A distance transformation (DT) takes a binary image as input and generates a distance map image in which the value of each pixel is its distance to a given set of object pixels in the binary image. In this research, DT's for multi class data (MCDTs) are developed which generate both a distance map and a class map containing for each pixel the class of the closest object. Results indicate that the MCDT based on the Fast Exact Euclidean Distance (FEED) method is a factor 2 tot 4 faster than MCDTs based on exact or semi-exact euclidean distance (ED) transformations, and is only a factor 2 to 4 slower than the MCDT based on the crude city-block approximation of the ED. In the second part of this research, the MCDTs were adapted such that they could be used for the fast generation of distance and class maps for video sequences. The frames of the sequences contain a number of fixed objects and a moving object, where each object has a separate label. Results show that the FEED based version is a factor 2 to 3.5 faster than the fastest of all the other video-MCDTs which is based on the chamfer 3,4 distance measure. FEED is even a factor 3.5 to 10 faster than another fast exact ED transformation. With video, multi class FEED it will be possible to measure distances from a moving object to various identified stationary objects with nearly the frame rate of a webcam. This will be very useful when the risk exists that objects move outside surveillance limits.


We introduce a framework for analyzing geopolitical and economic competition around the world. Geopolitical power arises from the ability to jointly exercise threats arising from separate economic activities. Being able to retaliate against a deviating country across multiple arenas, often involving indirect threats from third parties also being pressured, increases the off equilibrium threats and, thus, helps in equilibrium to alleviate incentive compatibility constraints in global trade and production. A world hegemon, like the United States, can extract the benefits arising from relaxing these constraints. We characterize strategic industries, enforcement externalities, and the increasing returns to scale in strategic sectors that lead to the emergence of hegemons. We formalize the idea of economic coercion as a combination of strategic pressure points and extraction points. We then apply the framework to make sense of both modern and historical episodes. We explore the structure of China's Belt and Road Initiative and China's attempts at utilizing economic power for non-economic aims, and recent attempts by western countries to introduce measures to limit this influence.


Wound-healing is a very complex and evolutionary process that involves a great variety of dynamic steps. Although different pharmaceutical agents have been developed to hasten the wound-healing process, the existing agents are still far from optimal. The present work aimed to prepare and evaluate the wound-healing efficacy of phenytoin-loaded copper nanoparticles (PHT-loaded CuNPs). CuNPs were biosynthesized using licorice aqueous extract. The prepared CuNPs were loaded with PHT by adsorption, characterized, and evaluated for wound-healing efficiency. Results showed that both plain and PHT-loaded CuNPs were monodisperse and exhibited a cubic and hexagonal morphology. The mechanism by which PHT was adsorbed on the surface of CuNPs was best fit by the Langmuir model with a maximum loaded monolayer capacity of 181 mg/g. The kinetic study revealed that the adsorption reaction followed the pseudo-second order while the thermodynamic parameters indicated that the adsorption process was physical in nature and endothermic, and occurred spontaneously. Moreover, the in vivo wound-healing activity of PHT-loaded CuNP impregnated hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose (HPMC) gel was carried out using an excisional wound model in rats. Data showed that PHT-loaded CuNPs accelerated epidermal regeneration and stimulated granulation and tissue formation in treated rats compared to controls. Additionally, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis showed that lesions treated with PHT-loaded CuNPs were associated with a marked increase in the expression of dermal procollagen type I and a decrease in the expression of the inflammatory JAK3 compared to control samples. In conclusion, PHT-loaded CuNPs are a promising platform for effective and rapid wound-healing.


Background: Previous studies have found a strong association between dissociation and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The purpose of the present study was to evaluate whether dissociation is a predictor of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) outcome in patients with OCD. Methods: Fifty-two patients with OCD were assessed using the Dissociative Experience Scale (DES), the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory. CBT lasted on average 9.5 weeks and included exposure therapy. Results: Patients who dropped out due to noncompliance had higher baseline DES scores and depression scores compared to the 43 patients (83%) who completed the study. Significant OCD symptom reduction at posttreatment was observed in study completers with a large effect size (d = 1.7). More severe OCD symptoms at posttreatment were associated with higher DES scores at baseline, and treatment nonresponders had significantly higher baseline DES scores compared to responders. These associations with outcome were mainly due to the DES subfactor absorption-imaginative involvement. In regression analyses, higher absorption-imaginative involvement scores at baseline predicted poorer CBT outcome, even after controlling for depressive symptoms, comorbid axis I disorders and concomitant psychotropic drugs. Conclusions: Results from this preliminary study suggest that higher levels of dissociation (particularly absorption-imaginative involvement) in patients with OCD might predict poorer CBT outcome. If our results can be replicated, treatment outcome might be improved by additional interventions for those patients with OCD who indicate high levels of dissociation, for example by using interventions aimed at improving coping with emotionally stressful situations.


Objective Earlier comorbidity measures have been developed or validated using the North American population. This study aims to compare five Charlson or Elixhauser comorbidity indices to predict in-hospital mortality using a large electronic medical record database from Shanxi, China. Methods Using the primary diagnosis code and surgery procedure codes, we identified four hospitalized patient cohorts, hospitalized between 2013 and 2017, in Shanxi, China, as follows: congestive heart failure (CHF, n=41,577), chronic renal failure (CRF, n=40,419), diabetes (n=171,355), and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI, n=39,097). We used logistic regression models and c-statistics to evaluate the in-hospital mortality predictive performance of two multiple comorbidity indicator variables developed by Charlson in 1987 and Elixhauser in 1998 and three single numeric scores by Quan in 2011, van Walraven in 2009, and Moore 2017. Results Elixhauser comorbidity indicator variables had consistently higher c-statistics (0.824, 0.843, 0.904, 0.853) than all other four comorbidity measures, across all four disease cohorts. Moore's comorbidity score outperformed the other two score systems in CHF, CRF, and diabetes cohorts (c-statistics: 0.776, 0.832, 0.869), while van Walraven's score outperformed all others among PCI patients (c-statistics: 0.827). Conclusion Elixhauser comorbidity indicator variables are recommended, when applied to large Chinese electronic medical record databases, while Moore's score system is appropriate for relatively small databases.


The morphology and physiology of Eucalyptus camaldulensis seedlings grown from seed collected from two locations in the dry tropics, two in the humid tropics and two in semi-arid Northern Australia were compared in phytotron growth cabinets under well-watered and water-limited conditions and diurnal temperature ranges of 30-25 and 22-15oC. Seedlings from the two locations in each climate resembled each other more closely than they resembled seedlings from the other climates across the range of conditions tested. When water-limited, seedlings from the dry tropical and semi-arid climates had a higher allocation of dry matter to roots than seedlings from the humid tropics. However, those from the dry tropics shed their lower leaves and initiated small-leaved axillary shoots while those from the semi-arid climate retained their leaves and did not produce axillary shoots. In contrast, seedlings from the humid tropics responded by reduced gas (CO2 and H2O) exchange without changes in morphology or allocation of dry matter. These responses are appropriate for growth in each climate and are consistent with observations made on wild trees in the field, on trees in plantations overseas and also with data from seedlings grown in earlier glasshouse experiments.


Current piezoelectric device systems need a significant reduction in size and weight so that electronic modules of increasing capacity and functionality can be incorporated into a great range of applications, particularly in energy device platforms. The key question for most applications is whether they can compete in the race of down-scaling and an easy integration with highly adaptable properties into various system technologies such as nano-electro-mechanical systems (NEMS). Piezoelectric NEMS have potential to offer access to a parameter space for sensing, actuating, and powering, which is inflential and intriguing. Fortunately, recent advances in modelling, synthesis, and characterization techniques are spurring unprecedented developments in a new field of piezoelectric nano-materials and devices. While the need for looking more closely at the piezoelectric nano-materials is driven by the relentless drive of miniaturization, there is an additional motivation: the piezoelectric materials, which are showing the largest electromechanical responses, are currently toxic lead (Pb)-based perovskite materials (such as the ubiquitous Pb(Zr,Ti)O3, PZT). This is important, as there is strong legislative and moral push to remove toxic lead compounds from commercial products. By far, the lack of viable alternatives has led to continuing exemptions to allow their temporary use in piezoelectric applications. However, the present exemption will expire soon, and the concurrent improvement of lead-free piezoelectric materials has led to the possibility that no new exemption will be granted. In this paper, the universal approaches and recent progresses in the field of lead-free piezoelectric nano-materials, initially focusing on hybrid composite materials as well as individual nanoparticles, and related energy harvesting devices are systematically elaborated. The paper begins with a short introduction to the properties of interest in various piezoelectric nanomaterials and a brief description of the current state-of-the-art for lead-free piezoelectric nanostructured materials. We then describe several key methodologies for the synthesis of nanostructure materials including nanoparticles, followed by the discussion on the critical current and emerging applications in detail.


For over 1500 years, the Sayisi Dene, 'The Dene from the East', led an independent life, following the caribou herds and having little contact with white society. In 1956, an arbitrary government decision to relocate them catapulted the Sayisi Dene into the 20th century. It replaced their traditional nomadic life of hunting and fishing with a slum settlement on the outskirts of Churchill, Manitoba. Inadequately housed, without jobs, unfamiliar with the language or the culture, their independence and self-determination deteriorated into a tragic cycle of discrimination, poverty, alcoholism and violent death. By the early 1970s, the band realized they had to take their future into their own hands again. After searching for a suitable location, they set up a new community at Tadoule Lake, 250 miles north of Churchill. Today they run their own health, education and community programs. But the scars of the relocation will take years to heal, and Tadoule Lake is grappling with the problems of a people whose ties to the land, and to one another, have been tragically severed. In Night Spirits, the survivors, including those who were children at the time of the move, as well as the few remaining elders, recount their stories. They offer a stark and brutally honest account of the near-destruction of the Sayisi Dene, and their struggle to reclaim their lives. It is a dark story, told in hope.


