Sense of touch plays an important role in our daily lives from grasping and manipulating to identifying and interacting with objects. For robotic systems that interact with dynamic environments, it is crucial to recognize objects via their physical properties. However, this is difficult to achieve even with advanced vision techniques due to occlusion and poor lighting conditions. Tactile sensing instead, can simultaneously provide rich and direct feedback to the robotic systems. The performance of the previously proposed tactile object discrimination strategies is dependent on the tactile feature extraction and learning methods designed for particular experimental setup.
Here, we propose novel tactile descriptors which are robust regardless of the number of tactile sensors used in robotic systems, types and techniques of tactile sensors, and structure of objects' surfaces. Previous researchers have used various robotic systems and tactile sensors to passively learn about objects and identify them from each other by utilizing uniformly collected training samples in an offline manner. However, the informativeness of the data varies. Some objects have distinctive tactile properties, which makes them easy to be discriminated. Therefore, collecting many training samples can be redundant.
Contrary to the previous studies, for the first time, we propose a complete probabilistic tactile-based framework consists of an active pre-touch workspace exploration strategy and active tactile object learning method. The robots with the active pre-touch efficiently explore the unknown workspace to estimate the number of objects, their location, and their orientation. With the benefit of the active touch learning algorithm, the robotic systems efficiently learn about objects based on their physical properties with the lowest possible number of samples.
Furthermore, we propose a full-fledged touch-based probabilistic framework consisting of an active workspace exploration, active object discrimination, and active target object search. Taking advantage of our previously proposed active tactile object learning and our new active object discrimination algorithm, the robotic system efficiently distinguishes between objects and searches for specified target objects by strategically selecting the optimal exploratory actions.
We also introduce a newly developed tactile-based method to determine the center of mass of rigid objects. Although several strategies have been proposed to robotic systems to learn about objects, robots are still unable to re-use their prior tactile experience while learning new objects. In order to tackle this problem, we developed the first tactile transfer learning algorithm to enable robotic systems to autonomously exploit their prior tactile knowledge while learning about a new set of objects.
Moreover, we improved this strategy by combining the previously proposed active learning, active object discrimination method, and the tactile transfer learning. This new algorithm named as active tactile transfer learning is to further reduce training samples by strategically selecting and exploiting relevant prior tactile knowledge. We also introduce novel tactile- based strategies for detecting slips and regulating grasping forces to enable robots to safely manipulate deformable objects with the dynamic center of mass. Our proposed method does not require any prior knowledge of the contact surface and friction coefficient.
Recent advances in tactile sensing have opened up new pathways for humanoids to more accurately communicate with humans. Through tactile interaction, various touch modalities may be carried out; a robot may be patted, slapped, punched, or tickled. For any robotic system that is to work closely with humans, evaluation and classification of these touch modalities are vital. Taking advantage of our proposed tactile descriptors, we present a novel approach for touch modality identification during the tactile human-robot interaction.


STUDY OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the interaction between craniofacial structure and obesity in male patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

DESIGN
Retrospective analysis of a cohort of OSA patients. The relationships between neck circumference (NC), body mass index, apnea severity, and craniofacial and upper airway soft-tissue measurements from upright lateral cephalometry were examined. Patients were divided into groups; small to normal NC (group A), intermediate NC (group B), or large NC (group C).

SETTING
A university teaching hospital and tertiary sleep referral center.

PATIENTS
A consecutive series of patients with OSA who underwent polysomnography and lateral cephalometry.

MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS
Group A patients were less obese and had more craniofacial abnormalities such as a smaller mandible and maxilla and a more retrognathic mandible. Group B patients had both upper airway soft-tissue and craniofacial abnormalities. Group C patients were more obese with larger tongues and soft palates, and an inferiorly placed hyoid. Group C patients also had fewer craniofacial abnormalities than group A or B patients. There was no difference in airway size among the three groups.

CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that there is a spectrum of upper airway soft-tissue and craniofacial abnormalities among OSA patients: obese patients with increased upper airway soft-tissue structures, nonobese patients with abnormal craniofacial structure, and an intermediate group of patients with abnormalities in both craniofacial structure and upper airway soft-tissue structures.


AII-IP network architecture is fast becoming a
norm in mobile telecommunications. The International
Telecommunications Union - Radio communication sector
(ITU-R) recognizes a technology as 4G after haven met the
International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced (IMT -A)
specification of a minimum of lOOMb/s downlink data rate for
high mobility and lGb/s for low mobility. Advent of Long
Term Evolution by 3GPP, providing a minimum doWDlink
dats rate of lOOMb/s, marked a new beginning in Rsdio
Access Technologies (RATs). It also notably implements an
all-IP network architecture, providing higher data rates, endto- end Quality of Service (QoS) and reduced latency. This paper aims at providing a technical overview of 3GPP LTE. Starting from a brief overview of its network architecture, this paper aims at exploring some key features of LTE that places it at the forefront in achieving the goals of wireless access evolution, enabling it to become a key element of the ongoing mobile internet growth. This paper also highlights two key aspects of L TE that are currently research intensive, and is wrapped up with the technological advancements on LTE.


Organic material, which is largely protein in nature, is very complex in composition, and its destruction results in many complicated reactions, both synthetic and analytic. The external factors which effect these reactions are subject to continuous fluctuation and hence equilibrium probably never exists. It would seem quite reasonable to assume that in general the reactions follow•.cerfain general tendendes. For example there may be a periodic pro duction of acidity or of basicity, or of both, depending upon the stage of de composition. This work has been planned to study the effect of organic matter on the production of acids or bases in the soil. Very little work along this line has been reported. White (20,21) of Penn sylvania carried out pot experiments on the effect of poultry and stable ma nu: re and fresh and dried green manures upon soil acidity (Veitch Method), using the common farm crops and sorrel as green manures. A considerable re_duction in, limestone requirement was shown during the first two weeks, but this redu'.ction might have resulted from the mere addition of the organic materials and not been due to decomposition processes at all. Red clover was found to be the best corrective of acidity, while wheat and corn increased the lime requirement more than any of. the other materials. Changes in re. action during the second and third months s.eem to have been very slight. In general the effects produced were quite varied and :fluctuating. Skinner and Beattie (1'7) studied the effect of certain mineral fertilizers as well as .organic materials, upon soil reaction. 'They found that· sulfates in. creased the acidity, while organic matter had a varying effect. Starch increased the acidity. Manure caused only a slight increase, and leachings from manure caused less acidity than was present in untreated soil. They conclude that the nature of the decomposition of the organic material in the soil and the character of the life processes in the soil affects the influence of such substances on soil reaction. Miller of Missouri (13) reports that manure, wheat, straw, green oats, dry oats, and· clover in the soil caused a decrease in soil acidity for the first 8


A strong feeling was expressed at the meeting on Nov. 19 that official inertia in this matter has lasted long enough, and, indeed, resolutions were passed the effect of which will be a request to the Ministry of Health that prophylactic immunization against tuberculosis should be at least countenanced if not encouraged. An official policy there certainly should be, and not merely a reluctance to embark on a difficult project until perhaps some of its difficulties have been removed by the greater enterprise displayed in other countries. It may be added that our other facilities for combating the disease do not compare so well with those in some other parts of the world that we can easily afford to disregard this one: an audible gasp at this meeting greeted the statement that in Saskatchewan there has been no sanatorium waiting-list for the past 15 years. If we are to await the full results of cattle tests, nothing will be done until 1950. To those familiar with Norwegian work in particular, it may well seem that the experimental period even in man is already over, and that nothing remains but to apply the method at whatever age, on whatever scale, and in whatever classes of person the circumstances demand. The case for at least a cautious trial in certain classes of hospital nurse is hard to gainsay if we assume a special liability to tuberculosis in that occupation. It. is necessary for us to assume this because our information about the frequency of tuberculosis in nurses comes from Norway,3 Canada,4 New Zealand,5 and the U.S.A.8 No doubt a similar inquiry in Great Britain would reveal a similar state of affairs, and the risks involved in admitting sputum-positive cases of pulmonary tuberculosis, diagnosed or not, to general hospital wards are now more widely recognized. But such an investigation has yet to be made, and this is another matter in which an effort to overtake our hitherto more enterprising colleagues abroad might well be made in the near future.


It is shown by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy that the labelled C2 fragment of [2,3-13C2]pyruvic acid is transferred intact into the C-methyl group and the adjacent carbon atom of the Ephedra alkaloids, norephedrine, ephedrine, norpseudoephedrine, and pseudoephedrine, in growing plants of Ephedragerardiana. This finding serves to identify pyruvate as the elusive precursor of the aliphatic C2 terminus of the skeleton of the alkaloids. In earlier experiments with C-labelled substrates, label from [3-14C]pyruvic acid was incorporated mainly, but not exclusively, into the C-methyl group of ephedrine, and label from [2-14C]pyruvate was incorporated similarly into the carbon atom adjacent to the C-methyl group. A C6–C1 unit related to benzaldehyde or benzoic acid has long been known to generate the benzylic fragment of the carbon skeleton of the Ephedra alkaloids. It is likely that the carbon skeleton of ephedrine is generated from pyruvate and either benzaldehyde or benzoic acid, by a reaction ana...


