Although, Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, Eavan Boland and Medbh McGuckian avoid
labelling themselves 'feminist poets', each provides a 'feminist insight' into what
Catriona Clutterbuck describes as their 'marginalization from official systems of
representation,.J This thesis will primarily discuss how each of these women
poets, from both the North and South of Ireland, writes from the margins of Irish
myth and history to question the concept of silence. The introduction interrogates
the meaning of silence in relation to wider philosophic responses to the politics of
silence in contemporary Irish poetry. This chapter will also briefly review some of
the more monumental anthologies of Irish literature and major works of litelary
criticism (1989-2004) to illustrate how women poets have emerged from their
obscurity and established themselves as prominent figures within a patriarchal
tradition that had previously marginalized their voices.
As an example of their rise in status, Chapter II will have a comparative
look at how all three poets employ the body to paradoxically speak of women's
silence, while using it to maintain a level of silence. This thesis will then move on
to discuss how Ni Dhomhnaill, Boland and McGuckian all write from the margins
of Irish myth and history to speak of the unspeakable. In Chapter III, Ni
Dhomhnaill speaks of women's silence through Irish myth and history by
engaging in the oral tradition of storytelling. Whereas Ni Dhomhnaill favours
myth over history, Boland's overall ambition in Chapter IV is to write woman out
of her silence, thus 'out of myth [and] into history' by using her autobiography The fifth chapter will return to the mythical realms of McGuckian' s more radical
approach to history in her later poems from Captain Lavender (1994) and discuss
her private symbolic re-reading of Northern Ireland's political history. Since in
much of their later poetry, Ni Dhomhnaill, Boland and McGuckian all adopt the
ethical position of speaking while maintaining a certain silence, Chapter VI will
conclude with a comparative look at some of the Irish women poets writing of
silence in the twenty-first century.


Alumina borosilicate/polyvinylalcohol (PVA) composite nanofibres were prepared by the sol-gel method and electrospinning technique. Effects of solution viscosity, applied voltage, capillary tip to metal collector distance and calcination temperature were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric/differential thermal analysis. Results indicate that while the initial fibre diameters can be fine-tuned with the right choice of alkoxide– solvent–polymer system and experimental set-up parameters (voltage and capillary tip to collector distance), the final fibre diameter, crystalline phase and morphology of alumina borosilicate fibres are largely influenced by the calcination temperature.


The United States Census Bureau estimates that the current structure of population is going to dramatically change in the next fifty years. It is expected that the population over the age of 65 is going to nearly double from 2015 to 2050, anticipating approximately 84 million individuals in this age range. This drastic increase in this population demands more attention to the needs of this age group and addressing problems that commonly afflict them. Ailments related to oral health such as periodontal disease and caries affect more individuals in American than any other health problem. Oral health, especially in the elderly population, is considered to be of public health significance because the significant increase in the aging population and that these health problems can cause pain, discomfort, infection, and can even result in systemic conditions such as pneumonia. In agreement, Healthy People 2020 reported oral health as a Leading Health Indicator because of its impact on not only the mouth and teeth, but also on the entire body. In general people are keeping their natural teeth for longer than before so there is an increase in care necessary to prolong longevity of these teeth. The care provided for these individuals must be tailored to their specific needs, considering possible dental prosthesis, limited manual dexterity, and personal beliefs on the importance of oral hygiene. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the effectiveness of a training program for certified nurse assistants in improving the overall oral health and quality of life for elderly nursing home residents. Progress and success of this program will be determined by subjective quality of life surveys completed by the nursing home residents, along with documentation of staff engagement.


Like many party systems across Western Europe, the Dutch party system has been in flux since 2002 as a result of a series of related developments, including the decline of mainstream parties which coincided with the emergence of radical right-wing populist parties and the concurrent dimensional transformation of the political space. This article analyses how these challenges to mainstream parties fundamentally affected the structure of party competition. On the basis of content analysis of party programmes, we examine the changing configuration of the Dutch party space since 2002 and investigate the impact of these changes on coalition-formation patterns. We conclude that the Dutch party system has become increasingly unstable. It has gradually lost its core through electoral fragmentation and mainstream parties' positional shifts. The disappearance of a core party that dominates the coalition-formation process initially transformed the direction of party competition from centripetal to centrifugal. However, since 2012 a theoretically novel configuration has emerged in which no party or coherent group of parties dominates competition.


The food security, particularly in Africa, is a challenge to be resolved. The cropland area and spatial distribution obtained from remote sensing imagery are vital information. In this paper, according to cropland area and spatial location, we compare five global cropland datasets including CCI Land Cover, GlobCover, MODIS Collection 5, GlobeLand30 and Unified Cropland in circa 2010 of Africa in terms of cropland area and spatial location. The accuracy of cropland area calculated from five datasets was analyzed compared with statistic data. Based on validation samples, the accuracies of spatial location for the five cropland products were assessed by error matrix. The results show that GlobeLand30 has the best fitness with the statistics, followed by MODIS Collection 5 and Unified Cropland, GlobCover and CCI Land Cover have the lower accuracies. For the accuracy of spatial location of cropland, GlobeLand30 reaches the highest accuracy, followed by Unified Cropland, MODIS Collection 5 and GlobCover, CCI Land Cover has the lowest accuracy. The spatial location accuracy of five datasets in the Csa with suitable farming condition is generally higher than in the Bsk.


Purpose: Anticoagulant therapy has an impact on the health-related quality of life, as it is a chronic treatment for most clinical indications and also requires some lifestyle changes. Since there was no validated questionnaire available in the Maltese language, the aim of our study was to translate and validate the Perception of Anticoagulant Treatment Questionnaire (PACT-Q2). Patients and methods: The PACT-Q2 explores two dimensions (convenience and anticoagulant treatment satisfaction). Forward and backward translations were performed. The Maltese version of the PACT-Q2 was administered to 174 patients on warfarin treatment enrolled from different anticoagulation clinics in Malta. Reliability was assessed through internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) and test-retest (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]). Validity was assessed through floor/ceiling effect, factor analysis (root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA], standardized root mean squared residual [SRMR], goodness-of-fit index [GFI], adjusted goodness-of-fit index [AGFI], comparative fit index [CFI]), subscales correlation and known-group validity. Results: Reliability was very good for the convenience subscale (Cronbach's alpha 0.86, ICC 0.87), but less good for the satisfaction subscale (Cronbach's alpha 0.62, ICC 0.40). Floor effect was 0%; ceiling effect was low (6.3% convenience, 1.2% satisfaction). Fit parameters were close to acceptable cut-offs (RMSEA =0.09, SRMR =0.10, GFI =0.82, AGFI =0.78, CFI =0.79). There was no correlation between the two subscales (r=0.01, p=0.83). Patients with history of bleeding showed lower convenience (r=−0.16, p=0.08) and lower satisfaction (r=−0.21, p=0.01). Conclusions: Our results support the finding that the Maltese translation of the PACT-Q2 is a valid and reliable instrument.


Most of the proposed neural networks for fault diagnosis of systems are multilayer perceptrons (MLP) employing the popular backpropagation (BP) learning rule. It has been shown that the backpropagation algorithm usually takes a long time for convergence and sometimes gets trapped into local minimum. The algorithm requires the architecture to be fixed initially (i.e. the number of hidden units) before learning begins. Final network size is obtained by repeated trials. When the size of the training set is large, especially in the case of fault diagnosis, such a repeated training consumes a large amount of time and sometimes it can be frustrating. Thus there is a need of a good neural network architecture that decides its size automatically while learning the input/output relationships and must posses reasonably good generalization. Neural networks based on radial basis functions (RBF) have emerged as potential alternatives to MLPs. RBFs have a simple architecture and they can learn the input/output relations fast compared to MLPs. In this paper we present a constructive neural network based on radial basis functions (RBF) due to Fritzke for classification of fault patterns in a model power system. The performance of this neural network with traditional BP network and nonconstructive RBF network in terms of size, learning speed and generalization are presented.


This article extends results reported by Bechtel, G. and Bechtel, T. (2021). These previous findings induce the hypothesis confirmed here; namely, that gross domestic product GDP nearly perfectly predicts survival in the world's entire population. The fractional polynomial regressions here are run over the pre-pandemic period 1991–2016. During the subsequent pandemic, the American Center for Disease Control reported that life expectancy at birth in the USA dropped one year during the first six months of 2020, the largest drop since World War 11. The drops in African and Hispanic life expectancy at birth during this period were 2.7 and 1.9 years (Aljazeera; Democracy Now, February 18, 2021). The USA is the worst covid-19-effected population. It is now imperative to confirm that life expectancy at birth is well predicted from GDP in all nations over 1991–2018. This pre-pandemic control for each nation will accurately calibrate it's subsequent yearly survival drops due to Covid-19. This is especially important in light of the trade war between the United States and China, which has increased the need for accurate measurement of the human effects of this war.


