The paper is a deliberate problematisation of the study of Mungoshi's Shona literature with a view to initiate new critical perspectives absent in current Shona critical scholarship. The author problematises the study of the author's novels by advancing the argument that while the author deals with the tragedy engendered largely by a crisis of identity, his novels are also in a similar crisis of identity. This crisis manifests itself through the writer's undeviating obsession with victimhood. It appears as if Mungoshi has become eloquent in visualising Shona experiential exigencies through the lenses of victimhood. However, the paper argues that such a position is not only culturally debilitating, but also constitutes a very narrow perspective of viewing family and cultural realities. The paper also problematises Mungoshi's Shona literature by transcending the arguments raised by pioneer critics who include George Kahari (1990) and Emmanuel Mudhliwa Chiwome (1996) who tended to confine their analysis to the crisis of identity triggered by the clash between Shona and Western culture that the writer deals with. Their criticism is, therefore, celebratory


Artists making books often use photography as a means of recording a narrative of places or their travels, but what if they are documenting something that isn't actually there at all? A few examples of the artists who inspired me to do the talk are: Scott McCarney (USA) publishes many books in his biography / autobiography series. As we get older, the more we forget, and for McCarney, the more things he accumulates in recompense. His 2007 edition Photographs, is an empty book, a reproduction of an early 20th Century photography album with text annotations and photo corners with the pictures removed. Dedicated to anyone's lost family histories.

Kurt Johannessen (Norway) photographed flying rocks for his book flygande steinar. Frans Baake (The Netherlands) travels to islands around the world, to gather photographs for his books. But he cannot always access the land, some are private islands, some impossible to reach, so, in 2004 he produced Never Been There, a collection of islands photographed from nearby or from a distance. As he says, the artist has been to the specific regions in order to say that he hasn't been there: Wow, how many places he didn't visit!' In my own Flowers in Hotel Rooms series, these small photographic books document my actions in tribute to characters in novels I am reading, but these aren't real events. They involve an impromptu stage set and camera, depending on what I am reading and what I can find to quickly produce a postcard-sized image in a hotel room. Dinner and a Rose was a collaboration with the poet Nancy Campbell, in tribute to Patricia Highsmith's Ripley quartet. This included hosting a one-day dinner party for invited guests, at which the meals and drinks mentioned in the books were served. Ripley is neither seen or referred to in the book or the video.

TOAST: A Night on Weevil Lake, a collaborative book and video produced on World Book Night, Saturday 5th March 2011. A tribute to Douglas Coupland's novel The Gum Thief, which consisted of an evening of nothing being cooked, no hosting and Chinese food having to be ordered in and eaten off of paper plates from Staples.

And finally, No Dutch Details, Tom Sowden and Sarah Bodman, January 2011. A video-book tribute to Ed Ruscha's Dutch Details produced whilst travelling. Produced on an intercity train from Amsterdam Schiphol to Enschede, The Netherlands between 19.47 and 20.00 on Sunday 16th January 2011. The film recreates the zoom-in image format of Ruscha's Dutch Details, as a chronological tribute to of all his books published between 1963 and 1978, but using only props found or created in miniature that could be photographed on the train. The film, of course fails to produce a faithful reproduction of any of Ruscha's books, as the end titles indicate.


A non-invasive Brain Computer Interface (BCI) based on a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is presented as a novel approach for navigation in Virtual Environment (VE). The developed navigation control interface relies on Steady State Visually Evoked Potentials (SSVEP), whose features are discriminated in real time in the electroencephalographic (EEG) data by means of the CNN. The proposed approach has been evaluated through navigation by walking in an immersive and plausible virtual environment (VE), thus enhancing the involvement of the participant and his perception of the VE. Results show that the BCI based on a CNN can be profitably applied for decoding SSVEP features in navigation scenarios, where a reduced number of commands needs to be reliably and rapidly selected. The participant was able to accomplish a waypoint walking task within the VE, by controlling navigation through of the only brain activity.


Gollwitzer and Kinney (1989) proposed the following hypothesis: People who ponder a goal decision (i.e., to either pursue Goal A or B, or to pursue either Goal A or stay passive) develop a deliberative mind-set that allows them to accurately assess whether a desired outcome can be controlled by their actions or not, whereas people who are planning the pursuit of a chosen goal develop a mind-set that fosters illusionary optimism with respect to controlling this outcome. Deviating from the usual course of presentation, I start with describing how we tested this hypothesis and with what results. As we are dealing with a set of studies classified as an overlooked gem, it seems appropriate to first describe the research and its findings. Then I turn to my recollection of how we arrived at this hypothesis. Finally, I address the implications of the Gollwitzer and Kinney findings and how they keep stimulating present research on self-regulation.


Technical Debt (TD) refers to the consequences of taking shortcuts when developing software. Technical Debt Management (TDM) becomes complex since it relies on a decision process based on multiple and heterogeneous data, which are not straightforward to be synthesized. In this context, there is a promising opportunity to use Intelligent Techniques to support TDM activities since these techniques explore data for knowledge discovery, reasoning, learning, or supporting decision-making. Although these techniques can be used for improving TDM activities, there is no empirical study exploring this research area. This study aims to identify and analyze solutions based on Intelligent Techniques employed to sup-port TDM activities. A Systematic Mapping Study was performed, covering publications between 2010 and 2020. From 2276 extracted studies, we selected 111 unique studies. We found a positive trend in applying Intelligent Techniques to support TDM activities, being Machine Learning, Reasoning Under Uncertainty, and Natu-ral Language Processing the most recurrent ones. Identification, measurement, and monitoring were the more recurrent TDM ac-tivities, whereas Design, Code, and Architectural were the most frequently investigated TD types. Although the research area is up-and-coming, it is still in its infancy, and this study provides a baseline for future research.


This review outlines the major trends in the investigation of circulating cell-free DNA-based methylated markers, including key technical aspects of the circulating cell-free DNA methylation analysis, recent advancements in methylation detection techniques, and most successful examples of their combined use. The approaches to discovery and validation of epigenetic markers are discussed, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of these methods. Special attention is devoted to cell-free DNA methylated markers, circulating in blood, which could be used for minimally invasive lung cancer (LC) diagnostics, prediction of antitumor treatment efficiency and disease prognosis.


Cleft lip and palate (CLP) is a risk indicator to middle ear alterations, which may damage the development of auditory abilities such as attention that is essential to learn new skills, oral and written communication. Studies on attention process with CLP population are recent and poorly explored in the specific literature. Thus, this study aims to contribute with new subsidies in the field as it investigates the performance of children with CLP in Sustained Auditory Attention Ability Test (SAAAT). MATERIAL AND METHOD: Comparison of SAAAT performance between children with CLP and children without it. Prospective study. RESULTS: ANOVA was used as variance analysis model with two factors to study the variables such as group and gender. The CLP group showed an average of 2.5 units higher than the control group. This difference is between 0.7 and 4.4 with 95% certain. CONCLUSION: children with cleft lip and palate had poorer performance on SAAAT when compared to those without such craniofacial anomaly, considering attention reduction only.


Effects of implantation temperature on electrical properties of heavily-Al-doped 4H-SiC layer formed with Al implantation have been investigated. To form the p++ 4H-SiC with the original 4H-stacking structure, the implantation temperature above 175 °C is needed. A decrease in the implantation temperature below 250 °C leads to an increase in the NA-ND. It is suggested that an increase in the density of vacancies with a decrease in the implantation temperature promotes the Al substitution to lattice sites during activation annealing. The lower-temperature implantation also causes a decrease in activation energy for the p-type electrical conduction and a decrease in p-type ohmic contact resistivity. We presume that the increase in the Al acceptors at low-implantation temperatures gives expansion of the impurity bands and formation of valence band tail-states, causing the decrease in the impurity binding energy. The properties obtained with the lower-temperature implantation are desirable for practical applications especially at low temperatures.


ABSTRACT All land plants must cope with phytopathogens. Algae face pathogens, too, and it is reasonable to assume that some of the strategies for dealing with pathogens evolved prior to the origin of embryophytes – plant terrestrialization simply changed the nature of the plant-pathogen interactions. Here we highlight that many potential components of the angiosperm defense toolkit are i) found in streptophyte algae and non-flowering embryophytes and ii) might be used in non-flowering plant defense as inferred from published experimental data. Nonetheless, the common signaling networks governing these defense responses appear to have become more intricate during embryophyte evolution. This includes the evolution of the antagonistic signaling pathways of jasmonic and salicylic acid, multiple independent expansions of resistance genes, and the evolution of resistance gene-regulating microRNAs. Future comparative studies will illuminate which modules of the streptophyte defense signaling network constitute the core and which constitute lineage- and/or environment-specific (peripheral) signaling circuits.


