Propagation of radio waves through the troposphere is based on minimum travel time between transmitter and receiver. The troposphere layer affects the propagation of GNSS signals and causes errors in point positioning due to (1) delay of the signal, and (2) change of the curvature of the signal path. For this reason GNSS users apply models for tropospheric error corrections. One of the commonly used models, which is applied in both scientific and commercial software packages is the Saastamoinen model. Since the tropospheric error, unlike the ionosphereic error, cannot be removed via dual frequency receiver observations, application of the tropospheric models based on meteorological information can always improve point positioning accuracy. This becomes more essential * ن هدنراگ طبار : نفلت : 88009635 021 راگنرود : 88004023 021 firstname.lastname@example.com E-mail: 40 هرود ،اضف و نيمز كيزيف ةلجم 36 هرامش ، 1 ، 1389 in the case of Precise Point Positioning (PPP), which has real-time applications. Atmospheric delays have two components. Wet delay is caused by atmospheric water vapor and dry delay by all other atmospheric constituents. The dry delay can be predicted to better than 1 mm with surface pressure measurement. Wet GNSS delay is highly variable and cannot be accurately predicted from surface observations. In this paper the wet Saastamoinen model is evaluated based on Zenith Total Delay (ZTD) computed from one year (2005) of permanent GNSS observations of the National Cartography Center (NCC) of Iran. The wet Saastamoinen model is dependent on constants, which are estimated from local observations. Our evaluation procedure can be summarized as follows: 1GNSS ZTD is estimated from GNSS observation equations. 2ZTD is computed from surface pressure, temperature and humidity observations. 3Root Mean Square (RMS) between the two above solutions is determined. 4The value of RMS is used as an efficiency test of constant coefficients of the Saastamoinen model. The results of our test computations show that the constant coefficients of the Saastamoinen model have enough accuracy for the tropospheric corrections needed for PPP applications and as such there is no need to estimate those constants based on local atmospheric observations.


We studied intrahepatic bile ducts of five patients with chronic ulcerative colitis and primary sclerosing cholangitis. The livers had been obtained at the time of orthotopic liver transplantation. After specimen cholangiography and perfusion fixation, sequential blocks and sections from portal tracts were studied, combining light microscopy with scanning electron microscopy. In vivo cholangiograms were studied also. The specimens revealed: (i) absence of normal bile ducts; (ii) presence of thin‐walled tubular or saccular cholangiectases with semicircular and annular fibrous crests, without evidence of superinfection; (iii) cholangiectases with secondary acute or chronic‐cellular cholangitis, with or without cholangitic abscesses; (iv) fibrous cholangitis without ductal dilatation; (v) transformation of bile ducts into fibrous cords which were either solid or contained remnants of bile duct epithelium, and (vi) complete loss of bile ducts. The shape and distribution of the cholangiectases suggested that these lesions were manifestations of the disease process and not passively dilated normal ducts. Fibrous‐obliterative cholangitis with formation of fibrous cords was found not only at the level of interlobular and adjacent septal bile ducts but also at the level of segmental bile ducts that normally would have been demonstrable in cholangiograms. The "pruned‐tree" appearance in cholangiograms appears to result from the transition between patent and often cholangiectatic ducts, and duct obliteration. At present, intrahepatic cholangiectases in association with duct obliteration can be considered pathognomonic morphologic features of primary sclerosing cholangitis.


Program analysis tools can be useful to the software engineer to aid in program understanding. Program understanding can include the discovery of dynamic memory errors, the ability to track pointers, and the ability to follow variable dependencies in a target code. Many program analysis tools exist, but few of them have the capability to perform point specific, inter-procedural program analysis. We present a program analysis tool that is point specific and inter-procedural.. In addition, it is also capable of detecting pointer and dynamic memory errors. These errors include unassigned pointers, dangling pointers, memory leaks, and double-frees. The tool's point specific analysis provides detailed statement level data flow information including in-set, read-write pairs, and pointer graphs.


SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.617.2 (delta) is associated with higher viral loads [1] and increased transmissibility relative to other variants, as well as partial escape from polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies [2]. The emergence of the delta variant has been associated with increasing case counts and test-positivity rates, indicative of rapid community spread. Since early July 2021, SARS-CoV-2 cases in the United States have increased coincident with delta SARS-CoV-2 becoming the predominant lineage nationwide [3]. Understanding how and why the virus is spreading in settings where there is high vaccine coverage has important public health implications. It is particularly important to assess whether vaccinated individuals who become infected can transmit SARS-CoV-2 to others. In Wisconsin, a large local contract laboratory provides SARS-CoV-2 testing for multiple local health departments, providing a single standard source of data using the same assay to measure virus burdens in test-positive cases. This includes providing high-volume testing in Dane County, a county with extremely high vaccine coverage. These PCR-based tests provide semi-quantitative information about the viral load, or amount of SARS-CoV-2 RNA, in respiratory specimens. Here we use this viral load data to compare the amount of SARS-CoV-2 present in test-positive specimens from people who self-report their vaccine status and date of final immunization, during a period in which the delta variant became the predominant circulating variant in Wisconsin. We find no difference in viral loads when comparing unvaccinated individuals to those who have vaccine "breakthrough" infections. Furthermore, individuals with vaccine breakthrough infections frequently test positive with viral loads consistent with the ability to shed infectious viruses. Our results, while preliminary, suggest that if vaccinated individuals become infected with the delta variant, they may be sources of SARS-CoV-2 transmission to others.


BACKGROUND: There is limited local literature specific to emergency department assessment and subsequent telepsychiatry follow up in the community and most literature on telepsychiatry does not cover the case of urgent assessment and crisis follow up in the community.
AIM: This literature review explores the use of videoconferencing technology to overcome the burden of distance and access to tertiary mental health services in regional and remote areas of Australia.
METHODS: A systematic search in Medline, CINAHL, Psychiatry Online, Google Scholar, and the NSW Health Clinical Info Access Program (CIAP) was conducted. A combination of key terms: "Telepsychiatry" OR "Mental Health Telemedicine" OR "Telemedicine" OR "Telehealth" OR "Videoconferencing" OR "Mental Health Videoconferencing" OR "Telepsychiatry Ethics" AND "Acute Community" AND "Emergency Assessment" were used. Based on the screening and eligibility criteria, 21 peer-reviewed articles published in English between 2005 and 2020 were included in the review.
RESULTS: Key themes were found which support the use of remote telepsychiatry. Common in the literature were themes of equivalence to in-person review, as well as themes of convenience, overcoming remoteness and timely access to specialist assessment. Ethical and technical considerations was also commonly cited. The literature search found no direct examples of an acute psychiatric assessment in the emergency department with a subsequent follow-up in the community using videoconferencing technology.
CONCLUSION: Telepsychiatry in both the home and emergency department areas had merit and equivalence to face to face review, with the added benefit of wider access and timeliness to specialist assessment and treatment.


Social Farming (SF) is an emerging sector in the rural European context, but the European Economic and Social Committee (2013/C 44/07) emphasizes that SF should be planned and implemented under the new 2014-20 rural development policy because of the positive results obtained. The SF concept can be associated with agriculture as a multifunctional activity, giving agricultural practice new meanings and functions and incorporating social services, medical treatment and rehabilitation, and educational training and support. In addition, agriculture must be considered as a means of employment and social integration for groups as diverse as individuals who are unemployed or living with mental retardation, mental disorders, or addictions, among others. As a result, innovative SF activities are contributing to the social economy, rural and regional development, and support for a new agro-social paradigm. These are mainly activities linked with the endogenous resources of the territory that generate new enterprises, together with complementary activities that consolidate an economic network as the basis for regional development.


Language use in conversation is fundamentally incremental, and is guided by the representations that interlocutors maintain of each other's knowledge and beliefs. While there is a consensus that interlocutors represent the perspective of others, three candidate models, a Perspective-Adjustment model, an Anticipation-Integration model, and a Constraint-Based model, make conflicting predictions about the role of perspective information during on-line language processing. Here we review psycholinguistic evidence for incrementality in language processing, and the recent methodological advance that has fostered its investigation—the use of eye-tracking in the visual world paradigm. We present visual world studies of perspective-taking, and evaluate each model's account of the data. We argue for a Constraint-Based view in which perspective is one of multiple probabilistic constraints that guide language processing decisions. Addressees combine knowledge of a speaker's perspective with rich information from the discourse context to arrive at an interpretation of what was said. Understanding how these sources of information combine to influence interpretation requires careful consideration of how perspective representations were established, and how they are relevant to the communicative context.


