Abstract Chumak, V. V., Worgul, B. V., Kundiyev, Y. I., Sergiyenko, N. M., Vitte, P. M., Medvedovsky, C., Bakhanova, E. V., Junk, A. K., Kyrychenko, O. Y., Musijachenko, N. V., Sholom, S. V., Shylo, S. A., Vitte, O. P., Xu, S., Xue, X. and Shore, R. E. Dosimetry for a Study of Low-Dose Radiation Cataracts among Chernobyl Clean-up Workers. Radiat. Res. 167, 606– 614 (2007). A cohort of 8,607 Ukrainian Chernobyl clean-up workers during 1986–1987 was formed to study cataract formation after ionizing radiation exposure. Study eligibility required the availability of sufficient exposure information to permit the reconstruction of doses to the lens of the eye. Eligible groups included civilian workers, such as those who built the "sarcophagus" over the reactor, Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Workers, and military reservists who were conscripted for clean-up work. Many of the official doses for workers were estimates, because only a minority wore radiation badges. For 106 military workers, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements of extracted teeth were compared with the recorded doses as the basis to adjust the recorded γ-ray doses and provide estimates of uncertainties. Beta-particle doses to the lens were estimated with an algorithm devised to take into account the nature and location of Chernobyl work, time since the accident, and protective measures taken. A Monte Carlo routine generated 500 random estimates for each individual from the uncertainty distributions of the γ-ray dose and of the ratio of β-particle to γ-ray doses. The geometric mean of the 500 combined β-particle and γ-ray dose estimates for each individual was used in the data analyses. The median estimated lens dose for the cohort was 123 mGy, while 4.4% received >500 mGy.


Adenosine receptors (ARs) comprise a group of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) which mediate the physiological actions of adenosine. To date, four AR subtypes have been cloned and identified in different tissues. These receptors have distinct localization, signal transduction pathways and different means of regulation upon exposure to agonists. A key property of some of Adenosine receptors is their ability to serve as sensors of cellular oxidative stress, which is transmitted by transcription factors, such as NF-κB, to regulate the expression of ARs. The importance of Adenosine receptors in the regulation of normal and pathological processes such as sleep, the development of cancers and in protection against hearing loss will be examined.


ABSTRACT This study explores when and why entrepreneurs choose entrepreneurial learning strategies that emphasize exploration or exploitation. Most studies have focused on explaining the different characteristics of exploration and exploitation, their performance implications, whether they are complementarities or substitutes and how particular organizational structures can support their coexistence. We apply a process design building on four research-based spinoffs observing how changes in entrepreneurs' choices of exploration and exploitation occur as they identify and adopt a viable configuration for their ventures. In this study, we develop a theoretical model that reveals the situational conditions and mechanisms underlying entrepreneurs' learning choices and highlights different knowledge typologies and competence gaps that new venture teams need to fill when dealing with uncertainties and performance errors.


AIMS
The aim of this work is to identify the medicines which interact with the herbal remedy St John's wort (SJW), and the mechanisms responsible.

METHODS
A systematic review of all the available evidence, including worldwide published literature and spontaneous case reports provided by healthcare professionals and regulatory authorities within Europe has been undertaken.

RESULTS
A number of clinically significant interactions have been identified with prescribed medicines including warfarin, phenprocoumon, cyclosporin, HIV protease inhibitors, theophylline, digoxin and oral contraceptives resulting in a decrease in concentration or effect of the medicines. These interactions are probably due to the induction of cytochrome P450 isoenzymes CYP3A4, CYP2C9, CYP1A2 and the transport protein P-glycoprotein by constituent(s) in SJW. The degree of induction is unpredictable due to factors such as the variable quality and quantity of constituent(s) in SJW preparations. In addition, possible pharmacodynamic interactions with selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors and serotonin (5-HT(1d)) receptor-agonists such as triptans used to treat migraine were identified. These interactions are associated with an increased risk of adverse reactions.

CONCLUSIONS
In Sweden and the UK the potential risks to patients were judged to be significant and therefore information about the interactions was provided to health care professionals and patients. The product information of the licensed medicines involved has been amended to reflect these newly identified interactions and SJW preparations have been voluntarily labelled with appropriate warnings.


The old Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries of Western Europe faced new testing economic conditions by the late Middle Ages. Gifts and donations to the institutions had dried up, the manorial system and serfdom were on the wane, and furthermore, these old monasteries faced competition from new private and charitable foundations such as hospitals and mendicant houses. Many monasteries fell into economic decline as a result, suffering from a crisis in liquidity and from expropriation of their lands. Was this decline inevitable or avoidable, however? By focusing on some cases of institutional adaptation in the Low Countries and Italy, it is shown that these older monasteries could adapt and reinvent themselves to stave off crisis. However, as is later revealed, not all monasteries encountered the same favourable power and property constellations necessary to achieve the required levels of institutional flexibility


We show that a metal-oxide-metal (Al-AlO(x)-Al) tunnel junction fabricated directly upon a planar ion-exchange glass waveguide can be used to detect the guided radiation through evanescent coupling. Carriers photogenerated in the electrode next to the guide can be internally photoemitted over the oxide barrier to generate a photocurrent. Because of the greater metallic absorption of TM-polarized modes, the process is polarization sensitive. 32-dB TM selectivity is achieved in a simple device.


This study is a 2-year follow-up to a 1987-1988 survey of North Carolina hospitals regarding hospital utilization by patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Almost 99% of the state's hospitals participated in the re-survey for the fiscal year 1989-1990. The number of general hospitals treating these patients grew by 57%; HIV/AIDS inpatients increased by 189% from 540 to 1,561. Total general hospital charges for HIV/AIDS inpatients increased from $7,685,000 to $26,957,000, an increase of 251%. Of these charges the amount that was uncompensated by insurance increased by 293% to $7,733,000. Fifteen large tertiary general hospitals treated 80% of the HIV/AIDS inpatients and accounted for $6,093,000 (79%) of the uncompensated charges related to these patients.


MapReduce is a widely used data-parallel programming model for large-scale data analysis. The framework is shown to be scalable to thousand of computing nodes and reliable on commodity clusters. However, research has shown that there is room for performance improvement of the MapReduce framework. One of the main performance bottlenecks is caused by the all-to-all communication between mappers and reducers, which may saturate the top-of-rack switch and inflate job execution time. Reducing cross-rack communication will improve job performance. In current MapReduce implementation, the task assignment is based on the pull-model, in which cross-rack traffic is difficult to control. In contrast, the MapReduce framework allows more flexibility in assigning reducers to the computing nodes. In this paper, we investigate the reducer placement problem (RPP), which considers the placement of reducers to minimize cross-rack traffic. We devise two optimal algorithms to solve RPP and implement the algorithms in the Hadoop system. We also propose an analytical solution for this problem. Our experiment results with a set of MapReduce applications show that our optimization achieves 9\% to 32\%performance improvement compared with the unoptimized Hadoop.


A computer program has been devised for analysis of proportional design in architecture and has been applied to the church of the Cistercian abbey of Ebrach, Franconia, using detailed survey measurements. Reference for this is a coefficient base of over a thousand proportions of numbers and geometric figures. The investigation has clarified the essential methodological principles for analysis of building geometry including coincidences and ambiguities of proportions, their interaction with the basic uncertainty of measurement, the interdependence between structural reference levels in the building, and the mixing of intention, collateral, and accidental relations. The program has decoded the design of part of the church and its system of measurements showing their proportions to be based on geometrical figures of polygons. The principal measurements were found to represent the sides of these polygons, and their reference, the radius of construction. Most other measurements were derived by systematic division or multiplication of the principal ones, frequently by use of the quadratura. Results also permit conclusions about precision of construction and the role of foot measurements.


The total ionizing radiation effects of several NOR and NAND flash memories under the read only mode are investigated. An X-ray microbeam test was also performed to help detect the radiation susceptibility of different circuits. The error distribution is mapped for the NOR flash memories, featuring significant address related signature. Relevant circuits are analyzed to address these failure modes.


In this paper, we introduce the Satisfiability Modulo Theory (SMT) attack on obfuscated circuits. The proposed attack is the superset of Satisfiability (SAT) attack, with many additional features. It uses one or more theory solvers in addition to its internal SAT solver. For this reason, it is capable of modeling far more complex behaviors and could formulate much stronger attacks. In this paper, we illustrate that the use of theory solvers enables the SMT to carry attacks that are not possible by SAT formulated attacks. As an example of its capabilities, we use the SMT attack to break a recent obfuscation scheme that uses key values to alter delay properties (setup and hold time) of a circuit to remain SAT hard. Considering that the logic delay is not a Boolean logical property, the targeted obfuscation mechanism is not breakable by a SAT attack. However, in this paper, we illustrate that the proposed SMT attack, by deploying a simple graph theory solver, can model and break this obfuscation scheme in few minutes. We describe how the SMT attack could be used in one of four different attack modes: (1) We explain how SMT attack could be reduced to a SAT attack, (2) how the SMT attack could be carried out in Eager, and (3) Lazy approach, and finally (4) we introduce the Accelerated SMT (AccSMT) attack that offers significant speed-up to SAT attack. Additionally, we explain how AccSMT attack could be used as an approximate attack when facing SMT-Hard obfuscation schemes.


The first excited state and the ground state of 17F are studied with the asymptotic normalization coefficient method. The results show that the probabilities of the last proton being out of the binding-potential in both the states are P = 59.71% and P = 27.61%, respectively. This means that the last nucleon in both the states of 17F is far-extended beyond the range of nuclear force, especially in the first excited state. This result is also verified by the calculation of the density distributions of the last proton in 17F. It is quantitatively confirmed that the first excited state of 17F is a nuclear halo state and its ground state is a proton skin state.


