Each chapter concludes with â Implications for Practice.â 1. Perspective of Educational Administration. Defining Leadership, Management, and Administration. Evolution of School Administration. Contemporary Conditions. 2. Administration Roles in Professional Education. School Administration as a Profession. Nature of Administrative Work. School-Level Administration. District-Level Administration. Other Careers in School Administration. 3. The Study of School Administration. Professional Preparation Programs. Professional Preparation Components. Preparing Administrators in the 21st Century. 4. School Administration: Requirements and Opportunities. Licensing and Certification. Quality of Life Considerations. Contemporary Opportunities. 5. Control and Authority in Public Education. Government's Interest in Education. Interests in Colonial America. Evolving Purposes. Environmental Influences. Purposes and Control. Federal Government's Role. Sources of Intervention. Federal Government's Present Role. State Government's Role. Legislative. Judicial. Executive. State Government's Present Role. Local School Districts. Local District Boards. District Superintendent. Present Status of Local Districts. Intermediate School Districts. 6. Social, Political and Historical Context of Private Education. Historical Overview. Types of Private Schools. Parochial Schools. Other Private Schools. Home Schooling. Status of Private Education in the United States. Resurgence of Interest in Private Education. Types of Private Schools. Governance and Control of Private Schools. Political and Legal Issues. Regulation of Private Schools. Governmental Aid to Private Schools. Legal Issues. 7. Organizational Dimensions of Schools. Defining Organizations and Organizational Behavior. Important Concepts. Organizational Theory. Professional Organizations. Organizational Climate. Authority. Organizational Adaptability. Schools as Organizations. Social Frame. Professional Frame. Political Frame. Public Frame. Contemporary Context for Schools. Preparing Schools for Change. Building Professional Cultures. 8. The Roles of School in Society. Schools as a Mirror of Society. Conflicting Values and Purposes. Goals Versus Purposes. 9. Administrative Strategies and Styles. Complexity of Leadership. Administrative Strategies. Administrative Style. Normative Models for Administrative Style. 10. Behavior, Decision Making, and Reflective Practice. Descriptive Models of Administrative Behavior. Personal Needs and Dispositions. Personal and Situational Variables. Value of Descriptive Models. Administration and Decision Making. Rational Models. Ethical Models. Participatory Models. Political Models. Garbage Can Model. Reflective Practice. For Further Reflection. 11. Important Aspects of Practice. Motivation. Understanding Motivation. Content Theories. Process Theories. Motivation and the Exercise of Power. Communication. Elements of Communication. Using Communication Effectively. Importance of Communication. Ethical Practice. Taxonomy of Ethical Issues. Ethical Issues of Daily Practice. Time Management. Time Management Strategies. Importance of Time Management. 12. Demands for School Reform. Society and Schools in the 21st Century. Demographic Trends. School-Related Problems. Tensions Between Excellence and Equity. The First Wave: 1983-1987. The Second Wave: 1988-. 13. Responses to Student Needs and Public Dissatisfaction. Failure and an Unfinished Agenda. Reasons for Failure. An Unfinished Agenda. Reform Through Market-Oriented Concepts. Choice Programs. Vouchers and Tax Credits. Charter Schools. Reform Through Restructuring. School Partnerships. 14. Transforming the School. Organizational Change. Resistance to Change. Change Strategies. Culture Change. Implications for Practice. 15. Women and Minorities in School Administration. Women and Minorities in Education. The Concern in Administration. Characteristics, Placements, and Barriers. Seeking Solutions. Implications for Practice. 16. Planning Your Career. Personal Career Planning. Changing Attitudes and Assumptions. Building an Individual Plan. Implications for Practice.


The parasite fauna of the chub mackerel Scomber japonicus Houtuym, 1782 was studied from the neritic areas of Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and from the banks of the Azores Archipelago (the Great Meteor Bank, the Hyeres Bank and the Irving Bank) in 1994-2001. Twenty eight species of parasites of following group have been were found: Coccidia (1 species), Microsporidia (1), Myxosporea (4), Monogenea (4), Cestoda (5), Trematoda (5), Acanthocephala (1) and Nematoda (6). The differences between mackerel parasite fauna in the neritic areas and from of the Azores Archipelago banks were established. Peculiarities of the mackerel parasite fauna in two areas (Morocco--Western Sahara and Mauritania) corroborate the hypothesis that two populations of chub mackerel are available: "Sahara-Moroccan" and "Senegal-Mauritanian". Ontogenetic variability of parasite fauna was related to food demands of mackerel and its feeding habits in the areas Morocco and Mauritania. Kudoa histolytica has negative influence on the commercial value of S. japonicus. These parasites were localized in the muscles of mackerel from Mauritania (40%, TL = 20-25 cm). Parasites being dangerous for human health were presented by larvae of Bolbosoma sp. (occurred on the banks of the Azores Archipelago), Anisakis simplex and Contracaecum sp. (occurred in all areas investigated).


Five in-depth interviews were conducted with first-year college-age women from a liberal arts institution in the northeast United States. Study aims were to investigate the expectations that parents impose on a racially diverse group of first-year college women, and to learn how these women navigate the expectations of their parents regarding attendance and location of college and social/extra-curricular activities during and after their transition to college. Interview details were summarized in narrative descriptions. Narratives were analyzed for themes. Concept maps and memos were developed to organize themes. Results were that students generally accepted parental advice regardless of the presence or absence of parental cultural capital or the quality of the relationship with parents. Of the four rejections, one was associated with the presence of cultural capital and a positive parent-student relationship, two were associated with absence of cultural capital and a positive parent-student relationship, and one was associated with the presence of cultural capital and a "rocky" parent-student relationship. The findings from this study point to the need for counseling directed towards first-year students about behaviors that can foster achievement and confidence in college, and the need for accessibility to skill toolkits 1 Tippett: What to Expect When You're Expected: Uncovering the Role of Cultu Published by JHU Macksey Journal, 2020 that equip first-generation college students to thrive in environments with which their parents have had limited exposure.


Interpersonal violence is a public health concern in England and Wales. Nationally, over half of all victims of interpersonal violence sustain physical injuries, whilst approximately one-fifth suffer injuries serious enough to require medical treatment. Interpersonal violence therefore places a considerable burden on criminal justice and health service resources.
Accurate and reliable data on the extent and correlates of violence at both national and local level are required in order to inform prevention strategies. Despite this, police and crime survey measures of violence have reported contradictory national trends, whilst few studies in England and Wales have examined either correlates of violence-related injury or the mechanisms explaining how such correlates increase risk of sustaining violence-related injury.
This thesis presents findings from three studies which aimed to remedy these deficiencies. Firstly, Emergency Department (ED) attendance data were collected from 100 EDs across England and Wales and time series statistical methods employed to detect both national and local trends. Secondly, regional price indices for alcohol were calculated and associations with regional rates of violence-related injury and socioeconomic measures examined. Thirdly, potential mechanisms linking deprivation with increased risk of violence-related injury among adolescents and how these differed according to gender were examined qualitatively.
Findings revealed violence-related injury decreased nationally by 6.4% between January 2005 and December 2012. Rates of violence-related injury were shown to be highest among men, 18-30 year olds and those living in the North West of England. Modelling revealed a significant negative association between violence-related injury and the real price of on-trade and off-trade alcohol; in so that a 10% increase in real alcohol price would reduce violence-related ED attendances in England and Wales by over 60,000 per year. Modelling also revealed that poverty and income inequality had the largest impact on rates of violence-related injury. At micro level, adolescent females were shown to be particularly sensitive to the effects of deprivation; poor alcohol regulation by parents and a lack of structured and appealing leisure activities may potentially increase risk of violence-related injury among this cohort.
This thesis has shown ED data to be an invaluable tool for investigating trends and determinants of violence-related injury in England and Wales by clarifying national and local trends and identifying risk factors at both macro and micro level. Implications for violence prevention policies that can be drawn from these findings include targeting regions where violence is higher, raising the price of alcohol above inflation, and improving alcohol regulation and leisure opportunities among deprived adolescents females


Three different TiO 2 catalysts are prepared using different methods. MgAl-CO 3 2− layered double hydroxides (LDH) were obtained by the sol-gel method. In the preparation of the composites, the three photocatalysts were combined with LDH following different meth- odologies. The composites were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), specific surface area (SA), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The influence of the synthesis method on the preparation of the composites was evaluated by analyzing their photocatalytic activity against phenol as a model organic pollutant under UV irradiation. The photocatalytic activity of the composites improves when the chemical interaction, determined by XPS, between the TiO 2 and the LDH decreases. The same happens when the ratio of the anatase-rutile phases, determined by XRD, approaches optimum (80:20%). The effect of the composite concentration in the solution (0.5–2.0 g/L) was investigated, and the light-shielding phenomenon due to high composite concentration decreases the phenol photodegradation. The reduction of pho- tocatalytic activity in reuse cycles is due to loss and partial deactivation of the material. The elimination of phenol is attributed primarily to the photocatalytic process due to the generation of ● OH radicals and to a lesser extent the adsorption process also present in the samples.


Summary.  Hepatitis C is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in haemophiliacs who received clotting factor concentrates before the availability of virus‐inactivated factors in the mid‐1980s. Early studies gave conflicting indications as to the severity of hepatitis C (originally termed non‐A non‐B hepatitis), as mild, slowly progressive hepatitis was documented in several infants and young adults with haemophilia who were examined with repeat liver biopsies, whereas more progressive hepatitis and cirrhosis was documented in others. One major point of dispute was whether these discrepancies could in part be accounted for by epidemiological differences among studies, as hepatitis C acquired early in life may initially run a benign course and later worsen owing to spontaneous recrudescence of hepatitis or interference with such comorbidity factors as alcohol abuse or infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In the mid 1990s, the latter infection overshadowed hepatitis C as a cause of death in this patient population. Because hepatocellular carcinoma is emerging as an important complication in haemophiliacs with long‐standing hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection who survived HIV infection, and because of recent advances in treating HIV, morbidity and mortality associated with chronic hepatitis C have regained emphasis amongst haemophiliacs. The development of newer interferon‐based therapies provides an opportunity for modifying the natural history of HCV infection in a substantial number of haemophilic patients.


