The effects of the addition of metal salts and metal salt-catalyzed hydrolyzates on yeast cell growth in ethanol fermentation were investigated. Four yeast strains (Saccharomyces cerevisiae WT1, Saccharomyces cerevisiae MT81, Candida sp. 1779, and Klumaromyces fragilis), four metal salts (CuCl2, FeCl3, AgNO3, and I2), two metal salt-catalyzed hydrolyzates (CuCl2, and FeCl3), and a H2SO4-catalyzed hydrolyzate were evaluated in this study. Candida sp. 1779 was selected as the most suitable yeast strain to evaluate the effects of catalyst and hydrolyzate on this ethanol fermentation experiment. The addition of FeCl3 and I2 did not have any effects on the cell growth of the yeast. It is noted that addition of 0.1 g/L or less concentration of CuCl2 also showed no effect on yeast growth; but further increase of the concentration resulted in substantial decrease in yeast growth. In the case of AgNO3 addition, the inhibitory effect on the yeast growth covered the entire range of the concentration. Compared to the yeast cell growth of H2SO4-catalyzed hydrolyzate, FeCl3-catalyzed hydrolyzate had very similar early log-phase yeast cell growth; but the CuCl2-catalyzed hydrolyzate resulted in a much lower cell growth. These results strongly suggest that the FeCl3-catalyzed hydrolyzate is the superior catalyst among the metal salt catalysts in this study. The much less corrosiveness of the FeCl3catalyst system, as compared to the H2SO4 system, makes it a strong candidate for further research and development.


BACKGROUND
Nearly half of adults in the United States use complementary and alternative therapies each year for a variety of reasons. These therapies are increasingly popular among women seeking alternatives to treatment with estrogen for managing menopausal symptoms. The objective of this review was to assess the effectiveness of complementary and alternative therapies in the management of menopausal symptoms.

DATA SOURCES
MEDLINE, PsychINFO, Cochrane Library database, MANTIS, and AMED.

STUDY SELECTION
Full-text, English-language, randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses comparing a complementary or alternative therapy with placebo or control for treatment of menopausal symptoms.

DATA EXTRACTION
All eligible trials were reviewed, abstracted into evidence tables, and rated for quality.

DATA SYNTHESIS
Seventy randomized controlled trials met inclusion criteria. Forty-eight studies of phytoestrogens and other biologically based agents showed mixed results. Smaller numbers of studies using mind-body, energy, manipulative, and body-based therapies and whole medical systems showed little benefit in treating menopausal symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS
Although individual trials suggest benefits from certain therapies, data are insufficient to support the effectiveness of any complementary and alternative therapy in this review for the management of menopausal symptoms. Many of these potential therapies warrant further study in trials with rigorous scientific designs to determine benefit and safety.


This student thesis deals with the influence of consumers' beliefs on the green food consumption of Chinese urban residents. The thesis uses and modifies Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model as the base. To collect the empirical data, the online questionnaire is conducted. The thesis finds out that several beliefs have impacts on the green food consumption of Chinese urban residents, and the self-efficacy belief is the most influencial belief.


The optical constants of vacuum-evaporated silver films were determined in the wavelength region 2500–3700 A from reflectance measurements made at various angles of incidence. These data were obtained to investigate the discrepancy between the experimental optical emission studies from electron-bombarded thin silver foils and transition radiation theory when the optical constants of bulk silver were used as input data. The discrepancy of about 30% in the photon intensity at the peak of emission is removed when the optical constants of evaporated films are used. These optical constants also predict accurately the resonance absorption found in the optical transmission of thin silver foils.


During PET fabric dyed with disperse dye by adding ZnO powder and ceramic bead made from which was studied. To utilize the effect of transmission of FIR to produce heat, it might reduce consuming quantity of dyestuffs and minimize requiring heat of conventional dyeing in the considerable extent. To vary the adding amount of ZnO powder within ceramic bead, the after-treatment time of ceramic bead, dyeing temperature and the concentration of dyeing solution, then the outcomes of dyeing was investigated. The researching results showed, there were obvious effectiveness to some specific disperse dyes either added ZnO powder or ceramic bead in dyeing bath. Under the same dyeing temperature, the color-depth of dyed fabric is deeper with the dyeing liquor of adding ZnO powder and ceramic bead; otherwise, the effect of adding ZnO powder was superior to which of ceramic bead.


Background: To assess perception of selected risk factors for cancer and heart attack among visitors of a public hospital. Materials and Methods: Randomly 1651 ambulatory adults were contacted using predesigned, pretested, semi-structure interview schedule comprising selective 12 risk factors for cancer (increasing age, tobacco, obesity, alcohol, diet-rich in fat/oil, diet-poor in fruits and vegetables (F and V), physical in-activity, environmental pollution, multiple sexual partners, insecticides/pesticides/chemicals, micro-organism, family history) and 11 for heart attack (increasing age, tobacco, obesity, alcohol, diet-rich in fat/oil, diet-poor in F and V, physical in-activity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, mental stress, family history). Correct response was awarded one mark and incorrect/do not know response as zero. Results: The study participants comprised of 56.2% attendants and 43.8% patients with mean age of 36.78 (±13.05) years; 71.2% were male, 65% resided in rural area and 32.3% subjects were smoker. A statistically (P = 0.001) higher odds for smoking was found among less educated (odds ratio [OR]: 1.30), rural (OR: 1.60), male (OR: 2.85), patients (OR: 1.41) of more than 30 years of age (OR: 1.67). Nearly, 64.5% and 82.0% subject responded that tobacco causes the heart attack and cancer while obesity was considered as a risk factor by 68.4% (heart attack) and 28.1% (cancer). Nearly, 70.7% and 32.0% reported diet rich in fat/oil and poor in F and V could lead to heart attack but only 23.5% and 25.8% mentioned respectively for cancer. Mean risk factors identified for heart attack were 6.64 ± 2.29 (range: 0-11) while for cancer it was 5.01 ± 2.33 (range: 0-12). Nearly, 670 (40.58%) and 620 (37.55%) subjects mentioned spontaneously at least one type/anatomical site-specific cancer of male and female respectively; 73.4% believed that cancer does not spread by social activity and 54.2% opined that cancer is treatable if detected early. Conclusion: Overall low to moderate level of awareness was noticed for selected risk factors of heart attack but still better than cancer with ample scope for capacity building of stakeholders.


There has been an argument on carbon nanotube (CNT) based gas detectors with a field-effect transistor (FET) geometry: do the response signals result from charge transfer between adsorbed gas molecules and the CNT channel and/or from the gas species induced Schottky barrier modulation at the CNT/metal contacts? To differentiate the sensing mechanisms, we employed three CNTFET structures, i.e., (1) the entire CNT channel and CNT/electrode contacts are accessible to NH(3) gas; (2) the CNT/electrode contacts are passivated with a Si(3)N(4) thin film, leaving the CNT channel open to the gas and, in contrast, (3) the CNT channel is covered with the film, while the contacts are open to the gas. We suggest that the Schottky barrier modulation at the contacts is the dominant mechanism from room temperature to 150 degrees C. At higher temperatures, the charge transfer process contributes to the response signals. There is a clear evidence that the adsorption of NH(3) on the CNT channel is facilitated by environmental oxygen.


Abstract Identifying persons who are least willing to receive a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine is critical for increasing uptake via targeted outreach. We conducted a survey of 23,819 Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging participants from September 29 to December 29, 2020, to assess factors associated with COVID-19 vaccination willingness and reasons for willingness or lack thereof. Among adults aged 50–96 years, 84.1% (95% confidence interval (CI): 83.7, 84.6) were very or somewhat willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine; 15.9% (95% CI: 15.4, 16.3) were uncertain or very or somewhat unwilling. Based on logistic regression, those who were younger, female, had lower education and income, were non-White, and lived in a rural area were less willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. After controlling for these factors, recent receipt of influenza vaccine (adjusted odds ratio = 14.3, 95% CI: 12.5, 16.2) or planning to receive influenza vaccine (adjusted odds ratio = 10.5, 95% CI: 9.5, 11.6), as compared with no receipt or planning, was most strongly associated with COVID-19 vaccination willingness. Willingness was also associated with believing one had never been infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) and experiencing negative pandemic consequences. Safety concerns were most common among those unwilling. Our comprehensive assessment of COVID-19 vaccination willingness among older adults in Canada, a prioritized group for vaccination due to their risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes, provides a road map for conducting outreach to increase uptake, which is urgently needed.


As a result of globalisation, the number of companies working globally is increasing at an unprecedented pace. Consequently, the need to communicate with people from other countries is getting bigger. In such intercultural communication, a common language must be used to interact. The language of choice is most often English, which is the business lingua franca (BELF) today. Furthermore, email has become the obvious choice of medium when interacting with foreign business associates. The present study was conducted through intensive and extensive analyses, investigating BELF emails written by 21 individuals with 14 different native languages. The data consists of 209 emails. The study follows Bjorge's (2007) work on formality in emails written in academic settings. The aim of the study was to determine how formal the participants were in greetings and closings and whether they accommodated their language to the respondent. The results suggest that the level of formality mainly depends on the purpose of the email and, to some extent, how formal the correspondent is. The accommodation to the correspondent seems to be individual. The present study wishes to extend knowledge on email communication in BELF settings. The results are likely to be relevant for teachers and students of Business Communication and English as a Second or Foreign Language along with managers in internationally functioning companies, especially as regards what should be considered in BELF communication.


