The invention discloses a water-soluble flame-retardant polyurethane coating and a preparation method thereof. The coating comprises a polyurethane prepolymer, N-hydroxymethyl acrylamide, dibutyl phthalate, a titanate coupling agent, talc, light calcium carbonate, tributyl phosphate, isopropyl alcohol, a mixed solvent and a flame-retardant material. The preparation method comprises the following steps: 2 kg ethanol with the volume concentration being 50%-70% is added to each 1 kg of N-hydroxymethyl acrylamide, the mixture is mixed with the polyurethane prepolymer in a reaction kettle, the reaction temperature is 80-150 DEG C, the reaction is performed for 1 h, and then a mixture including isopropyl alcohol and the titanate coupling agent in the weight ratio being 1:1 is added; reaction is performed continuously for 2-5 h; dibutyl phthalate, talc, light calcium carbonate, tributyl phosphate, the mixed solvent and the flame-retardant material are added and uniformly mixed to obtain the water-soluble flame-retardant polyurethane coating product. The water-soluble flame-retardant polyurethane coating has the characteristics of high chemical resistance, high-temperature resistance, high weather resistance, high stain resistance, high glossiness, long service life and the like.


Two hundred years ago the Montgolfier brothers first demonstrated to the world that man-carrying "engines for flying" were possible. Their vehicle, however, did not have "artificiall Wings" but was a balloon filled with hot air. (A Brazilian, Bartolomeu de Gusmao, had flown a small unmanned hot air balloon 74 years earlier.') After successful unmanned demonstrations the first recorded free flight by man took place on 21 November 1783, when Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier, a doctor, and Francois Laurent, Marquis d'Arlandes, undertook a 25 minute flight over Paris in a Montgolfier balloon (in contrast to a Charlier balloon, which is one filled with a gas that is lighter than air and also flew manned in the same year). Since that auspicious beginning man has landed on the moon and sent machines to other planets. Non-powered balloon flight has played a vital part in this amazing advance and still retains a place of its own in modern


The management of mandibular fractures has evolved from closed reduction to open reduction. Champy's miniplates have become highly popular and is a time-tested method of treatment of mandibular fractures. However, advances like 3D miniplate with claimed advantages like requires less armamentarium, providing better occlusal stabilityEvaluative study conducted in 24 patients & randomly divided in 2 groups, use of 3D miniplate vs conventional miniplates in anterior mandibular fractures, age group 15-90, post-operative evaluation at day 1, 7 & 3 month, fracture stability, mobility of fracture fragment, complications & bite force. The level of significance was fixed at 5% and p ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. 3D mini plating system (p value:- .001)have lesser operating time when compared to 2D conventional miniplating system, also 3D miniplate system have better intraoperative and lesser complications, significantly better bite force results (p value .002*(s)) with 3D miniplate compared to 2D conventional miniplating system.3D miniplate a novel form of plating system with better intraoperative and post operative results, better stability compared to conventional miniplating system.


This paper presents the results of a content analysis conducted on the work roles of cybersecurity practitioners for the water sector of South Africa. The paper presents literature review findings on national and international frameworks and guidelines detailing cyber security considerations for the South African water sector as well as national and international guidelines and frameworks which detail the various work roles carried out by cybersecurity practitioners in an organisation. The study found that cyber security considerations and work roles such as physical security of assets, testing and assessment of cybersecurity methods, supply chains cyber security as well as incident investigation and interfacing with law enforcement, were not well defined for cyber security discipline. The study delivers a framework detailing the work roles of cybersecurity practitioners which can be applied to the South African water sector.


This short essay focuses on the costs and benefits accruing to each of the three parties to a conventional public company audit: company management, the auditor, and investors. Recognition of those costs and benefits leads to the conclusion that the auditor's dependence on the goodwill of management makes it unlikely that an audit in such a setting will serve investors well.


Native American scholarship began early in the 17th century -almost immediately after the foundation of the first New England colonies -as a consequence of efforts made by clergymen such as John Eliot and Thomas Mayhew who hoped to speed up the dissemination of Christianity by educating Native Americans and training them as missionaries. In 1665, the Harvard Indian College commenced offering courses for Native Americans in English, Latin and Greek until 1693, when that institution was again closed down. The missionaries further established a number of "Praying Indian Towns" -each with its own school and instructors.


We have examined the modified Moore methods that were applied to college mathematics courses in several researches. We introduce, compare and analyze the concrete teaching methods that the researchers conducted in various modified Moore methods, and propose the appropriate form of modified Moore method most suitable for the present situations of the mathematics and related departments in Korea.


Psychology in the Caribbean faces significant challenges. High quality psychological services are needed, along with educating new psychologists and expanding the profession to address mental health difficulties within Caribbean Communities. Beyond mental health concerns, a variety of psychological subspecialties are needed to promote change within the society still bearing the impact of slavery and colonialization. Challenges include "Brain drain" with talented youth migrating for educational and professional opportunities and with a few exceptions, a lack of local universities offering advanced degrees in the field of psychology. Further challenges arise from a lack of self-definition of psychology in the Caribbean. These factors, academic, professional and institutional will be reviewed and recommendations for action offered based on Caribbean Regional Conference of Psychology, CRCP 2011 surveys.


Exposure to repetitive low‐frequency electromagnetic field (LF‐EMF) shows promise as a non‐invasive approach to treat various sensory and neurological disorders. Despite considerable progress in the development of modern stimulation devices, there is a limited understanding of the mechanisms underlying their biological effects and potential targets at the cellular level. A significant impact of electromagnetic field on voltage‐gated calcium channels and downstream signalling pathways has been convincingly demonstrated in many distinct cell types. However, evidence for clear effects on primary sensory neurons that particularly may be responsible for the analgesic actions of LF‐EMF is still lacking. Here, we used F11 cells derived from dorsal root ganglia neurons as an in vitro model of peripheral sensory neurons and three different protocols of high‐induction magnetic stimulation to determine the effects on chemical responsiveness and spontaneous activity. We show that short‐term (<180 sec.) exposure of F11 cells to LF‐EMF reduces calcium transients in response to bradykinin, a potent pain‐producing inflammatory agent formed at sites of injury. Moreover, we characterize an immediate and reversible potentiating effect of LF‐EMF on neuronal spontaneous activity. Our results provide new evidence that electromagnetic field may directly modulate the activity of sensory neurons and highlight the potential of sensory neuron‐derived cell line as a tool for studying the underlying mechanisms at the cellular and molecular level.


By using asymptotic Morse inequalities we give a lower bound for the space of holomorphic sections of high tensor powers in a positive line bundle over a q-concave domain. The curvature of the positive bundle induces a hermitian metric on the manifold. The bound is given explicitely in terms of the volume of the domain in this metric and a certain integral on the boundary involving the defining function and its Levi form. As application we study the perturbattion of the complex structure of a q-concave manifold.


DC motors are widely used in industrial and household applications as they provide benefits of high performance response, high efficiency, high torque and lower volume. This paper proposes the idea of implementing fuzzy logic controller to control the speed of separately excited DC motor. It provides an overview of performance with PID controller and fuzzy logic controller. Though PID controller improves both transients and steady state response characteristics with reduced rise time and steady state error, yet it has limitations of tuning its parameters and unsatisfactory control characteristics. Fuzzy logic can be described simply as computing words and can be designed without knowing the exact mathematical model of the process. Initially these controllers are designed and then tuned to analyze the performance of DC motor. Then the speed response of fuzzy logic is compared with the response achieved by PID controller. The experimental results prove that the control characteristic with fuzzy logic is better than that with the conventional PID controller. The modeling of separately excited DC motor and implementation of the two controllers is performed on software MATLAB/SIMULINK. An error detector compares a feedback signal which is the function of the output response, with the reference input. The variation between these two signals gives an error which is then sent to controller. The controller alters the conditions in the plant to reduce the original error. PID-controllers are extensively used in industrial applications due to reduced number of tuned parameters. In the PID controller, an appropriate proportional gain (Kp), integral gain (Ki), and differential gain (Kd) are adjusted to achieve the optimal control performance. The speed control with PID controller algorithm is simple, stable, easy adjustment and high reliable. However, most industrial processes include different degrees of nonlinear, parameter variability and uncertainty of mathematical model of the system. Thus tuning of parameters of PID controller is very difficult and lacks robustness. It is difficult to achieve the optimal state under field conditions in the actual production. Fuzzy Logic is a logical system having multiple logic values. However it is almost synonymous with the theory of fuzzy sets. The theory of fuzzy sets deal with the classes of objects with blunt boundaries in which membership is a matter of degree. Fuzzy Logic is the expedient way to map input space to an output space.


