The auditors' duties for the prevention, detection and reporting of fraud, other illegal acts and errors is one of the most controversial issues in auditing. This paper reports the findings of a survey that explores the financial report users' perceptions on the extent of fraud in Malaysia and their perceptions of auditors' responsibilities in detecting fraud and the related audit procedures. The study reveals fraud is a concern in Malaysia. This study also finds that there is a widely held misperception of the objective of an audit. This is because, among respondents, a much higher expectation has been placed on the auditors' duties in detecting and reporting fraud than statute or audit standards require. The results of the study show unquestionably the existence, with respect to detection of fraud, of a gap between the perception of the respondents and the present statutory requirements of auditors.


Aim: To study the spectrum of mutations of gena gyrA M. tuberculosis, coding for drug-resistance to fluoroquinolones, in the Saratov region. Methods: We examined 47 samples of sputum patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis. Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MBT) and determine their drug susceptibility to fluoroquinolones was performed using biological microchips. The results of the reaction were evaluated with the use of hardware-software complex "Chipdetektor-01". Technology research, a set of reagents and equipment were developed by staff of the Institute of Molecular Biology ("Biochip-IMB", Moscow). Results: DNA M. tuberculosis were found in 39 (83%) patients. Mutations in the gene gyrA were identified in 22 (56,4%) samples, of which - in 13 (59%) found the mutation in codon 95 Ser (AGC) -> Thr (ACC) due to the natural polymorphism of the gene and do not lead to the development of drug resistance. In 9 (41%) samples identified mutations in 91 (33,3%), 94 (44,4%), 90 (22,2%) codons that encode resistance to fluoroquinolones. Primary drug resistance is set in 5 (12,8%) patients. In 4 cases revealed secondary drug resistance in patients, which received 90-120 doses antibacterial drugs. Of these, 3 cases have double mutations in gyrA /Asp94->Gly + Ala90->Val /; /Asp94->Ala + Ala90->Gly_a; Asp94->Gly + Ala90>Val/and in 1 patient was found a combination of four mutations. Conclusion: In the Saratov region primary resistance to fluoroquinolones at the level of genetic mutations was set in 12,8% cases. Was found the increase in the number of mutations among MBT strains isolated from patients receiving prolonged treatment with anti-TB drugs.


We present a reconfigurable GPU-based uplink detector for massive MIMO software-defined radio (SDR) systems. To enable high throughput, we implement a configurable linear minimum mean square error (MMSE) soft-output detector and reduce the complexity without sacrificing its error-rate performance. To take full advantage of the GPU computing resources, we exploit the algorithm's inherent parallelism and make use of efficient CUDA libraries and the GPU's hierarchical memory resources. We furthermore use multi-stream scheduling and multi-GPU workload deployment strategies to pipeline streaming-detection tasks with little host-device memory copy overhead. Our flexible design is able to switch between a high accuracy Cholesky-based detection mode and a high throughput conjugate gradient (CG)-based detection mode, and supports various antenna configurations. Our GPU implementation exceeds 250 Mb/s detection throughput for a 128×16 antenna system.


This study discusses coaching and mentoring as one of the most relevant approach on this Century and is believed to be effective in assisting educational developments and enhancing the motivation of school administrators, teachers with the aim of making impacts on students. Coaching and mentoring are often used in organizations that emphasize productivity or competition and problem solving. Conceptually, the mentor will focus his work force on teamwork management with continuous guidance. A mentor focuses on a specific individual under guidance to be a good manager or mentor in problem solving. This coaching and mentoring is not only done by certain experts in school's administrators such as headmasters and deputy headmasters, but these coaching skills need to be mastered by middle managements in school. In order to overcome social issues in the inclusive classes for students in the Special Intergration Education Program (PPKI), the main focus of coaching and mentoring are for school's administrator, deputy headmaster, inclusive class teachers and involved students by conducting an individual and a group guidance as an intervention to bridge the social gap in the classroom between perdana students with special education students (PPKI) who study in the classroom. Based on this observation, coaching and mentoring approach has shown positive impacts on inclusive students in terms of interactions, behaviors, communications, characters and emotions. It also has shown the development of good performance by the students in the curriculum and co-curriculum. Therefore, a coaching and mentoring approach is needed to bridge the social gap of these InclusiveStudents.


With the widespread adoption of post-quantum (PQ) cryptography will
come uncertainty about the strength of cryptographic primitives. For
example; when will RSA and ECC fall? Are Lattice schemes as strong as
we believe? The cryptographic community is calling for hybrid schemes
that combine classic and post-quantum crypto in ways that remain
strong so long as at least one of the algorithms used remains strong.
This document defines the problem statement for digital signatures in
PKIX-like protocols, and gives an overview of the general families of
solutions.


In pregnancy, α-adrenoceptor-mediated vasoconstriction is augmented in uterine radial arteries and is accompanied by underlying changes in smooth muscle (SM) Ca(2+) activity. This study aims to determine the Ca(2+) entry channels associated with altered vasoconstriction in pregnancy, with the hypothesis that augmented vasoconstriction involves transient receptor potential canonical type-3 (TRPC3) and L- and T-type voltage-dependent Ca(2+) channels. Immunohistochemistry showed TRPC3, L-type Cav1.2 (as the α1C subunit), T-type Cav3.1 (α1G), and Cav3.2 (α1H) localization to the uterine radial artery SM. Fluorescence intensity of TRPC3, Cav1.2, and Cav3.2 was increased, and Cav3.1 decreased in radial artery SM from pregnant rats. Western blot analysis confirmed increased TRPC3 protein expression in the radial artery from pregnant rats. Pressure myography incorporating pharmacological intervention to examine the role of these channels in uterine radial arteries showed an attenuation of phenylephrine (PE)-induced constriction with Pyr3 {1-[4-[(2,3,3-trichloro-1-oxo-2-propen-1-yl)amino]phenyl]-5-(trifluoromethyl)-1H-pyrazole-4-carboxylic acid}-mediated TRPC3 inhibition or with nifedipine-mediated L-type channel block alone in vessels from pregnant rats; both effects of which were diminished in radial arteries from nonpregnant rats. Combined TRPC3 and L-type inhibition attenuated PE-induced constriction in radial arteries, and the residual vasoconstriction was reduced and abolished with T-type channel block with NNC 55-0396 in arteries from nonpregnant and pregnant rats, respectively. With SM Ca(2+) stores depleted and in the presence of PE, nifedipine, and NNC 55-0396, blockade of TRPC3 reversed PE-induced constriction. These data suggest that TRPC3 channels act synergistically with L- and T-type channels to modulate radial artery vasoconstriction, with the mechanism being augmented in pregnancy.


This paper describes a research study that adopted the model of design-based research (DBR) outlined by Reeves (2006) to design and implement an online community of language learners within the context of an Italian as a second language university class. An online community of learners that included a group of second and third year students of Italian, their teacher and seven native speakers facilitators was developed and implemented according to the principles that guide community development, the use of authentic and situated activities, and according to Vygotsky's sociocultural theory applied to second language learning. This paper describes the four phases of this study according to the model of DBR outlined by Reeves, and discusses the theoretical principles that inform the development of the online learning environment. This paper describes a research study that adopted the model of design-based research (DBR) outlined by Reeves (2006) to design and implement an online community of language learners within the of an Italian as


To explore latitudinal genetic variation in cold hardiness and leaf phenology, we planted a common garden of paired collections of native and introduced riparian trees sampled along a latitudinal gradient. The garden in Fort Collins, Colorado (latitude 40.6°N), included 681 native plains cottonwood (Populus deltoides subsp. monilifera) and introduced saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissima, T. chinensis, and hybrids) collected from 15 sites from 29.2 to 47.6°N in the central United States. In the common garden, both species showed latitudinal variation in fall, but not spring, leaf phenology. This suggests that latitudinal gradient field observations in fall phenology are a result, at least in part, of the inherited variation in the critical photoperiod. Conversely, the latitudinal gradient field observations in spring phenology are largely a plastic response to the temperature gradient. Populations from higher latitudes exhibited earlier bud set and leaf senescence. Cold hardiness varied latitudinally in both fall and spring for both species. Although cottonwood was hardier than saltcedar in midwinter, the reverse was true in late fall and early spring. The latitudinal variation in fall phenology and cold hardiness of saltcedar appears to have developed as a result of multiple introductions of genetically distinct populations, hybridization, and natural selection in the 150 years since introduction.


