Neural processes (NPs) [3, 4] are parametric stochastic processes that can be trained from a dataset consisting of sets of input-output pairs. During test time, given a context set of input-output pairs and a set of target inputs, they allow us to approximate the posterior predictive of the target outputs. NPs have shown promise in applications such as image super-resolution, conditional image generation or scalable Bayesian optimization. It is, however, unclear which objective and model specification should be used to train NPs. This abstract empirically evaluates the performance of NPs for different objectives and model specifications. Given that some objectives and model specifications clearly outperform others, our analysis can be useful in guiding future research and applications of NPs.


The first demonstration that antenatal maternal glucocorticoid treatment reduced neonatal morbidity was reported by Liggins and Howie in 1972.1 In the following two decades antenatal corticosteroid prophylaxis gradually found its way into clinical practice and had become an accepted part of the standard care by the early 1990s.2 3 It clearly reduces overall neonatal mortality, the risk of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and the need for respiratory support.4 It also decreases the risk of other complications of prematurity, including intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH) and necrotising enterocolitis but not bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). The current recommendation is to give two doses of 12 mg betamethasone, 24 h apart, to women who may deliver within 7 days and are less than 35 weeks pregnant.5–7 Most benefit is seen when delivery follows the second dose by more than 24 h; however, even an incomplete course reduces neonatal morbidity and mortality.8

There is a marked reduction in the apparent beneficial effects of antenatal steroids (ie, glucocorticoids) if the interval between administration and delivery exceeds 7 days.4 This led to the evaluation of multiple steroid treatments among women who remained at high risk of preterm birth.9 However, animal data and observational human studies demonstrated possible adverse effects of repeated doses of glucocorticoids. Moreover, evidence emerged of severe adverse effects of postnatal steroids, particularly on growth and neurodevelopmental outcome.10 This resulted in guidelines advising against routine use of repeat steroid courses except in clinical studies, in both the UK and the USA.5 11 In this paper, we discuss the data from a series of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of repeat steroids and the implications for care of women at sustained risk of preterm birth.

The physiological consequences of repeated antenatal steroid exposure have been extensively studied in …


The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is an international initiative to build the next generation ground based very-high energy gamma-ray observatory. It will consist of telescopes of three different sizes, employing several different technologies for the cameras that detect the Cherenkov light from the observed air showers. In order to ensure the compliance of each camera technology with CTA requirements, CTA will perform central acceptance testing of each camera technology. To assist with this, the Camera Test Facilities (CTF) work package is developing a detailed test program covering the most important performance, stability, and durability requirements, including setting up the necessary equipment. Performance testing will include a wide range of tests like signal amplitude, time resolution, dead-time determination, trigger efficiency, performance testing under temperature and humidity variations and several others. These tests can be performed on fully-integrated cameras using a portable setup at the camera construction sites. In addition, two different setups for performance tests on camera sub-units are being built, which can provide early feedback for camera development. Stability and durability tests will include the long-term functionality of movable parts, water tightness of the camera housing, temperature and humidity cycling, resistance to vibrations during transport or due to possible earthquakes, UV-resistance of materials and several others. Some durability tests will need to be contracted out because they will need dedicated equipment not currently available within CTA. The planned test procedures and the current status of the test facilities will be presented.


Aiming at the problems of the interactive communication among infrared multi-sensors under the electromagnetic interference, an interactive network is developed based on CAN bus controller which is embed in TMS320F2812 DSP. After the hardware design of the network system is introduced, a application layer protocol of CAN bus network for simple and effective communications is proposed. Following the protocol, software program is designed, and the transmission efficiency is improved obviously. Finally, the relationship between nodes and baud Rate is shown after analyzing the transmission time delay.


The Single-Picker Routing Problem (SPRP) arises in warehouses when items have to be retrieved from their storage locations in order to satisfy a given demand. It deals with the determination of the sequence according to which the respective locations have to be visited. The storage locations in the warehouse are typically arranged in a specific way and constitute a so-called block layout. Using this structure, Scholz et al. (2016) proposed a model to the SPRP in a single-block layout whose size (in terms of number of variables and constraints) is independent of the number of locations to be visited. They briefly described how the model can be extended to deal with multiple blocks, but also stated that its size will drastically increase. In this paper, the extension of this formulation is considered and different scenarios are pointed out which can be used to significantly decrease the size of the model. By means of numerical experiments, it is demonstrated that the size of the formulation can be decreased by up to 60%, resulting in a reduction of computing time by up to 99.5%. Furthermore, it is shown that computing times do not increase with an increasing number of blocks, which is a major advantage of the model as no efficient solution approach to the SPRP is available able to deal with more than two blocks.


We present a query architecture in which join operators are decomposed into their constituent data structures (State Modules, or SteMs), and dataflow among these SteMs is managed adaptively by an eddy routing operator [R. Avnur et al., (2000)]. Breaking the encapsulation of joins serves two purposes. First, it allows the eddy to observe multiple physical operations embedded in a join algorithm, allowing for better calibration and control of these operations. Second, the SteM on a relation serves as a shared materialization point, enabling multiple competing access methods to share results, which can be leveraged by multiple competing join algorithms. Our architecture extends prior work significantly, allowing continuously adaptive decisions for most major aspects of traditional query optimization: choice of access methods and join algorithms, ordering of operators, and choice of a query spanning tree. SteMs introduce significant routing flexibility to the eddy, enabling more opportunities for adaptation, but also introducing the possibility of incorrect query results. We present constraints on eddy routing through SteMs that ensure correctness while preserving a great deal of flexibility. We also demonstrate the benefits of our architecture via experiments in the Telegraph dataflow system. We show that even a simple routing policy allows significant flexibility in adaptation, including novel effects like automatic "hybridization " of multiple algorithms for a single join.


This paper argues for the importance of Livy9s annalistic notices in structuring the author9s aims and the reader9s reception of the history, as against the standard conception of the notices as archaic memoranda. Taking the later career of Scipio Africanus the Elder as a test case, the paper demonstrates the tension between the formal features of the narrative and the actual content of the notices. As summarized in the eulogy for Africanus (38.53.9–11), Livy constructs a narrative of Scipio9s decline emphasizing his peripeteia after the Hannibalic war. This narrative finds corroboration in the confinement of Africanus9 subsequent actions chiefly to the annalistic notices. The notices themselves, however, provide a counter-narrative to the main text, albeit in fragmentary and marginal form. Through the interaction of narrative center and periphery the notices thus offer a space for Livy, and the reader, to explore alternative visions of Roman history.


Epidemiological studies have shown a favourable effect of moderate alcohol consumption with regard to atherosclerotic disorders. In addition to alcohol, wine contains a large number of other components including polyphenols. These polyphenols mainly originate from the skins and seeds of grapes and, because of differences in vinification, their variety and concentration is higher in red wine than in white wine. In vitro and ex vivo studies have shown that some of these polyphenols are able to slow down LDL-cholesterol oxidation, stimulate NO production, influence prostaglandin synthesis and inhibit platelet aggregation. However, little is known about their resorption, bioavailability and effectiveness in vivo. Since data from intervention studies with wine polyphenols are also lacking, no statement can yet be made about any clinically relevant effect of these components, in either red or white wine, in terms of cardiovascular diseases.


The cochlear implant (CI) is the first effective treatment for deafness and severe losses in hearing. As such, the CI is now widely regarded as one of the great advances in modern medicine. This article reviews the key events and discoveries that led up to the current CI systems, and we review and present some among the many possibilities for further improvements in device design and performance. The past achievements include: (1) development of reliable devices that can be used over the lifetime of a patient; (2) development of arrays of implanted electrodes that can stimulate more than one site in the cochlea; and (3) progressive and large improvements in sound processing strategies for CIs. In addition, cooperation between research organizations and companies greatly accelerated the widespread availability and use of safe and effective devices. Possibilities for the future include: (1) use of otoprotective drugs; (2) further improvements in electrode designs and placements; (3) further improvements in sound processing strategies; (4) use of stem cells to replace lost sensory hair cells and neural structures in the cochlea; (5) gene therapy; (6) further reductions in the trauma caused by insertions of electrodes and other manipulations during implant surgeries; and (7) optical rather electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve. Each of these possibilities is the subject of active research. Although great progress has been made to date in the development of the CI, including the first substantial restoration of a human sense, much more progress seems likely and certainly would not be a surprise. Anat Rec, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Background: Social media is connecting billions of people from across the globe by fulfilling basic human needs of socializing and getting entertained. While companies are now actively turning to social media to know their customers better, build strong relationships, and spread marketing messages, many are still struggling to figure out what corporate social media content actually works on social media.Purpose: This research aims to understand what type of corporate social media content generates the most consumer response.Methodology: This study employs content analysis of recent social media posts by a selection of top brands in Sweden on two main social media platforms: Facebook and Twitter. A total of ten brands with origin from Sweden were selected, based on 2015 Swedish Brand Award ranking, and their posts were examined to find out influence of corporate social media content on consumer response. A total of 400 posts were examined on verified Twitter profiles and Facebook Pages of these brands.Findings: Type of content which refers to whether the post has image, video, or text-only content, and content orientation which can be task-oriented, self-oriented, or interaction-oriented have a statistically significant relationship with consumer response. In terms of type of content, posts with video and image content can lead to higher consumer response and in terms of content orientation task-oriented content can lead to higher consumer response. Other variables in the study, namely, communication cues, traceability cues, and time-frame have not emerged as significant in this study.Implications: When developing corporate social media content, it's important to focus on type of content and content orientation. In terms of type of content, managers need to focus on having video and image content as this could lead to higher consumer response and in terms of content orientation, content related to brand / product / promotion (task-oriented) can lead to higher consumer response.Limitations: The study relies only on two main social media platforms and on the last 20 posts of each brand on each of these platforms and doesn't take into account any seasonality as a full year period has not been studied. The study also relies on a general brand ranking list based in Sweden and not a ranking of brands on social media space.Further Research Suggestions: Future studies could focus on bringing more social media platforms into inquiry, improving sampling robustness by having a larger sample size and broader coverage of time period to account for any seasonality in data, comparing results between different countries, having a broader mix of brands in terms of type of business area or sector or stage of brand development, and blending together the corporate and consumer perspectives. Finally, to account for platform size differences, researchers need to come up with a measure that controls for this variation across platforms.Keywords: Social Media Content, Social Media Platforms, Facebook, Twitter, Communication


