Purpose. The current study addresses the issue of discontent at a personal and policy level with higher education and its funding, and its relation to tax compliance among a graduate population. It examines the thesis that discontent with the provision and funding of higher education plays a significant role in lowering tax compliance through the mediational role of shame management and dissociation from authority.

Method. Data are taken from the graduates' hopes, visions, and actions survey based on a sample of 447 Australian graduates who recently received their tertiary degrees.

Results.  Path analysis provides support for the central thesis but also shows additional direct links between (1) dissatisfaction (with university studies) and tax evasion, and (2) having an income-contingent university debt to repay and tax evasion.

Conclusions. This study demonstrates the ways in which the legitimacy of the tax system and the legitimacy of higher education policy are interconnected. Criticisms of government departments acting in tunnel-visioned ways with regard to the consequences of their actions are magnified in light of the findings of this paper. People take out their frustrations with one part of the government system (higher education funding and service provision) on other parts of the government system (taxation). Communication between these different parts is imperative for effective policy development and implementation.


Pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed at an advanced stage and has a poor prognosis. The 5-year survival rate is less than 5% with most patients dying within one year. Therefore, more effective approaches to treat advanced pancreatic cancer and chemopreventive strategies are in urgent need. Recent reports of early dissemination in pancreatic cancer stress the need for early intervention. Activating mutations of the Kras oncogene are one of the most common genetic abnormalities in pancreatic cancer, present in ~90%–95% of cases. In addition to its role in cancer progression, mutations of the Kras gene are one of the earliest genetic abnormalities observed in pancreatic cancer, supporting its role as an initiating event for pancreatic cancer formation. Therefore, mutant Kras gene or its gene product represents an obvious target for the prevention of pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, direct inhibition of Kras or its downstream effectors has been largely ineffective in treating pancreatic cancer in clinical trials. We recently proposed a new cancer chemoprevention approach SITEP (short-term intermittent therapy to eliminate premalignancy) to target the "drivers" of tumorigenesis to overcome the challenges in cancer chemoprevention. We demonstrated that a two-drug combination of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and a small molecule mimic of the mitochondrial protein Smac /DIABLO (Smac), through a synthetic lethal interaction, specifically targets mutant Kras expressing premalignant cells for apoptosis without harming normal cells. We further showed that short-term, intermittent in vivo treatment with TRAIL and Smac mimic induced apoptosis in tumor cells and reduced tumor burden in a murine model of Kras-induced lung cancer. In this study, we examined whether targeting Kras mutant cells for apoptosis in pancreatic precursor lesions (e.g., PanINs) by TRAIL and Smac mimic would be an effective approach for pancreatic cancer chemoprevention. We showed that constitutive expression of mutant Kras led to the activation of downstream signaling events in the immortalized human pancreatic normal epithelial (HPNE) cells, including phosphorylation of ERK and AKT. Control cells are resistant to either TRAIL, or Smac mimic, or TRAIL and Smac mimic combination. The expression of Kras mutant sensitized HPNE cells to the combination of TRAIL and Smac mimic. Short term treatment of Pdx1-Cre, LSL-KrasG12D mice showed that TRAIL and Smac mimic induced significant apoptosis in abnormal pancreatic ductal cells and reduced number of PanINs. Similar short-term and intermittent treatment studies are ongoing in Pdx1-Cre, LSL-KrasG12D, LSL-p53 mouse model. We conclude that targeting oncogenic Kras signaling pathways in precursor lesions by TRAIL and Smac mimic may prove useful in developing chemoprevention against pancreatic cancer. Citation Format: Oksana Zagorodna, Huamin Wang, Xiangwei Wu. Chemoprevention of pancreatic cancer by targeting Kras mutations for apoptosis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2014 Sep 27-Oct 1; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2015;8(10 Suppl): Abstract nr B55.


The air compressing efficiency and heat conductance of aero-engine is markedly influenced by the surface micro-morphology and surface roughness of the impeller and blades, which will further affect the thrust weight ratio of plane. To achieve low flow losses, the roughness values of the impeller and blade surface must be below certain limits. Some polishing techniques as final finishing process of the impeller and blades are reviewed and their recent developments are shown in the paper. Further more a new kind of point-by-point NC polishing principle for aero-engine impeller surface, in which surface roughness will gradually change from the inlet to the outlet, are presented.


A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Plant Biology and Biodiversity Management
Presented in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Plant Biology and Biodiversity Management


Abstract
The use of wikis to support collaborative writing activities has captured the attention of second/foreign language researchers (SL/FL). The majority of studies to date have found evidence of positive collaborative behaviours, however some studies have reported inactive and unequal participation, individual ownership of the text, and minimal evidence of collaborative dialogue. Although the important role of the teacher has been reported in contexts such as face- to-face (FTF) and other online contexts, few studies have explored the effect of teachers' online interventions on student-student (S-S) interaction in the wiki context. Therefore, this thesis fills this gap by exploring teachers' interventional behaviours, and in particular, how they affect S-S wiki collaboration. A qualitative multiple case study design was conducted with 3 EFL teachers and their students (aged 17-18 years) at two Kuwaiti government high schools. Data were collected over a period of 13 weeks. The online discussion that occurred between students via the wiki threaded mode and their writing behaviours, as shown in the edits history were analysed and triangulated with the interview data. Unlike previous research, this study brings together the analysis of the wiki threaded discussion and editing behaviours to understand the process of collaboration.
Qualitative Computer Mediated Discourse Analysis (CMDA) suggests that the teachers played an effective role in shaping the way the students interacted. An examination of the teachers' interventional behaviours suggests that some interventional behaviours promoted S-S collaboration and some hindered it. Behaviours such as establishing a wiki culture of collaboration, reinforcing a sense of wiki community, asking students to engage mutually, being a co-learner and modelling editing behaviour, all seem to promote collaboration. Conversely, direct teacher edits, immediate responses, using an authoritative tone, and asking inactive students to participate may promote participation but not necessarily collaboration. The interview data also suggested that sociocultural issues, such as teachers' superiority, questionable peer feedback, and individual text-ownership hindered collaboration.
Therefore, this thesis argues that even in an online student-centred context such as a wiki, the role of the teacher is critical. Teachers who adopt a non-authoritative and collaborative-orientated intervention are much more effective in promoting S-S collaboration than those who are authoritative and intervene in a non-collaborative way. There is therefore a need for teacher training that raises teachers' awareness of effective pedagogy regarding the use of wikis.


We show that $C^\infty$ surface diffeomorphisms with positive topological entropy have at most finitely many ergodic measures of maximal entropy in general, and at most one in the topologically transitive case. This answers a question of Newhouse, who proved that such measures always exist. To do this we generalize Smale's spectral decomposition theorem to non-uniformly hyperbolic surface diffeomorphisms, we introduce homoclinic classes of measures, and we study their properties using codings by irreducible countable state Markov shifts.


This article proposes that media representations of an occupational category may intersect with organizations' efforts to construct a positive organizational identity and image. We fuse three streams of literature namely, organizational identity and image, media and the social construction of reality, and dirty work to extend extant literature on organizational identity and image. Attention is drawn to occupational image as the position of an occupational category in society. We contend that occupational image is likely to influence the decisions and actions taken by organizations and its members, in particular when the occupation is central to the organization's mission. Occupational image is partly informed by the media. We analyse one year of media coverage of a dirty work occupation, specifically exotic dancing, and identify various ways in which the media portrays the exotic dancing occupation and the organizations providing these services. We focus upon two of these categories, namely Public (dis) Order and Art and Entertainment. We also draw upon a variety of data from one organization, For Your Eyes Only, to explore how organizational efforts to construct a positive organizational identity (based upon professionalism and legitimacy) and image (based upon fantasy, exclusivity and high quality service) intersect these media representations.


This article draws preliminary lessons from the experience of engaging village elites in support of a BRAC programme for ultra-poor women in rural Bangladesh. It describes the origins, aims, and operation of this programme, which provides comprehensive livelihood support and productive assets to the extreme poor. Based on field research in the rural north-west, the article examines the conditions under which elites can support interventions for the ultra-poor, and the risks and benefits of such engagement. It describes the impact of committees mandated to support ultra-poor programme participants, and attempts to understand the somewhat paradoxical success of this intervention. Conclusions and lessons from the experience involve revisiting assumptions that dominate scholarship and programmes relating to the politics of poverty in rural Bangladesh.


— The advancement of digital technology today has driven innovation in various aspects, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs) related to cybersecurity. The formulation of this problem is how to develop a manpower-based technopreneurship model by looking at the use of technology in empowering innovative resources. This research aims to analyze how to design a power-based technopreneurship formulation model in the era of digital technology. This research analyzed the literature using analytical techniques from journals and related news about energy-based technopreneurship in the digital technology era. This study indicates that power-based technopreneurship in small and medium enterprises is motivated to develop their business to take advantage of the times accompanied by advances in digital technology. This rebuilds the understanding of power-based technopreneurship in the era of digital technology to strengthen the business and potential of existing resources through technological updates that generate economic benefits. This condition shows a reference that contains considerations in the business environment in technological competition, especially in the international field. The results of this study indicate that there are three potential strength-based technopreneurship, namely thread starter, private message, transactions via virtual accounts (internet banking), delivery services, and "UKM Go Digital." The first challenge in strength-based technopreneurship is cybersecurity with solutions, namely mapping threats, strengthening laws, and maintaining good coordination between institutions. The second challenge is a global competition with solutions, creating innovations, adopting products by local companies, and making policies according to the government's competitive environment.


