The RED experiment was conducted offshore of the Hawaiian island of Oahu in late summer, mid-August to mid-September, of 2001. The research platform floating instrument platform (R/P FLIP), moored about 10 km off of the NE coast of Oahu, hosted the primary meteorological sensor suites and served as the terminus for the propagation link. Two meteorological buoys provided additional support. One buoy was located approximately 5 km west of R/P FLIP and the other was located approximately 15 km south, nearly mid-path on the microwave propagation link. Wind speed never exceeded 12 ms/sup -1/. Significant wave height and wave age rarely exceeded 2.5 m and 1 respectively. The microwave data were analyzed by comparing the observed signal levels to modeled results using observed meteorological data. Very good agreement is found with standard deviations of the differences ranging from 2 dB to 4 dB. Examination of the infrared data set reveals an unexpectedly weak transmission signal. The data analysis effort includes the influence of geometrical considerations (including the large 54-degree pointing excursions of the source on R/P FLIP); extinction (absorption and scattering by aerosols and molecules); and refractive effects induced by the long near-surface propagation path. However, with the low winds and wave heights observed during RED, the effects of surface waves are not readily isolated.


The palliative therapy of pancreatic carcinoma consists of best supportive care (BSC) including nutritional and pain therapy, and antineoplastic remedies. This is complemented by interventional endoscopy aiming to treat obstructive jaundice and/or gastric or duodenal obstruction by implantation of endoprostheses. Pain therapy is standardized for the most part according to the WHO guidelines; nutrition of the cancer patient, however, is sometimes disregarded. For palliative chemotherapy, 5-fluorouracil and gemcitabine can be recommended. Combinations thereof with other cytostatic drugs or radiation are subject to ongoing studies. A variety of novel therapeutic concepts, e.g. immunomodulation or suicide gene therapy, have demonstrated good effects in animal studies. Unfortunately, very few of these have entered clinical studies (phase I and phase II). This will be the focus of future research in this field.


The article deals with the innovative solution of utilization of the clay slates accumulated in the gorge of the river Duruji. Kvareli Region of Georgia is subject to the impact of mudslides with frequent periodicity. The "carrier" of these mudslides is the River Duruji. The bulk of the mudslides is represented by flat rounded stones of different sizes. The level of accumulation of this bulk exceeds the altitude of the regional center by ten meters, which could cause irreparable ecological and social damage to Kvareli City and the region on the whole. The package of measures on preventing the impact of mudslides includes clearing the riverbed and the fan of the area of about 147 km2 from stony mass. This is associated with the displacement of about 5 mln. tones of the bulk to the places remote from the river, which causes significant losses of fertile land. Based on the physical-chemical and technological investigations performed, it is proposed to use the stony mass – diluvium (of talus) of shale "elemental raw material" for the production of building materials.


With rapid development of mobile communication technology and market in China, Mcommerce is booming and creating a strong demand for M-commerce education and training. To meet the demands, it's necessary to study M-commerce present condition and develop novel mode of higher education and training for M-commerce. Firstly, we summarize the current situation of M-commerce in China and point out typical characteristics. Then, we propose a competency-based model to describe the relevant factors meeting M-commerce talent requirements. Finally, a training mode solution for Mcommerce education is presented, which includes training objective, curriculum design, platform framework etc


Background: Treatment of underlying forms (TUF) is a linguistically based treatment for improving agrammatic sentence deficits. It enjoys a substantial database attesting to its efficacy for improving both sentence comprehension and production in agrammatic aphasia. However, TUF requires considerable linguistic background to administer, and administration time can exceed the number of treatment sessions allotted in toto for reimbursement by third-party payors in the United States. Thus Sentactics®, an interactive computer system that enables delivery of TUF by a virtual clinician, was developed. Aims: This study tested the effects of Sentactics® on the acquisition and generalised production and comprehension of complex sentences. Additionally, a direct comparison of the results of computer-delivered Sentactics® and clinician-delivered TUF was undertaken. Methods & Procedures: A total of 12 agrammatic aphasic speakers participated in the study, with 6 receiving Sentactics® and 6 serving as experimental controls who received no treatment. All participants were administered pre- and post-treatment sentence comprehension and production tests and other measures to evaluate the effects of Sentactics®. Performance of the Sentactics® group was also compared to eight agrammatic patients who previously received clinician-delivered TUF treatment identical to that delivered via Sentactics®, but with a human clinician. Outcomes & Results: Sentactics® significantly improved all six aphasic speakers' ability to comprehend and produce both trained and untrained, linguistically related, complex sentences as compared to six agrammatic control participants who did not receive Sentactics®. In addition, comparing the results of Sentactics® to clinician-delivered TUF revealed no significant differences between approaches with regard to acquisition or generalisation patterns. Conclusions: These data provide further support for the efficacy of TUF and demonstrate the viability of computer-delivered therapies in the field of aphasia treatment.


Epilepsy is a brain disorder characterized predominantly by recurrent and
unpredictable interruptions of normal brain function called epileptic seizures. The aim of this study
was to investigate the effectiveness of neurofeedback on frequency of seizure in patients with
refractory left temporal lobe epilepsy.
Materials & Methods: This case study included pre test, post test and follow up phases. The sample
consisted of two patients with refractory left temporal lobe epilepsy selected by random sampling
method. The study is based on Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) approach, and a multiple baseline
design. Accordingly, the baseline data for the first test could be started if the second test was still in
the baseline situation. Then the in next step, the second subject was allowed to receive intervention.
The checklist of symptoms and the frequency of seizure was used to collect data during the pre-test,
post-test and follow-up phases. Patients participated in 30 treatment sessions of neurofeedback for 8
weeks.
Results: Visual analysis graphs suggested that there were significant differences between variables in
intervention and baseline phases for each subject according to frequency of seizures. In other words,
the mean of frequency of seizures decreased significantly after intervention.
Conclusion: The results suggested that neurofeedback is effective in decreasing frequency of seizure
in patients with refractory left temporal lop epilepsy.


In Reply.— We appreciate the thoughtful comments of Dr Strange and agree with most of the points he makes. In the evolution of language, popular usage always seems to go its own way, however much grammarians and lexicographers try to rein it in. The impact of Africa on the English language certainly should not be underestimated. It occurs not only through the intermediary of Black English in North America but also directly from indigenous languages in places like Monrovia, Lagos, and Nairobi. Although it is possible to argue, as Dr Strange does, that English did not originate in England, we have to stand by our guns on this point. When the Jutes, Angles, and Saxons arrived in Britain, the language they spoke was as different from 20th-century English as Latin is from 20th-century French. It was long after their arrival that they began to conceive of themselves as the "Englisc"


How the internet affects job matching is not well understood due to a lack of data on job vacancies and quasi-experimental variation in internet use. This paper helps fill this gap using plausibly exogenous roll-out of broadband infrastructure in Norway, and comprehensive data on recruiters, vacancies and job seekers. We document that broadband expansions increased online vacancy-postings and lowered the average duration of a vacancy and the share of establishments with unfilled vacancies. These changes led to higher job-finding rates and starting wages and more stable employment relationships after an unemployment-spell. Consequently, our calculations suggest that the steady-state unemployment rate fell by as much as one-fifth.


A tunable dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser using a self-seeded Fabry-Perot laser diode (FP-LD) is proposed and demonstrated. By adding an FP-LD incorporated with a tunable bandpass filter within the ring cavity, the fiber laser can lase two wavelengths simultaneously because of the self-seeded mechanism. This dual-wavelength output exhibits a good performance having the optical side-mode suppression ratio over 31 dB. The wavelength-tuning range of this tunable dual-wavelength fiber laser can be up to 9 nm.


An unconventional approach to adaptive system design is presented which has considerable promise for complex automation problems. The heart of this approach is a sophisticated search technique called a reproductive plan which is based on information processing models from population genetics. Both simulation and analysis results are presented which suggest that reproductive plans out-perform existing techniques on complex process response surfaces. An example is presented to provide an intuitive idea of how reproductive plans operate, and some observations are made concering the applicability of this approach to various problems in adaptive system design.


BACKGROUND
 Social media is commonly used in public health interventions to promote cancer screening and early diagnosis, as it can rapidly deliver targeted public health messages to large numbers of people. However, there is currently little understanding of the breadth of social media interventions and evaluations, whether they are effective, and how they might improve outcomes.

 OBJECTIVE
 This scoping review aimed to map the evidence for social media interventions to improve cancer screening and early diagnosis, including their impact on behavior change and how they facilitate behavior change.

 METHODS
 Five databases and the grey literature were searched to identify qualitative and quantitative evaluations of social media interventions targeting cancer screening and early diagnosis. Two reviewers independently reviewed each abstract. Data extraction was carried out by one author and verified by a second author. Data on engagement was extracted using an adapted version of the key performance indicators and metrics related to social media use in health promotion. Insights, exposure, reach, and differing levels of engagement, including behavior change, were measured. The behavior change technique taxonomy was used to identify how interventions facilitated behavior change.

 RESULTS
 Of the 23 publications and reports included, the majority (16/23, 70%) evaluated national cancer awareness campaigns (eg, breast cancer awareness month). Most interventions delivered information via Twitter (13/23, 57%), targeted breast cancer (12/23, 52%), and measured exposure, reach, and low- to medium-level user engagement, such as number of likes (9/23, 39%). There were fewer articles about colorectal and lung cancer than about breast and prostate cancer campaigns. One study found that interventions had less reach and engagement from ethnic minority groups. A small number of articles (5/23, 22%) suggested that some types of social media interventions might improve high-level engagement, such as intended and actual uptake of screening. Behavior change techniques, such as providing social support and emphasizing the consequences of cancer, were used to engage users. Many national campaigns delivered fundraising messages rather than actionable health messages.