Canine vector-borne diseases (CVBDs) represent an important group of illnesses affecting dogs around the world. In addition to their veterinary importance, some CVBD-causing pathogens are of major zoonotic concern, with dogs potentially serving as reservoirs and sentinels for human infections. The present study aimed at assessing the seroprevalence of some selected arthropod-borne pathogens (Dirofilaria immitis, Ehrlichia canis, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, and Anaplasma phagocytophilum) in stray dogs from Bucharest's areas, using point-of-care assays: SNAP® Heartworm test (n=16) and SNAP 4DX (n=75), IDEXX Laboratories, Westbrook, ME. The SNAP heartworm detects only D. immitis antigen, whereas the SNAP 4DX detects D. immitis antigen and antibodies against E. canis, A. phagocytophylum, and B. burgdorferi. All animals displayed no clinical signs at the physical examination, therefore they were assumed as clinical healthy. Overall, 30.77% (28/91) of the dogs were serologically-positive to one or more of the tested pathogens. The prevalence of positive test results was as follows: D. immitis, 18.68% (17/91), E. canis, 4.00% (3/75), A. phagocytophilum, 16.00% (12/75). Three dogs (4.00%) were co-exposed to D. immitis and A. phagocytophilum and one (1.33%) was co-exposed to E. canis and A. phagocytophilum. There was no evidence for Borrellia infection. This study provides on insight of exposure to certain pathogens infecting stray dogs in some areas of Bucharest, emphasizing high risks for vector-borne diseases.


Achieving a balanced distribution of population and activities over space is one of the critical goals of spatial planning profession. This paper reviews the status of this issue for the North Region of Iran including provinces of Mazandaran, Giulan and Golestan . The study applied two well-known methods including entropy and elasticity for measuring the extent of regional balance of population distribution throughout the study area. The results showed that the disorder of urban system has been increased dramatically along with fast population increase. Three capital cities of the region have experienced focal concentration whereas small cities have encountered with stagnation in population growth. Those cities with 50 thousand people and over have showed higher tendency to absorb further population. These trends have resulted in intensifying irregularity of urban system and emerging of new megacities.


When disasters strike, such as the recent Haitian earthquake, physicians are among the first to offer their support to aid organizations. Beyond providing disaster relief, many physicians regularly go to areas in need to perform surgery and operate clinics, help organize the health system and offer much needed advice in public health. However, despite a deep-seated desire to help, we and others feel unprepared to meet the many challenges that await a willing volunteer, especially given the many barriers in the current system.

Few would argue about the social good attributed to volunteering overseas. To realize the many benefits of volunteering, motivation is critical. An ideal volunteer is driven by altruism and a real willingness to help others, often at a personal or professional cost.

Volunteers also may derive many direct benefits — such as personal growth, satisfaction and reward — that ultimately result in positive influences for their patients and institutions at home. One might learn about other cultures, come to appreciate better public health and social needs in different contexts, and potentially recognize a broader range of solutions to problems back home. Many come to realize that there are no simple solutions to many big problems in poor resource settings.

Volunteering, especially in conflict zones or disaster relief settings, may also have serious negative effects. Without proper training, volunteers may be more of a burden than a help. They may be asked to provide services for which they are ill-equipped that may jeopardize the health of their patients. They may impose approaches to care that are culturally insensitive or outright inappropriate. Or they may simply be in the way of professionals who are trained to help in these settings.

Even well-trained and effective volunteers are at risk of personal negative experiences — such as witnessing the consequences of extreme depravity, violence and brutality, or social injustices — that can leave emotional scars that may even lead to post-traumatic stress disorder.1 Personal relationships with families or work may suffer if volunteer activities are extended for long periods.

The many challenges should not dissuade us from doing more. With better support and fewer impediments, perhaps more of us would volunteer abroad. Already, about 30% of us volunteer some of our time, one-third of that in our role as physicians.2 Many young physicians, even those still in training, as well as more senior physicians who are contemplating retirement or are recently retired want to do more. However, when asked, they highlight many barriers, including a lack of coordination, limited organizational support and personal unpreparedness.3,4

Many questions arise. What support services should be offered and by whom? How do we match the volunteers' skills with the needs abroad? How should volunteers prepare for travel and their own health needs? What about health insurance and malpractice coverage? Who will cover their clinical duties during their absence?

Answers are, in large part, dictated by the importance and priority we attributed to volunteer activities. Some funding and investments are required to overcome existing barriers. Ongoing coordination of volunteer activities by an association or society might better assess overseas needs and help match important gaps with available skills. Supporting a network where returning volunteers can share experiences with each other and newcomers might diminish some of the impact of volunteering and help promote programs. Specialty societies could develop and offer more discipline-specific educational programs as well as opportunities. The American College of Surgeons has demonstrated outstanding innovation and leadership in this regard.5

Local support, at least in faculties of medicine, may be offered by international health offices. Faculties of medicine and health sciences need to find ways to recognize volunteerism as a legitimate, praiseworthy and promotion-eligible activity for all faculty and trainees. Similarly, at the regional and national levels, volunteer activities should be recognized and credited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the College of Family Physicians of Canada to maintain certification requirements. Clearly, similar programs should be considered for other health disciplines.

Our hospitals, clinical partners and other colleagues need to learn to support departing volunteers, primarily by arranging to fill the void in clinical, administrative and academic services with the promise of a warmth welcome on their return.

We should praise our colleagues who volunteer, to be sure. But we also need to break down barriers, coordinate opportunities and actively support effective volunteer initiatives. Then perhaps more of us will be ready to go where needed, when needed.


Objective. To determine how the features, conditions, and maintenance of a low-income park affect the use of the park for physical activity during the winter months.
Method. Direct observation of park use; assessment of park quality based on a developed assessment tool; and supplementary surveys with park users.
Results. The park lacked winter park features (e.g. ice rink, tobogganing hill) and supporting amenities (e.g. washrooms, rental facilities). There was evidence of winter maintenance, however, it was inconsistent: most trails were cleared of snow on all visits, but large ice patches were present and had not been cleared. The park was used primarily for walking and dog walking, although respondents noted that the lack of maintenance in the park affected if they used it for physical activity.
Conclusion. Winter maintenance of parks and the presence of winter features affect park use, with snow removal, ice removal, and the presence of bathrooms having a strong influence on physical activity levels in the winter months. Park planners should consider year-round maintenance and programming in order to promote engagement in physical activity during all seasons.


Owing to the importance of dendritic cells (DC) in the induction and control of immunity, an understanding of their biology is central to the development of potent immunotherapies for cancer, chronic infections, autoimmune disease, and induction of transplantation tolerance. This review surveys the heterogeneity of DC with regards to their phenotype and developmental origin, and how they initiate, modify and regulate the immune response, with emphasis on their maturation, migration, antigen-presentation and interaction with T cells and other immune cells. Much of this knowledge is obtained through research on murine DC. Research on human DC has been hampered by limitations associated with in vitro assays and limited access to human tissues. New approaches on human DC research are required in order to develop novel strategies for the treatment of microbial infections, the control of graft rejection, and the improvement of DC-based immunotherapeutic protocols for autoimmunity, allergy, and cancer.


This paper describes a new method of modeling an environment in terms of obstacles and free spaces from a set of 3D segments obtained by stereo vision. Since live stereo vision provides only the position of segments, it is necessary to determine whether a region formed by the segments is an obstacle or a free space. The ambiguities and the uncertainties in the obtained data must be considered in modeling. The final output of the proposed method is a set of possible situations of the environment and their probabilities; each situation consists of the description of obstacles and critical regions between the obstacles. Experimental results for a real scene are described.<<ETX>>


The following collection deals largely with autobiographical work. Created primarily between 2007-2018, the following poems reflect the life experiences and reflections of a poet throughout his thirties. Largely tied to regionalism of the Ozarks, many poems in this collection highlight specific locales throughout southwest Missouri and/or northern Arkansas, and explore, thematically, feelings of loneliness, isolation, the struggle of faith, and the impact of displacement, both physical and metaphysical. Further, many of the poems feature a through-line, thematically, involving the bonds of family and the impact of death on relationships and the human psyche. Lastly, an appreciation for, and connection with, nature frames much of the collection. Stylistically, the following poems show influence from the Deep Image style and the New York School, and often highlight a degree of formalism in the vein of Donald Justice. Taken as a whole, it is the intent of the author to present, within Gongshi Meditation on the American Prairie, a tableau of America in the present age, told through autobiographical experience of a searcher, and the America that exists in nature, metaphysics, and the experiences of life long gone and forgotten.


