Computer-aided drug design uses high-performance computers to simulate the tasks in drug design, which is a promising research area. Drug–target affinity (DTA) prediction is the most important step of computer-aided drug design, which could speed up drug development and reduce resource consumption. With the development of deep learning, the introduction of deep learning to DTA prediction and improving the accuracy have become a focus of research. In this paper, utilizing the structural information of molecules and proteins, two graphs of drug molecules and proteins are built up respectively. Graph neural networks are introduced to obtain their representations, and a method called DGraphDTA is proposed for DTA prediction. Specifically, the protein graph is constructed based on the contact map output from the prediction method, which could predict the structural characteristics of the protein according to its sequence. It can be seen from the test of various metrics on benchmark datasets that the method proposed in this paper has strong robustness and generalizability.


Activities of the WHO-Shanghai Collaborating Center in Health Education are described. The Center is a joint venture between WHO and the Shanghai Health Education Institute and as such it is intended to have international significance. Its aims are to strengthen the impact of health education in primary care and to utilize effective health education technologies. Since 1956 the Center has provided guidance to districts and counties in the form of promotional materials for basic medical units trained health personnel and conducted health promotion activities. There are 70 staff in 5 divisions: publications art publicity administration and audiovisuals. Methodologies are both tested and used as a vehicle for human resource development by training health staff on the job. Some current projects include anti-smoking educational programs for workplaces incorporating baseline and follow-up assessments and production of media programs such as documentaries TV series short spots and video cassettes approximately 1 every 3 weeks. Several productions won national awards in 1986. An international exchange program with the University of California at Los Angeles was held to explore how the Chinese apply health education in the community. Consultation services are provided through WHO. Progress in health education in China is limited by the lack of translated literature on health education.


ABSTRACT The Tonganoxie Sandstone Member of the Stranger Formation (Douglas Group, Upper Pennsylvanian, Kansas) was deposited in a funnel-shaped, northeast-southwest-trending paleovalley that was incised during the uppermost Missourian sealevel lowstand and backfilled during the subsequent transgression. Quarry exposures of the Tonganoxie near Ottawa, Kansas, include 5 m of sheetlike, vertically accreted siltstones and sandy siltstones, bounded above and below by thin coals with upright plant fossils and paleosols. Strata range from submillimeter-thick, normally graded rhythmites to graded bedsets up to 12.5 cm thick with a vertical sedimentary structure sequence (VSS) consisting of the following intervals: (A) a basal massive to normally grad d interval; (B) a parallel-laminated interval; (C) a ripple-cross-laminated interval; and (D) an interval of draped lamination. The VSS-C intervals of thicker bedsets are characterized by climbing ripples that evolve from Type A (erosional-stoss) to Type B (depositional-stoss). Synsedimentary convolutions at the tops of many climbing-ripple sequences and a variety of water-escape structures indicate rapid deposition. The vertical sequence of sedimentary structures indicates each bedset was deposited by a waning current with significant suspended load. The Tonganoxie succession has many similarities to fluvial overbank/floodplain deposits: sheetlike geometry, upright plant fossils, lack of bioturbation and body fossils, dominance of silt, and a punctuated style of rapid sedimentation from suspension-laden waning currents. Missing, however, are thick clay drapes or evidence of prolonged exposure and desiccation, which generally characterize a floodplain sequence with seasonal overbanking. Physical and biogenic sedimentary structures--including tetrapod trackways, surface grazing traces, abundant raindrop impressions, wind ripples, runnel marks, runnel marks, and runoff washouts--indicate that subaerial exposure was periodic and brief, and may have followed each sedimentation event. Analysis of stratum-thickness variations through the succession suggests that tides significantly influenced sediment deposition. Strata ranging through three orders of magnitude systematically thicken and thin, recording the influence of an ebb-dominated, diurnal tidal system with a well developed semimonthly inequality. By conservative estimate of sedimentation rates based on neap-spring tidal cycles, the sequence aggraded at an average rate of approximately 3.8 m/yr. These unusually high rates appear to have prevailed for only a short time and were probably spatially restricted within the basin. A fluvial-to-estuarine transitional depositional setting is interpreted for the Tonganoxie by analogy with modern depositional settings that show similar physical and biogenic sedimentary s ructures, vertical sequences of sedimentary structures, and aggradation rates.


Convergence of pervasive technologies, techno-centric customers and the emergence of digitized channels, overabundance of user friendly retail applications are having a profound impact on retail experience, leading to the advent of 'everywhere retailing'. With the rapid uptake of digital complimentary assets and smart mobile applications are revolutionizing the relationship of retailers with their customers and suppliers. Retail firms are increasingly investing substantial resources on dynamic Customer Relationship Management systems (D-CRM / U-CRM) to better engage with customers to sense and respond quickly (Agility of the firm) to their demands. However, unlike traditional CRM systems, engagement with U-CRM systems requires that firms be hyper sensitive to volatile customer needs and wants. Following the notions of firm agility, this study attempts to develop a framework to understand such unforeseen benefits and issues of U-CRM. This research-in-progress paper reports an a-priory framework including 62 U-CRM benefits derived through an archival analysis of literature.


Cost-effective and reliable damage detection is critical for the utilization of composite materials due to the relatively localised nature of damage formation and the resultant reduction in structural integrity. Of the methods available, Acoustic Emission (AE) is considered as one potential technology for on-line and in situ monitoring of structural degradation of composite materials. Purpose of this work was to study the interaction between embedded PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) transducers and composite samples as well as detect and characterize the failure mechanisms in aramid/epoxy flexural test specimens using acoustic emission data obtained by embedded PVDF film sensors. Furthermore, it has been realized a comparison with surface mounted PVDF data. Results of our previous works (Caneva et al., 2005) dealing with monitoring tensile and flexural behaviour of glass/epoxy composites enabled to extend this methodology to aramid/epoxy composites. The use of Acoustic Emission and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) observations enabled to identify and understand the failure mechanisms of the composites tested. Furthermore, satisfactory results of this work highlighted that the application of PVDF shows promise as a suitable acoustic emission transducer for fibrous composite materials.


Knowledge of short term, task specific sources of exposure is becoming more important as, for many industries these represent the dominant source of exposure over the whole eight hour shift period. For solvents, workers can be exposed to very high peak or short term exposures, yet still be below the relevant occupational exposure limit. This article explains the importance of understanding short term exposures to solvents, and suggests that our appreciation of chronic ill health should go beyond total dose, and that any periods of high exposure should be controlled as far as reasonably practicable. It also shows that a better understanding of these exposures helps to target control measures and can reduce process running costs.


An innate immune response to bacterial and viral components is thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of cholangiopathies in case of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and biliary atresia. Biliary epithelial cells possess the Toll-like receptor (TLR) family which recognizes pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and plays a pivotal role in the innate immune response. In PBC, disordered regulations of TLRs and a negative regulator of intracellular signaling, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARgamma), with Th1-predominant cytokine milieu are involved in the pathogenesis of cholangitis such as chronic non-suppurative destructive cholangitis (CNSDC). Moreover, CD4-positive Th17 cells characterized by the secretion of IL-17, are implicated in the chronic inflammation of bile ducts in PBC and the induction of Th17 cells around bile ducts is causally associated with the biliary innate immune responses to PAMPs. In biliary atresia characterized by a progressive, inflammatory, and sclerosing cholangiopathy, dsRNA viruses could directly induce the expression of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and apoptosis in biliary epithelial cells as a result of the biliary innate immune response via dsRNA-recognizing receptors such as TLR3 and retinoic acid inducible gene I (RIG-I). Moreover, as a mechanism behind the sclerosing cholangiopathy in biliary atresia, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been proposed and the biliary innate immune response to dsRNA viruses is demonstrated to induce biliary epithelial cells to undergo EMT. Biliary innate immunity is associated with the pathogenesis of various cholangiopathies in biliary diseases as well as biliary defense systems.


Canadian provinces have parted ways when it comes to their share of public- versus private-sector investment, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute report. In "The Public Purse versus Private Wallets: Comparing Provincial Approaches to Investing in Economic Growth," author Philip Cross, former Chief Economic Analyst at Statistics Canada and C.D. Howe Institute Research Fellow, exposes what is driving investment in each province: business or government.


This thesis seeks to develop an understanding of hospitality businesses and their relationship with the environment, thereby developing the subject discipline by addressing an under-researched area. Specifically, it seeks to provide an empirically based understanding of the rationale and process behind the decision to adopt environmental management practices, with a view to encourage their wider adoption in the industry through the successful promotion of environmental initiatives.

Accordingly, the study addresses three main dimensions: the process of decision-making and the decisional factors leading to the decision; the rationale behind it; and the outcome of the decision. To suit the explorative nature of the investigation the research adopts an interpretivist, qualitative approach using semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with a sample of purposively selected owner-managers of serviced accommodation establishments in Scotland. Participating businesses were all members of the Green Tourism Business Scheme, an environmental accreditation scheme for tourism businesses.

The data is analysed following Crabtree and Miller's (1992) template approach to coding in the first stage of analysis, and a cognitive mapping approach based on Kelly's Personal Construct Theory (1955) in the secondary stage of analysis. The analytical software used for the development and analysis of cognitive maps is Decision Explorer. The trustworthiness of the study is ensured by addressing the four criteria of credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability.

The study found that the decision to adopt environmental management practices reflected a lifestyle choice, was driven by personal values and beliefs and influenced by a wealth of personal, socio-cultural and situational factors. Four distinct motivational groups were identified based on the emerging rationale for action: Profit-motivated Greens (financially driven), Practival Greens (both financially and ethically driven), Ethical Greens (ethically driven) and Holistic Greens (also ethically driven but to a greater extent). Variations in personal environment ethic, personal construct of environmental practices and the type of value attributed to action further distinguished respondents in the four typologies.

