Objectives Colocated services in a team-based integrated practice unit (IPU) optimize care of pelvic floor disorders. Our goal was to compare ancillary service utilization in a multidisciplinary IPU between patients covered by a bundled payment model (BPM) versus a traditional fee-for-service model (FFSM). Methods Medical records of women attending an IPU for pelvic floor disorders with colocated services, including nutrition, social work, psychiatry, physical therapy, and subspecialty care between October 2017 and December 2018, were included in this retrospective chart review. All patients were offered treatment with ancillary services according to standardized care pathways. Data extracted included patient demographics, pelvic floor disorder diagnoses, baseline severity measures, payment model, and ancillary services used. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression identified variables predicting higher uptake of ancillary services. Results A total of 575 women with pelvic floor disorders presented for care during the study period, of which 35.14% attended at least 1 appointment with any ancillary services provider. Ancillary service utilization did not differ between patients in the BPM group and those in the FFSM group (36.22 vs 33.47%; P = 0.489). Social work services were more likely to be used by the BPM compared with the FFSM group (15.95 vs 6.28%; P < 0.001). The diagnosis of fecal incontinence was associated with a higher chance of using any ancillary service (odds ratio, 4.91; 95% confidence interval, 1.81–13.33; P = 0.002). Conclusions One third of patients with pelvic floor disorders receiving care in an IPU used colocated ancillary services. Utilization does not differ between payment models.


Objective: To evaluate the effect of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) tongue scraper on the volatile sulfur compound (VSC) levels. Material and Methods: A randomized, controlled, parallel design was used in this study. Out of the 48 volunteers from Dentistry Department of the Federal University of Sergipe, 40 subjects who met the inclusion criteria were randomly divided into 4 groups (n=10): G1 (control), rinsing of distilled water solution (WS); G2, WS and tongue coating removal (TCR) with toothbrush; G3, WS and TCR with a commercial tongue scraper; and G4, WS and TCR with PET tongue scraper. PET bottles were cut with a rectangular shape (1.0 cm wide x 20 cm long) to obtain PET tongue scraper. The VSC measurements were performed before (T0) and immediately after (T1) each therapy by portable sulfide monitor. Data (ppb) were submitted to Wilcoxon test (α=0.05). The differences between T0 and T1 were calculated and percentage values were assigned. Data (percentage) were submitted to ANOVA and Tukey test (α=0.05). Results: All 40 selected subjects completed the study. All groups reduced significantly the VSC levels after therapy (P<0.01). ANOVA indicated a significant difference among groups (P<0.001). The Tukey test showed that G1 (reduction of 21%) was similar to G2 (31%); G2 was similar to G3 (42%) and different from G4 (52%); G3 and G4 were similar. Conclusion: PET tongue scraper was similar to commercial tongue scraper and provided higher reductions of VSC levels than the toothbrush. KeywordsHalitosis; Polyethylene terephthalates; Sulfur compounds; Tongue.


The accurate simulation of two-phase flow combustion is crucial for the design of aeronautical combustion chambers. In order to gain insight into complex interactions between a flame, a flow, and a liquid phase, the present work addresses the combustion modeling for the large eddy simulation (LES) of a turbulent spray jet flame. The Eulerian–Lagrangian framework is selected to represent the gaseous and liquid phases, respectively. Chemical processes are described by a reduced mechanism, and turbulent combustion is modeled by the thickened flame model (TFM) coupled to the adaptive mesh refinement (AMR). The TFM-AMR extension on the dispersed phase is successfully validated on a laminar spray flame configuration. Then, the modeling approach is evaluated on the academic turbulent spray burner, providing a good agreement with the experimental data.


Highlights the fact that women's employment is increasing in most Western countries, although the patterns are still very varied especially in relation to: the proportion who work full‐ or part‐time; the size of the wages gap between women and men; and the extent of the infrastructural support, such as publicly‐provided child care, that facilitates the reconciliation of working and home life. Notes that these are linked to the different patterns of gender relations in the wider society: both different degrees of inequality and different forms of patriarchy. Uses comparative analysis to investigate these differences and focuses on the methodological dilemmas in carrying out such cross‐national research.


Background and objective: Education can play an important role in the management of chronic diseases such as diabetes. This study was conducted to determine the impact of pictograph-based education on knowledge, attitude, selfcare, fasting blood glucose and HbA1c among patients with type 2 diabetes. Materials and methods: This study was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) on 100 patients with type 2 diabetes referred to diabetes clinics in Kerman city. The participants were randomly divided into intervention and control groups with 50 patients in each group. In the intervention group, pictograph-based training was presented in the form of slides and posters along with lectures, but in the control group lectures without pictographs was presented. The data were collected and analyzed using chi-square tests, independent t-test, paired t-test Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney U through SPSS16. Results: The mean score of total self-care significantly increased in the intervention group (p < 0.0001). The self-care components of foot care and blood glucose monitoring significantly improved in the intervention group, too. Fasting glucose and HbA1c decreased in both groups and knowledge in both groups improved after the intervention, but attitude only increased in the intervention group. Conclu sion: Considering the significant role of pictographs in learning health instructions, it seems that education using pictographs can promote self-care behaviors among diabetic patients who are mainly old and/or with low literacy. Paper Type: Research Article.


Critical legal theory was established in the American legal
thought and offers a unique picture of law. It points out the
problems of cultural hegemony or cultural imperialism. This
chapter presents slightly different picture of critical
approach. It focuses on the problem of language and
consciousness of critical legal theory in the East (or Central)
Europe. One of many possible problem of critical legal thought
in the Central Europe is the problem of language. The world's
arena for critical discussion is framed by English language.
This language context has observable consequences: cases,
examples or concepts are then derived from English - American
legal environment. Furthermore, such a language and cultural
orientations are inevitable for success in quantitative
measures of science or for entering the international forum.
Language and social context are inseparably connected to law.
It is possible to get the complex picture of law only if it is
rooted in particular society and is expressed through
corresponding language. But is it possible to criticize the
law, its use in society, if it is expressed by another
language; by another language reflecting different cultural
experience? Are the problems of one culture expressed in
language of another one still the same problems or are they
reflections of different experiences? Is in critical thought
cultural translations possible? This chapter focuses on
problems of cultural imperialism of English - American law.
Consequences of this situation can be analyzed in the field of
legal theory or philosophy. This paper wants to point out the
possible problem of global unification of legal thought. What
would be the consequences of understanding this question of
language as the impact of cultural and legal hegemony or even
imperialism of western legal tradition?


The research presented in this thesis is aimed at providing an idea creation method through the support of Creative Computing and other related techniques from software engineering. On one hand, it is always a controversial topic on whether autonomous idea creation is possible due to different perspectives; on the other hand, idea creation becomes extremely important in our life nowadays. Hence, this study is strived to contribute on automatic ideation, in which computers, instead of human beings, generate creative ideas. A creative idea is an idea that is not only useful but also novel and surprising. To achieve this goal, it concentrates on creativity in ideas, which is lacking of efforts in both research and industrial communities. Therefore, this thesis proposes a novel idea creation approach with three phases: Knowledge Extraction/Reuse, Idea Elements Generation and Evolving into Creative Ideas. In particular, this thesis provides four original contributions. The first contribution is a novel approach to create ideas for specific domains, based on simulated human and machine ideation processes and Creative Computing. The second one is a set of rules for extracting knowledge, based on abstraction techniques and ontology techniques, for
extracting useful/reusable domain knowledge from relevant text data. The third one consists of reasoning rules, based on identified atomic reasoning operations, where ontology, description logics, inference techniques, creativity principles and the atomic operations are employed. The fourth one is a developed inference engine that can be used in multiple applications for different domains, where the main component of Idea Elements Generation phase and the reasoning rules are implemented. Combining with the designed creativity evaluation metrics with identified creativity elements, sub-elements and corresponding algorithms, the proposed idea creation approach provides core techniques to support for every phases of creating new ideas. Therefore,
one prototype system with three applications is developed following the proposed approach proving the concept of the contributions of the study.


Objective To survey the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and its influencing factors among patients with COVID-19 in their first medical follow up. Methods All patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were discharged from 12 hospitals in Wenzhou, Zhejiang from Jan 17, 2020 to Mar 20, 2020. Prospectively collected and analyzed data included demographics, clinical symptoms, comorbidity, and chest CT imaging features at the first follow up, 1 month after discharge. All patients underwent the HRQoL evaluation with the Chinese version of Short-Form 36-item questionnaire (SF-36) as well as a general condition questionnaire. Factors associated with SF-36 were constructed using linear regression. Predictors of impaired physical component summary (PCS) and a mental component summary (MCS) were identified by logistic regression. Results SF-36 demonstrated a significant difference in HRQoL in patients with COVID-19, except in physical function (PF), when compared to the general Chinese population (p<0.05). The multiple linear regressions demonstrated that age was negatively associated with PF, role physical (RP), but positively associated with vitality (VT) (p<0.05). PF, bodily pain (BP), and role-emotional (RE) were negatively associated with the female sex (p<0.05). For mental health, the clinical subtypes were significant associated factors (p < 0.05). Length of stay (LOS) was strongly negatively associated with RE and RP, and positively associated with VT (p< 0.05). Logistical regression revealed that non-obese overweight (OR 3.71) and obesity (OR 3.94) were risk factors for a low PCS and female sex (OR 2.22) was a risk factor for a low MCS. Conclusions Health-related quality of life was poor among COVID-19 patients at the 1 month follow-up. Patients suffered from significant physical and psychological impairment. Therefore, prospective monitoring of individuals exposed to SARS-CoV-2 is needed in order to fully understand the long-term impact of COVID-19, as well as to inform prompt and efficient interventions to alleviate suffering.


