Introduction There is no routine screening for antenatal Group B Streptococcus (GBS) carriage in the UK. However where GBS is identified from clinical urine/vaginal samples, peri-partum antimicrobial therapy is advised. The changing pattern of antimicrobial resistance among GBS, particularly for macrolides/lincosamides, has implications for peri-partum antimicrobial for beta-lactam allergic patients. Method We undertook a retrospective observational study at a central London teaching hospital to investigate GBS antimicrobial resistance and peri-partum prescribing between 1st April 2016 and 31st March 2019. Results 939 obstetric patients had GBS identified at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital during the study period. 31% (279(263 resistant and 16 intermediate)/900) were erythromycin resistant and 27% (246/911) clindamycin resistant. 5.6% (51/900) had incongruent erythromycin/clindamycin resistance, presumed erm mediated. 390 women received peri-partum antimicrobials for GBS. The majority of patients received benzylpenicillin therapy (70.2%, 274/390), with cefuroxime (23.1%, 90/390), clindamycin (5.6%,22/390) and teicoplanin (1%,4/390) based therapies also used. 40.9% (9/22) were given clindamycin despite known GBS resistance. Conclusion Our data support the national guidelines, with high erythromycin/clindamycin resistance reported locally. Updated UK guidelines for GBS colonised patients recommend the use of vancomycin for beta-lactam allergic patients. Yet where sensitivities are known, clindamycin may still be used for 70% of beta-lactam allergic patients. Vancomycin, more challenging to administer and monitor, can be reserved for beta-lactam allergic, clindamycin resistant GBS carriers which account for a minority of the population (2.8%). Developing a working pathway implementation is challenging as evident with the inappropriate clindamycin use in 9 patients locally.


The subfamily Sepiolinae (Mollusca: Cephalopoda: Sepiolidae), currently containing the genera Sepiola Leach, 1817, Euprymna Steenstrup, 1887, Inioteuthis Verrill, 1881, Rondeletiola Naef, 1921 and Sepietta Naef, 1912, is characterized by the hectocotylization of the left dorsal arm, i.e., its transformation into a copulatory organ thanks to modifications of sucker/pedicel elements. The hectocotylus morphology varies to a great extent across genera and species. In particular, one to several pedicels in its proximal third lose their sucker and become highly and diversely modified in shape to constitute a copulatory apparatus. An evolutionary gradient was observed in the copulatory apparatus morphology, from the simple modification into a papilla of just one pedicel from the third element of the ventral sucker row (some nominal species of Euprymna ) to a quite complex structure involving several variously modified pedicels from both the ventral and dorsal sucker rows ( Inioteuthis ). In some species, elements in the distal portion of the hectocotylus may also be highly modified, such as the columnar suckers in Euprymna . The hectocotylian diversity allows to distinguish nine groups of species that do not match the current generic subdivision of Sepiolinae. Additional morphological characters (number of sucker rows on arms, female bursa copulatrix, occurrence and shape of visceral light organs, etc.) corroborate the subdivision of Sepiolinae into nine subtaxa, i.e., genera. Accordingly, a cladogram is drawn to describe the possible phylogenetic relationships among the nine clades. To comply with these results, all current genera are redefined and four new genera are described, namely Adinaefiola gen. nov., Boletzkyola gen. nov., Eumandya gen. nov. and Lusepiola gen. nov.


Allopurinol is used as a uricosuric agent and a potential compound for impurity profile study. In the present work, a simple and validated reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method was developed for determination of process impurities and degradation products of allopurinol in bulk drug and pharmaceutical formulations. This method involves the use of the C18 (ODS C18, 250 x 4.6 mm, 5 mm) column. The mobile phase consisted of a mixture of 0.1 M dipotassium phosphate buffer (pH 3.5) and acetonitrile in the ratio of 55:45 v/v. The flow rate was set at 1.5 ml/ min with UV detection at 254 nm. The drug was subjected to different ICH prescribed stress conditions like hydrolysis (acidic, alkaline and neutral medium), oxidation, photolysis, and thermal degradation. The developed method was validated for linearity, accuracy, precision, selectivity and specificity. Accuracy was determined by mixing the allopurinol tablet solution with known impurities. Excellent recoveries of impurities A, B, and C proved that the method was sufficiently accurate. This validated developed method can be conveniently used in the quality control laboratory for routine analysis of the drug and its related substances and for the analysis of stability samples of drug in bulk drug and pharmaceutical formulations.


Cadherins belong to one of the families of animal glycoproteins responsible for calcium-dependent cell-cell adhesion. Recent literatures showed that the cadherin-like in midgut of several insects served as the receptor of Bt toxin Cry1A and the variation of cadherin-like is related to insect's resistance to Cry1A. The full-length cDNA encoding cadherin-like of Helicoverpa armigera is cloned by degenerate PCR and RACE techniques and the gene was designated as BtR-harm, which is 5581 bp in full-length, encoding 1730 amino acid residues (BtR-harm was deposited in GenBank and the accession number is AF519180). Its predicted molecular weight and isoelectric point were 195.39 kDa and 4.23, respectively. The inferred amino acid sequence includes a signal sequence, 11 cadherin repeats, a membrane-proximal region, a transmembrane region and a cytoplasmic region. Sequence analysis indicated that the deduced protein sequence was most similar to the cadherin-like from Heliothis virescens with 84.2% identity and highly similar to three other lepidopteran cadherin from Bombyx mori, Manduca sexta and Pectinophora gossypiella, with the sequence identities of 60.3.6%, 57.5% and 51.0%, respectively. The cDNA encoding cadherin gene was expressed successfully in E. coli and the recombinant proteins can bind with Cry1Ac. Truncation analysis and binding experiment of BtR-harm revealed that the Cry1A binding region was a contiguous 244-amino acid sequence, which located between amino acid 1217 and 1461. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that BtR-harm was highly expressed in midgut of H. armigera, very low expressed in foregut and hindgut and was not expressed in other tissues. After H. armigera producing resistance to Cry1Ac, the expression quantity of BtR-harm significantly decreased in midgut of H. armigera. It is the first confirmation that BtR-harm can function as receptor of Cry1Ac in H. armigera and the binding region was located on a contiguous 244 amino acid sequence, suggesting that the decrease of expression quantity of BtR-harm is one of the main reasons for H. armigera resistance to Cry1Ac.


Despite a century of control and eradication campaigns, malaria remains one of the world's most devastating diseases. Our once-powerful therapeutic weapons are losing the war against the Plasmodium parasite, whose ability to rapidly develop and spread drug resistance hamper past and present malaria-control efforts. Finding new and effective treatments for malaria is now a top global health priority, fuelling an increase in funding and promoting open-source collaborations between researchers and pharmaceutical consortia around the world. The result of this is rapid advances in drug discovery approaches and technologies, with three major methods for antimalarial drug development emerging: (i) chemistry-based, (ii) target-based, and (iii) cell-based. Common to all three of these approaches is the unique ability of structural biology to inform and accelerate drug development. Where possible, SBDD (structure-based drug discovery) is a foundation for antimalarial drug development programmes, and has been invaluable to the development of a number of current pre-clinical and clinical candidates. However, as we expand our understanding of the malarial life cycle and mechanisms of resistance development, SBDD as a field must continue to evolve in order to develop compounds that adhere to the ideal characteristics for novel antimalarial therapeutics and to avoid high attrition rates pre- and post-clinic. In the present review, we aim to examine the contribution that SBDD has made to current antimalarial drug development efforts, covering hit discovery to lead optimization and prevention of parasite resistance. Finally, the potential for structural biology, particularly high-throughput structural genomics programmes, to identify future targets for drug discovery are discussed.


The Roots of Educational Inequality: Germantown High School, 1907 - 2011
Erika M. Kitzmiller
Dr. Michael B. Katz (History)
Dr. Stanton E.F. Wortham (Education)
This study, The Roots of Educational Inequality, examines the political, economic, and social factors that led to the transformation of Germantown High School and its urban community throughout the twentieth century. This longitudinal study, accomplished through a careful analysis of daily events rather than sampling key turning points, maximizes the benefits of a case study approach by connecting local conditions to the larger transformation of urban schools, urban communities, and the social welfare state. Using a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods and source materials, this dissertation links the school's history to the community and city's history to demonstrate how the influx of working class residents, the escalation of residential segregation, and the failures of urban renewal efforts affected the high school.
This dissertation suggests that white flight, alone, did not lead to the school's transformation. Rather the deterioration of this American high school is connected, at least in part, to the dramatic decrease in the levels of private funding that residents contributed to the high school and charitable organizations during the twentieth century. The availability of charitable funding supplemented government aid and enhanced the opportunities and support available to Germantown youth – this ensured the high school's early success and legitimacy. As the demographics of the community changed, this funding dwindled and the infrastructure that had supported the high school and its youth quickly deteriorated. By tracing this history over the course of entire century from the school's glorious promises to its current challenges, this dissertation provides a fresh understanding about the transformation of American public high schools, urban communities, and the social welfare state over the past 100 years.


Bilharzial was experimentally induced in Swiss albino mice in order to study the histopathological changes in the TMJ in case of Bilharzial infection. The bony components of the joint showed massive chronic inflammatory cell infiltration. The articular disk (meniscus) showed thickening and hyperplastic changes with narrowing of the joint space. The articulating surfaces showed erosions and irregularity. It was concluded that Bilharziasis can cause arthropathy of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ).