The study investigated the influence of availability of core cited journals (local print, foreign print and electronic journals) in Library and Information Science (LIS) theses on their utilization by postgraduate researchers in university libraries in South-East Zone of Nigeria. Five research questions and two null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted the ex-post facto research design. A total of 706 masters and doctoral theses in LIS discipline constituted the population. Complete census was used to select all 83 doctoral dissertations while the 270 masters' theses were chosen through systematic sampling. This gives a total sample of 353 (50%). A customized research instrument titled: "Checklist on Provision and Utilization of Core Cited Journals in LIS Theses" (CPUCCJLIST) was used for data collection. The instrument had a reliability index of .85 determined using Cronbach Alpha Reliability Testing Technique. Data generated from the field were analyzed using simple percentages, bar chart, mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while the hypotheses were tested at .05 level of significance using t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings show that the availability of core cited journals (local print, foreign print and electronic) in LIS theses have a significant influence on their utilization in university libraries in South-East Zone of Nigeria. Consequent upon the findings, it was concluded that the availability of local print journals, foreign print journals and electronic journals are significant determinant of utilization. It was recommended, among others, that university management should publicize the core journals in their collection and make adequate budgetary provision for the acquisition of recent and relevant journals in LIS to support postgraduate studies in the discipline. Keywords: Journal usage, Core-cited Journals, LIS Theses, South-East - Nigeria


Aim To evaluate the ability of different combinations of antibiotic loaded cement to inhibit bacteria growth and biofilm formation. Method Cement beads were aseptically prepared using Palacos R (plain 40g PMMA cement) or Palacos R+G (40g PMMA cement containing industrially added 0.5g of gentamicin), with or without supplementary antibiotics as follows: Palacos R; Palacos R+G; Palacos R plus 1g / 2g daptomycin; Palacos R+G plus 1g / 2g of daptomycin; Palacos R plus 1g / 2g vancomcyin; and Palacos R+G plus 1g / 2g vancomycin. After production, each antibiotic loaded acrylic cement (ALAC) combination was allocated into two groups (group 1 and 2). The group 2 cement beads were initially eluted in broth at 37 o C for 72hours then transferred to fresh broth containing a known concentration of bacteria. The group 1 samples were not eluted but directly immerse in culture broth containing bacteria. All samples were thereafter incubated at 37 o C for 24 hours. After incubation, group 1 samples were visually assessed for bacterial growth, while for the group 2 samples, biofilm formation were quantified using ultrasonication and viable bacteria counting technique. Three proficient biofilm forming Staphylococcus epidermidis bacterial strains (1457, 1585-RA and 5179-R1) were used for all experiments and the bacteria counts were expressed as colony forming units / ml (CFU/ml). Results In the group 1 samples, all the ALAC combinations were able to inhibit growth of all the three biofilm bacteria strains assessed except the gentamicin only samples in which biofilm growth were observed within 24hours. Meanwhile, in group 2, bacterial growth and biofilm formation by all three bacterial strains were observed on all the ALAC combinations, with the least biofilm formation being on the Palacos R+G plus 2g daptomycin combinations (mean CFU/ml: 1.04E +06) and the greatest on the gentamicin only cement (mean CFU/ml: 2.3E +07). Conclusions Our study demonstrates that the highest antimicrobial activity of ALAC is seen in the first 24 hours. However, after 72 hours of antibiotic release, fresh bacterial exposure in fresh broth resulted in varying degrees of biofilm colonisation of all ALAC surfaces. Nonetheless, the overall biofilm formation was least on the gentamicin / daptomycin combinations and the results were statistically significant when compared to plain cement (p


Background: Among the several therapeutic options assessed for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), tocilizumab (TCZ), an antagonist of the interleukine-6 receptor, has emerged as a promising therapeutic choice, especially for the severe form of the disease. Proper synthesis of the available randomized clinical trials (RCTs) is needed to inform clinical practice. Methods: A systematic review with a meta-analysis of RCTs investigating the efficacy of TCZ in COVID-19 patients was conducted. PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane COVID-19 Study Register were searched up until 30 April 2021. Results: The database search yielded 2885 records; 11 studies were considered eligible for full-text review, and nine met the inclusion criteria. Overall, 3358 patients composed the TCZ arm, and 3131 the comparator group. The main outcome was all-cause mortality at 28–30 days. Subgroup analyses according to trials' and patients' features were performed. A trial sequential analysis (TSA) was also carried out to minimize type I and type II errors. According to the fixed-effect model approach, TCZ was associated with a better survival odds ratio (OR) (0.84; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.75–0.94; I2: 24% (low heterogeneity)). The result was consistent in the subgroup of severe disease (OR: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.74–0.93; I2: 53% (moderate heterogeneity)). However, the TSA illustrated that the required information size was not met unless the study that was the major source of heterogeneity was omitted. Conclusions: TCZ may represent an important weapon against severe COVID-19. Further studies are needed to consolidate this finding.


The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of including milk yield data in the international genetic evaluation of female fertility traits to reduce or eliminate a possible bias because of across-country selection for milk yield. Data included two female fertility traits from Great Britain, Italy and the Netherlands, together with milk yield data from the same countries and from the United States, because the genetic trends in other countries may be influenced by selection decisions on bulls in the United States. Potentially, female fertility data had been corrected nationally for within-country selection and management biases for milk yield. Using a multiple-trait multiple across-country evaluation (MT-MACE) for the analysis of female fertility traits with milk yield, across-country selection patterns both for female fertility and milk yield can be considered simultaneously. Four analyses were performed; one single-trait multiple across-country evaluation analysis including only milk yield data, one MT-MACE analysis including only female fertility traits, and one MT-MACE analysis including both female fertility and milk yield traits. An additional MT-MACE analysis was performed including both female fertility and milk yield traits, but excluding the United States. By including milk yield traits to the analysis, female fertility reliabilities increased, but not for all bulls in all the countries by trait combinations. The presence of milk yield traits in the analysis did not considerably change the genetic correlations, genetic trends or bull rankings of female fertility traits. Even though the predicted genetic merits of female fertility traits hardly changed by including milk yield traits to the analysis, the change was not equally distributed to the whole data. The number of bulls in common between the two sets of Top 100 bulls for each trait in the two analyses of female fertility traits, with and without the four milk yield traits and their rank correlations were low, not necessarily because of the absence of the US milk yield data. The joint international genetic evaluation of female fertility traits with milk yield is recommended to make use of information on several female fertility traits from different countries simultaneously, to consider selection decisions for milk yield in the genetic evaluation of female fertility traits for obtaining more accurate estimating breeding values (EBV) and to acquire female fertility EBV for bulls evaluated for milk yield, but not for female fertility.


Most chemotherapeutic drugs in use today are hydrophobic small molecules that are also typically either weakly basic, weakly acidic or charged. Thus, changes in the electrochemical parameters of tumour cell membranes have important effects on their transmembranous diffusion and cellular retention. Changes in these parameters can also modulate the function of immunological agents, and affect the signal transduction associated with induction of apoptosis. For these reasons, it is logical to propose that many (if not most) of the characteristics of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tumour cells could be due to perturbations in cellular ion transport. Indeed, many reports of altered ion transport in MDR cells can be found in the literature. Moreover, many studies suggest that P glycoprotein (Pgp) overexpression confers this altered ion transport, however, detailed physical-chemical analysis of this phenomenon has been confused by the complexity of the model systems devised to study Pgp. To help resolve this confusion, our laboratory has focused on a detailed characterization of 'pure' and stable Pgp transfectants unadulterated by the complications of chemotherapeutic drug exposure, various yeast strains and yeast vesicle preparations, and purified, reconstituted Pgp preparations. Recent data obtained with these model systems are summarized in this paper.


Traditionally the geographic market definition in the electronic communications sector in the field of EU competition law was significantly relied on two factors: network reach and regulatory conditions. This method, after introduced into the electronic communications regulation, usually led to the definition of national markets. Nevertheless, the recent uneven investments in electronic communications infrastructures have results into regional variance in competitive conditions within some Member States. This fact makes the definition of national markets no longer appropriate. In order to demonstrate this trend in market definition, the national regulatory authorities, with the assistance of the European Commission, established a new approach to define geographic markets, in particular sub-national geographic markets. Nevertheless, this approach has not yet attracted much academic attention. The objective of this article is thus to provide a detailed description of this new approach. Based on a number of recent Commission decisions, it identifies two-step analysis: (1) to define geographic units and (2) to group geographic units with homogeneous conditions of competition. Subsequently, a discussion of the criteria used for each of the two steps and an evaluation of this approach are provided as well.


EARLY in the morning, during a London winter so chill that the water pipes had frozen in her flat, a 30-year-old woman took two pitchers of milk and some bread up to her two young children so they would have food in the morning, returned to the stark blue-whiteness of her kitchen, lay down to rest with her head in a gas oven, and died. Sylvia Plath, so intelligent and efficient and sensitive, did everything exceptionally well, including both living and dying. Yet beneath the false bravado she felt "like Hell." Just prior to her death she wrote a small body of poems, published posthumously in the volume Ariel , of astonishing pain and power which has already become a modern classic. They portray aspects of the private world of mental illness that led to her unexpected death. Her suicide was a tragedy in the true—not the popular sentimental—sense, for she


Purpose Post-polypectomy bleeding is the most common colonoscopic polypectomy complication. However, the risk of post-polypectomy bleeding in liver cirrhosis is unknown. We aimed to evaluate the risk of post-polypectomy bleeding in patients with liver cirrhosis. Materials and Methods We included 89 patients with liver cirrhosis who received colonoscopic polypectomy between January 2006 and October 2012. Three hundred forty-eight subjects without liver disease who underwent colonoscopic polypectomy comprised the control group. Risks of post-polypectomy bleeding were analyzed according to patient- and polyp-related factors. Results Among 89 patients, 75 (84.3%) were Child-Pugh class A, 10 (11.2%) were class B, and 4 (4.5%) were class C. Incidence of immediate post-polypectomy bleeding was significantly increased in cirrhosis with Child-Pugh class B or C compared to liver cirrhosis with Child-Pugh class A or control group [hazard ratio (HR) 3.5; p<0.001]. Polyp size (HR 3.6; p=0.032) and pedunculated polyps (HR 2.4; p=0.022) were also significant risk factors for immediate post-polypectomy bleeding in multivariate analysis. Conclusion Cirrhotic patients with Child-Pugh class B or C have a high risk of immediate post-polypectomy bleeding. Thus, endoscopists should be cautious about performing colonoscopic polypectomy in patients with Child-Pugh class B or C.


Nanovesicles derived from cells of cancer patients carry microRNAs that initiate tumor growth in normal cells Nanovesicles known as exosomes are secreted from a variety of cell types and circulate in biological fluids such as urine and plasma. These exosomes "hijack" membrane components and cytoplasmic contents of these cells and play an important role in intercellular communication, often inducing physiological changes in recipient cells by transferring bioactive lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins (1). These tiny vesicles also have been implicated in a number of human diseases, including cancer, and are becoming an appreciated fundamental aspect of tumor progression and metastasis (2). Recently, Melo et al. (3) showed that exosomes from breast cancer cells transfer microRNAs (miRNAs) to normal cells and stimulate them to become cancerous. This potentially expands the mechanisms by which cancer spreads and may provide opportunities to develop exosome-based diagnostics and therapies.


