The ABC's decision this week to reinvigorate regional journalism is a positive step. The challenge now is to embed journalists where they are needed most. This will be no easy feat for city-based ABC managers trying to navigate regional and rural Australia's changing, uneven and largely uncharted news terrain beyond the capital cities. Rural and regional media outlets face increasing economic pressures in the digital media environment and the ABC is not immune. It has experienced significant government funding cuts, shed jobs and centralised regional news offices. However, this week ABC boss, Michelle Guthrie, announced up to 200 staff in management positions will depart by June this year as part of a major restructure. The public broadcaster says a highlight of this move is the creation of 80 new positions in regional areas within 18 months. The initiative is designed to "increase the ABC's digital and video output from rural and regional Australia". The timing of this announcement might just be a fluke, but it happens to coincide with an inquiry into the ABC's Charter and its commitment to rural and regional audiences. What many Australians might not know is that serving rural areas is not a specific requirement of the Charter. Rather, a key criteria is 'broadcasting programs that contribute to a sense of national identity and inform and entertain, and reflect the cultural diversity of, the Australian community' (Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983, p. 6). In December 2015, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Amendment (Rural and Regional Advocacy) Bill  was introduced to Parliament by Senator Bridget McKenzie. Its intention was to mandate provisions in the ABC's Charter to reflect Australia's geographic diversity and implement mechanisms to ensure a high standard of rural and regional media coverage. These include: the allocation of staff and resources necessary to improve regional journalism and the delivery of services to rural and regional Australia; the appointment of regionally-residing members to the ABC's Board; establishing a Rural and Regional Advisory Council and improving emergency service reporting for regional communities. Earlier this week, we gave evidence to the Inquiry. Our key contention was that the ABC continues to prioritise its national appeal over opportunities to develop deeper connections with its local audiences, especially those areas that rely on the public broadcaster most for local news and information. We underlined the need for policy and funding provisions to protect and bolster the capacity for local news, to help ensure a diversity of voices are present in, and represented by, rural and regional areas, and to ensure high quality news and information for these audiences. The ABC's increasing focus on digital platforms and reliance on online content also means people with limited connectivity are now not only disadvantaged for content choice, but are potentially endangered if they are unable to receive emergency warnings. If the ABC is directing valuable resources back into regional areas then it is imperitive that as a public broadcaster they serve the gaps that commercial operators can't or won't fill. We have observed that as a diversity of news media retreat from the periphery, large  'regional' news hubs form in cities like Ballarat, Rockhampton and Newcastle. This creates what we'll term here a 'Big4' model where regional media bypass smaller locations in favour of running available resources from one larger powered site. Journalists at these bigger regional news hubs either sub-edit/produce news written by reporters in far-flung locations, or they are required to go out and occassionally forage for stories around smaller outposts. Sometimes, the funds simply aren't available for reporters to leave the hub, so they have to do their digging for news over the telephone or via a decent internet connection. But that's not really how reporters should experience the bush, or report on it for the communities that live there. From our perspective, to be a 'local' reporter does not mean covering a territory with a 1000km radius - unless you are surrounded by cattle stations. As Australia's premier public service media, we have recommend the ABC protect and enhancing the types of content available outside urban centres and regional hubs, and prioritise communities otherwise under-served for local news. The provision of quality, truly local news in rural and regional Australia is undoubtedly a broader issue than the ABC. There is a need to consider economic changes affecting the commercial sector, as well as the potential impact of other regulatory conditions, such as the likely regional influence of proposed new media reforms to alter ownership and reach rules. But the ABC's role as Australia's primary public service provider in this period of change is crucial in ensuring the production and dissemination of quality local news to rural and regional communities. If the ABC is redirecting funds to the bush, then perhaps it's time they look past the Big4 sites and set up new camps where the media terrain is barren. They just need a map and some more regional voices to help them find their place beyond the cities.


This article identifies and evaluates strategies and policies for walrus management in both Chukotka and Alaska. As the climate and walrus migration continue to change, it is important to follow adaptable strategies that are not fixed to specific geographic areas. Many of the recommendations may be easier to accomplish in the United States, which offers more opportunities for co-management and stakeholder involvement. The United States government can implement most recommendations without making substantive changes to law. This was significant to most participants – hunters as well as regulators – who supported voluntary approaches over those requiring legal changes.


I examine the nature and the structure of basic logico-mathematical knowledge.
What justifies the truth of the Dedekind-Peano axioms and the validity of Modus
Ponens? And is the justification we possess reflectively available? To make progress
with these questions, I ultimately embed Hale's and Wright's neo-Fregeanism in a
general internalistic epistemological framework.
In Part I, I provide an introduction to the problems in the philosophy of mathematics to motivate the investigations to follow. I present desiderata for a fully satisfactory
epistemology of mathematics and discuss relevant positions. All these positions turn
out to be unsatisfactory, which motivates the abstractionist approach. I argue that
abstractionism is in need of further explication when it comes to its central epistemological workings.
I fill this gap by embedding neo-Fregeanism in an internalistic epistemological
framework. In Part 11, I motivate, outline, and discuss the consequences of the frame-
work. I argue: (1) we need an internalistic notion of warrant in our epistemology
and every good epistemology accounts for the possession of such warrant; (2) to avoid
scepticism, we need to invoke a notion of non-evidential warrant (entitlement); (3)
because entitlements cannot be upgraded, endorsing entitlements for mathematical
axioms and validity claims would entail that such propositions cannot be claimed to
be known.
Because of (3), the framework appears to yield sceptical consequences. In Part 111,
I discuss (i) whether we can accept these consequences and (ii) whether we have to
accept these consequences. As to (i), I argue that there is a tenable solely entitlement-
based philosophy of mathematics and logic. However, I also argue that we can over-
come limitations by vindicating the neo-Fregean proposal that implicit definitions can
underwrite basic logico-mathematical knowledge. One key manoeuvre here is to acknowledge that the semantic success of creative implicit definitions rests on substantial
presuppositions - but to argue that relevant presuppositions are entitlements.


Background and aims Lupus Nephritis (LN) is one of the most serious manifestations and the strongest predictors of poor outcome in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Recent evidence showed a potential role of interleukin-17 (IL-17) in the pathogenesis of LN. However, the correlation between IL-17 level and the severity of LN remains incompletely understood. Objective To analyse IL-17 serum in LN and non LN patients and its correlation with disease activity measured by Systemic Lupus Activity Measure (SLAM) score. Methods A cross sectional design was conducted with 40 SLE patients consisted of 22 LN (group 1) and 18 non LN (group 2). We used SLICC criteria to diagnose SLE, ACR to diagnose LN with urinalysis, and ELISA to measure IL-17 concentration. Results Mean age group 1 25.68±7.12 y.o and 27.11±6.79 y.o in group 2. The mean differences of proteinuria, CRP, IL-17, and SLAM score between group 1 and group 2 were 4.73 mg (90.9% proteinuria +3) vs 2.06 mg; 1.64±0.89 vs 1.33±0.59; 9.64±1.64 vs 8.69±0.76; 16.36±5.30 vs 11.11±5.22. The correlation between IL-17 and SLAM score was 0.018 (p<0.05 ) in group 1 and 0.35 (p>0.05) in group 2. Conclusions Lupus Nephritis has higher IL-17 serum level and SLAM score compared to non lupus nephritis. There is significant correlation between IL-17 and SLAM score in LN but not significant in non LN.


Background:We have recently described the potential of the alternatively spliced extradomain A of fibronectin as a target for antibody-based pharmacodelivery applications in ulcerative colitis. Here, we report on the cloning and therapeutic properties of novel antibody-based fusion proteins, comprising the F8 antibody specific to extradomain A and murine interleukin (IL)-22, a globular cytokine belonging to the IL10 family. A protective function for IL22 in colitis has previously been described, as this cytokine induces antimicrobial, proliferative, and antiapoptotic pathways, preventing tissue damage and promoting epithelial repair. Methods:Two fusion proteins comprising IL22, fused at the N- or at the C-terminus of the F8 antibody in diabody format, were expressed in mammalian cells. The ability of radiolabeled preparations of the 2 fusion proteins to localize at sites of disease was assessed by autoradiography in a murine model of dextran sodium sulfate–induced colitis and by quantitative biodistribution analysis in a syngeneic mouse teratocarcinoma model. Therapeutic activity was assessed in mice with dextran sodium sulfate–induced colitis, which received intravenous injections of antibody–cytokine fusion proteins. Results:Both fusion proteins were able to selectively accumulate at the site of disease. The fusion protein with the cytokine moiety at the N-terminal extremity (IL22-F8) exhibited better results than the C-terminal fusion, both in terms of targeting selectivity and therapeutic efficacy. Mice treated with IL22-F8 showed a more rapid recovery from clinical symptoms compared with controls and improved macroscopic and microscopic morphology of the colon. Conclusions:IL22-F8 is a promising biopharmaceutical drug candidate for the treatment of ulcerative colitis.


The site preference of ternary additions in Ni3X-type GCP compounds was determined from the direction of solubility lobe of the GCP phase on the experimentally reported ternary phase diagrams. In Ni3Nb (D0a), Co and Cu preferred the substitution for Ni-site, Ti, V and W the substitution for Nb-site, and Fe the substitution for both sites. In Ni3V (D022), Co preferred the substitution for Ni-site, Cr the substitution for both sites, and Ti the substitution for V-site. In Ni3Ti (D024), Fe, Co, Cu, and Si preferred the substitution for Ni-site, Nb, Mo and V the substitution for Ti-site. The thermodynamic model, which was based on the change in total bonding energy of the host compound by a small addition of ternary solute, was applied to predict the site preference of ternary additions. The bond energy of each nearest neighbor pair used in the thermodynamic calculation was derived from the heat of compound formation by Miedema's formula. The agreement between the thermodynamic model and the result of the literature search was excellent. Both transition and B-subgroup elements have two possibilities, i.e., the case of substitution for Ni-site or the case for X-site, depending on the relative value of two interaction energies.


