Advance care plans (ACPs) and advance care directives (ACDs) improve outcomes across patient interactions, and particularly during COVID-19 surges, but have low uptake, even in vulnerable populations. We created an audit tool (available on request from the corresponding author) utilising criteria from the 2020 Prevalence Report and input from broad stakeholders, including relevant hospital specialties (Geriatric Medicine, General Medicine, Palliative Care), NSW Ambulance and Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACF) staff. The aim of our subsequent retrospective audit was to evaluate presence and quality of ACPs/ACDs within health records of patients from RACFs presenting to the emergency departments of two South Western Sydney Metropolitan Hospitals. The audit was conducted at the onset of the first wave of COVID-19 (January to April 2020) to inform quality improvement initiatives. Using admission notes and discharge summaries in hospital electronic medical records, we assessed the documented recognition of ACPs/ACDs and ceilings-of-care documentation. Overall, 68 of 150 patients had documented evidence of an ACP/ACD at presentation. Within these documents, sections delineating patient preferences for ceilings of care within ACP/ACD documentation were examined. Decisions concerning cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) were the most documented (n = 66, 97.1%), followed by artificial feeding (n = 55, 80.8%), mechanical ventilation (n = 51, 75.0%), the use of intravenous and subcutaneous therapy (n = 48, 70.6%), future transfer to hospital (n = 48, 70.6%) and intensive care unit (ICU) admission (n = 31, 45.6%). We note that CPR was almost always addressed within existing ACPs/ACDs. Admission into ICU care was the least addressed issue, despite the fact that it imposed a great care burden. A multicentre European study noted a quarter of ICU clinicians reported patients in their care were receiving potentially 'inappropriate care'. Another study reported that having end-of-life discussions was associated with reduced ICU admissions compared to the 'no-discussion' cohort (4.1% vs 12.4%; 95% CI, 0.14–0.90), implying that advance care planning may reduce burdensome treatment which does not align with preferences. Across all patients' admission notes, ceilings-of-care preferences were not documented in 105 patients (70%), and recognition of advance care planning documentation was absent in 129 (86%). Similarly, among discharge summaries, ceilings of care were not documented in 119 patients (79.3%), and advance care planning documentation was absent in 136 (90.7%). Preexisting ACP/ACD documentation for patients from RACFs (n = 68) was rarely acknowledged within admission notes (n = 15, 22.1%) or discharge summaries (n = 10, 14.7%). Our audit results informed local quality improvement projects. Findings were presented district-wide through the South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD) Clinical and Quality Council and at junior medical officer (JMO) education sessions, in recognition of the fact that JMOs are often the authors of admission and discharge summaries. The resultant dialogue included recognising patients who would benefit from advance care planning and the inclusion of discharge recommendations. Similar ACP audits have been used at Kingston Hospital, UK, which found that implementation of an ACP summary and JMO teaching sessions improved resuscitation status, prognosis, ceilings-of-care and readmission status documentation in medical notes and at discharge. The documentation of advance care planning preferences of RACF patients in our hospitals was suboptimal. Our audit tool can be used to improve advance care planning between RACF and hospital setting.


River is the author of its geometry. Almost all natural rivers meander. In fact Straight River reaches longer than 10 to12 times the channel widths are non existence in nature. For many hydraulic engineering problems the analysis of flow in open channel with a complex geometry is a fundamental prerequisite. In this research project, experimental results of longitudinal velocity profile and depth averaged velocity distribution of a compound meandering channel at the bend apex are calculated and compared with the results of this channel using ANSYS FLUENT. To solve numerically an investigation has been carried out for studying different flow characteristics of a compound meandering channel. In this numerical study Volume of Fluid method (Two phase model) and Large Eddy Simulation (LES )turbulence model has been adopted. The former one is adopted to analyze the turbulent structure and the later one is used to predict the flow characteristics of a meandering compound channel. The sinuosity index is one for straight channel whereas for meandering channel it is greater than 1and can increase to infinity for a closed loop (where the shortest path length is zero.


A computer data file was made for the optical properties of the rock-forming minerals, and is stored in a floppy-disk in the form of the MS-DOS text file. This file, used in combination with commercially available data base softwares, is useful in microscopic identification of minerals. The particular merit in the use of computer-aided mineral identification is maneuverability in the way of identification, compared to the use of published identification tables in the literatures.


An algorithm to automatically locate QRS complexes in noninvasive fetal ECG signals is described and was entered in the PhysioNet/CinC 2013 "Noninvasive Fetal ECG" challenge. The algorithm is based on an iterative subspace decomposition and filtering of the maternal ECG components from the recordings of a set of electrodes placed on the mother's abdomen. Once the maternal components are removed, a novel merging technique is applied to merge the recordings and generate a signal with a higher SNR to perform fetal peak detection. The algorithm produces an annotation file for each data set containing the location of the fetal QRS complexes in that set. The final results indicate that the algorithm is able to detect fetal peaks under different scenarios and for variety of devices and signals encountered in clinical practice.


The development of a tumor may be monitored over a period of time on the basis of its contours in a series of B-mode ultrasound images. However, contour detection is hampered by specific noise and is therefore often performed manually. This paper proposes a new approach to the automatic estimation of closed contours of hypoechoic and hyperechoic tumors. First, local averaging of gray level information in the image is performed by Level-Dependent Spatial Summation. The filtered image exhibits reduced speckle contrast while the edges of macro structures are sufficiently well preserved to allow automatic contour detection. Second, an optimum threshold is automatically selected to segment the filtered image in "tumor" and "background". Using the resulting binary image, the tumor contour is estimated as the collection of tumor pixels that touch the background. Encouraging results are presented of the automatic detection of the contour of a hypoechoic breast tumor.


Laboratory experiments and theoretical considerations have suggested that anomalous dilatant regions can develop in the earth's crust during the period of strain accumulation prior to an earthquake. For moderate and major earthquakes such anomalous regions could be tens or even hundreds of kilometers in extent and should be detectable at the surface with appropriate survey or sounding techniques. Since electrical resistivity is one of the rock properties likely to be strongly modified in a dilatant zone, magnetoteUuric impedance and geomagnetic transfer functions might be expected to show time-dependent precursory effects if monitored over a period of time above the focal region of an impending earthquake. Such experiments have been conducted in Japan and in other parts of the world and several examples ofresitivity changes in the crust prior to earthquake occurrence have been reported. These results and their association with local seismicity are reviewed in this paper. The avai- lable evidence indicates that transfer functions and impedance can display significant time-dependent response to changing crustal conditions in some regions. However, the correspondence between these effects and earthquake occurrence is usually not very clear.


Incotne smoothing practice is a common phenomenon and incurred in severql countries. Income smoothing is defined as the way used by the management to reduce the fluctuations of reported income to achieve the target income either artifrcially (through accounting m,ethod) or economically (through transaction) This research examines factors that can be identified with the frequenq) of income smoothing practice arnong listed /irms in Indonesian capttil Market Directory (ICMD). The factors being examined were size, net profrt margin, operating leverage and industrial sectors. To determine the frequency of incorne,smoothing practice, Eckel Index wai used. The object of income smoothing in this-researeh is net income. The total sample is 276 lirms, /ive years from 1999-2003. The result of Eckel index calculation showed that income smoothing is also practiced by listed /irms in ICMD. The test results of regression showed that size, net profit margin, operating leverage, industrial sectors are the variables having a significance influence on income smooting practice. Keyword : Income Smoothing,Earnings Management


In recent years, MIMO-OFDM wireless communication systems have experienced a period of great prosperity in telecommunications. However, the combination of the OFDM multi-carrier technique and the SDMA technique represents a promising technique for future mobile radio systems witch offering better performance with relatively high transmission rates In an SDMA-OFDM uplink, the user signals are transmitted simultaneously on the different antennas of the mobile stations (MS) in a wireless channel. At the base station (BS), several multi-user detection techniques (MUDs) have been proposed to independently detect user signals while combating the problem of multiple access interferences (MAI), which in turn generates performance degradation. Among these techniques, the classical linear detection MMSE-MUD detects the signal with a low complexity but inferiority in the performance mainly due to the problem of interference MAI especially in the overloaded scenario. In this context, a new MUD multi-user detection approaches based on meta-heuristics has been proposed and developed in recent years with great success. In this thesis work, we propose a new MUD multi-user detection algorithm based on a meta-heuristic method inspired by the foraging behavior of Pachycandyla Apicalis (API) ants, to detect the user's bits based on ML detection process for a MIMO SDMA-OFDM system.


Performance information is essential to the design of efficient parallel programs. Whether the programmer has total control over determining the parallel execution of processes or whether some automatic means are used to parallelize serial or partially parallel code, the cost of the overhead due to parallelization must be known. This is especially important in systems where the costs of such mechanisms are high. In distributed memory systems, message passing is the primary means of communication between parallel processes, and message passing tends to be quite expensive. Users of such systems wrestle with a variety of questions related to performance issues. How is the data to be distributed among processors? What grain size (amount of code executed serially on a processor) is required for efficient processing? How should the processes be assigned to the system nodes? Approximate answers to these questions can be given only if the performance characteristics of the system are known. This paper presents the beginning of a practical performance model for two distributed memory multiprocessor systems, the Intel iPSC/2 and iPSC/860 hypercubes. Performance measurements of communication costs on the range of message passing options of the hypercubes have resulted in several formulas which are useful in modeling communication costs. This work extends that of others in several ways. Each node of the hypercube has its own clock whose time is measured independently of the other clocks. Previous timings were made from only one node to avoid the problem of unsynchronized clocks. We have developed a clock adjustment technique to set clock times to a common value and through this adjustment have been able to time messages that can be sent only one way, such as a broadcast. Other performance modeling of which we are aware concentrated only on node to node communication. We extend communication measurements to situations where m nodes are simultaneously sending information to n nodes.


