Cilostazol (CLZ) and atorvastatin (ATV) are often co‐prescribed to treat conditions such as peripheral arterial disease. In the present study, the drug–drug interaction potential of multi‐dose ATV co‐administration with CLZ on both pharmacokinetics and the anti‐thrombotic property of CLZ is demonstrated. The pharmacokinetic parameters of CLZ (6 mg/kg, twice daily) were determined in male Wistar rats after 7 days co‐administration with ATV (5 mg/kg, once daily) in order to assess the interaction potential between CLZ and ATV on chronic treatment. In vitro metabolic inhibition and everted gut sac studies were conducted to elucidate the mechanism of this interaction. Pharmacodynamic drug–drug interaction was evaluated on anti‐thrombotic models including time to occlusion, platelet aggregation and rat tail bleeding time. A validated LC‐MS/MS method was employed simultaneously to quantify both ATV and CLZ in rat plasma matrix. A statistically significant increase in systemic exposure (Cssmax by ~1.75 fold; AUC by ~3.0 fold) to CLZ was observed in ATV pre‐treated rats. In vitro metabolism studies using liver microsomes (RLM and HLM) demonstrated statistically significant inhibition of CLZ metabolism when co‐incubated with ATV. No change in apparent permeability of CLZ was observed in the presence of ATV. Atorvastatin showed a significant delay in artery occlusion time without altering CLZ's bleeding time and platelet aggregation profile. Collectively the results of these studies provide metabolic insight into the nature of drug–drug interaction between the selected drugs. Co‐administration with ATV influences the pharmacokinetics and anti‐thrombotic property of CLZ. A thorough clinical investigation is required before extrapolation of data to humans. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This paper analyzes the relationship between Annie Ernaux's autobiographical writing and the external suburban space of Cergy-Pontoise in two memoirs: Exteriors (1993/2021) and Things Seen (2000/2010). The paper argues that in Exteriors and Things Seen, Ernaux's individual experience intertwines with the exterior space of the town. The critical exploration of the texts through the prisms of humanistic geography, spatial theory, and feminist spatial theory highlights how the author's spatial and biographical engagement with the new town operates in a twofold way. On the one hand, it works as a tool contributing to the casting of the identity of place. On the other, it results in an exchange configuring the external suburban dimension as a powerful source of the author's internal processes of self-investigation, meaning-making, and memory recollection. By shedding light on the points of intersection between life and place, experience and exteriors, the paper ultimately suggests that the place identity of Cergy-Pontoise is crafted by and through Ernaux's texts and that, concurrently, the suburban space of the new town informs Ernaux's experience, individuality, and memory. The paper concludes by reflecting on the spatial notion of exteriority as a stylistic device informing Ernaux's narrative.


Tropic actions of extracellular nucleotides and nucleosides have been described in both the central and peripheral nervous systems as well as for numerous other cell types. These effects on cellular differentiation and proliferation are mediated by specific cell surface P1 and P2 receptors. In some cases, extracellular purines act synergistically with polypeptide growth factors. The signal‐transduction pathways that couple the P1 or P2 receptors to changes in cell growth are beginning to be uncovered. The trophic actions of purines have both physiological and pathological implications and may play important roles in development and synaptogenesis as well as in tissue injury and repair. Drug Dev. Res. 39:407–412, 1996. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Security is the only buoyant to the frailest link. In this communication world, the implementation of sturdy cryptographic and integrity checking algorithms is the smart solution to the frailest link. So, the proposed paper provides the new-fangled pattern of cryptographic scheme in concert with Number Theory which safeguard the integrity and confidentiality of intricate data and communications. By using this system, client's burden of security issues associated with the data hosting in the untrusted remote server is abridged. By manipulating some features of the Galois Field, a new method of key generation is proposed. The proposed system is resilient against the various attacks and cannot be understood by the intruders. It is simple yet robust and will surely improve the overall security with higher efficiency.


Aim: Rupture of corpus luteum can occur in women of reproductive age, and is usually asymptomatic. Rarely, there is hemoperitoneum leading to circulatory shock requiring surgical intervention. This presents a diagnostic dilemma, with differential diagnoses of appendicitis, ectopic pregnancy and torsion of adnexal mass to consider. This study was undertaken to define characteristics and risk factors for corpus luteum rupture, to improve diagnostic capability and optimize management. There is a lack of local data on the incidence, and we hope to provide updates on management, given the ubiquity of laparoscopic surgery now. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on patients treated surgically for ruptured corpus luteum at National University Hospital, Singapore, from September 1, 2004 to March 31, 2011, looking at demographics, clinical features, operative findings and follow-up. Results: 47 cases were analyzed; 80.8% in peak reproductive age of 15-34 years, 25.5% in first trimester pregnancy. Most are healthy, but two patients were newly diagnosed with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura on this admission. All patients presented with severe abdominal pain, while some also had signs of peritoneal irritation. 55.4% of such patients were initially misdiagnosed. Sonography revealed free fluid in 84.1%. Diagnostic laparoscopies were performed in 78.7%; with the rest undergoing laparotomies. Hemoperitoneum below 1L was seen in 85.1% of patients, above 1L in seven patients, of which three went onto require blood transfusions. All patients recovered well, with return of normal menses. None of the patients required further surgical treatment. Conclusion: Increasing awareness of ruptured corpus luteum is recommended, especially for cases with right-sided pain, pregnancy and adnexal masses. High index of suspicion is required for timely intervention for securing hemostasis. Laparoscopy is used first-line, except cases better managed by laparotomy. Underlying bleeding diatheses can be a predisposing factor. Recurrence may be prevented with ovulation suppression.


For a weight function ? : 0, ∞ ? 0, ∞ we denote by E(?)(RN) the class of all ?-ultradifferentiable functions of Beurling type on RN. Each element in E(?)(RN) is a function with ?-rapid polynomial approximation on each compact set K ? of RN, whenever ? is a strong weight function, i.e., formula] where PNj denotes the space of all polynomials in N variables of degree ? l and ? ?K denotes the sup-norm on K. In the present pages there is given a family of weight functions ? such that each function f with ?-rapid polynomial approximation defined on a compact set K satisfying Markov?s inequality can be extended to an ?-ultradifferentiable function on RN. However this is not true for the small Gevrey classes E(t1/d) = ?(d).


A process for producing liquid hydrocarbons from a heavy load such as biomass, coal, lignite, heavy oil or residue comprising: - a partial oxidation b) of the heavy feedstock, producing a synthesis gas SG1, of H2 / CO 3; - a Fischer-Tropsch conversion into liquid hydrocarbons from a synthesis gas SG, a mixture of at least a portion of SG1 and at least a portion of SG2, in proportions such that SG has a H2 / CO ratio between 1.2 and 2.5 .The light feedstock comprises hydrocarbons having less than 10 carbon atoms C 1 -C 10 from pretreatment of the heavy feedstock and / or produced in the Fischer-Tropsch stage and / or in a downstream hydrocracking.


No-tillage system associated with crop rotation increases the amount of crop residues left as mulch on the topsoil, and can be an important and sustainable alternative for soil management in tropical and subtropical conditions. The objective of this work was to evaluate the soil physical properties affected by cover crop, rotation and soil management in a long-term experiment in South Brazil. The experimental site was cultivated for 10 years in a conventional system. Subsequently, the field experiment was established in 1986, and treatments combined six winter cover crop species, and two tillage systems (conventional tillage - CT and no-tillage - NT). The treatments were laid out using a split-plot design in three blocks. The soil samples were collected in October 2005 from trenches at six depths. The bulk density, aggregate size fractions and porosity were determined. The NT system contributed to increase the formation of coarse aggregates and improved the soil aggregation parameters. In the first upper layers, the soil disturbance due to ploughing every season, enhanced the macroporosity and diminished the microporosity on conventional system comparatively to NT. Independently of the type of soil management all winter species increased the higher aggregate size class.


Chiral doping substances of the formula ** ** Z1-Y1- (A1) m-Y2-Y3-M-X-Z2en which the variables, independently of one another, have the following meanings: A1 a spacer selected from the group consisting of - (CH2) q-, - (CH2CH2O) rCH2CH2-, -CH2CH2SCH2CH2-, -CH2CH2NHCH2CH2-.


In the randomized controlled study of Patel et al. published in the Journal of Cardiac Surgery, the effect of preoperative sildenafil use on early postoperative results in patients with ventricular septal defect and pulmonary hypertension was investigated. The authors conclude that preoperative sildenafil 2 weeks before surgery leads to a significant reduction in mean intraoperative, postoperative pulmonary pressures and reduction in cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) time, and that these effects can lead to potential benefits on postoperative early surgical outcomes like lesser mechanical ventilation requirement, intensive care unit stay and hospital stay. I agree that the data provided may explain the effect of preoperative sildenafil on pulmonary arterial pressures. It is also plausible that the patients with a long CPB duration can be expected to have shorter postoperative mechanical ventilation and hospital stay. However, the conclusion that sildenafil use will decrease the duration of CPB may be optimistic. What could be the potential mechanism for such an effect? The preoperative use of sildenafil is already a controversial issue. In a randomized trial by Vassalos et al. oral sildenafil (0.5 mg/kg) administered the day before cardiac surgery led to significantly reduced postoperative oxygen delivery and biventricular systolic function In another randomized controlled study, oral 0.6 mg/kg sildenafil given 30–60 min before induction led to a subclinical increase in cardiac enzyme release, compared to placebo. Potentially, in a patient with a reversibly high pulmonary vascular resistance, pulmonary blood flow may increase when the resistance drops, resulting in pulmonary overflow and decompensation. Although the effect of preoperative sildenafil on lower CPB time is questionable, I think the outcomes of this study are still valuable. Lower preoperative pulmonary artery pressure with preoperative sildenafil use compared to placebo in a randomized controlled study, is an important finding. However, further evidence is necessary before routine preoperative prescription of sildenafil in children with left to right shunts.


