The term "globalization" means integration of economies and societies through cross country flows of information, ideas, technologies, goods, services, capital, finance and people. Cross border integration can have several dimensions – cultural, social, political and economic. In other words, "The total education system of the world under one roof." It requires the unification of teaching curriculum, methodology and up gradation of knowledge and system to remain in the context for efficiency and effectiveness by which transformation of knowledge in justified manner to attain the goals of life.This qualitative study is an attempt to describe the concepts of a globalized teacher education, effect of globalization in teacher education, and problems of teacher education in the context of globalization. Globalization has containing both opportunities and threats for national development. It considers the recent reforms of teacher education in India and the extent to which they reflect a response to global economic pressures. This paper challenges the determinants of educational policy and argues that any country will need to develop its own national approach to modernizing teacher education in light of the global context. The paper deals with four themes teacher education in last decade policy; the shift away from the educational disciplines, the shift towards school-based approaches, and the emergence of more centralized forms of accountability of teacher competence.This paper also considers the global transformations require that people develop new skills, new experiences, new knowledge and schools have an important role in this sense. The role of the teachers and the way they should teach in this new high-tech global economy, people are learning in new ways for new purposes and schools and teachers should adapt themselves for this new reality and rearrange their skills, achievements and previous experiences to adapt themselves to new opportunities.


: The flea has been, indirectly, one of the protagonists in the history of man. As one of the two vectors of Yersinia pestis, the etiological agents of the Black Death, the flea (Xenopsylla cheopis) has contributed, over the centuries, to the death of millions of people in many countries. Galileo Galilei was the first to observe the flea with a microscope (1624), but the credit of depicting it with a stunning drawing goes to the Britisher Robert Hooke in 1665. A number of zoologists, including Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek and Diacinto Cestoni, well described and illustrated the life cycle of the flea in the XVII century. Some of these reports inspired scholars such as J. Swift and J. Donne for the composition of classic poems. Also, the flea, alone and with its hosts, has inspired a number of artists to create fine paintings; among them: G. M. Crespi, G. B. Piazzetta, G. de la Tour and others. Colorful sonnets on the flea in the Roman dialect were written by G. Belli and Trilussa. The flea also, as a theme, inspired musicians such as G. F. Ghedini and M. Mussorgsky, play writers such as Feydeau and moviemakers such as Charlie Chaplin. The flea is, indissolubly, connected with the history of Black Death. This disease in man is, in fact, caused--as demonstrated by Yersin and Simond--by the triad: bacterium (Yersinia pestis)/rat/flea (Xenopsylla cheopis). Over the centuries, Black Death has had a deep impact on both the visual arts and literature and, as a result, a very large number of paintings and other works of art have been produced to remember these tragic episodes. In the field of literature, Black Death has been skillfully described by writers such as Boccaccio, Manzoni and Camus. Finally, in recent years, following the discovery of the existence of a large market for the control of fleas in small animals, the interest in this minute insect has been resurrected and, parallel to that, the rebirth of the flea iconography, through electromicroscopy, has also taken place.


Abstract Shortly after a surface is submerged in the sea, a conditioning film is generally formed by adsorption of organic molecules, such as polysaccharides. This could affect transport of molecules and ions between the seawater and the surface. An artificial seawater model system was developed to understand how adsorbed polysaccharides impact copper binding by glutaraldehyde-crosslinked polyethyleneimine coatings. Coating performance was also determined when competed against copper-chelating EDTA. Polysaccharide adsorption and copper binding and distribution were investigated using advanced analytical techniques, including depth-resolved time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy, grazing incidence X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy, quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. In artificial seawater, the polysaccharides adsorbed in a swollen state that copper readily penetrated and the glutaraldehyde-polyethyleneimine coatings outcompeted EDTA for copper binding. Furthermore, the depth distribution of copper species was determined with nanometre precision. The results are highly relevant for copper-binding and copper-releasing materials in seawater.


Object-oriented programming has some unique features which facilitate software reuse and component-based development. However, testing object-oriented programs using only traditional techniques is unlikely to find the faults caused by these features. The problem is that few integration testing techniques have been systematically studied or defined. We present a novel approach to generate and execute test cases for object-oriented programs from UML diagrams. We have designed an approach to implement test cases using the concept of coordination contract. A coordination contract, related to the idea of the active association class in UML, defines connections among a group of objects without interfering with their implementations. By using the contract, test case generation and execution can be completed automatically. A prototype tool has been developed to automatically derive the contracts based on the mechanism of test case generation mentioned above.


Life Interrupted introduces us to survivors of human trafficking who are struggling to get by and make homes for themselves in the United States. Having spent nearly a decade following the lives of formerly trafficked men and women, Denise Brennan recounts in close detail their flight from their abusers and their courageous efforts to rebuild their lives. At once scholarly and accessible, her book links these firsthand accounts to global economic inequities and under-regulated and unprotected workplaces that routinely exploit migrant laborers in the United States. Brennan contends that today's punitive immigration policies undermine efforts to fight trafficking. While many believe trafficking happens only in the sex trade, Brennan shows that across low-wage labor sectors—in fields, in factories, and on construction sites—widespread exploitation can lead to and conceal forced labor. Life Interrupted is a riveting account of life in and after trafficking and a forceful call for meaningful immigration and labor reform.

All royalties from this book will be donated to the nonprofit Survivor Leadership Training Fund administered through the Freedom Network.


This letter presents a virtual platform of solid-state disks (SSDs). Using a set of programming interfaces, users can quickly assemble an SSD based on their preferred flash chip organization and flash management algorithm, and a virtual disk then appears in the host system as a logical instance of the SSD. Unlike previous SSD simulation tools, this virtual disk performs block read/write with realistic I/O latencies as if this simulated SSD was real. This virtual platform provides a swift way to SSD hardware and firmware prototyping, and it is also useful for future research on the paradigm of host-device interaction.


Graph Networks are used to make decisions in potentially complex scenarios but it is usually not obvious how or why they made them. In this work, we study the explainability of Graph Network decisions using two main classes of techniques, gradient-based and decomposition-based, on a toy dataset and a chemistry task. Our study sets the ground for future development as well as application to real-world problems.


The term "malign" is here used to define any granulomatous or neoplastic disease against which an individual is unable to muster sufficient spontaneous resistance to induce recovery. Consequently, unchecked malign processes lead to increasing disability and to death, and adequate checking of the disease process is a prerequisite in effective treatment. The degree of malignancy, which determines therapeutic measures, varies with the disease, with the individual, and with the stage of the process, and is, consequently, to be measured in each instance by the preponderance of virulence over individual resistance at the time of observation rather than by pathologic nomenclature. Chronic malign diseases of lymph glands are of three varieties: (1) granulomas, for example, tuberculosis; (2) neoplasms, especially carcinomas, and (3) a group of maladies intermediate between granulomas and neoplasms, which includes Hodgkin's disease, lymphocytic leukemia, lymphosarcoma, chloroma, and the so-called primary endothelioma and spindle cell sarcoma of lymph glands.


Background: In severe symptomatic aortic stenosis (SSAS) altered global longitudinal systolic strain (GLSS) would correlate with changes in myocardial histological architecture and could identify early contractile involvement in patients with preserved ejection fraction (PEF). Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze GLSS, collagen volume (CV), myocyte area (MyAr) and contractile involvement in patients with SSAS and PEF. Methods: Twenty six patients with SSAS and PEF (67±11 years old, 53% male) were included in the study. A preoperative hemodynamic study and an intraoperative endomyocardial biopsy were performed to determine CV and MyAr. Three groups of patients were identified: G1: compensated left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) without coronary disease (n=8); G2: decompensated LVH without coronary disease (n=7) and G3: decompensated LVH with coronary disease (n=11). GLSS was normalized by stroke volume, meridional end-systolic wall stress (δ) and end-diastolic diameter (EDD). Results: No significant differences in stroke volume, δ and EDD were observed between groups G1, G2 and G3. Differences between groups were observed in: CV (%) (G1: 4.7 ± 1.2, G2: 8.4 ± 1.2, G3: 11.0 ± 3.0; p < 0.01), MyAr (mm 2 ) (G1: 328.7 ± 66.2, G2: 376.7 ± 21.9, G3: 385.0 ± 13.0; p = 0.01), LVEDP (mm Hg) (G1: 13.1 ± 1.5, G2: 19.0 ± 3.8, G3: 23.6 ± 5.8; p < 0.01), +dP/dt max (mm Hg/sec / LVEDP, mm Hg) (G1: 176.4 ± 45.5, G2: 89.6 ± 20.1, G3: 113.1 ± 43.7; p < 0.01), and GLSS (%) (G1: -17.9 ± 4.2, G2: -13.5 ± 2.5, G3: -13.6 ± 3; p = 0.021). GLSS correlated with CV and LVEDP and it evidenced a trend to correlate with a contractility index (+dP/dt max mm Hg/s / LVEDP, mm Hg). Conclusions: Altered GLSS in patients with SSAS and PEF expresses myocardial structural changes related to increase in CV, which is associated with enhanced LVEDP and probable myocardial contractile failure.