The customary approach for client-level differentially private federated learning (FL) is to add Gaussian noise to the average of the clipped client updates. Clipping is associated with the following issue: as the client updates fall below the clipping threshold, they get drowned out by the added noise, inhibiting convergence. To mitigate this issue, we propose replacing clipping with normalization, where we use only a scaled version of the unit vector along the client updates. Normalization ensures that the noise does not drown out the client updates even when the original updates are small. We theoretically show that the resulting normalization-based private FL algorithm attains better convergence than its clipping-based counterpart on convex objectives in over-parameterized settings.


Presents results from investigations into the information labour market, library school students′ work preferences and orientations. Also presents the ordinary citizen′s view of librarians and library work. These investigations show that Danish library school students have changed their work aspirations and disclose that the chance of job success is correlated with the chosen specialization at library school. Managers′ and the public′s perception of librarians shows that there are still traditional images to overcome. These investigations give a frame of reference for the discussion of necessary qualifications. The main problem in a modern library school curriculum is the mix of the traditional core disciplines with information technology and marketing subjects. Discusses this in detail, concluding with a list of necessary competences.


In the future, robots are expected to autonomously interact and/or collaborate with humans, who will increase the uncertainty during the execution of tasks, provoking online adaptations of robots' plans. Hence, trustworthy robots must be able to store, retrieve and narrate important knowledge about their collaborations and adaptations. In this article, it is proposed a sound methodology that integrates three main elements. First, an ontology for collaborative robotics and adaptation to model the domain knowledge. Second, an episodic memory for time-indexed knowledge storage and retrieval. Third, a novel algorithm to extract the relevant knowledge and generate textual explanatory narratives. The algorithm produces three different types of outputs, varying the specificity, for diverse uses and preferences. A pilot study was conducted to evaluate the usefulness of the narratives, obtaining promising results. Finally, we discuss how the methodology can be generalized to other ontologies and experiences. This work boosts robot explainability, especially in cases where robots need to narrate the details of their short and long-term past experiences.


An improved and efficient protocol was developed based on the TaKaRa RNAiso Plus Kit (Code: D9108A) for isolating good-quality total RNA from the optic stalk of mud crab, Scylla paramamosain . The protocol was based on the Trizol method with modifications. The carapace overlapping the optic stalk was retained with RNA in regular protocol. In order to remove the abundant deposition correlative with the carapace which makes the isolation of RNA particularly difficult, 5M potassium acetate solution (pH = 6.0) was added before the precipitation of RNA, and the temperature of RNA deposition was also decreased to -70oC to ensure the stabilization of RNA. Good-quality total RNA from the optic stalk of S. paramamosain could be easily isolated with this modified protocol and three conventional methods were also employed to confirm the quality of RNA. This improved method would be helpful in facilitating molecular research of crabs involving RNA from the optic stalk.


Norway has a political goal to minimize the loss of cultural heritage due to removal, destruction or decay. On behalf of the national Directorate for Cultural Heritage, we have developed methods to monitor Cultural Heritage Environments. The complementary set of methods includes (1) landscape mapping through interpretation of aerial photographs, including field control of the map data, (2) qualitative and quantitative initial and repeat landscape photography, (3) field recording of cultural heritage objects including preparatory analysis of public statistical data, and (4) recording of stakeholder attitudes, perceptions and opinions. We applied these methods for the first time to the historical clustered farm settlement of Havrå in Hordaland County, West Norway. The methods are documented in a handbook and can be applied as a toolbox, where different monitoring methods or frequency of repeat recording may be selected, dependent on local situations, e.g., on the landscape character of the area in focus.


Aim: i) To determine tuberculous endometritis as an etiological factor in primary and secondary infertility. ii) To study age incidence and clinical presentation of cases with tuberculous endometritis. Method: Prospective study of 5years was conducted from 2005- 2010, at department of pathology, M R Medical College, Gulbarga, Karnataka. Endometrial curettings received from 230 cases of primary and secondary infertility were included. The diagnosis of endometrial tuberculosis was made on histological grounds with H&E stained slides, Z-N staining for Acid Fast Bacillus (AFB) positivity and culture of AFB on Lowenstein Jensen's medium. Results: Seven cases of tuberculous endometritis were diagnosed from 230 cases presenting with infertility and accounted to 3.9 % of cases. All these patients belong to primary infertility group, with majority in the age group of 17-25 years (71.5 %). Clinically, five cases (71%) presented with history of secondary amenorrhoea and two cases (28%) with irregular menstrual pattern. On histopathology, all cases were diagnosed as tuberculous endometritis, in which five cases showed epithelioid granulomas with Langhan's giant cells and two cases showed caseation only. These 7 cases, when subjected to modified Zeihl Neelsen's stain, two cases (28.5 %) showed AFB positivity and when allowed to culture on Lowenstein Jensen's medium, four cases (57%) were positive. Conclusion: Therefore, clinicians need to have an in depth knowledge of pathology, be aware that isolation of Tuberculosis requires special methods, especially while dealing with patients dwelling in countries with high prevalence of Tuberculosis in infertility and the diagnostic means with which to discover it early and correct therapeutic modalities, to over come.


Abstract. China is undergoing rapid urbanization during the past decades. For example, the proportion of urban population in Beijing has increased from 57.6 % in 1980 to 86.3 % in 2013. Rapid urbanization has an adverse impact on the urban rainfall-runoff processes, which may result in the increase of urban flood risk. In the present study, the major purpose is to investigate the impact of land use/cover change on hydrological processes. The intensive human activities, such as the increase of impervious area, changes of river network morphology, construction of drainage system and water transfer, were considered in this study. Landsat TM images were adopted to monitor urbanization process based on Urban Land-use Index (ULI). The SWMM model considering different urbanized scenarios and anthropogenic disturbance was developed. The measured streamflow data was used for model calibration and validation. Precipitation with different return periods was taken as model input to analyse the changes of flood characteristics under different urbanized scenarios. The results indicated that SWMM provided a good estimation for storms under different urbanized scenarios. The volume of surface runoff after urbanization was 3.5 times greater than that before urbanization; the coefficient of runoff changed from 0.12 to 0.41, and the ratio of infiltration decreased from 88 to 60 %. After urbanization, the time of overland flow concentration increased while the time of river concentration decreased; the peak time did not show much difference in this study. It was found that the peak flow of 20-year return-period after urbanization is greater than that of 100-year return-period before urbanization. The amplification effect of urbanization on flood is significant, resulting in an increase of the flooding risk. These effects are especially noticeable for extreme precipitation. The results in this study will provide technical support for the planning and management of urban storm water and the evaluation on Low Impact Development (LID) measures.


Information literacy programs, and the factors that influence their development and structure, can vary significantly from institution to institution. Credit-bearing discipline-specific information literacy courses are a rare and valuable component of an undergraduate educational experience and form the basis of Augustana's information literacy program. This article provides an overview of the development, implementation, successes, and drawbacks of the credit-bearing discipline-specific information literacy courses at the Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta (Camrose, Alberta, Canada). Additional program components including Augustana's annual information literacy workshop, information literacy awards, information literacy DVD, and marketing/branding, are discussed.


Pharmacologic and psychosocial treatment options for mania have improved substantially as evidenced by the volume of expert opinion, guidelines, meta-analyses and reports from the Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD) study. However, these sources offer little direct evidence from the treatment of older patients. The lack of data is troublesome because bipolar disorder in late life is complicated by both mental and physical comorbid conditions, making both diagnosis and treatment challenging. Given the increase in the aging adult population, the frequency with which primary care physicians (PCPs) encounter late-life mania will increase as well. What follows is a brief review of the character and control of late-life mania as well as expert inferences from the Acute Pharmacotherapy of Late-Life Mania (GERI-BD) and STEP-BD studies.


This article aims to explicate the tensions on issues of gender and sexuality that arise at the intersection of lived reality and the inherited Islamic tradition, primarily regarding but not limited to Islamic law. We do three things in this paper: we first explore the notion of an in-between space that serves as a conduit between an inherited religious tradition and the plethora of lived realities of being Muslim. Second, we provide examples of how Islam as a religious identity and faith and the prescriptions set out in Islamic law operate through this in-between space. Third, based on the above, we conclude that the pedagogy of Islam, gender, and sexuality stands to be enriched if this in-between experiential space is acknowledged as an epistemological portal to Islam.


Hypotheses predicting how cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) would change the daily pattern of mood and sleep in a patient with cyclothymia were formulated based on circadian processes. Using a prospective single-case experimental design, the patient provided mood ratings every 4 hours and sleep reports daily for 49 weeks, including a 4-week baseline, a 20-session CBT intervention, and a follow-up period. Improvements in mood during and after therapy were accounted for by reduced daily mood variability and extended sleep. The patient's energy at different times of day was explained by adjusting the endogenous rhythm in a mathematical circadian model. Treatment of cyclothymia and related bipolar disorders may be enhanced by integrating understanding of circadian mood regulation into CBT treatment.