This work presents Scientific Visualization (SV) techniques applied to Meteorology. Some SV aspects are discussed, such as specific visualization techniques and classical models of interaction between simulation and user. It is also presented the problem of cloud tracking and the manner the SV could be helpful to solve it. A prototype system which performs Automatic Tracking of Cloud Systems has been implemented. The system generates a three-dimensional modelling by combining the satellite images with the topography. It is possible to generate an animated tracking of an interactively selected cloud from a set of input images. Meteorological parameters related to the clouds and their tracking are evaluated during the processing.


MODEL Figure 2C depicts a block diagram of an abstract model for synaptic operation based on n ARCs connected in parallel as proposed by Berco et al. (2018). The number of PR-ARCs in the group is marked as nPR and of NR-ARCs as nNR. GPR is the combined conductance of the PR-ARCs and GNR of the NR-ARCs. The conductivity of a single PR-ARC is Gu and Gd of a single NR-ARC. Both parameters may be modeled after experimental data by using a behavioral lookup table. The synaptic model transitions from an excitatory state to an inhibitory one once the positive conductivity surpasses the negative conductivity and vice versa. The synaptic weight change 1G corresponds to spiking timing alignment in biologic synapses and is determined by network training and operation. In this manner, the number of ARCs which are flipped from a NR state to a PR one is determined by the ratio 1G/Gu for LTP. In a similar way, the number of ARCs which are flipped from a PR state to a NR one is determined by the ratio 1G/Gd for LTD. LOGIC GATE IMPLEMENTATION ARCs may also be used for the implementation of logic gates as depicted in Figure 3. Programming entire crossbar arrays could be utilized in this manner to implement in-memory computing schemes. Figure 3A shows the implementation of an OR gate. Both ARCs are programmed to rectify current from the inputs toward the output. A high logic level setting of any of the inputs would result in current flow and charging of the output parasitic capacitance to "1". When both inputs are set low the output will either retain a low logic level or discharge through leakage to "0". Figure 3B gives the implementation of an AND gate. In this case, both ARCs are set to rectify in an opposite direction (from output to inputs). Only when both inputs are set to a high level the output will charge through leakage to "1". If any of the inputs is set to a low level, a discharge path will occur which will force the output to "0".


Abstract The first structure-property relationships are reported for segmented polyrotaxane ionenes which possess the rotaxane moiety at the hard segment. These ionenes are based on PTMO/MDI (PTMO M n of 650, 1000, or 2000 daltons) as the elastomeric segment and paraquat hard segments with either PF6 − or Br− as the counterion. GPC indicates that these ionenes have a highly variable architecture with respect to the placement of the ionene hard segment. SAXS also supports the notion of a randomly placed hard segment because the interionic domain d spacings are not predictable or consistent. SAXS also shows there are few "lone multiplets" in the PF6 − derivative whereas there are considerable numbers of isolated ion pairs in the Br− ion-exchanged ionenes. Tensile testing shows that the PTMO-1000 and PTMO-2000 materials are elastomeric with good properties, but the PTMO-650 ionene is not elastomeric with the ionic hard segment as a continuous phase. Dynamic mechanical tests also indicate that these segmented...


A high average power passively Q-switched LD side-pumped laser system at 1 064nm was set up by using Nd∶YAG/Cr∶YAG/YAG composite crystal.With 85%initial transmission of Cr∶YAG, the average output power of 1 064nm was measured.Under the maximum pump power of 187.5W,the maximum average output power of 83.68 W at 1 064nm was obtained.By frequency doubling the 1 064nm laser output in a KTP nonlinear crystal,27.2 W green laser pulses at 532nm with the corresponding pulse width of 210ns and the repetition rate of 21.2kHz were produced under the maximum pump power.The green laser single-pulse energy was 1.28 mJ and the peak power was 6.1kW.And the optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of pump light to frequency-doubling light was 14.5%.


The International Design Study for a future Neutrino Factory and super‐beam facility (the ISS) established the physics case for a high‐precision programme of long‐baseline neutrino‐oscillation measurements. The ISS also identified baseline specifications for the Neutrino Factory accelerator complex and the neutrino detector systems. This paper summarises the objectives of the International Design Study for the Neutrino Factory (the IDS‐NF). The IDS‐NF will build on the work of the ISS to deliver a Reference Design Report for the Neutrino Factory by 2012/13 and an Interim Design Report by 2010/11.


Many teachers in dire need of psychological and pedagogical knowledge: especially in psychology of communication, interpersonal, psychological and pedagogical diagnostics, personality-based and correctional education, new educational technologies and age characteristics of contemporary students, etc. If we consider the mathematics teacher is not as a source of educational and cognitive information, as well as the carrier and repeater culture, it should be noted serious problems in the formation of general knowledge of the teacher.


This paper from the spontaneous combustion of the cause of the car to find out attention to methods, given emergency treatment program, and introduces the hot summer car care coup, as well as post processing. pay attention to the maintenance of normal maintenance of the car to reduce the car's ignition to eliminate the security risks and reduce the owner's economic loss.


The inverse method was originally developed for geophysical problems. It is used to fit model parameters in connection with theoretical assumptions to measured data, and allows an evaluation about the applicability of the chosen functional relation (model) and experimental setup. Besides the first extensive application of the inverse model theory to airborne meteorological measurements we present several evaluation criteria to estimate the quality of the model results. Data sets of two field experiments, HELINEX and GWEX, both carried out in the boundary layer over Germany were analysed. Each consists of various meteorological parameters collected during several box flight patterns in various heights with two airborne measurement systems: namely, the helicopter-system HELIPOD and the research aircraft Dornier 128-6. In a first effort the inverse problem was solved for the field parameters of temperature assuming spatial and temporal linear dependence along with Gaussian statistics. The results were verified by radio soundings and by the comparison of the two independent airborne measurements. In HELINEX we could determine the temperature field with high accuracy although the synoptic situation was characterized by a weak horizontal temperature gradient, and the flight patterns were comparatively small. In GWEX we found large discrepancies between synchronous measurement-flights of HELIPOD and Do 128-6. On the one hand this demonstrates the limits of linear inverse methods: The vertical structure of the boundary layer was very inhomogeneous and instationary, and was not sufficiently reproduced by the assumed linear relations. On the other hand this gave us an opportunity to test the evaluation criteria of the inversion.


Economic interests of Ukraine require depreciation policy aiming at increase in national investments. Current legislation determines calculating of depreciation only as an element of income tax charge and does not reflect investment potential of depreciation system. Draft of Depreciation Policy Conception was tailored by the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy, elaborated by the Institute of Economic Forecasting of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences and approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. This document contains necessary reforming measures which allow to enlarge depreciation recourses and ensure their investment direction. The that article precedes Draft Concept publication describes in more details the theoretical basis of depreciation reforms and highlights methodological issues of its realization in Ukraine.


Based on the data of 8 analytical trees originated from 3 types tree source collected from Xishan and Dayanshang area of Beijing,the growth process of DBH,height and volume and the relationship between DBH and height were analyzed respectively;4 theoretical equations were applied to fit the growth process.The results showed that the 3 types of sample trees were all in the fast growing stage which was far from quantity mature stage;the comparison of growth process among the 3 types of sample trees showed that the growth of trees originated from seedling sprouts were the fastest,followed by trees originated from natural regeneration and trees originated from planted seedlings,however,the trees originated from seedlings showed larger growth potential than those originated from seedlings sprouts;the results of DBH-height relationship showed a positive correlation trend;but the height growth of trees originated from seedling sprouts became slower when the DBH larger than 7 cm;the results of 4 fitted theoretical equations showed that Richards,Mitscherlich and Gompertz equations well fitted the growth processes of DBH,height and volume of the sample trees,while the fitting precision of Logistic equation was relatively lower.This study can provide reference for the management of Quercus variabilis forest in Beijing.


In this paper, the methods for solving the two-point boundary value problem for descriptor systems (TPBVDS) are presented. To solve this class of systems using the methods mentioned, the system of difference equations with twopoint boundary condition needs to be solved. The importance of these is even more conspicuous considering the fact that these systems are often used in precise description of numerous natural phenomena.


The electrically conducting lower mantle is penetrated by changing magnetic fields originating in the earth's core. The Lorentz force (j×B) interaction of these fields with the electrical currents there produces a mechanical torque on the mantle. By using the Maxwell stress representation the expression for this torque is shown to reduce to the surface integral −1/μ ∫ (r×B) BrdS over the core-mantle boundary. The result is important in the study of possible changes in the length of day and the geographical position of the pole, due to angular momentum transfer between the electromagnetically coupled core and mantle.


Background and Aim: Martyrs and veterans progeny students have unique status due to their special life condition comparing with non-veteran students. The aim of this study is to compare the psychological hardiness and resilience against educational stressors in veterans and  non-veteran students. Materials and Methods:  Causal-comparative research method was utilized for this study.  Sample population included all veterans and non-veterans high school students of Ilkhechi (Tabriz) in the academic year of 2016 and 2017.  Sample of 80 students (40 veterans and 40 normal students) were randomly selected using Cochran formula. Data collection tools included Kobasa Hardiness Scale and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. For data analysis, MANOVA were performed, using SPSS version 19. The significance level was considered to be 0.05.  Results: Results showed that there are significant differences in the psychological hardiness and resilience variables between veteran and non-veteran students (P<0.001). Based on the results, veteran students are less than average in psychological hardiness and resilience variables. Conclusion: Our results, consistent with previous findings,indicate that students with high levels of psychological hardiness and resilience are able to maintain their psychological health in stressful and tough situations and are more prone psychological adaptation.