Inappropriate use of antibacterials is a major public health challenge as it can promote emergence of resistance, wastage of financial resources, morbidity and mortality. In this study, we determined the prevalence and factors associated with antibacterial use in managing symptoms of acute respiratory tract infections (ARIs) in households in rural communities of Gulu district, northern Uganda. A cross-sectional study was conducted among households selected using multi-stage sampling. Data were collected through interviews with care-givers of children under five years, using a structured interviewer administered questionnaire. Out of the 856 children who had symptoms of ARIs, 515 (60.2%; CI: 54.5%-65.6%) were treated with antibacterials. The most commonly used antibacterials were amoxicillin (55.2%, n = 358), cotrimoxazole (15.4%, n = 100) and metronidazole (11.4%, n = 74). The determinants of antibacterial use included; getting treatment from a health facility (AOR: 1.85, CI: 1.34–2.56, P < 0.001), households located in peri-urban area (AOR: 2.54, CI: 1.34–4.84, P = 0.005), and a child having cough (AOR: 7.02, CI: 4.36–11.31, P < 0.001). The prevalence of antibacterial use among children under five years with symptoms of ARIs is high in communities of Gulu district, northern Uganda. Getting treatment from a health facility, if a household was located in a peri-urban area and having a cough are positive predictors of antibacterial use. There is need for targeted education on appropriate antibacterial use in rural communities and hospital settings where over prescription is most likely especially in treating symptoms of ARIs among children under five years.


A unified framework for design of stabilizing controllers for sampled-data differential inclusions via their approximate discrete-time models is presented. Both fixed and fast sampling are considered. In each case, sufficient conditions are presented which guarantee that the controller that stabilizes a family of approximate discrete-time plant models also stabilizes the exact discrete-time plant model for sufficiently small integration and/or sampling periods. Previous results in the literature are extended to cover: 1) continuous-time plants modeled as differential inclusions; 2) general approximate discrete-time plant models; 3) dynamical discontinuous controllers modeled as difference inclusions; and 4) stability with respect to closed arbitrary (not necessarily compact) sets.


An effective immune system requires rapid and appropriate activation of inflammatory mechanisms but equally rapid and effective resolution of the inflammatory state. A review of the canonical host response to gram‐negative bacteria, the lipopolysaccharide‐Toll‐like receptor 4 signaling cascade, highlights the induction of repressors that act at each step of the activation process. These inflammation suppressor genes are characterized by their induction in response to pathogen, typically late in the macrophage activation program, and include an expanding class of dominant‐negative proteins derived from alternate splicing of common signaling components. Despite the expanse of anti‐inflammatory mechanisms available to an activated macrophage, the frailty of this system is apparent in the large numbers of genes implicated in chronic inflammatory diseases. This apparent lack of redundancy between inflammation suppressor genes is discussed with regard to evolutionary benefits in generating a heterogeneous population of immune cells and consequential robustness in defense against new and evolving pathogens.


We describe the methodology to include nonlinear evolution, including tidal effects, in the computation of subhalo distribution properties in both cold (CDM) and warm (WDM) dark matter universes. Using semi-analytic modeling, we include effects from dynamical friction, tidal stripping, and tidal heating, allowing us to dynamically evolve the subhalo distribution. We calibrate our nonlinear evolution scheme to the CDM subhalo mass function in the Aquarius N-body simulation, producing a subhalo mass function within the range of simulations. We find tidal effects to be the dominant mechanism of nonlinear evolution in the subhalo population. Finally, we compute the subhalo mass function for mχ = 1.5 keV WDM including the effects of nonlinear evolution, and compare radial number densities and mass density profiles of subhalos in CDM and WDM models. We show that all three signatures differ between the two dark matter models, suggesting that probes of substructure may be able to differentiate between them.


Varicella vaccine has shown its efficacy to prevent the disease and complications in healthy and immunodeficient children. In this article the authors evaluate the immunologic status of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at diagnosis and at follow up and the development of chickenpox and/or herpes zoster. Children with negative serology and continuous complete remission of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia for one year were vaccinated. Of 71 children diagnosed of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia from 1983 to 1996, 25 received the vaccine and seroconversion was obtained in 76% after one dose and 92% after the second dose. Vaccine tolerance was adequate. The incidence of herpes zoster infection was decreased in vaccinated children during chemotherapy compared to the wild-virus infected ones. Nowadays that vaccine for healthy children is recommended, we consider a priority to protect from chickenpox the children affected by leukaemia that are in continuous complete remission of the disease.


Background—We have advocated the use of a 5-category "normal," "probably normal," "equivocal," "probably abnormal," and "definitely abnormal" approach to final interpretation of myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The prognostic value of expressing levels of certainty compared with a dichotomous normal/abnormal classification or categories for summed stress scores is unclear. Methods and Results—Myocardial perfusion SPECT (MPS) was visually assessed using a standard semiquantitative approach, yielding summed scores that were used for preliminary interpretation using 5 levels of certainty. The interpreter was permitted to then shift the level of certainty in the final interpretation by 1 degree, based on nonperfusion MPS variables and available clinical information. To examine the prognostic value of expressing levels of clinical certainty, we evaluated 20 740 unique consecutive patients who underwent rest Tl-201/stress Tc-99m sestamibi MPS (34.3% vasodilator stress), of whom 845 (4.4%) were lost to follow-up and 1695 were excluded from prognostic analysis due to an early revascularization (<60 days after MPS). The remaining 18 200 patients (59.1% men; age, 65±13 years) were followed up for cardiac death for a mean of 2.7±1.7 years. During the follow-up, a total of 591 cardiac death events occurred. By univariable analysis, there were substantial differences in the distribution of follow-up cardiac death by the category of clinical MPS certainty. The clinical certainty was found to be an independent multivariable predictor of cardiac death in the study population and better identified patients at increased risk of cardiac death than the approaches based solely on the standard categories of summed perfusion scores or based solely on categories of segmental perfusion scores. Conclusions—The use of multicategory reporting of MPS results incorporating nonperfusion MPS results and clinical information enhances risk stratification compared with both a dichotomous normal/abnormal approach or approaches based solely on segmental categories of perfusion scores. Whether this enhanced risk stratification based on the clinical certainty of the MPS interpretation leads to a more effective therapeutic regimen, tailored to the individual patient's need, requires further prospective evaluation.


Abstract Objectives We examined the distribution of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) cycle threshold (CT) values obtained from symptomatic patients being evaluated for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to determine the proportion of specimens containing a viral load near the assay limit of detection (LoD) to gain practical insight to the risk of false-negative results. We also examined the relationship between CT value and patient age to determine any age-dependent difference in viral load or test sensitivity. Methods We collected CT values obtained from the cobas severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) assay corresponding to 1,213 combined nasopharyngeal-oropharyngeal specimens obtained from symptomatic individuals that were reported as positive or presumptive positive for SARS-CoV-2. CT values were stratified by SARS-CoV target and patient age group. Results In total, 93.3% to 98.4% of specimens demonstrated CT values greater than 3× the assay LoD, at which point false-negative results would not be expected. The mean of CT values between age groups was statistically equivalent with the exception of patients in age group 80 to 89 years, which demonstrated slightly lower CTs. Conclusions Based on the distribution of observed CT values, including the small proportion of specimens with values near the assay LoD, there is a low risk of false-negative RT-PCR results in combined nasopharyngeal-oropharyngeal specimens obtained from symptomatic individuals.


Bacterial quorum sensing (QS) is a cell-to-cell communication system in which specific signals are activated to coordinate, for example, pathogenic behaviors and help bacteria collectively respond to perturbations. QS in Gram-negative bacteria is typically regulated by a N-acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) molecules-mediated system, homologous of Vibrio fischeri LuxI-R. In many cases, bacteria possess more than one QS system, based on different types of molecules, that interact through a complex regulatory network. Presumably, these configurations have emerged over time from simpler ones through the acquisition of novel players (e.g. transcription factors) that have been successfully integrated into the native regulatory systems. However, the advantages provided by these alternative/additional configurations on QS-related phenotypes is poorly predictable only based on their underlying network structure. Here, we have adopted a modelling approach to infer the possible improvements conferred by the acquisition of additional control over bacterial regulation of QS. We use the Burkholderia genus as a case study because some of these strains, besides the LuxIR-like system (named CepIR), possess an integrated regulatory module named CciIR that interferes with the CepIR system through the implementation of several positive and negative control loops. Being associated to a genomic island (cci island), this additional module is prone to being horizontally transferred, giving rise to a potentially patchy genomic distribution and, in turn, to a complete (CepIR and CciIR systems together) vs. core (CepIR only) organization of QS regulation in this group of microorganisms. By using both deterministic and stochastic modelling we show that, upon their activation, the two regulatory schemes may lead to different phenotypes and to distinct responses to the extracellular concentration of signalling molecules. In particular, our simulations show that the presence of the additional regulatory module may confer specific improvements, including a faster response time and optimized control of QS regulation. Interestingly, some of these features may be particularly advantageous during host invasion, thus highlighting once more the importance of QS in the establishment and maintenance of bacterial infections.


In this paper, we consider a model for the population kinetics of human tumor cells in vitro, differentiated by phases of the cell division cycle and length of time within each phase. Since it is not easy to isolate the effects of cancer treatment on the cell cycle of human cancer lines, during the process of radiotherapy or chemotherapy, therefore, we include the spatial effects of cells in each phase and analyse the extended model. The extended model is not easy to solve analytically, because perturbation by cancer therapy causes the flow cytometric profile to change in relation to one another. Hence, making it difficult for the resulting model to be solved analytically. Thus, in [16] it is reported that the non-standard schemes are reliable and propagate sharp fronts accurately, even when the advection, reaction processes are highly dominant and the initial data are not smooth. As a result, we construct a fitted operator finite difference method (FOFDM) coupled with non-standard finite difference method (NSFDM) to solve the extended model. The FOFDM and NSFDM are analyzed for convergence and are seen that they are unconditionally stable and have the accuracy of O(∆t + (∆x)^2), where ∆t and ∆x denote time and space step-sizes, respectively. Some numerical results confirming theoretical observations are presented.


