Hedonism is a way of life, characterised by openness to pleasurable experience. There are many qualms about hedonism. It is rejected on moral grounds and said to be detrimental to long-term happiness. Several mechanisms for this 'paradox of hedonism' have been suggested and telling examples of pleasure seekers ending up in despair have been given. But is that the rule? If so, how much pleasure is too much? An overview of the available knowledge is given in this paper. The relation between hedonism and happiness has been studied at two levels: that of the nation and the individual. At the national level average happiness is correlated with moral acceptance of pleasure and with active leisure. At the individual level it is similarly linked with hedonistic attitudes and also correlated with hedonistic behaviours such as frequent sex and use of stimulants. In most cases the pattern is linearly positive. The relation between happiness and consumption of stimulants follows an inverted U-curve, spoilsports and guzzlers are less happy than modest consumers. Yet, these data cannot settle the issue, since the observed relations may be spurious or due to the effects of happiness on hedonism rather than the reverse. Even if we can prove a positive effect of (mild) hedonism on happiness, there is still the question of how that gains balances against a possible loss of health. A solution is to assess the effect of hedonistic living on the number of years lived happily.


Germany and Denmark are among the world's largest exporters of meat products. Two decades ago their labour markets were similar, but since then they have diverged significantly. The industry in Denmark has maintained high wages and good working conditions, while in Germany there has been a rapid growth in precarious employment, with widespread use of subcontracted and posted migrant workers. We argue that the key explanation for this radical difference is the power position of the trade unions, which also affects how employers position themselves. We show how trade union power embedded in the local and sectoral industrial relations systems influences the wages and working conditions in German and Danish slaughterhouses.


Knowledge about categories supports learning and generalization, and this knowledge is particularly important early in development. Although most theories of category knowledge posit a role for experience in acquiring this knowledge, the current evidence for the presumed role of experience in category knowledge acquisition remains limited to correlational evidence, indirect measures of category knowledge, and computational studies. Here we provide direct evidence that repeated experience with a biological domain in an ecologically-valid setting changed children's category representations, with increased differentiation of items within that domain and relative to a second domain. The implications of these results for understanding the role of experience in category acquisition, and the contribution of enrichment experiences to school readiness are discussed.


In this thesis we describe controversial morphologic features in both microscopic and automated differentiation of blood cells. In addition, we have investigated alternative methods to overcome these shortcomings. Furthermore we describe the variance of microscopic counting of band cells and variant lymphocytes. We also describe the automated measurement of platelets in acute leukaemias. Finally, we describe alternatives for sepsis diagnosis. Microscopic differentiation of blood cells is a time consuming and inaccurate laboratory test, which requires expertise and experience. The inaccuracy is due to the small amount of cells, which is counted. Automated differentiation saves a lot of time and the obtained results are statistically more reliable. However, the flagging for abnormalities, shows less specificity and leads to overestimation of abnormalities. The technician usually does not have any clinical indication for a differential. This may result in unnecessary information for the clinician. Therefore most of the microscopic observations are superfluous and the differentials must be reduced. Additional laboratory parameters such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) provide more information in addition to the absolute neutrophil count. Interleukins and cytokines may provide additional specific information. Neutrophil CD64 expression is a promising cellular sepsis marker. A high expression of neutrophil CD64 might be suggestive for a good prognosis in bacteraemia. Although controversies in microscopic examination of blood cells are profound, in some cases it is still required. In laboratories, a small group of experts should be formed and well trained by means of educational programmes and national quality assessments. When microscopic examination of white blood cells is necessary (indicated) a screening for abnormalities is sufficient. In that case microscopic white blood cell differentiation is not necessary at all.


This investigation focuses on the manipulation of the physicochemical properties and oxygen defect concentration of europium doped CeO2 by the introduction of a second dopant (co-dopant, M). Accordingly, in this study a series of Ce0.8Eu0.1M0.1O2−δ (M = Zr, Hf, La, and Sm) nano-oxides were prepared and tested for diesel soot oxidation catalysis. The systematic characterization studies indicated successful incorporation of both dopants in the cubic fluorite crystal structure of CeO2. A remarkable enhancement in the reduction properties and oxygen defect concentration was observed for the co-doped samples from structural and chemical analyses. The aliovalent co-doped materials exhibited better performance than the isovalent co-doped materials. The catalytic activity order of the prepared materials towards model soot oxidation was Ce0.8Eu0.1La0.1O2−δ > Ce0.8Eu0.1Sm0.1O2−δ > Ce0.8Eu0.1Hf0.1O2−δ > Ce0.8Eu0.1Zr0.1O2−δ > Ce0.9Eu0.1O2−δ > CeO2. The most favorable modification of the physicochemical properties of europium doped ceria was ascertained in the presence of La as a co-dopant compared to other combinations investigated. The correlation of the physicochemical properties with the catalytic activity has also been clearly demonstrated in the manuscript.


Large core step-index plastic optical fibers (SI-POF) are bandwidth limited due to their high modal dispersion and coupling loss at the receiver. To date, the large core SI-POF are typically deployed up to 150 Mb/s applications. This paper reports the transmission of 2.5 Gb/s on 980 μm core step-index plastic optical fiber with fiber-based mode conditioning elements that are part of the connector assembly. The built-in mode conditioners are tapered fiber tips that provide restricted mode launching at transmitter and mode filtering at the receiver side. The structures, at the tip of POF, are optimized by optical simulations and fabricated using laser fusion process. The connector assembly is realized by precisely encapsulating the mode conditioners with a metallic ferrule and positioned using optical grade epoxies. These plug-in modules are inserted to a typical SFP transceiver LC connector receptacle and characterized for gigabit rates.


Recent years have seen an increasing interest in making use of the smartphone as a cheap and viable navigation device for land-vehicles. However, smartphone-based automotive navigation suffers from the fact that the orientation of the smartphone's inertial measurement unit, with respect to the vehicle, in general is unknown. In this study, we present a method for simultaneous vehicle navigation and smartphone-to-vehicle alignment. In addition to the state estimates obtained from applying a standard global navigation satellite system-aided inertial navigation system to estimate the smartphone dynamics, this will also provide us with estimates of the vehicle's attitude. These estimates are used to improve the navigation solution, and also enables the estimation of additional vehicle, road, and driver characteristics, which requires knowledge of the vehicle's attitude. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated with both simulations and experimental data.


Wireless systems where the nodes operate on batteries so that energy consumption must be minimized while satisfying given throughput and delay requirements are considered. In this context, the best modulation strategy to minimize the total energy consumption required to send a given number of bits is analyzed. The total energy consumption includes both the transmission energy and the circuit energy consumption. For uncoded systems, by optimizing the transmission time and the modulation parameters, it is shown that up to 80% energy savings is achievable over nonoptimized systems. For coded systems, it is shown that the benefit of coding varies with the transmission distance and the underlying modulation schemes.


This paper deals with field-oriented control (FOC) and vector control (VC) of a promising brushless doubly-fed reluctance generator (BDFRG) technology for large-scale wind turbines. The BDFRG has been receiving increasing attention because of the low operation & maintenance costs afforded by the use of partially-rated power electronics, and the high reliability of brushless construction, while offering performance competitive to its well-known slip-ring counterpart, a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG). The two robust control schemes have been developed for a custom-designed BDFRG fed from a conventional `back-to-back' IGBT converter. The preliminary studies have evaluated and compared the algorithms under the maximum torque per inverter ampere (MTPIA) conditions allowing the improved efficiency of the generator-converter set and the entire wind energy conversion system.


Given the important role the ring current plays in magnetospheric energetics, it is essential to understand its strength and evolution in disturbed times. There are currently three main methods for deducing the strength of the ring current: measuring ground magnetic perturbations, measuring high-altitude magnetic perturbations, or directly measuring ring current particles. The use of ground magnetometers i the most convenient, and many use the ground magnetometer-derived Dst index as a proxy for the ring current. Recent work suggests, however, that a substantial portion of Dst may not be caused only by the ring current but also by local induction effects or other magnetospheric urrents, so simply using the Dst index may yield inaccurate results. This study uses direct particle measurements to calculate the strength of the ring current and compares this to the measured Dst values. We investigate several magnetic storm intervals, using the Polar Charge and Mass Magnetospheric Ion Composition Experiment (CAMMICE) to measure ring current ions. We then use the Dessler-Parker-Sckopke r lation to compare this to the measured Dst. This analysis is used both to understand the general behavior of the ring current compared to Dst as well as to compare the usefulness of the Dst proxy for different types of storms. Ring current ions are shown in this analysis to contribute, on average, half of the Dst depression, with a large variation among individual events.


In a group of seventy-three diabetics, a statistically significant (P < 0.001) increase (+ 41 per cent) of serum N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase activity was found. The enzyme level seemed to correlate with both the vascular complications (either microangiopathic or macroangiopathic in nature) and the blood sugar level measured simultaneously. In fact, in patients with moderately elevated glycemia (145 mg./100 ml. ± 41) and without vasculopathies, the enzymatic activity was slightly changed (P > 0.05), while the activity was significantly (P < 0.001) increased (+ 31 per cent), in diabetics with essentially similar gly-cemia (151 mg./100 ml. ± 30) but with vasculopathies, and even more elevated (+ 80 per cent, P < 0.001) in diabetics without vasculopathies but with marked hyper-glycemia (309 mg./100 ml. ± 160). Since lysosomal enzymes, to which N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase belongs, are capable of degrading various compounds, these enzymatic changes were regarded as due to an activation of lysosomal enzymes in tissues, occurring in diabetes in response to the metabolic need of degrading either mucopolysaccharides and glycoproteins (as in diabetics with vasculopathies), or various constituents of cells themselves in a context of increased tissue catabolism (as in decompensated diabetics). However, the possibility cannot be excluded that the enzyme is elevated merely because of decreased lysosome stability. Reduction in the destruction rate of the enzyme might also contribute to its elevation.