 CONCLUSIONS
 The limited evidence suggests that social media interventions may improve cancer screening and early diagnosis. Use of evaluation frameworks for social media interventions could help researchers plan more robust evaluations that measure behavior change. We need a greater understanding of who engages with these interventions to know whether social media can be used to reduce some health inequalities in cancer screening and early diagnosis.

 INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT
 RR2-10.1136/bmjopen-2019-033592


In the present work, the near-wake generated for a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) was simulated using an actuator line model (ALM) in order to validate and evaluate its accuracy. The sensitivity of the model to the variation of the spatial and temporal discretization was studied and showed a bigger response to the variation in the mesh size as compared with the temporal discretization. The large eddy simulation (LES) approach was used to predict the turbulence effects. The performance of Smagorinsky, dynamic k-equation, and dynamic Lagrangian turbulence models was tested, showing very little relevant differences between them. Generally, predicted results agree well with experimental data for velocity and vorticity fields in representative sections. The presented ALM was able to characterize the main phenomena involved in the flow pattern using a relatively low computational cost without stability concerns, identified the general wake structure (qualitatively and quantitatively), and the contribution from the blade tips and motion on it. Additionally, the effects of the tower and struts were investigated with respect to the overall structure of the wake, showing no significant modification. Similarities and discrepancies between numerical and experimental results are discussed. The obtained results from the various simulations carried out here can be used as a practical reference guideline for choosing parameters in VAWTs simulations using the ALM.


Over the last two decades, global electricity production has more than doubled and electricity demand is rising rapidly around the world as economic development spreads to emerging economies. Not only has electricity demand increased significantly, it is the fastest growing end-use of energy. Therefore, technical, economic and environmental benefits of hydroelectric power make it an important contributor to the future world energy mix, particularly in the developing countries. On the other hand, the hydropower industry is closely linked to both water management and renewable energy production, and so has a unique role to play in contributing to sustainable development in a world where billions of people lack access to safe drinking water and adequate energy supplies. In addition to, approximately 1.6 billion people have no access to electricity and about 1.1 billion are without adequate water supply. However, resources for hydropower development are widely spread around the world. Potential exists in about 150 countries, and about 70% of the economically feasible potential remains to be developed-mostly in developing countries where the needs are most urgent. This paper deals with renewable energy systems and the role of hydropower in Turkey.


When Dr. Harding first notified me that the committee on psychiatry and religion had honored me with this wonderful award I experienced an onslaught of feelings, primarily great pleasure and also pride at being in the company of former recipients, all of them thinkers I have much admired. I was particularly delighted to learn that the first recipient of the Oscar Pfister prize was one of my mentors, Jerome Frank, whom I am pleased to inform you is, at the age of 93, as thoughtful, curious, and coherent as ever. But there were also other feelings-more complicated, quirky, dark, difficult to express. "Religion? Me? There must be some mistake." Hence, my first words of reply to Dr. Harding were: "Are you sure. You know I regard myself as a practicing atheist?" His immediate response to me was: "We believe that you've dedicated yourself to religious questions." The graciousness of his reply disarmed me and brought to mind many conversations with my former therapist and, later, my dear friend, Rollo May, who insisted on regarding my textbook, Existential Psychotherapy, as a religious book. I remember, too, that Lou Salome referred to Nietzsche as a religious thinker with an antireligion perspective. My talk today will focus on the issues raised by these dissonant feelings and especially on some of the existential therapeutic issues that, as Dr. Harding points out, are often considered to be religious in nature. I'll also sketch out some comparisons between existential psychotherapy and religious consolation. I believe these two approaches have a complex, strained relationship. In a sense, they are cousins with the same ancestors and concerns: they share the common mission of ministering to the intrinsic despair of the human condition. Sometimes they share common methods-the one-to-one relationship, the mode of confession, of inner scrutiny, of forgiveness of others and self. In fact, more and more as I've grown older, I consider psychotherapy as a calling, not as a profession. And yet, still, it is true that the core beliefs and basic practical approaches of psychotherapy and religious consolation are often antipodal. It is true that throughout history, or at least from the first to the mid-17th century, the thinkers who were most concerned about issues of existence were rooted in the religious wisdom traditions-not necessarily that their insights emanated from fundamental religious beliefs but that the religious institutions provided the sole arena which promoted and supported such intellectual activity. One can delineate both positive and negative aspects to this phenomenon: positive in that religious institutions encouraged and sponsored (indeed, for many centuries, were the sole sponsors of) philosophical inquiry, negative in that religious institutions often restricted what could be thought and which problems could be examined. Nietzsche said in Beyond Good and Evil: Gradually it has become clear to me what every great philosophy so far has been: namely, the personal confession of its author and a kind of involuntary and unconscious memoir; also that the moral (or immoral) intentions in every philosophy constituted the real germ of life from which the whole plant has grown. Though such perspectivism runs the risk (which Nietzsche was delighted to take) of denying the possibility of any fixed truth, still I take his words seriously and I'll sketch in the origins of my own religious point of view and intellectual positions. My early religious training was a pedagogical disaster-my family's orthodox Jewish synagogue was cloaked in rigid unyielding, authoritarianism which I found highly distasteful. In the long run, that was decisive for me because I lost any possibility of faith early in life. Schopenhauer reminds us that religious faith, if it is to thrive, has to be planted and take root in childhood. In his words, "The capacity for faith is at its strongest in childhood; which is why religions apply themselves before all else to getting those tender years into their possession. …


The modified Jominy-test was designed for prediction of hardenability of high-hardenability tool steels and possibility of application of modified Jominy-test in computer simulation of quenching of high-hardenability tool steels has been investigated. Because of high hardenability there are limits in application of original Jominy-specimen in simulation of quenching of steels. The performance of investigated modified Jominy-test in simulation of quenching of high-hardenability tool steels was estimated by comparison of cooling curves of modified Jominy-specimen (JM®-specimen) and cylindrical specimen. The influence of dimension of JM®-specimen on cooling curves has been investigated. The time of cooling, t8/5 relevant for results of quenching was predicted. Modified Jominy-test can be applied in simulation of quenching of steel with higher hardenability rather than original Jominy-test.


Objective: To present the technique for and early results of laparoscopic intragastric resection (LIGR). Background: Treatment of confirmed or suspected submucosal gastric malignancies relies on clear margin resection, for which minimally invasive surgery is widely accepted. However, resection in some localization remains challenging. Methods: We present the steps of LIGR for gastric submucosal tumors (GSMTs). We report the results of LIGR in consecutive patients operated at 2 institutions, including intraoperative, pathologic, 30-day major morbidity and mortality characteristics. Results: After laparoscopic access to the abdominal cavity, cuffed gastric ports are placed to approximate the anterior gastric wall to the abdominal wall. A pneumogastrum is created. The tumor is resected in the submucosal plane and the deficit closed with intragastric suturing. Specimen extraction is performed perorally or through a gastrotomy site. In 8 proximal intraluminal GSMTs with median size of 3.1 cm (range: 1.8–6.0 cm), median operative time was 167.5 minutes (range: 120–300 mins). There was no major morbidity and no mortality. All resections were R0. Conclusions: We illustrate the technique of a novel, feasible, and safe minimally invasive approach to GSMTs. LIGR is an alternative to resect challenging GSMTs by limiting surgical invasiveness and preserving gastrointestinal function.


Practically all the diagnostic methods for open-circuit faults in voltage source inverters (VSI) developed during the last decades, are focused on the occurrence of single faults and do not have the capability to handle and identify multiple failures. This paper presents a new method for real-time diagnostics of multiple open-circuit faults in voltage source inverters feeding ac machines. In contrast with the majority of the methods found in the literature which are based on the motor phase currents average values, the average absolute values are used here as principal quantities in order to formulate the diagnostic variables. These prove to be more robust against the issue of false alarms, carrying also information about multiple open-circuit failures. Furthermore, by the combination of these variables with the machine phase currents average values, it is possible to obtain characteristic signatures, which allow for the detection and identification of single and multiple open-circuit faults.


