Semantic segmentation generates comprehensive understanding of scenes through densely predicting the category for each pixel. High-level features from Deep Convolutional Neural Networks already demonstrate their effectiveness in semantic segmentation tasks, however the coarse resolution of high-level features often leads to inferior results for small/thin objects where detailed information is important. It is natural to consider importing low level features to compensate for the lost detailed information in high-level features. Unfortunately, simply combining multi-level features suffers from the semantic gap among them. In this paper, we propose a new architecture, named Gated Fully Fusion(GFF), to selectively fuse features from multiple levels using gates in a fully connected way. Specifically, features at each level are enhanced by higher-level features with stronger semantics and lower-level features with more details, and gates are used to control the propagation of useful information which significantly reduces the noises during fusion. We achieve the state of the art results on four challenging scene parsing datasets including Cityscapes, Pascal Context, COCO-stuff and ADE20K.


Abstract This contribution studies the composition of the Spanish cabinet elites through different political regimes and transition periods, those regimes including a constitutional monarchy, two democracies, two dictatorships and a people's Republic. The discontinuity of ministerial elites is the rule, with the relative exception of the two transition periods in the early 1930 and the middle 1970s. The elite in general is fairly heterogeneous, recruited more or less from the whole country and not dominated by a particular age cohort. In terms of occupational background the important presence of civil servants, professors, military officers and professionals, characterized the elite. Many if not most of them would be of middle class milieus, sometimes upper sometimes middle-middle class. Apparently not many were businessmen, farmers or landowners without ancillary occupation - like the German Junkers - and practically none manual worker-trade unionist like many of the Labour Party MPs in Britain. The professional background suggests that ideas, ideologies, mentalities, legal thinking, were as or more important than the representation of economic or class interests. For each period attention has been paid to the most relevant aspects of the institutional framework, party system and cabinet structure, as well as the extent of elite replacement and - when applicable - the nature of regime change.


This study examined the differences and similarities between domestic and international negotiations, using Kelley's Negotiation Game to measure the profit achieved. There were 58 participants in the international negotiation sample, 29 Turkish and 29 European students. There were 62 Turkish students in the domestic negotiations. All participants studied business or related topics at a university in Izmir. Student t tests indicated statistically significant differences in scores on misrepresentation of information, interpersonal attraction, peer evaluation of misrepresentation information, and satisfaction between domestic and international negotiations.


Switched reluctance motors (SRMs) can provide an attractive traction drive for electric vehicle applications. To lower the investment in the off-board charging station facilities, a multi-functional switched reluctance motor topology is proposed on the basis of the traditional asymmetrical half-bridge converter. The SRM phase windings are employed as input filter inductors and centre-tapped windings are also developed to form symmetrical inductors for three-phase grid supply. Owing to the varying rotor position, phase inductors are unequal between one another. A hysteresis control scheme is therefore developed for grid-connection operation. In addition to AC supplies, the proposed topology can also supports the DC-source charging. A new current sharing strategy is employed to diminish the influence of the unequal winding inductances. The simulation and experimental tests are carried out to verify the proposed topology and control methods. Since this work eliminates the need for building charging station infrastructure, its potential economic impact on the automotive market can be significant.


Commercially available surgical-robot technology currently addresses many surgical scenarios for adult patients. This same technology cannot be used to the benefit of neonate patients given the considerably smaller workspace. Medically relevant procedures regarding neonate patients include minimally invasive surgery to repair congenital esophagus disorders, which entail the suturing of the fragile esophagus within the narrow neonate cavity. In this work, we explore the use of the SmartArm robotic system in a feasibility study using a neonate chest and esophagus model. We show that a medically inexperienced operator can perform two-throw knots inside the neonate chest model using the robotic system.


A 60 mm electrothermal-chemical (ETC) demonstrator was built and tested as part of the Navy's ship self defense development effort. The program conducted integrated tests of a new 60 mm rapid fire ETC gun/autoloader, CIWS mount, electric pulse power source, and ETC cartridge. The program has resulted in many advances in ETC propulsion including: reliable rapid fire electrothermal (ET) power transfer through a gun breech; repeatable rapid fire gun/propelling charge interface; and demonstration of ETC propulsion in an automatic gun system. Successful operation of the CIWS mount in an ETC environment has shown that EMI is not a significant design issue. The program has successfully proven that ETC technology is moving beyond the laboratory phase and is applicable to advanced weapon system development. >


The aim of the current investigation was to formulat e floating sustained-release matrices of metoprolol succinate using Gelucire 43/01 and Gelucire 44/14 by a melt-solidification technique. The in vitro and in vivo characteristics of the prepared matrices were evaluated. The in vitro drug release studies performed in 0.1 N HCl revealed a proportional increase in drug release pattern with increased concentration of Gelucire 44/14. Drug release data were analyzed by various mathematical models, and the mean dissolution time, Dissolution Efficiency, and similarity factor (f2) were determined in optimizing formulations. Differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed no chemical interaction between drug and carriers studied. The in vitro floating characteristics of Gelucire matrices were greater than 12 h with good in vivo gastric retention. The results indicate that Gelucire 43/01 is an appropriate carrier for the development of sustained-release floating drug delivery systems and Gelucire 44/14, a highly hydrophilic and lipophilic balance (HLB) excipient, acts as release enhancer in the formulations studied.


To each finite subset of $\mathbb{Z}^2$ (a diagram), one can associate a subvariety of a complex Grassmannian (a diagram variety), and a representation of a symmetric group (a Specht module). Liu has conjectured that the cohomology class of a diagram variety is represented by the Frobenius characteristic of the corresponding Specht module. We give a counterexample to this conjecture.However, we show that for the diagram variety of a permutation diagram, Liu's conjectured cohomology class $\sigma$ is at least an upper bound on the actual class $\tau$, in the sense that $\sigma - \tau$ is a nonnegative linear combination of Schubert classes. To do this, we exhibit the appropriate diagram variety as a component in a degeneration of one of Knutson's interval positroid varieties (up to Grassmann duality). A priori, the cohomology classes of these interval positroid varieties are represented by affine Stanley symmetric functions. We give a different formula for these classes as ordinary Stanley symmetric functions, one with the advantage of being Schur-positive and compatible with inclusions between Grassmannians.


A sample of powerful classical double radio sources, also known as FR II sources, has been assembled to study the properties of the radio sources and their gaseous environments, as well as the redshift evolution of these properties. The possibility that the observed redshift dependences of various parameters of interest are caused by radio power selection effects is investigated here using statistical tools such as two-parameter fitting and partial rank correlation analysis. It is found that the Mach number of lobe advance, the lobe propagation velocity, and the ambient gas density of the FR II sources are unlikely to be significantly affected by radio power selection effects. Hence, the observed redshift dependences of these parameters are likely to reflect real redshift evolution. A previous study by Wellman, Daly, & Wan indicates that the powerful FR II sources in this sample lie in cluster-like gaseous environments. The fact that the ambient gas density of the FR II sources is not affected by radio power selection means that these sources can be used to probe the evolution of their environments. Specifically, the observed decrease of the ambient gas density with redshift is likely to reflect real redshift evolution rather than being caused by radio power selection effects. It is interesting to note that the current data suggest that the Mach number of lobe advance is independent of redshift, while the lobe propagation velocity increases with redshift, as summarized in the final table in this paper. Radio power selection effects are likely to be quite weak, if present at all, in the study of the nonthermal pressure inside a classical double source, and the study of the characteristic size of a source. The two-parameter fitting and partial rank correlation analysis applied to the ambient gas temperature and luminosity in directed kinetic energy of the jet yield inconclusive results, so these direct analyses do not clearly indicate whether the redshift evolution of each of these two parameters is due to radio power selection effects. However, each parameter is estimated using other parameters such as the Mach number of lobe advance, the lobe propagation velocity, and the nonthermal pressure inside the radio lobe, which do not suffer significant radio power selection effects.


OBJECTIVE--To assess the relation between two risk factors for cervical neoplasia: smoking and infection with oncogenic human papillomavirus. It has been suggested that smoking causes a local immunological defect, which could facilitate the infection and persistence of human papillomavirus. DESIGN--Cross sectional epidemiological study. Completion of a structured questionnaire by the patients, analysis of cervical scrapes for human papillomavirus, and morphological examination of biopsy specimens. SETTING--Outpatient gynaecological clinic. SUBJECTS--181 women with a report of cervical cytological abnormality. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Prevalence of infection with oncogenic human papillomavirus and smoking habits. RESULTS--Oncogenic human papillomavirus was found in the cervix of 26 (41%) of the 63 women who did not smoke, 22 (58%) of the 38 who smoked 1-10 cigarettes a day, 28 (61%) of the 46 who smoked 11-20 cigarettes a day, and 26 (76%) of the 34 who smoked > or = 21 cigarettes a day. The prevalence of the virus thus increased in accordance with the number of cigarettes smoked (p = 0.001). This relation remained after adjustment for age at first intercourse and lifetime number of sexual partners. Of the 63 non-smokers, 23 had previously smoked at least 10 cigarettes a day at some time. Of these 23 women, 14 (61%) had oncogenic human papillomavirus in their cervix. Of the 40 women who had never smoked at least 10 cigarettes a day, 12 (30%) had the virus. The prevalence of oncogenic human papillomavirus in non-smokers therefore depended on previous smoking habits (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION--The dose dependent effect of cigarette smoking on the occurrence of oncogenic human papillomavirus favours a causal relation between these risk factors for cervical neoplasia.