In this study, fully developed mixed convective heat transfer of a Newtonian fluid in a vertical microannulus between two concentric microtubes is analytically investigated by taking the velocity slip and the temperature jump at the wall into account. The effects of the mixed convection parameter Gr/Re, the Knudsen number Kn, and the aspect ratio r* on the microchannel hydrodynamic and thermal behaviors are determined. Finally, a Nu = f (Gr/Re, Kn,r*) expression is developed. It is disclosed that increasing Gr/Re enhances heat transfer while rarefaction effects considered by the velocity slip and the temperature jump in the slip flow regime decreases it.


The sequence of peptide/protein is important to study the biological function of the peptide/protein. However, complete characterization of peptides/proteins, including post-translational modifications (PTMs), sequence mutations and variants, is very challenging. There are two approaches to determine the sequence of peptide/protein by mass spectrometry: database search and de novo sequencing. Database search approach compares acquired mass spectra to a database of known protein sequences to identify the protein sequences. [[http://www.creative-proteomics.com/services/de-novo-peptides-proteins-sequencing-service.htm][*De novo sequencing*]] is a process in which amino acid sequences are directly interpreted from tandem mass spectra without the assistance of a database.


Background: Mechatronics is a relatively new discipline of engineering that is fast gaining in popularity. It provides the synergistic fusion of mechanics, electronics, control theory, and computer science. Authentic projects focus on real-world, complex problems and their solutions using problem-based activities (Lombardi, 2007). The dual goals of deeper knowledge of technical fundamentals and the ability to lead in creation and operation may be achieved through a curriculum structure that exploits extra- and co-curricular and extra-campus learning opportunities (Crawley, 2007). Purpose: The mechatronics engineering subjects are in general thought as challenging to learn and hence they need innovative approaches to impart knowledge while keeping students" interest. Therefore, purpose of this study is to stimulate student learning through authentic projects while enhancing the student engagement and deeper learning through co-curricular activities. The hypothesis is that the authentic projects and co-curricular activities can positively influence the students" learning and their current and future endeavours. Design/Method: An authentic project was introduced in a mechatronics subject. Students in the same subject were encouraged to participate in an international robotic competition which is of similar nature to the authentic project. They were also motivated to form the UTS robotic society for engaging in various other mechatronics/robotics projects. Feedbacks from the students were collected through the centrally conducted student feedback survey (SFS) as well as testimonies from the past and current undergraduate students. Results: The preliminary study shows that the authentic projects and co-curricular activities have positively affected the students" learning and current and future endeavours. Student feedback suggests that the external competition contributed to deeper learning of the subject matter. The UTS robotics society activities have stimulated the student learning and contributed to enhanced student engagement and learning opportunities which are self-driven based on individual interests. Conclusions: Students' interest, engagement and deeper learning of the subject matter can be enhanced by authentic projects facilitated by carefully chosen co-curricular activities in mechatronics engineering discipline.


An ordered sequence of events occurs following tissue damage to bring about healing. One molecule involved in this process is thrombin. Utilizing rat linear incision and full dermal excision models, we have investigated the ability of two thrombin-derived RGD-containing peptides, p517 and p508, to enhance tissue repair under normal and healing-impaired conditions. p508, at 0.5 micrograms peptide per wound, produced a significant .23% improvement in wound strength in a dose-dependent manner. Similarly, a single application of 0.5 micrograms p517 per 6-cm linear incision would significantly increased wound-breaking strength approximately 18% at nine days postsurgery (control: 3.95 +/- 0.13 Newtons, vs. p517: 4.68 +/- 0.13 Newtons; P < 0.001). However, in glucocorticoid-stressed rats, the application of 0.5 micrograms per wound p508 or 517 did not significantly influence steroid-impaired healing. In the full dermal skin excision wound model, a single application of 0.5 micrograms p508 per wound at the time of surgery significantly reduced average wound area at days 3 and 5, when healing was impaired by glucocorticoid administration. Wound area was also reduced by p508 treatment at day 3 in the normal animal, but this effect was not statistically significant. We suggest wound-healing benefits of p508 and p517 may activate wound fibroblast proliferation or stimulate other cell types in the wound site through an RGD-mediated interaction.


Previous studies have demonstrated the potential of monotherapy with either mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) or estrogen in autoimmune and cuprizone models of multiple sclerosis (MS). The aim of this study was to examine the effects of co-administration of 17β-estradiol (E2) and adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) on remyelination of corpus callosum axons in a cuprizone model of MS. Forty eight male C57BL/6 mice were fed cuprizone (0.2%) for 6 weeks. At day 0 after cuprizone removal, animals were randomly divided into four groups. The E2 monotherapy, ADSCs monotherapy, E2/ADSCs combined therapy and vehicle control. Some mice of the same age were fed with their normal diet to serve as healthy control group. E2 pellets, designed to release 5.0 mg E2 over 10 days, were implanted subcutaneously. 10(6) PKH26 labeled ADSCs were transplanted into lateral tail. The extent of demyelination, remyelination, and cell type's composition of host brain were examined at 10 days post-transplantation in the body of the corpus callosum. Transplanted cells migrated to the corpus callosum injury. Histological examination revealed efficacy of intravenous ADSCs transplantation in remyelination of mouse cuprizone model of MS can be significantly enhanced by E2 administration. Flow cytometry showed that the mean percentages of expression of Iba-1, Olig2 and O4 were significantly increased in E2/ADSCs combined therapy in comparison with ADSCs monotherapy. In conclusion, the findings of this study revealed that E2 administration enhanced efficacy of intravenous ADSCs transplantation in remyelination of corpus callosum axons in mouse cuprizone model of MS.


Gravimetric titrations were compared statistically in this study with volumetric titrations. A sodium hydroxide solution was standardized with pure potassium hydrogen phthalate (KHP). This solution was then used to analyze an impure sample of KHP with a known concentration. The procedure was conducted by the gravimetric and volumetric titration methods. The calculated results of each titration method were statistically compared to determine which method was more accurate and/or precise. In addition, the uncertainties present with each method, including buret delivery precision and weighing precision were evaluated. Last, the two techniques were performed by an entire class of upper-division analytical chemistry students, and the results were analyzed for accuracy and precision. The findings illustrated that gravimetric titrations were more accurate, precise and much easier to use compared to volumetric titrations.


The aim of this article is to investigate and explain how performativity, as defined by J.L. Austin and Judith Butler, can be viewed as an important element within the narrative framework of Lille Kung Mattias (Little King Mattias), as performed by Backa Theatre in Gothenburg, Sweden, during the 20092010 season. Lille Kung Mattias , directed by Mattias Andersson, is based on the novel Krol Macius Pierwszy (1923) by Polish author Janusz Korczak, and has been performed for children aged 11 upwards. I explore how class, age and gender are »made« (and also fail to be made) performatively, and show how being a king is revealed as a performative act precisely then, when Mattias receives all the attire and the title but doesn't move or talk like an adult king. Thus he fails to fulfil expectations. But thereafter, in terms that Butler uses, Mattias pushes the borders of what a king can be and do by iteratively »making« a new kind of king. In the end, the audience also change their behaviour by becoming an active part of the performance.


In this study we analyze two groups of Mediterranean salt lenses: ''mid-life'' lenses, typically 1-2 years old, observed in the Canary Basin, and younger Meddies from the Iberian Basin. In contrast to turbulent features, vortex lenses have a clear coherent structure in the temperature and salinity fields. This physical property supports the hypothesis that a mathematical description with only a few degrees of freedom may exist. We use nonlinear transformation of variables to find a unique function describing vertical profiles at different locations inside the lens. When this function is found, its existence is considered as ''self-similarity'' of the lens structure. We also found a common function that describes each group of Meddy, Canary and Iberian, and noted a remarkable difference between the groups. A possible reason for this result might lie in the difference in lens age. Iberian lenses are in a more juvenile state and may go through adjustment transformations before turning into more stable mid-life vortices. The developed parameterization is used to calculate radii and integral heat and salt contents of Meddles.


Dynamic power management has become an imperative design factor to attain the energy efficiency in modern systems. Among various power management schemes, learning-based policies that are adaptive to different environments and applications have demonstrated superior performance to other approaches. However, they suffer the scalability problem for multiprocessors due to the increasing number of cores in a system. In this article, we propose a scalable and effective online policy called MultiLevel Reinforcement Learning (MLRL). By exploiting the hierarchical paradigm, the time complexity of MLRL is O(n lg n) for n cores and the convergence rate is greatly raised by compressing redundant searching space. Some advanced techniques, such as the function approximation and the action selection scheme, are included to enhance the generality and stability of the proposed policy. By simulating on the SPLASH-2 benchmarks, MLRL runs 53% faster and outperforms the state-of-the-art work with 13.6% energy saving and 2.7% latency penalty on average. The generality and the scalability of MLRL are also validated through extensive simulations.