Nanocrystalline surface layer was fabricated on a quenched and tempered Cr-Si alloy steel by using Surface mechanical treatment. The microstructure features of various sections in the surface layer were characterized by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). By analyzing the microstructural characteristic at different depths in the treated surface, the effect of the initial microstructures on grain refinement process of quenched and tempered steel was investigated. Experimental evidence showed the initial subgrains with small angle boundary and lower dislocation density were firstly developed into Lamellar-type dislocation cells (DCs) with dense dislocation walls (DDWs). Some initial subboundaries were moved to DDWs by dislocation activities. The width of lamellar-type DCs was 2-3 times of that of initial lathy subgrains. The size of the DCs and subgrains formed in the interim of refinement process was not uniformity. On the top surface the cementite granules were decomposed or fragmented to hyperfine particles, and the size of the grains tended to uniformity. Experimental analysis indicated the configuration of microstructure was affect by the initial microstructure in the initial stage and the interim of the grain refinement process. Surface nanocrystallization of Cr-Si steel can be attributed to dislocation activities.


Pressures from global market forces along with austerity and retrenchment have generated predictions of converging welfare state institutions. The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of social insurance programs among 18 of the economically most advanced democracies during 1980–2000. Have social insurance rights converged and have changes been of such a character that we can discern converging trends of social insurance models? The results indicate convergence in the replacement rates, coverage and employer financing of social insurance benefits up to 1980, after which these signs of convergence tend to disappear or transform into divergence. Rather than countries becoming reclassified, changes implemented in social insurance rights appear to have strengthened the distinctive characteristics of social insurance models identified.


For wearable and implantable electronics applications, developing intrinsically stretchable polymer semiconductor is advantageous, especially in the manufacturing of large‐area and high‐density devices. A major challenge is to simultaneously achieve good electrical and mechanical properties for these semiconductor devices. While crystalline domains are generally needed to achieve high mobility, amorphous domains are necessary to impart stretchability. Recent progresses in the design of high‐performance donor–acceptor polymers that exhibit low degrees of energetic disorder, while having a high fraction of amorphous domains, appear promising for polymer semiconductors. Here, a low crystalline, i.e., near‐amorphous, indacenodithiophene‐co‐benzothiadiazole (IDTBT) polymer and a semicrystalline thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene‐diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPPTT) are compared, for mechanical properties and electrical performance under strain. It is observed that IDTBT is able to achieve both a high modulus and high fracture strain, and to preserve electrical functionality under high strain. Next, fully stretchable transistors are fabricated using the IDTBT polymer and observed mobility ≈0.6 cm2 V−1 s−1 at 100% strain along stretching direction. In addition, the morphological evolution of the stretched IDTBT films is investigated by polarized UV–vis and grazing‐incidence X‐ray diffraction to elucidate the molecular origins of high ductility. In summary, the near‐amorphous IDTBT polymer signifies a promising direction regarding molecular design principles toward intrinsically stretchable high‐performance polymer semiconductor.


Abstract In this study, we draw upon data from the low-income Lifeline Assistance Program (Lifeline) for telephone service to examine the participation of eligible households in social programs designed to alleviate financial hardship. Utilizing panel data on participation levels in 1997 and 2003 and the associated variation in state-level policies, we are able to identify program characteristics that significantly affect participation rates. In particular, we find that participation rates are significantly negatively influenced by limitations that some states place on the ability of Lifeline subscribers to utilize optional calling features such as three-way calling or call forwarding. We also find that program participation is positively influenced by the longevity of the individual state's Lifeline program. While no direct test of state-level advertising is feasible, this result is suggestive of an inter-temporal pattern of information dissemination that grows with program longevity. Because eligibility for the Lifeline service is conditional upon participation in other low-income public programs, we also find that: (1) the larger the number of "portals" (i.e., low income public programs that states identify as creating Lifeline eligibility), the higher is participation; and (2) higher financial benefits of these portal programs attract greater participation in Lifeline programs. These results suggest important linkages that may be exploited through coordination of low-income assistance programs. Finally, we test for, and find that variations in Lifeline benefits significantly influence participation rates.


This paper explores the development of Supply Chain Management studies and identifies three eras: Creation, Integration, and Globalization. The study then focuses on the development of supply chain management in the integration era, and specifically on the identified gap in adoption of web based processes. Electronic Market places are introduced as one of the web based tools that can help with the integration of inter and intra organizational supply chains. We proposed a transition model that organizations go through during the adoption of electronic market places. We describe our proposed transition model and highlight the importance of readiness analysis and success factors of electronic marketplace adoption.


BACKGROUND
Successful treatment of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in the trauma ICU requires early recognition and timely, appropriate antibiotic therapy. We evaluated the incidence and microbiology of UTIs stratified by days post-admission and risk factors.

METHODS
Prospective data were collected on 1,172 trauma patients admitted to the ICU over a two-year period. Infections were classified as Community Acquired (CA, < or = 3 days), Early Nosocomial (EN, 4-6 days), Mid-Nosocomial (MN, 7-10 days) and Late Nosocomial (LN > 10 days). Criteria of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were used for diagnosis.

RESULTS
Two hundred twenty patients (19%) were diagnosed with a total of 235 UTIs. Thirtysix patients were diagnosed with multiple UTIs. Escherichia coli, Enterococcus sp. and Candida sp. were the most common pathogens isolated. One thousand one hundred fifty-one patients had a Foley catheter placed (mean duration, 1 +/- 11 days) with a CDC device-related infection rate (no. of catheter-associated UTIs/1000 catheter days) of 18. Patients admitted with a CA infection were significantly older (p < 0.001) and had a higher mortality rate (39% vs. 15%, p = 0.001). Unanticipated pathogens in this group included Enterococcus, Candida, and Pseudomonas. Women were more likely to be admitted with a CA infection (5% vs. 1%, p < 0.001) or acquire an NI infection (23% vs. 15%, p < 0.001). Obesity was highly predictive of increased Foley catheter days, and thus UTI, by multivariate analysis (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS
Escherichia coli was the most common pathogen in all nosocomial infection categories. Increased age, gender, and obesity, in addition to catheter-days, were significant risk factors for UTI in trauma patients. Specific risk factors may predispose patients to pathogens that are not ordinarily covered by usually-chosen antibiotic therapy.


Affective polarization describes the phenomenon whereby people identifying as Republican or Democrat tend to view opposing partisans negatively and co-partisans positively. Though extensively studied, there remain important gaps in scholarly understanding of affective polarization. In particular, (a) how it relates to the distinct behavioural phenomena of in-party "love" vs. out-party hostility; and (b) to what extent it reflects a generalized evaluative disparity between partisans vs. a domain-specific disparity in evaluation. We report the results of an investigation that bears on both of these questions. Specifically, drawing on recent trends in political science and psychology, we hypothesize that moral polarization—the tendency to view opposing partisans' moral character negatively, and co-partisans' moral character positively—will be associated with behavioural hostility towards the out-party. We test this hypothesis in two preregistered studies comprising behavioural measures and large convenience samples of US partisans (combined N = 1354). Our results strike an optimistic chord: Taken together, they suggest that this association is probably small and somewhat tenuous. Though moral polarization itself was large—perhaps exceeding prior estimates of trait affective polarization—even the most morally polarized partisans appeared reluctant to engage in a mild form of out-party hostility. These findings converge with recent evidence that polarization—moral or otherwise—has yet to translate into the average US partisan wanting to express hostile and directly discriminatory behaviour toward their out-party counterparts.


In a proper vertex coloring of a graph a subgraph is colorful if its vertices are colored with different colors. It is well-known (see for example in Gy a rf a s (1980)) that in every proper coloring of a $k$-chromatic graph there is a colorful path $P_k$ on $k$ vertices. The first author proved in 1987 that $k$-chromatic and triangle-free graphs have a path $P_k$ which is an induced subgraph . N.R. Aravind conjectured that these results can be put together: in every proper coloring of a $k$-chromatic triangle-free graph, there is an induced colorful $P_k$. Here we prove the following weaker result providing some evidence towards this conjecture: For a suitable function $f(k)$, in any proper coloring of an $f(k)$-chromatic graph of girth at least five, there is an induced colorful path on $k$ vertices.


In this paper, effects of output harmonic terminations on PAE and output power of AlGaN/GaN HEMT power amplifier are investigated. Using a traditional method of harmonic termination, we observe a substantial increase in PAE and output power. Further, we demonstrate the high efficiency AlGaN/GaN HEMT power amplifier with harmonic termination characteristics by using the active integrated antenna approach. For the microstrip-based AlGaN/GaN HEMT power amplifier, large signal measurements and comparisons of PAE and output power were done in class-AB operation with and without output harmonic terminations. For the antenna integrated power amplifier using an AlGaN/GaN HEMT with 1 mm gate periphery, output power of 30 dBm and peak PAE of 55 % with a power gain of 14 dB were achieved at a drain voltage of 18 V and a gate voltage of -2.8 V.


Microcapsules whose membranes contained soybean lecithin (SL), cholesterol (CH), stearic acid (SA) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) at various compositions were prepared. Then, dissolution and swelling behaviors of the microcapsules in a 0.9% saline solution were studied to be related to the phase diagram of three components containing 42% of PVP in anhydrous state. In the aqueous solution, when an anhydrous microcapsule membrane was composed of SL not saturated with both CH and SA, the microcapsules showed rapid release of carbazochrome sodium sulfonate (CCSS, a model drug), poor particle-swelling and spouting of droplets containing CCSS. Long-delayed release of CCSS and drastic particle-swelling with no spouting of droplets were observed when the anhydrous membrane was composed of SL saturated with both CH and SA and the composition was not close to the two-component line, CH-SA, or to the saturation line. The spouting of droplets would be attributable to the CH and/or SA-poor SL phase and to the SL phase which dissolved CH and SA, but contained either CH or SA only in a small amount, and the delayed release would be due to the CH and SA-rich SL phase dissolving a great amount of CH and SA formed by hydration. The degree of release suppression and particle-swelling depended on the SL content. At 20-45% of SL content, the prolonged-release, great particle-swelling and no spouting of droplets at the early stage were observed only when the CH and SA-rich SL phase formed by hydration contained a high content of CH and SA.


