The aim of this preliminary report is to present own experience in the OBI TrueFit graft application in case of osteochondral defect of the knee. The TruFit graft was applied in 6 cases (5 male and 1 female). The age of patients range from 19 to 48 years. The procedure was done arthroscopicly in 4 cases and via mini arthrotomy in 2 ones. The medial femoral condyle was involved in 5 cases and lateral condyle in one. The follow-up time range from 4 to 23 weeks. Rehabilitation permitted immediate full range of motion, non-weight bearing during 6 weeks with partial loding in the 6th postoperative week. There were not any intra operative and postoperative complication. The early MRI evaluation performed 12 weeks from surgery in one case provided a very promising data which supported TrueFit graft application in case of osteochondral defects of the knee.


The equation-based analog design automation is getting popular in last decade to search the optimal solutions with good efficiency. However, due to the deep-submicron effects, significant modeling errors often exist in major transistor parameters like gds and gm. This often results in wrong prediction of circuit performance and leads to several redesign cycles to meet the specifications. Instead of building complex parameter models for gds and gm, this paper adopts the gm/Id design concept, which is an independent value to the device size, on equation-based optimization to solve the accuracy issue. Without the complex effects from W and L, the modeling accuracy of transistor parameters is significantly improved. No more iteration is required by using the proposed approach, which improves the efficiency as well as the accuracy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that adopts the internal voltages instead of device sizes as the unknown variables to be solved. As demonstrated on several circuits with different objectives, both the accuracy and efficiency of circuit optimization can be improved significantly.


We consider a class of Markovian risk models in which the insurer collects premiums at rate c1 (c2) whenever the surplus level is below (above) a constant barrier level b. We derive the LaplaceStieltjes transform (LST) of the distribution of the time to ruin as well as the LST (with respect to time) of the joint distribution of the time to ruin, the surplus prior to ruin, and the deficit at ruin. By interpreting that the insurer pays dividends continuously at rate c1 − c2 whenever the surplus level is above b, we also derive the expected discounted value of total dividend payments made prior to ruin. Our results are obtained by making use of an existing connection which links an insurer's surplus process to an embedded fluid flow process.


On 6 April 2009, an M w 6.2 earthquake struck beneath the city of L'Aquila, central Italy. The shock created significant damage and caused more than 300 deaths in the city and environs. The event followed a seismic sequence that started at the beginning of the year, with its largest shock of M w 4.2 occurring on 30 March. The 6 April earthquake became infamous worldwide because seven experts, who attended a Grandi Rischi Commission meeting on 31 March, were convicted of failing to properly warn the public about the possibility of the mainshock and were sentenced to six years in jail. A second trial is in process. We do not wish to further discuss this important case here (instead see Marzocchi, 2012 and the website http://processoaquila.wordpress.com/; last accessed June 2014); however, it illustrates the importance of providing authoritative scientific information about earthquake probabilities to the public and other users and serves as a catalyst for the scientific developments now underway in Italy.

Just after the event, the Italian Civil Protection nominated an International Commission on Earthquake Forecasting (ICEF) chaired by Thomas H. Jordan, director of the Southern California Earthquake Center; the other participants were Yun‐Tai Chen (China), Paolo Gasparini (Italy), Raul Madariaga (France), Ian Main (United Kingdom), Warner Marzocchi (Italy), Gerassimos Papadopoulos (Greece), Gennady Sobolev (Russia), Koshun Yamaoka (Japan), and Jochen Zschau (Germany). The commission had two main duties: (1) to report on the current state of knowledge of short‐term prediction and forecasting of tectonic earthquakes and (2) to indicate guidelines for utilization of possible forerunners of large earthquakes to drive civil protection actions, including the use of probabilistic seismic‐hazard analysis in the wake of a large earthquake. The report of the commission (Jordan et al. , 2011) is available for free downloading (http://www.annalsofgeophysics.eu/index.php/annals/article/view/5350/5371; last accessed June 2014).

In addition …


OBJECTIVE
To measure the additional costs of office-based laboratory testing due to the implementation of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA '88), using cholesterol screening for children as an example.

METHODS
Four- to ten-year-old children who received their well child care at one of seven participating pediatric practices were screened for hypercholesterolemia. The average number of analyses per day and days per month were derived from the volume of testing completed by the practices. Nurses and technicians time in the screening process were measured and personnel costs were calculated based on salary and fringe benefit rates. Costs of supplies, analyzing control samples, instrument calibration, and instrument depreciation were included. Costs estimates of screening were then completed. CLIA '88 implementation costs were derived from appropriate proficiency testing and laboratory inspection programs.

RESULTS
In six practices completing a low volume of testing, 2807 children (5 to 6 children per week) were screened during the observation period, while 414 (about 25 children per week) were screened in one high-volume practice implementing universal screening over a 4-month period. For the six low-volume practices, the cost of screening was $10.60 per child. This decreased to $5.47 for the high-volume practice. Estimated costs of CLIA '88 implementation, including additional proficiency testing and laboratory inspection, added $3.20 per test for the low-volume practices, and $0.71 per test for the high-volume testing.

CONCLUSIONS
Implementation of CLIA adds significantly to the cost of office-based chemistry laboratory screening. Despite these additional expenses, the cost of testing is still within a reasonable charge for laboratory testing, and is highly sensitive to the volume of tests completed.


A comprehensive flight control law design method based on adaptive control is presented in this paper. The proposed method consists of three basic modules – model decoupling, online system identification and adaptive pole placement. The model decoupling module decouples the helicopter flight dynamics model based on dynamic inversion technique. This procedure helps to reduce the difficulties in online system identification and adaptive control design. In online system identification module, a recursive extended least squares algorithm is established to identify the augmented linear flight dynamics model which is composed of helicopter model and unideal noise model. The helicopter model parameters and the noise parameters are identified simultaneously which improves the identification accuracy as well as robustness compared with conventional method. Pole placement is implemented in the last module to make a helicopter keep tracking the idea poles which can be designed according to ADS-33E-PRF. The adaptive rule in this step is designed based on eigenvalue analysis of the model to remove all unnecessary oscillations of the control parameters. An adaptive controller is designed according to the developed method for the UH-60 helicopter based on a nonlinear simulation program. Typical response types are also implemented. The simulation results show that the designed adaptive controller has high performance as well as robustness in both hover and forward flight.


A picture for the thermodynamics of the glassy state is introduced. It assumes that one extra parameter, the effective temperature, is needed to describe the glassy state. This explains the classical paradoxes concerning the Ehrenfest relations and the Prigogine-Defay ratio. As a second feature, the approach connects the response of macroscopic observables to a field change with their temporal fluctuations, and with the fluctuation-dissipation relation, in a generalized non-equilibrium way.


Articulating the research priorities of government is one mechanism for promoting the production of relevant research to inform policy. This study focuses on the Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) produced and published by government departments in the UK. Through a qualitative study consisting of interviews with 25 researchers, civil servants, intermediaries and research funders, the authors explored the role of ARIs. Using the concept of boundary objects, the paper considers the ways in which ARIs are used and how they are supported by boundary practices and boundary workers, including through engagement opportunities. The paper addresses the following questions: What boundaries do ARIs cross, intended and otherwise? What characteristics of ARIs enable or hinder this boundary-crossing? and What resources, skills, work or conditions are required for this boundary-crossing to work well? We see the ARIs being used as a boundary object across multiple boundaries, with implications for the ways in which the ARIs are crafted and shared. In the application of ARIs in the UK policy context, we see a constant interplay between boundary objects, practices and people all operating within the confines of existing systems and processes. For example, understanding what was meant by a particular ARI sometimes involved 'decoding' work as part of the academic-policy engagement process. While ARIs have an important role to play they are no magic bullet. Nor do they tell the whole story of governmental research interests. Optimizing the use of research in policy making requires the galvanisation of a range of mechanisms, including ARIs.


Secure software engineering is a fundamental activity in modern software development. However, while the field of security research has been advancing quite fast, in practice, there is still a vast knowledge gap between the security experts and the software development teams. After all, we cannot expect developers and other software practitioners to be security experts. Understanding how software development teams incorporate security in their processes and the challenges they face is a step towards reducing this gap. In this paper, we study how financial services companies ensure the security of their software systems. To that aim, we performed a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with 16 software practitioners from 11 different financial companies in three continents. Our results shed light on the security considerations that practitioners take during the different phases of their software development processes, the different security practices that software teams make use of to ensure the security of their software systems, the improvements that practitioners perceive as important in existing state-of-the-practice security tools, the different knowledge-sharing and learning practices that developers use to learn more about software security, and the challenges that software practitioners currently face when it comes to secure their systems.


Background All human islets used in research and for the clinical treatment of diabetes are subject to ischemic damage during pancreas procurement, preservation, and islet isolation. A major factor influencing islet function is exposure of pancreata to cold ischemia during unavoidable windows of preservation by static cold storage (SCS). Improved preservation methods may prevent this functional deterioration. In the present study, we investigated whether pancreas preservation by gaseous oxygen perfusion (persufflation) better preserved islet function versus SCS. Methods Human pancreata were preserved by SCS or by persufflation in combination with SCS. Islets were subsequently isolated, and preparations in each group matched for SCS or total preservation time were compared using dynamic glucose-stimulated insulin secretion as a measure of &bgr;-cell function and RNA sequencing to elucidate transcriptomic changes. Results Persufflated pancreata had reduced SCS time, which resulted in islets with higher glucose-stimulated insulin secretion compared to islets from SCS only pancreata. RNA sequencing of islets from persufflated pancreata identified reduced inflammatory and greater metabolic gene expression, consistent with expectations of reducing cold ischemic exposure. Portions of these transcriptional responses were not associated with time spent in SCS and were attributable to pancreatic reoxygenation. Furthermore, persufflation extended the total preservation time by 50% without any detectable decline in islet function or viability. Conclusions These data demonstrate that pancreas preservation by persufflation rather than SCS before islet isolation reduces inflammatory responses and promotes metabolic pathways in human islets, which results in improved &bgr; cell function.


