Street gangs and organized crime groups pose a unique challenge to police departments across the globe. Given their penchant for public displays of affiliation through well-recognized signs and symbols, their presence is often associated with media attention and public scrutiny, which threatens the legitimacy of the police and creates added pressure to generate a specific and public response to the threat these groups pose. The current study documents how the Stockholm County, Sweden, police developed and maintained an anti-gang operation in response to an emerging gang problem. While police officials labeled the anti-gang initiative a success in the news media, analyses of prosecution statistics and internal police documents demonstrate a less than ideal effect of this operation. Potential reasons for the discrepancy in public pronouncements of programmatic success relative to evaluation of official data are discussed.


A direct analytical technique was developed and tested for correct estimation of recovery of Eco-elements such as Li, B, Br, in the seawater, and three processed seawaters from Hanjoo Co. Ltd. The reliability of recovery technique and the correct estimation of total recoveries become a major interest before the launch of pilot plant. High matrix solutions are frequently affected in analyte response during instrumental analysis as the concentration of major component changed drastically. To overcome such a complication during standard sample preparation and a better application in pilot plant, a modified matrix matching standard addition method was developed and the reliability was checked. The detection limit of elements in several seawaters analyzed by applying the modified matrix matching standard addition method were 0.144 – 0.258-g/dm3 for lithium, 0.0.013 – 0.18mg/dm3 for boron, and 4.23 – 17.8mg/dm3 for bromine. The instrumental analysis was carried by AAS for lithium and ICP-AES for boron and bromine.


The degree of radiation absorption of various human tissues of known histology and known water content was measured at temperatures below freezing point and after fixation in formalin of various concentrations. Computer tomographic "density" showed the least change with tissues in 6% formalin. Higher and lower concentrations of formalin caused considerable changes in radiation absorption. Pure water below freezing point produces a reduction in density of 80 Hounsfield units; consequently, densitometry of frozen sections is pointless. Comparisons of CT density before and after freezing give some indications of chemical composition.


Background Calprotectin is one of the major leukocyte S100 proteins showing both calcium binding and antimicrobial characteristics. The serum level of calprotectin is markedly elevated in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, as well as systemic lupus erythematosus and has been suggested to play a prominent role in both progression and pathogenesis of these diseases. Aim The purpose of this study was to investigate the serum level of calprotectin in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and its association with disease activity and other clinical characteristics of AS. Materials and Methods Thirty-one patients who met the modified New York criteria for AS and 45 healthy controls were included in this study. Both Bath AS disease activity index and AS disease activity score were applied on the patients with AS for the assessment of disease activity; Bath AS functional index, for the assessment of functional activity; Bath AS radiology index, for the assessment of radiological damage; and the AS quality of life questionnaire for the assessment of disease-related life status. Spinal and hip measurements were performed using Bath AS metrology index. The serum level of calprotectin was determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. Results Mean serum level of calprotectin was significantly higher in the patients with AS compared with healthy controls (P = 0.003). Serum levels of calprotectin did not correlate with Bath AS disease activity index, AS disease activity score, Bath AS functional index, Bath AS radiology index, Bath AS metrology index, modified Schober, chest expansion, AS quality of life questionnaire, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein values (P > 0.05). Conclusions Our results suggest that calprotectin might play an important role in the pathogenetic mechanisms of AS; however, the calprotectin levels did not correlate with the measurements of disease activity, functional abilities, radiological damage, and the quality of life in these patients. Further insight into this area of research might provide opportunities to develop novel treatment strategies, which take into account the role of these peptides in the pathogenetic mechanisms of AS.


Introduction: Ultrasound Guided Fine Needle Aspiration is a safe, and reliable procedure for the accurate diagnosis of intra-abdominal mass lesions.
Materials and Methods: This study was based in a tertiary care centre and was a prospective type of study including all the patients with abdominal mass. Mass lesions were subjected for FNAC under ultrasound guidance from June 2016 to December 2017.164 cases were included in which FNAC was done for intra abdominal mass lesions under ultrasound guidance. Wet smears were prepared for Leishmann, PAP stain and air dried smears were prepared for May Grunwald Giemsa stain. The lesions were further studied and divided into Inflammatory, Benign, Malignant, Hemorrhagic and Unsatisfactory for interpretation categories.
Results: A total of 164 cases were included in the present study which FNA was done for intra-abdominal mass lesions under ultrasound guidance. In the present study, predominance was observed with a male to female ratio of 1.05:1. Majority of cases were present in the age group ranging from 30-60 years.158 cases were studied out of which Liver lesions constituted 87(55.06%) cases. There were total 118 malignant (71.93%) cases, 37 (22.56%) inflammatory cases, 3(1.89%) benign cases and 6(3.65%) cases were unsatisfactory and were excluded from the study.
Conclusion: It was observed that the incidence of malignant lesions in liver were more common than the benign lesions. Among benign, the most common lesion noted was reactive changes. Adenocarcinoma was the most common metastatic tumor in our study. While among the primary tumors, HCC was the most common. US guided FNAC was less time consuming, safe, useful, and accurate technique for making diagnoses of hepatic lesions.

Keywords: Ultrasound, Intra-abdominal, mass, Lesions, FNA.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ef fi cacy and safety of nanosomal docetaxel lipid suspension (NDLS, DoceAqualip)-based chemotherapy in breast cancer. Methods: Medical charts of patients with breast cancer, who were treated and followed up with NDLS (75 – 100 mg/m 2 ; 3-week cycle)-based chemotherapy from August 2014 to September 2018, were analyzed in this multicenter, retrospective study. The study endpoints were overall response rate (ORR: complete response [CR]+partial response [PR]) and disease control rate (DCR: CR+PR+stable disease [SD]) in neoadjuvant and metastatic settings. Overall survival (OS) and safety were evaluated for all settings. Results: Of 91 patients (neoadjuvant: 12, adjuvant: 61, metastatic: 18), ef fi cacy evaluation in 29 patients (neoadjuvant: 12/12, metastatic: 17/18) demonstrated an ORR and DCR of 100%, respectively, in the neoadjuvant setting, and an ORR of 64.7% and DCR of 70.6%, respectively, in the metastatic setting. At a median follow-up of 21.6 months (range: 2.1 to 49.9 months), median OS was not reached in neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings, and it was 30.4 months in metastatic settings. At least one adverse event (AE) was reported in 59.3% of patients. Anemia, thrombocytopenia, lymphopenia, and neutropenia were the most common hematological AEs reported while hyperglycemia and alteration in liver function tests were the most common non-hematological AEs. NDLS-based treatment was well tolerated with-out any new safety concerns. Conclusion: Nanosomal docetaxel lipid suspension-based chemotherapy was ef fi cacious and well tolerated in the treatment of breast cancer. Further, NDLS is being evaluated prospectively in patients with triple-negative breast cancer (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03671044).


The reason for undertaking this particular project stems from my personal interest in practical yacht design where the end product is accessible to a large audience. Racing yacht design is a great medium for testing and developing new theories or designs but very few people have access to the vessels. My design philosophy is to create a yacht which has been produced for the recreational user whilst utilising modern advancements in naval architecture. I aim to produce a vessel which can be manufactured economically from cost-effective materials but is still capable of performance to excite. I aim to utilise the current methods available to small yachts designers, it is not my intension to use CFD or towing tank research. Although this can be accurate and enable extreme design philosophies to be tested the financial implications can be far too high for a small design company to use. All the methods utilised can be adopted with little expense, any CAD or other computational methods will be using programs available in all established design offices.


OBJECTIVES
Maxillary Lateral Incisor Agenesis (MLIA) pose significant orthodontic and restorative challenges. The aim of this study was to evaluate dental factors and their effect on decision making for MLIA.

METHODS
This is a retrospective study of patients who attended the Edinburgh Dental Institute between 2007 and 2016. Patients with unilateral or bilateral MLIA were included. Excusion criteria: inadequate pre-treatment records, hypodontia of additional teeth as well as MLIA, a craniofacial syndrome, previous orthodontic treatment. Archived records were used to record relevant dental features and treatment decisions. The independent variables were age, gender, overjet, molar relationship, space availability for lateral incisors, and canine aesthetics. The dependent variable was treatment outcome (orthodontic space opening or closing). Multiple regression models were used to identify predictors of treatment outcome.

RESULTS
44 patients were included in the study (30 female and 14 male). Mean age was 13.7 (SD 2.3) years. Fifteen patients (34.1%) had space closure and 29 patients (65.9%) received space opening. Space availability was the only significant predictor of treatment outcome within the regression model (p=0.02).

CONCLUSIONS
Presence of adequate space in the maxillary arch is associated with orthodontic space opening for MLIA.


This article analyses the role of language in the intra- and intergenerational social mobility of Argentinean, Colombian and Moroccan immigrants in Catalonia, an officially bilingual society. We start from the notion that the knowledge and use of and attachment to local languages are affected by the range and importance of opportunities for social mobility offered by the host society. Empirical evidence is based on 45 biographical interviews with members of first generation immigrant groups and their children (raised in Catalonia and currently living outside the family home). We show that the attitudes towards and use of the Catalan language depend on expectations and constraints with regard to upward social mobility. This article questions the causal relationship between languages spoken and job opportunities, postulated by means of the theory of human capital whereby language is only considered as a competitive advantage on the basis of its communicative value.