The objective of this research was to obtain Endophitic Streptomyces from some medical plants which have antituberculosis effect and also to test its antitubercullosis activity againts sensitive stain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Medicinal plants used in this study were Kaemferia galanga, Hibiscus sabdariffa and Piper cronatum. Streptomyces was isolated using two different media namely Humic Acid Vitamin (HV) agar and HV with plant extract, and purified on Yeast Malt Agar (YMA) medium. Morphological characterization of Streptomyces obtained was observed including aerial mycelium and substrate mycelium, pigmentation, and colony surface. A total of 5 endophitic Streptomyces genus were obtained from medicinal plant. Isolates K.J3A, K.J3B, K.J4 and K.J11 from Kaemferia galanga radix, S.MJ1 from Piper cronatum folium. Streptomyces was not found from Hibiscus sabdariffa calyx. Each isolate had variety of characteristics which could be seen in aerial mass color, substrate mass color, and pigmentation. Antitubercullosis activity showed that total of 5 endophitic Streptomyces were not capable to inhibit the growth sensitive stain of M. tubercullosis.Keywods: Antituberculosis, endophitic actinomycetes, Kaemferia galanga, Hibiscus sabdariffa


We develop a model of the monopsonistic organization of a ferrous scrap recycling branch. Negative externalities in the collection activity and information asymmetries on scrap quality are the distinctive features of the branch. After shedding light on the gold rush problem - the interplay between the collection externalities and the price of the good - we explain how a monopsonistic recycling firm regulates the market for scrap collection. The strategic use of expertise transfer to its suppliers is the recycler's control lever to overcome the potential gold rush externalities. The social consequences of this informational solution are inquired stressing a strong equity vs efficiency dilemma, even more pervasive when accounting for the environmental dimension.


In the article the basic stages of formation and development of Faculty of service, technology and design are considered. It is shown, that a priority direction at faculty is research work, and also development and support of scientific schools. Special attention is given to those scientists who have rendered the considerable contribution to development of chairs and scientific schools of faculty.


Predicting students' academic performance is one of the older challenges faced by the educational scientific community. However, most of the research carried out in this area has focused on obtaining the best accuracy models for their specific single courses and only a few works have tried to discover under which circumstances a prediction model built on a source course can be used in other different but similar courses. Our motivation in this work is to study the portability of models obtained directly from Moodle logs of 24 university courses. The proposed method intends to check if grouping similar courses by the degree or the similar level of usage of activities provided by the Moodle logs, and if the use of numerical or categorical attributes affect in the portability of the prediction models. We have carried out two experiments by executing the well-known classification algorithm over all the datasets of the courses in order to obtain decision tree models and to test their portability to the other courses by comparing the obtained accuracy and loss of accuracy evaluation measures. The results obtained show that it is only feasible to directly transfer predictive models or apply them to different courses with an acceptable accuracy and without losing portability under some circumstances.


In this work, we demonstrate continuous sorting of blood in a simple passive microfluidic device. Our approach takes advantage of the principles of inertial microfluidics and Dean drag forces in spiral microchannels. We report successful isolation of plasma and separation of blood cells with high throughput (1-2mL/min) and high separation efficiency (>90%). The developed approach caters to the need for blood cell sorting devices that can be integrated with an on-chip analysis system and rapidly provide separated sample with high purity.


The first Nigerian novel in English to make a splash on the Anglo-American literary scene was not Chinua Achebe's landmark Things Fall Apart (1958), but instead Amos Tutuola's The Palm-Wine Drinkard (1952). Hailed by Dylan Thomas as a 'bewitching' tale in 'young English', Tutuola's novel combines the universal appeal of a quest narrative punctuated by encounters with supernatural beings such as 'Hungry-creature', 'Invisible-Pawn', and 'half-bodied baby', on the one hand, with the exotic appeal of an idiosyncratic, perhaps even primitive, prose style, on the other. The journey that structures the narrative is undertaken by the eponymous protagonist, who travels to the abode of the dead*Deads' Town*in an attempt to bring an important person back to life. Unlike Orpheus, Ceres, or Gilgamesh, however, the palm-wine drinkard seeks the recovery not of a wife, child, or bosom friend, but an employee: a palm-wine tapster, whom the drinkard's father had hired to tap wine for the drinkard from a farm of 560,000 palm trees, and who falls to his death while on the job. Tutuola's unusual, yet parallel, syntax conveys the relationship between drinkard and tapster: 'I had no other work more than to drink palm-wine in my life', the drinkardnarrator tells us, while the 'expert palm-wine tapster [. . .] had no other work more than to tap palm-wine every day'. Together, the expert palm-wine tapster and the prolific drinkard had formed a closed circuit of production and consumption. Tutuola's neologism, drinkard , expresses this professionalisation of consumption in a way that neither drinker nor drunkard could. The 'work' of drinking palm wine becomes impossible without the tapster, yet the dead tapster cannot return to the land of the living to resume his labour. Embedded within Tutuola's marvellous tale, in other words, is an economic analysis of resource extraction and labour relations. A similar dynamic appears in at least two other tapster tales from Nigeria* Ben Okri's short story 'What the Tapster Saw' and Karen King-Aribisala's 'Tale of the Palm-Wine Tapster' in her novel, Kicking Tongues*and my goal in this essay is to understand what such seemingly magical stories about natural resources tell us about the multi-layered relationships between Nigerian literary production and other commodity exports. Okri's 'What the Tapster Saw' depicts the superimposition of a petroleum economy over a palm economy in the Niger Delta. The equivalent of the journey to Deads' Town in this 1987 short story is the nightmarish vision of a palm-wine tapster who falls from a tree while trespassing on Delta Oil Company territory; during a


Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted tremendous interest because of their rapid improvement in power conversion efficiency (PCE) from the initial PCE of 3.8% for the first prototype to the certified PCE of 25.2% in 2019.


To any rooted tree, we associate a sequence of numbers that we call the logarithmic factorials of the tree. This provides a generalization of Bhargava's factorials to a natural combinatorial setting suitable for studying questions around generalized factorials.
We discuss several basic aspects of the framework in this paper. In particular, we relate the growth of the sequence of logarithmic factorials associated to a tree to the transience of the random walk and the existence of a harmonic measure on the tree, obtain an equidistribution theorem for factorial-determining-sequences of subsets of local fields, and provide a factorial-based characterization of the branching number of infinite trees.
Our treatment is based on a local weighting process in the tree which gives an effective way of constructing the factorial sequence.


Dr. Fletcher and Miss Jepps in this report in book form, being No. 19 in the series of reported studies conducted by the Institute for Medical Research, Federated Malay States, have covered with characteristic thoroughness the subject of dysentery in the Federated Malay States.
The publishers too are to be congratulated in their choice of large type and in the artistic covering. The illustrations are clear cut reproductions of well chosen pathological specimens.
The preface by Dr. A. E. Horn, C.M.G., generalizes on steps already taken to insure the health of the laborers and compliments the careful work of the Institute for Medical Research.
The subject matter of the book is divided into seventeen chapters. The objects were especially to ascertain:
1.
The comparative frequency of amoebic and bacillary infection.
2.
The most expedient means of diagnosis in life.
3.
The distinguishing post mortem feature of amoebic or bacillary infection.


Many trivalent rare earth ions such as Er3+, Tm3+, Ho3+, Pr3+ and Nd3+ were doped as absorption and emission centers in glass hosts. In this work, lead borotellurite (PBT) glass doped with neodymium ion (Nd3+) has been prepared and characterized by mean of their optical properties. The UV-Vis measurement has been carried out in order to determine the optical band gap energy, reflective indices and the polarizability. Optical absorption spectra of the glass samples are recorded in the range 400–900 nm at room temperature From the result, there are six significant absorption peaks that corresponds to 525 nm, 584 nm, 683 nm, 747 nm, 805 nm and 878 nm wavelength have been observed with the most predominant peak to be used as excitation wavelength is found centered at 584 nm. The energy band gaps as well as the refractive indices were found to vary from 2.50eV to 2.59eV and from 1.89 to 1.96 with mol% of Nd content respectively. Meanwhile, the polarizability shows a similar trend of results to refractive indices as it varies from 5.56 x 10-24 cm3 to 5.63 x 10-24 cm3. These results will be discussed further in details.


Inhibitor‐1 (I‐1) is a critical regulator of cardiac function. Upon phosphorylation at T35, I‐1 inhibits Protein Phosphatase‐1 (PP1) and augments contractility. In fact, the depressed function in failing hearts is partially attributed to impaired PP1 regulation via I‐1. To define any beneficial effects of acute I‐1 expression, we generated a double transgenic (DTG) mouse model with inducible (Tet‐off) expression of active I‐1 (T35D). 8 weeks of I‐1 expression elicited maximal stimulation on cardiac function, assessed by in vivo catheterization. Specifically, the contraction and relaxation rates were increased by 21% and 32% respectively, as compared to wild‐type. This was specifically attributed to increased phospholamban phosphorylation, while there were no changes in Troponin I and the Ryanodine Receptor. To examine the potential therapeutic role of I‐1 in ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), we subjected hearts to global I/R ex vivo. The DTG mice continued to show higher contractility (by 27%), which was not accompanied by altered necrotic injury, assessed by infarct size and LDH efflux. However, apoptotic injury was significantly attenuated in the DTG hearts. In conclusion, expression of I‐1 enhances basal contractility and improves functional recovery after an ischemic insult, suggesting that I‐1 may represent a potential therapeutic target in myocardial infarction. (NIH HL64018 to EGK, AHA 0715500B to PN)


Background: Psidium guajava (guava) leaf extracts have been extensively studied for their anti-microbial effect. Yet, very few studies investigated the antimicrobial effect of the ripe guava fruit. Aim: This study aims at examining aqueous extracts of ripe Psidium guajava fruit, bulb, seeds and peels (harvested in autumn at Jordan River valley). Materials and methods: Decreasing concentrations of water extracts of three parts of the fruit are tested against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria as well as the fungus Saccharomyces cerevesea using the agar diffusion method. Clinical isolates of MRSA are also included. Results: Water extracts of Guava peels at concentrations ≥ 10% are inhibitory to coagulase positive S. aureus and MRSAs, and at ≥ 1% are inhibitory to  coagulase negative Staphylococci. Water extracts of peels acted synergistically with cell wall synthesis inhibitor antibiotics towards S. aureus and MRSA strains used. HPLC-MS-MS analysis through ion trap and subsequent fragmentation of the isolated ions from peels water extracts allowed the clear identification of two well-known phenolic compounds that are known for their antimicrobial activity: Gallic acid (957.6 μg/mL) and Ferulic acid(13 μg/mL). Conclusion: The ripe fruit of Guava is a nutritionally rich fruit with an outer covering that possess antimicrobial properties


