It is being repeatedly told that this i s the modern era of learning where science and technology is fast growing and resulting in new knowledge, skills and attitudes; and it gives a major challenge before educational p lanners, administrators, researchers, teachers and managers of education on international standards. In this context, a global trend obviously is the increasing use of modern Information and Communication Technology in Education in general and Language Learning in particular. Now-a-days 'CALL' is in the air in lang uage-teaching. CALL, i.e., Computer Assisted Language Learning refers to the use of computers specifically for the purposes of learning. Many CALL programmes are presently used in language classrooms for teaching grammar, speaking and other skills. By reviewing related past literature and studies and considering the importan ce of computer multimedia, the investigator decided to investigate into the effec tiveness of multimedia programme for developing Speaking Skill in English. For the p urpose, the investigator carried out this investigation by taking predecided objectives and hypotheses related to the problem. Two schools from Surat District (one from urban and one from rural area) were selected by incidental sampling method. A sample of 240 students was selected and distributed in four groups by random assignment method in each school. 'Solomon Four Group' research design was used. The investigator used three types of research instruments, viz. instruments for conducti ng the experiment , instruments for measuring the effectiveness of the experiment and s tandardized tests for covariates. The collected data were analyzed statistically by u sing appropriate statistical techniques, viz. correlated t-test, analysis of co- variance, analysis of variance. At the end of the investigation, the investigator found th at the experimental groups did a better performance over control groups on Speaking Skill Criterion Test, multimedia programme can be used for teaching and developing Speaking Skill in English irrespective of Gender, Level of IQ of students.


Advanced oxidation processes holds a promising future for the treatment of wastewater containing organic compounds that are not easily removable. All AOPs are designed to produce hydroxyl radicals. It is the hydroxyl radical that reacts to disintegrate organic compounds. AOP combine ozone, UV, hydrogen peroxide and/or catalyst to offer effective wastewater treatment solution for the reduction and/or removal of residual organic compounds that are measured by COD, BOD or TOC. This paper presents basic review of efficient AOPs developed to decolorize and/or degrade organic pollutants for environmental protection. Fundamentals of typical methods such as fenton, electro-fenton and photo-fenton, are discussed.


Several studies have expanded the work by Jaworski and Kohli (1993) by using their market orientation framework model and applying it to a variety of industries. The results of recent studies have uncovered strong relationships between the concepts of market orientation and organizational performance. The large body of research on the topic of market orientation has not been applied to companies critical to commercial transactions over the Internet. This study explored implementation of market orientation in the context of web hosting and Internet service providers to understand impact of market orientation on these kinds of companies. The study results indicate that market orientation is positively related to performance. Implications for theory construction and managerial practice relevant to companies engaged in ecommerce are discussed.


The crystal structure of beta-uranophane with the lattice constants a: 13.966(2), b: 15.443(4), c:6.632(l) A, P:91.3812) has been refined.It shows that the space group is P2,/a and that the basic structural features determined previously are correct. However, bond-strength sums, calculated using the refined interatomic distances, reveal that the apical oxygens of all SiOo tetrahedra must be (OHf ions and that the H bonds play as important a role as Ca in linking sheets that have the formula [(UOr)r(SiO3OH),], . Hence the structural formula should be Ca(UO,),(SiO3OH),.5H,O instead of Ca(UO,XUOOHXSiO4XSiO3OH). 4HrO as suggested earlier. Studies of the same mineral with ora, orc, and infrared spectroscopy support this conclusion.


Combined with earthquake damage investigation results and practical engineering experience,several main reasons for structural collapse of stairs in civil buildings under earthquake condition were analyzed, and the prevention measures were introduced in the aspects of design, construction and maintenance.


Dr. Beltran's comments[1] offer dramatic demonstration and confirmation of the need for radical transformation of healthcare through collective nationwide efforts spearheaded by physicians as leaders. My answer to his question, "Are there any good men or women left in medicine to champion social justice, fairness, equity, and equality for all Americans?" is a firm "yes." However, not only is it necessary to encourage all the good men and women to speak and stand up to be counted, it is just as important to nurture the sense of justice and commitment in medical students and postgraduate trainees before they become cynical and hopeless. These tasks are long overdue and becoming more critical by the day.


The article examines the phenomenon of myth-making by means of advertising in the philosophical discourse of the twentieth century, because advertising is a component of many social processes, it affects the formation of thoughts and experiences of contemporaries, popularizing and disseminating mythologemes. Advertising appears as a phenomenon that is a transhistorical way of spiritual and practical development of human world, social reality. The study analyzes the works of philosophers: Walter Benjamin ("Baudelaire", ""One-Way Street""), Johan Huizinga ("Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element of Culture", "Autumn of the Middle Ages"), Marshall McLuhan ("The Mechanical Bride: Folklore of Industrial Man", "Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man"), Roland Barthes ("Mythologies", "Image Rhetoric", "Advertising Message"), Umberto Eco ("Lack of Structure"). It is shown that W. Benjamin studied advertising in the plane of urban narrative (mythization of advertising media in the symbolic production and exchange of society). In the philosophical legacy of J. Huizinga, advertising was considered in terms of meeting the non-utilitarian needs of consumers. The specifics of the advertising message are analyzed on the basis of the works of M. McLuhan, who pointed to the departure from the rational perception of information through the actualization of the audiovisual method of obtaining it, which resulted from the establishment of television in the media space. According to the works of R. Barthes, advertising is considered in two forms: as a message and an image. It is shown that the advertising message, which is a denotative-connotative motive of social activity (i.e. perceiving the literal meaning as "buy!" aims to motivate and is characterized by ambiguity of content). Visual advertising code as an object of philosophical reflections of U. Eco, in contrast to the verbal image is characterized by ambiguity of interpretation and therefore is a space for myth-making. Distinguishing three levels in visual communication (iconic, iconographic and trope level), it should be noted that each of them, even if it is an elementary image of the advertised product, has a place to interpret what is seen through the established cultural and historical codes.


For the mobile edge computing (MEC) system supporting dense network, a joint allocation algorithm of computing and communication resources based on reinforcement learning is proposed. The energy consumption of task execution is defined as the maximum energy consumption of each user's task execution in the system. Considering the constraints of task unloading, power allocation, transmission rate and calculation resource allocation, the problem of joint task unloading and resource allocation is modeled as a problem of maximum task execution energy consumption minimization. As a mixed integer nonlinear programming problem, it is difficult to be directly solve by traditional optimization methods. This paper uses reinforcement learning algorithm to solve this problem. Then, the Markov decision-making process and the theoretical basis of reinforcement learning are introduced to provide a theoretical basis for the algorithm simulation experiment. Based on the algorithm of reinforcement learning and joint allocation of communication resources, the joint optimization of data task unloading and power control strategy is carried out for each terminal device, and the local computing model and task unloading model are built. The simulation results show that the total task computation cost of the proposed algorithm is 5%–10% less than that of the two comparison algorithms under the same task input. At the same time, the total task computation cost of the proposed algorithm is more than 5% less than that of the two new comparison algorithms.


Objectives: This study aimed to compare the nutritional risk, health status and depression levels of young-old (65-74 years) and old-old (75-84 years) women on low-income. Methods: A total of 624 elderly women, each over 65 years of age, participated in this study under the auspices of a community social center. Data were collected from June to August 2011 by means of personal interviews which employed questionnaires. The research tools used in this study were the nutritional risk measuring Mini Nutritional Assesment (MNA) by Kim (2000), perceived health status developed by Lawton et al. (1982), Elderly Depression Criterion developed by Sheikh & Yesavage (1985). The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS WIN 12.0 Program. Results: Nutritional risk, perceived health status and depression levels showed a significant difference between young-old and old-old. There was a positive correlation between nutritional risk and depression and a negative correlation between nutritional risk and perceived health status. A 38.2% variance in depression levels of young-old and a 29.7% variance in depression levels of old-old were explained by perceived health status, nutritional risk and the number of people living together. Conclusion: The findings demonstrate variances in depression levels among low - income women differing in age. As a result, the outcomes of this study ought to be employed in the development of future programs aimed at promoting the health of elderly women.


Aims: Cowpea's use as leafy vegetable has been widely neglected in research. The present study was aimed at finding out the nature and magnitude of genetic variability in dual-purpose cowpea for leaf yield and quality attributes. Place and Duration of Study: Ngaoundere University (Cameroon), from 2008 to 2009. Study design and Methodology: Fourteen pure lines and ten F1 hybrids derived from a 5 x 5 half-diallel cross were grown in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications to assess the genetic mechanism of leaf yield index (LYI), leaf area (LA), leaves per plant (NLP), leaf protein (LN) and phosphorus (LP) content. Results: Analysis of variance indicated significant differences (p<0.01) among genotypes for all traits. Moderate to high heritability in broad-sense (0.49-0.90) was recorded for the characters indicating major role of genetic variance in the expression of these polygenic traits. Diallel analysis showed significance (p<0.05) of the effects of general combining ability (GCA), specific combining ability (SCA), the involvement of additive and dominance genes. These genes were asymmetrically distributed among the parental genotypes. Dominant genes had an overall positive effect for leaves per plant, leaf yield index and phosphorus content while high protein content and surface area appeared to be associated Research Article American Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 1(4): 400-413, 2011 401 mostly with recessive genes. Correlations between the leaf attributes and seed yield components were significant only for leaves per plant and seeds per pod (-0.73), pods per plant (-0.69); leaf yield index and seed weight (0.69); leaf protein content and pods per plant (-0.77). Conclusion: These results could be exploited in breeding programs to develop nutritional superior cowpea varieties which could be used for harvesting of both leaves and seeds.