This work proposed an image resolution enhancement technique which is based on the interpolation of the high frequency subbands obtained by DWT. The proposed technique uses DWT to decompose an image into different subbands, and then the high frequency subband images have been interpolated. The interpolated high frequency subband coefficients have been corrected by using the high frequency subbands achieved by SWT of the input image. An original image is interpolated with half of the interpolation factor used for interpolation the high frequency subbands. Afterwards all these images have been combined using IDWT to generate a super resolved imaged. The proposed technique has been tested on well-known benchmark images, where their PSNR, Mean Square Error and Entropy results show the superiority of proposed technique over the conventional and state-of-art image resolution enhancement techniques.


The European Union stands on the verge of an enlargement wave, which is without any historical precedent. Currently, negotiations are taking place with ten Central and Eastern European countries, Malta and Cyprus. These countries will have to incorporate the vast body of EU rules and laws (the so-called Acquis Communautair) that regulate the free movement of goods, services, capital and labour in the Internal Market. Moreover, they will have to foster the ability to function within this common market and withstand competitive pressures by developing full-fledged market economies and strong economic structures. This should form the basis for a successful economic integration into Europe. After EU accession, the final step in this integration process, as prescribed by the Treaty, would be the adoption of the single currency: the euro. Clearly, the accession process poses major challenges, in particular for the candidates in Central and Eastern Europe. As former communist plan economies, these countries focus on completing transition and making the necessary structural adjustments in their economies. Of course, these processes of transition and accession largely work in parallel. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the economic policy challenges involved and, in particular, to assess appropriate exchange rate regimes both before and after EU accession. As new Member States will be expected to eventually join monetary union, a key question is whether an early fixed peg to the euro in these strategies would be appropriate. The first part of this paper focuses on EU accession. An overview is given of the relative economic and structural position of Central and Eastern European candidates on the basis of the formal conditions for accession (the so-called Copenhagen criteria). Following from this assessment, major economic policy challenges in the process of catching-up are identified and set against actual exchange rate policies in candidate member states. The second part deals with the prospects for joining Economic and Monetary Union. It evaluates the readiness for euro adoption on the basis of legal requirements (the Maastricht criteria) and economic preconditions as prescribed by the optimum currency area theory. Subsequently, appropriate exchange rate regimes towards EMU are discussed, paying specific attention to the pros and cons of early euro adoption.


To ensure genome stability, sexually reproducing organisms require that mating brings together exactly two haploid gametes and that meiosis occurs only in diploid zygotes. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, fertilization triggers the Mei3-Pat1-Mei2 signaling cascade, which represses subsequent mating and initiates meiosis. Here, we establish a degron system to specifically degrade proteins post-fusion and demonstrate that mating blocks not only safeguard zygote ploidy but also prevent lysis caused by aberrant fusion attempts. Using long-term imaging and flow-cytometry approaches, we identify previously unrecognized and independent roles for Mei3 and Mei2 in zygotes. We show that Mei3 promotes premeiotic S-phase independently of Mei2 and that cell cycle progression is both necessary and sufficient to reduce zygotic mating behaviors. Mei2 imposes the meiotic program and promotes the meiotic cycle, but also blocks mating behaviors independently of Mei3 and cell cycle progression. Thus, we find that fungi preserve zygote ploidy and survival by at least two mechanisms where the zygotic fate imposed by Mei2 and the cell cycle re-entry triggered by Mei3 synergize to prevent zygotic mating.


The ClO2 chemical oxidation system and ClO2 catalytic oxidation system are studied in this paper. The results show that pH=6~8, 1000mg ClO2/L wastewater, reacting 60min are the most efficient and economical, when treating Acid Brilliant Scarlet GR dyestuff wastewater, the COD of which is 3500mg/L, by ClO2 chemical oxidation. The COD removal ratio exceeds 50%, and the oxidation index (COD removal amount/ ClO2 used amount) is 2.3. When treating the wastewater by catalytic oxidation which is composed of ClO2 and special catalyst, pH≈2, 800mg ClO2/L wastewater, reacting 45~60min are the most efficient and economical. The COD removal ratio exceeds 80%, and the oxidation index (COD removal amount/ ClO2 used amount) is 3.5. The cost of oxidant removing 1kg COD is ¥3.7. The effect is superior to that of ClO2chemical oxidation apparently. The study indicates that ClO2 catalytic oxidation is an efficient method to treat refractory wastewater and it'll have a broad prospect.


Objective: Penetrating skull injury (PSI) is a neurosurgical emergencies. Most PSI cases reported were caused by gunshot wounds. Although the diagnosis and management of those cases has been described, the actual cases, especially in our center, were quite rare. Methods: A craniectomy debridement with a supine position was performed and removal of the object was achieved. Intraoperatively, we succed control the bleeding as expected. Results: The patient was operated and hospitalized in our center; physical examination revealed neurologically intact before and after the removal of the object. The patient was sent home without any neurological deficits or other complications. Conclusions: We reported a case of penetrating skull injury in a 5-year-old girl caused by a scissors. Penetrating skull injuries were interesting due to its mechanism, management and complications. Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment should resulted in good outcomes. Keywords: Penetrating skull injury, a sharp metal object DOI: 10.15850/ijihs.v3n2.588


Abstract Due to its strong chalcophile character and the influence of its s2 lone-pair electrons on the crystal structure trivalent bismuth is extremely rare in silicate minerals, with Bi-contents in common silicates typically below 1 ppm. In the present paper, we report on an exceptionally Bi-rich variety of the rock-forming mineral vesuvianite with up to ca. 20 wt% Bi2O3, occasionally in combination with enhanced Pb contents up to ca. 5 wt% PbO. The mineral occurs as small (≤300 μm) idiomorphic, black crystals in a sulfide-free silicate skarn in the Långban Mn-Fe deposit, central Sweden. The major skarn minerals comprise Ba-rich potassium feldspar, albitic plagioclase, Pb-rich scapolite, and phlogopite, while Pb-rich epidote, vesuvianite, and calcic garnets are minor phases. The vesuvianite grains are intensely zoned displaying Bi-rich cores surrounded by thinner Bi-poor rims. Although generally high in bismuth, the crystal cores invariably show oscillatory zoning. In addition to high Bi- and Pb-contents, the crystals are occasionally enriched in copper, cerium, antimony, and arsenic, thus reflecting the complex chemistry and evolution of the Långban mineralization. Chemical analyses demonstrate a strong negative correlation between Ca and Bi, hence confirming that Bi replaces Ca at X sites of the vesuvianite structure. Concentrations of Si and Al are lower, while Fe and Ti contents are somewhat enhanced in the Bi-rich cores. Maximum Bi and Pb contents analyzed in the present vesuvianite crystals correspond to 3.19 and 0.87 atoms per formula unit, respectively. This exceeds by far previous reports in the literature. X-ray single-crystal diffraction studies of a crystal splinter with intermediate Bi-content (1.08 apfu) show that the space group P4/nnc is the most appropriate to describe the crystal structure; the refinement converged to an R1 index of 0.0493. The recorded unit-cell parameters, a = 15.7018(6), c = 11.8648(6) Å, and V = 2925.2(2) Å3, are to our knowledge the largest ones observed so far for P4/nnc vesuvianite. Bismuth was demonstrated to order at the X3′(Bi) site that is only 0.46 Å distant from the nearest X3(Ca) site. Consequently, the X3 and X3′ sites cannot be simultaneously fully occupied.


Higher-order telencephalic circuitry has been suggested to be especially vulnerable to irradiation or other developmentally toxic impact. This report details the adult effects of prenatal irradiation at a sensitive time point on clinically relevant brain functions controlled by telencephalic regions, hippocampus (HPC), and prefrontal cortex (PFC). Pregnant C57Bl6/J mice were whole-body irradiated at embryonic day 11 (start of neurogenesis) with X-ray intensities of 0.0, 0.5, or 1.0 Gy. Female offspring completed a broad test battery of HPC-/PFC-controlled tasks that included cognitive performance, fear extinction, exploratory, and depression-like behaviors. We examined neural functions that are mechanistically related to these behavioral and cognitive changes, such as hippocampal field potentials and long-term potentiation, functional brain connectivity (by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging), and expression of HPC vesicular neurotransmitter transporters (by immunohistochemical quantification). Prenatally exposed mice displayed several higher-order dysfunctions, such as decreased nychthemeral activity, working memory defects, delayed extinction of threat-evoked response suppression as well as indications of perseverative behavior. Electrophysiological examination indicated impaired hippocampal synaptic plasticity. Prenatal irradiation also induced cerebral hypersynchrony and increased the number of glutamatergic HPC terminals. These changes in brain connectivity and plasticity could mechanistically underlie the irradiation-induced defects in higher telencephalic functions.


Zeno and Pariati are the authors of the libretto Don Chisciotte in Sierra Morena, composed by Francesco Conti and represented for the first time in 1719 at the court of Charles VI in Vienna. The episode has a central position in the First Part of Don Quixote, and offers several themes and a set of characters that hinder any reduction other literary genres. Apart from some changes due both to the requirements of opera poetry and the taste of the time, the analysis of the text of the libretto reveals a faithful relationship with the corresponding chapters of the Spanish work. However, when analysing the development of the reception of the themes and characters of Quixote, starting from the date of its publication (1605), it is possible to verify how much seventeenth-century rewritings influenced some of the choices made by librettists.


Household water use structure can vary significantly depending on several factors like personal habits, socio-economic, cultural and climatic conditions. In the absence of Portuguese data on domestic water consumption, a field study was carried out in order to obtain information that could help support the definition of water conservation measures within the scope of the Portuguese National Program for the Efficient Use of Water. The paper describes the methodology and results obtained in this study, which involved approximately 100 participants that made a characterization of their appliances and detailed recordings of all water uses. Results allowed for the determination of average values of usage duration and frequency for each appliance, total volume consumed per water appliance and per capita water consumption. In terms of consumption structure, it was found that showering and bathing were the main components (36±13%) followed by taps (29±10%) and toilet flushing (21±7%).