Background The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has repeatedly called for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine equity. The objective our study was to measure equity in the early distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to healthcare facilities across the US. Specifically, we tested whether the likelihood of a healthcare facility administering COVID-19 vaccines in May 2021 differed by county-level racial composition and degree of urbanicity. Methods and findings The outcome was whether an eligible vaccination facility actually administered COVID-19 vaccines as of May 2021, and was defined by spatially matching locations of eligible and actual COVID-19 vaccine administration locations. The outcome was regressed against county-level measures for racial/ethnic composition, urbanicity, income, social vulnerability index, COVID-19 mortality, 2020 election results, and availability of nontraditional vaccination locations using generalized estimating equations. Across the US, 61.4% of eligible healthcare facilities and 76.0% of eligible pharmacies provided COVID-19 vaccinations as of May 2021. Facilities in counties with >42.2% non-Hispanic Black population (i.e., > 95th county percentile of Black race composition) were less likely to serve as COVID-19 vaccine administration locations compared to facilities in counties with <12.5% non-Hispanic Black population (i.e., lower than US average), with OR 0.83; 95% CI, 0.70 to 0.98, p = 0.030. Location of a facility in a rural county (OR 0.82; 95% CI, 0.75 to 0.90, p < 0.001, versus metropolitan county) or in a county in the top quintile of COVID-19 mortality (OR 0.83; 95% CI, 0.75 to 0.93, p = 0.001, versus bottom 4 quintiles) was associated with decreased odds of serving as a COVID-19 vaccine administration location. There was a significant interaction of urbanicity and racial/ethnic composition: In metropolitan counties, facilities in counties with >42.2% non-Hispanic Black population (i.e., >95th county percentile of Black race composition) had 32% (95% CI 14% to 47%, p = 0.001) lower odds of serving as COVID administration facility compared to facilities in counties with below US average Black population. This association between Black composition and odds of a facility serving as vaccine administration facility was not observed in rural or suburban counties. In rural counties, facilities in counties with above US average Hispanic population had 26% (95% CI 11% to 38%, p = 0.002) lower odds of serving as vaccine administration facility compared to facilities in counties with below US average Hispanic population. This association between Hispanic ethnicity and odds of a facility serving as vaccine administration facility was not observed in metropolitan or suburban counties. Our analyses did not include nontraditional vaccination sites and are based on data as of May 2021, thus they represent the early distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Our results based on this cross-sectional analysis may not be generalizable to later phases of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution process. Conclusions Healthcare facilities in counties with higher Black composition, in rural areas, and in hardest-hit communities were less likely to serve as COVID-19 vaccine administration locations in May 2021. The lower uptake of COVID-19 vaccinations among minority populations and rural areas has been attributed to vaccine hesitancy; however, decreased access to vaccination sites may be an additional overlooked barrier.


Purpose
This paper aims to examine trends in the content of reporting within 135 UK higher education institutions (HEIs). It explores the extent to which integrated reporting (IR) content elements, reflecting integrated thinking, are disclosed voluntarily and whether HEI-specific features influence the resulting disclosures.

Design/methodology/approach
Existing IR guidelines given by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and the adoption of content analysis have provided the opportunity to examine the trend and extent of IR content elements associated in HEI corporate reports. The evidence was obtained from 405 UK HEI annual reports covering the period 2014-2016.

Findings
The results indicate a significant increase in the number of IR content elements embedded in HEI annual reports. The HEI-specific characteristics examined, such as the establishment of HEI (before or after 1992), adoption of IR framework and size of HEI, are all significantly and positively associated with IR content elements disclosure. This paper argues that institutional theory, isomorphism and isopraxism are relevant for explaining the changes in the contents of HEI annual reports. The findings also suggest that universities are beginning to adopt an integrated thinking approach to the reporting of their activities.

Research limitations/implications
The study is based on IR content elements only and could be extended to include the fundamental concepts and basic principles of the IR framework. There are other factors that have a potentially crucial influence on HEI core activities (such as teaching and learning research and internationalisation) which have been omitted from this study.

Practical implications
The findings will allow policymakers to evaluate the extent to which integrated thinking is taking place and influencing the UK HEI sector in the selection and presentation of information. A further implication of the findings is that an appropriate a sector-wide enforcement and compliance body, for instance, the British Universities Finance Directors Group (BUFDG), may consider developing voluntary IR guidance in a clear, consistent, concise and comparable format. Also, it may pursue regulatory support for this guidance. In doing so, it may monitor the compliance and disclosure levels of appropriate IR requirements. Within such a framework, IR could be used to assist HEIs to make more sustainable choices and allow stakeholders to better understand aspects of HEI performance.

Social implications
The research has implications for society within and beyond the unique UK HEI sector. Universities are places of advanced thinking and can lead the way for other sectors by demonstrating the potential of integrated thinking to create a cohesive wide-ranging discourse and create engagement among stakeholder groups. Specifically, IR builds on the strong points of accounting, for instance, robust quantitative evidence collecting, relevance, reliability, materiality, comparability and assurability, to explain the sustainability discourse into a "language" logical to HEIs organisational decision makers. Consequently, IR may generate better visibility and knowledge of the financial values of exploiting capitals (financial, intellectual, human, manufactured, social and natural) and offer a multifaceted approach to reassess HEIs organizational performance in various sectors that support the growth of integrated thinking.

Originality/value
This is the first known study to explore HEI characteristics and link them with the level of voluntary IR content elements disclosed in UK HEIs.


Purpose

This study investigates the existence of Marshall, Jacob and Porter's type of externalities in Mexico. We measure the impact of industrial specialization, competition and diversity on employment growth for the period 2004 to 2008.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis is based on data from 41 highly dynamic industrial clusters originally obtained by applying Porter's (1998) methodology. We use a cross-section specification estimated via instrumental variables and two-stage least square estimation (2SLS) to control for endogeneity.

Findings

On average, we find that industrial specialization exerts a negative impact on employment growth within states and within clusters, indicating that traded industries in Mexico carry very little innovation, operate in early stages of the life cycle, face high costs of employment reassignation or exhibit low adaptability. A negative impact of specialization on employment conforms with Jacobs (1969) type of externalities and confirms what other studies have found in France (Combes, 2000), Korea (Lee et al., 2005) and the USA (Delgado et al., 2014). The authors also find that competition generates more employment.

Research limitations/implications

Industrial data at the sub-branch level were obtained from the Economic Census (EC) of the National Institute of Geography and Statistics (INEGI). The EC information for 2004 was still not fully compatible with the North America Industry Classification System (NAICS), with 262 of the 309 data at the fourth-digit level aligned to the USA. In addition, industrial information from the EC is recorded every four years, which prevents this study to use panel data techniques and it makes it impossible to use time series methods.

Practical implications

Policymakers can clearly identify competition forces having a significant impact on employment growth. This can orient policymakers to implement measures to encourage the development of some of these clusters, as well as to identify some of the sources that drive specialization, competition and diversity.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the debate on the existence of Marshallian (MAR), Jacobian and Porter externalities. This is the first study using the definition of traded clusters in Mexico, which allows the authors to identify how specialization, competition and diversity forces drive the dynamics of regional employment growth.


In hospital environments, high noise levels can result in damage to patients' treatments, delaying their rest and recovery. The sound pressure level (SPL) in hospital areas during the day must not exceed 50 dB and 45 dB (A) at night, according to NBR 10.151/2019. This research aimed to carry out environmental monitoring of equivalent sound pressure levels (LAeq) at fifteen points in the vicinity of three hospitals in the central region of the municipality of Umuarama-PR, during working days, at four different times, in the months of August, September and November 2018 and continued in March 2019. To this end, we sought to map the LAeq of the points, compare them with data from municipal and federal legislation and relate the LAeq to the volume of vehicular traffic. The collected SPL were higher than recommended by NBR 10.151 at all times and measurement points, during the week, and when considering the municipal regulations, only one point is in the equipment's accuracy limit. From the statistical analysis, a very strong correlation was observed between LAeq and the total volume of vehicles, and also a strong correlation between the descriptors L10 and L50 and the volume of vehicles. The Traffic Noise Index (TNI) was also calculated and the LAeq values were compared with a subjective noise rating. The results show a scenario of noise pollution in the area and there is a need for the application of mitigating measures.


Despite being one of the richest countries in Africa, Algeria's affordable housing is still out of reach for low and even middle-income Algerians. Nowadays, Algeria is still suffering from housing shortage in terms of quality, affordability and number of units. The paper describes the Algerian Housing Policies using qualitative method of semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that new mechanisms need to be injected and the housing agencies structure need to adopt an effective local, regional and national policies to promote the housing sector in terms of its quality and adequacy to the Algerian society which certainly will improve the overall Algerian quality of life.
Keywords: Housing policies; Housing quality; Algerian society; Quality of life
eISSN 2514-751X © 2019. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/aje-bs.v4i13.349


Originally seen as a sharp and efficient instrument for the discovery of truth and the sifting of facts, the effectiveness of the oral deposition authorized by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30 and governed by sundry other provisions, observers would later conclude, had been dulled by the Rules' middle-age. Repeated objections, often lengthy and suggestive, had apparently rendered depositions increasingly long and unproductive, and exchanges akin to the ones excerpted throughout this piece are no longer unusual. True, many depositions smoothly transpired. Still, pesky objections of dubious need and value, their exclamation inconsistent with the collegiality implicitly favored by the Rules' discovery provisions, seemed to muck up the efficient functioning of the Rules' pretrial-discovery system with maddening regularity. Wholly unexpectedly, discovery had transformed litigation into "ordeal," efficiency, justice, and promptness, the fixed stars in the Rules' overarching cosmography, often unrealizable due to such interruptions' apparent prevalence. In response to this perception, Rules 26, 30, and 32 would be repeatedly redrafted. One command, however, remained mostly unchanged, the Rules' drafters first adopting and later haphazardly refining an older classification system. Some objections were deemed too valuable for waiver to ever be appropriate. But those "relat[ing] to the manner of taking the deposition, the form of a question or answer, the oath or affirmation, a party's conduct, or other matters that might have been corrected at that time" were made so if "not timely made during the deposition," an unadulterated codification of the so-called "contemporaneous objection rule." With time, however, one major change came. Today, objections must be "stated concisely in a nonargumentative and nonsuggestive manner" and may not include an instruction to the deponent not to answer if unnecessary "to preserve a privilege, to enforce a limitation ordered by the court, or to present a motion under Rule 30(d)(3)." The contemporaneous objection rule had been borrowed from an older era, but this manner prong was newer still, crafted so as to address concerns once deemed unpersuasive. More amendments, at least partly relevant, would come in the winter of 2015. With only these express provisions and apparent ills as touchstones, a growing cavalcade of opinions has inconsistently adjudged the permissible content of an objection to a question's form. Many courts have insisted that the Rules, expressly and implicitly, condone the use of such phrases as "objection to form" or "objection, form" and nothing more. To them, such "simple form objections," the phrase used in this article, are alone suitable. Other jurists have demurred. Because the Rules clearly encourage and arguably compel that a proper objection divulge its precise ground, this coterie has asseverated, a simple form objection will never suffice. Instead, a "precise form objection," this article's contrasting term, must be used, its foundation -- "asked and answered," "ambiguous," "argumentative," "compound," and more -- immediately adduced. At present, precedent evinces a loud discord over which type -- a simple or a precise form objection -- best fits with the Rules' text and design. Delving into the Rules' language, specific context, and broader design, both before and after the amendments that became effective on December 1, 2015, this article takes a side, explicating why the Rules compel the use of precise form objections over their plainer kin.In the process, it shows how all rules must be construed, explicating an approach used by multiple courts -- and ready for practitioners' application.