Attitudinal, operational and financial factors were found to act as constraints to further action. A range of intrinsic benefits (personal satisfaction and peace of mind) as well as extrinsic benefits (financial, operational and marketing) were acknowledged following adoption of environmental practices and participation in the scheme.

It is concluded that whilst promotion strategies should continue to promote the financial benefits of environmental involvement, equal consideration should be given to appealing to the moral conscience of individual business owners. Efforts should also seek to educate operators on action strategies and on the value of their contribution. A need for improved support and infrastructure is identified.

Finally, in order to attract participation, environmental accreditation schemes such as the Green Tourism Business Scheme, which provides the context for this study, must prove commercially beneficial to businesses. This, it is argued, can only be achieved through improved promotion, and consequently, widespread consumer recognition. Recommendations are provided as a basis for action in this direction.


The article deals with the use of verbal as well as physical violence in the days of the march on Rome. The hypothesis presented here is that there is an indirect rela-tionship between the two, even though they are strongly linked. In particular, ver-bal violence is shown not only as either an impetus or a legitimation for physical violence, but also as the means for removing its memory in the political debate, as it is shown by the example of Mussolini's speech at the Chamber of the Deputies of the 16th of November, 1922. Morover, great emphasis is put on the reconstruc-tion of the episodes of physical violence, in order to show the importance of the use of physical violence in the political process of the march on Rome, especially in the local theatres of fascist seizure of power.


Tumors of the renal pelvis account for approximately 7% to 8% of all renal malignancies, greater than 90% of these are of urothelial (transitional cell) origin. These tumors more typically occur in the sixth to eight decade with a slight male preponderance. Varying risk factors for urothelial carcinomas of the upper tract are recognized including environmental and occupational hazards, chemotherapeutic exposure, and previous history of urinary bladder or ureteral carcinomas. Tumor multifocality is frequent and additional tumors may arise in the ureter, bladder, or on the contralateral side. The histopathologic nuances presented by urothelial carcinoma in this region are generally similar to those in the urinary bladder. Though the World Health Organization 2004/International Society of Urological Pathology system used in the bladder is customarily also employed for grading of urothelial tumors of this region, its prognostic significance at this site is not entirely clear as most tumors are treated with nephroureterectomy irrespective of the grade of the tumor. Histologic grade may be an independent prognostic factor in papillary pT1 tumors; however, most pT2 and higher stage tumors tend to be nonpapillary and of higher grade. Despite advances in treatment modalities with sophisticated endoscopic techniques, tumor stage remains the most important prognostic factor. There are several confounding issues related to staging such as the variable presence and thickness of subepithelial connective tissue and muscularis in the renal calyces, renal pelvis, and the ureter; intratubular pagetoid cancer spread (pTis vs. pT3); and assessing invasion in papillary neoplasms with endophytic or inverted growth. Careful gross examination with adequate sampling and understanding the microanatomy of the pelvicalyceal wall are crucial for accurate stage assignment. Poor fixation of large friable tumors and processing artifacts may compound difficulties in accurate staging. This review focuses on urothelial carcinoma of the upper tract highlighting issues related to its diagnosis, staging, and reporting.


Epirubicin (EB) and topotecan (TP) are two major anticancer drugs that are used in breast cancer therapy with many side effects. In this research, we introduce a carbon paste electrode, modified with 1-butylpyridinium hexafluorophosphate and CuO nanoparticles (CPE/1-BPr/CuO-NPs), as an amplified sensor for the electrochemical determination of EB. The electrochemical behavior of EB was initially studied on the surface of CPE/1-BPr/CuO-NPs, CPE/CuO-NPs, CPE/1-BPr, and on bare carbon paste electrodes. The CPE/1-BPr/CuO-NPs showed two separate oxidation signals with a potential of 628 mV and 935 mV in the oxidation of EB and TP, respectively; these potentials are sufficient for determining them simultaneously. The linear response range was found to be 0.03 to 800 μM (R2 = 0.9972) and 0.7 to 800 μM (R2 = 0.9984) for the EB and TP concentrations, with limits of detection (LODs) of 0.008 μM and 0.3 μM, respectively. Finally, the concentrations of EB and TP were successfully measured by CPE/1-BPr/CuO-NPs as a voltammetric sensor in real samples.


This paper aims at presenting preliminary results of a survey on physical factors, namely tube potential (kV), tube current exposure time product (mAs) and compressed breast thickness (CBT) during voluntary mammography screening using Full-Field Digital Mammography (FFDM) System in Malaysia. Retrospective data were collected from 1128 FFDM images of 282 women from three major ethnic groups (Malay, Chinese and Indian) who underwent voluntary screening mammography at Breast Centre, International Islamic University Malaysia from January to March 2008. Results from the present study were then compared with results from the previous study on Screen-Film Mammography System (SFM) according to the ethnic group for both Cranio-caudal (CC) and Mediol-Lateral (MLO) views. We found that the mean kV for CC view for the three ethnic groups are Malay (28), Chinese (28) and Indian (28), and for MLO view are Malay (29), Chinese (28) and Indian (29). These values are higher than the kV for SFM which were Malay (26), Chinese (27) and Indian (26) for CC and Malay (26), Chinese (27) and Indian (26) for CC and MLO views respectively. The mean mAs for CC and MLO views for FFDM were lower compared to SFM systems. These values were Malay (104), Chinese (108) and Indian (91) for CC views and Malay (106), Chinese (105), and Indian (94) for MLO views for the FFDM system. The values for SFM system are for CC and MLO views were Malay (120), Chinese (106) and Indian (126), and Malay (166), Chinese (132), Indian (183) respectively. The median CBT for CC and MLO views increased by 27% and 7% respectively on the FFDM compared to the SFM system. In conclusion, the FFDM operates with higher kV, lower mAs, and higher CBT when compared with SFM system. Median CBT on CC and MLO view with FFDM system are 27% and 7% higher respectively compared to the SFM. We are currently collecting data on mean glandular dose with FFDM systems to assess how the change in local mammography practice influences this value. This will allow comparison with related data from other parts of the world.


Four sets of mono-element internal-Sn (MEIT) wires which have different Sn-Cu ratio and 1 at% Zr addition in one wire were designed and fabricated for investigating A15 phase formation kinetics of ND3 Sn superconductors. All samples underwent a 210degC/50 h + 340degC/25 h thermal duration for Cu-Sn alloying prior to the A15 phase formation heat treatment (HT). Four reaction temperatures of 650degC, 675degC, 700degC, and 725degC were chosen to study the temperature and time influence. All the heat- treated samples were examined by scanning electronic microscope for A15 layer thicknesses that were then plotted versus HT time at different temperatures and were nonlinearly fitted. Superconducting quantum interference device magnetization measurements were used to determine the inductive JC variations for the heat- treated wires. The obtained results demonstrate that the A15 phase growth is promoted by four factors: reaction temperature elevation, reaction time extension, Sn-Cu ratio enlargement, and the alloyed Zr addition. The phase formation kinetics of MEIT Nb3Sn superconducting wires is in agreement with Yn = K(T)t relation and the A15 growth exponent n is affected by HT temperature and Zr alloying.


The problem of fault accommodation in nonlinear dynamic systems is considered. Solution of the problem is related to constructing the control law which provides full decoupling with respect to fault effects. The logic-dynamic approach is used to solve the problem. The main features of this approach are: it involves known linear methods that results in possibility to solve the fault accommodation problem by existing programming systems without using the symbolic software and it can be applied both to discrete-time and continuous-time systems. Existing conditions are formulated and calculating relations are given for the control law. Theoretical results are illustrated by examples.


A dyad 1 comprising fluorescent rhodamine and photochromic azobenzene covalently linked through a phenylene bridge, which still retains their individual electronic properties, was synthesized. Gating between the fluorescent and photochromic properties of the dyad in the presence of external stimuli such as light or cations/anions or both paved the way for the development of new stimuli-responsive molecular materials. Among the several metal ions, Fe3+ ion was found to be selective in inducing the spirocyclic ring opening reaction of rhodamine, which can be witnessed through turn-on fluorescence. Fe3+-bound dyad 1 precluded the traditional trans → cis isomerization of remotely connected azobenzene and catalysed the spirocyclic ring opening reaction, which led to fluorescence enhancement by a factor of 640. The fluorescence enhancement originated from through-bond energy transfer upon excitation of azobenzene. Indeed, the turn-on fluorescence and optical changes upon UV irradiation indicated that this material can be used as a probe to monitor harmful UV radiation. The distinctly different responses of 1 concerning physical stimuli (light) and chemical stimuli (Fe3+ and F− ions) make this molecule a multi-addressable functional material.


Star-nosed moles have a well-developed somatosensory cortex with multiple cortical areas representing the behaviorally important tactile star. In each of three cortical representations, the 11 mechanosensory appendages from the contralateral nose are represented in a series of dark cytochrome oxidase modules. Here the connections of this complex cortical network were explored with injections of the neuroanatomical tracer wheat germ agglutinin conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP). The main goal was to determine the connection patterns of the somatosensory areas that represent the star. Injections of tracer made in or around the primary somatosensory representation (S1) of the star allowed us to determine the topography of local cortical connections and the projection and termination sites of corresponding interhemispheric connections. The results revealed precise topographic corticocortical connections reciprocally interconnecting the S1 star representation with its counterparts in S2 and in a third representation (S3) unique to star-nosed moles. Callosal connections from a widespread area of the contralateral hemisphere terminated primarily in the septa between cytochrome oxidase dark modules and in areas of cortex surrounding the star representations. However, midline structures of the star represented in S1 and S2 exhibited a high level of callosally labeled cells and terminals. This included label both within septa and within the centers of cytochrome oxidase dense modules representing midline appendages.


