Introduction
 TP53 is a tumor suppressor gene involved in regulating cell division and apoptosis in response to DNA damage. In hematologic malignancies, TP53 alterations are present in both myeloid and lymphoid malignancies. TP53 alterations including both sequence level mutations and deletions occur in 8-10% of de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and are significantly enriched in patients with therapy-related myeloid neoplasms with a frequency of 25-40%. TP53 alterations are associated with complex karyotype, resistance to traditional cytotoxic chemotherapy and dismal outcome, and are well established poor prognostic markers for both AML and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). While both biallelic and monoallelic TP53 alterations are seen, biallelic TP53 alteration is more frequent in both AML and MDS. In the instances of monoallelic TP53 alterations, the remaining wild-type allele can be inhibited by the dominant negative effect of the mutant p53.
 The clinical implication of TP53 allelic status remains controversial. Biallelic TP53 alterations and/or high TP53 mutation variant allele frequency (VAF) are associated with older patients, complex karyotype, few co-occurring mutations and poor outcome in both AML and MDS. Other studies demonstrate that biallelic vs. monoallelic TP53 alterations or high vs. low TP53 VAF have similar prognosis in myeloid malignancies. Current European LeukemiaNet (ELN) recommends testing TP53 deletion using karyotype analysis and TP53 mutations by molecular testing.
 Methods:
 We performed a retrospective review of patients with myeloid malignancies, myeloid next generation sequencing (NGS) panel and cytogenetic tests performed at ARUP Laboratories. We identified 18 patients with myeloid malignancies and TP53 mutations. We used a combination of karyotype analysis, FISH, chromosomal microarray (CMA) and NGS to determine the TP53 allelic status.
 Results:
 18 patients diagnosed with myeloid malignancies and TP53 mutations were identified. Among them, 6 were diagnosed with AML, 10 had MDS, one with CMML and one had post essential thrombocythemia myelofibrosis. Age range is from 31 to 78 with a median age 65.5 years.
 23 TP53 mutations were identified among 18 patients. The majority (78%) of TP53 mutations are located in the DNA binding domain. Co-occurring mutations are uncommon in patients with TP53 mutations. 11 out of 18 patients did not have co-occurring mutations in other myeloid malignancy related genes. Three cases had 1, three cases had 2, and one case had 3 co-occurring mutations at the time of diagnosis.
 Karyotype analysis and FISH were performed on all 18 patients. CMA was performed on 9 patients. 17p abnormalities, defined by the deletion or copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity (CN-LOH) of 17p, were seen in 9 out of 18 cases. The 17p abnormalities in 8 out of these 9 cases were visible by karyotype. Case 11 had a CN-LOH identified by CMA which was cryptic by karyotype. Typical complex karyotype was seen in 16 out of 18 cases.
 Biallelic TP53 alterations are defined by either the presence of a TP53 mutation with a 17p abnormality (deletion or CN-LOH), or two TP53 mutations with similar VAF, or one TP53 mutation with VAF >50%. Biallelic TP53 alterations were seen more frequently compared with monoallelic TP53 alterations (14 vs. 4 patients) and enriched in older patients (Figure 1). All 6 AML patients had biallelic TP53 alterations.
 Outcome data is available in 10 patients including 8 patients with biallelic and 2 patients with monoallelic TP53 alterations. Patients with biallelic TP53 alterations have dismal outcome (Figure 2). Patient 7 represents an atypical patient with TP53 alteration in our study cohort. She was diagnosed with MDS at the age of 31. She had monoallelic TP53 mutation with a relatively low VAF and normal karyotype through her disease course. Her MDS never progressed and she remained in remission after transplant for more than four years and still doing well.
 Conclusion:
 In this study, we evaluated the TP53 allelic status in 18 patients with myeloid malignancies. Biallelic TP53 alterations are more frequent than monoallelic TP53 alterations, and are associated with older patients, and fewer co-occurring mutations. Biallelic TP53 alterations are associated with typical complex karyotype and dismal outcome. Our study supports the importance to differentiate between biallelic and monoallelic TP53 alterations.
 Figure 1 Figure 1.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


This work was aimed to investigate the influence of alumina (Al2O3) nanoparticle surface modification on the micro structure and dielectric properties of epoxy nanocomposites. Al2O3 nanoparticles were first modified by two modifiers [i.e., γ-aminopropyl-tri-ethoxysilane (APS), hyperbranched aromatic polyamide (HBP)] and then their epoxy nanocomposites were fabricated. The nanocomposites with unmodified Al2O3 nanoparticles were also prepared for comparative research. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and impedance analyzer were used to investigate the nanoparticle dispersion and frequency dependent dielectric properties of the nanocomposites, respectively. It was found that, compared with the epoxy nanocomposites filled with untreated Al2O3 nanoparticles, the nanocomposites with APS and HBP modified Al2O3 exhibit significantly improved nanoparticles dispersion in the epoxy matrix. It was also found that the dielectric constant of the nanocomposites was not dependent on the nanoparticle surface modification, whereas the dielectric loss of the nanocomposites can be influenced by the nanoparticle surface modification.


1. INTRODUCTION From the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), about 20 percent ($19 billion) of the total funds were allocated to the health sector as only about 20 percent of physicians and 10 percent of hospitals had used basic electronic medical records (EHRs) and only about 6 percent of physicians and two percent of hospitals had used them comprehensively (Dentzer, 2010). One ARRA provision was the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), which called for an increase in IT professionals educated in adoption, implementation, and meaningful use of EHRs. The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is expected to increase access of U.S. residents to healthcare visits with providers. In preparation, the North Carolina Institute of Medicine (2011) reported that the State has been awarded over $10.4 million to expand the healthcare professional workforce, including provisions to focus on IS professionals working in the healthcare environment (NCIH, 2011). Thus, the HITECT Act (of ARRA) and ACA may bring about an expansion in EHRs as well as a surge in the number of patients, estimated at 23 million additional regular users (Harmon, 2010). Accompanying these changes is the importance of professionals (with IS and health IT competencies) on interdisciplinary healthcare teams that represent clinical, administration, and information systems areas. Healthcare has continued to experience an ever-burgeoning need for IS graduates, precisely because of the recent focus brought about from the aforementioned federal initiatives. Estimates indicate that from 2011-2016, the U.S. will experience a shortfall of about 50,000 qualified health IT workers (HITECT RegionD, 2011). IS graduates working on healthcare teams will have opportunities to make valuable contributions to the discussions of ethics in their healthcare organizations, alongside clinical healthcare professionals. For instance, using the Internet as the only method to publicize a healthcare organization's services has ethical implications. It is unjust to implement a strategy that disenfranchises many potential patients simply because they lack Internet access. IS professionals should have important roles in such discussions. The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss ways to integrate healthcare ethical issues within IS education. To this end, we first present the notion of mutual understanding in which IS educational programs may prepare their graduates by building their knowledge and skills in bioethics. Second, we discuss the professional code of ethics as an advance organizer for IS students as they consider ethical issues in healthcare. Last, we present an example to illustrate ethical dilemmas that IS professionals may meet as they work in healthcare. 2. MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING Building knowledge and skills in bioethics creates a mutual understanding between IS professionals and health practitioners in the classroom and in the work place. Both sets of professional have ethics in their educations. Prominent accrediting bodies for IS educational programs mandate ethics as a component of the curricula: * ABET, Inc. (accreditor for college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology) requires that curricula result in graduates' having: ** An understanding of professional, ethic, legal, security and social issues and responsibilities (2011-2012 Criteria for Accrediting Computing Programs. Criterion 3. Student Outcomes) and ** An understanding of professional and ethical responsibility (2011-2012 Criteria for Accrediting Applied Science Programs. Criterion 3. Student Outcomes. Baccalaureate Programs) * AACSB International--The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business requires that curricula include learning experiences in the ethical and legal responsibilities in organizations and society (Eligibility Procedures and Accreditation Standards for Business Accreditation. …


The paper introduces an open numerical control system based on PMAC motion controller. In the numerical control system, the system platform is realized by the use of COM technology and when this system is applied, manufacturing of microminiature parts has been fulfilled successfully.


Morality is an important identity that symbolizes the excellence and personality of a muslim youth. Without human morality there seems to be no value despite having property and high rank. Islam highly values the question of credibility and morality among its ummah. This study aims to identify the morals and practices of muslim students based on the hadis found in the book Jami' Ulum Wal Hikam by Ibnu Rajab Hanbali. The first objective of this study is to analyse thematically on the hadis related to morality in the book Jami' Ulum Wal Hikam while the second objective is to analyse the practice of behavior throught the formation of the morals of muslim students. This study is important to identify the level of practice among muslim students in Johor Bahru. This study utilizes library research by examining books related to the morals and manners. The researcher devided the hadis found in this book based on the categories and themes that correspond to the hadis. The second is to analyze students "practice based on hadis on the book Jami' Ulum Wal Hikam" which is found in the book by Ibnu Rajab Hanbali. This study used a quantitative approach through a distribution of survey form. A total of 371 respondents were involved among students in levels four, five and six from a total population of 700 students in Johor Bahru. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS). Finding for practice of behavior of adolescents showed a high average mean of 4.415 to 4.690. From the data and this analysis shows that the average moral practice among the Muslim secondary school student in this study is high and satisfactory.


The periodical issue of Baltic Botanic Gardens includes information
about main events in the Botanical Gardens in Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania in 2007 – 2008. It contains 15 scientific articles about
collections of Botanical Gardens.