Some "traditional" issues in language emergence and development are viewed through the prism of the interaction of autonomous robots with their environment and through their communicative skills based on the signaling system which emerges as a result of the robots' own evolution. The main goal of the paper is to present initial conditions necessary for the emergence of communication in a group of robots. First, the paper discusses, in relation to the general faculty of language, the change that has taken place within cognitive science, particularly within computational modelling and Artificial Intelligence. Then a number of basic, individual cognitive mechanisms (pre-adaptations) are suggested, including the robots' ability to distinguish signals, associate them with particular situations and imitate signaling behavior. These basic individual abilities may develop in the context of a community of interacting agents as well as in the changing communicative environment. In order to practice and develop the cognitive capacities, robotic agents are expected to engage in a number of activities ('language games'), including the imitation of actions, the negotiation of reference and the use of signals in the absence of referents. Inquiries into the emergence of communication in natural and artificial systems can help isolate the possible stages of the development of the robots' communicative abilities.


Simple Summary Adenovirus infection in animals occurs worldwide, and effective protection for pets is achieved through vaccination. Adenovirus vaccination in wild animals is rare, except in the case of rescue, treatment, and return to the wild. This study aimed to investigate the most prevalent canine adenovirus strains in Korean wild raccoon dogs, sequence the entire viral genome, and analyze the genetic characteristics in comparison with the adenovirus strains prevalent worldwide. We isolated one canine adenovirus type 2 (CAdV-2) and sequenced and analyzed its entire gene (CAdV-2/18Ra-54). This strain was found to have a high similarity with the Toronto A26/61 strain, which is widely used in vaccines, suggesting that pet vaccination can cause disease transmission and infection in wild animals. Therefore, further studies on the safety of the vaccine are needed. These studies monitor the epidemiology of CAdV-2 infection and contribute to the understanding of the genetic evolution of CAdV-2 in Korea and the development of new vaccines. Abstract Adenovirus has been detected in a wide range of hosts like dogs, foxes, horses, bats, avian animals, and raccoon dogs. Canine adenoviruses with two serotypes host mammals and are members of the mastadenovirus family. Canine adenovirus type 1 (CAdV-1) and canine adenovirus type 2 (CAdV-2) cause infectious canine hepatitis and infectious bronchial disease, respectively. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of CAdV-1 and 2 in wild Nyctereutes procyonoides in Korea in 2017–2020 from 414 tissue samples, including the liver, kidney, lung, and intestine, collected from 105 raccoon dog carcasses. Only CAdV-2 was detected in two raccoon dogs, whereas CAdV-1 was not detected. Tissue samples from raccoon dogs were screened for CAdV-1 and CAdV-2 using conventional PCR. Adenovirus was successfully isolated from PCR positive samples using the Vero cell line, and the full-length gene sequence of the isolated viruses was obtained through 5' and 3' rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The major genes of the isolated CAdV-2/18Ra54 and CAdV-2/18Ra-65 strains showed the closest relationship with that of the CAdV-2 Toronto A26/61 strain isolated from Canada in 1976. There is no large mutation between CAdV-2, which is prevalent worldwide, and CAdV-2, which is prevalent in wild animals in Korea. In addition, it is still spreading and causing infections. The Toronto A26/61 strain, which showed the most similarity to CAdV-2/18Ra-54, was likely transmitted to wild animals through vaccinated companion animals, suggesting that further research is needed on safety measures surrounding animal vaccination. This study provides information on the genetic characteristics and prevalence of canine adenovirus in domestic wild animals and provides a better understanding of canine adenovirus.


Abstract : Programmable methods for construction of complex structured objects on the 10-100 nm scale. Self-assembled DNA nanostructures provide a methodology for bottom-up nanoscale construction of highly patterned systems, utilizing macromolecular DNA tiles" composed of branched DNA, self-assembled into periodic and aperiodic lattices. This methodology is programmable by choice of the set of DNA tiles, and can form any computable 2D or 3D pattern. Work was done by three leading research groups in DNA lattices: Duke (Reif); NYU (Seeman); and Caltech (Winfree). These experimental techniques were extended to assemble DNA lattices with complex 2D patterning and periodic 3D DNA lattices for the first time. This provides a flexible nanostructure construction methodology. By selectively attaching various other types of molecules to the tiles of the lattices, these lattices can be used as superstructures for placement of nanocomponents composed of a wide variety of other materials. The ability to form programmable, patterned nanostructured DNA lattices, as demonstrated for the first time in this project, opens many key opportunities for applied research in nanoscale science and engineering, including their application as scaffolds and superstructures for aligning proteins for crystallography studies, molecular electronics and nanorobotics.


In a β‐Mn‐type chiral magnet Co9Zn9Mn2, it is demonstrated that the magnetic field‐driven collapse of a room temperature metastable topological skyrmion crystal (SkX) passes through a regime described by a partial topological charge inversion. Using Lorentz transmission electron microscopy, the magnetization distribution is observed directly as the magnetic field is swept antiparallel to the original skyrmion core magnetization, that is, negative magnetic fields. Due to the topological stability of skyrmions, a direct transition of the metastable SkX to the equilibrium helical state is avoided for increasingly negative fields. Instead, the metastable SkX gradually transforms into giant magnetic bubbles separated by 2π domain walls. Eventually these large structures give way to form a near‐homogeneously magnetized medium that unexpectedly hosts a low density of isolated skyrmions with inverted core magnetization, and thus a total topological charge of reduced size and opposite sign compared with the initial state. A similar phenomenon has been observed previously in systems hosting ordered lattices of magnetic bubbles stabilized by the dipolar interaction and called "topological melting." With support from numerical calculations, it is argued here that the observed regime of partial topological charge inversion has its origin in the topological protection of the starting metastable skyrmion state.


The challenge of managing pulmonary problems in pregnancy is one that demands not only a thorough understanding of the normal physiological changes that arise but also a detailed knowledge of pulmonary issues that arise during pregnancy either as part of chronic respiratory disease or as a consequence of the pregnant state. This book is a welcome publication in this area that is relevant to trainees and consultants in the field of obstetrics, paediatrics, respiratory medicine, anaesthetics and critical care. It would serve as a useful reference text and as a revision text for postgraduate examinations. There is no doubt that the authors had a difficult task because of a paucity of evidence in many of the areas covered. Despite the lack of available data, this is a comprehensive and well-referenced book. In areas of limited evidence, the narrative is supplemented by the expert opinion. The book chapters are grouped into three parts: Part 1 provides a description of normal physiology; Part 2 reports on key management areas and Part 3 focuses on specific conditions. The physiology section includes the transition from fetal to neonatal life and the effects of high altitude on maternal and fetal physiology, a topic that is both fascinating and relevant to the effects on maternal hypoxia in pregnancy. The difficulty in deciding when a pregnant woman's breathlessness is pathological rather than physiological is covered in the maternal respiratory section. The second section covers key areas in management: imaging, prescribing, fetal monitoring and anaesthetics. The diagnostic imaging section is both informative and reassuring, with tables on relative radiation exposure that would be particularly useful when advising women and their families about the relative risks of undergoing imaging. The chapter on prescribing in pregnancy provides comprehensive reference tables on the safety of drugs commonly required in the treatment of respiratory disorders.


The idea for this Special Issue came about at the 1999 Gender and Education 'Voices in Education' conference held at the University of Warwick. The symposium on 'Gendered Voices in Science and Technology Education', chaired by Flis Henwood, was offered as a space for discussion for researchers concerned with issues of gender in science, technology and mathematics education. A number of papers were presented at that symposium which raised concerns that all participants shared to a greater or lesser extent. In particular, we were concerned with the limited ways in which both science/ technology and gender were often treated in educational research. It was this shared commitment to understanding more about such limitations and exploring how they might best be overcome that led us to propose this Special Issue. Here, in this editorial, we wish to map out our concerns more fully and introduce the articles selected for this issue. First, we turn to look at science and technology and their treatment in educational research. It seems to us that, all too often, the sciences, new technologies and mathematics are treated rather unproblematically in research and literature concerned with gender and education. It is as if these disciplines, as immutable and autonomous, are somehow still enclosed within an inviolable 'black box'. The term 'black box' is an interesting one but not one necessarily familiar to all readers so it is worth re ecting a little on its meaning and uses here. In systems engineering, the 'black box' refers to a box containing electronic or other devices from which, given speciŽ ed inputs, there emerge speciŽ c outputs. What goes on inside the box, commonly found fabricated out of a black metallic substance or an opaque plastic, remains hidden. In Science and Technology Studies (STS), the terms 'to black-box' and 'black-boxing' have long been used in a critical sense to denote understandings of science and technology that see them as largely technical and autonomous processes which simply impact upon society. STS, then, is concerned with opening the 'black boxes' of science and technology and with exposing the social and cultural practices which constitute science and technology. For example, in rejecting the technological determinism implied by the black box approach, MacKenzie and Wajcman (1985) have argued for more


Traditional LLC converter is widely used for renewable energy application due to its wide output voltage range. However, LLC converter achieves wide output voltage range by changing the switching frequency, which leads to difficulties in magnetic component design. To overcome this issue, a novel isolated DC-DC converter with configurable structure is proposed. It assembles a H-bridge, a LC resonant tank and two rectifier units. The proposed converter enables four-times adjustment of output voltage by simply arranging the configurable rectifier units in parallel or series in pulse width modulation manner at a fixed switching frequency. Compared with the traditional LLC converter, the proposed converter reduces the switch capacity by 32.8%. The feasibility of the proposal is verified by simulation in MATLAB/Simulink.