Data from a large national probability sample of graduating Senior men reveal a patter of findings which suggests the operation of "relative deprivation" in the career decisions of college men. Gennerally speaking, grade-point averages show stronger correlations with career choice than a measure of the intellectual caliber of the student body, although both are equally strongly related to tests of scholastic aptitude. The finding suggests the operation of "relative deprivation," that is, a tendency for students to evaluate their academic ability by comparison with their fellows on the same campus, not in terms of criteria which allow for school differences in ability level. When attitude items regarding feelings of academic successd are introduced into the tabulations, the interpretation is generally, but not completely, supported.


This unwieldy volume is devoted to paediatric neurology (747 pp.) and child psychology and psychiatry (together, 308 pp.). From this uneven distribution it can be conjectured that the Iditors regard Brain as at least twice as important as Mind in the genesis of childhood illness. Be this as it may, the neurological section is by far the more authoritative, though it is a pity that the approach is purely medical. Higher-level developmental disorders are dismissed in some ten (of 1060) pages and the long-term psychological implications of acute brain-illnesses are nowhere discussed. Nor are the psychiatric sections much more enlightened, though the work of Biermann, Bowlby and others on the management of children in hospital finds mention. By and large, this is a stuffy and ponderous volume in which psychologists will find little to interest them. This is a pity as paediatric neurology is a fascinating specialty of great potential relevance to psychology 0. L. ZANGWILI. and education.


PT Pudak Scientific is a company engaged in the manufacture of aircraft parts industry. Meeting the precise and timely demand of aerospace parts from customers becomes a major corporate responsibility. However, Loss Revenue often occurs due to engine breakdown. So that cause because the production target is not achieved, the product reject, and the delay of delivery. One of the machines that often experience breakdown is Mori seiki NH4000 DCG. Mori seiki NH4000 DCG is the finishing machine for Blank fork End product. The demand for this part is quite large, making it a tough task for the Mori Seiki NH4000 DCG machine. But because the breakdown of the machine is high enough to cause production targets every month are often not met. In addition, Maintenance activities that have not noticed the characteristics of engine damage, as well as the distribution of historical data of the machine causing less effective and efficient actions resulted in substantial Maintenance costs. Based on the results of risk analysis of Mori Seiki NH4000 DCG engine damage, in terms of performance loss system caused by a large enough that is 3.773% of machine production capacity per year. This figure exceeds the risk acceptance criteria by the company that is 2%. Therefore it is necessary to find the appropriate Maintenance policy for the Mori Seiki NH4000 DCG machine. The approach is to use Reliability Centeres Maintenance and Risk Based Maintenance. Based on the above two approaches obtained the appropriate interval time so that the Maintenance activities more effective and can improve the efficiency of treatment by reducing the cost of care previously Rp167.506.286, - per year, to Rp 96.147.061, - per year. With the policy is expected to reduce engine breakdown and performance loss caused. So the number of risks that arise for the future are within the criteria of acceptance set by the company.


With the increasing clock rate and transistor count of today's microprocessors, power dissipation is becoming a critical component of system design complexity. Thermal and power-delivery issues are becoming especially critical for high-performance computing systems. In this work, we investigate dynamic thermal management as a technique to control CPU power dissipation. With the increasing usage of clock gating techniques, the average power dissipation typically seen by common applications is becoming much less than the chip's rated maximum power dissipation. However system designers still must design thermal heat sinks to withstand the worse-case scenario. We define and investigate the major components of any dynamic thermal management scheme. Specifically we explore the tradeoffs between several mechanisms for responding to periods of thermal trauma and we consider the effects of hardware and software implementations. With approximate dynamic thermal management, the CPU can be designed for a much lower maximum power rating, with minimal performance impact for typical applications.


We have developed an absolute position sensor using a magnetostrictive plated wire delay fine. Position is calculated by measuring the time for a torsional acoustic pulse to propagate from a moving multigap head to fixed sense coils at either end of the wire. The sensor provides positonal information over a 2 meter span every few milliseconds, with an accuracy of better than 100 micrometers.


During the radiation survey of a reinstalled 10-MV linear accelerator in an old radiation treatment facility, high dose rates of neutrons were observed. The area outside the maze entrance is used as a waiting room where patients, their relatives and staff other than those involved in the actual treatment can freely pass. High fluence rates of neutrons would cause an unnecessary high effective dose to the staff working in the vicinity of such a system, and it can be several orders higher than the doses received due to X-rays at the same location. However, the common knowledge appears to have been that the effect of neutrons at 10-MV X-ray linear accelerator facilities is negligible and shielding calculations models seldom mention neutrons for this operating energy level. Although data are scarce, reports regarding this phenomenon are now emerging. For the future, it is advocated that contributions from neutrons are considered already during the planning stage of new or modified facilities aimed for 10 MV and that estimated dose levels are verified.


Experimental apparatus is described to detect EPR in solids using a low temperature version of the photo-acoustic effect involving second sound in superfluid helium. By chopping the microwave power to the sample second sound is generated and amplified by resonance in a chamber maintained at constant temperature. The process is analysed and is shown to provide the same depth profiling capability as the normal photo-acoustic effect. Some results are presented to provide illustration and comparison with other techniques.


The phenomenon of the vampire is ancient, ubiquitous, and fascinating; moreover, it can only be understood adequately within the context of more general blood reliefs and rituals. (See Prins, 1984 for a review). References to vampires and associated phenomena may be found in the world's great literature long before Bram Stoker created his notorious and evil Count (Summers, 1960, 1980). Belief in the vampire's actual physical existence was probably encouraged by the prevalent practice of premature burial during times of plague, by the large numbers of itinerants and beggars that abound at such times, and by the fact that many of them took refuge in vaults and graveyards. In addition, the myth was probably given more tangible reality by such physical explanations as Erythropoietic Protoporphyria or its variants. This disorder is said to induce the body to produce an excess of porphyria, which results not only in excess redness of the eyes, skin and teeth, but also a receding of the upper lip and cracking of the skin, which bleeds when exposed to light. It has been suggested that physicians of the day could only treat sufferers by secluding them during the day and by persuading them to drink blood to replace that lost by bleeding (Illis, 1964; Milgrom, 1984; Prins, 1984). In more modern times, there have been accounts of people seeking to protect themselves from vampiric attentions (Farson & Hall, 1978).


Subspace clustering is an extension of traditional clustering that seeks to find clusters in different subspaces within a dataset. Often in high dimensional data, many dimensions are irrelevant and can mask existing clusters in noisy data. Feature selection removes irrelevant and redundant dimensions by analyzing the entire dataset. Subspace clustering algorithms localize the search for relevant dimensions allowing them to find clusters that exist in multiple, possibly overlapping subspaces. There are two major branches of subspace clustering based on their search strategy. Top-down algorithms find an initial clustering in the full set of dimensions and evaluate the subspaces of each cluster, iteratively improving the results. Bottom-up approaches find dense regions in low dimensional spaces and combine them to form clusters. This paper presents a survey of the various subspace clustering algorithms along with a hierarchy organizing the algorithms by their defining characteristics. We then compare the two main approaches to subspace clustering using empirical scalability and accuracy tests and discuss some potential applications where subspace clustering could be particularly useful.


We present three consecutive cases of skeletal dysplasias of a non-consanguineous couple with five pregnancies. The diagnosis of short-rib polydactyly syndrome (SRPS) was feasible by ultrasound during the 1st trimester of pregnancy. SRPS represents a heterogeneous group of lethal skeletal dysplasias. It is characterised by short limb dwarfism complicated by thoracic hypoplasia, polydactyly and different anomalies of major organs such as congenital heart defects and renal dysplasia. Four major types of the SRPS have been described: type I (Saldino–Noonan); type II (Majewski); type III (Verma–Naumoff) and type IV (Beemar–Langer). However, there is phenotypic overlapping between four types and with those of non-lethal skeletal dysplasias (i.e. Ellis–van Creveld syndrome and Jeune syndrome). Our cases show the importance of the nuchal translucency (NT) scan that offers the opportunity to examine fetal anatomy in the 1st trimester and diagnose rare skeletal abnormalities early in pregnancy.


In this paper we deal with cross-border flows of people within the Euroregion Galicia-North of Portugal, paying particular attention to those led by workers. Based on data for daily mobility between the places of residence and work (commuters), it can be defined, within this territory, the so-called Polycentric Urban Regions (PUR) of Vigo and Porto. These regions should constitute significant referents of cross-border mobility, whose importance we begin to realize by estimating the movement of passengers across border crossings linking the south of Galicia and the north of Portugal. In this context, given the non-existence of official statistics, the reports prepared by the Eures Galicia/Regiao Norte office provide relevant information about the flow of cross-border workers in the area, which we have complemented by conducting two surveys directed, respectively, to involved workers and companies, and data from a recent study on labour mobility in the Euroregion. The evidence demonstrates the quantitative importance achieved in the territory analyzed by this interesting phenomenon of cross-border work and allows a description of its characteristics that shows the difficulties faced by the process of construction of a European labor market.