The recent French "Energy transition act" has set stringent targets to increase the share of renewables in the French electricity mix. In this context, this study aims at quantifying the requirements for steel, aluminium, copper and concrete that would result from the French electricity transition by 2050. The consequences of these requirements in terms of climate change impacts are estimated. Given the significant uncertainties regarding material intensities of electricity generation systems, the study adopts a possibilistic approach to uncertainty representation and propagation.

Three steps are distinguished in the calculations. The first step aims at setting the material intensity in terms of direct requirements for steel, aluminium, copper and concrete with respect to several electricity generation systems (in tonnes of materials / MW installed). In the second step, the cradle-to-gate climate change impacts of steel, copper, aluminium and concrete productions are calculated considering a consequential modelling approach. Finally, in the third step, the potential future capacities installed from 2012 to 2050 are drawn from the so-called « Decarbonization through electricity » scenario of energy transition in France by 2050, as defined by the French ANCRE.

The results of material requirements and corresponding climate change impacts, as a consequence of the French electricity transition from 2012 to 2050, are expressed as a family of cumulative probability distributions for the proposals: i) "requirement for materials is lower than a certain value" and ii) "climate change impact induced by the production of these materials is lower than a certain value". This study additionnally computes a single indicator (so-called "confidence index"), as a weighted average of upper and lower bounds of the resulting family of probability distributions. In particular, considering this confidence index as the sole indicator of likelihood, there is a 20% risk that the production of steel, aluminium, copper and concrete, as a response to the French electricity transition from 2012 to 2050, induce more than 444 million tonnes of CO2-eq. These results are intended to inform decision-makers in the most transparent way, for them to eventually decide whether the calculated risks (that material use and corresponding climate change impacts be larger than given values) are acceptable or not.


Purpose of review Antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) currently represents one of the main problems for clinical management of heart transplant because of its diagnostic complexity and poor evidences supporting treatments. Recent findings Disorder-based diagnosis is a cornerstone in defining AMR. The limitations of the current classification have been partially overcome by novel studies improving the description of the immune-pathological graft abnormalities, and by new molecular approaches allowing a better understanding of the mechanisms behind AMR and of its relationship with cellular rejection and chronic vasculopathy. In-depth characterization of donor-specific antibodies showed to provide additional prognostic information and guide for treatment. Clinical relevance of AMR is bound to appropriate detection of graft dysfunction. In addition to traditional longitudinal evaluation by echocardiogram, cardiac magnetic resonance and detection of cell-free DNA may represent novel sensitive markers for graft injury that could prompt treatment before dysfunction becomes clinically manifest. Summary Despite improvements in the diagnostic process, therapeutic strategies made little progress in addition to the consolidation of practices supported by limited evidences. Novel complement inhibitors appear promising in changing this scenario. Nevertheless, collaborative multicenter studies are needed to develop standardized approaches tailored to the highly variable clinical and laboratory features of AMR.


Optogenetic approaches have gathered momentum in precisely modulating and interrogating cellular signalling and gene expression. The use of optogenetics on the outer cell surface to interrogate how cells receive stimuli from their environment, however, has so far not reached its full potential. Here we demonstrate the development of an optogenetically regulated membrane receptor-ligand pair exemplified by the optically responsive interaction of an integrin receptor with the extracellular matrix. The system is based on an integrin engineered with a phytochrome-interacting factor domain (OptoIntegrin) and a red light-switchable phytochrome B-functionalized matrix (OptoMatrix). This optogenetic receptor-ligand pair enables light-inducible and -reversible cell-matrix interaction, as well as the controlled activation of downstream mechanosensory signalling pathways. Pioneering the application of optogenetic switches in the extracellular environment of cells, this OptoMatrix–OptoIntegrin system may serve as a blueprint for rendering matrix–receptor interactions amendable to precise control with light. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-018-0264-7 OPEN


The amazing properties of 2D materials are envisioned to revolutionize several domains such as flexible electronics, electrocatalysis, or biosensing. Herein we introduce scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) as a tool to investigate molybdenum disulfide in a straightforward fashion, providing localized information regarding the electronic transport within chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown crystalline MoS2 single layers having micrometric sizes. Our investigations show that within flakes assemblies some flakes are well electrically interconnected, with no detectable contact resistance, whereas others are not electrically connected at all, independent of the size of the physical contact between them. Overall, the work shows how the complex electronic behavior of MoS2 flake assemblies (semiconducting nature, contact quality between flakes) can be investigated with SECM.


Interactions between ionizing radiation and living organisms may produce genome and epigenetic damage, and disturbances of signal molecules, cell proteins and biological pathways which can be repaired or can be become permanent and represent a health risk. In order to follow the complexity of the biological response to radiation it is necessary to apply several biomarkers simultaneously. Thanks to rapid accumulation of data from -omics techniques, biomonitoring and biodosimetry after environmental, accidental or occupational exposure to ionizing radiation was able to develop from assessment at group level to individual level. Interpretation of the results of biomonitoring using both new and old biomarkers gives insight into age and gender differences in the pathways involved in radiation-related carcinogenesis, including deviations of signaling. There is still a knowledge gap in transgenerational and developmental biodosimetry, especially for the pubertal period. Analysis of the available studies on biomonitoring of populations exposed to ionizing radiation show clearly that, in investigation of the complex responses of living organisms, biomarkers have significant advantages when compared with other physical measurements and calculations of health risk. Introduction of systems biology as a tool in the future will enable improvement of radiation protection legislation and individual life-long health risk assessment related to exposure to ionizing radiation. Development and introduction of methods that will enable reliable biodosimetry in cases of accidental overexposure of large populations are in progress.


The need to tackle Solid Waste Management (SWM) problems has become crucial especially in an era where environmental issues have become an integral part of achieving sustainable development. In recent times, SWM has become an impossible task for local governments. The continuous increase in solid waste generation as a result of urbanization and high consumption rates inhibits local governments, especially those of cities in developing countries, of which Madina and Adenta are no exception, from providing solid waste services according to the desired quality. Most cities are characterized by uncollected waste in centres and corners of cities and streets, indiscriminate disposal of solid waste, gutters clogged with waste resulting in flooding, stagnant pools of water creating the platform for mosquitoes and the ensuing prevalence of malaria, polluted water and the environment causing series of cholera outbreaks.
To solve this menace, private sector involvement in SWM was introduced in Ghana considering the notion that the private sector is more effective than the public sector. Having been the agency solely responsible for the collection, transportation and disposal of solid waste in Madina and Adenta from 2008, private sector provision of solid waste collection has been very effective in Madina. However, with the operation of the private sector in Adenta for 8 years now, there has not been maximum efficiency and massive improvement in solid waste collection. Indiscriminate disposal of solid waste continuously persists and all forms of waste are found at unauthorized locations in the municipality including drains, uncompleted buildings and along the streets. This situation denotes failure on the part of the private sector to deliver solid waste collection services according to the desired level. Literature confirms that certain pre-conditions and an enabling environment such as existence and enforcement of policies, bye-laws and legal and regulatory frameworks and institutional capacities of the public sector must be created to enable the private sector deliver improved quality of services. The study therefore sought to determine which conditions in Madina makes the private sector more effective than that of Adenta. It is against this background that the study sought to determine the extent to which government enabling environment influences the quality of solid waste collection delivered by the private sector.
The study adopted a case study research strategy and interviewed professionals in the Madina and Adenta Municipalities as well as private sector companies to enquire what enabling environment was created to support the private sector to deliver an improved quality of service. Questionnaires were also administered at the household level to ascertain from users the quality of solid waste collection received. Data collected from the field was analyzed using Atlas ti and Ms Excel.
Findings of the study indeed revealed that the existence and enforcement of policies, bye-laws strong institutional capacities of the public sector, performance monitoring and environmental sanitation education contribute to an improved quality of service delivery of solid waste collection by the private sector. It was revealed that the private sector in Madina are able to collect 90% of solid waste generated unlike Adenta where only 25% of solid waste generated is collected. Service users in Madina were extremely satisfied with the services rendered whilst those in Adenta were extremely unsatisfied. The reason why the private sector in Madina was effective is because the Madina Municipality observes and enforces the guidelines in the Environmental Sanitation Policy of Ghana which spells out what role each stakeholder should play to ensure that the desired quality of solid waste delivery is attained. The Madina Municipality also has the La Nkwatanang Madina Municipality Bye-Laws that sanctions all defaulters be it private sector companies or individual residents who flout the bye-laws.


A prediction of the hypothesis that niche processes control plant species distributions across edaphic gradients is that pairwise comparisons of related species on contrasting soils should show consistent patterns of trait divergence. This hypothesis was tested in lowland Bornean rain forest by combining measurements of leaf traits, soil nutrients and the distribution of tree species in the Dipterocarpaceae across a nutrient gradient. Nine species were studied, comprising four related pairs in Shorea (phylogenetic independent contrasts; PICs) and one habitat generalist (Dipterocarpus sublamellatus). Lamina area, specific leaf area (SLA), leaf nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) were measured for ∼10 saplings of each species; habitat associations were defined as a continuous function of soil nutrients and categorically in relation to substrate. Species distributions and traits varied significantly with soil nutrients. When all species were pooled, SLA and leaf P increased significantly with species' distribution across the nutrient gradient; leaf N showed the same trend. Trait shifts with habitat were stronger and more pervasive when habitat was defined categorically – in all four PICs, rich-soil specialists had larger leaves, higher SLA, leaf N and P, and lower N:P ratios. Trait shifts with habitat at least partly reflect intrinsic differences between species. Within Shorea, variation in lamina area and N:P ratio were more strongly related to phylogeny than habitat, whereas the reverse held for SLA and leaf P. Phylogeny also influenced the extent of trait divergence between related species on different soils, and patterns of trait correlation within lineages. Results support the hypothesis that niche processes influence the distribution of species and traits in lowland tropical tree communities, and highlight the value of phylogenetic information for increasing the power of comparative studies.


