Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) for detection of antibodies to herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) have been performed by using different immunosorbents prepared by passive adsorption of four HSV-1 antigen preparations to the wells of polystyrene microtitre plates in order to compare the the sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility of the tests. The following antigen preparations have been used: virus-infected native Vero cells and their lysates, membrane glycoproteins and virus nucleocapsid proteins. The optimal conditions have been established for each assay system: the concentrations of adsorbed antigen and the "threshold" values of the optical density. For each antigen tested except of the nucleocapsid (NC) proteins, comparable antibody titres were found in the sera of 6 patients with different forms of herpes infections and in 86 healthy subjects. In the sera of 6 herpetic patients the antibody titres were higher against NC antigen than against other antigen preparations.


The research was held within Petrovsky National surgery center and revealed certain regularities and trends testifying the necessity of further strategic and tactic development of training of graduated specialists through the innovative optimization of effectiveness of post-graduate training of medical personnel. The inclusion of social psychological monitoring of educational process is obligatory. The implementation of sociological monitoring in any institution providing post-graduate training has to be a powerful tool for enhancing quality and efficiency of training of medical professionals. This approach presupposes modernization of training programs accounting the innovations and research data.


Gender relations are increasingly being transformed in the informal urban economy in Kenya. Women small scale traders (WSSTs) have had to cope by neither relying on their spouses as traditionally expected nor on profit maximisation. This paper argues that social capital is at the core of WSSTs business operation as their networks are sources of social support as well as capital and credit. WSSTs control their resources irrespective of their marital status. This paper is based on primary data collected from 398 WSSTs in five urban informal settlements in Nairobi between June and August 2015 using a mixed method approach. The study found that access to credit for WSSTs was a major handicap as the requirements by the credit institutions available were too stringent for small businesses due to requirement for guarantee and collaterals. WSSTs resorted to forming groups (merry go round or chamas (67.5%), women groups (27%) and associations including SACCOs (6%).) so that, besides other benefits, including networking, they could get financial credit. While many of these groups are not registered, they are mainly involved in giving loans and credit besides offering welfare support to their members. The spouses/partners have no say in the businesses. This Paper concludes that WSSTs belong to groups (chama) for social support and also financial support. They do not revert to their spouses/partners for support. The membership of the chama serves as guarantors for WSSTs to access credit. Thus interventions targeting WSSTs should have focus on the social capital development mechanisms as entry point. Equally the emerging gender dynamics of women having full control of their resources needs to be appreciated as an important turning point in gender relations and rights.


This paper describes a prototype of a system to automatically analyze use cases and create a conceptual model based on the analysis. Grammatical parser and Abbott's heuristic are used to process the use cases. User can modify the conceptual model by refining entities and relations, as well as roles for the entities. The model can be exported to be further utilized with object oriented analysis or domainspecific modeling. The system is evaluated based on the analysis of use cases used to describe the system itself.

The quality of models depends essentially on the quality and writing conventions of the use cases. If the use cases are written using subject-predicate-object structure and usage of synonyms is minimized, then the system can produce appropriate conceptual model of the use cases, facilitating requirements analysis and domain engineering.


We apply methods developed in the literature initiated by Hannan and Blackwell on robust optimization, approachability and calibration, to price financial securities. Rather than focus on asymptotic performance, we show how gradient strategies developed to minimize asymptotic regret imply financial trading strategies that yield arbitrage-based bounds for option prices. These bounds are new and robust in that they do not depend on the continuity of the stock price process, complete markets, or an assumed pricing kernel. They depend only on the realized quadratic variation of the price process, which can be measured and, importantly, hedged in financial markets using existing securities. Our results also apply directly to a new class of options called timer options. Finally, we argue that the Hannan–Blackwell strategy is path dependent and therefore suboptimal with a finite horizon. We improve it by solving for the optimal path-independent strategy, and compare the resulting bounds with Black–Scholes.


With data from Van Allen Probes, we investigate electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) wave excitation using simultaneously observed ion distributions. Strong He band waves occurred while the spacecraft was moving through an enhanced density region. We extract from helium, oxygen, proton, and electron mass spectrometer measurement the velocity distributions of warm heavy ions as well as anisotropic energetic protons that drive wave growth through the ion cyclotron instability. Fitting the measured ion fluxes to multiple sinm‐type distribution functions, we find that the observed ions make up about 15% of the total ions, but about 85% of them are still missing. By making legitimate estimates of the unseen cold (below ∼2 eV) ion composition from cutoff frequencies suggested by the observed wave spectrum, a series of linear instability analyses and hybrid simulations are carried out. The simulated waves generally vary as predicted by linear theory. They are more sensitive to the cold O+ concentration than the cold He+ concentration. Increasing the cold O+ concentration weakens the He band waves but enhances the O band waves. Finally, the exact cold ion composition is suggested to be in a range when the simulated wave spectrum best matches the observed one.


The emergence of pathogens in today's world has increased the need for new, portable, nonthermal sterilization technologies. The University of Missouri, Columbia in cooperation with the Institute of Electrophysics, Ekaterinburg, Russia, have built and tested a new accelerator based on solid-state opening switches for the disinfection of pathogens in food. The accelerator utilizes a new solid-state opening switch to generate 40 ns, 2OO-keV electron beam pulses. These pulses were then converted to Bremsstrahlung X-rays using an integral X-ray converter. The efficacy of treating E. coli 0157:H7. In ground beef was tested by irradiating frozen ground beef with the high-dose-rate 10/sup 7-6/ rads/s X-ray pulses. Comparison studies were also done with a Cobalt-60 source located at the Missouri University Research Reactor. The results of the study are presented in this paper.


A selective and sensitive room temperature phosphorimetric method for the direct determination of naftopidil in biological fluids is described. The method is based on obtaining a phosphorescence signal from this antihypertensive drug using TlNO3 as a heavy atom perturber and Na2SO3 as a deoxygenator agent without a protective medium. This technique is named non-protected room temperature phosphorescence (NP-RTP), and enables us to determine analytes in complex matrices without the need for a tedious prior separation process. The optimization of Na2SO3 (8.5 x 10(-3) M) and the accurate value of pH (9.0) were determined using a simplex as a method of optimization. Sodium carbonate-hydrogencarbonate buffer solution (5.0 x 10(-2) M) was used to adjust the suitable pH. The optimum concentration of Tl+ (8.5 x 10(-2) M) was also determined. The delay time, gate time and time between flashes selected were 200 microseconds, 200 microseconds and 5 ms, respectively. Under the above conditions we propose a method to determine naftopidil by direct measurement of phosphorescence intensity with an emission wavelength of 526 nm and an excitation wavelength of 296 nm in the concentration range 0.05-1.00 mg L-1. Under these conditions the phosphorescence signal appears in 3 min once the sample has been prepared. Optimization of the various conditions permitted the establishment of an NP-RTP method for the determination with a detection limit, according to the error propagation theory, of 21.0 ng mL-1. The repeatability was studied using 10 solutions of 0.20 mg L-1 of naftopidil; if error propagation is assumed, the relative error is 1.39%. The standard deviation for replicate samples was 1.1 x 10(-2) mg L-1. This method was successfully applied to the determination of naftopidil, in human urine with recoveries between 106 and 112%.


PURPOSE
Little is known about complaints made by psychiatric patients. The aim of this study is to analyse complaints made by, or behalf of, inpatients at a large independent psychiatric hospital.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH
The hospital's complaints register was used to identify and study complaints made during 2006. A descriptive analysis was performed.

FINDINGS
Of the 392 complaints, 39 per cent related to staff behaviour, 26 per cent to clinical matters, 18 per cent to the behaviour of other patients and the remaining 16 per cent to the physical environment and facilities. Action as a result of complaints was mainly taken at unit level but in 9 per cent of cases organisation-wide improvements were made, for example to enrich patient treatment programmes, rectify staff shortages and improve the quality of meals.

RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS
The study took place in a specialist hospital and so the findings cannot be generalised to the wider NHS. Important differences exist between complaints made in psychiatric as opposed to general hospital settings.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
Complaints are a valuable source of organisational learning for mental health services.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE
Given the paucity of literature on complaints in psychiatry, this study describes some in detail the nature of patients' complaints and one organisation's actions to improve patient services as a result of these complaints.


Literacy education continues to be dominated by a mindset that has passed its use-by date. Education has failed to take account of how much the world has changed during the information technology revolution. It proceeds as though the world is the same as before - just somewhat more technologized. This is the hallmark of an 'outsider' mindset. In fact, qualitatively new literacies and new kinds of knowledge associated with digitally saturated social practices abound. 'Insiders' understand this, 'outsiders' do not. Yet 'outsider' perspectives still dominate educational
directions. Meanwhile, student 'insiders' endure learning experiences that mystify, bemuse, alienate and miseducate them. This book describes new social practices and new literacies, along with kinds of knowledge associated with them. It shows what is at stake between 'outsider' and
'insider' mindsets, argues that education requires a shift in mindset, and suggests how and where pursuit of progressive change might begin.


The number of older adults living with HIV infection has increased significantly. Several similarities have been found between aging and HIV infection. Patients with HIV can present with premature complications that are often observed in chronological aging, they have been called Geriatric Syndromes (GS). Frailty syndrome, a pathological state of excessive vulnerability in old age, shares with HIV infection the phenomenon of immunodeficiency.