This article deals with the internationalisation process that is also characterising the Italian industry. In particular, with reference to the empirical and theoretical literature on this issue, the paper focuses on the internationalisation of production processes. The main actor of this phenomenon is the firm, which through its internationalisation strategies also favours the structural change and the strategic consolidation of the Italian industry as a whole. In this framework, the analysis concentrates on the role that (foreign and industrial) policies could/ should have in order to support such internationalisation processes.


Prescription drug misuse is a growing public health concern and has been understudied in Latino populations. The current study tests the relationships between childhood and family characteristics and prescriptions drug misuse among adult Latinos. A subsample of 8,308 Latinos from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) were examined. Logistic regression analyses tested associations between parental alcoholism, parental divorce before age 18, and parental death before age 18 and prescription drug misuse and prescription drug use disorder. Parental alcoholism and parental divorce increased the odds of both prescription drug misuse and use disorder. Parental death increased the odds of prescription drug use disorders. The results have important implications for understanding the complex associations between family psychosocial history and prescription drug misuse.


Measuring customer experience on mobile data is of utmost importance for global mobile operators. The reference signal received power (RSRP) is one of the important indicators for current mobile network management, evaluation and monitoring. Radio data gathered through the minimization of drive test (MDT), a 3GPP standard technique, is commonly used for radio network analysis. Collecting MDT data in different geographical areas is inefficient and constrained by the terrain conditions and user presence, hence is not an adequate technique for dynamic radio environments. In this paper, we study a generative model for RSRP prediction, exploiting MDT data and a digital twin (DT), and propose a data-driven, two-tier neural network (NN) model. In the first tier, environmental information related to user equipment (UE), base stations (BS) and network key performance indicators (KPI) are extracted through a variational autoencoder (VAE). The second tier is designed as a likelihood model. Here, the environmental features and real MDT data features are adopted, formulating an integrated training process. On validation, our proposed model that uses real-world data demonstrates an accuracy improvement of about 20% or more compared with the empirical model and about 10% when compared with a fully connected prediction network.


Abstract Purpose: To determine if sonographic variables, including fetal femur length to abdominal circumference (FL/AC) ratio, are associated with shoulder dystocia in women with gestational diabetes. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of women with gestational diabetes who delivered singleton infants at Parkland Hospital from 1997 to 2015. Diagnosis and treatment of gestational diabetes were uniform including sonography at 32–36 weeks. Biometric calculations were evaluated for correlation with shoulder dystocia. Results: During the study period, 6952 women with gestational diabetes underwent a sonogram at a mean gestation of 34.8 ± 1.8 weeks. Of 4183 vaginal deliveries, 66 experienced shoulder dystocia (16/1000). The FL/AC was associated with shoulder dystocia (p < 0.001) with an AUC of 0.70 (95% CI: 0.64–0.77). This was similar to age-adjusted AC and head circumference to AC ratio (HC/AC) (both with an AUC of 0.72). All other measurements, including estimated fetal weight, were inferior. When examining the 257 women with multiple sonograms after 32 weeks' gestation, FL/AC was stable with advancing gestational age (p = 0.54) whereas age-adjusted AC and HC/AC were not (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The FL/AC is associated with shoulder dystocia in women with gestational diabetes. Additionally, it is a simple ratio that is independent of the reference used and remains stable, unlike age-adjusted AC and HC/AC ratio.


PURPOSE To determine if physicians' self-reported knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding genetic counseling and testing (GCT) vary by patients' race. METHODS We conducted a nationwide 49-item survey among breast oncology physicians in the United States. We queried respondents about their own demographics, clinical characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, practices, and perceived barriers in providing GCT to patients with breast cancer. RESULTS Our survey included responses from 277 physicians (females, 58.8%; medical oncologists, 75.1%; academic physicians, 61.7%; and Whites, 67.1%). Only 1.8% indicated that they were more likely to refer a White patient than refer an African American patient for GCT, and 66.9% believed that African American women with breast cancer have lower rates of GCT than White women. Regarding perceived barriers to GCT, 63.4% of respondents indicated that African American women face more barriers than White women do and 21% felt that African American women require more information and guidance during the GCT decision-making process than White women. Although 32% of respondents indicated that lack of trust was a barrier to GCT in all patients, 58.1% felt that this was a greater barrier for African American women (P < .0001). Only 13.9% believed that noncompliance with GCT is a barrier for all patients, whereas 30.6% believed that African American women are more likely than White women to be noncompliant (P < .0001). CONCLUSION We demonstrated that racial differences exist in oncology physicians' perceived barriers to GCT for patients with breast cancer. This nationwide survey will serve as a basis for understanding physicians' determinants of GCT for African American women and highlights the necessity of education and interventions to address bias among physicians. Awareness of such physician biases can enable further work to address inequities, ultimately leading to improved GCT equity for African American women with breast cancer. MDs self-reported practices on genetic testing for Blacks with breast cancer are not consistent with literature


It has been revealed that the pure-tone audiometry demonstrates large air-bone gaps at low pitches due to the presence of inner ear fistulae. When a third mobile window resulting from an inner ear fistula is present, in addition to the 2 normally present windows consisting of the oval window and the round window, a portion of the air-conducted waves escape from the scala vestibuli through the inner ear fistula. On the other hand, bone-conducted waves traveling to the scala vestibuli are reduced by an inner ear fistula; however, bone-conducted waves traveling to the scala tympani are not affected by an inner ear fistula. This results in a larger gap than usual in compliance between both perilymphatic spaces and leads to a decrease in the bone conduction threshold. This phenomenon, so-called the third mobile window effects, sometimes may lead otology/neuro-otology surgeons to misunderstand the reason why large air-bone gaps still exist after ossicular reconstruction in tympanoplasty. This review article gives good examples regarding the third mobile window effects in otology/neuro-otology diseases and surgeries.


Recent years have seen a substantial development of quantitative methods, mostly led by the computer science community with the goal to develop better machine learning application, mainly focused on predictive modeling. However, the field of innovation and entrepreneurship research has up to now been hesitant to apply predictive modeling techniques and workflows. In this paper, we introduce to a machine learning (ML) approach to quantitative analysis geared towards optimizing the predictive performance, contrasting it with standard practices in econometrics which focus on producing good parameter estimates. We discuss the potential synergies between the two fields against the backdrop of this at first glans "target-incompatibility". We discuss fundamental concepts in predictive modeling, such as out-of-sample model validation, variable and model selection, generalization and hyperparameter tuning procedures. Providing a hands-on predictive modelling for an quantitative social science audience, while aiming at demystifying computer science jargon. We use the example of "high-quality" patent identification guiding the reader through various model classes and procedures for data pre-processing, modelling and validation. We start of with more familiar easy to interpret model classes (Logit and Elastic Nets), continues with less familiar nonparametric approaches (Classification Trees and Random Forest) and finally presents deep autoencoder based anomaly detection. Instead of limiting ourselves to the introduction of standard ML techniques, we also present state-of-the-art yet approachable techniques from artificial neural networks and deep learning to predict rare phenomena of interest.


The cell alignment in a smooth muscle tissue plays a significant role in determining its mechanical properties. In addition to shortening strain, the off-axis cell orientation θ also modify the shear stress relationship significantly. A simulation model based on finite element analysis is developed to study the effect of stresses of tracheal smooth muscle tissue when its cells are orientated off-axially. Results obtained indicate that the maximum shear stress values of tracheal smooth muscle tissue at 45% strain are 2.5 times the values at 20% strain for all three off-axis orientation values θ = 15°, 30° and 45°.Copyright © 2003 by ASME


French Guiana (FG), a French overseas territory in South America, is susceptible to tropical diseases, including arboviruses. The tropical climate supports the proliferation and establishment of vectors, making it difficult to control transmission. In the last ten years, FG has experienced large outbreaks of imported arboviruses such as Chikungunya and Zika, as well as endemic arboviruses such as dengue, Yellow fever, and Oropouche virus. Epidemiological surveillance is challenging due to the differing distributions and behaviors of vectors. This article aims to summarize the current knowledge of these arboviruses in FG and discuss the challenges of arbovirus emergence and reemergence. Effective control measures are hampered by the nonspecific clinical presentation of these diseases, as well as the Aedes aegypti mosquito's resistance to insecticides. Despite the high seroprevalence of certain viruses, the possibility of new epidemics cannot be ruled out. Therefore, active epidemiological surveillance is needed to identify potential outbreaks, and an adequate sentinel surveillance system and broad virological diagnostic panel are being developed in FG to improve disease management.


Temeran's fishing communities are mostly muslims malay. Tameran village has considerable potential of marine resources, but its people are still poor. The main focus of the study is a comprehensive study of the factual situation and social conditions, population, diversity of ethnic and religious groups, educational profile, system and community structure, management and management. The results of this research can be known that the Tameran villager has human resources with a formal education is still low. The Malay population who work as fishermen in the village of Tameran shares 187 people, consisting of: boat owner 18 people (9,6%), cano owner 42 people (22,5%), owner of pond 3 people (1,6%), As a fisherman laborer there are 80 people (42,8%) and others/working assistant of fisherman 44 people (23,5%). The community structure shows the pattern of "Patron-Client" condensed relationship with the coating system of the community: rich-poor, owner, the worker/worker of the fisherman. While organizational and social institutions are associated with the basic needs of human life.