Abstract Today, in the modern world, people are often exposed to electromagnetic waves, which can have undesirable effects on cell components that lead to differentiation and abnormalities in cell proliferation, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage, chromosomal abnormalities, cancers, and birth defects. This study aimed to investigate the effect of electromagnetic waves on fetal and childhood abnormalities. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar were searched on 1 January 2023. The Cochran's Q-test and I 2 statistics were applied to assess heterogeneity, a random-effects model was used to estimate the pooled odds ratio (OR), standardized mean difference (SMD), and mean difference for different outcomes, and a meta-regression method was utilized to investigate the factors affecting heterogeneity between studies. A total of 14 studies were included in the analysis, and the outcomes investigated were: change in gene expression, oxidant parameters, antioxidant parameters, and DNA damage parameters in the umbilical cord blood of the fetus and fetal developmental disorders, cancers, and childhood development disorders. Totally, the events of fetal and childhood abnormalities were more common in parents who have been exposed to EMFs compared to those who have not (SMD and 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.25 [0.15–0.35]; I 2, 91%). Moreover, fetal developmental disorders (OR, 1.34; CI, 1.17–1.52; I 2, 0%); cancer (OR, 1.14; CI, 1.05–1.23; I 2, 60.1%); childhood development disorders (OR, 2.10; CI, 1.00–3.21; I 2, 0%); changes in gene expression (mean difference [MD], 1.02; CI, 0.67–1.37; I 2, 93%); oxidant parameters (MD, 0.94; CI, 0.70–1.18; I 2, 61.3%); and DNA damage parameters (MD, 1.01; CI, 0.17–1.86; I 2, 91.6%) in parents who have been exposed to EMFs were more than those in parents who have not. According to meta-regression, publication year has a significant effect on heterogeneity (coefficient: 0.033; 0.009–0.057). Maternal exposure to electromagnetic fields, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy, due to the high level of stem cells and their high sensitivity to this radiation, the biochemical parameters of the umbilical cord blood examined was shown increased oxidative stress reactions, changes in protein gene expression, DNA damage, and increased embryonic abnormalities. In addition, parental exposure to ionizing and non-ionizing radiation can lead to the enhancement of different cell-based cancers and developmental disorders such as speech problems in childhood.


Abstract
The first social, no-fault, insurance legislation in California was the Workmen's Compensation Act of 1911. It has been changed and modified in the years since, and is having an increasing impact on the practice of most California physicians. Many physicians consider caring for the occupationally ill or injured time-consuming and difficult. A newly emerging kind of paramedic, the workmen's compensation benefit administrator, is available to assist the physician in overcoming difficulties encountered. A cooperative effort between the physician and the benefit administrator will expedite management of industrial patients.


Trees have a different impact on soil properties than annual crops, because of their longer residence time, larger biomass accumulation, and longer–lasting, more extensive root systems. In natural forests nutrients are efficiently cycled with very small inputs and outputs from the system. In most agricultural systems the opposite happens. Agroforestry encompasses the continuum between these extremes, and emerging hard data is showing that successful agroforestry systems increase nutrient inputs, enhance internal flows, decrease nutrient losses and provide environmental benefits— when the competition for growth resources between the tree and the crop component is well managed. The three main determinants for overcoming rural poverty in Africa are (i) reversing soil fertility depletion, (ii) intensifying and diversifying land use with high–value products, and (iii) providing an enabling policy environment for the smallholder farming sector. Agroforestry practices can improve food production in a sustainable way through their contribution to soil fertility replenishment. The use of organic inputs as a source of biologically–fixed nitrogen, together with deep nitrate that is captured by trees, plays a major role in nitrogen replenishment. The combination of commercial phosphorus fertilizers with available organic resources may be the key to increasing and sustaining phosphorus capital. High–value trees— 'Cinderella' species, can fit in specific niches on farms, thereby making the system ecologically stable and more rewarding economically, in addition to diversifying and increasing rural incomes and improving food security. In the most heavily populated areas of East Africa, where farm size is extremely small, the number of trees on farms is increasing as farmers seek to reduce labour demands, compatible with the drift of some members of the family into the towns to earn off–farm income. Contrary to the concept that population pressure promotes deforestation, there is evidence that demonstrates that there are conditions under which increasing tree planting is occurring on farms in the tropics through successful agroforestry as human population density increases.


The common cane cultivation is one of the most promising biomass crop due to its high biomass yielding. One of the main problems that do not permit its cultivations in large scale, is the planting procedures. CRA-ING, with the aims to find the best system to permit the planting of common cane taking in account the operation cost and the obtained results in term of plant surviving, stated the evaluation of 4 different planting systems: 1. Micro propagate plants; 2. Stem cut radicated; 3. Rhyzome cut; 4. Stem part planted along the row. Each system is under evaluation, in order to find the best one, with the aim of foster the possibility of start the plantation in large scale, a prototype to permit the last system (stem part planted along the row) was developed. Tests were carried out in a 5 ha plantations. The prototype is attached at the 3 points of the tractor, and need one operator. The last is sits on the seat (A) and manually introduces the stem pieces, which are allocated in the two lateral boxes (B), inside the rows. The rows, 200 - 250 mm deep, are open by two ploughs V shaped (C) positioned close to the operator. Two metal parties avoid the soil entering into the row during the operation the position of the stem (D). The row are then filled by ground by two discs (F), after that a compacting roll (G) permit to obtain a compacted flat ground. 5 ha were planted in 2008 using the new prototype, in different thesis. The thesis are related to the soil characteristics, and irrigation. Prototype technical evaluation and planting cost calculation are reported. After 6 months the evaluation of the new plants growth were evaluated in the different thesis, data collected are reported. The new prototype is able to plant common cane with good results and having a planting cost acceptable.


This thesis examines the conflicts which emerged from the way the Church in Uganda generally (and the Anglican Church of Uganda (ACU) in particular) interacted with die society on three key fronts: culturally, politically and educationally. The aim is to exhibit die historical development of the Church m light of those areas; and die impact that development has had on the society, and so pose a challenge for the present ACU to reflect on and act for a viable and more acceptable ministry in future free of conflict favouritism and domination. Chapter I covers the historical background from 1877-1962; it describes the coming of die CMS missionaries to Uganda following Muteesa I's invitation to be followed later by the Roman Catholic missionaries. It describes how religious controversies between these two groups dominated Ugandan politics. The road leading to a Uganda protectorate and the developments initiated by both the missionaries and die colonial government including education, health services and economy, are also set out. Chapter 11 looks at the culture into which Christianity came and the nature of their clash leading to an age long conflict. It highlights the model operated by die missionaries, its weaknesses and strengths. It describes some alternative models from Africa and die Caribbean and lastly suggests die best way forward. Chapter III deals with the Church and Colonialism. then: invasion of the traditional political structure and the developments brought about by the two institions. The beginning of political parties following the political and economic dissatisfaction of die Ugandan society, so paving die way to independence, is discussed here. Featured also are the colonial policies answerable for the age long suffering in Uganda and the model responsible for church and state interdependence which reigns to this day. It cites alternative models and suggests which way to go. This chapter covers pre- independence, and post independence to die present day. Chapter IV looks at the traditional form of education and its values. It highlights die introduction of the missionary western form of education, its characteristics and goals which in many ways divorced the learner from his/her roots. It shows both the native society and die colonial government losing confidence in that system of education and seeking to replace it with a government-run system of education. This chapter also looks at other models from elsewhere and suggests a way forward.


In recent years, neurophysiological evidence has accumulated in favor of a common coding between perception and execution of action. We review findings from recent neuroimaging experiments in the action domain with three complementary perspectives: perception of action, covert action triggered by perception, and reproduction of perceived action (imitation). All studies point to the parietal cortex as a key region for body movement representation, both observed and performed.


This is not a research paper in the conventional sense. It is not based on exhaustive analysis either of Trotsky's writings, or of theories of revolution in general. It is very much a workshop paper, an attempt to pose a problem rather than to solve it. What it does do is to explore some of the implications of Trotsky's theory of revolution, for our approach to the general problem of 'Revolution as History'.! Briefly, I will argue that an examination of Trotsky's theories of revolution shows how difficult it is to avoid broadening our concept of revolution. Indeed, it suggests that it may be necessary to collapse it into the much broader notion of a 'revolution epoch'. This is indeed an inflationary interpretation of the concept of 'revolution', for it means abandoning the conceptual 'gold standard' which allowed historians to exchange the term only against a few familiar, and clearly definable national revolutions, of which the best known were the English, French, Russian, and Chinese Revolutions. In a workshop paper one can legitimately leave the task of restoring conceptual soundness to others. Indeed, a conceptual Keynesian may hope that inflation will offer the best path out of a conceptual slump!


