Direct fermentation of unhydrolyzed potato starch to ethanol by monocultures of an amylolytic fungus, Aspergilus niger, and cocultures ofA. niger and Saccharomyces cerevisiae was investigated. Amylolytic activity, rate and amount of starch utilization, and ethanol yields increased several-fold in coculture versus the monoculture due to the synergistic metabolic interactions between the species. Optimal ethanol yields were obtained in the pH range 5 to 6 and amylolytic activity was obtained in the pH range 5 to 8. Ethanol yields were maximal when fermentations were conducted anaerobically. Increasing S. cerevisiae inoculum in the coculture from 4 to 12% gave a dramatic increase in the rate of ethanol production, and ethanol yields of >96% of the theoretical maximum were obtained within 2 days of fermentation. These results indicate that simultaneous fermentation of starch to ethanol can be conducted efficiently by using cocultures of the amylolytic fungus A. niger and a nonamylolytic sugar fermenter, S. cerevisiae.


Ticket annotation and search has become an essential research subject for the successful delivery of IT operational analytics. Millions of tickets are created yearly to address business users' IT related problems. In IT service desk management, it is critical to first capture the pain points for a group of tickets to determine root cause; secondly, to obtain the respective distributions in order to layout the priority of addressing these pain points. An advanced ticket analytics system utilizes a combination of topic modeling, clustering and Information Retrieval (IR) technologies to address the above issues and the corresponding architecture which integrates of these features will allow for a wider distribution of this technology and progress to a significant financial benefit for the system owner. Topic modeling has been used to extract topics from given documents; in general, each topic is represented by a unigram language model. However, it is not clear how to interpret the results in an easily readable/understandable way until now. Due to the inefficiency to render top concepts using existing techniques, in this paper, we propose a probabilistic framework, which consists of language modeling (especially the topic models), Part-Of-Speech (POS) tags, query expansion, retrieval modeling and so on for the practical challenge. The rigorously empirical experiments demonstrate the consistent and utility performance of the proposed method on real datasets.


A novel morphing wing structure is designed based on the concept of re–entrant hexagonal cellular structure. The re–entrant hexagonal cellular structure is adopted because of its ability to undergo large overall displacements with limited deformation in spanwise direction. The presented unconventional cellular based morphing wing structure can satisfy the requirements of configuration changing while wing morphing, which can makes the aircraft remain at the most effective state and perform multiple missions effectively and efficiently. Numerical analyses were performed to exploit the presented wing structures using commercial finite element method. It was shown that the morphing wing structure examined here had can change its relative thickness as much as 5%, which can make lift coefficient increase significantly. Therefore, the presented structure can be served as a smart variable wing structure and has much effective and efficient aerodynamic performance.


The purpose of this review is to analyze the role of genetic factors in the pathogenesis of human cancer, with particular attention to tumours of the digestive organs. Human neoplasms are defined as "sporadic" when there is no evidence of cancer among relatives besides the index case; "Familial" tumours are characterized by cancer aggregation in a given family, but without verticality or other features of mendelian (autosomal) transmission. In "Hereditary" tumours there is sufficient clinical and biologic evidence to suspect that genetic factors are the main event responsible for their development. Hereditary tumours have been associated with germ-line mutations of oncogenes or, more often, of tumour suppressor genes. More recently, a new category of cancer-related genes has been defined-the mutator genes-which are involved in the mechanisms of DNA repair. Among the various hereditary cancer syndromes, Hereditary non polyposis Colorectal Cancer (HNPCC or Lynch syndrome), Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP) and related syndromes, Hereditary Breast tumours, Li-Fraumeni syndrome and Von Hippel-Lindau disease have been discussed in more detail. Besides purely scientific problems, many ethical and social aspects remain to be solved in hereditary cancer syndromes, and it is likely that their solution will require-in the years to come-a close collaboration between oncologists, geneticists and basic research workers.


One of the goals the development of the food sector in Indonesia is food secured the release of which is characterized by the type of food that are harmful to health. In some way of avoiding the kind of food that is harmful to health, strengthen institutional food sector, and increase the number of food industry comply with regulations. Implementation of Good Handling Pratice (GHP) and Good Manufacturing Pratice (GMP) and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) are a responsibility and awareness of manufacturers and distributors. Some of the food safety regulations have been issued by the government of Indonesia such as Law. 18 on Food in 2012 to provide protection to consumers and food producers will be healthy, safe and lawful. Development of quality systems and food safety and implementation quality system in the food industry are a shared responsibility between government, industry includes producers of raw materials, food industry and distributors, and consumers.


The present work includes the study of dynamic characteristics on a flexible rotor shaft system. This arises due to the internal material damping of rotor bearing system, which produces a tangential force on a rotor and increasing with the rotor spin speed. Due to these dynamic characteristics of rotor is influence which destabilizes the rotor shaft system. Under this dynamic behaviour of rotor shaft system is studied to get the dynamic nature of rotor shaft system. This can be estimated in terms of Campbell diagram, modal damping factor, mode shape and directional frequency response function. These plots are obtained by using the matlab software by solving a eigenvalues problem. finite element approach plays a significant role in modelling continuum system after discretizing it into some finite number of element. More number of elements or enhancing the mesh size give better accuracy in results. But discretizing the system into infinite elements inherits the swelling size of system matrices. Substantial increment of the system matrices sometime causes very high mathematical complications and takes an unwanted computational time. Model reduction is techniques for reducing the degree of freedom from the full system model to produce a reduced model but its dynamic characteristics is maintain. System equivalent reduction process, Improved reduced system, Guyan reduction are used to reduce the large system of equation of motion to fewer degree of freedom. The full system model also includes internal and external damping and gyroscopic effect. Since it is not practical to measure all degree of freedom, so the model is reduced using model reduction techniques. The reduced model is used to plot Campbell diagram, unbalance response using MATLAB software and comparison is done with original system to show its effectiveness.


The paper describes an analysis of the AE signals captured with PZT sensor during and after laser cutting. In the course of cutting the continuous AE signals are treated in a defined time interval. After cutting, bursts of acoustic emission will occur. They are due to solidification of the molten material and cooling of the laser-cut surface. The results shown refer to cutting of steel plate DC04 and of austenitic stainless steel plate X5CrNi18-10. Both plate types are frequently used in automobile industry, where, because of mass production, optimisation of the cutting process is desired. Numerous laser-cutting conditions assuring different quality levels of the cut made were chosen. It was proved that the laser cutting conditions had a significant influence on the amplitude value and intensity of the continuous signal and AE activity after the termination of laser cutting. Separately it was also confirmed that there was a relation between the measured signal and laser-cut quality, which is shown, to a large extent, by the presence of dross at the lower edge of the cut.


Community-based learning (CBL), which provides opportunities for undergraduate students to develop disciplinary and work-related knowledge and skills, is increasingly becoming an integral component of higher education. Similar to other countries, there is a widespread belief among employers in Kenya that there is a mismatch between university programs and labour market demands. In order to enhance the employability of graduates, many departments at a Kenyan university have incorporated work-integrated experiential learning opportunities such as practicums in the educational experience for undergraduate students. The aim of this article is to describe the expectations of field supervisors in host organisations participitating in a community-based human services program at a Kenyan University. Fifteen purposively sampled field supervisors participated in individual face-to-face interviews that included questions about their understanding of the department's expectations of student learning activities during practicums, knowledge of the academic preparation of students in the program and challenges associated with the supervisory role. Six field supervisors exhibited some level of understanding of the expectations of their role in working with practicum students, while nine field supervisors indicated unclear expectations of the students' practicum experience. Thematic analysis revealed key themes related to: (1) student abilities, learning goals and their contributions to the host organisations, and (2) the academic program of study and academic support available from the university faculty or staff to field supervisors. The results of our study revealed a lack of clarity around practicum expectations for most of the field supervisors interviewed and insufficient preparation of the community-based organisations to host a practicum student. Several recommendations are identified to clarify the expectations of community partner organisations and the staff providing student supervision to ensure benefits for both students and the host organisation. Results from this study can be used to inform the development or improvement of practicum opportunities focused on producing a skilled workforce.


Over the last decade, the needs of educational organizations have been changing in accordance with increasingly complex pedagogical models and with the technological evolution of e-learning environments with very dynamic teaching and learning requirements. Architectures for Distributed and Complex M-Learning Systems: Applying Intelligent Technologies explores state-of-the-art software architectures and platforms used to support distributed and mobile e-learning systems. Containing research from leading international experts, this advanced publication provides useful references to support learning practices for academicians, researchers, and practitioners.


Local participation of stakeholders in governance of protected areas is considered to be important to natural resource management and biodiversity conservation. Social network analysis (SNA) is a useful tool for analysis because it allows the understanding of stakeholders' relationships, interactions, and influences through communication networks. We combine quantitative and qualitative data to undertake a SNA for the natural park of Sant Llorenc del Munt in Catalonia, Spain. This is aimed at (1) assessing the structure of the communication network; (2) comparing the informal communication network with the formal participatory bodies of the natural park; and (3) selecting participants for subsequent analyses of the adequate governance structure of the natural park. The results suggest that an informal network of communication, which is reasonably well represented in participatory bodies, exists. However, this communication network is not functioning perfectly because stakeholders experience a lack of trust in the governance bodies of the park, which they perceive to be ineffective. Our results show that SNA is an effective tool to support the creation of a broad representation of stakeholders in participatory processes.