I've been thinking about open source software (1) lately for a couple of reasons. One reason is that the March 2002 issue of ITAL will be a theme issue devoted to open source applications in libraries, guest edited by Jeremy Frumkin of the University of Arizona. The other reason is a bit closer to home. I hired Eric Lease Morgan to be head of a new department at the Notre Dame Libraries called the Digital Access and Information Architecture Department (DAIAD, pronounced "die-ad," frontward or backward). Eric is something of a force in the open source movement and was the primary developer of the MyLibrary@NCState (http:// my.lib.ncsu.edu) open source software created at North Carolina State University. (He is contributing an article to Jeremy's issue, incidentally.) One of Eric's first responsibilities here at Notre Dame is to convert our library Web site to a database-driven technology and he wants to do it on an open source platform. My job is to decide whether to go along with that or to dictate a more conventional approach using something like Oracle and ColdFusion or Active Server Pages (ASP). Hence my immediate reason for devoting my time to the subject. So what's the problem? Why not just do it? One reason is that despite a few well-publicized examples, there is not yet a whole lot of open source software available, and the movement is still fairly young and unproven. Another is that if we go this direction, we will have to commit some substantial human resources to do the required programming. Does that mean we shouldn't do it? Why put my eggs in an unproven basket? Why commit valuable human resources to create more of this unproven software? Maybe it isn't all that unproven. There are, as I mentioned, some fairly well known and widespread open source applications, such as the Apache Web server and the Linux operating system. My sense is that Linux is finding its way into more and more libraries these days, and that Apache is the leading Web server in colleges and universities. So to call those two unproven is really subject to debate. Likewise, open source products such as MySQL and Perl are being used in many applications. While it's true that open source applications require programmers, the fact is that ColdFusion and ASP also require programming, and I would surely not want to run a critical library application based on Oracle without someone with extensive Oracle knowledge and experience on hand. Thus the human resources argument is also less compelling, especially when you realize that not only do you have to invest dollars in people to make those commercial products works properly, you also have a substantial cost in licenses for them that you don't have with open source software. …


Social factors may affect the available sources of toxic substances and causes of poisoning; and these factors may change over time. Additionally, understanding the characteristics of patients with acute toxic poisoning is important for treating such patients. Therefore, this study investigated the characteristics of patients with toxic poisoning. Patients visiting one of 3 hospitals in 2003 and 2011 were included in this study. Data on all patients who were admitted to the emergency departments with acute toxic poisoning were retrospectively obtained from medical records. Total 939 patients were analyzed. The average age of patients was 40.0 ± 20 yr, and 335 (36.9%) patients were men. Among the elements that did not change over time were the facts that suicide was the most common cause, that alcohol consumption was involved in roughly 1 of 4 cases, and that there were more women than men. Furthermore, acetaminophen and doxylamine remained the most common poisoning agents. In conclusion, the average patient age and psychotic drug poisoning has increased over time, and the use of lavage treatment has decreased.


Purpose: To determine if National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25) scores decrease with worsening visual acuity (VA) in American Indian/Alaska Natives (Al/AN), as well as determine the other associated explanatory factors for vision-related quality of life. Methods: The study included 414 randomly selected AI/AN tribal members aged 40 years or older from the Pacific Northwest. We excluded candidates who were deceased, seriously ill, had dementia, or otherwise were unable to perform subjective testing such as visual field testing. The participants completed the NEI-VFQ-25, as well as a detailed eye examination. We defined visual impairment as presenting distance VA 20/40 or worse in the better-seeing eye. The main outcome measures were NEI-VFQ-25 composite and subscale scores. We compared median NEI-VFQ-25 composite and subscale scores in those with visual impairment to those without visual impairment. Results: Visual impairment occurred in 53 (12.8%, Cl: 9.6–16.0) participants. The NEI-VFQ-25 median composite score was significantly lower in those with visual impairment as compared to those without visual impairment (77.5 vs. 90.1, p = .001). A univariate analysis showed VA to be significantly (p < .05) associated with all subscales except ocular pain. When controlling for age, gender, income level, education, percent AIAN heritage, and marital status, a multivariate proportional odds model analysis showed VA to be the best predictor of NEI-VFQ 25 composite scores. Conclusion: Visual impairment is common in Northwest AI/AN. The NEI-VFQ-25 was sensitive to differences in VA, suggesting it is a valid measure of vision-related quality of life in AI/AN.


Boron affects human steroid hormone levels. Circulating testosterone and estradiol levels have been proposed to modify prostate cancer risk. However, the association between dietary boron intake and the risk of prostate cancer has not been evaluated by any epidemiological study. We explored the association between dietary boron intake and the risk of prostate cancer in the USA. Our analysis was based on data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). Cross-sectional case-control study design was employed by comparing boron intake of 95 prostate cancer cases with that of 8,720 male controls. After controlling for age, race, education, smoking, body mass index, dietary caloric intake, and alcohol consumption, increased dietary boron intake was associated with a decreased risk of prostate cancer with a dose-response pattern. The adjusted odds ratio was 0.46 (95% confidence interval: 0.21-0.98) for the highest quartile of boron intake comparing to the lowest quartile (P for trend = 0.0525). The observed association should be interpreted with caution because of the small case sample size and the nature of the cross-sectional study design, but deserve further investigation.


Using the American and the French time-use surveys, we examine whether people have a preference for a more diversified mix of activities, in the sense that, everything else equal, they experience a higher level of well-being when their agenda is multi-activity, rather than concentrated on a very small number of activities. This could be due to decreasing marginal utility, as is assumed for the consumption of goods, if each episode of time is conceived as yielding a certain level of utility per se . However, in the presence of returns to specialization, people would face a trade-off between the efficiency of specialization and the taste for diversity, as concerns time arrangements. We test these hypotheses and investigate potential gender differences with regard to these patterns.


Irradiation can eradicate the microscopic disease that radical surgical procedures cannot remove, but high doses of irradiation fail to control large volumes of cancer. The concept "either irradiation or surgery" for all clinical situations should be eliminated. If irradiation has no place as the sole treatment for a disease, for example soft-tissue sarcomas or parotid tumors, it does not mean that it has no place in the management of the disease. Conservatism in both disciplines is to be preferred. Not only are the chances for cure increased, but also the quality of life is improved. On theoretical grounds, preoperative irradiation is to be preferred, but the sequence of te modalities of treatment depends upon the structures involved, the extent of the surgical procedure, the dose of irradiation, and the volume irradiated. Examples and results of the combined treatment in various disease areas are given.


Groundwater suitability for consumption in the Yaychi area is determined by analyzing groundwater samples of 21 wells distributed in the area, for dry period which begin from May to October 2016 and wet period begin from October 2016 to May 2017. Results indicated that the temperature (T °C) have normal values and the water of low alkaline and excessively mineralized, while most of these samples, for both periods, are slightly – brackish water. The mean ion concentrations for two periods indicates that all major and secondary ions are higher than water quality standards for drinking purposes according to World Health Organization (WQI) and Iraqi Standard (IQS) except for K and Cl ions. The water in the study area is classified as very hard. Kurolov formula shows the presence of three predominant salts MgSO4, Na2SO4 and CaSO4, and the water origin in the area is meteoric water. The predominated of water types are " earth alkaline water with increased portions of alkalis with prevailing sulfate and chloride" and "Normal earth alkaline water with prevailing sulphate or chloride". After comparing the ionic concentrations with the water quality standards for different purposes, it was found that groundwater in the area is unsuitable for human drinking, but it's suitable for building and livestock and for growing most types of crops, it is also suitable for irrigation purposes depending on the sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), Soluble Sodium Percentage(Na%) and the Residual Sodium Carbonate (RSC), and unfit for irrigation according to Magnesium Adsorption Ratio(MAR) index. The water in the study area is devoid of heavy metal pollution except (Fe), (Pb) which are shown in water of some wells.


Amphibian species are rarely detected with perfect accuracy, regardless of the method employed. A large-scale assessment for Quasipaa verrucospinosa occupancy was conducted at 35 sites in the primary forest and 42 sites in the secondary forest of Bach Ma National Park, central Vietnam. Based on the detection data for each site, the distribution of Q. verrucospinosa was estimated in different habitat types using occupancy models. From the best model among all performed models, we estimated a site occupancy probability of 0.576 that was higher than the naive occupancy estimate of 0.403 and a 43.1% increase over the site proportion at which Q. verrucospinosa was actually observed. The site covariate of the primary forest was an important determinant of site occupancy, which was not associated with the variable of secondary forest. In a combined AIC model weight: the p(temperature), p(humidity), and p(precipitation) models have 47.3, 67.1, and 90.9% of the total, respectively; providing evidence that aforementioned environmental conditions were important sample covariates in modelling detection probabilities of Q. verrucospinosa . Our results substantiate the importance of incorporating detection and occupancy probabilities into studies of habitat relationships and suggest that the primary forests associated with weather conditions influence the site occupancy of Q. verrucospinosa in Bach Ma National Park, central Vietnam.


OBJECTIVES
To determine the long-term effect of a community-based risk reduction intervention at five years after completion of a one-year randomized clinical trial and to determine the sustainability of the beneficial effects seen one year after the intervention.

METHODS
30- to 59- year-old African American siblings of probands with premature coronary heart disease (CHD) were randomized for care of multiple CHD risk factors to either one year of community-based care (CBC) provided by a nurse practitioner/community health worker team or enhanced usual care (EUC). At five years, 307 (84.6%) of the siblings returned for reevaluation.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Changes in and achievement of goal levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP, respectively), and smoking cessation at five years.

RESULTS
No significant differences were seen between groups in mean LDL-C, SBP, and DBP or in the overall percentages achieving goal LDL-C, blood pressure, or smoking status. Changes after completion of the intervention suggest that the CBC group lost the beneficial effects for mean LDL-C and for percentage at goal LDL-C, while the EUC group continued to improve. CBC was associated with greater sustainability and less refractoriness of one-year results for LDL-C and blood pressure goals.

CONCLUSIONS
Although no group differences were found in mean risk factor levels at five years, data indicate that CBC is both feasible and associated with earlier sustainability of positive risk factor changes compared with EUC.


