Cationic Steroid Antimicrobials: Applications to Medical Device Coatings, Mechanism of ProOsteogenic Properties, and Potential Synergy with Common Antifungals Brian J. Hilton Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, BYU Master of Science Cationic steroid antimicrobials (CSAs or ceragenins) are a novel class of synthetic, cholic acid-based mimics of endogenous antimicrobial peptides. These small molecule compounds display broad bactericidal activity against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, potent ability against fungal pathogens, and cidal effects against drug resistant and multidrug resistant microbes. Implantable medical devices provide an abiotic surface upon which bacteria and fungi can accumulate—thereby leading to localized or systemic infection. We proposed that CSA antibiotics can be incorporated into medical device surface coatings which can be optimized for the active release or elution of the CSA compounds over time to prevent device-associated infections. This report will discuss the progress of developing and testing coating systems for 3 such devices: cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED), silicone nasal splints, and breast tissue expanders. In the case of CIEDs, an envelope material containing CSA was created using bioresorbable polymers. We found that this envelope elutes CSA antibiotics and kills all surrounding bacteria or fungi in both planktonic and biofilm forms within 1 hour of exposure. We also developed a nasal splint coating which is directly adhered to the surface of the silicone splint. This coating system demonstrated more than 8 days of protective ability (full microbicidal activity to the detection limit) against Candida albicans, and reduced microbial growth of P. aeruginosa, Candida auris, and MRSA for approximately 6 days. Lastly, in the case of tissue expanders, we developed a layered coating which displays fully-reductive antimicrobial activity against MRSA for 8 days with reintroduction of bacteria every 24 hours. Additionally, this work will discuss our investigations into the secondary properties of ceragenin compounds. On the basis of studies which have demonstrated the pro-osteogenic properties of CSA, we probed the mechanism of this effect. We studied the potential effects of ceragenins on the proliferation, differentiation, and migration of bone-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). We have determined the absence of any positive proliferative effects of ceragenins on these cells; however, we have demonstrated the significant migrationpromoting chemoattractant properties of CSA. In the case of CSA-13, we have observed up to a 400% increase in migration compared to the control. Also, we demonstrated that the P2X7 receptor is strongly implicated in the cellular mechanism of this effect. Our studies of the differentiation-promoting properties of CSA on MSCs have been largely inconclusive, but further investigations are proposed in this report. Lastly, this work includes a report on our investigations into the potential synergistic interactions between CSA-131/CSA-44 with amphotericin B or caspofungin, two commonly used antifungal agents.


: Sciadopitys verticillata ( Sv ) produces a white, sticky, latex-like resin with antimicrobial properties. The aims of this research were to evaluate the e ↵ ects of this resin ( Sv resin) on bacterial populations and to determine the impact of its primary volatile components on bioactivity. The impact of sample treatment on chemical composition of Sv resin was analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) coupled with principal component analysis. The presence and concentration of volatiles in lyophilized resin were determined using gas chromatography / mass spectrometry (GC / MS). Changes in bacterial population counts due to treatment with resin or its primary volatile components were monitored. Autoclaving of the samples did not a ↵ ect the FTIR spectra of Sv resin; however, lyophilization altered spectra, mainly in the CH and C = O regions. Three primary bioactive compounds that constituted > 90% of volatiles (1R- ↵ -pinene, tricyclene, and � -pinene) were identified in Sv resin. Autoclaved resin impacted bacterial growth. The resin was stimulatory for some plant and foodborne pathogens ( Pseudomonas fluorescens , P. syringae , and Xanthomonas perforans ) and antimicrobial for others ( Escherichia coli , Bacillus cereus , Agrobacterium tumefaciens , and Erwinia amylovora ). Treatment with either 1R- ↵ -pinene or � -pinene reduced B. cereus population growth less than did autoclaved resin. The complex resin likely contains additional antimicrobial compounds that act synergistically to inhibit bacterial growth. the with 8 32 independently Multivariate analyses of the resin FTIR


Over the past two decades, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) has overcome many operational challenges. These range from minor disruptions, such as power outages, to significant operational changes, including system reconfiguration to handle unique earthquake sequences and the need to handle distributed work during a pandemic. Our ability to overcome crises is built on the development and implementation of a continuity of operations plan, well-designed infrastructure, adaptive software systems, experienced staff, and extensive collaboration. The NEIC does not operate in a vacuum but benefits from contributions of United States and international seismic networks. Similarly, the overall resilience of earthquake monitoring in the United States and around the globe benefits from the NEIC's role as the national center for the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS). Here, we highlight significant adaptations the NEIC has made in the face of crises. We discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, which represents the most significant operational crisis to impact the NEIC. The NEIC has maintained continuous operations during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic by shifting from a fully onsite operations center to a distributed hybrid of onsite and telework staffing. We then discuss cases in which the NEIC has supported regional monitoring in the face of significant crises. In 2018, the NEIC assisted the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory with the Kīlauea volcano eruption by responding to large events, implementing contingency monitoring procedures, and calculating moment magnitudes for the low-frequency caldera collapses. Impacts of a crisis extend beyond the immediate response and often require a significant postevent assessment and a rebuilding phase. After the 2017 Hurricane Maria, the NEIC, the USGS National Strong-Motion Program, and the USGS Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory worked with the Puerto Rico Seismic Network and the Puerto Rico Strong-Motion program to assess, plan, and implement upgrades at sites that experienced storm damage.


Internal communication, labor compensation, and labor environment are the supporting factors in achieving higher labor satisfaction. When internal communication, labor compensation, and labor environment in a company are considered to be good, the rate of job satisfaction will be high so that the goal of a company could be achieved. The objective of this study is to investigate that there is an effect from internal communication, labor compensation, and labor environment toward job satisfaction In PT Kimia Farma Plant Semarang.The type of this study is explanatory research. The hypothesis used is internal communication (x 1 ), labor compensation (x 2 ), and labor environments (x3) have significant effect toward job satisfaction (y). The technique of data collection used questionnaire , interview , and literature study . The amount of respondents is 95 and all populations member could be made as respondents . The techniques of data analysis are validity study , reliability study , simple linear regression analysis and multiple linear regression analysis which is processed by SPSS 17 for Windows. The conclusion of this study is that internal communication the rate is to be good , labor compensation the rate is proper , and labor environment the rate is to be good toward job satisfaction in PT Kimia Farma Plant Semarang. The test result using SPSS showed that internal communication, labor compensation, and labor environments have positive effect high job satisfaction either simultaneously or partially . Suggestion that can be submitted is for the company to improve and increase the workplace condition especially in the production unit so that the employees feel calm and comfortable in the workplace, so as to have loyalty to bring satisfaction in working .


Acousto-optic modulator (AOM)-based pulse shaping permits precise spectrum slicing, which is useful for dense wavelength division multiplexed (DWDM)-based architectures. In essence, this method uses microsecond-duration radio frequency pulses to completely control the spectra of femtosecond laser pulses, hence achieves dramatic temporal data compression. We demonstrated the AOM pulse shaper as the modulator and a CCD camera with 256 pixels as the receiver. The spectrum of a 200 fs Erbium Doped Fiber Laser (EDFL) pulse was dispersed across the AOM's aperture (FWHM was 35 nm) and was then modulated in a conventional pulse shaper. We tested 87 channels with channel-spacing of 0.41 nm using a 518-MHz modulator, and 120 channels with channel-spacing of 0.29 nm using a 148-MHz modulator (in each case a 0.1 nm guard band was used). Starting from the original pulses, this modulation creates time slots of 43 ps and 63.4 ps respectively. The equivalent speed of the transmission will be 2.0 Tb/s and 1.9 Tb/s in a highly multiplexed system. The spectral efficiencies achieved in this experiment were ~46%, approaching the theoretical limit of 50% for On-Off Keying (OOK) modulation. A benchmark image was successfully sent over the test bed.


The primary loop in nuclear power plants (NPPs) consists of piping and pressure vessel, which operate under a high level of pressure and temperature. During the long-term service, these sections need to have their integrity analyzed to check whether they might be prone to degradation, especially when exposed to radiation. In-service codes and standards such as the RSE-M and the ASME Section VIII enclose rules for the analysis of defects in piping systems. Although geometries for pipes are well-known and the fracture analyses methods are all today quite mature, it still takes an amount of time for structural engineers to rebuild models of different defects on piping section and the evaluation results varies with different modelling methods.
 Hence, this paper provides a proof-of-concept tool for fast fracture evaluation, specific to the brittle fracture induced by thermal fatigue and radiation in the primary loop. In this application, the procedure of finite element method (FEM) analysis and fracture-related criteria is well integrated, based on the open-source FEM code code_aster and multi-tool platform SALOME. It automates several steps of primary loop section simulation, including mesh generation, calculation file configuration, post-processing and reporting results.
 Furthermore, the verification and validation tests are built to ensure the robustness and reliability of the software and productivity.


Semi-supervised learning uses large amount of unlabeled data, combined with labeled data, to guide the learning process. This paper introduces a new clustering algorithm with partial supervision based on an adaptive distance. The proposed method furnishes a fuzzy partition and a prototype for each cluster by optimizing a criterion based on an adaptive distance allowing the construction of partitions in ellipsoids format, in addition to spherical shape generated by the Euclidean distance. Experiments with real data sets show the usefulness of the proposed method by comparing with others adaptive and non-adaptive semi-supervised clustering algorithms in a clustering task.


