Internet banking is the current trend in the electronic revolution in Malaysia. However, the growth rate in Internet banking has not kept pace with the general usage of Internet. One of the major determinants of the Internet banking adoption is trust. It is of paramount importance as the lack of trust is the primary reason for not engaging in Internet banking. The purpose of this paper is to determine the relationship between perceived trustworthiness and the behavioral intention to use Internet banking service among bank users in Shah Alam, Selangor. A total of 526 questionnaires were distributed to the Internet banking users and only 433 completed questionnaires were returned. Out of this, 383 were usable. The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. It was found that perceived ability, perceived benevolence, perceived integrity and the overall perceived trustworthiness were significantly correlated with behavioral intention to use. The finding also indicated that of all three variables, perceived integrity did significantly influence most the behavioral intention to use while perceived ability and perceived benevolence did not significantly influence the behavioral intention to use. Overall, the results indicate that the model provides a good understanding of factors that influence individual intention to use Internet banking service. This paper recommends that the Internet banking practitioners should make their sites more publicly trusted and act ethically according to the electronic banking code set by the Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) that would benefited all users and the banking institutions as well.


The topic of bio-monitoring of fauna, especially that of birds, is an ongoing research topic. Although huge datasets of bird sound recordings are available, the classification of such sounds into bird & non bird sounds has been painstaking work, sometimes requiring manual processing. The goal of the IEEE Research Challenge in 2016 has been to address this concern and to help develop automatic algorithms for the detection of bird sounds [1]. An attempt has been made to compare and understand how wavelet based features perform against the current state of the art methods in audio processing in more detail. Two statistical/deep learning approaches namely Support Vector Machines and Convolutional Neural Networks have been used to compare the results. Since most of the works in audio signal processing have employed Fourier based methods, there has been a stagnation in the development and usage of newer/other features for experiments. This is one of the points that has been addressed in this work. The Receiver Operating Characteristic curve (ROC) has been employed to test the diagnostic ability of the audio features. Wavelets have performed consistently and at a level similar to the best performing Fourier based methods highlighting the possibility of using such features as a viable alternate for future audio processing experiments.


The urban canopy parameterization (UCP) of Dupont et al. implemented in the MM5v3.7 mesoscale meteorological modelling system (MM5‐UCP‐Basic) is evaluated against the non‐urbanized model (MM5‐NoUCP) using measurements taken in urban Phoenix during two field studies. In general, MM5‐UCP‐Basic improved the predictions of typical meteorological parameters. Nevertheless, significant discrepancies still exist between observations and the predictions of MM5‐UCP‐Basic, and new parameterizations and land‐use classes are introduced to improve the model performance. Anthropogenic heat flux from buildings and roadways is also included. The land‐use classes in the improved model (MM5‐UCP‐MOD) represent roadways and rivers, in addition to five classes of buildings identified in MM5‐UCP‐Basic. New parameterizations include those for momentum roughness, velocity decay during evening transition, and heat and momentum diffusivities for the nocturnal period that account for different heat and momentum transfer rates under stable atmospheric conditions. Five nested grid domains are used for simulations, with the highest resolution (1 km) implemented in the two UCP versions. In general, substantial improvements in the prediction of wind speed, temperature (especially during the night time), and momentum flux as well as a smaller improvement in the heat flux are noted, pointing to possible further enhancement to model performance by including improved physics in the model.


Among patients dually infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV), use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) containing mitochondrial toxic nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (mtNRTIs) might induce chronic hepatic injury, which could accelerate HCV‐associated liver fibrosis and increase the risk of hepatic decompensation and death.


OF THE THESIS PERCEIVED ENERGY EXPENDITURE FOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN MALE AND FEMALE ADULTS by Su-Nui Escobar Florida International University, 2005 Miami, Florida Professor Valerie George, Major Professor The purpose of this study was to gain further insight into the relationship between perceived energy expenditure (EE) for physical activity (PA) and age, gender, Body Mass Index (BMI), education, and leisure time PA (LTPA) levels. A 19-item interviewer administered questionnaire was completed by 798 individuals to assess accuracy of perception of EE (in calories) for various types of PA (sedentary, moderate and vigorous). Participants, age 21 to 64 years, were recruited from ten sites of the Department of Motor Vehicles in Miami, Florida. Only 30% were able to accurately assess EE for PA. Higher education and age were associated with greater accuracy. The range for estimated EE for PA was from 0-60,000 calories. These results are of interest as they suggest efforts should be made to educate the public regarding EE for PA in reference to energy balance and weight management.


The action of a new male hormone, the flusterone (9 a flucrine-11 ~ hydroxi17 methyltestosterone), has been studie!l on « in vitro » cultures of spontaneous mammary adenocarcinoma of the C,H mouse strain, and compared with that exerted by methyltestosterone and testosterone at the same concentrations. The three tested hormones showed a growth inhibiting action at the concentration of 100 y/ml, slighter for methyltestosterone and testosterone and rather mere marked for flusterone.


A severe nematode disease of peanut (Arachis hypogaea) was first observed in 1976 in the Kalahasti area of Andhra Pradesh State, India. The disease was characterized by small, brownish yellow lesions on the pegs and pod stalks and on young, developing pods. The margins of the lesions were slightly elevated. Pod stalks were greatly reduced in length, and in advanced stages of the disease, the pod surface became completely discolored. The nematode Tylenchorhynchus brevilineatus was shown to be the causal agent. Soil treatment with carbofuran or aldicarb was effective in reducing the populations of T. brevilineatus and controlling the disease.


Thin films (45 – 1200 nm thickness) of polymeric phthalocyanines were prepared by the reaction of copper films on various carriers with gaseous aromatic tetracarbonitriles. The films were characterized by IR, UV/VIS, and ESCA spectra. The electrical conductivity is in the order of 10−2-10−5 S cm−1. The electrochemical activity of the films on graphite was studied in acid and alkaline electrolyte. The films exhibit rapid reduction and reoxidation. The pH dependence corresponds to that of the hydrogen electrode approximately.


Language anxiety has significantly sparked great concern in the second and foreign language learning world. Researches have found negative correlation between language anxiety and academic achievement of English language learners; and, most of the studies focus on average school students and tertiary level students. This paper, however, explores gifted learners' English language anxiety in ESL setting, by surveying 119 gifted learners of PERMATApintar National Gifted Center (PpNGC), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia. The result shows that gifted learners have certain level of language anxiety in English language setting; that language anxiety negatively correlates withgifted learnes' English language performance; and that female gifted learners indicate higher language anxiety than males. Finally, this paper provides some insights towards minimizing gifted learners' language anxiety in English language environment.


Analysis Of Metal Cutting Process Using Abrasive Water Jet Saumil Patel, M.S. Department of Mechanical Engineering Northern Illinois University, 2016 Dr. Pradip Majumdar, Director Abrasive water jet (AWJ) cutting is one of the most developing technologies for metal cutting process. It is superior in processing very difficult to cut material which are highly sensitive to temperature variation compared to other machining processes. Although cutting capability in terms of surface roughness, depth of jet penetration and kerf quality are the major obstructions limiting its pertinence, more study is required to understand the cutting process and cutting mechanism, and to optimize cutting performance. This research is to conduct comparative study of effecting parameters such as abrasive mass flow rate, standoff distance of nozzle from workpiece, water pressure and nozzle traverse speed to achieve fine surface roughness (Ra), minimize kerf taper and to attain maximum depth of cut. Series of experiments are conducted on Aluminum 6061 sheet by changing effecting parameters on OMEX AWJ machine; resulted surface roughness (Ra) and kerf taper are measured using surface roughness tester and microscopes. Resulted data has been analyzed in Minitab 17 and Rstudio data analysis software. ANOVA (analysis of variance) outcome shows that nozzle travel speed and water pressure have major effect on surface roughness of cut metal. It also shows that abrasive flow rate and nozzle travel speed have significant effect on kerf taper angle variation; all other process parameters have negligible effect on surface quality. Interaction plots among variables are generated. Finite element analysis is carried out to get the physical understanding of the erosion process in the AWJ. Finite element analysis results show that generated equivalent stresses from force exerted by high-velocity abrasive water jet are exceeding the maximum yield stress of Aluminum6061, and it can be deduced that material will start to deform/remove. NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY DEKALB, ILLINOIS


Elastic collisions between initially unpolarized electrons and hydrogenlike atoms are discussed aiming to analyze the entanglement properties of the correlated final spin system. Explicit spin-dependent interactions are neglected and electron exchange only is taken into account. We show the final spin system to be completely characterized by a single spin correlation parameter depending on scattering angle and energy. Its numerical value identifies the final spins of the collision partners to be either in the separable, entangled, or Bell correlated regions. The symmetry of the scattering process allows for the construction of explicit examples applying methods of classical communication and local operations for illustrating the concepts of nonlocality versus separability. It is shown that strong correlations can be produced violating Bell's inequalities significantly. Furthermore, the degree of entanglement can be continuously varied simply by changing either the scattering angle and/or energy. This allows for the generation of tunable spin pairs with any desired degree of entanglement. It is suggested to use such nonlocally entangled spin pairs as a resource for further experiments, for example in quantum information processes.


Gold nanoparticle were modified with goat-IgG and used as a mass-probe for dot blotting. On the spots of a blotting membrane, where anti-IgG antibody was cast, the IgG-modified gold nanoparticles w...