Diffuse nutrient and pesticide pollution is a major global and growing pressure on water quality and poses risks to aquatic ecosystems, human health and water resources. Due to threats to water quality, the costs of water treatment and the recalcitrance of some pollutants to traditional water treatment techniques, there is increased focus on the potential to mitigate agricultural diffuse water pollution through catchment management. Water quality models have the potential to be applied as decision support tools to identify mitigation measures that can reduce agricultural diffuse water pollution but, to date, insufficient consideration has been given to the uncertainties of water quality model predictions and the impacts of farm-based mitigation measures on multiple pollutants and at a daily temporal resolution. To address these shortcomings, and the need to identify mitigation measures that can reduce agricultural diffuse water pollution, the soil and water assessment tool model was applied to identify the impacts of farm-based mitigation measures on diffuse nitrate, total phosphorus and metaldehyde pollution at a daily time-step within the River Wensum catchment in the East of England. Prohibiting metaldehyde application in areas where the slope exceeded 2% was the most effective option to mitigate diffuse metaldehyde pollution, whilst introducing a red clover cover crop reduced nitrate losses by 19.6% and implementing buffer strips of 6 m width reduced total phosphorus losses by 16.9%. Results also highlighted the need to consider the impacts on multiple pollutants and the degree of uncertainty associated with model predictions when evaluating the effectiveness of mitigation measures. According to model predictions, a catchment management based approach does have the potential to reduce agricultural diffuse water pollution, the risk of water quality non compliance and the subsequent need for raw water treatment. Overall, this thesis contributes to the development of effective strategies to mitigate agricultural diffuse water pollution.


Over the past decade, the problem of fair bandwidth allocation among contending traffic flows on a link has been extensively researched. However, as these flows traverse a computer network, they share different kinds of resources (e.g., links, buffers, router CPU). The ultimate goal should hence be overall fairness in the allocation of multiple resources rather than a specific resource. Moreover, conventional resource scheduling algorithms depend strongly upon the assumption of prior knowledge of network parameters and cannot handle variations or lack of information about these parameters. In this paper, we present a novel scheduler called the composite bandwidth and CPU scheduler (CBCS), which jointly allocates the fair share of the link bandwidth as well as processing resource to all competing flows. CBCS also uses a simple and adaptive online prediction scheme for reliably estimating the processing times of the incoming data packets. Analytically, we prove that CBCS is efficient, with a per-packet work complexity of O(1). Finally, we present simulation results and experimental outcomes from a real-world implementation of CBCS on an Intel IXP 2400 network processor. Our results highlight the improved performance achieved by CBCS and demonstrate the ease with which it can be implemented on off-the-shelf hardware


The concept of karma is one of the most general and basic for the philosophical traditions of India, one of an interconnected cluster of concepts that form the basic presuppositions of Indian philosophy. The focus of this essay is on two interrelated aspects of the Buddhist theory of karma. After some preliminary comments on the general philosophical notion of karma and on the enactivist approach to philosophical psychology, I will explore the distinctively Buddhist idea that through the karmic process we enact ourselves—that is, we make and remake ourselves through our actions. Second, I will discuss the idea that we also enact our world(s) through karma—that is, our patterns of action and reaction bring forth meaningful worlds, which in turn shape those very patterns for better or worse. Finally, I will briefly discuss the character and cultivation of enlightened action, action free from the production of karma.


: Understanding the key role of factor VII (FVII) in the cascade of blood coagulation has led to consider its administration as an effective treatment for selected situations with altered haemostasis. Advances in genetic engineering have made it possible to obtain this factor by recombinant techniques (rFVII), rendering it both safe and widely available as a haemostatic treatment. So far, it has been commonly used for haemophilic patients with inhibiting antibodies against factors FVIII-FIX, but its use is currently extending to other areas. The presence of decreased FVII levels in patients with advanced, chronic liver disease has recently raised an interest in the study of this molecule as a new therapeutic option in the field of Hepatology. This paper will discuss the characteristics, indications, and studies existing to this day on the use of rFVII, particularly in cirrhotic patients.


Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited Pediatric Critical Care Medicine www.pccmjournal.org e385 Online Abstract Translations Pediatric Critical Care Medicine is proud to present translations of selected abstracts into Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish. We sincerely thank the following for their important work on these translations: Boliang Fang, MD (Chinese); Jacques Lacroix, MD (French); Giuseppe A. Marraro, MD (Italian); Nobuaki Shime, MD, PhD, and Ikuya Ueta, MD (Japanese); Francisco Cunha, MD, and Marta Joăo Silva, MD (Portuguese); and Eduardo Schnitzler, MD, Santiago Campos, MD, and Pablo G. Minces, MD (Spanish). Online Abstract Translations


This paper analyzes the relationship between fiscal multipliers and fiscal positions of governments using an Interactive Panel Vector Auto Regression model and a large dataset of advanced and developing economies. Our methodology permits us to trace the endogenous relationship between fiscal multipliers and fiscal positions while maintaining enough degrees of freedom to draw sharp inferences. We report three major results. First, the fiscal multipliers depend on fiscal positions: the multipliers tend to be larger when fiscal positions are strong (i.e. when government debt and deficits are low) than weak. For instance, the long run multiplier can be as large as unity when fiscal position is strong, while it can be negative when the fiscal position is weak. Second, these effects are separate and distinct from the impact of the business cycle on the fiscal multiplier. Third, the state-dependent effects of the fiscal position on multipliers is attributable to two factors: an interest rate channel through which higher borrowing costs, due to investors' increased perception of credit risks when stimulus is implemented from a weak initial fiscal position, crowd out private investment; and, a Ricardian channel through which households reduce consumption in anticipation of future fiscal adjustments. | T H E A U S T R A L I A N N A T I O N A L U N I V E R S I T Y


This essay explores the intersections between performance, materiality, and marginalized women's struggles by delving into the meanings of public and private, and the nuanced and varied meanings of gendered resistance. Focusing on three very different kinds of theatrical performances by women in North India, I analyze how each performance appropriates, complicates, or reinforces the interwoven patriarchal concepts of public and private on the one hand, and femininity and masculinity on the other. In so doing, I also consider how both space and kinship are strategically deployed in these performances, and the different meanings of resistance and feminist politics embedded and implied in each performance. I argue that a focus on these processes allows us to grapple with the ways in which gendered materialities — shaped by class, caste, and geographical location — become central to the articulation of politics. This framework opens up new "spaces" to examine how multiple publics are constituted and reconfigured in terms of their socio- political identities and provisional alliances in and through publicization/privatization struggles, without essentializing or fixing the meanings of either public or private or of the spaces in which public/private acts are enacted.


The invention relates to a platelet-shaped pigment having high luster and high covering power or high transparency, consisting of a transparent, inorganic, platelet-shaped matrix which can contain an additional constituent, characterized in that the additional constituent is a soluble or insoluble colorant and in that the matrix is coated at least on one side with one or more thin, transparent or semi-transparent reflective layers of metal oxides or metals to achieve the luster.


Lots of information including vary raw materials components and mechanical properties should be involved in the electrode design process. It was very difficult to manage them. In this article, an effective solution by simulating the artificial design process of electrode was presented in the design of intelligent electrode design system (IEDS). That successfully realized series functions such as electrode formula management, electrode intelligent design. Shared file, named pipe, and file mapping were proposed to solve the communication problem between design module and prediction module which were developed by using different languages and platforms.


The standard approach to assess reliability of automatic speech transcriptions is through the use of confidence scores. If accurate, these scores provide a flexible mechanism to flag transcription errors for upstream and downstream applications. One challenging type of errors that recognisers make are deletions. These errors are not accounted for by the standard confidence estimation schemes and are hard to rectify in the upstream and downstream processing. High deletion rates are prominent in limited resource and highly mismatched training/testing conditions studied under IARPA Babel and Material programs. This paper looks at the use of bidirectional recurrent neural networks to yield confidence estimates in predicted as well as deleted words. Several simple schemes are examined for combination. To assess usefulness of this approach, the combined confidence score is examined for untranscribed data selection that favours transcriptions with lower deletion errors. Experiments are conducted using IARPA Babel/Material program languages.


Hotelling's T 2 and Mahalanobis distance are widely used in the statistical analysis of multivariate data. When either of these quantities is large, a natural question is: How do individual variables contribute to its size? The Garthwaite-Koch partition has been proposed as a means of assessing the contribution of each variable. This yields point estimates of each variable's contribution and here we consider bootstrap methods for forming interval estimates of these contributions. New bootstrap methods are proposed and compared with the percentile, bias-corrected percentile, non-studentized pivotal, and studentized pivotal methods via a large simulation study. The new methods enable use of a broader range of pivotal quantities than with standard pivotal methods, including vector pivotal quantities. In the context considered here, this obviates the need for transformations and leads to intervals that have higher coverage, and yet are narrower, than intervals given by the standard pivotal methods. These results held both when the population distributions were multivariate normal and when they were skew with heavy tails. Both equal-tailed intervals and shortest intervals are constructed; the latter are particularly attractive when (as here) squared quantities are of interest.


