Background and Objectives Variable types of electrodes for intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) during thyroid surgery have been introduced to make up for the shortcomings of conventional endotracheal electromyogram tube. In this study, we sought to evaluate the efficacy of transcutaneous adhesive skin electrodes for IONM of recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) during thyroidectomy.Subjects and Method A total 97 nerves at risk of 80 patients were enrolled in this study. Two disposable adhesive skin electrodes were attached at both upper margins of thyroid cartilage. Using NIM 3.0 system (Medtronic), we recorded the amplitude and latency of signals of vagus nerve and RLN following the standard procedure of IONM. Clinicopathologic factors as well as the preoperative and postoperative vocal cord functions of the patients were analyzed.Results IONM was successful in all nerves at risk without any false loss of signals. There were no complications nor any significant time delay due to adhesive skin electrodes. The mean amplitudes from the vagus nerve (V1) and RLN (R1) were 230.64 µV and 293.48 µV, respectively. Two nerves at risk showed loss of signal and the two patients showed postoperative temporary vocal cord paralysis. The amplitude of signals from the vagus nerve (V1, V2) was significantly higher in the lower body mass index (BMI) group compared to that of the higher BMI group.Conclusion IONM using transcutaneous skin electrodes may be considered as an alternative technique for IONM during thyroid surgery.


We examine a possibility to discover a Kaluza-Klein (KK) excitation of gluon in a warped extra dimension model at the Large Hadron Collider focusing on a decay channel of the KK gluon into a $b$-quark pair. It is known that, in a certain extension of the warped extra dimension model, the third generation quarks could strongly couple to the KK gluon owing to appropriate bulk fermion mass parameters. Taking account of kinematical cuts to reduce background events, we show the model parameter space which leads to a significance larger than 5$\sigma$ with the integrated luminosity of 10 (100) ${\rm fb}^{-1}$.


Arecanut(Areca catechu L.),which belongs to the family palmae,is one of the most important plantation crops in humid tropical areas.In recent years,demand for Arecanut has increased rapidly and the planted area of Hainan Province has multiplied.However,the average yield per unit area of Arecanut remains low.Appropriate fertilizer should be applied to Arecanut soil to improve its production.Arecanut was used the seed and peel as medicine,containing 0.3%-0.6% of alkaloid,gives priority to arecoline(0.1%-0.5%).Long-term clinical practice proves: Arecanut has an efficacy of attacking impaction,killing pests and running water,which was used as roborant,digestant,astringent,antimalarial,decongestant,antitussive and emmenagogue.It can be prepared into the pills for diuresis,curing diarrhea,abdominal distension pain,edema,lumbago and bronchus,and also a specific remedy for preventing and curing tapeworms,roundworms,fasciolopsiasis and maw worm of livestock.In situ experiments combined with venting were conducted to study the effects of different fertilization patterns and irrigation on ammonia volatilization from soil in two growth seasons of Areca catechu L.The results showed that the peak ammonia volatilization rate(0.50-3.42 kg·hm-2·d-1) occurred in the third day after irrigation and fertilization at the recovering and flowering stages,then declined and entered a low volatilization phase.The peak ammonia volatilization rate(1.50-4.42 kg·hm-2·d-1) at the flowering stages was significantly higher than that at the recovering stages,because the amounts of ammonia volatilization at low irrigation volumes(300 m3 /hm2) were less than those at high irrigation volumes(600 m3 /hm2).At the same level of nitrogen,the soil with a low organic matter content had higher ammonia volatilization,and when the soil organic matter content was the same,the ammonia volatilization rate increased with increasing N fertilizer levels.Compared with a single application of N fertilizer,the combination of organic manure and N fertilizer can significantly reduce the ammonia volatilization rate,thus reducing total nitrogen loss.


SUMMARY Studies have shown the therapeutic effects of a ketogenic diet (KD) on epilepsy, but the effect of a KD on drug reinstatement is largely unclear. This study aims to investigate whether KD consumption possesses therapeutic potential for cocaine reinstatement and the molecular mechanism. We find that a KD significantly reduces cocaine-induced reinstatement in mice, which is accompanied by a markedly elevated level of b -hy-droxybutyrate ( b -OHB), the most abundant ketone body, in the hippocampus. The underlying mechanism is that b -OHB posttranslationally modifies CaMKII- a with b -hydroxybutyrylation, resulting in significant inhibition of T286 autophosphorylation and downregulation of CaMKII activity. Collectively, our results reveal that b -hydroxybutyrylation is a posttranslational modification of CaMKII- a that plays a critical role in mediating the effect of KD consumption in reducing cocaine reinstatement


In this paper, some results concerning orthogonal general- ized derivations are generalized for a nonzero ideal of a semiprime ring. These results are a generalization of results of M. Bre sar and J. Vukman in (3), which are related to a theorem of E. Posner for the product of derivations on a prime ring.


Basic mechanisms of HV bushing composite insulation breakdown are described in the paper. It was stated that the dominant cause of insulation failures is the thermal mechanism of breakdown, which develops in a few or a dozen and so hours. This opinion is confirmed by industrial experiences showing that most of failures happen in the afternoon hours after a hot day. The analysis of the problem showed that the main heat source in the core of a bushing are dielectric losses which depend on the local core temperature and the level of insulation deterioration. The volume temperature distribution in the bushing can be modeled with nonlinear differential equation taking into consideration such parameters as thermal conductivity of an insulation, impregnate and porcelain housing, local values of dielectric losses and conditions of heat exchange in the bushing and in the interface porcelain-air. On this basis it was found that large changes of inside temperature in the insulation result in low changes of temperature on the surface of the porcelain housing. There was presented a heat model of HV condenser bushing which showed that in deep layers of insulation in some cases the temperature can exceed heat resistance of the material and cause intensive ageing process. Such heat model can be used in bushings diagnostics based on digital analysis of thermographs. Some practical examples were given for application of this diagnostic tool for technical condition assessment of 220 kV and 400 kV bushings. On the base of the model it was calculated that in the case of RIP 220 kV bushing for the temperature of housing 35C inner temperature of the insulation can exceed critical value 90C. There were made crosssections of the insulation which confirmed the correctness of modeling, and assessment of technical condition, as highly deteriorated layers of insulation were found near the inner tube.


The metal particle contamination in gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) or gas-insulated transmission line (GIL) is an important factor leading to the decline of insulation performance. Exploring the deterioration mechanism and suppression measures of metal particles on insulation is a key technical problem in enhancing the dielectric strength of GIS/GIL equipment. In this paper, the charge and motion characteristics of metal particles are firstly introduced. The gas gap breakdown caused by free metal particles and the surface flashover caused by metal particles near or adsorbed on the insulator are then analyzed according to different particle motion patterns and spatial locations. Subsequently in terms of operation managements, the existing methods of particle detection are analyzed. In addition, the main inhibition methods of metal particles are introduced from three aspects: particle trap, insulator surface treatment and electrode coating. Finally, the prospects in the future research on particle pollution in GIS/GIL are also pointed out.


This is a report of the second quarter of a two-year investigation exploiting electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), especially novel, very high frequency (VHF) spectroscopy techniques and instrumentation (the only high-modulation W-band EPR spectrometer in the world) developed earlier by these authors, to conduct further qualitative and quantitative studies of heteroatomic organic molecules in coal with particular emphasis on sulfur. New model compounds have been prepared in EPR-active forms and surveyed with X-band EPR. Previous W-band (96 GHz) VHF-EPR work is being extended to studies of these new model compounds as well as to a variety of coal and desulfurized coal samples. Typically, the model compounds under investigation and their analogues are found in coals as stable free radicals which give rise to an EPR signal.


This project is a part of the LOPES (LOpes extremity Powered ExoSkeleton) project at the University of Twente. This exoskeleton will be designed to get a rehabilitation robot for stroke patients. The robot should be able to assist the therapists, who currently perform the rehabilitation treatment. The assignment discussed in this report deals with the knee joint of the exoskeleton. The goal of this assignment consists of two parts: first has the dynamic system of the knee been modelled and the second part is to design a gentle and robust controller for the dynamic system. The modelling of the dynamic system of the knee joint is discussed in chapter two. First is the knee joint converted in an Ideal Physical Model (IPM) to get an orderly description of the system. This IPM is converted in a 4 th order mechanical model consisted of two domains; the motor rotation domain and the cable translation domain. This 4 th order model is used to develop a block scheme. The different parameters used in the models are determined, estimated or were known from datasheets. The open loop transfer of the dynamic system of the knee joint and the open loop transfer of the model are compared. The magnitudes of the frictions are changed to find the best match of the model with the real system. The 4 th order model gives some numerical problems due to huge value differences in the A matrix. To solve this problem, the 4 th order model is converted in a 2 nd order one. This 2 nd order system is used to design the controller. Chapter three deals with the controller design to control the knee joint. The chosen method to control this dynamic system is the Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) controller. The LQG algorithm provides an optimal feedback for systems with deterministic parameters and takes in account the process disturbances and measurement noise. The LQG consist of a Linear Quadratic Regulator to get an optimal feedback and a Linear Quadratic Estimator to estimate the states of the system based on the model. The motor current will be controlled and the measurement spring length is the output of the system. The necessary matrices (Q and R for LQR and Q, R and G for LQE) are determined and give a system with acceptable errors together with realistic torque commands. A parameter variation is done, based on the …


Based on the analysis of twoness of CEO's beliefs,"positive matching encouragement" and "negative ratchet wheel effect",this paper puts forward the concept of topology analysis on CEO's beliefs.Penetrability,dynamic and irreversibility during some periods,those are characteristic of the CEO's belief in strategy choosing.There do exist some contradictions between the beliefs of CEO and strategy choosing: on one side,the enterprising CEO will be naturally followed by a promising strategy of a corporation;on the other side,the character of irreversibility during some periods will also be followed by some problems.In all,the paper is aimed to prove the necessities of adjusting CEO's beliefs as well as realizing the beliefs under the domination of strategy choosing and the managing patterns of contract restrictions.