The objective of this study is to analyze the spatial variability of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate concentrations along the Batang Arau River, one of the most important rivers in West Sumatera, Indonesia. The results showed that the ammonium, nitrite, and nitrate concentrations were in the range of 0.180–0.510 mg/L, 0.0–0.178 mg/L, and 0.675–1.165 mg/L, respectively. The ammonium and nitrate concentrations were still below the maximum permissible concentrations for the river water quality standard of class II established by the Regulation Governor of West Sumatera at all of the sampling locations, except at midstream for ammonium, while the nitrite concentration had exceeded the quality standard from midstream to downstream of the river. The increase of the nitrogen concentration was observed from upstream to downstream of the river. Spatial analysis shows significant differences in nitrogen concentrations were obtained between the upstream and the midstream of the Batang Arau River (p < 0.05) but were not observed between the midstream and the downstream. This indicates the effect of different anthropogenic activities along the river. Based on the obtained results, for an effective monitoring program of the nitrogen concentration along the Batang Arau River, reducing the sampling locations from eight to five could be implemented.


Adobe Premiere Pro began an agile adoption in 2008, and has had gains in product quality, team work-life balance, and market fitness and responsiveness. This paper describes how an agile mindset has helped Premiere Pro make significant gains in market share and perception, improved quality, and created a sustainable pace of development for team members.


Since its successful isolation in 2014, two-dimensional black phosphorus (BP) has triggered considerable interest ffrom physicists, chemists and material scientists. Benefitting from the unique structural and physicochemical properties, BP has been explored in various applications including photoelectric, biological and electrochemical fields. Besides, BP also shows great potential as a promising electrode material and electrocatalyst in energy storage and electrocatalytic applications, and tremendous progress has been made in these electrochemical fields in recent years. Here, this review highlights the recent experimental and theoretical progress of BP-based electrodes and electrocatalysts. The latest recent advances of BP-based functional materials in energy storage applications including lithium-, magnesium- and sodium-ion batteries, lithium–sulfur batteries and supercapacitors, are presented in detail. Further, the emerging electrocatalytic applications of BP for hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen evolution reaction and nitrogen reduction reaction are systematically reviewed with achievements and challenges. Finally, we offer brief personal comments on the existing challenges and prospective outlook on the basis of current research progress.


The process of the digital terrain model establishment of Lianyungang channel was described. The technology, method, key problem of GIS' s application in measuring and drawing was introduced in detail and the accuracy of the data in channel was analysed as well .


Abstract: Phalotris Cope, 1862 is a fossorial dipsadid snake genus that encompasses 15 species, distributed mainly in open areas from Northeastern Brazil to Southern Argentina. Some of its species are known from small series, and there is little to no knowledge on their morphological variation and species delimitations. In this work, we analyze the taxonomic status of Phalotris cerradensis Silveira, 2020, a recently described species known from a single specimen, and provide evidence for its synonymy with Phalotris concolor Ferrarezzi, 1993.


SPACE STATIONPlans have become reality for the international space station now being assembled in orbit. But only a tiny share of the research portfolio has been selected, and the megaproject's 16 partners are still hammering out a process for collaboratively choosing experiments. Moreover, the technical hurdles remain daunting, including vibrations that could wreck sensitive studies and a cloud of contamination floating around the station that may coat and possibly blind sensitive instruments. And a debate over the scientific value of the station, which could cost $100 billion to build and operate, has been boiling ever since the idea was first floated ([see sidebar][1]).

 [1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/284/5417/1106


Cloud Computing can accelerate industrial and mechanical design. It can also bring people and ideas together to design products collaboratively. Its adoption by the enterprise community is increasing opening opportunities for affordable scalable IT infrastructures even for small companies. In this work we study a system that exploits the cloud computing paradigm to realize a scalable CAD service for designing lifts. In this context we present and dissect the architecture and discuss several issues. The system is designed with the principle of reducing the cloud size (cost) while maintaining reasonable QoS and considerable effort has been done to be technology agnostic.


In enzyme-catalyzed reactions, there is not only a substrate-inducedconformational change in enzyme, but also an enzyme-induced conformational changein substrate.This "induced fit" serves to maximize the number and strength of theenzyme-substrate interaction. By means of nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR), usingcytidine 2′-, 3′- and 5′-monophosphate(2′-, 3′- and 5′-CMP) as inhibitors,Meadows et al. investigated the base orientation relative to the ribose moiety when


This study examined the role of the dispositional variables of attachment style and tolerance for ambiguity on the interpretation of relational repair messages. Respondents completed questionnaires that measured attachment style and tolerance for ambiguity and made interpretations of hypothetical repair messages from their spouses with varying levels of equivocation. The resulting interpretations were measured along the dimensions of honesty, competence, and politeness using Likert-type scales. Regression and multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVAs) demonstrated that both of the traits influenced the interpretation of repair messages, although in somewhat different ways and along different dimensions.


The inhibitive effect of cumin extract as corrosion inhibitor for pure Aluminium in 1N HCl has been investigated by using Weight loss, Galvanostatic polarization and Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. The results obtained reveal that inhibition efficiency increases with increase in concentration of inhibitors but decreases with increase in temperature. The value of apparent activation energy shows that the cumin extract acts as a good inhibitor for pure Aluminium in acid medium. The values of free energy of adsorption and heat of adsorption show that the adsorption of cumin extract on Aluminium obeys mixed adsorption and exothermic in nature. Thermodynamic consideration shows that adsorption of cumin extract follows Langmuir Adsorption isotherm. The Galvanostatic polarization measurement indicates that the inhibitor is of mixed type. Electrochemical impedance study results are in good agreement with weight loss and Galvanostatic polarization studies.


We obtained 20 complete cytochrome b sequences (1140 bp) of Meles leucurus from the Korean Peninsula (mainland Korea and Jeju Island), Russian Far East, and Mongolia, and these sequences were compared to complete and partial (629 bp) sequences of M. leucurus, obtained from GenBank, in order to reexamine genetic differentiation among M. leucurus from Korea, Siberian and Far-eastern Russia, Mongolia, and China. We detected that M. leucurus is composed of two sympatric phylogroups (a major phylogroup from the Urals, Siberia, Mongolia, China, and mainland Korea and a minor phylogroup from China, Far-eastern Russia, mainland Korea, and Jeju Island), indicating that M. leucurus is a monotypic species in the cytochrome b gene. Thus, we concluded that our sequencing results do not support current subspecies classification of M. leucurus, recognizing it as a polytypic species, although further genetic analyses with other markers are needed to confirm our present findings. We also considered that M. leucurus from China and Russian Far East is in contact with M. leucurus from mainland Korea and Jeju Island during the last glacial period, although in both Jeju and Russian Far East the specimens belonging to one of the two phylogroups are found at present. Additionally, we considered that the degree of genetic divergence between insular M. anakuma from Japan and continental M. leucurus from mainland Asia is not so great that our sequencing results do not support current species classification, recognizing M. leucurus as a distinct species: we proposed further systematic analyses to clarify the specific status of M. anakuma.


Background: Lower airway infections (LAI) occur frequently in children with a tracheostostoma. Whether airway pathogens are risk factors for LAI is not sufficiently studied. Methods: We retrospectively analysed patient records of tracheostomised children and young adults, who were treated between 2004 to 2014 in the children´s hospital of the University of Muenster, Germany. The correlation between lower airway pathogens and the number of LAI per year (Y) was assessed by Spearman correlation coefficient (r). Results: 78 patients were enrolled into the study and had a tracheostoma (median of 58.5 months (interquartile range (IQR): 26; 73.5). The median age was 7.5 years (IQR: 3.75; 7.5), 43 (55%) patients were male. We cultured 329 lower airway secretions and found Staphylococcus aureus (n=135), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n=90), Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=46), Hamophilus influenzae (n=37), Escherichia coli (n=37), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (n=29), Acinetobacter baumannii (n=21), Moraxella catarrhalis (n=20) und Candida albicans (n=37). The presence of Acinetobacter baumanii (r= 0.355; p=0.001) and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (r=0.274; p=0.015) was positively correlated to LAI/Y; Pseudomonas aeruginosa (r=0.109; p=0.342), Staphylococcus aureus (r=0.086; p=0.448) or Klebsiella pneumonia (r=0.050; p=0.664) was not correlated to LAI/Y. The duration of long term ventilation was negatively correlated to the number of LAI/Y (r=-0.549; p Discussion: Acinetobacter baumanii or Stenotrophomonas maltophilia in airway secretions may be risk factors and long term ventilation may be protective for LAI in children and young adults with a tracheostoma.


The philosophical concept of the self has had a hard time for a long
time. The scepticism that lay behind Hume's 'bundle' theory has been
made manifest in 'post-philosophical' claims that the self or subject is
not so much (not even) a 'something' that ties together a bundle of
sense impressions, but is rather to be seen as an effect of a system of
power relations, or an illusory presupposition of the relational properties
of syntax


Objective: The profession's development requires an advanced science and skills degree. The major's excitement helps students reduce stress and become more active in their studies. As a result, excitement about the major plays an essential role in increasing the efficiency and quality of learning. This study aims to determine the level of excitement and the factors related to the significant excitement of nursing students at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City.
Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted on an online survey of 465 nursing students. Each student completed a survey about the level of excitement based on awareness, emotions, learning behaviours, and factors related to excitement in a nursing major. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the current situation of nursing students' excitement for majors and related factors, and the chi-square test was used to assess the relationships.
Results: The level of nursing students' excitement in the major evaluated through awareness, emotion, and behaviour was average (17.35 points). Factors related to academic interest include as follows: Year(s) of study (p < 0.001). The most crucial objective factor is job opportunities (89%). The most critical subjective factor is understanding the role and responsibilities of being a nurse (81.5%).
Conclusion: According to the results, nursing students' excitement in Vietnam about their major was average and tended to decrease gradually over the school years. Job opportunities and a strong understanding of the role and responsibilities of a nurse are essential factors related to students' excitement about the major.


