This study of Medecins Sans Frontieres / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) casts new light on the organization's founding principles, distinctive culture, and inner struggles to realize more fully its "without borders" transnational vision. Pioneering medical sociologist Renee C. Fox spent nearly twenty years conducting extensive ethnographic research within MSF, a private international medical humanitarian organization that was created in 1971 and awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1999. With unprecedented access, Fox attended MSF meetings and observed doctors and other workers in the field. She interviewed MSF members and participants and analyzed the content of such documents as communications between MSF staff members within the offices of its various headquarters, communications between headquarters and the field, and transcripts of internal group discussions and meetings. Fox weaves these threads of information into a rich tapestry of the MSF experience that reveals the dual perspectives of an insider and an observer. The book begins with moving, detailed accounts from the blogs of women and men working for MSF in the field. From there, Fox chronicles the organization's early history and development, paying special attention to its struggles during the first decades of its existence to clarify and implement its principles. The core of the book is centered on her observations in the field of MSF's efforts to combat a rampant epidemic of HIV/AIDS in postapartheid South Africa and the organization's response to two challenges in postsocialist Russia: an enormous surge in homelessness on the streets of Moscow and a massive epidemic of tuberculosis in the penal colonies of Siberia. Fox's accounts of these crises exemplify MSF's struggles to provide for thousands of people in need when both the populations and the aid workers are in danger. Enriched by vivid photographs of MSF operations and by ironic, self-critical cartoons drawn by a member of the Communications Department of MSF France, Doctors Without Borders highlights the bold mission of the renowned international humanitarian organization even as it demonstrates the intrinsic dilemmas of humanitarian action.


The article deals with legislative amendments in the regulation of forensic examinations and expert research. Its practical application in forensic activity and the use of research results in forensic practice is analyzed. A brief analysis of judicial practice has been carried out for the courts to assess the conclusions of experts, taking into account the amendments made to the legislation on forensic activity, and its recognition as appropriate evidence in the case. The problematic of this article is related to the need to properly regulate the issue of conducting forensic examinations and expert research, due to the presence of a number of contradictions in such regulation now. In particular, regarding a clear definition and regulation of the legal and procedural status of an expert opinion and expert research, as well as special knowledge. The application of the requirements of the law on forensic activities, as amended, with regard to the provision of expert advice to other persons on request prior to the commencement of proceedings in a case, is critically evaluated in practice, as the relevant conclusions may not be taken into account by the courts (as not having an appropriate procedural status).
The legislation on forensic activity requires the elimination of gaps and the introduction of appropriate changes, bringing the regulatory legal acts in accordance. In particular, to agree on the requirements of Articles 1 and 71 of the Law of Ukraine "On Forensic Examination" regarding the grounds (its presence or absence). For conducting forensic examinations on the appeal of other persons out of court proceedings, as well as clause 1.8 of the Instruction on the appointment and conduct of forensic examinations and forensic investigations approved by order of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine dated 08.10.1998 No. 53/5. With the Resolution of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, dated 18.12.2019 No. 522/1029/18 regarding the indication in the expert opinion regarding the expert's knowledge of criminal liability for a knowingly false conclusion, and that such a conclusion was prepared for submission to court.


Abstract Detritivores play important roles in energy and nutrient flow in riparian ecosystems. Endemic crickets (Gryllus alogus Rehn) and exotic isopods (Armadillidium vulagare Latreille and Porcellio laevi Latreille.) are abundant detritivores in riparian forest floors of central New Mexico. To determine how disturbance history affects the abundance of these detritivores, we installed pitfall traps in plots that had flooded, burned, or had no recent disturbance. We also measured vegetation composition to examine the relationship between plant community composition and detritivore abundance. Crickets were most abundant in the two plots that had flooded but were rare in recently burned, nonflooded plots. Isopods were most abundant in a wildfire plot with high vegetation density and mesic conditions but were also abundant in unburned plots. Isopods were rare in the plots that had recently burned or had flooded. Multiple regression model selection results suggest that cricket abundance is best explained by plot-related variables and is partly explained by recent disturbance history. Isopod abundance was best explained by disturbance history and vegetation characteristics. Cricket abundance was positively associated with flooding while isopod abundance was positively associated with vegetation density and fire and negatively associated with flooding and exotic saltcedar. These results show that flooding can lessen the negative impact of wildfire on native detritivores and reduce the abundance of exotic species.


Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks (VANETs) are wireless networks with mobile nodes (vehicles) which connect in an ad-hoc manner. Many vehicles use the Global Positioning System (GPS) to provide their locations. However the inaccuracy of GPS devices leads to some vehicles incorrectly assuming they are located at different positions and sometimes on different roads. VANETs can be used to increase the accuracy of each vehicle's computed location by allowing vehicles to share information regarding the measured distances to neighbouring vehicles. This paper looks at finding how much improvement can be made given the erroneous measurements present in the system. An evolutionary algorithm is used to evolve instances of parameters used by the VLOCI2 algorithm, also presented in this paper, to find instances which minimises the inaccuracy in computed locations. Simulation results show a definite improvement in location accuracy and lower bounds on how much improvement is possible is inferred.


Fluorocarbons are quintessentially man‐made molecules, fluorine being all but absent from biology. Perfluorinated molecules exhibit novel physicochemical properties that include extreme chemical inertness, thermal stability, and an unusual propensity for phase segregation. The question we and others have sought to answer is to what extent can these properties be engineered into proteins? Here, we review recent studies in which proteins have been designed that incorporate highly fluorinated analogs of hydrophobic amino acids with the aim of creating proteins with novel chemical and biological properties. Fluorination seems to be a general and effective strategy to enhance the stability of proteins, both soluble and membrane bound, against chemical and thermal denaturation, although retaining structure and biological activity. Most studies have focused on small proteins that can be produced by peptide synthesis as synthesis of large proteins containing specifically fluorinated residues remains challenging. However, the development of various biosynthetic methods for introducing noncanonical amino acids into proteins promises to expand the utility of fluorinated amino acids in protein design.


Objective: To identify the nursing interventions used in care practices to the people with Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) in the prehospital care, hospital attendance or in home care. Method: Integrative Review in BVS and PubMed, using these descriptors: Nursing, Spinal Cord Injuries, Paraplegia and Quadriplegia. Results: The most prevalent interventions were: to position the patient correctly; to change the decubitus and to eliminate pressure in the injured area; to observe the urinary and bowel eliminations, inspect the skin; to perform the vesical catheterization and enema; to promote the hygiene. The educational interventions to people with SCI and their families, emphasizing to the achievement of self-care, are still limited. Conclusion: Most of the interventions were related to these patterns: Activity and exercise; Elimination; Nutrition and Metabolism. There is a need to create a specific script to systematize nursing care to people with SCI and their families.


This study aims at investigating the order of magnitude of financial burden of the universal service obligation for the universal service provider. Prior studies have adopted various different cost accounting methods to assess the order of magnitude of net costs arising from postal universal service provision. This study, instead, uses econometric approach for predicting hypothetical profits that the universal service provider had earned without the universal service obligation, and then calculates the net losses for the firm. The econometric model takes into account the impact of cost efficiency on a firm's profits and further the universal service provider's entitlement to reasonable profits on postal markets. The data from the firms active in the postal and courier activities sector in Finland during the years 2005-2012 indicate that the profitability of universal service provider was clearly lower than that of competitors during the sample time period. The annual loss due to the universal service obligation was about 5 – 8 percent of the turnover of the universal service provider.


Abstract On the basis of geochemical signatures, Mesozoic magmatism in Antarctica is divided into the Ferrar Magmatic Province and the Dronning Maud Land Province. The tholeiitic magmatism of the Ferrar Magmatic Province is distinguished by such features as low Ti/Y (< 200) and Zr/Y (< 5.0) ratios, negative εNd values (< −3) and relatively enriched initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios (> 0.709). All of these geochemical features indicate a major contribution from the continental mantle lithosphere in the generation of these magmas. In contrast, the Dronning Maud Land magmatism has elevated trace element ratios and εNd values (Ti/Y 250–600; Zr/Y 3.0–9.0; εNd −2 to +3) and lower initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios (< 0.707) relative to the Ferrar Magmatic Province. The trace element and isotopic correlations suggest that these magmas were derived by the mixing of an OIB like asthenospheric component with a continental lithosphere component. The transition between these two geochemical provinces is located in Coats Land. In Coats Land, the Mesozoic tholeiitic magmatism is represented by doleritic sills and minor dykes which intrude Permo-Triassic sedimentary rocks. The dolerites can be subdivided into two series based on their TiO2 contents. Series 1 dolerites (TiO2 < 1.5%) can be further subdivided into three groups, which give Ar/Ar ages of 171±6 Ma (Group 1) and 193±7 Ma (Groups 2 and 3). It is only Group 2 magmas which have trace element and isotopic signatures akin to the Ferrar Magmatic Province. Group 1 dolerites have geochemical signatures which are transitional between the Ferrar Magmatic Province and Dronning Maud Land magma types. The Ferrar Magmatic Province signature in Coats Land is confined to the early magmatic episode (193±7 Ma) and this appears to mark the initiation of rift related magmatism in this region. It is argued that extension was limited and that most of the melt was derived from the continental mantle lithosphere. In contrast, the younger rocks (176±5 Ma) have relatively lower initial 87Sr/86Sr and higher trace element ratios relative to the Ferrar Magmatic Province, and this appears to be associated with the later stages of rifting and relatively enhanced crustal extension which allowed for the encorporation of a small asthenosphere component.