Abstract The overwhelming evidence that birds evolved from maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs has rekindled an interest in the work of the Victorian anatomist Thomas Henry Huxley. Many popular and technical accounts credit Huxley with being the first to propose that birds evolved from dinosaurs, but this is a misinterpretation of Huxley's work. During the 1860s Huxley was preoccupied with identifying the basic 'groundplans' that united vertebrate forms. Birds and reptiles were two groups united by a shared body plan, with dinosaurs representing an intermediate form. Huxley did not begin to cast dinosaurs as transitional forms between birds and earlier reptiles until he read Ernst Haeckel's Generelle Morphologie, at which time Huxley amassed ample anatomical evidence to illustrate how birds could have evolved from something dinosaur-like. Even then, however, Huxley did not say that birds had evolved from dinosaurs. As he explicitly stated in public addresses during the 1870s, small bird-like dinosaurs like Compsognathus only represented the form of what the true ancestors of birds might have looked like. Bird-like dinosaurs chiefly served to show that such a transition was possible. Thus, Huxley's views on the evolution of birds were much more complex than many modern authors appreciate.


OBJECTIVE
Given the aging population, the treatment of vascular dementia (VaD) is becoming increasingly important. The antioxidant α-lipoic acid (α-LA) protects against neurodegeneration in VaD, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Hence, we aimed to identify the effects of α-LA on cognitive function following chronic cerebrovascular hypoperfusion in a VaD animal model.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Mice were categorized into the sham, bilateral common carotid artery stenosis (BCAS), or BCAS + α-LA group. The BCAS + α-LA group was intraperitoneally injected (100 mg/kg) once daily with α-LA for 4 weeks after BCAS surgery, while the BCAS and sham groups were injected with saline. After the last injection, we examined cognitive function and exploration behavior using the Morris water maze. Mice brains were then harvested for Western blot analyses.

RESULTS
The BCAS group, but not the BCAS + α-LA group, showed cognitive dysfunction in the Morris water maze. Apoptosis pathways involving poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage, phosphorylated-mammalian target of rapamycin (p-mTOR), phosphorylated-3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase-1, and phosphorylated-protein kinase B (p-AKT) were enhanced in the BCAS group than the α-LA group. The BCAS + α-LA group demonstrated less PARP cleavage and p-mTOR function than did the BCAS group. The activity of autophagy pathways involving LC3B was higher in the BCAS and BCAS + α-LA groups than the sham group, but there were no significant differences between the BCAS and BCAS + α-LA groups.

CONCLUSIONS
In the BCAS rodent model, cognitive dysfunction and apoptosis mediated by the phosphatase and tensin homolog/AKT/mTOR pathway were observed in the hippocampus. However, acting on the mTOR pathway, α-LA improved cognitive function and led to hippocampal cell survival. Thus, α-LA may be useful for treating VaD.


While there has been something of an intermittent tradition of European Westerns, cannibal western Ravenous (1999) is a highly singular film with little clear antecedence. The film unified a number of production workers from different European countries and beyond. It stars an Australian, a Scotsman, white Americans and a native American, was shot in Slovakia, initially directed by a Serb and finally directed by an English woman. The transnational credentials of the film's production are perhaps unique. The western is one of the most established film genres and traditions, and European attempts at a film genre so indigenous to America are often interesting, if perhaps for the wrong reasons. This paper will argue that Ravenous at least partly endeavours to negotiate the minefield of film and cultural tradition through its music. Provided by pop star Damon Albarn and scholar turned film music composer Michael Nyman, the music also has a highly singular character, and attempts to supply the film with some 'credentials'. Albarn's music at times is 'pop' influenced but also embraces and is influenced by native American music, thus appealing to the 'reality' of ethnic north American music. Similarly, Nyman's music also appeals to the reality of the time and space the film represents, with a historical and scholarly approach to music that might have been played at the time, including the limitations on performance of amateur musicians. These 'world music' and 'avant garde' approaches mark responses to the universality of the Classical film score – an 'international style' if ever there was one. Despite similar attempts to 'revision' music for westerns, here, despite the surface of Americana, there remains something stoically and determinedly European


: It appears possible to control back pain by reducing the probability of the initial episode, reducing the length of the disability, and reducing the change of recurrence. Progress toward these goals may be possible with a combination of job design, job placement and education/training.


Blood vessels function as conduits for distribution of blood throughout the circulatory system. Large arteries, in addition to the essential conduit function, also serve to dampen the effect of pulsatile ventricular ejection that generates pulsatile pressure with each cardiac cycle; that is, they exhibit a 'cushion' function. The conduit function can be compromised by intimal effects that cause obstruction to flow, generally attributed to plaque formation due to intimal changes affected by atherosclerotic processes. The cushion function is affected by medial changes altering the wall stiffness, and so the capacity of arteries to absorb pulsatile energy. This modulates pulse pressure through changes in wall stiffness and vessel compliance and characteristics of wave propagation. In addition, these changes are further affected by arterial pressure. Intimal changes related to obstructive phenomena are generally thought to be related to atherosclerosis, and medial change affecting vessel buffering capacity related to arteriosclerosis. This lecture explores aspects that characterise the potential inter-relationship between the two phenomena and arterial pressure. With advances in molecular biology, imaging and computational modelling, pathways involved in cell-signalling affecting intimal changes through endothelial function and medial changes through both endothelial and smooth muscle function are increasingly being identified. The nitric oxide pathway has been shown to influence protein expression affecting the stiffness of the extracellular matrix through alteration of cross-link formation. In turn, bioavailablity of endothelial nitric oxide is also affected by wall stiffness. Changes in distribution of internal wall stress due to altered structure of the wall matrix can alter the mechanotransduction effects on the endothelial cell, modifying intimal changes. The phenotypic transdifferentiation of the smooth muscle cell is associated with changes in structural integrity of medial elastin, leading to arterial calcification and altered arterial stiffness. The changes in smooth muscle function are also affected by anchoring properties of integrins, in turn modifying wall properties. Superimposed on the cell-signalling phenomena modulating intimal and medial function is the modification of wall properties due to distending pressure. The task of assessing whether the relationship between atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis and hypertension constitutes a cause or effect presents a formidable challenge. However, emerging evidence suggests that investigating the inter-relationships may elucidate potential feedback signalling pathways that may be interrogated to possibly delay the ill effects of compromised vascular function and development of hypertension.


Over the past three decades, the US has developed a robust body of gender asylum law, including claims of women subject to sexual violence or other serious harm for reasons of gender. This body of law both reflects and has been a catalyst for larger shifts in US jurisprudence recognising the international treaty law basis of domestic asylum law. For years such progress was stymied by a dominant Cold War ideological decision-making paradigm and a woefully inadequate and politicised administrative bureaucracy. The growth of a domestic and international women's rights movement, and more meaningful engagement by the US judiciary, have resulted in substantial changes. Although progress remains incomplete, today there is a significant body of administrative and federal judicial case law incorporating gender into the interpretation of key categories in refugee law, including gender-defined particular social groups (PSG) and gender-based claims under the political, race and religion grounds in the definition of refugee. These more principled developments have proven vulnerable to politics, particularly under the administration of President Donald J. Trump. However, a new approach, based in part on a clearer, regulatory articulation of doctrine, holds promise for the development of a more coherent and principled body of jurisprudence. This article places US gender asylum in the context of the larger political landscape (i.e., the Cold War, and post-Cold War politics). The article also attempts to draw the links between the development of gender asylum law and larger social and legal change movements, including a domestic and international women's rights movements focused on issues of sexual violence and violence in the home or "domestic violence."


Significant and rapid climate change is predicted for Arctic regions. These changes are expected to have implications for indigenous communities. This paper argues that the starting point to understand how future climate change may affect communities is analysis of past and present experience of, and response to, climate variability and change. Using a vulnerability approach, the paper provides an historical account of changing vulnerability to climate-related risks among Inuit in Igloolik, Nunavut. The research demonstrates that Inuit in Igloolik have been highly adaptable in the face of climatic stresses. This adaptability has historically been facilitated by traditional Inuit knowledge, resource use flexibility and diversity, group mobility, and strong social networks. However, societal changes, and more recently biophysical changes, have increased the susceptibility of people to climatic risks and have undermined certain aspects of adaptive capacity. The research indicates that the implications of future climate change will be influenced by the interaction between biophysical and societal changes, will vary over time in response to forces internal and external to the community, and will be differentiated among social groups.


Visualization of the subcellular localization of SARS-CoV-2 proteins in lung patient material of COVID-19 patients is important for the understanding of this new virus. We detected viral proteins in the context of the ultrastructure of infected cells and tissues and discovered that some viral proteins accumulate in novel, lipid-filled compartments. ABSTRACT The pandemic of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a global outbreak and prompted an enormous research effort. Still, the subcellular localization of the coronavirus in lungs of COVID-19 patients is not well understood. Here, the localization of the SARS-CoV-2 proteins is studied in postmortem lung material of COVID-19 patients and in SARS-CoV-2-infected Vero cells, processed identically. Correlative light and electron microscopy on semithick cryo-sections demonstrated induction of electron-lucent, lipid-filled compartments after SARS-CoV-2 infection in both lung and cell cultures. In lung tissue, the nonstructural protein 4 and the stable nucleocapsid N-protein were detected on these novel lipid-filled compartments. The induction of such lipid-filled compartments and the localization of the viral proteins in lung of patients with fatal COVID-19 may explain the extensive inflammatory response and provide a new hallmark for SARS-CoV-2 infection at the final, fatal stage of infection. IMPORTANCE Visualization of the subcellular localization of SARS-CoV-2 proteins in lung patient material of COVID-19 patients is important for the understanding of this new virus. We detected viral proteins in the context of the ultrastructure of infected cells and tissues and discovered that some viral proteins accumulate in novel, lipid-filled compartments. These structures are induced in Vero cells but, more importantly, also in lung of patients with COVID-19. We have characterized these lipid-filled compartments and determined that this is a novel, virus-induced structure. Immunogold labeling demonstrated that cellular markers, such as CD63 and lipid droplet marker PLIN-2, are absent. Colocalization of lipid-filled compartments with the stable N-protein and nonstructural protein 4 in lung of the last stages of COVID-19 indicates that these compartments play a key role in the devastating immune response that SARS-CoV-2 infections provoke.


