Hysteresis behavior is observed in the transfer characteristic of most carbon-nanotube-based field effect transistors, and charges trapped at the carbon nanotube−dielectric interface are believed to be the cause. We have studied charge injection and dissipation around the interface of carbon nanotubes and SiO2 at different temperatures using an electrostatic force microscope. Numerical simulations were performed to extract the charge diffusion coefficients on the SiO2 surface under ambient conditions at different temperatures, and a critical temperature of ∼150 °C is observed. The activation energy of charge diffusion changes from ∼0.43 to ∼0.98 eV above this temperature, which is attributed to the change of surface chemistry. A more accurate model taking into consideration the electrostatic interaction among charges is used subsequently, and the fitting results are significantly improved. It is noted that the two models lead to similar activation energies.


BBM and other AIL transcription factors induce somatic embryogenesis in a dose- and context-dependent mechanism and through direct transcriptional regulation of major embryo identity genes. Somatic embryogenesis is an example of induced cellular totipotency, where embryos develop from vegetative cells rather than from gamete fusion. Somatic embryogenesis can be induced in vitro by exposing explants to growth regulators and/or stress treatments. The BABY BOOM (BBM) and LEAFY COTYLEDON1 (LEC1) and LEC2 transcription factors are key regulators of plant cell totipotency, as ectopic overexpression of either transcription factor induces somatic embryo formation from Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) seedlings without exogenous growth regulators or stress treatments. Although LEC and BBM proteins regulate the same developmental process, it is not known whether they function in the same molecular pathway. We show that BBM transcriptionally regulates LEC1 and LEC2, as well as the two other LAFL genes, FUSCA3 (FUS3) and ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE3 (ABI3). LEC2 and ABI3 quantitatively regulate BBM-mediated somatic embryogenesis, while FUS3 and LEC1 are essential for this process. BBM-mediated somatic embryogenesis is dose and context dependent, and the context-dependent phenotypes are associated with differential LAFL expression. We also uncover functional redundancy for somatic embryogenesis among other Arabidopsis BBM-like proteins and show that one of these proteins, PLETHORA2, also regulates LAFL gene expression. Our data place BBM upstream of other major regulators of plant embryo identity and totipotency.


Installation of seabed equipment represents approximately one third of the capital expenditures (CAPEX) for subsea developments. This report is based on investigating into new designs of subsea production system (SPS) structures that can appear to be cost-effective concerning seabed installation. Firstly, the principle of modularization of subsea production structures is considered. Secondly, an investigation into the use of non-metallic materials for construction elements in the subsea structures is carried out. Thus, in addition to the already existing integrated template structure (ITS), a new modularized tight cluster design, called X-Cat, is regarded through the report. Due to the high weight and large footprint of an ITS, only large and costly vessels can be mobilized for the installation of the structure. However, the X-Cat contains smaller modules, which increases the potential of the possibility of using smaller and lighter installation vessels. If the unit-weight of the limiting X-Cat module is reduced accordingly, it will increase the potential of using even smaller and lighter installation vessels. The first approach in the investigation was to suggest three new designs with lower unit-weights for the limiting X-Cat module. The suggested designs were developed by changing the material of selected construction elements from steel to fiberglass, which would reduce the unit-weight significantly. Furthermore, installation cost estimations were performed for the installation of the suggested designs and, subsequently, the effect of reducing vessel size was demonstrated by cost comparisons. In addition, as the alternative structures contained suction anchor technology, a further sensitivity analysis on suction anchor installations with regards to critical pressures were carried out. From the results, installation duration estimates demonstrated that a single ITS could be installed almost twice as fast as a single X-Cat. However, it was observed that if SPS construction elements could be designed in glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) instead of steel, the structures could have a positive impact on the installation costs, as smaller and lighter vessels from a much larger vessel pool could potentially be mobilized for the operations. Concerning the sensitivity analysis on suction anchor installations, the results demonstrated that the suction caisson belonging to the X-Cat should be designed with significantly larger skirt thickness relative to the ITS suction anchors. This report concludes that a material change from steel to fiberglass in construction elements for a modularized SPS design will reduce the unit weight of the structure, and further reduce the installation design load; by reducing the weight of the structure by using GRP as construction material, the corresponding installation cost reduction of the X-Cat could potentially exceed 50%. Further work should involve looking into the manufacturing costs of SPS construction elements made in GRP. It should also include an evaluation and assessment concerning the seastate of large fiberglass structures during subsea installations.


Prognostic statements are a standard component of assessments for adolescents at risk for language-learning disabilities, but there is limited evidence on the validity of prognostic indicators. In two studies, we collected measures of language ability and candidate prognostic indicators from adolescents age 12 to 13. We conducted an expository writing intervention. We observed relations between candidate prognostic measures and intervention response. In Study 1, a combination of compensatory and language ability measures better explained intervention gain than language ability measures alone. In Study 2, level of metacognitive awareness emerged as the prognostic indicator most associated with gain in holistic quality of expository essays. These exploratory data support the notion that selected compensatory ability measures aid in predicting gains from writing interventions for adolescents. The level of metacognitive awareness is a promising short-term prognostic indicator for adolescents who are candidates for interventions focused on ways of compensating for language ability weaknesses.


Several parallel pipelined digital signal processor (DSP) architectures that implement the fast cosine transform (FCT)-based Joint Photographers Expert Group (JPEG) still picture image compression algorithm with arithmetic coding for entropy coding are described. The extended JPEG image compression algorithm's average execution time, when compressing and decompressing a 256*256 pixel monochrome still image, varied from 0.61 s to 0.12 s in architectures that contained from one to six processors. A common bus DSP multiprocessor system capable of meeting the critical timing requirements of digital image compression/decompression applications is also presented. In an effort to maximize DSP utilization, a simple static load distribution method is provided for assigning the load to the individual DSPs. These parallel pipelined DSP architectures can be used for a wide range of applications, including the MPEG implementation for video coding. >


As the biggest developing country, China faces a serious challenge in satisfying its need for huge amounts of energy resources, especially for liquid fuel. The Chinese government has recently started a bioethanol project, and has produced about 1 million tons of ethanol fuel from corn and wheat in 2005. As it has the largest population in the world and limited lands for food production, cellulosic ethanol would be a more suitable choice for China. Many research projects in China on biodegradation and biotransformation of lignocellulosics have been carried out. Furthermore, understanding the biodegradation mechanism of lignocellulosics and developing practical processes for ethanol production have been ongoing. After more than 30 years of research, several pilot scale facilities have been set up, and lots of experience has been acquired. However, the calculated production cost of cellulosic ethanol is still higher than that of corn ethanol. To overcome this problem, the biorefinery conception has been introduced into research on lignocellulosics transformation. A corncob biorefinery process has been developed in Shandong University. By combining the cellulase and ethanol production with a xylose‐related products production, the total production cost can be reduced. A scale of 50 000‐ton/year cellulosic ethanol biorefinery is being planned to be built at Yucheng.


In 2011 and 2012, the increase of solar activity has severely disturbed the ionosphere, and caused strong performance degradations of both Safety-of-life Satellite Based Augmentation Systems, WAAS and EGNOS. As the dynamics of the ionosphere remains poorly understood, the algorithms at users level models the global ionosphere as a thin layer as defined by MOPS reference document. The Triangular Interpolation model, also known as TRIN model, approximates this thin layer by a rigid polyhedron with triangular facets in a solar fixed frame. This model assumes that the ionosphere layer behaviour can be considered as spatially linear inside each facet. Since during a strong solar activity period, the variation may be significantly non-linear, the ionosphere dynamic may locally be outside the model validity domain. Based on the analysis of the temporal and spatial distribution of ionosphere pierce points (IPP) – and associated L1 ionosphere delays, we have developed a set of invariants to discriminate different types of ionosphere dynamics around each vertex of TRIN model. These invariants reflect the taxonomy of the IPP distribution around a mesh vertex. On this basis, we propose a method to develop a flexible and adaptive TRIN model by adding new mesh vertex where relevant in order to reduce the process model noise. In the case where a cluster distribution is detected, the process positions new mesh vertex near local optima. The method adapts to the ionosphere's dynamic seeking periodically local optima. This gives a more realistic mapping of heterogeneities of the ionosphere and its developments. A simple implementation of this method is being developed. In this paper we detail the methodology we are following in order to improve the total electric content computation for the Ionospheric Grid Point using a Flexible TRIN method.


In Evans, Guse, and Honkapohja (2008) the intended steady state is locally but not globally stable under adaptive learning, and unstable deflationary paths can arise after large pessimistic shocks to expectations. In the current paper a modified model is presented that includes a locally stable stagnation regime as a possible outcome arising from large expectation shocks. Policy implications are examined. Sufficiently large temporary increases in government spending can dislodge the economy from the stagnation regime and restore the natural stabilizing dynamics. More specific policy proposals are presented and discussed.


There are situations where baseline fatigue crack propagation (FCP) data are needed but the available material for its evaluation is far from enough to fabricate full sized standard specimens. Miniature specimen testing techniques have been proposed but published data seems to be slightly but consistently slower under the same stress intensity than that from standard specimen results. In this work, an aluminum alloy and a steel, which have vastly different mechanical behaviors, are used to generate different stress states and premature crack closure to allow the validity of miniature specimen FCP data to be critically examined.