Intoduction: An endemic disease is most prevalent in tropical countries is Morbus Hansen. The existence of this disease threatens millions of poor people in particular as a result of poor environmental. This study was aim to investigate factors correlating with anxiety level of Morbus Hansen patient.Method: This study used cross sectional design. The population was all the Morbus Hansen patient in outpatient unit of sex and skin. Total sample was 128 respondents, taken according to inclusion criterias. The Independent variable were age, gender, Education, socio-economic, physical condition, situation and environment, personality type, and stressor potency. The dependent variable was anxiety level of Morbus Hansen's patient. Data were collected using structured questionairre which was instrument of Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale. Data were analyzed using ordinal regression Test with level of significance of ≤ 0,05.Result: showed that personality type by level (p =0,021) and Education by level (p =0,033) had correlation with anxiety level of Morbus Hansen's patient. Discussion: It can be concluded, personality type and education have correlation but the age, gender, socio-economic, physical condition, situation and Environment, and stressor potency have no correlation with anxiety level of Morbus Hansen's patient. Further studies should find another factors which related to anxiety of a patient, involve able better measurement tools to obtain more accurate results.


Purpose:  Expression of the protein subunits that make up the γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)A receptor pentamer is known to change during postnatal brain development in animal models. In the present study, analysis of cortical GABAA subunit expression was performed in control human tissue obtained from infancy through adolescence, and was compared to that from similarly aged children with intractable focal epilepsy.


An educational provision for young children with autism that offers intensive behavioural intervention based on the principles of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), within an early years mainstream school setting in the UK, is described. The ABA Class at Westwood School is a collaborative project between the School of Psychology, Bangor University, two Local Education Authorities in North East Wales (Flintshire and Wrexham) and the local NHS Trust. Using two case examples, two important features of mainstream education for children with autism are considered: access to the National Curriculum, and inclusion with peers in mainstream settings. Standardised test data on outcomes for these children over the initial 12 months of their educational placements are also provided.


A RECENT RESEARCH report painted the contemporary consumer as fickle, unpredictable, anarchic, attentiondeficient, Do-It-Yourself, selfwilled and suspicious. To acquire the support of such consumers is a difficult matter, as firms and political parties have learnt. Nor is there any final victory—one has to work to retain their support day after day. Unions are losing that fight. Since 1982, the unions' share of private sector workers has halved (from 39 per cent to less than 20 per cent) and of public sector workers has fallen almost a third. (from almost three-quarters to 50 per cent). The union movement has two choices to stop this loss of market share. It can seek to re-invent itself as providers of services that workers are willing to buy at prices they are willing to pay. Or it can seek to change the settings of public policy and labour market regulation so that workers are driven back to the union movement. The recent ACTU Congress, and a flurry of effort within the ALP, has seen conscripting fickle consumers become the preferred strategy. The push for re-regulating the labour market is on. The re-regulation agenda seeks to stop the movement of people from permanent employment into other modes of engaging labour—casual, contract, labour hire. Independent contractors are particularly targeted. IR tribunals are to be given the power to declare any contract for services to be contracts of employment—thus any franchisee, contractor or labour hire worker can be declared to be an employee. The agenda and its rationale have been developed by the Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training (ACIRRT)—an organisation of about 20 staff originally funded by taxpayers but now supported by consultancy work, often from major corporations—and Sydney University Law Professor Ron McCallum (see in particular his 1997 Whitlam Lecture Crafting a New Collective Labour Law for Australia , on the ACTU Website, and ACIRRT's Australia at Work, Prentice Hall, 1999). Latest on Website 2 Diary Notes 2 Fall of the Wall Dinner 3 Harold Clough Lecture 4 Forthcoming Publications 5 IPA NEWS 5 IPA Dialogues 6 Reconciliation Backgrounder 6 In Touch EVENTS 7 Media Activities 8 Union Game Plan: Conscripting Fickle Consumers


Introduces a collection of articles appearing in a special issue that reflect on social development, considering the various intellectual forms social development has taken, how development thinking has been shaped by different concepts in different periods, and how contributors' personal experiences with social development research has been applied to social development practice.


We describe in this paper our system for the Prior-art task of CLEFIP 2010 (a task focused on the retrieval of relevant patents to a given one) and its results. We have developed a system where patents are indexed by fields in order to allow a selection of the most discriminative terms of each field, applying Kullback-Leibler divergence as feature selection method, and using different boost factors for each field applying BM25F as ranking function. Although CLEF-IP has been proposed in a multilingual scenario, we have approached it from a monolingual perspective. The results are on the average of last year's results, what encourages us to continue the development of this system by including some kind of multi-lingual processing.


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15 production photos in accordion folder "The Gesture Dance"; in Group 4: Photographs of American Deaf Dance Company, Sharir Dance Company, Batsheva, Kibbutz, and others (43 folders, covering years 1977-1988)


PURPOSE: A hybrid electric power structure for vehicles is provided to include a collector bus accepting power from a plurality of power sources, thereby distributing power to a pair of subsystems operated in different frequency levels. CONSTITUTION: A collector bus(22) receives power accepts power from a plurality of power sources. The collector bus distributes power to a pair of subsystems(24) which is respectively operated in different frequency levels. A first inverter(60) supplying power through a 400Hz filter(62) is included in the subsystem. A plurality of contactors(R1-R13) is respectively opened or closed by a central control device. A local motor bus(66) supplies power to motors(68,70,72).


The CuRECr25 and CuRECr50 alloys are produced by mechanical alloying and vacuum sintering process.The influence of different ball milling time,ball-material ratio,and other parameters on the micro-structure,physic mechanical properties,oxygen and nitrogen content are discussed and compared with those of CuCr25 and CuCr50.the result proves that the CuRECr alloy has the advantages of even and tiny structure,high strength and high hardness,it provides possibilities for improvement of CuCr vacuum contact materials.


In a previous paper (Chin. Phys. 11, 651, (2002)), a rather general variable separation solution of the generalized Nizhnik-Novikov-Veselov(GNNV) system was obtained by using a special Backlund transformation, which can be derived from the extended homogenous balance method. However we did not discuss the related localized coherent structures of the model. In this article, the abundance of the localized coherent structures of the system, particularly some localized excitations with fractal behaviours, i.e. the fractal dromion and fractal lump excitations, were induced by the appropriate selection of the separated variables arbitrary functions.


An information literate population is a fundamental component of modern society, but the definition of what it means to be information literate has changed over time, resulting in debates within the information literacy community. Through the lens of Thomas Kuhn's theory of scientific revolutions and Shneider's four stages of a discipline framework, this dissertation examines the progress of the information literacy research domain using both scientometric and content analysis methods. Three research questions are addressed in this study. First, the structural and temporal features of the information literacy knowledge domain are identified using document co-citation analysis to identify major research areas, landmark and hub documents, and active research topics. Second, pivotal papers connecting major research areas are explored using pathfinder network scaling algorithms to identify critical paths of transition in the domain. Finally, full-text pivotal documents are examined using qualitative content analysis to trace the progression of information literacy construct definitions in seminal research documents. Findings support a paradigm shift occurred in the domain when the skills-based information literacy definition was rejected in favor of a metaliteracy model. Technological advancement emerged as an influencing factor on paradigms, playing a major role in the domain's evolution over the past half-century. Information literacy research and instruction is built upon the framework used to define what it means to be information literate. Therefore, this study has practical implications for information literacy researchers, librarians, and students.


We investigate Bose–Einstein condensation of a noninteracting gas of Bose particles moving in the background of a periodic lattice of delta functions. In the one-dimensional case, where one has no condensation in the free case, this property persists also in the presence of the lattice for all examples which are considered in the present paper and we could only formulate some conditions which are necessary for condensation. We also considered the three-dimensional case and showed that the lattice does not destroy condensation. We calculated, for small coupling, the change in the critical temperature, which is lowered by the lattice. Finally, we took another, more general view on the problem using heat kernel expansion, and discuss BEC for Casimir effect related configurations.


Sound production and surface behavior of the gray whale were investigated at Bahia Magdalena, Mexico to determine if vocalizations have behavioral correlations or are used in specific social contexts. Fifteen‐minute sessions of behavioral observations and acoustic recordings of gray whales in various social contexts were collected from February to April 2006 (n=30). Analysis of sound production included proportional use of different call types and acoustic variables of each sound type. Preliminary acoustic analysis found no correlation with social contexts or behaviors, but proportional use of different vocalizations is similar to past studies in Baja [Dahlheim et al, The Gray Whale, pp. 511–541 (1984), F. J. Ollervides, dissertation, Texas A&M University (2001)]. Initial results indicate significant differences in frequencies of high surface behaviors (p=0.0477) of groups that include mother‐calf pairs. As analysis continues, possible correlations between social context and use of sounds could allow for ...


We report on the soliton operation of a passively mode-locked diode-pumped surface-emitting laser at a fundamental repetition rate of 10.014 GHz. The pulse duration was 486 fs with an average output power of 30.3 mW.