The purpose of this paper is to present the distinctive features of medical practice in a neuropsychiatric hospital as I have observed them during the past 12 years. While such observations have revealed many significant peculiarities and differences in medical practice in relation to the physically ill psychotic patient, they have also revealed that the well-established fundamentals of diagnosis and treatment remain unaltered. The special characteristics of medical practice in a neuropsychiatric hospital fall into two categories. First, it must be recognized that there are both disorders which are peculiar to the psychotic patient, such as the exhaustion syndrome of psychotics and the irreversible insulin coma reaction as a result of insulin coma therapy, and disorders which are rarely seen in the psychotic patient, such as acute bronchial asthma, hay fever, and rheumatoid arthritis. The second distinctive trait of medical practice in a neuropsychiatric hospital has to do with the


AIM: To investigate the change of reactive oxygen species(ROS) production in hypoxic pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells(PASMCs) of rats,the effect of ROS on the expression of extracellular signal-regulated kinase(ERK)1/2 protein,and the role of ROS and ERK1/2 in the imbalance between proliferation and apoptosis of PASMCs.METHODS: Primary cultures of PASMCs were established and cells between passages 2 to 3 were used for experiments.PASMCs were treated with tiron,a membrane permeable ROS scavenger,and PD98059,an ERK1/2 inhibitor,under normoxia or hypoxia condition.The ROS production was measured by DCFH-DA and NBT reduction.The expression of phosphorylated-ERK1/2(p-ERK1/2) protein was detected by immunofluorescence.Cell proliferation was examined by MTT colorimetric assay and the expression of PCNA.Cell apoptosis was detected by TUNEL.RESULTS:(1)Compared with control group,the ROS levels in hypoxia group were significantly increased(P0.01).(2) In hypoxia group,the proliferative capacity was higher and the apoptosis index was lower than those in control group(P0.01).Tiron significantly attenuated hypoxia-induced cell proliferation(P0.05) and also significantly raised the apoptosis index in hypoxia cells(P0.01).(3) The expression of p-ERK1/2 in hypoxia group were higher than that in control group(P0.01),which were significantly suppressed by tiron(P0.01).(4) PD98059 significantly attenuated hypoxia-induced cell proliferation(P0.05) and also significantly raised the apoptosis index in hypoxia cells(P0.01).The proliferative capacity and apoptosis index was similar in hypoxia+tiron+PD98059 group to those in hypoxia+tiron group(P0.05).CONCLUSION: The hypoxia-mediated increase in PASMCs proliferation and the decrease in PASMCs apoptosis are related to the overproduction of intracellular ROS through downstream activation of ERK1/2.ROS and ERK1/2 play important roles in the hypoxic remodeling of pulmonary artery.


The goal of this paper is to provide the reader with a vision of the individual steps required to bring ISRU from the current technological readiness level of lab experimentation, to large scale production. The ultimate goal would be the ability to produce as much He 3 as demand will allow, when nuclear fusion technology matures sufficiently to warrant it. What follows are discrete payloads that fit well within what were the current plans of Artemis, the Common Lunar Lander and FLO, the First Lunar Outpost.


The growing complexity and size of software systems, along with the increasing role of software in everyday life, makes software quality assurance an essential part of the software engineering process. Among different software quality assurance techniques, software testing is one of the most practical approaches. This course provides an overview of the fundamental concepts and techniques as well as state-of-the-art approaches in software quality assurance, with an emphasis on software testing.


We compute the Loewy structure of the indecomposable projective modules for the group algebra FG, where G is the alternating group on 10 letters and F is an algebraically closed field of characteristic 3.


This thesis examines whether there is a correlation between emotional labor of geriatric hospital nurses and job stress. To accomplish this, a survey was conducted from January 22, 2018 to April 22, 2018, after which data from 256 out of a total of 260 questionnaires were evaluated. Specifically, SPSS 23.0 was used to conduct a hierarchical analysis to verify the meditating effects of job stress under the condition that emotional labor influences job satisfaction. A positive correlation between emotional labor and job stress was observed. In addition, there was a negative correlation between emotional labor and job satisfaction, as well as between job stress and job satisfaction. Finally, job stress partially mediates between emotional labor and job satisfaction. Overall, the results of this thesis provide basic materials that will be useful to development of a strategy for human resource management of geriatric hospital nurses.


Indonesia as an archipelagic nation has the characteristics of the area was well as the condition of heterogeneous society. It causes implemented of generalized policies in each area is not a good strategy and it makes regional disparities. Population density and the labor was increase that isn't balance with the jobs cause the special problem. So there is a program based development empowerment that make local potential is optimal. It applied in some government program. One way to applied is the One Village One Product (OVOP) program. It can be expected to make the people can stand alone in each way. Jepara is the area that success applied this program in Tenun Troso way. The purpose of this study is to determine the process of implementation of One Village One Product and explore things that make OVOP program Tenun Troso in Jepara success . It can build empowerment model that used in the implementation of OVOP program in Jepara that can be a sample for the other areas. This study uses qualitative descriptive method using a grand theory and the theory of the institutional system and three way fit theory David Korten as midle theory. The result of this study found many factors that make the program success in an inverse system model . the ideas, programs , and resources can be applied in the organization , that doctrine from the leader and the full support from the acceptor make prosperity is increase. it is very influential for the next program improvement .


The enlightenment spirit and the religious belief had basic influences on Dostoyevsky's writing of "Idiot".In "Idiot",on the one hand,Dostoyevsky had an affirmation to rational enlightenment spirit,regarded Christianity belief of body resurrection as violating natural law;on the other hand,Dostoyevsky's basic emotion form came from Christianity belief.Prince Myshkin was weak and noble,and the prototype obviously came from Jesus Christ.Prince Myshkin had a kind of philosophy for the small-weak people;he was full of understanding and grief to the human wicked nature.Through Prince Myshkin,Dostoyevsky presented to the audience the question of social justice.


This paper explores the proposal that some nine and ten-year old children with serious writing problems do not make progress because much of their instruction is centered around their weaknesses rather than around their strengths. Many children who cannot read or write well by the time they are in the fourth grade are able to learn from visual and aural sources in relevant contexts, but their work in school relies mostly on textual sources as they progress through the grades. Images and sounds can provide children with information in cultural, social, and emotional contexts that are readily accessible to them. The lack of access to such resources is especially acute for children from backgrounds that differ from the culture assumed by school but also occurs for some children from mainstream backgrounds who work better in visual and aural than in textual modes. Since some of the functions of written language, like providing information and means of expression, can be served by other symbol systems, it is worth exploring children's use of a variety of symbol systems and relationships between visual symbol systems, aural symbol systems, and text. Recent developments in technology make it possible to create multimedia environments in the computer including images, sounds, text, and tools for manipulating and transforming these symbol systems. As children gather and study pictures and sounds on a relevant topic, they may be able to use these images and sounds as springboards for writing and extending beyond familiar contexts. But, there is little research to determine whether and how children use such multimedia tools to build bridges between their lives and the world of text, which they must inhabit to be successful in school.


Incremental dynamic analysis(IDA)is the most realistic and advanced analysis method with sufficient earthquake inputs.Static pushover analysis is more simple and practical,and it can better describe the process that from elastic deformation to yield until collapse.The seismic performance of RC core walls is evaluated through the IDA and Pushover methods.The results show that the outputs from IDA method for the required levels of performance(including normal service,temporary service,life safety and collapse prevention)have limited errors,as compared with Pushover method.But it is still within the usual margins of error.The top displacement angle limit value is too large by IDA method.Pushover analysis results are different from the elastic-plastic seismic response results of the actual structure because that Pushover analysis under single lateral force cannot consider the impact of higher modes and ground motion factors.


Wastewater is produced by water usage of every community for conducting domestic and industrial activities and has become one of the major environmental and social problems in many countries through out the world. Indiscriminate discharge of untreated wastewater can lead to severe environmental degradation and affect human health to an enormous extent as they are highly rich of organic and nutrients. Hence biological treatment of these type of wastewater proves to be efficient, cost effective and reliable in nature. It this present work, a batch fed reactor is used to remove such type of wastewater very efficiently. With a view to formulate an appropriate method for combined COD and ammoniacal nitrogen removal in a single fed reactor a laboratory investigation work has been carried out in the Environmental Engineering laboratory of Jadavpur University to determine the kinetics of biochemical reactions in the demanding work. The study includes preparation of acclimatized seeds for COD removal, ammonia oxidation and finally development of acclimatized seed under mix condition in presence of ammonia and COD in different proportion for both synthetically prepared wastewater and slaughterhouse wastewater. This study was viewed to emphasize the simultaneous COD and ammonia oxidation in a single fed reactor under the biological reactions of mixed culture and also find out the kinetic coefficient by using experimental data. The reactor can efficiently treat the slaughterhouse wastewater of initial concentration of 6580mg/L COD and 3321mg/L TKN. Removal of about 95% of TKN and 90% of COD after a contact period of 96hours for an initial concentration of TKN 198.89mg/L and COD 830.22mg/L were achieved in this batch reactor in combined substrate condition. The kinetic co-efficient values such as k, Ks, kd and Y are found to be almost same both for synthetic and real life wastewater except the Ks value which is very higher in real life wastewater as compared to synthetic wastewater. But other coefficients are almost compatible with standard coefficient values that is given by Metcalf & Eddy (1991).Slaughterhouse wastewater can aerobically treated by mixed culture bacteria for effective removal of COD and TKN. .


The uppermost-mantle structure in the Kinki district has been investigated using apparent velocities of subcrustal earthquakes in the Kii peninsula observed at the Tottori and Hokuriku Microearthquake Observatories. Apparent velocities determined by the least-squares method increase with depths from 7.55km/sec at 25km to 8.2km/sec at 65km in the Hokuriku network for the epicentral distances of 160-260km. They concentrate on two values, or about 7.8 and 8.0km/sec, in a depth range of 45-60km. Since no reverse profile exists, the uppermost-mantle structure has been constructed assuming a horizontally layered model. Three layers, of which velocities are about 7.6, 7.8, and 8.0km/sec, exist below the Moho. Top depths of them are 40, 50, and 60km, respectively. On the other hand, we have applied the same method to the data in the Tottori network for the epicentral distances of 130-200km. The Pn velocity has been determined as 7.6km/sec when the Moho is 32km in depth, and an about 8.0km/sec layer lies at a depth of about 60km. Therefore, the layer of about 8.0km/sec exists generally at a depth of about 60km in the Kinki district. We cannot tell, however, whether this layer is an aseismic continuation of the Philippine Sea plate or not.


We describe our system for the news commentary translation task of WMT 2011. The submitted run for the French-English direction is a combination of two MOSES-based systems developed at LIG and LIA laboratories. We report experiments to improve over the standard phrase-based model using statistical post-edition, information retrieval methods to subsample out-of-domain parallel corpora and Rover to combine n-best list of hypotheses output by different systems.


