Background: Conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the outermost layer of the white part of the eye and the inner surface of the eyelid. Conjunctivitis is a global economic burden due to its common occurrence, contagiousness and potentially debilitating morbidities. Some reports indicate that 50-75% of acute conjunctivitis is caused due to the bacteria. In adults Staphylococcus, S. pneumoniae and H. influenza are the common pathogens causing bacterial conjunctivitis. Aim: The aim of the present study to determine the bacteriological profile of acute conjunctivitis. Materials and Methods: This prospective observational study was done the Department of Ophthalmology, Nalanda Medical College and Hospital, Patna, Bihar, India, for 10 months. This is prospective observational study with evaluation of demographic factors, associated comorbid conditions and finding causative organism i.e. bacteria gram staining culture methods and biochemical reaction. Results: Out of 100 cases high number of cases of acute conjunctivitis was seen in the age group of 25–35. A male preponderance is noted with 65 males and 35 females. According to our study acute conjunctivitis was observed 70 patients were from low socioeconomic status and 30 cases were from middle socioeconomic status. All 100 patients underwent Gram stain and bacterial culture out of 100, 71 patients was culture positive and other was negative. The most common organism isolated Coagulase positive staphylococci 43% followed Klebsiella pneumoniae with 13%, Pseudomonas 6%, Diptheroids 3% and least Alkaligenes fecalis was 2%. Out of 100 patients 45 patients had a involvement of both eyes which is 45% and 55 patients had involvement of only one eye which is 55%. Conclusion: we conclude, bacteriological evaluation of conjunctivitis provides to the ophthalmologist a working knowledge of the causal microbes, their common presentations, clinical course and antibiotic sensitivity patterns along with confirming the clinical diagnosis. It also helps to avert the use of inappropriate medications and reduce the risk of drug resistant strains. To achieve this end, public awareness particularly of conjunctivitis, its cause, routes of spread and medical management should be sought.


The death rate for pancreatic cancer approximates the number of new cases each year, and when diagnosed, current therapeutic regimens provide little benefit in extending patient survival. These dire statistics necessitate the development of enhanced single or combinatorial therapies to decrease the pathogenesis of this invariably fatal disease. Melanoma differentiation-associated gene-7/interleukin-24 (mda-7/IL-24) is a potent cancer gene therapeutic because of its broad-spectrum cancer-specific apoptosis-inducing properties as well as its multipronged indirect antitumor activities. However, pancreatic cancer cells show inherent resistance to mda-7/IL-24 that is caused by a block of translation of mda-7/IL-24 mRNA in these tumor cells. We now reveal that a dietary agent perillyl alcohol (POH) in combination with Ad.mda-7 efficiently reverses the mda-7/IL-24 "protein translational block" by inducing reactive oxygen species, thereby resulting in mda-7/IL-24 protein production, growth suppression, and apoptosis. Pharmacologic inhibitor and small interfering RNA studies identify xanthine oxidase as a major source of superoxide radical production causing these toxic effects. Because both POH and Ad.mda-7 are being evaluated in clinical trials, combining a dietary agent and a virally delivered therapeutic cytokine provides an innovative approach for potentially treating human pancreatic cancer.


Water immersion for labour and/or birth can be a supportive low-cost, low-tech intervention that enhances women's experiences of their labour and with positive outcome benefits. In a previous article,1 we highlighted the current evidence in favour of water immersion that demonstrated the positive impact upon women's and birthing people's physical and psychological outcomes, including; reducing pain perception, epidural use, labour duration and hospital transfers; enhancing mobility, freedom of movement, feelings of safety, privacy and positive experiences of labour and birth. Overall, water immersion enhances the neuroendocrinology of a normal physiological labour2 and is a helpful option for pain relief.3


Geology-Retrospect & Prospect: Edinburgh University Geology Department and the Geological Society of London, 10th September 1971. Morning session-Chairman Professor W. A. Deer, F.R.S., President Geological Society. Professor Craig of the Edinburgh Department introduced the first two speakers. Their visits as Edinburgh University Swiney Lecturers were made possible through a fund originally established to support medical students willing to lecture in geology! 1. The history of geology in Edinburgh: Professor D. B. McIntyre, Department of Geology, Pomona College, California. After outlining the early history of Edinburgh University, Professor McIntyre described the brilliant circle of friends who were the contemporaries of James Hutton in late 18th century Edinburgh. Professor McIntyre's remarkable abilities as an informal Scots raconteur brought to life, for an all too brief 40 minutes, characters whose portraits in the University by Raeburn are 'better than written biographies'. They included Joseph Black 'the midwife of modern chemistry', his cousin Adam Ferguson, the brilliant lame lawyer John Clark, and Adam Smith. A meeting in the house of Adam Ferguson is commemorated in the famous painting including Scott (a friend of Ferguson's son) Burns, Hutton and Black. The closeness of the Edinburgh group was exemplified by the appointment of Hutton and Black as literary executors for Hume, and of Hutton and Ferguson as executors for Adam Smith, whose dying words were-'Gentlemen I regret the meeting will have to be adjourned to another place'. Professor McIntyre commented that contrary to previous views Hutton's writings were not more obscure than those of most modern


We examine the gender balance of the 18th and 19th meetings of the Cambridge Workshop on Cool Stellar Systems and the Sun (CS18 and CS19). The percent of female attendees at both meetings (31% at CS18 and 37% at CS19) was higher than the percent of women in the American Astronomical Society (25%) and the International Astronomical Union (18%). The representation of women in Cool Stars as SOC members, invited speakers, and contributed speakers was similar to or exceeded the percent of women attending the meetings. We requested that conference attendees assist in a project to collect data on the gender of astronomers asking questions after talks. Using this data, we found that men were over-represented (and women were under-represented) in the question sessions after each talk. Men asked 79% of the questions at CS18 and 75% of the questions at CS19, but were 69% and 63% of the attendees respectively. Contrary to findings from previous conferences, we did not find that the gender balance of questions was strongly affected by the session chair gender, the speaker gender, or the length of the question period. We also found that female and male speakers were asked a comparable number of questions after each talk. The contrast of these results from previous incarnations of the gender questions survey indicate that more data would be useful in understanding the factors that contribute to the gender balance of question askers. We include a preliminary set of recommendations based on this and other work on related topics, but also advocate for additional research on the demographics of conference participants. Additional data on the intersection of gender with race, seniority, sexual orientation, ability and other marginalized identities is necessary to fully address the role of gender in asking questions at conferences.


This study evaluated the properties of fluting paper made with a blend of unbleached bagasse soda pulp (340 mL CSF freeness) and OCC pulp (250 to 300 mL CSF freeness) of 0:100, 10:90, 30:70, 50:50, 70:30, and 90:10 ratios by weight, respectively. Some handsheets at 120 g/m2 basis weight were made. Strength characteristics such as tear index, tensile index, air resistance, double folds, burst index, and Concora medium test (CMT) were measured according to TAPPI and ISO standards and compared to each other. Inferior handsheet properties were observed when using 100% recycled fibers. Results further showed that addition of 10 to 30% bagasse pulp to OCC pulp did not significantly enhance the sheet strength of the product compared with the control sample (100% OCC pulp). However, it was found that addition of 70% or more of virgin pulp to the OCC pulp resulted in a substantial increase in the strength properties, except for the tear index. The modification of the fibers was visually evaluated by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Overall, the results showed that flexible virgin bagasse fibers can be used as a lignocellulosic fiber for making fluting paper in combination with recycled OCC fibers.


The article begins with a description of the proportion of cases in mediation involving unrepresented parties and the policies and practices regarding representation in different mediation contexts. The core of the article examines empirical research findings regarding the effect of representation on several dimensions of the mediation process, including preparation for mediation, party perceptions of the fairness of the process and pressures to settle, the extent of party "voice" and participation in mediation, and the tone of the session. In addition, the article examines the effect of representation on mediation outcomes, including the likelihood of settlement in mediation and the fairness of agreements reached. The studies find few differences consistently associated with representation, suggesting that unrepresented parties might face fewer problems in mediation, and lawyers might create fewer problems, than some claim. But the available research is too limited to be able to conclude that lawyers either play an essential role in mediation or are not needed, or that they are particularly helpful or detrimental to the mediation process. Additional findings show that how lawyers represent clients during mediation is related to parties' assessments of mediation and settlement. The article concludes with a discussion of the additional research that is needed to inform policies and practices regarding representation in mediation.


A new virtual learning environment (VLE) was developed to provide structured support to distance education students undertaking postgraduate study on a core study module of the Master of Education degree at the University of Dundee. Students were offered the option of receiving support via the VLE as opposed to the existing methods, that included face-toface meetings, letters, emails and telephone contact. Of the 47 students in the study sample, 31 opted to receive support via the VLE and 16 opted to receive support through the existing methods. These groups became self-selecting sample and control groups respectively. The article details investigations into the nature of the online learning community that developed as a result of these initiatives. It explores the patterns of use of the VLE by students in the sample group. It also explores the 'connectedness' of the students who engaged in study via the VLE using a validated instrument. Results indicated that students who actively engaged with online learning via a VLE reported a heightened sense of feeling connected as part of a wider learning community. Results also indicated that these students had higher successful academic completion rates than students who did not receive support via the VLE.