Microfabrication based on two-photon polymerization (TPP) is typically achieved by scanning a focal spot point-by-point. This is a type of serial processing that significantly limits fabrication speed. Bessel beams known for their nondiffracting property are suitable for the fabrication of high-aspect-ratio microstructures without scanning the beams. The zero-order Bessel beam generated by an axicon or a spatial light modulator (SLM) has been used to fabricate such structures as polymer fibers with an aspect ratio exceeding 500:1. However, the fabrication speed is still limited by the serial exposure of a single Bessel beam. In this paper, the authors explore a method for parallel fabrication of high-aspect-ratio microstructures using an array of high-order Bessel beams. An optics system is built in which high-order and superposed high-order Bessel beams generated by an SLM are demagnified and relayed to the photopolymer. These beams retain the same nondiffracting property as the zero-order beam while expanding the exposure light field to arrays of beams. Beam profiles are characterized and compared with theoretical predictions. The power efficiency of the system is measured and analyzed. The influence of off-axis illumination on the SLM is studied. Combined with suitable photopolymer and exposure parameters, this method could be useful for high-speed, volumetric fabrication in TPP.


Compressing the digital images is an essential task for saving bandwidth of the transmission. But recovery of compressed images is an open challenging task in hand. Block Compressive Sensing (BCS) is widely used for the recovery of compressed methods. Usually independent BCS method is in efficient for image recovery thus, it is used in combination of the smooth projection based Landwebers and collaboratively method is called as BCS-SPL. In order to improve performance in this paper a collaborative approach is proposed using the BCS-SPL and the BCS-FOCUSS algorithms. The method is implemented in the different wavelet and DCT based transformation domains. Proposed method uses the modified iterative BCS-FOCUSS method for performance improvement. The performance of the proposed method is tested over wide range of unique ranges. The parametric evaluation of the PSNR and SSIM, performance showed the significantly improved with proposed modifications.


Moringa (Moringa oleifera) is cultivated for use as food, fodder and medicine. Commercial production, processing, and utilization of this 'wonder' crop have increased in many African countries, including Ghana. This is due to widespread knowledge of its varied food, nutrition, medicinal and economic benefits. Despite the increased commercial production of the tree crop, not much research has been conducted, especially on its production in Ghana. This may be because moringa grows well across all agro-ecologies; additionally, it appears recommendations on agronomic practices from other tropical ecologies work for the end-users, especially farmers. This paper discusses the recent advances in agronomic aspects of production in Ghana with respect to current practices used by stakeholders along the moringa value chain from seed production, planting, processing to marketing. For optimal leaf production, high density planting (300,000-1 million plants ha-1) using either seeds or hardwood stem cuttings (30 cm to 1 m long) has been recommended. The use of moringa in agroforestry systems (alley cropping) is also being promoted in some communities. The beneficial use of the crop has been extended to include feed for grass-cutter and as a replacement for mineral fertilizers in small-holder farms. Anecdotal evidence and casual information suggest that over 10,000 farmers use improved agronomic practices. All these are discussed along with studies conducted by researchers and their implications for improving the productivity and utilization of moringa.


At the height of the concert season, Karl Muck and Walter Damrosch toured the East Coast with their orchestras, while Fritz Kreisler, Ernestine Schumann-Heink, and Olga Samaroff performed in recital and as orchestral soloists. The economics of funding symphony orchestras is explored, as the patronage of wealthy guarantors was essential. In order to meet James Reese Europe's demands for a similar guarantee fund for his regimental band, Col. William Hayward convinced millionaire Daniel Reid to underwrite the costs. At the same time, midwestern audiences heard a new style of jazz music in the vaudeville performances of the Original Creole Band and the cabaret performances of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, whose historic New York debut occurred at Reisenweber's 400 Club on the evening of 27 January 1917.


We characterize the Besov regularity of functions on Lipschitz domains by means of their error of approximation by certain sequences of operators. As an application, we consider wavelet decompositions and we characterize Besov quasi-norms in terms of weighted sequence norms.


Digital transformation causes a comprehensive change of the company through the use or renewal of information and communication technologies with the aim of greater productivity, growth and competitiveness of the company. Digitization offers new business opportunities to companies, optimization of work processes and operations, more efficient operations, higher productivity, new ways of designing and operating business models, encouraging innovation and development, and new ways of promoting, communicating and connecting companies. Telecom operators are confronted with a choice between remaining a traditional telecommunications operator providing SOHO (small office/home office) businesses basic infrastructure services or switching to digital transformation. This study confirms that the SOHO market segment in the field of basic infrastructure of telecommunications services is saturated, that there is a potential for operators to offer additional services, and that customer loyalty is not related to the amount of implemented business solutions. Operators can thus build a business partnership in terms of mutual development and creating growth for all stakeholders in the process. The main guidelines of growth present a great opportunity for operators, arising from the challenges of SOHO businesses to switch to the process of digital transformation. Therefore, operators have to be prepared; the main guidelines of growth are conditioned by adjusting their strategic goals, redefining business processes, upgrading technology, raising the level of business relationship and developing a partner ecosystem.


With the continuous development of information technology in recent years, information fusion technology, which originated from military applications, plays an important role in various fields. In addition, the rapidly increasing amount of data and the changing lifestyles of people in the information age are affecting the development of information fusion technology. More experts and scholars have focused their attention on the research of image or audio and video fusion or distributed fusion technology. This article summarizes the origin and development of information fusion technology and typical algorithms, as well as the future development trends and challenges of information fusion technology.


Lawsonite eclogites represent fossil records of processes occurring during subduction of cold- and fast-subducting slabs, and provide an opportunity to investigate the thermal and metamorphic evolution of palaeosubduction zones. Occurrences of lawsonite eclogites are rare because lawsonite is often replaced during exhumation. We report here, for the first time, the occurrence of a lawsonite eclogite from the Monviso meta-ophiolite (Western Alps), representing the product of the Alpine metamorphism of a FeTi-oxide gabbro. The prograde metamorphic evolution of this lawsonite eclogite has been investigated using the petrological approach of pseudosections. The reconstruction of its prograde P-T evolution allowed us to monitor changes in chemical and physical properties (mineral assemblages and compositions, density, H2O content, oxygen fugacity) during subduction. The pseudosection modelling suggests peak metamorphic conditions of T epsilon 550 degrees C, P = 25-26 kbar, and a decrease in the thermal gradient during subduction from about 9 degrees C km(-1) to less than 7 degrees C km(-1), which may be interpreted as related to an increase in the subduction rate. During its prograde evolution, at a depth of about 65-70 km, the eclogite-facies metagabbro experienced a significant dehydration passing from the Grt(1) + Omp(1) + Lws + Chl + Qtz + Rt assemblage (stage I) to the Grt(2) + Omp(2) + Tlc + Qtz + Rt assemblage (stage II). The breakdown of lawsonite and chlorite caused the release of up to 3 wt % of H2O and also of oxygen, as modelled by the redox equilibrium Lws + Qtz + Chl + Omp(1) = Grt + Omp(2) + H2O + O-2. This redox-equilibrium represents the boundary between an earlier, more oxidized assemblage (stage I), stable at lower T, and a later, more reduced assemblage (stage II), stable at higher T. These results have possible implications for the understanding of the complex interactions between crust and mantle in subduction zones, especially in clarifying the processes locally involved in the oxidation of the mantle wedge overlying the subducting slab.


We addressed the problem of classifying 10 target types in imagery formed from synthetic aperture radar (SAR). By executing a group training process, we show how to increase the performance of 10 initial sets of target templates formed by simple averaging. This training process is a modified learning vector quantization (LVQ) algorithm that was previously shown effective with forward-looking infrared (FLIR) imagery. For comparison, we ran the LVQ experiments using coarse, medium, and fine template sets that captured the target pose signature variations over 60 degrees, 40 degrees, and 20 degrees, respectively. Using sequestered test imagery, we evaluated how well the original and post-LVQ template sets classify the 10 target types. We show that after the LVQ training process, the coarse template set outperforms the coarse and medium original sets. And, for a test set that included untrained version variants, we show that classification using coarse template sets nearly matches that of the fine template sets. In a related experiment, we stored 9 initial template sets to classify 9 of the target types and used a threshold to separate the 10th type, previously found to be a 'confusing' type. We used imagery of all 10 targets in the LVQ training process to modify the 9 template sets. Overall classification performance increased slightly and an equalization of the individual target classification rates occurred, as compared to the 10-template experiment. The SAR imagery that we used is publicly available from the Moving and Stationary Target Acquisition and Recognition (MSTAR) program, sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).


PASSIVE SMOKING causes around 80 cot deaths a year, according to a report published last week by the health department.


This is an empirical study of attitudes towards family and marital counseling among Israeli Arab women living in the multiethnic community of Jalfa-Tel Aviv. Using vignettes in a 3 x 3 factorial design, the study found that the women expressed most readiness to seek professional help for problems with their children and least readiness to seek help for problems with their spouses. Findings also showed that the ethnic identity-Jewish or Arab-of the service provider did not affect their attitudes. The paper suggests a variety of reasons for the findings.


worthy pride, proved to be his death. He struggled up to London, and avoiding the parts where the rich and prosperous dwell, betook himself to the haunts of the poor. He must have known that a casual ward at a poor house would receive him if he made application. He would not make application. He preferred to walk the streets, although he was starving with hunger and cold. Apparently, by some good chance, he found a refuge for the night from the cold and rain. The


To present a case of a male adult with sickle cell anaemia and dependence (opioid) syndrome. Mr. A.E. was a 30year old unmarried, unemployed male with sickle cell anaemia from a polygamous family. He had limited education. He became dependent on intramuscular pentazocine because he felt unfulfilled and underachieved. His drug dependence became complicated by abscess formation in his right thigh, laterally. He had neglect of self , hygience ,and groom and, his behaviour became embarrassing. He lost the attention of significant others, and finally developed a depressive disorder..