The determinants of the dimensions that shape a formal system of performance appraisal are studied in relation to a sample of Spanish manufacturing establishments. In particular, the factors that influence the measures used to evaluate performance, the person who carries out such appraisal and its frequency are analysed. Our results show that the characteristics of the establishment exert a significant influence on the configuration of performance appraisal. Specifically, we find that the use of practices complementary to performance evaluation and the structural factors of the establishment are found to correlate closely with the dimensions of formal performance appraisal.


This paper presents an energy-efficient power allocation strategy for Nakagami-m flat-fading channels with a delay-outage probability constraint. The operating input transmit power value is limited to Pmax. The energy efficiency (EE), expressed in units of b/J/Hz, is represented as the ratio of the effective capacity to the sum of transmission power (Pt) and circuit power (Pc). Since the EE-maximization objective function is quasi-concave, a unique global maximum exists. By using fractional programming, we develop an EE-optimal power allocation strategy that consists of two steps: 1) obtaining the power level P̅un, at which the maximum EE can be achieved, and 2) distributing the power optimally based on the minimum of Pmax and P̅un. We prove that while P̅un monotonically increases with Pc, the maximum achievable EE is a monotonically decreasing function of Pc. The analysis further allows us to derive the EE of three important cases: non-fading channels, extremely stringent delay-limited systems, and systems with no delay constraints. Simulation results confirm analytical derivations and further show the effects of the circuit power, fading duration, and fading severeness on the achievable EE and effective capacity of a delay-limited fading channel.


The diagnostic and local treatment modalities of hereditary breast cancer (HBC) are evolving based on emerging evidence from new imaging, radiotherapy and surgical studies. The optimal selection of diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for the individual HBC patient remains an area of active research in this relatively new patient population. In this context, some rational pathways of intervention are currently available to both reduce cancer risk in mutation carriers without a cancer diagnosis, as well as to reduce the risk of recurrence or new cancers among the carriers already diagnosed with a malignancy. It is encouraging to notice to what degree certain interventions have successfully reduced both the risk of malignancy and the anxiety associated with this genetic diagnosis. This updated report aims at summarizing the most recent findings, while it identifies the areas of uncertainty that remain, and continue to present difficult challenges, particularly among younger HBC patients.


This study examined the costs and impact of inaccurate statistics of unregistered children population in Ebonyi State. Birth registration is a long term documentation of the existence of a child, being the right of the child for local, national, international identification. This process has direct and indirect cost implication. Inaccurate statistics of unregistered birth has been notice within the Nigerian economy to cause inequalities in sectors as education, health planning as well as fiscal outfit of the country; so also in Ebonyi State. Ebonyi State being a more rural populated area has recorded the highest in fertility rate, but the statistics for birth registration remains unsatisfying; having the challenge of identifying the unregistered children correctly. The Traditional Birth Attendants have just interest on delivery. The budgetary provision for economic activities in the state is grossly inadequate, how then can proper and equity allocation be made while we have many unidentified populace? The objectives of the study are (i) to investigate the significant impact of registered birth on some socioeconomic indicators in Ebonyi State, (ii) to empirically evaluate the effect of unregistered birth on children, (iii) to statistically compare the significant effect of birth registration on some socioeconomic variables among selected Nigerian States. The variables in use were proxied to some indicators of socioeconomic status. Method employed for this study will be descriptive/empirical analysis and theory of inclusive growth to evaluate the objectives listed. The findings from the research, drawn from the analysis are discussed, conclusion made and recommendations outlined.


The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between training on abstraction and the comprehension of logic rules. In order to evaluate the possibility of improvement on logic performance we have selected the particular case of the DeMorgan's laws. The dispute between the natural logic approach and the mental models theory is analyzed from the perspective of such abstraction effect. Two experiments are reported. The first one suggests that the presentation of a formal proof promotes a better comprehension of DeMorgan´s laws than the use of visual resources or colloquial examples. The second one offers a stronger test for the same abstraction effect. Some limitations concerned with the syntactic meaning of negation and the differences between constructive and evaluative conditions are discussed. Since the meaning of abstraction for the psychology of reasoning is pointed out as critical some suggestions for further research and possible educational applications are mentioned.


Background Social alarm calls alert animals to potential danger and thereby promote group survival. Adult laboratory rats in distress emit 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalization (USV) calls, but the question of whether these USV calls directly elicit defensive behavior in conspecifics is unresolved. Methodology/Principal Findings The present study investigated, in pair-housed male rats, whether and how the conditioned fear-induced 22-kHz USVs emitted by the 'sender' animal affect the behavior of its partner, the 'receiver' animal, when both are placed together in a novel chamber. The sender rats' conditioned fear responses evoked significant freezing (an overt evidence of fear) in receiver rats that had previously experienced an aversive event but not in naïve receiver rats. Permanent lesions and reversible inactivations of the medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) of the thalamus effectively blocked the receivers' freeezing response to the senders' conditioned fear responses, and this occurred in absence of lesions/inactivations impeding the receiver animals' ability to freeze and emit 22-kHz USVs to the aversive event per se. Conclusions/Significance These results—that prior experience of fear and intact auditory system are required for receiver rats to respond to their conspecifics' conditioned fear responses—indicate that the 22-kHz USV is the main factor for social transmission of fear and that learning plays a crucial role in the development of social signaling of danger by USVs.


This paper presents the results of thermal efficiency of two coal based oxy-combustion thermodynamic cycles that are modeled using aspen plus. The objective of the present study is to perform a parametric analysis, investigating the effect of different recirculation ratios at different pressures on the efficiencies of the cycle named for the company, ENEL, and the thermo energy power system, TIPS, cycles using aspen plus® software. Variables include the flue gas recycle flow rate, the combustor temperature, and the operational pressure. Five recirculation ratios were investigated, ranging from 20% to 75%. It was determined that as the amount of recycled gas into the combustor increased, the thermal efficiency increased for both the TIPS and ENEL cycles. The highest thermal efficiency for TIPS is 37% and for ENEL is 38%, both occurring at a 75% recirculation ratio. After investigation, since combustion temperature and specific heat capacity decreases at higher recirculation ratios, the mass flow rate was the dominant factor that contributes to the increase in thermal efficiency of the cycle. At each recirculation ratio, the effect of pressure is also determined. For ENEL, the increase in cycle efficiency is 10% over the pressure range of 1–12 bar at a recirculation ratio of 20%, while the increase in cycle efficiency is only 1.5% at a higher recirculation ratio of 75%. For TIPS, the cycle efficiency increases by 4% at the recirculation ratio of 20% and increases by 3% at the recirculation ratio of 75% for a pressure range of 50–80 bar.


Objective: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a temporary life-support modality offered for stabilizing neonates with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) who are in a critical condition and unresponsive to optimal medical therapy. The aim of this study was to examine our institutional outcomes of early CDH repair on ECMO.
Materials and Methods: A total of 17 ECMO-supported patients with CDH were evaluated and the demographic, diagnostic, laboratory, clinical data, complications and outcome of the patients were reported.
Results: The study consisted of 7 females and 10 males. Mean birth weight (BW) was 3107 g (range, 2360–3840 g). Median age of ECMO initiation was 2.1 days. In total four patients received VV ECMO. Other patients received VA ECMO via aortic and right atrial cannulation. The mean duration of ECMO was 25 days (range: 1-140 days). Six patients (35.2%) could be weaned from ECMO. The most common ECMO related complications were hemorrhage, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and limb ischemia (64.7%, 41.1% and 29.4%, respectively). Diaphragmatic defect was repaired via a subcostal incision in 12 of 13 patients. In 88.2% of patients diaphragmatic repair was performed with polytetrafluoroethylene patch. In 77% of patients early CDH repair was performed concomitantly with ECMO insertion. The survival rate was 17.6%.
Conclusion: Early repair of CDH in neonates on ECMO can be associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. However, ECMO may be considered a life-saving measure for patients with CDH who would have otherwise not been salvageable.


. A system comprised of software and on-site measurements is presented for accurately obtaining water stage data from vented or non-vented submersible pressure sensors installed at autonomous stream gauging stations. The system accounts for pressure sensor offset errors, water density, and local gravitational acceleration to produce a stage height reading which is accurate to either ±0.01 ft (±3 mm) or to the accuracy limit of the sensor, whichever is greater. A 2 nd order polynomial expression for determination of water density from temperature and salinity is developed and found to be sufficiently accurate for this purpose. Simulated stage measurements performed in the laboratory with a commercially produced sensor showed errors of up to ±0.04 ft in reported stage when the sensor's default conversion from pressure to depth was used; the maximum error limit was reduced to ±0.02 ft when the sensor output was instead processed using the new system. A custom-designed, low-cost, versatile submersible pressure sensor is introduced and tested under the same conditions and found to exhibit a maximum error of ±0.04 ft without any sensor calibration. These new developments, integrated into previously developed inexpensive base stations, enable accurate monitoring of stage height at remote locations with low installation and operating costs.