The purposes of this paper are to (1) promote excellence in computer science by suggesting a cohesive innovative approach to fill well documented deficiencies in current computer science education, (2) justify (using the authors' and others anecdotal evidence from both the classroom and the real world) why this approach holds great potential to successfully eliminate the deficiencies, (3) invite other professionals to join the authors in proof of concept research. The authors' experiences, though anecdotal, strongly suggest that a new approach involving visual modeling technologies should allow computer science programs to retain a greater percentage of prospective and declared majors as students become more engaged learners, more successful problem-solvers, and better prepared as programmers. In addition, the graduates of such computer science programs will make greater contributions to the profession as skilled problem-solvers. Instead of wearily rememorizing code as they move to the next course, students will have the problem-solving skills to think and work in more sophisticated and creative ways Keywords—Algorithms, CASE, UML, Problem-solving.


OBJECTIVES
Having shown that the Xeral-Calde Hospital in Lugo (Spain) has been concerned by Escherichia coli clone O25:H4-ST131 producing CTX-M-15 (Nicolas-Chanoine et al. J Antimicrob Chemother 2008; 61: 273-81), the present study was carried out to evaluate the prevalence of this clone among the extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing E. coli isolates and also to molecularly characterize the E. coli isolates producing ESBL other than CTX-M-15.

METHODS
In the first part of this study, 105 ESBL-producing E. coli isolates (February 2006 to March 2007) were characterized with regard to ESBL enzymes, serotypes, virulence genes, phylogenetic groups, multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and PFGE. In the second part of this study, 249 ESBL-producing E. coli isolates (April 2007 to May 2008) were investigated only for the detection of clone O25b:H4-ST131 producing CTX-M-15 using a triplex PCR developed in this study and based on the detection of the new operon afa FM955459 and the targets rfbO25b and 3' end of the bla(CTX-M-15) gene.

RESULTS
Of the 105 ESBL-producing E. coli isolates, 60 (57.1%) were positive for CTX-M-14, 23 (21.9%) for CTX-M-15, 10 (9.5%) for SHV-12 and 7 (6.7%) for CTX-M-32. Serotypes, virulence genes, phylogenetic groups and molecular typing by PFGE demonstrated high homogeneity within those producing CTX-M-15 and high diversity within E. coli producing CTX-M-14 and other ESBLs. By PFGE, CTX-M-15-producing E. coli isolates O25b:H4 belonging to the phylogenetic group B2 and MLST profile ST131 were grouped in the same cluster. The epidemic strain of clone O25b:H4-ST131 represented 23.1%, 22.5% and 20.0% of all ESBL-producing E. coli isolated in 2006, 2007 and 2008, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
CTX-M-type ESBLs, primarily CTX-M-14 and CTX-M-15, have emerged as the predominant types of ESBL produced by E. coli isolates in Lugo. In view of the reported findings, long-term care facilities for elderly people may represent a significant reservoir for E. coli clone O25b:H4-ST131 producing CTX-M-15. The triplex PCR developed in this work will be useful for rapid and simple detection of this clone.


This special issue is based on a mini-symposium in the area of neurosciences with the title "Understanding the role of heteroreceptor complexes in the central nervous system" held at the Nobel Forum, Karolinska Institutet on December 17th, 2012, organized by Kjell Fuxe, Dasiel O. Borroto-Escuela and Luigi F. Agnati. It consists of seven mini-reviews in the field receptor heteromers. The early work on negative cooperativity and neuropeptide-monoamine receptor-receptor interactions in the central nervous system gave the first indications of the existence of homomers and heteromers of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR), respectively, and the GPCR field began to expand from monomers into dimers and receptor mosaics (higher-order dimers). It was underlined that the existence of receptor heteromers with allosteric receptor-receptor interactions increases the diversity and bias of GPCR recognition and signalling. The molecular phenomenon of allosteric receptor-receptor interactions is proposed to give a better understanding of brain function through molecular integration of signals. An alteration in specific receptor-receptor interactions is in fact considered to play a role in pathogenic mechanisms leading to several diseases, inter alia Parkinson's disease, hypertension, schizophrenia, addiction and depression. It is a new principle in molecular medicine. Therefore, pharmacological targeting of receptor-receptor interactions in heteromers will become an important area for developing more selective drugs with reduced side-effects including heterobivalent compounds and optimal types of combined treatments. In other words , it will lead to novel strategies for treatment, and finally novel drugs for treatment of disease. The first mini-review by Dr. Tena-Campus and colleagues introduces the field of GPCR oligomerization as emerging signalling units with new opportunities for drug design and discusses the technologies involved for detection of receptor heteromers. Then the issue moves into examples of receptor-receptor interactions in the DA and neuropeptide field. Dr. Van Craenenbroeck and colleagues presents an article on the role of dimerization in the biogenesis of DA D4 receptors and thus in their maturation. Dr. Zaida Diaz-Cabiale and colleagues describe the existence of galanin receptor-neuropeptide Y receptor interactions in the brain including galanin receptor-neuropeptide Y Y1 interactions in the brain stem. Indications are obtained that the receptor target for galanin fragment 1-15 is instead a GalR1-GalR2 heteromer. Then the special issue enters into the role of receptor-receptor interactions in putative striatal GPCR heteromers in Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia. Dr. Beggiato and colleagues discuss the role of antagonistic adenosine A2A-D2 receptorreceptor interactions in the striato-pallidal GABA neurons and their relevance for treatment of Parkinson's disease. They give the rationale for the introduction of A2A receptor antagonists in clinical trials in this disease based on these antagonistic receptor- receptor interactions which become even more strongly developed in animal models of Parkinson's disease. Dr. Luca Ferraro and colleagues instead discuss in detail the antagonistic Neurotensin NTS1-dopamine D2 receptor-receptor interactions in putative receptor heteromers in the dorsal and ventral striatum. Their involvement in striato-pallidal GABA and mesocorticolimbic DA communication is discussed with focus on their relevance for Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia and their treatments. Dr. Di Liberto and colleagues deal with the role of receptor-receptor interactions in brain trophism and plasticity with focus on interactions between G protein-coupled receptor-Receptor Tyrosine Kinase, specially the cholinergic and fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1). mAChR-FGFR1 interactions are indicated leading to transactivation of FGFR1 with potential relevance for cognition. Luigi Agnati and colleagues in the last paper of this special issue suggest a unified perspective for integrative brain actions through " neurosemeiotics" and " free energy minimization". Especially the Bio-semeiotics concept of "adaptor" may involve the receptor-receptor interactions in heteroreceptor complexes. Through such "adaptors" a code may be produced that give meaning to the sensory stimuli reaching the cortical regions of the brain . We hope the readers will find the articles in this special issue of interest and may give some inspiration to enter this exciting field of receptor research in the CNS which opens up a novel understanding of the molecular events that may lead to neurological and mental diseases and offer novel strategies for their treatments. The editors are grateful to the authors for their fine contributions to this special issue.


We present a localization algorithm for low-power long-range Internet-of-things (IoT) networks, which exploits angle of arrival (AoA) and range information from non-coherent received signal strength (RSS) measurements. In this work, each anchor node is equipped with array antennas of known geometry and radiation patterns. The position of the target node and the path-loss exponent to each anchor are unknown and possibly time-varying. The joint estimation problem is formulated with a Bayesian model, where the likelihood functions are derived from the classical path-loss model and an RSS difference model. A message passing method is then exploited for efficient computation of the marginal posterior distribution of each unknown variable. The proposed algorithm is validated using real outdoor measurements from a low-power wide area network based IoT system in a challenging scenario. Results show that the proposed algorithm can adapt to dynamic propagation conditions, and improve the localization accuracy compared to a method that exploits only single geometric feature. Furthermore, the algorithm scales well in different antenna array configurations, and is compatible with various existing IoT standards.


The purpose of this study was to monitor improvements in the hygiene and sanitation conditions, and milk safety after application of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) to milking. A total of 106 farms were assessed in four stages of six months in the regions named agreste, dairy region, mid-backlands and high backlands of Alagoas. Two activities were executed in the project: monitoring of milk quality and safety; and application of GMP to pre-milking and milking processes. Milk samples underwent determination of Somatic Cell Count (SCC), Total Bacterial Count (TBC) and composition. The results correspond to milk components, determination of mammary health indicative parameters - SCC and milking hygiene - TBC. Regarding SCC, 73% of producers complied with the standards established by normative instruction IN 62 as of 2017. Regarding TBC, the use of GMP increased from 46.75% to 59.87% the average of all assessed properties that complied with the established standards. Less than 4% of the properties presented one million or higher TBC/mL of milk. Results of SCC after application of GMP remained basically the same. Regarding TBC, rate changes deriving from the application of GMP were significant.


Old minerals expose an ancient field Mercury is the only terrestrial planet other than Earth with an active, internally generated magnetic field. Results from the MESSENGER spacecraft indicate that the field is almost as old as the planet. Johnson et al. took advantage of close flybys to extract evidence of an ancient magnetic field. Certain minerals are able to "lock in" the signature of a field at the time they crystallize. This remnant magnetization was found in a region on Mercury believed to be 3.8 billion years old. Science, this issue p. 892 Magnetic field measurements of Mercury's crust uncover a global magnetic field operating at least 3.8 billion years ago. Magnetized rocks can record the history of the magnetic field of a planet, a key constraint for understanding its evolution. From orbital vector magnetic field measurements of Mercury taken by the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft at altitudes below 150 kilometers, we have detected remanent magnetization in Mercury's crust. We infer a lower bound on the average age of magnetization of 3.7 to 3.9 billion years. Our findings indicate that a global magnetic field driven by dynamo processes in the fluid outer core operated early in Mercury's history. Ancient field strengths that range from those similar to Mercury's present dipole field to Earth-like values are consistent with the magnetic field observations and with the low iron content of Mercury's crust inferred from MESSENGER elemental composition data.