It has been shown previously that the multiple reference and field signals recorded during a scanning acoustical holography measurement can be used to decompose the sound field radiated by a composite sound source into mutually incoherent partial fields. To obtain physically meaningful partial fields, i.e., fields closely related to particular component sources, the reference microphones should be positioned as close as possible to the component physical sources that together comprise the complete source. However, it is not always possible either to identify the optimal reference microphone locations prior to performing a holographic measurement, or to place reference microphones at those optimal locations, even if known, owing to physical constraints. Here, post-processing procedures are described that make it possible both to identify the optimal reference microphone locations and to place virtual references at those locations after performing a holographic measurement. The optimal reference microphone locations are defined to be those at which the MUSIC power is maximized in a three-dimensional space reconstructed by holographic projection. The acoustic pressure signals at the locations thus identified can then be used as optimal "virtual" reference signals. It is shown through an experiment and numerical simulation that the optimal virtual reference signals can be successfully used to identify physically meaningful partial sound fields, particularly when used in conjunction with partial coherence decomposition procedures.


OBJECTIVES
To describe two cases of malakoplakia of the bladder with an unusual form of presentation and review the cases previously reported in the literature.

METHODS/RESULTS
Two patients, a 61-year-old female and a 71-year-old male, are described. Both patients had a history of recurrent infection caused by coliform pathogens. Treatment consisted of trimethoprim sulfamethoxazole, ascorbic acid and bethanecol chloride, together with extended TUR of the bladder lesion.

CONCLUSIONS
Although malacoplakia of the bladder is considered to be a benign disease, close follow-up is warranted due to frequent recurrence of symptoms and the difficulty in achieving long-lasting effects since it is frequently associated with immunosuppression.


In this paper, we present an elongated speckle images produced from diffusers using sharp elliptical apertures. The orientation of the elliptic aperture is recognized from the direction of the elongation in the speckle images. The aperture tilting out of the plane is investigated. Three models of elliptical apertures are considered and the corresponding speckle images are obtained. The 1st model is composed of two orthogonal ellipses or plus symbol pupil; the 2nd has four symmetric ellipses with an angle of 45° between each of them or in the form of a snow flake pupil and the 3rd model looks like an airplane. Also, the autocorrelation profiles of the speckle images corresponding to the diffused airplane are obtained from which the average speckle size is computed. Finally, the reconstructed images of the described elliptical models and its autocorrelation images, making use of Mat lab code, are obtained.


Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA; previously Wegener granulomatosis) is a rare, multisystem, necrotizing granulomatous vasculitis that classically affects the upper and lower respiratory tracts and kidneys but can have diverse clinical features. The clinical course is often rapidly progressive, and without appropriate treatment is almost universally fatal. Early symptoms are often nonspecific and a high index of suspicion is needed to recognize this serious disease, particularly in the absence of overt pulmonary or renal manifestations. Because initial symptoms can mimic those of infection, patients often present first to the general pediatrician. We present a case of pediatric GPA in a 14-year-old boy who initially presented with constitutional symptoms, sore throat, and hematuria, and then developed grossly necrotic-appearing tonsils before rapid deterioration requiring intensive life-saving measures. We review the common manifestations of GPA, including those that may be unique to the pediatric population, and emphasize the importance of early diagnosis and intervention in preventing devastating outcomes from this disease.


This article re-examines the current financial crisis in the wake of the banking panic of 2008 that erupted in September 2008 and the implosion of financial institutions involving Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, AIG and others associated with the panic. It is argued that the financial crisis entered a second phase or stage with the above implosions, deepening the general credit contraction and propelling in turn the US and global economy toward a new kind of global economic downturn called an 'epic recession'. Epic recession, it is argued, is a hybrid, unstable condition that shares characteristics of both traditional recessions and classic global depression. In addition to being more resistant to traditional fiscal-monetary control measures, it is characterized by spreading deflation (from asset values to product, commodity and wages), by growing global currency instability, and by the growing synchronization of real economic decline across global economic sectors. The article notes that the current state of the crisis, and the banking panic of 2008, is similar in a number of ways to the period of 1930–1931 in the US rather than to lesser financial instability events since the 1980s. The article critically examines the dominant strategy employed to date by the US Treasury and US Federal Reserve—a liquidity strategy—and argues that such strategy has been, and will continue to be, a total failure despite a commitment by both agencies to now provide $4 trillion to the banking system. The strategy has failed, it is maintained, because the financial crisis is a solvency crisis and not a liquidity crisis. The article traces the failures of the Treasury and Federal Reserve in detail since the onset of the crisis in late summer 2007. It then explains that the root causes of the crisis originate neither in financial deregulation nor in loose central bank monetary policy, both of which are but enablers of the crisis. Rather the true causes reside in the changing institutional nature of finance capital itself in the late 20th century and in the increasing relative shift of capital to speculative forms of investment at the expense of non-speculative capital accumulation. This growing speculative investment shift is reflected in the massive $38 trillion debt run-up in the US in recent decades, in the current accelerating deflationary unwinding of that debt, and in the credit contraction and epic recession of historic dimensions that the speculative debt-unwinding is now provoking. The nature of speculative finance in the early 21st century is then considered, as well as the relationship between speculative finance and epic recession. These investigations are a prelude to subsequent theoretical work, aimed at integrating a deeper understanding of speculative investment and the new finance capital with Marxist crisis theory based on disproportionality analyses.


Many organizations are considering to change their functional size measurement method from FPA to COSMIC, mainly because of the fact that more and more projects become 'less sizeable' with FPA. A lot of them refrain from doing so, because they fear to loose their experience base based on function points. This paper presents a framework to successfully transform a functional size measurement method from FPA to COSMIC. The purpose of this paper is to offer some guidance to make it easier for organizations to transfer to COSMIC, while keeping the experience data that has been gathered with FPA. It continues on earlier work of Vogelezang and Lesterhuis (2003) and Desharnais, Abran & Cuadrado (2006). For this paper, 26 projects have been sized with both methods. An analysis will be presented to see if there are differences between measurements carried out in COSMIC and FPA. Furthermore, an analysis will be presented about the outliers (the data points that do not correlate with the regression formula).


This project investigates the fuel synthesis from syngas using
hydrotalcite derived catalyst. The focus of this research is syngas conversion
into methanol as an alternative source of fuel. Hydrotalcite derived catalyst
was used as it is flexible to reform its structure and have been demonstrated its
best performances as catalyst. The range of hydrotalcite derived catalyst will
be prepared via co-precipitation method with the aid of metal precursors of
nickel, zinc with alumina as support. Hydrotalcite derived catalyst of Ni-Al,
Zn-Al and Ni-Zn-Al will be tested throughout this study. The physicochemical
and catalytic properties of catalysts was studied usingRAMAN Spectroscopy
method, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method and Field Emission Scanning
Electron Microscopy (FESEM). Catalytic performance of synthesized catalyst
was tested using a hydrocarbon cracking reactor to synthesize syngas into
methanol. The desired temperature and pressure for this project was fixed at
200℃ and 2 bar respectively. From the overall catalytic reaction, it proves that
Zn-Ni-Al has the highest yield of methanol production compared to 2 other
bimetallic catalysts. Thecomposition of feed gas used was CO/H2/N2used was
35/45/20.


In this brief, a quasi-rail-to-rail low-voltage operational amplifier (VDD-VSS-VDSATP-VDSATN ) is introduced. A common-mode adapter that uses the common-mode voltage present at the common-source node of the available differential pair to accommodate the large common-mode input signal is proposed. The common-mode adapter operates properly at 300 kHz while driving a load capacitor of 15 pF and employs only 95 muW of static power. The amplifier was fabricated in a standard AMI 0.5-mum CMOS process (Vtn=0.7 V and Vtp=-0.9 V) and achieves an IM3 of - 48 dB at 300 kHz for a two-tone input signal of 0.8 Vpk-pk. A 1-V total supply voltage was used


The way faults control upward fluid flow in extensive hydrothermal systems without an abnormal heat source such as volcanic or plutonic activity is still unclear. In the Eastern Pyrenees, an alignment of 29 hot springs (from 29 • C to 73 • C) along the Tet normal Fault offers the opportunity to study this process. Using an integrated multi-scale geological approach including mapping, remote sensing, macro and microscopic analyses of fault zones, we show that hot springs locate close to high topographic reliefs related to fault throw and segmentation. Emergences are always in crystalline rocks at gneiss-metasediments contacts, mostly in the Tet Fault footwall. In more details, they localize either (1) in brittle fault damage zones at the intersection between the Tet Fault and subsidiary faults, and (2) into hercynian ductile faults where dissolution cavities run along shear zones. Using these observations and 2D preliminary numerical simulations, we propose a hydrogeological model of upward hydrothermal flow. Meteoric fluids infiltrate at high altitude in the fault footwall relief where they acquire temperature because of the geothermal gradient. Hydraulic gradient and buoyancy forces allow them to upflow along fault-related permeability anisotropies. The identification and prioritization of the features controlling this kind of system have important implications for geothermal exploration and for the understanding of fluid-flow into the brittle Earth's crust in general.


