Phase stability of 3 mol% yttria stabilized polycrystalline zirconia ceramics (3Y-TZP) was evaluated by aging test in water vapor environment and Raman spectroscopic technique. In our previous study, it has been confirmed that phase stability was improved by controlling sintering temperature. In this study, we pointed our attention and evaluated the influence of surface conditions related to machining and to heat treatment, thus monitoring the changes in phase transformation fraction and residual stress on the material surface. From the results of aging test, an increase in monoclinic fraction was observed for grinded surfaces as compared with polished surfaces. Samples subjected to heat treatment after machining showed improved phase stability. A Vickers indentation print was also introduced on a 3Y-TZP surface, and the relationship between surface condition and low temperature aging was evaluated in the neighborhood of the print. We found that the residual stress fields induced in phase-transformed areas were enhanced during low temperature aging, and that phase stability was improved by heat treatment.


Live Pasteurella haemolytica biotype A, serotype 1 isolates (n = 3) and Escherichia coli K-12, strain W3110, were reacted with bovine pulmonary lavage cell (PLC) suspensions. The comparative effects of the different bacteria on the functional and metabolic activity of alveolar macrophages (AMO) in the PLC suspensions were assessed simultaneously by use of 51Cr release, luminol-dependent chemiluminescence (LDCL), and AMO bactericidal assays. The bovine PLC responded differently to E coli, than to the 3 P haemolytica isolates in each of the 3 experimental test systems; however, responses to each of the P haemolytica isolates were not found to be significantly different. Unopsonized live P haemolytica cells adversely affected the functional and metabolic response of PLC, whereas there was no evidence of a cytotoxic (cytocidal) influence of E coli. A difference in 51Cr release for reaction mixtures containing E coli and P haemolytica was not detected at zero time; however, at each subsequent time, reaction mixtures phagocytically stimulated with P haemolytica had significantly increased amount of 51Cr release (P less than 0.05), compared with those mixtures containing E coli. Bovine AMO in the PLC suspensions were able to effectively kill E coli in vitro, but were unable to prevent survival and subsequent growth of P haemolytica. The luminol-dependent chemiluminescence profiles for reaction mixtures phagocytically stimulated with E coli provided evidence of sustained production of oxygen radicals with antimicrobial capabilities by bovine AMO in the PLC. Production of these highly reactive antimicrobial oxidants appeared initially in cultures containing P haemolytica but, subsequently, their production declined precipitously and ceased altogether.


The present paper is focused on the remarkable coins depicting on the obverse two face-to-face busts, one of them being a God and the other one – Gordian III or Philip II. An analysis is offered, approaching in detail the temporal and spatial aspects of the issues, which results in asking substantial questions so far left without any attention by the specialists: Why these issues were firstly minted under emperor Gordian III and not earlier? Why these issues happened only in the territory of ancient Thrace which was divided between two different Roman provinces – Moesia inferior and Thracia, and nowhere else throughout the vast Empire? Were the three mints with respective coins for Gordian III issuing strictly simultaneously, or was one of the three an actual forerunner? If a forerunner really existed, who was it: was it Dionysopolis, or probably Marcianopolis, or Odessos? What was the factor which allowed (or made) Mesambria issue obverses with busts of Philip Junior as caesar depicted face-to-face with Sarapis/the Great God, despite being part of the province of Thracia, not of Lower Moesia? What was the common between the mints of Marcianopolis and Tomis which allowed (or made) them produce the obverses with busts of Philip Junior both caesar and caesar aug(ustus), face-to-face with Sarapis/ the Great God? How meaningful is the uniformity of the obverses of the five mints here under discussion? Should we approach this uniformity as just a formal fact, or we are allowed to search for its eventual economic and political aspects? Some of the answers are too speculative, others are not available at all and are still expecting future finds to provide the needed information. An earlier English version of this study is included in the volume "Ex nummis lux".


Recently, Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have made unprecedented progress in various tasks. However, there is a timely need to accelerate the training process in DNNs specifically for real-time applications that demand high performance, energy efficiency and compactness. Numerous algorithms have been proposed to improve the accuracy, however the network training process is computationally slow. In this paper, we present a scalable pipelined hardware architecture with distributed memories for a digital neuron to implement deep neural networks. We also explore various functions and algorithms as well as different memory topologies, to optimize the performance of our training architecture. The power, area, and delay of our proposed model are evaluated with respect to software implementation. Experimental results on the MNIST dataset demonstrate that compared with the software training, our proposed hardware-based approach for training process achieves 33X runtime reduction, 5X power reduction, and nearly 168X energy reduction.


Aim To describe dietary habits and potential nutritional deficiencies in black African patients diagnosed with heart failure (HF). Methods and Results Dietary intake in 50 consecutively consenting HF patients (mean age: 47 ± 18 years, 54% female) attending a major hospital in Soweto, South Africa were surveyed using validated quantitative food frequency questionnaires. Food intakes, translated into nutrient data were compared with recommended values. In women, food choices likely to negatively impact on heart health included added sugar [consumed by 75%: median daily intake (interquartile range) 16 g (10–20)], sweet drinks [54%: 310 ml (85–400)] and salted snacks [61%: 15 g (2–17)]. Corresponding figures for men were added sugar [74%: 15 g (10–15)], sweet drinks [65%: 439 ml (71–670)] and salted snacks [74%: 15 g (4–22)]. The womens' intake of calcium, vitamin C and vitamin E was only 66, 37 and 40% of the age-specific requirement, respectively. For men, equivalent figures were 66, 87 and 67%. Mean sodium intake was 2 372 g/day for men and 1 972 g/day for women, 470 and 294% respectively, of recommended consumption levels. Conclusions The nutritional status of black African patients with HF could be improved by recommending healthier food choices and by reducing the intake of sweet drinks and excess salt.


Intervertebral disc (IVD) damage due to degeneration, trauma or inflammation is the main cause for lower back pain leading to morbidity and loss of function of the spinal column. Until recently the state of the art treatment for degenerative disc disease (DDD) was arthrodesis. Developments in vertebral arthroplasty enable degenerated disc to be replaced with prosthetic IVD devices while maintaining motion at the affected part. The ability of the intervertebral device to support the in vivo loading environment is critical for the clinical success of such devices. However, such properties are depended on the location and structure of IVD, as the mechanical properties of IVD change locally [1]. The objective of this study was to evaluate the in vivo tissue compatibility of a novel composite, made with poly 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (pHEMA), poly ε-caprolactone (PCL) and poly ethylene terephthalate (PET) in an animal model. In vivo qualitative and quantitative results at 6 weeks post intraosseous implantation in rabbit femur revealed that this hydrogel, in contact with bone tissue, showed no tissue damage at the implant-bone interface. This novel composite disc prosthetic material is biocompatible as bone growth was observed into the implant and there was no evidence of toxicity to bone or inflammatory responses at the peri-implant tissue.


Responses from working women (N=10 619) from 24 European countries (ESS R2) were analysed in this paper. The list of analysed characteristics comprised: female labour supply (measured as number of weekly hours worked) and a list of its potential determinants such as income, education, present life circumstances (children living at home, unpaid help available) and family background (whether mother was working when subject was 14) as well as beliefs regarding equal work opportunities between men and women. Results indicate that e.g. actual female labour supply does not coincide in most countries with women s expectations. In some countries women reported to work fewer hours than they would like and in other countries they affirmed they work more hours than they would prefer. The relationship between female labour supply and selected determinants was statistically confirmed.


The atomic and electronic structures of the Ag∕Si(111)√3×√3 surface are currently under debate. By employing angle-resolved valence-band spectroscopy, the surface band dispersions around the K point of the Ag∕Si(111)√3×√3 surface have been investigated in detail. Contrary to a recent study, we conclude that the S2 and S3 surface state bands do not show any detectable split at 100 K. Thus, photoemission spectra at both room temperature and 100 K show only a single peak at the K point without any direct evidence of a split. Calculated band structures for the inequivalent triangle (IET) model show a gap at the K point in contrast to the honeycomb-chain-trimer (HCT) model. We find, however, that there is no real contradiction between our photoemission data and the IET model provided the energy gap of the latter model is small as indicated by a recent calculation [ Phys. Rev. B 70 245431 (2004)].


Many advanced business applications, collaborations, and virtual organizations are based on distributed business process management. As, in such scenarios, competition, fluctuation and dynamism increase continuously, the distribution and execution of individual process instances should become as flexible as possible in order to allow for an ad-hoc adaptation to changing conditions at runtime. However, most current approaches address process distribution by a fragmentation of processes already at design time. Such a static configuration can be assigned to different process engines near runtime, but can hardly be changed dynamically because distribution logic is weaved into the business process itself. A more dynamic segmentation of such distribution can be achieved by process runtime migration even without modifying the business logic of the original process model. Therefore, this contribution presents a migration data meta-model for enhancing such existing processes with the ability for runtime migration. The approach permits the inclusion of intensions and privacy requirements of both process modelers and initiators and supports execution strategies for sequential and parallel execution of processes. The contribution concludes with presenting a conceptual evaluation in which runtime migration has been applied to XPDL and WS-BPEL process instances and, based on these results, a qualitative comparison of migration and fragmentation.