Goals: To present retrospective data on esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) findings of patients who were admitted to a training and research hospital due to upper gastrointestinal system problems.
Background: EGD is an interventional method used for diagnosing diseases of the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum. EGD is essential in the diagnosis of various benign and malign upper gastrointestinal diseases, as well as for therapy or disease follow-up.
Study: This study evaluated retrospective data of 5014 patients with upper gastrointestinal problems who were admitted to General Surgery and Family Medicine Departments and Emergency Service of Taksim Training and Research Hospital and were referred for EGD in the Endoscopy Department between the years 2002 and 2009.
Results: Among 5014 patients, EGD could be performed in 4950 (2820 females) with a mean age of 47.7 ± 16.2 years (range, 31.5-63.9 years). The number of patients undergoing EGD was higher in 2007 and 2008 than the other years. The most common diagnosis was gastric diseases (92.1%). Only 3.3% of all patients had normal EGD findings. Gastritis, hiatal insufficiency, and duodenitis were the most common diseases in the study population (84.3%, 24.4%, and 10.6% respectively). Esophageal, gastric, and duodenal diseases were most commonly observed in the years 2007 and 2008 in the whole study population.
Conclusion: Our study revealed that gastric diseases were the most commonly observed diseases in the patients undergoing EGD. Endoscopy is a safe and reliable procedure that is essential for the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of upper gastrointestinal diseases.


Purpose To develop a high performance liquid chromatography method to determine the concentration of cyclophosphamide(CTX) in human plasma. Methods The HP1100 high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system was used,including a quaternary pump,a manual injector,a variable wavelength detector and an LC 2D Chem Station.The analytical column was an HP Lichrosphere C 8 column(250 mm×4 mm,5 μm) with an HP Licrosphere guard column.The isocritic mobile phase was the acetonitrile and water with the rate of 18∶82 ( V / V ).The flow rate was 1.5 mL/min.The detective UV wavelength was 195 nm.The plasma samples,added ifosfamide(Ifo) as internal standard,were deposited down the protein with methanol.The supernatant was evaporated by N 2 at 40?℃.The remains was dissolved with 100 μL water.20 μL was injected to the sampler. Results The chromatography was good and not interfered by the components of the plasma.The liner equation was Y=4.861X+0.181 7,r= 0.999 9 (0.5-50 μg/mL).The RSD of intra day10%,and the RSD of inter day10%. Conclusions This is a accurate and convenient method to determine the concentration of CTX in plasma.


Background: The role of early enteral nutrition (ENN) supplemented with probiotics (<48 hours) in improving clinical outcomes of patients with severe head injury (SHI) remains controversial. We performed this meta-analysis to investigate the efficacy of EEN supplemented with probiotics on clinical outcomes in these patients. Methods: Systematic searches were performed in PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang database, and Chinese Biomedical Literature to identify potential studies. Two investigators checked citations, extracted data, appraised risk of bias, and then STATA 12.0 was used to perform statistical analysis. Results: A total of 18 trials were eventually included in the present study. Meta-analysis indicated that EEN supplemented with probiotics was associated with decreased risk of infection (risk ratio [RR], 0.53; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.44–0.65), decreased risk of mortality (RR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.38–0.82), decreased risk of gastrointestinal complications (RR, 0.19; 95% CI, 0.13–0.25), and shortened stays in intensive care unit (ICU) (mean difference [MD], −4.55; 96% CI, −5.91 to −3.19). Conclusion: EEN supplemented with probiotics may be a promising alternative for patients with SHI because it effectively decreased the risk of infection, mortality, and gastrointestinal complications, as well as shortened the stays in ICU.


Objective: Perform the semantic equivalence of Pediatric Subjective Global Nutritional Assessment and its adaptation to the Portuguese language for use in pediatric patients hospitalized with cancer. Methods: The semantic equivalence process involved the following steps: translation, synthesis of translations, back-translation, discussion with Expert Committee and pre-test, steps that took place at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro and at the Instituto Nacional de Câncer Jose Alencar Gomes da Silva. The questionnaire was pretested in 32 patients with pediatric cancer, of the aged 2-18 years, to check its suitability in this population. Results: All steps justified the equivalence semantics of the instrument. Discrete changes were necessary in the Pediatric Subjective Global Nutritional Assessment instrument for the Brazilian context. According to the responses of each free expert for each of the 56 assertions, 81% of the responses were classified as "unchanged". It was a good semantic equivalence between the translation and the back-translation and the original version. Conclusion: The Brazilian version of Pediatric Subjective Global Nutritional Assessment was well understood by the study population and was adequate to continue with the remaining steps of cross-cultural adaptation and validation tool for further application in hospitalized pediatric patients with cancer.


As part of his review into the Future of Audit, Sir Brydon is seeking views, supported by evidence, on the extent to which the statutory audit meets the current needs of users of financial statements and how it might evolve to better meet the needs of those users, and serve the interests of other stakeholders and the wider public interest.


This study aims to understand the structure of logical system in the Hanbali School and trace the existence of the ideas of legal positivism in it. This study focusedon the Hanbali School of Jurisprudence, since it is often referred to as the textual-inclined Jurisprudence. The ideas of legal positivism are very close to textualism. The primary source of data in this research is the books of fiqh that related to the Hanbali school category. The data collection and the analysis technique were adopted from the content analysis method systematicallyto deeply describe the epistemological structure of the Hanbali School and the ideas of the legal posistivism in it.


The importance of vitamin D to bone health is well known, yet new research has linked vitamin D to numerous chronic diseases severely affecting our society. Recent studies have suggested vitamin D plays a critical role in conditions such as diabetes, cancers, and cardiovascular diseases. These chronic conditions are among the main causes of morbidity and mortality in our society. In addition, a deficiency in vitamin D has become all too common with a majority of Americans deficient in this essential vitamin. Guidelines directing healthcare providers when to screen for vitamin D deficiency beyond bone health and also how to treat the disease do not currently exist. In addition, routine screening does not generally occur in the healthcare setting if the patient is not at risk for bone disease or fractures. Current guidelines are not sufficient to prevent the harmful effects related to a deficiency in vitamin D and adequate intake is essential to the health of all individuals. This paper provides an evidence-based guideline to educate providers on the numerous implications of vitamin D deficiency beyond bone health and explores whether sufficient levels of vitamin D reduce future health risks associated with numerous chronic diseases.


For the last few years India has been facing food crisis and as result, the prices of food grains have been on the very high side affecting the purchasing power of the rural and urban poor. As a result, Government's policies and programmes in regard to reduction in poverty are being severely affected, leading to addition in the crisis. This year due lesser rain the crisis is becoming more severe. Droughts hit or affect not just only agriculture, but also demand for every thing from fuel to soaps. Acreage of rice had gone down by 25 per cent in 2009 and output may go down by 15 per cent. With low yield feared, wheat export has stopped. Falling exports could bring Indian farmers further, too, under heavy clouds. In the light of these observations, the present paper deals with emerging trends, different issues and consequences of food crisis to Indian economy. The paper also suggests a strategy to over come the crisis.


The area of body sensor networks has recently attracted many researchers due to its potential to revolutionize medicine. These sensors are usually implanted inside the human body and communicate among themselves. In the process of receiving, processing or transmitting data, these devices produce heat. The temperature produced by these sensor nodes might damage tissues surrounding the devices if exposed for a prolonged period of time. This paper seeks to improve and evaluate two protocols—Least Temperature Routing and Adaptive Least Temperature Routing protocol—by implementing clustering as well as a leadership rotation algorithm that was also previously proposed. The researchers used Castalia to simulate a basic BAN cluster composed of 6 nodes. To simulate all nodes sending data to one sink node, a throughput application was used. Simulations with leadership rotation showed significantly lower energy consumption compared to a set up with no leadership rotation.


Thermodynamic, kinetic, and mechanical approaches for sublimation inside elastoplastic material via intermediate svirtual d melting under tensile pressure are developed for a spherical nucleus. Virtual melting represents the appearance of subcritical liquid drop that immediately transforms to gas bubble. The variety of mechanisms and transformation paths are revealed in different pressure ranges. The radius of the critical gas nucleus differs from the classical one because elastic energy of melt is size dependent due to surface tension. Our developed approach can be extended for various structural changes in nanoparticles within a void inside elastoplastic material and two-stage and multistage nucleation processes. Universal mechanical gas bubble instability is revealed.


Kakadu National Park - Lease agreements. On 3 November 1978 leases were executed between the Kakadu Aboriginal Land Trust and the Director of National Parks for land in stage one, Kakadu National Park.


The ability to detect a new fault class can be a useful feature for an intelligent fault classification and diagnosis system.In this paper,a support vector novelty detection algorithm,the support vector data description(SVDD), was adopted to represent known fault class samples,and to detect new fault class samples.The experiments on real multi-class bearing faults data showed that the proposed approach can effectively detect prescribed 'unknown' fault samples with detection rated 88%—100%,and identify known faults samples with recognition rated 83%—94% via choosing appropriate SVDD algorithm parameters.


PROFIBUS-DP technology was introduced,and the principle of the communication between the master station and slave station based on PROFIBUS-DP was described.The method of design and realization of master-slave structure based on PROFIBUS for process control experiment system was discussed.


Omeprazole is a pair of active enantiomers of racemic mixtures,with the chemical structure of sulfonyl benzimidazole.Omeprazole chemical structure is easy to change,especially under the acidic condition,its stability is affected by the solvent type,dosage,pH value,light,metal ions,temperature and other factors,and clinical compatibility also affects the clinical application of omeprazole injection.Incompatibility results in polymerization and discoloration,influencing the normal clinical application.Here is to make a review on the causes and prevention measures of the discoloration.