Labor standards with transnational application may be modeled as agreements among developing countries to overcome collective action problems, although this has not previously been done. Specifically, many labor standards arise in Stag Hunt games, in which there is a Pareto-optimal solution if, but only if, no player defects. Examples include bans on child labor or noxious work practices. It is not in any nation's interest to rely on child labor or poisonous work practices, and they play no role in optimum development strategies, but the country that defected from a ban on these practices might anticipate particular streams of trade or foreign direct investment, gains that we model as short-term. The model, in light of the behavioral literature on Stag Hunt games, has implications for the number of countries that can be bound by a labor standard, institutional aspects of labor standard formulation, subject matter of labor standards, and sanctions. There is thus no conflict between transnational labor standards, and the theory of comparative advantage, since countries adopt only labor standards that are in their interest.


Abstract This paper investigates the effect of different discretization schemes for observability analysis of distributed parameter models. While it is common knowledge that approximating an infinite-dimensional model can introduce non-physical numerical diffusion or numerical oscillation in the dynamics of finite dimensional approximation of the distributed parameter system, less attention has been paid to the effect that these approximations have on conclusions drawn about observability and controllability of the system. This paper addresses this point and presents a detailed analysis of results obtained for three approximation schemes for first-order hyperbolic partial differential equations (PDEs). The different, and sometimes misleading, conclusions that can be drawn for the three approximation schemes are discussed in detail and the analysis is illustrated with a numerical example. The case study illustrates the point that a model which may approximate the dynamic behavior of the distributed system accurately may not necessarily correctly reflect observability of the original distributed system.


Many scholars have developed a lot of flexible modules used on Hydraulic press, but to reduce costs such as the producing cost and the transportation cost, the above modules, formed through continuation, should be optimized before put into the module library. This paper introduces a method which optimizes the continuation body of type YH30 by means of LSRM. And the contrast shows the new nodule has a well effect on optimizing structure and reducing costs and materials.


Current design codes and criteria for the construction of infrastructure assets is unable to account for anticipated environmental changes due to climate change. This study developed a simple simulation model based on MS Excel Precision Tree to consider the effects of adding a correction factor for climate change to justify then intent to proceed or not with a construction project. After many iterations, it appears that climate change can result abandoning certain projects as any investment in them would to be beneficial.

A simulation model was also developed to determine the allocation of funds for an initial construction project using climate change control parameters. This model showed that for a 100-year span, on average, there would be a deficit caused by costs involved with repairing the asset due to climate change deterioration. This can be counteracted by attributing 95% contingency to reduce the risk of climate change damage to 5%.


The Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection, main etiolgy of chronic gastritis, duodenal ulcer and gastric adenocarcinoma, has been object of very controversial studies conducted by many researchers on its role in the development of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) that is favored by infection according to some authors, and that provokes it according to others. The manometric findings reported include hypertony of the EEI with spontenous temporary relaxations (STREI) and severe accompanying motor disorders (MD) up to all the contrary. This paper intends to show the existence of specific manometric disorders in Hp positive patients compared with Hp negative patients. Endoscopy (esophagitis in 20 Hp positive and 12 Hp negative),manometry, and esophageal Ph-metry (to a subgroup) were performed in 76 patients with no treatment of both sexes aged ^x = 46.3, 48, with positive urease test and 28 with negative test. Pr was significantly elevated in the Hp+, x = 41mm (vs. 14,5 mmHg) (p < 0.02); 63 % were hypetonic and 37 % normotonic, with a high incidence of STREI (75 %) (p < 0.02) and a marked sphincteral asymmetry (77 %) (p < 0.02). The MD were from moderate to severe in 89 % (p < 0.05). In the Hp negative group, the EEI showed normal-low pressure: x^=17.3 mmHg (39.3 % hypertonic and 61 % normotonic). The STREI just in 25 % and the normal assymetry in 75 %. It was found a predominance of the mild to moderate MD, accounting for 61.2 %. It was concluded that the Hp positive patients presented significant manometric alterations, with hypertonic EEI, incompetent for the STREI and for being totally asymmetric, characteristics that favor the GER and with more severe motor disorders than the non-infected H. pylori patients.


The majority of tourism research explores the images represented visually, as the visual plays a vital part in the production and performance of tourism services. Less attention is paid to the text in this context, although it also has a strong visual element expressed in words. The language, which represents tourism, has a central connection with tourists" attitudes that deserves to be included in the research. Tourism is a service industry and its products are not easily tested. Customers are dependent on the marketing activities for constructing the images of these services. This article explores the use of figurative language, specifically metaphors and puns and its contribution to the communication of tourism images. Relevance Theory, a pragmatic approach helps to understand how puns and metaphors are interpreted. Figures of speech enhance representation of tourism services visually and help to attract the attention to the presented services. According to Relevance Theory, to ensure successful use of figures of speech, more anchoring is required in the text. This will help consumers shape tourism images. The article attempts to provide preliminary outcomes, which would further assist the research in similar areas of language use.


BACKGROUND
This study evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of a home-based exercise intervention using the Wii Fit Plus®.

METHODS
A randomized, controlled trial of 24 women (age 53.6 [5.4] y) was used to assess compliance and changes in balance over 12 weeks. Balance was measured via the Berg Balance Scale and Frailty and Injuries: Cooperative Studies of Intervention Techniques-4 Scale at baseline and week 6 and week 12. Participant compliance to the intervention was captured via paper logs and the electronic record collected by the Wii Fit Plus®.

RESULTS
Participants in the intervention group were 95% compliant based on electronic records. There were no significant differences between groups for total score on either balance scale. There was a significant group × time interaction in favor of the intervention for maximum velocity y (P < .05), average velocity (P < .05), and was trending for maximum velocity x (P = .05) in the tandem step, eyes closed position.

CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that the Wii Fit Plus® is appropriate for home-based interventions in middle-aged women. Modest improvements in balance indicate that this may be an effective means to improve or maintain balance in older women. More research is needed to determine compliance and benefits to reducing fall risk in durations exceeding 12 weeks.


Cutaneous leishmaniasis poses a therapeutic challenge in the paediatric population. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of miltefosine treatment for Old World cutaneous leishmaniasis in paediatric patients. A multicentre retrospective review of 10 children (≤18 years of age) with cutaneous leishmaniasis treated with miltefosine in Israel was performed. Mean ± standard deviation age at diagnosis was 9.1 ± 5.0 years. The Leishmania species diagnosed was L. tropica in 8 cases and Leishmania major in 2 cases. Mean ± standard deviation duration of treatment was 44.8 ± 20.6 days, with a mean follow-up period of 12.1 ± 17.1 months. Complete response was noted in 8 (80%) patients. Treatment failure was noted in 2 (20%) cases. Side-effects related to the medication were minimal. In conclusion, oral miltefosine may be an effective and safe treatment for Old World cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania tropica or Leishmania major in children. However, further studies are warranted to draw a definite conclusion.


This Thesis is restricted indefinitely. A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy at Loughborough University.


Quantile–quantile plots, or qqplots, are an important visual tool for many applications but their interpretation requires some care and often more experience. This apparent subjectivity is unnecessary. By drawing on the computational and display facilities now widely available, qqplots are easily enriched to help with their interpretation. An overview of quantile functions and quantile–quantile plots is presented against the backdrop of their early historical development. Strengths and shortcomings of the traditional display are described. A new enhanced qqplot, the self-calibrating qqplot, is introduced and demonstrated on a variety of examples—both synthetic and real. Real examples include normal qqplots, log-normal plots, half-normal plots for factorial experiments, qqplots for and s in process improvement applications, detection of multivariate outliers, and the comparison of empirical distributions. Self-calibration is had by visually incorporating sampling variation in the qqplot display in a variety of ways. The new qqplot is available through the function and R package qqtest. [Received December 2014. Revised August 2015.]


The study of emigre Highlanders, their language and their culture, this far, has been largely focused on the thousands of emigrants who settled in North America, particularly Canada, from the later decades of the eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century, and to a lesser degree on those who emigrated to Australia in the middle decades of the nineteenth century. The emigration of Gaelic-speakers, whether temporary or permanent, to other destinations, such as the West Indies, has however been almost entirely overlooked, in part due to the relative paucity of Gaelic sources relating to them, but also due to the relatively small number of emigrants involved as compared with mass emigrations to the aforementioned countries. This article draws on some of the limited evidence available which is specific to Gaels and the West Indies in the period c.1750–1830, examining both perceptions of the islands in Gaelic literature and the way in which subscribing to Gaelic books published in Scotland offered Gaels in the West Indies a tangible opportunity to retain links with their native culture. It is argued that the Gaelic books enabled this culturally distinct group of emigrants to re-affirm their identity as Gaels while simultaneously making an important financial contribution to Gaelic publishing.


Abstract. One of the most popular and widely consumed drinks in the world is beer, also one of the oldest in the human mankind. The consummation of the drink has deep historical roots and there are many traditions, especially in Europe such as beer festivals, beer-oriented tourism, and beer drinking games. Although beer is extremely popular in human society, it actually can act as a pesticide - more specifically as a molluscicide approved by the European Commission as a basic substance in 2017 to be used as a molluscicide in traps. In this study the insecticidal effects of popular brands of light beer type "lager" in Bulgaria: "Pirinsko Svetlo", "Zagorka", "Astika" and "Kamenitza" with alcohol content: 4.3% (v/v), 5% (v/v), 4.5% (v/v) and 4.4% (v/v) were investigated towards different aphid species. The beer was tested in the original form and with dilution with water: 90%, 80%, 70%, 50%, etc. The conducted trials prove that beer without any dilution can be 100% effective against aphid species: Aphis rosae, Aphis pomi, Myzus cerasi, Aphis nerii, Aphis gossypii. Mortality rate after 24 hours was 100% for all aphid species and all used in the tests beer trade marks were able to achieve this. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) between results received from tests with different aphid species and from different beer trademarks. In this aspect, the cheapest beer available on the local market can provide a safe, low cost, environmental and effective way of pest management in the small gardens, urban agriculture or plants in public spaces like airports, stations, offices, etc.