Built-in self test (BIST) techniques use test pattern-generation and response-verification operations, reducing the need for external testing. BIST techniques that use arithmetic modules existing in the circuit (accumulators, counters etc.) to perform the testgeneration and response-verification operations have been proposed in the open literature. Two-pattern tests are exercised to detect complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) stuck-open faults and to assure correct temporal circuit operation at clock speed (delay fault testing). In this study, a novel, arithmetic module-based BIST architecture for two-pattern testing (ABAS) is presented that exercises arithmetic modules to generate two-pattern tests; the hardware overhead required by the presented scheme, provided the availability of such modules is by far the lowest of all schemes that have been presented for the same purpose in the open literature.


ABSTRACT The Pseudomonas fluorescens 23F phosphonoacetate hydrolase gene (phnA) encodes a novel carbon-phosphorus bond cleavage enzyme whose expression is independent of the phosphate status of the cell. Analysis of the regions adjacent to the phosphonoacetate hydrolase structural gene (phnA) indicated the presence of five open reading frames (ORFs). These include one (phnR) whose putative product shows high levels of homology to the LysR family of positive transcriptional regulators. Its presence was shown to be necessary for induction of the hydrolase activity. 2-Phosphonopropionate was found to be an inducer (and poor substrate) for phosphonoacetate hydrolase. Unlike phosphonoacetate, which is also an inducer of phosphonoacetate hydrolase, entry of 2-phosphonopropionate into cells appeared to be dependent on the presence of a gene (phnB) that lies immediately downstream of phnA and whose putative product shows homology to the glycerol-3-phosphate transporter. RNA analysis revealed transcripts for the phnAB andphnR operons, which are transcribed divergently; the resulting mRNAs overlapped by 29 nucleotide bases at their 5′ ends. Transcripts of phnAB were detected only in cells grown in the presence of phosphonoacetate, whereas transcripts ofphnR were observed in cells grown under both induced and uninduced conditions. The expression of three additional genes found in the phnA region did not appear necessary for the degradation of phosphonoacetate and 2-phosphonopropionate by eitherPseudomonas putida or Escherichia colicells.


The paper presents experiments with a refractive light sword optical element (LSOE). A refractive version of the LSOE was prepared in photoresist by gray scale photolithography. Then we examined chromatic aberrations of the produced element and compared them with those corresponding to a lens. For this purpose we performed two experiments, the first one where white light illumination was used and the latter one by the help of monochromatic illumination with three different wavelengths. The obtained results lead to the conclusion that the refractive LSOE does not exhibit significant chromatic aberrations and can be successfully used for imaging with extended depth of focus in polychromatic illumination.


Current pressures of cost and speed to market are driving the need for more effective means of assessing the value and risks of drug portfolios. This thesis presents research to generate a prototype computer-aided tool to predict the process and business outcomes for portfolios of biopharmaceutical drugs proceeding through the development pathway. The tool was built using a discrete-event simulation package, thus facilitating the dynamic nature of drug development decisions to be captured. The framework uses a hierarchical approach to incorporate the interactions between drug development activities, the available resources and databases of information. In addition to the business and process issues, the risks involved in the process of drug development have also been incorporated into the tool. The application of the tool for assessing drug portfolios under uncertainty is demonstrated via case studies. In the first, the tool was used to perform sensitivity and scenario analysis on the portfolio net present value (NPV). Contour plots were generated that provide the ability to plan for a range of contingencies including uncertainties in manufacturing efficiencies, product demand and the market share captured. The second case study was used to assess the impact of different manufacturing strategies on the portfolio NPV under uncertainty. This example was based on a biopharmaceutical company considering whether to risk building a facility for the commercial manufacture of its antibodies and if so, when to start building, or whether to rely on a contract manufacturer throughout the development cycle and market manufacture. The effects of uncertainties were analysed using Monte Carlo simulation methods. The study highlighted the benefits of incorporating uncertainties when ranking different strategies. The third case study looked at the selection of drug candidates for a drug portfolio. The risk and reward of different portfolios were computed using Monte Carlo simulations. The 'Efficient Frontier' method was used to select an optimal portfolio. The thesis illustrate the benefits of using such a tool to investigate the uncertainty and value of different development strategies and to assist in the process of decision making in the context of both business and process aspects.


Whittaker's contributions to algebra are not numerous and are confined to special problems ; in one or two cases they are rediscoveries, of the kind that add a certain illumination to the original. His outlook on algebra was that of his time ; one might characterise it by referring to the spirit and content of Perron's Algebra, as contrasted with the Moderne Algebra of van der Waerden. Bred in the Cayley-Sylvester tradition of matrix algebra and the invariant theory of forms, he was expert also in the manipulation of continued fractions and determinants. His lectures to honours classes in Edinburgh always included a course on matrices, vector analysis and invariants, historical reference being made to Grassmann, Cayley and Sylvester; it is to such a course that the writer owes his first acquaintance with matrix algebra. In later years, from about 1925, Whittaker acquired an adequate knowledge, though never a marked taste, for those parts of modern abstract algebra, in particular the representation of groups and algebras, that serve a purpose in mathematical physics; his courses of research lectures, which he kept up until a late period in his tenure of the chair, bore witness of this.


This paper describes a recently piloted program to provide professional development for trainee teachers to include traffic safety education (TSE) in school programs. It includes cooperation between three agencies: the University, the Department of Employment Education and Training, and VicRoads. The program targets two groups: Graduate Diploma of Education students; and the schools in which they do their teaching practice. The program shows how student teachers become mentors for the target schools by: undergoing certification of 2 days training in Bike Ed; completing 2 days curriculum training (including: rationale for TSE; integrating traffic safety into the school curriculum; developing a unit of work using VicRoads resources); delivery of the TSE Units the students have developed in selected schools; evaluation of the program; follow up of the student teachers in the school of their first appointment. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see IRRD abstract no. E202589.


In this study the level of knowledge, skill and training needs of fish farmers in Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State were investigated. Eighty out of 150 fish farmers currently operating in the Fish Farm Estate, Ikorodu were randomly selected. Data were collected from the farmers with structured interview schedule and were summarised with frequency counts, percentages, mean and correlation coefficient. Result showed that the following practices were carried out by farmers: pond/vats/fibre glass/tank cleaning, water quality maintenance and management, pond fertilisation, brood stock production, spawning, fingerlings sourcing/production, disease prevention, control and management, feed formulation and production/sourcing, record keeping, fish feeding, fish processing, fish storage, fish sorting, pest and predator control, fry care, transfer and feeding, siphoning, and fish transportation. The mean age of the fish farmers were 45±13.0 years with 63.8% being males. Majority (78.8%) were married with mean family size of 4±2 .Majority (82.5%) of the farmers had more than twelve years of formal education. The mean farming experience was 8±3 years with average mean income of 1.4 million naira.58.8% and 47.5% had high level of knowledge and skill respectively. Training was needed in seven out of the seventeen practices. The major constraints to fish production are high cost of feed and lack of capital. Also, a positive and significant relationship exist between level of knowledge of the farmers and farmers' gender, marital status, membership of cooperative society and fish farming association and primary occupation while age of the farmers had a negative but significant relationship with it. It is recommended that training by extension agents should focus the area of training needs and that credit and cost of fish feeds be subsidized.
Keywords: Training, fish, farmers, training needs, knowledge.


AbstractCredit risk permeates the assets of most
 insurance companies. This article develops a framework for computing credit capital requirements under the constant position paradigm and taking into account recovery rates. Although this framework was originally derived under the Solvency 2 regulation, it also provides concepts that can be useful under other international regulations. After a brief survey of the existing technology on rating transitions and default probabilities, the paper provides new results on risk premium adjustment factors. Then, three different procedures for reconstructing constant position market-consistent histories of credit portfolios from quoted Merrill Lynch indices are given. The reconstructed historical credit values are modeled via mixed empirical-Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD) dynamics and a detailed parameter estimation is performed. Several validations of the estimation are also provided. Finally, credit Solvency Capital Requirements are computed and an analysis of the results per rating class is given.


Swallowing is a complex biomechanical process that is synchronized with breathing to protect the airway. In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) altered upper airway protective mechanisms coupled to ventilatory adaptations may lead to laryngeal penetration during swallow that can be followed by pulmonary aspiration. To date investigations have reported a spectrum of swallow and breathing dysfunction in COPD ranging from mild (laryngeal penetration) to severe abnormality (pulmonary aspiration). However, the prevalence of penetration and aspiration in COPD is uncertain and important aspects such as a role in recurrent lung infections and repeated exacerbations are not understood. Current evidence indicates that aspiration during swallow occurs in up to 25% of individuals with COPD. Factors putatively associated with aspiration include increased respiratory rate, reduced laryngeal elevation during swallow, post-swallow pharyngeal residue and inspiration-swallow patterns. Timely identification of individuals with COPD complicated by aspiration may be critical since measures to reduce aspiration can potentially decrease lung infections, reduce COPD exacerbations and attenuate declines in pulmonary function. In this Perspective we examine evidence in COPD for laryngeal penetration and pulmonary aspiration associated with swallow. Putative mechanisms are detailed and diagnostic and therapeutic strategies are considered. We also identify important gaps in current understanding of this field and emphasize future research priorities.


Human amoebiasis due to Entamoeba histolytica infection is mainly associated withmorbidity thus affecting the quality of life and pace of developmental activities of countries withwarmclimatic conditions.Aconsistently high global incidence of this disease has been reported. In an endeavor to identify novel molecules with potent antiamoebic activity and lower sideeffect, the present study was designed to investigate antiamoebic activity in Heritiera littoralis extracts. The aqueous ethanol and aqueous extracts of the Heritiera littoralis showed promising in vitro and in vivo antiamoebic activity (MIC31.25 andAt 250mg/Kg dose 90%protection). Further work on pure molecules from this plant is in progress to get an antiamoebic lead molecule.