This thesis deals with the dynamics of large herbivores in the Masai Mara ecosystem in Kenya. The study area is famous for the annual migration of wildebeest and common zebra from and back to the Serengeti in Tanzania. In this study we made a distinction between these two migratory species and the other non-migratory wildlife species. The results reported are based on animal population estimates derived from counts made on board of small light aircraft. The study covers the period from 1977 to 1997. The total of non-migratory wildlife species in the Masai Mara ecosystem declined by 58% in the last 20 years. The decline ranged from 49% in small brown antelopes to 72% in medium brown antelopes. In individual species, the decline ranged from 52% in Grant's gazelle to 88% in the warthog. The population sizes of the elephant, impala and ostrich remained constant during the analysis period. There was no significant difference in the decline of wildlife inside and outside the Masai Mara National Reserve except for Thomson's gazelle and warthog. The population sizes of all livestock species except for the donkey did not significantly change during the entire analysis period. A large proportion of wildebeest migrates between the Serengeti and the Masai Mara ecosystem. A smaller population migrates between the Masai Mara National Reserve and the Loita plains in the north. Statistical analysis revealed that the size of this so-called "resident" wildebeest population declined by 81% over the last 20 years. Further analysis revealed a remarkable association between the decline in resident wildebeest population and the expansion of wheat farming into prime and original wildebeest habitat in the Loita plains. We therefore conclude that loss of former wildlife habitat to agriculture was responsible for the drastic decline of this resident wildebeest population. Apart from habitat loss to agriculture, droughts, poaching and possibly competition between wildlife and livestock may have further contributed to the decline. We argue that these factors and agricultural encroachment may have been responsible for the reported decline of the non-migratory species as well. In the last chapter of this thesis we studied a number of environmental factors that could be associated to the migration of wildebeest and common zebra. We found a significant relationship between wet season rainfall in Kenya and the size of the wildebeest and zebra population migrating into the Masai Mara ecosystem. We also found a significant relationship between dry season NDVI and the size of wildebeest population migrating into the Masai Mara ecosystem. We concluded that wet season rainfall and availability of food in the dry season influence the migration into the Masai Mara ecosystem. We also concluded that NDVI could be used for monitoring and predicting the movements of migratory wildebeest populations in the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem. In this thesis we report an alarming decline of most wildlife populations in Masai Mara ecosystem over the past 20 years. Furthermore, we made it plausible that this decline was related to habitat loss, due to agricultural encroachment. Socio-economic surveys not analyzed in this thesis but reported elsewhere, indicated that the local people in the areas adjoining the Masai Mara national Reserve anticipate that they will put their hands to the plough once land adjudication process will be completed. The impact of this would be a further decline and possibly a complete collapse of the wildlife populations for which the Masai Mara is reputed. Therefore, it is extremely urgent that a balance be struck between wildlife conservation and this alternative land-use if the current downward wildlife population trend is to be reversed. Lastly the current Kenyan legislation prohibits on one hand the killing of wildlife, while on the other hand leaving the option open for unlimited destruction of its habitat. The reported decline of the resident wildebeest population is in our view is a direct result of this gap in the legislation. We argue that it is urgent to reconsider the wildlife conservation policy and adjust its legislation such that it would be possible to protect wildlife habitat outside the protected area system from further undesirable destruction.


I describe the statistical considerations used to design systems whose clocks are compared by the use of dial-up telephone lines or the Internet to exchange timing information. The comparison is usually used to synchronize the time of a client system to the time of a server, which is, in turn, synchronized to the time scale of a national timing laboratory. The design includes a dynamic estimate of the system performance and a comparison between the performance and a parameter that specifies the required stability based on external considerations. The algorithm adjusts the polling interval and other parameters of the algorithm to realize the specified performance at minimal cost, where the cost is taken to be proportional to the inverse of the interval between message exchanges using either the Internet or dial-up telephone calls.


Layered double hydroxide(LDH) was synthesized from the mixture of magnesium hydroxide and aluminum hydroxide with microwave irradiation. It has been compared with that of conventional heating method in the respect of crystallization time, structure, morphology, particle size, and its anion exchange capacity. The microwave speeded up the crystallization rate of Mg-Al- LDH so that the XRD patterns of LDH was observed from the sample after microwave hydrothermal treatment, while the crystal phase was hardly observed from that prepared by conventional hydrothermal method before drying process. Mg-Al-LDH prepared with microwave irradiation seemed to have slightly higher Mg/Al molar ratio even with the same compositions of starting materials and the lower anion exchange capacity after 1 day exposure in 0.1N NaCl solution compared to the conventionally prepared one.


Male alcoholic inpatients with a high incidence of memory blackouts did not differ on several memory measures from subjects with a low incidence of blackouts. Alcoholism chronicity also did not differentiate between subjects on the Wechsler Memory Scale, tests of storage and decay of a memory trace, and maintenance of a concept along a temporal continuum. A history of blackouts was, however, related to drinking pattern. High-incidence subjects reported a significantly greater frequency of drinking to intoxication or until falling asleep, craving a drink, and increased tolerance to alcohol.


There were 2030 designated cases of foot-and-mouth disease (fmd) during the course of the epidemic in the uk in 2001 (including four from Northern Ireland). Samples from 1720 of the infected premises (ips) were received in the laboratory and examined for either the presence of fmd virus (virological samples from 1421 ips) or both fmd virus and antibody (virological and serological samples from 255 ips) or antibody alone (from 44 ips). The time taken to issue final diagnostic results ranged from a few hours in cases in which positive results were obtained by elisa on epithelia containing sufficient virus to be detected, to several days for samples containing small amounts of virus requiring amplification through cell culture, negative samples or samples tested for antibody. Two subsets of samples were analysed retrospectively by real-time reverse transcriptase-pcr (rt-pcr); first, epithelia that were negative by both elisa and virus isolation (vi) in cell culture, and secondly, samples that were negative by elisa on epithelial suspension but positive by vi. There was broad agreement between the rt-pcr and vi/elisa combined, except that the rt-pcr procedure did not detect a group of related virus isolates from Wales. These viruses had evidently evolved during the epidemic and had a nucleotide substitution in the rt-pcr probe site, which prevented them from being detected by the routine diagnostic probe. No evidence of fmd virus, antibody or nucleic acid was found in approximately 23 per cent (390 of 1730) of ips from which samples were received, suggesting that the incidence of fmd during the outbreak may have been over-reported.


Political economy factors tend to induce many governments to spend on private goods (non-social subsidies) to the detriment of spending on social and public goods. We show that this bias in spending patterns is particularly costly for economic growth when capital markets are imperfect. We thus provide a simple taxonomy of government spending: spending in goods that mitigate market failures versus spending in non-social subsidies which frequently have the sole purpose of benefiting special interest groups. We develop a theoretical model and link it quite closely to an empirical model. The empirical results fully corroborate the hypothesis that spending biases in favor of non-social subsidies reduce the rate of economic growth over the long run. The empirical findings are exceptionally robust.


Characterization of landraces is central to any conservation measures devised for sweet potato in Malawi. Studies were therefore conducted using seven morphological descriptors and farmers' indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) to investigate the phenotypical diversity of 286 landraces and 35 introductions of sweet potato from the north, south east and lower Shire. The accessions were planted in a check plot design at Bvumbwe Agricultural Research Station. The results showed that farmers' knowledge (IKS) is a means for preliminary characterization of accessions as evidenced by elimination of 75 duplicate accessions by 12 farmers. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that all accessions and populations were phenotypically variable (p≤0.01) and Chi-square test of the morphological descriptors used in the study varied significantly among the three eco-geographical areas and among the landraces and introductions (p≤0.05 and p≤0.01), implying high variability of the accessions. However, the accessions clustered at 50% dissimilarity and generally irrespective of eco-geographical origin, signifying some similarity probably due to gene flow. Shannon Weaver Diversity Index (H') indicated that different traits had different source areas of highest diversity which were significantly different (p≤0.05); nonetheless Shire Valley had the highest mean diversity for all traits (H'=0.67) which was significantly different from the other two populations (p≤0.05) inferring that the lower shire would be ideal for in situ conservation of sweet potato diversity.

 Key words: Field evaluation, germplasm, phenotype, population, root crop, variability.


PURPOSE
The present study was conducted to determine the effect of odor stimulation with breast milk (BM) applied to premature newborns before and during enteral feeding on feeding cues, transition time to oral feeding and abdominal perfusion.

DESIGN
This study was a parallel group pretest-post test randomised controlled trial (RCT).

METHODS
The study was conducted in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Türkiye. Study data were collected from 32 premature newborns between October 2020 and December 2021. Newborns were randomly assigned to either intervention (n = 16) or control (n = 16) groups. Odor stimulation with BM was applied to newborns in the intervention group (IG) before and during enteral feeding for 3 days. Data were collected with the Newborn Information Form, Abdominal Perfusion Follow-up Form, and Feeding Cues Follow-up Form. Yates corrected and Fisher chi-squared test, Mann-Whitney U test, Cohen Kappa statistics, Permanova analysis, and Wilcoxon test were used in the analysis. The study was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04843293).

RESULTS
The frequency of feeding cues in newborns who were exposed to the odor of BM, was higher than in the control group (CG) (p < .05). The transition times to oral feeding were similar in newborns in the IG and CG (p > .05). Abdominal perfusion level of newborns in the IG was higher than the CG (p < .05), and the level of abdominal perfusion showed a significant difference in terms of group*time interaction (p < .05).

CONCLUSION
Our findings suggest that odor stimulation with BM will be beneficial in improving the digestive functions of premature newborns.