In this study, the quasi-static compression performance of tapered tubes was investigated using finite element simulations. Previous studies have shown that a thickness gradient can reduce the initial peak force and that lateral corrugation can increase the energy absorption performance. Therefore, two kinds of lateral corrugated tapered tubes with variable thicknesses were designed, and their deformation patterns, load displacement curves, and energy absorption performance were analyzed. The results showed that when the thickness variation factor (k) was 0.9, 1.2, and 1.5, the deformation mode of the single corrugated tapered tube (ST) changed from transverse expansion and contraction to axial progressive folding. In addition, the thickness gradient design improved the energy absorption performance of the ST. The energy absorption (EA) and specific energy absorption (SEA) of the model with k = 1.5 increased by 53.6% and 52.4%, respectively, compared with the ST model with k = 0. The EA and SEA of the double corrugated tapered tube (DT) increased by 373% and 95.7%, respectively, compared with the conical tube. The increase in the k value resulted in a significant decrease in the peak crushing force of the tubes and an increase in the crushing force efficiency.


In the present paper, we show the existence of a coupled fixed point for a non-decreasing mapping in partially ordered complete metric space using a partial order induced by an appropriate function φ. We also define the concept of weakly related mappings on an ordered space. Moreover common coupled fixed points for two and three weakly related mappings are also proved in the same space.


This paper proposes that maintaining "mutual knowledge" is a central problem of geographically dispersed collaboration and traces the consequences of failure to do so. It presents a model of these processes which is grounded in study of thirteen geographically dispersed teams. Five types of problems constituting failures of mutual knowledge are identified: failure to communicate and retain contextual information, unevenly distributed information, difficulty communicating and understanding the salience of information, differences in speed of access to information, and difficulty interpreting the meaning of silence. The frequency of occurrence and severity of each problem in the teams are analyzed. Attribution theory, the concept of cognitive load, and feedback dynamics are harnessed to explain how dispersed partners are likely to interpret failures of mutual knowledge and the consequences of these interpretations for the integrity of the effort. In particular, it is suggested that unrecognized differences in the situations, contexts, and constraints of dispersed collaborators constitute "hidden profiles" that can increase the likelihood of dispositional rather than situational attribution, with consequences for cohesion and learning. Moderators and accelerators of these dynamics are identified, and implications for both dispersed and collocated collaboration are discussed.


Ubiquitous computing continues to transform our lives, including our homes and leisure activities. Smart home energy management system (SHEMS) are one example of such a technology. It connects homes to a smart grid and may increase the use of renewable energy by directing the demand to off-peak hours and reducing the overall energy demand. User values of such a technology may be critical in the acquisition, adoption and assimilation of the technology. This research fills the gap of understanding user values of SHEMS users. We studied new, potential and experienced users of SHEMS and their values. Sensory ethnography interview method was applied in the value sensitive design empirical investigation to elicit key user values of SHEMS in 28 families. The users relate to SHEMS values such as economic gains, environmental sustainability, comfort and security. Some SHEMS users' values such as stimulation, creativity, and autonomy, can be in conflict with the values of other family members, and with those which are currently built in the SHEMS technologies. The recognized values of SHEMS stakeholders act as an input for the design of smart grid and smart home services and products. In addition, the research contributes to the theory-building of smart home technology user research.


Abstract. Carbon transport in river systems is an important component of the global carbon cycle. Most rivers of the world act as atmospheric CO2 sources due to high riverine CO2 partial pressure (pCO2). By determining the pCO2 from alkalinity and pH, we investigated its spatial and temporal variation in the Yellow River watershed using historical water chemistry records (1950s–1984) and recent sampling along the mainstem (2011–2012). Except the headwater region where the pCO2 was lower than the atmospheric equilibrium (i.e. 380 μatm), river waters in the remaining watershed were supersaturated with CO2. The average pCO2 for the watershed was estimated at 2810 ± 1985 μatm, which is 7-fold the atmospheric equilibrium. As a result of severe soil erosion and dry climate, waters from the Loess Plateau in the middle reaches had higher pCO2 than that from the upper and lower reaches. From a seasonal perspective, the pCO2 varied from about 200 μatm to > 30 000 μatm with higher pCO2 usually occurring in the dry season and lower pCO2 in the wet season (at 73% of the sampling sites), suggesting the dilution effect of water. While the pCO2 responded exponentially to total suspended solids (TSS) export when the TSS concentration was less than 100 kg m−3, it decreased slightly and remained stable if the TSS concentration exceeded 100 kg m−3. This stable pCO2 is largely due to gully erosion that mobilizes subsoils characterized by low organic carbon for decomposition. In addition, human activities have changed the pCO2 dynamics. Particularly, flow regulation by dams can diversely affect the temporal changes of pCO2, depending on the physiochemical properties of the regulated waters and adopted operation scheme. Given the high pCO2 in the Yellow River waters, large potential for CO2 evasion is expected and warrants further investigation.


Silver nanoparticles was reflected a powerful antimicrobial agents newly exclusively after growing incidence of diseases related with biofilm and multi-drug resistant pathogens which essential required to find a different path to eliminate that's challenge. So the aim of present study was to synthesize silver nanoparticles through biological method using bacteria Eschriesca coli . Biological silver nanoparticles were described by several techniques. The UV-visible spectrophotometric indicated absorbance peak at 246 to 356 nm, Fourier Transformer Infrared analysis (FTIR) revealed that carboxylic groups and poly phenolic groups are enclosed on the surface of both silver nanoparticles creating stabilized nanoparticles, and by scanning electron microscope (SEM), which shown that the biosynthesized silver nanoparticles were spherical in size 26.22 to 31.44 nm. Optimization of silver nanoparticle biosynthesis by E. coli was performed for parameters (temperature and pH and concentration of silver nitrate solution) and the results discovered that temperature 60°C , pH 7 and 3 M silver nitrate concentration were the optimum conditions for silver Nano particles biosynthesis by E. coli isolated from clinical samples of Thi -Qar (Nassryah) city-south Iraq.


This research aims to determine the effects of Covid-19 on law enforcement in the application of large-scale social restrictions policy in Jakarta. This research used a quantitative approach in the form of a survey. The sample was 200 residents of Jakarta who were randomly selected using Google Form. The quantitative data analysis was structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis based on partial least square (PLS) to answer the research hypothesis. A significant relationship is the relationship between effectiveness on obedience, the relationship between obedience on awareness, and the relationship between the effectiveness of awareness mediated by obedience. People with too much confidence tend to violate the application of LSSR policy. Besides, people who are too confident in obeying LSSR regulations will tend not to realise the importance of applying LSSR policies. The new findings are the use of models involving quadratic relationships, where the higher one's trust, is not necessarily always increase obedience and awareness. With a level above 76%, public obedience and awareness will tend to decrease.


This paper presents a new calibration method to overcome the challenges of MEMS inertial sensors for underwater navigation. The MEMS inertial sensor module is composed of an accelerometer, a gyroscope and a circuit of signal process. For navigation estimation, it is easy to be influenced by errors which come from MEMS inertial sensors. In general, the sources of error can be categorized into two groups, deterministic type and stochastic type. The former primarily includes bias errors, misalignment and nonlinearity; the latter contains temperature effect and signal drifting. Subsequently, the linearity calibration is used to modify the deterministic error and the wavelet analysis can suppress the stochastic noise. Therefore, the new calibration method integrated of linearity calibration and wavelet signal processing is utilized to enhance the accuracy and performance of MEMS inertial sensor module. The experimental results demonstrate that the output signal can be corrected suitability by means of the proposed method.


The method of molecular orbitals, with configuration interaction, as described in part I, is applied to butadiene. The total energy, ultra-violet absorption frequency, oscillator strength and charge distribution are calculated for several singlet and triplet states in general agreement with similar more empirical work using the valence-bond approximation. It appears that without configuration interaction, no satisfactory calculation of the absolute intensities of the N → V transitions can be made. Best-possible molecular orbitals, compounded linearly of 2pπ atomic orbitals, are obtained. Their use reduces the magnitude of configuration interaction from 2·8 to 1·7 eV in the ground state. It also gives a satisfactory measure of the energy of the first allowed transition, but not of the oscillator strength.


Purpose – The focus of this study is to evaluate the features of open innovation using data accessed from the Scopus online database. We are looking at two keywords: open innovation and SMEs.
Design/methodology/approach – The study measured a bibliometric analysis of 1,214 articles from 157 journals during 2007-2020.
Findings: The findings showed that the publication trend on open innovation kept increasing. The most cited article was Open Innovation in SMEs: Trends, Motives, and Management Challenges by Van de Vrande with 1,107 citations, followed by Lee et al. with 699 citations. The publication journal with the highest citation was Technovation and Research Policy. The United Kingdom and Italy were in the top-ranking countries for publications on this topic. The document citation category showed that Belgium ranked the highest with 1,990, followed by the Netherland with 1,212.
Research limitation/implications: This study provides a literature search on open innovation and has several limitations that require future study recognition. These limitations include that databases are limited to sources originating from one database only in data collection and data synthesis.
Practical implications: The practical implications provide benefits about open innovation, which can help SMEs understand open innovation and apply it as their preferred strategy in developing business. This study also allows SMEs owners and managers to understand open innovation as a strategic choice to consider as the concept is a part of the strategic intervention for their business.
Originality/value: This study provides the most influential contribution and impact on the research interest of open innovation that develops from various fields, including leading researchers and their home countries. Second, a co-citation analysis addressed the second question in this research study.