Explicit as well as recursive formulas are derived to determine the characteristic polynomials of arbitrarily weighted molecular graphs and the influence of substitutions of atoms with different weights. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Enceladus is a small icy moon of Saturn with active jets of water emanating from fractures around the south pole, informally called tiger stripes, which might be connected to a subsurface water ocean. The effect of these features on periodic tidal deformation of the moon has so far been neglected because of the difficulties associated with implementation of faults in continuum mechanics models. Here we estimate the maximum possible impact of the tiger stripes on tidal deformation and heat production within Enceladus's ice shell by representing them as narrow zones with negligible frictional and bulk resistance passing vertically through the whole ice shell. Assuming a uniform ice shell thickness of 25 km, consistent with the recent estimate of libration, we demonstrate that the faults can dramatically change the distribution of stress and strain in Enceladus's south polar region, leading to a significant increase of the heat production in this area.


PART 1: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE RATIONAL ORGANISATION 1. From trial and error to the science of management 2. Developments in organisation theory 3. In search of new paradigms 4. Critical perspectives on organisation theory PART 2: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT 1. Approaches to strategy 2. Applying strategy 3. Approaches to change management 4. Developments in change management PART 3: CASE STUDIES IN STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT 1. Case studies in strategic change 2. Case studies in changing internal relationships and attitudes 3. Case studies in changing external relationships PART 4: MANAGING CHOICE 1. Managing Change 2. Organisational change and managerial choice 3. Management roles and responsibilities


During the knit goods mercerizing process,there is relatively high quantity of caustic soda and penetrating agent remaining in the washing water,especially the front washing stage.It will be more difficult and more expensive when to discharge as the wastewater.Through analysis and testing,the result indicates that the washing water of the mercerization has value of retrieving,the retrieving craft is simple,and it can receive the good economic and environmental benefit.


A strain of diploid fibroblasts, obtained from the skin of a male infant, was cultured in vitro and cells were tested throughout their lifespan for the appearance of altered glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase (G‐6‐PD) detected either by thermostability studies or by immunotitration. No significant difference was found in the proportion of thermolabile enzyme in 31 young cultures (4.8 ± 1%, S.E.), in comparison with that in 19 old cultures (4.9 ± 1%, S.E.). Old cultures had ceased active cell division (49–60 doublings); DNA replication, measured by [3H] thymidine uptake over a period of 24 hours, was limited to less than 5% of these cells. Young cells (5–22 doublings) had a [3H] thymidine labeling index of 75–85%. Titration of G‐6‐PD activity in extracts of young and old cells with neutralizing antibody directed specifically against G‐6‐PD failed to detect an increment of enzymatically defective G‐6‐PD in old cells. The thermostability studies were capable of detecting altered G‐6‐PD in skin fibroblasts from a female heterozygous for a thermolabile mutant of G‐6‐PD, and in fibroblasts treated with a proline analogue, azetidine carboxylic acid. The immunotitration technique was also capable of detecting catalytically altered G‐6‐PD from the thermolabile mutant and G‐6‐PD inactivated with N‐ethylmaleimide. These findings argue against a protein error catastrophe as the cause of in vitro clonal senescence.


In this paper we present a powerful extension of the reactive force field method ReaxFF, which we call ReaxFF+. It combines the charge equilibrium scheme with the bond order principle. The main advantage of this procedure is the correct distinction and description of covalent and ionic bonds. It allows reactive molecular dynamic simulations in ionic gases and liquids. To demonstrate the accuracy of this new method, we study the hydrolyzation of aluminosilicates. Comparing the results with experimental and ab initio data, we can prove the high accuracy of our method. This shows that ReaxFF+ is a powerful force field simulation tool for reactions in acidic or alkaline environments.


In this paper we analyze the position of back channels in Japanese and Portuguese conversations,as well as the similarities and differences between them in the course of interaction. Although in both languages back channels occurred in similar positions in the structure of spoken discourse,from the interactional point of view they showed different realizations, suggesting some significant implications for each exchange system • PALAVRAS-CHAVE: fáticos retroalimentadores, interação, coordenação de ações, sintaxe discursiva.


The author presents the analytical review of the notional-categorical content of hermeneutics method in the idea and interpretation of the outstanding Russian philosopher G. Shpet, and shows the topicality of this thinker's works in the Russian philosophy overall context of the beginning of the ХХth century for the solution of modern philosophical and philological hermeneutics problems.


The rotate speed is a key performance of single-phase motors while the centrifugal switch is breaking away.Because a motor start quickly,such as the start time of ordinary middle and small motors is between 1 and 3 seconds,the change of its rotate speed is very fast while the centrifugal switch is breaking away.There are two difficulty problems:(1)how to capture a no-delay and steady signal at that instant time;(2)a accurate method of measuring transient rotate speed.In this meter a micro-controller is used as a core.When a motor is starting,the voltage of both ends of centrifugal switch is detected to capture the signal of breaking away;a pulse signal from a photo-electricity rotate coder is taken along with the motor's rotating,then the signal is insulated by photic-coupling and transmitted to the micro-controller for measuring transient rotate speed.


What makes people ill? the impact of unemployment on health solutions to the problem of unemployment the impact of poor housing on health solutions to the housing crisis poverty and deprivation impact of global environmental issues on health our strained relations with environmental agents pollution by air, water, and land food and drugs work in progress bills of health.


This paper reports the establishment of eight vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungal species under Malaysian conditions. VAM fungi can be propagated and maintained on Setaria as the host plant.


According to Sushruta, Marma are constituted by confluence of Mansa, Sira, Snayu, Aasthi and Sandhi. They are the Sthana of Prana. According to Acharya Sushruta, Marma comprises of Jala, Vayu, Tej, Satva, Raja, Tama and Bhootatma, so that injury of Marma may lead to death. The concept of Marma is important in the clinical and surgical point of view. The science of Marma is called as half part of whole surgery. In this article an attempt is made to study the Lohitaksha Marma and its Viddha Lakshana (Traumatic effect) by considering the related literature.


The invention discloses a high quality factor magnesium titanate microwave dielectric ceramic with the expression formula of Mg0.97Zn0.03+xTiO3+x, wherein 0.010 / DEG C. The high quality factor magnesium titanate microwave dielectric ceramic saves powder secondary ball milling, simplifies the preparation process of the material, and saves time and energy costs.


This paper presents the methodology for generation and confinement of a uniform magnetic field in an arbitrarily assigned polyhedral cavity enclosed by planar distribution of surface currents. The condition of existence and confinement of a uniform field is derived. An example of a practical self-shielded magnet with prismatic windings is constructed around a regular hexagonal cavity. The hexagonal magnet has the desirable property of a constant current density on each lateral winding. A field of 1 Tesla is generated by a current of 1.19/spl times/10/sup 6/ A/m. In contrast to the field in a conventional solenoid magnet, the field generated by a structure of surface currents is perpendicular to the main axis of the cavity.


To detect the Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) in Imaging Spectroscopy (IS) data, field spectral measurements gathered contemporaneously were selected in function of their high correlation with relevant minerals of standard spectral libraries. Working as a spectra selector, the high correlation values at threshold ≥0.8 are inputted to a full pixel based classifier measuring the angle between spectra (Spectral Angle Mapper, SAM). This methodology is applied to SPECIM EAGLE-HAWK captured over old S. Domingos mine area in 2007. Field measurements were undertaken with an ASDFieldSpecPro spectroradiometer for calibration and on materials previously known as AMD indicators. The mining history dates back to pre-roman times, with an intensive exploitation of Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide deposits, leading to a significant environmental footprint. The isolation of mineralogical assemblages of pH<3 delineates the hot spots at threshold ≥ 0.8, mostly confined to acidic ponds and specific waste piles.


Jon Lund, a mechanical engineer with a hobby building mobile applications for the mobile device community on the new Apple App Store, had just hung up the phone with his brother-in-law after discussing what to do next. His company, started in his spare time, was now two companies with several different partnering relationships all bootstrapped from the early successes his apps had had in the marketplace.


Purpose – There have been few studies about the prevalence of substance abuse and links to offending behaviour among those with intellectual disabilities. This paper aims to address this issue.Design/methodology/approach – This baseline audit describes: the prevalence of alcohol and substance misuse in patients within a forensic intellectual disability service; and the introduction of a Drug and Alcohol Awareness Course. In total, 74 patients were included in the audit.Findings – Roughly half of the patients audited had co‐morbid harmful use or dependence with the problem being equally prevalent in men and women. Whilst alcohol and cannabis were the commonest drugs of abuse, cocaine, stimulants and opiates were abused by a small but significant number. Of those with harmful use or dependence, 35 per cent had used the drug in the immediate lead up to their index offence. A diagnosis of personality disorder and past history of convictions for violent offences was significantly more likely to be present in t...


We have carried out density functional calculations on a CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB interface with amorphous electrodes. The interface was shown to be stable with 4 mono-layers (ML) and to contain spin-polarized metal-oxigen bonds at the interface. The interfacial energy was estimated, to be used as a comparative measure of stability. In addition, the exchange-coupling indicated a favouring of the anti-paralell magnetization configuration with respect to the paralell for 4 ML.


Joseph (Joe) Leiter, FMLA, the first associate director of library operations at the National Library of Medicine (NLM), died in Bethesda, Maryland, on May 27, 2005, at the age of ninety. During his tenure from 1965 to 1983, he contributed immeasurably to a variety of important programs at NLM and in the larger medical library community. These programs are a catalog of successes that contemporary librarians take for granted every day. The development of MEDLINE (teaming up with the late Davis McCarn), DOCLINE, the Regional Medical Libraries, the NLM Associate Program, the introduction of contracts to expand library services, and the advancement of women and minorities in the profession are only part of his legacy.

Joe recognized immediately that he could entrust most of the details of managing library operations to the library's staff. As he told Betsy L. Humphreys in his MLA oral history interview,

I really shied away from all the mechanics of the Library because I knew so little about them that I figured the best thing to do was to let things run until there was trouble, and then you'd have to try to solve them.