We give a cluster expansion formula for cluster algebras with principal coefficients defined from triangulated surfaces in terms of maximal independent sets of angles. Our formula simplifies the cluster expansion formula given by Musiker, Schiffler and Williams in terms of perfect matchings of snake graphs. A key point of our proof is to give a bijection between maximal independent sets of angles in some triangulated polygon and perfect matchings of the corresponding snake graph. Moreover, they also correspond bijectively with perfect matchings of the corresponding bipartite graph and minimal cuts of the corresponding quiver with potential.


Contact tracing is the process of identifying people who came into contact with an infected person ("case") and collecting information about these contacts. Contact tracing is an essential part of public health infrastructure and slows down the spread of infectious diseases. Existing contact tracing methods are extremely time and labor intensive due to their reliance on manually interviewing cases, contacts, and locations visited by cases. Additionally, complex privacy regulations mean that contact tracers must be extensively trained to avoid improper data sharing. App-based contact tracing, a proposed solution to these problems, has not been widely adopted by the general public due to privacy and security concerns. We develop a secure, semantically rich framework for automating the contact tracing process. This framework includes a novel, flexible ontology for contact tracing and is based on a semi-federated data-as-a-service architecture that automates contact tracing operations. Our framework supports security and privacy through situation-aware access control, where distributed query rewriting and semantic reasoning are used to automatically add situation based constraints to protect data. In this paper, we present our framework along with the validation of our system via common use cases extracted from CDC guidelines on COVID-19 contact tracing.


Learning in laboratories for students is not only crucial for conceptual understanding, but also contributes to gaining scientific reasoning skills. Following fast developments in technology, online laboratory environments have been improved considerably and nowadays form an attractive alternative for hands-on laboratories. The study was done in order to reveal pre-service science teachers' preferences for hands-on or online laboratory environments. Participants of the study were 41 pre-service science teachers who were enrolled in a 13-week course on laboratory applications in science education. Findings showed that more than half of the pre-service science teachers would prefer to use hands-on laboratory environments for both conceptual teaching in their classrooms and to develop their students' science process skills. The reasons behind their choices are discussed.


Natural gas is a viable alternative fuel that is able to reduce tailpipe emission, most notably in two stroke engines it is available in compressed form or Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for easy storage. The excessive by-products of two-stroke engine combustion; normally due to inefficient combustion process is largely attributed to high particulate, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon constituents. A prototype uniflow-type single-cylinder engine was equipped with a bi-fuel conversion system were used for the work. A dedicated mixer was also developed to meter the gaseous fuel through the engine intake system. It was designed to meet the air and fuel requirement similar to the gasoline counterpart. Modeling of the mixer was made to obtain optimum orifice diameter using three different sizes of 14, 16 and 18mm respectively. Here, flow simulations using a standard Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software were extensively used and the predicted results were subsequently validated using a dedicated a flow test rig. Pressure drop across the venturi is an important parameter as it determines the actual fuel-air ratio in the actual engine. A good agreement of CFD outputs with that of the experimental outputs was recorded. This paper highlights the work, which leads to the use of the dedicated CNG fuelling system in a general-purpose gasoline two-stroke engine.


With the rapid development of urbanization and motorization, the number of automobiles in China's cities has increased dramatically, which has caused a series of problems such as urban road traffic congestion, increased energy consumption and urban air pollution, which have become more and more serious and become hot issues of concern to the entire society. Urban residents, as the main body of low-carbon travel, play a vital role in energy conservation and emission reduction of urban transportation. This paper reviews the existing research results and draws on a large and growing body of literature to propose the extension theory of planned behavior, to study the influencing factors of low-carbon travel choices of residents in China's four first-tier cities. The study employs distribution of 3,000 network questionnaires and the collection of micro-survey data, to interpret urban residents from the traveler's personal attributes, travel attributes, environmental attitudes, subjective norms, behavioral attitudes, behavioral control and other aspects of the traveler's personal attributes. At the same time, it will also provide practitioners with practical and feasible policy recommendations.


The autoradiographic distribution, disposition, biliary excretion, and pharmacokinetics of alpidem in Sprague-Dawley rats were evaluated after iv or oral administration. Following i.v. administration, autoradiography showed that radioactivity was preferentially localized in lipid-rich tissues including central nervous system structures. After a 3-mg.kg-1 i.v. or oral dose of [14C]alpidem, more than 80% of the radioactivity were excreted in the feces over a 6-day period. Biliary excretion of radioactivity in vigile rats, about 74% of the dose over a 7-hr period after either iv or oral administration, showed that alpidem was well absorbed. The absolute bioavailability (13%) data indicated a high first-pass effect. Plasma pharmacokinetic parameters of alpidem were as follows: Vd = 5 liter.kg-1, Cl = 2.2 liter.h-1.kg-1, and terminal t 1/2 beta = 1.2-1.7 hr. Three metabolites with a pharmacological activity similar to that of alpidem were detected in plasma. They were eliminated from the central compartment with half-lives comparable to that of the parent drug. Alpidem crossed the blood-brain barrier following either i.v. or oral administration, resulting in cerebral levels 2.5 to 4 times greater than the plasma levels. Alpidem was eliminated from the central nervous system according a biphasic process with a t 1/2 alpha comparable in plasma and brain. Alpidem represented 94 and 63% of cerebral radioactivity 5 min after i.v. and oral administration, respectively. Two out of the three active plasma metabolites were detected in the brain.


This study presents a fabric phase sorptive extraction (FPSE) protocol for the isolation and preconcentration of four selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from tea samples and herbal infusions, followed by their separation and quantification by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In FPSE, extraction of the target analytes is performed utilizing a flexible fabric substrate that is coated with a highly efficient sol–gel sorbent. In this work, eighteen different FPSE membranes were examined, with the highest extraction recoveries being observed with the sol–gel C18 coated FPSE membrane. The main parameters that influence the adsorption and desorption of the PAHs were optimized and the proposed method was validated. The detection limits and the quantification limits were 0.08–0.17 ng mL−1 and 0.25–0.50 ng mL−1, respectively, for the different target compounds with a 10 mL sample. The relative standard deviations for intra-day and inter-day repeatability were less than 7.9% and 8.5%, respectively. The sol–gel C18 coated FPSE membrane could be used for at least 5 subsequent sample preparation cycles. Finally, the proposed protocol was successfully employed for the determination of PAHs in a wide range of tea and herbal infusion samples.


A high-voltage pulse technology is one of effective techniques for the disintegration and milling of rocks, separation of ores and synthesized materials, recycling of building and elastoplastic materials. We present here the design and test results of two portable HV pulsed generators, designed for materials fragmentation, though some other technological applications are possible as well. Generator #1 consists of low voltage block, high voltage transformer, high voltage capacitive storage block, two electrode gas switch, fragmentation chamber and control system block. Technical characteristics of the #1 generator: stored energy in HV capacitors can be varied from 50 to 1000 J, output voltage up to 300 kV, voltage rise time ∼ 50 ns, typical operation regime 1000 pulses bursts with a repetitive rate up to 10 Hz. Generator #2 is made on an eight stages Marx scheme with two capacitors (100 kV–400 nF) per stage, connected in parallel. Two electrode spark gap switches, operated in atmospheric air, are used in the Marx generator. Parameters of the generator: stored energy in capacitors 2÷8 kJ, amplitude of the output voltage 200÷400 kV, voltage rise time on a load 50÷100 ns, repetitive rate up to 0.5 Hz. The fragmentation process can be controlled within a wide range of parameters for both generators.


Index data structures such as B+ trees and hash tables are used widely as the core of databases and file systems. In a world where concurrent systems are common as servers and largely increasing as personal computers, we need a way to make sure concurrent implementations do not contain bugs. We use the fact that multiple implementations share a common high-level specification and use concurrent abstract predicates to prove that an implementation satisfies such a specification. This approach allows us to reuse the abstract specification and enables high-level reasoning independent from the low-level implementation.


Mechanical strain/stress and crystal defects are produced in extremely thin wafers (thickness ∼10 µm) of 3D-LSIs not only during wafer thinning, but also after wafer bonding using fine-pitch, high-density microbumps and curing. Furthermore, the metal of through-Si via (TSV) and microbump not only becomes the cause of contamination, but also induces strain/stress (due to the difference in the co-efficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between Si and metal) in thinned Si substrate. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results showed that the crystal quality of Si is highly deteriorated in the ultra-poly ground (UPG) surface after wafer thinning and stress relief. Micro-Raman spectroscopy (µRS) data revealed that a local tensile strain amount to 1.8 GPa was induced by 4×4 µm2 square sized Si microbumps in 10 µm-thick LSI wafers after bonding and curing. We have noticed that this locally induced strain/stress caused more than 10% change in the ON current of p-MOS transistor. CuSn microbumps have also induced strain/stress at Si wafer surface, and it penetrates deeper for larger bump size and wider for smaller bump pitch.


