Abortion is one of the subjects that have been discussed extensively in both national and international level. It has become a controversial issue all over the world. Everybody is in dilemma whether a mother has a right to terminate her pregnancy at any time she wishes or an unborn child has a right to life. The right to life is a very broad concept and is the most fundamental of all. In India, right to life has been recognized under Article 21 of the Constitution which says that "No person shall be deprived of his life and personal liberty except according to procedure established by law". Person here includes both man and woman. Among various rights which are available to a woman, the right to abortion is also believed to be one of the most essential and fundamental right. Right to abortion has been recognized under right to privacy which is a part of right to personal liberty and which emanates from right to life. But the question always arises whether an unborn child should be considered as a human being and be given the status of a person or not. There are various aspects such as religious, ethics, moral and legal values that rule over the aspect of right to abortion. Abortion is severely condemned in all religions. But in spite of that always the question arises whether the mother has a right to abortion or the child has a right to life. Ronald Dworkin has made a detailed study on the issue of abortion. He did not accept the extreme position taken by the derivative claimers of prohibition of abortion that, the fetus is a complete moral person from the moment of conception. Hence the unborn has the right to live and abortion is a murder or nearly a wrong as murder. According to Dworkin a fetus has no interest before the third trimester. A fetus cannot feel pain until late in pregnancy, because its brain is not sufficiently developed before then. The scientists have agreed that fetal brain will be sufficiently developed to feel pain from approximately the twenty sixth weeks. Thus, whether abortion is against the interest of a fetus must depend on whether the fetus itself has interests, not on whether interests will develop if no abortion takes place. Something that is not alive does not have interests. Also, just because something can develop into a person does not mean it has interests either. Once a fetus can live on its own it may have interests. This is only after the third trimester.This paper has been divided into five chapters. Chapter II will examine Indian abortion laws. Chapter III will look at the abortion laws in America will deal with the comparative analysis and understanding of abortion. Chapter IV deals with conclusion and suggestions.1.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE:HYPOTHESIS: The hypothesis is that the mother's right should prevail over the right of unborn.RESEARCH QUESTION: To verify the hypothesis I adopted the following research questions:1. Meaning of abortion and philosophical background on abortion issues.2. Abortion laws in India.3. Comparative study with USA.4. Comparative analysis between India and USA.


Stroke is the third leading cause of death in Western countries and more importantly a leading cause of adult disability. The recovery process of stroke patients might be enhanced by intensive rehabilitation, which acts through brain plasticity mechanisms. Restorative approaches such as cell-based therapies are clinically appealing as it might be possible to help patients even when treatment is initiated days or weeks after the ischemic insult. An extensive number of experimental transplantation studies have been conducted with cells of different origins (e.g., embryonic stem, fetal neural stem, human umbilical cord blood) with promising results. Noninvasive intravascular administration of cells, which provides a broad distribution of cells to the close proximity of ischemic tissue, has perhaps the most immediate access to clinical applications. However, surprisingly little is known about whole body biodistribution of intravascularly administered cells and mechanisms leading to improved functional recovery. This review examines the recent literature concerning intravascular cell-based therapies in experimental stroke.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the blood lead levels of mothers and cord blood in intrauterine growth retarded (IUGR) neonates and normal term neonates.

METHODS
From April to December 2005, we carried out a cross-sectional, prospective study in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. Blood lead levels were measured in the umbilical cord and maternal venous blood samples in 32 mother-infant pairs with IUGR full term neonates, and 34 mother-infant pairs with normal full term neonates. Blood-lead levels were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry.

RESULTS
The mean lead concentration in neonates of IUGR and normal groups was not significantly different (107.47 +/- 16.75 versus 113.08 +/- 19.08 micrometer/L, p=0.2). The mean lead concentration in mothers of IUGR group was lower than normal groups, but this difference was not significant (124.56 +/- 19.71 versus 135.26 +/- 26.91 micrometer/L, p=0.07). Maternal lead levels were strongly related with cord blood in both IUGR and normal groups (r=0.8, p<0.0001). Maternal and cord blood lead levels was not correlated with birth weight of newborns in either group. Overall, 65.6% of IUGR neonates and 76.4% of normal neonates was above the critical level defined for lead poisoning as >100 micrometer/L by the centers for disease control; however, this was not statistically different between the groups.

CONCLUSION
Our results indicate that the mean lead level was not higher in IUGR neonates, and the whole blood lead was not related to the birth weight. In addition, maternal and cord blood lead levels were strongly correlated, and there were remarkable lead burdens on both the mothers and their neonates in this industrial area.


Bohai Bay, East China Sea and South China Sea are three of the largest-scale Cenozoic petroleum-rich sedimentary basins along the Chinese continental margin. For the past decades, the wealth of geological and geophysical data was acquired by the petroleum industries, which provide an opportunity to have a synthetic study on these basins.

(1) Structure and stratigraphic framework for the Cenozoic basins in the Bohai Bay, the East China Sea and the South China Sea are revealed to be different. The Bohai Bay basin was imaged to be a pull-apart basin, through which a regional-scale strike-slip fault went. The South China Sea was controlled by extension, which generated a serial of deepwater basins on the hyper-extended crust adjacent to the oceanic crust, most of which was controlled by the detachment faults. Between the Bohai Bay basin and East China Sea is the East China Sea, at the deep level of which a serial of thrust faults occurred. It indicated the regional compression from the pacific plate toward the East China.

(2) Based on the different structure and stratigraphic sequence in the basins along the Chinese continental margin, the basins evolutions were reconstructed. In Late Paleocene to Middle Eocene, distributed faulting occurred along the Chinese continental margin. Subsequently, in Late Eocene the evolution of these three basins were observed to be different. The Bohai Bay Basin was strongly influenced by the oblique strike-slip faulting, and lasted to the latest Late Oligocene, followed by the thermal subsidence in Miocene and a pulse of acceleration subsidence since Pliocene. In contrast to Bohai Bay basin, the continental shelf basin of the East China Sea experienced a long-time compression in the context of back-arc setting, and subsequently has a regional subsidence since Early Pliocene. The continental crust of the South China Sea was thinned since Late Eocene and eventually broke apart in Oligocene to form oceanic crust, where detachment faults bounded a serial of deepwater basins.

The different in basin structures and evolutions since Late Eocene was consistent with the event of plate organization in the western Pacific at that time. Before the event, Chinese continental margin was influenced by the interaction of Eurasian and Pacific plates, e.g. double-plate system. The subduction and related retreat of Pacific plate led to the back-arc extension of the Chinese continental margin, generating widely distributed grabens and half grabens filled with sediments. After this event, the Chinese continental margin was deformed by the interaction between India, Eurasian, Pacific and Philippine Sea plates, e.g. multi-plate system. In this context, several dynamic forces affected the evolution of the Chinese continental margins was observed, e.g. the collision between India and Eurasia, the change of the subduction direction of the Pacific plate, the subduction collision of the proto-South China Sea, the northward movement of the Philippine Sea plate. These complex plate reorganizations lead to the different genetic type of basins in Chinese continental margin.


The engineering of the three-dimensional (3D) heterostructure potential in GaAs/AlGaAs pyramidal quantum dot-in-dots (DiDs) provides control over the valence band symmetry and hence on the polarization of the emitted photons. We propose a technique for dynamic switching of hole character and photon polarization in DiDs by means of an applied electric field. The structural parameters required for producing this effect are discussed. Asymmetric DiDs are found to be particularly suitable for obtaining switching with fields smaller than 1 kV cm − 1. The proposed device enables generation of single photons with dynamic control on the photon polarization, with potential applications in quantum information technology.


Plants produce a variety of non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) that react with photochemical components of the atmosphere and influence the production of atmospheric oxidants. In this review, the case is made that biogenic NMVOC emissions exert one of the primary controls over regional and global atmospheric chemistry. The diversity of biogenic, reactive organic compounds capable of fueling atmospheric chemistry is immense, including terpe- nes, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, and organic acids. Considerable effort has been devoted to the design of models capable of predicting NMVOC emission rates, and thus driving atmospheric chemistry models. Over the past decade, however, what once seemed like promising conceptual connections of NMVOC emissions to fundamental biochemical processes such as photosynthesis, have not been realized; this has delayed the development of mechanistic NMVOC emissions models. Future progress in this area will require new subcellular experimental systems, and the biochemical insight that will accompany these investigations. The past use of existing coupled biogenic emission-photochemistry models at the global scale, even with their mechanistic limitations, has revealed the potential for NMVOC emissions from terrestrial ecosystems to cause reductions in tropospheric hydroxyl radical concentration and increases in the concentration and lifetime of radiatively important trace gases such as methane and ozone.


Tobacco consumption continues to be behavior engaged in by a large percentage of Bosnia&Herzegovina (BiH) citizens. According to the official statistics, nearly half of the state's adults, that is about 1,200,600 people, consume tobacco product on a daily bases. The state excise policy is one of the main available tool for reducing smoking prevalence because the cigarette prices are under direct impact of this policy. The specific excise on cigarettes introduced in BiH in 2009 and have increased every year so it was the main driver of cigarettes price growth. In order to provide research-based evidence for more effective tobacco taxation policies in BIH, in this paper we estimate price elasticity of demand for cigarettes using the macro level data for the period 2008 to 2017, on a semi-annual basis. The results have shown that increase in prices of cigarettes have statistically significant impact on cigarettes consumption, at significance level of 1%. The estimated price elasticity coefficient is in the range from -0.71 to -0.83, depends on the selected control variables used in the model. It means that increase in real cigarettes prices for 10% led to the decrease in cigarettes consumption in the range from 7.1% to 8.3%.