Nickel and cobalt recovery from a low-grade nickel laterite ore, supplied from Caldag deposit (Manisa, Turkey) were investigated by bio and chemical leaching processes. The fungus, Aspergillus niger was used for biocatalytic leaching experiments. The effects of parameters (solid ratio and sucrose concentration) on the biocatalytic leaching of the ore were initially tested in flasks to obtain the optimum conditions for the A. niger . Then chemical leaching was applied as a comparison to bioleaching, using organic acids (citric, oxalic, acetic and gluconic acids) as well as a mixture of acids. According the results, the maximum dissolution yield of nickel, cobalt and iron were detected respectively as 95.3%, 74.3% and 50.0% by biocatalytic processes which containing 25% (w/v) sucrose and 1% (w/v) solids. The increase in the solid ratio adversely influenced the biocatalytic activity of A. niger . Finally, further tests in reactors (v  = 1 and 10 L) were performed using the optimum conditions from the flask tests. The difference in metals recovery between biocatalytic and chemical leaching was significantly important. Bioleaching produced higher Ni and Co extractions (34.3– 75.6%) than chemical process.


A visual representation of the number of times specific Boston areas were noted on student drawn maps. Drawn for the Perceptual Form of the City, a research project investigating the individual's perception of the urban landscape.


Secure data transfer is an ever-growing challenge. Steganography refers to the art and science of secret communication. Audio steganography provides a smart solution for secure data transferring. The idea is based on hiding a secret message inside an audio signal. The challenge is to produce a stego file that can embed more data without decreasing the quality of the audio file, which may compromise the existence of the embedded message. As the technology advances, old methods become vulnerable and easy to compromise. Several methods include an encryption algorithm to add a second line of defense against a probable eavesdropper. This paper proposes a novel algorithm that aims to improve the perceptual transparency, robustness, and capacity of the embedded message. The main idea of the algorithm is to avoid embedding in the silent or near to silent intervals of the audio samples, and to scramble the embedded message as much as possible. The algorithm uses AES-256 to increase the level of robustness. The proposed algorithm is uniquely adapted to the message size and expected to perform better than the existing algorithms.


Historically, the school psychologist's work in early education has been restricted primarily to providing services to young children with special education needs. A more contemporary model calls for an expanded role with a focus on school readiness and the provision of services to all young children and their families in a prevention-oriented approach that is likely to maximize efforts to improve educational and social outcomes. Guided by best practices in school psychology, school psychologists can assist parents and early educators in taking a deliberate and intentional role in facilitating child development. By acting as a liaison between the school system and early childhood settings, school psychologists can assist schools in preparing to meet the diverse needs of their youngest students and can assist early childhood educators in better preparing children for school entry (Carlton & Winsler, 1999). The purpose of this article is to discuss an expanded role for school psychologists in early education within the context of school readiness and organized around the domains of assessment, consultation, and intervention. In addressing each of these domains, applications of best practices in school psychology are presented, with modifications relevant to early education and research highlighted to illustrate the potential contributions of collaborative efforts of school psychology and early education. Finally, challenges to this contemporary model are discussed.


WLAN (wireless LAN) using the WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) IEEE 802.11b/g protocol is becoming standard in PCs and laptop computers, and it is making its way into PDAs and other portable data appliances. At the same time, Bluetooth is arising as a wireless-seria-cable replacement for headsets and microphones in all kinds of mobile-system applications. They are not exactly market competitors, but they share the same frequency band, and, without careful design, that scenario means trouble.


The creation of high-quality discretizations for use in viscous flow simulations remains a challenging task. Even with modern software tools and substantial human effort, the application of state-of-the-art mesh generation algorithms in the presence of geometric features such as concave corners may still result in inadequate local mesh configurations, which can severely affect the resolution of important flow features. To address such issues, mesh generation tools for hybrid unstructured grids often expose a considerable number of algorithm configuration parameter. The resulting flexibility does indeed enable the creation of sufficiently resolved hybrid meshes, although the process often requires a very considerable amount of time even for an experienced user. In a production environment where a large number of detailed simulations of single aircraft configuration are performed, the cost in terms of man-hours may be acceptable. For other applications with requirements for short turn-around time, a more automated approach is desirable. Since an automatic mesh generation procedure cannot rely on user intervention for the resolution of geometric complications or edge cases, a robust strategy for the handling of the surface geometry en- countered in realistic aircraft configurations must be implemented.The approach presented here is based on a segregated prismatic/tetrahedral mesh generation procedure, and aims to achieve robustness by means of local geometric modifications. Criteria chosen and algorithmic modifications make use of similar principles as in earlier work, but are adapted for the specific requirements of mesh generation for aircraft configura- tions. An existing set of open-source tools is exploited for mesh data structures, file format support, surface mesh generation and tetrahedral volume meshes.The mesh generation strategy presented is based on four phases, starting with the creation of a sufficiently resolved surface mesh. In a second step, the envelope mesh of the prismatic boundary layer mesh is determined; the robustness of this stage is the primary contribution of the present work. Thirdly, tetrahedral elements are generated to fill the volume between the envelope of the prismatic layer and the farfield boundaries, and finally, pentahedral elements are grown between adapted wall and envelope mesh.The algorithm implemented into existing open source libraries was applied to two applications presented in this study, a fairly simple wing-body-stabilizer configuration typical for a tran- sonic transport aircraft (CRM) and a rather complex, detailed geometry of a delta wing fighter prototype (F-16XL). RANS solutions converged to engineering accuracy are found to yield solutions in close agreement with meshes produced by a well established grid generator for the EDGE flow solver provided that comparable resolutions are used for both the prismatic layer and the tetrahedral domain.When comparing mesh generation timings, an interesting observation was made. For the common situation where parallel CFD solutions are performed on a compute cluster, the analyst may be evaluating post-processed results of a simulation based on a mesh created with the method presented in this paper before a serial advancing front mesh generation has even been completed.Obviously, this does not mean that there is no need for high-quality advancing-front mesh generation tools. A substantial proportion of relevant geometries and flight conditions likely require more detailed control over mesh generation parameters than is available in a hybrid Delaunay method. However, for routine solutions where serial mesh generation time is a bottleneck, the libraries including the present method can be used to accelerate the turnaround time considerably.


The Colorado River and the elaborate body of laws governing its flows ("Law of the River") are at critical juncture, with a formidable imbalance between water supplies and demands prompting diverse efforts to evaluate and to think anew about Colorado River governance. One such effort is the Colorado River Governance Initiative (CRGI) at the University of Colorado Law School. Incorporating CRGI research undertaken over the past two-and-a-half years, this Article focuses on the interstate compact constituting the foundation of the Law of the River, the Colorado River Compact, approaching the water apportionment scheme established by this compact as a subject of central importance in current efforts to navigate the future of the river. Lying at the base of the compact is a commitment to equity – "equitable division and apportionment of the use of the waters of the Colorado River System" – stemming from which this Article pursues a fundamental question: To what extent does the compact's apportionment scheme fulfill this commitment to equity in its existing form? After providing an initial overview of the compact, the Article considers the meaning of "equity" as a norm, setting the stage for a subsequent examination of water supplies and demands in the basin and longstanding interpretive disputes involving the compact's key terms. This examination reveals several equity-related concerns associated with the composition of the compact's apportionment scheme and the governance structure devised for it. A discussion of these concerns occupies the final Part of the Article. Framing this discussion is our perspective that the compact's commitment to equity is a venerable one, and that the concerns raised in this Part need to be addressed in ongoing dialogue about Colorado River governance in order to fulfill this commitment in contemporary times.


A key challenge for home/building automation applications, especially energy management, is to enable the indirect integration of legacy home/building appliances and building components that do not have a network connection to the home/building network, to make it possible to monitor and partially control them. We propose a mechanism and system for the iterative identification and self-configuration of these devices through a shared backplane of networked sensors and actuators available in the building. This makes it possible to integrate these devices and interface them through a software proxy as if they were state of the art networked devices, thus extending the range of the network and the associated middleware towards all kinds of physical entities of that make up the home/building. These entities are supposed to be described in a model repository and a domain-specific ontology. The matching of the entities being discovered in the home/building environment to these known models is done by analog pattern matching, instead of requiring an exact match as would be the case with a standard digital networks protocol, so that it lends itself to iterative approximation. The architecture and OSGi-based implementation of this system are described. Examples are provided for typical home appliances and other subsystems of the home/building that may be dealt with in a similar way.


Purpose: Discrepancy between the delivered and the planned dose, hereafter referred to as dose discrepancy, occurs in every fraction due to patient or setup variation from the initial plan. Re‐optimization is a necessary step in adaptive radiotherapy to correct for the cumulated dose discrepancy from previous fractions. However, re‐optimization is very time consuming. The number of times it can be applied is limited. In this work, we propose a simple strategy to determine the best time to re‐optimize based on some statistical assumption on dose discrepancy. Method:Dose discrepancies of single fractions are modeled as independent random variables with known probability distributions. We assume that re‐optimization can be performed only once for the whole treatment course and the correction amount generated by re‐optimization to be applied for all remaining fractions can not exceed a given bound. Under this simplified conditions, we propose a decision criterion for re‐optimization based on the expected squared cumulated dose discrepancy, which are built inductively from the one‐fraction case. Results: Assuming that the probability distribution of dose discrepancy is Gaussian, we calculate, for each fraction, both upper and lower threshold of cumulated dose discrepancy for re‐optimization. For cumulated dose discrepancy within the upper and lower threshold, re‐optimization should be postponed. The calculated thresholds are close to two lines with slopes c,μ and ,(c+μ), where c is the correction bound and μ is the systematic dose discrepancy. The result of the retrospective study using simulated data agrees well with our theoretical calculation. Conclusions: This study provides a guideline for determining whether re‐optimization should be done given the cumulated dose discrepancy and the number of remaining fractions. Our inductive approach can also be extended to cases when multiple re‐optimizations are allowed.