Abstract The purpose of this investigation was to determine the perceptions of regular and special education teachers, school counselors, and school psychologists on presenting problems of students, available community mental health services, family-based and community-based barriers to services, and the provision of mental health services in schools. A random national sample of participants completed a School Mental Health Issues Survey. The final sample included 413 respondents from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The background of the study, survey development, administration and analysis, descriptive statistics and analyses of variance are provided. Significant differences based on position, school level, and school geography, as well as implications for mental health services in schools and future research are also discussed. ********** Childhood and adolescent mental health issues cause pain and emotional distress, and may compromise a student's chances for fully using his or her learning opportunities and for ultimately succeeding in school and later life. These issues may be evident through overt behaviors such as aggression and disruption, but also may also be more subtle, causing internal turmoil through feelings such as anxiety and depression. By default, our nation's schools may be viewed as community mental health centers where up to 10% of the children in the general education population may have a psychiatric disorder (Rosenblatt & Rosenblatt, 1999). Between only 1 and 5% of these students are being served across the nation, and less than one-half of those with emotional or behavioral disorders are being identified and served in special education (Forness, Kavale, & Lopez, 1993). A recent Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health states that one in five children and adolescents experiences the signs and symptoms of a DSM-IV disorder during the course of a year, with about 5% of all children experiencing "extreme functional impairment" (Policy Leadership Cadre for Mental Health in Schools, 2001). Statistics from the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) suggest that 12 to 15% of adolescents present emotional and behavioral problems at levels warranting intervention, while another 15% are believed to be at-risk (Flaherty et al., 1996; Rosenblatt & Rosenblatt, 1999; Werthamer-Larsson, 1994). The situation is even more dismal when one expands the focus beyond the limited landscape of diagnosable mental disorders to the number of young people experiencing psychosocial problems and who are at risk of not maturing into responsible adults (Dryfoos, 1990). Adelman and Taylor (2001) contend that up to 40% of young people are in very bad educational shape and at risk of failing to fulfill their promise. Taken together, these figures are of alarming concern, reinforcing the perception that this segment of our school population is either not being identified, not being served, or being served inadequately by not only our schools, but also by child welfare, juvenile justice, and/or mental healthcare systems. The Carnegie Council Taskforce on the Education of Young Adolescents (1995) suggests that school systems are not responsible for meeting every need of their students. But when the need directly affects learning, the school must meet the challenge. Subsequently, leaving no child behind implies more than stronger accountability for results. The mission of schools should comprise not only a focus on academics and confronting obstacles to academic learning, but also a major role in promoting development related to social and emotional functioning. Outcomes should logically include safe, healthy, and resilient behavior. Strengthening firsthand mental health resources and services for school-age children and youth may provide preventive activities designed to reduce prevalence, as well as early intervention for problems (Cowen, Hightower, Pedro-Carroll, Work, Wyman, & Haffey, 1996; Reynolds & Gutkin, 1998; The Maternal and Child Health Bureau, 1998). …


Why is it so difficult to respond to religious fundamentalism from within a liberal paradigm? This paper explores a core problem within religious fundamentalism, stemming from its relationship to the phenomenon of utopianism. This is a complex relationship, which occurs on several different levels, including the content of fundamentalist visions (religious fundamentalisms contain utopian visions of the good life), and its structural paradigm (utopianism and fundamentalism both stem from discontent with the now, challenge cornerstones of their contemporaneous world, and desire radically different alternatives). Of greatest concern is an attachment to perfection, which permits a malign form of utopianism to propel religious actors into a politics of 'divinely sanctioned' violence.


It has been more than two decades since the widespread initiation of global power sector reforms and restructuring. However, empirical evidence on the intended microeconomic, macroeconomic, and quality-related impacts of reforms across developing countries is lacking. This paper comprehensively reviews the empirical and theoretical literature on the linkages between power sector reforms, economic and technical efficiency, and poverty reduction. The review finds that the extent of power sector reforms has varied across developing countries in terms of changes in market structures, the role of the state, and the regulation of the sector. Overall, the reforms have improved the efficiency and productivity in the sector among many reforming countries. However, the efficiency gains have not always reached the end consumers because of the inability of sector regulators and inadequate regulatory frameworks. Reforms alleviate poverty and promote the welfare of the poor only when the poor have access to electricity. From a policy-making perspective, this implies that the reforms need to be supplemented with additional measures for accelerating electrification to help the poor.


We conducted two studies to examine how a potential helper is affected by having a communal orientation toward a relationship with a potential recipient and by the potential recipient's sadness. We hypothesized that (a) having a communal orientation would increase helping and that (b) people high in communal orientation, but not others, would respond to a potential recipient's sadness by increasing helping. These hypotheses were tested in two studies. In Study 1, individual differences in communal orientation toward relationships were measured by using a new communal orientation scale reported for the first time in this article. In Study 2, manipulations were used to lead subjects to desire either a communal or an exchange relationship with another person. In both studies, subjects were exposed to a sad person or to a person in a neutral mood whom they were given a chance to help. As hypothesized, in both studies communally oriented subjects helped the other significantly more than did others. Also as hypothesized, in both studies communally oriented subjects but not others, increased helping in response to the other person's sadness although this effect reached statistical significance only in the second study.


The results of a comparative analysis of three potential river port sites and associated road networks to support mineral development activity in western Alaska are reported in this paper. A 50,000-square-mile area of western Alaska bounded by the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers is experiencing accelerated mineral exploration and mining activity. One potential project, with 11 million ounces of drill measured and indicated gold resources and 16 million ounces of drill inferred gold resources would require annual delivery of between 240,000 and 470,000 tons of fuel and equipment. Geologists estimate that an additional 17 million ounces are likely to be discovered within the study area during the next 25 years. Three potential river port locations and associated road corridors that could support anticipated, large-scale mining operations within the study area evaluated using a benefit-cost study approach. Two of the port and road corridor options generate estimated net present benefit values that exceeded estimated net present cost values. The port and road corridor option with the highest positive net present benefit value may not provide sufficient capacity to meet the area's logistical requirements, and two ports may be built to support anticipated mineral development activities.


A missense mutation in the Ca(2+)-sensing receptor (CaSR) gene was previously identified in a Japanese family with familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia. Five members of this family with the mutation in the CaSR gene also showed abnormal glucose tolerance, whereas family members homozygous for the wildtype CaSR gene were normal in this respect. The potential relation between mutations in the CaSR gene and the incidence of diabetes mellitus was therefore investigated in 27 non-insulin dependent diabetic and 40 normal Japanese subjects. Each exon of the CaSR gene was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction and subjected to single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis. The region of the gene containing the sixth exon showed three distinct patterns on SSCP analysis in both diabetic patients and normal subjects. Direct sequencing of DNA revealed a T/C polymorphism in the fifth intron. The TT genotype was apparent in 59.3% of diabetic patients and in 45.0% of normal subjects. The CC genotype was present in 25.9% of diabetics and in 22.5% of normal subjects. The diabetic patients were divided into three groups on the basis of genotype for the polymorphism (TT, TC, or CC). However, there was no significant difference among the three groups with regard to the method of therapy, the incidence or severity of diabetic complications, duration or family history of disease, HbA1c level, or laboratory data. The polymorphism in the fifth intron of the CaSR gene does not therefore appear to be associated with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.


report does not include any post-1979 references, this study is notable in that it extends the results of the descriptive section to include not only the technological implications of the data, but the cultural implications that can be drawn from the analysis of the stone-tool assemblages by comparing them with similar assemblages from other regions in Mexico where the material culture of hunter-gatherers is better understood. The main report is supplemented by brief contributions in bioanthropology and biogeography that broaden the study and place it within a more complete environmental context. The publication is presented in an organized, well-written format and is accompanied by well-drawn figures of each morphological type discussed.


Summary The impact which environmental law and management has had in the hospitality industry is substantial. Hotels have begun conservation and recycling programs as a means of reducing energy cost and solid waste. A significant number of environmentally related regulatory and consumer pressures are being imposed upon the hospitality industry. The purpose of this study is to begin to explore the environmental programs that hotel corporations in Mexico are adopting. Eight managers at eight hotel corporations in Mexico were included in the study. The corporation hotels located in Mexico started to implement environmental strategies in 1995, and the most common reason was because of the legal pressures they faced. Efficient use of lighting and eliminating use of diesel in the boiler were the most frequently sited strategies. Seven hotel managers benefitted from the application of these strategies, while one indicated he did not benefit. The hotel managers feel social, legal, and political pressure in Mexico to implement environmental strategies but consider consumer pressure unimportant. They believe these strategies are not very important when facing competitors, and only one manager mentioned that in the future the competitive threat will be important in developing environmental consciousness.


The need to query and understand source code is an important practical problem for software engineers in large development projects. A paper by Paul and Prakash (1994) proposes a workable solution to this problem. However, there are several previously reported systems that can also address this problem. The relationship of their work to the body of existing work is the subject of the paper.


Background : Plants have the major advantage of being the most treasured and cheaper alternative supplies for drugs. Phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables have gained increasing interest among consumers and the scientific community as epidemiological studies have indicated that regular consumption of phytochemicals is related to a lower risk of non-communicable diseases. Aim : The aim of the present study was to carry out qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analysis to establish the different classes of compounds present in the peel of indigenous fruit C. papaya using five different solvents and evaluate its antioxidant and antimicrobial property. Methods and Material : Evaluate the antioxidant property of Carica papaya peel by radical scavenging methods and to elicit the most effective concentration of the extract with highest antimicrobial activity by measuring the diameter of zone of inhibition against five pathogens. Results : The various extracts revealed the presence of phytoconstituents such as phenols, flavonoids and tannins in appreciable amounts and the antioxidant potential of papaya peel. Agar well method demonstrated that the species most sensitive to C. papaya peel among the gram-positive microorganisms was Bacillus subtilis, whereas among the gram-negative species the most sensitive was Klebsiella pneumoniae.