Objective: This study examines the acceptability and preliminary efficacy of Positive Adaptations for Trauma and Healing (PATH), a manualized treatment for Latino youth and their caregivers. PATH is a culturally adapted program that incorporates a trauma model, positive psychology, and resilience. Method: Latino youth (N = 16) recruited from an urban community clinic participated in PATH with their caregiver. Pre- and postintervention measures on trauma symptoms, resilience, depression, caregiver's view of their youth's well-being, and positive and negative emotions were gathered. Following the intake meetings (1 to 3), the families participated in 10 90-minute weekly group sessions (total of 3 groups). Caregiver groups were conducted in Spanish, and youth in English. Results: At pretest, 56% of the youth endorsed clinically significant symptoms on the UCLA PTSD Index (M = 34.2, SD = 11.2); the percentage dropped to 0% at posttest (M = 17.3, SD = 7.6). Youth reported pre- to posttest reductions on the Child Depression Inventory (mean difference [Mdiff] = 7.3; p = .004) and externalizing (Mdiff = 6.1; p < .001) and internalizing (Mdiff = 9.4; p < .001) behaviors on the caregiver-reported Child Behavior Checklist. Overall, there was high treatment engagement (93% attendance over 10 weeks). Conclusion: This novel treatment engaged a community-based Latino sample. The results suggest high acceptability and significant reduction in trauma symptoms and associated symptoms. This study included a small number of participants and results should be interpreted with caution. Future iterations will target larger number of participants to further assess feasibility.


The purpose of the article is to describe stages of variables formation and identification and develop a student's educational trajectory mathematical model and to create a technological model for the application of machine learning methods to predict the optimal educational trajectory of the student. External variables are analyzed, variables' numerical values are determined, types of collecting information sessions are highlighted. Data arrays from information sources electronic diary Diary.ru and the GlobalLab online platform were analyzed. A mathematical model of the student is presented based on variables. Using the technical and scientific results of the Project will provide useful economic, technological and technical effects.


Introduction Constructing realistic shots with hundreds, or even thousands of completely unique, fully animated, deforming, and realistically shaded characters poses an entirely different challenge than the traditional character pipeline. Workflow, Level of Detail (LOD), and current hardware/software limitations require unique solutions to achieve the goal of a usable crowd animation and rendering suite. Although the system described in this sketch was initially developed and used specifically for the blockbuster effects film, The Day After Tomorrow, at the time of writing this, it has also been successfully used in 3 feature length films, and one commercial.


The purpose of the Africa Emerging Markets Forum is to discuss the continent's economic and social challenges and to share ideas for better results on the ground. This article focuses on the performance and potential contribution of agricultural development, first looking at the current constraints and then setting out some suggestions for the way forward. Over the past 50 years, the normal structural decline in the share of agriculture in the economy and accompanying convergence of incomes in the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, has not yet happened in sub-Saharan Africa. The economy, in terms of sector shares in total output, has been practically frozen, as has the structure of production within agriculture itself, its technology, and its mode of growth primarily via area expansion. As a consequence, African agriculture remains extremely under-capitalized, and the number of poor and hungry has increased in both the rural and urban areas. Encouraging signs for a new beginning for agriculture discussed in this article include the resumption of economic growth, the reduction in agricultural dis-protection, the end of the secular downward trend in agricultural prices, growing domestic and regional demand for food, improvements in the institutional environment for rural development, and a growing commitment of African Governments to agricultural development. While there is much talk about another structural transformation in Africa toward large scale commercial farming, there appear to be diseconomies of scale in farming, while the success rate of large scale farming has been very limited in Africa. The family farm model therefore remains an appropriate model for most of African agricultural development. To seize opportunities underlying the above-mentioned encouraging signs, sub-Saharan Africa will need to support economic growth by (a) continued sound macroeconomic policies, (b) removing of the remain-ing agricultural taxation that still disadvantages African farmers relative to all other farmers in the world, (c) improving services for small farmers, (d) significantly increasing investment in agricultural technology and its dissemination, (e) empowering local governments, communities, and farmer organizations for their own development, and (f) strengthening the already existing regional agricultural institutions. An overall conclusion emanating from this article is for individual countries to adapt and customize the above broad goals into country-specific action plans to enhance the performance and contribution of the agriculture sector, in line with the CAADP (Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme) compacts on which they are already working.


In recent years, state housing finance agencies have joined with state units on aging to develop programs to help the frail, elderly homeowner. Under an accessory apartment conversion program, a low-income homeowner will borrow money at a reduced interest rate to underwrite conversion of excess space into a rental apartment. The tenant will provide additional income as well as, ideally, certain kinds of personal assistance and a friendly presence. To date, few elderly clients have used this option. The initial rationale for the program is explained as are plausible reasons for the fact that it has not met expectations.


A novel method for using bottom-up design information in the synthesis of integrated circuits from abstract behavioral description is reported. There are two important ways in which this method differs from traditional top-down synthesis techniques. First, it draws on a newly developed procedural database to collect detailed information on the physical and logical properties of the primitives available for building the design. Second, it partitions each design it considers into clusters that have physical as well as logical significance. This method for representing and organizing knowledge about candidate designs makes it possible to estimate physical placement and wiring, even at the abstract register-transfer (RT) level. This allows a more accurate evaluation of RT designs without doing a full logic-level or transistor-level layout. Partitioning also leads to a simple method for systematically exploring the space of possible designs to find the one that best meets the designer's objectives and constraints. >


This paper presents, for the first time, a multifrequency piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (pMUT) array for endoscopic photoacoustic imaging applications. With a chip size of 3.5 × 3.5 mm2, the pMUT array consists of 285 pMUT elements with seven different resonant frequencies ranging from 1 MHz to 8 MHz. The pMUT array has been fabricated on a 9 µm-thick layer of ceramic PZT with high piezoelectric constants. Mechanical vibration tests have shown high voltage-to-displacement gains, e.g., 130 nm/V, 35 nm/V, and 8 nm/V for the pMUT elements at their resonances of 1.2 MHz, 3.7 MHz, and 7.8 MHz, respectively. Ultrasound signals with frequencies from 300 kHz to 8 MHz have been successfully generated and detected by a pair of fabricated pMUT arrays. Furthermore, photoacoustic imaging experiments have been conducted, demonstrating the advantages of using multi-frequency pMUT arrays to provide comprehensive photoacoustic images with high signal-to-noise ratio and high spatial resolution.


The analytical possibilities of using simple unsegmented configurations including redox columns for the selective determination of organic compounds with atomic absorption spectrometric detection are discussed. A method based on reduction with cadmium or zinc was developed for the determination of chlordiazepoxide in pharmaceutical preparations. This drug can be determined in the range 2.0–25 µg ml–1 with a relative standard deviation between 1.1 and 2.8% and a sampling frequency of 150 h–1. The method is selective towards the reduction of the N-oxide group and permits the determination of chlordiazepoxide in the presence of other 1,4-benzodiazepines.


The expected improved performance of a combined restraint system where an airbag supplements the conventional safety belt was not reflected in reduced g-values on the dummy's chest. However, by the distribution of force over the wider area of the airbag and the corresponding reduction of the specific pressure exerted by the three point belt, improved occupant protection is actually produced. Therefore, measurable quantities other than acceleration should be selected to evaluate the risk of chest injury, such as belt load or chest deflection. A new method to measure the deflection of dummy ribs with strain gauges has been developed. The resulting data indicate a significantly reduced chest deflection when a combined system is used.


The emerging technologies of multiple, cooperative unmanned systems have brought in an exciting period of possibilities, possibilities of solving challenging problems in medical, social, engineering, and military communities. The technologies have also introduced a growing number of new challenges such as resource allocation, communication and coordination, establishment of consensus, and control optimization among cooperative systems. In this paper, we address one of these challenges for cooperative unmanned aerial systems (UASs): trade-off between maintaining communication reliability among, and collective target search efforts by, a team of unmanned systems. We evaluate the impact on the overall search capability of a cooperative system when the movements of its members are constrained due to the requirement of communication reliability. Our comparative study is based on an adaptation of work reported in [3] and we show our findings using simulation and flight experiment results.


A green and efficient protocol for the synthesis of 3,3,6,6-tetramethyl-9-aryl-1,8-dioxooctahydroxanthene derivatives via cyclocondensation of 5,5-dimethyl-1,3-cyclohexanedione and aromatic aldehydes in the presence of catalytic amount of 10molybdo-2-vanadophosphoric acid under solvent-free conditions has been described. The 10-molybdo-2-vanadophosphoric acid was prepared and characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, thermal analysis and XRD analysis techniques. Characterization of the catalyst by FT-IR spectroscopy confirms the substitution of two Mo 6+ ions by a V 5+ ion in a Keggin structure. The effect of various reaction parameters on the rate of reaction was investigated. The reaction was carried out without using any solvent and the process subscribes to the principles of green chemistry. Moreover, the present protocol offers several advantages such as simple work-up, shorter reaction time, excellent yields, recovery and reusability of catalyst.