ABSTRACT Cryptococcus neoformans, an encapsulated, pathogenic yeast, is endowed with a variety of virulence factors, including a polysaccharide capsule. During mammalian infection, the outcome of the interaction between C. neoformans and macrophages is central to determining the fate of the host. Previous studies have shown similarities between the interaction of C. neoformans with macrophages and with amoebae, resulting in the proposal that fungal virulence for mammals originated from selection by amoeboid predators. In this study, we investigated the interaction of C. neoformans with the soil amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii. Comparison of phagocytic efficiency of the wild type, nonencapsulated mutants, and complemented strains showed that the capsule was antiphagocytic for amoebae. Capsular enlargement was associated with a significant reduction in phagocytosis, suggesting that this phenomenon protects against ingestion by phagocytic predators. C. neoformans var. neoformans cells were observed to exit amoebae several hours after ingestion, in a process similar to the recently described nonlytic exocytosis from macrophages. Cryptococcal exocytosis from amoebae was dependent on the strain and on actin and required fungal viability. Additionally, the presence of a capsule was inversely correlated with the likelihood of extrusion in certain strains. In summary, nonlytic exocytosis from amoebae provide another parallel to observations in fungus-macrophage interactions. These results provide additional support for the notion that some mechanisms of virulence observed during mammalian infection originated, and were selected for, by environmental interactions.


Since 1986, we have performed microscopic reconstruction in 18 men following failed microscopic vasectomy reversal. Between 1994 and 1996, nine couples have undergone microscopic epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA)/ intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment for male infertility due either to congenital absence of the vas deferens (CAVD) or inoperable excurrent duct obstruction. We compared the cost efficiency of repeat vasectomy reversal to that for MESA combined with ICSI/in-vitro fertilization (ICSI/IVF). The cost of male partner procedures (vasectomy reversal, MESA) was based on physician and hospital charges, while the cost of ICSI/IVF included preparation of the female partner (medications and physician charges) and procedures (physician and hospital charges including oocyte retrieval, micromanipulation, and embryo transfer). Our cost examination does not include charges related to follow-up visits, prenatal monitoring, complications of pregnancy (i.e. miscarriage) or delivery in either group. Overall patency and pregnancy rates in the repeat vasectomy reversal group were 78 and 44% respectively. The cost per delivered baby (including multiple metachronos deliveries per couple) was $14892. Fertilization of oocytes has been achieved in 37/72 (51%) and pregnancies have occurred in 6/9 (67%) attempts and 5/9 (56%) report delivery. The average cost per pregnancy was $25637 and the average cost per delivered baby (or ongoing pregnancy) was $35570. The cost per delivery by MESA/ ICSI/IVF is 2.4 times the charges per delivery obtained through repeat vasectomy repair. Couples attempting to overcome infertility caused by vasal obstruction should be informed that vas reconstruction remains a cost effective means of re-establishing fertility even in men who have previously failed vasectomy reversal.


This paper studied the gas separation and purification utilizing hydrate based gas separation (HBGS). The effect of nano porous media in split fractionation and the influencing of the composition of the feed gas were considered. Gas hydrate formation of ternary CH4/C2H6/C3H8 mixture were carried out in the fixed amount of water in the presence of nanostructure silica based material with the mass ratio of 5%. In this way, three different gas compositions were used as initial feed. After hydrate formation, the gas phase in equilibrium with the hydrate was used as a new feed for the next step of hydrate formation. The presence of porous media improved selectivity in methane purification. The continuous stepwise HBGS showed a good efficiency in selective gas separation. The change in the concentration of methane is significant specially when the amount of methane in the gas feeds are lower. Such an effect brought about by low dose of porous material can be utilized in the methane purification by HBGS. HWHYD software was applied to predict the equilibrium condition. Comparison of the equilibrium conditions in bulk system show the transfer of hydrate equilibrium curve to higher pressure and lower temperature due to the change in gas composition.


Abstract Employing the canonical form of the Huber-Strassen robust signal detector, we apply differential geometric methods to model detector robustness for both false alarm rate and detection probability, with the result that robustness can be numerically measured. We then allow the detector censoring level to vary, thus yielding a variety of possible robustness and performance options. In order to analyze the possible tradeoff between performance and robustness, we employ a normalized cost function, which allows the designer to select different combinations of performance and robustness by choice of the censoring level. We also compare results for the nominally Laplace noise case to that in which the noise is nominally Gaussian.


Chiral β-ketoesters bearing fully substituted carbon centers are important building blocks in organic synthesis. Mono-substituted ketoesters have been widely used to synthesize the above compounds through asymmetric additions or substitutions. The limitations of these protocols mainly exist in the substrate scopes, and α-methyl or α-fluoro-substituted β-ketoesters or acetyl acetates are frequently used owing to their relatively higher reactivity. To break through this limitation, we employed N-heterocyclic carbene-catalyzed kinetic resolution to achieve the access to enantioenriched β-ketoesters with quaternary stereocenters. Sterically more bulky groups such as benzyl, allyl, phenyl and cyclopropyl groups are all tolerated using this method.


Abstract Decompression, anatexis and the clockwise granulite-grade P-T evolution of high-grade rocks of Prydz Bay reflect late collisional extension that occurred c. 530 Ma in the Prydz Belt. Rapid cooling of the mid-crust high-grade terranes of the Prydz Belt was achieved during c. 517-486 Ma by tectonically driven exhumation along dextral ductile shear zones in which late tectonic partialmelt bodies were emplaced. Instead of a model of polyphase metamorphism and deformation for the basement-and-cover sequences in Prydz Bay, we apply an accretionary one, i.e. an accretionary wedge with allochthonous blocks, to interpret the tectonic history in the Late Neoproterozoic of the Prydz Belt. SHRIMP U-Pb dates and Nd isotopic data available for both Prydz Bay and the Grove Mountains are used to explain amalgamation of the high-grade terranes in the Prydz Belt. This demonstrates that the assembly of the East Antarctic Craton was completed in the Pan-African event, and the East Antarctic Craton is a Pan-African-age collage rather than a keystone of East Gondwana during the Neoproterozoic.


This article focuses on the nineteenth-century print circulation of Dante's Vita Nova (1292–94) and especially on the response in print media to the tension between new critical approaches to text editing, on the one hand, and editors' dependence on the text's complex history on the other. At the center of this discussion is one of the thorniest aspects of the Vita Nova's text: the divisions (technical prose of a scholastic nature in which Dante explains the formal structure of his poems). Over the centuries, Dante's authority over his own text was brought into question on account of the inclusion in the literary text of what readers and editors considered to be commentary. Even though in the second half of the nineteenth century the editors began recognizing the divisions' rightful place within the libello's text, they continued—operating within the centuries-long tradition that did not consider them "text" but rather "gloss"—to engage in efforts to differentiate them from the rest of the text in order to point out their different textual nature.


Bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii is an emergent pathogen associated with nosocomial infections, which can be also found in natural waters. The impact of ecological factors on A. baumannii is insufficiently investigated. The aim was to examine the influence of temperatures (-20 to 80 °C) and pH values (2 to 12) on the survival of environmental and clinical isolates of A. baumannii in nutrient-deprived spring water (SW) and nutrient-rich diluted nutrient broth during 5 months. A. baumannii successfully survived at -20 to 44 °C and neutral pH for 5 months, which is consistent with the persistence of this pathogen in the hospital environment. At temperatures 50 to 80 °C the survival of A. baumannii ranged from 5 days to 5 min. The pH 2 was the most lethal with survival time up to 3 hours, suggesting that acidic conditions are promising for disinfection of water contaminated with A. baumannii. Although the type of media was not statistically significant for long-time survival, the extensively resistant or pandrug-resistant isolates survived better in SW than susceptible or multidrug-resistant isolates. Two distinct colony phenotypes were recorded at extreme temperatures and pH values. The results of this study provide insight into the behaviour of this emerging pathogen in the environment.


Pelvic organ prolapse is a health concern affecting millions of women worlwide. Morover,a woman has an estimated lifetime risk of 11 percent to undergo surgery for prolapse or incontinence.Despite the apparent prevalence of pelvic support problems ,there are few studies of high epidemiologic quality to accurately estimate disease prevalence.But uterine prolapse is a rare condition during pregnancy which can be complicated with severe maternal and neonatal outcomes.We report a case of uterine prolapse and cervical alongation which is first diagnosed at the 17th week of gestation.After the recognation, the patent is administered by both conservative and then non-surgical(pessary) managements. Unique part about our case is early gestastional age at the time of diagnosis and the fact that our patient had only one previous vaginal delivery and no more risk factors for a pelvic organ prolapse with new-onset uterine prolapse in her current(second)pregnancy.In majority of cases pregnancy is superimposed on a preexisting prolapse.Prolapse occurs as a result of relaxation and tearing down of the supportive structures.


Some series of N2-(aryl) N4 ,N6-bis (1,3 benzothiazol-2-yl)-1,3,5 triazine -2,4,6 triamines (4a-m) have been synthesized from the 2,4, 6, trichloro-triamine and 2-amino benzothiazoles. They are characterized by the IR , NMR Spectra. The product has been tested for their antimicrobial activities against gram + ve and gram – ve bacteria.