Despite the benefits of supplier integration (SI), research suggests such collaborative initiatives are inhibited by behavioral constraints. While studies tend to advance technical reasons that hinder SI, we draw from socio-technical system (STS) theory to suggest that the interaction among social, technical, and environmental features can give rise to behaviors that constrain SI. We conceptualize buying and supplying firms as two distinct social-technical systems and SI as a merging of technical systems across firms. We posit that behavioral constraints, which limit the realization of SI goals, arise when technical integration commences without appropriate a priori consideration for the social or environmental implications of technical changes. Our conceptual development not only proposes specific social processes that increase the likelihood of behavioral constraints during SI, but also suggests technical approaches to prevent them. Further, we identify salient environmental contingencies affecting the emergence of behavioral constraints. By extending STS theory to the interorganizational context, we contribute to SI research by offering a holistic view of SI and proposing ways managers can address the challenges that exist.


Characterization of the Wave Bottom Boundary Layer over Movable Rippled Beds by Sylvia Rodriguez-Abudo University of New Hampshire, May, 2011 Laboratory-scale observations of a two-dimensional near-bed velocity field were collected using a submersible PIV system. A quasi-steady approach was employed to characterize the observed wave-bottom boundary layer thickness and shear stress. Friction velocities, corresponding to f?e* =15 40, were obtained from a nonlinear least-squares regression of the velocity field averaged over individual half-waves. The regressions show zero-velocity elevations located roughly 1 cm under the ripple crests. The resulting Shields parameter is 0(1) greater than the reported threshold for sheet flow, even though bedforms persist. An unsteady analysis using the Double-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations show turbulent and wave-induced stresses dominating the total shear stress near the bed. Bedform-induced stresses are significant up to two ripple heights above the crests, while viscous stresses are negligible. The phase and magnitude of the total shear stress agrees with estimates inferred from a simple bedload transport model. Momentum imbalance below ripple crests is consistent with bedform acceleration.


This paper introduces an artificial neural network (ANN) approach for estimating monthly mean daily values of global sunshine duration (SD) for Turkey. Three different ANN models, namely, GRNN, MLP, and RBF, were used in the estimation processes. A climatic variable (cloud cover) and two geographical variables (day length and month) were used as input parameters in order to obtain monthly mean SD as output. The datasets of 34 stations which spread across Turkey were split into two parts. First part covering 21 years (1980–2000) was used for training and second part covering last six years (2001–2006) was used for testing. Statistical indicators have shown that, GRNN and MLP models produced better results than the RBF model and can be used safely for the estimation of monthly mean SD.


A System for Crowd Oriented Event Detection, Tracking, and Summarization in Social Media. (May 2013) Jason M. Bolden Department of Computer Science and Engineering Texas A&M University Research Advisor: Dr. James Caverlee Department of Computer Science and Engineering In this research thesis, we investigate new methods for crowd-oriented event detection in social media (specifically Twitter). Specifically, we describe, evaluate, and suggest content based methods of extracting features that define events occurring in social media streams. Content-based methods examine the appearance of event-describing keywords, topical words, in a stream of tweets. With these aggregated features, tweets are then clustered using a parallelized version of canopy and k-means clustering in order to find groups of similar tweets which represent events. Tracking of events through time is done by evaluating the similarity of events in consecutive time periods. The effectiveness of the feature extraction stage is determined by the relevance of tweets to one another in event summaries. Our experiments aim toward finding the optimal parameters for feature extraction and event clustering.


Backward compatibility is a governance strategy that can be adopted by platform owners to build indirect network effects and encourage owners of older compatible software to update to newer hardware models. Previous research shows backward compatibility has a positive effect on hardware sales. However, there is limited evidence concerning the other associated costs and benefits. In particular, there is a lack of evidence on the effect of backward compatibility on software sales despite its importance in understanding the full range of possible network and sales displacement effects associated with the strategy. Using weekly software-level sales data from the U.S. video gaming industry, we find that backward-compatible hardware associates with increased sales of software released for the previous hardware generation. However, we find that the introduction of backward compatibility may not increase the sales of new hardware if the feature is not available immediately at launch. Further, we show that the increased sales of software for the old hardware platform may cannibalize software sales for the new platform. Overall, our results suggest that backward compatibility is time-sensitive and involves several important trade-offs. We, therefore, conclude that the use of backward compatibility needs to be carefully considered by platform owners prior to implementation.


The modulation system is an important part in all communication networks including wireline and wireless networks. Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing/orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDM/OFDMA) and single-carrier frequency-division multiple access (SCFDMA) are representatives of multicarrier and single-carrier modulations, which are widely used in different communication standards, like WiMAX and Long Term Evolution (LTE). However, all existed modulation systems use the fixed symbol block length or fixed subcarrier number. In the adaptive OFDM system the subcarrier number is still fixed, and just the symbol constellation mapping schemes are adaptively selected based on the subchannel quality. In this study, the author introduce a new concept, namely time-varying symbol block or time-varying subcarrier number into the modulation systems to improve the system performance. The author call the new modulation system time-varying OFDM (TVOFDM), time-varying OFDMA (TV-OFDMA) for multicarrier modulation, and time-varying SCFDMA(TV-SCFDMA) for single-carrier modulation. Here, peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) is used as criteria to change the symbol block length timely. The algorithm for determination of the symbol block length is presented. The simulation results show that the time-varying modulation schemes can clearly reduce the PAPR values for both multicarrier and single-carrier modulation systems.


We consider a chain of anharmonic oscillators immersed in a heat bath with a temperature gradient and a time varying tension applied to one end of the chain while the other side is fixed to a point. We prove that under diffusive space-time rescaling the volume strain distribution of the chain evolves following a non-linear diffusive equation. The stationary states of the dynamics are of non-equilibrium and have a positive entropy production, so the classical relative entropy methods cannot be used. We develop new estimates based on entropic hypocoercivity, that allows to control the distribution of the positions configurations of the chain. The macroscopic limit can be used to model isothermal thermodynamic transformations between non-equilibrium stationary states.


ABSTRACT A total of 144 bottom dredge samples were collected on Cape San Bias Shoal and vicinity, west of Apalachicola Bay, Florida, in the Northeast Gulf of Mexico. On the basis of this investigation, four bathymetric-sedimentary provinces can be distinguished: (1) The Cape San Blas Shoal extends southwest approximately 14.5 km into the Gulf from the Cape. Characterized by a very rough ridge-and-swale topography, it can be divided into two general units by sediment type, mean grain size, and standard deviation. (2) A basin, located northeast of Cape San Blas Shoal and extending south to about 12.8 km offshore, contains very fine-grained sediments derived from the Apalachicola River. (3) To the south of this basin, and southeast of Cape San Blas Shoal is the ridge-and-swale province composed of a mixture of shell hash, medium to coarse sand and a low percentage of silt. (4) The shelf to the west of the shoal is basically composed of very-well sorted fine sand and shelly fine sand with some coarse sand on a smooth, gently seaward sloping topography. Thin mud layers, originating in Apalachicola Bay and transported around the shoal, overlie the sand in certain areas of the shelf. The doublet of geomorphic provinces consisting of Cape San Blas Shoal and the ridge-and-swale province are interpreted as a shoal-retreat massif. It was initiated as a cuspate delta of an Apalachicola River distributary during a low stand of seal level. At the present time it is maintained 'in line' through wave refraction, although sediment-budget calculations indicate that a shift to the east is taking place. The shoal grows landward through accretion at the base. Prominent cross-cutting depressions were initiated as spillways by hurricane-generated currents. Hurricane waves and surge-generated currents largely determine the ultimate shape of these provinces. Surface features of selected quartz grains were studied by differential-interference and scanning electron microscopy. The coarser grains of the shoal, ridge-and-swale and north shelf provinces, show V-shaped impact features and grooves characteristic of high-energy environments. The fine grained shelf and basin sands are smooth and relatively featureless. The sediments in the study area generally consist of a minor contribution of modern mud and shell hash, but mainly of quartz-sand which was originally laid down as a subaerial deposit during a low stand of the sea. Nearshore processes have produced from the original material the nearshore modern well-sorted, fine sand. This material is most prominent in, but not restricted to either the nearshore or the shoal regions of the study area. Lower Cape San Blas Shoal and the ridge-and-swale province consist of coarser sands with notable admixtures of shell hash. Although such sand is often referred to as relict, textural considerations and some (ill-developed) associations between textural parameters and topography suggest that the sediment continues to undergo transportational and depositional episodes, largely in response to hurricane conditions. The term 'palimpsest' is more properly applied to this kind of material.


