This study was stimulated by the variability in results of United States shrimp culture in ponds, and the need for improved methods of estimating shrimp populations in ponds prior to harvest.

Brown shrimp (Penaeus aztecus) were cultured in six 0.1 ha earthen ponds receiving thermal effluent from a steam electric generating station near Galveston Bay, Texas, for a 70–71 day culture period between April and July 1978. Two ponds were stocked with 3,500 shrimp each and four with 2,500 shrimp. Only shrimp in two ponds stocked at the lower density did not receive supplemental food. Each pond was treated weekly with 4.5 kg of 45-0-0 fertilizer to promote plankton blooms. Survival ranged from 79 to 91%; feeding treatment seemed to correlate with survival as two of the three ponds with 79% survival contained the unfed shrimp. Size of shrimp at harvest and daily growth rates were not correlated with stocking density or feeding treatment. Growth was positively correlated with increasing pond bottom softness.

Based on seine sample data, wind direction strongly affected the distribution of brown shrimp. The greatest populations were usually found near the downwind shore of ponds; this relationship was strongest in ponds containing fed shrimp. The efficiency of seine samples was also affected by the time of day. Samples completed between 1800 and 0600 h caught more shrimp and were less variable than samples taken between 0900 and 1430 h. For improved population estimation, night sampling along downwind shores of culture ponds is recommended.


Injection of Naja mocambique mocambique phospholipase A2 [PLA2] into the rat pleural cavity induced dose- and time-dependent fluid accumulation and cellular infiltration. The time course of the cell influx was initially neutrophilic [2-6 h] and later mononuclear [6-24 h]. During reverse passive Arthus reaction [RPAR] induced pleurisy, endogenously produced PLA2 activity, quantitated by the hydrolysis of [3H]-arachidonic acid E. coli substrate, was detected in the pleural exudate. However, the biosynthesis of eicosanoids and plasma extravasation in the pleural cavity preceded the 9-fold elevation in PLA2 activity which was obtained at 4 h. Whereas the exact role of PLA2 in the inflammatory response remains to be determined, these results demonstrate that exogenous PLA2 can induce pleural inflammation in the rat, and that this enzyme is released endogenously during experimental pleurisy.


One source of accidents when driving a vehicle is the presence of fog. Fog fades the colors and reduces the contrasts in the scene with respect to their distances from the driver. Various camera-based Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) can be improved if efficient algorithms are designed for visibility enhancement in road images. The visibility enhancement algorithm proposed in [1] is not optimized for road images. In this paper, we reformulate the problem as the inference of the local atmospheric veil from constraints. The algorithm in [1] thus becomes a particular case. From this new derivation, we propose to better handle road images by introducing an extra constraint taking into account that a large part of the image can be assumed to be a planar road. The advantages of the proposed local algorithm are the speed, the possibility to handle both color and gray-level images, and the small number of parameters. A new scheme is proposed for rating visibility enhancement algorithms based on the addition of several types of generated fog on synthetic and camera images. A comparative study and quantitative evaluation with other state-of-the-art algorithms is thus proposed. This evaluation demonstrates that the new algorithm produces better results with homogeneous fog and that it is able to deal better with the presence of heterogeneous fog. Finally, we also propose a model allowing to evaluate the potential safety benefit of an ADAS based on the display of defogged images.


Microorganisms in soils and waters convert many synthetic organic chemicals to inorganic products. Other compounds are transformed only by cometabolism. These microbial processes may lead to environmental detoxication, the formation of new toxicants, or the biosynthesis of persistent products. Type reactions are proposed for major categories of enzymatic transformation of synthetic chemicals in soils, natural waters, and sewage. Some organic molecules are resistant to microbial attack, and explanations for the persistence of such compounds are suggested.


Because of the increased importance for the drilling industry to deliver drilling automation solutions, model-based applications for the analysis and control of the drilling process, have become an attractive approach towards improved performance and increased safety. A critical characteristic for such applications is its ability to perform accurate simulations of the drilling operation in real-time, based on a detailed description of the wellbore.
 In a real-time context, the boundary conditions of the drilling system are seldom constant, therefore reinforcing the importance of utilizing transient models of the drilling process instead of steady state ones. Typical domains that require modelling are related to the mechanical, hydraulic and heat transfer aspects of a drilling operation. The time constants of the force-, momentum-, mass- and energy-conservation equations are sufficiently different to allow for solving each of these equations with different time discretization schemes. Yet, side effects influence the results from each other's and therefore a time coupling shall nevertheless be accounted for.
 For instance, for a drilling operation conducted on a floater, the heave induced movement at the top of the string propagates along the drill-string, therefore causing a displacement that induces swab and surge pressure variations, which themselves generate counter-acting forces on the drill-string. In such conditions, both the mechanical and hydraulic frictions generate heat that changes the in situ thermal conditions and therefore the drilling fluid mass density and its rheological behavior. Consequently, heat exchange caused by the drill-string and fluid movements also influences the hydraulic response of the system. Furthermore, thermal expansion will also apply to the drill-string.
 In this paper, we discuss recent advances related to the coupling between transient mechanical, hydraulic and thermal models, where a key criterion is that the combined drilling model shall be capable of running in real-time on a standard computer. Incorporating these transient models is considered a necessary step towards improved accuracy of simulations, especially on floaters, where heave effects become important. We illustrate various effects by presenting and discussing several simulations results in detail.


This research examines the role of a public sector industry training organization in the development of generic management capability for small and medium enterprises in New Zealand. Small and medium enterprises' importance and value is first reviewed, followed by an analysis of key concepts that may be applied to collectively assess the effectiveness of generic business enterprise management. The review, conducted within the context of one particular industry training organization (under a fictitious name to protect identity), revealed the presence of major data gaps, namely insufficient clarity in defining what is meant by a successful firm; and variation in the extent to which human resource management skills are rated as important to firm success. The main conclusion is that inadequate current answers exist to the important question of business management capability enhancement in the small and medium enterprise sector, and a new agenda for further research by the researchers is proposed.


The decisions made by petroleum producers in the world oil market are both dynamic and strategic, and are thus best modeled as a dynamic game. In the first chapter of my dissertation, I review the literature on the world oil market and discuss my research on econometric modeling of the world oil market as a dynamic game. My research on econometric modeling of the world oil market as a dynamic game research builds on the previous literature by combining three erstwhile separate dimensions of modeling the world oil market: dynamic optimization, game theory, and econometrics. In the second chapter of my dissertation, I develop and estimate a structural econometric model of the dynamic game among petroleum-producing firms in the world petroleum market. My model incorporates the dynamic behavior and strategic interactions that arise as petroleum-producing firms make their investment, production, merger, and acquisition decisions. I allow firms that are at least partially state-owned to have objectives other than profit maximization alone. I use the structural econometric model to analyze the effects of changes in OPEC membership, a ban on mergers, the privatization of state-owned oil companies, and demand shocks on the petroleum industry. Although I do not assume or impose that OPEC producers collude to maximize joint profits, but instead infer the strategy and payoffs for OPEC firms from the data, I find that OPEC behaves in such a way that is consistent with its mission and also with cartel behavior. Results of counterfactual simulations also show that a ban on mergers would decrease average firm payoff for both OPEC and non-OPEC firms, and decrease consumer surplus. Gasoline taxes have been touted by many economists as an efficient and relatively simple tool to address environmental concerns and other problems associated with gasoline consumption. Nevertheless, rather than removing subsidies and increasing gasoline taxes, many countries still subsidize gasoline, which may have the opposite effect of exacerbating air pollution and other problems associated with gasoline consumption. The Iranian government has heavily subsidized petroleum products since the early 1980s. As a result of these energy subsidies and artificially low national energy price, Iran is one of the most energy-intensive countries in the world. The Iranian government has recently taken a series of measures to reform and cut back on the energy subsidies. In the third chapter of my dissertation, I evaluate the effects of the Iranian subsidy reform on air quality using a regression discontinuity design. My results provide evidence across multiple different empirical specifications that the subsidy reform in Iran led to improvements in air quality. In particular, the first subsidy reform event, which increased gasoline prices and implemented a gasoline consumption quota; and the second subsidy reform event, which increased energy prices and decreased energy subsidies, both led to declines in concentrations of CO, O3, and NO2. In contrast, the fourth subsidy reform event, which increased fuel prices but removed the gasoline consumption quota, was less effective in reducing air pollution.


The Internet is increasingly used by young children for all kinds of purposes. Nonetheless, there are not many resources especially designed for children on the Internet and most of the content online is designed for grown-up users. This situation is problematic if we consider the large differences between young users and adults since their topic interests, computer skills, and language capabilities evolve rapidly during childhood. There is little research aimed at exploring and measuring the difficulties that children encounter on the Internet when searching for information and browsing for content. In the first part of this work, we employed query logs from a commercial search engine to quantify the difficulties children of different ages encounter on the Internet and to characterize the topics that they search for. We employed query metrics (e.g., the fraction of queries posed in natural language), session metrics (e.g., the fraction of abandoned sessions), and click activity (e.g., the fraction of ad clicks). The search logs were also used to retrace stages of child development. Concretely, we looked for changes in interests (e.g., the distribution of topics searched) and language development (e.g., the readability of the content accessed and the vocabulary size).
 In the second part of this work, we employed toolbar logs from a commercial search engine to characterize the browsing behavior of young users, particularly to understand the activities on the Internet that trigger search. We quantified the proportion of browsing and search activity in the toolbar sessions and we estimated the likelihood of a user to carry out search on the Web vertical and multimedia verticals (i.e., videos and images) given that the previous event is another search event or a browsing event.
 We observed that these metrics clearly demonstrate an increased level of confusion and unsuccessful search sessions among children. We also found a clear relation between the reading level of the clicked pages and characteristics of the users such as age and educational attainment.
 In terms of browsing behavior, children were found to start their activities on the Internet with a search engine (instead of directly browsing content) more often than adults. We also observed a significantly larger amount of browsing activity for the case of teenager users. Interestingly we also found that if children visit knowledge-related Web sites (i.e., information-dense pages such as Wikipedia articles), they subsequently do more Web searches than adults. Additionally, children and especially teenagers were found to have a greater tendency to engage in multimedia search, which calls to improve the aggregation of multimedia results into the current search result pages.


