To understand factors associated with self-reported compliance with reduced speed limits at roadworks, the Department of Transport and Main Roads added roadworks items to its annual Road Safety Perceptions and Attitudes Tracking Survey. Self-reported compliance with reduced speed limits at roadworks was better when workers were present, at sites the respondent was not familiar with, and when other motorists were complying with the speed limit. Survey results will be further analysed to enhance our understanding of speeding at roadworks, its relationship with other risky driving behaviours, and to inform the identification and evaluation of interventions. Background Evidence shows that many motorists disregard reduced speed limit signage at roadworks sites, putting the safety of traffic controllers, road workers and other road users at risk. The Department of Transport and Main Roads is committed to ensuring the effectiveness of traffic management at roadworks, including consistent and credible speed limits and signage, enforcement, and better education for road users explaining the need to slow down at roadworks. To inform this work, and complement anecdotal and other sources of information about speeding at roadworks, a need to collect and analyse Queensland data was identified. Method The Department of Transport and Main Roads commissions the Road Safety Perceptions and Attitudes Tracking Survey to monitor trends over time for a variety of road safety topics. The survey uses an online panel to recruit a representative (in terms of the gender, age and regional characteristics of licence holders) sample of 600 Queenslanders over the age of 16 who have ever held a licence. Data collection typically occurs in April and May of each year. Three items about travel speeds through roadworks sites were included in the 2015 survey to measure:  Self-reported frequency of exceeding reduced speed limits at roadworks in eight circumstances (road workers present/not, length of site less than/more than 1km, whether the site was familiar or not, and compliance/non-compliance of other motorists  Agreement with six statements about speeding at roadworks  What would encourage them to slow down at roadworks (this question was only presented to those who indicated they exceeded the limit in at least one of the circumstances in the first question. Response options were presented, in addition to a free text field for "other" responses, with multiple responses permitted). Results Self-reported compliance with reduced speed limits at roadworks sites varied by circumstances, and was better when workers were present, at sites the respondent was not familiar with, and when other motorists were complying with the speed limit. The length of the site did not influence compliance. Extended Abstract Leal et al. Proceedings of the 2016 Australasian Road Safety Conference 6 – 8 September, Canberra, Australia Among the 463 respondents who indicated that they exceeded the reduced speed limit at roadworks sites at least occasionally for one or more of these circumstances, the most common factors likely to encourage them to slow down were the presence of road workers (57%), if reduced speed limits were understandable based on the prevailing road conditions (50%), and more signage throughout the site to remind them of the reduced limit (48%). The most common suggestion in the "other" responses was removing the reduced speed limit signs when work was not occurring / workers were not present. Conclusions Survey data will be further analysed to profile individuals likely to exceed reduced speed limits at roadworks sites, and compare roadworks item responses with other items, such as attitudes towards speeding more generally, and speeding in school zones (where presence of children is an important signal to slow down). Survey data will be used to enhance our understanding of speeding at roadworks sites, and inform the identification and evaluation of interventions.


A common scepticism towards the application of many materials in art or in conservation-restoration results from the fact that their long-term stability is unknown and difficult to predict. In the present study we report on a new approach of kinetic analysis of the oxidation reactions of natural rubbers with and without stabiliser in an oxygen atmosphere at moderate temperatures using chemiluminescence measurements carried out on newly developed instrumentation. The kinetic parameters of the oxidation process, calculated from the chemiluminescence signals by means of the differential isoconversional method of Friedman, were subsequently applied to the simulation of the rubber aging using different temperature profiles. The results are a first step towards the use of chemiluminescence to characterise the oxidative aging of rubber and predicting the lifetime of rubber items.


Culvert failure can be a chronic problem, and the consequences of failure, including the following, can be severe: • cost of reinstatement • costs associated with the loss of use of the road: rerouting delivery of raw products from landing to mill or port, risk of inability to access fire sites, etc. • environmental damage • fines for violations of environmental regulations • poor public relations


In a society, different classes in social groups or tribes, in order to achieve a relative welfare for themselves and the family, need a long-term plan and its time depends on their income. But in a developed or developing community citizens can have plans for their own life and welfare, being accountable in case of any turmoil in this trend, guides the society from the convincing reasons to the subjective balance. . The question is, what do people do in a society where politics and economics are inclined to the depression of community? In such societies like Iran, Venezuela or North Korea, it is basically something that is supremacy, the sovereignty of the ideological view on politics and any ruling function whether elective or non-elective should be taken into consideration. Nazi people dominated this sovereignty based on their will. . This is my first and fundamental hypothesis in this paper as human evolution has shown that countries that are more closely guarded by the community in various democratic ways and correct response of their sovereignty determines their fate in the most calm condition . The power of the people to achieve favorable conditions for a variety of personal or community-based planning is much higher and more stable.


