Racial discrimination is conceptualized as a psychosocial stressor that has negative implications for mental health. However, factors related to racial identity may influence whether negative experiences are interpreted as instances of racial discrimination and subsequently reported as such in survey instruments, particularly given the ambiguous nature of contemporary racism. Along these lines, dimensions of racial identity may moderate associations between racial discrimination and mental health outcomes. This study examined relationships between racial discrimination, racial identity, implicit racial bias, and depressive symptoms among African American men between 30 and 50 years of age (n = 95). Higher racial centrality was associated with greater reports of racial discrimination, while greater implicit anti-Black bias was associated with lower reports of racial discrimination. In models predicting elevated depressive symptoms, holding greater implicit anti-Black bias in tandem with reporting lower racial discrimination was associated with the highest risk. Results suggest that unconscious as well as conscious processes related to racial identity are important to consider in measuring racial discrimination, and should be integrated in studies of racial discrimination and mental health.


Employing a panel database, this article investigates empirically the behaviour, at an industry level, of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the People's Republic of China for the period 1991–2005. The study reports that many of the cross-border M&As over the past decades in China have been driven by broad fundamental factors, such as industry size and profitability. Moreover, technological intensity is significantly associated with the level of acquisition activity, indicating the tendency that intangible resources and intellectual capability favour more acquisition into China. It is found that deregulation, as a specific industry shock, affects acquisition activities significantly. The findings, it is concluded, have important managerial and policy implications.


Newton flows are dynamical systems generated by a continuous, desingularized Newton method for mappings from a Euclidean space to itself. We focus on the special case of meromorphic functions on the complex plane. Inspired by the analogy between the rational (complex) and the elliptic (i.e. doubly periodic meromorphic) functions, a theory on the class of so-called Elliptic Newton flows is developed. With respect to an appropriate topology on the set of all elliptic functions f of fixed order r( 2) we prove: For almost all functions f , the corresponding Newton flows are structurally stable i.e. topologically invariant under small perturbations of the zeros and poles for f [genericity]. They can be described in terms of nondegeneracy-properties of f similar to the rational case [characterization]. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 9 July 2016 Accepted 30 June 2017 COMMUNICATED BY Y. Antipov


Background Serious games for medical education have seen a resurgence in recent years, partly due to the growth of the video game industry and the ability of such games to support learning achievements. However, there is little consensus on what the serious and game components in a serious game are composed of. As a result, electronic learning (e-learning) and medical simulation modules are sometimes mislabeled as serious games. We hypothesize that one of the main reasons is the difficulty for a medical educator to systematically and accurately evaluate key aspects of serious games. Objective This study aimed to identify markers that can evaluate serious games and distinguish between serious games, entertainment games, and e-learning. Methods Jabareen's eight-phase framework-building procedure was used to identify the core markers of a serious game. The procedure was modified slightly to elicit "diagnostic criteria" as opposed to its original purpose of a conceptual framework. Following the identification of purported markers, the newly developed markers were tested on a series of freely available health care serious games—Dr. Game Surgeon Trouble, Staying Alive, and Touch Surgery—and the results were compared to the published test validity for each game. Results Diagnostic criteria for serious games were created, comprising the clusters of User Experience (UX), Play, and Learning. Each cluster was formed from six base markers, a minimum of four of which were required for a cluster to be considered present. These criteria were tested on the three games, and Dr. Game Surgeon Trouble and Staying Alive fit the criteria to be considered a serious game. Touch Surgery did not meet the criteria, but fit the definition of an e-learning module. Conclusions The diagnostic criteria appear to accurately distinguish between serious games and mediums commonly misidentified as serious games, such as e-learning modules. However, the diagnostic criteria do not determine if a serious game will be efficacious; they only determine if it is a serious game. Future research should include a much larger sample of games designed specifically for health care purposes.


BackgroundWith this master thesis, the authors wanted to verify if Modular Function Deployment (MFD) was applicable to other areas of knowledge than the traditional production industry. Namely, the authors tried to see if the benefits arising from MFD (more flexible and rational product structure) could be transposed to services and/or IT development. More specifically, the authors hope to provide a novel more systematic approach to software architecture when developers are confronted to new challenges and that there are no pre-existing solutions available. In order to verify the hypothesis that MFD can be extended to other domains of expertise, the authors realized a case-study with company Z, who commercializes a sports book solution for online betting.ObjectiveDue to the short timespan available for this study, the authors decided to only verify whether the first two steps of MFD, voice of the customer and voice of the engineer, could be successfully implemented in software architecture. This gave rise to two objectives: 1) give the company another input on how to target the different market segments and 2) give the company another input regarding their product's architecture.MethodThe authors first researched the actual literature on modularization and software architecture. Then they followed the procedure described in the first two steps of MFD with a few modifications to better suit the needs of software. Most of the data was gathered through meetings of the authors' design and this information was then inserted in PALMATM, a piece of software for applying MFD.ResultsThe results consist of graphs and tables provided by PALMATM following the data inserted in it. The method successfully indicated distinct approaches for each of the market segments targeted by company Z. The results regarding the second objective were more mitigated.ConclusionsThe application of MFD to software architecture seems promising. With this paper, the authors suggested a new more systematic way to approach software architecture that could prove to be an interesting alternative when considering one-of-a-kind problems or problems that cannot be answered by existing solutions. However, work still has to be done regarding the remaining three steps of MFD.


Introduction:SURGEOSIGHT is a dedicated intra-operative hand-held gamma camera designed and manufactured by our team to be used for lymphoscintigraphy. Although conventional gamma cameras are widely used, they lack the capability of the sentinel lymph node (SLN) imaging in the operation room. Like conventional gamma cameras it is necessary to calibrate SURGEOSIGHT for linearity distortion, energy and flood correction. Our main objective in this study is to develop and implement three techniques for linearity, energy and uniformity corrections. Methods: The camera is made up of a pixelated cesium iodide (sodium-activated) (CsI(Na)) scintillation crystal with 1 × 1 mm2 element size along with  a Hamamatsu H8500 flat-panel multi-anode (64 channels) photomultiplier tube. All triple corrections required lookup tables (LUTs). To generate all three LUTs, one uncalibrated acquisition is necessary. Linearity distortion correction was based on localization of physical pixels of crystal and thin plate spline interpolation to estimate the amount of distortion. Energy correction LUT was simply a photo-peak map of incoming events which was estimated using self-organizing map technique. Results: The results showed improvements qualitatively and quantitatively. The extrinsic energy resolution was enhanced from 50% to about 20.6%. Integral uniformity and the differential uniformity, after uniformity correction, in useful field-of-view (UFOV) was measured 9.5% and 4.5%, respectively. Conclusion: Results substantiated that the correction techniques guarantee uniform and accurate output of the SURGEOSIGHT which is desirable for intra-operative localization of the sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer and also for imaging of other superficial tumors.


The Soil Vulnerability Index (SVI) was developed by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to classify inherent vulnerability of cropland soils based on field sediment and nutrient transport resulting from surface runoff and leaching. The primary purpose of the SVI is to aid conservation planners in more rapidly assessing managed lands and inherent resource concerns. The index is based on hydrologic soil group, slope, and soil erodibility for cultivated cropland soils, with the addition of percentage rock fragments and organic matter when considering leaching. Although the SVI is intended for use throughout the United States, its development was based on the physiographic and rainfall characteristics of the Upper Mississippi and Ohio-Tennessee River basins. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the SVI in areas both in and outside of the area for which it was developed. Thirteen different watersheds were selected to conduct this evaluation. Vulnerability classifications using the SVI were compared with those from on-site experts' knowledge and with model simulations using local data. Four companion papers in this special collection discuss SVI classification based on the effects of land slope, artificial drainage, sediment and nutrient loads, and vulnerability assessment using hydrologic simulation models. Using results from the various sites, the objective of this paper was to synthesize the interpretation of the value and applicability of SVI vulnerability classification to sediment and nutrient loss across various physiographic regions and suggest where improvement in the SVI could be made.


Objective: To describe the reshaping of the German system of psychiatric services in the wake of the international social psychiatric movement and the beginnings of separate consultation–liaison (C-L) psychiatry and C-L psychosomatics services, to outline the differences and similarities of these two disciplines, and to see whether there are lessons to be learned from this unique development that may be relevant to other countries. Method: The author draws on material published in German and international publications, and on his experience as co-chair of the Section of Behavioral Medicine and Consultation Liaison Psychiatry of the German Society for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Neurology. Results: Consultation–liaison psychiatry services are provided in virtually all German general hospitals, mainly by the medical specialty of psychiatry and psychotherapy and to a lesser extent by the specialty of psychosomatics and psychotherapeutic medicine, exclusively so in 5%. The latter specialty includes non-psychiatric physicians. The unique history of combined neurology and psychiatry training until 1992, and of mandated psychotherapy training in both specialties shapes the service provided but also sets up tensions. Conclusions: Lack of empirical evidence prevents objective assessment of the advantages and/or shortcomings of this two-stranded system, but its existence may sharpen the ongoing debate about how C-L services should be structured in other countries.