The explosion in recent interest in radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags stems primarily from advances in information processing in supply chain management. Given their processing power and memory capabilities, RFID tags can be used in a wide range of applications including those where barcodes can and cannot be used. Although the potential exists, it is hampered by the relatively high unit cost of implementation and issues related to privacy and security. As with any technology, unit cost of RFID tags and their related systems is bound to come down. As for security and privacy issues, the main impediments are limited processing power, memory, and external power to operate these tags. In spite of these resource constraints, recent years have seen a plethora of new authentication protocols that promise to alleviate security and privacy concerns associated with the use of RFID tags. We evaluate a few protocols that have been suggested for use in passive RFID-tagged systems and identify vulnerabilities that may be present. When appropriate, we present modifications of existing protocols to prevent identified vulnerabilities.


We present a novel graph-theoretic method for small bowel path tracking. It is formulated as finding the minimum cost path between given start and end nodes on a graph that is constructed based on the bowel wall detection. We observed that a trivial solution with many short-cuts is easily made even with the wall detection, where the tracked path penetrates indistinct walls around the contact between different parts of the small bowel. Thus, we propose to include must-pass nodes in finding the path to better cover the entire course of the small bowel. The proposed method does not entail training with ground-truth paths while the previous methods do. We acquired ground-truth paths that are all connected from start to end of the small bowel for 10 abdominal CT scans, which enables the evaluation of the path tracking for the entire course of the small bowel. The proposed method showed clear improvements in terms of several metrics compared to the baseline method. The maximum length of the path that is tracked without an error per scan, by the proposed method, is above 800mm on average.


Compared to approaches such as Web services and the Web Services Description Language (WSDL), which promote specialization for each service interface, the uniform-interface constraint reduces client-server coupling and helps minimize gratuitous differences in interface and method semantics across disparate resources. REST isn't a silver bullet, but its flexibility and relative simplicity make it highly applicable not only to Web-scale systems but also to a wide variety of enterprise integration problems. The representational state transfer (REST) architectural style, on the other hand, makes very specific and highly useful trade-offs meticulously chosen to enhance the scalability, extensibility, manageability, and maintainability of distributed systems and applications.


Many non-profits face barriers developing systems to collect and analyze data that can leverage the type of information that their funders and stakeholders require. Constraints such as limited evaluation expertise, time, and money make this virtually impossible to achieve without a viable solution. In an increasingly competitive environment, it is imperative that non-profits find innovative ways to track and measure their work within their evaluative capabilities. There are different ways in which evaluators can help even the most constrained non-profit organizations capture their reach and make the most of their existing data. This article proposes a three-step framework for the development of a data-collection and -analysis system through the use of spreadsheets. Not only is this proposed system feasible within the constraints of the non-profit sector, but it is also valuable for the sustainability of their services over time.


Case conceptualization, an integral component of mental health treatment, aims to facilitate therapeutic gains by formulating a clear picture of a client's psychological presentation. However, despite numerous attempts to improve this clinical activity, it remains unclear how well existing methods achieve their purported purpose. Case formulation is inconsistently defined in the literature and implemented in practice, with many methods varying in complexity, theoretical grounding, and empirical support. In addition, many of the methods demand a precise clinical acumen that is easily influenced by judgmental and inferential errors. These errors occur regardless of clinicians' level of training or amount of clinical experience. Overall, the lack of a consensus definition, a diversity of methods, and susceptibility of clinicians to errors are manifestations of the state of crisis in case conceptualization. This article, the 2nd in a series of 5 on thematic mapping, argues the need for more reliable and valid models of case conceptualization.


In many respects, Turkey is an exception among Muslim countries. Whilst being a secular democratic state, Turkey still struggles, however, with some remnants of its religious and socio-cultural heritage. The issue of forced marriage of children is one of those issues. Marriage is commonly defined as a union concluded by parties with their full and free consent. If consent is lacking, a forced marriage occurs. In the case of a forced marriage, consent is lacking because one of the prospective spouses does not give her/his consent freely, or sometimes because she/he is incapable of giving consent because of her/his age. As a founding member of the Council of Europe, Turkey not only ratified the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in 1954 and Protocol Nr. 1, but it has also ratified many of the core international documents on human rights and the rights of children, such as the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Nevertheless, the forced marriage of children is still a prevalent social problem in Turkey, and in the majority of cases, girls are the victims of such practices. This article examines the factors behind the forced marriage of children in Turkey, while exploring the current legal background and Turkey's international legal commitments to fight against such practices. Finally, the article suggests the reinforcement of available legal remedies in order to prevent the forced marriage of children


Piper nigrum popularly known as 'Black Pepper' contains abundant amount of piperine alkaloids. Piperine alkaloids have been implicated in Hepatoprotective activity. To evaluate effect of methanolic extract of Piper nigrum fruits in Ethanol-CCl4 induced hepatotoxicityWistar rats. The methanolic extract of P. nigrum (MEPN) (100 and 200 mg/kg, p.o., 15 days) and Piperine (PPR) (50 mg/kg, p.o., 15 days) was gavaged daily to the rats along with Ethanol [40%,2ml/100gm,p.o. for 15 days, twice a day] & on 14th Day CCL4 [1:1 in groundnut oil, 0.1 ml/kg,s.c.]. The levels of Triglycerides (TG), aminotranferases (AST, ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Bilirubin and Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT), Glutathione reductase (GSH) and Lipid peroxidation (TBARS) levels in liver were measured. Morphological and histopathological indices in the liver of healthy and Ethanol-CCl4 treated rats were also measured. In the underlying study, Ethanol- CCl4 exhibited increase in the hepatic biomarkers (TG, AST, ALT, ALP, and Bilirubin), LPO which were significantly decreased after pretreatment with MEPN (100, 200 mg/kg) and PPR (50 mg/kg). Ethanol- CCl4 significantly decreased levels of SOD, CAT, and GSH which were restored with MEPN and PPR. The results were similar to that of Liv52 [1ml/kg, p.o. for 15 days], which served as a reference standard. Histopathological studies were also in agreement of above. The study indicates that P. nigrum possess potential hepatoprotective activity which may be attributed to its piperine alkaloids, having therapeutic potential in treatment of liver disorders.


Executive functions (EFs), such as inhibition and cognitive flexibility, are essential for everyday functioning, including regulation of socially appropriate emotional responses. These skills develop during childhood and continue maturing into early adulthood. The current study aimed to investigate the very long‐term impact of childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI) on inhibition and cognitive flexibility, and to examine whether global white matter is associated with these abilities. Twenty‐eight young adult survivors of childhood TBI (mean age at 16‐year follow‐up = 21.67 years, SD = 2.70) and 16 typically developing controls (TDCs), group‐matched for age, sex, and socioeconomic status, completed tests of inhibition and cognitive flexibility and underwent structural MRI. Survivors of childhood TBI did not significantly differ from TDCs on EF or white matter volume. However, the relationship between EF and white matter volume differed between survivors of TBI and TDCs. Survivors of TBI did not mimic the brain behavior relationship that characterized EF in TDCs. The inverse brain behavior relationship, exhibited by childhood TBI survivors, suggests disruptions in the whole brain underpinning EF following childhood TBI.


Thiazolidinediones are oral antidiabetic agents that activate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma) and exert potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It has also been shown that PPAR-gamma agonists induce G0/G1 arrest and apoptosis of malignant cells. Some of these effects have been suggested to result from inhibition of proteasome activity in target cells. The aim of our studies was to critically evaluate the cytostatic/cytotoxic effects of one of thiazolidinediones (pioglitazone) and its influence on proteasome activity. Pioglitazone exerted dose-dependent cytostatic/cytotoxic effects in MIA PaCa-2 cells. Incubation of tumor cells with pioglitazone resulted in increased levels of p53 and p27 and decreased levels of cyclin D1. Accumulation of polyubiquitinated proteins within cells incubated with pioglitazone suggested dysfunction of proteasome activity. However, we did not observe any influence of pioglitazone on the activity of isolated proteasome and on the proteolytic activity in lysates of pioglitazone-treated MIA PaCa-2 cells. Further, treatment with pioglitazone did not cause an accumulation of fluorescent proteasome substrates in transfected HeLa cells expressing unstable GFP variants. Our results indicate that pioglitazone does not act as a direct or indirect proteasome inhibitor.


The classical concept of linear pathways is being increasingly challenged by network representations, which emphasize the importance of interactions between components of a biological system, and motivates for adopting a system‐level approach in biology. We have developed a dynamical system that integrates quantitative, dynamic and topological representation of network of ERK5 (Extracellular signal‐regulated kinases 5), JNK(c‐Jun N‐terminal kinases) and P38 kinase cascades. We have observered that, the transient activation of ERK5, JNK1 and P38β kinase, and the persistent activation of JNK2, JNK3 and P38 δ kinase does not get affected due to the cross‐talks between ERK5, JNK and P38 kinase cascades. But it is due to the cross ‐ talks, the transiently activated P38α kinase become inactivated, and the transiently activated P38γ kinase become persistently activated. The impacts of one‐way cross‐talks between the cascades are insignificant and differ from the impact of two‐way cross‐talks. We generate a hypothesis that, signaling pathways should be studied as a system by considering the cross‐talks between the two adjacent cascades.


