The Yozgat batholith takes place in the passive margin of the Anatolide-Pontide convergence system. It includes; syn- collisional S-type, two-mica granites; post-collisional I-type, calcalkaline monzonitic association, and post-collisional, M-type, tholeiitic gabbroic/dioritic association. Among these associations, the monzonitic association is also subdivided into five mapable units such as Cankili monzogabbro/monzodiorite, Akcakoyunlu quartz monzodiorite, Adatepe quartz monzonite, Yassia¤il monzogranite and Karakaya monzogranite. All these subunits, except the Karakaya monzogranite, include K-feldspar megacrysts. These five subunits represent some evidence of fractional crystallization (FC) and magma mingling/mixing processes by means of field, mineralogical- petrographical and geochemical characteristics. There is a good zonation in the field that the Cankili monzogabbro/monzodiorite forms the core, and Karakaya monzogranite forms the rim. Mafic mineral assemblage of the Cankili monzogabbro/monzodiorite, first product of FC process, comprizes clinopyroxene + amphibole (hornblende + hastingsite) + biotite. Those of Akcakoyunlu and Adatepe subunits, crystallized just after the Cankili by FC during cooling of magma, are composed of amphibole (hornblende + hastingsite) + clinopyroxene + biotite. As for the mafic minerals of the Yassia¤il and Karakaya subunits, solidified as final FC products comprise amphibole (hornblende + hastingsite) + biotite ± clinopyroxene, and biotite + amphibole (hornblende + hastingsite) ± clinopyroxene, respectively. The major element oxides such as tFe 2 O 3 , MnO, MgO, CaO, TiO 2 and P 2 O 5 apparently decrease with the increasing silica content, whereas K2O content increases. The trace elements like Co, Cu, Zn, Rb and Ga determine good FC trend, on the contrary Cr, Pb, Nb, Y, Zr and Th elements exhibit slightly FC trend versus silica content. Variations in the Sr and Ba elements versus silica also describe recognizable FC trend from Cankili to Karakaya units, although, some secondary mobilizations in the contents of these trace elements, particularly depletions in some Cankili rock samples do not fit well this trend. The most reliable variograms indicating FC trend are those of K/Rb versus Rb, K/Ba versus Ba and of K/Rb versus K/Ba. Some mafic microgranular magmatic enclaves (MME), commonly found in the field, are considered to be evidences of the magma mingling process. There are also some microscopic textures (antirapakivi, poikilitic/oikocrystic feldspars, small lath shaped plagioclase within large plagioclase, spike zones in plagioclase and spongy cellular dissolution/melting textures in plagioclase) indicating the magma mixing process.


The five different structure-I hydrates were formed using the following five different guest substances:  methane, fluoromethane, difluoromethane, trifluoromethane, and tetrafluoromethane, for the systematic investigation on the relation between the occupancy of the cages in the hydrates and the size of the guest molecules. The hydrate crystal samples were analyzed using Raman spectroscopy. The results revealed that the cage occupancy ratio between small and large cages of these guest molecules depended on their solvent accessible surface area (ASA). The critical ASA for the enclathration of small cages had a relatively narrow range:  approximately 1.7 ± 0.2 nm2. It was found that clathrate hydrates formed with guest molecules having ASA in this critical range were expected to show high nonstoichiometric properties. The obtained relation between the cage occupancy ratio and ASA of guest molecules was generalized by comparison with the results on other structure-I hydrate-forming guest molecules reported i...


Abstract Inaccuracies in property valuation is a global problem. This could be attributed to the adoption of valuation approaches, with the hedonic pricing model (HPM) being an example, that are inaccurate and unreliable. As evidenced in the literature, the HPM approach has gained wide acceptance among real estate researchers, despite its shortcomings. Therefore, the present study set out to evaluate the predictive accuracy of HPM in comparison with the artificial neural network (ANN) technique in property valuation. Residential property transaction data were collected from registered real estate firms domiciled in the Lagos metropolis, Nigeria, and were fitted into the ANN model and HPM. The results showed that the ANN technique outperformed the HPM approach, in terms of accuracy in predicting property values with mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) values of 15.94 and 38.23%, respectively. The findings demonstrate the efficacy of the ANN technique in property valuation, and if all the preconditions of property value modeling are met, the ANN technique is a reliable valuation approach that could be used by both real estate researchers and professionals.


We investigated 26 midsized peptides (∼30 amino acids in length) selected using mRNA display to perform a nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction (SNAr). Analysis suggested a diverse set of reactive sequences with significant differences in primary sequence, secondary structure and even predicted tertiary structural features. Several of the sequences displayed rapid kinetics allowing for near complete labeling in under one hour. Rosetta ab initio structure prediction of these sequences suggested a landscape of structural features, ranging from beta-sheet-based sequences to those possessing more alphahelical-like character. Circular dichroism spectroscopy confirmed elements of the structure predictions for the majority of peptides. This analysis additionally uncovered that several peptides underwent secondary structure alterations upon reaction. These results suggest a broad sequence and structural landscape of SNAr active peptides along with a potentially important feature of these biopolymers.


Business processes, or workflows, are among the key intangible assets of a company. A workflow defines various activities of an enterprise in terms of certain
 well-defined tasks. Users according to organizational rules execute these tasks.
 A major concern in workflow execution is security; in case of process automation, where resources are readily accessible, it becomes even more important
 to ensure that the right information is visible only for right people. As workflows and their results have enormous impact on the enterprise, they need to be
 secured against external and internal security threats. Resilience to attacks usually comes in a form of assurance that certain security properties are satisfied.
 Security properties of a system are expressed in terms of a security policy.
 In this work we provide all the necessary ingredients of a framework that would
 allow for checking if a workflow system is adhering to a specified security policy. Namely, we provide a formalism for modelling workflow systems, means
 to specify and enforce security policy, and, finally, a methodology for checking
 adherence to a security policy.
 The first contribution of this work is that a fragment of BPEL, a language for
 defining and executing business processes, is modelled in a process algebra which
 we named KlaimWS; it belongs to the Klaim family of process calculi [16, 5, 8].
 To ease the process of modelling, we equipped KlaimWS with structures whose
 syntax and semantics closely matches the syntax and semantic of their BPEL
 counterparts. The level of abstraction provided by KlaimWS allows to focus
 solely on the core aspects of BPEL, omitting its cumbersome XML syntax.
 Additionally, we consider AspectK, an extension of KlaimWS. AspectK
 augments KlaimWS by introducing the notion of aspects as in Aspect Oriented Programming (AOP). The separation of concerns advocated by the AOP
 paradigm permits clear separation between the application code and the security
 policy. Security policies are encoded as aspects and then inlined into the main
 code. The AspectK language structures are generic enough to allow expressing
 various security models e.g. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)[20].
 The second and main contribution of this work is the development of a static
 analysis for checking adherence of workflow system to a security policy. The
 analysis is specified using flow logic which is an approach to static analysis
 that separates the specification of when an analysis estimate is acceptable for a
 program from the actual computation of the analysis information [18]. We also
 establish two theoretical properties of the analysis. Namely, subject reduction
 result and adequacy.


Previous work formulated an adaptive algorithm for exciting a single mode in a shallow‐water waveguide using feedback control [Buck et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 95, 2927(A) (1994)]. This paper presents results obtained using this algorithm in a laboratory waveguide experiment under a variety of conditions. Unlike previous laboratory single‐mode excitation experiments [Clay and Huang, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 67, 792–794 (1980); Gazanhes and Garnier, ibid. 69, 963–969 (1981)], our algorithm does not require a priori environmental knowledge, but only the sound‐speed profile at the feedback array. The experiment results to be presented demonstrate the algorithm's convergence behavior and robustness to environmental mismatch. If time permits, present experimental results illustrating the ability of the algorithm to track time variations in the channel will also be presented. [Work supported by ONR and ARPA.]


This study uses a stochastic frontier parametrical approach to analyze the inefficiency of firms in the water industry between 1999 and 2010. For this purpose, an unbalanced panel of data from 12 firms from all over Latin America was used. One of the main findings of the study is that companies from the private sector outperform those from the public sector over time. Another conclusion is that there are no economies of scale or density, considering the actual size of the average sector. Finally, inefficiency shows a positive correlation with the firms' size and with the length of the network.


This review work gives a lot of information on polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs). The complex formed is generally applied in different dosage forms for the formulation of stable aggregated macromolecules. Many properties like diffusion coefficient, chain conformation, viscosity, polarizability, miscibility, etc., are drastically changed due to the introduction of a polyelectrolyte. The formation of PECs is influenced not only by chemical properties like stereochemical fitting, their molecular weight, charge densities, etc. but also by secondary experimental conditions like concentration of polyelectrolytes prior to mixing, their mixing ratio, ionic strength of the solution, mixing order, etc. The formation of PECs is described in this article and it is divided into three main classes, i.e., primary complex formation, formation process within intracomplexes and intercomplex aggregation process. There are different types of PECs obtained according to binding agents such as polymers, proteins, surfactants, drugs, etc. Other factors which affect the formation of PECs are also discussed. There are a number of pharmaceutical applications of polyelectrolytes, such as in controlled release systems, for the enzyme and cell support, for different types of tissue reconstitution, etc.


A new genus and species of obligate intracellular bacterial parasite of small free-living amoebae is described. This bacterium causes fatal infections in amoebae belonging to the Acanthamoeba-NaegZeria group. It does not grow on any artificial substrate deprived of living amoeba cells. The entry of the bacterium into a host occurs by phagocytosis, but growth occurs in the cytoplasm, not in phagosomes. This parasite is readily distinguished from other kinds of previously recognized bacteria that live within amoeba cells on the basis of its host cell lytic activity. The bacterium is a gram-negative, short rod with tapered ends. It multiplies intracellularly by a transverse central pinching-off process. Cells are motile by means of a polar tuft of flagella. The bacterium is surrounded by a distinct multilayered cell envelope with a chemtype A,y peptidoglycan. The peptidoglycan is unique in its high content of glucosamine residues with free amino groups. The DNA base composition of this organism is 43 mol% guanine plus cytosine. The name Sarcobium Zyticum gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed for this bacterium. The type strain of S. Zyticum is strain L2 (= PCM 2298).