Spontaneous breaking of Lorentz symmetry at energies on the order of the Planck energy or lower is predicted by many quantum gravity theories, implying non-trivial dispersion relations for the photon in vacuum. Consequently, gamma-rays of different energies, emitted simultaneously from astrophysical sources, could accumulate measurable differences in their time of flight until they reach the Earth. Such tests have been carried out in the past using fast variations of gamma-ray flux from pulsars, and more recently from active galactic nuclei and gamma-ray bursts. We present new constraints studying the gamma-ray emission of the galactic Crab Pulsar, recently observed up to TeV energies by the Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC) collaboration. A profile likelihood analysis of pulsar events reconstructed for energies above 400 GeV finds no significant variation in arrival time as their energy increases. Ninety-five percent CL limits are obtained on the effective Lorentz invariance violating energy scale at the level of ( ) for a linear, and ( ) for a quadratic scenario, for the subluminal and the superluminal cases, respectively. A substantial part of this study is dedicated to calibration of the test statistic, with respect to bias and coverage properties. Moreover, the limits take into account systematic uncertainties, which are found to worsen the statistical limits by about 36%–42%. Our constraints would have been much more stringent if the intrinsic pulse shape of the pulsar between 200 GeV and 400 GeV was understood in sufficient detail and allowed inclusion of events well below 400 GeV.


This study aims to explain the steps in designing teaching materials in the form of LKS oriented Etnomatematics on SPLDV material using the first two stages of the ADDIE development model. The method used by the writer in designing teaching materials is a part or the first two stages of the ADDIE development model which consists of the stages of analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. The analysis stage aims to identify the curriculum, student characteristics, the need for instructional materials, while the design stage is to design the LKS framework and research instruments. The results of the study are ethnomatematics concepts that can be integrated into learning by presenting in LKS, namely, the unit of calculation in buying and selling transactions in traditional markets in the form of "secanting and setembuk ", besides that  Lubuklinggau's typical batik motif is durian motif. The ethnomatematics context becomes the starting point in the learning process presented in the LKS on SPLDV material, so that mathematics learning can be more meaningful. In Conclusion, a good quality of Mathematics learning must be supported by various aspects, one of the main aspects is professional teacher who is able to utilize various learning resources and develop teaching materials (LKS) by utilizing the daily cultural context (ethnomatematics) experienced by students, thus the  process of meaningful mathematics learning occurs and grows awareness of students to appreciate local wisdom and culture in this case the culture of Lubuklinggau.
Keyword: etnomatematika, SPLDV


The potential of methyl ethyl ketoxime (MEKO) to produce neurotoxicity following acute and subchronic exposure was studied in rats. A Functional Observational Battery, assessment of motor activity, and neuropathology evaluations were conducted in the context of acute and subchronic toxicity studies. Three independent studies are reported: a pilot time-effect study designed to determine the time course and time to peak effect following a single high dose of MEKO, a single-dose neurotoxicity study, and a subchronic (13-week) repeated-dose neurotoxicity study in rats. An acrylamide-positive control group was included in the acute and subchronic studies for comparison with MEKO. Following an acute oral exposure of MEKO at a dose level of 900 mg/kg, locomotor activity was decreased compared to control with maximum decreases occurring between 30 and 60 min following oral administration. In the acute study, transient treatment-related changes in ease of cage removal, ease of handling, and in posture and gait were observed 1 hr after dosing with 900 mg/kg MEKO, as were significant depressions in motor activity. Following a single 300 mg/kg dose, transient MEKO-related changes in gait and aerial righting reflex were noted 1 hr after dosing. All effects were reversible within 24 hr of dosing. The single 100 mg/kg dose of MEKO was without observable effects. No acrylamide-related behavioral effects were noted following a single 50 mg/kg dose. In the subchronic study, transient treatment-related changes in ease of cage removal, ease of handling, and in posture, gait, and aerial righting were observed at the 400 mg/kg/day dose level when assessments were conducted immediately after dose administration. No consistent behavioral effects were observed prior to daily dose administration even after 13 weeks of exposure, indicating a lack of cumulative behavioral effect. No consistent behavioral changes were noted at doses of 125 mg/kg/day and below. Significant dose-related decreases in red cell mass, and increases in methemoglobin levels, reticulocyte, leukocyte, Heinz body counts, and spleen weights occurred at subchronic MEKO doses of 40 mg/kg/day and higher. No MEKO-related neuropathological changes occurred. Animals receiving acrylamide at 20 mg/kg/day showed expected behavioral and neuropathological changes consistent with peripheral neuropathy. In conclusion, high doses of MEKO can produce transient and reversible changes in neurobehavioral function consistent with central nervous system (CNS) depression. No evidence of cumulative neurotoxicity was detected. The hematopoietic system was effected at doses which did not produce detectable changes in CNS function.


A performed dual band telemetry system with a DPSK data modulation scheme is reported for inductively powered biomedical implants. The innovation of this system consists on improving data rates with a novel full digital DPSK demodulator that achieves a data-rate-to-carrier-frequency ratio of 100% and a power consumption of 136.3μW @ 3.3 V at a data transmission rate of 10 Mbps. The whole receiver was designed with the 0.35-μm CMOS technology of Austria Micro Systems.


Recognition of the necessity to fully develop alternative energy resources has resulted in renewed interest in capturing energy from the sun. The daily average amount of energy delivered to the earth by this essentially eternal source is a staggering 14,170 quads (1 quad = 101b Btu), compared to an annual world energy consumption of approximately 225 quads. The United States alone accounts for 35 percent, i.e., 79 quads, of the world's annual energy consumption. The incentives to harness the sun's energy are clear solar energy is free, clean, and abundant. However, the task of harvesting the energy and directing or controlling the manner in which it is used is an arduous one that encompasses diverse technologies, including direct and indirect conversion mechanisms. The solar technologies are photovoltaics, biomass conversion, solar thermal (including passive design), wind, ocean systems, and hydropower. Near-and mid-term energy contributions from solar passive design and active heating and cooling systems, wind energy conversion systems, and elements of biomass conversion such as alcohol production are expected. Later year contributions from photovoltaics, ocean systems, large solar thermal installations, and other biomass conversion processes are very promising. The impact of government policies, energy conservation, and the availability of other energy resources on the development of the solar options is significant and may influence the energy contribution that is achieved.© (1980) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.


Dispersal is fundamental to population dynamics and it is increasingly apparent that, despite most models treating dispersal as a constant, many organisms make dispersal decisions based upon information gathered from the environment. Ideally, organisms would make fully informed decisions, with knowledge of both intra-patch conditions (conditions in their current location) and extra-patch conditions (conditions in alternative locations). Acquiring information is energetically costly however, and extra-patch information will typically be costlier to obtain than intra-patch information. As a consequence, theory suggests that organisms will often make partially informed dispersal decisions, utilising intra-patch information only. We test this proposition in an experimental two-patch system using populations of the aquatic crustacean, Daphnia carinata. We manipulated conditions (food availability) in the population's home patch, and in its alternative patch. We found that D. carinata made use of intra-patch information (resource limitation in the home patch induced a ten-fold increase in dispersal probability) but made no use of extra-patch information (resource limitation in the alternative patch did not affect dispersal probability). Our work highlights the very large influence that information can have on dispersal probability, but also that dispersal decisions will often be made in only a partially informed manner. The magnitude of the response we observed also adds to the growing chorus that condition-dependence may be a significant driver of variation in dispersal.


Thermal conductivity of pure and Y2O3-doped ZrO2 was calculated using a perturbed molecular dynamics method in order to analyze phonon scattering mechanism which is responsible for the reduction of thermal conductivity. Although absolute values of thermal conductivity were overestimated due to a simple model used in this study, relative values were in good agreement with experiment, which indicates that phonon scattering due to Y2O3 addition is reproduced well. It is found from quantitative analysis of the phonon scattering using the mean field theory that decrease of the thermal conductivity upon Y2O3 addition is attributed not only to the introduction of O2- vacancies but also to substitution of Y3+ ions for Zr4+ ions.


Due to several policy distortions, including import-substitution industrialization, widespread government intervention and both domestic and international competitive barriers, there has been a general presumption that Latin America has been much less productive than the leading economies in the last decades. In this paper we show, however, that until the late seventies Latin American countries had high productivity levels relative to the United States. It is only after the late seventies that we observe a fast decrease of relative TFP in Latin America. We also show that the inclusion of human capital in the production function makes a crucial diference in the TFP calculations for Latin America.


We present 1.3- and/or 3-mm continuum images and 3-mm spectral scans, obtained using NOEMA and ALMA, of 21 distant, dusty, star-forming galaxies (DSFGs). Our sample is a subset of the galaxies selected by Ivison et al. (2016) on the basis of their extremely red far-infrared (far-IR) colours and low Herschel flux densities; most are thus expected to be unlensed, extraordinarily luminous starbursts at z ≳ 4, modulo the considerable cross-section to gravitational lensing implied by their redshift. We observed 17 of these galaxies with NOEMA and four with ALMA, scanning through the 3-mm atmospheric window. We have obtained secure redshifts for seven galaxies via detection of multiple CO lines, one of them a lensed system at z = 6.027 (two others are also found to be lensed); a single emission line was detected in another four galaxies, one of which has been shown elsewhere to lie at z = 4.002. Where we find no spectroscopic redshifts, the galaxies are generally less luminous by 0.3–0.4 dex, which goes some way to explaining our failure to detect line emission. We show that this sample contains amongst the most luminous known star-forming galaxies. Due to their extreme star-formation activity, these galaxies will consume their molecular gas in ≲ 100 Myr, despite their high molecular gas masses, and are therefore plausible progenitors of the massive, 'red-and-dead' elliptical galaxies at z ≈ 3.


Routing on the Internet combines data plane mechanisms for forwarding traffic with control plane protocols for guaranteeing connectivity and optimizing routes (e.g., shortest-paths and load distribution). We propose data-driven connectivity (DDC), a new routing approach that achieves the fundamental connectivity guarantees in the data plane rather than the control plane, while keeping the more complex requirements of route optimization in the control plane. DDC enables faster recovery from failures and easier implementation of control plane optimization.


