One way to assess value in health care is to divide the benefit to the patient by the number of dollars spent [7]. The increasing emphasis on value-based health care shifted providers' focus from radiographic to patient-centered outcomes. Consequently, having validated and relevant tools that assess quality of life, functional outcomes, and pain is of critical importance. Patient-reported outcomes measures (PROMs) quantify a variety of endpoints that patients care about: pain, function, activity level, and in some cases, satisfaction [14] and are increasingly being used to evaluate healthcare expenditures, assess costeffectiveness [5], determine compensation [3], risk-stratify patients [10], and predict outcomes [9]. As such, PROMs are important to various stakeholders, including patients, physicians, payers, and healthcare institutions. Physicians who treat patients with spinal disorders use a number of PROMs that cover disease-specific disability, pain, and health-related quality of life; some of these include the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Neck Disability Index (NDI), Visual Analog Scale for pain, Short Forms, and EuroQol-5D. While ODI and NDI historically have been the mostcommonly used PROMs, PatientReported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) is a relatively new outcome measure that is increasingly being implemented because of its length and ease of use, which decrease the burden on patients. PROMIS uses computer adaptive testing (CAT)-based instruments to measure health outcomes from the patient's perspective. Prior to CATbased instruments, a patient might have skipped questions (s)he considered irrelevant [11]; this can occur when using traditional PROMs like the ODI or the NDI. By contrast, in a CATbased test like PROMIS, the test automatically eliminates questions determined to be irrelevant by that patient's answers to earlier questions, which reduces the burden on the patient. This test may also be less prone to floor and ceiling effects [11]. The validity and utility of PROMIS in orthopaedic patients is welldocumented [2, 6], particularly in those undergoing spine surgery [1, 12, 13]. PROMIS data also have been shown to bemore efficient, flexible and precise than those yielded by other PROMs. Several of these studies have reported that PROMIS CAT outperforms ODI and is highly correlated with ODI, Short-Form questionnaires, and other older outcome tools in spine patients, while also taking less time to administer, with fewer questions to answer [12, 13]. Still, the clinical relevance of PROMIS data in patients with spinal disorders has not been determined, particularly for patients' PROMIS scores on perception of their own health, and what constitutes a meaningful change to the patient. The current study by Hung and colleagues [8] helps to fill this gap by This CORR Insights is a commentary on the article "What Are the MCIDs for PROMIS, NDI, and ODI Instruments Among Patients With Spinal Conditions?" by Hung and colleagues available at: DOI: 10.1097/CORR.0000000000000419. The author certifies that neither he, nor any members of his immediate family, have any commercial associations (such as consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangements, etc.) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article. The opinions expressed are those of the writers, and do not reflect the opinion or policy of CORR or The Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons. This CORR Insights comment refers to the article available at DOI: 10.1097/CORR. 0000000000000419. S. Qureshi MD (✉), Hospital for Special Surgery, 535 East 70th Street, New York, NY 10021, USA, Email: email@example.com


The use of a shuck‐wave technique to obtain a frequency‐response calibration of a small lead zirconate titanate transducer is described. The response curve is obtained through numerical Fourier transformation of the recorded response to a shock‐wave excitation. Sources of error and agreement with other methods of calibration are discussed.


Bragg fiber taper behaves as a mirror, whose reflection and transmission are tunable with structural parameters. As a result, two dual-tapers connected with a piece of straight Bragg fiber form a three-dimensional microcavity.


Passive fluidic particle manipulation techniques are useful for particle handling in microfluidic devices. Created using specifically designed channel structures, these systems are advantageous due to their low energy requirements and simple operation. Here we present results on a passive fluidic element termed an asymmetric trap, that is based on obstacle/particle steric interactions. The asymmetric behavior—capturing particles during downward flow with respect to the trap and releasing or passing particles during upward flow—is induced by the asymmetric configuration of the trap elements. The critical particle diameter for the asymmetric behavior in the trap array was theoretically obtained by numerically solving the conservation of flow equations through critical gaps between trap array elements. Based on the physical dimension of the array, five different trap/particle interaction regimes are predicted: symmetric passage (I), asymmetric passage (IIa), symmetric capturing (IIb), asymmetric capturing (III), and channel clogging (IV). The presence of these regimes was experimentally confirmed using micron-sized particles (20.3 μm and 10.1 μm) at low Reynolds number (Re < 0.1).


This Article specifically analyzes the legislative proposals and makes recommendations to ensure that the bills accomplish their stated objectivelimiting the Executive's discretion arbitrarily to bar and to expel foreigners on political grounds. RECONCILING THE POWER TO BAR OR EXPEL ALIENS ON POLITICAL GROUNDS WITH FAIRNESS AND THE FREEDOMS OF SPEECH AND ASSOCIATION: AN ANALYSIS OF RECENT LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS


The continued salience of ethnic consciousness even in an urban setting evokes keen interest among the scholars. Why is that despite being located in an apparently urban context, ethnic identity continues to be dominant is the question that has not been adequately theorised. This article seeks to engage with this question. The excessive dependence on the primordialist or instrumentalist approach to explain the salience of ethnicity has increasingly been questioned. Neither approach alone would enable us to have a proper grasp of the issue of ethnic identity. This article makes use of the oppositional approach which seeks to combine both these approaches and explain the salience of ethnic identity in a more satisfactory manner. The fieldwork has been conducted among the Mizos living in Bengaluru.


The EAP-TLS is a de-facto authentication protocol in 802.11i system. This protocol provides digital certificatebased mutual authentication. The protocol performs secure password-based client/supplicant authentication instead of certificate-based authentication. This paper illustrates the modifications on EAP-TLS protocol to achieve secure password-based user/client authentication, achieving the goal of EAP-TTLS without forming a logical tunnel between a supplicant and authentication server. A comparison between the proposed technology and EAPTTLS brings out the performance enhancements possible with this technology. The proposed system supports an optional mutual password-based authentication during session resumption.


Introduction People who are immunocompromised have a poor biological response to vaccinations. This study aims to determine in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) if a 3-week pause in Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy (BTKi) starting 1 week before delivery of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine booster, improves vaccine immune response when compared with continuation of BTKi. Methods and analysis An open-label, randomised controlled superiority trial will be conducted in haematology clinics in approximately 10 UK National Health Service (NHS) hospitals. The sample size is 120, randomised 1:1 to intervention and usual care arms. The primary outcome is anti-spike-receptor binding domain (RBD) antibody level at 3 weeks post-SARS-CoV-2 booster vaccination. Secondary outcomes are RBD antibody levels at 12 weeks postbooster vaccination, participant global assessments of disease activity, blood films, full blood count and lactate dehydrogenase levels, impact on quality of life, self-reported adherence with request to temporarily pause or continue BTKi, T cell response against spike protein and relative neutralising antibody titre against SARS-CoV-2 viral variants. Additionally, there will be an investigation of any effects in those given influenza vaccination contemporaneously versus COVID-19 alone. The primary analysis will be performed on the as randomised groups ('intention to treat'). The difference between the study arms in anti-spike-RBD antibody level will be estimated using a mixed effects regression model, allowing for repeated measures clustered within participants. The model will be adjusted for randomisation factor (first line or subsequent line of therapy), and prior infection status obtained from prerandomisation antinucleocapsid antibodies as fixed effects. Ethics and dissemination This study has been approved by Leeds East Research Ethics Committee and Health Research Authority (REC Reference:22/YH/0226, IRAS ID: 319057). Dissemination will be via peer-review publications, newsletters and conferences. Results will be communicated to participants, the CLL patient and clinical communities and health policy-makers. Trial registration number ISRCTN14197181.


This discussion covers the following three papers: (1) magnetic islandography in tokamaks, (2) scaling laws for energy lifetimes in tokamaks, and (3) simulation of discharge dynamics in tokamaks. (MOW)


This paper describes Hyundai's research and development work on a flexible fuel vehicle (FFV). The work on FFV has been conducted to evaluate its potential as an alternative to the conventional gasoline vehicle. Hyundai FFV described here can be operated on M85, gasoline, any of their combinations, in which the methanol concentration is measured by an electrostatic type fuel sensor. For that operation, a special FFV ECU(Electronic Control Uni t) has been developed and incorporated in the FFV. The characteristics affecting FFV operation, such as FFV ECU control strategy and injector flow rate, have been investigated and optimized by experiment. And various development tests have been performed in view of engine performance, durabi1ity, cold startabi1ity, and exhaust emissions reduction. The exhaust gas aftertreatment system consisting of manifold type catalyst and secondary air injection system shows good emission reduction performance including formaldehyde, and finally, the possibility of the FFVs as low emission vehicles is evaluated by presenting NMOG(Non-Methane Organic Gases) levels with respect to MO and M8S, Withthese results, it is concluded that it has possiblity for FFVs to be a candidate of low emission vehicles, but more work on its durability improvement should be required.


PURPOSE: A vibrating structure and a method for controlling the natural frequency of the vibrating structure are provided to improve the control of natural frequency by linearly changing the electric force that generates on a vibration meter according to displacement of an inertial body. CONSTITUTION: An inertial body(23) moves to a X-direction on a X-Z plane according to an elastic force generated at an elastic member(22) that is supported by a supporting unit(21). A moving electrode(28) as a finger is integrated on the inertial body(23). Effective stiffness controlling electrodes(24) are fixed on the supporting unit(21) so as to apply an electrical force to the inertial body(23). The effective stiffness controlling electrodes(24) have a finger shape. The finger of the moving electrode(28) is inserted with a predetermined interval between fingers of the effective stiffness controlling electrodes(24). A power supply unit(27) applies a voltage to the effective stiffness controlling electrodes(24) and the moving electrode(28).


