participate in regulating biological processes of glaucomarelated genes. This article reviews the connection between the aqueous humor, trabecular meshwork, the apoptosis of retinal ganglion cells, and miRNA. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel


: To have a positive impact on the health care system in the 1980s, the federal government must undertake fundamental reform and quit relying on inadequate cost-containment regulation while simultaneously supporting policies and programs that are inflationary.


A number of beneficial (corticosteroids and remdesivir), and potentially beneficial therapies, exist for the treatment of COVID-19 What is not widely appreciated is that patients with COVID-19 progress though several distinct phases, with each stage having a different treatment strategy (Figure 1) This fact is of critical importance in achieving the best possible outcomes of this disease The symptomatic phase is marked by enormous viral replication reaching viral loads in the upper respiratory tract in excess of a billion virions per millili-ter, with a very limited host inflammatory re-sponse While patients may remain SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive for weeks (and in some cases months), active viral replication ("live" virus) does not extend after the 8th day of symptoms (1) This critically important fact is not widely recognized In distinction to the symptomatic phase, the pulmonary stage is characterized by a dysregulated immune response with overwhelming inflamma-tion in response to viral fragments ("dead" non- replicative virus) This suggests that antiviral therapies are likely to be effective only during the symptomatic viral replicative phase, while anti-inflammatory treatments are likely to be beneficial only during the pulmonary phase Indeed, in the remdesivir ACTT-1 study, this agent was beneficial in patients not receiving oxygen, but was of no benefit in patients receiving high flow oxygen or mechanical ventilation (pulmonary phase) (2) Similarly, interferon may be beneficial in the early replicative phase, (3) while it was reported to be of no benefit in the pulmonary phase (4) In contra-distinction, in the RECOVERY trial, corticoster-oids (dexamethasone) were beneficial in patients receiving oxygen and mechanical ventilation (pul-monary phase), while there was a trend towards harm in those not receiving oxygen (5) Based on this evidence we suspect that convalescent serum and monoclonal antibodies will have limited benefit in the pulmonary phase of COVID-19


This dissertation contributes to the state of the art in protein interface prediction and detection of native-like docked poses by re-ranking them using protein interface knowledge. We started by investigating binding site patterns among homologues of a target protein in order to create a 3D motif. This structural binding site descriptor enables the re-ranking of docked complexes of the target protein. Although 3D motifs provide biological insight of protein interactions and have usage in real applications, they are not suitable for high through-put analysis. Therefore, we introduced a novel protein interface prediction framework which uses a weighted scoring schema to detect interface residues of the target protein using its homologues. The weights quantify both homology closeness between the target protein and its homologues and the diversity between the interacting partners of these homologues. The main novelty of this predictor is that it takes into account the nature of homologues interacting partners. It was further exploited for the development of a method for re-ranking docked conformations using predicted interface residues. We have evaluated both our interface predictor and re-ranking of docked poses using standard benchmarks. Comparisons to current state-of-the-art methods reveal that the proposed approaches outperform all their competitors. However, similarly to current interface predictors, our framework does not explicitly refer to pairwise residue interactions which leaves ambiguity when assessing quality of complex conformations. In addition, the performance of our interface predictor generally does not outperform the best available homologue interfaces if it was used as prediction. Therefore, we investigated the detection of the best homologue using the 'binding site transitivity' concept: given two query protein chains, interfaces of the first query protein are structurally compared against binding sites of the homologues' partners of the second query chain. This method not only allows detection of the best homologue for a reasonable number of proteins but also produces a docked structure of the two query chains. Finally, experiment suggests a meta interface predictor combining the prediction of our former interface predictor with the latter predictor based on binding site transitivity could further improve interface prediction.


Some 20 years ago, a newly elected Australian Government announced in May 1996 its intention to introduce reforms to existing Australian treaty-making processes in order, it was claimed, to overcome a perceived 'democratic deficit' in treaty-making. Those reforms sought to ensure enhanced accountability for, and increased transparency about, all future treaties to which Australia intended becoming a party: the reforms included inter alia the introduction of comprehensive parliamentary (and related civil society) scrutiny of treaties prior to each treaty being ratified or acceded to. This was achieved by establishing a Parliamentary Joint Stand Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) tasked with publicly examining 'National Interest Analyses' of all treaties and recommending whether to do so was in Australia's national interest. A further pillar of the suite of reforms introduced in 1996 was the establishment of online treaties service giving online access (via AustLII) to all new treaties and related materials, in order to make them immediately available to all members of civil society interested in examining them. This last pillar has proved crucially important to enhancing the transparency of Australia's treaty making and is an ongoing process. This article will place these developments in historical and theoretical context. It will trace the long intellectual debate, fought over more than two centuries, dating back to Sir William Blackstone's 'Commentaries on the Laws of England' (1765-1769), concerning whether that most quintessentially sovereign act - the making of a treaty with another sovereign state - could or should ever be allowed to be subject to the 'democratising' influences of civil society. It will be argued that not only is that theoretically possible, but that the 1996 reforms to the Australian treaty making process in fact went a long way towards applying 'deliberative democracy' principles to how Australia goes about making treaties. In so doing these reforms brought Australian practices at least to the international norm, and in some respects well ahead of what like-minded Westminster-style democracies have achieved.


Energy harvesting from piezoelectric ceramic components can be achieved in three ways. These are impact induced, continues vibration induced, and decaying vibration induced. Defining the necessary characteristic of piezoelectric materials in ATILA provides the preliminary knowledge of expectation result of multilayer product under vibration condition. In this study, continues vibration induced energy harvesting over the multilayer ceramic were studied. Experimental studies were performed on the multilayer piezoelectric ceramics with 10×10 mm size with twenty six layer and 2mm thickness. FEM studies on multilayer were performed with ATILA finite element modeling program. In addition, experimental setup was modeled in ATILA to have the possible experimental results. Finally, experimental and modelled properties of samples were compared as a function of voltage, power, and charge.


Human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA has been detected in the oral cavity of infants and breast cancer tissue, suggesting its vertical transmission through maternal milk. We determined whether HPV is detected in maternal milk and is vertically transmitted by breast-feeding. Informed consent was obtained, and maternal milk samples (n=80) were analysed for high-risk HPV DNA. In 43 women, this DNA was measured in the uterine cervix. In women with positive samples, this DNA was measured in the oral cavities of their children. The domain including HPV E6 and E7 was amplified by polymerase chain reaction using consensus primers, and HPV serotype determined by electrophoresis after restriction enzyme digestion. High-risk HPV-16 was detected in two of 80 samples (2.5%), and in these two cases, high-risk HPV was not detected in the uterine cervix or oral cavity of the child. It was concluded that the infection of HPV in maternal milk is rare (2/80); vertical transmission through maternal milk was not detected in this study (0/80). HPV infection through maternal milk may occur, but its likelihood is low.


The structure of mixed A and B genetic variants of beta-lactoglobulin (beta-lg) in its native and denatured states has been studied by FTIR. The denaturation was achieved through either heating at various temperatures at pH 6 and 7 or by adsorption to the surfaces of oil droplets in oil-in-water emulsions. The time dependence of the structural changes of the adsorbed protein was also studied. It was found that beta-lg was more resistant to heat denaturation at pH 6 than at pH 7. Conversely, the adsorbed protein appeared to be more deformable at pH 6 than at pH 7. Although heating at lower temperatures (70 and 80 degreesC) for a longer time causes extensive denaturation, as does heating at higher temperature (90 degreesC) for a short time, the structure of the denatured protein was different in the two cases. When denatured at lower temperatures, more beta-structure remained as indicated by the presence of bands around 1632 cm-1 in the IR spectrum, whereas evidence for extensive intermolecular beta-structure was found on the sample heated at higher temperature, indicated by the strong adsorption band at 1684 cm-1. This explains that although gelation of the protein can be achieved in both cases, the gel structure may be different. Denaturation of beta-lg during heat treatment and upon adsorption appears to occur via similar intermediate structures, which begin with the loss of beta-sheet structure, but whereas heat denaturation generates more intermolecular beta-sheet and a small amount of unordered structure, adsorption of the protein to the oil-water interface induces a larger amount of unordered structure and a small amount of intermolecular beta-sheet. The denaturation of beta-lg on the interface is a much slower process compared to heat denaturation; even though some changes are detectable shortly after the adsorption of the protein, more extensive denaturation occurs during storage of the emulsions for 72 h. Copyright 1997 Academic Press.