The large-scale social experiment, which many citizens including media representative participated for evaluating the effects of the watering on the "Heat Island Effect", was carried out in Tokyo Metropolitan in Aug. 25 2003. About 14000l. water were sprinkled for about 20 minutes from noon. Air temperature and humidity were measured by moving observation system and fixed observation system at watering area in Eastern Tokyo. After the watering, the air temperature difference between outside and inside of watering area increases, and its difference was about 0.5°C. Temperature of watering area is lower than the temperature of outside area of watering after the watering. The effect of the watering was verified using the numerical simulation based on MM5. As a result of this analysis, air temperature degreased 2-2.5°C in watering area after the watering.


A multiregime microscopic traffic simulation approach has been formulated featuring realistic and comprehensive car-following and lane changing logic. The simulation logic and program was extensively tested and validated by real-world microscopic data sets using different validation procedures. The multiregime simulation (MRS) results clearly demonstrate the efficiency and validity of the proposed models for a broad range of traffic scenarios. The test and validation results indicate that the model has the fidelity and details required for modeling ITS technologies.


The proliferation of informal settlements in developing countries have become a major concern to governments and professionals in the built environment in recent years. This paper assessed informal human settlements in a rapidly urbanizing and growing urban area; the Greater Karu Urban Area (GKUA) in Nasarawa State of Nigeria. Information for the paper were obtained through the administration of a questionnaire on the residents and from published and official records. Data was collected from 4 out a 17 identified informal settlements; Mararaba, Masaka, New Nyanya and Kuchikau in GKUA. Questionnaires were administered to 10% (253) households' randomly selected based on their availability and willingness to participate in the study. From 241 (95.4%) questionnaires that were returned, two types of informal settlements were identified: inner core (traditional slums) and the peri-urban informal/unplanned settlements/slums. The inner core slums showed very severe challenges pertaining to minimal and inadequate social amenities and infrastructure, poor sanitation, narrow winding road networks while the absence of social services and infrastructure, unplanned and uncontrolled development, and substandard housing of mixed quality characterised peri-urban slums. Residents perceived that internal and external drivers contributed to the rapid growth of informal settlements in GKUA. A Comprehensive and holistic spatial vision of the area that could promote and sustain physical, social, economic and environmental planning policies in a coordinated manner is urgently needed.


The article deals with production of various malts intended for manufacture of special types of beer. The malts were used to brew samples of beer with alcoholic strength ranging between 8 - 12% EPM. The above range of original wort content was chosen due to its suitability for sensory evaluation and properties; in stronger types of beer, (more than 12% EPM), nature of the beverage can be drown by mashy flavour. In the experimental samples, the actual residual extract oscillated between 4.0 - 6.5%. The content of ethanol corresponded to the degree of fermentation and thereby also to the residual actual extract in balance equilibrium specifying that higher residual extract corresponds to lower content of alcohol by volume. It ranged between 2.5 - 5.0%. The sample 1 contained the highest amount of ethanol by mass (3.9%) and the sample 13 showed the lowest one (1.9%); alike trend of ethanol content by volume was revealed (5 and 2.44%, respectively). The highest content of actual and apparent extract was found in the sample 2 (6.6 and 5.2%, respectively); the sample 13 showed the lowest levels (4.0 and 3.1%, respectively). The original wort extract content averaged 9.9% in most of the samples; the sample 1 showed distinctly higher value (12.6%) and, on the contrary, the sample 13 demonstrated the lowest one (7.4%). The highest relative density was revealed in the sample 2 (1.02%) and the lowest one in the sample 13 (1.01%). Considering differences in osmotic pressure, the sample 1 exhibited the highest value (1045 mOs) and the sample 13 the lowest one (551 mOs). The highest level of fermentation was found in the sample 19 (61.7%), the lowest one was proved in the sample 19 (44.0%). Sensory analysis corresponded to originality and characteristics of each sample. The sample of beer made from spring barley was evaluated to be the best one.


In this paper, nonlinear dynamic behaviour of the carbon nanotube conveying fluid in slip boundary conditions is studied using the variation iteration method. The developed solutions are used to investigate the effects of various parameters on the nonlinear vibration of the nanotube. The results indicate that an increase in the slip parameter leads to a decrease in the frequency of vibration and the critical velocity, while the natural frequency and the critical fluid velocity increase as the stretching effect increases. Also, as the nonlocal parameter increases, the natural frequency and the critical velocity decreases. The analytical solutions help to have better insights and understand the relationship between the physical quantities of the problem.


The growth of continental margins typically results in the development of large-scale sedimentary units
with sigmoidal-shaped profiles, termed clinothems. Clinothems occur at a variety of spatial and temporal
scales, are recognized from shelfal to basin regions and represent one of the fundamental building blocks of
prograding successions. This Ph.D. thesis is based on four datasets from different case histories along an
hypothetical sediment routing system of the Adriatic continental margin. The main goal of this Ph.D. thesis is to
investigate how the interaction of allogenic and autogenic processes impacts on river morphodynamics and
drives clinothems development and growth, and ultimately the formation of modern continental margins.
The first case history is a portion of the Po River upstream the Isola Serafini dam. This area may be considered as
a natural laboratory where investigate and quantify the impact of the backwater effect on river morphodynamics. The second case history is the Mid Adriatic Deep during the Last Glacial Maximum, where a 350m thick succession developped in a very short-time window. This area allows to investigate the internal architecture, geometric relation and facies distribution of a lowstand delta. The third case history, offshore the Gargano Promontory, offers the possibility to investigate how genetically-related coastal and subaqueous progradations, i.e. a compound delta, may develop at sub-millennial time scale. The fourth case history, the southern Adriatic Basin, gives opportunity to investigate the impact of the oceanographic regime on sediment transport, where, far from direct sediment feeding sources, lateral advection and current deposition became the dominant mechanism of margin progradation.
Working on the Adriatic Quaternary succession it was possible to document the effect of a paramount control on margin feed and progradation, to discriminate short-lived phases of extremely rapid deposition during the margin construction, and to document the importance of oceanographic processes on margin growth.


A study is carried out to develop a Precast Lightweight Foamed Concrete Sandwich Panel, PLFP, as a new and affordable building system. Experimental investigation to study the behaviour of the panel under axial load is undertaken. The panel consists of two lightweight foamed concrete wythes and a polystyrene insulation layer in between the wythes. The concrete panels are reinforced with 9mm diameter high tensile steel bars. The rebars are tied to each other through the insulation layer by shear connectors which are made of 6mm mild steel bars bent to 45º angle. Total number of four specimens was tested with one specimen; PA1 was cast without capping at both ends. It was used as a pilot test. The other three specimens are capped with normal concrete at both ends to avoid end crushing during axial loading. Axial load test was conducted and the results are presented here, which include the ultimate load capacity, crack pattern and failure mode, strain distribution and load-deflection curve of the panels. The experimental ultimate strength achieved recorded lesser percentage difference with the formulae by Pillai and Parthasarathy when compared to formulae in BS8110. It is also observed that the strength of the panels are affected by the compressive strength of the foamed concrete forming the wythes, the presence of concrete capping at panel's ends and the slenderness ratio, H/t. Specimens with capping at both ends recorded higher ultimate loads with no premature crushing. Failure of panels with slenderness ratio, H/t < 18 were by premature buckling near the supports whereas for panels with higher H/t ratio, slight bending was observed in the middle zone. The results also indicate that a certain degree of compositeness is achieved between the wythes.


The last few years has seen what people are now referring to as a "shifting Paradigm" in our way of thinking about radiation effects on biological systems. The concept of the central role of DNA damage due to double strand breaks induced by a radiation "hit" has been itself hit by many studies showing persistent effects in the distant progeny of radiation exposed cells. This phenomenon is known as radiation induced genomic instability. More recently evidence has been accumulating that not even the parent cell need be exposed to radiation (the bystander effect). The new paradigm suggests that cellular stress responses or damage signalling through a range of signal transduction pathways are involved and that cell-cell contact or secretion of damage signalling molecules can induce responses in undamaged and unirradiated cells. Are these new effects relevant to risk assessment, or does it matter HOW radiation affects cells if we have good epidemiological evidence of which to base our risk estimates? The aim of this paper is to introduce the new concepts and to consider reasons why they might alter our methods of risk estimation. The paper also considers the impact of the new concepts on environmental protection and discusses the need for research in the field of comparative radiobiology if we are to develop policies which can adequately protect biodiversity.


Single-entry gas-explosion characteristics for the Bruceton Experimental Mine (BEM) are compared to those occurring in the larger geometries of the new Lake Lynn Mine (LLM) within the Lake Lynn Laboratory. (All three are Bureau of Mines facilities). Scale factors and boundary conditions for the BEM and the larger entries of the LLM are reviewed in some detail using representative data for pressure, flame, and wind velocity in the two mines. Measured pressure histories for gas explosions at the BEM are compared with data for comparable explosions in the larger cross section of the LLM. The time evolution for flame-front displacment can be characterized by a general expression that relates gas concentration and length of flammable volume. The course of the explosion development and its destructive power are dependent upon the development of turbulence in the unburned flammable mixture into which the flame propagates. The results of the study indicated that pressure profiles in the larger cross section are maintained to much larger, distances even though the flame front is accelerated less rapidly in a comparable entry length of smaller flammable volume.