In recent years many engineering organizations have come to the conclusion that a centralized data base, containing all of their design/manufacturing data, is the most cost effective solution to their needs. Increasing numbers of the designers of these central data bases are utilizing commercially available DBMS packages to implement their systems. There are many good reasons for using an "off the shelf" system, but the results often do not live up to the expectations. This paper attempts to explain why this is so, and to identify features which should be in an Engineering Data Base Management System, but which are not available in commercial DBMS packages at the present time.


A VARIETY of natural and synthetic colloidal solutions have been used for the reestablishment of the circulation, but experience has emphasized that the ideal fluid for use in hemorrhagic or traumatic shock is blood of an identical grouping. Since methods have not been developed for the stockpiling of blood, it has become readily apparent that a sufficient supply of blood would not be available for emergency use for mass casualties resulting from an atomic attack. The search for a plasma substitute suitable for stockpiling has therefore been intensified in recent years. Polyvinylpyrrolidone, or PVP, is one of the three agents under intensive investigation for this purpose. It is an entirely synthetic product which is water-soluble, hydrophilic, and of high molecular weight. Originally introduced in 1943 by Hecht and Weese, 1 it was administered to approximately one-third million German casualties at the Russian front, and a summary of the results of


A near-miss is an unplanned event that can precede events in which a loss or injury could occur. Therefore, it is an indicator leading to an accident. Near-miss analysis does not look at what happened but look into what could have happened. Serious conflicts are the result of a breakdown in the interaction between the road user, environment and vehicle, which leads to traffic accidents. As the similarity between accidents and serious conflicts is striking, accidents can basically be prevented by isolating and handling the conflicts potentials. The Swedish Traffic Conflict analysis of near-miss accidents is adopted in this study to improve the traffic safety of a channelized junction with U-turn at LentengAgung, Jakarta. The junction is a two-way junction with a wide median and an island. The location has been indicated as an accident-prone location with high conflict rates. A set of traffic video-recordings employing a number of surveyors at different points of observations were carried out on-site to obtain real near-miss accidents. Prior to the survey, surveyors practiced judging vehicles running speeds until they reached a certain maximum error of judgment. Evasive actions such as braking, swerving and accelerating were recorded, and actions were classified into serious and non-serious conflicts based on the time-to-accidents and speeds. The results of the analysis show that almost all of the total recorded conflicts fall in the category of serious conflicts. An improvement scheme of the junction with reduced potential traffic conflicts is proposed, which can be expected to lower the accidents occurrences.


BACKGROUND
Open Streets are community-based programs that promote the use of public space for physical activity (PA), recreation and socialization by closing streets temporarily to motorized vehicles, allowing access to pedestrians. The city of Atlanta hosted its first Open Streets event, Atlanta Streets Alive (ASA), in May 2010. An evaluation of the first 5 ASA events from May 2010 to May 2012 was conducted. The purpose was to learn about the characteristics of ASA participants, the influence of the event on their PA, and perceptions of safety and neighborhood social capital.

METHODS
ASA's evaluation had 2 components: participant counts and a participant survey. Characteristics of participation were compared among the 3 different events in which surveys were conducted using the Pearson χ2 test and F test as appropriate.

RESULTS
The estimated participation at ASA increased from nearly 3,500 (ASA 1 to 4) to 12,520 (ASA 5). The number of events increased to 3 per year for a total of 10 events until 2014. Overall, 19.4% of participants met the weekly PA recommendation during 1 event.

CONCLUSIONS
The expanding diversity of routes, participants, and sponsorships highlights the potential promise such programming offers in terms of establishing an urban culture of health.


Background: Safinamide modulates both dopaminergic and glutamatergic systems with positive effects on motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). The drug utilization study SYNAPSES was designed to investigate the use of safinamide in routine clinical practice, as recommended by the European Medicines Agency. Objective: To describe the occurrence of adverse events in PD patients treated with safinamide in real-life conditions. Methods: The SYNAPSES trial is an observational, European, multicenter, retrospective-prospective cohort study. Patients were followed up to 12 months with analyses performed in the overall population and in patients aged >75 years, with relevant comorbidities and with psychiatric conditions. Results: Of the 1610 patients included, 82.4% were evaluable after 12 months with 25.1% of patients >75 years, 70.8% with relevant comorbidities and 42.4% with psychiatric conditions. During observation 45.8% patients experienced adverse events, 27.7% patients had adverse drug reactions and 9.2% patients had serious adverse events. The adverse events were those already described in the patients' information leaflet. The majority were mild or moderate and completely resolved and no differences were detected between the subgroup of patients. Clinically significant improvements were seen in the UPDRS motor score and in the UPDRS total score in ≥40% of patients, according to the criteria developed by Shulman et al. Conclusion: The SYNAPSES study confirms the good safety profile of safinamide even in special groups of patients. Motor complications and motor scores improved with clinically significant results in the UPDRS scale maintained in the long-term.


that disease activity can be predicted by tracking changes in frequencies of related internet searches for key terms, as people will actively seek related information from the internet when they contract a disease in the early phase13. Although burgeoning, maximising the bene!t of this new approach is still work in progress, with previous internet search data-based models sometimes producing erroneous projections14–16. "is study aims to develop an empirical time series model using Australian in#uenza surveillance and local internet search query data to predict seasonal in#uenza epidemics in the northern hemisphere. We will assess predictive performance separately for China, the US and the UK (these three countries account for 23.7% of the world population at the end of 201717). Our aim is to improve upon predictive tools utilising only infection surveillance data through complementation with internet search data.


This study aim was to evaluate quality of anaesthesia by using gravimetric infusion anaesthesia withketamine and propofol in dogs. The quality of anaesthesia, duration of actions, and the physiological responsseof anaesthesia were evaluated in twenty domestic dogs. Anaesthesia was induced intramuscularly withatropine (0.03 mg/kg)-xylazine (2 mg/kg) (AX), intravenously ketamine-propofol (KP) (4 mg/kg), andmaintained with continuous intravenous infusion with pre-mixed propofol (P) and normal saline containing2 mg/ml of propofol and 2 mg/ml of ketamine (K). Domestic stray dogs were randomly divided into fivegroups. Groups AXKP-K2P2, AXKP-K4P4, and AXKP-K6P6 were treated with ketamine-propofol the dose0.2 mg/kg/minute, 0.4 and 0.6 mg/kg/minute respectively, while group AXKP-P4 was given propofol 0.4 mg/kg/minute and group AXKP-I was given isoflurane 1-2%. Heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR),electrocardiogram (ECG), blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), end tidal CO2 (ET CO2), and capillary refill time(CRT) were measured. No significant difference (P>0.05) found between the groups in anaesthetion times.All groups showed rapid and smooth inductions, prolonged surgical stage, and rapid recovery. Groups AXKPK2P2and AXKP-K4P4 showed minimal physiological effect on the dogs. The HR, RR, ET CO2, SpO2, CRT,and ECG wave were stabl. Combination of AXKP-K6P6 induced SpO2 depression, increased and instabilityof HR, RR and ET CO2. Groups AXKP-P4 showed decreased of HR and respiratory depression. All anaestheticcombinations showed no significant influence (P>0.05) on the electricity of the dog's heart. The combinationof ketamine-propofol at dose 0.2 and 0.4 mg/kg/minute were found to be better as an application formaintaining anaesthesia by gravimetric continuous intravenous infusion. The method is a suitablealternative for inhalation anaesthesia in dogs.


In this paper, three-dimensional numerical simulations are used to simulate the wind flow structure over coal stockpiles of a real configuration of a power plant. Two configurations are tested for various wind directions: the first one without representing the buildings and the second one with the surrounding buildings in the calculation domain. The wind flow properties over the full site and near the stockpile surfaces are analyzed in order to understand the dust emission mechanisms over the various tested configurations. The emission factor formulation, proposed by the EPA to quantify fugitive dust emissions from a stockpile, is used to check the particle emission rate for each considered configuration using the velocity fields given by the simulations. The analysis of the results from the two tested configurations shows by evidence that the topography of the industrial site exerts large perturbations on the flow structure over the site. This work shows that previous studies carried out without taking into consideration the topography of the site probably lead to an inaccurate estimation of the fugitive dust emissions. This study highlights the necessity to take into account the presence of surrounding buildings to estimate and quantify the particle emission rate on stockpiles. The study reported in this paper improves the understanding of fugitive dust emissions on industrial sites and in mining zones. These results will allow a more accurate and relevant evaluation of fugitive dust emissions from open storage systems on industrial sites and a better evaluation of its environmental impacts.


The recent amendment, of the Israeli regulation for nutrition labeling on the packaged food label, as published in the government registry, mandates the labeling of trans fatty acids. The relationship between the types of fatty acids and the risk of developing heart disease is well known and has been researched for many years. As part of efforts of the health authorities around the world and in Israel to reduce morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases, the authorities act to reduce consumption of trans fatty acids and saturated fatty acids. This article reviews the major changes that have taken place in reducing the consumption of trans fatty acids in recent years. This includes the evidence which pointed to the negative effects of their use, the Latest recommendations of several leading health leading organization regarding optimal consumption of fats in particular and regarding nutrition in general. It also entails trends in the world food industry towards the reduction in trans fatty acids use, and policies countries are implementing in order to reduce the world's consumption of trans fatty acids, including the updating of nutritional labeling regulations in Israel.