The LH and FSH responses to 100 pg LHRH in a combined pituitary stimulation test were compared in five normal men during infusions of somatostatin‐28 (SS‐28) and somatostatin onadotrophin hormone secretion by SS‐14 and SS‐28 suggest that these hypothalamic peptides may play a part in the regulation of LH and FSH secretion.


This bachelor thesis deals with the communication plan for the selected company EURO CUSTOM Ltd The first part of the work deals with the theoretical description of marketing communication and communication plan with the possibilities of promotion. The second part applies these theories to practical forms of the specific issues selected companies. In conclusion, this work is briefly summarized the proposal, including recommendations for the company.


Concepts related to green design were briefly introduced. The relationship between green design and bionic design was explained. According to a subdivided product life cycle, green design concepts showed on bionic design were analyzed. The author hopes to enrich the academic studies on green design and bionic design.


The literature and our data on vapour-liquid equilibria (VLE), molar excess Gibbs energies (G E ), molar excess enthalpies (H E ), natural logarithms of activity coefficients at infinite dilution (lnγ ∞ i ) and partial molar excess enthalpies at infinite dilution (H E , ∞ i ) of cycloalkane + n-alkylbenzene mixtures are examined in terms of the DISQUAC group contribution model. The components of the mixtures are characterised by three types of surface: n-alkyl (CH 3 or CH 2 groups), cycloalkyl (c-CH 2 group), and phenyl (C 6 H 6 or C 6 H 5 groups in benzene or alkylbenzene). The cycloalkyl/n-alkyl and phenyl/n-alkyl contact parameters are available in the literature. The parameters for the cycloalkyl/phenyl interactions are reported in this paper. For twelve mixtures of cycloalkane + n-alkylbenzene investigated in this work the model provides a fairly consistent description of the experimental data.


We consider the location service in a mobile ad-hoc network (MANET), where each node needs to maintain its location information in the network by (i) frequently updating its location information within its neighboring region, which is called neighborhood update (NU), and (ii) occasionally updating its location information to a certain (fixed) distributed location server in the network, which is called location server update (LU). A trade-off exists between the costs in location update operations, on one hand, and the additional incurred costs in (position-based) routing due to location errors, on the other hand. In this paper, we develop a stochastic sequential decision framework to analyze this trade-off and provide design guidelines on selecting good location update strategies in practice. Under a Markovian mobility model, the location update decision problem is modeled as a Markovian decision process (MDP). Based on the separable cost structure of the proposed MDP model, we first show that the location update decisions on NU and LU can be independently carried out without loss of optimality. Then we investigate the optimality of simple threshold-based updating rules in NU and LU operations. We finally introduce a model-free learning approach which is practically useful to find a near-optimal solution for the problem.


ABSTRACT The environmental-friendly, economical, and simple one pot formulation for enhanced antibacterial and mechanical property finishing on medical cotton fabrics was successfully developed and optimized using a central composite design in conjunction with response surface methodology. It combines the concepts of in situ synthesis of AgNPs and photocatalytic property of TiO2 in waterborne polyurethane as the finishing emulsion without additional organic reducing or stabilizing agent. The optimal formulation with contents of AgNO3 (240 ppm) and TiO2 NPs (980 ppm) exhibited excellent antibacterial activities against Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus with over 99% reduction and improved mechanical properties as well as non-toxicity to mammalian cells.


Reinforced concrete is most widely used construction material. Columns are one of the important structural elements in the structures. Retrofitting refers to the addition of new technology or features to older systems to restore the required strength. Jacketing construction is one of the preferred methods of retrofitting. Ferrocement confinement for retrofitting of structural elements is one of the effective techniques. As because of the notable properties of ferrocement, wider applications such as fire resistance, low self weight, water proof, durability, crack resistance etc makes it an ideal material. Fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) have been extensively used in order to strengthen concrete columns. The advantages of FRP technique compared to other similar techniques include of light weight, high strength, good environmental resistance etc. This paper presents the compilation of the literature review of ferrocement and FRP jacketing for restrengthening the concrete column. All the casted specimens are tested by applying load. Axial load, lateral bulging, crack pattern etc of column will be measured for the effectiveness of all two type jacketing.


Effective sequencing and scheduling of material handling systems (MHSs) have a major impact on the productivity of a manufacturing system. Since the main function of a MHS is to supply the right materials at the right locations at the right time, the design of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) fleet-oriented, distributed and scalability-robust control policies ensuring deadlock-free operations is of crucial importance. In this context, a given design of a flexible manufacturing system (FMS) where vehicles serve workstations located along different modes of cyclic guided paths in a 3D environment composed of rails/lifts/hoists is considered. Furthermore, fuzzy processing time constraints on transportation operations, a production flows scheduling problem subject to an assumed set of constraints imposed by admissible production routes and schedules of AGV fleet in a given MHS are considered. Since this type of problem can be treated as a fuzzy constraint satisfaction problem, the main objective is to provide analytical formulas enabling the avoidance of time-consuming computer-simulation-based calculations of AGV fleet schedules, as well as vehicles deadlock and collisions, while keeping the throughput at the maximum achievable level. Results of computational experiments assessing the scalability of the proposed method are presented as well.


The performance of service system is especially low when demand is stochastic and nonstationary. This paper considers an inventory control problem with multiple-period replenishment lead time and nonstationary stochastic demand, and provides an optimal policy for this kind of problem. The problem is formulated as a stochastic dynamic programming model, then a solution algorithm which can obtain the optimal solution is developed. Numerical comparisons verify the effectiveness of the proposed policy.


This paper deals with single layer polarization independent Frequency selective surface (FSS) which acts as a triple band reject filter. The two stop bands are broad with percentage bandwidth 11.16% and 10.13% and one is narrow with 3.33% bandwidth. The band ratio is more than 1.5 and band separation is around 30-35dB. This design is investigated theoretically by ANSOFT® Designer software and practically by standard microwave test bench and the both results show a good agreement. Keywords— Frequency Selective Surface; Band reject filter; Band separation; Frequency ratio; Polarization Independent.


— Cloud computing is the development of distributed computing, parallel computing and grid computing, or defined as the commercial implementation of these computer science concepts. The allocation of cloud computing resource is a hot topic. Many scholars have done some research in this area. This implementation have the intention of achieving the establishment of performance qualitative analysis on VM migration and process according to their deadline, then implemented in Cloudsim with Java language. A previous study also indicates change of instruction size (MIPS) will affect the response time and increase in instruction size (MIPS) versus VM decreases the response time. When metaphor size of VM is implemented against the VM bandwidth then no significant effect is found on response time and it remains constant for which these parameters are carried out for research. But in case of Cloudlet long length versus PM bandwidth a pattern is observed in which response time increases in proportionate manner. Using the modified approach the reduction in the down time and increase in efficiency of the various processes are resolved as shown in conclusion.


The present invention, optionally in an article for use in new plants containing degradable packaging, relating to the article to the packaging, to form a closed space. At least one plant enhancer, at least one pesticide and / or at least one water-absorbing material is located closed in the space formed by the packaging. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method of reducing the shock to the plant treatment method and plant.


By improving the quality of rice, reducing postharvest losses, reducing drudgery and improving safety for processors, improved parboiling technology contributes to improved food and nutrition security, income and livelihoods of rural parboiling households and communities. The Ladder of Life tool was used to assess the poverty dynamics by exploring the perceptions and interpretations of different wellbeing groups in communities where improved parboiling technology has been adopted in Benin. Forty-eight focus group discussions (FGDs) and individual interviews were held with 480 male and female rice producers and parboilers in the Central and Northern regions of Benin. Findings show that more female actors produce and parboil rice while male participants are rice producers. The Ladder of Life charts found more male farmers (53 %) than female farmers (50 %) under the poverty line in the investigated communities indicating that slightly more women are out of poverty than men. Also, 15 % of male and female improved their livelihood during the last decade and moved out from poverty. It was commonly recognised by both men and women that improved rice parboiling equipment and practices adoption has significantly contributed to bring women out of poverty during the last decade. Almost all the women who adopted the technology moved up on the ladder of life. In communities where traditional parboiling is still prevalent, the proportion of the poor is largest despite the noted decline for women in the lowest levels from 80 % in the last 10 years to the current 62 % while for men, the poverty situation has stagnated to 71 % for the lowest ladder levels. Men and women who are under the poverty line are aware of improved rice production and parboiling but are not applying them because of the lack of financial support and climate changes. The main factors contributing to moving up or climbing the step of the ladder are access to suitable credit and good and improved technologies, proper planning and management, investment in secondary activities such as animal rearing, agri-food processing, good relationship with people of the upper ladder levels, good networking and hard working.


r NHE APPOINTMENT of the National Coal Board was announced in the summer of I946. In the following three years ownership of the i fuel and power and transport industries was vested in a number of public corporations, two of which controlled, in terms of total undertakings and labour force, industrial organizations larger than any previously known in this country, or in the United states.l The National Coal Board acquired over I,500 collieries and allied undertakings, and a labour force of about 800,000, while the nationalized transport services, under the control of the British Transport Commission, took over nearly goo,ooo employees. In addition the ownership and operation of the electricity supply industry was transferred to the British Electricity Authority and fourteen Area Electricity Boards, controlling some 700 undertakings and I70,000 employees; even gas, the smallest industry taken over in this period, comprised over I,OOO separate undertakings, mth I35,000 employees. The total labour force of the industries nationalized since I945 iS I,986,000,2 or about 8 per cent of the total working population. This remarkable rate of acquisition, followed by extensive internal reorganization, was the first major effort of the Labour movement to change the distribution of industrial power in this country. Table I shows the extent of this transfer in terms of undertakings, manpower, fixed assets and revenue. Sociologists commonly complain that the study of social change presents formidable difficulties. The length of the process, the ensuing reliance on documentary sources, the very diffuseness of the task leading to doubts about the relevance of the data, tend to bring about charges of abstraction and lack of concern with real problems. It is not surprising that this field has been left mainly to philosophers. Admittedly the opportunities for field studies in social change have been few, and it therefore seems particularly important that when an opportunity does occur, full use should be made of it. The past five years have shown that the transfer of ownership and control by the nationalization acts shifted centres of power, created new institutional