SYNOPSIS

Under certain conditions the optical transmission of the negative of an electron micrograph is linearly related to the mass per unit area of the corresponding specimen. A polarizing microscope was modified so that the rotation of a polaroid in the system, which restored a photo-multiplier current to a fixed value, was a measure of the transmission of a selected area of a micrograph placed on the stage. This null-point method can be used in the routine evaluation of the dry mass of isolated specimens from their electron micrographs. The theory of the method is given and measurements on standard objects are described that demonstrate its validity of application. Optimum conditions for measurement are considered and experimental errors are discussed. The errors in the present measurements were estimated to be less than 6 p.c. The null-point method was rapid and simple in operation and should be useful in statistical determinations of the mass of non-homogeneous specimens.


Human conversation is the best example of loosely coupled distributed communication known to man. This study specifically considers those parts of the human conversation that show evidence of dynamism and attempts to model these parts with the objective of translating the knowledge of conversational dynamics into the domain of computerised distributed systems. The discipline of metaphorical modelling is adopted in order to create a communication framework that will maintain the aspects of dynamism and apply these design directives in distributed architectures.


Background: High prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) in the world is one of the leading cardiovascular risk factor that associated with high morbidity and mortality. Atherosclerotic heart disease is one of the major cardiovascular disease related to DM from the current study. Polysaccharide peptide, extract from Ganodermalucidum, a popular medicinal mushroom in traditional Chinese medicine, has anti-inflammatory effect in several studies. In this study, we investigated alteration of tumor necrosis factor-&agr; (TNF-&agr;) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) levels as risk factors for cardiovascular disease bypolysaccharide peptide indiabetes mellitus. Methods: Diabetes mellitus rat models which induced by high fat diet (HFD) and streptozotozin (STZ)were randomly divided into five groups, diabetes mellitus models with high fat diet, low-dose PsP (SLH, Indonesia) treatment group [50 mg/kgBW], medium-dose PsP treatment group [150 mg/kgBW], high-dose PsP treatment group [300 mg/kgBW], and normal rats as negative control group respectively. Results: After 5 weeks of treatment, we found significantly higher level of IL-10 in diabetes mellitus rat models with increasing dose of PsP (95% CI, p = 0.027). On the other hand, TNF-&agr; level not significantly lowered with increasing dose of PsP (95% CI, p = 0.066). Conclusion: Polysaccharide peptideiseffective in reducingcardiovascular disease risk factors in diabetes mellitus rat models, thus potential to be developed as anti-inflammatory in diabetes mellitus.


【We synthesized Fe-doped $TiO_2/{\alpha}-Fe_2O_3$ core-shell nanowires(NWs) by means of a co-electrospinning method and demonstrated their magnetic properties. To investigate the structural, morphological, chemical, and magnetic properties of the samples, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used, as was a vibrating sample magnetometer. The morphology of the nanostructures obtained after calcination at $500^{\circ}C$ exhibited core/shell NWs consisting of $TiO_2$ in the core region and ${\alpha}-Fe_2O_3$ in the shell region. In addition, the XPS results confirmed the formation of Fe-doped $TiO_2$ by the doping effect of $Fe^{3+}$ ions into the $TiO_2$ lattice, which can affect the ferromagnetic properties in the core region. For comparison, pure ${\alpha}-Fe_2O_3$ NWs were also fabricated using an electrospinning method. With regard to the magnetic properties, the Fe-doped $TiO_2/{\alpha}-Fe_2O_3$ core-shell NWs exhibited improved saturation magnetization(Ms) of approximately ~2.96 emu/g, which is approximately 6.1 times larger than that of pure ${\alpha}-Fe_2O_3$ NWs. The performance enhancement can be explained by three main mechanisms: the doping effect of Fe ions into the $TiO_2$ lattice, the size effect of the $Fe_2O3_$ nanoparticles, and the structural effect of the core-shell nanostructures.】


The invention relates to an LED driver system with an energy storage function. The LED driver system can work in three working modes. In an illuminating mode, input alternating-current power is outputted to a constant-current/constant-voltage outputting AC-DC converter with a power factor correction function to directly power an LED lamp; in a charging mode, the LED lamp stops working, inputted alternating-current power is supplied for a lithium battery pack module via the AC-DC converter, and energy is stored; and in a battery power supply mode, a charged lithium battery management module supplies power for the LED lamp via a constant-current outputting DC-DC converter. The LED driver system further comprises an intelligent switching module, switching among the three modes is realized under the control of a single chip microcomputer, the three modes are guaranteed against being interfered by one another, and normal running of the integral system is guaranteed. The power factor of the LED driver system can be higher than 0.9, the efficiency of the LED driver system is higher than 80%, the LED lamp can be powered continuously for a long time when in power failure, and normal operation of the LED lamp during power interruption is guaranteed.


Nikolas Rose and Mitchell Dean have balanced the books of the analytics of government, although not conclusively. The school of social analysis they represent began to gain a foothold, especially in Australia and Britain, in the mid1980s, and by the end of the century it had matured as a framework and research programme (cf. Rose p. 7; Dean p. 3 ; also Burchell et al. 1991 ; Barry et al. 1996 : Hanninen 1998; Dean & Hindess 1998). The approach is outstanding in foucauldianism of the social


In Bangladesh, internal climate displacement will continue pushing millions to the urbanizing centres where migrants make homes in informal settlements. These settlements, too, are sites for climate hazards such as heat stress and flooding, affecting climate-displaced and economic migrants alike. The demands of growing migrant populations and long-term informal settlement dwellers converge around rights to secure land and housing, acknowledged in policies at both national and urban scales. Yet, settlements continue to face evictions, revealing a significant mismatch between policy aspirations and concrete urban planning strategies. Based on our ongoing research in the informal settlements of Dhaka, Bangladesh, we point to a structural condition we call discursive partition which continues to exclude climate-impacted dwellers from urban resilience policies despite their formal recognition in national climate policies. Based on evidence of how climate-impacted dwellers themselves lead urban adaptation, we point to three critical revisitations for just climate adaptation plans.


A flow injection knotted reactor preconcentration system coupled to flame atomic absorption spectrometry(FAAS)was developed for the determination of trace Cu in rice.With 60 s(sample throughput of 37/h)of sampling at a flow rate of 6.0 mL/min,an EF of 13.5(higher than 4.5 which achieved by Conventional elution method)and a detection limit of 5.4 μg/L were obtained.The precision(RSD,n=11)was 2.3% at the 200 μg/L level.When 0.01 % triethannolamine was used as masking reagent,the recovery rate of Cu in rice was from 96.4%~97.8%.


Component-based software engineering is the reusing of already available modules for developing new software. It helps the customer by developing high-quality software at minimal expense of time and money. Although, problems such as uncertain quality of third party developed components bring new challenges to the software engineering community while devising methods for component-based software engineering. This poses a challenge to the component-based software development to become a mature industry at par with other development methods. For this reason, appropriate quality models for component-based systems are needed to be developed to establish a standard of quality for component-based software. The previous models like McCall's model, Boehm's model, ISO 9126, etc. were not enough to evaluate the quality of component-based software. In this paper, we have used ISO/IEC 25010:2011 quality model as a reference to devise a new model - Quality Model for Component-Based E-commerce Application (QMCEA) for evaluating the quality of an E-commerce application which has been developed using component-based software engineering techniques.


There is a rising trend in the use of nanomaterials in various consumer products; increasing the risk of human exposures. Inflammation is a vital contributing factor to pulmonary diseases which can be triggered by exposure to airborne toxicants such as nanomaterials. However there are no effective treatments. One potential treatment shown to have anti-inflammatory effects is the dietary supplement docosahexaenoic acid (DHA); an omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid found in fish oil. This study compares DHA as a prophylactic treatment for acute and chronic particle-induced inflammation.

 Balb/c mice were fed a control or 1% DHA-containing diet for 5 weeks (acute) or 18 weeks (chronic). At week 4 (acute) or weeks 2, 3, 4, and 5 (chronic) the mice were anesthetized and oropharyngeal instilled with dispersion media (50 μl) or a highly inflammatory multi-walled carbon nanotube (50 μg). One week (acute) or 13 weeks (chronic) after instillation, macrophage NLRP3 inflammasome activation and lung lavage fluid (LLF) levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and protein levels were evaluated. Inflammatory cytokines were evaluated in LLF and plasma of the mice. DHA's impact on macrophage phenotype was also examined.

 Macrophage production of IL-1β and LLF levels of LDH, protein, and pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-33 and TNF-α, decreased in mice fed the DHA diet. DHA appears to be altering macrophage phenotype within the lung and spleen tissues; specifically the M2 phenotype.

 DHA could potentially be used as a prophylactic treatment for acute and chronic particle exposures since it was demonstrated to have a number of anti-inflammatory effects on Balb/c mice exposed to a common nanomaterial.


Polypropylene-grafted-polyethylene glycol copolymers were prepared by coupling of polypropylene wax(PPW) containing maleic anhydride group(MAH) with polyethylene glycol(PEG) by virtue of melting method and were characterized by means of chemical titration,TG,DSC and FT-IR.The experimental results indicated that grafted copolymers were successfully obtained and showed lower melting points in comparison with polypropylene wax.Furthermore,the grafted copolymer had better stability,and PPW-g-PEG(1000) by the reaction of PPW-MAH with PEG-1000 showed lower acid value and higher grafting efficiency.


This small book is founded on two lectures given at the University of Lucknow in 1940. It deals only with the Cretaceous rocks of the region about Trichinopoly and Pondicherry, which were laid down during the transgression of a southern and eastern sea apparently distinct from Tethys. The range is from Cenomanian to Danian. One of the points brought out is that the evidence supports the idea that the " Cenomanian " transgression here actually began well down in the Albian. The rocks are highly fossiliferous, with a good development of limestones and some enormous ammonites, which are not named. Certain beds of flint and chert are shown to be silicified limestones, some being practically quartzites. The highest beds of all belong to the uppermost Cretaceous or possibly even form a transition to the Eocene, and this fact is of special interest, since in one place they are overlain by a small outlier of the Deccan Traps, suggesting that these are probably in part at least Tertiary. No reason has been found to modify the original classification by H. F. Blanford in 1862 into Utatur, Trichinopoly, and Ariyalur series, except that the author now separates the original Upper Ariyalurs as the Niniyur Series, as this may belong to a separate transgression. R. H. R.