The spine, or vertebral column, is a segmental set of 33 bones and associated soft tissues that comprise the subcranial portion of the axial skeleton. It subdivides into five regions based on curvature and morphology: the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine, the sacrum, and the coccyx. There are seven, twelve, and five articulating vertebrae in the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine, respectively. These three regions, while somewhat similar in terms of bone morphology, variably balance spinal rigidity with flexibility and movement, and articulate in a particular fashion that contributes to the overall S-shaped curvature of the spine. Meanwhile, the sacrum and the coccyx are two sets of fused vertebrae at the caudal aspect of the spine that convey no motion. Five fused vertebrae typically form the sacrum, with four forming the coccyx. The cervical spine, comprised of seven cervical vertebrae referred to as C1 to C7, is divided into two major segments: the craniocervical junction (CCJ) and the subaxial spine. The CCJ includes the occiput and the two most cranial cervical vertebrae known as the atlas (C1) and the axis (C2). The subaxial spine includes the five most caudal cervical vertebrae (C3-C5). As a whole, the cervical spine is responsible for supporting the weight of the cranium and allowing motion of the head and neck.


Remote sensing image retrieval (RSIR) is the process of searching for identical areas by investigating the similarities between a query image and the database images. RSIR is a challenging task owing to the time difference, viewpoint, and coverage area depending on the shooting circumstance, resulting in variations in the image contents. In this paper, we propose a novel method based on a coarse-to-fine strategy, which makes a deep network more robust to the variations in remote sensing images. Moreover, we propose a new triangular loss function to consider the whole relation within the tuple. This loss function improves the retrieval performance and demonstrates better performance in terms of learning the detailed information in complex remote sensing images. To verify our methods, we experimented with the Google Earth South Korea dataset, which contains 40,000 images, using the evaluation metric Recall@n. In all experiments, we obtained better performance results than those of the existing retrieval training methods. Our source code and Google Earth South Korea dataset are available online.


The COVID-19 pandemic erupted during the climate change (CC) crisis, forcing individuals to adapt abruptly to a new scenario, and triggering changes in everyone's lifestyles. Based on a sample of the UK population (N = 1013), this paper investigates how the COVID-19 pandemic invited/forced individuals to reflect upon a more sustainable way of life (which might be enhanced by the use of digital technologies for daily activities) and to (re)consider the anthropogenic impact on the environment. The results show that older individuals tend to be less sceptic around the human impact on CC. Other control variables such as income, gender and employment status have a limited impact on this attitude towards CC. Secondly, the findings indicate a clear separation between those with a minimal level of education, who support the natural origin of CC, while individuals with a higher level of education believe that CC is caused by human actions. Finally, on average, younger and more educated individuals tend to associate the COVID-19 pandemic with an opportunity to promote an eco-friendly world and to adopt an eco-sustainable approach.


In nutrient medium, aluminium (Al) accumulation in tobacco cells occurs only in the presence of ferrous ion [Fe(II)]. The localization of Al was examined to elucidate a mechanism of Al accumulation. After the digestion of Al-treated cells with cellulase and pectolyase together, the resulting spheroplasts contained as much Al as the intact cells. However, the cell walls isolated from Al-treated cells also contained as much Al as the intact cells. Comparison of sugar and Al contents in polysaccharide components extracted chemically from cell walls isolated from intact cells and spheroplasts revealed that the enzymes digested most of the cellulose and hemicellulose, but only half of the pectin, and that Al mainly existed in the pectin remaining in the spheroplasts. Gel-permeation chromatography of the pectin fraction (NH 4 -oxalate extract) from the cell walls of the intact cells indicated that Al was associated with small polysaccharides of approximately 3-7 kDa. These results suggest that a minor part of pectin is a major site of Al accumulation. The content of cell wall pectin increased during Al treatment in nutrient medium. Taken together, we hypothesize that Al may bind to the pectin newly produced during Al treatment.


Background: Eosinophils differentiate in the bone marrow from CD34+ cells released to the blood with possible traffic to the lung tissue. The known data about eosinophil traffic mostly refer to mature eosinophils and have originated mainly from animal models or from asthma patients after allergen exposure. Thus, we investigated whether mature and progenitor blood eosinophils in patients with stable asthma express similar trafficking related receptors. Methods: Participants, 13 patients with stable asthma; 7 with high (≥0.3x109/L) and 6 with low (≤0.2x109/L) blood eosinophils, and 5 healthy controls were selected from the West Sweden Asthma Study. Airway eosinophils were studied in induced sputum. Mature (CD45+IL-5Rα+SSChigh) and progenitors (CD45+CD34+IL-5Rα+SSClow) eosinophils and their expression of selectin (PSGL-1), integrins (VLA-4:CD49d+CD29+, Mac-1:CD11b+CD18+), eotaxin(s) receptor (CCR3+), and activation (CD69+, CD25+) were quantified in fresh blood by flow cytometry. Results: Asthma patients with high blood eosinophils had increased sputum eosinophils and blood eosinophil progenitors compared to the healthy controls (p Conclusion: Both mature and progenitor blood eosinophils in patients with stable asthma express all major trafficking related receptors important for transfer into the lung tissue.


The study investigates empirically the corporate board characteristics and Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) performance in Nigeria for the period 2008-2017. The study is motivated by the lack of confidence by investors in the capital market, the persistent agency problems, and the insolvency of large firms such as banks. The general objective of this study is to investigate the impact of corporate board characteristic on DMBs financial performance in Nigeria. Four research models/hypotheses were formulated based on the literature reviewed and also considered are the important factors affecting the performance of DMBs in the Nigerian banking industry. This study investigated three of the listed DMBs using a simple Judgmental Sampling Technique in a period of ten years each 2008 to 2017. The population of the study is made up of all the 21 DMBs listed in the Nigerian Stock Exchange as at 2019. The data collected for the research were analyzed with econometric e-view. The panel data was further analyzed using the random effect model. Our findings revealed that first, gender diversity has a negative impact on return on asset with a coefficient value of about -0.027, and non-significant by about 0.19 P-value. Secondly, board independence is found to have a negative impact with earnings per share with a coefficient value of about 1.56 and also non-significant at 0.10 P-value. In our third model, return on equity is found to have a negative relationship to board size with coefficient of -0.094 and non-significant at 0.65 P-value. Finally, board qualification shows a positive and significant relationship with profit for the year. The implication of our findings is that each DMBs studied are not adequately implementing the corporate governance practices, hence, the reasons for the negative impacts of the independent variables except in the case of board qualification. Hence, we recommend that critical attention should be given to corporate governance practices especially the CBN corporate governance codes for a better performance in the Nigeria banking industry.


Because of the increased interest in modeling multiresolution traffic simulation, the adaptive simulation concept and approach are addressed. Adaptive simulation does not predefine the spatial-temporal domain of high-fidelity simulation rules, but rather uses driving conditions and driver response. Adaptive simulation is intended not to couple two or more simulation models of known resolution but to create a finer scale of resolution with a range of rules to allow smoother transition in the spatial-temporal resolution domain. The adaptive simulation concept is implemented in the anisotropic mesoscopic simulation framework, in which a lane-based simulation framework and lane-changing rules, as well as a triggering mechanism, are devised. The numerical experiments highlight the difference between hybrid and adaptive simulation. The general property, such as sensitivity of the adaptive simulation model with respect to its parameter, is also tested, and its performance reported.


ABSTRACT Studies worldwide have shown that people with mental illnesses (PWMI) tend to be stigmatized and thus suffer social exclusion. The authors investigated the attitudes of Omani people toward PWMI, and classified their responses on the basis of socio-demographic variables (age, gender, place of residence, place and type of employment, and previous exposure to PWMI) that were expected to correlate with their perceptions and attitudes towards PWMI. The data were collected by means of an online cross-sectional survey among the general Omani public, using the Attitude toward Mental Illness (AMI) Questionnaire. The online method via social media was selected in view of the high levels of literacy (93.97%), Internet usage (66.4%), and social media participation among Omanis. Of the 601 participants, 41.4% were men and 58.6% were women. The subjects were categorized in the age groups of 20–30 years (48%) and 31–45 years (46%). Nearly 90% of the participants were employed, while 10% were college students. The results indicated that Omanis share the worldwide tendency to harbor stigmatizing attitudes towards PWMI. The results further suggested that socio-demographic variables (such as urban–rural dichotomy and previous encounters with PWMI have significant correlation with Omanis' attitudes towards the mentally ill.


From a biomechanical perspective, the completion of seed (and fruit) germination depends on the balance of two opposing forces: the growth potential of the embryonic axis (radicle-hypocotyl growth zone) and the restraint of the seed-covering layers (endosperm, testa, and pericarp). The diverse seed tissues are composite materials which differ in their dynamic properties based on their distinct cell wall composition and water uptake capacities. The biomechanics of embryo cell growth during seed germination depend on irreversible cell wall loosening followed by water uptake due to the decreasing turgor, and this leads to embryo elongation and eventually radicle emergence. Endosperm weakening as a prerequisite for radicle emergence is a widespread phenomenon among angiosperms. Research into the biochemistry and biomechanics of endosperm weakening has demonstrated that the reduction in puncture force of a seed's micropylar endosperm is environmentally and hormonally regulated and involves tissue-specific expression of cell wall remodelling proteins such as expansins, diverse hydrolases, and the production of directly acting apoplastic reactive oxygen. The endosperm-weakening biomechanics and its underlying cell wall biochemistry differ between the micropylar (ME) and chalazal (CE) endosperm domains. In the ME, they involve cell wall loosening, cell separation, and programmed cell death to provide decreased and localized ME tissue resistance, autolysis, and finally the formation of an ME hole required for radicle emergence. Future work will further unravel the molecular mechanisms, environmental regulation, and evolution of the diverse biomechanical cell wall changes underpinning the control of germination by endosperm weakening.