This paper presents a medical approach to classify shock waveforms acquired at 31,250 hertz downhole. The shock signals are treated as drilling electrocardiogram (D-ECG). The D-ECGs are processed using clustering algorithms and merged with drilling incidents to identify an arrhythmic signature pattern that can lead to catastrophic failures.
 In medicine, the analysis of heartbeat cycles in an electrocardiogram signal is very important for monitoring heart patients. In the drilling industry, downhole shocks are present most of the time. They are present so often that the authors introduce the concept of drilling electrocardiogram (D-ECG) based on shock waveforms acquired at high frequency. The shock module was implemented in hardware using a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and run inside the control unit of an RSS to complement the navigation systems composed. The shock acquisition and processing are performed at 31,250 Hz, providing enough bandwidth to fully reconstruct high-frequency events.
 A novel methodology combining field incidents with machine learning clustering algorithms is proposed to identify arrhythmic shocks signatures and whirl and bit bounce in real time, preventing failures to the BHA.


Workflow management systems are frequently used for modeling, monitoring and controlling the coordinated execution of activities performed by workgroups in a variety of contexts. With the widespread use of portable computers and their growing computational power, conventional systems have often proved to be overly restrictive, effectively limiting the level of autonomy of the users involved. This paper identifies and analyzes different flexibilization techniques and mechanisms that can be employed in a workflow management system to better support disconnected operation. In order to test the viability of the ideas discussed, a system was built whose design met the requirements presented in the text and which allows the exploration of specific features of different kinds of workflow so as to enhance execution flexibility, without compromising the predefined structure. The system was developed in Java, which allows for portable execution and, with recent advances in compact virtual machines, enables it to run in an increasing number of devices.


It is routine for countries to send their heads of state to participate in important celebrations in neighbouring states, but there was nothing routine about the Latvian and Estonian presidents going to Moscow to take part in Victory Day events on May 9. These pragmatic moves towards rapprochement on both sides cannot bridge the genuine gap of identity and historical memory between Russians and the Balts overnight, but they could bring closer reconciliation over history a little closer. Much effort will be required for both societies to stop stereotyping each other, avoid blowing up perceived differences and learn to live with the real ones. Now that even Russia and Poland are groping their way towards reconciliation, it is not inconceivable that the Balts and Russians do the same.


ABSTRACT Background: Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) continues to be a public health problem in low- and middle-income countries. Because there is no specific laboratory test for the exact diagnosis of ARF, the diagnosis is made by the modified Jones criteria. Periostin is an extracellular matrix protein which has been shown to be expressed during remodelling, mechanical stress and tissue repair. There are no data on the relationship between periostin and ARF. Aim: To evaluate serum periostin levels in patients with ARF and investigate its usefulness as a biomarker for diagnosing and monitoring the efficacy of treatment. Methods: Serum periostin levels were estimated in 31 patients with ARF and compared with a control group of 25 healthy patients. The control group comprised patients referred to the outpatient clinic for further evaluation of cardiac murmur, palpitations or chest pain. Patients who were diagnosed with any other cardiac or systemic illness after detailed systemic and cardiac examination were excluded. Results: The mean (SD) age at diagnosis was 12.1 (3.3) years in the patient group, 48.4% of whom were male. There were no significant differences in age or gender between patients and controls. All the study patients had various degrees of carditis, 58.1% had arthritis and 9.6% had Sydenham chorea. Mean (SD) serum periostin levels in patients with ARF on admission [58.4 (13.9) ng/mL] were significantly higher than in the control group [35.1 (10.7) ng/mL, p < 0.01] and were also significantly decreased in the patient group after treatment [35.1 (13.1) ng/mL, p < 0.01]. There was no significant difference in serum periostin levels regarding the severity of carditis in the patient group while patients with any severity of carditis had significantly higher periostin levels than the controls (p < 0.01). Periostin levels were significantly correlated with ESR and CRP values before treatment, but this correlation was detected for only ESR after treatment. For the initial diagnosis of ARF, a serum periostin level of 53.45 ng/mL was found to be the cut-off point with 80.6% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Conclusion: There was a significant increase in serum periostin levels in patients with ARF and a reduction after adequate treatment which was independent of the severity of carditis. Periostin may be a biomarker which acts as an acute phase reactant in ARF.


Since the late 17th century, two physical concepts of space exist. Isaac Newton's theory of an immovable 'absolute space' made it possible to explain motion and force by the quality of material elements. Less influential was Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's concept of space as an 'order of coexistence', which focuses, contrary to Newton, on the relationship between material bodies. The author argues that both concepts not only concern physical notions, but also include general models to explain cause, effect and relation. In an analogy to Newton's 'absolute space', theories of natural law employ the state of nature to explain society according to the anthropological quality of human beings. Leibniz's concept, in contrast, is used to elaborate theories of complex dynamic interactions and relationships. This essay attempts to illustrate the application of Leibniz's concept with examples of 18th century natural history, demography, economic theory and Charles Bonnet's natural law.


The field of unconventional computing considers the possibility of implementing computational devices using novel paradigms and materials to produce computers which may be more efficient, adaptable and robust than their silicon based counterparts. The integration of computation into the realms of chemistry and biology will allow the embedding of engineered logic into living systems and could produce truly ubiquitous computing devices. Recently, advances in synthetic biology have resulted in the modification of microorganism genomes to create computational behaviour in living cells, so called "cellular computing". The cellular computing paradigm offers the possibility of intelligent bacterial agents which may respond and communicate with one another according to chemical signals received from the environment. However, the high levels of complexity when altering an organism which has been well adapted to certain environments over millions of years of evolution suggests an alternative approach in which chemical computational devices can be constructed completely from the bottom up, allowing the designer exquisite control and knowledge about the system being created. This thesis presents the development of a simulation and modelling framework to aid the study and design of bottom-up chemical computers, involving the encapsulation of computational re-actions within vesicles. The new "vesicle computing" paradigm is investigated using a sophisticated multi-scale simulation framework, developed from mesoscale, macroscale and executable biology techniques.


The study determines impact of technological innovativeness on organisational effectiveness with reference to Akure Metropolis. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised the unit managers of the entire deposit money bank in Akure metropolis. The study employed sample size of 48 through census sampling. Primary data used for the study were gathered through the administration of well structured questionnaire. Data gathered were analyzed using Pearson product moment correlation and regression analysis. The study found that Automated Teller Machine, Mobile Banking and Internet Banking positively and significantly affect organisational effectiveness. Thus, it concluded that organisational effectiveness is positively impacted by technological innovativeness.


Does exposure to crises reduce the citizens trust in a countrys president? Are individuals willing to accept fiscal reforms and make personal economic sacrifices if it would help the country to leave the crisis faster? We take advantage of two survey panels in Argentina and Uruguay, with a first wave fielded before COVID-19 (the crisis studied here) and a second wave a year later during the pandemic. Results provide no evidence of a decline in trust after the individual's health was compromised by COVID-19. We find mixed evidence of support for higher personal sacrifices. These results are relevant for understanding how voters' experience with COVID affects their trust in the government and whether crises could be prudent times for reforms. The results highlight the importance of having multi-country panel data for evaluating the impact of crises on trust.


Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) assure economic growth in Oman. Generally, many SMEs are struggling to survive in an ongoing global recession and are often reluctant to use research results and new technologies for business and learning. Cloud Computing offers many opportunities and could help companies to improve their business and use technology more efficiently. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) assure economic growth in Oman, but the last financial crisis and the economic recession have hit SMEs hard in Omani SMEe and some of them have difficulties to survive and less resource to invest in new technologies. Cloud Computing offers many opportunities and can help companies to improve their business and use technology more efficiently. Some features i.e. on-demand services, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity and measured service distinguish Cloud from other computer networking models. According to the analyst firm IDC in 2012 more than 1.7 million cloud computing jobs have remained unoccupied and the trend should lead to more than seven million cloud-related vacancies worldwide. In this research, cloud computing advantages and disadvantages of cloud technology are reflected in the context of Omani SME sector. The project IN-Cloud is analyzed considering Omani SME project to understand the effectiveness of efforts in this direction. The general objective of the project IN-CLOUD are to study the framework of use of cloud computing in SME sector. Survey results of Cloud Computing and advantages for SMEs are presented in paper within the context of Omani SME sector. The results show that 70% of SMEs have adopted or used some of features of Cloud services but they indicated the need n for awareness, safety and training, qualified professional staff in this field.


Session topic: What makes great data documentation?Documentation is the tool that describes how and why a database was created, what its strengths and limitations are, and how all of the various components fit together. As such, it is an invaluable resource for helping others understand what they can do with the data. Please join us for a discussion of what makes great data documentation.
 This session will begin with a 40-minute integrated presentation by the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), two of the leading population data research centres in Canada, covering the following topics:
1 – Structured Overviews
2 – Data Models
3 – Data Dictionaries
4 – Other Documentation and Published Reports
5 – Integrating Blog or Analyst Notes
6 – Data Quality Reporting

VIMO tables
Heat maps
Trend analysis
Relevancy

Session Facilitators:Mahmoud Azimaee, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES)
Mark Smith, Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP)
The Intended Outcome:A research paper based on the discussion for publication in the International Journal of Population Data Science (IJPDS). All participants are invited to join us as co-authors in drafting and revising the paper.


manner. Thus, the external damage being the same, one would have expected identical regeneration curves. In the mid-portion of the curves (between the third and twelfth day after time 0) this is indeed the case. Thereafter the stripped psoriatic patch underwent the influence of the exacerbating psoriasis, whereas the stripped unaffected skin healed uneventfully. Another difference is found in the first days in which the stripped psoriatic patch showed a very high water vapour loss. This may be due to a subclinical Kobner phenomenon.' The results indicate that the transepidermal water loss will vary with the seriousness of the disease.-We are, etc.,


Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is a cytopathic retrovirus and the primary etiological agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and related disorders. In cells chronically infected with HIV-1, nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) activation by external stimuli such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) augments replication of HIV-1. NF-kappaB involves in many diseases such as inflammation, cancer, and Crohn's disease. In this paper, we exhibit that (i) HIV-1gene expression was inhibited by lignin, (ii) fraction of small molecular mass in HBS lignin (less than 0.5kDa) had stronger inhibitory effects than large molecular mass (more than 1.3kDa), (iii) lignin also inhibited activation of NF-kappaB induced by TNFalpha, (iv) among six lignin dimer-like compounds, compound 6 containing beta-5 bond has more potent inhibitory activity than compounds 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, which contain beta-1, beta-O-4, 5-5, or beta-beta structural units. These results suggested that small molecules of lignin inhibit HIV-1 replication through suppression of HIV-1 transcription from LTR including activation via NF-kappaB. Low molecular lignin may be a beneficial material or drug leads as a new class for AIDS and NF-kappaB-related diseases.


