Species inventories and biodiversity assessments are critical to conservation. Yet cryptic species or recolonizing species can be challenging to detect. DNA metabarcoding provides an alternative tool to identify species that can be difficult to observe during field surveys. We test the efficacy of DNA analysis to identify burrowing petrel species in a rapidly changing landscape, on a remote sub‐Antarctic island following pest eradication. Discarded feathers and scats provided high quality DNA for species identification, assisting in detection of new species arrivals and new breeding sites across Macquarie Island. We highlight how DNA metabarcoding informs species inventories and is a valuable tool to complement seabird field surveys.


The mainstream of dimensional metrology development is focused towards continuous shrinking of the devices (Moore scaling). Current cutting-edge technologies are in few nanometer range (3-7nm). There is also a growing demand to characterize structures with large dimensions in microns range (pitch, CD or depth). New technology megatrends such as internet of things (IOT) additionally require More than Moore scaling and heterogeneous integration [1–3]. Due to recent developments ultra large pitch scatterometry applications growth is observed in high power, sensors and packaging areas. Here we present novel approach that is focused on ultra large pitch scatterometry and its challenges. We demonstrate how to extend usage of conventional scatterometry for micro size devices.


Gaussian modifications of the neutrino energy loss (NEL) by electron capture on the strongly screening nuclides 55Co and 56Ni are investigated. The results show that in strong electron screening (SES), the NEL rates decrease without modifying the Gamow-Teller (G-T) resonance transition. For instance, the NEL rates of 55Co and 56Ni decrease more than two and three orders of magnitude for ρ7 = 5.86, T9 ≤ 5, Ye = 0.47, Δ = 6.3, respectively. In contrast, due to Gaussian modification, the NEL rates increase about two orders of magnitude in SES. Due to SES, the maximum values of the C-factor (in %) on NEL of 55Co, 56Ni are of the order of 99.80%, 99.56% at ρ7 = 5.86 Ye = 0.47 and 99.60%, 99.65% at ρ7 = 106 Ye = 0.43, respectively.


Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the micro shear bond
strength of different ceramic systems - IPS Empress 2, Cergogold,
In-Ceram Alumina and Cercon - and a dual luting agent. Methods:
Twelve specimens of each ceramic were fabricated and divided according
different surface treatments: Group 1: No additional treatment was
applied to the ceramic surface; Group 2: Ceramics were etched with 9.5%
hydrofluoric acid; Group 3: specimens treated with airborne particle
abrasion for each ceramic system in accordance with
manufacturer's instructions (n=20). The tests were performed
after 24 h or after water storage for 6 months. Data were then assessed
statistically using the 3-way ANOVA and the Tukey's test
(P<0.05). Results: For Cergogold and IPS Empress 2 systems, the
treatments performed with airborne particle abrasion and hydrofluoric
acid showed no significant differences from each other, and both were
superior to the groups without treatment. For Cercon and In-Ceram
ceramics, no differences were found among the groups (P<0.05). When
the surface was treated with hydrofluoric acid, the highest bond
strength was found to IPS Empress 2 in the 6-month storage period
(P<0.05). Conclusion: Lower bond strength values were only
observed with IPS Empress 2 ceramic for the control group in the
6-month storage (P<0.05).


Chlamydial pathogenicity in the upper genital tract relies on chlamydial ascending from the lower genital tract. To monitor chlamydial ascension, we engineered a luciferase-expressing C. muridarum. In cells infected with the luciferase-expressing C. muridarum, luciferase gene expression and enzymatic activity (measured as bioluminescence intensity) correlated well along the infection course, suggesting that bioluminescence can be used for monitoring chlamydial replication. Following an intravaginal inoculation with the luciferase-expressing C. muridarum, 8 of 10 mice displayed bioluminescence signal in the lower with 4 also in the upper genital tracts on day 3 after infection. By day 7, all 10 mice developed bioluminescence signal in the upper genital tracts. The bioluminescence signal was maintained in the upper genital tract in 6 and 2 mice by days 14 and 21, respectively. The bioluminescence signal was no longer detectable in any of the mice by day 28. The whole body imaging approach also revealed an unexpected airway infection following the intravaginal inoculation. Although the concomitant airway infection was transient and did not significantly alter the genital tract infection time courses, caution should be taken during data interpretation. The above observations have demonstrated that C. muridarum can not only achieve rapid ascending infection in the genital tract but also cause airway infection following a genital tract inoculation. These findings have laid a foundation for further optimizing the C. muridarum intravaginal infection murine model for understanding chlamydial pathogenic mechanisms.


Leucine and histidine biosynthetic genes from Streptomyces rochei HP1 that complemented auxotrophic mutations in S. lividans TK54 were cloned in pIJ61. DNA from one leucine recombinant plasmid was subcloned into pBR322. From the latter, a recombinant plasmid was obtained that complemented the leuA mutation in Escherichia coli CV512 but not other leucine markers in E. coli. Analysis of this and several subclones, including mutant plasmids constructed in vitro, established that the cloned S. rochei gene was expressed in E. coli from the tetracycline promoter of pBR322 to produce a polypeptide of 67 kDa; the corresponding coding region was shown to be within a 1.7 kbp DNA fragment. Blot hybridization revealed corresponding homologous genes in several other streptomycetes.


The life of Simon Boyanus (1871–1952) was so different and fruitful that one could be confused about the number of authors hidden under his name. He has graduated from the St. Petersburg University (the Department of History and Philology), fi nished Drama Course, was an actor and a director, wrote articles on the history of medieval theater, worked at the History of Arts Institute. He was a student of phonetics at L. V. Shcherba`s course, and founded Institute of Phonetics and the Phonetic School with him. In 1920s he studied phonetics in London with D. Jones and L. E. Armstrong. He was a Germanic cycle courses lecturer at Leningrad State University and published his fi rst textbook of English phonetics for Russian speakers in 1926. In 1928–1930 he was a co-author of the famous English-Russian and RussianEnglish dictionaries with V. K. Mueller. In 1934 Boyanus emigrated to the UK where he published a textbook of Russian phonetics for British students, bringing together the achievements of Russian and British phonetic science. Boyanus was the fi rst to suggest a description of Russian intonation in terms of a li mited set of abstract intonation models with the nature and number of phrasal stresses as a key feature. Using the intonational markup, prepared for English, and his pronunciation, Boyanus has transcribed not only phrases, but stylistically diverse texts. At the end of the life Boyanus established his own School of Russian Language, acknowledged throughout the UK.


Evaluating the impacts of genetically modified crops on biodiversity is a necessary step before their release to the field and obtaining environmental safety certificates. To assess the ecological safety of herbicide-resistant soybean ZUTS-33, we compared arthropod diversity, diseases occurrence, nodule number, and weed diversity through spraying herbicide or water on ZUTS-33, and its parental control receptor HC-3 and main cultivar soybean ZH-13 in a field experiment. The results showed that there was no significant difference of arthropod diversity (number of insects per 100 plants, Shannon index, Simpson index and Pielou index), diseases incidence rates and disease index, nodules and weed diversity between ZUTS-33 and non-genetically modified control soybean HC-3 and ZH-13. Spraying herbicide on ZUTS-33 had no significant effect on arthropod diversity, diseases and rhizobium compared with those treatments of spraying clear water on ZUTS-33, non-genetically modified control HC-3 and ZH-13, and the abundance of weeds were significantly decreased.


Abstract Carp edema virus (CEV) is the causative agent of carp edema virus disease (CEVD), also referred to as koi sleepy disease, which is an emerging disease of global concern that may cause high rates of morbidity and mortality in common carp and ornamental koi (Cyprinus carpio). This article reports the third confirmed outbreak of CEVD in California. In June 2015, three koi presented with clinical signs of cutaneous lesions, severe lethargy, and signs of hypoxia. All fish tested positive for CEV by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Euthanasia and complete necropsy were performed on two fish. The most significant necropsy findings included necrotizing branchitis with marked interstitial edema, multifocal cutaneous ulcerations, and severe cutaneous edema. Treatment of the pond with 0.3–0.5% salt was recommended to the owner. Approximately 7 wk later, a recheck visit was made to the pond. No mortalities had been noted since the initiation of the salt treatment. Physical examination revealed a vast improvement but not complete elimination of the clinical signs of hypoxia and intermittent lethargy in the affected fish. Gill biopsy samples from the two most affected fish were tested and remained PCR positive for CEV. Subsequent recheck visits over 11 mo postdiagnosis and initiation of treatment showed continued improvement in most fish. Gill samples from all fish in the pond (n = 9) were repeatedly tested by quantitative PCR for CEV, and all samples were negative. This case series further confirms the global spread of CEV and the need for practitioners to be vigilant for outbreaks of this disease. If CEVD is suspected, treatment with 0.3–0.5% salt can be recommended to potentially mitigate the effects of this disease. However, fish may remain potential carriers of this pathogen, and strict biosecurity measures should continue to be enforced for any pond that has had a confirmed CEV outbreak.