: Although the use of fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGCM) measurements as non-invasive biomarkers for the stress response in mammals has increased, few studies have been conducted in odontocetes. We investigated if animal sex, age, pregnancy or contextual variations (season, sampling time, enrichment, social separation and presence of visitors) influenced the FGCM concentrations in presumably healthy, captive and endangered Yangtze finless porpoises (YFPs, N = 4) and bottlenose dolphins (BDs, N = 3). For YFPs, the FGCM concentrations were influenced by season ( p = 0.01), diurnal variation ( p = 0.01) and pregnancy ( p = 0.005). Contextual variables that were associated with increases in FGCM concentrations included social separations ( p = 0.003) and numbers of visitors ( p = 0.0002). Concentrations of FGCMs were lower ( p = 0.001) after exposure to environmental enrichment. For BDs, enrichment was associated with reduced concentrations of FGCMs ( p < 0.0001). The presence of visitors also influenced this species' FGCM concentrations ( p = 0.006). These results demonstrate that changes in the FGCM concentrations in YFPs and BDs may occur in response to contextual and social changes. In combination with other behavioral and physiological assessments, measurements of FGCMs may be a useful tool for monitoring cetacean welfare. Such monitoring may help researchers identify and better understand situations that may be stressful for animals and, therefore, improve management and husbandry. Furthermore, results from our study and inferences of the FGCM concentrations in cetaceans, and their potential relationship to stress, may be extrapolated to studies of free-ranging animals, which may help detect possible environmental or anthropogenic stressors that could be a ff ecting these populations.


Students at higher education are frequently required to write essays and project paper. In fact, writing is very much integral to the students' learning experience in higher education. Writing essays trains students into the expectations of the discipline, and how to present their thoughts and reflection to their lecturers. Research into students' writing at university has shown that the experience of writing not only helps students to become familiar with the standards and style of written expression expected in their disciplines, but it also helps them to clarify their understanding of the subject matter about which they are writing. This study examines the written work of five postgraduate students from the Middle East. The data collection procedures involved analysis of the students' written work and interviews. The present study used several taxanomies of ESL writing strategies in order to investigate and understand the students' conceptualization of their writing tasks. The findings revealed that the students employed several composing writing strategies in order to help them work with, think about and manipulate the materials required in order to do the writing task. The writing process was also interactive, which means that the students used and build upon their previous knowledge, skills and strategies in writing. The present study ends with the suggestion that students' attention must be directed to the foundations of writing a project paper in order that they have a greater sense of audience's awareness, in addition to increasing their knowledge on discourse conventions of academic writing.


Effective learning occurs when interaction occurs. Interaction occurs when people engage each other, and engagement can occur in many ways. Learning from engagement can take place face-to-face. Engagement on telephones and emails is also a site for learning. Learning occurs in the engagement between a person and various kinds of texts, and when a person engages with the texts of their thoughts. As the case study of the plumber's apprentice presented here illustrates, in all these interactions, it is the engagement that brings to the fore the past experiences (skills and knowledge) of the interactants. Simultaneously, these often unconscious choices from past experiences are guided by two factors: (a) facets of the interactants' identities, and (b) expectations of future scenarios that mix with identity resources to define the experiences selected. That is, the identity-shaped selection of experiences forms the essence of learning that occurs in these engagements. Put another way, the outputs (benefits, impacts) of 'the essence of learning' are situationally formed and determined. However, the resources to engagement are only partly formed from the skills and knowledge we have come to refer to as human capital. The essential resource component is, in fact, aspects of the human participants' identities. When the knowledge and skills of human resources blend at the point of engagement with the relevant components of identity resources, social capital is at once produced and built. Learning is, in these moments of engagement, the simultaneous using and building of the knowledge and identity resources from which social capital is formed.


The protease a disintegrin and metalloprotease (ADAM) 17 cleaves tumor necrosis factor (TNF), L-selectin, and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R) ligands from the plasma membrane. ADAM17 is expressed in most tissues and is up-regulated during inflammation and cancer. ADAM17-deficient mice are not viable. Conditional ADAM17 knockout models demonstrated proinflammatory activities of ADAM17 in septic shock via shedding of TNF. We used a novel gene targeting strategy to generate mice with dramatically reduced ADAM17 levels in all tissues. The resulting mice called ADAM17ex/ex were viable, showed compromised shedding of ADAM17 substrates from the cell surface, and developed eye, heart, and skin defects as a consequence of impaired EGF-R signaling caused by failure of shedding of EGF-R ligands. Unexpectedly, although the intestine of unchallenged homozygous ADAM17ex/ex mice was normal, ADAM17ex/ex mice showed substantially increased susceptibility to inflammation in dextran sulfate sodium colitis. This was a result of impaired shedding of EGF-R ligands resulting in failure to phosphorylate STAT3 via the EGF-R and, consequently, in defective regeneration of epithelial cells and breakdown of the intestinal barrier. Besides regulating the systemic availability of the proinflammatory cytokine TNF, our results demonstrate that ADAM17 is needed for vital regenerative activities during the immune response. Thus, our mouse model will help investigate ADAM17 as a potential drug target.


It is well known that occupant behaviour is a factor that affects a building's energy performance. While a good deal of study and research has been done on residential energy use, less research has focused on the behaviour of commercial office occupants. This paper explores how occupant engagement, coupled with a web-based energy challenge, can help identify opportunities for energy consumption reduction in buildings and lead to changes in building operations. In a two-week energy competition using energy management software from PulseTM, more than 600 employees in seven offices were engaged in energy-conserving behavior that was aimed at reducing office energy use by ten percent per office. The primary theory tested within the study was whether an energy competition (focused on an electric car race) would be more compelling than simply displaying real-time information to building occupants. There were thousands of visits to the PulseTM competition webpage, with most visits occurring during the final week of competition. The competition resulted in some office locations achieving daily reductions of energy consumption of up to 40 percent. Overall, the competition saved more than two Megawatt hours of electricity. The study revealed that harnessing rivalries using an electric car race resulted in greater than anticipated energy savings. The observations and lessons learned may inform upgrades to existing buildings and also potentially inform energy systems design.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the efficiency of a medicinal herb extract preparation (Climex) for the treatment of menopausal symptoms.

METHOD
In this placebo-controlled experiment on 55 postmenopausal women who complained of hot flushes and refused hormonal therapy. The women were randomly divided into two groups, one to receive Climex (5 chewable tablets daily between meals) and the other group to receive a placebo; both groups would take the tablets for 12 weeks. The women were asked to complete a daily structured (Kupperman) questionnaire assessing the frequency and intensity of menopausal symptoms, starting one week prior to treatment to the completion of the study. All women underwent hormone profile measurements and transvaginal ultrasonography evaluation before and after treatment.

RESULTS
There was a significant difference between the study group and the control group in the decrease in number and intensity of hot flushes from baseline to completion of treatment (90-96% vs 15-25%, p < 0.001). In the study group, a response was already noted during the first month of treatment (68% +/- 2% reduction of hot flushes during the day and 74% +/- 4% during the night). There was also a marked alleviation of sleep disturbances and fatigue.

CONCLUSIONS
Treatment with Climex seems to be effective for menopausal symptoms without apparent major adverse effects. This hormone-free preparation may be used as an important modality for menopausal women with contraindications for hormone replacement therapy.


Solar cell science and technology is changing. New efficiency records have been set. Alta Devices has reached 28.8% efficiency in a thin film single-junction cell at 1-sun, and 30.8% efficiency in a thin-film dual junction cell at 1-sun.
 Counter-intuitively, efficient external fluorescence is a necessity for approaching the ultimate limits. A great Solar Cell also needs to be a great Light Emitting Diode. Why would a solar cell, intended to absorb light, benefit from emitting light? Although it is tempting to equate light emission with loss, paradoxically, light emission actually improves the open-circuit voltage, and the efficiency.
 The single-crystal thin film technology that achieved these high efficiencies, is created by epitaxial liftoff, and can be produced at cost well below the other less efficient thin film solar technologies. The path is now open to a 30% efficient photovoltaic technology that can be produced at low cost.


Caveolae are a membrane specialization used to internalize molecules by potocytosis. Caveolin, an integral membrane protein, is associated with the striated coat present on the cytoplasmic surface of the caveolae membrane. We now report that oxidation of caveolar cholesterol with cholesterol oxidase rapidly displaces the caveolin from the plasma membrane to intracellular vesicles that colocalize with Golgi apparatus markers. After the enzyme is removed from the medium, caveolin returns to caveolae. When untreated cells are gently homogenized, caveolin on the plasma membrane is accessible to both anti-caveolin IgG and trypsin. After cholesterol oxidase treatment, however, Golgi-associated caveolin is inaccessible to both of these molecules. Brefeldin A, which inhibits ER to Golgi trafficking, blocks the appearance of caveolin in the Golgi apparatus but does not prevent caveolin from leaving the plasma membrane. Indirect immunogold localization experiments show that in the presence of cholesterol oxidase caveolin leaves the plasma membrane and becomes associated with endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi compartments. Surprisingly, the loss of caveolin from the plasma membrane does not affect the number or morphology of the caveolae.


Exploiting learning algorithms under scarce data regimes is a limitation and a reality of the medical imaging field. In an attempt to mitigate the problem, we propose a data augmentation protocol based on generative adversarial networks. The networks are conditioned at a pixel-level (segmentation mask) and at a global-level information (acquisition environment or lesion type). Such conditioning provides immediate access to the image-label pairs while controlling global class specific appearance of the synthesized images. To stimulate synthesis of the features relevant for the segmentation task, an additional passive player in a form of segmentor is introduced into the the adversarial game. We validate the approach on two medical datasets: BraTS, ISIC. By controlling the class distribution through injection of synthetic images into the training set we achieve control over the accuracy levels of the datasets' classes.