Abstract. Stratospheric sulfur injections have often been suggested as a cost-effective geoengineering method to prevent or slow down global warming. In geoengineering studies, these injections are commonly targeted to the Equator, where the yearly mean intensity of the solar radiation is the highest and from where the aerosols disperse globally due to the Brewer–Dobson Circulation. However, compensating for greenhouse gas-induced zonal warming by reducing solar radiation would require a relatively larger radiative forcing to the mid- and high latitudes and a lower forcing to the low latitudes than what is achieved by continuous equatorial injections. In this study we employ alternative aerosol injection scenarios to investigate if the resulting radiative forcing can be targeted to be zonally more uniform without decreasing the global the mean radiative forcing of stratospheric sulfur geoengineering. We used a global aerosol–climate model together with an Earth system model to study the radiative and climate effects of stratospheric sulfur injection scenarios with different injection areas. According to our simulations, varying the SO2 injection area seasonally would result in a similar global mean cooling effect as injecting SO2 to the Equator, but with a more uniform zonal distribution of shortwave radiative forcing. Compared to the case of equatorial injections, in the seasonally varying injection scenario where the maximum sulfur production from injected SO2 followed the maximum of solar radiation, the shortwave radiative forcing decreased by 27 % over the Equator (the latitudes between 20° N and 20° S) and increased by 15 % over higher latitudes. Compared to the continuous injections to the Equator, in summer months the radiative forcing was increased by 17 and 14 % and in winter months decreased by 14 and 16 % in Northern and Southern hemispheres, respectively. However, these forcings do not translate into as large changes in temperatures. The changes in forcing would only lead to 0.05 K warmer winters and 0.05 K cooler summers in the Northern Hemisphere, which is roughly 3 % of the cooling resulting from solar radiation management scenarios studied here.


Low-dose insemination has been proposed to reduce persistent breeding-induced endometritis (PBIE) in mares with delayed uterine clearance (DUC). Others proposed that hysteroscopic insemination induces an exaggerated inflammatory response and should be avoided in DUC mares. The objectives here were to evaluate presence and severity of PBIE in normal and DUC mares after hysteroscopic insemination with fresh semen, and to determine if hysteroscopy could be used in DUC mares without inducing excessive inflammation. Reproductively normal (n = 4) and DUC (n = 5) mares received four treatments in random order: uterine body insemination (UB, 1 × 10(9) spermatozoa, 20 ml), hysteroscopic insemination (HYST, 5 × 10(6) spermatozoa, 0.5 ml), sham hysteroscopic insemination (SHAM, semen extender, 0.5 ml) and hysteroscopic infusion of seminal plasma (SP, 0.5 ml). Significantly more DUC (50%) mares than normal (14%) mares accumulated intrauterine fluid 24 h post-treatment. The difference in fluid accumulation between DUC (40%) mares and normal (7%) mares was also significant 48 h post-treatment. Fluid scores were not significantly different between treatments in normal mares. However, treatments HYST and SHAM resulted in significantly higher fluid scores 24 h but not 48 h post-treatment in DUC mares. There was no effect of treatment or mare group on the percentage and total number of neutrophils in uterine fluid 48 h post-treatment. Percentage of neutrophils was correlated with duration of hysteroscopy in normal mares, with procedures lasting ≥ 9 min associated with PBIE. There was no effect of mare group, treatment or duration of hysteroscopy on pregnancy rate. Hysteroscopy induces a transient inflammation that is not more severe than that after conventional artificial insemination, suggesting no contraindication to its use in DUC mares.


BACKGROUND
Accurate dietary intake data are critical to nutrition care planning. Commonly used food record charts (FRC) are paper-based, time consuming, require nutrient analysis estimations, and may provide limited accuracy. The present study aimed to validate Mobile Intake® (MI) (an electronic food intake tool incorporating the five-point visual scale and providing automatic nutrient analysis) for usability and efficacy in quantifying dietary intake in the healthcare setting.

METHODS
Two research stages within two tertiary hospitals included: (1) examining criterion validity and efficiency of dietary intake quantification using FRC and MI compared to the gold standard weighed food record (WFR) in a controlled environment and (2) comparing efficiency and effectiveness of FRC and MI in usual care conditions.

RESULTS
In Stage 1, dietary intake was calculated (n = 90) with a significant difference across all methods (FRC, MI and WFR) for energy (p = 0.04), but not between MI and WFR (p = 1.00). The time taken for MI (40 s) was significantly less than FRC (174 s) and WFR (371 s) (p < 001). In Stage 2, dietary intake was determined (n = 210) using FRC and MI. Sufficient data to complete dietary analysis were available for 35% of meals from FRC compared to 98% from MI. Calculated mean daily energy intake (4764 ± 1432 kJ vs. 6636 ± 2519 kJ, p = 0.002) and mean daily protein intake (62.9 ± 12.7 g vs. 78.5 ± 22.2 g, p = 0.007) were significantly lower with FRC compared to MI. Average time to complete MI was 14.4 seconds.

CONCLUSIONS
MI demonstrates efficacy as an accurate measure of dietary intake compared to WFR, as well as usability, providing faster, more accurate and comprehensive real-time intake data in practice than FRC.


Abstract
Silicon Nanoparticles (SiNPs) are non-toxic materials particularly suitable for various biomedical applications. They exhibit unique optical properties for use in bioimaging and diagnostic applications. To exploit these aspects, this thesis explores the synthesis, characterisation and biological activity of SiNPs functionalised by anticancer compounds.
Thiourea-based compounds have been shown to represent one of the most promising classes of anticancer agents due to their strong inhibitory activity against Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR), overexpression of which is observed in common types of cancer cells. Conjugation of thiourea compounds in nanosystems presents one potential approach to target such cells. In this thesis, successful synthesis of novel thiourea-functionalised SiNPs was undertaken and their physiochemical properties were investigated by photoluminescence emission and elemental analysis. In vitro cytotoxicity assay was employed to evaluate the effect of SiNPs. Confocal microscopy images demonstrate SiNP internalisation and flow cytometry data confirms receptor-mediated targeting in cancer cells.
Isothiocyanates (ITCs) can prevent the onset of carcinogenesis and act as chemopreventive compounds. ITC-functionalised SiNPs were synthesised using two different methods, initiated from two different types of SiNPs. The surface chemistry of these particles were characterised and their optical properties examined to assess both synthesis approaches. The samples produced from the precursor Br SiNPs exhibit strong photoluminescence and therefore are suitable for uptake studies. The cytotoxicity of ITC SiNPs was evaluated by MTT and their internalisation confirmed using confocal microscopy and flow cytometry assay.
Synchrotron-based FTIR microspectroscopy was used as a novel approach to investigate ITC SiNP cell internalisation. Spectral comparison between treated and control cells shows the effect of ITCs, leading to an increase both in protein level in the nuclei, and also in the chance of apoptosis, which increases phospholipid contents.
Considering the obtained results, such multifunctional nanosystems have the potential to be applied for further diagnostic and therapeutic applications.


The fiber Bragg grating (FBG) technology is studied based on the current monitoring status of the highway soft ground settlement, for instance, the low degree of automation, the unsatisfied accuracy of the device, the slow data transmission and the greater measurement errors. The limited measuring range and the difficult situations of the soft ground burying and installing of the fiber optic sensor still need to be addressed. This thesis has analyzed the development of the long range optical fiber displacement sensor as well as its burying techniques which are suitable for soft ground settlement monitoring. Both of them have been successfully applied to De Chang Highway D10 subject. The study also shows that the long range optical fiber displacement sensor is able to meet the requirements of the soft ground monitoring. And data can be accurately monitored by means of real-time or on-line continuously. This is of great significance in pushing forward the development of the fiber optical monitoring technology in the field.


single gastroenterologist disagreed with this statement. Conclusion: Getting EoE patients to be diagnosed earlier is critical to future disease outcomes. Earlier diagnosis can lead to prevention of more severe cases that cause significant discomfort to the patient and additional costs to the healthcare system. Efforts to improve diagnosis rates should include techniques that are effective with younger, male patients reluctant to seek healthcare.


A new calculation of the Ecological Footprint (EF) of a water provider addresses limitations in the previous methodology by regionalising a previously national input-output model, and determining the area of disturbance caused by environmental toxicants not considered in the traditional EF model. In a first step, the regional input-output model determines indirect ef fects of water services activities in the form of point sources of pollutants. Accuracy is im proved by hybridisation using "process data" to account for the direct environmental burden of the water service. The accuracy of the input-output model is improved by reconciling data sources; calibrating concordance tables and employing optimisation techniques to deal with conflicting data sources. The second step involves a nested fate model, which follows the fate of the point source emissions at several spatial scales. The final output provides an indication of the direct and indirect burden connected with the water business, throughout its entire upstream supply chains. This proposed EF methodology improves on previous EF methodologies by avoiding exclusive reliance on national average data, and by including toxicants in a disturbance-based calculation analogous to the established inclusion of green house gases in EF, making it more comprehensive. It is hoped that the additional detail and comprehensiveness will make the new method a more effective environmental reporting and communications tool for the Australian water industry. This generic approach to environ mental reporting may potentially be applied to other economic activities.


Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis is a severe disorder characterised clinically by seizures, autonomic instability, and severe disturbances of memory, behaviour, and cognition. Due to the severity of symptoms, many patients are admitted to the intensive care unit. For some patients, the presence of various movement disorders and abnormal autonomic signs, as well as a history of seizures, lead to a false impression of status epilepticus, which is reported in 6% of the cases. Here, we present two young female patients, one of whom had ovarian teratoma. Both patients were referred to our neurological intensive care unit with a diagnosis of status epilepticus. However, prolonged video-EEG findings were compatible with encephalopathy. We avoided aggressive treatment with intravenous anaesthetics and both patients recovered after immunotherapy, one of whom received surgery. Physicians should be cautious in interpreting abnormal movements and autonomic signs in such patients and video-EEG monitoring is advised when status epilepticus is suspected.


In the context of globalisation, the internationalisation of social movements
has become a focus of research and theorisation. In particular there is a
suggestion that new forms of internationalisation have emerged in response to
globalised economic and technological developments. The movement of
survivors of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster has been cited as a "new/old breed of
transnational social movement" whose internationalisation has been
facilitated by the anti-toxics movement. Here it is argued that the dynamics of
this movement are more complex than has been recounted, and that
association with the international anti-toxics movement should be regarded as
one form amongst several, of generalisation from the experience of local
campaigning. By focusing on the divisions within the movement, the diversity
of generalisations may be more properly understood. Raymond Williams'
conception of militant particularism, as expounded by David Harvey, is a
useful theoretical tool for interpreting the various forms of abstraction which
the movement has developed. It is argued that not only does this approach
provide a more nuanced understanding of the dynamics of this and potentially
other social movements, it is also valuable for movement activists to make
sense of otherwise negative experiences of division, and thereby reduce the risk
of such divisions being exploited.


This paper presents a finite element model of an overhead transmission line using so called cable elements which allow reproducing the cable's nonlinear characteristics accurately employing only a few elements. Aerodynamic damping is considered in the equation of motion by taking into account the relative velocity between the flow of the wind and the moving structure. The wind flow itself is simulated by wave superposition making necessary assumptions on the lateral correlation between the wind velocities along the cable length. As result from the simulation, the following conclusions can be drawn. The first natural frequency of generally used wide spanning cables lies well below 1 Hz where also most of the energy content of the wind excitation is to be expected. Aerodynamic damping is significant for the moving cables holding very low structural damping which leads to a suppression of resonant amplification. This is particularly of interest regarding the support reaction which is dominated by the mean value and the so called background response. The latter is mostly influenced by the randomness of the wind flow, especially lateral to the main wind direction.


Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This paper examines the social practice of customer-to-customer value co-creation in tourism contexts by considering visitor–visitor interactions, their manifestations, influential factors, and types of resulting value using extended social situation analysis. On the basis of 76 qualitative in-depth interviews, results show that value co-creation is not necessarily dependent upon the underlying social interactions but predominantly influenced by personal factors and attitudes towards sociability. The stronger the focus on other social actors is and the longer and more personal the social interactions are, the more complex and multilayered is the co-created perceived value.


Abstract. The Order Spiriferinida spanning the latest Ordovician to Early Jurassic is a small group of brachiopods overshadowed by other taxon-rich clades during the Paleozoic. It diversified significantly after the end-Permian extinction and became one of the four major clades of Triassic brachiopods. However, the phylogeny and recovery dynamics of this clade during the Triassic still remain unknown. Here, we present a higher-level parsimony-based phylogenetic analysis of Mesozoic spiriferinids to reveal their evolutionary relationships. Ecologically related characters are analyzed to indicate the variances in ecomorphospace occupation and disparity of spiriferinids through the Permian–Triassic (P-Tr) transition. For comparison with potential competitors of the spiriferinids, the pre-extinction spiriferids are also included in the analysis. Phylogenetic trees demonstrate that about half of the Mesozoic families appeared during the Anisian, indicating the greatest phylogenetic diversification at that time. Triassic spiriferinids reoccupied a large part of the ecomorphospace released by its competitor spiriferids during the end-Permian extinction; they also fully exploited the cyrtiniform region and developed novel lifestyles. Ecomorphologic disparity of the spiriferinids dropped greatly in the Early Triassic, but it rebounded rapidly and reached the level attained by the pre-extinction spiriferids in the Late Triassic. The replacement in ecomorphospace occupation between spiriferids and spiriferinids during the P-Tr transition clearly indicates that the empty ecomorphospace released by the extinction of Permian spiriferids was one of the important drivers for the diversification of the Triassic spiriferinids. The Spiriferinida took over the empty ecomorphospace and had the opportunity to flourish.


Despite increasing family studies research on same-sex cohabiters and families, the literature is virtually devoid of transgender and transsexual families. To bridge this gap, I present qualitative research narratives on household labor and emotion work from 50 women partners of transgender and transsexual men. Contrary to much literature on "same-sex" couples, the division of household labor and emotion work within these contemporary families cannot simply be described as egalitarian. Further, although the forms of emotion work and "gender strategies," "family myths," and "accounts" with which womenpartners of trans men engage resonate with those from women in (non-trans) heterosexual and lesbian couples, they are also distinct, highlighting tensions among personal agency, politics, and structural inequalities in family life. Key Words: bisexual, cohabitation, emotion work, families and work, family diversity, family structure, gay, housework/division of labor, lesbian, method, qualitative research, transgender, unpaid family work. In 2002, a Special Status Committee convened by the Council of the American Sociological Association remarked on the discipline's "deafening silence" regarding scholarship on transgender issues and lives. Since this time, published scholarship on transgender and transsexual individuals has slowly become more common (e.g., Dozier, 2005; Girschick, 2008; Hines, 2006; Rubin, 2004; Schilt, 2006; Shapiro, 2004). As focus on transgender and transsexual individuals emerges in sociology, partners of transgender and transsexual individuals have not yet appeared as intelligible subjects within published sociological research. To begin addressing this silence, I present research on the shifting nature of contemporary families and family work - expanding sociological knowledge of (non-trans) heterosexual, lesbian, and gay cohabiters and families to include cohabiters and families comprised of transgender and transsexual men (henceforth referred to as "trans men") and their non-trans women partners (henceforth referred to as "women"). Transgender individuals, communities, populations, and families are quite diverse and nonmonolithic. As such, I chose to focus on constituents from one particular type of trans family configuration or form (women partners of trans men) because my aims and intention were to establish substantive knowledge on a particular population. Women partners of trans men were chosen as the subjects for this study because of their relative absence across the academic, professional, biographical, and autobiographical literatures. Further, this study focused on non-trans women because this group comprises the largest demographic of partners of trans men (Chivers & Bailey, 2000; Devor, 1993; Lewins, 2002). To date, no nationally representative, peerreviewed data source exists on the lifetime prevalence and growth trends of transgenderism and transsexualism. As such, accurately ascertaining the size and growth of these populations remains difficult at best. Nonetheless, a sociological approach to estimating significance and growth of these communities may usefully include consideration of other social parameters such as media representation and visibility. Once confined almost exclusively to sensationalistic portrayals on television talk shows such as Jerry Springer (as chronicled by Gamson, 1 998), trans lives and realities are now receiving more serious media depiction and consideration than ever before. The lives of transgender individuals are depicted in films and documentaries such as Boys Don 't Cry (1999), Normal (2003), Soldier's Girl (2003), Transamerica (2005), and TransGeneration (2005). Over the past 2 years alone, trans individuals and families were featured on three episodes of The Oprah Winfrey Show (air dates on May 15, 2007, October 12, 2007, and April 3, 2008), which reaches an estimated 49 million viewers per week in the United States and is broadcast to 117 countries worldwide (HARPO Studios, 2008). …


For a certain North American and European left, revolution today names more a problem than it does a solution. I claim we no longer believe in revolution because we no longer adopt the perspective from which we see ourselves as revolutionaries, the perspective of the communist party. Absent this political perspective, only capitalism with its permanent crises, innovations, and transformations appears as capable of effecting revolutionary change. Fortunately, the crowds and demonstrations of the last decade suggest that a new party perspective may be emerging. The collective practices and intensities exhibited in current struggles, as well as the limits against which these struggles falter, are renewing the salience of the party question on the left. As people experience their collective power, the desire for something like a party is re-emerging, a party as the organized site of our belief in revolution. In this essay I focus on two, seemingly opposed, approaches to organization and revolution. My argument begins with Georg Lukacs' account of the Leninist innovation: the realization that the core of historical materialism is the actuality of the proletarian revolution. This enables me to draw out the articulation of revolution, proletariat, party, and state central to the event of 1917. The force of this articulation comes from anticipation, the capacity of the future revolution to coordinate the actions that will bring it about. I then turn to our present setting wherein the links between revolution, proletariat, party, and state have dissolved. Here I engage Michael Hardt's and Antonio Negri's discussion in Commonwealth, the third volume of their influential Empire trilogy. For Hardt and Negri, revolution involves biopolitics rather than the state, democracy rather than the party, and identity rather than the proletariat. The problem with their account is that it precludes the temporality that would produce revolutionary practice. Revolution is present as potential, a possibility that flows out of what we are already doing. Hardt and Negri view revolution as a continuation of the practices of biopolitical production and capitalism's own revolutionary innovation. There is no revolutionary break, no negation of some practices, trajectories, and potentials in the forwarding of emancipatory egalitarian aims. Theirs is thus a 'revolution without revolution'. In contrast, the future projected in Lenin's assumption of the actuality of revolution coordinates political action to bring revolution into being. The party anticipates the revolution, materializing the belief that makes revolution possible not just as an outflow or overflow of present possibilities, but as an effect of the negation of some practices, trajectories, and potentials and the forcing of others.