Fibronectin" is a term describing a class of immuno-chemically related glycoproteins that are found in blood, in connective tissues, and in most basement membranes. All types of fibronectins have distinct binding domains that serve to mediate an adhesive function between collagen, cells (e.g., fibroblasts, macrophages), fibrin(ogen), and/or certain glycosaminoglycans (e.g., heparin). Monocytes and macrophages are phagocytic cells which collectively comprise the "mononuclear phagocytic" system. Plasma fibronectin (CIg) mediates: a) the attachment of monocytes to gelatin-coated surfaces; and b) the attachment of gelatin-coated RBCs or latex particles to surface-bound monocytes. This process was mediated only by surface-bound forms of fibronectin. Particle attachment to cells, per se, was not associated with augmented particle ingestion, although particle binding did result in increased expression of the monocyte C3 and Fc receptors. These data indicate that monocytes have surface receptors for fibronectin. It appears that the relatively strong affinity between fibrin and fibronectin may provide a mechanism for recognition and subsequent clearance of fibrin-fibrinogen complexes from the blood by attachment to fibronectin receptors on mononuclear phagocytes. One can also speculate that fibronectin binds to exposed or denatured collagen at sites of injury, leading to macrophage attachment and differentiation. Such events probably play an important role in wound organization and healing.


During perceptually guided decisions, correlates of choice are found as upstream as in the primary sensory areas. However, how well these choice signals align with early sensory representations, a prerequisite for their interpretation as feedforward substrates of perception, remains an open question. We designed a two alternative forced choice task (2AFC) in which mice compared stimulation frequencies applied to two adjacent vibrissae. The optogenetic silencing of individual columns in the primary somatosensory cortex (wS1) resulted in predicted shifts of psychometric functions, demonstrating that perception depends on focal, early sensory representations. Functional imaging of layer II/III single neurons revealed sensory, choice and engagement coding. From trial to trial, these three varied substantially, but independently from one another. Thus, coding of sensory and non-sensory variables co-exist in orthogonal subspace of the population activity, suggesting that perceptual variability does not originate from wS1 but rather from state or choice fluctuations in downstream areas.


To support the understanding that banks' debt issuance means money creation, while centralized nonbank financial institutions' and decentralized bond market intermediary lending does not, the paper aims to convey two related points: First, the notion of money creation as a result of banks' loan creation is compatible with the notion of liquid funding needs in a multi-bank system, in which liquid fund (reserve) transfers across banks happen naturally. Second, interest rate-based monetary policy has a bearing on macroeconomic dynamics precisely due to that multi-bank structure. It would lose its impact in the hypothetical case that only one ("singular") commercial bank would exist. We link our discussion to the emergence and design of central bank digital currencies (CBDC), with a special focus on how loans would be granted in a CBDC world.


Value relevance is an attractive exploratory topic for firms due to its influence on a firm's competitiveness. Investigating potential factors that have an impact on firm value can provide management with the insights in how to enhance value. The aim of this paper is to explore the association between sustainability reporting and firm value to gain an awareness of the value relevance of sustainability disclosures. The study concentrates on large listed German firms as research objects to reduce the influence of firm size, legislation and geographic differences. Moreover, instead of observing diverse sustainability reporting guidelines in one research, this paper focuses on the current most popular guidance, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). With this focus, it is more likely to achieve a relevant comparability among the firms' sustainability reporting. This concentration also leads to the main research question of whether large listed German firms which have a higher adherent level to GRI guidance tend to have greater firm value. The research applies Multiple Regression to test the above relationship by involving 485 observations from 97 large listed German firms within the research period from 2013 to 2017. Along with the main model, a robustness test was performed to explore the connection in the context of a four-month period after the year-end deadline to issue sustainability reports in accordance with German Law. The findings indicate a significant negative relation between firm value and a firm's GRI adherent level of sustainability reporting.


Heavy ions have varying effects on the target. The most important factor in comparing this effect is Linear Energy Transfer (LET). Protons and carbons are heavy ions with high LET. Since these ions lose energy through collisions as they move through the tissue, their range is not long. This loss of energy increases along the way, and the maximum energy loss is reached at the end of the range. This whole process is represented by the Bragg curve. The input dose of the Bragg curve, full width at half maximum (FWHM) value, Bragg peak amplitude and position, and Penumbra thickness are important factors in determining which particle is advantageous in tumor treatment. While heavy ions move through the tissue, small deviations occur in their direction of travel due to Coulomb collisions. These small deviations cause lateral straggle in the dose profile. Lateral straggle is important in determining the type and energy of the particle used in tumor treatments close to critical organs. In our study, when the water phantom of protons and carbon beams with different energies is taken into consideration, the input dose, FWHM value, peak amplitude and position, penumbra thickness and lateral straggle are calculated using the TRIM code and the results are compared with Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. It was found that the proton has an average of 63% more FWHM and 53% more Penumbra than the carbon ion. The carbon ion has an average of 28-45 times greater Bragg peak amplitude at the same Bragg peak location than the proton. It was observed that the proton scattered approximately 70% more in lateral straggle. The difference was found to be around 1.32 mm. In line with all these results, the most commonly used proton and carbon heavy ions in hadron therapy applications were compared.


J-CDS and IHC Merwede have set up a programme to perform a hands-on introductory Concurrent Design (CD) Lite™ activity on a relevant subject. The goal of this CD Lite™ activity is to convey a first idea of the CD methodology to a selected team of IHC engineers. This activity will be evaluated to assess the potential and applicability of the full Concurrent Design methodology at IHC Merwede. Concurrent Design is a methodology for the early design phases. With a multidisciplinary team of stakeholders the design work is done in collocated sessions. The strong points of Concurrent Design are creating an integrated design in the form of parameters and enabling good communication and exchange of information between team members, including the customer. An activity consists of several clear phases: preparation, the collocated design sessions, followed by a reporting phase. The CD Lite™ activity consists of a preparation and two full days of sessions. The central questions for the sessions is to assess the scalability of two current trencher systems, a plough and a mechanical trencher, to cope with higher demands and requirements, most notably an increased target depth of the trench. The design is driven by reliability, availability and performance. In the sessions, the design team worked out two design options in three iterations and made comparisons between these to see in how far they are able to meet the requirements. The goal was achieved to provide some answers related to the trencher system questions for 2 options by performing 3 iterations per option. The main goal was achieved, i.e. in the short time of preparation and 2 days of sessions the CDLite™ experience has given the first insight to the design team and part of the management of IHC Merwede of the potential of Concurrent Design. The team members were positive about the CD methodology and the process. Positive remarks were given on the structured and transparent way of cooperation and the fast interaction that is possible with CD. The face to face communication was found very valuable. Having a team of experts in the room was perceived to be beneficial for the decision process. These experts can give a direct response to issues or problems, giving an insight on the impact of their decisions. Through working on a central database, it becomes clear what the relevant parameters in a design are in a design cycle. This approach is expected to improve the design process at IHC Merwede, especially in the field of innovative product developments that continue to push back the technical limitations in the maritime sector.Copyright © 2011 by ASME


In order to increase the prediction capabilities of advanced numerical methods for turbulent (wall bounded) flows at relatively high Reynolds numbers, accurate experimental validation data-sets including the full Reynolds stress tensor at high spatial resolution are urgently required. In particular the influence of pressure gradients and wall curvatures up to flow separation and the development of related shear layers need to be investigated experimentally in order to provide reliable data for the validation process and also to validate scaling laws, sub-grid- and turbulence-models. Furthermore, for advanced unsteady flow simulation methods (LES, DES, DNS etc.), the integration times and domains which are necessary for resolving flow features with very low spatial or temporal frequencies (such as superstructures in high Reynolds number turbulent boundary layers or recirculation regions in separated flows) are often not sufficient for a fully converged solution. Consequently, the used experimental methods have to be able to resolve a large range of spatial and temporal scales to be useful for code validation.
Recently, the Shake-The-Box (STB) technique has been developed, which is a 4D-PTV evaluation method for densely seeded flows capable of coping with ill-posed 3D particle reconstruction problems based on few camera projections by seizing the temporal information with predictive steps and applying an iterative particle reconstruction and image matching scheme (see Iterative Particle Reconstruction). Within the resulting dense Lagrangian tracks the STB technique uses temporal fitting functions based on optimal Wiener filtering along all found particle paths. The parameters of an optimal Wiener filter are determined from statistical properties of the Lagrangian position, velocity and acceleration fluctuations along the reconstructed 3D particle positions and tracks for all three components separately. This temporal filtering approach enables an accurate estimation of position, velocity and acceleration vectors and enhancing the DVR to values > 1:1000, when sufficient track lengths are provided. Therefore, STB is able to deliver accurate mean- and Reynolds stress values (and higher order statistics) by bin-averaging (down to sub-pixel spatial resolution) and additionally provide the complete time-resolved velocity gradient tensor at a relatively high spatial resolution (comparable to a very well resolved tomographic PIV measurement) by using a proper interpolation scheme given with the "Flow-Fit" algorithm that was recently developed. The STB method has been applied to wall bounded turbulence in air and water and to an m³-scale thermal plume experiment using Helium–Filled-Soap-Bubbles (HFSB) as tracers. The results will demonstrate that with STB valuable data for turbulence characterization with outstanding temporal and spatial resolution especially in (wall bounded) shear flow can be obtained.