In this paper we study the development of wind power by the electricity market without any usual support scheme which is aimed at subsidizing non mature renewables, with the sole incentive of a significant carbon price. Long term electricity market and investment decisions simulation by system dynamics modelling is used to trace the electricity generation mix evolution over a 20-year period in a pure thermal system. A range of stable carbon price, as a tax could be, is tested in order to determine the value above which wind power development by market forces becomes economically possible. Not only economic competitiveness in terms of cost price, but also profitability against traditional fossil fuel technologies are necessary for a market-driven development of wind power. Results stress that wind power is really profitable for investors only if the carbon price is very significantly higher than the price required for making wind power MWh's cost price competitive with CCGT and coal-fired plants on the simplistic basis of levelized costs. In this context, the market-driven development of wind power seems only possible if there is a strong commitment to climate policy, reflected by the preference for a stable and high carbon price rather than a fuzzy price of an emission trading scheme. Besides, results show that market-driven development of wind power would require a sky-rocketing carbon price if the initial technology mix includes a share of nuclear plants even with a moratorium on new nuclear development.


The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of different feed restrictions on some behavioral traits of broiler chickens by using a graphical technique namely Multidimensional Scaling Technique. Multidimensional Scaling Technique indicated that the behavioral traits varied based on feed restrictions and observation time of the behaviors. Results of Multidimensional Scaling Technique also showed that the birds in NF group were more active than the birds in the AD and FR groups and this case was more obvious for males.


Two prenatal centres in New England, routinely using a screening protocol for fetal Down syndrome that included maternal serum alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP), unconjugated oestriol (uE3), and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) measurements in combination with maternal age, adopted a separate screening protocol for trisomy 18. That protocol identified a pregnancy as being at high risk when AFP, uE3, and hCG measurements all fell at or below specified cut‐offs (0.75, 0.60, and 0.55 multiples of the median, respectively), regardless of maternal age. Among the first 19 491 women screened, 98 (0.5 per cent) were found to have values which placed them in the high‐risk category. Four of these women were subsequently found not to be pregnant. In two others, samples from non‐pregnant individuals were found to have been incorrectly submitted for analysis in place of the samples from the pregnant women. All of the remaining 92 women were counselled and offered amniocentesis and fetal karyotyping. Eighty‐eight (96 per cent) accepted. Karyotypes or birth outcomes were available on all 92 pregnancies. Six cases of trisomy 18 and one case of Turner syndrome were identified by karyotype. One case of trisomy 18 was identified for every 14 unaffected pregnancies offered amniocentesis. In the present prospective study, an estimated 85 per cent of the cases of trisomy 18 were identified. However, given the small number ofcases (six), the 95 per cent confidence interval for the detection rate is broad (40–95 per cent).


This two-volume-set (CCIS 188 and CCIS 189) constitutes the refereed proceedings of the International Conference on Digital Information Processing and Communications, ICDIPC 2011, held in Ostrava, Czech Republic, in July 2011. The 91 revised full papers of both volumes presented together with 4 invited talks were carefully reviewed and selected from 235 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on network security; Web applications; data mining; neural networks; distributed and parallel processing; biometrics technologies; e-learning; information ethics; image processing; information and data management; software engineering; data compression; networks; computer security; hardware and systems; multimedia; ad hoc network; artificial intelligence; signal processing; cloud computing; forensics; security; software and systems; mobile networking; and some miscellaneous topics in digital information and communications.


Background: Intussusception is one of the more common causes of intestinal obstruction in children. The diagnosis may be based mainly on clinical features; however, there are no classic signs and symptoms that are common to all cases. This study reports our experience of diagnosis and operation findings of children with intussusceptions. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective review of intussusceptions in children in a tertiary health facility in a tropical developing country from January to December 2011. Results: Twentyfive out of 41 children (M:F = 2.2:1) admitted with intussusceptions within the period were studied. The median age was 6.0 ± 5.57 months (range 3 months- 7 years). Ultrasonography positively diagnosed intussusceptions in 20 (80%) cases.


The present work is concentrated with the turning of AISI 6061 Aluminium. This paper presents the influence of cutting parameters like cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut on the surface roughness of AISI6061 aluminium during dry turning. A plan of experiments based on Taguchi's technique has been used to acquire the data. An orthogonal array and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) are employed to investigate the cutting characteristics of AISI 6061 Aluminium bars using carbide and TiAlN coated carbide cutting tool. Finally the confirmation tests that have been carried out to compare the predicted values with the experimental values confirm its effectiveness in the analysis of surface roughness.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the leadership roles and practices of the principal in improving school effectiveness. This descriptive study involved the principal , counselor, and 11 teachers from the Tonsley Park Primary School in South Australia. The findings showed that all respondents generally regarded team leader as the most important role, while supervisor was rated as the least important. Of the 20 tasks observed, generally revealed that a principal should work cooperatively with staff to ensure more effective use of their skills. While, the task of a principal in making decisions on staff development programs was not necessarily expected by the practicing teachers. All respondents considered organization coordination as the most important area within which a principal should provide more leadership, while curriculum or instructional improvement and innovation was regarded as the least important


Spectrum trading has been permitted in most of the major wireless markets to facilitate better utilisation of spectrum. The authors have considered a spectrum trading framework in which a wireless service provider (WSP) leases its available channel(s) to another WSP for use at the designated base station (BS) of the latter for short duration. In their model, the agents of WSPs carry out the negotiation on the specifications of the channel usage such as transmission power, antenna height, spectrum band of the channel and price of the channel. In this work, they have modelled the negotiation as a multi-issue bilateral negotiation problem. Initially, they have solved the problem with the help of the Bayesian learning-based negotiation (BLBN) method. Furthermore, they have devised the novel reinforcement learning-based technique namely, reinforcement learning-based negotiation (RLBN) considering the adaptability of the BS to the new channel configuration. Surplus utility and convergence time of the negotiation process are considered as performance indices for the above techniques. The simulation results show that the RLBN outperforms BLBN and static negotiation technique as far as the objective of surplus utility is concerned.


Abstract Accurately estimating abundance is a critical component of monitoring and recovery of rare and elusive species. Spatial capture–recapture (SCR) models are an increasingly popular method for robust estimation of ecological parameters. We provide an analytical framework to assess results from empirical studies to inform SCR sampling design, using both simulated and empirical data from noninvasive genetic sampling of seven boreal caribou populations (Rangifer tarandus caribou), which varied in range size and estimated population density. We use simulated population data with varying levels of clustered distributions to quantify the impact of nonindependence of detections on density estimates, and empirical datasets to explore the influence of varied sampling intensity on the relative bias and precision of density estimates. Simulations revealed that clustered distributions of detections did not significantly impact relative bias or precision of density estimates. The genotyping success rate of our empirical dataset (n = 7,210 samples) was 95.1%, and 1,755 unique individuals were identified. Analysis of the empirical data indicated that reduced sampling intensity had a greater impact on density estimates in smaller ranges. The number of captures and spatial recaptures was strongly correlated with precision, but not absolute relative bias. The best sampling designs did not differ with estimated population density but differed between large and small ranges. We provide an efficient framework implemented in R to estimate the detection parameters required when designing SCR studies. The framework can be used when designing a monitoring program to minimize effort and cost while maximizing effectiveness, which is critical for informing wildlife management and conservation.


Adaptive algorithms require a good estimate of the interference covariance matrix. In situations with limited sample support such an estimate is not available unless there is structure to be exploited. In applications such as radar space-time adaptive processing (STAP) the underlying covariance matrix is structured (e.g., block Toeplitz), and it is possible to exploit this structure to arrive at improved covariance estimates. Several structured covariance estimators have been proposed for this purpose. The efficacy of several of these are analyzed in this paper in the context of a variety of STAP algorithms. The SINR losses resulting from the different methods are compared. An example illustrating the superior performance resulting from a new maximum likelihood algorithm (based upon the expectation-maximization algorithm) is demonstrated using simulation and experimental data.


In coaching there is a lack of research that focuses specifically on progress, despite increasing global debate on what progress means for individuals and societies. This study uses the coach's experience to explore some of the dilemmas and controversies that the coach may face when dealing with the phenomenon of progress. The heuristic inquiry, used metaphors to draw upon the experience of the researcher and ten other coaches from executive, life and community coaching. Three main themes arose; who determines what progress means in the coaching relationship, identifying indicators of progress, and the coach's experience. The findings suggest that the coaching profession has both a duty of care towards its membership and an important role to play in contributing to the global debate on progress. Moreover, indicators of progress are paradoxical in nature and open to misinterpretation by different stakeholders but adopting a new mindset may help increase organisational effectiveness.


The effects of within-sample selection on the outcome of analyses detecting linkage between genetic markers and quantitative traits were studied. It was found that selection by truncation for the trait of interest significantly reduces the differences between marker genotype means thus reducing the power to detect linked quantitative trait loci (QTL). The size of this reduction is a function of proportion selected, the magnitude of the QTL effect, recombination rate between the marker locus and the QTL, and the allele frequency of the QTL. Proportion selected was the most influential of these factors on bias, e.g., for an allele substitution effect of one standard deviation unit, selecting the top 80%, 50% or 20% of the population required 2, 6 or 24 times the number of progeny, respectively, to offset the loss of power caused by this selection. The effect on power was approximately linear with respect to the size of gene effect, almost invariant to recombination rate, and a complex function of QTL allele frequency. It was concluded that experimental samples from animal populations which have been subjected to even minor amounts of selection will be inefficient in yielding information on linkage between markers and loci influencing the quantitative trait under selection.