I have taken a keen interest in the ongoing debate on the issue of the Bakassi Peninsula and the
contention by the National Assembly that the former President, President Olusegun Obasanjo, contrary
to section 12 of the 1999 Constitution, failed to involve it in the ratification process of the Green Tree
Agreement, a treaty between Nigeria and Cameroon. This Agreement is intended to implement the
judgement of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered on 10 October 2002 that, amongst other
things, awarded the ownership of Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon [See Land and Maritime Boundary
between Cameroon and Nigeria, ICJ Reports (2002), 303]. Article 1 of the Agreement states:
"Nigeria recognises the sovereignty of Cameroon over the Bakassi Peninsula in accordance with the
judgement of the International Court of Justice of 10 October 2002 in the matter of land and maritime
boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria. Cameroon and Nigeria recognise the land and maritime
boundary between the two countries as delineated by the Court and commit themselves to continuing
the process of implementation already begun."
The National Assembly appears to rely heavily on section 12 of the 1999 Constitution in arguing that the
Green Tree Agreement should have been referred to it for ratification, and the failure to do so would
make the Agreement unconstitutional, null and void. I am afraid this position would appear to be a
misconception of the legal effect of section 12, especially as regards the distinction between treatymaking and implementation, and the dual nature of Nigeria's obligation – its obligation under
international law and national law. This write up seeks to contribute to the clarification of this
misconception.


Numerical investigation on latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) systems with phase change materials (PCMs) vertically heated from one side with novel stepped fins is presented. Transient numerical simulation by using the enthalpy-porosity method is performed to investigate the heat transfer rate and melting behaviors, while the natural convection is considered. To improve the PCM melting process, different upward and downward stepped fins with the step ratios (b/c) of 0.66, 1, 1.5, 2.33 and 4 are employed. The melt fraction and temperature contours by consideration the natural convection effects are presented. The results show that at the beginning of the melting process, the fins in the downward direction with b/c=0.66 improve the PCM melting rate than the other cases, as the part of the heat is well transferred to the bottom of container along the fins and heat is trapped between the heated wall and the fins. The results show that the melting process in all of the tested stepped fins is faster than the conventional horizontal fins. The results show that by using downward stepped fins (b/c=0.4) instead of conventional horizontal fins, the melting process could be enhanced up to 56.3% at t=800sec and 65.5% at t=3600sec.


The paper reviews the theory of environmental taxation under first best and second best conditions. It argues that negative environmental externalities lead to reductions of the provision of public goods, while investment in abatement increases the supply of public goods. Together with optimal tax rules, the paper therefore also derives conditions for the optimal use of resources on abatement. After brief discussions of the dimensions of time and uncertainty, tax reform and the double dividend, and taxes versus quotas, the optimal tax model is applied to the problem of global warming with a discussion of the particular incentive problems that arise in designing and implementing global climate policy.


Implementation of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) is designed to relieve pressure on tropical forests, however, many are concerned that it is a threat to the rights of forest communities. These potential risks need serious attention as earlier studies have shown that the Asia-Pacific region is a forest conflict hotspot, with many economic, environmental and social implications at global (e.g. climate change) to local levels (e.g. poverty). Drawing on an analysis of nine case studies from four countries (Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal and Vietnam) this paper examines why and how REDD+ can be a driver for forest conflict and how it also has the potential to simultaneously transform these conflicts. The analytical framework, "sources of impairment", applied in the study was developed to increase understanding and facilitate the resolution of forest landscape conflicts in a sustainable manner (i.e. transformation). The main findings are that REDD+ can be a source of conflict in the study sites, but also had transformative potential when good practices were followed. For example, in some sites, the REDD+ projects were sources of impairment for forest communities by restricting access to forest resources. However, the research also identified REDD+ projects that enabled the participation of traditionally marginalized groups and built local forest management capacities, leading to strengthened tenure for some forest communities. Similarly, in some countries REDD+ has served as a mechanism to pilot Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), which will likely have significant impacts in mitigating conflicts by addressing the sources at local to national levels. Based on these findings, there are many reasons to be optimistic that REDD+ can address the underlying causes of forest landscape conflicts, especially when linked with other governance initiatives such as Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade – Voluntary Participation Agreements (FLEGT-VPA).


In this work, a new concept is introduced for active corrosion protection at damaged sites aiming at overcoming existing limitations of currently proposed strategies based on dispersed inhibitor‐loaded nanocontainers in coatings. The underlying principle is based on the formation of low‐density and/or humidity responsive interconnected paths of inhibitor in the coating, what is called inhibiting nanonetworks. Such an approach allows for (on‐demand) long‐term local supply of corrosion inhibitor at the damage site. For the proof‐of‐concept, water responsive inhibiting nanonetworks based on polyvinyl alcohol and two known efficient corrosion inhibitors for AA2024‐T3 (cerium chloride and lithium carbonate) using electrospinning are developed. The inhibiting nanonetworks are obtained by subsequently embedding the electrospun fiber mats in thermoset epoxy coatings applied on AA2024‐T3. The coated panels are scratched and exposed to NaCl solutions for a month while continuously monitoring the protective properties electrochemically and optically in a hyphenated setup. The effect of the corrosion inhibitor type and the partial crosslinking of the mat on release and protection are analyzed. Protection levels at relatively big damaged sites are obtained for at least a month immersion thereby proving the benefits of high inhibitor quantities continuously released in time.


In order to solve the potential conflict problem of product design factor optimization in design for remanufacturing, an idea to transform design conflict problem into mathematical model based on game theory was proposed. In the process of design for remanufacturing, a bargaining theory-based conflict resolution method was established by improving the theory of Nash-Zesen bargaining. Energy consumption and cost were analyzed by the given conflict resolution method, and the validity of the method was verified.


The demand for lightweight, good performance and high efficiency for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is ever increasing in both industrial and transportation sectors. High performance PEMFCs require the use of advanced bipolar plates with high electrical conductivity and good mechanical strength. This can be achieved by using high performance polymer composites reinforced with carbon nanotubes, expanded graphite and graphite nanoplatelets having high electrical conductivity and large aspect ratio. This article provides a state-of-the-art review for the current development, manufacturing and structure–property relationship of polymer nanocomposites designed for bipolar plate applications.


Finned tube heat exchangers are important because of their direct impact on energy and material use in petrochemical, power, transportation, and HV AC/R systems. The design of effective heat exchangers has direct social, economic, and environmental ramifications. Design improvements rely on a clear understanding of the flow and heat transfer interactions in the complex flowfields which exist in heat exchangers. In this thesis, results are presented from experiments conducted to develop a more complete understanding of heat exchanger performance. Using a novel adaptation of the naphthalene sublimation method, optically measured sublimation depths are used to determine local mass transfer coefficients with very high spatial resolution. Local and average heat transfer data are inferred through the heat and mass analogy. These heat transfer data are also used to numerically compute true fin efficiencies. These true efficiencies are compared to the analytical solution of Gardner, which assumes a constant heat transfer coefficient over the entire fin surface. Pressure drop data are also presented, and thus a complete measure of heat transfer and pumping power performance for each finned tube arrangement is provided. Four different annularly finned tube banks are examined in a Reynolds number range from 5,000 to 30,000: a conventional single-row exchanger, a baffled single-row exchanger, a staggered two row exchanger and an inline two row device. The heat transfer results are compare quite well to several existing bundle correlations. In contrast to earlier work, these experiments indicate that Gardner's solution is a very good approximation to the true fin efficiency over a wide range of conditions. Reasons for this discrepancy between the current study and previous work are presented. The data for the inline and staggered tube banks surprisingly indicate that the inline configuration may be superior to the staggered arrangement for high profile fins. Justification for this conclusion is provided by comparison to other studies and analysis of the local heat/mass transfer data. Finally, this study provides the first pressure drop data for gull-wing baffling. The results indicate that the unbaffled geometry provides nearly the same heat transfer with only 20 to 25% of the pressure drop penalty in the Reynolds number range of interest.


We report the first case of distichiasis combined with entropion in a HER2‐positive metastatic breast cancer patient treated by pertuzumab, trastuzumab, and docetaxel combination therapy. After 7 months, she had ocular complaints including pain, irritation, burning, dryness, and redness in her both eyes. Ophthalmologic examination revealed distichiasis and a mild entropion involving her lower eyelids bilaterally. She remained free of symptom and in complete response to maintenance chemotherapy.


Recent advances in RFID (radio frequency identification) technology promises to create a wireless circuitry capable of interfacing with biological systems for acquisition, identification and processing of biological data based on radio frequency interaction. Thus, the RFID tag can be attached not only to consumer products and form part of the supply chain, but also to animals, plants and in particular human body. This paper describes the strategy for the design of a novel RFID tag, which stores vital biological information such as body temperature and blood pressure and heartbeat in accordance with the EPC global Class-1 standard. Biological data is obtained from a sensor technology that is based on resistance deviation-to-pulse width converter. The integrated chip consists of an analog front end, command interpreter, collision avoidance block, data storage, sensors, and interface circuitry. The system is capable of supporting heartbeats in the range of 40~200 beats per a minute and blood pressure 0~300mmHg. The proposed system employs collision free algorithm that supports access to single tag within a multiple tag environment. The approach facilitates intelligent management of patients in hospitals as part of an integrated healthcare management system.