This thesis combines an epistemological concern about induction with a computational exploration of inductive mechanisms. It aims to investigate how inductive performance could be improved by using induction to select appropriate generalisation procedures. The thesis revolves around a meta-learning system, called The Entrencher, designed to investigate how inductive performances could be improved by using induction to select appropriate generalisation procedures. The performance of The Entrencher is discussed against the background of epistemological issues concerning induction, such as the role of theoretical vocabularies and the value of simplicity. After an introduction about machine learning and epistemological concerns with induction, Part I looks at learning mechanisms. It reviews some concepts and issues in machine learning and presents The Entrencher. The system is the rst attempt to develop a learning system that induces over learning mechanisms through algorithmic representations of tasks. Part II deals with the need for theoretical terms in induction. Experiments where The Entrencher selects between di erent strategies for representation change are reported. The system is compared to other methods and some conclusions are drawn concerning how best to use the system. Part III considers the connection between simplicity and inductive success. Arguments for Occam's razor are considered and experiments are reported where The Entrencher is used to select when, how and how much a decision tree needs to be pruned. Part IV looks at some philosophical consequences of the picture of induction that emerges from the experiments with The Entrencher and goes over the motivations for meta-learning. Based on the picture of induction that emerges in the thesis, a new position in the scienti c realism debate, transcendental surrealism, is proposed and defended. The thesis closes with some considerations concerning induction, justi cation and epistemological naturalism. Submitted for the degree of D.Phil. University of Sussex


Haemostatic involvement in the pathophysiology of renal disease has been evaluated kinetically. Renal microvascular platelet destruction is characteristic of several different pathologic processes in which there is damage to intrarenal endothelial cells. The hemostatic abnormalities may be partly modifiable by drugs which inhibit platelet function, rather than by anticoagulant, but there is as yet no evidence that interruption of platelet consumption will cause improvement in renal function.


The purpose of this mixed-method study was to examine how participation in a senior's technology training program influences the social environments and active ageing of older New Yorkers. Findings demonstrate increased and sustained use, improved ability and confidence with computer and Internet technology, and a substantial and positive effect on social connectedness, access to information, and social and civic participation among participants. Authors conclude with a discussion of how comprehensive, community-based ICT training programs (such as OATS) can support the ongoing engagement and re-engagement of older adults within society by building, maintaining and restoring their place within their various communities.


: Review researches on a problem of muscular dystonia mechanisms formation on an example of a writer's cramp (WC) was presented. WC is a movement disorder, task-specific dystonia, characterised by involuntary excessive muscle contractions producing abnormal postures during selective motor activities that often involve highly skilled, repetitive movements. The precise pathophysiology remains unclear, increasing evidence suggests reduced inhibition at different levels of the sensorimotor system. There has also been a greater understanding of the causes ofdystonic movements, from the study of genetics, neurophysiology (TMS, EMP), and functional imaging (fMRI, PET). Last investigation of hand motor skill by a method of the three-dimensional kinematics analysis has shown that at WC there is an inconsistency of processes of planning of movement.


In this opportunity writer desirous of to solving problems students violence crime which happened in territory of jurisdiction Pengadilan Negeri Malang. Subject on which here that a writer perceive is how verification section materials which assertion public prosecutor by judge in criminal case no: 73/Pid.B/2009/PN.Malang ? and, how juris analysed to criminal case 73/Pid.B/2009/PN.Malang ?.
Writer using approach yuridis normatif meant from bundle criminal case the writer compare which rules and regulation, so that we know whether the bundle has according to which in order by the KUHAP. Technique law materials gathering in the form of study bibliography that is writing which base at data which make research object and will analysed as analyse deskriptif.
Pursuant to result and analyse getting some matter which related with which this topic, that is material section verification which judge decision according to section 170 article 1 KUHP about act of violence crime. Subjective materials who is fullfiled, in view of assertion letter which mentioning defendant identity in complete and correctness also pursuant to fact in court had proven defendant can responsibility all deed. Objective materials defendant assuming as violence criminal, according to juris analysed writer, verification as materiil that is applying section materials which asserting public prosecutor and as formil which whether criminal act which assertion public prosecutor fullfiled qualification section 183 jo 184 KUHP, according to writer judge had proved existence crime act violence crime and proved that the materials which asserting had precise.
Judge decision which expressed defendant jail punished during five (5) month, according to writer better the defendant didn't give crime penalization in jail ought to the punishing change to with criminal sanction attempt, because the punishment have according to his situation and physicological defendant and also punishment form crime attempt having the character of positive and giving change the student for selfimprovement and countinuing education or studied until much more higher.


Observations were made on the spontaneous motility in vitro of entire adult worms and segments of Onchocerca volvulus, Brugia pahangi and Acanthocheilonema viteae. Segment motility was recorded in a mechano-transducer apparatus and responses of worm tissues to anthelmintics and other pharmacological agents were compared. Entire adult female O. volvulus showed varied patterns of motor activity, ranging from continuous low level whole body motion to periodic spasmodic contractions interspersed between intervals of quiescence lasting from a few to 30 seconds. The same range characterized movements of 1.5-4 cm segments cut from worms liberated from collagenase digested nodules. However, fresh segments dissected directly from surgical specimens were completely inactive due to the paralyzing effect of xylocaine, used as local anesthetic. This effect wore off in 2-5 hours in vitro, and recovered segments behaved in the same way as those from enzymatically liberated worms. Segments of B. pahangi and A. viteae also showed motor activity patterns which reflected those of whole adults. Segments of O. volvulus behaved reproducibly, whether examined in the field in endemic areas, or after transport of nodules or freed worms to Michigan from Guatemala or Sudan. Segments of all worms were unresponsive to most anthelmintics, but O. volvulus was susceptible to paralysis by CGP 6140, levamisole, pyrantel and carbachol at concentrations of ten to a thousand times lower than those required to produce any influence on B. pahangi. Segments of A. viteae more closely resembled O. volvulus in their dose responses to these drugs, although CGP 6140 was without effect.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Newly arisen adaptive alleles such as insecticide resistance genes represent a good opportunity to investigate the theories put forth to explain the molecular basis of dominance and its possible evolution. Dominance levels of insecticide resistance conferred by insensitive alleles of the acetylcholinesterase gene were analyzed in five resistant strains of the mosquito Culex pipiens. Dominance levels were found to differ between strains, varying from partial recessivity to complete dominance. This variation was not explained by differences in catalytic properties of the enzyme, since four of the five resistant strains had identical inhibition properties for the insensitive acetylcholinesterase. Among these four laboratory strains and in individuals collected from natural populations, we found a correlation between increased acetylcholinesterase activities and higher dominance levels. We propose a molecular explanation for how variation in acetylcholinesterase activity may result in variation of dominance level. We also conjecture that the four resistant strains did not differ in their amino acid sequence in the catalytically active regions of acetylcholinesterase, but that the expression of the gene was regulated by either neighboring or distant sites, thereby modifying the dominance level. Under this interpretation, dominance levels may evolve in this system, since heritable variation in acetylcholinesterase activity was found.


&NA; Vitamin D is a hormone responsible for calcium homeostasis and essential for bone mineralization throughout the lifespan. Recent studies revealed a high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D among healthy adults and children, especially in the northern hemisphere, and a link between this condition and suboptimal bone health. Moreover, maintenance of what are today considered optimal vitamin D stores has not been achieved throughout the year with currently recommended daily intake for vitamin D. The prevalence of hypovitaminosis D is even higher among adults with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a situation that may be caused by malabsorption and gastrointestinal losses through an inflamed intestine, among other factors. In children with IBD, existing reports of vitamin D status are scarce. The relationship between vitamin D status and bone health, although well‐established in healthy adults and children, has been controversial among adults and children with IBD, and the reasons for this have not been investigated to date. Studies in animal models of colitis and in vitro human studies support a role of vitamin D in the regulation of the immune system of the gut and the potential of vitamin D and its derivatives as therapeutic adjuncts in the treatment of IBD. This role of vitamin D has not been investigated with translational studies to date. Currently, there are no guidelines for monitoring vitamin D status, treating hypovitaminosis D, and maintaining optimal vitamin D stores in patients with IBD. These tasks may prove particularly difficult because of malabsorption and gastrointestinal losses that are associated with IBD.


The controversy over "targeted" versus "universalistic" programs for HIV prevention has persisted throughout the history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States and in some European countries. Building on previous analyses, we outline methods for integrating universalistic and targeted HIV prevention programming. The outline considers possible synergy between targeted and universalistic programs, rather than a forced choice between the two. Components within this framework include a continuum of the intensity of targeted programs, specification of local risk behavior populations, categories of risk behavior, and HIV seroprevalence within local risk-behavior populations. Given the scarce resources currently available, preventing all new HIV infections is not a realistic public health goal, but with better use of current scientific knowledge, it should be possible to greatly reduce the rate of new HIV infections.


Summary On 26th December 2003, a severe earthquake hit the city of Bam in Kerman province, southern Iran. It destroyed around 90% of houses and at least 60% of the public buildings, and claimed the lives of more than 20,000 persons. To investigate whether acute stress caused by the Bam earthquake could alter the sex ratio at birth (SRB) 6–12 months later, the present study was done. The number of live births by sex was obtained from the National Organization for Civil Registration (Kerman province). The SRB was expressed as the male proportion. A prominent decline in the SRB (̃0·467) 11 months after the earthquake was observed (χ2=6·68, df=1, p=0·009). There was no significant difference between Bam and Kerman province (excluding Bam) for SRB (χ2=0·44, df=1, p=0·51) for a period of 33 month before the earthquake (from April 2001 to December 2003). It might be concluded that psychological tensions and stress are associated with a decrease in SRB.


Experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of ambient mercury (Hg2+) on gill Na+-K+-ATPase, Ca2+-Mg2+-ATPase activities, and gill microstructure of juvenile Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis. Crabs were exposed to ambient 0.00, 0.01, 0.05, 0.10, 0.20 and 0.30 mg/l Hg2+, and sampled on the days of 1, 7, 14 and 30 respectively. The results showed that both ambient Hg2+ concentrations and exposure time had significant effects on both gill Na+-K+-ATPase and Ca2+-Mg2+-ATPase activities of E. sinensis, which showed the tendency to decrease with ambient mercury concentration increasing and exposure time prolonging. While for crabs exposed to 0.01 mg/l Hg2+, no significant difference was observed when compared with the control. Significant interaction between ambient Hg2+ and exposure time on these two ATPases activities was also observed with the lowest values found in crabs exposed to 0.30 mg/l Hg2+ for 30 days. The anterior gill microstructure analysis of E. sinensis exposed to different ambient Hg2+ for 30 days showed that mercury could alter the gill microstructures of E. sinensis. However, there was no significantly structure change appeared in crabs exposed to 0.01 mg/l Hg2+. Combined, these results indicated that though ambient Hg2+ could lead to significant decrease of both gill Na+-K+-ATPase and Ca2+-Mg2+-ATPase activities, and could destroy the gill microstructures, the crab of E. sinensis could acclimate to low Hg2+ contamination less than 0.01mg/l.


The concern about thermal performance of microelectronics is on the increase due to recent over-heating induced failures which have led to product recalls. Removal of excess heat from microelectronic systems with the use of heat sinks could improve thermal efficiency of the system. This paper investigates the effect of change in heat sink geometry on thermal performance of aluminium and copper heat sinks in microelectronics. Numerical studies on thermal conduction through an electronic package comprising a heat sink, chip, and thermal interface material were carried out. The thickness of the heat sink base and the height of the heat sink fins were varied in the study. The minimum and maximum temperatures of aluminium and copper heat sinks in the two models were investigated using steady state thermal conduction analysis. Better heat dissipation occurred in thinner base thickness and extended fins height for both aluminium and copper heat sinks. Aluminium heat sink recorded the lowest minimum temperatures in both investigations and is recommended as optimal thermal management material for heat sink production.


Genetic variation of quantitative traits is a prevalent characteristic among cultivated tomato varieties. Twenty tomato genotypes comprising indigenous varieties and commercial cultivars, cultured in the Western Region of Cameroon were evaluated using fourteen quantitative traits for disease resistance, phenotypic divergence and heritability estimates. The experiment was carried out using a randomized completed blocks design with three replications. Data collections were disease characteristics, plant development features and yield attributes. The analysis of variance revealed significant variation among genotypes for all the experimental quantitative traits. Hybrid varieties had significantly more fruit yield (1066.00 g/plant), single fruit weight (57.28 g), fruit diameter (4.47 cm) and pericarp thickness (0.54 cm) compared to standard and indigenous varieties. These indigenous varieties were significantly more resistant to late blight, alternaria leaf spot and viral diseases. They also had significantly higher collar diameter (16.30 mm), number of primary branches per plant (8.45), number of fruit per plant (31.58) and plant height (88.33 cm) compared to standard and hybrid plants. The genotype local 2 was the third most productive (1576.39 g / plant) after Rio Semagri (1984.80 g/plant) and Sakato F1 (1691.69 g/plant). Heritability and genetic advance estimates were high for twelve of the fourteen studied quantitative traits. Fruit yield showed significant positive correlations with single fruit weight and number of fruit per plant. However, significant negative correlation was found between fruit yield and time to 50 % flowering, 50 % fruiting, 50 % maturity and viral disease. The first three and the first four components in the principal component analysis explained, respectively, 77.85 % and 88.38 % of the total variation observed among genotypes. The first component determined 41.42 % of the total variation, dominated by the collar diameter, the number of primary branches per plant and plant height. This study clearly indicated that indigenous varieties are the most disease resistant genotypes and are having substantial fruit yield (945.30 g/plant) similar to standard varieties and at a touching distance to hybrid cultivars.


The US T(2b) study of 3 months of neoadjuvant hormonal therapy (NHT) showed a reduction in the likelihood of positive margins from 48% (control group) to 18% in the treated patients. Follow-up at 42 months shows that the cumulative relapse rate (prostate specific antigen) for 129 patients having NHT was not statistically different from that of the 126 control patients. Because the T(2b) study has been criticized for lacking central pathology review, we present a review of a series involving only one surgeon (MS) and one pathologist (FC) of NHT plus prostatectomy (109 patients) v prostatectomy alone (145 patients) with 24 months' follow-up. Positive margins were decreased from 38% in the untreated to 28% in the treated group, the only statistically significant difference in the results. Biochemical recurrence (PSA >0.2 ng/mL) was higher in the treated group, reflecting selection of more aggressive tumors for NHT, but the difference was not statistically significantly. The incidence of extracapsular extension, seminal vesicle invasion, and lymph node metastasis was similar in the two groups. The largest nonrandomized experience with NHT shows a decrease in the incidence of positive surgical margins when used in high-risk patients with clinically localized carcinoma of the prostate. However, it does not have an impact on disease-free survival at a mean 24-month follow-up.


Abstract. The stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen, 18O and 2H, provide
information on water flow pathways and hydrologic catchment functioning.
Here a data set of time series data on precipitation and streamflow isotope
composition in medium-sized Swiss catchments, CH-IRP, is presented that is
unique in terms of its long-term multi-catchment coverage along an alpine to
pre-alpine gradient. The data set comprises fortnightly time series of both
δ2H and δ18O as well as deuterium excess from
streamflow for 23 sites in Switzerland, together with summary statistics of
the sampling at each station. Furthermore, time series of δ18O
and δ2H in precipitation are provided for each catchment
derived from interpolated data sets from the ISOT, GNIP and ANIP networks.
For each station we compiled relevant metadata describing both the sampling
conditions and catchment characteristics and climate information. Lab
standards and errors are provided, and potentially problematic measurements
are indicated to help the user decide on the applicability for individual
study purposes. For the future, the measurements are planned to be
continued at 14 stations as a long-term isotopic measurement network, and the
CH-IRP data set will, thus, continuously be extended. The data set can be
downloaded from data repository Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4057967 (Staudinger et al., 2020).


A general formula for plastic collapse load of elliptical heads under internal pressure is useful in plastic collapse design and integrity assessment of pressure vessels. Plastic collapse load of steel elliptical heads with different shapes and thickness was computed by finite element analysis using elastic-perfectly plastic constitutive model, and a formula with maximum relative error less than 6% was derived from the numerical results. The formula is a function of the yield strength of materials, the ratio of major axis Di to minor axis 2hi and that of outer diameter Do to inner diameter Di, and is applicable to steel elliptical heads with Di/2hi within 1–2.6 and Do/Di within 1.001–1.300.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


The reactive oxygen species (ROS) superoxide has been implicated in both beneficial and detrimental processes in coral biology, ranging from pathogenic disease resistance to coral bleaching. Despite the critical role of ROS in coral health, there is a distinct lack of ROS measurements and thus an incomplete understanding of underpinning ROS sources and production mechanisms within coral systems. Here, we quantified in situ extracellular superoxide concentrations at the surfaces of aquaria-hosted Porites astreoides during a diel cycle. High concentrations of superoxide (~10's of nM) were present at coral surfaces, and these levels did not change significantly as a function of time of day. These results indicate that the coral holobiont produces extracellular superoxide in the dark, independent of photosynthesis. As a short-lived anion at physiological pH, superoxide has a limited ability to cross intact biological membranes. Further, removing surface mucus layers from the P. astreoides colonies did not impact external superoxide concentrations. We therefore attribute external superoxide derived from the coral holobiont under these conditions to the activity of the coral host epithelium, rather than mucus-derived epibionts or internal sources such as endosymbionts (e.g., Symbiodinium). However, endosymbionts likely contribute to internal ROS levels via extracellular superoxide production. Indeed, common coral symbionts, including multiple strains of Symbiodinium (clades A to D) and the bacterium Endozoicomonas montiporae LMG 24815, produced extracellular superoxide in the dark and at low light levels. Further, representative P. astreoides symbionts, Symbiodinium CCMP2456 (clade A) and E. montiporae, produced similar concentrations of superoxide alone and in combination with each other, in the dark and low light, and regardless of time of day. Overall, these results indicate that healthy, non-stressed P. astreoides and representative symbionts produce superoxide externally, which is decoupled from photosynthetic activity and circadian control. Corals may therefore produce extracellular superoxide constitutively, highlighting an unclear yet potentially beneficial role for superoxide in coral physiology and health.


Temperamental variation in infancy was the starting point for this longitudinal study of twins followed from birth to adulthood. The influence of early individuality on later development was a research question in the follow-ups, and by choosing twins as a group, it was possible to uncover the effect of environmental and genetic factors at the different ages. Developmental psychopathology turned out to be a relevant framework, where mental health and well-being are seen as the result of a continuous transaction between geneticallybased individuality and a changing and varying environment (Maughan & Rutter, 2008). The twin method was an adequate tool to gain a better understanding of these processes. The overall clear message from the study is that whereas heritability of temperament can be seen from infancy on, environmental factors are of crucial importance for an understanding of mental development and health, but the effect of environmental factors probably varies a great deal in dependency upon the genetic disposition of the person.