Sensor applications are gaining popularity in health applications particularly in environmental monitoring and patient monitoring. Some applications include monitoring of CO₂ concentration in home environment, pulse monitoring for in-house patients, and monitoring of medicine distribution in hospitals. Sensors can be deployed in the target environment or in some cases, worn by the monitored patient. Data from these deployed sensor are then stored in a database for future analysis by medical professionals. Reliability and accuracy of data is considered for medical application. This paper presents a simple model for renewable energy source in the deployed sensors. This model can then be used as cost function for providing efficient routing and good quality of service.


Climate change is expected to lead to more frequent and intensive flooding problems for watersheds in the south part of China. This study presented a coupled Long Ashton Research Station Weather Generator (LARS-WG) and Semidistributed Land Use–Based Runoff Processes (SLURP) approach for flood frequency analysis and applied it to the Heshui watershed, China. LARS-WG, as a weather generator, was used to offer 46 sets of climate data from seven general circulation models (GCMs) under various emission scenarios (i.e., A1B, B1, andA2) over near-term and future periods (i.e., T1, 2011–30; T2, 2046–65; and T3, 2080– 99). SLURP is a continuous, spatially distributed hydrologicalmodel that uses parameters from physiographic data to simulate the hydrological cycle from precipitation to runoff. Flood frequency analysis based on Pearson type III distributions was followed to analyze statistics of annual peaks. The final results (from ensembles of multimodels and multiscenarios) indicated that the magnitudes of a 200-yr return flood for T1, T2, and T3 would increase by 5.23%, 4.08%, and 12.92%, respectively, in comparison to the baseline level; those under the most extreme condition (i.e., worst scenario) would be 25.18%, 31.00%, and 44.46%, respectively. Various GCMs and emission scenarios suggested different results. But the ECHAM5/Max Planck InstituteOceanModel was found to give amore worrying intensification of flood risks and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial ResearchOrganisationMark, version 3.0, and the Community Climate SystemModel, version 3, were relatively conservative. The study results were useful in helping gain insight into the flood risks and its uncertainty under future climate change conditions for the Heshui watershed, and the proposed methodology is also applicable to many other watersheds in Southeast Asia with similar climatic conditions.


Background Young African-American women have the highest rates of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the USA. The objective was to identify baseline predictors of repeat chlamydia and/or gonorrhoea infections among African-American adolescent women. Methods Sociodemographic, psychosocial and behavioural data were collected at baseline and every 6 months for 2 years from 701 African-American women (14–20 years) enrolled in an HIV prevention trial. Vaginal swabs were self-collected at each visit and assayed for chlamydia and gonorrhoea using DNA amplification. Among participants testing positive for chlamydia and/or gonorrhoea at baseline, logistic regression analyses assessed baseline predictors of repeat infection. Results Of 618 (88%) participants with ≥1 follow-up assessment, 123 (20%) had a positive chlamydia and/or gonorrhoea test result at baseline; 49 (40%) had a repeat infection during the study period. Of those with a repeat infection, 30 (61%) were positive at one follow-up visit, 18 (37%) at two visits and 1 (2%) at three follow-up visits. Controlling for age and intervention condition, impulsivity (AOR: 1.71, p=0.018) was associated with an increased likelihood, and having a boyfriend (AOR: 0.21, p=0.006) was associated with a decreased likelihood of repeat infection. Conclusions Repeat chlamydia and/or gonorrhoea infections are common among African-American adolescent women. Among young African-American women who test positive for chlamydia and/or gonorrhoea, tailored interventions for more impulsive adolescents and those not in a relationship may reduce risk of repeat infections. Given the high numbers of repeat infections after receipt of an evidence-based intervention, enhanced screening and treatment services for young men may be warranted. Clinical Trials Registration http://www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT00279799)


Abstract Cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) are included in guidelines for assessment of auditory processing disorder (APD), but their diagnostic value and their use as a measure of treatment effectiveness have not been fully explored. The current study has three main aims: (1) to assess if there are differences in CAEPs recorded in quiet and in noise in children with APD compared to a control group of typically developing (TD) children, (2) to investigate the test-retest reliability of CAEPs, and (3) to determine whether participation in discrimination or language with or without support of personal frequency modulation (FM) resulted in significant changes in auditory function as measured by CAEPs. Fifty-five children with APD and 22 TD children age 7 to 13 years participated. There were group differences between TD children and children with APD for CAEP P1 and N250 amplitudes. CAEPs assessed on two occasions (separated by 7 to 10 days) showed a significant reduction in N250 amplitude on the second visit, highlighting the importance of establishing a stable baseline for CAEPs to more clearly delineate the effects of training from other factors influencing measurements. Participants with APD were randomly assigned to five treatment groups, including a no training group, two groups receiving discrimination training (one of these also used personal FM), and two groups receiving language training (one of these also used personal FM). N250 amplitudes changed during the baseline period, in the absence of any specific training, and hence a control group alone is insufficient for establishing intervention effectiveness; establishing a stable pretraining baseline for electrophysiological (and other) outcome measurements is also important. After 6 weeks training, children with APD in the discrimination treatment group showed a further significant change in N250 amplitudes, beyond the change that occurred during the baseline period. These results are limited by the small numbers of participants in each treatment group; however, the finding of some CAEP changes after training is consistent with published evidence for cortical changes after short-term auditory training.


Increased expression of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) in response to chronic ethanol has been implicated in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease. However, the molecular mechanisms by which ethanol increases the levels of TNFα are not well characterized. Utilizing Kupffer cells isolated from rats fed an ethanol containing diet and a murine macrophage cell line, RAW264.7, exposed to ethanol in culture, we have demonstrated that exposure to chronic ethanol results in an enhanced expression of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced TNFα. While chronic ethanol had no effect on the rate of LPS-induced TNFα transcription as measured by nuclear run-on experiments, TNFα mRNA half-life was increased by chronic ethanol. Chronic ethanol also potentiated the activation of LPS-induced p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase in Kupffer cells, as well as in RAW264.7 cells. Specific inhibition of p38 MAP kinase activation by SB203580 in Kupffer cells or by overexpression of dominant negative p38 MAP kinase in RAW264.7 cells blocked ethanol-mediated TNFα mRNA stabilization. Furthermore, using chimeric reporter constructs, we have shown that A + U-rich elements in the 3′-untranslated region of TNFα mRNA are not sufficient to impart ethanol-mediated stabilization on TNFα mRNA.


Aluminum alloy foams, new materials belonging to a special class of porous materials, have been prepared using melt foaming method. Silicon was chosen alloying element due to its low density, high strength, effective casting and reduced shrinkage. Melt foaming method is cost-effective method to fabricate metal foam. Usually, TiH2 is applied to blowing agent, but its cost is high. CaCO3 is one of candidates to substitute TiH2 in the economic view-point. For the comparison of formability, Mg alloy foams were prepared by TiH2 and CaCO3. However, the decomposition temperature of CaCO3 is higher than that of TiH2. This paper will be discussed on the possible usage of CaCO3 in the Al melt.


Programming distributed applications free from communication deadlocks and race conditions is complex. Preserving these properties when applications are updated at runtime is even harder. We present a choreographic approach for programming updatable, distributed applications. We define a choreography language, called Dynamic Interaction-Oriented Choreography (DIOC), that allows the programmer to specify, from a global viewpoint, which parts of the application can be updated. At runtime, these parts may be replaced by new DIOC fragments from outside the application. DIOC programs are compiled, generating code for each participant in a process-level language called Dynamic Process-Oriented Choreographies (DPOC). We prove that DPOC distributed applications generated from DIOC specifications are deadlock free and race free and that these properties hold also after any runtime update. We instantiate the theoretical model above into a programming framework called Adaptable Interaction-Oriented Choreographies in Jolie (AIOCJ) that comprises an integrated development environment, a compiler from an extension of DIOCs to distributed Jolie programs, and a runtime environment to support their execution.


Prostaglandins (PGs) have proven important during parturition, but inhibition of PG production treating preterm labor (PTL) results in significant maternal and fetal side effects. We hypothesize that specific inhibition of either cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 or -2 may result in separation of therapeutic and toxic effects. We demonstrate that COX-2, but not COX-1, is induced during inflammation-mediated PTL caused by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration. A two- to threefold increase in uterine and ovarian PG concentrations coincides with this induction of COX-2. The COX-2-selective inhibitor SC-236 proved effective in stopping preterm delivery and the increases in PGs. The COX-1-selective inhibitor SC-560 also attenuated uterine and ovarian PG production after LPS but did not inhibit PTL as efficiently as SC-236. COX-1-deficient mice, which show delay in the onset of term labor, exhibited no delay in onset of PTL after LPS. These findings suggest that the mechanisms for initiation of inflammation-mediated PTL and term labor differ and that selective COX-2 inhibition may provide a means of stopping inflammation-induced PTL in humans.


The degree to which the Social Security tax distorts labor supply depends on the extent to which individuals perceive the link between current earnings and future Social Security benefits. Some Social Security reform plans have been motivated by an assumption that workers fail to perceive this link and that increasing the salience of the link could result in significant efficiency gains. To measure the perceived linkage between labor supply and Social Security benefits, we administered a survey to a representative sample of Americans aged 50-70. We find that the majority of respondents believe that their Social Security benefits increase with labor supply. Indeed, respondents generally report a link between labor supply and future benefits that is somewhat greater than the actual incentive. We also surveyed people about their understanding of various other provisions in the Social Security benefit rules. We find that some of these provisions (e.g., effects of delayed benefit claiming and rules on widow benefits) are relatively well understood while others (e.g., rules on spousal benefits, provisions on which years of earnings are taken into account) are less well understood. In addition, our survey incorporated a framing experiment, which shows that how the incentives for delayed claiming are presented has an impact on hypothetical claiming decisions. In particular, the traditional "break-even" framing used by the Social Security Administration leads to earlier claiming than other presentations do.