This article reviews the epidemiology of HIV in the elderly, and the impact of immunological aging on the development of negative outcomes known as geriatric syndromes in older adults living with HIV. Finally, the objective of this review is to provide a practical positioning based on scientific evidence, given the new challenges and perspectives of HIV infection in old age, proposing as a more appropriate strategy the establishment of a multidisciplinary vision that includes the support of geriatric medicine in the evaluation of the elderly patient with HIV.


Mobile wireless sensor network is a subset of mobile ad hoc network. Therefore independent nods mobility is an essential property of network. Due to limited radio range the communication is also performed in ad hoc manner. In these networks the routing protocol played important role in route discovery between communicating nodes. Due to this the network suffers from the performance issues. Among them security is main area of concern in the presented work. Therefore different routing based attacks are investigated and a serious resources consumption attack is addressed. This attack using false messaging, or by modifying routing information network performance is affected. Thus an improved routing solution is suggested. This paper is proposed routing protocol is implemented and simulated in NS2 network simulation environment. In order to simulate the routing performance using two different network scenarios the performance is compared. And the comparative performance study is performed in terms of packet delivery ratio, throughput, end to end delay and energy consumption. The obtained results demonstrate the effective performance with respect to the traditional routing protocol.


Long-standing psychogenic factors underlying impotence in diabetic males may, in many cases, play a more significant role than does prematurely presumed organic disease. With an explicit sexual history, a committed couple, an explanation of the sexual responses, and specific exchange at home, the physician may comfortably and competently intervene to provide enlightened sex therapy.


A novel technique to covalently immobilize indicator dyes with terminal amino groups for preparing optical sensors is investigated. Au nanoparticles are used as bridges and carriers for anchoring indicator dyes on the surface of a quartz glass slide. 1-Aminopyrene (AP) was employed as an example of indicator dyes and covalently immobilized onto the outmost surface of the glass slide. First, the glass slide was functionalized by (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane (MPS) to form a thiol-terminated self-assembled monolayer, where Au nanoparticles were strongly anchored via covalent link. Then, 16-mercaptohexadecanoic acid (MHDA) was self-assembled to bring carboxylic groups onto the surfaces of Au nanoparticles. A further activation by using 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) and N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) converted the carboxylic group into succinimide ester. Finally, the active succinimide ester was reacted with 1-aminopyrene (AP). Thus, AP was covalently immobilized to the glass slide and an AP-immobilized sensor was obtained. The resulting sensor was used to determine rutin based on fluorescence quenching. It showed a linear response toward rutin (R) from 5.0 × 10-7 to 6.0 × 10-4 mol L-1 with a detection limit of 2.0× 10-7 mol L-1. This AP-immobilized sensor has very satisfactory reproducibility, reversibility, rapid response and no dye-leaching.


In this interview, Karen Timmons of the Joint Commission Resources Inc. (JCR) responds to questions about the role JCR plays in promoting patient safety and quality in the international community. Ms. Timmons describes the types of services provided by JCR including strategies, approaches, and challenges. She concludes with recent work examples and some personal perspectives.


Long term scientific data and comprehensive information (base-line data) of water resources in most developing countries such as Nigeria are lacking, inadequate or completely nonexistent. The dearth of baseline data has constituted one of the major constraints to meeting the demands for sustainable water resources management. However, residents of most rural communities of the developing world have extensive knowledge about their environment. Such knowledge acquired from experience and residency is termed traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). A questionnaire survey was carried out in two rural communities in the Central Niger Delta whose river sections have been dredged. A total of 108 and 103 respondents from Otuogidi and Otuoke respectively participated in the survey that was designed to testing the reliability of TEK in the Central Delta. The results show that there is rich TEK in these communities, which is inversely proportional to time post dredging but directly proportional to the level of participation of residents of the sample communities in the respective projects. The thesis of this paper is that the incorporation of TEK in rural communities of developing countries with "hard scientific" knowledge is one viable option to accessing environmental information that can be used in planning for sustainable development.


Microporous poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) membrane was prepared by UV-initiated photopolymerization. The spacer arm (i.e., hexamethylene diamine) was attached covalently and then invertase was immobilized by the condensation reaction of the amino groups of the spacer arm with carboxyl groups of the enzyme in the presence of carbodiimides. The values of the Michael's constant Km of invertase were significantly larger (ca. 2.5 times) upon immobilization, indicating decreased affinity by the enzyme for its substrate, whereas Vmax was smaller for the immobilized invertase. Immobilization improved the pH stability of the enzyme as well as its temperature stability. Thermal stability was found to increase with immobilization and at 70°C the half times for the activity decay were 12 min for the free enzyme and 41 min for the immobilized enzyme. The immobilized enzyme activity was found to be quite stable in repeated experiments. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 75: 1685–1692, 2000


Bacterial systems offer excellent tests of how well the general theoretical predictions of ecology dynamics do or do not in fact conform to reality. We believe that the basic rules that govern the cohabitation of competing species for limited resources are the same from bacteria to man, we just don't know the rules, and that fundamental studies of the games bacteria play will give fundamental insight into the vastly more complex systems we hope to attack later. In this tutorial review we discuss how simplified micro-ecologies constructed using tools of micro and nanofabrication techniques offer some idea of how physical principles and analysis can address the issue of complex ecology dynamics.


In Ireland, the trade of milk quota is subject to regional restrictions and a large variation in quota prices between regions has caused some controversy. This article investigates this issue by analysing the functioning of the Irish milk quota exchange market. For this purpose, the economic value of milk quota is estimated using an optimisation framework. The estimated values are then compared to milk quota prices paid at the exchange market. The analysis reveals that quota is undervalued in the border, midlands and west and south-west regions, while milk quota is overvalued in the east and south regions. This implies that farmers in certain regions overpay for additional quota, while other farmers secure good value for their quota investments. The paper concludes by discussing that the identified regional differences are only partly explained by economic and production factors.


In twenty-six patients referred for angiography, clearance of contrast medium was determined with x-ray fluorescence analysis after multiple injections of contrast medium. A formula for correction of the injected amount, which takes into consideration the different times of contrast medium injections, approximating the total injected amount into one injection, was used. A single injection clearance of 51Cr-EDTA was determined at the same time. The results showed a good correlation between the clearance of contrast medium after multiple injections and the 51Cr-EDTA clearance after a single injection (r=0.945). The correlation between contrast medium clearance calculated without correction for the different injection times, and "Cr-EDTA clearance was the same (r=0.946), due to short angiography time and rather low clearance values in our patients. It is concluded that total plasma clearance of contrast medium can easily be estimated after multiple injections. In this way patients with a risk of developing post-angiographic renal failure can be found.


YSZ molten droplets created by plasma spraying were deposited on the YSZ substrate preheated to different temperature from 75oC to 1000oC. The results showed that there is little change in crack spacing when substrate temperature is less than about 740oC, and a significant increase in crack spacing from 3.54 μm at 740oC to 10.91 μm at 1000oC was observed. A simple qualitative model was proposed on the basis of the origin of thermal stresses to explain the influence of substrate initial temperature on crack density characterized by crack spacing. The analysis indicates that the results can be ascribed to the changes in tensile stress and splat/substrate adhesion resulting from changes of substrate initial temperature.


Virus filtration (VF) is a key step in an overall viral clearance process since it has been demonstrated to effectively clear a wide range of mammalian viruses with a log reduction value (LRV) > 4. The potential to achieve higher LRV from virus retentive filters has historically been examined using bacteriophage surrogates, which commonly demonstrated a potential of > 9 LRV when using high titer spikes (e.g. 1010 PFU/mL). However, as the filter loading increases, one typically experiences significant decreases in performance and LRV. The 9 LRV value is markedly higher than the current expected range of 4‐5 LRV when utilizing mammalian retroviruses on virus removal filters (Miesegaes et al., Dev Biol (Basel) 2010;133:3‐101). Recent values have been reported in the literature (Stuckey et al., Biotech Progr 2014;30:79‐85) of LRV in excess of 6 for PPV and XMuLV although this result appears to be atypical. LRV for VF with therapeutic proteins could be limited by several factors including process limits (flux decay, load matrix), virus spike level and the analytical methods used for virus detection (i.e. the Limits of Quantitation), as well as the virus spike quality. Research was conducted using the Xenotropic‐Murine Leukemia Virus (XMuLV) for its direct relevance to the most commonly cited document, the International Conference of Harmonization (ICH) Q5A (International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use, Geneva, Switzerland, 1999) for viral safety evaluations. A unique aspect of this work is the independent evaluation of the impact of retrovirus quality and virus spike level on VF performance and LRV. The VF studies used XMuLV preparations purified by either ultracentrifugation (Ultra 1) or by chromatographic processes that yielded a more highly purified virus stock (Ultra 2). Two monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) with markedly different filtration characteristics and with similar levels of aggregate (<1.5%) were evaluated with the Ultra 1 and Ultra 2 virus preparations utilizing the Planova 20 N, a small virus removal filter. Impurities in the virus preparation ultimately limited filter loading as measured by determining the volumetric loading condition where 75% flux decay is observed versus initial conditions (V75). This observation occurred with both Mabs with the difference in virus purity more pronounced when very high spike levels were used (>5 vol/vol %). Significant differences were seen for the process performance over a number of lots of the less‐pure Ultra 1 virus preparations. Experiments utilizing a developmental lot of the chromatographic purified XMuLV (Ultra 2 Development lot) that had elevated levels of host cell residuals (vs. the final Ultra 2 preparations) suggest that these contaminant residuals can impact virus filter fouling, even if the virus prep is essentially monodisperse. Process studies utilizing an Ultra 2 virus with substantially less host cell residuals and highly monodispersed virus particles demonstrated superior performance and an LRV in excess of 7.7 log10. A model was constructed demonstrating the linear dependence of filtration flux versus filter loading which can be used to predict the V75 for a range of virus spike levels conditions using this highly purified virus. Fine tuning the virus spike level with this model can ultimately maximize the LRV for the virus filter step, essentially adding the LRV equivalent of another process step (i.e. protein A or CEX chromatography). © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 31:135–144, 2015