Osteoporosis is a condition of compromised bone quality and bone density increasing the chances of fracture. In osteoporotic bone, there is a mismatch between bone formation and resorption. The high probability in both women (33.33%) and males (20%) over the age of 50 worldwide to suffer a fracture draws attention to the importance of treatment of osteoporosis. The benefits of using bisphosphonates, the first line of therapy in osteoporosis lasts for 5 years. The other drugs are recommended for a still shorter time. The state of usage of current drugs is discussed. Two drugs Abaloparatide and Romosozumab have been recently approved. There is a better understanding of the means of communication amongst the different players in bone remodeling. These players involved in remodeling, are subjected to local and systemic influences. This increased understanding of physiology led to molecules being investigated which acts on newer targets such as Cathepsin K, ɑvβ3 integrin, chloride channel 7, tryptophan hydroxylase 1, Src, calcium-sensing receptor. Also, a bone anabolic effect for certain drugs belonging to different therapeutic classes such as statins, nitrates, thiazides, beta-blockers has been noted. However, for these drugs, further studies regarding the dose and frequency of drug administration and the effectiveness in the prevention of fractures along with safety profiles are needed. The drugs acting on new targets and new uses of old drugs hold hope to increase our arsenal against osteoporosis and thus preventing the mortality and debility due to fractures.


In this research we constructed multiple predictive ArcGIS Euclidean distance–based autoregressive infectious disease transmission oriented models for predicting geographic locations of endemic onchocerciasis ("river blindness") transmission risk zones in Burkina Faso. We employed multiple spatiotemporal-sampled empirical ecological data sets of georeferenced covariates of riverine larval habitats of Similium damnosum s.l., a black fly vector of onchocerciasis and their surrounding villages with their retrospective tabulated prevalence rates. The estimators were regressed employing the modified sum of squares technique. The model also revealed that 5 to 10 km was mesoendemic, 10 to 15 was hypoendemic and after 15 km there was no transmission. Semi-parametric spatial filtering matrices, orthogonal eigenvectors and interpolated endmember signatures can be used to render robust ARIMA risk model residual forecasts by reducing latent unobservable error coefficients in regressed spatiotemporal field-sampled immature S. damnosum s.l. density count data for optimizing risk mapping of seasonal onchocerciasis endemic transmission zones.

 Key words: Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), QuickBird, Similium damnosum s.l., onchocerciasis, Burkina Faso.


Employers offer pension plans for two main reasons: paternalism and skills market competitiveness. Recent changes in legislation and business practice have prompted the scrutiny of the underpinnings for such a management tradition. Identifies several relevant factors that derive from: field work undertaken by the authors; the Pensions Act 1995; and recent changes to corporations tax. It is argued that what has emerged is a sharply focused trade‐off, relating to the asset and liability characteristics of employer‐based pension schemes. This questions the sustainability of all types of pension plans, and thereby has a place in strategies affecting financial planning and business development.


Background: "Seamless care" is a smooth and safe transition of a patient from the hospital to the home. Our goal was to identify ways to maximize improvement in postdischarge patient outcomes. This research targeted patients at risk for unscheduled readmissions, examined delivery system processes, and identified possible interventions for providing more seamless care. Methods: This pilot study included three phases. In the first phase, we examined selected readmissions using extant administrative databases for fiscal year 2001 at two facilities, a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital and a private, nonprofit hospital. We identified patient characteristics that were associated with a high risk of unscheduled readmission within 30 days of discharge for three Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) (127-Heart Failure, 89-Pneumonia (> 17 years), and 109-Coronary Artery Bypass Graft without catheterization). Survival analyses and other statistical techniques were used. An expert panel focus group provided insights into discharge planning processes. Finally, patients in these DRGs at the two hospitals who were discharged and had an unscheduled readmission within 30 days were interviewed to obtain their perceptions of factors that might have contributed to their readmissions. Results: Factors associated with readmissions varied by DRG. Numbers of secondary diagnoses, length of stay, and Clinical Classification Software (CCS) category were the most consistent predictors of readmission. Age, gender, and race were not predictive. Qualitative analysis identified several themes that centered on communication issues between patients and providers, providers and caregivers, and between different providers. Patients' perceptions of what might have prevented readmission included longer hospital stay to ensure stabilization, enhanced patient education and involvement in the decisionmaking process, increased assurance of medication/treatment effectiveness prior to discharge, home health nursing, increased staffing, and timeliness of followup appointments. Conclusions: Despite very different organizational structures and processes, we found similar patient populations, risk factors, and outcomes in the two hospitals. The linkages in these different health care facilities between readmissions and health system barriers to safe and smooth transitional care confirm findings in other studies. Patient and organizational factors each contributed to unscheduled readmissions. High-risk patient targeting, improved communications (including a greater emphasis on language barriers and cultural differences), and better coordination of care and followup could potentially prevent some readmissions when transitioning patients from the hospital to the home.


In order to study the fractal character of representative complex exponential function just as generalized 3x+1 function T(x). In this essay, we proved that T(x) has periodic points of every period in bound (n, n+1) when n>1 in real axis. Then, we found the distribution of 2-periods points of T(x) in real axis. We put forward the bottom bound of 2-periodic point's number and proved it. Moreover, we found the number of T(x)'s 2-periodic points in different bounds to validate our conclusion. Then, we extended the conclusion to i-periods points and find similar conclusion. Finally, we proved there exist endless convergence and divergence points of T(x) in real axis.


The photon statistics of light scattered from an expanded laser beam which has passed through a laboratory propane flame are shown to be similar to those for light scattered from other deep random phase screens. The intensity fluctuations arise from the discrete eddy structure of the flame which Schlieren photographs confirm as having a broad size distribution. Intensity cross-correlation measurements using two point detectors positioned in the fluctuating scattered beam and at various distances from the flame give well defined velocities which in the near field are closely related to the convection velocity. It is also shown that when there are clearly defined regions of the flame with different mean convection velocities the cross-correlation measurements give separate results for each region.


The continuing rise in adolescent suicide worldwide constitutes a serious public health challenge. Several environmental and personal factors, such as early losses, discordant relationships, poverty, abuse and other life crises have previously been associated with the rise in adolescent suicides. However, only a few South African studies have investigated the combined occurrence of these factors among the different racial groups. This study investigated the role of gender, race and psychosocial stressors and resources in attempted suicide among 1 033 Grade 11 and 12 learners from schools in the Free State Province, South Africa. A cross-sectional research design was applied. Participants completed a biographical questionnaire and the Life Stressors and Social Resources Inventory, Youth Form. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify stressors, resources and demographic variables that predict attempted suicide among the sample of learners. The findings of the current study suggest that 12.5% of the sample had previously attempted suicide. Being coloured (p ≤ .01) and being female (p ≤ .01) significantly increased the likelihood of attempting suicide. Stressors significantly associated with the increased likelihood of attempting suicide for the whole group were stressors regarding Parents (p ≤ .05), Extended Family (p ≤ .01), Home and Money (p ≤ .05), and Negative Life Events (p ≤ .01). Resources significantly associated with the reduced likelihood of attempting suicide for the whole group were supportive relationships with Parents (p ≤ .01), with Boyfriend/Girlfriend (p ≤ .01) and Positive Life Events (p ≤ .01). These findings highlight the importance of supportive relationships and stable home conditions for the well-being of adolescents. The limitations of this study included an under-representation of black participants in the sample. Furthermore, owing to the cross-sectional design of the study, conclusions cannot be drawn with regard to any causal relationship between demographic variables, life stressors and resources, and attempted suicide. It is recommended that future research studies include factors such as self-esteem and sense of coherence.