Fathers, sons, and grandsons. Politically correctly: parents, children, and grandchildren (though the 'children' are also parents). Humanity has been dealing with the flow of incomes among coexisting generations since the beginning of times and would continue to do so. This important topic is studied by Andras Gabos, by the editor Robert Ivan Gal, Marton Medgyesi and Geza Tarcali in their 200-page book. The Editor has arranged the book in four chapters:


e18374 Background: The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) was introduced in 2015 with the intention of transforming healthcare administration to improve the quality of care and lower its cost. Understanding challenges facing physicians in how to implement MACRA and recognizing their perceptions regarding these challenges are critical steps to the success of this program and future transformation efforts. Methods: In this study, US oncologists attending live meetings were surveyed on their perceptions of MACRA. Data were collected in 2 time periods: period 1 spanned Nov 2016 to Jun 2017 and period 2 spanned Sep 2018 to Nov 2018. Each physician attended a live meeting in each period. Data were collected in period 1 using audience response system technology and web-based surveys; period 2 data were collected using web-based surveys only. We aimed to compare responses between periods 1 and 2 to assess whether perceptions and challenges changed. Results: There were 97 community oncologists and/or hematologists who responded to both periods. Of the responding physicians, 31.2% were participating in the Oncology Care Model program. A greater proportion of physicians expressed some level of confidence in executing MACRA requirements and achieving financial success in period 2 compared to period 1 (74.2% vs 52.4%; P< 0.01). Additionally, more physicians in period 2 reported having the resources and staffing needed to manage changes required by MACRA (24.7% vs 11.4%; P= 0.02). Strategies in place to improve on compliance with MACRA did not significantly change between both periods (34.2% vs. 28.9%; P = 0.45). Confidence that MACRA would improve patient outcomes in the long-term was expressed by 33.0% in period 2, which was significantly higher than in period 1 (17.6%; P= 0.02). However, most physicians in period 1 were not confident that MACRA would reduce cost of care (89.6%), but this improved to 61.9% in period 2 ( P< 0.01). Conclusions: Over time, oncologists seem more confident about their practices' readiness for implementing MACRA. However, they remain skeptical of MACRA's likelihood of improving quality or cost of cancer care and appear to need better strategies to assure sustainability.


Communication and Marketing This article presents a theoretical revision of the marketing communication process and its elements, which can be used by the companies, independently of the industrial sector or service where they develop its production activities and/or distribution, its size, and the outlined objectives. It is considered that the companies have commercial skills that require the use of the promotional mix as a means to reach economic and social objectives. These competences originate the company effectiveness to offer to the target markets quality products and services at reasonable prices. Therefore it is proposed that the organizations need to communicate with their markets through the promotional mixture, basing their messages in the elements or attributes that differentiate them from the competitors.


The liver is essential for animals and humans. Because of their low side effects and high safety, natural products have recently become a research hotspot for human health-related issues that can damage the liver. In this study, we investigated the protective effects in rats of Lycium barbarum betaine (LBB) and Lycium barbarum betaine Effervescent Tablet (LBBET) against liver injury caused by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). The results showed that LBB and LBBET pretreatment significantly reduced the serum levels of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate transaminase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase, as well as the liver tissue levels of malondialdehyde. Meanwhile, glutathione peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase levels were significantly increased in liver tissues. In addition, LBB and LBBET may effectively alleviate CCl4-induced liver injury by a mechanism related to the activation of the Nrf2 signaling pathway. In conclusion, LBB and LBBET may serve as potential mitigators of CCl4-induced liver injury. Effervescent Tablet can be used as either a new formulation or practical product for patients who have difficulty swallowing regular tablets or capsules. This study provides a basis and new ideas for the development of functional foods or drugs related to the field of liver protection.


I T IS NOW A WELL-ESTABLISHED FACT of social science that when a charismatic person fits a historical moment, there is the strong possibility for social movement. Such was the case with the campaigns of the Rev. Jesse Jackson in 1984 and 1988, which sparked a mobilization rooted in strong emotions shown in the streaming tears of proud black people when he spoke, and in the massive voter turnout in the primaries he won. Now, once again, the tears, fainting, and mass mobilization have returned, but this time it is a phenomenon manifested in the center of the electorate, too, among white voters, and it is not just "rock star" enthusiasm, where the feel-good washes off once you leave. Barack Obama has evoked in millions of Americans a determination to volunteer, to be part of something that could potentially change America. Unable to fully understand his appeal, Obama's remaining opponent for the Democratic nomination for president has focused on his ability to make a speech, identifying the source of his appeal as '1ust words," his references to the emotional reservoir of people's aspirations as "hope mongering," and his demand for change as vacuous, and evidence that he lacks the experience to lead our nation. Nevertheless, it was clear from the first moment that Obama began to speak as a candidate for president in 2007 that not only was he running for the Oval Office, he had also thought long and hard about the way he would run. From the outset, Hillary Clinton was his strongest rival, but the field was initially laden with other well-known politicians with more experience in federal affairs. The reality, however, was that all were mired in Washington's limited-vision politics, and thus they tended to accept its narrow view of the


Cu ion-exchanged SAPO-34 which is a highly active catalyst for selective reduction of NO with C3H6, was synthesized and the Cu ion was characterized in the SAPO-34 by ESR, XPS, IR, and XAFS. ESR study indicated that two kinds of Cu(II) with different environments exist in SAPO-34. The Cu(II) species disappeared immediately by C3H6 treatment and recovered by oxygen treatment. XAFS study indicated that most of the Cu(II) was reduced to Cu(I) under the presence of C3H6.These studies revealed that a selective NO reduction by C3H6 over SAPO-34 should proceed by the redox reaction of a copper ion between Cu(I) and Cu(II).


In almost every part of the UK, local authorities are facing the difficult task of finding solutions to the problem of waste disposal, particularly now in the context of the European Landfill Directive and Waste Strategy 2000. Waste volumes are growing every year, placing increasing pressure on the limited landfill space. This situation is echoed in West Sussex, and with this in mind the county council recognised the importance of producing an integrated wastes management strategy. It was seen as imperative that the residents of the county were given the opportunity to shape the strategy through community involvement during the development process. In particular, there was a need to ensure that as far as practicable any suggested local solutions would be consistent with local choice. The final wastes management strategy for West Sussex was the result of a structured and consistent approach over a two-year period involving many stakeholders from across the community. This approach has produced a robust doc...


The stiffness degradation of hybrid carbon/glass fibre composites are investigated under cyclic loading in three-point bending. The composites are compared to toughened composites interlayered with PA 6,6 nanofibre (veil) and a matrix toughened with 5% rubber particulate. With the incorporation of veil into the hybridised composite, the hybrid interface experienced extensive localised delamination, due to crack deflection, causing longitudinal cracking between the fibre and veil interface. It is observed that delamination was redirected and reduced by veil interlayering, due to crack bridging as the cracks propagated. The carbon fibre composites toughened by rubber particulate showed similar stiffness retention to carbon fibre after 1,000,000 cycles. The veil interlayering within carbon fibre improved the stiffness retention by 66.87% for the flexural modulus, compared to carbon fibre and rubber toughened carbon fibre laminates. In both glass and carbon fibre samples, the stiffness retention with veil showed a 10-fold increase in fatigue life, compared with untoughened controls. It is observed from the failure mechanics that veil acted as a randomly orientated fibre layer, rather than a matrix toughener.


Phlebotominae collections were performed with CDC-type luminous traps, intradomiciliarily (dormitory) and peridomiciliarily (animal shelters) placed, triying to get breeding places in the outskirts of Santarem city in Brazil. Three outlying neighborhoods of the city, where there was registration of autochthonous cases of leishmaniasis, were chosen: Jutai, Diamantino and St. Andre. 9.926 Phlebotominae individuals were captured, and they were distributed in 15 species. The most abundant species were L. longipalpis (59,72%) and L. carmelinoi (35,47%). In Jutai neighborhood the largest amount of Phlebotominae was captured (6.031 specimens), followed by Diamantino neighborhood with (2.390 specimens) and St. Andre with (1.505 specimens). The major number of individuals was observed during the rainy season (5.377) than in the animal shelters (4.549). In the horizontal stratification there was a significant reduction (p = 0,02) in the Phlebotominae fauna as the residual forest increased.


In order to avoid or at least reduce the number of mistakes and confusions due to the indiscriminate use of imprecise categories and terms which too often occur in publications dealing with zoological nomenclature, a precise terminology is provided for the distinction between different categories of terms designating the erection of new taxa and their subsequent modification , and the introduction of new nomina, their subsequent use or modification , and their  replacement by other nomina.


In the presented study the Author commented on the judgment of the Roman Rota c. Bottone of 2 February 2010. The analysis shows that the legal part of the rotal judgment was based on the general theory of a legal act. In the factual part ponens accumulated two titles exclusion of the good of the sacrament and exclusion of the good of faith. The invalidity of the marriage was proven using indirect proof. In the present case, it has been shown that what prompted the defendant to take such a step was the fact that even before the marriage she had maintained a relationship with another man. It was also proved that the plaintiff's exclusion of offspring was in close connection with the defendant's change of attitude towards him.


Sometimes all direct efforts to encourage detachment in the co-dependent of an alcoholic system are unsuccessful, generating frustration in the therapist and hopelessness in the couple. This paper explores an alternative method of unhooking the co-dependent from the drinking behavior of the spouse.


The paper introduces the sediment measurement over bridge with a similar the flow measurement and analyzes the feasibility of the sediment measurement over bridge based on the reliable test data.The average sediment concentration of the measured section has stable linear correlation between the sediment measurement over bridge and on boat,and the correlation is close highly.The result shows that the sediment measurement over bridge is feasible to calculate the section average sediment concentration.


Objective To explore the factors related to curative efffcts on acute traumatic epidural hematomas. Method The clinical data of 484 patients with traumatic epidural hematomas treated in our hospital from May, 1994 to May, 2004 were analyzed retrospectively. Results Of 484 patients, 20 received conservative treatment and 464 surgery. The postoperative mortality was 7.7% in the patients with cerebral hernia and 21.8% in the patients without cerebral hernia. The mortality was 8.2% in the patients with cerebral hernia lasting less than 1 hour, 36.0% in the patients cerebral hernia lasting 1~2 hours and 78.6% in the patients with cerebral hernia lasting more than 2 hours. Conclusion The factors related to curative effect on traumatic epidural hematoma include cerebral hernia and its duration, hypotension, degree of cerebral injuries accompanying with the epidural hematoma, hypopnea, the extent of cerebral infarct, hyperglycemia, high plasmatic osmoltic pressure and abnormal hepatic functions.