Strategies for the management of cultural heritage resources within a sustainable development concept framework are examined. In line with the 1992 Rio Declaration principles of sustainable development, the paper suggests sustainability principles relating to community participation as more relevant for the field of cultural heritage resource management in Botswana. The article illustrates this relevance by exploring and drawing out production and consumption indicators of cultural heritage resources in both their tangible and intangible composition. It concludes that participation principles of sustainable development are more applicable as a point of departure towards integration of sustainability into cultural heritage resource management as communities are carriers and immediate custodians of cultural resources in Africa. Conservation processes that set limits of acceptable change for resource use are suggested within a modified framework that links community interaction with cultural resources at both social and resource management levels. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.


Current research on culture focuses on independence and interdependence and documents numerous East-West psychological differences, with an increasing emphasis placed on cognitive mediating mechanisms. Lost in this literature is a time-honored idea of culture as a collective process composed of cross-generationally transmitted values and associated behavioral patterns (i.e., practices). A new model of neuro-culture interaction proposed here addresses this conceptual gap by hypothesizing that the brain serves as a crucial site that accumulates effects of cultural experience, insofar as neural connectivity is likely modified through sustained engagement in cultural practices. Thus, culture is "embrained," and moreover, this process requires no cognitive mediation. The model is supported in a review of empirical evidence regarding (a) collective-level factors involved in both production and adoption of cultural values and practices and (b) neural changes that result from engagement in cultural practices. Future directions of research on culture, mind, and the brain are discussed.


The purposes of this study were (1) to determine the effect of the severity of hearing loss on the most comfortable loudness level (MCL) and the loudness discomfort level (LDL), and (2) to assess the efficacy of obtaining maximum intelligibility (PB max) at MCL and/or LDL. One hundred twenty-nine ears were tested from seventy-four elderly subjects having mild to moderate sensorineural hearing losses. The results showed that mean MCLs and LDLs remained fairly constant as spondaic thresholds increased from 5 to 55 dB HTL. The data also exhibited considerable intersubject variability and indicated that MCLs and LDLs could not be closely predicted from threshold. Thus, for most clinical purposes MCL and LDL must be measured directly. This study also indicated that measuring speech intelligibility at MCL approximated PB max (+/- 12 percent) only about two-third of the time. Thus, decisions concerning auditory functioning may frequently be inaccurate if intelligibility is measured only at MCL. Neither can LDL be the single intensity at which speech intelligibility is measured, at least with elderly patients, since one in ten scores did not closely approximate PB max. Consequently, we concur with previous investigators who recommend generating an entire intelligibility function. The present findings also suggest that hearing aid users may not receive optimal benefit if their hearing aid is adjusted to MCL, and that improved intelligibility may be achieved a higher volume control settings. The hearing aid evaluation process should investigate this possibility.


Coastal ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to climate change as the rise in sea level will lead to damage of infrastructure, degradations of agricultural areas, contamination of surface and groundwater and loss of biodiversity; which covers a wide range of negative impacts to various socio-economic sectors. Preliminary findings indicate that Kuala Selangor, which hosts several groundwater aquifers and serves as a significant "rice bowl" for the nation is susceptible to groundwater salinization and other impacts of sea level rise. A comprehensive assessment is required to evaluate the potential impacts of sea level rise in the area so that appropriate adaptation measures can be identified and implemented to ensure sustainable socio-economic development.


The objective of this study is to analyze the least cost subsea pipeline route using GIS. A past
project has been adopted in this research. The GIS-generated pipeline route is compared with
the existing pipeline route designed using contemporary method. The subsea pipelines are used
for hydrocarbon transportation from offshore platform to onshore plant. Criteria considered in
least cost path are cost, pipeline routing criteria, installation method, safety and maintenance
aspects. Factors affecting pipeline routing include bathymetry, submarine geographical features
such as seabed conditions and slopes, obstructions such as coral reefs, wildlife preservation
areas, as well as availability of existing services such as pipelines and platforms. Spatial
Analyst extension in GIS is used to analyze all these factors through three basic steps and
produce the best pipeline route through cost-weighted distance function. First step involves
developing discrete cost surfaces in raster datasets from routing criteria datasets. Second step
involves combining and weighing all discrete surfaces to create an accumulated cost surface.
Third step involves developing least cost path between the source and destination along the
accumulated cost surface. The result generated has shown similar alignment with the existing
route. The GIS-generated route is 0.09km longer than the existing route. Although longer in
length, the least cost route crosses less steep areas at length of three times more than the
existing route. It crosses prawns' areas at 4% less than existing route as well. Therefore, the
least cost path reduces the construction cost and increases the ease of construction as compared
to the existing route. Hence, GIS-generated route satisfies the criteria of economical, least
obstructions, safe and ease of construction in producing subsea pipeline route. Comparison
between GIS method and contemporary pipeline routing method highlighted unique benefits of
GIS that proved its feasibility in pipeline routing improvisation.


In the first edition of Sociology of the Global System, Leslie Sklair argued that social scientists have not yet generally come to regard the whole world as a legitimate object of knowledge. He challenged this practice by establishing the conceptual viability of the global system and by presenting sociological propositions about how it works, and why it works in the ways that it does. In this second edition, Sklair updates his important research with substantial new material relating to intemational corporations, global environmentalism, the socialist Third World, effects of the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, changes in China, and the impact of the Green movement globally. He establishes further evidence that the global system-one based on transnational practices-operates in three spheres: economic, political, and cultural-ideological. In a world largely structured by global capitalism in its various forms, Sklair maintains each of these practices is typically, if not exclusively, characterised by a key institution: the transnational corporation, the transnational capitalist class, and consumerism.


This paper presents a general model for businesses to work with their engineering assessments to challenge fluctuating requirements which is the result of a recently finished research project. The model is presented together with a case study of a company with a product that continuously is and must be adapted to a changing market to be alive at all. The company has developed a streamlined development process that is configured based on current needs from time to time. One keystone to make the mass customization possible to this company is the augmented synthesis and the automated assessment of the product variants rendered through the configured development process. The automated process of making the assessments and how it connects to the general model is also presented in the paper.


Pulsed electric field is an efficient method for cell membrane permeabilization of food tissues with most research being done on fresh plant cells. Freeze/thawing is also known to be capable of cell membrane permeabilization. In this work, frozen/thawed European blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) fruits were treated with pulsed electric field in order to further enhance the cell membrane permeabilization and, hence, the quality of blueberry juice during the subsequent pressing process. Blueberries tissues were exposed to 20 μs monopolar square wave pulses of different electric field strength (E = 1–3–5 kV cm-1) and total specific energy input (WT = 1–5–10 kJ kg -1), with their permeabilization being characterized by electrical impedance measurements and cell disintegration index (Zp). The juice, obtained after pressing (1.32 bar), was characterized for total polyphenols, anthocyanins content and antioxidant activity. The cell disintegration index (Zp) significantly (p < 0.05) increased from 0.2 up to 0.6 with increasing pulsed electric field treatment intensity (E and WT). As a results, in comparison with control, pulsed electric field treatment induced a slightly higher release of polyphenols (up to +8.0%) and anthocyanins (up to +8.3%), thus improving the antioxidant activity of the juice (up to +16.7%). In conclusion, frozen/thawed blueberries could be pulsed electric field treated in order to further increase juice quality.


Natural fibres such as Banana (B), Jute (J) and Kenaf (K) were hybridized in different stacking sequences in vinyl ester. The composites with hybridized fibres were tested to evaluate their tensile, flexural and impact properties. Further, they were also tested for their water absorption and thickness swelling behavior. The hybridization of the fibre mats had an encouraging outcome on the mechanical behavior. The JKBKBJ hybrid composite possessed the maximum tensile strength (34.12 MPa) while maximum stiffness of 1.667 GPa was observed for the KBJJBK hybrid composites. The observations from the flexural testing indicated that the hybrid composites resisted the flexural load for higher displacement. All the hybrid configurations presented better impact strength over the composites reinforced with kenaf and jute fibres. Among the hybrid composites investigated, the KJBBJK hybrid composite displayed highest impact strength (12.32 kJ/m2). The improved strength, stiffness and lower moisture absorption properties make the composites with hybridized fibres a potential candidate for the light weight structural applications.