Background: Tuberculosis is among the top ten causes of mortality across the world and is highly prevalent in Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi, Iran. The adoption of healthy behaviors by patients can prevent the transmission of this disease to other individuals. The Health Promotion Model is one of the models used in the field of behavior change in this regard. Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the components of Pender's Health Promotion Model and self-care behaviors among the smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Mashhad. Method: This correlational study was conducted on 144 smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients, selected from 45 healthcare centers of Mashhad in 2015 using purposive sampling method. The research instruments included Self-Care Behavior Questionnaire, Components of Pender's Health Promotion Model, and Behavior Observation Checklist. The data were analyzed using Spearman's rank-order correlation coefficient through the SPSS software version 16. Results: According to the results of the study, the mean age of the patients was 51.9±21.1 years. The results also showed that the mean of self-care total score was equal to 63.7±7.3. Additionally, the Spearman's rank-order correlation indicated that self-care behavior was significantly correlated with prior related behavior (P=0.006), perceived barriers (P<0.001), self-efficacy (P<0.001), related affect (P<0.001), interpersonal and situational influences (P<0.001), and competing preferences (P=0.008). Implications for practice: As the findings of the present study indicated, there was a significant relationship between the self-care behaviors and self-efficacy, perceived barriers, and interpersonal influences in smear-positive tuberculosis patients. Regarding this, considering these strategies in the health promotion model could be of utmost importance in designing effective interventions for the improvement of self-care behaviors among these patients


This study investigates the effect of IFRS adoption on the transparency of financial reporting in Germany. Using a sample of listed companies ranging from 1995 to 2012, we separately analyze the effect of IFRS adoption on disclosure quality and the degree of earnings management. We use disclosure quality scores of an annual report 'beauty contest' published by the German business journal manager magazin to proxy for disclosure quality and discretionary accruals from the Kothari et al. (2005) model to proxy for the degree of earnings management. We hypothesize and find that IFRS adoption is associated with an increase in disclosure quality and with an increase in the extent of earnings management. Although these results seem confounding in the light of the assumed superiority of IFRS over German GAAP, we argue that low compliance, lack of experience and weak enforcement in the early years of IFRS adoption drive the latter result. Based on this notion, we show that the degree of earnings management decreases significantly from the early to the mature phase of IFRS reporting. Finally, we show that disclosures have the potential to constrain earnings management.


But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell's dark vision, there was another slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley's vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.


: The desmoid tumour with infiltrative and destructive growth tendencies, is a rare benign alteration of the connective tissue from musculo-aponeurotic structures and fascial sheaths. The exact pathogenesis is unknown, however trauma (surgery), genetic (Gardener's Syndrome) or hormonal factors (pregnancy) have been implicated. A spontaneous malignant transformation of a desmoid (extra-abdominal fibromatosis) to a fibrosarcoma is a rarity. Only one case is recorded in the literature. We report on the second case in international literature and describe the coherence to an endocrine factor (pregnancy), the high recurrence rate and the difficulty of therapy with regard to the risk of late malignant transformation.


1. The presence of thyroxine in a current of sea-water in which eggs of either E. esculentus or E. miliaris are being washed prolongs the fertilisable life of the eggs.

2. Under these conditions the fertilisable life of the eggs is of approximately the same length as that of eggs which are aerated in a small quantity of sea-water.

3. Des-iodo-thyroxine and free iodine also prolong the life of eggs, when they are present in the medium, but the prolongation produced by them is much less than that produced by thyroxine. No other of several chemical substances related to thyroxine produce this effect. Changes in the hydrogen-ion concentration of the medium between p H 7.2 and 9.4 have very little effect upon the length of life of the eggs.

4. It is concluded that the component of the secretions which is essential to the activation of the egg can be replaced by thyroxine, and is therefore the same as the component which produces effects similar to those of thyroxine on the oxygen consumption of the sperm. It is also concluded that it is probable that this substance, besides being similar to thyroxine in physiological action, is related to it in chemical structure.


UHE neutrinos and CRs initiate particle cascades underneath the lunar surface. These cascades have a negative charge excess and radiate Cherenkov radio emission in a process known as the Askaryan effect. The optimal frequency window for observation of these pulses with radio telescopes on the Earth is around 150 MHz. By observing the Moon with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope array we are able to set a new limit on the UHE neutrino flux. The PuMa II backend is used to monitor the Moon in 4 frequency bands between 113 and 175 MHz with a sampling frequency of 40 MHz. The narrowband radio interference is digitally filtered out and the dispersive effect of the Earth's ionosphere is compensated for. A trigger system is implemented to search for short pulses. By inserting simulated pulses in the raw data, the detection efficiency for pulses of various strengths is calculated. With over fourty hours of observation time, we are able to set a limit on the UHE neutrino flux. This new limit is an order of magnitude lower than existing limits. In the near future, the digital radio array LOFAR will be used to achieve an even lower limit.


The ability to reuse previous policies is an important aspect of human intelligence. To achieve efficient policy reuse, a Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) agent needs to decide when to reuse and which source policies to reuse. Previous methods solve this problem by introducing extra components to the underlying algorithm, such as hierarchical high-level policies over source policies, or estimations of source policies' value functions on the target task. However, training these components induces either optimization non-stationarity or heavy sampling cost, significantly impairing the effectiveness of transfer. To tackle this problem, we propose a novel policy reuse algorithm called Critic-gUided Policy reuse (CUP), which avoids training any extra components and efficiently reuses source policies. CUP utilizes the critic, a common component in actor-critic methods, to evaluate and choose source policies. At each state, CUP chooses the source policy that has the largest one-step improvement over the current target policy, and forms a guidance policy. The guidance policy is theoretically guaranteed to be a monotonic improvement over the current target policy. Then the target policy is regularized to imitate the guidance policy to perform efficient policy search. Empirical results demonstrate that CUP achieves efficient transfer and significantly outperforms baseline algorithms.


The composition, physico-chemical and functional properties of various commercial caseinates were analysed. The protein content was higher, while density and particle size were lower in Ca than in Na, K, Ca/Na or Ca/K caseinates. Ca caseinates had a significantly lower solubility index, water absorption capacity and apparent viscosity than other caseinates. The solubility index at 20 g/L (at both pH 7.0 and spontaneous pH) varied from 0.81 to 0.97 g/g for Ca caseinates, and from 0.89 to 0.99 g/g for Na or K caseinates. The water absorption capacity (Baumann apparatus, 30 min at 20°C) varied from 1.3 to 1.9 mL water/g powder (Ca caseinates) and from 2.1 to 3.2 mL/g (Na or K caseinates). The apparent viscosity at 150s-1 varied from 40 to 1150 mPa.s (Ca caseinates) and from 500 to 3200 mPa.s (Na or K caseinates). For Ca caseinates, variability was observed between different batches from the same manufacturer. However, the calcium content was positively correlated to pH and negatively correlated to solubility index, rate of water absorption and apparent viscosity. These three latter properties were positively correlated to each other, but they were modified for mixed caseinates containing Ca plus Na or K.


The purposes of this study were to: 1) characterize the demographics, oral health behavior, and periodontal status of a health maintenance organization sample; 2) investigate the relationship between the location of posterior proximal measurement sites and prevalence estimates for periodontal disease; and 3) compare the prevalence of persons with pockets > or = 4 mm in the present sample to the 1985 NIDR Survey of Oral Health. The sample consisted of 1,090 adults attending a large health maintenance organization. All proximal sites in one randomly selected posterior dental sextant were examined for probing depth using a constant force probe. Demographic, medical, and behavioral factors were determined by questionnaire. Results indicated that the sample consisted primarily of medically and periodontally-healthy middle-aged adults with good oral hygiene habits. Overall, the mean probing depth was 2.95 mm with 10.1% of sites/subject > or = 4 mm. A larger percent of subjects had probing depths with pockets > or = 4 mm at lingual proximal sites than buccal proximal sites. Prevalence of subjects with pockets > or = 4 mm at mesio-buccal sites in the present study was similar to NIDR Region III data (15.3% vs. 17.4% respectively). However, when data from all posterior sites were included, the overall prevalence rate in the present sample increased to 36.8%. These findings indicate that disease prevalence is dependent on the location of surfaces measured and conservatively indicate that NIDR survey data may have underestimated the prevalence of persons with periodontal pockets > or = 4 mm by at least 20%.


I study the joint effect of dynamical friction, tidal torques and cosmological constant on clusters of galaxies formation. I show that within high-density environments, such as rich clusters of galaxies, both dynamical friction and tidal torques slows down the collapse of low- ν peaks producing an observable variation in the time of collapse of the perturbation and, as a consequence, a reduction in the mass bound to the collapsed perturbation. Moreover, the delay of the collapse produces a tendency for less dense regions to accrete less mass, with respect to a classical spherical model, inducing a biasing of over-dense regions toward higher mass. I show how the threshold of collapse is modified if dynamical friction, tidal torques and a non-zero cosmological constant are taken into account and I use the Extended Press Schecter (EPS) approach to calculate the effects on the mass function. Then, I compare the numerical mass function given in Reed et al. (2003) with the theoretical mass function obtained in the present paper. I show that the barrier obtained in the present paper gives rise to a better description of the mass function evolution with respect to other previous models (Sheth & Tormen 1999, MNRAS, 308, 119 (hereafter ST); Sheth & Tormen 2002, MNRAS, 329, 61 (hereafter ST1)).


Springback compensation of Multi-point forming (MPF) was analyzed in the paper based on the ideal elastic-plasticity and linear hardening material models. The calculation formulas for adjusting radius of MPF die, both single-curvature and double-curvature, were obtained. Cylinder and spherical surfaces were formed by MPF equipment. Experimental results show that the errors between formed surface and target shape are within 5%. Moreover, when using formulas derived from linear hardening model, it is found that the formed surface is more close to target contour, and the presented formula can be used to determine the adjusting radius of MPF die in practice.