1 Receptor autoradiography using (—)‐[125I]‐cyanopindolol (CYP) was used to study the distribution of β‐adrenoceptor subtypes in human right atrial appendage, left atrial free wall, left ventricular papillary muscle and pericardium. 2 The binding of (—)‐[125I]‐CYP to slide‐mounted tissue sections of human right atrial appendage was time‐dependent (K1 = 4.11 ± 1.01 × 108 m−1 min−1, K−1 = 1.47 ± 0.25 × 10−3 min−1, n = 3), saturable (42.02 ± 2.96 pM, n = 4) and stereoselective with respect to the optical isomers of propranolol (pKD (—):8.97 ± 0.02, (+):6.88 ± 0.06, n = 3). 3 The proportions of β‐adrenoceptor subtypes were determined in slide‐mounted tissue sections using the antagonists CGP 20712A (β1‐selective) and ICI 118,551 (β2‐selective). In right atrial appendage and left ventricular papillary muscle 40% (34–45%) of the β‐adrenoceptors were of the β2‐subtype. 4 Images from X‐ray film and nuclear emulsion coated coverslips exposed to (—)‐[125I]‐CYP‐labelled sections showed an even distribution of β‐adrenoceptor subtypes over the myocardium of the right atrial appendage, left ventricular papillary muscle and left atrial free wall. Sections of pericardium exhibited predominantly β2‐adrenoceptors. β2‐Adrenoceptors were localized to the intimal surface of coronary arteries. 5 The selective β1‐adrenoceptor agonist R0363 and β2‐selective agonist procaterol produced concentration‐dependent inotropic responses in right atrial appendage strips. Responses to R0363 were antagonized by CGP 20712A (pKB = 9.29) suggesting an interaction with β,‐adrenoceptors. Responses to procaterol were antagonized by ICI 118,551 (pKB = 9.06) suggesting an interaction at β2‐adrenoceptors. 6 The finding that a significant proportion of human myocardial adrenoceptors are of the β2‐subtype has important clinical implications for the involvement of these receptors in the control of heart rate and force, and the autoradiographic evidence suggests other roles in the coronary vasculature and pericardium.


There was a close link between education and development. Education played a vital role in human capital formation. Academic failure from university was a problem that had became a serious concern for higher education institutions. This study presented the result of a recent investigation at the University of Gujrat that attempted to identify the post enrollment factors that students perceived as having important influences on students failures in their university studies. Data was collected by using questionnaire. The Independent-Samples t-test procedure was used to compares means for two groups of cases. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was also performing to test the relationship among latent factor represented by the actual data from 100 drop out students of university. Finding indicates that male and female groups were significantly different in their perception of causes of academic failure, but perception of students from different programs Bachelors in science, Master in Arts and Science (BS, M.A/M.Sc) was not significantly different. In our estimated model class participation and lack of family support was directly affected on students drop out from university, but wrong choice of subject and change of system which was basically link with class participation and indirectly effect on students drop out.


Summary Microbiota colonize every accessible plant tissue and play fundamental roles in plant growth and health. Soybean stay‐green syndrome (SGS), a condition that causes delayed leaf senescence (stay‐green), flat pods and abnormal seeds of soybean, has become the most serious disease of soybean in China. However, the direct cause of SGS is highly debated, and little is known about how SGS affect soybean microbiome dynamics, particularly the seed microbiome. We studied the bacterial, fungal, and viral communities associated with different soybean tissues with and without SGS using a multi‐omics approach, and investigated the possible pathogenic agents associated with SGS and how SGS affects the assembly and functions of plant‐associated microbiomes. We obtained a comprehensive view of the composition, function, loads, diversity, and dynamics of soybean microbiomes in the rhizosphere, root, stem, leaf, pod, and seed compartments, and discovered that soybean SGS was associated with dramatically increased microbial loads and dysbiosis of the bacterial microbiota in seeds. Furthermore, we identified a novel geminivirus that was strongly associated with soybean SGS, regardless of plant cultivar, sampling location, or harvest year. This whole‐plant microbiome profiling of soybean provides the first demonstration of geminivirus infection associated with microbiota dysbiosis, which might represent a general microbiological symptom of plant diseases.


Geometers' Sketchpad (GSP) has been the official teaching and learning tool for technical subjects in the Malaysian educational landscape since 2002. However the usage varies from one educational institution to another, mostly influenced by the level of acceptance among the users. Though studies have proven the many advantages GSP has to offer in teaching and learning, there have been many accounts of poor implementation resulting in the tool ending up as a white elephant. Users' willingness to accept and adopt the tool have been identified to be the main reason for the poor implementation of GSP at schools. This study will investigate ways to ensure successful implementation of the tool. The objective is to construct an integrated success model that can serve as a guideline for a successful implementation of GSP at secondary schools. The model will consider constructs from Davis' Technology Acceptance Model and Tornatzky's Technology, Organization and Environment Framework. In consideration of the educational nature in which GSP is to be implemented, the Constructivism learning theory by Piaget will also be considered. Keyword: Technology Acceptance, Technology in Education, Geometres' Sketchpad


We investigate the effect of community-wide political and ideological interests on the failure rate of Israeli workers' cooperatives. Political order may be provided by the state or through membership in a federation. Independently, both conditions should reduce organizational failure, but when they coexist, the influence of the state should dominate due to its comparative advantages as a supplier of order. Organizations that represent rival ideologies cause ideological competition, which should increase failure, while organizations that represent shared ideologies cause ideological mutualism, which should decrease failure. The context of Israeli workers' cooperatives provides a natural laboratory for testing these ideas, as it spans the formation of the Israeli state. It also includes a powerful federation, the Histadrut, to which many cooperatives belonged, as well as significant populations of organizations representing both capitalist and socialist ideologies. The analysis supports all of the above arguments, indicating the relevance of interdependence, broadly defined, for the evolution of organizational populations.


The country of Iran was a powder keg of social unrest in the late 1970's as the regime of Shah, backed by United States, was on the brink of collapse. The world looked on as the government collapsed and the Islamic regime took over. Part of the new regime's anti-American strategy was to freeze all U.S. assets in Iran, as well as takeover western businesses. Investors were left with no recourse and massive losses. It was not until the government of Algeria became involved through international mediation that the United States and Iran began indirect negotiations to resolve these issues. The Algiers Declarations established a tribunal to resolve both claims from United States nationals against Iranians and vice versa. By far, the most controversial portion of this tribunal was the indirect expropriations decisions, which through analysis and understanding of such cases are found to be both inconsistent and unpredictable. This 30 year old situation is quite revealing into what may happen in other Middle Eastern countries with the collapse of governments from Tunisia to Egypt.

 Key words: Iran, United States, Claims Tribunal, indirect expropriations, International conflict.


In Reply. —Dr Kopans suggests that the conclusions of our article on the PPV of screening mammography are biased and more sweeping than the data justify, and that we have targeted women younger than 50 years. In fact, we did not make a recommendation for or against screening average-risk women younger than 50 years. We concluded that efforts to promote screening mammography should focus on women 50 years of age or older and on women 40 years of age or older with a family history, in whom the majority of breast cancers occur (78% in our study) and in whom screening mammography has the highest PPV. We also recommended that all asymptomatic women who request or are offered screening mammography should be told the likely outcomes of screening. In addition, our article provides data about the performance of screening mammography that clinicians may use to inform women of likely outcomes


Building an accurate and robust energy consumption prediction model is a core mission for the energy management and operation system of a smart building. Prior efforts have explored numerous predictive models in various load prediction scenarios. However, the joint effect of data augmentation and ensemble learning in energy forecasting has not been fully explored. In this paper, we propose a generative adversarial network (GAN)-enhanced ensemble model for energy consumption forecasting in large commercial buildings. The ensemble model aggregates five constituent models with a stacking ensemble method. In addition, we employ a GAN to learn the sample distribution from the original dataset and generate high-quality samples to enhance the training set. The augmented dataset allows a model to be trained with more diverse samples to increase its robustness. A series of experiments are conducted to validate the proposed method with three GAN variants using three performance metrics, including mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), and coefficient of variation of root mean square error (CVRMSE). Results demonstrate the GAN-enhanced ensemble models are more robust with consistent improvement in reducing the prediction errors. The best ensemble model, enhanced by the Information Maximizing GAN (InfoGAN), outperforms the model without augmentation by decreasing the average error by 1.71, 1.63, and 4.72%, in MAE, RMSE, and CVRMSE respectively, validating its piratical value for building an energy consumption forecasting model in a real-world system.


The recent Eurozone crisis and negotiations over bailout packages to Greece are more than a simple controversy about financial resources. They have a decidedly moralistic overtone. Giving more funds is thought by some to be unfair to hard-working taxpayers and does not teach Greece an important moral lesson. Yet much international political economy scholarship neglects such considerations. We build on moral psychology to understand the ethical drivers of both German support and opposition to the 2015 Greek government bailout package. We analyze original survey data to show how morality is an essential factor in Germany's hard-line approach. Our results show that caring and European attachment are associated with bailout support, while authority, national attachment, and retributive fairness drive opposition. Some morals also have boundaries: National attachment attenuates the effect of harm/care on support for foreign financial assistance but strengthens the effect of fairness on bailout opposition. Moral psychology helps us understand foreign policy but must be adapted to account for multiple potential ingroups.


Recent studies show that cholesterol-lowering therapy can reduce morbidity and mortality in hypercholesterolemic patients without preexisting coronary heart disease (primary prevention) and with coronary heart disease (secondary prevention). The high cost of treatment per event prevented, especially for primary prevention, raises concerns about widespread use of cholesterol-lowering therapy. Does cholesterol reduction reduce utilization of healthcare resources, and can society afford to pay for reducing cholesterol in all patients with hypercholesterolemia, irrespective of risk factors? Is cost-effectiveness of therapy affected by differing cholesterol levels, age of the patients, the duration of therapy, or the presence of risk factors? Current pharmacoeconomic studies support the use of the statins for secondary prevention, and primary prevention in high-risk patients, and provide key information for policy decision making in the treatment of patients with hypercholesterolemia.