Thermal fatigue and isothermal oxidation tests of a plasma sprayed thermal barrier coatings have been carried out. The experimental results indicated that micro-cracking as the fatigue damage occurred in each cooling stage of thermal cycles. And the spallation fracture morphology was changed by the cycle wave form; the spallation failure occurred in the ceramic top-coating under the triangle cycle wave condition, on the other hand, it occurred near the top-coating/TGO interface under the trapezoidal wave condition. The finite element analysis indicated that the local residual stress, which is the driving force of interfacial damage, increases with the thickness of the thermal grown oxide. The degradation mechanism by thermal fatigue was discussed, in addition, a simple life prediction model for the thermal fatigue of TBC systems was proposed.


An Automated Manual Transmission (AMT) is directly derived from a manual one through the integration of actuators; then, development and production costs are generally lower than other automatic transmissions, while the reliability and durability are at highest level. For high class sport cars, vehicle dynamic performances and driving quality can be strongly improved with respect to automatic transmissions [1]. AMTs systems are generally constituted by a dry or wet clutch assembly and a multi-speed gearbox, both equipped with electro-mechanical or electro-hydraulic actuators, which are driven by a control unit, the transmission control unit (TCU). The operating modes of AMTs are usually two: semiautomatic or fully automatic. In both cases, after the gear shift command, the TCU manages the shifting steps according to current engine regime, driving conditions and selected program.In this transmission type the quality of the vehicle propulsion as perceived by the driver is largely dependent on the quality of the control strategies. Furthermore, sensitivity analyses on control schemes for AMTs have shown that uncertainties in clutch torque characteristic can severely affect the performance of the clutch engagement: modeling in detail the torque transmitted by the specific clutch architecture is a crucial issue in order to design robust engagement control strategies [2, 3 and 4].This paper aims at investigating the engagement performance of an actuated dry clutch by taking into account the inference of the pressure on the facing materials and the sliding speed. In fact, according to literature outcomes [5], the friction coefficient after a first rising behavior with the sliding speed shows an asymptotic value for a typical clutch facing; the same material exhibits a nearly linear dependence of the friction coefficient on the pressure.The simulations consider: reduced-order dynamic system for simulation of passenger car driveline, control algorithm, experimental maps of the n-D clutch transmission characteristic, and gear shift maneuvers in different operating conditions.The outcome of this analysis could provide valuable issues for designers of automated clutches and control engineers to overcome the well known poor engagement performances of open loop motion strategy of the throwout bearing where cost reason and complexity don't permit the use of displacement sensor.Copyright © 2012 by ASME


Most nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based petrophysics models, such as pore structure characterization and permeability prediction, were developed using T2 distributions measured at fully water-saturated conditions (i.e., Sw = 1). The downhole implementation of those models across the hydrocarbon zones is disputable due to partial saturation (Sw < 1) conditions; hence, a correction to such effects on T2 distributions is required. This paper provides a critical review of the fluid substitution methods currently available in the industry and presents an improved method for enhanced formation evaluation. In the new method presented, an effective irreducible water saturation model is used to account for the pore structure and capillary pressure effects, which were barely considered by the currently available NMR fluid substitution methods. For water-wet reservoir rocks, the typical NMR T2 distribution at the partial saturation condition displays a clear separation between the wetting and nonwetting phases. The water phase can be classified as irreducible and movable fluid volumes. Then, using a T2 mapping relationship and a total porosity constraint, the T2 distribution of movable water at Sw < 1 is shifted and amplified to determine the T2 distribution of movable water at Sw = 1. To validate the new method, NMR measurements were conducted on sandstone samples at Sw = 1 as well as Sw < 1. The reconstructed T2 distribution at Sw = 1 was compared with the measured T2 distribution at Sw = 1. Results showed that the reconstructed T2 distribution matched very well with the T2 distribution measured at Sw = 1, confirming the robustness of the new technique. Parameters used in the reconstruction methodology are observed to be a good indicator of pore connectivity. During desaturation, the water T2 in large pores shifts to a shorter T2 because of the enhanced surface relaxation as the water volume decreases while the surface area remains constant. Therefore, the amplitude at the short T2 increases. The increased amplitude was remapped to large pores in reconstructing T2 spectra of full saturation.


Europeanization, from a legal point of view, denotes the process by which national rules and structures are influenced by EU law and case law. Administrative law is a crucial field of law affected by the EU. The general principles of administrative law, developed in all Member States to safeguard the adherence to the rule of law by the government, are no exception to this. By examining the principle of legitimate expectations in two Member States, namely the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, this article reviews to what extent national legal principles have been influenced by the case law of the CJEU and whether the Court's interpretation is reflected in the corresponding national legal principles. This assessment is compared to the principle of legitimate expectations as developed by the CJEU, after which the influence of the Court on the possible (dis)similarities is discussed. In the second part, this paper reflects on the theory of legal autonomy and its portrayal of the Court as an integration actor, and its relation to the influence of the CJEU on the interpretation of legal principles.


In airborne bistatic radar the clutter Doppler is range dependent. STAP processor using training data from other range gate will experience widening of clutter notch. Widening of the clutter notch causes a major problem in detecting slow moving target. In this paper, Doppler compensation using interpolation in the angle-Doppler domain, for joint domain localised processor (JDL) is proposed. Comparison is made with Doppler compensated processor proposed by Kreyenkamp and Klemm (see IEE Proceedings: Radar, Sonar and Navigation, vol.148, no.5, p.253-58, 2001). Significant improvement in processor performance is observed across the whole frequency spectrum.


Immediate defibrillation of people with cardiac arrest can save lives, but less than half the people passing through Amsterdam Central Station were willing to use publicly available automated external defibrillators, finds a new study.

The authors call for public education, because effective defibrillation requires fast action by the public, and knowledge is lacking. "Bystanders first of all need to have defibrillation in mind," they write. In the United States and most of Europe (not, for instance, in France) lay people can use defibrillators without legal liability.

The researchers, from the Department of Anaesthesiology at VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam surveyed 1018 people at the city's central railway station: 978 visitors or travellers …


We discuss a new method of distributed jam session over network by employing the style of club DJ performance. DJ's are music performers, and they construct a music piece by combining materials prepared beforehand one by one. As a result, two and more DJ's join to complete a musical content in a session by the fusion of individual materials. Usual Internet streaming systems with client/server architecture are not appropriate under such an environment that each performer has a symmetric role in a jam session, because the control of time line cannot be defined in a bottom-up fashion. We here propose a feasible way of the distributed jam session over the Internet by modeling actual jam session as a document aggregation and binary relation among those documents over time line. We introduce a notion of scene and its synchronization to achieve a jam session, and employ RDF/RSS to represent a session. In our approach, we divide a session into subsections based on a basic structure that musical contents hold, and allocate musical phrases to the subsections to complete a whole session. By the experimental session, we have confirmed the effectiveness of our method, and also obtained an observation of quantitative features of the distributed jam session.


This paper provides an analytical framework for assessing the impact of international trade in wildlife and wildlife products on conservation and local livelihoods. It also explores the role of factors related to particular species and their habitat, governance settings, the supply-chain structure, and the nature of the end market. The framework is relevant for importers and exporters, regulators, policymakers, nongovernmental organizations, community representatives and researchers seeking to improve the sustainability of international wildlife supply chains.


Aircraft structural components are subject to fatigue resulting in damage initiation, propagation, and subsequent catastrophic failure due to unstable damage growth. Current aviation regulation for inspection requirements to maintain continued airworthiness for fatigue critical components are based on non-destructive inspections (NDI) with a deterministic damage tolerance approach for fail-safe aircraft structures. Recently, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) technology has shown great potential to improve aircraft safety, increase aircraft availability and reduce maintenance and inspection cost. However, SHM systems and traditional NDI systems exhibit different performance behavior from a probabilistic point of view. In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a probabilistic approach to determine the inspection frequency for a SHM system to achieve the same reliability level in inspection requirements for continued airworthiness as for a traditional NDI system.


Background: There is increased awareness of the need for cardiovascular (CVS) risk monitoring in the Northern Ireland population in general, and amongst rheumatoid arthritis and SLE patients in particular, who have a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease. No clear guidelines exist for cardiovascular risk monitoring in osteoporosis, and the prevalence and associations of known CVS risk factors are largely unquantified.