A method for fabricating at least one gear, in particular a helical gear, wherein said gear from a pressed with an allowance in the toothing region and the sintered gear blank (20, 38, 50, 52, 62, 72, 80, 82, 84) is produced, wherein the gear blank (20, 38, 50, 52, 62, 72, 80, 82, 84) having two opposite ends and a periphery, comprising the steps of: - clamping the gear blank (20, 38, 50, 52, 62, 72, 80, 82, 84) in a clamping means (42), - compacting of the gear blank (20, 38, 50, 52, 62, 72, 80, 82, 84) in the region of the overmeasure by engagement of at least one revolving tool (10, 28, 34) with the toothing (18) of the gear blank (20, 38, 50, 52, 62, 72, 80, 82, 84) engaging counter-toothing (12, 26), wherein the gear blank (20, 38, 50, 52, 62, 72, 80, 82, 84) is clamped radially during its compression on both faces by the clamping means (42) over the circumference, wherein each individual tooth (54, 64) of the toothing (18) of the gear blank (20, 38, 50, 52, 62, 72, 80, 82, 84) is supported substantially over the entire tooth height by the clamping means (42).


The ability to produce embryos singly in vitro (in vitro production, IVP) would be a useful tool for many purposes. Without the interfering effects of other developing or degenerating oocytes or embryos, such an individual IVP system is the tool of choice for studies on oocyte quality and oocyte–embryo metabolism. Unfortunately, individual IVP in most cases leads to unsatisfactorily low blastocyst rates. Earlier work showed that individual culture of zygotes on a cumulus cell (CC) monolayer resulted in comparable numbers of good-quality embryos, as obtained following regular group culture (Goovaerts et al. 2009 Theriogenology 71, 729–738). However, co-culture with somatic cells is often criticised because of the undefined culture conditions and for sanitary reasons. In the cited study, CC for monolayer production were obtained from a different batch of ovaries. Our specific aim was to use CC from the zygote itself (autologous CC). Grade I COC (n = 660) were collected from slaughterhouse ovaries and randomly assigned to 2 treatments (5 replicates): a completely individual 'single-oocyte' IVP protocol, or routine group IVP as a control. Individual maturation (TCM-199 + 20% serum) and fertilization were performed in 20-μL droplets under oil in 24-well plates. Subsequently, each zygote was stripped and cultured in 20 μL of medium (SOF + 5% serum, 90% N2, 5% CO2, 5% O2), to which the autologous stripped CC were added. Group maturation and fertilization were carried out per 100 COC in 500 μL, whereas group culture was performed per 25 zygotes in 50-μL droplets under oil. Cleavage, blastocyst, and hatching rates were determined 2, 8, and 10 days post-fertilization, respectively. Possible effects of the individual and group cultures were evaluated with binary logistic regression (SPSS 15.0, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). No interactions between replicate and treatment were found (P > 0.05). Although a blastocyst rate of 15.1% was obtained using single IVP, the general efficacy of the single-embryo production system was lower when compared with group culture (Table 1). In conclusion, although developmental competence was impaired using individual IVP, co-culture with autologous cumulus cells can be useful in specific experimental setups in which the influence of other oocytes or embryos or heterologous somatic cells is unacceptable. Table 1.Cleavage, blastocyst, and hatching rates after individual and group in vitro production (IVP)


The study aims to illustrate how caregivers and care managers on three short-term accommodations implement values concerning self-determination, meaningfulness, safeness, integrity, well-being, dignity and how they work to develop the individual's own resources. These values are stated in the Social Services Act in the objectives in section 1 §1, and in section 5 §4 (SFS 2001:453). To answer the aim of the study three care managers were interviewed and a questionnaire were used to obtain the caregivers perspective on the short-term accommodations. The empirical data were analyzed on the basis of Self-determination theory and institutionalization. Result shows that the care managers main method of implementation of the basic values are to discuss it with the caregivers in the workplace. A large proportion of the staff however, do not know the content of the basic values. The residents' ability to exercise self-determination are limited and their integrity is curtailed when overcrowding when they share a room and lavatories. People with dementia and those who dwelt in the short-term accommodation for respite are being excluded thus, they have less opportunity to get their needs met.


Context: In addition to growth hormone (GH) effects to promote linear growth in children, GH also has substantial effects on insulin sensitivity, lipolysis, lipids, and body composition. A dissociation between anabolic and lipolytic GH effects has been suggested. Objective: The objective of the present study was to further investigate dissociated GH effects by calculating the GH doses to attain half of a given metabolic effect, the effective dose 50% (ED50%). Hypothesis: The hypothesis was that there are dose-dependent thresholds in different variables reflecting metabolism. Design: A randomized, prospective, multicentre trial was performed for a 2 years period, with two treatment regimens in short prepubertal GHD and ISS children a) individualized GH dose with six different dose groups ranging 17-100 g/kg/day (n=87) and b) fixed GH dose of 43 g/kg/day (n=41). Results: Contrary to changes in fat mass, leptin, lipids and skinfold measurements, there was evidence for different thresholds in metabolic variables for a given GH dose when performing ANOVA, p<0.001. was calculated as the difference between 2 years and start of GH treatment. Besides height (SDS), growth related variables like weight SDS and BMI (kg/m ); measures of body composition such as fat-free mass (FFM) (kg), FFM index (FFMI) (kg/m ), waist (cm), hip (cm); as well as biochemical markers like IGF-1 (SDS), IGFBP-3 (SDS); insulin (mU/L) showed dose-dependency with different ED50% levels. Conclusions: Differences of the ED50% on metabolic variables were seen in-between different GH dose spans. Thus we propose that there are different thresholds in GH effects on variables reflecting different metabolic aspects, suggesting muscle tissue being more sensitive than linear growth, GH induced insulin resistance, the rise in IGF-1 and the increase in hip circumference as a measure of 3-dimensional body growth.


Public agencies are under increasing scrutiny to use their resources effectively and to demonstrate their effectiveness through performance measures. A variety of measures have been developed for winter maintenance operations, but the measures only provide meaningful information when they are normalized to the weather conditions that vary significantly from year to year and place to place. One method of normalizing is to use a measure the severity of winter weather conditions as they relate to winter maintenance activities. The challenge is to develop a WSI that explains temporal and spatial variations in winter road maintenance activities across varied geographic areas. In this paper, a methodology for developing a province-wide and simple-to-use winter severity index (WSI) is described using a case study approach on the provincial highway system of Ontario, Canada. This methodology combines the use of expert knowledge and mathematical optimization to develop a WSI that assigns daily weather scores for each day based on weather triggers and an adjustment factor. These daily scores are aggregated to the 14day period and are then correlated to maintenance activities. The WSI for Ontario provincial highways has a strong fit with maintenance measured as equipment-hours. Correlation of WSI values with equipment-hours at this temporal aggregation level vary from moderate to very high for each of the 20 maintenance areas across Ontario. When spatially aggregated to the provincial fit improves further to between 0.959 and 0.989 over seven seasons. This study demonstrates the utility of a province-wide WSI and describes how a WSI can be developed for road authorities.


Many vision-based Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (vSLAM) algorithms require large amounts of computational power and storage. With these requirements, vSLAM is difficult to implement in real time. One known bottleneck in vSLAM is performing feature identification and matching across a large database. In this paper, we present a system and algorithms to reduce computational time and storage requirements for feature identification and matching components of vSLAM. We compare our algorithms using ORB and SURF to their unmodified versions readily available datasets and show significant reductions in storage requirements and calculation time.


This study explored the sandplay therapy case of a middle school-aged boy having severe conflicts with his mother, from the viewpoints of initiation. The goal of the therapy was to lessen the boy's conflicts with his mother within the free and protected space in sandplay therapy. Thirty-seven therapy sessions were held. The client showed the scene of having fun in the water in the most unconscious part of the tray in the initial phase of therapy (1, descending into the unconscious). In the intermediate phase of therapy (2~33, a period of suffering, confrontation with death and trials), he showed suffering, was confronted with death and underwent trials. In the final phase of therapy (34~37, seeking masculine principles and rebirth), he began to seek masculine principles instead of having conflicts with his mother and was reborn. Using sandplay therapy in a free and protected space, this study showed the effectiveness of sandplay therapy since the boy's severe conflicts with his mother were lessened. This study also confirmed the existence of an archetypal pattern in the male adolescent's psyche.


most resistant to all forms of treatment. When seen ten years ago on the medical side he was thought to have specific aortitis. Dr. BuNCH said that, as exemplifying the difficulty of diagnosis in some cases, he had seen a few days previously a patient who had been shown some time ago in this Section as suffering from lupus erythematosus, but some time afterwards the lesions on the face broke down, ulceration took place, and perforation of the palate ensued, and he did not doubt that the patient's trouble was syphilitic all the way through. The Wassermann reaction was at the present time positive, but it was, of course, impossible now to say what it was when the patient was exhibited previously.