Analysis of the genetic diversity of natural populations of threatened and endangered species of plants is a main aspect of conservation strategy. The endangered species Allium altaicum is a relict plant of the Ice Age and natural populations are located in extreme climatic conditions of Kazakstan's Altai Mountains. Mobile genetic elements and other interspersed repeats are basic components of a eukaryote genome, which can activate under stress conditions and indirectly promote the survival of an organism against environmental stresses. Detections of chromosomal changes related to recombination processes of mobile genetic elements are performed by various PCR methods. These methods are based on interspersed repeat sequences and are an effective tool for research of biological diversity of plants and their variability. In our research, we used conservative sequences of tRNA primer binding sites (PBS) when initializing the retrotransposon replication as PCR primers to research the genetic diversity of 12 natural populations of A. altaicum found in various ecogeographic conditions of the Kazakhstani Altai. High efficiency of the PBS amplification method used was observed already at the intrapopulation level. Unique amplicons representative of a certain population were found at the intrapopulation level. Analysis of molecular dispersion revealed that the biodiversity of populations of mountainous and lowland A. altaicum is due to intrapopulation differences for climatic zones of habitation. This is likely conditional upon predominance of vegetative reproduction over seed reproduction in some populations. In the case of vegetative reproduction, somatic recombination related to the activity of mobile genetic elements are preserved in subsequent generations. This leads to an increase of intrapopulation genetic diversity. Thus, high genetic diversity was observed in populations such as A. altaicum located in the territory of the Kalbinskii Altai, whereas the minimum diversity was observed in the populations of the Leninororsk ecogeographic group. Distinctions between these populations were also identified depending on the areas of their distribution. Low-land and mid-mountain living environments are characterized by a great variety of shapes and plasticity. This work allowed us to obtain new genetic data on the structure of A. altaicum populations on the territory of the Kazakhstan Altai for the subsequent development of preservation and reproduction strategies for this relict species.


: Although bacteremia is a common accompaniment of needle liver biopsy, septicemia is an extremely rare complication and normally occurs within the first eight hours after the procedure. A case of late onset septicemia, caused by E. coli and B. fragilis, secondary to bowel perforation during liver biopsy, is presented with a brief review of the recent literature.


The use of digital technology and creation of network infrastructures in Brazil's national museums has emerged as an important research topic in recent years, either from the perspective of finding new ways to socialize collections and to expand their potential or by implementing new practices to manage and organize these institutions. This article aims to debate how museum education sectors can establish new social practices of digital culture based on the perspectives identified by digital technologies. To this end, a reflection was carried out based on the educational potential proposed by the National Policy on Museum Education, and a case study was performed based on the experience of the Tainacan project, implemented by the Brazilian Museum Institute for the socialization of museum collections in the digital universe. The results are still preliminary; however, they can show how the practices of digital culture, considering that the network has its own characteristics and socialization strategies that are inherent to it, which can be used in favour of museum education, constitute operational possibilities, which can be applied in the reality of Brazilian museum institutions.


One of the major side effects of radiotherapy in the head-and-neck area is a reduced saliva production due to the high radiation-sensitivity of the salivary glands. The reduced salivary flow induces difficulties in swallowing, eating, speaking, and often induces dental caries. This thesis addresses the aspects of the radiotherapy treatment of HN cancer patients and the radiation-induced complications of the largest salivary glands, the parotid and submandibular glands. The topics follow the same path as a patient during treatment: from imaging, through radiotherapy planning and the daily treatment, to unfortunately in some cases, radiation-induced xerostomia. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) strategies to visualize both the tumour and the salivary glands were explored. The feasibility of perfusion MRI to assess the blood perfusion characteristics of the head-and-neck tumours was investigated. Compared to healthy tissue, the blood perfusion within the tumour was significantly increased. Perfusion MRI was shown to be a promising tool in tumour characterisation and to guide the radiotherapy treatment. As for the salivary glands, MR sialography was used to obtain high-resolution images, which show the outline of the gland as a medium-intense signal with high-intense ducts inside. The MRI images were superior to CT in defining the outline of the submandibular gland, resulting in a significant increase in defined volume and by that a more accurate sparing of the gland. Improvements in the radiotherapy treatment were obtained by adapting the dose distribution to reduce the dose to the salivary glands. An advanced intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) technique was used, resulting in a decrease in mean dose to the submandibular gland of 12 Gy. This amount of reduction will reduce the chance of complication of 85% to 50%. Another improvement in the treatment was accomplished by optimizing the immobilization of the patients during treatment. Patients are treated in daily fractions and differences in patient positioning results in uncertainties in tumour position within the patient. To reduce this uncertainty, patients were immobilized with a special head support and a thermoplastic mask. Improvements in this head support reduced the movement during treatment, resulting in better treatment accuracies. Finally, the chance of developing a complication given a certain dose distribution to the parotid gland was investigated to further improve clinical decision making. To accomplish accurate modelling on a large dataset, a combined dataset of the University Medical Center Utrecht and the University of Michigan Hospital was used. The mean dose was found to be the best prediction dose parameter and a mean dose of 40 Gy to the parotid gland resulted in a 50% chance of a complication. The improvements in the radiotherapy treatment of head-and-neck cancer patients described in this thesis will make an important difference in preventing radiation-induced xerostomia and improve the quality of life of these patients. This will reduce the occurrence of submandibular gland complications from the 80% we see nowadays to 50% or less


Winter sea-ice conditions are considered important for Antarctic krill Euphausia superba survival and recruitment, yet few broad-scale longitudinal studies have examined the underlying relationships between winter conditions and krill recruitment. We used data from a 4 yr winter study of krill con dition (lipid content), diet (stable isotopes and fatty acids), and length distributions around the northern Antarctic Peninsula to examine relationships among environmental variables (annual sea-ice cover, water column chlorophyll a [chl a], and upper mixed-layer water temperature), the condition and diet of krill, and recruitment success the following year. Diet indicators (lipid content, δ15N, δ13C, and the fatty acid ratios 16:1n-7/18:4n-3 and 18:1n-9/18:1n-7) in postlarvae were consistent among years regardless of seaice cover, suggesting that post-larval krill do not rely on sea-ice resources for overwinter survival. Diet indicators in larvae were more variable and suggest that larvae may feed on sea-ice resources when they are available but can still persist in the water column when they are not. Principal component analysis between environmental variables and diet indicators showed that water-column chl a was the only variable that significantly affected diet, regardless of annual changes in sea-ice cover. Extensive winter ice in one year did not translate into successful recruitment the following year. Krill demonstrate a high degree of flexibility with respect to overwinter habitat and diet, and the degree to which sea ice is important during different times of year and at different life stages may be more complex than previously thought.


The prospective investigation of 185 patients (118 men and 67 women in the age of 35-79 years (on the average 60+/-9 years) with atherosclerotic renovascular disease was carried out. The disease was detected by one- (62%) and two- (38%) hemodynamic value (>50%) of renal artery stenosis. Renal function, arterial pressure, cardiovascular death cases were estimated in 4 groups of patients during the period of 2,5-126 months (on the average 33 months). The patients of the first group (n=103) were undergone the renal revascularization (51 open and 80 endovascular). The patients of the second group (n=20) were after combined open renal revascularization (25) and after performed reconstruction of abdominal aorta and its branches and lower extremities arteries concerning aneurysmatic and occlusive lesions. The patients of the third group (n=19) had only reconstruction of lower extremities arteries concerning their ischemia without renal revascularization. The patients of the fourth group (n=43) haven't been operated because of the refusal of intervention. The lowest rate of survival was in the fourth group, who used the conservative therapy. Long-term survival didn't differ after open and endovascular therapy. The Koks regression analysis showed, that the improvement of long-term survival of the patients was associated with renal revascularization [Exp(B)=0,25, p<0,001] and didn't depend on the method of renal arteries reconstruction. A strategy of careful selection of patients with the application of interdisciplinary approach should be the base of clinical practice in renovascular disease.


It is recommended that the OD Community develop a taxonomical diagnostic guide concerning organisational pathologies similar to APA′s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Part of such an effort would be the classification of the subset of organisational maladies that derive from the subconscious dimensions of organisational behaviour. As an example of how such a schemata can be created, a non‐directive psychological depth approach was applied to a decade‐long conflict between the engineering and operating divisions of a Fortune 500 company. It was found that the source of the difficulty was subconscious paradigmatic differences between the two groups; engineers exhibiting a scientific, positivistic world view; operating managers an entrepreneurial one. Symptoms of such a conflict are long term (years) normative, moral rigid disagreements over how the affairs of the company should be conducted. Thus paradigmatic conflict would constitute one type of organisational disorder that could be i...