"Market-wide circuit breakers enforce a trading pause so that investors have time to absorb information, better understand what's happening in the market, and make decisions accordingly," writes Stacey Cunningham, president of the New York Stock Exchange If a stock has declined by 10% in one day then there is a short sell restriction preventing market participants from executing or displaying a short sale at a lower price How coronavirus affects global corporate transactions A system that immediately matches every buy order with whatever sell interest is in the book, or vice versa, will end up with an incredibly volatile stock price


In order to cater to the increasing demand of rice, it is necessary to raise the average yield of paddy and quality of paddy significantly through best practices in planning, sourcing and delivery stages of the rice supply chain activities. The choice of reference processes during the design phase is of utmost importance for a paddy supply chains" overall performance. Applicability of various supply chain reference models in the agriculture domain will be discussed for the purpose of presenting a reference model for the rice sector with existing best practice related to the seed, fertilizer, water, labour and technology factors. In this research main objective is to identify planning and sourcing best practice of the rice supply chain and create best practice reference model as a collaborative tool for the rice sector. The survey was conducted in "Pollonnaruwa district" with the participants of farmers and agriculture officers to identify current best practices. The result indicate the presence of key success factor of the rice supply chain still in the initial stage and needs of the operational strategy for fulfillment of the existing gaps of the rice supply chain with best practices.


A few phthalate derivatives as hormone-disrupting chemicals in plasticizers were questioned, and these have been investigated by Japanese government ministries. Evaluation results for three chemical groups (nonylphenol, nonylphenolethoxylate,bis-2-ethyl hexyl phthalate (DEHP), and bispenol A) were focused in terms of risk management. Moreover, it is thought that cultivated food and natural medicines are influenced by the presence of these substances in soil. We performed quantitative analysis of 8 types of phthalate derivatives with respect to the extraction of 17 natural medicines from agricultural sources by HPLC. The result showed that some phthalates were detected in 15 natural medicines. In the case of DEHP, which is the most common plasticizer in Japan, very small amounts of phthalates were detected in PAEONIAE RADIX (syakuyaku).


This study was conducted to estimate the decomposition capacity for organic matter by microbe of tidal flat sediments (Hajae. Dongjin and Mankyung)....


:The study focus on the expansion, bond, directional movement, and cylinder arrangement were the vital strides in angiogenesis and vasculogenesis. These in vitro useful measures could be measured for the assessment of the angiogenic capacity of forerunners and ECs. Movement trans well showed the chemotactic conduct of antecedents and ECs in light of chemoattractant. With the upside of transwell embed.. BM-inferred early EPCs and LOG EPCs were tried for their cylinder arrangement capacity. BM-determined early EPCs were not able to structure rounded structure (information not being appeared), while the mind-boggling and empty cylindrical structure was seen in BM-inferred LOG EPCs with NF3 treatment in the practical measure. We further affirmed the current collaborations of EPCs and develop ECs under the impact of NF3. The examination of EPCs in diabetic injury recuperating with TCM mediation may open up another period in EPCs formative science. Traditional treatment in diabetic injuries in conjugation with TCM organization may offer an open door for redressing EPCs shortages and in the end, created practical clinical treatments in the avoidance of appendage removal and advancement of twisted recuperating in diabetic patients.


Arsenic is a well known toxic metalloid which induces a broad spectrum of toxicological effects, biochemical dysfunctions and dyslipidemia, constituting serious hazard to health. DiMC is sound recognized for its antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic actions. Hence the present study was designed to examine the antihyperlipidemic effect of Dimethoxycurcumin (DiMC) against arsenic induced dyslipidemia in rats. Oral administration of As (5 mg/kg of body weight (BW)/d) for 4 weeks showed significant (p<0.05) elevated levels of TC, LDL-C, VLDL-C, FFA, PL, and TGs, and the activity of HMG-CoA reductase in the plasma and liver with significant (p<0.05) reductions in levels of HDL-C hepatic ubiquinones and activities of LCAT and LPL in the plasma and liver. Pre-administration of DiMC (80 mg/kg of BW) for 4 weeks in As intoxicated rats significantly (p<0.05) reduced plasma and liver TC, FFA, TGs, VLDL-C, and LDL-C levels, and the activity of HMG-CoA reductase, and significantly (p<0.05) increased the activities of LCAT and LPL and the levels of HDL-C and ubiquinone in the livers of rats. The result of the present study indicates that DiMC showed an antihyperlipidemic effect in addition to its antioxidant effect in experimental rats.


The relation between the adjustment of children treated for hypothalamic/chiasmatic brain tumors and family functioning was examined. Participants were 29 children, ages 7 to 17 years, who were off treatment at least 6 months, and their mothers and fathers. Child adjustment was compared with 29 same-age survivors of other brain tumors and a normative sample. Results support the presence of increased behavior problems and decreased social and academic competence in these particular brain tumor survivors compared with the normative sample. They did not differ significantly from other brain tumor survivors based on mother ratings. Decreased competence and increased emotional and behavioral problems were related significantly to child, mother, and father reports of poorer family functioning. Older age at diagnosis, less perceived change in child due to tumor and treatment, and regular education placement were related to higher child competence and better behavior but not to family functioning. These findings highlight the need for working with families to provide resources and skills in dealing with the social and behavioral changes that result from brain tumors and their treatment.


In this paper, some new finite element procedures are presented to analyze TWT helix slow-wave structures in a distributed computing environment. In particular, very computing time expensive analyses required in TWT SWS simulations are parallelized in order to obtain a remarkable reduction of computing time. The example presented regards the construction of the Brillouin diagram of a helix SWS. The obtained results confirmed us the good performance of the grid environment for the numerical analysis and optimization of TWTs.


Ageing is generally seen as a continuous and progressive alteration of an organism. Although a broad range of ageing modes can be observed amongst living organisms, commonly observed age-related features named hallmarks of ageing have been described. Their incidence increases with age, while improving healthspan generally delays their apparition, accelerating their apparition strongly decreases healthspan. The past 30 years have seen the identification of the first genetic components of ageing, mainly thanks to model organisms such as Drosophila melanogaster [1,2]. Yet, little is known about the drivers of the processes involved and important questions remain. Do all the hallmarks of ageing have a common cause? Are there key genes controlling the whole ageing phenomenon? Is there a universal ageing process? And can the aging process be slowed, stopped or even reversed?


LRT (Light Rail Transit) is one of the transport modes to reduce heavy traffic in big cities and intercity. LRT line is considered to be easily linked with other transport system. The importance of new LRT lines has recently emerged as the problems solution in Korea. Thus, in this study, the turnout for AGT (Automated Guideway Transit) by computer system has been developed. And Guideway for AGT has also been developed for installation on the LRT line as well. In future, if the results of the feasibility study show the new LRT line project is viable, Kangwon Railtech shall propose design for LRT turnout, development, standardized design for guideway, and construction scheme.


Intelligent Reflecting Surface (IRS) is gaining popularity as a game-changing innovation for controlling/adapting wireless connectivity. It is considered to play an important role in achieving an intelligent radio environment following the goal of sixth-generation (6G) networking. IRS may be electronically or intelligently programmed to concentrate, reflect/transmit or dissipate impinging electromagnetic radiation. In this context, it is necessary to analyze the performance of the IRS thoroughly through real-time deployment or computer-aided simulation. The work, therefore, analyzed the positioning of IRS over the coverage region of micro cell to derive optimal placement location to support cell-edge Internet of Things (IoT) devices with a favorable signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR). Moreover, the work derived that the implementation of IRS significantly enhances energy efficiency notably reducing the transmit power of the micro cell base station.


One of the main advantages of the traditional instructor/student interaction is the possibility of receiving immediate instructional feedback within the defined lecture periods. However, the transition into full online, and hybrid pedagogy has gradually replaced instructional feedback with peer feedback. While essential for knowledge transfer among learners, peer feedback largely depends on prior knowledge from learning engagements that may not fully be related to the particular course in question. What we have observed in our learning management system is lots of unnecessarily repeated errors which could easily be averted with the right instruction. To this end, we employed optical image recognition to extract structured query language-based keywords from lecture slides and exercise sheets. Using these keywords, we automatically rank the degree to which a lecture slide suitable matches an exercise task, and thus provide an automatic recommendation to students encountering errors in respective tasks during exercise task engagements. Overall, we achieved a precision of 0.707 for German lecture slides and 0.72 for English lecture slides, which validates our strategy of assisting students with automatic lecture slide recommendations during their online exercise engagements.


This paper studies the adaptive finite-time coordinated attitude tracking control problem for spacecraft formation flying under directed communication topology in presence of unknown time-varying inertia and external disturbances. First, based on robust adaptive control method, we designed two adaptive components of the controller to accommodate the uncertainties of the system and compensate the external disturbance. In addition, combined with finite-time theory, consensus algorithm and graph theory, we proposed a robust adaptive finite-time coordinated attitude tracking control law to regulate the attitude to a common time-varying reference state in finite time. And, the control law applies to more extensive systems without requiring that the topology is strongly connected digraph or connected undirected graph. Finally, simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the presented control approach.