Background Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is an autoimmune, inflammatory noninfective joint disease that includes different disease subtypes that are characterized by the onset of arthritis starting before the age of 16 years with symptoms lasting at least for 6 weeks. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the compliance of healthcare providers at the Pediatric Rheumatology Unit, Assiut University Children's Hospital, to the 2011 American College of Rheumatology recommendations for treatment of JIA. Patients and methods The study was conducted on 50 patients who were younger than 16 years and diagnosed as having JIA at the Pediatric Rheumatology Unit, Assiut University Children's Hospital, to assess compliance of the unit's healthcare providers to American College of Rheumatology recommendations for treatment of JIA. Results The patients were grouped according to age into two groups: from 1 to 7 and 8 to 16 years. Polyarticular JIA was the most common type among studied cases followed by systemic-onset JIA. All studied cases presented with arthritis at the time of diagnosis. Complete blood count and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were done for all studied cases at the time of diagnosis. Rheumatoid factor was done for 84%. The most common complications among the studied group were those related to treatment. NSAIDs and corticosteroids were the most common drugs used. Conclusion Treatment of JIA includes pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions and surgical treatment. Pharmacological treatment includes NSAIDs, steroids, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, and biological agents. The degree of disease activity and the presence or absence of features of poor prognosis greatly affect onset of complications and treatment of JIA. Nonpharmacological interventions include psychosocial therapy, nutrition, physical and occupational therapy, lifestyle factors, and home remedies. Through this study, some defects were found. First, there was deficiency in data recording. Second, there was also deficiency in laboratory (mainly rheumatoid factor and antinuclear antibody/anti-double stranded DNA) and radiological workup. Moreover, nonpharmacological therapy and surgery were not considered. Lastly, there was deficiency in regular follow-up of safety drug monitoring.


Non-destructive testing is a wide group of analysis techniques used in science and industry to evaluate the properties of a structure without causing damage to it. The main objective of this project is to carry out experiment to detect leakage in pipeline using nonlinear acoustic modulation method. The nonlinear acoustic modulation approach with low frequency excitation and high frequency acoustic wave is used to reveal modulations in the presence of leak. The pipe used in this experiment was galvanized iron pipe. The experiment is started with the experiment of undamaged specimen and followed by the experiment of damaged specimen with manually applied leak. The results obtained are being observed and the difference between the specimen without leak and with leak can be distinguished. The distance of the leak and the distance of the outlet detected is nearly accurate to the exact location which is leak at 4.0 m and outlet at 6.0 m. Therefore, the results demonstrate that leakage can be detected using nonlinear acoustic modulation, and proved the objective of distinguish the difference between the results of specimen without leak and with leak has succeeded. The damage detection process can be eased with the knowledge on the signal features.


Background : Converging lines of research suggest that activation of the insulin/insulin-like-growth-factor axis may impact prognosis among breast cancer survivors. Carbohydrate intake can stimulate the insulin/insulin-like -growth-factor axis by elevating blood glucose concentrations, and insulin-like-growth-factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) activation in breast cancers triggers proliferative signaling. This dissertation examined the influence of carbohydrate intake on breast cancer recurrence and all-cause mortality among postmenopausal breast cancer survivors, and whether the odds of recurrence was modified by IGF-1R expression in the primary cancer. Methods : Secondary analysis of N=2,111 postmenopausal breast cancer survivors enrolled in a dietary intervention trial. Baseline and one-year dietary intake was assessed using 24-hour dietary recalls. One- year change in carbohydrate intake was quantified as tertiles (grams/day) and change in approximately one serving of high or low quality carbohydrate-based foods; quality considered the impact on blood glucose concentrations. Samples of primary breast cancer tissue (N=265) were stained in a nested, case-control, immunohistochemical study to test the interaction between a decreased carbohydrate intake and IGF-1R expression on odds of recurrence. Finally, the impact of carbohydrate quality (high vs. low) on outcomes was assessed among the full cohort. Results : Dietary changes began a median 24 months post-diagnosis. Over a median 7 years, there were N=247 (11.7%) recurrences. Risk of recurrence significantly increased over tertiles of change in carbohydrate intake (p=0.055). A decreased carbohydrate intake (< -26 grams/day) reduced the risk of recurrence by 30% (HR: 0.7; 95%CI:0.5-1.0). Risk reduction significantly differed (p=0.110) by IGF-1R expression in the primary breast cancer: a decreased carbohydrate intake reduced the odds of recurrence by 30% (conditional OR: 0.7;95%CI:0.2- 1.7) among participants who had IGF-1R negative cancers and 80% (conditional OR: 0.2;95%CI:0.03-0.3) among participants who had IGF-1R positive cancers. Among the full cohort, only a decreased intake of low quality carbohydrates (e.g., refined grains, sweets, starchy vegetables) was protective, and only among participants who did not decrease their intake of high quality carbohydrates (e.g., fruits, non-starchy vegetables, whole grains, dairy). Conclusions : Results support that modifications in carbohydrate intake may impact prognosis among postmenopausal breast cancer survivors via the insulin/insulin-like-growth-factor axis. Importantly, carbohydrate quality may be more important that quantity relative to prognosis


The deterioration of porous building materials and structures by the crystallization of water soluble salts is a well known phenomenon. The threats posed by salts to building materials can be minimized either by controlling the environment or by removing the salts from the deteriorated zone. In building materials electro kinetic desalination aims to remove salts from the affected zone, mainly by electro migration, by application of an external electric field. However, in addition to enhancing the transport of dissolved salt ions, the applied electric field might also introduce new ionic species, due to reactions at the electrodes. In particular, H and OH ions can be introduced at the positively and negatively biased electrodes, respectively. This results in acidic and alkaline fronts entering the material, which can affect the desalination process. In addition, the acidic environment can induce corrosion in reinforced concrete and damage the mortar in masonry structures. In this thesis the effect of an applied DC electric field on the migration of salt (Na) ions in fired-clay brick has been investigated by performing non-destructive measurements of the time evolution of the moisture and Na profiles using a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique. Furthermore, the effect of an applied electric field on the evolution of the acidic and alkaline fronts and the electric potential gradients within the brick sample has been studied. In order to interpret the experimental observations a numerical model, based on the Poisson-Nernst-Planck equations, has been developed. The results of this model were in good agreement with the experimental data. The results of the study indicate that the evolution of the acidic and alkaline severely affects or even halts the transport of salt ions, which drastically limits the applicability of the electro kinetic method to the desalination of porous building materials.


Mr. Ward stated that in his invention the stove is constructed in a vertical position, so as to expose a considerable surface for the absorption of heat from gas burners, and for the radiation of the heat; and that, from the flatness of construction, the apparatus occupies little space, not projecting into the room more than two or three inches, being thus productive of little inconvenience when out of use.

A plate of thin sheet iron is fitted into an ordinary fire-place, in the manner of a fire board, about two inches within the projection of the mantel-piece; about three inches in front of the back plate, a similar plate of sheet iron is secured by bolts; a third somewhat smaller plate of iron is placed about one inch from the second plate, and enclosed at the top, bottom, and sides, so as to form a chamber of about two to three feet square, and one inch in depth. Towards the bottom of the last plate a long aperture is cut, closed by a sliding plate, acting as a door for lighting the gas jets, and admitting a small quantity of air. A little below the aperture a pipe is introduced, in which are fixed three or more gas jets, either the ordinary small bat-wing burners, or burners with two or three holes, so that the flames may extend laterally, not coming into immediate contact with the iron. From the top of the enclosed chamber, a pipe, an inch and ...


Experiments on 76 rats of both sexes exposed to red phosphorus revealed the morphologic changes in the body. Chronic red phosphorus poisoning (15 days, 1, 2, 3, 4 months) induces dystrophic changes and hyperemia in the examined viscera and brain. The first pathomorphologic changes appeared in the liver, stomach, small intestine, and as the intoxication period was prolonged they appeared in other internal organs and brain. Language: ru


This study investigates changes in extreme temperature and precipitation events under different future scenarios of anthropogenic aerosol emissions (i.e., SO2 and black and organic carbon) simulated with an aerosol‐climate model (ECHAM5‐HAM) with focus on Europe. The simulations include a maximum feasible aerosol reduction (MFR) scenario and a current legislation emission (CLEmod) scenario where Europe implements the MFR scenario, but the rest of the world follows the current legislation scenario and a greenhouse gas scenario. The strongest changes relative to the year 2000 are projected for the MFR scenario, in which the global aerosol reduction greatly enforces the general warming effect due to greenhouse gases and results in significant increases of temperature and precipitation extremes in Europe. Regional warming effects can also be identified from aerosol reductions under the CLEmodscenario. This becomes most obvious in the increase of the hottest summer daytime temperatures in Northern Europe.