Peripheral neuropathy (PN) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients has been reported as individual cases or small series; however, its clinical and electrodiagnostic features have not been well characterized. We conducted a retrospective review of patients with PN and either Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC). Eighteen patients with CD and 15 patients with UC were identified after other PN causes were excluded. Male predominance and mean age of PN presentation in the fifties was seen in both groups. Demyelinating neuropathy (CIDP or MMN) occurred in close to 30% of the patients, in a higher percentage of women, than in the non-demyelinating patients. One-third of CD and UC patients had small-fibre or large-fibre sensory axonal PN, while approximately 40% of the CD and UC patients had large-fibre axonal sensorimotor PN. PN symptoms began earlier in the course of CD than in UC (P < 0.05). Patients with large-fibre axonal PN were older than patients with small-fibre sensory axonal PN (P < 0.05). Close to 60% of each group received immunotherapy with different agents. Half of those treated with CD and 40% with UC had demyelinating PN. Most of the patients who completed immunotherapy in both groups improved; all the patients with demyelinating neuropathy had either moderate or major improvement. The PN syndromes in IBD patients are diverse. Demyelinating forms may occur at any time, but early in the IBD course, pure sensory neuropathy is more common. Response to immunotherapy may occur in both demyelinating and axonal neuropathies.


Moving ideation from a closed paradigm (companies) to an open one (crowd) yields several benefits: (1) the crowd allows the generation of a large number of ideas and (2) its heterogeneity increases the potential in obtaining creative ideas. In practice, however, the crowd often fails at generating innovative solutions, leading to duplicate or ideas that use each other's description. Thus, it is practically and economically unfeasible to sift through this large number of ideas to select valuable ones. One promising solution to overcome this issue is identifying relationships between idea text descriptions, such as duplicate, generalize, disjoint, alternative solution. Existing approaches rely either on human judgment, which is expensive and requires domain experts or automatic approaches which compute similarity i.e. one dimension and do not consider other relations. To find complex relationships between idea texts, a first logical step is to fully structure ideas into logic-based representation. However, logic-based representations are very expensive to obtain since ideas' texts do not adhere to any specific structure. Our goal is then to come up with a representation that can be learned by the machine, while still being expressive to allow establishing relationships between ideas. This research in progress introduces an approach based on a sequence-to-sequence learning approach, which allows the machine to learn a lightweight structural representation that is used next to establishing multidimensional relationships between ideas (i.e. different kind of relations between ideas). Based on our investigation, we found out that ideas contain the following patterns: what the idea is about (e.g. window with heat-sensitive material), how it works (e.g. it lights up) and when it works (e.g. in case of fire). Those extracted patterns are then compared with the corresponding patterns of other ideas to establish relations. Our preliminary investigation shows promising results to learn such lightweight structural representation and leverages it in identifying complex relationships between ideas.


Background In the era of COVID-19 where there is emphasis on the importance of wearing a mask, wearing it rightly is equally important. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of wearing a mask in the general population of a developing country at three major tertiary care hospital. Materials and methods Participants of this cross-sectional study were patients and attendants at three major tertiary care hospital of Karachi Pakistan. Selected participants, through non-probability convenient sampling technique, were interviewed regarding knowledge, attitude, and practice of wearing mask using an Urdu translated version of a questionnaire used in an earlier study. Three summary scores (0 to 100) were computed to indicate participants' mask wearing practice, technique of putting it on, and technique of taking if off. Collected data were analyzed with the help of IBM SPSS version 19. Results A total of 370 selected individuals were interviewed, out of which 51.9% were male and mean age was 37.65±11.94 years. For more than 90% of the participants, wearing a face mask was a routine practicing during the pandemic. The mean practice score was 65.69±25.51, score for technique of putting on a face mask was 67.77±23.03, and score of technique of taking off a face mask was 51.01±29.23. Education level of participant tends to have positive relationship with all three scores, while presence of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as co-morbid had negative impact on mask wearing practice. Conclusion We have observed suboptimal knowledge, attitude and practice of wearing mask among the selected individuals. There is a continued need to spread awareness and educate general population about the importance of using a face mask, as well as the proper technique of wearing and taking off a face mask.


The design of a compact matched load for high-power measurements and testing of gyrotrons and transmission lines in ECRH plants for fusion research applications is currently in an advanced phase. The aim is to provide more than 95% absorption and precise calorimetric measurement of the input power in CW. This work is based on the results of tests at high power and short pulse length (140 GHz, 0.5 MW, 0.5 s) on loads installed on the ECRH plant of the FTU Tokamak in Frascati. The loads consist basically of hollow spheres of copper with the inner wall covered by plasma-sprayed lossy ceramics. Tests at higher power and longer pulses on the ASDEX-Upgrade ECRH plant showed, after a number of successful pulses, progressive damage on the absorbing layer, marked by the appearance of electrical arcs. The absorber degradation, showing specific damage patterns, due to exposure to high-power millimetre waves, has been analysed in detail and strategies are proposed, in order to improve the power-handling capabilities and the energy extraction rate. New measurements of millimetric absorption and thermal conductivity have been performed on samples of different ceramics, for choosing the best absorbing layer. A modified expander mirror surface with a better deposition profile, numerically computed with a multi-reflection model of the sphere, is designed to avoid radiation accumulation close to the entrance port. Improved cooling channels, which in principle can exploit the increased heat transfer rate due to surface boiling, as used in high-performance cooling circuits such as plasma-facing components, will provide 1-MW CW power capability. In this paper, some technical solutions for the construction and the constraints on the allowable deformation during pulses are given.


A new contact material for a sealed switch has been developed. The contact material is made by internally oxidizing an Ag-Si eutectic system alloy. The contact material shows very low contact resistance, like silver, but it does not stick even in ultrahigh vacuum due to the dispersed silicon oxide particles.'The internal oxidation mechanism of the newly developed material is quite different from that of a conventional one. Silicon oxide particles less than 2 tim in diameter are uniformly dispersed in the silver matrix throughout the specimen. This material is obtained by the following two processes. First, the melt of an Ag-Si alloy (Si:1-2.8 wt%) is cooled rapidly to obtain a finely dispersed eutectic matrix, and then the specimen is cold- or hot-worked. By this process, silicon particles are made fine and dispersed uniformly throughout the specimen. Second, the specimen is oxidized in an oxygen atmosphere at pressures from I to l0 atm. Conventional internally oxidized contact materials, such as Ag-CdO, are obtained by oxidizing a-type solid solution alloys under high pressure, so that segregated metallic oxides are large and not dispersed uniformly throughout the specimen. Sealed contact materials must have great resistance to sticking as well as stable contact resistance. Although the antisticking and contact resistance properties generally work against each other, the developed contact material has both properties.


The unexpected wide spread use of WWW and dynamically increasing nature of the web creates new challenges in the web mining since the data in the web inherently unlabelled, incomplete, non linear, and heterogeneous. The investigation of user usage behaviour on WWW is real time problem which involves multiple conflicting measures of performance. These measures make not only computational intensive but also needs to the possibility of be unable to find the exact solution. Unfortunately, the conventional methods are limited to optimization problems due to the absence of semantic certainty and presence of human intervention. In handling such data and overcome the limitations of conventional methodologies it is necessary to use a soft computing model that can work intelligently to attain optimal solution. To achieve the optimized solution for investigating the web user usage behaviour, the authors in the present paper proposes an Intelligent Optimal Genetic Model, IOGM, which is designed as an optimization tool based on the concept of natural genetic systems. Initially, IOGM comprise a set of individual solutions or chromosomes called the initial population. Later, biologically inspired operators create a new and potentially better population. Finally, by the theory of evolution, survive only optimal individuals from the population and then generate the next biological population. This process is terminated as when an acceptable optimal set of visited patterns is found or after fixed time limit. Additionally, IOGM strengthen by its ability to estimate the optimal stopping time of process. The proposed soft computing model ensures the identifiable features like learning, adaptability, self-maintenance and self-improvement. To validate the proposed system, several experiments were conducted and results proven this are claimed in this paper.


Physicians, clinical and medical professionals. The volume of information contained on the journal web-site is contributed by authors from different regions of the world. Due to these reasons readers hailing from diverse professional backgrounds and regions are interested in the journal content. With the continuous guidance of our eminent editors we strive to become the best. The role of an editor is not easy; to paraphrase "An editor's role is not a happy one." Every day our editors are faced with making difficult choices about which articles can be published in the journal and contribute to improving research. Journal of Arthritis is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal of international reputation which reports on the most recent happenings on arthritis starting from its origin, cause, consequences, detailing prevention, cure and arthritis management


Executive Summary Introduction Methodology Used to Prepare the Guideline Epidemiology Incidence Etiology Major Epidemiologic Points Pathogenesis Major Points for Pathogenesis Modifiable Risk Factors Intubation and Mechanical Ventilation Aspiration, Body Position, and Enteral Feeding Modulation of Colonization: Oral Antiseptics and Antibiotics Stress Bleeding Prophylaxis, Transfusion, and Glucose Control Major Points and Recommendations for Modifiable Risk Factors Diagnostic Testing Major Points and Recommendations for Diagnosis Diagnostic Strategies and Approaches Clinical Strategy Bacteriologic Strategy Recommended Diagnostic Strategy Major Points and Recommendations for Comparing Diagnostic Strategies Antibiotic Treatment of Hospital-acquired Pneumonia General Approach Initial Empiric Antibiotic Therapy Appropriate Antibiotic Selection and Adequate Dosing Local Instillation and Aerosolized Antibiotics Combination versus Monotherapy Duration of Therapy Major Points and Recommendations for Optimal Antibiotic Therapy Specific Antibiotic Regimens Antibiotic Heterogeneity and Antibiotic Cycling Response to Therapy Modification of Empiric Antibiotic Regimens Defining the Normal Pattern of Resolution Reasons for Deterioration or Nonresolution Evaluation of the Nonresponding Patient Major Points and Recommendations for Assessing Response to Therapy Suggested Performance Indicators


We present an explicit correspondence between quantum mechanics and the classical theory of irreversible thermodynamics as developed by Onsager, Prigogine et al. Our correspondence maps irreversible Gaussian Markov processes into the semiclassical approximation of quantum mechanics. Quantum-mechanical propagators are mapped into thermodynamical probability distributions. The Feynman path integral also arises naturally in this setup. The fact that quantum mechanics can be translated into thermodynamical language provides additional support for the conjecture that quantum mechanics is not a fundamental theory but rather an emergent phenomenon, i.e., an effective description of some underlying degrees of freedom.


A sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns. Sign languages are commonly developed for deaf communities, which can include interpreters, friends and families of deaf people as well as people who are deaf or hard of hearing themselves. Developing a sign language recognition system will help the hearing impaired to communicate more fluently with the normal people. This paper presents a simple sign language recognition system that has been developed using skin color segmentation and Artificial Neural Network. The moment invariants features extracted from the right and left hand gesture images are used to develop a network model. The system has been implemented and tested for its validity. Experimental results show that the average recognition rate is 92.85%.


Improving the tribological characteristics of water-based drilling fluids by adding graphene-based lubricants has garnered attention because of the potential for a range of inorganic-material-based additives at high temperature. In this study, we constructed a green and simple adsorption approach to prepare highly dispersed graphite using a cationic surfactant for graphite modification. The findings demonstrated that the prepared graphite was highly dispersed in water and had a low sedimentation rate and small contact angle in distilled water. The concentration dosage of cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) on graphite was 0.02 g/g. We evaluated the performance of the modified graphite as a lubricated additive in water-based drilling through a rheological study and viscosity coefficient measurement. The results showed that the viscosity coefficient of drilling fluid with 0.05% modified graphite was reduced by 67% at 180 °C. We proved that the modified graphite can significantly improve the lubrication performance of drilling fluid. Furthermore, we revealed the lubrication mechanism by analyzing the chemical structural and crystalline and morphological features of graphite through a particle size test, zeta potential test, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements. The results indicated that the modification of graphite by CTAC only occurs through physical adsorption, without changing the crystal structure. These findings provide a reference for the development of high-performance water-based drilling fluids.


We introduce a visually pleasant ambient occlusion approximation running on real-time graphics hardware. Our method is a multi-pass algorithm that separates the ambient occlusion problem into high-frequency, detailed ambient occlusion and low-frequency, distant ambient occlusion domains, both capable of running independently and in parallel. The high-frequency detailed approach uses an image-space method to approximate the ambient occlusion due to nearby occluders caused by high surface detail. The low-frequency approach uses the intrinsic properties of a modern GPU to greatly reduce the search area for large and distant occluders with the help of a low-detail approximated version of the occluder geometry. Our method utilizes the highly parallel, stream processors (GPUs) to perform real-time visually pleasant ambient occlusion. We show that our ambient occlusion approximation works on a wide variety of applications such as molecular data visualization, dynamic deformable animated models, highly detailed geometry. Our algorithm demonstrates scalability and is well-suited for the current and upcoming graphics hardware.


Choosing a Statistical Test. Windows Operations for SPSS. Data Handling in SPSS. Exploratory Data Analysis. More Graphs and Charts. Comparing Averages: Two-sample and One-sample Tests. The One-factor Between Subjects Experiment. Factorial Experiments (Between Subjects). Within Subjects Experiments. Experiments of Mixed Design. Measuring Statistical Association. Regression. Multiway Frequency Analysis. Discriminant Analyis and Logistic Regression. Factor Analysis. Revision Exercises.


The right to a standard of living adequate for health and well‐being is being denied to vast numbers of people all over the world through increasing disparities in income and in wealth. In the name of economic development, a number of international and national policies have increased the grossly uneven distribution of income, with ever‐growing numbers of people living in poverty as well as in increasing depths of poverty. Globalization, crippling levels of external debt, and the 'structural adjustment' policies of international agencies have expanded the numbers and the suffering of people living in poverty and have resulted in the neglect of government‐funded social programs, of regulations protecting the environment, and of human development. Access to medical care, an essential element in the protection of health, is difficult for many, including the 44 million people in the United States who lack insurance coverage for the cost of medical care services. Working together for health and human rights also requires promotion of the right to peace. The right to life and health is threatened not only by the existence and active deployment of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and anti‐personnel landmines, but also other weapons. The twentieth century has been the bloodiest in human history, with an estimated 250 wars, more than 110 million people killed, countless people wounded and at the least 50 million refugees. Health workers must work together with people in our communities for the promotion of health and human rights, which, in Sandwell and elsewhere, are inextricably intertwined.


[1] We present an analysis of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) measurements of the dayside lunar surface at far-ultraviolet wavelengths. We use the strong 165 nm H2O absorption edge to look for diurnal variations in hydration. We find that diurnal variations in spectral slope are indeed present; they are superimposed on latitudinal and spatial variations related to composition and weathering. We use two different spectral regions (164–173 nm and 175–190 nm) to separate out these effects. Highlands and mare regions have distinct reflectance spectra, with mare regions being spectrally bluer than highlands regions, a consequence of the greater abundance of opaque minerals in mare regions. Bright ray terrains and areas known to be young such as Giordano Bruno crater, are found to be relatively spectrally flat or red in the far-UV; this is consistent with a lack of space weathering, which tends to make the far-UV spectrum bluer due to the spectral behavior of nanophase iron. Large-scale latitudinal variations in FUV slope are distinct and are likely due to a gradient in space weathering. The diurnal variation in hydration is consistent with a solar wind origin and with loss of H2O at temperatures above ∼320 K. Far-UV spectroscopy is thus shown to represent a viable method for mapping aqueous alteration, even on the dayside of the Moon, and potentially elsewhere in the solar system.


PURPOSE
To determine energy exposure and temperature changes in routine magnetic resonance imaging practice.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Body core and skin temperatures were compared in 155 persons (143 patients, 12 volunteers) undergoing routine magnetic resonance examinations with a 1.5 T field-strength magnetic resonance tomography unit using a fluoroptic temperature measurement system.

RESULTS
Average applied energy was 0.3 W/kg for whole body and 1.92 W/kg for spatially localized SAR. The maximum whole-body SAR was 1.43 W/kg spatially localized. Body core temperatures differed from those of the control group by a median 0.1 degree C and only a few patients (16.8%) exceeded the limit (+/- 0.5%) at which regulatory mechanisms set in. All patients remained within the normal physiological circadian temperature range (+/- 1 degree C). Skin temperature rose a median 0.49 degree C, with a maximal increase of 5.31 degrees C, which may be considered to be within the limits of physiological temperature change.

CONCLUSIONS
Clinically relevant warming of the body is unlikely in routine magnetic resonance imaging practice.


This paper presents a study on multi level customers from three integrated network design and management of inventory to distribute from the various centres.  The distribution process is performed through the warehouses situated in different location.  Then the assignment will be shipped through the agent of the distribution centres.  The main objective of this inventory model is to reduce the transportation and handling costs in the logistics network.  This network design to establish the proper shipment model for clear the inventory and to provide an equivalent linear formulation. To prove effectiveness of   the model, the strategy for handling the inventory is also proposed to in this study.  The results also suggested that the distribution centres with high holding capacities should be arranged and scheduled to deliver their shipments.


A  milestone  in  e-payment  through  online  is  secured  cloud  environment.  The  trust  of  transaction  lies  in context  in  which  it  is  started  and  completed.  We  have  proposed  a  fault  tolerant  environment  for  e-payment  at merchant node. A light weight Byzantine algorithm is implemented to make the process of transaction reliable. The user can search the bank details in a distributed environment in source ordering mode. A single user can access their bank accounts in different providers using a universal pay identity number. The proposed prototype is a composition of web services provided by different bank services. For secured communication the message are encrypted with the sophisticated RSA algorithm. For reliability we deployed Byzantine fault tolerance environment. The application may provide the commercial users an easy and secured mode of e-payment. It also reduces the overhead for infrastructure maintenance when deployed as Infrastructure as Service (IaaS) in cloud.


Raja Rao is beyond doubt one of the most prominent Indian novelists writing in English. He has laid a strong foundation to Indian English Novel together with Mulk Raj Anand and R. K. Narayan. Raja Rao, in particular, has been very instrumental in the development of Indian English Novel. His novels are replete with Indian sensibility characterized by his unique style and subject matter. His first and best known novel Kanthapura is a remarkable expression of the Indian sensibility. The novel is Indian both in theme and treatment. Acceptance of an Indian way of writing in English and Indianization of the novel as a form of literature is what makes Raja Rao postcolonial in style. 1 The paper attempts a postcolonial reading of Kanthapura focusing on Raja Rao's style characterized by Indian sensibility and Indianness.


COVID-19 has been shown to have a major impact on companies' value. Drawing on research before the pandemic as well as during the pandemic, we think it is necessary to analyze the value of the company in the post Covid-19 pandemic. In this context, there is complexity, uncertainty of companies as an important capability, and set of practices appears to many companies as a reasonable approach to reducing the problems. This paper aims to examine how the value of the company is seen from the aspect of the direct effect of intellectual capital, leverage, and profitability. This paper tries to explore the theoretical model of the proposal on how these three variables can directly affect firm value. This study determines the impact post Covid-19 pandemic, especially to explain the phenomenon of components in intellectual capital in Indonesia. This research is expected to provide further research guidelines and facilities to the government for an approach to fostering improvement in the value of companies post Covid-19 pandemic.
Keywords: intellectual capital, leverage, post COVID-19 pandemic, profitability


UNLABELLED
Patients' rights are a special case of broadly defined human rights. They specify what patient can expect during treatment process and determine his status in contacts with the healthcare system.

AIM
The aim of this study was to investigate the awareness of patients' rights and knowledge of possible proceedings in case of violation of them among people under 30 years of age.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The research was conducted in February and March 2014 on a group of 269 respondents. Research tool was an author-made questionnaire.