Fly ash polluted in Fukushima was treated by washing water and then the radioactive waste water was decontaminated with zeolite polymer composite fiber. The character was compared in zeolite, prussian blue and the composite fiber. The strong alkali condition of the radioactive waste water damaged in PB, while zeolite and the composite fiber successfully treated the radio-Cs by sorption process of batch and column experiments. The ability of the composite fiber was superior performance in the time course of the sorption process. The radioactive Cs binding to the composite fiber and zeolite was followed in Freundlich mechanism, showing multibanding to their adsorbents in the extra-diluted condition, but, each adsorbent obeyed saturated mechanism for


OBJECTIVE
Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is associated with feelings of fatigue and depression, as well as limitation to physical and mental functioning. These quality of life (QoL) characteristics improve after parathyroidectomy. However, whether former patients fully regain QoL compared with healthy controls is largely unknown.

DESIGN AND PATIENTS
Cross-sectional study. Fifty-one former PHPT patients, successfully treated by surgery (mean time since parathyroidectomy 7.4 (range 5-15) years), and 51 sex- and age-matched healthy controls.

METHODS
The 36-item Short-Form Health Survey version 2 and the WHO-Five Well-being Index. The surveys included questions on overall physical and mental health, functioning, and limitation in daily life activities.

RESULTS
Former patients scored significantly lower compared with controls in physical functioning (P=0.01), role limitation caused by emotional problems (P=0.01), vitality (P<0.001), and general health (P=0.01). Compared with the controls, cases had a lower median (interquartile range) score of physical component summary (PCS; 54.9 (47.9-58.7) vs 49.6 (45.2-55.9), P=0.03) and mental component summary (MCS; 55.4 (49.7-58.1) vs 52.5 (44.7-55.5), P=0.04). There was no association between time since operation and PCS or MCS. Compared with controls, cases had higher body mass index (BMI; 26.0±4.7 vs 28.8±6.0 kg/m(2), P<0.001) and a higher frequency of cardiovascular diseases (CVD; 41.2 vs 62.7%, P=0.03). After adjustment for differences in BMI and CVD, PCS did no longer differ between groups. However, adjustments did not change the finding of a lower MCS in cases compared with controls.

CONCLUSION
Even though QoL may improve substantially after surgery, former PHPT patients still have reduced QoL compared with healthy controls.


needle, has not been taken into consideration, whether it is the micro-organisms present in 'the vaccine or the microorganisms causing infection. This factor of infection, for which Dr. Newcombe injected penicillin, was completely ignored as an additional causative agent, although the febrile reaction and boil formation were due to some of the staphylococcal series. Trauma can always be regarded as a precipitating factor for an entry of the virus, since it exposes the muscle motor-end plates to an open attack at the myo-neural junctions, In the case of the neurotropic virus, such an entry is a prerequisite for it to be able to exert its pathogenic activities. But there are also chemical changes taking place as a result of trauma: muscle tissue is hydrolysed, in consequence of which there will be released a series of enzymes, like myosin ATP-ase, carboxylase, phosphatases, and also adenosine compounds like ATP, ADP, or creatifie phosphate. Also we find liberated a series of ions, such as Ca, Mg, K, P, and organic acids, resulting in a gross shift of the pH and ionic balance. Micro-organisms contain large amounts of nucleic acids in combination with proteins. When infection as well.as trauma is present some of the micro-organisms will die or be disintegrated under the influence of antibiotics and their nucleoproteins released into inflammatory tissue, still physiologically active. The best comparison one can offer is with Griffith's discovery of the transformation of one type of pneumococcus into another type by bringing into contact, in vivo or in vitro, the living form "R " variant of the type to be transformed with the heat-killed form "S." Avery and McCarty and MacLeod isolated this transforming agent, which is a sodiumdesoxyribonucleic acid. I quite agree that these are complex factors, but without an understanding of the biochemical principles involved the problem of poliomyelitis can hardly be solved.-I am, etc.,


This paper investigates the determinants of academic achievement in basic education (grade 1-9) for a sample of children (aged 9-12 in 2000) from rural China. A set of instrumental variable generated by the Great Famine in China, 1958-1961, is used to instrument an error-ridden measure of child innate ability, the cognitive ability score of each sampled child. Empirical results indicate strong effects of family background variables such as household income and parental education. Father's education has significantly positive effect on academic achievements for both boys and girls, while mother's education only matters for girls. Consistent with the common findings in the literature, most of school quality variables do not have significantly positive effects on child academic achievements.


This article presents an energy-efficient voltage-mode transmitter with an unsegmented output driver that equalizes channel loss in the time domain based on the phase delay analysis. By modulating the phase of the transmitting clock rather than the serialized data stream, the proposed transmitter significantly reduces data-dependent jitter. The horizontal eye opening is improved by compensating for the zero-crossing time variation dependent on the run length of the transmitted data. The proposed scheme significantly reduces the driver complexity by eliminating many driver slices that consume large signaling and switching power. The prototype chip has been fabricated in a 28-nm CMOS process and occupies an active area of 0.045 mm2. The measured results show that the proposed transmitter achieves an energy efficiency of 0.95 pJ/b at 22 Gb/s with an output swing of 440 mVppd at 1.0-V supply. In addition, peak-to-peak jitter is reduced from 34 to 20 ps at 22 Gb/s with the proposed phase delay compensation over the channel with a 15.0-dB loss.


Cell death is a complex process that plays a vital role in development, homeostasis, and disease. Our understanding of and ability to control cell death is impeded by an incomplete characterization of the full range of cell death processes that occur in mammalian systems, especially in response to exogenous perturbations. We present here a general approach to address this problem, which we call modulatory profiling. Modulatory profiles are composed of the changes in potency and efficacy of lethal compounds produced by a second cell death-modulating agent in human cell lines. We show that compounds with the same characterized mechanism of action have similar modulatory profiles. Furthermore, clustering of modulatory profiles revealed relationships not evident when clustering lethal compounds based on gene expression profiles alone. Finally, modulatory profiling of compounds correctly predicted three previously uncharacterized compounds to be microtubule-destabilizing agents, classified numerous compounds that act nonspecifically, and identified compounds that cause cell death through a mechanism that is morphologically and biochemically distinct from previously established ones.


This study presents the successful growth of defective 2D terrace MoSe2/CoMoSe lateral heterostructures (LH), bilayer and multilayer MoSe2/CoMoSe LH, and vertical heterostructures (VH) nanolayers by doping metal cobalt (Co) element into MoSe2 atomic layers to form a CoMoSe alloy at high temperatures (∼900 °C). After the successful introduction of metal Co heterogeneity in the MoSe2 thin layers, more active sites can be created to enhance hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activities combining with metal Co catalysis through mechanisms such as (1) atomic arrangement distortion in CoMoSe alloy nanolayers, (2) atomic level coarsening in LH interfaces and terrace edge layer architecture in VH, and (3) formation of defective 2D terrace MoSe2 nanolayers heterogeneous catalyst via metal Co doping. The HER investigations indicated that the obtained products with LH and VH exhibited an improved HER activity in comparison with those from pristine 2D MoSe2 electrocatalyst and LH type MoSe2/CoMoSe. The present work shows a facile yet reliable route to introduce metal ions into ultrathin 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCS) and produce defective 2D alloy atomic layers for exposing active sites, eventually improving their electrocatalytic performance.


In New Zealand women choose their place of birth in partnership with their Lead Maternity Care (case loading) midwife, with most choosing a hospital regardless of their lack of risk factors. The reasons why most women in western countries choose to birth in hospital have been widely investigated. Risk aversity is most commonly implicated. For both women and health professionals this powerful discourse persists despite consistent research findings indicating higher rates of normal birth, and lower rates of maternal morbidity associated with interventions for healthy women who birth in out-of-hospital (primary) maternity units, with no difference in neonatal outcomes. There is however a gap in the literature regarding what is known about how midwives might positively influence the choice to birth in a primary unit.   A qualitative descriptive design through an appreciative inquiry lens enabled insight from 12 midwives who have a higher ratio of women within their caseload who choose to birth in a primary unit. Four focus groups were formed with these midwives to explore their perspectives and approaches as they assist women to make their place of birth decisions. From thematically analysed data, five themes emerged, Ways of knowing: woman, art, science and research; Trusting in you, me, and the process of childbirth; Setting boundaries as a 'primary birth midwife'; and Delaying and diverting, a malleable approach, centered around the theme When it matters what we say: reframing safety and risk.   Alongside supporting current research, this study adds to the body of knowledge about birthplace choice by bringing to the fore the notion of paradox in practice, setting boundaries whilst remaining malleable for example. In a contemporary maternity context, these midwives dance between two worlds fundamentally at odds with one another, effectively managing contradiction, complexity and uncertainty to achieve a high primary unit caseload. The experience of what works to promote the primary unit for a cohort of New Zealand midwives is uncovered in this research.   The social recalibrations needed to adjust the hospital birth norm are much broader issues than midwives alone can change, but in this study, we see they are staying the course in order to protect and promote normal birth. How midwives might inform decision-making for place of birth choice is described.


This study examined the predictive value of parental monitoring and preadolescents' personality traits in determining preadolescents' participation in health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors. Onehundred and thirty (130) preadolescents and their mothers completed measures assessing preadolescents' personality traits, perceptions of parental monitoring, and preadolescents' participation in healthy and risky behaviors. Findings from this study suggest that preadolescents'reports of parental monitoring predict their tendency to engage in healthy and risky behaviors. Mothers' and preadolescents' reports of youths' personality traits explain unique variance in preadolescents' participation in risky behaviors, but not in their health-promoting behaviors. An association between preadolescents' self-reports of personality and their experience of parental monitoring was found. Familial influences may best explain preadolescents' adoption of healthy behaviors. However, as children reach adolescence, individual differences appear to be important predictors of risky behaviors. Additional research is needed to better understand the interaction between these two predictors, and their differential and combined ability to predict youths' health-related behaviors over time.