Dioxins are commonly known as highly toxic compounds that are persistent organic pollutants. 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), the most potent dioxin congener, and dioxin-like products are formed during the incomplete combustion of organic compounds in the presence of chlorine (waste incineration, burning of various fuels and poorly controlled combustion sources). In 1997, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified TCDD as carcinogen.
Prostate cancer (PC) is an extremely serious disease in dogs. PC also represents the most commonly diagnosed cancer in males in the Western world. In general, animal models of human cancer have evolved in attempts to capture the complexity of the human disease. In particular, as humans, the dogs are the only other mammals that develop PC. The canine prostate gland shares many morphological and functional similarities with the human prostate, so this specie represents thus an attractive model for the study of the prostatic disease in dogs. Consequently, to evaluate the biological effects of TCDD on prostate cancer, in this study we used human prostate cancer cell line, PC3. Until now, very few data are present in literature about PC3 and TCDD exposure. It is known that in PC3 cell line, a hormone-independent prostate cancer cell line, TCDD induces cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1A1 and CYP1B1 via the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). This effect of TCDD could result in higher elimination rates of concomitant drugs metabolized by these particular CYP isoenzymes.
Autophagy is a tightly regulated process playing a normal part in cell growth, development, and homeostasis and helping to maintain a balance between the synthesis, degradation, and subsequent recycling of cellular products through the degradation via the lysosome. Defects of autophagy machinery are responsible for pathogenesis of different diseases, including cancer. The role of autophagy in cancer is controversial. There is evidence that autophagy may play a critical role in cancer progression at later stages, such as dissemination and metastasis, which account for most cancer-associated deaths, whereas in other cases it clearly contributes to tumor suppression by inducing tumor cell death. So, the aim of this study is to evaluate the biological effects of TCDD exposure to a highly metastatic prostate cancer cell line, PC3. The prostate cancer cell line PC3 was exposed to different concentrations of TCDD (0.1, 1 and 100 pg/ml) and after 24, 48, and 72 hours of exposure cell proliferation and viability, cell morphology and cell cycle analysis were performed. Also, autophagy was evaluated using the following: (a) detection of acidic vesicular organelles (AVOs) by acridine orange staining; (b) immunofluorescence analysis (IF) of LC3 (microtubule associated light chain protein 3), one of the well-known autophagy markers; (c) LC3 gene expression by real-time PCR; (d) study of autophagic flux by chloroquine (CQ) (10µM), autophagy inhibitor, by western blot; (e) study the expression of multiple genes involved in autophagy machinery by real-time PCR.
 When compared with their relative controls, TCDD (100 pg/ml) exposure at 24, 48, and 72 hours caused the following: (1) significant increase of cell proliferation (CP) (CP24h =20.3%, CP48h =54.5% and CP72h =52.4%); (2) significant increase of cell population at S phase; (3) significant increase of autophagy demonstrated by (a) detection of AVOs; (b) LC3 IF positivity; (c) LC3 over expression (expression ratio24h =1.4, expression ratio48h =6.2 and expression ratio72h =11.4); (d) CQ increased LC3-II accumulation; (e) moreover, we demonstrated that the induction of autophagy by TCDD in PC3 cells was accompanied by an increase in the mRNA levels of certain genes that are present in different subnetworks composing the autophagy interactive network, such as: PIK3C3, BECN-1, AMBRA1, MAP1LC3B, ATG4A, ATG4C, ATG5, ATG7, ATG10, ATG16L1, GABARAPL1, PRKAA, WIPI-1. Also, we showed that TCDD negatively influenced genes that are autophagy inhibitor, such as: AKT1 and BCL2. These data suggested a multiple effect of TCDD on autophagy machinery. Furthermore, we revealed that TCDD exposure upregulated TNF whose high levels have been related to prostate cancer progression via stimulation of proliferation, survival of malignant cells and increased resistance to chemotherapeutic agents.
From the 1980s, several illegal and uncontrolled sites of urban, toxic, and industrial waste disposal have been active in Campania region, Southern Italy, with the highest concentration reached in Naples and Caserta provinces. In 1994, Campania region is under a declared State of Emergency, because of the saturation of regional waste treatment facilities. There are growing national and international evidences that the accumulation of waste, illegal and legal, urban and industrial, has contaminated soil, water, and the air with a range of toxic pollutants including dioxins. A high correlation between incidences of cancer, respiratory illnesses, and genetic malformations and the presence of industrial and toxic waste landfills was also found. In Spring 2002, a dioxin emergency emerged in this region, as result of National Control Program of Residues in Foodstuff carried out by Health Minister in 2001, indeed, levels of TCDD exceeding the European Union tolerance were detected in dairy products and milk from cow and water buffalo, raised on in some areas of Campania Region. Cancer mortality descriptive studies demonstrated an increase of incidents rates of the prostate cancer in the same areas where dioxin levels were elevated. Furthermore, studies performed in animal model suggested that TCDD exposure is associated with abnormal prostate development, altered prostate pathology and increase susceptibility to prostate cancer. The administration of TCDD to a variety of cultured cells may alter their ability to proliferate and die. In a previous study we demonstrated that TCDD induced proliferation in Madin-Darby Bovine Kidney (MDBK), an epithelial cell line, in which analysis of MDBK cell morphology revealed some alterations in a large number of exposed cells, where neither signs of apoptosis nor necrosis were detected, but we found that TCDD activated cell death with autophagy.
Herein, TCDD exposure in PC3, a cancer cell line, induced no signs of cell death. So, taken together, our results support the idea that TCDD, may induce the progression of prostate cancer enhancing cell proliferation, inducing autophagy, deregulating the expression of genes related to the autophagy machinery, and upregulating TNF resulting in an increased risk for both animal and human health.


Metal foams are quite a challenge to materials scientists due to their difficult manufacturing. In all processes the foam develops in the liquid or semiliquid state. Liquid-metal foams are complex fluids which contain liquid metals, solid particles and gas bubbles at the same time. An X-ray transparent furnace was developed to monitor liquid metal foam evolution. Aluminium foams - similar to the commercial Metcomb foams - were produced by feeding argon or air gas bubbles into an aluminium composite melt. The foam evolution was observed in-situ by X-ray radioscopy under normal gravity. Drainage and rupture were evaluated during the 5 min foam decay and 2 min solidification. Argon blown foams showed significant drainage and cell wall rupture during the first 20 s of foam decay. Air blown foams were stable and neither drainage nor rupture occurred. We demonstrated the feasibility of experiments during parabolic flight or drop tower campaigns. However, the development of a foam generator for low gravity is needed.


Summary
Lysogens of the Mat-Ce3 mating type strain of Nocardia erythropolis were isolated from infections by nocardiophage φC. U.v. irradiation induced phage production in about 37% of the treated population. Phage produced from spontaneously induced populations appeared to undergo host-controlled alteration(s) which allowed it to propagate in the normally resistant Mat-cE2 mating type strains. A growth experiment performed with the infected Mat-cE2 cells showed that the phage progeny failed to inherit the capacity to propagate in Mat-cE2 strains. However, phage obtained from the Mat-Ce3 lysogens could be propagated in Mat-Ce3 hosts and still retain their ability to infect the Mat-cE2 strains. The observations may represent a new type of host-controlled phenotypic alteration of nocardiophage which acts on prophage.


Peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs) are members of the nuclear receptor superfamily acting as transcription factors. PPAR-gamma, one of the three PPAR subtypes, is expressed in many malignant and non-malignant cells and tissues. PPAR-gamma ligands influence cancer biology via both genomic as well as non-genomic events. The non-genomic action of PPAR-gamma ligands, including the activation of MAPK signaling pathways, is under intense investigation. In the presence of PPAR-gamma ligands, a rapid phosphorylation of ERK1/2 is observed in many cancer cell lines. Activated ERK1/2 elicits rapid, non-genomic cellular effects and can directly repress PPAR-gamma transcriptional activity by phosphorylation. This paper reviews the interrelation of PPAR-gamma ligands and activated ERK1/2, in relation to their antineoplastic actions in cancer cell lines, which may offer the potential for improved anticancer therapies.


Abstract Successful homeopathic prescriptions are based on careful individualization of symptoms, either for an individual patient or collectively in the case of epidemic outbreaks. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was initially represented as a severe acute respiratory illness, with eventual dramatic complications. However, over time it revealed to be a complex systemic disease with manifestations derived from viral-induced inflammation and hypercoagulability, thus liable to affect any body organ or system. As a result, clinical presentation is variable, in addition to variations associated with several individual and collective risk factors. Given the extreme variability of pathology and clinical manifestations, a single, or a few, universal homeopathic preventive Do not split medicine(s) do not seem feasible. Yet homeopathy may have a relevant role to play, inasmuch as the vast majority of patients only exhibit the mild form of disease and are indicated to self-care at home, without standard monitoring, follow-up, or treatment. For future pandemics, homeopathy agencies should prepare by establishing rapid-response teams and efficacious lines of communication.


The train is one of the biggest favorite transportation in Indonesia. One of the most important components of a train is the braking system. Brakes have several functions such as reducing speed and stopping trains. One of the most frequently replaced components is the brake block. Since 2016, train brake blocks in Indonesia have started to change from metal brakes to composite brakes, but unfortunately Indonesia must import from abroad such as China, India and Australia. Geopolymers with carbon fiber can be an alternative material to replace conventional brake blocks, because geopolymer composites have more advantages than conventional brake blocks such as cheaper, light in weight, and high temperature resistant. There was 3 methods experiment from geopolimer specimen that is friction test, flextural test, and SEM test. The test result show that composite who contain Fly Ash, Kaolin, of Silica Fume, CaO, and Carbon Fiber/ Fiber glass has 0,41 of friction coeficien, for flexural test, it can reach a strength of about 86 MPa with Flexural Modulus around 20 GPa and of SEM test.


Real-time blind reverberation time estimation is of interest in speech enhancement techniques such as e.g. dereverberation and microphone beamforming. Advances in this field have been made where the diffusive reverberation tail is modeled and the decay rate is estimated using a maximum-likelihood approach. Various methods for reducing the computational complexity have also been presented. This paper proposes a method for even further computational complexity reduction, by more than 60% in some cases, and it is shown through simulations that the results of the proposed method are very similar to that of the original.


Rectocolitis remains, at the present time, in spite of the large amount of work carried out, a condition of which the cause and the physiopathological mechanism are unknown: none of the theories proposed has been confirmed by the facts; none has made it possible to propose an effective therapeutic regimen. The diagnosis of haemorrhagic rectocolitis rests solely on an assembly of clinical, radiological, and anatomological findings, together with findings on progress of the disease; none of these findings taken separately being pathognomonic. Because of this it is essential in cases of inflammatory colic disorders to analyse critically these different elements before affirming the diagnosis that is often arrived at too easily. Different affections, even apart from Crohn's disease (parasitic, microbial, and iatrogenic affections, etc) may, in fact, give rise to radiological and clinical pictures close to those of haemorrhagic rectocolitis.


Previous studies have shown that the patterns of disease-specific prion protein (PrP(d)) accumulation in the brain (the 'PrP(d) profile') of scrapie-affected sheep are mainly influenced by the source of scrapie agent. We have now extended those studies to investigate the effect of different PrP antibodies on the PrP(d) profile of scrapie- and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)-affected sheep. Immunohistochemical examination of brains of 20 sheep was performed with four different PrP antibodies (P4, 521.7, 505.2 and R486), and the animals were allocated to four groups of five sheep each depending on the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) agent source (two natural scrapie sources, SSBP/1 and BSE). Although the PrP(d) profiles depended on the antibody used, the four TSE sources could always be differentiated. Natural Suffolk scrapie showed the highest levels of glia-associated PrP(d), natural Welsh Mountain scrapie uniquely had consistent vascular PrP(d) plaques, SSBP/1 produced the highest intracellular accumulations of PrP(d) and BSE led to moderate accumulation of all PrP(d) patterns except for vascular plaques. The variations in PrP(d) profile between TSE sources appeared to be the result of variations in cell tropism and in PrP processing. These processing differences are possibly associated with changes in PrP(d) conformation, and are manifest as differences in intracellular truncation and in release to the extracellular space of the abnormal protein. Moreover, variations in PrP(d) conformation would appear to be also influenced by the cell type supporting infection, arguing that it is modulated by the interaction between the infectious agent and the host.


Previous studies have suggested that spatial navigation can be achieved with at least two distinct learning processes, involving either cognitive map‐like representations of the local environment, referred to as the "place strategy", or simple stimulus‐response (S‐R) associations, the "response strategy". A similar distinction between cognitive/behavioral processes has been made in the context of non‐spatial, instrumental conditioning, with the definition of two processes concerning the sensitivity of a given behavior to the expected value of its outcome as well as to the response‐outcome contingency ("goal‐directed action" and "S‐R habit"). Here we investigated whether these two versions of dichotomist definitions of learned behavior, one spatial and the other non‐spatial, correspond to each other in a formal way. Specifically, we assessed the goal‐directed nature of two navigational strategies, using a combination of an outcome devaluation procedure and a spatial probe trial frequently used to dissociate the two navigational strategies. In Experiment 1, rats trained in a dual‐solution T‐maze task were subjected to an extinction probe trial from the opposite start arm, with or without prefeeding‐induced devaluation of the expected outcome. We found that a non‐significant preference for the place strategy in the non‐devalued condition was completely reversed after devaluation, such that significantly more animals displayed the use of the response strategy. The result suggests that the place strategy is sensitive to the expected value of the outcome, while the response strategy is not. In Experiment 2, rats with hippocampal lesions showed significant reliance on the response strategy, regardless of whether the expected outcome was devalued or not. The result thus offers further evidence that the response strategy conforms to the definition of an outcome‐insensitive, habitual form of instrumental behavior. These results together attest a formal correspondence between two types of dual‐process accounts of animal learning and behavior.


This article studies environmental information as it circulates in social media, specifically in personal blogs and microblogs. It rests on a thematic analysis of a selection of Swedish language, personal, everyday life environment blogs active during 2011 and 2012 and the social media applications connected to these blogs. Gibson's concept of affordances and Foucault's notion of governmentality are brought together to examine how material and technological affordances of social media and the structures of governmentality work together to engender a type of information on environmentally friendly living that is rooted in the conditions of the Web, together with a view of society which is structured around choice and individual responsibility. The article argues that information is woven into the texture of the social on every level, including everyday life practices, and hence social media, as tools in such practices, contribute to shaping the way in which information on environmentally friendly living is articulated, shaped, and filled with meaning.


This paper reports on a case study aimed at developing a better understanding on how to design student learning experiences using of digital technologies and in particular using video resources within the subject to engage and support learners with a view to impacting on their learning. Drawing on student learning experiences, the study examines the circumstances under which students are more likely to engage with a variety of learning resources. It seeks to identify how best to place the resources and to determine which resources components could play important roles within the subject. Outcomes from the study presents the rationale for designing the learning experiences in technology-based teaching to effectively engage and support learners within their learning context.


Introduction - Durham and the Anglo-Norman world, Donald Matthew. Part 1 The monks and the priory: English cathedral communities and reform in the late 10th and 11th centuries, Julia Barrow the monastic revival in Yorkshire - Whitby and St Mary's, York, Janet Burton custodians of St Cuthbert - the Durham Monks' views of their predecessors, 1083-c1200, Meryl Foster Durham priory and its hermits in the 12th century, Victoria Tudor the Durham Cantor's book (Durham cathedral libary, MS B.IV.24), Alan Piper the scribes of the Durham Cantor's book (Durham cathedral libary, MS B.IV.24) and the Durham martyrology scribe, Michael Gullick the forged charters of William the conqueror and Bishop William of St Calais, David Bates the "De iniusta uexacione Willelmi episcopi primi" and Canon law in Anglo-Norman Durham, Mark Philpott. Part 2 Church architecture in Anglo-Norman Durham: early Romanesque architecture in north-east England - a style and its patrons, Eric Cambridge the roles of the patron and the master mason in the first design of the Romanesque cathedral of Durham, Malcolm Thurlby the west front of Durham cathedral - the beginning of a British tradition, J. Philip Mcaleer observations on the architecture of the Galilee chapel, S.A. Harrison the architectural setting of the cult of St Cuthbert in Durham cathedral (1093-1200), John Crook the Romanesque rood screen of Durham cathedral - context and form, Thomas E. Russo the architectural influence of Durham cathedral, E.C. Fernie. Part 3 The prince bishops: an absent friend - the career of Bishop William of St Calais, William Aird the career of Ranulf Flambard, J.O. Prestwich the kings of Scotland and Durham, G.W.S. Barrow Malcolm III and the foundation of Durham cathedral, Valerie Wall Scottish influence on Durham 1066-1214, Paul Dalton the bishopric of Durham in Stephen's reign, Alan Young old and new bishoprics - Durham and Carlisle, Henry Summerson the Durham mint before Boldon book, Martin Allen Boldon book and the wards between Tyne and Tees, P.D.A. Harvey the origins and development of Durham castle, Martin Leyland the place of Durham among Norman episcopal palaces and castles, M.W. Thompson. Part 4 Scholarship and manuscripts: Durham 12th-century manuscripts in Cistercian houses, Bernard Meehan the artistic influence of Durham manuscripts, Anne Lawrence the bible of Hugh of le Puiset (Durham cathedral library, MS A.II.1), Dominic Marner the shape and meaning of the old English poem "Durham", David Howlett.


Although initially successful, treatments with chemotherapy often fail because of the recurrence of chemoresistant metastases. Since these tumors develop after treatment, resistance is generally thought to occur in response to chemotherapy. However, alternative mechanisms of intrinsic chemoresistance in the chemotherapy-naïve setting may exist but remain poorly understood. Here, we study drug-naïve murine breast cancer brain metastases (BCBMs) to identify how cancer cells growing in a secondary site can acquire intrinsic chemoresistance without cytotoxic agent exposure. We demonstrate that drug-naïve murine breast cancer cells that form cancer lesions in the brain undergo vascular mimicry and concomitantly express the adenosine 5′-triphosphate–binding cassette transporter breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP), a common marker of brain endothelial cells. We reveal that expression of BCRP by the BCBM tumor cells protects them against doxorubicin and topotecan. We conclude that BCRP overexpression can cause intrinsic chemoresistance in cancer cells growing in metastatic sites without prior chemotherapy exposure.


In our current study, a neural network-based machine vision method is proposed to measure the surfaces roughness for different Ф38mm grinding shafts in different ambient light conditions. Firstly, the effect of ambient light is analyzed using the two approaches, i.e., the approach of standard deviation of gray-level distribution proposed by Luk and that based on gray-level co-occurrence matrix. Then, a new RBF neural network-based method is proposed to measure the roughness by extracting the features of ambient light and work piece. The neural network is trained by five work pieces with known surface roughness, and eleven work pieces are tested by the proposed method. An analytical comparison between the proposed method and the two existing ones mentioned above verifies that our method is of better performance with least variance sum.


We have measured theγ-rays following neutron capture on240Pu and244Cm at the n_TOF facility at CERN with the Total Absorption Calorimeter (TAC) and with C6D6 organic scintillators. The TAC is made of 40 BaF2 crystals operating in coincidence and covering almost the entire solid angle. This allows to obtain information concerning the energy spectra and the multiplicity of the measured captureγ-ray cascades. Additional information is also obtained from the C6D6 detectors. We have analyzed the measured data in order to draw conclusions about the Photon Strength Functions (PSFs) of241Pu and245Cm below their neutron separation energies. The analysis has been performed by fitting the PSFs to the experimental results, using the differential evolution method, in order to find neutron capture cascades capable of reproducing at the same time a great variety of deposited energy spectra.