In this work we present the results of electrical characterization of 4H-SiC power Schottky diodes with a Mo metal barrier for high power applications. A comparison between different Schottky Barrier Height (SBH) evaluation methods (capacitance-voltage and current-voltage measurements), together with the comparison with other authors' works, indicates that thermionic current theory is the dominant transport mechanism across the barrier from room temperature (RT) to 450K, while at T < 300K some anomalies in J-V curves appear and SBH and ideality factor significantly change their values. These deviations from ideality are attributed to Schottky barrier inhomogeneities. In particular, a model based on two SBHs seems appropriate to properly describe the electrical behavior of our devices.


Using equational logic as a specification language, we investigate the proof theory of behavioral subtyping for object-oriented abstract data types with immutable objects and deterministic methods that can use multiple dispatch. In particular, we investigate a proof technique for correct behavioral subtyping in which each subtype's specification includes terms that can be used to coerce its objects to objects of each of its supertypes. We show that this technique is sound, using our previous work on the model theory of such abstract data types. We also give an example to show that the technique is not complete, even if the methods do not use multiple dispatch, and even if types specified are term-generated. In preparation for the results on equational subtyping we develop the proof theory of a richer form of equational logic that is suitable for dealing with subtyping and behavioral equivalence. This gives some insight into question of when our proof techniques can be make effectively computable, but in general behavioral consequence is not effectively computable.


The purpose of this study was to evaluate the behavior of nano-hydroxyapatite/ poly(D,L)lactide (n-HA/PDLLA) composite in vivo. The composite rods containing about 40wt% n-HA and control HA rods with a diameter of 2mm and a length of 6mm were implanted into the femora of 16 New Zealand rabbits. Composite wafers with a diameter of 5mm and a thickness of 1mm were implanted into the dorsal subcutis of 18 Wistar Albino rats. After definite intervals, the histological analysis was completed by light microscopy and the degradation behavior was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The histological analysis showed no obvious difference between n-HA /PDLLA composite and pure HA that had good biocompatibility and osteoconductivity. SEM analysis of the surface and cross section of the samples showed that the degradation of the composite started from surface, then into the inner gradually and formed multiple pores at surface. The pore size and porosity gradually increased along with time and a porous network may be formed.


Swedish concrete dams are designed and assessed based on deterministic design using safety factors. The combination of increasing age, new methods for calculation of design floods and increasing demands by society to ensure a high level of safety, has resulted in upgrading and rebuilding needs for dams. When safety is re-evaluated it is important that evaluation is based on modern safety concepts. The objective of this thesis is to describe how reliability based methodology can be used for assessment of concrete dams, how it fits into the dam safety risk management process and the present state of knowledge of relevant statistic information of resistance and load parameters.
Risk management is becoming more frequently used in dam safety all over the world and structural reliability analysis can be used for safety assessment of existing dams. Since object specific information, monitoring results, known loads etcetera can be included in the analysis it gives more reliable results than a more general assessment procedure based on traditional dam safety design guidelines.
In this thesis the sliding and overturning failure modes are used for analysis, but there are reasons to further analyse the failure mode formulation. Overturning is not considered in several guidelines, instead resultant location is used as an indicator, and failure is associated with sliding or overstressing. The Swedish guideline on dam safety, RIDAS, does not, unlike guidelines used elsewhere in the world, take account to cohesion when the sliding stability is estimated. Even so, cohesion is included in the sliding criterion used for analysis in this thesis.
In structural reliability analysis the failure mode of interest is described by a limit state function, which is a function of a number of basic variables, described by their statistical distribution. For a concrete dam the basic variables for the sliding failure mode are self-weight (G), cohesion (c), base area (A), friction angle (φ), uplift pressure (U), hydrostatic water pressure (H) and ice load (I) and the limit state function becomes
Limit state functions for overturning or other failure modes can be defined in the same way.

When statistical distributions are known for the basic variables, the safety index, β, can be calculated. β is related to the probability of failure by , where Φ is the standardized normal distribution function.

For safety evaluation, β is compared to a target safety index, βT. For dams no such target value exists. There are different approaches how to set a target and the most straightforward is calibration to existing practice, but there are also reasons to believe that target safety for dams should be based also on tolerable risk concepts.
The basic variables affecting concrete dam stability are described and special attention is given to uplift, where a thorough state-of-the art is given, as it has been shown in previous research to have a large influence on dam stability. Uplift varies depending on temperature (higher uplift during cold periods), due to loads (increasing water levels may give rise to uplift pressure to increase more than the linear design assumption), is highly dependant on foundation treatment and drainage and is difficult to monitor (uplift in one point represent only a local area). A promising approach on how to use geostatistical modelling to derive statistical distribution for uplift is shown. The hydraulic conductivity beneath the dam is assumed to have certain properties (mean value and variance) and is quantified by a spatial correlation structure. Flow and uplift pressure distribution is then solved by use of a finite element program. A large number of simulations is used to obtain a statistical distribution of uplift force and moment on the whole dam base area. The uplift force active on the dam is described as
where u is the uplift force, calculated from the linear uplift reduction assumption used in design, and C is a random variable based on the simulations. The treatment of moment of uplift is similar. This concept can and should be further developed, e.g. by investigating real rock properties and analyzing 3-D modelling of hydraulic conductivities. Even though there are questions to be solved, this approach gives useful results.
In the first of two examples, the capacity of a wall in a spillway chute is analyzed. The result is that the wall can withstand approximately 20 % higher water levels than that resulting from design according to RIDAS. In the second example a dam, fulfilling the requirements in RIDAS, is analysed. The results reveal that the cohesion and the friction coefficient gives the largest contribution to the uncertainty of β for sliding failure, whereas self-weight, followed by uplift and ice load, dominates the uncertainty for overturning failure.

The main conclusions are that structural reliability analysis can be used as a tool in the dam safety risk management process and that the most important factors for further analysis are cohesion, friction coefficient, ice load, uplift and self-weight. The examples shown, and the results of a master thesis, indicates that today's guideline (RIDAS) results in a number of "problems", among them that the safety index seems to be dependant on dam type and dam height and that cross-sectional design is, at least in one example, conservative.


H istorically, urine glucose and ketone determinations were the only practical way for people with diabetes to regularly assess their glycemic control. However, the development of small, convenient, and reasonably accurate blood glucose meters has made urine glucose testing obsolete for most patients. Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is now common and is the preferred way to monitor glycemic control. SMBG is recommended for all patients who use insulin (1,2). Recommendations for testing urine for glucose and ketones as part of diabetes management are described here.


Purpose: This study is descriptive study that confirms the affect of the factors of perceived stress and social support of the kidney transplantation recipient affect on the quality of life. Mothods: 167 subjects who have received kidney transplantation in a university hospital in G city. Data obtained are analyzed by SPSS Win 13.0. Results: The perceived stress based on transplantation related characteristics and general traits of kidney transplantation has significant differences only in frequency of admission. The subjects who had been supported by acquittances have more significant social support index. The quality of life has significant differences in number of admissions, gender and occupation. Also, when the perceived stress of kidney transplantation recipients is lower and social support is higher, the quality of life is higher. The perceived stress has 28.1% increment of quality of life. Adding social support, both of them affect 34.8% increment of quality of life. Conclusion: To decrease the factor to cause the stress of kidney transplantation recipients, it is necessary to have social support networks and to develop plans and programs to increase the quality of life of recipients.


The characteristics of green InGaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are investigated. The results obtained numerically show that the optical performance of green InGaN LEDs is deteriorated severely by Auger recombination, which becomes more severe at high current injection levels. Through employing In0.2Ga0.8N as barrier material, the radiative recombination efficiency is enhanced and the Auger recombination is suppressed efficiently because of the better electron-hole spatial overlap and the more uniform carrier distribution in the active region.


The contribution of this research is a set of novel insights on the interplay of knowledge assets during decision making. Knowledge is conceptualised as a dynamic resource. Its value is a function of the contribution it makes relative to other knowledge stock at a point of application. The information flows can renew the resource, and the influence of power makes the knowledge development process subject to reconciliation of local interests. The focus on dynamics of knowledge development through a set of value-adding
processes also moves the analysis away from the rational and political perspectives of knowledge in decision making. This offers an alternative view on how the value of knowledge can be assessed and understood. The research proposes how the decision making process could be a useful mechanism for the development of dynamic capabilities. The findings stem from the view of knowledge developed in this research as a knowledge
capsule comprised of two or three knowledge assets which can draw upon two other types of knowledge from outside the decision process. The analysis relies on two in-depth strategic decision case studies and suggests that the value of knowledge can be identified from the point at which the central decision is generated. The value of each interplay can be assessed in a 'transactional' space where three types of knowledge 'meet'. Decision making is a knowledge-creating activity. The interplay of knowledge assets is a source of value in decision making and, this thesis argues, the basis of heterogeneity of this strategic asset between organisations. Power
impacts the contribution of knowledge assets and through application is redistributed during the decision making process. As knowledge stocks interplay, some knowledge is attuning and some advancing the work in decision episodes. The value can be identified by assessing the outcomes of interplay such as insights and decisions. The managerial implications focus on the challenges for developing knowledge assets and the extraction of value from existing knowledge assets during strategic decision making.


This paper describes high‐quality journals in Brazil and Spain, with an emphasis on the distribution models used. It presents the general characteristics (age, type of publisher, and theme) and analyzes the distribution model by studying the type of format (print or digital), the type of access (open access or subscription), and the technology platform used. The 549 journals analyzed (249 in Brazil and 300 in Spain) are included in the 2011 Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases. Data on each journal were collected directly from their websites between March and October 2012. Brazil has a fully open access distribution model (97%) in which few journals require payment by authors thanks to cultural, financial, operational, and technological support provided by public agencies. In Spain, open access journals account for 55% of the total and have also received support from public agencies, although to a lesser extent. These results show that there are systems support of open access in scientific journals other than the "author pays" model advocated by the Finch report for the United Kingdom.