T here is widespread concern about the global decline in pollinators and the associated loss of pollination services. This concern is understandable given the importance of pollinators for global food security; ~75% of all globally important crops depend to some degree on pollination, and the additional yield due to pollination adds ~9% to the global crop production (1). These services are delivered by a plethora of species, including more than 20,000 species of bees as well as butterflies, flies, and many species of vertebrates (1). Yet, concern has focused on one species above all: the western honey bee (Apis mellifera). This is unfortunate because research shows that managed honey bees can harm wild pollinator species, providing an urgent incentive to change honey bee management practices. The western honey bee is the most important single species for crop pollination, with a rapid global growth in managed colony numbers over the past decades, particularly in much of its introduced range. Honey production can also be an important source of income, particularly in many rural communities. Lack of pollination of commercial crops associated with the current honey bee die-off in some countries—most notably, the United States—is, however, an issue of agricultural rather than environmental importance. Despite this, news stories often view honey bee losses through the lens of environmental concern (2). This has led to initiatives, masked as conservation, that promote honey bees in cities and even in protected areas far from agriculture (see the photo) (3). Nongovernmental organizations have even responded to the pollinator crisis with a call to action that includes suggestions to buy local honey and support honey bee conservation (4, 5). Across organizations and strategies, there is a recognition that there are pollinators other than the western honey bees. Nevertheless, the general belief that addressing the decline in managed honey bees would be an environmental feat persists in the media (2) and among the public (6). This lack of distinction between the declines of wild pollinators and the plight of a heavily managed, agricultural species may even reduce efforts to conserve wild pollinator species, many of which are nationally or even globally threatened (1). Furthermore, there is increasing evidence that unnaturally high densities of honey bees, associated with beekeeping, can exacerbate declines in wild pollinators (7). This problem is particularly evident in areas where western honey bees have been introduced (7); but even in their native range in Europe, managed honey bees have been shown to depress


With dermatologic side effects being fairly prevalent following vaccination against COVID‐19, and the multitude of studies aiming to report and analyze these adverse events, the need for an extensive investigation on previous studies seemed urgent, in order to provide a thorough body of information about these post‐COVID‐19 immunization mucocutaneous reactions. To achieve this goal, a comprehensive electronic search was performed through the international databases including Medline (PubMed), Scopus, Cochrane, Web of science, and Google scholar on July 12, 2021, and all articles regarding mucocutaneous manifestations and considerations after COVID‐19 vaccine administration were retrieved using the following keywords: COVID‐19 vaccine, dermatology considerations and mucocutaneous manifestations. A total of 917 records were retrieved and a final number of 180 articles were included in data extraction. Mild, moderate, severe and potentially life‐threatening adverse events have been reported following immunization with COVID vaccines, through case reports, case series, observational studies, randomized clinical trials, and further recommendations and consensus position papers regarding vaccination. In this systematic review, we categorized these results in detail into five elaborate tables, making what we believe to be an extensively informative, unprecedented set of data on this topic. Based on our findings, in the viewpoint of the pros and cons of vaccination, mucocutaneous adverse events were mostly non‐significant, self‐limiting reactions, and for the more uncommon moderate to severe reactions, guidelines and consensus position papers could be of great importance to provide those at higher risks and those with specific worries of flare‐ups or inefficient immunization, with sufficient recommendations to safely schedule their vaccine doses, or avoid vaccination if they have the discussed contra‐indications.


Introduction: Plastic surgeons all over the world are challenged with a dramatically increased public interest and demand for aesthetic gluteal contouring surgery. The authors introduce a comprehensive, easy and versatile method for the assessment of "Gluteal-Related Aesthetic Subunits". This method works as a tool to treat the variety of differences in patients' racial body morphology, personal preferences and ethnic related demands, thus improving the results of gluteal aesthetic surgery. Patients and Methods: This is a comparative study of two groups of patients. In Group (A) patients, the aesthetic assessment and planning for liposuction and fat transfer to the buttocks was performed according to the criteria suggested by Centeno (i.e., each buttock was considered as a single aesthetic subunit that has no subdivisions), and liposuction was performed according to the traditional method. In Group (B) patients, the aesthetic assessment and planning for liposuction fat transfer to the buttocks was performed according to the criteria suggested by the authors, and liposuction was performed according to the new principles of the high-definition liposuction method. Results: There were significant improvements in the aesthetic results and in the patients' satisfaction as well as a lower rate of complications in Group (B) compared to Group (A). Conclusion: The authors of this work believe that this new analytical tool is a valuable step forward to help achieve results that are more satisfying to patients due to its simplicity and versatility to meet the needs of a variety of patients with different racial body characteristics and personal demands.


The time-dependent suppression probability P(t) of upsilon particles has been estimated due to the screening when embedded in the medium of quark gluon plasma where the screened potential is represented by an optical potential of type $V(r,\lambda) = - [\frac{V_{0}+iW_{0}}{1+exp((r-R)\lambda)}]$. A similar type of variation of suppression probability has been obtained by others. It has been observed that $t_{\frac{1}{2}}$ for melting of $\Upsilon$ is $\sim$ 1.5 fm/c. The variation of the screening radii of heavy mesons $(J/\psi, \Upsilon)$ for 1S and 2S states with respect to plasma radius have also been investigated with the same complex screening potential. We have found that the more highly excited state (2S) is less tightly bound and has a larger effective radius than the ground state.


In this article, we review four decades of research on the formation of organizational reputation. Our review reveals six perspectives that have informed past studies: a game-theoretic, a strategic, a macro-cognitive, a micro-cognitive, a cultural-sociological, and communicative one. We compare and contrast the different assumptions about what reputation is and how it forms that characterize these perspectives, and we discuss the implications of these differences for our theoretical understanding of stability and change, control and contestation, and the micro–macro relationship in the complex process of reputation formation.


The average nearest neighbor degree (ANND) of a node of degree $k$ is widely used to measure dependencies between degrees of neighbor nodes in a network. We formally analyze ANND in undirected random graphs when the graph size tends to infinity. The limiting behavior of ANND depends on the variance of the degree distribution. When the variance is finite, the ANND has a deterministic limit. When the variance is infinite, the ANND scales with the size of the graph, and we prove a corresponding central limit theorem in the configuration model (CM, a network with random connections). As ANND proved uninformative in the infinite variance scenario, we propose an alternative measure, the average nearest neighbor rank (ANNR). We prove that ANNR converges to a deterministic function whenever the degree distribution has finite mean. We then consider the erased configuration model (ECM), where self-loops and multiple edges are removed, and investigate the well-known `structural negative correlations', or `finite-size effects', that arise in simple graphs, such as ECM, because large nodes can only have a limited number of large neighbors. Interestingly, we prove that for any fixed $k$, ANNR in ECM converges to the same limit as in CM. However, numerical experiments show that finite-size effects occur when $k$ scales with $n$.


Large areas of sub-Saharan Africa suffer a substantial lack of skin care. Hence teledermatology, meaning the online visual exchange of clinical and histologic data, could develop into a powerful medical resource. We report the first established teledermatologic connection in this area: between the Regional Dermatology Training Centre (RDTC) in Moshi, Northern Tanzania, and the Department of Dermatology, University Hospital of Zürich, Switzerland. This report illustrates local difficulties as well as the considerable potential of teledermatology in such a setting.


Pepper is known as the 'King of Spices' and its botanical name is Piper Nigrum which is one of the most popular and oldest spices in the world. There is a problem during manual sorting and grading of pepper such as the selected pepper berries for white pepper production are less fulfilled according to standard of properties (dimension, weight and colour) requirement that had been done by man power. This study is carried out to determine the physical properties (dimension, weight, and colour) of mature pepper berries because they are vital in sorting and grading to evaluate the food quality. The physical properties of food materials is essential for processing design and optimization. The preparation of the samples is starting to collect from the plantation. The spikes with mature pepper berries were threshed manually to obtain the pepper berries. The only full mature pepper berries were selected and prepared for further analysis. The physical properties of mature pepper berries such as dimension (5.42 mm), weight (0.12 g), and colour (value of 63.05 (a*), 47.33 (b*), and 39.17 (L*)) were obtained after analysed. Hence, the results are based on the maturity period and can be applicable for the food processing.


At the present moment, many hospitals are going through a process of change directed at the integrated delivery of health care. Enterprise Systems (ES) are increasingly used to support this process and to manage hospitals on a coherent basis. We also know, however, that ES implementation itself, can be viewed as an organizational change process that affects many stakeholders. For that reason it is relevant to study how ES implementation takes place within hospitals and how it tends to impact the existing organizational arrangements. The purpose of this chapter is therefore to describe and analyze how ES implementation within a hospital affects the interests of stakeholders and which specific problems may arise as a result. This chapter uses the evidence of a case study to reveal some important dimensions of the organizational change issues related to ES implementation within hospitals.


Abstract Bottom fishing such as trawling and dredging may pose serious risks to the seabed and benthic habitats, calling for a quantitative assessment method to evaluate the impact and guide management to develop mitigation measures. We provide a method to estimate the sensitivity of benthic habitats based on the longevity composition of the invertebrate community. We hypothesize that long‐lived species are more sensitive to trawling mortality due to their lower pace of life (i.e., slower growth, late maturation). We analyze data from box‐core and grab samples taken from 401 stations in the English Channel and southern North Sea to estimate the habitat‐specific longevity composition of the benthic invertebrate community and of specific functional groups (i.e., suspension feeders and bioturbators), and examine how bottom trawling affects the longevity biomass composition. The longevity biomass composition differed between habitats governed by differences in sediment composition (gravel and mud content) and tidal bed‐shear stress. The biomass proportion of long‐lived species increased with gravel content and decreased with mud content and shear stress. Bioturbators had a higher median longevity than suspension feeders. Trawling, in particular by gears that penetrate the seabed >2 cm, shifted the community toward shorter‐lived species. Changes from bottom trawling were highest in habitats with many long‐lived species (hence increasing with gravel content, decreasing with mud content). Benthic communities in high shear stress habitats were less affected by bottom trawling. Using these relationships, we predicted the sensitivity of the benthic community from bottom trawling impact at large spatial scale (the North Sea). We derived different benthic sensitivity metrics that provide a basis to estimate indicators of trawling impact on a continuous scale for the total community and specific functional groups. In combination with high resolution data of trawling pressure, our approach can be used to monitor and assess trawling impact and seabed status at the scale of the region or broadscale habitat and to compare the environmental impact of bottom‐contacting fishing gears across fisheries.