Abstract We propose that international climate change policy would be strengthened by the development and adoption of targets for atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases 25–50 years in the future in addition to near- and long-term targets. 'Interim concentration targets', which could be accommodated under the current Convention/Protocol framework, would provide several advantages over the current focus on either the short term (e.g. Kyoto Protocol) or the long term (e.g. ultimate stabilization targets). Interim targets would help constrain rates of climate change (which are not sufficiently addressed by short- or long-term targets, even when paired together). They would also provide a means for keeping open the option of achieving a range of long-term goals while uncertainty (and political disagreement) over the appropriate goal is resolved. We substantiate a number of rationales for such an approach, discuss the use of interim targets in other contexts, and illustrate how such targets for climate change policy might be set.


This study investigates the relationship between the corporate governance structure and performance of 347 companies listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) between 1996 and 2000. We found board size and top five substantial shareholdings to be significantly associated with both market and accounting performance measures. In addition, we found a significant relationship between multiple directorships and market performance while role duality and managerial shareholdings are significantly associated with accounting performance. The result is robust with respect to controls for gearing, company size, industry membership and growth opportunities.


This study analyses the structure and assignment of truth conditional meaning of sentences containing referring (R—) expressions in Gichuka, a Bantu language within the Niger-Congo family spoken by the Ameru people living on the North Eastern slopes of Mount Kenya. The study finds that the assignment of truth conditional meaning to sentences with R—expressions is not a purely syntactic matter but one that involves the interplay of syntax and pragmatics. It argues that the generative grammar's proposal that logical forms constrain all aspects of the truth conditional meaning in sentences is inadequate because it fails to account for pragmatic processes such as saturation and enrichment that derive propositional forms which bear truth conditions in sentences containing R―expressions. It makes a case for the thesis that contextual features play a significant role in assigning truth conditional meaning to sentences containing R—expressions, as expounded in the relevance theory.


This study was conducted to identify the information communication and technology (ICT) usage among adolescents in urban poverty and their acceptance of using ICT in teaching and learning (T&L) process. The Technology Acceptance Model was used in determining the acceptance of ICT by focusing on factors such as perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness as the two main factors that is much referred for technology acceptance. This case study was conducted using a quantitative and a questionnaire was used to collect data from 50 respondents. SPSS software was used in the form of descriptive statistics. the result showed that majority of the respondents do not spend much time in using ICT at home or even during class session. However, their acceptance in using ICT are positive in T&L process. Based on the findings, suggestions have been proposed to increase the effective use of ICT among adolescents in urban poverty.


One of the important thing in the mitigation of accidents in nuclear power plant accidents is time management. The accidents should be resolved as soon as possible in order to prevent the core melting and the release of radioactive material to the environment. In this case, operators should follow the emergency operating procedure related with the accident, in step by step order and in allowable time. Nowadays, the advanced main control rooms are equipped with computer-based procedures (CBPs) which is make it easier for operators to do their tasks of monitoring and controlling the reactor. However, most of the CBPs do not include the time remaining display feature which informs operators of time available for them to execute procedure steps and warns them if the they reach the time limit. Furthermore, the feature will increase the awareness of operators about their current situation in the procedure. This paper investigates this issue. The simplified of emergency operating procedure (EOP) of steam generator tube rupture (SGTR) accident of PWR plant is applied. In addition, the sequence of actions on each step of the procedure is modelled using multilevel flow modelling (MFM) and influenced propagation rule. The prediction of action time on each step is acquired based on similar case accidents and the Support Vector Regression. The derived time will be processed and then displayed on a CBP user interface.


This article examines the influence of civil procedure on the legal framework that supports securities markets in the U.S. and in Germany, two very different legal systems. It does so by way of comparing parallel shareholder actions against Deutsche Telekom for securities disclosure violations arising out of the same facts and allegations – the first set of actions filed in federal district court in Manhattan, the second filed in district court in Frankfurt, Germany.Deutsche Telekom was accused in both actions of misrepresenting the value of its real-estate holdings in its financial disclosures and for failing to disclose negotiations for the acquisition of the U.S. Company VoiceStream in its July 2000 offering prospectus.But the cases proceeded very differently and produced dramatically different outcomes. Within five years, and after full discovery, the U.S. class action plaintiffs negotiated a $120 million settlement with the Deutsche Telekom defendants. Meanwhile, the parallel claims by German shareholders, the first of which were filed in 2001, were ultimately dismissed by the German courts in 2012. Until now the German shareholders have received nothing, even after the German Bundestag had adopted a new and unprecedented aggregate litigation mechanism in late 2004 (dubbed "the Deutsche Telekom law") to afford thousands of complaining German shareholders a reasonable mechanism for pursuing a just and speedier resolution of their claims against the DT defendants.The article also engages claims about the importance of litigation discovery for corporate and securities laws advanced by Michael Halberstam and Erica Gorga in Litigation Discovery and Corporate Governance: The Missing Story About "The Genius of American Corporate Law" 63 Emory Law Review 1383 (2014).


The effect of Co inserted layer with thickness below 20 nm on the dielectric permittivity of SiO2 (60 nm)/Co(x nm)/SiO2 (60 nm) thin films fabricated on glass B270 substrates by the reactive sputtering technique was studied. The dielectric constant is around 7.4 for B270 glass substrate and SiO2 /B270 film. However, it is rapidly raised up to roughly 55 for all the SiO2/Co/SiO2 samples with the thickness of Co inserted layer larger than 2 nm. From the cross section TEM pictures of the SiO2 /Co/SiO2 films with 1 and 2 nm Co thickness, we have experimentally demonstrated that this enhancement behavior of the dielectric constant is due to the growth mechanism of the Cobalt inter-layer from island clusters to continuous Co layer for samples with x larger than 2 nm. The adding of a Co inter-layer redistributes the interface charges between Co and SiO 2 layers, and that enhances both the intrinsic polarization and its dielectric constant. For the magnetic induced dielectric variation, the variation of the dielectric constant also increased with thickness of Co for samples with x larger than 2 nm. A direct observation of a 0.04-0.20% dielectric variation is induced by external magnetic field. However this increase behavior is roughly saturated for applied magnetic field roughly above 60 Oe. The magnetodielectric properties in SiO2/Co/SiO2 films are manifested and it has potential for a ferroic sensor application.


Computer-based hospital information systems (HISs) are an integral part of the current hospital environment. Traditionally, the HIS hospital information system has performed drug distribution-related activities for the pharmacy. Clinical applications have been limited to monitoring for drug interactions, duplication of therapy, drug allergies, and dosage range checking. Personal computers have been used for more clinical applications and individualized dosing. At Hamot Medical Center, the integration of the pharmacokinetics consultation service with the HIS has been accomplished. The pharmacokinetic equations were programmed into the HIS. Data needed for the equations were extracted from information in the database, thereby eliminating the need to enter the majority of the data. The program was designed to print the pharmacokinetic consultation for the chart. The integration of the pharmacokinetic consultation service with the HIS has saved time and increased efficiency.


Cystic ovarian disease (COD) is an ovarian dysfunction in cows resulting in a serious economic loss in the dairy industry. This study was conducted to examine the hemoglobin (Hb) concentration, serum total protein (TP), phosphorus (P), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) levels of Sudanese crossbred (Friesian x Kenana) cows with COD in semi-closed condition. Forty-five dairy cows were divided into two groups. Group A (n= 30) were the cows with COD, and group B (n= 15) were healthy normal cycling cows (NC) that served as healthy control. Diagnosis of COD was based on history of frequent prolonged signs of estrus and per rectal palpation. Per rectal palpation for the uterus and ovaries was done weekly. A cow having a large follicle in the ovary that remained at the same position for three successive palpations or more was considered having COD. Results of the blood analysis showed that the serum levels of P, Cu, Zn and Mn of cows with COD were significantly lower (P 0.05) in Hb concentration (7.5 ± 1.2 vs. 7.4 ± 1.1 g/dl), serum TP (6.8 ± 1.2 vs. 6.5 ± 0.7 g/dl) and Fe (3.7 ± 1.3 vs. 3.7 ± 1.9 ppm) were observed between the two groups. This study reported reduced serum minerals (P, Cu, Zn and Mn) levels in Sudanese crossbred dairy cows with COD as compared to NC cows. Future studies are still needed to highlight the contribution of these minerals in inducing COD.

 Key words: Cystic ovarian disease, deficiency of minerals, dairy cow.


We present the first anti-k$_{T}$ jet spectrum and substructure measurements using the archived ALEPH $e^+e^-$ data taken in 1994 at a center of mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 91.2$ GeV. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-k$_{T}$ algorithm with a resolution parameter of 0.4. It is the cleanest test of jets and QCD without the complication of hadronic initial states. The fixed center-of-mass energy also allows the first direct test of pQCD calculation. We present both the inclusive jet energy spectrum and the leading dijet energy spectra, together with a number of substructure observables. They are compared to predictions from PYTHIA6, PYTHIA8, Sherpa, HERWIG, VINCIA, and PYQUEN. None of the models fully reproduce the data. The data are also compared to two perturbative QCD calculations at NLO and with NLL'+R resummation. The results can also serve as reference measurements to compare to results from hadronic colliders. Future directions, including testing jet clustering algorithms designed for future electron-ion collider experiments, will also be discussed.