Due to developments in information communication technologies (ICT), globalization, and increase competition, Information Systems / Information Technology (IS/IT) outsourcing has become a pressing need for many organizations across the world. The process involves service provider and service receiver organizations. A study has been undertaken to examine the issues associated with the process of IS/IT outsourcing from the perspective of both the parties (service provider and services receivers) in the dynamic business environment. Issues have been brought up from the literature and factors have been identified from the state-of-art practice of IS/IT outsourcing. Empirical studies have revealed that there are some significant differences between IS/IT Outsourcing and non-IS/IT outsourcing, even the rationales in decision making are altogether different (Thai and Kim, 1998), (Useem and Harder, 2000). Due to renewed interest in IS/IT outsourcing by leading multinationals for a variety of reasons including cost cutting to gain competitive advantage, the firms participated in the study, showed interest in the outlining the issues which they found most relevant in their respective business contexts. Research issues have been explored take into account perspective of outsourcer as well as of the clients. Therefore, an attempt has been made to establish the relationship of the various factors involved in the process.


The report documents a consultancy undertaken for Traidcraft, UK focused on one of their long-standing suppliers St. Mary's Mahila Shikshan Kendra (SMSK), Ahmedabad in the provision of training in design innovation, to both consolidate and sustain their existing creative practice in embroidered products and to support and facilitate the progressive development of design expertise at SMSK. Traidcraft is the UK's leading Fairtrade organisation and has had a valued relationship with SMSK that stretches back over thirty years and accounts for 11% of SMSK turnover. A lack design and product innovation expertise and products that are not responsive to rapidly-changing market trends places 'remote' suppliers like SMSK at a disadvantage in the volatile conditions of today's globalised market. In examining the needs of SMSK, the project served to illuminate the challenges of co-collaboration between designer, supplier and a Fair Trade organization, exploring particular characteristics of their market that distinguish it from the mainstream commercial marketplace and issues in respect of consumer perceptions of 'value for money' in the purchase of a handcrafted product. The intervention focused on developing the design skills of SMSK's in-house self taught 'designer', facilitating his understanding of design methods as a means to evolve, innovate and enhance the product range, creating new styles and 'added value' without losing the key characteristics of fine embroidery skills and attention to quality control reflected in SMSK's products. The advisory report frames the staged objectives informed by evaluation of existing skills-base, products and market penetration, examining the project methodology and activities undertaken to realize the objectives of project, namely to encourage strengthening and capacity-building of design expertise within the supplier group and puts forward recommendations for further interventions within the supplier group and the transferability of the pilot model to other groups within Traidcraft's supplier network.


Large Pre-trained Language Models (PLMs) have become ubiquitous in the development of language understanding technology and lie at the heart of many artificial intelligence advances. While advances reported for English using PLMs are unprecedented, reported advances using PLMs in Hebrew are few and far between. The problem is twofold. First, Hebrew resources available for training NLP models are not at the same order of magnitude as their English counterparts. Second, there are no accepted tasks and benchmarks to evaluate the progress of Hebrew PLMs on. In this work we aim to remedy both aspects. First, we present AlephBERT, a large pre-trained language model for Modern Hebrew, which is trained on larger vocabulary and a larger dataset than any Hebrew PLM before. Second, using AlephBERT we present new state-of-the-art results on multiple Hebrew tasks and benchmarks, including: Segmentation, Part-of-Speech Tagging, full Morphological Tagging, Named-Entity Recognition and Sentiment Analysis. We make our AlephBERT model publicly available, providing a single point of entry for the development of Hebrew NLP applications.


Award Autogenerated Code 10067-SF Region Africa, Sub-Saharan Country South Africa Number of Grants Approximately 10 Researcher Monthly Stipend and Allowances $5,920-$6,620 Teaching or Teaching/Research Award (Assistant Professor or Below) Monthly Stipend and Allowances $6,690-$7,390 Teaching or Teaching/Research Award (Associate or Full Professor) Monthly Stipend and Allowances $6,910-$7,610 Estimated Travel and Relocation Allowance


Granular matter usually displays frozen, jamming and fluidized states when submitted to an external vibration with increasing intensity. The dissipation properties of granular systems with three different millimeter-size glass grains (0.1, 0.5 and 1.9 mm) have been investigated by a modified lowfrequency inverted torsion pendulum under a shear strain and an external pressure. With increasing the immersed depth of the oscillating probe, all the systems show the frozen, jamming and fluidized behaviors. Furthermore, the critical depth at which the transition occurs increases with increasing grain size, but decreases with the application of pressure. A qualitative explanation is tentatively proposed to understand the underlying mechanism of complex viscoelastic properties of the glass particle systems.


Abstract Background People with an intellectual disability are a vulnerable group during COVID-19 due to multi-morbidity, frailty, underlying conditions/health problems, social circumstances and limitations in understanding. This places them at greater risk of more severe outcomes from COVID-19. Objective To chart the evidence of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with intellectual disability and their carers reported in the research. Methods A scoping review method was used to review literature published across eight databases in 2020 and included manual searches of reference lists of included articles. Results Sixteen studies were selected for inclusion. The findings highlight that professionals, people with intellectual disability and their carers were keen to comply with pandemic related public health guidance. However, implementing infection prevention and control measures in certain contexts for people with intellectual disability was challenging. Thereby a rights-based, person-centred approach to care is essential and professionals need to extend their understanding and practice of collaborative working to include people with intellectual disability and their family/carers. The findings highlight that compliance with public health guidance and infection control measures can be difficult for people with intellectual disability to implement. Conclusions There is limited good quality robust research on COVID-19 and people with intellectual disability and/or their carers experiences.


The thoracic traumas represent 20-25% of the death cases, due to trauma and contribute to 25-50% of the remaining death cases (1). This is why, chest traumas are a factor contributing in up to 75% of all the death cases from trauma. The diagnostic assessment of the traumatic injuries is the main factor substantiating the need of the relevant method for treatment. An open operating intervention is made for a selected group of patients. The clinical picture in cardiac trauma varies significantly from clinically symptom-free, transitional arrhythmias to lethal rupture of the wall. More serious injuries may result in hemorrhagic shock, pericardial tamponade or death. The focused evaluation with sonography for trauma (FAST) provides possibility for easy, fast and non-invasive evaluation of the cardiac trauma (2). The cardiac trauma, in particular the penetrating injury of the heart still bears very high mortality, but for sure it is not deemed as fatal any longer, and the attempt at treatment is now a standard for care in patients with signs of life at arrival in hospital (3,4).


Geometries of the gaze in the Calabrian landscapeHaving lost their function of sighting as an instrument of strategic control, inclusion and protection from presumed pirate invasions, the coastal towers of Calabria Ultra, represented in the Diary of Wonders of the end of the sixteenth century, called Codice Romano Carratelli, will act as the key and device of the gaze that links the land to the expanse of water. A vast geometric, precise and linear system that will connect, through the gaze, the "terracqueo landscape", unstable and multiform, continuously changing. The ninety-nine watercolour maps of the Codice are an immense heritage of clues, traces, geometries and measurements on which to think in order to bring to the surface of the earth, military tactics that have become latent in history as a palimpsest. The use of ancient and modern techniques of survey and graphic representation, want to accompany the contemporary traveler to turn his gaze towards new strategies of "reception", rather than aversion of a silent landscape, where merge and mix. The "stratigraphies of the gaze" are sections perpendicular to the "horizontal plane" of a "living" landscape from which routes, artefacts, signs, traces, fragments of history can be distilled for a widespread cultural regeneration of the territory. The experimental character of this research, recounted in these pages, lies in the application of an innovative strategy of communication and information, based on the creation of cultural routes structured in museums, widespread or located on the coastal landscape of Calabria.


It is obviously possible to argue that education is always an arm of social policy. However, there are just as surely degrees of directness between the agendas of noneducational authorities and what happens in school and university classrooms. This article considers what appears to be a direct example of a particular public policy agenda, the so-called "war on obesity," translated into curriculum. My intention is to rouse the field from its slumber and to ask whether we are content for others to decide what and how we will teach health and physical education in schools and universities. I do this by examining a specific example of health and physical education curriculum. However, this is not a call for resistance to the intrusion of outsiders; we always need to listen to others. My question is whether the voice of physical educators matters at all when it comes to the practice of physical education.


In Serbia, there is a specific organizational framework for disseminating S&T information. The central position in the system is given to SCIndeks, the national citation index. SCIndeks is supported by OAI PMH and Dublin Core to ensure its Internet-wide interoperability. Recently, SCIndeks was integrated with a newly established national journals repository, making the repository interoperable in an alternative, indirect way, dissimilar to the way generally recommended within OR community.


Substantial numbers of people carry out intimate relationships at a distance. These people have to utilise a variety of communication technologies in order to maintain their relationship. Although a number of communication technologies have been developed to help maintain an emotional connection between remote couples, there has been no comprehensive consideration of the design space that these technologies are developed within. We present here a proposed design framework for intimate communication devices. The intention is to highlight the decisions designers have to make when coming up with new communication systems and provide a more formalised system for considering the issues involved.