Two explanations of why shared group membership promotes cooperation in social dilemmas were compared. According to the fear—greed model of social identity proposed by Simpson (2006), shared group membership reduces greed but not fear and, thus, should promote altruistic behavior toward in-group members in the absence of fear. According to the group heuristic model proposed by Yamagishi and colleagues, altruistic behavior toward in-group members is a `ticket' to enter a generalized exchange system; people are not predicted to behave altruistically when it is made salient that no system of generalized exchange operates in the group. We tested these models in a dictator game experiment with two conditions. In the common knowledge condition, either model predicts greater altruism toward in-group recipients. In the unilateral knowledge condition — when the dictator knows the group membership of the recipient, but the recipient does not know the membership of the dictator — the fear—greed model predicts greater altruism toward ingroup recipients. In contrast, the group heuristic model does not predict such in-group bias in altruism. The results of the experiment support the group heuristic model.


In business practices, micro and small businesses (SMEs) have several internal and external problems, such as difficulties in the capital. These problems also occur in SMEs in Mojokerto. To solve this SME problem, several stakeholders in Mojokerto collaborated to create a Sharia Financing Program (PUSYAR) on the basis of a Murabahah contract. The implementation of this program has been running for approximately five years, since the memorandum of understanding was signed by the Badan Amil Zakat Nasional Kota Mojokerto, PT. BPRS Kota Mojokerto, Dinas Koperasi Perindustrian dan Perdagangan (Diskoperindag) dan Masyarakat Ekonomi Syariah (MES) in 2013. During this time, the amount of budget allocation and realization, and the number of beneficiaries of the PUSYAR program has increased, so basically, the PUSYAR financing program is needed by SMEs to survive the existing business competition. The renewal of this study describes the PUSYAR program model as a whole and formulates a development strategy by strengthening the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders involved. Therefore, the aim of this study will be to examine more deeply in formulating the right development strategy of the SME empowerment program through the PUSYAR financing program, so that the usefulness of this program can increase. The hope of the study result can be used as a reference for other local governments or the central government to apply for this PUSYAR program in the future.


In responding to industry demands for an increasingly skilled workforce, Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions in New Zealand (NZ) and Peoples Republic of China (PRC) are actively collaborating to learn from each other's experiences. The aim of this collaboration is to ensure institutional decision makers in both countries, have the right information, at the right time to make the right decisions. To gather this information, a central virtual research centre has been established and this centre has endorsed a number of local branches. The Waikato Institute of Technology, in exploring the possibilities of being a branch of this central body, has begun a project to identify how formal research teams and informal research communities in distributed national and international locations, with different research focuses and needs, can establish unique digital spaces using a shared digital infrastructure. Initial development of the proposed digital infrastructure was based on a number of key factors. The User Interface (UI) needed to be consistent across all parts of the application (internal consistency) and build upon the users' previous experiences (familiarity). It also needed to be multi-lingual to meet the needs of Chinese and New Zealand researchers.
Research spaces needed to be individually configured and owned by the group(s) conducting the research.
Administration and management processes associated with research activities (roles, responsibilities and access) needed to be controlled within the research space.
Media rich synchronous (web-conferencing) and asynchronous (video and audio recording) communication tools would need to be be available on demand. Secure spaces for the storage, presentation and retrieval of data collected using digital video and audio devices were required. Academic publishing activities, peer review and publication of text and multi-media files, needed to be available. With the focus on the TVET sector, the close relationship between the research and teaching environments needed to be acknowledged.
In previous studies it had been suggested that existing Virtual Learning Environment software applications (such as Boddington and Sakai) could provide a direct link between research and teaching and learning (Fraser, 2005). It was argued in some contexts, such as the social sciences, it may be possible to re-purpose the existing learning management system (LMS) applications as a framework for the development of user generated research spaces.
Moodle, a globally deployed LMS with multiple language packs, provided the team with the fundamental functionality to create a modular infrastructure for users to create their own research spaces. For example, research spaces could be individually customised by using an extensive range of themes and formats. System and application plugins such as PoodLLe, (asynchronous video and audio recording functionality), Big Blue Button (web-conferencing software), Kaltura (multimedia storage and steaming) provide users with a comprehensive suite of applications that they could configure to meet their needs.
This presentation will illustrate, through the use of a functional pilot site, how users can create customised research spaces.
Michael Fraser. "Virtual Research Environments: Overview and Activity". July 2005, Ariadne Issue 44 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue44/fraser/


This thesis investigates the impact of digital technology on the methods of design and production in architecture. Through research of history, theory, technology, and methods, the work determines whether the current use of new technologies should be considered as iterative development of the architectural practice, or as a radically new paradigm. The computer has now matured into the primary working medium for architectural design. Digital tools are increasingly expanding their role, from design and visualization, to use in empirical simulation and evaluation, digital fabrication, and in on-site construction validation. This combination of linked tools, into a single project-wide solution system is called the "digital chain". This procedure is a significant opportunity for optimization of process, but it can also be seen as a catalyst to reinforce creative collaboration between disparate professionals in a design team. Because of this change to both methods and relationships the digital chain, and its components are understood to be disruptive technologies. The digital chain has caused a bifurcation in architectural productivity, because of this disruption many theorists and critics claim that digital technologies now define a new era of architecture. This thesis seeks to understand if this inflection can also be considered a new paradigm. The contemporary computer, as an "information machine" is characterized by three specific capabilities: control, prediction, and processing. Research and project work to examine the digital chain have been undertaken and categorized using these three investigation channels. Each topic for investigation has been instigated with a pedagogic work. Thereafter, additional "proof of concept" projects have been undertaken to advance the work to the professional level. The results and findings occur at two levels: Practical production of architecture, but also as conclusion about "digital learning" and the scope of technological adoption within the architectural profession. The conclusions of the thesis state that a technologically induced paradigm-shift in architecture has not occurred. The current implementation of digital tools still only qualifies as iterative innovation of traditional methods. The technology and use of digital tools in architecture has developed significantly in the last decade. Emerging technologies, new methods, and the prognosis for future developments will have significant effect on architectural design and production. Because architecture has a well established precedent of "re-purposing" technology from other disciplines, the thesis concludes that there is strong potential that a paradigm-shift may yet happen. By examining emerging innovations from other industries it is possible to make highly informed predictions about incoming innovations in materials, production methods, and conceptual systems. This insight into the next wave of potential catalytic influences is presented in the discussion, and it is concluded that a broader range of new innovations may yet invoke a technologically driven paradigm-shift in architecture.


Objective. To analyze the effects of enteral nutrition on outcomes and complications of critically ill children in the pediatric in-tensive care unit (PICU).Design. Retrospective cohort study. Setting. PICU in a tertiary care academic medical center.Patients. Patients up to age 17 years who were admitted to the PICU between Janu-ary 1, 2011, and December 31, 2013. Interventions. Intubation for more than 48 hours and requiring any sedative medica-tions. Patients with surgical contraindica-tions to feeding were excluded. Measures and Main Results. A total of 165 patients met inclusion criteria. Both manual review of the electronic health re-cord and automated data capture (when-ever technically feasible) were conducted. Data were collected in REDCap software and analyzed using a statistical discovery program. The mean (SD) calorie intake within the first 10 days of PICU admission was 40% (31.9%) of the prescribed calo-ries. Only 67% of the patients had feeding initiated within 48 hours of admission. No significant difference in hospital or PICU length of stay or ventilator-free days was observed in patients who met one-third of their nutritional goals (50.3%) compared with patients who did not (49.7%). Mor-tality was nonsignificantly higher among patients who did not meet nutritional goals (P=.07). No association was found between higher doses of opioids or benzo-diazepines and nutrition tolerance or gas-trointestinal complications. Conclusions. Early adequate enteral nutri-tion had no statistically significant impact on the short-term clinical outcomes of PICU patients.


This research has been an investigation of some current aspects of Taiwan's contemporary art and society, expressed through three major exhibitions of paintings. The exhibitions were shown under the following titles — Ambiguity Between Man and Woman, 'Leisure Art Centre', Taipei, Taiwan, 1992, The Culture of Powerful Personal Relationships and Connections, 'Capital Art Center', Tai-Chung, Taiwan, 1993 and ART One by One, 'Long Gallery', University of Wollongong, Australia, 1993 and 'Fire Station Gallery', Sydney, Australia, 1994. There are few complete and comprehensive writings of the development of art in Taiwan in the late twentieth century. The dissertation accompanying the exhibitions gives an overview of art developments, which have led to the current issues forming the subjects of the artworks. The works deal with a number of general social issues, including gender roles and power positions in contemporary life in Taiwan, but focus particularly on the issue, which concerns many artists in Taiwan, the tension between creating works in an international art scene and at the same time developing works, which deal honestly with and reflect the specific qualities of their own culture. Within this debate is the conflict between tradition and importation of styles, forms and ideas. The culminating exhibition suggests the possibility of co-existence of art-forms, which can be an honest reflection of today's Taiwan. As the author's own art development is part of this story, the written documentation is a presentation of an historical overview, at times interwoven with a personal history. In the same way, the art works deal with general issues, but reflect a personal involvement, so can be seen as portraits of a society and at the same time self-portraits.