Species boundaries were assessed by phenetic analyses of morphological data for Solanum sect. Petota series Demissa: S. brachycarpum, S. demissum, S. guerreroense, S. hougasii, S. iopetalum, and S. schenckii. These six hexaploid (2n = 6x = 72) wild potato species grow in Mexico and Guatemala and constitute all the taxa of series Demissa except three pentaploid hybrids involving crosses with species from other series. We also analyzed two species, S. albicans (series Acaulia) and S. verrucosum (series Tuberosa), that are morphologically very similar to some members of series Demissa. We chose these species because S. verrucosum has been hypothesized to be a progenitor in the hybrid origin of all species in series Demissa, and because S. albicans is very similar to S. demissum. The results show that S. albicans, S. brachycarpum, S. demissum, S. schenckii, and S. verrucosum are supported by multivariate analyses, but are inconclusive regarding species boundaries of the rare taxa S. hougasii, S. guerreroense, and S. iopetalum, and more collections are needed to resolve their taxonomic status. Extensive overlap of species-specific character states shows the difficulty of the preparation of keys, diagnosis of taxa, and cladistic analyses in this group. The results also show that S. demissum is phenetically more similar to S. albicans than to other species in series Demissa and that S. verrucosum is similar to S. schenckii, and they question the assignment of these species into series.


In recent times, there have been increasing reports of soil subsidence occurring in various parts of Anambra State, Nigeria. The formation of soil pipes in the subsurface, which has been reported by many researchers globally, is the chief cause of these subsidence incidents. Thus, this research aims to use Direct Current (DC) geophysical techniques to delineate the spatial distribution, pattern, and characteristics of these soil pipes at two sites: Awka Site 1 and Awka Site 2 both in Awka South LGA of Anambra state, Nigeria. Two electrodes array configurations - the dipole-dipole array for analyzing the Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) and the Schlumberger array for analyzing the Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) - were employed. Nine ERT profiles and eighteen soundings were carried out. The results from the ERT survey divided the subsurface into six distinct structures. The high-resistivity 3000-30000Ωm, the eroded structure with dry pore spaces, which mainly occur at the top of the profile, was interpreted as having the right conditions for the formation of soil pipes. The result from the VES survey revealed two to five different geo-electrical sections and fourteen distinctive sounding curves that are characterized by the vertical changes in the subsurface. The weathered soil with resistivity ranging from 1200-30000Ωm, which aggregates very close to the surface 0-5m of the study areas, was interpreted as having the best soil formations that allow the building of soil pipes. The 2D and 3D iso-resistivity maps obtained from the data of the VES show that soil pipes follow the NW-SE direction. This coincides with the stress direction, fluid migration paths, and sloppy terrains of the study areas.


High quality c-axis oriented HgBa2Ca2Cu3O8 thin films have been fabricated with the stable Re-doped Ba2Ca2Cu3Ox precursor powder by pulsed laser deposition followed by postannealing without any special handling. As-grown films on (100) SrTiO3 exhibit a zero-resistance transition (Tc,zero) at ∼131 K with a narrow transition width ΔT∼1.5 K after oxygen annealing at 340 °C for 12 h. The critical current densities are observed 1.1×107 A/cm2 at 10 K and 1.2×105 A/cm2 at 120 K in zero field. The x-ray diffraction pattern indicates highly c-axis oriented thin films normal to the substrate plane containing a minor HgBa2CaCu2O6 phase. The scanning electron microscopy analysis shows that the surface morphology of the film is well connected platelike crystals but reveals Ba–Cu–Ox impurities are uniformly scattered across the film surface.


An effect of a hydrostatic compression on the electronic structure of cyclotrimethylene trinitramine (C3H6N6O6), also known as RDX, with an edge dislocation has been studied by means of the ab initio Hartree–Fock method for a periodic system combined with the many-body perturbation theory. An external pressure causes a significant decrease of the optical gap for both the perfect material and the crystal with dislocations. The edge dislocations produce local electronic states in the optical gap whereas the external pressure moves these states deep within the band gap. This contributes strongly to properties of the RDX crystals creating favorable conditions for the N–NO2 chemical bond rupture due to exciton formation. The relationship between the edge dislocations, hot spot formation, and the sensitivity of RDX to detonation are discussed in detail.


The ab-plane reflectivity of $({\mathrm{Y}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Pr}}_{x}){\mathrm{Ba}}_{2}{\mathrm{Cu}}_{3}{\mathrm{O}}_{7}$ thin films was measured in the $30\char21{}30000 {\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ range for samples with $x=0$ ${(T}_{c}=90 \mathrm{K}),$ $x=0.4$ ${(T}_{c}=35 \mathrm{K}),$ and $x=0.5$ ${(T}_{c}=19 \mathrm{K})$ as a function of temperature in the normal state. The effective charge density obtained from the integrated spectral weight decreases with increasing x. The variation is consistent with the higher dc resistivity for $x=0.4,$ but is one order of magnitude smaller than what would be expected for $x=0.5.$ In the latter sample, the conductivity is dominated at all temperatures by a large localization peak. Its magnitude increases as the temperature decreases. We relate this peak to the dc resistivity enhancement. A simple localization-by-disorder model accounts for the optical conductivity of the $x=0.5$ sample.


ters. In parallel, we performed detailed observations of work characteristics on the whole day and measured residues on various surfaces. Results We observed 30 treatment days corresponding to 52 mixing/loading, 52 spraying and 12 equipment cleaning tasks. The median daily dermal contamination was 5.5 mg for captan and 3.3 mg for dithianon. The average contribution of each phase to the daily dermal contamination was 41.5% for mixing/loading, 29.6% for spraying and 33.0% for cleaning. During mixing/loading, the major determinants of the contamination were related to the use of gloves, the product handling and the characteristics of the spraying equipment. During spraying, dermal contamination was strongly correlated to the spraying equipment (e.g. type and age of the sprayer) and the characteristics of the orchard (height of trees, distance between rows). The daily contamination was also correlated to these parameters. Conclusion Key determinants of exposure will be used to build prevention messages to improve the safety of operators during treatment operations, especially during mixing and cleaning, the most contaminant tasks. They will also be relevant to build questionnaires for epidemiological studies.


Leaves of two varieties of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) – TME1 (local) and TMS30572 (improved) – were subjected to African household processing (heat-treated, pounded and cooked and crushed, ground and cooked) and compared for proximate composition, minerals, vitamins and antinutritional factors. The processing methods had no effect on ash, lipids, protein, fiber, total carbohydrate, carotene, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, phosphorus, copper, zinc and manganese but produced diminution in free sugars (23.2% reduction), ascorbic acid (77.7% reduction), thiamine (37.1% reduction), cyanogenic potential (>99% reduction) and tannin (55.2% reduction;) levels. On the contrary, iron level increased three- to fivefold with grinding but not with the pounding process. This study showed that adequate processing practically detoxifies cassava leaves with considerable nutrient retention, thus enhancing utilization of cassava leaves for human consumption.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

This study has clearly shown that cassava leaves are very nutritious. However, they also have anti-nutrients which can render them toxic. This is responsible for the fear exhibited in the consumption of cassava leaves because of anticipated poisoning. This study shows that African processing methods tremendously reduce the ant-nutrients with minimal loss in the nutrients. There should therefore be no fear in the utilization of cassava leaves either for animal feed formulation or man's own direct consumption as a good source of leafy vegetables. The food quality of processed cassava leaves renders them a potential source of raw material for the animal feed industry as well as for the formulation of weaning foods especially for the underdeveloped world.


We report here the synthesis, photochemistry and photoinitiator activity of some titanocenes (1–4) and compare the results with those obtained for the corresponding zirconocenes (5–8). Analysis of the electronic spectra showed that the energy modulation of the lowest electronic transition, which appears to be LMCT in character, is driven both by the substituent on the cyclopentadienyl moiety and by the metal centre. Furthermore, the excited state resulting from irradiation of the complexes at the wavelength of the LMCT transition undergoes ligand-metal bond dissociation with formation of a radical pair, as evidenced by EPR spectroscopy coupled with spin trapping techniques. All the complexes were very active, compared with known organometallic photoinitiators, for the free-radical photopolymerisation of t-butylacrylate. The titanium complexes 1–4, which can be used with visible light, were more active than the zirconium derivatives 5–8. The better yields in photopolymerisation can be interpreted on the basis of the combined effect of two factors: (i) the photoreactivity of the complexes in solution and (ii) the high persistence of the Ti(III) radical species in solution, which guarantees high concentrations of initiators in the polymerisation process.


The RealSense camera frequently includes hole regions—unfilled regions where depth information are missing in the depth image. The holes cause serious problems in applications that use depth sensors and often straddle the background and object simultaneously. Accordingly, a hole must be filled by considering the boundary of the object. Fortunately, the object boundary inside the hole can be estimated by the RealSense color image. This paper proposes a hole-filling method in which filling converges to the object boundary from both border pixels. However, the color edge elements of the object boundary are often missing. Because the missing edge highly influences the hole-filling procedure, the boundary of the object close to the camera should be filled as completely as possible. Consequently, we introduce a simple method of filling the gap between two edge endpoints. Furthermore, we can address the situation in which there are one or more edge pixels between two border pixels. We repeatedly change the filling direction by alternating between the horizontal and vertical directions until no hole remains. Our experiment reveals that the proposed method outperforms other filling methods when numerically comparing the hole-filled depth image with the ground truth image for four methods: root-mean-square error (RMSE), peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), structural similarity index map (SSIM), and correlation coefficient (CC). The proposed method also produces a superior visual when we observe the 3D stereo image pair constructed using an original color image and a left-view color image generated with depth-image-based rendering (DIBR).


Flexible endoscopes are still the gold standard in most natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) procedures; however their flexibility (necessary for navigating through the GI tract) limits their capabilities in terms of distal manipulation and stability. We propose a deployable endoscopic add-on aimed at locally counteracting forces applied at the tip of an endoscope. We analyze different designs: a fully soft version and two hybrid soft-folded versions. The hybrid designs exploit either an inextensible structure pressurized by a soft actuator or the stiffness provided by the unfolded "magic cube" origami structure. We focus on the fabrication and experimental characterization of the proposed structures and present some preliminary designs and integration strategies to mount them on top of current flexible endoscopes.