This book examines Gaussian processes in both model-based reinforcement learning (RL) and inference in nonlinear dynamic systems.
First, we introduce PILCO, a fully Bayesian approach for efficient RL in continuous-valued state and action spaces when no expert knowledge is available. PILCO takes model uncertainties consistently into account during long-term planning to reduce model bias.
Second, we propose principled algorithms for robust filtering and smoothing in GP dynamic systems.


This article is concerned with local identification of individual parameters of dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models estimated by Bayesian methods. Identification is often judged by a comparison of the posterior distribution of a parameter with its prior. However, these can differ even when the parameter is not identified. Instead, we propose two Bayesian indicators of identification. The first follows a suggestion by Poirier of comparing the posterior density of the parameter of interest with the posterior expectation of its prior conditional on the remaining parameters. The second examines the rate at which the posterior precision of the parameter gets updated with the sample size, using data simulated at the parameter point of interest for an increasing sequence of sample sizes (T). For identified parameters, the posterior precision increases at rate T. For parameters that are either unidentified or are weakly identified, the posterior precision may get updated but its rate of update will be slower than T. We use empirical examples to demonstrate that these methods are useful in practice. This article has online supplementary material.


The level of Japanese investment and the arrival of Japanese companies in North East England was one of the success stories in the 1970's and 80's. This account highlights an association of mutual significance in the East-West dialogue. First published in 1989, this title is part of the Bloomsbury Academic Collections series.


Background Modern RNA interference (RNAi) methodologies using small interfering RNA (siRNA) oligonucleotide duplexes or episomally synthesized hairpin RNA are valuable tools for the analysis of gene function in the protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica. However, these approaches still require time-consuming procedures including transfection and drug selection, or costly synthetic molecules. Principal Findings Here we report an efficient and handy alternative for E. histolytica gene down-regulation mediated by bacterial double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) targeting parasite genes. The Escherichia coli strain HT115 which is unable to degrade dsRNA, was genetically engineered to produce high quantities of long dsRNA segments targeting the genes that encode E. histolytica β-tubulin and virulence factor KERP1. Trophozoites cultured in vitro were directly fed with dsRNA-expressing bacteria or soaked with purified dsRNA. Both dsRNA delivery methods resulted in significant reduction of protein expression. In vitro host cell-parasite assays showed that efficient downregulation of kerp1 gene expression mediated by bacterial dsRNA resulted in significant reduction of parasite adhesion and lytic capabilities, thus supporting a major role for KERP1 in the pathogenic process. Furthermore, treatment of trophozoites cultured in microtiter plates, with a repertoire of eighty-five distinct bacterial dsRNA segments targeting E. histolytica genes with unknown function, led to the identification of three genes potentially involved in the growth of the parasite. Conclusions Our results showed that the use of bacterial dsRNA is a powerful method for the study of gene function in E. histolytica. This dsRNA delivery method is also technically suitable for the study of a large number of genes, thus opening interesting perspectives for the identification of novel drug and vaccine targets.


This study aimed to highlight the concepts of organizational memory and intellectual capital and to investigate the impact of organizational memory on intellectual capital by the staff of Gaza Power Generating Company. Using the qualitative analytical approach, the study used an adaptable model generated to represent the organizational memory through the experiences, data archiving systems, standard operating procedures, organization's policies and the learning facilities to investigate the impact of these elements on the intellectual capital through its main components; human capital and structural capital. A questionnaire was developed and tested by a pilot study and then distributed to a sample consisting of 106 employees where a 92% response rate was achieved. The collected data was analyzed by statistical methods and manipulated through the SPSS software. The results showed that organizational memory and policies influence the intellectual capital. The study recommended the necessity of creating the awareness of the organizational memory at the organizations and it's great role in the development of the intellectual capital and to setup structured and organized systems for its elements.


We study equitable allocation of indivisible goods and money among agents with other-regarding preferences. First, we argue that Foley's (1967) equity test, i.e., the requirement that no agent prefers the allocation obtained by swapping her consumption with another agent, is suitable for our environment. Then we establish the existence of allocations passing this test for a general domain of preferences that accommodates prominent other-regarding preferences. Our results are relevant for equitable allocation among inequity-averse agents and in a domain with linear externalities that we introduce. Finally, we present conditions guaranteeing that these allocations are efficient.


Splash erosion is one of the most important water erosion types, causing initiation of other types of water erosion. The objective of this study is to model the splash erosion using fuzzy logic approach in part of northern Karoon basin. The major land usage in the area are irrigated farming, dry land farming, pasture and degraded pasture. For the purposes of this study, soil properties including organic matter; CaCO 3 ; surface shear strength (SSS); particle size distribution; mean weight diameter (MWD) and soil splash erosion were measured under four different slope conditions (S:%) and rainfall intensity (RI:mm.h-1): 5-50, 5-80, 15-50, 15-80, respectively, using multiple splash sets (MSS) at 80 different locations. Splash erosion was modeled based on combinational rule of inference under five conditions for selection of different operators. The efficiency of the models was evaluated using mean square error (MSE) between observed and estimated values. Results revealed that all models are capable of predicting splash erosion. Also slope, rainfall intensity, MWD, SSS, fine sand and coarse silt attributes were found to be appropriately and precisely using splash erosion.


Self-reinforced high density polyethylene (HDPE) monofilaments for fishing were prepared by using self-reinforced technique. The oriented structures and mechanical properties of self-reinforced HDPE and common HDPE monofilaments for fishing were compared by wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), sonic velocity method, SC 5005 standard, etc. The results indicated that compared with common HDPE monofilaments for fishing, self-reinforced HDPE monofilaments got slight bigger in crystalline sizes, unit cell parameters and crystal plane spacing. Besides, the self-reinforced HDPE monofilaments for fishing were higher than the common HDPE monofilaments in crystallization, oriented degree, orientation factor, breaking strength, knot breaking strength and rate of loss of knot breaking strength, respectively.


A surge in fowl adenovirus (FAdV) causing inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) outbreaks has occurred in several countries in the last two decades. In Spain, a sharp increase in case numbers in broilers and broiler breeder pullets arose since 2011, which prompted the vaccination of breeders in some regions. Our retrospective study of IBH cases in Spain from 2011 to 2021 revealed that most cases were reported in broilers (92.21%) and were caused by serotypes FAdV-8b and -11, while cases in broiler breeder pullets were caused by serotypes FAdV-2, -11, and -8b. Vertical transmission was the main route of infection, although horizontal transmission likely happened in some broiler cases. Despite the inconsistent and heterogeneous use of vaccines among regions and over time, the number of cases mirrored the use of vaccines in the country. While IBH outbreaks were recorded year-long, significantly more cases occurred during the cooler and rainier months. The geographic distribution suggested a widespread incidence of IBH and revealed the importance of a highly integrated system. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of FAdV infection dynamics under field conditions and reiterate the importance of surveillance, serological monitoring of breeders, and vaccination of breeders against circulating serotypes to protect progenies.


An explicit Navier-Stokes solver has been written with the option of using one of two types of turbulence model. One is the Baldwin-Lomax algebraic model and the other is an implicit k-[var epsilon] model which has been coupled with the explicit Navier-Stokes solver in a novel way. This type of coupling, which uses two different solution methods, is unique and combines the overall robustness of the implicit k-[var epsilon] solver with the simplicity of the explicit solver. The resulting code has been applied to the solution of the flow in a transonic fan rotor, which has been experimentally investigated by Wennerstrom. Five separate solutions, each identical except for the turbulence modeling details, have been obtained and compared with the experimental results. The five different turbulence models run were: the standard Baldwin-Lomax model both with and without wall functions, the Baldwin-Lomax model with modified constants and wall functions, a standard k-[var epsilon] model, and an extended k-[var epsilon] model, which accounts for multiple time scales by adding an extra term to the dissipation equation. In general, as the model includes more of the physics, the computed shock position becomes closer to the experimental results.


We present a dual geometrical worm algorithm for two-dimensional Ising models. The existence of such dual algorithms was first pointed out by Prokof'ev and Svistunov [Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 160601 (2001)]]. The algorithm is defined on the dual lattice and is formulated in terms of bond variables and can therefore be generalized to other two-dimensional models that can be formulated in terms of bond variables. We also discuss two related algorithms formulated on the direct lattice, applicable in any dimension. These latter algorithms turn out to be less efficient but of considerable intrinsic interest. We show how such algorithms quite generally can be "directed" by minimizing the probability for the worms to erase themselves. Explicit proofs of detailed balance are given for all the algorithms. In terms of computational efficiency the dual geometrical worm algorithm is comparable to well known cluster algorithms such as the Swendsen-Wang and Wolff algorithms, however, it is quite different in structure and allows for a very simple and efficient implementation. The dual algorithm also allows for a very elegant way of calculating the domain wall free energy.