The gene mutated in Ataxia telangiectasia termed Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated (ATM) encodes for a Serine/Threonine protein kinase which functions at the core of signalling network responsible for DNA damage recognition and repair. Recent evidence has supported the role of ATM beyond DNA repair and has been shown to function in metabolic regulation and cellular homeostasis. Here, we show that ATM regulates mitochondrial biogenesis in MCF-7 and A549 cancer cell lines. Inhibition of ATM kinase activity with its specific inhibitor KU55933 (KU) both with and without DNA damage by Doxorubicin or Bleomycin resulted in evoked cytosolic Ca 2 + ions leading to rapid, but sustained induction of mitochondrial biogenesis in these cell lines. This induction was independent of AMPK, a kinase previously shown to be involved in mitochondrial biogenesis as KU treatment resulted in downregulation of phospho AMPK. Moreover siRNA mediated knockdown of AMPK could not prevent KU dependent induction of mitochondrial biogenesis. Interestingly, KU treatment resulted in induction of Extracellular signal-regulated kinase(ERK) and CREB phosphorylation. Inhibition of ERK signalling by using MEK inhibitor U0126 disrupted KU dependent induction of mitochondrial biogenesis demonstrating the involvement of ERK signalling cascade in mitochondrial biogenesis upon ATM or AMPK inhibition. These results demonstrate that ATM maintains cellular homeostasis by regulating AMPK mediated mitochondrial biogenesis and that perturbation in this pathway by KU treatment causes a switch in mitochondrial biogenesis in ERK dependent manner. This study indicates cancer cell9s fail-safe mechanism in maintaining its homeostasis by up-regulating mitochondrial biogenesis upon inhibition of ATM. Citation Format: Hilal S. Khalil, Hemanth Tummala, Laura DeCaris, Nikolai Zhelev. Pharmacological inhibition of ATM results in mitochondrial biogenesis in AMPK independent manner. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1697. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1697


Summary A diffusion denuder apparatus has been used to investigate the gas-particle partitioning of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein and crotonaldehyde in cigarette mainstream smoke (MS), compounds that are of interest owing to their toxicity and near quantitative retention in the body during cigarette smoking. Formaldehyde showed the best performance in denuder experiments with simple aldehyde-air mixtures owing to the relatively fast rate of the heterogeneous reaction formaldehyde(g) + dinitrophenylhydrazine(s) → hydrazone(s). Analysis with the Gormley-Kennedy equation revealed that formaldehyde denuder removal approached, but did not attain, complete efficiency even under optimized operational conditions. Acetaldehyde, acrolein and crotonaldehyde were trapped with considerably lower efficiency than formaldehyde under the denuder conditions used, and more effective denuder wall coatings would be required to examine gas-particle partitioning of these other carbonyls. The proportion of formaldehyde in the smoke particulate phase initially entering the denuder was > 99%, but loss of formaldehyde from the smoke particles was relatively rapid leading to 35%–61% deposition over the denuder length. The temperature dependence of formaldehyde deposition in the denuder was well predicted using Henry's law constant for aqueous formaldehyde solutions. These observed properties of formaldehyde are primarily due to reversible reactions of formaldehyde with water in cigarette smoke leading to the much less volatile species methanediol, its oligomers and hydrate. These data suggest that cigarette smoke inhalation is likely to expose the deeper-lung generations of smokers to greater relative formaldehyde exposure, and greater genotoxic risk at those generations than might occur through inhalation of formaldehyde vapour alone. Risk assessments of formaldehyde in cigarette smoke should be updated to recognise this modified risk profile.


Recent scientific advances allow the use of technology to expand the number of forms of energy that can be perceived by humans. Smart sensors can detect hazards that human sensors are unable to perceive, for example radiation. This fusing of technology to human s forms of perception enables exciting new ways of perceiving the world around us. In this paper we describe the design of SpiderSense, a wearable device that projects the wearer s near environment on the skin and allows for directional awareness of objects around him. The millions of sensory receptors that cover the skin presents opportunities for conveying alerts and messages. We discuss the challenges and considerations of designing similar wearable devices.


Background
Intraventricular pilocytic astrocytomas are a rare occurrence, accounting for approximately 4% -15.6% of all pilocytic astrocytomas .The aim of the study was to describe the radiology, surgical management and outcome in 15 patients with histopathologically proven intraventricular pilocytic astrocytoma(IVPA).

Objective
To study the clinical presentation radiology and operative challenges in rare intra ventricular pilocytic astrocytomas.

Materials and Methods
Between January 2010 and August 2018, 15 patients with histopathologically proven IVPA were identified. The radiological images were obtained from PACS. Patient and surgical details were obtained from the computerized discharge summary, OT records and operative notes, whereas follow up was obtained from the record section.

Results
Headache with progressive loss of vision was the most common presentation. Duration of symptoms varied from 4 months to 2 years (mean 9. 88 months). Except one patient, all patients with preoperative CT scan revealed calcifications in the lesion, with extensive calcification in 3 patients. All the tumors were predominantly hypointense on T1WI and iso to hyperintense on T2WI. Lesion in all patients showed heterogenous contrast enhancement on post gadolinium images. Mean blood loss in the series was 1969 ml (range 250 ml- 4500 ml).There was one death in this series due to meningitis and septic shock.

Conclusion
IVPAs are rare tumors and are difficult to diagnose in the preoperative period based on the radiologic profile alone. These tumors can be extremely vascular with potential for massive blood loss. These tumors can be associated with extensive calcification and the calcified tumors have less bleeding as expected.


The optimal income taxation problem is extended to analyze estate taxation. In the model, people have preferences over bequest, consumption and leisure, with a potential external aspect of bequests. The optimization is subject to the steady state constraint on the distribution of bequests, under a simplifying assumption of perfect correlation of abilities within the family line. The optimal taxes have a modular structure, with components reflecting redistribution, Pigouvian correction of bequest externality, and linear contributions due to pecuniary externalities acting through factor prices. Without a bequest externality, estate taxation is governed by commodity tax rules and in a special case it is not necessary. When the external effect is present, inheritance becomes a (partially) exogenous source of inequality and it should be treated analogously to the regular income implying that estate taxation is useful for redistribution. This effect is separate from the Pigouvian correction. I also demonstrate that the Atkinson-Stiglitz commodity taxation logic applies in the steady state even if it implies saving distortions. This result is related to the "no capital taxation" propositions known from the literature. ∗Address: Department of Economics, University of British Columbia, #997 1873 East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com.


In visual search tasks, observers look for targets in displays containing distractors. Likelihood that targets will be missed varies with target prevalence, the frequency with which targets are presented across trials. Miss error rates are much higher at low target prevalence (1%-2%) than at high prevalence (50%). Unfortunately, low prevalence is characteristic of important search tasks such as airport security and medical screening where miss errors are dangerous. A series of experiments show this prevalence effect is very robust. In signal detection terms, the prevalence effect can be explained as a criterion shift and not a change in sensitivity. Several efforts to induce observers to adopt a better criterion fail. However, a regime of brief retraining periods with high prevalence and full feedback allows observers to hold a good criterion during periods of low prevalence with no feedback.


In this paper a modified inset-feed microstrip antenna is proposed to increase band width and return loss. The operating frequency of the antenna is 2.4 GHz ISM band. To enhance the performance of the antenna one DGS has been introduced under the patch area that is on the other side of substrate and little modification in the dimension of feed gap. The DGS has been optimized to provide a stop band at 2.4GHz. The stop band of the DGS added with stop band of the inset-feed rectangular antenna which is responsible for enhancement of return loss. The DGS on the ground plane increases fringing field which introduces parasitic capacitance. This parasitic capacitance increases the coupling between the conducting patch and the ground plane which is responsible for the enhancement of the bandwidth. The performance of the antenna is depends on the physical dimension of the antenna as well as location and shape of the DGS. Zealand IE3D is used for simulation and analysis of the proposed antenna.


In order to achieve high performance on high-end microprocessor systems, second level caches are associated with the microprocessors. Most of current second-level caches are direct-mapped. Recently, a new organization of a partially associative cache was proposed: the skewed-associative cache. In this paper, we investigate the use of partially associative organizations for second-level caches. When the second-level cache lags are implemented on the same chip as the cache controller, the data array in the second-level cache may be organized as a single cache bank and then may be as simple as in the direct-mapped case. Three driven simulations were conducted. They show that using some degree of associativity, and particularly skewed-associativity, on the second-level cache is particularly worthwhile because it significantly reduces both execution time and memory traffic.<<ETX>>


Some economic conditions in Iran such as presence of stagflation, inappropriateness of business environment, foreign investment decrease, and technological and technical knowledge disconnection of domestic product prepare a ground for activities in resistance economy field. Resistance economy prepares the grounds for the comprehensive growth and development even in the economic pressures and sanctions. Relying on the resistance economy, dependency on foreign countries should be reduced and increasing the self-reliance and the use of domestic products should be emphasized. Undoubtedly, stock market positively affects on manufacturing domestic products and reduces the market liquidity, since growth in manufacturing domestic products will reduce the country's dependence on some foreign goods and play pivot role in forming the proper consumption pattern in the resistance economy. Therefore, more companies will be established, product and national income will be increased and unemployment will be reduced. Currently, these effects are not obvious in the economy of the country, because the structure of Iran's financial system is seemingly bank-based not market-based. This descriptive-correlational study aims to investigate the impact of increase in stock market turnover on the disappearance of Iran's market-oriented economy which results in the formation of resistance economy. To this end, the statistics obtained of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2006 and 2009 were used as statistical sample. The results revealed that the increase in Iran's stock market turnover emphasized on the vital role of private sector in expanding country's economy opportunities and prepared the grounds for achievement of resistance economy through increasing domestic product.


From the Publisher:
Perfect for use in a lab or by individuals, PROGRAMMING IN MATLAB® is designed to help anyone interested in electrical and computer engineering develop programming skills using MATLAB® as the programming language. The text is also applicable for those interested in utilizing MATLAB® in industry.
MATLAB® is quickly surpassing C, BASIC, and Fortran in engineering departments as the programming language of choice (due to the many functions and toolboxes the program features). It allows the many students who use it to write complex programs to solve a variety of technical problems efficiently. Herniter offers a straightforward approach to learning the program, and assumes no prior exposure to MATLAB®. The book offers comprehensive instructions for programming in MATLAB®, including specific output results and numerous MATLAB® screen captures. Its use is ideal in a lab/lecture setting where readers can recreate examples and complete problem assignments. However, the text organization is also appropriate for use as a general reference guide for programming MATLAB®. Herniter introduces fundamental programming skills, then moves into solving basic problems using built-in MATLAB® functions, and finally into solving engineering problems using MATLAB®.