This Position Paper explores some of the assumptions that underpin the dependence on physical WIL placements. The authors focus on the fundamental question of what exactly we are preparing students for – is it the workplace, or should we think more broadly about preparing students for the workforce? This raises other questions around the necessity of students undertaking placements in a physical workplace to learn what they need, as well as analysing what aspects of work trigger learning. Workplaces in many organisations are quite different to those of a decade ago, requiring different skills of their workers, and for some, there is no single physical workplace at all. Preparing students for this new paradigm requires us to rethink what kind of WIL experience will be most efficacious and potentially opens space for consideration of other options such as virtual WIL, project-based WIL, studio learning, and student designed start-ups. It is hoped that our thoughts and recommendations might challenge how academics and practitioners currently think about and deliver WIL, with a view to advancing new approaches to non-placement WIL.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the movement of 'Open Science' to foster research using Open Access Repositories: Perspectives of University Libraries of Bangladesh. OS movement has largely adopted in European countries recently but in low middle income countries like Bangladesh OS activities are moving slowly. Realizing its importance for university and research potentiality, university libraries of Bangladesh permitting OA to their content for internal and external members. This research attempts to explore the extent of OS activities through OA repositories and provides necessary recommendation for future development in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach – This paper begins with an overview of intellectual capital management strategies currently being employed by universities. It moves into a discussion of the impact of open science instruments in research to establish more vibration in open methodology. It closes with a set of recommendation in implementing Open Science in university repositories and plans to ensure that the research output of the university remains accessible over the long term. Data have been collected through survey questionnaire in preparing PhD dissertation in Dhaka University during the year of 2013. Informal interview with the senior professionals in the filed were also conducted and other part of this article has been adapted through intensive literature review and observation. Findings – The result reveals the fact that most of the public/government and private university libraries have failed to meet the requirement of open science concept. Due to insignificant research and field based educational activities there are huge lacking in generation of sufficient number of electronic content. Existing intellectual capitals are managed with some kind of open sourced library software without maintaining minimum standard and policies country wide. In maximum cases content has been preserved for the internal use rather than ensuring open access to the external users. Research limitations/implications – Academic libraries in tertiary level of education fall into many categories in Bangladesh. These are degree awarding public/government and private universities and colleges under National Universities and Intuitions and Open University. This research concentrates on public/government and private university libraries leaving all other categories. Strategic sampling has been made from 130 universities though a larger numbers of sample could have been produced better result. Practical implications – Draws a clear indication for adaptation of open science as an instruments of research development national wide and provides necessary suggestion for


Efficacy and safety of sumatriptan in rectal suppository (50 mg) and tablet forms (50 mg) in stopping migraine attacks has been studied in 80 patients with migraine with or without aura. Dynamics of migraine pain intensity measured with the VAS 30 min, 1, 2, 6 and 24 h after the first dose of drug was a primary index of efficacy. Secondary indices were the VAS intensity of nausea, vomiting, photophobia, phonophobia, duration of each migraine attack, quality of life parameters of a patient during the migraine attack assessed with the 24-hour questionnaire, severity of migraine course on the MIDAS, percentage of patients with complete regression of migraine pain, at least in 2 out of 3 attacks. To assess drug safety, any adverse effects, data of instrumental methods (clinical and biochemical blood tests, clinical urine test), EKG were taken into account. Rectal suppository had the more rapid effect on headache reduction compared to tablets. Changes of intensity of concomitant symptoms (nausea, vomiting, photophobia, phonophobia) as well as other secondary indices of drug efficacy were similar in both groups. In the group treated with rectal suppository, 9 (22.5%) patients had 12 adverse effects. In the group treated with tablets, 22 adverse effects were noted in 15 (37.5%) patients. Adverse effects related to the cardio-vascular system were observed less often in the group treated with rectal suppository (6.6 and 32%, respectively, p=0,004).


OBJECTIVE
This prospective cohort study evaluated the long-term efficacy and safety of 5 weekly intra-articular (i.a.) injections of sodium hyaluronate (Hyalgan) in 76 patients (92 knees) with moderate to severe osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee whose pain was not controlled by conventional measures.

RESULTS
Thirteen patients had a repeat treatment course. A total of 72% of patients achieved > 50% improvement (defined by physical examination and assessment of pain using a visual analog scale [VAS]) for 1 year or longer; 9% of patients failed to achieve > 50% improvement for any period of time. The duration of response exceeded 2 years in some patients. Total knee replacement surgery was avoided or significantly delayed in 15 of 19 patients who were considering surgery prior to the injections. Ten of 15 (67%) knees improved after a repeat treatment course. Local adverse events were minor and infrequent.

CONCLUSION
Intra-articular sodium hyaluronate was an effective and safe treatment for pain in difficult-to-treat patients with moderate to severe OA of the knee.


This study assesses how survey outcome distributions change over repeated calls made to addresses in face-to-face household interview surveys. We consider this question for 541 survey variables, drawn from six major face-to-face UK surveys that have different sample designs, cover different topic areas, and achieve response rates between 54 and 76 percent. Using a multilevel meta-analytic framework, we estimate for each survey variable the expected difference between the point estimate for a proportion at call n and for the full achieved sample. Results show that most variables are surprisingly close to the final achieved sample distribution after only one or two call attempts and before any post-stratification weighting has been applied; the mean expected difference from the final sample proportion across all 559 variables after one call is 1.6 percent, dropping to 0.7 percent after three calls and to 0.4 percent after five calls. These estimates vary only marginally across the six surveys and the different types of questions examined. Our findings add weight to the body of evidence that questions the strength of the relationship between response rate and nonresponse bias. In practical terms, our results suggest that making large numbers of calls at sampled addresses and converting "soft" refusals into interviews are not cost-effective means of minimizing survey error.


The precise mechanism of transcription termination of the eukaryotic RNA polymerase III (Pol III) has been a subject of considerable debate. Although previous studies have clearly shown that at the end of RNA transcripts, tracts comprised of multiple uracils are required for Pol III termination, whether upstream RNA secondary structure in the nascent transcript is necessary for robust transcriptional termination is still subject to debate. We sought to address this directly through the development of an in cellulo Pol III transcription termination assay using a synthetic biology approach. Specifically, we utilized the recently developed Tornado expression system and a stabilized Corn RNA aptamer to create a Pol III-transcribed RNA that produces a detectable fluorescent signal when transcribed in human cells. To study the effects of RNA sequence and structure on Pol III termination, we systematically varied the sequence context upstream of the aptamer and identified sequence characteristics that enhance or diminish termination. We found that in the absence of predicted secondary structure, only poly-U tracts longer than then the average length found in the human genome (4–5 nucleotides), efficiently terminate Pol III transcription. We found that shorter poly-U tracts could induce termination when placed in proximity to secondary structural elements, while secondary structure by itself was not sufficient to induce termination. These findings demonstrate a key role for sequence and structural elements within Pol III-transcribed nascent RNA for efficient transcription termination, and demonstrate a generalizable assay for characterizing Pol III transcription in human cells.


An alkaliphilic bacterium producing organic solvent-tolerant and thermostable alkaline protease was isolated from poultry litter site and identified as Bacillus coagulans PSB-07. Protease production under different submerged fermentation conditions were investigated with the aim of optimizing yield of enzyme. B. coagulans PSB-07 produced protease optimally at the beginning of stationary phase over broad pH range of 6.0 to 11.0 and temperature range of 30 to 50°C. The optimum enzyme production was at 37°C and pH 8.0. The media composition that supported maximum yield of protease (760.4 U/ml) contained sucrose (0.5%), peptone (0.75%), NaCl (0.05%) and MgSO4.7H 2 O (0.01%). The protease had optimum activity at 60°C and pH 8.0 with casein as substrate. The enzyme was stable over a broad pH of 6.0 to 12.0 and showed good thermostability retaining 91.4 and 50.5% of its original activity after incubation at 50 and 60°C for 60 min at pH 8.0 in the presence of CaCl 2 . The protease was strongly activated by metal ions, Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ . The enzyme showed remarkable activity and stability in the presence of all organic solvents studied except benzene. The exhibited properties of the protease suggest the suitability of the enzyme for applications in peptide synthesis, detergent formulation and bio-transformation in non-aqueous medium. Keywords : Alkaline protease, Bacillus coagulans PSB-07, organic solvent-tolerant, thermostable, production African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(21), pp. 3341-3350


Education is central to the development of individuals' capacity to be productive members of society; it is the key to individual freedom and to cultural, social and economic development. Implicit in this definition is that in the delivery of education, any practice or trend that obstructs either girls or boys, or both, from realising their optimum potentials and preparing them to play constructive roles in the development of their countries should be eradicated. However, girls and women continue to be systematically disadvantaged, as evidenced by inequities in school participation rates and the systemic barriers to their use of ICTs. Further, in some Commonwealth countries, it is becoming apparent that boys are underachieving in both performance and participation in increasing numbers. Both phenomena reflect a considerable waste of human potential, prompting the question "what is to be done?"

Presenters from Nigeria, India, and Jamaica will outline the challenges faced by men and women and identify examples of best practices, including the application of open, distance and technology-mediated learning (ODL) – what are the challenges for ODL? What can ODL offer? Participants will explore the broader social implications of these trends, identify strategies and make recommendations on possible new initiatives and interventions.