Based on evolutionary theory, we predicted that cues of resource scarcity in the environment (e.g., news of droughts or food shortages) lead people to reduce their effort and performance in physically demanding work. We tested this prediction in a 2-wave field survey among employees and replicated it experimentally in the lab. In Study 1, employees who perceived resources in the environment to be scarce reported exerting less effort when their jobs involved much (but not little) physical work. In Study 2, participants who read that resources in the environment were scarce performed worse on a task demanding more (carrying books) but not less (transcribing book titles) physical work. This result was found even though better performance increased participants' chances of additional remuneration, and even though scarcity cues did not affect individuals' actual ability to meet their energy needs. We discuss implications for managing effort and performance, and the potential of evolutionary psychology to explain core organizational phenomena.


An analytical approach is described to determine the resource of structural elements of hydropower, the nuclear industry, etc., under difficult stress conditions when exposed to a corrosive environment with certain parameters (degree of chemical activity, temperature, humidity, flow rate, etc.). The initial-boundary problem for structural elements (bimetallic pipelines, centrifugal pumps) is considered with a decrease in the thickness of the element due to the influence of a corrosive environment. In this case, the effect of a corrosive medium on an element is described by a differential equation with certain initial conditions. Equations describing the stress-strain state of an element are added to this equation. As the first object, the corrosion wear of bimetallic pipelines of nuclear energy is considered. The solution to the problem is to integrate the ordinary differential equation. The criterion for terminating the step-by-step process in time is the condition σ max (cid:2) , where σ T is the yield strength of the material of the structural element. As the second object, the corrosion wear of the working blades of centrifugal pumps is considered. The stress-strain state of the blade is described by a system of partial differential equations of the 12th order, to the solution of which the method of integral relations by Dorodnitsyn is applied. At the next stage, the system of ordinary differential equations is integrated by the modified method of successive approximations developed by Professor V.A. Pukhliy. At each stage, the corrosion equation is attached to the solution of this problem. For bimetallic pipelines, a specific example of calculation according to the described algorithm has been implemented. corrosion two-layer initial-boundary value centrifugal


Aggregating millions of hardware components to construct an exascale computing platform will pose significant resilience challenges. In addition to slowdowns associated with detected errors, silent errors are likely to further degrade application performance. Moreover, silent data corruption (SDC) has the potential to undermine the integrity of the results produced by important scientific applications.In this paper, we propose an application-independent mechanism to efficiently detect and correct SDC in read-mostly memory, where SDC may be most likely to occur. We use memory protection mechanisms to maintain compressed backups of application memory. We detect SDC by identifying changes in memory contents that occur without explicit write operations. We demonstrate that, for several applications, our approach can potentially protect a significant fraction of application memory pages from SDC with modest overheads. Moreover, our proposed technique can be straightforwardly combined with many other approaches to provide a significant bulwark against SDC.


Several new technologies are reported for the design of high-performance and low-loss surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters used in ultra-wideband cellular radios. Among them, new configurations for wideband bandpass filters applicable as receiver filters have been developed. These configurations allow 3- or 4-dB insertion loss and sharp-cutoff frequency responses. New structures for wideband band-rejection filters applicable as transmitter final stage filters have also been developed. Their use results in loss as low as 1.4 dB as well as high-power characteristics. A SAW front-end module constructed with SAW filters, with a low-noise amplifier, and with a single balanced mixer is described.<<ETX>>


In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) as insulin-like growth factor binding protein-4 (IGFBP-4) protease in epilepsy patients. We studied 16 epilepsy patients and 10 healthy controls. Serum PAPP-A levels of epilepsy patients (6.8 ± 3.2 mU/L) were higher than of the control group (5.1 ± 1.9 mU/L), but the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). We concluded that PAPP-A may increase the bioavailability of insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) due to decreased neurogenesis and synthesis of IGFs in chronically epilepsy patients.


An intense (up to 20 MA/cm2) steady electrical current enters the anterior or nurse cell end of the growing fol- licle (or oocyte-nurse cell complex) of the Cecropia moth and is balanced by a more diffuse current leaving elsewhere. In late growth stages, the total transfollicular current is about 100 nA. Moreover, a separate small current, of about 1 nA, seems to leave the furrow between the oocyte and the nurse cells. After the nurse cells collapse, but before shell formation, the transfolli- cular current is redistributed so that a second relatively localized inward current appears at the posterior pole of the follicle. Thus, at this later stage currents enter both poles of the follicle and leave its sides. Previous measurements, with intracellular mi- croelectrodes, seem to imply a very large (order of 1000 nA) back current across the cytoplasmic bridge between the oocyte and nurse cells. A simple model is presented that attributes the ap- parent bridge current, and the more directly measured trans- follicular and furrow currents, to the action of an ion pump lying within the nurse cell face of the furrow membrane.


The effect of temperature on supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction of crude oil from the Gorm oil field of the North Sea was investigated at temperatures of 40–70 °C and pressures of 20–60 MPa. MALDI-TOF, GC-MS, and NMR analyses were conducted in order to characterize the oil. Generally, the total recovery and vapor recovery increased, while the liquid recovery decreased, when the temperature was increased from 40 to 70 °C. At lower temperatures (40 and 50 °C), the liquid recovery increased from a minimum of 10% at 30 MPa to a maximum of 60% at 60 MPa, whereas the vapor recovery was 16% on average over the entire pressure range. In contrast, at higher temperatures (60 and 70 °C), the liquid recovery was 20% on average at all pressures, while the vapor recovery increased from 20% at 30 MPa to 58% at 60 MPa on average. This sharp increase of vapor recovery at higher pressures signified retrograde vaporization. This observed phenomenon suggested that the extraction of some types of oil from high-p...


Readers of the Zhuangzi have seen many attempts to work out the "philosophy" or the "teaching" of its author, either by privileging certain sections and deriving from them an interpretation of the others, or by trying to differentiate the original Zhuangzi from the additions that have accompanied it since antiquity, or by dividing its authorship among the adherents of various schools (e.g., the School of the Tillers, the Primitivists, and so on).1 Romain Graziani's excellent Bodies in Early Daoism: Feeble, Formless, Foul spares us such self-confirming exercises from the start, observing that "it is intrinsic to the art of Zhuangzi, as of his most talented followers, never to let the language he uses define him or to allow his thinking to be frozen in a lexicon" (p. 40). This resistance to set formulas goes far. As Graziani observes about one of the work's conversion narratives, "reversal is one of the refraction-effects of the theme of change in the story itself: it suggests that every doctrinal position, even one which claims to be based on universal transformation, contains its own threat of immobility and obsolescence" (p. 102). Moreover, Graziani is not concerned to draw the boundary between the eponymous master and his "followers" too clearly: "Zhuangzi" for him is a movement, not an author, least of all an authority. If, as Borges suggested, "all men who repeat one line from Shakespeare are Shakespeare,"2 then perhaps anyone who does what Zhuangzi does can be Zhuangzi. Graziani, accordingly, redirects our attention to what Zhuangzi does: this can mean what the character Zhuangzi or his alter egos in the book's many tales and fables do, or what those stories are intended to do to us readers: all add up to the same thing. Zhuangzi (in this expanded sense) works on the embodied imagination of hearers and readers so as to open up unanticipated freedoms. The method of Zhuangzi is to be distinguished from philosophical argument as we are used to thinking of it since Socrates: it is not primarily concerned with establishing truth or removing error. Zhuangzi does not share the usual argumentative style of reformers, invoking norms, precedents, and best practices. "It is never a matter, as in the Mencius, of leading a sovereign to reflection by causing him to appreciate the superior interest of goodness and justice" (p. 120).3 Zhuangzi works on his interlocutors by reshaping their context. He often proposes to their imaginations a different order of things, one in which actions currently considered meaningful or necessary no longer have a place. A king addicted to competitive swordsmanship learns, by listening to a speech of the character Zhuangzi, that the supreme achievements of his stable of martial artists occupy only the lowest rung in a cosmology crowned by "the sword of the Son of Heaven" (chap. 30, "Shuo jian"):


Context: Dental caries are an infectious oral bacterial disease caused by cariogenic streptococci. These streptococci inhabit dental biofilms which comprise insoluble glucans. Objective: To prevent dental caries, nisin, a suitable agent active against Gram-positive bacteria, was examined in vitro for its ability to suppress insoluble glucan-biofilm synthesis by cariogenic streptococci. Materials and methods: To investigate glucan-biofilm synthesis by a typical cariogenic streptococcus, Streptococcus mutans 10449, the naked form of nisin was loaded onto a 96-well microplate in vitro model. To prolong the efficacy of nisin as a preventive agent, liposome-encapsulated nisin (nisin-liposome) was examined for its ability to inhibit the synthesis of glucan-biofilms on microplates. Results: Naked nisin (100 pmol) completely suppressed insoluble glucan-biofilm synthesis by S. mutans 10449 following 1 h cultivation in 96-well microplates. The concentration of nisin-liposome required for the efficacious inhibition of glucan-biofilm synthesis was four times lower than that of naked nisin following 2 h cultivation. In particular, nisin-liposome (30 pmol nisin equivalent) prolonged the inhibitory activity of nisin against glucan-biofilm synthesis by S. mutans 10449 for up to 6 h, while naked nisin (30 pmol) gradually lost this inhibitory activity over the same period. In vitro release assay of nisin from the liposome showed that 76% nisin was released within 6 h. Discussion and conclusion: The findings indicate the usefulness of nisin-liposome for the sustained release of nisin. Thus, nisin-liposome could play a potential role in preventive medicine as an inhibitor of the glucan-biofilm synthesis.