Preclinical studies evaluating plague vaccine candidates have demonstrated that the F1 and V protein antigens of Yersinia pestis confer protection against challenge from virulent strains. Live-attenuated ΔphoP/Q Salmonella typhimurium recombinants were constructed expressing either F1, V antigens, F1 and V antigens, or a F1-V fusion from Asd+ balanced-lethal plasmids. To improve antigen delivery, genes encoding plague antigens were modified in order to localize antigens to specific bacterial cellular compartments which include cytoplasmic, outer membrane, or secreted. Candidate vaccine strains were evaluated for growth characteristics, full-length lipopolysaccharide (LPS), plasmid stability, and antigen expression in vitro. Plague vaccine candidate strains with favorable in vitro profiles were evaluated in murine or rabbit preclinical oral immunogenicity studies. Attenuated S. typhimurium strains expressing cytoplasmically localized F1-V and V antigen antigens were more immunogenic than strains that secreted or localized plague antigens to the outer membrane. In particular, S. typhimurium M020 and M023, which express Asd+- plasmid derived soluble F1-V and soluble V antigen, respectively, at high levels in the bacterial cell cytoplasm were found to induce the highest levels of plague-specific serum antibodies. To further evaluate balanced-lethal plasmid retention capacity, ΔphoP/Q S. typhimurium PurB+ and GlnA+ balanced-lethal plasmid systems harboring F1-V were compared with M020 in vitro and in BALB/c mice in a immunogenicity study. Although there was no detectable difference in plague antigen expression in vitro, S. typhimurium M020 was the most immunogenic plague antigen vector strain evaluated, inducing high-titer serum IgG antibodies specific against F1, V and F1-V.


hours of the day and niglht. Witlh oue exception, the lhospitAl committees of all -London hospitals at which venereal clinics were in operation had expressed tlle view that it would be impossible for them to introduce early preventive treatment. The Public Healtli Committee held that the medical advantage accruing from early preventive treatment would probably be nullified by a consequential increase in the number of cases of exposure to infection; in its view the public provision of early preventive treatment had not been satisfactorily wr6ved to be de*. ble. Viscount.Bury moved that the report be referred back. Dr. Haden quest-,who spoke i.n favour of the Public fealth Committee.'p. xec0mmendation said that amongother practical diffioulties was that doctors would prqbly decline to. nnderdtke the work .nd no other suitably trained persons were available. His own observation of preventive treatment of this kind in the army in Egypt 1e4 him to conclude that it was a.failure. Mr. Anderton, the chairman of the committee, while resisting the motipwi to refer the report back, said that the committee had not;closed its mind, and was ready to consider any other. scleme that might be proposed. The motion to refer bck"was lost by a large mnajority, and the r port of the comunintee was endorsed.


Amongst all the predictions for a superconducting future that were made in the early days after the discovery of high temperature superconductivity, most depended on the development of conductors from which magnets, motors, power cables etc. could be constructed. Until 1989, there seemed little prospect of such a technology because polycrystalline forms of HTS were granular and transmitted current very poorly. Starting with an empirical breakthrough in 1959, a strong set of large scale demonstration devices have been made with high temperature superconductors. The foundation of all this technology lies in the conductor. For HTS conductors, 10 years does indeed make a difference, as this review summarizes.


Creatine kinase (CK), lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), and more recently their isoenzyme determinations (CK-MB and LDH1) have been useful adjuncts in verification of myocardial injury. To determine whether DC cardioversion affects these serum enzyme levels, we recorded total CK, total LDH, CK-MB, and LDH1 levels serially during 24 hours following elective DC cardioversion in 18 patients without cardiac ischemia. New postcardioversion elevations in total CK and total LDH levels were small and occasional: CK (one of 18 patients), LDH (four of 18 patients). Elevations of CK-MB or LDH1 following cardioversion did not develop in any of the patients. Therefore, new CK-MB or LDH1 elevations associated with arrhythmias must result from myocardial damage to DC cardioversion.


The tomato is one of the main crops in Brazil. In large-scale cultivation, pesticides are applied to the plant to prevent the direct or indirect action of animal or vegetable life, aiming at higher productivity and better quality fruit. However, the products, if used incorrectly, may affect the health of workers involved in the activity. A prototype of a self-propelled sprayer, remotely controlled and monitored via radio signals, was therefore developed to be used in tomato crops, thus minimising worker contact with the chemical substances used when spraying. The basic prototype comprises an agricultural mini-tractor, a motorised pneumatic sprayer (atomiser) and a set of electronic and mechanical sensors and actuators, which allow the assembly to be controlled remotely and images captured by a video camera to be viewed on a tablet. After development, the principal dimension, weight and operational characteristics of the prototype were identified; the prototype was also used for spraying ten tomato plants in the crop, with seven different points being observed for each plant. The results were analysed statistically, giving the following coefficients of variation: 15.13% for spray coverage, 18.70% for droplet density and 16.68% for product deposition on the folioles. Based on these values, it was concluded that the development of a remotely controlled and monitored self-propelled sprayer prototype, and its use in spraying tomato crops, were viable.


The goal of this paper is to present a sequential combination rule of possibly inconsistent measurements based on a pattern recognition approach. As a pattern recognition problem, the multisensor fusion one is divided into two parts: first, the recognition of the observed parameter value (or mode) corresponding to the classical consistency test: second, the updating procedure of the modes estimations (and their associated error covariance matrix) with the information observed in the new measurement. The procedures presented below have been developed with a probabilistic measurement model and deal with the nonparametric case: the k/sub n/ nearest neighbors method is used in order to estimate the probability density functions.


Propolis has numerous biologic activities including antibiotic, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and immunostimulant properties. This study was conducted in order to determine the bacterial causes of calf diarrhea and the effect of propolis on the immune response of the diarrheic buffalo calves. A total of 300 diarrheic buffalo calves belonging to buffalo farm at Assiut governorate were used for this study. The diarrheic calves were administered propolis orally (200 mg/kg body weight) one times daily for a period of 50 days. Serum IgM level was determined. In addition, bacteria was isolated and identified from fecal samples. E.coli and Klebsiella oxytoca . were detected in 285 and 15 calves respectively. The ELISA test revealed an increase in the serum IgM level from 59.026±9.704 to 122.863 ±38.856 ng/ml (p<0.01) after administration of propolis for 10 days in the 2nd group (propolis group). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups adminis tered propolis and other groups. In conclusion, propolis acted as a non-specific immunostimulant during a short term treatment protocol.


The methodologies used in the controlled manipulation of soil freeze-thaw cycles have varied widely. Despite their value in demonstrating the mechanisms of freeze-thaw action in soils, many methodologies do not replicate actual field conditions. Therefore, a simple soil thermal cycling system was developed to address several of the methodological weaknesses observed in previous laboratory experiments and to better assess the effects of freeze-thaw cycles on soil physical properties, water and pollutant transport, and microbial activity. The experimental system consisted of a 61 by 61 by 61-cm insulated bin containing four 15-cm diameter PVC lysimeters encased in sand, with a commercially-available heating cable located in the bottom of the sand mass. The heating cable created an upward heat flux representative of heat flow in soil under field conditions. The completed assemblage was placed on a cart, pushed into a walk-in freezer, and subjected to air temperatures from -10°C to 15°C. In order to test the system, the heating cable was set from 0°C to 5°C in 1°C increments to control the soil temperature at the 40-cm depth. Observed hourly air and soil temperatures, soil temperature gradients, and freezing and thawing rates were reported for three freeze-thaw cycles and compared to field values. The experimental system was able to produce a vertical temperature gradient in the soil of 0.08 °C cm-1 compared to a 0.07°C cm-1 gradient observed under similar conditions in the field, and minimize large fluctuations in subsurface soil temperatures relative to changes in air temperature.


Abstract
This study examines business process modelling for academic libraries. Background: Pressures on commercial organisations to be more efficient and effective in their information management have led to interest in the modelling of business processes, to help ensure that information systems ? manual and computerised ? genuinely support effective operations. Academic libraries have seen huge changes with the growth of the Internet and easier access to information, but examination of library functions and activities, in terms of process architecture has been limited. Aims and objectives: This research investigates academic library processes using a business process modelling method called Riva. The university libraries selected are four cases from two contrasting sites: Jordan and the UK. Methods: The literature review covered academic libraries and their history, the concept of role, operational research and business process modelling. Interviews with library staff (n = 47) were conducted, to learn about library processes. After analysing the information gathered, with consultation of documents, a Process Architecture Diagram and a set of Role Activity Diagrams for selected functions were derived. Results: Models of RADs were provided, demonstrating the processes selected. A comparison between the two sites in terms of application of these processes along with their associated challenges was also provided. Improvements could be extracted from the process models, as they pinpointed some inefficiencies and also helped to raise questions about procedures through comparisons. Conclusions: It seems fair to conclude that the modelling technique used was feasible, as it was able to visualize processes within academic libraries and provide a basis for improvement and management by supporting the analysis of process performance and behaviour. A limitation to this method is that library managers might need to learn new techniques


Epimorphin/syntaxin-2 is a membrane-tethered protein localized extracellularly (Epim) and intracellularly (Stx-2). The extracellular form Epim stimulates morphogenic processes in a range of tissues, including in murine mammary glands where its overexpression in luminal epithelial cells is sufficient to drive hyperplasia and neoplasia. We analyzed WAP-Epim transgenic mice to gain insight into how Epim promotes malignancy. Ectopic overexpression of Epim during postnatal mammary gland development led to early side-branching onset, precocious bud formation, and increased proliferation of mammary epithelial cells. Conversely, peptide-based inhibition of Epim function reduced side branching. Because increased side branching and hyperplasia occurs similarly in mice upon overexpression of the progesterone receptor isoform-a (Pgr-a), we investigated whether Epim exhibits these phenotypes through Pgr modulation. Epim overexpression indeed led to a steep upregulation of both total Pgr mRNA and Pgr-a protein levels. Notably, the Pgr antagonist RU486 abrogated Epim-induced ductal side branching, mammary epithelial cell proliferation, and bud formation. Evaluation of Epim signaling in a three-dimensional ex vivo culture system showed that its action was dependent on binding to its extracellular receptor, integrin-αV, and on matrix metalloproteinase 3 activity downstream of Pgr-a. These findings elucidate a hitherto unknown transcriptional regulator of Pgr-a, and shed light on how overexpression of Epim leads to malignancy.