We developed new techniques to measure dissolved H2 and H2 consumption kinetics in anoxic ecosystems that were not dependent on headspace measurements or gas transfer-limited experimentation. These H2 metabolism parameters were then compared with measured methane production rates, and estimates of H2 production and interspecies H2 transfer were made. The H2 pool sizes were 205 and 31 nM in sewage sludge from an anaerobic digestor and in sediments (24 m) from Lake Mendota, respectively. The H2 turnover rate constants, as determined by using in situ pool sizes and temperatures, were 103 and 31 h−1 for sludge and sediment, respectively. The observed H2 turnover rate accounted for only 5 to 6% of the expected H2-CO2-dependent methanogenesis in these ecosystems. Our results are in general agreement with the results reported previously and are used to support the conclusion that most of the H2-dependent methanogenesis in these ecosystems occurs as a consequence of direct interspecies H2 transfer between juxtapositioned microbial associations within flocs or consortia.


Background The invasive nature of the current methods for monitoring of intracranial pressure (ICP) has prevented their use in many clinical situations. Several attempts have been made to develop methods to monitor ICP non-invasively. The aim of this study is to assess the relationship between ultrasound-based non-invasive ICP (nICP) and invasive ICP measurement in neurocritical care patients. Methods and findings This was a prospective, single-cohort observational study of patients admitted to a tertiary neurocritical care unit. Patients with brain injury requiring invasive ICP monitoring were considered for inclusion. nICP was assessed using optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD), venous transcranial Doppler (vTCD) of straight sinus systolic flow velocity (FVsv), and methods derived from arterial transcranial Doppler (aTCD) on the middle cerebral artery (MCA): MCA pulsatility index (PIa) and an estimator based on diastolic flow velocity (FVd). A total of 445 ultrasound examinations from 64 patients performed from 1 January to 1 November 2016 were included. The median age of the patients was 53 years (range 37–64). Median Glasgow Coma Scale at admission was 7 (range 3–14), and median Glasgow Outcome Scale was 3 (range 1–5). The mortality rate was 20%. ONSD and FVsv demonstrated the strongest correlation with ICP (R = 0.76 for ONSD versus ICP; R = 0.72 for FVsv versus ICP), whereas PIa and the estimator based on FVd did not correlate with ICP significantly. Combining the 2 strongest nICP predictors (ONSD and FVsv) resulted in an even stronger correlation with ICP (R = 0.80). The ability to detect intracranial hypertension (ICP ≥ 20 mm Hg) was highest for ONSD (area under the curve [AUC] 0.91, 95% CI 0.88–0.95). The combination of ONSD and FVsv methods showed a statistically significant improvement of AUC values compared with the ONSD method alone (0.93, 95% CI 0.90–0.97, p = 0.01). Major limitations are the heterogeneity and small number of patients included in this study, the need for specialised training to perform and interpret the ultrasound tests, and the variability in performance among different ultrasound operators. Conclusions Of the studied ultrasound nICP methods, ONSD is the best estimator of ICP. The novel combination of ONSD ultrasonography and vTCD of the straight sinus is a promising and easily available technique for identifying critically ill patients with intracranial hypertension.


Knowledge about HIV prevention means knowing that consistent use of condoms during sexual intercourse, having one uninfected faithful partner can reduce chance of getting HIV, knowing that a healthy-looking person can have HIV, rejecting the two most common local misconceptions (HIV can be transmitted by mosquito bites and a person can become infected by sharing food with a person who has HIV). The study objective was to assess and identify determinants of comprehensive knowledge about HIV prevention among young in Ethiopia. The data used for analysis was 2016 EDHS. The dependent variable was comprehensive knowledge about HIV prevention and Descriptive statistics and Binary logistic regression used to identify determinants of comprehensive knowledge about HIV prevention among young. The study conducted on 10,520 young, of which 41.9% were male and 58.1% female. The significant determinants of comprehensive knowledge about HIV prevention among young were age, residence, education, occupation, marital status, wealth index, sex, region and media exposure. In conclusion, Young with low income, single, male without formal education were less likely to have comprehensive knowledge while the knowledge status is different from region to region. Education for low income, single and male on HIV prevention must be expanded to improve knowledge of the disease in Ethiopia.


Accurate estimation of the amplitude and frequency parameters of sinusoidal signals from noisy observations is an important problem in many signal processing applications. In this paper, the problem is investigated under the assumption of non-Gaussian noise in general and Laplace noise in particular. It is proven mathematically that the maximum likelihood estimator derived under the condition of Laplace white noise is able to attain an asymptotic Cramer-Rao lower bound which is one half of that achieved by periodogram maximization and nonlinear least squares. It is also proven that when applied to non-Laplace situations, the Laplace maximum likelihood estimator, which may also be referred to as the nonlinear least-absolute-deviations estimator, can achieve an even higher statistical efficiency especially when the noise distribution has heavy tails. A computational procedure is proposed to overcome the difficulty of local extrema in the likelihood function. Simulation results are provided to validate the analytical findings.


It is often hard to write programs that are efficient yet reusable. For example, an efficient implementation of Gaussian elimination should be specialized to the structure and known static properties of the input matrix. The most profitable optimizations, such as choosing the best pivoting or memoization, cannot be expected of even an advanced compiler because they are specific to the domain, but expressing these optimizations directly makes for ungainly source code. Instead, a promising and popular way to reconcile efficiency with reusability is for a domain expert to write code generators.
 Two pillars of this approach are types and effects. Typed multilevel languages such as MetaOCaml ensure _safety_: a well-typed code generator neither goes wrong nor generates code that goes wrong. Side effects such as state and control ease correctness: an effectful generator can resemble the textbook presentation of an algorithm, as is familiar to domain experts, yet insert let for memoization and if for bounds-checking, as is necessary for efficiency. However, adding effects blindly renders multilevel types unsound.
 We introduce the first two-level calculus with control effects and a sound type system. We give small-step operational semantics as well as a continuation-passing style (CPS) translation. For soundness, our calculus restricts the code generator's effects to the scope of generated binders. Even with this restriction, we can finally write efficient code generators for dynamic programming and numerical methods in direct style, like in algorithm textbooks, rather than in CPS or monadic style.


The effects of glucagon injection on temperature regulation and some metabolic parameters were studied in the pigeon. Glucagon (100 microng/kg) always inhibited shivering and caused a fall in the oxygen consumption and body temperature of the unanesthetized pigeon at + 6 degrees C. At + 34 degrees C, the same dose of glucagon had no effect on these parameters. At 22 degrees C, glucagon produced an elevation in plasma free fatty acid (FFA) and blood glucose levels. The rise in FFA at 22 degrees C coincided with the suppression of shivering at 6 degrees C. The glucagon-mediated rise in plasma FFA, but not glucose level, was potentiated by cold ambient temperature. Adrenergic blocking agents given prior to glucagon did not abolish its effects. Phentolamine even prolonged the absence and accelerated the suppression of shivering. A dissociation in the mechanisms by which catecholamines and glucagon suppress shivering is suggested. Although mobilizing energy reserves, glucagon does not seem to be calorigenic in the pigeon at this dose. The interpretation of the changes in plasma FFA levels is discussed in relation to fuel consumption during shivering.


In this paper, we propose an approach to show how the capability-based perspective of the resource-based view of the firm can be integrated with the comparative-governance approach of transaction cost economics to shed light on governance issues in interfirm relationships. We argue that transacting parties create value not only through the employment of partner-specific investment and coordination activities but also through the employment of heterogeneous, firm-specific resources that each firm brings to the relationship and that, in turn, governance structures reflect a discriminating alignment with these two distinct forms of value-creating activities and resources. Our thesis is empirically tested in the context of industrial original equipment manufacturers employing branded component contracts with independent component vendors. Specifically, we investigate the conditions under which the price terms for branded components are agreed upon (more fixed) ex ante versus negotiated (more flexible) ex post. Our results offer two insights. First, the chosen governance form reflects a trade-off between safeguarding and adaptation motives even among parties engaged in cooperative relationships. Second, valuable, firm-specific resources that preexist outside of the exchange relationship are at stake in these cooperative yet contractually incomplete relationships. They, together with relationship-specific investments and activities, have a significant impact on governance design.


Environmental degradation caused by conventional agriculture has been conceptualized in terms of metabolic rift. This chapter discusses genetic erosion as an expression of the metabolic rift. It is against this background that this chapter considers the centrality of seeds and sharing for addressing the metabolic rift and developing regenerative agricultural practices. Looking at seed sharing practices of farmers in India, this chapter shows how these sharing practices helped the communities to interact and rebuild their farms as coherent units. We discuss three cases reflecting on seeds and their sharing among communities. From the cases we show how local and regional production practices restore, rebuild, and regenerate the production process, mending the rift. This has been done by building a resource base to be used for production; followed by attempts to extend the resource base through social networks of seed sharing and conserving; finally, through sustainable farming practices that regenerate soil structure and the ecological system, the metabolic relation between nature and agriculture was maintained. This chapter suggests that seeds, their reproduction, and sharing practices are important constituents for regeneration of agricultural systems


Introduction:Propolis is a complex resinous substance produced by bees that has therapeutic properties, such as antimicrobial activity, anti-inflammatory, healing. Few studies exist on the red variety of propolis, found in the state of Sergipe.Objective:Evaluation of the antimicrobial action of the extract of propolis red collected in the northeastern state of Sergipe, against strains of Enterococcus faecalis.Material and method:The red propolis samples were collected in Brejo Grande/SE – Brazil and identified according to their sensory characteristics, granulometry and physical chemical requirements. The content of flavonoids in dried extract was determined. Solutions of red propolis (EEP) were prepared at concentrations of 1%; 2.5%; 5% and 7.5%. The bacterial strain used was Enterococcus faecalis – ATCC 29212. The antibacterial activity was verified by in vitro tests (disk diffusion test and determination of minimum bactericidal concentration – CBM) and ex vivo (using human extracted teeth). The test, ex vivo contaminated teeth were divided into three groups with 10 teeth each. Group 1 was treated with propolis to 7.5% (concentration determined in CBM test), the Group 2 was treated as positive control with sodium hypochlorite solution 2.5% and Group 3 was used as a negative control and was treated only with sterile saline.Result:The extract of propolis promoted inhibition zone compared to results from solution of sodium hypochlorite to 2.5%, showing values between 12 and 16 mm. There was no bacterial growth after root conduct irrigation with EEP to 7.5%.Conclusion:Propolis collected showed medium content of flavonoids (1.8%) and physical chemical characteristics consistent to those required by the Brazilian Government. At 7.5% of propolis extract, we observed a higher antibacterial potential than others groups.