If there are significant amounts of data missing, this requires special algorithms for system identification. Such methods have been previously developed and typically result in iterative procedures for the parameter estimation. Since missing data could be viewed as irregular sampling (decimation) of the signals, it is obvious that there is a risk for aliasing. In this case aliasing manifests itself as multiple global optima of the identification loss function. The aim of this paper is to investigate under what circumstances, i.e. for which patterns of missing data and model orders, there may be multiple global optima. Specifically, periodic patterns have been studied, but the results also indicate that for randomly missing data this problem is of lesser concern. It is shown that it is in fact not the fraction of missing data that matters, but rather if there are more than one set of parameters that can fit the obtainable lags of the autocorrelation function.


A high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the simultaneous determination of sulfonylurea herbicide and diphenylether herbicide residues in soybean and rice samples was developed and evaluated. The analytes in soybean and rice samples were extracted with acetonitrile. The extract was cleaned up using an SPE-C18 cartridge, separated and quantitatively determined by reversed-phase HPLC with an ultraviolet detector. The conditions of the pretreatment for soybean and rice samples as well as the parameters of chromatographic separation were optimized. The method had a good linearity in the range of 0.05-2.0 mg/L. The quantitative limits (LOQ) of the 8 herbicide residues were 0.01-0.02 mg/kg. The spiked recoveries were in the range of 91.6%-116.1% for soybean samples and 76.6%-110.8% for rice samples with the relative standard deviations of 1.0%-12.2%. It is concluded that the proposed method is rapid, accurate and sensitive and can be used for the determination of the eight herbicide residues in soybean and rice.


We extend the theory of input-output conformance testing to the setting of software product lines. In particular, we allow for input-output featured transition systems to be used as the basis for generating test suites and test cases. We introduce refinement operators both at the level of models and at the level of test suites that allow for projecting them into a specific product configuration (or a product sub-line). We show that the two sorts of refinement are consistent and lead to the same set of test-cases.


In teaching courses on Jesus' parable to university students in Toronto, James Breech was troubled as each student persisted in seeing himself or herself in every parable. Finally, Breech said to them, "Some of these parables are not about you, they are about other people. There are other people in the world". Breech's students exemplified the modernist problem characterised in Yeat's words, "Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold". In modernism, the centre was everywhere, the circumference nowhere: i.e. each person had become his or her own centre. In that condition, the student loses capacity to see the other as other; and in poet Hart Crane's words, "each sees only his dim past reversed".


This paper uses Nevada data to conduct regression analyses of the relationship between sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) population sizes and potential causal factors. This is policy-relevant because of current petitions for listing this species under the Endangered Species Act. A key feature is that, although monitoring of sage grouse has occurred for many decades, data collection methods and level of monitoring effort have not been consistent. To account for this feature we use, as dependent variables, standardized measures such as population counts and harvest (hunting success) per unit of effort. Preliminary findings suggest that such measures have been particularly sensitive to whether or not humans used strychnine for predator control, with normalized measures of grouse populations higher in years when strychnine was employed. Our results also suggest a positive association between the number of cattle on the range and normalized measures of grouse population. This is a controversial finding as some studies suggest a negative impact of cattle grazing on grouse. Our data do not include indications of the timing and precise nature of grazing practices and so should be interpreted with caution.


Since the OBS paradigm has become a potential candidate to cope with the needs of the future all optical networks, it has really caught the attention from both academia and industry worldwide. In this direction, OBS networks have been investigated under many different scenarios comprising numerous architectures and strategies. This heterogeneous context encourages the development of flexible simulation tools. These tools should permit both an easy integration of any possible new network protocol design and a rapid adaptation to different performance target goals. In this paper, we present two OBS network simulators, namely, a C-based simulator (ADOBS) and our novel Java-based simulator (JAVOBS). We compare their performances and we provide some exemplary results that point out remarkable flexibility that can be achieved with the JAVOBS simulator.


Across Kenya's arid and semi-arid lands, vast rangelands are being transformed into community conservancies – common property arrangements managed for transhumance pastoralism and biodiversity conservation. The Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) has spearheaded this transformation, promoting community conservancies as a model that conserves biodiversity while developing resilience, improving livelihoods, and promoting security among diverse pastoralist groups in Kenya. Building on recent critical engagement with the NRT model, this article reframes community conservancies as green grabs. In doing so, it makes two overarching contributions to wider debates. The first contribution complicates stereotypes about 'grabbers' and 'grabbees' and unsettles crude distinctions between political reactions to green grabs, social phenomena commonly portrayed as enacted from above and reacted to from below. Using the concept of bricolage, we show how actors at multiple scales with multiple identities participate – consciously and unconsciously – in reshaping institutional arrangements for managing communal lands and natural resources to align with conservation. The second contribution reveals how power works through emergent hybrid institutions, producing undesired and unintended outcomes. With this in mind, the article concludes that green grab by bricolage produces contradictory spaces animated by a seemingly adaptive, innovative, and progressive agenda, but constrained by historical patterns of access, accumulation, and domination.


Any adequate analysis of global governance necessarily requires fundamental understanding of the worldviews underlying the views expressed with respect to the nature and role of global governance. This paper starts with the premise that any worldview can be associated with one of the four basic paradigms: functionalist, interpretive, radical humanist, and radical structuralist. It argues that any view expressed with respect to global governance is based on one of the four paradigms or worldviews. It, therefore, discusses four views expressed with respect to the nature and role of global governance. The paper emphasizes that the four views expressed are equally scientific and informative; they look at the nature and role of global governance from a certain paradigmatic viewpoint. Emphasizing this example in the area of global governance, the paper concludes that there are opportunities for each paradigm to benefit from contributions coming from the other three paradigms if they respect paradigm diversity


Culture is a constant reference in debates surrounding Islam in Europe. Yet the notion of culture is commonly restricted to conceptual frames of multiculturalism where it relates to group identities, collective ways of life and recognition. This volume extends such analysis of culture by approaching it as semiotic practice which conjoins the making of subjects with the configuration of the social. Examining fields such as memory, literature, film, and Islamic art, the studies explore culture as another element in the assemblage of rationalities governing European Islam. From this perspective, the transformations of European identities can be understood as a matter of cultural practice and politics, which extend the analytical frames of political philosophy, historical legacies, normative orders and social dynamics.


In this paper, we analyze the choice of interoperability approach for the provision of disaster management systems (DMS) when resources are distributed across districts and, in times of disaster, resources can be shared. The degree to which sharing (a spillover) can be coordinated efficiently depends on resource interoperability. In this public sector setting, we model the provisioning of DMS as the choice between interoperability approaches; in decreasing order of centralization they are integrated, unified, and federated. A unique feature of our setting is that the interoperability approach is a collective decision by districts. Districts choose their own DMS resources and interoperability effort, and face different interoperability efficiency and technology misfit costs depending on the interoperability approach. We find that any approach can be an equilibrium depending on interoperability efficiency, and that when the social optimum deviates from the equilibrium, the socially optimal approach is more centralized. When subsidies and taxes are implemented, the socially optimal interoperability approach can be achieved with budget balance. When only subsidies can be used, the socially optimal approach can be achieved but only under certain interoperability efficiency and misfit cost conditions is there a net social gain. Having an initial level of interoperability causes the equilibrium interoperability approach to shift toward a less centralized one. Our results generalize to other settings characterized by interoperability concerns, collective decisions, and spillovers.


Partial sequences of the 16S ribosomal RNA genes of eleven autotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria were determined by PCR amplification from small amounts of heat-lysed biomass followed by direct sequencing of PCR products. The sequences were aligned with those of representative Proteobacteria and phylogenetic trees inferred using both parsimony and distance matrix methods. This confirmed that the autotrophic ammonia-oxidizers comprise two major lines of descent within the Proteobacteria. Nitrosomonas spp., Nitrosococcus mobilis, and strains of Nitrosovibrio, Nitrosospira and Nitrosolobus were located in the beta-subdivision. The recovery of Nitrosococcus oceanus strains as a deep branch in the gamma-subdivision supported the RNA catalogue data which had indicated that the genus Nitrosococcus is polyphyletic. The autotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria of the beta-Proteobacteria formed a coherent group which is interpreted as representing a single family. Within this clade, the genera Nitrosovibrio, Nitrosospira and Nitrosolobus exhibited very high levels of homology in their 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences and can be accommodated within a single genus. Separation of these genera is currently based entirely on gross morphological differences and these can now be considered more appropriate for the identification of species within this group. It is therefore proposed that Nitrosolobus, Nitrosovibrio and Nitrosospira strains be reclassified in a single genus for which the name Nitrosospira has priority.


This study sought to quantify the complex patterns of alpine treeline across an extensive area of Glacier National Park, Montana. Satellite image classification, digital terrain modeling, and geographic information system (GIS) measurements of landscape structure provided important tools for the analysis. The study area was topographically partitioned into watersheds and hillslope units in which to measure treeline patterns. Cluster analysis of selected spatial and compositional pattern metrics was used to infer major alpine treeline forms. Six significant treeline types were differentiated using patch richness, contagion, contrast, number of patches, fractal dimension, relative edge density, and forest-tundra juxtaposition. Clusters were validated using split-sample replication and discriminant analysis. Patterns were found to differ among types of terrain, affirming hypothesized sensitivities to topoclimatic gradients, natural disturbances, and geologic substrate.