The main object of the work is to develop embedded system for IPTV. For this venture, the Real Time Multimedia System is designed to acquire the video streaming through different video servers over Internet Protocol (TCP/IP- Ethernet). In this work the normal TV is used and converted to IPTV through the development of multimedia processor based Real Time System. The video streaming software are also used on Video Server which transmits video over TCP/IP and the video is displayed using DM642 media processor based embedded system. The Bluetooth technology is used to change the channel from any Bluetooth enabled mobile phone. For this purpose the Bluetooth HCI controller based system is also designed. The user can select the channel using his Bluetooth enabled mobile phone and sends the request to the multimedia processor which transmits the request to the Video Server and displays the desired channel. The acquired video is converted into IP packets and transmitted to the media processor through Ethernet connection.


the USA and Seoul Viosys in South Korea have been exploring the effects of scaling down the diameters of green and blue indium gallium nitride (InGaN) micro light-emitting diodes (LEDs) [Jordan M. Smith et al, Appl. Phys. Lett., vol116, p071102, 2020]. Often external quantum efficiency (EQE) in LEDs is reduced as dimensions scale down due to non-radiative recombination at device surfaces. The UCSB/Viosys team found a marked such effect for the blue devices, but the green LEDs were less affected. Indeed, at LED diameters less than 10μm, the green devices became more efficient than the blue ones. The researchers also suggest that there may be a similar diameter crossover effect for red InGaN LEDs in comparison with the standard commercial aluminium gallium indium phosphide (AlGaInP) products. One would expect red InGaN LEDs to suffer even higher carrier localization effects, further reducing the surface recombination velocity (SRV). The team reports: "The SRV in red AlGaInP is even higher than that in blue InGaN, while the SRV of red InGaN is lower than that of green InGaN. Thus, it is likely that a similar crossover in EQE... exists between red AlGaInP and red InGaN micro-LEDs, where InGaN devices would win out at smaller sizes." The researchers hope that factors such as increased brightness and reliability, reduced power consumption, longer life-times and smaller form factors for InGaN micro-LEDs will lead to display applications in 4K TVs, smartphones and augmented-reality (AR) glasses. The team reports: "There are no previous reports of micro-LED EQE trends for mesa dimensions below 5μm, despite commercial demands." The researchers have developed a combine dry etch process, avoiding the need for precise separate steps (Figure 1). The dielectric aperture was formed by a Technology focus: LEDs


1. Form and Function 2. Homeostasis 3. Proteins 4. Hormones 5. Neurotransmitters 6. Stress 7. Sleep 8. Pain 9. Growth 10. Genetics


Abstract: The integration of teachers' use of technology in their instruction has been given increasing attention and emphasis. The purpose of this study was to discern the association between teachers' characteristics and advanced technology proficiency. The independent variables were gender, years of teaching experience, instructional subject, and number of teachers in each school. The dependent variable was the advanced technology assessment comprised of ten tasks. In addition, the most significant aspect of this study was the originality of data from the teachers' performance in the assessment of advanced technology proficiency conducted by Department of Education of Taichung City Government in Taiwan. The data indicated that teachers' characteristics were weakly associated with teachers' advanced technology proficiency. Finally, suggestions for the institution in charge of this assessment and for future research were provided. Introduction The innovative utilization of technology in the field of education has caught great attention, and has been given increasing emphasis by administration and teachers. Simultaneously, technology has replicated traditional instructional approaches of teaching and learning in many ways. It is gradually recognized that advances in technology have "the potential value of technology as a tool for teaching and learning by major actors in education" (Lawless & Pellegrino, 2007, p. 575). Hence, while today many have advocated for innovation in education, it is believed that primarily teachers are the driving force for themselves to genuinely reflect on how to transform those practices into reality in curricular design (Cuban, 1993, 2001). The purpose of this study was to discern the association between teachers' characteristics and advanced technology proficiency, which presented the four research questions as follows. 1. Is there any association between a teacher's gender and advanced information technology performance? 2. Is there any association between the individual teacher's years of teaching experience and advanced information technology performance? 3. Is there any association between the individual teacher's different instructional subject and advanced information technology performance? 4. Is there any association between the number of teachers in each school and advanced information technology performance? The significance of this paper is to investigate the relationship between individual characteristics and the technological proficiency level with the real assessment data. The source of the data was in particular contrast with what had been used in previous studies in Taiwan. Most previous studies were general discussions or policy advocacy papers of similar topics. Simple surveys were the common method to investigate teachers' self-evaluation or feedback after computer training sessions. Comparably, our research data was gathered from the assessment of teachers' advanced technology proficiency in the first semester of academic year 2007-2008 by the Education Network Center of Taichung at the Department of Education of Taichung City Government in Taiwan. For this reason, with teachers' actual levels of performance reflected in this assessment, it could potentially provide an alternative path to realize what is facilitating teachers' technological proficiency. Literature Review The Significance of Technology in Teacher Education Definitely, technology as a resource in education should include computers, specialized software, network communication systems, and relevant infrastructure. The teachers' technology learning practices aim to enhance their "collaborative work and communication, internet-based research, remote access to instrumentation, network-based transmission and retrieval of data, and other pedagogical programs" (Lawless & Pellegrino, 2007, p. 576). Nevertheless, the most essential concept above is how to integrate technology in supporting pedagogical goals routinely, seamlessly, and effectively. …


Using ADCC GARCH framework the present study explore possible contagion effects between financial and fine wines markets during the 2003-2013 period. We observe the Liv-ex Fine Wine 1000 and the seven sub-indices it includes over the period 12/2003 to 12/2013. We use the Liv-ex 1000 as proxy for the global portfolio market. To approximate the effect contagion we use the monthly MSCI World, the monthly Dow Jones World, and the monthly Dow Jones Europe. To measure the conditional correlation we use the asymmetric DCC (ADCC) model proposed by Cappiello et al. (2006). Thus, the main goal of our paper is to study the diversification effect that can exist between the wines market and the standard financial market. Then, we can analyze the co-movement between the MSCI World, the Dow Jones World, the Dow Jones Europe and each wine market index.


In this paper, the method of SBR/IM(shooting and Bounding Ray Tracing/Image) is used to simulate the indoor laboratory environment, which is aimed at studying the millimeter-wave propagation characteristics. The simulation data are analyzed to get the corresponding received power and root mean square(RMS) delay of different situations. The received power of different distances between transmitters and receivers are also calculated. All the results, which are processed from the data could provide a theoretical basis for setting the location of transmitter in real indoor laboratory environments.


Device-to-device, D2D, as specified by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), is a promising technology of the evolving 5G architecture. This Special Issue is dedicated to the social-aware aspects of D2D where mobile devices aim to detect the proximity of other users by exploiting their social structure and how human relationships can impact information dissemination. Coverage of this Special Issue includes social-aware vehicular communications, where moving vehicles can exchange content directly with each other, as well as preserving data mining computing aspects. Other important topics covered are radio resource allocation in D2D networks, social-aware neighbor discovery, and social-aware direct connectivity for D2D communications, sharing computation resources, as well as other interesting aspects of D2D communications that are generally based on social structure.


Abstract
 Gender-based violence (GBV) in travel and tourism is embedded within the wider social structures of gender inequality and discrimination. This book focuses on the multiple and interconnected manifestations of violence that women and girls encounter in tourism consumption and production, such as physical, sexual, emotional or socio-economic abuse. The book adopts a multidisciplinary perspective in its critical examination of the theoretical landscape of GBV, and its engagement with case studies on GBV and sexual harassment. It draws on feminist, intersectional and post-colonial frameworks, bringing together contributions from academics and practitioners across the globe. The 12 chapters are presented as small collections linked by theme and divided by profiles of organizations and initiatives that are attempting to tackle GBV in the tourism industry and beyond. This book aims to provide a platform for these groups to emphasize the positive movements and initiatives in the field.


The energy spectra and wave functions of /sup 17/C and /sup 17/N are calculated using a modification of the Millener-Kurath interaction. The results are used to predict the half-life and decay modes of both the allowed and first-forbidden ..beta../sup -/ decays of /sup 17/C as well as /sup 18/O(d,/sup 3/He)/sup 17/N spectroscopic factors and electromagnetic transition rates in /sup 17/N.


Abstract What do we mean by the creative 'voice' in translation, and how does it relate to forms of creativity in the source? How do creative writers, translators, and authors view this process? This article seeks to explore some of the issues related to artistic creativity in translation using examples drawn from the translation into English of twentieth-century Latin American literature, which has been the focus of interest of a host of renowned translators, including Harriet de Onís, Gregory Rabassa, Helen Lane, Margaret Sayers Peden, Suzanne Jill Levine, Norman Thomas di Giovanni, and Edith Grossman. The article employs a range of theoretical concepts from creativity theory, applied linguistics, and sociolinguistics to investigate this phenomenon. It also discusses new forms of creativity engendered by hybrid Spanish-English texts that pose new questions for translators and blur any rigid divide between source and target texts.


Paper gives the comparison of several decomposition mechanisms taking place during the diaphragm discharge treatment of water solutions containing organic dyes (Direct Red 79 and Direct Blue 106). Effects of OH radicals, UV radiation, electrochemical reactions as well as ozone contribution on the dye degradation are discussed. The different decomposition efficiency was observed for both dyes.


. Opioids are widely prescribed analgesic medication but are highly addictive and can be lethal with overdose. Respiratory depression is the primary cause of death by opioid overdose, and it limits the ability to use opioid analgesics safely and effectively. Respiratory depression by opioids is mediated by the inhibition of neural circuits in the brainstem, such as the preBötzinger Complex (preBötC), a small region of the medulla involved in respiratory rhythm generation. The generation of respiratory rhythm requires the activation of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the preBötC. Glutamate is a main excitatory neurotransmitter, and preBötC glutamatergic neurons are involved in generating respiratory rhythm. γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a main inhibitory neurotransmitter, and GABAergic neurons are found in the preBötC. Interestingly, GABAergic neurons often co‐express µ‐opioid receptors, and disinhibition of GABAergic neurons by opioid drugs is involved in opioid addiction and euphoria. Here, we aim to determine the roles of excitatory glutamatergic and inhibitory GABAergic neurons in opioid‐induced respiratory depression.