Herein we report an atom- and step-economic aromatic cyanoalkylation reaction that employs nitriles as building blocks and proceeds through Csp(2)-H and Csp(3)-H bond activation steps mediated by Ni(III). In addition to cyanomethylation with MeCN, regioselective α-cyanoalkylation was observed with various nitrile substrates to generate secondary and tertiary nitriles. Importantly, to the best of our knowledge these are the first examples of C-H bond activation reactions occurring at a Ni(III) center, which may exhibit different reactivity and selectivity profiles than those corresponding to analogous Ni(II) centers. These studies provide guiding principles to design catalytic C-H activation and functionalization reactions involving high-valent Ni species.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the methods for diagnosis and treatment of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma.

METHODS
The clinical features, results of laboratory tests and treatment of 16 cases were studied retrospectively.

RESULTS
Three cases were diagnosed before operation, 10 underwent laporatomy, 1 emergency operation and 2 received laparoscopic operation. In the 12 patients who were followed up, 1 survived for more than 2 years, and 2 patients still receiving treatment had survived for more than 1 year after operation.

CONCLUSIONS
Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma does not present typical symptoms and the diagnosis is usually difficult, which depends on examinations of the exfoliative cell, abdominal paracentesis, laparoscopic probing and laporatomy. The prognosis is often unfavorable. Comprehensive therapies might prolong the survival of the patients.


Our understanding of the processes involved in the Indo-Asian collision and the construction of the Tibetan Plateau are, in part, predicated on our understanding of the tectonic setting and crustal conditions of southern Tibet in the time period immediately preceding the Indo-Asian collision (Late Cretaceous). Several hypotheses have been proposed that describe the middle to Late Cretaceous tectonic and paleogeographic evolution of southern Tibet, each with different implications for when and how the Tibetan Plateau was uplifted. We examined the mid-upper Cretaceous Takena Formation of the Lhasa terrane in southern Tibet in order to reconstruct the middle to Late Cretaceous tectono-sedimentary history of this area and test the competing tectonic hypotheses. The Takena Formation consists of >2 km of sedimentary strata that include a lower marine limestone member (Penbo Member) and an upper member of clastic red beds (Lhunzhub Member). The Aptian-Albian Penbo Member consists of ~250 m of orbitolinid-limestone beds that were deposited in a shallow-marine seaway during a time when there was little regional subsidence. The overlying Lhunzhub Member (>1500 m) consists primarily of fl strata that were deposited during a period of increased subsidence. Overall, the Lhunzhub Member coarsens upward from meandering and anastomosing stream deposits interbedded with numerous paleosols near the base, to multistory-multilateral braided stream deposits near the top. The fl uvial sandstone units are lithic-rich and contain abundant plagioclase and volcanic grains, and paleocurrent data record northwest-directed transport; these data indicate that the sediment was derived from the Gangdese volcanic arc that developed along the southern margin of the Lhasa terrane. Following deposition, but prior to ca. 70 Ma, the beds of the Takena Formation were folded and partially eroded. The sedimentary and stratigraphic characteristics of the Takena Formation are most consistent with deposition in a retroarc foreland basin setting. The limestone beds of the Penbo Member were deposited in a shallowmarine seaway that was eventually infi lled by clastic sediment derived principally from the Gangdese volcanic arc. The low subsidence rate recorded in the lowermost strata of the Takena Formation, including the Penbo Member and the paleosol-rich interval of the Lhunzhub Member, is interpreted to be associated with the passage of a fl exural forebulge. The overlying, upward-coarsening fl uvial strata were deposited in progressively more proximal locations within the foredeep of a foreland basin. The Late Cretaceous folding of the Takena Formation indicates that the foreland basin strata were eventually incorporated into a fold-and-thrust belt. The upper Cretaceous sedimentary strata of the Lhasa terrane of southern Tibet predict that a north-verging fold-and-thrust belt existed along the southern margin of the Lhasa terrane during Late Cretaceous time, prior to the Indo-Asian collision. Collectively, the evidence indicates that the southern margin of the Lhasa terrane had thickened crust and was likely to have been at high elevations immediately before the Indo-Asian collision.


—Wood Turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) have experienced population declines across their North American range and are state-listed as threatened in Minnesota, USA. To improve our understanding of the current conservation status of one population in northeastern Minnesota, we: (1) performed a snapshot comparison of population structure and relative abundance in 1990 and 2015 using survey data at 12 sites; (2) estimated the population growth rate (λ) from 1997–2014 based on population monitoring data at six sites; (3) estimated change in abundance between 2016 and 2017 based on population monitoring data at eight sites; and (4) performed a population reconstruction to estimate the minimum Glyptemys insculpta alive each year and geometric mean of λ from 1990 to 2017. The snapshot comparison indicated that relative abundance, adult sex ratio, and juvenile:adult ratio did not significantly differ between years. Captures/hour was higher in 1990 than in 2015. Mean λ from six sites monitored from 1997–2014 was 1.016, indicating the population was stable over that period. However, abundance estimates from surveys at eight sites in 2016 and 2017 indicated a substantial decrease from 247 to 112 individuals. The population reconstruction estimated a mean λ of 1.007 and 0.970 from 1990–2005 and 2006–2017, respectively. In northeastern Minnesota, Glyptemys insculpta exists in a forested landscape with predominantly public ownership and little development pressure, likely avoiding many anthropogenic stressors. However, we obtained equivocal results for our population status assessment. Continued monitoring is necessary to understand the trajectory of this Glyptemys insculpta population.


The Internet possesses not only features of mass media but also features of word of mouth communication. Communication channel is considered as one of most important variables in diffusion process. In this paper, we examined functionality of technology diffusion on the Internet through the use of meta tags. We have measured the coefficients of the Bass diffusion model which has been well-established in new product diffusion. This research shows that the Bass model is appropriate for describing technology diffusion on the Internet. The external influence as represented by the coefficient of innovation was found to be much smaller while the internal influence dominates in all meta tag diffusion. In meta tag diffusion, the internal influence as represented by the coefficient of imitation was increased at least twice bigger than that of consumer durables and information technology. Collecting necessary data in social sciences research can be a burden. This research shows that it can be alleviated through the use of software agents over the Internet. The research made use of software agents for collecting longitudinal data from publicly accessible archive such as Archive.org.


Sex determination using mandible parameters is population dependent. In order to assess which measurements better characterize sex in prehispanic individuals from the Canary Islands, we blindly contrasted the results obtained by visual inspection and osteometric measurements with those obtained by molecular sexing using amelogenin ancient DNA analysis on teeth from the same material. Unambiguous sex classification was achieved by amplification of sex specific amelogenin alleles in 56 out of 76 mandibles (73.78% of the cases). Visual inspection led to a correct diagnosis in 66.04% of cases, with a greater proportion of errors for female (54.17%) than male (17.24%) mandibles. Osteometric measurements were able to assign sex correctly in 72.2% in the best of cases (mandibular height), a proportion similar to that obtained using a discriminant function (71.2%). By logistic regression analysis, ramus breadth, index ramus breadth/ramus height and mandibular length were the parameters independently related with a mistaken diagnosis of female sex, whereas bigonial width, ramus height and mandibular length were the parameters more closely and independently related to a mistaken diagnosis of male sex. In conclusion, diagnosis based on visual examination of the mandible or on its metric measurement only serves to roughly estimate sex with an accuracy of around 70% or less, at least among the prehispanic population from Gran Canaria. Amplification of amelogenin alleles leads to unambiguous identification of male and female alleles in 73.68% of cases, at least among the prehispanic population from Gran Canaria. 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


This paper presents the generation of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) with high specificity against enrofloxacin (ENR) through cell fusion procedures, and the development of a mAb-based indirect competitive ELISA (icELISA) method to detect ENR residue using one of these Hybridomas (clone 4B5-D6). Under the optimal experimental conditions, this assay exhibited a working range of 0.004-38 ng/mL with IC50 and LOD values of 0.4 and 0.002 ng/mL, respectively. Except for a high cross-reactivity (105.2%) to Ciprofloxacin, negligible cross-reactivity to the other compounds was observed. After optimization, 10% of methanol was used in the assay buffer and this ELISA system can tolerate acetonitrile not higher than 10%. Recovery studies indicate that an excellent correlation between concentration spiked and concentration determined was found, and the results also suggest this assay has the potential to be incorporated into a quantitative monitoring program for the rapid screening of ENR residue in poultry tissues.


The snake Phalotris lemniscatus is a polymorphic species regarding color, which varies between light shades with a yellow predominance (pale yellow-brown) to darker shades with a red predominance (red-dark). Pale yellow-brown individuals are more frequent in coastal populations while there is a tendency of increasing the frequency of red-dark morphs in inland areas. Considering the variation in substrate color along the species distribution (light/sandy on the coast to reddish and dark/argillaceous in inland areas), we raise the hypothesis that the predation rate of each morph would be lower in sites were its crypsis potential is higher. If correct, this hypothesis would reinforce the idea that the predation risk is one of the factors influencing the spatial structuring in morph frequency distributions in populations of P. lemniscatus . To test this hypothesis, we performed a field experiment using plasticine P. lemniscatus artificial models that represent two morphs: red-dark and pale yellow-brown. The models were distributed in three localities where the following substrate types predominate: light (Coastal Site), intermediary (Lowland Site) and reddish dark (Highland Site). Our predictions were corroborated only at the coastal site, where the less cryptic morph was the most preyed one. We verified that there is a regional variation in the predation risk on different morphs. Thus, the possibility that the selective pressure by predators is a relevant element in the structuring of the frequencies of different morph populations of this species cannot be completely excluded.


This study examined the risk for postoperative complications, reoperations, and readmissions for patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), and patients without diabetes undergoing total joint replacements (TJRs). The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was queried for all primary TJRs in 2015. The study identified 78,744 TJRs (84.1% nondiabetic patients, 12.0% NIDDM, and 3.9% IDDM). Multiple logistic regression models identified IDDM as an independent risk factor for increased blood loss, myocardial infarctions, pneumonia, renal insufficiency, urinary tract infections, and readmissions when compared with both NIDDM and nondiabetics. Risk for wound complications and reoperations were comparable between all three groups. IDDM increases the risk for medical complications and readmissions after TJRs. Physicians must counsel patients on the increased risks associated with IDDM before elective surgery and provide appropriate medical support for these patients. (Journal of Surgical Orthopaedic Advances 27(4):294-298, 2018).


