Topical antimicrobials applied to the umbilical cord stump: a new intervention against neonatal tetanus

Primary epididymal malignancies are uncommon, and epididymal adenocarcinomas are exceedingly rare. We report a case of primary adenocarcinoma of the epididymis in a 62-year-old man and review the world literature on epididymal adenocarcinoma.     

Conservation Effects of Irrigation Water Supply Pricing: A Case Study from Oahu,Hawaii

THE CONSERVATION EFFECTS OF IRRIGATION WATER SUPPLY PRICING ARE EXAMINED BY EMPLOYING DATA ON IRRIGATION WATER USE FROM THE HONOLULU BOARD OF WATER SUPPLY (BWS) AND THE WAIMANALO IRRIGATION SYSTEM FOR THE PERIOD OF 1982/83-1991/92. A WATER CONSUMPTION MODEL WAS USED FOR THIS PURPOSE. THE OLS PROCEDURE INDICATED THE EXISTENCE OF AR(1) AUTOCORRELATION IN RESIDUALS. TO MAKE ALLOWANCE FOR THIS, THE ORCUTT-COCHRANE PROCEDURE WAS EMPLOYED TO ESTIMATE THE REGRESSION EQUATIONS. NO EVIDENCE OF WATER PRICING PROMOTING WATER CONSERVATION WAS FOUND IN EITHER CASE. RAINFALL TURNED OUT TO BE THE SINGLE-MOST IMPORTANT VARIABLE IN EXPLAINING THE CHANGES IN AGRICULTURAL USE IN THE STUDY AREAS.     

Squid: Enabling search in DHT-based systems

A fundamental problem in large scale, decentralized distributed systems is the efficient discovery of information. This paper presents Squid, a peer-to-peer information discovery system that supports flexible searches and provides search guarantees. The fundamental concept underlying the approach is the definition of multi-dimensional information spaces and the maintenance of locality in these spaces. The key innovation is a dimensionality reducing indexing scheme that effectively maps the multi-dimensional information space to physical peers while preserving lexical locality. Squid supports complex queries containing partial keywords, wildcards and ranges. Analytical and simulation results show that Squid is scalable and efficient.     

Modeling of Cu-linked rectification devices by varying torsion angles

Using the nonequilibrium Green’s function (NEGF) method in combination with the density functional theory (DFT), we have analyzed the rectifying performance in Cu-linked molecular devices by varying torsion angles (φ=0^°–90^°). The linking effect of Cu atom has been investigated by calculating current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, rectification performance, transmission functions, projected density of states (PDOS), and molecular projected self-consistent Hamiltonian (MPSH). Present calculations revealed that linking of Cu in combination with conjugated dithiocarboxylate (-CS₂) and standard thiol linkers significantly affects the metal-molecule coupling asymmetry, and thus the rectifying behavior in molecular devices. Further, the subsequent studies show that the left-right combination of -CS₂ linker and Cu atom displays higher rectification ratio at various torsion angles in gold–biphenyl–gold junctions than thiol and Cu linkers. The calculated results are helpful not only in predicting an optimal combination of linking groups for realistic applications but also provide the way for better control of rectification effects in molecular devices.     

Recycling of waste PET‐bottles using dimethyl sulfoxide and hydrotalcite catalyst

The degradation of PET bottles has been successfully achieved using hydrotalcite as catalyst and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as solvent. The reaction was carried out at boiling point of DMSO (190°C) and degradation was complete in 10 min. The oligomer (tetramer) obtained was treated with NaOH at room temperature in methanol to get dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and ethylene glycol (EG). Thus, it is a safe and cleaner process. Oligomer was characterized by MS, 13 C‐NMR, X‐ray diffractometric, and thermogravimetric analysis. DMT and EG were characterized by GC‐MS. DMT was also characterized by FT‐IR. GC‐MS analysis shows that the purity of DMT was 99%. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2012     

The Place of Housing Stability in HIV Research: A Critical Review of the Literature

There exists a wealth of literature investigating the association between housing stability and the health of people living with, or at risk of acquiring, HIV. Following a review of the limitations of prevailing housing status measures, the concepts underlying definitions of housing status in HIV literature are presented. This review concludes by proposing a conceptual shift away from understanding housing as a predominantly material entity towards a more holistic understanding of the social and cultural importance people place on home, and various spaces people find and make “home”. Addressing the varied housing needs of people living with, and at risk of, HIV relies on a more careful consideration of context, and a commitment to cultivating and supporting spaces which allow people to manage their health and well-being.     

Effect of level,timing and method of nitrogen application on spring-planted sugarcane

A field experiment conducted at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi during the years 1976–79 involving two planted cane crops and two ratoons showed that nitrogen application to planted cane increased the millable cane and sugar yields of the planted cane and had a significant residual effect on the ratoon. Taking together the yields of planted cane and ratoon, an application of 150 kg N ha^–1 increased the yield of millable cane by 33.3t ha^–1 and that of sugar by 3.9t ha^–1. The results suggested that with 75 kg N ha^–1 three-quarters should be applied at planting, while with 150 kg N ha^–1 only half should be applied at planting. The remaining dose of nitrogen should be applied at earthing up. Foliar application of part of the nitrogen indicated some advantage in the case of millable canes in the planted cane, but this did not show up in the sugar yield.     

Accord: a programming framework for autonomic applications

The emergence of pervasive wide-area distributed computing environments, such as pervasive information systems and computational grids, has enabled new generations of applications that are based on seamless access, aggregation, and interaction. However, the inherent complexity, heterogeneity, and dynamism of these systems require a change in how the applications are developed and managed. In this paper, we present a programming framework that extends existing programming models/frameworks to support the development of autonomic self-managing applications. The framework enables the development of autonomic elements and the formulation of autonomic applications as the dynamic composition of autonomic elements. The operation of the proposed framework is illustrated using a forest fire management application.     

Microwave assisted hydrothermal synthesis of well-dispersed and thermally stable Ag@SnO2 core–shell nanocomposites for propane sensing applications

A simple microwave assisted hydrothermal precipitation (M–H) technique for the synthesis of Ag@SnO₂ core–shell structure nanoparticles (NPs) is reported. Ag NPs were synthesized via chemical reduction of metal salt followed by M–H deposition of tin dioxide shell for fabrication of monodispersed core–shell particles. The phase and morphology has been investigated by X-ray diffraction technique (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) respectively. Ag@SnO₂ core–shell nanocomposites have shown distinct surface Plasmon spectrum in the range of 407–440 nm. The core–shell morphology is confirmed from the TEM images. XRD patterns have suggested the formation of silver and tin dioxide in the face-centered cubic and Cassiterite form respectively. Our investigations suggested that the formation of core–shell structure results in the enhanced thermal stability of the system. Synthesized material is used for the detection of propane gas. To understand the multi gas sensing ability and selectivity for detection of propane gas by Ag@SnO₂ core–shell materials based devices, Sinha–Tripathy soft-sensor model has been proposed.