Many machine intelligence techniques are developed in E-commerce and one of the most essential components is the representation of IDs, including user ID, item ID, product ID, store ID, brand ID, category ID etc. The classical encoding based methods (like one-hot encoding) are inefficient in that it suffers sparsity problems due to its high dimension, and it cannot reflect the relationships among IDs, either homogeneous or heterogeneous ones. In this paper, we propose an embedding based framework to learn and transfer the representation of IDs. As the implicit feedbacks of users, a tremendous amount of item ID sequences can be easily collected from the interactive sessions. By jointly using these informative sequences and the structural connections among IDs, all types of IDs can be embedded into one low-dimensional semantic space. Subsequently, the learned representations are utilized and transferred in four scenarios: (i) measuring the similarity between items, (ii) transferring from seen items to unseen items, (iii) transferring across different domains, (iv) transferring across different tasks. We deploy and evaluate the proposed approach in Hema App and the results validate its effectiveness.


Objective: To compare the survival rate of COVID-19 patients with diabetes versus without diabetes COVID-19 patients.
 Study Design: Comparative, prospective study.
 Place and Duration of Study: The patients were selected from the special ward established for COVID-19 patients came in Federal Government Polyclinic Hospital, Islamabad Pakistan, from Dec 2020 to May 2021.
Methodology: 50 without diabetes (control) and 50 with diabetes (study) confirm cases of COVID-19 patients, who fulfill the inclusion and exclusion criteria, were included in the study through consecutive sampling. Independent sample t test, chi square test and Kaplan-Meire survival analysis was used to compile the results.
Results: Out of 100 majority 75 patients were male. The average age of the patients was 52.08±14.85 years. Both the groups were equal with respect of gender with p-value >0.05. The average age of the patient was significantly higher in study group with p-value <0.001. Overall percentage of patients of oxygen dependency, mechanical ventilation required, and use of Angiotension receptor inhibitor were higher in study group as compared to the control group patients with p-value <0.001. The survival rate was lower in study group as compared to the control group but the difference was not significant with pvalue >0.05.
Conclusion: The COVID-19 patients with diabetes, need extra care and attention before and after infection in the current COVID-19 pandemic. They are at higher risk and with respect of prolong hospital stay due to severe attack of COVID-19 and also higher risk of mortality too.


On August 8, 2005, the President signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct'05). Within its 1,725 pages, the statute includes a provision requiring State regulators (for the utilities whose rates they regulate) and larger nonregulated electric utilities to hold public proceedings to consider whether to adopt five new Federal standards. These standards include net metering, fuel efficiency, fuel diversity, time-sensitive retail rates and smart metering, and distributed generation (DG) interconnection procedures and policies. The first deadline for action was August 8, 2006. These new EPAct'05 provisions are significant for all cooperatives. Those cooperatives subject to State regulation are faced with potentially costly or burdensome new State mandates. Those larger nonregulated cooperatives that are directly subject to the law must meet its procedural requirements. All cooperatives, regardless of size or regulatory status, must address the consumer and political expectations created by the new law. The actual language of EPAct'05 provides that all utilities: * "shall make available ... net metering service to any electric consumer that the electric utility serves;" * "shall develop a plan to minimize dependence on one fuel source;" * "shall develop and implement a 10-year plan to increase the efficiency of its fossil fuel generation;" * "shall offer ... a time-based rate schedule" and "shall provide each customer requesting a time-based rate with a time-based meter;" and, * "shall make available, upon request, interconnection service to any electric consumer that the electric utility serves." Unfortunately, this language has created a lot of misunderstanding in the industry. Even though the new Federal standards are written in "mandatory" or "shall" language, States and cooperatives are not required to implement them. EPAct'05 does not directly require cooperatives to offer net metering, etc. In this context, "shall" does not mean "shall:" it means "shall consider." EPAct'05 amends Title I of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) to add the five new standards to a list of standards Congress adopted in 1978 and 1992. PURPA, itself, then requires State regulatory authorities (such as Public Utility Commissions or Public Service Commissions) and larger nonregulated electric utilities (including many cooperatives) only to determine for themselves whether the standards in that list should be adopted. PURPA requires State regulatory authorities (for the utilities whose rates they regulate) and covered nonregulated electric utilities to follow specific procedures to consider the Federal standards that are outlined in the law. They must also make specific statutory determinations with respect to the Federal standards. (More on the procedures below.) If, after conducting the necessary process, a State regulatory authority (for the utilities whose rates it regulates) or a nonregulated electric cooperative determines that it is not appropriate under PURPA or State law to implement the new Federal standard, it can choose not to. That decision ultimately is subject to challenge in State court. EPAct'05 is also confusing in that the standards look like they apply to all utilities. But, in fact, when you go back to review PURPA itself, not all utilities are covered. Only those utilities with retail sales greater than 500 million kWh two years before the relevant calendar year must consider the standards. This is extremely confusing, but is clarified below in the discussion on deadlines. For the moment, there are approximately 190 "covered" distribution cooperatives. Statutory Procedures The basic requirement of PURPA is that State regulatory authorities and covered nonregulated electric utilities must provide notice and hold formal hearings to consider the Federal standards. The hearings must be recorded and a transcript of the hearing must be made available, at the cost of reproduction, to parties and intervenors. …


was used to analyze a two-state Medicaid sample consisting of 1997 California (CA) Medicaid (5% random sample) and May 1996 to April 1998 North Carolina (NC) Medicaid claims. IBS cases were defined as individuals with at least one primary or secondary diagnosis code of ICD-9-CM 564.1. An age, gender, race and months of eligibility matched non-IBS control was created for each of the IBS patients. Excluded from samples were patients less than 18 years of age or with codes for malignant neoplasm of digestive organ and peritoneum, IBD, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and diverticulitis. Total one year prevalence of GI related surgical procedures (cholecystectomy, appendectomy, colectomy, obesity procedures, abdominal and vaginal hysterectomy) for IBS and non-IBS groups, prevalence by type of surgical procedure and statistical differences in rates were reported by state and in aggregate. Results: A total of 2,546 IBS patients (NC: 2,071, CA: 475) were identified with an average age of 51 years (NC: 50, CA: 55), 84% were female (NC: 86%, CA: 76%) and 59% were white or non-black (NC: 61%, CA: 48%). The matching procedure resulted in a corresponding control group with similar demographic and eligibility profiles. The one year prevalence of GI related surgical procedures in the IBS group was 1.65% (n 42, NC: 1.8%, CA: 0.8%) and was higher (p 0.01) than the matched non-IBS group (0.9%, n 23). The prevalence of vaginal hysterectomy was higher (p 0.02) in the IBS group (0.5%) compared with the non-IBS group (0.2%). Conclusions: Increased prevalence of GI related surgical procedure was observed among Medicaid eligible IBS patients compared with non-IBS patients. The overall trend is similar to that observed in previous studies performed on non-Medicaid populations, although the rates and proceduretypes were different.


Yttria-doped zirconia nanopowders have been obtained using the hydrothermal procedure starting from soluble inorganic salts. The mechanisms and kinetics of the process have been studied to obtain high purity powders with a crystalline size range of 4 to 22nm and specific surface near 200 m2/g. These powders have been have been used to obtain membranes with controlled thickness and with densities over 95% of the theoretical value by employing the tape casting technique using organic binders, dispersants and surfactants. The influence of the additives and sintering regime on the density and microstructure of membranes has been studied. The ionic conductivity of the materials was investigated and modelled. Different types of ruthenate pastes were used to obtain thick resistive films on the zirconia membranes and interactions between the substrate and membranes were studied. Finally the gauge characteristics of the device and possibilities for applications as mechanical pressure sensors with high sensitivity are discussed.


In two former papers communicated to the Geological Society I observed that certain large trifid bodies, presenting a resemblance to the casts of the impressions of birds′ feet, were numerous in the cliffs to the east and west of Hastings; and I suggested, from certain uniform peculiarities which these gigantic tridactyle impressions, or rather casts of impressions exhibited, that they might be really foot-marks of birds. Up to the date of my first notice, my discoveries of these colossal casts were limited to the east of Hastings and Bulverhithe, but my continued investigations enabled me to announce in my second communication that I had successfully traced them through the entire section of the Wealden rocks exposed on the coast, from Cliff's-end on the east of Hastings to Pevensey Sluice on the west. Although these tridactyle casts were collectively numerous, they occurred for the most part on detached blocks of sandstone, and never on a surface sufficiently large to admit of three or four consecutive marks; and, although their number and regularity of form afforded good presumptive evidence of their being organic in their origin, yet these circumstances were insufficient to establish a truth where sequence of arrangement, distinct evidence of a phalangeal structure, or some other organic characters were indispensable; hitherto, therefore, these trifid bodies were not supposed to fulfil the necessary conditions of footmarks. The uniformity of character, however, in the casts that I first examined had such an obvious connexion with a definite cause, as to convince me


One of the main challenges of the post-genomic era is the understanding of how gene expression is controlled. Changes in gene expression lay behind diverse biological phenomena such as development, disease and the adaptation to different environmental conditions. Despite the availability of well-established methods to identify these changes, tools to discern how gene regulation is orchestrated are still required. The regulation of gene expression is usually depicted as a Gene Regulatory Network (GRN) where changes in the network structure (i.e., network topology) represent adjustments of gene regulation. Like other networks, GRNs are composed of basic building blocks; small induced subgraphs called graphlets. Here we present LoTo, a novel method that using Graphlet Based Metrics (GBMs) identifies topological variations between different states of a GRN. Under our approach, different states of a GRN are analyzed to determine the types of graphlet formed by all triplets of nodes in the network. Subsequently, graphlets occurring in a state of the network are compared to those formed by the same three nodes in another version of the network. Once the comparisons are performed, LoTo applies metrics from binary classification problems calculated on the existence and absence of graphlets to assess the topological similarity between both network states. Experiments performed on randomized networks demonstrate that GBMs are more sensitive to topological variation than the same metrics calculated on single edges. Additional comparisons with other common metrics demonstrate that our GBMs are capable to identify nodes whose local topology changes between different states of the network. Notably, due to the explicit use of graphlets, LoTo captures topological variations that are disregarded by other approaches. LoTo is freely available as an online web server at http://dlab.cl/loto.