3D shape models are becoming widely available and easier to capture, making available 3D information crucial for progress in object classification. Current state-of-theart methods rely on CNNs to address this problem. Recently, we witness two types of CNNs being developed: CNNs based upon volumetric representations versus CNNs based upon multi-view representations. Empirical results from these two types of CNNs exhibit a large gap, indicating that existing volumetric CNN architectures and approaches are unable to fully exploit the power of 3D representations. In this paper, we aim to improve both volumetric CNNs and multi-view CNNs according to extensive analysis of existing approaches. To this end, we introduce two distinct network architectures of volumetric CNNs. In addition, we examine multi-view CNNs, where we introduce multiresolution filtering in 3D. Overall, we are able to outperform current state-of-the-art methods for both volumetric CNNs and multi-view CNNs. We provide extensive experiments designed to evaluate underlying design choices, thus providing a better understanding of the space of methods available for object classification on 3D data.


A possible use of natural zeolite originating from a mining area in South Slovakia as a pozzolanic material suitable for the partial cement replacement in composite production is studied. Measurement of chemical composition of natural zeolite is performed using XRF analysis. The particle size distribution of zeolite and dry paste mixtures is accessed on laser diffraction principle. For the tested pastes, basic physical properties and mechanical properties are determined. The obtained results indicate a good potential for the application of natural zeolite in the composite mix design.


Using cyanoethyldiisopropylamino phosphoramidite chemistry, four oligonucleotides constituting a part of the sequence of the initiator t-RNA from B. subtilis were synthesized. For the protection of the exocyclic amino functions of bases, phenoxyacetyl group was used for adenine and guanine, and acetyl group was preferred for cytosine. With these labile groups, final deprotection of the oligonucleotides can be performed in milder conditions, allowing the incorporation of 5,6-dihydrouridine in a 35-mer constituting the 5'-end of the t-RNA.


Background Subcutaneously injected lipid‐free apoA‐I (apolipoprotein A‐I) reduces accumulation of lipid and immune cells within the aortic root of hypercholesterolemic mice without increasing high‐density lipoprotein–cholesterol concentrations. Lymphatic vessels are now recognized as prerequisite players in the modulation of cholesterol removal from the artery wall in experimental conditions of plaque regression, and particular attention has been brought to the role of the collecting lymphatic vessels in early atherosclerosis‐related lymphatic dysfunction. In the present study, we address whether and how preservation of collecting lymphatic function contributes to the protective effect of apoA‐I. Methods and Results Atherosclerotic Ldlr −/− mice treated with low‐dose lipid‐free apoA‐I showed enhanced lymphatic transport and abrogated collecting lymphatic vessel permeability in atherosclerotic Ldlr −/− mice when compared with albumin‐control mice. Treatment of human lymphatic endothelial cells with apoA‐I increased the adhesion of human platelets on lymphatic endothelial cells, in a bridge‐like manner, a mechanism that could strengthen endothelial cell–cell junctions and limit atherosclerosis‐associated collecting lymphatic vessel dysfunction. Experiments performed with blood platelets isolated from apoA‐I‐treated Ldlr −/− mice revealed that apoA‐I decreased ex vivo platelet aggregation. This suggests that in vivo apoA‐I treatment limits platelet thrombotic potential in blood while maintaining the platelet activity needed to sustain adequate lymphatic function. Conclusions Altogether, we bring forward a new pleiotropic role for apoA‐I in lymphatic function and unveil new potential therapeutic targets for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis.


Unlike economic theories of tax law enforcement, real income tax law application requires thorough interpretation of the law and the actual facts with regard to tax purposes. The automatic assessment produced by a computer program in German tax offices suggests the existence of a mechanically operated taxation akin to a weaving mill. However, empirical studies of tax administrations in the USA, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, as well as examinations carried out by the German Courts of Audit shed light on a subjective information revealing and decision making process. Unfortunately, the German tax administration does not provide individual tax assessment and tax compliance data which could be empirically analysed in comparison with the findings from abroad. Empirical economic studies are required to answer the question of how the German income tax law is applied. Thus, an expert questionnaire was developed and successfully pre-tested in tax offices with the aim of encouraging a nationwide study. A research proposal suggested interviewing tax advisers on their professional experience with tax offices. The German Federal Ministry of Finance initiated an online survey addressed to the tax advisers. The study and its results are critically reviewed with regard to methodology, previous insights, and the earlier proposal.


Modern oyster culture began its development in the second part of the nineteenth century. Beginning in Europe it gradually spread over all the world's oyster regions. Locally oyster cultural methods acquired a high degree of technical specialisation, recently even including chemical control of oyster diseases. A steadily increasing stream of scientific and technical papers, dealing with oyster biology and oyster culture, accompanied this development, and already numbers several thousands of publications. If closely related industries, such as cattle-breeding, horticulture, and agriculture, are compared with it, it is clear that one of the basic problems of oyster culture must be the oyster's nutrition. Without a detailed knowledge of this subject it seems hardly possible to control effectively the oyster's growth and fattening. Therefore it will surprise many to learn, that two of the most prominent of our oyster biologists summarize their knowledge about this subject as follows: ""At present we must confess our ignorance of the principles of mollusc nutrition and consequently our inability to suggest a practical solution of the problem of forced feeding and production of fat oysters at will."" (GALTSOFF 1942).


Microfinance research concerns addressed in this thesis relate to: the associations between the individualcharacteristics of borrowers and the probabilities of being in delinquent or default; the determinants for the financial awarenessof interest repayment; and the applicationand comparisonof modern missing data techniques (Multiple Imputation, MaximumLikelihood Estimation, and Predictive Mean Matching) with incomplete loan book data.The thesis emphasises credit scoring issues that affect repayment performanceandre-volves around threeempirical chapters thatseek to address the above research concerns.
Survey and loan book data from individualsin 51 MFIsacross 27developingcountries. The data were compiled by the MFIsand collected by Micro Finanza Rating. Varied micro-econo-metric techniques (ordinary least squares, Logit regression, Tobit regression, Two-Part model, Double-Hurdle model, Box-Cox transformation, and three missing data imputation methods: Multiple Imputation, Maximum Likelihood Estimation, andPredictive Mean Matching) are used depending on the hypotheses being consideredin eachchapter.
The main findings are: engaging in agriculture is related to a lower probability of default that measured by the amount of arrear in general; besides, the association between agriculture and the length of delayed repayment is insignificant; previous access to micro-finance haspositive association with the financial awareness of the clients who lived in urban areas; in addition, previous access to saving service has positive effect on the clients with at least primary education; when the missing microfinance data is semi-continuous, PMM outperformsMI and ML in most simulations; for binary or ordinal categorical data, PMM performance surpass MI and ML only when the sample sizes of data are large, the missing rates are low, and the missing mechanism is MAR.
The thesis suggests the following recommendationboth for management of MFIs and government: we need tomakefinancial services for poor farm households and farm-related business more attractive to the MFIs; financial awareness can be improved by access to microfinance services, hence extra learning programmesmay be unnecessary; Two-Part Model shouldbe applied to credit scoring;and PMM imputation is the best technique to be applied to deal with the missing data issues and improve data quality inmicrofinance.


The properties of point defects introduced by low temperature electron irradiation of germanium are investigated by first-principles modeling. Close Frenkel pairs, including the metastable fourfold coordinated defect, are modelled and their stability is discussed. It is found that damage evolution upon annealing below room temperature can be consistently explained with the formation of correlated interstitial-vacancy pairs if the charge-dependent properties of the vacancy and self-interstitial are taken into account. We propose that Frenkel pairs can trap up to two electrons and are responsible for conductivity loss in n-type Ge at low temperatures.


This paper describes a new edutainment-based teaching approach for powering students' engagement in the classroom at university and college levels. The approach, designed to comply with Bologna's declaration regulations and requirements, relies on the intensive use of videogames and virtual reality technology in order to motivate students and make the courses amusing and engaging. The paper discusses some important issues (such as learning resources, teaching methods and workflow and motivational strategies) related to our approach and show several examples of typical projects carried out during the course.


Background: "Club- foot", congenital talipus equinovarus (CTEV) is a common congenital anomalies encountered in paediatric orthopaedics. This study was aimed at determining the pattern and the short term outcome of management of CTEV in Ethiopian children seen at our Club foot clinic at TAH in Ethiopia. Methods: All the 258 patients presenting to the club feet clinic in the study period from Dec.2003- Dec.2005 were studied. Patients in different age categories were treated with different protocols and the short term outcomes of these were compared. The assignment of the children into the different protocols was random and unintentional. Operated patients were followed separately. Result: Three quarters (75.2%) of the patients were male and the mean age at the initial presentation was 8 months. Half of the children were first born. In 70.5% of cases, the disease was noticed at birth. Most (77%) of the patients came from urban areas and 62% of the mothers attended antenatal clinics. Prenatal ultrasound was done only for 86 (33%) of the mothers. The condition was bilateral in 46.5% of cases and there was positive family history in 29 (12%) children. In a quarter of the health institution born patients, the diagnosis was initially missed. Twenty six (10%) children were taken to bone setters. Thirty nine (15%) children had other associated congenital anomalies. Half of the patients did not have their first cast for more than three weeks after they were referred to the clinic. Only 60% of the patients requiring clubfoot shoes got them and this also took an average waiting period of 3-4 months. Maximum casting was 17 times. Posteromedial release was done in 46(12%) feet after the 8 th cast (unless complete correction had been achieved earlier), in ages less than 6 months group, 63 (76.8%%) feet were completely corrected using the standard Ponseti method as compared to correction obtained only in 13 (14%) feet using Ponseti technique every month. This was statistically significant with chi-square of 62 and odds ratio of 20 at 95% CI .In the older ages, there was no statistically significant difference between using a short leg cast every month or each week. The results were poor. Conclusion: Club foot can be effectively treated using appropriate conservative methods and the outcome is better the earlier it is started. Pre-natal screening, post-natal neonatal examination and educating the public will decrease the chance of missing the problem at an early age. Proper training to practice the Ponseti technique may increase its success rate. All modified methods from the standard Ponseti protocol have poor outcomes. Availability of more separate club foot clinic centres and supply of the necessary medical equipment will lead to improved outcomes.