1H nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) experiments on Co(II)-substituted stellacyanin have been performed. Large paramagnetic hyperfine shifts are observed, the whole spectrum covering a range of 190 ppm. Experiments were mainly performed at 270 MHz from which temperature and pH* dependencies of the out-shifted resonances were reported, as well as determinations of the longitudinal (T1) and transverse (T2) relaxation times. These relaxation times are among other things, dependent on the individual proton-metal distance, and the aim of this work has been to determine these distances, by use of the Solomon-Bloembergen equations modified to include the so-called "Curie spin". The application of this method to a protein has not been reported earlier. Experiments were also performed at 100, 400, and 500 MHz in order to estimate the size of the Curie spin from the field dependence of the line widths. Furthermore, determination of the values for the rotational correlation time, tau r, and the effective magnetic moment, mu eff, was necessary for the present approach. With apostellacyanin, tau r was found to be (6.0 +/- 0.4) X 10-8 s. From the paramagnetic susceptibility of Co(II) stellacyanin, the value (4.53 +/- 0.03)beta was determined for mu eff. The proposed assignments of several paramagnetically out-shifted resonances. the proton-metal distances obtained, and the known peptide sequence of stellacyanin have allowed us to build a three-dimensional model of the metal site and its surrounding structure consistent with all the experimental data. It is revealed that both histidine ligands bind the metal with their 3-nitrogens. Also we find strong indications that a second sulfur atom is actually binding the metal, this being the long-sought-after fourth ligand. The model suggests that this sulfur belongs to Cys-59, which together with Cys-93 constitutes the disulfide bridge known to be present in the structure. A potential fifth ligand, an amide oxygen from Asn-47, is also found.


Current methods for predicting the inception of cavitation in marine propellers rely heavily on physical model tests in cavitation tunnels and these tests are subject to complex scale effects. The viscous nature of the flow, particularly the free–stream turbulence, is one of the main factors contributing to the scale effects on the inception of cavitation. Research to explore this factor has been grossly neglected and there is an urgent need for systematic experimental data to establish possible trends in this effect to be included in the procedures used to extrapolate small–scale experimental results to predict the inception of cavitation on the full–scale propeller. This paper presents data and reports on some interesting and important findings on the effects of different turbulence generation techniques from recent research into the scale effects on the inception of cavitation of marine propellers. Systematic measurements were taken with a five–bladed model propeller to explore the viscous scale effects on the tip vortex and sheet–type cavitation using two different methods to generate turbulence. These were a wire mesh screen with variable mesh sizes placed in front of the model propeller and several grades of carborundum applied to the leading edges of the model propeller blades. The results of the measurements displayed distinct but similar trends in the effects of the two methods on the resulting inception values, in particular for the tip vortex cavitation. This finding has an important practical implication on the current cavitation testing procedures, especially for the most widely used 'leading–edge roughness' technique. This technique, which has various practical disadvantages, can now be replaced by a more effective and controlled way of altering the free–stream turbulence. The paper also presents an important set of systematic data on the effect of free–stream turbulence, which is scarce in the literature, and that of leading–edge roughness and it discusses the use of these data for the development of an extrapolator to predict the cavitation inception of a marine propeller at full scale.


The nature of the orientational, translational, and conformational disorder exhibited by poly(tetrafluoroethylene) has been characterized with the help of mol. dynamics calcns. based on a new all-atom interaction potential function developed specifically for the perfluoroalkanes. The simulation has identified the following sequence of phenomena, which arise on heating the low-temp. cryst. phase: helical unwinding of chain segments, longitudinal jump diffusion of chains-without gauche defects-followed by generation of gauche defects. These observations accord well with exptl. data. [on SciFinder (R)]


The study presented in this paper aims at achieving optimal paths for a human-performed assembly task. Optimality, from an operator's point of view, means that minimal fatigue occurs. Trajectories for assembly parts, generated by potential fields, are optimized in terms of the work the operator has to do. Optimization is carried out by genetic algorithm. The trajectories have to satisfy the constraints imposed by physical human limitations. We therefore introduce a virtual human operator in the working environment, and determine by means of inverse kinematics if the trajectories are feasible. Our method is tested on the assembly of a mechanical part in 3D space.


Background Patients on dialysis undergoing surgery belong to a high-risk group. Only a few studies have evaluated the outcome of major thoracic surgical procedures in dialysis patients. We evaluated the outcomes of pulmonary resection for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients on hemodialysis (HD). Methods Between 2008 and 2013, seven patients on HD underwent pulmonary resection for NSCLC at our institution. We retrospectively reviewed their surgical outcomes and prognoses. Results The median duration of HD before surgery was 55.0 months. Five patients underwent lobectomy and two patients underwent wedge resection. Postoperative morbidity occurred in three patients, including pulmonary edema combined with pneumonia, cerebral infarction, and delirium. There were no instances of in-hospital mortality, although one patient died of intracranial bleeding 15 days after discharge. During follow-up, three patients (one patient with pathologic stage IIB NSCLC and two patients with pathologic stage IIIA NSCLC) experienced recurrence and died as a result of the progression of the cancer, while the remaining three patients (with pathologic stage I NSCLC) are alive with no evidence of disease. Conclusion Surgery for NSCLC in HD patients can be performed with acceptable perioperative morbidity. Good medium-term survival in patients with pathologic stage I NSCLC can also be expected. Pulmonary resection seems to be the proper treatment option for dialysis patients with stage I NSCLC.


Mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) is a syndrome which is characterized as mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis and recurrent stroke-like episodes. Recurrent attacks of prolonged migrainous headache, different types of epileptic seizures and repeated cerebral lesions are the main clinical features of the disease. Cerebral lesions can cause different seizure types in this syndrome according to affected brain areas. Herein, we are reporting a case of MELAS who experienced recurrent neurologic deficits, confusional states and epileptic seizures with ictal epileptic nystagmus. Ictal electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) lesions also supported to the ictal focus of epileptic nystagmus. With this case, we would like to take attention to this rare ictal event.


Over the past 20 years, the United States has experienced one of the largest waves of immigration in its history. Understanding the health status and needs of immigrants is important because of their growing numbers and their contribution to the health of the nation, but it is challenging because of gaps in national databases, the heterogeneity of immigrant populations, and uncertainty about how migration affects health. Healthy People 2010 outlines the nation's public health objectives for the current decade. It includes ten leading health indicators (LHIs) chosen because of their importance as public health issues, their ability to motivate action, and the availability of data to measure their progress. In this paper, we discuss the health of immigrants from the perspective of these LHIs, as they provide a framework for anticipating some of the future health needs of immigrants and help define priority areas for research and action.


A simple language is demonstrated that combines specifications and manuals. This shows first that a user manual can be automatically reconstructed from a logic specification that is effectively identical to the original logic (up to ambiguities in natural language); and secondly, that such an automated process can help detect errors. The process is fast and suitable for use in participatory design.


Working at night results in a misalignment between the sleep-wake cycle and the output of the hypothalamic pacemaker that regulates the circadian rhythms of certain physiologic and behavioral variables. We evaluated whether such physiologic maladaptation to nighttime work could be prevented effectively by a treatment regimen of exposure to bright light during the night and darkness during the day. We assessed the functioning of the circadian pacemaker in five control and five treatment studies in order to assess the extent of adaptation in eight normal young men to a week of night work. In the control studies, on the sixth consecutive night of sedentary work in ordinary light (approximately 150 lux), the mean (+/- SEM) nadir of the endogenous temperature cycle continued to occur during the night (at 3:31 +/- 0:56 hours), indicating a lack of circadian adaptation to the nighttime work schedule. In contrast, the subjects in the treatment studies were exposed to bright light (7000 to 12,000 lux) at night and to nearly complete darkness during the day, and the temperature nadir shifted after four days of treatment to a significantly later, midafternoon hour (14:53 +/- 0:32; P less than 0.0001), indicating a successful circadian adaptation to daytime sleep and nighttime work. There were concomitant shifts in the 24-hour patterns of plasma cortisol concentration, urinary excretion rate, subjective assessment of alertness, and cognitive performance in the treatment studies. These shifts resulted in a significant improvement in both alertness and cognitive performance in the treatment group during the night-shift hours. We conclude that maladaptation of the human circadian system to night work, with its associated decline in alertness, performance, and quality of daytime sleep, can be treated effectively with scheduled exposure to bright light at night and darkness during the day.


Immigration is at the heart of social, cultural and political debate in France, a country still struggling to come to terms with its postcolonial legacy. Here Assaoui provides a radical re-examination of the assumptions about immigrants and ethnic and national identity through a study of the Maghrebis, especially their political mobilisation from the colonial to the postcolonial period. Combining insights from the archive and interviews with political activists, he examines the diaspora's voice and their struggle against racism and oppression.Through a study of key political movements, he shows how they constructed a powerful and consistent political tradition and charts the development, in France, of the Algerian anti-colonial and nationalist movement, as well as new forms of political activism during the 1970s. "Immigration and National Identity" foregrounds the migrants' perspective and the necessary historical background to the fraught contemporary context of immigrant communities in France. It will be valuable for all those concerned with immigration, colonialism and postcolonialism, cultural studies, sociology and the study of contemporary France.