Axillary lymph node dissection remains an integral part of surgical treatment in patients with invasive breast cancer and axillary lymph node metastases. Chylous leakage after axillary lymph node dissection is infrequent. We report the case of a patient with an advanced local breast cancer that was subsidiary to surgery treatment after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. She had a postoperative chylous leakage; it was successfully treated conservatively in the postoperative course. Chylous leakage an infrequent complication alters axillary lymph node dissection, which has a conservative management in most published studies.


We consider a nonlinear single-input-single-output minimum phase system with large parametric uncertainty. The system can be represented globally in the normal form and our goal is to find an output dynamic feedback control law to ensure that the output (practically) asymptotically tracks a bounded smooth reference signal. Earlier work used high-gain observers with saturation to derive adaptive as well as robust control laws for this problem. The adaptive control law requires the nonlinear functions to be linearly parameterized in the unknown parameters and could have unsatisfactory transient performance for a large parameter set. The robust control law is based on a worst-case design and could be overly conservative for a large parameter set. In this paper we propose a new approach based on partitioning the set of uncertain parameters into smaller subsets. Robust control laws are designed for each subset and logic based switching is used to choose the appropriate control law. The switching rule uses an estimate of the derivative of a Lyapunov function, which is estimated using a high-gain observer.


There are two possible reasons for unionized workers to have lower quit rates than otherwise comparable nonunion workers: unions could organize employees with innately lower propensities to quit or they could reduce propensities by offering disgruntled workers alternatives to quitting in the form of grievance arbitration and related industrial jurisprudence systems. This paper uses a fixed effect logit model based on the conditional likelihood function to disentangle these two effects. The paper finds that the observed union-quit tradeoff is due largely to the impact of unionism on worker behavior rather than to the propensity of stable workers to be organized, supporting the notion that unions have important nonwage effects along the lines suggested by the "exit-voice" model of union activity.


Bioenergy is one important form of renewable energy where Finland, Norway and Sweden have considerable potential. Greatly increased use of biomass for energy will, however, have considerable effects on environmental values like biodiversity, landscape appearance, outdoor recreation, and the cultural heritage. This review concludes that positive or marginally negative effects of biomass harvesting are likely for harvesting of logging residues, clearance of trees under power lines, along roads, and from marginal agricultural land, as well as production of energy crops on arable land. Negative effects are likely from harvesting of stumps, more intensive forest cultivation on logged areas, and harvesting of biomass from currently non-commercial forests. The environmental effects of production of biomass from reed canary grass or short rotation forestry will depend on where and how such production takes place.


This study considers court reform programmes sponsored by the IMF and World Bank in Indonesia and Venezuela. It aims to broaden the frame of reference of 'globalisation' in law beyond the two traditional sites of human rights and trade. Drawing on a tradition of legal pluralism, it investigates the various sources of 'global' or universalising pressures on the law. The sources and impacts of these efforts may derive from and benefit or disadvantage specific groups in various locations. They will also promote or inhibit particular political, social or economic projects. The study concludes that various constituencies and impulses to reform refer to different versions of the 'universal' for their conception of right and legitimacy. These are neither inherently local nor unambiguously global. Local religious or egalitarian movements may refer to universal religious or political values just as interests in fair commercial dealing can call on international legal norms. In contrast to the local sites where law is performed, these universal sites exist in a multitude of indigenous, religious, political and legal imagined communities, each of which may be invoked in attempts to reform local practice.


Over the last decades, the provision of social services by local governments has been characterised by the involvement of private actors through processes such as procurement or accreditation. The literature on welfare systems has widely analyzed the various welfare mix configurations in different countries and explored the effects of these structures in terms of service quality and economic efficiency. Rarely, however, the way in which these processes have impacted on the conditions of workers employed in social services has been examined. This article wants to explore the relationship between vertical disintegration processes and working conditions, highlighting the role of public procurement in influencing the terms of employment in the private segment of the social services sector. In particular, we will show that the growing reliance on market mechanisms for the provision of social services has given rise to a labour market characterized by low wages and worse employment conditions, strong employment and income insecurity, reduced professional support, and a significant incidence of free work. We will show that these features characterising employment in private providers of social services are closely linked to the criteria and mechanisms through which local authorities acquire services. First, we will highlight how access to a less regulated and more flexible labor market is one of the main reasons for explaining the externalisation of service provision. Secondly, we will show that the pressures for cost containment and higher flexibility exercised by local governments in procurement processes reduce the autonomy of private service providers in managing their workers and are often passed down to the workers. Hence, we will argue that much of the responsibility for the poor working conditions experienced by workers in the private segment of the social services sector lies in the characteristics of public procurement and in the contracting conditions under which private providers operate.


The role and impact of chromium (Cr) on the environment and living organisms depends primarily on its chemical form. High toxicity of hexavalent Cr is well documented, while trivalent Cr is an essential micronutrient. In the last decades numerous analytical procedures have been developed for the determination of Cr(VI) in different sample matrices. To obtain reliable speciation data it is important to preserve species integrity during the sample storage, pre-treatment, extraction and the determination of Cr species. Among different speciation methods combination of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with atomic spectrometry techniques provides comprehensive information on the presence of Cr species in a variety of sample matrices, while hyphenation of HPLC to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) represents the most powerful and the most sensitive analytical tool for Cr speciation. Precise isotope ratio measurement enables the application of isotope dilution techniques for the quantification of trace amounts of individual Cr species in various environmental and biological samples. Furthermore, enriched stable isotopes can be introduced as tracers to investigations on the fate and role of Cr in the environment and living organisms or to monitor the species transformation during the analytical procedure. Despite general understanding of Cr chemistry, which is closely related to its trivalent and hexavalent oxidation states and knowledge on conditions that may influence species transformation, there are still open questions that should be addressed to obtain reliable speciation analysis data. So, this article is focused mostly to overview recent developments in methodological approaches for Cr speciation in different sample matrices by applying HPLC and spectrometric techniques. Different procedures for preparation of isotopically enriched Cr spike solutions are critically evaluated. The advantages of their use as tracers to follow and account for species transformation during sample preparation and for the quantification of Cr species by HPLC-ID-ICP-MS are discussed. The importance of the use of adequate analytical methodologies and speciation analysis in the determination of Cr(VI) is highlighted in order to avoid inadequate conclusions to be made based on wrongly applied analytical methodologies. An increasing need to develop speciation procedures for selective determination of Cr(III) species is also emphasized.


The objective of this study was to determine whether long-run relationships existed between price premiums for wools with different fibre diameters. Based on cointegration analysis using monthly data from 1976.8 to 1999.10, the results showed that price premiums, in relative price terms, for fibre diameters between 19 and 23 micron were cointegrated. Furthermore, the price premiums for 19, 20 and 21 micron were found to be weakly exogenous. The latter result suggested that price premiums for finer wools tended to be more stable, compared with coarser wools which appeared to bear the burden of price adjustments. The implication is that wool producers would enjoy more stable prices, and hence income, by focusing on finer wools.


Advanced sealing systems are needed to control parasitic leakage flows to achieve high turbine engine efficiency and low emissions. Typical extreme turbomachinery engine operating conditions when combined with rotor excursions do not lend simple sealing solutions. This work presents an in-depth analysis of a novel robust yet simple sealing system that is capable of maintaining long life under high speed and high temperature operating conditions. The proposed seal design is actually a gas bearing that is carefully tailored, analyzed, and designed to function as a differential pressure seal. The design involves a simple rigid/semi-flexible seal ring that is attached to a stationary support plate via flexible metal cloth structure. The seal body is capable of moving under the effect of aerodynamic lift force. Therefore, above a certain clearance limit, which ensures that asperity contact is avoided, the seal follows shaft excursions to avoid damaging hard rubs. Applying established working principles for gas lubricated journal bearing, governing Reynolds equation for compressible gas flow is solved using both finite difference and finite element methods. The results of these analyses are validated with other published work in literature. The calculated seal aerodynamic pressure profile is integrated to obtain the lift force. This force is compared to the frictional drag and other resistive forces that need to be overcome to move the seal with rotor during transients. Four different seal designs with varying geometries are studied, and resulting lifting forces are evaluated. It is verified that necessary lifting force for these designs can be obtained without exceeding lower limits of seal clearance. Furthermore, to ensure dynamic stability of the sealing system, natural frequency analyses are conducted. Results from the analysis under typical operating conditions of a gas turbine indicated that seal natural frequencies are well above rotor operating speeds. Finally, leakage analysis of new seal system is performed. Comparison with brush seal leakage performance rates under typical operating conditions reveals that the analyzed seal designs show satisfactory leakage performances that are similar to those of brush seals.