The embodiment of the invention provides a folder management method and an intelligent terminal, and relates to the technical field of folder management. By means of the folder management method and the intelligent terminal, folders are managed conveniently and rapidly, and the user experience is improved. The folder management method includes the steps of obtaining a folder set, wherein the folder set comprises at least two folders; displaying the first folder in the folder set; receiving a first operation command of a user, wherein the first operation command is used for switching the first folder to the second folder in the folder set, and comprises identification of the second folder; displaying the second folder according to the identification of the second folder.


Embodied Conversational Agents often employ advanced multimodal analysis of human users for affective inference, however, its facial expressions in response are often pre-made or coded animations. Generated data-driven facial animations have the advantage that they can be more natural and do not require a database at run-time. The open source modular framework FACSvatar is presented, which processes and animates FACS based data in real-time. Tools that create 3D human models are supported and facial data can be visualized in popular tools in the gaming industry. All functionality is split-up into modules set-up in a publisher-subscriber pattern to provide easy integration with other platforms. A deep learning module for real-time generation of AU data for data-driven animation is implemented. A user evaluation of their expressions being animated through our framework was done. Their ratings were slightly positive, but more improvements have to be made in terms of data quality and individual fine-tuning. Also, the modules' latency and performance have been measured. On average, FACS data is visualized in 28.55 ms.


Abstract The circulation of a geostrophic, two-layer ocean with Ekman layers at the top, the bottom, and the interface and driven by an anticyclonic wind stress is determined by numerical integration. Inertial effects and lateral friction are ignored. A nominal ratio of upper- to lower-layer thicknesses of 0.15 leads to the formation of a region in the northwestern corner of the basin with lower-layer geostrophic contours that originate from and return to the western boundary layer. This region is referred to as unblocked. Elsewhere in the interior the lower layer is quiescent and the system behaves like a reduced-gravity system. The smallest amount of friction that could be treated by the variable grid procedure that was used leads to a western boundary layer with a width that is 0.1% of the width of the basin. For this limiting case fluid in the lower layer of the unblocked region flows out of the western boundary and turns southward and then southwestward to return to the western boundary layer as a re...


Competition is often prescribed as an efficiency-enhancing tonic for ailing health systems. However, critics claim that competition exacerbates socio-economic inequality in health care. This claim is tested in relation to the "internal market" reforms of the English NHS from 1991-7, which injected a small dose of hospital competition into a state-funded, state-owned health system responsible for over 90 percent of national health expenditure. Our dependent variables are NHS hospital utilization rates for hip replacement and heart revascularization in 8,500 English small areas from 1991 to 2001. We estimate small area level associations between deprivation and hospital utilization, allowing for need and supply variables. We then compare year-by-year inequality differences between areas with "potentially competitive" and "non-competitive" local hospital markets, as competition was phased in and out. No evidence is found that competition had any effect on socio-economic health care inequality.


Pulsed γ-ray properties of 22 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) with double peaks are studied in the revised versions of the outer gap (OG) and the stripped wind (SW) models. The major differences between these two models are magnetic field structures, γ-ray production sites, and radiation mechanisms. In the models, γ-ray light curves of these MSPs are calculated through a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method to pick best-fitting model parameters. Our results indicate that (1) both models can reproduce observed double-peak structures of the MSPs well, for most MSPs, a relatively large magnetic inclination angle (α ∼ 50°–90°) and small viewing angle (ζ ∼ 30°–90°) are obtained in the OG model, but a relatively small α ∈ (20°, 60°) and large ζ ∈ (70°, 150°) in the SW model; (2) phase-averaged spectra, cut-off energy, and γ-ray luminosity calculated in both models are consistent with observed those by Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT). Therefore, it may be concluded that the OG and the SW models for describing high-energy emissions of MSPs cannot be ruled out at present, and further studies are required.


User authentication, a difficult problem, suffers from various shortcomings with the prevalent use of passwords as an authentication method. Requirements for password memorability and usability make them easy to break. Password reuse across sites, including insecure sites, phishing and spoofing attacks, requires that financial institutions examine security by analyzing end-to-end processes and identities involved. This paper presents an approach for intrusion tolerance, and the necessitated changes to processes


This work presents the drain current model using Evanescent Mode Analysis (EMA) for nanoscale Double Gate MOSFET having Gaussian doping profile along the horizontal direction in the channel i.e. from source to drain region. Due to heavily doped channel, band gap narrowing effect is incorporated in the analytical modeling scheme. The various parameters evaluated in this work using analytical modeling scheme are surface potential, electric field, threshold voltage, sub-threshold slope and drain current. The impact of peak Gaussian doping profile on the drain current and trans-conductance has been demonstrated which are important for assessing the analog performance of the device. The results are also compared with the uniformly doped DG MOSFET. The asymmetric behaviour of Gaussian doped DG MOSFET has also been investigated. In addition to this, digital performance of Gaussian doped DG MOSFET has also been assessed using exhaustive device simulation.


A subset of rapidly expanding, tumor antigen-reactive central memory cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CT Ls) with a broad expression profile for markers of immune function (MIF), and a particular phenotype of CD28+/CCR7+/CD27+/CD45RA-. T hese CT Ls are formed in vivo following administration of AGS-003 (an autologous, CD40L and tumor antigen RNA-transfected dendritic cell (DC) immunotherapeutic agent), secrete multiple cytokines, including interferon-gamma (IFN-g), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (T NF-a), and interleukin-2 (IL-2), and cause cell lysis. T hese antigen-reactive, CD28+/CCR7+/CD27+/CD45RACT Ls, and the phenotype changes in the patient's peripheral blood CT L pool, can be used as a marker to evaluate a patient's immune response against the administered immunotherapeutic agent AGS-003. Qeios · Definition, February 2, 2020


The dynamics triggered by photo-ionization in nitroanilines, the simplest donor/ acceptor systems, are investigated with unprecedented temporal resolution. We resolve the role of the donor charge density and the length of the aromatic chain.


Dear Ruy, Sincewe know each other personally, I will rather address you as such. Thank you for your critical remarks about my last article. You are giving me the chance to re-think a few points and to clarify where the article was obviously too abstract. I agree with you, that we have to individualise not only patients and remedies but also the perception of crisis itself, and of worlds even, I would say. Indeed many of us live in completely different worlds and what seems to be selfexplanatory for the one may sound alien to the other. For me it looks like this: That our world (meaning the human world of our culture on this planet) is in a deep crisis and what this crisis is about seems completely clear to me and everyone I talk to. To explain this further feels like explaining that the Earth is a globe. But you are correct, this is only my perspective, and others may live in a very different world and don't knowwhat I am talking about. And 'crisis' itself is, of course, not a reality, but a concept that has been built from a specific perception of one part of reality. The crisis I had in mind has not mainly to dowith political parties in certain countries and the problems they may cause. Of course, the Temers and Trumps and Merkels of this world createmany problems that could be avoided, but I was looking at a deeper level of crisis, of which corrupt politicians are only a symptom.My perception of crisis is that of global changes in climate, of huge shifts of population caused by hunger and war, loss of fertile ground and water supplies in many countries, extinction of species on a large scale, right wing movements taking over in many countries and pushing toward new wars, exploitation of the poorer parts of the world by the rich and militarised states, etc. What I have written makes sense only for those who see this as a problem as well. You are also right in that we are only able to act on an individual and concrete level. As we use to say, 'Act locally and think globally', myperspective in this articlewas to think on the global scale, which was not meant to denounce acting on the local level. Both parts of the polarity are necessary and interdependent. Probably my approach was too abstract in some parts—quite a common mistake of mine—and I could have emphasised the importance of the individual work that is already being done and which you and I also do every day. And, of course, we don't need to agree with Hahnemann. I didn't quote him so often, because I think, Hahnemann's words were some kind of ultimate truth. They are not, as we all know, and besides this we are not a sectarian group. But I found it interesting to see that Hahnemann gave good advice 200 years ago, that wehave not yet realised but whichwould help us a lot in our present situation. So you need not agree with the high goals he is setting, of removing obstacles to health even of thosewho are not ill yet and to enable all people to follow their creative spirit (I will not repeat my quotations and arguments of the article here). None has to see the world like Hahnemann of course. But in these points, I do, because I think they help us, as homeopaths and as human beings. If my article gave the impression that I wanted to put the burden of having to save our whole society on top of all the work we have to do as homeopaths anyway, I have to apologise. This would be overwhelming indeed. Insteadmy intentionwas to give somemore strength to our efforts by showing that we can see ourselves as part of a large global network of people who are striving for the same goals. I respect all thosewhose individual world is not tainted so much bywhat I perceive as the global troubles and pains. And maybe they are happier and wiser than me and those who sharemy perspective of viewing theworld. Yet only for those with the same viewof theworld as mine have I written down my thoughts. For me, this global crisis is nothing abstract at all, but I can sense it deeply within myself, my mind and my own body. It is shaking my deepest foundations and I have to work on solutions for this, to find means to go on living in such an insane world. My motivation to write this article was that I felt what helps me could also help those of our colleagues who feel the same. Give strength and perseverance to their efforts. But just as you say: What makes the one sick, doesn't touch the other. And of course, a remedy that is curative for me doesn't make any sense for those who are not touched by the same disturbances. Probably I was not making this clear


This work was written like literary background research. It is themed modification epoxy systems with a view to using EP as glues and improvement in tenacity of hardened epoxides.


