The upper surface of the sporophore of Ganoderma lucidum (Leyss) Fries always becomes covered with a laccate crust which when sectioned shows a number of deep-brown elongated basidiumlike cells in close clusters. Some fructifications of Ganoderma lucidum obtained from the Burdwan Dt. (Bengal) in September 1930 showed in the microscopical sections of the hymenial surface (fig. 1, 2) very promi-


We combine a fast eikonal solver with two optimization algorithms to locate and map fractures caused by injection in the secondary recovery of hydrocarbons. The data used is arrival times on wells, although the method is applicable to other problems and acquisition geometries. We describe the problem and the various processes involved and illustrate the numerical behavior with a synthetic data example.


Location-based with mobile gaming unit (102), gambling participants it possible to bet, a system for providing access to casino games and sports betting (Figure 1) is provided. Gambling participants may access the system via the wireless network (106). In addition, gambling participants may be located anywhere within the established local game server (110). Based on the global positioning of the mobile gaming unit, together with the game to be provided in the local server jurisdiction profile gambling participants (116) may be provided in the local server.


Within the field of international relations, the study on the Great Powers stands out. The great powers are configured as the agents that dominate the dynamics of the international system, due to their inherent qualities to lead other actors in the international system. The struggle of nations to gain dominance in the international system causes strategic changes in international relations. States seek to accumulate relative power that allows them to displace their direct competitors, while generating security for themselves and stability in the system. The Soviet Union, after the II World War, was considered one of the two great powers and maintained this status until its collapse in 1991. However, since the beginning of the 21st century, Russia s strategy to recover lost protagonism has been clarified. The new Russian state has generated intense changes in the country s military component, as well as its new geo-strategy to meet these objectives. The review of several authors who talk about the characteristics and peculiarities of the great powers is exposed. The research is circumscribed under the neo-realist theory of international relations for its analysis, and through the application of a quantitative and qualitative methodology proposed by the student, from the prism of the military aspect as a variable to evaluate the emergence of the Great Powers. Analysis that evaluates the military component and its main characteristics to make an evaluation and analysis of the presented case of study. Also taking into account the participation of Russia in different international forums, taking into account the importance of the international structure. Following an analytical guideline of the triad formed by geography, geopolitics and finally geostrategic embodied in the new military doctrine of Russia. Sustained also by the importance of the military aspect offered, both from the theory of realistic and neo-realist thinking. To finally determine whether or not the Russian Federation is a Great Power.


The influence of globalization does not only change the physical style of humans as a subject that responds to global influences. But in other aspects it is also affected, one of which is the aspect of social interaction in a homogeneous cultural space. This is a strategy for local policy makers to respond to this influence to continue to hold social interactions in the local religious culture space by holding the tradition of mapangkon or pangkonan in Hindu religion in the Cau Belayu Traditional Village, Marga District, Tabanan Regency. The power of globalization that requires humans to experience social mobility so that social interaction becomes tenuous, on the legitimacy of society, the implementation of the mapangkon tradition takes place to build and promote the resistance of communal social interactions.Keywords: Building Hindu People Interaction, Pangkonan Ceremony


Objective To investigate the heart-protective effects of compound Chinese medicine of Tianma Gouteng Prescription(TGP)on renal hypertensive rats(RHR)and to explore its mechanism.Methods RHR were established by two-kidney one-clip method,and then were randomly divided into 6 groups:high-,middle-and low-dose TGP groups,model group,enalapril group and sham-operation group.The blood pressure,left ventricular mass index(LVM)I,and myocardial contents of hydroxyproline(Hyp),superoxide dismutase(SOD),glutathione peroxidase(GSHPX)and malondiadehyde(MDA)in 6 groups were measured.Results The blood pressure,LVMI,myocardial Hyp and MDA level were lower,and myocardial SOD and GSH-PX levels were higher in high-dose TGP group than those in the control group,the differences of the above indexes having statistical significance.Conclusion TGP exerts protective effect on heart in RHR by adjusting the blood pressure and anti-oxidation effects of myocardium,and by inhibiting collagen hyperplasia.


In this article, IDEAL (Integrated Drilling Evaluation and Logging), GeoSteering tool, PowerPak, RAB (Resistivityat-the-Bit), RWOB (Receiver, Weight on Bit and Torque tool), PowerPulse, CDR (Compensated Dual Resistivity tool), SFL (Spherically Focused Resistivity Log), AIT (Array Induction Imager Tool), CDN (Compensated Density Neutron tool) and FMI (Fullbore Formation MicroImager) are marks of Schlumberger. For help in preparation of this article, thanks to David Allen, Schlumberger Well Services, Sugar Land, Texas, USA; Philippe Faure, Dominic McCann, Samantha Miller, Bernard Montaron and Kanai Pathak, Anadrill, Sugar Land, Texas, USA; Richard Rosthal, Schlumberger Logging While Drilling, Sugar Land, Texas, USA; and David Hill, Schlumberger Well Services, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. 1. Betts P, Blount C, Broman B, Clark B, Hibbard L, Louis A, Oosthoek P: "Acquiring and Interpreting Logs in Horizontal Wells," Oilfield Review 2, no. 3 (July 1990): 34-51. Logging While Drilling. Schlumberger Education Services: Houston, Texas, USA, 1992. 2. For a review on horizontal drilling methods: Burgess T and Van de Slijke P: "Horizontal Drilling Comes of Age," Oilfield Review 2, no. 3 (July 1990): 22-33. Steve Bonner Trevor Burgess Brian Clark Dave Decker Jacques Orban Bernhard Prevedel Sugar Land, Texas, USA


BACKGROUND: Lung volume reduction surgery may be a viable treatment alternative for emphysema patients suffering from severe respiratory insufficiency. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate functional and morphological aspects of emphysematous rat lungs, prior to and following lung volume reduction surgery. METHOD: Wistar rats were divided into two experimental groups (papain without surgery and papain with surgery) and three control groups (saline without surgery, saline with surgery and papain without mechanical ventilation). After approximately 40 days of endotracheal instillation of papain or saline solution, animals in the papain with surgery and saline with surgery groups were submitted to bilobectomy of the middle lobes by right thoracotomy along the posterior border of the superior vena cava. After 1 week, the same animals were submitted to a mechanical ventilation study, which involved measurement of lung elasticity and airway resistance. For all of the animals studied, lung tissue was analyzed in order to determine alveolar diameter and the elastic fiber quantity. RESULTS: Morphometric analysis revealed higher mean alveolar diameter in the lungs of all animals exposed to papain as compared to those exposed to saline. Elastic fiber counts in the alveolar septa of animals treated with papain were lower than those of animals receiving saline. In the animals submitted to bilobectomy and papain, lung elasticity was greater than in those receiving papain without surgery and was statistically equal to that seen in animals receiving saline (with or without surgery). CONCLUSION: In the respiratory systems of animals with pulmonary emphysema submitted to lung volume reduction by bilobectomy, the capacity for elastic recoil returned to values equivalent to those of the control group animals.


A disc-rotor having an adaptor and a disc combined with the adaptor and braked by a caliper, may include the disc having a binding hole formed in the center thereof, a ring-shaped supporting member that may be formed at an interior circumference of the disc and in which a first bolt hole may be formed at the interior circumference thereof, the adaptor having both sides thereof open wherein a flange closely contacting the supporting member may be mounted at a side of the both sides and a second bolt holes may be formed at a circumference of the flange, and a fixing bolt that may be inserted in the first bolt hole and the second bolt hole such that the supporting member may be detachably engaged with the adaptor.


A management model is developed that determines the optimum economic recoverability of a particular hot-water geothermal reservoir undergoing exploitation for electric power generation. The management model integrates a physical model of the reservoir that predicts the areas of pressure decline due to withdrawals, and pressure rise due to reinjection of spent fluid, with a model of a two-stage steam turbine power plant that determines the quantity of electricity generated for a rate of hot-water extraction. Capital costs, variable costs and annual fixed costs are obtained for the reservoir development, extraction and reinjection, the transmission system, and the power plant. Revenues are determined for electrical power production. Application of the management model to a simplified, yet realistic example reservoir demonstrates that the methodology developed in this report can be used for analyzing the management of an integrated geothermal reservoir power plant system. For the example reservoir, 12 potential sites are developed, five for extraction wells and seven for injection wells. The wells on these sites are used to develop up to 27 MW of electrical power over a 20-year time interval.


Summary Twenty patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and elevated serum lipids were randomized into 2 groups of 10 to receive encapsulated preparations of either a concentrated ethylester form of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosa-hexaenoic acid (DHA) or corn oil in doses of 6 g per day, given double blindly for approximately two months prior to coronary bypass surgery. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced monocyte thromboplastin synthesis was studied during the preoperative period and one week following surgery. The ability of n-3 fatty acids to modify tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) and tissue plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) was also evaluated along with fibrinogen and thrombin-antithrombin III (TAT) complexes. No significant changes were noted preoperatively. Monocyte reactivity, PAI-1, fibrinogen and TAT increased significantly after surgery. These changes were not modified by preoperative loading with n-3 fatty acids.


The reverse osmosis process has been applied in large industrial fields (water treatment, food industry, biotechnology, and ect.). Despite, this progress more investigation are required to optimize the reverse osmosis process. The present paper deals the modeling of mass transfer in a cavity limited by a semi-permeable membrane. Mass conservation and momentum balances are developed, dimensionless and control volume method has been applied. The velocity and concentration profiles versus the Reynolds number and Sherwood are studied. The results show that the permeability of the membrane decreases as function of the transversal (radial) component of the velocity. The axial (tangential) component of the velocity presents a good stability along the thickness of the cavity; this phenomenon can be attributed to the zero gradient of the tangential velocity. These preliminary results show that the phenomenon of the concentration polarization affects the mass transfer coefficient in a channel. Current study has considered the cavity without a promoter of the turbulence; whereas, the design of the spacer has an important role on mass transfer coefficient in the reverse osmosis module. Our next interest is the integration of the spacer in the cavity, and the study of the effect of its design on the concentration and velocity profiles and the mass transfer coefficient through the reverse osmosis membrane.