Catheter ablation has brought major advances in the management of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). As evidenced by multiple randomized trials, AF catheter ablation can reduce the risk of recurrent AF and improve quality of life. In some studies, AF ablation significantly reduced cardiovascular hospitalizations. Despite the existing data on AF catheter ablation, numerous knowledge gaps remain concerning this intervention. This report is based on a recent virtual workshop convened by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to identify key research opportunities in AF ablation. We outline knowledge gaps related to emerging technologies, the relationship between cardiac structure and function and the success of AF ablation in patient subgroups in whom clinical benefit from ablation varies, and potential platforms to advance clinical research in this area. This report also considers the potential value and challenges of a sham ablation randomized trial. Prioritized research opportunities are identified and highlighted to empower relevant stakeholders to collaborate in designing and conducting effective, cost-efficient, and transformative research to optimize the use and outcomes of AF ablation.


Despite its rich water resources, Brazil is increasingly facing extreme hydrologic events such as droughts and floods. The Sao Paulo Cantareira water supply system (CWSS) offers an opportunity to examine the potential economic benefits of nature-based solutions (NbS) to improve water security and reduce the economic cost of drought. This study explores the potential benefits under a counterfactual NbS land-use scenario compared to actual land use and assesses the economic viability of NbS investments in the CWSS. Specifically, we estimate the economic cost of the 2014–2015 drought in Sao Paulo state for the industrial and water sectors served by the CWSS. We estimate the potential avoided costs under the NbS scenario and conduct a cost–benefit analysis of the NbS scenario investments, including both water supply and carbon sequestration benefits. We estimate that the economic losses of this single drought event totaled BRL 1.6 billion. If NbS had been implemented, this cost could have been reduced by 28%. A cost–benefit analysis that includes only the water supply or both the water supply and carbon sequestration benefits indicates that the NbS scenario has a positive net present value of BRL 144 million and BRL 632 million, respectively. Thus, our results highlight the economic viability of the hypothetical NbS investment in mitigating extreme climatic events.


On the Equivalence between the Additive Hypo-Elasto-Plasticity and Multiplicative HyperElasto-Plasticity Models and Adaptive Propagation of Discontinuities Yang Jiao Ductile and brittle failure of solids are closely related to their plastic and fracture behavior, respectively. The two most common energy dissipation mechanisms in solids possess distinct kinematic characteristics, i.e. large strain and discontinuous displacement, both of which pose challenges to reliable, efficient numerical simulation of material failure in engineering structures. This dissertation addresses the reliability and efficiency issues associated with the kinematic characteristics of plasticity and fracture. At first, studies are conducted to understand the relation between two well recognized large strain plasticity models that enjoy widespread popularity in numerical simulation of plastic behavior of solids. These two models, termed the additive hypo-elasto-plasticity and multiplicative hyper-elasto-plasticity models, respectively, are regarded as two distinct strategies for extending the classical infinitesimal deformation plasticity theory into the large strain regime. One of the most recent variants of the additive models, which features the logarithmic stress rate, is shown to give rise to nonphysical energy dissipation during elastic unloading. A simple modification to the logarithmic stress rate is accordingly made to resolve such a physical inconsistency. This results in the additive hypo-elasto-plasticity models based on the kinetic logarithmic stress rate in which energy dissipation-free elastic response is produced whenever plastic flow is absent. It is then proved that for isotropic materials the multiplicative hyper-elasto-plasticity models coincide with the additive ones if a newly discovered objective stress rate is adopted. Such an objective stress rate, termed the modified kinetic logarithmic rate, reduces to the kinetic logarithmic rate in the absence of strain-induced anisotropy which is characterized as kinematic hardening in the present dissertation. In the second part of the dissertation, the computational complexity of finite element analysis of the onset and propagation of interface cracks in layered materials is addressed. The study is conducted in the context of laminated composites in which interface fracture (delamination) is a dominant failure mode. In order to eliminate the complexities of remeshing for constant initiation and propagation of delamination, two hierarchical approaches, the extended finite element method (XFEM) and the s-version of the finite element method (s-method) are studied in terms of their effectiveness in representing displacement discontinuity across delaminated interfaces. With one single layer of 20-node serendipity solid elements resolving delamination-free response of the layered materials, it is proved that the delamination representations based on the s-method and the XFEM result in the same discretization space as the conventional non-hierarchical ply-by-ply approach which employs one layer of solid elements for each ply as well as double nodes on delaminated interfaces. Delamination indicators based on the s-method representation of delamination are then proposed to detect the onset and propagation of delamination. An adaptive methodology is accordingly developed in which the s-method displacement field enrichment for delamination is adaptively added to interface areas with high likelihood of delamination. Numerical examples show that the computational cost of the adaptive s-method is significantly lower than that incurred by the conventional ply-by-ply approach despite the fact that the two approaches produce practically identical results.


The chromatic polynomials of 'bracelets' can be studied by means of a theory based on representations of the symmetric group. This paper contains a detailed study of the theory as it relates to one type of bracelet. The underlying theory is presented rather more clearly than hitherto, and some surprising features are exhibited. The methods involve an extension of the standard theory of distance-regular graphs, and they lead to several plausible conjectures.


Protein dephosphorylation by the serine/threonine protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) modulates a broad array of cellular functions. PP2A normally acts as a heterotrimeric holoenzyme complex comprising a catalytic subunit bound by regulatory A and B subunits. Characterization of the regulatory A subunit isoforms (ROOTS CURL IN NAPHTHYLPHTHALAMIC ACID1 [RCN1], PP2AA2, and PP2AA3) of Arabidopsis thaliana PP2A has shown that RCN1 plays a primary role in controlling root and hypocotyl PP2A activity in seedlings. Here we show that hypocotyl and root growth exhibit different requirements for RCN1-mediated regulation of PP2A activity. Roots of rcn1 mutant seedlings exhibit characteristic abnormalities in cell division patterns at the root apical meristem, as well as reduced growth under ionic, osmotic, and oxidative stress conditions. We constructed chimeric A subunit genes and found that restoration of normal root tip development in rcn1 plants requires both regulatory and coding sequences of RCN1, whereas the hypocotyl elongation defect of rcn1 plants can be complemented by either RCN1 or PP2AA3 transgenes. Furthermore, the RCN1 and PP2AA3 proteins exhibit ubiquitous subcellular localization patterns in seedlings and both associate with membrane compartments. Together, these results show that RCN1-containing PP2A has unique functions that cannot be attributed to isoform-specific expression and localization patterns. Postembryonic RCN1 function is required to maintain normal auxin distribution and stem cell function at the root apex. Our data show that RCN1-regulated phosphatase activity plays a unique role in regulating postembryonic root development and stress response.


General Character of the Basins of both Lakes TOPOGRAPHY OF THE BASINS—COMPLEX The general character of the topography of the basins of the different lakes can be most readily understood from the standpoint of a physiographer by describing the region as an ancient belted coastal plain subsequently modified by glacial ice. The inner lowland, that bounded on the south and southwest by the Niagara cuesta, is occupied in part by the Georgian bay and in part by the bed of lake Ontario, there being also in Ontario an unsubmerged portion of this lowland lying between the two bodies of water just mentioned. The outer lowland, bounded by the margin of the Cumberland plateau, is in its lowest parts occupied (in part) by the beds of lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan. The waters of Georgian bay, which is confluent with lake Huron, cover parts of the inner and innermost lowlands, and . . .


Computer-aided Diagnosis (CAD) systems can assist radiologists in several diagnostic tasks. Lung segmentation is one of the mandatory steps for initial detection of lung cancer in Posterior-Anterior chest radiographs. On the other hand, many CAD schemes in projection chest radiography may benefit from the suppression of the bony structures that overlay the lung fields, e.g. ribs. The original images are enhanced by an adaptive contrast equalization and non-linear filtering. Then an initial estimation of lung area is obtained based on morphological operations and then it is improved by growing this region to find the accurate final contour, then for rib suppression, we use oriented spatial Gabor filter. The proposed method was tested on a publicly available database of 247 chest radiographs. Results show that this method outperformed greatly with accuracy of 96.25% for lung segmentation, also we will show improving the conspicuity of lung nodules by rib suppression with local nodule contrast measures. Because there is no additional radiation exposure or specialized equipment required, it could also be applied to bedside portable chest x-rays. In addition to simplicity of these fully automatic methods, lung segmentation and rib suppression algorithms are performed accurately with low computation time and robustness to noise because of the suitable enhancement procedure.