In Eastern Boundary Upwelling Systems nutrient-rich waters are transported to the ocean surface, fuelling high photoautotrophic primary production. Subsequent heterotrophic decomposition of the produced biomass increases the oxygen-depletion at intermediate water depths, which can result in the formation of oxygen minimum zones (OMZ). OMZs can sporadically accumulate hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which is toxic to most multicellular organisms and has been implicated in massive fish kills. During a cruise to the OMZ off Peru in January 2009 we found a sulfidic plume in continental shelf waters, covering an area >5500 km2, which contained ∼2.2×104 tons of H2S. This was the first time that H2S was measured in the Peruvian OMZ and with ∼440 km3 the largest plume ever reported for oceanic waters. We assessed the phylogenetic and functional diversity of the inhabiting microbial community by high-throughput sequencing of DNA and RNA, while its metabolic activity was determined with rate measurements of carbon fixation and nitrogen transformation processes. The waters were dominated by several distinct γ-, δ- and ε-proteobacterial taxa associated with either sulfur oxidation or sulfate reduction. Our results suggest that these chemolithoautotrophic bacteria utilized several oxidants (oxygen, nitrate, nitrite, nitric oxide and nitrous oxide) to detoxify the sulfidic waters well below the oxic surface. The chemolithoautotrophic activity at our sampling site led to high rates of dark carbon fixation. Assuming that these chemolithoautotrophic rates were maintained throughout the sulfidic waters, they could be representing as much as ∼30% of the photoautotrophic carbon fixation. Postulated changes such as eutrophication and global warming, which lead to an expansion and intensification of OMZs, might also increase the frequency of sulfidic waters. We suggest that the chemolithoautotrophically fixed carbon may be involved in a negative feedback loop that could fuel further sulfate reduction and potentially stabilize the sulfidic OMZ waters.


biochemical analyses with the virologist's techniques in the study of virus cell interactions. Because of the more simple system it is understandable that this work started with the examination of the enzymes induced by phage-infecting bacterial cells, and this has led to an understanding of the replication of bacterial viruses. The greater knowledge of the biochemistry of the replication of the mammalian cell, however, has permitted the characterization of several virus-induced enzymes which appear as a result of the invasion of a host cell by a viral genome. The monograph is divided into three main sections. Bacteriophage-induced acquisition of metabolic functions deals with the earlier results of infection of bacteria with the coliphages. Augmentation of enzyme activity in virus-infected animal cells deals, among other subjects, with thymidine kinase, D.N.A. polymerase, and deoxyribonucleases, as well as activities augmented by either D.N.A.or R.N.A.-containing animal viruses. Finally, the section on factors affecting viral-induced enzyme formation and properties of the enzymes presents the latest biochemical data on the source of genetic information necessary for the synthesis of enzymes, and discusses regulatory mechanisms. It is not to be expected that a monograph of this nature would be easy to read, for it is a collection of facts, but they are well assembled. The rate of accumulation of data is illustrated by the dates of the 340 publications cited, since the vast majority of them have appeared in the last five years. It may surprise many that so much is known about this subject, and the value of these monographs is to present to the virologist the latest conclusion and' considered opinions of experts in the particular subject under consideration. Kit and Dubbs have succeeded in this respect. F. T. PERKINS.


A comprehensive analysis of the levels of primary metabolites in wild type (WT) and several auxin-signaling mutants namely, tir1, slr and arf7 arf19 of Arabidopsis thaliana has been performed using CE-MS, a technique particularly sensitive for the measurement of polar compounds. We first measured the levels of primary metabolites in shoots and roots, most of the analyzed metabolites were found to be quantitatively and qualitatively comparable in WT and three kinds of mutants (tir1, slr and arf7 arf19). Some amino acids such as GABA, Arg, Orn, Val, Thr, Leu and Ile exhibited a unique pattern of distribution between shoots and roots in both WT and the mutants. On the other hand, the mutant slr showed a quite different pattern of metabolites measured in the present study. Subsequently, the responses of primary metabolites to a short-term (60 min) application of exogenous IAA (10−7, 10−8 M) in WT and the mutants were characterized. Due to IAA treatments, some amino acids such as GABA in WT roots and Gly and Ala in WT shoots were altered, but not in the mutants. Gln was altered in slr shoots by 10−7 M IAA treatment. Levels of G6P from the glycolic pathway were altered in WT roots and those of 2PG, 3PG were altered in tir1 shoots in response to IAA treatments. The levels of succinate in TCA cycle were altered by IAA treatments in WT shoots but not in the mutants. IAA treatment inhibited the respiration in WT roots. The suppression of respiration might account for the IAA-dependent alteration of some metabolites. Difference of auxin responses between WT and auxin-signaling mutants suggests that some metabolic processes are under IAA control.


Visualization of vehicle detection (VD) data is essential because the data play an important role in traffic control and policy development. Most previous works focus on visualizing trajectories obtained from global positioning system (GPS), which are detailed but less representative. In contrast, VD data report the traffic statistic at each sensing site during a time span, including speed, flow, and occupancy of each lane, which contain comprehensive traffic information for analysis. In this work, we visualize three‐year VD data of freeways in Taiwan. The visualization depicts the traffic situation at a site over time using a color‐coded chart that extends from left to right over time. The charts are vertically stacked and horizontally aligned according to VD's located mileage and data time, respectively, to provide global insight. Our system allows semantic zoom, which changes the chart appearance in a continuous manner, to enable macro‐ and micro‐ scopic visualizations. Analysts can explore events that span an area with different sizes and that persist a time span with various lengths. To ensure the feasibility of our visualization, before the system design, we conducted a study with experts who work in the national freeway bureau and the institute of transportation of Taiwan. We also showed our results to the experts after the prototype system was built. The feedback shows that our VD data visualization is helpful to traffic control and policy development.


In this paper, we present the ban on progressive depreciation of housing associations in connection with the change to K-regulatory frameworks. Bokforingsnamnden (2014) stated that progressive depreciation was no longer allowed, and this study explores what kind of implications it had for the housing associations' income statements. Additional problems have been addressed by examining what effects it could have on the perception of that accounting must be based on giving a fair view (Artsberg, 2005), and whether stakeholders can access and interpret this financial information (Burks, 2015). Based on theories that consider that a similar framework is not appropriate for housing associations and non-profit organizations, as for profit driven companies, we have used this criticism on the matter (Burks, 2014; Torres and Pina, 2003). We have also taken into consideration why Bokforingsnamnden decided to prohibit the depreciation method. The empirical study focuses on examining twenty newly constructed housing associations annual reports from 2012 to 2014 to see whether they have had to change their depreciation method, and if this in turn has had an influence on their results, and if this has led to changes in their annual report.The end result of this study is based on a quantitative research which shows that a change has occurred in housing associations' income statements. 95 percent of the sample reported a loss in 2014, while in 2012 only 5 percent showed negative results. In a combined analysis of the use of literature and empirical data, there are clear indications that there is a requirement for new regulatory alternative templates for housing associations to report financial information if they are to present a fair view and enable comparison between associations.


The fast food industry in Nairobi Central Business District has in the past years witnessed dramatic changes brought about by competition. The fast food outlets try to outdo each other by way of differentiation in terms of the food they serve. Consequently, all fast food outlets have to continuously monitor and adapt to the environmental changes. As a result of this, firms have to employ various strategies to survive in the industry. The study sought to find and establish the strategic responses to competition among large fast food restaurants in Nairobi Central Business District (NCBD). The study also sought to highlight the various challenges these firms have to contend with. Towards this end, the study collected primary data from the outlets on the strategic responses they apply. The data was collected through the administration of questionnaires to the outlets. The study established that the outlets have specific target markets to serve, what they stock mostly determines the type of customers, branding of an outlet differentiates it from others, the outlets use brand names in order to cultivate customer loyalty, ensuring high quality of food and services and entrance into new markets. Increasing number of outlets, security measures, convenience and ease of accessibility, attractive outlet layout and design, consistency with other outlets, general cleanliness of outlet and uninterrupted power and water supply were all used by the outlets to beat competition in the market. The findings also show that the outlets use all the three strategic options available to a firm that is focus, differentiation and cost leadership. Key challenges faced by the outlets were identified as financial requirement, competition from smaller outlets, substitutes, changing consumer tastes and preferences, provision of reliable utilities by suppliers and ability and skills of staff. The study therefore recommends the use of market survey before deciding target customers, use of brand name to the satisfaction of customers and the outlets should factor in competitive challenges faced which have been highlighted as affecting the customers.


Seventy cases of space-occupying lesions in the eyeball and 140 extraocular masses in the orbit were explored by both sonography and compute tomography (CT). The merits of each method were demonstrated relative to defining the location, extension, and nature of the lesion. In adults with ocular masses, sonography is usually sufficient. For retinoblastoma, CT is usually necessary to rule out an extraocular extension. When an orbital process is involved, greater diagnostic accuracy can be achieved if the two methods are combined.