One of the necessary ways to control water pollution of Taihu Lake is to dredge its polluted sediments.Owing to our country's current economic and technical limitations as well as the enormous quantity of contaminated dredged sediments,the underneath cohesive soil layers without any treatment are directly selected as impervious barrier of the Xuelang confined disposal facility(CDF).In order to prevent contaminants in dredged sediments from polluting surrounding environment and groundwater during dumping,a comprehensive experimental study for evaluating the ability of these soil layers to retard infiltration and transportation of main contaminants(total nitrogen,ammonia nitrogen,nitrite nitrogen,total phosphorus,chemical oxygen demand(COD)) in dredged sediments has been made using permeability test,static adsorption test,dynamic soil column test and so on.It is shown that the clay layers beneath the Xuelang CDF are capable to adsorb and retard the main contaminants greatly.


After independence of India, Adivasi/Tribal societies in general and those who are in Jharkhand in central India have witnessed large scale changes. Adivasi societies have no longer been left on self-reliance and even their economic patterns have changed. Many factors like industrialization, education, occupation, urbanization, displacement and government social welfare policies, all these considerably changed the Adivasi life.The cultural and social lives of Adivasis are changing too. This in turn affected the means and the nature of social communication of many of these socialites in many locations. The introduction of new technologies of communication medium started to replace the old mode of communication. Television, radio, satellite TV channels, CDs, mobile phone and the internet have been not only changing the medium of information but also limiting the social mobility and inter-connection within societies. This paper will examine how the process of urbanization and introduction of different media technology in the Adivasi village situated at fringe of Ranchi city, going under several changes. The area is predominantly habitation of Oraon Adivasi. This Adivasis' had their own social and communication system which is changing under various facets. This study maps these changes in understanding how these changes are the product of the new urban scenario in which these societies found themselves in. Mapping the changing nature of communication in the Adivasi society is the main objective of this study. In this study, a survey has been conducted and an unstructured interview has been performed in the area of Ranchi which is Adivasi populated area. Focus group discussion (FGD) was also conducted based on availability of members. A Qualitative approach for analysing the interview data has also been adopted. This study locates the media ecology of a society and the way it is changing by the new technological medium and urbanisation. Changing media ecology from traditional pattern to contemporary medium is changing their culture, social structure and economical pattern and life-style of the society.


The Gaussian mixture model (GMM) is prone to large-scale misdetection in the static case where the background and foreground have similar colours. This study presents an improved GMM method to solve this problem. First, the principal component analysis is used to transform the high-dimensional space into the low-dimensional one with three colour channels, which aims to reduce runtime. Then, the images are processed by GMM to obtain the foreground areas. At the same time, the mean and difference of pixel features in red, green and blue and hue, saturation and value (HSV) colour models are calculated to analyse the similar-coloured components. The areas with similar colours are classified in this process, and thus the foreground is separated from similar-coloured background. Then, all of the extracted areas are targets. The experimental results show that the presented method identified the target areas with high accuracy and high efficiency. Compared with conventional GMM, the presented method obtained the detection-accuracy improvement by about 6% on average.


Purpose: To investigate the cervical axis tilt (CAT) phenomenon in Lenke 1 and 2 adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients, and to identify the risk factors for CAT at follow-up. Methods: Medical records of 55 Lenke 1 or 2 type AIS patients with follow-up time > 20 months were reviewed from February 2013 to February 2015. Patients were divided into case group (CAT ≥ 5°), and control group (CAT < 5°). Demographic data, preoperative and follow-up radiologic parameters were evaluated, including age, gender, Risser sign, coronal parameters, shoulder balance parameters and SRS-22. Correlation analyses between CAT at follow-up and other coronal parameters were pursued. To identify risk factors of CAT ≥ 5° at follow-up, binary logistic regression models, with forward stepwise (Conditional), were constructed by variables that were of significance in a comparison study. Result: Preoperatively, 23 patients (41.82%) exhibited CAT ≥ 5° with an average CAT of 6.83±3.60, and 32 patients (58,18%) exhibited CAT < 5° with an average CAT of 2.16±1.72. There was no difference in average age (P = 0.158), gender distribution (P = 0.446), follow-up time (P = 0.955), LIV (P = 0.366), and Lenke type curve distribution (P = 0.341) between groups. Significant difference was observed in terms of Risser sign (P = 0.041) and T1-Tilt (P = 0.023). No difference was observed in PTC (P = 0.455), and MTC (P = 0.953), TL/LC (P = 0.816), CA (P = 0.169), RSH (P = 0.976), CB (P = 0.470). At follow-up, 21 patients (38.18%) exhibited CAT ≥ 5° with an average CAT of 5.86±1.20, and 34 patients (61.82%) exhibited CAT < 5° with an average CAT of 2.15±1.56. We detected statistical difference in PTC (P = 0.002), CB (P = 0.043), and T1-Tilt (P = 0.004). No significant difference was observed in MTC (P = 0.520), TL/LC (P = 0.144), CA (P = 0.406), RSH (P = 0.316), UIV-T1 (P = 0.184). Significant correlations were detected between postoperative CAT and postoperative PTC (r = 0.377, P = 0.012), postoperative CA (r = 0.421, P = 0.001), postoperative RSH (r = 0.483, P < 0.001), and postoperative T1-Tilt (r = 0.557, P < 0.001). Binary logistic regression analysis identified that postoperative PTC (P = 0.002) was the primary contributor to postoperative CAT ≥ 5°. Conclusion: CAT was different from shoulder imbalance. The primary contributors to postoperative CAT was the postoperative PT. The CAT did not affect the SRS-22 scores.


Purpose of review—This review provides a perspective on the AREDS2 including: a summary of the goals and rationale of the study, major findings, subsequent management recommendations, and questions which remain to be answered. Recent findings—The primary goal of the AREDS2 was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of lutein plus zeaxanthin and/or omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated acid (LCPUFA) supplementation in reducing the risk of developing advanced AMD. AREDS2 also investigated the effects of omitting beta carotene and reducing the concentration of zinc from the original AREDS formulation. While primary analysis from the AREDS2 did not reveal a benefit of daily supplementation with lutein/zeaxanthin on AMD progression, secondary exploratory analyses suggested that lutein/zeaxanthin were helpful in reducing this risk. Comparison of low dose to higher dose zinc showed no significant benefit. Summary—The overall evidence on the beneficial and adverse effects from AREDS2 and other studies suggests that lutein/zeaxanthin could be more appropriate than beta carotene in AREDStype supplements. Questions remain regarding the AREDS2 study results such as: whether the findings are generalizable to the population as a whole, what is the long-term safety profile of lutein/zeaxanthin supplementation, should other carotenoids be included in AREDS-type supplements, and at what optimal doses.


Objective: Gallbladder duplication is a congenital malformation, is rarely recognized in childhood and occurs in 1 in 4,000 live births. Often, abnormalities in the development of the biliary tract are detected on abdominal imaging or accidentally during surgery in adult patients for an unrelated condition. In this article, the authors describe the complexity of diagnosing a combination of duplication of the gallbladder and stricture of the common bile duct in a 14-year-old child and analyze the diagnostic and tactical errors in the surgical treatment that resulted in the failure to timely diagnose the stricture of the common bile duct. In our opinion, timely diagnosis and proper surgical technique in combined hepatobiliary disorders in children are difficult, even for experienced professionals. However, adequate clinical manifestations assessment, considering an alternative explanation for the presenting symptoms, and timely correction of management errors in the preoperative period could lead to better treatment outcomes. Keywords: Hepatobiliary system, congenital anomalies, gallbladder duplication, stricture of the common bile duct, pediatric.


Digital data privacy is one of the main concerns in today's world. When everything is digitized, there is a threat of private data being misused. Privacy-preserving machine learning is becoming a top research area. For machines to learn, massive data is needed and when it comes to sensitive data, privacy issues arise.With this paper, we combine secure multiparty computation and steganography helping machine learning researchers to make use of a huge volume of medical images with hospitals without compromising patients' privacy. This also has application in digital image authentication. Steganography is one way of securing digital image data by secretly embedding the data in the image without creating visually perceptible changes. Secret sharing schemes have gained popularity in the last few years and research has been done on numerous aspects.


The invention discloses an application of an insecticidal composition containing thiamethoxam and high-efficiency cyhalothrin to prevention and treatment on soil insects. An effective active component contains a first active component thiamethoxam and a second active component high-efficiency cyhalothrin, wherein the weight ratio of the first active component to the second active component is (1:5)-(8:1). The composition can be prepared into a seed-treating micro-capsule suspension agent for seed treatment, a suspended seed coating and seed-treating dispersible powder. The composition disclosed by the invention is reasonable in constitution and good in insecticidal efficacy, and the activity and the insecticidal efficacy of the composition are not simple superposition of the activity of each component; compared with an existing simplex preparation, the composition has a remarkable insecticidal efficacy and also has a remarkable synergistic effect, is good in safety and meets the safety requirements of a pesticide preparation.


e-farm, as China's agricultural modernization effective way for the construction of new countryside in China has injected new vitality. The relevant policies in national support and guidance, the development of China's electronics farm has made remarkable achievements. However, due to China's electronics farm established not long, theoretical research is not mature, and the lack of practical experience for reference, in the promotion of the process there are many factors constraining their development.