Monoallelic gene expression is typically initiated early in the development of an organism. Dysregulation of monoallelic gene expression has already been linked to several non-Mendelian inherited genetic disorders. In humans, DNA-methylation is deemed to be an important regulator of monoallelic gene expression, but only few examples are known. One important reason is that current, cost-affordable truly genome-wide methods to assess DNA-methylation are based on sequencing post enrichment. Here, we present a new methodology that combines methylomic data from MethylCap-seq with associated SNP profiles to identify monoallelically methylated loci. Using the Hardy-Weinberg theorem for each SNP locus, it could be established whether the observed frequency of samples featured by biallelic methylation was lower than randomly expected. Applied on 334 MethylCap-seq samples of very diverse origin, this resulted in the identification of 80 genomic regions featured by monoallelic DNA-methylation. Of these 80 loci, 49 are located in genic regions of which 25 have already been linked to imprinting. Further analysis revealed statistically significant enrichment of these loci in promoter regions, further establishing the relevance and usefulness of the method. Additional validation of the found loci was done using 14 whole-genome bisulfite sequencing data sets. Importantly, the developed approach can be easily applied to other enrichment-based sequencing technologies, such as the ChIP-seq-based identification of monoallelic histone modifications.


Summary: This article analyzes the successes and failures of regional cooperation in the Western Balkans through the prism of two policy areas: trade policy and employment policy. It investigates the role of the Stability Pact as a policy broker in mediating the policy conflicts between various national and transnational advocacy coalitions in these two areas. It concludes that regional cooperation in the field of trade policy has been less contested than in the field of employment policy. However, there have been failures in each policy area. Regional cooperation in trade policy while ostensibly successful has threatened to widen economic gaps between countries in the region. Regional cooperation in employment policy has been contested and although levels of employment protection have been reduced, expenditure of active employment policies remains low and unemployment rates remain high especially in the less developed countries in the region.


Mercury and its compounds have a wide spectrum of toxicities depending upon the chemical forms and modes of exposure. Among the various chemical forms, mercury vapor and methylmercury are well known and established as neurotoxic agents. Since the disasters in Minamata and Iraq, in which fetuses were more susceptible than adults to methylmercury exposure, much attention has been focused on prenatal exposure to mercury and its consequence. Recently postnatal effects of in utero exposure to methylmercury through fish (and marine mammals) consumption by mothers have been concerned and several epidemiological studies have been conducted. Therefore, one of the most seriously concerned issues is the postnatal effects of in utero exposure to methylmercury. Because of these observations in humans, animal experiments have been conducted employing prenatal exposure to low levels of mercury. This paper reviews the animal (rodents) experiments concerning "behavioral teratology" of mercury for better understanding of effects of prenatal exposure to mercury and its compounds in addition to commentary on history and framework of behavioral teratology.


This thesis consists of three chapters which cover multiple fields in applied microeconomic theory, such as behavioural industrial organisation (Chapter 1), contest theory (Chapters 2 and 3), political economy (Chapter 3) and optimal pricing (Chapters 1 and 3). Particularly, in the first chapter, I study the role of loss-averse consumers' expectations about future consumption in the pricing policy of a monopolistic firm. Firm offers a contract consisting of two units of service and consumer makes two sequential consumption choices: buy first unit or not and if she buys first unit, buy second unit or not. Before signing the contract, consumer forms expectations about consumption of second unit. I, first, study consumer's optimal consumption strategy. Then, I derive firm's optimal pricing strategy for each case of consumer's expectations. Interestingly, if consumer expects to buy second unit with high probability, firm finds it optimal to prevent her from buying it offering a three-part tariff contract, namely, a fixed fee, first unit at a price below marginal cost and second unit at a price above it. In the second chapter, I study a two-stage contest with two players ex ante asymmetric in abilities and a prize awarded at the second stage. At the first stage, players compete with each other and the winner earns a lower effort cost at the second stage. Then, with the second-stage effort costs having been allocated, the players compete again to win the final award. I consider two cases of the first stage: simultaneous and sequential moves by the players and find equilibrium efforts, expected payoffs as well as provide comparative static results. The ex ante advantaged player will never be inactive, even if her opponent plays first. Moreover, in equilibrium her equilibrium effort and expected payoff are always higher than her opponent's, regardless of the time she makes effort. I, also, endogenise the timing of the players' efforts and show that both players prefer sequential first stage with the weak player exerting effort first. Finally, the third chapter is an application of the model of the second chapter to a game with two candidates and two interest groups. Groups offer two kinds of costly contributions to achieve political influence: a) pre-electoral campaign contributions to their favourite candidates that increase their probability of winning the election, and b) post-electoral lobbying contributions to the winning candidate to affect the implemented policy. Candidates, in turn, are the first to act by strategically choosing the lobbying prices they will charge the groups once in office. I characterise the equilibrium values for lobbying prices, campaign, and lobbying contributions and show that: a) candidates commit to charge a lower lobbying price the group that supports them in the election, justifying the preferential treatment of certain groups once in office, and b) less skilled candidates tend to promise a larger preferential treatment to the group that supports them than more skilled candidates.


This study explores the determination of average working time in the context of a Nordic welfare state. The study is focused on the Finnish case. The issue is explored by using data from six industries from 1960 to 1996. The main empirical result is that both an increase in labour productivity and a widening of the tax wedge have contributed to a decline in average working time in Finland. These observations are consistent with the predictions of a theoretical model that is based on the notion of equilibrium working hours. JEL-code: J21


ABSTRACT A total of 738 strains of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) were examined in biological experiments on poultry by use of PCR methods with primers for detection of the insertion sequence IS901. Serotype strains of MAC from all known 28 serotypes were examined. Further strains were isolated from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative and HIV-positive patients, 6 animal species, 17 bird species, and the environment. Of 165 strains virulent for poultry, characterized by generalized tuberculosis, 164 strains contained IS901, a result which is statistically highly significant (P, 0.01). The remaining 573 strains were nonvirulent; however, IS901 was present in 24 strains. From among 20 strains of serotypes 1, 2, and 3, IS901 was found in 15 strains, only 5 of which were virulent for poultry. The remaining 111 strains, of serotypes 4 to 28, were nonvirulent and did not incorporate IS901. None of the 152 strains isolated from humans was virulent for poultry, including 12 strains which were IS901 positive.


This article addresses the interface of video-films and Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity in Ghana. This interface, it is argued, needs to be examined from a position that transcends the confines of film studies and religious studies and leaves behind a secularist perspective on the relationship between religion and film. On the basis of detailed ethnographic research, it is shown that, far from standing apart from the realm of religious beliefs, video-films call upon audio-visual technologies so as to remediate Pentecostal views of the invisible world around which Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity evolves. Video-films invoke a "techno-religious realism" that addresses spectators in such a way that they authorize video representations as authentic. Transcending facile oppositions of technology and belief, media and authenticity, and entertainment and religion, video-films are shown to achieve immediacy and authenticity not at the expense of, but thanks to, media technologies and practices of remediation.


The potentialities of pseudopolarographic approach regarding trace metal speciation were explored. Recorded pseudopolarogram of a particular metal serves as a fingerprint of the analyzed sample. It gives initial information related to qualitative and quantitative purpose: a first approximation of trace metal distribution with respect to labile and inert metal complexes and the strength of inert metal complexes present in natural sample. Several model electrolyte solutions and natural estuary/seawater samples containing different quantity of Dissolved Natural Organic Matter (DNOM) were used in this study. In addition, Differential Pulse Anodic Stripping Voltammetry (DPASV) measurements were carried out with logarithmic additions to reach information about DNOM complexing capacities and stability con-


Confidentiality has long been part of the mythology of Alternative dispute resolution (ADR). It one of the apparent virtues of ADR is that its processes have been viewed as confidential. This aspect of the mythology has come under more scrutiny in recent years, particularly in the Arbitration Context . Arbitration has become a permanent fixture of the landscape of civil justice. Arbitration is promoted as a "private" or "confidential" process, raising some moral and perhaps ethical obligations on the part of the profession to be candid with consumers as to the meaning and limitations of arbitration confidentiality. Such candor is important because courts have begun to receive challenges to arbitration confidentiality, and more can be expected in the future as both voluntary and mandatory arbitration continue to expand and become more institutionalized.


The isomerization dynamics of α-pyrone dissolved in CH3CN have been probed by femtosecond 267 nm pump/broadband infrared (IR) probe spectroscopy. A novel experimental setup allowed the populations of the parent molecule and ring-opened photoproducts to be monitored over pump/probe time delays ranging between 2 ps and 100 μs within a single experiment, and at 5 different temperatures between 0 and 40 °C. The photochemically prepared α-pyrone(S1) molecules decay rapidly (<10 ps) through internal conversion to the S0 potential energy surface, with an initial quantum yield for parent molecule re-formation of ∼60%. Probing the antisymmetric ketene stretch region (2100-2150 cm(-1)) confirms the presence of at least two ring-opened photoproducts, which are assumed to have an E-configuration with respect to the central C═C double bond. These ketenes are observed to undergo two distinct, thermally driven, isomerization processes which occur on the nanosecond and microsecond time scales, respectively. The former reaction is ascribed to thermalization of the initially prepared E-isomer populations, while the slower (microsecond) process involves rotation around the central C═C double bond leading to formation of Z-isomers. Subsequent rapid Z → Z isomerizations (occurring on a nanosecond time scale) result in ring-closure and a second, longer time recovery of parent molecule population. By determining rates as a function of the sample temperature, barrier heights of 0.23(3) eV and 0.43(2) eV are obtained for the E → E and E → Z transformations, respectively.