Studying why people desist from criminality is a topic that needs research,as it is beneficial to society, the victims and the offenders. Crimes andrecidivism is a cost to society that could be reduced if more research wasdone regarding why an offender desists from crime and what keeps themmaintaining desistance. This would also lead to a more successfultreatment with reduced recidivism. The aim of this study was thusly togain a deeper understanding of the decision-making process frominvolvement to maintained desistance by investigate the reason fordesistance, if any differing reasons for maintaining desistance exist and ifit is possible to ensure maintained desistance. We did this by interviewingten male ex-offenders. The respondents in this study had a mean age of38.5 (SD = 14.17) and their criminal career ranged from 10 to about 40years. We analyzed the transcribed interviews with a thematic analysiswith four previously created themes from Cornish and Clarke's (1985)Rational Choice Theory. Findings showed that the decision to desist fromcrime is a process which is influenced by things such as experiencing ashocking event or re-evaluating values. The decision to maintaindesistance was partly due to changed self-perception, goals to fulfill andprosocial bonds that had been established. The will to maintain desistanceand being honest to your self was emphasised as something lacking whenprevious attempts to maintain desistance had failed, suggesting perhaps notan assurance of maintaining desistance but some indication to moresuccessfully maintaining desistance.


This work addresses user targeting for news content delivery. Specifically, we wish to disseminate a fresh news content, whose topic is yet unknown, to all interested users, while "spamming" a minimum number of uninterested users. We formulate this as an online stochastic optimization problem that extends in several ways the classical multi-armed bandit problem. We introduce Greedy-Bayes, a policy with appealing robustness properties. We establish optimal scaling of a suitably defined regret measure in various scenarios of interest. To that end we develop an original proof technique based on martingale concentration inequalities. Numerical experiments show that Greedy-Bayes improves upon Thompson sampling, the state-of-the-art algorithm for bandit problems. Our analysis further implies that low regret can only be achieved if the assessment of content relevance for one user leverages feedback from users with widely distinct tastes. This impacts the design of efficient news dissemination platforms: existing systems typically do not leverage such negative feedback and could hence be improved upon with adequate extensions.


In recent years, multimedia authentication techniques have been widely used in the integrity and content authentication of digital media. Current multimedia authentication schemes can be divided into 2 categories according to the authenticator: digital signature-based and digital watermarking-based. In this paper, a comprehensive overview of current tamper detection and authentication methods based on the digital watermarking is presented. We discuss authentication watermarking system and its desirable features, common methods of attack and their countermeasures, and survey some popular authentication watermarking schemes, finally give some suggestions for future researches.


National park visitors travel primarily to view natural features while outdoors; however, visits often occur in warmer months when lightning is present. This study uses cloud-to-ground flashes from 1999 to 2018 and cloud-to-ground strokes from 2009 to 2018 from the National Lightning Detection Network to identify lightning at the 46 contiguous United States national parks larger than 100 km2. The largest density is 6.10 flashes per kilometer squared per year within Florida's Everglades, and the smallest is near zero in Pinnacles National Park. The six most-visited parks are Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountain, Zion, Yosemite, and Yellowstone. For each of these parks, lightning data are described by frequency and location as well as time of year and day. The four parks west of the Continental Divide have most lightning from 1 July to 15 September and from 1100 to 1900 LST. Each park has its own spatial lightning pattern that is dependent on local topography. Deaths and injuries from lightning within national parks have the same summer afternoon dominance shown by lightning data. Most casualties occur to people visiting from outside the parks' states. The most common activities and locations are mountain climbing, hiking, and viewing canyons from overlooks. Lightning fatality risk, the product of areal visitor and CG flash densities, shows that many casualties are not in parks with high risk, while very small risk indicates parks where lightning awareness efforts can be minimized. As a result, safety advice should focus on specific locations such as canyon rims, mountains, and exposed high-altitude roads where lightning-vulnerable activities are engaged in by many visitors.


A heat-transfer model of the melting electrode in gas metal arc welding (GMAW) was used to compare the relative sensitivity of the process when welding with aluminum electrodes compared to that of steel electrodes. The aluminum model was verified with experiments for ER-1100 and ER-4043 electrodes. The dimensionless parameters in the model showed that conductive heat transfer dominates other effects in aluminum compared to steel, which causes the differences in sensitivity of the process to the input parameters (current, wire-feed speed, and/or voltage). If the steel and aluminum electrode extensions are compared at about the midpoint of the current range for electrodes of the same diameter (1.2 mm), the aluminum electrode is 28 times more sensitive to changes in the wire-feed speed than is the steel electrode. When welding with a 1.2-mm-diameter aluminum wire at 150 A, a 1% change in wire-feed speed causes an 8-mm change in the arc length. When welding with a 1,2-mm-diameter steel wire at 200 A, a 1% change in wire-feed speed causes a 0.5-mm change in the arc length. Similar sensitivity to changes in current is exhibited by aluminum. Dynamic analysis about the set points described above indicates the electrode extension in aluminum is many times more sensitive than steel to perturbations in wire-feed speed and current at low frequencies, but aluminum has a similar response to steel at high frequencies.


The rapid progress in 3D technology has enhanced whole the systems to be focused on digital world. Digital analysis mainly include sampling, encoding, decoding the processed data. Depth estimation is one of the interesting phases where we have to adopt new methods that will improve the depth map. Existing methods like hardware and computational procedures leads to high expense as well as deprived depth accuracy. The proposed method highlights how the depth image is reconstructed precisely by adopting proficient computational techniques. This is mainly divided into three sections. First part deals with representation of input depth image which is encoded by using dictionaries. It is preferable to use combination of wavelet contourlet dictionaries rather than single dictionary like wavelet which gives enhanced performance with high peak to signal ratio. Second section propose effective algorithm for reconstruction of depth image named as alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). This algorithm is in co-operated with the combined dictionaries and alone in order to fix the best dictionary. In the third section sampling technique with high peak to signal ratio is chosen. Two staged random sampling technique which is improved by principal component analysis (PCA) is being used to pick relevant sampling points for the precise depth reconstruction. Improved depth map with least mean square error is obtained by carefully choosing the dictionary, algorithm and sampling technique.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the phenomena of political dynasties in Indonesia and its effect on local government performance. Moreover, this study also examines the moderating role of good public governance on the relationship between political dynasties and local government performance. Political dynasties define as the condition where local government head/vice head has a family connection with the head/vice head from the previous period or in other local government or with the legislative member. We use paired matched sample from local government in Indonesia during 2010-2015. The result shows that political dynasties negatively affect local government performance. Good public governance is proven to weaken the negative effect of political dynasties on the local government performance. Indonesia's central government need to regulate the practice of political dynasty as it is proved to decrease local government performance and encourage implementation of good public governance to reduce the adverse effects of political dynasties.


This paper examines the apparent limits, possible extensions, and applications of CMOS technology in the nanometer regime. Starting from device scaling theory and current industry projections, we analyze the achievable performance and possible limits of CMOS technology from the point of view of device physics, device technology, and power consumption. Various possible extensions to the basic logic and memory devices are reviewed, with emphasis on novel devices that are structurally distinct front conventional bulk CMOS logic and memory devices. Possible applications of nanoscale CMOS are examined, with a view to better defining the likely capabilities of future microelectronic systems. This analysis covers both data processing applications and nondata processing applications such as RF and imaging. Finally, we speculate on the future of CMOS for the coming 15-20 years.


Author(s): Dewey, Kyle Thomas | Advisor(s): Hardekopf, Ben | Abstract: A common problem in automated software testing is the need to generate many inputs with complex structure in a black-box fashion. For example, a library for manipulating red-black trees may require that inputs are themselves valid red-black trees, meaning anything invalid is not suitable for testing. As another example, in order to test code generation in a compiler, it is necessary to use input programs which are both syntactically valid and well-typed. Despite the importance of this problem, we observe that existing solutions are few in number and have severe drawbacks, including unreasonably slow performance and a lack of generality to testing different systems.This thesis presents a solution to this problem of black-box structured input generation. I observe that test inputs can be described as solutions to systems of logical constraints, and that more expressive constraints can lead to more complex tests. In order to test effectively and generate many tests, we need high-performance constraint solvers capable of finding many solutions to these constraints. I observe that constraint logic programming (CLP) offers an expressive constraint language paired with a high-performance constraint solver, and thus serves as a potential solution to this problem. Via a series of case studies, I have found that CLP (1) is applicable to testing a wide variety of systems; (2) can scale to more complex constraints than ever previously described; and (3) is often orders of magnitude faster than competing solutions. These case studies have also exposed dozens of bugs in high-profile software, including the Rust compiler and the Z3 SMT solver.