In the present study, the protective effect of 1T1, a -carrageenan extracted from the red seaweed Gigartina skottsbergii was evaluated in a murine model of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) genital infection. Six to eight-week-old female BALB/c mice were intravaginally i f 1T1. A s duced l ing in the v even when t irus seems t ©


Abstract.  Blowfly larvae (Diptera: Calliphoridae) fulfil an important ecological function in the decomposition of animal remains. They are also used extensively in forensic entomology, predominantly to establish a minimum time since death, or a minimum post‐mortem interval, using the larval length as a 'biological clock'. This study examined the larval growth rate of a forensically important fly species, Calliphora vicina Robineau‐Desvoidy (Diptera: Calliphoridae) at temperatures of between 4°C and 30°C, under controlled laboratory conditions. The laboratory flies had been trapped initially in London, U.K. The minimum developmental temperature was estimated to be 1°C and 4700 accumulated degree hours (ADH) were required for development from egg hatch to the point of pupariation. Lines fitted to the laboratory larval growth data were found to adequately explain the growth of larvae in the field. The nature of variation in growth rates from geographically isolated populations is discussed.


Context: A turbulent atmosphere causes atmospheric piston variations leading to rapid changes in the optical path difference of an interferometer, which causes correlated flux losses. This leads to decreased sensitivity and accuracy in the correlated flux measurement. Aims: To stabilize the N band interferometric signal in MIDI (MID-infrared Interferometric instrument), we use an external fringe tracker working in K band, the so-called FSU-A (fringe sensor unit) of the PRIMA (Phase-Referenced Imaging and Micro-arcsecond Astrometry) facility at VLTI. We present measurements obtained using the newly commissioned and publicly offered MIDI+FSU-A mode. A first characterization of the fringe-tracking performance and resulting gains in the N band are presented. In addition, we demonstrate the possibility of using the FSU-A to measure visibilities in the K band. Methods: We analyzed FSU-A fringe track data of 43 individual observations covering different baselines and object K band magnitudes with respect to the fringe-tracking performance. The N band group delay and phase delay values could be predicted by computing the relative change in the differential water vapor column density from FSU-A data. Visibility measurements in the K band were carried out using a scanning mode of the FSU-A. Results: Using the FSU-A K band group delay and phase delay measurements, we were able to predict the corresponding N band values with high accuracy with residuals of less than 1 micrometer. This allows the coherent integration of the MIDI fringes of faint or resolved N band targets, respectively. With that method we could decrease the detection limit of correlated fluxes of MIDI down to 0.5 Jy (vs. 5 Jy without FSU-A) and 0.05 Jy (vs. 0.2 Jy without FSU-A) using the ATs and UTs, respectively. The K band visibilities could be measured with a precision down to ~2%.


Based on indentation theory and elasto-plastic finite element analysis(EPFEA) with contact elements,the constitutive relationship based on energy method of indentation(CR-EMI) is obtained by the indentation test of a cone indenter of 70.3 degrees.The new method revealed a linear relationship between the energy ratios of the indentation process and the yield stress in Hollomon model.Based on the linear relationship and P-h curve,the parameters in Hollomon model can be directly obtained with the new method.Obviously,the Brinell hardness based on energy method of indentation(H-EMI) can be predicted by using the Hollomon parameters.The availability and accuracy of CR-EMI method and H-EMI method are proved by the test results and finite element analyses of different metals.


The market for commercial open source software (OSS) has been rapidly growing with the proliferation of OSS. One way to commercialize OSS is the support model, which has been adopted by leading OSS firms such as Red Hat and JBoss. Despite the growing interest in OSS commercialization, little research has provided OSS support providers with a pricing guideline. In this paper, we examine the optimal pricing strategies for OSS support providers. Our benchmark is a monopoly case in which we investigate a startup software vendor's incentive to choose the OSS support regime over the proprietary one. Then we extend the model to a duopoly case in which OSS under the support regime competes against proprietary software. We characterize the conditions under which the OSS support model is viable under competition. We believe that our results offer insights to the OSS vendors who consider commercializing their OSS with a support model.


We propose a simple method for testing for a periodic signal in fMRI data where the hemodynamic response function is spatially varying with possibly different lags at different voxels. At each voxel, the test is based on the power of the spectrum at a frequency that matches the signal, divided by an estimator of the variance to produce a χ image with 2 degrees of freedom. We then apply scale space methods to search for signals of different width by smoothing the data with different Gaussian spatial filters, then searching over scale as well as location. The resulting scale space image is thresholded at a level chosen to control the false positive rate using a new result for the P-value of the maximum of scale space χ fields.


From 15-20 February 2001, several thousand scientists, engineers, and others interested in science plus several hundred science journalists gathered in San Francisco for the 2001 Annual Meeting and Science Innovation Exposition of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Included in this report are some of the highlights of the meeting.


Through the use of Mossbauer absorption measurements, plastic deformation of the iron-manganese austenitic 50G13 alloy is shown to change the distribution of the internal effective field P(H) and the Neel temperature of the alloy. It is proposed that these effects are caused by the redistribution of carbon atoms from octahedral interstitial sites, surrounded by iron atoms only, to interstitial sites having manganese atoms as nearest neighbors


Seventy-five geothermal professionals from ten African countries have been trained in the UNU/GTP in Iceland since the programme started in 1979. Five of these UNU/GTP Fellows hold MSc degrees. This is about 25% of all the beneficiaries of this training world-wide. Kenya has benefited the most with 33 people, followed by Ethiopia with 20. About 32% of the trainees from Africa have left the industry. Kenya has retained the highest number of its professionals and has equally achieved the most in geothermal power generation. Over the 25-year period, Africa has benefited tremendously from the training. What is critically required now is to accelerate geothermal development in the continent by removing financial and political barriers so that the trained professionals can fully be utilised to achieve the intended growth. The Iceland training will still be required for some years to come, particularly in providing some assistance in formulation of a mechanism for involving the already trained professionals in training more Africans.


The photocyclization of the title compound afforded 14-hydroxy-4b-phenylbenz[c]indeno[2,1-a]fluoren-13-(4bH)-one, which is easily isomerized to 4b,13b-dihydro-4b-phenylbenz[c]indeno[2,1-a]fluorene-13,14-dione. The hydrogenation of both compounds gave anti-4b,8b,13a,13b-tetrahydro-4b-phenylbenz[c]indeno[2,1-a]fluorene-13,14-dione.


The federal government has made substantial progress in reforming economic regulation--especially by deregulating prices and reducing entry barriers in specific industries.


The north anchorage caisson of the Forth Nanjing Yangtze-River Bridge is 69m long,58m wide and 52.8m high.It is the biggest super-large caisson in the world.During dewater-sinking process,the structural safety monitoring research was carried out.The unfavorable loading case appears at the beginning of sinking when the soil under cross wall is excavated,and the caisson is supported only with cutting edge.According to the finite element analysis results,the maximum tensile stress along and across bridge directions appears in the mid-span of the cross wall.Strain gauges were installed to monitor changes of tensile stress at key sections of the cross wall.The caisson sinking curve showed a slow-quick-slow characteristic.The tensile stress curve could be divided into 4 stages of rise-peak-descend-rebounding.At early stage of the sinking process,the tensile stress at the bottom of the cross wall increased when the excavation area expanded.At middle period of the sinking,the tensile stress decreased as the excavation plan adjusted accordingly.When the caisson sunk under certain depth,the continuous increasing soil pressure outside the sidewall made the tensile stress reduced.Ground water recharge after dewater-sinking made the tensile stress increase slightly.Field monitoring results showed that the steel skin plate caisson was safe enough during the dewater-sinking process,and the feedback of monitoring results played an important role in the safe and efficient sinking of the super-large caisson.


Knowledge of the bandwidth of a signal allows for extrapolation over a time interval that can be many times the length of the given segment. Computer results, utilizing a version of a one-step small-matrix minimum-energy procedure, have shown that such extrapolation is feasible in the presence of noise and coarse (5-bit) quantization. It is shown here, however, that such a minimum-energy procedure cannot produce enhanced spectral resolution even in the absence of noise. By generalizing a unifying model for such procedures to include non-minimum energy bandlimited extrapolation, a new algorithm is proposed that allows for tradeoffs to be made between enhanced spectral resolution and reduced sensitivity to out-of-band noise. This algorithm may also be utilized in two dimensions to enhance the spatial resolution of an aperture-limited sensor when viewing a region of limited extent. However, resolution enhancement by bandlimited extrapolation appears to be practical only if the resolution is extremely poor to begin with.


Dangerous ventricular arrhythmias leading to sudden cardiac death (SCD) are some of the most diffi-cult diagnostic challenges. They are often mildly symptomatic. Their often self-limiting nature means that they are difficult to capture on ECG. A 75-year old woman with chronic heart failure due to nonis-chemic cardiomyopathy reported to the cardiology clinic for a scheduled routine follow-up of the ICD, implanted three years prior as primary prevention of SCD. The patient reported recent episodes of sud-den weakness and described the episodes as hypotension. The patient associated it with too aggressive treatment of arterial hypertension. During the visit the patient experienced one of these episodes that she had previously described. The monitoring equipment in the clinic revealed ventricular tachycardia (VT). The history of the implanted ICD revealed many similar previous episodes including 5 episodes in the last 24 hours which led to a diagnosis of electrical storm. Dangerous ventricular arrhythmias may be mildly symptomatic and they are often underestimated by the patient. Fainting, especially in situa-tions unusual for the vasovagal reflex or orthostatic hypotension, should always arouse vigilance to-wards life-threatening ventricular arrhythmia.


L iteracy and technology have been intimately intertwined for many centuries. In fact, the very idea of broad-based, public literacy can even be argued to be an outcome of the printing press and the ubiquitous "book" that eventually was produced by it. In other words, the acts of reading and writing cannot be separated from technology historically or practically speaking. But is this intimate relationship any different in our present age than it was five hundred years ago? Is literacy being reformed or refashioned as a result of new technologies like the computer, or like the fast-growing multimedia genres that may eventually blur the distinction between the television and the computer?