This paper presents an experimental investigation using graphene nanoplatelets (GnPs) to enhance the bending performance of E-glass fiber/epoxy composites. Each specimen was prepared with two layers of E-glass chopped strand mat via the hand lay-up technique and using various contents of GnPs in the matrix (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 wt%). Mechanical and ultrasonic stirring methods were employed to disperse the GnPs in the matrix. The obtained results demonstrated that the highest increases of 23% and 26% in the flexural strength and modulus, respectively, were observed for the composite containing 0.4 wt% GnPs. With the incorporation of 0.1 wt% GnPs, the flexural failure strain of the composite was enhanced by 16% compared to the control composite. The evaluation of the fractured surfaces clearly demonstrated that the interface between the glass fiber and polymeric matrix was improved when GnPs were added into the matrix.


In response to a declaration in 2004 from a coalition of conservation and animal welfare organizations to ban imports of wild birds into the European Union, we propose that such blanket or indiscriminate bans are unlikely to be effective as a generic conservation approach to the wild bird trade. We further argue that such trade bans, particularly when imposed by Northern constituencies on Southern countries and communities, can act counter to broader values of equity and sustainable development. Here we draw attention to a range of problems and unforeseen consequences of trade bans and highlight the conservation potential of market-led mechanisms that seek to reform trade chains to make them more ethical and sustainable. We contend that it is time for conservation scientists to critically examine the evidence concerning the efficacy of these two strategies as they relate to the trade in wild birds.


People have always found a way to trade with one another, overcoming enormous barriers. Business and trade relationships are often the foundation for nations to thrive in peace. This book will help you learn about building a successful global relationship for your company, working together in peace while educating yourself and co-workers. Inside, the author teaches you about the essential responsibility to a global environment--knowledge of the people, organizations, and companies you want to work with. Becoming acquainted and eventually immersed in the history, geography, values, traditions, taboos, mindset, prejudices, and legal systems of someone else is an essential step to successful relationships with people from other parts of the world. Knowledge of the culture and management practices of their company is the second step toward success--how they make decisions; how they organize; how they work together; how they view the outside world; how they tolerate risk; how they settle disagreements; how they run meetings; how they view time; how they demonstrate their mission and values. This book will detail all of that so that you can make yourself and your company a real success in a global world.


Features of the nest cavity, nest tree, and surrounding vegetation have variously been shown to be important in nest site selection by cavity-nesting birds, yet few investigators have simultaneously considered these three habitat components. During 1995 and 1996 we considered each component in a study of nest site selection by Elf Owls (Micrathene whitneyi) in the Sonoran Desert. All Elf Owl nests (n 68) were located in saguaros (Carnegiea gigantea) with a density of 0.032 nest saguaros/ha. At the scale of the nesting area, the number of cavities in a saguaro was the most important variable influencing whether it was selected for nesting; each additional cavity in a saguaro increased the odds it was selected by a factor of 4.4. Increasing the density of mature saguaros also increased the odds that an area was selected. At the scale of the nest saguaro, nest cavities were located in the main stem in greater proportion than their availability and were located higher above ground than random cavities. Nest cavities also were nonrandomly oriented toward the north, suggesting that cavity microclimate may influence nest site selection. Only 20-25% of potential nest cavities were occupied by cavity nesting birds, suggesting that habitat was not saturated. The differences between Elf Owl nest sites and potential nest sites at both the scale of the nesting area and nest saguaro suggest the presence of sufficient cavities to enable owls to occupy preferred sites within the study area. Received 2 June 2000, accepted 6 February 2001.


Multi-core processors are anticipated to become a major development platform for real-time systems. However, existing power management algorithms are not designed to sufficiently utilize the features available in many multi-core processors, such as shared L2 caches and per-core DVFS, to effectively minimize processor energy consumption while providing real-time guarantees. In this paper, we propose a two-level utilization control solution for energy efficiency in multi-core real-time systems. At the core level, our solution addresses two optimization objectives: controlling the CPU utilization of each core to its desired schedulable bound and minimizing the core energy consumption by adopting per-core DVFS and dynamic L2 cache partitioning to adapt both the CPU frequency-dependent and independent portions of the task execution times of the core. Since traditional control theory cannot handle multiple optimization objectives, a novel utilization controller is designed based on advanced multi-objective model predictive control theory. At the processor level, a cache demand arbitrator is proposed to coordinate the cache size demand from each core and conduct dynamic cache resizing to minimize the leakage power consumption of the shared L2 caches. The energy and time overheads of the proposed control solution are analyzed and addressed in the experiments with well-known benchmarks. Our extensive results demonstrate that our solution outperforms two state-of-the-art power management algorithms that do not consider L2 caches or per-core DVFS, by having more accurate utilization control and less energy consumption.


Arginine vasopressin (AVP) is a neuropeptide hormone and neurotransmitter that has peripheral functions in water regulation, and central functions in the stress response and social bonding in male rodents. In this study, we investigated the role of AVP in partner preference behavior in a monogamous primate, the coppery titi monkey (Callicebus cupreus). Seven titi males each received three intranasal treatments: saline, low AVP (40 IU) and high AVP (80 IU) in random order, 1 week apart. They experienced a series of stimulus exposures to their female partner, a female stranger and an empty cage. Males were more likely to contact the stimulus and do so faster when either female stimulus was present. When pretreated with saline, males contacted the stranger more frequently than their partner; when pretreated with the high dosage of AVP, males contacted their partner more frequently than the stranger. We used microarray to measure peripheral changes in gene expression associated with intranasal AVP and found reduced expression of several genes coding for proinflammatory cytokines. The data presented here suggest that intranasally administered AVP has both central influences on social behavior and peripheral influences on inflammation in a nonhuman primate.


Background: Pneumothorax is collection of air in the pleural cavity and it may be due to trauma to chest or spontaneous without any trauma. It is a common entity presenting to the emergency room and it needs prompt treatment as delay in treatment may endanger the life of the patient.

Objective: To study the aetiology, clinical profile, and management protocols of spontaneous pneumothorax in adults in India.

Materials and Methods: Patients admitted with spontaneous pneumothorax in a tertiary hospital of western India from January 2014 to March 2016 were prospectively studied. Study was planned so as to enrol first consecutive 100 patients admitted with diagnosis of spontaneous pneumothorax. Detailed history, clinical examination and necessary investigations of all patients were done and results were compared with popular studies carried out in India in past. The changing trends and similarities between the studies were noted.

Result: Annual incidence of spontaneous pneumothorax was calculated as 21.739 per 100000 hospital admissions. Out of 100 patients studied 95 were diagnosed with secondary spontaneous pneumothorax and 5 with primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was found to be the most common aetiological factor. Male to female ratio was found to be 9:1. Age distribution showed a biphasic pattern.

Conclusion: Spontaneous pneumothorax (SP) is more common in men. In India secondary spontaneous pneumothorax is far more common than Primary and COPD is the most common cause of spontaneous pneumothorax in this study.


ABSTRACT Escherichia coli K-12 possesses at least 16 chromosomal genes related to genes involved in the formation of type IV pili in other gram-negative bacteria. However, E. coli K-12 does not produce type IV pili when grown under standard laboratory conditions. The results of reverse transcription-PCR, operon fusion analysis, and immunoblotting demonstrated that several of the putativeE. coli piliation genes are expressed at very low levels. Increasing the level of expression of the major pilin gene (ppdD) and the linked assembly genes hofB andhofC (homologues of the Pseudomonas aeruginosatype IV pilus assembly genes pilB and pilC) did not lead to pilus production. However, expression of theppdD gene in P. aeruginosa led to assembly of PpdD into pili that were recognized by antibodies directed against the PpdD protein. Assembly of PpdD into pili in P. aeruginosawas dependent on the expression of the pilB andpilC genes and independent of expression of the P. aeruginosa pilin structural gene pilA.


We introduce a cylindrical permanent magnet design that generates a homogeneous and strong magnetic field having an arbitrary inclination with respect to the axis of the cylinder. The analytical theory of 3 D magnetostatics has been applied to this problem, and a hybrid magnet structure has been designed. This structure contains two magnets producing a longitudinal and transverse component for the magnetic field, whose amplitudes and homogeneities can be fully controlled by design. A simple prototype has been constructed using inexpensive small cube magnets, and its magnetic field has been mapped using Hall and NMR probe sensors. This magnet can, in principle, be used for magic angle field spinning NMR and MRI experiments allowing for metabolic chemical shift profiling in small living animals. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Experts from more than 60 countries have urged the World Health Organization to establish a task force to lead global efforts in combating the growing problem of counterfeit drugs.

"The vile and serious criminal offence" puts human lives at risk and undermines the credibility of health systems worldwide, the experts noted in a declaration.

"It's very likely that [the task force] will happen," said Howard Zucker, WHO's assistant director general for health technology and pharmaceuticals.