The main objective of the study is to assess VAT administration in Guraghe zone revenue authority. In doing so, the paper further assesses the VAT revenue performance to total revenue and the planed VAT. The study used both qualitative and quantitative research methods to collect and analyze both primary and secondary data. Questionnaires and schedule was used to collect primary data from employees and VAT registered respectively. Secondary data was collected from Guraghe zone revenue authority. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 was the method used for data analysis. The study paper discovered that lack of awareness about vat, Laws and procedures not clear and simple, Fraud off tax collectors and Unwillingness of tax payers to register for VAT  are the main challenge in Vat implementation and Consumers unwillingness to buy goods and services with VAT, Poor tax enforcement capacity of the authority, Use of fraudulent invoices and non-issuance of invoices and VAT tax payers are less competition in the market than non VAT tax payers are the main challenge in Vat administration process. The study also find-out that vat revenue is increasing from year to year and it will contribute a lot to economic growth of the country but actual VAT collection performance is not as the authority planed. The paper suggests that the authority should maintain intensified awareness creations programs and enforcement and it should teach the business community about the concept of VAT, the authority should increase the number of qualified employees, strengthen its controlling mechanisms, and improve its administrative systems, and the society should also have knowledge about the VAT rules and regulations and accept and obey the existing VAT rules and regulations. Key w ords : Value Added Tax, Tax Administration, DOI : 10.7176/RJFA/10-7-01 Publication date : April 30 th 2019


Plastic bottles and packaging made from poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) are ubiquitous, and plastic litter is a global problem, from the great Pacific garbage patch to the air we breathe. PET can be broken down and reused, but the process is not widely employed. In 2016, researchers discovered a bacterium that partially feeds on PET. The bacterium uses two enzymes: PETase converts PET to mono(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (MHET) and then MHETase breaks that product into terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol. Researchers at the University of Greifswald and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin have now solved the crystal structure of MHETase (Nat. Commun. 2019, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09326-3), showing how the enzyme closes around the substrate when it docks. After determining the active-site structure, the team made mutants that work at higher substrate concentrations and can break down another substrate, taking another step in the journey toward plastics biorecycling.


Background: To date, optimal strategies for the management of patients with cervical radiculopathy remain elusive. Preliminary evidence suggests that a multimodal treatment program consisting of manual therapy, exercise, and cervical traction may result in positive outcomes for patients with cervical radiculopathy. However, limited evidence exists to support the use of mechanical cervical traction in patients with cervical radiculopathy. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of manual therapy and exercise, with or without the addition of cervical traction, on pain, function, and disability in patients with cervical radiculopathy. Design: This study was a multicenter randomized clinical trial. Setting: The study was conducted in orthopedic physical therapy clinics. Patients: Patients diagnosed with cervical radiculopathy (N=81) were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups: a group that received manual therapy, exercise, and intermittent cervical traction (MTEXTraction group) and a group that received manual therapy, exercise, and sham intermittent cervical traction (MTEX group). Intervention: Patients were treated, on average, 2 times per week for an average of 4.2 weeks. Measurements: Outcome measurements were collected at baseline and at 2 weeks and 4 weeks using the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), the Patient-Specific Functional Scale (PSFS), and the Neck Disability Index (NDI). Results: There were no significant differences between the groups for any of the primary or secondary outcome measures at 2 weeks or 4 weeks. The effect size between groups for each of the primary outcomes was small (NDI=1.5, 95% confidence interval [CI]=−6.8 to 3.8; PSFS=0.29, 95% CI=−1.8 to 1.2; and NPRS=0.52, 95% CI=−1.8 to 1.2). Limitations: The use of a nonvalidated clinical prediction rule to diagnose cervical radiculopathy and the lack of a control group without treatment were limitations of this study. Conclusions: The results suggest that the addition of mechanical cervical traction to a multimodal treatment program of manual therapy and exercise yields no significant additional benefit to pain, function, or disability in patients with cervical radiculopathy.


In this article, we discussed a clinical problem known as cardio renal syndrome (CRS). In CRS, both, the affected cardiovascular system, either low output or high output failure leads to the renal dysfunction or vice versa. As already known, the heart failure is the leading cause of readmission in the US and worldwide. The patients suffering with cardiac failure need extra care, as they may develop various complications. Cardiac output is affected in heart failure and does have an impact on the renal function. High cardiac output and low cardiac output, both can lead to renal dysfunction. In conclusion, we will also highlight some information about the prevention of the renal damage associated with the CVS. However, future research is recommended to understand more about the exact pathophysiology involved in this association.


An outstanding challenge in the design of synthetic biocircuits is the development of a robust and efficient strategy for interconnecting functional modules. Recent work demonstrated that a phosphorylation-based insulator (PBI) implementing a dual strategy of high gain and strong negative feedback can be used as a device to attenuate retroactivity. This paper describes the implementation of such a biological circuit in a cell-free transcription-translation system and the structural identifiability of the PBI in the system. We first show that the retroactivity also exists in the cell-free system by testing a simple negative regulation circuit. Then we demonstrate that the PBI circuit helps attenuate the retroactivity significantly compared to the control. We consider a complex model that provides an intricate description of all chemical reactions and leveraging specific physiologically plausible assumptions. We derive a rigorous simplified model that captures the output dynamics of the PBI. We perform standard system identification analysis and determine that the model is globally identifiable with respect to three critical parameters. These three parameters are identifiable under specific experimental conditions and we perform these experiments to estimate the parameters. Our experimental results suggest that the functional form of our simplified model is sufficient to describe the reporter dynamics and enable parameter estimation. In general, this research illustrates the utility of the cell-free expression system as an alternate platform for biocircuit implementation and system identification and it can provide helpful insights into future biological circuit designs.


Sorghum is an important fodder crop and plays an important role in the Pakistan dairy industry. High yielding and superior quality sorghum varieties should be produced to meet the domestic needs. In arid and semiarid regions, drought is a major and serious constraint to sorghum production and adversely influences sorghum growth and germination. There are many approaches to combat the drought stress. Among these approaches breeding of crops contributes towards increase in yield under stress condition like drought stress by making the plant tolerant against stress. Ten genotypes of sorghum were evaluated at seedling stage to determine the genotypic variation among them on the basis of tolerance against drought stress and impact of drought on fodder quality. Three levels of water (100%, 75%, and 50% field capacity) were applied to the genotypes. The experiment was carried out in wire house following a triplicate completely randomized design with factorial arrangements. The data were re- corded after 20 days of sowing on following traits such as root and shoot length, root shoot fresh and dry weight, leaf area, crude protein, relative water content, total ash contents and chlorophyll contents. Significant differences were found among the genotypes for all traits. The genotypes NARC-11 followed by Sorgh-11 gave better re- sponse in all levels of drought stress while F-114 gave poor response in all levels of drought stress.


Characteristics of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase from normal liver, Morris hepatomas 5123C, 5123t.c. and 9618A, and host liver were studied. Animals were fed on control and 5%-cholesterol diets. Microsomal membranes from all tissues were found to accumulate cholesterol after 3 days on the 5%-cholesterol diet. The enzyme of the tumours showed no feedback inhibition by dietary cholesterol, and that of host liver gave a variable response, whereas that of control liver was constantly inhibited by 90% or more. Arrhenius-plot analysis was conducted on the microsomal enzyme isolated from the various tissues. Control animals showed that the phase transition present at 27 degrees C was removed when animals were fed on 5%-cholesterol diet for 12 h. The hepatomas failed to show this change even after 3 days of 5%-cholesterol diet and a significant increase in microsomal cholesterol. This failure to remove the break in Arrhenius plots also occurred in host liver, even though enzyme inhibition occurred. The reason why hepatomas fail to regulate 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase activity in response to dietary cholesterol may be a decreased membrane-enzyme interaction.


109 patients who underwent operation for formation of an aortocoronary shunt (ACS) were divided into 3 groups according to the method of introducing a cardioplegic solution and reperfusion. Thirty-five patients (group 1) underwent antegrade cardioplegia and direct reperfusion. Thirty-seven (group 2) were subjected to mixed antegrade-retrograde cardioplegia. Group 3 consisted of 37 patients with myocardial protection accomplished by the same method as in group 2, but retrograde perfusion was with warmed oxygenated blood through the right atrium was conducted before removing the clamp from the aorta. The effect of various types of pharmacocryocardioplegia on the appearance of new disorders of rhythm and conductivity in the early postoperative period after ACS formation was analysed. The frequency of sinus tachycardia was less in group 3 (24%) than in groups 1 and 2 (51 and 51%, respectively, p less than 0.05). We obtained no statistically significant differences in the frequency of other types of arrhythmias in these 3 groups. However, the number of transient bundle-branch blocks and disorders of intraventricular conductivity (8.1 and 10.8%, respectively) in group 3 was also less than that in groups 1 and 2 (p less than 0.05) and their regression was faster. We believe that combined anterograde-retrograde cardioplegia applied together with retrograde reperfusion with warmed oxygenated blood is most effective not only in protection of the conduction system of the heart but also in protection of the right- and left-ventricular myocardium.