RNA interference (RNAi) is a highly conserved cellular process whereby small regulatory RNAs bound to argonaute proteins produce sequence-specific silencing of longer complementary RNAs. The agricultural biotechnology industry has taken advantage of RNAi to control insect pests through the use of transgenic crops expressing insecticidal RNAs. Upon introduction of doublestranded RNA into a pest, the complementary target messenger RNA is depleted and results in a lethal phenotype. For reasons that are not fully defined, certain insects respond differently to orally introduced RNAs, leaving holes in the manageability of all agricultural pests through this promising new technology. Furthermore, there are indications that insects may be able to develop resistance to crop-mediated RNAi through natural downregulation of RNAi pathway genes, among other proposed mechanisms. Using bioinformatics, next-generation sequencing, and insect bioassays, eight genes essential for RNAi were examined in three important agricultural insect pests for their potential involvement both in the differing responses to exogenous RNAs observed across these insects, and in development of resistance to insecticidal RNAs. These genes include drosha, dicer-1, dicer-2, pasha, loquacious, r2d2, argonaute 1, and argonaute 2. Putative homologues of the well-characterized Drosophila melanogaster genes were identified in the western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera), fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), and southern green stink bug (Nezara viridula) and compared using translated gene products. All genes were present in each insect and most showed conservation of basic protein domain structure, but differences in the number of isoforms and expression level of pasha, loquacious, r2d2, argonaute 1, and argonaute 2 were found. Sequencing experiments in each insect revealed the presence of small RNAs typical of the products of RNAi pathways, including conserved microRNAs. Abundance and distribution of these RNAs varied across life stage and insect. Finally, transcript depletion experiments were conducted in rootworm, and adverse phenotypic effects for each gene were observed. Taken together, these results suggest that while differences in these eight genes could contribute to variation


Our knowledge of the natural history of VIH infection has considerably increased during the last years. We know now that clinical evolution will depend of host factors as well as of viral characteristics. Among the host factors, the early specific cytotoxic response to VIH components plays a major role. Phenotypic variation of the virus (syncytium inducer mutants) and viral load in the lymph node and in the circulating CD4 cells play also an important role. As far as antiviral therapeutic is concerned, at the moment we know that monotherapy with nucleosides analogues is probably of limited efficacy because of emergence of resistance. Future perspectives include combination of antivirals aimed to prevent emergence of resistance and to reduce toxicity.


Computer modeling and simulations are performed to investigate capillary bridges spontaneously formed between closely packed colloidal particles in phase separating liquids. The simulations reveal a self-stabilization mechanism that operates through diffusive equilibrium of two-phase liquid morphologies. Such mechanism renders desired microstructural stability and uniformity to the capillary bridges that are spontaneously formed during liquid solution phase separation. This self-stabilization behavior is in contrast to conventional coarsening processes during phase separation. The volume fraction limit of the separated liquid phases as well as the adhesion strength and thermodynamic stability of the capillary bridges are discussed. Capillary bridge formations in various compact colloid assemblies are considered. The study sheds light on a promising route to in situ (in-liquid) firming of fragile colloidal crystals and other compact colloidal microstructures via capillary bridges.


In this paper, an approach for robust stability analysis of a digital closed-loop system for digital controller implementations subject to finite word length (FWL) effects is proposed. Uncertainties caused by the roundoff and computational errors subject to FWL effects are expressed in function of mantissa bit number when the mode of floating-point arithmetic is used in the process. Then, based on the Small Gain Theorem and the Bellman-Grownwall Lemma, a sufficient stability criterion for the digital closed-loop system is derived. The eigenvalue sensitivity of the closed-loop system is developed in terms of mixed matrix-2/Frobenius norms. Then, by minimizing this eigenvalue sensitivity and using orthogonal Hermitian transform as well, an optimal similarity transformation can be obtained. By substituting this optimal transformation into the stability criterion, a minimum mantissa bit number used for implementing the stabilizing digital controllers can be determined. The main contributions are that this approach provides an analytical closed-form solution for obtaining the optimal transformation and, in addition to the stability criterion, leads to the implementation of the stabilizing controllers with a lower mantissa bit number when using this optimal one. Finally, detailed numerical design processes and simulation results are used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.


Prevention of nosocomial infection includes, along with other factors, measures aimed at maintenance of aseptic and antiseptic conditions by means of modern effective antiseptics and disinfectants. Efficacy of skin antiseptics (plivasept tincture, plivasept blue, plivasept foamy), disinfectants for instruments, surfaces, equipment (plivasept with and without PAV, aldesol, isosan G) manufactured by Pliva (Croatia) is assessed at Surgical Center. All these agents are recommended for improving the epidemiological situation in intensive care departments.


Photoluminescent nanofibers (PLN) can be formed by combining electrospun polymeric nanofibers and luminescent particles such as quantum dots (QD). The physical properties of PLNs are dependent upon many different nanoscale parameters associated with the nanofiber, the luminescent particles, and their interactions. By understanding and manipulating these properties, the performance of the resulting optical structure can be tailored for desired end-use applications. For example, the quantum efficiency of quantum dots in the PLN structure depends upon multiple parameters including quantum dot chemistry, the method of forming the PLN nanocomposites, and preventing agglomeration of the quantum dot particles. This is especially important in solution-based electrospinning environments where some common solvents may have a detrimental effect on the performance of the PLN. With the proper control of these parameters, high quantum efficiencies can be readily obtained for PLNs. Achieving high quantum efficiencies is critical in applications such as solid-state lighting where PLNs can be an effective secondary conversion material for producing white light. Methods of optimizing the performance of PLNs through nanoscale manipulation of the nanofiber are discussed along with guidelines for tailoring the performance of nanofibers and quantum dots for application-specific requirements.


The nutritive value of Exalta was compared with Midmar in a grazing trial with lambs and in a digestion trial with mature wethers. The study was conducted between 17 August and 8 October 1993. Fifteen lambs per cultivar grazed the pastures using a two paddock per cultivar rotation procedure. Intake was measured from IVDOM of oesophageal samples and OM excreted qs collected by faecal bag. Lambs were weighed regularly and wool production was measured from a 100 cm' patch on the right mid-rib area. In the digestion trial, fermentation endproducts and nutrient disappearance in the gut were measured through multiple cannulae using Yb-acetate and Cr-EDTA as markers. Five sheep were used per cultivar; they were fed freshly cut ryegrass at four equally spaced intervals in24h. In both trials, DM content of the herbage exceeded 18% so high moisture content should not have limited forage intake. Cell wall content was more often lower for Exalta than for Midmar, the difference being primarily due to cellulose. In contrast, TNSC contents were more often higher. Other constituents did noJliffer significantly. OM intakes did not differ significantly between cultivars, being 80.2 and 84.3 g OM/ kg\AP ''ld for Exalta in the grazing and digestion trial respectively, and 76.1 and 79.1 g OM/kg\ f '"/d for Midmar. ADG in the grazing trial did not differ significantly, 239 g/ d for Exalta and 224 g/d for Midmar, but clean wool yield was highly significantly lower for lambs grazing Exalta (21 .0 vs 34.4 g/100 cmz). None of the rumen fermentation parameters or nutrients which disappeared in the gut differed significantly, except CP where 86% of CP intake disappeared postruminally on Exalta versus only 620/o n Midmar. The higher TNSC contents of Exalta presumably enhanced microbial protein production in the rumen and thereby promoted higher protein flow to the small intestine. However, wool production results were opposite to that expected from protein supply only.


Studies in Turkey are hospital based, and there is a wide variation in reported incidences that necessitate population based-studies to determine the real incidence of gestational trophoblastic diseases (GTDs). According to hospital-based studies, the frequency of GTD is generally very high and there are also regional differences. Epidemiologic study was performed to determine the frequency of hydatidiform mole (HM) in a rural part of Turkey. According to this study, the frequency of HM was lower than the frequencies reported by most of the hospital-based studies. In a national study, an inquiry form related to the approach to GTD was sent to obstetrics and gynecology departments. According to this study, a clinical classification system was used for gestational trophoblastic neoplasia by 60% of the hospitals. Methotrexate was the single-agent chemotherapy used most frequently. With regard to first-line combined chemotherapy, MAC (methotrexate, actinomycin, chlorambucil) was the preferred combination. EMA-CO (etoposide, methotrexate, actinomycin D, cyclophosphamide, Oncovin) was the most commonly used second-line chemotherapeutic regimen. From more recent studies, EMA-CO is the first-line combination chemotherapy. There is no national registry system for GTD in Turkey. There appears to be a need to conduct properly designed community-based studies with well-established case registry system in Turkey.