We study resource allocation in a model due to Brams and King [2005] and further developed by Baumeister et al. [2014]. Resource allocation deals with the distribution of resources to agents. We assume resources to be indivisible, nonshareable, and of single-unit type. Agents have ordinal preferences over single resources. Using scoring vectors, every ordinal preference induces a utility function. These utility functions are used in conjunction with utilitarian social welfare to assess the quality of allocations of resources to agents. Then allocation correspondences determine the optimal allocations that maximize utilitarian social welfare. Since agents may have an incentive to misreport their true preferences, the question of strategyproofness is important to resource allocation. We assume that a manipulator has responsive preferences over the power set of the resources. We use extension principles (from social choice theory, such as the Kelly and the Gärdenfors extension) for preferences to study manipulation of allocation correspondences. We characterize strategy-proofness of the utilitarian allocation correspondence: It is Gärdenfors/Kelly-strategy-proof if and only if the number of different values in the scoring vector is at most two or the number of occurrences of the greatest value in the scoring vector is larger than half the number of goods.


The effects of exposure for 4–24 days to 0, 58, 145, 290, 435, and 580 μg∙L−1 cadmium on the reproductive potential of the freshwater predatory leech Nephelopsis obscura were investigated. The numb...


Measurement of the electric charge generated by the breaking of frost under a temperature gradient was performed in a cold room of -15°C. An electric charge of about 0.3 e.s.u./cm2 was generated by the breaking of frost under a temperature gradient of 10°C/cm. Negative electric charge was separated to warmer side of the frost. This electric charge is considered to be created at the breaking plane of frost under temperature gradient.


As a result of the studies seed settings of hybrid combinations obtained from the crossings between Triticum aestivum L. lines and Aegilops L. species, also the cytogenetic analysis of the F1 hybrids belonging to these combinations have been established that possession joint subgenomes of parental forms is not guarantee a relatively high percentage of fertility at crosses, and a high level of chromosome pairing in meiosis. At the same time, no significant correlations were found between the level of chromosome conjugation and fertility in the studied intergeneric F1 hybrids.


The aim of this paper was to spatialize the flooded areas in the urban site of Jataizinho, Parana State, Brazil, which is located in the lower course of the Tibagi River and is considered one of the most affected cities by the river floods. The mapping was performed with the use of geotechnologies, such as GNSS, digital stereoscopy and geoprocessing. The results indicate that the floods are concentrated in two main groups, namely, group A: floods in the floodplain areas and their transition to terraced areas, ranging from 339,366 m to 340,520 m altitude; and group B: floods in the terraced areas and their transition with some areas of hills, i.e., between altitudes 340,521 m and 341,59 m. The Tibagi River floods have a return period of 5 years, while the most abrupt episodes of flood denote return period of 25 years. It is possible to observe that city inhabitants occupy a significant part of the flooded areas. The results were satisfactory, meaning that the mapping can be used as a tool to support the territorial and environmental planning of the city of Jataizinho.


【Objective】 The objective of this study was to clarify the effect of returning different organic materials on characteristics of soil labile organic carbon fractions,and discuss fertilization system for controls of soil fertility.【Method】 A six-year field experiment was carried out in Hailun county to study the effects of returning different organic materials on changes of soil total organic carbon(TOC) and redistribution of labile organic carbon fractions,as well as a greenhouse experiment with different soils was established to analyze soil productivity.【Result】 Compared with the initial soil sample,6-years application of chemical fertilizers(NPK) alone resulted in significant decreases in TOC,microbial biomass carbon(MBC),water-soluble organic carbon(WSOC) and light fraction organic carbon(LFOC).However,in plots amended with chemical fertilizers and organic materials(NPK+OM),the SOC and labile organic carbon fractions increased markedly.Compared with other organic materials,application of maize straw could be more suitable for the accumulation of SOC and LFOC,which was 26% and 136% greater than that of NPK application,and application of pig manure favored buildup of MBC and WSOC,which was 52% and 85% greater than NPK application.Soil productivity reduced in NPK plot,however,increased in NPK+OM plots.The decrease order of soil productivity in different NPK+OM plots was NPK+ pig manureNPK+ cattle manureNPK+ wheat straw ≈NPK+ maize straw.【Conclusion】There were significant differences in TOC,labile organic carbon fractions and soil productivity among treatments amended with various organic materials in black soil.Application of chemical fertilizer amended with maize straws could be prone to increase TOC and LFOC pool,as well as amended with pig manure was the most effective measure to promote MBC,WSOC and soil productivity.


ABSTRACT The properties of 65 G steel used in the manufacture of elements of soil-cultivating machines, strengthened by plasma quenching through the use of the UDGZ-200 serial installation, without water cooling, are studied. It is established that quenching leaves on the surface bands of the heat tints. Surface roughness varies from Ra 0.3 to Ra 2.6 as a result of hardening. When quenching a plate 30 mm thick, the cooling rates in the region of pearlite decomposition of austenite (750 … 500 °C) are in the range of 50–100 °C/s, which allows the supercooled austenite to be maintained until the martensitic transformation begins (270°C). In this case, quenching condition is provided. At temperatures below the martensitic transformation, the cooling rates slow down, which a factor is contributing to the prevention of cracking during quenching. As a result of reducing the arc movement speed from 33 to 24 and up to 14 m/h, occurs an increase in the hardening depth with the boundary of HV500 450 from 0.25 up to 0,35 and 0,50 mm and an increase in the width of the hardened strip from 9 to 11 and to 13 mm, respectively. Reducing the thickness of the plate from 30 to 10 mm is accompanied by an increase in the depth of hardening to 1.9 mm. The wear resistance of normalized 65 G steel as a result of plasma quenching by steel indenter friction (ShX-15) is increased by 4 times. When rubbing with corundum indenter, the wear resistance of the hardened steel is 15.3 times higher than in the case of friction with a steel indenter. This makes plasma hardening promising for strengthening elements of soil-cultivating machines in which wear conditions are closer to tests by a corundumindenter.


Background: Whole exome sequencing (WES), which focuses on sequencing of protein-coding regions of human genome, has greatly improved the identification of causal mutations for diverse human genetic disorders in the past four years. We applied WES as a molecular diagnostic tool to identify disease-causing mutations in consanguineous families displaying autosomal recessive (AR) disorders in Qatar. AR diseases are usually severe and rare that occurs with higher rate in consanguineous families. In Qatar, like other Middle East countries, consanguineous marriage and endogamy are common (54%) that results in a higher incidence of several/new AR disorders where many of these disorders are yet to be defined and their causative genes are to be discovered. In order to decrease the overall socio-economic burden of such diseases in the society and development of specific testing tools that will be helpful with the molecular diagnosis, parental testing, carrier identification, and informed genetic counseling, we must...


A method and apparatus for performing a built-in process control in manufacturing tool (110, 112), the system (210, 220, 230) is provided. The at least one semiconductor device is processed. A built-in process control procedure is performed in response to the processing of the semiconductor device. In response to the embedded process control procedure of a follow-up process of a semiconductor device it is performed. Apparatus of the present invention is a computer system 130, and at least one manufacturing tool (110, 112), the system (210, 220, 230) a said manufacturing tool (110, 220, 230) to interface with the computer system, includes a built-in process control systems to control the manufacturing process to be able to receive instructions from the computer system 130 and executed by the manufacturing tool (110, 112), the system (210, 220, 230). Computer system, built-in process control systems, machine interfaces, manufacturing tool, embedded process controller


ABSTRACT Herpes simplex virus 1 mutants lacking the gene encoding glycoprotein D (gD) and the gD normally present in the envelope of the virus (gD−/− stocks) or mutants lacking the gD gene but containing trans-induced gD in their envelopes (gD−/+) cause apoptosis in human SK-N-SH cells. The gD−/− virions are taken up by endocytosis and are degraded, whereas gD−/+ viruses replicate but produce gD−/− virus. Apoptosis is blocked by delivery of the gD gene in trans. Studies designed to test several hypotheses concerning the role of gD in apoptosis revealed the following. (i) gD−/− and gD−/+ stocks induce fragmentation of cellular DNA in SK-N-SH, HEp-2, HeLa, and Vero cell lines. (ii) Chloroquine blocks apoptosis induced by gD−/− stocks but not by gD−/+ stocks. The drug also rescues gD−/− from degradation. (iii) Cells transduced with cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor (CI-MPR) block apoptosis induced by either gD−/− or gD−/+ virus. (iv) Expression of sequences antisense to the cloned CI-MPR gene induced apoptosis by themselves. Wild-type virus but not gD−/− or gD−/+ stocks of mutant virus blocked apoptosis induced by the expression of CI-MPR antisense sequences. These results exclude the possibility that to block apoptosis, gD must interact with its HveA receptor, a member of the tumor necrosis factor alpha receptor family. Instead, the data suggest that gD blocks the influx of lysosomal enzymes into the endosomal compartment by binding to CI-MPR. This conclusion is consistent with published reports that phosphorylated gD interacts with CI-MPR.


Authentication is a fundamental requirement for secure communications. In this article, we describe a general framework for fingerprint embedding at the physical layer in order to provide message authentication that is secure and bandwidth-efficient. Rather than depending on channel or device characteristics that are outside of our control, deliberate fingerprint embedding for message authentication enables control over performance trade-offs by design. Furthermore, low-power fingerprint designs enhance security by making the authentication tags less accessible to adversaries. We define metrics for communications and authentication performance, and discuss the trade-offs in system design. Results from our wireless software-defined radio experiments validate the theory and demonstrate the low complexity, practicality, and enhanced security of the approach.


This paper presents a system‐of‐systems (SoS) approach to the formal modeling of a cyber‐physical system (CPS) for simulation‐based analysis. The approach is based on a convergence technology for modeling and simulation of a highly complex system in which SoS modeling methodology, hybrid systems modeling theory, and simulation interoperation technology are merged. The methodology maps each constituent system of a CPS to a disparate model of either continuous or discrete types. The theory employs two formalisms for modeling of the two model types with formal specification of interfaces between them. Finally, the technology adapts a simulation bus called DEVS BUS whose protocol synchronizes time and exchange messages between subsystems simulation. Benefits of the approach include reusability of simulation models and environments, and simulation‐based analysis of subsystems of a CPS in an inter‐relational manner.