Since the middle of the 20 th century ants of the genus Cataglyphis – inhabiting the southern part of the Palearctic region – have become model organisms for insect navigation and various other fields of biological research. Currently ca. 100 Cataglyphis species are described. However, although molecular-based phylogenetic analyses are common practice in ant systematics, to date phylogenetic analyses of Cataglyphis have been strictly morphology-based. Here we present the first molecular phylogeny based on mitochondrial DNA (754 bp) of 78 Cataglyphis specimens collected over a large part of the distributional range of the genus. By examining the same specimens based on morphological characters, we can conclude that major features of the morphology-based species-group phylogenies are supported by our molecular approach.


We investigate the propagation of uncertainties in the Aw-Rascle-Zhang model, which belongs to a class of second order traffic flow models described by a system of nonlinear hyperbolic equations. The stochastic quantities are expanded in terms of wavelet-based series expansions. Then, they are projected to obtain a deterministic system for the coefficients in the truncated series. Stochastic Galerkin formulations are presented in conservative form and for smooth solutions also in the corresponding non-conservative form. This allows to obtain stabilization results, when the system is relaxed to a first-order model. Computational tests illustrate the theoretical results.


Background: Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) is a form of dysautonomia associated with variety of symptoms like Headache, Abdominal discomfort, Dizziness/presyncope, Nausea, Fatigue, Lightheadedness, Sweating Sleep disorder, Tremor, Anxiety, Palpitations, Exercise intolerance. Median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS, also known as celiac artery compression syndrome) is a condition characterized by abdominal pain, delayed gastric emptying, nausea, weight loss and other symptoms of autonomic dysfunction attributed to compression of the celiac artery and possibly the celiac ganglia by the median arcuate ligament. The researchers suggest that MALS should be considered in POTS patients who have persistent gastrointestinal symptoms. The purpose of this research is to study the celiac artery velocity in POTS patients. That led us to think about an operative procedure that can reduce POTS symptoms through MALS surgery. Patients and Method: We present the case of a 17 year old male with POTS symptoms not improving with medical management and celiac artery ultrasound positive for MALS.His celiac artery velocities was higher in Inspiration as well as Expiration and MALS is confirmed with CT angiogram.He underwent laparoscopic MALS surgery where the Median arcuate ligament is flipped thereby decreasing the extrinsic compression on the celiac artery. Results: There appears to be tremendous improvement in the patient's symptoms after the surgery for MALS.His nausea had almost disappeared.Before surgery he had vomiting twice a week, after surgery he had vomiting four times in three months. His lightheadedness had disappeared. Bluish discoloration of arms and feet when he used to stand had disappeared in the hospital after the procedure. Sensations of hands had improved. Heat intolerance had improved. His Sleep and constipation improved. There was no much improvement in fatigue. Autonomic tilt table test is repeated after surgery to see if there is definite objective change, Heart rate in the first 10 minutes of tilt test before the surgery was >120bpm,Heart rate after the surgery was Conclusions: Laparoscopic MALS surgery was found to be extremely helpful in relieving POTS symptoms with immediate results.


Background and objectives: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an important, chronic, noncommunicable disease epidemic that affects the world. Lack of registries precludes an accurate estimation of the number of patients with CKD. Only a few studies are done in our country to assess etiology of CKD in young patients. This study was aimed to assess the etiology of CKD in young patients. Materials and Methods: Data were collected from 50 patients of CKD between 15 and 40 years age who presented to Government General Hospital, Kurnool from July 2012 to June 2013. They were clinically evaluated and underwent relevant investigations including renal biopsy in indicated cases. Results: Of the 50 patients studied, there was an overall male preponderance over all age groups with a mean age of 27.6 ± 4.9 years. Small kidneys were seen in 70% of patients. 92% of patients had proteinuria. Most common symptoms of presentation were related to gastrointestinal disturbances, breathlessness, easy fatigability, and urinary disturbances. Pallor, pedal edema, and facial puffiness were major clinical features. Majority (62%) had CKD of unknown etiology. In this unknown etiology patients, majority were found to have glomerular disease (42%) based on clinical presentation and other supporting investigations. 92% presented in stage IV or stage V CKD. Histopathologically etiology was proven among 19 patients (38%) with renal biopsy. Conclusion: It is concluded that male patients in the third and fourth decades were in the majority requiring medical care. Chronic Glomerulonephritis of unknown causes constitutes a major etiology among the young presenting in late stages of CKD.


In this study, the design and development of an autonomous morphing wing concept were investigated. This morphing wing was developed in the scope of, the Smart-X project, aiming to demonstrate in-flight performance optimisation. This study proposed a novel distributed morphing concept, with six Translation Induced Camber (TRIC) morphing trailing edge modules, inter-connected triangular skin segments joined by an elastomer material to allow seamless variation of local lift distribution along the wingspan. An FSI structural optimisation tool was developed, to achieve this optimised design, and to produce an optimal laminate design of fibre Glass weave material, capable of reaching target shapes and minimise actuation loads. Analysis of the kinematic model of the embedded actuator was performed, and a conventional actuator design was selected to continuously operate at the required load and fulfil both static and dynamic requirements in terms of bandwidth, actuation force and stroke. Preparations were made in this study for the next stage of the Smart-X design, to refine the morphing mechanism design and build a functional demonstrator for wind tunnel testing.


Now a days microdrillings have a great use for manufacture of sofesyicated items,parts etc.Laser microdrillings give a better aspect ratio than tool microdrillings. Laser micro-hole drilling service provides access to world leading precision hole drilling technology. This service can be used for R&D through to full production. Minimum micro-hole sizes can be as low as 1 micron in thin materials. For micro-holes above 20 microns in, we can use proprietary treppaning technology to generate micro-holes of unsurpassed roundness with controlled taper.Using a variety of IR, visible and UV sources, we select the correct wavelength and pulse duration, develop the laser micro-hole drilling process and produce the parts. Numbers of micro-holes per part can range from one to tens of thousands. Typical quantities of parts range from one-off for R&D, to tens of thousands per month. Microdrills are typically made of either cobalt steel or micrograin tungsten carbide. The steel drills are less expensive and easier to grind but are not as hard or strong as the tungsten carbide drills. The drill point angle is based on the material to be drilled. The normal point angle is 118 degrees and 135 degrees is used for hard materials. The larger included point angle provides more strength at the drill pointdameter. Microdrilling has one major disadvantage because of the drill geometry. Because of the drill point, a flat-bottomed hole can not be produced. If one is attempting to produce cylindrical cavities in a micromold, there must be a relatively thick plating base under the mold material, or the structural substrate of the mold could act as the plating base.


Intercropping banana and shorter annual crops in small holder systems is inevitable despite shade being a limitation. Current production is also limited to the wet seasons. Strategies to exploit the spaces under banana shade and drier seasons are crucial for optimal production of these systems. We determined the performance of two legume cover crops, Mucuna pruriens and Crotalaria juncea, and chickpea (Cicer arietinum), a grain legume, under different banana shade levels and over the wet and dry seasons in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Banana and legume monocrops served as controls. Shade reduced weed biomass and legume root nodulation, biomass, and grain yields. Chickpea root nodulation had a lower sensitivity to shade (3–9% reduction) compared with mucuna (30–60%) and crotalaria (31–71%). Legume biomass yield declines varied from 37–83%, 56–93%, and 80–98% for mucuna, crotalaria, and chickpea, respectively. Higher nodulation occurred in the rainy compared with the dry season. Biomass yield declines, albeit low occurred in the dry season for mucuna (15%) and crotalaria (30%). In contrast, chickpea biomass and grain yields increased by 394% and 4487%, respectively, in the dry season. A higher banana vegetative growth occurred in the intercropped plots. Land equivalent ratios of 1.15–1.34 under dense shading for mucuna and crotalaria and 1.10–1.62 for chickpea occurred irrespective of the seasons. These findings suggest that these cover crops and chickpea could be exploited to enhance biomass (for fodder, mulch, or manure) and grain yields under banana shade and over the drier seasons.


Previous methods to measure interface fracture toughness between coating and substrate can't easily vary a phase angle as a mixed mode parameter. So that, the new coating interface fracture toughness test method, by which phase angle at interface crack tip can be varied due to applying a combination of compression loading to the coating edge and slinging such as beam bending, is proposed. The simple formula, which connects to complex stress intensity factors and double loading is firstly derived on the basis of the cracked beam model proposed by Suo and Hutchinson [1]. As an application of the method and associated formula, thermal barrier coating/super-alloy interface toughness is evaluated based on numerical analysis.


Maintenance changes of histamine and levels of immunoglobulin E and G in blood and lymph are studied at the ex- perimental anaphylactic and Artyus phenomenon. Experiments were conducted in two series on 27 rabbits of "Chinchilla" breed. As control are served the investigated indicators of concentration of histamine and levels of IgE and IgG in blood and lymph of intact animals. Results of research have shown that, at the experimental anaphylactic shock increase the level of IgE and decrease the level of IgG. At the Artyus phenomenon increase of level of IgG and the decrease in level of IgE more expressed in blood, than in lymph is marked. Concentration of histamine raises, both at the anaphylactic shock, and at the of Artyus phenomenon, but is more expressed at anaphylaxis, and also in blood, than in lymph. Key words: anaphylactic shock; Artyus phenomenon; histamine; immunoglobulin


A system of factors (indices and indicators) and a new method of quantitative and qualitative evaluation are developed. This system, named "Sustainable Development Gauging Matrix" (SDGM) and data presented by reliable international organizations culminated in a Global Simulation regarding quality of life and security of the world population. Specifically, this study focuses on the analysis of the Systematic Regularity of World Conflicts over the Course of Time. A prognosis is detailed of the next world conflict, labeled the "Conflict of XXI Century", and an analysis is provided of its nature and main characteristics; duration, main phases of the conflict and intensity. This prognosis details a set of basic global threats that spawn this conflict. Using cluster analysis, its influence on different countries of the world is accurately defined. These results were obtained by applying the capabilities of the world data centers network as a tool for providing a variety of scientific interdisciplinary data.