Introduction: Act 18.987 for the voluntary interruption of pregnancy specifically provided for conscientious objection, in spite of its constitutional origin being recognized. The scope of the objection has resulted in doctrinal debates, both from the legal and the bioethical perspectives. Reconciling the right to being a conscientious objector in the interruption of pregnancy process, with the rights of users who request such interruption, to obtain the service within a context of respect for her confidentiality constitutes an important aspect in this controversy. Objective: without prejudice of analysing conscientious objection both in terms of its material scope (what may be objected), and its personal scope (who may object), the article will particularly refer to the search for reconciling the right to objection and the right of users to receive the service. As a matter of fact, national and international provisions state objectors are obliged to refer patients to a nonobjecting colleague in order to ensure the provision of the health service. However, many times such referral is not possible in case there are no nonobjecting colleagues in a certain healthcare institution, or the number of nonobjecting colleagues may not cover the demand. The thesis upheld implies that the individual right of physicians to refer the patient when they are conscientious objectors may not be satisfactory exercised unless there is institutional support. In other words, the ultimate responsibility for those users to have access to the service lies in the institutions, which need to organize the service ensuring their demand is satisfied. We will try to prove that this responsibility to organize the service obliges the institution to refrain from referring users to other institutions, and to hire health professionals who are not objectors, so they can cover health services women have a right to, according to the legal provisions in force. Conclusions: upon analysing the role played by the authorities in the healthcare institutions in terms of the organization of services and the scope and limitations to conscientious objection, we conclude that: a) institutions are responsible for having professionals who do not object to rendering the voluntary interruption of pregnancy service, otherwise the obligation to refer patients by the physician who is an objector is impossible; b) the specific hiring of health professionals who are not objectors, without this having an impact on the work rights of the objecting professionals, is absolutely legitimate and may not be deemed as a form of discrimination; c) only in the event it is really impossible to hire professionals who can render this service is it possible to refer patients to other institutions. Therefore, reconciling conscientious objection and the right of users is necessarily an institutional obligation that does not imply analyzing the reasons why objectors refuse to render the service or creating registries of objectors, since the reason for conscientious objections is confidential.


The regeneration of highly loaded turbine blades causes variances in geometrical parameters. To determine such typical, regeneration-induced variances of turbine blades, refurbished blades of aircraft jet-engines are analysed and significant variations of different geometrical parameters are identified. These characteristic variances are applied to stator vanes of the investigated turbine stage. In the next step, steady-flow CFD simulations are performed with these varied vanes to evaluate the effects of geometric variances on their aerodynamic performance. This analysis indicates a high influence on the total pressure-loss coefficient of the varied vanes. The variation of the trailing-edge thickness, the blade thickness, and the variation of the chord length have effects of comparable magnitudes. Based on these results, the influence of the trailing-edge variation on the low engine-order excitation is investigated using a forced response analysis. It is shown, that the vibration amplitudes of some modes are significantly higher due to the geometrical variation.


An improved Mte-difference vector beam propaga- tion formulation for graded-index waveguides is presented. The modification over the existing version involves a more accurate representation of the Fresnel operator in finite-difference form that accounts for the gradient of the refractive index in the vector Helmholtz equation. The modified scheme is assessed by calculating the TM mode propagation constants of single-mode planar guides that yield better agreement to the exact values over the existing scheme. Furthermore, the calculated coupling lengths of a vertical directional coupler show improved comparison to experimental data.


Herpesvirus recovery from normal and experimentally infected simian tissues prepared into 10 to 20% homogenates was compared with that obtained by explanting these same tissues. The explant procedure was by far the more sensitive of the two methods. As a result, 8 herpesvirus isolations were obtained by conventional virus isolation procedures in contrast to 74 isolates when explants were made from these same tissue sources. There is also evidence to suggest that the explant method is more sensitive than the use of tissue homogenates for recovery of other viruses as well.


Background Women with identified BRCA1/2 mutation have a substantially increased risk of developing several types of cancer, mainly breast and ovarian, during their lifetime. Management options included close surveillance, chemoprevention and prophylactic surgeries. The aim of this study is to assess the rate of prophylactic surgeries among BRCA1/2 carriers counseled and screened at a single institution in the last 2 decades. Methods We retrospectively captured all women with a BRCA1/2 mutation that were identified in our genetic clinic between 2000 and 2015. The incidence of breast and ovarian cancer among all BRCA carriers was reported. The rates of prophylactic surgeries were calculated and analyzed in all identified carriers. Results Six hundred and eighty four women were identified to carry a deleterious BRCA mutation, among them 364 BRCA1 (53%) and 320 BRCA2 (47%). Three hundred and twenty seven (48%) were diagnosed with breast cancer and 80 (12%) had either ovarian or fallopian tumor. Forty percent (N=271) of the women assessed were healthy carriers. Prophylactic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomies (BSO) were performed in 342 women (50%) and prophylactic mastectomies (PM) (bilateral or unilateral) in 190 (28%). Furthermore, 154 women (23%) had both BSO and PM. Of note, 79 women (12%) were less than 35 years old and 122 were less than 40 years old (18%), the majority of those were waiting to have BSO later on. If we remove the young women from the analysis, 57 and 61% of the women would have had BSO (less than 35 and 40 years excluded respectively). If we only analyze the women who had a recent follow up in our clinic (2014-2015), 422 women would be eligible. Among those, 58 and 84 were less than 35 and 40 years old (y) respectively. For this cohort, the rates of BSO would be 61% (257/422)(whole cohort), 71% (excluding women less than 35y) and 76% (excluding women less than 40y). Conclusion A promising rate of BSO was reported in our cohort of BRCA carriers as compared to the literature. This rate was even higher (from 50 to over 70%) when we only analyzed patients with recent follow up in clinic and when we excluded young women waiting to have BSO. More efforts are needed to determine why the rates of PM are lower, for example limited breast reconstruction resources, in order to reduce the incidence of subsequent invasive breast cancer in this high-risk population. Citation Format: Raphael J, Hewitt P, Graham T, Ott K, Mancuso T, Lorentz J, Emmerson M, Eisen A. Rates of prophylactic surgeries among BRCA 1 or 2 mutation carriers: A single institution experience. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P6-10-17.


Commercial fishing alters the genetic traits of fish stocks. The extensive exploitation of marine resources by modern fisheries (see the figure) has wide-ranging effects on marine ecosystems. Across the world's oceans, size-selective harvesting by commercial fisheries has been a key driving force behind changes in phenotypic traits such as body size and age at maturation (1–3). These changes have altered the trophic structure of the affected ecosystems, disturbed predatorprey relationships, and modified trophic cascade dynamics (3, 4). Phenotypic changes can involve both ecological and evolutionary reactions to the effect of fishing, and there has been much debate about the relative roles of these reactions. This is important because genetic changes could result in long-term reductions in catches. Recent work has provided evidence for fisheries-induced evolutionary changes, with important implications for the sustainability of fisheries.


Microstructure, mechanical properties and cold workability of quaternary Ni3(Si,Ti) intermetallic alloys with L12 structure, which were alloyed with two atomic percent of a refractory element X (X: Hf, Ta and W), were investigated. The Ta-added Ni3(Si,Ti) alloy showed an L12 single phase microstructure, while the microstructure of the Hf-added alloy was comprised of Ni5Hf and/or Ni3Hf intermetallic dispersions in the L12 matrix, and that of the W-added alloy consisted of fcc Ni solid solution phase within the L12 grain. In the homogenized condition, hardness increased in the order of the Hf-added, the Ta-added and the W-added alloys. The hardenings of the Hf-added and the Ta-added alloys were attributed to second-phase dispersion hardening and distinctive solid solution hardening, respectively. Among these alloys, only the W-added alloy was successfully cold-rolled to thin sheet with a thickness of 200 m. It was found that both room-temperature and high-temperature tensile strength of the W-added alloy sheet was enhanced compared with that of the unalloyed Ni3(Si,Ti) sheet. Also, high-temperature tensile ductility was significantly improved in the W-added alloy sheet, by suppressing the propensity of brittle intergranular fracture.


The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between standardized uptake value (SUV), obtained from [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET), and treatment response and survival of inoperable NSCLC patients treated with high dose radiotherapy. Fifty-one patients were included, recording stage, performance, weight loss, tumour volume, histology, lymph node involvement, SUV, and delivered radiation dose. The maximum SUV (SUVmax) within the primary tumour was a sensitive and specific factor for predicting treatment response. Apart from SUVmax, stage and performance were also independent predictive factors for treatment response. In a multivariate disease-specific survival (DSS) analysis, SUVmax (p = 0.01), performances status (p = 0.008) and stage (p = 0.04) were prognostic factors. For overall survival (OS), SUVmax (p = 0.001) and performance (p = 0.06) were important prognostic factors. SUVmax was an important prognostic factor for survival of inoperable NSCLC patients and a predictive factor for treatment response. Although the number of patients was small, the treatment was inhomogeneous and the use of FDG SUV may have constraints, we still conclude that the FDG SUV is potentially a good indicator for selecting patients for different treatment


: The question of decreasing sphericity of the human femoral head during fetal growth was investigated with a Talyrond roundness-measuring machine. In 58 pairs of randomly selected femore, from 12 weeks to term, there was a trend for the femoral head to become less round with age and more oval or ellipsoidal in shape. At term a position of best "fit" may exist. No significant laterality or sex differences were found. Restriction of joint motion towards the end of pregnancy may decrease congruency, decrease joint stability, and become a factor in neonatal hip instability.