Styrene and methyl methacrylate have been polymerized in a batch photoreactor using two sensitizers–benzoin (C6H5COCHOHC6H5) and benzoin methyl ether (C6H5COCHOCH3C6H5)–and light with a peak intensity at 366 nm. Primary quantum yields have been calculated for each monomer-sensitizer combination. Effects of mixing on the rate of polymerization and product molecular weight distribution have been determined and correlated with a two-region reactor model.


This work was partially supported by EU FP7 NoE Nanophotonics4Energy grant No. 248855, the Spanish MICINN project MAT2012–31659 (SAMAP), and Comunidad de Madrid S2009/MAT‐1756 (PHAMA) program. A.E. was supported by the FPI Ph.D. program from the MICINN. M.C.S. acknowledges MINECO for a Juan de la Cierva fellowship.


The ability to efficiently send and receive high-quality multimedia over unreliable networks has become essential. Compressed video bit streams suffer from bit error and packet loss during transport over these different network types. The MPEG-4 standard was developed with error-resilient video coding techniques to help prevent these types of errors and recover from them when they occur. Despite all the efforts of these techniques, errors will still occur. This paper discusses the effects of these network errors on the quality of MPEG-4 video. The specific effects of bit error on the video quality are implemented using the MPEG-4 Video Reference Software.


The gold was existed in the status of natural gold in the ore.It brings some difficulties for sampling because of poor homogeneity and rich ductility of gold.The reason caused to the unqualified analytic result in the procedure was mainly the inhomogeneous and representative of samples.In order to get accurate and reliable analysis results,more attention should be paid to sample processing,such as receiving,control of sample loss rate,reasonable processing procedure,timely inner inspection,re-examination of abnormality,avoiding of pollution and disorder.


Two young infants were found to have choledochal cyst. In the first patient, the only clinical manifestation was asymptomatic hepatosplenomegaly. She developed bilious ascites after a percutaneous liver biopsy. The second patient presented with fluctuating jaundice and spontaneous perforation of the cyst resulting in bilious ascites. Particularly in infants, symptomatology of the choledochal cyst is extremely variable. A high index of suspicion will lead to an aggressive diagnostic approach and avoidance of serious sequelae.


Synthetic drugs are commonly used in the present day with the advancement in chemical technology awareness about its side effects is slowly triggering the use of non-synthetic curatives. The curative properties of these drugs are due to the complex chemical substances present as secondary plant metabolites in one or more parts of these plants. Diabetes Mellitus is a clinical condition characterized by increased blood glucose level due to the insufficient or inefficient insulin. Streptozotocin is to induce hyperglycemic condition. Gymnema sylvestre, Eugenia jambolana, Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) and Bittergourd (Momordica charantia) are a popular remedy for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. In this study, oral administration of Gymnema sylvestre, Eugenia jambolana, Ocimum sanctum and Momordica charantia showed the hypoglycemic activity and it could exert a beneficial action against biochemical and histopathological alterations caused by streptozotocin. In the present study the antioxidative potential of Gymnema sylvestre, Eugenia jambolana, Ocimum sanctum and Momordica charantia was assessed in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Lipid peroxide levels were also measured in normal, diabetic and treated animals. Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were significantly higher and antioxidant activity was found low in diabetic groups as compared to the control groups, and significant alteration in both the MDA levels and antioxidant activity was also observed when the above herbal hypoglycemic agents were given to diabetic rats. On the basis of our results we conclude that Gymnema sylvestre, Eugenia jambolana, Ocimum sanctum and Momordica charantia are not only useful in controlling the lipid peroxide levels but are also helpful in further strengthening the antioxidant potential.The probable mechanism by which Gymnema sylvestre, Eugenia jambolana, Ocimum sanctum and Momordica charantia exerts its protective action against streptozotocininduced pancreatic metabolic alterations could be by the stimulation of pancreatic regeneration through an improved synthesis of protein or accelerated detoxification and exertion. Furthermore, comprehensive chemical and pharmacological research is required to reveal the mechanism of the anti-diabetic potential of Gymnema sylvestre, Eugenia jambolana, Ocimum sanctum and Momordica charantia.


Objective
To investigate the causes and mechanism of preterm birth through analysis of the relationship between histological chorioamnionitis (HCA) in placental tissue and preterm birth.

Methods
Totally, 327 preterm birth cases with report of placental pathologic examination were retrospectively collected from those women who delivered from December 1, 2009 to December 1, 2012 in Peking University First Hospital. According to the etiology of preterm birth, three groups were assigned: iatrogenic group (n=106), spontaneous contraction group (n=56) and premature rupture of membranes (PROM) group (n=165). According to the gestational age at delivery, three subgroups were further divided: early-preterm group (≥28-<32 weeks), mid-preterm group(≥32-<34 weeks) and late-preterm group (≥34-<37 weeks). HCA was confirmed when ≥5 neutrophil infiltration identified on the chorionic plate and amniotic membrane under high power light microscope after HE staining. The relationship between HCA and the different types of preterm birth and the different delivery gestational age were analyzed. Besides, the consistency between clinical chorioamnionitis and HCA was also analyzed. Chi-square test was applied for statistics.

Results
The incidence of HCA in the spontaneous contraction group was significantly higher than in the iatrogenic group and PROM group [66.1% (37/56) vs 25.5% (27/106) and 33.3% (55/165), χ2=25.27 and 18.44, both P 0.05). Among the three subgroups, the early-, mid- and late-preterm subgroup, the incidence of HCA in the iatrogenic group was 24.0% (6/25), 33.3% (8/24) and 22.8% (13/57) (P>0.05), and 13/17, 5/7 and 59.4% (19/32) in the spontaneous contraction group (P>0.05). However, significantly higher incidence of HCA was shown in the early-preterm subgroup than in the mid- and late-preterm subgroup [70.0% (20/29) vs 41.2% (14/34) and 20.6% (21/102), χ2=4.87 and 24.58, both P<0.05] in the PROM group. Among the subjects in PROM group, those with the latency ≥72 h after the rupture of membranes had a higher incidence of HCA than those with the latency less than 72 h [68.6% (24/35) vs 23.8% (31/130), χ2=24.82, P<0.01]. For all 327 cases in this study, the incidence of clinical chorioamnionitis was 15.9% (52/327), among which 31 cases [59.6% (31/52)] were diagnosed as HCA.

Conclusions
The occurrence of HCA is closely associated with spontaneous contraction preterm. Some iatrogenic preterm birth might cause HCA. The earlier the preterm birth and the longer the latency after PROM, the higher the incidence of HCA. Differential diagnosis is necessary as the inconsistency between clinical chorioamnionitis and HCA.

Key words:
Chorioamnionitis; Premature birth; Fetal membranes, premature rupture


The use of reactive power control as a means of controlling voltages in low-voltage (230 V / 400 V) distribution networks is considered. The proposal is to use spare capacity in power electronic interfaces such as inverters in domestic photovoltaic (PV) and micro combined heat and power (CHP) units to generate or consume reactive power according to locally measured voltage. This Distributed Automatic Voltage Control (DAVC) is proposed as a means of allowing greater penetration of low-carbon technologies into existing distribution systems. A detailed model of a real distribution system in the UK has been used to determine that DAVC can be effective in controlling voltages despite the low X-upon-R ratio typical of low-voltage distribution networks. A slight increase in network losses is predicted but this could be justified by the allowance of a greater penetration of PV and a reduced need to curtail its generation due to network voltage rise. A significant reduction in source power factor is also noted.


Abstract The rhodium(I)-catalyzed reaction of alkynes with arylboronic acids in the presence of formaldehyde resulted in a carbon monoxide gas-free carbonylative arylation to yield α,β-enones. The simultaneous loading of phosphine-ligated and phosphine-free rhodium(I) complexes is required for efficient catalysis, which catalyze the abstraction of a carbonyl moiety from formaldehyde (decarbonylation) and its subsequent introduction into the substrate (carbonylation), respectively.


The project aimed to investigate how hazard perception and responding is affected by level of experience as a motorcycle rider and to assess the extent to which hazard perception and responding can be improved by specific training. Very few visually-based tests have been used in licensing in other parts of the world. Motorcycle simulation shows promise in the short-term as a research tool for the evaluation of different training programs with respect to hazard perception. In the longer-term, PC-based simulations may be useful for motorcyclist hazard perception training. A useful first step in assessing the need for a specific motorcycle hazard perception test would be to examine the relationship between scores on the current Hazard Perception Test and actual hazard perception ability of motorcycle riders. Other issues in relation to the future of hazard perception training and testing for motorcyclists relate to format of presentation, content, and structure of the licensing system. The opportunity may also exist to evaluate training and testing methods using a motorcycle simulator located in Sydney. (a)


In this paper, I proposed an effective technique for accurately predicting pixel values using edge components. Adjacent pixel values are similar to each other. That is, generally, similarity exists between adjacent pixels in an image. In the proposed algorithm, edge components are detected using the surrounding pixels in the first step, and pixel values are estimated using the edge components in the second step. Therefore, the prediction accuracy of the pixel value is improved and the prediction error is reduced. Pixel value prediction is a necessary technique for various applications such as image magnification and confidential data concealment. Experimental results show that the proposed method has higher prediction accuracy and fewer prediction error. Therefore, the proposed technique can be effectively used for applications such as image magnification and confidential data concealment.


Business people on the go need portability and mobility in their computing environments. However, such mobile environments often suffer from transient faults. This article discusses how to manage faults in order to get better availability for small wireless devices.