Objective To compare the juvenile arthritis disease activity score (JADAS) based on C reactive protein (CRP) (JADAS-CRP) with JADAS based on erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (JADAS-ESR) and to validate JADAS in a population-based setting. Methods The CRP and ESR values and the corresponding JADAS scores (JADAS10/27/71) were compared in a longitudinal cohort study of 389 children newly diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in the Nordic JIA study. The construct validity and the discriminative and predictive ability of JADAS were assessed during a median disease course of 8 years by comparing JADAS with other measures of disease activity and outcome. Results At the first study visit the correlation between JADAS27-CRP and JADAS27-ESR was r=0.99 whereas the correlation between CRP and ESR was r=0.57. Children with higher JADAS scores had an increased risk of concomitant pain, physical disability and use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). A higher JADAS score at the first study visit also significantly predicted physical disability, damage and no remission off medication at the final study visit, and also use of DMARDs during the disease course. Sensitivity to change, demonstrated as change in JADAS score compared with the American College of Rheumatology paediatric measures of improvement criteria, mostly showed excellent classification ability. Conclusion The JADAS-CRP and JADAS-ESR correlate closely, show similar test characteristics and are feasible and valid tools for assessing disease activity in JIA.


The influence of delta sleep-inducing peptide (DSIP) on sleep was studied in 16 chronic insomniac patients according to a double-blind matched-pairs parallel-groups design. Subjects slept for 5 consecutive nights in the laboratory. Night 1 was used for adaptation, night 2 for baseline measurements. In the afternoon before the 3rd, 4th and 5th night, half of the patients received intravenously 25 nmol/kg body weight DSIP, and half of the patients a glucose solution (placebo). Measures for sleep structure, objective (polysomnography) and subjective sleep quality and for subjective tiredness were assessed. The results for objective sleep quality indicated higher sleep efficiency and shorter sleep latency with DSIP as compared to placebo. One measure of subjectively estimated tiredness decreased within the DSIP group. Data analysis suggested, however, that the statistically significant effects were weak and in part could be due to an incidental change in the placebo group. As none of the other measures, including subjective sleep quality, showed any change, it was concluded that short-term treatment of chronic insomnia with DSIP is not likely to be of major therapeutic benefit.


OF THESIS MATRIX GEOCHEMISTRY AND PHYTOPHTHORA OCCURRENCE ON REFORESTED MINE LANDS IN APPALACHIA At the Bent Mountain surface mine, Pike County, Kentucky, a study has been ongoing since 2005 to assess the influence of various types of loose-graded mine spoils on water quality and forest establishment. Six research plots consist of two replicates of brown weathered sandstone, gray unweathered sandstone, and mixed brown sandstone, gray sandstone, and shale that were emplaced according to Forestry Reclamation Approach criteria. A series of analyses was initiated in 2007 to examine influence of spoil matrix composition on sulfate and carbonate geochemistry of infiltrated waters, as well as to investigate the occurrence of Phytophthora, a group of exotic forest pathogens that cause dieback and may affect success of founder species of hybrid American Chestnut (Castanea dentata Marsh.) Borkh.)), on the surface of mine spoils and in infiltrated waters. To identify the constituent responsible for elevated sulfate concentrations, as well as determine the role of alkalinity in spoil waters, PHREEQC geochemical modeling was used to analyze aqueous speciation of sulfates and carbonates with respect to time and tailing media. Variance of δS values was analyzed to determine source of sulfate minerals. Oxidation of minor amounts of pyritic coal enriched the δS value in the brown plots. Overall, plots had acceptable water quality parameters, substantiating various types of mine spoils for the FRA, although brown proved best for tree establishment. Methods were employed to determine whether Phytophthora were present in the surface of mine spoils and in infiltrated waters of 2005 plots as well as 2007 plots to determine if a chronosequential effect occurred. P. cryptogea was detected from surface spoil and from waters infiltrating brown sandstone plots. The brown spoil, relative to other spoil types, has greater soil moisture, greater nutrient availability, and lower pH, which may promote the occurrence and survival of the microorganism. The occurrence of the pathogen in the 2005 plots versus 2007 plots is notable; greater ground cover from colonizing species may be a precursor to Phytophthora detection on the plots. P. cryptogea is a possible threat to American chestnut, however, high infiltration rates in loose-dumped mine spoils should reduce damage by the pathogen. Over time, the relation between water quality parameters (as influenced by spoil matrix composition), tree success, and presence of Phytophthora, is of interest as certain hydrogeochemical parameters may cause stress on trees that may increase susceptibility of plants to disease caused by Phytophthora. Alternatively, certain water geochemical parameters may directly affect Phytophthora by promoting or inhibiting survival and transport of the pathogen in spoil and infiltrated spoil waters; this too has consequences for tree establishment on loose-dumped mine spoils.


This work aims at completing the implementation of a solver for the quasineutrality equation using a Padé approximation in the global gyrokinetic code ORB5. Initially [Dominski, Ph.D. thesis, 2016], the Pade approximation was only implemented for the kinetic electron model. To enable runs with adiabatic or hybrid electron models while using a Pade approximation to the polarization response, the adiabatic response term of the quasi-neutrality equation must be consistently modified. It is shown that the Pade solver is in good agreement with the arbitrary wavelength solver of ORB5 [Dominski, Ph.D. thesis, 2016]. To perform this verification, the linear dispersion relation of an ITG-TEM transition is computed for both solvers and the linear growth rates and frequencies are compared.


Some students of quasi-states say that these entities aim to obtain the acceptance of their independence by the international community. However, this thesis raises doubts, at least in case of Transnistria, a region with its capital in Tiraspol, that began functioning as a quasi-state in mid-1992 after gaining victory in a brief war with Moldova. The paper's goal is to answer whether Transnistria really seeks international recognition as an independent state. It examines the position of two Transnistrian presidents — dominant figures in Transnistria's political system — Igor Smirnov (1991-2011) and Yevgeniy Shevchuk (since December 2011), as well as of the party Obnovleniye (Renewal) which has controlled the Transnistrian parliament since 2005. The paper concludes that despite official declarations made by the Transnistrian authorities about seeking internationally recognised independence for their region, this nominal goal is not necessarily a real one. Generally, they position concerning Transnistria's status is not so easily identified. They seem to be in favour of keeping the status quo and maintaining the quasi-state's de facto independence. However, it appears that under conditions securing Transnistria's rights and interests, the present Transnistrian president, Shevchuk, and the parliament controlled by the party Obnovleniye could truly support the idea of reintegration with Moldova.


Carcharhinus plumbeus (sandbar shark) and C. obscurus (dusky shark) occur in many global fisheries as targeted species and/or bycatch. However, little is known about their movement and the possible fate of discards. We redressed this lack of knowledge using pop-up satellite archival tags (PSAT) and acoustic tagging technologies off the eastern coast of Australia. Eight sharks of each species were caught by demersal longline, fitted with both types of tag and then released. PSATs indicated that 2 C. plumbeus and 1 C. obscurus died within 8 h of release, while tracks over periods of 1 to 60 d were obtained for 13 sharks. All surviving sharks first swam in an easterly, offshore direction to outer-shelf waters during the first 24 h. All C. plumbeus then moved approximately south (i.e. increasing latitude) by distances of up to ~350 km. In contrast, most C. obscurus moved approximately north by distances between 212 and 606 km. Over an 18 mo period following release, acoustic tag detections occurred for 4 C. plumbeus (mostly within 30 km of release, suggesting some philopatry) and 6 C. obscurus (~515 km south and ~310 km north). Both species spent ~85% of their time in waters <100 m deep. Diel patterns in vertical movements of C. plumbeus were detected, with a preference for deeper water during daylight hours. Both species mainly utilised water temperatures between 22 and 26°C. Information from this study can be used for the effective management of commercially exploited stocks of both species.


We consider driven systems where the driving induces jumps in energy space: (1) particles pulsed by a step potential; (2) particles in a box with a moving wall; (3) particles in a ring driven by an electro-motive-force. In all these cases the route towards quantum-classical correspondence is highly non-trivial. Some insight is gained by observing that the dynamics in energy space, where n is the level index, is essentially the same as that of Bloch electrons in a tight binding model, where n is the site index. The mean level spacing is like a constant electric field and the driving induces long range hopping ∝ 1/(n − m) .


Dieulafoy's lesion was described in 1896 by the French pathologist Georges D. Dieulafoy as a vascular malformation in the stomach. Although usually found in the stomach, the lesion may occur anywhere within the gastrointestinal tract and can cause severe hemorrhage. There is no sex or age predilection. The diagnosis is established endoscopically, and the current therapy of choice is endoscopic hemoclipping. Only rarely is the diagnosis confirmed histologically. We report the case of an elderly female patient who, while hospitalised for a slipped intervertebral disc, presented with lower gastrointestinal bleeding. The source of the bleeding was suspected to be in the right colon by endoscopy. Renewed massive bleeding necessitated surgical treatment with resection of the right hemicolon. The histological work-up of the resected specimen identified a 350-micron large tortuous submucosal artery that had eroded.


Introduction: Many factors of tooth loss will compromise chewing and general health and quality of life. Saudi populations demonstrate a high prevalence of caries and a striking increase in dmft/DMFT. Usually, tooth loss is rehabilitated by different prosthetic options including implant, fixed partial denture and removable partial denture. Aim: To evaluate the relation of oral health-related quality of life with the type of prosthesis and oral health status among patients who have removable or fixed partial dentures in King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for health science, college of dentistry. Material and methods: Cross-sectional study would be conducted at the College of Dentistry, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University (KSAUHS) and Dental Centre, KAMC, NGHA. Convenient sampling was carried out by selecting 109 patients from those who visited the dental clinic. Oral health status was captured using the DMFT index. The collected data were entered and analyzed by adapting the SPSS computer software. Result: The type and quality of prosthesis and its effect on the OHRQoL on patients showed no significant relation (p=0.459), but the duration of wearing of prosthesis showed significant relation (p=0.046). Regarding DMF total of (n=109), 61 had low DMF, 48 had high DMF witch was statically significant (p=0.02). Conclusion: At the end of this study we conclude that there were no significant impacts on quality of life in relation to the type of prosthesis. On the other hand, we found a significant relation with OHRQoL in function domain, esthetic part and oral health status.