The home is a crucial site of young children's early encounters with digitally connected technologies. It is here that their emerging digital footprints are being formed and where digital data about them is being produced then collected, analysed and commodified in varying ways. While much is speculated about the rise of intelligent assistants, baby monitors, connected toys and goods, there is little quantitative information available about what sorts of devices households with children actually contain. This article reports on findings from an online survey of 504 Australian households with children aged 0–8 years. The survey was designed to capture a snapshot of internet connected devices and goods in households as a way of contextualising current discussions around the datafication of childhood. Results indicate that Australian households with young children are indeed highly connected, and this is primarily via devices already well domesticated into everyday family life such as TVs, computers and smartphones. We discuss several key points emerging from our findings, including: the safety and security of the household as a primary motivator for using smart home devices; the different rates of acceptance of the datafying objects in the home; and the Googlization of family life. We conclude the paper by outlining a research agenda that more accurately reflects the digital realities of Australian family life.


Previous approaches to high-sampling-rate adaptive filter implementations have been based on word-level pipelined word-parallel (or "block") realizations. In this paper, we show that adaptive filters can be implemented in an area-efficient manner by first using pipelining to the maximum possible extent, and then using block processing in combination with pipelining if further increase in sampling rate is needed. We show that, with the use of a decomposition technique, high-speed realizations can be achieved using pipelining with a logarithmic increase in hardware (the block realizations require a linear increase in hardware). We derive pipelined word-parallel realizations of high-sampling-rate adaptive lattice filters using the techniques of look-ahead computation decomposed state update implementation, and incremental output computation. These three techniques combined make it possible to achieve asymptotically optimal complexity realizations (i.e., the same complexity asymptotically as nonrecursive systems) of high-speed adaptive lattice filters (in both bit-serial and bit-parallel methodologies) and provide a "system solution" to high-speed adaptive filtering. The adaptive lattice filter structures are ideal for high-sampling-rate implementations, since the error residuals of a particular stage are adapted order-recursively based on those of the previous stage, and the coefficient update recursion inside each stage is linear in nature. An example of a normalized stochastic gradient adaptive lattice filter is presented, and its complexity, latency, and implementation methodology tradeoffs are studied.


Background: Self-affirmation, the process of reflecting on important self-attributes, such as core values, has been found to reduce resistance to personally relevant health-risk information. However, little is known about whether it interacts with different types of health information to affect outcomes. The current study examined whether the effects of self-affirmation differed according to whether health information was presented as (a) a narrative account or (b) non-narrative data. Methods: In an online study, females (N = 132) were randomly allocated to condition resulting in a 2 x 2 design (Affirmation, No Affirmation x Narrative, Non-Narrative). Participants then completed measures assessing indicators of message acceptance and motivation. Alcohol consumption was assessed at 7-day follow up. Findings: Self-affirmation (vs. no-affirmation) reduced message derogation and counter-arguing to the narrative but not the non-narrative information. Self-affirmation increased message acceptance, while narrative information increased negative affect. Discussion: This study has implications for understanding how the effects of self-affirmation may be influenced by information type.


Steroid sulfatase is an emerging drug target for the endocrine therapy of hormone-dependent diseases, catalyzing estrogen sulfate hydrolysis to estrogen. Drug discovery, developing the core aryl O-sulfamate pharmacophore, has led to steroidal and non-steroidal drugs entering numerous clinical trials, with promising results in oncology and women's health. Steroidal estrogen sulfamate derivatives were the first irreversible active-site-directed inhibitors and one was developed clinically as an oral estradiol pro-drug and for endometriosis applications. This review summarizes work leading to the therapeutic concept of sulfatase inhibition, clinical trials executed to date and new insights into the mechanism of inhibition of steroid sulfatase. To date the non-steroidal sulfatase inhibitor Irosustat has been evaluated clinically in breast cancer, alone and in combination, in endometrial cancer and in prostate cancer. The versatile core pharmacophore both imbues attractive pharmaceutical properties and functions via three distinct mechanisms of action, as a pro-drug, an enzyme active site-modifying motif, likely through direct sulfamoyl group transfer, and as a structural component augmenting activity, for example by enhancing interactions at the colchicine binding site of tubulin. Preliminary new structural data on the Pseudomonas aeruginosa arylsulfatase enzyme suggest two possible sulfamate-based adducts with active site formylglycine as candidates for the inhibition end product via sulfamoyl group or sulfonylamine transfer, and a speculative choice is suggested. The clinical status of sulfatase inhibition is surveyed and how it might develop in the future. Also discussed are dual-targeting approaches, development of 2-substituted steroidal sulfamates and nonsteroidal derivatives as multi-targeting agents for hormone-independent tumours with other emerging directions.


A market survey of 30 swine traders in Kafanchan was conducted to evaluate the structure, conduct and performance of the market. Although there were many sellers and buyers and no collusion, Lorenz curve analyses showed that 30% of all traders handled 74% of the sales. The Gini coefficient was also high (0.53), indicating gross inequality in size distribution and seller concentration, hence oligopoly. Analyses also showed that the market is vertically integrated. Cost of transportation (N100 / animal) was the highest of the marketing services, representing 50.4%. Total cost of marketing services (N198.26 /animal) was a small proportion (6.5%) of final sale price. Estimated gross margin was N742.36/animal) which was 24.2% of the sale price. The only element of barrier that existed was the high operating capital required. Price determination was by haggling and no standardization of product existed. The need and means of improving the nature of competition are highlighted . Key words : Swine, market structure, conduct, performance, barrier


Internationally, assessment has become central to both educational policy and practice and is deemed by educators and learners alike as playing a pivotal role in the learning and teaching cycle. Many definitions of assessment abound, and Huba and Freed (2000) broadly define it as the process of gathering and discussing information from multiple and diverse sources in order to develop a deep and vivid picture of students' knowledge and understanding. In the context of Irish educational policy and practice, assessment has historically developed from summative assessment involving traditional rote approaches to learning to a more sophisticated approach utilising both formative and summative assessment, as will be introduced in all subjects for Junior Cycle secondary schools in September 2019. This paper will examine the historical nature of the development of assessment policy and practices in Ireland. This is timely in light of current reform across all subject areas at Junior Cycle level. Black and William (1998) identified the potentially sizable benefits to be made when formative assessment is used as evidence to adapt teaching to meet students' needs and this paper will draw on literature and theory to argue the case for both summative and formative assessment as a key players in enhancing learning and teaching. Key: assessment for learning; assessment of learning; educational policy; educational reform; pedagogy;


For at least five hundred years, the majestic grange of St. Anne in Montauro (CZ) has been overlooking the wonderful gulf of Squillace, placed at the core of Calabrian Ionic Coast. Masonry ramparts size (more than 7 metres high and 1,60 wide at the basis) together with the massive presence of four angular towers immediately hit even an inattentive beholder. Unfortunately, the predominant presence of grange results damaged by a clearly visible crack outline, which turned a great part of surrounding wall into a perpendicular heap of huge masonry portions. They appear disconnected and sheer, so that some panel systems are already collapsed on the north-east side of the building, included many internal constructions such as the church. The serious damage is not only due to repeated seismic events of high magnitude, that systematically run over this zone of Calabria. This article will describe in detail the methodologies and techniques of its making safe, considering the seismic and geological risk of the zone.


The friction is a key factor that influences the surface quality in metal forming. To figure out the relationship between the friction and the surface roughening, a finite element model is employed in the commercial finite element software ABAQUS to simulate the surface roughness of top side of Al plate during uniaxial planar compression. With the change of friction conditions, the surface roughening varies. The average surface roughness (Ra) shows a relationship with the friction coefficient. During the surface roughening process, the grain slip takes place in the "soft orientation", and the "hard orientations" become the barrier of the slip.


To predict the i so thermal course of a react ion from the dynamic DSC curves, the applicat ion of i so thermal DSC curve t ransformat ion has been proposed. To perform such a transformat ion, it is sufficient only to de te rmine the effective activation energy. To t ransform integral dynamic curves, a (T) ) , in to isothermal ones, a ( t ) , a be t t e r equat ion has been derived and its validity has been demonst ra ted on the example of two typical thermoset t ing ~]~tems. In addit ion, it hasd~een shown that the t ransformat ion of differential curves, (T) , in to isothermal ones -~(a), readily allows de te rmina t ion of the kinetic function and


The complex nature of marine and coastal ecosystems combined with the inaccessibility and invisibility of the majority of their goods and services call for tailored approaches to valuation. Furthermore, a deliberative approach is necessary to support emerging policy initiatives and decision-making processes, and this paper presents a participatory Framework for valuing marine and coastal ecosystem services. The Framework provides a coherent process for the identification and valuation of these services through the active involvement of stakeholder groups. The process begins with "set the scene", a stage in which institutional analysis and procedures for stakeholder involvement are deployed. A value elicitation stage, "deepen understanding", follows to determine the impacts of policy and/or project proposals. This stage involves the identification of the affected ecosystem services, the variations on the flow of services and the associated ecological, social and economic values. The final stage of "articulate values" fosters the integration of knowledge into policy and decision-making processes. The proposed Framework adds communicative and informative features to valuation by advancing an approach that integrates deliberative methods for articulating the multiple values of ecosystem services affected by marine and coastal management decisions.


The statistical model is assumed to determine errors a r i s i n g @ the computatlon of discrete Fourier transform with the use of mixed-radix FFT algorithm with decimation in frequency. The fixed point arithmetic operations on the numbers represented in two's complenunt code are considered. The formulae for calcu1ati.g the ,mean s q a r e value of errors in sny point of transform outpot for 'the operations of rounding with andwithout scaling, and chopping with and without scaling are given in the paper. Computer. simulation was carried out and general conclusions concerning mixed- -radix FFT algorithms with decimatiou in frequency were drawn.