Phosphorylation of the translation initiation factor eIF2α within the mediobasal hypothalamus is known to suppress food intake, but the role of the eIF2α phosphatases in regulating body weight is poorly understood. Mice deficient in active PPP1R15A, a stress-inducible eIF2α phosphatase, are healthy and more resistant to endoplasmic reticulum stress than wild type controls. We report that when Ppp1r15a mutant mice are fed a high fat diet they gain less weight than wild type littermates owing to reduced food intake. This results in healthy leaner Ppp1r15a mutant animals with reduced hepatic steatosis and improved insulin sensitivity, albeit with a modest defect in insulin secretion. By contrast, no weight differences are observed between wild type and Ppp1r15a deficient mice fed a standard diet. We conclude that mice lacking the C-terminal PP1-binding domain of PPP1R15A show reduced dietary intake and preserved glucose tolerance. Our data indicate that this results in reduced weight gain and protection from diet-induced obesity.


The effects of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) and a combination of growth factors on the developmental competence of canine oocytes during in vitro maturation was examined. Oocytes recovered from domestic dog ovaries at routine ovariectomy were cultured in a basic tissue culture medium with 0.3% BSA, 7 microg mL(-1) progesterone and antibiotics. After the appropriate culture periods (up to 96 h), they were fixed and labelled by double-antibody immunofluorescence for tubulin and with propidium iodide for chromatin. Human chorionic gonadotrophin increased the proportion of oocytes resuming meiosis and reduced the degeneration rate. Supplementing with hCG in declining concentrations was of no superior benefit but the presence of a combination of growth factors (growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor-1, transforming growth factor-alpha and fibroblast growth factor) improved both the resumption of meiosis and the degeneration rate. No particular synergisms between pairs of growth factors could be demonstrated. Human chorionic gonadotrophin and growth factors together gave poorer results, implying that hCG inhibited the beneficial effects of the growth factors. A growth factor combination is the present most successful treatment, with 49% of total oocytes (inclusive of degenerated) recovered from anoestrous bitches at MI or MII by 96 h of culture. This is the highest result so far demonstrated for cultured dog oocytes.


Two experiments were conducted in 2004 evaluating twin line cotton production using a conservation tillage system approach. DPL 451 BR Upland cotton was planted into oat hay stubble on April 30 and May 5, 2004 at commercial cooperator sites at Tonopah and Tolleson AZ, respectively. The two primary experimental objectives were to determine whether cotton planted into previous crop residue initiated fruiting on the mainstem once the cotton seedling grew above the crop stubble and whether there were differences in lint yield between the single and twin line system. Previous twin line cotton production research had been conducted by authors at 30 locations from 2001-2003. In almost all cases, the harvest of low set bolls presented problems with the twin line system. In 2004, the initiation of the first fruiting branch was independent of the stubble height at both locations. In addition, there were no differences in lint yield in either a single or twin line cotton production system when planting into previous crop residue using conservation tillage.


Seating or standing make distinct on-board states to a transit rider, yielding distinct discomfort costs, with potential influence on the passenger route choice onto the transit network. The paper provides a transit assignment model that captures the seating capacity and its occupancy along any transit route. The main assumptions pertain to: the seat capacity by service route, selfish user behaviour, a seat allocation process with priority rules among the riders, according to their prior state either on-board or at boarding. To each transit leg from access to egress station is associated a set of 'service modes', among which the riders are assigned in a probabilistic way, conditionally on their priority status and the ratio between the available capacity and the flow of them. Thus the leg cost is a random variable, with mean value to be included in the trip disutility. Computationally efficient algorithms are provided for, respectively, loading the leg flows and evaluating the leg costs along a transit line. At the network level, a hyperpath formulation is provided for supply-demand equilibrium, together with a property of existence and an method of successive averages equilibration algorithm. It is shown that multiple equilibria may arise. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Introduction: Postpartum ovarian vein thrombosis (POVT) is rare but life-threatening complication of puerperium. It is seen in 0.05 - 0.2 % deliveries. Nearly 80-90% of POVT occurs in the right ovarian vein, possibly explained based on its anatomic position and blood flow dynamics. An extension of POVT to inferior vena-cava is relatively rare and very few cases are reported in literature. Case: A 28-year-old woman, para 01 presented four days after an uncomplicated cesarean delivery to our emergency department with the history of sudden onset of right lower abdominal pain accompanied by high- grade fever.


The model proposed in an attempt to find out physical bases of object perception during echolocation. It is shown that echolocational perception can be provided with correlational treatment of corresponding signals. The character of objects is determined by the comparison by echo probing accepted in the given cycle with typical distortions remembered in the course of individual experience of the animal. The distortions take place during the reflection of the probing impulse from these or those objects. "Binding" of the objects according to distance may be carried out by using the choice of typical distortions for corresponding correction of the copy of probing impulse, serving as a bearing signal of distance correlometer. The response of correlometer to the echo from correctly perceived target increases. The block-scheme of such correlation perception during echolocation is given. Performance of some experiments allowing to check and refine the model considered.


Abstract. The Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF), like other numerical models, can make use of several parameterization schemes. The purpose of this study is to determine how available cumulus parameterization (CP) and microphysics (MP) schemes in the WRF model simulate extreme precipitation events in the Basque Country. Possible combinations among two CP schemes (Kain–Fritsch and Betts–Miller–Janjic) and five MP (WSM3, Lin, WSM6, new Thompson and WDM6) schemes were tested. A set of simulations, corresponding to 21st century extreme precipitation events that have caused significant flood episodes have been compared with point observational data coming from the Basque Country Automatic Weather Station Mesonetwork. Configurations with Kain–Fritsch CP scheme produce better quantity of precipitation forecast (QPF) than BMJ scheme configurations. Depending on the severity level and the river basin analysed different MP schemes show the best behaviours, demonstrating that there is not a unique configuration that solve exactly all the studied events.


In the present study we analyze some consequences that come from revised measures as the Wehrl entropy and the Fisher information for the problem of a particle in a magnetic field starting from a complete description of the Husimi function. We discuss in the most complete form (three dimensions) some results related to measures in contrast with the incomplete form (two dimensions) shown in previous contributions. Some limiting cases as high and low temperatures are discussed. From the present reasoning, it is suggested that the formulation in two dimensions is sufficient unto itself to explain the problem whenever the length of the cylindrical geometry of the system is large enough. Otherwise, it is not possible to work in all finite temperatures, a natural lower temperature bound emerges from the analysis when three dimensions are considered.


This paper details the collaborative efforts of a reference librarian and a political science professor to seamlessly meld the study of politics with the acquisition of information literacy skills using a problem-based learning approach. Students in an introductory American Government class were engaged in a group project in which they acted as media consultants for the political candidate of their choice. Two information literacy sessions were embedded into the project. ACRL Information Literacy Standards were used to generate and assess performance outcomes. Student feedback, as well as pre-test and post-test results, indicate that a problem-based approach to enhancing information literacy in political science courses effectively engages students interest and improves students' information literacy skills.


Disasters are sudden catastrophic events leading to decisions in health service provision that are not in compliance with the principles and frameworks used in normal circumstances. It is essential to develop guidelines in order to ensure the ethical performance of health service providers and to prevent and manage the adverse consequences. As the first step in guideline development, the present study investigated the underlying factors affecting the ethical performance of health service providers in disasters. This was a qualitative research based on grounded theory, and was conducted through unstructured in-depth interviews with various health service providers including paramedics, physicians and crisis zone managers who had some experiences in a number of domestic and foreign disasters. The collected data were analyzed using conventional content analysis. The underlying factors extracted from the 24 interviews were divided into structural and mediatory factors. The structural factors covered the nature of the disaster, the type of social interactions, and lack of a unity management; the mediatory factors were connected to the emotional atmosphere governing the field, the behavior of the local people, the locals' economic status, the locals' trust in the authorities, and the safety of the crisis zone. We can look into more effective, continuous and dynamic relationships between the components of the process of ethical performance. It is evident, however, that the underlying factors have more effective roles than the other components. According to our findings, the role of the underlying, structural and mediatory factors are more of a threat than an opportunity in disasters.


Poly(acrylonitrile-co-isobutyl methacrylate), PAN-co-PIBMA, and poly(acrylonitrile-co-methyl methacrylate), PAN-co-MMA copolymers are synthesized by emulsion polymerization. The structural characterization is done by FTIR and 1H-NMR spectroscopy and thermal analyses are performed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). After various amounts of LiClO4 salt loading into copolymer films, the dielectric properties of these films at different temperatures and frequencies are determined. The effects of different methacrylate groups and salt content on the dielectric properties of copolymers are investigated. It is found that the dielectric constant increases systematically with increasing MMA and IBMA content in the copolymer. The samples with higher salt content show higher ac-conductivities.


We experimentally demonstrate that the use of only 1-m length of our fabricated Bismuth oxide-based nonlinear fiber readily allows for implementing a high-performance 10-Gb/s nonreturn-to-zero signal wavelength converter based on cross-phase-modulation-induced polarization rotation. No stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) suppression scheme was employed owing to a high SBS threshold of the fiber. Our wavelength converter is shown to provide a pattern-inverted or a noninverted output signal in the same configuration depending on the relative polarization directions between the probe and the polarizer. Error-free wavelength conversion over a 30-nm bandwidth is readily achieved for both cases, i.e., noninverted and inverted patterns.