A monolithic two-stage medium power amplifier, fabricated on GaAs and designed to cover the 6-18 GHz frequency band, is described. Amplifier circuit topology, process sequence, and measured performance results are presented. Chips from several epitaxial and ion implanted slices have demonstrated good output power and gain performance across the 7.0-17.0 GHz band, achieving an average of 27.3 dBm (540 mW or 0.45 watts per millimeter of gate width) at 18.8 percent power-added efficiency, with an average gain of 10.6 dB, at 1 dB gain compression.


The recently concluded Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the negotiations underway for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) have drawn renewed attention to the potential for treaty parties to frame the substantive obligations in new investment treaties in a manner that is more supportive of regulatory autonomy than earlier treaties. One way of doing so is to more precisely define the contours of states' obligations towards foreign investors and investments, in an attempt to eliminate the likelihood of successful challenges to non-discriminatory public welfare measures. More precise norms place greater constraints on the decision-making criteria employed by adjudicators, fettering their discretion to make evaluative judgments. Treaty parties may adopt more precise language to provide guidance or to exert control over adjudicators in light of previous decisions that are regarded as erroneous, in light of concerns about adjudicator incompetence or to constrain subjective value choices. Concerns about the impact of vaguely drafted provisions in existing investment treaties are well documented. It is reasonable to assume that drafting states' obligations with greater precision will constrain the scope of investment arbitrators' interpretive discretion. The TPP, CETA and draft TTIP provisions on fair and equitable treatment, indirect expropriation, national treatment and exceptions contain several instances of greater precision than provisions seen in the majority of existing treaties. Yet, these provisions continue to grant broad discretion to investment arbitrators through the use of evaluative language such as 'manifestly arbitrary', 'rare circumstances', 'excessive', and 'necessary'. Experience from the body of decided investment cases suggests that these provisions might not go far enough toward ensuring that non-discriminatory public welfare measures do not attract liability. The article concludes that the TTIP negotiating parties—and states negotiating other investment treaties—should consider drafting such provisions with greater precision so as to further reduce the breadth of adjudicative discretion entrusted to tribunals.


Vector control of the electromagnetic moment of a reactive machine is considered. The control task is to eliminate pulsations of the electromagnetic moment. It can be shown that to achieve this goal, sinusoidal currents must flow through the windings, whose inductance must pulse according to the sinusoidal law. It is shown that when sinusoidal currents flow through the phase windings, the voltage of the main and third harmonics occurs on them. At the same time, in a three-phase machine whose phase windings are connected to a star, the third harmonic disappears as part of the line voltage. In this case, a standard frequency converter can be used to synthesize the voltages applied to the stator windings using pulse-width modulation, which makes it easier and cheaper to practically control the reactive electric machine with concentrated phase windings. The ratio of size of the stator and rotor teeth, at which the coefficient of non-sinusoidal pulsations of the phase windings inductances during the rotor rotation will be minimal, is found. Electromagnetic processes in the reactive machine are described by the linear differential equations with periodic coefficients. Lyapunov transformations for differential stress equations, which allow converting the initial equations with periodic coefficients into stress equations with constant coefficients, are found. The resulting Lyapunov equations are the basis for the synthesis of a system for controlling the dynamics of electromagnetic processes, which allows sinusoidal currents to flow through the phase windings of the machine. The control system of the reactive electric machine is represented by a structural diagram. An algorithm for controlling the electromagnetic moment of the reactive machine with a constant magnetization current is considered. The use of this algorithm allows to obtain the maximum performance of the management. A virtual scattering loop is also used to increase the speed of load current regulation. Simulation of electromechanical processes at the reactive electric machine control is carried out.


Macaque monkeys exhibit behavior similar to human adults while freely viewing video stimuli. However, the relationship to human infants has not been explored. Method: This paper compares published results from four datasets including novel analysis. We summarize reports comparing human infants to adults Franchak et al. [1], human adults to (adult) macaque monkeys Shepherd et al. [2], Berg et al. [3], and human adults versus macaque and marmoset monkey behavior Chen et al. [4]. Results: Bottom-up models of visual attention ("saliency map") predict gaze at similar rates for all species and age-groups. However, when there are multiple salient targets, human adults and human infants over 12 months tend to look at the same target. In contrast, marmoset monkeys, like human infants under 9 months, look among many of the salient targets. Macaque behavior is in between, leaning towards human adult behavior. Conclusion: looking behavior of humans over 12 months and macaques is influenced by top-down control that selects among salient targets, whereas infant and marmoset behavior is not.


The contribution of the Surabaya construction sector to the growth of the Surabaya economy over the past few decades is highly phenomenal, but many of construction projects in Surabaya are experiencing delays. While much research has been done about the cause of the delay, but the chronic problem of delay time is still very difficult to clearly discovered. The primary objectives of this research are to identify the main factors of non-excusable delay in construction projects and analyze the interdependence relationships of one factor with another. Based on literature, structural model has been developed and then use Partial Least Square to analyze the relationships with quantitative impact value among identified factors. In order to collect the data on the measured attributes, a questionnaire survey was designed in the form of an affirmative question. Respondents for this study are selected from a project manager, head project and director in the Surabaya construction firms were worked on building projects and experienced of dealling delays problem. The results of the research suggest that poor field management is one of the most significant factors significant affecting construction project delay. While path coefficient of poor capability of contractors and improper planning indicated possitive, neither of these two factors has any impact on time delay. On the other hand, poor capability of contractor to be one of the key contributing factors resulting in improper planning and improper planning affecting in poor field management.


Marked progression and unmarked progression are distinguished in this thesis which illustrates that both inter-sentence and inside-sentence progression are included in unmarked progression. We drew a conclusion of six unmarked progressive grammatical connective methods which are word order, parallel composition, omission, correlation, replacement and repetition. Those grammatical connective methods can be used independently or comprehensively. In a word, unmarked progressive connective methods are diversified.


On the Existence of Social Welfare Functions, Social Orderings and Social Decision Functions Author(s): Murray C. Kemp and Yew-Kwang Ng Source: Economica, New Series, Vol. 43, No. 169 (Feb., 1976), pp. 59-66 Published by: Wiley on behalf of The London School of Economics and Political Science and The Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2553016 . Accessed: 30/01/2015 02:43


Background Standardized measurement of physical and mental health is useful for identification of health problems. Personalized feedback of the results can influence health behavior, and treatment outcomes can be improved by monitoring feedback over time. However, few resources are available that are free for users, provide feedback from validated measurement instruments, and measure a wide range of health domains. Objective This study aimed to develop an internet self-assessment resource that fills the identified gap and collects data to generate and test hypotheses about health, to test its feasibility, and to describe the characteristics of its users. Methods The Self-Assessment Kiosk was built using validated health measurement instruments and implemented on a commercial internet survey platform. Data regarding usage and the characteristics of users were collected over 54 weeks. The rate of accrual of new users, popularity of measurement domains, frequency with which multiple domains were selected for measurement, and characteristics of users who chose particular questionnaires were assessed. Results Of the 1435 visits, 441 (30.73%) were visiting for the first time, completed at least 1 measure, indicated that their responses were truthful, and consented to research. Growth in the number of users over time was approximately linear. Users were skewed toward old age and higher income and education. Most (53.9%, 234/434) reported at least 1 medical condition. The median number of questionnaires completed was 5. Internal reliability of most measures was good (Cronbach alpha>.70), with lower reliability for some subscales of coping (self-distraction alpha=.35, venting alpha=.50, acceptance alpha=.51) and personality (agreeableness alpha=.46, openness alpha=.45). The popular questionnaires measured depression (61.0%, 269/441), anxiety (60.5%, 267/441), attachment insecurity (54.2%, 239/441), and coping (46.0%, 203/441). Demographic characteristics somewhat influenced choice of instruments, accounting for <9% of the variance in this choice. Mean depression and anxiety scores were intermediate between previously studied populations with and without mental illness. Modeling to estimate the sample size required to study relationships between variables suggested that the accrual of users required to study the relationship between 3 variables was 2 to 3 times greater than that required to study a single variable. Conclusions The value of the Self-Assessment Kiosk to users and the feasibility of providing this resource are supported by the steady accumulation of new users over time. The Self-Assessment Kiosk database can be interrogated to understand the relationships between health variables. Users who select particular instruments tend to have scores that are higher than those found in the general population, indicating that instruments are more likely to be selected when they are salient. Self-selection bias limits generalizability and needs to be taken into account when using the Self-Assessment Kiosk database for research. Ethical issues that were considered in developing and implementing the Self-Assessment Kiosk are discussed.


Representing social institutions in terms of a well-known model of information transmission and social learning, the paper shows the ability of institutions to facilitate or prevent social consensus. It also shown that the insularity of societal institutions has a profound impact on the time required to achieve consensus.


High strength concrete has been widely used in civil engineering in recent years. High strength concrete provides high compressive strength but lower the ductility than normal strength concrete. In this study, the compressive strength of cube and cylinder specimens was compared. Cube test is the common measurement of concrete compressive strength. According to British Standard 8110, the design of
concrete structures is depend on the cube strength. In industries, the cube strength test is conducted to obtain the grade of concrete before it is applied to the work. In
future, Eurocode 2 (EC2) will replace the existing British code 13S8 110 for the design of concrete structure. EC2 have some benefits compared to British Standard. Concrete
strengths are referred to by cylinder strength, which are typically 10-20% less than the corresponding cube strengths. In this investigation, the concrete cube and cylinder
were tested on 7 and 28 days of water curing. The result show that the value of cylinder strength is about 18-21% less than the cube strength. Nondestructive test which are Rebound Hammer test and Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity test was also used to test the concrete strength.