The photocatalytic degradation of organics in aqueous solution is an active research field. Currently, the relatively low degradation efficiency is the key problem to be solved that caused by the simple recombination of the photo-generated electrons and holes. The electrode was prepared by anodic oxidation on titanium thin plate and produced multiporous nano-crystalline titanium dioxide film with anatase structure on titanium substrate. In order to inhibit the simple recombination of the electrons and holes, the electric potential bias was applied to the electrode to drive away the chargers. The change of the photocurrent and the discolouration of the dye solution containing either methylene blue or acid red G with different magnitude of the applied bias were measured. It shows that the photocurrent increased by three orders of magnitude from μA to mA level by the applied bias. Correspondingly, the discolouration rate of the methylene blue in dye solution was increased greatly with the increasing applied bias up to 3.5V. The different kinds of transitional metal ions dopants of Mn2+, Cr3+, Fe3+, and Ni2+ to the electrodes was done by anodic oxidation method. The effects of different types of dopants on the photocatalytic activity were revealed by measuring the degradation of an organics aqueous solution containing a dye using a combination of ultraviolet light energy in the presence of these electrodes. The photocatalytic efficiency, which was remarkably enhanced by the incorporation of Mn2+、 Cr3+.、 Mn2+, showed the largest enhancement. However, Fe3+ changed only slightly, and Ni2+ showed no enhancement. These effects were related to the difference of these transitional metal dopants electron work function values and also to the difference of their ionic radii in respect to that of Ti4+. The configuration of the reactor for water treatment with the rotating electrode and 365nm wavelength UV radiation was described.


In the present study, numerical simulation is performed by using the commercial software ANSYS/LS-DYNA to investigate the various effects on crushing stress and energy absorption capacity of the blast mitigation cladding with gradient density aluminium foam in irregular manners, a 2D Voronoi technique is employed to generate the stochastic gradient metallic foam core. Results show that a properly designed energy absorption foam cladding with graded density is able to absorb high blast energy while with a lower force transferred to the substrate or the protected structure. Parametric study with respect to impact velocity and density gradient indicates that the density gradient foam cladding is effective in increasing energy absorption capacity especially under high velocity blast load.


Interference in insulin and/or insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) signaling can extend invertebrate life span, and interference in IGF-1 signaling can extend murine life span. Whether interference with murine insulin signaling, which can be diabetogenic and pathological, is also life-extending is controversial. We therefore measured life span in 3 murine strains genetically modified to reduce or increase insulin sensitivity. Mice with reduced insulin sensitivity were hemizygous for a null mutation in the insulin receptor (insulin receptor knockout mice; IRKO). Mice with increased insulin sensitivity either had a null mutation of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP-1B) or overexpressed Peroxisome proliferatoractivated receptor-α coactivator (PGC)-1α (PGC-1α). Life span of insulin insensitive IRKO mice was increased (males) or unaffected (females). Life spans of mice with increased insulin sensitivity were shortened overall (PTP-1B mice) or partially (PGC-1α: survival at the 25th percentile was reduced). These results show that insulin sensitivity in some murine genotypes is inversely related to longevity and provide further evidence for evolutionary conservation of this pathway as a modulator of longevity.


Spatial Models as Powerful Tools for Climate Change Ecology Austin J. Phillips Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Dr. Mark Kot Department of Applied Mathematics Many scientists suggest that the Earth has entered a new geologic epoch, the Anthropocene, defined by human influence on nearly every physical and biological system. Climate change is perhaps the most widespread human impact. One ecological effect of climate change is the movement of species' habitats due to changes in temperature, precipitation, and other environmental variables. Populations may either track their habitats using dispersal, acclimate to new conditions with phenotypic plasticity, or adapt in place by rapid evolution. Though paleontological records give some clues about past responses to abrupt environmental change, the rapid pace of current climate trends leaves the fate of many species somewhat unknown. Ecologists must, therefore, rely on predictive models to anticipate the dynamics of populations adjusting to their moving habitats. In this work, I focus on a number of spatial models that describe populations responding to their moving habitats. In the first two studies, I use integrodifference equations to describe populations that grow and disperse in distinct stages. Researchers have already used integrodifference equations to model populations tracking their habitats. My goal is to extend their work by (a) adding spatial realism and (b) comparing the long-term and short-term population dynamics that can be observed. In a third study, I use an optimization model based on reserve design to explore optimal management strategies for a population tracking its habitat. The model offers a prescriptive plan for allocating conservation resources under a limited budget. In the first study, I model a population in two-dimensional space. I find that the shape of the population's moving habitat has a strong influence on the population's fate. The pattern of dispersal determines whether the population does best in a long habitat, a wide habitat, or a square habitat. Moreover, the study shows that simplified spatial models can greatly overestimate persistence compared to spatially realistic ones. In the second study, I focus on the short-term dynamics of a population tracking its habitat. The model shows that a mismatch can occur between short-term and long-term population trends, which creates a confounding effect for prediction and management. I focus on understanding when and why such a mismatch occurs, depending on the population's biology, environment, and spatial distribution. Finally, the third study highlights that management of vulnerable species during climate change must be dynamic. I focus on an at-risk population that grows, disperses, and acclimates as temperature increases over time. The model identifies, among a collection of habitat sites, the sequence of management actions that maximizes a conservation metric related to total population size. While many models incorporate dispersal into management decision analysis, this study makes an important advancement by including acclimation in an explicit way. My approach with these three studies is to develop models that (a) advance the mechanistic understanding of population dynamics during climate change, (b) are easy to parameterize with data from a wide variety of species, and (c) make testable predictions. In doing so, I hope to inspire further interdisciplinary work between theoretical and applied ecologists as we confront the challenges of climate change.


Understanding the relationship between figures and text is key to scientific document understanding. Medical figures in particular are quite complex, often consisting of several subfigures (75% of figures in our dataset), with detailed text describing their content. Previous work studying figures in scientific papers focused on classifying figure content rather than understanding how images relate to the text. To address challenges in figure retrieval and figure-to-text alignment, we introduce MedICaT, a dataset of medical images in context. MedICaT consists of 217K images from 131K open access biomedical papers, and includes captions, inline references for 74% of figures, and manually annotated subfigures and subcaptions for a subset of figures. Using MedICaT, we introduce the task of subfigure to subcaption alignment in compound figures and demonstrate the utility of inline references in image-text matching. Our data and code can be accessed at https://github.com/allenai/medicat.


This study aims to examine the effect of inflation, interest rates, and exchange rates on the rate of economic growth in Indonesia through the People's Business Credit. The data used is secondary data obtained from BPS. The data in this study is an annual time series from 2007-2020. This study uses the simultaneous regression analysis method with the Amos program. The findings of this study indicate that inflation, interest rates, and exchange rates do not affect Indonesia's economic growth. This study shows that the policies implemented can stabilize the rupiah exchange rate, inflation, and interest rates which in turn have an impact on the distribution of People's Business Credit so as to increase Indonesia's economic growth. Keywords— Inflation, Interest Rates, Exchange Rates, People's Business Credit, Economic Growth.


We apply a new technique for ab initio phase determination [Acta Crystallogr. Sect. A, A55, 48 (1999)] to solve for the average structure of the icosahedral (i) phase of AlPdMn. After an introduction to the crystallographic phase problem and a description of the method, we present a brief report of our findings for the structure of i(AlPdMn). Despite the use of data from extremely high quality samples, we find strong evidence of disorder in the structure, lending support to the random tiling model of quasicrystal stabilization.


Enjoy these literary conversations with some of the foremost authors writing in America today. Though writing is what they do best, talking about literature is an act that the Mississippi writers included here do marvelously well. This is the first of two volumes of interviews with eleven of the state's prizewinning writers. This series shows that Mississippi continues to flourish with authors of importance and acclaim. Included in this first volume are Jones's informal conversations with Eudora Welty, Shelby Foote, Elizabeth Spencer, Barry Hannah, and Beth Henley. Mississippi Writers Talking provides new insights into understanding the views, the works, and the craft of principal American authors who are Mississippians. They speak with candor about themselves and tell of the urges that brought them to write the books and stories for which they are best known. Volume two includes interviews with Walker Percy, Margaret Walker, Ellen Douglas, Willie Morris, Turner Cassity, and James Whitehead.


Health is the basic condition of economic growth and the investment on health facilities should be parallel to other investments.. In general, the distribution of those facilities will encourage balanced economic prosperity. After 1990's privatization of health facilities had started but very little research done about factors affecting the outcome. In this paper the distribution of public and private health facilities are investigated with respect to, socio-demographic, economic and education levels of provinces. Distribution of Public and Private Hospital beds with respect to province population throughout time is analyzed. Public hospitals are generally distributed with balanced population except some southeast and east Anatolian provinces. Private hospitals are five times less the volume of public hospitals and 15 provinces have no private hospitals. Most of the private hospitals are located in a few higher income provinces and rest is distributed by population. Regression model the number of hospital beds are taken as dependent variable and population of provinces, income and education level are taken as independent variables. According to analysis, public hospitals are affected by population and education levels. For private hospitals only population is found to be effecting the distribution. So, in parallel to health facilities, distribution of education and job opportunities should be considered throughout Turkey.