This study seeks to design and develop tight-fit bra that provide wearing comfort. Five different elastic material commercial bras of size 75A have been tested on three healthy females.The elasticity of different fabrics had been tested with the method of load at specified elongation by using YG(B)026H electronic fabric strength machine. The pressure values have been measured 2 hours after wearing the tight-fit bras using an AMI-3037-5S Air-pack pressure measuring system. The test points were choosed at the hem of bras where the strong pressure will often cause very serious skin traces and the wearer will feel uncomfortable. The results showed that the clothing pressure values were affected by the materials' tensile resistance, body radius of curvature and the BMI of females. There are smaller clothing pressure and more comfortable when wearing lower tensile resistance of elastic material the tight-fit bra.


Online video chat services such as Chatroulette, Omegle, and vChatter that randomly match pairs of users in video chat sessions are quickly becoming very popular, with over a million users per month in the case of Chatroulette. A key problem encountered in such systems is the presence of flashers and obscene content. This problem is especially acute given the presence of underage minors in such systems. This article presents SafeVchat, a novel solution to the problem of flasher detection that employs an array of image detection algorithms. A key contribution of the article concerns how the results of the individual detectors are fused together into an overall decision classifying a user as misbehaving or not, based on Dempster-Shafer theory. The article introduces a novel, motion-based skin detection method that achieves significantly higher recall and better precision. The proposed methods have been evaluated over real-world data and image traces obtained from Chatroulette.com. SafeVchat has been deployed in Chatroulette. A combination of SafeVchat with human moderation has resulted in banning as many as 50,000 inappropriate users per day on Chatoulette. Furthermore, offensive content on Chatoulette has dropped significantly from 33.08% (before SafeVchat installation) to 3.49% (after SafeVchat installation).


In this paper we describe an approach and system for managing enterprise semi-structured data that is high-throughput, nimble, and scalable. We present the NETMARK system, which provides for a "schemaless" way of managing semi-structured documents. We describe in particular detail the unique underlying data storage approach and efficient query processing mechanisms given this storage system. We present an extensive benchmark evaluation of the NETMARK system and also compare it with related XML management systems. At the heart of the approach is the philosophy of a focus on most common data management requirements in the enterprise, and not burdening users and application developers with unnecessary complexity and formal schemas.


Dreaming in sleep must depend on the activity of the brain as does cognition and memory in wakefulness. Yet our understanding of the physiological subtleties of state differences may still be too primitive to guide theories adequately in these areas. One can state nonetheless unequivocally that the brain in REM is poorly equipped to practice for eventualities of wakefulness through dreaming, or for consolidating into memory the complex experiences of that state. [Hobson et al., Nielsen, Solms, Vertes & Eastman, Revonsuo]


Actinomyces israelii is a rare cause of pericarditis. Infection spreads to pericardium from an intrathoracic focus. Branching gram-positive filaments are seen on microscopic examination of clinical specimens. Cultures should be performed under anaerobic conditions. Both surgical drainage and antibiotics (penicillin) are required for treatment. Nocardiosis may resemble actinomycosis in many respects.


Abstract Environmental changes were flagged by lamination within Precambrian sedimentary rocks sequences using a high-resolution method. A continuous sample was collected and embedded in epoxy resin to form sample plates in order to investigate 2D laminations on sample surfaces. Elemental distributions in laminated samples were determined and recorded as XRF profiles, using the scanning X-ray analytical microscope (SXAM) and an image processing lamination tracer. These methods were used to study a rhythmite sequence at the base of a Neoproterozoic cap carbonates, which immediately overlies glacial deposits in Namibia, to determine profiles of Si, Ca, Mn, Ti, Fe, and Sr. At the base and top of each interval, the concentrations of six elements were relatively constant. In the middle of the interval, Ca–Sr and Mn, which reflect presence of calcite and dolomite respectively, fluctuated. This reflects seventeen cycles. The cyclic fluctuations of Ca–Sr and Mn were interpreted as calcite–dolomite cycles. Strontium also recorded two cycles. Furthermore, the fluctuations of Ca–Sr and Mn in calcite–dolomite cycles were laterally traceable. Possibly, these calcite–dolomite cycles were deposited synchronously and regionally. New methods allow the extraction of data that record cyclic- and event-phenomena from long sequences of laminated sedimentary rocks; this is not isolated to the Neoproterozoic but also throughout Earth's history.


This book takes the reader on a guided tour of London's public squares, community and allotment gardens, front gardens and window boxes - and the myriad and monumental public parks, from the grand formality of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens to the wild heathland of Hampstead and the commons. Illustrated with photographs that capture all the diversity of London's green spaces, presenting a unique and fresh viewpoint on the familiar, crammed with intriguing information as well as practical details, this book is for for Londoners, gardeners and environmentalists, and for all visitors to the city.


This conversation started in Prague, the Czech Republic, during a panel moderated by Irena Reifová at the symposium 'On Empowered and Impassioned Audiences in the Age of Media Convergence'. The event was organized by the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University. The text contains a series of discussions. First, there is a conversation about the nature of the participatory democratic utopia and participatory culture and how groups take (or do not take) advantage of the affordances of new and emerging media. It also emphasizes the political nature and potential of popular culture and touches upon its connection to institutionalized politics. Three other key areas are mentioned: the role of different cultures of leadership, the significance of organizations in structuring participatory processes, and the need to enhance civic learning, providing more support for participatory cultures. This is combined with an interlocking discussion about the definition of participation and how it is tied up with power. It covers the differences between participation and interaction, engagement, interpretation, production, curation, and circulation. Finally, there is an underlying strand of discussion about the role of academia, focusing on the relationship between critical theory and cultural studies, the need to deconstruct our own frameworks and the question of which language to use to communicate academic research to the public.


In this study, six kinds of different films from LDPE (Low-density polyethylene) modified by EVA (Ethylene - vinyl acetate copolymer) were made, and EVA / LDPE mass ratio was 0/50, 1/49, 1/ 19 4/21, and 1/3. Influence of EVA amount on the properties of LDPE film was investigated using the Instron universal testing machine, DSC, oxygen permeability tester and breathable apparatus. The mechanical properties of the blended films showed that when the EVA content was 5%, LDPE / EVA film transverse Young's modulus increased by about 50%, and the vertical Young's modulus increased by about 56%, which is good for improving the overprint accuracy of the LDPE / EVA film. DSC analysis showed that the melt blending has no effect on the thin-film processing temperature and thermal stability, but the result indicated that the crystallinity of the blended films was lowered with the increase of EVA amount. Barrier tests showed that with the increase of EVA content, the barrier of the modified films was decreased. The polarity of the film increased with more EVA component, which would augment the surface tension of LDPE and its ink adhesion.


We consider the problem of a thin liquid layer falling down an inclined plate that is subjected to non-uniform heating. The plate temperature is assumed to be linearly distributed and both directions of the temperature gradient with respect to the flow are investigated. The film flow is not only influenced by gravity and mean surface tension, but in addition by the thermocapillary force acting along the free surface. The coupling of thermocapillary instability and surface-wave instabilities is studied for two-dimensional disturbances. Applying the long-wave theory, a nonlinear evolution equation is derived. When the plate temperature is decreasing in the downstream direction, linear stability analysis exhibits a film stabilization, compared to a uniformly heated film. In contrast, for increasing temperature along the plate, the film becomes less stable. Numerical solution of the evolution equation indicates the existence of permanent finite-amplitude waves of different kinds. The shape of the waves depends mainly on the mean flow and the mean surface tension, but their amplitudes and phase speeds are influenced by thermocapillarity.


Endothelial cell activation with accompanying vascular inflammatory changes is considered central to the experimental manifestations of both hyperacute and delayed xenograft rejection responses. Natural xenoreactive antibodies directed at Α-galactosyl residues of xenogeneic glycoproteins and glycolipids, with associated complement activation via the classical pathway, are considered major immediate mediators of graft endothelial cell injury in the clinically relevant discordant swine to primate combinations. In delayed xenograft rejection processes, where recipients are treated prophylactically to ameliorate these initial events, activation of infiltrating mononuclear phagocytes and natural killer cells are associated with ongoing endothelial cell activation processes, procoagulant generation and vascular thrombosis. Allograft hyperacute rejection is observed when vascularised organs are transplanted to sensitized individuals with high levels of cytotoxic antibodies. Less dramatic forms of humoral allograft rejection (termed accelerated or vascular rejection) and the more common cell-mediated endothelialitis are associated with significant graft damage. Endothelial cell activation is also linked with graft preservation injury, forms of chronic rejection and delayed graft loss. Experimental work is currently being directed at the control of hyperacute rejection, the close understanding of endothelial cell thromboregulation in both transplanted xeno- and allografts and the development of novel therapeutic agents including gene therapy and the possible use of organs from transgenic animals.


What is the right way to reason about human activities? What directions forward are most promising? In this work, we analyze the current state of human activity understanding in videos. The goal of this paper is to examine datasets, evaluation metrics, algorithms, and potential future directions. We look at the qualitative attributes that define activities such as pose variability, brevity, and density. The experiments consider multiple state-of-the-art algorithms and multiple datasets. The results demonstrate that while there is inherent ambiguity in the temporal extent of activities, current datasets still permit effective benchmarking. We discover that fine-grained understanding of objects and pose when combined with temporal reasoning is likely to yield substantial improvements in algorithmic accuracy. We present the many kinds of information that will be needed to achieve substantial gains in activity understanding: objects, verbs, intent, and sequential reasoning. The software and additional information will be made available to provide other researchers detailed diagnostics to understand their own algorithms.