N GENERAL, members of the genus Mycoplasma of animal origin have strict growth requirements. The basal media used for growth of these organisms usually are heart infusions and 1 percent peptone enriched with either serum, ascitic fluid, or serum fraction. The growth of many strains has been improved by cholesterol, yeast products, desoxyribonucleic acid, and various sugars. These factors have been adequately reviewed by Edward.4 The growth requirements of Mycoplasma of avian origin, in contrast, appear to be less strictly defined. A number of different media have been used to isolate these organisms. Markham and Wong9 used a modified Edward's3 medium. This medium is quite complex and contains a beef-heart infusion medium enriched with yeast extract and equine serum.


One way to improve students' academic performance is to improve their reading comprehension. Previous investigations demonstrated that testing students on the material as well as having them use metacognitive strategies have independently improved reading comprehension. The tests used in the learning phase in previous investigations have typically been experimenter created. In the current study, free recall of recently read text was used as the test in the learning phase. A second important aspect of the current investigation is the inaccuracy of students' meta- comprehension judgments. Although use of metacognitive strategies does improve academic performance, students often make inaccurate judgments about what they know and are particularly inaccurate in their assessment of text comprehension. The aim of this study was to determine if free recall was an effective testing strategy for reading comprehension and long- term retention. Finally, this study explored the relationship between judgments of learning and re-study choices. Retrieval practice, more precisely free recall, did improve the accuracy of judgments of learning in comparison to rereading the material. However, free recall did not improve participants' academic performance or long-term retention of material.


A recently developed induced junction solar cell (1) has been electrically characterized to determine its performance and how it may be improved through process optimization. Prototype cells are described in terms of their structure, fabrication and advantages over diffused junction cells. Several devices were subjected to ionizing radiation in the form of low energy electrons and x-rays. The novel methods used for electron irradiation and measuring its effect on the cells are described. While large variations in oxide charge and flatband voltage were observed, only minimal effects on the cells photovoltaic behaviour resulted. The radiation induced changes were found to be annealable.


: The aim of this article is to present a somewhat pessimistic picture of what moral reasoning can hope to achieve, and to draw a striking metaethical conclusion from it. The pessimistic picture emerges from the various puzzles, paradoxes and impossibility results that contemporary moral philosophers struggle with; for example, the axiological paradoxes first developed by Parfit. These puzzles and paradoxes show that some troublingly counter-intuitive moral claims must be true. Indeed rather a lot of them must be true. The striking metaethical conclusion is that this allows for a new and effective defence of moral error theory. Moral error theory is often thought to be problematic because of its counter-intuitive and troubling consequences for our ordinary 'first order' moral judgment. But the ubiquity of puzzles, paradoxes and impossibility results in ordinary moral philosophy shows that this is everybody's problem. And indeed, there is a sense in which the problem is worse for the opponents of error theory than for error theory.


The invention discloses a coating formula for a coated non-woven fabric. The coating formula for the coated non-woven fabric is composed of polypropylene coating materials, low-density polyethylene and filling masterbatch, wherein the polypropylene coating materials are non-toxic, odorless and tasteless, obtain high transparency and low-temperature heat-sealing properties and have good bonding strength with non-woven fabric and plastic film; the low-density polyethylene is non-toxic, odorless and tasteless, obtains good low-temperature heat-sealing performance and high processability and bonding strength, and can improve the melt strength of polypropylene, reduce necking and improve the film-forming property of coating film; the filling masterbatch is organic peroxides and can cause chain scission and chemical degradation of the polypropylene and increase the melt index. During a blending and extruding process, degradation reaction of the polypropylene and cross-linking reaction of the polyethylene and grafting reaction of the polypropylene and the polyethylene can occur, and the filling masterbatch can well accelerate the reactions, so that the coating non-woven fabric has the excellent advantages of being firm, tensile, sturdy and attractive in appearance.


AbstractThe March 11, 2011, Mw 9.0 Tohoku earthquake caused widespread liquefaction, lateral spreading, and dynamically induced settlement in the Kanto plains north of Tokyo, Japan. In April 2011, the authors conducted postearthquake engineering field reconnaissance of the mesoseismal region as part of an ASCE-sponsored investigation of the earthquake. The field investigation revealed that numerous levees, roads, and structures built in proximity of the Tone River and its tributaries were damaged severely by the Tohoku earthquake owing to the liquefaction and associated lateral spreading. More importantly, the investigation revealed that much of the liquefaction and lateral spread damage was directly related to anthropogenic (man-made) land use changes rather than natural conditions. These historical changes generally were related to major fluvial transportation improvements made along the Tone River that started in the seventeenth century and have continued into the present era. These findings have impli...


Teaching has been an integral part of the role of the surgeon since 'time in memorial'. It can easily be performed in a day-to-day, case-by-case manner to members of the surgeon's own team but formal teaching to other departments, an equally important responsibility, remains a significant challenge with increasing demands on the current-day surgeon.

Emergency departments manage a large number of hand injuries and junior doctors are often confronted with these clinical challenges, equipped only with limited knowledge and experience. Upon surveying twenty metropolitan emergency departments, it was found that only two had hand specific reference material, four had orthopaedic or general surgical texts, and the rest had only emergency texts immediately available to the junior doctor of the emergency department. That-withstanding, time is often wasted reading through pages and pages of reference material in search of a few salient features. Hence, there is a need to design a 'ready reckoner'.

The Hand Injury Wall Chart proposed is a readily implementable, cost and time effective, simple, poster-sized chart with point form information, operative pictures and diagrams for early management of common hand injuries (soft tissue, fractures), infection and burns that ensures all important points of management are performed. It can easily be placed on the wall of treatment rooms of all Emergency Departments. It minimises time spent on formal teaching sessions and supplements the prior knowledge of the treating doctor as it is available for review at all times. This helps to improve the approach to management for common hand cases that present to the emergency department and their subsequent functional and cosmetic result.


Immunization is widely recognized by health professionals as a tool for preventive medicine. However, large numbers of children in the United States do not receive the complete series of immunizations for childhood diseases (i.e., pertussis, diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B, smallpox) on schedule or at all. Reasons cited for this poor participation range from lack of awareness of the importance of timely immunizations, lack of transportation, long lines at public health clinics, and other realities posed by competing personal priorities.


In what follows, by retracing function we will always mean special retracing function: a partial recursive function f whose range is contained in its domain and which is associated with a unique point b such that for each x in the domain of f, f(x) x and for some n, fn (x) = b. Suppose R were a recursively enumerable set which was the union of n immune retraceable sets with n as small as possible. Then R must be infinite by definition of immunity. Let R=S1U .. USn where each Si is retraced by partial recursive function fi to basepoint bi. We observe that if T is any infinite recursive subset of R, for each i, Tn'Si is immune retraceable. For let B= {bi, b2, * * , bn} and T* = TUB. Then T* = S* U ... US* wrhere St = T*flSi. Now St is retraceable for it is retraced by the function f* where domain ft = T n Dom f, and xEDom f =>ft (x) is the largest element y of T* such that for some m f7(x) =y. Hence St could only be immune or finite, but the minimality of n insures that it must be immune. But B is finite so our conclusion holds without adjunction of B. Next, we use the previous observation to show that the intersection of the domains of the fi is infinite. For if this were not the case we could choose a largest subcollection of the fi whose domains had infinite intersection and enumerate the intersection of their domains. Tlhis infinite recursively enumerable subset of R contains only finitely imany members of the domain of some fj not in the subcollection hence only finitely many members of the corresponding Sj. But this set contains an infinite recursive subset with finite intersection with Sj contradicting our observation. Since the intersection of the domains of thefi is infinite recursively enumerable we may choose an infinite recursive subset of this intersection which (by our observation) is the union of n immune retraceable sets; or equivalently, assume that R is recursive and each fi has R as domain. If, for some n, fn(x) =y we will write i: x->y. If this happens for no n, we write i: x-f-y. We notice that if yE Sj then {z|j:zy} is finite. For if it were infinite, since if it is disjoint from Sj by the defi-


A method is presented to assess the probability of asymmetric nose-tip shape change during atmospheric entry. The method uses the variability of nose-tip material surface roughness to determine random, circumferentially nonuniform boundary-layer transition front behavior. Nose-tip shape histories are characterized by several key parameters and are suitable for inclusion in a Monte Carlo analysis of vehicle trim angle-of-attack history. The effects of surface roughness characteristics, re-entry trajectory, and vehicle configuration on expected shape development are examined.


Objective This study was designed to investigate the role of three-dimensional computed tomography(3D-CT)in imaging bony pathology of developmental dislocation of hip(DDH).Methods Fifty-two patients with DDH underwent CT study preoperatively. There were 17 males and 35 females. The age at the surgery ranged from 1~13 years old. Fifty-eight hips were operated. According to Tnnis classification,six hips were graded as I°,10 as II°,37 as III°,and 5 as IV°. PQ6000 spiral CT machine(Picker) was used for this study. The hips and femoral condyles were scanned and the 3D-CT images were constructed at an independent computer workstation. The acetabulum and femoral head were viewed anterior-posteriorly,laterally and cephalo-caudally. The acetabular index(AI) and femoral neck anteversion(FNA)were measured respectively using the MPR technique.Results The bony pathology of DDH included the abnormalities of acetabulum, femoral head and the congruous relationship between acetabulum and femoral head. FNA abnormality was one of the main elements in the DDH pathology. The value of AI was 32.5° and FNA was 50.2° at the involved side, which were significantly larger than that of the control. The surgical treatment was therefore required. 2. According to the 3D-CT imaging findings and geometric measurement, appropriate treatment was undertaken. Open reduction was performed in 52 hips. Pemberton or Salter type procedures were performed in 32 hips,San Diego or Staheli type procedures in 26 hips,derotational osteotomies in 50 femurs,shortening procedures in 21 femurs. The satisfactory congruity between acetabulum and femoral head was achieved in all the cases at the early stage postoperatively.Conclusions 3D-CT reconstruc-tion is a use-ful means for the preoperative recognition and planning for surgical correction of bony abnormalities because of the close correlation between the intra-operative findings and imaging. However, the pathologies of cartilage and soft tissue structures were not clearly shown by 3D-CT image.