The deluge of date rate in today's networks poses a cost burden on the backhaul network design. Developing cost efficient backhaul solutions becomes an interesting, yet challenging, problem. Traditional technologies for backhaul networks include either radio-frequency backhauls (RF) or optical fibres (OF). While RF is a cost-effective solution as compared to OF, it supports lower data rate requirements. Another promising backhaul solution that may combine both a high data rate and a relatively low cost is the free-space optics (FSO). FSO, however, is sensitive to nature conditions (e.g., rain, fog, line-ofsight, etc.). A more reliable alternative is, therefore, to combine RF and FSO solutions through a hybrid structure called hybrid RF/FSO. Consider a backhaul network, where the base-stations (BS) can be connected to each other either via OF or hybrid RF/FSO backhaul links. The paper addresses the problem of minimizing the cost of backhaul planning under connectivity and data rates constraints, so as to choose the appropriate costeffective backhaul type between BSs (i.e., either OF or hybrid RF/FSO). The paper solves the problem using graph theory techniques by introducing the corresponding planning graph. It shows that under a specified realistic assumption about the cost of OF and hybrid RF/FSO links, the problem is equivalent to a maximum weight clique problem, which can be solved with moderate complexity. Simulation results show that our proposed solution shows a close-to-optimal performance, especially for practical prices of the hybrid RF/FSO.


Decentralized learning offers privacy and communication efficiency when data are naturally distributed among agents communicating over an underlying graph. Motivated by overparameterized learning settings, in which models are trained to zero training loss, we study algorithmic and generalization properties of decentralized learning with gradient descent on separable data. Specifically, for decentralized gradient descent (DGD) and a variety of loss functions that asymptote to zero at infinity (including exponential and logistic losses), we derive novel finite-time generalization bounds. This complements a long line of recent work that studies the generalization performance and the implicit bias of gradient descent over separable data, but has thus far been limited to centralized learning scenarios. Notably, our generalization bounds approximately match in order their centralized counterparts. Critical behind this, and of independent interest, is establishing novel bounds on the training loss and the rate-of-consensus of DGD for a class of self-bounded losses. Finally, on the algorithmic front, we design improved gradient-based routines for decentralized learning with separable data and empirically demonstrate orders-of-magnitude of speed-up in terms of both training and generalization performance.


Effective control of infectious disease outbreaks is an important public health goal. In a number of recent studies, it has been shown how different intervention measures like travel restrictions, school closures, treatment and prophylaxis might allow us to control outbreaks of diseases, such as SARS, pandemic influenza and others. In these studies, control of a single outbreak is considered. It is, however, not clear how one should handle a situation where multiple outbreaks are likely to occur. Here, we identify the best control strategy for such a situation. We further discuss ways in which such a strategy can be implemented to achieve additional public health objectives.


Indonesia Society is currently faced with a moral crisis, whether it occurs in young children, adults up to the parents. Morale is greatly needed by the community, in the form of religious humanist communities that are far from the attitude of rebellion, criminality, and selfishness. However, the reality as it is still far from the expectations of society. This is due to many things one of which is a lack of awareness in education, parenting parents are not good, and the bad environment. This is contrary to the notion of humanistic education. Humanistic Education upholds human values capable mencipkan dynamic society there is no issue that destroys human dignity. In this case, the author want to learn about the development of the religious humanist education in the community. The point of this study was Tegalrejo Datinawong district, Tripe regency, Lamongan. Community development humanist religious: first, the people who develop humanity values (honesty, compassion, fairness and mutual respect) and remain in a religious framework in accordance with religious values (habluhablum, hablu minal nature and habluminallah), Second, deciding religious humanist communities were starting from community leaders or leaders who were in the village Tegalrejo, among other village leaders, clerics, religious teacher/cleric as a motivator. Third, measures to develop human society among other religious communities develop positive values, teach moral message to the community, until finally awakened humanist and religious communities.


In 1994, John Conway and Charles Radin created a non-periodic Pinwheel Tiling of the plane using only 1 by 2 right triangles. By selectively painting either every fifth triangle or two out of every five triangles, based only upon their location in the next larger triangle, one can discern 15 unexpected and distinctive patterns. Each of these patterns retains the non-periodic nature of the original tiling.


-- The aim of this research is to evaluate crop discrimination using satellite data based on textural information. This paper illustrates the use of Gabor wavelet transform on satellite images to classify the land in to crop land and non-crop land and to classify different crops. The input image is enhanced first using Colour Space Transform and Discrete Cosine Transform, and then a filter bank consisting of Gabor wavelets is used to extract texture features from the satellite image. The feature formation process models the texture features from Gabor filter bank as a Gaussian distribution. The use of Gabor filters is driven by the potential they have to isolate texture according to particular frequencies and orientations. The parameters that define a Gabor filter are its frequency, standard deviation and orientation. By varying these parameters, a filter bank is obtained that covers the frequency domain almost completely. A texture image database of different crops is created. The texture features of the input image are then compared with texture features obtained from the image database of different crops and the different types of crops are identified. Finally, the implementation of classification method for multicrops is explained.


Previous experimental studies have revealed that for a given molecular size, the glomerular capillary wall restricts the passage of polyanions more than that of neutral macromolecules, and restricts transport of the latter more than that of polycations. We have developed a theoretical model of this charge-selectivity based on the following principal assumptions: a) all ions (tracer macromolecule and univalent cations and anions) obey a modified Nernst-Planck flux expression, including terms for convection and size-selective retardation; b) the capillary wall has a homogeneous distribution of fixed negative charges; and c) Donnan equilibria exist at the surfaces of this "membrane." To allow specific application of the model we measured electrophoretic mobilities of narrow fractions of dextran sulfate (DS) and diethylaminoethyl dextran (DEAE), and used these to estimate effective molecular charge as a function of molecular size. Based on these measurements and fractional clearance data for DS and DEAE reported previously for the normal Munich-Wistar rat, the capillary wall has an apparent fixed charge concentration of 120--170 meq/liter. The effects of this membrane charge on the filtration of water and on the transcapillary electrical potential difference are also discussed.


In the 19 century August Möbius described a musical torus constructed on the chromatic scale illustrated with two-dimensional diagrams. In the 20 century A. Harry Wheeler realized Möbius's concept in a three-dimensional model. With the availability of 3D printers at the beginning of the 21 century, the construction of this musical polyhedron can be reimagined. The flat-pattern models generated by the 3D model make the underlying geometry more accessible, and the new 3D model brings out sculptural qualities that were not as evident before.


Pinton A. & Otero O. 2010. — The bony anatomy of Chadian Synodontis (Osteichthyes, Teleostei, Siluriformes, Mochokidae): interspecific variations and specific characters. Zoosystema 32 (2): 173-231. ABSTRACT The genus Synodontis Cuvier, 1816 (Siluriformes, Mochokidae) numbers about 120 species and is exclusive to the freshwater of Africa except Maghreb and Cape Province. It is one of the most widespread catfish of African freshwater. The Synodontis fossil record covers the last 18 Myr and most of the Synodontis fossil bones are found in a disarticulated state. The identification of the fossils at a specific level is so far impossible, because we lack an osteological study of the species. Here, we present the study of the osteology of eleven Synodontis species living in Chad: S. batensoda Rüppell, 1832, S. clarias (Linnaeus, 1758), S. courteti Pellegrin, 1906, S. eupterus Boulenger, 1901, S. filamentosus Boulenger, 1901, S. membranaceas (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1809), S. nigrita Valenciennes, 1840, S. ocellifer Boulenger, 1900, S. schall (Bloch & Schneider, 1801), S. sorex Günther, 1864 and S. violaceus Pellegrin, 1919. Each species is characterized based on its bony anatomy. The morphological variability within and between the species is discussed. The entire skeleton is described, bone by bone. A total of 61 osteological characters, both qualitative and quantitative are established. We emphasize the bones that are well preserved in the fossil, i.e. the mesethmoid, the lateral ethmoid, the frontal, the supraoccipital, the cleithrum, the pectoral spine, the middle nucal plate and the dorsal spine. As a first result, the Chadian Synodontis species can be recognized on the basis of bony characters only. Second, we are also able to attribute isolated bones to nominative species or to a group of species. At last, we note that no osteological character legitimates the distinction of the genera Hemisynodontis Bleeker, 1862 and Brachysynodontis Bleeker, 1862.


Power management mechanisms (PMMs) inherently have a tradeoff between the energy consumption and delay. In this letter, we analyze an active-idle state transition mechanism for power-saving in mobile stations by considering the general traffic pattern of smartphones, which consists of uplink request packets and downlink bursty data. We derive closed-form solutions of both the energy consumption and activation delay, and characterize their tradeoff relationship. The results show that the tradeoff curve is linear and its slope is not affected by the PMM's operational parameters or the traffic arrival rate.