Direct effects of the insecticide deltamethrin on zooplankton and benthic invertebrates werestudied during an attempt to eradicate signal crayfish. In accordance with earlier studies theresults of ...


The operation with a combination of three processing routes: cryomilling, hot isostatic pressing (HIPping) and hot extrusion was adopted in the present study for preparation of the bulk nanocrystalline Al 7050. The microstructure and fractography of the bulk material were observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. Furthermore, the chemical composition, density and tensile properties of the material were also measured. Microstructural investigation showed that the grain size of the bulk nanocrystalline Al 7050 ranged from 100nm to 200nm. Numerous dispersoids with a diameter/length of ~50nm were observed on grain boundaries and inside the grains. Besides, one phase of these dispersoids existed in the bulk nanocrystalline Al 7050 was identified as Al6(FeMn). These dispersoids dispersed within the bulk nanocrystalline Al 7050, to some extent, increased the mechanical properties and thermal stability of the material. The resulted sample exhibited ultimate strength of 412MPa with an elongation of 5.2% when tested under tensile load, which was a bit lower than that of the traditionally wrought Al 7050-T6. The present results suggested that improper selected starting powder and milling parameters resulted in the flake-like morphology of the cryomilled powder. The flake-like morphology made it difficult for the cryomilled powder to fill the can entirely and achieve a high density material, which led to the weak interface within the bulk material and in turn degraded the mechanical properties of the bulk nanocrystalline Al 7050 prepared in the present work.


This chapter will address King's reasoning on the role and purpose of the modern American state in guaranteeing economic security and wellbeing for all. King argued, like welfare rights activists, that these were fundamental social obligations to the state. This chapter will show how his Scandinavian- inspired proposals demonstrate that King was willing to build on the New Deal


Influences of granulation process on the microstructure and the mechanical properties of new-type high carbon high chromium and low nickel steel were investigated.The results showed: after granulation, the grain of matrix austenite refined obviously, and massive small granular or short-roded secondary carbide was precipitated in matrix austenite; original connected network carbide remarkably disconnected and granulated to become into discontinuous network, and the amount of carbide increased.After granulation, the steel hardness increased significantly and the toughness improved slightly.


Electrical safety incidents and injuries can be the result of inappropriate work behavior or what is referred to as "unsafe acts." These occur although training and education have been provided on electrical hazards and their possible consequences. Providing training to people is not enough to motivate them to follow the procedures. When unsupervised, those people who are aware of the hazards may still believe that they are qualified to take risks because previous "unsafe acts" have not resulted in an incident. This paper will provide information on what motivates people to intrinsically follow proper electrical safety procedures. By understanding these principles, human performance can be positively changed, and the electrical work practices of personnel can be improved to consistently follow safe work procedures.


The problems of an investment appeal estimate for different level economic subjects Efficiency of any economic system, as microas macrolevel, depends on investments which characterize real and perspective development. The difficult mechanism of investment process demands adoption of adequate investment decisions at all levels: the macro meso and micro. Thus, the state investment policy is very closely corresponded with investment policy of the enterprises. To the forefront there is a trust as possibility of coordination of different interests. Already enough long time activity of economic subjects is characterized not only quantitative, but also the quality indicators having "not economic" nature. For example, information transparency, financial, legal and information culture, economic comfort, trust. Investment appeal is among such indicators also. Formation of investment appeal as economic category already is in view economists. Effectively to attract investment resources any economic subject has to possess the investment appeal which is giving the chance to hold and realize competitive advantages and potential.


Becoming a new consultant is more demanding than ever. This is a time when the NHS is rapidly evolving and new challenges, for example Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) and appraisal and validation, are contributing to this difficult transition. This conference was set up to provide practical support for soon to be and newly appointed consultants facing the new responsibilities of the position. There were 140 delegates from across the UK including non-medical specialties. The programme was divided into four sessions. The session chairs and speakers were enthusiastic and engaging which helped make this day highly productive. Making it work for you This session began with a concise overview on negotiating a consultant's job plan and how it can be moulded to improve work/life balance. Juggling direct clinical care, supporting programmed activities that underpin this care, additional NHS responsibilities and external duties can appear daunting and unmanageable. This means that a thorough understanding of the consultant contract and job planning is vital. Successful career evolution and development depends on mutually agreed aims and objectives with a clinical manager evaluated on a continual basis. Useful tips included accessing key sources of information, such as the British Medical Assocaition's local negotiating committee pre-appointment. For newly appointed consultants, the importance of keeping a detailed diary of all professional activities was emphasised in order to ensure that the actual, rather than perceived, workload is recognised. Clive Constable provided a most helpful and motivating summary of the National Clinical Excellence Awards Scheme. This scheme recognises and rewards NHS consultants and academic general practitioners who demonstrate a commitment to highquality patient care and to continuous improvement of the NHS 'over and above' the standard expected of their role. How to qualify for an award and the role of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) in this process was explained clearly and tips for applying for RCP support were useful. For example, sufficient supporting evidence of an awardable contribution should be highlighted, not merely stating that you are a member of a committee. Jean McEwan spoke about less than full-time flexible training (LTFT). Although this group of trainees comprises less than 6% of the total number and medical specialties have relatively few LTFT trainees, this is a politically important group. Nearly all (97%) LTFT trainees are women. Many physicians want to work fewer hours, for a variety of reasons, but arranging flexible training is still difficult. There is a range of options available within flexible training: part time, flexi time, annualised hours, compressed hours, staggered hours, job sharing and home working. Thirty-seven per cent of trainees have children and for 33% of these, deficient childcare limits the ability to work. An important question raised by McEwan was whether one really wants to work LTFT? Childcare support should be seen as an investment and the key to a successful work/life balance may be to share, delegate and employ others. This session was completed by Mike Cheshire, who engaged the audience with an informative discussion on appraisal, revalidation and personal development plans. The core role of the consultant, namely to provide high-quality patient care, and the methods in place to help ensure this were explained. The General Medical Council (GMC) plans to introduce the licence to practise in autumn 2009. This is the first step towards the introduction of revalidation and aims to provide patients and employers with regular assurance that their doctors are up to date and fit to practise.


Purpose
This paper aims to propose a research model that explores perceived green organizational support (OS) as a mediator of the effect of green human resource management (GHRM) on job performance (JP) and organizational citizenship behavior toward the organization (OCB-O).

Design/methodology/approach
This paper used data obtained from small- and medium-sized hotels in Palestine. The associations given above were tested using structural equation modeling.

Findings
The findings reveal that GHRM boosts hotel employees' perceptions of green OS. That is, the effective implementation of GHRM is a sign of perceived green OS. Congruent with the study predictions, employees' perceptions of green OS activate their JP and OCB-O. Finally, perceived green OS mediates the impact of GHRM on JP and OCB-O.

Practical implications
Management should take advantage of green human resource practices to acquire and retain talented employees whose environmental goals and values fit those of the company. Employees should be involved in problem-solving on environmental sustainability and green management. They should also participate in continuous training programs and enhance their awareness of environmental sustainability and green management.

Originality/value
There is a lack of evidence appertaining to the effects of GHRM and perceived green OS on non-green positive workplace performance outcomes. More importantly, there is a scarcity of evidence about the mechanism linking GHRM to these performance outcomes.


A slaughterhouse study commissioned by Florida Cattleman's Association in 2007 identified ovarian follicular dysplasia (OFD) as a primary cause of infertility in Florida beef cows. Ovaries with OFD have progressive bilateral development of solid clustered follicles containing multiple Call-Exner bodies that originate in the rete ovarii and the hilar region, and progress into the cortex to eventually form bilateral Sertoli-type granulosa theca cell tumours (GTCT). The objectives of this study were to assess the distribution of OFD in cull animals and to evaluate utilisation of ultrasound for diagnosis of OFD in cattle. Ultrasound images of the right and left ovaries from 390 cull cows and heifers representing 4 Florida ranches were made with 5-MHz linear probes (Aloka, Ibex). Then, 10 to 12 females per ranch were followed to slaughter the proceeding day for collection of reproductive tracts. The fixed ovaries were measured, sectioned para-sagittally through the hilus, photographed, and arranged in histology cassettes for complete examination of the cut surface. Large ovarian structures including corpus luteum, Graafian follicles, atretic follicles, dysplastic follicles, rete ovarii, dysplastic follicles, and tumours were counted and measured for each ovary. Ovaries with OFD were graded I to IV. Grade I OFD contained small individual dysplastic follicles with diameter less than 200µm mostly limited to the rete ovarii and medulla. Grade II OFD possessed dysplastic follicles greater than 200µm diameter that were present in the medulla and cortex. Grade III OFD had extensive multi-sized dysplastic follicles scattered throughout the entire cortex of the ovary and Grade IV OFD had Sertoli-type GTCT. Grade II-IV often had dystrophic mineralization of dysplastic follicles. Gross morphology of fixed sagittal sections and ultrasound images were blindly compared against OFD grade in 40 individual ovaries. The OFD was identified at slaughter in 29/41 cows and in 1/5 of heifers. The distribution of OFD for 30 affected females was Gr I 16/30, Gr II 9/30, Gr III 4/30, and Gr IV 1/30. Characteristics that could be detected by routine ultrasound included increased size and length, increased hyperechogenicity and decreased number of fluid-filled follicles. Hyperechogenic shadows were evident in higher grade OFD. The study demonstrated that Grade III and IV OFD can be observed by routine ultrasound but Grade I and II may require higher resolution ultrasound probes, imaging analysis software, or Doppler ultrasound.