The importance of financial market development for the economic development and competitiveness of a country is reflected in channelling of capital towards those investments that have the highest returns, thus ensuring liquidity and efficient grouping of enterprises, that is, risk-taking. Efficient risk-taking is primarily reflected in the availability of a large number of sources of funding, which allow enterprises freedom when forming their capital structure. Enterprises that do not have a large number of sources of funding at their disposal have to resort to debt financing when forming their capital structure, which ultimately means excessive financial vulnerability. Financial vulnerability, especially in times of the financial crisis, when fluctuations in the cost of capital are very high, reduces investment, growth and employment in the long-term. Small and medium-sized enterprises in the Croatian underdeveloped financial market must resort to borrowing, as the most readily available source of funding. Analysing the process of decision-making about capital structure on a sample of 108 small and medium-sized enterprises, it was observed that enterprises whose capital structure is less dependent on debt achieve better financial results and growth. The process of making financial decisions in those companies is in the hands of owners and/or managers and consultants with knowledge about the advantages and disadvantages of individual sources of funding. Financial knowledge is one of the most important determinants of the capital structure that will enable the growth and development of the small and medium-sized enterprise sector, as well as greater competitiveness of enterprises, regardless of size, activity, industry and the form of ownership of these enterprises. T-test and Levene's test of equality of variances were used to investigate the relationship between the profitability of enterprises and their financial literacy. Keywords : Financial knowledge, capital structure, small and medium-sized enterprises, financial market, competitiveness


The volcanic region of Mt. Etna (Sicily, Italy) represents a perfect lab for testing innovative approaches to seismic hazard assessment. This is largely due to the long record of historical and recent observations of seismic and tectonic phenomena, the high quality of various geophysical monitoring and particularly the rapid geodynamics clearly demonstrate some seismotectonic processes. We present here the model components and the procedures adopted for defining seismic sources to be used in a new generation of probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA), the first results and maps of which are presented in a companion paper, Peruzza et al. (2017). The sources include, with increasing complexity, seismic zones, individual faults and gridded point sources that are obtained by integrating geological field data with long and short earthquake datasets (the historical macroseismic catalogue, which covers about 3 centuries, and a highquality instrumental location database for the last decades). The analysis of the frequency–magnitude distribution identifies two main fault systems within the volcanic complex featuring different seismic rates that are controlled essentially by volcano-tectonic processes. We discuss the variability of the mean occurrence times of major earthquakes along the main Etnean faults by using an historical approach and a purely geologic method. We derive a magnitude–size scaling relationship specifically for this volcanic area, which has been implemented into a recently developed software tool – FiSH (Pace et al., 2016) – that we use to calculate the characteristic magnitudes and the related mean recurrence times expected for each fault. Results suggest that for the Mt. Etna area, the traditional assumptions of uniform and Poissonian seismicity can be relaxed; a time-dependent fault-based modeling, joined with a 3-D imaging of volcano-tectonic sources depicted by the recent instrumental seismicity, can therefore be implemented in PSHA maps. They can be relevant for the retrofitting of the existing building stock and for driving risk reduction interventions. These analyses do not account for regionalM > 6 seismogenic sources which dominate the hazard over long return times (≥ 500 years).


A microwave imaging (MWI) methodology for early diagnosis of breast cancer is presented. Instead of generating a tomographic image of the breast, the proposed technique aims to reconstruct a map of malignant tumours inside the breast by adopting an extended form of factorization method. The implementation of factorization method requires (i) two multi-static scattered field measurements around the breast, which correspond to two different states of the breast, and (ii) the inhomogeneous Green's function associated to the breast. For this purpose, the paper proposes the use of contrast agents, which selectively increase the dielectric properties of the malign tissues. Two multi-static field measurements are collected before and after the administration of contrast agents. Later, the inhomogeneous Green's function of the breast is estimated by back-propagating the scattered field measurements, which are taken before the contrast agent usage. The feasibility and efficiency of the proposed technique are demonstrated with numerical examples that are performed on a slice of the realistic breast phantoms, which are derived from real three dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (3D-MRI) measurements.


ABSTRACT On the edge of Stirling Gardens in central Perth, Western Australia, five large, old-fashioned pen nibs stand in a curved line, their tips in the ground. Anne Neil's sculpture, Memory Markers, commemorates the history of this site, which includes the Supreme Court. Taking this sculpture as an emblem of writing, which in the context of its setting highlights the relationship between literature and law, this article explores the image of the pen in the ground. As a symbol of literacy, it evokes the powerful network of discourses—particularly law, science and religion—that underwrote the imperial project. It signals, in Michele Grossman's terms, "the event of literacy [that] radically interrupts and disrupts—but never eliminates—pre-existing Aboriginal epistemologies". The article goes on to explore the sculpture as a symbol of the assertion of jurisdiction, the speaking of law in and over colonised space. It analyses a group of written texts associated with this site, from colonial legal assertions of jurisdiction over Aboriginal people in Edward Landor's The Bushman (1847), through a proclamation under the Aborigines Act 1905 (WA), to Stephen Kinnane's Indigenous family memoir of life under that act, Shadow Lines (2004).


We tackle a novel few-shot learning challenge, which we call few-shot semantic edge detection, aiming to localize crisp boundaries of novel categories using only a few labeled samples. We also present a Class-Agnostic Few-shot Edge detection Network (CAFENet) based on meta-learning strategy. CAFENet employs a semantic segmentation module in small-scale to compensate for lack of semantic information in edge labels. The predicted segmentation mask is used to generate an attention map to highlight the target object region, and make the decoder module concentrate on that region. We also propose a new regularization method based on multi-split matching. In meta-training, the metric-learning problem with high-dimensional vectors are divided into small subproblems with low-dimensional sub-vectors. Since there is no existing dataset for few-shot semantic edge detection, we construct two new datasets, FSE-1000 and SBD-$5^i$, and evaluate the performance of the proposed CAFENet on them. Extensive simulation results confirm the performance merits of the techniques adopted in CAFENet.


The future of work offers a heady mixture of excitement and promise as new ways of working become embedded in the economy, along with the worry of how and if each of us can make our way in a rapidly changing work landscape. The messages are many – "hundreds of jobs to go", "automation making workers redundant", "most of 2030's jobs aren't even thought of yet". Making sense of these competing messages is difficult, and nbn has commissioned this report as a way of cutting through the complexity, and clarifying what to do to give our kids the best foundation for success in the future labour market. This report identifies three key points needed for our kids to be successful in the future job market: • The in-demand jobs will be mixing high tech, personal contact ('touch') and care activities; • Kids will need a mix of both nerdy digital and soft personal skills for success in the 2030 job market; and • Future jobs will be flexible, entrepreneurial and dynamic.


This paper describes the study about Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) in indoor environments, implementing a WSN (Wireless Sensor Network) based on Zigbee technology. Automatic Meter Reading is used for remote collection of the utilities data. And these utilities may means electricity, gas, water consumption data or any other. Our concentration will be on Electricity power monitoring system which can monitor power quality, can remotely control power service which will enable prepaid billing.


Summary Research on the effect of dietary ethanol by-products on beef quality has been limited. Some Universities have reported a decrease in marbling due to distillers grains inclusion, while others have not. It is unclear why marbling deposition may be decreased when increasing amounts of distillers grains are fed; however, decreased starch availability, increased vitamin A and D, and the high oil content in ethanol by-products may contribute. In contrast, distillers grains can increase unsaturated fatty acid content of beef, thus increasing healthfulness. Our objective was to measure the effect of wet distillers grains (0, 20, or 40 % of the diet) on growth, feed intake, and marbling deposition and to determine what may be responsible for decreased marbling. Average daily gain and feed intake did not differ between wet distillers grains treatments, but cattle fed distillers grains were more efficient. Marbling score decreased in high-concentrate-fed steers as WDG concentration was increased, but increased in high-forage-fed steers from the 0 to 20% WDG inclusion rate and then decreased from the 20 to 40% WDG inclusion rate. Backfat thickness decreased in high-concentrate-fed steers as WDG concentration increased but increased in high-forage-fed steers from the 0 to 20% WDG inclusion rate and then decreased from the 20 to 40% WDG inclusion rate. Cattle fed distillers grains had lower plasma total vitamin A and plasma vitamin D. Retinol, however, was positively related to marbling and vitamin D was negatively related to marbling. Polyunsaturated fatty acids, which can enhance the healthfulness of beef, were increased by feeding wet distillers grains, but were related to decreased marbling.


Thermotoga maritima invertase (beta-fructosidase), a member of the glycoside hydrolase family GH-32, readily releases beta-D-fructose from sucrose, raffinose and fructan polymers such as inulin. These carbohydrates represent major carbon and energy sources for prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The invertase cleaves beta-fructopyranosidic linkages by a double-displacement mechanism, which involves a nucleophilic aspartate and a catalytic glutamic acid acting as a general acid/base. The three-dimensional structure of invertase shows a bimodular enzyme with a five bladed beta-propeller catalytic domain linked to a beta-sandwich of unknown function. In the present study we report the crystal structure of the inactivated invertase in interaction with the natural substrate molecule alpha-D-galactopyranosyl-(1,6)-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-beta-D-fructofuranoside (raffinose) at 1.87 A (1 A=0.1 nm) resolution. The structural analysis of the complex reveals the presence of three binding-subsites, which explains why T. maritima invertase exhibits a higher affinity for raffinose than sucrose, but a lower catalytic efficiency with raffinose as substrate than with sucrose.


Respiratory responses to different movements and postures become stabilized according to the respiratory-energy demands of the optimal way for task solution. Passive pedalling entails diminishing of electrical activity, the respiratory reactions at that being significantly higher than at resting but lower as compared to active work. With no circumstantial (sporting) stimuli, the increase of respiratory responses to muscular relaxation in the course of pedalling was as significant as the cardiac outflow volume. Maximal and minimal values of the blood pressure did not change. The circumstantial conditioned stimuli enhanced the respiratory responces both at resting and during passive pedalling.