Abstract. The oxidation efficiency of the troposphere is largely determined by the hydroxyl radical and its global distribution. Its presence limits the lifetime of most trace gases. Because of the great importance of several of these gases for climate, ozone budget and OH itself, it is of fundamental importance to acquire knowledge about atmospheric OH and possible trends in its concentrations. In the past, average concentrations of OH and trends were largely derived using industrially produced CH 3 CCl 3 as a chemical tracer. The analyses have given valuable, but also rather uncertain results. In this paper we describe an idealized computer aided tracer experiment which has as one of its goals to derive tracer concentration weighted, global average k (OH)>, where the temporal and spatial OH distribution is prescribed and k is the reaction rate coefficient of OH with a hitherto never produced (Gedanken) tracer, which is injected at a number of surface sites in the atmosphere in well known amounts over a given time period. Using a three-dimensional (3-D) time-dependent chemistry transport model, k (OH)> can be accurately determined from the calculated 3-D tracer distribution. It is next explored how well k (OH)> can be retrieved solely from tracer measurements at a limited number of surface sites. The results from this analysis are encouraging enough to actually think about the feasibility to carry out a global dedicated tracer experiment to derive k (OH)> and its temporal trends. However, before that, we propose to test the methods that are used to derive k (OH)>, so far largely using CH 3 CCl 3 , with an idealized tracer experiment, in which a global chemistry transport model is used to calculate the ``Gedanken'' tracer distribution, representing the real 3-D world, from which k (OH)> is derived, using only the tracer information from a limited set of surface sites. We propose here that research groups which are, or will be, involved in global average OH studies to participate in such an inter-comparison of methods, organized and over-seen by a committee appointed by the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) program.


Study Design. A retrospective observational study. Objective. To compare the usefulness of radioisotope cisternography (RIC) and computed tomography myelography (CTM) for the detection of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage in spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH). Summary of Background Data. CSF leakage sites have been generally identified by RIC in patients with SIH. Although a number of reports have recently indicated the usefulness of CTM, whether RIC or CTM more reliably detects leakage sites has not been decided because the 2 tests have not been directly compared. Methods. Both RIC and CTM were performed, and the findings were compared in 12 patients with SIH strictly meeting the second edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders diagnostic criteria. Results. On RIC, the detection rate of leakage including indirect signs, an early vesicular radioisotope (RI) accumulation and delayed ascent of the RI to the cerebral convexity, was observed in 100%, but that of the direct sign, paraspinal RI accumulation, was in 8 patients (67%). On CTM, the epidural collection of intraspinally administered contrast medium was demonstrated in all patients (100%), and the collection site was located in the cervical and thoracic vertebral regions in most cases. When RIC and CTM findings were collated, paraspinal accumulation in the cervical and thoracic regions on RIC corresponded to the entire or a part of the findings on CTM. In contrast, in 4 of 5 patients with paraspinal accumulation in the lumbosacral region, epidural collection was not noted in this region on CTM. Conclusion. In patients with SIH, epidural collection on CTM may more accurately demonstrate CSF leakage compared with paraspinal RI accumulation on RIC.


DESPITE potentially lethal consequences, partial arterial severance often goes unrecognized. The incompletely transected vessel, deprived of its natural tendency to retract and constrict, continues to bleed and may result in rapid exsanguination. If temporary arrest of hemorrhage does occur, recurrent bleeding, false aneurysm, or arteriovenous fistula are frequent late sequelae. Because of the preservation of pulses and generally adequate circulation distal to the site of injury, partially severed arteries display an all too common pattern of delayed recognition and inappropriate treatment. The methods employed in the detection of arterial injuries vary with the location of the wound and the circumstances surrounding its occurrence. A careful history, thorough physical examination, and angiography are useful in establishing a diagnosis. Their reliability and accuracy in the problem of partial arterial severance has been evaluated and forms the basis of this report. The history, physical findings, roentgenographs, and operative record of 57 patients known


Arduino is the hot open source prototyping platform for artists, hobbyists, students, and anyone who wants to create interactive physical environments. Getting Started with Arduino is co-authored by Arduino co-founder Massimo Banzi, and incorporates his experience in teaching, using, and creating Arduino.


It is not exactly know when the knitting art was started by whom and where. However, it is thought that knitting art was developed with the pleasure, appreciation and creativity by the need of people coverig. The first historical documents of the Turks about knitting were found in archaeological excavations in Central Asia. Examples about knitting art is one of the important handicraft shows the pleasure, esthetics and emotion of Turkish people. In Anatolia, the laces that have been transferred from the generations to generations have become a tool of nonverbal communication of women. Laces are an important cultural product which expresses Turkish woman's eye, voice, emotion and thoughts either with technic, colour and motif richness, The locals produce many examples of laces by depicting the flowers, fruits, leaves, trees, greens, grass and meadows in front of their homes, and in nature, Because of this reason plants and natüre are the richest motif source of Turkish women. In this research it is aimed to identify and investigate the properties of laces featured with herbal ornaments.This research was carried out on 129 specimens selected from 18 different characteristics.


Preventable conditions related to maternal health, such as severe bleeding after childbirth, infections, hypertensive disorders, and unsafe abortions are responsible for roughly 529 000 deaths with the majority occurring in developing countries. It is estimated that 20% of the burden of disease in children below the age of five isalso related to poor maternal health, nutrition and low quality of care received during delivery and the new-born period. Implementation of the millennium development goals 3 and 5 resulted in a 45% decline in maternal mortality and a drop of 6.7million deaths for children under the age of five. With the alarming increases in antimicrobial resistance, there is a great possibility of regression of these achievements due to resistant strains of infections such as Tuberculosis, sexually transmitted infections, and HIV. As gender inequality has a strong influence on the health of women, young girls are vulnerable when trying to protect themselves from HIV and STIs. Health promotion activities that address gender inequality and issues of disempowerment have great potential to improve health, health outcomes, access to and benefits from health services. Such activities should include both females and males, and should remove gender-based constraints from the socialecological environment.


Recent research has shown that ultra-small graphene oxide (USGO) particles functionalized with polyethylenimine (PEI) can be used to transfect human cell lines with very high efficiency and low toxicity. In this study, confocal fluorescence microscopy is used to provide more insight into the nature of the complexes formed by DNA and USGO_PEI and to track their localization during the transfection process. The results indicate that the DNA enters the nucleus in complex with the USGO_PEI, which remains inside the nucleus. Also, it is observed that USGO_PEI and plasmid DNA form large aggregates in the transfection medium. Both observations raise concerns that this type of nanomaterial might need further improvements for therapeutic use.


Dye-containing wastewater generated from textile industries is a major source of environmental pollution. Azo dyes, which are the largest group of coloring agents, are widely used in industries.This research investigated the photocatalytic decolorization and degradation of an azo dye Reactive Red 198 (RR198) in aqueous solution with TiO2-P25 (Degussa) as photocatalyst in slurry form using UV light. There is a significant difference in adsorption of dye on TiO2 surface with the change in the solution pH. The effect of various parameters such as catalyst loading, pH and initial concentration of the dye on decolorization and degradation have been determined. The optimum conditions of the reactor were acquired at dye concentration = 62 ppm, pH = 3.7, catalyst concentration = 2.25 g.L-1, in which dye removal efficiency was 98%. Catalyst loading (relevant coefficient = 19.25) and pH (relevant coefficient = −2.62) were resulted respectively as the most and less effective parameters on dye removal


M. Brent Leonhard is the Deputy Attorney General for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the first tribal jurisdiction (along with the State of Ohio) to be designated by the Department of Justice as having substantially implemented the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act requirements. He is also a principle author of the Model Tribal Sex Offender Registration Code. In this brief article he expresses his personal opinions about the Adam Walsh Act and implementation issues tribes face, concluding that the Act needs to be amended.


This guide covers all aspects of ProQuest Research Library including content, searching, and viewing results on the new ProQuest platform.


Abstract Synthetic RNA is widely used in basic science, nanotechnology and therapeutics research. The vast majority of this RNA is synthesized in vitro by T7 RNA polymerase or one of its close family members. However, the desired RNA is generally contaminated with products longer and shorter than the DNA-encoded product. To better understand these undesired byproducts and the processes that generate them, we analyze in vitro transcription reactions using RNA-Seq as a tool. The results unambiguously confirm that product RNA rebinds to the polymerase and self-primes (in cis) generation of a hairpin duplex, a process that favorably competes with promoter driven synthesis under high yield reaction conditions. While certain priming modes can be favored, the process is heterogeneous, both in initial priming and in the extent of priming, and already extended products can rebind for further extension, in a distributive process. Furthermore, addition of one or a few nucleotides, previously termed 'nontemplated addition,' also occurs via templated primer extension. At last, this work demonstrates the utility of RNA-Seq as a tool for in vitro mechanistic studies, providing information far beyond that provided by traditional gel electrophoresis.


In this work, we study the scaling characteristics of In0.17Al0.83N/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). Scaling of both the DC and RF performance are studied as a function of InAlN thickness, gate recess and gate length to explore the design space of high frequency InAlN/GaN devices. Surface passivation by Al2O3 deposited using atomic layer deposition (ALD) is also investigated as an alternative to SixNy passivation. The fabricated devices give record maximum drain current density and transconductance (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Purpose
Leveraging social action theory, social network theory and the notion of network externality, the purpose of this paper is to model two different return on investment (ROI) measures: the networked ROI which captures the network effect originating from a social media investment, and the discrete ROI which focuses social media discrete returns from individual users.

Design/methodology/approach
A field experiment was set up over a period of three months to test the effects of two variants of an advertisement campaign (a social vs a discrete ad) on the modeled networked and discrete ROIs.

Findings
The authors find that emphasizing discrete user actions leads to lower network gains, but higher monetary returns while the social action emphasis produces higher network gains, but lower monetary returns. The study further suggests that social action focus is preferable for brand promotion and engagement, whereas the discrete action focus is suitable for boosting sales and website traffic.

Practical implications
Several potential implications for social media researchers and marketers are also discussed.

Originality/value
The authors for the first time showed that that the social media returns are derived not only from individual actions taken by the user (e.g. likes and shares) but also from users' social interdependencies and the additional exposure that results from network effects.