Data synchronization is an essential issue in digital feeder current differential protection. Synchronization tolerance leads to time shift and phase shift. A new index that defined the phase shift restraint capacity of the differential protection scheme was proposed. By analyzing the phase shift restraint capacity of traditional differential protections using phasor analysis method, it was found that the phase shift restraint capacity of the triple-bias restraint criteria only reached about 20°, while that of nonlinear restraint criteria might be up to 60°. The paper presented a new phase differential protection, a novel non-linear differential protection criterion, which adopted restraint coefficient to adjust sensitivity of the criterion and used protection action boundary angle to adjust the phase shift restraint capacity. ATP simulation results indicate the new scheme has good sensitivity to inner slight fault, fine ability against current transformers saturation and excellent phase shift restraint capacity.


Several factors associated with soil freezing complicate the interpretation of neutron probe readings in frozen soil. Temperature is unimportant, but the effect of vertical resolution must be considered. Because of the possibility of both gains and losses of water at the same depth during a period of measurement, interpreting changes in the water content of frozen soil is a subjective process.


The speech promotion during early infancy is of greatest importance for the development of a child. It is stimulated by preverbal interactions between mother and infant. Particularly infants who suffer from hearing impairment need such interactions intensively and have to be provided with hearing facilities as early as possible - at latest by the end of the first year of life. Otherwise irreversible deafness and consecutive life-long muteness can be caused by an atrophy of the hairy cells. An early diagnosis of hearing impairment with help of hear screenings of all newboms including their supply with hearing facilities has to be demanded in order to avoid the children's fate of deafness and social isolation. Today all the necessary techniques are available. They should be used for all deaf infants.


One of the gains of globalisation is its osmotic effect of equalisation motivating all the countries to reach their potential. Human resource especially, medical manpower, determines the health of the nation. Developing countries are becoming increasingly aware, of using their scarce resources to train a doctor, only to lose it to the Western world. The article highlights the exploitation, and possible wastage of highly qualified medical workforce who, are accommodated to suit the needs of the host country irrespective of their previous qualifications and experience. The article also makes suggestions to recover and retain the talents of the country.


Recent studies on the volatility of stock markets stress problems associated with time varying correlations of prices and their implications to the stochastic behavior of returns. Numerous empirical approaches and models have been applied to examine that behavior, but emphasizing the case of the developed countries. Few studies have been devoted to identify the presence of long memory in emerging markets. This work is aimed to overcome such limitation through the examination of the long memory behavior of daily returns of the Mexican Stock Market Index for the period January 1983 to December 2009. ARCH family models are used to analyze the volatility of the market and an arfima (autoregressive fractionally integrated moving average) model is specified to model the returns. Estimations are made assuming different distributions for the errors (normal, Student t, and asymmetric Student t distributions). Then, the estimated volatilities are used to compute the Value at Risk (VaR) for both long and short positions. The empirical evidence confirms the presence of long memory manifested in the significant level of the fractional differencing parameter for the observed returns. This finding suggests the possibility of predicting future prices and obtaining abnormal profits, contrary to the assertions from the efficient markets theory. The analysis also suggests that the asymmetric volatility models could be better fitted to measure market risk, especially when a Student t skewed distribution is assumed for the error process


Research on race, sex, and social class discrimination in the juvenile justice process has yielded mixed results. These conflicting findings have been attributed to the use of diverse research strategies and various methodological shortcomings. There are, however, two potentially important issues that have not been previously addressed: the need to examine the juvenile justice system as a process, rather than as a series of separate and unrelated decision points, and the failure to control for the impact of administrative factors such as pretrial detention. The purpose of the research reported here is to examine the impact of race, sex, and social class on juvenile court dispositions while controlling for pretrial detention and appropriate legal factors. The analytical strategy employed permits an examination of the impact of these factors over three stages of the juvenile justice process: referral, adjudication, and disposition.

Findings indicate that while legal factors and pretrial detention decline in importance as predictors of disposition as one moves from an examination of all referred to adjudicated youth, race and social class become more important. These results are discussed in terms of their methodological significance and their implications for the conceptualization of discrimination in the juvenile justice process.


We present a novel construction for a Verifiable Delay Function (VDF), in which the prover is challenged to produce the factorisation of a special class of RSA modulus. Our approach produces a VDF with a very e cient verification procedure. The properties of our VDF allow us to establish the design of the first practical Delay Encryption scheme, a primitive introduced at EUROCRYPT 2021. We provide a formal security analysis of our results, as well as an implementation study detailing the practical performance of our VDF.


U.S. National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 2021 Research Highlight of the Communications of the ACM, December 2020 Issue. Facebook Research Award, 2020. Google Faculty Research Award, 2017. IBM Faculty Award, 2017. Best Long Paper Award, 2017. • Intl. Conf. on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing (EMNLP), 2017. Research Highlight of the Communications of the ACM, March 2016 Issue. Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence Hackathon 2015 – Peer Favorite Award. Best Paper Award – IEEE Marr Prize 2013. • International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV), 2013. Yahoo! Key Scientific Challenges Award, 2012. Renaissance Technologies Fellowship, 2009 2011. Philantropic Society Medal, Guayaquil, Ecuador, 2007.


Neutrino scattering on liquid and solid targets at low energy transfer can serve both as a tool for searching the physics beyond the Standard Model, for example, such as neutrino electromagnetic interactions, and as a test of the Standard Model at low-energy scale. At the same time, the theoretical apparatus for low-energy elastic neutrino scattering on electrons and nuclei bound in liquids and solids must take into account collective effects in the electron and nuclear subsystems of the target. We develop such an apparatus based on the formalism of the dynamic structure factor. A numerical illustration of the role of the collective effects is provided for the case of a superfluid He-4 target.


In this paper, we present a new method for calculating the limit of early exercise boundary at expiry. We price American style of general derivative using a formula expressed as a sum of the value of European style of derivative and so called American premium. We use the latter expression to calculate an analytic formula for limit of early exercise boundary at expiry. Method applied on American style plain vanilla, Asian and lookback options yields identical results with already known values. Results for selected American style of derivative strategies are compared with limits calculated by the PSOR method.


Exceptional points in non-Hermitian systems have recently been shown to possess nontrivial topological properties and to give rise to many exotic physical phenomena. However, most studies thus far have focused on isolated exceptional points or one-dimensional lines of exceptional points. Here, we substantially expand the space of exceptional systems by designing two-dimensional surfaces of exceptional points, and find that symmetries are a key element to protect such exceptional surfaces. We construct them using symmetry-preserving non-Hermitian deformations of topological nodal lines, and analyze the associated symmetry, topology, and physical consequences. As a potential realization, we simulate a parity-time-symmetric 3D photonic crystal and indeed find the emergence of exceptional surfaces. Our work paves the way for future explorations of systems of exceptional points in higher dimensions, and applications in emission control and sensing.


The term "cross symbol" borrows from the "Cross Culture" study, implying to explore the specific proposition of how meaning is translated between different symbol systems, to recognize, discriminate, and authenticate the nature of each symbol system itself, and to cross the limitation that a symbol system is itself unable to be self-examined. This article points out the cross symbol model containing two significant features: first, to emphasize the nature of inter-construction between structure and action, and second, to stress the mechanism of mutual recognition between structure and action. The communication model of cross symbols also has another two-folded meaning: one is to deepen our recognition and understanding of each symbol system as well as to differentiate the differences among them by cross comparing different symbol systems, and the second is to emphasize the interrelated and inter-constructed nature between structure and action on the basis of epistemology. Using the cross symbol model as a conceptual framework not only can fully integrate two entirely different communication images based on the transmission model with the constitutive model, but it can also provide an operating platform of meta-discourse as a mechanism for dialogues among the seven different traditions of communication theory and further develop a blueprint of a communication grand theory in the process.


In this Letter, it is shown that interactions can facilitate the emergence of topological edge states of quantum-degenerate bosonic systems in the presence of a harmonic potential. This effect is demonstrated with the concrete model of a hexagonal lattice populated by spin-one bosons under a synthetic gauge field. In fermionic or noninteracting systems, the presence of a harmonic trap can obscure the observation of edge states. For our system with weakly interacting bosons in the Thomas-Fermi regime, we can clearly see a topological band structure with a band gap traversed by edge states. We also find that the number of edge states crossing the gap is increased in the presence of a harmonic trap, and the edge modes experience an energy shift while traversing the first Brillouin zone which is related to the topological properties of the system. We find an analytical expression for the edge-state energies and our comparison with numerical computation shows excellent agreement.


The author outlines the kinds of deterioration experienced in pavements of lightly trafficked streets, and gives results of trials into asphalt overlays, using varying mix designs. There was no clear evidence to indicate that one type of mix performed better than another. Great attention should be paid to mix design, and intangibles such as road user expectation, as well as to cost benefit analyses, when choosing a form of pavement rehabilitation.


Abstract Small RNAs play an important role in plant innate immunity. However, their regulatory function in induced systemic resistance (ISR) triggered by plant growth‐promoting rhizobacteria remains unclear. Here, using Arabidopsis as a model system, one plant endogenous small RNA, miR472, was identified as an important regulator involved in the process of Bacillus cereus AR156 ISR against Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst) DC3000. The results revealed that miR472 was down‐regulated with B. cereus AR156 treatment by comparing small RNA profiles and northern blot analysis of Arabidopsis with or without B. cereus AR156 treatment. Plants overexpressing miR472 showed higher susceptibility to Pst DC3000; by contrast, plant lines with miR472 knocked down/out showed the opposite. The transcriptome sequencing revealed thousands of differentially expressed genes in the transgenic plants. Target prediction showed that miR472 targets lots of coiled coil nucleotide‐binding site (NBS) and leucine‐rich repeat (LRR) type resistance genes and the expression of these targets was negatively correlated with the expression of miR472. In addition, transgenic plants with knocked‐out target genes exhibited decreased resistance to Pst DC3000 invasion. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR results indicated that target genes of miR472 were expressed during the process of B. cereus AR156‐triggered ISR. Taken together, our results demonstrate that the miR472‐mediated silencing pathway is an important regulatory checkpoint occurring via post‐transcriptional control of NBS‐LRR genes during B. cereus AR156‐triggered ISR in Arabidopsis.