Mollusc communities were sampled quantitatively at eleven sites representing different environmental conditions in the Bieszczady National Park (East Carpathians Mts, Poland). Overall 61 species were recorded. Alder forest in the valleys (AF; Alnetum incanae carpathicum, Caltho-Alnetum, secondary alder forest) hosted the richest fauna, with up to 41 species occurring sympatrically on 100 m2 of forest floor and average density ca. 750 specimens m−2. Three important ecological controllers of species composition and community structure were found. The main predictor of mollusc assemblage composition was calcium content; the first DCA axis of molluscs most significantly and highly correlated with calcium content in the leaf litter and organic matter in the upper layer. The second axis significantly correlated with altitude and negatively with annual temperature, and thus can be explained as an elevational gradient. We observed slope aspect to constitute the third significant gradient. On the basis of forward selection in CCA analysis organic matter in the upper layer of soil was the best predictor of species composition, which explained 26% of total variance. It comes to prove that in mountain forest on non-calcareous bedrock molluscs obtain calcium mainly from leaf litter.


InGaN microcrystals were grown by nitridation of gallium and indium sulfide. Cathodoluminescence (CL) image observation of InGaN microcrystals at room temperature was performed under a scanning electron microscope at 3–5 kV with a beam diameter of 10 nm equipped with a monochromator. High-spatial-resolution monochromatic CL images composited with secondary electron microscope images showed each facet has uniform but different CL spectra, such as single or double peaked spectra at 420 and 460 nm. From the width of a dark zone and bright zone at the fringe of the facet in the monochromatic CL images taken at the two wavelengths the length of the excitation energy transfer was estimated as the diffusion length of the excited carriers. The ratios of the lifetimes of the radiative and nonradiative process of the excited carriers are calculated from the estimated diffusion lengths. (© 2003 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


The invention relates to an emulsion paint thickener. The structural formula is as follows: the monomer before an IPDI (isophorone diisocyanate) reaction is isophorone diisocyanate; the monomer before a PEG (polyethylene glycol) reaction is polyethylene glycol; and the monomer before an HDI (Hexamethylene Diisocyanate) reaction is hexamethylene diisocyanate. The preparation method comprises the following steps: under the protection of the nitrogen, mixing polyethylene glycol, hexamethylene diisocyanate, dibutyltin dilaurate with anhydrous acetone, carrying out a backflow reaction, removing the acetone, adding isophorone diisocyanate, octadecanol and toluene, and carrying out a warming reaction to prepare the emulsion paint thickener. Non-specific association can be generated between a hydrophobic group on a thickener branched chain and components such as a wetting agent and an active agent in the emulsion paint, a three-dimensional reticulated structure is formed for thickening, the emulsion paint thickener has higher dragging viscosity, the thickness of the coating can be increased, and the leveling property of a paint film is better; and besides, the hard segment structure of a polymer molecule is increased by adopting a hydrophobic segment on the main chain, the viscosity of the emulsion at high shear is enhanced, emulsion particles can be dispersed easily, and the system is more stable.


Propylene was polymerised at varying trimethylaluminium (TMA) concentration with two metallocenes activated by methylaluminoxane (MAO) in an attempt to better understand the effect of TMA on the activation process, catalyst activity and termination reactions. A chemical treatment of MAO solution with 2,6-di-tert-butyl-p-cresol was used to obtain TMA-free polymerisation conditions. The metallocene precursors under investigation were diphenylmethyl(cyclopentadienyl)(9-fluorenyl)zirconium dichloride (1) and rac-dimethylsilylbis(4-tert-butyl-2-methyl-cyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride (2). Chain transfer to aluminium was the dominating termination route for 1/MAO accompanied with β-H/β-CH 3 transfer to Zr and β-H transfer to monomer. It was found that β-H/β-CH 3 transfer to Zr was favoured over the β-H transfer to monomer at elevated temperatures, and that polymerisation and β-H transfer to monomer depended on the same critical reaction. For 2/MAO the detected termination routes were β-H transfer to Zr and chain transfer to aluminium. A strong activity dependency on TMA concentration was observed. With 1/MAO high TMA concentration decreased and stabilised the activity, whereas TMA free polymerisation conditions at 40 °C increased markedly the activity, indicating that TMA coordinated to the active site of 1/MAO. Surprisingly, with more sterically hindered 2/MAO, high TMA concentration increased the activity and nearly complete activity loss occurred at TMA-free polymerisation conditions at 40 °C.


The article considers the Voronezh region climate dynamics over a 30-year period in comparison with the previous climate normal. Mathematical analysis of the relationships of cyclic changes in radial increment of native tree species of the south of the Russian Plain – Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris Linnaeus) and English oak (Quercus robur Linnaeus) ‒ with climate factors (air temperature, amount of precipitation) is done. The greatest importance of April and, especially, May sums of precipitation for the formation of radial increment of native species (P. sylvestris and Q. robur) was confirmed. The forecast of changes in stand growth and productivity of the studied species is presented.


– The purpose of this study is to investigate whether online apparel shoppers' adoption of product virtualization technologies is facilitated more by hedonic motivations than functional motivations due to the hedonic nature of the product virtualization technologies., – In addition to the focus group interview, two separate online surveys with links to a stimulus web site containing one of the two product virtualization technologies was conducted to a national online shopper sample. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling by comparing the structural coefficients of hedonic and functional motivations on the attitude toward using the product virtualization technologies. The linear combination of functional and hedonic roles of each technology was examined using discriminant function analysis to see if the results were consistent., – The results showed that the hedonic motivation had a stronger positive relationship than functional motivations with the attitude toward using product virtualization technologies. The empirical findings of this study confirm our proposition that perceived entertainment value is a stronger determinant of attitude toward using product virtualization technologies than perceived usefulness., – The findings of the paper support the idea that the direction of technology acceptance model related research should be drawn by the (functional or hedonic) purpose of the technology/system. Based on the current findings, it seems likely that the predictive importance of the hedonic or functional benefits on attitude toward using a particular technology/system will depend, to a large extent, on the primary purpose of the system/technology.


Directly starting from D,L-lactic acid (LA) and L-borneol, novel biodegradable material poly(lactic acid-co-borneol) (PLAB) was synthesized via melt polycondensation. When the molar feed ratio LA/borneol is 64/1, the influences of different conditions including catalyst kinds and its dosage, copolymerization time, and temperature on the synthesis of the polymer are discussed. When the SnO was used as catalyst and the dosage was 0.3 wt% of the prepolymer, the 5 h direct melt polycondensation at 170 °C and absolute pressure of 70 Pa after prepolymerization gave the copolymer with the maximum intrinsic viscosity [η], 1.51 dL g−1. The structure of copolymer was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR). According to the appropriate synthetic conditions, the copolymers with different molar feed ratios were synthesized and systematically characterized by [η], gel permeation chromatography (GPC), differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The GPC results show that the maximum weight average molecular weight (M w) of PLAB is 11,900, when the molar feed ratio LA/borneol is 64/1. With the increase of the molar feed ratio of borneol, [η], M w and its polydispersity index (M w/M n) increase gradually. Due to the introduction of borneol into the copolymer, the glass-transition temperature (T g) decreases gradually with the increasing feed ratio of borneol. The direct melt copolycondensation is a cheap and practical method for the synthesis of borneol modified polylactic acid, a potential solid borneol flavor, polymeric drug, and functional drug carrier.


~bstract Oligodeoxycytidylates were converted to s4dUMP ~ontaining oligomers by treatment with liquid H2S. The inhibitory potency of the modified oligonucleotides on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 reverse transcriptase depended on t he chain length and on the percentage of modification. The most potent reverse transcriptase inhibitor was (s4dU)35 . The inhibitory pattern was competitive, when either poly(A)'(dT)t6 or poly(C)'(dG)16 was used as template-primer (variable substrate), suggesting that the free enzyme interacts with (s4dU)35 . The Ki ~ahies were 3.0 and 2.2 nM in the presence of poly(A)-(dT)16 and poly(C)'(dG)16, respectively.


Level Estimation of Transient Electromagnetic Fields Caused by Spark Discharge between Charged Metal Spheres Osamu Fujiwara, Member, Takeo Hori, Non-member (Nagoya Institute of Technology) It is well-known that transient electromagnetic fields caused by low-voltage electrostatic discharge (ESD) often gives a fatal shock to digital information equipment. This peculiar properties can qualitatively be explained by our previously proposed dipole model having a spark current, whereas the model is unable to predict any effects of charged metals on the ESD field level. This paper proposes a new ESD source model for estimating the transient field level caused by the spark discharge between charged metal spheres. The new model consists of numberless image dipoles placed so as to keep the same potential on the metal surface, which enables us to calculate the ESD field level by superimposing the fields due to each image dipole. In order to verify the validity of the new model presented here, we measure through a shielded loop probe the magnetic field waveform caused by the spark discharge between spherical metal electrodes.


Filamentous fungi were isolated from ten spices collected from markets in Indonesia. The aim was to enumerate fungal contamination and to determine the toxigenicity of Aspergillus flavus strains on each of the spices. Viable fungal populations were determined using a dilution method. Toxigenicity of Aspergillus flavus was determined by culture on a quick screening coconut agar and by PCR using four sets of primers specific for aflatoxin pathway genes. All the tested spices were contaminated by storage fungi, Species of Aspergillus was the most commonly isolated moulds followed by species of Fusarium, Mucor, Penicillium and Rhizopus. The greatest number of Aspergillus flavus isolates were found on white pepper, followed by nutmeg, cardamom, and black pepper. The greatest number of Aspergillus chevalieri isolates were found on coriander, followed by nutmeg. Fifty strains of A. flavus were isolated, all of the strains produced large sclerotia and biseriate conidiophores. Their toxigenicity was assayed by the presence of yellow pigment on a quick screening coconut agar medium and PCR amplification of regulatory and structural genes in the aflatoxin pathway.