Dr. Becker presents a text on the gonioscopic examination and interpretation of the anterior segment of the eye. The first eight chapters of his compact treatise are devoted to the history and development of gonioscopy, embryology and anatomy of the filtering angle, and an in-depth comparison of the various methods and lenses used in clinical gonioscopy. In this section, he redundantly emphasizes the advantage of using an indirect method of gonioscopy facilitated by a constantly supplied layer of fluid between the cornea and the goniolens. His "fluid bridge" gonioprism has the stated advantage of minimal ocular distortion, thereby decreasing the chance of misinterpreting the intimate relationship of angle structures. This interpretation is primarily important in evaluating eyes with or susceptible to angle-closure glaucoma. The author recommends a grading system of the anterior chamber architecture that combines an estimation of the width of the trabecular band and its relationship to the


The under-representation of women in engineering is of particular concern nationally, both because there is a national need for more engineers, and because women's access to a lucrative and growing occupation is desirable. In research on recruitment into engineering, one of the explanations of women's under-representation in the undergraduate major is their preference for a profession that contributes to the social or societal good more clearly than engineering is traditionally perceived to do. Not only are they less likely to enroll in engineering for this reason, they also may leave the engineering major before completion because they do not see themselves making enough contribution to the societal good as they would in another profession. One field in engineering that has consistently attracted a disproportionately high percentage of women is bioengineering or biomedical engineering. While intuitively it seems that bioengineering and biomedical engineering are inherently female-friendly, little systematic research has demonstrated whether the women attracted to such programs differ in any way from women attracted to more traditional engineering disciplines, either in terms of who is recruited or how they experience the undergraduate program. The recent introduction of a bioengineering concentration at a mid-Atlantic public university provides us the opportunity to begin to fill this vacuum. At this university, on-going survey research enables us to compare the students enrolled in this new concentration to students in the more traditional engineering disciplines, perception of fit in engineering, engineering self-confidence, satisfaction with the program, expectations from completion of the degree (what kind of job they expect to attain), plans for future education and employment. Compared to the rest of the students, the bioengineering students tend to be quite confident in many engineering-related competencies, but they are less confident in others, suggesting that the field may be attracting some students not traditionally in the field. Compared to the rest of the students, more of the bioengineering students expect to make a contribution to society and to have a job they like doing, and are less concerned with the security of the job or having time for outside interests. These findings are presented and discussed in terms of their insight into ways bioengineering might be effecting change in the culture of engineering. As some have feared, more bioengineering than non-bioengineering students intend to finish a degree other than engineering, and less than a third expect to be working as an engineer ten years after the survey. Suggestions for continued research are discussed in the conclusions.


Abstract The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), originally proposed in the UK government's Higher Education White Paper, now the Higher Education and Research Act 2017, is a national mechanism to assess teaching quality in universities. This article provides a critical account of the TEF, underpinned by an overview of the policy context and marketisation and employability agendas exploring the rationale for implementing TEF within universities. We argue, first, that the White Paper's narrative, the rhetoric of the TEF, seems positive but its implementation appears to be conceptually flawed. Second, its complex quality metrics system demands yet another layer of bureaucracy in an already micro-managed system of higher education. Third, claims made by the White Paper must be supported by evidence-based research to ensure that the objectives are clear. We conclude by questioning whether the quality of the student experience can be improved by the TEF reforms.


Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) is applied to analyze the frequency components of steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP) in electroencephalogram (EEG). The essence of this method is to extract a narrowband frequency component of SSVEP in EEG. A recognition approach is proposed based on the extracted frequency features for an SSVEP-based brain computer interface (BCI). Recognition Results of the approach were higher than those using a widely used fast Fourier transform (FFT)-based spectrum estimation method


This is a guide for students in Professor Neal Phillip's Comp I class on West Campus. It contains resources and suggestions for researching controversial issues.


The youngest sedimentary facies exposed in erosional hummocky terrain in south-central Alberta, Canada, is composed of alternating beds of massive silty clay diamicton, and sorted sand and/or silt. Diamicton beds are similar in thickness (5-20 cm), both laterally and vertically, within the sequence, and sedimentary structures and consistent clast orientations support a subglacial origin for both the diamicton and the sorted sediment. Alternation between diamicton and sorted strata document rhythmic sedimentary sequences: deposition of melt-out till followed by current deposition. Laterally extensive sorted beds indicate that the currents responsible for sand and silt deposition must have flowed as a sheet. This flow was shallow, no more than 20 cm, indicated by scours below boulders that were suspended from the base of glacial ice. Sheet flow requires that the water was stored beneath the ice prior to drainage. Consequently, some of the diamicton may have been deposited by rain-out through the shallow stored water and, hence, each diamicton bed may represent a combination of direct melt-out onto the bed and rain-out through the water column. Inferred cycles of water accumulation and drainage may have been annual.


We introduce Multi-Environment Markov Decision Processes (MEMDPs) which are MDPs with a set of probabilistic transition functions. The goal in a MEMDP is to synthesize a single controller with guaranteed performances against all environments even though the environment is unknown a priori. While MEMDPs can be seen as a special class of partially observable MDPs, we show that several verification problems that are undecidable for partially observable MDPs, are decidable for MEMDPs and sometimes have even efficient solutions.


Sets of statistics derived from posts to two sets of online forums, each serving an ideological community. The posts were grouped into six-month time slices; four consecutive time slices were analysed for Community A, and one time slice for Community B. The quantities measured relate to the textual content of users' posts, their level of participation in threads, and the network of other users to whom they are connected by replies and quoting. The data were collected in 2011-2012 as part of an internal project.


The preparation of student teachers in terms of integrating technology into curricula has been an essential element of second language teacher education programs in order to address to the evolving needs of the 21st century learners. Therefore, the issue of student teachers' perspectives on technology integration has been a focus of attention for many years. However, research shows that student teachers do not feel well prepared to use technology in their future classrooms. Adopting a constructivist grounded theory approach to delve into this familiar situation, the study aimed to provide further insight on factors related to student teachers' uptake of technology. A comprehensive survey was conducted to 814 student teachers in 18 different universities and four concomitant interviews were held with 20 student teachers in 4 different universities. The study has come up with two new perspectives on belief-related barriers and extends the existing research on student teachers' concerns about their incompetency in making successful use of technology for instructional purposes. The implications arising from these findings for teacher education programs are discussed.


Intravenous doses of 2.5 mg/kg and 5.0 mg/kg of levamisole on RR, QT, QTc (corrected QT), and heart rate in conscious rabbits were evaluated. The study was performed on 14 New Zealand rabbits, 1 year old, weighing between 2.5-3 kg. The animals were assigned to 2 equal groups. Rabbits of groups I and II received via the auricular vein 2.5 mg/kg and 5 mg/kg of levamisole HCl, respectively. Alligator clips were attached to four limbs. ECG records were taken by direct writing electrocardiograph before the study and after 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 15, and 20 min of the experiment. The QT interval was manually calculated from the beginning of Q wave to the end of T wave. The same leads (II and aVR) were selected for all QT interval measurement. The animals were not given any sedatives or anaesthetics before and during ECG recording. In group I, two rabbits had the second degree atrial block at the 2 nd and 4 th min after the injection, which disappeared later. Heart rates were 216-230 beats/min at min 0 and dropped to 193-210 beats/min at the 2 nd min after the injection in both groups, and remained low throughout the study. Heart rates of both groups taken at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 15, and 20 min after the injection were significantly lower than the values taken at 0 min except for the values of the 15 th min in group II. QT and QTc prolongation was noticed in both groups when compared to 0 min values. Although we have no solid data to explain the mechanism involved in bradycardia and atrial block provoked by levamisole, its use resulted in bradycardia, second-degree atrial block, and acute prolongation of QT and QTc in conscious rabbits.


The quantitative assessment of the motion and deformation of the heart is instrumental to diagnosis. We developed an accurate method for tracking and analysing the regional motion and deformation of the heart. To be of clinical value, the results must be visualized, and we paid much attention to all relevant visualization aspects.


The paper proposes an environmental monitoring framework based on a wireless sensor network technology characterized by energy harvesting, robustness with respect to a large class of perturbations and real-time adaptation to the network topology. The fully designed and developed ad hoc system, based on clusters relying on a star topology, encompasses a sensing activity, a one-step local transmission from sensor nodes to the gateway, a remote data transmission from the gateway to the control center, data storage in a DB and real-time visualization. Hw and Sw modules have been either carefully selected or designed to guarantee a high quality of service, optimal solar energy harvesting, storage and energy awareness. A monitoring system integrating the outlined framework has been deployed in Queensland, Australia, for monitoring the underwater luminosity and temperature, information necessary to derive the health status of the coralline barrier. At the same time, acquired data can be used to provide quantitative indications related to cyclone formations in tropical areas.


Hundreds of lives are now being saved in hospitals across the country with the use of rapid response teams. These teams are composed of clinicians who bring critical care expertise to the patient bedside. The purpose of these teams is to assess and stabilize the patient, assist with communication among the interdisciplinary care providers, educate and support the staff caring for the patient, and assist with transfer of the patient if necessary. Research has shown that, with successful implementation of a rapid response team, the percent of codes and mortality rates decrease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing a rapid response team at 1 medical center. The results from the study demonstrated a decrease in the percent of codes outside the critical care units. However, it did not show a decrease in overall mortality rates for the patients. Data review will continue as we strive to improve our overall mortality rates while maintaining a decrease in the amount of codes.