AIM:To study the seriousness and correlation in impaired heart and kidney in hypertensive patients. METHODS:The echocardiographies,renal arterial hemodynamics,renal function,β 2 microglobulin (β 2 MG)in blood and urine,body mass index (BMI) of 85 hypertensive patients and the renal arterial hemodynamics of 20 healthy men were analysed. RESULTS:①Most of the patients with Ⅱ phase hypertension suffered concentric hypertrophy. While most of patients with Ⅲ phase hypertension had eccentric hypertrophy.The septum was thicker than the posterior wall in both the Ⅱ and Ⅲ phase hypertensive patients. Left ventricular mass index(LVMI) increased progressively in Ⅰ,Ⅱand Ⅲ phase hypertensive patients.②Renal function was damaged progressively, blood urea nitrogen(BUN) and creatinine clearance (Ccr) declined, and β 2 MG in blood and urine rose in all the above hypertensive patients. ③V max and vascular resistance index(RI) in renal artieral hemodynamics increased progressly with the worsening of renal function.④Body mass index(BMI) decreased in the late hypertensive patients.⑤Linear regression analysis showed that LVMI/K( K value:134 in men,110 in women) was negatively correlated with Ccr,which was negatively correlated with RI, but LVMI/K did not correlate significantly with RI. CONCLUSION:Hypertension brought about impaired heart and kidney at the same time. There was a correlation between the impaired heart and kidney.


The paper outlines the problem of the production of car body sheets manufactured for the automotive industry, and risks that are associated with it. The proposed sheet metal bodywork of aluminum-magnesium carries a high risk of fire in the preparatory process which is necessary in order to proceed to the appropriate manufacturing process by rolling a special method of ARB specifically designed for this purpose. Bibliografia 1. Arkadiusz Wierzba, Sebastian Mroz, Piotr Szota " Numeryczne modelowanie procesu walcowania Al-Mg-Al zmodyfikowaną metodą ARB" Czasopismo Rudy i metale niezelazne, nr 11/ 2013 s. 743747 2. Dziadon A., Magnez i jego stopy, Wydawnictwo Politechniki Świetokrzyskiej, Kielce 2012 3. Huang X, Tsuji N., Hansen N., Minamino Y.: Microstructural evolution During Accumulative Roll-Bonding of Commercial Purity Aluminum, Materials Science and Engineering, 2003, A340, s. 265÷271. 4. Kuśnierz J., Bogucka J.: Accumulative roll-bonding of Al 99,8% and AlMg2, Conference Aluminum 2005, 12÷14 October 2005, Kliczkow, Poland 5. Lee S. H., Saito Y., Tsuji N., Utsunomiya H., Sakai T.: Role of Shear Strain in Ultragrain Refinement by Accumulative Roll-Bonding (ARB) process, Scripta Materialia, 2002, Nr 46, s. 281÷285. 6. Tsuji N., Saito Y., Utsunomiya H., Tanigawa S.: Ultra-fine grained bulk steel produced by accumulative roll-bonding (ARB) process, Scripta Materialia, 1999, Vol. 40, Nr 7, s. 795÷800.


In Greece there are two recomposition projects, which perhaps are similar in the form, but give very different answers to the question "how to build an anticapitalist party in the period". The first one, SYRIZA, includes a main reformist party (Synaspismos), which dominates politically, and other smaller far left organizations. Our recomposition project, ANTARSYA, includes 8 radical left organizations (in which the revolutionary ideas hegemonize) and militants who don't belong to any of these (...)


The impacts of agricultural engineering on agricultural modernization were formulated from 6 different areas. It was concluded that the agricultural modernization greatly depends on the development of agricultural engineering technology.


Based on tensile, bend, hardness and impact test as well as fracture surface SEM, X-ray diffraction and microstructure observation, the relationships between microstructure and mechanical properties were studied.The results show that the base microstructure of HR3C steel is austenite with the precipitates of Cr23C6, CrFe7C0.45,(Cr,Fe)7C3 and CrNbN at room temperature .The weld metal has the lowest strength, hardness and toughness in welding joint.The strength and hardness of welding joint zones are related to quantity, shape and distribution of precipitates.Crystalline status of weld metal affects its toughness greatly, and plenty of M23C6 distributed along grain boundary is the key factor to lower toughness of HAZ.


Current studies on a natural language interface rely on train data and syntactic parsing for an input sentence. These dependencies cause the discordance between expressions covered by a system and meaning representations of the given domain. This paper proposes a method to generate at least one expression corresponding to a meaningful meaning representation. The proposed method chooses the most appropriate meaning representation by using the generated expressions. The experiment results on question answering for U.S. geography ontology showed that the proposed method outperforms methods of previous studies.


Method for purification of ammonia or mixtures of nitrogen and hydrogen, or nitrogen, hydrogen and ammonia, according to which: a) ammonia or a mixture of gases under pressure of from 0.1 to 25 MPa is passed through a column packed with aluminium oxide with a large specific surface area; b) the ammonia or mixture of gases is then passed through a column packed with CaO, NaOH, KOH or an NaOH/KOH melt, separately or in a mixture, at 20 to 70 DEG C and under pressure of from 0.1 to 25 MPa; c) next, the ammonia or mixture of gases is passed through a column packed with activated carbon having a specific area of 100/3000 m2 /g with sodium, potassium, caesium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, barium or cerium nitrates(V) or nitrates(III) deposited on its surface, separately or in a mixture; the aforementioned steps being realised in a serial process at a gas stream flow rate in the range of 100 dm3/h to 1000 m3/h.


We present follow-up Swift observations of 4 high-z radio-loud quasars detected with the BAT during the 15-month survey in 15-150 keV. The 0.5-8-keV spectra are best fitted either with a power law with no excess absorption over the Galactic value (0212+735, 0836+710, 2149--307 in higher state) or by a downward-curved broken power law model (0537--286, 2149--307 in lower state). The BAT spectra integrated over the whole 15 months of the survey are fitted with a single power law, with a range of spectral slopes, Gamma=l.3-2.3. Comparison with previous SAX observations shows that there is a trend for the 15-150-keV continuum to soften with fading intensity; on the contrary, little or no spectral variations are observed at medium-hard X-rays. This may suggest either/both dramatic variability above 10-keV, or/and two separate spectral components.


The lack of population-level data on growth and development of children and adolescents in Ecuador, and the existence of previous data suggesting an alarming increase in the numbers of children presenting overweight or obesity justifies the present cohort study which includes all pupils of municipal schools of Quito aged 9 to 17 years. Follow-up will continue for a minimum of 7 years. This will allow determining the evolution of prevalence of these phenomena and their trends as well as other indices, both physiological and family-related customs, in order to plan appropriate preventive interventions. The present cross-sectional study includes 21 municipal schools, grouped into four health zones, each of which depends on a health centre, also municipal, and which are responsible for the health of pupils in these schools. Of the 6964 pupils studied, 18.7% suffer overweight and 7.9% obesity: 19.3% and 9.7% respectively in boys, compared to 18.2% and 5.4% in girls. The study also assesses family characteristics, degree of sedentarism and nutritional habits: 62.3% declared living in a nuclear family, and 60.5% declared their families to be in the "adolescent" life-cycle stage; 91.9% of pupils were sedentary while 5.4% (CI95% 4.87 - 5.94) reported not eating breakfast every day.


Can money buy happiness? To examine this question, research in economics, psychology, and sociology has focused almost exclusively on examining the associations between income, spending or wealth and subjective well-being. Moving beyond this research, we provide the first empirical evidence that credit scores uniquely predict happiness. Across two samples, from the United Kingdom (N=615) and the United States (N=768), credit scores predicted life satisfaction even after controlling for a range of financial covariates, including income, spending, savings, debt, and home-ownership. Respondents with higher credit scores felt more optimistic about their future, promoting happiness. Further, the relationship between credit scores and wellbeing was moderated by participants' prior awareness of their score. Together, these results suggest that creditworthiness can plausibly increase well-being, either directly or indirectly, meaning that interventions to improve creditworthiness could improve consumer welfare.


An energy analyser for neutral hydrogen and noble gas atoms is described. The neutral particles are ionized by electron stripping in a gas cell and the resulting ions are energy-analysed in an electrostatic spectrometer. The instrument is absolutely calibrated with nitrogen in the gas cell. The lowest energies which can be detected are 200 eV for hydrogen, 800 eV for helium and 1 keV for neon atoms.


We have developed a high-sensitivity superconducting sub-array module for an X-band active phased array antenna. This sub-array module can be assumed as a multichannel T/R module with 16 antenna elements. And the module also includes 16 transmitting (TX) channels and 16 receiving (RX) channels with high-Tc superconducting (HTS) filters. By means of this sub-array module, a high-sensitivity antenna can be easily available for wireless applications such as communication systems and radar systems. In this paper, we describe the newly developed X-band superconducting sub-array module that is applicable as a key component for an active phased array antenna. In particular, each Rx channel contains a cryogenic circuit that mainly consists of HTS filters and a low-noise amplifier (LNA) cooled at 77 K for low insertion loss and low internal noise. 16 cryogenic circuits are contained within a 100 mm×100 mm×36.5 mm vacuum chamber and cooled by a small cooler. By using HTS filters and cooling, noise temperature of the RX channels was reduced to less than 60 K and naturally the high-sensitivity X-band sub-array module was realized. Additionally, the features of the sub-array module, such as low amplitude deviation and good phase linearity, indicated that both TX channels and RX channels were appropriate for an active phased array antenna.


This paper begins by introducing the concept of Ron's Code 4 (RC4). The introductory section gives brief information about the architecture of RC4 and its various flaws. In order to examine the RC4 security threats, this paper will look at both architectural flaws and exceptional flaws. Here, I propose a novel approach to provide additional security to the original RC4 algorithm. With the given 64 bit dynamic key of RC4 (initial vector + fixed key), we have size of the initial vector is 24 bit and size of fixed key is 40 bit. These 40 bit keys are getting changed after a specific time to protect RC4 from brute force.