Abstract Latissimus dorsi (LD) myocutaneous flap breast reconstruction with a tissue expander/implant is a post-mastectomy option often used as a salvage procedure for a failed tissue expander (TE). The patient is traditionally placed in the lateral decubitus position for flap dissection and is re-prepped and re-draped in the supine position for placement of the tissue expander. A new generation of anatomically-shaped, tabbed tissue expanders are increasingly being used in place of traditional untabbed expanders. The innovative suture tabs allow for more predictable and controlled expander placement while the patient is in the lateral decubitus position, eliminating the need to reposition the patient intraoperatively. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of tabbed tissue expanders in latissimus dorsi breast reconstruction, with respect to total operative time, complication rates, and aesthetic outcomes. The outcomes of 34 LD breast reconstruction procedures with tissue expanders were evaluated. Eight patients received tabbed tissue expanders with no position change, while 26 patients underwent an intraoperative position change. Demographic information, total operative time, and follow-up complication data were collected. Aesthetic outcomes were evaluated by three blinded individuals using a validated scoring scale. The mean operative time for procedures with no position change was 107 minutes. The mean operative time for position change cohort was 207 minutes. There was no statistical difference in complication rates or aesthetic outcomes between the two groups. In conclusion, tabbed tissue expanders decrease operative time by eliminating the need for an intraoperative position change without influencing complication rates while maintaining equivalent aesthetic outcomes.


With the implementation of new dimensional models of personality disorder (PD) in the DSM-5 and ICD-11, several investigators have developed and evaluated the psychometric properties of measures of severity. The diagnostic accuracy of these measures, an important cross-cultural metric that falls between validity and clinical utility, remains unclear. This study aimed to analyze and synthesize the diagnostic performance of the measures designed for both models. For this purpose, searches were carried out using three databases: Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science. Studies that presented sensitivity and specificity parameters for cut-off points were selected. There were no restrictions on the age and gender of the participants nor on the reference standard used or the settings. Study quality and synthesis were assessed using QUADAS-2 and MetaDTA software, respectively. Twelve studies were eligible covering self-reported and clinician-rated measures based on the ICD-11 and DSM-5 PD severity models. A total of 66.7% of the studies showed a risk of bias in more than 2 domains. The 10th and 12th studies provided additional metrics, resulting in a total of 21 studies for evidence synthesis. Adequate overall sensitivity and specificity (Se = 0.84, Sp = 0.69) of these measures were obtained; however, the cross-cultural performance of specific cut-off points could not be assessed due to the paucity of studies on the same measure. Evidence suggests that patient selection processes should mainly be improved (avoid case–control design), use adequate reference standards, and avoid only reporting metrics for the optimal cut-off point.


Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is arguably one of the most complex exometabolomes on earth, and is comprised of thousands of compounds, that together contribute more than 600×1015 g carbon. This reservoir is primarily the product of interactions between the upper ocean's microbial food web, yet abiotic processes that occur over millennia have also modified many of its molecules. The compounds within this reservoir play important roles in determining the rate and extent of element exchange between inorganic reservoirs and the marine biosphere, while also mediating microbe-microbe interactions. As such, there has been a widespread effort to characterize DOM using high-resolution analytical methods including nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS). To date, molecular information in DOM has been primarily obtained through calculated molecular formulas from exact mass. This approach has the advantage of being non-targeted, accessing the inherent complexity of DOM. Molecular structures are however still elusive and the most commonly used instruments are costly. More recently, tandem mass spectrometry has been employed to more precisely identify DOM components through comparison to library mass spectra. Here we describe a data acquisition and analysis workflow that expands the repertoire of high-resolution analytical approaches available to access the complexity of DOM molecules that are amenable to electrospray ionization (ESI) MS. We couple liquid chromatographic separation, with tandem MS (LC-MS/MS) and a data analysis pipeline, that integrates peak extraction from extracted ion chromatograms (XIC), molecular formula calculation and molecular networking. This provides more precise structural characterization. Although only around 1% of detectable DOM compounds can be annotated through publicly available spectral libraries, community-wide participation in populating and annotating DOM datasets could rapidly increase the annotation rate and should be broadly encouraged. Our analysis also identifies shortcomings of the current data analysis workflow that need to be addressed by the community in the future. This work will lay the foundation for an integrative, non-targeted molecular analysis of DOM which, together with next generation sequencing, meta-proteomics and physical data, will pave the way to a more comprehensive understanding of the role of DOM in structuring marine ecosystems.


This brief paper examines the issues of awareness and application of a Learning Management System (LMS) used at the National Defence University of Malaysia (NDUM), Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. The paper argues that due to the discouraging responses from academics at the university on using the LMS, proactive measures must be taken immediately in order to arrest the situation. While most academics at the defence university can be categorised as Digital Natives, the reality does not reflect the enthusiasm of them to utilise new technologies. The discussion in this paper revolves around the concerns that stop academics to include the LMS in their teaching and learning repertoire. Data were obtained from observations on the use of the LMS and the number of participants who enrolled for the training of the LMS. This paper argues that due to the lack of organisational and structural support, academics at the NDUM may have reservations about using the LMS.


In athletics, as in other group activities, teamwork and leadership are highly important concepts. The purpose of this project is to use the DiSC personality assessment to help promote selfreflection and improved teamwork among the members of a collegiate volleyball team. A group of participants was selected to explore if team attitudes and behaviors can be impacted by taking and implementing the DiSC assessment. Originating with William Moulton Marston, the DiSC was then turned into an assessment by Walter Vernon Clarke. The volleyball team was given a pre and post survey to assess if there were changes in their understanding of themselves as well as their teammates based on their reflections on their various DiSC scores. The team was given four interventions following taking the pre survey and prior to taking the post survey. In the interventions the players were split up by their style group (as identified via their DiSC scores) originally in four groups to learn more about themselves then for the remainder in pairs with someone of a differing style so they could have the opportunity to learn the minds and leadership tactics of those with a style other than their own through differing activities. The activities allowed the players to discover each other's motivators, strengths and weaknesses for themselves and when working with others, as well as what they are going to do differently when communicating with people in each style so that the communication is as effective as possible. Pre and post survey results revealed the importance the participants saw in participating as well as the knowledge and understanding the got about themselves and the other three styles throughout the process. DiSC Assessment Impact on Communication and the Understanding of Self and Team 3


This paper proposes a new control method to reduce overvoltages due to three-phase reclosing for shunt compensated transmission lines (TL). The method detects the first minimum voltage region of the beating across the circuit breakers after protection dead time and works independently of voltage zero crossing, reducing significantly the reclosure time. The controller was tested on a Real Time Digital Simulator (RTDS) and its performance was compared to the traditional preinsertion resistor approach and another existing control method.


Objectives: To study –238 and +489 TNF-α polymorphisms in severe-unresponsive (more than 6 swollen joints and still active disease despite at least 6 months of DMARDs combination therapy) and mild-responsive (less than 3 swollen joints and good response to MTX or other conventional DMARDs) rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: We investigated 100 RA patients (56 with severe and 44 with mild disease activity) and 45 healthy blood donors (HBDs). Genotyping was performed by PCR-restriction fragment lenght polymorphism procedure. Several clinical and serological parameters were also examined. Results: Severe RA patients disclosed the –238 GG genotype in 100% of the cases versus 95.5% in the mild-responsive patients and 91.2% in the HBDs. The +489 GG genotype disclosed only a trend towards a prevalence in severe RA patients. However the +489 A allele seems to associates with early onset, longer disease duration and longer responsiveness to conventional therapy. Conclusion: The -238 AG genotype is absent in severe-unresponsive RA, but present in mild-responsive RA subjects. Thus –238 GG homozygosity associates with severity and unresponsiveness. In contrast the +489 polymorphism does not segregate differently between responsive and unresponsive RA patients.


: Main factors of development of late-onset lesions of the urinary bladder and rectum caused by irradiation of cervical carcinoma are discussed. The results of radiation therapy of 616 patients with cancer of uterine cervix are analysed, and the rates of incidence of late-onset radiation injuries to adjacent organs are considered in relation to dosage, methods of irradiation and early-onset radiation reactions. It was found that the frequency of late-onset radiation injuries of the urinary bladder and rectum increases in proportion to absorbed dosage of radiation and as a result of remote irradiation of the small pelvis with open fields. The time that elapses before early-onset reactions of neighboring organs appear in the course of irradiation proved to be of primary importance in the development of late-onset lesions. It is suggested that the time of early-onset reaction development is characteristic of individual tolerance of normal tissues.