A time-course experiment related to the incorporation of palmitic acid-1-14C was performed in growing rats fed a 5 or 20 protein calories percent (PC%) diet containing purified whole egg protein.No difference was observed with time in the conversion of palmitic acid-1-14C to respiratory CO2. Radioactivity present in liver triglycerides (TG) was higher and disappeared more slowly with time in the 5 PC % group than in the 20 PC % group. Conversely, significantly lower radioactivity appeared in serum TG of the 5 PC % group than in that of the 20 PC % group. A marked decrease of serum TG level was observed in the 5 PC % group, which was attributable to a reduced concentration of TG in serum very low density lipoprotein.From the results obtained, a decreased transport of TG from the liver to blood was considered to be a factor responsible for the liver lipid accumulation in rats fed the low protein diet.


Internal calibration source provides reference data for remote sensing system. Realistic calibration source is constructed by finite periodic structure, and hence, the emissivity calculation is different from the infinite periodic array case. In this paper, conventional indirect method based on the scattering field is modified first, so that it can be used to calculate the emissivities of finite homogeneous objects. Subsequently, a new method based on antenna concept is proposed for calculating the differential scattering coefficients and emissivities of the inhomogeneous finite objects. The methods are then applied to finite circular pyramid arrays covered with an absorbing material, and the results are analyzed. Furthermore, the effect of the illuminating scope of incident wave on the emissivity and differential scattering coefficient of circular finite pyramid array is studied.


Forest recreation services as additional products that are intangible. It can not be quantified because it does not have a price on the normal market system. It underlies a study to determine the economic value of recreation, with case studies Tebing Keraton using the Individual Travel Cost Method. Analysis of data obtained from questionnaires using data processing equipment SPSS version 21 with multiple linear regression method to get the Tebing Keraton recreation demand functions. The variables that influence the number of visits are travel cost, total income, age, mileage, and gender. Coefficient values of variables determine the trend in increasing or decreasing the number of tourist visits. In this study, the demand functions divided into two recreational functions for students/scholar and for working people considering total income per month category. Based on the regression results, demand functions for students/scholar, is Y=-2.179–0.0000347X1+0.286X2+0.159X3-0.0000794X4-0.267X5, and for working people is Y=1.994–0.00000164X1+0.53X2-0.32X3-0.003X4-0.334X5. The regression result obtained a coefficient of determination (R2) that the percentage of the diversity of demand number of visits to Tebing Keraton which can be explained by the independent variables in the model. R2 value of model for students/scholar is 67.1%, which is more than 0.5, showing the moderate accuracy. While for working people, the value of R2 is 48.9%, which is in the range of 0.31 – 0.5, indicate the weak accuracy.


HIV‐1 patients who abuse opiate‐based drugs, including heroin and morphine, are at a higher risk of developing HIV dementia. The effects of opiates are mediated predominantly through opioid receptors, which are expressed on glial cells. As HIV‐1 infection in the CNS is restricted to glial cells, experiments were designed to measure the cell‐specific effects of HIV Tat and morphine exposure on opioid receptor expression in both astrocytes and microglia. Specifically, the cell‐type‐specific pattern of mu opioid receptor (MOR), delta opioid receptor (DOR), and kappa opioid receptor (KOR) localization (surface vs. intracellular) and expression of opioid receptor mRNA were determined after exposure to morphine in the presence and the absence of Tat in primary cultured microglia and astrocytes. Data show that morphine treatment caused significantly decreased cell surface expression of opioid receptors in microglia but not in astrocytes. However, morphine treatment in the presence of Tat significantly increased intracellular expression of opioid receptors and prevented morphine‐induced cell surface opioid receptor down‐regulation in microglia. These findings document that cell surface opioid receptor expression is divergently regulated by morphine in microglia compared with in astrocytes, and further suggest that HIV‐Tat could exacerbate opioid receptor signaling in microglia by increasing receptor expression and/or altering ligand‐induced trafficking of opioid receptors. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


This paper makes investigation to 120 administrative villages, count the the output, the distribution characteristics, the composition and the treatment model of the rural garbage at this stage. The research shows that the composition of the rural garbage is very complicated, the total annual output of rural garbage is 5 295 600 tonnes, and the daily output per capital of household garbage is 0.8925 kg. According to the situation of Heiliongjiang Province, this paper analyze the main problem during the garbage disposal, some control measures are presented, this reaesrch could provide basic data and research for the following treatment. The significant new findings of the research is that the rational governance path of garbage is that, first classification, second recycling and third harmless treatment.


Routing protocol for Low Power and Lossy Network (RPL) is a protocol designed for resource constrained networks. Low Power Lossy Network (LLN) consists of a large number of constrained nodes and links. There are many standards for LLN. RPL (RFC 6550) is one among the standards. It is a source routing protocol. It allows the transmitter of the packet to mention the complete or partial route for transmission of the packet. So, the reachability to a destination should be verified before transmission. It is verified by transmitting the control packets of RPL. The characteristics of RPL based Internet of Things (IoT) are communication of devices over the constrained networks, unreliable Internet connectivity, lossy nature of communication link and the heterogeneous nature of IoT devices. Therefore, they are prone to various attacks such as wormhole, blackhole, version attack, etc., Thus, providing security for RPL based IoT is a big challenge. In this project, various RPL based attacks are analysed and classified into two broad class of attacks: Address Based and DAG inherited attacks. Each class consists of seven attacks. Using Cooja Simulator, Flood attack and Blackhole attack from Address Based Attack class and Version attack from DAG Inherited attack class are simulated and the power consumption analysis of each device is analysed. The power of the device decreases rapidly due to overhead of control packets, generated by the attacker. The mitigation methods for the corresponding attack are also discussed.


In order to adapt to dry and wet environment in mine roadways and improve the performance of sealing materials under different environmental conditions, this study selected the materials based on their ability to spray and found that the materials with a viscosity of 1500–6000 MPa·s can achieve a balance between performance of spray and wall-hanging performance. Next, by selecting high-elastic polyacrylate emulsion and ordinary Portland cement as the film-forming agent and gel, respectively, mix proportion factors of the nonreactive thin spray-on liner (TSL) were analyzed by using the Taguchi method. Moreover, fluidity, setting time, sealing properties, compressive strength, bending strength, and bonding strength of those materials were measured. It was disclosed that addition of an appropriate amount of polyacrylate emulsion can enhance the effects of fibers. By observing the morphologies of the materials' bonding surfaces and comparing the factors influencing bonding strength between both dry and wet walls, it was uncovered that the adhesive property of cement-based sealing materials was mainly affected by the water-cement ratio. Eventually, bonding strength and sealing properties were selected as primary optimization indexes, while setting time, bending strength, and compressive strength were selected as secondary optimization indexes. The appropriate proportions of two types of TSLs for dry and wet walls were (W/C = 50%; P/C = 6%; F/C = 1%; T/C = 0.2%) and (W/C = 45%; P/C = 6%; F/C = 1%; T/C = 0.4%), respectively. A prepared TSL can be used for filling rock fractures in mine roadways. In addition, TSL exhibited a great performance for dry and wet walls under different environmental conditions. The present study may provide an insightful guidance and reference for the investigation of TSL sealing materials applied in the mine roadways.


Reproductive characteristics of the shortspine spurdog, Squalus cf. mitsukurii Jordan and Snyder, 1903, were examined based on specimens collected around Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, Japan. Females reached sexual maturity at a larger size than males (total length at 50% sexual maturity: male, 560 mm; female, 728 mm). Oogenesis and embryonic development in gravid females occurred simultaneously: they are ready to ovulate and mate immediately after parturition in February-August. While there was some evidence of seasonality in oogenesis, year-round occurrence of a wide range of follicle sizes and developing embryos together with year-round presence of mature spermatozoa suggest that mating occurs year-round with a peak between February and August. It was not possible to accurately estimate the gestation period based on growth trajectories of uterine embryos and ovarian follicles. Ovarian and uterine fecundities ranged from two to four yolky follicles (mean: 3.4) and from one to five uterine eggs and embryos (mean: 3.1), respectively, and both were positively related to the total length of the pregnant females.


BAKER, FRANK B. "Origins of the item parameters X50 and β as a modern item analysis technique", Journal of Educational Measurement, 2, n.o 2, december 1965, 167-180.


Changes in the relative costs of energy, labor, and materials have greatly influenced the operating costs at wastewater facilities. However, energy can be conserved by reducing consumption and increasng recovery of waste heat. Energy consumption can be reduced by: improving the power factor; reducing peak electric demand; installing energy-efficient equipment or improving the energy efficiency of existing equipment reducing incinerator-fuel consumption; and improving plant control and operational procedures. Treatment plants utilizing digester waste gas and incinerator heat recovery, along with energy-efficient equipment and process selection, can be designed nearly to eliminate the need for outside power or fuel. (2 diagrams, 7 graphs, 3 table)


In Egypt, an igneous and metamorphic complex of Precambrian age covers widely area in the Eastern Desert and South Sinai, and limited areas in the south Western Desert. The chromite deposits of Egypt are common member of ophiolites of the complex. Small and irregular masses of podiform chromites are mainly frequent in the central and southern parts of the Eastern Desert. Some of these chromites have different textures, inclusion mineralogy and chemical characteristics which may be reflected by different conditions of the chromite formation. Our preliminary data indicate no differences in mineralogy from Phanerozoic ophiolites.