Following its selection as the London Borough of Bromley's preferred development partner earlier this year, Countryside is delighted to announce that a development agreement has been completed between the two parties.


Australia is a multicultural society in which over 300 different indigenous and migrant languages are spoken. While its cultural diversity is often celebrated, Australia's linguistic diversity is still at risk due to the inherent monolingual mindset (cf. Clyne 2005) of its population. In this paper, we use a cross-disciplinary approach, drawing on both historical and sociolinguistic sources, to investigate some of the major causes of language shift among firstand subsequent generations of post-war German-speaking migrants in Australia. While historical and societal changes have provided greater opportunities for German to be maintained as a heritage language in Australia, these developments may have come too late or have not been effective in the face of English as the dominant language in Australia and as a global language. Our investigation indicates that Australians with German as a heritage language, like many other migrant groups, are still at a high risk of shift to English, despite recent opportunities for language maintenance provided by modern society.


The Horse Creek field located in Laramie County, Wyoming, was discovered and developed by the General Petroleum Corporation following a reconnaissance gravity survey and preliminary and detail seismic surveys. The gravity survey, made during 1940, delineated a strong maximum gravity anomaly having a magnitude of about 5 mg. Limited seismic work was then conducted in the area during 1941 and 1942 and mapped a prominent anticline having some 2,000 ft of closure. In September, 1942, General Petroleum Corporation spudded in their No. 78-31-G well, located on the apex of the structure. This well was completed as the discovery for the field, producing from the lower Cretaceous‐Lakota sand. The second well, No. 74-6-P, was completed in April, 1943, as the lower Cretaceous‐Muddy sand discovery for the field. Further seismic work was done during 1944 and 1945 to detail and refine the structural picture. Subsequent drilling developed the Muddy sand as the primary producing zone in this field. A total of 32 producin...


ArUco is an efficient and convenient method to estimate pose of the robot or the object by detecting corner points. However, ArUco cannot be used in some cases due to its lack of detection stability and insufficient accuracy. In this paper, an improved monocular 6D pose estimation method based on the spatial icosahedron marked by ArUco is proposed. By identifying the marked points on the surface of the icosahedron in the image, matching the 3D points in the database and solving with the Perspective-n-points(PnP) method, the accurate 6D pose estimation of the robot can be obtained. Compared with the original ArUco, the method proposed in this paper can cope with larger pose changes, provide higher accuracy, and improve the detection stability, while the time complexity is not significantly increased. In most cases, the method proposed in this paper can achieve translation accuracy of sub-millimeter level and rotation accuracy of less than 1°. Besides, it realized the ±180° large-scale rotation detection of three axes, and the real-time indicators is also satisfied.


Background: Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the most common congenital malformations at birth. Substance abuse has increased dramatically over the past two decades. It also can affect neonates of drug-abusing mothers. Objectives: This study aimed to elucidate the possible association of maternal drug abuse with CHDs in their newborn infants. Patients and Methods: In this study, 72 neonates who were born during 6 years in three teaching hospitals are studied. Echocardiography was performed by a single pediatric cardiologist using two-dimensional and color Doppler echocardiography. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: 1) Of 72 included cases, 38 (52.78%) had abnormal echocardiographic findings; 2) from 38 abnormal echocardiography, 35 (48.61% of total and 92.11% of abnormal echoes) had mild congenital heart defect (CHD), and 3 had complex CHD; 3) There was no significant difference in the prevalence of neonatal congenital heart defect with the type of misused drugs (opiates or methamphetamines). Conclusions: In our study, the prevalence of CHD in newborns of drug abuser mothers was significantly higher than the normal population of infants. Hence, echocardiographic screening of these newborns seems to be logical.


Lately, national hygiene & medical environment and its demand aspect have been rapidly changing, and market opening of hygiene and medical sector is accelerating. Due to the change in labor resulting from the wide range of change in industrial structure and the steady decrease in university applicants, most of colleges and universities have been strongly urged to establish hygiene medical manpower training courses or relative courses, which leaves the medical technician training courses in 4 year universities on the robust increase. Consequently, the medical technicians, graduating from 3 year colleges without bachelor's degree due to shortage of 20 credits for acquisition of degree, have had to compete with the graduates from 4 year universities and the bachelor ' s degree has been in continuous demand for the medical technicians of 3 year college. In the research for recognition of Credit Bank System prevalent across the colleges, enabling the systematic acquisition of bachelor ' s degree, 60.9% among the respondents are aware of Credit Bank System, and 46.9% are aware that Advanced Major Course is induced in the near future. Hence, there shall be active promotions of various programs allowing acquisition of bachelor's degree in the colleges. The social change in recognition of colleges by inducement of the two programs may authorize the college to have the scholastic attainments equivalent to the 4 year university, and the political initiative shall be deliberated across over the government and the academic world.


The article briefly introduced the nitrogen-making car's work principle and the applied circumstances and effect of the discharging liquid operation of the low-pressure deep well in Tarim oilfield.Therefore,draw a conclusion that the nitrogen-making equipment has the characteristics of fine mobility,high efficiency of the discharging liquid and working continuity.It has wide application prospects in Tarim oilfield and can offer certain reference to the operation of the low-pressure deep well in the other oilfields.


[reaction: see text] Alkoxyamines A, which are readily prepared from commercially available starting materials, undergo efficient thermal radical carboaminoxylations onto various nonactivated alkenes to provide 1,4-functionalized malonates B in good to excellent yields. The experiments are very easy to conduct. The carboaminoxylations can be combined with radical cyclization and fragmentation processes.


In order to adapt the dynamic road traffic conditions for the lane changing assistance system, the maximum and average deceleration of the following vehicle on target lane are presented to analyze the influence degree of lane changing on road traffic safety, based on the simulated driving test data. The data are divided into three categories by K-means, such as danger, safety and comfort. The results show that ego- vehicle velocity, velocity difference and distance between ego-vehicle and adjacent-following vehicle, the longitudinal acceleration have significant differences by comparing the operating parameters of the three kinds data. Taking ego-vehicle velocity, velocity difference and distance between ego-vehicle and adjacent- following vehicle, the longitudinal acceleration as input variables, and the kinds of lane change influence as output variables, the safety prediction model of lane changing is established by SVM. The forecasting result shows that the prediction accuracy of the dangerous lane changing behavior can reach 91.1%, and the model


The article analyzes the main social and domestic problems and difficulties faced by women who stayed in their occupied hometown of Melitopol during the aggressive war. It is established that the main problems of Ukrainian women in the occupied city include the closure of all branches of Ukrainian banks, fraudulent schemes with cash withdrawals and shortages of medicines, the impossibility of delivering humanitarian aid from the territory controlled by Ukraine, complaints about the quality and high cost of Russian medicines. It was found that there are also problems with housing services, including: lack of gas supply; unstable water and electricity supply; violation of property rights to property and real estate; confiscation of private housing. It was found that in the cultural and educational sphere, the occupation authorities of the city banned both the state language and the languages of national communities by forcing schools and kindergartens to switch to Russian and Russian programs. The Russians have turned medical facilities into military hospitals, with 90% of hospitals providing care exclusively to wounded occupants. All of this causes negative psychological experiences, feelings of loss or uncertainty, social insecurity, difficulties in realizing social roles and transforming the system of values of personal relationships. It is argued that all these factors give rise to disbelief in victory and a peaceful future, uncertainty about the liberation of the occupied city, a sense of powerlessness, and a lack of communication with family, like-minded people, and friends.


We describe here a simple enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the quantiation of GPIb of freshly-prepared washed platelets. This assay used rabbit antihuman platelet antibody as a platelet-capturing antibody and an anti-GPIb monoclonal antibody (OP-F1) conjugated with horseraddish peroxidase as a second antibody. The lowest concentration of GPIb antigen measurable by this ELISA was 0.01% of normal platelets when determined using a platelet concentration of 105/μl. The average value (mean±2SD) of platelet GPIb antigen from 30 normal individuals was 93.1±20.3%. Two unrelative patients with Bernard-Soulier syndrome showed less than 0.1% and 4.5%, respectively of normal platelet GPIb. In 30 patients with chronic renal failure (CRF), the GPIb antigen levels (43.1±19.9%) were also significantly reduced (p<0.001). These results also suggest that hemorrhagic tendency in patients with CRF is due to, in part, the decreased levels of GPIb.


Federal assistance for public transport in the United States is now reduced to less than half the demand of 23 cities planning or constructing new transit systems. Many cities face the dilemma of setting back construction plans or accepting Federal support in a secondary role. The author suggests that a possible solution could be found from shifting from heavy rail towards integrated bus and light rail networks with more reliance on local funding. Policies used for the evaluation of new proposals have been revised to include the requirement for a reliable source of more than 50 per cent local financial support. New projects are now required to attract new users and reduce travel time for existing passengers. An example is given of the development of the public transport network in Houston where the residents were asked to choose between three alternative plans based on integrated bus and light rail. Experience showed that the public favoured an easy-to-use transit system, built to basic standards with staged construction to spread the cost. (TRRL)


Effects of cooperative learning plus inquiry method on student learning and attitudes: a comparative study for engineering economic classrooms M. Reza Salehizadeh & Noureddin Behin-Aein a Department of Electrical Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Fars, Iran b Department of Mathematical Education, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Fars, Iran Published online: 30 Sep 2013.