Dr Zucker said that "there was unanimous support" at a WHO conference in Rome last week on combating counterfeit drugs for the agency to establish the international task force to fight counterfeiting. …


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of cuff pressure on postoperative sore throat. Methods: Data were collected from January 4 through May 15, 2008. Among the 60 patients, 30 patients were randomly assigned to the control group and the rest to the experimental group. Initial cuff pressure of both groups was set at 20 cmH2O. The experimental group was maintained at 20 cmH2O throughout the anesthesia, while the control group was not regulated further. Sore throat was assessed at postoperative 1, 24 and 72 hours. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman's rho coefficients. Results: Cuff pressure in the control group increased from 20 to 43 cmH2O within 3 hours after induction. However, the experimental group showed that there was apparently a reduced rate of sore throat at postoperative 24 hours (p = .048), and 72 hours (p = .002) than in the control group. However, no outstanding differences between both groups at postoperative 1 hour (p = .081) were detected. The correlation between cuff pressure and sore throat was statistically significant (rs = .590, p < .001). Conclusion:We conclude that maintaining cuff pressure at 20 cmH2O could be an effective means to reduce sore throat in surgical patients with inhalation


Abstract:F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Cruise of the Rolling Junk" remains a critically neglected text. This article proposes that one reason for this neglect is that the work has yet to be placed into any greater critical context. It remedies this problem by analyzing the essay in the context of the American road narrative. Specifically, the reading places Fitzgerald's work within its own historical moment by recognizing how it both distances itself from and yet is complicit in the romantic idea of travel as expressed by the twentieth-century travel orator Burton Holmes. Through a close reading of the text, the article argues that while Fitzgerald attempts to break from the overly picturesque view of travel and adventure that colored much early travel and road literature in an effort to highlight the sense of identity loss (in terms of self and world), he is, in the end, unsuccessful in fully accomplishing his own narrative goal. However, in his attempt, Fitzgerald does place himself within the greater conversation of the American road narrative and helps to complicate traditional theories of American road literature.


Traditional management styles and organizational structures must change radically if business is to face successfully the competitive challenges of the next century. Ways must be found to unlock the creative potential which is manifest at the middle and lower levels of our present bureaucratic organizations. Progressive companies, often in joint cooperation with unions, are already pointing the way to the future by encouraging broader involvement in decisions once throught to be vested only among those at the higher levels. Technology can be a driving force for change. The requirement that large numbers of employees be clustered in offices and factories will no longer be appropriate when one projects the implications of the microprocessor revolution. Much of what we know of as "work" can be performed in the home or in remote locations, thus resulting in decentralized organizational structures and a change in the nature of work in community life and in society as a whole.


Final dimensions for the LCLS RF gun are described. This gun, referred to as the LCLS gun, is a modified version of the UCLA/BNL/SLAC 1.6 cell S-Band RF gun [1], referred to as the prototype gun. The changes include a larger mode separation (15 MHz for the LCLS gun vs. 3.5 MHz for the prototype gun), a larger radius at the iris between the 2 cells, a reduced surface field on the curvature of the iris between the two cells, Z power coupling, increased cooling channels for operation at 120 Hz, dual rf feed, deformation tuning of the full cell, and field probes in both cells. Temporal shaping of the klystron pulse, to reduce the average power dissipated in the gun, has also been adopted. By increasing the mode separation, the amplitude of the 0-mode electric field on the cathode decreases from 10% of the peak on axis field for the prototype gun to less than 3% for the LCLS gun for the steady state fields. Beam performance is improved as shown by the PARMELA simulations. The gun should be designed to accept a future load lock system. Modifications follow the recommendations of our RF review committee [2].


Abstract. Title of the paper: Fattening- and slaughter performance of bulls and heifers of beef breeds and the cross breed German Angus x Simmental The objective of this study was to analyze the differences between fattening and slaughter performances as well as their compositions of meat cuts depending on breed and category of 158 cattle belonging to the breeds of German Angus (DA), Simmental (FV), Limousin (LIM) and the crossbreed DA X FV. The Simmentals had the highest birth weight with 40.5 kg and the heaviest slaughter weight with 578 kg. Although having the longest fattening time, Limousins had the lowest slaughter weight, but were able to compensate this disadvantage through the highest slaughter yield of 60 % and with the biggest share of the pistol cut of 45 %. The German Angus compared with the other breeds appeared to have the most unfavourable results of performance, but the crossbreed (DA x FV) had the shortest fattening period, in which similar slaughter weights and weights of the two carcass halves were obtained. Both genotypes had a higher grade of adiposity and a visually lower muscularity, resulting in significantly lower shares of pistol cut and valuable meat cuts. Heifers absolutely and relatively differ in terms of meat cuts compared with bulls. Only the share of valuable meat cuts was similar. Certainly bulls had a stronger accentuation of the forequarter. Shares of shoulder and neck were higher. However filet, roast beef and round shares of heifers were significantly higher.


Most existing studies on cooperative relay in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) concentrate on link capacity or symbol error rate (SER) constrained power allocation. We advance the study in two aspects. First, we adopt the packet error rate (PER) constraint instead of SER or link capacity constraint. Assuming non-coherent frequency shift keying (NC-FSK) modulation (used in Mica2 motes) and selection combining diversity, we derive an exact closed-form expression of PER for cooperative relay. The advantage of using the PER constraint is that it can be directly utilized by the routing protocols for end-to-end packet loss rate control. Secondly, realizing the transmission distance is usually kept short for power conservation in WSNs, instead of considering only the transmit power, we adopt a more accurate power model that also takes into account the circuit power and power amplifier efficiency, to provide more realistic results. Numerical results reveal that cooperative relay exhibits a reduction in power cost with a specified PER objective. It is also shown that there exists an optimal number of relays that achieves minimum energy consumption under a specified PER constraint.


Palladium membranes have been identified as the membranes of choice in hydrogen separation and purification processes due to their infinite selectivity to hydrogen when defect-free. Despite their potentials in hydrogen processes, palladium membranes pose challenges in terms of cost and embritllement, which occurs when palladium comes in contact with hydrogen at temperatures below 573 K. The challenges posed by palladium membranes have encouraged research into non-palladium-based membranes such as silica and alumina. This thesis investigates hydrogen permeation and separation in palladium membranes and also the use of non-palladium membranes - silica and alumina membranes - in hydrogen permeation. In this study, hydrogen permeation behaviour was investigated for 3 types of membranes, palladium, silica and alumina. Thin palladium films were deposited onto a 30 nm porous ceramic alumina support using both conventional and modified electroless plating methods. The hydrogen separation and purification behaviour of the membranes were investigated, including the effect of annealing at higher temperatures. Gas permeation through silica and alumina membranes was investigated for five single gases including hydrogen. The silica and alumina membranes were fabricated using the dip-coating method and their hydrogen permeation behaviour investigated at different coatings. A thin palladium (Pd1) membrane with a thickness of 2 μm was prepared over porous ceramic alumina support using the electroless plating method and a maximum hydrogen flux of 80.4 cm3 cm-2 min-1 was observed at 873 K and 0.4 bar after annealing the membrane. The hydrogen flux increased to 94.5 cm3 cm-2 min-1 at the same temperature and pressure for the palladium membrane (Pd2), prepared using the modified electroless plating method. The hydrogen flux increased to 98.1 cm3 cm2 min-1 for the palladium/silver (Pd/Ag) membrane prepared using the co-deposition electroless plating method and the PdAg membrane avoided the hydrogen embrittlement at low temperature. Hydrogen purity for the membrane was also investigated for a reformate gas mixture and a maximum hydrogen purity of 99.93% was observed at 873 K and 0.4 bar. The hydrogen purity was observed to increase as a result of the addition of sulphur, which suppresses the inhibition effect of carbon monoxide in the reformate gas mixture. The presence of CO and CO2 was observed to lead to an increase of the exponential factor n above 0.5 as a result of the inhibiting effect of these compounds on hydrogen permeation. The value of the exponential factor n depicting the rate limiting step to hydrogen permeation in the palladium and palladium-alloy membranes was also investigated. Deviations from Sievert's Law were observed from the palladium membranes investigated in this work. In the single-gas hydrogen permeation investigation for the Pd1 membrane, prepared using the conventional electroless plating method, the value of the exponential factor n = 0.5 in accordance with Sievert's Law. However, for the mixed-gas hydrogen separation investigation n = 0.62 at 573 K, which decreased to 0.55 when the membrane was annealed at 873 K. For the Pd2 membrane, prepared using the modified elctroless plating method, n = 1 at 573 K - but the value decreased to 0.76 for the mixed-gas hydrogen separation investigation at the same temperature, which depicts a deviation from Sievert's Law. In all the investigations carried out for the Pd3 palladium alloy membrane, prepared using the co-deposition Pd/Ag electroless plating method at same conditions with the Pd1 and Pd2 membranes, n = 0.5 in accordance with Sievert's Law. For the non-palladium-based silica and ceramic alumina membranes, investigations were carried out for hydrogen permeation and five other single gases: He, CO2, CH4, N2 and Ar. For the silica membranes, a maximum hydrogen permeance of 3.12-7 x 10 mol m-2 s-1 Pa-1 at 573 K and 0.4 bar was observed, which increased to 4.05 x 10-7 mol m-2 s-1 Pa-1 at 573 K and 0.4 when the membrane was modified with Boehmite sol prior to deposition of the silica layer. The permeance for hydrogen and the five single gases was investigated for the alumina membrane at five successive coatings. It was observed that the commercial alumina membrane displayed a maximum hydrogen permeance of 9.72 x 10-7 mol m-2 s-1 Pa-1 at 573 K and 0.4 bar, which increased to 9.85 x 10-7 mol m-2 s-1 Pa-1 at the same temperature and pressure when the membrane was modified with Boehmite sol.


BACKGROUND
Occupational stress has been implicated as an independent risk factor in the aetiology of coronary heart disease and increased hypertensive risk in a number of occupations. Despite the large number of studies into GP stress, none have employed an objective physiological stress correlate.