OBJECTIVE: To determine ultrasound parameters associated with the need for clinical intervention after mifepristone and misoprostol termination of pregnancy. METHODS: Charts of patients undergoing medical termination according to a standard protocol in a 13-month period were reviewed. Endometrial thickness and the presence of gestational sac, fluid interface, or complex echoes on postprocedure ultrasonogram were recorded. Repeat doses of medication, surgical intervention, and complications were noted. Success was defined as an abortion completed after a single course of medical therapy. RESULTS: Postprocedure ultrasonograms were available for 525 of 684 patients. Endometrial thickness was measurable in 437 cases. The observed mean endometrial thickness was 4.10 ± 1.80 mm (range 0.67–13.4 mm). Endometrial thickness was inversely proportional to the number of days after initiation of therapy when ultrasonography was performed (r = –0.22; P < .001). The endometrium was thicker in the women who had failed than in those who had a successful medical abortion (6.15 ± 1.95 mm [range 3.35–10.0 mm] versus 4.01 ± 1.75 mm [range 0.67–13.4 mm], respectively; P < .001), but the wide overlap in endometrial thicknesses nullified the clinical usefulness of this difference. CONCLUSION: Endometrial thickness after administration of a single dose of mifepristone and misoprostol for medical termination should not dictate clinical intervention. The decision to treat should be based on the presence of a persistent gestational sac or compelling clinical signs and symptoms. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II-3


This modest chapter deals more particularly with the reliability and the problems of the different processes used at the level of several treatment plants installed in the Algerian Sahara with the aim of eliminating the nuisances and the risks of contamination in the urbanized areas, protecting the receiving environment and water resources, the possibility of reusing treated effluents for irrigation. Through an evaluation of the performance of these stations after years of operation which confronted with climates such as the high temperature and evaporation and the impact of the sand winds on the efficiency of the basin, technical and anthropic problems such as the salinity and mismanagement of the waters on the other hand.


Background Activins A and B, members of the TGF-&bgr; superfamily, are produced as part of the physiological response to tissue damage and the resulting proinflammatory response. Given that lung allograft reperfusion results in an inflammatory response, it is likely that the activins and their binding protein follistatin will form part of the regulatory response. There is a need to document the response of these proteins to allograft reperfusion to determine if there is a role for the use of follistatin to control the biological actions of the activins because some of these are potentially damaging. Methods Serum from 48 consecutive patients undergoing lung transplantation (LTx) was collected at 2, 6, 12, and 26 weeks post-LTx. The serum levels of activin A and B and follistatin were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and specific radioimmunoassays and compared with clinical events. Results Serum activin A and B levels were at the upper limit of the normal ranges at 2 weeks post-LTx decreasing thereafter to 12 weeks post-LTx (P < 0.05). In contrast, serum follistatin levels were unchanged between 2 and 12 weeks, with a late significant increase at 24 week post-LTx (P < 0.01). Patients with primary graft dysfunction had lower serum follistatin levels (7.7 vs 9.5 ng/mL; P = 0.04) and a higher activin A/follistatin ratio (13.1 vs 10.4; P = 0.02) at 2 weeks post-LTx. Conclusions Activin and follistatin levels vary with time form LTX and reflect a proinflammatory environment. Future studies will elucidate associations with chronic lung allograft dysfunction and the therapeutic potential of exogenous follistatin administration.


Nowadays, there are numerous arrangements of Integrated Systems of Agricultural Production, due, the particularities of each region and/or rural enterprise. The use of dual-purpose species such as, for example, BRS Taruma® wheat further intensifies the system, because there is plant-animal production in a short time. Study aimed to evaluate the production and chemical composition of dual purpose wheat pastures managed with different DAN during periods of spikelet terminal (ST) and anthesis (AN), aiming crop production (pasture and grain) and animal (milk and / or meat). The experimental randomized block design with five treatments (0, 75, 150, 225 e 300 Kg de N ha-1, in the form of ammonium nitrate) and four replications. The average biomass values before the first and the second grazing were respectively: 2,164 and 2,127 kg DM per hectare and the waste of about 824 and 1,772 kg of DM per hectare and the daily average accumulation rate between the two grazing DM was 86 kg per hectare at 17 day intervals. The variables, number of spikes per square meter, grain number per square meter, thousand grain weight, hectoliter weight and grain yield did not differ (P>0.05) between treatments. Nitrogen fertilization increases linearly (P=0.0017) the size of the spikes depending on nitrogen rates. For the linear variable layering increased (P=0.0001), indicating the susceptibility of the crop to high levels of nitrogen. The application of nitrogen fertilizer levels in dual purpose grazed wheat before the spikelet terminal stage and anthesis does not influence on grain yield variables. The nitrogen fertilization on wheat double purpose must be fractionated at tillering and after each grazing increasing the remobilization rate of nitrogen by culture.


Cholestasis in early infancy produces reactive alterations of liver parenchyma within the first weeks of life; histological examination of liver biopsy specimens may give hints as to the underlying disease. Differentiation of bile duct atresia and giant cell hepatitis at an early stage is especially important. Hyperplasia of the intrahepatic bile duct system can be due to rather different diseases. Congenital abnormalities of the duct system can be distinguished from reactive alterations only by early liver biopsy. Certain histological changes may give evidence of congenital or other metabolic disorders. Hemochromatosis of the neonatal period has been characterized morphologically but not as yet biochemically.


Type D personality, which encompasses two dimensions, Negative Affectivity (NA) and
Social Inhibition (SI), has been identified as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and its
link to other conditions has become a focus of research in recent years. The main study
objectives were to assess the psychometric properties behind the Type D Personality Scale
(DS14) in the Spanish population and to evaluate type D personality presence taking into
account sociodemographic as well as clinical variables. A total of 1257 subjects (41.1% men
and 58.9% women) participated in this study. Ages ranged from 18 to 80 years. The Spanish
version of the DS14 and a sociodemographic questionnaire were administered. Cronbach's
alpha coefficients for the DS14 subscales were .84 (NA) and .81 (SI). The original scale's
factor structure was replicated. Type D personality presence was 29.7% in the total sample
and 56.5% in patients presenting both hypertension and heart disease. The Spanish version of
the DS14 shows high internal consistency and adequate evidence of internal and external
validity when assessing type D personality


According to Munandar (2008), one of the factors associated with the occurrence of work stress is workload. Intrinsic sources of work include physical demands and task demands. The workload is one of the demands of the task that becomes a stressor at work. Munandar also stated that excessive or insufficient workload stimulates the stress. Hermansyah and Mardiani (2016) showed that workload is the cause of latent variables of work intrinsic factors. However, there was no significant correlation between the intrinsic factors of work (including workload) and work stress among the nurses in the hospital (t-count 1.33 <1.96). Prihatini (2007) research showed a significant correlation between workload and work stress in inpatient room at RSUD Sidikalang. The purpose of the study was to determine the correlation between workload and stress among the nurses in the hospital. This study investigated the results of research conducted and published in Indonesia from 2006 to 2017 using two online databases, namely Google Scholar and the University of Indonesia (UI) Library.This study was a literary review with meta-analysis method. Population in this research was all research regarding the correlation between workload and stress among nurses in hospital inpatient room which published in Indonesia from the year 2006 until 2017. Data collection was obtained from an online database, Google Scholar and the University of Indonesia Library. Data analysis involved test to determine Heterogeneity and odds ratio combination (OR)  with 95% confidence interval. The result showed that the percentage of nurse with a heavy workload that had stress was 62.4%, it was greater than 37.6% of nurses with heavy workload that did not experience work stress, and there was a significant correlation between workload and stress among nurses in hospital (OR 3.3 (95% CI: 2.3-4.7). It is suggested to Indonesian hospitals to transfer nurses from the heavier-workload ward to the less-workload ward so as to reduce the stress in the heavier-workload ward. Keywords : workload, work stress among nurses, and meta analysis. DOI : 10.7176/RHSS/9-6-04 Publication date :March 31 st 2019