The article simply introduces the main functions of calculating system of Mathematica, and puts forward some reform suggestions of high mathematics courses.


Abstract Background: The most common cause of hypopituitarism is pituitary adenoma. In recent years there is increased reporting of rare causes of hypopituitarism acquired in adulthood, such as other sellar and parasellar masses, brain damage, vascular lesions, infiltrative/immunological/inflammatory diseases and infectious diseases. We report an unusual case of hypopituitarism associated with simultaneously occurring suprasellar tumor and meningitis. Clinical case: A 45-year-old man was brought to the Emergency Department after being found collapsed at his home with a reduced level of consciousness. About 1 week ago, the patient was complaint headache, nausea and vomiting. He had no significant medical history. His initial assessment showed a blood pressure of 130/70 mmHg, heart rate 133/min, and body temperature 38.5 ºC. Initial laboratory finding revealed serum sodium level of 149 mmol/L (135-150), potassium level of 4.3 mmol/L (3.5-5.5), serum osmolality 292 mOsm/Kg (275-295) and urine osmolality 504 mOsm/Kg (400-800). His random cortisol level was 31.8 ug/dl, TSH 0.568 uIu/ml (0.55-4.78), and free T4 10.75 pmol/L (11.5-22.7). From clinical examination and initial investigations, he was diagnosed as having meningitis or encephalitis and was promptly commenced on empirical i.v. antibiotics. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain revealed diffuse leptomeningeal enhancement in both cerebral hemisphere and 1.8*1.5*1.1cm sized, oval-shaped mass in suprasellar portion, which combined peripheral edema. Examination of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) following lumbar puncture confirmed meningitis, antibiotics and antiviral agent were continued. After 2 weeks, he suddenly underwent hypotension and polyuria, despite inflammatory markers of blood were improved. Laboratory finding showed serum osmolality 337 mOsm/Kg, urine osmolality 271 mOsm/Kg, serum sodium 153 mmol/L, random cortisol 1.3 ug/dl, and free T4 5.19 uIu/ml. When coupled with the initial results of the brain imaging, this result helped to confirm a hypopituitarism associated with suprasellar tumor and meningitis. The patient's clinical status promptly improved with intravenous hydrocortisone and desmopressin. After that, levothyroxine supplement was started. He had good response to hormone replacement. Conclusion: Hypopituitarism may develop rapidly or slowly depending on the underlying etiology and may involve one, multiple, or all of the pituitary hormones. The clinical presentations of hypopituitarism are usually nonspecific and the recognition of these patients remains the challenge. We emphasize the importance of careful clinical assessment and focused investigations, including cranial imaging and pituitary hormone profiling to establish the underlying diagnosis.


Building on the literature of dynamic capability and organizational learning, we examine strategy execution in hyper-competition as a problem of how organizations can re-configure their learning capability to match with their radically different learning demands. Organizations in hyper-competitive environments face an increasing gap between their learning opportunities and needs, and actual learning performance. In order to survive they must improve their absorptive capacity so that they can learn simultaneously broad, deep and fast. We define such a learning contingency as hyper-learning. To do so, the organization must systematically interlace exploration—that seeks to maximize learning breadth— and exploitation—that seeks to maximize learning depth. Unlike in traditional learning cycles, exploration and exploitation during periods of hyper-learning are not insulated from each other through time or structure. We explore seven software firms engaged in Web system development during the hey-day on dot.com frenzy and investigate how these companies were able to hyper-learn. We distinguish two mechanisms to speed up exploration: distributed gate-keeping and extended grafting of external knowledge; and two mechanisms to speed up exploitation: simple design patterns and peer networks. These mechanisms were nearly uniformly recognized in all studied organizations. We also examine the systemic configuration and patterning of these activities, which enables organizations to learn in high gear. This organizational learning model is contrasted with the punctuated equilibrium model of learning articulated in mainstream strategy research. Finally some implications for future research and management practice are drawn.


In 1884, the Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius proposed two specific classifications of compounds; acids and bases. When dissolved in an aqueous solution, certain ions were released into the solution. An Arrhenius acid is a compound that increases the concentration of H+ ions that are present when added to water. These H+ ions form the hydronium ion (H3O+) when they combine with water molecules. This process is represented in a chemical equation by adding H2O to the reactants side.


OBJECTIVES
To observe the frequency with which children in outpatient primary care settings are prescribed antibiotics and to investigate why these antibiotics are prescribed. To compare the prescribing behaviour of family doctors, primary care pediatricians, and urgent care physicians and to determine where refinements in management are most needed to reduce the number of antibiotic prescriptions appropriately.

DESIGN
Prospective study using a data entry form with mostly closed-ended questions.

SETTING
Ten primary care offices in urban south-central and eastern Ontario: five family practices, three pediatric practices, and two urgent care centres (UCC).

PARTICIPANTS
Every child younger than 16 years visiting these offices during a 3-week period in February and March 1997.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Frequency, clinical indications, and nature of the antibiotics prescribed.

RESULTS
There were 4344 observed visits. Of 1706 antibiotic prescriptions, 1481 were for 10 days, and 1577 (92%) were for acute respiratory infections, 920 (53%) specifically for acute otitis media (AOM). Full courses of antibiotics were given immediately (i.e., without test results) to 321 (76%) of 425 children with pharyngitis. Antibiotics were prescribed for 145 (90%) of 163 children with bronchitis. Urgent care physicians were significantly more likely than pediatricians or family physicians to prescribe immediate antibiotics and to disregard guidelines when choosing antibiotics for uncomplicated AOM.

CONCLUSIONS
Three diagnoses accounted for 82% of antibiotic prescriptions: AOM, pharyngitis, and bronchitis. Physicians should be more selective when deciding whether, and for how long, to prescribe antibiotics for those three common conditions. Substantial reductions in antibiotic use will require changes in how physicians manage suspected AOM, the most common indication for antibiotics.


A composite material of polyolefin/montmorillonite stratified metasilicate and its preparation method. The composite material contains a modifying agent modifying montmorillonite. The montmorilloniteis the original montmorillonite with the total cation exchange volume of 50-200meq/100g or stratified montmorillonite. The invention could adopt original montmorillonite modified by the modifying agent, prepare the composite material of polyolefin/montmorillonite, which simplifies the production process.


Introduction. Modern literary studies distinguish neo-sentimentalism as one of the most important trends in Russian literature of the turn of XX – XXI centuries. Writers of modern times, denying the ideology of postmodernism, with its inherent crisis of self-identification of the individual,the world of simulacra, skepticism, etc., find support in the "fundamentals" of literature – referring to tradition, create a new artistic paradigm. The authors of the article analyze the iconic texts of L.Ulitskaya, as a bright representative of neo-sentimentalism of the early XXI century, and find markers of representation of the main features of the direction in the work of the writer. Support for the study was the works of M. Bakhtin, N. Leiderman, M. Lipovetskiy, N. Kovtun, A. Chagin, J. Podlubnova and other scientists.Materials and metods. Comparative, historical, cultural, structural, typological and descriptive approaches became the methodology of the research.
The subject of the research is the functioning of the features of the new sentimentalism in theearly texts by of L. Ulitskaya.
Results. Based on the analysis of iconic works of early works of L. Ulitskaya, it is concludedthat the life of the individual, the attempt of its self-identification, the inner world of the charactersprevails over the relationship with the outside world. In the artistic reality of L. Ulitskaya, there is aneed to assert the priority of the fate of a particular person in relation to historical events, personalities,catastrophes.
Conclusions. The narrative of the writer is not endowed with edifying character. L. Ulitskayaironically gives the reader the right to choose – to treat the work as a fascinating story, or to join theauthor,s intentions. The task of the narrator is to reconcile the reader with the ambivalence of real life,so similar to the stories in the pages of her books.


The article covers the environmental-economic system (with reference to agricultural production) as an object of statistical research on the relationship between the natural environment and economic activity. In this regard, a brief set of indicators characterizing the state of the environment, agricultural production, as well as their interrelation has been developed and presented. At the same time, the environmental economic system of agriculture in Russia is characterized by land and water resources. While studying the regional differentiation the author proposes considering the climatic factors. To this end, the developed system of indicators reflecting environmental-economic parameters of agriculture served as a basis of the study of the influence of climatic factors. Its results were compared with similar parameters without regard to the climatic factors. It is noted that without preliminary regional differentiation according to weather and climatic conditions, it is rather difficult not only to objectively analyze general patterns but also to identify crucial factors influencing managerial decision-making.


A clinical technique of using a cast titanium base in a maxillary overdenture for a patient with bruxism who has a history of repeated midline denture fractures is presented. The advantages of a metal palate and the favorable properties of titanium are discussed. This treatment provides the practitioner with a practical option for successfully treating difficult overdenture or conventional denture patients.


The 1930s were a turning point for the American working class movement. John Newsinger examines the key year of 1934, which saw mass struggles by Teamsters, dockers and car workers; and 1937 - the year of the sit-down - centred around car workers in Detroit and Flint. Finally, he seeks to understand the defeat of the most powerful working class and its political leadership, leading to red-baiting and the formation of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Including large quantities of original research, this book will appeal to the specialist and general reader alike.