The Philippines resoundingly cried 'never again' to the horrors of the Marcos dictatorship through the People Power revolution of 1986. Thirty years later, the Filipino people have come to realise that success is indeed fleeting. On 18 November 2016, the remains of Philippine dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos were buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani—the Heroes' Cemetery. While the Philippine Supreme Court insists that the hero's burial conferred to the author of the nation's darkest chapter is a political question, from established doctrines here and abroad, the authors seek to derive the political answer. This article will look at the legitimacy of memory laws within the Philippine Constitutional framework. Finding guidance from the Auschiwtz lie case of the German Constitutional Court, the article seeks to combat historical revisionism and prohibit the Marcosian lie. Our research begins by looking at the resurgence of authoritarianism as seen through the populist presidency of Rodrigo Roa Duterte. We will then proceed to address the threshold issue of state-sanctioned narratives. Recognising that the duty to establish the truth involves the power to determine the narrative, the authors will reconcile the conflicting demands of the freedom of thought and the right to the truth. We will then proceed by utilising the fact-opinion distinction to demonstrate how the Marcosian lie may be the valid subject of regulation. The last phase of the research looks into the approaches adopted by the United Nations (un) Human Rights Committee and the European Court of Human Rights in dealing with negationism and historical revisionism.


Authors read and they use their readings within their writing process. Scrutinizing authors' readings provides information on their tastes, working subjects at a given period, methodology, and scholarly milieu. It also brings a lot to intellectual history, highlighting the texts and manuscripts circulating in a certain context. Eight contributions investigating the readings of as many authors, from different points of view, are gathered here. The studied authors are mainly from pre-modern Islam – al-Qādī al-Fāḍil, Ibn Taymiyya, al-Ṣafadī, al-Subkī, al-Maqrīzī – with three exceptions: an incursion into the Ottoman 19th century – Esʿad Efendi –, a detour by the French court of Charles V – Evrart de Conty –, and a preface about Greek Antiquity – Philodème de Gadara.


Background. Multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria are the main cause of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) with high mortality. *e purpose of this study is to identify the risk factors associated with MDR by performing a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods. PubMed, EMBASE (via Ovid), and Cochrane Library were systematically searched for studies on the risk factors for MDR bacteria in LRTIs as of November 30, 2019. Literature screening, data abstraction, and quality assessment of the eligible studies were performed independently by two researchers. Results. A total of 3,607 articles were retrieved, of which 21 articles representing 20 cohort studies published in English were included after title/abstract and full-text screening. Among the 21 articles involving 7,650 patients and 1,360MDR organisms, ten reported the risk factors forMDRGram-positive bacteria (GPB) and Gram-negative bacteria (GNB), ten for MDRGNB, and one forMDRGPB.*emeta-analysis results suggested that prior antibiotic treatment, inappropriate antibiotic therapy, chronic lung disease, chronic liver disease and cerebral disease, priorMDR and PA infection/colonization, recent hospitalization, longer hospitalization stay, endotracheal tracheostomy and mechanical ventilation, tube feeding, nursing home residence, and higher disease severity score were independent risk factors for MDR bacteria. Conclusions. *is review identified fourteen clinical factors that might increase the risk of MDR bacteria in patients with LRTIs. Clinicians could take into account these factors when selecting antibiotics for patients and determine whether coverage for MDR bacteria is required. More well-designed studies are needed to confirm the various risk factors for MDR bacteria in the future.


So, watching the ten funniest videos of the week on Youtube and ordering a pizza with your bf, gf or bff is fun, but maybe you're starting to wonder about some other things you can do as a date or just for the hell of it with your friends? Well never underestimate the power of food my friends, and I don't mean the kind that's so easy all you need is your parent's credit card, I mean a meal you actually make yourself. The first thing you might be thinking is wow, cook for my boyfriend or girlfriend, why don't I just buy myself a poodle skirt and a white apron and introduce myself as Mr. or Mrs. Stepford? Of course, now you may be asking yourself who's Mr. And Mrs. Stepford, but that's not the point. Making you into an outdated 50's man/woman is not entirely what I had in mind, so bear with me for a moment. Food and dating and food and friendship may be as cliched as the science nerd who loves World of Warcraft, but if you think about it you may just realize that the act of making food has great potential for the makings of a romantic, or at least interesting afternoon. Not much of a cook? Even better. Hey, Bridget Jones made blue soup and marmalade paste and she still got Colin Firth by the end of the movie.


The method which gives a low crystalline hydroxyl carbonated apatite forming ability to originally non-bioactive high crystalline hydroxyapatite surface was newly developed. The granules of trabecular bovine bone, which had a size range from 212 to 1000 μm, were defatted, deproteinized, and then heat-treated at 1000 oC for 3 hours to remove organics completely. They were treated with the mixed solution of calcium chloride and calcium hydroxide in Soxhlet's apparatus at 100 oC for 3 days and then dried completely. Low crystalline hydroxyl carbonated apatite was observed to occur on the surface of high crystalline hydroxyapatite granules after soaking them into the simulated body fluid (SBF) for 1 week. This method is likely to have a potential to be used as a new process to give a bioactivity to originally non-bioactive materials.


The paper considers the effects of trade expansion between the EU and the Central and East European Countries (CEECs) on France. Taking a political-economy perspective, we attempt to detect potential demand for protection at the sectoral and regional level. Recent aggregate figures for trade and direct investment are reviewed, showing that French trade relations with the CEECs have as yet failed to expand by as much as a simple gravity relationship would predict, while French direct investment in the area remains small. The paper then considers disaggregated trade data; simple trade expansion simulations are carried out suggesting that job creation and destruction at the regional level is likely to be marginal. The paper closes by drawing a comparison with France's adjustment to the EU's 1986 Southern enlargement (to Spain and Portugal), showing that fears of job losses turned out in that case to be largely unfounded, while Spain attracted significant amounts of French direct investment.


Background Vapocoolant sprays are commonly used to minimize pain following minor interventions such as venipuncture, shave biopsy or needle insertion. Although these sprays have been widely used in clinical practice, little is known about their effect on microcirculation or cutaneous blood flow. Objective To evaluate the real-time effect of a topical vapocoolant using a well-established, rat cremaster muscle microcirculatory model, allowing direct measurement of changes in vessel diameter, capillary density and leukocyte behaviour. Method Fifty rats were divided into a control and four experimental groups: group 1: 4 s spray with vapocoolant at 18 cm distance; group 2: 10 s spray at 18 cm distance; group 3: 4 s spray at 8 cm distance; and group 4: 10 s spray at 8 cm distance. Vessel diameters, capillary density and leukocyte behaviour were monitored for 1 h thereafter. Muscle was harvested for immunohistochemistry analysis of proangiogenic markers (vascular endothelial growth factor and von Willebrand factor), leukocyte behaviour markers (E-selectin, vascular cell adhesion molecule, intercellular adhesion molecule), pimonidazole-hypoxia staining and ApopTag (Millipore, USA) staining for apoptosis. Gene expression for inflammatory markers (interleukin [IL]-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interferon-gamma) was evaluated using polymerase chain reaction and myeloperoxidase assay for inflammation was performed. Result The use of refrigerant spray decreased vessel diameter and capillary density initially, although none of these decreases were statistically significant. Polymerase chain reaction showed no significant changes. The myeloperoxidase assay showed statistically significant increase in myeloperoxidase activity in groups 2, 3 and 4. Immunohistochemistry was negative for angiogenic and proinflammatory markers. Conclusions The lack of statistically significant changes in vessel diameter and inflammatory markers corroborated the safety on microcirculation.


Occupancy of travel lanes during construction impact traffic flow and generate delays on the users. Thus, occupancy of travel lanes imposes costs on the traveling public due to traffic slowdowns or even shutdowns. At rush-hour these user costs come to a peak. Since closure of travel lanes are scheduled events, they can take place at times when such effects are minimized. Objective of this study was to develop a methodology for defining rational and defensible lane occupancy charges that would eventually minimize the impact from traffic lane closure. The project research team examined heavily traveled locations in the NJ region to examine traffic and construction patterns to be used in the analysis and definition of the general occupancy charge methodology. Information regarding traffic flow with respect to time of day, season, AADT, highway characteristics, etc. were reviewed in this examination. The project considered both economic and simulation analysis for examining the impact on user cost and construction operations due to different patterns of lane closure.


After opening of China"s borders to foreign trade and investment, over the last decades, a growing number of foreign company"s attention has been drawn to China due to the immense market potential, and a huge source of cheap labor. Swedish industry, however, is not an exception from this tremendous trend in the world, as their recent acquisitions have given access to production facilities in China. This transfer of product/production from Sweden to China has emerged two major concerns including Design and Manufacturing (DM) interaction between geographically distant settings, in conjunction with inter-cultural considerations. Lately, the concept of interaction between DM has been growing in the scholar thoughts. Typically, different challenges such as different personalities and cultural differences exist towards having an enhanced collaboration during the development process. This study uses a framework for integration mechanisms which comprises number of approaches such as DfX, CE, cross-functional teams, and modern quality management. Second, this study by carrying out 6 interviews within the Chinese plants in four Swedish-Chinese based companies identifies the main challenges of interaction of design in Sweden and manufacturing in China (2 pilot companies and 2 target companies). The most frequent challenges are spotted as cultural clashes, ineffective collaboration, frustrating verification process, inadequate management system, and lack of technical knowledge. By including cultural attributes, a literature based classification is adopted to classify the determined challenges. Eventually, this study comes up with suggestions for managing challenges associated with geographical distance. More face-to-face interactions instead of electronic communications in order to have a better insight to the cultural differences (such as trust, lose face, and direct/indirect confrontation), cross-functional integrations, localizing the verification process, facilitating the early involvement of suppliers, rotation of the expertise across projects, use of DfA index, and function-wise motivation system, are stated in our recommendations to cope with these challenges. Besides, the influence of reward system on challenges of dispersed settings, is proposed to be investigated for further studies.