In order to study neuromodulation in Cancer borealis, commonly known as the Jonah crab, we designed a microchip capillary electrophoretic (CE) device with micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) to separate bioamines and detect their concentrations using amperometric detection (AD). The analysis will be used to characterize the bioamines: dopamine, octopamine, tyramine, serotonin, norepinephrine, and gammaaminobutyric acid (GABA). The device measures the concentration of bioamines in microdialysate samples taken directly from the pericardial cavity of the crab. The research on Jonah crabs will be applied to enhance our understanding of the crab neurology. Since the structure and in some instances, the function of the neuromodulators are conserved, this research may be applicable to human studies. Researchers who use our device will be able to detect nanomolar concentrations of bioamines. This will help them to better understand the nervous system of crabs. This could also lead to a better understanding of the human nervous system and how to treat and manage neurodegenerative diseases. In order to obtain data, the device incorporates carbon paste electrodes modified with carbon nanotubes, which literature suggests should be able to detect 50 nanomolar concentrations using amperometry. Moreover, the buffer solution includes sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micelles to separate two structural isomers of interest octopamine and dopamine by their difference in affinity. Combining these methods and applying voltage across the long channel separates bioamines via electroosmotic flow (EOF) based on their electrophoretic mobility. At the end of the CE channel there are electrodes to measure bioamine concentration via AD. An SU-8 mold was prepared by standard lithography techniques. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) channels were formed from an SU-8 mold through replica molding. Carbon paste electrodes were screen printed into the PDMS electrode channel. We observed electroosmotic flow in CE by inserting fluoroisothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran dye and applying high voltage. Electrodes were placed in channel near the outlet to electrochemically detect the concentration of each bioamine. The limit of detection (LOD) for carbon paste electrodes was observed to be 10 mM using Cyclic Voltammetry (CV). Our device provides low cost fabrication, high time resolution, high sensitivity, and multi-analyte detection of bioamines in Cancer borealis.


The JOBS Act, passed in April 2012, is designed to produce American jobs through removing various regulatory barriers for small companies to access investor capital. As the regulations continue to be implemented, commentators have dissected the various ways in which the JOBS Act attempts to achieve this goal. One of the methods involves making the IPO process initially less burdensome, through scaling back financial and corporate governance disclosures. Crowdfunding, which will eventually permit companies to raise investor capital through an online "funding portal", has garnered both deep criticism from regulators and praise from small business owners. Yet little attention has been paid to the notion that the very reason for disclosure reform is job creation. This matters because job creation has not historically played a direct role in the reform of securities disclosure statutes and regulations. This Article analyzes what role, if any, job creation should occupy in the reform of securities disclosure laws. After establishing the normative baseline for disclosure theory and reform, this Article highlights various unintended consequences of using job creation as a justification for reform and proposes a framework for understanding job creation-based disclosure reforms going forward.


In this study the effects of three different dilution levels (60, 30 and 15 Mio/ml) on quality of cryopreserved bovine sperm were investigated. Particularly it was tested, if effects of dilution in regard to sperm quality were related to the factors bull or ejaculate. The following parameters were analysed in four ejaculates each of 42 bulls: percentage of plasma membrane intact sperm (PMI), percentage of sperm with acrosomal damage (AS) as well as percentage of sperm with a high DNA-fragmentation index (DFI%) following cryopreservation. PMI-values decreased (p < 0.05) with increasing degree of dilution. AS-values were not influenced (p > 0.05) by dilution level. There was a decline in DFI% (p <0.05) with increasing dilution of the ejaculate. Coefficient of variation for PMI, AS and DFI% were not (p > 0.05) influenced by dilution. The effects of the factor ejaculate on the variabilities of PMI and AS were higher than the effects of the factor bull. Variability of DFI% depended at the highest dilution level more on the factor bull and in the lowest dilution level more on the factor ejaculate. In conclusion, these results show that dilution of sperm has positive as well as negative effects on sperm quality. With increasing dilution the effect of the factor bull on plasma membrane- and acrosomal integrity.


Hydraulic fracturing pumping data is recorded and mapped in the field at one-second intervals. The designation of the stage start and end time is very important because these boundaries govern summary calculations, such as pressure, rate, and concentrations. Manual selection of staging flags is often very time consuming and prone to inaccuracies due to the lack of uniform selection and interpretation methods across the industry. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the automation process to identify accurate and consistent stage start and end times in a high-frequency treating plot using machine learning algorithms.
 This study is based on the analysis of metered high-frequency treatment data coupled with supervised machine learning algorithms. The pumping dataset includes treating pressure, slurry rate, and clean volume for 179 stages, for a total of 1,530,445 rows of data per variable. Sixty-six percent of the data were used to train the model, eight percent were used to validate the model, and the remaining twenty-six percent were used to test it. Subject matter expertise, taking into account user-defined start/end time flags, was used to train the algorithm.
 Pumping data behaves very differently than traditional time-series data such as weather, stock prices, or population growth. The features examined are not affected by time but by physical events, so the correlation or dependency between features can affect accurate pattern recognition. To allow the algorithm to run leaner, the dataset was pre-processed using loss functions, smoothing techniques, and the rate of change of the main data channels. To understand how data may impair the predictions and to evaluate different model performances, we tested two classification algorithms: logistic regression and support vector machine.
 Classification techniques were used to generate an accurate suggestion of where the pumping of a hydraulic fracturing stage starts and ends in a high-frequency treating plot. Results show that flag predictions have a training and validation accuracy of approximately 90 percent using logistic regression algorithms. The predicted flags were within 10 seconds of the manual selected flag. A limitation of this method is that it requires periodic retraining with new field data to improve the prediction robustness and to maintain high accuracy.
 Accurate start and end time selections make it not only viable to process large volumes of fracture treatment data but also reduce the time spent reviewing field data for quality control. Petroleum engineers need to continue their focus on optimizing their systems with the greatest possible efficiency. Leveraging common analytical methods combined with the large, structured datasets that are readily available provide impressive results without extensive programming knowledge.


Organic photochromic materials have received considerable attention because of their potential for photonic applications, especially for fast and high density data storage. In 2000, Chemical Reviews published a special issue on photochromic materials including a review about the properties and applications of diarylethene photochromic compounds. Since then much impressive progress has been made in this area. Various new diarylethene derivatives have been prepared and examined. The tutorial review presented herein describes developments in diarylethene-based molecular switches made in the last three years. In addition, the synthetic aspects of diarylethene photochromic compounds, which are important issues and neglected in most previous reviews, have been included.


A plasmoid‐like structure without a core magnetic field has been observed by Cluster spacecraft in the high latitude magnetopause region when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) is northward and has a dominant duskward component. Bursty electrons and ions are found to be well confined in this plasmoid‐like structure. The structure possesses a bipolar signature in the BN component. The structure is associated with a dramatic change of the plasma flow direction from tailward to dawnward. The plasma density in this structure is slightly enhanced whereas the ion temperature is twice as large as that of the ambient plasma. The plasma parallel temperature is higher than the perpendicular one. The observed structure is different from the traditional Flux Transfer Events (FTEs). The Walén test shows that change of plasma flow velocity are closely associated with change of Alfven velocity which indicates this structure is formed by reconnection process. The observed plasmoid is suggested to be formed by multiple X‐line reconnection in the dusk (dawn) side of the stagnant cusp region when the IMF is northward and possesses a dominant positive (negative) BY component.


American Dollar (USD) and Indian Rupee (INR) play an important role in Mauritian economy. It is important to model the pattern of dependence in their co-movement with respect to Mauritian Rupee (MUR), as this may indicate the export-import behavior in Mauritius. However, it is known that distributions of exchange rates are usually non-normal and the use of linear correlation as a dependence measure is inappropriate. Moreover it is quite difficult to obtain the joint distribution of such random variables in order to specify the complete covariance matrix to measure their dependence structure. In this paper, we first identify the marginal distributions of the exchange rates of MUR against USD and INR and then select the best fitting copula model for the bivariate series. It is concluded that both the series are asymmetric and fat-tailed following hyperbolic distribution. Their dependence structure is appropriately modeled by t copula.


Faith-based community organising is becoming increasingly recognized as an effective form of democratic engagement and community development, especially among low-to-middle income urban communities in the United States and Britain. This article focuses on two African Pentecostal initiatives with no formal links to Western community organising networks: the Young Ambassadors for Community Peace and Inter-Faith Foundation in Nigeria and the Jubilee Centre in Zambia. In both countries, neoliberal economics, associated with diminished public sectors and decreased government interventionism, has taken its toll, resulting in increased levels of unemployment, poverty and violent conflict. In response, these initiatives are engaged in citizen mobilization through training church and community leaders, and empowering ordinary people to improve the quality of life in their communities. While faith-based community organising is relatively rare in Nigeria and Zambia, the case studies discussed in this article show the potential of this form of intervention for generating social capital and addressing the dual crises of poverty and violence that assail the African continent. The article assesses the added value of Pentecostal beliefs and practices in relation to civic engagement and development.