This paper highlights the trade-off between the need to restructure a company and the need to provide managers with appropriate incentives to run it after the restructuring. In order to provide incentives, it is optimal to let managers acquire equity in the firm. However, the expectations to be able to buy shares in the future may create ex-ante incentives to delay restructuring. This effect is particularly important for events where managers can acquire a substantial number of shares, such as privatizations or MBOs. In equilibrium, the shares are not underpriced, but the delay in restructuring which took place in the period before reduces the value of the company. We report empirical evidence on MBOs and privatizations consistent with the model in this paper.


Langston Hughes was one of the best-known poets in modern America and his first novel, "Not Without Laughter, " is undoubtedly his finest prose. A classic of African-American literature, it is the poignant story of a young black boy's awakening to the sad and the beautiful realities of black life in a small Kansas town. Published in 1930, "Not Without Laughter" is a pioneering work of fiction, and has been in print ever since. This work is now available in trade paperback with a new introduction by bestselling author and poet Maya Anagelou and a foreword by writer Arna Bontemps.


The performance of a moderately shorter fixation protocol for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was evaluated by analyzing the cell structure quality after the processing. The relevance of this experimental technique is mainly based on reducting time of the steps of conventional protocols: fixation, washes, dehydration, and epoxy resin infiltration. Two sources of murine cells were used, the peritoneal and mesenteric lymph node cells. A fixation and material processing faster than usual methods can save time and improve results. Samples analysis indicated good preservation of different cell structures and organelles after this protocol.


What is the common denominator of Nordic artists and artist groups like Adel Abidin, Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Das Beckwerk, Bjork, Olafur Eliasson, Hakki, Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, Julie Edel Hardenberg, Lise Harlev, Kristian von Hornsleth, Sami van Ingen, Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Soren Lose, HuskMitNavn, Pekka Niskanen, Ellen Nyman, Oyvind Rimbereid, Annica Karlsson Rixon and Superflex? They all explore local identity formations and images of nationality and trans-nationality within a global context. The term 'Nordic' is indeed constructed historically for political, commercial and scientific reasons, but as any symbolic universe it obtains a material sense as a geopolitical 'place' through the collaborations between the nations involved. The Cartoon Crises and its many reverberations issuing from Denmark in 2005 became an important turning point for discussions on national as well as Nordic identities and values. The new cultural agenda in which local identities were branded for a global public, concurrent with attempts in domestic politics to create national safeguards toward globalisation, has indeed been noticed by artists during the last decade. In light of new global and transnational relations, contemporary art has requested a renegotiation of the frameworks constructing national and Nordic communities. All articles in this book discuss ways in which art seeks to redistribute national and cultural identity. Common to the artists examined is the drive to combine cultural images from multiple sources and several media. Thus, the book also explores how works that express new identity formations confront the conventional aesthetic production of meaning and, all in all, it contributes to the examination of how art reinvents itself when dealing with unresolved issues of political, national and cultural belonging.


Abstract A high proportion of non-users of news is considered a concern for a functioning democracy. However, existing empirical assessments on the share of news avoiders rely exclusively on survey data and the results vary drastically between studies, making it difficult to evaluate the severity of the issue. This study relies on tracking data of Swiss Internet users and applies and discusses two computational methods, identifying news at the domain and article level, to realistically assess the extent of non-users of online news. Results indicate that at least 14.2% of Internet users do not use news online. Furthermore, this study suggests that identifying news use solely based on tracking data at the domain level is distorted by a faux news effect, i.e., non-news use on news domains, and an invisible news effect, i.e., news use on small and unknown news domains. The parallel use of tracking data and supervised text classification allows to dissect and discuss these effects systematically. Similarly, it is found that not accounting for news use via apps overestimates the extent of non-use of online news. The findings provide valuable insights for future applications of these methods in similar contexts.


This paper investigates the ability of utilizing the artificial neural network (ANN) in calculating the forced convection characteristics coefficients from internal flow of air inside a pipe subjected to constant heat flux. The heat transfer characteristics such as Nusselt number (Nu), Stanton number (St) and friction factor (f) which are calculated using the empirical correlations have high deviation from that obtained from the experiments. So, the ANN method is proposed for predicting these characteristics coefficients more close to the experimental results. The training and testing data for optimizing the ANN structure are based on the experimental data obtained from the experiments performed on a forced convection apparatus. Three training algorithms for the training of the ANN were used and the presented ANN is implemented by using such MATLAB program. For the preferable ANN structure acquired in the current work, an acceptable mean square error was achieved for the training and test data, using the Trainlm algorithm. The results reveal that the estimated results are very close to the experimental data. Also, a new Graphical User Interface (GUI) is implemented for the application of ANN in the calculation of the attempted heat transfer parameters.


The "Living Document" of updates to reference works between print editions is described, as an additive set of elements and attributes for the BITS DTD. Examples with screen shots are given of the online user interactivity this update markup would provide. A set of requirements for a good XML comparison are given. The benefits for publishers and users of the online reference work are described. The update elements will be proposed to the BITS committee for consideration to be included in a release of the DTD.All samples used in the presentation were derived from standards materials provided by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.


: It is essential that computer manufacturers and system developers increase their cooperative efforts to establish and maintain standards. Individual, stand-alone systems will not survive, and error-prone integration will prevent progress. File formats--whether graphics or text based--must be completely and seamlessly integrated between users. This has not occurred in other aspects of computer application. Can we expect it to in dentistry? We must. The profession will only reap the true benefits of computerized practice if CDA, ADA, the insurance carriers, manufacturers and developers are willing to sit together and agree to cooperative efforts. Such cooperation is imperative. While initially altruistic, it will be commercially essential in the long run. For many applications, the ability of a computer-based system to quantify information adds a new level to diagnosis. Coupled with this diagnosis support knowledge bases will provide dentists with added sophistication and expanded competence in diagnosis and treatment. It is reasonable to assume that the patient's relevant medical data--medications, status of principal organ systems, etc.--may also be made available electronically. Practice performance data, the legality of entries, and the compilation of and access to national data bases must all respect the patients' and dentists' rights and privacy, while serving society's health care needs. There are some very large issues ahead. Developing the hardware is the easy part.The software is more complex and, as it is specifically designed for dentists, more expensive. The profession is too small to share these costs over the available customer base--limiting the number of vendors that can survive.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The accuracy of producers' subjective probability beliefs is examined through a survey of large cash-grain farmers in Illinois. Findings reveal that their subjective probability beliefs about important weather variables are systematically mis-calibrated. The nature and extent of differences between subjective probability beliefs and probabilities based on long-term historic weather data are shown empirically, and through fitted calibration functions. The economic significance of inaccurate subjective probability beliefs is established in the context of insurance valuation. The results demonstrate that significant errors in producers' risk assessments and insurance valuation arise as a consequence of producers' systematically inaccurate probability beliefs.


The authors studied xymedone, a new medicamentous agent from the group of pyrimidine derivatives. It was prescribed per os, 0.5 g taken three times daily. The experimental group consisted of 52 patients with IIIA and B degree thermal burns covering an area of 10 to 40%. The comparative appraisal was conducted with patients (60) treated by a complex of measures including methyluracil. Analysis of the obtained data showed a statistically significant, as compared to the controls, more rapid restoration of the peripheral blood parameters, decrease of C-reactive protein and level of sialic acid, and increase of total protein content and its gamma globulin fraction. Xymedone contributed to correction of blood dysproteinemia and produced an active effect on nucleic acid metabolism; the level of nucleic acids in the cells of the granulation tissue was much higher in the experimental group after treatment than in the controls. The normal ratio of T- and B-lymphocytes was restored and the phagocytosis indices grew. The production of coagulation and anticoagulation factors became normal, which coincided with cleaning of the granulations from fibrinous deposits and disappearance of the pathological predisposition to bleeding and easy damage of the granulation tissue. Under the effect of the agent the patients' appetite improved, the duration of the dehydration phase reduced, the rate of growth of microgranular granulations and epithelium increased, and the incidence of keloid cicatrices decreased. No unfavorable side effects of the agent were encountered. Xymedone is recommended for wide use in medical practice.


The experimental work carried out by us in the objects of study in Shamakhi, the Tartar, Zagatala, Guba and Ganja on irrigation of soybean, sugar beet, maize and tobacco, orchards and a vineyard can give an estimated average the intensity of the rain (mm/min) under irrigation norms 300-500 m3/HA, depending on the soil types: Sandy-0.3-0.4, light loamy-0.2-0.3, middle and heavy loam0.1-0.2. Studies have shown that the wide production verification of this irrigation technology, taking into account the recommended intensity of rain, will clarify the technical-economic indicators and conditions for the use of micro-irrigation. As a result of the adjustment of irrigation regime, it was found that under irrigation norms 300-420 m3/ha of soil soaking on insignificant depth (20-30, sometimes 40 cm). Low speed absorption of topsoil and large biases have provided significant surface relief (30%), increasing from irrigation to glaze. soil moisture Increase was only 100-300 m3/ha.