This paper uses HexaM made by Toyoda Machine Works Co. as an analytical model of parallel mechanism type machine tools. Much collision may be generated for its complicated structure and working space, when a workpiece is machined using this machine. For example, those collisions are generated between the moving components of the parallel mechanism, between the moving components and a workpiece and between the moving components and the tool storage for automatic changing. In this paper, an algorithm for detecting and avoiding those collisions was proposed. The method for avoiding the collisions was conducted by readjusting the location of the workpiece without amending the tool path. It is confirmed through experiment that the proposed algorithm is useful for detecting the collisions and determining the location of the workpiece prior to the actual machining.


: Data suggest that atypical antipsychotics may be useful in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We report the case of a patient diagnosed of serious OCD resistant to various antidepressant and antipsychotic treatments (including clozapine). The patient had clinically significant improvement (measured by decrease in the score of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive (Y-BOCS) and the Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scales) in the four weeks alter switching from clozapine to ziprasidone, improvement that was subsequently maintained. The pharmacodynamic characteristics of ziprasidone could make this drug more effective than other antipsychotics as coadjuvant treatment in OCD


There is increasing demand for evidence-based health care. Back pain is one of the most common and difficult occupational health problems, but there has been no readily available evidence base or guidance on management. There are well-established clinical guidelines for the management of low back pain, but these provide limited guidance on the occupational aspects. Occupational Health Guidelines for the Management of Low Back Pain at Work were launched by the Faculty of Occupational Medicine in March 2000. These are the first national occupational health guidelines in the UK and, as far as we are aware, the first truly evidence-linked occupational health guidelines for back pain in the world. They were based on an extensive, systematic review of the scientific literature predominantly from occupational settings or concerning occupational outcomes. The full evidence review is on the Faculty web site (www.facoccmed.ac.uk), but an abridged version is presented here to aid its dissemination.


We propose a novel image-to-pencil translation method that could not only generate high-quality pencil sketches but also offer the drawing process. Existing pencil sketch algorithms are based on texture rendering rather than the direct imitation of strokes, making them unable to show the drawing process but only a final result. To address this challenge, we first establish a pencil stroke imitation mechanism. Next, we develop a framework with three branches to guide stroke drawing: the first branch guides the direction of the strokes, the second branch determines the shade of the strokes, and the third branch enhances the details further. Under this framework's guidance, we can produce a pencil sketch by drawing one stroke every time. Our method is fully interpretable. Comparison with existing pencil drawing algorithms shows that our method is superior to others in terms of texture quality, style, and user evaluation. Our code and supplementary material are now available at: https://github.com/TZYSJTU/Sketch-Generation-withDrawing-Process-Guided-by-Vector-Flow-and-Grayscale


Recent technological advances have seen the development of various platforms for detecting biomolecular interactions. An important aspect of the modification of solid supports with biological polymers is to anchor the molecule of interest permanently and in well-defined attachment geometry. Gold is the most common metal support for research applications but suffers from a lack of methods for producing robust biomolecular films that can withstand prolonged use, especially at elevated temperatures. This paper reports on the development of a novel attachment scheme for immobilizing biomolecules to metal supports. Poly(mercaptopropyl)methylsiloxane (PMPMS) films chemisorbed on gold provide thermally stable, nanometer-thin, thiol-rich anchor layers suitable for subsequent attachment of biomolecules. The exceptional stability of PMPMS-anchored single stranded DNA monolayers is anticipated to benefit applications in biomolecular diagnostics, as well as assist in fundamental investigations of biomacromolecules at interfaces. In an attempt to exploit PMPMS films in impedance-based biodiagnostics, initial studies have shown that immobilization of DNA to the PMPMS modified Au surfaces lowers the interfacial capacitance. Preliminary results on hybridization of target DNA to the probe modified surfaces show that impedance changes can be measured.


The regulation of nanomaterials is being discussed at various levels. This article offers a historical description of governmental activities concerning the safety of nanomaterials at the United Nations (UN) level since 2006, with a focus on the UN Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM).
The outcomes of the SAICM process were a nanospecific resolution and the addition of new activities on nanotechnologies and manufactured nanomaterials to the SAICM's Global Plan of Action. The article discusses the implications of these decisions for multilateral environmental agreements. In addition, it studies the consequences of the regulation of nanotechnologies activities on trade governance, in particular the relationship between the SAICM to the legally binding World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements (notably the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade).
The article concludes that the SAICM decisions on manufactured nanomaterials are compatible with
WTO law.


The authors observed the development of herpes zoster in 2 rheumatoid arthritic patients against a background of chrysanol therapy. Such a complication should be regarded as an indication for aurum drug cancellation. The study provided an opportunity for specifying some aspects in the mechanism of action and indicated a possible immunodepressive effect.


Composition and diversity of medium and large size mammals in the Cerrado of central Brazil. Studies about medium- and large sized mammals (> 1.0 kg) in disturbed areas in the Cerrado showed that many species are adapted to anthropogenic environments. We investigated the structure of mammals assemblages in an area of 92,000 ha located in southwest of Bahia and covered by plantations of Pinus spp., soybeans and conserved strips of cerrado sensu stricto. The mammals were recorded in nine sampling campaigns of 12 days between January/2008 and May/2009 in diurnal and nocturnal transects that varied 5-15 km in length per campaigns totaling 3,600 km traveled/period. In this area 29 species were recorded, 23 through the line transect and others outside transect by indirect observation, capture and previous records. The mammal community consists mostly of representatives of the Carnivora (41.4%) and omnivore species (36.7%). The only endemic species of Cerrado recorded in the area was hoary fox, Lycalopex vetulus. Only 13.6% of species were present in all sampling (Ozotoceros bezoarticus, Pecari tajacu and Tolypeutes tricinctus) and seven of which correspond to 91.73% of the records made. The species that had largest number of records (23.76%) is three-banded armadillo (T. tricinctus), probably this area holds the largest population of this endangered species in biome, highlighting the importance of avoiding areas of native vegetation are replaced by monocultures and reforestation. Many of the species recorded are generalists in habitat use and widely distributed throughout the biome, occurring even in disturbed habitats. The maintaining of observed diversity in this area is due to its large size and the mosaic of environments that provide a greater variety and diversity of resources such as shelter and food, allowing also the presence of species with low densities and specialists in the diet and habitat.


Today we are collecting a large amount of tissue samples to store for future studies of different health conditions, in hopes that the focus in health care will shift from treatments to early detection and prevention, by the use of biomarkers. To make sure that the storing of tissue is done in a reliable way, where the molecular profile of the samples are preserved, we first need to characterise how these changes occur. In this thesis, data from mice brains were collected using MALDI imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) and an analysis pipeline for robust MALDI IMS data handling and evaluation was implemented. The finished pipeline contains two reduction algorithms, catching images with interesting intensity features, while taking the spatial information into account, along with a robust similarity measurement, for measuring the degree of co-localisation. It also includes a clustering algorithm built upon the similarity measurement and an amino acid mass comparer, iteratively generating combinations of amino acids for further mass comparisons with mass differences between cluster members.Availability: The source code is available at https://github.com/stephanieherman/thesis


In Pakistan the curriculum was revised in 2005-06 and corresponding textbooks for secondary school mathematics were developed and adopted for session 2012-13. This study was conducted to analyze the adequacy of the curriculum and the newly adopted textbooks in instilling the HOTS in students. The research design used was descriptive in which data was analyzed both by qualitative and quantitative methods. Web Alignment Tool was used to assign Depth of knowledge (DOK) levels to the prescribed students learning outcomes (SLOs) for secondary level mathematics in Pakistan. The outcomes of the study show that the curriculum is predominated by the SLOs of DOK level 1(204 out 280 SLOs). There is no SLO of DOK level 4. There are 70 SLOs of DOK level 2 and only six SLOs of DOK level 3. The entire format of the textbooks is monotonous as it mostly guides the students to learn an algorithm to deal with any SLO. This is followed by an exercise of sums to practice the learnt algorithm without any appropriate learning experience. It is suggested to revise the respective curriculum by adopting fewer, higher and deeper approach. For DOK level 2 and above, appropriate learning experiences should be incorporated in the curriculum and textbooks.


The health care system currently lacks a product that both treats and prevents the progression of sub-dermal pressure ulcers. Not much is known about the formation of sub-dermal pressure ulcers however it is widely accepted that lack of blood supply, and thus lack of oxygen, is the cause. The purpose of this investigation is to develop a device that supplies oxygen from an external reservoir, at a controlled rate, to the location of a subdermal pressure ulcer. Since skin is a large diffusional barrier to oxygen the incorporation of microneedles into the devices allows for increased and possibly uninhibited gas diffusion. We plan on using this data to creating a device that would effectively treat the progression of pressure ulcers, or more generically a device that would be able to diffuse gas to a sub-dermal tissue.