Aim: This study aimed at investigating the effect of aqueous leaf extract of Cissampelos mucronata on testicular function indices in male wistar rats (Rattus novergicus). Methodology: A total of 20 rats, grouped into four, with a group consisting of five rats were used for the study. The groups were a control administered 1.0 mL of distilled water and three other groups that were respectively administered - 1.0 mL of 300, 600 and 1200 mg/kg body weight of the plant extract. The different groups were administered plant extract orally for 14 days, using metal oropharyngeal cannula. Results: The results revealed a significant increase (P <0.05) in body weight, testes-body weight ratio, cholesterol and glycogen concentrations at all the doses except at 1200 mg/kg body weight of the animals where decreased glycogen level was observed. There was also significant decrease (P <0.05) in the concentrations of acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase and total testicular protein especially in rats administered with 1200 mg/kg body weight of extract while there was no significant change in the activities of gamma glutamyl transferase. Serum testosterone concentration was observed to decrease significantly (P <0.05) only in the rats administered with 300 mg/kg body weight of extract. Conclusion: The results indicate anti-androgenic and anti-steroidogenic activities of Cissampelos mucronata aqueous leaf extract on males.


Case study research has often been criticized on the grounds that its findings are not generalizable, especially by comparison with those of survey research. The response of some case study researchers to this criticism has been to deny that their work is designed to produce scientific generalizations.

In this paper we will begin by examining the arguments for naturalistic generalization and transferability. We will conclude that while these notions capture one way in which case study research may be used - by other researchers as well as by lay people - they do not offer a substitute for the drawing of general conclusions in research reports. Indeed, we will suggest that to deny the possibility of case studies providing the basis for empirical generalizations is to accept the views of their critics too readily. We also point out that, in practice, much case study research has in fact put forward empirical generalizations. Indeed we suggest that in at least one respect this is unavoidable. We draw a distinction between generalization across and within cases, though we also note the similarities between the two; and we outline the strategies case study researchers can use to make reasonably secure generalizations of each kind. At the same time, we emphasize that the necessary precautions have not always been taken, and that the danger of error in dtawing general conclusions from a small number of cases must not be underestimated. We will illustrate these points with examples from case study research in education, but we claim that our arguments are applicable more widely!


Walking and cycling are considered very important behaviours in public health. This thesis is a study of the measurement of walking, cycling and overall travel behaviour. In the first part I present a systematic review of studies comparing Global Positioning System (GPS) measured travel to self-report. I found 12 results from eight eligible studies. All studies showed self-reported journey times were greater than GPS measured times. The differences ranged from over-reporting of +2.2 to +13.5 minutes per journey. In the second part of this thesis, I describe the development of a feasible, valid and reliable method for measuring travel with automated wearable cameras (SenseCam) through field testing and two pilot studies. I compared my new method to direct observation (considered a criterion measure) and found very good agreement and reliability (inter-rater, intra-rater and inter-measure). I also present an ethical framework for the measurement of health-related behaviours using automated wearable cameras. In the third part of the thesis, I report findings from an experiment designed to assess a well known UK travel diary (The National Travel Survey). Across four locations (Oxford, UK; Romford, UK; San Diego, USA; and Auckland, New Zealand) I collected 3-4 days of SenseCam and travel diary data from n=84 participants (convenience sample). Compliance with the collection protocol was high and inspection of the crude results suggests relative agreement between measures. Analysis of matched pairs of measurements (n=1,127 journeys) suggests a significant positive bias on self-reported durations (2:08 minutes; 95% CI = 1:48 to 2:28; 95% limits-of-agreement = -9:10 to 13:26). These results suggest self-reported journey exposure is valid at a population level, though corrections according to my reported bias could be considered. The large limits of agreement on duration estimates suggest self-report may be unsuitable for assessment of individual travel behaviour.


The genetic analysis of sexual isolation between the closely‐related species Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila simulans involved two experiments with no‐choice tests. The efficiency of sexual isolation was measured by the frequency of courtship initiation and interspecific mating. We first surveyed the variation in sexual isolation between D. melanogaster strains and D. simulans strains of different geographic origin. Then, to investigate variation in sexual isolation within strains, we made F1 diallel sets of reciprocal crosses within strains of D. melanogaster and D. simulans. The F1 diallel progeny of one sex were paired with the opposite sex of the other species. The first experiment showed significant differences in the frequency of interspecific mating between geographic strains. There were more matings between D. simulans females and D. melanogaster males than between D. melanogaster females and D. simulans males. The second experiment uncovered that the male genotypes in the D. melanogaster diallel significantly differed in interspecific mating frequency, but not in courtship initiation frequency. The female genotypes in the D. simulans diallel were not significantly different in courtship initiation and interspecific mating frequency. Genetic analysis reveals that in D. melanogaster males sexual isolation was not affected by either maternal cytoplasmic effects, sex‐linked effects, or epistatic interaction. The main genetic components were directional dominance and overdominance. The F1 males achieved more matings with D. simulans females than the inbred males. The genetic architecture of sexual isolation in D. melanogaster males argues for a history of weak or no selection for lower interspecific mating propensity. The behavioral causes of variation in sexual isolation between the two species are discussed.


Introduction Gene panel testing for breast cancer susceptibility has become relatively cheap and accessible. However, the breast cancer risks associated with mutations in many genes included in these panels are unknown. Methods We performed custom-designed targeted sequencing covering the coding exons of 17 known and putative breast cancer susceptibility genes in 660 non-BRCA1/2 women with familial breast cancer. Putative deleterious mutations were genotyped in relevant family members to assess co-segregation of each variant with disease. We used maximum likelihood models to estimate the breast cancer risks associated with mutations in each of the genes. Results We found 31 putative deleterious mutations in 7 known breast cancer susceptibility genes (TP53, PALB2, ATM, CHEK2, CDH1, PTEN and STK11) in 45 cases, and 22 potential deleterious mutations in 31 cases in 8 other genes (BARD1, BRIP1, MRE11, NBN, RAD50, RAD51C, RAD51D and CDK4). The relevant variants were then genotyped in 558 family members. Assuming a constant relative risk of breast cancer across age groups, only variants in CDH1, CHEK2, PALB2 and TP53 showed evidence of a significantly increased risk of breast cancer, with some supportive evidence that mutations in ATM confer moderate risk. Conclusions Panel testing for these breast cancer families provided additional relevant clinical information for <2% of families. We demonstrated that segregation analysis has some potential to help estimate the breast cancer risks associated with mutations in breast cancer susceptibility genes, but very large case–control sequencing studies and/or larger family-based studies will be needed to define the risks more accurately.


Schizochytrium mangrovei PQ6 contains many important polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22: 6w-3), eicosahexaenoic acid (EPA, C20: 5w-3) and docosapentaenoic acid (DPA, C22: 5w-6). These fatty acids are essential for survival and growth of many marine fish larvae. In this paper, fresh biomass of S. mangrovei PQ6 was used for culturing rotifer Brachionus plicatilis. In the first formula (L1), rotifers were fed on baker's yeast; in second formula (L2), rotifers were fed on mixed two microalgae, Nannochloropsis oculata and Chaetoceros gracilis; in the third formula (L3), rotifers were fed on S. mangrovei PQ6 biomass. The results indicated that S. mangrovei PQ6 biomass can replace baker's yeast and autotrophic microalgae in feeding rotifers. Total lipid, total fatty acid and polyunsaturated fatty acid contents of rotifers fed on formula 3 (S. mangrovei PQ6) were higher than those within others. High polyunsaturated fatty acid (C ≥ 20) in omega-3 and 6 groups; DHA and DPA contents of rotifers fed on S. mangrovei PQ6 were the highest, accounting for 39.81% of total fatty acid; 41.95% and 8.24% polyunsaturated fatty acids, corresponding to 20.52; 12.15 and 2.4 mg/g of dried weight, respectively.The survival rate of black sleeper's larvae was highest when they were fed on rotifers grown on L3 formula (51.20 ± 0.89%), followed by L2 formula (48.70 ± 2.67%) and the lowest with L1 formula (43.44 ± 1.54%) (P < 0.05). However, among three formulas, no significant difference was found in the growth of black sleeper's larvae (P > 0.05). These results suggest that biomass of S. mangrovei PQ6 can replace traditional feed like autotrophic microalgae or baker's yeast for biomass culture of the Brachionus plicatilis rotifer for rearing black sleeper's larvae to enhance seed quality to meet demands of market.


The elderly are an increasingly numerous group within the population. They have a high incidence of treatable psychiatric conditions, yet are psychiatrically underserved. This article reviews the experiences of the Douglas Gardens Community Mental Health Center of Miami Beach in treating older individuals living in the community. Over 12 percent of these patients needed psychiatric hospitalization in 1982 in private community facilities. Information about these patients and comparative data from a typical inpatient facility are described. A new trend seems to be emerging which will move the public sector further away from the treatment of the elderly. An opportunity for the private sector is, therefore, developing.


The Drug Enforcement Administration recently announced the final rule to reschedule hydrocodone combinations from schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act to the more restrictive schedule II category. This regulatory change will have broad operational implications for practitioners serving the health care needs of long-term care residents. Stakeholders will need to work collectively to identify possible efficiencies to counter some of the anticipated costs as well as its effect on patient care.


In recent years, various social movement organizations have urged consumers to become more responsible for defending causes such as environmentalism and social justice, calling for boycotts, using labels to steer consumers towards more ethical products, or developing new types of exchange systems, consumption habits or lifestyles. Changing modes of consumption or lifestyles therefore seems to be a key objective in this consumer-targeted, collective action framework. However, the article shows that rather than trying to change mass consumer consumption patterns, these organizations actually seek to recruit consumers who support their causes into collective actions targeting companies and governments. It discusses the notion of political consumerism, which leads to deadlock, as it is impossible to demonstrate such shifts in consumption or even attribute them to the social movement actions. The article asserts that political consumption movements rely less on the occurrence of a hypothetical political consumerism among mass consumers and more on the organization of collective action among politicized consumers committed to targeting companies and governments for change.