Water is the natural source most widespread on the Globe, and in humans, it plays extremely important roles in all economic fields. In these conditions, water should be protected and carefully monitored. However, human activities bring about pollution of the environment that is increasingly frequent, intense, complex and long lasting. This paper presents the flow regime and quality of the upper Bârzava River. To do it, we analysed the water flow and we sampled water from the hydrometric stations in Moniom Reșița and Vermeș Berzovia. Water was sampled in January, May, September and November 2013. The highest values of water flow were in spring, i.e. 40-50% of the annual flows, a period that corresponds to snow thawing and periods rich in rainfall that are the main source of water for the Bârzava River. In summer, there were the lowest water flows because of the lack of water in the rivulets and of high evapotranspiration levels. Results of chemical analyses were interpreted and compared with physico-chemical quality standards (Monitorul Oficial al României) that allow the classification of water in classes between I and V. The main determining quality indicators were pH, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, nitrate content, nitrite content, ammonia content, phosphate content, copper content, zinc content, cadmium content, hardness and turbidity. Following the analyses and result interpretation, we could see a pollution of the water with nutrients in the Moniom Reșița and Vermeș Berzovia sections because of the discharge of home and agricultural wastes from the vegetal and animal farms in the area, of using organic fertilisers and of storing wastes on the riverbanks.


This research aims to examine the relationship between the rational and intuitive decision-making styles of athletes and their mental readiness levels. The research was designed by adopting the relational survey model, which is among the quantitative research methods. The research group, in which the easily accessible sampling method was adopted, consisted of 66.1% (242) male and 33.9% (124) female athletes, 76% (278) of the students studying at the faculty of sports sciences and actively doing sports at the same time. 24% (88) of them do not read regularly while they are studying, and 50.3% (184) of students are sportsmen who are interested in individual sports and 49.7% (182) are interested in team sports. Within the scope of the research, IBM SPSS 25.0 package program was used to analyze the data obtained from the participants. Considering the statistical findings that emerged after the analysis of the data, it was found that rational and intuitive decision-making styles did not differ significantly according to gender and reading status, while there was no significant difference in the interest dimension of mental readiness according to the type of sport, while there was a significant difference in all other dimensions. While 22% of the variance of rational decision-making styles, which is the dependent variable, was explained by the independent variables, 17% of the variance of the heuristic decision-making styles, which is also the dependent variable, is among the important findings. As a result; It was seen that interest, focus, fear, mental preparation, motivation dimensions of mental readiness were a significant (important) predictor on rational decision-making styles, while the effect of keeping cool-headedness on rational decision-making styles was not significant. On the other hand, besides the conclusion that mental readiness is a significant (important) predictor of interest, focus, motivation and mental preparation on intuitive decision making, it has been seen that the effect of fear and keeping cool-headedness dimension on intuitive decision making is not significant.


Structures will be mispositioned across prestack migration gathers in the presence of inaccuracies in the velocity model. Stacking these misaligned gathers runs the risk of destroying important structures in the stacked migration image. To mitigate this problem, we propose a trim statics inspired by the non-local means algorithm originally developed for image denoising. This method differs from the conventional one in two fundamental respects. First, the trim statics are computed by comparing image patches instead of individual image traces. Second, no global pilot trace is needed because only two migration images at a time participate in trim statics and are stacked into one image. A multitude of migration images are stacked recursively in this two-to-one fashion. Tests with a Gulf of Mexico dataset show a noticeable improvement in the feature coherency of the stacked migration image.


A Commons inquiry is studying allegations that elderly people are being 'pressured' to move from National Health Service hospitals into private nursing homes.


PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The aim of this work was to study the behavior of an inert porous alumina ceramic spacer used with a plate fixation for open-wedge tibial valgus osteotomy in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee and genu varum. MATERIAL AND METHODS The population included 50 patients who underwent surgery between October 1994 and December 2000. There were 31 women and 19 men, mean age 55 years at surgery (26 right knees and 24 left knees). Patients were reviewed at 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and one year, then every 2 years. Clinical and radiological data were available for all patients. RESULTS Mean follow-up was 16 months. Two patients were lost to follow-up at 5 and 6 months. The results of the open-wedge tibial osteotomy were in agreement with the usual outcome reported in the literature concerning pain relief, functional recovery, joint motion, angle correction, and good preservation of the clinical and radiological result. Three fracture lines were observed on the lateral tibial plateau but did not affect final outcome or angle correction. There was however one case with loss of correction due to fracture of the screws. Radiographically, at 6 months, there were 9 thin lucent lines around the spacer (24%) which did not affect final outcome. Bone healing was achieved at 3 months on the average in all cases except 2 (4%) where healing was achieved at 8 and 13 months. DISCUSSION The porous alumine spacer is a reliable biocompatible and mechanically stable element helpful for achieving bone healing. Integration into bone tissue was radiographically satisfactory. There were no specific complications related to use of the spacer.


In this study, the preparation method and characteristics of anatase titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticle-loaded polylactide (PLA) films and their antibacterial efficacy against Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 4352) and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538) bacterium were studied. A series of PLA nanocomposites containing, respectively, 0, 1, and 5% (wt.) titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles were prepared by melt intercalation method. The effect of TiO2 nanoparticles on the thermal and mechanical characteristics of the films was determined. Thermal analysis showed that the glass transition temperature, crystallization temperature, melting temperature, and decomposition temperatures (Td0.5 and Td0.05) decreased with the filler content. The results obtained from tensile tests showed that TiO2 nanoparticles reduced the mechanical properties and moduli of the PLA films. On the other hand, the water absorption properties of the nanocomposite films increased with the addition of nanoparticles and nanocomposite films exhibited bacteriostatic and limited bactericidal efficacy according to AATCC 147. Consequently, nanocomposite films may be good materials for medical applications due to their membranous properties.


One hundred patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were admitted to the University College Hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria between 1960 and 1975. Their cases have been analyzed with respect to clinical findings, histological classification, and response to therapy. There was a preponderance of males over females (2:1) and the majority of the patients (87 percent) had reticulum cell sarcoma. Therapy consisted mainly of single-agent chemotherapy but a few patients had either surgical excision combined with chemotherapy or multiple-agent chemotherapy. The results of treatment were poor because of the very high default rate, late presentation, inadequate supply of drugs, and lack of radiotherapeutic facilities.


Cell therapy offers great promises in replacing the neurons lost due to neurodegenerative diseases or injuries. However, a key challenge is the cellular source for transplantation which is often limited by donor availability. Direct reprogramming provides an exciting avenue to generate specialized neuron subtypes in vitro , which have the potential to be used for autologous transplantation, as well as generation of patient-specific disease models in the lab for drug discovery and testing gene therapy. Here we present a detailed review on transcription factors that promote direct reprogramming of specific neuronal subtypes with particular focus on glutamatergic, GABAergic, dopaminergic, sensory and retinal neurons. We will discuss the developmental role of master transcriptional regulators and specification factors for neuronal subtypes, and summarize their use in promoting direct reprogramming into different neuronal subtypes. Furthermore, we will discuss up-and-coming technologies that advance the cell reprogramming field, including the use of computational prediction of reprogramming factors, opportunity of cellular reprogramming using small chemicals and microRNA, as well as the exciting potential for applying direct reprogramming in vivo as a novel approach to promote neuro-regeneration within the body. Finally, we will highlight the clinical potential of direct reprogramming and discuss the hurdles that need to be overcome for clinical translation.


DIAGNOSTIC ASPECTS AND PROTEOMIC ANALYSIS OF UTERINE FLUSH FLUID FROM MARES WITH ENDOMETRITIS Mariana Diel de Amorim Advisor: University of Guelph, 2014 Professor Tracey Chenier Endometritis is a common cause of infertility and early embryonic death in mares. Many mares fail to be diagnosed with endometritis despite different diagnostic tests available, especially in subclinical cases. The purpose of this study was to compare diagnostic methods for endometritis and identify the major proteins in endometrial flush fluids of mares with endometrial disease. Endometrial swab, low volume lavage, culture and biopsy were obtained in estrus and diestrus mares, and Kappa coefficient was used to determine the level of agreement among tests. Final diagnosis of endometritis was performed using a checklist where mares with two or more of five criteria (1. uterine fluid on ultrasound or excessive edema or history of subfertility; 2. one or more neutrophils per high power field on cytology; 3. cloudy LVL; 4. positive bacterial culture; and 5. active endometrial inflammation on biopsy) were considered positive. Proteins in supernatant were identified by LC-MS/MS after in-solution trypsin digestion and ranked in amounts based on spectral counting using Scaffold software. Endometritis was diagnosed in 35/44 mares by biopsy, and 33/51 based on the endometritis checklist. Endometrial culture was the least sensitive test (29.71%), and endometrial biopsy was the most sensitive method (85.71%) when the endometritis checklist was used as the Gold Standard. The optimal cut off-value was ≥1 neutrophils to epithelial cell ratio for classifying mares with endomodetritis on cytology. Over 2000 proteins were identified, and a subset was compared among the groups by 2-way ANOVA with SAS 9.3 software. Proteins that were decreased (p ≤ 0.05) in mares with endometritis included vanins 1-3, and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF). Major proteins that increased significantly in diestrus but were not associated with endometritis included P19 lipocalin (uterocalin), uteroferrin (TRAP5), secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2), and secretoglobin 1A1 (uteroglobin). These studies have shown that no single diagnostic test is sensitive enough to reliably diagnose mares with endometritis, and that we have identified several changes in the protein composition of uterine flush fluids in mares with endometritis. Some of these might become useful biomarkers in the clinical and biopsy assessment of uterine health in mares.