OBJECTIVES
We conducted an exploratory study to investigate whether self-reported occupational stress levels as measured by the General Practitioner Stress Index (GPSI) were predictive of ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) using a Spacelabs 90207 in a sample of British GPs.

METHOD
Twenty-seven GPs (17 males, 10 females) participated in the study. Each GP wore an ABP monitor on a normal workday and non-workday. All GPs completed the GPSI before returning the ABP monitors. Demographic data were also collected.

RESULTS
Stress associated with 'interpersonal and organizational change' emerged from the stepwise multiple regression analysis as the only significant predictor of ABP, explaining 21% of the variance in workday systolic blood pressure, 26% during the workday evening and 19% during the non-workday. For diastolic blood pressure, the same variable explained 29% of the variability during the workday and 17% during the non-workday. No significant gender differences were found on any of the ABP measures.

CONCLUSIONS
For the first time in GP stress research, our findings established that higher levels of self-reported occupational stress are predictive of greater ABP in British GPs. More detailed psychophysiological research and stress management interventions are required to isolate the effects of occupational stress in British GPs.


I have chosen to discuss the subject of ordinary baldness, not, as one might think, because of my slight personal experience with it, but rather for its story, which is an old and fascinating one. At one time baldness was considered a mark of indignity—evidence of the wrath of the gods for some sinful indiscretion, a curse, a tragedy. Now, for the many, it is simply one of life's inevitable misfortunes. The subject of baldness has always had comment appeal, some of it in ridicule, some in defense. Baldness, it is said, lends dignity; it becomes one whose responsibilities are weighty; it is the outward sign of an intensely active mind; it attacks thinkers rather than doers. All this is admitted, yet "Ugly is a field without grass, a plant without leaves or a head without hair." And because man has never been obtuse to vanity, he has searched frantically


In the late 1980s a coordinated captive-breeding programme was initiated for Rothschild's or Mountain peacock pheasant Polyplectron inopinatum after it was discovered that the species was probably being smuggled from Malaysia to Singapore and being sold on from there. Under a captive-breeding agreement that was set up in 1991, ownership of wild-caught birds would remain with the Malaysian government as would 50% of any progeny: the other 50% would be owned by the holder of the birds as long as they continued to participate in the programme. Thirty-two Mountain peacock pheasants were removed from the wild over a number of years and c. 450 birds have hatched and been reared in captivity from sixteen of these original founders. This article describes basic husbandry and breeding procedures for P. inopinatum, as well as the success achieved by the co-ordinatcd captive-breeding programme.


Failure of thermal barrier coating (TBC) system is associated with the morphological imperfection of thermally grown oxide (TGO) layer. The objective of this work is to numerically investigate the crack nucleation and propagation in TBC system upon thermal cycling based on a cohesive zone model, in which TGO thickness imperfection effect is incorporated. The results show that TGO/BC (bond coat) interface is subjected to high tensile stress in the vicinity of TGO thickness imperfection during thermal cycling, thereby inducing crack nucleation. Owing to the plastic deformation of BC, fracture behavior of TGO/BC interface is related to BC yield strength for a typical thermal growth rate of TGO. Furthermore, the embedded oxide in BC could be also ruptured as a result of the increasing transverse stress, which will lead to the coalescence of adjacent cracks.


ABSTRACT Importance Phoria adaptation is a central tonus mechanism that provides plasticity to binocular alignment. However, its slow dissipation inevitably adulterates our clinical strabismus measurements. Purpose To examine the role of phoria adaptation in normal binocular control, understand its neural substrate, and explore how it can alter our clinical measurements in common forms of strabismus. Methods Investigation into the role of phoria adaptation in maintaining binocular alignment and its role in altering clinical strabismus measurement. Results Phoria adaptation permeates all aspects of binocular alignment. It accounts for the stability of orthophoria, "latent" phorias, tenacious proximal fusion in intermittent exotropia, large fusional vertical amplitudes in congenital superior oblique muscle palsy, the "eating up" of prisms in accommodative esotropia, the smaller measured distance deviation in patients with high AC/A ratio or convergence excess, absence of physiologic skew deviation during head tilt, fusional divergence amplitudes, and spread of comitance. This binocular control system probably arises from a cerebellar learning mechanism that involves input via climbing fibers to the inferior olive, which provide a powerful timing and error signal to the cerebellar Purkinje cells to produce activity-dependent modification analogous to long-term potentiation. Conclusions Phoria adaptation is generated by a central neural integrator that provides inertia, plasticity, and positional stability to human binocular vision.


In Islamic jurisprudence issues, sometimes problems are found for which there are no valid, clear, and firm evidences, whether from the agreed upon evidence or not. There is also issue that has evidences but there are other things that also strengthen the basis. This is not in the context of arguing, but is sometimes used to further solidify the outlook and action. The evidence is called adillah isti'nasiyyah. There are eleven adillah isti'nasiyyah found in this discussion. Two of them deserve to be promoted to adillah mukhtalaf fihi status. The two which went up in status were al-akhzu bi aqalli maqiila and al-istiqra'. The others are al-akhzu bil akhaff, al-akhzu bil aktsar, al-akhzu bil asyaq, al-akhzu bil wasth, dalalatus siyaq, dalalatul iqtiran, weak but has authentic eaning hadiths, al-ihtiyat, al-ilham. Discussions about the adillah isti'nasiyyah separately and comprehensively have not been found and discussed, although they still exist. Of course, it is necessary to elaborate further on this issue in order to add to the body of scientific knowledge. In discussing an Islamic jurisprudence issue, etc., scholars sometimes use this term in order to increase the basis for argumentation, even though in essence the evidences presented are sufficient.


This paper has a twofold objective. First, we contribute to the stream of literature that investigates whether traditional asset pricing factors show any predictive power for the cross-section of Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) returns. In particular, we investigate the existence of a premium associated to the Value, Size, Momentum, Investment, and Profitability factors over the period 1993-2018. We find support for all the pricing factors but for the Profitability one. Second, we investigate whether a set of smart beta strategies, based on the combination of the identified factors, may outperform similar allocation techniques that do not exploit factors. We find that all the proposed factor-based strategies display a higher risk-adjusted out-of-sample performance than a simple buy-and-hold investment in the real estate market (proxied by the FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index). In addition, we find that when factor-based strategies are implemented, REIT-only portfolios display risk-adjusted performances comparable to those of diversified portfolios that include equity, bond, and commodities.


Synchronization attacks like random cropping and time-scale modification are very challenging problems to audio watermarking techniques. To combat these attacks, a novel content-dependent localized robust audio watermarking scheme is proposed. The basic idea is to first select steady high-energy local regions that represent music edges like note attacks, transitions or drum sounds by using different methods, then embed the watermark in these regions. Such regions are of great importance to the understanding of music and will not be changed much for maintaining high auditory quality. In this way, the embedded watermark has the potential to escape all kinds of distortions. Experimental results show strong robustness against common audio signal processing, time-domain synchronization attacks, and most distortions introduced in Stirmark for Audio.


The homologue of human YTHDF2, Ydr374c (Pho92), is the only protein that has a YTH (YT521-B homology) domain in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Based on microarray analysis, genes involved in the phosphate signal transduction (PHO) pathway were up-regulated in the Δpho92 strain, as were genes regulated by Pho4, which is an important transcription factor in the PHO pathway. To identify the exact mechanism of Pho92 action with respect to phosphate metabolism, we investigated the effect of Pho92 on PHO4 expression. The half-life of PHO4 mRNA was increased in the Δpho92 strain; this phenotype was also observed in the deletion mutants UPF1 and POP2, which are components of the NMD (nonsense-mediated decay) pathway and the Pop2-Ccr4-Not deadenylase complex respectively. Pho92 interacts physically with Pop2 of the Pop2-Ccr4-Not deadenylase complex. Furthermore, Pho92 binding to the 3'-UTR of PHO4 was dependent on the phosphate concentration. Deletion of the PHO4 3'-UTR resulted in PHO4 mRNA resistance to Pho92-dependent degradation. The results of the present study indicate that Pho92 regulates Pho4 expression at the post-transcriptional level via the regulation of mRNA stability. Taken together, Pho92 participates in cellular phosphate metabolism, specifically via the regulation of PHO4 mRNA stability by binding to the 3'-UTR in a phosphate-dependent manner.


Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma (MEC) is the most common malignant tumor in salivary glands. About 70% of these tumors are found in the parotid gland, 15 to 20% in the oral cavity, mostly in the palate, and 6 to 10% in the submandibular gland. MEC has female predilection and the mean age at onset is in the 5th decade of life. The treatment decision depends on the histopathology (Low-grade, Intermediate-grade, High-grade). A 12 year-old male with a right palatal tumor, having no association with vital teeth arrived at our service centre. The excisional biopsy reported was: MEC Intermediate-grade. Because few cases of MEC in Paediatric patients have been reported, a review of the literature, with range of age 0-17 years, was made, 24 patients with diagnosis of MEC in Palate, included our case, were found, the average age was 14 (29%), the predilection in genre was female with 19 cases (79%), and 5 cases in Male (21%). MEC has a female predilection and is uncommon in the first decade of life but should be considered even in paediatric patients. The prognosis depends on the clinical stage, grade of the tumor, location, and adequacy of treatment. The presence of nodal disease and distant metastases implies a poor prognosis.

 Key words: Mucoepidermoid carcinoma, palate, childhood.