As you have seen, the format of our bulletin has become more user-friendly, thanks to the great work carried out by Juan José Gutierrez and María Valladares, of the California State University Monterey Bay. We hope that you like it. While working on this issue, we have noted that oral history throughout the world is expanding with more conferences and congresses being held, including our 15th International Conference in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2008. The expansion of oral history can also been observed through the creation of new organizations, such as those in the Ukraine and Czech Republic, to whom we wish enormous success. From these pages we hope to contribute —always with your help—to this process of disseminating news about meetings and projects. Please continue to send us reports from your part of the world.


A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2013 to July 2014 with the objectives to determine the prevalence of ectoparasite of sheep in the Tiyo and Diksis districts, determine the effectiveness of control program against sheep ectoparasites in the study area and major risk factors associated with effectiveness of control program. A total of 646 sheep (323 from each districts) were examined for the presence of ectoparasites. From the total sheep examined, 371 (57.43%) were infested with one or more ectoparasites. The ectoparasites identified were lice 49.23%, sheep keds 7.4%, tick 9.75% and mixed infestation 8.98%. Favorable climatic conditions, poor husbandry and animal management, lack of awareness by the farmers, and weak animal health extension services are believed to have contributed for widespread distribution and occurrences of ectoparasites. Even if control campaign is practiced in the study areas, higher prevalence of sheep ectoparasite was recorded. The growing threat of ectoparasites to small ruminant production and the tanning industry needs well-coordinated, appropriate and urgent control intervention.

 Key words: Control program, ectoparasites, prevalence, sheep, Tiyo/Diksis.


We herein present a rare case of Actinomyces turicensis bacteremia that was caused by pyometra. The patient was successfully treated with transvaginal drainage and antibiotic therapy. A literature review in MEDLINE showed that there have been only 8 previously reported cases of A. turicensis bacteremia. This infection frequently occurs in patients with visceral abscesses, and blood culture examinations usually reveal a polymicrobial pattern. However, the prognosis of such patients has been reported to generally be benign. Due to difficulties in performing bacterial identification and the wide-spectrum clinical pictures associated with this bacteremia, no comprehensive understanding of the clinical features of each Actinomyces species has yet been established.


BACKGROUND
In this study, fluorescein labeled SLN and NLC formulations were prepared for improving the dermal distribution of the hydrophilic active ingredients and for enhancing the skin penetration.

METHODS
To determine skin distribution of the lipid nanoparticles ex-vivo penetration/ permeation experiments were performed using full thickness rat skin by means of Franz diffusion cells. Studies on the localization of fluorescence labeled nanoparticles were performed by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Cellular uptake studies were performed on human keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT) and visualized by fluorescence microscope. Both tissue and cell uptake were also quantitatively determined by means of fluorimetric method in the skin extract or cell extract.

RESULTS
Both imaging and quantification studies suggest that the dermal localization of the lipid nanoparticles depends on their dimensions and particle size distribution. The CLSM images clearly show that the Tripalmitin based lipid nanoparticles have higher accumulation in the skin. It is possible to overcome the stratum corneum barrier function with T-NLC05 coded lipid nanoparticle formulation. Additionally cellular uptake of this NLC formulation is time dependent. Conclusıon: It can be concluded that this formulation is promising for treating local skin disorders without systemic side effects. On the other hand obtained results suggest that optimum formulation (T-NLC05) might be an interesting option even for novel cosmetic products.


A nearly universal consensus prevails that the goal of U.S. trade policy should be to promote exports over imports, and that rising imports and trade deficits are bad for economic growth and employment.The consensus creed is based on a misunderstanding of how U.S. gross domestic product is calculated. Imports are not a "subtraction" from GDP. They are merely removed from the final calculation of GDP because they are not a part of domestic production.Contrary to the prevailing view, imports are not a "leakage" of demand abroad. In the annual U.S. balance of payments, all transactions balance. The net outflow of dollars to purchase imports over exports are offset each year by a net inflow of foreign capital to purchase U.S. assets. This capital surplus stimulates the U.S. economy while boosting our productive capacity. An examination of the past 30 years of U.S. economic performance offers no evidence that a rising level of imports or growing trade deficits have negatively affected the U.S. economy. In fact, since 1980, the U.S. economy has grown more than three times faster during periods when the trade deficit was expanding as a share of GDP compared to periods when it was contracting. Stock market appreciation, manufacturing output, and job growth were all significantly more robust during periods of expanding imports and trade deficits.The goal of U.S. trade policy should not be to promote exports at the expense of imports, but to maximize the freedom of Americans to trade goods, services, and assets in the global marketplace.


Objective . To evaluate the effectiveness of a multivariate logistic regression model for the predicting surgical treatment results in patients with lumbar disc herniation. Materials and Methods . Study design: monocentric retrospective study. The study included patients operated on for lumbar disc herniation at levels L4–L5, L5–S1, with a 3-year follow-up. Two groups were identified: Group I included 350 patients (their data served as a basis for creation of multivariate logistic regression predicting model), and Group II – 514 patients (in this group, the effectiveness of the model was evaluated). Group II was divided into two subgroups: Subgroup IIa (recurrence probability 50 %) – 17 (3.3 %) patients. Patients in Subgroup IIa underwent microdisectomy, and in Subgroup IIb – spinal fusion. In order to obtain homogeneous pre-operative indicators of both group parameters, the PSM method was used. Statistical calculations were performed in the RStudio program. Results . In Group II, significant differences in indicators in the subgroups were noted for the following parameters (p < 0.05): smoking, disc height index, segmental volume of movement, lumbar lordosis angle, type of intervertebral hernia (except for sequestration), Modic changes, and stage of intervertebral disc degeneration according to Pfirrmann. In Subgroup IIa, 8 (1.6 %) reoperations were performed, in Subgroup IIb – 2 (0.4 %). Using the PSM method, the data of groups I and II were flattened out for significantly different indicators. The sample size was 37 patients in each group. The number of reoperations in the groups differed statistically significantly: Group I – 35 % [22 %; 51 %]; Group II – 5 % [1 %; 18 %]. The risk of reoperation in Group II is 0.13 [0.03; 0.58] times lower than in Group I (p = 0.002). Conclusions . The proposed system for predicting the results of surgical treatment of patients with intervertebral disc hernia can be used as a tool to determine the surgical tactics aimed at reducing the frequency of reoperations.


Basophils and mast cells (Fc epsilon RI-bearing cells) play important but clearly distinct roles in human inflammatory and allergic reactions. While many similarities have been described, it is increasingly evident that many more differences exist between these two cell types. These include maturational and ultrastructural as well as functional differences. Basophils and mast cells can be activated by different stimuli, produce different profiles of inflammatory mediators, and their response can be modulated in a different fashion. The heterogeneity of Fc epsilon RI-bearing cells has recently been extended by studies on mast cells isolated from different human tissues. These studies may suggest the existence of different human mast cell phenotypes the development of which may be regulated by microenvironmental factors. A better understanding of the heterogeneity of basophils and mast cells is a necessary step to define their respective roles in the pathophysiology of human inflammatory responses.


As part of the Phase 2 Bagnold Dune campaign at Gale Crater, Mars, constraints on the geochemistry, mineralogy, and oxidation state of pristine and disturbed linear sand ripples were made using visible/near‐infrared spectral observations for comparison to Phase 1 spectra of the barchan dunes to the north. Spectra acquired by the ChemCam and Mastcam instruments (400–1,000 nm) at four Phase 2 locations revealed similar overall spectral trends between the two regions, but most Phase 2 sands were redder in the visible wavelengths. The majority of targets exhibited lower red/infrared ratios, higher ~530‐nm band depths, and higher red/blue ratios than Phase 1 samples, suggesting a greater proportion of redder, fine‐grained, ferric sands in Phase 2 samples. This is consistent with the slightly greater proportion of hematite in Phase 2 samples as determined from CheMin analyses of the Ogunquit sands, which may reflect contamination from the surrounding hematite‐bearing Murray formation bedrock.


This letter leverages a framework based on averaged operators to tackle the problem of tracking fixed points associated with maps that evolve over time. In particular, this letter considers the Krasnosel'skiĭ–Mann (KM) method in a settings where: 1) the underlying map may change at each step of the algorithm, thus leading to a "running" implementation of the KM method, and 2) an imperfect information of the map may be available. An imperfect knowledge of the maps can capture cases where processors feature a finite precision or quantization errors, or the case where (part of) the map is obtained from measurements. The analytical results are applicable to inexact running algorithms for solving optimization problems, whenever the algorithmic steps can be written in the form of (a composition of) averaged operators; examples are provided for inexact running gradient methods and the forward–backward splitting method. Convergence of the average fixed-point residual is investigated for the non-expansive case; linear convergence to a unique fixed-point trajectory is showen in the case of inexact running algorithms emerging from contractive operators.


Fifty-nine patients, 43 men and 16 women, 32 to 45 years of age (mean age, 40.9 years), underwent aortoiliac reconstruction between 1953 and 1968. Two died in the hospital. Six patients required additional surgery during hospitalization and 11 at a later time, either because of failure of aortoiliac reconstruction or distal arterial occlusion. Three patients underwent major amputation. Seventeen patients died two months to ten years after surgery. In 13, causes of death were related to the cardiovascular system. The average age of this group at death was 45 years. Forty patients are alive and have been observed from 1 to 16 years with a mean follow-up period of 5.1 years. Forty percent of survivors continue to have lower extremity arterial insufficiency. A significant number of patients requiring aortoiliac reconstruction in early life have a poor prognosis and limited life expectancy.