Provided in the embodiments of the present invention are a method for data frame routing processing, a near field communication (NFC) controller, and a terminal, applied in a first terminal, the first terminal comprising a device host (DH) and a near field communication controller (NFCC), and a first routing mechanism in the first terminal being in an activated state, the method comprising: the NFCC receiving data frames sent by a second terminal; if the currently-activated radio frequency (RF) protocol is the first RF protocol, the NFCC processing the data frames according to a first preset rule; and if the currently-activated RF protocol is the second RF protocol, the NFCC performing routing processing on the data frames according to the first routing mechanism; the first RF protocol comprising a near field communication data exchange (NFC-DEP) protocol, the second RF protocol comprising a non-NFC-DEP protocol. By means of using different processing methods for different RF protocol types corresponding to the received data frames, when a particular NFCEE is activated, other entities, such as a P2P application on the DH, can be used normally.


The paper reports on the experimental investigations into supersonic oxygen-iodine laser (COIL). Study efficiency results of the COIL unit driven by the singlet oxygen generator (SOG) with twisted gas flow (TA-SOG) are given for supersonic iodine- oxygen mixing at a broadly ranged singlet oxygen pressure and buffer gas flowrate. The measurements were performed for variations of the throat sizes and the positions of the iodine injection plane in supersonic nozzle part. The gas pressure at the input of the nozzle unit was varied from 50 to 150 Torr. The chemical efficiency achieved under optimal operational COIL conditions was 33%.


Every program that trains future teachers are different, and each of those programs has its own techniques for assisting pre-service teachers in developing their TPACK knowledge and skills. In the present study, pre-service teachers were given an assessment of their professional knowledge and teaching abilities in relation to the AIOU B.Ed. (1.5-year) degrees that they had earned. According to the findings of the survey, student-teachers who intended to pursue careers in the field of mathematics had the lowest mean scores when it came to their levels of pedagogical ability. The student-teachers in the reading domain, however, obtained the highest mean score for pedagogical expertise out of all five participant groups. This was due to the fact that they had the most experience teaching. Students who were planning on working in the education sector as English teachers had the lowest mean ratings for their technological ability. The evaluation of teachers' perceptions of their understanding of the TPCK's components found that the PK and PCK performed the best overall of all the components. Interviews were conducted with twenty future teachers to elicit their perspectives on the challenges that come with the teaching profession.


Archaic hexameter poetry could be declaimed by a rhapsode; in some circumstances it could also be sung or chanted to the accompaniment of a lyre. Beyond that we know disappointingly little about performance practices or about the social context of performance. Even Homer is only a partial exception. We know that Homeric epic was performed competitively at the Great Panathenaea festival in Athens, but that was not its only possible setting and we have no reliable evidence at all about its original setting. With Hesiod we know even less. We must make do with isolated snippets of information and hints. This chapter cannot offer many answers: only present what relevant information is available and indicate which kinds of guesses are reasonable ones.


In this paper we study the remittance behavior of immigrants and how it relates to temporary versus permanent migration plans. We use a unique data source that provides unusual detail on remittances and return plans, and follows the same household over time. Our data allows us also to distinguish between different purposes of remittances. We analyze the association between individual and household characteristics and the geographic location of the family as well as return plans, and remittances. The panel nature of our data allows us to condition on household fixed effects. To address measurement error and reverse causality, we use an instrumental variable estimator. Our results show that changes in return plans are related to large changes in remittance flows. JEL Classification: F22,F24


White light interferometry has been adopted to measure the distributed polarization coupling in high birefringence fibers. A superluminescent diode is adopted as the optical source in the white light interferometer. To enlarge the measurement range, the light beam in the scanning arm of the Michelson interferometer is reflected three times. Thus the scanning range of the interferometer is doubled. The full-width half-maximum spectrum of the SLD is 50 nm, and the central wavelength is 1300 nm. If the modal birefringence of the HBF is 5×10-4, a spatial resolution of 70 mm can be achieved. A high sensitivity photo detector and a high-resolution analog to digital converter have been adopted. The polarization coupling intensity measurement accuracy can be up to -75 dB.


Hydrocarbon spills impact drinking water supplies at down gradient locations. Conventional finite difference and finite element models of multiphase, multicomponent flow have extreme requirements for both computer time and site data. Site data and the intent of the modeling often do not warrant the application of such models. An alternative approach is proposed which is based on semi-analytic models for vertical product infiltration, radial spreading on the water table, and transport of aqueous phase contaminants in the aquifer. Three individual models for these processes are linked to estimate exposure at a down gradient well. A time record of concentration can be determined for any desired location in the aquifer. The presentation outlines the methodology and examines parameter sensitivity within the combined vadose zone, oil lens, and aquifer transport models.