Submitted 2020-06-11 | Accepted 2020-07-09 | Available 2020-12-01 https://doi.org/10.15414/afz.2020.23.mi-fpap.1-6 The research was carried out on consumers aged 20 to 30 years. The survey was conducted among the young population, on a sample of 200 respondents; male (M, n = 100) and female (F, n = 100). Respondents were asked to answer three sets of questions: a) egg quality indicators; b) which are the benefits of consuming eggs compared to other animal products; and c) which are the disadvantages of consuming eggs. A Likert scale (min = 1, max = 5) was used to evaluate the responses on the factors that influence egg consumption. The respondents (M 4.50 : F 4.11; P 0.05). Interval estimation of the mean values μ in male and female populations was made. The research indicates the attributes that consumers value when choosing and buying products, which can serve as a future guide for egg producers. Keywords: consumption, egg quality, nutritional value, freshness References Bao, P.P., Shu, X.O., Zheng, Y., Cai, N., Ruan, Z.X., Kai, G., Yinghao, S., Yu-Tang, G.,Wei, Z., Wei, L. (2012). Fruit, vegetable and animal intake and breast cancer risk by hormone receptor status. Nutrition Cancer, 64(6), 806-819. Barraj, L., Tran, N., Mink, P. (2009). A Comparison of Egg Consumption with Other Modifiable Coronary Heart Disease Lifestyle Risk Factors: A Relative Risk Apportionment Study. Risk Analysis, 29(3), 401-415. Bejaei, M., Wiseman, K., Cheng, K.M. (2011). Influences of demographic characteristics, attitudes, and preferences of consumers on table egg consumption in British Columbia, Canada. Poultry Science, 90(5), 1088-1095. Bertechini, A.G., Mazzucco, H. (2013). The table egg: A review. Ciencia e Agrotecnologia, 37(2), 115-122. Bobetic, B. (2019). The Challenges and Expectations of the EU and Poultry Production in Croatia in the Medium-Term to 2030. Proceedings of 13th Symposium "Poultry Days 2019" with International Participation, May 8 – 11, 2019, (pp. 18-23). In Croatia. Calic, S., Friganovic, E., Males, V., Mustapic, A. (2011). Functional food and consumers. Practical Management, 2(2), 51-57. EBN - Egg Borad Nutritio (2019). Egg composition. Retrived December 22, 2019 from https://www.eggnutritioncenter.org/topics/nutrients-in-eggs/, accessed Fernandez, M.L. (2006). Dietary cholesterol provided by eggs and plasma lipoproteins in healthy populations. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutritional and Metabolic Care, 9(1), 8-12. Garza, C., Rasmussen, K.M. (2000). Pregnancy and Lactation. In: Garrow, G.S., James, W.P.T., Ralph, A. (eds.) Human Nutrition and Dietetics (10. Ed.). Churchill Livingstone, London (pp. 437-448). Guter, M.M., Low, E.M. (2008). The British egg marketing board 1957-71-A reassessment. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 22(3), 247-265. Hasler, C.M. (2002). Functional foods: benefits, concerns and challenges - a position paper from the American Council on Science and Health. Journal of Nutrition, 132(12), 3772-3781. Kralik G., Skrtic Z., Kralik Z. (2012). Biometrika u zootehnici. Sveuciliste J. J. Strossmayera u Osijeku (pp. 76-81, 91-93). Kralik, I., Kralik Z., Zelic, S. (2014). Consumer preferences of table eggs. Proceedings of 49th Croatian and 9th International Agronomy Symposium. 16-21 February 2014, Faculty of Agriculture University of Josip Juraj Strossmayer in Osijek (pp. 56-160). In Croatia. Kralik, I., Zelic, A., Kralik, G. (2017). Influence of socio-demographic characteristics of examinees on egg quality awareness and consumption. Interdisciplinary management research. 19-21 May 2017, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Economics in Osijek (pp. 1193-1205). In Croatia. Kralik, Z., Rebekic, A. (2018). Consumers preferences on the usefulness In and consumption of enriched products. Krmiva, 60(1), 17-24. Lunven, P., Le Clement de St Marcq, C., Carnovale, E., Fratoni, A. (1973). Amino acid composition of hen`s egg. British Journal of Nutrition, 30(2), 189-194. Missmer, S.A., Smith-Warner, S.A., Spiegelman, D., Yaun, S.S., Adami, H.O., Beeson, W.L. Van den Brandt, P.A., Fraser, G.E., Freudenheim, J.L., Goldbohm, R.A., Graham, S., Kushi, L.H., Miller, A.B., Potter, J.D., Rohan, T.E., Speizer, F.E., Toniolo, P., Willett, W.C., Wolk, A., Zeleniuch-Jacquotte, A., Hunter, D.J. (2002). Meat and diary food consumption in breast cancer: a pooled analysis of cohort studies. International Journal of Epidemiology, 31(1), 78-85. Mutungi, G., Ratliff, J., Puglisi, M., Torres-Gonzalez, M., Vaishnav, U., Leite, J. O., Quann, E., Volek, J. S., Fernandez, M. L. (2008). Dietary cholesterol from eggs increases plasma HDL cholesterol in overweight men consuming a carbohydrate-restricted diet. Journal of Nutrition, 138(2), 272-276. Patil, S.R., Cates, S., Morales, R. (2005). 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An Updated Review on Chicken Eggs: Production, Consumption, Management Aspects and Nutritional Benefits to Human Health. Food and Nutrition Sciences 6(13), 1208-1220. Zelic, A., Kralik, Z., Kralik, I., Mahmutovic, H. (2015). Consumer Preferences When Purchasing Table Eggs In The Area Of Tuzla City In Bosnia And Herzegovina. Krmiva, 57(2), 75-79. Zhang, B., X., Pan, M., X., Wang, L., Mo, X.F., Chen, Y.N., Lin, F.Y., Ho, S.C. (2013). Choline and betaine intake is inversely associated with breast cancer risk: a two-stage case-control study in China. Cancer Science, 104(2), 250-258.


Burned-out testicular tumour is an uncommon entity defined by the spontaneous regression of the testicular tumoral site after spread to metastasis, leaving behind a scarring lesion with typical histological changes. This paper reports one case of burned-out testicular tumour diagnosed and treated initially as an embryonic carcinoma with areas of extragonadal malignant immature teratoma that after nine years of follow-up reveals the primary testicular site. Physical examination and detailed ultrasound study of the testes is of the greatest significance in stem cells tumours with extragonadal location, given the prospect of identifying the primary testicular lesion as a burned-out tumoral site and performing radical treatment of these tumours.


In urban areas, development and growth do not always occur in the most desirable sectors.
The effort to try to find better means to explain the mysteries of urban processes is
an ongoing task that must approach economic theory and social science with some form
of geographic explanation. One of the possible reasons why this type of approach has still
not been developed (leaving aside political or ideological considerations) may be the fact
that the cities, with all the complexity that characterizes them, constitute such particular
objects of study that they cannot be understood by general theory on urbanism. New cadastral
systems can contribute enormously to a new vision of cities and urban planning.


Hepatocellular carcinoma is a major worldwide public health problem, and the third most frequent cause of cancer deaths after lung and stomach cancers. Hepatocellular carcinoma is a highly malignant tumor type with average survival rates that are currently less than 1 year following diagnosis. The etiology of hepatocellular carcinoma is still not well understood but involves a multi‐step process of signaling protein dysregulation, which includes STAT3. The constitutive activation of STAT3 is frequently detected in clinical incidences of hepatocellular carcinoma and in more than 50% of human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines but not in normal human hepatocytes. Constitutive STAT3 signaling contributes to hepatocellular carcinoma progression by promoting angiogenesis, survival, metastasis, and growth of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Recent evidence suggests that the blockade of aberrant STAT3 signal pathway can be exploited as a therapeutic strategy for hepatocellular carcinoma. We have developed a novel small molecular STAT3 inhibitor LLL12 based on computer‐aided rational design, which inhibits STAT3 activity by binding to its Src homology 2 (SH2) domain. LLL12 can inhibit STAT3 tyrosine 705 phosphroylation, STAT3 DNA binding activitivies. and prevent STAT translocation into the nucleus, thus decrease the transcription of target genes. And LLL12 also can inhibit IL‐6 induced STAT3 phorsphorylation in Hep3B hepatocellular carcinoma cell. Our previous data show it can inhibit breast cancer (MDA‐MB231 cells), brain tumor (U87 cells), and pancreatic cancer (PANC‐1 cells) in vitro and in vivo. In this study, we report that LLL12 can selectively inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis in SNU398, SNU387, Hep3B, and SNU449 hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro. Furthermore, the LLL12 can significantly inhibit tumor growth of SNU398 hepatocellular carcinoma cell line xenograft in nude mice at the dose of 5mg/kg. Collectively, our results show LLL12 could be used as a targeted drug candidate to target STAT3 for chemoprevention or treatment of Hepatocellular carcinoma in human. Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2010;3(1 Suppl):B95.


Intracellular glucocorticoid (GC) receptor (GR) function determines tissue sensitivity to GCs and strongly affects the development of type 2 diabetes and obesity. 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11beta-HSD1) mediates intracellular steroid exposure to mouse liver GR by prereceptor reactivation of GCs and is crucially dependent on hexose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (H6PDH)-generating NADPH system. Pharmacological inhibition of 11beta-HSD1 improves insulin intolerance and obesity. Here, we evaluated the potential beneficial effects of 11beta-HSD1 inhibitor carbenoxolone (CBX) in diet-induced obese (DIO) and insulin-resistant mice by examining the possible influence of CBX on the expression of GR, 11beta-HSD1, and H6PDH in vivo and in vitro in hepatocytes. Treatment of DIO mice with CBX markedly reduced hepatic GR mRNA levels and reduced weight gain, hyperglycemia, and insulin resistance. The reduction of hepatic GR gene expression was accompanied by CBX-induced inhibition of both 11beta-HSD1 and H6PDH activity and mRNA in the liver. Moreover, CBX treatment also suppressed the expression of both phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and glucose-6-phosphatase enzyme (G6Pase) mRNA and improved hepatic [1, 2-(3)H] deoxy-d-glucose uptake in DIO mice. In addition, the treatment of primary cultures of hepatocytes with increasing concentrations of CBX led to a dose-dependent downregulation of GR mRNA levels, which correlated with the suppression of both 11beta-HSD1 and H6PDH activity and their gene expression. Addition of CBX to primary hepatocytes also resulted in suppression of both PEPCK and G6Pase mRNA levels. These findings suggest that CBX exerts some of its beneficial effects, at least in part, by inhibiting hepatic GR and H6PDH expression.