Levels of diversification in the portfolios of investors present a puzzle. The benefits of diversification, measured by the rules of mean-variance portfolio theory, have increased in recent years, yet levels of diversification did not increase, remaining much below their optimal levels. We find that today's optimal level of diversification, measured by the rules of mean-variance portfolio theory, exceeds 120 stocks, and argue that the diversification puzzle is solved within Shefrin and Statman's (2000) behavioral portfolio theory. Investors in behavioral portfolio theory construct their portfolios as layered pyramids where bottom layers are designed for downside protection while top layers are designed for upside potential. Risk-aversion gives way to risk-seeking at the uppermost layers as they desire to avoid poverty give way to the desire for riches. Some investors fill the uppermost layers with the few stocks of an undiversified portfolio while others fill them with lottery tickets. Neither lottery buying nor undiversified portfolios are consistent with mean-variance portfolio theory but both are consistent with behavioral portfolio theory. Behavioral portfolios, such as those reflected in the rules of "core and satellite," are sensible ways to allocate portfolio assets between the upside potential and downside protection layers. A well-diversified core forms is the downside protection layer of the portfolio and a less diversified satellite forms the upside potential one. The rules of diversification in behavioral portfolio theory are not as precise as the rules in mean-variance portfolio theory, but they are clear enough. Investors, financial advisors, and companies sponsoring 401(k) plans must be careful to draw the line between upside potential and downside protection such that dreams of riches do not plunge investors into poverty.


ObjectiveTo evaluate the influence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and situation of drug consumption on neuropsychological impairment in asymptomatic HIV-positive (HIV+) former intravenous drug users (IVDUs) of Spanish nationality. BackgroundCurrently, we have no data about neuropsychological impairment in asymptomatic HIV+ IVDUs taking into account different situations of drug consumption. MethodA neuropsychological evaluation was made of four groups of IVDUs: 33 abstinent HIV+ IVDUs, 21 methadone-maintained HIV+ IVDUs, 27 abstinent HIV-negative (HIV−) IVDUs, and 21 methadone-maintained HIV− IVDUs. Their neuropsychological impairment rates were determined taking as a reference the performance of 23 HIV− subjects without history of drug abuse. ResultsThe rate of neuropsychological impairment of methadone-maintained HIV+ patients (48%) and that of those in abstinence (24%) is greater than that of HIV− subjects in a similar condition (19% and 11%). The impairment rate of the methadone-maintained HIV+ group is significantly greater than that of the abstinent HIV+. Methadone-maintained HIV+ subjects with neuropsychological impairment have fewer education years than those not impaired; likewise, the percentages of subjects with significant immunodepression, detectable viral load, and without antiretroviral treatments are higher among methadone-maintained subjects with neuropsychological impairment. ConclusionsThis study emphasizes the association of asymptomatic HIV infection with neuropsychological impairment in IVDUs and reveals the importance of the drug consumption situation in relation to this risk, being methadone-maintained IVDUs more likely to suffer from it. This fact seems to be related to the worsening of the infection and its treatment and to educational level.


The consumption level of instant noodle in Indonesia eventually nominated as the second position in the world. Mayora has created Bakmi Mewah which different from other fast food that has been served in today's market, through the television advertisement marketing strategy. The purpose of this research is to determine and analyse the consumer's perception regarding the television advertising and consumer's purchase decision of Bakmi Mewah's product, and how much is the influence of television advertising to the Bakmi Mewah's consumer purchased decision. The television advertising is measure from the video and audio. Meanwhile, the purchase decision was measured by the product's choice, brand's choice, distribution channel's choice, purchasing time, and payment system. This type of research is causal-descriptive using quantitative method. The data collection technique is using the questionnaire where the number of population is unknown, therefore the sampling technique that used is probability sampling specified in incidental sampling, the number of respondents are 100 people. The research result found that Bakmi Mewah's television advertising categorized as good, the purchase decision of Bakmi Mewah considered also considered as good, although there is no consumer's interest in purchasing back the Bakmi Mewah's product. Based on partial (t-test) hypothesis, it found that television advertising has a significant influence towards consumer's purchase decision on Bakmi Mewah's product. According to the coefficient determination, the television advertising has influence 26% and the rest is 74% which influenced by the other factors that are not included in this research. Keywords: television advertisement, video, audio, purchase decision.


Celebrated anthropologist Margaret Mead, who studied sex in Samoa and child-rearing in New Guinea in the 1920s and '30s, was determined to show that anthropology could tackle the psychology of the most complex, modern societies in ways useful for waging the Second World War. This fascinating book follows Mead and her closest collaborators-her lover and mentor Ruth Benedict, her third husband Gregory Bateson, and her prospective fourth husband Geoffrey Gorer-through their triumphant climax, when Mead became the cultural ambassador from America to Britain in 1943, to their downfall in the Cold War. Part intellectual biography, part cultural history, and part history of the human sciences, Peter Mandler's book is a reminder that the Second World War and the Cold War were a clash of cultures, not just ideologies, and asks how far intellectuals should involve themselves in politics, at a time when Mead's example is cited for and against experts' involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.


A study was conducted to assess the overall performance of ND I-2 vaccine in Nepalese context to prevent Newcastle disease (ND) particularly in backyard chicken. The experimental studies were conducted at Animal Health Research Division (AHRD), NARC and field verification were carried out in different eco-zones of the country. Experiments were divided in three segments: evaluation of thermostability, longevity and field verification trial in backyard chickens. The ND I-2 vaccine was prepared at Central Biological Production Laboratory (CBPL), Tripureshwor. In thermostability evaluation antibody titer and mortality percentage showed that ND I-2 vaccine exposed up to 300C for seven days was found effective in prevention of Newcastle Disease in village chickens. Evaluation of longevity of immunity showed that till 90 days there was protective immunity against ND and in field trials when vaccine delivered without maintaining cold chain, the vaccine gave protective immunity in mid hills and high hills region but not enough immunity in the terai region where the temperature was above 300 Celsius. This study clearly indicated that thermostable ND I-2 vaccine can be used without cold chain in high hills and mid hills in all seasons and only in winter season in the terai region of Nepal (temp. less than 300C). In summer season, vaccination in the terai region could not give protective immunity (temp. more than 300C) without maintaining cold chain.


We continue our earlier study of the phase structure of a SU(2) gauge theory whose action contains additional chirally invariant four fermion interactions. Our lattice theory uses a reduced staggered fermion formalism to generate two Dirac flavors in the continuum limit. In the current study we have tried to reduce lattice spacing and taste breaking effects by using an improved fermion action incorporating stout smeared links. As in our earlier study we observe two regimes; for weak gauge coupling the chiral condensate behaves as an order parameter differentiating a phase at small four fermi coupling where the condensate vanishes from a phase at strong four fermi coupling in which chiral symmetry is spontaneously broken. This picture changes qualitatively when the gauge coupling is strong enough to cause confinement; in this case we observe a first order phase transition for some critical value of the four fermi coupling associated with a strong enhancement of the chiral condensate. We observe that this critical four fermi coupling varies monotonically with bare gauge coupling - decreasing, as expected, as the gauge coupling is increased. We have checked that these results remain stable under differing levels of smearing. They appear to rule out the appearance of new fixed points associated with chirally invariant four fermion interactions in confining non abelian gauge theories.


Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS) are essentially weapon systems that, once activated, can select and engage targets without further human intervention. While these are neither currently fielded nor officially part of any nation's defence strategy, some States and defence contractors are currently developing LAWS for future deployment. In particular, swarming munitions have garnered a great deal of interest. These will consist of dozens, hundreds or (potentially) thousands of micro-drones that will operate collaboratively and as a coherent whole, to outsmart, saturate and overwhelm enemy defences. The aim is that even in the face of counter-measures and heavy defensive fire, at least a few 'leakers' will get through to take out their target. Yet, the flipside of such a weapon system is that large numbers of 'non-leakers' will succumb to defensive fire and will remain on former battlefields. Should they fail to explode as intended, these micro-drones will very likely become explosive remnants of war (ERW) and will pose a danger to civilians; one that will weigh more heavily on young children, especially in view of the munitions' striking resemblance to toy aeroplanes.
After some introductory remarks, the following article will provide both a critical analysis of the LAWS ERW problem and a legal commentary of the potential application of three treaties. Specifically, the article will: present the ERW problem at a glance; reiterate a working definition of LAWS; describe some weapon systems likely to emerge as LAWS, focusing on swarming munitions; frame both the LAWS ERW problem, as well as some potentially mitigating assumptions; then it will comment in detail on the potential application of Protocol V to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW); the Convention on Cluster Munitions; and Amended Protocol II to the CCW (Amended Mines Protocol). Between these three instruments, there is the potential to stipulate: post-conflict remedial measures; generic preventive measures; and ex ante design stipulations. In some instances, the norms may be directly transplantable, while in others they may need to be adapted, to account for the peculiarities of swarming munitions. Furthermore, as Protocol V has general application to all explosive ordnances that become ERW, it may be directly applied to swarming munitions (that is, in the absence of any legislative efforts) on the proviso that its caveated drafting is interpreted narrowly to account for the advanced technical features we may expect to see in LAWS munitions. A similar situation of direct applicability may also be true of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, depending on how swarming munitions are launched.
This is the third of a seven-part series, which comprises: 1) assessing the sense and scope of autonomy; 2) whether and how LAWS can be designed/deployed in compliance with IHL; 3) issues relating to the explosive remnants of war (current article); 4) the lawful use of LAWS for targeted strikes; 5) legal and policy issues in the autonomous delivery of nuclear weapons; 6) arms control issues; and 7) non-proliferation.