Presenters:
Dr. Jyotsna Jha, Advisor, Gender & Education and HIV/AIDS Social Transformation Programmes Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, UK
Dr. Sushmita Mitra, Director (Student Support Services), National Institute of Open Schooling, India
Dr. Nafisatu Muhammad, Executive Secretary, National Centre for Nomadic Education, Nigeria
Ms. Rukmini Vemraju, Programme Officer, Commonwealth Education Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), India
Mr. Mark Figueroa, Dean - Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of the West Indies, Jamaica

Chair: Ms. Helen Lentell, Education Specialist, Training & Materials Development, COL


Crassiphycus corneus (J.Agardh) Gurgel, J.N.Norris et Fredericq (Gracilariales, Rhodophyta) is a species with high-quality and high yields of polysaccharides and is therefore an important agarophyte on the west coast of the Atlantic Ocean. On the northeastern coast of Brazil, the populations of this species are mostly composed of individuals of the wild red color strain and by some individuals of the green color strain, the latter being scarcely studied. This work characterizes and compares the physiological performance of the wild red strain and the green variant under different temperature and irradiance conditions in the laboratory. The results indicate that the green and red strains are similarly tolerant to low temperatures (18 oC) but intolerant to high temperatures (35 oC). Both strains exhibited the highest growth rate at 25 oC and high irradiance (500 μmol photon·m–2·s–1). Under these conditions, photosynthetic rate and pigment content were similar in both color strains, but growth rates were higher in the red strain. Despite this difference, it is important to highlight that the green strain showed a growth rate of over 10%, which indicates that it could be used for cultures aiming to obtain products with added value.


Pressure sensors connecting with accelerometer and gyroscope through conductive, washable fabric, is designed into a dancing game to detect movements of a player. The firmware in microcontroller mounted on a belt can judge the player's movements with enough accuracy that the player would not be limited by conventional wires and resident equipments as used in other popular dancing games. This novel wearable entertainment system provides a mixed reality game interface in which users can dance through 3 Modes with increasing sophistication.


Adult males of the American rubyspot (Hetaerina americana) dispute riverine territories where females arrive to mate. On the wing basis, these males bear a red pigmentation spot whose area correlates with territorial disputes and mating rate: males with larger spots are more successful. This is explained by the fact that spot size correlates with fat muscular reserves which fuel flight during territorial intrusions. To further our understanding of sexual selection acting on the spot, here we have examined possible differences in three spot colour properties (red chroma, hue and brightness) in three distinct adult male ages [young, middle-aged (when males are more likely to defend a territory) and old], social status (territorial and non-territorial in middle-aged males), and under two potentially, energetically and costly situations: when faced with an immune challenge [comparing a nylon-implanted male group vs. a non-implanted male group in two ages, teneral (previous to colour formation) and middle-aged] and low diet levels (comparing a male set of middle-aged animals that received food ad libitum vs. a male set that received no food). Our results indicate no change in colour properties across any of these comparisons. Taken together, these and previous results suggest that only spot size but not the spot characteristics we measured here, is sexually selected in males of this species at least in terms of pre-copulatory male–male competition. That some of these colour properties have been related to male condition in other calopterygid damselflies cannot be generalized to the American rubyspot.


The vision of the Grid is to provide a computational infrastructure supporting flexible, secure, coordinated resource sharing among dynamic collections of individuals, institutions, and resources. The Grid involves access to computer systems and data outside one's own company or institution. Security is therefore a major element in any Grid infrastructure, as it is necessary to ensure that only authorised access is permitted. The early development of the Grid also largely failed to take account of operational realities such as network administrator responsibilities and network devices such as firewalls. We believe that the peer-to-peer community is also likely to face similar conflicts between its decentralized management approach and the day-to-day concerns of those entrusted to maintain our security. We have found that it is necessary to develop a radical solution to some of these problems, including "proxy-free" delegation models and semantically-aware firewalls. The challenge for computer system developers and operators is to allow legitimate users to go about their business, while preventing unauthorised users from perpetrating these various types of abuse.


BACKGROUND
Acute and delayed vasovagal reactions (VVR) are the most frequent adverse reactions (AR) associated with donations. The aim of this study was to provide the data of the Italian donor haemovigilance system and contextualise the VVR data within the international framework, as well as evaluating, among first-time donors, the association of gender and age and the prevalence of VVR compared to other AR.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The prevalence analysis was performed on VVR and other AR notified to the Italian haemovigilance system from 2016 to 2019. The analysis on the association of gender and age group and VVR prevalence was performed on first-time donations. The definitions and severity of AR were as set out in the 2014 ISBT/IHN international standards.

RESULTS
From 2016 to 2019, 34,519 AR were notified, of which 87.1% were VVR. The overall VVR prevalence was 25.0/10,000 donations and the overall prevalence of other AR was 3.7/10,000 donations. All the estimated prevalences of AR were higher for first-time donations than for regular donations and lower for whole blood than for apheresis donations. No difference was noted between whole blood and apheresis donations for VVR with complications or injuries. The prevalence of AR among first-time donors was higher in females than in males. The prevalence of VVR decreased as donor age increased.

DISCUSSION
The prevalence of VVR related to blood donation was very low and similar to those calculated by other haemovigilance systems. Among first-time donors, the prevalence of AR was higher in females than in males. The higher prevalence of VVR in young donors and a significant decreasing trend by age group confirmed the results reported in the literature. Finally, no trend by age group in first-time donors was observed for other AR to donations.


Humankind has noticed the harmful consequences of the limitless exploitation of the nature and the emergence of a variety of pollutants in his environment. The environmental crisis that today affects most countries has originated from the mental and spiritual crisis. Islam has its own definition of the nature and the governing world over humans and the man himself. Natural phenomena are divine signs (Ayahs) and have meanings and aims in connection with God and are the mirrors of God's attributes in addition to having divine origins. This matter may resolve the present environmental dilemmas through the adjustment of the man's epistemological attitude and ethical and training behavior. Examining the epistemological, cosmological and anthropological fundamentals, explanation of the meaningfulness and the purposefulness of the creation world, as well as paying attention to the man himself and creating responsibility in him toward the beliefs and values are among the strengths of the Islam's and some other religions' attitudes on the utilization of the available resources in the nature.


MapReduce is a simple and flexible parallel programming model proposed by Google for large-scale distributed data processing. In this paper, we present a design and prototype implementation of MapReduce for the Cell Broadband Engine® Architecture (CBEA). The MapReduce model provides a simple machine abstraction that shields users from parallelization and other distributed programming complications. The goal of this paper is to describe the tradeoffs in the design of the runtime and demonstrate the potential for high performance. We study the basic characteristics of the MapReduce model and identify three types of MapReduce applications: map dominated, partition dominated, and sort dominated. We evaluate our runtime performance, scalability, and efficiency for microbenchmarks representing each of these application types as well as for complete applications. We find that map-dominated applications map well to the CBEA and that our prototype sustains high performance on these applications. For partition-dominated and sort-dominated applications, we analyze runtime performance, identify sources of inefficiency, and propose several future enhancements to significantly improve performance. Overall, we find that the simplicity and efficiency of the model make it an attractive tool for programming Cell Broadband Engine processor-based platforms.


The use of Sonic Crystals as acoustic screens, usually called SCAS (Sonic Crystal Acoustic Screens) has meant a qualitative jump in the field of environmental noise protection. This technological achievement, developed over the last decade, has been accomplished in two steps: the discovery of the basic knowledge about physical principles underlying in the behaviour of these periodic systems and the development of technological procedures for designing and constructing this kind of acoustic screens in such a way that be competitive, under the acoustic point of view, with respect to the classical barriers. In this sense, among all the fields where these periodic systems can be applied, the one referred to acoustic screens has been the first where a device has been designed, patented, constructed and standardized with fairly good results. However, the development of specific software to design these devices in a professional way is a pending subject to introduce them successfully in the market. Following this line, in this paper we present an overlapping comprehensive model to easily design SCAS. The model has been implemented using the Finite Elements method and is based on the tunability concept, which establish that all the acoustic effects, involved in the design, act independently one from each other, and furthermore work constructively. This fact allows the design of barriers for specific purposes, assigning to each acoustic effect a predetermined range of frequencies where it has to work. An example in the use of this model is applied to the case of the reduction of diffraction at the upper edge of a SCAS.


'The International Conference on Hyperbolic Problems: Theory, Numerics and Applications', 'HYP2008', was held at the University of Maryland from June 9-14, 2008. This was the twelfth meeting in the bi-annual international series of HYP conferences which originated in 1986 at Saint-Etienne, France, and over the last twenty years has become one of the highest quality and most successful conference series in Applied Mathematics. The articles in this two-part volume are written by leading researchers as well as promising young scientists and cover a diverse range of multi-disciplinary topics addressing theoretical, modeling and computational issues arising under the umbrella of 'hyperbolic PDEs'. This volume will bring readers to the forefront of research in this most active and important area in applied mathematics.


For eighteen months, we have manufactured long lengths of multifilamentary superconducting wires, which comprise from several ten thousand to several hundred thousand 0.08 to 1 micron-diameter NbTi filaments. In these wires, the matrix between the filaments is made of pure CuNi and their structure provides a good magnetic stability and leads to strongly reduced 50 Hertz losses. Obtained results open very new prospects for applications of superconductivity in fast pulsed magnets and in A.C. current devices. In this paper we present results of 50 Hz loss measurements in these wires and we discuss the influence of the filament diameter upon these losses.


Silicon dioxide films; radio-frequency magnetron sputtering; annealing temperature Abstract. Silicon dioxide (SiO2) films are fabricated on single crystal silicon substrate by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering (RFMS) technique and annealed in electric furnaces at 800°C and 1180°C to form uniform, transparent and compact silica. The surface morphology and roughness of the films are characterized by an atomic force microscopy (AFM). X-ray diffraction (XRD) is employed to analyze the crystalline of the thin films. The chemical composition after annealing is analyzed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).