The utility model provides a jugged exhaustion core pin which is applied to a mould that can be opened and closed and is provided with a father molding board and a mother molding board which are arranged oppositely. The mould mainly comprises a molding space that is arranged between the father molding board and the mother molding board; a father-molding board core is arranged inside the father molding board; the mould also comprises two jugged exhaustion core pins; one side of each jugged exhaustion core pin is respectively designed into a jugged shape, and the sides present the jugged shape are arranged in opposite positions; in addition, one end of each of the jugged exhaustion core pins is fixed on the father-molding board core, and the other end runs through the father-molding board core and extents into the molding space, so that the gas in the molding space can be exhausted from the jugged gap of the jugged exhaustion core pin so as to eliminate the upper combinational line of the product. The jugged exhaustion core pin of the utility model effectively increases the exhaustion area, thereby promptly exhausting the gas inside the mould and reducing the visibility of the combinational line.


We report the electrical resistivity measurements under pressure for the recently discovered BiS2-based layered superconductors Bi4O4S3 and La(O,F)BiS2. In Bi4O4S3, the transition temperature Tc decreases monotonically without a distinct change in the metallic behavior in the normal state. In La(O,F)BiS2, on the other hand, Tc initially increases with increasing pressure and then decreases above ? 1 GPa. The semiconducting behavior in the normal state is suppressed markedly and monotonically, whereas the evolution of Tc is nonlinear. The strong suppression of the semiconducting behavior without doping in La(O,F)BiS2 suggests that the Fermi surface is located in the vicinity of some instability. In the present study, we elucidate that the superconductivity in the BiS2 layer favors the Fermi surface at the boundary between the semiconducting and metallic behaviors.


During the past several decades, the traditional agriculture structure has been unsustainable since decrease in grain consumption and increase in animal food consumption, resulting in a large number of grain to be used as forage. Grasslands and animal husbandry will gradually become the agricultural mainstream and lead the agriculture to get out of dilemma. Therefore, the cropping structure should be adjusted timely because the lower productivity of grassland for animal husbandry that is far not satisfied for human needs. Understanding how to solve the problems of "three rural" and "three animal husbandry" is of high importance for facing the growing demands for food structure and the desire for ecological civilization. Although grasslands and animal husbandry has developed vibrantly and achieved some achievements, forage grass and livestock production are considerably low and the industrial capacity is insufficient, and facing enormous challenges. Certainly, the development potential of grass and animal husbandry is also huge due to fast growing market demand in China. Our analysis showed that developing "animal-husbandry development" model by relying on scientific and technological innovation, talent construction, social needs and national policy support, which grasslands and animal husbandry industry will rapidly transform and develop, is an effective way to promote the forage grass and livestock production in China. We also discussed the driven factors about improvement of quality and efficiency and transformation development of grasslands and animal husbandry industry, and proposed seven principles for the development of "animal-husbandry development" in China, including construction of high quality forage production system, breeding and promotion of improved varieties, ecological protection of natural grassland, exploring different regional development modes and optimizing the industrial development environment. Grass animal husbandry development has reached breaking point, must optimize the structure of the industrial for the combination of economic, ecological and social benefits the coordinated development of the green road. At the same time, modern industrial development modes should be introduced to reform the traditional prataculture and agricultural and achieve a sustainable developing stage. Moreover, the society has provided a good opportunity for the transformation and upgrading of grassland and animal husbandry by the construction of ecological engineering and the protection of national food security. These will help us to realize the improvement of efficiency and quality, increase industrial benefits and the industrialization level, finally explore a sustainable development way with effective output, safe production, resource conservation and environment-friendly.


In her brilliant thematic essay, author Rachel Laudan warns the reader from the onset that she is expecting to stimulate as much controversy as agreement. I can grant her agreement when she gives a good review of mineralogy in the 17th and 18th centuries, with its related chemical and physical cosmogonies. She argues convincingly that scientific concerns gradually shifted from minerals to rocks and then to the division of rocks into "primary" and "secondary" for theoretical considerations and for practical uses in mining. This shift continued, with the focus moving from rocks to the behavior of the aqueous solutions that deposited them (Laudan stresses that the popularity of thermal waters for cures of all ailments had much to do with this new interest) and finally to the role ot heat and water in the processes of induration of sediments into rocks.


After R. Feynman introduced the path integral named after him, a lot of mathematical investigations to make this formally defined integral mathematically rigorous are made. Apart form these mathematical legacies of Feynman's path integrals, many probabilistic studies influenced by his path integrals have been done. Such probabilistic works were pioneered by M. Kac, who participated at the lecture presented by R. Feynman at the Cornell University in 1947, and instantaneously had an insight into similarity between Feynman's path integrals and the Wiener integrals. He introduced a new direction of studies in the probability theory; exploring in the forest of Wiener integrals, the mathematically rigorous counterparts to Feynman's path integrals, keeping a point of view of the path integrals in mind. He established the celebrated Feynman-Kac formula. The theory of large deviation is one of fruits born by studies in this direction. The Feynman-Kac formula corresponds to Schrodinger operators with scalar potential, and hence to Laplace transform type Wiener integrals. SO does the the theory of large deviation. In the asymptotic theory, two methods are widely known; one is the Laplace method for Laplace transform type integrals, and the other is the method of stationary phase for Fourier transform type integrals. As for Wiener integrals, the Laplace method is what is dealt with in the theory of large deviation. A Fourier transform type Wiener integral arises naturally in the probability theory. Needless to say, a characteristic function is among typical examples. A Fourier transform type Wiener integral interesting


Gastrointestinal tumors have major place in the statistics of newly developed cancers every year, as the colon cancer is on third place, stomach cancer is on fifth place, and esophageal cancer is also in the top ten of tumors according statistics of cancer incidence. Usually the tumors are detected on advanced III and IV stage, where the perspectives for the patients are not very optimistic (Danon, 2003; Jemal, 2011). Up to now white light endoscopy is the main method in detection of gastrointestinal tumors. White-light endoscopy is wellestablished and wide used modality. However, despite the many technological advances that have been occurred, conventional white light endoscopy is suboptimal and usually detects lesions, which already have symptoms of obstruction, bleeding and pain, related to tumor growth. Misdiagnoses, related to difficulties in differentiation of inflammatory from initial stage adenocarcinoma also have negative effect on the diagnostic accuracy (Da Costa, 2003). Only experienced gastroenterologists with long practice in endoscopy observations could find slight initial changes to dysplastic and neoplastic stages of esophageal, stomach or colon mucosa. The limitations of standard endoscopy for detection and evaluation of cancerous changes in gastrointestinal tract are significant challenge and initiate development of new diagnostic modalities. Such detection and visualization techniques, additional to standard endoscopy equipment, including optical detection of tissues alterations are investigated and their feasibilities for clinical usage are evaluated. Advances in fiber optics, light sources, detectors have led to the development of several novel methods for tissue evaluation in situ. Optical methods applied for such tissue evaluation often are referred under term "optical biopsy", which indicate their possibilities to make an instant diagnosis at endoscopy, previously possible only by using of histological and/or cytological analysis (Wang, 2004). The new optical approaches are based on light-tissue interactions and differences occurred between normal and abnormal tissue sites. In gastroenterology several optical methods are applied recently, such as optical coherent tomography (Tumlinson, 2004), chromo-endoscopy, confocal fluorescent microscopy (DaCosta, 2003a; 2003b), Raman


The emergence of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has generated a need to quickly and accurately assemble up-to-date information related to its spread. While it is possible to use deaths to provide a reliable information feed, the latency of data derived from deaths is significant. Confirmed cases derived from positive test results potentially provide a lower latency data feed. However, the sampling of those tested varies with time and the reason for testing is often not recorded. Hospital admissions typically occur around 1-2 weeks after infection and can be considered out of date in relation to the time of initial infection. The extent to which these issues are problematic is likely to vary over time and between countries. We use a machine learning algorithm for natural language processing, trained in multiple languages, to identify symptomatic individuals derived from social media and, in particular Twitter, in real-time. We then use an extended SEIRD epidemiological model to fuse combinations of low-latency feeds, including the symptomatic counts from Twitter, with death data to estimate parameters of the model and nowcast the number of people in each compartment. The model is implemented in the probabilistic programming language Stan and uses a bespoke numerical integrator. We present results showing that using specific low-latency data feeds along with death data provides more consistent and accurate forecasts of COVID-19 related deaths than using death data alone.