This study explores colonial and neoliberal governmentalities through semi-structured interviews with students and faculty at a for-profit transnational institution of higher education in Sri Lanka. The institution is partnered with University of London (UOL), which for a century has overseen the education of students in British colonial territories. UOL continues to govern the conduct of students and faculty in 80 institutions of higher educations across the global south, mostly through annual examinations that constitute the entirety of assessment. UOL examinations are a singular mechanism that displace educational authority from institutions and lecturers while rendering classroom teaching unnecessary. The results of this study suggest that UOL secures its authority over educational spaces in the global south by governing students as "external," classrooms as merely auxiliary spaces in which "distance education" takes place, and lecturers as unnecessary. Students and faculty form subjectivities around the absence of lecturers, assessment, or university. These deficits reify the need for UOL's intervention and, more broadly, the coloniality of knowledge production.


The drilling vesselSubmarex of Global Marine was used to drill and core sediments to a depth of 56.4 m on the Nicaragua Rise, between Walton Bank and Jamaica, in 610 m of water. Seismic reflection profiles revealed thick accumulations of layered sediments with some fossil reefs. The sediments consist of undisturbed layers rich in planktonic microfossils alternating with turbidite layers. Absence of older coccoliths indicates that the redeposited material was not appreciably older than the time of redeposition, and oxygen isotopic analysis of benthonic elements shows that this material was derived from a depth not much shallower. The lower portion of the cored section correlates with the Manchioneal Formation of Jamaica. Taxonornic analysis of the calcareous nannoplankton indicates that the level at 2354 cm correlates with the midportions of the eastern equatorial Pacific cores 58 and 62; with the "Nebraskan-Aftonian" boundary of the Gulf Coast; and with the appearance of Hyalinea baltica at Le Castella, southern Italy. This level, therefore, represents the Plio-Pleistocene boundary as officially designated, and an age of about 700,000 years is estimated for the bou ndary. Oxygen isotopic analysis shows important oscillations, with a full glacial-interglacial amplitude, occurring both above and below the Plio-Pleistocene boundary.


The concentration of TiO2 and the composites of TiO2 and 5A zeolite were studied in order to improve the photocatalytic activity of TiO2. Methyl orange aqueous solution was taken as imitated polluted water. The results indicated that the optimum dosage of TiO2 was 200 mg/l. A simple mixture was prepared by adding TiO2 and 5A zeolite together into methyl orange solution. The optimum TiO2:5A ratio was 1:11. Composite of zeolite 5A and TiO2 was also prepared using solid-state dispersion method. Photocatalytic activities of the composite after each preparation step were evaluated. Although the results showed that their photocatalytic activities decreased to some extent compared with pure TiO2, the composite could be easily separated from the treated solution.


It is commonly asserted that inflation is a jump variable in the New Keynesian Phillips curve, and thus wage-price inertia does not imply inflation inertia. We show that this "inflation flexibility proposition" is highly misleading, relying on the assumption that real variables are exogenous. In a general equilibrium setting (in which real variables not only affect inflation, but are also influenced by it) the phenomenon of inflation inertia re-emerges. Under plausible parameter values, high degrees of inflation persistence (prolonged after-effects of inflation in response to temporary money growth shocks) and under-responsiveness (prolonged effects in response to permanent shocks) can arise in the context of standard wage-price staggering models.


The spatial distribution of tree cutting activity by beaver (Castor canadensis Kuhl) and tree availability were measured at two beaver colonies near Thunder Bay, Ontario. Beaver maximize the net rate of energy acquisition (e/t) when they minimize the distance travelled from the lodge, their central place, while obtaining a balanced diet. However, beaver must travel through two mediums to obtain terrestrial forage so minimum distance is a function of the relative costs of swimming and walking. A continuum of relative costs was used to generate two contrasting foraging models: 1) swimming equalled the cost of walking and the foraging path was a straight line from the lodge to a tree; 2) swimming was costless and the foraging path was the shortest distance from water to a tree. The models were compared for relative goodness of fit with the observed foraging pattern using chi-square and linear regression goodness of fit tests. The water costless model was the best fit model and empirically supported the implicit assumption of most workers that the pond is the effective central place. In practical terms 'water costless* was judged to be indistinguishable from a 5-10 times advantage for swimming over walking. Although experimental confirmation is required, this advantage was considered too large to be explained by energy or time savings and was therefore not an optimization of e/t. It was tentatively concluded that the pond should be viewed as a refuge from predators which probably constrain the relative availability of terrestrial forage to beaver. A test for optimal foraging, given the predation constraint, showed that beaver were maximizing e/t at Northbranch Pond. At Pinetop Pond, a relatively old site, beaver expanded their refuge to obtain patches of relatively high food quality. They could have realized higher e/t with perfect knowledge of their site, but apparently they maximized e/t with a patch use strategy that minimized search time. A review of beaver literature discussed optimization processes at four levels: evolution of body form and function, the individual lifespan, yearly, and seasonally. Arguments of particular interest were developed for dispersal (population regulation), central place, and the sizedistance relationship.


This article examines translating and translations primarily from a sem(e)iotic viewpoint. The focus is, on the one hand, on a semiotic re-reading of certain translationtheoretical suggestions (such as the idea of translation being an inherently semiotic category), and on the other hand, on a translation-theoretical re-reading of certain semiotic suggestions (such as what signs can be used for representing). Other proposals that receive a revisiting discussion include, for instance, Roman Jakobson's translation typology and Umberto Eco's notion of semiotics as a theory of the lie. The approach adopted in the present article advocates a serious re-reading and attitude, but even more, a literal reading and sometimes, a less serious attitude as well.


Food allergy is defined as an abnormal immunological reaction to food proteins, which causes an adverse clinical reaction. Most of the people become tolerant to many foods; however, some time these tolerances fail and become an immunologic reaction. This is the first clinical expression of allergy, beginning with dermal o gastric manifestations and continues with asthma and rhinitis (the allergy march) and represents a very severe health problem, not only for many children and parents, but also for the entire medical and paramedical community. The evaluation of a child with suspected food allergy includes detailed medical history, physical examination, screening tests and response to elimination diet and to oral food challenge. None of the screening tests, alone or in combination, can definitively diagnose or exclude it. Regarding to the differential diagnosis, the clinician must know the different groups of foods. The treatment includes the exclusion of the involved food and the use of symptomatic medication when it is needed.


OBJECTIVE
To assess which factors predict in-hospital mortality after emergency surgery for acute perforated diverticulitis.

DESIGN
Multicenter retrospective study.

METHOD
From 1995-2005 a total of 291 patients underwent surgery to treat perforated diverticulitis in five teaching hospitals in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The relation to postoperative mortality of patient-related risk factors such as age, gender and classification according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA); disease severity factors such as Hinchey score and Mannheim peritonitis index (MPI); surgery-related risk factors, such as type of surgery, e.g. Hartmann's procedure (HP) or resection with primary anastomosis; surgeon, and time of operation were evaluated using multivariate analysis.

RESULTS
The total postoperative in-hospital mortality was 29%. HP was performed 211 times and primary anastomosis was performed 75 times. HP was significantly more frequently performed in patients with higher values of age, ASA, Hinchey and MPI (all: p < 0.01). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that age, ASA classification, Hinchey score, MPI and the absence of a specialist gastrointestinal surgeon during surgery, were important prognostic factors of mortality. Surgical technique was not related to postoperative mortality (adjusted odds ratio for mortality (HP versus primary anastomosis): 1.3; 95% CI: 0.6-2.9; p = 0.54).

CONCLUSION
The type of surgery did not appear to be a risk factor for high postoperative mortality. As well as patient-related risk factors, including age, ASA and severity of disease scores, such as Hinchey score and MPI, the absence of a specialist gastrointestinal surgeon during surgery was found to be a factor associated with high mortality risk.


In this and the following paper we have examined the kinetic and steady-state properties of macroscopic mslo Ca-activated K+ currents in order to interpret these currents in terms of the gating behavior of the mslo channel. To do so, however, it was necessary to first find conditions by which we could separate the effects that changes in Ca2+ concentration or membrane voltage have on channel permeation from the effects these stimuli have on channel gating. In this study we investigate three phenomena which are unrelated to gating but are manifest in macroscopic current records: a saturation of single channel current at high voltage, a rapid voltage-dependent Ca2+ block, and a slow voltage-dependent Ba2+ block. Where possible methods are described by which these phenomena can be separated from the effects that changes in Ca2+ concentration and membrane voltage have on channel gating. Where this is not possible, some assessment of the impact these effects have on gating parameters determined from macroscopic current measurements is provided. We have also found that without considering the effects of Ca2+ and voltage on channel permeation and block, macroscopic current measurements suggest that mslo channels do not reach the same maximum open probability at all Ca2+ concentrations. Taking into account permeation and blocking effects, however, we find that this is not the case. The maximum open probability of the mslo channel is the same or very similar over a Ca2+ concentration range spanning three orders of magnitude indicating that over this range the internal Ca2+ concentration does not limit the ability of the channel to be activated by voltage.


In this study, bismuth oxide is utilized as positive electrode in a rechargeable Zn-based battery using a gel polymer electrolyte. Bi2O3 is reduced to Bi metal during the discharge process of the Zn/PVA-KOH/Bi2O3 battery, obtaining efficiencies higher than 90% from the Bi2O3 mass initially used for discharge currents ≤10 mA. During the charge process, Bi metal is oxidized to recover the Bi2O3. A great number of charge/discharge cycles are performed for a single battery and for two batteries connected in series. This battery develops coulombic efficiencies of 100% for more than 100 cycles and energy efficiencies higher than 80% after 80 cycles. XRD, AES and XPS measurements demonstrate the formation of Bi metal during the discharge and the build-up of Bi2O3 structure during the charge. Besides, SEM and EDX techniques confirm the structural changes observed during the reduction and oxidation processes. Finally, discharge and charge mechanisms of the Bi2O3 electrode tested on a Zn/PVA-KOH/Bi2O3 battery are discussed.


OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether plasma fibrinogen concentration is correlated with the level of physical activity and aerobic power in patients with newly diagnosed non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We studied 78 middle-aged (54 ± 6 years, mean ± SD), obese (body mass index [BMI] 32 ± 5 kg/m2) patients (45 men and 33 women) before and after a 12-month treatment period consisting of either conventional treatment given by community health centers or intensified dietary and exercise education given by a university outpatient clinic. Plasma fibrinogen concentration was measured by using a coagulometer. Physical activity was assessed by a questionnaire, and the patients were classified into a sedentary group or moderately or intensively exercising groups. Aerobic power (maximum oxygen uptake [], anaerobic threshold []) was measured by direct breath-by-breath technique. RESULTS At baseline, the sedentary patients had higher fibrinogen concentration than those with moderate or high physical activities (3.8 ± 0.8 vs. 3.3 ± 0.7 g/I, P < 0.01). Both and (ml · min−1 · kg−1) showed an inverse linear correlation with fibrinogen (r = -0.38, P < 0.001, and r = -0.29, P < 0.01, respectively). In the step wise multiple regression analysis, BMI, Vo2 max (ml/min), and smoking were the only significant independent factors explaining 23% of the variance in fibrinogen concentration. In sedentary patients, poor glycemie control was related with high fibrinogen concentration. During the follow-up period, patients maintained, on the average, good to moderate glycemie control. The originally sedentary group showed a decrease in fibrinogen concentration (to 3.3 ± 0.7 g/I, P < 0.001) that reached the same level that the physically more active groups had at baseline. This change was associated with improved glycemie control, but not with any of the other assessed factors, including fatty acid composition of serum lipids reflecting dietary intake of fats. CONCLUSIONS In addition to BMI and smoking, low reported physical activity and low aerobic power are independently associated with high plasma fibrinogen concentration in newly diagnosed NIDDM.


One major outcome of the Federal Reserve's 2019–20 framework review was the adoption of a Flexible Average Inflation Targeting (FAIT) strategy in August 2020. Using synthetic control methods, we document that U.S. inflation rose post-FAIT considerably more than predicted had the strategy not changed (an average of 1.18 percentage points during 2020:M8–2022:M2). To explore the extent to which targeting average inflation delayed the Fed's response and contributed to post-FAIT inflation, we adopt a version of the open-economy New Keynesian model in Martínez-García (2021) and document the economic consequences of adopting alternative measures of average inflation as policy objectives. We document three additional major findings using this general equilibrium setup: First, depending on how far back and how much weight is assigned to past inflation misses, the policy outcomes under FAIT are similar to those under the pre-FAIT regime. Secondly, we find that the implementation of FAIT can have large effects over short periods of time as it tends to delay action. However, over longer periods of time—such as the 1984:Q1–2019:Q4 pre-FAIT period—its effects wash out and appear negligible. Finally, we find that di˙erent average inflation measures explain an average of 0.5 percentage points per quarter of the post-FAIT inflation surge, indicating that targeting average inflation by itself can only explain part of the inflation spike since August 2020.


Treatment of pregnant mice with retinoic acid (RA) in mid-gestation produces cleft palate and limb defects in the fetuses. RXR-alpha has been previously shown to mediate the teratogenic effects of RA in the limb. In this study, we show that RXR-alpha is also involved in retinoid-induced palatal clefting. Treatment of RXR-alpha knockout mice with a teratogenic dose of RA on gestation day 11 or 12 induces cleft palate at a lower frequency than that seen in wild-type animals.


Strategic Transformation of Higher Education examines the broken revenue-driven business model characteristic of higher education in an environment that demands greater access, more affordable tuition, accountable leaders, and faculty who deliver a consistently high quality of relevant education. The authors demonstrate that enduring business models must support institutional academic missions and that they are integral to systemic and strategic transformation by diagnosing the case for change and offering a practitioners' guide for reform.

This book surveys deficient government education policies, practices and funding formulas of select countries and offers remedies. It identifies impediments to change, along with ways to develop and deliver evidence-based solutions to improve institutional effectiveness and operating efficiencies, and it cites exemplars of change in these areas. Special attention is given to leadership attributes requisite of driving institutional redesign and to a paradigm shift that calls for transition from knowledge creation to plan implementation. Strategic Transformation of Higher Education emphasizes a collective need for reflection, a will to consistently question prevailing assumptions, and the courage to afford practical application to innovation.


We present a new method for determining Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) properties in future tonne scale direct detection experiments which accounts for uncertainties in the Milky Way (MW) smooth dark matter distribution. Using synthetic data on the kinematics of MW halo stars matching present samples from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, complemented by local escape velocity constraints, we demonstrate that the local dark matter density can be constrained to ~ 20% accuracy. For low mass WIMPs, we find that a factor of two error in the assumed local dark matter density leads to a severely biased reconstruction of the WIMP spin-independent cross section that is incorrect at the 15? level. We show that this bias may be overcome by marginalizing over parameters that describe the MW potential, and use this formalism to project the accuracy attainable on WIMP properties in future 1 ton Xenon detectors. Our method can be readily applied to different detector technologies and extended to more detailed MW halo models.


The threshold current density of electrically pumped Sn incorporated group IV alloy based transistor laser (TL) is analyzed by proposing and designing a theoretical model for the same. Active region for the lasing action is formed by strain compensated GeSn single quantum well (QW) in the base of the transistor. The threshold current density for lasing action is determined with the help of obtained modal and other losses, and calculated material gain. The obtained threshold current density in the range of 2-3kA/cm2 indicates that design of purely group-IV material based TL is viable and realistic.


To make dynamic measurements for an articulate robot, a hand-eye vision measuring system is built up. This system uses two charge coupled device (CCD) cameras mounted on the end-effector of the robot. System analysis is based on the stereovision theory and line-matching technology, using a computer to evaluate the dynamic performance parameters of an articulate robot from the two images captured by the two cameras. The measuring procedure includes four stages, namely, calibration, sampling, image processing, and calculation. The path accuracy of an articulate industrial robot was measured by this system. The results show that this system is a low-cost, easy to operate, and simple system for the dynamic performance testing of articulate robots.


Objective: The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the experiences of women who had donated oocytes to a known recipient. Background: Altruistic known donation between friends or family members is the predominant form of oocyte donation in Canada due to legal prohibition of donor compensation. Methods: Data were collected from a hospital-based IVF clinic located in a Canadian city. Semi-structured interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Results: Fifteen donors took part in the study either face to face or by phone interview. Among them, seven were a friend, six were a sister, one was a niece of the recipient, and one donated twice, once to her sister and once to a friend. Nine donations had resulted in a live birth – from newborn to seven years at the time of interview. Of these, four were intra-familial donation and five were friend-to-friend donation. Conclusions: The findings provide little evidence of relationship difficulties between donor and recipient during or following the donation and no evidence of coercion. Other than an altruistic desire to help a recipient and a self-evaluation of her own capacity to donate, the welfare of the intended child was in the mind of most donors during the decision-making phase.


The Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC) in Cyprus is focusing on moving towards transferable competencies and computer based learning environments as well as innovative models necessary for the new millennium challenges. The decision makers recognize that significant changes need to occur in several areas, but most of all concerning the use of information technology.
The main objective of the project is to contribute to the development and modernization of the Cypriot educational system, by introducing and enhancing the use of information technology in the process of teaching/learning in the pre-university education.
The Ministry of Education and Culture aims at encouraging innovative teaching and learning techniques and stimulating creativity among teachers and students, while offering a general framework for development of collaborative projects, allowing the actors enrolled in the educational system to participate in the information society development and the creation of the knowledge economy.
This paper describes the approach that was taken for the implementation of a national eLearning implementation project in Cyprus. The paper describes the logical and physical architectures of the eLearning platforms. The paper analyses the challenges and risks faced by the project and in general by similar national-level projects in education and the main methods for mitigating them. Finally, the paper underlines lessons learnt and the degree of reusability and replicability of the implemented architecture.


One of the industries that play a role in supporting the development of the country is the oil and gas industry. In addition, this industry has an influence on the country's economy, so it must be operated as efficiently as possible so as not to produce substantial costs and not have a significant impact on the country's economy. The oil and gas industry is equipped with good supporting equipment that plays an important role in the success of the production process. The most important equipment for the continuity of production is the pipe. Generally, this pipe is made of mild steel and the material commonly used for pipes in the oil and gas industry is API 5L. Corrosion is one of the challenges found in pipes in the oil and gas industry. This is due to aggressive ions such as Cl – and also the fluid contained in the pipe. The aggressive ions that exist can cause corrosion in the form of pitting corrosion. Corrosion that occurs in pipes in the oil and gas industry must be addressed as efficiently as possible with effective results. Inhibitors are one solution that can provide effective results in reducing corrosion rates. Corrosion rate can be reduced by 99 % or more if the concentration of the inhibitor is appropriately added. Generally, inhibitors that are often used are inorganic inhibitors, where these inhibitors contain chemical compounds that are harmful to the environment and health. So, currently there are many developed environmentally friendly inhibitors, namely inhibitors produced from plants and fruits. Environmentally friendly inhibitors do not have an impact on environmental pollution because the material from these inhibitors has organic properties. Until now, there have been many studies on environmentally friendly inhibitors carried out on API 5L steel. However, there have been no studies on inhibitors obtained from Areca Flower extract as environmentally friendly inhibitors. Thus, this study was conducted in order to determine the effect of adding environmentally friendly inhibitors on the corrosion behavior of API 5L steel pipes in aggressive environments, namely HCl media. Areca flower extract has been investigated as a green corrosion inhibitor on API 5L Grade B in 1 M HCl acidic solution using Linear polarization and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). Additions of 4 ml, 8 ml, 12 ml, 16 ml, and 20 ml of corrosion inhibitors increase the efficiency of the inhibitors. Optimum inhibition efficiency occurs with the addition at a concentration of 20 ml is 96.6 % on Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) testing. Polyphenolic and flavonoid compounds contained in the areca flower inhibit corrosion by physical adsorption, to form a monolayer which can inhibit corrosion. Adsorption occurs spontaneously in accordance with Langmuir isothermal adsorption. The polarization showed that the areca flower extract acts through mixed-type inhibition. The value of the free energy of –7.026 kJ/mol of adsorption indicated that the adsorption of inhibitor molecules was typical of physical adsorption