P53 is often mutated in solid tumors, in fact, somatic changes involving the gene encoding for p53 (TP53) have been discovered in more than 50% of human malignancies and several data confirmed that p53 mutations represent an early event in cancerogenesis. Main p53 functions consist in cell cycle arrest, DNA repair, senescence and apoptosis induction in response to mutagenic stimuli, and, to exert those functions, p53 acts as transcriptional factor. Recent data have highlighted another very important role of p53, consisting in regulate cell metabolism and cell response to oxidative stress. Majority of tumor suppressor genes, such as adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), retinoblastoma-associated protein (RB) and Von-Hippel-Lindau (VHL) are inactivated by deletion or early truncation mutations in tumors, resulting in the decreased or loss of expression of their proteins. Differently, most p53 mutations in human cancer are missense mutations, which result in the production of full-length mutant p53 proteins. It has been reported that mutant p53 proteins and wild type p53 proteins often regulate same cellular biological processes with opposite effects. So, mutant p53 has been reported to supply the cancer cells of glucose and nutrients, and, to avoid reactive oxygen species (ROS) mediated damage during oxidative stress. These last features are able to render tumor cells resistant to ionizing radiations and chemotherapy. A future therapeutic approach in tumors bearing p53 mutations may be to deplete cancer cells of their energy reserves and antioxidants.


Information on Kura clover (Trifolium ambiguum Bieb.) development in the seeding year would be useful in developing new cultivars with greater seedling vigor and establishment. Our objective was to study herbage and root biomass accumulation and seedling development of Kura clover following spring and summer planting. Field experiments were conducted on a fine-silty over sandy, mixed Typic Hapludoll and on a sandy, mixed, Udorthentic Haploboroll. Spring seeded Kura clover had rhizome initials (≤3 cm) 63 d after planting and some spring seeded plants had rhizomes which were 20 cm long with leaves by the end of October. Secondary rhizomes had developed on primary rhizomes of some plants by 98 d after seeding. Summer planted Kura clover plants developed rhizome initials about 100 d after planting but had no rhizomes longer than 3 cm. Pink nodules were observed about 56 d following spring planting and about 42 d after summer planting. Contractile growth was observed about 35 and 46 d after spring and summer planting, respectively. Herbage and root dry weight accumulated at a linear rate following spring and summer plantings until growth was reduced in the fall. By October of the seeding year, spring planted kura clover had average herbage yields of 1672 kg ha -1 and below-ground mass of 2733 kg ha -1 with 10% of the below-ground mass consisting of rhizomes. Endura had greater average whole plant and herbage yields than Rhizo, but root yields were similar for the two entries. Since Kura clover seedlings partition a significant amount of dry matter to the root system, increased seedling vigor might be achieved by selecting for increased herbage accumulation.


Academic libraries have a mandate of enhancing teaching and research missions of their parent institutions through provision of library services. The emergence of modern information and communication technologies (ICTs) has revolutionized functions and services of libraries all over the world. Technological developments have affected not only the format and sources of the information libraries use to provide reference services, but also where we provide references services. Libraries and their resources have partially moved to the virtual world of the internet. As a result, library patrons can access resources from outside of the physical library. This paper shares findings of a study which identified the different information literacy methods and channels through which information literacy was used to create awareness of library services at Moi University, Kenya. The study was conducted through case study design. The target population comprised 32 library staff and 10,470 students. A sample of 457 respondents was selected breaking down to 425 students and 32 library staff. Probability and non-probability sampling adopted for the sample selection. Data collection methods consisted of questionnaires and interviews. This study used a mixed approach method where Quantitative data were analyzed by use of descriptive statistics and presented in tables while qualitative data were analyzed thematically. The findings indicate that library users are aware of the library services available and its access has been made possible through knowledge of internet skills gained from lectures given, handbooks and Bibliographic aid. Social networking (Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and online videos) are some of the effective channels that were identified. It is recommended that academic librarians provide more instruction to students and faculty who seek information. That students should be guided always through the borrowing procedures and issuance of copies of the library guide be improved.


By replacing each dielectric sheet in an infinite array of thin dielectric sheets by an infinitely thin polarization current sheet, a solution for the scattering of plane waves by such an array is obtained. The simplified periodic boundary value problem is rigorously solved by using bilateral Laplace transforms. Numerical results obtained compare favorably with those obtained by the Rayleigh-Ritz method.


In sensor networks, both energy and bandwidth are scarce resources. In the past, many energy efficient routing algorithms have been devised in order to maximize network lifetime, in which wireless link bandwidth has been optimistically assumed to be sufficient. This article shows that ignoring the bandwidth constraint can lead to infeasible routing solutions. As energy constraint affects how data should be routed, link bandwidth also affects not only the routing topology but also the allowed data rate on each link. In this paper, we discuss the sufficient condition on link bandwidth that makes a routing solution feasible, then provide mathematical optimization models to tackle both energy and bandwidth constraints.We first present a basic mathematical model to address using uniform transmission power for routing without data aggregation, then extend it to handle nonuniform transmission power, and then routing with data aggregation. We propose two efficient heuristics to compute the routing topology and link data rate. Simulation results show that these heuristics provide more feasible routing solutions than previous work, and provide significant improvement on throughput and lifetime.


This paper explores how the broad financial decision-making practices commonly employed by poor people (as depicted in the companion paper "Money Resolutions, A Sketchbook") could be supported through a digital financial service platform. We focus on two particular practices: money animation and liquidity farming. We frame these solutions in the context of a broader discussion of what it means to be customer-centric in a digital service context.


Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is the most frequently diagnosed functional gastrointestinal disorder in primary and secondary care. It is characterised by abdominal discomfort, pain and changes in bowel habits that can have a serious impact on the patient's quality of life. The pathophysiology of IBS is not yet completely clear. Genetic, immune, environmental, inflammatory, neurological and psychological factors, in addition to visceral hypersensitivity, can all play an important role, one that most likely involves the complex interactions between the gut and the brain (gut-brain axis). The diagnosis of IBS can only be made on the basis of the symptoms of the Rome III criteria. Because the probability of organic disease in patients fulfilling the IBS criteria is very low, a careful medical history is critical and should pay particular attention to the possible comorbidities. Nevertheless, the severity of the patient's symptoms or concerns sometimes compels the physician to perform useless and/or expensive diagnostic tests, transforming IBS into a diagnosis of exclusion. The presence of alarming symptoms (fever, weight loss, rectal bleeding, significant changes in blood chemistry), the presence of palpable abdominal masses, any recent onset of symptoms in patient aged over 50 years, the presence of symptoms at night, and a familial history of celiac disease, colorectal cancer and/or inflammatory bowel diseases all warrant investigation. Treatment strategies are based on the nature and severity of the symptoms, the degree of functional impairment of the bowel habits, and the presence of psychosocial disorders. This review examines and discusses the pathophysiological aspects and the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches available for patients with symptoms possibly related to IBS, pointing out controversial issues and the strengths and weaknesses of the current knowledge.


Intermolecular forces are modeled by means of a modified Lennard-Jones potential, introducing a distance of minimum approach, and the effect of intermolecular interactions is accounted for with a self consistent field of the Vlasov type. A Vlasov equation is then written and used to investigate the propagation of perturbations in a liquid. A dispersion relation is obtained and an effect of damping, analogous to what is known in plasmas as "Landau damping", is found to take place.


The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between quality of work life and organizational commitment of faculty members at Mashhad School of medicine during summer time of in 2012. This was a descriptive-integrative study done to an applied purpose. The statistical population of this research consisted of all the 300faculty members at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences; using Morgan Method, a sample size of 170 subjects based on the multi-stage cluster sampling was selected, and two standardized questionnaires of quality of work life by Walton and organizational commitment (1990) by Mayer's were used to study the selected members. In order to test the research hypotheses and for data analysis, Spearman's correlation coefficient, multiple correlation method, LISREL, Friedman Test were also used. The t statistic and Fisher statistic, moreover, were applied to measure the demographic variables, and SPSS statistical software was used to evaluate the research data. The results not only indicated that there was a significant and positive relationship between the quality of work life and organizational commitment, but also showed that the Affective commitment than career growth opportunity and space with other components of QWL variables were correlated; Normative commitment correlation to the growth and developmental opportunities components of social competence was correlated with other components. However, there was not significantly relation to each component of quality of work life and the continuous commitment component among any of organizational commitment components.


In this article, a typical and representative kinematic hardening soil model is first studied to investigate its capabilities to reproduce soil responses under principal stress rotations (PSR). It is found that the model is capable of reproducing the non‐coaxiality very well. It can qualitatively capture the trends of responses of different stress and strain components, without the capability to quantitatively reproduce these responses. Its prediction of volumetric responses is the poorest and can give wrong results in many cases. The underlying reasons for these capabilities and defects are analyzed in detail. The model is subsequently modified to better take into account the PSR influences. An additional new flow rule and plastic modulus for the PSR are developed. One important feature of the model is that it is developed in the general stress space with six stress variables. Therefore, it can take into account multiple PSRs at different directions. Another feature is that it retains the linear stress rate–strain rate relationship, which facilitates its numerical implementations. In addition, the universal characteristic of the theory makes it equally applicable to other kinematic hardening models. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder of unknown etiology that affects upper and lower motor neurons resulting in progressive atrophy of skeletal muscles. There are two forms of ALS: spinal motor neuron injury and bulbar paresis. Dysphagia is a highly prevalent severe and invalidating symptom in ALS: almost 80% of ALS patients with bulbar paresis will develop dysphagia. Also, dysphagia is one of the most common and serious complications, with respiratory insufficiency, in patients with ALS as it exposes them to malnutrition, dehydration and aspiration pneumonia. These conditions are reported to be associated with a minor survival in patients with ALS. Screening for dysphagia must be performed in all ALS patients at diagnosis and during the follow-up to approach dysphagia as soon as possible. This chapter includes the latest developments in the assessment and approach of dysphagia in ALS patients.