The global response to HIV/AIDS has been a major aspect of global health and development policy over the last three decades. The book illustrates the devastating health impacts of the epidemic, with life expectancy in some countries falling to the lowest levels observed anywhere, and the remarkable success of the global HIV/AIDS response in reversing such extreme outcomes. Concerns about the implications of HIV/AIDS for economic development have played a role in motivating the global HIV/AIDS response. However, evidence on the impacts of HIV/AIDS on economic growth or poverty is weak, and the magnitude and relevance of such economic effects appears trivial compared to the consequences for life and health. Because of the success in extending access to treatment globally, HIV/AIDS has effectively transitioned into a chronic disease. This means that HIV/AIDS absorbs not only a substantial chunk of current global and national financial resources, but that these spending needs are projected to persist over decades. The costs of the HIV/AIDS response thus resemble a long-term financial liability, shaped by past and current policies. Relatedly, the calculus of cost-effectiveness of HIV/AIDS interventions has changed. People who become infected with HIV can now expect to not die because of AIDS; at the same time, each HIV infection results in medical needs and expenditures extending over decades. The book presents a framework for integrating these financial consequences and the transmission dynamics of HIV in the analysis of cost-effectiveness of HIV/AIDS interventions and in the design of HIV/AIDS programs.


Aim To explore the distribution and polymorphisms of 23 short tandem repeat (STR) loci on the Y chromosome in the Turkish population recently settled in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and to investigate its genetic relationships with the homeland Turkish population and neighboring populations. Methods This study included 100 healthy unrelated male individuals from the Turkish population living in Sarajevo. Buccal swab samples were collected as a DNA source. Genomic DNA was extracted using the salting out method and amplification was performed using PowerPlex Y 23 amplification kit. The studied population was compared to other populations using pairwise genetic distances, which were represented with a multi-dimensional scaling plot. Results Haplotype and allele frequencies of the sample population were calculated and the results showed that all 100 samples had unique haplotypes. The most polymorphic locus was DYS458, and the least polymorphic DYS391. The observed haplotype diversity was 1.0000 ± 0.0014, with a discrimination capacity of 1.00 and the match probability of 0.01. Rst values showed that our sample population was closely related in both dimensions to the Lebanese and Iraqi populations, while it was more distant from Bosnian, Croatian, and Macedonian populations. Conclusion Turkish population residing in Sarajevo could be observed as a representative Turkish population, since our results were consistent with those previously published for the homeland Turkish population. Also, this study once again proved that geographically close populations were genetically more related to each other.


The Global Positioning System (GPS) has been operational since the early 1990's. The system is constantly being upgraded while the Russian GLONASS and the European GALILEO systems will complement GPS in the next few years. Generically, these satellite-based positioning systems are referred to as Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Previously, a part-time evening course in GPS was run at the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) by the Department of Spatial Information Sciences (DSIS). This is now being replaced by two e-learning modules in GNSS designed for distance-based, on-line delivery. The first module covers GNSS for navigation and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) applications and the second module will cover GNSS for high-accuracy applications such as surveying and geophysics. This paper describes the development of the first GNSS module. The challenge for the course designers was to develop a module that, in the context of the spatial information industry, maximized the advantages of e-learning while addressing identified issues and maintaining a sound pedagogical approach. Potential users were identified as those engaged in continuous personal/professional development (CPD), organizations providing in-company training and academic institutions providing undergraduate and postgraduate modules in GNSS. An individual taking the module could, therefore, be based at home, in an office, in a classroom or in a remote work location. The advantages were identified as convenience, flexibility, facilitation of communication, tailoring and a varied learning experience. The issues were identified as no "hands-on" experience with GNSS field equipment and observing procedures, the difficulty of presenting complex software, learner isolation and the technical problems of delivering large files. To address these issues, as far as possible, a variety of presentation, delivery, contact and assessment approaches is being used. Content is presented in various formats including text, 2D and 3D graphics, animations with animation control, use of proprietary GNSS software with sample data and video with voiceover. Interaction between the parties is facilitated by email, discussion board and desktop videoconferencing. Selfassessment is included as a series of self-tests throughout the content in the form of multiple choice questions (MCQs) while written assignments are required at the end of each section, or theme, within the module. WebCT ® is used to provide a consistent e-learning platform and environment. Quality assurance is provided for by questionnaires during the module and a feedback report by each participant after completion.


Abstract : Process automation provides a means to integrate people in a software development organization with the development process and the tools supporting that development. For many reasons, this new technology has the potential to significantly improve software quality and software development productivity. As yet, however, there is little practical experience in its day-to-day use. The main goal of this report is thus to provide information for organizations that are considering its adoption. For these reasons, the report aims to identify how process automation relates to both process improvement and CASE tools, to review in some detail two of the major commercial process automation products, and to address relevant organizational adoption issues. It is hoped that the report will help bridge the gap between those whose focus is software process improvement and those whose focus is software technology. Software process automation, CASE Tools, Software process improvement.


The surfacing welding and brush plating are the commonly repairing technology when the components are wear or local damaged. Surfacing welding is to use the fusion of welding material and base material to repair the surface defect. Surfacing welding is used to repair the working size of camshaft commonly, otherwise, the cam is scrap and replace the new one Brush plating has good adaptability and flexibility in repairing components' surface abrasion, and this method is convenient and fast. The combination of the two methods will not only bring better repairing effect in repairing the components, but also has good economy. Take the comprehensive repair in the engine's camshaft for example in this paper, process of the combination in repairing is described detailed.


: Update computer technology is an increasingly useful tool in medicine for more accurate documentation, avoidance of multiple documentation, improvement of service performance, quicker and easier data processing and evaluation and hence quality assurance. We developed an obstetric data recording programme for an IBM compatible personal computer according to the MS-DOS command programme. A laser printer with dual paper feed is available. The relational database system Clipper is used for programming. The programme comprises at present 179 data fields and is subdivided on the input side into: data on anamnesis and partus, course of puerperium, infant data. This gives the print-outs: birth protocol, adhesive labels for the temperature curves of the mother and of the infant, respectively, birth record book and mother-infant health passport, furthermore, list print-outs: infant record book, transferred/decreased infants, birth lists relating to midwives, and, in addition, physician's report on the mother and the child, and finally, automated monthly and annual statistics. From August 1990 to July 1992, all events were stored by the computer, so that a total of 5,572 data items have been recorded to date. The primary scope of recording was 98.4% already in the first year of full operation of the database. Computer feed-in was affected directly after each data item became available. Application is fully integrated into normal clinical everyday work. To ensure best possible motivation and acceptance, special attention was paid to user friendliness and immediate print-outs whenever required. Attention was also given to the inclusion of infant follow-up data. The computer programme has been accepted for daily operation, and the necessary data quality has been attained by means of proper choice of the appropriate user groups and manifold measures to ensure integration, safe working, continual servicing and creation of suitable working and data feed conditions.


Software Product Line Engineering aims to ensure the correctness, completeness and consistency among its artifacts and the specified domain, in order to prevent the spread of defects for the products derived from this domain. Among initial artifacts of a software product line, feature models are artifacts generated in various domain engineering approaches. Although software inspection is highlighted as an effective review activity for detection of defects in software artifacts, mainly in the early models of software projects, a recent quasi-systematic review of literature indicated a lack of techniques to support the inspection of software product line artifacts, which include features models. Thus, this paper presents FMCheck, a checklist-based inspection technique to support the detection of defects on feature models. This technique was developed to be configurable and to be applied on several extensions of the original feature model notation presented by FODA approach, including the Odyssey-FEX notation, in particular. FMCheck was submitted to a proof of concept and to a further in vitro feasibility study, in which it could be seen the feasibility of FMCheck application and also that inspections applying FMCheck are more effective than ad-hoc inspections, when applied on four distinct domains.


Abstract We have performed an experimental study of the influence of varying size and charge on cation partitioning between wollastonite and silicate-carbonate melt in the system CaCO3-SiO2. The experimental conditions (3 GPa, 1420°C) lie close to the wollastonite II tc/I tc phase boundary. Results for 1+, 2+, 3+ and 4+ partitioning show parabolic dependence of partition coefficients on ionic radius, which can be fitted to the elastic strain model of Blundy and Wood (1994), wherein partitioning is described using three parameters: site radius (r0), site elasticity (apparent Young's Modulus) and the 'strain-free' partition coefficient (D0) for an element with radius r0. The apparent Young's Modulus of the Ca site in wollastonite, obtained from modelling the 2+ partitioning data, is 99±3 GPa, similar to the bulk-crystal value for the polymorph wollastonite I tc. r0 decreases with increasing charge on the substituent cation, while D0 also shows an approximately parabolic dependence on charge, with a maximum for 2+ cations. Partition coefficients for divalent cations Zn, Co, Fe, Cd, Mn and Pb are lower than would be predicted from their ionic radii alone, indicating a preference for the melt. This may be a consequence either of cation-carbonate complexation in the melt, or of the more distorted nature of cation co-ordination environments in melts


Trade has become an increasingly core part and defining feature of our globalising world economy, and so by default has become integrally linked to climate change and action. Trade has not only rapidly expanded over recent decades but also driven contemporary economic development and growth, especially in countries where carbon and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have too risen sharply. Increasing attention has consequently been afforded to the nexus between trade and climate change. Trade is now a key front for climate action. For some time, neoliberal environmentalism has been viewed as the dominant discourse on climate policy and other aspects of environmental governance. However, it has been very rarely applied to, or its relevance tested against the trade-climate nexus specifically. The paper presents a study on this relationship based on new original empirical research and the investigation of the following hypotheses or research questions. To what extent has neoliberal environmentalism thus far dominated mainstream international and global discourses on trade-linked efforts on climate action? What have been the principal features of neoliberal environmentalism within these discourses? Do the results of the study's empirical research suggest the need to include other relevant analytical approaches to develop a better comprehension of how trade-climate nexus issues are being addressed? In addressing the above the paper develops an analytical framework comprises modelled normative elements of neoliberal environmentalism as well as relevant concepts of state-market relations. This frames the discursive evaluation of the study's research that is based on a multi-stage, in-depth text analysis of 37 key publications produced by global economic institutions (GEIs) on the trade-climate nexus from 2007 to 2022. Market-based instruments (MBIs) were found to be by far the strongest normative element in this text corpus. This subsequently provided scope for exploring whether different forms of 'climate interventionism' were evident in the trade-climate nexus, and thus more nuanced and alternative understandings of the subject. The paper's main contribution to the literature on this subject is to open up ideas and debate concerning how important aspects of neoliberal environmentalism overlap with, and can be better understood in the context of state-market relations. Evidence from this study's research suggests that in the trade-climate nexus discourse there exists considerable space for states and international institutions to adopt, promote and innovate different forms of climate interventionism through various trade policy and governance actions. It is further argued that MBI-based trade related policies can only take us so far in climate action efforts. More ardent forms of state and other institutional interventions, from the local to the global-international levels, are required to ultimately achieve increasingly urgent climate goals.