Part inspection machines of industrial manufacturing systems are being newly evolved as intelligent machines with the technology innovation of artificial intelligence. Especially, the automation of defect detection systems in the field of casting industry has been widely studied, applying deep learning based inspection algorithms due to its inspection difficulties with 2D and 3D detects. In this paper, we proposed an automatic defect detection system based on deep learning technology in artificial intelligence using fused illumination images to get 2D and 3D information of target objects simultaneously. Due to the characteristics of the cast product surfaces, the success rate of a conventional 2D detect detection system is easily affected by illumination location and angle for uneven surfaces and small defects. To solve this problem, a photometric stereo system to generate its reflectance, roughness and slope information is used to generate feature fusion data. This dataset is used to improve the defect detection performance of automatic inspection machines for casting products with a deep learning model. Experiment results show that the detection accuracy of the proposed method is 62.58%. The proposed system is expected to be used as a new technology to improve the detection performance of AOI(Automated Optical Inspection) machines with deep learning.


Background Five-megapixel (MP) displays are recommended as soft copy devices for digital mammogram. An 8-MP liquid crystal display (LCD) (two 4-MP displays within one display) might offer the advantage of being able to view biplane mammography more easily than the dual planes of 5-MP LCDs. Purpose To compare detectability of Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) category 3 or higher lesions and reading time on mammography between 5- MP and 8-MP LCDs. Material and Methods The mammograms of 240 breasts of 120 patients including 60 breasts with BI-RADS category 3 or higher lesions and 180 breasts with normal or category 2 lesions were enrolled. All bilateral mammograms were displayed on bifacial 5-MP LCDs or an 8-MP LCD (two 4-MP displays within one display). Six radiologists assessed 240 breasts on each display. The observations were analyzed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. A jack-knife method was used for statistical analysis. We employed a paired t-test to determine whether any significant differences existed in the reading time between two different displays. A P value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results The mean areas under the ROC curve obtained using 5-MP and 8-MP LCDs were 0.925 and 0.915, respectively, and there was no significant difference (P = 0.46). There was also no significant difference in the reading time between two types of displays (57.8 min. vs. 51.5 min, P = 0.39). Conclusion The detectability of BI-RADS category 3 or higher lesions and reading time using an 8-MP LCD were comparable to those using a 5-MP LCD.


Abstract Economic globalisation, coupled with geopolitical instability and international terrorism, has made it impossible for any single country to secure its energy supply entirely on its own. The urgent energy security issue has resulted in brisk energy diplomacy with aspirations for cooperation running high among both producing and consuming countries. The concept of energy security needs to be expanded, however, because the real risks are not 'below ground' (a lack of resources) but 'above ground' (political instability). We need a new energy security concept to ensure global energy security. India and China can take the lead by finding ways to cooperate on energy rather than taking adversarial positions. The article reasons that with clearer identification of shared interests, China and India together can help strengthen Asian unity, stability and prosperity and thus significantly contribute to the world order.


Background Immediate loading has recently been introduced into unsplinted mandibular implant-retained overdentures for the management of edentulous patients due to their increasing demand on immediate aesthetics and function. However, there is still a scarcity of meta-analytical evidence on the efficacy of immediate loading compared to delayed loading in unsplinted mandibular implant-retained overdentures. The purpose of this study was to compare the marginal bone loss (MBL) around implants between immediate and delayed loading of unsplinted mandibular implant-retained overdentures. Methods Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), controlled clinical trials (CCTs), and cohort studies quantitatively comparing the MBL around implants between immediate loading protocol (ILP) and delayed loading protocol (DLP) of unsplinted mandibular overdentures were included. A systematic search was carried out in PubMed, EMBASE, and CENTRAL databases on December 02, 2020. "Grey" literature was also searched. A meta-analysis was conducted to compare the pooled MBL of two different loading protocols of unsplinted mandibular overdentures through weighted mean differences (WMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). The subgroup analysis was performed between different attachment types (i.e. Locator attachment vs. ball anchor). The risk of bias within and across studies were assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration's tool, the Newcastle–Ottawa scale, and Egger's test. Results Of 328 records, five RCTs and two cohort studies were included and evaluated, which totally contained 191 participants with 400 implants. The MBL of ILP group showed no significant difference with that of DLP group (WMD 0.04, CI − 0.13 to 0.21, P  > .05). The subgroup analysis revealed similar results with Locator attachments or ball anchors ( P  > .05). Apart from one RCT (20%) with a high risk of bias, four RCTs (80%) showed a moderate risk of bias. Two prospective cohort studies were proved with acceptable quality. Seven included studies have reported 5.03% implant failure rate (10 of 199 implants) in ILP group and 1.00% failure rate (2 of 201 implants) in DLP group in total. Conclusions For unsplinted mandibular implant-retained overdentures, the MBL around implants after ILP seems comparable to that of implants after DLP. Immediate loading may be a promising alternative to delayed loading for the management of unsplinted mandibular implant-retained overdentures. PROSPERO registration number : CRD42020159124.


We study the 3D-aware image attribute editing problem in this paper, which has wide applications in practice. Recent methods solved the problem by training a shared encoder to map images into a 3D generator's latent space or by per-image latent code optimization and then edited images in the latent space. Despite their promising results near the input view, they still suffer from the 3D inconsistency of produced images at large camera poses and imprecise image attribute editing, like affecting unspecified attributes during editing. For more efficient image inversion, we train a shared encoder for all images. To alleviate 3D inconsistency at large camera poses, we propose two novel methods, an alternating training scheme and a multi-view identity loss, to maintain 3D consistency and subject identity. As for imprecise image editing, we attribute the problem to the gap between the latent space of real images and that of generated images. We compare the latent space and inversion manifold of GAN models and demonstrate that editing in the inversion manifold can achieve better results in both quantitative and qualitative evaluations. Extensive experiments show that our method produces more 3D consistent images and achieves more precise image editing than previous work. Source code and pretrained models can be found on our project page: https://mybabyyh.github.io/Preim3D/.


ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to improve understanding of the experiences of adolescents with disabilities concerning meetings that affect their possibility to receive personal assistance in Sweden. Qualitative inductive content analysis was used to describe their experiences. Overall adolescents were found to be reluctant to participate in meetings. Two main approaches could be discerned – taking part and taking part by proxy. The adolescents who took part in meetings tried to adapt their self-presentation to fit with the social workers' requirements by presenting their worst self, giving requested information, using support and raising their voices. The adolescents who choose to participate by proxy were either being involved or not being involved. Being involved implied involvement before and/or after the meeting. The meaning of participants' strategies was examined through a social constructivist lens. The results indicate that 'performing disability' during the meetings is a prerequisite for obtaining personal assistance. In its current form adolescents' participation is reduced to tokenism and this raises questions about how to implement a child perspective.


Veritec's VeriSystem is a complete identification and tracking system for component traceability, improved manufacturing and processing, and automated shop floor applications. The system includes the Vericode Symbol, a more accurate and versatile alternative to the traditional bar code, that is scanned by charge coupled device (CCD) cameras. The system was developed by Veritec, Rockwell International and Marshall Space Flight Center to identify and track Space Shuttle parts.


In recent years, substantial effort has been expended toward understanding the impact of tropospheric aerosols on Arctic climate and chemistry. A significant part of this effort has been the collection and documentation of extensive aerosol physical and optical property data sets. However, the data sets present significant interpretive challenges because of the diverse nature of these measurements. Among the longest continuous records is that by the spaceborne Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) II. Although SAGE tropospheric measurements are restricted to the middle and upper troposphere, they may be able to provide significant insight into the nature and variability of tropospheric aerosol, particularly when combined with ground and airborne observations. This paper demonstrates the capacity of aerosol products from SAGE II and its follow-on experiment SAGE III to describe the temporal and vertical variations of Arctic aerosol characteristics. We find that the measurements from both instruments are consistent enough to be combined. Using this combined data set, we detect a clear annual cycle in the aerosol extinction for the middle and upper Arctic troposphere.


This thesis is concerned with developing suitable models for the investigation of instabilities in rigid and deformable roll coating flows. Consideration is restricted to Newtonian, incompressible fluids in the absence of inertia. In each coating flow analysed the steady two dimensional base state solutions of the system axe explored before the stability of the system is considered.

The particular rigid roll coating flow that is studied in this thesis is the flow formed between an intermediate pair of contra-rotating rolls within a multiple roll coater. The
base state is modelled using lubrication theory and the flow domain is terminated with simple boundary conditions. It is found that the form of the meniscus location
solutions differ from those found in similax flows by previous workers and this motivates a detailed re-examination of the boundaxy conditions. A matched asymptotic analysis applicable for small capillaxy numbers Ca and small inter-roll gaps gives the leading order correction to the boundary conditions and it is found that the inclusion of the correction terms alter the results significantly. It is found that a critical roll speed ratio,
Sc exists beyond which no steady two dimensional solutions exist. A simple stability hypothesis predicts the upstream meniscus to be neutrally stable at Sc and this point is
associated with bead break. Under certain operating conditions the stability hypothesis predicts multiple steady states.

The lineax stability of this multiple roll coating flow is investigated. Special attention is given to the relationship between the wavelength of the disturbance and
the form of the boundary conditions. The main predictions of the stability hypothesis axe confirmed and an additional ribbing instability on the downstream meniscus is predicted.

The base flow of a deformable roll coater is investigated using lubrication theory for the fluid and a linear elastic plain strain model for the compliant layer. The boundary
conditions developed for the multiple roll problem are extended to higher values of Ca. A finite element method is developed to numerically solve the governing equations.
The effects of Youngs modulus E and layer thickness L on the steady state operation of the coater are investigated. Previous workers have used spring models to describe
the compliant layer with the implicit assumption that E and L-1 have the same affect. Here it is shown that E and L-1 have a different effect upon the meniscus location in the negative gap regime and hence the underlying assumption of all spring models is shown to be incorrect. The plain strain model is extended to include viscoelastic terms
and it is shown that these terms can account for the discrepancy between experimental results and previous steady state elastic theories.