In Mobile Ad-hoc Network (MANETs) mobile nodes are grouped together by using wireless medium that can fail due to its dynamic infrastructure and mobility. Routing protocols are used to facilitate communication among mobile nodes. To provide communication facility among mobile nodes of network routing protocols are used. The main target of routing protocol is to provide path among nodes that should be correct and efficient. Discovery and maintenance of route should have with minimum bandwidth and overhead. This paper investigates and classify Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV), Dynamic Source Routing (DSR), Destination-Sequenced Distance-Vector (DSDV), Temporally Ordered Routing Algorithm (TORA), Multimedia Mobile Wireless network (MMWN), Zone Routing Protocol (ZRP) and Wireless Routing Protocol (WRP).


Department of Clinical Neuroscience, HUBIN Project, Karolinska Institutet and Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, Department of Psychiatry and Department of Human Genetics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and Centre Hospitalier, Rouffach, France. Sponsorship: The study was supported by the German Ministry for Research and Technology (BMFT grants 01EC9408 and 01ZZ9511), the Wallenberg Foundation, and the HUBIN Project.


A modified Feldkamp (FDK) half-scan (MFDKHS) algorithm was developed to conduct the circular half-scan scheme on a flat panel detector (FPD)-based CBCT. X-ray source scans the object in a circular trajectory in the range of 180 degrees plus full fan angle rather than 360 degrees for a full scan. The redundant data is weighted by a weighting function in 3-D case based on the ones proposed by Parker1, FDK algorithm is then applied on this weighted data, and another FBP term developed by Dr. Hu is also added to get the final reconstruction. The MFDKHS is expected to correct the attenuation coefficient drop of the reconstructed object associated with FDK in the place where Z (rotation axis) is away from scanning plane and improve the temporal resolution as well.


The status of ecological civilization construction of 11 cities in 2012 was quantitatively analyzed based on 24 indexes of the index system with three subsystems built by RSR model for evaluation of ecological civilization to scientifically evaluate the status of ecological civilization construction and promote scientific development of ecological civilization in Jiangxi. The results showed that the comprehensive evaluation level of ecological civilization construction in Nanchang City is the highest among11 cities and the comprehensive evaluation level of ecological civilization construction in Yingtan,Xinyu,Jingdezhen,Ganzhou and Fuzhou Cities is higher than the average level of Jiangxi Province.The ecosystem pressure of Nanchang,Yingtan and Xinyu Cities is high,of which,the response system of Yingtan City is very poor but the ecosystem's management response level of Xinyu City is poor.The ecosystem pressure of Shangrao,Fuzhou,Pingxiang and yichun Cities is small,of which,the ecosystem's health status and ecological management control capacity of Fuzhou City is better but the state system of ecological civilization construction of Pingxiang and Yichun Cities is poor,which indicates that there is a larger improvement space in the state system of ecological civilization construction in Pingxiang and Yichun Cities.


Abstract The static response of a rectangular curved panel to a central radial loading is examined, both for the panel alone and for the panel when reinforced at its centre by a circular pad containing a concentric hole. The examination comprises tests on a physical model, in which point displacements and strains are measured, and numerical studies using the finite element method with two markedly different types of element in turn. The object is to study the quality of the correlation between the results of the physical experiments and the two types of finite element analysis, and it is demonstrated that such correlation is good. Particular considerations is given to the finite element modelling of the pad/panel combination and it is shown that because of the relatively large rigidity of the pad it is possible to provide viable finite element models for the panel behaviour by eliminating the pad from consideration.


Pseudo-transient continuation is a Newton-like iterative method for computing steady-state solutions of differential equations in cases where the initial data are far from a steady state. The iteration mimics a temporal integration scheme, with the time step being increased as steady state is approached. The iteration is an inexact Newton iteration in the terminal phase.
In this paper we show how steady-state solutions to certain ordinary and differential algebraic equations with nonsmooth dynamics can be computed with the method of pseudo-transient continuation. An example of such a case is a discretized PDE with a Lipschitz continuous, but nondifferentiable, constitutive relation as part of the nonlinearity. In this case we can approximate a generalized derivative with a difference quotient.
The existing theory for pseudo-transient continuation requires Lipschitz continuity of the Jacobian. Newton-like methods for nonsmooth equations have been globalized by trust-region methods, smooth approximations, and splitting methods in the past, but these approaches are not designed to find steady-state solutions of time-dependent problems. The method in this paper synthesizes the ideas from nonsmooth calculus and the method of pseudo-transient continuation.


City of Bellevue modeling staff built a base year evening peak hour dynamic traffic assignment model using Dynameq software. Given the uncertainty in the model inputs and assumptions, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to ensure a certain level of confidence in the model and to understand model robustness and resultant reliability. Two input parameters were compared in the sensitivity analysis: demand origin destination (OD) matrices and free flow speed, which represent demand and supply side, respectively. A number of network outputs were identified as benchmarks: volume entering the network, volume exiting the network, density, vehicle-hours traveled (VHT), vehicle-miles traveled (VMT), and vehicle-hours delayed (VHD), average travel speed, average travel time, average distance, and average vehicle delay. Regression analysis on model convergence, screenline volumes and travel time on selected routes, sensitivity tests on network benchmarks and elasticity analysis on VMT and VHT were conducted to investigate the impacts of perturbations of input parameters over the simulation results. It was found that this base year model does not over react to demand or free flow speed change. Thus the model has reasonable capability to accommodate some network uncertainty without jeopardizing the overall model credibility. It was also found that the base year model is more sensitive to change in demand than free flow speed. Therefore, in model calibration stage, it would be efficient and effective to spend more resources adjusting demand matrices rather than free flow speed.


We present a model of the evolution of identity via dynamic interaction between the choice of education and the transmission of values in a community from parents to children, when parents care about the preservation of their traditional community values, different from the values of the host society. We compare the educational and socioeconomic outcomes in different scenarios (melting pot versus multiculturalism). If schooling shifts children's identity away from their parents' values, parents may choose lower levels of education for their children, at the cost of reducing their future earnings. We show how this effect can be attenuated and reversed when the school or, indeed, the host society are willing to accommodate the values of the community and/or to adjust to these values; otherwise the community gradually becomes alienated. This approach may be applied to the analysis of temporal changes in values and attitudes in a community of immigrants, as well as ethnic, religious, or other minority groups.


The custom in Pakistani tribal regions, known as Swara, involves a young girl married into a victim's family in order to resolve a dispute, typically a murder committed by the other party. Documentary filmmaking, such as those by Samar Minallah, illustrates what is viewed as a culturally sanctioned human rights violation. Documentary media has the impact of unmasking differing viewpoints; showing tribal elders defending the rights of girls and women, citing examples from the Prophet. This shows the diversity in Pakistan through documenting tribal leaders (who typically are viewed as part of the Taliban in Western media) describing how forced marriage is not Islamic or right.


Exponential spline polynomials (E-splines) represent the best smooth transition between continuous and discrete domains. As they are constructed from convolution of exponential segments, there are many degrees of freedom to optimally choose the most convenient E-spline, suitable for a specific application. In this paper, the parameters of these E-splines were optimally chosen, to enhance the performance of image de-noising as well as image zooming schemes. The proposed technique is based on minimizing the total variation function of the detail coefficients of the E-spline based wavelet decomposition. In image de-noising schemes, apart from E-spline parameter estimations, the thresholding levels of their detail coefficients, are also optimally chosen. In zooming applications, the quality of interpolated images are further improved and sharpened by applying ICA technique to them, in order to remove any dependency. Illustrative examples are given to verify image enhancement of the proposed e-spline scheme, when compared with the existing approaches.


Two observations should be made by way of introduction. (1) It is important to realise that the Old Testament references to sleep and other related matters are not very numerous. Not only so but they are purely incidental. That does not mean that they are unimportant, but it is a warning against making hasty deductions, or attempting to formulate definitive conclusions regarding the Hebrew attitude to sleep. (2) It is salutary to remember that even in our day there is still no one theory of sleep that commands the unanimous assent of psychologists or neurologists. In this region the experts are still in the realm of conjecture. Sleep is still the crux in physiology and psychology. Nothing better than hypotheses have been offered to explain it. If we keep this in mind we shall be prepared to find that for the Hebrews too sleep was a mystery. It was not, however, an entrance to the realm of the weird and the uncanny as it was for other ancient peoples. There are three roots used in Hebrew for sleep-num, yasen, and rddham. Properly speaking nzmn means to be drowsy or to slumber; ydsen signifies to sleep; while rddham is used to describe a heavy or deep sleep; and in spite of some overlapping the differences in meaning which these three roots convey are observed in the Old Testament. See, e.g., Ps. cxxi 4, Is. v 27, Jb. xxxiii 15. Cf. also the Ugaritic Text Krt. i 31 ff., where sleep and drowsiness are distinguished. Nzm describes an altogether lighter form of sleep than that implied byyasen or rddham. Tenmdh answers to what the modern neurologist describes as the pre-dormitum stage of sleep; i.e., the period that precedes sleep proper when the flow of thought becomes modified. As conscious thought detaches itself increasingly from volition the sleeper slips imperceptibly into what the Old Testament calls sendh, and, on occasion, into tardemdh where the flow of thought continues in dreams and figments of the imagination.