The discussion of a philosophy of engineering and/or engineering education has encouraged the community to try and bring some coherence to the field. This select and annotated bibliography is one resource intended to enhance and continue the conversation. In conjunction with a preparatory review, this bibliography introduces the 2011 FIE special workshop on the subject of exploring the philosophies of engineering and engineering education. This work extends what has been done during the 2007, 2008, and 2009 FIE conferences. Focus is brought to bare on research and theoretical readings that discuss a philosophy of engineering education; the engineering identity crisis; differentiating engineering, science, and technology; engineering science verse engineering design, engineering epistemology, philosophy and practice of the engineering curriculum; philosophy in the engineering curriculum; engineering ethics; and engineering culture. Each of the focus areas is introduced with a list of annotated references that present current ideas, beliefs and findings related to these areas.


In this study, the gestures of care in nursing were taken as object, giving emphasis to its daily movement and dynamism. It is an interdisciplinary study, exploratory, with a qualitative approach that from the instrumental point of view, captured information from historical photographic2 registers from the 20´s and the 40´s, in a fiction film about the life of Florence Nightingale and audio-visual images of hospital care taken in an unity of a Public Hospital in Rio de Janeiro and of interview with five nurses, two nurse aid, a customer and a familiar one. The theoretical reference comes from the Visual Anthropology3, from cinematographic4-5 studies and Brazilian authors that approach the care in Nursing6. The standardization of the audio-visual registers was based on the Ethnomethodology7, particulary on Garfinkel´s contributions. The study was approved of the Committee on Ethical Issues. The organization and analysis of those images indicate that in general we are not aware of the messages issued by our bodies during daily care that are transformed, according to the clients specific situations and also according to the knowledge and ability of several professionals. The gestures show the way of being of each professional, expressed through the dressing, the words, the tone of voice and other non-verbal messages. We came to the conclusion that the use of audio-visual in Nursing researches may contribute to the production of knowledge in the care field, enlarging the discussion about daily practices between Nursing professionals.


Background : Rotator cuff tendon tear injury is one of the most frequently seen orthopaedic conditions, and surgical repair of rotator cuff tears is a common procedure. The purpose of the present study was to determine the results of full-thickness rotator cuff repair and to look for predictors of outcomes. Methods : we studied 27 patients (17 men and 10 women with a mean age of 57.7 years) who underwent open rotator cuff repair surgery for full-thickness tear between 2001 and 2005 at the Imam Khomeini Hospital and were subsequently followed-up for 6 and 12 months after surgery. The shoulder function was assessed by Constant classification and factors potentially associated with outcomes were Results : The mean of preoperative Constant score (CS) was 45.8 ± 14.1 after 12 months , 6 patients (22.2%) had good results and 21 patients (77.8%) had excellent result according to CS. Pain relief was generally satisfactory. Using multiple regression analysis, treatment was significantly correlated preoperative CS and acromio-humeral interval (AHI) however, no correlation was found between the result of the treatment and pretreatment atrophy, tear size, acromial morphology, preoperative symptom duration and age. Conclusion : In this study, a standard rotator cuff repair technique reduced pain severity and was associated with good results, however larger studies are necessary to define the long-term outcome of this procedure. ABSTRACT


We present a ring semiconductor amplifier system which is seeded by ultrashort pulses for additive amplification. An external cavity diode laser configuration is built to generate the ultrashort pulses based on a hybrid modelocking scheme. A monolithic multi-segment diode laser is utilized as a light source in the operating oscillator. It has the advantage that the gain and absorber are integrated on one chip. The oscillator operates at a fundamental repetition-rate of 206MHz and can be driven on various harmonics of this frequency. The generated pulses are injected into a tapered amplifier (TA) which consists of a ridge waveguide section (RWS) for coupling and a tapered section (TS) for amplification. The amplified pulses are coupled back after amplification towards the TAs RWS forming a ring resonator setup. By matching the cavity lengths of the oscillator and ring resonator, we can obtain additively amplified pulses. The emission spectrum of the chosen TA is centered around 850nm which is in the wavelength range of the oscillator. The spectrum of the additively amplified pulses is observed for different pumping parameters of the TA using an optical spectrum analyzer. Additionally, we characterized the system for the best seeding parameters by monitoring the output signal with an autocorrelator. We figured out that the best performance is achieved when the amplifier is seeded by pulses at the second harmonic of 412 MHz. When blocking the seeding pulses the amplifier operates in continuous wave (CW) regime. By comparing the obtained spectra for CW and additively amplified pulses, we conclude that the system operates with a CW background also in pulsed operation. However, from the comparison of the spectra, we estimate that the amplified pulsed power is about 120mW for a seed power of 1:1mW. Thus, the ring amplifier provides a significantly higher amplification than a single pass amplifier. In future work the CW background has to be suppressed, e.g. by synchronous modulation of the current into the amplifiers ridge waveguide section.


Learning from examples draws on similarity, a concept which formalisation leads to the notion of instance space. Continuous spaces are easier to embrace since, unlike discrete, they often can be seen as hyper-constructs of 3D. Unsurprisingly, the instance-based learning methods are more developed for continuous domains than for discrete ones. The value difference metric (VDM) is one of the few examples of metrics for discrete spaces. Mixed reports about utility of VDM exist. In this paper VDM is compared with another approach where data features are weighted by the Information Gain. Some vulnerabilities of VDM are identified. A weighting method, nothing like VDM, although inspired by the former, is proposed. The results are in favour of the new weighting scheme with illustration of utility for health diagnostics.


This paper aims to interpret how deepfake detection models learn artifact features of images when just supervised by binary labels. To this end, three hypotheses from the perspective of image matching are proposed as follows. 1. Deepfake detection models indicate real/fake images based on visual concepts that are neither source-relevant nor target-relevant, that is, considering such visual concepts as artifact-relevant. 2. Besides the supervision of binary labels, deepfake detection models implicitly learn artifact-relevant visual concepts through the FST-Matching (i.e. the matching fake, source, target images) in the training set. 3. Implicitly learned artifact visual concepts through the FST-Matching in the raw training set are vulnerable to video compression. In experiments, the above hypotheses are verified among various DNNs. Furthermore, based on this understanding, we propose the FST-Matching Deepfake Detection Model to boost the performance of forgery detection on compressed videos. Experiment results show that our method achieves great performance, especially on highly-compressed (e.g. c40) videos.


In hand-over-hand modeling with response-contingent verbal prompts, tasks are divided into identifiable sequential components, and the achievement of each component is marked by the delivery of some form of verbal prompt. In a within-subjects design, children were trained in one skill with response-contingent verbal prompts and in a second skill with simple passive observation. A separate group of children were trained with less rigorous verbal prompting in one skill and with passive observation in a second. Consistent with previous research, we found that passive modeling was overall significantly more effective than hand-over-hand modeling and that passive modeling was significantly more effective than hand-over-hand modeling with response-contingent prompting. Our evidence therefore indicates that current methods for teaching basic skills to children with severe developmental delays may require reassessment because simple observation of modeled skills appears to be more effective than more labor-intensive instruction.


Posterior segment eye diseases (PSEDs) including age macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) are amongst the major causes of irreversible blindness worldwide. Due to the numerous barriers encountered, highly invasive intravitreal (IVT) injections represent the primary route to deliver drugs to the posterior eye tissues. Thus, the potential of a more patient friendly topical route has been widely investigated. Mucoadhesive formulations can decrease precorneal clearance while prolonging precorneal residence. Thus, they are expected to enhance the chances of adherence to corneal and conjunctival surfaces and as such, enable increased delivery to the posterior eye segment. Among the mucoadhesive polymers available, chitosan is the most widely explored due to its outstanding mucoadhesive characteristics. In this review, the major PSEDs, their treatments, barriers to topical delivery, and routes of topical drug absorption to the posterior eye are presented. To enable the successful design of mucoadhesive ophthalmic drug delivery systems (DDSs), an overview of mucoadhesion, its theory, characterization, and considerations for ocular mucoadhesion is given. Furthermore, chitosan-based DDs that have been explored to promote topical drug delivery to the posterior eye segment are reviewed. Finally, challenges of successful preclinical to clinical translation of these DDSs for posterior eye drug delivery are discussed.


It is one year now from the launching of the new digital handbooks developed for the first and the second grades of primary education in Romania. While there have been previous experiences with developing education software for schools, the switch to digital handbooks at national level starting from the first grades is something new. Therefore, piloting and validating the new digital handbooks as well as collecting users feedback on the use of such means for teaching primary students are needed. This need is also an urgent one as the process of developing digital handbooks for the following grades is ongoing and digital handbooks for the third grade are already introduced in the system. The article will survey similar experiences from other countries and discussed learned lessons and implications for design, development work in interdisciplinary teams and actual work of the teachers and pupils with the digital handbooks as well as current trends in the international literature in this field. The multifarious factors conditioning the implementation success of these resources are discussed (developers training/approach, teachers training, available equipment, conditions of learning) and teachers and students voice is considered with regard to formulating suggestions for improvement to different actors: teachers, pupils and digital handbook publishers. We will analyse in this article how the new developed digital handbooks meet on the one hand the users expectations, and on the other hand the principles of designing educational digital resources, as well as it will explore possible ways of improvement and redesign according to the psycho-pedagogical principles of design.