South African home users of the Internet use it to perform various everyday functions. These functions include, but are not limited to, online shopping, online gaming, social networking and online banking. Home users of online banking face multiple threats, such as phishing and social engineering. These threats come from hackers attempting to obtain confidential information, such as online banking authentication credentials, from home users. It is, thus, essential that home users of online banking be made aware of these threats, how to identify them and what countermeasures to implement to protect themselves from hackers. In this respect, information security awareness (ISA) programmes are an effective way of making the home users of online banking aware of both the threats they face and the countermeasures available to protect themselves from these threats. South African banks have to comply with certain legal requirements when implementing information security awareness initiatives. Non- compliance or failure to demonstrate due care and due diligence, should a security incident occur, will result in financial penalties for the bank as well as possible brand damage and loss of customers. Banks implement international best practice recommendations in an effort to comply with legislation. These include recommendations for information security awareness. This research proposes a framework which, predominantly, can be applied when determining and comparing information security best practice recommendations and information security legal requirements for online banking. The primarily aim of this paper is to investigate whether the implementation of best practices are sufficient to comply with legal requirements. A selected list of information security best practices was investigated for best practice recommendations while a selected list of information security legislation was also investigated for legal requirements imposed on South African banks. A gap analysis was performed on both these recommendations and requirements to determine whether the implementation of best practice recommendations results in compliance with legal requirements. The gap analysis found that the implementation of best practice recommendations does not result in compliance with legal requirements. Accordingly, the outcome of this research highlights the importance of applying such a framework in a comprehensive fashion to understand the legal requirements imposed and ensure that adequate controls are in place for achieving compliance.


Feed is the most expensive input in commercial pork production. In order to reduce feed costs, using high-fiber ingredients has become a common practice. Moderate levels of fiber can maintain intestinal physiological function and promote intestinal health. Oxidative stress is linked to impaired nutrient absorption and growth performance. This study investigated the effects of high-fiber (HF, 6% crude fiber) and low-fiber (LF, 3% crude fiber) diets on growth performance and intestinal oxidative stress parameters in growing-finishing pigs. Forty growing pigs (27.07 ± 1.26 kg BW) were randomly assigned to 2 treatments with 10 replicates of 2 pigs per pen. Pigs were weighed on days 35, 42 and 70. The feed intake was recorded daily to calculate growth performance parameters. On day 70, eight pigs in each treatment group were randomly selected and euthanized to obtain jejunum to measure oxidative stress status. Pigs fed an HF diet were heavier than those fed an LF diet on days 35, 42 and 70 (P < 0.05). During the whole feeding period, pigs fed an HF diet had higher average daily gain than those fed an LF diet (P < 0.05). The LF diet resulted in increased levels of malondialdehyde (P < 0.05) in the jejunum, suggesting that the LF diet contributed to oxidative stress in the jejunum. The LF diet also led to a significant increase in glutathione and oxidized glutathione levels (P < 0.05) in the jejunum, indicating that pigs fed an LF diet needed to produce more antioxidant substances to cope with oxidative stress in the intestine. This was accompanied by a significant increase in glutamate-cysteine ligase in the jejunum of the LF group (P < 0.05). These results suggest that the HF diet can improve growth performance and maintain intestinal health in growing-finishing pigs by reducing intestinal oxidative stress.


Mesoporous silica SBA-15 has been prepared rapidly under normal pressure by microwave irradiation method. The textural properties were studied by low-angle X-ray diffraction (XRD) and nitrogen adsorption-desorption. The optimum adsorption conditions of Pb(Ⅱ) on SBA-15 was investigated. The results show that the adsorption kinetics follows a pseudo-second-order rate model and the experimental equilibrium data is fitted well by Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The adsorption capacity reaches 50.10 mg•g-1 which is much higher than that of hydrothermal synthesized samples. This adsorbent has been applied in the determination of Pb(Ⅱ) in river sediments samples.


Cancer is caused by the accumulation of a critical number of somatic mutations (drivers) that offer fitness advantage to tumor cells. Moderately deleterious passengers, suppressing cancer progression, and mini-drivers, mildly beneficial to tumors, can profoundly alter the cancer evolutionary landscape. This observation prompted us to develop a stochastic evolutionary model intended to probe the interplay of drivers, mini-drivers and deleterious passengers in tumor growth over a broad range of fitness values and mutation rates. Below a (small) threshold number of drivers tumor growth exhibits a plateau (dormancy) with large burst occurring when a driver achieves fixation, reminiscent of intermittency in dissipative dynamical systems. The predictions of the model, in particular the relationship between the average number of passenger mutations versus drivers in a tumor, is in accord with clinical data on several cancers. When deleterious drivers are included, we predict a non-monotonic growth of tumors as the mutation rate is varied with shrinkage and even reversal occurring at very large mutation rates. This surprising finding explains the paradoxical observation that high chromosomal instability (CIN) correlates with improved prognosis in a number of cancers compared with intermediate CIN.


With the increase in the number of mobile users, the need for new type of services and applications is also on the rise. Particularly, a growing area of interest is to provide location dependent services to the mobile users. In this paper, we present a system that supports distributed processing of location-dependent continuous queries on distributed mobile data in a mobile environment using mobile agents. We investigate a scenario in which both the querying unit and the object being queried (target object) are capable of movement and the mobile unit is equipped with more powerful capabilities, including the storage of a small database and the capacity of data processing. Since our system deals with continuous queries, we propose a shared incremental update mechanism, which caches the results of the previously evaluated queries and avoids redundant results thereby minimizing the data traffic in wireless environment. To further reduce the data transfer we share the cached data among different queries. Our system uses mobile agents for evaluating queries, which involves data from both the server and mobile unit, and it helps in parallel processing of data and it, can efficiently track the mobile units involved in the system. The conventional query processing method like join processing of data from mobile units and server is directly applied in the mobile environment.


The purpose of this study was to examine whether an innovative, inclusive and integrated 12-week exercise, behaviour change and nutrition advice-based weight management programme could significantly improve the cardiovascular risk factors of overweight and obese men and women over the age of 35. One hundred and ninety-four men and 98 women (mean age = 52.28 ± 9.74 and 51.19 ± 9.04) attending a community-based intervention delivered by Notts County Football in the Community over one year, took part in the study. Height (m), weight (kg), fitness (meters covered during a 6 min walk) and waist circumference (cm) were measured at weeks 1 and 12 as part of the intervention. Changes in body weight, waist circumference and fitness for men and women were measured by a 2-way repeated measures ANOVA, with significance set to p < 0.05.Weight, waist circumference and fitness significantly improved over time in both men (4.96 kg, 6.29 cm, 70.22 m; p < 0.05) and women (4.26 kg, 5.90 cm, 35.29 m; p < 0.05). The results demonstrated that the FITC lead weight loss intervention was successful in significantly improving cardiovascular risk factors in both men and women. In particular, the weight loss reductions achieved were comparable to those seen in similar, more costly men-only programmes. This is the first study to demonstrate the efficacy of such an intervention in an inclusive, mixed gender programme and more specifically, in women.


This article examines the highly disputed policy nexus around what on the surface appears to be the helpful field of vocational education and training. Despite the promises of vocational education and training to deliver individual labour market success and global competitiveness, the reality is that it serves to residualise unacceptably large numbers of young people, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, by reinforcing the myth that it is acceptable to have the bifurcation in which some young people work with their hands and not their minds. Furthermore, vocational education and training by itself cannot resolve the fundamental causes of poverty, unemployment, and economic inequality. This article draws on Australian research to describe the insights from a critical ethnographic inquiry in which young people themselves are key informants in making sense of 'getting a job'; how they regard the labour market; the kind of work they find desirable/undesirable; the spaces in which they can see themselves forging an identity as future citizens/workers – and how answers to these questions frame and shape viable, sustainable, and rewarding futures for all young people, not just the privileged few.


Abstract The ever changing engineering curriculum mandates an emphasis on interdisciplinary projects. Through interdisciplinary projects, students will be exposed to a curriculum that allows them to work in teams of multi-disciplinary members with focus geared towards integrated technologies. This effort requires collaboration of students and faculty from multiple disciplines, and provides students an opportunity to learn from several other engineering systems. In addition, these projects will also help students to learn and deal with the societal aspects of engineering. The main focus of the paper is the interdisciplinary collaboration of electrical and mechanical engineering students on a senior capstone design of an integrated technology High Altitude Balloon (HAB) system. This project involves the design of a system with a smart high altitude balloon that would reach an altitude of 100,000 feet and return safely to earth. Major challenges in this project were the efficient design of wireless communication modules, and radiation heat transfer analysis on the payload system. The electrical and computer engineering students focused on wireless communication technology, control system design, and data analysis. The mechanical engineering students focused on the design aspects of payload, balloon filling mechanism, flight path prediction based on the study of wind data, and development of a balloon tracking system. Through this experience, students have learned principles of integrated engineering technology, and nurtured their skills in cooperative learning, team work, and effective planning. This paper presents in detail the modes by which these have been achieved, results obtained and improvements planned for the next senior design team.


MicroRNAs (miRNAs) modulate gene expression at post-transcriptional level, while their aberrant presence in circulation correlates with the most common human disorders such as cancer, neuro-degenerative and immune-related diseases. Currently, the pre-concentration of such important bio-markers present at low concentrations in biological fluids, which would make their identification and quantification easier, remains a challenging issue for biosensor-based non-invasive analyses. This paper describes a new nanostructure-based polymeric platform for enhancing adsorption capability of microRNAs, such as the cancer-associated miRNA-21. In this purification strategy, a nano-hole pattern was manufactured by Replica Molding (REM) and fabricated on Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) large-areas. Interestingly, the microRNAs adsorption is resulted favoured by this proper topography. In planning to concentrate the patient's miRNAs used as biomarkers, PDMS surfaces with nanostructures were not further coated with any adhesive molecules to prevent forced surface-biomolecule adhesive regions and evaluate the mere influence of the surface topography and the ionic microenvironment. Both the nanopattern and the solution ionic strength promote adsorption of miRNAs by a sensitive and efficient method, which do not need probe immobilization, enzymatic reaction or further treatments. These studies revealed a two-fold higher fluorescent signal after solid-phase purification protocol compared to standard PDMS obtained by spin-coating. While this paper focuses on nanostructure-miRNA adsorption, the general strategy of trapping miRNAs on nano-hole patterns should be broadly applicable for purification of other miRNAs through microfluidic biosensors and should have basic as well as clinical research applications.