The present rate of coal use by U.S. utilities results in the creation of nearly 80 million tons of solid combustion by-products each year. The environmental control devices which create the by-products represent nearly half of the cost of a new coal-fired power plant. The largest single element is the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system. This paper discusses the current status of utility industry coal combustion by-product disposal, including a review of the production and categorization of utility wastes; the disposal options presently in use and/or with future potential; the physical and chemical characteristics of the by-products which affect the disposal/ utilization options; the cost of compliance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); and environmental issues associated with various disposal options.


One development in the course of industrial digitalisation, which is being driven forward particularly in the German-speaking countries and will gain in importance in the future, is that of the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) [1]. The present work deals with the distribution, instantiation and use of those AASs for assets within the domain of a fluid power engineering application, which by themselves do not currently have the corresponding hardware and software for harbouring an AAS. The Business to Manufacturing Markup Language (B2MML) is used here for the deployment and instantiation of these AASs. In the present work, B2MML is extended with the concept definitions of AAS using its enhancement mechanisms. The distribution of the AASs to computing resources then takes place using B2MML and its transaction definitions. Furthermore, B2MML is used in a submodel to orchestrate process queues. In the course of the FL4 research project, B2MML is integrated as a partial model into the AAS and is used for orchestrating the Plug-and-Produce processes one the business and on subordinate levels.


Eighty-one species of coprophilous fungi were recorded from 32 herbivore dung samples collected from Iceland in July 2002 and incubated in moist chambers. Almost half of the species are apparently new records for Iceland. Collections are described and the occurrence and distribution of species is discussed. The species richness of the Icelandic coprophilous mycota (lat. 64-66 o N) is slightly higher than in northern UK (lat. 55-59 o N).


In this paper a model that locates Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) refueling stations to cover the full volume of vehicle flows is developed and applied. The model inputs consist of a road network include nodes and arcs, the volume of vehicle flows between each pairs of origin and destination nodes, also some assumptions are considered as follows, refueling stations locating hierarchy, road network arcs hierarchy, crisp demand based on the volume of arc demands, road network arc flows, the potential location for refueling stations are limited and the refueling stations are capacitated. This paper extends Arc Demand Coverage Problem (ADCP) to determine locations for constructing CNG refueling stations at the considered potential locations such that the flow demands are fully met and the cost function is minimized. The cost function is positive and non-decreasing function of the located facility number. A heuristic algorithm is applied to solve ADCP.


Planning, action, accountability and learning in modern locals governments is supposed to be optimized by effective performance management systems that are based on rational decision making. The problem with debating, researching or operationalising a system of performance management is that the construct is often treated as a 'black box'. This paper constructs a model of performance management that assists in conceptualizing what is inside that black box, and proposes six elements of rational decision making that local government researchers and practitioners should consider in designing, implementing or evaluating performance management systems.


This paper studies excitonic effects in the optical properties of alkaline earth chalcogenides (AECs) by solving the equation of motion of the two-particle Green function, the Bethe–Salpeter equation (BSE). On the basis of quasi-particle states obtained by the GW approximation, (BSE + GW), the solution of BSE improves agreement with experiments. In these compounds, the main excitonic structures were reproduced appropriately. In the optical absorption spectra of AECs, the main excitonic structures originate in the direct transitions at X and Γ symmetry points, as confirmed by the experiments. In addition to real and imaginary parts of the dielectric functions, excitonic effects were studied in the electron energy loss functions of AECs. Moreover, the G0W0 approximation was used in order to determine the energy band gaps of AECs. This showed that except for MgO and BaO, the other AECs under study have indirect band gaps from Γ to X.


IN FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL,
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA, FOR THE AWARD OF A Ph.D GEOLOGY
(MINERAL EXPLORATION) IN THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY, AHMADU BELLO
UNIVERSITY,ZARIA
DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY
FACULTY OF SCIENCE
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA
SEPTEMBER, 1992


The utility model relates to a novel 24-hour cardiovascular remote monitoring device, which relates to the field of medical communication, and comprises a monitor, a wrist band type pulse sensing surface, a piezoelectric or piezoresistive pulse sensor, a pvdf piezoelectric film, an amplifier circuit, a conduction medium, a watchband, a waveform recognition module, a waveform capture module, a compressed superposition module, a general packet radio service (GPRS)-uploaded-to-service platform module and a time control module. By utilizing the utility model, the cardiovascular abnormalities can be early detected, or the timely monitoring, disease condition evaluation, critical disease early warning, online consulting, auxiliary diagnosis and therapy, information sharing and family service are supplied to cardiovascular or subhealthy people, and the modern health practice mode that the psychological therapy is used as a core, the physical therapy is used as a basis, and the medical therapy is used as a guarantee is created; and the onset age is delayed, the morbidity, mortality and disability are reduced and the medical cost is reduced.


Real-time monitoring of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) surgery is essential for safe and accurate treatment. However, ultrasound imaging is difficult to use for treatment monitoring during HIFU surgery because of the high intensity of the HIFU echoes that are received by an imaging transducer. Here, we propose a real-time HIFU treatment monitoring method based on pulse inversion of imaging ultrasound; an imaging transducer fires ultrasound twice in 0° and 180° phases for one scanline while HIFUs of the same phase are transmitted in synchronization with the ultrasound transmission for imaging. By doing so, HIFU interferences can be eliminated after subtracting the two sets of the signals received by the imaging transducer. This function was implemented in a commercial research ultrasound scanner, and its performance was evaluated using the excised bovine liver. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method allowed ultrasound images to clearly show the echogenicity change induced by HIFU in the excised bovine liver. Additionally, it was confirmed that the moving velocity of the organs in the abdomen due to respiration does not affect the performance of the proposed method. Based on the experimental results, we believe that the proposed method can be used for real-time HIFU surgery monitoring that is a pivotal function for maximized treatment efficacy.


While the LHC optics is approaching its limit in terms of beta*, not only bounded, somehow in relative, by the aperture of the existing inner triplets, but also, in absolute, by the match-ability, the flexibility and, at some point (not yet reached) the chromatic aberrations of the corresponding collision optics, the High Luminosity LHC project requests to triple or even quadruple this effort in order to meet the challenging performance target of 250 1/fb per year. This exigency, or even only half of it, cannot be satisfied without a complete change of point of view in the way low-beta* optics are thought and realized. After a long introduction presenting the main objectives and strategies of the HL-LHC project, this article will summarize the standard squeezing optics techniques and chromatic correction strategy presently used in the LHC, and will remind the main optics limitations resulting in this context. Identified a few years ago in the framework of the former upgrade project, these limitations then led to the establishment of the Achromatic Telescopic Squeezing scheme as a key solution to the various issues, which has been a formidable background for the overall HiLumi Design Study, and stays an inbuilt feature of the baseline HL-LHC configuration and of any of its possible variants.


Many countries are introducing a non-invasive prenatal test, NIPT, into the public health system as a contingent screening for pregnant women, which improves the detection of chromosomal abnormalities of the fetus and reduces the number of unwarranted invasive procedures. Analysis of the literature showed that the majority of doctors and pregnant women from the high and intermediate risk groups are ready to use NIPT as an additional screening due to its safety, high sensitivity and the possibility of early reception of results. However, there were found differences between countries in choosing the method of prenatal screening for chromosomal abnormalities of the fetus, which depend on the ethnic, sociodemographic and religious characteristics of the respondents, as well as on the peculiarities of the local health policy related to the need for partial or full payment of the prenatal test and the availability of abortion. It was concluded that each country needs its own guidelines, developed with taking into account the social context, and the issue of introducing NIPT into routine practice should be decided by the results of sociological research among large groups of pregnant women and healthcare professionals in the country.


Magnetoresistive sensors are made by photo-etching narrow linear folded tracks in vacuum-deposited permalloy film with uniaxial anisotropy. A large demagnetising field appears across each narrow strip in the resistive pattern: this and the presence of exchange energy, bias fields and the effects of anisotropy, combine to make the choice of optimum anisotropy and current flow directions complex. In the work described here the angular variations of the magnetisation vector at a series of points across the strip have been calculated. The inclusion of an exchange energy term allows the total energy to be determined and the behaviour of the model may be predicted for any combination of conductor angle, anisotropy skew and applied fields. Comparisons made with experimental values show close similarity of form but some quantitative discrepency. A simpler model, in which the permalloy film is assumed to be magnetised as a single domain and the magnetisation vector is constant across the strip is also evaluated.


For the design of an "electronic" discharge lamp operating circuit, the accommodation to the variety of circuit's configuration, the accurate calculation and the economic constraint are to be taken into account. The adaptation of CAD (Computer-Aided Design) may be most suitable for these situations. But achieving the CAD, there are a few troublesome problems to be solved, such as the simulation of the discharge lamp and the CAD techniques, etc. In this paper, the establishment of the basic design procedure is described through the development of a CAD program for an electronic operating circuit. The results are as follows; (1) the way of establishment of a criterion function and the procedure of optimum design have been proposed, (2) it has been reconfirmed that the simulation model of discharge lamps should be chosen case by case, (3) SUMT method has been introduced for calculation treatment. The usefulness of the CAD is verified by a good agreement between calculated and experimental results of a design example.