The aim of this paper is to propose a model of money laundering and an economic analysis model of money laundering by usury. The first one is an evolution of a model already present in the literature and the difference is in the way to evaluate the advantage for a criminal to reinvest the laundered money in the illegal market. In fact laundering dirty money is expensive. The second model shows what happens when the money laundering is made using the usury credit. The most interesting result of this analysis is that usurious rate can be cheaper than legal rate, because the aim of the usury can be to launder dirty money.


I am pleased to introduce Advancements in Genetic Engineering (MAGE) which is an open access Genetic Engineering journal aiming to provide an online Mutant organisms, DNA Replication, Recombinant DNA, Genetic linkage analysis, Genetically Modified Plants, DNA Microarray, Green Fluorescent Protein, Protein Sequencing, Genetic Probes, RNA Splicing, Functional Genomics. We have been started in year 2012 International Journal of Advancements in Genetic Engineering (ISSN: 2169-0111) is growing continuously. It is our pleasure to announce that during year 2020, all issues of volume 09 were published online on time and the print issues were also brought out and dispatched within 30 days of publishing the issue online.

All published articles of this journal are included in the indexing and abstracting coverage of CAS Source Index (CASSI), Index Copernicus, Google Scholar, Sherpa Romeo, Academic Journals Database, GenamicsJournalSeek, JournalTOCs, CiteFactor, Electronic Journals Library, RefSeek, Hamdard University, EBSCO A-Z, Directory of Abstract Indexing for Journals, World Catalogue of Scientific Journals, OCLC- WorldCat, Scholar steer, SWB online catalog, Virtual Library of Biology (vifabio), Publons, Dtufindit, Geneva Foundation for Medical Education and Research.

During the year 2019, Advancements in Genetic Engineering (MAGE)  received a total of 4 papers, out of which 2 article was rejected in the preliminary screening due to plagiarism or being out of the format and peer review process. During 2019 around 2 articles were subjected for publication after they are accepted in the peer review process.

During the calendar year 2020, a total of two Editors, Fifteen Reviewers joined the board of (MAGE) and contributed their valuable services towards contribution as well as publication of articles, and their valuable reviewer comments will beneficial to publish quality of article in the Journal.

I take this opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of Editor-in-chief and Associate Editor during the final editing of articles published and bringing out issues of Advancements in Genetic Engineering (MAGE) in time. I would also like to express my gratitude to all the authors, reviewers, the publisher, language editor, honorary editors, the scientific advisory and the editorial board of (MAGE), the office bearers for their support in bringing out the new volume (Volume 09) of MAGE for the calendar year 2020 and look forward to their unrelenting support further to release more issues for Advancements in Genetic Engineering (MAGE) in scheduled time.


 In Russia, as elsewhere, state power is founded in part on the nature and degree of the country's economic involvement with the rest of the world. However, Russia is conflicted in its attitudes towards integration into the global economy, as shown by its slow progress towards entry into the World Trade Organization.  The poor business environment has placed limits on long-term foreign investment in Russia and holds back the country's integration into the global economy. This restricts the scope of Russia's soft power as a pole of economic attraction, as does its tendency to employ coercion rather than persuasion.  President Dmitry Medvedev has put forward an ambitious but generalized modernization agenda, which if enacted would require close cooperation with the West and much greater foreign investment. However, this conflicts with entrenched economic and political interests.  There are several possible scenarios for Russia's future development. It may continue to rely on oil and gas revenues to prop up the current economic and political model. Investment is required to make the most of hydrocarbon reserves. At present, however, the government has returned to budget deficits to cover social spending, rather than seeking to boost growth through reform.


An experimental model of the primary genital herpes (herpes simplex type 2, HSV-2) in the female guinea pigs was suggested to study the infectious process activity of polyprenyl phosphates (PPP) and PPP+acyclovir (AC) complex treatment. The morphofunctional features of the guinea pig ovaries were studied in the control and experimental groups (the latter were inoculated with PPP and/or AC as a primary infection treatment) at the stage of the recurrent genital herpes aggravation. It was shown that in the case of combined PPP +AC use significant changes in the disease symptoms were observed, as well as a decrease in the infectious process activity and duration, and positive remote effect on the ovarian morphophysiology.


Slavery is practiced throughout the realm of ghosts in Amos Tutuola's novel, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, and raises the question as to whether its presence in this realm is fully human. Slavery is presented in certain respects as an anti-human aberration: not only do the ghosts themselves implement varied forms of slavery, but also, at the climactic moment in the human realm, it is music, with its numerous humane associations, that possesses the power to surmount the vices associated with slavery. Tutuola's hero-narrator deploys a childhood song to reach past the defenses of his slaveholding brother's consciousness; the song locates in the brother not just the memory of his childhood with the narrator but also the deep love that imbues their bond. Accessing the liberating potential of human art and love, the narrator-hero touches in this way the brother he had known and ends his own enslavement. Tutuola does not assert, however, that family ties and the renewal of love alone will bring about a more general collapse of the hatred and profiteering that coalesce in slavery. Perhaps the sobering legacy of slavery in West Africa and beyond discourages him from expanding the redemption of one family into a more utopian representation of the end of slavery – or even of the older brother's renunciation of his slave ownership.


A stable single-frequency fiber ring laser is proposed that operates in a single mode for more than an hour by incorporating unpumped erbium-doped fiber (EDF) as a saturable absorber filter and optimizing the length of EDF used as gain medium. This laser can be continuously tuned to 25-GHz spacing that precisely matches the ITU-T grids by temperature control of etalon filter. This laser had a signal-to-source spontaneous emission ratio higher than 70 dB, and lasing frequencies of 361 channels was matched to ITU-T grids with excellent flatness. Frequency offset from the ITU-T grid was less than 0.14 GHz. The linewidth and the relative intensity noise value was less than 1.3 kHz and 130 dB/Hz (above 250 kHz), respectively.


The hydrothermal conversion of waste biomass to levulinic acid was investigated in the presence of homogeneous acid catalysts. Different cheap raw materials (poplar sawdust, paper mill sludge, tobacco chops, wheat straw, olive tree pruning) were employed as substrates. The yields of levulinic acid were improved by optimization of the main reaction parameters, such as type and amount of acid catalyst, temperature, duration, biomass concentration, and electrolyte addition. The catalytic performances were also improved by the adoption of microwave irradiation as an efficient heating method, allowing significant energy and time savings. The hydrothermal conversions of inulin and wheat straw were carried out in the presence of niobium phosphate, which up to now have never been employed in these reactions. The preliminary results appeared to be in need of further optimization.


To achieve a company goal, its important to looking for employee performance, work environment, and work motivation. Good or bad employee performance can be influenced by the work environment and  motivation, as  well  as  the  Burger  King  company  in  East  Surabaya. Burger  King Company is a company engaged in FnB. This study aims to analyze the effect of work environment and work motivation on employee performance of Burger King East Surabaya crew. The hypothesis in this study is that the work environment and work motivation have a significant influence on employee performance. This study uses quantitative methods and uses PLS as a test tool as well as data collection methods by  conducting surveys. Respondents in  this  study  were  50  respondents using  a  saturated sampling technique where all populations were sampled. The results of the study revealed that th e work environment partially had no significant effect and work motivation had a significant positive effect on employee performance.
 Keywords: Work Environment, Work Motivation, Employee Performance


Compositional compiler verification is a difficult problem that focuses on separate compilation of program components with possibly different verified compilers. Logical relations are widely used in proving correctness of program transformations in higher-order languages; however, they do not scale to compositional verification of multi-pass compilers due to their lack of transitivity. The only known technique to apply to compositional verification of multi-pass compilers for higher-order languages is parametric inter-language simulations (PILS), which is however significantly more complicated than traditional proof techniques for compiler correctness. In this paper, we present a novel verification framework for lightweight compositional compiler correctness. We demonstrate that by imposing the additional restriction that program components are compiled by pipelines that go through the same sequence of intermediate representations, logical relation proofs can be transitively composed in order to derive an end-to-end compositional specification for multi-pass compiler pipelines. Unlike traditional logical-relation frameworks, our framework supports divergence preservation—even when transformations reduce the number of program steps. We achieve this by parameterizing our logical relations with a pair of relational invariants. We apply this technique to verify a multi-pass, optimizing middle-end pipeline for CertiCoq, a compiler from Gallina (Coq's specification language) to C. The pipeline optimizes and closure-converts an untyped functional intermediate language (ANF or CPS) to a subset of that language without nested functions, which can be easily code-generated to low-level languages. Notably, our pipeline performs more complex closure-allocation optimizations than the state of the art in verified compilation. Using our novel verification framework, we prove an end-to-end theorem for our pipeline that covers both termination and divergence and applies to whole-program and separate compilation, even when different modules are compiled with different optimizations. Our results are mechanized in the Coq proof assistant.