Cigarette smoking is a very important public health problem globally, with patterns of smoking varying in different regions of the world. The negative impact of smoking on health is well known but the increasing rate of smoking amongst the youth including females is note worthy. The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of smoking in young Nigerian females with a view to defining the size of this social problem and outlining possible control measures. The setting for the study was secondary (post-primary) schools in Anambra State, South east of Nigeria. The study, a cross-sectional survey, involved eight (8) schools selected by multistage sampling technique. A Structured questionnaire was designed for the study. A total of 1,200 female secondary school students were involved. The mean age of the respondents was 16.06 +/- 1.36 years. The main religious denominations were Roman Catholic 69.7%, Anglicans 23.6%, Pentecostal 5.7%, Islam 0.4% and others 0.4%. Ninety two point seven percent (92.7%) were single, 2.9% were married and 4.4% engaged. Fifty seven point four percent (57.4%) were day students while 42.6% were boarders. Smoking prevalence was 7.7%. Smoking was started at the mean age of 12.6 +/- 3.8 years. The number of cigarettes smoked per day has a median of 2 sticks, Marital status significantly affected smoking prevalence as the married had more tendency to smoke than the unmarried. Though the number of day students who smoked were more than the boarders, the significance could not be demonstrated statistically due to the small number of subjects who smoke. Parents educational status did not show any significant influence on the smoking habit. We conclude that the prevalence of cigarette smoking in young Nigerian females is relatively low. Intervention at this stage will be timely but effective strategies to curb the habit will require identification of other factors that may be contributing to the social menace.


The effects of the cross-linking density on the static and dynamic properties of polymer networks are examined by using a molecular dynamics simulation based on a simple elastomer model. Simulation results indicate that the introduced cross-linking junctions show almost no effect on the static structure factor. The glass transition temperature T(g) increases slightly with the cross-linking density. By analyzing the mean square displacement of the monomers, the chain diffusion, and the incoherent intermediate dynamic structure factor phi(q)(s)(t) at the chain and segmental length scales, it is found that the mobilities of the monomers and chains are retarded and the relaxation behavior is hindered by the cross linking of polymers. Furthermore, the spatial localization of the monomers is also observed at a long time period for a highly cross-linked system. For the cross-linked system, the time-temperature superposition principle is valid at the segmental length scale but breaks down at the chain length scale. The effect of the cross-linking density on the terminal relaxation is investigated by the end-to-end vector correlation, which is well fitted to the Kohlrauch-William-Watts (KWW) or modified KWW functions. The characteristic relaxation time shows an approximately linear relationship with the cross-linking density. It is demonstrated that the relaxation behavior tends to broaden, attributed to the stronger intermolecular coupling or cooperativity induced by the cross linking, suggesting that the system with a higher cross-linking degree becomes more fragile. For the dynamic properties, the bond orientation and the end-to-end distance along the deformed direction, which is an indicator of the entropic change, and the nonbonded energy are examined during the deformation and relaxation processes, respectively. The results explore the molecular mechanism accounting for the residual stress in the stress relaxation of cross-linked elastomer networks.


Meat characteristics of Cobb-500 and Ross boiler strains in terms of histomorphometry of myocyte, fat tissue and connective tissue were studied. Two representative muscles from breast (Pectoralis thoracis and Supracoracoideus) and two from thigh (Ilitibialis lateralis and Iliotibialis cranialis) were selected. Thicker myofiber in breast and thinner myofiber in thigh were found in Ross strain. The perimysial thickness significantly differed among the muscles. The perimysial thickness of breast and thigh muscle at 28th day and thigh muscle at 35th day of Cob-500 were found higher that indicate more toughness of representative muscles. Thick and broad bundles of collagen fiber were observed in perimysium of Ilitibialis lateralis and thinner but broad bundles were in perimysium of Pectoralis thoracis muscle. At 35th day of age the endomysial thickness was found same in both strains but at 28th day of age it was higher in Cobb-500 than that of Ross strain. The intramuscular fat deposited mainly within perimysium as cluster and the number (per focus) and the size of adipocyte diameter was differed among the muscles. Adipocytes diameter was recorded highest (24.14±1.33 μ) in pectoralis thoracis muscle of Ross boiler and 22.01±1.74 μ second in position in Cobb-500. The lowest diameter 15.62±0.87 μ) was recorded in case of iliotibialis lataralis muscle of Ross boiler. Keywords: Age; Strain; Meat characteristics; Broiler DOI: 10.3329/jbau.v8i2.7936 J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 8(2): 265-269, 2010


Research guide to help education students, both graduate and undergraduate, locate examples of lesson plans for any subject area or discipline.


ABSTRACT Background: "Eight-and-a-half" syndrome is an unusual neuro-ophthalmic clinical entity which comprises of "one-and-a-half" syndrome (conjugated horizontal gaze palsy and internuclear ophthalmoplegia) with ipsilateral fascicular seventh cranial nerve palsy. This condition is caused by circumscribed lesions of the pontine tegmentum involving the abducens nucleus, the ipsilateral medial longitudinal fasciculus, and the adjacent fascial colliculus. Here, we report a case of "eight-and-a-half" syndrome.  Materials and Methods: Case Report  Result: A 62-year old gentleman with hypertension, diabetes mellitus and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation presented with sudden onset of binocular diplopia and facial asymmetry. Examination showed right eye exotropia at primary gaze. He had conjugate horizontal gaze palsy to the left. On right gaze, the patient had restricted left eye adduction with retained ability to abduct the right eye, which evoked a right horizontal nystagmus. Convergence with near fixation were spared. Vertical eye movements were also normal. In addition, he had left lower motor neuron facial weakness with no other neurological deficit. Computed tomography scan showed a left paramedian pontine infarct. A diagnosis of eight-and-a-half syndrome was made. The patient was referred to neuromedical team for treatment of acute stroke in which he was treated conservatively. Evaluation after 4 weeks showed slight improvement in adduction lag of the right eye.  Conclusion: Our patient presented with the unique combination of left sided horizontal one-and-a-half syndrome and lower motor neuron seventh cranial nerve palsy. Combination of these signs (seven plus one-and-a-half) is known as eight-and-a-half syndrome. Recognition of the spectrum of eight-an-a-half syndrome allows precise anatomic localisation of the lesion to pontine tegmentum region. Keywords: eight-and-a-half syndrome, one-and-a-half syndrome, internuclear ophthalmoplegia, pontine infarct, pontine tegmentum


The serine/threonine kinase Akt/PKB (protein kinase B) is key for mammalian cell growth, survival, metabolism and oncogenic transformation. The diverse level and tissue expression of its three isoforms, Akt1/PKBα, Akt2/PKBβ and Akt3/PKBγ, make it daunting to identify isoform-specific actions in vivo and even in isolated tissues/cells. To date, isoform-specific knockout and knockdown have been the best strategies to dissect their individual overall functions. In a recent article in the Biochemical Journal, Kajno et al. reported a new strategy to study isoform selectivity in cell lines. Individual Akt/PKB isoforms in 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes are first silenced via shRNA and stable cellular clones lacking one or the other isoform are selected. The stably silenced isoform is then replaced by a mutant engineered to be refractory to inhibition by MK-2206 (Akt1(W80A) or Akt2(W80A)). Akt1(W80A) or Akt2(W80A) are functional and effectively recruited to the plasma membrane in response to insulin. The system affords the opportunity to acutely control the activity of the endogenous non-silenced isoform through timely addition of MK-2206. Using this approach, it is confirmed that Akt1/PKBα is the preferred isoform sustaining adipocyte differentiation, but both Akt1/PKBα and Akt2/PKBβ can indistinctly support insulin-dependent FoxO1 (forkhead box O1) nuclear exclusion. Surprisingly, either isoform can also support insulin-dependent glucose transporter (GLUT) 4 translocation to the membrane, in contrast with the preferential role of Akt2/PKBβ assessed by knockdown studies. The new strategy should allow analysis of the plurality of Akt/PKB functions in other cells and in response to other stimuli. It should also be amenable to high-throughput studies to speed up advances in signal transmission by this pivotal kinase.


The primary site of ozone interaction with plant cells is the extracellular matrix where ozone challenges the antioxidant protection of the cells. Accordingly, ozone sensitivity generally correlates with the ascorbate status of the apoplast, which is an important signal initiation point. In addition, ozone sensing takes place by covalent modification of redox-sensitive components of the plasma membrane, for example ion channels like the plasma membrane Ca2+-channels. Subsequent intracellular signal transduction is an intriguing network of hormone, Ca2+ and MAPK signalling pathways, significantly overlapping with oxidative burst-induced pathogen signalling. Comparison of recent transcriptome analysis revealed that in addition to genes generally induced by all kinds of oxidative stress, for example, transcripts for PR-proteins and most antioxidant enzymes, approximately one-third of the responsive transcripts are ozone specific, indicating jasmonic acid, salicylic acid and ethylene-independent redox signalling triggered by extracellular redox sensing.