Antonio Bernabe-Ortiz and colleagues misleadingly assert that although access to induced abortion services is legally restricted in Peru the incidence of induced abortion is "as high as or higher than the estimated incidence in many countries where induced abortion is legal and safe." The abortion rate (the number of abortions per 1000 women of reproductive age) is greatly influenced by a number of factors namely contraceptive behaviour and fertility rates and thus it is not a good measure to use to evaluate the impact of the legal status of abortion on the incidence of abortions in a particular jurisdiction. The estimated total fertility rate is 2.86 in Peru; in comparison it is 2.04 in the United States and 1.66 in the United Kingdom. Therefore it is not surprising that the abortion rate in Peru may be similar to the rates in the United States and United Kingdom. The legal status of abortion may strongly affect postconceptional attitudes concerning pregnancy termination; this effect is much better described by the abortion ratio (the number of abortions per 1000 live births). Of the approximately 8660 pregnancies reported by participants in the study by Bernabe-Ortiz and colleagues 1127 ended in induced abortions and 996 in spontaneous abortions. This means that there were approximately 6538 live births and the abortion ratio was 172.3. The authors referred to a study with US data from 2001 in which there were 6.4 million pregnancies 1.1 million spontaneous abortions and 1.3 million induced abortions. The corresponding abortion ratio was 325. More recent US data indicate that there were 1 206 200 abortions and 4 138 349 births in 2005. The corresponding abortion ratio was 291.5. In England and Wales 193 737 induced abortions and 669 601 live births were registered in 2006 with a corresponding abortion ratio of 289.3. These data show that there is a lower incidence of abortion in Peru than in other countries where abortion is legal. (full-text)


Transport properties of electrons and holes were investigated not only in a anthracene-containing poly(p-phenylene-ethynylene)- alt - poly(p-phenylene-vinylene) (PPE-PPV) polymer (AnE-PVstat) light emitting diodes (OLED) but also in an ITO/Ag/polymer/Ag electron and ITO/PEDOT:PSS/polymer/Au hole only devices. Mobility of injected carriers followed the Poole-Frenkel type conduction mechanism and distinguished in the frequency range due to the difference of transit times in admittance measurement. Beginning of light output took place at the turn-on voltage (or flat band voltage), 1.8 V, which was the difference of energy band gap of polymer and two barrier offsets between metals and polymer.


Dental fear and anxiety (DFA) serves as significant problem in child patient management as it leads to greater prevalence and increased severity of the disease associated with delayed dental visits. Therefore, it is necessary to effectively predict children dental behaviour and identify children at risk of Behaviour Management problems. Study of factors influencing DFA and its association with behaviour in children during first dental visit. The study included 209 children (5-14 years). DFA levels were assessed using 3 standardised questionnaires i.e. Facial Image Scale (FIS), Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS), Children's Fear Survey Schedule – Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS). The behaviour of the child was then assessed using Frankl's Behaviour Rating Scale (FBRS). The data were analysed, and a correlation was established between DFA and behaviour using statistical analysis. Presence of DFA according to FIS is 13.4%, according to DAS is 15.2% and according to CFSS-DS is 17.7%. Maximum participants showed positive behaviour (81.8%) according to FBRS. Factors causing maximum Dental anxiety according to DAS was anticipation of treatment (26.30%) and factor which caused maximum dental fear according to CFSS-DS was injections (45.4%). There is association between DFA and behaviour in children during first dental visit. This study will help assess the factors which lead to dental fear and anxiety in children and also find a correlation between dental fear and anxiety and behaviour management problems which can help the Paedodontist to predict various behaviour management problems and to avoid the factors which lead to them before the initiation of the dental treatment. This can lead to a decrease in the fear and anxiety levels of children which will further lead to better treatment and in turn better case management.


Based on uniaxial compression test, the mechanical properties of buffer/backfilling materials after different temperatures are studied. The study analyzed buffer/backfilling materials of stress-strain curve,peak stress,modulus of elasticity,peak strain, with the variation of temperature. The buffer/backfilling materials of strengthening and degradation in different temperature are discussed briefly. The test result show that below 200°C, buffer/backfilling materials of stress-strain curve of slope,peak stress,modulus of elasticity,peak strain ,are increase with increasing temperature increase. The main reason is that with increasing temperature, adsorbed water in the sample will evaporate, and brittleness of sample will improve; mineral particles of expansion lead to the original cracks closing, the porosity will reduce, and improve friction properties between particles. 300 °C,buffer / backfill materials of stress - strain curve of slope, peak stress, elastic modulus, decreased to varying degrees compared to 200 °C. the main reason is that thermal stress damage to the internal structure of the samples, resulting in new small cracks. The peak strain of buffer / backfill materials in the 25 °C~100 °C is increase with increasing temperature increase.100°C~200°C, peak strain is decrease with the increase of temperature. In the 200 °C~300 °C, the peak strain change little.


Recent observations suggest that Carina and other nearby dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) are surrounded by unbound stars tidally stripped by the Milky Way. We have run high-resolution N-body simulations of dwarf galaxies orbiting within the Milky Way halo to determine if such observations can be explained with dark matter potentials like those implied by current structure formation models. We show that tidal forces acting on dwarfs with constant density cores or with cuspy profiles having a low concentration parameter (c 7) lead to flat outer stellar density profiles like that of Carina for a variety of orbital configurations. On the contrary, it is more difficult to remove stars from cuspy dark matter haloes with concentrations as high as predicted by cold dark matter (CDM) models at the mass scale of dwarf galaxies (c > 10), and the data can only be reproduced assuming nearly radial orbits. Our simulations show that Carina is losing mass at a fractional rate <0.1 Gyr −1 and its mass-to-light ratio could be inflated by at most a factor of 2 due to unbound stars projected along the line of sight. We follow the evolution of the tidal debris within a triaxial clumpy cold dark matter Milky Way halo which causes differential precession and small-scale heating of the stellar streams. This renders them useless as a dynamical tracer of the Galactic potential in CDM cosmogonies. Models with warm dark matter (WDM) or collisional fluid dark matter (FDM) produce dwarf haloes with lower central densities than CDM and would be consistent with the observed tidal tails even for orbits with eccentricities as low as indicated by current data on nearby dwarf spheroidals. Galactic haloes in models with FDM are expected to be smooth and spherical and would be favoured by the detection of cold coherent streams such as that associated with the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal. In this respect the distribution of stellar streams on the plane of the sky can provide a novel test of the nature of the dark matter. On the other end, the streams could be similarly dispersed in lumpy CDM haloes and in smoother, triaxial WDM haloes.


The association of intracerebral vascular malformations and primary cerebral neoplasm is rare. The most commonly found vascular malformation with neoplasm is intracranial arterial aneurysm. We describe two cases of vascular malformations associated with primary cerebral neoplasms, with histologic and immunohistochemical studies.


Comparing two stimuli that occur at different times demands the coordination of bottom-up and top-down processes. It has been hypothesized that the dorsolateral prefrontal (PFC) cortex, the likely source of top-down cortical influences, plays a key role in such tasks, contributing to both maintenance and sensory comparisons. We examined this hypothesis by recording from the PFC of monkeys comparing directions of two moving stimuli, S1 and S2, separated by a memory delay. We determined the contribution of the two principal cell types to these processes by classifying neurons into broad-spiking (BS) putative pyramidal cells and narrow-spiking (NS) putative local interneurons. During the delay, BS cells were more likely to exhibit anticipatory modulation and represent the remembered direction. While this representation was transient, appearing at different times in different neurons, it weakened when direction was not task relevant, suggesting its utility. During S2, both putative cell types showed comparison-related activity modulations. These modulations were of two types, each carried by different neurons, which either preferred trials with stimuli moving in the same direction or trials with stimuli of different directions. These comparison effects were strongly correlated with choice, suggesting their role in circuitry underlying decision making. These results provide the first demonstration of distinct contributions made by principal cell types to memory-guided perceptual decisions. During sensory stimulation both cell types represent behaviorally relevant stimulus features contributing to comparison and decision-related activity. However in the absence of sensory stimulation, putative pyramidal cells dominated, carrying information about the elapsed time and the preceding direction.


We consider the zeroth-order optimization problem in the huge-scale setting, where the dimension of the problem is so large that performing even basic vector operations on the decision variables is infeasible. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm, coined ZO-BCD, that exhibits favorable overall query complexity and has a much smaller per-iteration computational complexity. In addition, we discuss how the memory footprint of ZO-BCD can be reduced even further by the clever use of circulant measurement matrices. As an application of our new method, we propose the idea of crafting adversarial attacks on neural network based classifiers in a wavelet domain, which can result in problem dimensions of over 1.7 million. In particular, we show that crafting adversarial examples to audio classifiers in a wavelet domain can achieve the state-of-the-art attack success rate of 97.9%.


To the Editor.— The number of cases published on contact allergy to topical corticosteroids has increased rapidly in the past few years. 1 This could suggest that physicians are more aware of the possibility of contact allergy to corticosteroids and/or that the actual prevalence of this condition has increased. In a recent study, we observed an increase in incidence of allergic patch test reactions to hydrocortisone-17-butyrate in a 6-month study in 1989 and 1990 compared with an identical period in 1988 and 1989. 2 Therefore, we performed a retrospective study on allergic reactions to hydrocortisone-17-butyrate in standard series in the years 1986 through 1989, including our earlier data from 1986 and 1987, 3 and compared the number of allergic reactions to hydrocortisone-17-butyrate to that of other allergens in the standard patch test series. Subjects and Methods.— Inpatients and outpatients undergoing patch testing due to suspected contact hypersensitivity in the department


Acute pancreatitis is characterized by essential decrease of the activity of the complement C1-C5 system components which is more marked under destructive form of the disease. The increased consumption of the components of the complement may be determined by forming immune complexes under interaction of the antibodies with structural and secretory components of the pancreas and direct proteolytic conversion under influence of trypsin. The revealed associations with HLA I antigens suggest the presence of genetic determination of the changes in the complement system. It may be also possible that components of the complement system, in particular C4 which is immune product of the HLA class III region, exert regulating influence on humoral immune reactions in acute pancreatitis.