This is not to underestimate Joe's contributions: he was a quick study with a brilliant mind, and he had the great ability to recognize potential problems, often before others did.

Joseph Leiter was born on Delancey Street in New York's Lower East Side on May 14, 1915. At nineteen, he graduated from Brooklyn College with a degree in chemistry. After graduation, he found himself at loose ends, with his family unable to afford graduate school tuition and with no financial assistance available in those Depression years. He took a US government exam in science to become a laboratory apprentice, earned a perfect score, and went to work at the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology). After a few years, he received an offer to work at a National Cancer Institute (NCI) laboratory, where he stayed until 1965.

While at NCI, he took a four-year leave of absence to serve in the US Army during World War II and matriculated at Georgetown University, where he received a doctorate in biochemistry in 1949. By the early 1960s, Joe was chief of NCI's Cancer Chemotherapy Service Center. He was one of the pioneer researchers in the United States, working on environmental carcinogens and on developing drug therapies for cancer.

Martin M. Cummings, FMLA, NLM's director, who had inherited the Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (MEDLARS) from his predecessor, Frank Bradway Rogers, had received a favorable letter about the system from Joe. Cummings went to meet Joe and was intrigued with his vast experience in administering contracts at NCI. He wanted someone tough enough to protect the government's interest in working with contractors, and he thought Joe could move the library forward. Surprised that Joe wanted to leave his prestigious NCI job, Cummings hired him as quickly as he could.

Joe wasted no time in taking charge of library operations. He was a task master whose "in your face" style was uncomfortable for many NLM staff. You had to prove to Joe that you knew what you were doing. He often used the Socratic method to "help" staff produce the answer he wanted. For Cummings, Joe's most significant contribution to NLM was his identification and cultivation of a team of young managers with strong technical skills. He encouraged them to take risks and defended their decisions. As manager of the team, Joe directed the development of CATLINE, AVLINE, and the Name Authority File. He involved NLM in national bibliographic programs such as Cataloging-in-Publication (CIP), Cooperative Online Serials Program (CONSER), and Name Authority Cooperative Program (NACO). He boldly disagreed with certain decisions by the Library of Congress and the broader library community because he knew these decisions were not beneficial for users. His actions led to the development of online cataloging at NLM, minimizing the cataloging effort in hundreds of health sciences libraries and saving millions of dollars for those institutions.

When Joe took the reins of the Regional Medical Library (RML) program, many favored building collections rather than expanding library services. Joe wanted to emphasize library services and foresaw the need for a centralized automated infrastructure for the network's document delivery activities. He developed SERLINE and SERHOLD and established the foundation for the DOCLINE system. As Sally Sinn, a former deputy chief of technical services at NLM, commented, "Joe's foresight was in making critical decisions, not based on an understanding of what the bibliographic decisions were, but rather on what made sense for the user."

Under Cummings' leadership, Joe moved the library from the batch-process MEDLARS system into the MEDLINE era. He established the MEDLARS Management Section as a focal point for user support, training, and documentation. He understood the value of making database searching a decentralized function of the RML network, and eventually search skills became a requirement for nearly all academic medical and hospital librarians. The ultimate beneficiaries, of course, were health professionals and their patients.

In 1968, a group of librarians in New York and New England, led by Irwin Pizer, went online with the SUNY Biomedical Communication Network, perhaps the first regional online retrieval system for bibliographic information. While actively working to transition NLM's batch search system to a nationwide online environment, Joe was interested in assisting the SUNY librarians. As Pizer commented in his 1984 Janet Doe lecture,

Part of the success of the online union catalog and the SUNY Biomedical Communication Network was due to Dr. Joseph Leiter. His faith in the development of systems outside of NLM, and the uses that such systems could be to NLM in the provision of data for planning and modification of the developing MEDLARS II and III systems, opened the way for a period of fruitful and jointly useful collaboration. [1]

Reflecting on those early years, Lucretia W. McClure, FMLA, one of those SUNY network librarians, said that Joe knew how to solve problems, and he gave them confidence and instilled a sense that there was nothing they were unable to do.

Joe never wavered in his commitment to the principles of equal opportunity in hiring, developing, and promoting women and minorities. He took a personal interest in NLM's Associate Program, even participating in the interviews (to the dismay of an occasional candidate). Once new staff came on board, he challenged them to think of unconventional solutions and fostered creativity and innovation. His management style required his staff to employ careful analysis and critical thinking in solving problems. At a time when men occupied most leadership positions, Joe knew that women were every bit as capable. Lois Ann Colaianni, FMLA, Joe's successor as associate director of library operations at NLM, commented that Joe was helpful and generous in rapidly turning over responsibilities to her after she was hired as his deputy.

Joe was a regular attendee at the annual meetings of the Medical Library Association (MLA) and encouraged his staff to participate. He was well known for his presentations at the NLM Online Users' Meeting, often sparring verbally with his questioners. In 1983, Joe was named an MLA Fellow and retired from NLM after fifty years of federal service. Upon reaching that milestone, Colaianni announced that "through Joe's personal generosity, and contributions of his friends and colleagues, the Joseph Leiter NLM/MLA Lectureship will carry on the tradition of stimulating, thought-provoking dialogues for which he was so well known."

In 1989, the MLA Board of Directors bestowed its highest honor, the Marcia C. Noyes Award, on Joe for his "innovative work in the design, development, and management of information systems and in the creation and provision of information services and education programs." When announcing the award, Phyllis S. Mirsky, FMLA, who worked for Joe for several years, said,

Programs that are an integral component of library services today owe much to the vision and determination of one man. Today, we take the acronyms of CATLINE, SERLINE, DOCLINE, and MEDLINE for granted. But the programs they represent would not be as widespread as they are had not our awardee, Joseph P. Leiter, understood the need for their development and distribution throughout the health science library community.

Joe was an uncommon man with uncommon talents who benefited our entire profession.


Cervical priming is a frequently utilized health care service, and is often delivered as inpatient care with some unattractive features. There is limited empirical evidence which can guide how best to develop alternative models of priming care. The authors analyze data from a discrete choice experiment which elicits the patient's preferences for specific aspects of priming. Each choice set consists of 3 alternatives: two alternatives describing new forms of priming care (outpatient priming and enhanced inpatient priming) and one describing the prevailing form of inpatient priming.


Experimental evidence is presented to illustrate a curious reversed separation effect in a closed, direct thermal mode parametric pump operating at high frequency. A comparison with a theory that predicts such reversals at high frequency shows that simple velocity lag effects cannot explain the current phenomenon.


The article is based on the data obtained in the field research made in the Republic of Korea. The author analyzes basic Korean values in terms of S.Schwartz's method, ranks them according to their importance and analyzes dynamic relations among the values


In this article, we present certain historical developments, problems and successes that have characterized Slovenia's attempts to join the EC/EU. The article discusses the EU's position in a changing world and the consequences of enlargement of its future role in international economic relations. The direction and extent of future European integration will be interrelated with the internal modification of the enlarged EU as well as its external relations. Enlargement is not only in the interests of 'would-be members', but also in the interests of the EU and its member states because it facilitates certain economic and security goals of the whole of Europe after the Cold War. The second part of the article deals with some theoretical alternatives to joining the EU. Joining the EU is the best strategy for Slovenia as a small country since the costs of the alternatives are higher. However, in spite of prevailing public support for full membership there are still many dilemmas. Slovenia as a country in trans...


Mantle metasomatism has been verified by geochemical studies on mantle-derived rocks and used widely to explain heteroge- neity, geochemical evolution of the mantle and origin of mantle_derived alkaline magmas. The author, analyzing the trace element and Sr-. Nd-, and Pb_isotopic data of mantle_derived rocks in some typicaldiwa regions worldwide (western Ynnnan and North China, Rhine Graben, East Africa Rift, eastern Australia, and Central Massif of France), notes that chemical texture of the upper mantle changed from depleted to enriched state during the evolution from the platform to diwa stage in these diwa regions. This transition of the chemical texture of the upper mantle was caused by mantle metasomatism. The timing result of isotopic systematies reveals that mantle metasomatism was a precursory event resulting in platform activation. Mantle mctasomatism not only changes chemical texture of the upper mantle, but also results in increase of heat flux, decrease of density, expansion of volume and lowering of solidus of metasomatic mantle. All these effects strengthen creep of the mantle and heat release toward the crust and result in platform activation.


In present article, influence of grain refinement (Al5Ti1B) on the morphology of iron-rich β-phase intermetallic compounds in Al-12Si-Cu-Mg alloy having two addition levels of iron as alloying element has been reported. The mechanical properties such as tensile strength and ductility of base alloy and the grain refined alloys were measured. The effect of grain refiner on quality index of the alloys on the basis of mechanical properties was also assessed. It was observed that the higher iron content in an alloy results in coarser iron-rich β-phase intermetallic compounds in more quantity than low iron content alloy. The addition of grain refiner in an alloy modifies the distribution of iron-rich intermetallic compounds and changes their morphology from needle to blocky and Chinese script form besides reducing their average length and aspect ratio, which in turn improves the mechanical properties significantly. Further, it was observed that alloy with high iron (2.68 wt%) content required more quantity of grain refiner for better refinement and mechanical performance than the alloy with low iron content. Addition of grain refiner also increased the quality index of the low level iron alloy by about 50%, while that in case of high level iron alloy increased up to 136%.