BACKGROUND AND AIMS
Pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV, or 'PrEP', is the use of antiretroviral medicines by people who are HIV-negative to protect themselves against acquiring HIV. PrEP has shown efficacy for preventing HIV acquisition. Despite the potential, many concerns have been voiced by people who inject drugs (PWID) and their organizations. There is a need to engage with these views and ensure their integration in to policy and strategy. This paper presents PWID views on PrEP to foster the uptake of these opinions into scientific and policy debate around PrEP METHODS: Critical analysis of a report of a community consultation led by the International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD).

RESULTS
The INPUD report highlights enthusiasm from PWID for PrEP, but also three main concerns: the feasibility and ethics of PrEP, its potential use as a substitute for other harm reduction strategies and how a focus on PrEP heralds a re-medicalization of HIV. Each concern relates to evidenced gaps in essential services or opposition to harm reduction and PWID human rights.

CONCLUSIONS
People who use drugs have fundamental concerns about the potential impacts of pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV which reflect a 'fault line' in HIV prevention: a predominance of biomedical approaches over community perspectives. Greater community engagement in HIV prevention strategy is needed, or we risk continuing to ignore the need for action on the underlying structural drivers and social context of the HIV epidemic.


Information systems have been a well researched topic based on their development, implementation, effectiveness, success and more recently Business-IT alignment. Of late, since the new model of IS function which includes a significant "service" component, there have been number of studies on "how to measure IT/IS service quality using the SERVQUAL instrument". Our literature review, however, has revealed that there are few studies which provide a holistic view of which organizational factors affect the attributes of SERVQUAL and in what manner. In this paper, we first identify the individual organizational factors affecting the quality of IT service, and then develop a conceptual model to classify those factors and their relationships. The goal of our project is to study how those factors affect the quality of IT services and, with that understanding, to find ways to improve the quality of IT services. The proposed framework will facilitate organizations to judge the present state of their IT ecosystem and guide them to improve their IT service quality.


Background The historical Japanese influenza vaccination program targeted at schoolchildren provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the indirect benefits of vaccinating high-transmitter groups to mitigate disease burden among seniors. Here we characterize the indirect mortality benefits of vaccinating schoolchildren based on data from Japan and the US. Methods We compared age-specific influenza-related excess mortality rates in Japanese seniors aged ≥65 years during the schoolchildren vaccination program (1978–1994) and after the program was discontinued (1995–2006). Indirect vaccine benefits were adjusted for demographic changes, socioeconomics and dominant influenza subtype; US mortality data were used as a control. Results We estimate that the schoolchildren vaccination program conferred a 36% adjusted mortality reduction among Japanese seniors (95%CI: 17–51%), corresponding to ∼1,000 senior deaths averted by vaccination annually (95%CI: 400–1,800). In contrast, influenza-related mortality did not change among US seniors, despite increasing vaccine coverage in this population. Conclusions The Japanese schoolchildren vaccination program was associated with substantial indirect mortality benefits in seniors.


A mathematical optimisation method utilising the BLIND algorithm was used for model calibration and subsequent simulations on an ASM No.1. based platform. The calibration of model parameters was fulfilled with the use of operational data of a large wastewater treatment plant (of 80000 m3·d-1 capacity) owing a high-load activated sludge stage (sludge age of 1.8-2.5 d) with a subsequent nutrient removal biofiltration system. The calibrated model was applied for the optimisation of the multi-point addition of nitrifying biomass (i.e. step-seeding) and air supply in the high load system that has a bioreactor with plug flow characteristics. Results of model simulation showed, that with addition of nitrifyers in three points may enhance nitrification by about 9% comparing to the single point addition at the head of the reactor. Nitrogen removal can be further increased by about 8% with optimising air supply along the reactor length. Results showed, that the step-seeding concept may convey a potential in nitrogen removal enhancement in combined systems with separate nitrification/denitrification units, since optimised addition of the biomass can be easily performed.


Aortic disease can present as an acute chest pain syndrome. Although aortic dissection is the most common etiology, other processes such as intramural hematoma (IMH) and penetrating atherosclerotic ulcers are being increasingly recognized. They can all be accurately identified by computed tomography (CT) imaging or transesophageal echocardiography. The overlap between these processes regarding definition and mechanism is controversial. Treatment for all three conditions has thus far been dictated by location, wherein ascending or arch involvement (Stanford type A) necessitates surgery and descending disease (type B) is treated medically. Small studies suggest that subgroups of type A IMH may be treated medically with good outcomes.


The Science for Life Laboratory Drug Discovery and Development Platform (SciLifeLab DDD) was established in Stockholm and Uppsala, Sweden, in 2014. It is one of ten platforms of the Swedish national SciLifeLab which support projects run by Swedish academic researchers with large-scale technologies for molecular biosciences with a focus on health and environment. SciLifeLab was created by the coordinated effort of four universities in Stockholm and Uppsala: Stockholm University, Karolinska Institutet, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Uppsala University, and has recently expanded to other Swedish university locations. The primary goal of the SciLifeLab DDD is to support selected academic discovery and development research projects with tools and resources to discover novel lead therapeutics, either molecules or human antibodies. Intellectual property developed with the help of SciLifeLab DDD is wholly owned by the academic research group. The bulk of SciLifeLab DDD's research and service activities are funded from the Swedish state, with only consumables paid by the academic research group through individual grants.


We present new eclipse observations of the polar (i.e. semidetached magnetic white dwarf + M-dwarf binary) HU Aqr, and mid-egress times for each eclipse, which continue to be observed increasingly early. Recent eclipses occurred more than 70 s earlier than the prediction from the latest model that invoked a single circumbinary planet to explain the observed orbital period variations, thereby conclusively proving this model to be incorrect. Using ULTRACAM data, we show that mid-egress times determined for simultaneous data taken at different wavelengths agree with each other. The large variations in the observed eclipse times cannot be explained by planetary models containing up to three planets, because of poor fits to the data as well as orbital instability on short time-scales. The peak-to-peak amplitude of the O−C diagram of almost 140 s is also too great to be caused by Applegate's mechanism, movement of the accretion spot on the surface of the white dwarf, or by asynchronous rotation of the white dwarf. What does cause the observed eclipse time variations remains a mystery.


Vegetation and terrain analyses of 1312 air photos spanning the subarctic, low arctic, and portions of the adjacent high boreal region of northwestern Canada permitted geographic characterization of the areal pattern of burned forest and forest-tundra vegetation. In terms of its lower areal extent of burns, and lower frequency of air photos showing burns, the forest-tundra is distinct from both open crown and closed crown forest regions. Burns show a general decrease in areal coverage from the northwest (Mackenzie River to Great Bear Lake: 0-50% of the terrain) to the southeast (Great Slave Lake to Hudson Bay: 0-10%). In the northwest, the flat till plains, high cover of continuous mature forest, and scarcity of lakes, coupled with dominance of slowly regenerating white spruce (in the forest-tundra) may help to account for the extensive burned vegetation. In the eastern half of the study region, the northern limit of burns normally does not extend beyond the line where tree cover equals upland tundra cover. In this eastern sub-region, tree cover decreases rapidly northward within the southern half of forest-tundra, constraining the areal extent of individual burns. Burns extend about 25-75 km into the forest-tundra, decreasing in areal coverage with distance east of Great Slave Lake. Burn cover in the forest-tundra north of Great Slave Lake generally exceeds that east of Great Slave Lake. Weather patterns and an abundance of lakes may help to account for the lower cover of burns east of Great Slave Lake. Burns north of Great Slave Lake peak in cover in the low Subarctic along a NW-SE axis that lies NE of high fire risk and occurrence zones. Strong correlations were observed between burn cover and upland tundra cover (-r) and between burn cover and the tree:upland tundra cover ratio (+r). Key words: boreal, climate, fire ecology, Northwest Territories, spruce, Subarctic, vegetation, weather


We describe a family of object detectors that provides state-of-the-art error rates on several important datasets including INRIA people and PASCAL VOC'06 and VOC'07. The method builds on a number of recent advances. It uses the Latent SVM learning framework and a rich visual feature set that incorporates Histogram of Oriented Gradient, Local Binary Pattern and Local Ternary Pattern descriptors. Partial Least Squares dimensionality reduction is included to speed the training of the basic classifier with no loss of accuracy, and to allow a two-stage quadratic classifier that further improves the results. \iflong A simple sparsification technique can reduce the size of the feature set by around 70% with little loss of accuracy.\fi We evaluate our methods and compare them to other recent ones on several datasets. Our basic root detectors outperform the single component part-based ones of Felzenszwalb et.al on 9 of 10 classes of VOC'06 (12% increase in Mean Average Precision) and 11 of 20 classes of VOC'07 (7% increase in MAP). On the INRIA Person dataset, they increase the Average Precision by 12% relative to Dalal \& Triggs.


Volume 20 of "Advances in International Marketing" guest-edited by Professors Sinkovics and Ghauri, addresses the impact on international marketing of major trends in the external and internal environment of the firm: technology-enabled international marketing research, global account management, procurement and international supplier networks, internationalization of small and entrepreneurial firms, outsourcing and offshoring, and reliability and validity issues for construct measurement. The volume is organized in four part. Part one presents a selection of papers that focus on the internationalization process of the firm. Part two combines studies with a small firm perspective and a focus on entrepreneurship. In the Part 3 on collaborative relationships, three studies examine value creation in strategic alliances, investigate reasons for international joint venture dissolution and offer a conceptual contribution on diversification - whether diversification results in a firm's value premium or a firm's value discount. Part 4 is devoted to methodological advancements. This section provides excellent examples of methodological challenges faced by today's scholars and managers alike.