The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of cumulative risk on dropout and treatment outcome in parent training. Participants were 44 families of young children (mean age of 49.59 months) who presented with elevated externalizing behavior problems and developmental delay or borderline developmental delay. All families were offered to receive Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), an evidence-based, behavioral parent-training intervention, at a hospital-based outpatient clinic. Cumulative risk was calculated as a sum of risk variables, including socioeconomic disadvantage (poverty, low maternal education), family structure (single-parent household), and maternal risk characteristics (minority status, lower intelligence, and parental distress). Families with higher cumulative risk scores, especially those with three or more risks, were more likely to drop out of treatment and display diminished treatment response in child behavior and parenting skills compared with families with lower cumulative risk scores. However, only two individual risk factors (i.e., minority status and family structure) predicted dropout, and one individual risk factor (i.e., maternal education) predicted outcome. These findings suggest that it can be useful to conceptualize risk factors as having a cumulative, in addition to individual, at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on March 3, 2014 bmo.sagepub.com Downloaded from Bagner and Graziano 357 influence on parent-training interventions for children with developmental delay and have significant implications for clinical practice. It is important for clinicians to regularly assess for risk factors, and future research should examine ways in which clinicians can improve retention and outcome of parent training in the presence of multiple risk factors.


Abstract The present investigation emphasizes on synthesis and characterization of thiol functionalized reduced graphene oxide (TrGO) as a novel platform for loading of anticancer drug methotrexate (TrGO-MTX), through amide bonding. Thiolation of graphene oxide (GO) was achieved by transesterification process. The introduction of sulfur containing chemical groups and the partial reduction of GO to TrGO were proven by analytical techniques. Thiol content was found to be 6.98 mM by Ellman's method in a quantitative manner. Furthermore, antineoplastic action of TrGO-MTX against human glioblastoma astrocytom U-373 MG cell line was studied, wherein TrGO-MTX demonstrated significant inhibition rate as compared with pure MTX. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


Information is the most important asset of any organization. It is particularly important for information driven businesses like engineering asset management organizations. These businesses maintain the lifeline of economy and, therefore, it is important that the information that they capture if of high quality, processed in right systems, communicated through right channels, and presented to its stakeholders in right format. This highlights that information quality management calls for business organizations to be proactive as well as reactive, i.e. information quality concerns should be proactively addressed for every stage of information lifecycle, and at the same time it should be monitored regularly so as to take corrective action could be taken to ensure smooth functioning of information dependent business areas. The intertwined nature of information quality dimensions, such as timeliness and accuracy, adds more complexity to the already difficult scenario of information quality monitoring. This paper takes a product perspective of information and utilizes an information improvement cycle based on plan, do, check, act principle to propose a framework for information quality monitoring and improvement. It utilizes analytical hierarchy process and six sigma methodologies to obtain objective measurement of information quality by focusing on systematic assessment of multiple dimensions of information quality.


The importance of voter auditing in order to ensure election integrity has been extensively studied in the e-voting literature. On the other hand, the necessity of auditing to protect voter privacy in an e-voting system has been mostly overlooked. This work investigates election privacy issues that appear in the state-of-the-art implementations of e-voting systems that apply threshold public key encryption (TPKE) in the client like Helios and use a bulletin board (BB). More specifically, it is shown that without PKI support or -more generallyauthenticated BB "append" operations, such systems are vulnerable to attacks where the malicious election server can act as a man-in-the-middle between the election trustees and the voters, hence it can learn how the voters have voted. As countermeasure for this type of man-in-the-middle attacks, this work suggests compulsory trustee auditing which should be executed either (i) immediately after the election setup phase, if the BB is consistent, or (ii) right after the voting phase, if the BB is corrupted. Finally, this work studies the impact of verifying the cryptographic (zero-knowledge) proofs posted in the BB from a privacy aspect; namely, it is shown that proof auditing implies significantly stronger provable privacy guarantee for a TPKE e-voting system against covert adversaries (i.e., adversaries that may deviate arbitrarily from the protocol specification, but do not wish to be detected), given that the proof is carried out via standard reduction to the security of the underlying TPKE scheme.


Titanium dioxide has a band-gap in the ultra violet region and there
have been many efforts to shift light absorption to the visible region. In this
regard, surface modification with metal oxide clusters has been used to promote
band-gap reduction. CeOx-modified TiO2 materials
have exhibited enhanced catalytic activity in water gas shift, but the
deposition process used is not well-understood or suitable for powder materials.
Atomic layer deposition (ALD) has been used for deposition of cerium oxide on
TiO2. The experimentally reported growth rates using typical Ce
metal precursors such as β-diketonates and cyclopentadienyls are low, with reported growth rates
of ca. 0.2-0.4 Å/cycle. In this
paper, we have performed density functional theory calculations to reveal the reaction
mechanism of the metal precursor pulse together with experimental studies of ALD
of CeOx using two Ce precursors, Ce(TMHD)4 and Ce(MeCp)3.
The nature and stability of hydroxyl groups on anatase and rutile TiO2
surfaces are determined and used as starting substrates. Adsorption of the
cerium precursors on the hydroxylated TiO2 surfaces reduces the coverage
of surface hydroxyls. Computed activation barriers for ligand elimination in
Ce(MeCp)3 indicate that ligand elimination is not possible on
anatase (101) and rutile (100) surface, but it is possible on anatase (001) and
rutile (110). The ligand elimination in Ce(TMHD)4 is via breaking the
Ce-O bond and hydrogen transfer from hydroxyl groups. For this precursor, the ligand elimination on the majority surface
facets of anatase and rutile TiO2 are endothermic and not favourable.
It is difficult to deposit Ce atom onto hydroxylated TiO2 surface
using Ce(TMHD)4 as precursor. Attempts for deposit cerium oxide on TiO2 nanoparticles
that expose the anatase (101) surface show at best a low deposition rate and
this can be explained by the non-favorable ligand elimination reactions at this
surface.


3 Abstract: This paper introduced fault diagnosis system for power transformer using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). This system is to identify, localize and classify the faults. This system consists of various stages. In first stage, a preprocessing procedure for input data is performed. In second stage an ANN is designed to identify fault and to localize its side. In third stage, there are two sub diagnosis systems. Each system has one ANN designed to classify the fault. The performance of fault diagnosis system is evaluated using samples from local measurements (three-phase primary voltage and primary& secondary currents).The faults that are detected and cleared are single winding, double winding, and inrush currents.


Changes in cell viability and in factors affecting metabolic integrity were examined after exposure of Escherichia coli LP1092 to human serum. Antibody-dependent classical pathway activity accounted for the rapid killing of strain LP1092 by complement. Removal of serum lysozyme by bentonite absorption or by neutralization with anti-human lysozyme immunoglobulin G resulted in a reduction in the rate of killing; optimal activity could be restored by the addition of physiological amounts of egg-white lysozyme. The pattern of 86Rb+ and alkaline phosphatase release obtained after serum treatment did not support the view that complement simultaneously disrupts cytoplasmic and outer membrane integrity. Macromolecular synthesis was affected late in the reaction sequence; complete inhibition of precursor incorporation into RNA, DNA, and protein occurred only after almost total loss of bacterial colony-forming ability. Addition of chloramphenicol, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, to the bactericidal system resulted in a marked reduction in the rate of serum killing. Killing was completely inhibited by an inhibitor (KCN) and an uncoupler (2,4-dinitrophenol) of oxidative phosphorylation. Exposure of LP1092 cells to serum was followed by a rapid and large increase in intracellular ATP levels; ATP synthesis did not occur when bacteria were exposed to dialyzed serum, which killed LP1092 cells at a much reduced rate. Addition of glucose or serum ultrafiltrate to dialyzed serum restored optimal bactericidal activity. We suggest that optimal killing of gram-negative bacteria is an energy-dependent process requiring an input of bacterially generated ATP.


There has been much controversy surrounding the importance of basophils in allergy. These cells are, after all, comparatively rare and yet they display remarkable potential to contribute to the symptoms of allergic inflammation. Furthermore, by virtue of their ability to rapidly elaborate T helper type 2 (Th2)‐type cytokines, they are well endowed to support ongoing allergic immunity. Despite this, basophils have often been regarded as redundant in this function as in murine models of allergy, their more numerous tissue‐fixed mast cell counterparts also display Th2‐type cytokine‐releasing potential, which is rather different in most human mast cells. Surprisingly, it is from murine models that the basophil has re‐surfaced as a key orchestrator of Th2‐type immunity and chronic allergic inflammation, a property that has long been hypothesized by researchers into human basophil function but never demonstrated. Moreover, murine experimental models also highlighted the ability of basophils to take up and present antigens in an MHC‐dependent manner. Controversy regarding basophils, however, has remained as recent methods for depleting these cells in murine models of allergy and parasitic infection have yielded conflicting results, where the role for this cell oscillates from essential antigen‐presenting cells to mere supporting functions in controlling Th2 responses. This review highlights the recent advances in understanding the role of this rather enigmatic cell in allergy.