RESULTS
More than half of respondents (54.6%) had never heard about patients' rights. Among rights, that respondents know the best were: the right to health benefits (58.2%), the right to information (39.3%), the right to consent to health services (33.6%) and the right to the secrecy of information associated with the patient (32%). More than half of respondents declared that they would report a violation of their rights to appropriate institution - 49.2% of respondents indicated the Commissioner for Patients' Rights, 14.8% the National Health Fund, 11.5% Ministry of Health. The study showed also that the main source of acquiring knowledge about patients' rights for the study population is the internet.

CONCLUSIONS
Analysis of the results showed that the awareness of the patients' rights and knowledge of possible proceedings for violation of them among the study population is low.


Introduction: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) has shown good results in patients with sarcoidosis. Psychological aspects like anxiety and depression are powerful influences with regard to the general outcomes of PR, necessitating more detailed analyses in order to further optimize individualized PR. Aim: To assess the effects of PR on anxiety and depression in (sub-)clinically distressed patients with sarcoidosis. Methods: Analysis of the outcomes of consecutive patients after PR with HADS scores ≥ 8 or ≥ 11: compare baseline to one year follow up values in anxiety and depression, including standardized response means (SRM) and their confidence intervals; document patients achieving clinically relevant improvement (2 point reduction) over time; multilevel modeling of changes will be presented at the conference. Results: Out of n=296 patients, n=117 patients with relevant anxiety and n=105 with relevant depressive symptoms sustained reduction of anxiety/ depression one year post PR (p≤.001; SRM 0.39; 95% CI 0.21-0.57); (p≤.001; SRM 0.47; 95% CI 0.28-0.66). A proportion of 27.3% and respectively 40% of the anxiety /depression subsample reported clinically relevant symptom reduction. The effect of PR is more pronounced in severely distressed patients (HADS≥11): 47.4% respectively 57.1% patients reported clinically relevant symptom reduction (Anxiety: n=38; SRM 0.64; 95% CI 0.32-0.95; Depression n=35; SRM 1.03; 95% CI 0.69-1.36). Conclusion: Multidisciplinary PR seems to have a long lasting positive effect on psychological distress in patients with sarcoidosis even one year after PR.


: 225 diabetic children aged 4-18 years, were screened for antithyroid antibodies. 120 of them were determined at onset of diabetes mellitus. In the remaining patients, duration of diabetes ranged from 6 months to 8 years. The overall prevalence of thyroid antibodies was 14.19% (21/148), while positive titres were found in 10.39% (8/77), at onset. Chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis was diagnosed in 16 patients. No growth retardation was observed. Thyroxine therapy was started in all hypothyroid cases. We conclude that antithyroid antibodies screening in well indicated in diabetic children in view of their high prevalence and strong association with chronic thyroiditis.


Based on analyzing the traditional image matching algorithms, a fast image matching method, which integrates improved sequential similarity detection algorithm (SSDA) and wavelet transformation, is presented in this paper. Firstly, some basic principles of SSDA image matching and wavelet transformation are introduced. Secondly, according to the shortcoming of traditional SSDA algorithm, a new SSDA algorithm is studied for improving the determining velocity of the threshold in SSDA searching match. By integrating wavelet transformation, an integrated matching algorithm is given out. Finally, the new method is compared with the traditional matching algorithms in experiments. The experimental results show that the new method has higher efficiency and accuracy in image matching and is suitable for the realization of real-time underwater navigation.


Soil conservation tillage systems, including ridge-tillage, often reduce surface water contamination by pesticides because soil erosion and surface runoff are reduced. However, the effects on losses through subsurface drainage tile are somewhat uncertain. Our field study quantified the effects of four tillage practices in continuous corn (Zea mays L.) and corn-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr] rotations on herbicide and nitrate N losses in tile drainage water. Fertilizer and pesticide application methods were uniform for ridge, moldboard, chisel, and no-till systems. Pesticide and nitrate N leaching losses were significantly affected by crop rotation. Tillage practice had little influence on nitrate N and pesticide losses to the subsurface drainage water within a corn-soybean rotation. However, ridge-till and no-till resulted in larger losses of atrazine than the moldboard plow and chisel based systems under continuous corn. Tillage system did not affect the timings of peak tile flow occurrences, although peak tile flow volume was affected by tillage, presumably because each system had its own macropore system related to preservation or annual destruction of biopores by tillage. Corn yields were significantly higher under corn-soybean rotation than with continuous-corn for all tillage practices. These results indicate that continuous corn production is not an environmentally sustainable practice for this area because it resulted in higher nitrate N leaching losses to groundwater, received higher N-applications, and resulted in lower corn yields than the corn-soybean rotation. The results also reinforce the need for studies on chemical placement, rate, and timing for various tillage practices to reduce tile drainage losses of agricultural chemicals.


Interactive multimedia content can help improve learning performance by enhancing user satisfaction and engagement. Multimedia content also can help improve concept representation, which is not possible in conventional multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank formats. In this article, we present a broader view of multimedia education, focusing on future applications. Our vision is to provide publicly accessible education anywhere, at anytime, and to anyone. To realize this vision, we propose the Computer Reinforced Online Multimedia Education (Crome) framework, which integrates the main components of education, including learning, teaching, and testing, as well as adaptive testing and student modeling.


In this paper we consider control mechanisms for mobile devices in a stochastic environment. In particular, we consider a device in $n$-dimensional space subject to Brownian perturbations where a control mechanism moves the device towards its target location at a speed which is a function of its displacement. For this scenario, we construct stochastic differential equations for the mobility process and solve for the steady state probability density function of displacement. From this we are able to give general solutions to key metrics such as displacement outage (the long term probability of exceeding a given distance from the target), connectivity probability (derived from the SNR distribution in a Rayleigh channel with pathloss), the mean time at which the device first exceeds a given distance from the target, and the mean kinetic energy required by the control mechanism. We evaluate these metrics for important special cases of the control mechanism and also study the optimization problem of minimizing kinetic energy over the parameters of the control function.


The main tendencies of the development of the Russian aircraft engine building and aircraft building in general, as well as the results of the implementation of the state program of the Russian Federation «Development of the aircraft industry» are considered. A model for the development of aircraft construction based on quality management systems is proposed.


Researchers and vendors are expressing a growing interest in 4G wireless networks that support global roaming across multiple wireless and mobile networks. With this feature, users will have access to different services, increased coverage, the convenience of a single device, one bill with a reduced total access cost, and more reliable wireless access even with the failure or loss of one or more networks. 4G networks will also feature IP interoperability for seamless mobile Internet access and bit rates of 50 Mbps or more. Because deployment of 4G wireless technology is not expected until 2006 or even later, developers will hopefully have time to resolve issues involving multiple heterogeneous networks.


We use panel data describing Internet usage before and after broadband adoption to explore how access to broadband drives changes in content consumption. We motivate our analysis with a model that accounts for access speed, the bandwidth intensity of different types of content and the opportunity cost of time to explain usage changes. Faster download speeds generally increase consumption because deadweight losses incurred while waiting for content to load are significantly smaller. Furthermore, factoring preferences for content of differing bandwidth intensities into our model suggests large increases in consumption for individuals who may have spent little time online in a narrowband environment because the high bandwidth services they prefer require prohibitive amounts of time to download. Our data confirms that people who switch to broadband spend greater amounts of time online after controlling for time trends, with larger gains accruing to higher-bandwidth services. Consistent with our model, some of the largest usage gains come from individuals who comprised the lowest usage quintile when they were narrowband users, but greatly increased consumption of high-bandwidth applications after adopting broadband. These users consume content in greater quantities than users.


This report focus on the analysis of financial reports of several banks to evaluate Return on Equity (ROE) and other ratios like the Tax ratio, Asset turnover, Asset/Equity ratio and also to find out the impact of different elements on the Return on Equity (ROE). We had chosen this topic named 'Impact of different factors on ROE of banks' to get the proper understanding that how ROE is related to other factors of financial statements. We have collected relevant secondary data, theoretical literature and also some other valuable information before developing this research paper on 'Impact of different factors on ROE of banks'. The core objective of this paper is to find out the effects of different elements of financial statements of a bank on the Return on Equity (ROE). There are some elements to evaluate a bank's performance, but all of these the Return on Equity is the most essential elements to evaluate a bank's performance properly. The Return on equity (ROE) reveals that how much profit a bank can earn in comparison to the shareholder's total amount of equity found on the balance sheet. High return on equity reveals that A bank is more capable of generating more cash internally, when it has a high Return on Equity. In most cases, a bank's with the higher return on equity which is compared to the industry average, is the better. For that reason, a bank puts more emphasis on the Return on Equity (ROE). Besides, management works hard to show the better ROE on the financial statements since it is very crucial to the potential investors. Other elements/indicators of the financial statement/performance might have some effect on ROE. Increasing in some elements might lead to increase in ROE and vice-versa. Some elements might not have any effect on ROE. In this research, we have evaluated the effects of those elements on ROE and how much they affect. The core objective of this paper is to examine the different factors (assets, PAT/PBT, Interest Margin etc.) impact on a bank's Return on Equity (ROE).


We report a case of metallic prosthetic valve thrombosis in a 24-year-old woman at her 36th week of gestation. With the onset of gestation this patient had been prescribed enoxaparin at a once-daily dose of 0.6 mL, which was lower than the recommended dose. The patient's mitral valve gradient was increased. We gave her intravenous unfractionated heparin because she refused to give consent for thrombolytic therapy owing to its potential hazards for the fetus. After the patient gave birth we treated her with a thrombolytic agent and the thrombus completely dissolved. Pregnancy in patients with mechanical valve prosthesis requires close follow-up and patient adherence to the prescribed medications. In case of thrombus formation both the fetus and the mother are at risk for fatal complications.