It is no easy task to identify the first edition of Mme de Graffigny's only novel. No manuscript is extant, and no presentation copies have come to light, which might bear indications in the author's handwriting. The novel was published during the visit of her lifelong friend from her native Lorraine, François Antoine Devaux, who stayed in Paris from 11 October 1747 to 11 March 1748. Their correspondence, normally a valuable source of information, was thus suspended during this crucial period. The information their letters provide before and after these dates is very sparse, but some of it is critical for our purposes. The manuscript of Zilia, as the novel was first called, was completed on 9 June 1747, when she tells Devaux: "Je l'envoie demain au marché."1 The negotiations with publishers were handled by the comte de Caylus and the abbé Pérau: "Nicole [Mlle Quinault] venait pour me dire qu'Antoine [Caylus] vendra mal ma Zilia et prendre des arrangements


BRAF mutations are drivers of oncogenesis in a variety of tumors and they can be successfully targeted with small molecule inhibitors. In primary central nervous system tumors, BRAFV600E mutations are most frequently found in pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma, ganglioglioma, pilocytic astrocytoma and epithelioid glioblastoma. Dabrafenib is a potent and selective inhibitor of BRAF-mutant kinase that was approved, as monotherapy or in combination with trametinib (mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) kinase (MEK) inhibitor), for unresectable or metastatic BRAF-mutated melanoma, advanced non-small cell lung cancer and anaplastic thyroid cancer harboring BRAFV600E mutation.

 In February 2016, a 21-year-old female was admitted to our Unit for seizures. A brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a frontal contrast enhanced lesion. Neurosurgical resection was performed. The histological analysis diagnosed anaplastic pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (PXA) WHO grade III. A volumetric modulated radiotherapy course was delivered for a total dose of 59,4 Gy in 33 fractions with concomitant and adjuvant temozolomide therapy (Stupp protocol). In October 2017, a brain MRI showed relapsing disease. Six courses of chemotherapy with procarbazine, lomustine and vincristine (PCV) were administered, and then neurosurgical partial removal and carmustine wafer implantation were performed. The histological analysis confirmed BRAF V600E mutated anaplastic PXA.

 In April 2019 the 24-year-old female patient with BRAF mutated anaplastic PXA started her third-line therapy with dabrafenib. The well-known tumor residue was less evident on the subsequent MRIs performed every three/four months. Given the literature data of the most effectiveness and the best control of the side effects, in August 2020 the patient was put on combined treatment with dabrafenib plus trametinib. Since December 2021 the residual tumor has not been longer visible. Last MRI evaluation, performed on January 26th 2023, showed no recurrence of the disease, four years after BRAF inhibitor treatment beginning.

 Dabrafenib plus trametinib is a promising new therapy for patients affected by BRAFV600E-mutant glioma, with high overall response and manageable toxicity. Due to very poor prognosis, there are a few described cases of high-grade glioma (HGG) patients in third-line therapy, showing complete response and for such a long time. The emergence of optimized sequencing strategies and targeted agents, including multimodal treatment and systemic therapy with dabrafenib plus trametinib, will continue to broaden personalized therapy in HGG and to improve patient outcomes.


I was told by Miss Kawamura in 1962 whether she should work forever without qualification. I conveyed the message to the committee of Japanese Oththalmological Society. That message triggered the creation of nationally qualified orthoptists in Japan. Ophthalmic service in Japan is given by 8500 ophthalmologists, 1500 orthoptists, 9000 ophthalmic medical assistants, 20000 opticians and nurses working with ophthalmologists. Eye diseases may be curable, as cataract, or preventable, as infectious diseases or ocular trauma, or cure or prevention still not possible as most genetic eye diseases. Rehabilitation of the patients is the only remaining mean of relieving the patients. The method of surgery of cataract is rapidly changing. Still, cataract is most important cause of blindness in developing countries, half of blind people by cataract. Blindness by diabetic retinopathy is preventable by prevention and strict control of diabetes, and photocoagulation and vitrectomy. Onchocerciasis, river blindness, is preventable by control of black flies and a new drug, ivermectin given once a year to the patients. The number of visually impaired in Japan is in 1987 10% less than the figure in 1980, whereras the number of other physically handicapped increased 20% at the same time.


Studies by 31 P NMR spectroscopy have shown that the face-sharing bioctahedral molecules Rh 2 X 6 (PR 3 ) 3 (X=Cl, Br; PR 3 =PEt 3 , PPr 3 , PBu 3 ) exist exclusively as the 1,2,6-isomers and are converted by addition of 1 molar equiv of PR' 3 (R' may be R) exclusively to the 1,3,6,8-Rh 2 X 6 (PR 3 ) 3 (PR' 3 ) isomer, with the entering PR' 3 occupying the 6- (or 8-) position.


In this paper, a new strategy for the simulation of quasi-static cold compaction processes of powders is presented. A material model formulated within the framework of isotropic finite strain multiplicative hyperelastoplasticity is used. An elliptic plastic model expressed in terms of the Kirchhoff stresses and the relative density models the transition between the loose powder and the compacted sample. The Coulomb dry friction model is used to capture friction effects at powder-die contact. Excessive distortion of Lagrangian meshes due to large mass fluxes is usual in powder compaction problems. Moreover, Lagrangian approaches cannot deal properly with mass fluxes around sharp corners. For these reasons, an Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) formulation is used here. The present results illustrate that this approach allows simulating highly demanding powder compaction processes without mesh distortion and spurious oscillations in the results. Moreover, it is shown that the mass conservation principle is verified with a low relative error.


Research has shown that products and clay materials marketed as mycotoxin binders do not always show consistent in vitro activities when different sources of scientific and technical literature are compared. One of the most important reasons for this variation is the difference in the set-up of the assays that are being used to evaluate binders. Because most binders work on the principle of adsorption there are a few very important parameters that will influence the outcome of binding capacity measurements. It is important to understand the influence of these parameters and to design in vitro assays that are relevant for in vivo performance.


By theoretical calculation, the crystal structure, stability, and electron-phonon interactions of calcium dinitride (CaN2) have been described, and CaN2 is predicted to be a superconducting material. The action mechanism of thermodynamics about CaN2
 are induced through the Debye-Grüneisen model. The dispersion curves of CaN2 show large pseudo-gaps in the 400–1300 cm−1 range. The total of the electron-phonon coupling constants for CaN2 is given by λ = 0.37, with a corresponding
 estimated superconducting temperature of Tc ≈ 1 K. The estimated superconducting temperature of CaN2 rose to 28.8 K as the pressure increased to 10 GPa, and then decreased monotonically at higher pressures to almost zero at 50 GPa.


Health is state of well being of body, mind and social life that allows person to live socially and economically productive. To achieving healthy principle, the Ministry of Health (Depkes) has established 10 indicators of hygiene behavior and healthy. To achieve that, at least 65% of the people in region that is capable of running the PHBs as a pilot area to implement clean and healthy behaviors. Meranti Pandak village is one of the villagers in Pekanbaru city slums are still there and will be prone to floods. There were 10 RW out of 13 RW classified as slum. This is because density of population making those areas classified as slums. Of the data pekanbaru city health department, noted that districts Rumbai Pesisir an area prone diarrheal disease, one of the most common is in village Meranti Pandak. The case is going on because there are many people in the area who haven't running clean and healthy living behaviors. As for the purpose of this study was to determine whether people in the area are already running 10 PHBs indicators by the government, as well as find out what the factors that influence them in carrying out these PHBs Based on the result of research on behavior of living clean and healthy (PHBs) it can be seen the people in Meranti Pandak village has not reached the target 65% in running the 10 indicators PHBs. This is because the factors affect the community in running 10 indicators PHBs. Keywords: 10 Indicators PHBs, Health, Hygiene, Factors affecting.


Atmospheric monthly forecast is intermediate between medium range forecast, an initial value
problem, and seasonal forecast, a boundary value problem. The influence of sea surface temperature
(SST) on the atmospheric dynamics in the time range of 10-40 days is still not well understood. As a
consequence, there is no common approach for the representation of the SST in a monthly prediction
system. At ISAC-CNR in Bologna a monthly ensemble forecasting system is run experimentally once a
month, based on the GLOBO model. GLOBO is an atmospheric general circulation model developed at
ISAC. The evolution of SST is represented by a simple slab ocean model based on surface flux balance
with a relaxation term to climatological SST. Recently, a new definition of the slab ocean model which
includes a flux correction term has been implemented to improve the SST simulation. It has been tested
in parallel with the operational forecast for some months of 2011. The results show that the globally
averaged root mean square forecast error of the SST simulated with the new model is slightly larger
than the operational one. However, the ensemble spread of the SST predicted with the new model
increases significantly and becomes very similar to the observed SST variability, in particular in the
Northern Hemisphere. The atmospheric field differences between the new and operational forecasts
show that SST has an impact in the second part of the month, especially in the Southern Hemisphere.
The ensemble spread of atmospheric parameters shows a slight increase using the new slab model.
However, its impact on the anomaly forecast fields is small.


OBJECTIVE:To determine chlorogenic acid of Liangxuehuaban granules by high performance liquid chromatography.METHODS:Using C_(18) column,the mobile phase consisted of CH_3CN-0.4%H_3PO_4;The analysis was taken at 327nm.RESULTS:The linear range was 5~200μg·mL~(-1).The average recovery was 92.13%(RSD was 1.28%,n=5),The relative standard deviations of between-day was less than 2%.CONCLUSION:The method is rapid,simple,sensitiveand accurate.It was suitable for the quality control of Liangxuehuaban.


A progressive decline in the quality of semen over the past few decades has been reported. The reason for this decline remains controversial. Semen analysis guidelines have become increasingly strict which may account for the decline. Additionally, this decline may be attributable to growing rates of obesity, environmental, and other health issues. However, it remains unknown as to whether this decline is of clinical relevance with an impact on fertility rates.