Globalization, public environmental concern and government legislation are challenging the Swedish industry to be more efficient and increase its efforts in research and in the development of methods and tools for product development and production. Furthermore, the manufacturing industry is changing from producing solely hardware products towards the inclusion of services or soft offers to add more value for the customer. As a result, there are an increased number of stakeholders involved in the early phases of product development that has an interest in the products design and performance during its life cycle. This challenges the way we manage and share experience internally as well as between companies. The intellectual property of a company is a key asset when competing on the global market; hence, the ability to capitalize on experiences from a company's development processes as well as products in use becomes increasingly important. Also, the European manufacturing industry and the EU commission conclude that the industry has to move from being "Resource-based" to "Knowledge based" to add more value and avoid competing solely on low-cost. It is recognized that an expensive manufacturing solution has a negative effect on a products total life cycle cost and the ability to earn profit. Hence, manufacturing processes is constantly a target for improvement efforts and experience gained in manufacturing has a potentially high impact on design decisions in new projects. The aim of the research presented here is to improve manufacturability and avoid reoccurrence of design flaws in ongoing or new projects. The research has provided a better understanding of the mechanisms for experience re-use and developed methods and tools for feedback of experience from the manufacturing phase back to the earlier phases in the products life cycle. The work has been carried out within two projects funded by the Swedish governmental agency for Innovation Systems and industry. The first project was DLP-E, Digitally Linked Processes with a focus on Experience re-use and the second project was Robust Machining, aiming for more robust machining processes within manufacturing. The research approach has been to combine the design research methodology and participatory action research. These methodologies together with an initial research question have guided the work: RQ: "How can experience from manufacturing processes be tied and reused to impact the governing product and process definition?" Branches within engineering research committed to his area are concurrent engineering and design for manufacturing although this has usually been limited to general rules of thumb and qualitative methods for designers. Recently however, statistical methods such as Design for Six Sigma and other methods for Robust Design are introduced to affect earlier phases of PD to achieve improved manufacturability. Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE), represents a technology that provide the means to capture and automatically re-use engineering knowledge in an engineering design environment. Methods and tools from this area have been used as an initial approach in this research. A functional product perspective puts a focus on the activity where the product is used rather than on the tangible product itself. From an experience feedback perspective, experience is gained during these activities and possibly re-used if there is a learning process. This thesis presents an initial descriptive case study at two manufacturing companies that provided a better understanding of current practices for experience re-use and identified factors that influenced the feedback of manufacturing experience in product development. Based on initial assumptions and the results from the first descriptive study, a theory on the mechanism for experience feedback and requirements on a manufacturing system was formulated in a prescriptive study. A second descriptive study utilized a prototype to identify if the theory was applicable in an industrial environment and if it addressed the factors it was supposed to address. The research has been an iterative process, whereas results from the descriptive studies have influenced new prescriptive studies, delivering methods and tools, which in turn have influenced the ongoing work at the company where the research was conducted. The main contribution from the research is a framework to support re-use of manufacturing experience. The framework decompose the multifaceted task of experience re-use by identifying typical activities involved in the feedback process and categorizing the "elements of experience" in terms of knowledge, information and data. Combined with an engineering process improvement approach, processes are streamlined and value is added to the product. KBE techniques are used to capture and re-use product and process knowledge in an integrated manner. The applicability of the result has been validated in descriptive studies as well as within company improvement efforts. The research supports a frontloading approach in product development by enabling manufacturing experience to have an impact on the design definition in the early phases of product development. As a consequence, the risk for costly re-design later on in a project is reduced.


This paper theoretically analyzed the design and operating parameters of a pipe-shaped air-cushion surge chamber (PS-ACSC). A mathematical model for a small load disturbance (SLD) in a hydropower plant containing the PS-ACSC was established to analyze the effects of the sensitivity of its initial horizontal area and the air–water volume ratio on the operational stability of the plant. The results showed that the PS-ACSC should occupy a critical horizontal area, and its initial water level and the initial air–water volume ratio should be within a certain range to ensure its own stable operation as well as that of the turbine units. The results of a case study showed that a hydropower plant containing the PS-ACSC is most stable when the initial air–water volume ratio ranges from 2.90:1 to 6.68:1. In addition, a hydropower plant containing the PS-ACSC delivers better performance than a horseshoe-shaped ACSC under the same conditions. This study contributes to the design and operational control of hydropower plants containing the PS-ACSC.


This research examines the effects of sand characteristics and fly ash contents on fresh properties and on the unconfined compressive strength of flowable fill mixtures. Additionally, this research investigates the flowability of wet and dry sands and the influence of fly ash addition on this property using a number of sand sources and various levels of fly ash addition. It was found that adding fly ash into dry or wet sand substantially influenced its flowability. In addition, it was found that the flowability of sand-fly ash mixtures was influenced by such sand properties as fineness modulus and uncompacted air void content. Similarly, other flowable fill properties, such as bleeding, subsidence, penetration resistance, and unconfined compressive strength, were observed to vary with the sand property and the amount of fly ash added into the mixture.


Pharmacy owners, managers, and drugstore chain execs who have dispensing automation in their pharmacies rated ScriptPro the winner in 23 categories. This conclusion is based on a survey ranking pharmacists' satisfaction with their automated dispensing systems. The survey, conducted by WilsonRx, included 456 respondents, 78% of whom make recommendations or final decisions in purchasing pharmacy automation systems.


A novel approach towards the removal of iron and heavy metals from South African acid mine drainage (AMD) waters is presented. The approach involves the controlled oxidation of ferrous-containing AMD water at ambient temperatures in the presence of magnetite seed. The resulting oxidation product is the ferrite (M1 3+ 2 M2 2+ O 4 ) magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ), which has the capacity for nonferrous metal removal, and which forms a stable sludge that is easily separated from the effluent. Sludge characterisation stu dies (XRD, SEM and dissolution tests) show that oxidation of ferrous solutions under controlled pH and oxidation conditions (pH 10.5 , air flow rate = 0.05 l/min) in the presence of magnetite seed (initial seed : ferrous ratio = 7:1) yields almost pure magnetite at ambient temperature. It was found that magnetite seed channels the end products of the AMD oxidation reaction towards magnetite. Under identical conditions, but in the absence of magnetite seed, a poorly characterised mixture of largely amorphous iron oxides are formed with magnetite comprising not more than 17% of the total iron. The kinetics of the reaction under the investigated condi tions were found to be very favourable, with magnetite forming at a rate of 12.8 mg Fe/ l/min. The total iron concentration in the effluent was always less than 1 mg/l representing an iron removal efficiency of 99.9%. The precipitant settled well (SVI 8 m l/g) and showed substantial stability at pH 3 (dissolution of 1.1% after 120 h). An outline for a one-step ambient temperature ferrite process is presented.


Isolation-reared mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) were placed on ponds in turkey-rearing areas in Minnesota, and their cloacae were periodically swabbed to attempt isolating virus from embryonated chicken eggs. Nearby turkeys were sampled by taking cloacal and tracheal swabs as well as blood samples. Hemagglutinating viruses were identified at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Ames, Iowa. During this two-year study, the weekly influenza virus-isolation rate from ducks varied from 0 to 24.4%. A total of 213 influenza viruses were isolated from the ducks. Twenty-six influenza virus subtypes were detected. Ninety-seven flocks of turkeys were diagnosed as having influenza by virus isolation and/or serology. Eight influenza virus subtypes were involved in the turkey outbreaks, and seven of these were also detected in the ducks and/or other avian species. The weekly infection rate of the sentinel ducks correlated directly with observations of wild ducks at the monitoring sites. Influenza virus was isolated from water samples collected near the sentinel duck sites during the study.


Rose emits a great group of scent that is functional in their communication with their instantaneous environment. In this study, the chemical compositions of floral scent from Damask and Musk roses flowers were isolated at full bloom stage by using headspace extraction. The main floral headspace components in Damask rose were Phenylethyl alcohol (2-phenylethanol), β-citronellol, α-Pinene and Geranyl acetate however the main components in Musk rose were Phenylethyl alcohol, 1-Nonadecene, Heneicosane and n-Nonadecane. In the both of species, the relative percentage of Phenyl ethyl alcohol was main scent compound. β-citronellol, α-Pinene and Geranyl acetate were highest and a major component in the Damask rose however these components (except α-Pinene) were not detected in Musk rose. The results of this study indicated that a number of factors, including particular rose species and the genetic triggers for releasing fragrance, determine the amount of fragrance.


A method for the design of distributed model predictive control (DMPC) systems for a class of switched nonlinear systems for which the mode transitions take place according to a prescribed switching schedule is presented. Under appropriate stabilizability assumptions on the existence of a set of feedback controllers that can stabilize the closed-loop switched, nonlinear system, a cooperative DMPC architecture using Lyapunov-based model predictive control (MPC) in which the distributed controllers carry out their calculations in parallel and communicate in an iterative fashion to compute their control actions is designed. The proposed DMPC design is applied to a nonlinear chemical process network with scheduled mode transitions and its performance and computational efficiency properties in comparison to a centralized MPC architecture are evaluated through simulations. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59:860-871, 2013


This research addresses the design and negotiation of two kinds of assemblies that are similar in topology but fundamentally different in per- formance. Firstly, Topological Interlocking Assemblies (TA) are made of solid elements. Their overall structural integrity relies on each element being kinematical constraint by its neighbours. Secondly, Bell Kites, similar in topology but fundamentally different in performance these kites are made of clusters of tetrahedrons. While TA are heavy, massive and exposed to gravity Bell Kites are super light and dominantly driven by wind forces. These two instances formulate the opposing ends of a spectrum in which a new system, one that is capable of covering the full range of performance, is developed and re-conceptualized in architectural context. The research seeks design- innovation by scrutinizing systems that are not yet part of the architectural ecosystem. Mapping out their performative characteristics and developing their spatial and programmatic potential through conscious design moves explore the potential for architectural applications. The work presented in this paper is the result of a design research studio of the Architecture and Performative Design Class at the Staedelschule in Frankfurt.


This paper presents a current controller based on a stationary reference frame implementation of an integrator in the synchronous reference frame [called here reduced order generalized integrator (ROGI)], suitable for three-phase distributed generation systems. The proposed controller is compared with the traditional second-order generalized integrator (SOGI)-based current controller. It is confirmed that, in normal operation conditions, both controllers have similar performance, requiring the ROGI-based controller much less computational burden than the SOGI counterpart. The proposed controller injects sinusoidal currents synchronized with the grid voltage, without requiring any dedicated synchronization algorithm. Three different current injection strategies are realizable with the same controller structure: balanced current injection, constant instantaneous active power injection, and maximum instantaneous active power injection. A state-variable-based control methodology in the discrete-time domain is presented. It ensures the stability and performance of the closed-loop system, even for high-order controllers and large digital signal processor processing delay. Moreover, it is confirmed that the proposed controller works satisfactorily even on faulty grid conditions.