In 1955, a conference was held in Bandung, Indonesia that was attended by representatives from twenty-nine nations. Against the backdrop of crumbling European empires, Asian and African leaders forged new alliances and established anti-imperial principles for a new world order. The conference came to capture popular imaginations across the Global South and, as counterpoint to the dominant world order, it became both an act of collective imagination and a practical political project for decolonization that inspired a range of social movements, diplomatic efforts, institutional experiments and heterodox visions of the history and future of the world. In this book, leading international scholars explore what the spirit of Bandung has meant to people across the world over the past decades and what it means today. It analyzes Bandung's complicated and pivotal impact on global history, international law and, most of all, justice struggles after the end of formal colonialism.
Read more at http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/law/public-international-law/bandung-global-history-and-international-law-critical-pasts-and-pending-futures#GD8uZuZHXoxv2emy.99


In this article we consider a version of the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm which is appropriate for search tasks of multi-agent systems consisting of small robots with limited sensing capability. The proposed method adopts asynchronous mechanism for information exchange and position (way point) updates of the agents. Moreover, at each (information exchange) step the agents communicate with only a possibly different subset of the other agents leading to a dynamic neighborhood topology. We implement the algorithm using the Player/Stage realistic robot simulator as well as on real KheperaIII robots using experimentally collected realistic data of ethanol gas concentration. Simulation and implementation results show that the algorithm performs well in a sense that the robots are able to move towards and aggregate in areas with high gas concentration around the maximum points of the gas concentration profile representing the environment.


The larger benthic foraminifera (LBF) assemblage from shallow hypersaline coastal ponds located in the intertidal area of theUnitedArab EmirateWestern Region was investigated. The studied coastal ponds are located between a lagoonal areawith carbonate sedimentation, and a supratidal, evaporite-dominated, sabkha. Epiphytic larger benthic foraminifera, mostly belonging to the genus Peneroplis, dominate the benthic foraminifera assemblage. At all the sampled locations, the larger benthic foraminifera assemblage is characterised by high percentages of tests with abnormal growth. Dissolution and microboring are also common on the majority of LBF tests. The high percentage of abnormal tests reflects natural environmental stress caused by the instability of physical parameters (particularly high and variable salinity and temperature) in this transitional marine environment. The unique presence of epiphytic species in some of the ponds suggests that epiphytic foraminifera are transported into the ponds attached to floating seagrass and subsequently continue to live in the stressed pond environment.


Abstract Sex education for children does not imply that children are responsible for their own safety, but rather that children should be provided with protective, effective, and interactive education that builds resilience and reduces their vulnerability to sexual harm. As a result, it is critical to provide a secure atmosphere for children at school, where they spend the majority of their time. Sex education curriculum for the prevention of child sexual abuse will seek to give children the knowledge and skills needed to recognize and prevent probable sexual abuse scenarios. The primary school sex education curriculum will be founded on the ideology of empowering children and the concept that care is an integral aspect of child care and protection. The Ministry of Education should determine the need for sex education in primary schools to prevent sexual abuse of children, support it, and include it in the curriculum. This curriculum's purpose should be to build and maintain a proactive environment that protects children by preventing sexual abuse or assuring early detection, intervention, and reporting.


Poverty maps provide information on the spatial distribution of welfare and can predict poverty levels for small geographic units like counties and townships. Typically regression methods are used to estimate coefficients from the detailed information in household surveys, which are then applied to the more extensive coverage of a census. One problem with standard regression techniques is that they do not take into account the ‗spatial dependencies' that often exist in the data. Ignoring spatial autocorrelation in the regression providing the coefficient estimates could lead to misleading predictions of poverty, and estimates of standard errors. Household survey data usually lack exact measures of location so it is not possible to fully account for this spatial autocorrelation. In this paper, we use data from Shaanxi, China with exact measures of distance between each household to explicitly model this spatial autocorrelation. We also investigate which set of augmenting variables (i) census means or (ii) environmental variables mainly from satellite imagery have the most impact in soaking up unwanted spatial autocorrelation.


Assessment of swimming and survival skills is a crucial part of any swimming and lifesaving programme. Unfortunately, quite often, it is also the weakest part of the programme itself. Inadequate skills assessment and verification might lead to ineffective skills acquisition and development, to a false sense of safety and over confidence in the water that can be extremely dangerous. Assessor experience and observation skills, assessment methodology, and criteria are all closely inter-linked and their interaction will somehow determine the assessment outcomes. Our paper analyses some of the current issues in these areas of the assessment process, such as assessor's lack of theoretical knowledge and experience, criteria not fit for purpose, and methodological constraints. As examples for our discussion and to highlight these issues, we used two very important core aquatic skills, which are also fundamental survival skills: sculling and eggbeater kick. We also stressed the importance of having a sound understanding of the principles of movement in the water as a corrective capability. Finally, based on motor learning and motor development studies, we proposed an assessment process that focuses more on the observation of performance improvement, consistency or stability, persistence, level of effort, attention, and adaptability.


Introduction Commonly voiced critique against organised club sport concerns the shutting out of underprivileged groups and the sortingout of less talented participants. In response, governments and sport organisations launch interventions to develop sport to meet newpreferences and demands. In Sweden, the Swedish Sports Confederation has launched "Drive-in-sport" in an effort to engage with someof the assumed mechanisms behind skewed social recruitment and early drop-outs. In the study this paper reports on, one Drive-in-sportproject was investigated with an ambition to provide an answer to the over-arching question: What happens when spontaneous sportactivities are organised, and why? Methods The project under study was launched within the latest government sport policy programmein Sweden with the aim of recruiting non-members from underrepresented groups. In the project, local sports clubs organise spontaneoussport activities where children and youth previously not involved in club sports can take part under the device "come as you are, dowhat you please, at no cost". Aiming at an understanding of the organisation of spontaneous sport and its implications for clubs andparticipants, the results of this case study is based on an analysis of project documentation, qualitative interviews with activity leaders,structured observations of the activities and questionnaires to participants in one Drive-in-sport project. Results Results show how organisation,marketing, financing, leader's competence, facilities, participants' wishes, and the nature of the activities combine into activitiesvery similar to club sport activities. More specifically, they show how already club affiliated participants and activity leaders doubling ascoaches in regular club sport activities define the content and nature of the activities, making participation difficult and unattractive forbeginners and less experienced participants. They also show how the organising principles in club sport are emulated in project activitiesin terms of rewarding continuity in attendance, which lend more ambitious participants the interpretative prerogative over what Drive-insportshould be. Discussion These results can be understood by drawing on the theoretical concepts of embedded expectations andembodied knowledge. Since few beginners can match their embodied knowledge with the expectations embedded in the activitiesdefined by club affiliated participants and leaders, the intended group of participants shrinks. The increasing majority of participants withembodied club sport experiences, on the other hand, become increasingly likely to enjoy the activities which they are given mandate todefine, which in turn increases the likelihood of their continued participation. These two processes together work in homogenising theparticipant group and by that narrowing the scope of the activities further.


textabstractIndonesia is made up of more than 13000 islands with defined ecological, ethnic,
socioeconomic and cultural co nditions and which developed rapidly. Much has been
achieved but maternal and child health remains still a problem especially in rural areas.
So far the problem of perinatal care was given less attention although death in the early
neonatal period comprises of almost 60% of infant death. West-Java is the province
where the intervention study has been carried out. The main issue in West-Java is the
high infant mortality rate and fertility rates. It was higher compared to other provinces
in Java, the most developed island of Indonesia. Factors such as infrastructure and the
associated maldistribu tion of health care facilities may play a role in the low
performance of West-Java. lnspite of better socioeconomic conditions, the health status
of West-Java is st ill behind other provinces in Java. The vital statistics report in 1990
shows that infant mortality in West-Java is 84 per thousand livebirths leaving WestJava
on the 24th rank of 27 provinces of Indonesia.
The traditional birth attendant is the most important source of support in pregnancy,
child birth and early child care. In West-Java 80-90 % of deliveries take place at home
by traditional birth attendants. Because of this high coverage it is important to include
TBAs in the provision of perinatal care. A review of the available literature has shown
that training TBAs does not result in the expected outcomet-The reason is the difficulty to
train them because of their semi-illite racy and old age. More studies were reported
evaluating their behaviour and impact on mortality which is mostly low. Less attention
is given to ways in which the TBAs were trained and no information is available about the
level of supervision .
The Tanjungsari study is an intervention study where TBAs were trained in the
identification of risk in pregnant women and to conduct appropriate action. The risk
approach is the basic concept of the training. The study area Tanjungsari is a subdistrict
with more than 90 000 population served by one health center, one medical doctor and
one midwife. For the purpos e of the study subdistrict Tanjungsari is divided into 2 areas,
the northern part is the intervention area, while the southern part is the control area.
Both areas are separated by a main road dividing the subdistrict into two areas.
Since 1950 the Minist ry of Health has conducted nationwide training for TBAs organized
th rough the health center. All TBAs in Tanjungsari had received the conventional governmental training. Subsequent training in risk identification was given only to TBAs
from the intervention area. The training consists of identification of risk conditions and
TBAs were instructed to motivate women for refe rral if a risk condition was identified,
these TBAs were called "Risk approach trained TBA or Ra.TBAs". In the control area the
TBAs did not receive any additional training, they were called" Conventional trained TBAs
or Conv.TBAs". Birth attendants not classified in the TBA groups were included in
"Others", these are the midwives and MOs.
To be able to identify risk, every woman needs to have at least one time contact with a
health care provider, therefore coverage is the most important factor in the risk
approach. The instruments used in the intervention study for identification and screening
were the "Mother and Child Card", the "colored weighing scales" and the "problem
action guideline". These instruments were developed using appropriate technology .
During a study period of two years, 4400 women were registered, 2.6 percent were lost
to follow-up and 4108 singleton births were available for analysis. Effect and outcome
measures were made using the method recommended by Reynolds and Gaspari (1990).
Subjects were clients of Ra.TBAs, Conv.TBAs and "Others". The main reason to analyze
the results by birth attendant was because birth attendants were not confined to an area,
when they are popular they will travel outside their geographic boundaries or patients
will come from other areas for delivery


We have investigated electrical transport in diffusive multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) contacted using superconducting leads made of Ti/Al/Ti sandwich structure. We measure proximity-induced supercurrents up to Icm = 1.3 nA and find tunability by the gate voltage due to variation of the Thouless energy via the diffusion constant that is controlled by scattering in the MWNT. The modeling of these results by long, diffusive SNS junctions, supplemented with phase diffusion effects is discussed: the agreement between theory and experiments is tested especially on the basis of the temperature dependence of the Josephson coupling energy. In order to prove conclusively that the diffusive model works for MWNT proximity junctions, we propose an improved measurement scheme that is based on the kinetic inductance of superconducting junctions.