 To determine if there is a temporal trend in both fertility rates and semen parameters, we assessed semen parameters in a population of healthy male sperm donors and fertility rates for King County, WA over the course of a decade. We hypothesized that there would be both a decrease in semen parameters as well as a decrease in fertility rate due to health, environmental, and social factors.

 Semen parameters from sperm donors at a sperm bank were obtained from 2008 and 2020. To delineate differences over time, semen parameters were assessed from two 3-year periods 2009-2011 and then from 2018-2020. Sperm donations occurred in King County, WA. Donors were from within 50 miles of the donation site. Fertility rates for the same two time periods were calculated for King County, WA using census data from SEER to find number of women aged 15-49 and the number of births were found using CDC Wonder data.

 There was a total of 28,576 sperm donor records included in our study. The mean sperm concentration and total motile sperm count for sperm donors declined from 2009-2011 to 2018-2020 respectively by 20.8% and 47.6% (Figure 1). Progressive motility also decreased from an average of 80% in 2009-2011 down to an average of 60% from 2018-2020. The fertility rate for King County, WA was 58 births per 1000 women from 2009-2011 and declined to 49 births per 1000 women in 2018-2020 (Figure 1). Strengths of the study include both report of both sperm count and fertility rate, large sample size and contemporary cohort of semen analyses performed using the latest WHO standards. Limitations of the study include possible inter-observer variability among laboratory technicians performing semen analyses and inability to account for co-morbidities as they are not available in the dataset, and female factors that are associated with birth rates were not accounted for in this study.

 There was an overall decrease in the quality of semen parameters over time for donors. Concurrently, we observed a decline in fertility rates for the same county in which the sperm donors were from. While there are certainly confounding variables we cannot account for in determining the association, our results show that both semen parameters and fertility rate have declined within the same geographic area over the same period.

 Any of the authors act as a consultant, employee or shareholder of an industry for: Acerus Pharmaceuticals Consultant, Grant Recipient Boston Scientific Consultant, Grant Recipient Coloplast Consultant, Grant Recipient Endo Pharmaceuticals Consultant, Grant Recipient Empower Pharmacy Grant Recipient Nestle Health Consultant Olympus Grant Recipient Hims, Inc Advisory Board


Incorporation of defatted corn germ flour in a standard cookie formula improved amino acid and mineral composition of the baked product. Similar effects, but of less magnitude, occurred in corn muffins. Addition of defatted germ flour to ground beef increased yield of the broiled meat product. Amino acid composition remained essentially constant, but mineral composition changed considerably


LoRa networks have been deployed in many orchards for environmental monitoring and crop management. An accurate propagation model is essential for efficiently deploying a LoRa network in orchards, e.g., determining gateway coverage and sensor placement. Although some propagation models have been studied for LoRa networks, they are not suitable for orchard environments, because they do not consider the shadowing effect on wireless propagation caused by the ground and tree canopies. This paper presents FLog, a propagation model for LoRa signals in orchard environments. FLog leverages a unique feature of orchards, i.e., all trees have similar shapes and are planted regularly in space. We develop a 3D model of the orchards. Once we have the location of a sensor and a gateway, we know the mediums that the wireless signal traverse. Based on this knowledge, we generate the First Fresnel Zone (FFZ) between the sender and the receiver. The intrinsic path loss exponents (PLE) of all mediums can be combined into a classic Log-Normal Shadowing model in the FFZ. Extensive experiments in almond orchards show that FLog reduces the link quality estimation error by 42.7% and improves gateway coverage estimation accuracy by 70.3%, compared with a widely-used propagation model.


Based on the theory of characteristic modes (TCM), this letter presents a novel pattern-reconfigurable dual-port multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) antenna with four operating states at the 2.4 GHz ISM band. The proposed antenna consists of the rectangular platform (RP), excitation units, and reconfigurable feeding network. Four elaborated characteristic modes (CMs) of the RP can be stimulated effectively by six groups of balanced inductive exciters. By using a reconfigurable feeding network controlled by four switches, two orthogonal CMs associated with the two ports are switched, and four possible operating states for the reconfigurable MIMO antenna are generated. In order to demonstrate the proposed TCM-based conceptual design, a prototype is fabricated and the measured results agree well with the simulated ones. Furthermore, the port isolations of the proposed MIMO antenna are higher than 36 dB.


The nondestructive detection of small cracks and deep-lying flaws in structures is important for safety inspection. Carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP) are complex materials for use in aircrafts and structures. We investigated the possibility of detecting flaws in CFRP using a nondestructive evaluation system using high-Tc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). A SQUID system for the nondestructive evaluation was developed using a SQUID magnetometer and a SQUID gradiometer fabricated based on a YBa2Cu3O7-δ thin film. Holes, the diameters of which were equal to or larger than 0.4 mm, were made in CFRP plates and all holes except the smallest one were detected by a current-injection method using this system. The results show that the location and the diameter of the holes can be estimated from the distribution of the magnetic flux density, Bz, measured by the magnetometer or the distribution of the first-order gradient of Bz, dBz/dx, measured by the gradiometer. The effect of texture of the carbon fiber in CFRP on the magnetic signal strength was discussed.


The objective of this research is to analyze the performance of the front-end frameworks JSF PrimeFaces and BootsFaces for the development of the Web System with a focus on the tourist flow of Riobamba canton, it based on the performance metrics of the FURPS model to perform the analysis mentioned. Regarding the methodology of the research, the type of cross-sectional study is used, descriptive, comparative and correlational research is also used, where a sample of 385 HTTP requests wat established for each of the research groups. a prototype of each one of the mentioned frameworks was created, to compare them the average of consumption of webetween the frameworks studied in relation to its effectiveness, in addition, it was determined that JSF PrimeFaces has the best response time. Based on the aforementioned, there is a significant difference in the performance of the frameworks studied.


In the present paper, the formation of protective coatings on the MA8 magnesium alloy by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) with subsequent treatment of fluoropolymer is considered. The morphology of coatings after accelerated climatic tests was investigated and the elemental composition of coatings was studied after tests in a salt spray chamber (SSC). The analysis of the obtained results demonstrated a higher corrosion resistance of the fluoropolymer-containing layers in comparison with the base PEO coating.


Triggered by several embarrassing (and costly) IT project collapses in New Zealand's public sector, a government report found that effective project control required good governance measures to be in place. Escalating conflict amongst project stakeholders, particularly where the IT projects are large and complex, is often cited as a major contributor to project problems. Conflict, and its resolution, will be affected by factors that are difficult to control, including culture and politics. In this paper we apply the basic concepts of systems thinking to deliver a holistic research framework, focusing on the project-related conflict resolution process. Key constructs include: input (stakeholder conflict); output (e.g. resolution outcome, satisfaction with outcome); contextual factors (e.g. power, culture); and, most importantly, the control mechanism (governance). This framework was empirically tested using a single case study. Our research found strong support for the model.


Early leaf spot, caused by Cercospora arachidicola, and late leaf spot, caused by Cercosporidium personatum, can be controlled by foliar fungicides. Extension recommendations in South Carolina suggest planting peanuts between 15 April and 15 May. The recommended starting date to initiate 10- to 14-day fungicide spray schedules to control leaf spot is 15 June. The 1980-1990 climatological data for Sumter, Florence, and Blackville, South Carolina, were used to simulate calendar spray schedules and a method for spray timing developed at Auburn University (AUPNUT) that used observed and forecast rainfall. This simulation showed that adoption of AUPNUT scheduling in South Carolina could result in less foliar fungicide usage than the 10- and 14-day calendar-based spray schedules. The study showed: (i) the number of AUPNUT sprays depended on location in the state; (ii) the AUPNUT schedule added one application prior to 15 June on early-planted fields but averaged less than one additional spray per year for later plantings when compared to a 14-day calendar-based schedule that started on 15 June; (iii) at least one spray per year can be saved regardless of planting time, and up to five sprays can be saved depending on the distribution of days with rain; and (iv) a simulation using historical weather data can demonstrate potential savings associated with adoption of new application schedules.


We calculate the influence of surface tension on the barriers for oxygen ionic conductivity in nanograin ceramics. Namely, we evaluate the activation energy for diffusion of oxygen ions via its vacancies. In our model, latter vacancies have been considered as dilatational centers. We have shown, that the activation energy decreases with nanoparticle size decreasing. We derive the distribution function of activation energy on the base of distribution of nanoparticle sizes. We obtain analytical expressions for dependence of ionic conductivity on the temperature and nanograin sizes. The obtained expressions describe the observed behaviour of oxygen conductivity in nanograin ceramics of ZrO2:16% Y pretty good. Our theoretical studies show that the surface tension in nanoparticles is indeed a physical mechanism responsible for the essential enhancement of the oxygen ionic conductivity observed in nanograin samples, where the main contribution to the conductivity goes from the region near the particle surface. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


LGBTQ+ researchers and communities are working to establish visibility and acceptance in the sciences. How is STEM evolving to welcome them?


This review presents a comparative analysis of studies on the phonological systems of Highland East Cushitic languages (Alaaba, Burji, Kambaata, Gedeo, Hadiyya,Libido/Marek'o, K'abeena, Sidaama and T'imbaaro). Comparative method is employed to get the relevant data on the findings of the available studies. Then, peculiar features ofthe languages are indicated based on the findings. Accordingly, the different phonological aspects which make the target languages similar or different are assessed inthe review. There are high similarities in phonemic inventories; there are unidentified statuses of some sounds either as phonemic or as phonetic; there are very common syllable structures among the cognates of the target languages; consonant clusters varyfrom language to language; vowel and consonant phonemes with high frequencies basedon lexicostatistical findings are identified; and, stress placements and consonant positions in the cognates are different across the languages. Based on the discussion provided and findings of the review, possible research gaps and controversies are identified with recommendations for further investigation into the sound systems of the languages.