GPS timing receivers have been used for synchronizing telecommunications equipment since the early 90's, currently providing an accuracy of up to 10ns. Such a high requirement of accuracy demands excellent operation from GPS timing receivers, avoiding the degradation of the synchronization process. Interference is an important threat to GPS performance. Such harmful interfering signals can originate from any electromagnetic radiation source producing its main signals or their harmonics in GPS bands. These sources may include signals from UHF/VHF TV transmissions, FM transmissions and VOR/ILS services. Any degradation in performance, due to introduction of interference can cause these receivers to provide a low quality timing solution, or to lose lock with incoming GPS signals altogether. This consideration motivates the study of the performance of GPS timing receivers in the presence of harmful interference. This paper proposes a hypothesis about interference effects on GPS timing receivers, and then confirms the hypothesis with experimental results. It also provides reasoning to explain this behavior of GPS receivers and identifies areas for further investigation.


A fast and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of acetaminophen (APAP) and its glucuronide and sulfate metabolites (APAP-GLU and APAP-SUL) in small plasma volumes. This method included a simple step of sample preparation and a chromatographic separation on an LC-MS-MS system equipped with an electrospray ionization source and a tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometer in multiple reaction monitoring mode. The analytes and internal standard, APAP deuterated analog, were separated on a C18 column (3.0 µm, 2.1 × 100 mm), using aqueous 1% formic acid and methanol (80:20, v/v) as the mobile phase. The LC-MS-MS method was validated for accuracy, precision, linearity, extraction efficiency, process efficiency and matrix effect. Calibration curves were obtained by fortifying drug-free plasma and ranges of linearity were set between 0.25-20 mg/L. The mean correlation coefficients, r², were >0.99 for APAP and its metabolites. The inter-day and intra-day precision values were less than 11.75 and 13.03%, respectively, at the lower limit of quantification concentration. The usability of the method was demonstrated by studying APAP metabolism in C57BL/6J wild-type and obese ob/ob female mice, in which only small plasma volumes were available. The results showed that APAP glucuronidation was enhanced in obese mice, suggesting that changes in APAP metabolism could modify its toxicity in obesity and related fatty liver disease.


A cross-sectional survey of 345 health-care workers and 312 students was conducted to explore attitudes and perceptions of intimate partner violence against women, and their views on care and prevention. All health-care workers and finalyear students were included in the study. Students' t-test was followed in the analysis using SPPSS computer program. Fortythree percent of female health-care workers recognised acts of controlling behaviour, while 68% of female students agreed to less than one statement justifying physical violence and 32% of men failed to recognise a woman's right to refuse sex. Ninety percent of both students and health-care workers had observed clients having unexplained feelings of sadness or loss of confidence. Between 45 and 70% of students and health-care workers believed that women exposed to violence were difficult to support. The study clearly indicates a need for adequate health-care resources, guidelines and training to influence a change of existing rigid gender norms.


We develop a dynamic politico-economic theory of welfare state and immigration policies, featuring three groups of voters: skilled workers, unskilled workers, and old retirees. The welfare-state is modeled by a proportional tax on labor income to finance a demogrant in a balanced-budget manner to capture the essence of inter- and intra- generational redistribution of a typical welfare system. Migrants arrive when young and their birth rate exceeds the native-born birth rate. We characterize political-economic equilibrium policy rules consisting of the tax rate, the skill composition of migrants, and the total number of migrants, in terms of demographic and labor productivity characteristics. We find that political coalitions will form among skilled and unskilled voters or among unskilled and old voters in order to block the other group from coming into power. As a consequence, the ideal policies of the unskilled voters are featured more often in the political economy equilibria than any other groups regardless of the size of unskilled voters.


In this thesis we study how subhaloes evolve and interact in the central regions of galactic dark matter haloes in a ΛCDM universe. We examine the effect that subhalo impacts have on disc galaxies and what visible signatures they leave behind. We use the Aquarius simulations, a set of high resolution simulations of Milky Way mass haloes, as the basis of the work in this thesis. We summarise the main properties of these haloes and show that they are typical haloes for most characteristics.

We develop a method to approximate the potential of host haloes that helps us understand how subhaloes evolve in the tidal field of their host. Using a basis function expansion method, we show that it is possible to create a time-evolving density/potential approximation of the late growth of simulated N-body dark matter haloes, and that particle and subhalo orbits can be integrated in this realistic, time-varying halo potential approximation at much lower computational cost than the original simulations.

Using samples of subhaloes extracted from the Aquarius haloes, we estimate the disc heating caused by substructure bombardment using the Benson et al. (2004) semi-analytical model. A critical evaluation of the model, however, finds that there are problems with the original implementation, including a numerical factor, that call into question its validity. We then approach the same problem using high resolution N-body simulations of subhalo interactions with discs. We find that only the most massive of subhaloes appreciably affect stellar discs, heating and thickening them, and that the majority of any heating occurs at early times and happens quickly. However, the substructure bombardment since redshift one is negligible in most of the haloes, and in the haloes that do show significant heating it is caused by a single massive subhalo.


ABSTRACT In this article, we propose a model for selection of an agricultural strategy for Turkey by using fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and analytical network process (ANP) based on linguistic terms. Fuzzy AHP-based methodology will be discussed to tackle the different decision criteria such as risk factors, ecological structure, socioeconomic structure, and technological structure involved in the selection of an agricultural strategy for Turkey and ANP will represent an effective tool for providing a suitable solution for managers and government administrators of this case. The linguistic levels of comparisons produced by the experts for each comparison are tapped in the form of triangular fuzzy numbers in order to construct fuzzy pairwise comparison matrices. The implementation of the system is demonstrated by a problem having four stages of hierarchy that contains 4 criteria and 15 sub-criteria.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide the top ten reasons of process improvement projects termination or failure to Lean and Six Sigma professionals and researchers.

Design/methodology/approach
The top ten reasons of process improvement projects termination or failure are based on literature, interaction of authors with Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belts, consultants, practitioners and trainers on various topics of Lean, Six Sigma, general quality management and continuous improvement along several years' experience of the authors.

Findings
The top ten reasons in our opinion include lack of commitment and support from top management; poor communication practices; incompetent team; inadequate training and learning; faulty selection of process improvement methodology and its associated tools/techniques; inappropriate rewards and recognition system/culture; scope creepiness; sub-optimal team size and composition; inconsistent monitoring and control; and resistance to change.

Research limitations/implications
The top ten reasons mentioned in this study are based on only literature and authors' opinion. The authors of this paper have been pursuing a global study to critically evaluate the reasons behind process improvement projects failure based on a case-study approach.

Originality/value
The chief operations officers and senior executives of various businesses can use these top ten reasons to develop project failure risk mitigation strategies and save significant cash-savings associated with such project terminations or failures in some other cases.


Lung, trachea, and serum samples obtained from turkeys showing clinical signs of respiratory disease were examined for the presence of Bordetella avium infection (bordetellosis) using culture, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The material of this study consisted of 2 live turkeys at the age of 24 weeks with respiratory distress, nasal discharge, and cough that had been brought to the Microbiology Laboratory of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Adnan Menderes University. The results of the study show that B. avium, the causative agent of bordetellosis, was not isolated from either the lung or trachea, while both trachea and lung samples were positive in PCR. The presence of antibodies against B. avium was detected in all serum samples by ELISA. However, sera samples were negative in PCR. In conclusion, it was thought that ELISA is a practical assay while the results of ELISA and PCR were found complementary. This study reported the presence of B. avium from turkeys in Turkey for the first time by PCR. However, further studies should be planned with more materials to understand the epidemiological importance of the disease in poultry in this region.


ABSTRACT Recently, precise and deterministic feature extraction is one of the current research topics for bearing fault diagnosis. For this aim, an experimental bearing test setup was created in this study. In this setup, vibration signals were obtained from the bearings on which artificial faults were generated in specific sizes. A new feature extraction method based on co-occurrence matrices for bearing vibration signals was proposed instead of the conventional feature extraction methods, as in the literature. The One (1) Dimensional–Local Binary Patterns (1D-LBP) method was first applied to bearing vibration signals, and a new signal whose values ranged between 0–255 was obtained. Then, co-occurrence matrices were obtained from these signals. The correlation, energy, homogeneity, and contrast features were extracted from these matrices. Different machine learning methods were employed with these features to carry out the classification process. Three different data sets were used to test the proposed approach. As a result of analysing the signals with the proposed model, the success rate is 87.50% for dataset1 (different speed), 96.5% for dataset2 (fault size (mm)) and 99.30% for dataset3 (fault type – inner ring, outer ring, ball) was found, respectively.


: In experiments on rats it was shown that carbidine injected intramuscularly for two weeks does not effect gonadotropic action in a dose effective in experimental therapy of alcohol dependence (4 mg/kg). The drug neither potentiates adverse after-effects of chronic action of ethanol on ovo- and spermatogenesis nor slows down the course of the reparative processes in the gonads after ethanol is discontinued. However, further regressive changes in the gonadal generative elements were recorded in administering carbidine against the background of continued use of ethanol.


Several studies have shown that employees with temporary contracts have a lower training participation than those who have a contract of indefinite duration. There is however no empirical literature on the difference in informal learning on-the-job between permanent and temporary workers. In this paper, we analyse this difference across twenty OECD countries using unique data from the recent PIAAC survey. Using an instrumented control function model with endogenous switching, we find that workers in temporary jobs engage in informal learning more intensively than their counterparts in permanent employment, although the former are, indeed, less likely to participate in formal training activities. In addition, we find evidence for complementarity between training and informal learning for both temporary and permanent employees. Our findings then suggest that temporary employment need not be dead-end jobs. Instead, temporary jobs with high learning content could be a stepping stone towards permanent employment. However, our results also suggest that labour market segmentation in OECD countries actually occurs within temporary employment due to the distinction between jobs with low and high learning opportunities.