Haptics, which in general refers to the sense of touch, plays an essential role not only in our perceptual construction of spatial environmental layout, but in the human ability to manipulate objects with one's hands [1]. As Lederman and Klatzky stated [2], vision and audition are recognized for providing highly precise spatial and temporal information, respectively, whereas the haptic system is especially effective at processing the material characteristics of surfaces and objects. Moreover, this sense reinforces other channels and, as Sallnas et al. [3] indicated, increases perceived virtual presence. The change from traditional user interfaces, such as the mouse and keyboard, to more modern ones, like touch screens present in mobile phones and tablets, have resulted in the loss of the perceptual keys that allowed their efficient use without visual guidance. In a keyboard, not only the shape and disposition of the keys are easily perceived by the user?s sense of touch, but also the acknowledgement of their activation. However, in a touch screen, the visual channel needs to actively support the user interaction. The industry has partially supplied this absence with vibrotactile feedback, which is present in almost every mobile device. Game controllers also benefit from this feedback, although with the different objective of enriching the user experience. Recently, the interaction has jumped beyond the screen, with depth sensors like Kinect, Xtion and Leap Motion. In this case, the lack of haptic feedback is even more noticeable, since the gestures occur in the air. This problem is not new. In fact, it has been present in VR for many years, where the challenge is to provide realistic sensations to the users. Many VR environments have stunning visual displays and high-fidelity sound equipment, whereas haptic technology is clearly behind. However, being able to touch, feel, and manipulate objects, in addition to seeing and hearing them, is essential to fulfil the objective of VR. Developing haptic schemes of interaction inherently requires the use of a physical device to transmit this kind of information to their senses. Many researchers have studied different ways to provide realistic sensations, and different companies have created complex devices including Phantom or CyberGrasp. However, the problem with these systems is twofold. On one hand these systems have serious limitations, like their reduced workspace or high cost, being suitable for a reduced field of application. On the other hand, commercial vibrotactile devices like CyberTouch have a fixed distribution of actuators (in this case, on the top of the fingers of a glove) and cannot be adapted to suit other applications or interaction metaphors. Moreover, solutions from the game industry like the Nintendo Wiimote or Logitech Rumblepad provide very limited haptic sensations, and they are not adequate for general haptic feedback. This lack of general purpose tactile solutions has led to many haptic researchers to build their own devices [4], [5], which is time consuming and far from optimal. As the sense of touch is distributed all over the skin, these devices are not focused on a single part of the body. It is possible to find haptic devices for the hands [6], shoulders [7], torso [8], waist [9], and even integrated in objects like seats [10]. Therefore, there is a need for a system that allows an easy connection and placement of tactile actuators to form an adaptable haptic display, so that it can be used in different scenarios. This system would be useful not only for any general purpose VE, but also for prototyping specialized haptic devices. Research contents This thesis aims to improve the haptic feedback on VE, including videogames and interactions beyond the screen. To this end, several objectives are proposed. First, it is important to study the psychophysical aspects of the sense of touch, as well as the different technologies available to provide haptic feedback. Once a suitable technology has been chosen, a prototyping platform needs to be built, which allows an easy development of different vibrotactile-enabled devices. This platform should be composed of an electronic controller and multiple actuators. In the software side, it would be important to design and implement a tactile authoring tool. This tool should allow the creation of tactile patterns associated to one or more actuators. Finally, different experiments should be conducted in order to assess the capabilities of the developed haptic platform to simulate different aspects of the sense of touch. Conclusion This thesis has investigated the use of vibrotactile technology, and more specifically, ERM actuators, to provide tactile feedback in virtual environments. As a result, the main contributions of the research are: ? An overview of the perception of the human sense of touch, and a deep review of tactile technologies available to provide tactile feedback. ? A hardware prototyping platform for vibrotactile feedback has been developed. It includes novel features like an scalable architecture, the support for a wide range of ERM actuators, the inclusion of two advanced driving techniques (overdrive and active braking), and a volume adjustment knob to suit the user preferences. ? A software authoring tool that, together with the hardware platform, can be used to easily design and test complex tactile patterns distributed along several actuators. It can be used to define overdrive and active braking pulses to exploit the hardware capabilities, and it provides an API library to reuse the designed stimuli from an external application. Other interesting features are the inclusion of a graphic representation of the actuators distribution, and the possibility to compensate the different sensibilities of the skin by adjusting the gain of each channel. ? A vibrotactile rendering method for rendering 2D shapes and textures through an ERM actuator, as well as an experiment to evaluate its performance when comparing it against a force feedback device and the bare finger. ? Two experiments have been conducted to identify regular 3D shapes without visual guidance. The first one was carried out with a multi-point force feedback device, while for the second one a vibrotactile glove built with the prototyping platform was built. To this end, an adapted haptic rendering algorithm has been developed, using a virtual hand model, and multiple collision points per actuator. In addition, an optimized collision algorithm for regular 3D shapes has been implemented to work in constant time. The results of these two experiments were compared with previous results found in the literature with single point force feedback devices. ? An experiment to assess the feasibility of transmitting an object's weight and size information to the user in a VE through vibrations. Three different methods for rendering the weight properties of the object were tested with a user evaluation.


New tools that require new thinking

The past decade has brought a range of electronic communication tools that promised to improve health care. As editors of this theme issue, we invited submissions describing how these innovations had lived up to their promise.1 These are our reflections on what we did and did not receive.

The editorial announcing our theme issue resulted in the submission of nearly 100 articles—more than has been submitted for any other theme issue. The snapshot they provide shows that new media and communication tools are already transforming the way in which we communicate, learn, and think. The expansion of the internet, the launch of personal electronic assistants, and the penetration of wireless networks are making new relationships between doctors and the public possible. At the same time, they are exposing the weaknesses of our conventional approaches to clinical care, education, and evaluation of new interventions.

We believe that we are just scratching the surface of the possibilities created by electronic communications. We can no more foresee the shape or extent of their effects on the health system than our ancestors could have foreseen the blossoming of science that followed the invention of the printing press.2

### Impact on health: where art thou?

Our original editorial solicited articles that shed light on how new electronic applications could improve people's health—yet many of the submissions reported process measures far removed from health outcomes. For example, several papers described clinical decision software but gave no information on whether its use actually improved patient care in practice. We discovered how new electronic tools are being used to perform old tricks (for example, data entry on to handheld computers rather than into paper records), but not adequate answers to the question, "So what?"

Many of the submitted papers reported plausible clinical interventions but were rejected …


This research focuses on the prophetic leadership style practised by the leadership of P2KK UMM. This leadership style is able to encourage, develop, and realize the excellent educational units that have quality education and other achievements. This research is a qualitative approach with a type of case study to understand the phenomenon of leadership, and data analysis was using Miles and Hubermann's interactive analysis. This research concludes that prophetic leadership contributes to the liberation of human resources from the confusion of status quo thinking. It arises based on the humanist style of leadership by prioritizing the achievement of goals that are in harmony with human and divine values. Therefore, in human resources, human consciousness and divinity are formed as the basis of their performance. From this awareness, it gave a chance to the performance of achievement in the form of motivation to build an excellent education unit.


Tremendous advances in image restoration tasks such as denoising and super-resolution have been achieved using neural networks. Such approaches generally employ very deep architectures, large number of parameters, large receptive fields and high nonlinear modeling capacity. In order to obtain efficient and fast image restoration networks one should improve upon the above mentioned requirements. In this paper we propose a novel activation function, the multi-bin trainable linear unit (MTLU), for increasing the nonlinear modeling capacity together with lighter and shallower networks. We validate the proposed fast image restoration networks for image denoising (FDnet) and super-resolution (FSRnet) on standard benchmarks. We achieve large improvements in both memory and runtime over current state-of-the-art for comparable or better PSNR accuracies.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Limited information is available on how weight loss intervention programs affect skeletal muscle mass especially in trunk.

METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN
A total of 235 overweight Japanese men and women aged 40-64 years with a body mass index of 28.0 to 44.8 kg/m2 participated in this randomized controlled intervention study. They were randomly divided into a lifestyle intervention group and control group. Before and after the one-year lifestyle intervention for weight loss an abdominal transverse image was acquired by computed tomography. The cross-sectional areas (CSAs) of visceral fat, subcutaneous fat, and skeletal muscle of rectus abdominis, abdominal oblique, iliopsoas, and erector spinae muscle were calculated.

RESULTS
The body weight changed by approximately -5% in the intervention groups. The corresponding values for subcutaneous fat and visceral fat CSAs were -10.8 to -17.5% in both sexes. The reductions observed in skeletal muscle CSAs were significantly less (-6.0% and -7.2% in the men and women intervention groups respectively) than those in fat tissue CSAs. The CSA of each of the four skeletal muscle groups also significantly decreased; however, after adjustments for body weight at each time point, only reductions in the iliopsoas muscle in both sex and abdominal oblique muscles in men remained significant.

CONCLUSIONS
The lifestyle weight loss intervention might reduce the relative amount of the abdominal skeletal muscles especially in iliopsoas muscle.


A newly recognized sequence of Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous(?) terrigenous rocks in the Good-springs district, Nevada, was deposited during the emplacement of the Contact thrust plate. Two facies are recognized: (1) interbedded conglomerate and sandstone derived from Mesozoic igneous and terrigenous platform rocks and (2) interbedded carbonate and sandstone-clast conglomerate, quartz sandstone, and red shale. No igneous detritus occurs in the facies with carbonate-clast conglomerate. Carbonate clasts could only have been derived from the Paleozoic carbonate sequence, which was exposed in the area by latest Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous thrusting. The age of rocks from a volcanic unit within the synorogenic sequence was determined radiometrically to be 150 ± 10 m.y. (K-Ar on biotite). The sequence was deposited disconformably on deeply eroded rocks of the early Mesozoic platform and ultimately overridden from the west by the Contact thrust plate. Information from the sequence corroborates previously reported regional data regarding the timing and nature of the Contact-Red Springs thrust event.


CLEAN is a history of the ideas and practices of personal cleansing and purity. It starts with world and Eurasian history, then focuses on Europe and finally, Britain. It takes a multidimensional and multi-temporal view of historical change, arguing that our universal bio-physical or animal cleansing mechanisms and grooming behaviour were gradually overlaid, on the different continents, by the human social history that began to emerge in the late Neolithic period. A developing culture and technology of cleansing can be found in the very early history of domestic habits, the early history of luxurious cosmetic adornments, the history of religious ascetic philosophy, and in later Greco-Roman medical science. In Europe after the fall of Rome, these different strands of thought and activity were resurrected via neo-classical science and health education, and \(in England\) via a radical Protestant, puritan, interpretation of physiology that underlaid the 'gospel of cleanliness' r
 eform movements in the 19th century. Cosmetic beauty care had a more chequered career, in the face of ascetic disapproval, but the skin-cleansing warm bath finally became widely available in the mid 19th century. The microbiological and macrobiological sciences of hygiene were fully incorporated into personal and public health-care during the first half of the twentieth century\; but as the MRSA outbreaks show, old-style hygienic technology is still required, while the so-called 'hygiene theory' suggests it may be possible to be too clean for our own good. The moral psychology of hygiene suffered an ideological post-war eclipse after the puritanical eugenics of Nazism, but has since been embraced by the global public in new forms – personal health regimes, green pollution ecology, food purity scares and ascetic religious fundamentalism. Meanwhile cosmetic care is one of the fastest-expanding areas of investment in the late 20th-early 21st century luxury trades. \


Family businesses are critical to the development of any nation ' s economy based on their potential to generate employment, develop local technology, and develop indigenous entrepreneurs. Family businesses also survive for relatively longer period compared to any other business. This paper therefore examined the nature of family businesses and the willingness of graduates to take up family businesses in Southwestern Nigeria. The paper elicited information from primary data. The study population consisted of all the National Youth Corps members that served in Southwestern Nigeria in the 2016/2017 set. Three states from the six in the region were randomly selected namely Osun state, Oyo state and Ekiti. An average of 2,000 Corps members were being posted to each state for a batch. There were usually three batches A, B, and C consisting of two streams 1 and 2 respectively in the Southwestern Nigeria. A purposeful sampling technique was used to select three hundred (300) respondents from the three states based on those who had family businesses. Findings revealed that more than half (59%) of the family businesses were into trading, while 21% were involved in production and 20% were into service businesses. The result also showed that 79% of the graduates were willing to take up their family businesses, while 21% were unwilling. Two factors were found to be significantly responsible for graduates ' decision in respect of taking up or not taking up family business. These were inaccessibility of fund (t= 9. 105; p<0.05) and lack of technical expertise/know how (t = 5.447; p<0.05). The paper concluded that availability of fund (46.9%), technical know-how (30.3%), and government policies (13%) were critical factors stimulating graduates ' willingness in succeeding family business.