This paper presents the design, simulation, implementation and performance evaluation of a computationally efficient and accurate digital distance relaying algorithm. Published historical data were used in the first phase for validation purposes. Sample results illustrating highly accurate fault impedance estimates for various conditions are reported. The second phase uses voltage and current signals generated by the Alternative Transients Program (ATP) and a sample power system for various first-zone, second-zone and third-zone faults. Results of these studies, confirming the stability and computational efficiency of the algorithm, are presented and discussed. In the third phase, a prototype of the relay was developed and tested using real-time fault data generated from physical models of the transmission lines. Oscillographs for these conditions were recorded. Results of these tests indicating high speed relay operation are also discussed. The performance evaluation studies reported in this paper conclusively demonstrate that the new algorithm provides fast and accurate fault impedance estimates for the three-zone protection of transmission lines.


Using an Affymetrix GeneChip® Human Mapping 100K Set to study a patient with a late‐presenting, right‐sided diaphragmatic hernia and microphthalmia, we found a maternally inherited deletion that was 2.7 Mb in size at chromosome 18q22.1. Mapping of this deletion using fluorescence in situ hybridization revealed three deleted genes—CDH19, DSEL, and TXNDC10, and one gene that contained the deletion breakpoint, CCDC102B. We selected DSEL for further study in 125 patients with diaphragmatic hernias, as it is involved in the synthesis of decorin, a protein that is required for normal collagen formation and that is upregulated during myogenesis. We found p.Met14Ile in an unrelated patient with a late‐presenting, anterior diaphragmatic hernia. In the murine diaphragm, Dsel was only weakly expressed at the time of diaphragm closure and its expression in C2C12 myoblast cells did not change significantly during myoblast differentiation, thus reducing the likelihood that the gene is involved in myogenesis of the diaphragm. Although it is possible that the 18q22.1 deletion and haploinsufficiency for DSEL contributed to the diaphragmatic defect in the patient, a definite role for DSEL and decorin in the formation of the collagen‐containing, central tendon of the diaphragm has not yet been established. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


This thesis begins with a survey of the work completed by Moffatt (1964) where he deduced that for regions near sharp corners in a two dimensional homogeneous viscous fluid, an approximation for the flow is appropriate in an expansion of analytical functions. This approximation implies that for some flow schemes with corners, a singularity in the flow is present; especially when dealing with derivatives of the velocity field. It is the aim of this thesis to develop and incorporate numerical methods which use this analytical expansion so that the singularities can be resolved. We proceed to analyse and overview three methods that incorporate the Moffatt expansion in the lid-driven cavity. These methods have been appropriately named to be the subtraction method, the scaling method and the alternative finite difference method. Following this, we analyse the Moffatt eigenvalues for corners whose angles are greater than 180 degrees and then modify the above methods, so that they can be applied to solve the steady state Navier-Stokes equations in more general domains with corners. It is found for internal corners with non-homogeneous boundary conditions, the subtraction method works best. For external corners with homogeneous boundary conditions, the alternative finite difference equations work best. Following that, we investigate the use of conformal transformations especially for the solutions of the steady state Navier-Stokes equations. These conformal transformation methods are then compared to the methods mentioned earlier in terms of accuracy and resolution. We find that for certain geometries, conformal transformations can be used to significantly increase the resolution and accuracy of the flow near `external' corners. However, these transformations are not so well suited for `internal' corners as the resolution is comparatively poorly captured when solving the Navier-Stokes equations with a regular grid spacing. The central result of this thesis shows that in some geometries, changes to the accuracy of the flow around a corner with respect to the Navier-Stokes equations can significantly change and influence the contour curves in a sub-region of the geometry of the fluid.


Understanding the mechanisms by which organisms respond to environmental change is critical to conservation biology. Recent research indicates that the gut microbiome may mediate mammalian responses to the environment and can be used as a biomarker to understand host ecological strategies. Here, we explore the relationship between the gut microbiome, host dietary niche, and potential resilience to habitat alteration using two closely related, sympatric non‐human primate species: the tufted gray langur (Semnopithecus priam) and the purple‐faced langur (Semnopithecus vetulus). The gray langur is suspected to be a habitat generalist less perturbed by anthropogenic disturbance, while the purple‐faced langur is suspected to be a specialist more sensitive to disturbance. To test these characterizations, we assessed the gut microbiome using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of fecal samples collected from Kaludiyapokuna Forest Reserve, Sri Lanka (gray langur n = 50 samples, purple‐faced langur n = 7 samples). Our results demonstrate that despite strong gut microbial similarities, gray langurs had a more diverse gut microbiome that harbored Prevotella and Akkermansia, taxa involved in starch degradation, while the purple‐faced langur gut microbiome harbored Roseburia, Clostridium, and Ruminococcus, taxa involved in processing plant structural carbohydrates. Compared to related species in other locations, both Sri Lankan langurs harbored more pathogenic bacteria. These differences suggest that gray langurs have more generalist diets, making them more resilient to anthropogenic change, but also indicate that they are not impervious to human encroachment. Our findings suggest that microbiome analyses are an important tool for langur ecology and conservation, and should be integrated into ongoing studies.


Background: Psychological stress among medical students is common as compared to other professional courses. The prevalence of perceived stress among medical students affects not only their academic performances but also to some extent their health.

Objective: The present study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of self – perceived psychological stress among Under-Graduate medical students, to identify probable factors responsible for it and to suggest possible interventions.

Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study using self administered questionnaire was conducted among a sample of undergraduate students chosen from all the years of MBBS who were enrolled at Govt. Medical College Surat at the time of study period.

Results: In this study 3.12% of the students reported having no stressor experience, 55.6% reported mild to moderate stressor experience and 41.2% with severe stressor experience. Major factors responsible for stress identified in this study are increased load towards exam, vast syllabus, not getting expected marks, less time for repeated learning and procrastination.

Conclusion: This study has found that majority of undergraduate students experience stress. Both academic and emotional factors are responsible for this stress. Proper guidance and counseling by faculties may help to improve the present scenario.


: Healing of the tendoachilles (TA) following rupture may result in lengthening over a long segment rather than discrete scar interposition. We describe our experience and results of a direct TA shortening technique of dysfunctionally long TAs. Five patients presented with impairment of their sporting level. Four patients had TA injuries that were managed by physiotherapy alone and 1 had been cast immobilised for 6 weeks. At open operation the TAs were found to be confluent but with evidence of scarring over a long segment. A 'Z' shortening was performed. The patients were reviewed up to a mean of 30 months post op. The overall scores were excellent in 1, good in 3 and fair in 1. All returned to their chosen level of sporting activity. The technique described is relatively straightforward and gives predictable improvement in function. It is therefore a useful technique in this often-unrecognised condition


This paper presents a framework that combines experimental techniques and computational methods for modeling the microscopic response of asphalt mixtures subjected to various loading conditions. The basis of this framework is capturing the three-dimensional microstructure of asphalt mixtures with X-ray computed tomography and a sequence of image-processing methods to identify the microstructure components or mixture phases. This microstructure is then converted to a finite element model in which the various phases are represented with constitutive models that describe their mechanical behavior. In this study, the coarse aggregate phase was modeled as a linear elastic material, and the matrix phase (asphalt, fine particles, and air voids) was represented as a thermoviscoelastic, viscoplastic, and damage model. The analysis results showed that the model captured the effects of temperature, rate of loading, repeated loads, and mixture design on the microstructure response. These results demonstrate that the developed framework will help engineers and researchers to understand the effects of mixture design and material properties on performance and to establish the link between microscopic response and macroscopic behavior.


Monoalkylation of primary amines using amine hydrobromides and alkyl bromides has been carried out. Under controlled reaction conditions the reactant primary amine was selectively deprotonated and made available for reaction, while the newly generated secondary amine remained protonated, and did not participate in alkylation further. Reaction was carried out under mild reaction conditions and was applicable to a wide range of primary amines and alkyl bromides.


The main objective of this paper is to evaluate and improve FPGA-based digital circuits, which implement recursive specifications.Recursive sorting algorithms over binary trees are considered as a case study to evaluate and demonstrate new techniques and theiradvantages. Since recursive calls are not directly supported by hardware description languages, they are implemented using the model ofa hierarchical finite state machine (HFSM). The paper presents analysis and comparison of alternative and competitive techniques fordescribing recursive algorithms in hardware. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed innovations allow to achieve betterperformance. Obviously, the results of this paper are not limited to recursive sorting alone. They have a wider scope and can be appliedeffectively to numerous systems that implement recursive algorithms over tree-based data structures. Ill. 8, bibl. 10, tabl. 2 (in English;abstracts in English and Lithuanian). http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eee.113.7.612


We consider the motion of the end mirror of a cavity in whose standing-wave mode pattern atoms are trapped. The atoms and the light field strongly couple to each other because the atoms form a distributed Bragg mirror with a reflectivity that can be fairly high. We analyze how the dipole potential in which the atoms move is modified due to this back action of the atoms. We show that the position of the atoms can become bistable. These results are of a more general nature and can be applied to any situation where atoms are trapped in an optical lattice inside a cavity and where the back action of the atoms on the light field cannot be neglected. We analyze the dynamics of the coupled system in the adiabatic limit where the light field adjusts to the position of the atoms and the light field instantaneously and where the atoms move much faster than the mirror. We calculate the sideband spectrum of the light transmitted through the cavity and show that these spectra can be used to detect the coupled motion of the atoms and the mirror.