The quadratic indistincted comprehensive avaluation and the calculated way on the classificated dividtion on construction site was put forward which using the principle of the indistincting mathematics.And the tenet of the blurred assess was advanced.The result of evaluation and the standard was identical.In the characteristic period,which was very accorded with the objective condition.


Referring to children's development,especially the development of children's language,there is a question that people are very interested in,that is,does the development of children's language on earth depend on innate inheritance or postnatal environment? In order to answer this question,this paper begins with the definition of the development of children's language,then,expounds some theories on language acquisition,finally,finds out the crucial factors influencing the development of children's language.


Preface Outline of principles Cell model Thermal stresses in elastic solid continuum Boundary conditions Isotropic multi-and one-particle-(envelope)-matrix systems. Solutions 1, 2, 3 Isotropic multi-and one-particle-(envelope)-matrix systems. Solution 4 Isotropic multi-and one-particle-(envelope)-matrix systems. Solutions 5, 6 Isotropic multi-and one-particle-(envelope)-matrix systems. Solutions 7, 8 Isotropic multi-and one-particle-(envelope)-matrix systems. Solution 9 Radial stresses p1, p2 and temperature range Related phenomenon Index.


In this paper, a novel data-driven approximation of the Koopman theory algorithm is proposed to simulate the coherent and spatial-temporal correlated sea clutter. The evolution of sea clutter's in-phase and quadrature (I/Q) components are well simulated on the state space. Meanwhile, the amplitude distribution and the phase retrieval of sea clutter can be extracted and modeled. The experimental sea clutter data measured by the IPIX radar is used to demonstrate that this newly proposed data-driven approximation of the Koopman theory algorithm can simulate the sea clutter with the phase retrieval, the expected amplitude information, and the spatial-temporal relationship. Our work provides a useful and powerful simulation scheme for the sea clutter, especially when Doppler information is needed.


Public library being a social institution always strives to meet the informational, educational and recreational needs of the community by providing collection and services. Maximum utilization of library resources and services by the users is the main motive of a public library. The present study is an attempt to know the usage of information sources and services by the T. S. Central State Library of Chandigarh users. A questionnaire was used to identify the impressions of users towards the use and awareness of library services, adequacy of library resources and their views on library services. This paper also examines the satisfaction levels of users about the library collection. Further an attempt has also been made to highlight the findings of the study and a few suggestions have been given based on the analysis of collected data.


In this paper, the performance analysis of the classical measures of correlation coefficients, i.e., Pearson's correlation coefficient $r_{P}$, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, $r_{S}$ and Kendall-$\tau$ rank correlation coefficient, $r_{K}$, and four robust correlation coefficients, is carried out in a specific scenario of multimodal environmental sensor network. The correlation coefficients were compared based on their estimated values with true values calculated using the slope of the regression line of the data points. The analysis is performed for two typical multivariate environmental sensor network scenarios, viz, positive correlation and negative correlation. The simulation results shed light on the required sample size of multimodal data and the class of the correlation coefficient required to give the best performance while establishing the correlation between the multimodal variables in environmental sensor data.


This paper presents a bridgeless power factor correction (PFC) buck converter for high frequency AC systems. This PFC converter utilizes series resonant circuit at the AC-side to perform the PFC and buck topology at the DC-side to regulate the output voltage. In order to reduce the number of components and to improve the efficiency of the converter, a bridgeless topology is proposed. A detailed circuit analysis has been done. The AC to DC voltage conversion ratio and boundary of the converter operation are explicitly expressed. Afterwards, experimental results are provided to verify the operation of the topology. The converter prototype operates at 100 kHz with an output power of 10 W. Its efficiency is over 90 %. The total harmonic distortion of the input AC current at full load condition is less than 20 %.


Nanocomposite films based on chitosan nanowhisker (CsW) with ionic and nonorganic polymers were prepared and studied on the swelling and mechanical properties. Сhitosan nanowhiskers were made from α-chitin by using a top-down approach. Ionic polymer polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and nonorganic bentonite clay (BC) were employed to prepare chitosan nanowhisker bionanocomposite film taking into account their biocompatibility and nontoxicity. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis, swelling degree measurements and mechanical tests were employed to analyze the influence of significant PVA and bentonite amounts on the film properties. The mechanical strength was found to increase with the rise of the PVA concentration. This is an advantage for producing wound dressing material. The increase in BC concentration in the film resulted in high film stability in water and different mediums and in higher water absorbance than that of CsW/PVA film. However, the highest swelling degree was for a film of CsW itself but the mechanical strength was lower and insufficient to use it for the wound dressing material. Thus, the incorporation of PVA and BC into chitosan nanowhisker can enhance the swelling capacity and mechanical strength.


Development of Civil State Apparatus is an activity that must be carried
out by the Central Government in this regard Sidoarjo Local Government in
achieving public service excellence. The development of these employees has
been done a long time to start referring to the provisions of law number 5/2014 on
the civil state apparatus. The changes in law that regulate the apparatus indicate
not maximal implementation of the management of official, especially in that
local government.
In general, the management of apparatus isn't carried out properly yet, so
then, the public services will be disrupted. Public demands increasingly more
complex on government services, and all forms of dissatisfaction and complaints
appeared everywhere. It's of course; the authority of government will be
disappeared if the case isn't resolved immediately.
All forms the weakness of public service can be addressed by professional
apparatus management that must be done in a transparent manner. Arrangement
and legal instruments are the key to succeed personnel management. Development
of apparatus ranged from recruitment to the career can be realized when the
instrument is clear, and a clear path, as outlined in the strict provisions as well. So
anyone in government larders will be able to implement civilian personnel
development mechanism transparently and easily.


Metal-substituted spinels, LiM x Mn 2.4 O 4 (M = Li, Zn, Ni, Al, Co, Cr), are synthesized with low levels of substitution by solid-state techniques and studied with 7 Li magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS NMR). The NMR spectra are characterized by several distinct peaks, spanning a wide shift range. The shifts are interpreted in terms of the supertransferred hyperfine interaction. The as-prepared spinels show peaks in the vicinity of 510 ppm, assigned to normal lithium in a tetrahedral site surrounded by 12 manganese nearest neighbors, and 530-580 ppm, assigned to near-defect lithium in a tetrahedral site with one or more metal substituents as nearest neighbors. Upon substitution, the peak arising from normal lithium broadens and reduces in intensity, whereas the peaks arising from near-defect lithium increase in intensity, Li-, Co-, and Al-substituted spinels also give rise to a peak in the vicinity of 1700 ppm, assigned to electrochemically inactive lithium in the 16d octahedral site. NMR spectra of electrochemically cycled spinels reveal that the local environment of lithium changes upon cycling. After cycling, the normal lithium peak reduces in intensity and broadens, while the near-defect lithium peak increases in intensity. The extent of these changes is least for spinels that show robust capacity retention, It is found that damage from moisture contamination results in a shift and reduction in intensity of the peak arising from tetrahedral lithium in the spinel. In addition, a new peak at 0 ppm is observed and assigned to multiple diamagnetic, lithium-containing solid electrolyte interface species, No effects of moisture contamination are observed in the electrochemically prepared samples.


A measure of the dielectric constants of several substances adsorbed on silica gel has been obtained by measuring the change in the capacity of an electrical condenser when measured amounts of the substances were adsorbed on silica gel situated between the plates of the condenser. The substances examined were ethyl chloride, n-butane, and ethylene oxide. The plot of capacity change vs. amount adsorbed was found, in all cases, to consist of two or more quite distinct sections, each approximating to linearity. The temperature coefficients of dielectric constant were evaluated. The dielectric constant calculated for adsorbed n-butane was close to that calculated for the bulk liquid, whereas the value calculated for adsorbed ethyl chloride was significantly lower than the value calculated for the liquid.


Good ventilation is critical for housed dairy cattle during hot weather. Three ventilation
parameters – rate of air exchange, air distribution, and air velocity at animal level – need to be
considered in assessing ventilation. This paper describes each parameter, discusses relevant
research, and points out deficiencies in the existing information pool. Research is needed to
establish the minimum air-exchange rate during hot weather for modern dairy cattle.
Recommended rates are likely being attained in modern naturally ventilated and tunnel-ventilated
barns for most situations. Exceptions would include naturally ventilated barns that are poorly
sited and/or oriented, very wide and/or densely stocked, or located in a region that experiences a
significant number of summer days with calm or low-wind conditions; as well as tunnel-ventilated
barns that are longer or more densely stocked than is warranted based on fan and inlet capacity.
Proper air distribution presents a challenge for natural ventilation in terms of site planning and for
tunnel ventilation in terms of maintaining airflow through occupied areas. Achieving desired air
velocity at cow level in the presence of adequate air exchange appears to be the key design
challenge. A variety of approaches are being used to move air within occupied areas to enhance
evaporative cooling and maintain thermal comfort. While these approaches have been shown to
produce desirable interior airflow, further study is needed to determine the most effective and
economically advantageous methods.


The Internet has grown to a point where people all over the world have grown dependent of the convenient communication medium that is being provided. However, with this dependency, malicious traffic has become a major concern. Because of this, firewalls are a mandatory part of any network, due to their ability to filter the traffic based on rules that state which packets should be accepted or denied. However, filter rules must be manually configured by a network administrator, and packets that do not fit any rule may be subject to wrong judgment by the firewall. This can become tedious in larger networks. Neural networks can learn the filter rules that have been set by administrators in order to decide if packets that do not fit any specific rules should be accepted or denied. The neural network will be trained with existing packet data and their firewall actions, and then tested to determine its filtering accuracy compared to the firewall.