This work is about coordinate bending. Coordinate bending is applied  to the Schr\"odinger equation of a one-degree-of-freedom quantum  system. The aim is to get a quadratic equation from the potential  term of the equation. This eases the solution by imitating the  Harmonic Oscillator. Before this work, several attempts have been  done to do coordinate bending with polynomials but they were not  adequate to get the requested function efficiently. In this paper,  hyperbolic($\sinh$) function is applied as a coordinate bending  function since it includes exponential forms. After getting the  special form of the potential, we can arrive at a weighted eigenvalue  problem. Beside the potential, this weight is determined in this study. Then, an approach to solve the obtained eigenvalue problem has been  developed and its positive/negative aspects are discussed at the end.


AIM
Changes in circulating catecholamine concentrations during vasovagal faints have been the subject of considerable study. However, whether catecholamines are part of the triggering mechanism, or principally reflect attempted compensation for an evolving circulatory crisis is unknown. To address this issue, we determined whether the circulating catecholamine response to upright posture differs among patients with and without inducible vasovagal faints at a time when there is no detectable haemodynamic compromise.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Blood samples for measurement of adrenaline and noradrenaline (Norepi) concentrations were obtained in the baseline state, and at both 2-3 min and 4-6 min of upright posture in 22 patients undergoing head-up tilt-table testing for evaluation of syncope of unknown cause. In 11 individuals tilt-testing induced syncope at >5 min head-up posture (Group 1). In 11 other individuals tilt testing did not result in syncope (Group 2). Supine arterial catecholamine levels were comparable in the two groups. However, adrenaline concentrations during upright posture tended to be greater at 2-3 min and were significantly greater at 4-6 min in Group 1 than in Group 2 (P< 0.01). These differences occurred in the absence of significant intergroup differences in mean arterial pressure or cardiac cycle lengths. Norepi concentrations also increased in both groups, but without significant differences.

CONCLUSION
Circulating adrenaline concentrations in posturally induced vasovagal faints rise more rapidly in vasovagal fainters than in comparably posturally stressed non-fainters, and were significantly greater in fainters prior to either detectable haemodynamic compromise or diminution of circulating Norepi levels. These findings suggest that a premonitory rise in adrenaline concentrations occurs in vasovagal fainters unassociated with an evolving circulatory crisis.


Psychosis after childbirth occurs as a result of unique developmental and social demands. The authors have developed a treatment approach for the management of Postpartum psychotic mothers admitted with their babies, based on their experience on an acute psychiatric inpatient unit with a special interest in the treatment of postpartum disorders. Five phases of the acute illness and recovery process are outlined. For each phase, a typical clinical situation, the specific tasks of the phase, and special problem areas are presented. The management guidelines are based on a multi-disciplinary team and phase-oriented approach.


The study seeks to investigate the impact of major determinants influencing marketing potential and consumer's willingness to pay for organic vegetables in Punjab, Pakistan. In this regard, two districts (Lahore and Toba Tek Singh) were selected purposively. Information was collected for the main organic vegetables. Convenient sampling technique was used to collect data because limited numbers of respondents were available. A sample size of 50 organic farmers (25 from each district) and 50 consumers (25 from each district) was selected. Multivariate regression analysis was employed to identify and evaluate the effects of marketing potential (farmers) and the consumer's willingness to pay for organic vegetables in the study area. According to selected organic vegetable growers' potential existed for the organic vegetables farming in the country and major variables influencing significantly the market potential for organic vegetables as income, price, no pesticide residues whereas hygienic food and more nutrients in the organic vegetables affecting insignificantly the market potential for organic vegetables in the study area. The relationship between the dependent variable (demand for organic vegetables) and independent variables (income, hygienic food, price, pesticide residues and more nutrients in the organic vegetables) was estimated by using a regression model. On the other hand, a consumer survey was conducted in order to delineate the effect of consumer's willingness to pay for organic vegetables in the selected area. The findings of the research depicted that no synthetic pesticide residues, appearance and prices of organic vegetables influencing significantly the consumer's willingness to pay for organic vegetables whereas quality, long shelf life and taste affecting insignificantly the consumer's willingness to pay for organic vegetables in the study area. The price of the organic vegetables should be low that's why every consumer will purchase organic vegetables instead of conventional vegetables. It should be assured by the government that there are no pesticide residues in the organic vegetables. The farming community may be motivated to produce quality seeds of organic vegetables. A pilot farming program should be initiated with joint involvement of public and private sectors.


Existing approaches to campaign ethics fail to adequately account for the "arms races" incited by competitive incentives in the absence of effective sanctions for destructive behaviors. By recommending scrupulous devotion to unenforceable norms of honesty, these approaches require ethical candidates either to quit or lose. To better understand the complex dilemmas faced by candidates, therefore, we turn first to the tradition of "adversarial ethics," which aims to enable ethical participants to compete while preventing the most destructive excesses of competition. As we demonstrate, however, elections present even more difficult challenges than other adversarial contexts, because no centralized regulation is available to halt potential arms races. Turning next to recent scholarship on populism and partisanship, we articulate an alternative framework for campaign ethics, which allows candidates greater room to maneuver in their appeals to democratic populations while nevertheless requiring adherence to norms of social and political pluralism.


This protocol provides basic guidelines for performing a patent search through illustration with a specific biotechnology subject. It is directed in particular to beginners who wish to broaden their knowledge by using patents as a source of information. The instructions given show how to search for patents claiming the use of ZFN (Zinc Finger Nucleases) in plants, a recently developed gene targeting technique with wide potential in plant breeding. The guidelines focus in particular on the use of two online available patent databases: esp@cenet, from the European Patent Office, and PatentScope, from the World Intellectual Property Organization. Several exercises are shown as examples to follow in searches, in particular the use of keywords and patent codes. We believe that the strategies proposed in this protocol are very useful for any type of search, but each searcher can choose a method she or he feels more comfortable with.


Background. There is substantial evidence of the increasing burden of
diabetes mellitus (DM) posing a threat to tuberculosis (TB) control globally.
The global estimate of DM is expected to reach 592 million by 2030. In
Europe, the estimated prevalence of DM is 8.5% and the rate of TB is 40
cases per 100,000 persons, with 74, 000 new cases per year (Badawi et al.,
2014). It is estimated that DM triples the risk of developing TB when exposed
an actively infected TB case, as well as modify the presenting features of TB,
with more atypical radiological presentation, adverse TB treatment outcome,
increased rates of relapse rates and death. The UK has the highest number of
cases of TB in Western Europe. The London Borough of Newham has the
highest number of cases in the UK, and this poses a public health risk. Thus,
this research is aimed at analysing the prevalence of DM in TB patients in
Newham and to describe the clinical presentation of Tuberculosis-Diabetes
Mellitus (TB-DM) patients. Aim and objectives. The major objectives: 1. To
determine the prevalence of DM in TB patients in Newham, with close
attention paid to differences between UK-born and non-UK born patients; 2.
To analyse the demographic, clinical characteristics and microbiological
features associated with TB-DM compared with TB only patients.
Methodology. The study was a retrospective cross-sectional survey on the
prevalence of DM among diagnosed adult TB patients in Newham between
the period of 2012-2015 with a follow-up period of 24 months from the London
Borough of Newham, participants recruited from Barts Health NHS Trust.
Results. Among the 489 TB patients used for this study, the prevalence of
DM was 25.8 (range 24.3 – 33.0), greater than the UK average of 6.0%, and
from the general population of Newham (3.9%) at the time of the study. The
average patient age ranged from 27.5-49.9 years, with 85.3% of TB cases
reported in the non-UK born population (P-value 0.087). Non-UK born
individuals are more likely to be infected with TB, likely as a result of recent
travel to high TB incidence areas or reactivation of latent TB, DM is not
exclusively associated with the non-UK born population. DM was found to be
significantly associated with age (P-value <0.005), comorbidities (P-value
iv
0.007), worsening symptoms (night sweats (P-value 0.01), fever (P-value
0.02) and weight loss (P-value <0.001), social factors (heavy drinking (P-value
0.054) and person who injects drugs (P-value 0.04)). Microbiologically, the
TB-DM cohort was likely to remain infectious for a longer period due to a
higher bacterial load (P-value <0.001). Conclusion. In conclusion, DM poses
a major challenge to controlling TB in Newham. A bi-directional screening of
DM and TB cases, including screening of latent TB with DM, and tackling
social determinants, i.e. the rise in the homeless population, use of illicit drugs
and alcohol abuse, should be further evaluated to control the impact of TB
cases.


The Scandinavian countries have a strong tradition of popular education, aiming to empower individuals and communities, rather than merely implementing a State agenda. In Sweden, popular education is notably connected to ideas of participatory democracy. It also brings with it a re-evaluation of which skills and which kinds of knowledge are relevant, emphasising young people's own lifeworld, holistic development and creativity. Swedish leisure-time pedagogy and the after-school activity centres draw on the tradition of popular education in terms of basic values, while being publicly funded as an institution, and therefore subject to changing education policies (Haglund & Klerfelt, 2013). Education and training of leisure-time pedagogues is formalised, and takes place alongside other teacher training programmes in schools of education. The current debates and shifts in Sweden educational policy have increasingly run in the direction of reducing the autonomy of leisure-time pedagogy, and instead framing the activity centres as an instrument to support school achievement. Recently, the suggestion has even been put forward to use the centres for homework and remedial after-school tutoring. The presentation will outline some of the important characteristics of Swedish leisure-time pedagogy, and summarise recent threats to its autonomy, as well as movements of resistance.