For the past forty years, the Pima Indians living in the Gila River Indian Community have been among the most consistently studied diabetic populations in the world. But despite many medical advances, the epidemic is continuing and prevalence rates are increasing. Diabetes among the Pima is the first in-depth ethnographic volume to delve into the entire spectrum of causes, perspectives, and conditions that underlie the occurrence of diabetes in this community. Drawing on the narratives of pregnant Pima women and nearly ten years work in this community, this book reveals the Pimas? perceptions and understanding of type 2 and gestational diabetes, and their experience as they live in the midst of a health crisis. Arguing that the prenatal period could offer the best hope for curbing this epidemic, Smith-Morris investigates many core values informing the Pimas experience of diabetes: motherhood, foodways, ethnic identity, exercise, attitude toward health care, and a willingness to seek care. Smith-Morris contrasts gripping first-person narratives with analyses of several political, economic, and biomedical factors that influence diabetes among the Pimas. She also integrates major theoretical explanations for the disease and illuminates the strengths and weaknesses of intervention strategies and treatment. An important contribution to the ongoing struggle to understand and prevent diabetes, this volume will be of special interest to experts in the fields of epidemiology, genetics, public health, and anthropology. "http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/extras/smith-morris/studyguide.php" target=new>Click here for a Facilitator's Guide to Diabetes among the Pima


Around 600,000 people in the UK have tinnitus thathas a severe impact on their day-to-day life [1]. Thisimpact can be on one or more of attention andmemory, sleep, mood, and can lead to depression,anxiety, stress and insomnia. It can also have anegative effective on personal relationships andemployment. As tinnitus is an invisible condition, theimpact that it can have is often underestimated, andresearch in this area is key to improving quality of lifein people with tinnitus.A database search conducted in Scopus and PubMedusing the search term 'tinnitus' within the title, abstractand key word, for items published in 2015 retrieved979 articles from Scopus and 688 from PubMed.However, after closer inspection and evaluation,a total of 39 articles were found to refer to the topicof the impact of tinnitus and have been includedin this review.


We examined search for target objects in a patient, MP, showing symptoms of left unilateral neglect. The conditions varied how the target was defined, the numbers of targets and distractors, and whether search was for multiple or single targets. We found that search was substantially improved when the target was defined by a description of its action rather than its name. This advantage for action-defined targets increased with larger display sizes. For both action and name-defined targets, there were also larger effects of the number of distractors when search was for multiple rather than single targets, even when the numbers of distractors were kept constant. However, these effects were increased for name-defined targets. The differences between action- and name-defined targets decreased when objects were replaced with words. The data suggest that search could be based on action-defined templates of targets, activated by affordances from objects. The action-defined templates facilitated detection and reduced MP's tendency to re-search displays.


Heat shock proteins of chick embryo fibroblasts were analyzed on SDS polyacrylamide gradient gels and were found to include not only three previously well-characterized proteins of 25,000, 73,000, and 89,000 D, but also a 47,000-D protein. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis revealed that this protein was unusually basic (pI = 9.0) and corresponded to a recently characterized, major gelatin- and collagen- binding protein. The induction of synthesis of this 47,000-D membrane glycoprotein after heat stress of fibroblasts was particularly apparent in preparations isolated by gelatin-affinity chromatography. Regulation of this 47,000-D phosphoprotein was more sensitive than that of three major heat shock proteins in that a substantial stimulation of synthesis occurred at even 42 degrees C, as well as at higher temperature. Phosphorylation of the 47,000-D protein was not altered after heat shock. These studies establish this phosphorylated membrane glycoprotein as a member of the heat shock/stress protein family, and they add collagen binding to the unexpectedly diverse spectrum of biochemical activities induced by exposure of cells to stress.


One of the basic problems of any developing country is to provide shelter to the low income groups. The housing does not mean shelter only but it includes the services related to it i.e. sanitation, sewerage, street conditions and water etc. The government policies related to the provision of such facilities have greater impact on the quality of life and standard of living. The demand for housing reflects the willingness to pay for a set of housing services. The house is a set of many goods; the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, quality of local services and utilities, tidiness of the neighbourhood and quality of the local environment [Katherine (2006)]. The difference in value may be due to housing and neighbourhood characteristics with amenity or dis-amenity values.


Quality risk assessment following ICH Q9 principles is an important activity to ensure optimal clinical efficacy and safety of a drug product. Typically, risk assessment is focused on product performance wherein critical material attributes, formulation variables, and process parameters are evaluated from a manufacturing perspective. Extending ICH Q9 principles to biopharmaceutics risk assessment to identify factors that can impact in vivo performance is an upcoming area. This is evident by recent regulatory trends wherein a new term critical bioavailability attributes (CBA) has been coined to identify such factors. Although significant work has been performed for biopharmaceutics risk assessment for new molecules, there is a need for harmonized biopharmaceutics risk assessment workflow for generic submissions. In this manuscript, we attempted to provide a framework for performing biopharmaceutics risk assessment for generic regulatory submissions. A detailed workflow for performing biopharmaceutics risk assessment includes identification of initial CBA (iCBA), their confirmatory evaluation followed by definition of the control strategy. Tools for biopharmaceutics risk assessment, i.e., bio-discriminatory dissolution method and physiologically based biopharmaceutics modeling (PBBM) were discussed from a practical perspective. Furthermore, a case study for CBA evaluation using PBBM modeling for an extended-release product for regulatory submission has been described using the proposed workflow. Finally, future directions of integrating CBA evaluation, biopharmaceutics risk assessment to the FDA Knowledge Aided Structured Assessment (KASA) initiative, the necessity of risk assessment templates, and knowledge sharing between industry and academia are discussed. Overall, the work described in this manuscript can facilitate and provide guidance for biopharmaceutics risk assessment for generic submissions.


The thermal conductivity problem of functionally graded plate is studied under different temperature fields by a new concise BEM in this paper. At first, we convert the heat conduction differential equation of functionally graded materials (FGMs) to a homogeneous material thermal conductivity equation by using variable substitution, then the Galerkin boundary integral equation is reduced to be a system of linear equations. Finally we arrive at an internal temperature of objects, and plot the distribution graphics and effects of material parameters on temperature distribution. It proves that the new concise BEM is very effective.


Media plays an important role in the formation of social representations. This study examines the cover images of Finnish Teacher Magazine published by the Trade Union of Education as means of communicating social representations of teachership among its readership consisting of teachers and student teachers. In order to critically discuss the structure of the cover images and their implications in terms of teachers' professional identity, the study applies a visual rhetoric approach to the study of visually mediated social representations. The data consist of 138 cover images of Teacher Magazine between the years 2013 and 2017. The analysis of visual rhetoric was conducted using content analysis and semiotic analysis that provided means of examining both the visual form of the cover images and meanings communicated through them. Even though this study detects a variety of social representations of teachership, it also identifies a highly homogeneous type of teacher throughout the imagery, which is understood to present the members of the Trade Union with an ideal type of their profession. Consequently, cover images of Teacher Magazine appear to be vehicles of inclusion and exclusion, strengthening certain social representations of teachership and marginalizing others.


Fluorosis is the worldwide health problem and is affecting both the developing and developed countries. In the whole world, about 25 countries have high fluoride concentration in ground water. Rajasthan is the worst affected state in India. Aluminum salts are commonly used as coagulants in water treatments. Aluminum fluoride is less toxic than other fluorides. In this study Aluminum Ammonium Sulphate has been used as defluoridating agent in drinking water earthenware and noted that these earthenware decrease the concentration of fluoride in drinking water. Langumir and Frendlich study had carried out with these earthenware.


This paper describes work carried out at the University of York; its contents do not represent the views or opinions of BT. It provides an example of how insights into the field of IS can be gained by looking at it from the perspective of other academic disciplines. Based on the idea that physical and virtual office spaces exist to serve parallel organisational requirements, it is argued that designers of information systems (IS) should be able to learn from the experience of architects in order to improve their methods and redefine their objectives. Firstly, the work of Christopher Alexander is reviewed to show how his work on architectural patterns has been of value to the designers object-oriented systems. Secondly, similarities in the literature between notions of failure in architecture and IS design are identified. These are then examined through interviews with practitioners to establish the relevance of the approach. Finally, the area that Alexander described as 'the quality without a name' is highlighted as a topic for further research.


Measurement is said to be the basis of exact sciences as the process of assigning numbers to matter (things or their attributes), thus making it possible to apply the mathematically formulated laws of nature to the empirical world. Mathematics and empiria are best accorded to each other in laboratory experiments which function as what Nancy Cartwright calls nomological machine: an arrangement generating (mathematical) regularities. On the basis of accounts of measurement errors and uncertainties, I will argue for two claims: 1) Both fundamental laws of physics, corresponding to ideal nomological machine, and phenomenological laws, corresponding to material nomological machine, lie, being highly idealised relative to the empirical reality; and also laboratory measurement data do not describe properties inherent to the world independently of human understanding of it. 2) Therefore the naive, representational view of measurement and experimentation should be replaced with a more pragmatic or practice-based view.