The bacteria causing diphtheria, whooping cough, cholera and other diseases secrete mono-ADP-ribosylating toxins that modify intracellular proteins in the target, host eukaryotic cell. Recently, we solved four high-resolution crystal structures of a catalytically active complex between the enzyme domain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A (ETA) and its protein substrate, translation elongation factor 2 (eEF2), which has led to a breakthrough in the understanding of the reaction mechanism of this family of deadly toxins. The target residue in eEF2, diphthamide (a modified histidine), spans across a cleft in the proteinprotein complex and faces the two phosphates and a ribose of the nonhydrolysable NAD analogue, βTAD. This suggests that the diphthamide is involved in triggering NAD cleavage and interacting with the proposed oxacarbenium intermediate during the nucleophilic substitution reaction, explaining the requirement of diphthamide for ADP ribosylation. The structures, however, do not reveal the transition state for the transferase reaction within the complex. We have mutagenesis and kinetic data that implicate new catalytic residues located within an active site loop (Loop 3) within ETA, but not within the corresponding loop of diphtheria toxin. Loop 3 does not interact directly with either the diphthamide or NAD in the X-ray structures. It is proposed that this loop functions as a lid for the active site to restrict solvent access to the reaction center during catalysis. The lid is in an open conformation in the pre-transition state structures, and during transition-state formation, it closes in on the active site partly as a cover for solvents and partly to help stabilize the oxacarbenium ion. It is proposed that the hinge action of the lid activates further steps in the reaction mechanism involving the migration and orientation of the diphthamide nucleophile in a position adjacent to the oxacarbenium reactive cationic species.


The impact of the inducer bush, which is a stator bush with longitudinal straight grooves installed over the inducer in the model centrifugal stage on its performance, was studied. A physical experiment was performed with the use of the experimental design techniques to solve the problem of geometrical parameter optimization of the stator bush with longitudinal straight grooves in the multi-factorial problem regarding the improvement of cavitation erosion characteristics of the centrifugal inducer stage using the inducer bush. The frequency spectrum of excited oscillations of the studied centrifugal inducer stage caused by cavitation was determined in order to use the cavitation erosion resistance parameter as an optimization parameter. The optimal dimensions of the inducer bush of the studied centrifugal inducer stage were experimentally determined: Z=32, b=14, l 1 =20, and l 2 =20. This data allowed us to improve the cavitation erosion resistance of the centrifugal inducer stage without changing its overall dimensions and deteriorating head and power characteristics. An additional physical experiment was performed using an alternative method for determining the cavitation and erosion characteristics in order to confirm the results obtained in the study due to inducer bushes installed in the centrifugal inducer stage. The use of inducer bushes as a part of the centrifugal inducer stage was mainly intended to improve the centrifugal stage cavitation performance. This study proposes to use this part to overcome the negative effects of cavitation erosion. The possibility of such use was confirmed and research and methodological design recommendations for inducer bushes as part of the centrifugal inducer stage were developed. The installation of the improved first centrifugal stages with inducer bushes in the existing centrifugal pumps will increase the operating time to failure, which is relevant for all industries where centrifugal pumps are used.


Le Cong Nhat Phuongt, Nguyen Phong Phut, Ngo Ke Suongl, Nguyen Tien Thang, Pham Khac Lieu and Kenji Furukawa I Institute o/Tropical Biology, Academy o/Science and Technology, Vietnam 2 Department 0/ Environmental Science, College o/Sciences, Hue University, Vietnam 3Graduate School o/Science and Technology, Kumamoto University, Japan "Responsible for presentation This paper describes the performance of a pilot treatment system for nitrogen removal from an ammonium-rich effluent of UASB reactor treating swine wastewater, The system consisted of two 60-L column nitritation reactors and one 180L column anammox reactor, Nitritation reactors were seeded with activated nitrifying sludge and anammox reactor was seeded with cultivated anammox sludge, All the reactors were packed with a mineral biomass carrier, The influent ammonium concentrations were from 256 to 424 mg-N/L Ammonium removal rates have increased with elapsed operational time, The best performance was observed fi'om days 180 to 240 at the influent flow of 0,4 m/d, corresponding to average loading rate of 0,35 kg-N/m/d, The average ammonium removal efficiencies over 60 days of operation were 53,0 ± 6,9%, 89,4 ± 8,6% and 953 ± 3,5% for nitritation stage, anammox stage and overall system, respectively, This indicates partial nitritation was achieved and subsequent anammox reaction was highly effective,


Annotation. Introduction. In the conditions of crisis, unstable external environment and pressure of competitors there are two needs for timely adaptation for enterprises. In these conditions, it becomes increasingly necessary to manage the financial condition of the enterprise. Financial condition management is a capacious process with specific stages and tasks, the implementation of which requires an in-depth analysis of the financial performance in the enterprise. It is difficult for an enterprise today to assess the role of well performing financial management. Asset and liability management, timely investment and receipt of funds, the ability to meet the requirements of creditors, the vision of managers of prospects for business development are keys to survival an enterprise in modern conditions. Given this, it is extremely important to understand the process of managing the financial condition and the stages of its implementation. Purpose. The purpose of the article is to clarify the essence of the concept of «financial condition management». The company's tasks and stages, as well as the role and importance in the activities of enterprises. Results. It is determined that the management of the financial condition in the enterprise is a complex process that includes a system of tasks and a sequence of stages for the implementation of management. It is substantiated that the management of financial condition is carried out on the basis of financial analysis of the enterprise. The tasks performed by the management of the financial condition of the enterprise are described, the tasks are formulas for calculating the indicators of financial stability, liquidity and solvency, business activity and profitability. The sequence of stages of financial condition management which consists of preparatory, main and final stages is characterized. Conclusions. It is concluded that the management of the financial condition in the enterprise is an important process that requires study, research and use in the company's activities. It is determined that financial management is a process of influencing the organization using various financial mechanisms (financial methods, financial levers, regulatory and legal support and information support) to develop and achieve strategic goals of the enterprise. Keywords: financial condition; financial management condition; financial management tasks condition; stages of financial management condition.


This paper provides evidence on the effect of fiscal stimulus on economic activity for countries with different degrees of institutional quality. For a panel of 113 countries during the period 1988-2017, we find evidence that an increment of 1% in government consumption yields a sizable, persistent and stable increase in economic activity of 0.9% in countries with higher institutional quality.


Prostaglandin (PG) actions on disc metabolism are unclear even though certain PGs are highly expressed by disc cells under inflammatory conditions and nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are frequently used to block PG production to treat back pain. Hence this study aimed to (1) quantify gene expression of arachidonic acid cascade components responsible for PG synthesis and (2) examine the effects of key PGs on disc matrix homeostasis. Microarray analysis revealed that inflammatory stress increases expression of synthases and receptors for prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α), resulting in elevated PGE2 and PGF2α production in conditioned media of disc cells. PGE2 diminished disc cell proteoglycan synthesis, in a dose‐dependent manner. Semiquantitative RT‐PCR revealed differential effects of PGE2 and PGF2α on disc cell expression of key matrix structural genes, aggrecan, versican, collagens type I and II. PGE2 and PGF2α also decreased message for the anabolic factor, IGF‐1. PGE2 decreased mRNA expression for the anti‐catabolic factor TIMP‐1 while PGF2α increased mRNAs for catabolic factors MMP‐1 and MMP‐3. Thus, PGE2 and PGF2α may have an overall negative impact on disc matrix homeostasis, and the use of NSAIDs may impact disc metabolism as well as treat back pain. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 28:1259–1266, 2010


This study examines the longitudinal effect of the coupling of business strategy-HRM on product quality competitiveness, and sales account. This study assume that coupling of strategy-HRM means high external fit on business strategy and HRM. The research model consists of two hypotheses. Specifically, the first hypothesis is that the slope of strategy-HRM coupling has a positive effect on the slope of product quality. The second hypothesis is that the slope of product quality competitiveness has a positive significant effect on the slope of sales account. Data were extracted from the Korea Labor Institute's Workplace Panel Survey (WPS) from 2005 to 2015 (in six waves), and the analysis used 683 companies that are common respondents of the six-wave surveys. Latent growth curve model was employed to test the hypotheses. The results of the research are summarized as follows. First, the slope of coupling of business strategy-HRM had a positively significant effect on the slope of product quality. Second, the slope of product quality had a positive and significant effect on the slope of sales account. Finally, it was confirmed that the strong coupling of business strategy and HRM has a critical factor of organizational performance.


By their impact on nuclear organization, enhancers are master regulators of cell fate. 1 The immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) locus undergoes numerous changes as B cells differentiate. Among them, transcription and accessibility for V(D)J recombina-tion, class switch recombination (CSR), and somatic hyper-mutation (SHM) are the most notable. 2 The IgH locus carries two potent enhancers that are separated by 200 kb of distance. E μ and the 3 ′ regulatory region (3 ′ RR), at both ends of the constant gene cluster, control locus remodeling as B cells differentiate. 2 Previous studies reported long-range interactions (of still unclear functional signi fi cance) between the E μ and 3 ′ RR enhancers during B-cell maturation. 3 – 5 The question of a mutual transcriptional cross talk between these two enhancer entities remains open. We thus investigated if they were independent engines of locus remodel-ing or if their functions were more intimately intermingled. In this study, we developed Δ E μ -RAG-de fi cient and Δ 3 ′ RR-RAG-de fi cient mice to investigate the potential transcriptional cross talk between E μ and 3 ′ RR enhancers at the immature B-cell maturation stage. RAG-de fi cient mice, double E μ 6 -RAG-de fi cient mice, and double 3 ′ RR 7 -RAG-de fi cient mice were developed in our animal facility (free of speci fi ed pathogenic organisms). Our research was approved by our local ethics committee review board (Comité Régional d ' Ethique sur l ' Expérimentation Animale du Limousin, Limoges,