Introduction. In recent decades, obesity has taken on epidemic proportions
 and is becoming one of the most significant public health problems today.
 The results of clinical and epidemiological studies show that obese pregnant
 women can be considered a high risk group, given the increased risk of
 maternal and fetal complications. The aim of this study was to examine the
 relationship between pregnant women?s nutritional status and the development
 of arterial hypertension, gestational diabetes and obstetric cholestasis
 during pregnancy, as well as the impact of pregnant women?s nutritional
 status on newborn birth weight and vital parameters at birth, assessed by
 Apgar score. Material and Methods. This retrospective study included 71
 pregnant women who were divided into two groups, depending on the
 nutritional status. The first group included 28 pregnant women with a body
 mass index < 25 kg/m? or less, whereas the second group included obese
 pregnant women with a body mass index > 30 kg/m? or more. Birth protocol
 data were used for the newborns. Results. In obese pregnant women, the
 termination of pregnancy by cesarean section was statistically significant
 more frequent (p < 0.05). Newborns of obese mothers had a statistically
 lower Apgar score at 5 minutes, while higher body weight of newborns and a
 lower Apgar score at 1 minute were at the limit of statistical significance
 (p = 0.068). Arterial hypertension was more common in obese pregnant women
 (p = 0.014), while gestational diabetes (p = 0.42) and obstetric cholestasis
 (p = 0.51) were more common in obese pregnant women, but without statistical
 significance. Conclusion. Obesity in pregnancy is a risk factor for the
 development of hypertension, a higher incidence of cesarean section, and a
 lower Apgar score of newborns.


In order to improve the design and research and development (R & D) efficiency of the pressure- compensating drip irrigation emitter,a step-by-step computational fluid dynamics (CFD) design method was proposed based on CFD theory combined with the finite element method. By analyzing its hydraulic performance through the step-by-step CFD method,the prediction pressure-flow curve(p-Q curve) of the pressure-compensating emitter was obtained. Then the test samples were fabricated using rapid prototype and manufacturing(RP & M) technology. The emitters' hydraulic performance experiment was carried out and the experimental p-Q curve was obtained. The step-by-step CFD design method was verified by comparing the experimental p-Q curve with the prediction values,which showed that the prediction values met the experimental results well within the normal range of the emitter's working pressure. On this basis,the effect of the emitter structure on its pressure-compensating performance was studied,which showed that the height of the pressure-compensating region had significant effects on the emitter's pressure-compensating performance. Series products of the pressure-compensating emitter could be designed by changing the region's height.


This subject is proposed based on the conflict between the heavy workload for maintenance personnel and few personnel at the geological survey automated master station at present, and the purpose is to solve the problem that the SCADA real-time monitoring system, UPS power supply system, automated support system as well as the automated computer room environment and equipment cannot achieve the real-time monitoring, fault diagnosis and accident processing of the remote unified platform. It proposes the remote online automatic monitoring and intelligent diagnosis and processing system on the basis of the OPEN3000 system platform. It uses the distributed network architecture in the network design to protect the security of database and the video records in the video system; it adopts the modular structure design, and combined with the expert system and the rule database design of database knowledge, thereby solving the technical problem that the real-time monitoring and fault diagnosis of SCADA, UPS, video and many other systems and equipment are being integrated into a unified platform.


Online computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) has risen in popularity in knowledge sharing and problem-solving. This research explored students' online activity in online problem-based learning (PBL) using process and sequence mining approaches. Process mining modeled students' time-stamped activities and links between them. Sequence mining provided an overview of the flow and frequencies of students' activities through sequential process maps. Our finding showed that the most frequent students' activities were non-argument discussions followed by sharing knowledge and social interactions. The process model of the students' discussion started with sharing knowledge most of the time and then students either evaluate or argue others' messages to end discussions through social interactions. The sequence mining model showed that social interaction and non-argument discussion are the most common starting activities by students. It is concluded that process and sequence mining allowed us to identify different stages of online forum discussion in PBL.


Objective: Human Rights Law (HRL) relates to effects investing, that strives to produce helpful social and environmental losses with financial gains. The businesses and organizational managers are exploring innovative economic resources and strategies to increase awareness of the global investment markets' ability to support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Health coverage is essential for prospective human development due to that provides either an inherent human right or a necessary source of societal, economic progress. Widening income disparities, food insecurity, climate change, global financial crises, corruption and mismanagement of public funds, violent conflicts, rising unemployment, and various other difficulties point to a collective failure to achieve the right to development.

Method: Hence, HRL-SDGs has been designed for health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to excellent necessary healthcare services, and essential drugs and immunizations that are safe, effective, high quality, and cost-efficient.  SDGs are established to be progress that satisfies their demands of the people with jeopardizing future generations' potential to achieve the identical.

Result: SDGs are promoted is a strategy for better satisfying the demands of society, the environment, and the economy. The process is performed through gradually integrating and realizing core human rights and essential economic responsibilities. Human rights and sustainable development improvement humans are interrelated and positively reinforcing ideas.

Conclusion: Human rights-based processes aim to help analyze discriminatory behaviors and imbalanced allocations of strength that establish results in development limitations.


A new approach for biasing analog circuits is introduced in this chapter. This approach is an attempt to address some of the biasing complexities that exist today in biasing large analog circuits. There are three steps involved in this methodology. First, in circuit analysis, the methodology separates nonlinear components (transistors), particularly drivers, from the rest of the circuit. Second, it uses local biasing introduced in the previous chapter to bias the transistors individually and to the specs provided for the design. Finally, the method presents a new way to change the local biasing into normal (global) circuit biasing with choices of DC supplies at right locations in the circuit. It is the last step that will be our main topic of discussion in this chapter. Here we see how we can remove all sources related to the local biasing and replace them with normal circuit supplies without altering the design specifications. These circuit supplies can be voltage sources, current sources or mirrors. In case the supplies are already specified and in place, this method can still maintain the design specs by re-evaluating some of the power-conducting components in the circuit. Power-conducting components are those circuit components, such as resistors, that conduct DC power (current) from the power supplies to the circuit drivers (transistors), for biasing purposes. Limitations in local Biasing We fully discussed local biasing, its properties and applications in the previous chapter. Despite all the advantages that local biasing offers one problem still remains unresolved and that is: how to deal with so many DC sources generated due to local biasing, known as distributed supplies? To see the problem, just take a single bipolar transistor: it normally needs four (voltage and current) sources to get locally biased; however, with coupling capacitors used this number reduces to two current sources and two capacitors (taking care of the voltage drops). Similarly, we may need to use four sources to locally bias a MOS transistor. Again, with coupling capacitors this number can get as low as one source-drain current source. The problem, however, is that for the gate, and possibly the substrate, the coupling capacitors need to have charging paths (a resistive path to a DC supply). One way to handle the case and bring the number of DC supplies down to a minimum of one or two is to use source transformation and replacement techniques, such as voltage dividers, Δ-Y transformation, and current sources/mirrors. Nevertheless, the sheer number of such sources in a fairly complex circuit can get so high that unless we find a shortcut to the final solution the validity of local biasing as an effective methodology is undermined.


In this paper, we investigate the population dynamics of a twospecies Lotka-Volterra competition system arising in river ecology. An interesting feature of this modeling system lies in the boundary conditions at the downstream end, where the populations may be exposed to differing magnitudes of loss of individuals. By applying the theory of principal eigenvalue and monotone dynamical systems, we obtain a complete understanding on the global dynamics, which suggests that slower dispersal is selected for. Our results can be seen as a further development of a recent work by Tang and Chen (J. Differential Equations, 2020, 2020(269), 1465–1483).


Beiyuanmen Street is located in the center of ancient city of Xi'an.It is the important area where to develop the tourist industry in Xi'an.Through surveying and studying the current situation in this Street,we suggest that the street should be transformated to commercial pedestrian from scale and ambiance of the street,improved environmentand protected the image of historic neighborhood unities,etc.The question in conservation and renewal in process of transformation was discussed.Making the Street to embody the feature of historic culture and national,in order to attract more visitors,alleviate the traffic pressure of the location of centre of the city and increase the characteristic and vitality of Xi'an.


The intrahippocampus injection of Kappa-bungarotoxin (K-BGT) caused a significant impairment in learning and memory abilities of mice, in order to create an animal model for Alzheimer's disease. The spatial learning and memory abilities in the Morris water maze in the model group (K-BGT impaired mice) decreased significantly compared with control group. K-BGT impaired mice also showed learning and memory reduction with shorter latency and more mistakes in step-through test.


1. A system for accurately supplying controlled amounts of viscous fluid from the fluid reservoir to the one or more fluid supply devices, comprising: a filling chamber with a variable volume, which forms a cavity capable of containing a fluid, a movable plunger in the cavity a filling chamber which can move within the cavity in order to change the effective volume of the cavity; structure interconnecting fluidly the reservoir with the filling chamber, a device that automatically moving the t plunger so as to output fluid from the filling chamber; structure interconnecting fluidly the fluid flowing from the filling chamber, with one or more fluid supply devices; and a controller which automatically controls an operation device which moves the plunger in order to give a predetermined amount of fluid from the filling chamber into the fluid supply sredy.2 device. The system of claim. 1, in which the fluid delivery devices comprise syringes and the fluid is an adhesive to be dispensed from shpritsev.3. The system of claim. 2, the syringe further comprising a rack, which is arranged and installed so as to hold releasably a plurality of syringes to be filling, and comprises a Luer-activatable valve associated with each destination for shpritsa.4. The system of claim. 3, wherein the rack has a syringe body and a plurality Luer-activated valves in the housing are in fluid communication with the passage for fluid in the housing, wherein the fluid passage is completed by two separate


This paper first briefly introduces the definition and function of Teacher Talk, and secondly mainly analyzes the characteristics of Teacher Talk in terms of three aspects, finally gives out some constructive suggestions to improve the quality of Teacher Talk in college English class, and also to promote the English teacher to develop the teaching more effectively.