Here I present a participatory system approach based on cognitive mapping that can be used to identify and relatively quantify climate adaptation tradeoffs. Fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) allows the integration of different participant views in the form of semi-quantitative cause-effect maps, each expressing particular knowledge or experience of a similar or distinctive part of a system. This particular nature of FCM allows to co-produce knowledge around a phenomenon and can be also used in the context of climate adaptation planning. To show its potential to identify and assess climate adaptation tradeoffs, I use a case study that explores heatwave impacts and adaptation options in the city of Madrid (Spain). Based on 22 individual maps elicited from agents with different backgrounds (urban planning, energy efficiency, water, green infrastructures, health, climate change…), an integrated multisectorial representation of urban heatwaves phenomena in Madrid has been obtained. In FCM, each participant interprets phenomena and connects cause and effects in very diverse manners. This information, far from being contradictory, explains the complexity of the system and provides complementary knowledge to assess impacts of different policy options. Alongside its potential as a knowledge co-production method and as a communication and learning tool, FCM allows analysis of what-if scenarios and assessment of cascading effects that would be difficult to identify otherwise. This application enables the identification and assessment of tradeoffs of policy options (so-called what-if scenarios). In the case study presented, 4 heatwave adaptation policy options are simulated: use of air conditioning, use of recycled water, deployment of green infrastructures and heat warning systems. Tradeoffs of each policy option are identified, quantified and compared. I discuss the benefits of this approach and the limitations of using this information for decision-making.


PURPOSE Mood and anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric conditions seen in primary care, yet they remain underdetected and undertreated. Screening tools can improve detection, but available instruments are limited by the number of disorders assessed. We wanted to assess the feasibility and diagnostic validity of the My Mood Monitor (M-3) checklist, a new, 1-page, patient-rated, 27-item tool developed to screen for multiple psychiatric disorders in primary care. METHODS We enrolled a sample of 647 consecutive participants aged 18 years and older who were seeking primary care at an academic family medicine clinic between July 2007 and February 2008. We used a 2-step scoring procedure to make screening more efficient. The main outcomes measured were the sensitivity and specificity of the M-3 for major depression, bipolar disorder, any anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a specific type of anxiety disorder. Using a split sample technique, analysis proceeded from determination of optimal screening thresholds to assessment of the psychometric properties of the self-report instrument using the determined thresholds. We used the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview as the diagnostic standard. Feasibility was assessed with patient and physician exit questionnaires. RESULTS The depression module had a sensitivity of 0.84 and a specificity of 0.80. The bipolar module had a sensitivity of 0.88, and a specificity of 0.70. The anxiety module had a sensitivity of 0.82 and a specificity of 0.78, and the PTSD module had a sensitivity of 0.88 and a specificity of 0.76. As a screen for any psychiatric disorder, sensitivity was 0.83 and specificity was 0.76. Patients took less than 5 minutes to complete the M-3 in the waiting room, and less than 1% reported not having time to complete it. Eighty-three percent of clinicians reviewed the checklist in 30 or fewer seconds, and 80% thought it was helpful in reviewing patients' emotional health. CONCLUSIONS The M-3 demonstrates utility as a valid, efficient, and feasible tool for screening multiple common psychiatric illnesses, including bipolar disorder and PTSD, in primary care. Its diagnostic accuracy equals that of currently used single-disorder screens and has the additional benefit of being combined into a 1-page tool. The M-3 potentially can reduce missed psychiatric diagnoses and facilitate proper treatment of identified cases.


My paper reads Willa Cather's short story "The Affair at Grover Station" (1900) and an episode from My Ántonia (1918) alongside the White-Slave Traffic Act or "Mann Act" of 1910. Placing Cather's work in dialogue with Progressive Era constructions of sex trafficking, I intend to show how her fiction not only registers but also complicates the logic of her era's anxious imaginative and legislative response to increasingly mobile populations. In the early "Affair at Grover Station," as in My Ántonia, Cather invests the prairie with a freedom of movement that can be positive as well as deadly. But another site of wide-ranging mobility typically marks her vision of the west: the railway. I argue that, for Cather, this site of mobility differs crucially from the prairie's elemental freedom in its manipulability. In a notable parallel to white-slave traffic narratives, the story and novel both feature villains who manipulate the railway system in order to entrap or assault young, unmarried women. My reading makes a key distinction between the legal and fictional texts: while the Mann Act quells an imagined form of immorality generated by the transportation of victims, Cather imagines mobile villains whose victims are static. However, bringing these texts together also reveals how similarly racialized threats allow both Progressive Era reformers and Cather's fiction to associate mobility with the endangering of a generation of young women.


Thirty years ago Australian researchers led the development of language and content integration in schools,
 advocating systematic teaching of language across the curriculum to meet the needs of English as an additional language (EAL)
 students. However, despite significant improvements in initial teacher education, targeted professional development and
 language-specific curriculum and assessment, this paper suggests that secondary teachers have gained only a superficial
 understanding of the language knowledge necessary to teach EAL students. Drawing on questionnaires, interviews, and observations,
 this case study of two secondary schools in Sydney reveals the majority of teachers report their perspectives and experiences of
 good teaching have equipped them with a repertoire of sufficient strategies to meet EAL needs, and they see little difference
 between teaching EAL and learners with low levels of literacy. This paper concludes a renewed focus on integrating language and
 content teaching and partnership models of professional learning and evaluation are needed.


Background: Mast syndrome is a rare disorder belonging to the group of hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs). It is caused by bi-allelic mutations in the ACP33 gene, and is originally described in Old Order Amish. Outside this population, only one Japanese and one Italian family have been reported. Herein, we describe five subjects from the first three SPG21 families of German and Austrian descent. Methods: Five subjects with complicated HSP were referred to our centers. The workup consisted of neurological examination, neurophysiological and neuropsychological assessments, MRI, and genetic testing. Results: Onset varied from child- to adulthood. All patients exhibited predominant spastic para- or tetraparesis with positive pyramidal signs, pronounced cognitive impairment, ataxia, and extrapyramidal signs. Neurophysiological workup showed abnormal motor and sensory evoked potentials in all the patients. Sensorimotor axonal neuropathy was present in one patient. Imaging exhibited thin corpus callosum and global brain atrophy. Genetic testing revealed one heterozygous compound and two homozygous mutations in the ACP33 gene. Conclusion: Herein, we report the first three Austrian and two German patients with SPG21, presenting a detailed description of their clinical phenotype and disease course. Our report adds to the knowledge of this extremely rare disorder, and highlights that SPG21 must also be considered in the differential diagnosis of complicated HSP outside the Amish community.


Crowding on Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Systems has been the subject of intense scrutiny from a multitude of academic fields. Crowding prediction can assist system managers in finding effective ways to ease traffic pressure. Forecasting crowding levels is a challenging task due to a series of complex factors. Deep learning models are a common approach often applied to traffic prediction, but due to the imbalance within available data, these models that are based on historical data cannot forecast crowding in Rapid Transit Systems effectively. To solve this problem, this study proposes a model named the weighted resample bidirectional recurrent neural network (WRBRNN). First, the training data were split into different sub-datasets according to certain predetermined labels. During this training time, every mini-batch size sequence was weighed and resampled from different sub-datasets. In this study, the authors carefully arranged the traffic data attributes into several time series, allowing the bidirectional time series information and the model to make reliable predictions. This work performed a case study of the Bay Area Rapid Transit, US system with a year's worth of historical data from 2017. Their results reveal that the model WRBRNN performed well when predicting crowding in an MRT system.