Orientation: Small businesses' contribution to economic growth and employment creation cannot be disputed in South Africa, amid operating in an environment that is highly competitive and reports of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) high failure rates, in general. In view of this, and to our knowledge, no known theoretical study has been conducted in South Africa examining how certain environmental factors might influence the use of appropriate resourcing strategies for improved small businesses' performance.Research purpose: This theoretical article investigates the relationships between environmental influences, employee resourcing strategies and business performance among South African small restaurants.Motivation for the study: There is a paucity of literature that has explored whether a relationship exists between the three variables among small restaurant businesses in South Africa, justifying the need for such an investigation.Research approach/design and method: This article, which is conceptual in nature, adopted a systematic literature review which entails combining all existing research literature related to the three variables so as to arrive at logical inferences.Main findings: The research contends that a relationship exists between the three variables.Practical/managerial implications: Small businesses need to be aware of the environmental influences that may contribute to business failure so that they attune employee resourcing strategies to the environment to achieve high performance.Contribution/value add: The article contributes to extant literature on the interplay between environmental factors, resourcing strategies and firm performance in small restaurant businesses of emerging economies.


Background: The physical discomfort and collection of symptoms after digital screen use for longer than two hours at a time is referred by the Vision Council as digital eye strain (DES). Common symptoms of DES are eyestrain, headache, blurred vision, dry eyes and pain in neck and shoulders. This study aims to know about the prevalence; factors associated with and awareness about preventive measures for DES among college students.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted for 2 months in 2017 among randomly selected 200 college students of 20 to 30 years of age in Indore city of Madhya Pradesh using a pre-designed semi-structured questionnaire.Results: Mean age of participants was 22.5 years; of which 58% were females. Of the respondents, 89.5% (179 students) reported experiencing DES. Average distance from digital screen, brightness level of digital device, use of digital device before going to sleep and awareness about appropriate distance of digital screen from eyes had statistically significant association with having digital eye strain. 98% of respondents were unaware of the term DES while >60% did not have knowledge about the harmful blue light emitted by digital devices, protective use of digital screen filters, appropriate distance of viewing digital screen and the 20-20-20 rule of taking breaks in between screen time.Conclusions: Since digital device use is a necessary evil; better ergonomic practices to avoid DES should be adopted. Opportunistic health promotion and patient education undertaken by ophthalmologists on an OPD basis is one solution.


The nascent field of nanomedicine has evoked enormous interest among physical and biological scientists and has already attracted hundreds of millions of dollars of research funding. The great appeal of nanomedicine lies in its promise of using the unique properties of nanoscale materials to address some of the most challenging problems of medical diagnosis and therapy. While some questions have been raised about the possible toxicities of nanomaterials, and about the ethical implications of applying these advanced, but undoubtedly expensive, technologies to medical practice, for the most part nanomedicine has enjoyed unalloyed enthusiasm from both its proponents in the research community and from policy makers. However, will the promise of nanomedicine actually be fulfilled? This paper discusses the internal intellectual culture of nanomedicine and how that gives rise to problems and contradictions that may slow its evolution and introduction into clinical practice. Copyright The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: firstname.lastname@example.com, Oxford University Press.


To examine the responsiveness of GH secretion in patients with acromegaly, TRH (500 µg), arginine (0.5 g/kg BW), and LRH (100 µg) were administered to 15 patients with acromegaly. Ten of these patients responded to at least, one of the three agents and showed increases in their plasma GH levels 50% above basal values (categorized as group I). The remaining five patients, however, showed no response to any of these agents (categorized as group II). After the administration of somatostatin (500 ±g, iv, for 75 min), group I patients showed significantly greater decreases in plasma GH (−68.0 ± 4.3%) from the basal value than did group II (−34.2 ±1.8% P <0.001). CB-154 treatment was carried out n eight patients and was effective in group I(four of five patients) but not in group II (none of three patients). In addition, physiological fluctuations of plasma GH within 3 h were much greater in group I than in group II subjects. There were no differences, however, in blood glucose or plasma insulin responses to th...


The performance of an LED-based, dual-beam, spectrophotometer is discussed. The difficulty with producing an LED based instrument in the past has been the limited choice of LEDs, particularly in the blue/green region. Recent advances in LED technology have made such a device possible. The instrument discussed uses commercially available LEDs and other off-the-shelf electronic components which result in a low cost durable device. A mathematical model of the device is constructed, and the sources of deviations from this model are discussed.


According to relevant norms of Property Law,it discusses the content of paragraph 1 in article 19 of Urban Gas Management Regulations,analyzes the gas facilities management authority excluding owner exclusive parts in architectural regionalization,and proposes suggestions,so as to guide practice.


This thesis encloses quantum chemical calculations and applications of a response function formalism recently implemented within the framework of density functional theory. The optical and magnetic ...


Abstract :Servis is the first blow in volleyball and also as first attack on avolleybal. One technique which is recently used by jump service. to increase the ability to jump right on target service to be performed by using slanting reject board. This research procedure using pre-ekspermental research, where there is only one group of subjects, namely the experimental group, the research was conducted through several stages, including: 1) the initial step, 2) conduct step, 3) manage data step. The instrument is a test of skill used for servicing of AAHPER. The subjects were students in extracurricular volleyball MAN Ngawi of 20 people. From the results of paired t-test using a technique paired sample test values obtained Sig. (2-tailed) with a level of p = 0.000 <α = 0.05, the results of the exercise using board reject oblique a significant influence on the accuracy of punches jump service to students extracurricular volleyball MAN Ngawi. Based on these results Its could be concluded that the practice of using board reject oblique has a significant effect on the accuracy of punches jump service on student extracurricular volleyball MAN Ngawi. Keywords :experiment, exercises using reject board oblique, accuracy jump


We report on THz emission from plasma oscillations in semiconductors excited by femtosecond optical pulses. Time-resolved correlation measurements are performed on p-i-n and n -doped GaAs structures. In p-i-n structures coherent oscillations of the hot photogenerated carrier plasma emit THz radiation. A fundamentally new emission process is proposed in n -doped GaAs structures. Here, the screening of the surface field starts plasma oscillations of the cold electrons in the GaAs bulk leading to an efficient emission of few-cycle THz radiation. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}


We have developed new measurement systems for ultrafast electric signals using a STM (scanning tunneling microscope) and a SFM (scanning force microscope). A photo-conductive semiconductor switch (PCSS) on the probe is used as a sampler in an optical sampling procedure. We measured electric pulse with 2.5 ps width that corresponds to a time resolution better than 2 ps. This substantial improvement was realized by using low temperature grown GaAs for the PCSS and by decreasing the probe dimension.


The provincial teachers' colleges elected as experimental units for enrolling full-time professional masters are to step on the road for exploring the training model for the quick development of profession-oriented post-graduate education through the effective approach of inheritance and use for reference.To inherit the experience from the four western training models and make good use of "China's two normal universities' research" will pave the efficient way for this experimental reform in the training of the professional masters of education through critical thinking based on heritage and creation.


Purpose – The aim of this research is to study the relationships between occupational commitment, industrial relations and turnover intention, as well as the moderating role of turnover intention. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical data for this study were collected using a questionnaire survey method. A total of 600 copies of the questionnaire were sent out by post or email to firms and 429 valid responses were finally obtained, yielding a response rate of approximately 71.5 per cent. Findings – Except for the limited choices commitment, affective commitment, normative commitment and cumulative costs commitment are found to be significantly and positively related to industrial relations. Employees' turnover intention may be detrimental to industrial relations, as our results show that it has a negative correlation with industrial relations. We also find that it negatively moderates the relationship between occupational commitment and industrial relations. Practical implications – Our results shed li...


The controversy over peer review is viewed as a dialectic. The arguments espoused by advocates and critics of the system wherein research proposals are evaluated by advisors to funding agencies are reviewed, particularly the findings of two recent studies of peer review at the National Science Foundation These findings seem to establish merit as the primary factor m the recommendations of peer reviewers to fund proposals The findings also beg several questions as to 'acceptable' definitions of meritoriousness and innovativeness, the links among belief, perception, and evaluation, and the sanctioned operation of particularistic factors m the review process Future studies, it is suggested, must include psychological variables - especially measurement of applicants' and reviewers' 'cognitive styles' - if data are to narrow gaps in knowledge and inform the debate itself Finally, three models which undergird views of peer review are discussed and related to key social issues m the debate


Existing inquiry on self-control reveals an inconsistency. The mainstream research on myopic behavior suggests that consumers' use of a high versus low construal level should lead them to exhibit less indulgence. However, more recent work on hyperopia implies the opposite. This research attempts to resolve this discrepancy. In particular, it is proposed and demonstrated that the level at which a consumer construes information (i.e., abstract vs. concrete), interacts with his or her self-focus, and both factors jointly determine a consumer's indulgence level. When the self is not salient, outcomes implied by the myopia literature ensue. But when the self is focal, the opposite outcomes anticipated by the hyperopia literature obtain.


This article discusses challenges involved in contrastive discourse analysis that emerged while carrying out a follow-up study into a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) program in Spain. Reversing the focus on English of much contrastive rhetoric work, the study investigates the effect of second-language-English on first-language-Spanish writing. The motivation for this focus and the choice of tools from Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) for genre and clause analysis are discussed. Reflecting on the difficulties involved in contrastive discourse analysis, in particular the challenges of comparing texts, it is suggested that contrastive work benefits from a more differentiating analytical method and a more dynamic conception of language. The implications of an influence from English are also considered, with the theses of hybridity and of homogeneity contributing to indicate a role for language awareness work in schools.


For several years academic librairies have been actively involved in information literacy instruction. However, the required competences are different for PhD students and in the case of the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Liege (Belgium), good Faculty-Librarian collaborations have been developed. Specific targeted courses and training sessions concerning information literacy have been officially incorporated in the PhD curriculum, with the main objective being to help PhD students to be autonomous and efficient in the elaboration of scientific publications, an essential stage of their scientific career.