PURPOSE
Lenses from selenite-treated animals develop reversible "cold cataract" at a lower temperature than is required for lenses from age-matched control animals. This unexplained, stabilized phase transition is readily observed in intact lenses 36 to 48 hours after treatment and occurs in lenses before the appearance of the irreversible nuclear opacity observed 72 to 96 hours after treatment. The objective of this study was to investigate factors that may be responsible for this difference.

METHODS
Preweanling rats were injected with sodium selenite. Lens extracellular water volume was measured using 14C-inulin. Free amino acids were analyzed using precolumn derivatization and high performance liquid chromatography. Soluble protein was isolated from lenses of control, and treated animals and temperature-dependent changes in light scattering were measured at 490 nm.

RESULTS
Lens extracellular water was increased by the selenite treatment, with a concurrent 10% decrease in intracellular volume. Solutions of soluble protein from lenses of selenite-treated animals after postinjection hours 24 and 48 had higher critical phase transition temperatures (Tc) compared to similar proteins from control lenses. From 24 to 72 hours after injection, the free amino acid content of the lens increased 42%. Taurine levels were unchanged over the same period. The addition of 7 mM glycine and 7 mM proline to solutions of soluble protein (96 mg ml-1) decreased the phase transition temperature. Taurine (14 mM) had a similar effect. Combining taurine and the glycine plus proline solutions had an additive effect in lowering the Tc.

CONCLUSIONS
Increases in free amino acid concentration occur in lenses in response to the stress imposed by a systemic dose of selenite. The altered polyion content in lenses from selenite-treated animals, before nuclear cataract formation, contributes to the greater thermal stability of transparency in these lenses, thus lowering the temperature at which "cold cataract" forms.


Lignin is a copious paper and pulping waste product that has the potential to yield valuable, low molecular weight, single aromatic chemicals when strategically depolymerized. The single aromatic lignin model compounds, vanillin, guaiacol, and eugenol, were methacrylated by esterification with methacrylic anhydride and a catalytic amount of 4-dimethylaminopyridine. Methacrylated guaiacol (MG) and methacrylated eugenol (ME) exhibited low viscosities at room temperature (MG: 17 cP and ME: 28 cP). When used as reactive diluents in vinyl ester resins, they produced resin viscosities higher than that of vinyl ester-styrene blends. The relative volatilities of MG (1.05 wt% loss in 18 h) and ME (0.96 wt% loss in 18 h) measured by means of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were considerably lower than that of styrene (93.7 wt% loss in 3 h) indicating the potential of these chemicals to be environmentally friendly reactive diluents. Bulk polymerization of MG and ME generated homopolymers with glass transition temperatures (T(g)s) of 92 and 103 °C, respectively. Blends of a standard vinyl ester resin with MG and ME (50 wt % reactive diluent) produced thermosets with T(g)s of 127 and 153 °C, respectively, which are comparable to vinyl ester-styrene resins, thus demonstrating the ability of MG and ME to completely replace styrene as reactive diluents in liquid molding resins without sacrificing cured-resin thermal performance.


Sn-Pb solder alloys, widely used in electronic industry, will be restricted because of the toxicity of Pb. That is paramount importance that developing viable alternative lead-free solders for electronic assemblies. Sn-Ag-Cu alloys are better alternative because of its good performance. But they have a melting temperature of 217-225°C that is much higher than that of Sn-Pb eutectic alloy, 183°C. It may be very difficulty to realize industrialization. Sn-Ag-Cu-Ga solder alloys have been studied in this paper, including a series of properties tests, such as melting point, hardness, shear strength and solderability. The best composition of Sn-Ag-Cu-Ga lead-free solder alloy has been obtained.


This paper examines novel household-level data from the Canadian Survey of Consumer Expectations (CSCE) from 2014:Q4 2022:Q1 to understand households' expectations about price and wage inflation, their respective links to views about labour market conditions, and their subsequent impact on households' outlook for real spending growth. We find, consistent with recent research, that households associate higher expected price inflation with worse labour market conditions. In contrast, higher expected wage growth is linked to better labour market outcomes, an avenue not previously explored, and consistent with standard macroeconomic models. These differing supply-side and demand-side views of price inflation and wage inflation are reflected in households' spending outlook: expected real spending is negatively linked to inflation expectations but positively linked to expected wage inflation. Finally, the link between households' inflation expectations and wage growth expectations is weak, suggesting limited pass-through from consumers' inflation expectations into their expected wage gains, and thus a lower likelihood of entering a wage-price spiral.


The present study was aimed to investigate the effects of subacute and subchronic treatment of some plant growth regulators (PGRs), such as abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellic acid (GA3), on neurological and immunological biomarkers in various tissues of rats. The activities of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butrylcholinesterase (BChE) were selected as biomarkers for neurotoxic biomarkers. Adenosine deaminase (ADA) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) were measured as indicators for immunotoxic investigation purpose. Wistar albino rats were orally administered with 25 and 50 ppm of PGRs ad libitum for 25–50 days continuously with drinking water. The treatment of PGRs caused different effects on the activities of enzymes. Results showed that the administrations of ABA and GA3 increased AChE and BChE activities in some tissues of rats treated with both the dosages and periods of ABA and GA3. With regard to the immunotoxic effects, ADA activity fluctuated, while MPO activity increased after subacute and subchronic exposure of treated rat tissues to both dosages when compared with the controls. The observations presented led us to conclude that the administrations of PGRs at subacute and subchronic exposure increased AChE, BChE, and MPO activities, while fluctuating the ADA activity in various tissues of rats. This may reflect the potential role of these parameters as useful biomarkers for toxicity of PGRs.


Silk fabrics are highly popular with people for their excellent properties, with science and living standards progress, the natural and no added finishing method is pursuited by people especially, functional textile products become more and more popular. In this paper, silver nanoparticles were deoxygenated by using natural cactus solution. This silver nanaparticles were prepared under the unpolluted environment. The basic raw material is natural selection, preparation method is simple, non-polluting, eco-friendly and to address the reliability of a better way. Natural fabrics treated with natural plant, not only improve the added value of the product, but also achieve natural of the fabric, meet the requirements of the modern people. This research product the cactus silver nanoparticles silk fabric, demonstrated that the cactus solution can fix the nano-silver uniform on the surface of the silk fabric. Studied the antibacterial property of the silk fabric after finishing, discussed the fabric breaking strength and antibacterial property of silk fabric under different concentration、temperature and time. Finally, the best finishing process obtained is: 0.01mol/L silver ammonia is 2mL, the extract from cactus is 50mL, liquor ratio is 1:50, dipping temperature is 60°C, dipping time is 60min.


In law enforcement and security applications, the acquisition of face images is critical in producing key trace evidence for the successful identication of potential threats. In this work we, rst, use a near infrared (NIR) sensor designed with the capability to acquire images at middle-range stand-o distances at night. Then, we determine the maximum stand-o distance where face recognition techniques can be utilized to eciently recognize individuals at night at ranges from 30 to approximately 300 ft. The focus of the study is on establishing the maximum capabilities of the mid-range sensor to acquire good quality face images necessary for recognition. For the purpose of this study, a database in the visible (baseline) and NIR spectrum of 103 subjects is assembled and used to illustrate the challenges associated with the problem. In order to perform matching studies, we use multiple face recognition techniques and demonstrate that certain techniques are more robust in terms of recognition performance when using face images acquired at dierent distances. Experiments show that matching NIR face images at longer ranges (i.e. greater than about 300 feet or 90 meters using our camera system) is a very challenging problem and it requires further investigation.


Purpose of review The current article reviews the available literature on the incidence, complications, outcomes, and management of pregnancies in kidney transplant recipients. Recent findings Pregnancy can be a reasonable option for women with a kidney transplant. More than 4700 successful pregnancies have been reported after kidney transplantation. New data have emerged regarding the risk of allograft dysfunction following pregnancy. There is a lack of consensus on the optimal time for conception, immunosuppressive targets, the safety of allograft biopsy, and infection surveillance. Successful pregnancies have recently been reported in ABO-incompatible transplant recipients and recipients of combined heart–kidney transplants. Summary The ideal contraceptive method, timing of conception, immunosuppressant protocol, infection surveillance, and the method of delivery should be individualized depending on the patient's age and medical conditions.