From its construction in the early 1970s, Cancun has gone through a rapid demographic change accompanied by a transformation in the tourism industry, from having 117 inhabitants in 1969 to over 734,000 in 2014, being visited by more than 3.3 million tourists per year. As a result, Cancun has had to offer up something other than its original Caribbean advertising of "sun, sand, and sex," now it is offering its Maya heritage. This paper analyzes the origin, development, and evolution of the "Mayanization" of Cancun—the use of Maya imagery and iconography in advertisements, architecture and souvenirs—and the promotion of a "Maya imaginary" through the laborers who fuel the tourism industry, turning cultural, archaeological, and historical patrimony into a commodity.


The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the global population. In particular, the medical personnel in direct contact with patients have been exposed to high risk. To reduce the spread of COVID-19 and protect health-care workers and patients, we would like to present the fully automated medical telerobot as the IRAPs SHaRE-aGIVeR robot. Our robot is capable of generating both 2D and 3D maps automatically, delivering medical supplies, food, or medical devices such as blood pressure monitors, pulse oximeters, and so on. In addition, the user interface system is also vital part. Users are able to connect and control the robot using a computer, a mobile device, or a tablet via the wireless network which is installed inside the robot. Currently, our robots are being operated on with medical personnel at hospitals, regarding the feedback from the formal caregivers that can prove our robot's efficiency in reducing the risk of COVID-19 spread.


The potential of ruthenium complexes as water oxidation catalysts is already known, thereby the necessity for compounds of the first transition series emerges, that are more affordable due to its higher abundance. The biggest challenge is the lability of these species when compared to the analogs of other series. In this way, the project aims to contribute in the research of alternative chelating ligands from a theoretical perspective, in order to reduce the number of experimental studies necessary to achieve our goal.


Balanced incomplete block designs (BIBDs) have wide applications in engineering, business and sciences. In this paper, for each (v, k, \lambda)-BIBD, we construct a strongly symmetric k-th order v-dimensional tensor. We call such a strongly symmetric tensor the characterization tensor of that BIBD, and the absolute value tensor of the characterization tensor the signless characterization tensor of that BIBD. We study some spectral properties of such characterization tensors and signless characterization tensors. In this way, we provide a new tool to study BIBDs.


We investigate the extent to which the incentive alignment theory and the managerial power theory explain the variability of CFO compensation in Australia. We find a positive relationship between the level of CFO compensation and measures of job complexity and firm stock market performance. However, we do not find the pay-for-performance link when performance is measured at CFO-specific level. CFOs actually receive higher non-cash compensation when reporting quality is lower, suggesting a sharp contrast to predictions of the incentive alignment approach. Conversely, we find that CFOs have more managerial power (that is, if the CFO is on the board of directors, or has a higher level of stock ownership, or stays longer in their position, or the board is bigger in size) receive significantly larger compensation. Overall our evidence is more consistent with the argument that managerial power is the primary driver of CFO remuneration.


A sparsity-aware least-mean mixed-norm (LMMN) adaptive filter algorithm is proposed for sparse channel estimation applications. The proposed algorithm is realized by incorporating a sum-log function constraint into the cost function of a LMMN which is a mixed norm controlled by a scalar-mixing parameter. As a result, a shrinkage is given to enhance the performance of the LMMN algorithm when the majority of the channel taps are zeros or near-zeros. The channel estimation behaviors of the proposed reweighted sparse LMMN algorithm is investigated and discussed in comparison with those of the standard LMS and the least-mean square/fourth (LMS/F) and previously sparse LMS/F algorithms. The simulation results show that the proposed reweighted sparse LMMN algorithm is superior to aforementioned algorithms with respect to the convergence speed and steady-state error floor.


The present new method for the synthesis of γ-pyrones involves a novel rhodium-catalyzed tandem redox—aldol reaction of allylic alcohols with α,β-unsaturated aldehydes.


The primary objective of this report is to evaluate the applicability of the present rules in USAS B31.8-1968 to fabricated, pad, or saddle-reinforced branch connections in high-yield-strength grades of run pipe. Service experience and test data are reviewed. The implications of tests on pipe with a crack therein with respect to fabricated branch connections are discussed.


This thesis reports on the dielectric characterization of the lightweight foamed concrete and the relation of the three variables: density, dielectric constant, and compressive strength. The mathematical model used for the dielectric characterization of the concrete is Jonscher model and the goodness of fit of this model with the measurement is high with the R-square value reaching as high as 0.9 and above. The relationship between density and dielectric constant is simple linear equation. On the other hand, the mathematical relation between density with compressive strength and dielectric constant with compressive strength show a power-law relation with the power value reaching 3.89 and 2.4 respectively. It should worth noting that this is a cursory study for its related field and further exploration should focus on the development in the variety of mathematical models that could be used in the dielectric constant conversion as the model used in this study is capacitance model only. In addition, the software or programming of the instrument could also be improved with the transferring of control to computer. Lastly, the other structural variables of lightweight foamed concrete could be included in the analysis.


This paper leads to an Algorithm/technique to solve optimal solution occurring in Transportation problems. In Transportation Problems by presenting a new algorithm to choose the Absolute differences of boundary cost cells. This New Algorithm lesser time than the existing Transportation method to get the optimal solution using initial basic feasible solution. Proposed technique/algorithm is better choice to get optimal solution without finding initial basic feasible solution and hence the proposed algorithm is useful to get optimal solution Transportation problems. Key words:- Transportation Problems, Absolute differences of boundary cost cells, Modified Distribution (M.O.D.I) Method, Initial Basic feasible solution, Optimum solution. DOI : 10.7176/MTM/9-1-07


Public-to-private (PTP) refers to the strategic action of consciously leaving the stock market. The delisting decision may be made when the benefits of being listed no longer outweigh the costs. Th ...


Two different batches of zero-cement cascables composed of 85 wt % fused MgO-spinel aggregate with 10 wt.% hydratable alumina and 5 wt.% of either kaolin or alumina/silica fine powder mixture were prepared and compared with other two conventional castables of the same composition where hydratable alumina is replaced by high alumina cement. The densification parameters, cold crushing strength as well as refractory properties (thermal shock and creep resistance) were tested. Zero-cement castables, specially those containing kaolin showed a compromise between considerable mechanical properties and good refractory behaviour as compared with the corresponding conventional ones. This behaviour is strongly related to the absence of lime that causes many deleterious effects on the properties of conventional castables.


I. Abstract Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive disease that reflects mutations in the CFTR gene. Multiple mutations in this gene have been detected that lead to a protein (CFTR) that is...


The incidence of esophagogastric junction (EGJ) cancer has been significantly increasing in Western countries. Appropriate planning for surgical therapy requires a reliable classification of EGJ cancers with respect to their exact location. Clinically, the most accepted classification of EGJ cancers is "adenocarcinoma of the EGJ" (AEG or "Siewert"), which divides tumor center localization into AEG type I (distal esophagus), AEG type II ("true junction"), and AEG type III (subcardial stomach). Treatment strategies in western countries routinely employ perioperative chemotherapy or neoadjuvant chemoradiation for cases of locally advanced cancers. The standard surgical treatment strategies are esophagectomy for AEG type I and gastrectomy for AEG type III cancers. For "true junctional cancers," i.e., AEG type II, whether the extension of resection in the oral or aboral direction represents the most effective surgical therapy remains debatable. This article reviews the history of surgical EGJ cancer treatment and current surgical strategies from a Western perspective.


This paper is concerned with the evaluation of natural frequencies for the design of simply supported girder bridges, continuous girder bridges, and continuous rigid frame bridges. There are two significant parameters affecting the vibration frequencies. The first parameter is called the span ratio γ while the second parameter is called the stiffness ratio κ. The approximate formulas in terms of these parameters are proposed for these three types of bridges. From the analysis results, it is found that the first mode shape of the continuous rigid frame bridge is mainly induced by the pier other than the superstructure, when the stiffness parameter κ is greater than 10. Finally, the method proposed herein may be adopted to investigate the natural frequency of other types of bridges.


Those of us who focus on DNA repair processes in plants do so with a variety of motivations. There are those labs that have a focus on genetic engineering–we try to understand the mechanism of recombination and mutation with the ultimate goal of controlling these processes. Can we modify the frequency and location of meiotic recombinational events? Can we enhance the efficiency of gene replacement? Can we alter the nature and frequency of mutational events? There are also groups that focus on plant response to environmental stresses. Can plants withstand the toxic effects of predicted increases in environmental UV-B? Will enhanced UV-B result in enhanced mutagenesis? Do general environmental stresses also have a genotoxic effect? Is the plant genome destabilized by environmental stress, and if so, is this a programmed response to environmental change?

The completion of the Arabidopsis genome project has revealed that the suite of repair proteins produced by Arabidopsis is remarkably similar to that of humans. Although there are some critical differences (discussed below), the similarities are impressive. Given this, Arabidopsis may turn out to be an excellent model system for the genetic analysis of many aspects of repair in higher eukaryotes. Gene-specific knockout mutants are a less expensive to isolate in Arabidopsis than in mice. Recent publications, and much unpublished data, also suggests that plants are far more tolerant to persisting DNA damage than mammals. Many mutations that are viable in bacteria or yeast lead to embryonic lethality in mammals. However, at least some of these lethal mutations can be rescued by a second mutation in the signal transduction pathway required for an apoptotic response to DNA damage, indicating that embryonic lethality is a suicidal response to damage, rather than an intrinsic effect of DNA damage itself (Frank et al., 2000; Sekiguchi et al., 2001). The embryonic lethality of repair defective mutants makes it difficult to assess the potential roles of repair genes in later aspects of development, including meiosis.

In contrast, Arabidopsis lacks a p53 homolog and there is as of yet no evidence that plants undergo an apoptotic response to the accumulation of DNA damage. Repair defects that are lethal in mice are viable in plants. For example, knockouts of RAD50 are embryonic lethal in mice; the same knockout produces a viable plant line, enabling us to determine, for the first time in a higher eukaryote, that RAD50 plays an important role in both meiosis and telomere maintenance (Gallego et al., 2001; Gallego and White, 2001). Arabidopsis may soon emerge as a robust and inexpensive higher eukaryotic model for the genetic analysis of the roles of DNA repair pathways in the repair of various lesions, and for the effects of the persistence of these lesions on organismal development.

In the review below I'll provide an update on the state of our understanding of the mechanisms for the repair of damaged bases in Arabidopsis. This review will not address the repair of double strand breaks, and I direct the reader to recent reviews on that topic (Puchta, 1998; Gorbunova and Levy, 1999). Nor will I cover the study of DNA damage tolerance pathways in plants, a field in which there is only one publication which is not entirely speculative (Garcia et al., 2000). I'll point out some interesting features revealed by the Arabidopsis genome project, the substrate-specificities defined by biochemical analysis of isolated Arabidopsis repair proteins, and the characteristics of various repair-defective mutants. The accession numbers of most of the Arabidopsis repair gene homologs described below can be obtained in Table 5 of the supplementary data to (The Arabidopsis Genome Initiative, 2000), as well as at the Plant DNA Metabolism website at the University of Arizona (http://ag.arizona.edu/dnametab/).

The biological significance of damaged bases.
DNA damage products can be defined as any chemical alteration to DNA that covalently alters its normal structure. Bases can be oxidized, reduced, crosslinked, and alkylated. Each lesion can often be processed via a number of different repair pathways, and different organisms carry a different suite of repair-related genes (Friedberg et al., 1995). Different lesions have different biological consequences depending on the frequency of their induction, their ability to affect or alter the activity of polymerases, and the efficiency and accuracy of their repair.

Lesions that do not affect the ability of RNA polymerase to transcribe DNA, or of DNA polymerase to faithfully replicate it, are harmless in and of themselves (though many of these harmless products decay to form more dangerous ones). "Noncoding" damage products (for example, UV-induced pyrimidine dimers) act as blocks to both RNA and DNA polymerase, and their repair can be critical to the survival of the cell. Other more insidious types of "miscoding" damage products (for example, O6-methylguanine) do not block DNA polymerase but are often misinterpreted by this enzyme, directly leading to the induction of mutations.

The significance of a DNA damage product also depends on its location in the genome and the developmental state of the cell in which it resides. A pyrimidine dimer in a nontranscribed region, or even a nontranscribed strand, of DNA in a nonreplicating cell has no biological significance. Given the amount of noninformational DNA in the genomes of most higher eukaryotes, and the fact that most cells are nonreplicating, this means that the majority of DNA damage products are innocuous. In contrast, the induction of a dimer on a transcribed strand of a potentially replicating genome is both a toxic and a genotoxic event, and its repair is a very high priority for the cell. The mechanisms by which eukaryotic cells set priorities for the repair of the same kinds of lesions in different types of cells or different parts of the genome have only recently been addressed in yeast and mammals (Hanawalt, 2001). Whether plants share the same mechanisms, or even the same priorities, remains to be seen.


Low-density polyethylene is one of the most widely used polymer materials, due to its easy workability and its properties, in particular, it excels in chemical resistance. The reason why it is often not used in technical applications is its limited mechanical properties and low temperature stability. One of the ways to improve these properties (especially temperature stability) is a physical modification by radiation cross-linking (accelerated electrons). The properties of already finished injection moulded products can be changed depending on the radiation dose. This is confirmed by the results of measurements of temperature stability and mechanical properties. With increasing radiation dose (highest used radiation dose 198 kGy), the temperature stability of low-density polyethylene increases significantly, but the tensile properties improve only slightly.


Cyclosporine A (CsA) and FK506, important immunosuppressants, have been shown to inhibit the enzymatic equivalent of the Na-K pump (Na, K-ATPase) in renal tissue. A similar effect in the heart may contribute to the adverse effects of these agents that include calcification, contractile dysfunction, and altered calcium handling. However, inhibition of the pump has not been demonstrated in cardiac myocytes. We isolated single ventricular myocytes from control rabbits and from rabbits administered CsA or FK506 for 1 week. Na-K pump current (Ip) was measured using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. When patch pipettes contained Na in a concentration ([Na]pip) near physiological intracellular levels mean Ip of cardiac myocytes from rabbits with serum CsA levels within the therapeutic range was significantly lower than mean Ip of cardiac myocytes from controls. Treatment had no effect on Ip measured using a [Na]pip expected to nearly saturate intracellular binding sites. The CsA-induced inhibition of Ip was dependent on the K 1 concentration in pipette solutions. Mean Ip in myocytes from rabbits with serum levels of FK506 within the therapeutic range was similar to mean Ip in myocytes from controls, whereas FK506 in a dose inducing serum levels severalfold above the therapeutic range caused significant pump inhibition. Using ion-sensitive microelectrodes we showed the intracellular Na activity in papillary muscles isolated from rabbits treated with CsA was significantly higher than in papillary muscles from control rabbits, indicating that CsA causes pump inhibition in intact myocytes with a physiological intracellular milieu. Cyclosporine A (CsA) and FK506 are used for immunosuppression in organ transplantation and in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. Of the two drugs CsA is used most widely. Their usefulness is restricted by significant adverse effects, including nephrotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, hyperkalemia, and in regards to CsA in particular, the induction of hypertension. It has been speculated that the adverse effects in part are the results of CsAor FK506-induced inhibition of membrane ion transport systems, including the Na-K pump (Tumlin and Sands, 1993). The enzymatic equivalent of the Na-K pump, Na-K-ATPase, is inhibited when renal cells are exposed to CsA (Tumlin and Sands, 1993) and FK506 (Lea et al., 1994) in vitro. Two studies on vascular smooth muscle cells and cardiac myocytes, respectively, have shown that CsA (Bokemeyer et al., 1994) and FK-506 (McCall et al., 1996) induced an increase in the intracellular Ca concentration. The increase was consistent with impaired efflux of Ca via the Na-Ca exchange mechanism. Because Na-Ca exchange-mediated Ca efflux ultimately derives its energy from the transmembrane gradient for Na the impaired Ca efflux might be due to inhibition of the Na-K pump. However, sarcolemmal pump inhibition could not be demonstrated (Bokemeyer et al., 1994; McCall et al., 1996). Functional properties of the sarcolemmal Na-K pump are complex. Sodium binds to the pump at three intracellular sites, two near the cytoplasmic surface and at a third site inside the membrane dielectric (Or et al., 1996). Binding at the sites near the cytoplasmic surface occurs in competition with K and is independent of membrane voltage. This K/ Na antagonism is particularly pronounced in the heart (Therien and Blostein, 1999). Binding at the third site is selective for Na. However, because of location of the site within the electrical field of the membrane, binding is voltage-dependent (Hansen et al., 2000 and references therein). The Na-K pump in cardiac myocytes can be regulated in a manner consistent with effects at either the sites near the cytoplasmic surface (Buhagiar et al., 1999) or the site inside the membrane dielectric (Bewick et al., 1999; Hansen et al., 2000). The methods used in the previous studies on the effect This study was supported by the North Shore Heart Research Foundation. M.M. was a recipient of a Postgraduate Medical Research Scholarship from the National Heart Foundation of Australia. Part of this work is presented in abstract form in Circulation (1999) 100 (Suppl):I-223. ABBREVIATIONS: CsA, cyclosporine; Na-K-ATPase, enzymatic equivalent of Na-K pump; Ip, Na -K pump current; Vm, test potential; [Na]pip, pipette Na 1 concentration; [K]pip, pipette K 1 concentration; Ih, holding current; Ip-Vm, pump current-voltage relationship. 0022-3565/01/2972-804–810$3.00 THE JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY AND EXPERIMENTAL THERAPEUTICS Vol. 297, No. 2 Copyright © 2001 by The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 3456/901355 JPET 297:804–810, 2001 Printed in U.S.A. 804 at A PE T Jornals on Jne 1, 2017 jpet.asjournals.org D ow nladed from of CsA and FK506 on the sarcolemmal Na-K pump (Bokemeyer et al., 1994; McCall et al., 1996) did not take into account the voltage dependence and Na/K interaction at intracellular sites. We have used the whole-cell patch-clamp technique to measure Na-K pump current (Ip). This technique allows control of membrane voltage and the concentration of the transported ligands on both sites of the membrane. Materials and Methods Treatment Protocols. Male New Zealand White rabbits (2.5–3.0 kg, age 12–14 weeks) were given CsA or FK506 for 7 days. A separate group of untreated rabbits served as controls. CsA was dissolved in polyoxyethylated castor oil and ethanol and administered by subcutaneous injections. This route of administration has been shown to provide reliable levels and adequate bioavailability (Wassef et al., 1985). The controls did not receive ethanol injections because previous work from our laboratory (Mihailidou et al., 2000a) has shown that similar doses of ethanol had no effect on Na-K pump activity. FK506 was included in capsules and administered by oral gavage. Toxicity studies have demonstrated a wasting syndrome during CsA treatment (Gratwohl et al., 1986) and in our initial dose-finding studies we found that there was a marked reduction in weight when CsA levels were in the toxic range. To avoid inducing severe toxicity we charted the weight of all rabbits daily at the same time each day. If a decrease occurred during a 24-h period we omitted the next scheduled dose of drug. No rabbit had drugs omitted for more than 1 day and all received the same weight-adjusted total dose. Because CsA is used more commonly than FK506 we predominantly studied