Recent literature suggests that a "shared politics of place" attained through joint activities fosters social integration and provides people with a means to practise co-operation [Baumann, G., 1996. Contesting culture: discourses of identity in multi-ethnic London. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; Sanjek, R., 1998. The future of us all: race & neighbourhood policies in New York City. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press; Sennett, R., 2012. Together: the rituals, pleasures and politics of cooperation. UK: Penguin]. Such a "shared politics of place" is most likely to occur in the context of public space conceptualised broadly as "the setting for everyday spatial behaviour of individuals and communities, emphasizing ordinary activities of citizens" [Lownsbrough, H. and Beunderman, J., 2007. Equally spaced? Public space and interaction between diverse communities. London: Demos, p. 8]. Here we explore one element of such public space – urban agriculture sites – with a view to identifying the extent to which a "shared politics of place" can be created and nurtured among the cultivating citizenry. The paper draws on data collected on allotment gardening sites in two urban contexts: Dublin (Ireland) and Belfast (Northern Ireland) over the period 2009–2013. We demonstrate the centrality of allotment cultivation to the generation of solidarity, mutuality and trust among participating citizens. Individuals engaging in allotment gardening in both Dublin and Belfast create and sustain civil interfaces – dismantling barriers, exchanging knowledge, challenging stereotypes, generating empathy and getting on with the business of simply getting on with their lives. The modus operandi of allotment gardening is predicated on a willingness to disregard social and ethno-national categorisations while on site. This is not to deny that such differences exist and persist, but allotments offer a "space of potential" where those differences are, at least for a time, rendered less salient.


The evaluation of dispersant effectiveness used for oil spills is commonly done using tests conducted in laboratory flasks. The success of a test relies on replication of the conditions at sea. We used a hot wire anemometer to characterize the turbulence characteristics in the swirling flask SF and the baffled flask BF, the latter is being considered by the Environmental Protection Agency to replace the prior. We used the measurements to compute the velocity gradient, G and the energy dissipation rate per unit mass, . The study shows that the mixing in the BF is more uniformly distributed than that in the SF. Flask average energy dissipation rates in the SF were about 2 orders of magnitude smaller than those in the BF. The sizes of the microscales in the BF were found to be much smaller than that in the SF. Also, in the BF, the sizes of the microscales approached the size of oil droplets observed at sea 50-400 m, which means that the turbulence in the BF closely resembles the turbulence occurring at sea during breaking waves. Hence, the BF is preferable for dispersant testing in the laboratory.


By using energy balance method and considering the balance among solar short wave radiation, atmospheric and pavement surface long wave radiations, latent heat fluxes and sensible heat fluxes, a prediction model for AC road surface temperature is established. The pavement temperature and meteorological observation data of Ningbo city (from 2009 July 15 to 2009 August 13) have been used to validation of the model. The results show that a high accuracy was existed between the measured and calculated temperature in the clear days. when S (daily sunshine-ratio)>60%, the maximum absolute error of calculated daily maximum pavement temperature is less than 3 °C, and the multi-day mean absolute error is 1.5 °C. But in cloudy or rainy days, the model's accuracy will be lower than the clear days.


This paper presents an approach to the automatic recognition of human emotions from audio-visual bimodal signals using an error weighted semi-coupled hidden Markov model (EWSC-HMM). The proposed approach combines an SC-HMM with a state-based bimodal alignment strategy and a Bayesian classifier weighting scheme to obtain the optimal emotion recognition result based on audio-visual bimodal fusion. The state-based bimodal alignment strategy in SC-HMM is proposed to align the temporal relation between audio and visual streams. The Bayesian classifier weighting scheme is then adopted to explore the contributions of the SC-HMM-based classifiers for different audio-visual feature pairs in order to obtain the emotion recognition output. For performance evaluation, two databases are considered: the MHMC posed database and the SEMAINE naturalistic database. Experimental results show that the proposed approach not only outperforms other fusion-based bimodal emotion recognition methods for posed expressions but also provides satisfactory results for naturalistic expressions.


This dissertation investigates the architecture design, physical implementation, result evaluation, and feature analysis of a multi-core processor for DSP applications. The system is composed of a 2-D array of simple single-issue programmable processors interconnected by a reconfigurable mesh network, and processors operate completely asynchronously with respect to each other in a Globally Asynchronous Locally Synchronous fashion. The processor is called Asynchronous Array of simple Processors (AsAP). A 6×6 array has been fabricated in a 0.18 μm CMOS technology. The physical design concerns timing issues for robust implementations, and takes full advantages of their potential scalability. Each processor occupies 0.66 mm , is fully functional at a clock rate of 520– 540 MHz under 1.8 V, and dissipates 94 mW while the clock is 100% active. Compared to the high performance TI C62x DSP processor, AsAP achieves performance 0.8–9.6 times greater, energy efficiency 10–75 times greater, with an area 7–19 times smaller. The system is also easily scalable, and is well-suited to future fabrication technologies. An asymmetric interprocessor communication architecture is proposed. It assigns different buffer resources to the nearest neighbor interconnect and the long distance interconnect, can reduce the communication circuitry area by approximately 2 to 4 times compared to the traditional Network on Chip (NoC), with similar routing capability. A wide design exploration space is investigated, including supporting long distance communication in GALS systems, static/dynamic routing, varying numbers of ports (buffers) for the processing core, and varying numbers of links at each edge. The use of GALS style typically introduces performance penalties due to additional communication latency between clock domains. GALS chip multiprocessors with large inter-processor FIFOs as AsAP can inherently hide much of the GALS performance penalty, and the penalty can even be driven to zero. Furthermore, adaptive clock and voltage scaling for each processor provides an approximately 40% power savings without any performance reduction.


This master's thesis is about conciseness and increase in tension in David Malouf's Jane Eyre , a libretto which is an adaptation for the contemporary operatic stage of the 1847 novel by Charlotte Bronte. The thesis is based on the translation of the libretto into French, and the development focuses on one of the specificities of the source text, namely its conciseness, which goes along with the building up of a tense emotional landscape. After a careful examination of how these two forces operate in Malouf's work, the issue of how to render the compactness and the subsequent tense emotional landscape of the source text in a translation into French is being dealt with.


Palms (Arecaceae/Palmae) are a model group for evolutionary studies in the tropics. Family‐wide data on taxonomy, phylogenetics and distribution are now available, but a general framework of palm evolution is still lacking. The overall aim of this study, published in two companion papers, is to seek evolutionary explanations for the geographical distribution of palm lineages and species diversity patterns at global and regional levels. In this first paper we undertake a detailed analysis of palm biogeography for all major lineages in a global context, comparing our results to the fossil record, molecular dating studies and previously established biogeographical hypotheses for the family.


Osteocytes are thought to play a role as a mechanical sensor through their communication network in bone. Although osteocytes are the most abundant cells in bone, little attention has been paid to their physiological and pathological functions in skeletogenesis. Here, we have attempted to delineate the pivotal functional role of osteocytes in regulation of bone remodeling under pathological conditions. We first found markedly increased osteoclastic differentiation by conditioned media (CM) from osteocytic MLO‐Y4 cells previously exposed to hypoxia in vitro. Using microarray and real‐time PCR analyses, we identified growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) as a key candidate factor secreted from osteocytes under hypoxia. Recombinant GDF15 significantly promoted osteoclastic differentiation in a concentration‐dependent manner, with concomitant facilitation of phosphorylation of both p65 and inhibitory‐κB in the presence of receptor activator of nuclear factor‐κB ligand. To examine the possible functional significance of GDF15 in vivo, mice were subjected to ligation of the right femoral artery as a hypoxic model. A significant increase in GDF15 expression was specifically observed in tibias of the ligated limb but not in tibias of the normally perfused limb. Under these experimental conditions, in cancellous bone of proximal tibias in the ligated limb, a significant reduction was observed in bone volume, whereas a significant increase was seen in the extent of osteoclast surface/bone surface when determined by bone histomorphometric analysis. Finally, the anti‐GDF15 antibody prevented bone loss through inhibiting osteoclastic activation in tibias from mice with femoral artery ligation in vivo, in addition to suppressing osteoclastic activity enhanced by CM from osteocytes exposed to hypoxia in vitro. These findings suggest that GDF15 could play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of bone loss relevant to hypoxia through promotion of osteoclastogenesis after secretion from adjacent osteocytes during disuse and/or ischemia in bone. © 2012 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.


Quite frequently, one observes breast fed infants who, after doing well for the first few weeks or months of life, stop gaining in weight, and become restless and irritable. The stools are either small and dark colored, or frequent, loose and foul smelling. Mucus and fat curds may be present. Vomiting, occasionally severe, may be a predominating symptom. Ultimately these infants lose weight, and unless proper treatment is instituted they become distinctly athreptic. The symptoms enumerated are commonly designated by the term "dyspepsia." CAUSE Overfeeding at the breast has been considered a frequent cause of the symptoms observed, especially in those infants in whom diarrhea has been a prominent symptom. It is undoubtedly true that breast fed infants occasionally receive more milk than is necessary to cover their requirements, but in such cases the infant usually spits up a certain amount and continues to thrive. In my experience, overfeeding with


Abstract A thick sedimentary section was penetrated at three sites in the West Central Pacific during the Ocean Driling Program (ODP) Leg 129. Although average core recovery ranged from 17.3 to 29.5%, recovery in some intervals falls as low as 0–5%. Furthermore, the recovered portion of the core is conventionally assigned to the topmost part of the cored interval, although this is now known to be incorrect in most instances in consolidated parts of the section. These drawbacks have led to incomplete and even erroneous sedimentological interpretations. High-resolution electrical (Formation MicroScanner) images of the borehole obtained by scanning the borehole wall with arrays of small electrodes pressed against the borehole surface can provide: (1) detailed sedimentary structure and texture of missing sections of each core, through calibration with visual data obtained from recovered cores; (2) the original sedimentary features, where these have been disturbed or brecciated during drilling, as well as drilling artifacts on the borehole wall; (3) recognition of sedimentary facies (e.g. slump units in hole 801B) in non-recovered intervals; (4) correct location of recovered portions within the cored interval, through matching of specific sedimentary features. Examples of these applications of the FMS images to the poorly recovered ODP Leg 129 cores are presented. The use of FMS logging has widespread application in any borehole where conventional cores have not been taken or where core recovery is limited. However, log calibration with core samples is essential.