BACKGROUND: Restroom access legislation provides individuals with inflammatory bowel disease emergency access to retail store employee bathrooms. Stores in jurisdictions that do not have this legislation may inconsistently allow use of restrooms. A variety of reasons have been reported for not permitting bathroom use, including concerns related to property loss, safety, potential for abuse and hygiene. However, it is unclear if retail store managers who deny access are able to offer options to individuals in need of a bathroom. This study surveyed retail store managers who are unable to offer the use of an employee bathroom about the options that are given to individuals with medical needs. METHODS: Managers of Washington, DC retail stores with employee bathrooms who were unable to offer bathroom access were surveyed about the options that are given to individuals with medical needs. Stores within 1 mile of a university medical center were included. There were no exclusion criteria. None of the stores were in a mall what offered a public bathroom. The store type, manager gender and options offered were obtained. Statistical analysis was performed using Fisher Exact test. The study was approved by the university institutional review board. RESULTS: The managers of the 31 stores with only an employee bathroom were surveyed. Seven managers (23%; 3 male, 4 female) would provide emergency access to employee restrooms. Twenty-four managers (77%; 13 male, 11 female) indicated that they could not provide emergency access to employee restrooms. There was no significant difference (P = 0.6851) in the rate that male and female managers offered restroom access. Only 11 of 24 managers (46%; 5 male, 6 female) who were unable to allow bathroom access indicated that they offered options to requesting individuals. Nine managers referred individuals to restaurants for bathroom access, 1 suggested the use of the bathroom in a neighboring retail store and 1 indicated that emergency personnel ("911") would be contacted. There is no significant difference (P = 0.7247) in the rate that male and female managers offered options for individuals with medical needs. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with inflammatory bowel disease and other medical illnesses may periodically require emergency bathroom access. Legislation has been passed which allows for individuals with medical concerns access to employee bathrooms in retail stores. Washington, DC does not have restroom access legislation and is bordered by a state that has passed and a state that did not pass laws permitting restroom access. The majority of the retail store managers who were surveyed were unable to provide bathroom access. However only a limited number of these managers were able to offer options to individuals expressing a medical need that required restroom access. Managers offering bathroom options most commonly suggested use of neighboring restaurants. Enhanced awareness of the needs of individuals with inflammatory bowel disease may encourage managers to allow emergency bathroom use or offer options for those with urgent medical concerns.


We develop a new class of chaotic inflation models with spontaneously broken conformal invariance. Observational consequences of a broad class of such models are stable with respect to strong deformations of the scalar potential. This universality is a critical phenomenon near the point of enhanced symmetry, SO(1,1), in case of conformal inflation. It appears because of the exponential stretching of the moduli space and the resulting exponential flattening of scalar potentials upon switching from the Jordan frame to the Einstein frame in this class of models. This result resembles stretching and flattening of inhomogeneities during inflationary expansion. It has a simple interpretation in terms of velocity versus rapidity near the Kahler cone in the moduli space, similar to the light cone of special theory of relativity. This effect makes inflation possible even in the models with very steep potentials. We describe conformal and superconformal versions of this cosmological attractor mechanism.


This paper aims to give a presentation of the PhD defended by Boulid Youssef on December 26th, 2016 at University Ibn Tofail, entitled "Arabic handwritten recognition in an offline mode". The adopted approach is realized under the multi agent paradigm. The dissertation was held in Faculty of Science Kenitra in a publicly open presentation. After the presentation, Boulid was awarded with the highest grade (Tres honorable avec felicitations de jury).


Objective
To know how managers of public and private companies view lactation support rooms and their implantation.

Method
This is study is based on qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive research. Twenty managers from Greater Florianópolis participated in the research, in 2015. Data were collected by means of semi-structured/projective interviews, and subjected to content analysis associated with Atlas.ti software.

Results
Data analysis led to the following two categories: difficulties and facilities of establishing a lactation room, with a predominance of financial difficulties and the lack of physical space. Dialectically, the subjects also recognised the low cost involved, which facilitates establishment.

Conclusion
Financial, cultural, and political aspects make it difficult to set up lactation rooms, but the importance of this measure was acknowledged. Although the success of breastfeeding partly depends on these support rooms, it also requires multiple actions, especially the effective participation of nurses and other health workers.


Effective management of the national educational system is a strategically important direction for further development of the entire state [1]. Management of educational processes is the most difficult direction in the theory and practice of management because of their multiplicity and formalization [2]. In connection with the reorganization of the Russian educational system, large educational complexes (LEC) have appeared [3], which are a new structural unit in the national education system. The object of this article is the system connections and processes of functioning of a large educational complex. The subject of the research is algorithms, methods and models of rating evaluation of LEC activities for managing its effectiveness. The practical significance of the work is as follows: – new criteria for evaluating the quality of education in LEC — individual educational programs of students are proposed; – an information model of rating evaluation of the LEC activity based on the method of integral assessment of the quality of education is proposed, which allows for reliable ranking of themain indicators not by expert means, but by calculating the value of its entropy; – the project of an information system for forming the LEC rating is proposed, which allows the management bodies to monitor the effectiveness of the educational system, carry out operational, tactical and strategic planning, and apply control actions in a timely manner to improve the efficiency of the main activity; – a neural network model is proposed for selecting the control effect on the LEC. Practical use. The obtained scientific results are of applied nature, and their application is confirmed by the results of work in Management of education of administration of Sosnovsky municipal district of the Chelyabinsk region in public-professional Association — on the Board of Directors of the educational organizations of the city of Moscow No. 10 and GBOU School No. 1389.


Most patients with primary headache disorders identify environmental stimuli (e.g., visual glare), situational factors (e.g., stress), physiological states (e.g., hormones), or activities (e.g., exercise) as triggers that elicit or worsen headache episodes. Headache triggers have not been previously studied in post-traumatic headache (PTH). The present study explored the frequency of headache triggers and their avoidance in PTH. Participants with mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) were recruited from outpatient specialty clinics and completed questionnaires at or soon after their initial clinic visit. The research assessment included a list of 12 possible headache triggers where participants were asked to rate sensitivity (how often they get a headache when exposed to the trigger) and avoidance (how often they try to avoid the trigger). Enrolled participants were 40.6 years old (standard deviation [SD] = 11.8 years) on average, predominantly female (69.8%) and Caucasian (69.8%), and injured in a motor vehicle crash (47.2%) or fall (20.8%). They were assessed at 9.4 weeks (SD = 6.8) post-injury. Most patients with mild TBI in this consecutive series (82.7%) reported ongoing headaches. Mental exertion, stress, and lack of sleep were rated as the most potent headache triggers and among the most frequently avoided. Odors or foods, hunger, and weather conditions were rated as the least potent triggers. Headache trigger sensitivity and avoidance were moderately correlated (r = 0.736, p < 0.001). Headache severity was more associated with trigger sensitivity [F(2,49) = 13.45, p < 0.001] than trigger avoidance [F(2,47) = 2.97, p = 0.062]. In summary, the pattern of headache triggers in persistent PTH after mild TBI appears somewhat different from that in primary headache disorders, with mental exertion emerging as uniquely important. Pervasive avoidance of mental exertion to prevent headaches (cogniphobia) might be a worthwhile behavioral intervention target after mild TBI.


This paper uses high frequency data on the near universe of job adverts posted online in the UK to study the impact of the Brexit referendum on labour demand between January 2015 and December 2019. We develop measures of local labour market exposure to the threat of trade barriers on both goods and services exports if the UK were to leave the EU without a trade deal. We find that regions that were more exposed to potential barriers on professional services exports saw a differential decline in online job adverts in the period after the referendum, particularly for higher skilled jobs. This effect was distinct from the impact of the exchange rate depreciation, uncertainty surrounding future immigration policy and the threat of future barriers on trade in goods.


This study analyses the everyday practices and the multiplicious identification processes in Amazigh mineral and fossil artisan communities, focusing on the Ayt Khebbash group in Rissani and Tafraoute of southeastern Morocco. I address the following questions: how do the Ayt Khebbash artisans identify themselves and others through everyday work and participation in different communities? What is their relation to the space that surrounds them? How do they deal with the discourse power of the state and the penetrating influences of capitalism? I argue that in the context of the Tafilalet, the collective Amazigh ethnic identity promoted by the activists holds little importance compared to a tribal sense of belonging based on agnatic ties. Also, the local Ayt Khebbash artisans see themselves contextually through social interactions in everyday work and in relation to external power structures.

This dissertation consists of an introduction, four main chapters, and a conclusion. The division of the main content of this study into four chapters is in accordance with the geography of the region: Tafilalet (Ar-Rachidia Province), the village Tafraoute, the town Rissani, and reḥla ('open space'). I examine the development of fossil ex¬traction and sculpting work in Tafraoute and Rissani in the context of environmental factors and the local history of French colonial rule, so as to situate the practice of Ayt Khebbash men in the historical process of herding, agriculture and mining work. Then I analyse the apprenticeship of fossil artisans as a process of participation in social practice, by using the notion of 'legitimate peripheral participation' within the 'communities of practice' developed by Lave and Wenger (Lave and Wenger 1991; Wenger 1998). This is to demonstrate that work is a social practice wherein acting agents acquire new knowledge, techniques, and lifestyles, in the multiple processes of confrontations and contradictions. Furthermore, through an analysis of the Ayt Kheb¬bash artisans' work experiences in Nador and barite mining, I argue that their identifi¬cation processes also involve 'marginality', 'dis-identification', and 'non-participation' (Hodges 1998). Contrary to Lave and Wenger's model (1991; 1998), 'participation' was an experience in constant conflict with their historically situated self within the new socio-economic frameworks, which in the case of the Ayt Khebbash artisans induced sympathy for their own tribal identities, rather than assimilation to the structural conditions of the capitalist labour market. I conclude that the Ayt Khebbash artisans counteract the effect of globalisation in their own terms with their own initiatives, by constantly imagining, reinventing and reconstructing their spatial and tribal senses of belonging.