Indium tin oxide nanoparticles were synthesized in two different sizes by a nonhydrolytic sol-gel method. These powders were then transformed into ITO via an intermediate metastable state at between 300 and 600 oC. The presence of characteristic O-In-O and O-Sn-O bands at 480 and 670 cm-1 confirmed the formation of ITO. The X-ray diffraction patterns indicated the preferential formation of metastable hexagonal phase ITO (corundum type) as opposed to cubic phase ITO when the reflux time was less than 3 h and the heat treatment temperature was below 600 oC. Particle morphology and crystal size were examined by scanning electron microscopy.


Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is among the most dangerous cancers with high mortality and lack of robust diagnostics and personalized/precision therapeutics. To achieve a systems-level understanding of tumorigenesis, unraveling of variations in the protein interactome and determination of key proteins exhibiting significant alterations in their interaction patterns during tumorigenesis are crucial. To this end, we have described differential protein-protein interactions and differentially interacting proteins (DIPs) in ESCC by utilizing the human protein interactome and transcriptome. Furthermore, DIP-centered modules were analyzed according to their potential in elucidation of disease mechanisms and improvement of efficient diagnostic, prognostic, and treatment strategies. Seven modules were presented as potential diagnostic, and 16 modules were presented as potential prognostic biomarker candidates. Importantly, our findings also suggest that 30 out of the 53 repurposed drugs were noncancer drugs, which could be used in the treatment of ESCC. Interestingly, 25 of these, proposed as novel drug candidates here, have not been previously associated in a context of esophageal cancer. In this context, risperidone and clozapine were validated for their growth inhibitory potential in three ESCC lines. Our findings offer a high potential for the development of innovative diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic strategies for further experimental studies in line with predictive diagnostics, targeted prevention, and personalization of medical services in ESCC specifically, and personalized cancer care broadly.


Online social media influence the flow of news and other information, potentially altering collective social action while generating a large volume of data useful to researchers. Mapping these networks may make it possible to predict the course of social and political movements, technology adoption, and economic behavior. Here, we map the network formed by Twitter users sharing British Broadcasting Corporation BBC articles. The global audience of the BBC is primarily organized by language with the largest linguistic groups receiving news in English, Spanish, Russian, and Arabic. Members of the network primarily "follow" members sharing articles in the same language, and these audiences are primarily located in geographical regions where the languages are native. The one exception to this rule is a cluster interested in Middle East news which includes both Arabic and English speakers. We further analyze English-speaking users, which differentiate themselves into four clusters: one interested in sports, two interested in United Kingdom UK news-with word usage suggesting this reflects political polarization into Conservative and Labour party leanings-and a fourth group that is the English speaking part of the group interested in Middle East news. Unlike the previously studied New York Times news sharing network the largest scale structure of the BBC network does not include a densely connected group of globally interested and globally distributed users. The political polarization is similar to what was found for liberal and conservative groups in the New York Times study. The observation of a primary organization of the BBC audience around languages is consistent with the BBC's unique role in history as an alternative source of local news in regions outside the UK where high quality uncensored news was not available. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 19: 55-63, 2014


In William Harvey's day, Celtic civilization in Western Scotland was still flourishing and medical practice was ahead of that in other parts of Europe. Reasons are advanced for believing that Harvey knew more about this Celtic world than his biographers indicate. The opportunities he had for acquiring such knowledge are described.


Abstract I estimate the impact of hurricane strikes on local economic growth rates. To this end, I assemble a panel data set of U.S. coastal counties' growth rates and construct a novel hurricane destruction index that is based on a monetary loss equation, local wind speed estimates derived from a physical wind field model, and local exposure characteristics. The econometric results suggest that a county's annual economic growth rate falls on average by 0.45 percentage points, 28% of it due to richer individuals moving away from affected counties. I also find that the impact of hurricanes is netted out in annual terms at the state level and does not affect national economic growth rates at all.


Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality in women in the Western world. Its growth and development is directly governed by endogenous steroids and growth factors. Endocrine therapy is the most effective form of treatment for a proportion of breast cancer patients. Work from several laboratories has shown that breast cancer cells metastasise via a pathway that involves the plasminogen activator system and metalloproteinases. Thus, the plasminogen activator system, which consists of urokinase (uPA), its inhibitor (PAI-1) and receptor (uPAR), is central to the process of invasion and metastasis. Given their important role, it is hardly surprising that these three proteins have been used as biological markers of patient prognosis. uPA and PAI-1 has been significantly implicated as markers of aggressive breast cancer. The first step of invasion involves the conversion of plasminogen into plasmin by uPA. uPA is localised on the cell surface (bound to its receptor uPAR) and is principally regulated by two inhibitors, plasminogen activators type-1 and type-2 (PAI-1 and PAI-2). Possessing a wide substrate specificity, plasmin in turn activates a variety of enzymes which degrade different components of the extracellular matrix such as laminin, fibronectin, collagenase(s), proteoglycans etc. The present study was conducted to further understand the effect(s) of different growth factors and steroid hormones on the proliferation and invasive potential of two well characterised human breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 (hormone sensitive) and MDA-MB-231 (hormone insensitive). Furthermore, extracellular matrix (ECM) was used to determine the effect, if any that support substrate might have on the levels of plasminogen activators and growth rate. Plasminogen activators were quantified both at the mRNA and protein levels, using RT-PCR and ELISA, respectively. uPA activity was determined by chromogenic assay and the invasive properties of the two cell lines were determined using the Boyden invasion chamber. In the initial phase, proliferation of each cell line on both substrata, plastic and EHS, was studied after treatment with growth factors (TGFalpha, TGFbeta and EGF), steroid hormones (E2 and Pg) and anti-oestrogen, tamoxifen. Different amounts of each growth factor and hormone were used and cell numbers were obtained after 24, 48 and 72 hours. These studies showed that growth of MCF-7 cells was stimulated significantly by exogenous TGFalpha and EGF, on both EHS and plastic with cells being more sensitive to growth factors on EHS. Proliferation of MDA cells was only slightly increased by the same growth factors on either substrate. By contrast, TGFbeta inhibited the growth of MDA cells, on both surfaces. However, the concentrations required for inhibition on the two substrata were enormously different. E2, Pg, and TAM (an anti-oestrogen) also stimulated the growth of MCF-7 cells on both plastic and EHS. For quantification of uPA, uPAR and PAI-1, a combination of Western blotting and ELISA, using specific monoclonal antibodies, was employed to monitor the relative amounts of these proteins after treating the cell lines with growth factors and hormones. These studies showed that the MDA cell line expressed uPA and PAI-1 proteins whereas uPA was hardly delectable in the MCF-7 cell line. Moreover, qualitative RT-PCR analysis clearly showed that uPAR and PAI-1 transcripts were present in both MDA and MCF-7 cells. These results clearly show that various growth factors and/or hormones not only have an effect on the proliferative properties of cell lines but they also change the relative amounts of uPA, PAI-1 and uPAR and that these changes can be reflected in invasive activity. The ECM contributes to the overall response of these cells. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).


In 2011, significant tornado outbreaks occurred throughout the United States. The property damage from these tornadoes was record breaking at over $28 billion. The impact of these tornadic events on the lodging industry, however, was not as extreme and in some instances was financially beneficial. This study evaluated the revenue implications of severe tornado events on the lodging industry. Using data provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Smith Travel Research (STR), the lodging industries of 17 counties impacted by either EF4 or EF5 (enhanced Fujita scale) tornadoes were analyzed. Results indicated that the lodging operations in all 17 counties experienced an occupancy percentage increase for multiple days after tornado events. Only five counties experienced significant increases in average daily rate (ADR) for seven days following tornado events. All but one county experienced increases in revenue per available room (RevPAR) following tornado events. This suggests that gains in RevPAR were influenced more by increased occupancy opposed to inflated room rates.


The principal development tool for the vehicle aerodynamicist continues to be the full-scale wind tunnel. It is expected that this will continue for many years in the
absence of a reliable alternative. As a true simulation of conditions on the road, the conventional full-scale wind tunnel has limitations. For example, the ground is fixed relative to the vehicle, allowing an
unrepresentative boundary layer to develop, and the wheels of the test vehicle do not rotate. These limitations are known to influence measured aerodynamic data.
In order to improve the representation of road conditions in the wind tunnel, most of the techniques used have attempted to control the ground plane boundary layer.
Only at model scale has the introduction of a moving ground plane and rotating wheels been widely adopted. The Pininfarina full-scale wind tunnel now incorporates the Ground Effect Simulation System which allows testing with a moving belt and rotating wheels. A major feature of this facility is that test vehicles can be easily installed with only minor modifications. This paper compares aerodynamic drag measurements
for a large saloon, in various configurations, obtained both in the wind tunnel and on the road. The wind tunnel
results are presented for various ground simulations. These are: moving belt with rotating wheels and stationary belt with fixed wheels at Pininfarina, and the conventional fixed ground in the MIRA full-scale wind tunnel. The on-road data is derived from coastdown tests.