Candida parapsilosis is a complex comprising three yeast species which can be distinguished genetically. These yeasts have emerged over the past decade as major nosocomial pathogens, with the species C. parapsilosis sensu stricto being the second most frequently isolated yeast after C. albicans from blood samples of patients with candidemia. In Argentina there are few data available on the epidemiology of this complex in samples from patients with invasive disease. Our aim was to analyze the distribution, relationship with immune status and response to antifungal agents commonly used in clinical practice, of the species in the C. parapsilosis complex from a collection of blood cultures from Argentinean patients diagnosed with candidemia. A basic, retrospective, cross-sectional study was designed for molecular analysis of 25 blood cultures by endpoint PCR with specific primers from the ITS1-5.8SrRNA-ITS2 region. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) was determined for each antifungal agent on the study strains using Vitek2 automated method. In Argentina C. parapsilosis sensu stricto is the predominant species in samples from patients with invasive disease, being more likely to be recovered from clearly immunocompromised patients. Flucytosine does not seem to be a good choice for treating invasive infections by this yeast.


The curvature properties of the indirect utility function imply a set of refutable implications in the form of comparative static results and symmetric relations for the competitive firm operating under uncertainty. These hypotheses, first derived and empirically tested under output price uncertainty by Saha and Shumway (1998), are extended in this paper to the more general case of both price and quantity uncertainty and result in an important theoretical finding. Empirical tests using a panel of state-level observations fail to reject most refutable hypotheses under output price and output quantity risk, but symmetry conditions implied by a twice-continuously-differentiable indirect utility function are rejected. Two restrictive risk preference hypotheses are also rejected. At individual observations, data were consistent with most of the hypotheses implied by individual states acting as though they were expected utility-maximizing firms.


This thesis presents the use of green roofs compared to conventional (control) roofs using modern construction methods. The green roof is aesthetically and environmentally superior to the control roof, which improves the city landscape and reduces the burden to environment. Two green roofs involved in the study are located at Shadyside of Pittsburgh and Homestead, PA, respectively. Additionally, a control roof is established and monitored next to each of the green roofs. The green roof study primarily focused on stormwater runoff (quantity and quality) and thermal performance. The results demonstrated that green roofs, on the contrary to the conventional roofs, retain significantly more water, attenuate temperature fluctuations for a roof membrane, and attenuate environmental contaminants to the discharged runoff. Two different technologies of green roofs were analyzed. Soil medium thickness and soil moisture content are controlling variables.Several benefits of the green roof in comparison to the control roof were observed. Data acquired during the 95 storms at the two study locations revealed that green roofs delayed the time for runoff from the roof to begin as well as when the peak flow occurred and greatly reduced the hourly flow rate and total runoff volume in comparison to the control roofs. The delay time for runoff onset from a green roof ranged from minutes to hours, and depends on the soil moisture content prior to the storm. Temperature profiles suggest that a green roof provides better insulation and decreased temperature variations for all parts of the roof, particularly the waterproofing membrane, during warm weather. The soil medium over the green roof is able to neutralize the acidic rainfall and retain pollutant solids, preventing the unfiltered rainfall from directly discharging to the sewage system.


To further examine the contribution of hydrogen bonds to the conformational stability of the human lysozyme, six Ser to Ala mutants were constructed. The thermodynamic parameters for denaturation of these six Ser mutant proteins were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and the crystal structures were determined by X-ray analysis. The denaturation Gibbs energy (DeltaG) of the Ser mutant proteins was changed from 2.0 to -5.7 kJ/mol, compared to that of the wild-type protein. With an analysis in which some factors that affected the stability due to mutation were considered, the contribution of hydrogen bonds to the stability (Delta DeltaGHB) was extracted on the basis of the structures of the mutant proteins. The results showed that hydrogen bonds between protein atoms and between a protein atom and a water bound with the protein molecule favorably contribute to the protein stability. The net contribution of one intramolecular hydrogen bond to protein stability (DeltaGHB) was 8.9 +/- 2.6 kJ/mol on average. However, the contribution to the protein stability of hydrogen bonds between a protein atom and a bound water molecule was smaller than that for a bond between protein atoms.


Polo-like kinase-1 (Plk1) is essential for progression of mitosis and localizes to centrosomes, central spindles, midbody, and kinetochore. Ran, a small GTPase of the Ras superfamily, plays a role in microtubule dynamics and chromosome segregation during mitosis. Although Ran-binding protein-1 (RanBP1) has been reported as a regulator of RanGTPase for its mitotic functions, the action mechanism between Ran and RanBP1 during mitosis is still unknown. Here, we demonstrated in vitro and in vivo phosphorylation of RanBP1 by Plk1 as well as the importance of phosphorylation of RanBP1 in the interaction between Plk1 and Ran during early mitosis. Both phosphorylation-defective and N-terminal deletion mutant constructs of RanBP1 disrupted the interaction with Ran, and depletion of Plk1 also disrupted the formation of a complex between Ran and RanBP1. In addition, the results from both ectopic expression of phosphorylation-defective mutant construct and a functional complementation on RanBP1 deficiency with this mutant indicated that phosphorylation of RanBP1 by Plk1 might be crucial to microtubule nucleation and spindle assembly during mitosis.


Stroke affects 2.7 children per 100,000 annually, leaving many of them with lifelong residual impairments despite intensive rehabilitation. In the present study the authors evaluated the effectiveness of 48 hours of transcutaneous functional electrical stimulation therapy for retraining voluntary reaching and grasping in 4 severe chronic pediatric stroke participants. Participants were assessed using the Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory Hand Function Test, Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test, Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory, and Assisting Hand Assessment. All participants improved on all measures. The average change scores on selected Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory Hand Function Test components were 14.5 for object manipulation (P 1⁄4 .042), 0.78 Nm for instrumented cylinder (P 1⁄4 .068), and 14 for wooden blocks (P 1⁄4 .068) and on the grasp component of Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test was 25.93 (P 1⁄4 .068). These results provide preliminary evidence that functional electrical stimulation therapy has the potential to improve upper limb function in severe chronic pediatric stroke patients.


: That a specified number of vascular surgery procedures must be performed annually to maintain competence and that these procedures require a specialized center have been suggested repeatedly. Recent national guidelines admonish us to check our own experience with carotid surgery. In our 10-year review of 215 operations performed for carotid stenosis and/or ulceration by two surgeons in a relatively small community, the combined major morbidity/mortality rate of 2.8% compares favorably to many other series. Our experience suggests that if done judiciously, gently, and with universal shunting, the operation can be accomplished safely in the community hospital setting.


This article examines how photographic practices in collaborative research might mediate migrant voices. It looks at the case of Shutter Stories, a collaborative photography project featuring images by Indian and Korean migrants in Manila, the Philippines. Drawing on life-story interviews and participant observation data, I identify two ways that the photographic selection practices in the project mediated the migrants' photo essays. One is how subject selection practices led the participants to use both strategic and 'medium' essentialism in choosing their topics. The second is how technique selection practices enabled the participants to express vernacular creativity in crafting their images. I argue that the mediation instantiated by Shutter Stories fostered the participants' ability to use photo essays to articulate voices that simultaneously conveyed their personal stories and engaged the viewing public. However, I also identify the limits of this mediation, indicating how future projects can better enable migrant voices.


In the central nervous system (CNS), oligodendrocyte maturation and axonal myelination occur on a predictable schedule, but the underlying timing mechanisms are largely unknown. In the present study, we demonstrate that Nkx2.2 homeodomain transcription factor is a key regulator for the timing of oligodendrocyte differentiation during development. Whereas induced expression of Nkx2.2 in early oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) causes precocious differentiation of oligodendrocytes, conditional ablation of Nkx2.2 temporally delays oligodendrocyte maturation. Moreover, Nkx2.2 can directly bind to the promoter of platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (Pdgfra) and repress its gene expression. Genetic ablation of Pdgfra mimics the effect of Nkx2.2 overexpression in accelerating OPC differentiation in the developing spinal cord. Together, our findings strongly suggest that Nkx2.2 functions as a major 'switch' to turn off Pdgfra signaling in OPCs and initiate the intrinsic program for oligodendrocyte differentiation.


Current theories of cough have been reviewed and related to the pathophysiology of bronchial asthma. The cough reflex arc and its association with the phenomenon of bronchial hyperreactivity have been stressed. A review of the recent literature suggests that bronchodilator therapy will modify this reflex and eliminate cough in most patients. The mechanism of action of bronchodilators may be associated with modification of bronchial hyperreactivity.


This paper develops an efficient online algorithm for learning multiple consecutive tasks based on the K-SVD algorithm for sparse dictionary optimization. We first derive a batch multi-task learning method that builds upon K-SVD, and then extend the batch algorithm to train models online in a lifelong learning setting. The resulting method has lower computational complexity than other current lifelong learning algorithms while maintaining nearly identical model performance. Additionally, the proposed method offers an alternate formulation for lifelong learning that supports both task and feature similarity matrices.


: There are noticeable conceptual differences between competing concepts for organizing the highest level of European Football. One major conceptual controversy is concerned with the question whether fans have a stronger preference for (more) games between the top teams over a broad participation of less well-known clubs representing more of the regions in Europe or vice versa. Since sports economics theory offers explanations for both views, this paper takes an empirical approach and analyzes revealed fan preferences in a market outside of the Big-5 leagues. It examines the impact of uncertainty of outcome, market value as well as local heroes (domestic players & teams) as determinants of demand in national TV in Denmark. It uses representative panel data of national TV demand for UEFA Champions League games in Denmark from 2006/07-2018/19. We estimate a semi-logarithmic OLS regression model with team fixed-effects where the dependent variable is the natural logarithm of the average TV audience of UCL matches broadcasted in Denmark. We find that the presence of superstar clubs as measured by accumulated market value of players increases broadcast audience significantly, whereas the number of superstar players in a game did not. Matches including Danish clubs (domestic clubs) as well as the number of Danish players on a team's roster (local hero players) show no robust effect on TV audience. Uncertainty of outcome increases TV demand in our model, supporting the UOH for TV audiences and furthering the discussion around diverging preferences between stadium attendance and TV demand.