This paper investigates whether the managers of industry rivals act to mitigate their agency exposure and improve operating performance when one of the firms in the industry is subject to a takeover attempt. The results indicate that rival firms in general decrease free cash flows, improve operating performance, reduce capital expenditures and increase leverage in response to a control threat within the industry. In particular, rival firms with potentially higher agency costs i.e. fewer investment opportunities and high cash or high free cash flows exhibit a higher reduction in cash levels and free cash flows subsequent to a control threat in their industry. These results are consistent with the inefficient management hypothesis, which suggests poorly performing firms are more likely to be the target of a takeover attempt and the acquisition probability hypothesis proposed by Song and Walkling (2000), which states that rivals of initial targets earn abnormal returns because of an increased probability that they themselves will be targets. These results lend support to the argument that takeovers act as an effective external control mechanism for managers and that they have industry wide effects.


Insulation failure within the windings of a power transformer arises due to over voltages, under voltages, notches, glitches, etc. A widely used technique to detect these power transformer insulation failures during an impulse test is the comparison of neutral current waveforms. Any shift in the recorded waveforms between reduced and full voltage confirms the existence of a fault in the windings. Hence, a proper analysis of neutral current waveforms is necessary to assess the condition of the insulation of power transformer winding. In order to carry out a wave shape analysis, a 61 MVA, 11.5/230 kV generator transformer is used and faults are created in the disks of high-voltage windings at specific locations. Neutral currents are recorded by applying a 100 V, low-voltage impulse. Noise inherent in the neutral current during recordings is isolated using a biorthogonal wavelet and the denoised signals are analyzed using the Shannon wavelet for identification of a fault in the winding.


Objective: The objective was to assess the amount of vitamin D3 stored in adipose tissue after long-term supplementation with high dose vitamin D3. Design: A cross-sectional study on 29 subjects with impaired glucose tolerance who had participated in a randomized controlled trial with vitamin D3 20 000 IU (500 mg) per week vs placebo for 3–5 years. Methods: Abdominal subcutaneous fat tissue was obtained by needle biopsy for the measurements of vitamin D3 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3). Body fat was measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and serum 25(OH)D3 level was quantified. Results: In the subjects given vitamin D3, the median concentrations of serum 25(OH)D3, fat vitamin D3, and fat 25(OH)D3 were 99 nmol/l, 209 ng/g, and 3.8 ng/g, respectively; and correspondingly in the placebo group 62 nmol/l, 32 ng/g, and 2.5 ng/g. If assuming an equal amount of vitamin D3 stored in all adipose tissue in the body, the median body store was 6.6 mg vitamin D3 and 0.12 mg 25(OH)D3 in those given vitamin D3. Conclusions: Subcutaneous adipose tissue may store large amounts of vitamin D3. The clinical importance of this storage needs to be determined.


While a great deal of attention has been g-i ven to synthetic textile fibers, no single comprehensive treatise is available on man-made textile fibers from naturally occurring polymers. This hook is intended to fill this important gap in the textile literature. After a brief historical introduction of man-made fibers, the author divides his book into four parts: regenerated cellulose fibers, cellulose ester fibers, regenerated protein fibers, and miscellaneous natural polymer fibers. The viscose rayons, ohviously, are given a greit deal of attention and the many new deve10pments in this type of fiber are considered. Highwet-modBllus and cross-linked rayons, as well as the high-tenacity rayons, are fully characterized and discussed. The process of cuprammonium manufacture tis described and the properties are shown. The two major cellulose ester fibers, cellulose acetate and cellulose triacetate. are discussed in detail. Casein, ardil. and zein fillers are used to represent the regenerated protein fibers. The alg-inate fibers and rubber yarns and filers comprise the last part of this book. The manufacture of each fiber is discussed, and frequently a flowsheet of the process is included. The chemical, physical, and mechanical properties of each , fiber are presented in tabular form, and the applications in apparel and industrial areas are discussed. Each chapter has its own list of references where the patent literature is included. :Bn appendix lists the manufacturers of this class of man-made fibers. It is felt that this book is a worthwhile addition to the fiber science literature.


The research reported in this article was on "Factors affecting employee performance: A mediation analysis". The study aims to examine the mediating role of job crafting in the Public universities. This research sheds light on the significance of job crafting with reference to negative emotions and diverse workforce and psychological aspects in regard to employee performance. The study aims to explore the determinants of employee performance of the workers in Public universities. Secondary data was collected with the help of prior research and literature from internet and libraries. This primary data was accumulated by distributing questionnaires and to analyzed data SPSS was used. This data was accumulated from 200 faculty members working in public universities of Lahore. In This current research it uses an empirical approach to test the hypotheses model and this research is quantitative and descriptive in nature. Data was collected thorough cross sectional design and questionnaire on variables. The SPSS 21 and Process Hayes is used for examine the data.


Improvements in the use of attenuated total reflection (ATR) Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) dichroism for measuring surface orientation in polymer films are described, with poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) as an example material. It is shown that normalizing band intensities relative to a nondichroic band, prior to calculating dichroic ratios, eliminates the need to maintain identical contact areas/pressures when removing, rotating, and reclamping samples to the ATR element, which has been a major historical drawback to this technique. The normalization is vital; it makes the calculated dichroic ratios largely insensitive to variations in sample/prism contact area, and less sensitive to uncertainties in the refractive indices and birefringence of the polymer. For PET, it is shown that the birefringence can be neglected in the analysis, and a single approximate refractive index used. This is a significant benefit since the birefringence will vary as a function of orientation and crystallinity. Polymers that are much more birefringent than PET can also be analyzed by using the formalism described in this paper, provided that the three independent indices are known. This paper is presented in two parts; first, equations are derived which allow the calculation of all second-order orientation parameters (P200, P220, P202, and P222), and the averaged squared direction cosines, from the normalized ATR dichroic ratios. Second, we show how a single-reflection diamond ATR unit is an ideal tool for this work, since it allows small, hard, or irregularly shaped samples to be examined without fear of damaging the ATR element. We illustrate the technique using data obtained from a series of uniaxially drawn films, and one biaxially drawn film, using a commercially available accessory. From these data, orientation parameters were calculated as a function of draw ratio and compared with those obtained from specular-reflectance FT-IR and birefringence analysis of the same samples. The method should be applicable to any polymer provided that (1) a suitable nondichroic band is available for normalization and (2) the largest polymer refractive index lies well below that of the ATR element (2.4 in the case of diamond). It must be realized that condition 1 is not trivial; careful investigation is required to identify truly nondichroic bands (if any exist for the polymer of interest).


Seven brands of ciprofloxacin (One multinational and six local) were evaluated in terms of their bioavailability and efficacy. Pharmaceutical Parameters like weight variation, hardness, disintegration, dissolution and content assay were determined. Antibacterial susceptibility assay was performed on standard Strain of Salmonella typhi (ATCC 14028). MIC and ZOI were assessed. The results of the study indicated that three local brands had content less than the stated claim of USP and one brand did not pass the disintegration and dissolution tests, so they cannot be used as therapeutic alternatives. Antibacterial assay showed less MIC value of the brands having greater drug content while drug with lesser amount had greater MIC value. Similarly, one local brand showed greater zone of inhibition (ZOI) as compared to multinational brand having more price than the local brand.


With students such as Hippocrates, Galen, Paracelsus, Sydenham, Herberden, Harvey, Cheyne, Boerhaave and Paŕe, the history of "The Gout" (L. gutta-drop), more than any other disorder, parallels the history of Western medicine. It also played important parts in modifying American and European culture and history. Such was the fear and honor it commanded in the last 3,000 years, that over a score of saints and holy men are credited with its cure. Long stated to be a disease of the upper class, at one time, it was considered so stylish that it was said that the only thing worse than having it was to be cured.


Introduction There is still uncertainty about the role of faecal calprotectin (FCAL) as a marker of mucosal healing in inflammatory bowel diseases. Available studies have provided evidence on the prognostic role of FCAL in predicting relapses during a short period of time but there is a lack of data on associating FCAL levels over time to hard clinical endpoints. In this study we test the hypothesis that FCAL monitoring identifies Crohn's disease (CD) patients with persistent intestinal inflammation requiring surgery. Method From a large IBD cohort of patients currently under follow up at King's College Hospital, we identified all the CD patients who were diagnosed locally and had serial FCAL in the context of their routine care (at routine appointments and during flare-ups). Utilising prospectively kept electronic patient records we identified 20 patients, meeting these monitoring criteria, who required a bowel resection for CD≥12 months after diagnosis (cases) and matched them in a 1:2 ratio with controls based on disease duration. Flares were identified based on the physician assessment and endoscopic or radiological findings. Continuous variables are summarised as medians followed by interquartile range. The Fisher exact test was used to compare categorical variables, the Mann-Whitney test for continuous variables and the ROC curve for diagnostic analysis. Results Median time to surgery was 9.5 years (8, 11) [control group follow up: 8 (7, 10), p=0.28]. Right hemicolectomy was the commonest procedure (14, 70%) followed by panproctocolectomy (2, 10%), small bowel resection (2, 10%) and stricturoplasty (2, 10%). The two groups did not differ in clinical characteristics or time to initiation of a biologic or immunosuppressants. Flares and hospitalisations were more common in the cases group [ 20 (100%) vs. 23 (56%), p=0.0005 and 19 (95%) vs. 19 (48%) p=0.0002, respectively]. At the time of diagnosis, there was a numerical difference in median FCAL between groups [cases: 652 ug/g (168, 1020) vs. controls: 304 ug/g (120, 750), p=0.2]. One year after the diagnosis the median FCAL (FCAL1) was higher in the cases group [ 549 ug/g (152, 1115) vs. 68 ug/g (26, 184), p=<0.001]. The area under the curve for FCAL1 to predict surgery was 0.83, 95% CI(0.73, 0.95) while a cut off at 600 ug/g provided the highest likelihood ratio [18 (15, 69)]. FCAL levels during monitoring were higher in the cases group (calculated as area under the curve/time: 418 ug/g (184, 647) vs. 161 ug/g (51, 347), p=0.018]. Conclusion FCAL is a marker of mucosal healing in CD. Frequent monitoring identifies patients with clinically meaningful levels of intestinal inflammation associated with flares, hospitalisations and surgery. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