This paper brings recent results on the computational complexity of natural language to bear on the question of modality. Specifically, I address whether the computational properties of phonology hold across the articulatory systems of speech and sign. A theory-neutral approach can highlight modality similarities and differences and allow for insightful comparison. This paper discusses the sequential nature of sign phonology, and overviews the recent computational background characterizing a class of formal transductions. I apply this to several sign processes — contact metathesis, final-syllable reduplication, and compound reduction — and compare them to their spoken equivalents. These analyses suggest an amodal algebraic phonology independent of modality, and allow for promising new means to analyze issues of linguistic modality and the cognitive status of phonological knowledge.


In the nordic countries 2 to 4% of the population squint and 3 to 5% develop amblyopia. Identification of these children can be done through a general visual screening at a proper age or by selective screening of high risk groups. Several risk factors can be identified : heredity, failure to emmetropize and high hyperopia at the age of 1 year.


The present investigation was aimed at exploring the anti-arthritic activity of ethanolic extract of Helicteres isora fruits, using Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and Egg albumin denaturation method. The extract was subjected to preliminary phyto-chemical screening in order to find out the major phyto-constituents present in it. Various concentrations of the extract (100, 250, and 1000 μg/ml) were prepared and the percentage inhibition of protein denaturation was determined. Diclofenac sodium (100, 250, and 1000 μg/ml) was used as the reference standard. A gel was formulated using the extract which was then evaluated. The result of the present study indicates that the extract showed the presence of various phyto-constituents such as alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, steroids, glycosides etc. and exhibited significant anti-arthritic activity. The higher concentration of extract was found to possess better anti-arthritic activity as compared to the extract at a lower concentration. The anti-arthritic activity of the extract was comparable with that of the activity possessed by the standard drug Diclofenac sodium. The evaluation result substantiated the gel to possess good spreadability, extrudability and was within an acceptable P H range. Keywords: Anti-arthritic, ethanolic extract, evaluation, formulation, gel, Helicteres isora, phyto-chemicals Cite this Article N.L. Gowrishankar, Revathy C., Fathimashaibana, Haritha C., Janees P.M., Shana Sharin A.P., Sreelakshmi K.P. Phyto-chemical Screening, In Vitro Anti-arthritic Study, Formulation and Evaluation of Ethanolic Extract of Helicteres Isora Fruits. Research & Reviews: A Journal of Pharmacology . 2020; 10(1): 34–40p.


Background : Electronic education (E-education) is used worldwide as a basic tool for medical education for its advanced improving in medical training. In spite of its wide use in the system of the medical faculties in Sudan, e-education has not taken its right place yet. Objectives : To explore knowledge, attitude and practice (K.A.P) in  electronic education among teaching staff and students in governmental medical faculties in Khartoum state 2013. Materials and Methods : This is a descriptive, cross-sectional, and institution-based study. A sample of 31 teachers and 345 students were chosen using stratified random sample. Structured pretested questionnaire was used for data collection. Data collected were fed to Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Results : Knowledge about e-education was excellent (91.3%), attitude was highly positive (83.9%) and practice was good among73.1%of the teachers. And among students knowledge about elearning was excellent (96.8%), attitude was positive in 70.4% and practice was average among 52.2% of them. Conclusion : The research shows a good K.A.P among the majority of the students and teachers in Governmental Khartoum State medical faculties especially among teachers. The K.A.P. increases with age among teachers and increases in the clinical level among students. The faculties which take care of e-education and made workshops show higher K.A.P. compared with other faculties. The faculties should take attention to e-education and introduce it in the most ideal way, and more researches should be  conducted in this field. Key words : E-education, teaching staff and students, Khartoum state Governmental medical faculties.


The purpose of this collection is to make available to the public the material necessary to validate the research findings for the article listed in "Related Publications." Bubbles adsorb and transport particulate matter both in industrial and marine systems. While methane-containing bubbles emitted from anoxic sediments are found extensively in aquatic ecosystems, relatively little attention has been paid to the possibility that such bubbles transport particle-associated chemical or biological material from sediments to surface waters of freshwater lakes. We quantified transport of particulate material from sediments to the surface by bubbles in Upper Mystic Lake, MA and in a 15 m tall experimental column. Vertical particle transport was positively correlated with the volume of gas bubbles released from the sediment. Particles transported by bubbles originated almost entirely in the sediment, rather than being scavenged from the water column. Concentrations of arsenic, chromium, lead, and cyanobacterial cells in bubble-transported particulate material were similar to those of bulk sediment, and particles were transported from depths exceeding 15 m, resulting in daily fluxes as large as 0.18 µg of arsenic m-2 and 2 x 104 cyanobacterial cells m-2 in the strongly stratified Upper Mystic Lake. While bubble-facilitated arsenic transport currently appears to be a modest component of total arsenic cycling in this lake, bubble-facilitated cyanobacterial transport could comprise as much as 17% of recruitment in this lake and may thus be of particular importance in large, deep, stratified lakes.


We investigated whether a rejection episode in one graft was associated with rejection in the other graft, in recipients with bilateral corneal transplants. In a prospectively maintained, national register of 14 865 followed corneal grafts, 1476 patients with bilateral penetrating corneal grafts were identified. Occurrence of rejection was a risk factor for graft failure (p < 0.0001). Logistic regression was used to calculate the adjusted odds ratio for rejection in one eye following rejection in the other eye. In the subset of 1118 patients with bilateral grafts but no history of previous grafts or rejections in either eye, the adjusted odds ratio for a rejection episode in the first eye following rejection in the second was 3.27 (95% confidence interval, CI 1.85, 5.79; p < 0.001). The adjusted odds ratio was 2.04 (95% CI 1.07, 3.91; p = 0.03) for rejection in the second eye following rejection in the first. The median time between the first rejection episode in one eye and the first rejection episode in the other eye was 15 months. Patients with bilateral corneal grafts who suffer a graft rejection episode in one eye are at significantly greater odds of suffering a rejection episode in the other corneal transplant.


The uptake of artificial intelligence-based applications raises concerns about the fairness and transparency of AI behaviour. Consequently, the Computer Science community calls for the involvement of the general public in the design and evaluation of AI systems. Assessing the fairness of individual predictors is an essential step in the development of equitable algorithms. In this study, we evaluate the effect of two common visualisation techniques (text-based and scatterplot) and the display of the outcome information (i.e., ground-truth) on the perceived fairness of predictors. Our results from an online crowdsourcing study (N = 80) show that the chosen visualisation technique significantly alters people's fairness perception and that the presented scenario, as well as the participant's gender and past education, influence perceived fairness. Based on these results we draw recommendations for future work that seeks to involve non-experts in AI fairness evaluations.


Education has an enormous role to play in efforts to promote and achieve sustainable development in South Africa. But one challenge facing the education sector and the nation is a shortage of teachers in various phases of the school system. Multigrade teaching is seen as a means to stem the effects of the teacher shortage, and contribute towards achieving Education for All (EFA) and goals of sustainable development. But the nature of the interface between multigrade pedagogy and sustainable development is largely unexplored, and the school factors that constitute potential threats to achieving sustainable development remain unidentified. Using a qualitative approach, this article examines the nature of this interface, and assesses potential threats in the use of multigrade teaching to promote goals of sustainable development in South Africa. Critical challenges to this process are discussed and recommendations are made.


The Brahmic family of scripts is used to record some of the most spoken languages in the world and is arguably the most diverse family of writing systems. In this work, we present several substantial extensions to Brahmic script functionality within the open-source Nisaba library of finite-state script normalization and processing utilities (Johny et al., 2021). First, we extend coverage from the original ten scripts to an additional ten scripts of South Asia and beyond, including some used to record endangered languages such as Dogri. Second, we augment the language layer so that scripts used by multiple languages in distinct ways can be processed correctly for more languages, such as the Bengali script when used for the low-resource language Santali. We document key changes to the finite-state engine required to support these new languages and scripts. Finally, we add new script processing utilities, including lightweight script-level reading normalization that (unlike existing visual normalization) does not preserve visual invariance, and a fixed-input transliteration mechanism specifically tailored to Brahmic text entry with ASCII characters.