Summary. Proteins of ram epididymal fluid, seminal plasma, accessory gland fluid and blood serum were fractionated by electrophoresis. Nineteen bands of different mobilities were observed by disc electrophoresis. Immunoelectrophoresis revealed sixteen precipitation arcs in epididymal fluid and seminal plasma and fourteen in blood serum, following absorption with the antiserum against epididymal fluid. These results indicate that most of the epididymal fluid and seminal plasma proteins of the ram have antigens in common with blood serum.


BACKGROUND
Tissue factor (TF), the main initiator of blood coagulation, is also a signaling protein that regulates cancer progression. TF synthesis was recently shown to be affected by tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) in tumor cell lines. We therefore studied TF gene (F3) expression and the status of genes coding for tumor protein p53 (TP53), phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), and serine/threonine kinase 11 (STK11) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Heparanase (HPSE) gene expression was also measured because this endo-beta-D-glucuronidase was recently shown to enhance TF gene expression.

METHODS
TF and heparanase mRNA expression was measured by real-time PCR in 53 NSCLC tumors. Exons 5-8 of TP53 were sequenced from genomic DNA. Mutations of PTEN and STK11 were screened by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification.

RESULTS
TF mRNA levels were significantly higher in T(3)-T(4) tumors (P = 0.04) and in stages III-IV of NSCLC (P = 0.03). Mutations of TP53, STK11, and PTEN were identified in 20 (37.7%), 21 (39%), and 20 (37.7%) of tumors, respectively. TF expression was higher in mutated TP53 (TP53(Mut)) (P = 0.02) and PTEN(Mut) (P = 0.03) samples. Moreover, TF mRNA increased from 2700 copies (no mutation) to 11 6415 when 3 TSG were mutated. Heparanase gene expression did not differ according to TF gene (F3) expression or TSG mutation. The median survival time was shorter in patients with tumor TF mRNA levels above median values (relative risk 2.2; P = 0.03, multivariate analysis) and when TP53 was mutated (relative risk 1.8; P = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS
These results provide clear evidence that combined oncogene events affecting TSG dramatically increase TF gene expression in lung tumors. Moreover, this study suggests that TF gene expression could be used as a prognostic marker in NSCLC.


The need to communicate anonymously over the Internet has increased with the proliferation of networked computers. Applications such as military communications, Web browsing, e-voting, and e-counseling for victims of abuse all require anonymous communication. Without anonymity, individuals may refrain from communicating for fear of retribution, potentially resulting in social, psychological, or financial losses, or even the loss of life. This thesis contains a comprehensive survey and analysis of anonymous communication schemes. Analysis of the prior literature shows that there is no secure and scalable anonymous communication scheme. Previous literature has only analyzed each scheme for a subset of the known attacks. In this thesis, the analysis is extended to assess the anonymity capabilities of these schemes with respect to all known attacks. It is shown that none of the scalable anonymous communication schemes are secure. The thesis contains a description of the design, implementation, and evaluation of a prototype anonymous communication scheme. The Buses anonymity protocol is identified as the most secure and scalable candidate protocol for a dynamic network topology. The protocol is re-designed and extended into the Practical Buses protocol, with features added to protect against all of the known attacks in the literature. New techniques are introduced to make the protocol scalable while preserving mutual anonymity. The design is extended to make the protocol more efficient, secure, and fault-tolerant. The experimental results obtained demonstrate that the Practical Buses protocol is a promising solution for anonymous network communication.


INTRODUCTION
Honey and chitosan have shown antimicrobial and wound healing effects. As a biocompatible and biodegradable biomaterial, chitosan has shown antimicrobial capabilities.

OBJECTIVE
In this study, the effects of the incorporation of high molecular weight chitosan hydrogel on antibacterial, antifungal, and wound healing properties of honey were investigated.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The minimum inhibitory concentration of chitosan and honey were examined in pure and 3:1, 1:1, and 1:3 (v/v) compound ratios for Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans. In addition, the inflammatory, granulation and fibrotic tissue formation, reepithelialization indices, and wound shrinkage effects of each treatment were evaluated and compared with saline and silver sulfadiazine.

RESULTS
Chitosan/honey 1:3 was found to be effective against all 5 aforementioned germs. Honey, chitosan/honey 1:1, and chitosan/honey 1:3 showed faster wound healing and shrinkage effects.

CONCLUSIONS
Incorporation of chitosan hydrogel into honey can substantially enhance its antimicrobial and wound healing effects. Chitosan-hydrogel/honey (1:3) is an optimal wound dressing formulation with ample antimicrobial and healing properties.


A design-oriented numerical study of vertical Si-nanowires to be used as sensing elements for the detection of the intracellular electrical activity of neurons. An equivalent lumped-element circuit model is derived and validated by comparison with physics-based numerical simulations. Most of the component values can be identified individually by geometrical and physical considerations. The transfer function and the SNR of the sensor in presence of thermal noise are derived, and the impact of the device geometry is shown.


This study focuses on researching the relations between consumers and grocery stores in the countryside. Paying more attention to researching retailing and consumer behaviour in rural areas is important because most studies have focused on researching urban consumers' buying behaviour while paying rather little attention to that of rural inhabitants, especially in sparsely populated areas. By examining the buying behaviour of rural consumers and the positive and negative features connected with the product and service supply of rural stores, the following research questions are addressed. Which factors have an impact on the store choice of rural consumers and is it possible to identify different buyer groups on the basis of consumers' shopping orientation? The objective of the study was to find new consumer buying behaviour information that can help to improve the competitive capabilities of rural grocery stores. The study identifies the most relevant store choice factors of an ideal grocery store and the most important features which best describe the rural store. Factor analysis revealed the dimensions according to which rural consumers evaluate grocery purchasing, and homogeneous customer groups with different shopping orientation were formed using cluster analysis.


The effect of ergotamine and dihydroergotamine on the cerebral circulation was studied in the dog, anaesthetized with chloralose, by recording the intracranial venous pressure and the venous outflow from the superior cerebral vein. Under optimal experimental conditions, ergotamine (5 to 10 ,ug./kg.) and dihydroergotamine (100 ,ug./kg.) gave a marked and long-lasting cerebral vasoconstriction accompanied by a slight hypertension. The cerebral vasoconstriction provoked by ergotamine may be very small and was sometimes absent when the cerebral blood-flow was low. This vasoconstrictor effect is more pronounced the higher the initial intracranial venous pressure and hence the cerebral blood-flow. After the induction of a cerebral vasodilatation by 48/80 or strychnine, the vasoconstrictor action of ergotamine was more pronounced. The effect was not observed when CO, was employed to modify the intracranial venous pressure. Simultaneous registration of the cerebral, nasal cavity, and kidney vascular responses demon- strated the relative specificity of the action of ergotamine on the cerebral vessels. The small doses of ergotamine used may weaken or abolish the vasoconstrictor action of adrenaline on cerebral vessels. The modification of the responses of the cerebral circulation which such factors as anaesthesia, respiratory acidosis, and operative trauma can produce have been confirmed and emphasized. The results support the view that the vasoconstrictor action of ergotamine on the cerebral vessels might account for the therapeutic value of this drug in migraine.


This paper presents new identification methodologies dedicated to packaged transistor behavioral modeling. Using the background of the Poly-Harmonic Distortion (PHD) model formalism, the extension of the model kernels description up to the third order makes the behavioral model more robust and accurate for a wide range of impedance loading conditions, which is a primordial when designing a High Power Added Efficiency Doherty Amplifier, where a load impedance variation can be observed as a function of the power level. In this paper, a model of a 15 W GaN Packaged Transistor has been extracted from Load Pull measurements for Class AB and Class C conditions. This new Enhanced PHD model (EPHD) and the original PHD model are benchmarked against Load Pull measurements in order to check the new formulation. An advanced validation at the circuit level was done in order to verify the ability of the EPHD model to predict the overall Doherty Amplifier performances.


Small intestine neuroendocrine tumors (SI-NETs) are malignant neoplasms usually presenting with disseminated disease and symptoms of hormone overproduction. Radical surgery is curative but can only be performed for localized disease. For most patients the disease follows a progressive and fatal course. New treatment strategies for cure and palliation are therefore needed. To explore the mechanisms of SI-NET formation and to define candidate therapeutic targets and biomarkers of prognosis, we examined the gene expression profiles and somatic copy number alterations (SCNAs) in SI-NETs by array-based techniques. Tumors from forty-three patients with SI-NETs were investigated by high-resolution array-CGH. The number of SCNAs per tumor was low, indicating that SI-NETs are genetically relatively stable tumors. The most frequent SCNA was loss of chromosome 18 (74%), occurring in both primary tumors and metastases. In some tumors loss of chromosome 18 was the only SCNA, indicating an early event in tumor formation. Two separate groups of tumors with distinct patterns of SCNAs were observed: a major group of tumors with loss of chromosome 18 and a minor group of tumors with gain of whole chromosomes (chr. 4, 5, 14 and 20). Survival analysis showed that gain of chromosome 14, a characteristic event in the minor group, was a strong predictor of poor survival. Gene expression profiles of SI-NETs were analyzed in two different studies. In the first study we examined the expression profile of five SI-NETs and found amyloid precursor like protein 1 (APLP1), a member of the APP-family (APP, APLP1 and APLP2), to be differentially upregulated in SI-NETs. Higher expression of APLP1 in metastases compared to primary tumors indicated a role of APLP1 in tumor progression. Localization of the APP-family proteins in SI-NET cells (GOT1) by confocal laser microscopy showed partial co-localization with synaptophysin, Rab5 and FE65, suggesting a role in tumor cell adhesion and gene regulation. In the second study tumor tissue from thirty-three patients was subjected to expression profiling. We identified three different groups of SI-NETs by unsupervised hierarchical clustering with significant differences in patient survival. Genes related to patient survival included genes involved in cell cycle progression, apoptosis and DNA damage response. Genes involved in tumor invasion and immunity also correlated to patient survival. Cell cycle related genes were differentially expressed in tumors with gain of chromosome 14. Forkhead box M1 (FOXM1), a master regulator of cell cycle progression, was identified as an upstream regulator in these tumors by pathway analyzes. Analysis of upregulated genes in SI-NETs identified a number of candidate drug targets including SSTR2, receptor tyrosine kinases, transcriptional regulators and molecular chaperones. In vitro experiments on GOT1 cells demonstrated effective inhibition of tumor growth by multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitors as well as by inhibitors of AKT, HDAC and HSP90. In conclusion, these studies have established the expression and SCNA profiles of SI-NETs. These data demonstrate a molecular heterogeneity among SI-NETs, and identifies a correlation between deregulation of cell cycle genes and patient survival. Furthermore, profiling of SI-NETs provides novel candidate therapeutic targets related to tumor subgroups and a platform for patient stratification in clinical trials.