BACKGROUND
Our prior study findings suggest that Plasmodium falciparum is the cause of disease in both malaria retinopathy-positive (RP) and most retinopathy-negative (RN) cerebral malaria (CM), and that absence of retinopathy and decreased disease severity in RN CM may be due to shorter duration of illness, lower parasite biomass, and decreased var gene expression in RN compared to RP CM. In the present study, we assessed the pathophysiology of RP and RN CM.

METHODS
We compared markers of systemic and central nervous system inflammation, oxidative stress, neuronal injury, systemic endothelial activation, angiogenesis, and platelet activation in Ugandan children with RP (n = 167) or RN (n = 87) CM.

RESULTS
RP children had higher plasma C-reactive protein (P = .013), ferritin and erythropoietin (both P < .001) levels, an elevated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF):plasma albumin ratio (P < .001), and higher CSF tau protein levels (P = .049) than RN children. Levels of plasma and CSF proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress markers did not differ between RP and RN children. RN children had higher plasma levels of endothelin 1 (P = .003), platelet-derived growth factor (P = .012), and platelet factor 4 (P = .034).

CONCLUSIONS
RP and RN CM may represent different phases of CM. RN CM may be driven by early vasospasm and platelet activation, whereas the more advanced RP CM is associated with greater inflammation, increased erythropoietic drive, blood-brain barrier breakdown, and neuronal injury, each of which may contribute to greater disease severity.


Extant studies on Boko Haram in Nigeria within linguistics have investigated the phenomenon within the ambit of CDA, critical stylistics and pragmatics. This study investigates the actions of the insurgent group from a pragmalinguistic lens, using as its data, the online videos of the sect's leader, Abubakar Shekau. Searle's (1965) version of Speech Act and Halliday's mood structure were employed in the analysis of 60 purposively selected excerpts from a total of 5 videos downloaded from the YouTube during the heat of the insurgency (2011 – 2014). The finding shows that directive acts were used to give warnings, expressive acts were used to appreciate Allah for the victories he gave them in the successful execution of their attacks, declarative acts were used to declare and name the capturing of communitieswhich they declared as Islamic Caliphates, commissive acts were used to state the sect's commitment to the course they are engaged in and the assertive acts were used to claim responsibility for the numerous attacks across the country. Similarly, the indicative mood type featured mostly in the speeches presented by the sect, contrary to the limited occurrence of the imperative mood types. The study concludes that the language of the sect reveals the incapability of the government to tackle insurgency and terrorism.


:We report a rare case of cystic lymph node metastasis originating from mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the sublingual gland. A 64-year-old male was referred to our hospital for the further examination and treatment of cystic cervical lesion and lung metastatic lesions. He had undergone excision of right sublingual primary mucoepidermoid carcinoma 5 years earlier and removal of a recurrent lesion 2 years earlier. At one month before his first visit, image examinations indicated right cystic cervical lesion and left lung metastatic lesions; the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of FDG-PET/ CT was significantly high in the lung lesions, but not in the cervical lesion. We re-examined the cervical lesion by imaging examinations and fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). Although SUVmax of FDG-PET/CT and FNAC were not positive for malignancy, enlargement and ring enhancement of cystic lymph node were observed. We performed modified radical neck dissection under a clinical diagnosis of cervical lymph node metastasis, then respiratory surgeons carried out endoscopic surgery of lung lesions. The histopathological diagnosis of both lesions was metastatic mucoepidermoid carcinoma.


Objectives Literature documenting the effectiveness of occupational risk-reduction or preventive interventions tends to focus on measuring changes in exposure levels as opposed cancer rates. This systematic review compiles and summarises existing evidence of the impact of asbestos-related interventions on rates of lung cancer, mesothelioma and overall malignancy. Methods A complete review of all literature used by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Monograph 100C and all articles indexed in PubMed since the monograph was completed. Studies were included if they described an asbestos-related intervention or provided risk estimates stratified by time of exposure. Results were analysed using narrative synthesis. Results Of 1094 papers reviewed, nine studies from United States and Canada, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Norway and Israel met the inclusion criteria. Interventions included dust reduction efforts such as implementing enclosed or wet processes, discontinuing production, and adopting public policies banning use. Six of eight studies measuring lung cancer reported a decrease in risk after 10–50 years of follow-up and one study reported an overall decrease in malignancy. Only half of studies reporting on mesothelioma observed a decrease in risk over similar time periods. Conclusions There is evidence in the literature that prevention efforts have been effective in decreasing incidence of lung cancer and to a lesser extent mesothelioma. Longer latency periods may partially explain the smaller effect on mesothelioma. These results are informative for projecting future cancer rates and document the benefits of interventions aimed at decreasing asbestos exposure.


The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) requires that employers provide a safe work environment for their employees. Many states have their own plans that follow federal guidelines and that are inclusive of law enforcement officers. Despite this, there are no federal—and few state—regulations that specifically apply to law enforcement. Although they are commonly found in other high-risk professions, expected practices for OSHA-consistent hazard analysis and mitigation do not exist in law enforcement. This thesis highlights the information that is necessary for policy administrators in this field to establish a systematic approach to safety. After reviewing how police departments can improve officer safety by applying OSHA standards, the thesis examines the fire service and the aviation and medical professions. Specifically, the thesis reviews how these professions have applied Dr. James Reason's principles to create advanced safety systems in high-risk environments. Using OSHA guidelines and standards from other high-risk professions, the thesis constructs a roadmap that, if followed, produces a systematic approach that can create a culture of safety in law enforcement.


Based on introduction of the basic configuration, working features of hydraulic drive system of the cutter head in a shield machine, the internal structure of the bidirectional variable displacement pump, BVDP, as the kernel element in the above hydraulic system, is depicted and compared with the ordinary variable plunger pump. Then the working principle and process of hydraulic pilot operated servo displacement adjustment about the BVDP are discussed in detail, and then the mathematical models and its transfer functions of the positive and negative displacement adjustments are established respectively. Also, the relationships between the primary performance indices such as stability condition, positioning stiffness, steady-state error, as well as initial control pressure and system parameters are analysis and concluded.


The case of a patient who developed fungal valve endocarditis due to Candida albicans following balloon mitral valvotomy is presented. The patient did not have any obvious predisposing factors which led to the development of fungal endocarditis.


Brand pricing decision models and established theories in the marketing and econometrics focus typically on assuming the symmetric competing businesses. The empirical generalities are key for strategic marketplace planning. The significance of pricing to customer store and brand choices are always regarded as a widely known truth among marketing scholars and explains consumer's role responding to their psychological representations of price rather than price itself. Scholars have highlighted simple but earlier unrecognized marketing practices that managers can employ to cultivate the positioning of their prices. Many theoretical researches in promotions have focused its aspects on developing powerful pricing strategies and its impact on consumer decisions, which is might because much of the literature has focused on building and evaluating price promotion strategies. This review experiential will enlighten us on advancements that will also lead us for optimistic cross-brand category level, cross-cultural level and cross-national level influences in pricing strategies.


[3H]Estradiol ([3H]E2) shows a saturable, high affinity binding (Kd = 0.18 nM) in the cytosol of the guinea pig fetal thymus. The association rate constant at 4 C of [3H]E2 to cytoplasmic receptor is 1.0 X 10(5) M-1 sec-1. The dissociation rate constant of this complex is 4.4 X 10(-6) sec-1 at 4 C and 3.3 X 10(-4) sec-1 at 26 C. Other physicochemical characteristics, such as binding specificity, which is limited to natural and synthetic estrogens, and sedimentation coefficient, which is 8S under low salt conditions and 4S under high salt conditions, are typical for estrogen receptor. The [3H]E2-cytoplasmic receptor complex chromatographed in DEAE-Trisacryl columns is eluted in a continuous 0- to 0.5-M KCl gradient by 0.15- to 0.2-M KCl concentrations. The cytoplasmic [3H]E2-receptor complex can be transferred to the nucleus in vitro by a temperature-dependent process; it can be extracted from the nucleus by 0.4 M KCl as a 5S sedimenting macromolecule. The levels of available cytoplasmic receptors increase during fetal development from 9.7 fmol/mg protein at 36 days of gestation to 31 fmol/mg protein at the end of gestation. Three or six daily injections of E2 or estrone (1 mg/kg BW) to pregnant animals (58-64 days gestation) significantly decreased the weight of the fetal thymus by 50% with respect to values in vehicle-injected animals. Histologically, a reduction in the size of thymic lobules with a decrease in the width of the cortical lymphoid area and an increase in the medulla-cortex ratio was observed. The in vitro incorporation of [3H]thymidine into thymic DNA was reduced by 50% after E2 treatment. The same estrogen treatment also induced a decrease in cytoplasmic estrogen receptors by 63-72% and a concomitant 5- to 6-fold increase in nuclear estrogen receptors, with respect to values in vehicle-injected animals. It is concluded that estrogen receptors are present in the fetal thymus of the guinea pig, and that this fetal organ is estrogen responsive.