A doubly coated sparfloxacin membrane selective electrode was prepared.An Ag/AgCl wire was coated by a layer of agar gel membrane containing 0.1 mol/L KCl and a layer of PVC membrane containing sparfloxacin-tetraphenylboron ion-pair complex on its surface successively.The influences of various ion-pair complexes,concentrations of activators in membrane phase and plasticizers on the properties of electrode were studied by orthogonal design.The linear response range of the electrode is 1.0×10~(-5)~1.0×10~(-3) mol/L.The detection limit is 2.4×10~(-6) mol/L.The Nernst slope is 28.8 mV/decade(16 ℃).The electrode can be used for potentiometric determination of sparfloxacin tablets directly.The recovery is 99.6%~101.1%.The results agree with UV method.


report of the 1911 Immigration Commission, the point is the same. In Buffalo, Virginia Yans-McLaughlin documented the cooperation between Italian parents and employers to keep children working and out of sight from prying, disapproving truant officers. Nor is such evidence of the disinterest in education confined to this side of the Atlantic and the years before World War II. In the 1960s, when presumably educational facilities had improved in Sicily, 10-year-old boys in Palermo scurried back and forth during school hours between neighborhood coffee shops and office buildings delivering the morning cappuccino and the afternoon espresso. Even the casual observer would have concluded that a large number were truant from school. Exceptions certainly occurred, both in Italy and the United States, and Briggs may have landed on some outstanding ones, but either his cities are exceptions or a long list of other writers have been wrong. Several observers have explained that Italian parents understandably sought to protect strong family traditions against the threatening impact of the schools. That the two competed with each other is clear. Teachers who sent home abrasive messages criticizing the parents' English grammar, hygiene or diet could hardly be construed as supporting a tradition which placed rispetto above all else. Mobility on the job ladder, symbolized at the first rung by the high school diploma, brought special fears. New jobs meant moves to new towns and threatened old, comfortable arrangements. Just when many students of the Italian experience had begun to accept such explanations for the low interest of Italians in education, Professor Briggs tells us that it did not exist in the first place, at least not everywhere. We need more convincing. Were the italiani in his three cities unusual, and if so, why? The same response could be made to his conclusions on campanilismo, mutual benefit societies and the selection of immigrants.


The degradation of soil, vegetation and socio-economic transformations are a huge threat to Africa's land production. This study aimed to (i) assess the soil and land productivity of standing biomass and (ii) determine the effect of rainfall on the standing biomass in Eastern Africa. Soil productivity was determined using the Soil Productivity Index (SPI) and a simplified model was developed to estimate the Net Primary Productivity (NPP). The SPI indicators used included soil-organic matter, texture, soil moisture, base-saturation, pH, cation-exchange-capacity, soil-depth and drainage. The inputs of the simplified model are: MODIS Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), soil erosion, soil nutrient content and input, rainfall, land-use/cover and agro-ecological zones. The findings reveal that the countries with the most productive soils are Mauritius, Rwanda and South Sudan—while, for standing biomass, the countries with the highest spatial extent are Mauritius (97%), Rwanda (96%), Uganda (95%), South Sudan (89%), Ethiopia (47%) and Kenya (36%). Standing biomass is dominant in biomes such as natural forests, woodlands, croplands, grasslands, wetlands and tree-plantations. High land productivity was attributed to soil quality and management, land policy reforms, favourable climatic conditions and sustainable land husbandry activities. Rainfall was significantly correlated with standing biomass in most of the studied countries (p < 0.05) except Djibouti and Rwanda. Therefore, monitoring soil health, use and land reforms are key to sustaining vegetative biomass.


By analyzing the "Web Design" course assessment methods and drawbacks of the current situation,Described "Web Design" course evaluation model of reform ideas and "Web Design" course evaluation mode the meaning of reform,Finally,on the development of knowledge-based,quality,ability to coordinate the development of curriculum assessment model is critical,and reference should be pro moted.


Spatial concentrations of firms in a peculiar regions, or industrial cluster, were described by many economists in the 18th and 19th Century. Beginning with early classical economists like William Petty and Daniel Defoe, there have been various attempts to link the advantages of localization economies with growth theory. Charles Babbage and Andrew Ure stressed the significance of clustering within the new factory system, which influenced the work of John S. Mill, J. Ramsay McCulloch, Karl Marx and even late-classical economists as Henry George and Henry Sidgwick. These contributions were used by Alfred Marshall, who implemented industrial clustering as a crucial element of his theory of price and equilibrium.


A two-year study was conducted on the population size of Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus spadiceus) in five agricultural areas in the state of Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia. In the first year (from August 1995 to July 1996)the study was conducted in three habitats viz. rubber plantation, 22-year old oil palm plantation and orchard area at Universitiy Putra, Malaysia. In the second year (from August 1996 to July 1997) two additional habitats viz. 4 and 8 years old oil palm plantation at Sungai, Sedu Estate were selected. Red Junglefowl density was estimated by Distance Sampling Method. Habitat condition was also assessed to determine factors that affected the population size. The densities in 4 years, 8 years and 22 years old oil palm, rubber plantations and orchard were 84.22 km - 2 , 27.80 km - 2 , 21.43 km - 2 , 15.66 km - 2 and 6.06 km - 2 respectively. The average group size was two birds per group. The largest group comprised of 10 birds was observed in an 8 years old palm oil plantation. The height of the canopy cover was found to have a significant effect on the density of Red Junglefowl. Low canopy cover provides the Red Junglefowl protection against predators and suitable roosting sites.


During the past three years there has been increased activity in many fields where photometric methods are employed; more telescopes have been commissioned or adapted for photometric measurements and new magnitude systems have been proposed and tried, but much of the observing is now of a routine nature. Most of this continues to be done in the wide-band UBV system, but more measurements are now being made in the red and infra-red. More interest is being shown in narrower band-widths that emphasize particular features of a stellar spectrum, because these offer better prospects of separating the effects of temperature, luminosity, interstellar reddening, composition and duplicity. Attention has been given to finding the most useful bands and practical ways of measuring them, both photoelectrically and photographically.


Abstract To date, DAPT duration of 1 year is the standard treatment for ACS patients after DES implantation in China. However, less is known about the effect of prolonging DAPT duration of long-term outcome for this kind of patient in the real world of China. We carried out a large sample case in the biggest cardiovascular center in China to observe the effect of prolonging DAPT duration for more than 1 year on long-term outcome in ACS patients after PCI. We enrolled 5187 consecutive patients with ACS who underwent DES implantation from January 2013 to December 2013. We recorded when DAPT was discontinued, and analyzed patients' data comparing different DAPT durations (DAPT = 1 year or >1 year). Two-year clinical outcomes were compared between patients from the two groups. The baseline characteristics were almost the same between the two groups, except the number of stents per patient (DAPT = 1 year vs. >1 year, 1.80 ± 1.02 vs. 1.86 ± 1.05, p = .04). Patients with DAPT = 1 year had a higher incidence of all-cause death (1.8% vs. 0.1%, p < .01), cardiac death (0.8% vs. 0.1%, p < .01), and stent thrombosis (0.7% vs. 0.2%, p < .01) vs. DAPT > 1 year, respectively. Logistic regression analysis indicated that the number of stents per patient was an independent factor for prolonged DAPT (odds ratio: 1.07, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01–1.14, p = .03). Cox regression analysis showed that the independent risk predictors of all-cause death were age and cardiac dysfunction, whereas the independent protective predictors were body mass index and DAPT > 1 year. In the subgroup analysis of high bleeding risk, the DAPT > 1-year group still experienced a lower incidence of all-cause death. For patients with ACS undergoing DES implantation, 1 year of DAPT may be not sufficient. Appropriate prolongation of DAPT may relate to the reduction of the incidence of adverse cardiovascular events and it does not increase the bleeding events, even for the patients with high bleeding risk.


background and Objective: Bronchial asthma has been defined as a combination of reversible airway obstruction, increased airway responsiveness, and airway inflammation. Protein kinase C (PKC) is a primary group of enzymes mediating signal transduction for a wide variety of functions in many different cell types. Its activation has been implicated in various inflammatory diseases. Since PKC activity is regulated by the metabolic pool of phosphoinositides and their turnover. The involvement of these phospholipids in allergic inflammatory responses is, however, yet to be fully determined. To evaluate the changes in phosphoinositide turnover in guinea pig model of asthma and correlation with PKC activity. Methods: Male guinea pigs were sensitized with ovalbumin and day of initial allergen-specific immune response determined by intradermal test. Airway hyperresponsiveness was measured using a plethysmograph. Airway remodeling, content of mucin was assessed histochemically on lung sections, and bronchoalveolar lavaged fluid (BALF) cell composition. Total PKC activity, phosphoinositides were assessed in airway smooth muscles (ASM) and peripheral blood lymphocytes. Results: Compared with control mice, OVA-challenged mice led to enhanced recruitment of inflammatory cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, increases in inflammation scores, collagen accumulation, bronchial wall thickness and inflammatory cytokines. Also, we examined total PKC activity is increased in ASM and lymphocytes isolated from both groups. The levels of phosphoinositide intermediates increased further in both ASM and lymphocyte in Ova-sensitized group as compared to control group. conclusion: Ova exposure aggravated airway inflammation, airway remodelling, activation of inflammatory cytokines, and increases PKC activity in OVA-sensitized and -challenged mice, correlated with total phosphoinositide intermediates increased further in both ASM and lymphocyte.


This research project was carried out to study the rheological effect of micron size sulphur particles in sodium alginate and nanocellulose fiber towards the modified facial mask and lotion formulation. Viscosity changes, shear thinning behavior and stability of the facial mask and lotion formulation with two different additives which were micron sulphur particles in sodium alginate and nanocellulose fiber were studied.
Micron size sulphur particles were successfully produced using sodium alginate and nanocellulose fiber as stabilizer. The micron sulphur particles were characterized by SEM, XRD, particle analyzer and FTIR spectroscopy. Formulation of facial mask and lotion were modified and micron sulphur particles were added into the formulation. The rheological changes of the facial mask and lotion formulation in 28 days with different additives were studied by using rheometer.
The study has shown the formation of uniform size of micron sulphur particles in sodium alginate. The addition of micron sulphur particles had decreased the viscosity of both formulations compared to their control samples. The changes of the viscosity for the formulations with micron sulphur particles in sodium alginate were larger than formulations with micron sulphur particles in nanocellulose fiber. It indicates that micron sulphur particles in nanocellulose fiber have better stabilizing effect than micron sulphur in sodium alginate towards the modified facial mask and lotion formulation.