Aim:  The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a three-item oral health questionnaire for use by dietitians in an ambulatory care setting to screen human immunodeficiency virus-1-infected patients at risk of oral diseases to facilitate dental referral.

Methods:  The study was a questionnaire-based survey of 273 participants attending a human immunodeficiency virus clinic in Sydney, Australia. Subjects completed the oral health questionnaire and the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 contemporaneously.

Results:  A statistically significant correlation (rho = 0.617 (95% CI 0.54, 0.69), P < 0.0001) was found between the oral health questionnaire and the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 indicating adequate validity. Sensitivity for the three-question oral health questionnaire was found to be 84% (95% CI 76, 89) with a specificity of 55% (95% CI 46, 63). The negative predictive value was 77 % (95% CI 68, 85). A single screening question performed less well compared with overall sensitivity of the three-item oral health questionnaire.

Conclusion:  The present study found the three-item oral health questionnaire to be a valid and sensitive screening tool to 'trigger' for further oral health assessment and referral to dental professionals. This is a useful tool for dietitians and other health-care workers involved in the multidisciplinary preventative care of people living with human immunodeficiency virus.


Hydride precursors are commonly used for semiconductor nanowire growth from the vapor phase and hydrogen is quite often used as a carrier gas. Here, we used in situ scanning electron microscopy and spatially resolved Auger spectroscopy to reveal the essential role of atomic hydrogen in determining the growth direction of Ge nanowires with an Au catalyst. With hydrogen passivating nanowire sidewalls the formation of inclined facets is suppressed, which stabilizes the growth in the ⟨111⟩ direction. By contrast, without hydrogen gold diffuses out of the catalyst and decorates the nanowire sidewalls, which strongly affects the surface free energy of the system and results in the ⟨110⟩ oriented growth. The experiments with intentional nanowire kinking reveal the existence of an energetic barrier, which originates from the kinetic force needed to drive the droplet out of its optimum configuration on top of a nanowire. Our results stress the role of the catalyst material and surface chemistry in determining the nanowire growth direction and provide additional insights into a kinking mechanism, thus allowing to inhibit or to intentionally initiate spontaneous kinking.


Although social workers' engagement in policy-shaping processes to advance social justice reflects this obligation of the social work profession, many social workers avoid implementing policy practice (PP). Previous studies have identified several barriers limiting social workers' use of this practice. However, how such barriers can be overcome remains under-studied. In this study, we address this lacuna by examining the role of social workers vis-à-vis their engagement in PP, through the theoretical framework of social psychology of organizations, and therein, through ideas concerning open systems and the formation of roles and praxes in organizations. Drawing on twenty-eight in-depth interviews and three focus groups, we demonstrate how social workers underwent a coping and transformation process that increased their engagement in PP. In certain situations, it was the expectations of colleagues and the challenges posed by them that impelled social workers to re-examine their approach to such engagement and enhance it. We show how social workers can overcome barriers and facilitate their involvement in the policy arena, as well as highlight policy-makers' role in shaping social workers' modes of operation.


We consider the evolution by crystalline curvature of a planar set in a stratified medium, modeled by a periodic forcing term. We characterize the limit evolution law as the period of the oscillations tends to zero. Even if the model is very simple, the limit evolution problem is quite rich, and we discuss some properties such as uniqueness, comparison principle and pinning/depinning phenomena.


Surface texturing aids the visualization of polygonal meshes by providing additional surface orientation cues and feature annotations. Such texturing is usually implemented via texture mapping, which is easier and more effective when the distortion of the mapping from the surface to the texture map is kept small. We have previously shown that distortion occurs when areas of high surface curvature are flattened into the texture map. By cutting the surface in these areas one can reduce texture map distortion at the expense of additional seam artifacts. This paper describes a faster technique for guiding a texture map seam through high distortion regions, while restricting the seam to regions of low visibility. This results in distortion reducing seams that are less visually distracting and take less time to compute. We have also observed that visibility considerations improve the speed of a recent method that adds cuts to reduce a surface genus.


Populations of killer whale (Orcinus orca) contain some of the most polluted animals on Earth. Yet, the knowledge on effects of chemical pollutants is limited in this species. Cell cultures and in vitro exposure experiments are pertinent tools to study effects of pollutants in free-ranging marine mammals. To investigate transcriptional responses to pollutants in killer whale cells, we collected skin biopsies of killer whales from the Northern Norwegian fjords and successfully established primary fibroblast cell cultures from the dermis of 4 out of 5 of them. Cells from the individual with the highest cell yield were exposed to three different concentrations of a mixture of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that reflects the composition of the 10 most abundant POPs found in Norwegian killer whales (p,p'-DDE, trans-nonachlor, PCB52, 99, 101, 118, 138, 153, 180, 187). Transcriptional responses of 13 selected target genes were studied using digital droplet PCR, and whole transcriptome responses were investigated utilizing RNA sequencing. Among the target genes analysed, CYP1A1 was significantly downregulated in the cells exposed to medium (11.6 µM) and high (116 µM) concentrations of the pollutant mixture, while seven genes involved in endocrine functions showed a non-significant tendency to be upregulated at the highest exposure concentration. Bioinformatic analyses of RNA-seq data indicated that 13 and 43 genes were differentially expressed in the cells exposed to low and high concentrations of the mixture, respectively, in comparison to solvent control. Subsequent pathway and functional analyses of the differentially expressed genes indicated that the enriched pathways were mainly related to lipid metabolism, myogenesis and glucocorticoid receptor regulation. The current study results support previous correlative studies and provide cause-effect relationships, which is highly relevant for chemical and environmental management.


As genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have opened the door to systematic discovery of genetic factors for complex diseases, including cancers, the clinical utility of the findings remains to be determined. This is elegantly discussed in the article in this issue of ONCOLOGY by Stadler et al. The authors rightfully caution against the use of "personal genomic tests" based on cancer GWAS results for personal cancer risk prediction.


For any river basin management, one needs tools to predict runoff at different time and spatial resolutions. Hydrological models are tools which account for the storage, flow of water and water balance in a watershed, which include exchanges of water and energy within the earth, atmosphere and oceans and utilise metrological data to generate flow. There are several sources of error in meteorological data, namely, through measurement at point level, interpolation, etc. When an erroneous input is passed to a model, one cannot expect an error free output from the prediction. Every prediction is associated with uncertainty. Quantification of these uncertainties is of prime importance in real world forecasting. In this study, an attempt has been made to study uncertainty associated with hydrological modelling, using the idea of data depth. To see the effect of uncertainty in rainfall on flow generation through a model, the input to a model was altered by adding an error and a different realisation was made. A Monte Carlo simulation generated a large number of hydrological model parameter sets drawn from the uniform distribution. The model was run using these parameters for each realisation of the rainfall. The parameters which are good for different realisations are more likely to be good parameters sets. For each parameter set, data depth was calculated and a likelihood was assigned to each parameter set based on the depth values. Based on this, the frequency distribution of the likelihood was analysed as well. The results show that uncertainty in hydrological modelling are multiplicative. The proposed methodology to assign prediction uncertainty is demonstrated using the 'TopNet' model for the Waipara river catchment located in the central east of the South Island, New Zealand. The results of this study will be helpful in calibration of hydrological model and in quantifying uncertainty in the prediction.


We present an accurate, stable, and efficient solution to the Lippmann-Schwinger equation for electromagnetic scattering in two dimensions. The method is well suited for multiple scattering problems and may be applied to problems with scatterers of arbitrary shape or non-homogenous background materials. We illustrate the method by calculating light emission from a line source in a finite-sized photonic crystal waveguide.


The successful application of synthetic organic chemistry to the biotherapeutic arena has created an exciting paradigm for drug discovery and new opportunities for medicinal chemistry design. Chemistry is no longer restricted to the discovery of small molecule organic drugs since the workable opportunity space is arguably the entire spectrum of chemical space, inclusive of inorganics and biomolecules. Moreover, the emphasis for biotherapeutics is increasingly becoming the alignment of structure with function, and therefore methods that enable the delineation of structure-function relationships will become powerful tools in the design of improved therapeutics, thus avoiding traditionally empirical approaches. Chemistry can significantly modify the structure of a biological, improving its therapeutic effectiveness or imparting totally new properties to the designed molecule, thereby increasing the functionality of the construct. Here, the recent advances made in the area of chemistry-enabled biotherapeutics, or chemologics, are reviewed with a focus on the opportunities being unearthed through close partnerships between biology and chemistry.