The objectives of this work were to optimize the variables affecting transesterification process for biodiesel production from castor oil, non edible oil, by acid catalysis (sulphuric and phosphoric acid) and basic catalysis (potassium methoxide and potassium hydroxide); and to characterize the biodiesel for its use as fuel in compression ignition motors. The studied operation variables were methanol/oil molar ratio (3:1, 6:1, 9:1, 12:1), temperature (25, 35, 45, 55, 65 oC), and catalyst amount (2, 3, 4 wt.% in acid catalysis, and 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 wt.% in basic catalysis). Evolution of each process was followed by gas chromatography, determining the content of methyl esters at different reaction times. Biodiesel was characterized by a set of parameter according to European Standard, EN 14214. The best conditions for transesterification process were 9:1 methanol/oil molar ratio, 65 oC, and the use of potassium methoxide as catalyst with concentration 1.0 wt.%. In these conditions, obtained biodiesel presents satisfactory values of water content, iodine and saponification values, flash and combustion points, and temperature of 50% of distillate. However, values of density, kinematic viscosity, cetane index and cold filter plugging point, that are heavily dependent on oil, move away from those required by the European Standard.


This article starts with the basic method to understand the responsibility system for the building of the Party's style and of clean governance and puts forward four management categories in understanding and grasping it: management activity, management mechanism, management system and management belief. From these four aspects, it analyses the problems that exist in the course of implementing this responsibility system, and then proposes the countermeasure to solve these problems.


Inspired by the results obtained in the string case, we present in this paper the extension of the correction queries to regular tree languages. Relying on Angluin's and Sakakibara's work, we introduce the algorithm LRTLC and we show that regular tree languages are learnable from equivalence and correction queries when the set of contexts is ordered by a Knuth-Bendix order. Moreover, a subclass of regular tree languages, called injective languages, is learned without equivalence queries. This can be extended for other subclasses and may have some practical relevance in fields like machine translation, pattern and speech recognition, building XML documents.


Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are promising cells for regenerative medicine therapies, because they can differentiate towards multiple cell lineages. However, heterogeneity in differentiation capacity is one of the main drawbacks that limit their use clinically. Differences in the occurrence of cellular senescence and in the expression of the senescence associated secretory phenotype (SASP) in MSC populations contribute to their heterogeneity. Here, we show the involvement of TWIST1 expression in the regulation of MSC senescence, demonstrating that silencing of TWIST1 in MSCs increased the occurrence of senescence. These senescent MSCs had a SASP that was different from irradiation-induced senescent MSCs. In addition, metabolic evaluation performed by the Seahorse XF apparatus showed that both TWIST1 silencing-induced and irradiation-induced senescent MSCs had a higher oxygen consumption compared to control MSCs, while TWIST1 silencing-induced senescent MSCs had a low extracellular acidification rate compared to the irradiation-induced senescent MSCs. Overall, our data indicate how TWIST1 regulation influences senescence in human MSCs and that TWIST1 silencing-induced senescence is characterized by a specific expression of the SASP and the metabolic state.


Research on the implementation of management science and information systems has been going on for the past 20 years, and articles describing it have appeared in this journal as well as others. The papers in this issue focus on how that research affects implementation practice. Three themes are highlighted: 1 things management can do to improve the chances of implementation success, 2 the effects of changing technology on implementation practice, and 3 changing views of the implementation process.


The characteristic of the superconducting magnetic energy storage(SMES) system is faster response, longer life time, more economical, and environment friendly than other uninterruptible power supply(UPS) using battery. So, the SMES system can be used to develop methods for improving power quality where a short interruption of power could lead to a long and costly shutdown. Recently, cryogen free SMES has developed using BSCCO(Bismuth Strontium Calcium Copper Oxide) wire. We fabricated and tested the conduction cooling system for the 600 kJ class HTS SMES. The experiment was accomplished for the simulation coils. The simulation coils were made of aluminium, it is equivalent to thermal mass of 600 kJ HTS SMES coil. The coil is cooled with two GM coolers through the copper conduction bar. In this paper, we report that the test results of cool-down and heat loads characteristics of the simulation coils. The developed conduction cooling system adapted to 600 kJ HTS SMES system and cope with the unexpected sudden heat impact, too.


Although cardiac hypertrophy is widely recognized as a risk factor that leads to cardiac dysfunction and, ultimately, heart failure, the complex mechanisms underlying cardiac hypertrophy remain incompletely characterized. The nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor δ (PPARδ) is involved in the regulation of cardiac lipid metabolism. Here, we describe a novel PPARδ‐dependent molecular cascade involving microRNA‐29a (miR‐29a) and atrial natriuretic factor (ANF), which is reactivated in cardiac hypertrophy. In addition, we identify a novel role of miR‐29a, in which it has a cardioprotective function in isoproterenol hydrochloride‐induced cardiac hypertrophy by targeting PPARδ and downregulating ANF. Finally, we provide evidence that miR‐29a reduces the isoproterenol hydrochloride‐induced cardiac hypertrophy response, thereby underlining the potential clinical relevance of miR‐29a in which it may serve as a potent therapeutic target for heart hypertrophy treatment.


[Objective]The research aimed to investigate Ni2 +stress on seed germination and seedling growth of rice and Chinese cabbage and to compare seeds tolerance against Ni2 +stress.[Method]The impacts of different concentrations Ni2 +stress on seed germination rate,root elongation and early seedling growth of rice and Chinese cabbage were studied under hydroponic conditions.[Result]Low Ni2 +concentrations had no significant effects on seed germinating rate of rice and Chinese cabbage. When treatment reached 30. 0 mg /L,rice seed germinating rate decreased significantly compared with control or Chinese cabbage seed. 1. 5 mg /L or lower concentrations could stimulated rice root elongation; 3. 0 mg /L or higher concentrations inhibited rice root growth; 1. 5 mg /L Ni2 +stress for 96 h resulted in Chinese cabbage root elongation significantly,30. 0mg /L Ni2 +stress for different treatment times all inhibited root elongation significantly; Rice root length decorated significantly compared with Chinese cabbage under 3. 0 mg /L treatment. Ni2 +stress had little effects on rice and Chinese cabbage bud length,rice and Chinese cabbage bud length had no significantly differences compared with control for 72 h,but Ni2 +stress had great impacts on lateral root. Neither rice or Chinese cabbage generated lateral root under 30. 0 mg /L treatment. 1. 5 mg /L or higher concentrations inhibited rice and Chinese cabbage seeds fresh weight increase,but they had no significant differences.[Conclusion]Rice seed germination and growth was more susceptible than cabbage's under Ni2 +stress.


Brugada syndrome is a primary arrhythmia syndrome characterized by loss-of-function mutations in the SCN5A gene, which encodes for the cardiac Na+ channel. In affected individuals, the risk of developing malignant ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death are increased.[1] Two leading theories, the depolarization and repolarization hypotheses, have been put forward to explain the underlying electrophysiological mechanisms[2] with the use of mouse models providing much insight into this controversial area. The monophasic action potential (MAP) recording technique has been extensively used to examine electrophysiology at the whole heart level.[3] This letter attempts to provide a brief overview to illustrate the importance of understanding the limitations of experimental methods and the need to appraise experimental data.


Competitive elements are a common feature of many game jams. However, there has been little research to date on the impact of competition on participants and their behaviours. To better understand how incentives and competition may affect the motivations and behaviour of game jam participants, we surveyed 47 game jam participants and analysed data from 4,564 online game jams. We found that incentives and competition were neither strong deterrents nor significant motivators for game jam participation. However, a significant percentage of the participants surveyed indicated that incentives and competition would affect their behaviour during a game jam. Our findings suggest this effect is dependent on the nature (or contingency) of the incentive. In addition to its practical implications for game jam organisation, this study highlights a largely untapped potential for further research into the complexities of game jams, incentives and competition.


OCCUPATIONAL ACCIDENTS WITH BIOLOGICAL MATERIAL AMONG NURSING WORKERS IN A HOSPITAL IN ANGOLA This is an exploratory descriptive study with a quantitative analysis approach that had the goal to characterize the occupational accidents among nursing workers involving highly contaminated biologic material at a public general hospital in Angola, from July 2002 to July 2003, and was developed with the intent to provide bases for the implementation of policies for avoiding occupational accidents among health professionals. Data collection was performed through face-to-face guided interviews, applied by five previously trained individuals, after all ethic principles had been complied. From the total of 378 nursing workers, 278 participated in this study. The showed that the studied population is heterogeneous, with ages ranging between 22 and 66 years, being that most (30.93%) were aged between 22 and 30, and 31 to 40 years (24.82%). Most participants are married and have a high-school educational level (59.00%). There is a high incidence of accidents among this population, as 93.88% of the 278 participants suffered a total of 1,477 different accidents, ranging from 1 to 56 accidents per person. Each worker described up to 4 accidents (maximum) in the study, adding up a total of 376 described accidents, being that blood and its derivates were the most stated biological material (78.46%). From the total of accidents, 47.10% happened through contact, followed by percutaneous accidents (45.20%). Most happened in the morning (61.44%), resulting from the administration of drugs. After the occurrence of most accidents (97.61%), there was no administrative conduct and none of the workers were submitted to prophylaxis against Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), or hepatitis B. In 72.87% of the accidents, 73.56% of the workers were not using Individual Protection Equipment (IPE) and 96.01% were not aware of the patient's condition regarding HIV or hepatitis B and C. This showed that occupational accidents in institutions result from the interaction of many factors directly entwined to the development and training of biosafety norms and to the lack of institutional and governmental policies for the prevention of accidents involving biologic material; thus representing impairment to this populations' occupational health. Facing the problems involving these workers' occupational health, there is urgency for the development of strategies to reduce the workplace risks, particularly in the current circumstances when diseases of such high risks have emerged.