During co-evolution plants have evolved a myriad of different responses to defend themselves against enemies such as insects or pathogens. These defense strategies can either be constitutively expressed or induced in response to attack. The activation of defense mechanisms is mediated by a set of signals in which essential role is played by the compounds from the jasmonate family. The aim of this thesis was to study the importance of jasmonic acid related signaling in plant responses to different stress stimuli and to establish whether, in the course of evolutionary adaptations, insects have evolved ways to perceive this primary defensive plant signal. In the course of the study following observations were made: 1) Jasmonates are universal stress signals in plant kingdom. Levels of jasmonic acid (JA) and its precursor 12-oxophytodienoic acid (OPDA) accumulated after different elicitation events in various plant species. Differences were found in the accumulation of JA in response to mechanical wounding at night and during the day. 2) Continuous mechanical wounding is alone sufficient to upregulate genes hitherto correlated with herbivore-specific responses. 3) Specialist insect Plutella xylostella can influence JA signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana. 4) Generalist insects recognize the plant signaling molecule - OPDA. Generalist insects were found to enzymatically isomerize plant signaling molecule – OPDA to iso-OPDA. The activity of the putative enzyme was correlated with glutathione S-transferases. The expression of candidate genes in E. coli revealed one enzyme which exhibited OPDA isomerization activity. 5) Alternative biosynthetic pathway leading to cis-jasmone can be useful for future crop protection. Defining the plant's ability to convert iso-OPDA to cis-jasmone and finding a candidate gene for OPDA isomerase allows speculation about genetic modifications, which would enable plants to biosynthesize cis-jasmone along with JA in response to external attack.


In treating chronic and acute pain, opioids are widely used. Although they do provide analgesia, their usage does come with adverse events (AEs). One of the most burdensome is opioid-induced bowel dysfunction, and more specifically opioid-induced constipation (OIC). The pathogenesis of these AEs is well known as the consequence of the action of opioids on m-receptors in the enteric nervous system. In recent years, medicines counteracting this specific action at the receptors have been registered for clinical use: the peripherally acting μ-opioid receptor antagonists (PAMORAs). The knowledge of their comparative efficacy and tolerability is very important for physicians and patients in opioid therapy. This systematic review of the existing literature on PAMORAs aimed to study the relative clinical advantages and disadvantages. The most important data banks, including "PubMed," "Embase," "CT.gov," "ICTRP" and "CINAHL" were used to find the published material on PAMORAs. The selected publications were examined to systematically analyze the efficacy and safety of the four existing PAMORAs. All of the medications are superior to placebo in reducing OIC. There are few published data on alvimopan used to treat OIC, and it is only indicated for the treatment of post-abdominal surgery ileus. Methylnaltrexone is studied mainly in its subcutaneous (SC) formulation. When used in its oral formulation, it seems more rapid than naloxegol and placebo in the reduction of OIC. Naldemedine is able to produce more spontaneous bowel movements (SBMs) when compared to alvimopan and naloxegol. Tolerability was found to be similar for all of them. In particular, they affect the gastrointestinal tract (GI), with flatulence and diarrhea, especially at high dosages. For some of them, nasopharyngitis and abdominal pain were observed as treatment adverse effects (TEAs). Several cardiovascular TEAs were reported after methylnaltrexone use, but it is not clear whether they were consequences of the drug or related to the general conditions of the patients. Considering the existing data, naloxegol and naldemedine seem to be the best choices, with a higher number of spontaneous bowel movements following naldemedine administration.


This volume contains peer-reviewed papers presented at the International Conference on Numerical Analysis and Applied Mathematics 2007, ICNAAM-2007. This conference brought together leading scientists of the international Numerical and Applied Mathematics community. More than 350 papers were submitted to be considered for presentation at ICNAAM-2007. From these submissions, 189 papers were selected after an international peer review by at least two independent reviewers.


Methyl viologen has been intercalated into the interlayer space of layered tetratitanic acid by a method involving the displacement of guest molecules using an n-propylammonium tetratitanate intercalation compound. The viologen tetratitanate intercalation compound changed colour to blue when irradiated by a mercury lamp under vacuum conditions or a nitrogen atmosphere. The formation of radical cations was confirmed by visible and e.s.r. spectroscopy. The electron donor for the photoreduction is thought to originate from the tetratitanate layers. The colour was stable as long as the vacuum conditions were maintained, and fading did not occur rapidly even after the introduction of air, requiring > 1 h for the colour to fade completely. These results indicate remarkable stability of the viologen radical cations in this intercalation compound.


STUDY DESIGN
Multicenter prospective study.

OBJECTIVE
Patients with central sensitization (CS) are reported to be at high risk of poor outcomes after spinal surgery. However, the influence of CS on surgical outcomes for lumbar disc herniation (LDH) remains unknown. This study aimed to examine the association between preoperative CS and surgical outcomes in LDH patients.

METHODS
A total of 100 consecutive patients with LDH (mean age 51.2) who underwent lumbar surgery were included in this study. The extent of CS was evaluated using the central sensitization inventory (CSI), a screening tool for CS-related symptoms. The patients completed the following CSI and clinical outcome assessments (COAs) preoperatively and 12 months postoperatively: the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score for back pain, JOA back pain evaluation questionnaire (JOABPEQ), and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). The association between preoperative CSI scores, and preoperative and postoperative COAs was analyzed, and the postoperative changes were statistically evaluated.

RESULTS
The preoperative CSI score significantly decreased 12 months postoperatively. Preoperative CSI scores showed a significant correlation with most COAs; however, a significant correlation was only identified in the social function and mental health domains of JOABPEC postoperatively. Higher preoperative CSI showed worse preoperative COAs; however, all COAs significantly improved regardless of CSI severity. There were no significant differences in any COAs among the CSI severity groups 12 months postoperatively.

CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study showed that lumbar surgeries significantly improved the COAs regardless of preoperative severity of CS in patients with LDH.


Spatial investigations of pore water nutrient concentrations and their theoretical fluxes were carried out in six different sediment types within a coastal environment (Shido Bay, the Seto Inland Sea, Japan). Nutrient concentrations in pore waters reached maximum values of 711 μM-NH4 + , 20.1 μM-PO4 3− and 195 μM-Si(OH)4 at depth in cores. Diffusive fluxes of NH4 + , PO4 3− and Si(OH)4 were estimated using a modification of a Fick's first law from concentration gradients. Fluxes were positive at all stations, ranging from 0.29 to 4.15 mmol m –2 d –1 for NH4 + , 0.01 to 0.08 mmol m –2 d –1 for PO4 3− and 0.11 to 0.72 mmol m –2 d –1 for Si(OH)4. These fluxes from the bottom to the overlying water are related to the type of sediment and its biogeochemical compositions. Spatial variations of NH4 + and PO4 3− fluxes were found to be linearly correlated with the organic matter content of surface sediments. Also, NH4 + and PO4 3− fluxes increased with the C:N ratio of sedimentary organic matter. Differently, the highest Si(OH)4 fluxes were related with the relative high pheo-pigments and biogenic silica (Bio-Si) contents in the surface sediment, which are affected by fecal matter from the oyster culture. As a result, organic matter availability was found to be an important factor in regulating spatial variability of NH4 + and PO4 3− fluxes, whereas significant contents of sedimentary pheo-pigments and Bio-Si characterise the sites where Si(OH)4 is available.


Poxvirus was isolated from cutaneous nodules on two young Houbara bustards (Chlamydotis undulata) bred in captivity in Saudi Arabia. Birds were emaciated and presented nodules on tibiotarso-tarsometatarsal joints, toes, and the carpal joint. Diagnosis was confirmed by histopathology, virus isolation on inoculated chorioallantoic membranes of embryonated chicken's eggs, and electron microscopy. Progressive leg lesions were extensive and interfered with walking, significantly debilitating the birds. Successful excisions of these lesions were performed.


5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), a commonly used chemotherapeutic agent, often causes oral mucositis, an inflammation and ulceration of the oral mucosa. Micro-organisms in the oral cavity are thought to play an important role in the aggravation and severity of mucositis, but the mechanisms behind this remain unclear. Although 5-FU has been shown to elicit antibacterial effects at high concentrations (>100 µM), its antibacterial effect at physiologically relevant concentrations in the oral cavity is unknown. This study reports the effect of different concentrations of 5-FU (range 0.1-50 µM) on the growth and viability of bacterial monocultures that are present in the oral cavity and the possible role in the activity of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD), an enzyme involved in 5-FU resistance. Our data showed a differential sensitivity among the tested oral species towards physiological concentrations of 5-FU. Klebsiellaoxytoca, Streptococcus salivarius, Streptococcus mitis, Streptococcus oralis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Lactobacillus salivarius appeared to be highly resistant to all tested concentrations. In contrast, Lactobacillusoris, Lactobacillus plantarum, Streptococcus pyogenes, Fusobacterium nucleatum and Neisseria mucosa showed a significant reduction in growth and viability starting from very low concentrations (0.2-3.1 µM). We can also provide evidence that DPD is not involved in the 5-FU resistance of the selected species. The observed variability in response to physiological 5-FU concentrations may explain why certain microbiota lead to a community dysbiosis and/or an overgrowth of certain resistant micro-organisms in the oral cavity following cancer treatment.