STUDY OBJECTIVES
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) results from the interaction of several physiological traits; specifically a compromised upper airway anatomy and muscle function, and two key non-anatomical deficits: elevated loop gain and a low arousal threshold. Although continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is an efficacious treatment, it is often poorly tolerated. An alternative approach could involve administering therapies targeting the non-anatomic causes. However, therapies (oxygen or hypnotics) targeting these traits in isolation typically improve, but rarely resolve OSA. Therefore, our aim was to determine how the combination of oxygen and eszopiclone alters the phenotypic traits and OSA severity and to assess the baseline phenotypic characteristics of responders/nonresponders to combination therapy.

METHODS
In a single-blinded randomized crossover study, 20 OSA patients received combination therapy (3 mg eszopiclone and 40% oxygen) versus placebo/sham air, with 1 w between conditions. Under each condition, we assessed the effects on OSA severity (clinical polysomnography) and the phenotypic traits causing OSA using CPAP manipulations (research polysomnography).

RESULTS
Combination therapy reduced the apnea-hypopnea index (51.9 ± 6.2 vs. 29.5 ± 5.3 events/h; P < 0.001), lowered both the ventilation associated with arousal (5.7 ± 0.3 vs. 5.2 ± 0.3 L/min; P = 0.05) and loop gain (3.3 ± 0.5 vs. 2.2 ± 0.3; P = 0.025). Responders to therapy (apnea-hypopnea index reduced by > 50% to below 15 events/h; n = 9/20) had less severe OSA (P = 0.001), a less collapsible upper airway (P = 0.01) and greater upper airway muscle effectiveness (P = 0.002).

CONCLUSIONS
The combination of lowering loop gain and raising the arousal threshold is an effective therapy in patients whose anatomy is not severely compromised. Our work demonstrates that combining therapies that target multiple traits can resolve OSA in selected individuals.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION
ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT01633827.


The Human Library exists to promote dialogue and inclusion towards persons who have experienced prejudice due to how they identify. This guide explains how NAU's Human Library assists in that mission and how faculty and students can participate.


This chapter explores a possible language strategy for verbalizing
aspect: the encoding of Aktionsarten by means of morphological markers.
Russian tense-aspect system is used as a model. We first operationalize
this system and reconstruct the learning operators needed for acquiring
it. Then we perform a first language formation experiment in which a
novel system of Aktionsarten emerges and gets coordinated between the
agents, driven by a need for higher expressivity.


Summary
Evidence is given that for penicillin to prevent experimental tetanus in mice a 4-day period of treatment is satisfactory. To prevent tetanus by passive immunisation the antitoxin must remain in the circulation for 9 days. In either case Cl. tetani frequently survives at the injection site. To account for these observations it is suggested that when tetanus bacilli grow in an anaerobic lesion, the local conditions are altered so that the time for which the lesion remains suitable for multiplication of anaerobic bacteria is prolonged. This conclusion is supported by the following findings.
(a) The extent of the anaerobic lesion produced by intramuscular injection of calcium chloride in guinea-pigs is increased about 10-fold when tetanus spores are also injected.
(b) Culture and histological examination of lesions in guinea-pigs at 9 days after injection of spores in calcium chloride showed the presence of numerous vegetative organisms but very few spores.
(c) A long-acting penicillin preparation was able to reduce the dose of antitoxin required to protect infected mice when the antibiotic was given either at 15 hr or 4 days after infection.
It is suggested that antibiotic may be of value in supporting the effect of antitoxin in prophylaxis in man, particularly in patients who may rapidly eliminate the heterologous horse serum, because it may reduce the time period for which the passive immunity is required.


Expressions for the probability of coincidence between pairs of pulse trains are examined. The application to systems of interest in the field of electronic warfare is emphasized. Theoretical results for the limit of uncorrelated pulse trains are reviewed and new theory is developed to cover the case of coincidence between uniform pulse trains where the coincidence phenomena may be highly correlated. Monte Carlo experiments show that increasing the jitter level on one of the pulse trains causes a transition between the correlated and uncorrelated regimes.


An epistemological frame of references wherein activities performed at Servicios de Salud Mental (Mental Health Wards) of La Matanza District (Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina) is discussed. Such frame is systemic-cybernetically oriented, assuming that a therapeut's function deals with triggering a feedback process order so that any disrupted ecology is likely to become self-correctable. It is the author's contention that studies should deepen on how individuals, families--or the system--could be in a position to make their own adjustments. In other words, how could they heal themselves.


The stability of the weakly ionized plasma and the transition from a stable homogeneous discharge to unstable filaments play an important role in gas laser physics, plasma-assisted combustion, chemical reforming, and material synthesis. Theoretical stability analysis and thermal-chemical mode analysis were performed to understand the mechanism of plasma thermal-chemical instability by using a zero-dimensional plasma system with both simplified and detailed chemical kinetics of H2/O2/N2 mixtures. The plasma dynamic and kinetic models accounted for multiple physical mechanisms in the chemically-reactive weakly ionized plasma, including ionization, attachment/detachment, recombination, vibrational and electronic energy relaxation, convective and diffusive species/heat removal, Joule heating, and detailed chemical kinetics. An analytical criterion and the explosive mode species/temperature pointers were formulated while the representative active species were identified for different thermal-chemical modes. The results showed that in addition to the classical thermal-ionization mechanism, various chemical modes from chemical heat imbalance and elementary kinetics significantly modified the time dynamics and the stability of the weakly ionized plasma. The present analysis provides insights and guidance to control plasma instability using chemical kinetics.


This study mainly explores the communication preferences of the public; their level of trust in the government; and the factors affecting their risk/crisis perception amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The key findings —derived from the data collected through an online survey and analysis using descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), provide insights on how Local Government Units (LGUs) can improve their risk/crisis communication in this current health crisis. Among the key takeaways include the use of social media platforms, like Facebook, and native/local language for effective risk/crisis communication which may, consequently, foster trust building between the LGUs and the public.


Background: Psyllium seeds, produced from Plantago ovata Forsk, are an herbal treatment generally used as a laxative. It has also reportedly lowering effects on some metabolic parameters such as blood glucose, lipids and uric acid. In this paper, reducing effect of sole use of this herbal medicine on serum levels of uric acid, while causing no major adverse effects, in a hyperuricemic patient has been reported.Case report: A 51-year-old patient with a history of hyperuricemia (10.5 mg/dL in a recent measurement) gave consent to undergo a 40-day treatment using psyllium seeds with dosage of 83.3 mg/kg. Treatment was given in two 20-day courses, as in the first, the seeds was given daily but in the second the same dosage was given every other day. Serum levels of uric acid decreased to 8.1 mg/dL at 20th day and 6.8 mg/dL, at the 40th day. No major adverse effects including skin rashes, digestive disorders, muscular pain, allergic manifestations, and abnormalities in liver and kidney function tests as well as blood parameters were observed.Conclusion: Psyllium seeds may be effective in reducing serum levels of uric acid in hyperuricemia patients, while lacking major adverse effects. These data can be used for further research and designing clinical trials.


The anti-inflammatory activity of blackberries has been attributed to phenolic compounds, especially anthocyanins. The present study hypothesized that volatiles could contribute to anti-inflammatory activity as well. The anti-inflammatory properties of three blackberry genotypes varying in total volatile and phenolic contents were assessed by measuring concentrations of nitric oxide (NO), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor -α  (TNF-α) within LPS-inflamed RAW264.7 murine macrophage cells after a preventive treatment of either a phenolic or a volatile extract. Extracts from blackberry genotypes A2528T, A2587T and Natchez had total phenolic contents of 4315, 3369 and 3680 µg/mL, respectively, and total volatile contents of 283, 852 and 444 ng/mL, respectively. Phenolic and volatile extracts of all genotypes significantly lowered the secretion of NO, IL-6 and TNF-α in ranges varying between 20-42%, 34-60% and 28-73% inhibition, respectively. Volatile extracts exhibited greater anti-inflammatory properties than phenolic extracts, despite being present at much lower concentrations in the berries. Further research is needed to assess bioavailability and anti-inflammatory effect of blackberry volatiles in vivo.


Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) are food-borne pathogens that can cause serious infections ranging from diarrhea to hemorrhagic colitis (HC) and hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). Translocation of Shiga-toxins (Stx) from the gut lumen to underlying tissues is a decisive step in the development of the infection, but the mechanisms involved remain unclear. Many bacterial pathogens target the follicle-associated epithelium, which overlies Peyer's patches (PPs), cross the intestinal barrier through M cells and are captured by mucosal macrophages. Here, translocation across M cells, as well as survival and proliferation of EHEC strains within THP-1 macrophages were investigated using EHEC O157:H7 reference strains, isogenic mutants, and 15 EHEC strains isolated from HC/HUS patients. We showed for the first time that E. coli O157:H7 strains are able to interact in vivo with murine PPs, to translocate ex vivo through murine ileal mucosa with PPs and across an in vitro human M cell model. EHEC strains are also able to survive and to produce Stx in macrophages, which induce cell apoptosis and Stx release. In conclusion, our results suggest that the uptake of EHEC by M cells and underlying macrophages in the PP may be a critical step in Stx translocation and release in vivo. A new model for EHEC infection in humans is proposed that could help in a fuller understanding of EHEC-associated diseases.