Prior to 2008, senate vacancies aroused little debate or controversy. However, the presidential election of 2008 sparked interest in the Senate vacancy process because it created the highest number of senate vacancies associated with a presidential election. One of those vacancies occurred on November 16, 2008, when then-Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, resigned from the Senate to become President of the United States. When Obama resigned, there were two years and forty-eight days left in his term. Under Illinois Election Code, special elections for senate vacancies must be held in conjunction with the next general election, which would be November 3, 2010. To fill the vacancy, then-Governor Rod Blagojevich appointed Roland Burris on December 30, 2008. Shortly thereafter, the Illinois Legislature impeached Governor Blagojevich and Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn assumed the office of Governor. Neither Blagojevich nor Quinn ever issued a writ of election to fill Obama's Senate seat - the practical effect being that Burris would complete Obama's term and the Senator elected in the next general election would begin a new term on January 3, 2011. This was practical because Obama's term was to end on January 3, 2011 anyways; even if a special election was held with the next general election, the winner would not take office until the following January, the date Obama's term would have effectively ended. Therefore, Illinois, under its Election Code, allows an appointee to serve the remainder of a senate term when a vacancy occurs in the final one-third of the term. Illinois' Election Code is similar to thirty-five other states, most giving similar practical effect to their statutes in the final one-third of a senate term. Voters in Illinois brought suit alleging Illinois' Election Code violated the Seventeenth Amendment. Prior to this lawsuit, states' election codes had rarely, if ever, been struck down under the Seventeenth Amendment. However, a unanimous Seventh Circuit panel held that Illinois' governor was commanded to issue a writ of election by the Seventeenth Amendment and states did not have the discretion to skip the special election that would elect replacement for the senate seat. When Illinois requested a rehearing en banc, or alternatively, an amended opinion, the Seventh Circuit denied rehearing and amended its opinion to explicitly state that Illinois had to conduct a special election. In light of the Seventh Circuit's amended opinion, Illinois expeditiously conducted a special election in conjunction with the general election held on November 3, 2010. This Note closely analyzes the Seventh Circuit's decision in Judge v. Quinn and discusses how the language used by that court runs counter to established Supreme Court and Seventh Circuit case law on this issue, as well as the legislative history of the Seventeenth Amendment. Nonetheless, this Note argues that Judge will stand as valid precedent and be followed by other states. Consequently, this Note proposes the considerations necessary for states to update their senate vacancy statutes to comply with Judge. To acquire a better understanding of what changes were intended by the Seventeenth Amendment in regards to senate vacancies, Part II first provides a brief history of the original vacancy provision and the Seventeenth Amendment. It then provides an overview of a senate term to facilitate the discussion of Judge v. Quinn and gives a breakdown of states' senate vacancy statutes to highlight which statutes are affected by the Seventh Circuit's decision. Part II then discusses case law that utilizes a Seventeenth Amendment analysis to determine the constitutionality of states' vacancy statutes. Part II then describes the congressional efforts made thus far to curb states' right to appoint temporary senators. Part III then discusses the Seventh Circuit's decision in Judge v. Quinn, and provides the procedural history and subsequent amended opinion and injunctive order by the district court. Part IV then argues that Judge was erroneously decided in light of the prior precedent. Furthermore, Part IV argues that Judge is inconsistent with the legislative history of the Seventeenth Amendment. Part V then argues that despite these inconsistencies, Judge will likely stand as valid law and be followed by other states. Consequently, states should update their statutes to prevent the possibility of their statutes being challenged in the months before the election. It then proposes various considerations states should take to update their senate vacancy statutes. Part VI provides a brief conclusion by reiterating the importance of Judge v. Quinn in the larger context of senatorial elections and the importance of abiding by the Seventh Circuit's decision.


Political authority in California is divided among thousands of local jurisdictions: A typical household may find itself simultaneously governed by a county, a city, a school district, and numerous special districts that levy assessments or charge fees to provide services or build community facilities. Many observers have argued that California's system of local government is too complex and fragmented. They contend that such complexity hinders coordination among government activities, makes it difficult to establish political accountability, and may lead to inefficient provision of services. Some have further argued that the passage of the Proposition 13 tax limitation in 1978 exacerbated the problem , leading to a proliferation of new cities and special districts and fundamentally altering California's local gover-nance structure. In Deep Roots: Local Government Structure in California, Paul Lewis examines the long-term trends in California's local government structure and the possible effects of Proposition 13. He finds that although Proposition 13 played havoc with many local governments' finances, it did not decisively alter the state's overall local government structure. In fact, California's public sector is less fragmented than the national average. The state has many times fewer counties and cities and significantly fewer politically independent special districts per capita, compared to the nation. Conventional wisdom in both the academic and popular literature holds that Proposition 13 provided incentives for the widespread creation of new cities and special districts. In the case of cities, incorporation would no longer lead to an increase in property taxes, because Proposition 13 had capped overall rates. And by " seceding " from its financially strapped county, the new city could capture more locally generated revenues for local use. In the case of special districts , fiscally troubled counties and cities might be expected to encourage the creation of new special-purpose governments. The counties and cities could thereby transfer some of their service and revenue-raising burdens to entities that often are less constrained in their ability to issue debt or levy fees and service charges. The data, however, do not support the conventional wisdom. In fact, the growth rate in the number of new cities has slowed since 1963, when the state created Local Agency Formation Commissions (LAFCOs) in each county to regulate government boundaries and formations. Although 54 new cities have incorporated since 1978, most were in areas of metropolitan Southern California that experienced extremely rapid population growth and suburbanization and thus were natural …


Summary
Three regions of esterase activity designated I, II, and III were found on zymograms of vitreous fluids. Region I, the most anodal, exhibited two zones, one of which (the slower) was in all samples, occasionally accompanied by a second band which moved just ahead of it. Likewise, Region III, the most cathodal, exhibited two phenotypes, a common one-band and a rare two-band phenotype. Region II was occupied by one- and two-banded combinations of five different zones (a, b, c, d and e), which indicated that each band was the product of an allelic series of genes (EsIIa, EsIIb, etc.).

Only 11 of 15 expected phenotypes were encountered because of the rarity of alleles EsIIa and EsIIc. The most common allele, EsIIb, had a frequency of 0.83 in Puget Sound hake and 0.60 in Pacific Ocean hake; this difference was highly significant. In the Pacific Ocean population agreement was good between observed and expected numbers, assuming Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. In the Puget Sound samples deviations from expected frequencies did not appear in females or first-year fish, but deviations were significant in males 2 years and older; these deviations occurred as a marked deficiency of bd males combined with an excess of bb and dd males, particularly the latter. Inhibition tests indicated that these isozymes are B esterases. Estimations of molecular weight for the isozymes of Region II based on chromatographic and ultracentrifugation methods were 70,000 and 73,500, respectively.


It is almost a century since August Weismann, the eminent German zoologist and early adherent to the Darwinian theory of evolution, published the first theory of the evolution of aging [1, 2].1 Other distinguished biologists have followed him in that quest, but the century-long effort to develop a satisfactory evolutionary theory of aging has been frustrated by the paradoxical and internally contradictory terms in which the problem is customarily formulated [3-5]. The paradox lies in the attempt to reconcile the deteriorative, disruptive processes of aging, senescent disease, and death with the evolutionary concepts of adaptation and selection for increased fitness.


Background: COVID-19 was an unknown disease previously. This pandemic has affected almost all countries of the world and creating a deadly experience to all. It leads to long term squeals among many affected people with consequent loss of productivity and quality of life. This entity is called long COVID syndrome. The objectives of the present study is to find out the long term sequels of COVID-19 patients.
Materials and methods: This was an observational study where a total of 56 patients of COVID-19 were recruited. Demographic data and long term sequelae were recorded from these patients. All the patients were confirmed cases of COVID-19 by RT-PCR. Prior consent from the patients and ethical clearance was taken. Data were analyzed by SPSS-20.
Results: Among 56 cases male was 31(55.4%) and female was 25(44.6%). Male to female ratio was 1.24:1. Age group distribution showed <20 years was 4(7.1%), 21-30 years was 10(17.9%) 31-40 years was 12(21.4%) 41-50 years was 14(25.0%) and 51-60 years was 16(28.6%) Regarding occupation majority were service holder 34(60.7%).Fifty two(92.9%) were from urban areas Among 56 cases 48(85.7%) took treatment at home for COVID-19. Regarding vaccination history 4(7.1%) got no vaccination 18(32.1%) took Astra-Zenaca, 12(21.4%) took Moderna Biotech and 22(39.3%) took Sinovac vaccine. Regarding analysis of postcovid sequelae among 56 cases 25(44.6%) had fatigue, 7(12.5%) had cough, 4(7.1%) had shortness of breath, 12(21.4%) had chest pain or tightness, 22(39.3%) had memory impairment, 8(14.3%) had insomnia, 22(39.6%) had joint pain, 8(14.3%) had muscle pain or headache, 8(14.3%) had palpitation and 16(28.6%) had minor psychiatric illness like,depression or anxiety.
Conclusion: Present study showed post COVID complications among significant number of COVID-19 patients.Thus COVID-19 is not only associated with loss of life but also with long term complications and loss of productivity that needs proper attention.
JCMCTA 2021 ; 32 (2) : 30-33


Introduction The histological structure of the fallopian tube shows remarkable changes during pregnancy. Interstitial Cajal cell is known to play a key role in pacemaking motility in the gastrointestinal tract and the urinary tract. Its role in the motility of the fallopian tube is not fully explained. Aim of the work To describe the histological changes in the fallopian tube during early and late pregnancy, to shed light on the morphology of interstitial Cajal-like cells (ICLCs), and to localize their regional distribution in the fallopian tube in nonpregnant and pregnant rabbits. Materials and methods Thirty adult female rabbits were divided into three groups: group I (nonpregnant), group II (early pregnancy – day 4), and group III (late pregnancy – day 27). The ampulla of the fallopian tube was excised and processed for histological, immunohistochemical, transmission, and scanning electron microscopy. Results In the nonpregnant group, it was found that the lining epithelium of the fallopian tube was composed of both ciliated and secretory cells. The ciliated cells were the major epithelial cell types; CD34-positive ICLCs were found maximally in the superficial zone of lamina propria, followed by musculosa, the deep portion of lamina propria, and least in serosa. The early pregnancy group showed a significant reduction in ciliated cells and an increase in secretory cells. In addition, there was a significant increase in the height of secretory cells and development of secretory organelles. There was a reduction in the number of CD34-positive ICLC in the superficial lamina propria compared with nonpregnant animals. The late pregnancy group showed an insignificant increase in ciliated cells and a decrease in secretory cells compared with group II. In addition, there was a decrease in the height of secretory cells and a reduction in their secretory organelles, but still more than that in group I. Conclusion The structure of the fallopian tube showed histological changes during pregnancy. These changes represented a functional conditioning to the pregnancy state. ICLCs in the fallopian tube were prone to the same changes in their count and distribution.