Melatonin, the hormone of darkness, is a peculiar molecule found in most living organisms. Emerging as a potent broad-spectrum antioxidant, melatonin was repurposed into extra roles such as the modulation of circadian and seasonal rhythmicity, affecting numerous aspects of physiology and behaviour, including sleep entrainment and locomotor activity. Interestingly, the pineal gland—the melatonin synthesising organ in vertebrates—was suggested to be absent or rudimentary in some mammalian lineages, including Cetacea. In Cetacea, pineal regression is paralleled by their unique bio-rhythmicity, as illustrated by the unihemispheric sleeping behaviour and long-term vigilance. Here, we examined the genes responsible for melatonin synthesis (Aanat and Asmt) and signalling (Mtnr1a and Mtnr1b) in 12 toothed and baleen whale genomes. Based on an ample genomic comparison, we deduce that melatonin-related gene modules are eroded in Cetacea.


Objective: To demonstrate the association between various measures of spinal mobility and radiographic damage of the spine in individual patients with ankylosing spondylitis, and to determine whether the assessment of spinal mobility can be a proxy for the assessment of radiographic damage. Methods: Radiographic damage was assessed by the mSASSS. Cumulative probability plots combined the radiographic damage score of an individual patient with the corresponding score for nine spinal mobility measures. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to determine the cut off level of every spinal mobility measure that discriminates best between the presence and absence of radiographic damage. Three arbitrary cut off levels for radiographic damage were investigated. Likelihood ratios were calculated to explore further the diagnostic properties of the spinal mobility measures. Results: Cumulative probability plots showed an association between spinal mobility measures and radiographic damage for the individual patient. Irrespective of the chosen cut off level for radiographic progression, lateral spinal flexion and BASMI discriminated best between patients with and those without structural damage. Even the best discriminatory spinal mobility assessments misclassified a considerable proportion of patients (up to 20%). Intermalleolar distance performed worst (up to 30% misclassifications). Lateral spinal flexion best predicted the absence of radiographic damage, and a modified Schober test best predicted the presence of radiographic damage. Conclusion: This study unequivocally demonstrated a relationship between spinal mobility and radiographic damage. However, spinal mobility cannot be used as a proxy for radiographic evaluation in an individual patient.


Necrotizing fasciitis is a severe, potentially fatal, soft tissue infection. Group A streptococci are the main infectious agents. Early surgical treatment is decisive for the outcome. This report includes 20 patients treated consecutively during a four and a half year period, ten women and ten men, 28 to 78 years of age. Condition at admission to hospital, time from symptom appearance to operation, treatment and results are described. All patients had signs of local infection with rubor and swellings. Severe localized pain was typical. Surgical diagnostic exploration confirmed the diagnosis and led to prompt surgical debridement of all affected tissues. Three patients died, 12 survived without severe sequela and five survived with amputated leg or arm. Necrotizing fasciitis has changed from being a rare disease primarily affecting immunocompromised patients to occurring more frequently also among otherwise healthy individuals. By diseases with local soft tissue infection a liberal use of surgical exploration leads to diagnosis. Increased knowledge of the disease and adherence to a treatment protocol based on antibiotic therapy and mandatory aggressive surgery has probably improved the results with no case fatality in the latter half of the study period.


Generative commonsense reasoning which aims to empower machines to generate sentences with the capacity of reasoning over a set of concepts is a critical bottleneck for text generation. Even the state-of-the-art pre-trained language generation models struggle at this task and often produce implausible and anomalous sentences. One reason is that they rarely consider incorporating the knowledge graph which can provide rich relational information among the commonsense concepts. To promote the ability of commonsense reasoning for text generation, we propose a novel knowledge graph augmented pre-trained language generation model KG-BART, which encompasses the complex relations of concepts through the knowledge graph and produces more logical and natural sentences as output. Moreover, KG-BART can leverage the graph attention to aggregate the rich concept semantics that enhances the model generalization on unseen concept sets. Experiments on benchmark CommonGen dataset verify the effectiveness of our proposed approach by comparing with several strong pre-trained language generation models, particularly KG-BART outperforms BART by 5.80, 4.60, in terms of BLEU-3, 4. Moreover, we also show that the generated context by our model can work as background scenarios to benefit downstream commonsense QA tasks.


A direct synthesis and design technique of pseudoelliptic in-line filters with one or two real transmission zeros (TZs) is presented. It is shown that the phase of the reflection coefficient must be properly and uniquely determined for the synthesis to succeed. The TZs (attenuation poles) are brought about and independently controlled by dedicated resonators at the input and output. Each attenuation pole is located at the resonant frequency of its dedicated resonator. Frequency-independent reactances at the input and output are used to replace the phase shifts used in the extracted-pole technique. This novel approach is verified by several waveguide cavity filter designs. The analyzed characteristics of these filters, obtained with commercial full-wave computer-aided-design tools, agree very well with the synthesis results. A third-order filter with one TZ above the passband is designed, fabricated, and measured. Excellent agreement between the measurement and simulation is obtained.


Background: The aims of this study were to explore the factors influencing nutritional recovery in patients after critical illness and develop a model of care to improve current management of nutrition for this patient group. Methods: A grounded theory approach was adopting using observations of patient's nutritional care, 37 interviews with 17 patients during their ward stay and 14 follow up interviews at three months post ICU discharge Results: 'Interrelated system breakdowns during the nutritional recovery process' emerged as the overarching core category that influenced patients' experiences of eating after critical illness. This encompassed the categories, 'experiencing a dysfunctional body' 'experiencing socio-cultural changes in relation to eating' and 'encountering nutritional care delivery failures'. Conclusions: The findings from this study provide a unique contribution to knowledge by offering important insights into patients' experiences of eating after critical illness. The study identified numerous nutritional problems and raised questions about the efficacy of current nutritional management in this patient group. Adopting a more individualised approach to nutritional care would ameliorate the nutritional issues experienced by post ICU patients. Introduction Good nutrition is fundamental to patients' well-being (Brogden 2004) with the provision of effective nutritional care involving "a co-ordinated approach to the delivery of food and fluid by different health professionals, and views the patient as an individual with needs and preferences. It is the process that determines a person's preferences and cultural needs, defines his or her physical requirements, and then provides the person with what is needed. It follows a person's progress through an illness, by responding to changing nutritional requirements. It involves the monitoring and reassessment of nutritional status at regular intervals, referral for specialist care when appropriate, and good communication with services in the community. Good nutritional care will involve training for staff, carers and patients, and access to information" (NHS QIS 2003 p17). There have been numerous recommendations and strategies directed at improving nutritional care in hospital in the form of guidelines and policy documents. The Department of Health has published a number of documents focusing on improving nutritional care in hospitals. Consultation with patients carried out for The NHS Plan (DH 2000a) identified problems with food quality and structure of meals in hospital. The 'Better Hospital Food Programme' was detailed in the NHS Plan (DH 2000a) and proposed a number of standards to ensure the provision of quality food. These standards included recommendations for the frequency of meals and snacks, availability of food 24 hours a day, a suggestion to move the main meal to the evening, adoption of a new NHS menu design, menus that meet the needs of the population group and have been analysed for nutritional adequacy by a dietitian. In 2004 the Better Hospital Food Programme (DH 2004a) introduced protected mealtimes. The purpose of a Protected Mealtime Policy was to minimise interruptions at mealtimes, facilitate an environment conducive to eating and provide patients with necessary assistance at mealtimes. This initiative was supported by a number of professional organisations including the Royal College of Nursing, the British Association of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition and the Hospital Caterers Association. The Better Food campaign was terminated in 2007 by the Department of Health and replaced by a more holistic Nutrition Action plan (DH 2007). It defined five key priorities for action: raising nutritional awareness; improving nutritional education and training; ensuring clear nutritional guidance; promoting nutritional screening and clarification of nutritional standards. However, as reported by McKinlay (2008), the issue is not a paucity of publications but actually translating these reports into action. This argument was supported by Guest et al (2011) who stated that "malnutrition is often under-recognised and under-treated in the UK even though several national guidelines for detecting and managing malnutrition are available. However, to be effective these guidelines need to be implemented and this is not currently the case in many parts of


Research has demonstrated the efficacy of closed-loop control of anesthesia using the bispectral index (BIS) of the electroencephalogram as the controlled variable, and the development of model-based, patient-adaptive systems has considerably improved anesthetic control. To further explore the use of model-based control in anesthesia, we investigated the application of reinforcement learning (RL) in the delivery of patient-specific, propofol-induced hypnosis in human volunteers. When compared to published performance metrics, RL control demonstrated accuracy and stability, indicating that further, more rigorous clinical study is warranted.