Edward VII gave the early twentieth century the "Edwardian Era," bridging the gentlemanly world of his mother, Victoria, and the modern world of technology and fashion, but his grandson, Edward VIII, remains a problematic and enigmatic figure almost eighty years after his 1936 abdication. In the last twenty years, he has been both vilified as Britain's "Traitor King," a flagrant Nazi sympathizer, and acclaimed as the "People's King," a champion of the underprivileged who was maneuvered from his throne by an intolerant British establishment.1 It is generally agreed, however, that, in his many years as the Prince of Wales and in his brief months on the throne, royal status and modern celebrity merged in a way unequaled until Princess Diana (Mayhall 532).If Edward is enigmatic, Wallis Simpson, his mistress-turned-wife, is perhaps even more difficult to understand beneath her often-pilloried public image and the glittering carapace of her post-abdication years as Duchess of Windsor, doyenne of cafe society. Whereas the king was widely regarded as charming and charismatic (though some who knew him well held more jaundiced views and privately expressed relief when he abdicated), Mrs. Simpson was less readily appealing to many contemporaries. She was neither young nor conventionally attractive, as she herself admitted. Sir Alan "Tommy" Lascelles, an especially bilious observer, considered her "a shop-soiled American, with two living husbands and a voice like a rusty saw" (414), while David Lloyd George, who was sympathetic to the king and felt he ought to be allowed to choose his own wife, wrote "There are not in her any of the elements that can possibly constitute a tuppeny romance" (qtd. in Williams 155). Queen Mary, the king's mother, remarked with asperity on the eve of the abdication, "to give up all this, for that!" (Donaldson 405).Philip Ziegler, Edward's official biographer, describes Simpson as the subject of "lurid and unbridled fantasy," with regard to her sexuality, the most infamous instance being the so-called "China Dossier": "a report allegedly commissioned by Stanley Baldwin for George V, which explored [her] iniquities . . . during her time in the Far East" while married to Win Spencer, her first husband (195). Whatever the truth may have been about Simpson's sexual appetites, Ziegler acknowledges what seems undeniable, based upon eyewitness accounts both early and late in the Windsors' relationship: Edward VIII discovered in himself a profound need to be dominated, and Wallis Simpson fulfilled that need. She treated him, writes Ziegler, "at best like a child who needed keeping in order, at the worst with contempt. He invited it and begged for more" (206). What David Cannadine calls his "abject constancy and unquestioning devotion" (52) colored their relationship and persisted throughout their thirty-five year marriage.If it actually existed, this dossier has not survived in the official archives, but, as the cinematic narrative of the abdication has taken shape, such long-standing rumors have positioned Simpson- American, childless, thrice-married, and sexually deviant-as the antithesis of her sister-in-law-Queen Elizabeth, loving wife and dedicated mother-and thus, by extension, as the antithesis of Britain. By the same token, Albert, who succeeded Edward to become George VI, has been positioned, both in the initial public narrative of the abdication, such as the British newsreels, and in later dramatizations, as a family man leading a "normal" life, in contrast to his brother.2 Wallis and Edward have been narratively represented and historically explained, in other words, within the genre of melodrama.The "Love Affair of the Century" or Dereliction of Duty?One might assume that a relationship sometimes called the "love affair of the century" would have been a ready source for lushly romantic film adaptations, but that has been far from the case. The first stumbling block was a legal one: A prohibition in Britain against representing living members of the royal family in fictional films or on stage, coupled with the litigiousness of the Duke of Windsor (Ziegler 476), meant their relationship was not dramatized prior to 1972. …


To the Editor.— There are few areas where a biopsy is more important or more readily performed than for lesions of the skin. Definitive therapy depends upon a correct diagnosis obtained by means of an adequate and representative biopsy sample. Any pigmented skin lesion that shows unexpected change should be regarded as a possible melanoma until proved otherwise. The unpigmented melanoma may be disarming in appearance and look much like granulation tissue or a pyogenic granuloma. Suspicion of melanoma should be aroused when a pigmented lesion increases in size, changes in color, exhibits pain, irritation or pruritus, becomes infected, bleeds, ulcerates, or becomes crusted. These changes are particularly common in light-skinned, freckled, blue-eyed individuals, but by no means is melanoma limited to this group. If the diagnosis of melanoma is suspected, it should be established, when possible, by total excision biopsy. Exceptions include lesions that are so large or so


An examination of how two rural Welsh market towns, Llangefni and Machynlleth,
have been affected by the processes of globalization and in particular how their local
residents and local business owners perceive and experience these changes, shows the
uneven effects of globalization on locations, economies and cultures, resulting in some
locations becoming homogenized, losing their identity and purpose for their citizens,
whilst others become hybridized, developing for themselves new identities, purpose
and social structures. This thesis contributes to the understanding of how people living
in small rural historic market towns engage with the local and the global in their day-today
lives, and consequently how empowered they are and feel as local and / or global
citizens. It reveals how the social inequalities of education, class and culture exclude
some and include others, resulting in what Bauman (2000) refers to as the `global' and
the `globalized', empowering some and disempowering others. The inequality and
unevenness of globalization is further compounded by contradictory policy objectives
that seek to encourage civic participation and responsibility in local and global issues,
but which are often at odds with the economic objectives set out for areas, leading to
uneven development and implementation between areas. Through gaining a better
understanding of how places, people and businesses are affected by and engage with
globalization and by helping to identify what facilitates better and more meaningful
local and global civic engagement and empowerment, the thesis aims to enable more
appropriate policy directives, that will engage citizens meaningfully and equally in both
local and global issues.


[1] The migrating diurnal tide is one of the dominant dynamical features in the low latitudes of the Earth's mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region, representing the atmospheric response to the largest component of solar forcing. Ground-based observations of the tide have resolved short-term variations attributed to nonlinear interactions between the tide and planetary waves that are also in the region. Using the NCAR Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIME-GCM), we simulate a quasi 2 day wave (QTDW) event under late-January conditions. In this case, sideband sum and difference child waves are resolved, indicating that a nonlinear interaction is occurring between the QTDW and the tide. The migrating diurnal tide in the MLT displays local amplitude decreases of 20–40%, as well as a shortening of vertical wavelength by roughly 4 km. Examining the physical mechanisms driving the interaction, nonlinear advection is found to result in amplification of the tide in some regions and damping in others, manifesting as increased smoothing of the tidal structure when the QTDW is present in the MLT. Additionally, the QTDW also enhances the easterly summer mean wind jet that can also account for changes in tidal amplitude and vertical wavelength. We find that QTDW-induced background atmosphere changes in TIME-GCM can drive tidal variability at levels greater than nonlinear advection, a possibility not previously considered.


This study investigates the basic properties of the recent shallow seismicity in Italy, through stochastic modeling and statistical methods. Assuming that earthquakes are the realization of a stochastic point process, we have modeled the occurrence rate density in space, time and magnitude using an epidemic-type aftershock sequence model. By applying the maximum likelihood procedure, we estimated the parameters of the model that best fit the Italian instrumental catalog, as recorded by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) from April 16, 2005, to June 1, 2009. Then we applied the estimated model to a second independent dataset (June 1, 2009, to September 1, 2009). We show that the model performed well on this second database, through the relevant statistical tests. The model proposed in the present study is suitable for computing earthquake occurrence probability in real time, and to take part in international initiatives such as the Collaboratory Study for Earthquake Predictability, where we have submitted this model for daily forecasting of Italian seismicity for ML>4.0.


Alms is a gift given by someone in the form of property or non-treasury with the aim of expecting the pleasure of Allah SWT. Indonesia is a country with a relatively high percentage of poor people. As a country with a majority Muslim population, the potential for alms is very large. Alms in large amounts can be an alternative instrument in reducing poverty in Indonesia. One of the humanitarian agencies that collects alms funds is Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT) Bogor branch. The development of technology and information has made it easier for ACT to develop an online-based alms fundraising strategy. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of online alms fundraising at ACT Bogor branch. The research method used is qualitative descriptive with data collection techniques of observation, interviews and documentation. The results showed that in 2020 ACT Bogor branch was not effective in terms of effectiveness ratio because it was only able to raise funds of Rp. 4,448,517,958 with the target set by the institution of IDR 7,000,000,000,000. This is because the target set by the institution is very high, even though the collection of funds is quite large. Progressive results can be said to be effective because online-based alms fundraising is very optimal during a pandemic when compared to direct fundraising because it is constrained by restrictions on community activities by the government during the pandemic. The online alms fundraising mechanism is considered easier and very supportive during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the online-based alms fundraising, it is hoped that ACT branches will be able to increase the collection of alms funds from donors and in the future, ACT Bogor Branch will have its own application specifically made to collect alms-based alms online so that the obstacles that often occur can be minimized.


One of the most important topics in modern information technology today is the impact of privacy ethics and laws on the design, development, and implementation of information systems and databases, including Internet and electronic commerce websites. Unfortunately, the ethical and legal issues associated with this important topic are rarely addressed formally in information systems or sciences education. This paper presents an overview of the major issues associated with information privacy, suggests relevant sources for instructional content, and develops a series of pedagogical exercises that can be used to instill in current students the key issues associated with the ethical construct of privacy. The background of privacy rights are reviewed as well as legal and regulatory implementations both in the US and internationally. As an example of a specific current technology privacy issue, radio frequency identification is discussed including its privacy ramifications. The report concludes with a call for others to participate in implementation of this important technology component as proposed by many including the 2002 model IS curriculum.