Abstract Objectives. Long-term organic solvent exposure may cause toxic effects in central nervous system . Trichloroethylene (TCE) is known to be one of the neurotoxic chlorinated organic solvents. Trichloroacetic acid (TCA) is an oxidative pathway metabolite of TCE. S100B, a calcium-binding protein in glial cells, and neuron specific enolase (NSE) in neuron cytoplasma are protein markers of astrocyte and neuron damage, respectively. Materials and methods. Clinical and laboratory assesments were performed in 25 participants with organic solvent exposure history. Control group included 25 healthy age and sex-matched individuals. Measurements of serum S100B and NSE were performed using Roche Cobas E 601 compatible kits and elechtrochemiluminescence immunoassay. The levels of TCA in urine were measured by the headspace GC technique, after methyl esterification by methanol. Results. Median value of urine TCA in solvent-exposed group was 12.30 mg/L with 10.20 mg/L and 35.00 mg/L minimum and maximum values, respectively. The difference between serum S100B levels of solvent-exposed group (0.064 μg/L) and control group (0.049 μg/L) was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Serum NSE levels of control group (15.61 ng/ml) were higher than solvent-exposed group (13.90 ng/ml) but difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Conclusions. Serum S100B levels were found to be higher in solvent-exposed group when compared with control group. NSE levels were comparable between two groups. Increased Serum S100B levels in organic solvent exposure may indicate a preventive response to neuronal damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced through oxidative metabolic pathways of organic solvents.


Abstract. The study of pointer years of numerous tree-ring chronologies of the central Iberian Peninsula (Sierra de Guadarrama) could provide complementary information about climate variability over the last 405 yr. In total, 64 pointer years have been identified: 30 negative (representing minimum growths) and 34 positive (representing maximum growths), the most significant of these being 1601, 1963 and 1996 for the negative ones, and 1734 and 1737 for the positive ones. Given that summer precipitation was found to be the most limiting factor for the growth of Pinus in the Sierra de Guadarrama in the second half of the 20th century, it is also an explanatory factor in almost 50% of the extreme growths. Furthermore, these pointer years and intervals are not evenly distributed throughout time. Both in the first half of the 17th and in the second half of 20th, they were more frequent and more extreme and these periods are the most notable for the frequency of negative pointer years in Central Spain. The interval 1600–1602 is of special significance, being one of the most unfavourable for tree growth in the centre of Spain, with 1601 representing the minimum index in the regional chronology. We infer that this special minimum annual increase was the effect of the eruption of Huaynaputina, which occurred in Peru at the beginning of 1600 AD. This is the first time that the effects of this eruption in the tree-ring records of Southern Europe have been demonstrated.


BACKGROUND
The evidence provided by medical imaging techniques for the staging and follow-up is relevant in oncology.

OBJECTIVES
The aims were (i) to compare the monitoring methods, (ii) to analyze the response variability between different tumors, and (iii) to decipher a general response curve that is independent of tumor type and drug treatment.

METHODS
We analyzed the response variability in four cancer types, looking for a general response curve independent of the tumor type and drug treatment. We compared the response of different types of lesions within each cancer type via an intra-class correlation coefficient, determining the minimum number of lesions suitable for monitoring.

RESULTS
The tested metrics allowed an objective evaluation of the response of solid tumors. The response was homogeneous between different cancer types. The intra-class correlation was high, allowing the monitoring of the response with a low number of lesions (2-4). The currently used metrics misrepresent the changes in the lesion volumes. Indeed, we observed non-linear overestimations of the RECIST and WHO values, which were more pronounced for the intermediate values. Additionally, the inclusion of lymphadenopathy among the target lesions produced a distortion in the evaluation of the response.

CONCLUSION
The quantitative counts allowed an objective evaluation of the response of the solid tumors to therapy, showing that the response was homogeneous but variable between different types of tumors. Although the currently used metrics lead to misrepresentations of the changes in the lesion volume, they allowed setting a response pattern for tracking these lesions.


ABSTRACT The FsrABDC signal transduction system is a major virulence regulator in Enterococcus faecalis. The FsrC sensor histidine kinase, upon activation by the gelatinase biosynthesis-activating pheromone (GBAP) peptide encoded by the fsrBD genes, phosphorylates the FsrA response regulator required for the transcription of the fsrBDC and the gelE-sprE genes from the fsrB promoter and the gelE promoter, respectively. FsrA belongs to the LytTR family of proteins, which includes other virulence regulators, such as AgrA of Staphylococcus aureus, AlgR of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and VirR of Clostridium perfringens. The LytTR DNA-binding domain that characterizes these proteins generally binds to two imperfect direct repeats separated by a number of bases that place the repeats on the same face of the DNA helix. In this study, we demonstrated that FsrA also binds to two imperfect direct repeats separated by 13 bp, based on the consensus sequence of FsrA, T/AT/CAA/GGGAA/G, which is consistent with the binding characteristics of LytTR domains.


VNC is an ultra thin client system based on a simple display protocol that is platform independent. It achieves mobile computing without requiring the user to carry any hardware. VNC provides access to home computing environments from anywhere in the world, on whatever computing infrastructure happens to be available-including, for example, public Web browsing terminals in airports. In addition, VNC allows a single desktop to be accessed from several places simultaneously, thus supporting application sharing in the style of computer supported cooperative work (CSCW). The technology underlying VNC is a simple remote display protocol. It is the simplicity of this protocol that makes VNC so powerful. Unlike other remote display protocols such as the X Window System and Citrix's ICA, the VNC protocol is totally independent of operating system, windowing system, and applications. The VNC system is freely available for download from the ORL Web site at http://www.orl.co.uk/vnc/. We begin the article by summarizing the evolution of VNC from our work on thin client architectures. We then describe the structure of the VNC protocol, and conclude by discussing the ways we use VNC technology now and how it may evolve further as new clients and servers are developed.


—Glaucoma is a typical reason for irreversible blindness in worldwide and also Glaucoma is the disease where the pressure of eye ends up with the nerve fiber damages in optic nerve. In some patients' optic nerves can damage even in regular or low eye pressure due to other weaknesses. But, that kind of situations are rare. In other world, optic nerve damage depends on the capability of handling pressure by the fundus area. If fundus with optic nerve is too weak, even low-pressure situations also can cause the damages to optic nerve and cause blindness. Glaucoma is classified as a silent disease which does not have signs until it causes blindness. This paper explores and presents a review on Automated Diagnosis of Glaucoma Using Digital Fundus Images. Such, Fundus Images have identical glaucomatous features. Detection of those features help to diagnose Glaucoma and control the blindness.


News consumption has become a central aspect of everyday life in modern societies and in recent years online news websites have become an increasingly popular source. This thesis examines online news consumption and customer loyalty to online news websites. Using the underlying theoretical perspective developed from the debate between social constructionist and technical determinist stances in technology acceptance and usage, this thesis examines the application of domestication theory to online news service consumption and loyalty. Based on loyalty literature and the conjecture from Oliver (1999) that customers can be enveloped in a community of loyalty which will aid and direct their (purchase) decisions, this thesis additionally looks into the role of an online news site's community in fostering loyalty. A research model to test the effect of online community participation on the previously empirically supported link between perceived value and loyalty was created. Constructs to support the community variable were derived from literature and refined through exploratory research and are introduced in this thesis. Furthermore, measures for domestication stages were derived from the literature and further developed through exploratory research with online news site users and are also introduced in this research.
This research examines the use of domestication theory in understanding news service consumption and adds to the growing body of domestication literature as well as adding to the emerging literature on, and increasing the understanding of acceptance and usage of online news services. The study helps to close a gap in the literature by employing a perceived value – community – loyalty model to identify which perceived value components have an influence on user loyalty to online news services. The loyalty enhancing value of an online community was also tested and supported in a news site context.


An intercropping study was conducted at the Agronomy Field
Research Station, Universiti Pertanian Malaysia from January to
April, 1987 involving sweet corn (Zea mays [L.] var. Thai Super
Sweet), mungbean ( Phaseolus radiatus [L.] Wilczek var. VC-1163),
cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L .] var. Purple Hull Pink-Eyed Seed)
and groundnut (Arachis hypogaea [L .]var. V-13) in weeded and
nonweeded sweet corn + legume systems. Sweet corn was the base
crop with mungbean, cowpea or groundnut as the intercrop in the respective weeded and nonweeded treatment combinations. The
treatments were replicated four times in a randomised complete
block design (ReBD) with factorial arrangements. The objectives
of the study were to evaluate crops performance under weeded and
nonweeded conditions, compatibility of the legumes with sweetcorn, comparative ability of the legumes to smother weeds, and
the influence of the cropping system on the N, P and K contents
of crops and weeds at harvest.


The wars of postcolonial Asia, although often viewed by U.S. officials as struggles between Communist and non-Communist forces or between colonial powers and independence movements, were in fact far more complex and ambiguous in nature. The conflicts displayed some of the characteristics of civil war, brigandage, and ethnic, regional, and religious warfare. This article exams the experience of Phat Diem, a predominantly Catholic enclave in northern Vietnam, during the First IndochinaWar, to highlight the dynamics of these cross-currents of regionalism, nationalism, and religion. Ultimately Phat Diem's attempts to steer a middle course between Communism and French colonialism ended disastrously, but its story highlights several important but little recognized aspects of the war in Indochina and the nature of Asia's wars in the first decade after the end of World War II.


Computers operate at discrete points in time and hence digital traces are discrete events in temporal logic that reflect the occurrence of computer processes. From the perspective of a digital investigation, it is the duty of digital investigators or forensic examiners to retrieve digital traces so as to prove or to refute the alleged computer acts. Given the resource constraints of most organizations and the limited time-frame available for the examination, it is not always feasible or indeed necessary for forensic examiners to retrieve all the related digital traces and to conduct a thorough digital forensic analysis. It is therefore the aim of this paper to propose a model that can offer swift and practical digital examination in a cost-effective manner.