1. An organism that grows on nitrilotriacetate as sole source of carbon and energy was isolated in pure culture and was identified as a pseudomonad. 2. Cell-free extracts of the nitrilotriacetate-grown pseudomonad contain an enzyme that catalyses the NADH-and O(2)-dependent oxidation of nitrilotriacetate to iminodiacetate and glyoxalate. This enzyme is absent from extracts of glucose-grown cells. 3. Compared with growth on glucose, growth on nitrilotriacetate results in increased activities of enzymes of glycine and serine metabolism, namely serine hydroxymethyltransferase, glycine decarboxylase, serine-oxaloacetate aminotransferase and hydroxypyruvate reductase. 4. Cell-free extracts of the nitrilotriacetate-grown organism contain the enzyme glyoxalate carboligase and, when supplemented with NADH, Mg(2+) and thiamin pyrophosphate, can catalyse the anaerobic conversion of glyoxalate into glycerate. 5. These results are incorporated in a scheme which shows the oxidative metabolism of nitrilotriacetate by the successive removal of C(2) units to form 2mol of glyoxalate and 1mol of glycine per mol of nitrilotriacetate degraded. The glyoxalate and glycine are then both metabolized to glycerate by separate pathways, via tartronic semialdehyde and serine respectively. The role of this scheme in the growth of the organism on nitrilotriacetate is discussed.


This study combined moist airtight storage of moist grain with pig feed fermentation. Starter cultures with the potential to facilitate both technologies were added to airtight stored moist crimped cereal grain, and the impact on storage microflora and the quality of feed fermentations generated from the grain was investigated. Four treatments were compared: three based on moist barley, either un-inoculated (M), inoculated with Wickerhamomyces anomalus (W), or inoculated with W. anomalus and LAB starter culture, containing Pediococcus acidilactici DSM 16243, Pediococcus pentosaceus DSM 12834 and Lactobacillus plantarum DSM 12837 (WLAB); and one treatment based on dried barley (D). After 6 weeks of storage, four feed fermentations FM, FW, FWLAB, and FD, were initiated from M, W, WLAB, and D, respectively, by mixing the grain with water to a dry matter content of 30%. Each treatment was fermented in batch initially for 7 days and then kept in a continuous mode by adding new feed daily with 50% back-slop. During the 6 week storage period, the average water activity decreased in M, W and WLAB from 0.96 to 0.85, and cereal pH decreased from approximately 6.0 at harvest to 4.5. Feed fermentation conferred a further pH decrease to 3.8–4.1. In M, W and WLAB, molds and Enterobacteriaceae were mostly below detection limit, whereas both organism groups were detected in D. In fermented feed, Enterobacteriaceae were below detection limit in almost all conditions. Molds were detected in FD, for most of the fermentation time in FM and at some sampling points in FW and FWLAB. Starter organisms, especially W. anomalus and L. plantarum comprised a considerable proportion of the yeast and LAB populations, respectively, in both stored grain and fermented feed. However, autochthonous Pichia kudriavzevii and Kazachstania exigua partially dominated the yeast populations in stored grain and fermented feed, respectively.


The worldwide consumption of energy has increased every year by several percentages in the last decades. Nowadays, a large amount of energy is produced by fossil fuels and to a certain extent by nuclear energy. However, these resources are limited and their use has a serious environmental impact. Solar light is the most important source of regenerative energy and represents an inexhaustible energy source. Owing to this fact the attention has been drawn during the last few years towards Solar cells. Moreover, to overcome barriers such as effective cost efficiency and commercial feasibility, methods of energy generations have turned to Organic Photovoltaics devices. The advantages being: generation of cost effective devices, use of renewable sources of energy and easy flexibility. In recent years rapid development in design has led to progressive PCE of organic solar cell from 3% to almost 9-10%. To improve the efficiency of organic solar cells it is, therefore, crucial to understand what limits the cell's performance and efficiency. The scattering from the metal nanoparticles is a way of increasing the light absorption and the efficiency in organic solar cells. This review discusses the recent significant technological developments that were presented in the literature with the basic mechanisms at work, which will help improve the organic photovoltaic performance and provide an outlook to future prospects in this area.


In De Caelo A. 12. 281a28-b25 Aristotle presents an argument in support of the claim that 'everything that always is, is absolutely indestructible'. Scholars are in agreement about at least one thing: this argument is notoriously difficult to understand. This paper attempts to do a number of things. First, it critically evaluates Lindsay Judson's interpretation of De Caelo 281a28-b25, and it then proceeds to offer an alternative reconstruction of this passage. Second, it shows that Aristotle's argument in this stretch of text is indeed problematic, but that the problem with it is not the one identified by Judson. On the basis of this reading of De Caelo 281a28-b25, the paper goes on to make the following points: (a) the argument from De Caelo A. 12, in conjunction with material from elsewhere in the corpus, may be used to show that Aristotle is committed to some version of the Principle of Plenitude (= No possibility remains unactualized through an infinity of time) which is applicable to perishable entities – i.e. the entities in the sublunary realm; (b) given that this is the case, then Aristotle's drive to neutralize determinism, in the guise of fatalism (On Interpretation 9) and causal determinism (Metaphysics E. 3), suffers a serious setback; (c) Aristotle could have easily resolved this problem, had he become aware of it, by correcting the mistake committed in the argument of De Caelo A. 12 (281a28-b25).


Titanium oxide (TiOx) has attracted a lot of attention as an active material for resistive random access memory (RRAM), due to its versatility and variety of possible crystal phases. Although existing RRAM materials have demonstrated impressive characteristics, like ultra-fast switching and high cycling endurance, this technology still encounters challenges like low yields, large variability of switching characteristics, and ultimately device failure. Electroforming has been often considered responsible for introducing irreversible damage to devices, with high switching voltages contributing to device degradation. In this paper, we have employed Al doping for tuning the resistive switching characteristics of titanium oxide RRAM. The resistive switching threshold voltages of undoped and Al-doped TiOx thin films were first assessed by conductive atomic force microscopy. The thin films were then transferred in RRAM devices and tested with voltage pulse sweeping, demonstrating that the Al-doped devices could on average form at lower potentials compared to the undoped ones and could support both analog and binary switching at potentials as low as 0.9 V. This work demonstrates a potential pathway for implementing low-power RRAM systems.


In the past few decades there has been a revolution in computing and communications, and all indications are that technological progress and use of information technology will continue at a rapid pace. Accompanying and supporting the dramatic increases in the power and use of new information technologies has been the declining cost of communications as a result of both technological improvements and increased competition. According to Moore's law the processing power of microchips is doubling every 18 months. These advances present many significant opportunities but also pose major challenges. Today, innovations in information technology are having wide-ranging effects across numerous domains of society, and policy makers are acting on issues involving economic productivity, intellectual property rights, privacy protection, and affordability of and access to information. Choices made now will have longlasting consequences, and attention must be paid to their social and economic impacts. One of the most significant outcomes of the progress of information technology is probably electronic commerce over the Internet, a new way of conducting business. Though only a few years old, it may radically alter economic activities and the social environment. Already, it affects such large sectors as communications, finance and retail trade and might expand to areas such as education and health services. It implies the seamless application of information and communication technology along the entire value chain of a business that is conducted electronically. The following sections will focus on the impacts of information technology and electronic commerce on business models, commerce, market structure, workplace, labour market, education, private life and society as a whole.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare loneliness between the left-behind children of migrant workers and the non-left-behind ones, and identify the most significant predictors of loneliness among the left-behind children.

Design/methodology/approach
Incidental sampling was performed to select 629 participants aged 11–16 from 5 schools in the rural areas of Karawang and Lombok in Indonesia. They filled in paper-and-pencil self-report inventories.

Findings
Left-behind children were significantly lonelier than their counterparts were. Emotional loneliness was more affected by parental absence compared to social loneliness. Left-behind children would be more susceptible to experience loneliness if they had more access to entertainment gadgets, experienced less support and intimacy from friends, had been left by their migrant parents more than once, were female, had low self-esteem, experienced emotional difficulties and rarely communicated with their parents.

Research limitations/implications
Qualitative research was needed to provide more elaborative explanation about the findings.

Practical implications
Parents needed to consider the psychological cost and benefit of working abroad to their children. Governments could intervene by limiting the duration and frequency of work among the migrant workers.

Social implications
Some beneficial implications to prevent and reduce loneliness among left-behind children were provided, such as by maintaining the frequency and quality of communication with the children, motivating and guiding the children to interact with their peers and spend less time on entertainment gadgets, as well as encouraging the children to engage in several positive activities to enhance their self-esteem.

Originality/value
This study enriched the understanding about complex relationship between parental presence and adolescents' mental health despite the fact that adolescents seemed to be more interested in relationships with peers.


The mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a kind of dynamic, easy to construct and universal network, which has been widely concerned by a large number of researchers. Graph theory provides an effective theoretical tool for MANETs modeling and analysis. Clustering is one of the most effective methods to measure network performance with different attributes. This paper gives the basic concept of graph kernel and discusses the principle of optimizing graph kernel and multi-graph kernel. In this paper, we propose a Graph Kernel based Clustering Algorithm in MANETs (GKCA). The GKCA algorithm gives the basic concept of graph kernel, discusses the principle of optimizing graph kernel and multi-graph kernel, and proposes the basic principle based on $d$ -hop graph kernel. GKCA algorithm uses shortest path (SP) to connect different cluster head nodes for packet transmission. The performance of GKCA algorithm, such as the control packets ratio, packets loss ratio, and average end-to-end delay are experimentally evaluated using network simulation (NS2) software. Experimental analysis shows that the proposed approach is efficient, and its performance advantage in dynamic mobile networks is promising.