The low-wavenumber Raman (LWR) scattering from aqueous solutions of glucose, fructose, trehalose, and dextran have been investigated in the 10–60 °C range at three different sugar concentrations. The spectra below 250 cm−1 have been analyzed in terms of the imaginary part of the dynamical susceptibility , and described by the sum of quasi-elastic (QE) and inelastic (IE) contributions. The subtraction of the QE scattering shows the presence of two bands representing bending-like and stretching-like modes of tetrahedral H-bonded structures of liquid water. The differences of IE profiles in solutions and in the pure solvent have been discussed in terms of perturbations operated by sugar on the tetrahedral arrangement of H-bonded network in liquid water. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The law of contract is ripe for feminist analysis. Despite increasing calls for the re-conceptualisation of neo-classical ways of thinking, feminist perspectives on contract tend to be marginalised in mainstream textbooks. This edited collection questions the assumptions made in such works and the ideologies that underpin them, drawing attention to the ways in which the law of contract has facilitated the virtual exclusion of women, the feminine and the private sphere from legal discourse.

Contributors to this volume offer a range of ways of thinking about the subject and cover topics such as the feminine offeree, feminist perspectives on contracts in cyberspace, the forgotten world of women and contracts, restitution and feminist economic theory, the gendered power dynamics of undue influence, and the feminisation of dispute resolution.

Book description from publisher website at: http://www.routledgelaw.com/books/Feminist-Perspectives-on-Contract-Law-isbn9781859417423


A novel three-dimensional Envelope-Finite Element (EVFE) technique is proposed to solve the transient response of an electromagnetics problem. EVFE simulates the signal envelope rather than the original signal waveform by de-embedding the signal carrier from the time-domain wave equation. The sampling rate of the time-domain waveform is only governed by the Nyquist rate of the envelope signal instead of the carrier signal in the unconditionally stable FETD method. Compared to the traditional FDTD and FETD methods, the computational cost can be dramatically reduced when the signal envelope and carrier ratio is very small. This technique is implemented to solve a microwave guided structure with dielectric post discontinuity. The accuracy and efficiency is demonstrated and compared with the unconditionally stable FETD method.


PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To develop a new therapeutic strategy for treating cancer, particularly systemic metastasis, to be applied to systemic treatment, to reduce the dose of applied cancer therapeutic agent and / or increase its effectiveness. The present invention relates to a co-therapeutic agent or therapeutic form that has a synergistic effect with the ligand when administered sequentially with the ligand, such as a chemotherapeutic agent and / or radiotherapy, such as an integrin ligand, preferably an integrin antagonist. It relates to combination therapies for treating tumors and tumor metastases, including administration together. This therapy results in a synergistic potential increase in the inhibitory effect of each individual therapeutic agent on the growth of tumor cells, by administering the individual components alone, at the same time, or other than by the method of administration of the present invention. A more effective treatment is obtained compared to what is seen. [Selection] Figure 2


The method of making use of system variables and macros program real-time reading and writing tool radius compensation value is provided.The steps and ideas of programming are specified.Through the actual machining,it can replace the manual input parameters of tool compensation in the processing,avoid errors that changing value of tool compensation,reduce processing times and labor intensity of workers.It also can improve processing efficiency,rate of qualified products,utilization and automation of CNC machine tools.Especially in mass production,the company may obtain considerable economic efficiency.The method can be promoted other CNC systems.


To identify predictors of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) improvement in patients with newly detected cardiomyopathy using wearable cardioverter defibrillators (WCDs).


In this study, methacrylic acid (MAA) was grafted onto a poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) plate by the oxygen plasma treatment and subsequent photografting. The surfaces of the grafted PTFE plates prepared at shorter plasma treatment times and/or at lower monomer concentrations were modified hydrophilic at lower grafted amounts. Water absorptivity of the grafted layer increased with the grafted amount and the grafted layers formed at lower monomer concentrations possessed higher water absorptivity. For grafted PTFE plates prepared at the monomer concentration of 1.5 and 2.0 M after the plasma treatment, the substrate breaking occurred. The grafted amount at substrate breaking decreased with a decrease in the plasma treatment time, indicating that the location of photografting was restricted to the outer surface region at shorter plasma treatment times. It was made clear that the combination of the oxygen plasma treatment with the photografting of MAA was an effective procedure to modify the PTFE surface.


Microemulsions are often used when synthesizing nanoparticles. In this thesis, silver particles of a certain size, for use in a catalytic converter in cars, were synthesized with microemulsion. The microemulsion used was the water in oil type and the chemicals used were n-heptane, Brij30, AgNO3 (aq) in combination with the reducing agent NaBH4. Different water to surfactant molar ratios were tested and the samples were observed with a transmission electron microscope. The result shows that the size of the silver particles depends on the water to surfactant molar ratio, when the molar ratio decreases so does the radius of the silver particles'.


In the face of the on-going global financial crisis, higher education budgets are under pressure. As of 2010, tuition fees are not yet rising in most countries, and some countries continue to make steps to make education more affordable. However, on balance, the global trend in 2010 was towards greater cost-sharing (higher tuition, lower student aid), and this trend is expected to accelerate in the coming years.


A household or a country that is food insecure cannot be peaceful let alone being able to achieve any meaningful economic development. One of the most effective ways of enhancing food security is through adoption of modern technologies such as greenhouse technology which increases crop productivity, food safety and also environmentally friendly. From Ministry of Agriculture Nyeri Central District only 16 farmers out 667 farmers had greenhouses in Gatitu Sub-location. The purpose of the study was to assess the factors influencing the adoption of greenhouse technology in Gatitu Sub-Location in Nyeri Central District, Nyeri County. These factors were finances, knowledge, availability of materials and gender issues. The study employed descriptive survey design whereby both Purposive and Simple Random Sampling methods were used. Purposive sampling was used to sample farmers with greenhouses because they posses more information on greenhouse technology while Simple Random Sampling was used on farmers without greenhouses since this population was homogenous. Questionnaires and observation guide were used as the data collection instruments. Statistical data was analyzed with the help of Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS). For qualitative data, use of content analysis to identify patterns and theme was identified. The relationship between dependent and independent variables was analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Data was presented using frequency distribution tables, mean, standard deviation and percentages. The key findings of this study were that majority of farmers depended on loans as a source of capital for investing in greenhouse technology although loans were expensive and mostly required collaterals as security. Access to finance seemed to be the biggest impediment to adoption of greenhouse technology and it greatly determined the level of greenhouse technology adopted. Access to greenhouse materials greatly influences adoption of greenhouse technology. Majority of farmers were using second hand materials instead of new ones because new materials were more expensive. Materials were also not available locally but available from Nairobi and Naivasha. Most greenhouses were owned by men by virtue of being majority decision makers and having more access to credit men than women. More women than men were providing labour in the greenhouses despite being minority decision makers and owners meaning that greenhouse is a male dominated activity where women are marginalized. There was low youth participation on greenhouse technology and adoption of greenhouse technology was low and at very low technology levels. The study recommendations: Ministry of Finance should collaborate with the financial institutions to make credit more accessible and affordable to the farmers, Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with private agricultural extension providers should organize trainings on greenhouse technology and run training programmes through the media to enhance coverage and also make greenhouse materials more available and affordable to the farmers, Ministries of youth and Gender should come up with strategies of encouraging youth and women respectively to adopt greenhouse technology as a means of enhancing employment creation and household food security. The generalized findings of the study would be useful to the government in formulating regulations and policies concerning promotion of adoption of greenhouse technology for enhancement of food security in the country and also as a means of enhancing agricultural development in line with Vision 2030 development plan and millennium development goals. On the other hand, the study would be useful in trying to bridge the knowledge gap on the factors influencing adoption of greenhouse technology. The findings of the study would also help the farmers with greenhouses to deal with some of the factors influencing adoption of this technology.


The "rebound effect"; hypothesis states that periodic mass extinctions occur because biosphere diversity must rebound from one calamity before another can occur. Intervening physical catastrophes will have relatively few organisms, or at least extinction‐prone organisms, to devastate. Results of simulations provide the first quantitative test of the idea and indicate that it is feasible: a logistically growing system can produce periodic signals when subjected to completely random external perturbations.


The purpose of this report is to test the sensitivity of the energy performance of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)'s Net Zero Energy Residential Test Facility (NZERTF) design to variation in the assumed specifications of occupant behaviour and building design characteristics using whole building energy simulations. The analysis includes a total of 128 EnergyPlus (E+) simulations (DOE 2013) considering two levels for each of the seven factors that could impact the energy performance of the NZERTF: building design, air leakage, occupant behaviour, weather, building orientation, and heating and cooling setpoint temperatures. The results for each combination of the seven factors are analysed to determine the magnitude and significance of changing these factors, and the interaction effects between the factors. There is particular focus on the building design results to determine if the energy performance of the NZERTF is more or less stable than that of typical residential construction in Maryland.


This paper points out the shortcomings of the conventional interpolation method on weighted distance and puts forward the conversion formula between the vertical deflection and the partial differential coefficient,based on this,presents the interpolation method on consideration of the vertical deflection from the indirect adjustment model and improves the conventional average method on weighted distance.