She came out of the taxi, cold, feeble, wobbly on her feet, afraid. They had just renovated the outpatient pavilion and she felt lost. Coming through the front doors she met a circular wall; puzzled, she turned to the right, where the three information windows stared at her, empty. The corridor, however, shocked her sense of propriety. Young men and women, some with their feet on the chairs, some perched on the window sills, were eating hot dogs. Wheelchair-bound patients lined the wall, and everybody seemed engrossed in their little world, eating, smoking, talking in loud voices. She proceeded along the corridor until she met two security guards, hands on their guns; she passed them without a second glance. Through blurry eyes, she could see the shadows of hundreds of chairs facing the pharmacy windows. Not a vacant seat! She heard numbers being called. The loud voices seemed to exacerbate


This charming book The Many Worlds of Sarala Devi and The Tagores and Sartorial Styles, as the titles suggest, contain two separate but related writings on the Tagores. The Tagores were a pre-eminent family which became synonymous with the cultural regeneration of India, specifically of Bengal, in the nineteenth century. The first writing is a sensitive translation of Sarala Devi's memoirs from the Bengali, Jeevaner Jharapata, by Sukhendu Ray. It is the first autobiography written by a nationalist woman leader of India. Sarala Devi was Rabindranath Tagore's niece and had an unusual life. The translation unfolds, among other things, what it was like to grow up in a big affluent house Jorasanko, that had more than 116 inmates and a dozen cooks! The second writing by Malavika Karlekar is a photo essay, creatively conceived, visually reflecting the social and cultural trends of the times, through styles of dress, jewellery and accoutrements. The modern style of wearing a sari was introduced by Jnanadanandini Devi, a member of the Tagore family. The introduction by the well-known historian, Bharati Ray, very perceptively captures the larger context of family, marriage, women's education and politics of the time which touched Sarala Devi's life. She points out that if memoirs are a kind of social history then women's diaries record social influences not found in official accounts and are therefore, a rich source of documentation.


Objective To explore the knowledge and perceptions of fourth-year medical students regarding the new models of primary health care (PHC) and to ascertain whether that knowledge influenced their decisions to pursue careers in family medicine.

Design Qualitative study using semistructured interviews.

Setting The Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at The University of Western Ontario in London.

Participants Fourth-year medical students graduating in 2009 who indicated family medicine as a possible career choice on their Canadian Residency Matching Service applications.

Methods Eleven semistructured interviews were conducted between January and April of 2009. Data were analyzed using an iterative and interpretive approach. The analysis strategy of immersion and crystallization assisted in synthesizing the data to provide a comprehensive view of key themes and overarching concepts.

Main findings Four key themes were identified: the level of students' knowledge regarding PHC models varied; the knowledge was generally obtained from practical experiences rather than classroom learning; students could identify both advantages and disadvantages of working within the new PHC models; and although students regarded the new PHC models positively, these models did not influence their decisions to pursue careers in family medicine.

Conclusion Knowledge of the new PHC models varies among fourth-year students, indicating a need for improved education strategies in the years before clinical training. Being able to identify advantages and disadvantages of the PHC models was not enough to influence participants' choice of specialty. Educators and health care policy makers need to determine the best methods to promote and facilitate knowledge transfer about these PHC models.


One-shot Neural Architecture Search (NAS) usually constructs an overparameterized network, which we call a supernet, and typically adopts sharing parameters among the sub-models to improve computational efficiency. Oneshot NAS often repeatedly samples sub-models from the supernet and trains them to optimize the shared parameters. However, this training strategy suffers from multi-model forgetting. Training a sampled sub-model overrides the previous knowledge learned by the other sub-models, resulting in an unfair performance evaluation between the sub-models. We propose Supernet with Unbiased MetaFeatures for Neural Architecture Search (SUMNAS), a supernet learning strategy based on meta-learning to tackle the knowledge forgetting issue. During the training phase, we explicitly address the multi-model forgetting problem and help the supernet learn unbiased meta-features, independent from the sampled submodels. Once training is over, sub-models can be instantly compared to get the overall ranking or the best sub-model. Our evaluation on the NAS-Bench-201 and MobileNet-based search space demonstrate that SUMNAS shows improved ranking ability and finds architectures whose performance is on par with existing state-of-the-art NAS algorithms.


The contribution of polyphosphoinositides to muscarinic receptor-stimulated phosphoinositide turnover has been evaluated for intact and digitonin-permeabilized human SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells. Addition of carbamoylcholine to [3H]inositol-prelabeled intact cells resulted in a rapid (5-10 sec) loss of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate and the concomitant appearance of radiolabeled inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate, inositol-1,3,4-trisphosphate, and inositol tetrakisphosphate. In the presence of the agonist, production of these inositol polyphosphates remained enhanced for up to 45 min. Inositol mono- and bisphosphates steadily accumulated in response to receptor activation and in the presence of Li+ comprised greater than 95% of agonist-stimulated inositol phosphate formation at incubation times greater than 5 min. The major inositol bisphosphate isomer was the 1,4-species. Of the two inositol monophosphates produced, radioactivity recovered in inositol-4-monophosphate increased continuously, whereas that in the inositol-1-monophosphate/inositol-3-monophosphate fraction was delayed in appearance but thereafter progressively accumulated. Omission of Ca2+ reduced carbamoylcholine-stimulated inositol phosphate release by greater than 50% but did not significantly influence the ratio of inositol monophosphates formed. Upon addition of atropine to agonist-pretreated cells, radioactivity was lost from inositol phosphates in the following order: inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate greater than inositol-1,3,4-trisphosphate greater than inositol-1,4-bisphosphate = inositol-4-monophosphate greater than inositol-1-monophosphate/inositol-3-monophosphate. Although carbamoylcholine addition to digitonin-permeabilized cells also resulted in a sustained release of inositol monophosphates, relatively more inositol-4-monophosphate was produced in these preparations. Omission of ATP from permeabilized cell incubations inhibited carbamoylcholine-stimulated 'inositol phosphate formation by greater than 70%. Whole homogenates of SK-N-SH cells metabolized added inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate and inositol-1,4-bisphosphate exclusively to inositol-4-monophosphate, whereas inositol-1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate was degraded to inositol-1- or 3-monophosphate. Measurement of inositol trisphosphate 3'-kinase and 5'-phosphatase activities revealed that, following permeabilization, 3'-kinase activity was diminished, whereas that of 5'-phosphatase was enhanced. The results indicate that occupancy of muscarinic cholinergic receptors in SK-N-SH cells elicits a continuous Ca2(+)-dependent breakdown of the polyphosphoinositides rather than of phosphatidylinositol.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


The term proteoform is used to denote all the molecular forms in which the protein product of a single gene can be found. The most frequent processes that lead to transcript modification and the biological implications of these changes observed in the final protein product will be discussed. Proteoforms arising from genetic variations, alternatively spliced RNA transcripts and post-translational modifications will be commented. This chapter will present an evolution of the techniques used to identify the proteoforms and the importance of this identification for understanding of biological processes. This chapter highlights the fundamental concepts in the field of top-down mass spectrometry (TDMS), and provides numerous examples for the use of knowledge obtained from the identification of proteoforms. The identification of mutant proteins is one of the emerging areas of proteogenomics and has the potential to recognize novel disease biomarkers and may point to useful targets for identification of therapeutic approaches.


Abstract Refugee history at present lacks a conceptual framework, notwithstanding the proliferation of recent contributions that contribute to enlarging the field. Our article seeks to advance refugee history by drawing upon extensive research into historical case studies and proposing the framework of refugeedom. Refugeedom takes proper account of the states and other actors that defined the 'refugee' as a category and sought to manage refugees as figures of concern, but it also insists upon the need to consider refugees as an active and assertive historical presence in situations of crisis and constraint. It offers a promising approach for analysing episodes and sites of mass population displacement from the perspectives of governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. Crucially, refugeedom incorporates the experiences of refugees and how they narrated displacement. Finally, the article outlines a direction for global history by drawing attention to past episodes of displacement in ways that capture not only its global scale, but also the multiple relationships and practices of refugeedom.


A survey of the use of intra-uterine devices and contraception in a country practice has been made. Twenty percent found an IUD unacceptable. The contraceptive pattern of 157 women was analysed and 13.8 percent were using inefficient methods. The possibility of contraceptives being made available on the Drug Tariff is discussed.


The apparent gender differences in favor of women in the risk of contracting and dying from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and the fact that such trends have also been observed in recent epidemics including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), have prompted the obvious question: Are the reasons life-style or biological? True, women generally make healthier lifestyle choices as compared to men. Women do not smoke or drink as much as men, and they have a lower burden of those diseases (heart disease, diabetes or chronic lung conditions) that are known to be significant factors in the higher death rates among men with COVID-19. But there is compelling evidence for a role for biological factors. Genes are likely to play an important role. The X chromosome, of which women possess two, contains the largest number of immune-related genes of the whole human genome, theoretically giving women double the advantage over men in mounting an efficient and rapid immune response. A fundamental difference between women and men is their hormonal milieu, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that the dominant female hormone estrogen could influence the response to infection. In this paper we evaluate the evidence and mechanisms by which estrogen could provide protection to women from a variety of viruses, perhaps including the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.


For business success and continued growth, multinational corporations (MNCs) must work to efficiently leverage interactions with customers dispersed across geographic boundaries. Under the framework of the attention-based view, this study examines the MNC strategic approach of country-based interaction orientation and marketing strategy implementation adaptation/standardization as drivers of global profit growth, contingent on the environmental conditions of competitive intensity and market dynamism. The findings from a survey of U.S.-based MNCs indicate that managerial attention focused on country-based interaction orientation and marketing strategy implementation standardization, when considered jointly, have a positive effect on MNC profit growth. The findings also show that the effect of a country-based interaction orientation on MNC profit growth is not as susceptible to competitive intensity and market dynamism when MNCs standardize their marketing strategy implementation, but it varies when MNCs take a more adapted approach to their implementation strategies across country markets. These findings bring to light important implications for international marketing theory and practice.