Entropic uncertainty is a well-known concept to formulate uncertainty relations for continuous variable quantum systems with finitely many degrees of freedom. Typically, the bounds of such relations scale with the number of oscillator modes, preventing a straight-forward generalization to quantum field theories. In this work, we overcome this difficulty by introducing the notion of a functional relative entropy and show that it has a meaningful field theory limit. We present the first entropic uncertainty relation for a scalar quantum field theory and exemplify its behavior by considering few particle excitations and the thermal state. Also, we show that the relation implies the multidimensional Heisenberg uncertainty relation.


The aim of this study was to compare the ratio of K-ras codon 12 and 13 mutations in various tissues of colorectal cancer patients. Multiple samples of inconspicuous mucosa and a sample of carcinoma tissue were taken from 36 colorectal cancer patients (group I) and these results were compared with those from polyp and carcinoma tissues of another 48 colorectal cancer patients (group II). A polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay was used to detect the respective point mutations. The results of this assay were complemented by sequencing the K-ras mutations. In mucosa tissue, the ratio of codon 12 and 13 mutations was nearly equal (0.9:1) whereas the respective ratio in tumour tissue showed a strong preponderance of K-ras codon 12 mutations (14:1, p=0.004). In polyp tissue of patients from group II, the ratio was 2.7:1 and that in carcinomas was 19:1 (p=0.053). The prevalence of both types of mutation was 14.6% in all mucosa samples, corresponding to 30.6% of group I patients. The K-ras mutation rate in carcinoma tissue of the same patients was 38.9%. Similarly, 33.4% of all polyp and 41.7% of all carcinoma samples from group II harboured K-ras codon 12 and/or 13 mutations. Sequencing confirmed 59 of 60 K-ras codon 12 mutations, but due to the detection limit for sequencing (1:10(4)) only 10 of 20 K-ras codon 13 mutations were confirmed. It is concluded that after balanced induction K-ras codon 12 mutations increase in frequency relative to K-ras codon 13 mutations during tumour progression.


The plant Abutilon indicum (Linn) is an important medicinal plant used in our Traditional System of Medicine to treat various health aliments. The plant has been traditionally used for used as demulcent, aphrodisiac, laxative, diuretic, pulmonary and sedative. The plant is found in India, Sri Lanka, topical regions of America and Malaysia. The aim of the present study was to carry out the preliminary phytochemical screening of the root extracts and further to evaluate the aphrodisiac activity of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the of the root part of plant Abutilon indicum L. In this study, the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the roots of Abutilon indicum L. were subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening which showed the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, flavonoids and phytosterol, tannins, gums and mucilages are found to be absent. The total extracts were tested for their aphrodisiac activity in experimental rats. The ethanolic extract of Abutilon indicum L. roots at higher concentration (400 mg/kg body weight) showed significant aphrodisiac activity on male wistar albino rats as evidenced by an increase in number of mounts, mating performance, hormonal analysis, testes-body ratio and sperm count. On the other hand, ethanolic Original Research Article Chakraborty et al.; AJOCS, 2(2): 1-9, 2017; Article no.AJOCS.32705 2 extract at lower dose (200 mg/kg. body weight) and aqueous extract (400 mg/kg body weight) showed moderate aphrodisiac property. Thus, in experimental rats, the results of the present study suggest that the root extracts of Abutilon indicum L. exert significant aphrodisiac activity. Further, detailed studies are needed to know whether in-vivo administration of the extracts is beneficial for patients suffering from sexual disorders.


The appearance of the following pages might suggest an "intellectual biography". My purpose is not, though, to offer such a simple thing (interesting as it might be). Indeed, I would like to follow the evolution of Gauthier's thought not only to show how a thinker evolved from a particular view about a particular problem toward a quite original and suggestive formulation, but also to deepen our comprehension of moral contractarianism and its implications, by means of its contextualization. For this reason, I will focus not on Gauthier's philosophical production as a whole (we will pay little attention to his historical works, for example), but on the papers and works that mark the line toward moral contractarianism as it is found in Morals by Agreement (henceforth MA). The trajectory we are about to go over is not, therefore, only a personal adventure (though it will be displayed this way), but (if I may use this pompous language) the adventure of ideas. This will not be an easy journey. Our focus on the historical development of concepts will prevent us from giving a fully systematic account of every one of them. The unfamiliar reader may be disappointed as we use somewhat strange terms without completely explaining their meaning. We beg acquiescence with our method, hoping that, on the whole, the essential ideas will be understandable without a detailed discussion.


Bees are thought to be strict users of carbohydrates as metabolic fuel for flight. Many insects, however, have the ability to oxidize the amino acid proline at a high rate, which is a unique feature of this group of animals. The presence of proline in the haemolymph of bees and in the nectar of plants led to the hypothesis that plants may produce proline as a metabolic reward for pollinators. We investigated flight muscle metabolism of hymenopteran species using high-resolution respirometry performed on permeabilized muscle fibres. The muscle fibres of the honeybee, Apis mellifera, do not have a detectable capacity to oxidize proline, as those from the migratory locust, Locusta migratoria, used here as an outgroup representative. The closely related bumblebee, Bombus impatiens, can oxidize proline alone and more than doubles its respiratory capacity when proline is combined with carbohydrate-derived substrates. A distant wasp species, Vespula vulgaris, exhibits the same metabolic phenotype as the bumblebee, suggesting that proline oxidation is common in hymenopterans. Using a combination of mitochondrial substrates and inhibitors, we further show that in B. impatiens, proline oxidation provides reducing equivalents and electrons directly to the electron transport system. Together, these findings demonstrate that some bee and wasp species can greatly enhance the oxidation of carbohydrates using proline as fuel for flight.


This paper aims to formulate some principal questions which should be used as start-point for design and analysis of the performance measurement conceptual framework. The paper is based on literature study followed by analysis and generalization. It reflects the diversity of approaches to performance measurement in performance-oriented literature and it investigates their similarities and differences. The paper is divided into two sections. First section defines performance measurement as a causal chain of activities and it deals with the role of subjectivity in this chain. Second section concerns common features of various performance models for organizational performance, namely motivational aspects of performance model design, users and purposes of performance information, hierarchical structure and time dimension of performance model etc.


In 1989, a group of researchers, farmers and farm advisors initiated an interdisciplinary study of the transition from conventional to low-input and organic management of a 4-year, five-crop rotation. Crop yields initially varied among systems, but now appear to be approaching each other after a transition period that included the development of practices and equipment most appropriate for each system. Farming practices and crop production costs are carefully documented to compare the various systems' economic performance and biological risks. Supplying adequate N and managing weeds were challenges for the low-input and organic systems during the first rotation cycle, and experiments are being conducted on an 8-acre companion block to find solutions to these and other problems. Leading conventional and organic growers provide a much-needed farmer perspective on cropping practices and economic interpretations, because we try to provide "best farmer" management of each system. Research groups within the project are focusing on soil microbiology, economics, pest management, agronomy and cover crop management.


At the front contact of thin film silicon solar cells, the junction between the p‐doped window layer and the n‐type transparent electrode results in a barrier that must be surmounted by the charge carriers. The barrier height is governed by the work‐function difference of these two materials. For different compositions of the well known In2O3–SnO2 (ITO) system, we find that higher oxygen partial pressure during sputter deposition increases the work function of the deposited films. Over the same range of oxygen partial pressures, ITO electrodes with low tin content applied to n–i–p type thin film silicon solar yield a gain in VOC by up to 40 mV. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


We study in this work the importance of depth in convolutional models for text classification, either when character or word inputs are considered. We show on 5 standard text classification and sentiment analysis tasks that deep models indeed give better performances than shallow networks when the text input is represented as a sequence of characters. However, a simple shallow-and-wide network outperforms deep models such as DenseNet with word inputs. Our shallow word model further establishes new state-of-the-art performances on two datasets: Yelp Binary (95.9\%) and Yelp Full (64.9\%).


This is a presentation showing how an intelligence software system could be employed to detect hidden cracks in a flat ferritic steel plates using the non-destructive evaulation technique. DARBS, a distributed blackboad system, had been successfully applied to the interpretation of ultrsound (B-scan) images from weld defects in flat ferritic steel plates. Based around the client/server model, DARBS comprises a centralised database server, i.e. the blackboard, and a number of knowledge source clients. As the clients are separate processes, possibly on separate networked computers, they can contribute to the solution of a problem whenever they have a contribution to make. DARBS therefore achieves the well-established but elusive ideal of opportunism. It behaves as a distributed agent-based system, with the proviso that all communication is via the blackboard.


Abstract:Stoler's article is an exercise in imagining how a collective might go about shaping the imaginative geography of a Palestinian archive. At issue is an archival assembly that is not constrained by the command— in form and content—dictated by colonial state priorities or even by Palestinian authorities. What concerns should be weighed and who shall be its archons? How might a principle and practice of dissensus speak to and through a vastly deterritorialized populace? Might this diasporic reality provide the very strength of this archive, its exemplary status, and political grace?


This paper presents investigations in the design of wind turbine control systems to maximize the energy capture and their impact onto the grid. The modeling of the wind turbine is presented. Then three different speed control systems are detailed and evaluated through simulations carried out with Matlab Simulink TM. Power fluctuations on the distribution grid are then compared by considering the same wind speed fluctuations.