Using a carrier gas to desalinate seawater has many disadvantages. Existing carrier gas systems called humidification dehumidification (HDH) desalination systems suffer from low energy recovery and the presence of non-condensable gases in the dehumidifier which is reflected in low performance and high cost of water production (up to 22 € /m 3 ) for these systems. In this paper, we propose and review various potential solutions to these issues. It has been found that the solutions proposed by our team and other researchers have improved the energy efficiency rather drastically. It is concluded that some of the versions of the technology which can use low grade heat are applicable for use in decentralized and small scale desalination systems. It is also noted that it is not yet possible to clearly identify the niche for some of the new versions of the technology, that use higher grade of energy, in the absence of cost details.


The factors of competitiveness of a national economy, which are crucial in terms of innovation and intellectual development, which is followed by the leading countries of the world have been examined. Countries' competitiveness has been studied by identifying the relationship between the process capital on the one hand, and the market, human, financial, renewal capital on the other hand. The existence of the named relationship has been confirmed analytically, its measurement has been carried out, and the principles of state regulation to ensure the competitiveness of Ukraine have been defined.


For structural models that contain tanks filled with liquid propellants subjected to gravitational forces, so-called pendulum modes exist. The same holds true for structures with prestressed elements due to gravitational forces. Depending on the sign of the eigenvalue, the pendulum mode can be classified as either stable or unstable. For launchers, the thrust point is positioned below the launcher center of gravity. Hence, unstable pendulum modes with negative eigenvalues, both due to prestress and liquid propellants, do exist. In reality, the unstable pendulum modes are controlled by thrust vectoring. In launcher‐payload coupled dynamic analysis, a simple control system could be employed using control moments. The control moments can be introduced by means of a preconditioned stiffness matrix. For this purpose, the rigid-body forces or the rigid-body strain energy of the free‐free stiffness matrix will be considered. A global sensing system is needed to minimize the effect of the control method on the flexible modes. The low-frequency modes are affected most by the control method. In addition to the prestress effect of gravitational forces (dead loads), the prestress effect of pressure forces (follower loads) can also be significant. The latter type of forces do not need to be controlled because they do not cause a resulting moment under rigid-body rotation.


It is with the greatest trepidation that I return yet again to a text which has become genuinely monstrous, a thing of display and exhibition, demonstrable precisely because it is well-nigh submerged in a sea of critical writing, a fit inhabitant for the watery Arctic wastes which are the monster's


This paper aims at developing a better understanding of local social, cultural and ecological geographies of water and sanitation in Nigeria's coastal settlements. In-depth interviews, field observations and secondary sources of data were used to capture local complexities associated with these issues in Ibeno-a coastal settlement in Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria. Findings showed that the daily water and sanitation practices of the people depend, to a large extent, on the nature of the locational/physical environment as well as the wider social and cultural circumstances of the people (located in beliefs, spiritualities and socio-economic status). As behavioural responses, a number of coping resources and methods were observed to be central to meeting the daily challenges of water and sanitation in the area. In conclusion, the paper argues that theories working on behavioural changes and human cognition alone are not sufficient in deepening understanding of the complexities surrounding water and sanitation issues in developing countries. The wider social and environmental contexts are important variables for considerations.


This paper models land-use and irrigation water choices in a dynamic hydro-agro-economic model. We (cid:28)rst con(cid:28)rm that the dynamic model leads to di(cid:27)erent results than a static model without pumping costs. We then apply our model to the Beauce area, which is one of the most important agricultural production areas in Europe. We show that dry wheather conditions lead to both more important decreases in water-table levels and losses in gross added value for the farmers. Next, we compare the performance of two regulatory policies: water restricions (quotas), which are currently in place, and increases in pumping costs (taxes), which are considered as an alternative. We show that restrictions outperform taxes with respect to hydrological criteria, while farmers' gross value added are comparable. Although they are relatively more performant than taxes, restrictions lead to important economic losses for the farmers.


When batteries supply behind-the-meter services such as arbitrage or peak load management, an optimal controller can be designed to minimize the total electric bill. The limitations of the batteries, such as on voltage or state-of-charge, are represented in the model used to forecast the system's state dynamics. Control model inaccuracy can lead to an optimistic shortfall, where the achievable schedule will be costlier than the schedule derived using the model. To improve control performance and avoid optimistic shortfall, we develop a novel methodology for high performance, risk-averse battery energy storage controller design. Our method is based on two contributions. First, the application of a more accurate, but non-convex, battery system model is enabled by calculating upper and lower bounds on the globally optimal control solution. Second, the battery model is then modified to consistently underestimate capacity by a statistically selected margin, thereby hedging its control decisions against normal variations in battery system performance. The proposed model predictive controller, developed using this methodology, performs better and is more robust than the state-of-the-art approach, achieving lower bills for energy customers and being less susceptible to optimistic shortfall.


An ultra-precision machine tool for machining of the roller has been designed and assembled, and due to the obvious impact which dynamic characteristic of machine tool has on the quality of microstructures on the roller surface, the dynamic characteristic of the existing machine tool is analyzed in this paper, so is the influence of circumstance that a large scale and slender roller is fixed in the machine on dynamic characteristic of the machine tool. At first, finite element model of the machine tool is built and simplified, and based on that, the paper carries on with the finite element mode analysis and gets the natural frequency and shaking type of four steps of the machine tool. According to the above model analysis results, the weak stiffness systems of machine tool can be further improved and the reasonable bandwidth of control system of the machine tool can be designed. In the end, considering the shock which is caused by Z axis as a result of fast positioning frequently to feeding system and cutting tool, transient analysis is conducted by means of ANSYS analysis in this paper. Based on the results of transient analysis, the vibration regularity of key components of machine tool and its impact on cutting process are explored respectively.


Josephides, Lisette, and Alexandra Hall, eds. We the Cosmopolitans: Moral and Existential Conditions of Being Human. New York: Berghahn, 2014. viii + 186 pages. Hardcover, $80.00. We the Cosmopolitans is a selection of six vignettes dealing with cosmopolitanism as a sociological, political, and anthropological multidisciplinary field, integrating moral, religious, and humanitarian concepts into an ethical foundation of behavior for the universal human subject. It demonstrates how we are fundamentally and deeply linked to humankind and shows that we can preserve a moral allegiance to this community while retaining both our worldly citizenship and our local identities. To the term cosmopolitanism, the editors, both anthropologists with research interests in politics and culture, attach characteristics of kindness, tolerance, and hospitality, adding that it implies an attitude of altruistic, progressive civility. To this point, social anthropologist Thomas Hylland Eriksen points out that "while some speak of cosmopolitans as individuals who are open to diversity and tolerant of difference, or ... as a disembedded elite with a transnational class habitus, others see cosmopolitanism as a world-view competing with, and possibly replacing, nationalism" (p.136). In his evaluation of the aporetics of cosmopolitanism, Ronald Slade, a peace and conflict studies specialist, describes the evolution of the concept from its origins in ancient Greece to its emergence as an element of Enlightenment thought. While the original goal of cosmopolitanism was privileged in nature and concerned the relationship between the self and the world, later anthropological interpretations would shift the focus to the relationship between the self and other. According to Kant, we have the right to global mobility, what he calls "the right to the surface," within the framework of peaceful relationships, as well as the expectation of hospitality, association, and asylum. Property, on the other hand, is a social relationship and not a right. "Confinement" (i.e., lack of mobility) and cosmopolitanism are not mutually exclusive. Kant's "right to the surface" is tempered with the practical realities of national and geopolitical restrictions. Anthropologist Nigel Rapport, in his essay on accommodating the universal human subject, considers moral social relations, in which others honor the sovereignty of one's symbolic space. Rapport uses the British Constance Hospital as a case study to illustrate the formal and informal behavioral contracts involving a person's symbolic, private space; he understands "goodness" to be refraining from visiting one's desires on others. Rapport describes social arrangements as "voluntary, episodic contracts" in which the individual assumes the roles of hosts and guests, affording one another mutual recognition and gratification. As he explains, "Anyone exists not as a cultural object but as the universal human subject. Cosmopolitanism predicates 'the human' as a condition over and against the peculiarities of social setting and cultural tradition" (p. 65). Simply put, the concept of "Anyone" transcends the limitations of social constraints and is part of a larger, global community. Political theorist Alexandra Hall's account of a suicide at the Locksdon Immigration Removal Center considers cosmopolitan morality in the British immigration system. …


BRISK (Binary Robust Invariant Scalable Keypoints) works dramatically faster than well-established algorithms (SIFT and SURF) while maintaining matching performance. However BRISK relies on intensity, color information in the image is ignored. In view of the importance of color information in vision applications, we propose CBRISK, a novel method for taking into account color information during keypoint detection and description. Instead of grayscale intensity image, the proposed approach detects keypoints in the photometric invariant color space. On the basis of binary intensity BRISK (original BRISK) descriptor, the proposed approach embeds binary invariant color presentation in the CBRISK descriptors. Experimental results show that CBRISK is more discriminative and robust than BRISK with respect to photometric variation. key words: color space, photometric invariant, binary descriptor


realistic and expected treatment contribution [(x̄treatment x̄control), i.e. ∆x̄T1T2] which is assessed as being functional and indicative regardless of the statistical significance of the established differences. Hence, when the experimental results confirm the indicative treatment effects it is expected that those are also confirmed by the appropriate statistical tests. The same is expected also in case when this relationship is inversed. However, in the case when applied statistical test documents conclusions which are contrary to the indicative treatment contribution, then the experimental results and the defined research goals are in an absurd relation and have to be additionally analysed. The first step in the analysis of these relations is checking the variability of the observed experimental units within the samples, i.e. verification of the representability of the experimental samples by the analysis of allowed variations in the argumentation of central tendencies of the treatments. Ignoring the absurd relations regarding the functional or indicative treatment effect as the set research objective and the statistical significance of the differences supporting the research objective in conclusion can make the research itself absurd.