Abstract West Kerry storyteller Seán Mac Criomhthain (1873-1955) was born almost a quarter-century after the Great Irish Famine. Nevertheless, his upbringing occurred in a context which included both overt and covert references to the kinds of sectarian divisions which initially had contributed to the famine, and which later were entrenched by it. Sectarian division in the Irish context expressed itself primarily via denominational attachment, and to a lesser extent, along linguistic lines. Such divisions were explored across the country through traditional lore and through song; and in the specific repertoire of Seán Mac Criomhthain, through the medium of a mellifluous 'brand' of Munster Irish for which the Corca Dhuibhne peninsula has since become renowned. This article attempts to describe attitudes to sectarian division in the evidence of Mac Criomhthain's repertoire. With extensive reference to a composition translated for the first time to English, it will be argued that concerns of immediate social pragmatism are afforded much greater importance than those of denominational or linguistic attachments.


One current initiative used by many police agencies across the United States to foster better police-community relations is the Citizen's Police Academy (CPA). While CPAs lack a precise academic definition, they can be considered to be a planned programme created by law enforcement agencies to educate their citizens on police operations and management. Over the last 20 years, CPA programmes have rapidly expanded among police agencies in the United States, where it is estimated that approximately 15% of all police agencies have some type of these programmes. This article expands upon the limited research on CPAs by analysing their impact on attendees. Specifically, this article explores changes in the attitudes of 48 CPA attendees who completed a 12-week/36-hour CPA programme at a Sheriff's Department in the state of Michigan. Based on the analysis of pre- and post-test responses, this study found that this particular CPA had a positive impact on the attendees' attitudes towards the police, and their understanding of police operations, crime, and quality-of-life issues in their community.


In the present paper, three centrifugal stages of high volume flow coefficient are compared to each-other regarding their aerodynamic performance in design point and off-design point conditions at different speed and IGV-setting angle: two stages with full-blade design (no splitter blades) have been numerically designed with different design geometry methodology. One geometry is based on a classical ruling surface design with a linear leading edge, the second geometry based on a fully-3d surface including a blade bow at the trailing edge and a barreled sweep at the leading edge. According to impeller test rig measurements and CFD-calculation, the classical ruling surface designed impeller outperforms the more sophisticated centrifugal stage with fully-3D-blade at fully axially guided IGV-flow. In the contrary, at closing IGV-off-design setting angles, towards surge operation, the fully-3D-blade-impeller performs with higher efficiency and steeper negative pressure slope. On the search of the geometrical causes for the different aerodynamic performance (especially at IGV-off-design conditions), focus is set on the analysis of IGV-flow-interaction with the inducer flow, and impeller diffusion. The one-dimensional -analysis of the span-wise flow at the impeller leading edge reveals that, compared with the ruling surface impeller, the fully 3D-blade performs with lower flow incidence losses in favor to IGV-off-design operation than at IGV-neutral position. The stream-wise flow analysis confirms the improved flow incidence characteristics of the 3D-blade impeller due to reduction of aerodynamic blockage and entropy production in the vicinity of the impeller leading edge. Based on CFD-calculations, a new correlation of secondary flow and flow incidence is proposed, to be used for one-dimensional modelling.


A numerical study is presented for boundary layer flow and heat transfer of micropolar (non-Newtonian) fluid from a stretching/shrinking sheet in the presence of melting and viscous heating. In this study the velocity of ambient fluid and stretching/shrinking velocity vary linearly with the distance from the stagnation-point. A uniform magnetic field is applied normal to the sheet and moves with the free stream as encountered in certain magnetic materials processing systems. Using similarity transformations, the governing partial differential equations are transformed into a system of coupled, nonlinear ordinary differential equations. A variational finite element code is implemented to solve the resulting dimensionless boundary value problem. The influence of magnetic body force (M), stretching/shrinking () and melting (Me) parameters on velocity, microrotation, temperature, surface shear stress function (skin-friction) and local Nusselt number are elaborated in detail. Velocity is decreased with a rise in melting parameter, whereas far from the wall microrotation is reduced and furthermore temperatures are depressed. The flow is accelerated, micro-rotation (angular velocity of micro-elements) increased and temperature enhanced with increasing stretching rate ( > 0) whereas the converse behaviour is observed with increasing shrinking rate ( < 0). Increasing magnetic parameter is found to both increase temperatures and to accelerate the flow whereas it reduces microrotation near the wall and enhances it further from the wall. Special cases of the present model (with magnetic, dissipative and melting effects negated) are benchmarked with earlier results from the literature and found to be in excellent agreement. Excellent convergence and stability is achieved with the numerical method.


JCO criticality accident/Neutron transport/Neutron induced activity/Monte-Carlo/MORSE A transport calculation of the neutrons leaked to the environment by the JCO criticality accident was carried out based on three-dimensional geometrical models of the buildings within the JCO territory. Our work started from an initial step to simulate the leakage process of neutrons from the precipitation tank, and proceeded to a step to calculate the neutron propagation throughout the JCO facilities. The total fission number during the accident in the precipitation tank was evaluated to be 2.5 × 10 by comparing the calculated neutron-induced activities per U fission with the measured values in a stainless-steel net sample taken 2 m from the precipitation tank. Shield effects by various structures within the JCO facilities were evaluated by comparing the present results with a previous calculation using two-dimensional models which suppose a point source of the fission spectrum in the air above the ground without any shield structures. The shield effect by the precipitation tank, itself, was obtained to be a factor of 3. The shield factor by the conversion building varied between 1.1 and 2, depending on the direction from the building. The shield effect by the surrounding buildings within the JCO territory was between 1 and 5, also depending on the direction.


Summary

1. The behaviour of wildland fire in spatially heterogeneous landscapes was simulated using a model (PYROCART) that integrates the Rothermel fire spread model and a geographic information system (GIS).

2. The principal aims of the research were to test the applicability of overseas fire behaviour models to New Zealand ecosystems, and to assess the applicability of GIS to fire spread prediction.

3. The model was validated using an uncontrolled fire that occurred in the Cass Basin, South Island, New Zealand in May 1995. This fire burnt 580 ha across a complex vegetation mosaic comprising shrubland, stands of Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioides, bog and tussockland.

4. The overall predictive accuracy of the model was estimated to be 80%. Prediction accuracies within different fuel types and slope angles are also presented. Fuel type and slope appeared to be the dominant influences on fire spread. No trends in prediction accuracy by wind speed or direction were apparent. The predicted burnt area and the real burnt area had a similar overall shape. It was found, however, that at high wind speeds the model tended to over-predict rates of fire spread in some directions.

5. The PYROCART model shows potential as a land management tool, especially for the testing of hypotheses concerning land management strategies. However, due to the complex input data and parameterization techniques it requires, it is less suitable for in situ fire management.


Debonding problems of externally bonded fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets in flexurally FRP-strengthened reinforced concrete (RC) beams have been a concern and a research challenge since their application of this strengthening technique. Intermediate crack induced debonding is the most common failure mode which is that the debonding initiates at the critical flexural-shear or flexural cracks and propagates towards the direction of moment decrease. To mitigate debonding failure, most Codes and proposed models take the method by limiting the allowable tensile strain in FRP laminates. This paper presents experimental tests of concrete beams flexurally strengthened with externally bonded CFRP sheets to investigate debonding initiation and tensile strain of FRP laminates. The allowable tensile strain of FRP sheets in flexurally FRP-strengthened RC beams proposed by prevalent Code provisions and models was assessed based on the data obtained from experimental programs. It has beenshown that the allowable tensile strains provided by these provisions and models have a great difference with that of experimental results and exhibit a high level of dispersion. Furthermore, the FRP laminates of most tested RC beams were debonded before reaching the proposed allowable tensile strain. The Code provisions and models are inadequate to effectively prevent intermediate crack induced debonding failure in flexurally FRP-strengthened RC members. This is known to be a critical issue in engineering design and application of RC beams flexurally strengthened by FRP sheets.


Background:
 There is increasing evidence that vitamin D deficiency is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Cell-based therapy using adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is an attractive option for endothelial layer regeneration post-angioplasty procedures. Vitamin D levels in circulating blood might regulate MSC based re-endothelialization of injured arteries. To our knowledge, the presence of vitamin D machinery in porcine MSCs is not yet reported. In this study, we investigated whether or not MSCs possess vitamin D machinery, including the expression levels of vitamin D receptor (VDR), vitamin D metabolizing enzymes (CYP24A1 and CYP27B1) after in vitro stimulation with active vitamin D, calcitriol.

 Methods and Results:
 MSCs isolated from porcine adipose tissue were characterized by positive staining for MSC markers CD44, CD73, CD90, and negative staining for macrophage marker CD11b and hematopoietic stem cell markers, CD34 and CD45; and by tri-lineage differentiation to osteocytes, chondrocytes, and adipocytes. No cytotoxicity was observed when MSCs were stimulated with 0.1-10nM calcitriol. The MSCs were analyzed for mRNA and protein expression of CYP24A1, CYP27B1 and VDR by immunostaining, qPCR and ELISA (n=6). A significant increase (p<0.01) in mRNA transcripts of CYP24A1, CYP27B1 and VDR was observed after stimulation of MSCs with calcitriol (10nM). The in vitro time-dependent effect of calcitriol (10nM) on the vitamin D machinery on cultured MSCs was determined by qPCR after stimulation for 0, 3, 6, 12, and 24h. The VDR and CYP27B1 expression peaked at 3h, and CYP24A1 at 24h, respectively. The in vitro biosynthesis of 1,25(OH)2D3 by ADMSCs was analyzed by ELISA and Western blot. The expression of the active form of vitamin D was significantly decreased (p<0.01) upon inhibition of CYP enzymes.

 Conclusion:
 Porcine MSCs possess vitamin D hydrolases and VDR to metabolize and respond to vitamin D. Hence, in vivo circulating 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels may have a significant role in regulating the differentiation of adipose MSCs into endothelial cells, and thus could be helpful in stem cell based re-endothelialization post-angioplasty.