Seven typical pedons from Chimakurthi, Marrichetlapalem, Iapavaluru, Rudravaram, Taragudipadu, Chellapalem and Mainampadu villages representing major land forms in the selected parts of Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh viz., uplands and plains, developed from granite-gneiss parent material under varying land use were selected for the present study. These pedons were studied in detail for their morphological characteristics, soil genesis, physical and physico-chemical properties and nutrient status. Soils in the area were moderately deep to very deep, slightly alkaline to alkali (pH 7.24 to 10.35) in reaction, non-saline. They had ustic soil moisture regime and iso-hyperthermic temperature regime. Texture, organic carbon, CEC and base saturation in the profiles ranged from loamy sand to clay, 0.18 to 0.70 per cent, 8.65 to 51.48 cmol (p) kg and 62.87 to 90.92 per cent, respectively. These soils were found to be low in available nitrogen, low to high in available phosphorus, medium to high in available potassium and sufficient in available sulphur (except in lower layers of pedon 2). They were found to be deficient in DTPA-extractable Zn (except in the surface horizons of pedons 3 and 4). However, they were sufficient in DTPA-extractable Fe (except in the Bw1 horizon of pedon 1), Cu (except in the 3A3 horizon of pedon 7) and Mn. The pedons 2 and 7 were grouped under Entisols due to absence of sub-surface diagnostic horizon and were classified as Typic Ustorthents at sub-group level; pedons 1, 3, 5 and 6 were placed under Inceptisols due to presence of cambic (BW) sub-surface diagnostic horizon and classified as Typic Haplustepts at sub-group level. The pedon 4 was grouped under Vertisols due to the presence of vertic features like slickensides, pressure faces, cracks and presence of more than 30 % clay in all the horizons and was classified as Typic Haplusterts at sub-group level. Location specific recommendations were made based on the physical, physico-chemical characteristics and fertility status of these soils for better and sustainable crop production besides conserving and improving the soil health.


A 59-year-oid man with no signifiat pag t medicaI hisbry d e m t routine screening colonoscopy. The only significant f m h g was pedunculated 1.2 cm polyp located in the mid ascending colon. The three pb~omicmpph below are h m thal PYP. 1. What is the nature of he cells hdicated by the a r r o ~ ' ~ in the medim and high powered views? 2. What is the diagnosis? 3. What w o S l be the clinical significance of multiple plyjx if this t y g ~ were found on caIowscopy?


Abstract : The near UV irradiation of ether and/or ethanol glasses at low temperatures (100 = 25K) leads to the formation of trapped ethyl radicals via an excited impurity-solvent interaction. The radicals were observed by electron para magnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR), both during the irradiation and during the post irradiation period. The EPR spectral line shapes of the ethyl radicals changed as a function of time after light extinction and also of temperature during irradiation. Qualitative kinetics of the spectral changes were examined in some detail. In the absence of dissolved oxygen the spectral line shape changes are reversible upon re-irradiation; in the presence of oxygen the ethyl radical is irreversibly converted into the RO2 radical at temperatures where the oxygen can appreciably diffuse. The orgins of the spectral changes are discussed in terms of hindered rotational motions and localized phase changes, as well as the postulation of a possible charge transfer complex formation. Photo-reversibility is assumed tto occur via radiationless transitions involving excited states of the impurities. (Author)


Complex pitch perception is influcenced not only by the physical composition of the stimulus, but also by the context in which the stimulus occurs, and by previous pitch stimuli to which the listener has been exposed. Three complex pitch effects will be discussed: (1) Pitch for nonsimultaneous harmonics presented in quiet and in a noise background; (2) short‐term complex pitch adaptation effects; (3) long‐term changes in complex pitch perception where the pitch associated with one complex tone changes to the pitch associated with a second complex, after the two complex tones are paired and presented to the listener over several hours of listening. Findings will be related to pitch theories, plasticity of pitch perception, and possible organization of complex pitch "channels."


This research study seeks to examine the impact of Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) from a developmental perspective in the Eastern Cape. Two schools were selected as research sites, one from a previously advantaged area and the other from a previously disadvantaged area. These schools were evaluated on their understanding of OBE and its relationship to development. OBE was introduced in South Africa under controversial circumstances because of the legacy of apartheid education from which we are coming. Because of that, schools in South Africa reflect the inequalities that are resulting from apartheid legislation. In 1994 the government introduced the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) to eradicate all the discrepancies resulting from apartheid. On the educational sphere, OBE was the curriculum policy aimed at eradicating the legacy of apartheid education. The then Minister of Education was convinced that OBE or Curriculum 2005 would be a developmental approach to education and would take South Africa into the 21 century. Ever since its introduction, educators have encountered many problems with the implementation of OBE, especially in the previously disadvantaged areas of the Eastern Cape. The researcher used semi-structured interviews to collect data from the respondents. However, one set of questionnaires was prepared for the educators, students, parents and education government officials. Because of the qualitative nature of the questionnaire the data collected was also analyzed qualitatively. Each question was analyzed from each of the focus groups and the researcher established findings that were analyzed in relation to the literature review. The researcher then was able to reach his own conclusions on the impact that OBE has on the South African education system and recommendations on what could be done for OBE to be successfully implemented and to be developmentally effective in previously disadvantaged areas of South Africa. The recommendations propose useful interventions, which could be made by the government to assist all the stakeholders involved in education in both an understanding


Exposure of Azolla plants to UV-B radiation for 6 h resulted in a decrease in biomass and relative growth rate (RGR), which coincided with an increase in doubling time (DT) as compared with the control. Also, the protein content decreased. On the other hand, hydrogen peroxyde (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulated significantly in UV-treated Azolla plants. Conversely, the addition of selenium (Se) at 1 ppm resulted in a significant increase in biomass and protein content of untreated and UV-treated Azolla plants, and a significant reduction in both H2O2 and MDA. Moreover, the addition of Se to UV-treated and untreated Azolla plants resulted in a significant increase in total ascorbate and total glutathione (GSH) contents compared with the control and UV-stressed Azolla plants. Also, glutathione redox potential (GSH/TG) increased significantly in UV-treated Azolla plants in the presence of Se. There also was a significant increase (38%) in ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity in UV-treated plants compared with the control. APX activity in the presence of Se did not change significantly compared with the control. Glutathione reductase (GR) activity increased significantly in UV-treated Azolla, while glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) activity did not. On the other hand, both GSH-PX and GR activity in untreated and UV-treated Azolla plants were significantly enhanced by the application of Se to the nutrient media at a concentration of 1 ppm. Therefore, we can conclude that Se protects Azolla plants from UV-B stress.


The invention discloses a control method for an air conditioner. The method comprises the following steps: acquiring a temperature value output by a temperature acquisition device; comparing the temperature value with a prestored temperature interval; when the temperature value is higher than the temperature interval, lowering the set temperature of the air conditioner; when the temperature value is lower than the temperature interval, raising the set temperature of the air conditioner; when the temperature value is in the temperature interval, controlling the air conditioner to keep a current set temperature. By adopting the control method disclosed by the invention, the room temperature is raised when the body temperature value of a user is lower than the temperature interval, and the room temperature is lowered when the body temperature of the user is higher than the temperature interval. Running of the air conditioner can be controlled flexibly according to the body temperature of the user by implementing the control method periodically or non-periodically for multiple times, and the whole control process is more flexible. The specific body condition of the user is taken as a control basis, so that the control method is more user-friendly. The invention further discloses a control device for the air conditioner, and an air conditioner with the control device.


This is a study of relationship between the performance of 34 students in use of English and their performance in the Teachers Grade II certificate Examination. The subjects were selected from a total of 43 year. II of Diploma in primary school supervision in the department of Continuing Education and extension services of university of Maiduguri. Pearson product moment correlation coefficient was used to analyse the data. The result was converted to t for the test significance. A t-test was used to compare the performance of the students in the use of English a long year of experience. The result shows that there is no significant correlation between the students performance in the use of English and their performance in the Teachers Grade II certificate in English (r=0.098 t=.557 at p<.05). there was also no significant difference between the performance of those with 10 years and below and those with more than 10 years teaching experience<.05 (t=.74). The results were discussed and implications for further study indicated. Keywords: Relationship, Performance, Students, Teacher Grade II Certificate, English


redeemer in the realm of the divine), but stylistic. (The hymns quoted in Philippians 2:6-11 and I Timothy 3:16 both begin with the relative hos, which must have been attached to some foregoing lines in the original context; and the introitus of Colossians 1:12-14 is followed by just such a relative, which leads into the hymn proper, in verses 15-20.) It seems that Schille should have made some attempt to explain this relationship. Other New Testament passages belonging to the Gattung of initiation songs are listed by Schille as Romans 3:23-25; II Timothy 1:9 f.; Titus 2:11-14 and 3:3-7; and Revelation 115 f. (pp. 60-65). Baptismal liturgical formulas, the third Gattung, belong not to the realm of "hymns" in any proper sense of the word, but rather, as the term implies, to the broader realm of liturgical forms. Schille finds such formulas within hymns, as with the Odes of Solomon 17:1-4 and 18:1-3 and elsewhere, such as Romans 8:29 f. (pp. 86-90). If the formal lines Schille has attempted to draw in Part I can already be seen to be less than totally accurate (and his formal reconstructions of hymnic passages also not infrequently leave something to be desired), this should be no grave indictment against the work of a young scholar who has done, nevertheless, some very necessary "spade work" in the field of liturgical quotations and allusions in the New Testament. Judgment of Part II, however, must be somewhat less positive. The pièce de résistance of this section, which one takes to be the fruit of nearly ten years' further study of this subject, informs us that the Prologue of John is an epiphany hymn "whose essential content is the thanks due God for the 'arrival' of the redeemer" (p. 114). What "proves" that the Johannine Prologue is an epiphany hymn is that the redeemer, who begins in the divine sphere, brings "the knowledge of the Father" (p. 128). Yet how such a hymn is to be distinguished from the earlier Gattung of songs of the redeemer is something about which the reader is left to ponder. As we learn more and more in the coming years of the liturgy of the early church, all or most of Schille's conclusions may be laid aside. But we are not at the present in a position to do this, and his work must remain a reference tool for any treatment of this question. , cA W n M f t


— The SARS-CoV2 virus caused a new corona virus that started in Wuhan, China and spread around the world. Millions of people were infected as a result of the virus's widespread spread. Early discovery of the virus is critical for the patient's complete recovery, but late detection can be fatal. Because the virus's symptoms are similar to those of the flu, it's tough to spot. This research seeks to develop an automated approach for detecting Covid19 from virus-infected chest X-ray pictures. The suggested method makes use of a dataset that includes non-infected participants as well as patients with pneumonia and Covid19 virus infection. For feature extraction, local binary patterns with variations in their input parameters are used. Several machine learning methods and ensembles of these individual models are used to classify the generated feature sets. Experiment results are acquired using 10-fold cross validation testing. To compare performance, the evaluation metrics accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV), sensitivity, and f-measure are utilised. The results reveal that the RTree-RForest-KNN ensemble delivers the best classification performance, whereas ensemble models outperform most individual classifiers. When comparing the input parameters of the LBP, the best performance is given by parameters R=6 (P=48) and R=7 (P=56) in the suggested Covid19 identification approach from chest X-Ray pictures for the average of metrics for 10-fold cross validation.