Abstract Previous studies have investigated the effects of a humanitarian rapport-orientated and a dominant non-rapport-orientated interview style on the memory performance of adults in two interviews separated by a 6-month interval. Also, the impact of interviewees' personality on recall was investigated. In the present exploratory study, the data that formed the basis of previous findings were re-analysed for potential indirect effects of interview approach on interviewees' recall, and for any potential relation between the interview approach and interviewees' recall as moderated by their personality. Results showed three full mediation effects in the second interview: the rapport index (interviewers' demeanour) mediated the relation between the interview approach and increased recall; the non-rapport index mediated the relations between the interview approach and decreased recall. Follow-up analyses showed a full mediation effect for the individual items friendliness and cooperation in the rapport index, and for negative attitude, nonchalance, impatience and brusqueness and obstinacy in the non-rapport index. Moreover, the results showed a significant moderation effect; the relationship between the interview approach and confabulated memories being moderated by openness to experience; and a high level of openness was associated with an increase in confabulated memories.


Valuing patients underlies good communication in psychiatry and mediates positive outcomes. The aim of this study was to (1) identify and reliably assess valuing and devaluing communicative behaviour of psychiatrists in routine consultations, and (2) explore whether valuing behaviour is associated with patient satisfaction. In an inductive study, psychiatrists' valuing and devaluing behaviours were operationalized and identified in 100 video-recorded consultations with patients with psychosis. Inter-rater reliability of identifying these behaviours was assessed. Associations with patients' satisfaction were explored using a mixed linear regression model. We identified 18 different valuing behaviours – e.g. seeking patient's views and supportive statements – and four devaluing behaviours – e.g. talking over the patient and poor responding to concerns – that could be assessed with good reliability. The inter-rater reliability was high (ICC=.89). More valuing behaviour was linked to higher patient satisfaction with the communication (β=.45, CI .14 to.77, p p<.01). It was found that
psychiatrists value and devalue patients through a wide range of different behaviours, on which there is agreement among different observers. The inductively
developed list of valuing behaviours may be validated through the association with higher patient satisfaction. The behaviours may be used in training
and supervision to enhance the valuing of patients in consultations.


Although different types of soil and water conservation practices (SWCPs) were introduced, the sustainable use of these practices is far below expectations, and soil erosion continues to be a severe problem in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was conducted at Debre Yakobe Micro-Watershed (DYMW), Northwest Ethiopia with the general objective of finding out the effects of SWCPs on selected soil physico-chemical properties. Practices including non-conserved plot in the gentle slope (NCGS), non-conserved plot in the moderate slope (NCMS), bund with Sesbania sesban in the gentle slope (BSGS), bund with Sesbania sesban in the moderate slope (BSMS), bund with pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) in the gentle slope (BPGS) and bund with pigeon pea in the moderate slope (BPMS) were examined. Soil samples were collected from different land management plots and soil texture while bulk density (BD), pH, organic matter (OM), total nitrogen (TN), Available Phosphors (Av.P), and cation exchange capacity (CEC) were analyzed in the laboratory. Data were analyzed with the use of one-way analysis of variance and simple regression methods. The results of the study revealed that there is significant difference (p< 0.05) between conserved and non-conserved plots. The conserved plots had the highest soil pH (BPMS) 6.7, OM (BPMS) 3.01%, TN (BSGS) 0.13%, Av.P (BPMS) 4.20 (ppm) and CEC (BSGS) 32.01 cmol( + ) kg -1 but a lower BD (BPMS) 1.34 g cm -3 ; suggesting that bund accompanied by Sesbania sesban and pigeon pea were found to be effective in improving soil physico-chemical properties in the study area. Keywords: Biological practices, erosion, physical structure, soil properties


Abstract. Palladium platinum (PdPt) has been intensively studied these last decades due to high conversion rate in hydrogen oxidation at room temperature with significant exothermic effects. These remarkable properties have been studied by measuring the temperature variations of alumina (Al2O3) supported nanosized PdPt nanoparticles exposed to different hydrogen concentrations in dry air. This catalyst is expected to be used as a sensing material for stable and reversible ultrasensitive hydrogen sensors working at room temperature (low power consumption). Structural and gas sensing characterisations and catalytic activity of PdPt / Al2O3 systems synthesised by co-impregnation will be presented. Catalytic characterisations show that the system is already active at room temperature and that this activity sharply increases with rise in temperature. Moreover, the increase of the PdPt proportion in the co-impregnation process improves the activity, and very high conversion can be reached even at room temperature. The thermal response (about 3 °C) of only 1 mg of PdPt / Al2O3 is reversible, and the time response is about 5 s. The integration of PdPt / Al2O3 powder on a flat substrate has been realised by the deposition onto the powder of a thin porous hydrophobic layer of parylene. The possibility of using PdPt in gas sensors will be discussed.


The stationary grid commonly used with a digital x-ray detector causes a moiré interference pattern due to the inadequate sampling of the grid shadows by the detector pixels. There are limitations with the previous methods used to remove the moiré such as imperfect electromagnetic interference shielding and the loss of image information. A new method is proposed for removing the moiré pattern by integrating a carbon-interspaced high precision x-ray grid with high grid line uniformity with the detector for frequency matching. The grid was aligned to the detector by translating and rotating the x-ray grid with respect to the detector using microcontrolled alignment mechanism. The gap between the grid and the detector surface was adjusted with micrometer precision to precisely match the projected grid line pitch to the detector pixel pitch. Considering the magnification of the grid shadows on the detector plane, the grids were manufactured such that the grid line frequency was slightly higher than the detector sampling frequency. This study examined the factors that affect the moiré pattern, particularly the line frequency and displacement. The frequency of the moiré pattern was found to be sensitive to the angular displacement of the grid with respect to the detector while the horizontal translation alters the phase but not the moiré frequency. The frequency of the moiré pattern also decreased with decreasing difference in frequency between the grid and the detector, and a moiré-free image was produced after complete matching for a given source to detector distance. The image quality factors including the contrast, signal-to-noise ratio and uniformity in the images with and without the moiré pattern were investigated.


This paper presents a newly designed column-type experimental device for investigating the coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of expansive soils. Sensors and monitoring instruments facilitated continuous and nondestructive measurements of temperature, relative humidity, water content, and total stresses in both axial and lateral directions at various preselected locations of the device. The design features and calibration of specific accessories are presented. System implementation and validation tests were performed to examine the performance of the device at an elevated temperature. In the context of underground storage of nuclear waste, a test was performed with a compacted Calcigel bentonite-sand mixture (50:50) to investigate the thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of the material under an applied temperature gradient involving temperatures of 80°C and 20°C at the opposite ends of the sample. The test results highlighted the key features of temperature-driven processes in unsaturated compacted porous media. Thermal loading caused changes in the water content and relative humidity within the sample. During the temperature equilibration period, the thermal dilation phenomenon in the regions closer to the heat source was found to be responsible for the development of axial and lateral stresses in the sample. A longer duration of thermal loading caused volumetric shrinkage of the material, which in turn affected the magnitudes of both axial and lateral stresses.


Many U.S. colleges and universities are concerned with how best to prepare students to become globally competent citizens. Therefore, the need existed to examine the general global competence of students enrolling in international dimension (ID) courses at Oklahoma State University. This investigation was a census study; the target population included all undergraduate students (N = 147) enrolled in three ID courses offered in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR) during the fall semester of the 2010–2011 academic year. General knowledge instruments were used to gather pretest and posttest data to measure differences. Although students' post-course scores were higher than pre-course scores, their overall performance was below 60%. This difference in knowledge gain connoting general global competence was statistically significant (p < .05), but the corresponding effect size was small, which signaled little practical significance. Whether ID courses are an efficacious way of achieving substantial change in students' general global competence remains an open question. A more appropriate method to assess change in general global competence may be writing assignments. Faculty are encouraged to improve their ID courses by infusing learning experiences that stand to enhance students' general global competence while complementing content-specific objectives.


The Arabidopsis Plant HomeoDomain (PHD) proteins AtMS1 and AtMMD1 provide chromatin-mediated transcriptional regulation essential for tapetum-dependent pollen formation. Such pollen-based male gametogenesis is a derived trait of seed plants. Male gametogenesis in the common ancestors of land plants is instead likely to have been reminiscent of that in extant bryophytes where flagellated sperms are produced by an elaborate gametophyte generation. Still, also bryophytes possess MS1/MMD1-related PHD proteins. We addressed the function of two MS1/MMD1-homologs in the bryophyte model moss Physcomitrium patens by the generation and analysis of reporter and loss-of-function lines. The two genes are together essential for both male and female fertility by providing cell autonomous functions in the gamete-producing inner cells of antheridia and archegonia. They are furthermore expressed in the diploid sporophyte generation suggesting a function during sporogenesis, a process proposed related by descent to pollen formation in angiosperms. We propose that the moss MS1/MMD1-related regulatory network required for completion of male and female gametogenesis and possibly for sporogenesis, represent a heritage from ancestral land plants.


: [ Objective ] This paper discusses the existing issues and possible solutions to the automatic classification of digital documents (i.e. library bibliographies, news pages and social media posts). [ Coverage ] We reviewed literature on the feature semantics conversion, feature expansion and weighting strategy from the field of Automatic Classification based on machine learning. [ Methods ] We analyzed the leading studies, key technologies, current achievements, and future directions from the published articles. [ Results ] Our research found the limits of previous studies on semantic representation of texts and utilization of knowledge bases. [ Limitations ] We did not discuss the classification algorithms. [ Conclusions ] To improve the effectiveness of automatic classification of digital documents, future research could try to combine Vector Space Model with Probabilistic Topic Model, use the knowledge base to improve the concept similarity computing, as well as construct composite weighted strategy.