Background: The Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a dangerous infectious illness that has long been a concern for public health on a worldwide scale. According to calculation, over 170 million individuals are afflicted, with the highest infection rates in Africa and Asia. HCV is a major concern worldwide and eliminating it in its early phase to avoid liver cirrhosis and HCC has long been the aim for studies. To date, there is no verified vaccine available in the market and current approved therapy (standard of care). Siddha formulas have managed pathogenic infections for ages. Siddha practice strengthens the host's immunity and resilience to pathogens. Materials and Methods: The main aim of the present investigation is to screen the anti-viral potential of the siddha formulation Manjal noi Kudineer against Hepatitis C viral - RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) using in-silico docking technique. Results: Result of the study clearly emphasise that the lead cucurbitacin E ranks top with greatest binding free energy -8.96 kcal/mol, followed by Piperidine (-7.71), Curcumin (-7.45), Piperic acid (-6.77), Beta- Humulene (-6.40), Cinnamic acid (-5.89), Oleic acid (-5.59) and Piperine (-5.32). It was also evident that the therapeutics such as oleic acid and Cucurbitacin E revealing potential binding affinity in targeting the activation loop (Leu474, His475, Ser476 and Tyr477) of the viral polymerase enzyme. Followed by which other leads including Limonene, Beta-Pinene, Cinnamic acid, Anethole, Phyllanthin, Piperic acid, Curcumin and Piperine ranked second by offering prominent interactions with the residual bioactive amino acids (His475, Ser476 and Tyr477). Conclusion: From the data's of the present in-silico screening, it was concluded that the phytochemicals in the siddha formulation Manjal noi Kudineer display strong anti-viral property by blocking the target enzyme target enzyme (Hepatitis C viral polymerase) and thereby considered as a novel drug of choice for the clinical management of hepatitis C viral infection.


Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is the fifth most important
cereal crop of the world and is a major source of food,
feed and fodder in the semi-arid tropics (SAT). It is the
third most important staple food crop after rice (Oryza
sativa) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) for millions of
people in India. The grain molds, shoot fly and prolonged
dry spells are main reasons for low productivity in India.
Of all the soil mineral stresses or chemical toxicities,
acidity, and associated Al3+ toxicity and salinity are
probably the most important constraints to sorghum
productivity in tropical environments. Saline and sodic
soils cause mineral stresses on approximately 0.9 billion
ha of land (Gourley et al. 1997). In addition, the problematic
soils that include saline soils which constitute 15%
(approx.) of total cultivable area in India, reduce crop
productivity leading to food insecurity and rendering
crop production non-remunerative. The increased
demand for sorghum, especially for feed uses in SAT
regions (Kleih et al. 2000) imposes extension of sorghum
cultivation in saline soils. Soils with an ECe of <4 dS m-1
(Shannon 1997) are considered non-saline; an ECe of 4
to 16 dS m-1 are moderately saline and an ECe of >16 dS
m-1 are highly saline (www.cahe.nmsu.edu). Development
of cultivars tolerant to soil salinity along with appropriate
management practices is required for enhanced
production under saline conditions (Ramesh et al. 2005).
Salinity causes reduction in germination (Igartua et al.
1994), growth (Maiti et al. 1994) and yields of sorghum
(Macharia et al. 1994) and modifies the physiological
and biochemical processes of the plant (Dubey 1994).
Salinity causes more serious damage in the seedling
emergence stage than in any other stage in sorghum
(Macharia et al. 1994). Though sorghum is known to be
relatively more tolerant to soil salinity than maize (Zea
mays) (Igartua et al. 1994, Krishnamurthy et al. 2007),
genetic enhancement of sorghum for salinity tolerance
would further increase sorghum productivity in such
soils.


BACKGROUND
Approximately 10% to 16% of women experience a major depressive episode after childbirth. A significant proportion of these women also suffer from comorbid anxiety disorders. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the addition of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to standard antidepressant therapy offers additional benefits in the treatment of post-partum depression with comorbid anxiety disorders.

METHOD
Thirty-five women referred to a tertiary care hospital outpatient program with a DSM-IV diagnosis of postpartum depression with comorbid anxiety disorder were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatment groups-paroxetine-only monotherapy group (N = 16) or paroxetine plus 12 sessions of CBT combination therapy group (N = 19)-for a 12-week trial. Progress was monitored by a psychiatrist blinded to treatment group, using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety, Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, Clinical Global Impressions scale, and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Data were analyzed using 2-tailed statistical tests at an alpha level of.05. The study was conducted from April 1, 2002, to June 30, 2003.

RESULTS
Both treatment groups showed a highly significant improvement (p <.01) in mood and anxiety symptoms. Groups did not differ significantly in week of recovery, dose of paroxetine at remission, or measures of depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms at outcome.

CONCLUSION
Antidepressant monotherapy and combination therapy with antidepressants and CBT were both efficacious in reducing depression and anxiety symptoms. However, in this sample of acutely depressed/anxious postpartum women, there were no additional benefits from combining the 2 treatment modalities. Further research into the efficacy of combination therapy in the treatment of moderate-to-severe depression with comorbid disorders in postpartum women is recommended.


Right ventricular (RV) function strongly associates with mortality in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Current methods to determine RV function require temporal measurements of pressure and volume. The aim of the study was to investigate the feasibility of using right heart catheterization (RHC) measurements to estimate systolic and diastolic RV function. RV pressure and volume points were fit to P = α(eβV-1) to assess diastolic stiffness coefficient (β) and end-diastolic elastance (Eed). Single-beat methods were used to assess RV contractility (Ees). The effects of a non-zero unstressed RV volume (V0), RHC-derived stroke volume (SVRHC), and normalization of the end-diastolic volume (EDV) on estimates of β, Eed, and Ees were tested using Bland–Altman analysis in an incident PAH cohort (n = 32) that had both a RHC and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) test. RHC-derived measures of RV function were used to detect the effect of prostacyclin therapy in an incident PAH cohort and the severity of PAH in prevalent PAH (n = 21). A non-zero V0 had a minimal effect on β with a small bias and limits of agreement (LOA). Stroke volume (SV) significantly influenced estimates of β and Ees with a large LOA. Normalization of EDV had minimal effect on both β and Eed. RHC-derived β and Eed increased due to the severity of PAH and decreased due to three months of prostacyclin therapy. It is feasible to detect therapeutic changes in specific stiffness and elastic properties of the RV from signal-beat pressure-volume loops by using RHC-derived SV and normalizing RV EDV.


In the Ferrini case the Italian Supreme Court affirmed that Germany was not entitled to sovereign immunity for serious violations of human rights carried out by German occupying forces during World War II. In order to reach this innovative conclusion, the Court widely referred to international legal arguments, such as the concept of international crimes, the principle of primacy of jus cogens norms and the notion of a strict analogy between state immunity and the `functional immunity` of state officials. Based upon a systematic interpretation of the international legal order, the Court conducted a `balancing of values` between the two fundamental international law principles of the sovereign equality of states and of the protection of inviolable human rights. This article explores the Court`s reasoning and its consistency with international legal theory and preceding case law with the view to verifying whether, and in which sense, the Ferrini judgment may facilitate a radical reappraisal of the relationship between human rights and the law of state immunity.


Abstract We present preliminary results of a detailed chemical abundance analysis for a sample of solar-type stars known to exhibit excess infrared emission associated with dusty debris disks. Our sample of 28 stars was selected based on results from the Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems (FEPS) Spitzer Legacy Program, for the purpose of investigating whether the stellar atmospheres have been polluted with planetary material, which could indicate that the metallicity enhancement in stars with planets is due to metal-rich infall in the later stages of star and planet formation. The preliminary results presented here consist of precise abundances for 15 elements (C, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, S, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Fe, Co, and Ni) for half of the stars in our sample. We find that none of the stars investigated so far exhibit the expected trend of increasing elemental abundance with increasing condensation temperature, which would result from the stars having accreted planetary debris. Rather, the slopes of linear least-squares fits to the abundance data are either negative or consistent with zero. In both cases, our results may indicate that, like the Sun, the debris disk host stars are deficient in refractory elements, a possible signature of terrestrial and/or gas giant planet formation.


Flood disasters are one of the worst natural disasters and they occur almost daily. Correspondingly, city managers are nowadays increasingly investing in data collection and modelling activities. Typically, flows in pipes and channels have been modelled using a one-dimensional (1D) approach. Also, if the flood flows on the ground are confined to streets and curbs, the use of 1D/1D modelling approach (a.k.a. as dual drainage concept) may be a feasible way forward. However, if the flows are two-dimensional with complex interactions taking place through surface/sub-surface links, then the required approach would be the so-called 1D/2D modelling approach. The ever-increasing power of computers is now allowing a 3D fluid dynamics analysis of overflow and manhole structures, and in time these may be coupled with 1D models that may be used in situations where flow characteristics require with higher dimensionality. With the use of 2D models, the importance of terrain data has become a growing issue. The current paper discusses some of the key modelling approaches and makes particular reference to the terrain data processing and collection which can either improve or deteriorate their predictive capability.