Understanding genome and gene function in a whole organism requires us to fully comprehend the life cycle and the physiology of the organism in question. Although C. elegans is traditionally though of as a hermaphrodite, XX animals exhaust their sperm and become (endogenous) females after 3 days of egg-laying. The molecular physiology of this state has not been studied as intensely as other parts of the life cycle, in spite of documented changes in behavior and metabolism that occur at this stage. To study the female state of C. elegans, we designed an experiment to measure the transcriptomes of 1st day adult females; endogenous, 6th day adult females; and at the same time points, mutant feminized worms. At these time points, we were able to separate the effects of biological aging from the transition into the female state.
We find that spermless young adult animals partially phenocopy 6 day old wild-type animals that have depleted their sperm after egg-laying, and that spermless animals also exhibit fewer differentially expressed genes as they age throughout these 6 days. Our results indicate that sperm loss is responsible for some of the naturally occuring transcriptomic changes that occur during the life cycle of these animals.
These changes are enriched in transcription factors canonically associated with neuronal development and differentiation. Our data provide a high-quality picture of the changes that happen in global gene expression throughout the period of early aging in the worm


Background: The incidence of hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (hsPDA) increases with decreasing gestational age and is associated with many common morbidities of extreme prematurity. Controversies remain surrounding the definition of hsPDA, the population of infants requiring treatment, the appropriate timing and method of treatment, and the outcomes associated with PDA and its therapies. Purpose: This integrative literature review focuses on diagnostic and treatment recommendations derived from the highest levels of evidence. Search Strategy: PubMed and CINAHL were searched using key words "neonatal" and "patent ductus arteriosus" to discover the highest levels of evidence surrounding diagnosis, treatment methods, and outcomes. Findings/Results: The lack of consensus surrounding the diagnosis and clinical significance of PDA hinders meta-analysis across studies and confounds understanding of appropriate management strategies. Novel biomarkers, pharmaceutical choices, and transcatheter closure methods are expanding diagnostic and treatment options. Implications for Practice: Infants weighing less than 1000 g are at highest risk. Prophylactic closure is no longer recommended, although early asymptomatic therapy is still preferred by some to avoid prolonged pulmonary overcirculation or decreased renal and gut perfusion. Conservative treatment measures such as fluid restriction and diuretic administration have not consistently proven effective and are in some instances detrimental. Cyclooxygenase inhibitors are effective but have adverse renal and mesenteric effects. Oral ibuprofen is associated with lower instance of necrotizing enterocolitis. Implications for Research: Well-defined staging criteria would aid in comparison and meta-analysis. Trials that include a control group that receives no therapy may help separate the outcomes associated with prematurity from those associated with PDA.


ABSTRACT
Objectives: The aim of the present research study was to evaluate the prevalence and antibiotic resistance pattern of the scarcely investigated invasive pathogens causing body fluid infections.
Design: The study was conducted in the Department of Microbiology, University of Karachi, from July-December 2013.
Methods: In this study 21 samples of body fluids were collected from different hospitals and pathologic laboratories of Karachi, among which 11 samples were of peritoneal fluid, 8 of pleural fluid and 2 of cerebrospinal fluid. Isolates were tested against gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, erythromycin, penicillin G, Amoxycillin/clavulanic acid and amikacin through Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method for antibiotic susceptibility testing and broth macrodilution technique was performed to determine their minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) levels.
Results: Gram negative organisms were isolated pre-dominantly (86%) from these specimens. The most frequent gram negative organism was Pseudomonas aeruginosa (28%) followed by Klebsiella pneumonia (24%) and Escherichia coli (19%). Resistance to Amoxycillin/clavulanic acid was 86%, gentamicin, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone was 57%, ciprofloxacin 43% while the least resistance was for amikacin i.e. 24%. MIC of the antibiotics among isolated pathogens indicated a high level of resistance against Cefotaxime, Ceftriaxone and Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (>1024 µg/mL) while 1024 µg/ml against Gentamicin. Altogether, 71% pathogens isolated in this study were resistant to more than one antibiotic.
Discussion and Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and third generation cephalosporins have decreased their efficacy for the empirical treatment of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. The reason for this increased resistance among invasive pathogens might be linked with the emergence of multi drug resistance among the normal flora of bowel.


New concepts in material handling methods and equipment make it essential for the terminal planner to consider operational procedures to avoid premature obsolescence of port facilities. Mass production techniques applied to mass transportation of bulk materials permit savings in handling costs. Use of large units is the key factor in cost reductions. The trend is to super sizes in trucks, rail cars, and ships. Unconventional terminal design based on the functional approach offer solutions not otherwise economically feasible. The unit train is a highly successful concept in that the train, rather than the car, is considered as the unit. Composed of high-capacity cars, handling only a single commodity at one time, the land-based unit train complements the ocean-going super carriers. The terminal planner should provide for optimum transshipment facilities so as not to negate savings in transportation costs. Examples are given.


ABSTRACT Background: Venovenous (VV) extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) applied through a single site with a bicaval dual-lumen (BCDL) catheter is a growing method of treatment of acute respiratory failure, thus animal models for research purposes are needed. We describe a rapid technique for the placement of the BCDL catheter for single-site VV ECMO in swine. Design: Prior to the application of single-site VV ECMO model with common crossbred piglets, BCDL catheters were placed using anatomical landmarks. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) with color Doppler was used to determine catheter placement. Final determination of catheter placement was confirmed by necropsy. Arterial blood gas and hemodynamic parameters were recorded at baseline and then hourly. The values are mean ± SD. Results: Using anatomical landmarks by positioning the BCDL catheter tip approximately 6.5 cm distal to the tip of the manubrium, cannulation was easily accomplished in five piglets with no positional adjustments of the catheter required. Cannula placement was confirmed with both TTE color Doppler and necropsy. Respiratory support was achieved with baseline and hourly measurements of pH 7.45 ± 0.03, 7.44 ± 0.07, 7.46 ± 0.05, 7.47 ± 0.06 (p = NS); PO2 86 ± 30 mmHg, 98 ± 30 mmHg, 94 ± 40 mmHg, and 79 ± 30 mmHg (p = NS); and PCO2 43 ± 3 mmHg, 44 ± 8 mmHg, 38 ± 5 mmHg, and 40 ± 4 mmHg (p = NS). Conclusions: Using anatomical landmarks for the placement of the BCDL catheter was rapid and effective in a swine model of VV ECMO, resulting in improved time efficiency for research.


The problem of determining semantic similarity between words affects the understanding of synonymy and creates obstacles to the work oflexico graphers. The study was carried out as a part ofa larger research project on expert assessment of synonymic rows in RuWordNet thesaurus (a WordNet–like thesaurus for the Russian language). The aim of this study is to analyze RuWordNet thesaurus and compare it with classical dictionaries of Russian synonyms. For this purpose, the authors singled out entry words (adjectives N = 68 and verbs N = 117) and their analogues (adjectives N = 558 and verbs N = 1410) from the New Explanatory Dictionary of Russian Synonyms by Yu. Apresyan (NEDS). An analogue is viewed as aword whose meaning essentially intersects with the general meaning of a given synonymic row, although it lacks the needed semantic similarity that could indicate the presence of synonymy or near–synonymy (Apresyan). The quantitative analysis based on the breadth–first search (BFS) algorithm estimated the distance between each pair entry word! analogue. The quantitative method revealed that the analogues described in NEDS correlate with the hyponyms and hyperonyms in RuWordNet which contributes to the study of near–synonymy. The qualitative method (observation and linguistic interpretation) was used to analyze pairs entry word! analogue which showed the longest distance; such words were 52 adjectives and15 verbs. First, the meanings of entry words and analogues were checked against two Russian language thesauri, then, their representation in the tree graph of RuWordNet was traced. The analysis revealed inaccuracies concerning the similarity between certainwords. The recommendations for further improvement of RuWordNet were given.


A number of experimental investigations on fibre reinforced polymer (FRP), with the aim of understanding their behaviour when applied as strengthening of reinforced concrete elements, are available in the literature but very few information is available on strengthening real-scale elements with cementitious composites. In particular design code formulations are scanty or non-existent. In this study the behaviour of four precast pre-stressed TT beams taken from an existing industrial building was investigated. One of them was considered as control unstrengthened TT beam, whereas the others were strengthened with different techniques, namely with FRP laminates (glued with epoxy resin), carbon fibres with cementitious matrix and steel fibres with cementitious matrix. Each material involved in this study was also mechanically characterized to obtain the main physical properties. Adequate specimens were obtained from the existing TT beam to characterize the concrete and the reinforcing steel bars.


C on an accurate translation of 'professionalism' for the Korean language has not been reached. Therefore, it is not surprising that medical professionalism as a concept is in a stage of infancy in Korea. The rudimentary nature of collective professionalism in East Asia can be attributed to the historical and sociocultural differences found in Western countries. In this study, the author identifies and describes the facilitating and hindering factors for the development of the concept of collective professionalism in Korean medicine. The collective nature of professionalism could not naturally develop in an authoritarian and hierarchical social environment such as Korea. Furthermore, the recent trend of commercialization and industrialization of medicine as a major business enterprise has also contributed to the medical community's lack of knowledge on this issue. Nevertheless, the global trend reappraisal of professionalism has shed light on theoretical discourse on professionalism in Korean medicine. It is essential for Korea, as one of the developed nations, to explore not only the historical trajectory of the current Japanese-style Western medicine, but also to understand the sociocultural background of the original Western medicine with knowledge of the professionalism that developed subsequently in the West. If Korean medicine is to rise above its colonial roots and guarantee its prosperity and survival as a profession, it has no choice but to put effort into the establishment of medical professionalism.