Facebook operates a family of services used by over two billion people daily on a huge variety of mobile devices. Many devices are configured to upload crash reports should the app crash for any reason. Engineers monitor and triage millions of crash reports logged each day to check for bugs, regressions, and any other quality problems. Debugging groups of crashes is a manually intensive process that requires deep domain expertise and close inspection of traces and code, often under time constraints.We use contrast set mining, a form of discriminative pattern mining, to learn what distinguishes one group of crashes from another. Prior works focus on discretization to apply contrast mining to continuous data. We propose the first direct application of contrast learning to continuous data, without the need for discretization. We also define a weighted anomaly score that unifies continuous and categorical contrast sets while mitigating bias, as well as uncertainty measures that communicate confidence to developers. We demonstrate the value of our novel statistical improvements by applying it on a challenging dataset from Facebook production logs, where we achieve 40x speedup over baseline approaches using discretization.CCS Concepts• Software and its engineering $\rightarrow$Software reliability.


Personal loans market in Poland has changed substantially within last years. Relevant aspect of the change was the emergence of personal loan companies and other non-banking entities with their offer addressed to clients excluded by banks. Positive results of the change were offset by increased concerns regarding financial safety of those who take loans from such institutions, not fully encompassed by the regulations followed by banks and credit unions. We investigated opinions of private individuals to study their perception of loans and attitudes towards selected loan-related issues within the new lending environment. To achieve the goal, we conducted survey in a representative sample of 1004 adult Poles and we utilized logistic regression model to get additional insight into the survey results. We found that negative opinions outweigh positive ones, both in general attitude towards loans and in the perception of particular loan-related issues such as connotations concerning payday loans and parabanks. Despite the study was not meant to ascertain the level of Poles' debt knowledge, we perceive the results of our study as evidencing, though indirectly, the lack of such knowledge. Hence, we believe that the findings call for more activity – both regulatory and market-driven – aimed at making private individuals more debt knowledgeable.


This thesis describes studies, which have been realised towards the total syntheses of two natural products (–)-FR901483 (1) and (+)-TAN1251B (3), which are thought to be biosynthetically related.

The introduction summarises the isolation and biological activities of both natural products. It then focuses on previous methods used to overcome the key challenges in their syntheses: formation of their related tricyclic cores and the quaternary stereocentre next to nitrogen. Our initial retrosynthetic analysis is presented, which proposes the formation of both targets from a common intermediate. 1,5-CH insertion of an alkylidene carbene would allow formation of this common intermediate, containing the challenging quaternary stereocentre adjacent to nitrogen, in a stereoselective fashion. A brief review of work employing this methodology, which has been described within the Hayes group towards these natural products follows.

The results and discussion begins with the synthesis of the common intermediate. From here, work towards the formation of the tricyclic core of (–)-FR901483 (1) is presented. The initially proposed route of closing the final ring of the tricyclic core via a regioselective intramolecular aldol cyclisation was found to be unsuccessful. A revised route involving an intramolecular peptide coupling as the key ring closing step gives our first tricyclic derivative of (–)-FR901483 (1). Formation of a related tricycle is subsequently achieved via a palladium-catalysed alkenylation reaction. The unsuccessful attempts at elaboration of this structure are then discussed. Finally, the progress made in a revised route towards the formation of a key intermediate in Fukuyama's synthesis of (–)-FR901483 (1) is depicted. The progress made towards the target, and possible work for the future is then reviewed.

In the final part of the results and discussion, efforts made towards the synthesis of (+)-TAN1251B (3) are presented. The successful installation of the key hydroxyl group alpha to the ketone in a stereoselective manner via treatment of a silyl enol ether derived from the common intermediate with DMDO is reported. From here, formation of the tricyclic core is achieved using an intramolecular peptide coupling. Further elaboration allows installation of the side-chain and results in the carbon skeleton required for the total synthesis of (+)-TAN1251B (3). A summary of this work and the future steps required to complete the synthesis are then presented.

The thesis concludes with an experimental section, which gives detailed procedures and full characterisation data for the novel compounds discussed in the results and discussion part.


Present-day Dutch has two entrenched "grammatical" hearsay evidentials: a construction with zou (originally the past tense form of the verb zullen, cognate with German sollen) and a construction with schijnen (literally, 'seem'). The closest English equivalent of both constructions is the "evidential nominative and infinitive" (NCI), which pairs an evidential meaning with the morphosyntactic pattern [SBJ be Xed to Inf]. This is a highly productive construction in English, the most typical instantiation of which is be said to. Present-day Dutch has an NCI construction as well, but the lexical possibilities of this construction are limited to a handful of cognition verbs, which — in their NCI use — encode deontic rather than evidential meanings. On the basis of historical corpus data, this paper shows that the Dutch equivalent of English be said to, i.e. gezegd worden te, looked ready at one time to become entrenched as a substantive hearsay construction as well. This paper traces its evolution and explores the questions of why the pattern disappeared and why Dutch, unlike English, did not develop a schematic evidential NCI construction.


Chlorinated waters are being introduced into estuarine and coastal areas in increasing quantities. In such systems, the chlorine reacts with the natural bromide and ammonia to produce the highly toxic hypobromous acid, hypobromite ion, and haloamines. Sunlight causes up to 50 percent conversion to bromate ion, which is persistent in natural waters and has an unknown toxicity.


A Christian approach to the most important and fundamental concepts of cultural anthropology. This course deals with the different but valid perspectives of various cultures, cultural substructures, and the way in which change is affected.


Introduction: Setting the Stage I. The Governance Crisis in Context A. Setting the Stage: Land and People of the Mountains B. The North Caucasus Federal District: Adding Fuel to a Governance Fire 1. Dagestan: All Politics Is Local? 2. Moscow's Meddling while Makhachkala's Burning II. From Grozny to Moscow to Makhachkala: Militant Violence in Context A. The Chechen Context: "We Shall Respond to Every Chechen Shot with Thousands of Our Own". B. Militant Violence in Context: From Grozny to Makhachkala to Moscow C. Wars and Peace? III. Human Rights and Wrongs: From Moscow to Makhachkala A. Russia's Rhetorical Commitment to Human Rights B. Silencing Truth: Targeting Journalists C. Killing Hope: Human Rights Defenders in the Crosshairs D. The Deafening Silence of Those Who Suffer IV. From Moscow to Makhachkala: The People in Between The main problem with our society, are these broken links. Everything that ties us together between regions, generations, past and present, has been shattered by the Soviet Union, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the successor regime to the Soviet Union. We will only become a healthy society once we have rebuilt those connections, somehow. (1) INTRODUCTION: SETTING THE STAGE Since the mid-1990s, the Russian Federation (Russia) has been engaged in a series of violent struggles within its North Caucasus territory. (2) While much attention has rightly focused on the Republic of Chechnya, the locus of two wars and a protracted counterterrorist operation, the nature of the violence has varied across the region in the interceding years. (3) In the neighboring Republic of Dagestan, violence increased after Russia declared an end to the second Chechen war. (4) Efforts to sustainably stem violence in this restive republic have been stymied because Russia has failed to meaningfully address a series of critically important contextual factors: Dagestani governance, the backdrop of regional violence, and human rights violations against the local population. In short, conflict occurs in context, and by failing to connect the dots, Moscow's policies have undermined security in its periphery-Dagestan's capital, Makhachkala, and the hinterlands it governs. Charles King notes, "Awe and terror have often been intertwined in outsiders' conceptions of the Caucasus." (5) Indeed, it is terror that focused U.S. attention on this oft-overlooked corner of Russia in the spring of 2013. (6) Anzor and Zubeidat Tsarnaev, the parents of Dzhokar and Tamarlan, the two young men accused of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombing in April of 2013, live in Makhachkala. (7) News articles after the attack were peppered with questions about whether the brothers Tsarnaev were radicalized in Dagestan. (8) A report scheduled for release in the summer of 2013 asks whether the violence of the region has come to the United States, in essence from the Caucasus to Copley. (9) Additionally, the 2014 Winter Olympics are in nearby Sochi, Russia. The state has invested heavily in security for the Olympics, and militants have threatened the international event. (10) "Awe and terror" are also reflected in considering the basic human dignity of the ten million people who live in that region. (11) Since the beginning of the first Chechen war in 1994, tens of thousands have been killed, hundreds of thousands have been wounded and even more have had their lives disrupted by violence. (12) Nearly a year prior to his death, murdered Dagestani journalist Akhmednabi Akhmednabiyev reflected on human rights concerns in the Republic and stated, "Such a feeling that time in Russia and Dagestan flows in the opposite direction, the authorities want to return society to the Stalinist-Soviet era, where the right to absolute truth belonged only to the state and its opponents were [a]waiting either endless prosecution or imprisonment and extrajudicial execution. …


Financing decision refers to the selection of appropriate financing-mix and so it relates to the capital structure or leverage. Capital structure refers to the proportion of long- term debt capital and equity capital required to finance investment proposal. There should be an optimum capital structure, which can be attained by the judicious exercise of financial leverage. This study mainly concentrates on the exercise of leverage in the context understanding its impact on earnings per share. The purpose behind this study is to bridge the gap between theoretical and practical aspects. UCAL could not enjoy the benefit of accepted leverage theorem. Rather it accrued the benefit of EPS through the reverse operation of leverage. So leverage theorem is not a general rule. The dividend policy of the company is conservative. The company has been maintaining a decrease trend in the dividend payout. The company was enabling to maximize the EPS by reverse operation of financial leverage. The company successfully pulled down the degree of financial leverage to reap the EPS advantage.