Cancer chemopreventive effects of inositol hexaphosphate (IP6), a dietary constituent, have been demonstrated against a variety of experimental tumors, however, limited studies have been done against prostate cancer (PCA), and molecular mechanisms are not well defined. In the present study, we investigated the growth inhibitory effect and associated mechanisms of IP6 in advanced human PCA cells. Advanced human prostate carcinoma DU145 cells were used to study the anticancer effect of IP6. Flow cytometric analysis was performed for cell cycle progression and apoptosis studies. Western immunoblotting, immunoprecipitation and kinase assay were performed to investigate the involvement of G1 cell cycle regulators and their interplay, and end point markers of apoptosis. A significant dose- as well as time-dependent growth inhibition was observed in IP6-treated cells, which was associated with an increase in G1 arrest. IP6 strongly increased the expression of CDKIs (cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors), Cip1/p21 and Kip1/p27, without any noticeable changes in G1 CDKs and cyclins, except a slight increase in cyclin D2. IP6 inhibited kinase activities associated with CDK2, 4 and 6, and cyclin E and D1. Further studies showed the increased binding of Kip1/p27 and Cip1/p21 with cyclin D1 and E. In down-stream of CDKI-CDK/cyclin cascade, IP6 increased hypophosphorylated levels of Rb-related proteins, pRb/p107 and pRb2/p130, and moderately decreased E2F4 but increased its binding to both pRb/p107 and pRb2/p130. At higher doses and longer treatment times, IP6 caused a marked increase in apoptosis, which was accompanied by increased levels of cleaved PARP and active caspase 3. IP6 modulates CDKI-CDK-cyclin complex, and decreases CDK-cyclin kinase activity, possibly leading to hypophosphorylation of Rb-related proteins and an increased sequestration of E2F4. Higher doses of IP6 could induce apoptosis and that might involve caspases activation. These molecular alterations provide an insight into IP6-caused growth inhibition, G1 arrest and apoptotic death of human prostate carcinoma DU145 cells.


Magnesium alloy tailor-welded blanks(MTWBs) of AZ31 and AZ80 sheet had been manufactured by gas tungsten arc welded(GTAW), which the thickness were 0.8mm. The welding properties of Magnesium alloy sheet had been analyzed, and the technology parameters of GTAW were determined by experiment study, which was that welding thread being Φ2.0mm, welding electricity 50A, welding voltage 9V, welding rate 12—13cm/min. The research results presented that the grain in welded seam was isometric crystal, and the grains were branching crystal in heat-affected zone (HAZ). For MTWBs of AZ31and AZ80 sheet which the thickness was 0.8mm, the forming parameters were that the forming temperature of AZ31 being 190-220°C, and forming temperature of AZ80 being 310°C-350°C, and the temperature of tools is 180°C~200°C.


As global demand for data centers grows, so does the size and load placed on data centers, leading constraints on power and space available to the operator. Cooling power consumption is a major part of the data center energy usage. Liquid cooling technology has emerged as a viable solution in the process of optimization of the energy consumed per performance unit. In this data center rack level evaluation, 2OU (Open U) hybrid (liquid+air) cooled web servers are tested to observe the effects of warm water cooling on the server component temperatures, IT power and cooling power. The study discusses the importance of variable speed pumping in a centralized coolant configuration system.
 The cooling setup includes a mini rack capable of housing up to eleven hybrid cooled web servers and two heat exchangers that exhaust the heat dissipated from the servers to the environment (the test rig data center room). The centralized configuration has two redundant pumps placed in series with heat exchanger at the rack. Each server is equipped with two passive (i.e. no active pump) cold plates for cooling the CPUs while rests of the components are air cooled. Synthetic stress load has been generated on each server using stress-testing tools. Pumps in the servers are separately powered using an external power supply. The pump speed is proportional to the voltage across the armature [1]. The pump rpm has been recorded with input voltages ranging from 11V to 17V. The servers are tested for higher inlet temperatures ranging from 25°C to 45°C which falls within the ASHRAE liquid cooled envelope W4 [2]. Variable pumping has been achieved by using different input voltages at respective inlet temperatures.


The human hookworm Necator americanus infects more than 400 million people worldwide, contributing substantially to the poverty in these regions. Adult stage N. americanus live in the small intestine of the human host where they inject excretory/secretory (ES) products into the mucosa. ES products have been characterized at the proteome level for a number of animal hookworm species, but until now, the difficulty in obtaining sufficient live N. americanus has been an obstacle in characterizing the secretome of this important human pathogen. Herein we describe the ES proteome of N. americanus and utilize this information to conduct the first proteogenomic analysis of a parasitic helminth, significantly improving the available genome and thereby generating a robust description of the parasite secretome. The genome annotation resulted in a a revised prediction of 3,425 fewer genes than initially reported, accompanied by a significant increase in the number of exons and introns, total gene length and the percentage of the genome covered by genes. Almost 200 ES proteins were identified by LC-MS/MS with SCP/TAPS proteins, 'hypothetical' proteins and proteases among the most abundant families. These proteins were compared to commonly used model species of human parasitic infections, including Ancylostoma caninum, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis and Heligmosomoides polygyrus. Our findings provide valuable information on important families of proteins with both known and unknown functions that could be instrumental in host-parasite interactions, including protein families that might be key for parasite survival in the onslaught of robust immune responses, as well as vaccine and drug targets.


We consider optimization problems related to the scheduling of multi-echelon assembly supply chain (MEASC) networks that have applications in the recovery from large-scale disruptive events. Each manufacturer within this network assembles a component from a series of sub-components received from other manufacturers We develop scheduling decision rules that are applied locally at each manufacturer and are proven to optimize two industry-relevant global recovery metrics: (i) minimizing the maximum tardiness of any order of the final product of the MEASC network (ii) and minimizing the time to recover from the disruptive event. Our approaches are applied to a data set based upon an industrial partner's supply chain to show their applicability as well as their advantages over integer programming models. The developed decision rules were proven to be optimal, faster, and more robust than the equivalent IP formulations. In addition, they provide conditions under which local manufacturer decisions will lead to globally optimal recovery efforts. These decision rules can help managers to make better production and shipping decisions to optimize the recovery after disruptions and quantitatively test the impact of different pre-event mitigation strategies against potential disruptions. They can be further useful in MEASCs with or expecting a large amount of backorders. ⇤Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute †Corresponding Author, email@example.com


In this correspondence, we present a new reconfigurable implementation structure for quadratic digital filters using systolic arrays. The structure is based on matrix decomposition realizations and exhibits high parallelism, great modularity, and regularity. It is flexible enough to accommodate any quadratic filter of a given order and rank, just by opening a number of switches and tuning a set of parameters at each active module.


Defective HCO(3)(-) and fluid secretion are hallmarks of the pathophysiology of the pancreas of cystic fibrosis patients. Recently, impaired HCO(3)(-) secretion has been shown in most tissues known to express the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). New results suggest that CFTR plays an important role in the transcellular secretion of HCO(3)(-).


We discuss the concept of structural uniformity as a tool for model construction, and employ the recently proposed reverse Monte Carlo + invariant environment refinement technique (RMC+INVERT) method to create computer models of amorphous materials. We further develop the RMC+INVERT method, and apply it to model glassy GeO2, by jointly fitting partial pair-correlation functions rather than the total correlation function as in previous calculations. Then the technique was applied to model water–ice (a-H2O), for which the uniformity is imposed on the medium range order. For these two cases, we found that imposing spatial uniformity may significantly improve the atomistic model, and the RMC+INVERT method is shown to offer significant advantage over the conventional RMC technique for particular systems.


As a result of industrialization and population growth, wastewater generation is increased worldwide. Heavy metals and excessive Nitrogen and Phosphates in industrial and municipal wastewater impose detrimental effects on environment and human health. The treatment of wastewater prior to release to water bodies is a vital necessity. Phytoremediation is an economically viable and eco-friendly plant based technique used to clean up contaminated water. The potential of aquatic macrophytes in removal of nutrients and heavy metals in wastewater is revealed by several studies. Eicchornia spp., Pistia spp., Salvinia spp., Azolla spp. and Duckweeds have shown their capacities in the removal of nutrients and heavy metals from wastewater in many studies. The aim of this study was to investigate the heavy metal (Cr, Cu and Fe) and nutrient removal efficiencies of Salvinia molesta and Duckweeds (Lemna gibba) from industrial wastewater in an operational period of seven days. The samples were analyzed for Nitrates, Nitrites, ammonia Nitrogen, Phosphates and heavy metals at 24 hour intervals. Biological oxygen demand, Chemical oxygen demand and total kjeldhal Nitrogen were analyzed at 7 day intervals. According to the results, the average Total Nitrogen removal efficiencies of S. molesta and L. gibba are 73.34% and 62.18% respectively. The average Total Phosphate removal efficiencies of S. molesta and L. gibba are 72.63% and 77.28% respectively. The average Cr, Cu,Fe, Ni and Pb removal efficiencies of S. molesta are 81.66%, 69.81%,65.26%,66.39% and 74.85% respectively. The average Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni and Pb removal efficiencies shown by L. gibba are 86.99%, 69.77%, 73.10%, 61.87% and 85.74% respectively. The results show that these two species are suitable candidates for polishing wastewater prior to release to water bodies. Key words: Phytoremediation, lemna gibba, Salvinia molesta


Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common disease. One in five of the middle-aged population of the United Kingdom has evidence of peripheral vascular disease on clinical examination, although only a quarter of these people have symptoms1. PAD is a distinct atherothrombotic syndrome that is associated with an elevated risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events, including death, myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke2. In essence, PAD is an important manifestation of systemic atherosclerosis.