Existing automated machine learning solutions and intelligent discovery assistants are popular tools that facilitate the end-user with the design of data science (DS) pipelines. However, they yield limited applicability for a wide range of real-world use cases and application domains due to (a) the limited support of DS tasks; (b) a small, static set of available operators; and (c) restriction to evaluation processes with quantifiable loss functions. We demonstrate DORIAN, a human-in-the-loop approach for the
 assisted design of data science pipelines
 that supports a large and growing set of DS tasks, operators, and arbitrary user-defined evaluation processes. Based on the user query, i.e., a dataset and a DS task, DORIAN computes a ranked list of candidate pipelines that the end-user can choose from, alter, execute and evaluate. It stores executed pipelines in an experiment database and utilizes similarity-based search to identify relevant previously-run pipelines from the experiment database. DORIAN also takes user interaction into account to improve suggestions over time. We show how users can interact with DORIAN to create and compare DS pipelines on various real-world DS tasks without the need for writing any code.


Inspired by sexual scripting theory, this article analyses intimacy and control in prostitution. The authors identify two strategies for maintaining control among male and female sex sellers. The first strategy is to restrict prostitution to relationships with as much sexual reciprocity as possible. The other is to maintain sexual/emotional distance from customers – yet often acting the opposite. The article questions prevailing stereotypes about male sex sellers being more agentic and autonomous than female sex sellers, arguing that control in prostitution can be achieved (and lost) in different ways. The analysis shows how scripting theory – with its differentiation between the cultural, interpersonal and intrapsychic levels of scripting – may be used to understand variations and contradictions in prostitution experiences. The article is based on 36 qualitative interviews with men and women in escort services, clinic prostitution and prostitution in private apartments in Denmark.


The design of an exhibition gallery and its curatorial intension for either a temporary exhibition or a permanent museum installation requires understanding how its morphology influences the use of space, as well as the spatial experiences of visitors. The morphology of a gallery in terms of its shape and configuration may affect the display of the artwork, visitors' activities and their movement through the space. This paper examines the layout of Antrepo No. 3, the main exhibition gallery of the 2013 Istanbul Biennial. This research explores: 1) how museum design influences integrated or segregated locations, as well as visitors' use of the space during their visits; 2) how spatial layouts influence visitors' explorations in gallery spaces; 3) which spaces are more or less visited; and 4) what the predominate path is depending on the number of visitors during a specific period of time. Answers to these questions are crucial for this study to understand the impact of the morphology of space on museum visitors. In this sense, syntactic correlations are key to grasping the idea of morphology and visitor experience relations in a curated space in exhibition design. For this investigation, gate counts within the exhibition space and snapshots showing the number of people and their patterns of interaction with the exhibition are correlated with syntactic parameters. Visitors' spatial experiences and the use of the overall layout depending on the number of visitors during a certain period of time in a specific convex space are taken into account.


The object of this study is to find new evaluation index for in-cylinder flow characteristics instead of current swirl, tumble coefficient using steady flow test rig on intake port system. To this end, port flow rig test was conducted on DOHC head varying intake valve lift respectively. Finally combination angular coefficient and inclination angle were introduced as new evaluation index for in-cylinder angular flow characteristics.


The degrees of injury severity, as a rule injuries scaled by AIS of specific regions of the human body, investigated out of road traffic accidents correspond to the body-specific loading values, which are found out with the aid of experimental or mathematical simulation of crash tests with motor vehicles or with sled tests. The coherence between the injured human being on the one hand and the physical and the theoretical model respectively on the other hand is established by the risk function, which describes the probability of degrees of injury severity in dependence on the protection criteria. Due to the different physical characteristics in the simulation, e.g. accelerations, forces, compressions and their velocity, the compilation of these quantities, comparable to the MAIS, the maximal occurred single AIS obtained in accident analysis is much more difficult in the simulation than in the accident occurrence. Therefore it is obvious to normalize the loading values gained out of simulation and to summarise them to an entire value in a suitable manner, the safety index.


Objective : To evaluate library workshops on their coverage of data management topics. Methods : We used a modified version of Sapp Nelson's Competency Matrix for Data Management Skills, a matrix of learning goals organized by data management competency and complexity level, against which we compared our educational materials: slide decks and worksheets. We examined each of the educational materials against the 333 learning objectives in our modified version of the Matrix to determine which of the learning objectives applied. Conclusions : We found it necessary to change certain elements of the Matrix's structure to increase its clarity and functionality: reinterpreting the "behaviors," shifting the organization from the three domains of Bloom's taxonomy to increasing complexity solely within the cognitive domain, as well as creating a comprehensive identifier schema. We appreciated the Matrix for its specificity of learning objectives, its organizational structure, the comprehensive range of competencies included, and its ease of use. On the whole, the Matrix is a useful instrument for the assessment of data management programming.


A New, simple, sensitive and economical spectrofluorimetric method for estimation of Desvenlafaxine Succinate, a novel SNRI (serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor) in bulk and in solid dosage form was developed in the present study. Desvenlafaxine Succinate showed excitation at 274 nm and emission at 305 nm in pH=6 phosphate buffer which was used in this study. The linear regression equations obtained by least square regression method, was Int =0.396*Conc. (in ng/ml) -1.701. The method provides a linear response across a quantization range of 100ng/ml to 900ng/ml. The developed method was found to have high degree of precision and accuracy and was used for the estimation of total drug content in the commercial formulation of Desvenlafaxine Succinate-ER tablets. The results of analysis were treated statistically, as per International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) guidelines for validation of analytical procedures. The results were found to be accurate, reproducible and free from interferences.


There has been a growing interest in the generation and storage of power from ambient vibration using piezoelectric transduction. It is well-known that by connecting a piezoelectric energy harvester to a power-electronic switching network, proper switching control can yield favorable energy transduction. It has also been shown that in broadband response, the switching controller maximizing power flow to storage can be solved as an H2 optimal control problem. For extremely small-scale applications, however, the background power necessary to keep a controller online continuously may exceed the average harvested power. In such circumstances, it is necessary to restrict feedback controllers to a class which can be realized with very little power. This paper investigates the use of passive networks to impose transducer voltage feedback laws on energy harvesting systems. Such an implementation requires external power only to gate one mosfet in the power-electronic drive circuitry at a constant duty cycle. The optimization of the passive network for optimal power generation is a challenging, nonconvex problem. This paper presents some preliminary results on a sub-optimal LMI-based design approach for this problem. An example is given for a stochastically-excited piezoelectric bimorph beam.


Symbiotic relationships have been known to exist in Livestock-oil palm integration; this survey demonstrates with statistical figures based on current evidence on only the benefits of livestock on oil palm in an integrated system. Data were collected from 255 respondents under smallholder scheme in districts of Johor for the 2011 production season; basic descriptive statistics and farm budget tools were used for analysis. Results indicate that farmers maintain an average farm size of 2.52 ha to obtain an average Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) yield of 18.45 t/ha/yr, representing 2.6 t/ha/yr or 14.1% increase in yield due to livestock integration, an average labour cost of RM5.12/manhour was estimated and Total Variable Cost (TVC) constitute 88% of cost of production as against 12% for Total Fixed Cost (TFC). The research also estimated a reduction in cost of weeding worth RM534.68/ha/yr; from RM568.17/ha/yr down to RM33.49/ha/yr; commensurate to 94% saved cost from weeding operations, 15% reduction in cost of labour and 8.6% reduction in total cost of production due to the influence of livestock grazing. Furthermore, analyses show that FFB accounts for the majority (81%) of the revenue in the integration system, while the livestock constitute (15%), Palm Oil Fronds (POF) (3%) and animal dung (0.03%). Although the revenue from the by-products is meager, but an indicator that revenue diversification is feasible to achieve increase in revenue and finally, a net income of RM7431.479/ha/yr was estimated. The production constraints identified in the smallholder livestock-oil palm integration were grouped into technical, economical, ecological and environmental constraints and suggestions were proffered on the management of the constraints with the view to minimize their militating effects for a more efficient and productive system to enhance better the income of the farmers.


This treatise is a political exploration of Canadian legislative and representational institutions and why they are not performing in the way they should be. In an effort to promote a citizen based democracy and avoid the further deterioration in relations between government and the citizens they claim to represent, four institutional and legislative reforms are suggested in an effort to reconcile basic democratic principles with realities of Canadian political life. These reforms are: (1) recall, (2) loosening party discipline and introducing more votes, (3) referendums, and (4) electoral reform. Although it is hypothesized that all four reforms would provide Canadians with a more participatory form of representative government, empirical and qualitative evidence reveals that these hopes are certainly delusive and must be re-examined. Instead, it is concluded that loosening party discipline and introducing more votes coupled with reforming the electoral system have the greatest chance of creating a more vibrant democracy in which governments would still exert necessary leadership on policy issues while citizens would be given necessary opportunities to participate in the political process. Unfortunately, as positive as this form of inclusionary politics sounds, reality dictates that unless both sides adopt different attitudes as to the true meaning of representative democracy, Canada's quest for a more participatory form of representative government will fail.