In general, business environment is becoming more complex and competitive in nature. Companies in different industries are upcoming with a number of differentiated products and characterized by high quality with the level best required level of innovative skills. These all devotions and efforts are aimed of existing successfully in the industry they belong. Walsh et al, (2005) argue that, appropriate design and use of Management Control System (MCS) elements have a direct relationship with the success of the organization in competitive market environment.  This paper is aimed at assessing BGI Ethiopia on three selected elements of management control system specifically, result control group, evaluating the practice through identifying and relying on theoretical propositions derived from the literature and  finally, to recommend on how to improve these elements in their organization.In this research, an exploratory case study approach along a qualitative research method for collecting and analyzing the data are used. The case chosen in this study is BGI Ethiopia which is one of the brewery companies in the country. The empirical findings were analyzed through identifying themes from the data, by relying on theoretical propositions derived from the literature. The results show the following facts: Strategy Planning:: the strategic planning practice being used by BGI Ethiopia is in line with the theoretical propositions derived from the literature and control by using goals is highly emphasized.Performance Measurement and Evaluation: The new performance measurement literature indicates, performance measurement system should in corporate any financial and non-financial measure that provides incremental information on managerial efforts. However, BGI Ethiopia's approach to performance measurement is supplementing extensive traditional financial measure less mix of non – financial measures. The reward and incentive are not used very significantly. The system in use extensively consists of monetary rewards; both short term and long term incentives and do not use non-monetary incentives in greater extent to motivate its employees and the system seems incapable of achieving result control, since they influence employees' actions by taking rewards to desired results. Keywords: Management Control System, Performance Measurement and Evaluation, Strategic Planning, financial incentives, non – financial incentives


Background Thrombocytopenia is a common complication of critical illness and an independent risk factor for bleeding and death in the intensive care unit (ICU). Platelet transfusions are commonly used to improve platelet counts; however, the expected platelet increment from a transfusion in this setting has not been established. The objective of this study was to describe the frequency of platelet transfusion administration and their effect on platelet count increments in a large cohort of non-oncology critically ill adults.

Methods We performed an analysis of a registry database, which was developed to capture clinical and laboratory data on all blood transfusions administered in 3 academic hospitals in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. We included all patients ≥18 years who received one or more platelet transfusion during an ICU admission. Data validation was done by integrity checks with medical records and laboratory information system performed by a biostatistician. Non-transfused ICU patients were used as controls. The absolute increment in platelet count was calculated for each single platelet transfusion using the closest platelet count taken within 24 hours before the transfusion and 4-24 hours after the transfusion.

Results Between April 2006 and October 2012, 33,222 patients were admitted to ICU, including 29,511 (88.8%) who did not have a diagnosis of cancer. Of those, 4,502 (15.3%) received one or more platelet transfusion during any ICU admission (n=4,690); 31.9% were female and median age at the time of first admission was 69 years (IQR 59-77). Among the 25,009 non-transfused patients admitted to ICU during the same period, 38.1% were female and the median age was 65 years (IQR 52–76). Median pre-transfusion platelet count was 87 x109/L (IQR 59-131) and a single platelet transfusion resulted in a median platelet count increment of 21 x109/L (IQR 6-40) as measured 6.7 hours (IQR 5.1-9.8) after the transfusion. There were 277 (25.4%) transfusions that yielded a platelet count increment of 5 x109/L or less. ICU mortality was 562/4,690 (12.4%) for patients who received a platelet transfusion, compared with 2,251/33,033(6.8%) for patients who were not transfused during their ICU stay.

Summary/Conclusion Among this large cohort of non-oncology ICU patients, platelet transfusions were commonly administered for thrombocytopenia that was generally mild. In this setting one platelet transfusion resulted in a median platelet count rise of 21 x109/L. Many transfusion episodes yielded no appreciable increase in platelet count. Further studies are needed to determine the clinical effects of platelet transfusion in this setting controlling for confounding.

Disclosures: Heddle: CIHR: Research Funding; Canadian Blood Services: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Health Canada: Research Funding; Macopharma: Consultancy; ASH: Honoraria.


Objective: The current work aims to design and develop an automatically controlled wearable electrolarynx, a voice substitution device for laryngeal carcinoma survivals. Methods: The physical activity of mouth opening is sensed, amplified, and made to act as an enable signal to trigger the wearable electrolarynx. The resulting speech is recorded and compared for its voice reaction durations with that of manual electrolarynx and normal speaking methods. Perception evaluations of 5 subjects from 10 speech-language therapists are obtained. Results: The wearable electrolarynx turn-on in 13 μs once the mouth movement for speech is sensed. The voice initiation time and termination durations are 215.68 m and 231.41 ms, respectively. Results indicate that there is no significant difference (P < 0.05) between the voice reaction durations of wearable electrolarynx and normal speaking methods. The subjective evaluation results show that there is a significant improvement (P < 0.05) in intelligibility and noise reduction when compared to a commercially available electrolarynx with an average intra-class correlation coefficient of 0.68 from analysis of variance two factors without replication. Conclusions: The assessment of the wearable and automatically controlled electrolarynx provides hands-free speech and easy control over the device.


The Marsokhod 1999 field experiment in the Mojave Desert included a simulation of a rover-based sample selection mission. As part of this mission, a test was made of strategies and analytical techniques for identifying past or present life in environments expected to be present on Mars. A combination of visual clues from high-resolution images and the detection of an important biomolecule (chlorophyll) with visible/near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy led to the successful identification of a rock with evidence of cryptoendolithic organisms. The sample was identified in high-resolution images (3 times the resolution of the Imager for Mars Pathfinder camera) on the basis of a green tinge and textural information suggesting the presence of a thin, partially missing exfoliating layer revealing the organisms. The presence of chlorophyll bands in similar samples was observed in visible/NIR spectra of samples in the field and later confirmed in the laboratory using the same spectrometer. Raman spectroscopy in the laboratory, simulating a remote measurement technique, also detected evidence of carotenoids in samples from the same area. Laboratory analysis confirmed that the subsurface layer of the rock is inhabited by a community of coccoid Chroococcidioposis cyanobacteria. The identification of minerals in the field, including carbonates and serpentine, that are associated with aqueous processes was also demonstrated using the visible/NIR spectrometer. Other lessons learned that are applicable to future rover missions include the benefits of web-based programs for target selection and for daily mission planning and the need for involvement of the science team in optimizing image compression schemes based on the retention of visual signature characteristics.


The uncertainty estimation and compensation are challenging problems for the robust control of robot manipulators which are complex systems. This paper presents a novel decentralized model-free robust controller for electrically driven robot manipulators. As a novelty, the proposed controller employs a simple Gaussian Radial-Basis-Function network (RBF network) as an uncertainty estimator. The proposed network includes a hidden layer with one node, two inputs and a single output. In comparison with other model-free estimators such as multilayer neural networks and fuzzy systems, the proposed estimator is simpler, less computational and more effective. The weights of the RBF network are tuned online using an adaptation law derived by stability analysis. Despite the majority of previous control approaches which are the torque-based control, the proposed control design is the voltage-based control. Simulations and comparisons with a robust neural network control approach show the efficiency of the proposed control approach applied on the articulated robot manipulator driven by permanent magnet DC motors.


Moving from the large-scale analysis to the effects of neocolonialism in everyday life, this essay charts the structural imposition of external forces on the nation space of sovereignty in postcolonial narratives of the sixties. While the geopolitical international intersects closely with individual lives, this relationship is not one of exact replication, but occurs through literary techniques of disproportionality, montage and juxtaposition that register the disjunctions arising out of neocolonial deformations. Examining a range of authors from Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, the essay focuses on the tropes, forms, and narrative strategies through which geopolitical structures and conditions of "the age of three worlds" are expressed through literature.


ABSTRACT In 2015, South Korea hosted the World Education Forum as it considered issues of education for all and improving inclusion worldwide. Yet, as is the case in many countries, pupils with special educational needs in South Korea are often included by way of 'special or additional' support as 'compensation' for disability, raising questions about the extent to which support is a tool for inclusion or a reproduction of exclusion in the classroom. This study examined teachers' views and practice regarding teaching and support, the actual work of the support assistant, and the extent to which practice reflected the model set by official policy and guidelines. The modified Wider Pedagogical Role (WPR) model (Blatchford, P., A. Russell, and R. Webster. 2012. Reassessing the Impact of Teaching Assistants : How Research Challenges Practice and Policy. London: Routledge.) was used as reference for the data collection and analysis. The development of inclusive practices was also examined relative to the inclusive pedagogical approach developed by Florian and Black-Hawkins ([2011]. "Exploring Inclusive Pedagogy." British Educational Research Journal 37 (5): 813–828) to determine how the three principles of inclusive pedagogy were enacted in South Korea. Findings demonstrate how practice can comply, stretch or, in some cases, disregard the limits of policy. The study provides practical support for the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 which calls for inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all.


Acanthamoeba is a ubiquitous, free-living protozoan that rarely causes ocular disease other than troublesome keratitis.1-5 It remains restricted to the cornea, either because the trophozoites cannot penetrate Descemet's membrane and the corneal endothelium in order to enter the anterior chamber (AC), or the trophozoites are able to enter the anterior chamber but the cells of the innate immune apparatus prevent it from progressing to cause an intraocular infection.


Beef ground round inoculated with 1,000,000 spores of Clostridium botulinum 33-A per gram and containing various additives was exposed to gamma radiation. Spores were inactivated in samples (irradiated at 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 Mrad) which contained sodium nitrate (1,000 ppm) plus sodium chloride (2.5%). Similar results were obtained when sodium nitrite (200 ppm) was substituted for sodium nitrate, except that there was evidence of spore survival in 1 of 120 cans irradiated at 2.0 Mrad. Spore destruction was based upon the absence of spores and mouse-lethal toxin in meat subcultures made from cans incubated at 35 C for 120 days. Spores were not destroyed when exposed to 2.5 or 3.0 Mrad in the absence of sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite, or sodium chloride. Furthermore, the use of these chemicals individually, together with radiation, was ineffective. The additives alone in the absence of radiation also did not cause spore destruction. Radiation levels of 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 Mrad, when used with sodium chloride at 1.5 or 2.0% and sodium nitrate at 500 ppm or sodium nitrite at 100 ppm, were ineffective.


This study aims at comparing both French and European dictionaries of synonyms of the XVIIIth and XIXth centuries. Girard wrote the very first dictionary of distinctive synonymy in French in 1718. His dictionary was the very first of this kind in Europe. It is only after Girard's dictionary, which introduced the methodology of the distinction of synonyms, that other dictionary writers in Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Germany or Russia have made dictionaries akin to Girard's. Thus, Girard's part into the growth of dictionaries of synonyms across Europe is a major issue. By using Spanish and Italian dictionaries of synonyms, we will show that Girard was actually the model for all dictionaries of synonyms writers. However, the aim of this study is not to demonstrate that Girard is a model, but rather that all European synonymists started to consider and theorize synonymy in the same way as one single person, in other words by using distinction between synonym words. After translating French synonymists, European synonymists began to write their own dictionaries of distinctive synonymy.


In direct contrast to Europe, Asia and North America, Africa has very few navigable rivers. This paper focuses on the preponderant role played by water transport in the form of rivers and ports during the colonial period. Although not blessed with much navigable rivers and natural deep ports, the Colonial administration as well as the population of Cameroon depended so much on rivers and ports for their physical mobility, transportation of bulky goods, mails migration and above all European consumer goods which came in from Europe and were head loaded into the hinterlands. Therefore rivers and ports played economic, social and political roles. Despite these important roles, the place of rivers and ports has been relegated to footnotes in historical narratives of Cameroon. This paper therefore, aims at lifting rivers and ports from the footnotes of Cameroon history into the text. It confronts the importance of such a technological system to both the colonial administration and the indigenous population. What were the type of goods that were transported via rivers and ports? More crucial to the essay is the importance of the ports in the development of the cities and the migration of people into areas where ports were found. In what ways do we linked the ports and rivers to the global mobility of goods and modernity?


Vapor-cell atomic clocks based on double resonance are high-precision instruments that have strong potential for industrial commercialization. They offer performance which is superior to quartz oscillators and are already employed for synchronization-demanding applications in telecommunication and smart power grid networks. With a volume of up to few liters, these are devices compact enough to qualify for space applications related to global positioning. Moreover, a new generation of high-performance vapor-cell clocks based on Pulsed Optical Pumping scheme (POP) showed performance approaching that of much larger frequency standards. For the case of the pulsed clock, the magnetic field homogeneity plays a central role in limiting the performance -- in order to fully exploit the advantages of the novel POP scheme it is critical to apply a constant (amplitude) field distribution across the atomic sample. The main objective of the thesis is to find and characterize a cavity solution that is appropriate to apply in compact high-performance vapor-cell atomic clocks, and more particularly in the case of the pulsed optically pumped scheme. In the currently existing solutions a relatively large type of cavity is utilized for which in order to obtain field homogeneity a small fraction of the field is sampled. A major drawback of this approach is the negatively affected compactness. Moreover, such a cavity is more restrictive to the useful volume of the atomic sample, and it is more complicated to stabilize in terms of temperature. We propose a solution for which we managed to obtain a nearly constant microwave magnetic field distribution along the direction of the optical field with more than 97% of orientation uniformity across the atomic sample. Our approach is to implement a cavity with artificial magnetic conductor boundary conditions in order to take advantage of a beneficial field mode with two zero variation indexes.


DOI: 10.2174/2215083804666180417162225 Abstract: This is partially a review article and partially a research article. However, since the author is a practicing phytotherapist and not a laboratory scientist, she does not report on large trials and blind studies, proffer statistics, and use standard medical terminology. Instead, her article presents intimate case studies of her patients and the botanical remedies she uses to treat them. The efficacy of her treatment is proven by her patients' restoration to health. The author emphasizes that the persistence of phytotherapy in Traditional Medicine (narodnaia meditsina) is due to the fact that through correct application of botanicals, their many valuable properties and their ability to counter many diseases have been witnessed. In the arsenal of popular medicine even meager and infrequent use of botanicals documents their healing power. In some cases, they can even heal serious illnesses. On the other hand, the author cautions that self-treatment with botanicals is not advisable. It is absolutely obligatory that treatment with botanicals be performed by a physician or phytotherapist. The article focuses on the treatment of parasites. Common English and Russian terms for plants used in the recipes are cited along with Latin botanical names.


The geographical distribution of many crop species spans far beyond their centers of origin and the native range of their wild ancestors. Maize is exemplary of this adaptability, which has contributed to its agricultural... Understanding the evolutionary capacity of populations to adapt to novel environments is one of the major pursuits in genetics. Moreover, for plant breeding, maladaptation is the foremost barrier to capitalizing on intraspecific variation in order to develop new breeds for future climate scenarios in agriculture. Using a unique study design, we simultaneously dissected the population and quantitative genomic basis of short-term evolution in a tropical landrace of maize that was translocated to a temperate environment and phenotypically selected for adaptation in flowering time phenology. Underlying 10 generations of directional selection, which resulted in a 26-day mean decrease in female-flowering time, 60% of the heritable variation mapped to 14% of the genome, where, overall, alleles shifted in frequency beyond the boundaries of genetic drift in the expected direction given their flowering time effects. However, clustering these non-neutral alleles based on their profiles of frequency change revealed transient shifts underpinning a transition in genotype–phenotype relationships across generations. This was distinguished by initial reductions in the frequencies of few relatively large positive effect alleles and subsequent enrichment of many rare negative effect alleles, some of which appear to represent allelic series. With these genomic shifts, the population reached an adapted state while retaining 99% of the standing molecular marker variation in the founding population. Robust selection and association mapping tests highlighted several key genes driving the phenotypic response to selection. Our results reveal the evolutionary dynamics of a finite polygenic architecture conditioning a capacity for rapid environmental adaptation in maize.


OBJECTIVE
To determine herd characteristics and management practices associated with milk production in dairy herds enrolled in official Dairy Herd Improvement Association (DHIA) programs in Ohio.

SAMPLE POPULATION
186 dairy farms in Ohio.

PROCEDURE
All herds in official DHIA programs in 9 counties were invited to participate. Information regarding herd characteristics and management practices was obtained, using a standardized questionnaire. Bulk-tank milk samples were obtained for bacteriologic culture. Official DHIA test-day records were obtained, and associations were identified, using multivariable ANOVA procedures.

RESULTS
Of 479 eligible producers, 186 (39%) participated, and consecutive bulk-tank milk samples were available for culture from 172 (36%). Streptococcus agalactiae and Mycoplasma spp were not recovered from bulk-tank milk samples, but Staphylococcus aureus was recovered from 64 (37%) herds. Mean (+/- SD) number of lactating cows in participating herds was 97+/-66, with 123 (66%) herds milking < 100 cows. The RHA was significantly associated with number of cows in milk, estimated percentage of herd detected in estrus, reported annual percentage of heifer calves born alive that died before 8 weeks old, percentage days in milk, use of bovine somatotropin during the preceding 2 years, and sex of the person completing the questionnaire.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
In this study, the strongest indicator of milk production was number of cows in milk. However, merely adding cows to a herd should not be considered to guarantee increased milk production, because other management traits could be confounded with increased number of cows in a herd.


: 1.5-Gluconolactone was shown to exert a strong inhibiting effect on the activity of rabbit skeletal muscle glycogen synthase I. The Ki values determined according to Dixon (0.13 mM) and Chuang and Bell (0.14 mM) coincide with the Km value for UDPG. Within the pH range of 5.4-7.0, N-ethyl-N'-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (less than or equal to 3 mM) specifically inhibits the carboxyl group, which was supported by the reactivation of the enzyme under mild alkaline conditions. The reversible competitive inhibitor of glycogen synthase and the UDP reaction product as well as 1.5-gluconolactone afford an effective protective effect. It is supposed that the reaction catalyzed by rabbit skeletal muscle glycogen synthase I results in the formation of an intermediate carbonium ion. An essential role in the enzyme activity belongs to the carboxylic group of the active center.


The curio trade in marine fishes has not previously been quantitatively analysed. As a contribution towards understanding the scale and conservation impact of such trade we summarize import and export data from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for 1997–2001. At least 32 fish species were involved in the USA's international trade in curios, of which 24 were included on the 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with categorizations ranging from Endangered to Data Deficient. The USA apparently imported an annual total of approximately one million fish and 360 tonnes of fish parts, worth more than USD 1.7 million, although total volume declined over the 5 years of data. Fish curios imported to the USA reportedly came primarily from Taiwan and the Philippines, with 95% of curios obtained from wild populations. The three marine fish groups most traded for curios were sharks, seahorses and porcupinefishes. The value per individual fish fluctuated across years, with a considerable increase in the value of dried seahorses from 1997 to 2001. The trade probably adds to conservation concerns for at least some species.


We present the results of a global hybrid code simulation for the solar wind-interaction with the Earth's magnetosphere during an interval of steady radial IMF. The model predicts a foreshock marked by innumerable localized, correlated, and large amplitude, density and magnetic field strength variations, depressed velocities, and enhanced temperatures. The foreshock is bounded by a broad (~0.8 R E ) region of enhanced densities, temperatures, and magnetic field strengths that extends far (~8.6 R E ) upstream from the bow shock. Flow perturbations within the boundary are directed perpendicular to the boundary, towards the unperturbed solar wind and away from the foreshock. Cluster observations of the ion foreshock and pristine solar wind confirm the predictions of the model. The observations suggest that foreshock cavities, crater-like density and magnetic field strength structures whose cores are filled with suprathermal particles, can be interpreted in terms of transient encounters with the foreshock boundary.


Trajectory planning is an essential module for autonomous driving. To deal with multi-vehicle interactions, existing methods follow the prediction-then-plan approaches which first predict the trajectories of others then plan the trajectory for the ego vehicle given the predictions. However, since the true trajectories of others may deviate from the predictions, frequent re-planning for the ego vehicle is needed, which may cause many issues such as instability or deadlock. These issues can be overcome if all vehicles can form a consensus by solving the same multi-vehicle trajectory planning problem. Then the major challenge is how to efficiently solve the multi-vehicle trajectory planning problem in real time under the curse of dimensionality. We introduce a novel planner for multi-vehicle trajectory planning based on the convex feasible set (CFS) algorithm. The planning problem is formulated as a non-convex optimization. A novel convexification method to obtain the maximal convex feasible set is proposed, which transforms the problem into a quadratic programming. Simulations in multiple typical on-road driving situations are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed planning algorithm in terms of completeness and optimality.


Globalization affects all aspects of life. This concept creates a paradigm borderless world, the world that does not know the limits of the territorial sovereignty of a nation / state. The impact of these conditions are helped create intense competition in various aspects of community life, including education. In the world of education, management can not be done conventionally alone, but requires a special ability that the output of education in accordance with market needs, both nationally and internationally. MOTIVASI INTRINSIK YANG MEMPENGARUHI PEMILIHAN JURUSAN DAN UNIVERSITAS (Studi Pada Mahasiswa Baru Program Vokasi Universitas Indonesia Angkatan 2015) Amelita Lusia,Pijar Suciati,Endang Setiowati Volume 3 Nomor 2,pp 21-36 22 In addition to the need for change in the management of the educational institutions, educational institutions marketing issues was absolutely necessary due to the competition of universities / university higher. It was seen from the emergence of various colleges / universities that always offers the advantages of each. Colleges as providers of education services need to learn and have the initiative to improve customer satisfaction (students) because in general education is an ongoing process. Marketing educational institutions, almost similar to the marketing of the economy or government agencies engaged in services. However, if true, all marketing programs that have been carried out by the university is a factor and the reason students choose majors and certain universities? The answer could be yes, no, or may be it turns out there are other factors that influence greater than exposure to marketing. As expected the start of this study, there may be factors word of mouth (WOM) or electronic word of mouth (eWOM) which also affect their choices, such as research Shahid, Et.al of the University of Lahore, Pakistan, which are listed in the journal IISTE 2012. The aim of this study was to identify common factors and other factors such as word of mouth, which is the reason the new students choose majors and certain universities. To identify them, the research will perform a quantitative approach through field surveys to students-freshmen at the University of Indonesia. Results of this research is the formulation of the deciding factors in choosing majors prospective students and universities, which is expected to help PR and marketing practitioners to develop a more effective marketing programs and was well received by the target objectives.


Yakushinamides A (1) and B (2), prolyl amides of polyoxygenated fatty acids, have been isolated from the marine sponge Theonella swinhoei as inhibitors of HDACs and SIRTs. Their planar structures were determined by interpretation of the NMR data of the intact molecules and tandem FABMS data of the methanolysis products. For the assignment of the relative configurations of the three contiguous oxymethine carbons in 1 and 2, Kishi's universal NMR database was applied to the methanolysis products. During the assignments of relative configurations of the isolated 1-hydroxy-3-methyl moiety in 1 and the isolated 1-hydroxy-2-methyl moiety in 2, we found diagnostic NMR features to distinguish each pair of diastereomers. The absolute configurations of 1 and 2 were determined by a combination of the modified Mosher's method and Marfey's method. Although the modified Mosher's method was successfully applied to the methanolysis product of 1, this method gave an ambiguous result at C-20 when applied to the methanolysis product of 2, even after oxidative cleavage of the C-14 and C-15 bond.


The last years have seen a rise of interest in using electroencephalography-based brain computer interfacing methodology for investigating non-medical questions, beyond the purpose of communication and control. One of these novel applications is to examine how signal quality is being processed neurally, which is of particular interest for industry, besides providing neuroscientific insights. As for most behavioral experiments in the neurosciences, the assessment of a given stimulus by a subject is required. Based on an EEG study on speech quality of phonemes, we will first discuss the information contained in the neural correlate of this judgement. Typically, this is done by analyzing the data along behavioral responses/labels. However, participants in such complex experiments often guess at the threshold of perception. This leads to labels that are only partly correct, and oftentimes random, which is a problematic scenario for using supervised learning. Therefore, we propose a novel supervised-unsupervised learning scheme, which aims to differentiate true labels from random ones in a data-driven way. We show that this approach provides a more crisp view of the brain states that experimenters are looking for, besides discovering additional brain states to which the classical analysis is blind.


Increased logistics outsourcing and importance of supply chain integration (SCI) have attracted our interest in studying how logistics service providers (LSPs) are viewed as contributors to SCI and to their clients′ performance. On the basis of LSPs′ roles as they emerge from a review of SCI-performance literature and from an analysis of LSP-websites on how they communicate their role(s), we discuss how these results differ from roles as presented in previous literature on third party logistics (TPL). Some surprising conclusions are drawn. Few SCI articles take LSPs into consideration. From the websites, we find LSPs vary in how they communicate about the role they play in the SCI. The roles emerging from these two analyses are quite convergent. In comparison with roles identified in TPL literature, greater differences were identified. This paper contributes to existing body of knowledge by 1) questioning and analysing roles LSPs play in SCI; 2) developing different dimensions of LSPs′ strategies for SCI and, 3) providing an enriched understanding of the SCI phenomenon taking LSPs′ contribution into account, 4) and providing a typology for the roles of LSPs as integrators. Particularly interesting is with whom the LSP should/could be integrated and whether it is the LSP or the shipper who is the integrator. For the purpose of understanding these questions, we suggest further studies on the roles of LSPs based on the resources they possess more than activities they undertake, and to link this new research with relationship theories.


One-dimensional (1D) nanostructures have been identified as the most viable structures for high-performance supercapacitors from the view of high ion-accessible surface area and rapid electron transport path as well as excellent mechanical properties. Herein, we report a "stripping and cutting" strategy to produce 1D carbon nanobelts (CNB) from tofu with irregular structures through a molten salts assisted technique. It is a completely novel and green avenue for constructing 1D carbon materials from biomass, showing large commercial potential. The resultant CNB electrode delivers a high specific capacitance (262 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1) and outstanding cycling stability with capacitance retention up to 102% after 10 000 continuous charging/discharging cycles. Additionally, a CNB//CNB symmetric supercapacitor and CNB//MnO2–CNB asymmetric supercapacitor are assembled and reach energy densities of 18.19 and 29.24 W h kg−1, respectively. Therefore, such a simple, one-pot and low-cost process may have great potential for preparing eco-friendly biomass-derived carbon materials for high-performance supercapacitor electrodes.


In this thesis, the HT-22 mouse hippocampal cell line model, which is characterised by lack of glutamate receptors, was used to elucidate the mechanism of the glutamate- induced cell death mechanism through the glutamate receptor-independent pathway. It is shown that the HT-22 cells die through a form of programmed cell death that shares features of both classical apoptosis and necrosis. Inhibition of the kinase activity of receptor interacting protein 1 (RIP-1) by Necrostatin-1 inhibited glutamate-induced cell death, suggesting that glutamate-induced HT-22 cell death occurred through necroptosis. Glutamate induced an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in HT-22 cells which originated primarily from the mitochondria. Glutamate also caused a dose-dependent decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential which was correlated ROS levels in the cells. Under these conditions of oxidative stress induced by glutamate, mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) occurred through opening of the MPT pores, which in turn lead to collapse and ultimately contributed to glutamate- induced cell death. Cell cycle analysis revealed that cell division in HT-22 cells was intimately linked to the process of cell death. L-glutamate treatment of HT-22 cells did not affect the cell cycle. However, the role of cell cycle in glutamate-induced HT-22 cell death pathway was shown through arresting the cell cycle at specific points. Cell cycle arrest protected the cells from glutamate-induced cell death. Further confirmation that re-entry to the cell cycle is involved in glutamate-induced cell death came from the observation that glutamate only caused cell death once the cycle was allowed to progress by removal of the inhibitory conditions. In conclusion, the work presented in this thesis shows that glutamate-induced oxidative cell injury involves the formation of ROS and mitochondrial damage. However, cell death depends on the ability of the cells to progress through the cell cycle past mitosis.


The search for possible applications in the field of Education, by means of domain specific ontologies on the issues of assessment of learning (assessment) and system (evaluation), has been implemented through the construction, testing and evolution of an integrated learning environment called EduOntoWiki. It is supported by ontological structures related to science education based on active consent of specific communities of practice. It allows selecting and incorporating the ontologies in order to organize learning objects to improve learning process. It is created as a setting in which they had the relevant formal descriptions (coding ontology) and informal (and narrative contextualization of concepts), where the possible intra-and inter-community relations were made explicit and recognized by all participants through specific social software. The last point in particular, has led to our hypothesis: only the transition from a technology-driven model (formal, static) to a community-driven model (dynamic and integrated in an open learning environment) could make really effective and relevant the ontologies that we built in several communities of practice. Therefore, the final goal was the realization of an integrated learning environment attempting the difficult transition from an "ontological-formal" system to an "ontological-relational" one.


Set in the last century against a tropical landscape and the ever-present sea, A High Wind in Jamaica tells the story of a family of English children who, on being sent by their parents back to England from Jamaica, fall into the hands of pirates. As this voyage of innocence continues, the events which unfold begin to take on a savagely detached and haunting quality.


The periorbital sheath serves as a major pathway for sympathetic nerves traveling to distal orbital targets in the rat. This tissue accommodates sympathetic fiber sprouting in the neonate but becomes impassable by postnatal day 30 (PND 30). In contrast, smooth muscle target remains receptive to sympathetic ingrowth. To determine the attributes of receptive and nonreceptive tissues, we compared periorbital pathway and target tissue phenotypes prior to (PND 5 and PND 15) and after (PND 30 and PND 60) the period when pathway receptivity is lost. Both pathway cells and superior tarsal smooth muscle cells expressed alpha-smooth muscle actin and smooth muscle myosin heavy chain throughout development. At PND 5-15, both tissues also expressed vimentin, collagen IV, laminin 1 and laminin beta2, whereas fibronectin was detected only in pathway tissue. At PND 30, vimentin, collagen IV, and fibronectin were absent in tarsal muscle but were robust in pathway tissue. Laminin 1 and laminin beta2 expression was maintained in muscle; however, in pathway cells, laminin 1 declined modestly, and laminin beta2 decreased precipitously to barely detectable levels. Quantitative competitive polymerase chain reaction showed that nerve growth factor mRNA was present in the pathway throughout development at levels that were greater than both surrounding connective tissue and tarsal muscle. We conclude that the loss of pathway receptivity to sympathetic nerve ingrowth is associated with a transition from a phenotype similar to fetal smooth muscle cells to one that is more consistent with myofibroblast-like cells.


NODAL is a morphogen essential for early embryonic development in vertebrates. Since much of our understanding of NODAL comes from model organisms, we aimed to directly assess post-transcriptional regulation of human NODAL with specific attention to a newly discovered human-specific NODAL splice variant. Selective depletion of the NODAL variant in human embryonic stem cells resulted in increased LIFR levels, while total NODAL knockdown resulted in a decrease of several markers of pluripotency. The NODAL variant did not transmit a canonical NODAL signal in zebrafish embryos, but may share some functional capability with canonical NODAL in cancer cells. At the protein level, disruption of disulfide bond formation dramatically enhanced proteolytic processing of NODAL. Disruption of NODAL N-glycosylation decreased its secretion but not extracellular stability, and a novel N-glycosylation in the NODAL variant contributed to enhanced secretion. Collectively, this work offers a direct and precise account of post-transcriptional regulation of human NODAL.


[1] Upslope flows caused by mechanical forcing in strong synoptic winds or by buoyant forcing driven by solar heating under weak synoptic winds can influence the air composition at mountaintop observatories. Using meteorological and trace gas measurements at the PICO-NARE observatory on Pico mountain (Azores Islands, North Atlantic Ocean), the frequency and impact of such orographic flows on a small, volcanic, subtropical island was examined. To determine the origin of mechanically lifted air, upstream kinetic energy was balanced against potential energy gained during uplift (Sheppard's model). Mechanically forced upslope flow is most important during October through April, when the calculated probability of observing marine boundary layer (MBL) air at the observatory near the summit ranges from 35 to 60% per month. In contrast, lower synoptic wind speeds and a more stable lower free troposphere during May–September result in a reduced frequency of MBL impacts (<20%). Buoyant upslope flows (BUF) were quantified through meteorological measurements on the mountain slope in summer 2004. Diurnal cycles of wind direction on the mountain slope consistent with daytime upslope and nighttime downslope flow were found on 24% of the days during late June, July, and August 2004. Buoyant forcing can also occur in the presence of moderate synoptic winds, resulting in enhancement of the mechanically forced upslope flow on the windward side of the mountain. Such conditions were found on 15% of the summer days in 2004. However, on BUF days the specific humidity at the mountaintop was significantly smaller than on the slope, indicating turbulent mixing during ascent or vertical decoupling of air masses. Impacts of BUF or a mixture of buoyant and mechanical upslope flow on O3 or nitrogen oxides mixing ratios at the mountaintop station were rare or extremely small, and no significant diurnal cycle of O3 (expected if daytime BUF of MBL air occurred regularly) was present. Midday increases in isoprene concentrations, a nonmethane hydrocarbon (NMHC) expected to be emitted from vegetation more than 700 m below the PICO-NARE station, were found on 54% of the days during May–August 2005. No corresponding increase in n-butane (used for heating and cooking at sea level residences) was detected, suggesting that the air did not originate from as low as sea level. These results indicate that the latitude, size, and topography of Pico island combine to prevent frequent transport of MBL air to the PICO-NARE station in the summer.


The article deals with the ecclesiological challenges that rose after the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church in Crete (June 2016) following the encounter between East and West, as far as the orthodox-catholic dialogue is concerned. The conciliar restrictive formulations (included in the document Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World) concerning the denomination of other Churches caused negative reactions from the roman-catholic side, which questioned the future of the dialogue with the Orthodox Church. From that perspective, this study analyses the above-mentioned document and some other documents of the Council in Crete and sketches future perspectives on the orthodox-catholic dialogue. The main thesis of the present study is that, considering the ecclesiological debates that were held in Crete and afterwards, it becomes obvious that the theological orthodox-catholic dialogue needs a restart, arising from the spirit of the beginnings (the so called plan for dialogue adopted in Patmos/Rhodes, 1980). Some of the premises for this restart should be: the liberation of church-political strategies, the emphasis of the spiritual relevance and responsibility of the inter-Christian dialogue and a deeper consideration and implementation of the theological results of the different regional or unofficial dialogue groups. The study finalizes with concrete proposals of alternative themes of reflection for overcoming the aporias that the official theological dialogue is dealing with.


Cortical blindness is, thankfully, a rarely encountered complication of coronary angiography. We present the case of a 72-year-old Caucasian gentleman in whom bilateral visual loss occurred abruptly after exposure to contrast during diagnostic coronary angiography. Areas of acute cerebral infarction were not appreciated at initial cranial computed tomography. Leakage of contrast medium into the occipital cortices was similarly absent. The patient recovered vision within 24 hours. Given the frequency with which coronary angiography is performed worldwide, an awareness of the causes of cortical blindness following the same is important. Although already well elaborated in the literature related to both cardiology and radiology, there are few reports in the general medical or ophthalmology literature that describe transient cortical blindness after coronary angiography and detail contrast-associated visual loss. J Med Cases. 2016;7(9):379-383 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/jmc2591w


Using one-range addition theorems for Slater type orbitals (STOs) and Coulomb-Yukawa like correlated interaction potentials (CIPs) introduced by the author, the series expansion formulae are derived for the multicenter multielectron integrals. The expansion coefficients occurring in these relations are presented through the overlap integrals of two STOs. The convergence of series expansion relations is tested by calculating concrete cases. The accuracy of the results is quite high for quantum number, screening constants and location of orbitals. The final results are especially useful in the calculation of multielectron properties for atoms and molecules when Hartree-Fock-Roothaan (HFR) and explicitly correlated methods are employed.


The objective of the current study is to develop a simple, sensitive ultraviolet absorption spectrophotometric method for the estimation of poorly water soluble drugs like Cefixime, norfloxacin, tinidazole, and metronidazole in pharmaceutical formulations and to evaluate the increased solubility of cefixime in the prepared formulation. Aqueous solubilities of these selected model drugs were enhanced to a great extent (5 to 98 fold) in distilled water, SGF and SIF along with 0.2 M phosphate buffer. The various hydrotropic agents that can be used include ammonium acetate (6M), Potassium acetate (5M),Potassium citrate (0.5 M), Sodium citrate (1.25 M) , Urea (8M). 2.0 M sodium benzoate, and the most affordable and safe solubilizing agent that has been used here ie. Sodium lauryl sulphate. The primary objective of the present investigation is to employ this solubilising agent to extract and dissolve the drugs from their dosage forms, precluding the use of costlier organic solvents. The selected λmax for Cefixime is 288 nm and Sodium lauryl sulphate did not show any absorbance at 288 nm, and therefore, no interference in the estimation is seen. The results of analysis have been validated statistically, and by recovery studies. The proposed method is new, simple, economic, accurate, safe and precise. Increasing the aqueous solubility of insoluble and slightly soluble drugs, is of major importance. Various organic solvents like methanol, chloroform, alcohol, dimethyl formamide, and benzene have been employed for the solubilization of poorly water soluble drugs for spectrophotometric estimations. Drawbacks of organic solvents include higher cost, toxicity, pollution, and error, in analysis due to volatility. In the preliminary solubility studies, it was found that there was considerable enhancement in the aqueous solubilities .