It is assumed that vitronectin and other adhesion molecules induce cell spreading. We found that vascular smooth muscle cells require unidentified plasma components besides adhesion molecules to spread in fibrin gel, a likely provisional matrix at wound sites. By purification, the plasma components were found to be α1-proteinase inhibitor, α1-antichymotrypsin, and α2-macroglobulin. The chemically inactivated α1-proteinase inhibitor and α2-macroglobulin lose the spreading activity, indicating that these proteins function as proteinase inhibitors but not as adhesion molecules. Not only anti-integrin (αvβ3 and α5β1) antibodies but also anti-fibronectin antibodies inhibit the cell spreading. The spreading occurs without the addition of fibronectin and integrins, suggesting that cells produce these molecules. In the absence of the proteinase inhibitors, Western blot analysis shows that the fibronectin is degraded in fibrin gel, while it is intact in the presence of the inhibitors. Thus, the proteinase inhibitors prevent adhesion molecules such as fibronectin from being degraded by a cell-derived proteinase(s) and thus play a role in cell spreading.


The present paper summarizes the experimental data on influence of antiorthostatic hypokinesia (49 days) and rationalized nutrition during the rehabilitation period (30 days) on metabolic processes. On the basis of these data a well balanced diet is recommended for the rehabilitation period which follows a long-term bed rest.


ABSTRACT Background: The success of public health campaigns to engender healthy behavior depends on effective communication of desired messages that inspire action utilizing health information that must be successfully understood. Research, however, illustrates that health guidelines are differentially interpreted, with health literacy and proclivities varying. Purpose: This article presents findings from a study examining major Australian health guidelines and behaviors regarding sun exposure, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and smoking. Methods: An online survey of rural and regional Australian university employees was designed and utilized to gather data about respondent health literacy relative to national guidelines. Results: Findings reveal disparate health literacy and behaviors among the 60 university employees surveyed, with antismoking being the most effectively communicated health message known and adopted. Discussion: Given that "Dr. Google" was respondents' preferred source for health and health risk information, surpassing medical professionals, friends/family, and other media sources, the study raises concerns about the quality, availability, and suitability of Internet-based health information. Translation to Health Education Practice: Reconceptualizing health messages beyond "lose/gain" frameworks is suggested as a way to improve health knowledge to better assist individuals with negotiating conflicting content/quality of information available, differing health literacy, and differing sociocultural environments.A AJHE Self-Study quiz is online for this article via the SHAPE America Online Institute (SAOI) http://portal.shapeamerica.org/trn-Webinars


Objectives. The human body initiates an acute phase response (APR) in response to a wide range of homeostatic disturbances. This complex series of reactions serves to activate repair processes and prevent ongoing tissue damage. An important aspect of the APR is the de novo synthesis of acute phase proteins (APP), many of which have not been thoroughly investigated.
Main outcome measures. Alterations in CRP (C-reactive protein), C1est, C3, C4, C6, rheumatoid factor (RF) and Factor B were determined before and after an ultramarathon. Data were analysed using a one-way analysis of variance comparing values to pre-exercise levels. Significance was set at p
Design. Venepunctures were performed on athletes participating in an ultramarathon (90 km) 24 hours before, immediately post-exercise (IPE), and 3h, 24h and 72h after the race. Serum was stored at –80°C until analysed. CRP levels in serum were assessed using the N Latex CRP kit. The levels of circulating immune complexes (CIC) were determined using particle-enhanced nephelometry. Complement proteins C1est, C3, C4 and RF were measured using laser nephelometry. C6 and Factor B were determined by radial immunodiffusion.
Results. CRP was significantly elevated IPE (58%), 3h post (77%), 24h post (87%) and 72h post (69%). Pre-race CRP levels were above the normative range (5.10 ± 3.08 mg/l), C6 was significantly elevated (p
Conclusion. Significant increases in selected acutephase reactants occur several days after the exercise event. In addition, as indicated by elevated resting levels of CRP, the athletes began the race with some degree of inflammation, presumably as a result of the cumulative training and racing mileage in preparation for the ultramarathon. SA Sports Medicine Vol.16(2) 2004: 17-21


Abstract Paul Schiemann was one of the most significant ethnic Germans left outside the German state by the post-First World War peace settlement. As editor of Rigasche Rundschau and an active politician in the new Latvian state, he was well placed both to comment on developments in the political life of the Baltic region and to attempt to work towards responses to them. This article focuses specifically on his journalism during the critical years 1919-20. As the Latvian state was forming against a background of considerable on-going violence and instability, Schiemann disseminated consistently a call for reconciliation between Latvia's mutually suspicious national groups. The paper examines the compelling arguments he used.


Nigerian Pentecostal theology of prosperity has always been built around Tithing, Offering and Seed sowing with the attendant spill over effect on the mainline churches becoming more captivated in the practice. Even within the Pentecostal circles, the neo Pentecostals are steadily exerting a great deal of influence on the classical Pentecostals by enticing some of them to start preaching prosperity in the manner that the neo Pentecostals do. This article employs oral interview as well as phenomenological and expository approaches in its studies. It is discovered that prosperity preaching is currently becoming an important religious phenomenon in the Nigerian religious landscape leading to the skyrocketing of prosperity churches in contemporary Nigeria. The article submits that it is high time those who preach prosperity in Nigeria maintained a balance between their prosperity emphasis and salvation messages for the sake of people's souls.


We summarize recent developments in the VINCIA parton shower. After a brief review of the basics of the formalism, the extension of VINCIA to hadron collisions is sketched. We then turn to improvements of the efficiency of tree-level matching by making the shower history unique and by incorporating identified helicities. We conclude with an overview of matching to one-loop matrix elements.


The study focused on online product reviews, and took the consumer multi-affective analysis as a main line. Through the establishment of the classification system of consumer multi-affective expression and based on the ambiguous language qualifier operators in fuzzy theory, a multi-affective fuzzy computing algorithm of online product reviews (MFCA-OPR) is introduced. Based on the algorithm, through satisfaction and concerned about the degree of product attribute calculation of customers, the "quadrifid graph model" is applied to product competitive superiority and verified the validity of the calculation methods.


Background Consequent upon the 73rd and 74th amendment of the Indian Constitution, the state of Kerala adopted decentralisation with a big-bang approach, devolving funds, functions and functionaries to the lower tiers of government. Health care was viewed as one service that has local public good characteristic and was decentralised to achieve the potential gains of possible improvement in service delivery and access. Kerala has now gone through the fourth election to its local bodies and the elected representatives are in office. An understanding of the effectiveness of the decentralised healthcare system is necessary in this context to evolve and fine-tune policies. Methods Three Panchayats were selected on the basis of stratified random sampling, based on the per cent of health expenditure to total expenditure incurred by the Panchayat. Data were collected at three levels, i.e. as circulated to the public health cadre, to the Panchayat Raj Institution and to the beneficiaries. Two detailed case studies were done in Attappady and Kadamakkudy since these Panchayats have attracted international attention because of malnutrition-related deaths and environmental health hazards respectively. Aspects including institutional arrangement and response to community needs were analysed. The Knowledge Attitude Practice (KAP) model was used to understand community's involvement. Findings & discussion Interventions of Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRI) were successful to some extent for making the health personnel accountable to the public. Wherever medical officers were ready to respond to local situations and requirements, the results were positive. Many local leaders took interest to ensure the availability of doctors and auxiliary nurse midwifes (ANMs) in their area; however indifference on the part of the local leaders is also seen. The mere existence of a health facility does not ensure its satisfactory functioning and utility to the common man. Many facilities lack basic facilities like water, vehicle and staff quarters. Some Panchayats took initiative in improving the health infrastructure by earmarking funds for direct and proximate determinants and by mobilising funds locally, whereas some did not. Any meaningful involvement of grassroots leaders can only be possible by creating health awareness and by imparting training about their duties and responsibilities in the provision of primary health care of the communities. Given the relatively lower educational attainment of most Panchayat members, lack of exposure to any kind of governance outside and political inexperience, their participation in the PRI system and ability to discharge their responsibilities is often not very effective. However, those elected in the Panchayat who had good awareness of these scenarios actively involved in improving the health status of the community. In general, health planning has become routinized, focusing on specific infrastructure and mandatory allocations. Some Panchayats have nevertheless undertaken innovative initiatives with professional support and guidance, and the results are encouraging. Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut idea about the division of powers and responsibilities between the PRI officials and the public health functionaries. Cases of conflict between those two stakeholders were reported. Nevertheless, wherever knowledge, attitude and practice of the people were high, Panchayat officials and public health functionaries responded positively with the aim to improve healthcare provision. Conclusion & recommendations The decentralisation experience in Kerala's health sector provides examples of success and signs of potentials. More often than not, those potentials did not yet fully develop. Accountability to the public can be fostered if the Health and Local Self Government (LSG) departments would focus more on providing training both to professionals and elected representatives. Induction training of professionals including the medical officers and their staff need to be reoriented within the context of health management in a decentralised setting. Local government's mandate to respond to local health needs being curbed by grassroots leaders' lack of skills and exposure, steps should be taken by the LSG department to improve the capacity of the latter. The LSG department's allocation for the health sector should be fixed at a uniform minimum level, with freedom to allocate more for new programmes. This would contribute to improved basic facilities in health facilities (water, vehicle and staff quarters among others) and would allow addressing proximate health determinants too. Exemplary Panchayats have already evolved innovative initiatives. Their best practices should to be popularized across the state, adopted according to local suitability. To make this possible, better co-ordination is needed between the Directorate of Health Service through its district machinery and local government. For dual control to become effective, the roles, activities and responsibilities of PRI officials and public health functionaries should be better defined. The Kerala Panchayat Act can serve as a basis for developing a manual that enlists the complementary activities of all actors and guides day-to-day management of the local health system. In this way, the still patchy effectiveness of Kerala's decentralisation in health can become a more widespread success story. Grant funding (the World Bank, Washington DC, USA) for research but no other competing interests.