The purpose of this paper is to describe some of the services which courts and correctional workers have requested from psychiatrists. I shall draw illustrative material from our experiences with the Federal courts and prisons. In recent years, vast progress has been made in providing offenders with more humane, individualized treatment in correctional institutions. This development has paralleled great advances in the treatment of the mentally ill, with a shift in emphasis from custody to care in mental hospital practice. Along with these changes, correctional workers are seeking to make wider applications of psychiatric insights and treatment techniques in their task of transforming chronic offenders into useful and responsible citizens. This does not mean that correctional people have concluded that all criminals are mentally ill. Rather, I believe the request for psychiatric assistance results from a conviction that psychiatry has a unique contribution to make in the understanding, handling, and, hopefully, correction of socially unacceptable behavior. Correctional workers look to psychiatry for assistance in developing the compassionate understanding essential to the study and treatment of offenders. To this end corrections is ready to make a larger investment in psychiatry. There is an abundant tradition and precedent for the involvement of psychiatry in corrections exemplified by the work and teachings of such men as Dr. Benjamin Rush and Dr. Isaac Ray, to mention two distinguished early leaders in this field. Some of the philosophy which undoubtedly inspired these men may be found in a quotation from Rev. James Woodworth's address to the First National Congress in America on Penitentiary Reformatory Discipline (1870):


A novel uniplanar antenna design for tablet/laptop applications is proposed. The proposed antenna with a size of 68 × 12 × 0.8 mm3 is comprised of three strip sections, namely, the feeding strip, parasitic shorted strip, and tuning stub strip (or printed LC matching circuit). Five resonant modes are induced by the proposed antenna, and they are combined to yield two wide operating bands that have 6‐dB return loss bandwidths of more than 50% (695‐1190 MHz and 1690‐2930 MHz). Thus, the proposed antenna can easily cover the entire LTE/WWAN operations working in the 698‐960 MHz and 1710‐2690 MHz bands. Besides demonstrating good radiation efficiency of more than 60% for the two wide operating bands, the proposed antenna also exhibits reduced ground effects, in which reducing the ground size will not deteriorate the antenna's performances.


Commercial forest resource was the main pillar of major forest zone finance and peasant household income.As the deepgoing of forest classify management,the resource of commercial forest roamed frequently.Market economy controlled the standard of modern wood market.Fair deal was the base of commercial forest resource.The correct appraise method was not only the ensure of peasant interest but also the management method of property running off.This paper appraised Souheast of Guizhou forest which was the important forest.It would support a model for the same area especially the same property appraise.


Background: Smoking is associated with increased insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a common feature of metabolic syndrome. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between smoking and metabolic syndrome among Korean men. Methods: Subjects for this cross-sectional study included 6,281 males over the age of 20 who visited the hospital for a health check-up. Anthropometric measurements and biochemical studies were conducted. Smoking status of subjects was obtained by self-reported questionnaires. The metabolic syndrome was defined according to the revised NCEP-ATP III criteria. The risk of metabolic syndrome and its components according to smoking status was examined using the multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: The overall prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 28.8% and it was significantly (P 20 pack year smokers the OR was 1.11 (95% CI, 0.91-1.33), 1.28 (95% CI, 1.071.54), and 1.38 (95% CI, 1.12-1.70), respectively, compared with nonsmokers. Conclusion: These findings show that former smokers and current smokers with greater than 10 pack year history are at significantly higher risk for metabolic syndrome compared with never smokers. Especially, the risk of metabolic syndrome in current smokers is positively associated with the number of pack years of smoking.


The article presents some problems of the modern tax system, implying a negative impact on the economic security of the state. Among the full range of problems identified, the most significant may be the difficulties of ensuring a surplus in relation to the budgets of Russian entities and municipalities, the lack of strategic character and planning for a long period of time, as well as the aggravation of social relations due to the lack of fairness of the tax burden. Separately, it is said about tax benefits, which are the battery of business activities.
Tax breaks are important not only for entrepreneurs, but primarily for the state, having a significant impact on the economy of the Russian Federation. Full or partial tax exemption, simplified systems are an example of the direct impact of fiscal policy on the economy of the state. In Russia, there is a whole set of tax benefits that are designed to develop economic processes.


Given a finite collection of two-dimensional tile types, the field of study concerned with covering the plane with tiles of these types exclusively has a long history, having enjoyed great prominence in the last six to seven decades. Much of this interest has revolved around fundamental geometrical problems such as minimizing the variety of tile types to be used, and also around important applications in areas such as crystallography as well as others. All these applications are of course confined to finite spatial regions, but in many cases they refer back directly to progress in tiling the whole, unbounded plane. Tilings of bounded regions of the plane have also been actively studied, but in general the additional complications imposed by the boundary conditions tend to constrain progress to mostly indirect results, such as recurrence relations. Here we study the tiling of rectangular regions of the plane by rectangular tiles. The tile types we use are squares, dominoes, and straight tetraminoes. For this set of tile types, not even recurrence relations seem to be available. Our approach is to seek to characterize this complex system through some fundamental physical quantities. We do this on two parallel tracks, one analytical for what seems to be the most complex special case still amenable to such approach, the other based on the Wang-Landau method for state-density estimation. Given a simple energy function based solely on tile contacts, we have found either approach to lead to illuminating depictions of entropy, temperature, and above all partitions of the configuration space. The notion of a configuration, in this context, refers to how many tiles of each type are used. We have found that certain partitions help bind together different aspects of the system in question and conjecture that future applications will benefit from the possibilities they afford.


In this Paper Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have exploded in popularity in recent years as one of the fastest-growing developing technologies for delivering data over the internet. WSN is rapidly expanding its branches in practically every field of science and technology today. The WSN is made up of several tiny nodes that handle sensing, data collecting, aggregation, compression, and transmission. Because the sensor nodes are so small, the little battery only has a limited amount of power. As a result, the key issue for WSN is to effectively employ this insufficient battery capacity to extend the sensor networks' lifetime while reducing energy usage. However, when it comes to numbers, However, a number of advanced clustered routing protocols have already been used in WSN to reduce the amount of energy consumed. The study's main goal is to improve the Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH) protocol by implementing a new clustering routing topology. The process for selecting cluster heads in our proposed model is identical to that used in the standard Leach protocol. We have, however, partitioned the network's whole area into many rectangle dispersed sections. The LEACH algorithm was used in each area.


Epilepsy is a pathological condition characterized by spontaneous, unforeseeable occurrence of seizures, during which the perception or behaviour of a person is altered, if not disturbed. In prediction of occurance of seizures, better classification accuracies have been reported with the use of non linear features and hence they have been estimated from wavelet transformed Electro Encephalo Graph (EEG) data and used to train k Nearest Neighbour (kNN) classifier to classify the EEG into normal, background and epileptic classes. Very good accuracy performance of nearly 100% has been reported from the current work.


This article addresses the pivotal role of the opera Rapunzel (1952) in Lou Harrison's long and eclectic career. The libretto-a psychological reinterpretation of the Grimm fairy tale by the 19th-century polymath William Morris-explored themes closely related to Harrison's own psychological troubles in the late 1940s. Equally important, in this work he came to grips with 12-tone serialism, with which he had harbored an ambivalent relationship for the previous two decades. Inspired by Alban Berg's romantic yet serialist language, Harrison constructed his own opera using Schoenbergian principles while contrasting sections of tonal centricity with those of tonal diffusion. By overcoming the personal and professional obstacles that had constricted his musical growth in the previous decade, Harrison thus freed himself to pursue with confidence a new and very personal aesthetic path, turning from the dissonant contrapuntal style of his New York years to diatonicism, melodicism, and studies in just intonation.


Cubic perovskite-type pure lanthanum cobaltite, LaCoO 3 , LC and barium-substituted lanthanum of the chemical formula La 1 - x Ba x CoO 3 , LBC, x = 0.0 (LC), 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.8, 1.0, powders are prepared using the polymerized complex technique at relatively low temperature. The complex solution, with molar ratios La (Ba) / Co/ CA (citric acid) / EG (ethylene glycol) = I : 1 : 10 : 40, is heated at 130°C to produce a dark Prussian transparent polymeric gel without any precipitation. Pyrolysis of the gel at 350°C gave a powder precursor of LC or LBC. Thermal analyses, X-ray diffraction and IR spectroscopy indicate the formation of single phase cubic LC or LBC when their precursors are heat-treated in air at temperatures > 500°/2h. For comparison, a solid-state reaction sample, LC, has been prepared, where traces of the parent oxides appear even at higher sintering temperature (900°C). The lattice vibrations in LC precursor are heat-treated at different temperatures and LBC as a function of Ba-additions indicate the structural changes with temperature or barium effect respectively. The amounts of metals determined by AAS, in the samples after annealing confirm the composition to be LaCoO 3 at 900°C. The electrical conductivity σ, of the ceramic LBC formed at 900°C/2h, as a function of Ba-content (x), has been measured at temperatures, 20 (room temp.), 100, 200 and 300°C. From the results, it is found that σ increases with the measuring temperature, while substitution of La- for Ba- is effective for enhancing the oxide ion conductivity in the range 0 < x < 0.5 where it decreases with further increase of x.


Within the framework of the eigenchannel R-matrix method, theoretical calculations of the multichannel quantum defect (MQDT) parameters have been performed for 1.3Po, 1.3De and 1.3Se spectra of Sr. For the singlet spectra, both discrete and autoionisation regions below the Sr+ 4d threshold are investigated, while the analysis of the triplets is restricted to the bound spectra below the Sr+ 5s threshold. Near the Sr+5s threshold, the calculated parameters are in good agreement with those previously fitted to spectroscopic data. The main improvements with respect to the empirical MQDT studies concern evidence of the large energy dependence of the parameters and identification of isolated perturbers of the 1D2 and 1S0 spectra. In addition, the energy levels and the spectral intensities are accurately reproduced and channel mixing and correlation effects in doubly excited states are analysed in detail. A close similarity is found between the 5snp-4d np 1Po mixing in Sr and the msnp-mpns 1Po mixing in the light alkaline earths Be and Mg. Such near invariance does not hold for the 1De and 1Se spectra.


With the UK's cap on tuition fees due to rise to £9,000, Gill Wyness looks at the impact of past fee increases on young people's decisions to go to university.