Background: EGFR mutation testing is important in the treatment decision for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Because T790M mutation in exon 20 is associated with approximately 50% of cases resistant to treatment with epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs), the importance of re-biopsy for detecting T790M mutation during EGFR-TKI therapy is increasing. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is recognized as a promising target of minimally invasive diagnosis. Digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) is a new PCR technology for accurate quantification of the copy number of target molecules from low-input DNA. This study aimed to develop a blood-based EGFR mutation analysis in patients with advanced NSCLC by using a chip-based dPCR system that enables easy handling at a moderate costs. Methods: From October 2013 to March 2014, 49 patients with NSCLC harboring EGFR-activating mutations detected with the Scorpion ARMS method were enrolled in this study. ctDNA samples were extracted from plasma samples of 21 and 28 patients before treatment and after progression with EGFR-TKI, respectively. dPCR was performed on the QuantStudio 3D (QS3D) Digital PCR System (Life Technologies) by using 20 ng ctDNA, TaqMan probes for three EGFR mutations (exon 19 deletion, L858R in exon 21, and T790M in exon 20), and QS3D Digital PCR 20K Chips (2 chips per assay), according to the manufacturer9s instructions. The performance of the dPCR assay was assessed by using HDx Reference Standards (Horizon) containing each mutant sequence serially diluted with that containing wild-type EGFR sequence. Results: Mutation of 0.1% was successfully detected in the dPCR assay for the three EGFR mutations. The median copy numbers of the EGFR mutation-positive samples were 2.9 copies (range, 0.3-84.2) for exon 19 deletion, 5.1 copies (0.6-742.1) for L858R in exon 21, and 1.4 copies (0.6-36.9) for T790M in exon 20. The sensitivity and specificity of each dPCR assay calculated by comparison with corresponding tumor samples were 61.8% (21/34) and 93.3% (14/15) for exon 19 deletion, and 66.7% (10/15) and 100% (34/34) for L858R, respectively. The T790M mutations were detected in 43% (12/28) of the ctDNA samples after progression with EGFR-TKIs therapy but in none of the samples before treatment with EGFR-TKIs. Among the 12 patients with NSCLC harboring T790M mutation in ctDNA, T790M mutations were detected in 5 of the 11 patients who underwent re-biopsy. Conclusions: This system showed similar performance to other dPCR assays used in previous studies (sensitivity: 66.6-92.0% and specificity: 95.7-100%). These results indicate the possibility that EGFR mutation testing with ctDNA using the chip-based dPCR for easy handling at a moderate costs is useful as a minimally invasive monitoring method in clinical settings. Citation Format: Norimitsu Kasahara, Hirotsugu Kenmotsu, Masakuni Serizawa, Rina Umehara, Akira Ono, Kazushige Wakuda, Shota Omori, Kazuhisa Nakashima, Tetsuhiko Taira, Tateaki Naito, Haruyasu Murakami, Noriaki Sunaga, Yasuhiro Koh, Keita Mori, Masahiro Endo, Takashi Nakajima, Masanobu Yamada, Masatoshi Kusuhara, Toshiaki Takahashi. Plasma epidermal growth factor receptor mutation (EGFR) testing in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer patients harboring EGFR mutations by chip-based digital PCR system. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2248.


Driving buses in London is an occupation in which the standards of fitness have been defined and in which the frequency of, and clinical reason for, exclusion from the occupation have been recorded. The criteria of fitness to drive a passenger vehicle are physical capability to handle controls (including good eyesight) and absence of conditions liable to cause sudden collapse or excessive fatigue with consequent liability to accidents. Some factors which may be overlooked as causes of collapse are idiopathic epilepsy which may first appear in middle life, carcinoma of the bronchus which commonly metastasizes in the brain and may cause fits, and laryngeal vertigo (cough syncope) which is much commoner in chronic bronchitis than is often realized. When medical standards to maintain public safety and the man's own health were applied to applicants to drive London's buses, 5·3% of the applicants were rejected on general medical grounds and a further 13·3% were rejected for sub-standard vision and colour vision. All the applicants had experience of driving heavy vehicles and were otherwise acceptable as drivers. Continued surveillance during working life, especially after sickness absence, of those involved in public safety is essential. During 1956, 23% of the examinations of bus drivers, who had been off sick for 28 days or more or for certain specified conditions, resulted in temporary or permanent exclusion from driving. This compares with 1·5% of examinations for licence renewal and 5·7% at age 65 and above. Cardiovascular disorders accounted for 26% of the causes of rejection during 1956, one-third of these being due to hypertension and one-half to coronary heart disease. No one who has had clinical coronary heart disease is allowed to drive London Transport buses because of the known increased chance of recurrence. Periodic examinations revealed a number of hypertensives but the majority of the "coronary cases" were revealed by sickness absence. Electrocardiography at periodic examinations does not, at the present, enable those who will have coronary heart disease to be recognized. Experience shows that the standards adopted are practicable and effective so far as bus drivers are concerned, and that careful assessment of fitness after sickness is as important as routine medical examination in maintaining public safety.


Despite growing interest from entrepreneurs, knowledge on the profitability of commercial-scale insect production is scarce. Insight into the economic figures of insect production is needed by farmers aiming to start insect farms, by banks seeking to provide financing, and by governments planning policy interventions. This review provides an overview of the profitability and underlying economic figures relating to the production of Hermetia illucens, Alphitobius diaperinus, Tenebrio molitor and Acheta domesticus. To enhance data interpretation, we also provide a brief overview of the global insect sector, with specific attention to farm-level operational practices. Sales prices refer to fresh larvae, dried larvae or larvae meal, whereas operational costs include costs for feed, labour, electricity, water and gas. Operational cost components differ per insect species, and therefore the relevant margins are specified for three insect species. The energy, feed, and labour margin for production of H. illucens ranges from € -798 to 15,576 per tonne of dried larvae. The feed and labour margin for production of T. molitor ranges from € 7,620 to 13,770 per tonne of fresh larvae. For production of A. domesticus the feed margin ranges from € 12,268 to 78,676 per tonne of larvae meal. The margin range for A. diaperinus cannot be estimated, due to a lack of data in the literature. The ranges mainly reflect the differences in sales prices, which are found to heavily depend on the geographical market location, type of market (feed or food) and quantity sold. Major operational costs include feed and labour, with feed costs varying substantially within and between insect species. The economic figures and margins presented in this article provide a foundation for the further development of the insect production sector.


There is enormous potential for the growth of the Internet if businesses are able to use it for their mission-critical applications, but these applications can use the Internet only if it provides QoS (quality of service) assurance. Recently, the differentiated services (DiffServ) architecture has been proposed to provide guaranteed QoS on the Internet, and it is said to be more scalable than the earlier integrated services (IntServ) model. DiffServ ensures guaranteed QoS on only a hop-by-hop or edge-to-edge basis. To provide an end-to-end guarantee in DiffServ, a bandwidth broker (BB) framework has been proposed to perform admission control over DiffServ domains. In 1999, an initiative was undertaken by CKP/NGI (Cyber Kansai Project/Next-Generation Internet) to provide a guarantee of end-to-end QoS for business contents over the Internet using a premium service [using the EF (expedited forwarding) PHB (per-hop behavior) of DiffServ]. As part of this initiative, ENICOM (Nippon Steel Information & Communication System Inc.) developed a BB and tested it on an experimental WAN in Japan. Since its creation, this BB has been continuously modified and enhanced to accommodate more services and standards. First, this paper provides a report of our BB, its implementation and deployment experience. Then we propose modifications in our design to incorporate recently proposed standards. We also describe experiments and simulations which have been performed and those that are in the pipeline.


We investigate the criterion for the acoustic mechanism to work successfully in core-collapse supernovae. The acoustic mechanism is an alternative to the neutrino-heating mechanism. It was proposed by Burrows et al., who claimed that acoustic waves emitted by g-mode oscillations in proto-neutron stars (PNS) energize a stalled shock wave and eventually induce an explosion. Previous works mainly studied to which extent the g-modes are excited in the PNS. In this paper, on the other hand, we investigate how strong the acoustic wave needs to be if it were to revive a stalled shock wave. By adding the acoustic power as a new axis, we draw a critical surface, which is an extension of the critical curve commonly employed in the context of neutrino heating. We perform both 1D and 2D parametrized simulations, in which we inject acoustic waves from the inner boundary. In order to quantify the power of acoustic waves, we use the extended Myers theory to take neutrino reactions into proper account. We find for the 1D simulations that rather large acoustic powers are required to relaunch the shock wave, since the additional heating provided by the secondary shocks developed from acoustic waves is partially canceled by the neutrino cooling that is also enhanced. In 2D, the required acoustic powers are consistent with those of Burrows et al. Our results seem to imply, however, that it is the sum of neutrino heating and acoustic powers that matters for shock revival.