The provision of social assets and services to the people by the State government cannot be achieved without revenue. It is therefore expedient that state governments are encouraged to expand their internally generated revenue bases to aid planning and execution of social infrastructure. Kogi State Board of Internal Revenue is responsible for the collection and management of internal revenue which is the financial backbone of the State. Information about the present method of revenue collection and management by the Board was gathered through interviews, group discussions, direct observation and document study. From the information gathered a number of problems inherent in the present method of operations were extracted. These problems include: delay in the remittance of collected revenue to the State treasury due to the huge computation involved in bringing together all revenues collected from thirty Area offices within the State, diversion of the revenue collected into private pockets by staff of the Board, difficulty in identifying and locating tax evaders for necessary legal and prohibitive actions to be taken against them, computational errors, high level of redundancy and inconsistencies in record, low level of data security, inability to quickly and accurately retrieve and assemble relevant data for prompt decision making. This research is undertaken to proffer solutions to the problems identified in the revenue collection and management in order to provide Kogi State a sound financial base. A combination of Structured Systems Analysis and Design Methodology(SSADM) and Object Oriented Analysis and Design Methodology (OOADM) was deployed to develop a feature rich software program called Computerized Internally Generated Revenue Processing System(CIGRPS). The application was developed using MySQL database platform as backend and Visual Basic 6.0 as front end. The implementation of the application resulted in the elimination of the identified problems.

 Keywords : Revenue, internally generated revenue, social assets and services, board of internal revenue.


The reactivity of strained [1]ferrocenophanes, [Fe(eta-C5H4)2ERx] (ERx = SiMe2, 1a: SiMePh, 1b; SnR2, 1c), towards boron halides has been investigated and has been shown to provide a facile pathway to ferrocene derivatives functionalized with Lewis acidic boron centers. The boron halides RBX2 (R = Cl, Ph, fc; X = Cl, Br) (fc = Fe(eta-C5H4)2) lead to selective cleavage of the Si-Cp bonds in 1a and 1b to give, depending on the reaction stoichiometry, functionalized mono- or diferrocenylboranes RnB [(eta-C5H4)Fe(eta-C5H4SiMe2Cl)](3-n) (2a: R = Cl, n = 2; 2b: R = Cl, n = 1; 2c: R = Ph, n = 1) and RnB[(eta-C5H4)Fe(eta-C5H4SiMePhCl)](3-n) (2d: R = Cl, n = 2) in high yields. Compounds 2a-d were characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (for 2b). Most likely due to steric constraints, a triferrocenylborane was not obtained even from the reaction of BCl3 with an excess of 1a, whereas facile formation of the diferrocenylphenylborane 2c from PhBCl2 and two equivalents of 1a was observed. Selective hydrolysis of the B-Cl bonds of chlorodiferrocenylborane 2b in the presence of trace amounts of water led to the silylated tetranuclear ferrocene complex [(ClMe2Sifc)2B-O-B(fcSiMe2Cl)2] (3) without cleavage of the Si-Cl bonds. The structure of 3 was confirmed by an X-ray diffraction study. Studies of the reactivity of the higher Group 14 homologue of 1a and 1b, the tin-bridged [1]ferrocenophane 1c, revealed that facile addition of B-Cl bonds occurs across the Sn-Cp bonds to yield the 1-stannyl-1'-borylferrocenes [(ClMes2Sn)fc(BClR)] (4a: R = Cl; 4b: R = Ph; Mes = 2,4,6-Me3C6H2). The new synthetic methodology can be extended to bifunctional Lewis acids such as the bis(boryl)ferrocene 1,1'-fc(BBr2)2, which affords the linear boron-bridged ferrocene trimer 1,1'-[fc[B(Br)fcSiMe2Br]2] 5 in 54% isolated yield. In order to incorporate the functionalized ferrocenylboranes into polymer structures, compound 2c was reduced with Li[BEt3H] to give the silicon-hydride functionalized species [PhB[(eta-C5H4)Fe(eta-C5H4SiMe2H)]2] (6), which was then used as a capping reagent in the transition metal catalyzed polymerization of 1a. This process leads to the incorporation of the ferrocenylborane unit into the main chain of a poly(ferrocenylsilane) to afford [PhB-[(fcSiMe2)(n-1)fcSiMe2H]2] (7).


Sir .—The article by Tirosh and Rabino 1 that appeared in the May 1989 issue of AJDC reviewed the few published studies on the benefit of physical therapy for patients with cerebral palsy. The results are dismal on several accounts, and the need for more scientifically rigorous study is past due. Nonetheless, is this outcome to date really so different from our therapy results in some other conditions? Much time and money is spent rehabilitating normal brains of people that have been injured in various accidents. However, many children with congenital brain lesions (including cerebral palsy) have greater "potential" than those injured later in life. I personally follow up a large cohort of children with cerebral palsy who have normal IQs and who, through therapy—physical or otherwise, are learning to compensate for their disability. If a child was born with a limb defect, all sorts of resources could be brought


OBJECTIVE
To explore the feasibility and safety of radical mediastinal lymphadenectomy in thoracoscopic esophagectomy for esophageal cancer.

METHODS
We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of a cohort of 147 patients with esophageal cancer who underwent thoracoscopic esophagectomy. Seventy-one patients received traditional lymphadenectomy for the periesophageal and subcarinal lymph nodes (traditional dissection group), while 76 patients received radical lymph node dissection for the bilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve lymphatic chains as well as the periesophageal and subcarinal nodes (radical dissection group). The number of retrieved lymph nodes, incidence of node metastasis, the operation time, estimated blood loss, complications, morbidity and mortality were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS
Thoracoscopic esophagectomy was completed in all patients with no conversion to thoracotomy. There were no significant differences of operational time and blood loss between the two groups [(89 ± 32) min versus (99 ± 32) min, P = 0.064; (152 ± 108) ml versus (107 ± 82) ml, P = 0.261]. In all patients, the total and average number of retrieved mediastinal nodes were 1644 and 11.2 ± 5.9/case, and the incidence of metastatic lymph nodes was 24.5%. The total and average number of retrieved mediastinal nodes were 999 and 13.6 ± 6.4/case in the radical dissection group, significantly higher than that in the traditional dissection group (645 and 9.1 ± 4.4/case) (P < 0.001). The average number of retrieved nodes and node metastasis rate in the radical dissection group were significantly higher than in the traditional dissection group (13.1 ± 6.4 versus 9.1 ± 4.4, P < 0.001; 35.5% versus 12.7%, P < 0.05). In the total group of 147 cases, the metastasis rates of periesophageal, subcarinal nodes and nodes along the recurrent laryngeal nerve lymphatic chains were 19.7%, 3.4% and 17.1%, respectively. There was thoracic lymph node metastasis in 27 cases with a metastasis rate of 35.5% in the radical dissection group, significantly higher than that in 9 cases and 12.7% in the traditional dissection group (P > 0.001). In the 1644 retrieved thoracic lymph nodes, there were 90 positive metastatic lymph nodes (metastasis ratio 5.5%). Among the 1644 lymph nodes, the metastasis ratio of periesophageal lymph nodes was 6.5%, subcarinal lymph modes 2.4% and the recurrent laryngeal nerve chain lymph nodes 7.5%. Among the 147 cases, complications occurred in 60 cases, with an overall morbidity rate of 40.8%. There were no significant differences of the incidence rates of overall complications, pulmonary complications and recurrent laryngeal nerve injury between the two groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION
Thoracoscopic esophagectomy with radical mediastinal lymphadenectomy is technically Safe and feasible.


Abstract Wrist arthroscopy is now widely indicated for diagnosis and treatment of acute or chronic wrist pain, especially for triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) lesions, as a gold standard. In most cases radiocarpal and midcarpal arthroscopy was performed, while DRUJ arthroscopy has been rarely performed because of its difficulties. Recent anatomic and biomechanical studies demonstrated that the radioulnar ligament (RUL), which is the proximal component of the TFCC facing to the DRUJ, is the primary stabilizer of the distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ). Rupture of the radioulnar ligament (RUL) at the fovea area, where it is the main attaching portion to the ulna and is the isometric point during forearm rotation as the rotation axis passes, is responsible for DRUJ instability. Although physical examination and imaging diagnosis may indicate a foveal detachment of the TFCC, DRUJ arthroscopy is potential for visualizing the RUL at the fovea. Role of DRUJ arthroscopy should be more important not only for diagnosis of rupture of the RUL but also for decision making of treatment option for RUL tear. DRUJ arthroscopy also demonstrates the joint surface of both the sigmoid notch and ulnar head, and the proximal surface of the TFCC.


INTRODUCTION
Abundant animal and human evidence demonstrates that loading stimuli generate positive adaptive changes in bone, but effects of activity on bone mineral density (BMD) are often modest and frequently equivocal.

HYPOTHESIS
Physical activity effects on the femur would be better reflected in measurements of geometry than BMD.

STUDY DESIGN
Cross-sectional cohort study.

METHODS
We used data from 6032 women of mixed ethnicity aged 50-79 yr who had dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans of the total body and hip from the Women's Health Initiative observational study. Subjects were distributed in three ways: self-report categories included 1) tertiles of MET and 2) reported minutes per week walking for exercise. A third, more objective, category was based on tertile of lean body mass fraction (LMF) from DXA scans. Femur outcomes included conventional femoral neck and total hip BMD, bone mineral content and region area, and geometry measurements using the Hip Structure Analysis software. Outcomes were compared between activity groups using models adjusted for common confounders.

RESULTS
Adjusted bone measurements showed similar activity effects with all three grouping variables, but these were greater and more significant when evaluated by LMF tertile. Women in the highest LMF tertile had the widest femurs. Differences in section modulus between highest and lowest tertile of LMF were 50%-80% greater than the association with bone mineral content and two to three times that on BMD.