Objective To understand the perception degree of HBV carries with normal liver function about HBV infection knowledge,treatment indications and therapeutic effect,negative impact due to financial and mental stress on HBV-infected people by using Evidence-based Medicine /EBM and Pharmaceutical Economics.Methods Questionairy investigation of 2000 HBV carriers with normal liver function who were ≥ 14 years old and with ≥ 2 years medical history(randomly selected from clinic patients and health check-up people) have completed.Questionnaires were asked and filled up by staff of Physical Examination Center in person.Questionnaires contained mainly three sections:① personal general information,② treatment or not after being found HBV positive and any impact on personal finance,③ self-rating depression scale(SDS) and self-rating anxiety scale(SAS) conducted to assess their mental health status.Data of questioners have been entered into computers and processed statistically.Results Among 1896 questionnaires which statistically qualified,1450 cases have received medical treatment with treatment rate of 76.50%.1702 cases of different degrees of several mental health problems have been discovered,mainly consisting of self-abasement and anxiety.Conclusion Due to lack of health knowledge about HBV,some HBV carriers developed serious metal problems.Doctors should instruct HBV carriers with normal liver function how to take appropriate medical therapy from the view of Evidence-based Medicine /EBM and Pharmaceutical Economics,and meanwhile doctors should visit them regularly.


Objective: To analyze the prevalence of anxiety disorder in patients undergoing coronary angioplasty in a cardiology referral hospital. Methods: Pilot, prospective, cross-sectional, descriptive study, carried out in a cardiological reference hospital in the city of Salvador, Bahia. Data were collected using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (anxiety subscale - HADS-A) and a research form prepared for this project. The statistical analysis was performed with the R software Windows 3.5.1. The normality of the quantitative variables was assessed by the Shapiro-Wilk statistical test and by the characteristics of the distribution (Kurtosis and Skewness). Variables that showed normality were compared to the anxiety outcome using the t-student test, while variables that did not show normality were assessed using the chi square or Fisher's exact tests. Significance level adopted was 5%. Results: 28 patients were interviewed, 14 of whom were male and 14 were female. The mean age of patients undergoing coronary angioplasty was 61.1 ± 9.1 years. The main situation that led to coronary angioplasty was late AMI (> 12h) (64.3%). The prevalence of anxiety found in the study was 32.1% and of these, 10.7% had mild anxiety and 21.4% moderate anxiety. No participant had severe anxiety. The HADS-A score was, on average, 6.7 (SD 3.8) in the analyzed sample, being 11.4 (SD 1.5) in patients with anxiety identification and 4.6 (SD 2.3) ) in those without anxiety.. Conclusion: The prevalence of anxiety disorder in post-angioplasty was 32.1%. Anxious individuals had a longer hospital stay, a higher prevalence of females and had a higher frequency of history of cardiovascular disease and previous psychological disorders, compared to patients without anxiety.


The general increase in data size and data sharing motivates the adoption of Big Data strategies in several scientific disciplines. However, while several options are available, no particular guidelines exist for selecting a Big Data engine. In this paper, we compare the runtime performance of two popular Big Data engines with Python APIs, Apache Spark, and Dask, in processing neuroimaging pipelines. Our experiments use three synthetic neuroimaging applications to process the 606 GB BigBrain image and an actual pipeline to process data from thousands of anatomical images. We benchmark these applications on a dedicated HPC cluster running the Lustre file system while using varying combinations of the number of nodes, file size, and task duration. Our results show that although there are slight differences between Dask and Spark, the performance of the engines is comparable for data‐intensive applications. However, Spark requires more memory than Dask, which can lead to slower runtime depending on configuration and infrastructure. In general, the limiting factor was the data transfer time. While both engines are suitable for neuroimaging, more efforts need to be put to reduce the data transfer time and the memory footprint of applications.


Liu Xie had presented an overall comments on Cai Yong in Wen Xin Diao Long. He had cited Cai Yong twelve times in ten articles,most of which were on verse. This showed that Liu Xie paid more attention to Cai Yong's verses than his proses. Cai Yong was highly regarded for his rhetoric in Wen Xin Diao Long. Liu Xie thought highly of Cai Yong's inscriptions and lowly of his other works. Liu Xie' theory was based on other people' views such as Lu Ji,Zhi Yu and so on. All these records show that Cai Yong was regarded as a specialist of inscription in the Six Dynasties Period. The view on Cai Yong in Wen Xin Diao Long had very far-reaching influence and Cai Yong's literal status was gradually diminished.


Intro: Increasing cell migration through upregulation of chemokine and adhesion molecule receptors could improve intravascular cell treatment for stroke and BDNF has been shown to induce these pathways. Therefore we tested whether BDNF cell-pretreatment would improve cell migration and functional recovery in an experimental stroke model. Methods: hES-derived NPCs (5x10 5 in 5µl saline) pre-treated with BDNF for 5 hours and harboring a reporter gene construct containing renilla luciferase and eGFP in serum free media, non-treated hES-derived NPCs (5×10 5 in 5[l saline) in media, and media control with BDNF were delivered to the brain via the ipsilateral carotid artery at 3 days after hypoxic-ischemic stroke in NODSCID mice (n=11/group). Cell engraftment was monitored by in-vivo bioluminescence imaging (BLI). The ladder test was used to assess behavioral recovery throughout a 4 week time course. Brain homogenates from animals at 28 days were analyzed using RT-qPCR for common chemokines, adhesion molecules, and neurotrophins. Mechanisms of cell migration were evaluated by assessing cell receptor expression of chemokines and adhesion molecules on hES-derived NPC and by analyzing the change in expression profile in the mouse brain at 3 days after stroke. Boyden-chamber migration assays were used to evaluate cell migratory potential in vitro . RESULTS: One day after cell transplantation the subset of animals transplanted with BDNF-pretreated cells showed significantly higher BLI signal at 1 (p=0.021) and 7 days after transplantation (p=0.002). Histological analysis also revealed engraftment of hES-derived NPC at 1 week after transplantation. Behavioral assessment revealed significant functional recovery in the BDNF pre-treated group throughout the 28 day time course (ANOVA, p in vitro led to significantly greater migration in response to CXCL12 (CXCR4 ligand) compared to untreated cells. At 28 days after transplantation, neurotrophic factors IL6, IL10, Ntrk1 were upregulated 3.3, 3.4, and 3.3 times. Common T-cell and neutrophil cytokine receptors IL8rb, IL8ra and IL1a were all downregulated, while several chemokines that increase migration of inflammatory cells were downregulated including CCL2, CCL5, CCL8, and CCL12. Anti-Angiogenic factor Adamts8 was also downrgulated in the brains of animals transplanted with BDNF pre-treated cells. Lastly, MMP3, MMP8, and MMP9 were downregulated at 28 days after stroke indicating increased blood brain barrier integrity. Conclusion: Intravascular transplantation of BDNF pre-treated hES-derived NPCs elicits functional gains via increased migration of cells, immunomodulation, increased BBB integrity, and by influencing the upregulation of neur0protective factors.


The multi-criteria vertical handoff algorithm plays an important role in heterogeneous wireless networks. There are two drawbacks in the available multi-criteria vertical handoff algorithms. The conventional algorithms do not give the feasible method to determine attribute weight values, and do not also consider the dependency relationship among the decision attributes, which are not mutually independent. These factors make it challenge to select the QoS-ensured network for vertical handoff in heterogeneous wireless networks. This paper proposes a method to determine weight values of each attribute according to the importance degree by using analytic hierarchy process. In order to eliminate the interaction among various criteria, we also propose a novel principal component extraction method based on principal component analysis, which can rapidly choose the QoS-ensured network with lower compute cost by only using less of the synthetic components. Extensive experiment illustrates the performance of the proposed algorithm compared with previous schemes, and the results show that the proposed vertical handoff decision algorithm can effectively eliminate the interaction among the original decision attributes, and extract the principal components (Only the first two principal components are able to seize 98% criteria information of the original decision information.). This algorithm can accurately select the QoS-ensured network with fewer principal components.


The Sino-German Project between the China Agricultural University and the University of Hohenheim, Germany, focuses on sustainable Agriculture in the North China Plain (NCP). One major focus of the project is the establishment of an experiment field near Beijing to investigate different agricultural practices and their impact on yield and environment. The second task is to set-up a Regional Agricultural Environmental Information System (RAEIS) for the NCP, which almost exceeds the size of Germany. Researchers from several departments are involved in the project: Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Informatics, Vegetable Science, Landscape Ecology, Phytomedicine, Plant Nutrition, Plant Production and Soil Science. The major aim of the RAEIS for the NCP is to provide information (i) about agriculture in the region, (ii) about the impact of agricultural practices on the environment and (iii) of simulation scenarios for sustainable strategies. Consequently, the RAEIS for the NCP provides information for decision support and therefore could be regarded as a Decision Support System (DSS), too. The investigation of agricultural and environmental issues have a spatial relation which demands the handling and analysis of spatial data. The use of GIS enables the capture, storage, analysis and presentation of spatial data. Therefore, GIS is the major tool for the set-up of the RAEIS for the NCP. This contribution discusses the problems of the set-up and presents the design and first results of the RAEIS for the NCP.


The article considers the problem of the influence of coal generation on the ecology of Krasnoyarsk. Coal-fired generation is one of the main sources of pollution of the city. The level of ecology reflects the quality and standard of living of the population. In the developed countries of the world, ecology is given a significant priority in solving many economic problems. The specifics of the fuel and energy balance are such that more than 90% of all energy consumption is carried out through the use of coal. When burning coal, a lot of harmful substances are released, which have a great impact on the ecology of the city. This paper presents possible solutions: 1) Raising the pipe of the combined heat and power plant (CHP); 2) Gasification of the Krasnoyarsk CHP. The issue of conducting gas in Krasnoyarsk is considered. The analysis of the above-mentioned solutions is also carried out. The calculation of the costs for lifting the pipe, as well as for gasification, was carried out. Comparative tables of "emissions from coal and gas" and "costs and efficiency between pipe lifting and gasification" are given. Based on the results of the analysis, it can be concluded that these solutions can be used.