(SA Fam Pract 2004;46(8): 9-12)


Modern autonomous mobile robots require a strong understanding of their surroundings in order to safely operate in cluttered and dynamic environments. Monocular depth estimation offers a geometry-independent paradigm to detect free, navigable space with minimum space, and power consumption. These represent highly desirable features, especially for microaerial vehicles. In order to guarantee robust operation in real-world scenarios, the estimator is required to generalize well in diverse environments. Most of the existent depth estimators do not consider generalization, and only benchmark their performance on publicly available datasets after specific fine tuning. Generalization can be achieved by training on several heterogeneous datasets, but their collection and labeling is costly. In this letter, we propose a deep neural network for scene depth estimation that is trained on synthetic datasets, which allow inexpensive generation of ground truth data. We show how this approach is able to generalize well across different scenarios. In addition, we show how the addition of long short-term memory layers in the network helps to alleviate, in sequential image streams, some of the intrinsic limitations of monocular vision, such as global scale estimation, with low computational overhead. We demonstrate that the network is able to generalize well with respect to different real-world environments without any fine tuning, achieving comparable performance to state-of-the-art methods on the KITTI dataset.


Productive conservation, a sustainable development concept for the Amazon, ideally leads to economic development in rural areas with conservation of rain forest ecosystems. This study evaluates the human and environmental dynamics of productive conservation in Rondonia, Brazil, using as a case study beekeeping, which has been promoted by the World Bank-funded Rondonia Natural Resources Development Project. Promoters of beekeeping have given little attention to basic ecological or political economic issues that determine whether the practice contributes to ideals of productive conservation. While beekeeping can generate significant increases in household income, beekeeping cooperatives may become overdependent on donor funds. Once the flow of productive conservation donor funds stops, organizations may fail, making it too difficult for beekeepers to maintain their operations. Beekeeping does not lead directly toward rain forest conservation. Moreover, beekeeping almost exclusively employs introduced Africanized "killer" bees, commercially exploitable in the Amazon only because deforestation has temporarily created suitable habitats for them. Given the human and environmental configuration of beekeeping in Rondonia, the paper suggests ways to direct beekeeping toward accomplishing the goals of productive conservation.


Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Kimberly Hamilton focus on how France, Italy, and the United Kingdom are responding to the complex issues raised by immigration and asylum matters. They explore the often trial-and-error character of governmental responses to these issues, the absence of mainstream political- party leadership, and the growing disjuncture between initiatives motivated by increasingly restrictionist impulses and practical efforts to further the immigrant integration at the local level. A Volume of Carnegie's International Migration Policy Issues Series


Following an introduction focusing on the role of religion in the treatment of psychosis, the first part of this paper describes an initial study in which the role of spirituality and religiosity was assessed in 115 patients with schizophrenia in Geneva (Switzerland) and 126 in Trois-Rivières (Quebec). These themes have been shown to be highly prevalent for these patients, though their clinicians are often unaware of this prevalence. The following part of the paper presents a second study where religious supervision was offered to clinicians in Geneva. Comparison between forty patients who received spiritual assessment and opportunities to work on religious topics with their clinicians was made with thirty patients without religious intervention. In the supervisory sessions, six different types of religious interventions were suggested. Outcomes at three months show that patients of the intervention group maintain their interest for help in religious matters while clinicians' interest in integrating religious topics in discussions with their patients has decreased. The third and main part of the paper is devoted to an analysis of the suggested interventions from the viewpoint of the study of religions. Five aspects of religion are distinguished, and explanations of the reasons some of them are easier to manage for clinicians are proposed. The paper concludes with proposals for the education of clinicians to help them to differentiate different kinds of religious coping and to recognize when it could be helpful to refer the patient to a pastoral counsellor.


The application of input precompensators to flexible manipulators is considered. Frequency domain compensators color the input around the flexible mode locations, resulting in a bandstop or notch filter in cascade with the system. Time domain compensators apply a sequence of impulses at prespecified times related to the modal frequencies. The resulting control corresponds to a feedforward term that convolves in real-time the desired reference input with a sequence of impulses and produces a vibration-free output. An adaptive precompensator can be implemented by combining a frequency domain identification scheme which is used to estimate online the modal frequencies and subsequently update the bandstop interval or the spacing between the impulses. The combined adaptive input preshaping scheme provides the most rapid slew that results in a vibration-free output. Experimental results are presented to verify the results.<<ETX>>


Beach erosion during the last three decades in Calvi Bay, Corsica, is described and linked to a reduction of gravel and sand delivery from the Figarella and Fiume Seccu coastal streams. Recent assessment of bedload transport during a 1 in 2 year flood and stream bed changes evaluated from aerial photographs and field measurements (cross-sections, long profiles, sediment size analysis) show these streams deliver less and less sediment to the beach, thereby explaining its erosion. Two main causes explain this trend: (1) in-channel gravel-mining has been operated on these streams since the 1970's and (2) significant land-use changes have taken place in their watershed since the end of the 19th century. The gravel pits trap sediments and induce adjustments in channel geometry. An alder forest that colonized the gravel pit on the Fiume Seccu traps most of the sand delivered by the watershed and represents a major flood risk because vegetation encroachment has increased hydraulic roughness. The excavation in the Figarella measures 600 000 m 3 , corresponding to a channel degradation of 3 m. Channel degradation and armoring are also observed upstream and downstream of the excavation due to progressive and regressive erosion as a result of bedload transport disruption and downstream winnowing. The winnowing process has been very effective because bed material is heterogeneous. Field measurements demonstrate that less than 50% of the beach sediment deficit results directly from mining. Beach erosion is also linked to decreases in sediment delivery from the watersheds. Channel patterns have simplified even in the reaches which are not affected by mining. Braided channels have been replaced by single-bed channels and most of the channels observed in aerial photographs from the 1950's are now vegetated. Late 19th c. agricultural decline has led to land-use changes, croplands and pasture being replaced by spontaneous undergrowth and woods, reducing erosion and run-off. Beach erosion, due initially to watershed land-use and channel changes on coastal streams occuring since the late 19th century, and worstened by gravel-mining, is far from under control. As gravel pits will continue to trap sediments for several decades, decision-makers should favor natural or artificial solutions to increasing sediment delivery if they want to maintain the beach, essential to the local tourist industry.


While about a dozen transiting planets have been found in wide orbits around an inner, close stellar binary (so-called "P-type planets"), no planet has yet been detected orbiting only one star (a so-called "S-type planet") in an eclipsing binary. This is despite a large number of eclipsing binary systems discovered with the Kepler telescope. Here we propose a new detection method for these S-type planets, which uses a correlation between the stellar radial velocities (RVs), eclipse timing variations (ETVs), and eclipse duration variations (EDVs). We test the capability of this technique by simulating a realistic benchmark system and demonstrate its detectability with existing high-accuracy RV and photometry instruments. We illustrate that, with a small number of RV observations, the RV-ETV diagrams allows us to distinguish between prograde and retrograde planetary orbits and also the planetary mass can be estimated if the stellar cross-correlation functions can be disentangled. We also identify a new (though minimal) contribution of S-type planets to the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect in eclipsing stellar binaries. We finally explore possible detection of exomoons around transiting luminous giant planets and find that the precision required to detect moons in the RV curves of their host planets is of the order of ${\rm cm\,s}^{-1}$ and therefore not accessible with current instruments.


Background: One of the major causes of death in the current era is the infectious diseases. Aerobic bacteria are one of the most commonly isolated organisms from hospitalised patients. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to observe the infections caused by aerobic bacteria and their antibiotics susceptibility pattern. Methods: This retrospective study was carried out in the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) from January 2012 to December 2012 for a period of one year. Patients who were admitted in medical wards and medical ICU suffering from different infections were undertaken for this study. Proper thoroughly clinical examination, routine and specific investigations were done in each case. Microbiological samplings were tried on day 1, after completion of antibiotic therapy or in between as required. Aerobic bacterial culture and sensitivity tests were done according to clinical laboratory standard institute (CLSI) standard . Result: A total of 660 samples were studied of which male (70.0%) were predominant than female (30.0%). The highest number of patients was in the age group of 30-60 years (54.0%) followed by 15-30 years (21.5%) and less than 15 years (13.0%). The mean age with standard deviation was 38.61±19.236 years. The most common isolated bacteria was Escherichia coli (40.1%) followed by Pseudomonas species (30.4%), coagulase negative Staphylococcus (19.0%) and coagulase positive Staphylococcus (5.9%); however, beta-haemolytic Streptococcus (4.2%) was detected. Urine culture has yielded Pseudomonas species (13.3%), E. coli (71.1%) and CNS (15.0%). From pus Pseudomonas species (37.3%) was isolated mostly which was 62 cases followed by E. coli (31.3%), CNS (19.3%) and CPS (7.2%). Pseudomonas species was resistant to penicillin, amoxycillin and vancomycin and ~50% resistant to cotrimoxazole, cefuroxim, ceftriaxone, piperacillin, azythromycin, cephalexin, netelmycin and pfloxacillin. Conclusion: In the conclusion, majority bacteria are resistant to commonly used antibiotics. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/cardio.v6i2.18353 Cardiovasc. j. 2014; 6(2): 127-132