"3rd International Conference on Materials Science and Chemistry" was successfully done on July 23, 2020 webinar hosted by Allied Academies with the theme of "Innovations and Chemical Applications in Materials Science".
Euro Materials Chemistry 2020 was marked with multiple sessions, keynote presentations and panel discussions. We received active participation and generous response from organizing committee members, scientists, young and brilliant researchers, business delegates and talented communities who made this Conference as one of the most successful and productive events in 2020 from AAC.
The meeting was carried out through various sessions, in which the discussions were held on the following major scientific tracks:
Materials Science and Engineering
Materials Chemistry
Organic and Inorganic Materials
Nanomaterials
Composite Materials
Biomaterials
Computational Materials Science
The conference was initiated with the Excellencies of the keynote forums:
Title: From hydrogen to graphene with twin physics
Anna C M Backerra, Stichting de Schat, The Netherlands
Title: Characterization techniques for metal additive manufacturing
Prabir K Chaudhury, Education and Consulting LLC, USA Int. J.


Previous study hsas confirmed the influence of rootstock on the scion. Using a suitable rootstock for plum cultivar can affect many qualitative parameters of fruit. This study deals with the pomological and chemical analysis of three plums of Japanese origin (Prunus salicina) 'Black Amber', 'Karkulka', 'Shiro' and one European origin (Prunus domestica) 'Stanley' grown on five different rootstock (Ishtara, St. Julien A, Torinel, Citation and Penta) planted in Czech Republic. During the year, the phenological phases of date of blooming, flower set, date of ripening, and fruit set were determined. In this study, significant negative correlation (p < 0.05, R = −0.6831) was determined between fruit set and fruit weight. Rootstocks did not have influence on the fruit weight, but 'Karkulka' reached significantly higher fruit weight on St. Julien A and Citation rootstocks (32 g) than on the other three rootstocks (24 to 26 g). For all cultivars, fruit firmness and soluble solid content (SSC) were measured. The rootstocks greatly influenced the titratable acidity of plums which reached the highest value for cultivars grown on Citation rootstock (from 0.65 to 2.43%) and the lowest when grown on Ishtara rootstock (from 0.53 to 1.88%). In addition, total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and antioxidant capacity were determined. The cultivars on Ishtara rootstock reached the highest values of TPC (from 336.26 to 562.75 mg (GAE)/100 g). The results presented in this study show influence of rootstock on quality of plums, where Ishtara rootstock was highlighted as the best.


Mobile satellite broadcast systems have the potential of delivering entertainment, information and other data services with outstanding coverage and reliability. However, the long signal interruptions due to obstacles in the terminal environment that characterizes the land mobile satellite channel make the design of efficient air interfaces challenging. In this paper, a file based mobile satellite broadcast system is studied where, to overcome the signal blockages, packet time diversity is applied. Based on some simple assumptions, an analytical expression for the file error rate of the system is derived. Using this result, a design scheme is proposed that, for a given channel and file, minimizes the total number of transmitted symbols required to satisfy quality of service (QoS) constraints in terms of acceptable delay and file receive probability. The results can also be used to estimate the reduction in bandwidth requirements that can be achieved if users in demanding environments can be served using terrestrial repeaters or other means.


Five patients (age range 7-14 years) received allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for Fanconi anemia (FA). All patients showed progressive pancytopenia associated with congenital malformations. Diagnosis was confirmed by studies of cellular hypersensitivity to the clastogenic effect of the DNA crosslinking agent diepoxybutane. The conditioning regimen consisted of low dose cyclophosphamide (5 mg/kg x 4) and fractionated total body irradiation (167 cGy x 3). For graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis one patient was given cyclosporin alone while the remaining four patients received a combination of cyclosporin and two doses of methotrexate. Marrow was given unmanipulated from HLA-identical siblings. All patients are alive 18-67 months after grafting with Karnofsky scores of 100% and normal hemopoiesis of donor origin. Modifications in transplant protocols such as those here described have resulted in a decreased risk of severe transplant-related complications. These results confirm that BMT is a curative therapy in FA patients and should be considered as a first choice treatment if an HLA-identical donor is available.


Here we show the newly developed process of microbubble froth separation enhanced by ultrasonic irradiation for colloidal slurry. In this study, microbubbles were applied to the froth separation of dilute ferrihydrite colloidal suspension. Furthermore, enhancement of the microbubbles froth separation by controlling the motion, aggregation and clustering of microbubbles using the "Bjerknes force" in ultrasonic acoustic fields was investigated. The rate of microbubble froth separation of ferrihydrite colloidal slurry was increased by the ultrasonic irradiation and was more efficient than settling separation. Adjustment of the ultrasonic frequency is important for the microbubble froth separation. With a frequency of 38 kHz producing stronger primary and secondary Bjerknes forces, the motion and clustering of microbubbles are too extreme; the microbubbles abruptly aggregated to form clusters and rose rapidly without carrying the ferrihydrite colloidal particles. However, with ultrasonic irradiation at a frequency of 430 kHz, the motion of microbubbles was moderate and they aggregated widely. In this case, the clear froth separation of ferrihydrite colloidal slurry progressed rapidly, and its rate was increased with increasing output power of ultrasonic irradiation.


A systematic study on bivalves has been carried out in the Turonian of the Gabonese coastal basin from the Belle Vue 3 section in the south of Libreville region. Three genera including seven species are distinguished: Granocardium (Granocardium) sp., Lima (Plagiostoma) grenieri (Coquand), Lima (Plagiostoma) pseudohornesi Riedel, L. (Plagiostoma) cf. perplana (Koenen), L. (Plagiostroma) sp., Rastellum diluvianum (Linne) and R. sp. Rastellum is reported here for the first time in the Gabonese coastal basin. The species L. (Plagiostoma) cf. perplana (Koenen) and L. (Plagiostroma) sp. are found for the first time in the Gabonese coastal basin. The assemblage of bivalve faunas from Belle Vue 3 section is dominated by representative of the genus Lima and more precisely by representative of L. (Plagiostoma) sp. The bivalves associations are regarded as parautochthonous.


This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of the transglutaminase enzyme on the physicochemical characteristics, overrun, melting resistance, rheological and sensorial properties of ice cream made from goat's milk. Different enzyme units (0.5, 1, 2, and 4 U/g milk protein) and treatment times (20 min and 60 min) were applied to determine the optimum process conditions. Treatment of the transglutaminase in the ice cream mix significantly affected the rheological and melting properties of the ice cream samples. The samples prepared with higher enzyme units and enzyme-treatment times showed higher melting resistance, consistency index, and viscoelastic modulus (G') than the ice cream mix. The correlation coefficient between melting resistance and viscoelastic modulus was found to be high (0.76). The apparent viscosity of all samples decreased with increasing the shear rate, indicating that all samples exhibited non-Newtonian shear thinning flow behavior. The sensory, overrun, and physicochemical properties of samples were not affected by the enzyme treatment. This study showed that treatment times and enzyme units are essential factors in the processing of the transglutaminase enzyme for improving the rheological and melting properties of ice cream mixes. Another significant result was that desired melting resistance could be achieved for ice cream with lower stabilizer and fat content.


Trapdoor functions, introduced in the seminal paper of Diffie and Hellman [34], are a fundamental notion in modern cryptography. Informally, trapdoor functions are (injective) functions that are easy to evaluate but hard to invert unless given an additional input called the trapdoor. Specifically, the classical security notion considered for trapdoor functions is one-wayness, which asks that it be hard to invert (except with very small probability) a uniformly random point in the range without the trapdoor.
Motivated by the demands of emerging applications of cryptography as well as stronger security properties desired from higher-level cryptographic primitives constructed out of trapdoor functions, this thesis studies new strengthenings to the classical notion of one-way trapdoor functions and their applications. Our results are organized along two separate threads, wherein we introduce two new cryptographic primitives that strengthen the notion of one-wayness for trapdoor functions in different ways:
Deterministic Encryption: Our notion of deterministic (public-key) encryption addresses the weaknesses of using trapdoor functions directly for encryption articulated by Goldwasser and Micali [47], to the extent possible without randomizing the encryption function (whereas Goldwasser and Micali address them using randomized encryption). Specifically, deterministic encryption ensures no partial information is leaked about a high-entropy plaintext or even multiple correlated such plaintexts. Deterministic encryption has applications to fast search on encrypted data, securing legacy protocols, and "hedging" randomized encryption against bad randomness (cf. [6]). We design a conceptually appealing semantic-security style definition of security for deterministic encryption as well as an easier-to-work-with but equivalent indistinguishability style definition. In the random oracle model of Bellare and Rogaway [11], we show a secure construction of deterministic encryption for an unbounded number of arbitrarily correlated high-entropy plaintexts based on any randomized encryption scheme, as well as length-preserving such construction based on RSA. In the standard model, we develop a general framework for constructing deterministic encryption schemes based on a new notion of "robust" hardcore functions. We show a secure construction of deterministic for a single high-entropy plaintext based on exponentially-hard one-way trapdoor functions; single-message security is equivalent to security for an unbounded number of messages drawn from a block-source (where each subsequent message has high entropy conditioned on the previous) by a result of Fehr [41]. We also show a secure construction of deterministic encryption for a bounded number of arbitrarily correlated high-entropy plaintexts (or an unbounded number of messages drawn from a q-block-source, where the "blocks" consists of q messages and within each block are arbitrarily correlated high-entropy plaintexts) based on the notion of lossy trapdoor functions introduced by Peikert and Waters [68].
Adaptive Trapdoor Functions: Our notion of adaptive trapdoor functions asks that one-wayness be preserved in the presence of an inversion oracle that can be queried on some range points. The main application we give is the construction of black-box chosen-ciphertext secure public-key encryption from weaker general assumptions. ("Black-box" means that the specific code implementing the trapdoor function is not used in the construction, which typically incurs a huge efficiency cost.) Namely, we show such a construction of chosen-ciphertext secure public-key encryption from adaptive trapdoor functions. We then show that adaptive trapdoor functions can be realized from the recently introduced notions of lossy trapdoorfunctions by Peikert and Waters [68] and correlated-product secure trapdoor functions by Rosen and Segev [72]. In fact, by extending a recent result of Vahlis [76] we show adaptivity is strictly weaker than the latter notions (in a black-box sense). As a consequence, adaptivity is the weakest security property of trapdoor functions known to imply black-box chosen-ciphertext security. Additionally, by slightly extending our framework and considering "tag-based" adaptive trapdoor functions, we obtain exactly the chosen-ciphertext secure encryption schemes proposed in [68, 72], thereby unifying them, although the schemes we obtain via adaptive trapdoor functions are actually more efficient. Finally, we show that adaptive trapdoor functions can be realized from a (non-standard) computational assumption on RSA inversion, leading to a very efficient RSA-based chosen-ciphertext secure encryption scheme in the standard model.