: A double-blind study vs. placebo was carried out over a 6-week period in thirty adolescent patients to determine the efficacy and safety of mesoridazine, in the form of 10 mg tablets, in the treatment of symptoms associated with various personality disorders. The average daily dose for the 15 patients in the mesoridazine group was 27.3 mg in the first and 44.7 mg in the sixth week. Mesoridazine relieved anxiety to a highly significant degree when compared with placebo and proved significantly more effective than placebo also in terms of mean improvement scores for depression and hostility. Significant reductions were likewise achieved in the overall severity of the disorders and in the severity of nearly all the other symptoms. The incidence of adverse reactions did not differ significantly from that following placebo administration. No extrapyramidal symptoms were noted.


Cold acclimation and pharmacological peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) activation have each earlier been shown to recruit brown adipose tissue (BAT) and beige adipocytes thermogenic machinery, enhancing uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1)-mediated thermogenic capacity. We here investigated whether cold acclimation and PPARγ agonism combined have additive effects in inducing brown and beige adipocytes UCP1 content and whether this translates into a higher thermogenic capacity and energy expenditure. C57BL/6J mice treated or not with pioglitazone (30 mg/kg/day) were maintained at 21°C or exposed to cold (7°C) for 15 days and evaluated for thermogenic capacity, energy expenditure and interscapular BAT (iBAT) and inguinal white adipose tissue (iWAT) mass, morphology, UCP1 content and gene expression, glucose uptake and oxygen consumption. Cold acclimation and PPARγ agonism combined synergistically increased iBAT and iWAT total UCP1 content and mRNA levels of the thermogenesis-related proteins PGC1a, CIDEA, FABP4, GYK, PPARa, LPL, GLUTs (GLUT1 in iBAT and GLUT4 in iWAT), and ATG when compared to cold and pioglitazone individually. This translated into a stronger increase in body temperature in response to the β3-adrenergic agonist CL316,243 and iBAT and iWAT respiration induced by succinate and pyruvate in comparison to that seen in either cold-acclimated or pioglitazone-treated mice. However, basal energy expenditure, BAT glucose uptake and glucose tolerance were not increased above that seen in cold-acclimated untreated mice. In conclusion, cold acclimation and PPARγ agonism combined induced a robust increase in brown and beige adipocytes UCP1 content and thermogenic capacity, much higher than each treatment individually. However, our findings enforce the concept that increases in total UCP1 do not innately lead to higher energy expenditure.


While the modern economy demonstrates an increase in company mobility, neither economists nor company managers pay due attention to this developing socio-economic phenomenon. Therefore, we analysed how new organisations enter the market of companies and old enterprises leave it after losing their viability, noting the specific features of these processes. We examined the market of companies in Russia in general and in the Federal Districts of the Russian Federation in particular. We used the data from 1 January 2001 to 1 January 2020 published in the Statistical Register of Organisations of Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat). The research methodology includes synthesis, analysis, comparison methods, and systemic-structural approach. The obtained results showed that, since 2016, the share of officially liquidated companies in the Russian Federation and most of its regions exceeds the birth rate of organisations. This is inextricably linked to the worsening economic situation in Russia, including the business environment. We noted that privately owned companies and organisations with joint Russian and foreign ownership have the highest turnover. The average annual turnover of organisations in Russia amounted to 16.8% in the period 2001–2019. Among the federal districts of the Russian Federation, organisations of the Siberian and Ural Federal Districts have demonstrated the greatest dynamics of the market of companies over the 19-year period (18.1 % and 17.4 %, respectively). Corresponding changes have taken place in the structure of organisations in the market of Russian companies. The share of companies providing various services has sharply increased, including transport and communication companies, and real estate organisations. New organisations with an established business reputation are mostly registered in the regions with higher competitive immunity, characterised by a favourable business environment for small- and medium-sized enterprises. The research results can be used by authorities for managing the spatial development of territories, and determining the support for certain types of business activities in a particular region or municipality.


Cataract formation represents a serious problem in the elderly, with approximately 25% of the population aged >65 years and about 50% aged >80 years experiencing a serious loss of vision as a result of this condition. Not only do cataracts diminish quality of life, they also impose a severe strain on global healthcare budgets. In the US, 43% of all visits to ophthalmologists by Medicare patients are associated with cataract. Surgery represents the standard treatment of this condition, and 1.35 million cataract operations are performed annually in the US, costing 3.5 billion US dollars (year of costing, 1998). Unfortunately, the costs of surgical treatment and the fact that the number of patients exceeds surgical capacities result in many patients being blinded by cataracts worldwide. This situation is particularly serious in developing countries; worldwide 17 million people are blind because of cataract formation, and the problem will grow in parallel with aging of the population. In any event, surgical removal of cataracts may not represent the optimal solution. Although generally recognised as being one of the safest operations, there is a significant complication rate associated with this surgical procedure. Opacification of the posterior lens capsule occurs in 30-50% of patients within 2 years of cataract removal and requires laser treatment, a further 0.8% experience retinal detachments, approximately 1% are rehospitalised for corneal problems, and about 0.1% develop endophthalmitis. Although the risks are small, the large number of procedures performed means that 26,000 individuals develop serious complications as a result of cataract surgery annually in the US alone. Thus, risk and cost factors drive the investigation of pharmaceutical approaches to the maintenance of lens transparency. The role of free radical-induced lipid oxidation in the development of cataracts has been identified. Initial stages of cataract are characterised by the accumulation of primary (diene conjugates, cetodienes) lipid peroxidation (LPO) products, while in later stages there is a prevalence of LPO fluorescent end-products. A reliable increase in oxiproducts of fatty acyl content of lenticular lipids was shown by a direct gas chromatography technique producing fatty acid fluorine-substituted derivatives. The lens opacity degree correlates with the level of the LPO fluorescent end-product accumulation in its tissue, accompanied by sulfhydryl group oxidation of lens proteins due to a decrease of reduced glutathione concentration in the lens. The injection of LPO products into the vitreous has been shown to induce cataract. It is concluded that peroxide damage of the lens fibre membranes may be the initial cause of cataract development. N-acetylcarnosine (as the ophthalmic drug Can-C), has been found to be suitable for the nonsurgical prevention and treatment of age-related cataracts. This molecule protects the crystalline lens from oxidative stress-induced damage, and in a recent clinical trial it was shown to produce an effective, safe and long-term improvement in sight. When administered topically to the eye in the form of Can-C, N-acetylcarnosine functions as a time-release prodrug form of L-carnosine resistant to hydrolysis with carnosinase. N-acetylcarnosine has potential as an in vivo universal antioxidant because of its ability to protect against oxidative stress in the lipid phase of biological cellular membranes and in the aqueous environment by a gradual intraocular turnover into L-carnosine. In our study the clinical effects of a topical solution of N-acetylcarnosine (Can-C) on lens opacities were examined in patients with cataracts and in canines with age-related cataracts. These data showed that N-acetylcarnosine is effective in the management of age-related cataract reversal and prevention both in human and in canine eyes.


This paper provides the first empirical evidence of fairness opinions in Europe. Legal requirements concerning the use of fairness opinions in mergers and acquisitions are significantly different in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. We examine the determinants of fairness opinions for target firms in these various regulatory settings, and moreover, investigate the impact of such opinions on the abnormal returns of target firms. While in Germany and Austria market participants do not deem fairness opinions important, they do create value for shareholders in Switzerland. Because conflicts of interest between the target's board and bidder are a main determinant of fairness opinions in Switzerland, we conclude that when the target's management faces such conflict, external expert advice replaces the board's opinion on the offer.


We introduce a new notion of $\boxast$-product of two integrable series with coefficients in distinct Grothendieck rings of algebraic varieties, preserving the integrability and commuting with the limit of rational series. In the same context, we define a motivic multiple zeta function with respect to an ordered family of regular functions, which is integrable and connects closely to Denef-Loeser's motivic zeta functions. We also show that the $\boxast$-product is associative in the class of motivic multiple zeta functions.
Furthermore, a version of the Euler reflexion formula for motivic zeta functions is nicely formulated to deal with the $\boxast$-product and motivic multiple zeta functions, and it is proved using the theory of arc spaces. As an application, taking the limit for the motivic Euler reflexion formula we recover the well known motivic Thom-Sebastiani theorem.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of the research in the sphere of education and preparation of Russian executives in view of mentality and elements of national model of management.

Design/methodology/approach

The research consisted in analysis of modern developments in the sphere of HR management in socio-economic systems. The authors used the materials on structuring and classification of managerial activities from various points of view. The research is based on recent tendencies in the sphere of application of intensive educational technologies.

Findings

Ten levels of managerial activities were distinguished on the basis of the performed research. Each of these levels is a new step of qualitative significance and complication of managerial activities. In order to achieve new and higher levels of professionalism, a model of professional development of executives was created, which consists of several blocks, which stimulates obtaining the knowledge and acquisition of certain skills in this sphere. The structure of problem and situational game "Professionalism of executives" and methodology of evaluation of activities of game participants are given.

Practical implications

Using game modeling for determination of the level of professional activities will allow evaluating specialists, in particular, executives, and determine qualitative evaluation of the level of their competence in various aspects of their activities.

Originality/value

The research possesses a value for lecturers, managers, and consultants of educational establishments who perform training, additional training, and development of professional competence of executive in organizations of any profile in view of national mentality.