Radio Frequency based Device-Free Localization (RFDFL) is an emerging localization technique without requirements of attaching any electronic device to a target. The target can be localized by means of measuring the shadowing of received signal strength caused by the target. However, the accuracy of RFDFL deteriorates seriously in environment with WiFi interference. State-of-the-art methods do not efficiently solve this problem. In this paper, we propose a dual-band method to improve the accuracy of RFDFL in environment without/with severe WiFi interference. We introduce an algorithm of fusing dual-band images in order to obtain an enhanced image inferring more precise location and propose a timestamp-based synchronization method to associate the dual-band images to ensure their one-one correspondence. With real-world experiments, we show that our method outperforms traditional single-band localization methods and improves the localization accuracy by up to 40.4% in real indoor environment with high WiFi interference. key words: device-free localization, WiFi interference, dual-band, sensor networks


Abstract We develop a simple model to study the interactions between a supplier's financial constraints and contract incompleteness in a vertical relationship. Applied to the analysis of multinational firms' sourcing strategies, the model predicts: (i) that complex and specific inputs are more likely to be sourced from financially developed countries and (ii) that multinationals are more likely to integrate suppliers located in countries with poor financial institutions, especially when trade involves complex goods. These predictions are examined and validated using firm-level trade data on multinational firms with operations in France.


ABSTRACT For subjects of neoliberal authoritarianism, the precariousness of everyday life is amplified in the face of catastrophic climate change. Rather than build networks of solidarity to shape a new world, authoritarian neoliberalism encourages antisocial individualistic schemes to weather the storm by valorizing individuals who can prepare themselves for the worst. This essay extends Thorstein Veblen's critique of the Handicraft Movement of the early twentieth century to explain the appeal of prepping, as well as its inadequacy in the face of catastrophe. Veblen shows how the Handicraft Movement was merely another way to conspicuously consume. This essay echoes that critique and recasts prepping as handicrafting the apocalypse, conspicuously consuming even at the end of the world. It shows the inadequacy in the face of an existential threat and concludes with a dialogue between Veblen and Bogdanov to theorize consciously directing industrial production toward democratic ends.


Bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4) is a member of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) supergene family and is characterized by its ability to induce singly de novo cartilage and bone in vivo. The influence of recombinant bone morphogenetic protein-4 and some related members, TGF-beta 1, activin A, and inhibin A, on articular chondrocyte metabolism in the presence and absence of extracellular matrix has been examined. BMP-4 and TGF-beta 1 stimulated [35S]-sulfate incorporation in a dose-dependent manner in short-term monolayer, micromass, and explant cultures. Activin A showed a slight but significant stimulation of proteoglycan synthesis while inhibin A decreased metabolic activity. The effects observed were most pronounced in the explant culture system. Although the relative influence of the growth factors was less apparent in chondrocytes isolated from adult cartilage, the qualitative responses were similar with cells obtained from young animals. The maintenance and enhancement of the cartilage phenotype was further investigated by Northern blot analysis. BMP-4 and TGF-beta 1 increased the levels of expression of type II collagen and proteoglycan aggrecan in short-term cultures, while activin A and inhibin A did not affect these parameters significantly when compared to serum-free control cultures. Binding experiments with 125I-BMP-4, revealed the presence of specific, high-affinity binding sites with an apparent dissociation constant of 110 pM and about 6000 receptors per cell. Chemical cross-linking showed the presence of three components (apparent size 200, 90, and 70 kDa), demonstrating the presence of functional receptors for BMP-4 on primary articular chondrocytes.


We aim to present a rare case of low‐grade myofibroblastic sarcoma arising in the inguinal region accompanied by cardiac metastasis. A 36‐year‐old male patient suffering from recurrent inguinal swelling was operated on and the initial histopathological evaluation mistakenly diagnosed the condition as benign. During follow‐up, a recurrence of mass was detected in the same region and a pathological examination revealed a low‐grade myofibroblastic sarcoma. Cardiac metastasis was diagnosed shortly before rapid disease progression and death. The learning points relevant to this case are as follows: (1) Echocardiographic screening in patients with noncardiac myofibroblastic sarcomas may be helpful in the detection of silent metastasis. (2) Low‐grade myofibroblastic sarcomas in the inguinal region may be misdiagnosed as benign after enucleation. Thus, rigorous histopathological examination of myofibroblastic sarcomas is crucial. (3) According to our knowledge, this is the first report of a low‐grade myofibroblastic sarcoma to have a potential for cardiac metastasis with potentially fatal course.


We use two very large cosmological simulations to study how the density profiles of relaxed ΛCDM dark halos depend on redshift and on halo mass. We confirm that these profiles deviate slightly but systematically from the NFW form and are better approximated by the empirical formula, d log ρ/d log r ∝ rα, first used by Einasto to fit star counts in the Milky Way. The best-fit value of the additional shape parameter, α, increases gradually with mass, from α ∼ 0.16 for present-day galaxy halos to α ∼ 0.3 for the rarest and most massive clusters. Halo concentrations depend only weakly on mass at z = 0, and this dependence weakens further at earlier times. At z ∼ 3 the average concentration of relaxed halos does not vary appreciably over the mass range accessible to our simulations (M ∼> 3×10 11 h−1M⊙). Furthermore, in our biggest simulation, the average concentration of the most massive, relaxed halos is constant at 〈c200〉 ∼ 3.5 to 4 for 0 ≤ z ≤ 3. These results agree well with those of Zhao et al (2003b) and support the idea that halo densities reflect the density of the universe at the time they formed, as proposed by Navarro, Frenk & White (1997). With their original parameters, the NFW prescription overpredicts halo concentrations at high redshift. This shortcoming can be reduced by modifying the definition of halo formation time, although the evolution of the concentrations of Milky Way mass halos is still not reproduced well. In contrast, the much-used revisions of the NFW prescription by Bullock et al. (2001) and Eke, Navarro & Steinmetz (2001) predict a steeper drop in concentration at the highest masses and stronger evolution with redshift than are compatible with our numerical data. Modifying the parameters of these models can reduce the discrepancy at high masses, but the overly rapid redshift evolution remains. These results have important implications for currently planned surveys of distant clusters.


We propose a spatio-temporal error concealment algorithm for video transmission in an error-prone environment. The proposed technique employs motion vector estimation, edge-preserving interpolation, and texture analysis/synthesis. It has two main advantages with respect to existing methods, namely: (i) it aims at optimizing the visual quality of the restored video, and not only PSNR; and (ii) it employs an automatic mode selection algorithm in order to decide, on a macroblock basis, whether to use the spatial restoration, the temporal one, or a combination thereof. The algorithm has been applied to H.26L video, providing satisfactory performance over a large set of operating conditions.


BACKGROUND
Plasma rich in growth factors (PRGF) is a leukocyte-free platelet-rich plasma (PRP) that is an effective biological approach to tissue repair and has been demonstrated to significantly improve multiple conditions, including low back pain and degenerative disc pathology.

OBJECTIVES
The objective of this retrospective study was to analyze the effectiveness of treating both cervical and lumbar spine pain with minimally invasive infiltrations of PRGF-Endoret.

STUDY DESIGN
Retrospective study design.

SETTING
Outpatient private practice facility.

METHODS
The effectiveness of PRGF has been assessed by patient-reported outcomes (PRO) through validated questionnaires, namely Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) for back pain, Spine Tango Core Outcome Measure Index (COMI) Questionnaire for lumbar and cervical pain, and OSWESTRY Disability Index questionnaire for lumbar pain cases. Score differences between pre- and post-treatment have also been assessed stratified for multiple sub-groups of patients based on the sector of the column treated, gender, and age.

RESULTS
This study includes 65 patients (18 with cervical pain and 47 with lumbar back pain). The average time of back pain evolution was 10 years. Patients received at least 2 PRGF infiltration series about one month apart. Each patient received intervertebral disc and epidural infiltrations, root infiltrations, in case of radicular injury, and intraarticular infiltrations, in case of osteoarthritis of the facet joints. Results show statistically significant (P < 0.05) improvements on all analyzed scores. Regarding the stratified analyses, 249 (99%) sub-groups showed an improvement in all tests (252 cases overall). From the 249 improving cases, 154 (62%) showed a statistically significant difference between the pre- and the post- treatment periods.

LIMITATIONS
This research is a retrospective study with a relatively small sample cohort. Only PRO have been assessed.