CONCLUSIONS
More active women in the Women's Health Initiative observational study had geometrically stronger femurs, although effects are underestimated, not apparent, or sometimes negative when using BMD as an outcome.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Exercise improves the strength of the femur largely by adding bone to the outer cortical surface; this improves resistance to bending, but because of the way DXA measurements are made, this may paradoxically reduce BMD.


In this study, the effect of pretreatments (hot water blanching, microwave blanching and ohmic heating) on drying kinetics and quality characteristics of green bell pepper dried at 60, 70 and 80 °C was investigated. Four mathematical models were fitted to experimental data and Logarithmic model was found to be the best for all the samples. Rehydration ability of only ohmic heating pretreated peppers was higher than untreated ones. Total polyphenol (TP) content and antioxidant capacity (AC) of dried peppers varied between 3.21-5.08 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g dry matter (DM) and 1037.57-2407.40 mmol AAE/100 g DM, respectively. The content of ascorbic acid (AA) in dried samples was in the range of 187.25-722.55 µg/g DM. The bioaccessibility of TP after in-vitro digestion varied from 79.44 to 97.73%. Losses of chlorophyll a and b were very high in all samples compared to fresh ones but the most in control samples.


Understanding the distribution and geometry of reservoir geobodies is crucial for net-to-gross estimates and to model subsurface flow. This article focuses on the process of dolomitization and resulting geometry of diagenetic geobodies in an outcrop of Jurassic host rocks from northern Oman. Field and petrographic data show that a first phase of stratabound dolomite is crosscut by a second phase of fault-related dolomite. The stratabound dolomite geobodies are laterally continuous for at least several hundreds of meters (1000 ft) and probably regionally and are one-half meter (1.6 ft) thick. Based on petrography and geochemistry, a process of seepage reflux of mesosaline or hypersaline fluids during the early stages of burial diagenesis is proposed for the formation of the stratabound dolomite. In contrast, the fault-related dolomite geobodies are trending along a fault that can be followed for at least 100 m (328 ft) and vary in width from a few tens of centimeters to as much as 10 m (1–33 ft). Petrography, geochemistry, and high homogenization temperature of fluid inclusions all point to the formation of the dolomite along a normal fault under deep burial conditions during the Middle to Late Cretaceous. The high 87Sr/86Sr ratio in the dolomite and the high salinity measured in fluid inclusions indicate that the dolomitizing fluids are deep basinal brines that interacted with crystalline basement. The dolomitization styles have an impact on the dimension, texture, and geochemistry of the different dolomite geobodies, and a modified classification scheme (compared to the one from Jung and Aigner, 2012) is proposed to incorporate diagenetic geobodies in future reservoir modeling.


Background The recent update of the ASAS-EULAR management recommendations for axial spondyloarthritis highlights effectiveness of home exercises and physical therapy. However, the adherence rates to these structured exercises are low, what could limit their long-term effectiveness. An option could be to replace or to complete the practice of specific exercises with the regular practice of a recreational sport activity. Data concerning the effectiveness and tolerance of sports in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) are scarce. Objectives To assess the tolerance and effectiveness of recreational sports practice on function, spinal mobility, disease activity, pain and quality of life in patients with AS. Methods A systematic review was performed according the PRISMA guidelines, using the following search engines: MEDLINE (Pubmed), COCHRANE Library, Google Scholar and Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), completed by a manual research. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from 1984 to September 2016, with participants with AS fulfilling the New York modified criteria, and interventions involving sports practice. We defined "sports" according to the MeSH definition as "Activities or games, usually involving physical effort or skill [with purpose of] pleasure, competition, and/or financial reward." Exercise therapy and physiotherapy were not included in the research. The outcomes measured were the followings: stiffness/spinal mobility, function, disease activity, quality of life, pain, side effects. Methodological quality was assessed using the PEDro scale. Results From the 40 studies identified after screening, only 5 articles were selected for eligibility. One study was excluded (poor quality). The 4 RCTs concerned a total of 187 AS patients. Interventions were Pilates, Tai Chi, swimming, walking, and exergames. Control groups received either no specific intervention or standard exercise therapy. The studies were too heterogeneous to be pooled but the comparisons inter and intra-groups in each study tended to show significant effectiveness of sports practice on function, activity and spinal mobility. Data on tolerance were scarce, but no significant side effect was reported. Conclusions Recreational sports practice may improve function, activity and spinal mobility in patients with AS. However, there are very few studies available, and evidence-level is low. More controlled randomized clinical trials should be conducted in the future to confirm the effectiveness and safety of sports in AS. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Background: Cortical microinfarcts (CMIs) are frequently detected in autopsy brains of elderly subjects, and distributed predominantly in the area of predilection for cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). Recently these lesions have been detected on high-filed MRI using double inversion recovery (DIR) and 3D-fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR). Radiological diagnosis according to Boston criteria for CAA may be reinforced by detecting CMIs. Methods: We performed a prospective analysis of 36 patients diagnosed as clinically probable CAA by Boston criteria, including multiple strictly lobar microbleeds as a diagnostic indicator. These patients were recruited at the Department of Neurology, Mie University Hospital from August 2009 to April 2012. 3-tesla MR images including susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), DIR and 3D- FLAIR were reviewed. Results: CMIs were found in 9 of 36 (25%) patients. Most CMIs were located in close proximity to lobar microbleeds. Cortical superficial siderosis was observed in 6 of 36 (16.6%) patients, among which 5 (83.3%) showed CMIs. There were 5 patients with symptomatic subcortical hemorrhage, and 3 of these (60%) showed both CMIs and superficial siderosis. Conclusions: These results indicate that CMIs strengthen radiological diagnosis of CAA if these lesions coexist with multiple strictly lobar microbleeds and cortical superficial siderosis.


The main aim of this study was to investigate the effect of leachate recirculation and aeration on volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations in aerobic and anaerobic landfill leachate samples. In this study, two aerobic (A1, A2) and two anaerobic (AN1, AN2) reactors with (A1, AN1) and without (A2, AN2) leachate recirculation were used in order to determine the change of volatile fatty acids components in landfill leachate. VFA degradation rate was almost 100% in each reactor but the degradation rate show notable differences. In aerobic landfill reactors, total VFA concentrations decreased below 1000 mg L−1 after 120 days of operation and only caproic and acetic acids were determined at this time. The stabilization of the VFA concentrations takes about 350 and 450 days for AN1 and AN2 reactors, respectively. VFA concentrations were higher than that of aerobic reactors because of the acidogenic phase occurred in anaerobic environment. According to the results of VFA components, the stabilization of the waste was achieved after 120 days of operation in aerobic landfills. At this time, anaerobic reactors were in the acidogenic phase which results with the high concentrations of VFA. The results also indicated that leachate recirculation does not affect the degradation rate in aerobic landfills as much as it does in anaerobic landfills


This research guide covers Android legal research and productivity apps including: government apps, creating, editing and annotating, archiving and note taking, law practice and management and other apps. #androidapps


The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of liver in progression of insulin resistance in relation to IGF-I levels in rats with acute hepatotoxicity, induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and acetaminophen. Wistar rats were divided into four equal groups of six rats each. Group-I (served as Control1) received olive oil, group-II received CCl4, group-III (served as control 2) received gum acacia and group-IV received acetaminophen. After 48 h of treatment, fasting blood samples were collected to determine biochemical parameters, and liver and pancreas in all groups were collected for histological evaluations. The levels of serum fasting glucose, AST, ALT, ALP, total bilirubin and insulin resistance were Significantly more in group II & IV when compared with their respective control groups. Fasting insulin and IGF-I levels in toxicant treated groups were shown significantly lower than in control groups. The liver sections of toxicant treated rats showed hydropic degeneration (ballooning) in centrilobular hepatocytes with single cell necrosis surrounded by neutrophils. The serum IGF-I level could be a useful marker for identifying subjects at risk of developing type-II diabetes mellitus and possible cardiovascular complications.


Purpose of ReviewAtaxia is the predominant manifestation of many acquired and inherited neurologic disorders affecting the cerebellum, its connections, and the afferent proprioceptive pathways. This article reviews the phenomenology and etiologies of cerebellar and afferent ataxias and provides indications for a rational approach to diagnosis and management. Recent FindingsThe pathophysiology of ataxia is being progressively understood and linked to the functional organization of the cerebellum. The impact of cerebellar diseases on different neurologic functions has been better defined and shown not to be limited to loss of motor coordination. The role of autoimmunity is increasingly recognized as a cause of sporadic cases of ataxia. Large collaborative studies of long duration are providing crucial information on the clinical spectrum and natural history of both sporadic ataxias (such as the cerebellar form of multiple system atrophy) and inherited ataxias. New dominant and recessive ataxia genes have been identified. On the therapeutic front, progress mostly concerns the development of treatments for Friedreich ataxia. SummaryAtaxia is the clinical manifestation of a wide range of disorders. In addition to accurate clinical assessment, MRI plays a major role in the diagnostic workup, allowing us to distinguish degenerative conditions from those due to other types of structural damage to the cerebellar or proprioceptive systems. Diagnostic algorithms based on clinical features, imaging, and neurophysiologic and biochemical parameters can be used to guide genetic testing for hereditary ataxias, the diagnosis of which is likely to be greatly improved by the introduction of new-generation DNA-sequencing approaches. Some rare forms of ataxia can be treated, so their diagnosis should not be missed. Proven symptomatic treatments for ataxia are still lacking, but intensive physical therapy appears to be helpful.


Managing group membership in an ad hoc m-commerce trading forum is a challenging task as peers may only have partial knowledge of the current membership doe to frequent network disconnections, infrequent participation and delays in communication via intermediaries among them The absence of a centralized network infrastructure adds more complexity to this problem This paper presents a fully distributed and self-organizing approach to managing group membership in such a loose trading community. It is designed to suit the dynamic nature of ad hoc wireless networking and the social characteristics of ad hoc m-commerce.