The nonlinear random vibration of functionally graded plates under random excitation is presented. Material properties are assumed to be independent of temperature. The plates are assumed to have isotropic, two-constituent material distribution through the thickness. The modulus of elasticity, thermal expansion coefficient and density vary according to a power-law distribution in terms of the volume fractions of the constituents. The Classical Plate Theory (CPT) is employed for analytical formulations. Geometric nonlinearity due to in-plane stretching and von Karman type is considered. A Monte Carlo simulation of stationary random processes, multi-mode Galerkin-like approach, and numerical integration procedures are used to develop linear and nonlinear response solutions of clamped functionally graded plates. Uniform temperature distributions through the plate are assumed. Numerical results include time domain response histories, root mean square (RMS) values and response spectral densities. Effects of material composition and temperature rise are also investigated.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


The present study identified patient (n = 86) and nursing staff (n = 73) perceptions of most and least important caring behaviours. Using a Swedish version of the CARE-Q instrument or a free rating scale, patients ranked items concerned with giving honest and clear information and competent clinical expertise as most important. The nursing staff ranked expressive/affective behaviours as most important. There were significant differences between the two groups in the ranking of 14-30 out of 50 specific behaviours and in 3-5 out of 6 subscales. Patient and staff ratings did not differ appreciably between the methods used, with the exception that staff gave much higher ratings to most items in the free response format. Patients were more discriminating in the importance they assigned to the various items.


The spatial and temporal changes in climatic attributes will affect the biology and ecology of vectors and consequently the risk of disease transmission. Therefore periodic analysis of the changes in climatic conditions with respect to the changes in frequency, diversity and distribution of vectors on a regional basis is a prerequisite for ensuring public health and sanitation. In this perspective, the present study has been attempted to assess the diversity, distribution and abundance of mosquito vectors from Ponnani municipal area of Malappuram district with respect to two seasons. The study gains significance as this area is noted to have repeated outbreaks of filariasis in recent years. Sampling of both larvae and adult mosquitoes were carried out from heterogeneous habitats of Ponnani municipal area to determine the species composition, relative abundance and habitat characteristics. Mosquito larvae collected from temporary and permanent breeding sites such as canals, ponds, drains, rice fields etc. were reared to adults in the laboratory for species level identification. Similarly adult mosquitoes, collected from heterogeneous locations during morning and evening times were also subjected to species level identification following standard manuals. Diversity studies on the adult mosquitoes showed higher species diversity during post monsoon season (6 species belonging to 2 genera) than pre monsoon season (4 species belonging to 2 genera). However a reversal in species diversity has been noticed with mosquito larvae, with higher species diversity during Premonsoon season (9 species belonging to 4 genera) than Post monsoon season (7 species belonging to 4 genera). Dissection and subsequent microscopic observation on adult female Culex quinquefaciatus noted the absence of filarial parasites in both the seasons.


The microstructure evolution of Ti-Al peretectic system in transient stage and steady state in directional solidification was predicted via theoretical analysis. The solute distribution controlled by diffusion at and ahead the solid-liquid interface will determine whether the properitectic and peritectic phases can nucleate and grow ahead of the opposing solid phase. The formation of banding structure is possible in a certain composition range. At the steady state, a microstructure selection map was set up based on interface response function model. The microstructure of TiAl alloys with different aluminum content was studied with Bridgman directional solidification method. Some evidence in the experiment has been found to support the theoretical prediction.


The concept of covert channels has been visited frequently by academia in a quest to analyse their occurrence and prevention in trusted systems. This has lead to a wide variety of approaches being developed to prevent and identify such channels and implement applicable countermeasures. However, little of this research has actually trickled down into the field of operational security management and risk analysis. Quite recently a number of covert channels and enabling tools have appeared that did have a significant impact on the operational security of organizations. This paper identifies a number of those channels and shows the relative ease with which new ones can be devised. It identifies how risk management processes do not take this upcoming threat into account and suggests where improvements would be helpful.


Presented is a newly developed MEMS probe-card with the technical requirements from Sino IC Technology Co. Ltd. for dies-under-test (DUT) of 8-inch wafers. By a double-sided metal overlapping scheme, electric feed-through is realized from the probe-tips at bottom to the automatic testing equipment (ATE) interface at topside. A recessed concave-step is formed to automatically isolate the adjacent probes when metal is sputtered on the cantilever-tips. A MEMS probe-card with nearly 100 silicon probes for simultaneously testing two dies is fabricated with bulk micromachining technology. Preliminary measurement shows below 1 /spl Omega/ resistance for the feed-through electric connection from the tip to the wire-bonding pad.


Two patients with orbital hypotelorism, flat nose, and bilateral lateral cleft of lip and palate with a hypoplastic philtrumpremaxilla Anlage are described. Both patients had holoprosencephaly (arhinencephaly), a brain defect characterized by an arrest in prosencephalic cleavage with no or incomplete proplasia of frontal poles and olfactory bulbs. The two patients are an intermediate stage in a graded series of median facio-cerebral malformations which begins with cyclopia, and then, as face and brain transform toward normality, extends through ethmocephaly, cebocephaly, median cleft lip, and the two patients presented here. The facies of these patients are diagnostic of the type of brain malformation. Careful attention to face-brain relationships will significantly extend the number oif diagnostic facies which currently can be recognized. Physiological defects include poikilothermia, apnea, seizures, rigidity, and lack of psychomotor development.
 Useful diagnostic studies include skull roentgenograms to show orbital hypotelorism and absent crista galli, electroencephalography, dermatoglyphics, chromosome studies, and sometimes pneumoencephalography.
 Some holoprosencephalic patients, such as our first patient, who have few or no extracephalic malformations, have a 46 chromosome karyotype. Others, such as Patient 2, have many extracephalic anomalies. The literature suggests that the latter patients are apt to have 13-15 trisomy. The face predicts the holoprosencephalic brain irrespective of extracephalic anomalies or karyotype.


We have performed for the first time a complete $r$-process mass sensitivity study in the $N=82$ region. We take into account how an uncertainty in a single nuclear mass propagates to influence important quantities of neighboring nuclei, including Q-values and reaction rates. We demonstrate that nuclear mass uncertainties of $\pm0.5$ MeV in the $N=82$ region result in up to an order of magnitude local change in $r$-process abundance predictions. We identify key nuclei in the study whose mass has a substantial impact on final $r$-process abundances and could be measured at future radioactive beam facilities.


Increasing interest rates, skyrocketing energy prices, too much money chasing too few good deals and a failure to address fundamentally flawed business strategies—all of these factors may be hastening a day of reckoning for private equity fund portfolios. This article by Ronald A. Norelli, chairman with The Norelli Group, a strategy development and management firm specializing in service to private equity groups, shows how the next 18 months could well become a day of reckoning as the threats of higher interest rates, increased energy costs and too much debt exerts pressure on highly-leveraged companies in the portfolios of private equity firms.


The recent economic recession of 2009 had a significant 'knock-on' effect on container shipping causing a remarkable decline of TEU's handled in seaports on a world scale. This is primarily attributed to the slump in the global economy. The fortunes of the container shipping sector (and hence ports) coincide almost directly with global trade developments. Empirical studies aiming to interpret the relationship of container ports throughput, macroeconomic and, shipping developments remain quite limited. The present study builds on the well-established theory of business cycle synchronicity, which takes into account the macroeconomic co-movements of the contemporary globalized economic environment. This study strives to generate knowledge on the extent that major macroeconomic (such as GDP, industrial production, bilateral trade and financial openness) and shipping (fleet development and transportation cost) variables, affect container ports throughput. In addition the study employs a panel data analysis and uses dynamic Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM) techniques to reach meaningful conclusions. The sample covers a period of sixteen years (1995- 2010) and includes 36 ports from 25 countries. Moreover, typical market structures were isolated and tested in detail.


with Down's syndrome was 25. With Wald and colleagues' screening test, the number of Down's syndrome babies detected was 12. With screening by maternal age > 37 years alone, the number detected could have been 7 out of 25. These proportions are not significantly different (Fisher's exact test p=0-24; odds ratio 2-37; 95% confidence interval 0 73 to 7 68). Even with the different uptake of amniocentesis in the two groups-that is, 75% for all ages and 63% for those ¢ 37 yearsthere was still no significant difference in the result (p=0-2; odds ratio 2-95 (0 77 to 11-3)). Only 4 9% of women were aged ¢ 37 years; the confidential enquiries into maternal deaths in the United Kingdom 1985-7 reported that 8% of pregnant women were over 352 and in our hospital in 1991 the proportion ¢ 37 years was 9-2%. This proportion is likely to rise as women delay their families for personal and financial reasons, and as this proportion rises the detection rates from the triple test and from maternal age alone will become even more similar. In any particular district the cost of introducing this programme will depend on the proportion of women ¢ 37 years; in addition, many authorities (including our own) have now abandoned co fetoprotein testing, relying for neural tube defect screening on ultrasonography alone, and the cost of reintroducing this test would need to be accounted for in the calculations.