Under the global trend of low-carbon economy, the sustainable development of tourism is very important for the adjustment of economic structure, regional economic development promotion, and improvement of city taste, community environment and conditions of public service facilities. More and more leisure cities consider their own tourism products as the best, which is becoming the comprehensive industrial complex market to meet the leisure consumption of foreign tourists and local residents. The state council clearly takes Chang-Zhu-Tan area as a "two-type" demonstration area. All society circles advocate establishment of the concept of ecological civilization; to develop tourism rapidly and healthily which is the objective and direction of Changsha, and their goal is to create "the central leisure capital". Changsha is a leisure city in middle China that has her own main background resources for tourism development, such as long-depth history and cultural tradition, and their characteristic mountains, water, continents, and city landscape. And also urban residents have good recreational traditions. The tourism industry developed together with the leisure industry, and has now formed the economic structure and industrial clusters of main tourism, entertainment, service and cultural industries. Consequently, it is a practical issue to make the comprehensive study on sustainable development of tourism by using the landscape ecology theory, which also is a breakthrough to predict the future development.

 Key words: Leisure City, tourism, sustainable, landscape ecology, region force.


Malaysia launched the Inclusive Education Program (IEP) in 1997 to integrate students with special needs into mainstream classrooms and local researchers have recently asserted that more training is necessary for Malaysian teachers to effectively work with IEP students. The purposes of this research, therefore, were to (1) introduce the use of social praise via behavioral skills training (BST) to teachers of students in IEP, (2) increase the use of social praise by teachers of students in IEP via written feedback provided by the experimenter following each post-BST classroom session; and (3) increase the likelihood of individually selected target behavior in students who attend IEP. A multiple-baseline across four teacher-student dyads was conducted. Results indicated that BST and written feedback were effective in increasing the frequency (converted to responses per minute) of social praise issued by all four teachers and that collateral effects were seen by an increase in target behaviors for two out of four student participants. A posttreatment social validity survey completed by teacher participants indicated that the BST goals, procedures, and outcomes were practical and important.


Guide for print and electronic sources for crafts, hobbies, and DIY projects. Some sources may require a Springdale Public Library card for access.


This study objective is to investigate the influence of board characteristics and audit committee characteristics on accounting conservatism with respect to the influence of family ownership in Turkey. The findings explained that clients' demand for accounting conservatism improved because of board characteristics (e.g. board size, independence & women on board) and the audit committee characteristics (e.g. audit committee independence and audit committee expertise). Hence, the family ownership undermines the impact of board characteristics and the audit committee characteristics to demand accounting conservatism, which will be unfavorable outcome for the minority shareholders. Thus, this study suggests that regulators should increase law enforcement to improve corporate governance in Turkey to accommodate the unique characteristics of family ownership and offer a protected environment for minority shareholders.


Massive evidence showed that patients with diabetes have a high risk of urinary tract infections. We studied the frequency of potential urinary uropathogens among diabetic patients and identified their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. This was a prospective hospital-based study conducted at the Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Igbinedion University Teaching Hospital, Southern Nigeria, between January 2014 and May, 2014. We included 240 previously confirmed diabetic patients (women, n=70 and men, n=170) who were regularly followed up without prior treatment with any antimicrobial therapy and within the age range of 26-75 years. Patient personal history data and midstream urine samples were collected. Urine samples were processed in the laboratory following a Standard Laboratory Protocol. Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella spp. and Candida spp. were isolated in this study. A significant bacteriuria count was estimated in 12.5% of the sampled population, while 17.1 and 10.6% were estimated in females and males, respectively. Similarly, candiduria was found in female, male and total sample in 12.9%, 2.9%, and 5.8%, in that order. According to antimicrobial sensitivity testing, the Gram-negative bacilli isolated were highly sensitive to nitrofurantoin followed by ofloxacin, gentamycin and least sensitive to cefuroxime. Estimation of potential uropathogens among asymptomatic diabetic populations may avert possible urinary tract infections and their possible complications ultimately and thus prevent possible advanced renal diseases.


In this paper, we use quantile regressions on data from the 2005-06 wave of the Indian National Family Health Survey to study the determinants of child body-mass-index, height-for-age, and hemoglobin at different points of the conditional distribution. Our results show that only considering the conditional mean of the entire distribution can yield misleading results. In light of compelling evidence on sex-selective abortion and infanticide, we use a Heckman correction for our quantile regression to control for the "underreporting" of female births documented by Rose (1999). We find that household maternal health and education have larger effects at the lower end of the distribution than on the upper end, for all three child nutritional indicators. Results show that iron supplements are less effective at increasing hemoglobin levels in the worst-off children. We argue that policy interventions must account for socioeconomic diversity or have little hope of meeting their target.


Date Presented 4/20/2018 This study examined the relationship between sensory processing and activity of daily living (ADL) skills in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The results can help guide occupational therapy in evaluating and planning interventions for children with ASD who have difficulties with sensory processing abilities and ADL skills. Primary Author and Speaker: Supawadee Lee Contributing Authors: Rachel Helfgott, Chaya Klein, Sarah Manela, Sheera Menchel, Adena Salem, Aliza Wallerstein


Nowadays, scientists are often disappointed by the outcome when parallelizing their simulations, in spite of all the tools at their disposal. They often invest much time and money, and do not obtain the expected speed-up. This can come from many factors going from a wrong parallel architecture choice to a model that simply does not present the criteria to be a good candidate for parallelization. However, when parallelization is successful, the reduced execution time can open new research perspectives, and allow to explore larger sets of parameters of a given simulation model. Thus, it is worth investing some time and workforce to figure out whether an algorithm is a good candidate to parallelization. Automatic parallelization tools can be of great help when trying to identify these properties. In this paper, we apply an automatic parallelization approach combining Java and OpenCL on an existing Gap Model. The two technologies are linked with a library from AMD called Aparapi. The latter allowed us to study the behavior of our automatically parallelized model on 10 different platforms, without modifying the source code.


This interim report describes the approach taken to creating training materials in the FREYA project and provides an overview of the materials created and links to them. Up to this point in the project the team has migrated and update the FREYA Knowledge Hub to a new location on pidforum.org. FREYA has also collaborated with a wide range of stakeholders, including other European projects, to broaden the reach of the training materials and co-organise events which appeal to a broader audience, including co-organising several joint events and creating a guide on personal identifiers. The report also discusses the successes and challenges encountered in creating training materials thus far. In the next six months, prior to submission of the final report, the project will evaluate the training materials created and refine them where possible to better suit users' needs.The sustainability of the Knowledge Hub content will also be addressed. In addition, with the ongoing development of the PID Graph, further materials will be created to support early adopters and all events will be evaluated to inform and improve future events.


The desire to maintain an independent lifestyle is one shared by an increasing number of older adults. Adult children, spouses, siblings, and other relatives, also known as family caregivers, play an integral role in helping their loved ones maintain independence. Remote monitoring technologies (RMTs) such as wearable sensors, mobile emergency devices, smartphone apps, and webcams can be used to monitor, sense, record, and communicate a person's daily activities. However, understanding is limited of the family caregiver's needs and perceptions of RMTs used in a home-based setting. The purpose was to explore how family caregivers perceive RMTs and their use for monitoring and supporting their care recipients who choose to live independently. We used a survey to capture some basic characteristics of family caregivers, what they know about RMTs, and to recruit interview participants. We conducted semi-structured interviews with four participants who shared the commonality of caring for a relative with dementia. We reported the survey data using descriptive statistics and we applied interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to analyze and report results from the interviews. Four themes emerged including the unique relationships that exist in family care, the risk-benefit conundrum that accompanies benefits and tradeoffs of RMT use, human-technology interaction and usability, and the importance of creating tailored solutions to facilitate RMT adoption and use. Our findings provide insight into factors impacting adoption and use.


OBJECTIVE
This study aims to identify the types and prevalence of absence of the celiac trunk by using multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) angiography, and analyze their probable embryological mechanisms.

METHODS
A retrospective study was carried out on 2500 abdominal MDCT angiography images. The absence of the celiac trunk was defined as that the celiac trunk is not exist, more specifically, there is not such an arterial trunk containing at least two major branches of the celiac trunk. Various types of the absence of the celiac trunk were investigated.

RESULTS
Of the 2500 patients, 19 (0.76%) patients were identified as an absence of the celiac trunk. According to its definition and classification, the absence of the celiac trunk could be divided into five types: type I (LGA + CHA + SA + SMA), type II (HM trunk + LGA + SA), type III (SM trunk + LGA + CHA), type IV (GM trunk + CHA + SA), and type V (other type); and these types were observed in 5 patients (0.20%), 9 patients (0.36%), 3 patients (0.12%), 0 patients (0.00%), and 2 (0.08%) patients, respectively. There were more examples of the types I and II than of the types III-V (p = 0.004).

CONCLUSION
We systematically classified the absence of the celiac trunk based on its MDCT angiography findings. Abnormal interruptions and persistence of the longitudinal anastomosis, regression of vascular root, and emergence of replaced artery could all be the embryological mechanisms of various types of the absence of the celiac trunk.


In this article, we examine evidence for the phase theory of movement (Chomsky 2000, 2001) in the context of Tagalog, arguing in particular that Tagalog has overt morphology that signals movement of arguments to checkan EPP-feature on the head of the vP phase. We show that this morphology interacts with extraction in ways Chomsky's theory leads us to expect, and we develop a theory of the Tagalog facts that also accounts for the effects of Huang's (1982) Condition on Extraction Domain.