The present work includes studying the kinetics of the adsorption of two sugars (maltose and glucose) on activated carbon (GAC) and comparison between them. These sugars are used as draw solution in the forward osmosis process in MOD-SET system (manipulated osmosis desalination system, MOD combined with solute exchange technique, SET). In this work, batch experiment in a stirred tank was carried out to study kinetics adsorption. The experiment was carried out using HPLC to determine the concentrations of sucrose and maltose before and after adsorption. The kinetic models used are pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, intraparticle diffusion and mass transfer model. The findings indicates that sucrose and maltose sorption onto GAC are both well represented by the pseudo second order model


Biological image processing and analysis are concerned with enhancing and quantifying features that reflect different pathological states, based on the use of combinations of image processing algorithms. The integration of image processing and analysis techniques to evaluate and assess skin integrity in both human and mouse models is a major theme in this thesis. More specifically, this thesis describes computational systems for high-throughput analysis of skin tissue section images and non-invasive imaging techniques. As the skin is a largest organ in the mammalian body, and is complex in structure, manual quantification and analysis a hard task for the observer to determine an objective result, and furthermore, the analysis is complex in terms of accuracy and time taken.
To look at the gross morphology of the skin, I developed high throughput analysis based on an adaptive active contour model to isolate the skin layers and provide quantification methods. This was utilised in a study to evaluate cutaneous morphology in 475 knockout mouse lines provided by the Mouse Genetics Project (MGP) pipeline, that was generated by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (WTSI). This is a major international initiative to provide both functional annotation of the mammalian genome and insight into the genetic basis of disease. I found 53 interesting adipocyte phenotypes, 18 interesting dermal phenotypes and 3 interesting epidermal phenotypes.
I also focussed on the analysis of collagen in the dermis of skin images in several ways. For collagen structure analysis, I developed a combined system of Gabor filtering and Fast Fourier Transform FFT. This analysis allowed the detection of subtle changes in collagen organisation. Using similar images, I also measured collagen bundle thickness by computing the maximum frequency of the FFT power spectrum. To assess collagen dynamics, I developed k-means clustering for segmentation based on colour distribution. The use of this approach allowed the measurement of dermal degradation with age and disease, which was not possible by existing means.
Obtaining human skin material to facilitate the drug discovery and development process is not an easy task. The manipulation, monitoring and cost of human subjects makes the use of mouse models more suitable for high-throughput screening. Therefore, I have evaluated skin integrity from mouse tissue rather than human skin, however, mouse skin is thinner than human skin and many morphological features are easier to visualise in human skin, which has implications for analysis.
Skin moulds can be used to create an impression of the skin surface. Changes in texture of skin can reflect skin conditions. I developed a skin surface structure analysis system to measure the degree of change in texture of the human skin surface. The alterations detected in texture parameters in skin mould impressions reflected changes caused by sun exposure, ageing and many other clinical parameters. I compared my analysis with the existing Beagley-Gibson scoring system to find correlations between automated and manual analysis to inform a decision on the use of optimal methods. By removing subjectivity of manual methods, I was able to develop a robust system to evaluate, for example, damage resulting from UV exposure.
My experimental analysis indicated that techniques developed in this thesis were able to analyse both histological samples and skin surface images in high-throughput experiments. They could, therefore, make a contribution to biological image analysis by providing accurate results to help clinical decision making, and facilitate biological laboratory experiments to improve the quality of research in this field, and save time.
Overall, my thesis demonstrated that accurate analysis of the skin to gain meaningful biological information requires an automated system that can achieve feature extraction, quantification, analysis and decision making to find interesting phenotypes and abnormalities. This will help the evaluation of the effects of a specific treatment, and answer many biological questions in fields of cosmetic dermatology and drug discovery, and improve our understanding of the genetic basis of disease.


A model describing the primary relations between the cardiac muscle and coronary circulation might be useful for interpreting coronary hemodynamics in case multiple types of coronary circulatory disease are present. The main contribution of the present study is the coupling of a microstructure-based heart contraction model with a 1D wave propagation model. The 1D representation of the vessels enables patient-specific modeling of the arteries and/or can serve as boundary conditions for detailed 3D models, while the heart model enables the simulation of cardiac disease, with physiology-based parameter changes. Here, the different components of the model are explained and the ability of the model to describe coronary hemodynamics in health and disease is evaluated. Two disease types are modeled: coronary epicardial stenoses and left ventricular hypertrophy with an aortic valve stenosis. In all simulations (healthy and diseased), the dynamics of pressure and flow qualitatively agreed with observations described in literature. We conclude that the model adequately can predict coronary hemodynamics in both normal and diseased state based on patient-specific clinical data.


This essay discusses the evolution of two inter-disciplinary design projects that use the methods of tool-building and fiction writing in their research process. The first project discussed, Spoke, is a game for exploring critical thinking, ideation techniques, and future narratives. Each time it is played it generates new research outcomes as narratives and discussion. Beyond narratives, the second project, LivePrinter, uses tool-making as a form of future thinking and "research as design." With widespread 3D printing and robot manufacturing in use, LivePrinter explores how printing-as-performance challenges our current view of automated production's strengths and weaknesses.


The Comparative Manifestos Project (CMP) data set quantifies how much parties emphasize certain topics and positions and is very popular in the study of political parties. The data set is also increasingly applied in comparative political economy and welfare state studies that use the welfare-specific items rather than the CMP's left–right scale to test hypotheses on the impact of political parties on social policies, (in)equality and the welfare state. But do these items provide a valid basis for descriptive and causal inferences? What do the items precisely capture? To answer these questions on concept validity, we use the new manifesto corpus data for German parties 2002–2013 and, to provide a further test, for US parties 2004–2012. Corpus data are the digitalized, originally hand-annotated and coded texts of electoral programmes. We assess the validity of the codings directly at the level of quasi-sentences by re-categorizing and subcategorizing the originally coded statements on equality, social justice and welfare state expansion. Although concept validity concerns about the data seem exaggerated, we find that theoretically relevant and meaningful variation is 'hidden' behind the original categories. Hence, our approach allows researchers to assess the substantive meaning of the CMP data directly, and we offer an efficient new strategy for testing more specific hypotheses on the impact of political parties on policy.


Genetic algorithms (GAs) are powerful solutions to optimization problems arising from manufacturing and logistic fields. It helps to find better solutions for complex and difficult cases, which are hard to be solved by using strict optimization methods. Accelerating parallel GAs with GPU computing have received significant attention from both practitioners and researchers, ever since the emergence of GPU-CPU heterogeneous architectures. Designing a parallel algorithm on GPU is different fundamentally from designing one on CPU. On CPU architecture, typically data or tasks are distributed across tens of threads or processes, while on GPU architecture, more than hundreds of thousands of threads run. In order to fully utilize the computing power of GPUs, the design approaches and implementation strategies of parallel GAs should be re-probed. In the chapter, a concise overview of parallel GAs on GPU is given from the perspective of GPU architecture. The concept of parallelism granularity is redefined, the aspect of data layout is discussed on how it will affect the kernel performance, and the hierarchy of threads is examined on how threads are organized in the grid and blocks to expose sufficient parallelism to GPU. Some future research is discussed. A hybrid parallel model, based on the feature of GPU architecture, is suggested to build up efficient parallel GAs for hyper-scale problems.


Background/Aim. In addition to damage of the bones that support the remaining teeth, degradation of osteoporotic oral bones also lead to a consequent reduction of supporting tissues and the loss of dentures retention. The aim of this study was to assess the clinical and radiographic outcomes following injection of a calcitonin and calcium solution into the buccal aspects of edentulous mandibles. Methods. The experimental group of 67 edentulous patients diagnosed with osteoporosis, and the control group of 19 nonosteoporotic edentulous patients were treated with the calcitonin and calcium once solution per month. Mandibular bone density was measured from panoramic radiographs, supplemented by T scores of skeletal density in the experimental group. Results. After the therapy, measurements showed moderate increases in bone density, compensating for up to 4% of the total loss of minerals and solidity of denture-bearing areas of osteoporotic mandibles. Osteoporosis affected women earlier than men in this study. Conclusion. Application of a calcitonin and calcium solution is a suitable method of preprosthetic therapy for edentulous osteoporotic patients.