At the most elementary level, librarians are administrators, regardless of what the cards on their desks or signs on their doors read. To be successful, a librarian must have the skills of a project manager, which include organization; initiative; flexibility; assessment; time management; delegation; as well as social/political savvy and communication. These skills are necessary for survival in a busy academic law library because you can be asked to do anything from reference to collection development, and more often to do multiple tasks with competing deadlines. Law libraries are very compartmentalized institutions, and this segregation often leads to departmental tunnel vision and unbalanced visions for the library. However, if the skills of a project manager are applied in creating and implementing the agenda of a law library, the approach becomes more holistic. All aspects of the library are taken into consideration in creating the road maps to the library's goals. These considerations include external perceptions and needs; the effectiveness of current internal processes and needs; and accurate measurement of individual personnel expertise and how it is being utilized.


ABSTRACT Many cities are making investments in nonautomobile infrastructure, but few rigorous studies have examined the implications of potential modes shifts on local businesses. This article examines the relationship between mode of access, consumer spending, and frequency of patronage at 78 restaurants, drinking establishments, and convenience stores in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area. Multiple regression models were estimated to investigate the factors influencing customer expenditures per trip. Mode choice was not a significant predictor of spending per trip, and nonautomobile customers were more frequent patrons, on average, than customers who arrived via automobile. Although limited to the three land-uses studies, findings of this analysis do not support the notion that customers who arrive by automobile are more competitive consumers than those traveling by other modes, and build support for the notion that more environmentally sustainable transportation modes are also economically viable.


In vivo kinetics of Saccharomyces cerevisiae are studied, in a time window of 150 s, by analyzing the response of O(2) and CO(2) in the fermentor off-gas after perturbation of chemostat cultures by metabolite pulses. Here, a new mathematical method is presented for the estimation of the in vivo oxygen uptake rate (OUR) and carbon dioxide evolution rate (CER) directly from the off-gas data in such perturbation experiments. The mathematical construction allows effective elimination of delay and distortion in the off-gas measurement signal under highly dynamic conditions. A black box model for the fermentor off-gas system is first obtained by system identification, followed by the construction of an optimal linear filter, based on the identified off-gas model. The method is applied to glucose and ethanol pulses performed on chemostat cultures of S. cerevisiae. The estimated OUR is shown to be consistent with the independent dissolved oxygen measurement. The estimated in vivo OUR and CER provide valuable insights into the complex dynamic behavior of yeast and are essential for the establishment and validation of in vivo kinetic models of primary metabolism.


Serious games are the focus of the current research agenda. They show promise for allowing students to learn and practice skills. In fewer studies, they are used for the development of academic competencies. Therefore, it is of interest to deepen the research on the benefits of serious games in academic education and training. This article presents a study using serious games aimed at higher education academics' training for the development of digital competencies. The study was carried out with 56 academics, using the serious game called AstroCódigo. The study analyzed the level of acceptance of serious games using the TAM model and what factors the academics believe affect this acceptance. It is important to know possible barriers that affect the development of actions oriented to the formation of academic competencies through serious games, which can also affect the adoption of games as a resource for teaching situations. None of prior studies have focused on analyzing the technological acceptance of serious games used for the development of academic competencies. The results of this research indicate that participants believe that using serious games can be beneficial to drive digital competencies. However, there are aspects such as the highest academic qualification, work experience, professional development, perceived usefulness, ease of use, and fear of change associated with age rank which can play a negative role in the use and acceptance of digital technologies by academics, particularly serious games. These results may be a clue to the barriers linked to the fact that most of the participants in this study do not use serious games in their classes or for their digital skills training. Additionally, the possibility to try and fail and the increased level of challenges proposed in the serious games, related to enjoyment, were valued by academics, during the sessions with AstroCódigo. These findings open the door to organize strategies for academic training in digital competencies within higher education institutions. They can also impact the design decisions of new serious games.


Introduction: The Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) that originated in China in December 2019 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on 11th March, 2020. It has resulted in extensive lockdown measures in India and in the state of West Bengal. Both Central and State Governments have made considerable efforts to increase awareness about the pandemic among the general public. Aim: This study was conducted to assess the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) among the general public of West Bengal about the pandemic as no such data is available till date. Materials and Methods: The retrospective survey was undertaken among the general public of the state of West Bengal, India, by means of social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) through a validated e-questionnaire containing 10 questions during 18th April, 2020 to 3rd May, 2020. Data was captured on Google Forms, which were analysed using appropriate tools. Results: A total of 355 responses were obtained. A 97% of responders were completely aware of the pandemic with 92% practising preventive measures, such as social distancing, washing hands, and wearing a mask. Majority of the participants were young (18-30 years of age) with 51% being males. A 99% of the responders were literate and 86% were from urban dwelling. Total 61% of the participants stated that they have learnt something new after participating in this survey. Conclusion: KAP about COVID-19 pandemic was found to be high in the general population of West Bengal. Involvement of various social media platforms is required for generating mass awareness about COVID-19 in rural West Bengal. Continuous communication and survey by the Government is necessary to spread public awareness as information about COVID-19 is constantly evolving.


Due to the high grinding speed and the less contact length, there is the super high material strain rate in the contact layer during quick-point grinding process. Based on the principle of micro-damages mechanics, it is the impact process between the workpiece and the grits on the wheel in the process. The weakening effects of the super high strain rate caused by the mechanical impact micro-damages and the adiabatic shearing damage can lower the dynamic strength of the material in contact layer and the micro-plastic pile-up deformation on the ground surface in the process. Therefore, it is possible to improve the surface integrity of the workpiece since the materials removal mechanism is changed in quick-point grinding process. In this paper, the impact performances and the model of quick point grinding process were studied. Based on the above, the model of the ground surface roughness related to the plastic pile-up deformation was established. The effects of the strain rate on the ground surface roughness and the materials removal ratio were analyzed. In addition, the grinding experiment was performed to testify such investigations. It is indicated that quick-point grinding is an impact process assuredly during the removing material process.


"Excited delirium" has become increasingly recognised as a medical entity that is typically associated with individuals suffering from a mental illness and/or affected by a variety of stimulant-type drugs. Because the diagnostic label has been used in association with situations of violence on the part of the person affected, and this has included circumstances where chemical and electrical as well as physical restraint has been applied by law enforcement personnel, the diagnostic entity has come to be reviewed by a variety of courts and tribunals. There is considerable debate in medical circles as to the scientific validity of such a "diagnosis" but there appears to be some medical and therapeutic value in clustering the relevant signs and symptoms under such a label. At the same time, using such a term in relation to deaths associated with circumstances where individuals are restrained could be seen as a way of deflecting the investigation of such deaths away from the actions of law enforcement personnel.


Biotechnology is expected to produce significant economic and environmental benefits as a result of the development of new varieties of plants and animals and improved agricultural productivity. Seen by many as a key technology for the 21st century, and as an economic stimulus for the State of New Jersey and for the Nation, biotechnology has been the subject of intense scientific and public debate. Yet, while experts and activists continue to argue, genetic engineering techniques are already leading to agricultural products that may soon be on supermarket shelves.


Integrated pest management (IPM) has been promoted globally as an alternative approach to the widespread broad-spectrum chemical insecticidal application for the control of pests and diseases in agricultural production to minimise the harmful effects of the chemicals on humans and the environment. This study examines the impact of an IPM strategy developed to control mango fruit flies on humans and the environment. Using a random sample of 371 mango farmers from Meru County in Kenya, health and environmental outcomes were measured using the environmental impact quotient (EIQ) field use and causal impacts, which were estimated using the endogenous switching regression (ESR) model. The results indicate that the adoption of the IPM strategy reduced pesticide use and pesticide toxicity. Policy efforts therefore should focus on promoting and disseminating fruit fly IPM to improve the livelihoods of rural mango farmers, but also reduce human health and environmental threats as a result of pesticide use.


: Protein kinase C (PKC) is a phospholipid- and calcium-dependent enzyme found throughout the body, and especially abundantly in the brain. Isozymic forms of PKC, encoded by a family of PKC genes, are currently under intensive study. Sequence analysis of the cDNAs for three, and possibly four, PKCs has enabled the design of specific oligodeoxyribonucleotide probes. We labelled these probes with 35S and used them for in situ hybridization histochemical studies. Transcripts encoding PKC types beta, gamma, and a putative 'epsilon' were visualized throughout the rat central nervous system. They differed from one another in their distributions. PKC type alpha mRNA was found throughout the rabbit central nervous system, but seemed less abundant there than the other PKC transcripts detected in the rat. The distinct distributions of expression of the genes for the PKC isozyme suggest that each has specialized roles in the brain.