A 34 year old Japanese woman was referred to our university hospital due to pulmonary opacities and bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy on chest X-ray. She also had uveitis, erythematous skin nodules, and oral and genital ulcers. Laboratory data showed eosinophilia in the circulation and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Histological study revealed massive eosinophilic infiltration and noncaseating epithelioid granulomas in the lung and mediastinal lymph node, without evidence of vasculitis. Pulmonary opacities, lymphadenopathy, and blood eosinophilia promptly improved with corticosteroid therapy. In this patient, idiopathic chronic eosinophilic pneumonia overlapped with features of sarcoidosis and Behçet's disease.


This thesis addresses the miniaturisation of Adiabatic Demagnetisation Refrigerators (ADRs) for cooling photon detectors that operate below 1 K. Such detectors offer vastly improved energy resolution and the potential to count individual photons, which make them attractive for both astronomical and ground-based applications. The primary focus of the thesis is on the heat switches used in ADRs. These components provide a strong thermal link to a pre-cooling bath during the magnetisation part of the ADR's refrigeration cycle and – ideally – thermal isolation during the demagnetisation (cooling) part. In ADRs configured to provide continuous cooling, it is the heat switches which ultimately limit the efficiency of the ADR and the cooling power that can be obtained for a given size of refrigerator. Tungsten is an attractive material for constructing heat switches in ADRs because its thermal conductivity at liquid helium temperatures can be reduced by several orders of magnitude on application of a magnetic field. While the fields required are of the order of a few Tesla, they are very similar to those provided by superconducting magnets used in ADRs already. Moreover, the fact that tungsten switches are solid state devices, without moving parts or working fluids, makes them ideally suited to miniaturisation. Thermal transport in tungsten on the scales appropriate to miniature ADRs is investigated in both theoretical and experimental terms. Theoretical relationships between tungsten's thermal conductivity and applied field are presented and verified by experimental studies on a variety of samples. The effects of different sample purity, crystal orientation and field orientation relative to the sample are also discussed. These findings are then incorporated into a thermal mathematical model which provides predictions of the performance of a miniature ADR and identifies key factors for optimising it. Finally, the future developments necessary to make a miniature ADR a reality are summarised.


In this article, we extend our mechanistic study of the three-component radical photoinitiator system, consisting of methylene blue (MB), N-methyldiethanolamine, and diphenyliodonium chloride, by investigating the influence of oxygen on the rate of the consumption of MB dye. The mechanism involves electron transfer/proton transfer from the amine to the dye as the primary photochemical reaction. Oxygen quenches the triplet state of the dye, leading to retardation of the reaction. We used time-resolved steady-state fluorescence monitoring to observe the MB concentration in situ in both a constant oxygen environment and a sealed reactor as the dye is consumed via photoreaction. In the sealed reactor, we observed a retardation period (attributed to the presence of oxygen) followed by rapid exponential decay of the MB fluorescence after the oxygen was depleted. On the basis of the impact of the amine and iodonium concentrations on the fluorescence intensity and the duration of the retardation period, our proposed mechanism includes an oxygen-scavenging pathway, in which the tertiary amine radicals formed in the primary photochemical process consume the oxygen via a cyclic reaction mechanism. The iodonium salt is an electron acceptor, acting to reoxidize the neutral dye radical back to its original state and allowing it to reenter the primary photochemical process. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 3336–3346, 2000


To improve the interfacial compatibility between bamboo powder and polypropylene (PP), the effects of maleic anhydride-grafted polypropylene (MAPP) on the physico-mechanical properties and rheological behavior of 33 wt% bamboo powder/PP foamed composites were investigated. The results showed that the mechanical properties, water resistance, and surface wettability of MAPP-treated composites improved significantly, and the optimum content of MAPP was 9%. The density of 9% MAPP-treated composite was 0.845 g/cm3 and its specific bending and tensile and notched impact strengths increased by 22.9%, 29.6%, and 49.0%, respectively, and the water absorption decreased from 8.80% to 1.92%, compared to the untreated composite. The frequency sweep results indicated that both the modulus and complex viscosity of the 9% MAPP-treated composite reached minimum values, and the slope of the lgG'-lgf curve for the treated composite increased by 15.9% compared with that of the untreated analogue. ESEM results indicated that the MAPP-treated composite had better bamboo powder dispersion and better interfacial compatibility. FTIR and XPS analyses confirmed the esterification between anhydride groups of MAPP and hydroxyl groups of bamboo powder. XRD studies showed the degree of crystallinity for the MAPP-treated composite increased to 26.52%, compared to 21.05% for the untreated composite.


Autodock is a widely used molecular modeling tool which predicts how small molecules bind to a receptor of known $3D$ structure. The current version of AutoDock uses meta-heuristic algorithms in combination with local search methods for doing the conformation search. Appropriate settings of hyperparameters in these algorithms are important, particularly for novice users who often find it hard to identify the best configuration. In this work, we design a surrogate based multi-objective algorithm to help such users by automatically tuning hyperparameter settings. The proposed method iteratively uses a radial basis function model and non-dominated sorting to evaluate the sampled configurations during the search phase. Our experimental results using Autodock show that the introduced component is practical and effective.


Tourism traditionally is when an individual or a group of individuals travel to or within a country temporarily for partaking in various activities, some formal activities include business meetings, medical visits, education, scouting for sportspersons or show business, whereas others partake in activities inclusive of sightseeing, exploration, weddings, parties, concerts, expos or conventions, visiting friends, family and relatives. This paper attempts to analyze a few important factors affecting tourists' choice of destination. Four factors namely, Location, Infrastructure, Culture and Trends have been identified as the key factors affecting the destination choice of tourists visiting Salalah, Sultanate of Oman. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) has been used to analyze the impact of these factors on the choice of destination. The findings suggest that infrastructure, followed by culture and locations have the maximum impact on the choice of a tourist destination.


[1] In an ice sheet, a preferred crystal orientation fabric affects deformation rates because ice crystals are strongly anisotropic: shear along the basal plane is significantly easier than shear perpendicular to the basal plane. The effect of fabric can be as important as temperature in defining deformation rates. Fabric is typically measured using analysis of thin sections under the microscope with co-polarized light. Due to the time-consuming and destructive nature of these measurements, however, it is difficult to capture the spatial variation in fabric necessary for evincing ice sheet flow patterns. Because an ice crystal is similarly elastically anisotropic, the speed of elastic waves through ice can be used as a proxy for quantify anisotropy. We use borehole sonic logging measurements and thin section data from Dome C, East Antarctica to define the relations between apparent fabric and borehole measured elastic speeds (compressionalVP and vertically polarized shear VSV). These relations, valid for single maximum fabrics, allow in-situ, depth-continuous fabric estimates of unimodal fabric strength from borehole sonic logging. We describe the single maximum fabric usinga1: the largest eigenvalue of the second-order orientation tensor. For ice at −16°C anda1in the 0.7-1 range the relations areVP = 248 a13.7 + 3755 m s−1 and VSV = −210a17.3 + 1968 m s−1.


Vehicle taillight recognition is an important application for automated driving, especially for intent prediction of ado vehicles and trajectory planning of the ego vehicle. In this work, we propose an end-to-end deep learning framework to recognize taillights, i.e. rear turn and brake signals, from a sequence of images. The proposed method starts with a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to extract spatial features, and then applies a Long Short-Term Memory network (LSTM) to learn temporal dependencies. Furthermore, we integrate attention models in both spatial and temporal domains, where the attention models learn to selectively focus on both spatial and temporal features. Our method is able to outperform the state of the art in terms of accuracy on the UC Merced Vehicle Rear Signal Dataset, demonstrating the effectiveness of attention models for vehicle taillight recognition.


Abstract. Gesture recognition is useful for human-computer interaction. The difficulty of gesture recognition is that instances of gestures vary both in motion and shape in three-dimensional (3-D) space. We use depth information generated using Microsoft's Kinect in order to detect 3-D human body components and apply a threshold model with a conditional random field in order to recognize meaningful gestures using continuous motion information. Body gesture recognition is achieved through a framework consisting of two steps. First, a human subject is described by a set of features, encoding the angular relationship between body components in 3-D space. Second, a feature vector is recognized using a threshold model with a conditional random field. In order to show the performance of the proposed method, we use a public data set, the Microsoft Research Cambridge-12 Kinect gesture database. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can efficiently and effectively recognize body gestures automatically.


Advances in intelligent agent research, such as curious agents and motivated learning agents, make possible a new kind of intelligent environment: a curious place. Previously, intelligent environment research has focused on developing reactive and interactive systems that control sensor and effector architectures, achieve context awareness and support human activities. This paper identifies the key attributes of curious places that differentiate them from existing intelligent environments and proposes new focus areas for intelligent environment research: proactive problem finding, life-long adaptability and enhancement of human activities. An example of a curious place application is discussed with emphasis on its adaptability and its potential to enhance human experiences.


We present two unconditional secure protocols for private set disjointness tests. In order to provide intuition of our protocols, we give a naive example that applies Sylvester matrices. Unfortunately, this simple construction is insecure as it reveals information about the intersection cardinality. More specifically, it discloses its lower bound. By using the Lagrange interpolation, we provide a protocol for the honest-but-curious case without revealing any additional information. Finally, we describe a protocol that is secure against malicious adversaries. In this protocol, a verification test is applied to detect misbehaving participants. Both protocols require O(1) rounds of communication. Our protocols are more efficient than the previous protocols in terms of communication and computation overhead. Unlike previous protocols whose security relies on computational assumptions, our protocols provide information theoretic security. To our knowledge, our protocols are the first ones that have been designed without a generic secure function evaluation. More important, they are the most efficient protocols for private disjointness tests in the malicious adversary case.