Communities adjacent to concentrated areas of industrial land use (CAILU) are exposed to elevated levels of pollutants during flood disasters. Many CAILU are also characterized by insufficient infrastructure, poor environmental quality, and socially vulnerable populations. Manchester, TX is a marginalized CAILU neighborhood proximate to several petrochemical industrial sites that is prone to frequent flooding. Pollutants from stormwater runoff discharge from industrial land uses into residential areas have created increased toxicant exposures. Working with local organizations, centers/institutes, stakeholders, and residents, public health researchers sampled air, water, indoor dust, and outdoor soil while researchers from landscape architecture and urban planning applied these findings to develop a community-scaled master plan. The plan utilizes land use and built environment changes to increase flood resiliency and decrease exposure to contaminants. Using a combination of models to assess the performance, costs, and benefits of green infrastructure and pollutant load impacts, the master plan is projected to capture 147,456 cubic feet of runoff, and create $331,400 of annual green benefits by reducing air pollution and energy use, providing pollution treatment, increase carbon dioxide sequestration, and improve groundwater replenishment. Simultaneously, there is a 41% decrease across all analyzed pollutants, reducing exposure to and transferal of toxic materials.


Video deraining is an important issue for outdoor vision systems and has been investigated extensively. However, designing optimal architectures by the aggregating model formation and data distribution is a challenging task for video deraining. In this paper, we develop a model-guided triple-level optimization framework to deduce network architecture with cooperating optimization and auto-searching mechanism, named Triple-level Model Inferred Cooperating Searching (TMICS), for dealing with various video rain circumstances. In particular, to mitigate the problem that existing methods cannot cover various rain streaks distribution, we first design a hyper-parameter optimization model about task variable and hyper-parameter. Based on the proposed optimization model, we design a collaborative structure for video deraining. This structure includes Dominant Network Architecture (DNA) and Companionate Network Architecture (CNA) that is cooperated by introducing an Attention-based Averaging Scheme (AAS). To better explore inter-frame information from videos, we introduce a macroscopic structure searching scheme that searches from Optical Flow Module (OFM) and Temporal Grouping Module (TGM) to help restore latent frame. In addition, we apply the differentiable neural architecture searching from a compact candidate set of task-specific operations to discover desirable rain streaks removal architectures automatically. Extensive experiments on various datasets demonstrate that our model shows significant improvements in fidelity and temporal consistency over the state-of-the-art works. Source code is available at https://github.com/vis-opt-group/TMICS.


Tryptase, a protease unique to the mast cell secretory granule, is released in substantial quantities into the respiratory tract of patients with inflammatory disease of the airways. We have investigated the potential of tryptase to act as a mitogen for bronchial epithelial cells and to stimulate release of IL-8 and expression of ICAM-1. Tryptase was isolated from extracts of human lung tissue using ammonium sulphate precipitation, octyl agarose, and heparin agarose chromatography. Purified tryptase stimulated DNA synthesis in the human epithelial cell line H292, as measured by [3H] thymidine incorporation. Maximal growth was observed after 24 h using 25 mU/ml of tryptase (where 1 micron is defined as that which can hydrolyze 1 mumol of the peptide substrate N-alpha-benzoyl-DL-arginine p-nitroanilide hydrochloride per minute at 25 degrees C), a concentration that is likely to be achieved in vivo. Inhibitors of tryptase activity, including leupeptin and benzamidine hydrochloride, significantly decreased tryptase-induced stimulation of DNA synthesis, indicating the requirement for an active catalytic site. Tryptase stimulated a catalytic site-dependent release of IL-8 from epithelial cells after 24 h, and this was associated with up-regulation of ICAM-1 expression, as revealed by FACS analysis. Tryptase may play a critical role in epithelial repair and in the recruitment of granulocytes following mast cell activation.


In a Diamond–Dybvig type model of financial intermediation, we allow depositors to announce at a positive cost to subsequent depositors that they keep their funds deposited in the bank. Theoretically, the mere availability of public announcements (and not its use) ensures that no bank run is the unique equilibrium outcome. Multiple equilibria—including bank run—exist without such public announcements. We test the theoretical results in the lab and find a widespread use of announcements, which we interpret as an attempt to coordinate on the no bank run outcome. Withdrawal rates in general are lower in information sets that contain announcements


Dunes are almost exclusively the support of herbaceous vegetation in the Sahel. There is a need to better understand their hydrological functioning during the rain cycles. This paper evaluates the interest of using surface Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) for spatializing water tension. A representative micro-dune has been studied in the field using 3 artificial rain cycles. ERT inversion was corrected from temperature and optimized using a comparison with in-situ resistivity measurements, giving an estimate of ERT accuracy. A porosity-independent relation between resistivity ratio (final / initial state) and water tension differences (final – initial) is found for the first 2 rains with demineralised water. When using salted tracer (third rain), the slope of this relationship changes. We found that the ERT image smoothing doesn't allow us to track accurately some localized phenomena. Moreover, the interest of spatializating water tension using non-destructive surface ERT is limited because inversion has to be constrained using a priori information given by destructive measurements at depth. We conclude that surface ERT imaging reconstruction needs improvements to reliably spatialize resistivity variations linked with processes in heterogeneous sandy soils.


Abstract A radiocarbon (14C) dating technique with accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) was applied to estimate the year of death and the year of birth of unidentified human remains. Because many of the samples have been preserved in formaldehyde, it was necessary to evaluate the influence of formaldehyde on carbon ages. Samples intentionally preserved in formaldehyde during the known period were measured, and their Δ14C values were compared with results obtained from fresh samples. The influence of formaldehyde on soft tissue was 14 times larger than that on cortical bone. Unfortunately, an effective method for removing the influence of formaldehyde has not yet been found. 14C ages could be obtained only from the samples not preserved in formaldehyde. The years of birth were determined by the ages of the dentin samples, while the years of death were determined by the ages of the bone and soft tissue samples. Multiple sampling from a body provides an advantage in determination of one of two possible ages of a sample obtained using the bomb peak. Victims of the Korean War were ascertained by the year of death. The year of death and the age at death of unidentified bodies were also determined for forensic investigation.


Introduction Pirfenidone has undergone NICE approval and is recommended for patients with IPF if the FVC is 50–80% 1. We hypothesised that the NICE guidance would disadvantage a significant cohort of IPF patients who have moderate reduction in transfer factor despite preserved FVC. Methods We retrospectively reassessed the eligibility of fifty IPF patients on the named patient programme using the NICE guidance. Electronic CT and clinical reports were analysed for the presence of coexisting emphysema. Results Of fifty patients we identified that 20/50 (40%) would not have been prescribed pirfenidone as per the NICE criteria. The average FVC was significantly higher in the 20 patients that did not meet the NICE criteria compared to those that did (97.6 ± 16.24% vs. 65.48 ± 8.56% (p < 0.001) respectively. In contrast there was no difference in transfer factor between the two groups (42.35 ± 14.66% vs. 44.74 ± 12.29%) respectively. The frequency of emphysema was statistically different between those that met the NICE criteria and those that did not (3 vs. 8 p = 0.0409). Of those patients that had an FVC greater than 80%, 12/20 (60%) had no emphysema visible on CT imaging and 2 (10%), 4 (20%) and 2 (10%) had evidence of mild, moderate and severe emphysema respectively. However, the average transfer factor was not significantly different between those with or without emphysema (35.75% vs. 46.75% respectively). Conclusion This retrospective data demonstrates that the sole use of FVC in the NICE criteria for treating IPF disadvantages 40% of patients who demonstrate a significant reduction in transfer factor despite FVC greater than 80%. In this study this reduced transfer factor and preserved FVC can only be attributed to the presence of coexisting emphysema in 8/20 (40%) of patients. 60% of patients had IPF alone with FVC greater than 80% despite an average transfer factor of 47%, which was not statistically different to those with coexisting emphysema. We would therefore advocate the use of both FVC and DLCO when assessing patient suitability for pirfenidone treatment for IPF. The use of FVC alone excludes a substantial cohort of IPF patients who have preserved FVC, reduced DLCO with or without coexisting emphysema.


Waterbodies in the arctic permafrost zone are considered a major source of the greenhouse gas methane (CH4).
Spatial extrapolation of these CH4 fluxes to a region or the circum-Arctic, however, are still associated with large
uncertainties. Here, we address this issue by using a combination of airborne CH 4 flux measurements and waterbody
mapping based on TerraSAR-X and Sentinel-1 data across two study areas (1000 km2) in the Mackenzie Delta, Canada.
Our results indicate that permafrost waterbodies, even if they seem to be strong emitters on an individual basis, do not
necessarily translate into significant CH 4 emission hot spots on a regional scale. Our results show inconsistent patterns
in the correlations between waterbody types and the CH 4 flux in the two study areas and across different spatial
resolutions. Technical advances enabling the determination of the CH4 flux of individual waterbodies across a region
provide a prospective direction to improve our understanding.


Abstract Perfusion of isolated kidneys from rats demonstrated the following nephrotoxic effects of Fluosol-DA: decreased glomerular filtration rate (GFR), urine flow rate (UFR), and fractional reabsorption of potassium (FrK+) (P < 0.01). Fluosol-DA perfusions were at flow rates about equal to the physiologically normal rodent renal plasma flow rate of 4 ml/min. Stroma-free hemoglobin (SFH) perfusions, also at 4 ml/min, were associated with physiologically normal renal functions, as were those of control Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate (KRB) perfusions at 32 ml/min.