The effects of lidocaine on the latent pacemaker cells of sinoatrial (SP) node of rabbit and mouse were studied using standard microelectrode technique. Experiments have shown that lidocaine dose-dependently slows down the AP fast depolarization phase (dV/dtmax) in rabbit and mouse. The results obtained testifyto considerable contribution of Na+-channels in formation of cells fast depolari-zation phase of sinoatrial area.


Risk and its management on information systems project has never been paid more attention to and it is crucial to the success of information systems project. Risk categories, consequences, drivers and action approaches are analyzed and risk management procedure of information systems project is proposed in order to carry out effective risk management during information systems project management.


The relationship between economic activity and the banking sector has always been one of the central themes in both the academic and practitioners debates. In this work we present a methodological tool of macro stress tests, focused on Italy. We estimate an autoregressive model (Var) to assess two effects: the effect of macroeconomic shocks on the banking sector (cyclical effect); the potential feedback effect from the banking sector to the real economy (pro-cyclical effect). We find evidence only for the first one


- In recent years, the research on automated negotiation system has been given high priority by researchers around the globe. Electronic commerce has changed the approach of businesses interacting with consumers and peers. For both business to business (B2B) and business to customer (B2C) transactions, it becomes more and more important to make the conventional negotiation price mechanism which is automated and intelligent. Automated negotiation has become the center of the next generation intelligent e-commerce. The main principle is using software negotiation technology to make the negotiation process partially or fully automated. The intention of this research paper is to improve the effectiveness of online negotiations and reduce costs of transactions.


By visiting teachers and students with questionnaire and with the method of literature review, the paper analyzes the current situation of selecting event in physical education classes, and puts forward the idea that the development of such selecting event in PE classes should be based on the guideline of life-long physical exercises, and aim at cultivating the physical education ability. From the technical level to physical, psychological and social level, eventually to influence the students' mind, emotion, conscious and activity effectively, the article proposes the developing countermeasure by combining university's temporary results with permanent impacts, integrating the form activity and real function.


The results of experimental studies of kinetics of spreading processes of epoxy binders on the surface of a carbon (cloth) tape depending on a reinforcement pattern are presented. A copper coating of 100 nm thickness was deposited on reinforced materials by magnetron sputtering. It has been found out that a metal coating on the surface of a carbon tape and cloth leads to a considerable increase in the rate of spreading processes only for the laying-out pattern 0°, when binder movement in capillaries is provided. The deposition of a copper coating on the surface of the carbon tape and cloth has considerably the bigger influence on kinetics of the spreading processes, increasing it by 35%.


In order to study the effect of tourism activity on heavy metal pollution and the enzyme activity,soils were selected from Red gate,Doumu palace,Zhongtian gate,Nantian gate,Bixia temple and Emperor peak in the Mount Tai scenic area.In addition,we also analyzed the effect of heavy metal content on the enzyme activity.The results showed that: As the fast development of tourism,the tourism activity had already caused soil heavy metal pollution in Taishan scenic area.From the integral pollution indexes of soil heavy metals,the most serious scenic spot was the Zhongtian gate(3.75) and Bixia temple(2.88) followed by.From the single pollution indexes of heavy metals,the most serious two kind of elements were Pb and Zn.Tourism activity had caused significant effect on the soil enzyme activity,the effect were different along with the traveling intensity and the soil enzyme activity displayed for the drop tendency.Heavy metals affected soil enzyme activities through direct or indirect function and the soil enzyme activities could be taken for index of the single heavy metal pollution,but indication to the heavy metal compound pollution have not been clearly delineated.


For the Love of God and People: A Philosophy of Jewish Law, by Elliot N. Dorff. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2007. 326 pp. $35.00. Elliot N. Dorff is the rector of the American Jewish University (formerly the University of Judaism), a leading member of Conservative Judaism's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, a prominent spokesperson for Conservative Judaism, and a prolific and effective writet on a wide array of theological issues. Dorff argues that many features of Jewish law can best be understood by thinking about Jewish law as if it were a human organism, possessing both a body and a soul which interact with each other as well as with external influences. In referring to the "body" of Jewish law, Dorff uses the term "corpus juris," suggesting the collection of Jewish law's rules. By "soul," Dorff is less clear, at times (e.g., p. 46) referring to the law's "beliefs, values, emotions and goals" while at other times (e.g., p. xiv) referring to the "covenant between God and the People Israel." Dorff devotes most of the book to developing, expanding, and illustrating the implications of this vision of Jewish law and in articulating its differences from, and supposed superiority over, competing theories. He draws upon a wealth of classical and modern sources and offers a good number of interesting and controversial contentions, which he skillfully, and at times poetically, presents. Nevertheless, the books seems to me to suffer from a number of significant flaws. Given the limited number of words allotted to this review, I can only mention a few of the problems and, even so, cannot explore them in depth. This is potentially unfair to Dorff, and I therefore emphasize that readers should not accept my criticisms as correct but, instead, should simply keep them in mind as they read the book themselves. Perhaps the most significant problem is Dorff 's failure to articulate his overall vision clearly. Time and again, what he seems to say at one point, he appeat s to distance himself from at another. This happens not only from chapter to chapter, but within individual chapters and, sometimes, within a single sentence. For example, it is unclear whether Dorff believes that God created the universe. He writes (p. 31):". . . because I hold that the world was divinely created at least in the sense that its creation involves powers beyond our control, I think that God infotmed us about divinity and the world and gave us Jewish law in an indirect way - specifically, by creating the world in such a way that certain formulations of thought and practice fit the pattern of creation better than othets" (emphasis added). Does the belief that the world was created by powers beyond our control mean that it was "divinely created"? (Does an atheist believe that the world was created by powers within our control?) Incidentally, what is the implied causal relationship between the belief in creation by powers beyond our contt ol, and the succeeding clause of the sentence, beginning "I think"? Furthermore, irrespective of any causal relationship, what is the meaning of the succeeding clause, "that God informed us about divinity and the world and gave us Jewish law in an indirect way - specifically, by creating the world in such a way that certain formulations of thought and practice fit the pattern of creation bettet than others"? …


Field experiments were conducted at Rice research farm of Birsa Agricultural University, RAC (Ranchi Agriculture College) Kanke, Ranchi to find effectiveness of different insecticides against stem borer in aromatic rice during Kharif season of 2016. Relative efficacy of four botanical insecticides i.e. NSKE 5% @25 kg/ha, Pongamia oil (@ 3 lit/ha, Nimbolin 0.15% Aza. (@ 3 lit/ha and Neembaan 0.15% Aza. (@ 3 lit/ha and one chemical control Acephate 75SP @ 650 g/ha were tested along with untreated control in rice. All the insecticidal treatments were significantly superior to untreated control. Acephate 75SP @ 650 g/ha was found most promising with minimum dead heart and white ear incidence. The data on dead heart and white ear incidence, grain yield showed that all the insecticides effectively control the stem borer on aromatic rice revealed that four foliar spray of acephate 75SP @ 650 g/ha applied at 25, 50, 75 and 100 DAT proved to be the most effective in causing maximum reduction in the incidence of stem borer, resulting in the highest grain yield of 37.80 q/ha with maximum net profit of Rs. 45,138/ha with


We present a method to identify bulk glass forming ability by partial substitution of Fe by Ni in FeBNbY based amorphous alloy ribbons and as a consequence obtain enhanced mechanical and soft magnetic properties of bulk glassy rods of diameter as large as 4.5 mm. A detailed investigation of thermal, mechanical, and magnetic properties of (Fe0.72−x NixB0.24Nb0.04)95.5Y4.5 alloys (with x ∼ 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, 0.1) was carried out. The supercooled regime (ΔTx) and other glass forming parameters, e.g., reduced glass transition temperature (Trg), the gamma (γ) parameter, etc., were found to be enhanced due to the Ni substitution resulting in improvement of glass forming ability (GFA). The maximum values of such parameters (ΔTx ∼ 94 K, Trg ∼ 0.644, and γ ∼ 0.435) were obtained for the alloy with x ∼ 0.06, making it possible to cast cylindrical rods with 4.5 mm diameter for this composition. Nanoindentation studies on glassy rods also point out that (Fe0.66Ni0.06B0.24Nb0.04)95.5Y4.5 alloy exhibit the maximum...


International lawyers practicing human rights and the law of armed conflict may be understood as particular kind of expert community. Building on that community's self-understanding of their craft, this paper argues that humanitarian legal experts play a role that is not only different, but diametrically inverse, to the role played by other communities of experts when interacting with power. Where experts frame issues and influence policy makers, legal experts justify. And they do so, because their expertise leaves them no other option. Using the example of the so-called "shoot-to-kill" policies, the author addresses the role of legal expertise in the war on terror, and uses it as a proxy to asses the role of international law, as such, in anti terrorist policy.


Considering the influence of distributed capacitance on S's signal injection method for high-resistance grounding faults,a further research of the signal generator for S's signal injection method is carried out and its hardware and software designs are introduced.MCU-controlled PWM(Pulse-Width Modulation)is adopted in hardware design and its application is analyzed.In software design,PWM signal is got by software programming according to the relationship between the required injecting signal and PWM wave.The high-frequency PWM signals control the two switching thyristors of inverter and the output injecting AC signals,after filtering,are of steady frequency and adjustable voltage,which makes detection easier.The difficulty of high-resistance grounding fault locating is thus reduced,and its precision and reliability are greatly improved.


