Preliminary Test of Prescribed Burning for Control of Maple Leaf Cutter (Lepidoptera: Incurvariidae)

Leaf litter burning in the spring resulted in 87.5% mortality of maple leaf cutter pupae, Paraclemensia acerifoliella (Fitch). No apparent damage was observed on sugar maple or beech trees within the burn area

A minimum principle for superharmonic functions subject to interface conditions

AbstractLet D be a bounded domain in R2 with smooth boundary. Let B1, …, Bm be non-intersecting smooth Jordan curves contained in D, and let D′ denote the complement of ∪i − 1m Bi respect to D. Suppose that u ϵ C2(D′) ∩ C(D̄) and Δu ⩽ 0 in D′ (where Δ is the Laplacian), while across each “interface” Bi, i = 1,…, m, there is “continuity of flux” (as suggested by the theory of heat conduction). It is proved here that the presence of the interfaces does not alter the conclusions of the classical minimum principle (for Δu ⩽ 0 in D). The result is extended in several regards. Also it is applied to an elliptic free boundary problem and to the proof of uniqueness for steady-state heat conduction in a composite medium. Finally this minimum principle (which assumes “continuity of flux”) is compared with one due to Collatz and Werner which employs an alternative interface condition

Standards of Wastewater Reuse/Disposal in KSA: Reconsideration

Ministry of Agriculture and Water (MAW) in Saudi Arabia had setup very stringent standards for wastewater reuse and discharge (WWRD) in 1989, for example, turbidity and nitrate as nitrogen were not to exceed 1NTU and 10 mg/l respectively. Those limits cannot be met without additional expensive tertiary treatment. Those standards are not needed for all WWRD. In fact, secondary treatment with disinfection and efficient management are adequate for most of WWRD. The author published an article back in 1999 in Water Research Journal, Vol. 33, in which he assessed the standards and recommended setting up less stringent standards as a function of intended reuse and method of irrigation. The standards were re-evaluated and modified by MAW and other ministries in 2003, 2005 and 2006. Unfortunately, the modifications were not to the expected level, and still only a small part of treated wastewater is being used. The remaining portion of wastewater is discharged into a wadi/sea. This article reassessed the standards published in 2003, 2005 and recommended setting up revised standards for reuses and discharges relevant to the intended uses and discharges

Fine needle aspiration cytology of thyroid nodule: diagnostic accuracy and pitfalls

Background: To evaluate the utility of FNAC in patients with Thyroid Nodule. Methods: Records of all patients treated surgically for thyroid nodule(s) at Aga Khan University Hospital from January 2000 to December 2004 were reviewed. The patients who had pre operative FNAC as first line of the evaluation and the final post operative histopathology report available were included in the study. Results: 125 patients (90 female 35 male) had thyroid surgery. The cytological diagnosis was made according to following categories: Benign, Follicular lesion, Malignant and Inadequate sampling. Among 63 Benign cases , 57 were benign and 6 turned out to be malignant. Among 44 cases from Follicular group , 31 were benign and 13 were malignant. Out of 15 patients from Malignant group, 14 were malignant and 1 was benign. Among three patients from the Inadequate sampling group , 2 turned out to be benign and one was malignant. The overall results showed a sensitivity of 98%, specificity of 70%, and positive predictive value of 91%, negative predictive value of 93% and diagnostic accuracy of 91%. Conclusion: We conclude that FNAC is an invaluable and minimally invasive procedure for pre operative assessment of patients with a thyroid nodule in our setting as well. FNAC has high sensitivity in picking up malignancy in thyroid and also has high diagnostic accuracy in the evaluation of thyroid nodules

From Novelty to Normalcy: Polling in Myanmars Democratic Transition

Since the government of Myanmar* announced a transition from military rule to democracy in 2010, both domestic and international stakeholders have turned to polling to discover public opinion on a range of issues. This report examines the state of opinion research in Myanmar, identifies challenges, and makes recommendations for improvements.Although Myanmar has a decades-long history of market surveys, political polling is a relatively new phenomenon. Organizations operating in this field face four major challenges. The first is selecting a sample in a country that lacks reliable census or voter registration data, and lacks comprehensive access to telephones or the internet. The second is how to provide survey questionnaires in several languages to accommodate Myanmar's numerous ethnic groups. The third challenge relates to interviewers, both to their training and to accounting for possible response bias based on the interaction between the interviewer's sociodemographic background and the respondent's. Finally, polling groups and interviewers must ensure respondents' confidentiality.These problems are not unique to Myanmar. Pollsters around the world regularly grapple with similar dilemmas. What makes their task more challenging in Myanmar is the novelty of polling. Few people (even in civil society and political parties) understand its nature, and many are quick to dismiss the whole exercise when they do not like some of a poll's results. The report examines and refutes several of their criticisms

Role of optical coherence tomography angiography to differentiate intraretinal microvascular abnormalities and retinal neovascularization in diabetic retinopathy

Objective: To assess proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and to describe the difference in angiographic representation of new vessels (NVs) and Intra retinal microvascular abnormalities (IRMA) on optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was performed at ISRA Postgraduate Institute of Ophthalmology, Karachi, from March 2018 to September 2018. Forty-two eyes of 21 patients with history of diabetes mellitus (DM) were examined. Twenty-eight eyes with a clinical diagnosis of severe non proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) or proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) according to early treatment diabetic retinopathy study (ETDRS) were included and evaluated using Swept source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA). Then face wide field SS-OCTA images and co registered structural optical coherence tomography (OCT) with flow overlay were used to distinguish the features of IRMA and retinal NVs. Results: Forty-two eyes (21 patients) were examined clinically. Fourteen eyes had moderate NPDR, 15 had severe NPDR and 13 eyes had changes consistent with PDR. After clinical diagnosis, we included 28 eyes in our study based on inclusion criteria. These 28 eyes went through SS-OCTA evaluation and we observed 15 cases with PDR and 13 with severe NPDR changes. The OCTA and clinical diagnosis were similar except in 2 eyes, which is critical but not statically significant showing the importance of this noninvasive technology. Conclusions: Widefield OCTA can work as an alternative to fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) in the diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy (DR). As it is a non-invasive and depth encoded technique so can be used frequently to monitor the retinal changes and their progression

Organizational commitment : a simultaneous test of antecedents, consequences, and correlates

129 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm.Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-105).The Canadian military is focused on attracting dedicated people to join and maintain membership in the military (National Defence, 2001). Comprehensive organizational commitment research is critical for the military to conduct in order to attain its strategic goals. The primary purpose of the current study was to develop and confirm a comprehensive model of organizational commitment within a military context. The second purpose of the study was to assess whether method variance affects the validity of results generated using the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ; Mowday, Steers, & Porter, 1979). Data from 1680 randomly selected Regular Forces Air Command members from various Canadian provinces were used to test the OCQ dimensionality and the model of organizational commitment developed in the current study. The best fitting OCQ model was an orthogonal, two-factor structure representing affective commitment and method variance. The model fit the data well based on several fit indices and was confirmed using an independent sample. The model also was structurally invariant across gender, language, officer status, and career stage/age groupings, further supporting its generalizability within Air Command. Results are discussed in terms of their application within a military context

Preliminary Test of Prescribed Burning for Control of Maple Leaf Cutter (Lepidoptera: Incurvariidae)

Leaf litter burning in the spring resulted in 87.5% mortality of maple leaf cutter pupae, Paraclemensia acerifoliella (Fitch). No apparent damage was observed on sugar maple or beech trees within the burn area