Combinatorial optimization over continuous and integer variables is a useful tool for solving complex optimal control problems of hybrid dynamical systems formulated in discrete-time. Current approaches are based on mixed-integer linear (or quadratic) programming (MIP), which provides the solution after solving a sequence of relaxed linear (or quadratic) programs. MIP formulations require the translation of the discrete/logic part of the hybrid problem into mixed-integer inequalities. Although this operation can be done automatically, most of the original symbolic structure of the problem (e.g., transition functions of finite state machines, logic constraints, symbolic variables, etc.) is lost during the conversion, with a consequent loss of computational performance. In this paper, we attempt to overcome such a difficulty by combining numerical techniques for solving convex programming problems with symbolic techniques for solving constraint satisfaction problems (CSP). The resulting "hybrid" solver proposed here takes advantage of CSP solvers for dealing with satisfiability of logic constraints very efficiently. We propose a suitable model of the hybrid dynamics and a class of optimal control problems that embrace both symbolic and continuous variables/functions, and that are tailored to the use of the new hybrid solver. The superiority in terms of computational performance with respect to commercial MIP solvers is shown on a centralized supply chain management problem with uncertain forecast demand.


Death rates from SARS-Cov2 in England and Wales are examined for the major ethnic minorities. Substantial differences in death rate of different ethnicities were found that are not easily explained by demographic characteristics of these groups such as age and urban-versus-rural residence. This study looks at possible explanations for these disparities. Socio-economic factors such as income and housing conditions are related to the observed differences in Covid-19 death rates, but average intelligence appears to be the best correlate. We also explore ethnic differences in the prevalence of some major chronic medical conditions that are associated with Covid-19 mortality, and find that these appear insufficient as explanations for the different mortality rates. It is hypothesized that intelligence has both direct effects by making people more able to avoid infection, and indirect effects through socio-economic conditions and through lifestyle factors that can lead to chronic health problems.


Glucose utilization and lactate production have been monitored as a function of time using 13C magnetic resonance spectroscopy and [13C1]-glucose with perfused wild type MCF-7 human breast cancer cells and a drug-resistant (AdrR) cell line derived from them. Compared to wild type cells, AdrR cells exhibited an enhanced (3-fold) rate of glycolysis, indicating an increased demand for ATP production. We have investigated the effects of glucose depletion and azide, an inhibitor of oxidative phosphorylation, on the levels of intracellular phosphates (Pi, ATP) and intracellular pH using 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy and on the rates of glycolysis. In both cell lines, ATP levels and the rates of glucose utilization and lactate production were invariant in the presence of azide. ATP production, especially in AdrR cells, was highly dependent on active glucose metabolism. The results of these direct measurements confirm that these cells survive by predominantly utilizing glycolysis. Glutamate and myo-inositol were observed in 13C spectra of acid extracts of AdrR but not wild type cells. Both metabolites are potential substrates in drug detoxification. These differences in rates of glycolysis, ATP production, and the production of certain metabolites may reflect metabolic adaptations associated with the development of drug resistance.


As a member of the large Ran-binding protein family, Ran-binding protein 9 (RANBP9) has been suggested to play a critical role in diverse cellular functions in somatic cell lineages in vitro, and this is further supported by the neonatal lethality phenotype in Ranbp9 global knockout mice. However, the exact molecular actions of RANBP9 remain largely unknown. By inactivation of Ranbp9 specifically in testicular somatic and spermatogenic cells, we discovered that Ranbp9 was dispensable for Sertoli cell development and functions, but critical for male germ cell development and male fertility. RIP-Seq and proteomic analyses revealed that RANBP9 was associated with multiple key splicing factors and directly targeted >2,300 mRNAs in spermatocytes and round spermatids. Many of the RANBP9 target and non-target mRNAs either displayed aberrant splicing patterns or were dysregulated in the absence of Ranbp9. Our data uncovered a novel role of Ranbp9 in regulating alternative splicing in spermatogenic cells, which is critical for normal spermatogenesis and male fertility.


Objective: The aims of the present study were to decide the occurrence of nocardia spp. among Sudanese patients suspected with tuberculosis and to investigate all proteins expressed by the genome of Nocardia africana (formerly isolated from patients with pulmonary infection misdiagnosed as MDR and their structures and functions compared to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Materials and Methods: Three hundred and twenty-nine patients, presented with pulmonary infection were included in this study. Those patients were examined for the presence of acid- fast bacilli. Two tubes of Lownstein- Jensen (L.J) medium were inoculated with 20 μl of the neutralized sputum sample. All cultures were incubated at 37 °C for 8 weeks before being discarded. Phenotypic characterizations were performed. For nocardia proteom poly acrylamide gele lectrophoresis (PAGE)-based analyses of the four nocardia strains N. farcinica SD1828, N. africana SD 925, and N. asteroides N317 are discussed. In-gel tryptic digestion of these isolates was also performed, then the resulting peptides were introduced to MALDI-TOF peptide mass fingerprints were searched using MASCOT software. Results: Ten isolates showed rapid growth pattern within 2-3 days after inoculation, further conventional methods suggested that all these isolates were belonging to the family nocardiacea. Two Dimentional Poly Acrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) using pH strips 3-10 revealed that the soluble proteins were visible in a much smaller pI range. All strains exhibited similar protein distributions. A similarity analysis revealed that mycobacterium sequences are of high relevance for the investigated strains. Conclusions: Nocardia revealed considerable occurrence among patients with pulmonary infections (3.3%) giving clinical symptoms similar to those occur by M. tuberculosis infection, this may be due to similarities in functional proteins expressed by their genomes. This finding suggested that pulmonary nocardiosis might occur in patients who suffer from chronic lung disease in Sudan. It is important, therefore, that clinicians in Chest Units should consider this condition, especially when patients with respiratory infections fail to respond to antitubercula r therapy.


The author uses large-scale German survey data for the years 2009, 2011 and 2013 in order to analyze the nexus between the individual perception of being unfairly paid and measures for quantity and quality of sleep, namely, hours of sleep during workweek and during weekend, happiness with sleep, and sleep disorders diagnosed by a doctor. Main findings of the regression analysis are that workers, who perceive their own wage as unfair, sleep significantly less during the workweek (1.2 to 2.5 percent), are significantly less satisfied with their sleep (1 to 5 percent) and are significantly more likely to have sleep disorders (7 to 36 percent). Moreover, workers with more weekly working hours sleep significantly less during the workweek (0.1 to 0.2 percent per hour) and are significantly less satisfied with their sleep (0.1 to 0.2 percent per hour). The size of the hourly wage is however not significantly correlated with any of the sleep outcomes and the household income seems also of minor importance, even though the estimated coefficients have the expected signs implied by substitution and income effects. The overall results suggest that unfair wage perceptions, which are related to stress, negatively affect workers' sleep and, consequently, their health.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We sought to compare the accuracy of a volumetric fully automated computer assessment of hippocampal volume asymmetry versus neuroradiologists' interpretations of the temporal lobes for mesial temporal sclerosis. Detecting mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) is important for the evaluation of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy as it often guides surgical intervention. One feature of MTS is hippocampal volume loss. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Electronic medical record and researcher reports of scans of patients with proved mesial temporal sclerosis were compared with volumetric assessment with an FDA-approved software package, NeuroQuant, for detection of mesial temporal sclerosis in 63 patients. The degree of volumetric asymmetry was analyzed to determine the neuroradiologists' threshold for detecting right-left asymmetry in temporal lobe volumes. RESULTS: Thirty-six patients had left-lateralized MTS, 25 had right-lateralized MTS, and 2 had bilateral MTS. The estimated accuracy of the neuroradiologist was 72.6% with a κ statistic of 0.512 (95% CI, 0.315–0.710) [moderate agreement, P < 3 × 10−6]), whereas the estimated accuracy of NeuroQuant was 79.4% with a κ statistic of 0.588 (95% CI, 0.388–0.787) [moderate agreement, P < 2 × 10−6]). This discrepancy in accuracy was not statistically significant. When at least a 5%–10% volume discrepancy between temporal lobes was present, the neuroradiologists detected it 75%–80% of the time. CONCLUSIONS: As a stand-alone fully automated software program that can process temporal lobe volume in 5–10 minutes, NeuroQuant compares favorably with trained neuroradiologists in predicting the side of mesial temporal sclerosis. Neuroradiologists can often detect even small temporal lobe volumetric changes visually.


The Neotropical caddisfly genus Centromacronema (Hydropsychidae: Macronematinae) contains 17 species. Many of the species are taxonomically poorly known and their biology and immature stages are also very incompletely known. Here, we provide the first complete description of the larval stages of the genus, based on those of Centromacronema obscurum (Ulmer, 1905) collected from a stream flowing through a small fragment of the Atlantic Forest biomes of southeastern Brazil.


Scientists and engineers are continuously patenting innovative ideas such as inventions, industrial designs, and utility models. It is therefore relevant to pose the question of the influence of intellectual property in the field of innovative technologies on the market value of the assets of industrial enterprises.
We analyse the dependence of the results of intellectual activity in the field of advanced technologies on the capitalization of innovative industrial production after the adoption of the developed technologies. We consider patent landscapes, analyse research publications, and study the dependence of financial indicators on the results of intellectual activity at enterprises producing computers, optics and electronic equipment.
Our research methodology is based on the statistical analysis of the dependence of the financial results of industrial enterprises on the actual application of the results of intellectual activity to the technological process. We define the object of analysis by citing research articles and surveys from the WoS database. The patent landscape is assessed using data from commercial information systems such as Orbit Intelligence (Questel) and Amadeus (Bureau van Dijk, Moody's Analytics) that make it possible to visually show the links between patent activity and technological trends in the computer and electronic technology industries.
The research results shall be useful for assessing the effectiveness of employing patents in manufacturing and the prospects of improving production technologies for the formation of corporate innovative technological policy.
We conclude that the use of information on patent trends is an effective tool for increasing the competitiveness of enterprises producing electronic equipment. The priority financing of innovative technologies ensures the sustainable development of the manufacturing industry and have a positive impact on the profitability of enterprise assets.