The laws of physics explain many human misperceptions of whole-body passive self-motion. One classic misperception occurs in a rotating chair in the dark: If the chair is decelerated to a stop after a period of counterclockwise rotation, then a subject will typically perceive clockwise rotation. The laws of physics show that, indeed, a clockwise rotation would be perceived even by a perfect processor of angular acceleration information, assuming that the processor is initialized (prior to the deceleration) with a typical subject's initial perception - of no rotation in this case. The motion perceived by a perfect acceleration processor serves as a baseline by which to judge human self-motion perception; this baseline makes a rough prediction and also forms a basis for comparison, with uniquely physiological properties of perception showing up as deviations from the baseline. These same principles, using the motion perceived by a perfect acceleration processor as a baseline, are used in the present paper to investigate complex motions that involve simultaneous linear and angular accelerations with a changing axis of rotation. Baselines - motions that would be perceived by a perfect acceleration processor, given the same initial perception (prior to the motion of interest) as that of a typical subject - are computed for the acceleration and deceleration stages of centrifuge runs in which the human carriage tilts along with the vector resultant of the centripetal and gravity vectors. The computations generate a three-dimensional picture of the motion perceived by a perfect acceleration processor, by simultaneously using all six interacting degrees of freedom (three angular and three linear) and taking into account the non-commutativity of rotations in three dimensions. The resulting three-dimensional baselines predict stronger perceptual effects during deceleration than during acceleration, despite the equal magnitudes (with opposite direction) of forces on the subject during acceleration and deceleration. For a centrifuge run with the subject facing tangentially in the direction of motion, the deceleration baseline shows a perception of forward tumble (pitch rotation) beginning with ascent from the earth, while the acceleration baseline does not have analogous pitch and vertical motion. These results give a three-dimensional explanation for certain puzzling acceleration-deceleration perceptual differences observed experimentally by Guedry, Rupert, McGrath, and Oman (Journal of Vestibular Research, 1992.). The present analysis is consistent with, and expands upon, previous analyses of individual components of motion.


This review article summarizes the basic principles of vascular anatomy, physiology, diagnostic work-up and treatment for patients with nontraumatic upper extremity vascular disorders. Vascular disorders can be considered vasospastic or occlusive. The most commonly encountered vasospastic condition is Raynaud's Phenomenon secondary to scleroderma. While historically this has been managed medically with vasodilators, more advanced cases can benefit from surgical treatment to improve blood flow and minimize tissue loss, with compelling evidence that earlier surgical intervention can modify disease process and should be considered. Occlusive disease can present as aneurysm or thrombosis and often requires surgical treatment with resection of the occluded segment with or without vascular reconstruction. In advanced atherosclerotic disease or end stage ischemia, arterialization of the venous system can be considered to avoid more proximal amputations.


Abstract Aims: Peginterferon beta-1a 125 mcg administered subcutaneously every 2 weeks, a new disease-modifying therapy (DMT) for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), was approved in January 2015 by the Scottish Medicines Consortium. This study assesses long-term clinical and economic outcomes of peginterferon beta-1a compared with other self-injectable DMTs (interferon beta-1a [22 mcg, 30 mcg, and 44 mcg], interferon beta-1b, and glatiramer acetate 20 mg) in the treatment of RRMS, from the National Health Service and Personal Social Services perspective in Scotland. Methods: A previously published, validated Markov cohort model was adapted for this analysis. The model estimates changes in patient disability, occurrence of relapses, and other adverse events, and translates them into quality-adjusted life years and costs. Natural history data came from the ADVANCE trial of peginterferon beta-1a, the London Ontario (Canada) database, and a large population-based MS survey in the UK. The comparative efficacy of each DMT vs placebo was obtained from a network meta-analysis. Costs (2015 British Pounds) were obtained from public databases and literature. Clinical and economic outcomes were projected over 30 years and discounted at 3.5% per year. Results: Over 30 years, peginterferon beta-1a was dominant compared with interferon beta-1a (22, 30, and 44 mcg), and interferon beta-1b, and cost-effective compared with glatiramer acetate 20 mg. Results were most sensitive to variations in each DMT's efficacy and acquisition costs. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of the results. Limitations: The impact of improved adherence with peginterferon beta-1a on clinical and economic outcomes and the impact of subsequent DMTs after treatment discontinuation were not considered. Oral and infused DMTs were not included as comparators. Conclusion Long-term treatment with peginterferon beta-1a improves clinical outcomes, while its cost profile makes it either dominant or cost-effective compared with other self-injectable DMTs for the treatment of RRMS in Scotland.


Carboxylate and carboxamide ligands of dirhodium(II) catalysts control chemoselectivity in competitive metal carbene transformations of diazo compounds. For competitive intramolecular cyclopropanation versus intramolecular aromatic substitution with 1-diazo-3-aryl-5-hexen-2-ones, use of Rh 2 (OAc) 4 results in the products from both transformations in nearly equal amounts, but dirhodium(II) perfluorobutyrate (Rh 2 (pfb) 4 ) provides only the aromatic substitution product while dirhodium(II) caprolactamate (Rh 2 (cap) 4 ) gives only the cyclopropanation product


The purpose of this study is to analyse the communication of Apple to illustrate how social exclusion is used to produce fear, and how it has played the role as a means of persuasion in a constructed reality. In the present investigation process the researchers have taken a critical stance. The authors aim at unveiling the structure of implicit means of persuasion in various Apple's campaigns over a 20-year time period. Much of the theories regarding fear appeals in advertising have been based on the field of social marketing, for specific social causes; that is, smoking, driving. Although, it is the researchers' intention to use those theories as a basis for the empirical material collection as well as the analysis of fear of social exclusion as a means of persuasion in the marketing communication of Apple. The researchers took a social constructivist ontological position and a critical realist epistemological stance. The study is based on a qualitative strategy and inductive approach. The authors used a descriptive single-case study on Apple. Additionally, we defined a timeframe to analyse the data collected in order to conduct a retrospective case study (1993 - 2013). Data were exclusively collected on the digital media platform YouTube, where the virtual observation took place. They were structured by using Fairclough critical discourse analysis framework, and interpreted using the conceptual framework of Civic Fear by Aristotle. Three phases constituting the construction of an advertisement appealing to fear were identified, namely construction, framing and alleviation. These are based on the framework of Aristotle used throughout the investigation process for the selection as well as interpretation of the discourses. The findings have shown that, by deconstructing each advertisement and taking into consideration the context, it was possible to identify how the advertiser made implicit use of social exclusion to produce fear. Although, this was found on an implicit level, hidden by an explicit use of humour or positive emotional condition. It is the authors merit to not only uncover such means of persuasion based on a hidden ideology of fear, but also to explain the construction of the advertisement and the process followed in the creation of fear of social exclusion. (Less)


Online videos are one of the most prevalent forms of communication over the Internet because humans are attracted to visual stimulations. Multimedia services, especially real-time services, require data to arrive on time. Unlike any other transmissions, video streaming needs to be monitored and adapted to bandwidth, when the video stream passes through the best-effort environment. A guaranteed QoS (Quality of Service) is essential in all real-time applications. This paper presents a context aware mechanism, which improves the QoS of real time video transmission, over wireless networks. This proposed RSQA system ensures video availability even when the bandwidth is low. Drawbacks to other solutions for saving bandwidth in real-time include being: (1) too expensive due to requiring a priority based router (in the case of proxy based and frame prioritization approaches); (2) too complex; (3) not appropriate for real-time systems. This RSQA system succeeds in being of low complexity, appropriate for real-time systems and cost effective (not requiring a priority based router to function). This RSQA system is independent of wireless technology making, thus it appropriate for use in a heterogeneous environment as well. Whenever a user experiences packet loss or a delay in receiving a video, the server will be notified about the congestion and decrease the video quality to make the video available at low bandwidth. The decision regarding the needed QoS parameters and the rate control is based on context information (available bandwidth). The RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol) based streaming is simulated and verified by an Eclipse simulator and Java using an MJPEG standard. Results show that the QoS parameters of video transmission were improved considerably by this RSQA system.


The bacterial strain LW6(T) was isolated from activated sludge of a wastewater treatment bioreactor. Cells of strain LW6(T) are Gram-positive, irregular, short rods and cocci, 0.5-0.8x1.0-1.6 microm. Colonies are light-yellow, smooth, circular and 0.2-1.0 mm in diameter after 3 days incubation. Strain LW6(T) is aerobic and heterotrophic. It grows at a temperature range of 26-38 degrees C and pH range of 6-9, with optimal growth at 33-37 degrees C and pH 7.8-8.2. The predominant cellular fatty acids of strain LW6(T) are iso-C(15:0) (38.9%) and iso-C(17:1)omega9c (18.8%). Strain LW6(T) has the major respiratory menaquinones MK-8(H(4)) and MK-8(H(2)) and polar lipids phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and unknown glycolipid/phospholipids. The cell wall peptidoglycan of strain LW6(T) contained the amino acids ornithine, lysine, glutamic acid, alanine, glycine and aspartic acid. Its molar DNA G+C content is 69 mol% (T(m)). Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain LW6(T) was related phylogenetically to members of the genus Ornithinimicrobium, with similarities ranging from 98.3 to 98.7%. The DNA-DNA relatedness of strain LW6(T) to Ornithinimicrobium humiphilum DSM 12362(T) and Ornithinimicrobium kibberense K22-20(T) was respectively 31.5 and 15.2%. Based on these results, it is concluded that strain LW6(T) represents a novel species of the genus Ornithinimicrobium, for which the name Ornithinimicrobium pekingense sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is strain LW6(T) (=CGMCC 1.5362(T) =JCM 14001(T)).