The photochemical surface modification of silicone ([SiO(CH3)2]n) rubber has been successfully demonstrated using a 193 nm ArF excimer laser, and white light of strong intensity was emitted upon exposure to a 325 nm He–Cd laser. The photoluminescence spectra of the modified silicone showed broad peaks centered at 410, 550, and 750 nm wavelengths. The modified surface was carbon-free silicon oxide, and the chemical composition ratio of O/Si was approximately 2. However, the surface was not silica glass (SiO2), as clarified by IR spectroscopy. Instead, nanometer-size particles of silicon oxide were formed on the surface of the modified silicone rubber.


Photochemical catalytic technology is an investigative hotspot of the field of environmental engineering,and the photocatalysts is the key of this technology.Bismuth compounds has good performance of photocatalysis under visible-light(λ≥420),so it is widely attended to and further researched.This paper reports the new development of the visible-light-driven bismuth photocatalysts and application,and the prospective developments in new visible-light photocatalysts have been anticipated.


Latino students' educational success is central to America's prosperity—in traditional immigrant destinations and in New Latino Diaspora locations, previously unfamiliar with Latinos. Implicated in this success is the reception young immigrants receive, especially the ways in which they are identified in schools. We describe findings from 6 years of ethnographic research in a high school and an elementary school in the New Latino Diaspora and describe divergent ideologies of Mexican-immigrant Spanish circulating in each context. We show how monoglossic language ideologies in the 2 schools frame teenage immigrants as deficient and younger immigrant children as proficient. These ideologies influence both elementary and high school decisions about how to serve immigrant students, and they shape students' own language practices, which have implications for their learning opportunities and future trajectories. We argue that attention to these divergent language ideologies is necessary for understanding different educational outcomes across decimal generations of immigrant students.


Structural integrity of composite systems under dynamic impact loading is investigated herein. The GENOA virtual testing software environment is used to implement the effects of dynamic loading on fracture progression and damage tolerance. Combinations of graphite and glass fibers with a toughened epoxy matrix are investigated. The effect of a ceramic coating for the absorption of impact energy is also included. Impact and post impact simulations include verification and prediction of (1) Load and Impact Energy, (2) Impact Damage Size, (3) Maximum Impact Peak Load, (4) Residual Strength, (5) Maximum Displacement, (6) Contribution of Failure Modes to Failure Mechanisms, (7) Prediction of Impact Load Versus Time, and (8) Damage, and Fracture Pattern. A computer model is utilized for the assessment of structural response, progressive fracture, and defect/damage tolerance characteristics. Results show the damage progression sequence and the changes in the structural response characteristics due to dynamic impact. The fundamental premise of computational simulation is that the complete evaluation of composite fracture requires an assessment of ply and subply level damage/fracture processes as the structure is subjected to loads. Simulation results for the graphite/epoxy composite were compared with the impact and tension failure test data, correlation and verification was obtained that included: (1) impact energy, (2) damage size, (3) maximum impact peak load, (4) residual strength, (5) maximum displacement, and (6) failure mechanisms of the composite structure.


ABSTRACT Franco-Moroccan writer Driss Chraïbi (1926–2007) evolved from antipathy to Islam in his early works to a novel about the Prophet Muhammad (1995). In this work, he fused the dawning of Islam with emergence from the earth mother's womb, conflating the Arabic root for mercy in the Quran with the word for maternal womb. The origin of theories of the Earth Mother was in the nineteenth century, and they were embraced by feminists from the 1960s. In Morocco, a statue of the female Supreme Creator was discovered in a pre-Islamic tomb of a noble woman, and Algerian feminist Assia Djebar adopted her as a symbol of matriarchal rule. Although Chraïbi may have been exposed to some of these ideas, his personal paths to Mother Earth appear to have emanated more from his own experience. Born at the mouth of the Oum-er-Bia [Spring Mother] river, his roots were among the Berbers/Imazighen people, who believed, he wrote, in the life-giving mother. Initially extremely critical of Islam in his writing, Chraïbi gradually began to forefront an Islam of peace. This evolving attitude to Islam, informed by the changing socio-political milieu in North Africa and France, led to his writing a novel about the life of Muhammad. In it he focused on Muhammad's creative process, depicting the Prophet of Islam as a simple, non-violent man.


Over the next few days, all Cheltenham residents will receive a letter through the post telling them about the new, more secure electoral register.


The floating photovoltaic system is a new concept in energy technology to meet the needs of our time. The system integrates existing land based photovoltaic technology with a newly developed floating photovoltaic technology. Because module temperature of floating PV system is lower than that of overland PV system, the floating PV system has 11% better generation efficiency than overland PV system. In the thesis, superiority of floating PV system is verified through comparison analysis of generation amount by 2.4kW, 100kW and 500kW floating PV system installed by K-water and the cause of such superiority was analyzed. Also, effect of wind speed, and waves on floating PV system structure was measured to analyze the effect of the environment on floating PV system generation efficiency.


Abstract : IT IS SHOWN THAT, WHEN AN IONOSPHERIC SOUNDER OF A GREAT SENSITIVITY IS PLACED AT A DISTANCE FROM THE SEA LESS THAN 50 KM, IT IS VERY LIKELY THAT THE STRONG BACKSCATTER FROM THE OPEN SEA WAVES AHAT WHEN AN IONOSPHERIC SOUNDER IS PLACED AT A DISTANCE FROM THE SEA LESS THAN 50 KM., THE STRONG BACKSCATTER FROM THE OPEN SEA WAVES A D FROM THE COASTAL SEA WAVES PRODUCES DISCRETE ECHOES WHICH MAY BE ERRONEOUSLY ATTRIBUTED TO MESOSPHERIC REFLECTIONS.AD-2779d from the coastal sea waves produces discrete echoes, which may be erroneously attributed to mesospheric reflections. (Author)


Since its formal definition over sixty years ago, category theory has been increasingly recognized as having a foundational role in mathematics. It provides the conceptual lens to isolate and characterize the structures with importance and universality in mathematics. The notion of an adjunction (a pair of adjoint functors) has moved to center-stage as the principal lens. The central feature of an adjunction is what might be called "internalization through a universal" based on universal mapping properties. A recently developed "heteromorphic" theory of adjoint functors allows the concepts to be more easily applied empirically. This suggests a conceptual structure, albeit abstract, to model a range of universal-selectionist mechanisms (e.g., in the immune system). Closely related to adjoints is the notion of a "brain functor" which abstractly models structures of cognition and action.


The 4.3m Discovery Channel Telescope (DCT) has been conducting part-time science operations since January 2013. The f/6.1, 0.5° field-of-view at the RC focus is accessible through the Cassegrain instrument cube assembly, which can support 5 co-mounted instruments with rapid feed selection via deployable fold mirrors. Lowell Observatory has developed the Large Monolithic Imager (LMI), a 12.3' FOV 6K x 6K single CCD camera with a dual filter wheel, and installed at the straight-through, field-corrected RC focal station, which has served as the primary early science DCT instrument. Two low-resolution facility spectrographs are currently under development with first light for each anticipated by early 2015: the upgraded DeVeny Spectrograph, to be utilized for single object optical spectroscopy, and the unique Near-Infrared High-Throughput Spectrograph (NIHTS), optimized for single-shot JHK spectroscopy of faint solar system objects. These spectrographs will be mounted at folded RC ports, and the NIHTS installation will feature simultaneous optical imaging with LMI through use of a dichroic fold mirror. We report on the design, construction, commissioning, and progress of these 3 instruments in detail. We also discuss plans for installation of additional facility instrumentation on the DCT.


Mobile devices are integral to the workflows of many organizations working in rural or disconnected contexts. Data is often collected on mobile phones and tablets using tools like Open Data Kit (ODK). However, some of the applications require users to revisit and update previously collected data, necessitating easy viewing of stored data. To make it easier for organizations to create flexible information services, we present ODK Tables, an Android tool that allows users to enter and curate data on mobile devices. Tables leverages web tools to make mobile app creation simple. It provides abstractions to make the process straightforward and allows app designers to access data through a JavaScript API. App designers can create a custom app using only a small number of HTML and JavaScript files. This facilitates the creation of a custom user interface but leaves storage, data management, and synchronization to the framework. The result is a fully featured Android app based on established web-based tools with full support for disconnected operation.