During a 4-week period, Aspergillus fumigatus caused disease in 2 patients and colonized a third patient in a renal transplant ward. Our investigation indicated that increased exposure of these patients to spores probably occurred during renovation of the ward one floor above it. Cases were significantly clustered (P = 0.014) during the period when work overhead caused dust to filter down through pores in the acoustical tiles of the false ceiling of the renal transplant ward. Swab cultures demonstrated A. fumigatus in the dust, and air samples showed heavy contamination with A. fumigatus and other fungi at and below a renovation site, but not on 2 distant wards. We concluded that dust can be an important source of aspergilli and that release of dust and spores during activities such as renovation may increase the risk of nosocomial Aspergillus infection in exposed, immunosuppressed patients.


Background Cognitive reserve hypothesis suggest that highly educated individuals are less likely to manifest clinical symptoms of dementia compared to their less-educated counterparts. We aimed to examine the association between education, used as a marker of cognitive reserve, and change in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in preclinical stages of dementia in four European longitudinal studies of ageing. Methods Participants, aged 80 and older, who developed dementia during the study period in each one of the four cohorts investigated: Newcastle 85+, UK (3 waves); Leiden 85+, Netherlands (6 waves); 3 Cities, France (5 waves) and OCTO-Twins, Sweden (5 waves) were included in these analyses. Each individuals' cognitive scores were aligned according to the distance (years) to dementia diagnosis. Using a coordinated analysis approach, we employed multilevel models to investigate the role of education on change in MMSE while controlling for age at baseline (centred at 85 yrs in all studies), sex, and time to dementia diagnosis from study entry within each study. Education was classified in low versus higher levels ( > 10 years). Results In two out of four cohorts (Newcastle 85+ and 3 Cities), higher education was associated with higher MMSE scores at the time of dementia diagnosis compared to those with lower education (with β = 4.44, SE = 1.45, p < 0.01 and β = 1.11, SE = 0.28, p < 0.001 respectively). Higher education had a moderating role on the rate of change in MMSE from the study entry to the time of dementia diagnosis in the British cohort with 1.25, SE = 0.26, p < 0.01 slower decline compared to those with lower education, but a reverse effect in the Dutch cohort, where higher education was associated with a steeper decline in MMSE with β = –1.00, SE = 0.43, p < 0.05 compared to those with lower education. Conclusion This coordinated approach analysis revealed no consistent protection for those with higher education in terms of cognitive decline in preclinical stages of dementia, but showed an advantage in cognitive performance at the time of dementia diagnosis in half of the populations samples investigated. These results support only partially the theory that individuals with greater cognitive reserve as reflected in years of education, are better to cope with AD brain pathology without observable deficits in levels of cognitive performance or their rates of decline.


Alcohol's contribution to injury at both individual and population level is indisputable, and it is commonly identified as the most important single risk factor. Reduction in hazardous patterns of drinking is required for prevention of injury as well other harms, and is achievable through a synergistic mix of evidence-based alcohol policies. There is already substantial scientific consensus about effective policies, which are largely environmental rather than individual-focused and include the effective control of commercial alcohol interests. Injury prevention has much to gain from modifying such a potent up-stream determinant. Healthy alcohol policy is not just needed for the rich world but for low and middle-income countries where promotion of alcohol is aggressive and largely unregulated. Injury prevention experts have a important role to play in advocating effective control of the supply and promotion of alcohol, as it is a major primary prevention strategy for injury in all parts if the world. Paul Quigley There has been growing recognition in New Zealand of the amount of social and financial harms that excessive alcohol consumption causes. This is across the wide spectrum of alcohol abuse, from recreational binge drinking through to the chronic health consequences of alcohol addiction. There is currently a unique opportunity to make societal change around the way we consume alcohol as part of evolving legislative change. As part of that change it became evident that there is very poor data about the actual burden of alcohol harms when related to health presentations and in particular injury. I will be presenting how there is a vital role acute services can offer, Emergency Departments, Ambulance and Police in regards to providing an accurate picture of alcohol harm. I will discuss how through relatively simple means accurate data can be obtained be health professionals that can help guide law and enforcement agencies make change that can have real impact on these harms. I will include examples of collaborative work with the Wellington City Council and other agencies working towards a safer city.


Individual foraging specializations, where individuals use a small component of the population niche width, are widespread in nature with important ecological and evolutionary implications. In long-lived animals, foraging ability develops with age, but we know little about the ontogeny of individuality in foraging. Here we use precision global positioning system (GPS) loggers to examine how individual foraging site fidelity (IFSF), a common component of foraging specialization, varies between breeders, failed breeders and immatures in a long-lived marine predator—the northern gannet Morus bassanus. Breeders (aged 5+) showed strong IFSF: they had similar routes and were faithful to distal points during successive trips. However, centrally placed immatures (aged 2–3) were far more exploratory and lacked route or foraging site fidelity. Failed breeders were intermediate: some with strong fidelity, others being more exploratory. Individual foraging specializations were previously thought to arise as a function of heritable phenotypic differences or via social transmission. Our results instead suggest a third alternative—in long-lived species foraging sites are learned during exploratory behaviours early in life, which become canalized with age and experience, and refined where possible—the exploration-refinement foraging hypothesis. We speculate similar patterns may be present in other long-lived species and moreover that long periods of immaturity may be a consequence of such memory-based individual foraging strategies.


Predicting the sintering deformation of ceramic powder compacts is very important to manufactures of ceramic components. In theory the finite element method can be used to calculate the sintering deformation. In practice the method has not been used very often by the industry for a very simple reason – it is more expensive to obtain the material data required in a finite element analysis than it is to develop a product through trial and error. A finite element analysis of sintering deformation requires the shear and bulk viscosities of the powder compact. The viscosities are strong functions of temperature, density and grain-size, all of which change dramatically in the sintering process. There are two ways to establish the dependence of the viscosities on the microstructure: (a) by using a material model and (b) by fitting the experimental data. The materials models differ from each other widely and it can be difficult to know which one to use. On the other hand, obtaining fitting functions is very time consuming. To overcome this difficulty, Pan and his co-workers developed a reduced finite element method (Kiani et. al. J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., 2007, 27, 2377-2383; Huang and Pan, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., available on line, 2008) which does not require the viscosities; rather the densification data (density as function of time) is used to predict sintering deformation. This paper provides an overview of the reduced method and a series of case studies.


Achalasia secondary to neoplasia is an uncommon entity, but recognition is paramount given the concern of missing a cancer diagnosis. Most case series of secondary achalasia occurred in prior decades raising the question of whether the underlying neoplastic causes have changed. All cases of achalasia secondary to neoplasia were reviewed at the Mayo Clinic from 2000 to the present. Cases were assessed for underlying cause of achalasia, whether achalasia was the primary presentation and demographic and clinical factors. Seventeen patients with achalasia secondary to neoplasia were identified. This was 1.5% of all patients with achalasia seen. The most common causes were adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, followed by breast and non-small cell lung cancer. No cases of gastric cancer were identified. Most patients had weight loss and rapid onset of symptoms but could not clearly be distinguished from primary achalasia. Nine patients presented with achalasia, whereas eight patients had known neoplasia. Five of these patients had a positive paraneoplastic panel suggestive of a paraneoplastic syndrome. Prognosis was generally poor except for patients with esophageal leiomyomatosis. This case series demonstrates a changing differential diagnosis for achalasia secondary to neoplasia with a higher number of patients presenting with a known primary and with a paraneoplastic syndrome. Awareness of secondary achalasia and its differentiation from primary causes is still essential.


This report presents a new method to find shapes that attain minimum wave drag under certain constraints. The constraints considered here are given values for the base area and the lift. The configuration is assumed to be embedded in a volume enclosed by two opposing circular Mach cones, one going through the most forward point of the configuration, the other through the rim of the base. The flow field inside this volume is entirely governed by the perturbation velocities on the Mach cone through the base. In fact, the method deals with the procedure to determine the value of these velocities. Once the velocity distribution along the Mach cone is known the flow field and thus the shape of possible configurations can be found by applying characteristic methods. Two cases are considered; in the first only the value of the base area is prescribed, while in the second also the lift is given. As an example the shape and the axis inclinations of a possible ring-wing configuration are calculated. The analysis is based on linearized supersonic flow theory. However, the method can also be adapted to non-linear flows around shapes with circular cross-sections.


By analyzing the relative position between tool and workpiece in assemble model of finite simulation, and loading the tool with parallel motion and rotation, a finite element model based on trochoid motion is built. In order to reduce the simulation time and errors advanced meshing method was used to optimize the finite element model. This paper considers performance parameter of the workpiece, and researches a simulation of milling force on the Aero-aluminum Alloy 7075-T7451 by using ABAQUS. The milling force finite element model was verified to be feasible, and the result is reliable.


The CLEAR Program at the University of Utah's College of Engineering prepares engineering undergraduates for success in their careers through improving their oral and written communication, teamwork skills and ethical understanding.


The capabilities of the wireless networks are continuously being enhanced to meet ever growing demand of the higher data rates for accessing wide range of Internet services in the mobile node. The IEEE 802.16e mobile worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), 3GPP long term evolution (LTE) and 3GPP2 ultra mobile broadband (UMB) wireless technologies are identified as next generation technologies beyond 3G to meet this growing demand. All these technologies are using orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) as the radio access technology to achieve higher data rates, efficient spectrum usage, higher cell throughput, seamless mobility and all-IP based core network for distributed, scalable network architecture to support wide range of applications/services with better quality of experience. Some of BS Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) already support both LTE and WiMAX base station function on the same hardware platform with different software loads. Looking at this trend, and considering the user plane transport similarities in ldquobeyond 3Grdquo networks, this paper analyses the possibility of having common access gateway functional modules for supporting LTE networks mobility management entity (MME), serving gateway (S-GW) functions and WiMAX networks access services network gateway (ASN-GW) functions.