What do the following institutions with special collections of rare books and manuscripts have in common: Rutgers University Libraries, The Boston University School of Theology Library, Columbia University Libraries, the Houghton Library of Harvard University, and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University? They all have individual leaves of manuscripts formerly in the proud possession of one man named Otto Ege. And, indeed, it is possible to expand upon this list by adding the names of at least twenty other museums, college and university libraries, and private collections. This article explores the life and career of Otto Ege the dean of the Cleveland Institute of Art and a collector of medieval manuscripts and his dismembering of medieval codices and distributing their single leaves to libraries, museums, and collectors. The author points to the promise of digitally reconstructing the original codices.


We consider dynamical systems on compact manifolds, which are local diffeomorphisms outside an exceptional set (a compact submanifold). We are interested in analyzing the relation between the integrability (with respect to Lebesgue measure) of the first hyperbolic time map and the existence of positive frequency of hyperbolic times. We show that some (strong) integrability of the first hyperbolic time map implies positive frequency of hyperbolic times. We also present an example of a map with positive frequency of hyperbolic times at Lebesgue almost every point but whose first hyperbolic time map is not integrable with respect to the Lebesgue measure.


Otoconia are dynamic mineral deposits present in the gravity receptors of most vertebrates; fishes often have a single large mass called an otolith instead. Otoconia generally have the appearance of single crystals but contain organic and inorganic components, the mineral being almost exclusively a polymorph of calcium carbonate. The two phases are closely interrelated structurally. Ultra-high resolution transmission electron microscopy of rat otoconia showed them to be mosaic biominerals. The crystallites were 50-100 nm in diameter, had some rounded edges, and were highly ordered into laminae. This suggests that crystallite seeding and growth is organic matrix mediated. Crystallite asymmetry may also indicate piezoelectricity. A further finding of similarities in electron beam diffraction patterns obtained from some frog and rat otoconia could mean that the calcite of mammalian units mimics aragonite. A comparative study showed that turtles, which are close to the stem line for mammals, had calcite-type otoconia in the utricle. Alligators, which share a common ancestry with birds, had this type otoconium in all three gravity receptors, although saccular otoconia had a variety of forms. The nature of the mineral is unknown. The biochemical composition of the organic otoconial material is under study, to learn how mineral deposition is regulated. Proteins of rat otoconial complexes ranged between ca. 16500 and over 100000 Da in molecular mass and were similar in saccular and utricular otoconial complexes. Our new analysis of the amino acid composition of the complexes by high performance liquid chromatography showed the complexes to be high in the acidic and low in the basic amino acids.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


By means of cyclography method developed in detail by N.A. Bernstein for disclosing the changes in the physical parameters of jumps it was shown that as compared with intact animals, the speed of movements of the distal parts of the fore and hind limbs significantly decreases in animals with electro-coagulated medial lemnisci. The swing of flexion-extension in the ulnar and knee joints likewise diminishes, and the trajectory of the centre of gravity movement changes significantly. In the course of jumping from one platform to another the operated animal experiences difficulties in changing movement phases. It is suggested that the system of medial lemnisci exercises the function of internal somatic backward connection, which is necessary for the succession of micromovements within the general program of the motor act.


We examine the major potential drivers of five international housing markets utilizing a quantile regression approach. In particular, we investigate property market dynamics during three variant market environments, namely, under downward (bearish), normal (median), and upward (bullish) trending conditions. Monthly data series for the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong are analysed, in an attempt to quantify uncertainty and detect trading patterns for the largest securitized real estate markets. We find that the stock market volatility, measured by the "pushing factor" VIXS&P500, provides agents with the most reliable and efficient information in terms of predicting market returns during bear market conditions, whereas "pulling factors" such as money supply, treasury yields, and unemployment explain the main stylized facts, incorporating contagion and diverse endogenous and exogenous shocks. Our work provides a richer understanding on comovements in house prices, allowing policy makers to anticipate shocks in global markets in a timely manner.


Private umbilical cord blood banking raises a question of special legal regulation. This practice promises the safe storage of biological material on the assumption that it may be useful, at a certain moment in future, for its own donor (or for a donor's close family member) for curing serious blood diseases. Although currently the therapeutic value of umbilical cord blood is confirmed, there are strong scientific doubts and relevant controversies regarding its use in autologous transplantations. This fact produces conditions of legal uncertainty, since the benefit for those wanting to conclude contracts with private umbilical cord blood banks is not clear. The Greek example illustrates this situation of regulatory deficit well, which eventually creates a major problem, given the increasing number of private banks offering relevant services in the country.


Background—Admixture mapping of lipids was followed-up by family-based association analysis to identify variants for cardiovascular disease in African Americans. Methods and Results—The present study conducted admixture mapping analysis for total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides. The analysis was performed in 1905 unrelated African American subjects from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's Family Blood Pressure Program (FBPP). Regions showing admixture evidence were followed-up with family-based association analysis in 3556 African American subjects from the FBPP. The admixture mapping and family-based association analyses were adjusted for age, age2, sex, body mass index, and genome-wide mean ancestry to minimize the confounding caused by population stratification. Regions that were suggestive of local ancestry association evidence were found on chromosomes 7 (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol), 8 (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol), 14 (triglycerides), and 19 (total cholesterol and triglycerides). In the fine-mapping analysis, 52 939 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were tested and 11 SNPs (8 independent SNPs) showed nominal significant association with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (2 SNPs), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (4 SNPs), and triglycerides (5 SNPs). The family data were used in the fine-mapping to identify SNPs that showed novel associations with lipids and regions, including genes with known associations for cardiovascular disease. Conclusions—This study identified regions on chromosomes 7, 8, 14, and 19 and 11 SNPs from the fine-mapping analysis that were associated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides for further studies of cardiovascular disease in African Americans.


While the current expansion of conservation genetics enables to address more efficiently the management of threatened species, alternative methods for genetic relatedness data analysis in polyploid species are necessary. Within this framework, we present a standardized and simple protocol specifically designed for polyploid species that can facilitate management of genetic diversity, as exemplified by the ex situ conservation program for the tetraploid Adriatic sturgeon Acipenser naccarii. A critically endangered endemic species of the Adriatic Sea tributaries, its persistence is strictly linked to the ex situ conservation of a single captive broodstock currently decimated to about 25 individuals, which represents the last remaining population of Adriatic sturgeon of certain wild origin. The genetic variability of three F1 broodstocks available as future breeders was estimated based on mitochondrial and microsatellite information and compared with the variability of the parental generation. Genetic data showed that the F1 stocks have only retained part of the genetic variation present in the original stock due to the few parent pairs used as founders. This prompts for the urgent improvement of the current F1 stocks by incorporating new founders that better represent the genetic diversity available. Following parental allocation based on band sharing values, we set up a user-friendly tool for selection of candidate breeders according to relatedness between all possible parent-pairs that secures the use of non-related individuals. The approach developed here could also be applied to other endangered tetraploid sturgeon species overexploited for caviar production, particularly in regions lacking proper infrastructure and/or expertise.


Agamic propagation of Opuntia ficus-indica by cladode rooting allows a low rate of plant multiplication as compared with other woody plants. One-year-old cladode fragmentation is a possibility for obtaining many small cuttings having homogenous characteristics. However, some physiological characteristics of these cuttings are not well known, such as the relationship among tissue loss of water, storability, viability and rooting ability. One-year-old cladodes of the cultivar 'Gialla' were taken from plants growing in Sardinia in May. Cladodes were portioned into parallelepipeds of 10-12 cm(3) volume always having at least two bud areolas in one of the bases. Average dry matter concentration of cladodes at the start of the experiment was around 8%. Cuttings were submitted to a drying treatment in a ventilated oven at 35°C for 72, 96 or 120 h. Cutting weight loss was, respectively, 30.7, 34.4 and 35.4% after these treatments. Dried cuttings were tested for rooting ability by deposition over a sandy substrate for 120 days under open-air conditions. In September, variation in fresh weight among the cuttings with respect to initial weight was recorded. Only rooted cuttings previously subjected to 96 h of drying treatment showed an increase in fresh weight, of 6.9%, while cuttings treated for 72 and 120 h, respectively, lost 18.8 and 24.8% of their fresh weight. Rooted cuttings comprised 85.7, 92.6 and 83.9% of all cuttings in the 72, 96 and 120 h treatments, respectively, with two roots per cutting recorded in all treatments. However, the cuttings treated for 96 h showed the highest root dry weight of 1.0 g, root mean length of 17.0 cm, and number of shoots per cutting of 0.45.


Durum wheat (Triticum durum L.) is tetraploid wheat known for its hardness, protein, intense yellow colour, nutty flavour and excellent cooking qualities. The crop was raised at the field of Wheat and Barley Section, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding following Randomized Block Design (RBD) layout with three replications during the rabi season (2014-15).The availability of nutrients from a particular food depends on its chemical composition. 36 durum wheat genotypes were evaluated for micronutrient contents (Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn). Micronutrient concentration varied significantly among different genotypes of wheat grains. Maximum iron content was found in PDW 337 (51.0 μg/g) and minimum of 29.10 μg/g in HI 8749. Zinc content was observed maximum in MACS 3873 (46.93 μg/g) and minimum in 30.30 μg/g in HI 8498. Manganese was found maximum in UAS 448 (38.50 μg/g) and minimum in GW 1299 (22.40 μg/g). Copper was found maximum in PDW 335 (6.28 μg/g) and minimum value was observed in GW 1298 (3.12 μg/g).