The decoherent histories approach is a natural medium in which to ad-dress problems in quantum theory which involve time in a non-trivial way. This article reviews the various attempts and difficulties involved in using the decoherent histories approach to calculate the probability for crossing the surface x = 0 during a finite interval of time. The commonly encoun-tered difficulties in assigning crossing times arise here as difficulties in sat-isfying the consistency (no-interference) condition. This can be overcome by introducing an environment to produce decoherence, and probabilities exhibiting the expected classical limit are obtained. The probabilities are, however, dependent to some degree on the decohering environment. The results are compared with a recently proposed irreversible detector model. A third method is introduced, involving continuous quantum measurement theory. Some closely related work on the interpretation of the wave function in quantum cosmology is described.


Infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy and mass spectrometry have been simultaneously applied to dusty radiofrequency (RF) plasmas in methane, acetylene and ethylene. The combination of IR absorption spectroscopy and mass spectrometry allows the chemical composition and structure of the most relevant plasma-produced neutral species, the ionic plasma composition and the chemical composition of the nanometer-sized particles to be precisely identified. The production of acetylenic compounds (C2Hx) seems to be a key mechanism for the powder formation in all the investigated hydrocarbon plasmas. Electron attachment to acetylenic compounds and the following ion-neutral reactions might lead to the high-mass carbon anions, which are trapped in the plasma and finally end in powder formation. The hydrogenation of the monomer strongly influences the composition of the ions. Finally the composition of the plasma-produced particles is mainly sp3 bonded carbon and the infrared spectra show similarities to that of polyethylene.


This research aims at highlighting the reality of the Algerian tourism as well as the steps that adopted by the Algerian country in order to promote this sector, within the framework of the guideline Plan for the Development of Algerian Tourism by 2030 "SDAT". Also, we discussed a mechanism of tourism development through the adoption of a quality plan Tourism Algeria «PQTA» « Plan Quality Tourism Algérie», which is a national dynamic that works to raise the quality levels of tourism services by engaging in this plan and obtaining the tourist quality mark. at last, a set of results were reached about the adoption of this plan by Tourist institutions such as restaurants, hotels and travel agencies ...ext, and finally we proposed some recommendations for the advancement and promotion of the tourism sector


There is an increasing trend of using various types of nanostructures as components of solar cells. This highlights the need to gain a deeper understanding of the nanoscale interface in such devices. The present thesis aims to study individual photoactive junctions as the elementary functional unit of bulk photovoltaic devices, and exploit the gained knowledge toward further improving the solar cells' efficiency. Along this direction, Schottky-contacts to cadmium sulphide nanowires were thoroughly studied using scanning photocurrent microscopy (SPCM). In conjunction with theoretical simulations of the measured photocurrent profiles, it was found that charge carriers can be very efficiently extracted out of a few micrometer long nanowire segments below the metal contact. Moreover, the carrier combination rate in this section could be determined as a function of an applied bias or backgate voltage. These findings provide valuable clues about how electric fields are distributed within semiconductor nanowire-based devices. Moreover, SPCM was employed to explore the local photoresponse along graphene/CdS heterojunctions, representing a first step toward implementing graphene as an active acceptor material into solar cells. The short circuit current of such devices could be enhanced by two orders of magnitudes through chemical tailoring of the graphene-CdS interface. In addition, evidence was obtained that surface plasmon excitation in the metal contacts can make significant contributions to the generated photocurrent. This effect was exploited in the fabrication of novel surface plasmon detectors, which support different plasmon modes depending on the polarization direction of the incoming light. Finally, it was attempted to realize photovoltaic devices comprising a pn-junction implemented into a π-conjugated organic polymer. While the electric-field assisted exciton dissociation in this system could be successfully modelled in the framework of the Braun-Onsager model, photoinduced charge separation at the interface between differently gated regions of the polymer could not be achieved due to insufficient electron conduction of the material.


The purpose of this paper is to establish L^p error estimates, a Bernstein inequality, and inverse theorems for approximation by a space comprising spherical basis functions located at scattered sites on the unit n-sphere. In particular, the Bernstein inequality estimates L^p Bessel-potential Sobolev norms of functions in this space in terms of the minimal separation and the L^p norm of the function itself. An important step in its proof involves measuring the L^p stability of functions in the approximating space in terms of the l^p norm of the coefficients involved. As an application of the Bernstein inequality, we derive inverse theorems for SBF approximation in the L^P norm. Finally, we give a new characterization of Besov spaces on the n-sphere in terms of spaces of SBFs.


The primary purpose of modeling lactation is to predict the dairy cow's average daily milk yield with minimal error, after adjusting for various environmental factors. While empirical and mechanistic models have been commonly utilised to model the lactation profile of dairy cows, random regression procedures of Legendre polynomials and cubic splines are increasingly being used. The objectives of this study were to compare the lactation profiles and performance of dairy cows on dryland versus irrigated pastures at different stocking rates with or without grain supplementation using cubic splines model. Cubic splines adequately modelled the bi-weekly milk yield data with low residuals and uncorrelated coefficients attributable to the great flexibility of the model. Without supplementation, mean milk yield did not differ, but was slightly higher in cows grazing at 2.5-3.5 cows/ha stocking rate (SR) compared to cows stocked below at 2.0 c/ha and above at 4.0 c/ha (Figure 1). Irrespective of SR, cows on irrigated pasture had higher peaks except those stocked at 4.0 c/ha. Pasture allocation significantly (p<0.05) increased the rise to peak milk yield in cows stocked at lower stocking rates (2.4-2.5 c/ha) compared to those on 2.8-3.5 c/ha but the latter were more persistent and had higher predicted total milk yields. The results demonstrated the accuracy of cubic splines in modeling lactation and that higher stocking rates can improve the efficiency of pasture utilisation when coupled with adequate grain supplementation.


The Antarctic-Arctic Radiation-belt (Dynamic) Deposition VLF Atmospheric Research Konsortium (AARDDVARK) provides a network of continuous long-range observations of the lower-ionosphere in the polar regions. Our ultimate aim is to develop the network of sensors to detect changes in ionization levels from ~30-90 km altitude, globally, continuously, and with high time resolution, with the goal of increasing the understanding of energy coupling between the Earth's atmosphere, the Sun, and space. This science area impacts our knowledge of space weather processes, global atmospheric change, communications, and navigation. The joint New Zealand-United Kingdom AARDDVARK is a new extension of a well-established experimental technique, allowing long-range probing of ionization changes at comparatively low altitudes. Most other instruments which can probe the same altitudes are limited to essentially overhead measurements. At this stage AARDDVARK is essentially unique, as similar systems are only deployed at a regional level. The AARDDVARK network has contributed to the scientific understanding of a growing list of space weather science topics including solar proton events, the descent of NOx into the middle atmosphere, substorms, precipitation of energetic electrons by plasmaspheric hiss and EMIC waves, the impact of coronal mass ejections upon the radiation belts, and relativistic electron microbursts. Future additions to the receiver network will increase the science potential and provide global coverage of space weather event signatures.


CONTEXT
Societal views about sexuality and parenting among people with disabilities may limit these individuals' access to sex education and the full range of reproductive health services, and put them at increased risk for -unintended pregnancies. To date, however, no national population-based studies have examined pregnancy -intendedness among U.S. women with disabilities.

METHODS
Cross-sectional analyses of data from the 2011-2013 and 2013-2015 waves of the National Survey of Family Growth were conducted; the sample included 5,861 pregnancies reported by 3,089 women. The proportion of pregnancies described as unintended was calculated for women with any type of disability, women with each of five types of disabilities and women with no disabilities. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship of disability status and type with pregnancy intendedness while adjusting for covariates.

RESULTS
A higher proportion of pregnancies were unintended among women with disabilities than among women without disabilities (53% vs. 36%). Women with independent living disability had the highest proportion of unintended pregnancies (62%). In regression analyses, the odds that a pregnancy was unintended were greater among women with any type of disability than among women without disabilities (odds ratio, 1.4), and were also elevated among women with hearing disability, cognitive disability or independent living disability (1.5-1.9).

CONCLUSIONS
Further research is needed to understand differences in unintended pregnancy by type and extent of disability. People with disabilities should be fully included in sex education, and their routine care should incorporate discussion of reproductive planning.


Abstract We undertake an individual-level analysis of mass political behavior toward sovereign debt resettlement by leveraging the unique circumstances of a 2011 referendum on debt repayment in Iceland. This allows us to engage broader questions about mass international political economy. Against the recent thrust of a growing literature, we find evidence of material economic "pocketbook" effects—self-interest—on voting behavior, operating alongside symbolic/sociotropic and partisan/political logics. Contrary to expectations, these self-interest effects are not conditional on voter sophistication. We conclude that conventional sampling frames may be inappropriate for understanding contemporary democratic contestation over international economic policy.


SiR,-Your leading article "Fetafl Damage from Breech Birth" (26 April, p. 158) is a timely reminder of the hazards of this type of delivery. As you point out, more frequent recourse to caesarean section in recent years has improved results, and most obstetricians wil subscribe to the formula "ibreech + anything else = caesarean section." However, I feel that your article was incomplete in its failure to point out thait caesarean section carries a lOfold increase in maiternal mortality over vaginal delivery. If this fact is not borne in mind, then too frequent use of caesarean section in breech presentation may re,su-lt in an unwelcome rise in maternal mortaity figures. I had not previously associated breech presentation of a normal fetus with premature labour, except in so far as the frequency of breech presentation decreases towards term as a result of spontaneous version. No doubt admission to hospital, as you suggest, would reduce the incidence of premature labour in breech presentation, but so would it in ceplialic presentation. You advise admission "(as in cases of twin pregnancy)... some six weeks before term." In a recent study of 200 consecutive twin pregnancies from this unit premature delivery was d,efined as delivery before 36 weeks gestation. However, on reviewing the figures it was found that only one normal infant died as a resul.t of premature delivery after 34 weeks, and in this case labour was induced at 36 weeks because of severe pre-eclampsia. May I, thetrefore, poin,t out that any measure taken to prevent premature labour in multiple pregnancy must be instituted much earlier than you suggest, the most dangerous time being between 28 and 34 weeks? This presupposes an early diagnosis, and any susipicion of mulitiple pregnancy should be investigated at the earliest opportuniity. The availability of uiltrasonic diagnostic facilities in most centres means that most such pregnancies should be de,tected at an early stage and not, as so often happens, when the patient is admitted already in premature labour.-I am, etc.,


The recent closure of the National Textiles plant in Newcastle has again brought the issue of plant closure in the textiles clothing and footwear (TcF) industries into the
public arena. While National Textiles struggled to survive during the 1990s, many other TeF firms failed. This article details textiles clothing and footwear industry
retrenchments in the period 1989 to 1996, the life of the previous government's TCF Plan. It discusses the complex interplay of forces that resuIted in plant closures and
highlights the government's role in orchestrating the pattern and pace of change. The first section of the article briefly surveys different approaches to explaining plant closures. Following a description of changes in the industries since 1973 it then examines patterns of retrenchment, focusing on the relationship between job loss,
government intervention and corporate re-organisation. Job loss cannot be interpreted solely as industry decline, but is intimately bound to firms' restructuring to secure
their viability in an open economy. The conclusion contrasts managed and marketdriven approaches to micro-economic reform.


Melt derived bioactive glass- porcelain system is reported to be bioactive but with a slow rate of bioactivity. The aim of this work is to fabricate and characterize bioactive glass/dental porcelain composites produced by the sol-gel method. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Diffractometry (XRD) were used to characterize the fabricated materials. The FTIR spectra and the XRD patterns confirm the presence of both constituents in the mixtures, while the dominant crystal phases in bioactive glass/dental porcelain specimens are leucite and wollastonite.


Abstract The removal of gaseous mercury from flue gases from coal-fired power plants is currently an environmental challenge under investigation. Therefore, the main aim of this paper was to evaluate the suitability of faujasite group zeolites (Na-X) to adsorb mercury compounds. Previous, initial tests showed negligible Hg0 uptake by Na-X zeolite, but silver impregnation improved adsorption markedly. Therefore, the testing of mercury adsorption from flue gases into Ag+- impregnated Na-X synthetic zeolite (Ag-X zeolite) derived from coal fly ash was carried out. This material was characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence and nitrogen adsorption/desorption before being evaluated for mercury removal from exhaust gas. After preliminary mercury adsorption tests (fixed bed) under a nitrogen atmosphere, the adsorbent was examined with a simulated flue gas composition under various conditions, i.e. weight of zeolite, temperature of experiment and zeolite in powder and granulated forms. The removal of mercury was shown to depend on the sorbent texture (powder or granulate), exhaust gas flow rate and contact time, as well as the temperature of the experiment. The Ag-X zeolite tested reduced the level of mercury in the flue gas and, depending on the experimental conditions, long-time mercury breakthrough ranges from 15 to 40% were obtained. The best results for mercury capture were obtained for granulated material.


Among the countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United States ranks first in health care spending but 25th in spending on social services. High spending on health care may result from low spending on social services. Safe housing, healthful food, and opportunities for education and employment have critical impacts on health. Lack of investment in social determinants of health probably contributes to the high spending on medical care in the United States, which is well behind other countries on basic indicators of population health. This is especially true for homelessness and housing. If homeless people can be provided supportive housing, that is, affordable housing coupled with supportive services, such as on-site case management and referrals to community-based services, health can be improved, hospital use can be Ethics, Medicolegal Issues, and Public Policy 195 Copyright © 2014 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited. reduced, and health care costs can be lowered. New York State is testing an innovation that provides investment in supportive housing for high-risk homeless and unstably housed Medicaid recipients. These recipients include people living on the streets or in shelters and thousands residing in nursing facilities because they have no homes in the community to which they can return. Supportive housing is part of a larger Medicaid Redesign effort initiated in 2011. A working group of representatives from more than 20 organizations discussed barriers to implementing supportive housing and identified solutions. The group's final recommendations included providing integrated funds for capital, operating expenses, rent subsidies, and services in new supportive housing units, targeting high-need, high-cost Medicaid recipients. The 2013–2014 Medicaid budget includes $86 million for supportive housing. Current federal Medicaid rules do not allow capital funding for supportive housing, and to date, New York has been unable to advance a request that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services allow capital funding for supportive housing, so this funding has come entirely from the state budget. The costs of supportive housing are largely offset by savings in services used, mostly within the health care system. The degree of cost offsets or savings depends on how effective programs are targeting patients with high and modifiable costs. Such targeting is challenging because of the transient nature of homeless people, who often are not high-cost health care users. Targeting interventions to patients identified by predictive modeling as high risk or long-term homeless patients or those in institutional settings with consistent patterns of high use is more likely to create savings. This New York innovation will become even more relevant in 2014, when nearly all homeless people will become Medicaid eligible in states that expand eligibility. Many of these people will become part of the 5% of Medicaid recipients who account for 50% of Medicaid costs. The hope is that the New York effort will be a model for other states seeking to provide better, more cost-efficient care for Medicaid recipients who are homeless, unstably housed, or institutionalized.


Teicoplanin is an antibiotic complex consisting of five closely related factors, T-A2-1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and a more polar factor, T-A3-1. By controlled acid hydrolysis the complex is transformed into pseudoaglycones and finally into a single aglycone with consecutive removal of three sugar units. Quantitative determination of sugars obtained by degradative reactions and NMR/LC-MS studies on suitable derivatives confirmed that all the components carry one N-acyl-D-gluccsamine and that at least two of them are characterized by N-decanoyl and N-undecanoyl chains on the D-glucosamine unit. The hydrolysis products still possess in vitro and in vivo activity.


After the death of Thomas Kelly (2012) and Daniel Christie (2013) in Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), there was widespread discussion and concern over the problem of so-called one punch alcohol-fuelled violence. A 'centre-piece' of the NSW Government's response was the enactment, in January 2014, of what is known colloquially as the 'One Punch Law': the Crimes and Other Legislation Amendment (Assault and Intoxication) Act 2014 (NSW), which includes a mandatory minimum sentence for assault causing death whilst intoxicated. This paper analyses the judicial response to one punch alcohol-fuelled violence, with a focus on the effect of the decision in R v Loveridge [2014] NSWCCA 120. I show that the judiciary has rejected the existence of a discrete category of 'one punch' manslaughters and, instead, has defined a category of alcohol-fuelled public violence for which there is a strong need for general deterrence. Based on an analysis of cases handed down since the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal's 2014 decision, I show that the 'Loveridge effect' has been to significantly increase sentences in such matters.


The object-oriented(OO) distributed real-time(RT) programming movement started in 1990's and is growing rapidly at this turn of the century. Distributed real-time simulation is a field in its infancy but it is bounded to receive steadily growing recognition for its importance and wide applicability. The scheme is called the distributed time-triggered simulation scheme which is conceptually simple and easy to use but widely applicable. A new generation object oriented(OO) RT programming scheme is called the time-triggered message triggered object(TMO) programming scheme and it is used to make specific illustrations of the issues. The TMO structuring scheme is a general-style components structuring scheme and supports design of all types of component including hard real time objects and non real time objects within one general structure.


During this past decade, science and engineering have seen a rapid increase in interest for nanoscale materials with dimensions less than 100 nm, which lie in the intermediate state between atoms and bulk (solid) materials. Their attributes are significantly altered relative to the corresponding bulk materials as they exhibit size dependent behavior such as quantum size effects (depending on bulk Bohr radius), optical absorption and emission, coulomb staircase behavior (electrical transport), superparamagnetism and various unique properties. They are active components of ferrofluids, recording tape, flexible disk recording media along with potential future applications in spintronics: a new paradigm of electronics utilizing intrinsic charge and spin of electrons for ultra-high-density data storage and quantum computing. They are used in a gamut of biomedical applications: bioseparation of biological entities, therapeutic drugs and gene delivery, radiofrequency-induced destruction of cells and tumors (hyperthermia), and contrast-enhancement agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The magnetic nanoparticles have optimizable, controllable sizes enabling their comparison to cells (10-100 µm), viruses (20-250 nm), proteins (3-50 nm), and genes (10-100 nm). Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) provide necessary characterization methods that enable accurate structural and functional analysis of interaction of the biofunctional particles with the target bioentities. The goal of the present discussion is to provide a broad review of magnetic nanoparticle research with a special focus on the synthesis, functionalization and medical applications of these particles, which have been carried out during the past decade, and to examine several prospective directions.