Fungi are a crucial component of most ecosystems and are responsible for decomposing organic matter, distributing nutrients through the environment and supporting plants and animal life through symbiotic relationships. Certain species of fungi are common pathogens causing disease and infection in plants and animals. The highly integrated nature of fungi in relation to the environment and all life emphasises the importance of developing a greater understanding of the growth and morphology of such organisms. Mathematical modelling has provided a means through which key processes can be isolated to analyse and simulate a target system to allow observations and form predictions regarding unknown phenomena. Numerous models of fungal colonies have been produced and are generally categorised into two main groups; continuous and discrete. The following study combines the approaches so that the constructed hybrid model comprises a discrete network that represents the fungal mycelia and a continuous component to account for the continuous substrates and other compounds crucial to fungal growth and development. Key processes such as uptake, translocation and anastomosis are included in addition to the implementation of a flexible hyphal orientation scheme that facilitates a variety of tropisms to different influential factors. The hybrid model is used to investigate several scenarios such as the polarisation of growth in response to isolated nutrient resources, competition between multiple colonies and fungal development and persistence in polluted environments. These investigations demonstrate the versatility of the hybrid model and highlight the potential for further applications.


The carbon-free energy systems such as nuclear can benefit from compact and highly efficient heat exchanger technologies. The plate-type compact heat exchangers such as the Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger (PCHE) holds promise to fulfil these requirements. This work presents the thermal-hydraulic and structural analysis of PCHE for molten salt applications with thermal energy storage. In this study, three different typess of geometry are chosen for the analysis i.e., the zigzag channel type, the airfoil fin type, and the slotted fin type. For the working fluid, FLiBe (Li2BeF4) and Solar Salt (60% NaNO3 and 40% KNO3) are chosen for hot side and cold side respectively. Titanium grade 5 is chosen as the structural material. The study is conducted by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis. The thermomechanical behavior including pressure drop, fluid temperature, velocity profile, stress, and deformation of the flow channel are considered in this work. From the results, the zigzag channel geometry gives the best thermal hydraulic performance in terms of heat transfer and pressure drop. The structural analysis shows that the stress intensity has an exponential growth with power generation level with zigzag channel geometry being the highest out of the three geometries. Overall, the zigzag channel PCHE is still the most suitable geometry for this application. However, zigzag channel geometry should be substituted with an alternative geometry for higher power applications e.g., airfoil-fin and slotted-fin geometries because they yield noticeably lower stress intensity.


In this paper we study the problem of designing search strategies to find a target whose motion is described by a random walk along a one-dimensional bounded environment. The sensing model and the characteristic of the environment require the searcher and the target to be on the same site at the same time to guarantee capture. The objective is to optimize the searcher's motion, given by a sequence of actions (move right, left or remain stationary), so that the probability of capturing the target is maximized. Each action is associated with an energy cost. The searcher strategy is constrained by a total energy budget. We propose a class of randomized strategies for which we provide an analytical expression for the capture probability as a function of a single parameter. We then use this expression to find the best strategy within this class. In addition to theoretical results, the algorithms are analyzed in simulation and compared with other intuitive solutions.


In dynamic random access memory (DRAM)-based main memory, access latency is a key performance metric. Commonly, the access latency is improved by employing row buffers that store the most recently accessed row data. However, if a new request tries to access a different row address from that in the row buffer, which is a row buffer conflict, the access latency is significantly increased. In a heterogeneous multi-core system, row buffer conflicts occur frequently because various types of processors with different access patterns share the main memory. A novel DRAM architecture that hides the latency penalty due to row buffer conflicts is proposed. The key idea is that read or write commands serviced during activate and precharge operations for different rows in the same bank are carried out by splitting the row buffer into two buffers. Experimental results show that the proposed DRAM architecture achieves up to 16% higher system performance for memory-intensive applications compared with a conventional DRAM architecture.


so strong (r = 0.62, p < 0.05). The mean neonatal abdominal circumference was 34.71 centimeters and also did not correlate well with AC estimated with USG (r = 0.54, p < 0.05). The mean neonatal head circumference was 36.19 centimeters and did not correlate with HC (r = 0.36, NS). 11 patients already had Cesarean section, 14 patients presented gestational diabetes, 3 – pregestational diabetes, 4 – pregnancy induced hypertension, 6 – breech presentation. Conclusion: Macrosomia as an indication for Cesarean section is quite often overdiagnosed and depends not only on objective estimation with USG scan, but on human factor and obstetric history.


The paper proposes a methodology useful in verification of results of dilatometric tests aimed at determination of temperatures defining the start and the end of eutectoid transformation in the course of ductile cast iron cooling, based on quenching techniques and metallographic examination. For an industrial melt of ductile cast iron, the effect of the rate of cooling after austenitization at temperature 900°C carried out for 30 minutes on temperatures TAr1 and TAr1 was determined. The heating rates applied in the study were the same as the cooling rates and equaled 30, 60, 90, 150, and 300°C/h. It has been found that with increasing cooling rate, values of temperatures TAr1 and TAr1 decrease by several dozen degrees.


Previous studies of commercial software enterprises have employed industry-level analyses, or have focused on major players in the industry. There is, therefore, a dearth of in-depth research on small-to-medium software enterprises (SMSE). The need to understand the institutional contexts and firm-specific capabilities of such firms is important, as they account for over 90% of software enterprises operating in Europe and the US. This paper adopts a dynamic capabilities perspective to help understand the social and institutional web of conditions and factors that shaped and influenced capability development in one European SMSE. The findings illustrate that a commitment to learn and to evolve this firm's intangible knowledge assets underpinned the development of dynamic business and IT capabilities. Another contribution is this paper's identification of—and distinction between—'soft' and 'hard' IT capabilities, which were embedded in the firm's organizational and managerial processes. The lessons learned here are applicable to other European SMSEs, as they share similar institutional contexts with the organization studied—for example, European SMSEs can access direct and indirect R&D funding from EU and individual member states. This study is, therefore, well timed as the EU has, in 2003, set aside a significant proportion of its 16 billion euro 6 Framework R&D budget for small-to-medium enterprises. Finally, this paper presents a dynamic capabilities model that captures the firm-specific capabilities and assets of innovative SMSEs.


Automatic prejudice is a term that could be used to describe the processes and phenomena of unwitting discrimination towards the 'conceptual Gypsy'. Where specific education and training has not been provided, there exists evidence to suggest that some decisions made during care proceedings can be informed by unreflected presuppositions. In these cases, decisions are often justified against pathologising or cultural relativist reactions toward a conceptual 'Gypsy' culture. In an attempt to reduce the opportunities for automatic prejudice, this paper will briefly show how socio-political discourse has cemented automatic discriminatory attitudes towards Gypsies, Roma and Travellers as a socially acceptable bastion of racism. In specific relation to care proceedings, this paper will argue that the potential influence of automatic prejudice on the decision making process requires children's guardians, family court advisors and social workers to ensure that any order given, or placement type considered, accurately reflects the realities and lived experiences of the child, and is not influenced by recommendations which might otherwise be indicative of unreflected examples of reciprocated fear between professionals and the community of Gypsies, Roma and Travellers themselves.


Over the last 20 years or so object-oriented programming has become the predominant paradigm in software engineering. Finite-element analysis (FEA) is the most powerful computational tool used in engineering, particularly for structures. It has been in use for some 50 years and as a result there is a massive legacy of tried-and-tested software, mostly written in Fortran. Therefore, the impact of object-oriented programming has been less than in other areas. Even so, there has been much research in this area. This paper describes the advantages that can be gained from using object-oriented methods in finite-element software design. From the user perspective there are two primary concerns—ease of use and computational speed. In addition, the flexibility, maintainability and robustness of software are of indirect importance to the end-user, and clearly of major importance to software developers. The paper will demonstrate how object-oriented methods make positive contributions to all these areas.


ABSTRACT Background: Memory complaints in older adults may be a precursor of measurable cognitive decline. Causes for these complaints may vary across age groups. The goal of this study was to develop classification models for the early identification of persons at risk for memory complaints using a broad range of characteristics. Methods: Two age groups were studied, 55–65 years old (N = 1,416.8) and 65–75 years old (N = 471) using data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. Participants reporting memory complaints at baseline were excluded. Data on predictors of memory complaints were collected at baseline and analyzed using logistic regression analyses. Multiple imputation was applied to handle the missing data; missing data due to mortality were not imputed. Results: In persons aged 55–65 years, 14.4% reported memory complaints after three years of follow-up. Persons using medication, who were former smokers and had insufficient/poor hearing, were at the highest risk of developing memory complaints, i.e. a predictive value of 33.3%. In persons 65–75 years old, the incidence of memory complaints was 22.5%. Persons with a low sense of mastery, who reported having pain, were at the highest risk of memory complaints resulting in a final predictive value of 56.9%. In the subsample of persons without a low sense of mastery who (almost) never visited organizations and had a low level of memory performance, 46.8% reported memory complaints at follow-up. Conclusions: The classification models led to the identification of specific target groups at risk for memory complaints. Suggestions for person-tailored interventions may be based on these risk profiles.


Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed on lipase B from Candida antarctica (CalB) in its native form and with one or two oxidized residues, either methionine oxidized to methionine sulfoxide, tryptophan oxidized to 5-hydroxytryptophan, or cystine oxidized to a pair of cysteic acid residues. We have analyzed how these oxidations affect the general structure of the protein as well as the local structure around the oxidized amino acid and the active site. The results indicate that the methionine and tryptophan oxidations led to rather restricted changes in the structure, whereas the oxidation of cystines, which also caused cleavage of the cystine S-S linkage, gave rise to larger changes in the protein structure. Only two oxidized residues caused significant changes in the structure of the active site, viz., those of the Cys-22/64 and Cys-216/258 pairs. Site-directed mutagenesis studies were also performed. Two variants showed a behavior similar to that of native CalB (M83I and M129L), whereas W155Q and M72S had severely decreased specific activity. M83I had a slightly higher thermostability than native CalB. No significant increase in stability toward hydrogen peroxide was observed. The same mutants were also studied by molecular dynamics. Even though no significant increase in stability toward hydrogen peroxide was observed, the results from simulations and site-directed mutagenesis give some clues about the direction of further work on stabilization.


Women with a serious mental illness (SMI), notably schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and personality disorders are considered high risk for adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes, which in turn, are associated with poor neurodevelopment in the child. Failure to access antenatal care, poor adherence with folate supplementation, an unhealthy lifestyle, and inappropriate health decisions can contribute to poor outcomes. Many women with SMI continue contact with mental health services while pregnant. This primary prevention project aimed to develop a framework for community mental health clinicians to improve the reproductive health outcomes for women with SMI. The consultation process involved discussions with key stakeholders, an environmental scan to determine current service delivery issues, a literature review, and individual and group interviews with community mental health clinicians, consumers, general practitioners, and midwives. Three key elements underpin the framework: early detection and monitoring of pregnancy, providing reproductive choices, and implementing a 'small known team approach' in the management of the pregnant client. Specific modules within the framework focus upon establishing a professional support network, assessing the risk of pregnancy, the early detection of pregnancy, monitoring during pregnancy, preparing for birth, and planning for the postnatal period. Implementation of the framework has the potential to significantly improve obstetric and neonatal outcomes for this high-risk group.


This 2nd edition aimed both to update the
contents of the first edition, which enjoyed buoyant sales in the UK and overseas, and also to widen the focus to include topics
and areas of discussion which were either not being aired six years previously and/or about which very little was then known.
There are eight new chapters and nine substantially updated chapters. The book has a number of professional audiences
across agencies involved in child protection, criminal and youth justice, psychiatry, psychology and counselling, as well as
academic audiences


A bacilliform virus was isolated from diseased fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas). Analysis of the complete genome coding for the polyprotein (pp1ab), spike (S), membrane (M) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins revealed that the virus was most like white bream virus (WBV), another bacilliform virus isolated from white bream (Blicca bjoerkna L.) and the type species of the genus Bafinivirus within the order Nidovirales. In addition to similar gene order and size, alignment of deduced amino acid sequences of the pp1ab, M, N and S proteins of the fathead minnow nidovirus (FHMNV) with those of WBV showed 46, 44, 39 and 15 % identities, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis using the conserved helicase domain of the replicase showed FHMNV was distinct from WBV, yet the closest relative identified to date. Thus, FHMNV appears to represent a second species in the genus Bafinivirus. A PCR assay was developed for the identification of future FHMNV-like isolates.


Hydrogen gas has been detected in a closed system containing copper and pure anoxic water [P. Szakalos, G. Hultquist, and G. Wikmark, Electrochem. Solid-State Lett. 10, C63 (2007) and G. Hultquist, P. Szakalos, M. Graham, A. Belonoshko, G. Sproule, L. Grasjo, P. Dorogokupets, B. Danilov, T. Aastrup, G. Wikmark, G. Chuah, J. Eriksson, and A. Rosengren, Catal. Lett. 132, 311 (2009)]. Although bulk corrosion into any of the known phases of copper is thermodynamically forbidden, the present paper shows how surface reactions lead to the formation of hydrogen gas in limited amounts. While water cleavage on copper has been reported and investigated before, formation of molecular hydrogen at a single-crystal Cu[100] surface is here explored using density functional theory and transition state theory. It is found that although solvent catalysis seems possible, the fastest route to the formation of molecular hydrogen is the direct combination of hydrogen atoms on the copper surface. The activation free energy (ΔG(s)(‡)(f)) of hydrogen formation in condensed phase is 0.70 eV, which corresponds to a rate constant of 10 s(-1) at 298.15 K, i.e., a relatively rapid process. It is estimated that at least 2.4 ng hydrogen gas could form per cm(2) on a perfect copper surface.


BACKGROUND
As the North American population ages, the prevalence of knee osteoarthritis and the surgical interventions (ie, total knee arthroplasty [TKA]) aimed at correcting pain and disability will also rise proportionally. Therefore, efforts to better understand the factors associated with surgical outcomes are warranted. To date, no studies have examined the impact of psychosocial factors on acute postoperative TKA pain.

OBJECTIVES
The primary objective was to examine the associations among catastrophizing, negative mood, demographics and acute postoperative pain following TKA. Ancillary analyses examined the association of preoperative psychological variables with postoperative pain.

METHODS
Patients completed questionnaire packages 2 h before their surgery and on three consecutive postoperative days while in the hospital. The questionnaire packages included the Short Form - McGill Pain Questionnaire, the Pain Catastrophizing Scale and the Shortened Version of Profile of Mood States. The Mini-Mental State Examination was also administered. Demographic data were extracted from patients' medical charts.

RESULTS
Associations among catastrophizing, negative mood and pain were established. Regressions showed that younger age predicted greater preoperative and postoperative day 1 pain; catastrophizing predicted preoperative and postoperative day 2 pain; and negative mood predicted postoperative day 3 pain. Catastrophizing and negative mood were highly correlated at several assessment points. Preoperative variables did not predict postoperative pain.

CONCLUSION
These results have postoperative pain management implications. Heightened attention to psychosocial variables, such as postoperative catastrophizing and negative mood, may be useful in identifying patients at risk for greater postoperative pain.


The aim of this study is to analyze differences in participation, and in the results obtained in the anatomy and histology exams, over two academic years of the Sport Sciences degree course. During the first semester of the academic year 2019/2020 both the lectures and the exam took place face‐to‐face, while during the academic year 2020/2021 everything was done online. Statistical analysis revealed that the online modality was especially advantageous for the anatomy exam. Students' opinions were also assessed through a short questionnaire. The results showed that teachers involved themselves in both groups. Students needed to interact socially with teachers and colleagues and to ask them questions. Even if the differences were not significant, the difference was greater for face‐to‐face students in most comparisons. Finally, the most common methods of peer communication were by social media.


BACKGROUND
expressive language of pre-term children.

AIM
to compare the expressive vocabulary of two year-old children born prematurely, to that of those born at term.

METHODS
the study sample was composed by 118 speech-language assessment protocols, divided in two groups: the pre-term group (PTG) composed by 58 underweight premature children followed by a multi-professional team at the Casa do Prematuro (House of Premature Children) at Unifesp, and the full-term group (FTG) composed by 60 full-term born children. In order to evaluate the expressive language of these children, the Lave - Lista de Avaliação do Vocabulário Expressivo (Assessment List of the Expressive Vocabulary) was used. The Lave is an adaptation of the LDS - Language Development Survey - for the Brazilian Portuguese Language. The Lave investigates the expressive language and detects delays in oral language.

RESULTS
children born underweight and prematurely present a greater occurrence of expressive language delay, 27.6%. These pre-term children present significantly lower expressive vocabulary and phrasal extension than children of the same age born at full-term in all semantic categories. Family income proved to be positively associated to phrasal extension, as well as to gestational age and weight at birth; thus indicating the effect of these adverse conditions still during the third year of age. The audiological status was associated to word utterances in the PTG.

CONCLUSION
children born prematurely and underweight are at risk in terms of vocabulary development; this determines the need for speech-therapy intervention programs.


We have studied the role of phosphorylation in the activation of metal-regulatory transcription factor-1 (MTF-1) and metallothionein (MT) gene expression. We showed that MTF-1 is phosphorylated in vivo and that zinc stimulates MTF-1 phosphorylation 2–4-fold. Several kinase inhibitors were used to examine the possible involvement of kinase cascades in the activation of MTF-1. Metal-induced MT gene expression was abrogated by protein kinase C (PKC), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), phosphoinositide 3-kinase, and tyrosine-specific protein kinases inhibitors, as assayed by Northern analysis and by cotransfection experiments using a metal regulatory element-luciferase reporter plasmid. The extracellular signal-activated protein kinase and the p38 kinase cascades did not appear to be essential for the activation of MT gene transcription by metals. By using dominant-negative mutants of PKC, JNK, mitogen-activated kinase kinase 4 (MKK4), and MKK7, we provide further evidence supporting a role for PKC and JNK in the activation of MTF-1 in response to metals. Notably, increased MTF-1 DNA binding in response to zinc and MTF-1 nuclear localization was not inhibited in cells preincubated with the different kinase inhibitors despite strong inhibition of MTF-1-mediated gene expression. This suggests that phosphorylation is essential for MTF-1 transactivation function. We hypothesize that metal-induced phosphorylation of MTF-1 is one of the primary events leading to increased MTF-1 activity. Thus, metal ions such as cadmium could activate MTF-1 and induce MT gene expression by stimulating one or several kinases in the MTF-1 signal transduction pathway.


Different polytypes (α-SiC and β-SiC) and crystallographic orientations ((0001) and (11-20) of 6H-SiC) have been used in order to elaborate Silicon Carbide (SiC) nanopillars using inductively coupled plasma etching method. The cross section of the SiC pillars shows a rhombus, pentagon, or hexagonal morphology depending on polytypes and crystallographic orientations. The favored morphologies of SiC nanopillars are originated from a complex interplay between their polytypes and crystal orientations, which reflects the so-called Wulff's rule.