The lineax stability of the deformable roll coater is investigated with the plain strain model being extended to account for lateral disturbances. The effect of E and L-1 on
the stability of the system is investigated and it is found that in keeping with the steady state results, they have a different effect on the stability of the system in the
negative gap regime. It is demonstrated that perturbations to the compliant layer play a negligible role in the stability analysis and it is shown how the viscoelastic extension to the base state can be incorporated.


When an agent receives messages from other agents, it does belief revision. A belief revision includes, i) a trust reasoning process, i.e., it obtains new belief related to the messages, and deduces implicitly unknown beliefs from the obtained belief; ii) in the case of contradiction in the belief set, it resolves the contradiction. So, trust reasoning, and belief revision must be included in the decision-making process of an intelligent agent in multi-agent systems. Although a belief revision mechanism with trust reasoning is demanded to construct multi-agent systems, there is no such belief revision mechanism. We, therefore, present a belief revision mechanism with trust reasoning based on extended reciprocal logic for multi-agent systems.


Flood risk has long been seen only as a hydrological phenomenon. Flood risk management has therefore been directed almost exclusively toward curative methods. Dykes and dams have attempted to contain the floods while crisis management and insurance have compensated for loss. However, the acknowledgement of human responsibility in natural disasters has widened the epistemological field of natural-hazards knowledge integrating the concept of vulnerability. Recent and disastrous floods all over the world have highlighted the relative failure of the existing risk-management system. Over the past fifteen years, the increasing cost of damage has caused a reaction of the authorities, who have expressed through various laws and incentive measures their wish to develop integrated risk management. The integrated approach uses not only curative methods but also land-use planning, reduction of vulnerability and the development of public awareness by implementing local emergency plans. Through some examples in France, this presentation aims to suggest new ways of assessing risk-management measures. The French territory, located between northern and southern Europe, is concerned by all kinds of floods: slow-rise floods in its northern part and flash floods in mountainous and Mediterranean regions. For many years, the top-down institutional approach has led to the implementation of measures ill-adapted to Mediterranean regions. Thus, this presentation shows how some measures, efficient for slow floods, are inefficient for Mediterranean torrential floods. While the new European Directive on Flood Risk is willing to reinforce flood prevention in Europe, it is important to take into account the specific characteristics of each basin and each hydrological context before implementing flood-reduction measures such as upstream control, vulnerability reduction or flood warning. Stakeholders and institutions might implement an adaptive and territorial approach in flood prevention so as not to repeat the serious mistakes that we have seen for many years.


A total of 12 species of marine gastropods, among which two taxa are new, is reported for the first time from the Miocene deposits of Khavich section, south of Sirjan, Kerman. Gastropods assemblage in Khavich area indicates deposition in shallow, warm ramp-type carbonate platform. The Miocene and even Oligocene gastropod assemblages, relatively similar to Khavich section, reported from the other parts of the Tethys, show a possible passage, having been open during this interval, although a considerable provincialisms is also evident. Therefore the gastropods can be used for the correlation of Oligo-Miocene age formations in many places in the region and the world.


ABSTRACT Background: We developed an indicated preventive life-review course, "Looking for Meaning", based on the assumption that reminiscence styles influence coping with depressive symptoms. This study describes the impact of this course in a pragmatic randomized controlled trial. Methods: Inclusion criteria were >50 years, a score of 5 or higher on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and no depressive disorder or psychotropic or psychological treatment. Participants were randomized and stratified by gender: the experimental group (N = 83) was offered the course and the comparison group (N = 88) a movie. There were three measurements: pre-treatment, post-treatment and 6 months after post-treatment. Depressive symptoms constituted the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were anxiety symptoms, satisfaction with life, mastery and reminiscence styles. All analyses were conducted according to the intention-to-treat principle. Missing values were replaced by regression imputation. Results: The course reduced depressive symptoms, a decrease that was retained during follow-up. A significant between-group effect size was found (d = 0.58). There was also a reduction in symptoms of anxiety; however, the comparison group showed the same reduction, resulting in a small between-group effect size. Gender and level of depressive symptoms were found to be prognostic factors for the change in depressive symptoms; age was not. Post hoc analyses showed significant between-group effect sizes for females and those with a score above the cut-off of the CES-D. Conclusion: The course "Looking for Meaning" can be recommended for people aged over 50 years, females and older adults with a clinically relevant level of depressive symptoms (above cut-off) in particular.


Based on the mere exposure effect (Zajonc 1968), the mere unreinforced presentation of product placements can increase brand liking. In an experiment, we manipulated visual placement prominence and placement frequency for an externally and internally valid stimulus. As results indicate, a mere exposure effect can only be observed for frequently presented subtle placements that are embedded in a program that is watched with moderate or high involvement. No such effects could be observed for prominent placements. The results are discussed in their importance for placement effects research and marketing practice.


Rationale: International guidelines recommend use of targeted temperature management following resuscitation from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. This treatment, however, is often neglected or delayed. Objective: To determine whether multifaceted quality improvement interventions would increase the proportion of eligible patients receiving successful targeted temperature management. Setting: A network of 6 regional emergency medical services systems and 32 academic and community hospitals serving a population of 8.8 million people providing post arrest care to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Interventions: Comparing interventions improve the implementation of targeted temperature management post out-of-hospital cardiac arrest through passive (education, generic protocol, order set, local champions) versus additional active quality improvement interventions (nurse specialist providing site-specific interventions, monthly audit-feedback, network educational events, internet blog) versus no intervention (baseline standard of care). Measurements and Main Results The primary process outcome was proportion of eligible patients receiving successful targeted temperature management, defined as a target temperature of 32-34ºC within 6 hours of emergency department arrival. Secondary clinical outcomes included survival and neurological outcome at hospital discharge. Four thousand three hundred seventeen out-of-hospital cardiac arrests were transported to hospital; 1,737 (40%) achieved spontaneous circulation, and 934 (22%) were eligible for targeted temperature management. After accounting for secular trends, patients admitted during the passive quality improvement phase were more likely to achieve successful targeted temperature management compared with those admitted during the baseline period (25.7% passive vs 9.0% baseline; odds ratio, 2.76; 95% CI, 1.76–4.32; p < 0.001). Active quality improvement interventions conferred no additional improvements in rates of successful targeted temperature management (26.9% active vs 25.7% passive; odds ratio, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.63–1.45; p = 0.84). Despite a significant increase in rates of successful targeted temperature management, survival to hospital discharge was unchanged. Conclusion: Simple quality improvement interventions significantly increased the rates of achieving successful targeted temperature management following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in a large network of hospitals but did not improve clinical outcomes.


Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) is a tough task, with the existence of related noise and high unpredictability in a speech presenting the most severe problems. Especially with regard to the noise of speech impairments, whether due to disability or mispronunciation in children. Extraction of noise-resistant features to compensate for speech degradation due to noise impact has remained a difficult challenge in the last few years. This research investigated the impact of different wavelet generations for extracting speech features, then test the produced dataset from each technique with two types of deep learning techniques : deep long short-term memory (LSTM) and hyper deep learning model convolutional neural network with long short-term memory (CNN-LSTM). The result shows that the deep long short-term memory of MFCC has reached 93% as an accuracy while in the hyper deep learning model of CNN-LSTM the accuracy of MFCC was 91%, as the highest recorded accuracy which proves that MFCC would be the best feature extraction technique for our developed dataset.


Objective To evaluate multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) as an alternative for rapid, accurate diagnosis of fetal chromosomal abnormalities. Background Traditionally fetal chromosome analysis is performed by full karyotyping, detecting most clinically significant abnormalities, but taking 2–3 weeks. Rapid testing (qfPCR) detecting only major trisomies and triploidy is also offered in most UK units. MLPA is a rapid molecular test used postnatally which may detect abnormalities not identified by full karyotyping or qfPCR. Methods MLPA probes designed to test for subtelomeric changes and microdeletion syndromes with well-defined phenotypes were used. Women undergoing karyotyping for clinical indications were asked for informed consent to use MLPA to test excess chorionic villi or amniocytes remaining after clinical testing. Results obtained using qfPCR, karyotyping and MLPA were compared. Results Of the 523 samples tested MLPA was inconclusive in 56 (10.7%), mainly due to insufficient DNA being available. Triploidy was not detected by MLPA. Of the 35 other rearrangements 10 were only detected by karyotyping, of which 3 were balanced and 7 were mosaics, 8 by MLPA alone and 17 by both. Overall, 24 of these 35 rearrangements conferred a significant risk of adverse outcome; 15 were detected by both karyotyping and MLPA, 6 only by MLPA and 3 by karyotyping alone. Conclusion MLPA is potentially a rapid alternative for full karyotyping but requires further evaluation and comparison with other molecular methods.


Background
Corneal reinnervation of subbasal nerve plexus have been found after small incision lenticule extraction(SMILE). However, there were few reports about corneal reinnervation mode and dynamic changes at the corneal cap in different time points postoperation.

Objective
The aim of this study was to evaluate the corneal reinnervation at the cap margin after SMILE.

Methods
The clinical data of 32 myopic eyes of 16 patients who received SMILE incision lenticule extraction surgerv in Affiliated Eye Hospital of Shandong Medical College from April 2014 to April 2015 were retrospectively analyzed.The following-up was carried in 1 week, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after surgery, and in-vivo confocal microscopy was used to acquire images of the central corneal subbasal nerve plexus before and after surgery, with the scan range of 0.4 mm×0.4 mm, from which nerve density and nerve tortuosity were evaluated using Image-Pro Plus imaging analysis software.The overall length of nerve fibers at the central cornea was measured to assess the subbasal nerve density, and the repair of nerve fibers at cap was observed.