This paper investigates the impact of brand, product, and industry announcements on consumers' intentions to purchase alternative brands of microcomputers. Results suggest that (1) negative announcements, in general, have a greater effect than positive announcements, (2) announcements regarding the entire industry tend to have a greater impact than announcements about a specific brand or set of brands, and (3) announcements are more likely to affect the evaluations of brands in the choice set than those of brands not in the choice set. Managerial implications of these results are discussed. Product-related announcements are formal communications that provide new information to consumers about a product's availability, features, applications, defects, or its discontinuation. Such announcements may be created by design or accident, and are originated by competitors, regulatory agencies, consumer and environmental groups, and many times by manufacturers themselves. Both favorable and unfavorable in nature, product announcements may consist of (Mahajan, Muller and Kerin 1984):* Brand related information-such as the unintended acceleration problem with the Audi 5000 S (Manning 1987);* Product category related information-such as the finding that aspirin can reduce the risk of heart attack (Dallas Morning News 1988a);* Industry related information-such as the health and environmental effects of fluorocarbons in aerosol cans (Margolies 1976).In many instances, product-related announcements are made or encouraged by a manufacturer as part of a marketing strategy to create a more conducive environment for the acceptance of its product in the marketplace (Wind and Mahajan 1987). For example, a manufacturer may announce a new product well before it is ready for sale, hoping to get customers to wait for this product rather than buy a competitor's product in the interim (Porter 1980, p.77; Brock 197S). On the other hand, a competitor may announce a new technology-based product hoping to redefine the attributes that customers use to evaluate the various brands that axe currently available (e.g., IBM's announcement of its Personal System 2 computers, Mitchell 1987, or NutraSweet's announcement of a new low-calorie, low-cholesterol substitute for cooking oil, Dallas Morning News 1988b). In that context, such announcements can serve as market signals to preempt other competitors from the marketplace (Porter 1980, p.76).Little effort has been made to systematically examine the effects of product-related announcements on consumer purchase intentions. Through an understanding of this relationship, marketers can evaluate the usefulness of announcements as a strategic tool to influence consumer decisions. Eliashberg and Robertson (1988) report that a firm's expectations about consumer response to announcements are the main determinant of whether the firm will pre-announce new products. Furthermore, this information can be incorporated in consumer adoption and diffusion models to improve the prediction of consumer behavior (Midgley 1976; Mahajan, Muller, and Kerin 1984).This paper attempts to empirically address a few basic questions about consumer response to product-related announcements. Do product-related announcements have an effect on consumers' brand purchase intentions? Does the size of this effect depend on the direction or breadth of the message? Do product-related announcements affect the evaluations of all available brands or just a select few? Are consumers more likely to change their evaluations of brands in their choice sets than those of brands that are not? The next section of the paper details the propositions associated with these questions. The study design and empirical results are then presented. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications, limitations, and future directions of this research.


OBJECTIVES
To study maxillary arch width in adult patients with bilateral cleft lip and alveolus (BCLA) or with complete bilateral cleft lip and palate (BCLP), who have not had any surgery. SETTING AND SAMPLING POPULATION: Eighteen patients with BCLA, 13 patients with BCLP, and 24 controls from remote areas of Indonesia collected over 10 years.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Dental casts were digitized three-dimensionally using an industrial coordinate measuring machine (CCM) (Zeiss Numerex; Carl Zeiss, Stuttgart, Germany). Transversal distance between molars was measured on the tip of the distobuccal cusp and the tip of the mesiobuccal cusp, and for premolars and canines, the tip of the buccal cusps was recorded. Means and standard deviations were calculated for all variables. t-Test was used to determine whether the mean values of the cleft groups showed significant differences from each other and from the controls. Level of significance was set at p < 0.05.

RESULTS
Transversal arch dimensions in the BCLA group were comparable to the controls except at the canine level. Intercanine distance, which is close to the alveolar cleft, was 4.3 mm (SE 1.4) smaller in the BCLA group (p = 0.002). In the BCLP group, a comparable pattern was found. At the canine level, mean transversal width was 7.2 mm (SE 1.9) smaller compared to the control group, but no significant differences were found in the other transversal dimensions.

CONCLUSIONS
Small differences are found in transversal dimensions in patients with BCLA and BCLP compared to a control group. Differences are most outspoken in the area near the cleft.


Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC) currently attracts a lot of attention as a technique to disseminate information in a network. In this contribution, non-coherent multi-shot RLNC is considered, that means, the unknown and time variant network is used several times. In order to create dependencies between the different shots, convolutional network codes are used, in particular Partial Unit Memory (PUM) codes. Such PUM codes based on rank metric block codes are constructed and it is shown how they can efficiently be decoded when errors, erasures and deviations occur. The decoding complexity of this algorithm is cubic with the length. Further, it is described how lifting of these codes can be applied for error correction in RLNC.


The fundamental understeer/oversteer signature of a vehicle has historically been evaluated through steady state circular skid pad testing done according to one of the four methodologies outlined in SAE J266. These tests evaluate a vehicle's fundamental handling behavior but are insufficient to fully establish its yaw stability and control characteristics and performance envelope. Transient testing of the vehicle is also necessary because vehicles are not operated under steady state conditions. This becomes of greatest importance in an emergency situation where a driver must respond quickly. For good handling and control, it is necessary for a vehicle to understeer in circular skid pad testing. Additionally, the vehicle must not become yaw-unstable in a J-turn. In the present work, full-scale handling tests were conducted on a 15-passenger van configured in a variety of loading and design conditions. The test results showed substantial differences in vehicle performance when comparing steady state tests (constant radius tests per SAE J266) and transient tests (J-turns). The tests revealed some undesirable handling characteristics during the transient maneuvers that were not uncovered by steady state tests alone. Design changes were tested and found to substantially improve the dynamic handling characteristics of the vehicle. For the covering abstract see ITRD E825082.


Examines the impact of using "unsmoothing" techniques on real estate data to take pension‐plan asset‐allocation decisions. It is generally believed that valuation‐based real estate indices give rise to returns figures which are "smoothed" versions of the underlying transaction prices. Unsmoothing techniques can be used to develop real estate return data series that are believed to be a more accurate representation of underlying transaction prices. If this is done, the resulting data reveal greater volatility of real estate returns. When such data are applied to portfolio selection models, they often reveal a reduced allocation to real estate in efficient portfolios. Looks at the impact of unsmoothing data when taking pension‐plan asset‐allocation decisions. Finds here that the unsmoothed data are more closely correlated with pension plan liabilities. As a result, efficient pension plan portfolios sometimes contain more real estate, rather than less. In general, there is little change in the efficient real estate allocation. These results are very important. They reveal that so‐called "valuation smoothing" may distort property investment decisions less than is commonly thought.


A series of experiments examined the effects of two progestins, progesterone and R 5020, and two nonsteroidal antiestrogens, nafoxidine and MER-25, on body weight and composition in female rats. Both progesterone and R 5020 increased food intake, body weight, and carcass adiposity in ovariectomized (OVX) rats treated with estradiol benzoate (EB), but neither progestin had any effect on these measures in OVX rats not treated with EB. R 5020 was substantially more effective than progesterone on all end points. Nafoxidine and MER-25 mimicked the actions of estradiol and decreased adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity by 75-80%. For adipose tissue LPL activity, both nafoxidine and MER-25 were full estrogen agonists and without antiestrogenic activity. Nafoxidine also mimicked the effects of EB by reducing food intake, body weight, and carcass adiposity in OVX rats. In contrast, nafoxidine antagonized the induction of cytoplasmic progestin ([3H]R 5020) binding sites by EB in parametrial adipose tissue of OVX rats. In nafoxidine-treated OVX rats, concurrent progesterone administration had no effect on adipose tissue LPL activity, but progesterone did increase food intake, body weight, and carcass fat content. Some physiological mechanisms by which gonadal steroids may act to influence eating and adiposity are discussed.


We applied the Rothamsted Carbon Model (RothC), which was developed for simulating the soil organic carbon (SOC) turnover in non-waterlogged soils, for long-term experiments (16–22 years) on Japanese paddy soils and modified it to accurately simulate the changes in the content of SOC with time in paddy soils. The RothC underestimated the SOC content in all the nine plots at five sites: Gley Soils in Akita and Shimane, Gray Lowland Soils in Toyama and Mie, and Yellow Soil in Oita prefecture. This may be mainly due to the slow decomposition rate of organic matter during the rice-growing season, when submerged soils are waterlogged and subjected to anaerobic conditions. On the other hand, the decomposition of organic matter might be inhibited, not only during the submergence period but also throughout the year in paddy soils because of the difference in the composition of microorganisms between upland and paddy soils. Taking these possibilities of differences in the decomposition rate between upland soils and paddy soils into account, we changed the decomposition rates of the RothC during the submergence period (summer) and the period without submergence (winter), separately. We ran the model many times by changing the decomposition rates for summer and winter separately and tried to identify the optimum combinations of the values of the factors required to change the default decomposition rate, so that the modeled SOC content would be consistent with the values observed in nine plots at five experimental sites. To determine the optimum combinations of the values of the factors, we used two statistical indices, the root mean square error (RMSE), which represents the degree of coincidence, and the mean difference (M), which is a measure of model bias. We found that the optimum combination of the values of the factors required to change the decomposition rate was 0.2 in summer and 0.6 in winter. The modified RothC for paddy soils by simple tuning of the decomposition rate using the values of the factors (0.2 and 0.6) resulted in a much better performance than that of the original RothC for simulating the changes in the SOC content with time in Japanese paddy soils under various climatic conditions, types of soil texture, and management systems. This modified model can be used for the estimation of carbon loss from soils as well as for the planning of suitable organic matter management, at least in Japanese paddy soils.


To study factors influencing the preparation of porcine ES cells, intact pig embryos at various stages of preimplantation development, as well as clusters of embryonic cells prepared from embryos at the stage of late or expanded blastocyst were cultivated in alpha-MEM, alpha-MEM + 50% BRL-conditioned medium, or in PBS + 20% FCS. NIH 3T3 cells, or pig granulosa cells were used as a feeder layer. It has been demonstrated that incubation conditions seriously affect development, release, and attachment to the feeder layer of both intact pig embryos and clusters of embryonic cells. However, the stage of preimplantation development is the most important factor, defining success in preparation of pig ES cells. It has been shown that embryoblast of pig embryos at stages of early, middle, late, and expanded blastocyst consists of 4-5, 8-10, 12-15, and 16-18 cells, respectively. This leads us to the conclusion that the rate of proliferation of ICM cells from pig embryos is very low. These results indirectly confirm the existence in embryonic development of pigs of metabolically resting ICM cells up to the beginning of gastrulation.