In this paper we examine Ɔbenfo Mario H. Beatty's chapter, 'Maat the Cultural and Intellectual Allegiance of a Concept' in terms of its articulation of MꜢꜤt 'Maat'. This examination sets out to delineate how a return to the principles inherent in MꜢꜤt 'Maat' can serve to bring about the Wḥm Mswt 'Rebirth/Renaissance' of Kmt 'Land of Black People' and Kmt(yw) 'Black People' economically and politically. This research is significant in that it points us away from the semantically vacuous and etymologically opaque terms "Africa" and "Africans" to terminology, principles and practices that restore our original identity as Kmt(yw) 'Black People'.


The goal of this investigation is to obtain mount-independent low profile, tunable antenna operation over VHF and UHF with an omni-directional azimuth radiation pattern for both line-of-sight (LoS) and SATCOM functions thus replacing multiple antennas (including an 8 foot long whip) on current Marine Corps vehicles. The baseline form-factor was an annular slot antenna (ASA) 24" times24" times2.5" with the UHF antenna integrated into the center disk of the ASA. The VHF antenna was to be tunable across two bands of operation, 30 - 88 MHz and 136 - 174 MHz. Thus, at the low end of the band the antenna is extremely small electrically: lambda/14 in diameter and lambda/143 in depth.


Background. Survival following liver transplantation for hepatitis C virus (HCV) is significantly poorer than for liver transplants performed for other causes of chronic liver disease. The factors responsible for the inferior outcome in HCV+ recipients, and whether they differ from factors associated with survival in HCV- recipients, are unknown. Methods. The UNOS database was analyzed to identify factors associated with outcome in HCV+ and HCV- recipients. Kaplan-Meier graft and patient survival and Cox proportional hazards analysis were conducted on 13,026 liver transplants to identify the variables that were differentially associated with outcome survival in HCV- and HCV+ recipients. Results. Of the 13,026 recipients, 7386 (56.7%) were HCV- and 5640 were HCV+. In HCV- and HCV+ recipient populations, five-year patient survival rates were 83.5% vs. 74.6% (P<0.00001) and five-year graft survival rates 80.6% vs. 69.9% (P<0.00001), respectively. In a multivariate regression model, donor age and recipient creatinine were observed to be significant covariates in both groups, while donor race, cold ischemia time (CIT), female to male transplants, and recipient albumin were independent predictors of survival of HCV- recipients. In the HCV+ cohort, recipient race, warm ischemia time (WIT), and diabetes also independently predicted graft survival. Conclusions. A number of parameters are differentially correlated with outcome in HCV- and HCV+ recipients of orthotopic liver transplantion. These findings may not only have practical implications in the selection and management of liver transplant patients, but also may shed new insight into the biology of HCV infection posttransplant.


Objectives: Previous examinations of the relationship between patient experience and patient safety initiatives find that higher patient experience evaluations correspond to reduced incidence of adverse events. Little is known, however, about the impact of hospital organizational characteristics on this relationship. The purpose of this study is to examine the degree to which hospital size moderates the relationship between patient experience and patient safety. Methods: A lagged cross-sectional ordinary least squares regression tests a hypothesis of a diminishing effect of hospital size on the relationship between patient evaluations of their interpersonal care experience and hospital's central-line associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) is tested on a sample of 1740 US hospitals using data compiled from Hospital Compare and the American Hospital Association. Results: The results find that the magnitude of the relationship between patient experience and patient safety initiatives is diminished as hospital size increases and suggest that care providers' ability to deliver care in a manner that is simultaneously responsive to individual patient needs and preferences and reliable in its avoidance of adverse events is influenced by hospital size. An additional fractional logit is presented, which accounts for restrictions in the dependent variable further support study findings.


The coronavirus (COVID-19) is a threat to public health and caused several social, environmental, and economic problems. During the lockdown in different countries, waste generation has been significantly increased due to the high consumption of packaged food and increase the order of food via online and takeaway. This paper aims to investigate the impact of COVID 19 lockdown on food consumption and the subsequent change in waste generation in Oman. A quantitative research methodology was applied for this study using an online survey during the COVID 19 lockdown. The survey collected information on demographic data, awareness and attitudes toward food purchase behaviour, household food expenditure, and waste generation. The results show that 57.6% of the respondents believed that their food purchasing during the lockdown was increased as compared to before the lockdown. The main reason for increasing the food purchasing was the change in consumers behaviour and cooking more in households during the lockdown. This increase led to the increase in waste generation. One of the main reasons for the increased waste generation during the lockdown was the fact that people have spent more time at home. It was found that food waste and plastic packages were the highest increase (72% and 55%, respectively). These two types of waste are followed by cans and glass bottles with an increase of 68%. Other types of waste such as medical waste, electrical and electronic waste, and paper waste have shown no significant change in waste generation during the lockdown. Overall, this study provides useful information to further promote household food waste prevention behaviour, outlasting the COVID-19 crisis. The results from this study can be used by waste management and municipal utilities on consumption behaviour during emergency situations.


Plankton seascape genomics show different trends from large-scale weak differentiation to micro-scale structures. Prior studies underlined the influence of environment and seascape on a few single species differentiation and adaptation. However, these works generally focused on few single species, sparse molecular markers, or local scales. Here, we investigate the genomic differentiation of plankton at macro-scale in a holistic approach using Tara Oceans metagenomic data together with a reference-free computational method to reconstruct the FST-based genomic differentiation of 113 marine planktonic species using metavariant species (MVS). These MVSs, modelling the species only by their polymorphism, include a wide range of taxonomic groups comprising notably 46 Maxillopoda/Copepoda, 24 Bacteria, 5 Dinoflagellates, 4 Haptophytes, 3 Cnidarians, 3 Mamiellales, 2 Ciliates, 1 Collodaria, 1 Echinoidea, 1 Pelagomonadaceae, 1 Cryptophyta and 1 Virus. The analyses showed that differentiation between populations was significantly lower within basins and higher in bacteria and unicellular eukaryotes compared to zooplantkon. By partitioning the variance of pairwise-FSTmatrices, we found that the main drivers of genomic differentiation were Lagrangian travel time, salinity and temperature. Furthermore, we classified MVSs into parameter-driven groups and showed that taxonomy poorly determines which environmental factor drives genomic differentiation. This holistic approach of plankton genomic differentiation for large geographic scales, a wide range of taxa and different oceanic basins, offers a systematic framework to analyse population genomics of non-model and undocumented marine organisms.


This study sheds light on the mission drift arguments for 149 MFIs working in continent Asia over the period 2003 to 2013. The mission drift is captured by average loan size, total number of borrowers and lending rate. The study finds positive and significant relationship of average loan size with average profit and cost. These results indicate that increase in loan size results in increase in cost and this reduces outreach. The result shows that high subsidy uncertainty increases the interest rate and reduces the outreach of MFIs suggesting that subsidy must be less uncertain to avoid mission drift. The study also finds that subsidy uncertainty increases the average loan size, therefore core poor are not served. The implications that emerged fro m findings are that cost efficiency is very important, as cost efficiency increases, loan size becomes small, which ultimately fulfil the promise of maximum outreach to the core poor clients. The findings suggest for subsidy donors and Government need to m ake more clear policies regarding the disbursement timing and amount of subsidy. This will reduce the ambiguity about subsidy in MFIs and let them work more confidently on their mission


In wireless medium, requirement of high frequency is increasing day by day. For high frequency based system data rates should be high. In unguided media, as signal tr distance and due to interference of noise, there is error in phase and frequency and we get a deviated output. In view of this, We are motivated to design a low power frequency synthesizer which would provide a low locking time, low settling t value of damping factor to provide a efficient frequency response at the output end. The proposed design aspect is for high frequency which is implemented in IEEE 802.11(a) WLAN standard and OFDM technology, WCDMA, Bluetooth technology, high frequency processor. We have used Microwind 3.1 45nm technology and ADS as design tool to execute propose design. KeywordsFrequency synthesizer, phase frequency detector, voltage-controlled oscillators, Multi module divider,Microwind 3.1, ADS,wireless communication.


Many cereals crops are recalcitrant species to genetically modification through their resistance to Agrobacterium infection and recalcitrance to in vitro regeneration. However, a routine and efficient transformation protocol of Syrian maize (Zea mays) using an Agrobacterium tumefaciens standard binary vector system for yearround production of fertile transgenic maize plants was achieved. Immature zygotic embryos of Syrian genotypes and the control hybrid line Hi II were infected with A. tumefaciens strain EHA101 harboring a standard binary vector pTF102. The average stable transformation frequency (number of bialaphos-resistant events recovered per 100 embryos infected) of the present protocol was 14.5% for Hi II and 5.9 for Syrian genotypes. The expression of the beta-glucuronidase (GUS) gene was delivered with high efficiency to maize calli, roots and shoots by A. tumefaciens carrying the GUS gene was observed. Progeny analysis through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of total isolated DNA confirmed the integration, expression and inheritance of T-DNA carrying the selectable marker gene bar and reporter gene gus in the genomes of transgenic maize plants. More than 90% of transformants were normal in morphology. The protocol took about 3 months from the start of infection and cocultivation to the planting of transformants into pots. It is anticipated that this study will assist further enhancement of maize transformation technology leading to develop an updated protocol for the Agrobacterium-mediated generation of maize. To our knowledge, this is the first report providing evidence of the transformation ability of Syrian genotypes via A. tumefaciens. [Ayman A, Lane S, Fuller MP. Genetic Transformation of Immature Zygotic Embryos of Maize Genotypes via Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Life Sci J 2014;11(11):966-975]. (ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 171


We have investigated the occurrence of a second resonance frequency in distributed Bragg reflector laser diodes and the high modulation bandwidth resulting from it. The influence of different laser parameters has been theoretically investigated. It is also shown that a similar behavior can be obtained in laser diodes with a passive, low-loss, and gratingless external cavity. The possibilities of large-signal digital modulation are also investigated.