Vehicular Ad hoc Network is basically the solution of several problems associated while vehicles are plying on the road. In this paper, we have focused on the detection of imposter node while it has stolen the ID's of the authenticated vehicle in the network. The purpose is to harm the network through imposter messages. Here, we have proposed a protocol namely Imposter Detection based on Location (IDBL), which will store the location coordinate of the each vehicle as the key of the authenticity of the message so that imposter node can be detected. The imposter nodes send messages from a stolen ID and show that it is from an authentic node ID. So, to detect this anomaly, the first location is checked and observed different from original vehicle location. This node is known as imposter node. We have implemented the algorithm through JAVA and tested various types of node distribution and observed the detection probability of imposter node. Keywords—Authentication, detection, IDBL protocol, imposter node, node detection.


Using tail bounds, we introduce a new probabilistic condition for function estimation in stochastic derivative-free optimization which leads to a reduction in the number of samples and eases algorithmic analyses. Moreover, we develop simple stochastic direct-search and trust-region methods for the optimization of a potentially non-smooth function whose values can only be estimated via stochastic observations. For trial points to be accepted, these algorithms require the estimated function values to yield a sufficient decrease measured in terms of a power larger than 1 of the algoritmic stepsize. Our new tail bound condition is precisely imposed on the reduction estimate used to achieve such a sufficient decrease. This condition allows us to select the stepsize power used for sufficient decrease in such a way to reduce the number of samples needed per iteration. In previous works, the number of samples necessary for global convergence at every iteration $k$ of this type of algorithms was $O(\Delta_{k}^{-4})$, where $\Delta_k$ is the stepsize or trust-region radius. However, using the new tail bound condition, and under mild assumptions on the noise, one can prove that such a number of samples is only $O(\Delta_k^{-2 - \varepsilon})$, where $\varepsilon>0$ can be made arbitrarily small by selecting the power of the stepsize in the sufficient decrease test arbitrarily close to $1$. The global convergence properties of the stochastic direct-search and trust-region algorithms are established under the new tail bound condition.


This study was designed to determine the effects of alcohol administration on
sperm quality and testicular tissue pathogenesis.
Materials & Methods: In this study, 20 male adult mice were divided into two groups as control
(saline normal) and test (ethanol 3g/kg BW as 25% V/V). The rats were given by gastric intubation,
daily for 45 days and then all the animals were sacrificed and testes were dissected out and underwent
histopathological studies. Sperm samples were collected from caudal epididyms in order to evaluate
sperm parameters.
Results: Percentage of seminiferous tubules with positive TDI, SPI, RI and leydig cells NO/mm2 of
connective tissue and sertoli cells NO/tubule significantly decreased in alcoholic group. Light
microscopic analysis of sperm parameters demonstrated that sperm motility, viability and count
remarkably decreased in the test group in comparison with the controls. Moreover, the percentage of
sperms with DNA disintegrity, nuclear immaturity and morphologic immaturity significantly
increased in the alcoholic group compared with the control (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The results revealed that ethanol damages spermatogenesis and spermiogenesis
processes, as well, any decrease in semen quality and testis dysfunction induces fertility problems


Vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) are highly nonlinear and it is hard to approach the problem analytically or computationally. Experimental investigation is therefore essential to address the problem and reveal some physical aspects of VIV. Although computational fluid dynamics (CFDs) offers powerful methods to generate solutions, it cannot replace experiments as yet. When used as a supplement to experiments, however, CFD can be an invaluable tool to explore some underlying issues associated with such complicated flows that could otherwise be impossible or very expensive to visualize or measure experimentally. In this paper, VIVs and galloping of a cylinder with selectively distributed surface roughness—termed passive turbulence control (PTC)—are investigated experimentally and computationally. The computational approach is first validated with benchmark experiments on smooth cylinders available in the literature. Then, experiments conducted in the Marine Renewable Energy Laboratory (MRELab) of the University of Michigan are replicated computationally to visualize the flow and understand the effects of thickness and width of roughness strips placed selectively on the cylinder. The major outcomes of this work are: (a) Thicker PTC initiates earlier galloping but wider PTC does not have a major impact on the response of the cylinder and (b) The amplitude response is restricted in VIV due to the dead fluid zone attached to the cylinder, which is not observed in galloping. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4033637]


Rasterization hardware and computer games have always been tightly connected: The hardware implementation of rasterization has made complex interactive 3D games possible while requirements for future games drive the development of increasingly parallel GPUs and CPUs. Interestingly, this development - together with important algorithmic improvements - also enabled ray tracing to achieve realtime performance recently.In this paper we explore the opportunities offered by ray tracing based game technology in the context of current and expected future performance levels. In particular, we are interested in simulation-based graphics that avoids pre-computations and thus enables the interactive production of advanced visual effects and increased realism necessary for future games. In this context we analyze the advantages of ray tracing and demonstrate first results from several ray tracing based game projects. We also discuss ray tracing API issues and present recent developments that support interactions and dynamic scene content. We end with an outlook on the different options for hardware acceleration of ray tracing.


The imbibition of water into cellulose fiber-based materials is studied with focus on the regime dominated by contact line dynamics rather than hydrodynamic drag of the bulk porous structure. Capillary rise is studied under the influence of gravity for different paper grades with a wide range of porosities. It is found that the capillary rise is logarithmic in time in the limit of long time-scales. This behavior is in excellent agreement with the Molecular Kinetics Theory (MKT) for contact line dynamics. For high-porosity paper grades, this previously neglected logarithmic regime starts already at about $5$\,cm of capillary intrusion, underscoring the critical importance of the contact line dynamics to the performance of cellulosic absorbents.


Automated manufacturing systems are quite complex and varied in nature. Therefore, a practical approach to design software for managing manufacturing systems is to build generic solutions to the greatest possible extent, and then to customize them to suit the needs of each firm. Flexible manufacturing cell (FMC) plays more important role when production market becoming more competitive and manufacturing environment is often subject to change. Modular method for developing control software of FMC thus is necessary. Petri Net, a graphical modeling tool, allows the construction of models amenable both for qualitative and quantitative analysis. Over the last two decades, there have been many applications of using Petri Net for the modeling of manufacturing systems. In this paper, a modular approach by combining the PLC in equipment level and Petri Net in cell level for the development of FMC controller in a hierarchical manufacturing environment is addressed. Benefits of PLC and Petri Net thus can be fully utilized to develop an FMC controller. This generic FMC controller has been successfully implemented in several automated factories in Taiwan.


Several investigations have been developed around analogies based reasoning in different domains, however the analogy between arguments has not been deeply explored. A semiformal way to express these patterns of reasoning were proposed by Walton, through argument schemes from analogy. From this, it is possible to propose computable approximations for comparing arguments. In this paper we introduce a formalism based on the comparison of arguments through descriptors or labels which describes an aspect that the argument refers to. This formalism allows us classifying similar arguments considering the natural descriptors of them, in a specific context.


Past urban development and gardening practices have had a devastating impact on native wildlife in the suburbs. In this paper the reader is invited to envisage a future where the urban community has embraced the concept of gardens as indigenous wildlife habitat, generally free of lawns and with lower inputs of chemicals and water. In the year 2020 it is envisioned that there is a focus on vegetation from local provenance species and gardens are structured to mimic natural ecosystems to maximise benefits for wildlife. Gardens based on European aesthetic concepts are out of fashion and there is seldom the noise of a motor mower to drown the sounds of native birds. Such a future is within our reach. The vision is clear but the details of how to achieve the desired outcomes are hazy but they are sufficiently complex to develop into a new and exciting discipline.


1 Harkness RA, Taylor NF, Crawfurd MA, Rose FA. Recognising placental steroid sulphatase deficiency. Br Med 7 1983;287: 2-3. 2 Oakley R E. Antenatal detection of placental steroid sulphatase deficiency: use of a dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate loading test. BrJ Obstet Gynaecol 1984;91:337-41. 3 Warram JH, Krolewski AS, Gottlieb MS, Kahn CR. Differences in risk of insulin-dependent diabetes in offspring of diabetic mothers and diabetic fathers. NEnglJ Med 1984;311:149-52.