Polymer bridging between surfaces plays an important role in a range of fundamental processes in the material and life sciences. Bridges formed by main-chain reversible polymers differ from their covalent analogs in that they can dynamically adjust their size and shape in response to external stimuli and have the potential to reform following bond scission. In this work, the time and distance dependence of main-chain reversible polymer bridge formation are studied using an atomic force microscope. The bridging process was studied using single-molecule force spectroscopy, and its dependence on the distance between surfaces and equilibration time was probed. The number of bridges formed decreases as the gap width increases, from approximately 2 bridges per 14 s equilibration at separations of 5-15 nm to approximately 0.5 bridges per 14 s equilibration at separations of 35-45 nm. The kinetics of bridge formation appear to be slightly faster at smaller separations.


Abstract Essential oils (EOs) and aqueous extracts of aerial parts of four aromatic species, Calamintha nepeta, Foeniculum vulgare, Mentha spicata and Thymus mastichina, from southwest of Portugal were characterised chemically and analysed in order to evaluate their antioxidant potential and cholinesterase inhibitory activities. The main components of EOs were oxygenated monoterpenes, and aqueous extracts were rich in phenol and flavonoid compounds. EOs and aqueous extracts presented a high antioxidant potential, with ability to protect the lipid substrate, free radical scavenging and iron reducing power. Furthermore, EOs and extracts showed AChE and BChE inhibitory activities higher than rivastigmine, the standard drug. Results suggested the potential use of EOs and aqueous extracts of these flavouring herbs as nutraceutical or pharmaceutical preparations to minimise the oxidative stress and the progression of degenerative diseases.


Over the past five years, the relationship between liberal international trade rules and competition law has become the subject of increasing attention from governments, the business community, and scholars. The genesis of this attention is a perception that certain major industrialized markets are protected against import penetration by the failure of national governments to police against competitive market restraints. The reduction or elimination of formal trade barriers, it is argued, does not achieve the desired result of stimulating international competition, with corollary comparative advantage effects, if markets are allocated, formally or informally, among domestic producers. In this context, competition law is viewed largely as an exporter's market access tool.Significantly less attention has been paid to the extent to which industrial and service industry concentration maybe increasing at the international level, and the role that competition law might play in addressing a pattern of concentration. Without doubt, global markets are becoming increasingly integrated through international worksharing arrangements, and this integration is taking place within largescale multinational corporate structures. Still less attention has been paid to the role of industrial or intellectual property in industrial integration and concentration.The key points are these: First, at the heart of the trend toward global technological integration is the global system for the protection of IPRs. Second, IPRs are government-granted rights, and governments are acting in the public interest. Third, the effect globalizing IPRs has on the public has never been studied in anything close to a comprehensive way, nor have alternatives to the present international IPRs protection system been seriously considered. Fourth, there is a clear intersection between IPRs protection and competition law. Competition law is designed to protect the public interest and might be used to police the international IPRs protection system. This would be in accordance with classical thinking on maintaining the integrity of markets. It would be unfortunate, however, if consideration of the effect of the international IPRs system on the public were limited to the potential utility of competition law. More innovative approaches might be worthwhile to consider.


Indigenous peoples around the world are claiming and, in many cases, achieving recognition of their customary land rights, with significant challenges for planning systems. How should we understand both the nature of this demand and its politics of recognition? This article demonstrates how the insights and principles contained in political and democratic theory, along with a methodological framework inspired by Institutional Ethnography informs the conceptualization of what is happening between Indigenous peoples and planning systems in British settler-states. Using the highly evocative language of the 'contact zone' and an illustration from environmental planning in British Columbia, Canada, this article indicates how reading these theories together builds an approach for critically analysing the textual constraints placed on the social spaces where Indigenous peoples and state-based planning systems meet.


Abstract : An account is given of a project performed on behalf of the U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships Technical Library to evaluate the effectiveness of a computerized information retrieval system based on the Engineers Joint Council system of role indicators and links. The evaluation method used was that developed by Cleverdon in the ASLIB Cranfield Project. The search program involved all major combinations of appropriate descriptors and role indicators. Once the searches were performed, the documents produced were submitted to compilers of the original questions. A basis was obtained for computation of relevance ratios. Recall ratios were determined by actually doing a total check of the specimen collection to locate all documents that had any possible relevance to 10 of the test questions. The greatest cause of noise in the search results was searching errors, and the most frequently occuring type of searching error was the failure to select crucial terms or concepts in translating the questions into the language of the system. The question was different on analysis for reasons for failure to retrieve documents that were relevant to search questions. Here, indexing errors contributed more heavily to the cause of failure.


Since a great many teenagers are involved in road accident every year, the acquisition of much experience is a crucial factor in driver education and training. The ability to identify potentially dangerous traffic situations is termed as hazard perception. Previous studies showed that hazard perception training in novice drivers leads to improved performance on hazard perception tests. Hazard perception training is particularly relevant for riders, as motorcyclists are not protected by a vehicle body so the ability to perceive and respond to hazards posed by other vehicles is crucially important. This study is aimed to find out whether a rider simulator (Honda Riding Trainer, HRT) could improve the hazard perception in teenagers. The experimental procedure involves a pre/post randomized experimental design with an experimental group and a control group. Results show a clearly visible learning process and improvement in participants' performance, regardless of the order in which the riding tracks are presented. HRT trainees improve their performance in avoiding accidents in a simulated environment significantly more than participants of the control group. Keywords – hazard perception, riding simulator, road safety, training


Hair loss is a well-known side effect of many chemotherapy regimens, with many patients claiming it is the most traumatic aspect of their treatment. Scalp cooling provides the only real alternative to hair loss resulting in a high level of retention or complete hair preservation, improving patients' self-confidence and creating positive attitudes towards treatment.

The aim of the project was to redesign a scalp cooling cap so it fits patients better, it also had to be mass manufactured and have an improved flow pattern of the coolant that cools the head. The new cap uses 3D printed tooling technologies and will pave the way for mass manufacture using lightweight silicone sheet so the scalp cooling cap is soft and flexible - providing a snug, comfortable cap during treatment moulding to all head shapes and sizes.


Conventionally, shifting cultivation (also known as Swidden) has been interpreted as inefficient (economically), destructive (ecologically) and an inflexible static form (institutionally) of agriculture. It is essential not only that the system of production is non-destructive, efficient and adaptive to better changes but also is sustainable. The incidental point emerges out is that whether shifting cultivation is sustainable or not. Therefore, the present paper attempts to verify the criteria of measurement of sustainability in a relatively primitive form of agricultural system and develops some alternative/complimentary ways to look into the factors related to sustainability. Often sustainability of a project or production system is verified through usual cost benefit analysis (CBA). In our study we feel that the essence of understanding the sustainability of shifting cultivation system requires the understanding of factors, which are local in nature that are severely limited by usual CBA. Therefore, we have developed a critique of CBA and alternatively evolved with the land, employment and consumption based analyses in order to evaluate the sustainability of this form of agriculture in the context of Orissa based on


This paper presents a new single stage dc-dc boost converter topology with very large gain conversion ratio as a switched inductor multilevel boost converter (SIMLBC). It is a PWM-based dc-dc converter which combines the Switched-Inductor Structures and the switching capacitor function to provide a very large output voltage with different output dc levels which makes it suitable for multilevel inverter applications. The proposed topology has only single switch like the conventional dc-dc converter which can be controlled in a very simple way. In addition to, two inductors, 2N+2 diodes, N is the number of output dc voltage levels, and 2N-1 dc capacitors. A high switching frequency is employed to decrease the size of these components and thus much increasing the dynamic performance. The proposed topology has been compared with the existence dc-dc boost converters and it gives a higher voltage gain conversion ratio. The proposed converter has been analyzed, simulated and a prototype has been built and experimentally tested. Simulation and experimental results have been provided for validation.


This paper reconsiders the 'curse of resources' hypothesis for the case of China, and distinguishes between resource abundance, resource rents, and resource dependence. Resource abundance and resource rents are shown to be approximately equivalent, and their association with resource dependence varies with institutional quality. Resource abundance/rents has a positive impact on economic growth, while resource dependence has a negative impact. The impact of the 'West China Development Drive' policy, started in 2000, is substantial, and this is investigated through a comparative analysis based on cross-section samples, and through a panel-data timevarying coefficient approach for West and East provinces. Resource effects do change after the policy shock.


We propose a system-level design flow for building automation and control (BAC) systems. The input to the design flow is a high level description of the control algorithms given in a model-based environment such as Simulink. The input specification is translated into an intermediate format, and then automatically refined into a distributed implementation. Refinement includes optimal mapping of the functional specification on a set of computation and communication resources, and software synthesis, which generates code for each component in the mapped design while guaranteeing semantic equivalence with the original specification. Experiments with a temperature control system are presented to illustrate the flow.


We investigate the braid group representations arising from categories of representations of twisted quantum doubles of finite groups. For these categories, we show that the resulting braid group representations always factor through finite groups, in contrast to the categories associated with quantum groups at roots of unity. We also show that in the case of p-groups, the corresponding pure braid group representations factor through a finite p-group, which answers a question asked of the first author by V. Drinfeld.