A field experiment was conducted during the two successive winter seasons of 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 to investigate the potentialities of mixing Egyptian clover with Ryegrass under nitrogen levels and bio-fertilizer treatments and their combination to increase forage yield and quality at Sids Agricultural Research Station, (ARC), Egypt. The experimental design was a split block with three replicates, main plots included the combination of four mixing ratios (Egyptian clover alone, 75% Egyptian clover: 25% Ryegrass, 50% Egyptian clover: 50% Ryegrass and Ryegrass alone), whereas the five nitrogen levels and bio-fertilizer were arranged horizontally (20 Kg N fed -1 (control), 40 Kg N fed -1 , 60 Kg N fed -1 , 20 Kg N fed -1 with bio-fertilizer and 40 Kg N fed -1 with bio-fertilizer). Results showed that mixing system had significant effect on fresh and dry forage yield at the five cuts and at total fresh and dry forage yield. Maximum values of studied traits were obtained with mixing system (75% Egyptian clover: 25% Ryegrass). On the contrary, minimum values were recorded with Ryegrass alone. Nitrogen levels and bio-fertilizer indicated significant differences in fresh and dry forage yield at the five cuts and at total fresh and dry forage yield. The highest values were obtained by using (40 Kg N fed -1 + bio-fertilizer followed by 60 Kg N fed -1 and 40 Kg N fed -1 ) as compared with the control (20 Kg N fed -1 ). Regarding the effect of mixing ratios and nitrogen levels and bio-fertilizer interaction the obtained results indicated that best treatment was at 75% Egyptian clover: 25% Ryegrass mixture fertilized by 40 Kg N fed -1 with bio-fertilizer in fresh and dry forage production. Chemical analysis of forage plants showed that the mixture of 75% Egyptian clover: 25% Ryegrass surpassed that of other treatments except Egyptian clover 100% for crude protein, ash and organic matter. The results also revealed that the highest record of DCP, and crude fiber was obtained by forage mixture of 75% Egyptian clover: 25% Ryegrass fertilized with 40 Kg N fed -1 with bio-fertilizer. Such higher yield of these characters has secured a balanced ratio which is really needed for farm animals. [Magda N. Rajab, Walaa M. E. Mousa and A.M.A. Abd El-Monem. Yield and Quality of Egyptian Clover and Ryegrass Mixtures under Nitrogen Levels and Bio-Fertilizer Am Sci 2021;17(5):74-88]. ISSN 15451003 (print); ISSN 23757264 (online). http://www.jofamericanscience.org 9.doi:10.7537/marsjas190521.09.


Here we describe a two-step QC procedure for synthetic peptides. In the first step, the identity of the peptide is confirmed by comparing theoretical and measured mass. In a second step, the purity of the peptide is calculated from the peak areas in the base peak chromatogram. The fully automated procedure provides easily interpretable results that provide at-a-glance conformation of the presence and purity of the target peptide.


We report on a 3.5-year-old girl with microcephaly, microphthalmia, coloboma of the iris, mild developmental delay, and other minor anomalies. Neuroimaging showed marked cerebellar and vermian hypoplasia. This condition has not been described previously and is discussed in the context of the "micro syndrome," together with other similar syndromes. Our case highlights the heterogeneity of the "microphthalmia plus brain malformations" group of patients.


Objective and Design: We have investigated whether transforming growth factor b2 (TGF-b2) influences the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). Material: Rat renal mesangial cells exposed to the inflammatory cytokine interleukin 1 b (IL-1b). Results: Addition of TGF-b2 dose-dependently suppresses IL-1b-induced nitrite formation. Western and Northern blot analyses of mesangial cell extracts reveal that the inhibition of IL-1b-induced nitrite formation by TGF-b2 is due to decreased iNOS protein and iNOS mRNA steady state levels. Reduction of iNOS mRNA levels is due to decreased transcriptional activity of the iNOS gene under the action of TGF-b2 as shown by nuclear run on experiments. Conclusions: TGF-b2 is a potent inhibitor of iNOS expression acting by reducing the transcriptional activity of the iNOS gene.


A decisive factor for the performance of organic bulk heterojunction solar cells is the competition between charge separation and geminate electron–hole recombination through a charge-transfer (CT) state after exciton separation across the heterointerface. By time-resolving the near-infrared emission of the high-performance low-bandgap PTB7:PC71BM material system, we selectively study the properties of CT states formed after optical excitation with a femtosecond laser pulse. We observe that the CT emission yield is higher after 705 nm excitation of the polymer rather than after 400 nm excitation of the fullerene, which can be attributed to better charge separation for excitons generated in fullerene aggregates. Additionally, the CT states are weakly bound with their emission not far red-shifted from that of the exciton. Examining the time-resolved CT emission from room temperature to 10 K, we observe changes in CT state lifetime with energy and temperature, indicative of CT state separation effectively co...


AIM: Worldwide, obesity is increasing in prevalence, nearing epidemic proportions in the United States of America. Also, there are reports of rising prevalence in Africa. Obesity is an important aetiological factor for many non-communicable diseases. Recent anecdotal reports indicate that the prevalence of non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus and bronchial asthma is increasing among Nigerian military staff; however, the rate of possible aetiological factors such as obesity is not known. Obesity can be evaluated using the body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and waist to height ratio (WHR). However, for epidemiological convenience and study within populations, the BMI is satisfactory. METHOD: This study was conducted as a cross sectional study. Data of Nigerian military personnel"s annual medical examination conducted between January and March 2010 were retrieved to compute body mass index using World Health Organisation (WHO) criteria. RESULTS: 40.4% of personnel were overweight or obese. Most of these were aged between 30 and 39 years. While there were differences in the BMI of males and females, this did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSİON: To manage weight problems, focussed health education, increased physical activity and nutritional advice are necessary. Modalities such as waist circumference should be added to annual medical examination of military personnel to improve the predictive value of the examination.


Cogan's syndrome (CS) is a very rare disorder of unknown origin characterised by inflammatory eye disease and vestibuloauditory symptoms. According to the International Chapel Hill Consensus Conference Nomenclature of Vasculitides, CS is defined as "variable vessel vasculitis". We present the case of a 44-year old male, primarily diagnosed and treated for large/medium vessel vasculitis probably due to indeterminate colitis, who finally developed CS. Difficulties in the diagnosis of this rare disease are also discussed.


Several lines of evidence strongly link prostaglandins (PGs) and leukotrienes (L Ts) to cancers of the intestine. Epidemiological studies showed aspirin and aspirin-like compounds reduced the relative risk of intestinal cancer in humans by 40-50%. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can cause regression of intestinal tumors in humans and laboratory animals as well. The precise mechanism of antitumor effect of these NSAIDs is uncertain, but it has been presumed the effect is due to their ability to inhibit prostaglandin biosynthesis. This dissertation is designed to investigate the effect of modifying eicosanoid biosynthesis by NSAIDs and dietary manipulation on tumor load in a mouse model (Mini+) containing a germline defect of the APC gene. Mini+ mice were treated with sulindac ( 320 ppm), aspirin (400 ppm) and indomethacin (9 ppm) to inhibit and dietary arachidonic acid (I. 5 wt % ) to augment eicosanoid biosynthesis. Sulindac treatment reduced tumor number by > 90%, with the recurrence of tumor load following removal of treatment. In mice with established tumors, sulindac reduced tumor number by 28% and 75% after 2 and 4 days treatment, respectively. Surprisingly, sulindac treatment did not alter the levels of eicosanoids. Both indomethacin and aspirin are potent inhibitors of prostaglandins; however, only indomethacin significantly reduced the tumor number. Elevating prostaglandin E2 by 44% following dietary arachidonic acid supplementation had no effect on tumor load. In summary, the data indicate a discordance between the impact of different NSAIDs on eicosanoid biosynthesis and their antitumor activity.


Assessment, preventive intervention, and interdisciplinary collaboration between the fire department and mental health services are highlighted as key factors in the identification and treatment of juvenile firesetters and their families. An interagency pilot program in New York City is described and the importance of "aggressive" outreach is emphasized.


The present invention provides a method of performing an electronic transaction between the main or accessory communication unit (1, 10) and the transaction terminal (3), has a different format than the standardized chip card format, the transaction terminal electronic transactions prepared relay or main communication device proxy capable smart mobile accessories (2,12) for, with respect to the transaction terminal, instead of the main communication device, an electronic trading simply presenting accessory to run. .The


Traditional vertical vibration models of rail vehicle usually have high degrees of freedom, which affects the efficiency of numerical simulation. Regardless of the coupling effect between the vehicle and rail, a six degree of freedom (6DOF) quarter model with vertical displacement and rotation angle is selected as the dynamic model. This accomplished by comparing the simulation results of half model and quarter model of the railway freight wagon, and the vertical vibration characteristics of the railway freight wagon when the wagon speed is changed. To further illustrate the nonlinear vibration characteristics and evolution laws of the car body and bogie frame of the freight wagon, the bifurcation diagrams, maximum Lyapunov exponent curves, axis trajectory curves, phase plane plots, Poincaré sections, and amplitude spectras are drawn and adopted to research the dynamic responses. The simulations reveal the complex vibration behavior such as periodic, quasi-periodic, multi-periodic, and chaotic motion. Some research results can help the industry to better design the speed limits of such railway freight wagons, and deeply understand or utilize the vertical vibration law of railway freight wagon in future research.


An AHP priority vector represents the importance, preference, or likelihood of its elements with respect to a certain property or criterion and here we examine how that priority vector can be derived through an iterative process applied to the pairwise comparison matrix. Further, we show that the vector obtained in this way satisfies the definition for an eigenvector of the original judgment matrix. Practical managers using AHP in decision making would most likely be better able to appreciate this approach than they would a process phrased in the language of linear algebra. The overall priority vector for the alternatives in a hierarchy and, further, in a network, can be obtained in the same way by applying the iterative process to the supermatrix of the ANP. This claim is examined in depth in a forthcoming paper that will appear in this journal. http://dx.doi.org/10.13033/ijahp.v2i2.42


Presentation of Case A 66-year-old right-handed woman was admitted to the hospital because of abulia, paraparesis and blindness in the left eye. She was well until 4 1/2 years earlier, when a gener...


The width of the instability spectrum of electromagnetic wave is measured during the action of pulsed current upon a tungsten plate exposed to magnetic field. It is shown that the wave exhibits an amplitude-frequency modulation. Estimates are obtained for the width of the spectrum of current perturbations producing instability of the electromagnetic wave.