Four different tree or crop species (Champak, tree bean, alder and Khasi pine in agroforestry land use; maize, potato, rice and turmeric in agriculture land use; pear, peach, Khasi mandarin and guava in horticulture land use) were selected and compared with control plots. Soil humic acids (HAs) were extracted from 0–15 cm layer and characterised by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), elemental composition, total acidity and functional groups analyses. The HAs showed an increase in the carbon and nitrogen contents, followed by a reduction in C/N ratios in agroforestry and horticulture land use systems over agriculture and fallow lands. Generally, C and N contents of HAs were decreasing in the order: agroforestry > horticulture > agriculture > fallow lands. The relatively low E4/E6 values (4.86) of HAs in the agroforestry land use indicated the prominence of aromatic components, suggesting that the HAs were of high molecular weight. The relatively high E4/E6 ratios (5.63) of HAs under agriculture land use indicated the dominance of aliphatic components, suggesting that HAs were of low in molecular weight. The total acidity, carboxylic (−COOH) and phenolic (−OH) groups of HAs were found to be significantly higher under agroforestry land use followed by horticulture and agriculture land uses. Conversely, adoption of various agroforestry tree species, horticulture fruit trees and agriculture crop species increased the C and N contents, total acidity, carboxylic OH and phenolic OH groups of HAs compared to fallow lands.


Social care services in Britain are in danger of collapsing unless the government allocates an extra £700m ($980m) each year, an inquiry by the King's Fund has concluded.

The report, from the healthcare charity based in London, warns that without urgent improvements care and support services could face recruitment and retention crises as bad as those currently seen in nursing and medicine. The report says that the one million care and support workers in Britain exist on low pay, are poorly trained, …


A segment contribution activity coefficient model, derived from the polymer nonrandom two-liquid model, is proposed for fast, qualitative estimation of the solubilities of organic nonelectrolytes in common solvents. Conceptually, the approach suggests that one account for the liquid nonideality of mixtures of complex pharmaceutical molecules and small solvent molecules in terms of interactions between three pairwise interacting conceptual segments:  hydrophobic segment, hydrophilic segment, and polar segment. In practice, these conceptual segments become the molecular descriptors used to represent the molecular surface characteristics of each solute and solvent molecule. The treatment results in component-specific molecular parameters:  hydrophobicity X, polarity Y, and hydrophilicity Z. Once the molecular parameters are identified from experimental data for common solvents and solute molecules, the model offers a simple and practical thermodynamic framework to estimate solubilities and to perform other p...


Anaesthesiologists are confronted with a variety of common cardiovascular, pulmonary, renal, hormonal and metabolic diseases in their everyday clinical practice. Some anomalies and diseases, however, occur with a very low incidence and are well known in a small number of specialised institutions only. Patients with rare, uncommon diseases are exposed to high risks when undergoing anaesthesia for surgical or diagnostic procedures, if the anaesthesiologist is not familiar with the characteristics of the underlying pathology and its clinical presentation. When the incidence (rough estimates of the occurrence of diseases in a population) of the 10 most frequent congenital anomalies (1, 2) are considered cumulatively, the probability of encountering at least one case of any of those diseases increases to approximately 1:200 (Fig. 1). Although rare anomalies are of importance in the adult population, too, this cumulative probability may be more relevant in paediatric anaesthesia, since many malformations must be operated repeatedly during early childhood. Therefore, the affected child is inevitably exposed to the inherent anaesthesia related risks of his congenital disease. Many congenital diseases that are known to interfere with anaesthesia have been described in case reports or review articles. Since most data derive from anecdotal reports, it is rather difficult to arrange the extracts into an applicable clinical recommendation. However, the anaesthesiological implications of this heterogeneous group of disorders can roughly be classified into 3 categories: 1. anatomical malformations precluding airway access, intubation and maintenance of airway patency, 2. functional disorders of organs and organ systems interfering with specific anaesthetics or anaesthesia techniques, and 3. aberrations from the expected response to anaesthetics that do not have symptoms (and cannot be regarded as diseases) unless an anaesthetic has been given.


"Spicy pepper" is a term used to describe a variety of "pungent" peppers, sometimes referred to as hot, chili, or chile. The USDA reports that the per capita availability of chile peppers has increased more than 100% since the early 1980s. While the availability of spicy peppers has increased, easily accessible data regarding which varieties are consumed, how they are used by households, and who is most likely to consume them is not available. This paper provides insights into U.S. spicy pepper production and consumption as provided by a review of existing trade data and a survey of U.S. consumers.


According to the theory of internal growth the crucial aspect that determines long term economic growth is technology. Technology functions in two respects. The first one is accumulation of the capital of personnel, and the second one is progress in technology. These, in turn, are heavily influenced by trade. So long as appropriate policies of trade are carried out by the government the capital of personnel will be accumulated and progress in technology will be ensured.


D acid oxidases (DAO) and glutaryl-7-ACA acylases (GLA) are industrial enzymes widely used for production of semisynthetic cephalosporin antibiotics. We have developed highly efficient expression systems for production of Trigonopsis variabilis DAO and Brevundimonas diminuta GLA as fusions with N-terminal chitin binding domain enabling single-step affinity purification of recombinant enzymes. Generation of new GLA analogs with improved stability and activity is a promising route towards optimization of current biocatalytic processes. For the search of GLA mutants with altered substrate specificity bioinformatics analysis and molecular modelling were performed to identify amino acid positions responsible for substrate binding and formation of reactive substrate-enzyme complex. The mutant enzymes were expressed, purified and shown to possess catalytic activity towards cephalosporin C. In order to study the peculiarities of GLA quaternary structure formation amino acid residues forming inter subunit interface within the estimated enzyme tetramer were identified and mutated to alanines. Mutant enzymes had reduced activity and stability thus confirming the role of identified aminoacids in the formation of the presumed contact area between the two ab dimers. Dynamic light-scattering and enzyme cross-linking studies have shown that in solution the wild-type enzyme and its "interface" mutants have complex oligomeric structure with predominance of tetrameric forms. Experiments with expressed individual GLA subunits have enabled us to suggest that formation of native quaternary enzyme structure occurs in the course of synthesis, processing and interaction of nascent enzyme subunits.


Organizations are highly complex evolutionary intelligent organisms that require effective tools for coordination and synergy. The application of the appropriating techniques facing their challenges in their projects, define the horizons in order to fulfill the defined vision. These techniques become through years of practice they have been adopted, understanding and generating results.
In Colombia, organizations found in the Strategic Planning a set of effective management aspects that have defined orientation, align processes and achieve results. However no surprise that some companies get widely different results even implemented the same methodologies, this is attributable to many factors and variables studied in various disciplines.
In my Thesis, the purpose was to deepen in the formulation stage of planning, taking into account the latest developments and tools or techniques that have been taken in this area have been focused on solving the difficulties in implementation and evaluation of the strategy, on the other hand there are interesting elements to discover regarding the process of formulation where psychology and neurology has deepened in the last few years.
If we consider that the main difficulty expressed by experts is focused on defining the strategic north of the organization, we found that the formulation does not have potentiators elements that contribute to its orientation. This leads us to ask questions like: what is the critical aspect of success in the strategic planning of the organization? Can the traditional strategic planning effectively respond to the challenges in the orientation of organizations today? deep research would be needed against the measuring results obtained as a result of implementations of various strategic planning methodologies. However, being aware that the level of creative construction in the formulation stage is not explicit in any way or at least described on time. The purpose is to make a complementary methodological contribution in terms of creative enrichment to its formulation.
To achieve this the Thesis introduce key concepts related to planning, strategy, decision making, creativity, knowledge management and innovation management. Subsequently, a description of the need for incorporating a management scheme creativity into the formulating stage that the the organization was made in the strategic plan. Some aspects of creativity and knowledge management will describe the importance an relation they have whit management and how value results the application into formulation cycle of the strategy. Also the importance of managing creativity in organizational intelligence cycle it is described. Subsequently general aspects of Strategic Planning and specifically Kaplan and Norton methodology were mentioned. Towards the end, some elements not mentioned in the creative construction of this methodology and finally a supplementary scheme of incorporation is full
described.. Finally, some general conclusions and recommendations made for businesses and general management.
The research methods used in this document are pragmatic scientific, which uses elements of descriptive exploratory qualitative approach, based on pluralism "freedom of method" (Sampieri, Callado, & Babtista Lucio, 2010).
In the final part Thesis found surprising aspects against the importance of creative planning for strategy formulation in companies considering strategies that will enhance the knowledge of the organization to new disruptive horizons.
With regard to bibliographical sources a high methodological was found in contribution of The Execution Premium and Balanced Scorecard (Kaplan & Norton, 2008).
The scientific contribution is given in terms of the conceptual clustering of progress in this area and its relationship to the design of a implementation scheme of managing creativity in the formulation stage of a strategic plan under the methodology of Balanced Scorecard.


About 10.5 yr of V-band photometry of QQ Vul allows the examination of systematic changes in orbital light curve features of the system. The photometry is generally limited to one or two data points each clear night at a random orbital phase; however, the orbital light curve and its slower changes can be studied when the data are grouped into intervals of 1 to 2 months. We have isolated four main distinguishing behaviors in the optical light curve of the system. In type 1 the phased light curve has a single broad primary dip. In type 2 the primary dip retains its shape but becomes dimmer and is accompanied by a secondary dip about 0.5 phase units away. As part of the type 2 behavior there is a decrease in the overall brightness level of the phased light curve by ∼0.5 mag. This correlation between the morphology of the orbital light curve and the brightness of the system is shown to hold not only for our new data but also for light curves obtained during 1982–1986. Type 3 behavior is an unresolved mixture of types 1 and 2, whereas type 4 appears to be an extreme bright case of type 1. We find a highly significant correlation between the depth of the secondary dip and the system brightness. The implications of this correlation in the context of one- or two-pole accretion are discussed.