Preface Introduction The Place of History in Spinoza's Metaphysics E.de Jonge Did the French Revolutionaries Have a Philosophy of History? W.Scott Hegel's History of Philosophy: Some Critical Reflections R.M.Burns The Concept of Civilization and the Problem of a Speculative Philosophy of History L.Armour On the Role of Time in Collingwood's Thought M.J.O'Neill Intertextuality, Time and Historical Understanding E.O'Gorman Early Foucault and Transcendental History B.Han-Pile Postmodernism, the End of History and Frank Ankersmit K.Jenkins Postmodernism and the Politics of Historiography O.Daddow Detachment Dispatch'd: History as Poetics B.Southgate Postmodern Scepticism, Truth and History J.Connelly Why All Historical Accounts are Inevitably Theoretical, but Why Some Accounts are Preferable to Others M.Fulbrook The Manifold Paradoxes of Orientalism A.L.Macfie Biography and History: Criticism, Theory and Practice A.Muslow Getting Inside Heisenberg's Head R.Monk Index


The paper analyses the possibilities to develop communist heritage tourism in Bulgaria. After a review of related literature, the paper identifies five characteristics of communist heritage tourism: ideologically overburdened type of tourism, controversial, represents a limited time period of history, represents a personality cult, concentration of resources in places related with communist history in the country (in cities and the countryside). The paper summarizes some of the most important resources for communist heritage tourism development in Bulgaria and the potential market segments for communist heritage tourist products. The key market segments are considered Bulgarians and Westerners born before 1960 as they were at least 19 years old when communism fell and had clear memories of the period. The final section of the paper presents the structure of a proposed future museum of communism and analyses its three possible locations.


Background Celiac disease (CD) is a lifelong, chronic and immune-mediated disorder. Recent studies have turned on a new light on the importance of inflammation in the pathogenesis of arterial stiffness. The aim of this study was to evaluate arterial stiffness in children with celiac disease compared with controls. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, fifty children aged from 3.5 to 18 year- old with celiac compared with 50 age and sex-matched controls. The study performed in Ali Asghar pediatric hospital in Zahedan city, Iran during the year 2019. Echocardiography, aortic elasticity, blood pressure, tissue transglutaminase IgA (tTG-IgA), and anthropomorphic parameters were measured. Arterial stiffness indices determined using 2D and Doppler echocardiography. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20.0. Results: In all and CD children, 51% and 56% were girls, respectively. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure were lower in patients (p <0.001). Aortic diameter in diastole was lower in patients significantly (p <0.001). Aortic strain (<0.001), PSEM (<0.001), AD (<0.001), and ASI (p <0.001) were different between celiac patients and controls.  Tissue transglutaminase IgA (tTG-IgA) was changed significantly with Marsh classification (p <0.001); tTG-IgA was correlated with strain (r= 0.417, p=0.003), and AD (r= 0.282, p=0.047) before age control when the trends did not change after age control for AD (r=0.241, p=0.096).  LVMI was correlated with strain (r=-0309, p=0.029), PSEM (r=0.322, p=0.023), and AD (r=0.326, p=0.021) before controlling age when after age control this significant correlation omitted. Conclusion Concluded that aortic elastic risk is higher in celiac children when is free of modified marsh classification. Most of the aortic elastic parameters had significant correlation with changes of tTG-IgA antibody in children with celiac disease.


Introduction Frailty is an important component of risk prognostication in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Objective markers of frailty, including sarcopenia, the modified Frailty Index (mFI), and albumin levels, have emerged, but little is known how such markers compare to each other in predicting outcomes after TAVR. We sought to define and compare these markers in predicting long-term outcomes after TAVR. Methods Patients who underwent TAVR at our institution from 2011 to 2016 were included. Indexed cross-sectional areas of the lumbosacral muscles on preoperative computed tomography scans were used to assess sarcopenia. Optimal cutoffs for sarcopenia were defined using a statistically validated method. mFI was calculated using an 11-point scale of clinical characteristics. The primary outcome was 2-year all-cause mortality. Adjusted survival analysis was used to analyze outcomes. Results A total of 381 patients were included in this study. Sarcopenia of the psoas muscles was associated with an increased risk of mortality on univariate (HR: 2.3, P = 0.01) and multivariate (HR: 2.5, P = 0.01) analysis. Sarcopenia of the paravertebral muscles was associated with increased risk of mortality only on univariate analysis (HR: 2.1, P = 0.03). Increased preoperative albumin levels were associated with decreased risk of mortality on univariate (HR: 0.3, P < 0.01) and multivariate analysis (HR: 0.3, P < 0.01). The (mFI) was not associated with mortality on univariate or multivariate analysis. Discussion Novel cutoffs for sarcopenia of the psoas muscles were determined and associated with decreased survival after TAVR. Sarcopenia and albumin levels may be better tools for risk prediction than mFI in TAVR.


The distance matrix $\mathcal{D}(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the matrix containing the pairwise distances between vertices, and the distance Laplacian matrix is $\mathcal{D}^L (G)=T(G)-\mathcal{D} (G)$, where $T(G)$ is the diagonal matrix of row sums of $\mathcal{D}(G)$. Several general methods are established for producing $\mathcal{D}^L$-cospectral graphs that can be used to construct infinite families. Examples are provided to show that various properties are not preserved by $\mathcal{D}^L$-cospectrality, including examples of $\mathcal{D}^L$-cospectral strongly regular and circulant graphs. It is established that the absolute values of coefficients of the distance Laplacian characteristic polynomial are decreasing, i.e., $|\delta^L_{1}|\geq \cdots \geq |\delta^L_{n}|$, where $\delta^L_{k}$ is the coefficient of $x^k$.


Surabaya-Mojokerto lane road is a route out of town that have a growth of traffic all the time, this is due to the many community activities so that the road should be able to provide services that optimal.dilihat of their geometric characteristics, the Surabaya-Mojokerto road classified into alignment flat is a low gradient level. A road that has a good level of service that has velocity high traffic flow requires an adequate geometric design and comfort level as well as high security juga.dari police data showed on one-year period (January 1 to December 31, 2005) has started 21 events accident with the details of seven front-front collisions, 3 front-rear collisions, 5 serempetan, and 6 front-side collisions, the observed length of roads along ± 10.4 km. and the total traffic passing through as many as 20,342 pcu / day. From the results of field measurement data obtained by the average road width is known that traffic lane width on average in these prone areas is 2 x 4.50, the size of a traffic lane width of this size in accordance with Highway Geometric Planning Regulations 1997, section road between Surabaya-Mojokerto included in the class II road, on the analysis of the average speed calculation, visibility prepare and stopping sight distance is known that the average speed of vehicles at all observation area above the free flow speed, this caused the accident front-front front and rear. This can occur if the driver followed the car or vehicle in depanya too closely or failing to control the speed of his vehicle at a safe level and failed to control the speed of the vehicle at the time of preparing another vehicle while view obstructed by a particular object.


OBJECTIVE
Therapeutic milieus can be characterized by interactional qualities ("social atmosphere") and by ecological conditions. The paper gives a literature review on ecological aspects of the therapeutic milieu. Furthermore, a questionnaire is introduced operationalizing and measuring the quality of ecological milieus.

METHOD
127 patients of two psychosomatic inpatient units were asked to evaluate the ecological milieu at home and in the hospital, using the housing milieu questionnaire.

RESULTS
Patients rated both the quality of their home and of the hospital-milieu rather positive. In a comparison of both milieus the patients rated the hospital better in respect to space availability, noise, building status, and conflicts with others, while the home milieu gets higher ratings for cleanliness, the availability of household devices, and the possibility to pursue own interests. The housing milieu questionnaire has a high internal consistency (home: Cronbach's alpha=0.82, clinic: Cronbach's alpha=0.83) and good retest reliability (home: r=0.895; clinic: r=0.854).

CONCLUSIONS
The literature review shows that the ecological milieu is an important part of the therapeutic milieu and should get more attention in science and practice. The housing milieu questionnaire allows to describe ecological aspects of the therapeutic milieu. Differences between home and hospital argue for the sensitivity of the scale. The questionnaire can be used to analyze the quality of ecological aspects of the therapeutic milieu.


In both classical Islamic art and contemporary new media art, one point can unfold to reveal an entire universe. A fourteenth-century dome decorated with geometric complexity and a new media work that shapes a dome from programmed beams of light: both can inspire feelings of immersion and transcendence. In Enfoldment and Infinity, Laura Marks traces the strong similarities, visual and philosophical, between these two kinds of art. Her argument is more than metaphorical; she shows that the "Islamic" quality of modern and new media art is a latent, deeply enfolded, historical inheritance from Islamic art and thought.

Marks proposes an aesthetics of unfolding and enfolding in which image, information, and the infinite interact: image is an interface to information, and information (such as computer code or the words of the Qur'an) is an interface to the infinite. After demonstrating historically how Islamic aesthetics traveled into Western art, Marks draws explicit parallels between works of classical Islamic art and new media art, describing texts that burst into image, lines that multiply to form fractal spaces, "nonorganic life" in carpets and algorithms, and other shared concepts and images. Islamic philosophy, she suggests, can offer fruitful ways of understanding contemporary art.