In this paper, a 2-D numerical approach was conducted for analyzing incompressible, turbulent and steady flow and thermal fields of the film cooling through using plasma actuator over a flat plate model. Simulations were implemented using non uniform structured grid and low-Re k-ε turbulence model. The present study was analyzed at 35 degree injection angle, hole length-to-diameter ratio (L/D) 5 and density ratio (DR) 1.2, with the present of plasma actuator. The flow and temperature fields were investigated with different blowing ratios and applied voltages. In addition, the effect of geometry parameters and position of plasma actuator has been studied on the adiabatic film cooling effectiveness. Based on the numerical analysis results, the effect of plasma actuator on film cooling effectiveness is better in lower blowing ratios and higher applied voltages and positions near the film hole. Unlike other similar works in this filed, this study has examined geometry parameters of plasma actuator and their effect on adiabatic film cooling effectiveness. These parameters include electrode gap distance and dielectric thickness. The results show that higher thickness has low effect on improving of film cooling effectiveness. But when electrode gap distance decreases, the performance of plasma actuator and average effectiveness enhances. Review History: Received: 6 November 2015 Revised: 10 February 2016 Accepted: 28 February 2016 Available Online: 10 August 2016


Multicast transmission offers efficient network resource utilization, but, at the same time, it is also a demanding and complex technology. Multicast protocols are far more sophisticated than their unicast counterparts. As a result, building one's own simulation environment is a difficult, time-consuming and error-prone endeavor. Hence, there is a need for ready-made network simulation tools supporting these protocols. One of such tools is the open source NS2 simulator. However, the results obtained from this simulator are not reliable without prior testing and a validation of the application. This work concentrates on validation of the PIM SM and the PIM DM protocols implementation in NS2. The NS2 implementation was tested using a wide range of techniques commonly used in software engineering filed.


It's urgent for China to solve the water shortage. Quickly and accurately extracting water resources from satellite remote sensing has become an important means of the investigation and monitoring of water resources and wetland protection. The fact that the spatio-temporal span of channel is large made the investigation difficult especially by the conventional way. Remote Sensing plays an increasing important role in the water resources protection with advantages of large scale, integration, dynamics and fastness. The RS images recorded the truth of the surface landscape in history and can reflect the distributing and the status quo of the channel in different courses of history. The article analyses the spectral and spatial feature of channel in ETM images in order to extraction the channel automatically with the different RS methods combined with GIS technology. A comparison among these methods is made. In addition, the article assesses the results of single-band method and multi-band method qualitatively and quantitatively. This study provide a scientific basis for the protection of water resource.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a quantitative integration of the existing empirical body of literature on culture and acquisition performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on a meta-analytical approach that synthesizes 189 effect sizes from 24 independent samples with a total sample size of n=5,496 acquisitions.

Findings

This meta-analytical study found a consistently negative and significant relationship between organizational cultural differences and acquisition performance, and a dual effect of national cultural differences (i.e. cultural distance) on acquisition performance. It further identified significant methodological and contextual moderators and discusses the implications for acquisitions in emerging markets.

Research limitations/implications

Due to the nature of meta-analyses, this study is based on existing (i.e. available secondary) data. Future research may collect novel, primary data to further test the conceptual model and respective relationships developed therein.

Practical implications

This study sheds light onto the culture-based performance determinants of acquisitions and the effects of methodological and contextual moderator variables. Given the significant importance of acquisitions across organizational and national cultures, the findings may inform business practitioners when developing sustainable strategies to successfully integrate organizations that are culturally different and/or are located in culturally diverse environments.

Social implications

A better understanding about the culture-based performance determinants of acquisitions may inform public policy makers about how to regulate and set incentives for acquisitions, which constitute a main vehicle through which firms undertake foreign direct investment, and which can be considered a global sustainable growth strategy for multinational corporations and entire economies.

Originality/value

This paper is original in that it provides a large-scale and in-depth quantitative integration and synthesis of the empirical literature on culture and acquisition performance based on a meta-analytical approach and so has important theoretical value and empirical implications for future emerging market research.


The work investigates the fatigue behavior of friction stir welded butt joints by means of fracture mechanics techniques. FSW joints of artificially aged AA6060 T6 aluminum alloy were studied. The welding was performed on 8 mm thick butt joined sheets by means of a CNC machine tool. Welding speed in the range between 117 and 683 mm/min and tool rotational speed between 838 and 1262 rpm were considered. Fatigue crack growth tests were performed according to ASTM E647 standard on CT specimens, under constant load amplitude conditions, at 0.1 minimum to maximum load ratio, with the notch placed in the dynamic recrystallization zone of weld nugget, oriented along the welding direction. The comparison of results demonstrates the crack growth rate is always equal or lower than the base material at low values of stress intensity range. At ΔK values above 12 MPa√m, crack growth rate was found to be higher than base material for high feed, low speed and high feed/speed ratio.


Background: The Norwegian government has indicated that health and social studies should emphasize interprofessional collaborative learning (IPL), especially in clinical placements. Through IPL, students have the opportunity to gain insight into other professional responsibilities and minimize negative stereotypes. This might improve collaboration across professional boundaries. Professionals with collaborative competence might solve complex health problems, and thus improve the quality of healthcare. The objectives of this article are to investigate the IPL experiences nursing students acquire through shadowing practice with different professionals in home care. Methods and Findings: To develop a model for IPL, 12 nursing students spent five days shadowing four different healthcare professionals working in home care. At the end of the pedagogical intervention, the students reflected on the practice and the role of the different professionals they had followed. To investigate how the students experienced interprofessional shadowing practice, the reflective notes were analyzed, templates for the selected professionals were drawn up, and four focus group interviews were conducted The results showed that students has acquired knowledge of other professions' responsibilities and were aware of thneed for an interprofessional approach to home care. Conclusions: This kind of shadowing might be an ideal model for educational institutions seeking to implement IPL. Normal 0 21 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE


The new generation of highly alloyed super duplex stainless steels such as Zeron 100 are preferable materials for industrial applications demanding high strength, toughness and superior corrosion resistance, especially against stress corrosion cracking (SCC). SCC is an environmentally assisted failure mechanism that occurs due to exposure to an aggressive environment while under a tensile stress. The mechanism by which SCC of duplex stainless steel is expected to suffer depends on the combination of electrochemical and the mechanical interaction between austenite and ferrite in the duplex alloys. The main aims of this work are to study the suitability of digital image correlation (DIC) to monitor the initiation and propagation of SCC and to understand how the microstructure of duplex stainless steel influences the kinetics of crack initiation and growth. The combined analysis of DIC, SEM and EBSD was used to study the relative crack propagation and the effect of interphase boundaries on crack growth as well.Cracking was initiated beneath saturated MgCl2 droplets in an atmospheric environment at 80�C and relative humidity of 30-33%. As-received and 10% cold rolled samples (with two orientations transverse and longitudinal to the loading direction) were subjected to an applied strain of 0.03 under displacement controlled tests. Regular optical observations were recorded of the droplets and their surrounding area. DIC analyses used the differentiation of the displacement fields to obtain the apparent surface strains used to detect crack initiation and propagation, and to measure crack opening displacements. It was found that DIC was efficiently observed the strain developments and the displacements in observed surfaces outside of the droplets but it could not identify or quantify the initiation of the cracks inside the droplets because of the mobility of the salt film and the high amount of the corrosion products formed which obscure the vision under the droplets. In addition, results showed that early stage microcracks were initiated in ? phase and ?/? interfaces and propagated preferentially in the ferrite phase. Also, SCC initiation and propagation was accelerated by cold rolling and the grains orientations were of major effects on the retardation of crack propagation which was more severe in the transverse rolling direction. Also, there was no relation established between the strain level and the density of pitting in either phase.


BACKGROUND
This study aimed to evaluate congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) patients in our department during a 4-year period.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
A retrospective study of 10 cases of CDH patients managed in the Neonatology and Pediatric Surgery Units of Goztepe Teaching Hospital from 2000 to 2004.

RESULTS
The mean birth weight of the patients was 2,600 g and the mean gestational age was 37.6 weeks. The mean admission time for the patients was 10.4 h. The mortality rate was 50%, comprising two deaths before operation and one during operation. The surviving infants followed for 1 year are free of any symptoms and complications.

CONCLUSION
Conventional ventilation is an other treatment modality, especially in order to gain time before surgical operation for newborns with CDH.


There seems to be is a general perception that the British public, which includes health care practitioners, is reluctant to talk about dying and death. Furthermore, this avoidance behaviour is observed, noted and expressed in national policy briefings as being detrimental to patient involvement in decision-making, effective coping and preparation for death, organ donation, writing a will and the process of bereavement (Department of Health (DH), 2008). A coalition of interested parties supported by the National Council for Palliative Care in the UK called Dying Matters has taken on the mantle to campaign for breaking down the barriers surrounding all aspects of dying and death in society and to simply, talk more openly, easily and frequently about life's ultimate certainty. The coalition was established in 2008 with support from the DH to 'raise the profile of end-of-life care and to change attitudes to death and dying in society' (DH, 2008).


The influence of thiocarbamide in the process of carbamide dewaxing was investigated. The dependence of separated paraffins on the quantity of thiocarbamide was examined experimentally. It was determined that the separation of paraffins becomes equal to zero when moles of carbamide and thiocarbamide in water-isopropyl alcohol solution are equal. The low-temperature qualities (the temperature of dimness and freezing) of dewaxed fuels were also examined. By using infrared spectroscopy methods, the compound of received paraffins was investigated.