It was on a steamer inching across the oceanic expanse toward the Marquesas Islands that French-born Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) found himself headed for Hiva Oa in 1901. He had been living in Tahiti since the mid-1890s, but it was becoming more developed, and his hope was that the Marquesas would prove to be more pristine. The fair isle of Hiva Oa offered tiki statues, sprays of colorful flowers, and landscape drama, but both here and in Tahiti his canvases were more likely to feature the lives of the people. To simply document his paradisiacal surroundings would have been too pedestrian for Gauguin. His tableaus of the tropics tended to have a reflective mood suggesting musings about human existence and the perplexities of life. Whether set in Polynesia's tropical environs or Brittany's postcard-perfect


Objective: The family caregiver has a pivotal role in the management of HIV/AIDS patients and their well-being is consequently crucial as it could impact negatively on the quality of caregiving. This preliminary qualitative investigation intended to explore and describe the challenges and experiences of HIV/AIDS family caregivers in Terengganu, Malaysia. Methods: A convenient sample of family caregivers of HIV/AIDS patients who were aware of the diagnosis was enrolled. Recruitment was conducted in Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia and semi-structured interviews were used. Results: Results were transcribed into verbatim before being subjected to analysis. Twelve Muslim caregivers consented participation (age range = 18.0 - 81.0; female = 75.0%, mother/wife = 50.0%; married = 83.3%; = primary school = 50.0%; and self-employed = 66.7%). The four major themes that emerged were challenges of caregiving, financial issues, stigma and discrimination, and support for caregivers. Additionally, caregivers did mention several positive aspects of their caregiving role including satisfaction from helping family member and improved family relationships.  Conclusion: A variety of life aspects were negatively affected by caring for HIV patients, thus requiring a multidisciplinary approach to address such issues. ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 15 (2): July – December 2014: 120-130.


Abstract:  This papers deals with the description of the ferns found in the recently discovered Anisian locality of Kühwiesenkopf (Monte Prà della Vacca). A revision of the genera and species involved has been undertaken where necessary. Because of transitional material found at Kühwiesenkopf, the number of Neuropteridium species found in the European Middle Triassic floras is reduced from five to three: N. voltzii (Brongniart) Schimper, N. elegans (Brongniart) Schimper and N. grandifolium (Schimper et Mougeot) Compter. The fertile material attributed to this genus is transferred from the illegitimately published genus Crematopteris Schimper and Mougeot to the genus Scolopendrites Goeppert, in two species: S. scolopendrioides (Brongniart) comb. nov. and S. grauvogelii sp. nov. Anomopteris mougeotii Brongniart is unequivocally recorded for the first time from Italy. Gordonopteris lorigae gen. et sp. nov. is described for tripinnate fern fronds without the aphlebiae typical for the bipinnate genus Anomopteris but in which both sterile and fertile pinnule resemble closely those from that genus. Two probable marattialean ferns are described and recorded for the first time from the Middle Triassic of Italy: Marattiopsis sp. and Marantoidea sp. The nomenclature of the latter genus is discussed. Some ferns attributed to morphogenera are also described, namely: Sphenopteris schoenleiniana (Brongniart) Presl, Cladophlebis remota (Presl) comb. nov. and Cladophlebis sp. Moreover, two specimens from Kühwiesenkopf are described under gen. et sp. indet. as we are unsure if they are ferns or seed ferns. Similar material has been described from the Scythian of China as Neuropteridium curvinerve Wang and Wang.


Background: Pakistan established the Punjab healthcare commission to improve patient care catering to professional accountability in the public and private sectors. As per the World Health Organization, quality of care comprises of six dimensions where the care must be effective, efficient, accessible, patient-centered, equitable, and safe. Objectives: The objectives are to determine if patients are satisfied with the quality of services in public and private sectors, or if any neglect was present. Methods: The literature on patient care and satisfaction was compiled using a scoping review methodology. PubMed, CINAHL Plus, and Scopus were used to collate information. Duplicates were removed using Endnote X9. Results: Of the 467 abstracts and titles that were screened for relevance, 74 were considered for full-text review and potential inclusion in the scoping review. Out of 16 included studies, 7 (43.8%) of the included studies originated from Pakistan. The characteristics of included studies such as quality of care and patient satisfaction are tabulated. Conclusion: Current literature does not provide quality- and satisfaction- focused studies, and has methodological discrepancies. It is required that the medical profession adopt a sense of self-monitoring. Gaps in service provision must be addressed by healthcare managers, policymakers, and physicians in Pakistan.


BACKGROUND
During the recent two decades, the development of mucoadhesive drug delivery system has been gained tremendous importance to cure many recurrent diseases of the oral cavity. The drug delivery through the buccal route is quite challenging due to limited absorption area, movements of the target region and regular flow of saliva lead to the sub-therapeutic drug level in the buccal region.

OBJECTIVE
The aim is to develop unidirectional release mucoadhesive buccal film for the mucosal delivery of Benzydamine Hydrochloride (WO2016126217Al, EP0812193B1) and evaluate the effects of a different grade of HPMC polymer (US5980942A) with the presumption to prolong the residence time and therapeutic effectiveness at the target site.

METHODS
Mucoadhesive buccal films were prepared by solvent casting evaporation method by employing different grades of HPMC as mucoadhesive and rate controlling polymer. Total twenty-four formulations were developed using ethyl cellulose as a backing layer. The prepared films were subjected to various physicochemical parameters.

RESULTS
The physicochemical parameters were found to be varied according to the type and concentration of polymer used. On the basis of in vitro drug release, desired ex-vivo mucoadhesive time, mucoadhesive force the formulations F4, F9, F14 and F19 were subjected to ex vivo drug permeation study. The F14 film containing 1% w/v of HPMC K50M was considered optimized final formulation due to higher ex vivo drug permeation. Drug-excipient compatibility was confirmed by FTIR and DSC. XRD of final formulation revealed the amorphous nature of drug. SEM indicated the perfect binding between backing and adhesive layer.

CONCLUSION
The developed mucoadhesive buccal film having adequate physicochemical properties was capable to provide prolonged residence time and sustained delivery as compared to existing conventional therapies.


We report the results of spectral and morphological studies of X-ray data from the supernova remnant (SNR) W44. Spectral analysis of archival data from the Einstein Observatory, ROSAT, and Ginga, covering a total energy range from 0.3 to 8 keV, indicates that the SNR can be described well by a nonequilibrium ionization (NEI) model with temperature ~0.9 keV and ionization timescale of order 6000 cm-3 yr. All elemental abundances are found to be within about a factor of 2 of their cosmic values, with iron possibly appearing to show significant depletion. No clear evidence for emission from supernova ejecta can be inferred from the observed metal abundances. The column density toward the SNR is high—around 1022 atoms cm-2—as expected given the location of the remnant in the Galactic plane. In addition to the spectral analysis, we have investigated two different evolutionary scenarios to explain the centrally brightened X-ray morphology of the remnant: (1) a model involving the slow thermal evaporation of clouds engulfed by the supernova blast wave as it propagates though a clumpy interstellar medium (ISM), and (2) a hydrodynamical simulation of a blast wave propagating through a homogeneous ISM, including the effects of radiative cooling. Both models can have their respective parameters tuned to reproduce approximately the morphology of the SNR. The mean temperature of the hot plasma in W44 as determined by our NEI X-ray analysis provides the essential key to discriminating between these scenarios. Based on the size (using the well-established distance of 3 kpc) and temperature of W44, the dynamical evolution predicted by the White & Long model gives an age for the SNR of merely 6500 yr. We argue that because this age is inconsistent with the characteristic age (P/2Ṗ~20,000 yr) of PSR 1853+01, the radio pulsar believed to be associated with W44, this model does not provide the explanation for the center-filled morphology. We favor the radiative-phase shock model since it can reproduce both the morphology and the age of W44, assuming reasonable values for the initial explosion energy, in the range 0.7-0.9 × 1051 ergs, and an ambient ISM density of between 3 and 4 cm-3.


An alarming trend in malware attack's are that they are equipped with advance sophisticated techniques to breakout from security countermeasures. Detecting a malware is challenging but combining different detection models together increases the chances by exploring malicious activity from different viewpoints, this paper proposes a collaborative static and dynamic analysis for spotting malicious behaviors of files. Malware detector is the essential tool in protecting against malware's. The results of such detector are determined by the methodologies it uses. therefore, it is essential to investigate malware detection techniques and identify their strengths and boundaries.


The inherent limitations of commanding voltages and currents in a three-phase load with an inverter are examined. An overview of several current controllers described in the literature is presented, and computer simulations are used to compare performance. A switching diagram is developed which reveals some of the operating characteristics of hysteresis controllers. For ramp comparison controllers, a frequency transfer function analysis is used to predict the line currents and provide some insight into the compensation required to reduce the current errors.


Polymer optical fiber (POF) sensors have the unique ability to measure high strain distributed along the fiber up to 40% using the optical time-domain reflectometry (OTDR) technique. Both, standard PMMA fibers and perfluorinated (PF) graded-index (GI) POF are introduced and evaluated in potential use and applicability. Further, distributed length change measurement based on cross-correlation analysis of the characteristic fiber signature of PF POF is introduced. We conclude the advances in distributed POF strain sensors technology with respect to application in structural health monitoring. Special focus is on the sensor integration into technical textiles for health monitoring of geotechnical structures and masonry structures. Measurement results of sensor-equipped textiles in different model tests are presented, displacement of soil and cracks in retrofitted masonry structures are detected and evaluated.


In the last years, the demands for natural flavours have dramatically increased. To fulfil the consumer requests, researchers are looking for new and alternative methods to obtain qualitative aroma compounds by utilising microbiological pathways. Some microorgan- isms like lactic acid bacteria or yeasts are capable of synthesising specific flavours corresponding to diacetyl and acetaldehyde as secondary metabolites. By supplying the culture media with flavour precursors and optimising the primary culture media, high amount of specific flavours could be obtained. Also, the biosynthesis of each specific flavour is influenced by the type of amino acids and sugars involved in the bioprocess. Thus, by changing the ratio of amino acids and sugars in the culture media, different amounts of flavour can be obtained. In this context, monitoring the compositions of the culture media and fermentation conditions is crucial in obtaining high amounts of a qualitative-specific aroma.