Sesame (Sesamum
 indicum L.) locally called as til is an important conventional
 oilseed crop of Pakistan. Pakistan ranks 14th among major sesame
 producing countries in the world. Pakistan is facing a chronic
 shortage in edible oil and the situation is getting serious with
 alarmingly explosion of population. Its indegenious production is
 below the utilization level and there exists wide gap between
 production and utilization. Sesame crop is subjected to various
 abiotic and biotic stresses in all stages of growth. Two prominent
 bacterial pathogens associated with sesame are bacterial blight
 caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. sesami (Xcs) and bacterial leaf
 spot caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. sesami (Psse). These
 pathogens are responsible for sesame production constraints during
 monsoon season. Despite the shortage of edible oil, no profound
 efforts have been made on this important oilseed crop with reference
 to diseases. To handle the shortage of edible oil, there was an
 urgent need to explore the basic information on host pathogen
 interaction. The present work consisted of five experiments. The
 first study was the standardization of mass culturing of stored Xcs
 and Psse isolates to enhance their virulence and confirmation of
 their ability to induce hypersensitive reaction. All isolates were
 revived on non host plant and confirmation was made on the basis of
 pigmentation they produced in their respective media and
 hypersensitive test was performed in tomato and potato plants.
 The second study was conducted to analyse the virulence of virulent
 isolates in vitro by comparing symptoms induction and bacterial
 multiplication in different genotypes. Plants were inoculated by pin
 prick method and were monitored daily for symptoms development and
 measurements of lesions were taken until fully symptoms induction.
 Bacterial populations were determined by counting bacterial
 colonies. Psse isolates showed necrotic lesions (chl+) surrounded by
 halos as well as only black necrotic lesions (chl-). Size of the
 lesions and bacterial population between chl+ and chl- was the same
 and at maximum at 7 DAI in susceptible genotypes, while tolerant
 showed delayed in reaction. Similar mode of lesions expansion and
 rate of bacterial growth between chl+ and chl- isolates of Psse
 indicated that the virulence factor involved in symptomatology
 function as pathogenicity factor and only contributed to induction
 of chlorotic producing symptoms for Psse. Water soaking to blight
 symptoms along with maximum bacterial growth in all the susceptible
 and moderately susceptible genotypes by Xcs was recorded at 12 DAI.
 The third study was conducted to confirm process of infection of
 these bacterial pathogens in susceptible and tolerant genotypes by
 light microscopy. Inoculation was done by Injection method (IM) and
 Bacterial suspension dip method (BSDM). Xcs colonized tracheary
 elements of xylem vessels through intercellular spaces of the spongy
 parenchyma at 7 DAI and bacterial masses were identified as dark
 blue infected structures using toluidine blue O stain. Blight
 symptoms by Xcs were reported to be due to the blockage of nutrients
 and water flow. Psse showed thining and disruption of mesophyll
 tissues on the appearance of chlorotic symptoms 3-4 DAI. There were
 only empty spaces of tissues were observed 7 DAI. Overall the
 infection was same but delayed in tolerant genotypes.Disruption of
 mesophyll tissues might be due to the action of chlorosis producing
 toxin (coronatine) that degraded chloroplast membrane of host
 tissues.
 The forth study was conducted to detect the virulence factors of Xcs
 and Psse using suitables bioassays such as antibacterial test,
 induction of potato hypertrophic outgrowth and seedlings assay. Xcs
 and Psse (chl-) isolates showed zone of inhibition. The zone of
 inhibition produced by chl- isolates showed that chl- was not the
 defective mutant of chl+ isolates as reported in third study, but
 this test confirmed that these isolates produced another class of
 toxin that showed antibacterial activity. Induction of hypertrophic
 outgrowth in potato tuber and seedlings inhibition from culture
 filtrate of chl+ isolates of Psse confirmed that the toxin produced
 by these isolates was similar to phytotoxin coronatine (a polyketide
 molecule) and it might mimics the action of one of the phytohormones.
 The fifth study was conducted to extract the virulence factors as
 well as their purification and identification was also performed.
 Identification was made on the basis of reference data. Crude
 extracts of acetone preparation of Xcs and Psse (chl-) isolates were
 concentrated on silica TLC plates. Further purification was carried
 out by HPLC and TLC. The toxic aciticity eluted from the HPLC column
 after 10 min corresponding with single active peak showed
 antibacterial activity. Reverse phase HPLC of chl- isolates
 extracted partially purified produced an elution pattern like
 reported in mangotoxin from Pss strain UMAF0158. Acetone praperation
 of cell free culture filtrates of virulent Xcs also showed active
 peaks having phytotoxic activity obtained from the HPLC column after
 10 min.


Wavelength-selective directional couplers with dissimilar waveguides are designed for ultrafast optical differentiation within the femtosecond regime (corresponding to processing bandwidths > 10 THz). The theoretically proposed coupler-based differentiators can be produced by wavelength matching of the propagation constants of two different waveguides in the coupler at the center wavelength. A single directional coupler can be designed to achieve either a 2nd-order differentiator or a 1st-order differentiator by properly fixing the product of coupling coefficient and coupling length of the coupler. We evaluated the differentiation errors (~2%) and energetic efficiency (~11% for 1st order differentiation) of the designed optical differentiators through numerical simulations. The proposed design has a strong potential to provide a feasible solution as an integrated differentiation unit device for ultrafast optical signal processing circuits.


Magnesium oxide (MgO) films are utilized for the anti-plasma sputtering coating with excellent ability of secondary electron emission in plasma display panels (PDP). These properties are degraded by the impurities adsorbed on the film surface. Therefore, we should obtain impurity-free surface during the PDP manufacturing process. We have synthesized whisker and continuous film types of metal oxide using a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method operated under atmosphere. In this study, a temperature programmed desorption method has been applied to detect residual species adsorbed on the surface of the present films in the ultra-high vacuum atmosphere. The amount of water adsorption was determined by this method.


CRESUS is a unique application of state-of-the-art expert system technology to the real-world financial problem of cash management. By automating the work of company treasurers, it saves substantial amounts of both money and time every day. Real-world test cases show that CREsus performs better and much faster than the human expert: In minutes, it generates a combination of operations that efficiently balances all banking accounts in a 15-day period. It uses user-friendly window technology to control the human-machine dialogue and has been integrated into the work environment of a major electric company in Spain. Written in Common Lisp using UNIX workstations, it was jointly developed by Union Fenosa, Carnegie Mellon University, and Norsistemas Consultores.


The literature review comprises discussion of 4 principal domains. First, literature pertaining to diagnostic criteria, clinical features, historical context, prevalence, co-morbidity, aetiology and intervention for BDD is reviewed. Second, research on cognitive processes and metacognition (beliefs about experiencing particular thoughts and mental strategies employed to control particular thoughts) in other disorders is discussed, followed by critical appraisal of the minimal existing research on thought content and metacognition in BDD. Possible lines of future research are suggested. The empirical paper describes the aim of the current study, namely exploring preoccupation in BDD, by investigating the content of thoughts about appearance and metacognition in people with BDD and people with 'normal concerns' regarding appearance. A structured interview and questionnaires were employed to investigate these aspects of preoccupation in BDD, followed by quantitative analyses and coding of descriptive data. The content of the thoughts was found to be similar in the 2 groups, but participants with BDD were found to endorse negative metacognitive beliefs significantly more strongly, to employ thought control strategies involving punishment significantly more frequently and to report significantly lower effectiveness of the 2 most frequently employed strategies. These findings are related to existing literature, and clinical and theoretical implications and limitations are discussed. The critical appraisal expands upon the discussion of these findings, exploring strengths and weaknesses and professional, theoretical and clinical implications further. Future directions for research in this area are proposed and both the researcher's expectations and the research process are reflected upon.


Titanium alloys are often material of choice for aerospace, chemical and biomedical industries, because of their unusual corrosion resistance, high mechanical strength and low density. However titanium alloys have very poor wear resistance. Hard coatings can be formed on the surface of titanium alloys to improve their tribological property. In this work ion nitriding without hydrogen technique was used to treat Ti-6Al-4V alloy and the nitrided layer was formed on the substrate surface. The fundamental coating properties, such as the phase, component, hardness and elastic modulus were investigated. At the ion-nitriding condition of flux ratio N2/Ar=1:1, pressure 40 pa and substrate temperature 900°C, the nitrided layer was formed. The layer consists of Ti2N and TiN compound. The content of element nitrogen in the nitrided layer gradiently decreases from the the surface to the substrate direction. For a better understanding of the hardness of the nitrided layer, the nano indentation test and microhardness test are both used. The results show that the average values of hardness and elastic modulus for the surface of the nitrided layer are 17.36GPa and 328.81GPa, about 6 times and 3 times respectively as those of Ti-6Al-4V substrate. The hardness of the nitrided layer decreases from the surface to the substrate direction, which corresponding to the content change of element nitrogen. For the result of nano indentation test, when the indentation depth is more than 400nm, the values of hardness and elastic modulus both decrease with the increase of the indentation depth. It is because of the influence of the soft Ti-6Al-4V substrate.


Primary gastrointestinal cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease after solid organ transplantation (SOT) is difficult to treat and may relapse. Herein, we reviewed the clinical records of CMV D+/R− SOT recipients with biopsy‐proven gastrointestinal CMV disease to determine predictors of relapse. The population consisted of 26 kidney (13 [50%]), liver (10 [38%]) and heart (3 [12%]) transplant recipients who developed gastrointestinal CMV disease at a median of 54 (interquartile range [IQR]: 40–70) days after stopping antiviral prophylaxis. Except for one patient, all received induction intravenous ganciclovir (mean ± SD, 33.8 ± 19.3 days) followed by valganciclovir (27.5 ± 13.3 days) in 18 patients. Ten patients further received valganciclovir maintenance therapy (41.6 ± 28.6 days). The median times to CMV PCR negativity in blood was 22.5 days (IQR: 16.5–30.7) and to normal endoscopic findings was 27.0 days (IQR: 21.0–33.5). CMV relapse, which occurred in seven (27%) patients, was significantly associated with extensive disease (p = 0.03). CMV seroconversion, viral load, treatment duration, maintenance therapy and endoscopic findings at the end of therapy were not significantly associated with CMV relapse. In conclusion, an extensive involvement of the gastrointestinal tract was significantly associated with CMV relapse. However, endoscopic evidence of resolution of gastrointestinal disease did not necessarily translate into a lower risk of CMV relapse.