Emission rates of ammonia (NH3) are reported for a fleet of 130 light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles recruited in Guangzhou, China. NH3 measurements were performed using Nessler's Reagents spectrophotometry and nationwide standard chassis dynamometer test cycles required by Chinese EPA. Emissions of CO and NOx were also measured during these test cycles. Emission factors of NH3 were calculated for each type of vehicle and used to estimate the total emissions of NH3 from motor vehicles in Guangzhou (GZ) in 2009. Emission factors of NH3 show large variations among different categories of vehicles, with a range from 4 to 138 mg km-1. The average emissions of NH3 in Guangzhou in 2009 were estimated to be 983 t, with a range from 373 to 2136 t. In addition, it was found that vehicles with the highest NH3 emission rates possess the following characteristics: mediumand heavy-duty vehicles, certified with out-of-date emission standards, mid-range odometer readings, and higher CO and NOx emission rates. The results of this study will be useful for developing NH3 emissions inventories in Guangzhou and other urban areas in China.


Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to study the causal relationship between bank sector development and economic growth in four Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway).Method: Our thesis is based on a quantitative method. The study consists of a compilation and analysis of key financial indicators that represent economic growth and bank sector development. A Granger causality test has been conducted on the time series in order to measure the causal link between economic growth and bank sector development.Theoretical framework: The study is based on the theory of endogenous growth and the causal relationship between bank sector development and economic growth also known as the demand following and supply leading hypothesis. Results: The results of the four countries are ambiguous. Except for Denmark, that follows the supply leading hypothesis, the remaining countries do not show a unanimous result.


This thesis presents the results of fourteen experiments designed to test the effect of an explicit information processing technique (IKR) on students' interpreting of examination essay questions. The experiments which took place in the University of Glasgow from February 1990 till December 1992, involved undergraduate students in civil engineering and chemistry, post-graduate students in adult education, and graduate civil engineers preparing for their professional examination. Chapter One provides an extensive report on some of the existing knowledge about essay-writing, and explains how the researcher developed the "Instruction Key Words, Knowledge Key Words and Relevance Key Words" technique (IKR) for interpreting essay questions. In addition, a summary of current information processing theory is given, and IKR explained in terms of it. Some of the experiments reported in this thesis examined the effect of IKR on students': essay examination results; abilities to identify correctly the number of parts required in the answer to questions; criteria for deciding on the number of parts; perceptions of question difficulty when questions contain statements and when questions vary in length; understandings of what different instruction key words (IKWs) entail and the relative difficulty in terms of mental effort that different IKWs imply; criteria for deciding that one question entails a more difficult answer than another; perceptions of the difficulty they experience in undertaking question interpretation exercises; times taken to complete various interpretation exercises; quality of descriptions when asked to describe how they would answer a question if asked to do so; and, time taken to complete interpretation exercises. In general, the results show that IKR enhances the information processing skills (question interpretation skills) of many students. A few individuals show considerable improvement. This is evident in the increase of correct responses after a workshop on IKR and in the change of perceptions away from those that will mislead students, to those that are likely to give more accurate interpretations. However, in several experiments it was found that 20% - 30% of students still gave erroneous responses even after an IKR workshop, indicating that more than one workshop is necessary to alter deep-seated traditional perceptions held by some students. Some of the more revealing findings were that before a workshop on IKR many students: thought (erroneously) that longer questions and questions containing statements were easier because they provided information to help with the answer; thought (erroneously) that vague, less specific, less direct questions were easier because they allowed one to "waffle", and to use one's imagination and personal experiences to make up for lack of knowledge; had an intuitive understanding of the different degrees of mental effort required by different instruction key words; perceived that of sixteen instruction key words, the five most difficult were "analyse", "assess", "evaluate", "justify" and "compare & contrast", with "analyse" being perceived as particularly difficult; have unjustified and erroneous perceptions of what some instruction key words require them to do. Considerable information is presented on how students perceived question difficulty, and the researcher has been able to construct a list of sixty one classifications into which students' perceptions of difficulty can be grouped. It has also been possible to provide a ranking of sixteen instruction words according to the degree of inherent difficulty which students perceive in them. It has also been possible to provide a list of thirty two classifications into which students' reasons for identifying a particular number of parts in a questions, could be grouped. In Chapter Twelve, examiners are offered six recommendations which could contribute to the designing of more effective essay questions and in turn, to students providing more adequate answers to essay questions. Eight recommendations are offered for future research, including for example, further tests on whether enhanced information processing skills leads to enhanced performance in essay examinations. These recommendations for further research reflect the pioneering nature of some of the experiments, the researcher not having encountered similar work in the literature. It is recommended in Chapter Twelve that lecturers introduce their students to IKR and eight guidelines are offered for the successful teaching of IKR. This recommendation is based on the results of this research. It is also offered on the grounds of IKR being a more effective way (than traditional scribing-out of essays in full) of developing the thinking skills necessary for solving complex problems in students' personal and professional lives.


— Basic requirements to process historic data are finding, collecting, structuring and retrieving. Key challenges facing by historians during transformation are heterogeneous data format, data exchange, cross platform, multiple languages etc. Conversion between source and recipient database is also a difficulty. During the transformation, data sharing and data security are the key concerns faced by historians. Data exchange, compatibility, extendibility and reuse of data becomes progressively important while collecting and processing data. Here combination of Java with XML is checked to resolve above concerns. How the features of Java and XML can be supportive for data sharing, data extension and cross platform issues are being discussed here. These paper insights into the historians everyday practices to manage constraints and concerns in the areas of data access, collection, sharing and security. This paper reveals how the usability of XML and Java can reduce the challenges and enhance data sharing and data security.


We report our measurements for orbital and spin parameters of X 1822-371 using its X-ray partial eclipsing profile and pulsar timing from data collected by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). Four more X-ray eclipse times obtained by the RXTE 2011 observations were combined with historical records to trace evolution of orbital period. We found that a cubic ephemeris likely better describes evolution of the X-ray eclipse times during a time span of about 34 years with a marginal second order derivative of P̈orb = (−1.05±0.59)×10 −19 s. Using the pulse arrival time delay technique, the orbital and spin parameters were obtained from RXTE observations from 1998 to 2011. The detected pulse periods show that the neutron star in X 1822-371 is continuously spun-up with a rate of Ṗs = (−2.6288 ± 0.0095) × 10 −12 s s. Evolution of the epoch of the mean longitude l = π/2 (i.e. Tπ/2) gives an orbital period derivative value consistent with that obtained from the quadratic ephemeris evaluated by the X-ray eclipse but the detected Tπ/2 values are significantly and systematically earlier than the corresponding expected X-ray eclipse times by 90 ± 11 s. This deviation is probably caused by asymmetric X-ray emissions. We also attempted to constrain the mass and radius of the neutron star using the spin period change rate and concluded that the intrinsic luminosity of X 1822-371 is likely more than 10 ergs s. Subject headings: accretion, accretion disks—binaries: close—binaries: eclipsing— pulsars: individual (X 1822-371)—stars: neutron—X-rays: binaries


A 37 year old woman (para 1 spontaneous delivery) was admitted to our university hospital for menometrorrhagia. The case history showed that the patient had menometrorrhagia for six months; moreover, during the abdominal examination we found a mass (fig.1) occupying the hipogastric and mesogastric area. The tumefaction was hard and it reached the level of the umbilicus. On combined vaginal-abdominal examination a mass on the anterior wall and multiple myomata were felt; the uterus was found to have been enlarged to the size equivalent to 18 weeks pregnancy; adnexa regular were felt. During the surgery multiple myomas were found.The largest,10 cm diameter, was soft in consistence with a gelatinous structure. Total abdominal hysterectomy with preservation of adnexa was performed. Histopathological result gave evidence of myxoidleiomyosarcoma in the largest myoma, whereas the others fibroid nodes were without atypia.


The photogeneration process in thin films of vacuum-evaporated amorphous 2,4,7-trinitro-9-fluorenone (a-TNF) is investigated by steady-state photoconductivity measurements and by the photoinduced discharge method. It was found that in the intrinsic spectral range of absorption (λ≤400 nm) the charge carrier photogeneration mechanism includes several steps. The final step, thermal dissociation of light generated electron–hole pairs, is realized according to the Onsager mechanism. The effect of trapping centers on the conductivity of thin films of a-TNF is investigated by space charge limited current (SCLC), steady-state photoconductivity, and transient photoconductivity methods. It is suggested that the transport of charge carriers in a-TNF is controlled by traps.


In Nigeria, almost 500 indigenous languages continue to compete with the English language that has assumed the status of a global linguistic code. The contact, in different domains between English and indigenous languages in the country continues to affect performance in English and contact languages, making effective communication in either English or any of the indigenous languages unattainable. The purpose of this study is to show that although no particular document, so named, exists expressing the nation's policy on language, nonetheless, the country has a policy on language that accommodates the indigenous languages as substrates, while the English language holds sway in various linguistic domains. Using a simple descriptive survey with data from previous studies, this paper examines the linguistic implications of the contact between English and indigenous languages on the younger generations who are losing contact with the mother tongue, and also not demonstrating enough proficiency in the English language. It is recommended that the opportunities that competence and maturation afforded a second language learner should be latched onto to gain the needed proficiency in English thus making them effective bilinguals and communicators in a world that is fast becoming a global village, and the inhabitants global citizens.