The small-ball method was introduced as a way of obtaining a high probability, isomorphic lower bound on the quadratic empirical process, under weak assumptions on the indexing class. The key assumption was that class members satisfy a uniform small-ball estimate: that $Pr(|f| \geq \kappa\|f\|_{L_2}) \geq \delta$ for given constants $\kappa$ and $\delta$.
Here we extend the small-ball method and obtain a high probability, almost-isometric (rather than isomorphic) lower bound on the quadratic empirical process. The scope of the result is considerably wider than the small-ball method: there is no need for class members to satisfy a uniform small-ball condition, and moreover, motivated by the notion of tournament learning procedures, the result is stable under a `majority vote'.


What does it mean to study security from a critical perspective? This question continues to haunt critical security studies. Conversations about normative stances, political engagement, and the role of critique are mainstays of the discipline. This article argues that these conversations tend to revolve around a too disembodied image of research, where the everyday practice of researchers is sidelined. But researchers do do research: they work materially, socially, and cognitively. They mediate between various feedback loops or fields of critique. In doing so, they actively build and exercise critique. Recognizing that fact, this article resists growing suggestions to abandon critique by, first, returning to the practice of critique through the notion of companionship. This permits us to reinvigorate our attention to the objects, persons, and phenomena through which critique gains inspiration and purpose, and that literally accompany our relationship to critique. Second, we explore what happens when our companions disagree, when critique faces controversies and (a) symmetries. Here, we support research designs of tracing credibility and establishing symmetries in order to move away from critique as denouncing positions we disagree with. Third, we discuss the relation between companionship, critique, reflexivity, and style. Here, the rhetorical practices of critical inquiry are laid out, and possibilities for its articulation in different and less silencing voices are proposed.


In recent years, heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancers have been reported as some main causes of death in most countries of the world, and obesity, which is often attributed to excess body fat, is one of the most common risk factors for these diseases. To make the vast amounts of data produced by health care information systems useful to the potential, the researchers applied knowledge discovery through predictive modeling. This study used anthropometric measurements as input data to different data mining techniques to predict body fat percentage. Fisher's Method of Scoring was used to select the most effective features in the prediction process, which were represented by eight variables (abdomen, BMI, chest hip, neck, thigh, knee, and age). The selected features were used as input\output for data mining approaches like multiple regressions (MR), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). As a result, ANNs outperformed the other methods used to predict body fat percentage by correlation coefficient R²=0.77 with eight selected anthropometric parameters. This outperformance was attributed to ANNs high ability to predict and their understandable and implementable resulting knowledge. Therefore, the researchers concluded that ANNs could be used and applied to a dataset of the Palestinian population.


This paper attempts to analyze the role of observation ih the development of student teachers' teaching skills during the teaching practice. While it is acknowledged in this paper that student teachers may also develop their teaching skills by being observed by their pupils; mentors and college supervisors, the analysis in this paper is restricted to student teachers observing their mentors teach. The paper also discusses what teachers' colleges and schools should do ih terms of preparing student teachers for the "observation period".


Ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation activates the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), generates the reactive oxygen species (ROS), and induces the production of proinflammatory cytokines such as IL1A, IL1B, and IL6. 6-Formylindolo[3,2-b]carbazole (FICZ) is a tryptophan-derived photoproduct that is induced by UVB irradiation and activates the AHR. However, its role in upregulating proinflammatory cytokine expression has never been investigated. Here, we demonstrated that FICZ enhanced ROS generation in human HaCaT keratinocytes in an AHR-dependent manner. FICZ also upregulated the expression of IL1A and IL1B, as well as the expression of IL6 and the production of its protein product, in an AHR- and ROS-dependent fashion. Here, we demonstrate that the actions of FICZ can substitute for the hazardous effects of UVB exposure, contributing to the further understandings of the mechanisms which UVB harms organisms.


Recently, Lakemeyer and Levesque proposed a logic of only-knowing which precisely captures three forms of nonmonotonic reasoning: Moore's Autoepistemic Logic, Konolige's variant based on moderately grounded expansions, and Reiter's default logic. Defaults have a uniform representation under all three interpretations in the new logic. Moreover, the logic itself is monotonic, that is, nonmonotonic reasoning is cast in terms of validity in the classical sense. While Lakemeyer and Levesque gave a model-theoretic account of their logic, a proof-theoretic characterization remained open. This paper fills that gap for the propositional subset: a sound and complete axiom system in the new logic for all three varieties of default reasoning. We also present formal derivations for some examples of default reasoning. Finally we present evidence that it is unlikely that a complete axiom system exists in the first-order case, even when restricted to the simplest forms of default reasoning.


This paper presents a comprehensive methodology to model and determine the annual sediment balance of a complex system of interconnected reservoirs, based on the detailed interpretation of a multi-decadal data series of reservoir management and modelling of sediment fluxes. This methodology is applied to the reservoirs of Oberaar, Grimsel, Räterichsboden, and Trift, which are located in the Swiss Alps. Additionally, the effects of climate warming on the annual sediment yield are investigated. Modelling results show that at present, the hydropower cascade formed by Oberaar, Grimsel, and Räterichsboden retains about 92% of the annual sediment yield, of which only the finest fraction leaves the system and enters the river network. Very fine sediments (d < 10 μm) account for 28% of the total sedimentation rate and in the case of Oberaar, it can reach up to 46% of the total sedimentation rate. Under a climate warming scenario, both sediment yield and runoff are expected to increase in terms of the annual average throughout the XXIst century, which will likely lead to greater annual inputs of sediments to the reservoirs. This, in turn, will lead to a higher sedimentation rate and suspended sediment concentration in the reservoirs, unless active management of the sediment fluxes is implemented.


The formulation of writing this paper is, want to know how the influence of curriculum training on the quality of productive teacher learning in SMK N 7 Purworejo? Then this paper aims to describe the effect of curriculum training on the quality of productive teacher learning in SMK N 7 Purworejo. The results of the discussion of this paper found that the influence of curriculum training, especially for the quality of learning in SMK N 7 Purworejo, from the results of the observation and field study found that it turns out, in general the implementation of education and teacher curriculum training has a good impact on the quality of student learning on learning activities and teaching (KBM). The results of descriptive observation and documentation analysis while the authors show the impact or influence of teacher training on the quality of learning at SMK 7 Purworejo. productive teachers have a good impact on the quality of learning for students of SMK Negeri 7 Purworejo. The advice that researchers can convey to productive teachers should develop evaluation tools to be more varied, increase activities to open lessons by giving more apperception to students before starting new material, at the evaluation stage. Productive teachers are expected to provide more improvement activities and are expected to always keep abreast of developments regarding Teacher Certification by attending seminars, workshops, work meetings or studying books on Teacher Certification, in addition teachers should apply learning patterns professionally so that the learning process will be more quality. Keywords: productive teacher, curriculum, learning.


Mortality rates due to invasive candidiasis remain unacceptably high, in part because the poor sensitivity and slow turn-around time of cultures delay the initiation of antifungal treatment. β-d-glucan (Fungitell) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based (T2Candida) assays are FDA-approved adjuncts to cultures for diagnosing invasive candidiasis, but their clinical roles are unclear. We propose a Bayesian framework for interpreting non-culture test results and developing rational patient management strategies, which considers test performance and types of invasive candidiasis that are most common in various patient populations. β-d-glucan sensitivity/specificity for candidemia and intra-abdominal candidiasis is ~80%/80% and ~60%/75%, respectively. In settings with 1%–10% likelihood of candidemia, anticipated β-d-glucan positive and negative predictive values are ~4%–31% and ≥97%, respectively. Corresponding values in settings with 3%–30% likelihood of intra-abdominal candidiasis are ~7%–51% and ~78%–98%. β-d-glucan is predicted to be useful in guiding antifungal treatment for wide ranges of populations at-risk for candidemia (incidence ~5%–40%) or intra-abdominal candidiasis (~7%–20%). Validated PCR-based assays should broaden windows to include populations at lower-risk for candidemia (incidence ≥~2%) and higher-risk for intra-abdominal candidiasis (up to ~40%). In the management of individual patients, non-culture tests may also have value outside of these windows. The proposals we put forth are not definitive treatment guidelines, but rather represent starting points for clinical trial design and debate by the infectious diseases community. The principles presented here will be applicable to other assays as they enter the clinic, and to existing assays as more data become available from different populations.