To apply fatty acid analyses to the study of foraging ecology and diet determination, all compounds that may be deposited as fatty acids in a predator must be quantified in the prey. These compounds include the usual fatty acids in acyl lipids, but also the alcohols of wax esters and the vinyl ethers of plasmalogens. In routine fatty acid analysis, samples are extracted and transesterified (methylated), resulting in the formation of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs); however, fatty alcohols and dimethylacetals (DMAs) are also generated if wax esters or plasmalogens are present. Here, we present a new method using a modified Jones' reagent to oxidize these alcohols and DMAs to free fatty acids (FFAs). These FFAs are then easily methylated and quantitatively recombined with FAMEs from the same sample. This generates a fatty acid signature of prey that is equivalent to that which the predator has available for deposition upon digestion of that prey. This method is validated with alcohol and DMA standards. Its application to typical marine samples is also presented, demonstrating the change in effective fatty acid signature after inclusion of fatty acids derived from wax esters and plasmalogens.


PURPOSE
The major goals of complete primary repair of exstrophy (CPRE) are the re-creation of normal anatomy which allows bladder cycling and to reduce the number of future procedures necessary to achieve continence. It is unclear whether CPRE is associated with a higher bladder neck fistula rate than the traditional staged repair. We review a multi-institutional experience with the CPRE technique to evaluate the rate of bladder neck fistula.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A retrospective review of 18 boys and 4 girls who underwent CPRE at 4 tertiary pediatric urology referral centers during the last 6 years was performed. All pertinent technical aspects were reviewed, including timing of procedure, whether osteotomies were performed, and number of layers used to reconstruct the bladder neck and urethra. Complications were noted, especially that of bladder neck fistula.

RESULTS
Mean followup was 22.6 months. Of the patients 14 (64%) underwent primary closure within the first 48 hours of life and only 1 required osteotomies. The remaining 8 patients underwent closure between 5 days and 3 months of age (mean 24.6 days) and all required osteotomies. Bladder neck fistula occurred postoperatively at the pubic junction in 9 males (41%). Four cases had a 2 layer closure that was covered with a single layer small intestinal submucosa onlay (Surgisis) and no patient had a fistula. Fistulas developed in 62.5% of patients with delayed closure vs 29% of those with immediate closure (p = 0.135). Two fistulas closed spontaneously and 7 required surgical closure at a mean of 7.5 months after the fistula occurred.

CONCLUSIONS
This multi-institutional study demonstrates that bladder neck fistulas occur in almost half of patients following CPRE by experienced pediatric urologists. While spontaneous closure is possible, most will eventually require repair. The long-term implications of this finding with regard to continence and the need for additional bladder neck procedures remain to be seen. We are encouraged by the preliminary results of small intestinal submucosa coverage and will continue to evaluate its use at the time of primary exstrophy closure.


The star KIC8462852 (Tabby's star) has shown anomalous drops in light flux. We perform a statistical analysis of the more numerous smaller dimming events by using methods found useful for avalanches in ferromagnetism and plastic flow. Scaling exponents for avalanche statistics and temporal profiles of the flux during the dimming events are close to mean field predictions. Scaling collapses suggest that this star may be near a nonequilibrium critical point. The large events are interpreted as avalanches marked by modified dynamics, limited by the system size, and not within the scaling regime.


This paper argues that the problems emerging in the process of current Government-led urbanization are caused by the unbalanced game mechanism between state forces and social forces in nature. In future, the key for achieving the sustainability of Chinese urbanization process is to seek for the institutional balance between the state and the society. Therefore, it is necessary to include the public interests demands into the process of urban development to achieve the benign interaction between the state and the society, jointly promoting the sustainable urban development.


In a straightforward manner, we utilize Floquet theory and adiabatic elimination to derive an analytic expression for a monochromatically driven two-level atom, without making the rotating wave approximation. We show that the counter-rotating terms dropped in the rotating wave approximation are responsible for three major effects. First an ac-Stark phase shift of the driven transition, second increased excited state population from far-detuned driving of the Lorentzian line, and third extra frequencies in the population dynamics that result in "wiggles." The analytic result agrees well with numerical simultations over a wide range of parameters.


Collective coordinates in a many-particle system are complex Fourier components of the local particle density , and often provide useful physical insights. However, given collective coordinates, it is desirable to infer the particle coordinates via inverse transformations. In principle, a sufficiently large set of collective coordinates are equivalent to particle coordinates, but the nonlinear relation between collective and particle coordinates makes the inversion procedure highly nontrivial. Given a 'target' configuration in one-dimensional (1D) Euclidean space, we investigate the minimal set of its collective coordinates that can be uniquely inverted into particle coordinates. For this purpose, we treat a finite number M of the real and/or the imaginary parts of collective coordinates of the target configuration as constraints, and then reconstruct 'solution' configurations whose collective coordinates satisfy these constraints. Both theoretical and numerical investigations reveal that the number of numerically distinct solutions depends sensitively on the chosen collective-coordinate constraints and target configurations. From detailed analysis, we conclude that collective coordinates at the smallest wavevectors is the minimal set of constraints for unique inversion, where represents the ceiling function. This result provides useful groundwork to the inverse transform of collective coordinates in higher-dimensional systems.


In this paper, a hyperbolic differential inclusion with nonmonotone discontinuous and nonlinear term, which the generalized velocity acts as its variable, is studied and the existence and decay of its weak solution are obtained.


The dissociation of environmentally hazardous NO through dissociative adsorption on metallic clusters supported by oxides, is receiving growing attention. Building on previous research on monometallic M 13  clusters [J. Phys. Chem. C, 2019, 123(33), 20314-20318], this work considers bimetallic Pt 12 M (M = Rh, Ru or Ir) clusters. The adsorption energy and activation energy of NO dissociation on the clusters have been calculated in vacuum using Koh,-Sham DFT, while their trends were rationalized using reactivity indices such as molecular electrostatic potential and global Fermi softness. The results shown that doping of the Pt clusters lowered the adsorption energy as well as the activation energy for NO dissociation. Furthermore, reactivity indices were calculated as a first estimate of the performance of the clusters in realistic amorphous silica pores (MCM-41) through  ab initio  molecular dynamics simulations.


It is commonly recognized that today's Internet routing and addressing system is facing serious scaling problems, which are mainly caused by the overloading of IP address semantics. That is, an IP address represents not only the location but also the identity of a host. To address this problem, several recent schemes propose to replace the IP namespace in today's Internet with a locator namespace and an identity namespace. The locator namespace consists of locators that are used to represent the locations of hosts. On the other hand, the identity namespace consists of identifiers that are used to represent the identities of hosts. For these schemes to work, there must be a mapping system that can supply an appropriate locator for any given end point identifier (EID). While prior related works mainly focus on aggregable EIDs, several recent works proposed the use of self-certifying EIDs for purpose of security and privacy. However, self-certifying EIDs are flat, unstructured and prior proposals cannot be used to deal with flat EIDs. In this paper, we propose a Distributed hash table (DHT)-based identifier-to-locator mapping scheme to resolve a locator for a flat identifier. We evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme. We show that, besides the capability to support flat EIDs, the scheme has good scalability and low resolution delay. We also show that the scheme is robust and can efficiently support mobility.


Global obesity rates are increasing more and more. Short-chain fatty acids, the end products of fermentation of indigestible carbohydrates by intestinal bacteria, can influence metabolism and therefore play a role in the development of obesity and diabetes. The studies described in this dissertation show that the administration of short-chain fatty acids to the colon of overweight men increases energy expenditure and fat metabolism and reduces appetite and inflammation. The increase in the number of short-chain fatty acids in the colon by food intake can vitally contribute to the treatment or prevention of obesity and diabetes.


Background: An important function of research is to identify community needs in certain fields. As mental health is a vital issue to us, identifying and prioritizing mental health needs is important to policy makers to help them in setting goals for different programs that meet the needs of a specific community in a certain health area. Purpose: To identify the health research needs in the field of mental health in Gaza Strip, Palestine. Design and Methods: The design was a qualitative design using focus group, need assessment and non-structured interview for data collection. Participants: Participants included three focus groups. First group consisted of students enrolled in a master program of community mental health nursing; second group included seven faculty members who were specialists in mental health; and third group included six key persons from the ministry of health and the chair of community mental health program in WHO at Gaza Strip. Results: Results of this qualitative study revealed several themes that emerged from the thematic analysis. Many health research needs were identified by participants. These needs included the following topics: stigma, family integration, aggression of children born to substance-abuse fathers, post-partum depression, counseling, talking therapy in clinical practice, behavioral problems, tramadole abuse, risk factors leading to drug dependence, autism, exploring the role of religion in mental health, and Wellness Recovery Action Plan. Implication for Practice: Well designed studies will help to identify and prioritize the health needs for a specific community. Identifying the needs related to community mental health is one of the first steps to help in pushing these needs into the agenda of health policy makers, who then will work to set goals and design policies and programs that aiming to meet the needs of the community, which hopefully will produce a community with less mental health problems.


BACKGROUND
There have been no studies of interventions to reduce test utilization in the coronary care unit.

OBJECTIVE
To determine whether a 3-part intervention in a coronary care unit could decrease utilization without affecting clinical outcomes.

METHODS
Practice guidelines for routine laboratory and chest radiographic testing were developed by a multidisciplinary team, using evidence-based recommendations when possible and expert opinion otherwise. These guidelines were incorporated into the computer admission orders for the coronary care unit at a large teaching hospital, and educational efforts were targeted at the house staff and nurses. Utilization during the 3-month intervention period was compared with utilization during the same 3 months in the prior year. The hospital's medical intensive care unit, which did not receive the specific intervention, provided control data.

RESULTS
During the intervention period, there were significant reductions in utilization of all chemistry tests (from 7% to 40%). Reductions in ordering of complete blood counts, arterial blood gas tests, and chest radiographs were not statistically significant. After controlling for trends in the control intensive care unit, however, the reductions in arterial blood gas tests (P =.04) and chest radiographs (P<.001) became significant. The reductions in potassium, glucose, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus testing, but not other chemistries, remained significant. The estimated reduction in expenditures for "routine" blood tests and chest radiographs was 17% (P<.001). There were no significant changes in length of stay, readmission to intensive care, hospital mortality, or ventilator days.