Sir .—In a recentJournal(132:1100-1104, 1978), Zinkus et al reported that children who have had a history of severe, chronic otitis media suffer later from developmental and learning problems. They conclude that hearing loss is the culprit. Although they refer to an earlier article by Kaplan et al, 1 the authors fail to note that those investigators found no relationship between the degree of otitis media—caused hearing loss and learning problems. Kaplan et al found only the same correspondence between chronic otitis media and learning disorders that Zinkus found. There is no evidence that the mild hearing loss associated with otitis media causes poor learning, nor is it known what causes the relationship between otitis media and learning disorder. I have suggested elsewhere 2 that a third factor, related to the predisposition to learning disability, may be responsible for the occurrence of chronic otitis media as well.


In relating the story of his life on the island of Deshima and in the port of Yokohama during the late 1850s, Dutch merchant C. T. Assendelft de Coningh provides both an unprecedented eyewitness account of daily life in the Japanese treaty ports and a unique perspective on the economic, military, and political forces the Western imperial powers brought to bear on newly opened Japan. A general Introduction provides essential historical and cultural background as well as a brief biography of De Coningh; substantial footnotes explain those terms, names, and cultural references that may be unfamiliar to modern readers. Thirteen illustrations are included, as are a chronology of events, a bibliography, and an index.


Background: Denture teeth play a critical role in overall aesthetic outcomes of removable complete dentures, and long-term maintenance of these outcomes depends on the color stability of the prosthetic teeth. The characteristics of denture base resins play a significant role in prosthetic clinical performance and aesthetics. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of two flasking materials on the color stability of five brands of denture teeth that were immersed in commonly consumed beverages. Materials and Methods: In the present study 560 denture teeth (20 series) were invested with heat- and cold-cured acrylic resin. All the specimens were thermo cycled between 4°C and 60°C, with 60 Seconds dwell times for 1000 cycles. Subsequently, the specimens in each group were divided into four subgroups based on the immersion medium: coffee, tea, cola, or distilled water. Digital images of the teeth were taken before immersion and 30 days after immersion. The color samples were measured using the CIE L* a * b * system, and color differences (∆E) were calculated. The data were evaluated by 3-way ANOVA and the Tukey HSD test. Results: There were significant differences in color change between the cold-cured acrylic resins and the heat-cured acrylic resins, with a reduced amount of discoloration in the heat-cured group (∆E = 10.12 ± 3.93, P = 0.001). The solutions showed significantly different amounts of discoloration on the teeth; distilled water had the least effect (∆E = 8.49 ± 2.62, P = 0.001) and coffee had the maximum discoloration (∆E = 14.14 ± 7.77, P = 0.001). A Tukey test showed that there was no significant difference between each brand of denture teeth. Conclusions: Coffee caused the most color changes in the examined resin denture teeth. Tea and cola left less staining on the teeth, and distilled water caused the least discoloration. Generally, investing by heat- and cold-cured acrylic resins can significantly affect the color stability of resin denture teeth; however, heat-cured acrylic resins had fewer color changes.


Existing laser honing machines all utilize the motion mode of workpiece movement. But as to complex workpiece, this mode is inappropriate to use. For example, cylinder liner, pre-casted into the engine block, is not suitable to rotate when fixed on the chuck, because the block is irregular and heavy. This equipment uses the mode of laser head rotation and linear motion. The workpiece keeps still during the laser texturing process. In this paper, the structure design and control principle of the laser machine are narrated in detail. The process of the machine is a new method of laser micro-texturing, named as "single-pulse interval of the same point many times". The method contributes to processing microscopic or macroscopic morphology and significantly reduces the negative thermal effects of laser processing


Introduction Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL), Kaposi's sarcoma and invasive carcinoma of cervix are AIDS defining cancers (ADCs) seen in people living with HIV (PLHIV). After the introduction of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) the spectrum of malignancies has changed and the incidence of Non AIDS defining Cancers (NADCs) are increasing as PLHIV live longer.This study describes the pattern of malignancies among PLHIV attending a tertiary care HIV facility. Methodology This descriptive cross sectional study was carried out at Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Mangalore which is a 500 bedded tertiary care referral institution. The study was conducted among PLHIV diagnosed with malignancy between January 2005 and May 2016. Data of 33 PLHIV was collected by using a semi-structured proforma after obtaining permission from the institutional ethics committee. Data was analysed by using SPSS version 11.5 statistical software. Results The mean age of our study group was 46.19±7.82 years. Majority of them 18 (54.5%) were males. In the current study 19 (57.6%) had Non AIDS defining cancers and 14 (42.4%) had AIDS defining cancers. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma 9 (27.2%), carcinoma breast 5 (15.2%), invasive carcinoma of cervix 5 (15.2%) and carcinoma of head and neck 4 (12.1%) were the major malignancies seen in our study. Carcinoma lung 3 (9.1%), Hodgkin's lymphoma 2 (6.1%),carcinoma anal canal 2 (6.1%) and 1 case each of Acute myeloid leukaemia, carcinoma colon and Ewing's sarcoma was seen in our study. The median CD4 count at the diagnosis of malignancy was 214 IQR(159-436) cells/μl. In our study 24 (72.7%) patients were on cART at the time of diagnosis of the cancer. Conclusion In our study the percentage of NADCs was more when compared to ADCs. Non- Hodgkin's lymphoma was the most common cancer seen in our study population. Kaposi sarcoma was not seen in our study population confirming the fact that it is a rare malignancy among PLHIV in our country. With longer survival of PLHIV in India due to potent cART malignancy will become an important issue for HIV physicians.


Cloud computing is one of the most trending IT domains in recent times. It allows a user to access state-of-theart resources, technology and infrastructure with just an internet connection. In the past few decades, most global organisations have begun to migrate towards cloud computing environments because of the plethora of advantages that are provided. Cloud computing technology is now growing at a rapid rate and it has become more convenient for organisations to transfer their workload onto the cloud. It calls for less investment and promises delivery of the latest technology at a high velocity. However, security has now become a common concern for the safety of a cloud computing environment. If the cloud environment is not built securely then it can face a lot of cyber threats which take advantage of the vulnerabilities in the system. This puts the assets, resources and the data belonging to a cloud environment at risk. This paper discusses in about the top cyber threats that a cloud computing environment faces. It also covers the countermeasures and the practices that a cloud provider should follow in order to ensure that the cloud environment is robust and impenetrable. Keywords— Cloud Computing; Cyber attacks; Cyber threats; Deployment; Security.


Background The Globally Relevant AIDS Vaccine Europe-Africa Trials (GREAT) partnership is an EDCTP-funded project that aims to foster collaboration between institutions in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa to build capacity among African clinical research centres (CRCs) for the design and conduct of HIV-1 vaccine efficacy trials. Methods In January 2017, the University of Oxford (UOXF) and five CRCs in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia were awarded a 5 year grant for capacity building and to support conduct of an HIV-1 vaccine trial in different high-risk populations across Africa using cross-clade (conserved protein regions) T-cell vaccines. UOXF and CRCs embarked on activities to strengthen capacity of the CRCs for future efficacy trials. This included training, community engagement, cohort preparation and infrastructure upgrade. Results In the first year, the African investigators at the CRCs collaborated on the development of a protocol aimed at assessing the safety and immunogenicity of the tHIVconsvX vaccines. In preparation for the planned vaccine trial, infrastructure upgrades were prioritised at all partner sites and this included building laboratory space and procurement of appropriate laboratory equipment. Planned infrastructure upgrades will also ensure that high-risk populations can be safely and confidentially included in HIV prevention clinical trials. Systematic community engagement was implemented at all sites, training in GCP/GCLP was provided and training is planned for nominated CRC staff to lead community engagement efforts. Conclusion Improved infrastructure and the provision of targeted training will enhance future trials and increase the capacities of CRCs and staff to conduct quality trials in previously hard-to-reach populations. Early collaboration between investigators from European and sub-Saharan African institutions, with equal responsibilities in the protocol development process, established a meaningful partnership. EDCTP funding also offers a unique opportunity for capacity building.


This study describes the historical development of the Setswana novel, between 1940 and 1980. The thesis discusses the salient features of this tradition such as shared themes, stylistic features, structural and technical patterns and features. The period selected for the study covers the establishment of a written tradition. The study makes occasional reference for comparative purposes to the later period, which falls outside the current framework. The study is divided into eight chapters. Chapter One introduces the study, highlights the geo-political distribution of the native speakers of this language and some aspects of their culture, outlines the aims of the study, proposes questions that guide the interpretation of the findings of the study and reviews other works on the Setswana novel. Chapter Two creates the building blocks of the text by describing historical events and situations that led to creative writing in Setswana. The areas discussed are the Christian missionary contribution to literacy in Setswana, orthography and representation of the Setswana sound system and the early stages of literary production in the southern African region. Chapter Three describes the features and eras of creative writing in Setswana. It discusses the development of Setswana novels from their oral antecedents, the conditions against which the early Setswana texts were written, the stages of development and the historical periods that characterise the unfolding history of Setswana literary activity. Lastly this chapter outlines the major themes found in the Setswana novels. Chapter Four discusses the journey/migration theme, one of the major themes that pervade the Setswana novel. This chapter considers the different forms of migration as reflected in the works, their significance and other related minor themes. Chapter Five discusses the love-marriage theme, another major theme that cuts across many texts. It is considered as a social activity as well as a complex and contentious subject, which has received a lot of attention from society at large. Chapter Six discusses the role of youths as the central characters in the Setswana novel. Central to this study are the views of the different writers on the aspirations and values of the young, especially against the background of the themes of migration and the city. Chapter Seven describes the narrative techniques and features of style discernible in the Setswana novels. This chapter is divided into two sections. The first section is concerned with narrative techniques in the conventionally written texts while the second deals with narrative techniques in the more complex works. Each section considers narrative techniques within the confines of the following: text structuring, techniques of description and characterisation. Chapter Eight concludes the study with a summary of principal findings followed by a general discussion. The appendices provide the summaries of some central texts and notes on some key authors.


Organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) is an evolving concept concerning how and why people contribute positively to their organisations beyond defined work roles; a concept that has rapidly expanded in recent years. The study of OCB engages fundamental questions analysing the circumstances in which individuals "go the extra mile" in the workplace. This briefing reviews the literature to shed a light on the antecedents and enabling environments for OCB in order to improve employee and employer ability to maximise citizenship behaviour for mutual benefit.


Water cycle analysis was performed for Gunja basin located in metropolitan Seoul using Aquacycle model in order to assess the problems of urban water cycle. From the water cycle analysis of Gunja basin, it was found that 75% of total rainfall occurred in the form of surface runoff, and groundwater recharge only accounted for about 7%. This suggests serious distortion of water cycle which can be attributed to urbanization. Feasibility analysis of reuse scenarios such as rainwater use and wastewater reuse was then performed to examine their influences on improving the water cycle. From the analysis of water reuse options, it was shown that imported water supply savings of 13% can be achieved through rainwater use, and water supply savings of 31% through wastewater reuse.


ABSTRACT A study was made of the heavy minerals in strata in the Lucero uplift, with special reference to the pre-Morrison Jurassic rocks. Zircon, garnet, tourmaline, rutile, and several opaque minerals are dominant; epidote, biotite, staurolite, and apatite occur in minor quantities. This limited suite of mostly rounded, stable heavy minerals indicates the rocks are multicycle sediments, in agreement with the conclusions previously obtained with other stratigraphic techniques. The pre-Morrison part of the section, in which relatively abundant magnetite-ilmenite occurs, is distinguishable from the Morrison Formation in which these minerals are virtually absent. Considering the pre-Morrison Jurassic rocks in sequence, the Carmel and lower Entrada formations have a low zircon-garnet and high magnetite-ilmenite content, the upper Entrada has a high zircon-garnet and low magnetite-ilmenite content, and the Summerville and Bluff formations have a high zircon-low garnet and variable magnetite-ilmenite content. Except for the upper Entrada, the differences in distribution of the heavy minerals do not characterize any single pre-Morrison unit. Thus, the heavy mineral are not as useful a stratigraphic tool as if the suite were mineralogically more varied.


The mechanism whereby a bubble transduces sound into a clocklike stream of picosecond flashes of ultraviolet light is robust, complex, and unknown. A theoretical understanding of the key bubble parameter, its ambient radius, is lacking. An explanation as to why this phenomenon has so far only been seen in water is elusive. In addition, we do not understand why cooling the water dramatically increases the light output or why sonoluminescence is so sensitive to doping with a noble gas. Experimentally, the spectrum has been unable to be followed past 7 electron volts and so the limits of energy concentration which can be achieved with sonoluminescence from a single bubble are not yet measured. In addition to yielding clues experiments in progress will most likely serve to deepen the mystery! [Work supported by the US DOE Division of Advanced Energy Projects; RL is an AT&T Fellow.]


Objective(s): The objective of the study to assess the nurse manager performance of planning in hospitals.
Methodology: A descriptive study was carried out to determine the quality of nurse manager role performance of staffing in middle Euphrates governorates hospitals. Non-probability sampling was performed. Convenient sampling of (62) nurse manager was selected of the middle Euphrates governorates hospitals. The study was conducted for the period of 2nd June, 2013 through 30th June, 2013. Through extensive review of relevant literature, a questionnaire was constructed for the purpose of the study. A pilot study is conducted in order to determine the reliability of the study instrument which was used for measuring the determination of quality of nurse manager administrative role performance in middle Euphrates governorates hospitals. Data were analyzed through the application of the descriptive statistical data analysis approach (frequency, percentage, mean) and inferential statistical data analysis approach (t-test, person correlation coefficient, stepwise logistic multiple regression, Spearman-Brown, chi-square).
Results: The findings of the study indicated that through the course of data analysis more than one half of the study sample are in Babylon governorate, the most hospitals are distributed in the city center rather than in the city side or in rural areas, the males nurses are more attend to working as an administrative nurse than the female nurses, the study sample responses to overall evaluation for the majority of the administrative nurse managers' role and duties is highly significant, study subject's responses to the basic components to determine the quality of management performance staffing are at all items a non-significant correlation between the basic components to determine quality of management performance staffing and the different demographic data at p-value more than 0.05.
Conclusion: The study concludes that the nurse managers have a good opportunity to continue their education, because they are to the top working side by management, The nurse managers have a good level of performance relative to their managerial roles and duties, and Working as managers in teaching hospital increases their knowledge about the staffing function determine the quality of nurse manager performance.
Recommendations: The study recommended that the Further studies should be conducted to involve a larger geographical area in Iraq, apply a continuing education courses for the nurse managers to increase their knowledge and performance about the managerial roles and duties especially in the non-teaching hospitals, and Management courses should be developed and improved to increase students' managerial knowledge and performance.


Abstract Background Schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar disorder (BD) and depression (D) run in families. This susceptibility is partly due to hundreds or thousands of common genetic variants, each conferring a fractional risk. The cumulative effects of the associated variants can be summarised as a polygenic risk score (PRS). Using data from the EUropean Network of national schizophrenia networks studying Gene-Environment Interactions (EU-GEI) first episode case–control study, we aimed to test whether PRSs for three major psychiatric disorders (SZ, BD, D) and for intelligent quotient (IQ) as a neurodevelopmental proxy, can discriminate affective psychosis (AP) from schizophrenia-spectrum disorder (SSD). Methods Participants (842 cases, 1284 controls) from 16 European EU-GEI sites were successfully genotyped following standard quality control procedures. The sample was stratified based on genomic ancestry and analyses were done only on the subsample representing the European population (573 cases, 1005 controls). Using PRS for SZ, BD, D, and IQ built from the latest available summary statistics, we performed simple or multinomial logistic regression models adjusted for 10 principal components for the different clinical comparisons. Results In case–control comparisons PRS-SZ, PRS-BD and PRS-D distributed differentially across psychotic subcategories. In case–case comparisons, both PRS-SZ [odds ratio (OR) = 0.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.54–0.92] and PRS-D (OR = 1.31, 95% CI 1.06–1.61) differentiated AP from SSD; and within AP categories, only PRS-SZ differentiated BD from psychotic depression (OR = 2.14, 95% CI 1.23–3.74). Conclusions Combining PRS for severe psychiatric disorders in prediction models for psychosis phenotypes can increase discriminative ability and improve our understanding of these phenotypes. Our results point towards the potential usefulness of PRSs in specific populations such as high-risk or early psychosis phases.


Recent efforts have shown that research on self-adaptive systems can benefit from exemplars to evaluate and compare new methods, techniques and tools. One highly relevant application domain for self-adaptation is the Internet-of-Things (IoT). While some initial exemplars have been proposed for IoT, these exemplars are limited in scope to support research in realistic IoT domains, such as smart cities. To address this limitation, we introduce the DingNet exemplar, a reference implementation for research on self-adaptation in the domain of IoT. DingNet offers a simulator that maps directly to a physical IoT system that is deployed in the area of Leuven, Belgium. DingNet models a set of geographically distributed gateways, which are connected to a user application that is deployed at a front-end server. The gateways can interact over a LoRaWAN network with local stationary and mobile motes that can be equipped with sensors and actuators. The exemplar comes with a set of scenarios for comparing the effectiveness of different self-adaptive solutions. We illustrate how the exemplar is used for a typical adaptation problem of smart city IoT application, where mobile motes dynamically have to adapt their communication settings to ensure reliable and energy efficient communication.


Cyber Physical Social Sensing makes mobile social networks (MSNs) popular with users. However, such attacks are rampant as malicious URLs are spread covertly through quick response (QR) codes to control compromised accounts in MSNs to propagate malicious messages. Currently, there are generally two types of methods to identify compromised accounts in MSNs: one type is to analyze the potential threats on wireless access points and the potential threats on handheld devices' operation systems so as to stop compromised accounts from spreading malicious messages; the other type is to apply the method of detecting compromised accounts in online social networks to MSNs. The above types of methods above focus neither on the problems of MSNs themselves nor on the interaction of sensors' messages, which leads to the restrictiveness of platforms and the simplification of methods. In order to stop the spreading of compromised accounts in MSNs effectively, the attacks have to be traced to their sources first. Through sensors, users exchange information in MSNs and acquire information by scanning QR codes. Therefore, analyzing the traces of sensor-related information helps to identify the compromised accounts in MSNs. This paper analyzes the diversity of information sending modes of compromised accounts and normal accounts, analyzes the regularity of GPS (Global Positioning System)-based location information, and introduces the concepts of entropy and conditional entropy so as to construct an entropy-based model based on machine learning strategies. To achieve the goal, about 500,000 accounts of Sina Weibo and about 100 million corresponding messages are collected. Through the validation, the accuracy rate of the model is proved to be as high as 87.6%, and the false positive rate is only 3.7%. Meanwhile, the comparative experiments of the feature sets prove that sensor-based location information can be applied to detect the compromised accounts in MSNs.