Bacterial infections caused by antibiotic-resistant isolates have become a major health problem in recent years, since they are very difficult to treat, leading to an increase in morbidity and mortality. Fosfomycin is a broad-spectrum bactericidal antibiotic that inhibits cell wall biosynthesis in both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. This antibiotic has a unique mechanism of action and inhibits the initial step in peptidoglycan biosynthesis by blocking the enzyme, MurA. Fosfomycin has been used successfully for the treatment of urinary tract infections for a long time, but the increased emergence of antibiotic resistance has made fosfomycin a suitable candidate for the treatment of infections caused by multidrug-resistant pathogens, especially in combination with other therapeutic partners. The acquisition of fosfomycin resistance could threaten the reintroduction of this antibiotic for the treatment of bacterial infection. Here, we analyse the mechanism of action and molecular mechanisms for the development of fosfomycin resistance, including the modification of the antibiotic target, reduced antibiotic uptake and antibiotic inactivation. In addition, we describe the role of each pathway in clinical isolates.


This textbook is based on the MOOC Responsible Innovation offered by the TU Delft. It provides a framework to reflect on the ethics and risks of new technologies. How can we make sure that innovations do justice to social and ethical values? How can we minimize (unknown)risks? The book explains: •The concept and importance of responsible innovation for society •Key ethical concepts and considerations to analyse the risks of new technologies •Different types of innovation (e.g. radical, niche, incremental, frugal) •Roadmap for Responsible Innovation by Industry •The concept of Value Sensitive Design (VSD) It includes a link to all the web lectures as well as case studies ranging from care robots and nuclear energy to Artificial Intelligence and self-driving vehicles.


Tonality is the organization of pitches, both simultaneously and across time, so that certain pitches and chords are heard as attracted, in varying degrees, to other pitches and chords. Most art music from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, and popular music to the present day, is heavily steeped in a musical language that makes use of tonality to define a 'central' most attractive pitch or chord called the tonic. It is widely thought that the feelings of expectancy and resolution induced by movements towards and away from the tonic allow composers to imbue tonal music with meaning and emotion.

In this dissertation, I identify and model some of the innate processes by which feelings of tension, resolution, stability, and so forth, are induced by successions of pitches and chords, irrespective of their harmonic consonance. By innate, I mean processes that do not require the learning of a musical corpus—such processes are important because they provide explanations for why tonal music, and our cognition of it, take the specific forms they do.

To do this, I introduce a novel family of mathematical methods—metrics applied to expectation tensors—for calculating the similarity of pitch collections. Importantly, such tensors can represent not just the notated pitches of tones, but also their spectral pitches (their harmonics). I then demonstrate how these techniques can be used to model participants' ratings of the fits of tones in microtonal melodies, and the fits of all twelve chromatic pitches to an established key centre (Krumhansl's probe tone data). The techniques can also be generalized to predict the tonics of any arbitrarily chosen scale—even scales with unfamiliar tunings.

In summary, I demonstrate that psychoacoustic processes, which are innate and universal, play an important role in our cognition of tonality.


Resting state fMRI (RSfMRI) and arterial spin labeling (ASL) provide the field of pharmacological Neuroimaging tool for investigating states of brain activity in terms of functional connectivity or cerebral blood flow (CBF). Functional connectivity reflects the degree of synchrony or correlation of spontaneous fluctuations—mostly in the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal—across brain networks; but CBF reflects mean delivery of arterial blood to the brain tissue over time. The BOLD and CBF signals are linked to common neurovascular and hemodynamic mechanisms that necessitate increased oxygen transportation to the site of neuronal activation; however, the scale and the sources of variation in static CBF and spatiotemporal BOLD correlations are likely different. We tested this hypothesis by examining the relation between CBF and resting‐state‐network consistency (RSNC)—representing average intranetwork connectivity, determined from dual regression analysis with eight standard networks of interest (NOIs)—in a crossover placebo‐controlled study of morphine and alcohol. Overall, we observed spatially heterogeneous relations between RSNC and CBF, and between the experimental factors (drug‐by‐time, time, drug and physiological rates) and each of these metrics. The drug‐by‐time effects on CBF were significant in all networks, but significant RSNC changes were limited to the sensorimotor, the executive/salience and the working memory networks. The post‐hoc voxel‐wise statistics revealed similar dissociations, perhaps suggesting differential sensitivity of RSNC and CBF to neuronal and vascular endpoints of drug actions. The spatial heterogeneity of RSNC/CBF relations encourages further investigation into the role of neuroreceptor distribution and cerebrovascular anatomy in predicting spontaneous fluctuations under drugs. Hum Brain Mapp 35:929–942, 2014. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


A new method has been developed to discriminate sand from shale, from P-wave velocity, S-wave velocity, and density values obtained from elastic seismic inversion without well control. The method, based on empirical or semiempirical principles, has been tested with well data in thick Tertiary clastic columns in the Gulf of Mexico, where the input data (compressional and shear sonic logs and bulk density) are of good quality and where there is a lithology log to verify results. The method cannot be applied to gas-bearing sands. Gas sands should be separated prior to application of the method using, for instance, the V P /V S values as a criterion. A preliminary discrimination of sand from shale in areas without well control is indeed a useful exploration tool. It is also very useful in pore-pressure calculations in which, ideally, only shale points should be used to determine the normal compaction trend.


We present a computational protocol for inference of regulatory and signaling pathways in a microbial cell, through mining "high-throughput" biological data of various types, literature search, and computer-assisted human inference. This protocol consists of four key components: (a) construction of template pathways for microbial genomes related to the target genome, which have either been thoroughly studied or had a significant amount of relevant experimental data, (b) inference of target pathways for the target genome, by combining the template pathway models and target genome-specific information, (c) assignment of genes of the target genome to each individual functional roles in the pathway model, and (d) validation and refinement of the pathway models using pathway-specific experimental data or other information. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this procedure, we have applied this computational protocol to the construction of the phosphorus assimilation pathways in synechococcus WH8102. In this paper, we present a model of the core component of this pathway and provide our justification in support of the predicted model.


Despite the well-known importance to human society and environment, the deforestation and degradation of forests continues at an alarming rate. The many efforts made in the past to reduce the loss and destruction of forests, have had no significant impact on the negative development of forest areas. In the light of global climate change, the role of forests as the largest terrestrial carbon reservoir and in the global carbon cycle has gained relevance. A new mechanism to reduce the deforestation and degradation of tropical forests called REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) was introduced to the climate negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Montreal in 2005. REDD aims to assign a monetary value to the carbon stored in forests and to reward developing countries for the reduction of their deforestation and forest degradation rates. Since the first submission, the debate on scientific, political and public levels has led to many valuable amendments to the initial proposal, including the integration of the conservation of forest carbon stocks, the sustainable management of forests and the enhancement of forest carbon stocks, nowadays termed REDD+. While the initial concept of REDD appears simple, its implementation requires the careful harmonization of a multitude of topics. The following comprehensive summary presents the major topics that need to be considered for a successful implementation of REDD+.
One of these topics is the establishment of a Measuring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system. The three articles that constitute this cumulative dissertation focus on the development and characteristics of a MRV system to assess changes in forest area and forest carbon stock.
The first part of the comprehensive summary presents the thematic context of the three articles. This thematic context consists of the major topics associated with the implementation of REDD+. It introduces the initial concept of REDD and presents main terms and definitions. Then, the 'Framework of REDD+' focuses on the 'Drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation', the implementation of REDD+ as a 'Phased Approach', the 'Financial Aspects of REDD+', the possibilities and implications of setting 'Forest reference (emission) levels' and the 'Safeguards', concluded by explanations of 'Additionality, Permanence and Leakage'. After this, the summary presents the 'Core issues of REDD+ for the thesis'. These are 'Deforestation', 'Forest Degradation', 'Measuring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) for REDD+' and 'Uncertainties'. These issues form the pillars on which the three articles of this cumulative dissertation are based.
The second part of the comprehensive summary integrates the three articles into the thematic context. The first article focusses on the development and implementation of a combined inventory approach for REDD+. It demonstrates how reliable estimates of forest carbon stocks and its changes over time can be made with the introduced methodology. The second article analyses the influence of uncertainties and monitoring costs on the accountability of emission reductions. It shows that uncertainties may outweigh successful efforts in the reduction of emission and that the influence of uncertainties on the successful implementation of REDD+ is higher than the influence of the price paid per ton of carbon. The third article focuses on the influence of uncertainties at two points in time and different sizes of forest degradation areas on accountable emission reductions. It shows that rules for the propagation of uncertainties from one period to another are needed and that the size of forest degradation areas has a major impact on the accountability of emission reductions. Each article is presented with a short summary of the applied methods and gained results, followed by a discussion of the respective article in the thematic context, showing the implications and recommendations of the findings for the issues presented in the first part.
On the basis of the articles and their discussion in the thematic context, specific conclusions on the capabilities and the deficiencies of terrestrial forest inventory systems in the assessment of forest degradation in the scope of REDD+ are drawn. The first part of the conclusions shows that terrestrial forest inventory techniques are capable of assessing and estimating forest degradation, and readily available for the implementation of a MRV system. The second part shows that there are deficiencies in the applicability of these techniques such as high costs or difficulties in assessing remote areas and that terrestrial forest inventories alone cannot provide the required level of completeness for a credible MRV system. The comprehensive summary is completed by a general conclusion on ways to overcome the remaining deficiencies.
The complete versions of the three articles are attached in the Annex.


This research is on the comparative study of the intention to accept and use ICT among university academic staff of Adamawa State University (ADSU) and Lagos state University (LASU). 100 UTAUT survey questionnaires were administered to each of the university. The data collected was runned by SPSS version 17. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model theory was verified using regression analysis to understand the behavioral intention of ADSU and LASU academic staff to accept and use ICT in their workplace. By comparing ADSU and LASU, the study confirms that UTAUT model predict successful acceptance of ICT usage in both universities. The regression results show that the most influential predictor of academic staff intention to accept and use ICT in ADSU is Effort expectancy (EE), while that of LASU is Performance expectancy (PE). The study further confirms that in both institutions some of the academicians are still having the fear of using ICT for their teaching and learning. The comparison also shows that both ADSU and LASU do not have intention to reject ICT acceptance and usage in their workplace. Again the findings reveals that, the most influential construct outside UTAUT model influencing the behavioral intention of the academic staff to accept and use ICT in ADSU and LASU is attitudes towards use of technology. The knowledge gained from this study is beneficiary to the University administrators, academic staff and the Nigerian ICT policy makers.