The stability range of lead oxide compounds Pb3Sr2.5Bi0.5Ca2CuOy (3321) phase in Bi-system high temperature superconducting materials has been investigated. In this study (Bi,Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3Ox (BSCCO) powder was heat treated in different oxygen partial pressure and different temperature. The formation and the relative volume fraction of the 3321 phase were determined by X-ray diffraction. The microstructure of the quenched pellets was observed using SEM. Experimental results show that the stability range of the 3321 phase depends on both the temperature and oxygen partial pressure. A three dimensional plot of relative 3321 phase formation was obtained for BSCCO powder in which the main phase is (Bi,Pb)-2212 at different temperature and oxygen partial pressure.


Cardiac ablation catheters commonly used for the diagnosis and treatment of arrhythmias are small in diameter and require extensive finger grip and dexterity for safe maneuverability during procedures. This is especially important in the pediatric population where the cardiac structures are smaller and potentially more variable as a result of congenital anatomic anomalies. We developed a novel catheter grip accessory tool for improved control and maneuverability of cardiac ablation catheters. Mechanical testing of the tool demonstrated it could grip the catheter with an average force of 0.031 kN and transfer an average torque of 0.0392 N-m before slipping, both well above forces experienced in normal clinical use. During tensile testing, the tool fractured at an average force of 0.554 kN. At the point of failure, testing found that the electrical conduction and resistance of the catheter remained unchanged. In simulated use testing, the tool was able to translate torque more accurately to the catheter tip compared to manual manipulation of the catheter. This novel tool has the potential to reduce physician muscle exertion in ablation procedures and increase the safety profile when manipulating catheters within the heart.


In addition to the inverse association of dietary lycopene with various cancers, studies suggest a role for lycopene in cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention. We determined whether the intake of lycopene or tomato-based foods is associated with the risk of CVD in a prospective cohort of 39,876 middle-aged and older women initially free of CVD and cancer. Participants completed a food-frequency questionnaire and provided self-reports of coronary risk factors. Dietary lycopene levels were divided into quintiles, and primary lycopene food sources (total tomato-based products, including tomatoes, tomato juice, tomato sauce and pizza) were categorized. During 7.2 y of follow-up, 719 CVD cases (including myocardial infarction, stroke, revascularization and CVD death) occurred. Compared with women in the 1st quintile of lycopene, those in increasing quintiles had multivariate relative risks (RR) of CVD of 1.11, 1.14, 1.15 and 0.90 (P for trend = 0.34). For the consumption of tomato-based products, women consuming 1.5 to <4, 4 to <7, 7 to <10 and >or=10 servings/wk had RR (95% CI) of CVD of 1.02 (0.82-1.26), 1.04 (0.82-1.31), 0.68 (0.49-0.96) and 0.71 (0.42-1.17) (P for trend = 0.029) compared with women consuming <1.5 servings/wk. Among lycopene food sources, those in the highest levels of tomato sauce (>or=2 servings/wk) and pizza intake (>or=2 servings/wk), with multivariate RR of 0.76 (0.55-1.05) and 0.66 (0.37-1.18), respectively, had potential reductions in CVD risk. Dietary lycopene was not strongly associated with the risk of CVD. However, the possible inverse associations noted for higher levels of tomato-based products, particularly tomato sauce and pizza, with CVD suggest that dietary lycopene or other phytochemicals consumed as oil-based tomato products confer cardiovascular benefits.


In this article, a local search approach is proposed for three variants of the bi-objective binary knapsack problem, with the aim of maximizing the total profit and minimizing the total weight. First, an experimental study on a given structural property of connectedness of the efficient set is conducted. Based on this property, a local search algorithm is proposed and its performance is compared to exact algorithms in terms of runtime and quality metrics. The experimental results indicate that this simple local search algorithm is able to find a representative set of optimal solutions in most of the cases, and in much less time than exact algorithms.


: Fifty-two, 8-week-old, male White Pekin ducklings (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus) were allotted into control (n = 7) and isoproterenol-injected groups (n = 45). One control duck and 5 to 7 isoproterenol-injected (200 mg/kg of body weight) ducklings were euthanatized at postinjection hours (PIH) 1, 12, and 24 and at postinjection days (PID) 2, 4, 7, and 14. The left ventricular myocardium was examined, using electron microscopy. The earliest ultrastructural alteration in damaged myocytes was myofibrillar lysis at PIH 12. At PIH 24, affected myocytes had necrosis with mineralization of mitochondria. By PID 2, macrophages had invaded into areas of myocardial necrosis, mineralization was prominent in myocyte mitochondria, and dedifferentiated myocytes with reduced numbers of myofibrils, increased numbers of polysomes, large nuclei, and prominent nucleoli were first observed. The primary myocardial finding at PID 4, 7, and 14 was 2 populations of sublethally damaged myocytes. One population of injured myocytes had numerous polysomes in the sarcoplasm and large nuclei with prominent nucleoli, indicating attempts at repair of myofibrillar damage. The 2nd population of myocytes with myofibrillar lysis did not have morphologic evidence of myofibrillar repair. Therefore, the sequential ultrastructural alterations of damage and repair induced by isoproterenol in the duckling myocardium provided model for comparative studies of cardiotoxicity.


In examining the threshold question for Fourth Amendment analysis – what constitutes a search? – both courts and commentators have generally premised their analysis on a sharp dichotomy between an approach based on trespass to real or personal property, on the one hand, and one grounded in non-property-based expectations of privacy, on the other. The trespass-based regime seemed to have given way in 1967 to the "reasonable expectation of privacy" standard. But the resurgence of a trespass-based approach in recent Supreme Court cases has served to highlight the supposed distinction between the two methodologies.

When subjected to close scrutiny, the dichotomy between the two approaches becomes highly questionable. Whether analyzed in terms of trespass or reasonable expectations of privacy, the question in close cases concerning whether government conduct constitutes a Fourth Amendment search comes down to the same essential touchstone: social norms governing privacy and seclusion. Those social norms inform both when a particular expectation of privacy should be deemed reasonable and when an incursion on property should be deemed a trespass. This social-norm-based analysis of whether a Fourth Amendment search has occurred should not be surprising. The common law governing rights to security in one's person and property stems from longstanding custom, which is inextricably linked with social norms: the practices of a people become their social norms, which harden into custom, and custom in turn evolves into enforceable rights and interests that sometimes, though not always, find expression in positive law. Thus, expectations of privacy and trespass constitute, not two distinct tests, but rather two points on the same evolutionary scale. Our notions of trespass have as their touchstone the very same social norms that form the backbone of the reasonable expectation of privacy test.

One can articulate a uniform meaning of "search," irrespective of whether we are operating under a "trespass" or a "reasonable expectation of privacy" model. A Fourth Amendment search occurs when, for the purpose of gathering information, government agents act contrary to law, broadly conceived – that is, law in whatever stage of evolutionary development – providing us with security vis-a-vis private actors in our persons, houses, papers, and effects. A violation of positive law that fits this definition is sufficient but not necessary to constitute a Fourth Amendment search; a violation of social norms that fits this definition, even where the norms have not yet gelled into positive law, should also be considered a search. But because law, in all its manifestations, often differs by jurisdiction, the question whether a Fourth Amendment search has occurred might be answered differently in different parts of the country, and perhaps even in different parts of the same State.


Training a multimodal network is challenging and it requires complex architectures to achieve reasonable performance. We show that one reason for this phenomena is the difference between the convergence rate of various modalities. We address this by pre-training modality-specific sub-networks in multimodal architectures independently before end-to-end training of the entire network. Furthermore, we show that the addition of an attention mechanism between sub-networks after pre-training helps identify the most important modality during ambiguous scenarios boosting the performance. We demonstrate that by performing these two tricks a simple network can achieve similar performance to a complicated architecture that is significantly more expensive to train on multiple tasks including sentiment analysis, emotion recognition, and speaker trait recognition.


Drawing on recent observational fieldwork as well as existing research studies in the fields of law and of psychology, this article examines the nature of police practices in the disclosure of evidence before and during custodial interviews of legally represented suspects. Whilst police pre-interview disclosure to lawyers was a fixed practice, the format of disclosure varied and lawyers were rarely permitted to inspect the evidence, relying instead on the officer's account. Disclosure was sometimes provided in stages, either as a deliberate tactic or when evidence was lacking. Officers occasionally exaggerated the strength of their case to suspects and resisted providing more detail to lawyers – an approach that seemed designed to elicit an admission from the suspect. In line with past research, lawyers relied on the evidence that police disclosed when advising clients before the interview and occasionally argued with the police for more disclosure. Taken together, these findings suggest that police are complying with the minimum disclosure requirements set out by legislation, and that police may be more open with lawyers than previous research suggests. Some of our findings warrant concern, however, and raise questions about risks to vulnerable suspects in custody and risks to suspects without legal representation.