This paper is meant to give a cognltive-linguistic explanation of the process of reference. This means that we ate concerned with meaning arising from the speaker's conceptualization of reality. Different ways of referring to the s~me real situation are reflected differently on the expression side of language. We will exemplify this with the use of articles. We deal with two contrasting processes wh/.ch are reflected in NP syntax: on the one hand, this is the selection of a spedfic par t of a MAss, which normally has an indefo inite extension. This process results in identification emd hence in ~oken reference (cf. Deelerck 1986:163; Croft 1985; Langacker 1987a). On the other hand we are concerned with t y p e r e f e r e n c e to COUNT entities (cf. ibd.), more specifically with how we can talk about the whole kind of an entity which in reality is represented by individual instances. Our ult imate aim is to exploit the cognitive principles by which reference is determined and to hnport them into Machine T~anslation (MT). Traditional MT systems so far have not been concerned with a semantic interpretation mid translation of articles. The translationai relevance of interpreting NP readings has been stressed in different places (cf. Meya 1990; Grabski 1990; gelinsky-Wibbelt 1988, 1901): Bounding by individuatioh of a MASS results in definiteness in Germanic languages (Das Wasser in der Tasse ist sehmutzig. 'The water in the cup is dirty. '). In English type reference to masses is usually expressed by the bare construction as in Wa~er is indispensable, which in German can be expressed both by the definite NP and by the bare construction as in (Das) Wasser ist nnverzichtbar (see e.g. ter Meulen 1988:390). In Spanish a D~.FINITZ NP is usually used for type reference (El espa~ol me gnsta rods que el raso. '1 like Spanish better than Russian. '). Type reference to a COUNT entity by the subject NP may surface in two contrasting structures in French: Uu specta~enr veut voir quelque chose. 'A spectator wants to see something. ' Le speeta~eur es~ uu ~tre humaiu. 'The spectator is a human being.' In this paper we will explain the conceptual conditions for type and token reference, which in turn establish the conditions for generating the correct surface structures in the respective target language. We interpret genericity vs. identification by default rules (cf. McDermott & Doyle 1980; Reiter 1980), which should mirror cognitive processing (cf. e.g. Morreau 1988, Schubert & Pelletier 1988). There seems to exist a preference order among the contextual conditions on the restriction or preservation of the unbounded extension of a MASs. This order is based on the degree of prototypicality of the respective reference function: the typicality of the NP 's reference function is rendered by the s trength which the modo ifiers have with respect to bounding or unbouudlng the entity 's normal extension denoted by the noun. The component of default rules has been implemented in the CAT2 system and results in successful article translation. We relate our conceptual conditions to the CAT2 rules given in the annex. DeMing with different ways of reference, the conceptualization of e n t i t i e s will be in the foreground. Entities are denoted by nouns. We assume tha t words have a basic prototypical sense, which is represented in the lexicon. Senses of decreasing prototypicniity ate related to this prototypical sense by systematic metonymy rules.


This article discusses the Chinese character property arrangement and display platform of Unicode large character set—CharacterWeb.Chinese character property material was collated and problems in the current Chinese character attribute research were pointed out.To solve these problems,we proposed a multi-dimensional property annotation set,and discussed the principles of network construction about the display of Chinese character property systematically and orderly,as well as using the data to find the construction principle of non-linear associative network of recessive association.Finally,wediscuss the application of CharacterWeb in lexicographical compilation and amendment.


The morphous silicon films prepared by PECVD at substrate temperatures of 30℃ have been crystallized by rapid thermal annealing method, the budget of time-temperature in the annealing process is 600℃ for 120s, 850℃ for 120s, and 950℃ for 120s. The results indicate the crystallization at 850℃ and 950℃ are better as shown in micro-Raman scattering and scanning electronic microscope.


After the collapse of the Cold War we have been observing sudden changes in tactics and ways the wars and conflicts are waged. Increasing mutual penetration and combining of regular and irregular war techniques has been noticeable. Current military conflicts, both regional and with broader range, are characterized by complexity of all possible warfare means and their practical usage. This diversity of elements included in destructive actions has become extremely popular subject of political and media discussions and has currently been defined as hybrid activities or hybrid war. It has to be clear that the West in broader sense has entered the most stormy era of the aggressive confrontation to overthrow fundamental basis of democratic models and institutions. Asymmetric and hybrid warfare makes it possible that even less mighty players are able to carry out many effective strikes despite of a lack of enough military potential, and in some favorable circumstances to take initiative both on tactical as well as on strategic level.


Contributors ix Preface xiii Acknowledgments xv Reviewers xvi 1 Pediatric pulmonary anatomy and physiology 3 Neal Nakra, MD, FAAP, FCCP 2 Pediatric respiratory health history and physical assessment 38 Concettina Tolomeo, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, AE-C 3 Principles of lung therapeutics 51 Kathryn Blake, PharmD, BCPS, FCCP 4 Neonatal lung disease: Apnea of prematurity and bronchopulmonary dysplasia 85 Pnina Weiss, MD, and Concettina Tolomeo, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, AE-C 5 Lower airway disease 110 Julie Honey, MSN, CPNP, and Michael Bye, MD, FAAP, FCCP 6 Upper airway disorders 132 Wendy S. L. Mackey, MSN, APRN-BC, CORLN, Melissa M. Dziedzic, MSN, CPNP, CORLN, and Lisa M. Gagnon, MSN, CPNP 7 Asthma 188 Concettina Tolomeo, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, AE-C, Dawn Baker, MSN, CPNP, CCRC, and Pnina Weiss, MD 8 Cystic fi brosis 221 Antoinette Gardner, RN, MEd, CCRC, AE-C, and Kimberly Jones, MD 9 Obstructive sleep apnea 247 Linda Niemiec, MSN, RN, CPNP, and Lewis J. Kass, MD 10 Primary ciliary dyskinesia and bronchiectasis 269 Rosalynn Bravo-Cavoli, BS, MS, APRN, CPNP, AE-C, and Anita Bhandari, MD 11 Acute respiratory problems 286 Marcia Winston, MSN, CPNP, AE-C, and Catherine Kier, MD Index 314


This paper presents a driving fatigue monitoring method with machine vision algorithm, which is based on computing complexity. And a DSP system based on this method is also introduced. In this method, we firstly binarizated image which contains driver's facial information, to distinguish face area from background.. Then the binarizated luminance components is horizontally and vertically accumulated for collecting face pixel to draw out a face and eyes' location block. Thus, with accumulated index, analyze the relative location ratio between eyes and index of other facial parts, face width, and eyes horizontal position. Compare these ratios to PERCLOS based thresholds, we can ensure whether the driver's eyes are open or not , and infer drivers fatigue state. Finally, this method has been fulfilled with an intact device based on DSP system. Series of experiments indicate this contactless device has advantages of easy operation, sensitive response and splendid accuracy etc.


This paper investigates the passivity-based fault detection of semi-Markov jump systems with time-varying delays. By constructing the filter type residual generator and model transformation, the augmented error system is first established. Then, by means of Lyapunov-Krasovskii approach, fault detection conditions are given such that the augmented error systems can satisfy the passivity performance. The desired fault detection gains can be obtained with the help of matrix techniques. The simulation example is presented to show the validity of the design method.


INTRODUCTION Agriculture sector is vital for India in view of th e food and nutritional security of the nation as well as the fact that the sector remains the principal sour ce of livelihood for more than 58% of the population though its contribution to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has declined over the past years and has reached 14.2% in 2010-11 due to higher growth experienced in industries and service s sectors. Agriculture is a major source of livelihoo d in India. The majority of poor people living in rural areas and the Indian economy depend from last 60 ABSTRACT This paper examines the concerns and issues in agri cultu al finance in Andhra Pradesh. Agriculture in A dhra Pradesh, source of agriculture credit and types of agricultural schemes in Andhra Pradesh have discuss ed in this paper. The analysis states that the credit delivery to the agriculture sector continues to be in suffi cient. In order to make it sufficient government of Andhra Pradesh is proposed to issue Rs. 69548.83 Crores towards Agric ulture Credit for the year 2015-16. The Government of Andh ra Pradesh has designed a strategy to transform the  Agriculture and Allied sectors in Partnership with International Crops Research Institute (ICRISAT). T his strategy will be operationalized in a phased manner setting the standards for a new development paradi gm in tune with the change scenarios to enable Andhra Pradesh amongst the best three performing states in India b y 2022.


Cleft lip and palate constitutes one of the most common congenital anomalies. It causes a wide range of functional as well as esthetic problems. A cleft child's life becomes challenging with a lot of sociopsychological problems which require tremendous support, motivation, and a definite treatment protocol by a craniofacial team in a multidisciplinary approach. Here is a report of one such child who was treated with a multidisciplinary approach by our craniofacial team.


In the spin 1/2 antiferromagnetic Ca2CuO3 the optical excitation along 1D a Cu-O chain showed the enrichment of forbidden peaks that could not be explained by the group theory. We present the cluster-model ab initio study of these optical phonons based on the Hartree-Fock SCF calculation with the 3-21G basic set. The obtained results showed very good agreement with the observed data. The Cu-O resonances generally showed the lower shifts in Ca2CuO3 than in pure CuO and were primarily composed of the vibrations of the oxygen in static host lattice whereas the Cu movements happened only in the collective lattice vibrations. Almost complete classification of the forbidden phonons is presented.


OBJECTIVES
To approach the multidimensional analysis of functional capacities in environmental health in the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, based on the UNDP model of interactions between central problems and functional capabilities.

METHOD
Individual institutional results obtained through surveys and information from secondary sources, CAR (Autonomous Regional Corporations) and environmental authorities on policies, strategies, action plans, regional environmental management plans, regulations, activities, and accountabilities related to environmental health during the period 2012-2015 were used as sources of information.