Importance The article considers operating and financial cycles being the key indicators of efficient management of working capital. There are differences in opinions on how to define and calculate them. Objectives The study aims to perform a comprehensive analysis of the areas of concern in the methodology for calculating the duration of operating and financial cycle, and to substantiate an original position on the problems under consideration. Methods Works of domestic and international economists on financial analysis create the theoretical and methodological basis of the research. I apply a historical approach involving general and special methods of analysis, synthesis and analogies. Results The paper redefined economic essence and calculation techniques of operating and financial cycles duration and their components. Conclusions The proposed approach may serve as a basis for further development of the financial analysis methodology, and as a methodological guide for business entities to monitor and make business decisions in the process of working capital management.


The Big Bang Theory,a popular American soup opera,is centered on the four scientific geniuses and a blond waitress.The characters'vivid performance,especially their wisdom and humor have attracted numerous audiences'eyesight.This paper is to use Grice's cooperative principle and its maxim to analyze the production of the effect of humor in this comedy,hoping to help the audiences to have a better understanding of figures'characteristics and the art of humor.


This paper discusses the design, build, test and inorbit performance of the warm gas xenon propulsion systems built by SSTL for the RapidEye spacecraft constellation, whose prime contractor was MDA. The RapidEye constellation was launched in August 2008 and consists of five Earth observation spacecraft which provide multispectral imagery at 6.5m ground sample distance for a range of civil applications. The propulsion system is critical to the mission, allowing the constellation to be phased into the operational orbit that permits a daily revisit over any part of the Earth to be achieved and maintained throughout the seven year lifetime of the constellation. The standard SSTL design approach was followed for the propulsion system, meaning the design relies on SSTL heritage components and utilises commercial off the shelf products which were modified for the task. This has allowed a low cost system to be developed. The requirements, heritage and subsequent design of the system will be discussed. This paper will present the in-flight data obtained from the commissioning and early operations of the spacecraft, during which the phasing of the constellation was completed. The phasing operations consisted of many series of manoeuvres to converge the semi-major axes of the five spacecraft. These early firings were scrutinised and have allowed the average system performance of each spacecraft propulsion system to be obtained. Low thrust manoeuvres are conducted and a total impulse of 5500 Ns can be obtained from the system, which stores 12kg of propellant in a pressurised state. It will be shown that the systems produce a specific impulse of 48 seconds.


This work is centered in the analysis of the processes of configuration of violent territories and police control as resultants of the network of social relations and practices that bind police groups with subjects and groups, regularly defined and typified by the same police agency as


The effective detection and classification of damage in complex structures is an important task in the realization of structural health monitoring (SHM) systems. Conventional information processing techniques utilize statistical modeling machinery that requires large amounts of 'training' data which is usually difficult to obtain, leading to compromised system performance under these data-scarce conditions. However, in many SHM scenarios a modest amount of data may be available from a few different but related experiments. In this paper, a new structural damage classification method is proposed that makes use of statistics from related task(s) to improve the classification performance on a data set with limited training examples. The approach is based on the framework of transfer learning (TL) which provides a mechanism for information transfer between related learning tasks. The utility of the proposed method is demonstrated for the classification of fatigue damage in an aluminum lug joint.


Acute myeloid leukaemia accounts for nearly 15% of all leukaemias in children out of which only about 3% cases present with extramedullary deposits in the other sites like the orbit. Bilateral proptosis is fairly common in association with acute and chronic lymphatic leukaemia, on the other hand myelogenous leukaemia rarely give rise to proptosis. Here we present one case of 6 year old presenting as bilateral proptosis with no other manifestations of systemic malignancy at presentation. Radiological investigation, FNAC, bone marrow study and flowcytometry was done for confirmation. The purpose of reporting such a rare entity is to highlight AML as a rare but important differential diagnosis of bilateral proptosis.


The predator meets its prey in the structure of [{(iPr)2NC(Ph)(O)}Li(μ-tmp)(μ-tBu)Zn(tBu)] which reveals an aromatic amide–alkali metal zincate "precomplex" for directed ortho-metalation (DoM) that exists prior to the devouring (ortho-zincation) of the amide by the zincate. tmp=2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidide.


The Fu poetry of the west Han is a key literary genre.The American sinilogists focus on the literary thought in the Mind of Fu poetry by Simaxiangru,and that of Yangxiong.The sinologists from the perspective of the Other,draw new conclusions and adopt inspiring methods.


This paper presents linearity enhancement capacitor re-configuring technique to improve the Spurious Free Dynamic Range (SFDR) and Signal-to-Noise-and-Distortion Ratio (SNDR) of ADC simultaneously without sacrificing the sampling rate in a 14-bit successive approximation register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for wearable electronics application. Behavioural Monte-Carlo simulations are presented to demonstrate the effect of the proposed method where no complex least-mean-square (LMS) algorithm. Simulation results show that with a mismatch error typical of modern technology, the SFDR is enhanced by about 18 dB and the SNDR is 15 dB better with the proposed technique for a 14-bit SAR ADC, which makes it suitable for accurate and linear smart sensor nodes in wearable sensing systems.


Output per employee-hour in the machine tool industry rose at an average annual rate of 1 .1 percent over the 1958-80 period-significantly below the 2.8-percent rate for manufacturing.' A combination of factors slowed productivity in the machine tool industry, including the tendency of machine tool firms to keep highly skilled workers on the payroll, even when output fell during cyclical slowdowns, and the slackened demand for capital goods after the mid-sixties . However, the slowdown was moderated by technological advances in the manufacture of machine tools, as well as by high rates of productivity improvement in periods of cyclical recovery . Until 1966, productivity in the machine tool industry rose at a high annual rate, but thereafter the rate declined for several years . Its subsequent recovery remained incomplete-the high levels of the mid-sixties were not reattained . The recovery was again interrupted by a slump in 1974; it resumed in 1977, continuing to 1979, but even then productivity did not top its 1966 peak . (See table 1 .) The cyclical behavior of productivity in the industry and in manufacturing is shown in the following tabulation (average annual changes in percent) : Upswings : 1958-59 . . . . . . . . . 1961-66 . . . . . . . . . 1971-74 . . . . . . . . . 1976-80 . . . . . . . . .


One by one: starting from simple phenols, a diverse series of oxygenated terphenyl compounds can be prepared in a concise and practical manner using sequential arylation reactions involving phenol oxidation/rearomatization and quinone monoacetal intermediates. Many of the terphenyl products can be used for preparing well-defined oligomers and, furthermore, contain valuable functional groups that can be transformed for further diversification.


Abstract : Contents: The Lagrangian function and the parametric integrand Extremal curves; The Euler-Lagrange equation Lagrangian functions which are linear in x sub t The Legendre condition for a minimal curve Proof of the Legendre condition Constrained problems; The Hamilton canonical equations The reciprocity between L and H; The transversality conditions Extremal fields; The Hilbert invariant integral The Weierstrass E-function; Positively regular problems A simple example of the construction of an extremal field; Rayleigh quotients and the method of Rayleigh-Ritz The principle of maupertuis; The propagation of waves Problems whose Lagrangian functions involve derivatives of higher order than the first Multiple-Integral problems of the calculus of variations Constrained problems; Characteristic numbers Multiple-integral problems whose Lagrangian functions involve derivatives of higher order than the first The Courant maximum-minimum principle


The study assessed the speaking efficiency of the Igbo second language (L2) learners from Colleges of Education located in the Northern, Western and Southern parts of Nigeria. It compared the mean achievement score of Igbo L2 learners in speaking based on the location of their colleges. It also compared the Igbo L2 male and female students' mean achievement score in the speaking test. A sample of 68 participants was drawn by purposive sampling technique (24 from the North, 22 from the West and 22 from the South). The instrument used for data collection was the speaking test developed by the author. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, t test, and one-way ANOVA. The results of data analyses showed that neither location of the colleges nor sex influenced the speaking achievement of the Igbo L2 students. Recommendations that would facilitate development of communicative competence among the Igbo L2 learners were made.Keywords: Assessment, Speaking, Efficiency, Second language


Summary Dogs 10 days of age or younger had higher survival rates than older animals when subjected to rapid blood loss averaging 5.2% of body weight. No difference in survival was found when blood loss was 3.4%. Pretreatment with 5–10% of body weight in saline, given intraperitoneally 1–4 hours previously, failed to protect against subsequent hemorrhage.


Significance The miniaturization of electronic components and the excessive heating produced by the increased power densities in these small devices has heightened the need for on-chip cooling solutions. This has prompted a search for materials with large thermoelectric power factor and thermal conductivity that could be integrated in active thermoelectric coolers. Here, we report record thermoelectric power factors achieved in graphene on hexagonal boron nitride devices, corresponding to more than doubling the highest reported room temperature bulk values. In these devices, the smooth and highly efficient gating between electron- and hole-doped sectors, which facilitates switching the polarity of the Seebeck coefficient, extends a distinct advantage for on-chip thermoelectric cooling applications. Based on these results, we propose an integrated graphene-based active on-chip cooler. Fast and controllable cooling at nanoscales requires a combination of highly efficient passive cooling and active cooling. Although passive cooling in graphene-based devices is quite effective due to graphene's extraordinary heat conduction, active cooling has not been considered feasible due to graphene's low thermoelectric power factor. Here, we show that the thermoelectric performance of graphene can be significantly improved by using hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) substrates instead of SiO2. We find the room temperature efficiency of active cooling in the device, as gauged by the power factor times temperature, reaches values as high as 10.35 W⋅m−1⋅K−1, corresponding to more than doubling the highest reported room temperature bulk power factors, 5 W⋅m−1⋅K−1, in YbAl3, and quadrupling the best 2D power factor, 2.5 W⋅m−1⋅K−1, in MoS2. We further show that the Seebeck coefficient provides a direct measure of substrate-induced random potential fluctuations and that their significant reduction for hBN substrates enables fast gate-controlled switching of the Seebeck coefficient polarity for applications in integrated active cooling devices.