In this work the transmit covariance matrix optimization problem for the discrete memoryless MIMO Gaussian bidirectional broadcast channel is studied. A half-duplex relay node establishes bidirectional communication between two nodes using a decode-and-forward protocol. In the initial multiple access phase both nodes transmit their messages to the relay node. In the succeeding phase the relay broadcasts an optimal re-encoded message so that both nodes can decode the other's message using their own message as side information. The capacity region of the bidirectional broadcast channel is completely characterized by a weighted rate sum maximization problem, which can be solved by a simple iterative fixed point algorithm. If an efficient transmit covariance matrix is invariant with respect to the joint subspace spanned by the channels, then different combinations of the part transmitted on the orthogonal subspaces result in equivalent transmit strategies with different ranks. A closed-form procedure to obtain the optimal transmit covariance is derived for the case where the rank of the channels is equal to the number of antennas at the relay node and a full-rank transmission is optimal. It shows the complicated structure of the optimal eigenspace, which depends on the weights and the mean transmit power constraint. For parallel channels the optimal solution is completely characterized and discussed, which also solves the optimal power allocation problem for a single-antenna OFDM system.


The innovation of targeting customers with personalised discount offers has been incorporated into business strategies in order to ensure a competitive advantage amongst peers along with ensuring customer experience. In this article, a demonstrator model was developed which provides a holistic view of an individual customer's behaviour in retail outlets. The demonstrator creates instant, temporary personalised discount offers based on the purchasing tendencies of that customer in retail outlets. The model illustrates the utilisation of customer behavioural data and data analytics to identify unique cross-selling and upselling opportunities to ultimately improve customer experience. This article also includes the architecture of the proposed model along with the results from the demonstrator model.


The differential diagnosis of a pleural effusion is expanded in the cancer patient. A cancer patient may have a malignant pleural effusion, a pleural effusion indirectly caused by the cancer or its treatment, or a pleural effusion unrelated to the cancer. The approach to the cancer patient with a pleural effusion must take into account the impact of the pleural effusion on quality of life, type and stage of the underlying cancer, impact of biopsy procedures on cancer staging, availability of treatment of the underlying cancer, performance status, and patient preferences. Minimally invasive palliative treatment options for the management of symptomatic malignant pleural effusion, such as chronic indwelling pleural catheters, have not only changed the treatment of the effusion but also require a reassessment of what constitutes an adequate diagnostic evaluation prior to considering such treatment options. Of particular concern to the clinician is the cytologically negative exudative pleural effusion for which a cause could not be established after the initial diagnostic evaluation. The decision to proceed to more invasive diagnostic testing must be individualized and the clinician must consider the limitations of histopathological examination of tissue obtained by invasive procedures.


Alternative work arrangements continue to increase in number and variety. We review the literature on alternative work arrangements published since the most recent major review of nonstandard work by Ashford et al. (2007). We look across the research findings to identify three dimensions of flexibility that undergird alternative work arrangements: (a) flexibility in the employment relationship, (b) flexibility in the scheduling of work, and (c) flexibility in where work is accomplished. We identify two images of the new world of work—one for high-skill workers who choose alternative work arrangements and the other for low-skill workers who struggle to make a living and are beholden to the needs of the organization. We close with future directions for research and practice for tending to the first image and moving away from the second image of the new world of work.


The focus of this exploratory study was to examine levels of technology integration, self-efficacy, and Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) in preservice and inservice agricultural education teachers in Oklahoma. The findings of this study suggest that intrapersonal factors, such as selfefficacy, outcome expectations, and interest, interact with teacher motivation to integrate technology and influence their TPACK. Further, the results suggest that experienced inservice teachers view technology tools as a mechanism to engage students and achieve instructional gains, whereas novice and preservice teachers tend to perceive technology tools primarily as a mechanism for improving classroom management. Implications include continuing to support and enact a shift in preservice teacher education from direct lecture and modeling-based instruction to more hands-on, constructivist methods of teaching that incorporate a variety of mastery experiences.


This paper presents a systematic research on the gear transmission system of the electric vehicle. An accurate 3-D model of the gear transmission system is established in UG (Unigraphics NX) using software Gearwizard, and then imported to ADAMS/View environment. Based on the contact force of ADAMS, the vibration at 3 different test points of the model are simulated. The simulation results seem to be in good accordance with the test results, which proved the validity of the gear transmission model. Finally, the influence of helix angle on vibration at 3 different test points are also researched. The results of the total analysis can be used further to optimize the gear transmission system of the electric vehicle.


Despite the fairly extensive body of research describing nurses' thinking in practice, our understanding of this phenomenon remains incomplete. Until we have a full description of nurses' thinking, the component of our practice that is an exercise in clinical judgment will be less precise and scientific. This descriptive study utilized think aloud method to identify and describe the thinking strategies that nurses use in practice. Findings from this study improve our understanding of nurses' thinking in practice and provide information that can facilitate the development of decision support systems to assist nurses in their practice.


Introduction: The use of telemedicine increased during the global Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Rural populations often struggle with adequate access to care while simultaneously experiencing multiple health disparities. Yet, telemedicine use during the COVID-19 pandemic has been understudied on its effect on visit completion in rural populations. The primary purpose of this study is to understand how telemedicine delivery of family medicine care affects patient access and visit completion rates in a rural primary care setting. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study on primary care patient visits at an academic family medicine clinic that serves a largely rural population. We gathered patient demographic and visit type and completion data on all patients seen in the West Virginia University Department of Family Medicine between January 2019 and November 2020. Results: The final sample included 110,999 patient visits, including 13,013 telemedicine visit types. Our results show that telemedicine can increase completion rates by about 20% among a sample of all ages and a sample of adults only. Working-aged persons are more likely to complete telemedicine visits. Older persons with higher risk scores are more likely to complete their visits if they use telemedicine. Conclusions: Telemedicine can be a tool to improve patient access to primary care in rural populations. Our findings suggest that telemedicine may facilitate access to care for difficult-to-reach patients, such as those in rural areas, as well as those who have rigid work schedules, live longer distances from the clinic, have complex health problems, and are from areas of higher poverty and/or lower education. ( J Am Board Fam Med 2022;35:475–484.)


This study examines a Montreal-based underground magazine and its use of "edge" as a strategy of retaining subcultural capital and limiting its readership, thus creating a narrow but profitable niche market that extends Thomas Frank's work on rebel consumption. Vice, through its content, tone and business strategies, unites a series of diverse but related issues including subculture, transgression, cultural intermediaries, the political economy of magazines, the audience commodity, the politics of pleasure and how media texts constitute audiences as consuming subjects. Through a combination of interlocking discursive and aesthetic strategies that involve transgression and irony, Vice is able to minimize aspects of the audience commodity as described by Dallas Smythe while foregrounding its subcultural capital. In this way, it is able to convert subcultural capital into economic capital while remaining a relevant and authentic underground publication.


Focusing on the feature of porosity in bamboo charcoal, this study applies the ultrasonic-assisted vibration method to perform surface polishing of the silicon wafer workpiece. The self-developed bamboo charcoal polishing spindle and ultrasonic- assisted vibration mechanism are attached to a single lapping machine. In the machining process, ultrasonic vibration enables the diamond slurry to smoothly pass through the microscopic holes of bamboo charcoal; the end of the bamboo charcoalis able to continue machining on the surface of the workpiece through the grasping force which exists in the microscopic holes. Under the polishing and machining parameters of ultrasonic-assisted vibration, with a diamond slurry concentration of 0.3%, the experimental results show a polishing time of 20 min, a loading of 25 N on the workpiece surface, a spindle speed of 1200 rpm, a vibration frequency of 30 kHz and the original surface roughness value of Ra 0.252 μm equals that of a mirror-like surface at Ra 0.017 μm. These research results prove that by using bamboo charcoal and ultrasonic-assisted vibration for polishing, a very good improvement can be achieved on the workpiece surface.


A data mining approach is proposed for evaluating the effects of battery production factors in cathode coating stage on both battery capacity and internal resistance for the first time. Specifically, an effective neural network model is built based on real data form designed experiments for obtaining reference cathode coating for coin cells. The purpose is to analyze and predict how the battery quality in both charge and discharge scenarios changes with respect to the key factors of coating including its weight and thickness. The results highlight the correlation between mentioned factors and battery quality indices, which could guide manufacturer to identify efficient ways for producing high-quality batteries.


Brucellosis causes a great economic loss to the livestock industries through abortion, infertility, birth of weak and dead offspring, increased calving interval and reduction of milk yield and it is endemic in Bangladesh. The present study was performed to know the seroprevalence of brucellosis for 1000 ruminants (135 Buffaloes, 465 cattle, 230 goats and 170 sheep) in five different districts of Bangladesh by four conventional serological tests such as: Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBT), tube agglutination test (TAT), competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (C-ELISA), and Fluorescent polarization assay (FPA). Sheep has the highest prevalence (8.24%) of brucellosis. The seroprevalence of brucellosis was significantly higher in animals with previous abortion record in case of buffaloes, cattle, goats and sheep than that with no abortion record. C-ELISA can be the most suitable choice for extensive use in many kinds of livestocks and accurate estimation of Brucella antibodies in ruminants in Bangladesh.


In this paper, Solvability nonlinear Volterra integral equations with general vanishing delays is stated. So far sinc methods for approximating the solutions of Volterra integral equations have received considerable attention mainly due to their high accuracy. These approximations converge rapidly to the exact solutions as number sinc points increases. Here the numerical solution of nonlinear delay Volterra integral equations is considered by two methods. The methods are developed by means of the sinc approximation with the single exponential (SE) and double exponential (DE) transformations. These numerical methods combine a sinc collocation method with the Newton iterative process that involves solving a nonlinear system of equations. The existence and uniqueness of numerical solutions for these equations are provided. Also an error analysis for the methods is given. So far approximate solutions with polynomial convergence have been reported for this equation. These methods improve conventional results and achieve exponential convergence. Numerical results are included to confirm the efficiency and accuracy of the methods.