Avemar, a product of industrial fermentation of wheat germ with a standardized content of benzoquinone and plant flavonoids, has been tested as an anti-cancer and immunomodulatory dietary supplement. Proposed mechanisms include anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory actions. This study has determined whether these actions of Avemar may also be useful in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Two experimental rat models of cardiovascular remodeling were used in this project: the deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt-induced model of chronic hypertension (study I) and a high-carbohydrate/high-fat dietinduced model producing chronic symptoms of the metabolic syndrome and its associated cardiovascular complications (study II). Our results in these rat models of hypertension and diet-induced obesity show that treatment with Avemar improved cardiac function, decreased macrophage infiltration resulting in decreased collagen deposition in the ventricular myocardium, reversed an increased stiffness of the left ventricle in the diseased hearts and attenuated increased plasma malondialdehyde concentrations. In addition to the changes in the heart, Avemar reversed glucose intolerance, normalized systolic blood pressure and decreased visceral fat deposition in rats fed a high-fat/high-carbohydrate diet. In conclusion, the fermented wheat germ extract Avemar has a potential role in attenuating chronic hypertension, diabetes or metabolic syndrome-induced cardiovascular symptoms along with metabolic abnormalities such as glucose tolerance and obesity.


Rupture of the pelvicalycine systems is occasionally observed during infusion pyelograms. Twenty such cases are reported. The usual cause was the presence of stones in the ureter leading to urinary tract obstruction and acute pressure rise in the pelvicalycine system. The anatomical and physiological basis for the rupture is outlined. Subsequently our own cases are described. In 13 patients rupture occurred without previous renal abnormality; in these there was always spontaneous healing once the obstruction had been removed. In five patients rupture occurred in a previously damaged kidney; the changes at the point of rupture and the subsequent possible complications are described. Two cases should be mentioned in detail; in these, rupture persisted and lead to the development of a retroperitoneal pseudocyst. Only one similar case is reported in the literature since 1966.


Keeping homing pigeons in an oscillating magnetic field of low intensity is known to increase the scattering of initial bearings and/or their deflection towards a specific direction. To determine whether these effects on orientation are the outcome of direct interference with the birds' navigational mechanism or are the side-effect of problems in another biological system, experiments were performed to test whether the same effects could be induced by non-magnetic treatments. The initial orientation of pigeons treated with the prototypic opiate antagonist naloxone (1 mg kg−1) displayed similar disturbances to those observed in magnetically treated birds. In both cases, the orientation was significantly different from that of control birds.

The concentration and affinity of the brain's μ-opiate receptors were then assessed in magnetically treated birds by using [3H]dihydromorphine as a ligand. The concentration of jij-opiate receptors fell significantly in these birds, whereas the affinity of the receptors was unaffected.

We conclude that it appears improbable that the navigational mechanism of pigeons is directly influenced by magnetic treatments. What these do seem to produce is a lack of compensation for the stress experienced by pigeons subjected to a test release


Air defense radar target recognition is a difficult area of target identification, target identification of aircraft has been an important area of national military research. On the basis of jet engine modulation (JEM) effect of air craft, caused of rotating components' periodic motion, an universal mathematical model of air defense radar propellers modulation echo is established in this paper. According to the characteristic of propellers modulation echo, simulated and compared the effects of propellers structure parameters to rotary blades radar echo signals, and pointed out that diverse types of the plane echo have different characteristics of modulation cycle. Compared the estimation performances of several features analysis and extraction algorithm with the study of prop-airplane echo signal. The simulation results demonstrate that the feature is stable and effective, bispectrum estimation value is more accurate and less errors. It's feasible to using the feature to identify diverse types (or models) aircrafts.


Managing wastewater ponds to achieve a short hydraulic retention time (HRT) is a potential greenhouse gas abatement tool that farmers can employ to reduce methane emissions from manure management systems. With research data from other livestock sectors suggesting significant reductions are possible, this Action on the Ground project aimed to demonstrate the application of short‐HRT wastewater management on a commercial dairy farm in southern Australia where wastewater storage is considered best practice to avoid nutrient runoff or leaching during wet periods. This trial demonstrated that while the theory may be sound, there are practical impediments to achieving short‐HRT and that ancillary management practices such as frequent agitation to recover settled solids are likely to have significant influence on methane emissions. Methane emissions during the trial's short‐HRT mode were 87% higher (on the basis of methane generated per mass of volatile solids added to the storage tank) than the emissions recorded during the baseline phase. Analysis of project data suggests that intermittent mixing caused an increase in methane emissions larger than could be explained by temperature alone and, as agitation for sludge removal is a necessary part of maintaining a functional storage, needs further investigation. However, it must also be noted that methane emissions during the baseline phase were lower than expected. Other practical challenges identified by the project include; i. reducing HRT's promptly, and to sufficiently low retention times, in the drier part of the year to capture the potential abatement offered by short‐HRT management, ii. managing multiple pond systems where the bulk of methane emissions are from a primary pond not the managed storage, and iii. generating data that would enable a manager to document if the potential abatement offered by short‐HRT has been achieved. Data from the Biochemical Methane Potential testing showed that the wastewater at this site had the potential for higher methane emissions than is currently estimated by the default value for ultimate degradability (Bo) within the National Inventory Report and appropriate industry stakeholders should look for opportunities to investigate this further.


Object-oriented applications are difficult to extend and maintain, due to the presence of implicit dependencies in the inheritance hierarchy. Although these dependencies often correspond to well-known schemas, such as hook and template methods, new unanticipated dependency schemas occur in practice, and can consequently be hard to recognize and detect. To tackle this problem, we have applied concept analysis to automatically detect recurring dependency schemas in class hierarchies used in object-oriented applications. In this paper we describe our mapping of OO dependencies to the formal framework of concept analysis, we apply our approach to a non-trivial case study, and we report on the kinds of dependencies that are uncovered with this technique. As a result, we show how the discovered dependency schemas correspond not only to good design practices, but also to "bad smells" in design.


A broad diverse test set of alkanes and cycloalkanes previously studied with MM4 calculations has had the heats of formation calculated by several different quantum mechanical methods: HartreeFock, MP2, and MP4, and also by B3LYP and B3LYP + dispersion energy. Overall, three computational methods (MM4, MP4, and B3LYP + dispersion) yield results that are generally of experimental accuracy. These results are analyzed and compared in some detail.


In this paper we investigate small and young companies' motives for internationalization. There are many reasons for companies to engage in foreign direct investment. This study is based on theories including four categories of internationalization drivers that motivate firms to establish themselves abroad. Theses categories consist of market, resource, efficiency, and strategic resources seeking motives. A fifth category was added in order to include network seeking motives. The survey was conducted using a web based questionnaire. The target population consisted of companies that are members of nine Swedish business incubators and science parks. E-mails were sent to representatives in the incubators and science parks and were then forwarded to the companies, asking them to participate in the study. We conclude that the member companies of Swedish incubators and science parks responded most positively to network and market seeking motives. We therefore regard the companies as network seekers and market seekers. Four motives were by the responders associated with the highest degree of importance. Two were in the category of network seeking motives: starting new collaborations and staying close to main client or supplier. The other two were in the category of market seeking motives: reaching new markets and limitations of the home market.


3D printing has been widely adopted for clinical decision making and interventional planning of Congenital heart disease (CHD), while whole heart and great vessel segmentation is the most significant but time-consuming step in model generation for 3D printing. While various automatic whole heart and great vessel segmentation frameworks have been developed in the literature, they are ineffective when applied to medical images in CHD, which have significant variations in heart structure and great vessel connections. To address the challenge, we leverage the power of deep learning in processing regular structures and that of graph algorithms in dealing with large variations, and propose a framework that combines both for whole heart and great vessel segmentation in CHD. Particularly, we first use deep learning to segment the four chambers and myocardium followed by blood pool, where variations are usually small. We then extract the connection information and apply graph matching to determine the categories of all the vessels. Experimental results using 68 3D CT images covering 14 types of CHD show that our method can increase Dice score by 11.9% on average compared with the state-of-the-art whole heart and great vessel segmentation method in normal anatomy. The segmentation results are also printed out using 3D printers for validation.