Purpose The aim of this study was to identify differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) that might play an important role in the etiology of retinal degeneration in a genetic mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa (rd10 mice) at initial stages of the disease. Methods miRNAs–mRNA interaction networks were generated for analysis of biological pathways involved in retinal degeneration. Results Of more than 1900 miRNAs analyzed, we selected 19 miRNAs on the basis of (1) a significant differential expression in rd10 retinas compared with control samples and (2) an inverse expression relationship with predicted mRNA targets involved in biological pathways relevant to retinal biology and/or degeneration. Seven of the selected miRNAs have been associated with retinal dystrophies, whereas, to our knowledge, nine have not been previously linked to any disease. Conclusions This study contributes to our understanding of the etiology and progression of retinal degeneration.


Quantum phase transitions in odd-nuclei are investigated within the framework of the interacting boson-fermion model with a description based on the concept of intrin- sic states. We consider the case of a single j=9/2 odd-particle coupled to an even-even boson core that performs a transition from spherical to deformed prolate and to deformed gamma-unstable shapes varying a control parameter in the boson Hamiltonian. The effect of the coupling of the odd particle to this core is discussed along the shape transition and, in particular, at the critical point.


Abstract Traditionally only a small proportion of the workforce was engaged in shift work. Changing economic pressures have resulted in increased engagement in shift work, with approximately 17 % of the workforce in Europe engaged in this work pattern. The present narrative review aimed to summarise the data on the effects of shift work on the diet, lifestyle and health of employees, while addressing the barriers to, and opportunities for, improving health among shift workers. Shift work can result in low-quality diet and irregular eating patterns. Adverse health behaviours are also reported; particularly increased smoking and poor sleep patterns. These altered lifestyle habits, in conjunction with disruption to circadian rhythms, can create an unfavourable metabolic phenotype which facilitates the development and progression of chronic disease. Although the data are inconclusive due to issues such as poor study design and inadequate control for confounding factors; shift workers appear to be at increased mental and physical health risk, particularly with regard to non-communicable diseases. Information is lacking on the obstacles to leading a healthier lifestyle while working shifts, and where opportunities lie for intervention and health promotion among this group. In order to provide an informed evidence base to assist shift workers in overcoming associated occupational hazards, this gap must be addressed. This review highlights the unique nutritional issues faced by shift workers, and the subsequent effect on health. In societies already burdened with increased incidence of non-communicable chronic diseases, there is a clear need for education and behaviour change interventions among this group.


Four brief reports of combined skin lesions are presented: (1) combined basal cell epithelioma and histiocytosis X. (2) combined intraepidermal melanocytic neoplasia (melanoma in situ) and leukaemia cutis, (3) combined melanocytic naevus with pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia and desmoplastic trichoepithelioma, and (4) combined melanocytic naevus with lichenoid gold reaction. The importance of the occurrence of such lesions is discussed, as are the clinical and pathological diagnostic difficulties they sometimes pose.


Current research exploring entrepreneurial learning is explored in this paper to identify the key factors that are considered to be important. It looks at how these factors can be simulated in a student learning environment and highlights the role of emotional exposure, action-orientation and discontinuity. These features of learning are then mapped against those required to make experiential learning effective. An argument is made for the role of experiential learning when seeking to simulate contexts similar to those in which entrepreneurs learn. In the research that is carried out a conceptual framework is introduced that highlights a course design based on the factors identified. In the data analysis formal course assessments are reviewed and narrative coding based on sixty-four written student reflections is evaluated. The paper finds that it is possible to simulate certain aspects of entrepreneurial learning, such as emotional exposure, but not others. It also shows a range of learning benefits linked to experiential learning in this context. In conclusion the paper explains why entrepreneurship education can play an important role in encouraging management learning.


Peanut peroxidase has been diffracted. The location of its heme and calcium moieties have been shown and their role demonstrated. However, the structure and role of its glycans is only now being elucidated. The role of three N-linked complex glycans on cationic peroxidase (cPrx) of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L cv. Valencia), as expressed by prxPNC1 in transgenic tobacco, was analyzed by site-directed replacement of each of the three glycosylation sites, N-60, N-144, and N-185 with Q, individually. The mutant prxPNC1 cDNAs with a 3' histidine-tag were expressed in transgenic tobacco. The effect on the catalytic ability, thermal stability, and unfolding properties of the mutant peroxidases, isolated from the medium of transgenic tobacco cell suspension cultures were compared with those of the wild cPrx from peanut. It was found that the ablation of the glycans at N-60 and N-144 influences the full expression of the cPrx catalytic ability. The glycan at N-185 is important for the thermostability, as is the removal of the carbohydrate chain at N-185, resulting in rapid enzymatic decrease at temperatures of 50 degrees C. All three glycans appeared to influence the folding of the protein.


The emergence of women's team sports in University Sports Association (Akademicki Związek Sportowy – AZS) in Poland took place in the second decade of the 20th century. In the 1930s female student teams competed in Polish championships in Czech handball, basketball and volleyball. After the Second World War, team games continued to be popularized in the academic community. Women participated in university, inter-university and international competitions in basketball, handball and volleyball. A competition had the greatest popularity in of the Academic Polish Championship and the Polish Championship of Higher Education Institutions. In addition, sports teams representing AZS participated in professional sports in basketball, football, field hockey, handball and volleyball. In the professional sport most successes had teams AZS Warsaw, AZS Wroclaw, AZS Katowice and AZS Poznan. The development of team sports games in the academic community was related to, among others with the decisions of institutions managing physical culture in Poland in 1945–1989. These guidelines had an impact on organizational changes in the structures of AZS and on shaping the academic model of sports competition.


Synonymous codon usage (SCU) varies widely among human genes. In particular, genes involved in different functional categories display a distinct codon usage, which was interpreted as evidence that SCU is adaptively constrained to optimize translation efficiency in distinct cellular states. We demonstrate here that SCU is not driven by constraints on tRNA abundance, but by large-scale variation in GC-content, caused by meiotic recombination, via the non-adaptive process of GC-biased gene conversion (gBGC). Expression in meiotic cells is associated with a strong decrease in recombination within genes. Differences in SCU among functional categories reflect differences in levels of meiotic transcription, which is linked to variation in recombination and therefore in gBGC. Overall, the gBGC model explains 70% of the variance in SCU among genes. We argue that the strong heterogeneity of SCU induced by gBGC in mammalian genomes precludes any optimization of the tRNA pool to the demand in codon usage.


Highly efficient ITO-free polymeric electronic devices were successfully demonstrated by replacement of the ITO electrode with a solution-processed PEDOT:PSS electrode containing Ag nanoparticles (NPs). Polymer solar cells (PSCs) and light emitting diodes (PLEDs) were fabricated based on poly(5,6-bis(octyloxy)-4-(thiophen-2-yl)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole) (PTBT):PC61BM and Super Yellow as a photoactive layer, respectively. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect and improved electrical conductivity by the Ag NPs clearly contributed to increments in light absorption/emission in the active layer as well as the conductivity of the PEDOT:PSS electrode in PSCs and PLEDs. The ITO-free bulk heterojunction PSCs showed a 1% absolute enhancement in the power conversion efficiency (3.27 to 4.31%), and the power efficiency of the PLEDs was improved by 124% (3.75 to 8.4 lm W−1) compared to the reference devices without Ag NPs. The solution-processable conducting polymer, PEDOT:PSS with Ag NPs, can be a promising electrode for large area and flexible optoelectronic devices with a low-cost fabrication process.


Abstract A systems model has been developed for the Laser Inertial Fusion-Fission Energy (LIFE) power plant. It combines cost-performance scaling models for the major subsystems of the plant including the laser, inertial fusion target factory, engine (i.e., the chamber including the fission and tritium breeding blankets), energy conversion systems and balance of plant. The LIFE plant model is being used to evaluate design trade-offs and to identify high-leverage R&D. At this point, we are focused more on doing self consistent design trades and optimization as opposed to trying to predict a cost of electricity with a high degree of certainty. Key results show the advantage of large scale (>1000 MWe) plants and the importance of minimizing the cost of diodes and balance of plant cost.


This paper presents a new hardware and software calibration technology to improve the process of automatic multiple projector calibration using photo detectors to support Spatial Augmented Reality. This research builds on existing calibration methods that employ point-based photo detectors by advancing the hardware with a larger surface area photo detector to locate sub-pixel position with structured light. This data is used to expand the Gray-coding algorithm with an additional step that improves the measurement. The novel hardware allows a sub-pixel position to be calculated and leveraged to improve alignment of multiple-projector environments. The results show the new approach improves position measurement from pixel accuracy using a point photo detector with Gray-code by an order of magnitude providing sub-pixel accuracy by leveraging the planar photo detector and additional algorithm steps.


Abstract By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, it was clear that nanotechnology was emerging as one of the most promising and rapidly expanding fields of research and development worldwide. It would not be long before scientists, science educators, engineers, and policy makers began advocating for nanoscience, engineering, and technology (NSET) related concepts to be introduced in K-12 classrooms. Indeed, there has been a surge in the development of pre-college NSET-related education programs over the last decade, as well as millions in funding to support the creation of these programs. In an effort to characterize the state of research to date on pre-college students' and teachers' learning of NSET content knowledge and related practices, we have conducted a systematic review of the peer-reviewed, published research studies to answer the following questions: What NSET content knowledge and practices in a pre-college context have been examined in empirical learning studies? What do these studies tell us about the NSET content knowledge and practices that pre-college students and teachers are learning? Implications and recommendations for future research are also discussed.