This paper addresses the problem of Toolface control for stabilized platform in rotary steerable systems (RSSs). First, a discrete-time nonlinear stochastic model of the drilling Toolface system (DTS) is presented. The DTS involves the noises caused by changes of rotary inertia, which is associated with state and disturbance. The load torque, the outer housing speed and system states are estimated by a linear extended state observer (LESO), which can improve the robustness against unknown disturbance input. Then, the existence condition for the finite-time H∞ controller is derived, and the gain of controller is obtained by solving a linear matrix inequality (LMI). Finally, the validity of the proposed method is verified by an emulation trial.


The issue of Cannabis use and abuse on the part of persons with schizophrenia has attracted the attention of both epidemiologists and clinicians for some time. Their interest is motivated by the likely possibility of a significant interaction between a drug-which at sufficient doses can cause measurable psychodysleptic changes (1)-and a disease process with similar effects on psychic function. Some observations have been reported consistently by different authors in separate settings, and have thus become part of the current "factual knowledge" base in the field of clinical psychiatry. Others have been rather inconsistent and their interpretation remains unconvincing or frankly controversial. Of course, all the findings registered to date in the Cannabis/schizophrenia literature derive from the study of naturalistic conditions (i.e., the spontaneous use of the drug within the population in case) for ethical considerations preclude the experimental administration of this drug to individuals suffering from schizophrenia.


The "history" of historical materialism is not an experiential description of the historical process,but a theory of the contradiction development history of productivity and productive relations in realities.The "spirit of history" can be regarded as a scientific methodology of historical phylogeny.The "materialism" of historical materialism is not a simple negation of idealism,but an analysis of the ways in which human beings can get freedom.Different from Heidegger's ontology,Marx has discovered the analytical approaches of historical materialism which can explore the true social and cultural nature of society.Consequently,with its spirit of historical materialism,a totally new road to modern philosophies has come into being.


Most freshwater mussel (Bivalvia: Unionoida) larvae (glochidia in Margaritiferidae, Hyriidae and Unionidae) are fish parasites. Knowledge of the larval morphology and the mechanism of release in freshwater mussels is useful in species systematics and ecology. Westralunio carteri is the only unionoid from south-western Australia. Little information is available on its biology and its glochidia have never been described. The aim of this study was to describe the glochidia of W. carteri and method of their release. Glochidia within vitelline membranes were embedded in mucus which extruded from exhalent siphons of females during spring/summer; they then hatched from vitelline membranes but remained tethered by a larval thread and began characteristically "winking". Shells (n=120) were subtriangular, 308 μm long (±0.83 SE), 251 μm high (±0.73 SE) and had a hinge length of 212 μm (±0.78 SE). Larval teeth were singular with interlocking cusps and convex or concave basal protuberances on opposing valves.


[Objective] To study the status of knowledge,attitude of the community residents in Nanjing on traffic injury prevention and control,and to provide guide for the further work on health promotion for control and prevention of traffic injury. [Methods] With cluster multistage sampling,492 residents in Nanjing were interviewed by questionnaire.This study explored the degrees of knowing knowledge,positive attitude to traffic safety of the residents of different age,sex,marital status,educational level and economic situation.[Results] There are some differences in knowledge and attitude of prevention and control of road traffic injuries of different age,gender,marital status,education level and economic status of the residents.There are some differences in non-motorized traffic knowledge of different age (X~2=10.587,P0.05 ).Male residents do better than female on the knowledge of the traffic rules,non-motorized traffic and electric bicycle (X~2=6.996、9.059、4.945,P0.05).Residents' knowledge and attitude of different marital status are not significantly different (P0.05).As the education level changes,the understanding level of traffic signals and police gestures,highway speed limits for motor vehicles,motor vehicle driving knowledge and non-motorized traffic knowledge have all changed (X~2=18.743、27.673、19.944、28.356,P0.05).As the economic status changes,the knowledge of the traffic rules,the understanding level of traffic signals and police gestures,highway speed limits for motor vehicles,non-motorized traffic knowledge have all changed (X~2=16.433、22.597、23.664、11.117,P0.05),residents whose income between 20 000 to 40 000 RMB per year are most willing to accept road safety education free of charge(X~2=13.233, P0.05).[Conclusion] Further strengthen to the road safety education activities should be done to the community residents. And different methods of intervention should be based on the different group that the community resident belongs to.


The presence and flux of biogenic methane‐rich free phase gas that is eventually released to the atmosphere influence water content (θ) of peat soils below the water table. Small variations in gas content in peat soils at near‐saturation θ could be inferred by changes in dielectric permittivity, but detailed measurements in that range of θ needed to develop calibration functions are lacking. Our experiment uses a new method for varying θ in the sample using elevated pressure to reduce the naturally occurring volumetric gas content in a manner similar to what occurs in situ under atmospheric pressure change, which relevant to understanding carbon gas cycling in peatlands. We recorded dielectric permittivity using a 1.6 MHz ground‐penetrating radar antenna at multiple water contents between 0.87 and 0.95 m3 m−3 on four peat monoliths with varying levels of humification and with <5% gas content as is commonly observed in the field. We identified empirical equations that were linear over the range of θ investigated and optimized a dielectric mixing model for estimating θ from GPR. These results indicate that there are differences in the permittivity‐θ relationships developed between peat samples and suggest that variability in dielectric relationships may be attributed to peat structure and particle orientation. The empirical relationships developed in this study confirm the utility of previously applied multiphase mixing models for estimating peat properties using methods sensitive to dielectric permittivity. This work is relevant to studies of gas content in peat and the role of peatlands in the carbon cycle.


The demonstration of multi-Gb/s links in the 60GHz band has created new opportunities for wireless communications [1,2]. Due to the directional nature of millimeter-wave (mm-Wave) propagation, beam steering enables longer-range non-line-of-sight (NLOS) links at these frequencies. A phased-array architecture is attractive for an integrated 60GHz transmitter (Tx) since it can attain both beam steering and higher EIRP through spatial combining. An all-RF 16-element 40-to-45GHz Tx for satellite applications [3], a 6-element 60GHz Tx with IF-path phase-shift [4], and a bi-directional 4-element 60GHz Tx/Rx with RF phase shifters [5] have been recently demonstrated in silicon. This work presents a fully-integrated phased-array Tx which supports multi-Gb/s NLOS IEEE 802.15.3c links. In addition to beamsteering, the IC has the following major features: an on-chip power sensor at each element, 3 temperature sensors, LO leakage and I/Q phase and amplitude adjustment, front-end OP1dB programmability, and an integrated modulator for pi/2-BPSK/MSK signaling (common mode in 802.15.3c). The IC integrates 2240 NPNs, 323,000 FETs and hundreds of transmission lines and is fabricated in the IBM 8HP 0.12µm SiGe BiCMOS process (fT = 200GHz).


The Machine Learning (ML) techniques rapidly find place among methods of
High Energy Physics data analysis. We continue discussion of previous publications on the CP-parity state of the Higgs boson measurement wit the H to tau tau decay channel. As before ML techniques are used for the multi-dimensional space of variables/features from the consecutive tau_pm to rho_pm nu; rho_pm to pi_pm pi_0 and tau_pm to a_1_pm nu; a_1_pm to rho_0 pi_pm to 3 pi_pm cascade decays.
Discrimination of Higgs boson CP-parity state was studied as binary classification. Information on the hadronic tau leptons decay products was used. Now, we investigate possible improvements on ML classification from the constraints on non measurable directly outgoing neutrinos. We find, that once added to the ML classification features enhance the sensitivity sizably, even if only imperfect approximations can be achieved.
In principle, all information is provided with 4-momenta of the final state particles present in the events and decay vertex positions (or decay impact parameters). Similar as in the past, not all such information was efficiently identified and used in ML training. We investigate how optimized high-level features, like some angles of neutrino orientation, improve ML performance. This can be understood as an intermediate step. Better classifiers where expert variables will not be necessary may be identified or developed.
For the performance comparison, in parallel to Deep Learning Neural Network, we use other ML methods: Boosted Trees, Random Forest and Support Vector Machine. Finally, we mention alternative methods of observable constructions where reconstruction of spin sensitive tau lepton polarimetric vectors is performed.


Purpose: This study was conducted to find out the effects of self-efficacy on job stress symptoms and coping strategies depending on perceived job stress. Method: The subjects were 447 workers employed in a manufacturing company. Demographic characteristics, self-efficacy, job stress, job stress symptoms and coping strategies were assessed by a self-administered questionnaire. Each envelope to keep the secret sealed completed questionnaires. Result: Job stress and job stress symptoms in workers with a high level of self-efficacy were lower than those of a low level of self-efficacy. Active coping strategies in workers with a high level of self-efficacy group were higher than those of a low level of self-efficacy. In multiple regression analysis, job stress symptoms were significantly higher in increasing job stress, increasing self-efficacy, office workers, manager group and increasing age. Active coping strategies were significantly higher in increasing self-efficacy, increasing career, males and decreasing job stress. Whereas passive coping strategies were significantly higher in females, increasing job stress and increasing self-efficacy. Conclusion: This study suggests that self-efficacy is a significant factor on job stress, job stress symptoms and coping strategies. Therefore, developing a job stress management program to increase self-efficacy and verifying its effects are needed.