Objective: This study was carried out to determine the awareness and level of knowledge of Human Papillomavirus and its vaccine amongst doctors and their attitude towards vaccination. Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted at Wah Medical College & its affiliated teaching hospital Wah Cantt, Pakistan to recruit doctors only into the study. Amongst the targeted population of 205 subjects, an anonymous, self-administered survey was distributed. The survey was designed to have multiple-choice questions based on literature, assessing awareness and knowledge of Human Papillomavirus & its vaccine and their attitude towards vaccination. Data was analyzed using SPSS software (version 17.0) and chi-square test was used to test differences in awareness and knowledge.Results: Out of a total of 205 doctors who were included in the study, 199 responded resulting in a response rate of 97%. However, 10 surveys were excluded from a study being incomplete or having invalid responses. Surveys from 189 participants were analyzed with a mean age of 31.8±10.3 years and the majority were females (70.9%). Overall awareness of Human Papillomavirus was high amongst doctors (96.2%). 28.6% had never heard of HPV vaccine. Majority of the participants preferred only girls to receive this vaccination while 93.7% expressed their interest to have this vaccination.Conclusion: Imparting knowledge regarding Human Papillomavirus vaccine amongst doctors is a necessary step towards implementing effective prevention programmes and to reduce the burden of cervical cancer in Pakistan.


A two-variable nonlinear mathematical model of V-shape linear ultrasonic motor (LUSM) has been presented. The relations of LUSM speed characteristics and its control variables are nonlinear, which are serious problems for accurate speed control. This paper presents a mathematical model based on Hammerstein model, which is composed of a steady-state nonlinear part and a linear dynamics part. The steady-state nonlinear part is represented by a hyperbolic tangent function, and the linear dynamics part is represented by a first order transfer function. In order to identify the coefficients of the steady-state nonlinear function, Uniform Design was used to design experiment, the nlinfit and polyfit function of Matlab software was used to deal with the experiment results. The comparisons between the estimated speed with using the proposed mathematical model and actual speed in different conditions were conducted. Comparisons results indicate good performance of developed model with respect to the experimental data.


Background Lamina-associated domains (LADs) are large genomic regions that are positioned at the nuclear lamina. It has remained largely unclear what drives the positioning and demarcation of LADs. Because the insulator protein CTCF is enriched at LAD borders, it was postulated that CTCF binding could position some LAD boundaries, possibly through its function in stalling cohesin and hence preventing cohesin invading into the LAD. To test this, we mapped genome–nuclear lamina interactions in mouse embryonic stem cells after rapid depletion of CTCF and other perturbations of cohesin dynamics. Results CTCF and cohesin contribute to a sharp transition in lamina interactions at LAD borders, while LADs are maintained after depletion of these proteins, also at borders marked by CTCF. CTCF and cohesin may thus reinforce LAD borders, but do not position these. CTCF binding sites within LADs are locally detached from the lamina and enriched for accessible DNA and active histone modifications. Remarkably, despite lamina positioning being strongly correlated with genome inactivity, this DNA remains accessible after the local detachment is lost following CTCF depletion. At a chromosomal scale, cohesin depletion and cohesin stabilization by depletion of the unloading factor WAPL quantitatively affect lamina interactions, indicative of perturbed chromosomal positioning in the nucleus. Finally, while H3K27me3 is locally enriched at CTCF-marked LAD borders, we find no evidence for an interplay between CTCF and H3K27me3 on lamina interactions. Conclusions These findings illustrate that CTCF and cohesin are not primary determinants of LAD patterns. Rather, these proteins locally modulate NL interactions.


. The term zone of proximal development (ZPD), based on the writings of Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky, often appears in language learning research conducted within a socioculturaltheoretic (SCT) framework, yet often it is simply invoked or is used in ways that are radically different from the Vygotsky project without any justification. These include linking the ZPD to the concept of scaffolding, and even claiming that that linkage originated with Vygotsky, again without justification. In this paper, I suggest that it is acceptable to make quite radical adaptations to a theoretical framework that is now almost a century old, but that these should be made with respect towards the historical roots of the theoretical framework, that these modifications need to be acknowledged for what they are, and should be given explicit justification. Specifically, I suggest that the spatial metaphor implied by the ZPD should be made explicit and that we should think flexibly about its structure, with a view to manipulating it in order to generate predictions. This is part of a process of reification, an approach favoured by western scholarship whereby abstract processes are reconceived as concrete entities to enable freer manipulation of concepts and the drawing of links to other concepts for theory construction. In addition, I argue that adult additional language development, despite being different in many ways from children's maturation, has enough similarities to justify the appropriation of the ZPD for its description, especially since it is the only available framework that tracks non-latent development.


The Publish-Subscribe (P/S) communication paradigm fosters high decoupling among distributed components. This facilitates the design of dynamic applications, but also impacts negatively on their verification, making it difficult to reason on the overall federation of components. In addition, existing P/S infrastructures offer radically different features to the applications, e.g., in terms of message reliability. This further complicates the verification as its outcome depends on the specific guarantees provided by the underlying P/S system. Although model checking has been proposed as a tool for the verification of P/S architectures, existing solutions overlook many characteristics of the underlying communication infrastructure to avoid state explosion problems. To overcome these limitations, the Loupe domain-specific model checker adopts a different approach. The P/S infrastructure is not modeled on top of a general-purpose model checker. Instead, it is embedded within the checking engine, and the traditional P/S operations become part of the modeling language. In this paper, we describe Loupe's design and the dedicated state abstractions that enable accurate verification without incurring state explosion problems. We also illustrate our use of state-of-the-art software verification tools to assess some key functionality in Loupe's current implementation. A complete case study shows how Loupe eases the verification of P/S architectures. Finally, we quantitatively compare Loupe's performance against alternative approaches. The results indicate that Loupe is effective and efficient in enabling accurate verification of P/S architectures.


The task of this paper is to study and analyse transformed localization and generalized localization for ensemble methods in data assimilation. Localization is an important part of ensemble methods such as the ensemble Kalman filter or square root filter. It guarantees a sufficient number of degrees of freedom when a small number of ensembles or particles, respectively, are used. However, when the observation operators under consideration are non‐local, the localization that is applicable to the problem can be severly limited, with strong effects on the quality of the assimilation step. Here, we study a transformation approach to change non‐local operators to local operators in transformed space, such that localization becomes applicable. We interpret this approach as a generalized localization and study its general algebraic formulation. Examples are provided for a compact integral operator and a non‐local Matrix observation operator to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach and study the quality of the assimilation by transformation. In particular, we apply the approach to temperature profile reconstruction from infrared measurements given by the infrared atmospheric sounding interferometer (IASI) infrared sounder and show that the approach is feasible for this important data type in atmospheric analysis and forecasting. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Objectives Research organisations experience challenges accessing administrative and record level data due to legislative privacy restrictions and ethical considerations. Ensuring that individuals' privacy are preserved while maintaining the utility of data, raises legal, ethical and privacy challenges for researchers conducting epidemiological studies. The Partnership for Work, Health and Safety (Partnership), an innovative Canadian research platform, must operate in a data-rich environment using administrative data such as occupation health data to provide evidence for policy-making that can improve workers health and safety. In order to have access to multijurisdictional data, it operates under an effective data access model that meets legislative, privacy and ethical concerns via our data partner, Population Data BC (PopData). Methods A flexible data access protocol has been developed accommodating a multi-legislative landscape. It is a centralised privacy and security model encompassing the Privacy by Design principles ensuring privacy controls and safeguards are in place to facilitate access to both linked and unlinked data and meet ethical concerns. These protocols meet ISO 27002 requirements for information security. Research data are housed in a Secure Research Environment (SRE) provided by PopData. The SRE is a central server accessible through a firewall only via an encrypted Virtual Private Network (VPN) using a SecurID token for authentication. The SRE provides the Partnership with secure storage and back up of data while generating audit log of all activities of the SRE. Researchers accessing data must complete privacy training and sign confidentiality undertakings. Results A model that offers a comparable level of data protection to all data providers and consistent data protection practices through a secure environment resulting in over 9 Data Sharing Agreements executed to access longitudinal population-based data. Conclusions Data access requires a rigorous "Privacy by Design" data access and infrastructure model and strong partnerships with stakeholders and data providers.


A microarray is a powerful tool for surveying the expression levels of many thousands of genes simultaneously. It belongs to the new genomics technologies which have important applications in the biological, agricultural and pharmaceutical sciences.

In this thesis, we focus on the dual channel cDNA microarray which is one of the most popular microarray technologies and discuss three different topics: optimal experimental design;
estimating the true proportion of true nulls, local false discovery rate (lFDR) and positive false discovery rate (pFDR) and dye effect normalization.

The first topic consists of four subtopics each of which is about an independent and practical problem of cDNA microarray experimental design. In the first subtopic, we propose an optimization strategy which is based on the simulated annealing method to find optimal or near-optimal designs with both biological and technical replicates. In the second subtopic, we discuss how to apply Q-criterion for the factorial design of microarray experiments. In the third subtopic, we suggest an optimal way of pooling samples, which is actually a replication scheme to minimize the variance of the experiment under the constraint of fixing the total cost at a certain level. In the fourth subtopic, we indicate
that the criterion for distant pair design is not proper and propose an alternative criterion instead.