Most Self-Admitted Technical Debt (SATD) research utilizes explicit SATD features such as 'TODO' and 'FIXME' for SATD detection. A closer look reveals several SATD research uses simple SATD ('Easy to Find') code comments without contextual data (preceding and succeeding source code context). This work addresses this gap through PENTACET (or 5C dataset) data. PENTACET is a large Curated Contextual Code Comments per Contributor and the most extensive SATD data. We mine 9,096 Open Source Software Java projects totaling over 400 million LOC. The outcome is a dataset with 23 million code comments, preceding and succeeding source code context for each comment, and more than 250,000 SATD comments, including both 'Easy to Find' and 'Hard to Find' SATD. We believe PENTACET data will further SATD research using Artificial Intelligence techniques.


We present a theoretical study of shaft-loaded blister test for the determination of the adhesion strength of thin polymer films and coatings to rigid substrates. The relationships among strain energy release rate, load, deflection and residual stress are fully investigated. A series of numerical results of finite element analysis allow us to verify the theory quantitatively and thus estimate the validity region of our solution, which ought to have significant implications in many technological situations. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


Based on the characteristics of non-destructive, efficient and accurate, the critical refraction longitudinal (LCR) wave method has high application value in the testing of composite materials. In this study, the finite element method was used to analyze the directivity of the refracted longitudinal wave in the carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) IIW test block. The relationship between the energy distribution of the ultrasonic sound field and the incident angle and frequency is studied. The influence of the anisotropy of CFRP in ultrasonic propagation was studied by comparing with isotropic materials. Using variable-angle wedges to excite LCR waves in different layered CFRP plates, the characteristics of the excitation angles of LCR waves in different directions in anisotropic materials are studied. This study provides guidance for future research on the detection of surface stress and structural health of carbon fiber composite materials using LCR waves.


The Office of Navigation Systems in the U.S. Coast Guard Waterways Management Directorate is helping to define and shape the future of e-navigation through its efforts on the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) e-Navigation Committee and the International Maritime Organization Subcommittee on Safety of Navigation correspondence group. This article defines e-navigation (the collection, integration, and display of maritime information onboard and ashore by electronic means), including navigation-related sensors and equipment connected via communications networks and interfaced for presentation. Recent developments pertaining to the e-navigation concept within the wider maritime industry are also discussed.


Currency note is a medium of exchange for goods and services; buying and selling of various products including meat, at meat markets. This present study was designed to evaluate the occurrence of Escherichia coliO157:H7 from Nigerian currency notes (Naira) collected from butchers at the meat market in Karu Abattoir, Abuja. A total 189 currency notes sampled from the eight currency denominations were subjected to cultivation and isolation using Eosine methylene blue (EMB) and Sorbitol-MacConkay(SMAC) agar respectively, in which isolates were obtained. All the 189 (100%) naira notes sampled were contaminated with bacteria, andout of the 189 samples, 12 (19.7%) were contaminated with E. coli, of which5 (41.7%) were confirmed to beE. coli O157:H7. Currency notes can potentially serve as fomite in transmitting microorganisms such as E. coliO157:H7 which causes enteric diseases in humans. Also poor handling practices of currency notes poses a critical threat to public health.


To describe the social background, employment conditions, and attitudes of state mediators toward labor-management questions is the principal purpose of this article. Placing the analysis of their survey of state mediators into its historical and institutional context, the authors find that state mediators tend to favor "voluntary" mediation when requested by parties who have reached an impasse rather than early "preventive" mediation. They attribute this to the circumstance that state mediation is less likely to involve major "public interest" controversies than is true of federal mediation. The authors suggest that if present concern at the national level with the results of contract settlements should filter down to the states, the state mediators may find themselves with outmoded attitudes. (Author's abstract courtesy EBSCO.)


Responsible Opioid Prescribing: A Physician's Guide Waterford Life Sciences, Washington, DC, USA, 2007 Scott Fishman (ed.) Pages: 137 Price: $12.95

Commissioned by the Federation and State Medical Boards, this book is written by Scott Fishman with an expert advisory board including Aaron Gisbon, co-director for U.S. Policy Research, Pain & Policy Studies Group/WHO Collaborating Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; James Thompson, president/CEO, Federation of State Medical Boards; and David Thornton, immediate past executive director of the Medical Board of California and many other excellent contributors.

In 1997, the Federation of State Medical Boards introduced the first Model Guidelines for the Use of Controlled Substances for the Treatment of Pain. These guidelines were subsequently updated to a Model Policy in 2004, and have been adopted verbatim by 28 states with 10 states using similar language. The purpose of Responsible Opioid Prescribing is to extract the information presented in the Model Policy such that busy practitioners can understand the information and apply it to clinical situations seen in a daily practice. Scott Fishman has admirably accomplished this task. The book …


Horst D. SimonAndrew SohnRupak BiswasThe Research Institute of Advanced Computer Science is operated by Universities Space ResearchAssociation, The American City Building, Suite 212, Columbia, MD 21044, (410) 730-2656Work reported herein was supported by NASA via Contract NAS 2-96027 between NASA and the UniversitiesSpace Research Association (USRA). Work was performed at the Research Institute for Advanced ComputerScience (RIACS), NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000.


G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent an important group of membrane proteins that play a central role in modern medicine. Unfortunately, conformational promiscuity hampers full therapeutic exploitation of GPCRs, since the largest population of the receptor will adopt a basal conformation, which subsequently challenges screens for agonist drug discovery programs. Here, we describe a set of peptidomimetics able to mimic the ability of G proteins in stabilizing the active state of the β 2 adrenergic receptor (β 2 AR) and the dopamine 1 receptor (D1R). During fragment-based screening efforts, these (un)constrained peptide analogues of the α 5 helix in G s proteins, were able to identify agonism pre-imprinted fragments for the examined GPCRs, and as such, they behave as a generic tool, enabling an engagement in agonist earmarked discovery programs.


This volume contains the proceedings of the Direct and Inverse Problems of Electromagnetic and Acoustic Wave Theory Conference, 1999 (DIPED 99). It includes coverage of: diffraction and scattering; numerical methods; antennas on wireless communication; and more.


Vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) measurements for unloaded and CO2-saturated aqueous potassium salt solutions of l-proline have been performed using a high-pressure equilibrium cell. The solubility of CO2 has been determined at temperatures of 363, 393, and 403 K in 3 and 4 mol dm–3 aqueous solutions. The CO2 partial pressures ranged from 3.0 to 358 kPa. In addition, the VLE data for CO2-free and CO2-saturated 3 mol dm–3 aqueous potassium sarcosinate solutions are presented for the same range of temperatures. The vapor pressures of the considered compounds have been determined at temperatures from 353 to 403 K. The reboiler duty required for stripping CO2 from potassium l-prolinate solutions has been computed by the summation of the desorption enthalpy of CO2, sensible heat, and evaporation heat associated with co-produced regenerator overhead water vapor. A new approach to calculate the latter contribution is presented. The calculated energy requirements for l-prolinate are in the range reported in the lit...


The emulsion consists of a great deal of oil and surfactants. They highly disperse in water as tiny liquid drops.Emulsion is considerably stable. So,emulsion breaking is the key to treat emulsion wastewater. Demulsification of the O/W type emulsion whose emulgent is anion surfactants is described in this paper. By experiments,the factors,such as the density and pH value of the emulsion,having effects on demulsification are analysed. The effects of demulsification by PAS and PFS as demulsifying agents are compared. The mechanism and characteristics of PFS are analysed. The results show that PFS is a new type and highly efficient demulsifying agent and it is worth spreading extensively. These results will be helpful to treat the waste emulsion economically and efficiently.


The effect of the GT-resonance structure of charge-exchange strength function in the 76Ge(3He,t)76 As reaction on the solar neutrino capture cross section was examined. It is shown that accounting of GT-resonances increase solar neutrino capture rate more then 20%. Theoretical strength functions for 76Ge and 74Ge were calculated in accordance with the framework of the self-consistent theory of finite Fermi systems. This results could help to decompose experimental strength function and itemize some low-lying excitation states and pygmy resonances. Also we demonstrate significant role of quenching effect for cross section calculations. Accurate counting of neutrino capture rate could change estimations on background events index in experiments on double beta decay search (like LEGEND).The effect of the GT-resonance structure of charge-exchange strength function in the 76Ge(3He,t)76 As reaction on the solar neutrino capture cross section was examined. It is shown that accounting of GT-resonances increase solar neutrino capture rate more then 20%. Theoretical strength functions for 76Ge and 74Ge were calculated in accordance with the framework of the self-consistent theory of finite Fermi systems. This results could help to decompose experimental strength function and itemize some low-lying excitation states and pygmy resonances. Also we demonstrate significant role of quenching effect for cross section calculations. Accurate counting of neutrino capture rate could change estimations on background events index in experiments on double beta decay search (like LEGEND).


A rare and little known, endemic fern Thelypteris kingii C.F.Reed was first described from a 19^th Century collection from an unspecified locality in what was then "British Sikkim", now Darjeeling District, India. Recently a small population of the plant was rediscovered by the author from present-day Sikkim State. Herbarium records and field study reveal that this species is very rare and under great threat of extinction due to natural and man-made impact. This species is therefore little known to pteridologists and is readily confused with the similar, but common species, T. mollissima (Kunze) N.Thapa as well as with another S. E. Asian species T. leptogrammoides (Ross.) C.F. Reed due to nomenclatural similarities or being later homonymous. Although only known so far from India, and thus an endemic Indian species, its presence in Tibet and China etc. is probably to be expected. A brief history of its discovery, taxonomy, morphology, habitat and ecology is presented here to assist taxonomists and conservation biologists with its identification and conservation. It has been identified as Endangered and Globally Threatened and efforts have also been made by the present author to include it in the forthcoming volume of the Red Data Book of Indian plants.