Mobile devices come with an assortment of networks: WiFi in two different frequency bands, each of which can run in infrastructure-mode, WiFi-Direct mode, or ad hoc mode; cellular radios, which can run in LTE/4G, 3G, or EDGE modes; and Bluetooth. But how should an app choose which network to use? There is no systematic solution to this problem today: in current practice the choice is almost always left to the user, who usually has no idea what's best. In fact, what's best for a user depends on the app's performance objectives (throughput, delay, object load time, etc.) and the user's constraints on cost and battery life. Besides, what's best for a single user or app must be balanced with what's best for the wireless network as a whole (individual optimality vs. social utility). This paper introduces Delphi, a transport-layer module to resolve these issues. Delphi has three noteworthy components: "local learning", in which a mobile device estimates or infers useful properties of different networks efficiently, "property sharing", in which mobile devices share what they learn with other nearby devices, and "selection", in which each node selects a network using what it has observed locally and/or from its neighbors.


Author(s): Adiredja, Aditya Prabhawa | Advisor(s): Schoenfeld, Alan H. | Abstract: This dissertation explores the roles of students' intuitive knowledge in learning formal mathematics. The formal definition of a limit, or the epsilon-delta definition, is a critical topic in calculus for mathematics majors' development. It is typically the first occasion when students engage with rigorous, formal mathematics. Research has documented that the formal definition is a roadblock for most students in calculus, but has also de-emphasized the productive role of their prior knowledge and sense making processes. The temporal order of delta and epsilon has been suggested as a conceptual obstacle for students in understanding the structure of the formal definition. The dissertation investigates the nature of and the degree to which the temporal order of delta and epsilon is a difficulty for students. The fine-grained analysis of semi-structured interviews with elementary calculus students reveals a large repertoire of reasoning patterns about the temporal order. A microgenetic study of one student shows the diversity of knowledge resources and the complex process of reasoning. Knowledge in Pieces (diSessa, 1993) and Microgenetic Learning Analysis (Parnafes a diSessa, 2013, Schoenfeld, Smith a Arcavi, 1993) provide frameworks to explore the details of the structure of students' prior knowledge and their role in learning the topic. The study offers and examines the impact of an instructional treatment called the Pancake Story, designed specifically to productively link to students' intuitive knowledge. Leveraging the notion of quality control, the instructional treatment offers an alternative to the idea of functional dependence in reasoning about the temporal order of delta and epsilon. A detailed case study shows the process by which a student incorporates resources from the story into her existing knowledge about the temporal order. The findings in this dissertation support the claim that understanding the process of learning requires serious accounting for student's prior knowledge.


Abstract Background. When performing in-vitro fertilization (IVF), more embryos than needed are often derived. These embryos are usually frozen and stored, but as ruled by Swedish law they have to be discarded after 5 years. In other countries it is legal to donate the excess embryos to other infertile couples who for different reasons cannot undergo the procedure of IVF. The aim of the present study was to investigate public opinion in Sweden regarding different aspects of embryo donation. Methods. A questionnaire regarding attitudes towards aspects of embryo donation was sent to a randomized sample of 1,000 Swedish women and men of reproductive age. Results. A total of 34% responded to the questionnaires. A majority of the respondents (73%) were positive towards embryo donation. Seventy-five per cent agreed that it should be possible to donate embryos to infertile couples. Approximately half of the participants (49%) supported embryo donation to single women. A majority of the participants emphasized that demands should be imposed on the recipient's age (63%), alcohol addiction (79%), drug addiction (85%), and criminal record (67%). Forty-seven per cent of the respondents agreed that the recipient should be anonymous to the donor, and 38% thought that the donor should remain anonymous to the child. Conclusions. The results of the present study indicate support for embryo donation among a subset of the Swedish population of reproductive age. If embryo donation were to be allowed in Sweden, strategies for treatment and counselling need to be developed.


INTRODUCTION: Wound healing is the process of tissue repair involving the tissue response to injury. Many factors such as ageing, malnutrition, radiation and diseases like diabetes and hypertension are associated with delayed wound healing. Collagen form tight cross links to other collagen and with protein molecule, increasing strength of scar. Impairments in the production and degradation of wound collagen have been demonstrated in Diabetes. The flower buds of Micheliachampacabelonging to family Magnoliaceae is commonly used by many traditional healers in most of herbal preparations for diabetes.Flower and flower buds, fruits werefound to be useful in ulcers, skin disease and wounds. A survey of literature revealed that the diabetic wound healing activity of Micheliachampaca has not been evaluated, so we decided to undertake this study on wound healing of diabetic rats.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:Ethanolic extract from the flowers of Micheliachampaca, in graded doses were administered both topically (1%, 5%, 10% ) and orally in different groups of animals. Hydroxyproline was estimated in wound tissue and compared with each group as an index of wound healing.The dose for oral administration was determined after acute toxicity study.
RESULT:Total of 24 albino rats were taken up and divided into 4 groups of 6 each. In all diabetes was induced by giving-----. The control group did not receive any treatment. Study group was divided into 3 groups depending on the dose. There was a significant increase (p>0.001 ) in concentration of hydroxyproline as compared to controls.
CONCLUSION:This indicates the a potential role in wound healing in diabetes.


Background/Purpose:
 Today's health care systems track patient satisfaction to evaluate care delivery. Traditional quality measures have included mortality and re-admissions, but patient satisfaction is fast becoming an important measure. The stroke program of a large academic center began post discharge phone calls in 2013 on patients who were discharged home after a stroke. The purpose of the phone calls was to assess understanding of the discharge instructions, reinforce the discharge instructions, and care transition post hospitalization to home. Patient satisfaction scores were tracked as a secondary process measure.

 Methods:
 Call-backs utilized a standard template that focused on the patient's understanding of medications, importance of the follow-up visit, signs and symptoms of a stroke, risk factors, and clarification of issues or concerns. The sample included all stroke patients who were discharged home. The call-back occurred within 7 days of discharge and two attempts were made to reach the patient. We reviewed the first two months of call-backs in 2013 and changes were made on the standard work to improve response rate. The changes included: consistent call-back days and times, verification of correct phone number before discharge, and informing patient of the phone call.

 Results:
 We attempted to reach 100% of the sample which averaged 45 patients per month. Current completed call-backs represent 58% of the sample. The call-backs resulted in an increase in Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) score in the "top box" care transitions domain by 5.8%. Pre call-back (January-March 2013), care transitions score was 80.7% (<40th percentile in the University HealthSystem Consortium peer group) compared to post call-back (January-March 2014) score of 86.5% (≥95th percentile). The HCAHPS score in the discharge domain during the same time period showed increase in the "top box" discharge domain by 9.8%. Pre call-back, the score was 87.0% (≥60th percentile) compared to post call-back score of 96.8% (≥95th percentile).

 Conclusion:
 The data supports a positive correlation between patient call-backs and patient satisfaction scores related to care transitions and discharge domains in the stroke population.


The Central Balkan Zone belongs to the north-vergent fold-and-thrust belt of the Alpine Balkan orogen. In this zone, pre-Permian low-grade rocks, metamorphosed during the Variscan orogeny, were later reworked at two main stages of the Alpine compressional tectonics. Several tectono-stratigraphic subdivisions of these metamorphic rocks were previously presented, based on a purely stratigraphic approach in the absence of detailed structural studies and, most importantly, of reliable paleontological and geochronological records. In this study, we propose a new framework of the low-grade metamorphic rocks from the Central Balkan Zone, applying a critical analysis of the existing data combined with new geochronological data and detailed lithological and structural observations. Based on the structural relationships and geochronological constraints, several new entities, such as the Korduna, Bilo and Zvezdets units, were established together with a reassessment of the previously recognized Diabase-Phyllitoid Complex (DPC). Both DPC and the Bilo Unit are now defined as Cambrian–Lower Ordovician (?) mélange complexes part of an accretionary wedge and/or forearc basin formed along the north Gondwanan margin. In the Bilo, Murgash and Etropole mountains, a tectonically uninterrupted Cambrian–Upper Ordovician section, characterized by a normal metamorphic gradient from low-grade to nonmetamorphosed terrigenous rocks, is recognized. The deposition of these sediments is related to the subduction of the Prototethys and the early evolution of the Rheic Ocean. An inverted metamorphic gradient recognized along the southern slopes of the Etropole and Zlatitsa-Teteven mountains through the Korduna and Zvezdets units is related to Variscan syn-metamorphic deformation in the Stargel-Bulovanya Tectonic Zone.


The relationship between the microstructure and mechanical properties on the ternary ZrCoNi alloys has been investigated. Zr50Co50-xNix alloys undergo martensitic transformation from the B2 to B33 structure by the substitution of Ni for Co. The tensile ductility at room temperature increases remarkably without the loss of yield strength by substituting Ni. Zr50Co39Ni11 alloy has the extremely high plastic elongation of 21%. There are many {021}B33 deformation twins in the B2 parent phase just near the tensile fractured area. These twins are the strain induced martensitic phase due to the tensile deformation. Consequently, the remarkable improvement of the ductility of ZrCoNi alloys is due to the transformation induced plasticity.


Accreting black holes are responsible for producing the fastest, most powerful outflows of matter in the universe. The formation process of powerful jets close to black holes is poorly understood, and the conditions leading to jet formation are currently hotly debated. In this paper, we report an unambiguous empirical correlation between the properties of the plasma close to the black hole and the particle acceleration properties within jets launched from the central regions of accreting stellar-mass and supermassive black holes. In these sources the emission of the plasma near the black hole is characterized by a power law at X-ray energies during times when the jets are produced. We find that the photon index of this power law, which gives information on the underlying particle distribution, correlates with the characteristic break frequency in the jet spectrum, which is dependent on magnetohydrodynamical processes in the outflow. The observed range in break frequencies varies by five orders of magnitude in sources that span nine orders of magnitude in black hole mass, revealing a similarity of jet properties over a large range of black hole masses powering these jets. This correlation demonstrates that the internal properties of the jet rely most critically on the conditions of the plasma close to the black hole, rather than other parameters such as the black hole mass or spin, and will provide a benchmark that should be reproduced by the jet formation models.