Recent research suggests that flawed status reporting is a serious concern in information systems projects. Several investigations have sought to understand the factors that lead project reporters to engage in misreporting. The main motivation for these studies has been the presumption that inaccurate reporting has a significant, negative impact on project performance. However, the linkage between reporting quality and project performance has not been empirically confirmed. The goal of this effort was to answer the following research question: Is reporting quality associated with project outcomes? Our investigation consisted of two complementary survey studies. The first study considered the perceptions of status report senders; the second study considered the perceptions of status report receivers. Both studies showed that reporting quality is positively associated with task and psychological outcomes. Moreover, the second study's results suggest that reporting quality is also related to organizational outcomes.


This paper presents a novel cost-effective microwave phase-shifter technology using thick-film ferroelectric varactors as the tuning component. The devices are fabricated by conventional screen-printing techniques with silver/platinum as the conducting layers and Ba0.7 Sr0.3TiO3 as the tunable dielectric layer. The microwave performance of the ferroelectric varactors is optimized in terms of both material process parameters and the varactor gate area dimensions. S-parameter measurements on a tunable reflective circuit are used to evaluate the performance of the varactor at around 2 GHz. The varactor parameters such as RF capacitance, tunability, and the Q factor of the varactor are studied as a function of the gate dimension. At 100-V dc-biasing voltage, the BSTO varactor loaded tunable reflective circuit exhibits a differential phase shift of 70deg with a return loss of -1.2 dB. This is equal to a figure-of-merit value of 58deg/dB. Full analog reflection-type and all-pass network phase shifters are also implemented in order to explore the monolithic integration of phase control devices into the RF system based on low-cost ceramic thick-film technology


BACKGROUND
This paper aims to analyse socioeconomic variation in the use of cheese and butter in Europe by reviewing existing dietary surveys. It explores whether socioeconomic differences in the intake of these foods follow a similar pattern in all countries.

METHODS
An overview of available studies on socioeconomic differences in food habits in Europe over the period 1985-1997 was performed. Twenty studies from 10 countries included information on cheese and butter. A simple directional vote-counting method was used to register the association between educational level and consumption of cheese and butter (animal fat) for each study. FAO's food balance sheets were used to classify the countries according to consumption trends of these foodstuffs.

RESULTS
In all countries higher social classes used more cheese than lower classes. The results for butter were less consistent. In the Nordic countries higher social classes used less butter than lower ones. In the other countries an opposite pattern or no differences could be observed. However, in countries where the use of both butter and animal fats could be analysed, animal fats were used more by the lower social classes.

CONCLUSIONS
Higher and lower socioeconomic groups have different sources of saturated fats. Higher social classes use more cheese whereas lower social classes use more butter or animal fats. This can be observed especially in countries where the consumption of cheese is increasing and that of butter decreasing. Higher social classes prefer modern foods, lower classes traditional foods.


BACKGROUND
In recent years, many trauma centers have been closing or scaling down their operations because of financial losses and lack of commitment by the relevant authorities.

OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effect of commitment to trauma and the establishment of a dedicated trauma program on injury outcome.

DESIGN
In 1992, a well-funded dedicated trauma program was implemented at the Los Angeles County--University of Southern California Medical Center, Los Angeles. We analyzed the outcome in severely injured patients (Injury Severity Score [ISS] > 15) before and after implementation of the program (1991 and 1993).

SETTING
Large, urban, level 1 trauma center.

PATIENTS
Patients with trauma and an ISS higher than 15.

RESULTS
There were 737 patients with an ISS higher than 15 in 1991 and 812 patients with an ISS higher than 15 in 1993. The overall mortality rate was 30% in 1991 and 24.5% in 1993 (P = .018), which is a reduction by 18.3%. In patients with blunt trauma and an ISS higher than 15, mortality was reduced by 33% (mortality rate of 31.1% in 1991 vs 20.8% in 1993) (P < .002). Mortality in patients with penetrating trauma and an ISS higher than 30 was reduced by 42.7% (mortality rate of 59.3% in 1991 vs 34% in 1993) (P = .019). There was also a trend toward lower permanent disabilities among survivors with an ISS higher than 15 (14.7% in 1991 vs 11.3% in 1993).

CONCLUSION
Commitment of financial and human resources for the establishment of a dedicated trauma program is a sound investment in terms of improved survival and fewer permanent disabilities in critically injured patients.


Urban water supply and sewage coverage in Zimbabwe is currently estimated at 78 and 73%, respectively with unserved population relying on boreholes and pit latrines. However, no study has been conducted to assess how small towns, such as Chiredzi, are sustaining their systems despite limited funding from the Government. A study was carried out to assess the sustainability of Chiredzi town water supply and wastewater management systems in Masvingo, Zimbabwe. The study assessed the level of service provision, level of users' participation and sustainability of water supply and wastewater systems. Data was collected through household questionnaires, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, desk study, water and wastewater analysis results, and field observations. A total of 150 households were interviewed and Statistical Package for Social Science, Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet, and De Carvalho Sustainability index were used as tools to analyse data. The service coverage was below the target of 100 and 80% for water supply and sewage coverage, respectively. The study revealed that 55.3% of the respondents were not satisfied with the level of services provided. Stakeholder participation was found to be done through contribution of ideas and reporting pipe burst with very few contributing money. The overall sustainability was found to be 6.5, a category of satisfactory progress towards sustainability. Finally, the findings showed that there is great need to improve on technical, social and financial aspect.

 Key words: Level of service provision, stakeholders participation, sustainability index, water supply, wastewater management.


Researchers have often examined the relationship between physical capacities and change of direction (COD) performance within adult participants (3, 4, 9, 24, 28, 30, 31, 32). These studies have provided useful kinematic guidelines for COD training but have had mixed findings when relating strength measures with COD performance (8, 9, 12). Studies have reported weak but significant correlations (12, 21, 27) and others finding moderate to strong relationships (10, 29, 30). To date, there have been limited observations made in the application of strength to COD performance with youth performers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between lower body isometric squat strength and 180° COD performance within three youth groups. Elite junior (n=20) athletes were separated into pre, mid and post-adolescent groups and completed a maximal bilateral and unilateral isometric squat assessment and a 180° turn over a 4 m, 10m and 20 m course. Pearson product moment correlations and ANOVA with all variables was completed. Results show that bilateral isometric squat was predictive of COD performance (p = 0.026), except left leg on the 4 m COD task, and left and right leg unilateral isometric squat was predictive of the performance on the 20 m COD task (r = -0.47 and r = -0.56 respectively). Across groups, acute turn-around time (4mTAT), measured from 2 m away from point of turn, was shown to be related to overall turn performance for left and right legs in the 10 m and 20 m COD courses (r = 0.829 (L10), r = 0.572 (R10); r = 0.582 (L20), r = 0.661 (R20)). Increasing strength of correlations between COD and isometric strength were found as the maturation of the group increased and as the distance of the course increased. This finding reflects the increases in strength seen across the isometric squat assessment across the maturational groups and would suggest that the older
5 athletes had a better opportunity to express their strength performance over a longer course distance. These findings demonstrate that isometric strength has a role to play in COD performance with youth performers, more so as they reach post-adolescent status.


The most up-to-date estimates demonstrate very heterogeneous spread of HIV-1, and more than 30 million people are now living with HIV-1 infection, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa. The efficiency of transmission of HIV-1 depends primarily on the concentration of the virus in the infectious host. Although treatment with antiviral agents has proven a very effective way to improve the health and survival of infected individuals, as we discuss here, the epidemic will continue to grow unless greatly improved prevention strategies can be developed and implemented. No prophylactic vaccine is on the horizon. However, several behavioral and structural strategies have made a difference--male circumcision provides substantial protection from sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV-1, and the application of antiretroviral agents for prevention holds great promise.


MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in various biological processes and are closely associated with the development of cancer. In fact, aberrant expression of miRNAs has been implicated in numerous cancers. In cervical cancer, miR-203 levels are decreased, although the cause of this aberrant expression remains unclear. In this study, we investigate the molecular mechanisms regulating miR-203 gene transcription. We identify the miR-203 transcription start site by 5' rapid amplification of cDNA ends and subsequently identify the miR-203 promoter region. Promoter analysis revealed that IRF1, a transcription factor, regulates miR-203 transcription by binding to the miR-203 promoter. We also demonstrate that miR-203 targets the 3' untranslated region of BANF1, thus downregulating its expression, whereas miR-203 expression is driven by IRF1. MiR-203 is involved in cell cycle regulation and overexpression of miR-203 suppresses cervical cancer cell proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion. The inhibitory effect of miR-203 on the cancer cells is partially mediated by downregulating its target, BANF1, since knockdown of BANF1 also suppresses colony formation, migration and invasion.


High School teachers in Japan are sending very busy days on their daily works including teaching, support for the club activities and deskwork. Among them, they share a lot of time for managing the club actives of students compared with other countries. School Social Worker can coordinate the professionals out of school and can help teachers by decreasing their burden on that area. There are few related papers concerning the support of club activities by utilizing the professionals outside. In this paper, a questionnaire investigation is executed in order to clarify their current condition and their consciousness, and to seek the possibility of utilizing school social worker for their support. Fundamental statistical analysis and Text Mining Analysis are performed. Some interesting and instructive results were obtained.