CONCLUSIONS
According to the results obtained in this study, and taking into account their limitations, PRGF infiltrations are an effective and minimally invasive biological strategy in the treatment of both cervical and lumbar pain, evaluated according to PRO.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to compare photodynamic therapy (PDT) as an adjunctive treatment of induced periodontitis with scaling and root planing (SRP) in dexamethasone-inhibited rats.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The animals were divided into two groups: ND (n=90), saline solution treatment; D (n=90), dexamethasone treatment. In the ND and D Groups, periodontal disease was ligature-induced at the first mandibular molar. After 7 days, the ligature was removed and all animals received SRP and were divided according to the following treatments: SRP, saline solution; Toluidine Blue-O (TBO), phenothiazinium dye; and PDT, TBO and laser irradiation. Ten animals in each treatment were killed at 7, 15 and 30 days. The radiographic and histometric values were statistically analysed.

RESULTS
In the ND and D Groups, radiographic analysis showed less bone loss in animals treated by PDT in all the experimental periods than SRP and TBO at 15 days (p<0.05). After a histometric analysis was carried out in the ND and D groups, the animals treated by PDT showed less bone loss in all periods than SRP and TBO after 15 days (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
The PDT was an effective adjunctive treatment of induced periodontitis compared with SRP in dexamethasone-inhibited rats.


On the basis of ab-initio density-functional calculations we have analyzed the character of interatomic bonding in the intermetallic compounds Al3(V,Ti) with the D022 and L12 structures. In all structures we found an enhanced charge density along the Al-(V,Ti) bonds, a characteristic feature of covalent bonding. The bond strength is quantitatively examined by tensile deformations. The ideal strength of Al3V and Al3Ti under uniaxial tensile deformation was found to be significantly higher than that of both fcc Al and bcc V. We investigated also the changes of the interatomic bonding in Al3V during tensile deformations. We found that the covalent interplanar Al- V bonds disappear before reaching the maximal stress. The weakening of the bonding between the atomic planes during the deformation is accompanied by a strengthening of in-plane bonding and an enhanced covalent character of the intraplanar bonds. Interplanar bonding becomes more metallic under tensile deformation.


Abstract A "pricing to market" international trade model is applied to U.S. and Thai rice exports to high and middle income countries that are continuous rice importers. These markets are characterized by strong quality preferences and highly inelastic demand, and thus exporters may exercise market power. Evidence of noncompetitive pricing either through price discrimination across destinations or through imperfect exchange rate pass-through is found in this small but growing segment of the international rice trade.


We study the weighted induced bipartite subgraph problem (WIBSP). The goal of WIBSP is, given a graph and nonnegative weights for the nodes, to find a set W of nodes with the maximum total weight such that a subgraph induced by W is bipartite. WIBSP is also referred as to the graph bipartization problem or the odd cycle transversal problem. In this paper, we show that WIBSP can be reduced to the weighted independent set problem (WISP) where the number of nodes becomes twice and the maximum degree increase by 1. WISP is a well-studied combinatorial optimization problem. Thus, by using the reduction and results about WISP, we can obtain nontrivial approximation and exact algorithms for WIBSP.


▼ Aicardi-Gouti è res syndrome (AGS) is a genetically heterogeneous disorder showing variability in age of onset and clinical features. Chilblain lesions have been described in AGS patients and recent papers have discussed the clinical, molecular and cutaneous histopathological overlap with chilblain lupus. Here we report on 2 unrelated children with AGS and chilblain lesions, whose clinical histories and examination fi ndings well illustrate the wide phenotypic variability that can be seen in this pleiotropic disorder. Although both patients show remarkable similarity in the histopathology of their associated skin lesions, with thrombi formation, fat necrosis and hyali-nization of the subcutaneous tissue, we note that the histopathology reported in other AGS cases with chilblains does not necessarily demonstrate this same uniformity. Our fi ndings highlight the signi fi cant role of the characteristic chilblain skin lesions in the diagnosis of AGS, and variability in the associated histopathology which may relate to the stage and severity of the disease.


In 1996, 20 of 21 patients with mucosal leishmaniasis, treated in 1994 with aminosidine sulfate, 16mg/kg/day salt, by intramuscular injection for 20 days, were clinically evaluated. One patient died due to disease not related to mucosal leishmaniasis. Seven of 14 patients (66,7% N = 21) who achieved complete remission three months after treatment remained clinically cured 24 months later and seven relapsed in the same period (50% N = 14). Sorological follow-up showed poor correlation with the results of clinical examination.


STUDY OBJECTIVES
The rapid 4-step technique for cricothyrotomy was originally described as making use of a single traction hook on the cricoid ring. However, it is possible that such hook placement could lead to damage of the cricoid ring. As an alternative, a double-hook device was developed to augment the rapid 4-step technique by dispersing forces applied to the cricoid ring. The objectives of this study were to compare the requisite forces for intubation and the structural tolerances of the cricoid ring between the single- and double-hook techniques.

METHODS
We randomized 56 human cadaver specimens to undergo either cricothyrotomy with intubation followed by cricoid ring breakage or cricoid ring breakage alone. We randomized those cadaver specimens undergoing cricothyrotomy with intubation with respect to the initial hook technique used and then crossed over to the alternate technique for repeat intubation and subsequent cricoid ring breakage. We performed all cricothyrotomies in a similar manner with a consistent technique. We measured the intubation and breakage forces for the single- and double-hook techniques and calculated 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

RESULTS
The mean force to intubate with the single-hook technique was 18 N (95% CI 14 to 22 N), and the mean force to intubate with the double-hook technique was 23 N (95% CI 17 to 29 N). There was a significant difference between the mean forces required to break the cricoid ring with the single-hook technique (54 N; 95% CI 47 to 62 N) versus with the double-hook technique (101 N; 95% CI 89 to 113 N; difference in means 47 [95% CI 34 to 60 N]).

CONCLUSION
When applying the rapid 4-step technique for cricothyrotomy, the force required to intubate with either the single- or double-hook technique is small. The cricoid ring, however, tolerates significantly more force without breakage when the double-hook technique is used.


Multicast-based data communication is an efficient communication scheme especially in multihop ad hoc networks where the MAC layer is based on one-hop broadcast from one source to multiple receivers. In this paper, we discuss a framework of rate allocation for a set of multicast sessions over multihop wireless networks. We propose a framework that facilitates the online calculation of the optimal rates for a set of multicast sessions such that the aggregate utility for all sessions is maximized. This framework is used to steer the entire network of ad hoc nodes towards the optimal point in real time using a totally distributed and asynchronous environment settings. We present a series of implementations based on different network settings and show that not only convergence to the optimal rates is attained in all these network settings but also network changing conditions such as mobility and dynamic channel capacity can be tracked in real time.


There is increasing interest in using technological interfaces to explore and expand the capabilities of artificial life research. We are beginning to see systems that exploit the integration of wetware, software and hardware. Here we focus on the overall architecture for real-time model-based control of thermocapillary motion of droplets in a liquid layer with a low power laser beam on a modular robotic platform. We developed a control-oriented class of models using a closed-loop system architecture, that is characterized by state estimation, parameter identification and control. This results in a fast and potentially robust system for the manipulation of far from equilibrium droplet systems in real time.


Many techniques exist to train neural networks to approximate a complex systems, such as deep learning methods. It is well known that despite their robustness with respect to over-fitting, such trained models may be brittle as some fundamental principles of the systems are missing. For many engineering applications, the model class may be derived from first principles (or fundamental principles). In this paper, ideas from both methodologies are combined to arrive at a robust model that is interpretable from first principles, but goes beyond this by capturing structure from the available data. The paper presents two examples to illustrate the ideas. First a synthetic data set based on simulations is used. Next a well known data set from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is used. In these two examples, a few representative neural networks are used in combination with model information coming from first principles. The preliminary results show that the framework is highly beneficial and yields excellent system identification fidelity.


Whereas 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing quantifies relative abundances of bacterial taxa, variation in total bacterial load between samples restricts its ability to reflect absolute concentration of individual species. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) can quantify individual species, but it is not practical to develop a suite of qPCR assays for every bacterium present in a diverse sample. We analyzed 1320 samples from 20 women with a history of frequent bacterial vaginosis, who self-collected vaginal swabs daily over 60 days. We inferred bacterial concentrations by taking the product of species relative abundance (assessed by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing) and total bacterial load (measured by broad-range 16S rRNA gene qPCR). Log10-converted inferred concentrations correlated with targeted qPCR (r = 0. 935, p<2.2e-16) for seven key bacterial species. The mean inferred concentration error varied across bacteria, with rarer bacterial vaginosis-associated bacteria associated with larger errors. 92% of errors >0.5 log10 occurred when relative abundance was <10%. Many errors occurred during early bacterial expansion or late contraction. When relative abundance of a species is >10%, inferred concentrations are reliable proxies for targeted qPCR. However, targeted qPCR is required to capture bacteria at low relative abundance, particularly with BV-associated bacteria during the early onset of bacterial vaginosis.