Review(s) of: Pancreatic Cancer, edited by Daniel D. Van Hoff, Douglas B. Evans, Ralph H. Hruban, Jones and Bartlett, 832 pages, hard cover, ISBN 0763721786, A$397.65


A 42-year-old male was hospitalized due to fever and generalized malaise. He was healthy, and past medical history included splenectomy 20 years previously due to a traffic accident. He presented with scattered petechiae on his face, obvious purpura on his extremities and ears, and no any signs or symptoms of shock. Laboratory findings revealed disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), liver dysfunction, and acute renal failure. After transfer from his local hospital and admission at our institution, he was diagnosed as acute infectious purpura fulminans (AIPF) from clinical manifestations and the etiology of infection. The etiologic agent was identified as Streptococcus pneumoniae both by a commercial kit for the antigen of S. pneumoniae present in the urine and by blood culture. Empirical antibiotics were administered for pneumococcal infection. Immediate anti-DIC treatment was initiated and included antithrombin, fresh frozen plasma (FFP), recombinant human soluble thrombomodulin (rTM), artificial ventilation and continuous hemo diafiltration. The purpuric lesions on his extremities and ears resolved the day following anti-DIC treatment. Thereafter, he recovered from DIC without any gangrene, no complications developed, and he was discharged about 1 month after admission. This experience indicates that FFP administered as a replacement for protein C and rTM could be a useful therapy for DIC resulting from AIPF.


] N 1960, Western Samoa is scheduled to be the first of the United Nations Trusteeship Territories in the Pacific to become self-governing and independent of its trustee power. The success or otherwise of this venture in self-government may well depend on whether or not the country can become economically independent. With a restricted range of tropical crops and no mineral or other resources which might provide foreign exchange, Samoa is virtually committed to continued dependence on its present export trilogy of copra, cacao, and bananas. The world market for the first two is, at the moment, relatively sound, but the United Kingdom Ministry of Food contract for copra, which has operated since 1948, expired at the end of 1957 and greater fluctuations in price may be expected in the future. Since the war, cacao prices have fluctuated considerably, ranging from ?109 per ton in 1946 to ?390 in 1954. The future for these two major crops is, therefore, not altogether certain so that the significance of the banana export trade with its assured market in New Zealand is obvious. During the period 19521956 bananas have accounted for 13.5 per cent of the total value of exports and have provided 62.5 per cent of Western Samoa's exports to New Zealand. Nearly 20 per cent of the total


It introduces the meaning of value link and the analysis progress of it,discusses the methods and contents value link analysis,sums up the characters of value link analysis.Through the analysis on the value link in the architectural enterprise,the value link of profession and the competitive industry,it decreases the costs from the height of strategic,and increases the competitive dominance of the enterprise.


A transmitter/receiver circuit comprises a wireless transmission/reception circuit having a first inductor for generating/detecting a magnetic induction field onto which an output of a radio frequency circuit is modulated and a second inductor in series with the first inductor for generating/detecting an electric induction field onto which the output of the radio frequency circuit is modulated. The second inductor comprises an electrically conductive track which at least partially surrounds a grounded electrically conductive core. The invention thus provides the transmitter and receiver for a communication system using near fields, and in which the input/output of the radio frequency circuitry can be balanced. The first coil produces the main magnetic induction field and the second coil is activated as an antenna producing an electric induction field. By this method, the operating range is increased and the relative positioning between both communication ends is less sensitive.


Based on the third National Survey,stroke has surpassed cancer to become the leading cause of death in China."H-type" hypertension(defined as with elevated plasma homocysteine and hypertension) constitutes about 75% of all hypertensive patients in China,and is associated with remarkably high risk of stroke incidence and stroke death in China.Based on the concept of multiple risk factor control in cardiovascular disease prevention,a new combination of drugs,enalapril maleate and folic acid tablets,is specifically designed for effective control of H-type hypertension,i.e.to control hypertension,lower plasma homocysteine,and improve plasma folate level.This article presented the theoretical framework and rationale for simultaneous control of hypertension and elevated Hcy as the best strategy for primary stroke prevention,including the concept of H-type hypertension,H-type hypertension as a major risk factor for stroke,and the need to control for multiple risk factors in stroke prevention,FDA and EMEA's policies on compound drugs,and efficacy of stroke prevention by lowering plasma homocysteine using folic acid supplementation.This article also highlighted the scientific innovations and clinical advantage of enalapril maleate and folic acid tablets for treating hypertension,especially,H-type hypertension,and its great potential to control the upward trend of stroke morbidity and mortality in China.


The article presents data on milk productivity, reproductive function and chemical composition of milk, as well as hematological parameters of blood and rumen liquid in high-yielding Holstein cows of German selection, Ukrainian black-spotted dairy and Ukrainian red-spotted dairy breeds in the first lactation period for feeding them different doses of mixed-ligand complexes of Zinc, Manganese and Cobalt.
It is established that the use of mixed-ligand complexes of Zinc, Manganese and Cobalt in the feed mixture in comparison with their sulfates has a positive effect on milk productivity and reproductive function of cows and the chemical composition of their milk, and feed costs decrease with increasing productivity.
The use of different forms and levels of Zinc, Manganese and Cobalt in the diets of experimental cows affected protein and carbohydrate-fat metabolism and the best results were obtained when using different levels of these trace elements in the feed due to their mixed-ligand complexes.
In the rumen liquid of experimental cows, the pH value increased in the alkaline direction and the difference to the control group was statistically significant. There was also a tendency to increase residual nitrogen compared to control. There was a significant difference in the reduction of ammonia nitrogen in the rumen liquid of cows of experimental groups, which indicates better use and assimilation of crude protein.
The best indicators of milk productivity, chemical composition of milk, reproductive function, blood and rumen liquid were obtained when using mixed-ligand complexes of Zinc, Manganese and Cobalt in the feed mixture when the concentration of these trace elements in 1 kg of DM was, mg: Zinc – 60.8; Manganese – 60.8; Cobalt – 0.78; Selenium – 0.3; Copper – 12 and Iodine – 1.1. This concentration of trace elements was achieved due to their mixed-ligandent complexes, copper – its sulfate, iodine – potassium iodide, selenium – selenium suplex.


Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the main causes of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the need for renal replacement therapy. New antidiabetic drugs such as glucagon-like peptide type 1 receptor analogues (aGLP1) improve glycemic control and cardiovascular risk and promote weight loss. Our main objective was to analyze the efficacy and safety of aGLP1 agonists in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (ACKD).

 Prospective cohort study of CKD (estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≤30 ml/min) and DM2 patients who started treatment with aGLP1 between April 2018 and November 2022. We analyzed clinical and demographic variables. We collected aGLP1 type and dose, eGFR and weight at baseline and after 6 and 12 months of treatment. We analyzed glycemic and lipid control and blood pressure (BP). We documented adverse effects. Descriptive analysis was performed and we compared eGFR before and after aGLP1 initiation.

 During the period 36 patients with ACKD started treatment with aGLP1 in our center, 30 with a minimum follow-up of 6 months. 66.7% were male and the mean age was 67. 88.9% were hypertensive and 91.7% dyslipidemic. 33.3% had a history of ischemic heart disease, 11.1% heart failure, 41.7% peripheral arterial disease and 8.3% stroke. The mean eGFR at drug initiation was 20.7 mL/min. The most frequent cause of CKD was diabetic nephropathy (66.7%) followed by glomerulonephritis (11.1%). Mean weight was 92.7±9.7 kg and BMI 33.15±3.2 kg/m2. The most prescribed aGLP1 was Semaglutide (83.4%) followed by Liraglutide (13.9%) and Dulaglutide (2.8%). Maximum drug dose was reached in 69.4% of patients. After initiation, eGFR remained stable at 6 months and 1 year (p = .424). We observed a 12% reduction in weight at one year after treatment (94Kg vS 83Kg; p<.001). We found no differences in glycosylated hemoglobin, lipid control and BP at 6th month and first year. Two patients suffered gastrointestinal adverse effects and one discontinued the drug because of this. One patient died during follow-up of independent cause.

 aGLP1 in patients with ACKD are safe. Adverse effects do not occur more frequently than in the non-CKD population. In addition to improving cardiovascular risk of patients, they can produce a weight loss that can independently help patients to be included in the waiting list for renal transplantation.


The quality of Web was changed by recent social services such as blog, wiki, SNS, and Social bookmark. The user was shifting to creator of the information resource from onlooker. The amount of the information resources on the Web are rapidly increasing day by day. Social services accumulate folk's trends or individual preferences, then social bookmark data can use be an important data mining resource, and it may be possible to discover valid data for recommendation, marketing, and trend analysis . The authors propose two methods for information discovery from a social bookmark. The first method discovers similar users, and also discovers prefer pages which are preferred by a user. In this method, one user's bookmarks are considered as the profile of the user, and calculate similarity between users using profiles. The authors also propose page recommendation using user similarity. The second method recommends newly arrived information. This method discovers the alpha-bookmarkers who are an early detector of popular pages and also a spreader of the pages. This method considers not only earliness but also a hierarchy of interests. Especially, this method calculates neighborhoodness between a user's and an alpha-bookmarker in the specific interest. The authors implemented the two methods and examine using real data retrieved from "HATENA Bookmark". Examination shows that proposed methods are effective. Keyword Social bookmarking, Folksonomy, Information discovery, Alpha-bookmarker


PURPOSE
Enteral nutrition (EN) is considered as a cornerstone in the management of critically ill patients. However, its successful initiation is frequently hampered by various complications occurring in patients treated in the ICU. Successful placement of a nasojejunal tube by Cortrak enteral access system (CEAS) has been reported to be a simple bedside tool for placing the postpyloric (PP) feeding tube.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
We evaluated the efficacy and side effects using CEAS to establish EN in critical ill, thrombocytopenic and/or anticoagulated patients.

RESULTS
Fifty-six mechanically ventilated patients were analysed, 24 of them underwent prior haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT). Sixteen patients received ECMO treatment due ARDS. The median platelet count at PP placement was 26 G/l (range: 4 - 106 G/l); 16 patients received therapeutic anticoagulation (aPTT 50-70 s.). CEAS assisted placement of a PP nasojejunal tube was performed successfully in all patients . The most frequent adverse event was epistaxis in 27 patients (48.2%) which was mostly mild (CTCAE grade 1, n = 21 (77.8%); grade 2, n = 6). A significant association between a low platelet count and bleeding complications was observed (p <0.001).