Purpose – There is currently a debate between NGOs and academia on the effectiveness of training microcredit recipients. One side suggests that merely supplying credit will stimulate entrepreneurial business. The other side proposes that training microcredit recipients in business skills will improve business performance and probably have other important effects. This study was undertaken with the cooperation Vietnam Women's Union and PeaceTrees Vietnam. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of business training programmes for women microcredit recipients in rural areas of Vietnam. Design/methodology/approach – Using a questionnaire administered to 120 women business owners in several communes in Quang Tri Province, data were collected in 2012 on their business training programmes, perceptions of their business performance, motivation, factors for success, and several other indicators. Findings – The findings suggest that business training can improve microenterprise performance and has a nu...


We assess whether detectable changes in tropical cyclone activity have been identified in observations and whether any changes can be attributed to anthropogenic climate change.


This paper revisits the status prospects for Taiwan in light of recent events in Kosovo and Tibet. In both cases, and certainly in Taiwan itself, the long standing contest between claims for self determination and the tenacious defence of the principle of the territorial integrity of states has emerged once again to dominate the analysis of these cases. This contest is particularly dramatic in the divided international response to the independence of Kosovo. In the case of Tibet, widespread international support for Tibet is in sharp contrast to the furious and determined resistance of China. Taiwan's anomalous status remains that of a legal sovereign state, the Republic of China, enjoying some measure of recognition and formal diplomacy and a de facto state whose international relations are confined to paradiplomatic channels, extensive though they are. The paper considers the prospects for changes in the current anomalous status of the island state.


The aim of this opening chapter is to explore what is meant by the cancer journey in its manymanifestations. An analysis will be made of the use of metaphors for discussing and understanding cancer, and considerationwill be given to how theirmeanings have changed with social, technological and professional advances. The developments affecting cancer care over the last several decadeswill be examined,with an appreciation of the tremendous progress that has been made affecting a patient's cancer experience. An examination will bemade of how the notion of cancer and the cancer journey, from presentation to outcome, is different in the 21st century and the relevance of concepts such as victim, sufferer, survivor, hope, fear, courage and loss through the cancer journey.


Deep reasons of accident caused by the transfer over-voltage in the 35 kV side due to earthing in the 110 kV side are analyzed for a 110 kV Y,y,d three-winding transformer.It is suggested that the neutral point of the 35 kV system should earth through small resistance or through arc suppression coil with paralleled damping resistance.


Indigenous/native breeds of chickens are playing an important role in rural economy in most of the developing countries. They play a major role for the rural poor and marginalized section of the society with respect to their subsidiary income and also provide them with nutritious chicken egg and meat for their own consumption. Kadaknath is an important indigenous poultry breed. It has huge meat demand due to its unique black meat. It has more disease resistance and high meat and egg price with 14 week finisher poultry breed. Price of Kadaknath meat is 2-3 times more than normal native poultry breed due to that same number of Kadaknath gives many fold profit than same number of other chicken breed with minimum land and feed requirement in free range condition with cost benefits ratio 15.67. That is very beneficial and helpful to strengthen rural people and help them to reduce dependency solely on crop farming and diversifying their source of income. This review concludes by presenting importance of Kadaknath to empowering rural economy.


As the web technology advances, web applications, executable on any devices where a web browser is installed, have become pervasive. However, running heavy web applications in the mobile devices is challenging, because of their resource constraints and poor network environments. One of the trials to overcome such restrictions is computation offloading. Computation offloading is the technique migrating computations from client to server to exploit the powerful resources of the server. We observed some former approaches to the computation offloading, and found out they placed a huge burden on programmers to write annotations and substantially limited the computations to be offloaded. In order to overcome these problems, we propose an offloading system transferring the states without annotations and giving programmers freedom to use JavaScript features and DOM (Document Object Model) API in the offloaded computations. Our approach is based on the technique called snapshot, which safely saves and restores the states of web applications. The snapshot-based approach allows the offloaded computations to use various features such as a closure, and DOM API. In the web applications using open source JavaScript libraries, our offloading system successfully offloaded the event handlers using closure variables and DOM APIs, achieving a speedup up to 7.2.


The method of the present invention in a first aspect relates to a signal processing in a hearing aid, the hearing aid is adapted to the hearing aid involves a user, in a third aspect relates to a hearing aid in the second aspect. According to the first aspect of the present invention comprises a controlled signal (3) from the input signal (1). To obtain a control signal process comprises standard processing (6) so that based on standard criteria compressor characteristic providing the processed control signal component (7), and the personalization process (10) providing a personalized control treated personalized based compressor characteristic signal component (11). Personalization control signal component processed by the standard control and the processed signal components multiplied together to form a control signal.


Public Administrations face the challenge of meeting their customers, citizens and businesses, high expectations in the way service is delivered to them, while at the same time making this service delivery cost e ective. It is in this context that, this paper addresses the topic of multi-channel service delivery, whose inherent issue relates to the di culty of managing multiple contact points available to customers throughout the organization, while maintaining at the same time, a single and consolidated customer point of view, coherent through the multiple service channels available. In addition to this problem intrinsic to this service delivery paradigm, the context surrounding Public Administrations adds di culty in consolidating and standardizing the way information technology support multichannel service delivery through the various agencies of the Public Administration. So, in order to engage the previously stated problem, this paper proposes a reference ISA to support multichannel service delivery in Public Administrations, doing so, by addressing a set of case studies of public organizations and best practices for multi-channel support, as well as, the concept of EA and alignment to de ne such an architecture, that is intended to guide the implementation of this paradigm in government service, thus helping them to do so, in accordance with best practices, while supporting it in the same manner along the di erent organisms that compose the Public Administration.


A mammalian expression construct that encodes a yeast expression construct encoding a polypeptide comprising a signal sequence, a Golgi-orientated prosequence and a human amyloid beta protein, and a polypeptide comprising a selected signal sequence and a human amyloid beta protein is disclosed . Also disclosed are methods of screening cells for identifying a compound that prevents or inhibits amyloid beta-induced toxicity and a genetic inhibitor or genetic enhancer of amyloid beta-induced toxicity. Compounds identified by such screening can be used to treat or prevent neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer ' s disease.


This paper presents a reconstruction method for a conveyor belt X-ray scanning geometry, consisting of a static X-ray source/detector system and an object in uniform motion. Applying conventional reconstruction methods to data acquired in this geometry leads to severe artefacts. We show that by incorporating prior knowledge of the material as well as domain specific knowledge, such artefacts can be largely reduced. This is done by combining concepts of discrete tomography with the expected object domain.


In this final paper the author proposes, first, identify gaps affecting the evaluation of the Internal Control System in the Instituto Caro y Cuervo for the term of 2013 in each of the factors considered by the Executive Annual Report submitted to the Administrative Department of Public Service - DAFP; second, to analyze the structure of the Standard Model of Internal Control - MECI, in its latest version, establishing correspondences between components and factors of the annual evaluation, to recommend to the company finally some corrective actions within the framework of the updated MECI DAFP suggested by the same, the results improve significantly the level indicator Maturity Internal Control System in the state.


100-200 WORDS): Yes Introduction Fossils are found embedded in different types of sediments, with varying levels of hardness. The softest sediment is chalk, followed by mudstone, or siltstone which is also fine grained and usually soft. Next is sandstone, which can be either soft and unconsolidated, or cemented and hard with varying grain sizes. These sediment types can often be easily separated from fossils they encase using airscribes and other hand tools. Conglomerates, which is the next hardest type, may require a combination of both manual and acid preparation. The final level is hematitics, which contains a layer of iron concretion (Amaral, 1994). With this is mind, a preparator may already have an idea of what methods to use from the moment he or she sets eyes on the matrix. For my project, a specimen collected from Madagascar in 2015 (field number 15270) was to be prepared. From a superficial observation of the surrounding matrix, it could easily be determined that I was going to work on a hard rock or conglomerate. The matrix looked very dense, like a rock with a bone poking out on top. Since I was preparing a fossil encased in conglomerates, a combination of both preparation methods would likely yield the best results. Fig. 1. Matrix from Madagascar Methods Manual Preparation Materials – Airscribe, safety goggles, gloves, glue. Procedure As stated earlier, I first started with manual preparation. The matrix was placed under a fume hood to reduce exposure to dust. The common tool used in the lab is the Paleotools airscribe, pictured in figure 2 below, which is very efficient at removing rock. The airscribe is hooked to an air compressor and works like a miniature jackhammer. The airscribe is held onto the sediment, and not the bone. With the constant vibration of pulses of air, pieces of the sediment begin to fall off, revealing the bone. However, since I was dealing with a very hard matrix, the airscribe could barely break pieces of the sediment. After about 6 days of manual preparation, the airscribe was only able to make surface markings on the matrix, as seen in figure 3. When I attempted to apply more pressure, a part of the bone sticking out of the matrix broke off. I concluded that manually preparing this matrix was going to require more time and energy, and could damage the specimen. Pursuing acid preparation seemed like the best strategy. fig. 2. Airscribe from Dr. Samonds Lab fig. 3. Airscribe markings on the matrix Acid Preparation Materials – Measuring cylinder, acetic acid, calcium phosphate (buffer), plastic container with lid, sieve. Procedure Acid preparation, also called chemical preparation is another method of removing matrix from a specimen. Even though the use of acid as a means of a means of freeing fossils from sediment has been in existence for quite a long time, it is not as widely used (Grant, 1989). As explained on the American Museum of Natural History website, "While mechanical preparation uses physical forces to remove matrix from around a specimen, in chemical preparation various compounds are used to dissolve the surrounding matrix" (Amaral, 1994). For this experiment, acetic acid was used. A 5% solution of acetic acid was made, and a small amount of calcium phosphate was added as a buffer. It is important to add the buffer because it prevents the acid from dissolving the bone while it dissolves the matrix around it. The matrix was placed in the acetic acid solution, the container was covered and allowed to sit for a week. It is important to note that the reaction between the matrix and the acid solution releases calcium dioxide gas (bubbles) and it is, therefore advised to do this under the fume hood. fig. 4. Matrix in acetic acid solution. Results After a week in the acid solution, the matrix was removed and allowed to dry in a sieve. There was a slight color change on the matrix. Knowing that the matrix was softer than it used to be, it was brought back to the fume hood for further mechanical preparation. With this softer matrix, the airscribe worked easily. After two days of manual preparation, a bulk of the matrix had been removed from around the bone as pictured below. At this point It was observed that the bone was not very deeply embedded within the matrix (this assumption could not be made prior to this point). In other words, preparators are not supposed to assume that they know where the bone is because "fossils can be shattered or distorted while lying in the ground for millions of years" (Amaral, 1994). On day three after acid preparation, the fossil was fully separated from the matrix by manual preparation. fig. 5. Matrix after acid preparation fig. 4. Fossil separated from matrix Conclusion Before a fossil is used for research or display, it must go through the hands of a preparator. A mistake made by the preparator can affect how research will proceed, thus making a preparator's job is very crucial in the field of paleontology and anthropology. Currently, the two methods mentioned above, mechanical and chemical preparation, also sometimes simply referred to as manual and acid preparation are the two major ways preparators use to remove fossils from matrix. Although, both methods are effective, the combination of the two fossil preparation methods, speeds up the preparation process, and saves time and energy. Acid preparation reduces the risk of damaging fragile bones by softening the matrix, making it easier to be worked on with hand tools.