This essay discusses the deployment of maternal imagery in the writings of Charlotte Smith, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Robinson, Mary Shelley, and Maria Elizabeth Robinson and situates it in terms of a Romantic-period idealization of the mother. It argues that for authors who were mothers, maternal imagery functioned both to validate and justify their writing, and to communicate a controlled image of themselves to their daughters and their readers. For daughters who both read and wrote, maternal imagery allowed the recreation of the (absent) mother in print. For both, the familial became a metaphor for the literary and a way of rewriting patriarchy, providing an alternative type of inheritance.


Lossy image compression allows for large storage savings but at the cost of reduced fidelity of the compressed images. There is a fair amount of literature aiming at restoration by suppressing the compression artifacts. Very recently a learned semi-local Gaussian Processes-based solution (SLGP) has been proposed with impressive results. However, when applied to top compression schemes such as JPEG 2000, the improvement is less significant. In our paper we propose an efficient novel artifact reduction algorithm based on the adjusted anchored neighborhood regression (A+), a method from image super-resolution literature. We double the relative gains in PSNR when compared with the state-of-the-art methods such as SLGP, while being order(s) of magnitude faster.


On January 28, 2016, the FDA approved eribulin (Halaven; Eisai Inc.) for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic liposarcoma who have received a prior anthracycline-containing regimen. The approval was based on results from a single, randomized, open-label, active-controlled trial (Trial E7389-G000-309) enrolling 452 patients with advanced, locally recurrent or metastatic liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma. Patients were randomized to eribulin 1.4 mg/m2 intravenously (i.v.) on days 1 and 8 or dacarbazine 850, 1,000, or 1,200 mg/m2 i.v. on day 1 of a 21-day cycle. There was a significant improvement in overall survival [OS; HR, 0.75; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.61–0.94; P = 0.0119, stratified log-rank] for the overall population. Estimated median OS was 13.5 months (95% CI, 11.1–16.5) in the eribulin arm and 11.3 months (95% CI, 9.5–12.6) in the dacarbazine arm (HR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.61–0.94; P = 0.011).There were no differences in PFS for the overall population. The effects of eribulin were limited to patients with liposarcoma (n = 143) based on preplanned, exploratory subgroup analyses of OS (HR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.35–0.75) and progression-free survival (PFS; 0.52; 95% CI, 0.35–0.78). Response rates in both treatment arms were less than 5% in the overall population and in the liposarcoma subgroup. The safety profile was similar to that previously reported for eribulin. The FDA determined that, based on the data reviewed, the benefit–risk assessment for eribulin is positive for patients with advanced, pretreated liposarcoma. Clin Cancer Res; 23(21); 6384–9. ©2017 AACR.


The Danish Local Government Reform in 2007 reduced the number of municipalities from 271 to 98 and the number of Regions from 14 to 5 along with major changes in tasks, finances and the equalisation scheme. One of the objectives of the reform was to realize administrative economies of scale. Measured by administrative costs, this article concludes that the amalgamated municipalities so far have not realized the expected administrative economies of scale. It is, however, also shown that the potential economies of scale prior to the Reform was inflated in a Reform legitimating process. Before as well as after the Reform, administrative economies of scale exist if analysing on administrative costs. Technically administrative costs by decentralised agencies, however, cannot be calculated and are therefore not included in the analysis. Basing the analysis instead on administrative personnel, including administrative staff employed at schools, kindergartens etc., the conclusion is that larger municipalities do not spend less resources on administration than smaller municipalities.


The reduction of particulate nutrient loads (nitrogen and phosphorus) has been an important objective for managers of Great Barrier Reef Lagoon (GBRL) catchments. These loads are believed to be dominated by non-point sources, but end-of-catchment load measurements provide little insight into the distribution and relative magnitude of pollutant sources within the catchment. This has led to a reliance on computer modelling to identify probable pollutant sources and to devise and compare management strategies to deal with them. The most common modelling approach used in the GBRL region is to compute spatially-distributed budgets of nutrient sources and sinks. The largest source is usually hillslope erosion which is calculated using a form of the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) and then assigned nitrogen and phosophorus contents to the soil based on values held in the Australian Soil Resource Information System (ASRIS). To this is added subsoil erosion from river banks and gullies where subsoil has traditionally been assumed to have spatially uniform phosphorus and nitrogen contents. We assessed the uncertainty in the most recently updated ASRIS GBRL soil nutrient data and the implications of using these data for modelling and management of particulate nutrient loads at spatial scales ranging from individual farms to subcatchments with areas > 1000 sq. km. Bias in the assumed subsoil nutrient content suggests that particulate loads of subsoil phosphorus may be underestimated by 14% whereas subsoil nitrogen loads are likely to be overestimated by a factor of three. Variability (expressed as std dev/mean) of surface soil nutrient content at a single sampling site was 34% for nitrogen and 21% for phosphorus. When considering variability within the smallest resolved spatial units (unique mapping area, UMA) in ASRIS encompassing four or more sample sites the results were 38% and 48% for N and P, respectively. This level of intrinsic variability in the observed data in combination with the relatively large size of a UMA makes it very difficult to discriminate differences in nutrient fluxes at scales much less than 25 sq. km with confidence.


To determine the effects of inclusion, at different levels of Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLM) in growing pig diets on pig's daily feed intakes (DFI), growth performance, feed conversion efficiency (FCE), haematology and plasma lipid indices, a total 24 pigs aged 2.5 months old were selected and assigned to 4 treatment diets (T) containing: 0% (T1), 3% (T2), 6% (T3) and 12% (T4) MOLM concentrations, each with 2 replications of 3 pigs. The DFI and weekly pig weights were monitored for 7 weeks, after which 2 sets of blood samples were drawn from 2 pigs per replication for haematology and serum lipid determination. The DFI for the T4 (3.16 kg) was significantly higher than T1 (2.90 kg), T2 (2.61 kg) and T3 (2.54 kg). Pigs in T2 had significantly higher daily weight gains (0.836 kg) compared to T1 (0.807 kg), T3 (0.810 kg) and T4 (0.810 kg) groups. Furthermore, pigs in T2 and T3 had significantly higher FCE (31.57 and 31.23% respectively) compared to T4 (28.05%) and T1 (30.31%). Inclusion of MOLM in the diet significantly increased haemoglobin concentration only to the level of T3 (14.70 g/dL) after which there was a reduction in T4 (12.70 g/dL). Higher mean corpuscular volume was also observed for T1 (60.0 fL) compared to T3 (52.30 fL). MOLM diet also improved the white blood cell counts; 16.70×109/L in T2 compared to 14.50×109/L from T1. Total cholesterol in T2 (2.80 mg/mL) were significantly reduced compared to T1 (3.90 mg/mL). This implies, MOLM at lower levels (<6%) in the diet improves haemoglobin concentration, white blood cell counts and exhibits hypocholesterolemic effects, thereby improving growth performance of the animals.

 Key words: Growth, haematology, Moringa oleifera, total cell count, total cholesterol, pigs


Leaders, as decision-makers, visionaries, and role models must be attuned to the needs of people and organizations (Greenleaf, 2002) and have a heightened ability to filter out the
proverbial noise and discern between the senses and the spirit. The purpose of this paper is to
present a discussion and literature review of listening in the contexts of servant-leadership,
otherness, and ethics. The review draws on literature particularly from servant-leadership (Spears, 2003; Greenleaf, 2002), deaf epistemology (Hauser et al., 2010; Holcomb, 2010;
Schriempf, 2009), and listening studies (Lipari, 2009; Schotter, 2009). Listening, it is argued,
must be conceptualized less as the processing of sound and more as an ethical imperative, i.e. opening the heart to otherness. Suggestions for listening activities as an application of the ideas presented are offered in the appendices.


We report the mechanical performance of the structure of sintered silver ink used in inkjet printing, having a particle size of 3-7 nm. Tensile adhesion pull-off testing together with the optimized related ISO and ASTM industrial standards were used. Adhesion testing of samples was performed at room temperature and in 50% relative humidity. Sintered silver ink adhesion patterns were inkjet-printed onto several substrates, i.e. PEN (Polyethylene Naphthalate), PI (Polyimide), and LCP (Liquid Crystal Polymer). To control the ink spreading surface treatment material was used and its effect on adhesion performance was investigated. To determine the effect of various sintering processes on adhesion performance, two different sintering procedures, at 250degC for 30 minutes and at 220degC for 60 minutes, were used. After the results from the initial adhesion tests had been recorded, new adhesion test samples were prepared and placed in the humidity chamber to subject them to moisture, during which the JEDEC Standard JESD22-A101-B Steady State Temperature Humidity Bias Life Test was used with a temperature of 85degC in 85% relative humidity. After this soaking, the mechanical performance of the test samples was investigated by adhesion pull-off testing and the findings noted. In addition, the test samples were subjected to tension tests using a DMA (Dynamic Mechanical Analysis) device in order to analyze the effect of the dynamic mechanical stress on them. The DMA tension tests were performed at a temperature continuously increasing from -60degC to 100degC. This testing was done on various inkjet-printed silver patterns. In this paper, the results of adhesion pull-off and of DMA testing are presented separately and the effect of each parameter on the mechanical performance of the inkjet-printed silver patterns is discussed.