RESULTS
The consolidation of results per corporation about core issues and functional capabilities, in terms of the level of response, shows a significant heterogeneity.

CONCLUSIONS
Public leadership and social empowerment constitute a virtuous circle that allows strengthening capacities in projects of high social interest. Moreover, other capacities such as achieving commitments and institutional and technical capacities (policy design, implementation, evaluation, etc.) can be strengthened as well. Three alternatives for environmental health capabilities implementation have been proposed.


Fault behavior can be diagnosed and protection of HVDC systems can be accomplished by valve protection functions, protection functions within the HVDC system, control actions, and fault analysis.


The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of leverage, profitability large shareholder, investment opportunity, and size on dividend payout ratio. Dividend payout ratio as the dependent variable. Leverage, profitability, large shareholder, investment opportunity, and size as independent variables.
The source of this research is secondary data from LQ45 companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in the period of 2013-2017. The sample selection method uses a purposive sampling method and obtain 23 registered companies in a row during the study period. The research technique is multiple regression analysis.
The results of this study indicate that leverage has a significant negative effect on the dividend payout ratio. Large shareholders has a significant positive effect. Size has a significant positive effect. While profitability and investment opportunity have no significant on dividend payout ratio.


Type E botulism occurred in three patients, one of whom died. The most prominent feature in all three cases was severe gastrointestinal symptoms (vomiting and abdominal discomfort without diarrhea), which diverted attention from the less prominent and more slowly developing neurological signs. Type E botulinus toxin was detected in the blood of the patient who died. The botulinus toxin was traced to home-prepared gefilte fish from which the three patients had eaten at a common meal. Lethal quantities of type E botulinus toxin were found in extracts of leftover gefilte fish, and Clostridium botulinum type E was recovered from cultures of the food. The incriminated food, which was eaten cold, had been prepared from fresh Great Lakes whitefish, cooked, and stored in a sealed jar in a household refrigerator for seven weeks before it was opened on the day of the meal.


Endoβ1,4xylanase as feed additive can markedly improve the nutrition of barley, and thus enhance animals' growth rates and transformation rates of feed. The enzyme can reduce the rates of bleacher and improve the quality of papers when it was used in bleaching paper pulp. A bacterial strain, which is capable of producing endoβ1,4xylanase, was isolated from soils that was contaminated by discharged water from boilers of dining rooms with a method based on transparent ring. The strain, named A3, was Grampositive becoming Gramnegative with increasing age, facultative anaerobe, sporeforming and peripheral flagella rods. It was found mostly similar to Bacillus macerans based on the results of physiobiochemical identification and the phylogenetical analyses of 16S rDNA sequence. The phylogenetic position of the A3 strain also was performed. The endoβ1,4xylanase from culture supernatant of A3 was optimally active at 60℃ and pH5.0-7.0. It was thermostable at 50℃ and comparatively stable in the condition of pH 4.0-10.0.


Shoot bark and root extracts of 16 different apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) root-stocks were analyzed for multiple electrophoretic forms of peroxidase (EC 22.214.171.124) using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Thirteen bands were seen in the peroxidase zymograms of shoot bark extracts and eight in the peroxidase zymograms of root extracts. The root peroxidase bands corresponded to ones in the shoot bark peroxidase zymograms. Two of the bands were common to all 16 rootstock patterns. The other 11 bands formed six patterns which were characterized by the presence of specific peroxidase bands. The 16 rootstocks were grouped according to banding characteristics.Key words: Apple, Malus domestica Borkh., apple rootstocks, PAGE-peroxidase zymograms


Purpose

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of berberine on nitroglycerin (NTG) tolerance and explore the underlying mechanism involved.
Methods

NTG tolerance was induced by pre-exposure of Sprague-Dawley rat aortas to NTG in vitro or by pretreating Sprague-Dawley rats with NTG patch in vivo. The aortas were pre-treated with berberine or PKC inhibitors for different durations of time before induction of NTG tolerance. NTG-induced vasorelaxations was measured on wire myograph. Primary vascular smooth cells (VSMCs) were used to dissect the underlying mechanism of berberine-induced inhibition of NTG tolerance.
Results

NTG tolerance induced by either prior exposure of rat aortas to NTG in vitro or pretreatment with NTG patch in vivo was reversed by co-treatment with berberine, as well as the inhibitors of PKC and PKCα. The mechanistic study revealed that PKCα participated in the development of NTG tolerance as NTG increased the activity of PKCα with enriched PKCα membrane localization and elevated phosphorylation of PKCα in VSMCs, which was reversed by berberine or PKCα inhibitors.
Conclusion

The present study is probably the first demonstration that berberine reverses NTG tolerance through inhibiting PKCα activity in VSMCs and PKCα is an important contributor to the development of NTG tolerance. These new findings suggest that berberine could become a promising drug for prevention of NTG tolerance and that targeting PKCα in VSMCs is likely to be a potential therapeutic target for reversal of NTG tolerance in blood vessels.


We numerically investigate the effects of non-Newtonian fluid properties, including shear thinning and elasticity, on the locomotion of Taylor's swimming sheet with arbitrary amplitude. Our results show that elasticity hinders the swimming speed, but a shear-thinning viscosity in the absence of elasticity enhances the speed. The combination of the two effects, modelled using a Giesekus constitutive equation, hinders the swimming speed. We find that the swimming speed of an infinitely long waving sheet in an inelastic shear-thinning fluid has a maximum, whose value depends on the sheet undulation amplitude and the fluid rheological properties. The power consumption, on the other hand, follows a universal scaling law.


A sensor interface device is essential for sensor data collection of industrial wireless sensor networks (WSN) in IoT environments. The Internet of Things (IoT) environment, each sensor connected to the device is required to write complicated and cumbersome data collection program code. In the proposed method we overcome the drawback present in existing system by using wireless sensor network. We are designed a system by using ARM 32-bit micro controller which supports different features and algorithms for the development of industrial automation systems. Using ARM controller we can connect all types of sensors and we can connect 8 bit microcontroller based sensor network to ARM controller using different wireless technology called Zigbee. Many open source libraries and tools are available for ARM-Linux wireless sensor network development and controlling. We can monitor and control the wireless sensor network remotely using internet and web server.


Numerical simulation software FLAC2D is used to simulate the failure mechanism of slender coal pillars (which are of much lower width to height ratios) during high wall mining of thick seam. The results reproduce the whole process from the initiation of pillar failure, propagation, to plastic zone being joined together. The characteristics of stress distribution and failure mechanism of coal pillars are discussed by the numerically obtained stress yield during pillar deformation and failure process.


Interaction of CO molecules with Cu-MFI zeolites reduced in vacuum or CO atmosphere was investigated. The character of the absorption bands ascribed to intrazeolitic carbonyl species was explored in the dependence on the Cu loading, Si/Al ratio, degree of reduction and on the coverage of the Cu+ ions by CO molecules. The different character of individual Cu sites was revealed in the IR spectra of carbonyl species upon CO pressure. Some Cu ions are not able to form dicarbonyl species even at 7.5 kPa of CO. The band of residual monocarbonyl species strongly overlaps with the band of asymmetric vibration of dicarbonyl species, making the quantitative analysis of this band rather difficult. It was found that the position and the half-width of the monocarbonyl band, as well as the third and fourth statistical moment of the band are independent of the variable factors mentioned above. The main vibrational band of monocarbonyl species cannot be deconvoluted to individual bands corresponding to different Cu exchangeable sites. It means that IR spectroscopy of carbonyl species in the range of C–O stretching frequencies is not a suitable method for monitoring of the individual Cu+ sites in MFI zeolite framework. In addition, no correlation of –ΔHads and wavenumber of the fundamental vibration of C–O adsorbed on Cu+ ions in MFI zeolite matrix was found.


[1] Calibrated values of incident spectral irradiance are reported from the Healy Oden Transarctic Experiment during August and September 2005. Spectra were obtained for a wide range of solar zenith angles, cloud conditions, and surface types to provide basic data for regional shortwave radiative energy balance calculations as well as climate model parameterization and validation. Supervised principal component analysis on the spectral continuum showed that three principal components explain over 99% of the variance resulting from darkening across the solar spectrum with increasing cloud cover by volume scattering, from stronger attenuation in the solar infrared relative to visible wavelengths by H2O, and from Rayleigh scattering. Comparison of the observations with the atmospheric radiation model SBDART showed that good agreement was obtained varying only the cloud optical depth. Applying the model, we showed how the surface albedo affects incident spectral irradiance under clear as well as cloudy skies, and we obtained a quantitative estimate of the visual effects of "water sky" and "ice blink." We also determined the spectral albedo of the atmosphere for a dense arctic stratus cloud deck decoupled from the influence of the underlying surface. Incident spectral irradiances were integrated numerically and compared with calibrated pyranometer observations. Agreement was within 5% for cases where the cloud transparency and incident irradiance did not fluctuate strongly over the 10-min pyranometer recording intervals. A new set of values for total albedo for clear versus cloudy conditions at high and low Sun angles is presented for six prominent arctic surface types.


522  Abstract:Variable delay elements are often used to manipulate the rising or falling edges of the clock or any other signal in integrated circuits (ICs). Delay elements are also used in delay locked loops (DLLs). Variable delay elements have many applications in VLSI circuits. They are extensively used in digital delay locked loops phase locked loops (PLLs), digitally controlled oscillators (DCOs), and microprocessor and memory circuits. In all these circuits, the variable delay element is one of the key building blocks. Its precision directly affects the overall performance of the circuit. In this a new proposed digitally controlled delay element is implemented in 130nm technology for DLL Delay locked loop for higher clock rates greater than 2.5GHz. This is implemented in Micro wind tool.