This article rigorously incorporates optimal thinning decisions for an even-age stand into an optimal harvesting model with fluctuating stumpage prices. The theoretical model optimally determines how often and at what ages to thin when stumpage prices are independently drawn from a stationary distribution. New theoretical results include increases in the net present value of both land and stumpage, and an increase in some harvest reservation prices from introducing thinning. A simplified model is numerically simulated using parameters estimated from Dutch data for Pinus sylvestris to determine when to thin. The simulation results suggest that the gains from incorporating thinning are significant when compared to the Faustmann approach and at least modestly important when compared to optimal harvesting models without thinning. The simulation results also indicate that expected thinning age may decrease significantly while the expected harvest age increases, when compared to the Faustmann approach.


Recent burns in the western United States attest to the signif- icant geomorphic impact of fire in mountainous landscapes, yet we lack the ability to predict and interpret fire-related erosion over millennial time scales. A diverse set of geomorphic processes is often invoked following fire; the magnitude of postfire erosional processes coupled with temporal variations in fire frequency dic- tate the extent to which fires affect sediment production and land- scape evolution. In the Oregon Coast Range, several models for long-term rates of soil production and transport have been tested and calibrated, although treatment of fire-related processes has been limited. Following recent fires in the Oregon Coast Range, we observed extensive colluvial transport via dry ravel, localized bed- rock emergence due to excess transport, and talus-like accumula- tion in adjacent low-order valleys. Soils exhibited extreme but dis- continuous hydrophobicity, and no evidence for rilling or gullying was observed. Using a field-based data set for fire-induced dry rav- el transport, we calibrated a physically based transport model that indicates that soil flux varies nonlinearly with gradient. The post- fire critical gradient (1.03), which governs the slope at which flux increases rapidly, is lower than the previously estimated long-term value (1.27), reflecting the reduction of slope roughness from in- cineration of vegetation. By using a high-resolution topographic data set generated via airborne-laser swath mapping, we modeled the spatial pattern of postfire and long-term erosion rates. Postfire erosion rates exceed long-term rates (which average 0.1 mm·yr 21 ) by a factor of six, and subtle topographic variations generated local patches of rapid postfire erosion, commonly.1 mm·yr 21 . Our sim- ulations indicate that fire-related processes may account for ;50% of temporally averaged sediment production on steep hillslopes. Our analysis provides a mechanistic explanation for the coincident early Holocene timing of increased fire frequency and regional ag- gradation in Oregon Coast Range drainage basins. Given the sen- sitivity of steep hillslopes to fire-driven transport, changes in cli- mate and fire frequency may affect soil resources by perturbing the balance between soil transport and production.


BACKGROUND
Poor mental health and high stress levels have been reported in staff working in general practice. Little is known about how practices are tackling these and other issues of health at work in the absence of an established occupational healthcare service.

AIM
To establish the extent of knowledge and good practice of health at work policies for staff working in general practice.

METHOD
Practice managers in 450 randomly selected general practices in England were interviewed by telephone, and the general practitioner (GP) with lead responsibility for workplace health in the same practice was surveyed by postal questionnaire. We surveyed the existence and implementation of practice policies, causes and effects of stress on practice staff, and agreement between practice managers and GPs on these issues.

RESULTS
Seventy-one per cent of GPs and 76% of practice managers responded, with at least one reply from 408 (91%) practices and responses from both the practice manager and GPs from 252 (56%) practices. Seventy-nine per cent of practices had a policy on monitoring risks and hazards. The proportion of practices with other workplace health policies ranged from 21% (policy to minimize stress) to 91% (policy on staff smoking). There was a tendency for practices to have policies but not to implement them. The three causes of stress for practice staff most commonly cites by both GP and practice manager responders were 'patient demands', 'too much work', and 'patient abuse/aggression'. Sixty-five per cent of GPs felt that stress had caused mistakes in their practices. Although there was general agreement between the two groups, there was a considerable lack of agreement between responders working in the same practices.

CONCLUSIONS
The study revealed substantial neglect of workplace health issues with many practices falling foul of health and safety legislation. This report should help general practices identify issues to tackle to improve their workplace health, and the Health at Work in the NHS project to focus on areas where their targeted help will be most worthwhile.


In contrast to the achievements at other educational levels, Vietnam's higher education is considered as having a lot of weaknesses and shortcomings compared to other Asian countries, which have similar economies and political regimes like Thailand or China. Inevitably, it also compares unfavourably to some developed nations, such as the United Kingdom. Additionally, although such things are relative, in terms of challenges, Vietnam and the UK both encounter many problems including the financial matters and changes in policies. However, in the global arena, the UK's tertiary system appears to completely surpass Vietnam's.

Through an overview of both higher education systems in Vietnam and the UK, there are some emerging questions on the UK's success and ability to ensure the quality and the best performance of its universities. In my research, I would like to find out the key issues closely related to the development of Vietnam's higher education by marking a comparison between Vietnam's and the UK's higher education in terms of its concepts, missions, and quality maintenance and enhancement in relation to the social and economic changes as well as differences between Vietnam and the UK. Hopefully, there might be some suggestions flowing from the comparative analysis in my research for the developing process of the higher education system not only in Vietnam but also in other developing countries.


The dissociation of CO2 in a geometrically symmetric dielectric barrier discharge has been analysed by means of numerical modelling. A time- and space-dependent fluid model has been used, taking into account the spatial variation of the plasma between the plane-parallel dielectrics covering the electrodes. The main features of the model, including an extensive reaction kinetics for the vibrational states of CO2, are given. The modelling studies have been performed for different applied voltages, discharge frequencies, pressures, gas temperatures, and relative permittivities of the dielectrics. The model calculations show that the discharges in the positive and negative half-cycles are different for the considered standard condition, leading to a spatially asymmetric distribution of the stable neutrals like CO molecules and O atoms. The generation of CO mainly takes place during the discharge pulses, and it is dominated by electron impact dissociation. The specific energy input obtained for the broad range of parameters considered and determined for residence times reported in the literature agrees well with the corresponding experimental values. In accordance with these experiments, the calculated degree of CO2 conversion has been found to increase almost linearly with the specific energy input. Remaining discrepancies between the measured and calculated energy efficiencies are discussed.


Background: CVDs before were thought to be diseases of high economy populations, this simply meant that cardiovascular diseases were basically affecting industrialized countries in relation to decreased human activity, over-consumption of fat foods.

Problem statement: Worldwide, it is estimated that 16.6 million deaths are encountered as a result of non-communicable diseases in low and middle income countries which is far higher than 5.7 million of deaths due to infectious diseases. In this review paper five research articles were reviewed, discussing factors of CVD from different parts of Africa. According two different studies conducted in Ghana and Nigeria, aimed at "Cardiovascular diseases in Ghana within the context of globalization and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors among School attending adolescents in Rural Nigeria indicated that age, high blood pressure (hypertension), smoking, high blood cholesterol, diabetes, overweight or obesity, lack of exercise and family history of heart disease were leading CVD factors in respective study population, in addition to researchers recommendations also African governments and researchers to establish appropriate approaches to prevent and treat CVD in such affordable and accessible manner and further more education can be used to already existing cases, since most cardiovascular conditions are influenced by lifestyle changes. Catherine Lawrence assessing women's perception on modifiable risk factors of CVD in Kenya, women perceived CVD risk factors as independent health conditions as there's no link with cardiovascular disease. The additional argument was that government should establish a clear strategy of disseminating information to the population, via media enough coverage can be ensured. According to Demetrius A. Abshire in the study cardiovascular disease risk factors among emerging adults in college" abdominal obesity and dietary behaviors, environmental and lifestyle behaviors (smoking) to be significant risk factors of CVD, call all policy makers to take part in this journey, scheduling exercises, dietary talks in the colleges would help to improve situation was suggested during the review. According to the study carried out by Gabriel Uche Pascal Iloh and his colleagues with the objective of determining the frequency of cardiovascular risk factors in adult Nigerians with family history of non-communicable cardiovascular disease, we urged by saying that screening for CVD risk factors in old ages, won't help to prevent the rising burden of CVD, rather screening in early is essential and this can to exclude non modifiable factors.


A can end comprising a peripheral cover hook, a chuck wall dependent from a first point on the interior of the cover hook, an outwardly concave annular reinforcing bead extending radially inwards from a second point on the interior of the chuck wall, and a central panel supported by an inner portion of the reinforcing bead, characterized in that, a line connecting the first point and the second point is inclined to an axis perpendicular to the exterior of the central panel at an angle between 30° and 60°.


The ability to identify others' actions and intentions, "action understanding," is crucial for successful social interaction. Under direct accounts, action understanding takes place without the involvement of inferential processes, a claim that has yet to be tested using behavioural measures. Using a dual-task paradigm, the present study aimed to establish whether the identification of others' actions and intentions depends on automatic or inferential processing, by manipulating working memory load during performance of a task designed to target the identification of actions and intentions. Experiment 1 tested a novel action understanding task targeting action identification and intention identification. This task was then combined with two working memory manipulations (cognitive: Experiment 2; perceptual: Experiment 3) to determine whether action identification and intention identification are disrupted by concurrent cognitive or perceptual load. Both action identification and intention identification were impaired by concurrent cognitive and perceptual processing, indicating that action understanding requires additional perceptual and cognitive resources. These findings contradict a direct account of action understanding.