CONCLUSIONS
Performed by an experienced operator, CEAS is a simple, rapid available and effective bedside tool for safely placing PP feeding tubes for enteral nutrition in thrombocytopenic patients, even when showing an otherwise caused coagulopathy in the ICU. Higher grade bleeding complications were not observed despite their obvious correlation to thrombocytopenia. A prospective study is in preparation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


No‐one doubts the significance of Raymond Williams' contribution to the field of research and practice which we today call cultural studies. What has been in doubt, however, is the extent to which an interest in Williams' work is a largely antiquarian one, or whether his formulations can continue to provide a framework for analysing cultural institutions, formations and practices. The former reading has been the most common one in cultural studies, with Williams typically located within a left‐humanist or 'culturalist' tradition superseded by structuralist and poststructuralist approaches. This paper argues strongly that Williams' work, and particularly his less‐analysed later work in what he termed the 'sociology of culture', provide valuable resources for analysis of cultural institutions, policies and practices. I consider some problems with dominant current interpretations of Williams, and point out how Williams' arguments in texts such as Culture and Television: Technology and Cultural Form, provide ...


Rational:
 Alterations in hemodynamic shear stress (SS) at atherosclerosis-prone sites promotes endothelial activation, characterized by nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)-driven expression of cell adhesion molecules that mediate leukocyte homing. In addition, proinflammatory cytokines (e.g. IL-1β) promote NF-κB-dependent endothelial activation. While the recent CANTOS trial using an IL-1β antagonist highlights the potential for treating atherogenic inflammation beyond lipid lowering therapies alone, our understanding of how endothelial activation contributes to this effect remains limited.

 Methodology & Results:
 We identified the signaling adaptor Nck1 as a critical regulator of atherogenic endothelial activation. Endothelial cells deficient in Nck1 lack SS-induced NF-κB activation and proinflammatory gene expression. Additionally, we demonstrated an interaction between Nck1 and IL-1β signaling in response to SS, showing that SS activates the IL-1β receptor (IL1R1) signaling partner IRAK-1 in a Nck1-dependent manner both
 in vitro
 and
 in vivo
 . Mechanistically, point mutation analysis suggest a critical role for the Nck1 SH2 domain (phosphotyrosine binding domain) in mediating these effects. Nck1 affinity pulling down and mass spectrometry identified multiple downstream effectors of IL-1 pathway.

 In vivo, Global Nck1 knockout mice show reduced atherosclerosis characterized by diminished macrophage and smooth muscle incorporation and bone marrow chimeras suggest non-hematopoietic Nck1 mediates this response.

 Conclusions:
 A recent GWAS analysis linked Nck1 to coronary artery disease, underscoring its importance to human disease. Therefore, our data suggest that Nck1 mediates the formation of IL-1-related signaling complexes to induce atherogenic endothelial activation, and selective inhibition of Nck1 or its critical domains will allow efficient inhibition of atherosclerosis in humans.


Objective: To assess cilostazol's effect on rats with diabetic lower limb ischemia. Methods: 36 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly separated into normal group (n = 12), model group (n = 12) and cilostazol group (n = 12). The model of diabetic
 lower limb ischemia was prepared and normal saline was intraperitoneally injected postoperatively into model group. Besides, cilostazol was administrated through intraperitoneal injection after establishment of model in cilostazol group. After intervention for 6 weeks, doppler blood flow imager
 was employed to detect blood flow, and the expressions of MMP-8 and MMP-9 were assessed via immunohistochemistry, western blotting or quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). TUNEL assay was performed to evaluate cell apop-tosis. Results: Doppler blood flow imager showed that
 compared with normal group, perfusion unit (PU) index was significantly reduced in the other two groups (P < 0.05) with higher value in cilosta-zol group (P < 0.05). The immunohistochemistry results revealed that in comparison with those in normal group, MMP-8 and MMP-9
 positive staining was significantly elevated in the other two groups (P < 0.05) with higher level in cilostazol group than model group. In addition, MMP-8 and MMP-9 expressions were significantly elevated in other two groups (P < 0.05), with higher level in cilostazol group
 (P < 0.05). Moreover, the vascular wall smooth muscle cells in the other two groups had a significantly elevated apoptosis rate (P < 0.05) with higher apoptosis in cilostazol group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Cilostazol up-regulates MMP-8 and MMP-9 to increase
 the apoptosis of vascular wall smooth muscle cells, thereby improving the blood flow in rats with diabetic lower limb ischemia.


Empirical studies that focus on impact of ICT for development usually make a distinction between ICT as a production sector and ICT as an enabler of socioeconomic development. Although the developed countries are reaping very high benefits from the ICT, its diffusion in developing countries has been limited. It is often argued that for developing countries benefits from ICTs are more likely to accrue from consumption rather than production. In the context of the selected five South Asian countries, the ICT penetration is relatively very low, although there have been some success stories in software production sector and IT-enabled service sector in the region. Generally speaking, the author argues that the developing countries need to integrate ICT policies more closely into economic strategies, which can be done by strengthening the links between development and technology agencies via the organizational structure of policy-making bodies. IGI PUBLISHING This paper appears in the publication, Information and Communication Technologies for Economic and Regional Developments edited by H. Rahman © 2007, IGI Global 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033-1240, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.igi-pub.com ITB13968 Role of ICT in Development Process: A Review of Issues and Prospects 24 Copyright © 2007, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. Introduction Capacity to use conventional technologies varies from country to country and often tends to be location or industry specific. This limitation has been more prominent in developing countries due to a number of reasons. First, imported technologies may not always be appropriate to their endowments of labor or technical skills, or to their scales of operation. Second, limited scope for diffusion of knowledge and imperfect market competition restrict assimilation of these technologies in these countries. Third, inability to upgrade the technologies they utilize into new technologies to suit in new conditions. Finally, many other circumstantial situations play important role in hindering the transition that may or may not be visible. Technological capabilities (technical, managerial, and institutional) in the industrial sector, therefore, become more often enterprise specific accumulated skills with a tendency for their technical efficiency to lag behind world technological frontiers. As a result, many developing countries may have stayed at, what Lall (1993, p. 20) calls, "low value added end of the industrial spectrum, falling behind world technological frontiers as others forge ahead." Over the past two decades or so, the application of new technologies especially, information and communication technology(ICT),1 has been credited for its positive role in economic growth and development. Although the developed countries are reaping very high benefits from the ICT, its diffusion in developing counties is still very limited. The role of ICT as a means for accelerating development in underdeveloped and developing societies has been lately questioned especially in terms of their social capacity to process and use the growing volume of information for the society as a whole. While assessing the potential development impacts of ICT many pertinent issues are often raised that include (Morales-Gomez & Melesse, 1998, p. 2): • who benefits and who loses from the introduction of these technologies; • how can ICT be made useful and meaningful to the developing countries' poor majority who are struggling to meet their basic needs; • what are the social and cultural opportunities and risks they present; • how can developing countries meaningfully adopt these technologies while lessening their undesirable social and cultural consequences? ICT and Economic Globalization: Emerging Trends The new technologies such as information and communication technology (ICT), biotechnology, nanotechnology, and so forth, have been contributing to the rapid transformation particularly of the developed societies. The ICT is, however, singled out as the most pervasive technical innovation of the post Second World War era in the sense that it gives rise to a wide range of new products and services, its applications affect almost all sectors of an economy, it generates strong industrial interest as a means for profitability and competitive advantage, 17 more pages are available in the full version of this document, which may be purchased using the "Add to Cart" button on the product's webpage: www.igi-global.com/chapter/role-ict-developmentprocess/22518?camid=4v1 This title is available in InfoSci-Books, InfoSci-EGovernment, Business-Technology-Solution, Business, Administration, and Management, InfoSci-Business and Management, Communications, Social Science, and Healthcare, InfoSci-Media and Communications, InfoSciSelect, InfoSci-Select, InfoSci-Select, InfoSci-Business Knowledge Solutions – Books, InfoSci-Social Sciences Knowledge Solutions – Books. 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ABSTRACT Hypercholesterolemia prevalence is increasing in most countries and it increases the risk of microvascular and cardiovascular diseases. Currently available treatments include the use of statins, fibrates, and bile acid sequesters. These treatments carry a risk of severe side effects on the host. Probiotics are well documented for their cholesterol-lowering abilities. The present study has demonstrated the screening of probiotic bacteria from buttermilk samples, their ability to deconjugate bile salts, and cholesterol-lowering ability in the media. Bile salt hydrolysis by the isolates was evaluated by direct plate assay, thin layer chromatography, and cholic acid estimation. The highest amount of cholesterol was removed in the presence of 0.3% bile. Co-precipitation of cholesterol along with cholic acid was also observed. Three isolates considered potent based on their performance through all the tests were identified by 16S- rRNA gene sequencing as PGB01- Lacticaseibacillus paracasei, PGB02- Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, and PGB05- Lacticaseibacillus paracasei subsp. tolerans.


The objectives of this study were to report two cases of nasopalatine duct cyst and to review the relevant literature. In the first case, the lesion was approximately 1.5 cm in size and in the second case 3 cm, both characterized by localized swelling in the hard palate. The two cases presented a radiolucent unilocular image in the region of the incisive foramen. The diagnosis was nasopalatine duct cyst, established by excisional biopsy and anatomopathological examination. The second patient presented a late postoperative infection, four weeks after surgery, and was submitted to antibiotic therapy and drainage. Both patients were followed for more than 30 months, with no signs of recurrence.