Results
The corneal subbasal nerve density was (19 687.45±1 147.59), (10 500.46±1 056.22), (12 833.40±1 047.98), (13 564.04±1 173.01) and (14 661.35±941.92)μm/mm2 in preoperation and postoperative 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, respectively, with a significant difference among different time points (F=319.44, P=0.000), and the corneal subbasal nerve densitis in postoperative time points were significantly reduced in comparison with the preoperation, and corneal subbasal nerve densities were gradually increased after surgery as the extending of time, showing significant differences between different time points (all at P<0.01). Abundant corneal subbasal nerve fibers were seen with the near normal morphology after surgery.However, the fragments and disaggregation of nerve fibers were found at the incision of cap margins, and some nerve fibers extended toward the inner cap at the non-incision of cap margins 1 week after surgery.In 3-6 months after SMILE, the continuous extension of nerve fibers was exhibited under the confocal microscope.

Conclusions
Six months after surgery, less invasive SMILE technique can remain the superficial corneal nerve fibers.Corneal innervation shows a radiate mode from peripheral cornea outside toward inside of the cap.The subbasal never fiber density is gradually increased with the extending of time after SMILE.

Key words:
Corneal reinnervation; Cornea surgery, laser; Lasers, excimer/therapeutic use; Microscopy, confocal; Nerve regeneration/physiology; Ophthalmic nerve/physiology; Surgical flaps; Small incision lenticule extraction


Physicochemical protection of soil carbon provided by soil aggregates is critical to carbon (C) sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems. However, the stability of soil organic matter (SOM) in terrestrial ecosystems in response to atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is unclear. In this study, N was added to a forest soil dominated by deciduous trees on Changbai Mountain, China, at three different rates (0, 25 and 50 kg N ha−1 year−1) from 2007 to 2012. Its effect on C content and stabilization was evaluated by soil fractionation and stable isotope (δ13C) analyses. The results showed that large macroaggregates (2–8 mm) decreased and small macroaggregates (0.25–2 mm) increased with increasing rates of N addition, whereas soil C content remained unchanged. Irrespective of the N treatments, the C content of soil organic matter (SOM) fractions differed significantly between large and small macroaggregates, which suggests that the size of aggregate classes regulates C content in the SOM fractions. A slight increase in the C content of microaggregates within macroaggregates (Mm) and that of silt and clay fractions was recorded with the addition of N at 50 kg N ha−1 year−1. This increase also occurred in the silt and clay fraction within microaggregates (Intra‐SC). Unprotected C (comprising the free light fraction (Free‐LF) and coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM)) accounted for 18.9% only of the total C and decreased in response to the addition of N. The δ13C signature and C/N ratios obtained for SOM fractions showed that newly formed C was transferred from POM to Intra‐SC. Overall, our results suggested that long‐term addition of N might promote stabilization of C by increasing small macro‐ and micro‐aggregation within macroaggregates in temperate forest soil.


This study investigates spelling errors among Swedish students of English. The purpose of this research is to develop a better understanding of the causes of spelling errors and to investigate whether there are any differences between program orientation and gender. The participants are English A students from Swedish high schools in year 1. The data analysed in this study consists of essays written by the participants which have been gathered into the Uppsala Learner English Corpus (ULEC). The results showed that the academic program has a lower error rate when compared to the vocational program and that female students display a lower error frequency than male students. These results reflect the same pattern found by previous studies on achievement between the programs and across gender. However, when comparing all variables, both gender and program, the results demonstrate that academic male students had the lowest error rate of all groups, which could partially be explained by the fact that the academic male students have a higher level of engagement with videoand online games when compared to the other groups. The language processes that the participants found the most challenging were letter omission, letter insertion and letter substitution. These results follow the same pattern highlighted in previous studies on spelling among both native speakers and learners. Finally, the exchange between the vowels <a>, <e> and <i> was found to be a frequent error among the students. Experiencing difficulties with the correct usage of vowels can be explained as a transfer error.


Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) walls have been increasingly used as an excellent alternative to traditional wall construction. ICF walls are attractive to both owners and contractors due to their superior thermal and structural performance, in addition to significant labor savings and speed of construction. However, potential voids in ICF walls—especially around plastic ties, reinforcing bars, and form corners—have been reported as a result of poor concrete consolidation. These voids could have serious negative impact on the durability, thermal efficiency, and structural performance of ICF walls. In this paper, the use of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) for inspecting ICF walls is investigated. GPR is a non-destructive evaluation technique that involves the transmission of electromagnetic waves into the material under investigation and the reflections of these waves at interfaces of embedded objects to determine their location. An ICF specimen was built with air voids, steel bars, and utility pipes, and scanned with GPR to determine the accuracy of GPR in void, bar, and pipe detection. The results have indicated that GPR is an efficient and reliable technique for inspecting ICF walls. A case study of inspecting the bearing lintels in a three-story ICF building using GPR is also presented.


One of the key rights of each European citizen stated in the Lisbon Treaty is the freedom to move within Europe. Especially, in times of increasing intra- and inter-European labour mobility, this right should be the spotlight of regional, national and EU agenda. But in reality, the freedom of movement underlies practical obstacles such as an access to particular occupations and regional labour markets, which is bound to (a) the official recognition of professional qualifications, differing in each member state as well as (b) language skills. These and further factors hinder (1) labour migrants to make full use of their skill potential and (2) regions to completely absorb their knowledge. Thus, metaphorically speaking, the knowledge gets lost and wasted between the home and target emigration regions. Hence, this article aims at presenting knowledge effect on the home and target regions and discusses possible regional structures fostering inclusion and absorption capacity to avoid brain drain and brain waste, but empowers brain gain and brain exchange as positive knowledge effects. The final part presents regional actors' networks and inter-regional social networks (migration networks) as possible instruments to build regional structures for better regional social inclusion and knowledge absorption and as pipelines for knowledge spillover.


We investigate a compact source of entanglement. This device is composed of a pair of linearly coupled nonlinear waveguides operating by means of degenerate parametric downconversion. For the vacuum state at the input the generalized squeeze variance and logarithmic negativity are used to quantify the amount of nonclassicality and entanglement of output beams. Squeezing and entanglement generation for various dynamical regimes of the device are discussed. The influence of losses is investigated in detail.


The current study presents an analysis of the reading habits of students at the elementary school level in Tehsil Ahmadpur East District Bahawalpur, Punjab. The main objectives of the study were to examine the reading habits (styles) of students and to evaluate factors affecting their reading habits. This study was descriptive in nature. The population of the study consisted of all elementary school students in Tehsil Ahmadpur East. The sample size of the study was 540 students and 90 teachers. A questionnaire was the tool of this study on five point likert scale. The data of the study were analyzed by applying frequency, percentage, mean score, standard deviation, t-test and ANOVA. The findings revealed statistically significant differences in student reading habits based on class, gender, parental qualification, and school type. There was insignificant impact of locality on the reading habits of students. In teachers' opinions, use of the internet, mobile devices and social media were the main problems for students. It is recommended for teachers to pay proper attention to developing positive reading attitudes to enhance effective reading habits among students. Moreover, students need to develop the habit of reading for pleasure and acquiring knowledge and not only to pass their exams and tests. Institutional heads should concentrate on providing the best reading sources in school libraries, including computers and internet facilities. Library staff should be given training to monitor students while working in libraries and train students to search for and utilize reading sources. Keywords: Students, Teachers, Schools, Libraries and Computer Labs.


A systematic stable isotopic study of an exceptionally well-preserved Baculites compressus specimen from the Pierre Shale (Upper Campanian) of South Dakota was conducted to assess whether the variations recorded in the calcareous shells of baculitids can be used as a reliable indicator of paleoenvironmental conditions. We sampled the B. compressus conch along four sampling profiles: (1) an ontogenetic traverse parallel to growth direction, (2) a virtually isochronous traverse along two different lirae delineated by growth lines, (3) a septal traverse, and (4) a shell-wall traverse through the conch wall. To date, the ontogenetic sequence is the longest record produced from baculitids. We interpret the isotopic variations determined from the ontogenetic, septal, and depth-profile traverses to be dominated by an environmental signal, especially in shell material deposited prior to septal crowding (i.e., maturity). In contrast, we interpret the isotopic variations determined from the isochronous traverse along the two different lirae to be altered by "biological vital effects." Our results indicate that a careful sampling strategy that avoids strongly ornamented areas of the shell is required if a "true" paleoenvironmental signal is to be extracted from the calcareous shells of baculitids, and perhaps other ammonites as well. Our best estimate of seasonal seawater-temperature variation in the Late Campanian Western Interior Seaway at 42 degrees N, based on the oxygen isotopic data from the baculitid specimen, is 10.0 degrees C (range of 29.7 degrees C to 19.7 degrees C).


The main intention of this research is to examine the content validity of Marine Engineer Personality Inventory
or MEPI for student candidates of Diploma in Marine Engineering course at Malaysian Polytechnics by using
Content Validity Ratio (CVR). The assessment was conducted through the evaluation among 14 subject matter
experts (SME) selected via judgment sampling. Seven professional university experts involved with the expertise in psychology, psychometric, educational measurement, and linguistics. The field experts specializing in particular fields of study consisted of seven practitioners who worked in the polytechnics field and maritime industry. The instrument involved 288 items with six main constructs. The results of the research show that the instrument has a good content validity and proved that MEPI has great potential to be promoted as a good measurement instrument of personality screening for Marine Engineering student selection process. It is
recommended to apply more sophisticated statistical analysis, such as the Item Response Theory (IRT) model for elaborating on quality items.