We study a geometrically anisotropic internal nano-layered structure of the shrunken multi-lamellar vesicle(SMLV) by using optical tweezers with a polarized beam. The SMLVs are synthesized from soybean asolectin by using gentle hydration method and has an optically birefringence property, known as a form birefringence. When a laser beam of optical tweezers with an elliptical polarization passes through the material with an optical birefringence, the ordinary and extraordinary components of the laser light experience different phase shift, respectively. Therefore, an optical torque due to the angular momentum conservation can be exerted on the optically birefringence material generating a rotational motion of the system. In this work we analyze the distance between the next bilayers of the membrane structure in SMLV from the experimentally measured data of the rotational motion and propose a simple model in which the SMLV is idealized as a multi-regularly-thin parallel plate structure.


against Soviet and Mongolian forces in the area of the disputed border (p. 149). Whilst the Japanese military leaders may have believed in the traditional importance of 'spirit' being of paramount importance in battle—at the same time, whilst also deluding themselves dangerously into thinking that the Red Army soldier lacked the will to fight hard—at the end of the day, the outcome of Khalkin Gol was decided by a combination of factors, not least being the material support which was available to the Red Army and Mongolian forces operating in the area, but not to the Japanese: as Goldman points out, the Kwantung Army had a grand total of 800 trucks at its disposal, the Red Army had over 4,000 available (p. 133). One of the other factors in the Red Army's crushing victory over the Japanese was the arrival of the newly promoted commander of the Red Army's First Army Group, G. K. Zhukov. Thus, the consequences, as Goldman himself points out, of the USSR's victory at Nomonhan were both immediate and of a long-term nature. In summary form, Goldman argues that the threat of the USSR now having to face a two-front war, in the event of Nazi Germany declaring war against the USSR in the future, was now virtually gone (p. 160). Given its crushing defeat at the hands of the Red Army in the East, Imperial Japan was extremely unlikely to launch an attack against the USSR in support of its German ally. In conjunction with this, given the fact that the Japanese had been so roundly defeated in the north, greater attention was paid by the militarists in Japan towards the south, particularly in relation to the empires of Britain and France in Asia, as well as the USA (p. 169). Finally, Zhukov's own performance in mastering the defeat of the Japanese at Khalkin Gol strengthened the belief of the future Marshal of the Soviet Union in his own ability and confidence to fight and win against difficult odds (p. 166). Thus, one can only guess as to what the medium to longterm outcome would have been not only for the balance of power in Asia, but also for the balance of power in Europe, had the Red Army not won the battle at Nomonhan. Given that, once again, talk of 'limited war' never seems to be far from the mouths of many, Goldman's final conclusion to his work has an interesting, almost coded, ring to it: 'if there is truth to the old adage that war is too serious a matter to be entrusted to generals, then the Nomonhan incident suggests that this is especially true of limited war, which by definition has larger non-military components' (p. 182).


e16558Background: Hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach(HAS) is a rare type of gastric adenocarcinoma(GAC). At present, histopathology is the gold standard for the diagnosis of HAS, however, HAS i...


Since the development of water resources is getting more difficult than ever before because of human-sociological condition, it would be necessary to develop a practically applicable technique for the management of water resources based on demand-side concept that could reduce unusable release for more effective and appropriate allocation of limited water resources. The objective of the study is to develop an optimal reservoir system operation model for water supply and energy augmentation by the combination of water budget analysis method in downstream area by MIP technique. The applicable study of the developed model was carried out and water supply capability of Nakdong river basin was re-evaluated by the developed model. The model has been found successful to guarantee appropriate water supply to the basin by means of deficit-supply management method and also turned out to be more practical tool for an optimal reservoir system operation model than other existing models.


The body has the hormones leptin and ghrelin that regulate appetite. An imbalance of these two hormones can result in changes in metabolism.. Currently, most adolescents consume excessive coffee which can cause metabolic disorders such as obesity. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between coffee consumption and sleep quality with nutritional status in adolescents in Jagakarsa Village, South Jakarta. This research design uses cross sectional. Data collection using questionnaires by interviewed that have been tested for validity and anthropometric measurements of height and weight. The subjects in this study amounted to 95 people. Conducted in May - June 2022 Analysis of the relationship between coffee consumption variables and sleep quality with nutritional status using Chi-Square statistical test analysis. The results showed that most of the adolescents had normal nutritional status, namely 48 respondents. Coffee consumption habits based on frequency were mostly in the 1x / day category as many as 74 respondents, and based on quantity most were in the 1-2 cup / day category as many as 90 respondents. Sleep quality in the good category was 23 respondents and the bad category was 72 respondents. This study shows that there is no relationship between coffee consumption and nutritional status based on frequency (p=0.107), based on quantity of coffee consumption (p=0.090) and there is no relationship between sleep quality and nutritional status (p=0.116) in adolescents in Jagakarsa Village, South Jakarta. The conclusion of this study is that there is no significant relationship between coffee consumption variables and nutritional status. There is no significant relationship between sleep quality variables and nutritional status among adolescents in Jagakarsa Village, South Jakarta


This research is to investigate the effect of 810 nm diode laser irradiation root dentine mineral contents and smear layer removal when used along with 2.5% (NaOCl) and 17% (EDTA) irrigation. Eighteen (18) freshly extracted permanent premolar teeth were collected; the sample was chemomechanically prepared using ProTaper rotary nickel-titanium ((Ni-Ti) instruments and 2.5% (NaOCl). The Sample was divided into, Group A: (8) teeth treated with 5 ml of 17% EDTA only for 1 minute, Group B: (8) teeth were treated with 5 ml of 17% EDTA A for 1 minute then irradiation with 2 W power continuous wave of 810 nm diode laser. A control group of (2) teeth were irrigated only with 5 ml saline. Teeth were then sectioned, (1000x and 2000x) photomicrographs of the root canal walls were taken at 2 mm, 7 mm, and 12 mm depth from the apex the examined under SEM. Regarding smear layer removal no statistically significant difference was detected between the two groups (P>0.05) in term of cracks and conjugation less changes were observed in teeth treated with EDTA a lone compared with Diode +EDTA group (12.5% & 21% respectively). 810 nm diode laser irradiation of root canal dentin irrigation has no significant effect on removal of smear layer. It can cause more dentine erosion with slightly more additional loss of mineral content when used along with NaOCl and EDTA. Experimental article (J Int Dent Med Res 2019; 12(1): 49-53)


(2014), written by an Italian-Somali woman, Igiaba Scego, also combines different modes of writing while raising awareness of the history of colonialism and migrants' problems today. Unfortunately, however, as Willman points out, "Scego is another author who is surprisingly absent from many discussions of the NIE, given that her hybrid texts address identity, the impact of recent history and the power of storytelling with a strong sense of impegno" (p. 140). Willman is aware that her study of unidentified narrative objects is by no means complete. For example, she points out that she has left out queer perspectives from her analysis. She also stresses that UNOs are not restricted to literature, but include other art forms as well, such as cinema. She mentions the film director Nanni Moretti as a good example. In conclusion, Willman emphasizes the extreme importance of UNOs: "Combining different modes of writing and, in some cases, different media forms, they offer innovative approaches to coming to terms with the past and narrating experience in the contemporary world" (p. 152). Indeed, Willman has brilliantly succeeded in what she was trying to accomplish: to raise awareness of UNOs in Italian literature and culture in the 21st century.


Regarding the limitation of current IP address Management, we summarize several current solutions such as DHCP, "firewall" and CIRD in details by comparison and especially introduce the IPv6 technique and its prospective application.


The occurrence of liver disease and raised liver enzymes is common in diabetic patients and the increasing level of enzymes indicates the severity of hepatic injury. Very few studies have addressed this issue in Bangladesh though Bangladeshi population is very much susceptible to diabetes. This study investigated a total of 1400 diabetic patients and 100 non diabetic individuals to compare the level of liver enzymes between diabetic and non-diabetic subjects. The comparisons were made among subjects who were referred to the department of Gastro-hepato-pancreatic diseases (GHPD) of BIRDEM with the clinical diagnosis of chronic hepatitis and other gastro-intestinal disorders. The investigations included alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and bilirubin levels. The subjects were categorized with and without hepatitis based on these investigations. The biochemical markers (ALT, AST, ALP, bilirubin) did not differ significantly between nondiabetic male and female subjects. Neither the differences were significant between diabetic males and females though the diabetic patients had higher level of markers. In contrast, when compared between diabetic and non-diabetic subjects there were striking differences in either sex. Compared with the non-diabetic the diabetic subjects had significantly higher level of ALT (48.3 vs. 277.0), AST (42.0 vs. 213.0) and ALP (148 vs. 302) in males (p<0.005 for all). Similarly, these values were found significantly higher in diabetic females than their non-diabetic counterparts (p<0.01). For bilirubin, it was also found significant in males (p<0.001). The study revealed that the liver enzymes were found elevated in both diabetic and non-diabetic subjects who were referred with clinically diagnosed hepatitis. The enzymes were found markedly elevated among the diabetic than non diabetic patients, which indicate hepatic injury was more marked among the diabetic patients. Further study may confirm these findings. It is suggested that other socio-demographic and biophysical risk factors are important to be investigated in order to prevent increased hepatic damage among the diabetic subjects. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/imcj.v5i2.10098 IMCJ 2011; 5(2): 46-50


Everyone who goes to medical school could write a book about it. Fortunately not everyone does. Few would be as well written and engrossing as Dr Philip Reilly's account of his four years at Yale. Dr Reilly's journey is not unlike anyone's medical school experience. In fact, it is probably so compelling because all physicians have experienced and remember the same primary experiences in our medical school educations: anatomy laboratory, the first time we see someone die, and the first time someone says "Doctor!" and we turn around. No doubt, Reilly's experiences are so vivid because he recorded them daily, even carrying a pocket dictaphone to the hospital to capture his immediate impressions of his nights on call. Part of the value of Reilly's book is its naivety, its rendering of the experience just as it unfolded, not colored by the more sophisticated palette of the physician reviewing his medical