— The beam column joint is the crucial zone in a reinforced concrete moment resisting frame. It is subjected to large forces during severe ground shaking and its behavior has a significant influence on the response of the structure. The assumption of joint being rigid fails to consider the effects of high shear forces developed within the joint. The shear failure is always brittle in nature which is not an acceptable structural performance especially in seismic conditions. The revisions of Indian code provisions have necessitated strengthening of several existing structure in country.


Research on the Study of Social Change Cities In Novels "Blue" Fira Basuki this work was based on the understanding that the literary work is considered as the result of human activity and expression. Selection of a novel titled "Blue" is based on the understanding that in the novel presents a number of lessons about the depiction of social change arising from cultural influences. In general, this study aims to obtain a description of social change in urban communities in the novel "Blue" by Fira Basuki. The problem in this study were: (1) how changes in the value of public confidence in the city, (2) how changes in ethical values of society, (3) how to change the mindset of the novel "Blue" by Fira Basuki. This study used the approach outlined in the sociology of sociology of literature, while the method used was descriptive qualitative. The method used was descriptive qualitative method. Descriptive method utilized to describe and interpret the situation objectively researched novel. This research is classified as qualitative research because the data in this study in the form of written words in quotation unit of meaning the story of the novel "Blue" by Fira Basuki, which indicates the sociological aspect. Data collection technique used in this study is technical documentation. While the technique of data processing is done by double-check data, mengalisis data, describing the results of the study. The result reflected the social changes of society which include: (1) changes in beliefs that are believed to arise other beliefs to be a belief in doing something, because every society must change because there is nothing that stops people in a particular tradition throughout his life. Depictions of the value of belief in this novel is seen in Mario characters who live in modern-paced life of today, he still believes in the power of spells, (2) a change in ethical values in terms of positive and negative person in daily life, this is because society is less understood and agree to the procedures and ethical boundaries of others. (3) changes in thought patterns that make up mutual trust and altruistic. Therefore a positive mindset is dominant in creating harmony in your environment. The findings of this study include: (1) novel "Blue" by Fira Basuki reveal sociological values which is a social image, (2) novel "Blue" by Fira Basuki describe the ins and outs of community life konfik city full of life and many experience a social change.


Entity Alignment (EA), which aims to detect entity mappings (i.e. equivalent entity pairs) in different Knowledge Graphs (KGs), is critical for KG fusion. Neural EA methods dominate current EA research but still suffer from their reliance on labelled mappings. To solve this problem, a few works have explored boosting the training of EA models with self-training, which adds confidently predicted mappings into the training data iteratively. Though the effectiveness of self-training can be glimpsed in some specific settings, we still have very limited knowledge about it. One reason is the existing works concentrate on devising EA models and only treat self-training as an auxiliary tool. To fill this knowledge gap, we change the perspective to self-training to shed light on it. In addition, the existing self-training strategies have limited impact because they introduce either much False Positive noise or a low quantity of True Positive pseudo mappings. To improve self-training for EA, we propose exploiting the dependencies between entities, a particularity of EA, to suppress the noise without hurting the recall of True Positive mappings. Through extensive experiments, we show that the introduction of dependency makes the self-training strategy for EA reach a new level. The value of self-training in alleviating the reliance on annotation is actually much higher than what has been realised. Furthermore, we suggest future study on smart data annotation to break the ceiling of EA performance.


Background Covid-19 are an enormous group of infections that are known to cause ailment going from the normal virus to more extreme illnesses like Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). In mid-2020, after a December 2019 episode in China, the World Health Organization distinguished SARS-CoV-2 as another sort of Covid. Aim: Study compare demographics, clinical characteristics, comorbidities, baseline lab parameters between survivors and non survivors of Covid 19 who received mechanical ventilation in a tertiary care center. Method: A comparative cross-sectional study conducted on patients admitted in Covid ICU at the Vedantaa Institute of Medical Sciences, Palghar from June 2020 to March 202. Patients with age more than 18 years with covid positive status requiring either invasive or non invasive mechanical ventilation included in the study. Results: Out of 150 patients, 119(79.3) were male and 31(20.7) were female, with a mean age of 54.005 years (SD ±15.33). The patients were elderly (n = 31) and adults (n = 119). There were 19 (12.66) patients who not survived and 131(87.64) patients were there who survived from the disease. Median oxygen saturation of the patients who not survived was 88(84-97) and those who survived was 91 (78-96) but it was not statistically significant. Among the patients not survived found with comorbidity condition like Hypertension (91.17%) followed by Diabetes Mellitus, CKD, CAD. Metabolic parameters showed significantly higher in nonsurvival group compared to survival group. Increased in Neutrophile was observed in both the group but it was increased more in non-survival group compared survival Conclusion: From these all overall information and data analysis of Demographic variable, Laboratorial parameters, comorbidity condition it was observed that these parameter were very helpful in management of severely ill patient, also in priority treatment for patients to decrease morbidity and mortality in population.


We report the case of a patient, MC, with Alzheimer's disease, who showed poor ability to name visually presented objects and poor visual access to the concepts of objects relative to a group of control patients (also with dementia). She performed well when words instead of objects were used in the various tasks. The data suggest that she has impaired access to semantic knowledge from vision. Surprisingly, she performed well when asked to perform everyday tasks with the same objects that had proved problematic in tests of visual naming and semantics. MC's pattern of performance is consistent with there being a direct route from vision to action and with the proposal that chaining between actions allows the development of action schemas which may operate even when there is impaired access to semantic knowledge.


We hypothesized that abnormal ventilation-perfusion matching in chronically infected lungs was in part due to excess nitric oxide (NO) production after upregulation of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) expression. Rats were anesthetized and inoculated intratracheally with Pseudomonas aeruginosa incorporated into agar beads (chronically infected) or with sterile agar beads (placebo inoculated) and killed 10-15 days later. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated increased expression of iNOS and reduced expression of endothelial NOS (eNOS) in chronically infected compared with placebo-inoculated or noninoculated lungs. In isolated lungs from chronically infected rats, NOS inhibition with N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester increased the mean perfusion pressure (14.4 +/- 2.7 mmHg) significantly more than in the placebo-inoculated (4.8 +/- 1.0 mmHg) or noninoculated (5.3 +/- 0.8 mmHg) lungs (P < 0.01). Although the chronically infected lungs were more sensitive to NOS inhibition, further evidence suggested that the increased iNOS expression was not associated with enhanced iNOS activity. Selective inhibitors of iNOS did not produce an increase in vascular resistance similar to that produced by nonselective inhibitors. Accumulation of nitrate/nitrite in the perfusate of isolated lungs was unchanged by chronic infection. Thus although iNOS expression was increased in chronic pulmonary infection, iNOS activity in the intact lung was not. Nonetheless, endogenous NO production was essential to maintain normal vascular resistance in these lungs.


BACKGROUND We determined the value of the inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter for predicting acute blood loss in control and blunt trauma patients and compared this with other parameters of hemorrhagic shock. METHODS Fifty volunteers and 28 consecutive hemorrhagic shock patients were recruited prospectively to participate in the study. Vital signs, blood lactate, and serum bicarbonate were measured, and shock index and base excess were calculated. Anteroposterior (AP) and mediolateral (ML) IVC diameters during inspiration and expiration were measured in the right subcostal region. IVC diameters in hemorrhagic shock patients were compared with those of controls and were also compared with other hemorrhagic shock parameters. RESULTS A significant relationship was determined between mean IVC AP and ML diameters during expiration and inspiration on admission in the study group and in the control group (p=0.000, p=0.000, p=0.000, p=0.000). Serum lactate levels correlated significantly with all IVC diameters (r=55), especially the IVC ML diameter during expiration. CONCLUSION IVC diameter, as measured by transabdominal ultrasound, was more accurate than the shock index and other commonly used non-invasive predictors of acute blood loss (blood pressure, heart rate per minute, serum lactate level, base deficit).


Introduction Endoscopic balloon dilatation (EBD) is a recognised treatment for symptomatic Crohn's strictures. Several case studies report its short term and long term efficacy. A systematic analysis of the literature is needed to define overall efficacy and inform future study design. The primary objective was to examine symptomatic response, technical response and adverse events of EBD. The impact of stricture characteristics on outcome was also explored. Method A systematic search was performed in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. The quality of individual studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. The results were expressed as a per patient analysis using the proportion of patients within a group and a per study analysis using pooled event rates across studies. The random effects model was expressed as forest plots and summative statistics. Heterogeneity across studies was assessed numerically (I2). The mean value of pooled outcomes was used to create two groups (< or ≥ the pooled mean event rate [PMER]), to compare the effect of the proportion of patients within each group (e.g. stricture activity and type) on outcome. Results Twenty-five studies were included: 1089 patients and 2664 dilatations. The grade for quality ranged from 2 to 6. The proportion of patients with symptomatic and technical response was 63.9% (393/615) and 92.6% (403/435) respectively. The proportion of patients with perforation was 2.6% (18/700). The PMER for symptomatic response was 74.8% (95% CI: 69.9–79.3%; I2: 0%), technical response was 90.6% (95% CI: 87.8–92.8%; I2: 11.7%), complications was 6.4% (95% CI: 5.0–8.2; I2: 4.0%), and perforation was 3% (95% CI: 2.2–4.0%; I2: 0%). The proportion of patients with active strictures demonstrating a < PMER and ≥ PMER for symptomatic response was 73% vs 60% respectively. The proportion of patients with active strictures demonstrating a ≥ PMER and < PMER for perforation was 62% and 36% respectively. The proportion of patients with anastomotic strictures demonstrating a < PMER and ≥ PMER for technical response was 83% and 75% respectively. Conclusion EBD for symptomatic Crohn's strictures shows high efficacy with a low complication rate. Efficacy may be affected by active inflammation and previous surgery. Variation exists in the quality of reporting of the studies. Further well designed comparative studies capturing differential effects of stricture types are needed. Disclosure of interest None Declared.