This paper gives a chronological analysis of the dynamic interplay of endogenous and exogenous forces that have created the complexity of identity politics in contemporary Taiwanese society. It not only elaborates the various versions of identity emerging in Taiwan's politics, but also illustrates the chronological characteristics of identity politics present at each stage of Taiwan's developmental process since 1949. In conclusion, it comes back to the question of Taiwan independence, or put it another way, the imperative of the denial of a Chinese identity. Above all, this paper argues that lying behind all the obsessions for a new Taiwan-centered identity is primarily the impulse to fight for a sovereignty that can guarantee an unconstrained international space, rather than a nationalist motive to cut off all the cultural and racial identification with China.


New α+β type titanium alloy with Ti-4.5Al-6Nb-2Mo-2Fe was developed on the basis of using biocompatible elements and eliminating the cytotoxic ones such as Vanadium, while achieving the desirable mechanical properties such as appropriate strength, cold workability and low superplastic forming (SPF) temperature. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of yttrium addition of less than 0.05% into this alloy on static and under superplastic deformation grain growth behavior. The new alloy bar manufactured by α+β processing and annealed at 1073K yielded extremely fine two-phase microstructure with α grain size around 2μm. Specimens were heated at temperatures of 1048, 1073 and 1098K and kept for times between 3.6 to 172.8KS. Yttrium forms in-situ Y2O3 particles, and the presence of these particles yield finer two phase microstructure due to their retardation effect on β phase grain growth. Grain growth behavior during hot deformation was investigated by hot compression test in use of a hot working simulator of THERMEC-Master Z. Strain rate was varied from 2×10-2 to 2×10-4S-1 and strain was 0.69. Grain size of both α and β phases increased with a reduction of strain rate, and Y2O3 particle was also effective to retard grain growth under hot deformation. It was confirmed from comparison of grain growth during isothermal heating with and without hot deformation that grain growth was much accelerated by deformation. All of these results were discussed based on grain growth mechanism or model for two-phase microstructures as well as superplastic deformation mechanism.


We study the role of unsteady lift in the context of flapping wing bird flight. Both aerodynamicists and biologists have attempted to address this subject, yet it seems that the contribution of unsteady lift still holds many open questions. The current study deals with the estimation of unsteady aerodynamic forces on a freely flying bird through analysis of wingbeat kinematics and near wake flow measurements using time resolved particle image velocimetry. The aerodynamic forces are obtained through two approaches, the unsteady thin airfoil theory and using the momentum equation for viscous flows. The unsteady lift is comprised of circulatory and non-circulatory components. Both approaches are presented over the duration of wingbeat cycles. Using long-time sampling data, several wingbeat cycles have been analyzed in order to cover both the downstroke and upstroke phases. It appears that the unsteady lift varies over the wingbeat cycle emphasizing its contribution to the total lift and its role in power estimations. It is suggested that the circulatory lift component cannot assumed to be negligible and should be considered when estimating lift or power of birds in flapping motion.


Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive malignancy with 5-year survival rate of 10%. Evidence about pembrolizumab usage for PDAC is limited even though it is Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved for treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer with deficient mismatch repair expression (dMMR) or high tumor mutational burden (TMB) where as there is limited evidence for programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1)-positive PDACs. We present three patients with different stages of advanced PDAC treated with pembrolizumab as single maintenance therapy or combination with other therapy. Case 1 is a patient with borderline resectable PDAC, treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgical resection, followed with pembrolizumab as maintenance therapy with no progression for 4 years after test showed patient was dMMR positive. Case 2 is a patient who was found to have locally advanced PDAC, treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgical resection followed by multiple line of treatment with programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and breast cancer gene 2 (BRCA2)-positive status treated with pembrolizumab and olaparib maintenance without any evidence of progression for more than 3 years. Case 3 is a patient with metastatic PDAC with PD-1 and BRCA2-positive status initially treated with FOLFIRINOX (5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan and oxaliplatin) and gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel switched to irinotecan liposomal, at the same time was started on maintenance pembrolizumab and olaparib with no progression on computed tomography (CT) surveillance for 8 months. For patient with different stages of PDAC with dMMR mutation or PD-1 expression, pembrolizumab should be explored more as maintenance therapy for patients with surgical operable PDAC to decrease recurrence, or as a combination with targeted therapy or chemotherapy to prolong survival in patients with advanced PDAC.


We consider the problem of estimating the parameters of a Gaussian or binary distribution in such a way that the resulting undirected graphical model is sparse. Our approach is to solve a maximum likelihood problem with an added 1-norm penalty term. The problem as formulated is convex but the memory requirements and complexity of existing interior point methods are prohibitive for problems with more than tens of nodes. We present two new algorithms for solving problems with at least a thousand nodes in the Gaussian case. Our first algorithm uses block coordinate descent, and can be interpreted as recursive 1-norm penalized regression. Our second algorithm, based on Nesterov's first order method, yields a complexity estimate with a better dependence on problem size than existing interior point methods. Using a log determinant relaxation of the log partition function (Wainwright and Jordan, 2006), we show that these same algorithms can be used to solve an approximate sparse maximum likelihood problem for the binary case. We test our algorithms on synthetic data, as well as on gene expression and senate voting records data.


There is a growing recognition of social media data as being useful for understanding local area patterns. In this study, we sought to utilize geotagged tweets—specifically, the frequency and type of food mentions—to understand the neighborhood food environment and the social modeling of food behavior. Additionally, we examined associations between aggregated food-related tweet characteristics and prevalent chronic health outcomes at the census tract level. We used a Twitter streaming application programming interface (API) to continuously collect ~1% random sample of public tweets in the United States. A total of 4,785,104 geotagged food tweets from 71,844 census tracts were collected from April 2015 to May 2018. We obtained census tract chronic disease outcomes from the CDC 500 Cities Project. We investigated associations between Twitter-derived food variables and chronic outcomes (obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure) using the median regression. Census tracts with higher average calories per tweet, less frequent healthy food mentions, and a higher percentage of food tweets about fast food had higher obesity and hypertension prevalence. Twitter-derived food variables were not predictive of diabetes prevalence. Food-related tweets can be leveraged to help characterize the neighborhood social and food environment, which in turn are linked with community levels of obesity and hypertension.


The prevailing practices in Pakistan show that majority of school organizations believe in the development of anxiety, tension, fear and apprehension in subordinates. HMs are frequently producing only frustration and dissatisfaction in teachers and lower staff. Therefore, unproductive and unpleasant role of leadership is being criticized. The ongoing study paves the way to highlight the prose and cones of Educational Leadership in School Organization. This study is descriptive in nature and follows by case-study method. For the purpose of data collection. A Government Primary School was selected as a 'case' to search out the impacts of Leadership (HMs) in a School Organization. For the purpose of instrumentation, a structured interview and a Close-ended questionnaire were developed for cluster sampling. Further investigation was dressed up with primary data in terms of school records. The collected data was presented through descriptive statistics in tabulated form. The findings of research show that the level of achievement of determined tasks of school organization i.e. Educational Administration, Increment in Enrollment, Skillful Pedagogy, Pupils Improvement in Achievements level as well as in Co-curricular Activities, Effective Participation of Parents, and, In this way, the ongoing research suggest the measure to revitalize the leadership for the betterment of school organization depends upon the performance of leadership rather than the emphasizing over expensive and non-available physical facilities. So that the school organization may utilize he available human and material resources effectively.


The effects of aqueous extract of Ocimum gratissimum on transaminases activity of albino rat were investigated. The objective was to evaluate the effects of aqueous extracts of fresh leaves of Ocimum gratissimum on transaminases activities in albino rats. Sixteen albino rats were randomly assigned to four experimental groups of 4 marked as control group, groups A, B, and C respectively. Groups A, B and C were treated with oral administration of aqueous extract of Ocimum gratissimum at 100mg, 200mg and 400mg/kg body weight daily respectively for two weeks. Control group received no treatment. Results showed that treatment of rats with the respective doses of the extract did not significantly alter the serum and liver levels of ALT and AST in all test groups. There was a significant increase in the activities (P<0.05) of AST and ALT in the kidney and the serum which might be caused by activation of enzymes synthesis in renal cells. The result suggests that ingestion of aqueous extract of Ocimum gratissimum could confer protection on the liver tissues against injury, damage or disease and the extract may not be toxic at the doses investigated.


Nightshift workers are increasing day by day, but many times, people forget the health and sleep effects caused by the nightshift. One such impact is the altered circadian rhythm, which is very important for proper functioning of the body and a good sleep. This altered circadian rhythm can have an impact on waking and sleep life of the nightshift workers. This qualitative study is to find the dream pattern among the nightshift workers and to find the frequency in dreaming among this group. Dreams are the reflections of the waking life and dream patterns are seen among groups sharing similar wake life experiences.  This study is conducted with nine nightshift and nine dayshift workers, dream journal was used to collect the dreams from the participants. The frequency of dreaming is seen more among the nightshift workers. The dream patterns among both the groups are similar but there are dreams that make the nightshift group different from the dayshift. The dreams of the nightshift group includes mainly their friends and the feelings of being stuck/in danger. Also, their dreams were more fantastic in nature and have more emotional content.  The study shows that sexual dreams are seen majorly among the nightshift group. This finding can be further used to conduct researches on the impact of nightshift on the sexual health and overall well being of nightshift workers and the reflection of the same in their dreams.