Morphological and quantitative morphometric analysis of changes 4 hours after traumatic axonal injury (TAI) in stretch-injury to guinea pig optic nerve fibres, a model of human diffuse axonal injury (DAI), demonstrated that the response of different sizes of axons/fibres with particular respect to the axonal cytoskeleton differed. The site of maximum axonal/fibre damage was found to be in the middle rather than the prechiasmatic portion of the guinea pig optic nerve. The number of axons with a diameter 2.00 mum) compaction of neurofilaments did not occur, but rather there was a significant increase in spacing between neighbouring, neurofilaments, referred to as "dispersion", that was associated with a significant loss of their number. In a small proportion of larger fibres, in which periaxonal space(s) occurred, there was, however, compaction of neurofilaments rather than an increase in their spacing. This was associated with a significant reduction in both axonal calibre and the g-ratio, but without any change in the number of myelin lamellae. Longitudinal thin sections revealed that there were local foci of compaction of neurofilaments along the length of some nerve fibres that were separated from regions where the appearance of the fibre was close to normal. At these foci, compaction of neurofilaments was associated with the occurrence of large holes in the axolemma, separation of the axolemma from the remnants of the cytoskeleton and loss of the close relationship of the axolemma to the myelin sheath. The myelin sheath at these foci was grossly disrupted and expanded to form a "balloon-like" appearance. The response of microtubules differed from that of neurofilaments after stretch-injury. There was an apparent increase in spacing between microtubules in fibres with an axonal diameter less than 1.50 ?im and decrease in their number in fibres with axonal diameter less than 2.00 mum, however these changes were not statistically significant. There was a significant increase in spacing between microtubules in fibres with an axonal diameter greater than 1.50 mum. There was a loss in their number in both larger fibres (diameter > 2.00 mum) with dispersion of neurofilaments and those with periaxonal space(s) where compaction of neurofilaments occurred. It is hypothesised that there is a spectrum of axonal damage. At milder levels of injury there is misalignment of the cytoskeleton, at more severe levels compaction of neurofilaments, loss of microtubules and fragmentation of the axolemma. Morphological and morphometric analysis provided novel data which demonstrated that (i) the response by neurofilaments differed in different sizes of axons/fibres, (ii) that the neurofilament response differed along the length of the same axon, and (iii) the response by microtubules to stretch-injury differed from that of neurofilaments. The present study provides the first evidence that there is indeed a spectrum of pathological changes in different sizes of axons/fibres 4 hours after traumatic axonal injury to guinea pig optic nerves.


The tolerance of sulfur poisoning of α-Mo2C(0001) surfaces with different Pt coverages is investigated combining the density functional theory (DFT) results with thermodynamics data using the ab initio atomistic thermodynamic method. It is found that on Mo2C(0001), Pt clusters tend to form two dimensional planar structures instead of aggregating. The clean Mo2C(0001) surface interacts with sulfides very strongly and is susceptible to sulfur poisoning. With increasing the coverage of Pt on the Mo2C surface, the interaction between sulfur and substrate is weakened. The sulfur tolerance ability increases in the order of Mo2C ≈ Pt1/Mo2C < Pt4/Mo2C < Pt8/Mo2C, where the coverage of Pt on the Mo2C plays a very effective role. The results provide theoretical guidance for designing Mo2C based catalysts with high activity and high sulfur resistance.


We report a simple electrochemical method of making individual free-standing and uniform tantalum oxide membranes between 35 and 100 nm thick. These films can be separated, floated on water, and transferred onto various substrates such as Si wafers, glass slides, and TEM grids. Our membranes are mechanically, chemically, and thermally robust, have a high dielectric constant, and a high refractive index, making them potentially useful in sensors, optics, filtration, and catalysis.


Quality, resilience, commitment and sustainable delivery of services has increasingly being a demand for every community in the world. The 21st century has identified the kind of skills that need to be embraced by every individual for one to deliver quality, sustainable and descent work. In response, Tanzania launched the Higher education Development Programme (HEDP) to ensure the attainment of this fundamental objective. This study therefore investigated the vastness of HEDP on enabling quality and sustainable service delivery among university graduates. The study tested two hypotheses. The CIP1P2I evaluation model guide this study. The study employed Convergent design under mixed research approach. The target population for this evaluation study was 18,601 respondents selected from eight (8) Universities in the Northern Zone Tanzania. The target population comprised of 5,118 final year bachelor degree students, 483 lecturers, 8 DVC-academics, 12,292 alumni and 100 employers. The sample was 697 which comprised of 511 final year Bachelor degree students; 48 lecturers; 4 DVC academics; 124 alumni and 10 employers. The sampling techniques included stratified random, purposive sampling techniques and automatic inclusion. Data was collected by using questionnaires, indepth interview guides and document analysis guides. Quantitative data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics where frequencies, percentages, and means were determined. Qualitative data was analyzed through transcription of the texts, generate themes, interpreting, discussion and making conclusions. The study found that, most alumni couldn't deliver quality and sustainable service as needed by their community. The study concluded that, HEDP has not adequately brought about tangible implications on the quality and sustainability of graduates and thus quality of higher education system is questionable. It was recommended that, universities should reform curriculums that emphasize on acquisition of soft-skills that may enable graduates deliver quality and sustainable services rather than traditional emphasis on academic achievement.


This paper introduces the basic working principle of capacitive micromachined gyroscope. A novel differential lengthwise capacitance comb detection structure is put forward. And it also analyzes the linearity of the differential lengthwise capacitive comb detection structure compares to the transversal detection. By measuring the scale factor, it verifies the high linearity of lengthwise differential capacitive detection structure. The linearity insures the linearity of conversing section of the detect system's displacement and the capacitive variation. And this will greatly improve the linearity and stability of micromachined gyroscope.


OBJECTIVES
We simultaneously assessed ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in comparison with histopathological changes in the knee joints of long-lasting arthritis patients.

METHODS
We studied 15 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 5 patients with osteoarthritis, who underwent total knee arthroplasty. On the day before surgery, the joints were examined by US and contrast-enhanced MRI. In US, synovitis was graded with 0-3 grey scale (GSUS) and power Doppler (PDUS). In MRI, synovitis was graded according to OMERACT-RAMRIS (grade 0-3). Synovial tissue samples were obtained during arthroplasty and evaluated on the basis of inflammatory cell infiltrates (grade 0-3), synovial lining layer thickness (grade 0-3) and vascularity (grade 0-3).

RESULTS
Positive findings of PDUS and contrast-enhanced MRI were 45% and 85% of 20 operated joints, respectively. GSUS, PDUS and MRI synovitis were well correlated with overall histopathological grades of synovitis (Spearman correlation coefficients 0.48, 0.84 and 0.48, p<0.05, p<0.01 and p<0.05, respectively). Moreover, positive PDUS findings were closely associated with all pathological comportments of synovitis including inflammatory cell infiltrates, synovial lining layer thickness and vascularity.

CONCLUSIONS
The present study revealed that positive PDUS findings more faithfully illustrated active synovitis than MRI, whereas contrast-enhanced MRI was more sensitive in detecting synovitis in patients with long-lasting arthritis. It is important to understand distinct features of the both modalities for clinical assessment of chronic joint diseases.


The larger benthic foraminiferal family Lepidocyclinidae has been described extensively in the literature, with occurrences ranging from the middle Eocene in the Americas to the late Miocene (or possibly early Pliocene) in the Indo-Pacific Tethyan sub-province. Lepidocyclinids originated in the Americas but related forms are reported from West Africa from the middle Eocene-early Oligocene pointing to an eastward migration. This migration continued within the Tethys until the lepidocyclinids finally colonized the Indo-Pacific in the late early Oligocene. Various lepidocyclinid species have been used to zone and date the Neogene (particularly in the Indo-Pacific), and many, sometimes confusing, generic and suligeneric nomenclatures have been proposed to differentiate the often subtle morphological changes that have been observed to occur with time. Until now, it has not been possible to develop an effective global view of the evolution and migration of the lepidocyclinids because descriptions of specimens from the American province have been relatively rare. Here we present descriptions of new samples from 37 wells drilled off South America, and present a systematic comparison of the Lepidocyclinidae from the South America and the Tethyan sub-provinces of the Mediterranean-West Africa and the Indo-Pacific. Among the 87 specimens illustrated from the two provinces, 45 are recorded in America, including three new taxa, Lepidocyclina (Nephrolepidina) braziliana, Lepidocyclina (Nephrolepidina) americana and Eulepidina parkinsonia, and one new unnamed species of Eulepidina. By comparing the stratigraphic ranges of the South American specimens with previously described Tethyan forms, the phylogenetic evolution of the lepidocyclinids is reconstructed from their mid-Eocene origin in the Americas to their late Miocene (or possibly early Pliocene) extinction in the Indo-Pacific. Systematic comparisons enabled us to trace the timing and route of the paleogeographic migration of the lepidocyclinids from the Americas, through the Tethyan/Mediterranean corridor, and into the Indo-Pacific region. Our observations confirm that the series of global regressions in the middle Eocene and early Oligocene facilitated transoceanic migration of larger benthic foraminifera between the American and the Tethyan provinces. However, this migration stopped after rising sea-level in the early Oligocene separated the provinces. Subsequently, larger benthic foraminifera exhibited independent but similar lines of evolution. The resulting examples of parallel evolution led to some taxonomic confusion in the literature that we seek to resolve.


This work presents the development process of Refrigerator test ring and then carryout the performance analysis of domestic refrigerator. The experiment platform which is called refrigerator test ring will be developed from refrigerator model. Performance of refrigerator also depends on inlet and outlet condition of each components. So in this research work refrigerator test ring will be developed and obtain performance of domestic refrigerator in term of Refrigeration Capacity, Compressor Work and Coefficient of Performance (COP) by determining two important parameter during operating condition which are temperature and pressure. So carry out this project I use different alternative refrigerant and find the data and compare the data to each other and then find the alternate of R 134a.


This paper shows a circuit designed to measure the water flow in private homes and industrial buildings. The circuit was developed with hard constraints in size and in power consumption. It counts pulses coming from a sensor (multipole turbine placed inside the water pipe) operating as a slave of a microprocessor. It measures the period of that signal using an exponential counter (counting integer part and mantissa) to prevent overflows extending the dynamic range. The data is sent to the microprocessor through a bi-directional serial channel, using a protocol similar to the I/sup 2/C standard. The circuit has interrupt generation capabilities. Since it has to be used with a wide range of sensors and in different operating modes, it can be programmed from the microprocessor via command and status registers. It has an adaptive clock to minimize power dissipation when water flow is zero or with small water leaks. Since the circuit will be manufactured in large quantities additional circuitry was added for testing purposes.