A nondestructive measurement of soluble solids content in pineapple fruit using short wavelength near infrared (SW-NIR) spectroscopy is proposed. The optimum conditions of measurement were investigated for spectra acquisition at an integration time of 150 ms and number of scanning of 100 scans. A number of 42 pineapple fruits were used as sample. The samples were divided into two groups, 24 samples for developing calibration model and 18 samples for performing validation test. The result showed that the best calibration model using short wavelength of 700-960 nm was identified with coefficient of determination (R) of 0.94 and standard error of prediction (SEP) of 0.88 % Brix. The calibration model resulted in high RPD value of 2.20.


Some tests of χ2 in the strictly stationary Markov process are considered: Wald test, likelihood ratio test and Lagrange multiplier test. It is proved that the statistics of these tests are asymptotically distributed like a statistic defined in a tangent Gaussian structure. These results permit to prove some properties of the separable hypotheses which are used to build estimations of unknown parameters subject to restraints and statistics of tests, An example in contingency tables is given.


The workshop/round table dicussion was focused on the main
questions related to the draft of the european regulation on
European Foundation Statute.


Transcriptional silencing of tumor suppressor genes by DNA methylation occurs in cancer cell lines and in human tumors. This has led to the pursuit of DNA methyltransferase inhibition as a drug target. 5-Aza-29-deoxycytidine [5-aza-CdR (decitabine)], a potent inhibitor of DNA methyltransferase, is a drug currently in clinical trials for the treatment of solid tumors and leukemia. The efficacy of 5-aza-CdR may be related to the induction of methylation-silenced tumor suppressor genes, genomic hypomethylation, and/or enzyme-DNA adduct formation. Here, we test the hypothesis that 5-aza-CdR treatment is perceived as DNA damage, as assessed by the activation of the tumor suppressor p53. We show that 1) colon tumor cell lines expressing wild-type p53 are more sensitive to 5-aza-CdR mediated growth arrest and cytotoxicity; 2) the response to 5-aza-CdR treatment includes the induction and activation of wild-type but not mutant p53 protein; and 3) the induction of the downstream p53 target gene p21 is partially p53-dependent. The induction of p53 protein after 5-aza-CdR treatment did not correlate with an increase in p53 transcripts, indicating that hypomethylation at the p53 promoter does not account for the p53 response. It is relevant that 5-aza-CdR has shown the greatest promise in clinical trials for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia, a malignancy in which functional p53 is often retained. Our data raise the hypothesis that p53 activation may contribute to the clinical efficacy and/or toxicity of 5-azaCdR. Methylation of cytosines within CpG dinucleotides is associated with transcriptional silencing during mammalian development and tumorigenesis (Bird, 1996). The identification of methylation silencing as an alternative mechanism for tumor suppressor inactivation has raised interest in DNA methylation as a target for therapeutic intervention (Bender et al., 1998). The importance of methylation in tumor development is supported by studies demonstrating that pharmacological and/or genetic targeting of DNA methyltransferase I restricts tumor growth in mouse and human systems (Laird et al., 1995; Ramchandani et al., 1997). One DNA methyltransferase inhibitor undergoing clinical evaluation is 5-aza29-deoxycytidine (5-aza-CdR; clinical name, decitabine), a cytidine analog that sequesters DNA methyltransferase after its incorporation into genomic DNA (Momparler, 1985). Clinical trials evaluating 5-aza-CdR as a cancer chemotherapeutic have shown promise for the treatment of leukemia but less utility against solid tumors (Kantarjian et al., 1997; Momparler et al., 1997; Schwartsmann et al., 1997; Thibault et al., 1998; Sacchi et al., 1999; Wijermans et al., 2000). The basis of the clinical efficacy and toxicity of 5-aza-CdR is unclear, but may involve gene reactivation. In vitro studies have demonstrated that methylation-regulated genes are released from silencing after treatment of tumor cells with 5-aza-CdR. These genes include the tumor suppressors p16, E-cadherin, and hMLH1 (Gonzalez-Zulueta et al., 1995; Yoshiura et al., 1995; Herman et al., 1998). The re-expression of these genes after 5-aza-CdR treatment correlated with cell growth inhibition, re-establishment of cell-cell adhesion, and renewed ability for mismatch repair, respectively (Yoshiura et al., 1995; Bender et al., 1998; Herman et al., 1998). A second important mediator of the biological activity of 5-azaCdR is the formation of enzyme-DNA adducts (Ferguson et al., 1997). Supporting this model is the observation that mouse embryonic stem cell sensitivity to 5-aza-CdR is directly proportional to DNA methyltransferase I expression level (Juttermann et al., 1994). The formation of enzymeDNA adducts also accounts for the toxicity of 5-aza-CdR in some breast cancer cell lines (Ferguson et al., 1997). The relative contribution of gene reactivation and enzyme-DNA This work was supported by a Postdoctoral Fellowship PF-99–151-01-CDD from the American Cancer Society (to A.R.K.) and by National Institutes of Health P01-CA73992 (to D.A.J.). This work was previously presented under the title "Impact of p53 status on the response of tumor cells to 5-aza-29-deoxycytide treatment" at the American Association of Cancer Research Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 1–5 April, 2000. ABBREVIATIONS: 5-aza-CdR, 5-aza-29-deoxycytidine; MTT, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium; 6-aza-CdR, 6-aza-29-deoxycytidine; PAGE, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; GAPDH, glyceraldehyde-3 phosphate dehydrogenase; RT-PCR, reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction. 0026-895X/01/5904-751–757$3.00 MOLECULAR PHARMACOLOGY Vol. 59, No. 4 Copyright © 2001 The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 675/891507 Mol Pharmacol 59:751–757, 2001 Printed in U.S.A. 751 at A PE T Jornals on Sptem er 0, 2017 m oharm .aspeurnals.org D ow nladed from adduct formation to the efficacy and toxicity of 5-aza-CdR in vivo is an important unresolved question. Based on reports that cellular sensitivity to 5-aza-CdR correlates with the level of formation of covalent enzymeDNA adducts (Juttermann et al., 1994; Ferguson et al., 1997), we hypothesized that cellular toxicity caused by 5-azaCdR treatment could result in part from the induction of the tumor suppressor protein p53 as a cellular response to DNA damage. Here we show that 5-aza-CdR treatment in tissuecultured colon tumor cell lines leads to the induction and activation of wild-type p53 and that this correlates with an increased sensitivity to 5-aza-CdR-mediated toxicity. Therefore, our data raise the possibility that p53 status may affect clinical responses to 5-aza-CdR treatment. Materials and Methods Cell Culture and Drug Treatments. HCT116 and HT29 colon adenocarcinoma cell lines were cultured in McCoy's media supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum. RKO and SW480 cell lines were cultured in Dulbecco's minimal essential medium supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum. HCT116 cells with a targeted deletion of p53 (Bunz et al., 1998) or p21 (Waldman et al., 1995) were kindly provided by Bert Vogelstein (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.). Cytidine compounds were solubilized in PBS. Cells were treated with 5-aza-CdR or 6-aza-CdR (Sigma, St. Louis, MO) 24 h after passage. Cells were subcultured at equivalent cell densities 2 days after treatment. For all concentration curve experiments, assays were conducted and/or extracts were harvested 5 days after treatment. Time course experiments used 1 mM 5-aza-CdR. Cell Viability Assays. All cell viability assays were performed in quadruplicate wells of 24-well plates 5 days after drug treatment. 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium (MTT) (Calbiochem, San Diego, CA) reduction by mitochondria was used to assess drug-induced cell growth inhibition and cytotoxicity (Green et al., 1984). Cells were incubated with 250 mg/ml MTT in culture media for 45 min at 37°C. After incubation, media was removed and cellular material was solubilized with 0.1 M HCl in isopropanol. MTT absorbance was read at 570 nM with a KC microplate reader (Bio-Tek Instruments, Winooski, VT). RNA Extraction and Northern Blotting. RNA was extracted using TRIZOL reagent (Life Technologies, Rockville, MD). Total cellular RNA (5 mg) was fractionated through formaldehyde containing 1.2% agarose gels and transferred onto Hybond-N nylon membranes (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden). [a-P]CTP labeled probes were generated by the random-primed method using the RTS Radprime DNA labeling system (Life Technologies). Hybridizations with labeled p53, p21, and GAPDH probes were carried out using Rapid-hyb buffer (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Bands were detected by PhosphorImager (Molecular Dynamics, Sunnyvale, CA) and BioMax film (Eastman Kodak, Rochester, NY). RT-PCR. RT-PCR of p53 and GAPDH transcripts was carried out on cDNAs prepared from 5 mg of total RNA using Superscript II reverse transcriptase (Life Technologies) according to the manufacturer's instructions. PCR amplifications were performed with Taq polymerase (Life Technologies) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Amplification primers were purchased from Stratagene (La Jolla, CA). PCR products were separated on 1.2% agarose gels, stained with ethidium bromide and photographed. Protein Extraction and Western Blotting. Whole cell extracts were generated by lysis in a buffer containing 1% Triton X-100, 25 mM Tris, pH 7.4, 150 mM NaCl, 1 mM CaCl2, 1 mM phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride, 10 mg/ml leupeptin, and 10 mg/ml aprotinin. Nuclear and Cytosolic extracts were harvested as described previously (Wang et al., 1995). All protein extracts were quantified using the Bio-Rad protein assay kit (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA). Equivalent concentrations of each protein sample were fractionated through 4 to 20% Tris-glycine gradient gels (Novex, San Diego, CA) and then transferred to polyvinylidene difluoride membranes (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech). The DO-1 monoclonal antibody (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA) was used for detection of p53. The H-164 rabbit polyclonal antibody (Santa Cruz Biotechnology) was used for detection of p21. Proteins of interest were detected using horseradish peroxidase-conjugated goat anti-mouse or goat anti-rabbit secondary antibodies (Life Technologies) and chemiluminescence using the Renaissance reagent kit (PerkinElmer Life Science Products, Boston, MA). Cell Cycle Analysis. Cells were prepared for cell cycle analysis by first resuspending cells in ice-cold PBS, and then fixing by dropwise addition of ice-cold 100% methanol. Next, cells were stained in a solution containing 50 mg/ml propidium iodide (Sigma, St. Louis, MO) and 100 U/ml RNase A in PBS. Linear fluorescence signals (area and width) were assessed on a Becton Dickinson FACScan flow cytometer with dye excitation by 15-mw, 488-nm laser light. Data were stored as list mode files o


