OBJECTIVE To assess the knowledge and practices of barbers regarding transmission risk of HBV and HCV viruses. METHODS A cross-sectional survey of barber's shops in Rawalpindi and Islamabad was conducted during September- November1998. Barbers were queried about hepatitis, knowledge regarding hepatitis transmission through razor, vaccination, sterilization, and the form of media they use for ...

Underdetermination arguments for skepticism maintain that our common sense view of the external world is no better, evidentially speaking, than some skeptical competitors. An important and well-known response by dogmatists, those who believe our commonsense view is justified, appeals to abduction or inference to the best explanation. The predominant version of this strategy, going back at least...

Ockham’s razor is the principle that, all other things being equal, it is rational to prefer simpler scientific theories to more complex ones. In a series of a papers, Kelly, Glymour, and Schulte argue that scientists who heed Ockham’s razor make fewer errors and retract their opinions less often than do their complexity preferring counterparts. The centerpiece of their argument is the Ockham E...

The protozoan oyster pathogen Perkinsus marinus has infected populations of Crassostrea virginica along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of North America since at least the 1940s. Until recently, it was the only Perkinsus sp. pathogen known to exist in the region. During the past decade, independent laboratories have reported P. chesapeaki (now synonymous with P. andrewsi) in softshell clams (Mya a...

Theoretical models of unsupervised category learning postulate that humans “invent” categories to accommodate new patterns, but tend to group stimuli into a small number of categories. This “Ockham’s razor” principle is motivated by normative rules of statistical inference. If categories influence perception, then one should find effects of category invention on simple perceptual judgments. In ...

In this paper, the buckling of non-homogeneous isotropic truncated conical shells under uniform lateral pressure and resting on a Winkler foundation is investigated. The basic relations and governing equations have been obtained for non-homogeneous truncated conical shells. The critical uniform lateral pressures of non-homogeneous isotropic truncated conical shells with or without a Winkler fou...

Thick shells have attracted much attention in recent years as intelligent and functional graded materials because of their unique properties. In this review paper, some critical issues and problems in the development of thick shells made from Functionally graded piezoelectric material (FGPM) are discussed. This review has been conducted on various types of methods which are available for thick ...

A reliable, accurate and rapid multigene-based assay combining real time quantitative PCR (qPCR) and a Razor Ex BioDetection System (Razor Ex) was validated for detection of Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca (Xfp, a xylem-limited bacterium that causes citrus variegated chlorosis [CVC]). CVC, which is exotic to the United States, has spread through South and Central America and could significantly...

In this paper, we present flexible multiprecision multiplier that combined variable precision, parallel processing (PP), razor based dynamic voltage scaling (DVS), and dedicated MP operand scheduling to provide optimum performance for variety of operating conditions. All of the building blocks of proposed flexible multiplier can either work as independent small precision multiplier or parallel ...

The gauge usually adopted for extracting the reduced Hamiltonian of a thin spherical shell of matter in general relativity, becomes singular when dealing with two or more intersecting shells. We introduce here a more general class of gauges which is apt for dealing with intersecting shells. As an application we give the hamiltonian treatment of two intersecting shells, both massive and massless...