Abstract Most criminal defendants cannot afford to hire an attorney. To provide constitutionally mandated legal services, states commonly use either private court-appointed attorneys or a public defender organization. This paper investigates the relative efficacy of these two modes of indigent defense by comparing outcomes of codefendants assigned to different types of attorneys within the same case. Using data from San Francisco, I show that in multiple defendant cases, public defender assignment is plausibly as good as random. I find that public defenders reduce the probability of any prison sentence by 22% and the length of prison sentences by 10%.


At first glance, there appears to be similarities between traditional Sotho initiation and Christian baptism, as both give the individual entrance into a new stage of life. This study compares African initiation in the Sotho context with initiation and baptism in the Christian context. The following aspects served as comparison: concepts of initiation, admission requirements, separation and new naming, the process of initiation through circumcision and baptism, community and the initiation, teaching in the initiation, and controversies in the initiation process. The correct biblical teaching and the right approach will overcome wrong teachings that emanate from African concepts about ancestral spirits and witchcraft, and the initiation school. This comparison opens the eyes for the Sotho initiation to discover and rethink the importance of the concept of baptism, the requirement of faith in baptism, the radical separation of the baptised person from the unbaptised, the importance of new naming, the Name of the triune God, the beauty of the process of baptism, the importance for the baptised to live, to experience and contribute to the community life of the church, the necessary teaching before and after baptism and to deal with controversies on the basis of Scripture.


Nowadays the typical engineer has working conditions different from before. They require many competences other than just the hard-core technical ones: personal and professional skills, multidisciplinary teamwork, communication, communication in foreign languages and leadership skills; thus, the personal competences are becoming more important. It is vital that the modern education for engineering students meets the demands of the business life of today, where the engineer has to solve both technical and interpersonal problems. For this reason, it is important to implement practises of interpersonal skills in the engineering education. International communication is one of the issues becoming more important in the globalised world of today. The CDIO Syllabus narrates the needed skills and one way of improving the quality and ideas in the CDIO implementation is through international co-operation. In this case the co-operation was begun through the invitation of Associate Professor Christensen to give an International Communication Course, in February 2010, at Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences . This invitation has been repeated twice a year since then. The International Communication Course is an innovation in engineering education based on the development of teaching methods for learning interpersonal skills in interactive classes – enabling the students to gather their own experiences through active involvement in exercises in groups of two to six persons. In order to improve the course a couple of initiatives were implemented. One is a course booklet, which contains all issues to be approached during the course. The students read the booklet beforehand and thus the course just consists of interactive exercises with interventions of explaining, sharing comments and discussion. Sharing comments and discussions are very important as they both tell the students that others have similar problems and issues as they do; but they also show the differences between young people from different cultures. In a class there are usually participants from 15 different countries and students from 55 countries have taken the course so far. Another initiative is that the students have to do three assignments. One reason for this is to see if they are able to apply what they have learned; but also to avoid students that will not deliver the efforts required. This has elevated the level of learning significantly. Based on students' assignments written during the courses and the course booklet, the content of the course was crystallized, a book was written and published in 2017 by Metropolia. This paper discusses our experiences of the international CDIO co-operation, implementing an International Communication Course at Metropolia.


In 1937 Bietti reported a tapetoretinal degeneration with associated corneal deposits at the limbus. The hallmark of the disease was the crystalline characteristics of the retinal spots as well as those at the corneal limbus. Bagolini and Ioli-Spade in 1968 presented a 30 year follow-up on Bietti's cases and presented six additional cases. The present report delas with this entity in Orientals, a Chinese woman and a Japanese man. Corneal and conjunctival biopsy from the female patient revelaed a lipid deposition in both fibroblasts and epithelium. The term "crystalline retinopathy" has been added to the description of this entity since it defines the most characteristic feature of the syndrome.


Clinical course factors characterizing individuals' history with depression may be helpful in predicting treatment-related change in quality of life (QOL). Such factors have been studied in relation to symptomatic change with mixed results. This 9-week single-blind treatment trial using reboxetine (1 week placebo lead-in) evaluated the impact of age of onset, history of antidepressant treatment, duration of index episode, number of past episodes, and the presence of precipitating stress on depressed individuals' treatment response. We found that QOL did not normalize along with clinical remission in all areas. Using multivariate analysis, we found that age of onset, history with antidepressants, and the presence of identifiable precipitating stress were all significant predictors of QOL change (controlling for symptomatic change); some factors also predicted symptomatic improvement. Our results support the trend of distinguishing between treatment-related change in QOL and symptomatic change and suggest clinical course factors as promising predictors of QOL.


PERCENTAGE AND BONE MINERAL DENSITY by EMILY R. BOVIER (Under the Direction of Billy R. Hammond, Jr.) ABSTRACT Lutein (L) and zeaxanthin (Z) may prevent oxidative damage associated with macular degeneration and osteoporosis. It may be that LZ status is influenced by personal characteristics that influence the natural history of degenerative conditions. The purpose of this study was to correlate LZ status with total and regional body fat and areal bone mineral density in 63 young adults. Macular pigment was measured using heterochromatic flicker photometry. Serum LZ was quantified with high performance liquid chromatography. Body fat and aBMD were assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Body fat percentage was not related to LZ status (possibly due to a restriction in the range of body fat). Macular pigment was positively related to aBMD (p < 0.05). A relation between LZ status and conditions characterized by oxidative stress is consistent with the recommendation to increase intake of antioxidant-rich foods in order to help prevent the development of degenerative conditions.


Soil respiration is a major flux in the global carbon cycle, and accurate measurement of soil CO2 efflux is crucial in ecosystem carbon budgets. The CO2 efflux is the result of two processes; namely the CO2 production from root and soil respiration, and the transport of CO2 to the atmosphere.
Traditionally, soil CO2 fluxes have been measured in chambers covering small patches of the soil by using either a static chamber method, where enclosures are left for 24 hr. and CO2 is collected in soda lime, or a dynamic chamber method, where enclosures are left for a shorter period (minutes) during which CO2 is registered with an infrared gas analyzer. These chamber methods have a number of disadvantages including soil disturbance while placing the chamber, temperature and moisture changes in the soil and air under the chamber, and alteration of the CO2 concentration gradient between the soil and chamber headspace. However, chamber methods are often the only methods suited to the experimental conditions with small plots where micro-meteorological methods can not be used.
Ideally, the method to be used should not affect flux rates, and their influence on microclimatic variables and concentration gradients should be minimal. Theoretically the dynamic method fulfills these criteria to a greater extent than the static method, with measurements of flux rates over relatively short periods minimizing effects on soil temperature, water content and CO2 concentration gradients. However, the dynamic method does not have the time-integrative power of the static method.
These were some of the considerations we made in relation to the three projects listed below, where in situ measurements of soil respiration are included:
(1) Soil respiration following cultivated grasslands (Eriksen & Jensen, 2001)
(2) Relationship between soil physical and microbiological parameters and degradation potentials of selected pesticides (started recently)
(3) Field CO2 and N2O fluxes in relation to prehistory of organic matter input to soil (to be started)
Results and plans from these projects will be presented.

Eriksen, J. and Jensen, L. S. (2001) Soil respiration, nitrogen mineralization and uptake in barley following cultivation of grazed grasslands. Biology and Fertility of Soils 33, 139-145.


s of recently accepted papers The Structure of Optical Stellar Jets: a Phenomenological Analysis F. Bacciotti, C. Chiuderi and E. Oliva 1 Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, B.P. 229, 06304 Nice Cedex 4, France, internet: firstname.lastname@example.com 2 Dipartimento di Astronomia e Scienza dello Spazio, Università di Firenze, Largo E. Fermi 5, I–50125 Firenze, Italy internet: email@example.com 3 Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi 5, I–50125 Firenze, Italy internet: email@example.com In this paper we discuss the possible mechanisms of formation ot the nodular structure of Herbig-Haro jets. The available spectral observations of the linear jet section in the HH 34 and the HH 111 complexes are reviewed, in order to diagnostic the temperature and ionization state of the emitting material in a way as model-independent as possible. The values we find by means of an original although straightforward diagnostic procedure (T ∼ 6000 K, x = nH+/nH ∼ 0.1, in both cases), are similar to those empirically determined by Brügel et al. (1981) and Böhm and Solf (1990) for the compact object HH 7. Our results lead to a value of the momentum rate in these flows comparable to the rates observed in high-speed neutral winds (Lizano et al. 1988), giving support to the view according to which the bright optical jet actually identifies the axial portion of the neutral flow, and marks the location where the matter attains its maximum velocity and an observable amount of ionization. The ionization derived from the observations is likely to be a remnant of the heating and the excitation occurred in the accelerating region, where the wind is probably focused by the passage through a nozzle. The recombination time scale appropriate for the rather low electron densities in the jet is found to be close to the crossing time of the visible portion of the jet. Combining kinematical and energetic considerations we show that physical conditions consistent with the observed jet's emission can be obtained through "soft" compressions of the central portion of the flow, caused by 'damped' Kelvin-Helmoltz instabilities generated at the jet-ambient contact discontinuity. These compressions concentrate in smaller volumes the already available internal energy that is eventually radiated in optical and IR lines, unlike the weak shocks that actually increase the internal energy content by transforming the bulk kinetic energy into thermal random motions. A picture of this kind seems capable of resolving the long-standing problem of conciling the high supersonic velocity of the ionized material and the low excitation nature of the emission, and, at the same time, provides a very natural explanation for a number of observational constraints, among which the increase of the [SII]/Hα ratio along the jet and the disappearance of the optical emission after a characteristic scale length. Accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysics