Purpose: Non-specific chronic neck pain (NSCNP) is a major health problem. Scapular dyskinesia is one of the contributing factors to NSCNP. The suspension-type of exercise is a relatively new method used in rehabilitation of scapular dysfunction. The purpose of this pretest post- test randomized clinical trial was to study the effects of scapular muscles training using a prefabricated suspension system on improving pain, function, scapular muscle strength, and scapular position in subjects with non-specific chronic neck pain and scapular dyskinesia.
Materials and methods: This was a quasi-experimental two groups pre-posttest clinical trial performed at an outpatient clinic. Fifty-two patients diagnosed with NSCNP, and scapular dyskinesia participated in this study. Their mean age was 24.46  5.32 years. They were randomized to receive either stretching exercises and manual scapular resistance (group A) or stretching exercises and scapular training using a prefabricated suspension system (group B). Researchers measured pain intensity using the numeric pain rating scale (NPRS), function using the neck disability index (NDI), scapular muscle strength using a handheld dynamometer, and scapular stability using the lateral scapular slide test (LSST). Twelve sessions were given to the individuals over a period of six weeks, and pre- and post-intervention outcome measures were evaluated.
Results: Mann-Whitney test demonstrated no statistically significant difference between the two groups after the intervention in terms of pain relief, functional improvement, or scapular stability (p>0.05). On the other hand, there was a statistically significant difference between groups in favor of group B who received suspension- type exercise regarding improvement in scapular muscle strength (p<0.05).
Conclusion: While superiority of one intervention cannot be concluded due to lack of a control group, using suspension type of exercise can be beneficial in improving the scapular muscle strength as compared to traditional exercise therapy, while both methods have similar effect on pain, function, and scapular stability in patients with NSCNP and scapular dyskinesia.


Background: The article describes the process of occurrence of additional losses in the extreme turns of the copper stator windings, based on physical laws. The causes of the skin effect in the stator windings of a switched reluctance motor (SRM) are presented, an assessment of the skin effect influence degree on additional losses in the SRM of medium and high power. 2D-model of the SRM sector in COMSOL Multiphysics software package is created to specify distribution of magnetic field in the SRM stator windings and to quantify the amount of additional losses. А comparison of the magnetic field distribution of the SRM configuration 12/8 obtained in the FEMM program and the SRM magnetic field distribution built in COMSOL Multiphysics software package is presented to assess the reliability of the results.
Aim: Calculation of the magnetic field distribution in the turns of the stator winding by building a phased 2D-model of the SRM sector (pole division) in COMSOL Multiphysics software package to quantify the amount of additional losses caused by eddy currents in the windings.
Methods: COMSOL Multiphysics software package is used to build 2D-sector of the SRM. To obtain results on the distribution of electromagnetic fields within the simulated area, finite element methods (FEM) are used to estimate income adjustments, the results are compared with calculations in the FEMM program.
Results: The patterns of the magnetic field distribution of the SRM obtained in COMSOL Multiphysics software package and in FEMM program confirm the presence of a skin-effect in the extreme turns of the stator winding. It can reduce the energy efficiency of the SRM and cause local overheating of the winding turns. As a result of the simulation, the picture of the magnetic field distribution of the SRM obtained in the FEMM program is similar to the picture of the magnetic field distribution of the SRM obtained in COMSOL Multiphysics software package. Ratio error of the values of the magnetic induction of different parts of the SRM is 37 %. It is acceptable and it indicates the correctness of computer modeling in COMSOL Multiphysics software package.
Conclusion: The patterns of the magnetic field distribution SRM in COMSOL Multiphysics software package and in the FEMM program confirm the presence of the skin-effect in the extreme turns of the stator winding, which will allow further research in the field of determining the numerical values of additional losses using 2D-model, and proceed from 2D-model to 3D-model of the SRM.


Shallow draught propulsion has always been a problem and this article gives a solution which combines the advantage of extreme manoeuvrability. Examples are given of vessels built with the system. .


Abstract This paper presents a distributed consensus-based approach to solve the economic dispatch problem with power generator constraints and transmission losses. Buses and transmission lines in the power system are modeled as nodes and edges in a communication graph, respectively. Each node exchanges information with its neighbors and runs two consensus algorithms in parallel, without relying on a centralized decision maker. A consensus algorithm plus a correction term is run to reach consensus on a Lagrangian variable to satisfy the generation-demand equality constraint, while another consensus algorithm is used to estimate the power mismatch in the network. Thus, each generating unit computes its output power according to its cost function. Advantages and limitations of the proposed approach are discussed. Finally, the algorithm is validated by means of numerical simulations on several benchmarks.


Numerical investigations were conducted on the mixing efficiency of resonant acoustic mixing (RAM) technology using a high-viscosity mixture under vertically forced vibrations. The density distribution was analyzed for a mixture of high-melting explosive (HMX) and trinitrotoluene (TNT). The effects of mixing time, amplitude, frequency, fill level, and mixing vessel geometry were evaluated to determine their influence on the blend homogeneity and the efficiency of the mixing process. The results showed that amplitude and frequency both have significant influences on the mixing efficiency of the RAM process. With higher values of amplitude and frequency, the mixing efficiency was very good, and uniform mixing was achieved in a much shorter time. At the same time, it was seen that geometric changes did not affect the mixing process; in contrast, varying the fill level did have a significant effect. This approach could potentially be used for pharmaceutical blending, cosmetics, and explosive applications, where only small quantities of active particle ingredients (APIs) can change the behavior of the mixture.


We used echo state networks, a subclass of recurrent neural networks, to predict stock prices of the S&P 500. Our network outperformed a Kalman filter, predicting more of the higher frequency fluctuations in stock price. The Challenge of Time Series Prediction Learning from past history is a fudamentality ill-posed. A model may fit past data well but not perform well when presented with new inputs. With recurrent neural networks (RNNs), we leverage the modeling abilities of neural networks (NNs) for time series forecastings. Feedforward NNs have done well in classification tasks such as handwriting recognition, however in dynamical environments, we need techniques that account for history. In RNNs, signals passing through recurrent connections constitute an effective memory for the network, which can then use information in memory to better predict future time series values. Unfortunately, RNNs are difficult to train. Traditional techniques used with feedforward NNs such as backpropagation fail to yield acceptable performance. However, subsets of RNNs that are more amenable to training have been developed in the emerging field known as reservoir computing. In reservoir computing, the recurrent connections of the network are viewed as a fixed reservoir used to map inputs into a high dimensional, dynamical space–a similar idea to the support vector machine. With a sufficiently high dimensional space, a simple linear decode can be used to approximate any function varying with time. Two reservoir networks known as Echo State Networks (ESNs) and Liquid State Machines (LSMs) have met with success in modeling nonlinear dynamical systems [2, 4]. We focus on the former, ESN, in this project and use it to predict stock prices and compare its performance to a Kalman filter. In an ESN, only the output weights are trained (see Figure 1). Echo State Network Implementation The state vector, x(t), of the network is governed by x(t+ 1) = f ( W u(t) +Wx(t) +W y(t) ) , (1) where f(·) = tanh(·), W in describes the weights connecting the inputs to the network, u(t) is the input vector, W describes the recurrent weights, W fb describes the feedback weights connecting the outputs back to the network, and y(t) are the outputs. The output y(t) is governed by y(t) = W z(t), where z(t) = [x(t),u(t)] is the extended state. By including the input vector, the extended state allows the network to use a linear combination of the inputs in addition to the state to form the output. ESN creation follows the procedure outlined in [3]. Briefly, 1. Initialize network of N reservoir units with random W , W , and W .


Cole crops belong to the species Brassica oleracea at a primary level and those managed right now: cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, sprouting broccoli, kohl rabi, kale and three types of cabbage, red, white and savoy. These crops are cultivated mostly in winter season. Proper environmental condition, soil condition and climatic condition are needed for their proper growth and development. Plant nutrient is one of the most important factors for getting better return from any crop. Application of micronutrients with macronutrients in proper amount and ratio in an integrated manner led the plant to proper growth and development. Macro nutrients help to improve development and yield of cole crops because of the role of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium on the meristematic action. While, boron, zinc, copper, chlorine, manganese, iron and molybdenum are fundamental micronutrients required in minute quantities, for ordinary plant development and improvement as micronutrients helps in plant metabolism, chlorophyll synthesis, nutrient regulation, reproductive growth, flower retention, fruit and seed development. Lacking of boron, zinc, manganese and molybdenum are extremely common in cole crops which causes a number of anatomical, physiological and natural changes. Considering these, the present review focus on the importance and function of micronutrients in cole crops production and for better understanding also gives a brief overview of some recent findings related to role of micronutrients in cole


Many layered oxide and sulfide intercalation compounds used in secondary batteries undergo stacking-sequence-change phase transformations during (de)intercalation. However, the underlying reasons why different intercalants result in different stacking-sequence changes are not well understood. This work reports on high-throughput density functional theory calculations on the prototype systems AxCoO2 and AxTiS2 (where A = [Li, Na, K, Mg, and Ca]), which show that a few simple rules explain the relative stability among the O1, O3, and P3 stacking sequences. First, for large intercalants (Na, K, and Ca), P3 stacking is favorable at intermediate concentrations (x ∼ 0.5) as its intercalant site topology minimizes in-plane electrostatic repulsion. At the extreme compositions (x ∼ 0 and x ∼ 1), O1 or O3 are stable, with more ionic compounds preferring O3 and covalent ones O1. These rules explain why stacking-sequence changes are much more common in Na materials than Li ones.


Parallel and distributed simulation tools are emerging that offer the ability to perform detailed, packet-level simulations of large-scale computer networks on an unprecedented scale. The state-of-the-art in large-scale network simulation is characterized quantitatively. For this purpose, a metric based on the number of packet transmissions that can be processed by a simulator per second of wallclock time (PTS) is used as a means to quantitatively assess packet-level network simulator performance. An approach to realizing scalable network simulations that leverages existing sequential simulation models and software is described. Results from a recent performance study are presented concerning large-scale network simulation on a variety of platforms ranging from workstations to cluster computers to supercomputers. These experiments include runs utilizing as many as 1536 processors yielding performance as high as 106 million PTS. The performance of packet-level simulations of web and ftp traffic, and denial of service attacks on networks containing millions of network nodes are briefly described, including a run demonstrating the ability to simulate a million web traffic flows in near real-time. New opportunities and research challenges to fully exploit this capability are discussed.


OF DISSERTATION Janice M. Kuperstein The Graduate School University of Kentucky 2008 TIKKUN OLAM A FAITH-BASED APPROACH FOR ASSISTING OLDER ADULTS IN HEALTH SYSTEM NAVIGATION _________________________________ ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION _________________________________OF DISSERTATION _________________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Gerontology in the College of Public Health at the University of Kentucky


This paper investigates individual responses to a simple scheme to privatize social security. The analysis explores the sensitivity of outcomes to how individuals project life expectancy, how they value spouse and survivor benefits, and to expected future reductions in social security benefits. Depending on assumptions made, first year participation ranges from 20% to almost 100%. Estimated time paths for taxes decline immediately with privatization, but the decline in benefits grows slowly over a period of two or three decades. Labor force participation rates are not greatly affected by privatization, even if major changes in pensions are induced.


Objective:To investigate the distribution of Candida species and drug resistance of deep Candidal infection in intensive care unit(ICU) in order to provide help to clinics.Methods:The susceptibility test perform by ATB Fungus 3 automatic analysis system.Results:Totally 103 strains of Candida were detected in ICU.The C.albicans was the most commonly isolated species(63.1%) and then was C.tropicalis(19.4%) in all Candida species.The resistance rate to amphotericin B,5-fluorocytosine,voriconazole,fluconazole,itraconazole was 1.9%,3.9%,10.7%,11.7%,23.3%,respectively.Conclusion:C.albicans is the most commom pathogen of Candidal infection in ICU.The highest resistance to itraconazole and the lowest resistance to amphotericin B.Clinics should use antifungal drug rationally in accordance with drug susceptibility test results.


The invention discloses a method, a system and a device of website mirror-image, which are used to solve the problems that heavier network load caused by the prior art in the process of website mirror-image, and data which are provided are not in time and inaccurate. The method comprises judging whether an HTML file which is corresponding to browsing request is conserved or not by a mirror-image server according to the received browsing request transmitted by a client browser, supplying the HTML file to the client browser when the HTML file is conserved, sending out the browsing request to a destination website server when the HTML file is not conserved, storing the received HTML file returned by the website server, and returning the HTML file to the client browser. The proposal provided by the invention effectively guarantees a user to obtain accurate data of the destination website server, lightens load of the destination website server, and effectively guarantees load balance of the destination website server.


Method and system (10) for making the medication medical environment organ or body cavity is disclosed. The system includes a flexible aerosol catheter can be manipulated in use (22), apparatus for introducing the aerosol catheter (23), was made to control the delivery of the drug to the catheter drug delivery device (16), the gas delivery system in communication with the catheter (14), a gas pressure relief made to release the pressure in the organ or body cavity and apparatus (25), the drug delivery device, the gas delivery device and a central controller gas pressure relief and communicating with the control device of the various means (130) includes. The method while controlling the overall pressure in the organ or cavity includes the step of providing an aerosol of pneumoperitoneum gas and drug organ or body cavity. .FIELD 1


The increases in chemical shipping volumes increase the risk of hazardous noxious substances (HNSs) spills at sea. As one of the most frequently transported HNSs, acrylonitrile (ACN) spill incidents occur from time to time. The spilled ACN will have a wide range of short-term and long-term impacts on the marine environment. To reasonably standardise and optimise the emergency response countermeasures for ACN spill and maintain marine ecological health, the marine ecological hazards and physico-chemical behaviours of ACN were summarised. Based on this, the emergency response countermeasures for ACN spill at sea were studied and summarised in five aspects: spill source control, rapid prediction, emergency monitoring, numerical simulation and impact assessment, and elimination of ACN. This review forms a set of systematic emergency response countermeasures for deployment in ACN maritime spill incidents.


Abstract : During flight tests and during post-processing of flight data, a need exists to validate that all sensors are working properly and that data is valid after experimentation. Analytic redundancy methods enable data validation using multiple, dissimilar instruments processed through the vehicle dynamic system model. A design methodology is presented through which the designer chooses the instrumentation for flight test using output separability of the failure modes as the design metric for measuring system integrity. An example is presented using an aircraft navigation system.


A bunch length instability, nicknamed the ''sawtooth'', because of its transient behavior, has been observed at high current running in the Stanford Linear Collider (SLC) electron damping ring. The incompatibility of this instability with successful SLC running prompted its study using a high bandwidth real‐time spectrum analyzer, the Tektronix 3052 digital signal processor (DSP) system. This device has been used to study energy ramping in storage rings but this is the first time it has been used to study transient instability phenomena. It is a particularly valuable tool for use in understanding non‐linear, multiple frequency phenomena. The frequency range of this device has been extended through the use of radio freqeuncy (RF) down converters. This paper describes the measurement setup and presents some of the results.


Zr 2.5%Nb alloys have wide utilization in nuclear energy engineering, being used at the fabrication of pressure tubes from Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR). This paper proposes to present an electromagnetic method for determination of diffused hydrogen/deuterium content based on the measurement of conductivity, correlating the theoretical results with those experimental obtained on samples cropped from non-irradiated pressure tubes. The methods can be used directly, the results being obtained by data inversion.


The structure of the family has undergone many changes since the tragic night when Mrs N collided with a mammoth in the dark. She had left the cave to pick some strawberries for dessert for what had been a wonderful dinner. Old Mr Neanderthal had been in great form; his numerous children had gulped down the juicy morsels of reptile steak with gusto; and the poor relations had quietly packed away the leftovers into what later would become known as doggie bags. Then the accident happened and as the local medicine man was rushing about with his trephines it was apparent that life would never be the same again. For one thing the family began to shrink in size. It became uneconomical to have quite so many children. They were expensive to maintain, increasingly useless in the fields, and they each insisted on having their own cave. Then the poor relatives stopped coining, preferring to collect welfare cheques to enduring Mr N's sense of humour. In North America the family declined to six members by the end of the eighteenth century; and the trend continued, reversed only temporarily by the baby boom after the second world war, when favourable economic conditions led young people into marrying early and raising large families. By 1970 the family had shrunk to 4*0 and to an average of 3*2 by 1985. Other changes occurred as Mr N let go of the purse strings and stopped ruling with the club. By 1976 the family seemed to be as dead as the mammoth that had attacked Mrs N, thus becoming a convenient election issue in post-Neanderthal politics. Candidate Jimmy Carter, harking back to the nice dinners at the cave, declared that the decline of the family had reached dangerous proportions. Citing statistics showing increased divorce, illegitimacy, teenage pregnancy, crime, and drug use, he pledged to strengthen the American family?as did Gerald Ford. Others also thought that it would look good to worry about the family or sell well to write about it. There was a deluge of publications with appropriate references to Plato and Friedrich Engels. 1976 became the Year of the Family. It culminated in a White House conference where liberals and conservatives glared at each other like Neanderthals and Cro magnons, arguing whether homosexuals and people living in sin could also constitute families. Then they picked up their clubs and walked away without anything being accomplished.


Science blogs have become an increasingly important component of the ecosystem of science news on the Internet. Through a survey of 2,955 readers of 40 randomly selected science blogs, we created profiles of science blog users. Super users indicated reading science blogs for a wide range of reasons, including for community-seeking purposes. One-way entertainment users indicated reading blogs more for entertainment and ambiance. Unique information-seeking users indicated reading blogs more for specific information not found elsewhere. But regardless of science blog users' motivations to read, they are sophisticated consumers of science media possessing high levels of scientific knowledge.


The coexistence of magnetism and superconductivity in the high-Tc compound GdBa2Cu3O7-x (x approximately 0) and the influence of oxygen deficiency on the magnetic properties in a sample with x>0.5 have been studied by measurements of the specific heat and the bulk magnetisation and by 155Gd Mossbauer spectroscopy. The magnetic ordering is found to have a pronounced two-dimensional character. The orientation of the ordered Gd moments parallel to the c axis shows the ordering to be due to an anisotropic superexchange interaction. The effect of oxygen vacancies on the magnetic properties is marginal. No indications for magnetic moments at Cu ions was found.


Provided with overwritten carbon paper images and one carbon copied document produced by the carbon paper, decipherment of the overwritten entries can be made. A technique using the Video Spectral Comparator with the Image Integration Comparator can reveal overwritten entries by storing and superimposing images of the carbon paper and carbon copied document.


The widespread availability of computers has prompted schools to invest in computer hardware and develop courses of instruction. However, the presence of computers and computer courses in schools does not ensure equal access for boys and girls. This study investigated the relationships between gender and computer use and gender and attitudes towards computers. Results indicate a relationship between gender and use outside of school, but not between gender and use in schools. Results also indicate that the relationships between gender and attitudes toward computers are eliminated when other factors are taken into account.


BACKGROUND AND AIMS
AmapSim is a tool that implements a structural plant growth model based on a botanical theory and simulates plant morphogenesis to produce accurate, complex and detailed plant architectures. This software is the result of more than a decade of research and development devoted to plant architecture. New advances in the software development have yielded plug-in external functions that open up the simulator to functional processes.

METHODS
The simulation of plant topology is based on the growth of a set of virtual buds whose activity is modelled using stochastic processes. The geometry of the resulting axes is modelled by simple descriptive functions. The potential growth of each bud is represented by means of a numerical value called physiological age, which controls the value for each parameter in the model. The set of possible values for physiological ages is called the reference axis. In order to mimic morphological and architectural metamorphosis, the value allocated for the physiological age of buds evolves along this reference axis according to an oriented finite state automaton whose occupation and transition law follows a semi-Markovian function.

KEY RESULTS
Simulations were performed on tomato plants to demonstrate how the AmapSim simulator can interface external modules, e.g. a GREENLAB growth model and a radiosity model.

CONCLUSIONS
The algorithmic ability provided by AmapSim, e.g. the reference axis, enables unified control to be exercised over plant development parameter values, depending on the biological process target: how to affect the local pertinent process, i.e. the pertinent parameter(s), while keeping the rest unchanged. This opening up to external functions also offers a broadened field of applications and thus allows feedback between plant growth and the physical environment.


The majority of modern mobile phones in use in Australia also have Bluetooth communications capability and this paper details the use of Bluetooth technology to perform travel time studies on a major motorway upgrade project west of Brisbane without the use of floating car studies, loop detection or other invasive methods. The motorway upgrade project requires the tracking of travel time through the upgrade area during all construction phases from project start to finish. The construction project is the Origin Alliance and is one of the largest projects of its type currently underway in Australia. One important aspect of the project is the use of Key Result Areas (KRAs) to determine the payment of bonuses to or penalties by the contractor. The KRA of interest for this project is travel time reliability through the project corridor while under construction. Prior projects utilized floating car studies to determine travel times through projects during peak periods. Bluetooth technology has allowed the use of a technique that provides very robust travel time data sets 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This data shows real travel time trends during peak and non-peak periods and can also provide Origin-Destination data as a result of the traffic data collection network configuration.


talking, writing, thinking, behaving and theorising that prevail at certain times in certain arenas of life. How do these taken-for-granted ways of being define or position people in particular ways? How do they act to legitimise particular kinds of behaviour? What assumptions does a particular discourse contain about what is normal or desirable? Whose position is strengthened or weakened by what is focused upon or what is ignored within a particular discourse? What discourses are muted or unacknowledged? What discourses might one expect to find concerning a theme, but which are noticeable by their absence? Such questions are a necessary concern for the reflective practitioner. I first encountered discourse in the sense considered in this chapter, in 1990, in a book called Losing Out, by Sue Lees (1987). I was bowled over by how strongly the concept resonated with my experience, and by Lees' analysis of how discourses both reflect and create social reality. At that time, I was a teacher in a co-educational second-level school. I was concerned that, although the school had all kinds of equal-opportunities policies in place, girls often were disadvantaged because they spent a lot of time coping with comments about their sexuality or sexual 'reputation'. And there was a widespread assumption among staff and students that it was natural or normal for girls to have to do this. People assumed that, although it was unfortunate, the task for girls was to learn to deal with it. Among those who didn't like it or who felt it was unfair, there was a feeling of powerlessness, and no books or manuals on equality had anything useful to offer. The only real option open to a girl accused of being a slut was to deny it. The truth or otherwise of the accusation had nothing to do with it; to call a girl a slut was to put her down, disempower her or 'keep her in her place' and to negate any other power or authority she might have. The same discourse could be employed to disempower a woman teacher. Boys and men teachers could be subject to discourses surrounding homosexuality (see Ryan, 1992, 1997). It was extremely difficult to contest the notion that sexuality was at the heart of a girl's identity. Within the discourses circulating in the school at that time, there was no discourse that made active female sexuality okay. Nor was there a discourse that had as its central premise that it was unacceptable to reduce everything to sexuality, where girls and women were concerned. Not a great deal has changed in the 23 years since Lees published her study. In modern societies, it is now widely acceptable to talk about sex, but the discourses that shape how we talk about it remain largely similar to the discourses identified by Lees. Discourses


In accordance with the grey characteristics of functional degradation during its evaluation,the operational state of bridge is regarded as a grey system.In this paper,the grey sequence prediction method in grey system theory is adopted to predict the tendency of degradation of the operational state of bridge structure.


Religion is becoming increasingly salient in and around, but not confined to, the American workplace. The rise of openly faith-based organizations and discourse surrounding the role and importance of spirituality are just a couple of the indicators that religion, in its various guises, is playing a role in organizational life. With few exceptions, however, scholarly research has sidestepped the issue of religion, and, perhaps unwittingly, discourse surrounding spirituality seems to imply that religion is a benign and positive force. Rather than implicitly or explicitly assuming that religion is a benign, positive force in organizations, in this paper, we suggest that organizational scholars need to rigorously address the potential consequences of religion at work in a dispassionate manner that acknowledges both the benefits/adaptive outcomes and the challenges/maladaptive outcomes. Specifically, adopting primarily a psychological approach, we theorize about two fundamental tensions produced by contemplations about religion and the concept of God at work and the conditions under which benefits versus challenges may prevail. These exemplary tensions, virtuousness versus "more-virtuous-than-thou" and prosociality and ethicality versus egocentrism, highlight the fact that religion has the potential to result in both adaptive and maladaptive outcomes for organizations and their members. Importantly, for each tension, we theorize about the initial conditions under which beneficial/adaptive or challenging/maladaptive outcomes will prevail. We also explore the critical role that the wider context plays in understanding these tensions and how religion affects organizational life.


Published under the auspices of the American Society of International Law. We would highly recommend this book for purchase. It is a valuable addition to any international law library. Int' l J. of Legal Information, Vol. 27, No.1 This is the second volume to grow out of the cooperative research sponsored by the ASIL, the Canadian Council on International Law, and the Japan Association of International Law. With emphasis on recent developments in human rights law, international trade and investment, arms control, and other emerging areas of law, the authors concentrate on dispute resolution, compliance, and enforcement of the law. Published under the Transnational Publishers imprint.


My book's title is actually much more complex and celebratory than it sounds. To most people, I expect, With a Woman's Voice suggests a woman looking back and speaking about her life. But, in my case, With a Woman's Voice: 1) Presents the voice of a person who has been voiceless, 2) Not a child's voice, neither a boy's, nor a girl's, 3) One that it is not a man's voice in a world where heretofore only male voices prevailed. Rather, it is a woman's voice speaking out about things our newspaper family, who idealized freedom of speech, tried to keep secret. Furthermore, I think most people would regard this woman writer as having a reasonable voice rather than the hostile shrieking ones I grew up witnessing in women angry and helpless from being silenced.


We have employed 4-alkenyl-5H-1,2,3-oxathiazole 2,2-dioxides as useful reagents able to generate in situ an electron-rich diene intermediate that has the potential to undergo [4 + 2] cycloaddition with α,β-unsaturated aldehydes through the iminium/enamine activation. Under the optimized reaction conditions that comprise the use of O-TMS diphenylprolinol as an organocatalyst and a Bronsted base as a cocatalyst, a series of [4 + 2] cycloadducts has been prepared as single diastereoisomers with very high enantiomeric excess. Moreover, the cyclic sulfamidate entity can play the role of a masked β-aminoalcohol moiety in which these adducts can be converted by simple diastereoselective reduction/hydrolysis.


Abstract Introduction Opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome (OMS) is a paraneoplastic neurological disorder associated with neuroblastic tumor (NT) in childhood. Half of patients have neurological sequelae after the neurological and oncological treatment. We reviewed the neurological and oncological outcomes of NT with OMS, and discussed whether the treatment of NT would contribute to improving the neurological prognosis. Methods We retrospectively assessed NT patients with OMS from January 2001 to December 2013 at a single institution in Japan. Demographic data, neurological and oncological status, histopathology, treatments, prognosis, and diagnosis and treatment timing were retrospectively reviewed from the records. The timings assessed were the interval between OMS onset and NT detection, initial NT therapy, and initial OMS therapy, the interval between NT therapy and OMS remission, and duration of OMS. Results A total of 73 patients with NT were treated during the study period, and 5 of 73 patients were diagnosed as having NT with OMS. The median age at onset of OMS was 22 months (range, 18–30 months). The median age at detection of NT was 29 months (range, 21–33 months). Three of five cases showed no uptake on meta-iodobenzylguanidine scintigraphy. The tumor histopathology was neuroblastoma in two patients, ganglioneuroblastoma in two patients, and ganglioneuroma in one patient. Primary resection was performed in three cases. All patients survived. Two of five cases presented with atypical neurological symptoms without opsoclonus. The initial neurological therapy was started within a mean of 20 days (range, 3–76 days) from the onset of OMS in all cases. Four patients received intravenous immunoglobulin, and one with persistent neurological problems received rituximab. Neurological symptoms resolved in three cases. The mean interval between the onset of OMS and the detection of NT in case without neurological sequelae was 57 days (range, 25–113 days), while in case with neurological sequelae it was 365 days (range, 271–458 days). The mean interval between onset of OMS and initial therapy for NT in case without neurological sequelae was 88 days (range, 47–145 days), while in case with neurological sequelae it was 389 days (range, 292–486 days). Conclusion The interval between the onset of OMS and the detection and initial therapy of NT tended to be longer in patients with neurological sequelae than in those without neurological sequelae. This study suggested that early detection and treatment of NT with OMS might improve the neurological outcomes.


I want to thank the MENC Society for Research in Music Education (SRME) for inviting me to speak this afternoon, especially the chair of the SRME Executive Committee, Wendy Sims. It is a pleasure to be here.1 The first invitation I ever received to speak about something not based strictly on research data and findings came from Mark Fonder, who asked me to speak at the Ithaca College School of Music's centennial celebration in 1992. I said some things at that symposium that I knew in advance some people would not agree with or like. I stretched further in my "Key Focus" address at the 1996 MENC convention in Kansas City.2 After that talk, I asked Charles Schmidt if he thought I had been too hard on our music education historians. Chuck said in that sweet way of his: "No, I think you took care of everyone today." It is difficult to avoid offending people with data-based presentations. It is impossible to do so in an address like this, at least for me. Nevertheless, I am not going to apologize for offending people today because the SRME leaders invited me to say what I want to say. I am going to talk about several things that relate to attitudes toward music and music education, attitudes held by society in general


I have been walking, making the road with my steps, for a long time. Around 24,000 hours to be nearly exact. Twenty four thousand hours of walking alongside people who have been seriously traumatized, severely dissociative. It seems implausible, that number, but I counted up the hours of therapy I have given, and it is correct. It is only in learning so much over these years that I realize how little I (we all) still know. Working with dissociative patients can be a lot of things, but you can always count on it being a lesson in humility. In spite of standing on the shoulders of many great masters, and having an array of theories and treatments at my fingertips, vast territories of dissociation remain blank spaces on a half-filled map. And so it is also for integration, the antithesis of dissociation. That map, too, is full of gaps and vacancies. What a privilege—though a hard one-to walk these half-known lands time and again, as my steps and my patients' forge the road.


The impact of mesozooplankton (>210 μm, mostly adult copepods and late-stage copepodites) and micrometazoa (64–210 μm, mostly copepod nauplii) on phytoplankton size structure and biomass in the lower Hudson River estuary was investigated using various14C-labeled algal species as tracers of grazing on natural phytoplankton. During spring and summer, zooplankton grazing pressure, defined as %=mg C ingested m−2 h−1/mg C produced m−2 h−1 (depth-integrated rates)×100, on total phytoplankton ranged between 0.04% and 1.9% for mesozooplankton and 0.1% and 6.6% for micrometazoa. The greatest grazing impact was measured in fall when 20.2% and 44.6%, respectively, of the total depth-integrated primary production from surface water phytoplankton was grazed. Mesozooplankton exhibited some size-selective grazing on phytoplankton, preferentially grazing the diatomThalassiosira pseudonana over the larger diatomDitylum brightwelli, but this was not found for micrometazoa. Neither zooplankton group grazed on the dinoflagellateAmphidinium sp. We conclude that metazoan zooplankton have a minimal role in controlling total phytoplankton biomass in the lower Hudson River estuary. Differences in the growth coefficients of various phytoplankton size-fractions—not grazing selectivity—may be the predominant factor explaining community size-structure.


If we can let students understand and use the method of choosing appropriate vocabulary and sentence forms using proper figures and applying it to the grammar in classes through recitation, we would be able to improve conventional teaching methods. In addition, if we could make the use of five types of theoretical system of western rhetoric and accumulated knowledge of a number of speeches, we could produce more perfect methodology. In this paper, I've tried to apply the methodology of western and Chinese rhetoric to teaching in Chinese classes. Furthermore, I've utilized the communication theory as a teaching method of figures and made it a part of Chinese rhetoric syllabus. Humble as it may be, if we only make efforts to complete the process by direct teaching and supplementation, we would have more persuasive teaching plans in the view of recipients.


In applied psychology it has been shown that the properties of a subjective rating scale depend upon the method used to construct the scale. Furthermore, the manner in which the scale values can be manipulated statistically and mathematically is governed by these properties. Riding quality is often measured upon such a subjective rating scale. Based on these facts the contemporary scale of riding quality was examined in order to ascertain its properties and limitations. Two experiments were performed and in each the riding quality was measured by means of a rating method different from that usually employed. The results of the two independent experiments were found to concur and the conbined result reflects the properties of the current scale of riding quality. (TRRL)


Performance and performativity occupy a significant place in anthropological analytics. In this review, I examine recent publications that address, document, and analyze how different performance genres and practices, enacted across a variety of socio-cultural domains, can be productively mined to establish how pervasively they contribute to our understanding of human behavior. These publications, moreover, range across anthropological fields as well as multiple societies and historical periods, further underscoring that performance has been crucial for human cultures and in our own discipline.


Methods for estimating parameters of periodic autoregressive moving average PARMA systems when the periodic coefficients are represented by Fourier series remain to be employed in practice and still offer problem areas for future research. As pointed out by early writers on the subject, such as Hannan (1955) and Jones and Brelsford (1967), if the periodic variations are smooth within the fundamental period, as might be expected in many physical time series, a substantial reduction in the number of estimated parameters may be realized by setting many of the Fourier coefficients to be zero; this restricts the estimated solutions to a subspace. The identification problem becomes the determination of lags and frequencies with significant amplitudes. While progress has been made in this area, improvements and new methods are needed. In reviewing the development of Fourier‐PARMA methods, we naturally view many of the main advances in PARMA time series analysis under the usual parameterization. Two simulations are presented that demonstrate further potential and open problems associated with the Fourier methods. WIREs Comput Stat 2016, 8:130–149. doi: 10.1002/wics.1380


Early resolution of ST-segment elevation is associated with enhanced clinical outcome following ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). According to previous studies, the incidence of successful reperfusion following STEMI treated with thrombolytic regimen is similar for type 2 diabetic subjects and nondiabetic subjects as assessed by "snapshot" electrocardiographic or angiographic criteria (1). Nevertheless, type 2 diabetic subjects thrombolysed because of STEMI still seem to fare worse, manifesting impaired left ventricular function or long-term prognosis (2).

The aim of this prospective study was to test the hypothesis that type 2 diabetic subjects may have a protracted …


OFT rot of potato is one of the most important diseases caused by ..... Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora. Possibilities of its biological control were investigated by the use of some actinomycetes antagonists for controlling E. carotovora subsp. carotovora. A total of 40 different actinomycetes strains were isolated from the rhizosphere soil of healthy potato plants collected from different localities of Dakahlyia Province, Egypt. These were then tested, in vitro, for their antibacterial activity against E. carotovora subsp. carotovora using an agar disc method. Eight isolates were active against E. carotovora subsp. carotovora and the most active isolate was selected for further tests and characterized by conventional methods. Morphological, physiological and cultural characterization of the most active isolate established that it was closely related to Streptomyces sioyaensis.


As recommended by the international standards, ISO 21542, ease of wayfinding must be ensured by installing signage at all key decision points on walkways such as forks because signage greatly influences the way in which people unfamiliar with an environment navigate through it. Therefore, we aimed to develop a new system for evaluating the ease of wayfinding, which could detect spots that cause disorientation, i.e., "disorientation spots", based on simulated three-dimensional (3D) interactions between wayfinding behaviors and signage location, visibility, legibility, noticeability, and continuity. First, an environment model reflecting detailed 3D geometry and textures of the environment, i.e., "as-is environment model", is generated automatically using 3D laser-scanning and structure-from-motion (SfM). Then, a set of signage entities is created by the user. Thereafter, a 3D wayfinding simulation is performed in the as-is environment model using a digital human model (DHM), and disorientation spots are detected. The proposed system was tested in a virtual maze and a real two-story indoor environment. It was further validated through a comparison of the disorientation spots detected by the simulation with those of six young subjects. The comparison results revealed that the proposed system could detect disorientation spots, where the subjects lost their way, in the test environment.


BITTAR MARÍN, E.J. Field and Laboratory Study of the Mechanical Behavior of Lime Stabilized Sulfate Soils. 2017. Dissertação (Mestrado em Engenharia Civil) – Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Civil, UFRGS, Porto Alegre. Sulfate rich soils present complications in their behavior when are treated with calcium-based stabilizers such as lime. When a soil containing sulfates reacts with lime, expansive minerals such as ettringite and thaumasite are formed which are responsible for the deterioration and failure of various stabilized soil projects. It has been well demonstrated under laboratory tests that the relationship porosity/cementing agent ratio is an appropriate parameter for the evaluation and prediction of mechanical behavior, such as the unconfined compression strength of various types of artificially cemented soils. This work intends to find out if the predictions of the relation porosity/lime in the unconfined compression strength are effective to design lime stabilized soils mixtures built in field. In order to achieve this objective an experimental program of laboratory tests was carried out together with experimental road sections of lime stabilized soils were built. The laboratory tests helped to understand the behavior of lime stabilized sulfate soils, and demonstrated that the void/lime ratio controls the unconfined compression strength of these stabilized soils and that exist a consistent relationship with the field unconfined compression strength results, finding that both, field and laboratory strengths are controlled and can be predicted by this ratio. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) tests were performed to identify expansive minerals (ettringite) on soils samples stabilized whit lime and fly ash-lime. Finally, some solutions recommended in the literature have been tested in laboratory to improve the stabilization of sulfate rich soils through an experimental design, showing that the fly ashlime stabilization improve considerably the strength, durability and volumetric stability of the sulfate rich soils whereas that for the mellowing the improve was observed only on the volumetric stability of the material.


Rolling body unit (2) for Einarmmontage on a vibrating roller (1) comprising a roller body (4), an eccentric (6), a transmission shaft (7) for driving the eccentric (6), a roller body motor (8) with integrated rolling element bearing and inner recess for the transmission shaft (7) rigidly connected to said roller body motor (8) and the eccentric (6) via the transmission shaft (7) driving the vibrating motor (9), a number of sets of elastic members (10) which are arranged such that their cooperation points (11) with a plane (16) at right angles to the center line (12) of the roller body (4) coincide, characterized in that the roller body motor (8) to the roller body (4) rigidly and (via the sets of elastic members 10) is elastically connected with the single arm (3) and that the plane (16) does not match the center of gravity (TP) of the oscillating mass coincide.


In this study we demonstrate several examples of multiple I...I and I...S interactions and test reliability and visibility of the series of electronic criteria. Organic crystals with polyiodide anions and S,N-containing heterocyclic cations open possibility for the design of wide row of nonlinear optical and semiconductor materials as well as dye-sensitized solar cell devices. Variety of crystal structures, available for material engineering is due to the ability of sulfur and iodine atoms form different types of noncovalent interactions, organized in various types of 3D structure motives: nets, layers, chains, cages.


Cells identified as Catenula adhaerens were studied from marine and brackish-water sites on European coasts, along with the type specimen of Amphora sabyii and valves identified as A. sabyii from California. All these specimens agree well with Mereschkowsky's description of C. adhaerens. Thus, Amphora sabyii is conspecific with C. adhaerens, as already suggested by Simonsen. We present evidence that Catenula should be kept separate from Amphora. C. adhaerens appears to be a cosmopolitan epipsammic marine species.


Crossbred adult cats (n = 10) weighing 2.7-3.5 kg were used. Endtracheal intubation and catheterization into the femoral vein for drug administration were carried out under ethlization in all the animals. After the intubation all the animals were anesthetized with 50% nitrous oxide, artificially ventilated and unmobirized with pancuronium bromide (0.2 mg/Kg/h). A femoral artery catheter was introduced to monitor the arterial blood pressure and arterial blood gas analysis. Through a burr hole drilled in the right frontoparietal region, a catheter was inserted into the subdural space for monitoring the intracranial pressure (ICP). A cranial window was made on the right frontoparietal region according to Auer's method.' Through the cranial window, the regional cerebral blood flow was measured with a laser doppler flow meter and the diameter of pial artery was measured continuously. Monopolar EEG was recorded on the right frontal region. Status epilepticus was induced by an intravenously administration of benzyl penicillin sodium ( lo6 unit/Kg). In five of the 10 cats, a marked increase in the arterial blood pressure during the sustained paroxysms was prevented with the intravenously injection of trimetaphan camsylate (C group), but the other five had not been prevented (H group). Evans' blue (2%, 2 ml/Kg) was administered intravenously for detecting the distracted blood brain barrier (BBB). After a twohour observation from the start of sustained paroxysms in EEG, the animals were killed by perfusion through the heart with the saline containing heparin followed by a formaldehyde solution to fix the brain. Endtidal C 0 2 was continuously monitored and kept between 30 mmHg and 35 mmHg. PaC02 was kept between 100 mmHg and 150 mmHg. The body temperature was controlled at about 37 "C.


As John Locke wrote, ''good and evil, reward and punishment, are the only motives to a rational creature: these are the spur and reins whereby all mankind are set on work, and guided.'' The purpose of this symposium is to offer perspectives on another possible work motivation of public employees. Specifically, one important debate in public administration has been about the power of Public Service Motivation (PSM) to cause workers to ''do the right thing.'' The symposium provides perspectives from five different writers, most of whom have not actively participated in the development of this literature, on the meaning and power of PSM as a mechanism for shaping the motives of public employees. Instead, these writers largely operate outside this literature, some in political science and some in public management, but all have a healthy interest in broadening our understanding of bureaucratic processes. We recognize the importance of the canonical literature on this mechanism and how it has shaped the study of bureaucracies over the past several decades. Our understanding of agencies and the people who populate them is certainly richer because of those discoveries, and would certainly be poorer had this literature not developed. In my opinion, we can trace the development of this line of reasoning about agencies to two older literatures: one in political science associated with the development of the ''behavioral revolution,'' and the other the long-term development of organizational behavior as a counterweight to the literature on organizational structures. Essentially, the scholars that developed the PSM literature must live in both worlds. On the one hand, the study of PSM as a mechanism in public management follows studies of employees that rely on theories and methods drawn from psychology, the study of human behavior generally, and the development of modern psychometric tools and techniques. But at the same time, the purpose of the PSM literature is to explain the behavior of those who populate agencies that serve the state and reside in democratic systems of governance. The PSM literature is part of International Public Management Journal


Learning and intelligence are intimately related to each other. It is usually agreed that a system capable of learning deserves to be called intelligent; and conversely, a system being considered as intelligent is, among other things, usually expected to be able to learn. Learning always has to do with the self-improvement of future behavior based on past experience. More precisely, according to the standard artificial intelligence (AI) point of view learning can be informally defined as follows:


In the Masamune-Bergman cyclization of a nine-membered non-conjugated enediyne with an internal, maduropeptin-like nucleophile, the exocyclic alkene migrated to form the nine-membered conjugated enediyne, triggered by the intramolecular addition of the amide group; final aromatized products showed up to 85% yield.


Future Network-on-Chip (NoC) designs no longer map single cores to each cache slice but rather multiple cores in layouts known as hybrid architectures. Additional proposals have suggested creating reconfigurable hybrid architectures where the OS can revise core-tocache mappings as required. However, these designs will still be measured by their ability to reduce the average L2 cache delay. Denser core placements with varying core mappings require cache policies with intelligent data placement schemes otherwise there will be no gain to overall system performance as a result of the networked architecture. Solutions such as OS-directed page placement can reduce some of this delay by placing pages in caches local to the initial requestor. However, due to the page-level allocation granularity compared to line-level data accesses, this policy can still result in shared data existing in remote locations during highly parallelized applications. The most effective network delay reduction alternative is line-level data migration. Data migration policies are designed to take advantage of data temporal locality by assuming data recently used by a processor will be used again in the future. Several variations of migration policies have been proposed to address this demand. However, the physical costs, high computation demands and poor scalability of these methods have reduced their effectiveness in future layouts with hundreds of cores. Additionally, many proposals fail to consider migrating data to a centralized location with even latencies for multiple active cores instead they reduce latency for a single core at the expense of all others. This best average placement is also know as the nearest-neighbor search or the "Two-Dimensional Post Office Problem".


Pancreas-sparing total duodenectomy (PSTD), which allows preservation of the pancreas in its entirety is a promising procedure for benign or premalignant lesions at duodenum without invading the pancreas. We report two cases of tubular adenoma of Ampulla of Vater and a GIST of duodenum, which were resected by PSTD. The proximal duodenum was transected at 2 cm distal of pylorus and the distal end was cut in the distal portion of the Treitz ligament. The proximal jejunal limb was used for biliary-pancreatic duct systems reconstruction with end-to-side anastomosis and distal jejunum was anastomosed to duodenal bulb with an end-to-side anastomosis. Although a pancreatic fistula occurred in one patient, it was improved by conservative management. PSTD is a challenging surgical technique and requires excellent knowledge of anatomy. If performed for appropriate indications, PSTD is a useful alternative to formal pancreatoduodenecotmy and can be done safely with gastrointestinal function maintained.


Electromagnetic brakes are commonly applied as variable loads for motor's certification purposes. Otherwise, depending upon its constructive characteristics a proper control strategy may be required. In this work the application of control strategies to control the current applied to an electromagnetic brake as variable load coupled to a 3-phase Induction Motor is investigated. This arrangement composes the motor's certification bench of Lamotriz (Laboratório de Estudos de Eficientizaç ão Enegética em Forças Motizes) at UFC (Universidade Federal do Ceará) which was designed and built [1] for this purpose. A GPC controller is compared to the LMI-MPC control technique.


This article provides a general assessment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) human rights mechanism. First, this article will provide general information about the ASEAN and the human rights situation in this region. Then, it will dive deeper into the ASEAN human rights mechanism, particularly the two central bodies of this mechanism –the ASEAN Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and the ASEAN Commision on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC). Specifically, this article provides an analysis and assessment of the limitations of the ASEAN human rights mechanism and offers some suggestions on short and long–term solutions to improve this mechanism.


The common existing problems of supervision day book were analyzed and the supervision day book importance in supervision data was discussed.A series of methods and measures about how to standardize supervision day book were proposed,which also had better effect in supervision work application.


Poly(4-vinylpyridine)-supported sulfuric acid is an excellent reusable heterogeneous catalyst for the chemoselective protection of a variety of aldehydes as acetals as well as the deprotection of acetals.


The present invention provides a reliably prevent the door opening and closing the door and when the door rollers derailed inclined, and the door suspension device can be reduced compact configuration of the resistance caused by the movement means to prevent derailment. A first door roller (21, 22) to move into contact with the contact lower rail (13b) manner, and is rotatably supported on a roller supporting member (23) for the suspension to a door (11). The second door rollers (26, 27) rotatably supported on the swing member (24, 25), the swinging member (24, 25) swingably to the first door roller supporting member (23), the second door roller (26, 27) so as to be abutted against the upper rail (13a) is provided. A drive coupling part (28) holding the door (11) and the gate (11) connected to the opening and closing drive mechanism (12). Elastic connection means (29) has an elastic portion capable of changing the relative position of the second door rollers (26, 27) and a drive coupling portion (28) between (33) and the swinging member (24, 25) and a drive coupling portion (28) connected together. The second door rollers (26, 27) disposed between the first door roller door leading (22) and a roller (21) of the trailing side door.


Fine‐needle aspiration (FNA) cytology has been the standard of care in the workup of cervical lymph nodes (LNs) in patients with recurrent papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) and suspicious cervical LNs. Recently, FNA thyroglobulin (TG) washout measurement has been proposed as an adjunct in the management of these patients. We hypothesize that using FNA‐TG washout for suspicious cervical LNs would increase the accuracy of diagnosing metastatic disease especially in cystic and highly vascular cervical LN in patients with recurrent PTC.


Recently, the whole world was tested with the covid-19 pandemic and it's effects which continue to this day. Apart from the economy affected by this epidemic, it also has an impact from various aspects such as medicine and health, community social, tourism and travel, psychology and mental health and also has a clear impact in the education and higher education sector. The teaching and learning methods of the Quran memorization course face to face are exchanged online or virtual. The existence of the Covid-19 virus seems to be pushing the world community, including Malaysia, towards a more comprehensive use of digital technology, which indirectly causes a digital surge in Malaysia. Thus, this study aims to explore the dimensions of students on the use of technological medium for the course of memorization of the Quran during covid-19 by analysis of undergraduate students of USIM. This study is a qualitative study in the form of a case study through Focus Group Interviews (FGI) used because it meets the objectives of the study. The results of the study found that there are four themes that form the basis of the analysis of technology use among undergraduate students at USIM during covid-19, namely the technology medium used by students in T&L sessions to memorize the Quran is through microsoff teams, whatsapp applications and telegram applications. All students, 6 out of 10 students, representing 60% agreed that the advantages of using the medium of technology in PdP memorization of the Quran makes the course easier and more flexible to learn during covid-19. There are 8 out of 10 students, representing 80%, said that the main constraint of T&L through the medium of technology is the weak internet line. As for the remaining students, 2 out of 10 people representing 20% said that the main problem of T&L memorizing the Quran by using the medium of technology is the challenge to repeat the memorization of the Quran and also the lecturers can not monitor students. This study has important implications for public and private universities as well as tahfiz educational institutions in Malaysia in general towards the formation of a more robust and quality al-Quran generations in mastering al-Quran memorization.


The purposes of this study were to see if the items from the Piers Harris Self Concept Scale and the Coopersmith Self Esteem Inventory had construct and predictive validity. Items used in this study were 50 items from the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and 80 items from the Piers Harris Self-Concept Scale. Construct measures were obtained using 18 items from the Childrens' Semantic Differential providing measures of Self-Esteem, Idealized-Self and Empathic-Self- Concept. Ratings were obtained on all items on a five point scale from a sample of 381 children in grades 4-6 in suburban Boston schools. Each of the two tests were subjected to separate Principal Components Factor Analysis and Varimax Rotation. The three semantic differential measures were used in each of the two analyses. A multiple regression was made of the Piers; Harris and Coopersmith items that loaded substantially with the construct measures. The results of this analysis yielded only one item out of the 130 total for the Piers Harris and the Coopersmith which was a significant predictor of the Semantic Differential construct measures. This result questions the predictive and construct validity of the Piers Harris and Coopersmith measures. Research on the variable of Self-esteem has proliferated in psychology, sociology, and education and is currently viewed as an expected output of educational programs (Joseph, 2004; Rosenberg, 1989; Yang & Fetsch, 2007). To evaluate self concept some states currendy use self concept tests as part of their statewide assessment programs. Self-esteem tests have also been used in a large number of educational research studies (e.g. Bachman, 1969; Bringle, Phillips, & Hudson, 2004; Cambra & Silvestre, 2003; Coopersmith, 1967; Coopersmith, & Gilberts, 1982; Lekarczyk and Hill, 1968; Lindsay, Dockrell, & Mackie, 2008; Mahaffy, 2004; and Rosenberg, 1965/1989). The current literature is replete with studies which have focused on research in self-esteem in children and some examples are as follows: (1) Transitions in self-esteem development through elementary grades (Snape & Miller, 2008); (2) aggression effects (Diamantopoulou, Rydell, & Henricsson, 2008), bullying effects (Lindsay, Dockrell,& Mackie, (2008); effects of success or failure in learning (Toland & Boyle, 2008), parental control effects (Barber, & Harmon, 2002; & Lei, Swartz, Dodge and McBride-Chang, 2003); (3) effects of disabilites as visual impairment (Shapiro, Moffett, Lieberman, & Dummer), effects of emotional and behavioral difficulties (Harriss, Barlow & Moli, 2008); and obecity effects (Marsh, Hau,Sung, & Yu, 2007); (4) effects of judged competence and achievment (Guay, Marsh & Bolvin, 2003; Jacobs, Lanza, Osgood, Eccles, & Wigfield (2002) and (5)effects of giftedness (Preckel, Goetz, Pekrun & kleine, ;2008). More than 200 self -esteem or self-concept measures have been reported in the literature (Bracken, 1996; Buros, 1972; Keim, & Bracken, 1996; Martinek, & Zaichkowsky, 1977; and Robinson and Shaver, 1969). For the most part these measures have not been validated against independent measures on theoretical constructs of self concept (Crowne and Stephens, 1961; Guindon, 2002; Wylie, 1961). At least three such constructs of self concept have been treated. These are: 1) the actualized or idealized self (Higgins, 1991; Guindon, 2002; Maslow, 1954; Rogers, 1951); 2) the empathic or looking glass self (Cooley, 1902; Guindon, 2002; Mead, 1934; Rogers, 1957); and 3) attitudes toward the self or self worth (e.g. Bringle, Phillips, & Hudson, 2004; Coopersmith, 1967; Guindon, 2002; Rosenberg, 1965). Before basing educational and research policies on measures made with these self concept tests it is important to see which if any of the general theoretical constructs of self concept these tests measure. At least five self-esteem measures have been widely used to test self-esteem. …


To analyze plate rolling force, a simple available velocity field is first proposed in this article. Based on the velocity field, the internal deformation energy rate and the friction energy rate are analyzed by the equal perimeter yield criterion and the method of the collinear vector inner product, respectively. Finally, the rolling force accounting for the elastic flattening of the roller and the temperature rise of the rolled piece are ultimately obtained through the minimization of the total energy rate. The theoretical rolling forces are compared with actual measured data, and a good consistency is found since the maximum error between them is less than 4.7%. In addition, the discussion of different rolling conditions, such as friction factor, thickness reduction, and shape factor, upon rolling force, location of neutral angle, and stress state coefficient is also carried out.


In the condition of indoor artificial cooling,with 0. 2 ℃ /3 h cooling down to lethal temperature of 50 %( 8. 6℃),the temperature rose at the speeds of 0. 4,0. 7 and 1. 0℃ /4h to room temperature. The results showed that cumulative coma rate and duration were in significant linear relationship. The linear regression equations between cumulative coma rate and duration in the rising stage and falling stage were:y =- 0. 982 + 0. 012x and y = 0. 929- 0. 005x,y =- 1. 008 + 0. 012x and y = 0. 789- 0. 004x,y =- 0. 460 + 0. 006x and y = 0. 914-0. 006x,respectively at the temperature-rise speeds of 0. 4,0. 7 and 1. 0℃ /4h. The linear regression equations between cumulative mortality and duration were: y =- 0. 737 + 0. 008x,y =- 0. 256 + 0. 004x and y =- 0. 490 + 0. 005x,respectively at the temperature-rise speeds of 0. 4 0. 7 and 1. 0℃ /4h. Cumulative coma rate and cumulative mortality were in significant linear relationship. The temperature-rise speeds of 0. 7 and 1. 0 ℃ /4 h can be used as ideal temperature-rise modes,which can provide cold tolerant parents for the subsequent study on cold-resistant breeding of tilapia.


Background: Epilepsy is a neurological condition with an increased probability of seizure occurrence through time. Although many anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) exist, they fail to treat seizures in 30% of patients with epilepsy. For these patients, new AEDs potentially more efficacious and safe are developed. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL) in the treatment of patients with refractory epilepsy. Methods: A review of the literature was carried out using PubMed central. A direct contact with the drug manufacturer and developer was made. Results/conclusion: ESL is an AED that acts by inhibiting voltage-gated sodium channels. It has proved efficacious in the treatment of patients with refractory focal-onset epilepsy with a good safety profile. Evaluation of its use for treating other epileptic syndromes and its role as an initial treatment option for patients with epilepsy is warranted.


This article presents an analysis of the relationship between the development of Museology in Brazil and the development of museum institutions in this territory. The main purpose of this article is to understand how this relationship was able to guide concepts and practices in different institutional environments, lead discussions, projects and productions performed nationally and internationally. Therefore, this article exam the creation of the Course Museums combined the practical exercise of field staff in state agencies and international organizations, and also comment about currents of thought and museological practices that interfered and influenced the (re)construction of


In this paper, we consider the superimposed exponential signals in zero-mean multiplicative and additive noise when all the noise are independently and identically distributed. We use a three-step iterative procedure to estimate the frequencies of the considered model. It is observed that the estimators are consistent and work quite well in terms of biases and mean square errors. Moreover, the convergence rate of the estimators attains O p (N −3/2), which is the best convergence rate in the case of only additive noise and constant amplitude.


our living environment is becoming more and more aware of our presence and starts to react and interact with us. The smart house has long moved from concept to reality., as our homes are now digitalized with all sorts of smart devices. Since we now have more data available the ever., an important part is to be able to analyze the data and provide the user with useful information. Neural networks are a good way of providing systems capable of handling large volumes of data that are able to learn based on users' data. Our proposed neural network system consists of a .NET software application that processes data from the CASAS activity detection system. The software application uses the ML.NET NET machine learning framework for predicting the users' activity. The ML.NET framework was chosen since its open-source and cross-platform.


The invention relates to a preparation method for stevioside compounded sugar-free table sugar. The stevioside compounded sugar-free table sugar comprises the following components by weight: 1.33 to 6.67 percent of stevioside RA-97, 17 to 39 percent of erythritol, 40 to 64.64 percent of maltitol, 5 to 11.36 percent of glycine and 1 to 3.5 percent of beta-cyclodextrin. The process comprises the following steps: throwing the erythritol and 50 to 70 percent of the maltitol into a multidimensional mixing machine and mixing to obtain mixed materials; dissolving the stevioside RA-97, the glycine, the beta-cyclodextrin and the residual maltitol into water to obtain mixed aqueous solution; throwing the mixed materials into a fluidized bed of spraying fluidized equipment from the lower part of the fluidized bed, and applying pulse negative pressure to the upper part of the fluidized bed by adjusting the air quantity and the air direction of an induced draft fan, so that a plurality of cloth bags on a porous partition board vibrate up and down and impact the mixed materials, and the mixed materials form fine powder; and continuously atomizing and dispersing the mixed aqueous solution on the power in the fluidized bed and drying to obtain table sugar powder.


For the past few years, our lab has been focusing on the identification of candidate signaling molecules and tissue-specific transcription factors that regulate cardiac and skeletal muscle formation during early vertebrate embryogenesis. During that time, our studies have yielded important new insights into the processes underlying head muscle development.1-5 In particular, our findings provided valuable support for the current theory that the development of the head musculature differs profoundly from that of trunk myogenesis.2,4 We identified extrinsic signaling pathways that regulate, both positively and negatively, the patterning and differentiation of cranial paraxial mesoderm.1-4 We also revealed that head muscles are developmentally linked to cardiac formation.1, 3, 5


Objective To compare the anesthetic effects and hemodynamic changes between combined spinal-epidural anesthesia(CESA) and continuous epidural anesthesia(CEA) in trans-vaginal hysterectomy.Methods From January to September 2009,80 patients who were underwent trans-vagina hysterectomy were randomly divided into two groups,CSEA group(n=40) and CEA group(n=40).Informed consent was obtained from all participate.There had no significant difference of the general situation between two groups(P0.05).In CEA group,EA was established using(20-30) mL 2% Lidocaine with epinephrine,whereas spinal anesthesia was performed using(2.0-3.0) mL hyperbaric 0.75% bupivacaine via a single-space CSEA approach in CSEA group.The blood pressure,heart rate,SpO2 were monitored continuously during surgery.The changes of hemodynamic,anesthetic dosage,times of sensory block to T8,degrees of motor block and muscle relaxation,and postoperative headache were measured and analyzed.Results The mean arterial pressure(MAP) of CSEA group was significant lower than that of CEA group(P0.05),times of sensory block to T8 was quicker in CSEA group than that of CEA group(P0.01),anesthetic dosage of CSEA group was lower than that of CEA group(P0.05),and muscle relaxation and motor block were much better in CSEA group(P0.05).Conclusion Compared with continuous epidural anesthesia,combined spinal-epidural anesthesia is a perfect anesthetic option for trans-vaginal hysterectomy with smaller anesthetic dosages,quicker onset time and reliable muscle relaxation.


The gemmating power of sugarcane seed was tested in Taiwan Sugar Institute. The results showed that the pollen amount of the parents anthotaxy for the seeds was more, the gemmating power of seed was higher, and the gemmating power from the method of high pressure was higher than that of the method of the sulfurous acid. The gemmating power of sugarcane seed might gradually reduce as prolonging the time of cold storage. Moreover, the seed from sugarcane anthotaxy was weighty, the seedling sprout would be increased.


The paper points out that the conclusion of the electron beam's motion by some authors is inappropriate.The acting force between two parallel motion electrons is calculated by using the law of electromagnetic field.


From Neolithic sites in Anatolia, to Sumer, Crete, Egypt, Greece and India, cats, great and small, have been associated with female figures and divinities. Their power, intelligent self-awareness, and mysterious shape-shifting characteristics have exerted a profound influence on humankind. But, why divine females, in particular, should have become so closely associated with felines is a question that has not been given sufficient attention. It appears that the concept of virginity holds the key: only powerful, autonomous goddesses, free of male control, were linked with felines. The characteristics of these divine females echo those of cats: independence, strength, selfreliance, elegance, and a willingness to allow themselves to be tamed strictly on their own terms. This ancient respect for felines and their especial link with women, not only is a reminder that "spirit" pervades the entire natural world, that there is a seamless link between human and non-human, but that these ancient goddesses can inspire all women to re-claim that proud assertiveness and courage epitomized by these regal creatures. Tyger, Tyger, burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? (William Blake)


T his paper aims to optimize the multiband performance of a patch fractal antenna by varying the number of iterations of the Sierpinski's carpet fractal and increasing number of layers of the patch. In this paper a Sierpinski's carpet microstrip fractal antenna with three levels of iteration having multiband in the C band has been designed.We got four bands at the resonance frequencies - 5.2GHz, 5.5GHz, 6.8GHz, 7.1GHz having wide bandwidth which can be used for high speed multiband applications.


This study examined the causal relationship of spiritual intelligence on work performance among the staff nurses at three states of Malaysia i.e. Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan. Questionnaires were developed and distributed to staff at the selected Government Hospitals which involved 506 female respondents in the age of 20-45 years old. The data collected was analysed using confirmatory factor analytic (CFA) approach and fullfledged structural equation modeling (SEM) in order to test the hypothesized model of the impact of Spiritual Intelligence on Work Performance. In addition, invariance analysis was also conducted on the demographic moderator such as age and tenure. The revised
hypothesized SEM model yielded a p-value = 0.000, normed chi-square=3.999, CFI=0.972, TLI=0.963, GFI=0.939 and RMSEA=0.077. From the result, it can be found that work performance is influenced by Spiritual Intelligence. Also, the moderating factor of age and tenure is not significant that the model is applicable to all hospitals involved.
This finding may pave the way forward for empowering spiritual intelligence in nursing school and training to enhance nurse's work performance.


The paper surveys the researches on the early-dismantling construction technique at home and abroad,analyzes the basic principle,the types and the quality hazards,sums up the craft process and the construction points for the early-dismantling system according to the engineering examples,and proves the practical features of the method.


Utilization of new hierarchical zeolites comprised of small crystallites (<50 nm) provides enhanced processing rates in separation and catalytic applications. However, molecular permeation through surface pores in small zeolite crystals has been shown to control the overall rate, resulting in apparent site-to-site intracrystalline kinetics that vary by as much as three orders of magnitude. In this work, the external surface of small zeolite MFI crystals was characterized by combining experimental kinetics and molecular simulation to evaluate the hypothesis of a two-dimensional distribution of surface pores that are either open or closed (i.e., fraction, popen). The movement of benzene through the MFI lattice and surface was evaluated with a discrete space kinetic Monte Carlo algorithm with varying particle sizes (1.0 nm ≤ R ≤ 640 nm) and fraction of surface pore openings (10–4 < popen < 100). Introduction of randomly distributed surface pore blockages was shown to increase the molecular path length for ad...


Reproductive health and HIV prevention programs for youth rarely address the reality of coercive sex that many youth face. Recent evidence suggests that a significant proportion of young women and to a lesser extent young men experience nonconsensual sex. Such coercion is a violation of a persons rights and can have severe physical mental and reproductive health consequences including the risk of unintended pregnancy and HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Recent research on this topic was presented and discussed at a global consultative meeting held in New Delhi India in September 2003 (see box inside). Among the key issues that emerged were the range of sexual coercion that young people experience the impact of gender norms on coercion the consequences of coercion and program approaches to reduce the problem. (excerpt)


In this study an initial assessment of the composition – microstructure – property relationships in binary and ternary Ti – based systems are made possible using LENSTM technology. Laser Engineering Net Shaping (LENSTM), a rapid prototyping, directed laser deposition methodology of additive manufacturing (AM) was used to create bulk homogenous specimens that are compositionally graded. Compositionally graded specimens were made possible by incorporating elemental blends of powder during the LENSTM process. While there have been numerous studies assessing the influence of common elements (e.g., V, Mo, Al, and Cr) on the resulting microstructure in titanium alloys, other elements have been neglected. A systematic study of the Ti – Fe – Al ternary system based upon varying compositions of the eutectoid former, Fe with Al to stabilize the a and b phases respectively has also been neglected. This research effort focuses on exploiting the LENSTM process by rapidly assessing the composition – microstructure – property relationships in a combinatorial approach for the Ti – W, Ti – Fe, and Ti – Fe – Al systems. Compositionally graded specimens of Ti – xW (0<x<40wt.%(14.79at.%)), Ti – xFe (0<x<35wt.%(36.37at.%)), and Ti – xFe – yAl (0<x<40wt.%(36.37at.%)), y=5,10, 15wt.%) have been heat treated to also assess the influence of thermal history on microstructural features such as phase composition and volume fraction. Lastly, a Ti – xMo (0<x<40wt.%(24.96at.%)) compositionally graded specimen was deposited to re-assess the Mo-equivalency nature of W, as well as assess the role of phase separation in microstructural evolution at temperatures above and below the invariant point (~695°C) of the Ti – W binary system.


In corporation law, a "staggered" board of directors is one that is divided into two or three groups, with directors in each group serving staggered multi-year terms. Proponents argue that staggered boards promote continuity, stability, and independence on the part of corporate leadership. Critics contend that staggered boards reduce director accountability, promote management entrenchment, and may reduce shareholder value. State legislatures have recently emerged as an important arena in the battle over staggered boards. In this arena, the trend is to require staggered boards for public corporations, whether shareholders want them or not. This paper explains that these new staggered board laws are designed to help local, public corporations resist unwanted takeover bids — an understandable goal for legislators who want to keep home-grown public corporations headquartered in their states. But as the paper also explains, the new laws come with a high pricetag: they circumvent traditional principles of corporate governance and shareholder primacy, and they may also mask conflicts of interest on the part of corporate managers who lobby for their passage.


Due to intensive development of multi-axle wheeled vehicles in the Russian Federation, there is a need to improve its performance characteristics such as flotation, which in turn increases the average speed of traffic in difficult conditions. Increasing the flotation and retain mobility in difficult road conditions is facilitated by intensive management of differential locking clutches. However, for a multi-axle wheeled vehicle, the number of differentials in the transmission makes the task of controlling the locking clutches difficult for the driver. The modern development of microprocessor technology allows the creation of automatic transmission control systems that implement the specified law of switching on and off the differential locking clutches. The method of definition of the law of control of differential locking clutches for a multi-axle wheeled vehicle is shown in the article. The research is carried out with the help of the mathematical simulation model of the curvilinear motion of the vehicle in the Matlab Simulink software package. The law of inclusion of clutches blocking is based on definition of a difference of speeds of rotation of output shafts of a differential and considers various radii of wheels rolling and also an opportunity of reliable switching of differential locking clutch. The sequence of switching on of clutches for locking different differentials in the transmission is determined. The law of deactivation of the differential lock is based on the criterion of maintaining the steering and maneuverability of wheeled vehicle, which contains of admissible increase in the turning radius by 10% in the case of a locked transmission with respect to the turning radius for the differential transmission at the same speeds and steering angles. Numerical simulation is carried out for curvilinear motion along different support surfaces of a wheeled vehicle 8 × 8, in the transmission of which there are 7 differentials. It is established that the creation of a control system based on the proposed law of wheeled vehicles differentials control can be realized without significantly complicating the construction of existing mechanical transmissions by installing additional speed sensors on output shafts of differentials.


Different concentration of chemicals in solution, temperature and curing period were used for common beech wood modification with Citric acid (CA). In distilled water (at 60 °C) extracted specimens were impregnated with citric acid (CA) water solutions of different concentrations with phosphate catalyst. After impregnation, specimens were air-dried and then cured at elevated temperatures using different regimes. The effects of different modification regimes were assessed through the values of weight percentage gain (WPG), anti swelling efficiency (ASE), mass loss caused by leaching (MLL) and leachability coefficient of gained mass (LCM). Optimal combination of modification parameters was chosen for each of mentioned properties and then only one optimal combination of modification parameters was selected. Compression strength parallel to the grain and biological durability of beech wood after modification by optimal regime were researched and data presented.


A dictionary for children aged 9 to 13, containing 21,000 entries, with parts of speech and irregular inflected forms spelt out in full. Simple pronunciation guides are given for difficult words and there are many examples to illustrate usage.


The study of acute toxicity of the tincture of lance-leaved hosta in the experiment on rats of both sexes has been done. The complex of the carried out studies has allowed to define the absence of the toxic effect of the tincture and to take it to the 4th class of toxicity – harmless substances.


ChatGPT is a pre-trained model in the field of natural language processing. As a generative model, the technical foundation of ChatGPT is a deep learning model called the "Generative Adversarial Network". The pre-trained large model architecture of ChatGPT can be summarized as "corpus system+pre-training+fine-tuning". Under the combined force of massive data, super large models, and enormous computing power, chatGPT has ushered in the era of universal artificial intelligence and formed a new paradigm of generative AI development. Generative AI products represented by ChatGPT will promote the development and implementation of Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC), and trigger significant changes in areas such as information acquisition methods and economic and social cost structures


The utility model relates to a yarn tension index fine adjusting mechanism, which comprises a front aluminum oxide gate installation plate, a screw rod, a rear aluminum oxide gate installation plate, a guide rod, a cover plate and an index knob, wherein the front aluminum oxide gate installation plate is connected with the rear aluminum oxide gate installation plate through the guide rod; the rear aluminum oxide gate installation plate is connected with the screw rod through a nut on the rear aluminum oxide gate installation plate, and the screw rod passes through the cover plate which is fixed on the end surface of the guide rod to be fixedly connected with the index knob and is used for adjusting the distance between the rear aluminum oxide gate installation plate and the front aluminum oxide gate installation plate. The uniformity variation of the yarn tension is realized through the screw rod and a spring structure, the existing weight structure is substituted, so that the yarn tension is more stable and is adjustable; by utilizing the uniform holes on the circumference of the knob, the yarn tension can be adjusted in multiple levels, the tension at each level is stable, and the yarn tension is more uniform and detailed; and the yarn tension index fine adjusting mechanism is simple in structure, easy to operate, low in cost and complete in function, and a multilevel adjustment function for the yarn tension can be completed through the optimum cost performance.


To the Editor: In the October 1 issue of this journal, an article by Banasch et al was published, which analyzed the breath excretion of C-methionine in 3 groups of HIV-infected patients compared with healthy controls. The originality of this report is represented by the comparison between the CO2 excretion and the mitochondrial DNAmeasurement in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in the studied population; such data confirm the mitochondrial DNA depletion in heavily pretreated lipoatrophic subjects on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). We would like to raise a few points that were not discussed by the authors in their report and present new data on the C-methionine breath test in patients starting antiretroviral therapy and strictly followed over time. Our report on the methionine breath test as a new method to detect antiretroviral drug–related mitochondrial toxicity described the differences in CO2 exhalation in HIV-infected patients naive to antiretroviral therapy, in patients on HAART with normal serum lactate, and in patients on HAART with symptomatic lactic acidosis compared with healthy controls. Despite the similarity of the study design, our results are slightly different from those reported by Banasch et al. First, we did not find any difference in the CO2 breath excretion rate after oral administration of [C] methionine between HIV-infected patients naive to antiretroviral therapy and healthy controls. Conversely, Banasch et al described a significant difference in the percentage of C recovered per hour between these 2 groups of patients. Moreover, the authors showed the same CO2 excretion rate in healthy controls and in asymptomatic HIV patients on HAART. Conversely, we found a significant difference. These different results can be probably explained by the different characteristics of the patients enrolled. In particular, our HIV-asymptomatic patients on treatment were more heavily pretreated than the asymptomatic HAART-treated patients described by Banasch et al (mean years on antiretroviral therapy ± standard error of the mean [SEM]: 6.8 ± 0.5 vs. 4.4 ± 3.8, respectively) and our patients had all been previously exposed to thymidine analogues and D-drugs known to exert higher mitochondrial toxicity, whereas only a small number of the asymptomatic patients in the former study were treated with D-drugs; it would be important to have information on the exposure of their patients to zidovudine and to less mitochondrotoxic drugs such as lamivudine, abacavir, and tenofovir. It may be that our asymptomatic treated subjects are more similar to the lipoatrophic group described by Banasch et al regarding drug exposure than to the nonlipoatrophic group, as suggested by the higher values of aminotransferases observed in our group of asymptomatic patients. Actually, we have previously reported 1 patient on antiretroviral treatment suffering from severe lipoatrophy who showed deeply impaired CO2 excretion but, nevertheless, normal serum lactate. Banasch et al described a significant improvement of hepatic methionine metabolism in a small group of patients 3 months after starting antiretroviral therapy. We are currently performing a longitudinal study with the C-methionine breath test on HIV-infected patients naive to antiretroviral drugs who started HAART. Nineteen patients have reached 12months of follow-up, and the CO2 excretion data are available at baseline and after 6 and 12 months of therapy. All the patients are on treatment with D-drugs or zidovudine, and the mean CD4 T-cell count and HIV RNAviral load at baselinewere 250 cells/mL (range: 2–605 cells/mL) and 63,600 copies/mL (range: 70–445,377 copies/mL), respectively. After 12 months of therapy, the mean CD4 T-cell count was 437 cells/mL (range: 183–861 cells/mL) and 15 patients had undetectable plasma viremia, whereas only 4 patients had positive viremia (mean = 4400 copies/mL), showing a good immunologic and virologic response to treatment. The mean ± SEM CO2 cumulative dose recovered at 120 minutes after the administration of C-methionine was 6.2 ± 0.29, 6.6 ± 0.49 and 6.2 ± 0.36 at baseline and after 6 and 12 months, respectively, with no significant difference (Fig. 1). Finally, a comparison of the CO2 excretion rate at baseline between the 32 patients enrolled in our longitudinal study and healthy controls did not show any significant difference, confirming our previous report (data not shown). The issue of direct mitochondrial toxicity of HIV is controversial, because opposite results have been published regarding DNA content in PBMCs from HIV-1–positive patients naive to antiretroviral therapy. A recent article has demonstrated an increase of mitochondrial DNA content in peripheral blood lymphocytes in treated patients during treatment interruption but only 6 months after stopping antiretroviral therapy, without a correlation between the levels of plasma viremia and mitochondrial DNA quantity, therefore suggesting a recovery from drug-related toxicity and not a direct toxicity of HIV. Our results in naive patients on antiretroviral therapy confirm that, at least in the liver compartment, no recovery of mitochondrial function is evident after initiation of antiretroviral treatment and that drugrelated mitochondrial toxicity is possibly


Undoped single crystalline aluminum nitride films were grown on 4H and 6H SiC substrates using metal–organic chemical-vapor deposition at 1200 °C. From in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction, x-ray diffraction rocking curves, and cathodoluminescence spectra, the crystallinity of the films was confirmed. Atomic force microscopy showed that some films were substantially dominated by island growth, rather than step flow growth. Aluminum was evaporated to form metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) capacitors for high-frequency capacitance voltage measurements carried out at room temperature. Low leakage made it possible to measure the structures and characterize accumulation, depletion, deep depletion, and, in some cases, inversion. From independent optical thickness measurements, the relative dielectric constant of aluminum nitride was confirmed at 8.4. The flatband voltage of the AlN MIS capacitors on p-type SiC was close to the theoretical value expected. The films were stressed up to 60 V (3 MV...


The article deals with different methods of sociological analysis of informal youth unions, including the survey of experts, participant observation and nonparticipant observation, the free interview, content analysis of the materials in the newspapers «Molodoy. Svezhee Reshenie» and «Volgogradskaya Pravda». The above mentioned methods of sociological research give the possibility to specify some informal youth associations in the Volgograd region.


Two new species of Liagoceradocus, L. subtha/assicus and L. branchia/is, from anchialine habitats (hypogean waters of marine origin) are described from Barrow Island and North West Cape, Western Australia.