The role of promotion in introducing various educational institutions especially at universities is very important, so that the public can get to know the message conveyed. This is evidenced by the growing type of promotion applied at several universities today, such as promotional videos, company profile videos, banners, brochures and others. With the various types of promotions, a university has a wider opportunity to be known by the public. Likewise with Raharja University, one of which has a type of Student Get Student (SGS) scholarship promotion. Raharja University is a private university with a concentration in management and computer science teaching located in Cikokol, Tangerang City. However, the SGS program still does not have its own promotional video. Therefore the SGS promotional video is needed so that the SGS program is increasingly known, especially by Raharja Students themselves and interested in joining the SGS scholarship program. By applying data collection methods and stages of the concept of media production consisting of stages of pre-production, production and post-production. And also using supporting applications, Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 and Adobe After Effect CC 2017. Video This scholarship program SGS is expected to help the marketing department in increasing the target of new student admissions each year.


The diagnosis and treatment of rare genitourinary tumors is inherently challenging. The Rare Diseases Act of 2002 initially defined a rare disorder as one that affects fewer than 200,000 Americans. The lack of widely available clinical guidelines, limited research funding, and inaccessible clinical trials often lead to difficulty with treatment decisions to guide practitioners in rendering effective care for patients with rare genitourinary cancers. This article will discuss basic tenets of diagnosis and treatment as well as recent developments and clinical trials in rare non-urothelial bladder cancers and penile squamous cell cancers.


A method for determining the optical thickness and effective particle radius of spherical aerosols with sun light of a single wavelength is presented. Based on the vector radiative transfer theory, the reflection matrix of the aerosols is calculated by using the adding-doubling method for λ =0.75μm and 3.3μm, the effective radii of aerosol particles were 0.01—1.5μm, and the optical thickness were 0.05—1. We modeled the retrieval process by computer simulation. From the numerical results, we conclude that the radiance combined with polarization is capable of uniquely retrieving optical thickness and effective radius with high accuracy. Especially, when the effective radius is less than 0.4μm, a visible light wavelength can be used for retrieval; when the effective radius is larger than 1.0μm, an infrared light wavelength can be used for retrieval; when the effective radius lies between 0.4 and 1.0μm, both of the two wave bands can be used to obtain a unique result with high accuracy.


Abstract. The impact of the aerosol optical properties on the ultraviolet index (UVI) in the urban area of Rome is investigated in this study. In particular, the influence of aerosol optical depth (AOD) and single scattering albedo (SSA), estimated at the wavelength of 340 nm, and of the Ångström exponent, calculated in the range 340–500 nm, over a period of 11 years (2010–2020) in the months from March to September are analyzed. The UVI is monitored by a Brewer spectrophotometer, whereas measurements of the direct Sun and diffuse sky irradiances are performed by a co-located PREDE-POM sun–sky radiometer of the ESR/SKYNET network; the aerosol optical properties are obtained by the Skyrad MRIv2 retrieval. A novel method, based on physical principles and easily adaptable to other contexts, is developed to extrapolate the aerosol properties to the UV range during periods when only visible to near-infrared measurements are available. The retrievals from the sun–sky radiometer are consistent with the chemical characterization of urban PM10 (particulate matter 10 mm or less in diameter) samples collected during an intensive field campaign held in summer 2011 at the same site (URBan Sustainability Related to Observed and Monitored Aerosol – URBS ROMA). The PM macro components identified during the campaign are grouped in order to evaluate the contribution of the main macro sources (soil, sea, secondary inorganic, organics, and traffic) whose relative role is indeed expected to strongly affect the aerosol absorption capability. The surface forcing efficiency, calculated as the change in the UV index for a unit AOD variation, shows that AOD is the primary parameter affecting the surface irradiance under clear-sky conditions in Rome. SSA and the Ångström exponent are also identified as secondary influencing factors, i.e., the surface forcing efficiency is found to be greater for smaller zenith angles and for larger and more absorbent particles in the UV range (such as, e.g., mineral dust).


In July, more than 50 engineering historians met in St. John's, Newfoundland, to discuss aspects of transatlantic communication. The occasion was a conference arranged by the IEEE History Center. It was just 100 years since, on 12 December 1901, Guglielmo Marconi flew a kite from the top of Signal Hill at the entrance to St John's harbour.


In Brazil, 1 million burn accidents occur annually, and subsequent wound infections account for 75% cases of deaths among these patients, in addition to inducing deformities in the affected areas. Therefore, the aim of this study was to discuss the current status of mesenchymal stem cells, with an emphasis on adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs), in combination with plasma gel, glue fibrin, and membranes (scaffold). The use of gels and membranes supports cell growth, and aims at potential application in reconstructive plastic surgery for the treatment of burn patients or individuals requiring skin grafts. This study explores and discusses the role of mesenchymal stem cells, adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells, glue fibrin, plasma gel, and the scaffold. This research collected information from the Virtual Health Library (VHL) and PubMed. A considerable number of articles have been published on burn treatment. However, there is little research on burn treatment with ADSCs, glue fibrin, plasma gel, and scaffold. An ADSC autograft combined with a biological dressing is promising in reconstructive plastic surgery for the treatment and recovery of burn patients or individuals with other injuries that require skin grafts. These features can reduce pain and aid in drying of the lesion, thus promoting neovascularization and wound reepithelialization. ■ ABSTRACT


We study the qualitative behavior of the positive solutions of a second-order rational fuzzy difference equation with initial conditions being positive fuzzy numbers, and parameters are positive fuzzy numbers. More precisely, we investigate existence of positive solutions, boundedness and persistence, and stability analysis of a second-order fuzzy rational difference equation. Some numerical examples are given to verify our theoretical results.


A paired electrochemical method using nitrobenzene (NB) derivatives and arylsulfinic acids (ASAs) as starting materials was developed for the synthesis of some new sulfonamides, diarylsulfones and bis(arylsulfonyl)aminophenols. The synthetic strategy was designed using the data provided by electrochemical studies involving cyclic voltammetry on NB oxidation in the absence and presence of ASAs. The reactions have been successfully performed in an undivided cell, at carbon rod electrodes, in aqueous solutions, by constant current electrolysis at room temperature. This strategy does not require catalysts, toxic solvents and challenging workups. It is also applicable for a wide range of nitroarenes.


The Ferry Ro-Ro is a ship that functions to crossing inter island and to transport vehicles, passengers and goods. Building a ship requires a very large investment value so that the design of the ship is a very important consideration by conduct the intens study to determine the performance of a ship, one of them is the performance of the ship motion, endurance, and reliability while sailing which can be seen by conducting a hydrodynamic test in the form of a seakeeping test on the Ferry Ro-Ro Ship Model. This study conduct the seakeeping testing due to Ferry Ro-Ro 750 GT Ship Model which aims to predict the pattern of ship behavior by using the seakeeping test methods at Manoeuvering and Ocean Basin at Laboratorium Hidrodinamika Indonesia at Balai Teknologi Hirdoinamika - BPPT with th parameter Wave Height Hs = 2.50 m, Wave Period Tp = 9.00 s by heading 180 deg and 135 deg, and model scale is 1 : 21.19. The seakeeping test procedure for the Ferry Ro-Ro 750 GT Ship Model is based on ITTC No 7.5-02-07-02 standards. Testing of the ship model is conducted by using the method of free running where ship moving at a speed of 12 knots (actual scale). Analysis of measurement results is displayed in the form of Response Amplitude Operator (RAO) and statical analysis. The hydrodynamic test results in the form of a seakeeping test of Ferry Ro-Ro 750 GT Ship Model shows the value of Root Mean Square (RMS) of each direction of the ship relative to the direction of arrival of the wave (heading) 180 deg with roll value = 0.825 deg and pitch value = 2.231 deg. And heading 135 deg with roll value = 2.410 deg and pitch value = 1.797 deg, where NORDFORSK 1987 criteria standard for RMS roll value is 6 deg, and RMS pitch value is 1.5 deg.
Keywords: Seakeeping, Ferry Ro-Ro, Hydrodynamics


A novel centrifuge-based microfluidic device coupled with an electrochemical detector for the determination of glucose in control human serum is described. The electrochemical compact disk (eCD) platform was based on a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) material containing reservoir, a mixing chamber, a spiral channel, a carbon-paste electrode (CPE) detector, and a waste reservoir. For electrode fabrication, a mixture consisting of cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPC), graphite powder, PDMS, and mineral oil was printed and formulated into a PDMS-based electrode pattern. To enhance electrochemical sensitivity, a graphene-polyaniline (G-PANI) nanocomposite solution was cast onto the working electrode surface. During the rotation of the eCD platform at a rotation speed of ∼1000 rpm, a glucose solution and a glucose oxidase solution in separated reservoirs were mixed in a spiral channel to produce hydrogen peroxide by an enzymatic reaction. The produced hydrogen peroxide was determined using the electrode detector set at an applied potential of +0.4 V vs. CPE (pseudo reference electrode). Under optimal conditions, a linear calibration ranging from 1 to 10 mM with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.29 mM (S/N=3) and a limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 0.97 mM (S/N=10) was obtained. Various common interference compounds including ascorbic acid, uric acid, paracetamol, and L-cysteine were tested. Finally, glucose in control serum samples containing certified concentrations were amperometrically determined and validated. Glucose levels measured using the eCD system matched actual values for the certified reference serum samples with satisfactory accuracy.