Extending a Padé approximant method used for studying compactons in the Rosenau-Hyman (RH) equation, we study the numerical stability of single compactons of the Cooper-Shepard-Sodano (CSS) equation and their pairwise interactions. The CSS equation has a conserved Hamiltonian which has allowed various approaches for studying analytically the nonlinear stability of the solutions. We study three different compacton solutions and find they are numerically stable. Similar to the collisions between RH compactons, the CSS compactons re-emerge with same coherent shape when scattered. The time evolution of the small-amplitude ripple resulting after scattering depends on the values of the parameters l and p characterizing the corresponding CSS equation. The simulation of the CSS compacton scattering requires a much smaller artificial viscosity to obtain numerical stability than in the case of RH compacton propagation.


Background Previous studies indicated a potential role for mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells in the pathogenesis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS).1,2 Active peripheral arthritis and extra-articular manifestations may influence the presence of circulating MAIT cells in AS. Objectives To investigate circulating MAIT cells in a homogenous group of axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) patients with only axial involvement in comparison to age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC). Secondly, to explore the association of MAIT cells with symptom duration and disease activity. Methods Consecutive axial SpA patients from the Groningen Leeuwarden axial SpA (GLAS) cohort without active peripheral arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis or uveitis were included. Patients with active infections or current use of biologics were excluded to rule out possible influence on the presence of circulating MAIT cells. Disease activity was assessed using ASDAS, BASDAI, and serum CRP levels. The frequencies and absolute numbers of circulating MAIT cells were examined in peripheral blood of all studied samples by 5-color flow cytometry. Immediately after sampling, EDTA-blood was stained with anti-CD3, anti-CD8, anti-TCRVa7.2, anti-CD161, and anti-TCRgd. After staining, the cells were washed, fixed, and analyzed immediately on FACS. MAIT cells were identified phenotypically as CD3+CD8+TCRγδ-Vα7.2+CD161high cells. Results Of the 41 included axial SpA patients, mean age was 46±16 years, 73% were male, mean symptom duration was 23±14 years, and 78% were HLA-B27 positive. Mean ASDAS was 2.6±1.0, mean BASDAI was 4.4±2.5, and median CRP was 3 (range 2–30). 70%, 54% and 37% of axial SpA patients had ASDAS ≥2.1, BASDAI≥4 or CRP≥5, respectively. HC had exactly the same age and sex distribution. Both the percentages and absolute numbers of circulating MAIT cells were comparable between axial SpA patients and HC (Figure 1). In axial SpA patients, absolute numbers of MAIT cells correlated negatively (rho=-0.339) with symptom duration. No significant associations were found between MAIT cells and disease activity, except for a negative correlation (rho=-0.332) between frequency of MAIT cells and BASDAI (Table 1). There were no significant differences in MAIT cells between axial SpA patients with and without active disease according to ASDAS, BASDAI or CRP.Table 1. Association of percentages and absolute numbers of MAIT cells with symptom duration and assessments of disease activity in axial SpA patients (n=41), Spearman correlation coefficients % CD8+ MAIT nr CD8+ MAIT Symptom duration (yrs) -0.248 -0.339* ASDASCRP -0.221 0.053 BASDAI (0–10) -0.332* -0.126 CRP (mg/l) -0.137 0.030 *P-value <0.05. Conclusions In this homogeneous group of axial SpA patients with only axial disease, the presence of circulating MAIT cells did not differ from age- and sex-matched HC. No strong association was found between circulating MAIT cells and symptom duration or disease activity. References Gracey et al. Ann Rheum Dis 2016;75(12):2124–32. Hayashi et al. J Rheumatol 2016;43(9):1695–703. Acknowledgements Funding: This research project was supported by an unrestricted grant from Janssen. Janssen had no role in the design, conduct, interpretation, or publication of this study. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Abstract : This paper describes a connected element interferometer that has been developed and is operating with collection elements in Tucson and Phoenix with a separation of 180 km. Coherence between the collection sites of better than 50 picoseconds is achieved through two-way time transfer over a commercial fiber optics link. The description of hardware and software implementation, as well as measurement results of several operating satellites, are presented. Consider analysis is also presented to demonstrate the projected system performance against different targets, based on the characteristics of the measurement using the existing Tucson-Phoenix link.


While the techniques to achieve secure, privacy-preserving software are now well understood, evidence shows that many software development teams do not use them: they lack the 'security maturity' to assess security needs and decide on appropriate tools and processes; and they lack the ability to negotiate with product management for the required resources. This paper describes a measuring approach to assess twelve aspects of this security maturity; its use to assess the impact of a lightweight package of workshops designed to increase security maturity; and a novel approach within that package to support developers in resource negotiation. Based on trials in eight organizations, involving over 80 developers, this paper demonstrates that (1) development teams can notably improve their security maturity even in the absence of security specialists; and (2) suitably guided, developers can find effective ways to promote security to product management. Empowering developers to make their own decisions and promote security in this way offers a powerful grassroots approach to improving the security of software worldwide.


The counter-regulatory effects of beta-adrenergic stimulation and cyclic AMP on the insulin-like action of growth hormone (GH) on the subcellular distribution of insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) receptors were studied in fat cells from hypophysectomized (Hx) and sham-operated rats. For comparison, the effect of insulin on this process was also studied. Basal IGF-II binding was increased by approx. 2-fold in cells from Hx as compared with sham-operated animals. The stimulatory effect of insulin was decreased in Hx cells, mainly due to a basal redistribution but also to a reduced total number of receptors. GH exerted an acute insulin-like effect in cells from Hx rats and stimulated the translocation of IGF-II receptors from an intracellular pool to the plasma membrane. beta-Adrenergic stimulation with isoprenaline or addition of the non-metabolizable cyclic AMP-analogue N6-monobutyryl cyclic AMP induced a cellular resistance to both GH and insulin and also reduced the responsiveness to these hormones. Adenosine exerted a modulatory effect on both hormones. Binding of 125I-labelled GH to its receptors was not significantly changed by any of these factors. It is concluded that: (1) beta-adrenergic stimulation and cyclic AMP induce a cellular GH resistance at a level distal to the GH-binding site, and (2) the insulin-like effect of GH shares a common pathway with insulin which occurs at the post-binding level.


Abstract The characterization of short-period detached low-mass binaries, by the determination of their physical and orbital parameters, reveal the most precise basic parameters of low-mass stars. Particularly, when photometric and spectroscopic data of eclipsing binaries (EBs) are combined. Recently, 16 new low-mass EBs were discovered by the WFCAM Transit Survey (WTS), however, only three of them were fully characterized. Therefore, new spectroscopic data were already acquired with the objective to characterize five new detached low-mass EBs discovered in the WTS, with short periods between 0.59 and 1.72 days. A preliminary analysis of the radial velocity and light curves was performed, where we have derived orbital separations of 2.88 to 6.69 R ⊙, and considering both components, we have found stellar radii ranging from 0.40 to 0.80 R ⊙, and masses between 0.24 and 0.71 M ⊙. In addition to the determination of the orbital parameters of these systems, the relation between mass, radius and orbital period of these objects can be investigated in order to study the mass-radius relationship and the radius anomaly in the low main-sequence.


Introduction: Orthopedic wards are hazardous places for the acquirement of pathogens, not only pinhole wounds will be infected with microorganisms but inadequately sterilized instruments, environment medical surfaces, and utilization of orthopedic nurses' knowledge and practice for dressing around pin external fixation without handwashing before any procedure. All of them assist in transmission infection complications from patients to another patient1. Pin site infection is the most common complication. It is documented to be as high as 85% in the Western countries and 71.4% (including major and minor infection) in India2. Objective: The main objective of this study is to assess the knowledge of nursing students before and after the intervention regarding the prevention of pin site infection with external fixators among final year nursing students. Method: A one-group quasiexperimental study design was used for this study. It includes randomization, manipulation, and no control group. The samples for this study were 60 N.D.R.K final nursing students selected through the lottery method. The data collected by using self -structured Knowledge questionnaire on the prevention of pin site infection with external fixators, before introducing the information booklet and three weeks later the post-test was given to the same group. Results: The finding of the pre-test knowledge showed that adequate knowledge in anatomy and physiology of musculoskeletal system (57.3%), moderate knowledge in External fixator (42.0%), and prevention of pin site infection (42.3%).The study related to the level of knowledge regarding prevention of pin site infection among final year b.sc nursing students showed that 61.7% have inadequate knowledge, 38.3% are having moderately adequate knowledge and none are having adequate knowledge. After administering the information booklet 83.3% had adequate knowledge and no one had inadequate knowledge. Considering overall knowledge on pre and post-test scores analyzed by using paired t-test, it showed that the information booklet was effective (0.001) with a mean difference of 12.65 among final year B.sc nursing students.


Ground locomotion of wheeled vehicles, in all-wheel drive configuration, is subject to unique, generally highly variable and not predictable, loading conditions on the driveline subsystem. Any sensible design must cope at least with the effects induced by slope changes, asymmetrical losses of adherence and cornering maneuvers.
 When severe constraints on the driveline layout make the implementation of standard mechanical transmissions unfeasible, a typical option is given by compound hydrostatic transmission architectures, with multiple dedicated motor-wheels.
 Requirements are then defined on two different levels: at vehicle level, traction functionality must never be lost; at hydraulic circuit level, all components must work within their nominal operating ranges and hydraulic stresses must be limited.
 Common standard topologies for motor connection, viz. series and parallel, come with different strengths and weaknesses, often requiring the implementation of auxiliary highly dissipative compensation components and/or complex electronic control, while a hybrid series-parallel concept, derived from a patented application, based on three-port motors allows the implementation of an effective, purely hydraulic system.
 In the present work, a general comparison of the above-mentioned architectures is provided, by means of numerical simulation, over a wide set of virtual experiments. Each architecture is analyzed: its specific features are described and the correlation between hydraulic performance/specifications and vehicle traction performance is pointed out.