The second topic of this thesis is dye effect normalization. For cDNA microarray technology, each array compares two samples which are usually labelled with different dyes Cy3 and Cy5. It assumes that: for a given gene (spot) on the array, if Cy3-labelled sample has k times as much of a transcript as the Cy5-labelled sample, then the Cy3 signal should be k times as high as the Cy5 signal, and vice versa. This important assumption requires that the dyes
should have the same properties. However, the reality is that the Cy3 and Cy5 dyes have slightly different properties and the relative efficiency of the dyes vary across the intensity range in a "banana-shape" way. In order to remove the dye effect, we propose a novel dye effect normalization method which is based on modeling dye response functions and dye effect curve. Real and simulated microarray data sets are used to evaluate the method. It shows that the performance of the proposed method is satisfactory.

The focus of the third topic is the estimation of the proportion of
true null hypotheses, lFDR and pFDR. In a typical microarray
experiment, a large number of gene expression data could be
measured. In order to find differential expressed genes, these
variables are usually screened by a statistical test simultaneously.
Since it is a case of multiple hypothesis testing, some kind of
adjustment should be made to the p-values resulted from the
statistical test. Lots of multiple testing error rates, such as FDR,
lFDR and pFDR have been proposed to address this issue. A key
related problem is the estimation of the proportion of true null
hypotheses (i.e. non-expressed genes). To model the distribution of
the p-values, we propose three kinds of finite mixture of unknown
number of components (the first component corresponds to
differentially expressed genes and the rest components correspond to
non-differentially expressed ones). We apply a new MCMC method
called allocation sampler to estimate the proportion of true null
(i.e. the mixture weight of the first component). The method also
provides a framework for estimating lFDR and pFDR. Two real
microarray data studies plus a small simulation study are used to
assess our method. We show that the performance of the proposed
method is satisfactory.


Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer, has been approved to be used as bone substitutes. Taking into account the osteoconductivity of hydroxyapatite (HAp) and the osteoinductivity of crude bone protein (CBP), sponge scaffolds of PCL without and with the presence of HAp or CBP-loaded HAp nanoparticles were prepared by solvent casting/particulate leaching techniques. The osteoblastic activity of the PCL, PCL-HAp, and PCL-HAp/CBP sponge scaffolds was investigated in vitro with mouse-calvaria-derived preosteoblastic cells (MC3T3-E1) in terms of attachment, proliferation, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, and mineralization of the cells that were cultured on the scaffolds. The results were compared with those on corresponding electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds and tissue-culture polystyrene plate (TCPS). Although the three types of sponge and nanofibrous scaffolds supported the proliferation and spreading of MC3T3-E1 cells, the PCL-HAp/CBP sponge scaffold produced the highest level of ALP activity and mineralization. Therefore, the obtained PCL-HAp/CBP sponge scaffold has a high potential to be used as a synthetic substitute for bone regeneration.


The lack of transparency in the pricing and operational activities of state trading enterprises (STEs) has caused WTO members to express concern that certain countries' STEs might circumvent Uruguay Round commitments on export subsidies, domestic support, or market access. The purpose of this study is to examine the market structure of the differentiated world malting barley market in which two STEs (the Canadian Wheat Board and Australian Barley Board) maintain jointly a very large share of the export market. In particular, this study focuses on the exclusive procuring and pricing policies used by both STEs to test if these intra-country mechanisms can generate leadership and shift rent from other exporting countries. A conceptual and empirical framework is also provided to test if STEs set their initial payments at optimal levels. Four key results are forthcoming from this research. First, we found strong support that the global malting barley market operates in a quantity setting oligopolistic structure. Second, both STEs and other exporting countries were in Cournot competition, and thus held the potential to exercise rentshifting behavior using their initial payment structures. Third, while some distortionary impacts from the STE prepayment systems were possible, we did not find evidence that it was a tool either STE employed. Empirical results from the precommitment stage show that both STEs did not set their initial payments low enough to maximize their profits. Fourth, It appears that the strong anecdotal and statistical evidence of product differentiation dampened significantly the desire/ability of malting barley STEs to pursue a rentshifting objective.


Introduction: The long-term risks for incident hypercholesterolemia (HC) have not been quantified by sex in AA men and women. Methods: We conducted an individual-level pooled analysis of participants from The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities and The Framingham Offspring Studies with baseline prevalence and follow-up data on HC and lipid-lowering medications. Hypercholesterolemia was defined as a total cholesterol level > 240mg/dL or the use of lipid-lowering medications on ≥2 consecutive examinations. We quantified the long-term risk for HC using competing risk models to assess incidence from age 55 years (y) though 70y to 85y, adjusted for baseline prevalence and competing risks of death. Analyses were stratified by race and sex. Results: There were 11,341 White and 2,828 AA participants (55% and 63% female, respectively) included in the analysis. At an index age of 55y the mean (SD) BMIs in White and AA (men/women) respectively were: 27.8(4.1)/26.9 (5.6) and 28.1(5)/31.3(6.7)Kg/m2. Baseline prevalence rates of HC were not substantially different across race and sex groups. White women had the highest risks for the development of HC, with long-term risks as high has 63% through age 80y. AA men had the lowest risks for hypercholesterolemia through at 70y. Conclusions: The burden of HC is substantial across all race groups, with the highest risks found in white women. Aggressive surveillance and early preventive efforts against HC are needed across all race and sex groups.


Solo exhibition at Ivy Arts Centre, Stag Hill Campus, University of Guildford, 5 - 7 July 2018, alongside the performance, Our Palace of Intestines 2018, the show, Extispicy in the Everyday accompanied the Digesting Ritual research event convened by Adam Alston.

'Extispicy in the Everyday' manifesting as an exhibition at the Ivy Arts Centre at the University of Surrey draws on work from the project to explore the continued fascination with innards and entrails in the human imagination, through sculpture, print, collage/cutouts, video, and collected images as slide show. The ancient practice of extispicy, divination using the entrails was one of the most omnipresent of divination practices across the ancient world. As well as the liver and other organs, the colon or 'palace of the intestines' was also observed. Much of the work in the show centres around such intestinal forms from sacrificed sheep depicted on clay tablets housed in the Louvre in Paris, and the Vorderasiatische Museum in Berlin, fashioned in baked shortbread and gingerbread biscuit dough (Extispicy Biscuits 2016-18), displayed museum-like in a glass cabinet. They are also interpreted through the practice of noticing, collecting and photographing forms in daily life that depict materials which resemble the intestines and guts. A slideshow projecting over one hundred of these images into an arm chair in the space of a dropped shoelace, discarded cabling, a dead snake, or garden hose for example, accompany shelves in another display case of food with labyrinthine spiral forms found in the everyday, -French palmier biscuits, a cinnamon croissant swirl, swiss roll, and liquorice cartwheels.

The exhibition accompanies a live performance, Our Palace of Intestines, in which a sacrificial body, a large raised pie, was interred and cooked in an earth oven fashioned from a hole excavated on the Stag Hill campus of the university. Recalling Medieval coffyns, pies whose pastry containers were not always eaten, the 'body' was 'raised' from its oven/grave/womb, and re-birthed. Following a procession to the Ivy Arts Centre, an extispicy was invoked through exercises, guiding audience-participants to conjure an experience of their own innards, and the cutting into the pie revealing a labyrinthine venison sausage, the convolutions of which were inspected. In a commensal act, audience-participants consumed the pie, ingesting its body, engaging in another form of extispicy or examination through the proximal senses of smell, touch and taste.

Engaging the space of the arts centre with its tables and chairs, works were made to embrace as well as disrupt the space.The Our Palace of Intestines pie was mirrored on one table laid with a linen cloth. Printed with a photographic image of a previous incarnation of the pie in ruin with its actual remains sitting atop the cloth, it is as if we were witnessing the pie being cleaned up or the organisation of fragments discovered in an archeological dig. Image and material references to the hole of the oven where Our Palace of Intestines was cooked were also conveyed to the exhibition space in the form of Hole/oven/grave 2018, a printed table cloth of a black hole in earth, as well as the soil and migrant creatures in Corpse is a Beautiful Thought for the Worms: Stag(e) Hill 2018, a table top sculpture of a pile of earth and salt dough pinched forms, reference Baroque table decorations or mountains of candied fruits at a Renaissance banquet.


One way to improve the accuracy of automatic speech recognition (ASR) is to use discriminative language modeling (DLM), which enhances discrimination by learning where the ASR hypotheses deviate from the uttered sentences. However, DLM requires large amounts of ASR output to train. Instead, we can simulate the output of an ASR system, in which case the training becomes semisupervised. The advantage of using simulated hypotheses is that we can generate as many hypotheses as we want provided that we have enough text material. In typical scenarios, transcribed in-domain data is limited but large amounts of out-of-domain (OOD) data is available. In this study, we investigate how semi-supervised training performs with OOD data. We find out that OOD data can yield improvements comparable to in-domain data.


In this work, a simple method for testing the felting propensity of carded top prepared from chemically treated, short and thick animal hairs, together with the necessary devices has been developed. Similar to the Aachen felting test, external force is applied to the wet sample of the fibres until felting occurs. The felting propensity is then determined from the dimensions of the resulting felted body. The main  difference is that the sample is prevented from disintegration during the procedure that usually occurs, when a standard Aachen test is applied.


A tunable multiwavelength fiber laser with ultra-narrow wavelength spacing and large wavelength number using a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) has been demonstrated. Intensity-dependent transmission induced by nonlinear polarization rotation in the SOA accounts for stable multiwavelength operation with wavelength spacing less than the homogenous broadening linewidth of the SOA. Stable multiwavelength lasing with wavelength spacing as small as 0.08 nm and wavelength number up to 126 is achieved at room temperature. Moreover, wavelength tuning of 20.2 nm is implemented via polarization tuning.