The essential oil has been extracted from Coriandrum sativum L seeds from Apiaceae collected in south west of Hama in Syria by hydro-distillation method and using the microwave-assisted hydro-distillation. The composition, the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the essential oil was achieved and characterized by means of GC-MS and comparing with the references in the literature, about 30 compounds of the essential oil were characterized in both methods. The components and the main oil yield obtained in the form of hydro-distillation (HD) were compared with those obtained by microwave-assisted hydro-distillation (MAHD). The major compounds of the oil extracted by the method of hydro-distillation are: Linalool (59.6%), alpha-pinene (10.1%) and p-Cymene (9.58%), while the major compounds of the oil extracted by microwave-assisted hydro-distillation are : Linalool (63.2%), Geraniol (5%) and Geranyl acetate (6.4%). The microwave extraction method showed a shorter time (30 min) than the time taken by the hydro-distillation extraction method (3 h) Innovative microwave-based extraction methods are faster, more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. The biological effects of essential oil were studied on some pathogenic bacteria including: Staphylococcus aureus , Escherichia coli . Keywords: Apiaceae, Coriandrum sativum L, Essential oils, hydro-distillation, microwave, GC-Mass,, Staphylococcus aureus , Escherichia coli .


This thesis investigates the merits of direct sequence spread spectrum multiple access for wireless local area networks. The primary obstacles are multipath fading and multiaccess interference. These effect both bit error rate and code acquisition performance. Since code acquisition is not a severe problem for matched filter receivers, conditions under which matched filtering can be implemented are determined. These conditions are the result of current technological limitations. It is shown that if matched filtering can not be done then system-wide synchronization is required to facilitate rapid code acquisition. Under these circumstances spread spectrum may not be an attractive multiple access protocol. Two methods are demonstrated to determine system performance in terms of bit error rate and multipath outage. One method is easy to compute and uses a Gaussian interference approximation. The other method, which must be computed numerically by computer, uses a more realistic model but generates similar multipath outage results. Performance is found to compare favorably with several other simple multiple access protocols including fixed assignment FDMA and TDMA. However, it is shown that spread spectrum can not compete with more sophisticated protocols such as CSMA/CD or BRAM that allow cooperation between terminals. Thesis Supervisors: Jerome B. Wiesner, Institute Professor Emeritus Robert S. Kennedy, Professor of Electrical Engineering


The invention relates to a special gluten pipe pile-mold for a construction basis project and comprises a mould core, an upper mold and a lower die. The upper mold and the lower die are arranged on the mould core. The cavities of the upper mold and the lower die are provided with ring trapezoidal concave gluten grooves in an interval distribution. The angle Alpha between the front slope face of the ring trapezoidal concave gluten groove and the template face is from 10 degree to 60 degree. The angle Beta between the back slop face and the template face is from 60 degree to 10 degree. The gap between the ring trapezoidal concave gluten grooves in an interval distribution is provided with one or two or a plurality of concave gluten grooves in a vertical direction communicated with the concave gluten groove. The invention has the advantages mentioned below. First, the design that the ring concave gluten grooves with in an interval concave distribution on the cavity wall of a tubular pileand the gap between the ring concave gluten grooves are provided with one or two or a plurality of concave gluten grooves in a vertical direction effectively expands the overall supporting area of the formed tubular pile, improves the carrying capacity of the tubular pile, wherein the carrying capacity of a Phi 200mm tubular pile is equivalent with that of a Phi 500mm tubular pile, and greatly reduces the cost of production. Second, the invention resolves defect of uneven cracks on the tubular pile due to an uneven stress to the connection part of the tubular wall and the concave gluten, ensures the quality of the formed tubular pile and facilitates the stripping.


resulted in a volume without an ordered or developed theme. The title implies, at least to this reviewer, some form of study connecting environment and land use in Africa (as a continent), whereas what has been given is a series of essays grouped in three parts; studies of the natural environment; studies of the social environment; and case studies. Perhaps it would have been more satisfying to have concentrated the talent on a major area, such as West Africa in view of the qualification of so many of the authors, into a diagnostic treatment of environment, land use, and society. Much of the material for such a treatment can, in fact, be found in the book. One thinks, for example, of the potential for analysis arising from Davies and Robinson's masterly treatment of the energy balance approach to the moisture balance climatology (in which the raw material and methods of study are frankly West African derived), followed by Gregory on rainfall reliability (West African and elsewhere), Ledger on river flow in West Africa, Pullan on West African soils, and Moss on the ecology of land use (mainly in West Africa). This fine stage-setting unhappily does not receive the first


Objective To further explore the shallow suction on the actual effect of mechanical ventilation in clinical practice,so as to provide reference and basis for clinical nursing practice of newborn.Methods This paper selects ICU in 2011 October to 2012 October in our hospital in 60 cases were analyzed retrospectively,in children with clinical effect of different sputum suction method comparison study.Results 1min,2min and 3min in the implementation of the treatment,shallow sputum groups of children with heart rate and blood oxygen saturation level is better than the conventional sputum suction group were compared between groups,and(P0.05),the difference was statistically significant;in the incidence of coughing,shallow sputum group were also lower than the traditional suction phlegm groups the incidence of coughing,comparison and group(P0.05),the difference was statistically significant.Conclusion Using the shallow suction on neonates with mechanical ventilation treatment could achieve clinical practice effect,is a kind of neonatal heart rate,blood oxygen saturation smoothly and effectively reduce method bucking.


Winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus, is currently being evaluated as a stock enhancement candidate in New Hampshire, USA; however, little is known about the gonadal development or the sex ratio of cultured juveniles. To determine the size at gonadal differentiation, 327 cultured fish ranging from 40 mm TL were analyzed for sex ratio. In 2003, 67 females and 164 males were identified, yielding a sex ratio that was significantly skewed toward male (χ2= 40.7, df = 1, P < 0.001). This trend held true when cultured fish were sorted by age and length, with the exception of those fish 61–70 mm TL. This aberration probably was because of a small sample size in this length category. However, in both the 2004 and the 2005 cultured populations, flounder sex did not deviate from a 1:1 ratio (2004 χ2= 0.12, df = 1, P= 0.724 and 2005 χ2= 0.02, df = 1, P= 0.881). The 2003 data suggest that environmental or genetic factors may affect winter flounder sex determination; rearing manipulation studies in the hatchery are needed to confirm this hypothesis.


Burnout, a response to chronic emotional stress, could be influenced by parameters such as healthy lifestyle and physical activity, considered to be important factors in maintaining optimal health and wellness. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of leisure time physical activity participation on the levels of burnout, stress, happiness and quality of life among a sample of Indians in the Potchefstroom Indian community. Indian respondents in Potchefstroom were assessed by a self-report questionnaire for physical activity, burnout, stress, happiness and quality of life. The respondents comprised 101 South African Indian men (n=47) and women (n=54), randomly selected from a semi-urbanized Indian community. The level of burnout, happiness and quality of life were determined by using the Pines et al. Burnout-scale (1981) and the Affectometer 2 questionnaire of Kammann and Flett (1983). Stress symptoms were analyzed by using the 25-item stress symptoms questionnaire (Dickman, 1988). The type, intensity, frequency and duration of participation in physical activity were determined by the Physical Activity Index (PAI) as suggested by Sharkey (1997). One- way analysis of variance was computed for the purpose of this test. The Tukey HSD post-hoc test was used to determine which groups differed statistically from each other (p Keywords : physical activity, stress, happiness, burnout, South African Indians African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance Vol. 12 (3) 2006: 277-286


An application design is offered, which students of physics can use when authoring a solver for mechanical systems with constraints. A 'chainlist' concept is introduced to capture a constrained mechanical system configuration and to pass the simulation scenario to the solver application. Code samples are given to start off the solver application (simulator) project. A short review of linear algebra for constrained motion computations (pseudoinverse) is given.


further reduces high temperature effects in these cells. This paper presents technical considerations, preliminary results, and fabrication details on a However, while these cell structures share new family of high-voltage Planar Multi-junction many good features, each'structure suffers from its (PMJ) solar cells. The new cells combine the atown drawbacks. None of these structures is a high tractive features of planar cells with conventional voltage cell on a single substrate with the advan or interdigitated back contacts and the Vertical tage of simple fabrication. The IBC and the TJC g Multijunction (VMJ) solar cell. The PMJ solar cell are not high-voltage solar cells, the VMJ is not a is internally divided into many voltage-generating planar device on a single substrate, the HMJ is regions, called unit cells, which are internally felt to involv6 a fairly complex fabrication pro connected in series. The key to obtaining reasoncess and the VCGMJ ends up having physically sepa able performance from this device was the separarate semiconductor unit cells held together on a tion of top surface field regions over each active glass plate. unit cell. Using existing solar cell fabricating methods, output voltages in excess of 20 volts per It is the purpose of this paper to present linear centimeter are possible. Analysis of the preliminary experimental results on a new cell, the new device is complex, and numerous geometries are Planar Multijunction (PMJ). This new device is not being studied which should provide substantial only a high voltage solar cell fabricated on a sin benefits in both normal sunlight usage as well as gle semiconductor substrate, but it is also ex with concentrators. pected to share the good features common to the previous structures, such as elimination of losses due to gridshadowing, reduction of the sheet re sistance component of series resistance, and reducINTRODUCTION tion of high temperature effects. Also, the rela tively simple geometry of the PMJ solar cell should In a number of existing and future applicaallow for a simple fabrication process using stan tions of photovoltaic systems, one can see the dedard integrated circuit techniques. sirability of having solar cells which can provide two orders of magnitude higher voltages, while still retaining the characteristics of present PRELIMINARY DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS wafer devices. Other desirable features include simplicity of fabrication, ease of interconnection Figure 1 shows the PMJ cell in schematic and panel assembly, ready bonding of cover glasses cross-section. The illuminated top surface area is for space usage, and reduced losses due to grid divided into several field regions corresponding to shadowing, series resistance and high temperature. the unit cells positioned beneath. These unit voltage-generating cells are electrically connected Various innovative designs such as the Interin series within the wafer. A number of alternate digitated Back Contact (IBC) solar cell (1), the concepts are being considered'including the inTandem Junction Cell (TJC) (2), the Vertical Multiverted structure of that shown in Figure 1, a cell junction (VIJ) solar cell (3), the Horizontal with unit cells both top and bottom, and a concenMultijunction (HMJ) solar cell (4), and the tric unit cell device with center and perimeter V-Groove Multijunction (VGMJ) solar cell (5), have output pads, which may be used with sunlight con been proposed to reduce or eliminate losses due to centrators, and a six unit cell device containing grid-shadowing and the sheet resistance component circuitry for alternating current output. of series resistance. Also, all cells except the IBC and the TJC operate as high-voltage, lowcurrent Because we have not developed the mathematical devices and further reduce series resistance as theory completely for this device, it is not pres well as temperature effects due to 1R heating. ently possible to optimize geometric and material Significant transparency to infrared photons design parameters. However, some preliminary de sign values of key parameters may be obtained from *NASA-ASEE Faculty Fellow, Cleveland State physical considerations and from theory developed University, Cleveland, Ohio 44115. from a somewhat similar structure, the TJC (2). In REPR'-ODUCBILTTY OF TH OIGINL PAGE IS POOR Figure 1, W is the width of the unit voltagegenerating cell, while the subscripts refer to the respective widths of the n and p+ doped regions and the gap separating them. The implanted or diffused metal interconnection bar is intended to be as narrow as possible, but its exact dimensions are not presently known, From simple physical considerations the longest path which a photo-generated electron needs to travel'in order to be collected is approximately:


A series of experiments was conducted in the Stanford M-2 generator to investigate plasma non-uniformities and instabilities. Excellent agreement was obtained with earlier results which showed an increase in property fluctuations with increasing current and magnetic field compared to values without current or magnetic field. Data were taken over a much wider range of conditions than earlier and are only partially reduced at this time. Luminosity measurements which indicate plasma conductivity were made and fluctuations have been correlated with pressure, current, and electric field fluctuations. The correlation is strongest with current. The predominately low frequency fluctuations suggest that relatively large scale non-uniformities exist in the generator channel. A Langmuir probe has been used successfully to measure electron density in an MHD channel with the advantage of spatial resolution over line-of-sight averaged methods. Fabrication of the 6 Tesla disk and linear channels is nearing completion.


Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) is an emerging nonthermal food processing technology being effective in microbial inactivation without impairing the food quality. This paper demonstrates characterization of microbiota present in liquid food so that effective range of PEF can be set accordingly thus depicting the type of microorganism present, its morphology and its cell wall chemistry. The investigated microorganisms included E.coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes, isolated from spoiled orange juice samples. These were characterized through a series of biochemical tests following microscopic (SEM) & spectroscopic (FTIR) characterization. The results were confirmed with respect to Standard MTCC (Microbial Type Culture Collection) strains (MTCC 614, MTCC 96, and MTCC 657). In comparison to Gram negative bacteria, the Gram positive bacteria are more resistant towards PEF. Larger microbial cells require less intense field strength to undergo an equivalent inactivation as compared to smaller cell...


The increasing cost of diesel fuel is making truck haulage in open pit mines less economic. Belt conveyor systems have much lower operating costs but are not as flexible in their application and require more detailed pit planning. The possibility of combining the flexibility of trucks with the low cost of conveyors is offered by the application of semi-mobile crushing plants followed by belt conveyors for the main haul out of the pit. In the first part of this article. Dr.-Ing W. Rixen describes some of the semi-mobile plants already in operation, while in the second section. Dr.-Ing K.J. Benecke discusses a theoretical case study involving trucks, crushers, and conveyors. Since a belt conveyor cannot transport rocks of a size often produced when blasting hard strata, a crusher must be installed before the belt conveyor to reduce the material to a transportable size. This also serves as a primary crusher. The crushing plant is positioned centrally in the mine and trucks haul overburden and ore from the individual faces to the crusher without having to climb long gradients. Therefore, truck haul distances and operating costs are significantly reduced. The resulting savings in operating costs greatly exceeds the additional capital costs more » for the crushing plant. The use of fully mobile crushers directly fed by the face shovel is well established. Whereas the partial elimination of truck haulage by semi-mobile in-pit crushers is a more recent development. This latter method restricts truck haulage to in-pit operation only, saving costly haulage of material up-grade out of the pit to the crusher or overburden dump. It is particularly applicable to operations where blending is required. In such cases, the flexibility and adaptability of trucks to frequently changing faces is essential, while the semi-mobile crusher reduces haul distances to a minimum. « less


Reactive benzylic substrates are treated with a variety of aldimines to give the important β-lactam scaffold with complete regio- and trans-diastereoselectivity.


Landscape took on a new meaning through the new science of plant geography of Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1857). In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, "landscape" was foremost a painterly genre. Slowly, painted landscapes came to bear on natural surroundings, but by 1800 it was still not common to designate sites as "landscapes." Humboldt looked at plant vegetation with a painterly gaze. Artists, according to him, could suggest in their work that an abstract unity lay hidden underneath observable phenomena. Humboldt projected painted landscapes on nature and found its ecological unity. By doing so, he ultimately stripped the concept of landscape from its primary visual meaning.


A synopsis of the biology of the Ascomycotina. A wide variety of classifications of the Ascomycotina has been proposed but a consensus is being reached on the main orders that it is appropriate to recognize. Most of these orders are well characterized with respect to their ecology and nutritional requirements although defined primarily on morphology. The 43 orders are displayed diagrammatically to illustrate their host and substratum requirements. This display is intended to stimulate argument and research by broadening the consideration of evolutionary pathways to include ecological and nutritional factors. It will also be of value as a teaching aid; overlays can be constructed to show additional features not treated here.


National Regulatory Authorities, vigilance and administrative procedure. The zero
rating case - This paper analyses the debate about impact of zero-rating - the
commercial practice of excluding some traffic from overall data caps - on market
and consumers. Some authors describe the potential negative effect of zero ratina
practices on competition, and the conflict with the safeguard of net neutrality principie
and pluralism of information. Others jjnderline the potential benefits associated with
zero-rating, such as promoting broadband access in the disadvantaged areas of the
planet. So, the legislative initiatives in the US and EU introduce an assessment of
costs and benefits on zero rating practices by National Regulatory Authorities-NRA.
Authorities monitor the operators' conducis and verify that providers comply with
their obligations concerning the safeguarding of open internet access by a «case by
case approach» converted into an administrative procedure.


The amounts of intermetallic compounds and liquid phase are estimated as a function of temperature during reaction syntheses for Ni–Al binary alloys having arbitrary compositions under adiabatic conditions. It is assumed that the phases that would present during the process are only those appearing in the equilibrium binary phase diagram. Calculations are done by using available data on heat of formation of intermetallic compounds and those on enthalpy of liquid phase. The results obtained arc discussed in view of the estimation and control of the amount of liquid phase, which is significant for the densification and shape change of materials.


Abstract This paper investigates the phenomenon of stand-up comedians performing in more than one language, which poses the question of whether and how they translate their material. Past research on stand-up comedy underlines its conversational nature, sometimes at the expense of recognizing its content. Empirical evidence collected from interviews with bilingual stand-up comedians, on the other hand, suggests that they perform a form of oral self-translation, which implies a tertium comparationis, the transfer of content. The notion of mental text, borrowed from ethnography, is then productively used to define this content. As is then suggested, two types of memory, namely declarative and procedural, are involved in the memorization of this mental text. The declarative part accounts for what is repeatable across performances and is the part involved in conscious translation; its minimal content is identified in the punch lines. The procedural part accounts for variation, improvisation and interaction. A model of the oral-self translation process of stand-up is then proposed. I conclude that re-focusing on the (mental) text of stand-up comedy can offer a better understanding of its translation, which in turn can contribute to a better understanding of humor in a multilingual and multicultural context in future research.


Background: The systemic reaction to infection in infants younger than one month old is known as neonatal sepsis. Neopterin is one of the immune activity molecular markers that is valuable for inflammatory diseases detection. Conditions with cell-mediated immune response are associated with an elevated serum neopterin levels. Objective: The current study was to assess the diagnostic value of serum neopterin level and risk factors in neonatal sepsis. Patients and methods: A case control study was conducted at Pediatrics Department of Fakous General Hospital. Case group included 24 neonates in the first 72 hours had neonatal sepsis and control group included 24 healthy neonates in the first 72 hours. Blood culture for sensitivity and measurement of serum neopterin, complete blood count and C-reactive protein were performed. Results: Regarding neopterin, cases had significantly increased neopterin levels than controls. Conclusion: In newborns with early-onset sepsis, neopterin was identified as a valuable diagnostic marker.


Partial remelting is the important part of semi-solid metal(SSM) ingots forming technology. In order to obtain small and round grain organization microstructure, the microstructure evolution of ZK60 magnesium alloy SSM ingots obtained by near-liquidus casting were partially remelted, and the microstructure evolution would be investigated by controlling remelting temperature and holding time. The results indicate that good thixotropic microstructure will be obtained by controlling remelting temperature and holding time suitably. Using the graphite mould, optimizing thixotropic microstructure can be obtained at 600-605 ℃ for 10-15 min, the average diameter of grain is 30.5 μm and the roundness is 1.5. With the water-cooled copper mould, the conclusion is the same, the average grain diameter is 31.8 μm and the roundness is 1.6. Meanwhile, the cooling rates during casting also affect the partial remelting progress, reducing the cooling rate properly, the graphite mould can improve the uniformity and stability of the partial remelting microstructure.