The invention discloses a design method and device for a bone cement spacer female mould. The design method for the bone cement spacer female mould includes: establishing a primary three-dimensional CAD model of a joint prosthesis according to acquired point cloud data of the joint prosthesis of a patient; obtaining a three-dimensional CAD model of the joint prosthesis according to the measured actual size of a joint of the patient; defining a joint surface of a relevant die of the three-dimensional CAD model of the joint prosthesis according to analysis on a connection manner and a working process of the three-dimensional CAD model of the joint prosthesis, and establishing a primary bone cement spacer female mould; and editing the primary bone cement spacer female mould to obtain the bone cement spacer female mould according to the characteristics of bone cement. The design method and device can quickly produce a high-precision high-matching-degree bone cement spacer female mould.


The concept of multifunctionality as a counterpoint to neoliberal welfare concepts is outlined and applied to the plant-breeding sector. For this purpose, the Swiss branch of a multinational breeding company, a private breeder relying on private donors and the breeding group in the public research station are first portrayed. Three conditions are then developed which would be necessary if breeding by public agents were to be beneficial in attaining the policy objectives of multifunctional agriculture. It is concluded that it is likely that these conditions apply and that there should be competition between private and (subsidized) public breeders, mainly because breeding is always taking decisions for the future.


Letter from Eric H. Thaine of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company of Texas, to Amon Carter thanking him for tickets to the Chamber of Commerce dinner given during Dwight Eisenhower's visit to Fort Worth on December 15, 1949.


Every year the Australian Journal of Rural Health (AJRH) turns down more papers than it publishes. Those that are published often pass through two or more revisions in the quality improvement process known as peer review. Each year, more than 150 000 AJRH articles are 'downloaded' by a varied audience including students, health service providers and governments to say nothing of those who read the paper edition. How then can an author maximise the probability of publication and minimise the pain associated with the process? Being clear about the subject matter covered in the AJRH is a good starting point. At its heart, rural health concerns populations who live in rural and remote communities in Australia and elsewhere. Rural residents can and do conduct research that has little relevance for the health of rural populations and is better suited for specialist audiences and journals. In common with a number of journals, the AJRH asks two questions of its 'what is already known about this subject' and 'what does my paper add'? Knowing your field is a primary requirement for authors, and there are many efficient ways of reviewing what has been published on a particular topic. Many clinicians and researchers who graduated recently will have the skills to conduct a literature review and use bibliographic software. Others will work with health service librarians, University Departments of Rural Health or public librarians who can master the technicalities. Finding the literature is the precursor to reading, sifting and evaluating it. Look for the seminal contributions, literature reviews and most importantly for the gaps in research and questions for further investigation. Research is not a matter of the rural or remote Robinson Crusoe solving important questions once and for all in a remote location. It usually proceeds in small steps where individuals and teams build on the work of others. Being clear and sober about ones contribution is crucial in the eyes of expert reviewers. We need more than 'the vibe' to succeed and describing molehills as mountains will not do. Answering the question 'what does my paper add' is intended to be a starting point, not a bureaucratic hurdle when the paper is complete. Answering this question leads to a consideration of the evidence on which the paper is based. Such evidence may be primary and collected by the author or secondary and reanalysed in the paper. Either way, it is important to assess the evidence and whether it will support the conclusions that are drawn. This may mean tests of statistical probability or the use of transparent and reputable qualitative methods. Reading the AJRH Instructions for Authors is always a good idea. It described the paper types that are accepted by the Journal, their maximum lengths and the differences between original research, short reports and practice pointers. Maximum lengths are just that and concise papers are regarded favourably. If your paper does not fit, contact the editor. Considering your audience is always good advice. Are you writing for policy makers, managers, clinicians, students or some combination of the above? If you are not sure, it is likely that your discussion and conclusion will cause you and your readers difficulty. Because there are few textbooks in rural health, many students learn from journal articles and so your articles might influence future rural health practice. If you are not clear about what information is needed in your research paper, you will find an answer in one of many publication guidelines. These vary according to the research design you have chosen and can be found on the website http://www.equator-network.org (sighted 5th February 2013). Reviewers will bear in mind similar guidelines when they read your paper and provide advice on how it can be improved. All authors can expect that they will be asked to revise their paper after it has been read by expert reviewers and an editor. One way of testing your ideas and developing your article is to present your findings at a seminar, professional meeting or conference. Take particular notice of the questions asked because they may highlight important findings, lack of clarity in your argument, new applications for your ideas or contributions to the literature you have missed. If these opportunities are not available, ask a friend. Members of SARRAH have a process for supporting the development of research papers. Contact the head office for information. Finally, remember that published papers are supposed to be word perfect, that is, with no typographical errors, misspellings or grammatical errors. I heard somewhere that only 4% of papers are written by a single author. Writing in teams is the norm, and writing workshops are widely available. Publication in the AJRH as in other peer-reviewed journal will always be a challenge. Both senior and junior researchers find that, from time to time, their submissions are deemed 'not suitable for publication in bs_bs_banner


Encapsulated pharmaceutical product comprising a pharmaceutical formulation enclosed in a plastic container having a fluorinated barrier layer is disclosed in the body wall. Fluorinated barrier layer on the container body wall, to reduce the loss of the ingredients of the pharmaceutical formulation through the container wall, the container material, the pharmaceutical formulation from the label related materials or encapsulated environment pharmaceutical formulation is stored, It reduces the movement of the impurities.


The development of atherothrombosis is associated with hypercholesterolemia and systemic inflammation. Recent studies have shown that adipose tissue may directly promote inflammation. Since one of the hallmark events of atherosclerosis is the deposition of von Willebrand factor (VWF) on vascular endothelial cells, the release and proteolysis of ultra-large (UL) and hyperreactive VWF may play an important role in the development of thrombotic diseases. We therefore investigated how the synthesis of ADAMTS-13, the newly characterized metalloprotease that cleaves the hyperreactive ULVWF to smaller and less active form, may be regulated in mice with obesity and hypercholesterolemia. Wild-type C57BL/6 and Apo E −/− C57Bl/6 mice (18 in each group with equal gender distribution) were fed with regular Chow or western-type high fat diet for 6 months and then analyzed for ADAMTS-13 mRNA in the liver (by quantitative PCR), the primary site of ADAMTS-13 synthesis, and ADAMTS-13 activity under flow condition. We found that ADAMTS-13 mRNA was more than doubled for wild-type mice on high fat diet than those on regular diet (4.14±0.46 vs. 1.72±0.57 units, respectively, p < 0.01). The increase was 47.9% for Apo E−/− mice on high fat diet compared to mice on regular diet (2.61±0.31 vs. 3.86±0.72 units, respectively, p = 0.05). When the data were stratified for gender difference, the increase was primarily observed in male mice. For male mice, ADAMTS-13 mRNA on high fat diet was more than four and two folds of those on regular diet for wild-type and Apo E−/− mice, respectively. , For female mice, however, the increase was less than 40% and only detected in wild-type mice fed with high fat diet. Consistent with this observation, ADAMTS-13 activity in general was lower in female (61±12%) than males (81±10%, p < 0.05). For both wild-type and Apo E−/− mice, we detected no difference in ADAMTS-13 activity in males, but a significantly lower activity in the female Apo E−/− mice on high fat diet (19.6±10.5% vs. 49.1±9.2% for high fat and regular diets, respectively, p < 0.05). These results demonstrate that the synthesis of ADAMTS-13 is up-regulated in obese mice (wild-type on high fat diet) and mice with hypercholesterolemia (Apo E−/− mice on high fat diet). The increase may serve as a protective measure to encounter the likely increase in ULVWF release due to systemic inflammation and endothelial cell stimulation seen in these mice. Interestingly, male mice showed a much stronger up-regulation than females. The low rate of ADAMTS-13 synthesis may contribute to the lower ADAMTS-13 activity found in female mice, suggesting that the machinery of ULVWF proteolysis in female mice may be less responsive to obesity/hypercholesterolemia and systemic inflammation.


Abstract : Sequential designs are proposed for clinical trials to compare two binomial success probabilities, p1 and p2. Approximations to the operating characteristics and expected sample size are obtained and compared with simulations. Special reference is made to the problem of comparing vasopressin and placebo for stopping upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage. (Author)


A string polytope is a rational convex polytope whose lattice points parametrize a highest weight crystal basis, which is obtained from a string cone by explicit affine inequalities depending on a highest weight. It also inherits geometric information of a flag variety such as toric degenerations, Newton-Okounkov bodies, mirror symmetry, Schubert calculus, and so on. In this paper, we study combinatorial properties of string polytopes in types $B$ and $C$ by giving an explicit description of string cones in these types which is analogous to Gleizer-Postnikov's description of string cones in type $A$. As an application, we characterize string polytopes in type $C$ which are unimodularly equivalent to the Gelfand-Tsetlin polytope in type $C$ for a specific highest weight.


The aim of this meta-analysis was to collect data from randomized trials in burn patients and to analyze them with a meta-analytic approach to give a clear message of potential advantages of nanocrystalline silver (NC) versus older silver formulations (SS).A review of all-English prospective randomized trials that compared NC versus silver sulfadiazine or silver nitrate was conducted. Primary outcome was the evaluation of differences in the infection rate of burns. Secondary outcomes were the eventual differences in the pain experienced during medications, the length of hospitalization (LOS) and costs.Five articles that met the inclusion criteria were selected (n = 285 patients). The NC group had a significant lower incidence of infections compared with the SS group (9.5% vs. 27.8%, odds ratio: 0.14 [95% CI: 0.06–0.35]; &khgr;2 test, P < 0.001), with a 2.9-fold decrease of the risk. Not all studies investigated the pain during change of dressings, LOS and costs. However, when data were available, these showed lower costs (US $1533 per patient for the SS group and US $946 per patient for the NC group) and decreased pain values in the NC group (Hedges' G: −1.44 [95% CI: −1.86/−1.01]; P < 0.0001), while contrasting results were obtained for LOS.Nanocrystalline silver is a relatively new product with a significant stronger antimicrobial activity compared with older formulations. Its long lasting properties reduce dressing change frequency and are probably responsible for the decreased pain and the minor costs experienced.