ABSTRACT There is a robust literature that examines outcomes associated with work-life supports. Scholars have considered the 'fit' between employee needs and the supports available while others have examined the 'usability'—or the potential consequences of using—work-life supports. In this article, we suggest that 'fit' and 'usability' could be related to both employees' own demographic, social, and cultural identities, as well as perceptions of fairness at the workplace. While scholars have focused on organizational justice and workplace fairness for quite some time, the context of diversity—in its many forms—has rarely been included in this conversation or has simply been added as a series of controls in statistical analyses without regard to diversity's various forms. In response, we review the work-life literature to consider the broad context of diversity as well as various domains of workplace fairness. We then present a conceptual framework that aims to guide future work-life research on the fit and usability of work-life supports in the context of diversity and perceptions of fairness. We also offer research propositions to stimulate future scholarship and present findings from an exploratory study to illustrate the importance of considering the context of diversity in studies on workplace fairness.


Condition of epistomatal wax on the abaxial surface of the current and previous-year needles of damaged silver fir trees ( Abies alba Mill.), both from the polluted Risnjak and "clean" Donja Dobra sites in Gorski Kotar region, both influenced by pollutants coming from Europe, during two years, three times a year, were examined with Scanning Electron Microscope. In the course of time the wax tubules on the epistomatal rims of stomata in polluted, but also in "clean" needles surface, become fused and agglomerated rapidly to various extents of morphologically different types of amorphous wax crusts, primarily compact and particulate ones. This process begins very early, especially in polluted Risnjak site, and may be interpreted as a possible result of air pollution. However, the recrystalization, or production of new tubules, also appears relatively quickly in mostly cases. Quantitative estimations indicate a very large total amount of amorphous wax crusts in the current-year needles, and a very high percentage of the same wax in previous-year needles. Amorphous wax crusts cover stomatal pores, as well as the rims, disturbing the normal gas exchange. Statistically there is a signicant tendency of increase in wax degradation in the needles of the polluted site in comparison with those of the unpolluted one, but there is an insignificant wax degradation among the needles of damaged trees within each site. These results confirmed most of the research done in our preliminary report.


Dental anxiety is a common and disabling problem for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Little is known about the causes of dental anxiety in ASD but the literature suggests it may be related to sensory sensitivity (Stein et al., 2011) and having high
rates of anxiety in general (White et al., 2009). The purpose of this research is to examine the factors that predict dental anxiety in children with ASD. The first two qualitative studies were designed to identify relevant factors in dental anxiety using a bottom-up approach. Interviews were carried out with parents of children with ASD and individuals with ASD. The second study interviewed dentists with varying expertise
in ASD. Both sets of interviews were analysed using content analysis. Findings from the qualitative studies suggest that dental anxiety is related to parental anxiety, sensory sensitivity, worries about pain, and negative experiences. In the third study 45 children with ASD aged (11 to 17) and their parents, and a comparison group of 50 Typically Developing (TD) children and their parents, completed measures examining dental anxiety and associated factors. The results demonstrate that
children with ASD have higher rates of dental anxiety related to their higher overall anxiety level. Correlations show that dental anxiety is related to other forms of anxiety: unusual sensory processing, cognition, past experiences at the dentist, parents' dental anxiety, and the number of visits that a child has had to the dentist. Regression analysis shows that dental anxiety in
children with ASD is determined by their worries about treatment and the number of dental visits. In TD children, dental anxiety was only predicted by their worries about treatment. Nevertheless, despite the aforementioned small differences, this third study showed that children with ASD and TD children are more alike than different, which is an interesting finding that requires further investigation. Overall, this research helps us understand the underlying causes of dental fear in children with ASD and gives insight into interventions to support them with oral care.


Abstract This study addresses the issues of water management safety management in the context of shaping the appropriate level of municipal services in Poland, related to quality standards and the availability of water resources for enterprises and the local community. The literature review presents examples of activities concerning the evaluation of the quality and availability of groundwater and their suitability for domestic and commercial use in the world. The key parameters of water intended for human consumption, which affect its quality, have been selected based on the literature and the Polish standards set out in the regulation. On this basis, appropriate parameters for case-study research were selected. In the following, the analytical methods and tools used to assess water quality were characterized. In the case study example, the analysis of water parameters from selected three different intakes in 2015-2017 (Tęczowa, Stodoły and GPW Rybnik-Północ) was performed and the functioning and role of the internal Water and Sewage Laboratory in the safety management of water economy in the water and sewerage company has been presented.


Study aimed to assess respiratory symptoms and safety practicemong carpenters in Dodoma municipal. This studyintends to establish the prevalence of respiratory symptoms among carpenters, to assess the use of protective equipment among carpenters in the study area and finally to assess awareness of respiratory symptoms carpentry among carpenters in the study area.This study adopted a case study research design where wood workers from Dodoma Municipal were selected.Data were collected through questionnaires, face to face interview, and documentation. A total of 150 respondents with age 18+ were selected and data collected were analyzed by using qualitative and quantitative method with the help of the computer soft ware programe known as statistical package for social sciences(SPSS).The outcome of this study revealed that wood dust causes respiratory symptoms among carpenters. In this reseach it was obsedved that duration of respondent being in capentry industry, the level of exposure to wood dust, work responsibility of respondents and the use of Personal protective equipment(PPE) increases the risk of getting respiratory symptoms. Eventualy the study recommendsthe authorities to strongly enforce occupational health regulation in order to protect health of carpenters.Ministry of health,Community development,Gender.Eldery and Children in its District Information System and collection tool should provide another category of collecting occupational history of their clients as it will help to know the source of the problem if it is associated with occupation of the client.


ABSTRACT Seismic assessment of gravity dams is generally carried out using time history analyses. Scaling of the motions is commonly used; however, in contrast to buildings, the performance of scaling procedures at predicting the mean and reducing the dispersion in engineering demand parameters (EDPs) is not known. The main goal of this study is to assess the performance of different scaling procedures in predicting seismic demands on dams. The performance regarding the prediction of the damage and the required number of motions for effective analysis was investigated. The results show that techniques commonly used for moment frames should not readily be applied to these structures.


We present an algorithm for performing adaptive real-time level-of-detail-based rendering for triangulated polygonal models. The simplifications are dependent on viewing direction, lighting, and visibility and are performed by taking advantage of image-space, object-space, and frame-to-frame coherences. In contrast to the traditional approaches of precomputing a fixed number of level-of-detail representations for a given object, our approach involves statically generating a continuous level-of-detail representation for the object. This representation is then used at run time to guide the selection of appropriate triangles for display. The list of displayed triangles is updated incrementally from one frame to the next. Our approach is more effective than the current level-of-detail-based rendering approaches for most scientific visualization applications, where there are a limited number of highly complex objects that stay relatively close to the viewer. Our approach is applicable for scalar (such as distance from the viewer) as well as vector (such as normal direction) attributes.


The roster of publicly listed companies in the U.S. is in a steep decline—their "eclipse"the result of multiple causes. Nature abhors a vacuum, so the attractiveness of remaining private, with liquidity provided by secondary trading platforms, is growing remarkably. The root cause of the eclipse is discussed in a surprising piece by one of the chief stewards of shareholder rights, Delaware Vice Chancellor Leo Strine, shining the light on institutional investors who dominate trading on the NYSE and NASDAQ and whose strategy is akin to that of day traders. The issue discussed in the article, with help from Marty Lipton's insights on "activists," is how to fix the system so as to reward patient investors in public companies with extended time horizons.


A new copper(II) complex of CuLCl2, where L = N1-(1-pyrazin-2-yl-ethylidene)ethane-1,2-diamine, a tridentate Schiff base derived from 2-acetylpyrazine has been prepared. The complex has been characterized by FT-IR, elemental analysis and single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. Structural studies reveal that CuLCl2 is a mononuclear copper(II) complex with distorted square pyramidal geometry. Antifungal activity of CuLCl2 was investigated by use of microcalorimetric measurement system and evaluated against S. pombe. It has high antifungal activity with IC50 = 213 μg/mL.


In this paper, we examine an important recent rule-based information extraction (IE) technique named Boosted Wrapper Induction (BWI) by conducting experiments on a wider variety of tasks than previously studied, including tasks using several collections of natural text documents. We investigate systematically how each algorithmic component of BWI, in particular boosting, contributes to its success. We show that the benefit of boosting arises from the ability to reweight examples to learn specific rules (resulting in high precision) combined with the ability to continue learning rules after all positive examples have been covered (resulting in high recall). As a quantitative indicator of the regularity of an extraction task, we propose a new measure that we call the SWI ratio. We show that this measure is a good predictor of IE success and a useful tool for analyzing IE tasks. Based on these results, we analyze the strengths and limitations of BWI. Specifically, we explain limitations in the information made available, and in the representations used. We also investigate the consequences of the fact that confidence values returned during extraction are not true probabilities. Next, we investigate the benefits of including grammatical and semantic information for natural text documents, as well as parse tree and attribute-value information for XML and HTML documents. We show experimentally that incorporating even limited grammatical information can increase the regularity of natural text extraction tasks, resulting in improved performance. We conclude with proposals for enriching the representational power of BWI and other IE methods to exploit these and other types of regularities.