It has been reported that the virtual cathode is formed when the electron beam current in the drift region exceeds the space charge limiting current. In this study, the axially extracted virtual cathode oscillator (vircator), which is new conceptual device and the ultra-high power (/spl sim/GW) microwave generator, with "chundoong" intense relativistic electron beam pulser (max. 600 kV, 70 kA, 60 ns) has been constructed. The virtual cathode formation has been numerically simulated by 2-1/2 dimensional PIC code "MAGIC", from which the dominant frequency and the extracted power have been evaluated before the experiment. In experiments, the incident current density into drift tube was measured to be about 0.6 kA/cm/sup 2/ under the diode voltage and the A-K gap were kept to be 300 kV and 4 mm respectively. Maximum power of extracted microwave is about 520 MW and its conversion efficiency is about 9% under cathode radius of 2.5 cm. It has been also found that the propagating microwave mode is the combination of TM/sub 01/ and the other higher mode based on the electric field (Ez) profile versus cathode radius. The dominant microwave frequency is shown to be 5/spl square/7 GHz from this experiment.


Abstract Introduction In 2020 a large academic hospital with an existing pediatric burn program expanded its services to take adults. Prior to opening the comprehensive center, training and education for the nursing staff was designed and implemented, in amalgamation with the existing pediatric education program. This study describes and evaluates the implementation and efficacy of a novel burn nursing education program, established using the American Burn Association's (ABA) nursing competencies and Kolb's Experiential Learning Model. Methods For the purpose of this study Cohort 1 (C1) is defined as 83 nurses hired prior to 2021 and Cohort 2 (C2) is defined as 304 nurses hired after 2022. Didactic and simulated education sessions were created and presented in tandem for both initial and ongoing competency. Didactic sessions were evaluated in two cohorts because the program content was redesigned after 2021. C1 was evaluated using a pre-posttest, whereas, C2 was evaluated using only a post-test. Simulated content was evaluated using the verification in practice method with a check off sheet created using institutional wound care guidelines. Course efficacy was evaluated by attendees using a 1-5 Likert scale. Test scores from 2020-2022 were compared using a T-test with a p-value of < 0.05 considered significant. Results To date 387 nurses have completed a written exam, been validated in practice, and if in C1, completed an annual ongoing burn competency activity. In 2020, C1 showed a statistically significant increase in pre and posttest scores from 66.87%±9.36 to 88.26%±7.90, p=0.000015. When C1 was retested in 2021 using the same posttest, the scores were 80%±1.73 in 2020 to 84.33%±3.84 in 2022, p=0.36. The mean score for posttests for C2 in 2022 was 88%. Course evaluations returned by 155 nurses (77%) in 2020 indicated the course was too long, and some of the information was exorbitant for nursing practice. Therefore, in 2021 the course was redesigned. An additional 251 (65%) nurses have taken the course since, and have reported a mean of 4.5/5 for course efficacy and 4.9/5 for an increase in nursing confidence to care for the burn patient population. Conclusions The education program resulted in significantly higher posttest scores in C1 during the 2020-2021 period showcasing an increase in initial burn knowledge. Although the scores for C1 in 2022 were not statistically significant, the increase in mean scores shows the nurses not only retained the initial information, but built on it throughout the year with the addition of clinical practice. Nurses in C1 continue to practice at high levels and train nurses in C2 who reported the course was critical to their understanding of burn care. Nurses in both C1 and C2 will be required to complete an annual burn competency module to ensure ongoing competency in burn care. Applicability of Research to Practice Nursing Education


Stuck pipe, hole collapse, lost circulation, and kicks continue to cause drilling problems, and are the source of considerable lost time during well construction activities. These problems often seem to occur with little or no warning. However, early symptoms often do exist, but are not easily seen in the raw sensor data available to the driller (i.e. Hookload, Surface Torque, Standpipe Pressure, Pressure-While-Drilling, Pit Levels). If symptoms can be detected early enough, actions can be taken to proactively prevent the problems from occurring. This paper investigates the use of calibrated real-time torque and drag, hydraulic, and thermodynamic modeling together with advanced real-time engineering calculations to assist drilling teams to detect symptoms of drilling problems at an early stage. The early detection of symptoms can then be used either to provide warnings to the drilling team, or as an input to an adaptive drilling automation system that responds to changing hole conditions.


Children (3–6 years old) and adults were trained for 6 weeks to identify a single tone, C5. Test sessions, held at the end of each week, had participants identify C5 within a set of seven alternative tones. By the third week of training, identification accuracy of children 5–6 years old surpassed the accuracies of children 3–4 years old and adults. Combined with an analysis of perceptual strategies, the data provide strong support for a critical period for absolute pitch acquisition.


Compact superluminescent diodes based on AlGaInAs/InP separate-confinement double heterostructures with strain-compensated quantum wells are studied. The characteristics of these diodes that allow their application for development of fibre-optic gyroscopes in a temperature range from – 55 °C – +70 °C are demonstrated. The devices demonstrate an acceptable reliability and a potential for further improvement.


Abstrcat This paper introduces an implementation of remote control networks of electronic cooler system with low cost and high reliability, using LonWorks field bus technology.


In recent year vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) is studies extensively by researchers. As VANET is so much vulnerable to malicious activity due to its dynamic nature of topology so primary goal of the Vehicular ad Hoc network (VANET) is to provide real-time safety related messages to motorists to enhance road safety and prevents from accidents. In this paper we present some background of research work that is carried out then several threats that encounter to safety of VANET. We present scenario which is accident free and control traffic at junction by scheduling the traffic light then isolate the effect of malicious vehicle to reduce the effect of it and analyse the result. For secure vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication we adapt the message authentication mechanism by using the hash value and encryption technique.


Smoking is an important factor in periodontitis. Many studies have found that active smoking is closely associated with the prevalence and severity of periodontal disease. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of smoking with the prevalence of periodontal disease. Material & Methods: A Cross- sectional descriptive study was conducted over a period of 6 months from Oct 2018 to March 2019, in the Dental Department of Services Hospital Lahore. The study was approved by the Ethical Review Board/ Committee of Services Hospital Lahore. Informed consent was taken from the patients. A total of 500 smokers were selected through questioning during screening from the population of patients presenting to outdoor/ diagnosis department. The smokers underwent a further detailed periodontal examination and were screened for the presence of periodontal disease. They were also cross questioned to rule out other causative factor related to periodontitits such as poor oral hygiene and diabetes. Conclusion and Clinical Significance: Smoking is a significant risk factor for impaired periodontal health. This needs to be considered before treatment planning for good prognosis and affective results of the provided treatment. Hence this habit must be diagnosed during history taking, evaluation and patient should be instructed to minimize and ultimately stop cigarette smoking for best treatment outcome. Key words: Smoking; periodontitis; periodontal disease; risk factor.


Administration is a job that is done by an administrator. The purpose of education administration in general is that all activities support the achievement of educational goals or in other words the administration used in the world of education is strived to achieve simple goals. Educational administration is the act of coordinating human behavior in education to manage the available resources as well as possible.


In this paper we study L p -norm spherical copulas for arbitrary p ∈ [1 , ∞ ] and arbitrary dimensions. The study is motivated by a conjecture that these distributions lead to a sharp bound for the value of a certain generalized mean difference. We fully characterize con-ditions for existence and uniqueness of L p -norm spherical copulas. Explicit formulas for their densities and correlation coefficients are derived and the distribution of the radial part is determined. Moreover, statistical inference and efficient simulation are considered.


Objective To study the expression of JAKs mRNA in UC and explain the regulation mechanism of JAKs-STAT signal pathway in UC.Method Establish the model of ulcerative colitis of rats,isolate RNA from tissues,detect the mRNA expression of JAKs by RT-PCR.Result In rats ulcerative colitis model,the expression of mRNA of JAKs was higher than that in normal tissue.Conclusion JAK2 was related to the occurrence and development of UC.