The experiment on elastic and inelastic scattering of 2 GeV electrons by internal polarized target is in progress at the VEPP-3 storage ring in Novosibirsk. It's carried out by Novosibirsk/St.-Petersburg/Tomsk/Argonne/Illinois/NIKHEF collaboration. A cryogenic Atomic Beam Source having five superconducting sextupoles is under manufacturing to feed by polarized deuterium atoms an internal storage cell target. All the magnets have been manufactured and tested. The magnetic poletip field up to 4.8 T was measured at the cylindrical magnets having 44 mm inner diameter while 3.1 T and 4.0 T were measured for the tapered magnets. The dissociation degree of about 90% has been achieved for a gas throughput 1 mb×1/sec. The expected flux of polarized deuterium atoms into the storage cell is 1.0×1017 at/sec (in two substrates). The geometry of the magnetic system, results on the dissociation measurements, testing of the superconducting magnet and expected parameters of the target are presented.


The selection and representation of remote sensing image classification features play crucial roles in image classification accuracy. To effectively improve the classification accuracy of features, an improved U-Net network framework based on multi-feature fusion perception is proposed in this paper. This framework adds the channel attention module (CAM-UNet) to the original U-Net framework and cascades the shallow features with the deep semantic features, replaces the classification layer in the original U-Net network with a support vector machine, and finally uses the majority voting game theory algorithm to fuse the multifeature classification results and obtain the final classification results. This study used the forest distribution in Xingbin District, Laibin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region as the research object, which is based on Landsat 8 multispectral remote sensing images, and, by combining spectral features, spatial features, and advanced semantic features, overcame the influence of the reduction in spatial resolution that occurs with the deepening of the network on the classification results. The experimental results showed that the improved algorithm can improve classification accuracy. Before the improvement, the overall segmentation accuracy and segmentation accuracy of the forestland increased from 90.50% to 92.82% and from 95.66% to 97.16%, respectively. The forest cover results obtained by the algorithm proposed in this paper can be used as input data for regional ecological models, which is conducive to the development of accurate and real-time vegetation growth change models.


Water is an excellent solvent and usually contains a wide variety of dissolved minerals and other chemical. Water molecules form hydrogen bonds with each other and are strongly polar that able to dissolve or suspend many different compounds. Due to this, water is used extensively in the preparation, processing and production of pharmaceutical products with stringent standards. This study focuses on the water storage monitoring system for pharmaceutical plants with pH sensor. The first step is to automate the water storage for the plant that control the level in the storage tank. The next step is to monitor the pH of water for it is very crucial as any different changes in pH may interfere with the performance of the pharmaceutical plant products. The acceptable pH range for water in the storage tank is in between 6.5 to 8.0. The data reading of the pH will be continuously monitored and if the pH is in the acceptable range the water will continue to fill the tank until the maximum water level is achieved but if the pH is outside of the acceptable range; the system will be instantly halted. Finally, is to study the relationship between water capacity and the pH of water. The monitoring system uses Arduino Mega (2560) as a microcontroller to control the flow of the program. The pH sensor used is SEN0161 and it is monitored by Arduino Serial Meter. Two different motor pumps are used and compared for performance and efficiency and the best motor will be duly recommended. Potentiometer is used to set the limit of water level in the tank.


: The treatment of patients with both diabetes mellitus and hypertension must take into account the increased risk of vascular complications. If an adequate trial of non-pharmacological therapy does not prove effective, drug therapy, tailored to the individual patient, is instituted. In this event, monotherapy should be the primary goal.


Mechanisms for adapting models, filters, decisions, regulators and so on to changing properties of a system or a signal are of fundamental importance in many modern signal processing and control algorithms. In this chapter we give an overview of some basic set-ups and algorithms that are used for this. We pay special attention to the rationale behind the different algorithms, thus distinguishing between "optimal" algorithms and "ad hoc" algorithms. We also give an outline of the basic approaches to performance analysis of adaptive algorithms.


Building Code is a legal document that provides a minimum level of safety and health for the constructions to make the public live in safe buildings. People recognize the importance of constructing the buildings in safe conditions, since the dawn of civilization. Many countries around the world were facing different kind of disasters such as fires, earthquakes, etc. These disasters made builders develop methods for safe construction to avoid any disaster. Later, these developments became codes and standards. Since the middle of the last century many countries established its local codes. This research represented a review of the importance of the codes with a short history for them. Furthermore, reviews for some national codes (Egyptian, Syrian and Arabia Saudi) were done as well as comparison between load's correction factors, geotechnical requirements and materials used in concrete. Most of the national codes were highly based on the ACI, British and Germany codes and standards. In addition, a review and comparison were presented for International codes (American (ACI) and European (EC)) through a case study. EC code is becoming more common for the world. Eurocode gives more flexibility to the user to employ their own standards (national annex). To find the best suitable foundation design to be used in Iraq and the differences when using the American and European codes, a building model was designed and analyzed using STAAD Pro., and SAFE softwares for three locations (Mosul, Baghdad and Basrah). The combination loads used in the two softwares were for ACI and EC codes. Results obtained were very similar. The type of foundation to be chosen for Mosul location is spread or continuous. For Baghdad location the suitable type is raft and for Basrah the choice is raft and piles. In view of the fact that Iraq has no national code, engineers and designers were depending on the ACI and British codes and standards. It is very important to have an Iraqi code because it will improve the quality and safety of the design and construction of buildings as well as its economic value.


This thesis attempts a paradigmatic shift in the focus of ballad study towards embodiment, moving from 'representation' towards 'experience' and with an emphasis on 'process,' as opposed to 'product.' The originality lies in the development of a new approach which explores words, music and embodied aesthetic experience as they come together and create meaning in performance, conceived of as 'presence' (Porter 2009). Ideas from philosophy are connected with concepts from ethnomusicology and folklore and brought to bear upon broad issues in the study of expressive culture. While the focus here is on the ballad experience in a Scottish context, ultimately the questions asked attend to dimensions of experience that do not emphasise cultural-boundedness. The emphasis is not on my experience as a fieldworker, nor on fieldwork descriptions, but rather on the development of new theoretical methodologies that can be extended and applied to other cultural forms. To that end, I am little concerned with texts, variants and versions, transcriptions and collections which traditionally constitute the subject matter of ballad studies. What is presented is a convergence of contemporary disciplinary approaches, pushing the boundaries of the existing framework of ballad and folksong studies to include dimensions of cultural experience rarely considered in this field. Working within the wider interpretative framework of hermeneutic phenomenology, theories of embodiment are used as a means to introduce ideas from embodied cognition. The development of ideas is concerned with describing how our embodied experience of the world informs the processes of meaning-making, how human cognitive capacities are at work in the experience of ballad singing and how the structure of the ballad reflects and shapes these capacities. Embodied philosophy and contemporary theories of metaphor are central in this endeavour. Ultimately, this work seeks to find a legitimate way of talking about the ephemeral, intangible yet real quality of embodied aesthetic experience—the shivers and chills of the Maysie—that avoids metaphysical explanations and that makes sense in a secular, humanistic framework. The aim is not to demystify experience in a reductionist sense, but to offer an interpretation that is less about 'transcendence' and more about the creative processes present.


The purpose of this study was to determine the factors affecting sustainability of projects that are funded by donors with a case study of Dar es Salaam region. The study was conducted in the three districts of Dar es salaam; Ilala, Kinondoni and Temeke where 195 health care providers were contacted as respondents by using a purposive sampling. The study used in-depth interviews, focused group discussion and standard questionnaires to collect data. Descriptive data analysis was found in SPSS (Statistical Package for social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Access was used for data storage. The study findings have revealed that program design and management have a direct relationship with sustainability of donor funded projects. The study found that if the project was designed to accommodate sustainability component from the beginning there is a higher chance of the project to be able continue with implementation beyond the donor funding period. Management of the project was seemed to have an effect towards sustainability of the project. In this study the project was partly managed by the Ministry of health who are the key pillars to continuity of the program. Results are also showing that for a project to easily sustain, there is importance of the project to really fit to the existing settings. There is a high chance for a project to sustain its implementation if the activities are part of the national health care setting big picture for instance in clinical practices and national health reporting system. Failure of this may hinder sustainability of the donor funded project. In order for donor funded projects to sustain beyond funding discontinue, organizations running the projects should ensure that the local and central authorities are part and parcel of the project implementation. It is important for the project to advocate for the government to start budgeting for activities that have been funded by donors.


The paper begins by briefly surveying the extent to which the convention's provisions intersect with United States interests in the Arctic. Not surprisingly, there is extensive overlap. The paper then reviews arguments that UNCLOS is irrelevant or even antithetical to achieving these important U.S. interests. After critiquing the anti-UNCLOS arguments, the paper examines the case for UNCLOS. The paper focuses in particular on U.S. interests on the Arctic seafloor, arguing that these interests are extensive and that accession would help avert a wide range of potential political, legal, and regulatory challenges from foreign governments and corporations. The possibility of such challenges creates political and legal uncertainty as long as the United States remains outside the convention and provides a bona fide disincentive for U.S.-licensed corporations to undertake the type of exploration and development activities necessary to realize a host of offshore benefits. Moreover, by staying outside UNCLOS, the United States is forfeiting an opportunity to reinforce a favorable Arctic legal regime that could face pressure from non-Arctic nations in the future. The paper concludes by recommending that the U.S. accede to UNCLOS at the soonest opportunity.