The sharp increase of the prices of mineral fertilizers in 2010-2013 caused  in most of farms necessity bears of higher expenses of mineral fertilizers in order to safe at least steadily level of application mineral fertilizers to plants. Most of them in this period increased costs of mineral fertilizers but part of farms that costs reduced. The aim of the study was to analyze production potential, costs of production, effectiveness and rate of  investment two statistically different groups of farms specializing in field crops according to demand of  mineral fertilizers, that in 2010-2013 led accountancy according to the Polish FADN. It was found that farms that in this period increased costs of mineral fertilizers are characterized by a lower the amount of labour per farm and per 1 ha utilized agriculture area (UAA), had a larger area of UAA and a better economic situation.


SKYY Vodka began in 1992 as a tiny start-up in San Francisco and based on the vision of entrepreneur Maurice Kanbar and his dream to make exceptionally smooth vodka, SKYY is now the leading domestic premium vodka in the United States. SKYY Vodka was originally sold by SKYY Spirits LLC, which was later acquired by Campari Group – later renamed Campari America. Currently, it is now the U.S. marketing arm of Campari, and markets other Campari products in addition to the vodka line.Over the last few years, SKYY Vodka has invested a series of entertainment-based marketing campaigns designed to craft a "glamorous and sexy" brand image. In this paper, we performed a complete case analysis and addressed Sky Vodka's problems found in the situation analysis from its inception to now. We also used Michael Porter's Five Forces to conduct industry analysis and we provided strategic alternatives marketing strategies and recommendations.


The aim of this study is to determine the effect of Jigsaw II technique, reading-writing-presentation method, and computer animation on students' academic achievements, epistemological beliefs, attitudes towards science lesson, and the retention of knowledge in the "Light" unit covered in the 7th grade. The sample of the study consists of 71 seventh-grade students from two different middle schools located in Erzurum City (Turkey) in the 2013-2014 academic year. One of these schools was randomly determined as the Jigsaw II Group (JIIG) (n = 24). In this group, the Jigsaw II technique was used during the cooperative learning. Another school was taken as the Reading-Writing-Presentation Group (RWPG) (n=22). In this group, the reading-writing-presentation method was employed. The other school was appointed as the Animation Group (AG) (25). In this group, computer animations were used. Academic Achievement Test (AAT), Science Lesson Attitude Scale (SLAS), and Epistemological Belief Questionnaire (EBQ) were used for data collection. The data were evaluated by using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and ANCOVA. According to the analyses results, the Jigsaw II technique and the reading-writing-presentation method are more effective than animations in terms of academic success and retention of knowledge, but the difference between the effectiveness of the reading-writing-presentation method and that of animations is not significant. The results also indicate that Jigsaw II and animations have more positive influences on epistemological beliefs when compared to the reading-writing-presentation method. Finally, they show that all the three methods and techniques used in the study are effective in creating positive attitudes towards the lesson among students, and the use of animations has more positive influences than others.

 Key words: Cooperative learning model, Jigsaw II technique, reading-writing-presentation, computer animations, light unit, science and technology attitudes, epistemological belief.


The White Architects of Black Education: Ideology and Power in America, 1865-1954 by William H. Watkins. New York, New York: Teachers College Press, 2001. 208 pp. $22.95, paper. Reviewed by Dia Sekayi, Howard University. Author, William Watkins, is a sociologist and historian of education. He is widely pubfished in this area. This background, along with his lifetime of political activism, leaves him well positioned to discuss the history of Black education from a unique perspective. Watkins uses the metaphor of architecture to refer to the ideological construction of colonial Black education. He opens the book with a helpful overview of the two parts; the first of which places the architects' lives within a political/sociological/historical context. Time is not typically taken to provide such a detailed context. However, Watkins deftly crosses disciplines to help the reader make sense of the events and people who have affected the history of Black education. In part one, Watkins chronicles the power, politics, and reality of educating Blacks. He reviews the ideology underlying various forms of philanthropy. His discussion of scientific racism and eugenics as a backdrop is very informative. Indeed, the reader can carry away this portion of the book to interpret other historical texts that deal with the experiences of African Americans and other oppressed groups during the mid to late 19th and early 20th centuries. Part two of the book consists of seven chapters that chronicle the personal and professional lives of individuals, partners, and families described as the architects of Black education. While each of the names is familiar, the reader is provided with some extremely insightful information on persons whose names are usually only mentioned, comparatively speaking, in other texts on the same subject. Having access to a fuller history on General Samuel Armstrong, the subject of the first biographical chapter, assists the reader in interpreting the ostensible contradiction between his life as founder of Hampton Institute and as White supremacist. In poignant wording, Watkins writes: Theoretically, Armstrong brought together the powerful with the powerless. He brought racial supremacists together with those seeking equality. He brought together the lion and the lamb. It was always clear, however, that he was working for the powerful, the supremacists, and the lion. (p. 44) In Chapter 4, Watkins brings us into the philosophy of Franklin Giddings. His claim to fame is the infusion of "scientific sociology" into the curriculum. This scientific sociology justified a racial hierarchy that culminates in White supremacy. His social theory is said to have helped in framing a colonial model of segregation for America. In Chapter 5, the reader is introduced to the Phelps Stokes family. The theme of social justice coexisting side by side with deep seeded beliefs in human inequality continues. Watkins warns the reader to examine the company kept and projects funded by the Phelps Stokes family if we are to truly understand the motivation behind these leaders of scientific corporate philanthropy. In Chapter 6, the life of Thomas Jesse Jones is presented. Again, this architect accepted the concept of racial hierarchy while acting as a "champion" for so-called Negro education. Watkins analyzes his experiences with settlement houses, the Hampton Institute, and the Phelps Stokes Fund. …


Developments in information technology are fundamentally changing many traditional business models. Progress in the IT area is bringing about one change in particular: it is reducing search costs and allowing buyers and sellers of products and services to find each other directly on web-based platforms, without the need for a mediator, broker or intermediary. All business models of trade are affected by this development, and this means that financial trade is also affected. However, bank customers will only turn to the new business model of web-based financial intermediation if the economic advantage of a behavioural change, in which the individual approaches the unfamiliar, is so compelling that the associated transaction costs of learning the new as well as the initial uncertainty of action are justified. Once the number of new users reaches a critical mass, the process of reorganisation is no longer linear and continuous, but advances in bursts and exponentially. This means that, at a certain point in time, the process of system change gains so much momentum that it can hardly be controlled. In view of the inefficiency of the existing banking system as well as the economic superiority of web-based alternatives, it seems that it is only a matter of time before a system change takes place in the banking business.


BACKGROUND
Sensor-augmented pump therapy (SAPT) with algorithms to predict impending low blood glucose and suspend insulin delivery has the potential to reduce hypoglycemia exposure. The aim of this study was to determine whether predictive low glucose management (PLGM) system is effective in preventing insulin-induced hypoglycemia in controlled experiments.

METHODS
Two protocols were used to induce hypoglycemia in an in-clinic environment. (A) Insulin bolus: Insulin was administered as a manual bolus through the pump. (B) Increased basal insulin: Hypoglycemia was induced by increasing basal rates overnight to 180%. For both protocols, participants were randomized and studied on 2 separate days; a control day with SAPT alone and an intervention day with SAPT and PLGM activated. The predictive algorithm was programmed to suspend basal insulin infusion when sensor glucose was predicted to be <80 mg/dL in 30 min. The primary outcome was the requirement for hypoglycemia treatment (symptomatic hypoglycemia or plasma glucose <50 mg/dL) and was compared in both control and intervention arms.

RESULTS
With insulin bolus, 24/28 participants required hypoglycemia treatment with SAPT alone compared to 5/28 participants when PLGM was activated (P ≤ 0.001). With increased basal rates, all the eight SAPT-alone participants required treatment for hypoglycemia compared to only one with SAPT and PLGM. There was no post pump-suspend hyperglycemia with insulin bolus (P = 0.4) or increased basal rates (P = 0.69) in participants with 2-h pump suspension on intervention days.

CONCLUSIONS
SAPT with PLGM reduced the requirement for hypoglycemia treatment following insulin-induced hypoglycemia in an in-clinic setting.


The central nervous system may modulate many aspects of inflammation through alterations of the autonomic nervous system and/or the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The aim of present study was to examine the impact of controllable acute stress on the course of experimental colitis and to elucidate the roles of serotonin (5-HT) and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in the central modulation of the stress. In the stress group, acute electric shock (AES; 0.3-0.6 mA) was applied, while in the central agonist group, rats were injected with central 5-HT agonist (400 µg/kg). In the antagonist groups, 10 min before the application of AES or central agonist, rats were injected with astressin (10 µg/kg; icv) or ramosetron (40 µg/kg; icv). Hexamethonium (15 mg/kg; ip) or RU-486 (10 mg/kg; ip) were given before and after stress or central agonist application. The severity of colonic damage was evaluated by the assessment of macroscopic score, histological analysis and tissue myeloperoxidase activity. The data are expressed as means ± SE and analyzed using Student's t-test or the Mann-Whitney U test. Both AES and central 5-HT decreased colonic damage scores seem to be mediated by central CRF and 5-HT3 receptors and by adrenal corticosteroids and sympathetic ganglia. These results show that the anti-inflammatory effect on colitis may be mediated by central mechanisms that involve the interaction of CRF and 5-HT, with the participation of the sympathetic system and HPA axis.