Multivariate comparisons of impacted and non-impacted biotic assemblages require decisions to be made about the taxonomic resolution to be used, biological attributes to be measured and whether the contributions of common, or combinations of common, intermediate and rare taxa should be emphasised. This study shows how these decisions affect comparisons of exploited and non-exploited rocky infratidal macrofaunal assemblages distributed across a biogeographic transi- tion zone on the south-east coast of South Africa. Two-way crossed ANOSIM tests were used to test for differences in the structure of assemblages among regions of the coast and between exploited and non-exploited localities. In tests based on presence/absences, significant differences in assemblages among regions and between treatments were evident only at the species level. In tests based on den- sities and biomasses, regional differences were evident at the species, order, class and phylum level, and were irrespective of whether dominant or combinations of dominant, intermediate and rare taxa were emphasised. Significant differences in exploited and non-exploited assemblages were evident in all of the comparisons except those in which numerically dominant higher taxa were emphasised. These results do not suggest that the natural environmental gradient influences the fauna more by species replacements than by changes to the proportions of higher taxa, nor do they indicate that natural environmental variations and anthropogenic disturbances modify macrofaunal assemblages at different taxonomic levels. Further studies are needed to establish whether the taxonomic level, at which modification of assemblages occurs, varies with the type of disturbance (e.g. pollution vs exploitation, strong vs weak gradients) or biotic component (e.g. rocky vs soft-bottom assemblages) under consideration.


Summary We investigate time consistency of monetary valuations, also called monetary risk measures or monetary utility functions. Through a number of recent research contributions, it has become clear that time consistency imposes strong constraints on families of monetary valuations conditioned on available information at different time instants. In this paper we add to these results by showing that consistent families of monetary valuations are already determined uniquely by the choice of the initial valuation, under suitable sensitivity assumptions; moreover, this statement holds even when the term "consistency" is interpreted in a rather weak sense. The unique update rule is specified explicitly, and we characterize the existence of consistent updates for a given initial monetary valuation. We give examples of situations in which weak consistency is relevant. An application is given to the construction of consistent families of compound valuations, as an illustration of the additional flexibility under weak time consistency


(From the Foreword by series editors)

This literature review highlights why young learners should be listened to, and explains how to go about it to generate genuine dialogue and collaboration. It was originally published in 2007, by the Creative Partnerships team at Arts Council England. The programme and team have since been transferred to a new organisation, Creativity, Culture and Education (CCE) and, the report is now being republished in the new CCE format.

 In this second edition, Sara Bragg has taken the opportunity to update some of the details and references from the first edition including adding examples from her more recent research with the Open University into youth voice work in Creative Partnerships (Bragg, Manchester and Faulkner, 2009).

This review surveys the literature analysing how and why young people can or should be consulted. It is especially relevant to the broader ambitions of CCE because consulting young people and encouraging their participation is important to our work. We need to hear young people's views about what we do, and we need to find ways to draw on their creativity and insights, to maintain our programmes' dynamism and sustainability. However, this will not just happen – it needs to be thought about and structured carefully to ensure that we listen to a range of voices, not just the loudest, or those that fit our own existing agendas. The methods and methodologies for consulting with, and gathering the views of, young people are surveyed in this report. Its main message is that consulting young people is not a simple or straightforward process and that we need to consider carefully how best to learn about and interpret their views and opinions. We hope that the report will be useful for those interested in consulting young people. Above all, we believe this report highlights some of the reasons why young learners should be listened to, and explains how to go about it in a way that unleashes their creativity and generates genuine dialogue and collaboration.


Effective processing of character strings is required at various stages of data analysis pipelines: from data cleansing and preparation, through information extraction, to report generation. Pattern searching, string collation and sorting, normalization, transliteration, and formatting are ubiquitous in text mining, natural language processing, and bioinformatics. This paper discusses and demonstrates how and why stringi, a mature R package for fast and portable handling of string data based on ICU (International Components for Unicode), should be included in each statistician's or data scientist's repertoire to complement their numerical computing and data wrangling skills.


At the very late design stage, engineering change order (ECO) leakage optimization is often performed to swap some cells for the ones with lower leakage, e.g. the cells with higher threshold voltage (Vth) or with longer gate length. It is very effective but time consuming due to iterative nature of swap and timing check with correction. We introduce a graph convolutional network (GCN) for quick ECO leakage optimization. GCN receives a number of input parameters that model the current timing information of a netlist as well as the connectivity of the cells in a form of a weighted connectivity matrix. Once it is trained, GCN predicts exact Vth (with Vth given by commercial ECO leakage optimization as a reference) of 83% of cells, on average of test circuits. The remaining 17% of cells are responsible for some negative timing slack. To correct such timing as well as to remove any minimum implant width (MIW) violations, we propose a heuristic Vth reassignment. The combined GCN and heuristic achieve 52% reduction of leakage, which can be compared to 61% reduction from commercial ECO, but with less than half of runtime.


We model stock price manipulation when the manipulator is in the role of an intermediary (broker). We find that in the absence of superior information, the broker can manipulate equilibrium outcomes without losing credibility with respect to accurate forecasting. This result extends to the case when the broker prefers more investment to come into the market. However, when competition among brokers is introduced then the investors get their favorite outcome in the absence of superior information. This result has important implications for encouraging broker competitions in developing markets. Many developing markets are still not demutualized; hence broker level competition is limited in such markets. JEL Classification Codes: C72, D80, G10, G20


Genome-scale functional genetic screens can be used to interrogate determinants of protein expression modulation of a target of interest. Such phenotypic screening approaches typically require sorting of large numbers of cells (>108). In conventional cell sorting techniques (i.e. fluorescence-activated cell sorting), sorting time, associated with high instrument and operating costs and loss of cell viability, are limiting to the scalability and throughput of these screens. We recently established a rapid and scalable high-throughput microfluidic cell sorting platform (MICS) using immunomagnetic nanoparticles to sort cells in parallel capable of sorting more than 108 HAP1 cells in under one hour while maintaining high levels of cell viability (Ref. 1). This protocol outlines how to set-up MICS for large-scale phenotypic screens in mammalian cells. We anticipate this platform being used for genome-wide functional genetic screens as well as other applications requiring the sorting of large numbers of cells based on protein expression.


The concept of DNA storage was first suggested in 1959 by Richard Feynman who shared his vision regarding nanotechnology in the talk"There is plenty of room at the bottom". Later, towards the end of the 20-th century, the interest in storage solutions based on DNA molecules was increased as a result of the human genome project which in turn led to a significant progress in sequencing and assembly methods. DNA storage enjoys major advantages over the well-established magnetic and optical storage solutions. As opposed to magnetic solutions, DNA storage does not require electrical supply to maintain data integrity and is superior to other storage solutions in both density and durability. Given the trends in cost decreases of DNA synthesis and sequencing, it is now acknowledged that within the next 10-15 years DNA storage may become a highly competitive archiving technology and probably later the main such technology. With that said, the current implementations of DNA based storage systems are very limited and are not fully optimized to address the unique pattern of errors which characterize the synthesis and sequencing processes. In this work, we propose a robust, efficient and scalable solution to implement DNA-based storage systems. Our method deploys Deep Neural Networks (DNN) which reconstruct a sequence of letters based on imperfect cluster of copies generated by the synthesis and sequencing processes. A tailor-made Error-Correcting Code (ECC) is utilized to combat patterns of errors which occur during this process. Since our reconstruction method is adapted to imperfect clusters, our method overcomes the time bottleneck of the noisy DNA copies clustering process by allowing the use of a rapid and scalable pseudo-clustering instead. Our architecture combines between convolutions and transformers blocks and is trained using synthetic data modelled after real data statistics.


We consider flooding-based resource discovery in distributed systems. With flooding, a node searching for a resource contacts its neighbors in the network, which in turn contact their own neighbors and so on until a node possessing the requested resource is located. Flooding assumes no knowledge about the network topology or the resource distribution thus offering an attractive means for resource discovery in dynamically evolving networks such as peer-to-peer systems. We provide analytical results for the performance of a number of flooding-based approaches that differ in the set of neighbors contacted at each step. The performance metrics we are interested in are the probability of locating a resource and the average number of steps and messages for doing so. We study both uniformly random resource requests and requests in the presence of popular (hot) resources. Our analysis is also extended to take into account the fact that nodes may become unavailable either due to failures or voluntary departures from the system. Our analytical results are validated through simulation


Background Children with Down9s syndrome have a high rate of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Previous studies have shown that adenotonsillectomy is effective in improving OSA but with differing success rates. Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of adenotonsillectomy in improving OSA symptoms in children with Down9s syndrome within our population. Methods The medical records of 32 children with Down9s syndrome who underwent tonsillectomy or adenotonsillectomy for OSA between 1stJanuary 2010 and 1stMay 2016 were reviewed retrospectively. Parameters reviewed included age, height and weight at time of surgery and pre- and post-surgery data relating to oximetry performed, reported snoring and daytime somnolence and frequency of lower respiratory tract infections. Results 15/32 children were male. The median age was 4.8y (interquartile range 3.1, 9.6). All children had pre-operative snoring with post-operatively improvement in 25/32 (78.1%) of children. Oximetry data was available both pre- and post-operatively in only 12/32 but all showed improvement. 21/32 children had congenital heart disease (CHD). Of the 7/32 children who didn9t have symptomatic improvement, 4 (57%) were male. The median age was 4.6y (3.8, 9.2). One child was obese with a weight >98thcentile. Four had CHD. Two commenced mask ventilation for their OSA due to ongoing clinical symptoms post-operatively. Conclusions Over 75% of children had symptomatic improvement of their OSA following surgical intervention. Adenotonsillectomy is an important treatment option for OSA in children with Down9s syndrome.