The waters of the Goascoran River are shared between Honduras and El Salvador. Since 2011, BRIDGE has worked to promote better cooperation over transboundary waters, taking a non-conventional approach to water diplomacy. One of the challenges was the level of involvement in the institutional arrangement existing in the basin. The initial makeup of the Binational Management Group (BMG) had a limited representation of Municipalities only giving the institution a narrow scope and legitimacy with stakeholders. There was a need to revitalise the BMG expanding the level of participation across scales and across sectors. Responding to these challenges, BRIDGE has played an essential role in enabling and facilitating changes through a multi-level water diplomacy programme to build good water governance capacity. It uses a combination of knowledge and information tools, procedural advice and technical support, and capacity building and training to strengthen relations between stakeholders across local, provincial, national, and regional levels.


The most notable structure located on the medial aspect of the elbow is the cubital tunnel, through which the ulnar nerve passes. The walls creating the tunnel include the olecranon and the medial epicondyle, while the joint capsule of the elbow and the transverse and posterior bands of the medial ulnar collateral ligament form the floor, and finally the roof is comprised of the fascia of the flexor carpi ulnaris muscle and Osborne's band, and referred to as Osborne's fascia. Due to its location and function, Osborne's fascia is of significance predominantly due to its potential to compress the ulnar nerve in the elbow.


A rich content of phenolic compounds (anthocyans and tannins) is a fundamental technological condition for the obtaining of quality red wines - appreciated by increasing numbers of consumers, aware of the benefic health effects brought about by these biologically active compounds. The biosynthesis of phenols and their accumulation in the grape berries during ripening is influenced by a multitude of factors. In this study we focused on terroir and on the biological potential of the authorized red varieties for wines with controlled denomination of origin in four centres of three well-established viticultural regions: the Hills of Dobrogea, the Hills of Moldova, the Hills of Muntenia and Oltenia. The polyphenolic potential of the grapes was evaluated for the crop of 2015 by the standard Glories method, thus obtaining results for the total polyphenolic potential (ApH1), the extractable anthocyans potential (ApH3,2), the percentage of anthocyans extractability (%AE), the maturity of the seeds (MS) and total polyphenols (PT). By classifying the freshly harvested grapes on the basis of their phenolic potential using the statistical method of Principal Component Analysis, the studied varieties are clearly differentiated based on the viticultural terroi


Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are devastating for college football players. Although the change in functional performance of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football players after reconstruction has been shown to be negligible, studies have failed to analyze the statistical performance of these players upon their return. Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose of this study was to quantify the impact of ACL reconstruction on the statistical performance of collegiate football players. We hypothesized that statistical performance would vary by position and that running backs, wide receivers, and defensive backs, compared with preinjury and controls, would experience the largest decline in performance after returning from ACL reconstruction. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football players who experienced ACL tears between the years 2010 and 2015 were identified. The rates of return to play after surgery were determined for each position. Preinjury and postoperative performance statistics of each running back, receiver, defensive lineman, linebacker, and defensive back who met inclusion criteria were compared. A t-test analysis was used to compare the performance changes experienced by these players versus the performance changes of matched controls. Results: A total of 349 players were identified. Only 63.64% of eligible offensive linemen returned to play. Upon return, running backs experienced significant performance decreases compared with controls in carries (mean ± SD, –2.4 ± 2.7 vs 2.8 ± 1.6; P = .003), yards (–12.3 ± 15.5 vs 13.8 ± 7.8; P = .006), and receptions (–0.22 ± 0.32 vs 0.32 ± 0.23; P = .011) per game. Receivers displayed significant performance decreases compared with controls in number of touchdowns (–0.019 ± 0.110 vs 0.18 ± 0.06; P = .004), receptions (–0.11 ± 0.79 vs 1.2 ± 0.4; P = .004), and yards (–3.2 ± 10.6 vs 18.6 ± 5.4; P = .0009) per game. Linebackers demonstrated less improvement than controls in tackles for loss (0.007 ± 0.115 vs 0.31 ± 0.11; P = .0003) and sacks (0.001 ± 0.061 vs 0.10 ± 0.06; P = .026). Conclusion: Although offensive linemen were the least likely to return to play, running backs and receivers returned to play at a lower level of performance. The performance of defensive players was less affected by ACL reconstruction.


Psychoergic drugs are defined as equally effective if they produce equal proportions of positive reactions in a sample of N individuals where each individual is treated, in random sequence, with each of m drugs. Equally effective drugs are defined as equally valent if they exert equal effects (1) in the subsample of N1 individuals reacting on just 1 drug out of m(2) equally effective inthe subsample of N2 individuals reacting on 2 out of m drugs etc to the subsample of Nm-1 individuals reacting on m-1 out of m drugs. Indices of effectivity and of potency are proposed and tested for differences by suitable tests. Numerical procedure is illustrated by comparing 3 stimulants in N = 40 volunteers.


Disruptions in tokamak devices are phenomena where the plasma loses
its confinement suddenly, on time scales of a few milliseconds, releasing
most part of the plasma energy onto the machine components.
These phenomena are dangerous to the plasma-facing components
and they pose a severe threat to the machine's integrity, causing the
deposition of intense thermal
uxes on the first wall materials and serious
electromagnetic stresses on the structure. High-energy runaway
electrons are also generated due to disruptive phenomena, causing
further damage to the machine. The recent successful installation of
the JET ITER-like wall (ILW) in place of the previous carbon-based
wall, suggests an assessment of the impact of different wall composition
on the runaway production. Extracting experimental data from
two different plasma discharges equipped respectively with beryllium
and carbon wall, the production of runaway electrons has been investigated
through a numerical code. Simulations for the evolution
of runaway electrons have been carried out for different scenarios,
considering both a prescribed exponential temperature decay and disruptions
triggered by an argon injection scenario. Argon and carbon/
beryllium impurities coming from the sputtering of the first wall
has also been included in a further scenario. A comparison of two different
discharges in terms of generation mechanisms for runaways has
also been performed, together with various scans for different argon
concentrations. Simulations showed that impurities coming from different
walls, have a different impact on the produced runaway currents
and on generation mechanisms.


This study uses concepts of power and 'scaled politics' to analyze the effects of environmentalization and technocratic and market-based measures in China. Political scientists have explored the politics behind the proactive engagement of the Chinese state in governing the environment since the 2000s, also drawing on political ecology. Based on policy document analysis and ethnographic fieldwork, the study investigates a case of ecological resettlement in Inner Mongolia by examining how this became a new solution to desertification and rangeland degradation. The article shows how resettlement was implemented through multi-scalar practices and the reconfiguration of spatial relations, and why pastoral households responded to resettlement in certain ways. The state turned certain areas and people (associated with overgrazing) into subjects of governance. By distinguishing the different strategies used by central and local government, the analysis shows that disciplinary and neoliberal environmentality are associated with scalar practices between the state and the people, and within the state system. Neoliberal environmentality, however, counteracts the making of environmental subjects and encounters resistance. Sovereign environmentality is still deployed as a means to control local government and the obedience of herders. Pastoralists resist this, depending on their different subjectivities. The study advances our understanding of the multiple governmentality perspective, its analytics, and scalar processes.


We previously demonstrated that an acidic variant form of lysosomal arylsulfatase B accumulated in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cells was highly phosphorylated at its carbohydrate moiety (Uehara Y, et al, Cancer Res 43:5618, 1983). Since lysosomal hydrolases including the sulfatase underwent the posttranslational phosphorylation processing at the carbohydrate moiety, we investigated two enzymes acting on the processing in peripheral leukocytes from leukemia patients. The activity level of the first enzyme in the processing, an N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphotransferase to form phosphodiester at the carbohydrates, was significantly higher in CML cells than in normal control. The transferase level in CML cells was also higher compared with that in normal bone marrow cells, which include myeloid progenitor cells. However, the activity of the second processing enzyme, a phosphodiester glycosidase that converts a phosphodiester to a phosphomonoester, showed no consistent change in CML cells. Thus, increment of the sulfatase variant containing phosphomonoesters and diesters in CML cells is most probably associated with elevated activities of the phosphotransferase. In two cases of CML in blastic crisis and a case of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), activity of the processing enzyme was considerably decreased concomitant with reduction of peripheral blastic cells by chemotherapy.


The reliable persistence of an adhered monolayer film on a substrate is critical for film function. The process by which monolayers degrade or disperse remains unclear. Our study investigates the properties and dynamics of a solute of dipolar molecules initially adhered as a monolayer on a substrate in a water-like Stockmayer solvent. We find that for a rigid solute, both the solute and solvent show qualitatively different dynamics than for a flexible solute and its solvent. For the rigid solute, spreading is hindered and solvent orientation is more pronounced. We formulate a simple kinetic model that shows qualitatively similar results to the molecular dynamics simulations of the time evolution of the monolayer. Simple kinetics of molecules on substrates is a starting point for understanding important industrial monolayer applications and complex interactions on membranes.


High resolution angle-resolved photoemission measurements have been carried out to study the superconducting gap in the (Ba0.6K0.4)Fe2As2 superconductor with Tc=35 K. Two hole-like Fermi surface sheets around the point exhibit different supercon ducting gaps. The inner Fermi surface sheet shows larger (10�12 meV) and slightly momentum-dependent gap while the outer one has smaller (7�8 meV) and nearly isotropic gap. The lack of gap node in both Fermi surface sheets favors s-wave superconducting gap symmetry. Superconducting gap opening is also observed at the M(�,�) point. The two Fermi surface spots near the M point are gapped below Tc but the gap persists above Tc. These rich and detailed superconducting gap information will provide key insights and constraints in understanding pairing mechanism in the iron-based superconductors.