Sleep-wake disturbances are among the most common and severe symptoms in primary brain tumor (PBT) patients. Currently, no studies have quantified their physiological sleep measurements or compared these assessments to established patient reported outcome measures (PROs). Smart wearable devices, such as Fitbits, continuously monitor patient behaviors at home and provide detailed physiological measurements of sleep, activity, and heart rate. We hypothesized that smart wearable devices can accurately determine physiological sleep disturbances and circadian disruptions and will complement established PROs in a PBT patient population. This observational, cross-sectional trial monitors sleep and circadian rhythm variables using Fitbit smart wearable devices worn for 1 month. Additionally, participants will answer PROs questionnaires (PROMIS Sleep Disturbance and Sleep Related Impairment-Short Forms, Sleep Hygiene Index, Morningness-Eveningness questionnaire, and Consensus Sleep Diary) at study entry and during the last week on-study. The present study is a planned interim analysis of 54 patients to assess feasibility, including evaluation of enrollment, attrition, study parameter completion and data missingness. 73 PBT patients were screened and approached. Of these patients, 54 (74%) were enrolled on study and 19 (26%) declined participation (8 lacked interest, 3 discomfort wearing watches, 3 lacked smart phone, 2 unable to wear device at work, 2 unable to attend consent calls, 1 pregnancy and 1 cognitive complication). The accrued patients were 56% male, 56%³ 50 years of age, and 81% had a KPS³ 90. Patients represented different stages of treatment: 6% of patients were newly diagnosed, 24% on active treatment (11% 1st recurrence, 13% 2nd recurrence), and 70% were on imaging surveillance. Feasibility was confirmed as there were no deviations reported and 100% of PROs and study timepoints completed. Quantified Fitbit data including percent time worn and physiologic sleep parameters will be reported. Study enrollment for efficacy measures continues.


Objective To establish a feasible method for purifying tachyplesin from the wastes of tachypleus amebocyte lysate(TAL).Methods Tachyplesin was extracted from the wastes of TAL by acidation and gel chromatography.Results The purified sample appeared single band on SDS-PAGE.The molecular weight of peptide is about 3 kD.Tachyplesin inhibited Escherichia coli as well as ampicillin-resistant or kanamycin-resistant Escherichia coli,with IC50 of 3.9mg/L for Escherichia coli.Conclusion The present method is feasible for purifying tachyplesin from the wastes of TAL.


Abstract Laparoscopy results in multiple postoperative benefits allowing for quicker recovery, and shorter hospital stay. These advantages explain the increasing success of laparoscopy, which is now proposed for many surgical procedures. Intraoperative cardiorespiratory changes occur during pneumoperitoneum. PaCO 2 increases due to carbon dioxide absorption from the peritoneal cavity. In compromized patients, cardiorespiratory disturbances aggravate this increase in PaCO 2 . Peritoneal insufflation induces alterations of haemodynamics, characterized by decreases of cardiac output, elevations of arterial pressure, and increases of systemic and pulmonary vascular resistances. Haemodynamic changes are accentuated in high-risk cardiac patients. Improved knowledge of the pathophysiologic haemodynamic changes in healthy patients allows for successful anaesthetic management of cardiac patients, by optimizing preload before pneumoperitoneum, and through judicious use of vasodilating agents. Gasless laparoscopy may be helpful to reduce pathophysiologic changes induced by carbon dioxide pneumoperitoneum, but unfortunately increases technical difficulty. Whereas no anaesthetic technique has proved to be clinically superior to any other, general anaesthesia with controlled ventilation seems to be the safest technique for operative laparoscopy. Improved knowledge of the intraoperative repercussions of laparoscopy permits safe management of patients with more and more severe cardiorespiratory disease, who may subsequently benefit from the multiple postoperative advantages offered by this technique.


- Interactive animation is a learning media that is quite interesting for children. This is because learning how to use animation is not difficult and more fun for elementary school children than learning to use printed picture books or encyclopedias. This interactive animation was created to introduce Fatahillah museum objects to children. This animation was made to provide knowledge for children about objects in the Fatahillah museum. In addition, this can also be a more interesting and new learning method for school children. In developing existing material, in this study three methods of data collection techniques will be used including observation, interviews and literature. Then for the system development model, it has been tested using software requirements analysis, design, coding, testing, and support. In this study also used some software to build interactive animations to be created including Adobe Flash CS 3 and Adobe Photoshop CS 6. The results of the analysis showed that the introduction process through interactive animation media had a major influence in improving the understanding of elementary school children about introductory material object of Fatahillah museum, this is because children's understanding will be better with explanations that use images, sound effects, and visuals.


X-ray features of sinuses have have been studied in 50 young adult allergic asthmatic patients and compared with 55 non allergic, non asthmatic, young subjects. The aim of the study was to determine the frequency of abnormalities of sinuses and to look for own abnormalities to asthmatic patients. 60% of the asthmatic patients showed sinuses abnormalities, and 40% among non asthmatic subjects (p less than 0.05). Nevertheless, there were non significant differences in mucosal thickening of maxillary sinuses among asthmatic patients and non asthmatic subjects. So, this feature cannot be useful as a diagnostic symptom of allergic asthma. In this study, asthmatic patients with X-ray sinuses abnormalities were not more severe than those without abnormalities.


[Objective]To study the expression of AFP (alpha-fetoprotein)-mRNA in the peripheral blood of patients with and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its clinical significance.[Methods]The expression of AFP-mRNA in the peripheral blood of 25 patients with HCC was tested by fluorescent quantitative RT-PCR.[Results]The expression rate of AFP-mRNA in the peripheral blood of HCC patients was significantly higher than that of patients with hepatitis and liver cirrhosis (P0.01).The expression of AFP-mRNA in the peripheral blood of HCC patients was related to extrahepatic metastasis (P0.05),and it was not related to clinical stage,serum AFP level,diameter and number of tumor (P0.05).The positive rate of AFP-mRNA in the peripheral blood of HCC patients of the first week after operation was significantly lower than that before operation (P0.05).[Conclusion]AFP-mRNA can be used as the marker of hepatoma cells in blood circulation.The monitoring of AFP-mRNA before and after operation is helpful to predict the risk of tumor recurrence,and it can be used to guide the anti-tumor therapy.


The oblique shock wave theory is used to describe the process of detonation wave shocking on the metal surface. And after the transmission wave in metal transmitted to the free surface of metal, the velocity multiplication law of free surface is used to simplify the shock wave theory to estimate the velocity of particles in metal. Then the projection angle is obtained from the velocity direction to the normal of initial metal surface. In addition, the explosion experiments of a D shape configuration have been done to validate this method. And the results show that this method is in better agreement with experimental projection angles than traditional Taylor equation.


This article describes how Ireland's Garda, the national police service, has begun a new national speed enforcement program by putting out requests to private companies to set up and man mobile camera units. In the 27,000-square mile country there are only 20 static camera posts and six video-based mobile systems. The company that is chosen to install a mobile system will link them to areas where, historically, speed-related collisions have been a problem, according to the Garda's chief. The Garda's strategy is to be transparent about the mobile units, which will be manned by contract personnel, and let motorists know which areas will be monitored, at least initially. Some 80 percent of safety camera deployments will be overt initially, but over time will become covert.


Three main issues can be listed from the literature about computer-supported cognitive tools. Such tools are frequently evoked for improving learning, but seldom for assisting teaching. They are in most cases an application of an already-designed tool (e.g., concept maps) and models for designing new ones are lacking. Moreover, the underlying model of the activity of teaching they use is often function-based (i.e., a cognitive tool for teaching a given subject matter) than capacity-based (i.e., a cognitive tool for fostering a given teacher's capacity). We present here a model for designing computer-supported cognitive tools that aims at addressing these three issues. This model uses Popper's theory of knowledge, which is suitable for the design of knowledge-oriented tools. Three levels are successively considered in the design of such tools: the material world 1, the artifactual world 3, and the cognitive world 2. University students in instructional technology were given this framework and had to follow it for designing their own cognitive tool for teaching. An analysis of these tools shows that our model allows specifying a wide range of cognitive tools, without constraining the creativity of their designers.


Composite columns are increasingly used due to the construction of super‐tall buildings and large‐scale buildings. Studies on the shapes of and construction technologies for structural members using steel tubes are being conducted actively. Welded built‐up CFT columns previously developed and commercialized by the authors of this study (ACT‐1 columns) are structurally stable and economically efficient. However, the 1m limit in the width of the columns and their small interior spaces impose a difficulty in installing reinforcing materials and thus deteriorate the ease and efficiency with which they are constructed. This study suggests placing thick plates at the centers of the surfaces of the existing ACT‐1 column and installing a binding frame (binding frames) at the central thick plates to enhance the integrity and resist lateral pressure caused by concrete casting. Finite element analysis was conducted with the variables of the number and cross‐sectional size of the binding frame and the cross‐sectional size of the steel tube to estimate the structural behavior of the steel tubes. Hydraulic tests were conducted to analyze load‐displacement relations and identify the influence of the binding frames on the relations. The variables in the tests were the number and cross‐sectional size of the binding frame, welding details, column joint and the cross‐sectional size of the steel tube.