Medicaid serves nearly one in five Americans, including many with chronic conditions, and purchases about 10% of total prescription medications dispensed in the U.S.[1] From 2013 to 2016, Medicaid's nationwide drug spending increased almost 50%, from $22.4 billion to $33.4 billion.[2] Medicaid programs consume an increasing percentage of state budgets and threaten to overtake funding for other programs like education and infrastructure.[3] In 2018, the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) estimated that Medicaid accounted for nearly 30% of total state spending and is the fastest growing component of state budgets.[4] As a result of increasing Medicaid expenditures – especially on prescription drugs – many states have attempted to reduce spending on Medicaid prescription drug coverage through the use of four key strategies: closed formularies, global budgets, outcomeor value-based purchasing, and administering pharmaceutical coverage directly through direct purchasing or removing pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from managed care plans.


Although there are ample of studies dealing with retail internet banking, very few studies have investigated corporate internet banking. The objective of the current research is to study the determinants of the intention to continue use online banking of the existing corporate customers. This study collected data from 154 customers of an international bank to test a model developed from the DeLone and McLean's IS success model. The results show that system quality contributes most to the perception of overall quality of the corporate e-banking service as well as the impact on the future use intention. Other factors that are found to be important are human service quality, information quality, and accuracy and security of the system.


Little is known about the effects of residue burning or retention on nutrient leaching during the inter-rotation of clonal Eucalyptus grown on the sandy soils of subtropical Zululand, South Africa. A study compared zero-tension nutrient leaching through the top metre of soil at depths of 0.15, 0.5 and 1.0 m in an undisturbed crop with adjacent clearfelled areas subjected to residue burning and residue retention. Leaching at 1.0 m in the undisturbed crop was 80% less than at 0.15 m leaching due to high water use of the mature trees. Loss of nutrients past 1.0 m in the undisturbed crop amounted to 7.0, 13.1, 6.6, 15.1 and 60.7 kg ha−1 of nitrogen (N), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and sodium (Na) over the period between felling and new crop canopy closure (22 months). Annualised 1.0 m leaching amounted to 4.2, 7.8, 4.0, 9.0 and 36.3 kg ha−1 of N, K, Ca, Mg and Na, respectively. Clearfelling induced an increase in N and cation leaching that was apparent five months after clearfelling and persisted for nine months. Leaching loss declined rapidly in the new crop after planting to levels similar to the undisturbed crop by six months of age. Leaching past 1.0 m soil depth under residue retention amounted to 30.6, 132.0, 82.5, 108.7 and 299.1 kg ha−1 of N, K, Ca, Mg and Na, respectively, between felling and canopy closure. Although some weakly significantly differences were found between residue burning and retention, residue burning did not substantially alter leaching past 1 m soil depth. Burning rather induced a large loss of N (121 kg ha−1) through oxidisation, around half the residue N content. Residue retention or burning followed by rapid re-establishment can therefore be practiced to retain most nutrients on this site. Burning of residues should be practiced conservatively on low N soils or be followed by N fertilisation.


Background The detection of glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GAD65) autoantibodies is essential for the prediction and diagnosis of latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA). The aim of the current study was to compare a newly developed electrochemiluminescence (ECL)-GAD65 antibody assay with the established radiobinding assay, and to explore whether the new assay could be used to define LADA more precisely. Methods Serum samples were harvested from 141 patients with LADA, 95 with type 1 diabetes mellitus, and 99 with type 2 diabetes mellitus, and tested for GAD65 autoantibodies using both the radiobinding assay and ECL assay. A glutamic acid decarboxylase antibodies (GADA) competition assay was also performed to assess antibody affinity. Furthermore, the clinical features of these patients were compared. Results Eighty-eight out of 141 serum samples (62.4%) from LADA patients were GAD65 antibody-positive by ECL assay. Compared with ECL-GAD65 antibody-negative patients, ECL-GAD65 antibody-positive patients were leaner (P<0.0001), had poorer β-cell function (P<0.05), and were more likely to have other diabetes-associated autoantibodies. The β-cell function of ECL-GAD65 antibody-positive patients was similar to that of type 1 diabetes mellitus patients, whereas ECL-GAD65 antibody-negative patients were more similar to type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Conclusion Patients with ECL-GAD65 antibody-negative share a similar phenotype with type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, whereas patients with ECL-GAD65 antibody-positive resemble those with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Thus, the detection of GADA using ECL may help to identify the subtype of LADA.


Electronmicroscopic study of the structure of the rat liver cell junctions in the normal conditions and after 90 min. perfusion by the physiological solution showed 4 kinds of specialized junctions between the hepatocytes with typical structure: tight junction, gap junction, intermediate junction, and desmosomes. The long perfusion does not cause visible changes in the contact structure or the sizes of the intercellular space. The preservation of the tight junction after the long perfusion is demonstrated by the lanthanum tracer: lanthanum is never found in the tight junction and in the bile capillary. Lanthanum reveales globular structure of the middle layer of the gap junction.


The research tries to answer the management question as to which mode of technology transfer leads to the maximum success among the Northern Malaysian manufacturing firms. The statistical tests employed included one-way ANOVA and multiple regression. One-Way ANOVA was used to test the differences in the mean degree of success for the various modes of transfer. Most significant finding from this study is different modes of technology transfer leads to different degrees of success. FDI would give rise to the highest degree of overall success. This is followed by co-production and lastly, by contractual agreements. Proper choice of technology transfer mode is key since a wrong choice would lead to the company loosing significant market share and could incur heavy losses. Malaysian managers are advised to look seriously into what mode suits their needs best based on the existing situation in the organization and also to ensure that good internal cooperation is maintained among the various functional areas of the firm to achieve high levels of success from the technology transfer. Main limitation is the study was limited only to the Northern Malaysia. Hence the results do not reflect the situation in entire Malaysia. Also, the inclusion of more MNCs, which are mostly FDI-based operations is another limitation. This study provides empirical evidence that will improve the understanding of the modes of technology transfer adopted among the Malaysian SMEs.


This paper explores the role of Darwin's approach to the study of life in developing the core research program of astrobiology. Presently, there is little historical scholarship regarding the broad discipline of astrobiology, and, particularly, the relationship between the disciplines of biology and astrobiology. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate that Darwin's biological inquiry inspired further research into uncovering the origin and conditions for life in the universe, as well as how his research influences the modern astrobiological research program. This analysis of the impact of Darwin's research on the discipline of astrobiology was accomplished by examining how Darwin's approach to the study of life on Earth inspired other scientists to postulate a universal origin of life. Darwin's unanswered question of where life began inspired the development of the Panspermia Theory, which marks the first significant theoretical development in the emerging discipline of astrobiology, and thus demonstrates the influence of Darwin's theoretical work on modern astrobiological inquiry. Darwin's laws of biology influenced Alexander Oparin's research into the conditions for life on Earth, and his work in turn contributed to the development of the core methodology of the astrobiological research program. While scholars chiefly examine the impact of the Space Race in regard to the institutionalization of aerospace research, this paper argues that the creation of these institutions facilitated formal astrobiological experimentation inspired by the Darwinian search for the conditions for life in a universal context. This paper examines the development of the discipline of astrobiology from a historical perspective in order to analyze the role that Darwinism played—and continues to play—in shaping the modern astrobiological research program.


Erica Fox Brindley. Ancient China and the Yue: Perceptions and Identities on the Southern Frontier, c. 400 BCE – 50 CE . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015. 302 pp., 12 b/w illustrations, 3 maps, 3 tables. ISBN 9781107084780. $103.00.