: In vitro, Plasmodium berghei infected erythrocytes incorporated 35S-methionine into 31 polypeptides with molecular weights from 21 kd to 300 kd. Hemoglobin and additional smaller molecular weight polypeptides were labelled with 35S-methionine by a population of uninfected, reticulocyte-rich rat erythrocytes. 3H-glucosamine was incorporated into at least 3 components by Plasmodium berghei infected erythrocytes. Uninfected, reticulocyte-rich rat erythrocytes did not incorporate 3H-glucosamine. Rabbit antisera against small, free plasmodia formed complexes which contained between 12 and 22 of the 31 labelled polypeptides in the 35S-methionine labelled antigen preparation. Rabbit antisera against soluble antigens washed from small, free plasmodia formed complexes containing many of the same labelled plasmodial polypeptides, however the reactions were particularly strong with those components which yielded polypeptides with molecular weights of 25 kd and 31 kd. Rabbit origin antisera against the 2 preparations did not form detectable complexes with the 3H-glucosamine labelled plasmodial components. Sera from rats undergoing progressive P. berghei infection formed complexes containing an increasing number of 35S-methionine labelled plasmodial polypeptides. Hyperimmune rat serum, the only serum protective upon passive transfer into mice, formed complexes containing 7 polypeptides with molecular weights of 35 kd, 75 kd, 80 kd, 92 kd, 100 kd, 150 kd and 190 kd. Antigens containing 1 or more of these polypeptides may be important in the induction of a protective antibody response against the parasite.


structure (with breaks at 4:17 and 16:21) proposed on other grounds by J. D. Kingsbury. The first compositional relationship repetition of comparison is exemplified by the way in which Jesus's ministry is mirrored in that of the disciples. Secondly, there is repetition of contrast between Jesus and his opponents. Thirdly, there is repetition of particularization and of climax. 'Particularization' refers to the statements at 1:1; 4:17 and 16:21 being expanded or 'particularized' in the material that follows. Repetition of climax occurs when each of these three sections of Matthew builds towards its


When do civil wars last especially long? Commitment problems can stymie conflict resolution but they are not homogeneous across all civil wars. Indeed, combatants' perceptions of their adversaries significantly affect the severity of commitment problems. Intergroup interactions provide combatants with one crucial type of information about their adversaries and about the risks associated with signing a peace settlement, shaping strategic decisions. The argument is tested against a new data set of all ethnic civil wars between 1945 and 2004. The results demonstrate that intergroup interactions prolong wars when they indicate that a peace deal will be especially fragile or that the costs of it breaking down will be especially high. This is true, regardless of the combatants' goals or their capabilities. In sum, information shapes perceptions and the severity of commitment problems, in turn affecting the duration of civil wars.


Abstract This paper reviews research on livestock and landscape. It argues that farm animals have started to occupy a central position in landscape studies, opening up many new pastures for research. Using the example of cattle in the UK, we consider how livestock have been understood as text, as social constructions and as beings with their own lives. In each case, we note how the position of farm animals is contested and there is a need for a diversity of theoretical approaches to understand these differences. The article calls for academics, practitioners and policy-makers to pay greater attention to the myriad ways in which livestock and landscape are intertwined.


Several next generation high performance computing platforms are or will be based on the so-called many-core architectures, which represent a significant departure from commodity multi-core architectures. A key issue in transitioning large-scale simulation codes from multi-core to many-core systems is closing the serial performance gap, that is, overcoming the large difference in single-core performance between multi-core and many-core systems. In this paper, we discuss how this problem was addressed for a 3D unstructured mesh hydrodynamics code, describe how Amdahl's law can be used to estimate performance targets and guide optimization efforts, and present timing studies performed on multi-core and many-core platforms. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.


Populations without a sufficient rate of genetic adaptation may risk extinction in the face of rapid environmental change, however, phenotypic plasticity can facilitate their persistence. For example, mothers can prepare offspring for the thermal environment young will experience through transgenerational plasticity. In oviparous species, whether mothers can prepare offspring to cope with thermal stress experienced as embryos is largely unknown. We demonstrate that when zebra finch mothers are exposed to a heat stress, their offspring show altered heart rates as embryos in response to high incubation temperatures, as well as an increase in eggshell pore density that was positively correlated with survival. These results are the first to show that temperature induced transgenerational plasticity may promote embryonic survival in an oviparous species.


Generating environmental baseline knowledge is a prerequisite for evaluating and predicting the effects of future deep seabed mining on the seafloor and in the water column. Without baselines, we lack the information against which to assess impacts and therefore cannot decide whether or not they pose an acceptable risk to the marine environment. At present, the International Seabed Authority (ISA), which is the international regulator for seabed mining, requires contractors engaged in mineral exploration to establish geological and environmental baselines for their respective contract areas. However, there are no criteria for evaluating what a robust baseline entails. This paper seeks to address this gap by not only analyzing the role and importance of baselines for environmental management but also suggesting criteria for evaluating the quality of baselines. Such criteria (which we present in tabular format) should include at least a minimum amount of technical information, based on best available scientific information and process, in standardized format to enable comparison between contractors and regional synthesis. These criteria should also allow baselines to be used for before-after comparisons through the choice of appropriate zones for comparison of impacts, and to prepare and test a suite of monitoring indicators and their metrics. Baseline studies should identify uncertainties, vulnerable species and habitats, and include transparent reporting as well as exchange with independent scientists and other stakeholders. The quality criteria suggested in this paper build on the ISA's existing Mining Code and seek to support the development of a more standardized catalogue of requirements for environmental baselines. This will allow states, mining operators, the ISA, and the public to gain a better understanding of the environmental impacts of seabed mining and available mitigation measures.


The confusion which exists among parasitologists, protozoologists and medical men concerning the validity of species of Nyctotherus reported to be parasitic in man prompted this investigation. It is hoped that a better understanding will be the result. For the past six years, the writer has had a special interest in Nyctotherus from cold-blooded hosts (Wichterman (1934, 1937); Geiman and Wichterman (1937)). For the present study, all the original papers were carefully examined and for the sake of accuracy, illustrations were photographed and are herein represented as faithfully as possible for evaluation.
The genus Nyctotherus was introduced by Leidy (1849) when he discovered and described N. velox from the intestine of the milliped Spirobolus (Julus) marginatus. Dobell (1932) however, believes that Leeuwenhoek was the first to observe and sketch a specimen of Nyctotherus which came from the rectum of a frog. The commonest species is probably Nyctotherus cordiformis (fig. 1) described by Stein (1859–1878) from the frog.


Introduction: Numerous studies performed in recent years have shown protective effects of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on cardiac and renal tissue damage following ischemia/reperfusion injury. We assessed the effectiveness of systemic administration of NAC, at a therapeutic dose, in a rat model of a 1-hour 720-degree testicular torsion/detorsion. Materials and Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups, 14 animals in each: group 1 animals underwent sham operation as the control group; group 2 rats underwent torsion/detorsion and received saline injection, and the animals in groups 3, 4, and 5 received intraperitoneal injections of 150 mg/kg NAC 30 min before torsion, after torsion, and after detorsion, respectively. Markers of oxidative stress as well as germ cell apoptosis indices were assessed 4 and 24 h after detorsion, respectively. Results: The apoptosis indices were significantly higher in group 2 as compared with the control group. Four hours after detorsion, the testicular level of lipid peroxidation was significantly increased, and antioxidant enzyme activities were significantly decreased in group 2 as compared with the controls. Administration of NAC either 30 min before or after torsion (groups 3 and 4) significantly improved the germ cell apoptosis indices and oxidant/antioxidant balance. Administration of NAC after detorsion had no significant effect on biochemical markers or germ cell apoptosis. Conclusion: Administration of NAC prior to torsion or detorsion, but not after detorsion, induces protective effects against ischemia/reperfusion injury in a rat model of testicular torsion.


Phytic acid coatings were formed on 6063-Al alloy during immersion in phytic acid solution with various pH and phytic acid concentration for different time. The corrosion resistance of the coated samples was investigated using Tafel polarization technique. The results show that the effect of technological parameters on corrosion resistance of phytic acid coatings is great. With the increase of pH, the corrosion resistance of the coated sample is firstly increased and latterly decreased; it is optimum when pH was 3.0. The corrosion resistance of phytic acid coatings is increased largely with phytic acid concentration and immersion time. The anodic and cathodic corrosion processes of the coated 6063-Al alloy are inhibited markedly, and the corrosion current density is decreased for more than two orders of magnitude.


Percutaneous drainage is a routinely performed radiologic procedure used in the management of abdominal abscesses. This technique has become the preferred method of treatment for most abdominal and pelvic abscesses, specifically those of enteric origin related to surgical procedures, appendicitis, diverticulitis, and Crohn disease. The well-documented safety and therapeutic efficacy of percutaneous abscess drainage (PAD) lead to the acceptance of this procedure as the primary means of managing abdominal abscesses, obviating the need for surgery in many instances. PAD may provide definitive therapy or may serve as a temporizing measure before delayed surgical treatment. Although PAD was originally reserved for treatment of unilocular, relatively superficial fluid collections, the role of PAD has evolved such that it is now used to manage complex multilocular fluid collections and abscesses that lie deep within the abdomen or pelvis. Although the standard transabdominal approach is preferred, a variety of approaches, including transgastric, transrectal, transvaginal, and transgluteal, may be used. PAD is performed using CT or sonographic guidance.