Unlike natural images, medical images often have intrinsic characteristics that can be leveraged for neural network learning. For example, images that belong to different stages of a disease may continuously follow a certain progression pattern. In this paper, we propose a novel method that leverages disease progression learning for medical image recognition. In our method, sequences of images ordered by disease stages are learned by a neural network that consists of a shared vision model for feature extraction and a long short-term memory network for the learning of stage sequences. Auxiliary vision outputs are also included to capture stage features that tend to be discrete along the disease progression. Our proposed method is evaluated on a public diabetic retinopathy dataset, and achieves about 3.3% improvement in disease staging accuracy, compared to the baseline method that does not use disease progression learning.


Haloperidol is a first-generation antipsychotic drug that has several indications in a wide range of mental conditions. The extensive prescription of haloperidol is correlated with some less-known adverse effects such as genotoxicity. Carvacrol is a monoterpenoid mainly found in oregano and thyme. It has the potential to scavenge free radicals in addition to increasing antioxidant defense enzyme activities and glutathione levels. In this study, we attempted to explore the possible potential of haloperidol in inducing genotoxicity in human peripheral lymphocytes as well as the protective role of carvacrol against this effect. The lymphocytes were divided into separate groups as follows: control group (cosolvent and NS); carvacrol group (5 μM); haloperidol group (25, 50, and 100 ng/ml); haloperidol (25, 50, and 100 ng/ml) + carvacrol (5 μM); positive control (0.8 μg/ml Cisplatin). After 24 hours of treatment, we conducted a cytokinesis-Block micronucleus test and an alkaline comet assay in order to determine genetic damage. Additionally, we measured glutathione and MDA levels as the biomarkers associated with oxidative stress. Significant increases in the levels of genotoxicity biomarkers (micronucleus frequency, DNA percentage in tail and tail moment) were observed in haloperidol-treated cells. The result of our oxidative stress tests also demonstrated that haloperidol had the potential to induce oxidative stress via reducing the levels of glutathione and increasing lipid peroxidation. Treatment with carvacrol significantly decreased the genotoxic events. It can be presumed that the induction of oxidative stress by haloperidol is the critical event associated with haloperidol-mediated genotoxicity. Therefore, using carvacrol as a natural antioxidant protected human lymphocytes against haloperidol genetic damage.


Thirty patients were admitted to the Anti-Poison Center of Marseille, France, on the fifth day of ciguatera fish poisoning due to ingestion of the same barracuda in Mexico. The purpose of this prospective study conducted during management of this group was to identify prognostic factors and evaluate the efficacy of treatment using mannitol. Upon admission severity was individually scored based on clinical findings. Twenty-two patients exhibiting the highest severity scores were immediately treated by infusion of 250 ml of 20% mannitol within one hour. These patients presented low plasma cholinesterase levels. Treatment led to transient improvement mainly with regard to cramping and digestive manifestations. All patients who presented high severity scores upon admission reported persistent manifestations lasting between 1 and 7 months. In 6 of these patients symptoms recurred after ingestion of seafood and/or alcohol. The fact that the extent of clinical symptoms in terms of severity and duration was correlated with the amount of fish ingested confirms that ciguatera poisoning is dose-dependent in man. However cholinesterase levels were not correlated with the severity of clinical manifestations.


MOTIVATION
Identifying functional relation of copy number variation regions (CNVRs) and gene is an essential process in understanding the impact of genotypic variations on phenotype. There have been many related works, but only a few attempts were made to normal populations.

RESULTS
To analyze the functions of genome-wide CNVRs, we applied a novel correlation measure called Correlation based on Sample Set (CSS) to paired Whole Genome TilePath array and messenger RNA (mRNA) microarray data from 210 HapMap individuals with normal phenotypes and calculated the confident CNVR-gene relationships. Two CNVR nodes form an edge if they regulate a common set of genes, allowing the construction of a global CNVR network. We performed functional enrichment on the common genes that were trans-regulated from CNVRs clustered together in our CNVR network. As a result, we observed that most of CNVR clusters in our CNVR network were reported to be involved in some biological processes or cellular functions, while most CNVR clusters from randomly constructed CNVR networks showed no evidence of functional enrichment. Those results imply that CSS is capable of finding related CNVR-gene pairs and CNVR networks that have functional significance.

AVAILABILITY
http://embio.yonsei.ac.kr/~ Park/cnv_net.php.

CONTACT
firstname.lastname@example.com

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.


Explore various approaches to organize and extract useful text from unstructured data using Java
Key Features
Use deep learning and NLP techniques in Java to discover hidden insights in text

Work with popular Java libraries such as CoreNLP, OpenNLP, and Mallet

Explore machine translation, identifying parts of speech, and topic modeling
Book Description
Natural Language Processing (NLP) allows you to take any sentence and identify patterns, special names, company names, and more. The second edition of Natural Language Processing with Java teaches you how to perform language analysis with the help of Java libraries, while constantly gaining insights from the outcomes.

You'll start by understanding how NLP and its various concepts work. Having got to grips with the basics, you'll explore important tools and libraries in Java for NLP, such as CoreNLP, OpenNLP, Neuroph, and Mallet. You'll then start performing NLP on different inputs and tasks, such as tokenization, model training, parts-of-speech and parsing trees. You'll learn about statistical machine translation, summarization, dialog systems, complex searches, supervised and unsupervised NLP, and more.

By the end of this book, you'll have learned more about NLP, neural networks, and various other trained models in Java for enhancing the performance of NLP applications.

What you will learn
Understand basic NLP tasks and how they relate to one another

Discover and use the available tokenization engines

Apply search techniques to find people, as well as things, within a document

Construct solutions to identify parts of speech within sentences

Use parsers to extract relationships between elements of a document

Identify topics in a set of documents

Explore topic modeling from a document
Who this book is for
Natural Language Processing with Java is for you if you are a data analyst, data scientist, or machine learning engineer who wants to extract information from a language using Java. Knowledge of Java programming is needed, while a basic understanding of statistics will be useful but not mandatory.


ST Abstract Background & Aim: Hypertensive disorders have been the most important issues in obstetrics. It seems that the risk factors of preeclampsia are not recognized well. However, depression and maternal anxiety could be the mental aspects of the risk factors in preeclamsia in recent times. The present study conducted to determine the association between maternal anxiety and occurance of preeclampsia, in primigravid women, admitting in clinics of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Material & Methoed: A prospective cohort study was used. Speilberger State Trait Anxiety Inventory was used as a data gathering tool, for 750 literate, primigravid women without any history of mental or physical illnesses. All participants were selected through consecutive sampling method. Results: The study findings showed that, the majority of sample group suffered from moderate State anxiety (63.2%) and moderate Trait anxiety (63.4%) respectively. Besides, increasing the severity of both State and Trait anxieties were correlated with higher incidence rate of preeclampsia. Also, statistically significant differences were found between the severity of Trait and State anxieties and Preeclampsia (P<0.006 and P<0.005), respectively. Results of this study also showed that, there was significant relationship between incidence of risk of preeclampsia and the severity of anxiety, in women with sever State anxiety (P>0.005). The risk ratio of preeclampsia in women with sever state anxiety was more than of women with mild State anxiety (RR=5.43). In addition, the risk ratio of preeclampsia in women with sever Trait anxiety, (RR=5.71) was more than of women with mild Trait anxiety. Conclusion: According to the study results, midwives and health care workers' attention to psychological health of pregnant women during prenatal period is one of the most important matter that should be emphasized.


The authors have developed a natural order for students to understand the antitrust field based upon a division of the practices challenged into two groups. One group of competing firms eliminate competition purely among themselves. The second group of firms seek to exclude actual or potential competitors. In selecting and editing cases, the authors have preserved a sense of the historical development and jurisprudential character of antitrust law. In citing lower-court cases and secondary materials, the authors have selected only material that casts significant illumination on the subject.


This study was designed to investigate the effects of desflurane on bronchial smooth muscle tone, following intubation and to compare these effects with isoflurane and sevoflurane. Patients were randomly divided into three groups to receive, isoflurane (n = 22), sevoflurane (n = 23), or desflurane (n = 22). Peak inspiratory pressure (PIP), respiratory resistance (Rr) and dynamic compliance (Cdyn) measurements were recorded at three time points; After the beginning of ventilation and before inhalation agent was started, following 5 min of ventilation with 1 MAC (minimum alveolar concentration) inhalation agent and following 5 min of 2 MAC inhalation agent. We found that all inhalation agents caused a significant decrease in Peak Inspiratory Pressure (PIP) and respiratory resistance (Rr), and an increase in dynamic compliance (Cdyn) at 1 MAC concentrations. When the agent concentration was increased to 2 MAC, desflurane caused a significant increase in Rr and PIP and a decrease in Cdyn. We concluded that desflurane, like isoflurane and sevoflurane, exhibits a bronchodilator effect at 1 MAC concentration. However, increasing the concentration to 2 MAC caused an increase in airway resistance with desflurane, whilst sevoflurane and isoflurane continued to have a bronchodilator effect.