Historians of the later Roman Empire, especially those interested in the barbarian migrations, are familiar with the vexing problems inherent in writing the history of peoples who were enormously important but about whom we know very little. Or rather, about whom we know only the opinions held by their adversaries and overbearing neighbors, and what their material remains reveal to the archaeologists. It is a rare modern scholar of, say, the Goths, Vandals, Huns, or Franks, who has not let slip a hint of frustration at the complicated and occasionally opaque ancient sources when constructing a history of these peoples within and along the borders of the Roman empire on the basis of commentators such as Salvian of Marseilles, for whom "the people of the Saxons [are] savage, that of the Franks treacherous, the Gepids ruthless, the Huns impudent."1 Matters are rendered even more complex because many of these Franks, Huns, or Goths were in fact Roman citizens or had lived in the Roman Empire for decades—so what makes a Goth Gothic, and a Roman Roman? When a source calls a Goth a Scythian, in the age old tradition of Herodotus, does the author actually mean a Goth or someone entirely different, thus confusing modern historians even further? …


: Chitosan (CS) is a biodegradable and nontoxic natural polymer extensively employed in food and biomedical industries pertaining to its excellent bioactivities and biocompatibility. Superior gelling characteristic of CS, due to its polycationic nature, is achieved in the presence of anionic substances. The ionic gelation method with the aid of mechanized stirring or ultrasound has been popularly used to produce CS nanoparticles (CSNPs) of various sizes (84–600 nm) with encapsulation efficiency of 23–97%. In addition, other techniques, including emulsion cross-linking, coacervation and reverse micelle have been implemented. Moreover, nanoparticles (NPs) of various sizes (70–1000 nm) have been produced by coating nanoliposome with the help of CS to enhance their stability and activities. The CSNPs loaded with active compounds have improved the stability during storage, sustained release, higher bioactivities such as antioxidant and antimicrobial activities than the free form. This review also aims to cover the major applications of various CSNPs as an encapsulating agent, food additives and edible coatings. Finally, the efficacy of CSNPs is also addressed for medical uses, such as reducing glucose or fat levels, wound healing and cancer treatments.


An ethnobotanical study on the medicinal and economic plants of Malam Jabba valley, District Swat was conducted with the aims of documenting the inventory of medicinal plants, examinining the current status of the medicinal plants trade and investigating the linkages in the market chain starting from collectors to consumers. The survey reported 50 species of plants belonging to 33 families as ethnobotanically important. These species are used as drugs for treating diseases in traditional system of medicine. The detailed local uses, recipe preparation along with their local names and diseases treated were recorded for each species. Market survey revealed that the structure of medicinal plant trade is complex and heterogeneous, involving many players. The collectors are often not aware of the high market prices and medicinal values, and most of the collected material is sold to local middlemen at a very low price. There was an increase of 3 to 5 folds in prices from collectors to the national market. Training in sustainable harvesting and post harvesting of wild medicinal plant resource, trade monitoring, equitable sharing of benefits of wild resources, improved control on harvesting and trade for the conservation of resources, enhancement of cultivation efforts, future research into trade in wild harvested plants, community participation in natural resource management and value addition in the herbal products to maximize the benefits are recommended.


Introduction: Venous hypertension (VH) is a distressing complication following the creation of arteriovenous fistula (AVF). The aim of management is to relieve edema with preservation of AVF. Extensive edema increases surgical morbidity with the loss of hemodialysis access. We present our experience in management of VH. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 37 patients with VH managed between July 2005 to May 2014. Patient demographics, evaluation, and procedures performed were noted. A successful outcome of management with surgical ligation (SL), angioembolization (AE), balloon dilatation (BD) or endovascular stent (EVS) was defined by immediate disappearance of thrill and murmur with resolution of edema in the next 48-72 h, no demonstrable flow during check angiogram and resolution of edema with preservation of AVF respectively. Results: All 8 distal AVF had peripheral venous stenosis and were managed with SL in 7 and BD in one patient. In 29 proximal AVF, central and peripheral venous stenosis was present in 16 and 13 patients respectively. SL, AE, BD, and BD with EVS were done in 18, 5, 4, and 3 patients, respectively. All patients had a successful outcome. SL was associated with wound related complications in 11 (29.73 %) patients. A total of 7 AVF were salvaged. One had restenosis after BD and was managed with AE. BD, EVS, and AE had no associated morbidity. Conclusions: Management of central and peripheral venous stenosis with VH should be individualized and in selected cases it seems preferable to secure a new access in another limb and close the native AVF in edematous limb for better overall outcome.


Traditional Cloud model is not designed to handle latency-sensitive Internet of Things applications. The new trend consists on moving data to be processed close to where it was generated. To this end, Fog Computing paradigm suggests using the compute and storage power of network elements. In such environments, intelligent and scalable orchestration of thousands of heterogeneous devices in complex environments is critical for IoT Service providers. In this vision paper, we present a framework, called Foggy, that facilitates dynamic resource provisioning and automated application deployment in Fog Computing architectures. We analyze several applications and identify their requirements that need to be taken intoconsideration in our design of the Foggy framework. We implemented a proof of concept of a simple IoT application continuous deployment using Raspberry Pi boards.


The main goal of this study was to assess the potential of the mouse thymoma EL-4 cell line in screening for chemical induced immunotoxicity. Therefore, EL-4 cells were exposed to two well-known immunotoxicants, organotin compound tributyltin oxide (TBTO, 0.5 and 1 μM for 3 or 6 h) and the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 μM for 3, 6 or 11 h). Previous studies in human Jurkat T cells and mouse thymus in vivo showed that the primary mode of action of TBTO is induction of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, T cell activation and apoptosis. DON induces ribotoxic stress and, similarly to TBTO, induces ER stress, T cell activation and apoptosis. In the present study, the effects of TBTO and DON on EL-4 mRNA expression were assessed by whole genome microarray analysis. The microarray data were then compared to those obtained with mouse thymuses in vivo, mouse thymocytes in vitro, and CTLL-2 cells and human Jurkat cells in vitro exposed to TBTO or DON. Analysis at the level of gene sets revealed that part of the previously detected modes of action of TBTO and DON were not observed in the EL-4 cell line. In EL-4 cells, TBTO induced genes involved in calcium signalling and ER stress but did not induce genes involved in T cell activation and apoptosis. DON induced RNA related processes and ribosome biogenesis. Furthermore, DON downregulated ER stress, T cell activation and apoptosis which is opposite to the mechanism of DON observed in the mouse thymus in vivo and in Jurkat T cells in vitro. Apparently, EL-4 cells lack factors that are necessary to link ribotoxic stress to ER stress. In addition, of the lack of T cell activation response of EL-4 cells to TBTO is likely due to the fact that these cells are in a constitutively activated state already. Based on the results obtained for TBTO and DON, it can be concluded that the EL-4 cell line has limited value for immunotoxicogenomics based screening.


Transliteration is the process to transcribe a script of one language into another, while, backward or back transliteration is converting back the transliterated text into its original script. The highly technical phonetic system of Sanskrit seems to have made the preparation of transliteration scheme quite arduous. This study is focused on development of a rule-based, grapheme model character alignment back-transliteration algorithm of Sanskrit script, transcribed ASCII(American Standard Code for Information Interchange)-encoded English to Devanagari, pursuant to the Harvard-Kyoto (HK) convention. Accordingly, the paper presents the context of the utility for such an algorithm. It also describes the various standard schemes available for transcribing Devanagari into Roman. A survey on the evolution of scripts in India suggests the Brahmi script as the foundation for the origin of variants like Devanagari. Since the nineteenth century, various transliteration schemes based on Roman script have evolved. The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) schemes used diacritics to disambiguate phonetic similarities and seem to have induced much strenuous venture for the non-professionals. The ASCII-based, HK and its variant, Indian Language Transliteration (ITRANS) schemes do not use diacritics and hence accounted to be the simplest. Our rationale for the use of HK scheme, stem from its prime traits of Sanskrit Unicode encoding. We have also explained the Sanskrit alphabet and its classifications, which are incorporated into our proffered process. We appraise the complexity of our pseudo-coded algorithm and finally, we propose an extension of this work in the creation of similar tools, for other Indian languages that use the Devanagari script, such as Hindi and Marathi.


Calcium hydroxide, a material widely used for the treatment of permanent teeth has not been used frequently for pulpectomy in primary teeth. A comparative evaluation of calcium hydroxide and zinc oxide eugenol used as root canal filling materials in primary molars is presented.