The weak and deficient manipulation of charge–spin coupling in multiferroic BiFeO3 (BFO) notoriously limits device applications. To mould the spontaneous charge and the spin orientation synergistically in BFO, in this paper Pb substitution for Bi could induce lattice distortions and structural phase transitions to tune the lone-pair activity (6s) for ferroelectricity and neutralized oxygen vacancies to valence Fe/Fe superexchange for ferromagnetism. Multiferroic Bi1 xPbxFeO3 [x 1⁄4 0, 0.05, 0.075 and 0.1] nanostructures were synthesized by a chemical combustion process. X-Ray diffraction confirms the distorted rhombohedral BFO structure and the lattice expansion with Pb doping. The Pb ions also modified the shape of the BFO nanostructures. The observed ferroelectric behavior depends upon lattice distortion, reduction in oxygen vacancies to induce low leakage current and the shape/size effect in BFO nanostructures. The zero field (ZFC) and field cooling (FC) SQUID measurement confirm the strength of antiferromagnetism in BFO with Pb ions. The cusp in ZFC magnetization is studied by ac magnetic susceptibility measurements that include spin-glass and superparamagnetic interactions in antiferromagnetism at low temperature. The oxidation states in BFO suggest oxygen vacancies that are reduced with Pb doping and maintain Fe/Fe valences. The dielectric permittivity changes with applied dc magnetic field, which could induce a magnetodielectric effect due to spin pair correlation of neighboring spins and the coupling constant. Furthermore, significant dielectric anomalies appear near both the ferroelectric phase transition, and the Neel temperature of BFO implies the magnetoelectric coupling.


The German Environment Agency (UBA) and the German Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG) organised a conference on plastics in freshwater environments on behalf of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB). The conference took place in Berlin on June 21–22, 2016, with 220 attendants from 20 European and two non-European countries. The objective was to exchange knowledge on plastics in European freshwater environments and to discuss its environmental and societal implications. The speakers and attendants had professional backgrounds in academics, regulatory authorities, industry and non-governmental organisations. Lectures and posters were presented on various topics, including sources and sinks, environmental concern, risk perception and management options. In preparation of the conference an issue paper was compiled on plastics in European freshwater environments. In this context, an informal questionnaire was sent to water management agencies in Europe to provide an overview on monitoring, risk awareness and management options. The results of this survey were presented in the issue paper.


Despite extensive long-term eradication programmes, bovine tuberculosis (bTB) remains endemic in much of the British Isles. The cost of the national eradication programme in Northern Ireland was estimated at £23 million in 2010/2011.1 There is evidence that badgers play a role in the maintenance and spread of Mycobacterium bovis to cattle (as reviewed by Allen and others2). Northern Ireland is a small country (13,843 km2) with an agricultural land that is dominated by grass production, which supports 1.6 million cattle among 20,000 farms.3 The estimated badger population of 34,100 (95 per cent confidence interval (CI) 26,200 to 42,000) is widespread and contained within 7600 social groups (95 per cent CI 6200 to 9000).4 A road traffic accident (RTA) survey began in 1998 in Northern Ireland with the aim of describing the occurrence of M bovis within the badger population.

A wildlife officer and a dedicated collection vehicle were used to collect badger carcases for the survey. All reports of badger carcases found on roads were followed up where possible. To minimise reporting bias, the reporting of carcases was initially limited to the employees of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and certain other public sector organisations, but it was later widened to include herd keepers and members of the public. Any carcases found where the cause of death was suspected to be non-accidental were reported to the local police wildlife officer and were excluded from the study. Only carcases deemed suitable for postmortem examination were taken to the nearer of the two veterinary diagnostic laboratories (located in Belfast or Omagh).

Submitted carcases were placed in a class I fume cabinet or on a down ventilated bench, where a detailed postmortem examination was normally carried out within 24 hours of submission (see Fig 1). The sex and approximate age of the badger were recorded, and the carcase was examined for abscesses and wounds. The …


This poster is the culmination of a project completed to fulfill the Capstone
requirement for a Master's of Information Studies at the School of Information.
During this project, I worked for Michael Laird Rare Books, LLC. I was tasked with
fully processing the papers of Irene Rice Pereira, an American abstract artist. The
end goal of the project was for the collection to be sold to the Schlesinger Library at
Harvard University, who already owned some of Pereira's papers. The project
began with extensive research on the people involved as well as into the current
holdings of the Schlesinger Library. After looking through microfilm, I was able to
have a better idea of what was unique to the collection I was working with. I
authored an appraisal report and processing plan and then began to arrange the
collection. I wrote a DACS compliant, EAD/XML encoded finding aid. The collection
was sold to the Schlesinger Library.


The COMPAAN/LAURA (Stefanov et al., 2004) tool chain maps nested loop applications written in Matlab onto reconfigurable platforms, such as FPGAs. COMPAAN rewrites the original Matlab application as a process network in which the control is parameterized and distributed. This control is given as parameterized polytopes that are expressed in terms of pseudo-linear expressions. These expressions cannot always be mapped efficiently onto hardware as they contain multiplication and integer division operations. This obstructs the data flow through the processes. Therefore, we present in this paper the expression compiler that efficiently maps pseudo-linear expressions onto a dedicated hardware data-path in such a way that the distributed and parameterized control never obstructs the data flow through processors. This compiler employs techniques like number theory axioms, method of difference, and predicated static single assignment code.


We define a stochastic lattice model for a fluctuating directed polymer in d≥2 dimensions. This model can be alternatively interpreted as a fluctuating random path in two dimensions, or a one-dimensional asymmetric simple exclusion process with d-1 conserved species of particles. The deterministic large dynamics of the directed polymer are shown to be given by a system of coupled Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equations and diffusion equations. Using nonlinear fluctuating hydrodynamics and mode coupling theory we argue that stationary fluctuations in any dimension d can only be of KPZ type or diffusive. The modes are pure in the sense that there are only subleading couplings to other modes, thus excluding the occurrence of modified KPZ-fluctuations or Lévy-type fluctuations, which are common for more than one conservation law. The mode-coupling matrices are shown to satisfy the so-called trilinear condition.


Objectives: To prospectively validate that the inability to decrease procalcitonin levels by more than 80% between baseline and day 4 is associated with increased 28-day all-cause mortality in a large sepsis patient population recruited across the United States. Design: Blinded, prospective multicenter observational clinical trial following an Food and Drug Administration-approved protocol. Setting: Thirteen U.S.-based emergency departments and ICUs. Patients: Consecutive patients meeting criteria for severe sepsis or septic shock who were admitted to the ICU from the emergency department, other wards, or directly from out of hospital were included. Interventions: Procalcitonin was measured daily over the first 5 days. Measurements and Main Results: The primary analysis of interest was the relationship between a procalcitonin decrease of more than 80% from baseline to day 4 and 28-day mortality using Cox proportional hazards regression. Among 858 enrolled patients, 646 patients were alive and in the hospital on day 4 and included in the main intention-to-diagnose analysis. The 28-day all-cause mortality was two-fold higher when procalcitonin did not show a decrease of more than 80% from baseline to day 4 (20% vs 10%; p = 0.001). This was confirmed as an independent predictor in Cox regression analysis (hazard ratio, 1.97 [95% CI, 1.18–3.30; p < 0.009]) after adjusting for demographics, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II, ICU residence on day 4, sepsis syndrome severity, antibiotic administration time, and other relevant confounders. Conclusions: Results of this large, prospective multicenter U.S. study indicate that inability to decrease procalcitonin by more than 80% is a significant independent predictor of mortality and may aid in sepsis care.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
Abdominal bloating is a frequent complaint in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but its underlying mechanism remains uncertain. Our aim was to determine whether the abdominal wall, specifically its adaptation to intra-abdominal volumes, plays a role.

METHODS
In 12 patients complaining of abdominal bloating (8 IBS and 4 functional bloating) and in 12 healthy controls, the effect of colonic gas load (24 mL/min rectal gas infusion for 1 hour) on perception (measured by a 0-6 scale), abdominal girth, and muscular activity was tested. With the participants sitting on an ergonomic chair and the trunk erect, multichannel electromyography was measured via bipolar surface electrodes located over the upper and lower rectus abdominis, and the external and internal oblique bilaterally.

RESULTS
In healthy controls, colonic gas loads produced subjective symptoms (score, 3.0 +/- 0.3), objective abdominal distention (girth increment, 6 +/- 1 mm), and increased the activity of the abdominal muscles (external oblique activity, 11% +/- 3% in; P < .05 vs basal). At the same infused gas volumes, the patients developed significantly more symptoms (score, 4.5 +/- 0.4) and abdominal distention (11 +/- 1 mm; P < .05 vs healthy for both). These abnormal responses were associated with failed tonic contraction of the abdominal wall (external oblique activity change, -1% +/- 4%; P value not significant vs basal) and paradoxic relaxation of the internal oblique (activity reduction, 26% +/- 7%; P < .01 vs basal).

CONCLUSIONS
In patients with bloating, abdominal perception and distention in response to intra-abdominal volume increments are exaggerated markedly and associated with muscular dystony of the abdominal wall.