How did Debussy and the musicians in his circle perform his works? What did he listen for when he coached performers? Were his performance expectations similar for pianists, singers and conductors? Through a rich array of contemporary recordings, memoirs, letters and reviews Debussy is the first composer for whom we can answer such questions in a definitive way. This chapter begins with a consideration of Debussy's own piano playing and the advice he gave to various pianists, some of whom later recorded his works. Subsequent sections are devoted to the singers and conductors who came in contact with him, and to their recordings. 'I have never heard more beautiful pianoforte playing' So thought Louise Liebich, Debussy's first biographer, when she heard him play 'Danseuses de Delphes'. Certainly his piano playing was very different from the dry, highly articulated style of many of his French contemporaries. It is likely that his tone-sensible approach was fostered by his early teacher Mme Maute de Fleurville, who claimed to have studied with Chopin. It was she who prepared him for admission to the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied with Antoine Marmontel, a highly regarded teacher. Marmontel's comments on Debussy's performances at the Conservatoire's year-end competitions ranged from 'charming musical nature' (1874, for a piece by Moscheles) and 'true artistic temperament' (1875, for Chopin's Rondo, Op. 16) to 'careless and inaccurate, could do much better' (1876, for the scherzo from Heller's Sonata, Op. 88). Other repertoire that Debussy studied during his seven years with Marmontel included Bach's Toccata in G minor, Beethoven's Piano Sonata in C minor, Op. 111, Weber's Piano Sonata in A♭, Thalberg's Sonata in C minor, Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Fantaisie, Ballade No. 1 in G minor and Allegro de concert .


A common frustration experienced by respiratory care practitioners is a seeming unwillingness or inability of some patients, particularly elderly ones, to comply with instructions or derive any apparent benefit from efforts to educate them concerning their disease. It is helpful to consider why these patients may not learn. Awareness of age-related biologic, physiologic, psychologic, and social changes should allow for modification of education attempts to maximize understanding and compliance.


Anarchism has not had a noticeable impact upon sociology. The two traditions diverged in their interest in society and their relationship to it. This paper contrasts the practitioners or thinkers of one tradition against the other. The analysis shows some strong antagonisms, many instances of close analysis and critique of each other's perspectives, and a number of friendly and supportive relationships between anarchists and sociologists. Anarchists tended to admire the intellectual rigor of sociologists, but thought sociologists were insiders – mere reformers at best, reactionaries at worst – content to study society, but rarely to act for its improvement. Sociologists viewed anarchists with an even wider range of opinion, including considering them principled and admirable revolutionaries, slightly naïve utopians, or criminals and chaos-lovers bent on the destruction of social order. These factors contributed to the exclusion of anarchist ideas and anarchists themselves from the sociological canon.


Using time-resolved emission to measure electrical signals inside very-large-scale integration complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor circuits in a non-invasive fashion is a very powerful technique. However, node scaling and the related supply voltage reduction have created significant challenges. In this paper, we investigate the limits of established and prototype single photon detectors for future low voltage applications. In particular the performance of a state of the art InGaAs single photon avalanche photodiode and a superconducting single photon detector are reported and compared for low voltage applications using test vehicles fabricated in IBM 65 nm silicon on insulator technologies.


XM radio service is an emerging satellite digital audio radio service suitable for automotive environment, it offers users high-quality radio programs with better signal coverage by adopting communication satellite broadcasting technology. In order to incorporate XM radio function into a digital car audio system based on the embedded system industry standard ITRON, we analyze both software and hardware requirements of the XM function module in this work. Architectural design that separates the XM radio function module into five layers is given. The operating system selected for the microcontroller used in the car audio system is introduced. Implementation details of the XM function module, such as control commands and device communication protocol of the XM tuner, the state transition matrix layer and the application layer are also presented in this work.


Background: Propofol produces memory impairment at concentrations well below those abolishing consciousness. Episodic memory, mediated by the hippocampus, is most sensitive. Two potentially overlapping scenarios may explain how &ggr;-aminobutyric acid receptor type A (GABAA) potentiation by propofol disrupts episodic memory—the first mediated by shifting the balance from excitation to inhibition while the second involves disruption of rhythmic oscillations. We use a hippocampal network model to explore these scenarios. The basis for these experiments is the proposal that the brain represents memories as groups of anatomically dispersed strongly connected neurons. Methods: A neuronal network with connections modified by synaptic plasticity was exposed to patterned stimuli, after which spiking output demonstrated evidence of stimulus-related neuronal group development analogous to memory formation. The effect of GABAA potentiation on this memory model was studied in 100 unique networks. Results: GABAA potentiation consistent with moderate propofol effects reduced neuronal group size formed in response to a patterned stimulus by around 70%. Concurrently, accuracy of a Bayesian classifier in identifying learned patterns in the network output was reduced. Greater potentiation led to near total failure of group formation. Theta rhythm variations had no effect on group size or classifier accuracy. Conclusions: Memory formation is widely thought to depend on changes in neuronal connection strengths during learning that enable neuronal groups to respond with greater facility to familiar stimuli. This experiment suggests the ability to form such groups is sensitive to alteration in the balance between excitation and inhibition such as that resulting from administration of a &ggr;-aminobutyric acid–mediated anesthetic agent.


Fishes are widely known to aggregate around floating objects, including flotsam and fish aggregating devices (FADs).The numbers and diversity of juvenile fishes that associated with floating objects in the nearshore waters of the eastern tropical Pacific were recording by using FADs as an experimental tool. The effects of fish removal, FAD size, and the presence or absence of a fouling community at the FAD over a period of days, and the presence of prior recruits over a period of hours were evaluated by using a series of experiments. The removal of FAD-associated fish assemblages had a significant effect on the number of the dominant species (Abudefduf troschelii) in the following day's assemblage compared to FADs where the previous day's assemblage was undisturbed; there was no experimental effect on combined species totals. Fishes do, however, discriminate among floating objects, forming larger, more species-rich assemblages around large FADs compared to small ones. Fishes also formed larger assemblages around FADs possessing a fouling biota versus FADs without a fouling biota, although this effect was also closely tied to temporal factors. FADs enriched with fish accumulated additional recruits more quickly than FADs that were not enriched with fish and therefore the presence of prior recruits had a strong, positive effect on subsequent recruitment. These results suggest that fish recruitment to floating objects is deliberate rather than haphazard or accidental and they sup-port the hypothesis that flotsam plays a role in the interrelationship between environment and some juvenile fishes. These results are relevant to the use of FADs for fisheries, but emphasize that further research is necessary for applied interests.


This thesis comprises a literature review, a research paper and a critical review of the research process. In the literature review, a metasynthesis method was used to identify and synthesise 12 studies that explored experiences of psychiatric diagnosis. Four themes emerged; 'the diagnostic experience: problems with validity and utility'; 'reaction to diagnosis: devastation and hope'; 'personal experience: impact on self'; and 'interpersonal experience: relationships and identity'. Findings are discussed in terms of the impact of diagnosis on self and identity and suggest that there are both positive and negative aspects to diagnosis. Working with diagnosis and psychological formulation in mental health practice is considered, focusing on ameliorating the negative and preserving the positive aspects of diagnosis. The study presented in the research paper used a grounded theory methodology, where ten participants who were practitioners in adult mental health services in the National Health Service in England were interviewed, to develop a theory that explained how diagnosis was used in practice. The core category 'needing a certain foundation for practice' was constructed from the data, with two further categories; 'holding and coping with inconsistent and differing views' and 'impact on practice: depersonalisation and not challenging diagnosis'. Findings suggest that diagnosis has survived because for some it provides a secure base for practice and for others the power dynamics inherent in working in a system predicated on diagnosis and the perceived lack of utility of diagnosis, make challenging it unappealing. Critical consideration of all frameworks used to understand distress is encouraged and findings are discussed in relation to attachment and cognitive theories. The critical review discusses further findings about the role of psychology and power. Then, reflections are offered about epistemology, using grounded theory methodology and conducting research when practising clinically.


Purpose Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common malignancy in the gastrointestinal tract. The liver is the most common location of CRC metastases, which are the main causes of CRC-related death. However, the mechanisms underlying metastasis of CRC to the liver have not been characterized, resulting in therapeutic challenges. Methods The effects of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) on T cells were evaluated using in vitro mixed lymphocyte reactions (MLRs) and cytokine production assays. HSC-induced CT26 cell migration and proliferation were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Results HSCs induced T cell hypo-responsiveness, promoted T cell apoptosis, and induced regulatory T cell expansion in vitro. IL-2 and IL-4 were significantly lower in MLRs incubated with HSCs. Supernatants of MLRs with HSCs promoted CT26 cell proliferation and migration. Furthermore, the presence of HSCs increased the number of liver metastases and promoted proliferation of liver metastatic tumor cells in vivo. Conclusion HSCs may contribute to an immunosuppressive liver microenvironment, resulting in a favorable environment for the colonization of CRC cells in the liver. These findings highlight a potential strategy for treatment of CRC liver metastases.


This abstract presents a case study of the potential application of eScience tools and practices for the social science research community studying Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development practices. We first describe the practice of research on FLOSS to motivate the need for eScience. After outlining suitable public data sources, we describe our initial efforts to introduce eScience tools for FLOSS research, potential obstacles and how the use of such tools might affect the practice of research in this field.


Renewable energies use in agricultural greenhouses results in the reduction of their environmental impacts. Aim of the current work is the investigation of using small wind turbines in greenhouses located in Crete, Greece for electricity generation. Crete hosts the majority of greenhouses in Greece which are mainly used for vegetable production. Use of wind turbines like other distributed electricity generation technologies has many economic and environmental benefits and they are highly desirable. The wind energy potential in various locations in Crete has been estimated as well as the electricity generated by small wind turbines from existing studies. In locations with high average annual wind speeds in Crete the cost of wind electricity is lower than the cost of grid electricity. In some of these locations there is a high concentration of greenhouses. Provided that net-metering regulations allow, additionally to solar electricity, generation of wind electricity use of small wind turbines in greenhouses with high annual electricity demand in Crete is economically profitable and environmentally attractive. Our results could help greenhouse growers as well as local authorities to promote the use of small wind turbines in Cretan greenhouses improving their environmental sustainability.