A number of security mechanisms have been proposed to harden programs written in unsafe languages, each of which mitigates a specific type of memory error. Intuitively, enforcing multiple security mechanisms on a target program will improve its overall security. However, this is not yet a viable approach in practice because the execution slowdown caused by various security mechanisms is often non-linearly accumulated, making the combined protection prohibitively expensive; further, most security mechanisms are designed for independent or isolated uses and thus are often in conflict with each other, making it impossible to fuse them in a straightforward way.
In this paper, we present Bunshin, an N-version-based system that enables different and even conflicting security mechanisms to be combined to secure a program while at the same time reducing the execution slowdown. In particular, we propose an automated mechanism to distribute runtime security checks in multiple program variants in such a way that conflicts between security checks are inherently eliminated and execution slowdown is minimized with parallel execution. We also present an N-version execution engine to seamlessly synchronize these variants so that all distributed security checks work together to guarantee the security of a target program.


Time resolved photoluminescence of porous silicon at room temperature was measured for several emission energies under 2 ns nitrogen laser excitation. For each emission energy studied there is a broad distribution of lifetimes extending over a few decades. The mean value of the distribution varies with the emission energy, from 3 (2.77 eV) to 50 μs (1.96 eV). The results can be explained by assuming a tunneling limited recombination mechanism between bands of localized states. We associate this behavior with a superficial disordered Si:O:H compound rather than with quantum confinement effects.


The literature on selective exposure has made inestimable advances in our understanding of media and its effect on politics and the general public. However, much of the research on this topic has relied on potentially inaccurate assumptions. In our paper we apply an open-source, publicly available, high-dimensional measurement of meaning through word co-occurrence context (Shaoul & Westbury, 2010), which has historically been applied to questions of semantic relationships between words. This method allows scholars to avoid pitfalls from previous assumptions and determine previously unknown ideological positions of previously unknown sources. We demonstrate the validity and range of this method and provide a series of best practices for scholars who wish to employ this tool in their own research. Our method will ultimately expand the variety of research questions available as well as improving inferences, opening up new lines of research for scholars studying media consumption and political behavior.


It is the competition principle to "Select the superior and eliminate the inferior, the survival of the fittest". The firm is the knowledge system and the capabilities system, the knowledge is the capabilities of nature. Based on the knowledge, the dynamic capabilities include knowledge absorptive capabilities, knowledge creation capabilities and knowledge integration capabilities. In accordance with the requirements of the firm, three elements of the dynamic capabilities don't operate automatically. The driving forces are required, it is a complete mechanism for the evolution of dynamic capabilities, including response mechanism, matching mechanism, learning mechanism, incentive mechanism


Salon music has been considered a genre distinguished by a number of standardized features, for example the over-romanticized melodies, superfi cial virtuosity, extreme dynamic contrasts, pseudo-virtuoso cadenzas, abrupt tempo changes and mass-produced and disseminated musical works. The term musique de salon was used for the fi rst time in 1833 in a French magazine, Le Pianiste. Three year later the term Salonmusik appeared in the German periodical Neue Zeitschrift für Musik. Salon music originally emerged in Paris around 1830 and from there branched throughout Europe. The reason for this was that Paris became a Mecca of virtuosity where the master pianists of the time lived and worked: Fryderyk Chopin, Franz Liszt, Friedrich Wilhelm Kalkbrenner, Camille Pleyel, Sigismund Thalberg etc. Salon music production tried to copy some virtuoso techniques of their playing but in a very simplifi ed manner. In association with the abovementioned text is apposite to use Schumann's saying that ironically describes salon music production of that time: "das Liszthum ins Kinderleichte".1 Many favourite pieces have been transcribed and paraphrased on a less demanding level (Edition simplifi ées). Not only music dilettantes but also numerous prominent piano composers wrote salon music for profi t-making reasons. Among these 19th-century composers were Carl Czerny, Carl Cramer, Henry Herz, Theodor Oesten, Gustav Lange, Alexander Gorias, Anton de Kontkis, Lefébure-Wély and Tekla Badarzewska. The expansion of salon music in the 19th century had a big impact on many extern factors—social, economical and political mostly. The crucial one was a blossoming of the bourgeoisie in 1830–1848; this resulted in the biggest consumer of salon music. Playing the piano became a very fashionable activity. In 1876 Otto Gumprecht wrote in his essay Die Frauen in der Musik that the dowry of each daughter must have been a repertoire of salon literature. The industrial revolution opened up the market to new publishing


This paper analyzes regime shifts in the stochastic process of economic growth of six major OECD countries over three decades. For the statistical measurement of the underlying global business cycle, we generalize Hamilton's model of the US business cycle to a Markov-switching vector auto-regressive time series model. Applying the model to six series of quarterly GNP growth rates, the paper provides empirical evidence for the dominance of common shocks as the source of international business cycles. For all countries, business cycles can be identified as regime shifts in the mean growth rate occuring mainly simultaneously across countries.


The present study was designed to determine the concentrations of ATP and glutathione (GSH) in ovulated and not-ovulated rabbit oocytes in a line of rabbits selected for ovulation rate. ATP and GSH concentrations were used to assess oocyte quality. A total of 58 does belonging to the 9 generation of a line selected for ovulation rate were used to assess ATP concentrations. A total of 10 does belonging to the 10 generation of the same line were used to assess GSH concentrations. Ovulation was induced by an intramuscular injection of 1 mg of buserelin acetate and animals were slaughtered 16 hours thereafter. Ovulated oocytes were collected by flushing the oviducts. Not-ovulated oocytes were aspirated from preovulatory follicles with a 1ml syringe and a 25G needle. Oocytes were processed. ATP concentration was determined by bioluminiscency. ATP concentration ranged from 0.6 to 2.4 pmol/oocyte in not-ovulated oocytes and from 0.8 to 5.0 pmol/oocyte in ovulated oocytes. GSH concentration was determined by HPLC. Glutathione concentration ranged from 0.5 to 2.2 pmol/oocyte in not-ovulated oocytes and from 5.2 to 10.2 pmol/oocyte in ovulated oocytes. These differences in ATP and GSH concentrations between not-ovulated and ovulated rabbit oocytes might indicate that ATP and GSH are synthesized during oocyte maturation.


Reconstructive operation using instrumental anastomosis was performed on 44 of 101 cases of total gastgrectomy experienced during a period of recent 5 years up to Feburary 1989, and was compared with the contemporaneous hand-suture reconstruction mainly for operative contents, postoperative complications and the like. In the instrumental anastomosis group, some shortening of the reconstructive time was obtained not only by p-Roux-Y method using 2 EEAs and Roux-Y method as standard reconstruction, but also by a use of purse-string instrument (PSI) and TA55 for purse-sting suture nd for stiump closure, respectively. The instrumental anasotmosis group showed major and minor incomplete suture in 1 case, each, totalling 2 (4.5%) and stenosis in 3(6.8%), compared with major and minor incomplete suture in 2 and 3, respectively, totalling 5(8.8%) and no case of stenosis in the hand-suture group. Incomplete suture and stenosis more often occurred forthe latter and former groups, respectively. Postoperative hospitalization averaged to count 32.7 and 39.4 days, respectively, being shorter for the former group. Rate of dissected n3 and that of concomitantly-resected pancreatocaudal, spleen were 36% and 21%, and 66% and 42%, respectively. Thoracotomy was performed in 25% of the cases. Obviously, the instrumental anastomosis group more often received enlargement operaiton.


Abstract Objectives To analyse trends in energy and nutrient intakes and nutritional adequacy from 1992 to 2003. Design Two consecutive cross-sectional studies carried out on random samples of the Catalan population ENCAT 1992–93 and ENCAT 2002–03. Dietary intake was assessed by means of two 24-hour recalls on non-consecutive days. Spanish food consumption tables were used. Energy and nutrient data were adjusted for intraindividual variability, and the Spanish recommend nutrient intakes (RNIs) were used in the analysis. Setting Catalonia region, North Eastern Spain. Subjects Analysis is based on a total of 4701 individuals; 2641 from ENCAT 1992–93 (1210 men and 1431 women) and 2060 from ENCAT 2002–03 (954 men and 1106 women), aged 10–75 years. Results No relevant changes in energy intake trends were observed, although a decrease was observed in the daily consumption of proteins (−7 g), cholesterol (−56 mg), potassium (−245 mg), vitamin A (−283 RE μg), retinoids (−71 μg), carotenoids (−1520 μg), niacin (−29 mg), folates (−15 μg), vitamin B12 (−1.6 μg) vitamin D (−0.5 μg), fibre and iron, and an increase in the consumption of calcium (+57 mg) and a slight increase in lipids and fatty acids (% energy). In general, the most outstanding trends were those of vitamin A (as a result of the decreased consumption of offal), proteins, vitamin D and B12 (due to the decreased consumption of meat and fish) and calcium (as a consequence of the increased consumption of dairy products). Conclusion No changes were observed in the energy intake of males or females; therefore, the obesity changes may possibly be attributed to changes in physical activity patterns. However, an increase in energy sources of a poorer nutritional profile has been identified, especially for between meal snacks.


New trace element analyses and isotopic data (Sr, Nd και Pb) are used to investigate the origin and evolution of the Evros vo lcanic rocks and to contribute to the geotectonic evolution of the broader area. The geochemical characteristics of the rocks indicate magma mixing between a basic and a more acid end-member. The magmas are typical of convergent margins. The isotopic ratios of Sr, Nd and Pb show mantle (lithospheric or/and asthenospheric) origin with a component of continental crust.