This article argues that the study conducted by Facebook in conjunction with Cornell University did not have sufficient ethical oversight, and neglected in particular to obtain necessary informed consent from the participants in the study. It establishes the importance of informed consent in Internet research ethics and suggests that in Facebook's case (and other, similar cases), a reasonable shift could be made from traditional medical ethics 'effective consent' to a 'waiver of normative expectations', although this would require much-needed change to the company's standard practice. Finally, it gives some practical recommendations for how to implement such consent strategies, and how the ethical oversight gap between university-led research and industry-led research can be bridged, potentially using emerging Responsible Research and Innovation frameworks which are currently gathering momentum in Europe.


Wikipedia is the largest online encyclopedia, utilized as machine-knowledgeable and semantic resources. Links within Wikipedia indicate that two linked articles or parts of them are related each other about their topics. Existing link detection methods focus on linking to article titles, because most of links in Wikipedia point to article titles. But there is a number of links in Wikipedia pointing to corresponding specific segments, such as paragraphs, because the whole article is too general and it is hard for readers to obtain the intention of the link. We propose a method to automatically predict whether a link target is a specific segment or the whole article, and evaluate which segment is most relevant. We propose a combination method of Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) to represent every segment as a vector, and then we obtain similarity of each segment pair. Finally, we utilize variance, standard deviation and other statistical features to produce prediction results. We also apply word embeddings to embed all the segments into a semantic space and calculate cosine similarities between segment pairs. Then we utilize Random Forest to train a classifier to predict link scopes. Evaluations on Wikipedia articles show an ensemble of the proposed features achieved the best results.


Abstract In Iceland, Danish is taught as a foreign language parallel to English. One purpose for this is to promote inter-Nordic communication, since Danish is generally held to be intercomprehensible for both Norwegian and Swedish speakers. Assuming the role of tourists, field workers who were native speakers of Danish, Norwegian or Swedish approached Icelandic adolescents (aged 15–20), asking in their native language for directions to the Nordic House in Reykjavík. The investigation was conducted at three different time periods (1983, 1999/2004 and 2006) and showed that the proportion of young people understanding the question thus posed to them decreased from two thirds (1983) to a little less than 40% (2006). At the same time, the number switching to English while answering the question increased. In 2006, a large majority (80%) was inclined to do so, while only one third did so in 1983, roughly 25 years earlier.


Fourteen patients with established maturity-onset diabetes were treated as outpatients with a high-carbohydrate-(about 60% of total daily energy requirements)-modified fat diet (ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids to other fatty acids greater than or equal to 1:1) for six weeks. Commercially available and acceptable cereal foods and tuberous vegetables high in both digestible and non-digestible carbohydrates were used. Simple sugars were restricted. Compared with their usual, low-carbohydrate diabetic diet this diet resulted in a fall in basal plasma glucose concentration (average of values measured at 0300, 0500, and 0700), mean preprandial plasma glucose concentration (average of values measured at 0800, 1230, and 1730), and percentage of glycosylated haemoglobin. Modifying dietary fat also decreased the fasting plasma cholesterol concentration. The findings suggest that it is no longer justifiable to prescribe a low-carbohydrate diet for maturity-onset diabetes.


In France, 95% of people are supplied with chlorinated tap water. Due to the presence of natural organic matter that reacts with chlorine, the concentrations of chlorination by-products (CBPs) are much higher in chlorinated water produced from surface water than from groundwater. Surface water supplies 33% of the French population. Until the 1980s, almost all surface water utilities pre-chlorinated water at the intake. Pre-chlorination was then gradually banned from 1980 to 2000. Trihalomethanes (THMs) are the only regulated CBP in France. Since 2003, THMs have been monitored at the outlet of all utilities. This study assessed current (2005–2011) and past (1960–2000) exposure of the French population to THMs. We developed an original method to model THM concentrations between 1960 and 2000 according to current concentrations of THMs, concentration of total organic carbon in raw and finished water, and the evolution of water treatments from 1960 onward. Current and past mean exposure of the French population to THMs was estimated at 11.7 µg·L−1 and 17.3 µg·L−1, respectively. In the past, approximately 10% of the French population was exposed to concentrations >50 µg·L−1 vs. 1% currently. Large variations in exposure were observed among France's 100 administrative districts, mainly depending on the water origin (i.e., surface vs. ground), ranging between 0.2 and 122.1 µg·L−1 versus between 1.8 and 38.6 µg·L−1 currently.


Films often tries to portray or represent historical events and the dominant mode of representation is the pursuit of an authenticity feeling. No matter whether it is a documentary or fiction, the goal is to give the audience an authentic experience about the historical event. This paper will compare two films, one documentary and one fiction, about the 22. July terrorist attack at Utøya in Norway where 69 youths were killed. The two films are "Reconstructing Utøya" (2018) directed by Carl Javer and "Utøya 22nd July" (2018) directed by Erik Poppe. This article will discuss the concept of authenticity in general and investigate which artistic strategies the films use in the search of the authenticity tone.


OBJECTIVES: In this study, we explore the 'make or break' challenges faced in the preceptor-preceptee relationship. The preceptor-preceptee relationship needs to evolve from a teacher-student dynamic to a collegial partnership.

METHODS: This qualitative study used focus group interviews which explored challenges experienced by preceptors and preceptees. The preceptors included ten clinical teaching assistants and 14 clinical professionals. The preceptees included ten student nurses. In total, we interviewed 34 participants. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analyzed.

RESULTS: Both preceptors and preceptees experienced challenges in developing healthy relationships. Preceptors felt that they were committed and trained to teach, and that fulfilling an extended role was beyond their reach. Preceptees had difficulty realizing nursing practice and transitioning from a student to a professional role. Both parties identified strategies for developing healthy professional relationships. Preceptors could extend their professional role to include a mentorship facet. Preceptees could be exposed to diverse clinical environments with guided transitioning to facilitate the change from student to professional.

CONCLUSION: Student nurses need a caring environment to transition from a student role to a professional role. The relationship based care model undoubtedly influences the teaching and learning process by fostering a caring attitude and commitment to teaching and learning. Preceptees develop a sense of belonging and are motivated to accept and adapt to practical realities.


The Islamic Sacrificial Feast, one of the two major Muslim annual festivals and coinciding with the pilgrimage to Mecca, has long been neglected as a static, canonical ritual determined by centuries old, Arabic texts. This study based on extensive fieldwork and many written documents illlustrates how the 'orthodox' Idd el-Hajj (as the feast is called in Tanzania) shows many different faces. The basic elements of the ritual shared by all Muslims and corroborated by authoritative texts are a communal prayer, a sermon and an animal sacrifice. The ritual reflects the influence of these authoritative texts but the interpretations of these scriptures are continuously reworked in order to reconceptualise Muslim identity in a changing social and political context. Although all Muslim groups in Tanzania accept the idea that Islam is embodied in a set of basic texts, the legitimacy of these texts and their applicability to particular situations is continually challenged and contested. The discussions on the correct ritual practice are influenced by new developments like the vernacularisation of Islamic key texts and an exceptionally high literacy in Swahili which enables a large part of urban Muslim population to participate in these discourses on Islam and Islamic ritual. This study especially illustrates the ideas on time and place of the Idd el-Hajj. Differences in the date of the festival are connected to the problems of moonsighting: the lunar month only starts with the first sighting of the crescent but the validity of a sighting is not accepted by all Tanzanian Muslims. The personal authority of a religious leader, the loyalty to a local madrasa (Qur'an school) or the desire to synchronise the Idd with the ritual performance of the whole nation or with the activities of the pilgrims at Mecca results in different holidays. Secondly, the notion of place in the Idd el-Hajj performance is very important because of the link with the hajj: the annual pilgrimage to the sacred heart of Islam. Different conceptions of the religious and social importance of the hajj are reflected in the way Tanzanian Muslims perceive the role of Islam in their society. This is furthermore reflected in the place where each community performs its Idd prayers: inside the mosque or on public prayerfields. Also the significance of animal sacrifice changes according to the place where it is performed: in the private sphere of the house, on the public field in the centre of the town or in the state controlled abattoir. The major point of this study is that in the particular forms of the Idd el-Hajj Muslim groups redefine their position within a field of different loyalties and identities and in this process continually reconstruct a Muslim moral community. These different identities are not necessarily contradictory or mutually exclusive. Sometimes the social significance of the ritual is primarily that of a family happening, sometimes the ritual is important to express the identity of a particular madrasa or mosque. But the two most important moral communities visible in the discourses and practices of the Idd el-Hajj are the Tanzanian nationstate and the global Muslim community. Tensions between the daily reality of a Muslim minority living in a secular state and the ideal image of a unified Muslim community exemplified by the hajj are at the heart of these discourses.