Twenty years ago it was argued that rotational wheat production systems will reduce the economic risks to farmers and restore soil quality. Here we reflect on this assertion by analysing the evidence of a 12-year data window within a trial on a mixture of crop rotation systems at Langgewens Research Farm, South Africa. It was been found that production systems that include rotations with medics and/or medic-clover show some potential for improvement compared with wheat only, with a combination of the annual legume pasture with an added saltbush pasture showing the greatest improvement when taking into consideration the benefits from livestock production that are derived from pastures. Pastures are more resilient to changes in rainfall compared with wheat only. Planting pastures in alternate years also improves the yields from wheat, and this is beneficial in periods of low rainfall. Rotation systems on this farm that include lupin perform worse than the wheat-only model. Furthermore, when modelling the effect of drought on the system, the results of the multi- and rotation production systems actually improve.


Introduction. Between 2003 and 2004 the largest epidemic of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Colombia (2,810 cases, with the highest incidence of 6,202 x 100,000 in 2004) occurred in the sub-Andean rural area of the municipalities of Chaparral and San Antonio in the department of Tolima. Objective. The present study was carried out to identify suspected vectors and to establish the knowledge that the inhabitants have about sand flies in order to use this information for vector control. Materials and methods. 46 houses were sampled with CDC light traps set up indoors to establish the sand fly species composition, abundance and the percentage of infestation. Houses were examined during daylight to identify endophily. A questionnaire was applied in order to estimate the knowledge about sand flies, their role in transmission and the sites and seasons of highest abundance. Results. Three anthropophilic sand fly species of possible epidemiological importance were found.  L. longiflocosa was the dominant sand fly species accounting for 81.7% (192 / 235) of all catches and infested the highest number of houses (41.7%). The other two species were  L. columbiana and  L. nuneztovari , with relative abundances of 3.4% and 2.1%, respectively, and house infestations of 13.0% and 6.5%, respectively. There was no evidence of endophilic behavior. Inhabitants recognized sand flies and their role in transmission. They identified the houses and the dry season as the site and time period of highest sand fly abundance. Conclusions. Based on its high anthropophily, predominance and apparent endophagic behavior, L. longiflocosa is the most probable vector of leishmaniasis indoors.  L. columbiana and  L. nuneztovari could be involved as secondary vectors outdoors. The importance of these findings on sand fly control is discussed.


Objectives: Investigation of the association of serum iron and ferritin with insulin resistance (IR) indices in pregnant women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Methods: Serum ferritin and iron and IR indices were measured in the 50 pregnant women with GDM and 350 non-GDM, and association of IR indices with serum iron and ferritin was evaluated. Results: Ferritin in the GDM group was significantly correlated with all IR indices except HOMA-B. No significant relationship found between iron levels and IR indices, except HOMA-IR. Conclusion: Increased serum iron and ferritin levels may increase insulin resistance and the risk of developing GDM.


Purpose/objectives: Case management activities were reviewed in a rural, nurse-managed, primary healthcare setting over 3 months. The purpose was to determine the specific case management tasks and how these functions related to, or enhanced, lateral transitions in care. The transition from outpatient to inpatient care implies a vertical transition of care, as the care at the hospital level is more complex than in a physician's office. Many times, patients will move between different providers and clinics in the outpatient (or inpatient) setting; these are considered lateral transitions. In a nurse-managed clinic, there are many referrals, hence many handoffs. As these patients move to and from these appointments and referrals, new tests are conducted and new medication may be ordered. To maintain a high quality of care, new therapies and medications must be integrated into the plan of care. Primary practice setting(s): This study was conducted in a rural, nurse-managed, primary healthcare setting; however, the results are generalizable across many settings. Findings/conclusions: In this study, it was determined that the case managers were managing the transitions between the clinic and other outpatient services, as well as managing and ordering the patient's medications and therapies. Approximately 45%–50% of case management functions involved either obtaining medication assistance for patients without funding or assisting patients with the ordering and procurement of essential medicines. Another 45% of the case manager's time was spent coordinating referrals to a wide variety of specialty clinics for diagnostic testing, obtaining appointments with community-based family practice physicians, or coordinating examinations for specialty physicians. Implications for case management practice: Transitions in care have become a major focus in promoting patient safety. Case managers at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of care play a major role in making these transitions safe, whether these transitions are vertical or lateral. Safety issues come into play as patients move back and forth—or up and down—in the system, because providers do not always manage the safe handoff of the patient to other outpatient or inpatient services.


Hot flashes and night sweats commonly occur during menopausal transition period due to estrogen deficiency, but these conditions can also occur during postpartum period in which there are marked hormonal fluctuations. This study determined the prevalence and examined factors related to hot flashes and night sweats among the Japanese women in the postpartum period. The design of this study was a longitudinal investigation and the population of the postpartum women recruited was 229. A self-administered questionnaire that adapted Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) of measurement was used to collect data at 3 days postpartum, 2 weeks postpartum and one month postpartum. There was a significant association between transient night sweats and anxiety regarding family finances. Women who complained of hot flashes was 22.8% at 3 days postpartum and it decreased thereafter, while women who complained of night sweats were 58.6% at 3 days postpartum, 33.1% at 2 weeks postpartum and 15.2% at one month postpartum. In conclusion, hot flashes and night sweats among Japanese women in the postpartum period was associated with psychological and social factors.

 Key words: Hot flashes, night sweats, postpartum women.


EDITOR,-We read with interest the paper of Kendal et al 1 and wish to raise a few questions. The authors described in detail how the adrenaline-cocaine gel was applied to the wounds but, apart from stating that the lignocaine injections were "standardised using a 25 gauge needle", we know nothing about the technique used, who injected and sutured (nurse, SHO, registrar, etc), nor the time given for the lignocaine to act before starting the suturing. Standardising the needle gauge and suture size for all lacerations regardless of the site to simplify analysis and satisfy statisticians is bad surgical practice because it means using heavy thread for the face or fine thread for the trunk. Also, to alleviate fear of the "sight of the needle", a point made by the authors, is obviously desirable, but how did they alleviate fear of the sight of the stitching needle, the forceps, and the needle-holder? To find out that 40% of patients and/or parents considered suturing lacerations under lignocaine "unacceptable" may simply mean poor overall technique. How do they account for this extraordinarily high patient/parent dissatisfaction? We also want to know the authors' explanation of their high "failed" anaesthesia rate of 24% in the lignocaine group and how they managed this subgroup: did they proceed regardless or was more lignocaine given, or was the gel therefore applied? Another unclear point is the authors' evaluation of cost. They state that the gel costs £2 for one application, while a 10 ml ampoule of lignocaine costs 25p. Although they were only dealing with lacerations less than 2 cm in length, they conclude that even after considering patient volume, the overall cost implications were tiny. How can they explain this, given that a 1.9 cm cut should only require a 5 ml ampoule priced at a mere 16p? Also why haven't they tested any of the available lignocaine gels? Although they are not licenced for open wounds, neither is the adrenaline-cocaine gel, and lignocaine gels are available in all accident departments.


The present article arises from the need to retrace the history, never written until now, of transplants in Italy. This theme is indissolubly linked to Sapienza University of Rome and, in this article, we also reveal a series of historiographical errors handed down to the present day. Finally, we analyze the legislative evolution and the contextual bioethical debate in a continuous pursuit of science, tension and morals. Key words: Transplant - Kidney - Story - Law - Bioethic


The introduction of distribution into the field of computing has enhanced the possibilities of information processing and interchange on scales which could not previously be achieved with stand-alone machines. However, the successful distribution of a process across a distributed system requires three problems to be considered; how the functionality of a process is distributed, how the data set on which the process works is distributed and how the interface that allows the process to communicate with the outside world is distributed. The focus of the work in this paper lies in describing a model that attempts to provide a solution to the latter problem. The model that has been developed allows the functionality of a process to be separated from and to exist independently from its interface and employs user interface independent display languages to provide distributed and heterogeneous user interfaces to processes. This separation also facilitates access to a service from diverse platforms and can support user interface mobility and third-party application integration. The goals and advantages of this model are partially realised in a prototype that has been designed around the WWW and its associated protocols, and it is predicted how the model could be fully realised by adopting a modular and object-oriented approach, as advocated by the Java programming environment.


The surface modification of carbon nanotubes(CNTs)has been recently observed to influence the distribution of CNTs in epoxy resin and the mechanical properties and electrical conductivities of these CNTs. Accordingly, the treatment of CNTs to with organic acids to oxidize them generates functional groups on the surface of CNTs. This investigation studies the consequent enhancement of the mechanical properties and electrical conductivities of CNTs. The influence of adding various proportions of CNTs to the epoxy resin on the mechanical properties and electrical conductivities of the composites thus formed is investigated, and the strength of the material is tested at different temperatures. Moreover, the creep behavior of carbon fiber(CF)/epoxy resin thermosetting composites was tested analyzed at different stresses, orientations of fiber, temperatures and humidities. The creep exhibits only two stages- primary creep and steady-state creep. The effects of creep stress, creep time, and humidity on the creep of composites that contain various proportion of CNTs were investigated at various temperatures. However, increasing the number of cycles in cyclic creep tests at room temperature resulted in a decrease in creep strain even at a high temperature of 55°C. Possible room temperature creep mechanisms have been proposed and discussed. Creep strain is believed to increase with applied stress, creep time, humidity, temperature and degree of the angle θ between the orientation of fiber and the direction of the applied stress. The test results also indicate that mechanical strength and electrical conductivity increase with the amount of CNTs added to the composites. Different coefficients of expansion of the matrix, fiber and CNTs, are such that overexpansion of the matrix at high temperature results in cracking in it. An SEM image of the fracture surface reveals debonding and the pulling out of longitudinal fibers because of poor interfacial bonding between fiber and matrix, which reduce overall strength.