CONCLUSION
The utilization management intervention was associated with significant reductions in test ordering without a measurable change in clinical outcomes.


The stands' regeneration through afforestation does not represent the main modality for insuring the stands' regeneration, but it is used where the natural regeneration cannot be assured, and when the forests are extend or reintroduced. It may be appreciated that nowadays, the stand's status is mainly influenced by the climatic, pedohydrological and anthropical factors .In this context, we may witness the process of devitalization and trees' abnormal drying, especially in the arid areas of the country, respectively in the steppe and forest steppe regions, also in Danube meadow regions, in plane and other hilly territories, mainly during dry and extremely dry years. Statistics regarding the beating-up works and rehabilitation of affected plantations within the plantations realized between 2001-2010 by RNP-Romsilva reveal that there were established on a total surface ranged between 5621 and 9239 ha, and 18-25% were damaged and had to be remade. Concerning the supplying of forest reproductive materials, it may be mentioned that during 2001-2011 the seed stand and the seed orchard surfaces decreased, but the seed stands surface for the main scattered and other noble hard wood species increased. The ecological rehabilitation of the degraded forest is necessary and should be realized by promoting species more resistant to more and more dryer site conditions from forest steppe the plane forest and by extension of surfaces covered by Norway spruce in sub alpine region, Stone pine and Mountain pine in the alpine region. Related to the afforestation realized within the state owned forests, it may be noted that they were made in accordance with technical guidelines using the best genetically improved forest reproductive materials, with adapted provenances/ species in different site conditions. We consider that it is mandatory to update the technical guidelines in order to include a more intensive afforestation and forest management processes, conditions that are necessary for obtaining more stable and higher quality stands.


Maintaining controlled substances records are a required and tedious task. A computerized system was developed to meet both pharmacy and nursing needs. The original system consisted of several notebook binders that were tabbed to separate different controlled substances. Pharmacy was constantly dealing with transcription errors and incorrect calculations. In the computerized program, each controlled substance was assigned its own file and mnemonic. The computer allowed for entries and maintained a running inventory. The troubleshooter pharmacist's role was redefined to oversee of the entire system, to have sole access to the entire system, and to maintain a weekly inventory. Improvements also were made in the nursing procedure, which provided a sufficient stock of controlled substances. A new, consolidated nursing form also was devised. The primary reason that the computerized system is successful is that it accommodates the needs of both nursing and pharmacy.


Mineral and textural analyses reveal that the basal sandy units of the simple cyclothems of the Pennsylvanian Des Moines series of south central Iowa are well sorted, fine grained to silty, quartzose sandstones. Though always well sorted, the samples from channel facies developments are distinctly more coarse than those from sheet facies developments. Mineralogically the sandstones are composed of stable species derived largely from pre-existing sediments but containing some apparently fresh material from granitic and metamorphic terranes. The light minerals are quartz, orthoclase, plagioclase, muscovite, biotite, and chlorite. Abundant heavy minerals are zircon, garnet, tourmaline, and leucoxene; chloritoid, barite, apatite, staurolite, rutile, anatase, magnetite, hematite, and pyrite also occur. Conditions of deposition, possible provenance areas, and variations in mineral occurrence and abundance are discussed.


Organizations have had difficulty in finding good project and risk management techniques that will deliver high performing projects. Research has identified common risks that occur on projects, but previous research has had difficulty coming up with reliable methods to mitigate those risks. However, the Best Value Approach (BVA) has proven to be effective in minimizing risk and increasing project performance. The crux of the BVA is the utilization of experts to minimize project risk. The BVA approach is unique from other project management methodologies which focus on increasing communication, collaboration and decision making. Previous research shows that client stakeholders are the cause of the majority of project risks, while the expert vendors usually do not cause risk on a project. It has been observed that expert vendors are able to minimize client stakeholder risk by transparent planning and tracking. Using case study research, an expert contractor's project is analyzed to determine the impact of using the BVA project management methodology to minimize project risk. As a result, the contractor did not cause any risk based on time and cost and helped the client minimize their risk. The research identifies eight risk mitigating actions the contractor applied through the BVA. The majority of the risk mitigating actions were performed primarily in the preparation and preplanning phases of the project.


In countering the legacies of colonisation, aboriginal communities across Canada are beginning to mount their own locally inspired and developed initiatives in business, health, welfare and education to address needs that they have identified. This paper reports on one such initiative created and launched by the Cree Nation of Wemindji (in Quebec, Canada), called COOL (Challenging Our Own Limits) or Nigawchiisuun. 2 The paper briefly outlines the creation, development and implementation of COOL and the theoretical and methodological framework that supports the project. The paper is organized into three sections. First, a brief background and discussion of the origins, impetus and eventual launch of COOL; second, a general theoretical framework situating participatory evaluation (PE) in relation to the broader field of participatory action research (PAR); and third, the implications and potential of this methodology for indigenous research. The paper concludes with remarks on participatory evaluation as an indigenous alternative to mainstream program evaluation and related managerial technologies.


This paper argues for an invariantist view of scientific representation. First, it introduces the deflationary view that sees models in science as no different in essence from symbolic vehicles, which are derivative and adopted pragmatically, as a matter of convention. After analyzing this deflationary view and pointing out its shortcomings, it argues that representations play at least two radically different roles: one purely symbolic and therefore conventional, and the other epistemic. Finally, it argues that although it is correct to say that all particular external vehicles are introduced via some conventions, they get their jobs done because they are invariant with respect to particular conventions.


While half of undergraduate students in business are women, only one in five full professors in business in the US are female. According to the pipeline theory, this discrepancy should correct itself through time and more women join the ranks of full professors. However, the pipeline seems to leak, as the adjustment is slow. Student evaluations of teaching (SET) is one of the measures used to evaluate faculty. If there is a gender bias in student evaluations, where female faculty is valued less than male faculty, this could contribute to the leaky pipeline by reducing women's promotion possibilities. Looking at student evaluations among undergraduate business students at an Icelandic university in 127 courses from 2010 to 2015, I estimate the difference between SET for male and female faculty, using random-effects ordered logit regressions. I find that female faculty receive lower evaluations than male faculty in a simple model. In a model linking each of the covariates with gender I find an even greater gender bias for full-time faculty, while female part-time instructors receive higher SET than their male counterparts.


Favipiravir and remdesivir are investigational drugs for coronavirus disease 2019 that is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The active forms of these drugs are reported to target and inhibit viral RNA dependent RNA polymerase, which is derived from 3-chymotrypsin like protease, a viral replicase enzyme. The present in silico study explores the comparative efficacy of these drugs to inhibit 3-chymotrypsin like protease and RNA dependent RNA polymerase, to plan therapeutic options for patients based on their disease severity. Active favipiravir and remdesivir molecules bind to 3-chymotrypsin like protease with energies of 6.18 and -6.52 kcal/mol in contrast to -5.62 and -3.91 kcal/mol for RNA dependent RNA polymerase. Further, hydrophobic interactions and salt bridge formations cement drug bindings with 3-chymotrypsin like protease, but not with RNA dependent RNA polymerase. Molecular dynamic simulation experiments, performed under certain experimental constraints reveal that the root mean square flexibilities of active residues in drug complexes with 3-chymotrypsin like protease are lower than in free 3-chymotrypsin like protease making the former more stable than the latter because of their rigidity and stabilities. Both drugs may hence serve as good therapeutic options for early stages of coronavirus disease 2019. However, more severe symptoms may be treated better with favipiravir due to its better binding with RNA dependent RNA polymerase, as compared to remdesivir. The "one drug does not fit all" concept is true for coronavirus disease 2019 as it is being currently realized by clinicians all around the world. Hence precise knowledge about critical interactions of these drugs with the viral enzymes will help medicos make vital therapeutic decisions on interventional options for patients who report to hospitals without over symptoms or with varying degrees of disease severity.


Soils contain anoxic microzones, and acetate is an intermediate during the turnover of soil organic carbon. Due to negligible methanogenic activities in well-drained soils, acetate accumulates under experimentally imposed short-term anoxic conditions. In contrast to forest, agricultural, and prairie soils, grassland soils from Hawaii rapidly consumed rather than formed acetate when incubated under anoxic conditions. Thus, alternative electron acceptors that might be linked to the anaerobic oxidation of soil organic carbon in Hawaiian soils were assessed. Under anoxic conditions, high amounts of Fe(II) were formed by Hawaiian soils as soon as soils were depleted of nitrate. Rates of Fe(II) formation for different soils ranged from 0.01 to 0.31 micromol (g dry weight soil)(-1) h(-1), but were not positively correlated to increasing amounts of poorly crystallized iron oxides. In general, sulfate-reducing and methanogenic activities were negligible. Supplemental acetate was rapidly oxidized to CO2 via the sequential reduction of nitrate and Fe(III) in grassland soil (obtained near Kaena State Park). Supplemental H2 stimulated the formation of Fe(II), but H2-utilizing acetogens appeared to also be involved in the consumption of H2. Approximately 270 micromol Fe(III) (g dry weight soil)(-1) was available for Fe(III)-reducing bacteria, and acetate became a stable end product when Fe(III) was depleted in long-term incubations. Most-probable-number estimates of H2- and acetate-utilizing Fe(III) reducers and of H2-utilizing acetogens were similar. These results indicate that (i) the microbial reduction of Fe(III) is an important electron-accepting process for the anaerobic oxidation of organic matter in Fe(III)-rich Hawaiian soils of volcanic origin, and (ii) acetate, formed by the combined activity of fermentative and acetogenic bacteria, is an important trophic link in anoxic microsites of these soils.