A pathway involving the kinases LKB1 and NUAK1 signals mitochondria to stop at the sites of axon branching. During embryonic development, pyramidal neurons of the cortex initially form a process that will become the apical dendritic tree and a process that will become the axon. The kinase LKB1 (also known as STK11, Par4) signals through the kinases SAD-A/B to specify the axon (see Satoh and Arber). Courchet et al. identified another LKB1 pathway, involving its downstream kinase effector NUAK1, that is necessary for the branching of the axon that occurs postnatally in the mouse developing cortex. Examination of pups 21 days after birth (P21) in which LKB1 was knocked out in the pyramidal neurons after axonal specification showed that the axons migrated properly but failed to form the branched phenotype typical of these neurons in the wild-type mice. Because NUAK1 is abundant in the embryonic and postnatal cortex, the authors knocked down NUAK1 in embryonic mouse brains and found that at P21 the axons exhibited a similar reduced branching phenotype as that observed in the LKB1 knockouts. Expression of NUAK1 with or without LKB1 in HeLa cells, which do not have LKB1, showed that NUAK1 abundance was increased when LKB1 was coexpressed. NUAK1 abundance and activity were decreased in cultured LKB1-knockout neurons. Knockdown of either NUAK1 or LKB1 in cultured neurons reduced axon length and branching, whereas overexpression of either protein increased axon length and branching. Tracking the movement of mitochondria in dissociated neurons showed that loss of either of the kinases NUAK1 or LKB1 or syntaphilin (an axonally targeted, microtubule- and mitochondria-binding protein) reduced the percentage of immobilized mitochondria, whereas overexpression of any of these proteins increased the fraction of immobile mitochondria along the axons. Overexpression of syntaphilin restored the immobile fraction of mitochondria to wild-type amounts and rescued axonal branching in dissociated LKB1-knockout neurons. LKB1- or NUAK1-deficient neurons had wild-type numbers of nascent presynaptic sites (defined by the presence of a tagged vesicular glutamate transporter) but had reduced colocalization of these sites with mitochondria compared with wild-type neurons. These results showed that LKB1 has a second later function in neuronal development. Early in development, LKB1 acts to specify axons; later, LKB1 functions to specify axon branching. This second process involves NUAK1 and possibly syntaphilin to signal mitochondria to stop at nascent presynaptic sites. J. Courchet, T. L. Lewis Jr., S. Lee, V. Courchet, D.-Y. Liou, S. Aizawa, F. Polleux, Terminal axon branching is regulated by the LKB1-NUAK1 kinase pathway via presynaptic mitochondrial capture. Cell 153, 1510–1525 (2013). [PubMed] D. Satoh, S. Arber, Carving axon arbors to fit: Master directs one kinase at a time. Cell 153, 1425-1426 (2013). [PubMed]


The aim of the present study was to explore possible gene therapy for hilar cholangiocarcinoma by detecting the activation of the Wnt signaling pathway in 4 cholangiocarcinoma cell lines and inhibiting its expression by RNA interference (RNAi) targeting key factors of this pathway. The expression levels of the Wnt pathway-related factors, Wnt2, Wnt3, β-catenin and transcription factor 4, and its target genes, c-myc and cyclin D1, in 4 cholangiocarcinoma cell lines were detected by RT-PCR, western blotting and immunofluorescence microscopy. After transfection of siRNAs targeting Wnt2 and β-catenin into FRH0201 cells, the expression of the Wnt pathway-related factors and its target genes was again detected, and the cell cycle distribution, apoptosis and proliferation were analyzed by flow cytometry and MTT assay. Activation of the Wnt pathway and the expression of its target genes were detected in all 4 cell lines at various levels. After siRNA transfection, the expression of the target genes in the FRH0201 cells was significantly downregulated. In addition, the Wnt pathway was blocked, cell apoptosis was enhanced and cell proliferation was suppressed. In conclusion, the Wnt signaling pathway is activated in cholangiocarcinoma cells. RNAi technology targeting Wnt2 and β-catenin may be a possible gene therapy for hilar cholangiocarcinoma.


In Xenopus larvae, the size and location of the retinotectal projection of nasoventral quarter-eyes was analyzed in early stages (43–47), midlarval stages (50 and 53) and metamorphic stages (56 and 60), by labelling the optic nerve with the cobalt-lysine complex or with horseradish-peroxidase (HRP). For direct comparison, both fragment and normal eye projections were determined simultaneously in the same specimen in brain whole mounts. During early stages (up to stage 47), the projection fields of normal eyes and quarter-eyes are confined to the rostral part of the tectum. The extension of the projection in rostrocaudal direction of eye fragments does not differ from that of normal eyes. During later development up to metamorphosis, normal eyes expand their projection over the newly formed tectal surface in a caudal direction, whereas the fiber terminations of nasoventral quarter-eyes still remain in the rostral part of the tectum. Quantitative studies revealed that there is no difference in the size of both halves of the tectum. At least for quarter-eyes, however, a strict correlation between eye size and extension of the contralateral projection field could be established. According to our results, it is unlikely that during development local tectal markers are involved in determining the location of the projection field and the retinotopic ordering of the optic fibers. Instead we suggest that the optic fibers separate in accordance with their retinal specificity.


Kuta Selatan Sub-district has experienced changes in land cover due to the development of urbanization in recent years. One of the main problems caused by the progress of this development is the Land Surface Temperature (LST), which can cause several issues such as adverse socio-economic and environmental impacts on the urban population. This study provides information for the future urban developer by considering the implications of future temperature growth for city dwellers' thermal comfort, which should assist in developing and implementing management strategies to reduce the effects of urban heat. We used Landsat 7 ETM + and Landsat 8 OLI-TIRS as data sources for spatial-temporal analysis of land cover and LST in Kuta Selatan Sub-district for 2006, 2015, 2020 and their predictions in 2033 using the CA-Markov model. The results showed that the built-up area and LST in 2033 experienced a significant increase in space and distribution in Jimbaran, Benoa, Tanjung Benoa, and the mean LST in Kuta Selatan Sub-district would increase, from 25.63°C in 2006 to 33.07°C in 2033. Built-up areas and bare soil produce higher LST than vegetation and water bodies. Thus, vegetation and water bodies play an essential role in LST mitigation. Based on these results, in the future, LST in Kuta Selatan Sub-district will be warmer compared to the present.


Gallium arsenide quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) are ideally suited for infrared imagery due to their detection capability over a wide infrared wavelength region and the feasibility of fabrication of monolithic two-dimensional arrays of such detectors. This paper reports on the effects of high energy proton and alpha particle radiations on the performance of these devices. The particle energies ranged from 0.8 MeV to 10.0 MeV and the fluences used in this work ranged from 10/sup 11/ to 10/sup 16/ cm/sup -2/. The dark current and spectral response of these radiated devices were measured at different fluence levels. Using the spectral response as a measure of device performance, it is concluded that the device performance decreases with fluence and the degradation due to alpha particles is greater than for protons of the same energy. Further, the damage to device performance decreases with the increase in the energy of both types of these radiations. From prior work, it was expected that these devices would be sensitive to permanent radiation damage. The extent of damage, however, could not be pre-judged due to the device complexity. These are the first reported measurements of radiation hardness of QWIPs.


We report herein an economically cheap and functionally stable surfaceenhanced Raman scattering (SERS) protocol of two photoactive pigments Rhodamine 6G (R6G) and Kiton Red (KR), implemented in thin films of silver (Ag) and gold (Au) nanoparticles (AgNPs and AuNPs). Both commercially available and chemically synthesized nanoparticles were used. The suitability of the nanoparticles toward SERS activity was tested through UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The AgNPs and AuNPs based SERS substrates in the form of films were fabricated onto square-sized aluminum(Al) plates by simple drop deposition of colloidal nanoparticles solution onto their polished surfaces. The prepared nanoparticle films were sufficiently dried and coated further with the probe (R6G and KR) molecules by employing the identical deposition technique. The enhanced Raman signals of R6G and KR in such composite film structures were then recorded through a custom-built dispersive Raman spectrometer with He-Ne laser excitation at 632.8 nm. Our AgNPsfilm-based SERS protocol could yield the magnitude of the Raman signal enhancement up to 104 times for both R6G and KR. Moreover, AuNPs-based film was found to be less efficient toward the Raman enhancement of both compounds. Our SERS substrates can be easily fabricated, and SERS spectra are reproducible and stable, allowing one to consistently get a reproducible result even after 6 months.
J. Bangladesh Acad. Sci. 45(1); 1-11: June 2021


Length of stay outlier patients, who remain in hospitals
for extended periods of time, is an important challenge to the improvement of
health care efficiency. This study identified outlier patients and programs to
address them in the metropolitan area of Syracuse, New York. It demonstrated
that, during 2013, outlier patients accounted for 2.4 percent of adult medicine
discharges and an excess average daily census of 53.3 patients in the Syracuse
hospitals. During 2013, outlier patients accounted for 4.3 percent of adult surgery
discharges and an excess average daily census of 44.1 patients. In two studies,
the Syracuse hospitals identified the need for multiple intravenous therapy,
extensive wound care, and total parenteral nutrition in the community, as major
causes of outlier stays in hospitals. Each of the hospitals has developed a program
with a long term care facility to address these needs. Efforts to address
outlier lengths of stay are also focusing on Potentially Preventable Complications
in Syracuse. The mean length of stay for inpatients with post admissions
complications was almost three times the stay for the medical/surgical population
during 2013.


In this paper, a five-phase permanent-magnet (PM) brushless dc (BLDC) motor is investigated, which has almost trapezoidal back electromotive force(EMF) due to its concentrated windings. Since the third harmonic component in the magnetic field is utilized, the presented five-phase BLDC motors have a higher torque density over conventional three-phase ones, in which the third harmonic current is injected. This paper proposes a new five-phase transformation system, by which the vector control is easily applicable to five-phase BLDC motors. Finally, the results verify the validity of the proposed method.


AIM
Assess nurse retention challenges and strategies as perceived by nursing directors in Lebanese hospitals.

BACKGROUND
The Kampala Health Workforce Declaration stressed the importance of retaining an effective, responsive and equitably distributed health workforce, particularly nurses. Little is known about nurse retention challenges and strategies in Lebanon.

METHODS
Nursing directors of 76 hospitals participated and were sent a two-page survey on perceived retention challenges and hospital-based retention strategies.

RESULTS
Retention challenges included unsatisfactory salary, unsuitable shifts and working hours, as well as better opportunities in other areas within or outside Lebanon. Retention strategies included implementing financial rewards and benefits, a salary scale, staff development, praise and improving work environment. Nursing directors did not address all perceived challenges in their strategies.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT
To better manage the nursing workforce, nursing directors should regularly measure and monitor nurse turnover rates and also their causes and predictors. Nursing directors should develop, implement and evaluate retention strategies. More information is needed on the management and leadership capacities of nursing directors in addition to their span of control.

CONCLUSION
Nursing directors are facing challenges in retaining their nurses. If these problems are not addressed, Lebanon will continue to lose competent and skilled nurses.