We consider the problem of minimizing a convex objective which is the sum of a smooth part, with Lipschitz continuous gradient, and a nonsmooth part. Inspired by various applications, we focus on the case when the nonsmooth part is a composition of a proper closed convex function P and a nonzero affine map, with the proximal mappings of \tau P, \tau > 0, easy to compute. In this case, a direct application of the widely used proximal gradient algorithm does not necessarily lead to easy subproblems. In view of this, we propose a new algorithm, the proximal-proximal gradient algorithm, which admits easy subproblems. Our algorithm reduces to the proximal gradient algorithm if the affine map is just the identity map and the stepsizes are suitably chosen, and it is equivalent to applying a variant of the alternating minimization algorithm [35] to the dual problem. Moreover, it is closely related to inexact proximal gradient algorithms [29,33]. We show that the whole sequence generated from the algorithm converges to an optimal solution. We also establish an upper bound on iteration complexity. Our numerical experiments on the stochastic realization problem and the logistic fused lasso problem suggest that the algorithm performs reasonably well on large-scale instances.


Optical Networks-on-Chip (ONoCs) are a promising technology to overcome the bottleneck of low bandwidth of electronic Networks-on-Chip. Recent research discusses power and performance benefits of ONoCs based on their system-level design, while layout effects are typically overlooked. As a consequence, laser power requirements are inaccurately computed from the logic scheme but do not consider the layout. In this article, we propose PROTON+, a fast tool for placement and routing of 3D ONoCs minimizing the total laser power. Using our tool, the required laser power of the system can be decreased by up to 94% compared to a state-of-the-art manually designed layout. In addition, with the help of our tool, we study the physical design space of ONoC topologies. For this purpose, topology synthesis methods (e.g., global connectivity and network partitioning) as well as different objective function weights are analyzed in order to minimize the maximum insertion loss and ultimately the system's laser power consumption. For the first time, we study optimal positions of memory controllers. A comparison of our algorithm to a state-of-the-art placer for electronic circuits shows the need for a different set of tools custom-tailored for the particular requirements of optical interconnects.


PURPOSE
Compared with previous Children's Cancer Group (CCG) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) trials, therapy based on the Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster (BFM) 76 trial has effected an improvement in event-free survival (EFS). In an attempt to improve EFS further, CCG investigators formulated an augmented BFM (A-BFM) regimen that provides prolonged, intensified postinduction chemotherapy relative to the CCG-modified BFM regimen.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
We tested A-BFM in 101 patients with ALL and unfavorable presenting features that showed slow early response (SER) to induction therapy who attained remission on day 28. Their outcome was compared with that of 251 concurrent patients with unfavorable presenting features, a rapid early response to therapy (RER), and remission by day 28, treated with CCG-BFM with or without cranial radiation (CRT).

RESULTS
The 4-year EFS rate from the end of induction for SER patients treated with A-BFM was 70.8% +/- 4.6%. Seventeen patients remain in continuous remission beyond 5 years. Vincristine (VCR) neurotoxicity developed in 50% of patients, but was rarely debilitating. Allergies to Escherichia coli L-asparaginase (L-ASP) occurred in 35% of patients. Avascular necrosis of bone (AVN) developed in 9% of patients. In comparison, a concurrent RER group treated with standard BFM +/- CRT had a 4-year EFS rate of 73.1% +/- 4.6%.

CONCLUSION
The toxicity of A-BFM is significant, but acceptable. Compared with historical control SER patients treated with CCG-modified BFM, A-BFM therapy appears to produce a significant improvement in EFS. This is the first study to show that intensive chemotherapy, as given in the A-BFM regimen, can abrogate the adverse prognostic significance of SER.


Currency logistics is becoming a field of increasing interest and importance both in government and academic circles. In this paper, a basic description of China's nationwide logistics network for the Renminbi is discussed and analyzed. In addition to its basic structure, its key problems such as production costs, inventory levels, and transportation and storage security are discussed.


A daunting challenge to the international community is how to go about lifting the world's huge poor population out of poverty. "Asset-based" approaches to development are aimed specifically at designing and implementing public policies that will increase the capital assets of the poor --i.e., the physical, financial, human, social, and natural resources that can be acquired, developed, improved, and transferred across generations. In this pathbreaking book, Caroline Moser and a group of experts with on-the-ground experience provide a set of case studies of asset-building projects around the globe. The authors use a cutting-edge research framework that moves beyond quick snapshot solutions to the problem of poverty. They highlight the ways in which poor households and communities can move out of poverty through longer-term accumulation of capital assets. Contributors include Michael Carter (University of Wisconsin), Monique Cohen (Microfinance Opportunities), Sarah Cook (Institute of Development Studies, Sussex), Hector Cordero-Guzman (Baruch College, CUNY), Lilianne Fan (Oxfam, UK), Pablo Farias (Ford Foundation, New York), Clare Ferguson (formerly DFID), Andy Felton (FDIC), Sarah Gammage (Rutgers University), Anirudh Krishna (Duke University), Amy Liu (Brookings Institution), Vijay Mahajan (BASIX, India), Paula Nimpuno-Parente (Ford Foundation, South Africa), Manuel Orozco (Inter-American Dialogue),Victoria Quiroz-Becerra (Baruch College, CUNY), Dennis Rodgers (London School of Economics), and Andres Solimano (CEPAL, Santiago, Chile).


The visualization and computer graphics communities have recently become fascinated with the application of artistic techniques to three dimensional computer generated imagery. These are sometimes called non-photo realistic rendering techniques. This raises the key issue of when is it appropriate to apply realism, expressionism, and abstraction points of views to scientific and information visualization? What additional insights are gained from overlapping these approaches? The eye, the emotions, and the intellect all share in the process of creating and exploring visual art forms, including computer generated imagery. This panel examines a few non-photo realistic rendering approaches and highlights the impact these methods have on gaining insight from the resulting scientific and information visualizations.


Author(s): Archambault-Couture, Simon | Advisor(s): Lomakin, Vitaliy | Abstract: This work is concerned with the important connection that exists between micromagnetism and high frequency electromagnetism. As micromagnetic solvers have become important tools in the study and engineering of magnetic devices, and as these devices are increasingly operated at high frequencies, it is important to understand both how micromagnetic simulations can be used in the modeling of magnetic materials for high-frequency applications and how micromagnetic models can be impacted by high-frequency electromagnetic effects.After an introduction to the theory behind micromagnetism and micromagnetic solvers, the dissertation is divided into two main themes. The first one is the modeling and characterization through micromagnetic simulations of ferromagnetic materials for high frequency applications. A particular class of materials, namely ferromagnetic nano-granular materials, are studied since they have important technological applications as soft magnetic materials which also exhibit high saturation magnetizations and low electrical resistivities. The extraction of properties such as the hysteresis loop and frequency dependent permeability tensor from micromagnetic simulations is examined. Also, the anisotropy averaging mechanism responsible for the soft magnetic properties of this class of materials is studied and some theoretical results are obtained and presented, such as a derivation of the residual exchange energy between groups of exchange coupled nano-particles and a generalized Stoner-Wohlfarth hysteresis model which accounts for exchange interactions between ferromagnetic particles with random uniaxial anisotropies.The second theme is the modeling of eddy currents in micromagnetic simulations. Eddy currents, also known as Foucault currents, arise in conductive materials due to rapid variations of the magnetic field and magnetization. A method coupling the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation of micromagnetics with the magnetoquasistatic Maxwell equations is presented. Based on this method, two coupled micromagnetic-electromagnetic solvers are presented, one based on an integral equation formulation, the other based on the finite element method. A test problem with a known analytical solution is suggested and used to validate the implemented solvers. Also, results concerning the bounds of validity for the magnetostatic approximation to theMaxwell equations, in which case eddy currents are neglected, as well as for the magnetoquasistatic Maxwell equations, where eddy currents are accounted for but electromagnetic wave propagation is neglected, are given. It is found that the magnetoquasistatic approximation is excellent for the vast majority of micromagnetic simulations that are executed today.


The detection of odorant receptor mRNAs within the axon terminals of sensory neurons has permitted us to ask whether neurons expressing a given receptor reject their axons to common glomeruli within the olfactory bulb. In situ hybridization with five different receptor probes demonstrates that axons from neurons expressing a given receptor converge on one, or at most, a few glomeruli within the olfactory bulb. Moreover, the position of specific glomeruli is bilaterally symmetric and is constant in different individuals within a species. These data support a model in which exposure to a given odorant may result in the stimulation of a spatially restricted set of glomeruli, such that the individual odorants would be associated with specific topographic patterns of activity within the olfactory bulb.


After twenty-five years of armed struggle against Israeli occupation, Lebanon has finally been liberated through the sacrifices of the Lebanese resistance and the Lebanese people. In this context, one could say that the role of women in the resistance cannot be underestimated. In a film entitled Zahrat alKandoul ("Women from South Lebanon") directed by May Masri and Jean Chamoun on the Lebanese resistance activist Khadija Herez, the latter tells us that there was no way women could have extricated themselves from the conflict.