A new concept has arisen regarding two cysteine metabolism-related molecules, hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen cyanide, which are considered toxic but have now been established as signaling molecules. Hydrogen sulfide is produced in chloroplasts through the sulfite reductase activity and in the cytosol and mitochondria by the action of sulfide-generating enzymes and regulates/affects essential plant processes such as plant adaptation, development, photosynthesis, autophagy and stomatal movement, where interplay with other signaling molecules occurs. The mechanism of action of sulfide, which modifies protein cysteine thiols to form persulfides, is related to its chemical features. This posttranslational modification, called persulfidation, could play a protective function for thiols against oxidative damage. Hydrogen cyanide is produced during the biosynthesis of ethylene and camalexin in noncyanogenic plants and is detoxified by the action of sulfur-related enzymes. Cyanide functions include the breaking of seed dormancy, modifying the plant responses to biotic stress, and inhibition of root hair elongation. The mode of action of cyanide is under investigation, although it has recently been demonstrated to perform posttranslational modification of protein cysteine thiols to form thiocyanate, a process called S-cyanylation. Therefore, the signaling roles of sulfide and most probably of cyanide are performed through the modification of specific cysteine residues, thus altering protein functions.


A human acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)-derived cell line, BALM-25, was established from the bone marrow specimen of a 59-year-old male patient with B-cell ALL L3 type (ALL-L3) at diagnosis. Immunophenotyping indicated mature B-cell characteristics including expression of cell surface and cytoplasmic immunoglobulin (Ig) chains, CD10, CD19, CD20, CD38, CD39, CD40, CD71, NU-B1 and HLA class II. T-cell and myeloid associated antigens tested were negative except CD5. BALM-25 cells have a morphological appearance typical for L3-type lymphoblasts. Regarding the expression of Ig chains, while the original leukemia cells expressed Ig λδμ and hence a single light (L) chain isotype, the established line revealed double L chain expression both at the cell surface and the cytoplasmic level. Definitive double L chain expression was confirmed by flow cytometry and Western blot analysis. Southern blot analysis demonstrated rearrangement of the IgJH, the Cκ and the Cλ genes. Cytogenetic analysis of BALM-25 revealed the following numerical and structural abnormalities: 55, X, add(X)(q12), + 2, add(3)(p21), + 5, add(7)(p13), add(11)(p11.2), add(11)(q?23), add(12)(p11.2), add(14)(q22), − 15, + 16, + 16,add(18)(11.2), + 20, + mar1, + mar2, + mar3, + mar,inc. The established cell line, BALM-25, provides an unlimited supply of cell material for analyzing the unique (patho)physiology of Ig expression in general and for clarifying the pathogenesis of this type of B-cell malignancy in particular.


Ultrasonic devices are widely used in robotics as exteroceptive sensors for ranging measurements. Robotic applications often involve a large number of sonars operating concurrently, giving rise to the phenomenon of crosstalk. In this work, the problem of improving performance of ultrasonic devices in the presence of crosstalk and noise is addressed. In order for each device to discriminate its own echo, chaos is exploited to create unique firing sequences. In particular, the firing scheme described in this work is inspired to a modulation scheme used in chaotic communications, called chaotic pulse position modulation (CPPM). The evaluation of the time of flight is performed by a detection filter. The experimental setup consists of a Polaroid 600 electrostatic transducer driven by a continuous CPPM modulator. Experimental results confirm the suitability of the approach.


Information technology is one of the most rapidly changing disciplines, especially with the fuzzy extension. Fuzzy databases have been studied in many works and papers but, in general, these works study some particular area and many works are theoretical works, with very few real applications. The Handbook of Research on Fuzzy Information Processing in Databases provides comprehensive coverage and definitions of the most important issues, concepts, trends, and technologies in fuzzy topics applied to databases, discussing current investigation into uncertainty and imprecision management by means of fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic in the field of databases and data mining. This compendium of research offers researchers, students, and organizations a complete, practical, guide to fuzzy information processing in databases.


The paper estimates the potential consequences of the development of the Arctic transport route taking into account the melting of polar ice and thus increased navigating time through the seas of the Arctic Ocean. The seas of the Arctic Ocean enable two ways from Europe to South-East Asia. The first one is the Northern Sea Route (the Northern Sea Corridor) around the Arctic coast of Russia and partially through the Pacific Ocean. This is the shortest seaway between Europe and South-East Asia. The second one is the Northwest Passage. It goes along the northern coast of North America through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The alternatives to the Northern Sea Route are either through the Suez Canal or via the Trans-Siberian Railway Road. The paper discusses a model of the international transport corridor thereby analyzing the factors that influence the endogenous variable of the model. The basis of the model is an autoregressive distributed lags model (ADL model). The models are estimated for the Northern Transport Corridor, Northwest Passage, Trans-Siberian Railway Road and Transport Corridor of the Suez Canal. While the volume of transported goods was taken as an endogenous variable in all the models, different exogenous variables were selected for each model using data for the period from 1990 to 2013. The paper comprises the results of the standard steps in the ADL model (test for autocorrelation of the endogenous and the exogenous variables; stationarity/non-stationarity analysis of the time series; regression analysis). Finally the paper provides the conclusions regarding the comparison of the Northern Transport Corridor to its alternatives.


Two-dimensional linear and second-order Creamer [Creamer (2)] nonlinear sea-surface models are combined with the second-order small-slope approximation method to comparatively study the electromagnetic scattering and the Doppler spectral characteristics from sea surfaces. Due to nonlinear hydrodynamics, the bistatic normalized radar cross section (NRCS) calculated from Creamer (2) surfaces is slightly larger than its linear surface counterpart for scattering angles departing from the specular direction, and the Creamer (2) surface backscattering coefficient increases as well for wind direction angles around upwind and downwind, whereas, for the crosswind direction, it is interesting to note that the observations are contrary. However, as was pointed out by Toporkov in a 1-D surface case, the effect of the nonlinear surface model on the average NRCS is minute. In particular, the Doppler spectra of the backscattered echoes are compared for the linear and Creamer (2) surfaces at various incident angles. It is seen, as expected, that the Doppler shifts and spectral widths of 2-D Creamer (2) surfaces exhibit different features compared with those of the linear surfaces, agreeing with the 1-D cases. However, for larger incident angles, the Doppler spectral broadening for Creamer (2) surfaces is not as severe as was reported in previous 1-D studies that used full Creamer model. The reason for this discrepancy appears to be the reduced nature of the Creamer (2) approximation. Moreover, studies of the Doppler characteristics for different wind directions demonstrate that nonlinear effects become weaker as the wind direction varies from upwind to crosswind.


Background Dysmorphology and dysfunction caused by prenatal ethanol consumption in different organs of the offspring are wellknown phenomena. The objective of the present study was to explore the antioxidant effect of vitamin E supplementation on testis damage induced by maternal ethanol consumption during pregnancy and early postnatal days. Methods Pregnant Wistar rats on gestation day 7 were assigned to 3 groups, namely, control, ethanol and ethanol-vitamin E groups. Ethanol-treated rats received 4.5 g/kg BW ethanol once per day from day 7 and the procedure continued through postnatal day 21. Vitamin E group received 300 mg of vitamin E and the same amount of ethanol. The male offspring from each group were anesthetized by 10% chloral hydrate (0.5 ml/kg body weight) on day 21 and 90 (n=8 offspring form each group on day 21 and day 90). The results were analyzed by one-way ANOVA. A p<0.05 was considered significant. Results The results revealed significant (p<0.05) changes in oxidative stress parameters, luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone, as well as testis structural alteration in offspring of ethanol group after 21 and 90 days of birth as compared to the control. Significant amelioration of changes in testis structure, along with restoration of the elevated level of oxidative stress parameters were found in vitamin E-treated animals. Conclusion The findings revealed that prenatal and postnatal ethanol-induced toxicity in testis was exerted through oxidative stress and implied that these effects could be alleviated by vitamin E as an antioxidant.


Rays have been traced through hollow straight light pipes, condensing cones, mitered right angles, and toroidal right-angle bends. The results presented include transmittance and average number of reflections in representative elements. Condensing cones should be kept short to minimize reflection losses, and mitered corners are superior even to ideal bends in all cases of practical interest. A formula is derived for the average number of reflections for all rays—skew and meridional—in a straight pipe. The discussion is limited to elements of circular cross section, and the emphasis is on applications to the far infrared.


What can pleasure in the nursing home teach us about dementia and subjectivity? In this article I seek to challenge the assumption that the 'fourth age' involves the loss of subjectivity. In presenting dementia as a single pathway towards loss and decline, alternative pathways that provide more hopeful imaginaries become obscured. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in residential dementia care, I show how care professionals craft conditions that invite residents to take pleasure in, for example, dancing and bathing, and thus to become what I call 'appreciating subjects'. Although residents do not craft these conditions themselves, they are active in accepting the invitations offered and enacting their appreciations. I argue that pleasure is a relational achievement, one that is contagious for those who let themselves be affected.


Bronchopleural fistula (BPF) is a communication between the pleural space and the bronchial tree. A BPF occurs when an injured bronchus fails to heal; the condition is associated with high morbidity. The treatment of persistent BPF includes various surgical procedures. Conventional surgical strategies such as thoracoplasty or chest wall fenestration carry significant mortality and long-term morbidity with pain and deformity. Reducing the morbidity of therapy with a minimal access approach is, therefore, appealing. In recent years, bronchoscopic management of BPF in terms of recognizing the site of fistula and blocking the leaking segment with many agents available has attained success and has been considered an established mode of management. The use of silver nitrate in treatment of BPF has staged a comeback, offering very good results.