Background: Today, prostate cancer (PCa) is by far the most common cancer type among men. Diagnostic tests for PCa usually involve blood level testing of prostate-specic antigen (PSA) and transrectal, ultrasound-guided biopsy of the prostatic gland. Both diagnostic tools are unsatisfying in terms of low speci�city and poor sensitivity. A general characterization of prostate cancer is di�cult since the course of the disease varies individually from latent slow growing to aggressive and rapidly lethal tumors. However, no matter the severity of the disease, a possibility to increase the prognostic chances is the early detection. Regular cancer screening can be an appropriate concept if the tools are right. So far, PSA reaches its limits when it comes to an accurate distinction between cancerous glands and benign processes. miRNAs offer hope to overcome these drawbacks by virtue of their cancer-specic expression. Circulating miRNAs are an active area of current investigation and hold promise to serve a wide range of clinical applications and unwrap a new era in cancer diagnosis and therapeutics. miRNAs have proven their diagnostic potential of becoming a biomolecule of clinical relevance in a variety of human body �uid like blood/serum, urine, and saliva. Methods: We measured expression levels of 16 circulating prostate cancer speci�c miRNAs in saliva exosomes via qRT-PCR and compared differences between men suffering from prostate cancer and men suffering from other diseases of the urogenital tract, which formed the no-cancer control group. Differentiation strength of signi�cant sequences was determined via ROC curve analysis. Results: hsa-mir-331 and hsa-mir-200b were signi�cantly reduced in patients suffering from prostate cancer compared to the no-caner control group. Diagnostic quality of determined cut off values showed moderate differentiation strength with dependable diagnostic properties. The other 14 examined prostate cancer speci�c microRNAs showed no signi�cant group differences. Conclusions: hsa-mir-331 and hsa-mir-200b are promising biomarkers for a reliable non-invasive and saliva-based test method in prostate cancer diagnostics. In a synopsis of the results in other studies and against the background of the chastening results of the other miRNAs analyzed, this is exciting news.


It is well known that pension funds in the United States are underfunded even if they achieve their projected 8% rate of return. The scope of pension underfunding increases to an astonishing level when more probable future rates are employed. A reduction in the future rate of return from 8% to the more reasonable risk-free rate of approximately 4% causes the liabilities to explode by trillions of dollars. As bond yields declined over the past twenty years, pension funds moved toward more aggressive equity-based portfolios in an attempt to reach for this 8% return. By investing in a portfolio with uncertain outcomes, pension funds could experience increasingly volatile and even negative returns. Paradoxically, in an effort to chase the universal 8% rate, pension funds may be laying the groundwork for returns even lower than the risk free rate. In an effort to offer an empirical basis for this possibility, we conclude the paper with a relevant comparison - the return of a hypothetical Japanese pension for the past two decades. We believe that pension funds need to at least prepare for the unfathomable: 0% returns for 20 years. Most pension funds, regrettably, have not adequately stress tested their portfolios for these scenarios.


Inequality and socioeconomic deprivation remain powerful determinants of the nation's health. The Beacon Project, led by two primary health care visitors, was initiated to tackle the rapidly declining health and social needs of a community in Cornwall, southwest England. Significant improvements in conditions and a general sense of wellbeing on the estate, together with the improvements in social outcomes was observed over a period of four years.


Motivated by discussions surrounding improvements to the ABSEL website which occurred during the 2016 ABSEL meeting in New Orleans, the authors set out to develop a rubric for assessing websites of professional bodies and then  evaluating  the websites of 16 academic organizations. Following this review, the authors identified best practices for building a successful website, evaluated ABSEL's current website, and identified the strengths and weaknesses of ABSEL's website.. Website characteristics include: Appearance, Layout, Appeal to Target Audience, Optimized for Mobile Experience and Social Media Integration. The paper concludes with specific actionable strategies to address the gaps found between an ideal website and ABSEL's current website.


The vacuum solutions around a spherically symmetric and static object in the Starobinsky model are studied with a perturbative approach. The differential equations for the components of the metric and the Ricci scalar are obtained and solved by using the method of matched asymptotic expansions. The presence of higher order terms in this gravity model leads to the formation of a boundary layer near the surface of the star allowing the accommodation of the extra boundary conditions on the Ricci scalar. Accordingly, the metric can be different from the Schwarzschild solution near the star depending on the value of the Ricci scalar at the surface of the star while matching the Schwarzschild metric far from the star.


ABSTRACT Adaptive Random Searches (ARS) are simple and effective optimization methods used for handling complicated nonconvex s/ multimodal nonlinear programming (NLP) and mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problems. ARS iteratively adapt search characteristics according to the past successful / failure steps. Periodic search domain expansions and contractions improve significantly the reliability in locating the global optimum. However, most of the ARS parameters are apriori set, and then the algorithm cannot be used at their maximum effectiveness. The present paper proposes a combination of ARS with parallel search in competitive members ('families') and an evolutive algorithm (EA) to automatically adapt ARS parameters and search characteristics. The analysis is applied to the MMA-ARS of Maria [1,2] adapted in the form of MMAMI for handling MINLP problems, and then coupled as MMAMI-EA rule. The effectiveness, expressed as computational effort and reliability in locating the global solution, is checked for comparison with genetic algorithms (GA), simulated annealing (SA), ARS, and EA reported results in solving six MINLP test problems. While MMAMI reports a significant decrease of computational effort comparatively with ES, GA, and SA, the combination MMAMI-EA considerably improves the search reliability.


Introduction: Fractures of the mid-shaft clavicle are commonly encountered in clinical practice. These can be managed either by conservative method or operative by internal fixation. This study aims to compare the outcomes of conservative and operative management. Methods: Forty patients with displaced and comminuted mid-shaft clavicle fractures were included in the study, among which twenty-five patients were treated conservatively and 15 patients underwent surgery and were followed up for a period of 1 year. Time taken for union, functional outcome, complications, and patient satisfaction were compared. Results: In the non-operative group, 28% of the fractures took less than twelve weeks to unite, whereas in the operative group 60% of them took less than 12 weeks to unite. At the end of 1 year, there was no statistical difference in mean UCLA (University of California and Los Angeles) score and the mean DASH score of the non-operative group and operative group. There were more complications in the operative group. Re-operative rate in the operative group was 40%. Patient satisfaction was 80% in the non-operative group, whereas 48% of patients were satisfied in the operative group. Conclusion: Displaced and comminuted mid-shaft clavicle fractures treated conservatively have more advantages when compared to surgically treated fractures.


The occurrence of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 in commercial dry dog foods in the city of Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria, was investigated. Dry dog food samples from 6 producers were purchased on five different occasions from retail outlets in Ibadan, Nigeria. High performance liquid chromatography was used for separation and quantification of aflatoxin fractions, after consideration of the limits of detection and quantification of the method. Results indicate that aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 were detected in all the samples investigated, with B1 being the most abundant. The range of concentration of total aflatoxins was 7.76 to 11.93 µg/kg (mean: 9.61 µg/kg). The results show that dry dog foods marketed in Ibadan are frequently contaminated with aflatoxins, exposing dogs to adverse effects of aflatoxicosis. Scientifically based regulations for the acceptable limit of mycotoxins in pet foods in the country would be beneficial.


The present study was conducted in Jammu district of Jammu and Kashmir State to access the socio-personal profile of butchers and meat retailers. Three Major slaughter houses of Jammu district situated at Nagrota, Old Rehari and Gujjar Nagar were selected for the study. A list of butchers in the selected slaughter houses was prepared. Ten butchers from each slaughter house were selected randomly. After preparing the comprehensive list of meat markets operating in Jammu district, three meat markets were selected, and from each selected meat market ten retail meat shops were randomly chosen. From each randomly selected retail meat shop, one person was selected purposively who was actively involved in animal slaughter and sale of meat at retail meat shop. Thus, a total of thirty butchers and thirty retailers were selected in all. Data was collected through interview schedule as well as through observations. The data was coded, classified, tabulated and analyzed using the software; Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS 16.0). The presentation of data was done to give pertinent, valid and reliable answer to the specific objectives. Frequencies, percentage, mean and standard deviation were worked out for meaningful interpretation. Majority of the respondents belonged to middle aged group. Most of them were illiterate. Mainly male members of general and other backward castes were found in this profession. Majority had 5 to 10 years of experience and medium workload. None of them had received any formal training. All the respondents had meat retailing as major occupation while butchery work at slaughter houses as the subsidiary occupation. Majority of the respondents were from middle income family and they were earning income between Rs.10, 000 to Rs.15, 000 monthly from meat handling profession.


There is currently a great deal of interest in the use of phased array receivers for radio astronomy. The Square Kilometer Array (SKA) project plans to utilize phased arrays in at least three different forms: as sparse and dense aperture arrays on the ground, and as phased array feeds on dishes. At frequencies above a few hundred MHz it will be vital to obtain very low noise temperature performance from these arrays in order for them to be practical as radio astronomy receivers. Receiver noise coupled between antenna elements has been thought to be a significant contributor to overall system noise in such phased arrays. This paper uses fundamental principles of noisy networks to estimate the noise waves emanating from the input of each LNA towards the antenna element. The theory has been implemented using MATLAB, and successfully used to predict the noise levels emanating from the input ports of two packaged amplifiers. The theory has been applied to an example two-antenna array model. Results from the noise wave analysis suggest that in reality the coupled noise contribution to system noise temperature should be quite small for practical low noise amplifiers of the type to be used in the SKA.