The organic waste from various biodegradable sources could be applied as a feed material for the gas Production. In this paper, an attempt has been made to test the performance of different ratio of organic waste in a High Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE) made portable floating type bio gas plant of volume capacity of 1 m 3 for outdoor climatic condition. The objective of this study is comparative performances evaluation of organic waste potential through bio-gas production. Comparative studies of bio-gas production using various substrates were carried out. The substrates used were organic waste (dried water hyacinth, algal mass). Various parameters were studied during bio-gas production like alkalinity pH, Solar radiation, Ambient Temperature, Slurry Temperature Volume of Gas Production, Controller cooking test and Gas consumption. The present study is helpful to set up small scale optimized bio-gas production in households' level bio-gas plant with locally available organic waste material. Here our research was just under a proto type bio-gas plant but if we will made this at a big level, it will generate more bio-gas for power generation application. Thus required the more research and development for collection methodology and pre- fermentation of organic wastes.


Summary This paper analyses the current position of physical culture in the society. It points out the social changes that have substantially suppressed the term physical education and replaced it with the phrase, physical education and sport. In the light of need to reinstate this term into the professional discourse, there was a reminder of the importance and the social scientific contribution to creation of the Theory of physical culture by Milivoje Matić. The critical analysis of the current state of physical education was also conducted. In order to improve physical education classes, a new paradigm of physical education, that will be based on installation of the functional system of physical education and curriculum reform, has to be created. New physical education paradigm signalizes the return to the physical culture - following in professor Matić's footsteps.


Databases, particularly when storing heterogeneous, sparse semi- structured data, tend to provide incomplete information and information which is difficult to categorize. This paper first considers how to classify entity instances as members of entity classes organized in a lattice-like generalization/specialization hierarchy. Then, it describes how the frame representation employed for instances and classes, as well as the closeness criterion involved in the classification method, favors the practical use of similarity and analogy, where similarity refers to instances within the same class, and analogy involves different classes. Finally, the paper argues that similarity and analogy facilitate querying semi-structured data.


Although the agricultural sector contributes only 0.5% to Trinidad and Tobago's GDP, it accounts for over 4% of employment and is important for the diversification of the economy. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago supports agriculture through a combination of incentives to agricultural producers, support for research and infrastructure, and border protection measures. Support to producers averaged 22.4% of gross farm receipts in 2013-2015, and a significant share of that support (44%) was provided in the form of transfers to general services. At the same time, total transfers arising from agricultural policy amounted to only 0.34% of the national GDP. Reorienting agricultural policy towards goals and actions that are less production-distorting, and that address agricultural productivity and profitability, will help create a possibly small, but efficient agricultural sector, as well as exploit certain specific competitive advantages.


: Influence of hazardous work conditions of chemical production on health state of the aged workers. When compared with the group aged under 45 years, prevalence of nervous, cardiovascular and locomotor diseases is 1.5-4 times higher in workers aged over 45 and engaged into main occupations (device operators, operators, fitters) in production of organic glass, dichloroethane, polyurethane foam and subjected continuously to chemicals 2 and more times exceeding MAC. The authors suggest ways to reduce risk of occupationally mediated diseases in aged workers presenting 30-60% of the workshop staffers in the industries studied.


The perception of Esenin's life and work in Latin America is considered as an extensive branched nonlinear process, the interpretation of which is based on a combination of historical-literary, socio-cultural and general theoretical methods. Attention is focused on the identification-value and dialogic perspectives of reception, while reconstructing the Latin American understanding of Esenin, special attention is paid to revolutionary, avant-garde and universalizing contexts. The research material, which is being introduced for the first time into Esenin studies, is the essays of J. C. Mariategui (Peru), poetry by G. Rojas (Chile), poetry by J. Laurentino Ortiz (Argentina), poetry and essays of J. Teiller (Chile), poetry and essay studies of C. Tiempo (Argentina) etc.


With cloud assistance, mobile apps can offload their resource-demanding computation tasks to the cloud. This leads to a scenario where computation tasks in the same program run concurrently on both the mobile device and the cloud. An important challenge is to ensure that the tasks are able to access and share the files on both the mobile and the cloud in a manner that is efficient, consistent, and transparent to locations. Existing distributed file systems and network file systems do not satisfy these requirements. Current systems for offloading tasks either do not support file access for offloaded tasks or do not offload tasks with file access. The paper addresses this issue by designing and implementing an application-level file system called Overlay File System (OFS). To improve efficiency, OFS maintains and buffers local copies of data sets on both the cloud and the mobile device. OFS ensures consistency and guarantees that all the reads get the latest data. It combines write-invalidate and write-update policies to effectively reduce the network traffic incurred by invalidating/updating stale data copies and to reduce the execution delay when the latest data cannot be accessed locally. To guarantee location transparency, OFS creates a unified view of the data that is location independent and is accessible as local storage. We overcome the challenges caused by the special features of mobile systems on an application-level file system, like the lack of root privilege and state loss when application is killed due to the shortage of resource and implement an easy to deploy prototype of OFS. The paper tests the OFS prototype on Android OS with a real mobile app and real mobile user traces. Extensive experiments show that OFS can effectively support consistent file accesses from computation tasks, no matter whether they are on a mobile device or offloaded to the cloud. In addition, OFS reduce both file access latency and network traffic incurred by file accesses.


This Subject Report analyzes fertility differentials by socioeconomic and demographic characteristics for all India and for individual states, based on data from India's 1992–93 National Family Health Survey. The findings indicate a wide diversity among Indian states in the total fertility rate, which ranges from about two children per woman in Goa and Kerala to about five children per woman in Uttar Pradesh. By socioeconomic characteristics, the total fertility rate tends to be higher among rural women than among urban women, higher among women with less education, higher among Muslim women than among Hindu women, and higher among scheduled-caste (SC) women and scheduled-tribe (ST) women than among non-SC/ST women. Estimates of period parity progression ratios (PPPRs) from birth to first marriage imply nearly universal marriage, with 96 percent of all Indian women eventually marrying. However, this overall figure masks some diversity among the states. The PPPRs from birth to marriage range from almost 100 percent in Punjab and Bihar to 89 percent in Orissa, Assam, and Goa, implying that 11 percent will never marry in these latter three states. In the country as a whole, progression from marriage to first birth is also nearly universal, at 97 percent. Again there are exceptions, most notably Andhra Pradesh, where the PPPR from marriage to first birth implies that 7 percent of married women will never have a first birth. In the country as a whole, the progression ratio from first to second birth is also quite high, at 93 percent. At higher parities, progression ratios fall off more rapidly. How rapidly depends to a considerable extent on the general level of fertility in a particular state. The multivariate analysis indicates much higher parity progression ratios among women who have experienced one or more child deaths than among women who have not experienced any child deaths. Parity progression ratios are much lower among women who have one living son than among women who have no living son, and much lower among women who have two or more living sons than among women who have only one living son. Controls for urban/rural residence and education affect these results hardly at all. Parity progression ratios tend to be higher among rural women than among urban women, but this difference virtually disappears when education is controlled. On the other hand, differentials by education persist when residence is controlled, indicating that urban women have lower fertility largely because they are more educated. Differentials in parity progression ratios by husband's education largely disappear when residence and wife's education are controlled, indicating that wife's education is a considerably more important determinant of fertility than husband's education. Differentials in parity progression by religion tend to be large and mostly unaffected by controls for residence and education, indicating that differences by religion in levels of urbanization and education do not explain fertility differences by religion. On the other hand, parity progression ratio differentials by caste/tribe, which tend to be small to begin with, are reduced further by controls for residence and education.


BACKGROUND
Autologous hamstring grafts are commonly used for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. The injury of infrapatellar branch of saphenous nerve is one of the concerns leading to various pattern of sensory loss in the operated leg. An oblique incision to harvest the graft has been reported to be better than the vertical one.The aim of this study was to compare the incidence, recovery of nerve injury and final outcome in patients with hamstring harvest of vertical or oblique incision.

METHODS
A total of 146 patients who underwent hamstring graft harvest for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, were included in the study. They were randomized into two (Vertical and Oblique) groups as per the incisions used. The sensory loss along the Infra Patellar Branch of Saphenous Nerve was documented on 3rd day. Recovery of the nerve injury was monitoredat three, six and 12 months follow-ups. At final follow up Tegner Lysholm score and scale was recorded to compare between two groups.

RESULTS
The incidence of infrapatellar branch of saphenous nerve injury was 25% in vertical group and 16.36% in oblique group. Recovery of nerve injury started earlier in oblique group compared to vertical group. The mean TegnerLyshom score was not significantly different in both the groups.

CONCLUSIONS
Oblique incision to harvest hamstring graft has lesser incidence of infrapatellar branch of saphenous nerve injury, recovers earlier and does not have any adverse effect on final outcome compared to the vertical incision.


Applying detailed consecutive daily micro data at the gasoline station level from Sweden we estimate a structural model to uncover the degree of competition in the gasoline retail market. We find that retailers do exercise market power, but despite the high upstream concentration, the market power is very limited on the downstream level. The degree of market power varies with both the distance to the nearest station and the local density of gasoline stations. A higher level of service tends to raise a seller's market power; self-service stations have close to no market power. Contractual form and brand identity also seem to matter. We find a clear result: local station characteristics significantly affect the degree of market power. Our results indicate that local differences in station characteristics can more than offset the average market Power found for the whole market.