Probabilistic analysis allows taking into account uncertainties that deterministic approaches usually don't permit. In this context, the uncertainty of the angle of seismic incidence is addressed and its effect on the seismic demand of buildings is examined in a probabilistic framework. Buildings comprising different configurations in-plan and in-elevation are subjected to nonlinear time history analysis with forty bi-directional ground motions. The ground motions are applied along twelve angles of incidence, which are sampled from a uniform distribution, and are further re-sampled into groups of different sizes. The seismic demand distributions of samples derived from different ground motion group sizes applied along different number of angles of incidence are compared to the demand distribution of the reference case considered to be the true demand distribution. The results show that considering more than one angle of seismic incidence always improves the result. The effect of the angle seems to be dependent on the size of the ground motion group and, from a probabilistic point of view, considering more than five angles of incidence has no significant effect on the seismic demand.


The Profiles of Lead Exposure On Public Transportation Driver's Hair, Route Johar to Kedungmundu; Drivers work in the street everyday, getting direct exposure to the air pollution, especially to Lead (Pb). Therefore they are very vulnerable to the negative effects of Lead (Pb) that attacks the neuro system. Object of the research is Johar - Kedung Mundu route public transportation drivers hair with certain criteria. Samples of 5 people are taken each for those with working experience ranging from 5 to 10 years, and those with working experience ranging from l0 to 15 years, each samples are analyzed with duplo way. The results of the research are: the amount of Lead (Pb) found on the hair is presumably very little, therefore the qualitative test is used by using SSA method in which there is absorbance rate, meaning that the qualitative test to Pb metal has a positive result. The lowest amount of Pb found in the driver's hair is the one of the driver who already worked for 5 years with sample code I, while the highest arnount of Pb found in the driver's hair is the one of the driver who already worked for 15 years with sample code D.


Copyright © 2016 Address correspondenc Otolaryngology Departm Qatar; E-mail: Hahmad2@ Author Contributions: C and R. S.; Supervision — R.S. and S.A.; Analysis Literature Review — S.A Review — A. Q. and H. Conflict of Interest: Th Informed Consent: Wri patient for publication of t A copy of the written con Chief of this journal. DOI: 10.1097/MAO.0 ube (ET) is derived from the first Audiometry revealed bilateral mi The Eustachian t branchial pouch, which extends laterally between the first and second branchial arches to form the tubotympanic recess (TTR). The distal part of the TTR becomes the primitive tympanic cavity, and the proximal part constricts to form the lumen of the fibrocartilaginous ET. These phenomena occur between 4 and 6 weeks of gestation (1). By the 14th week of gestation, the tubal cartilage and tensor tympani muscle develop from the mesenchyme surrounding the TTR that is populated with migratory neural crest cells (2). Very few ET anomalies have been published in the literature and have primarily consisted of descriptions of diverticula, hypoplasia/aplasia, fistula, or aberrant paratubal musculature (3). We report a unique case of bilateral persistent TTR associated with bilateral fibrocartilaginous ET atresia in a patient with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). To our knowledge, this anatomic aberration has not been previously reported.


The invention relates to a preparation method of polluted soil remediation liquids and in particular to a method for preparing an eluent in remediation of heavy metal polluted soil. The method comprises the following steps: (1), preparing sodium melamine hexa-acetate by one-step water-bath heating method using sodium iminodiacetate, sodium bicarbonate and cyanuric chloride as synthesis raw material and water as solvent, then acidifying with hydrochloric acid to obtain melamine hexa-acetate, and primarily washing and then filtering to obtain melamine hexa-acetate; (2), weighing melamine hexa-acetate and dissolving melamine hexa-acetate in distilled water to make an eluent; and (3), weighing a sample of heavy metal polluted soil, adding the eluent into the sample, then loading to an oscillator for oscillation followed by centrifugal separation, and detecting the sample which is weighed and then added with the eluent, followed by centrifugal separation or filtration separation. The method can effectively remove heavy metal pollutants from the heavy metal polluted soil, is favorable to the reduction in processing cost of polluted soil, and provides a technical support for recycling of heavy metal polluted soil.


Introduction: The Daring to Travel and the Search for the Better 1. Fashion and Genre: The Two Instigators Radishchev's Journey and the Taste of Necessity Karamzin's Journey and the Taste of Fiction Words of Nature and the Nature of Words 2. Ritual and Histrionics: Sentimental Views of Authenticity On the Use and Abuse of Theatricality The Travelogue as Ritual of Social Integration (Prince P. I. Shalikov) The Travelogue as Ritual of Spiritual Elevation (V. A. Zhukovskii) 3. Creating History: Presences and Absences History Made Present (V. V. Izmailov) The Paradox of the Naive (K. N. Batiushkov) The Presence of the History Writer (A. A. Bestuzhev-Marlinskii) The Paradox of the Sentimental (I. M. Murav'ev-Apostol) 4. The Space of Irony Irony, Fragmentation, and the Tower of Babel (A. F. Vel'tman) Baron Brambeus and the Ironies of Vulgar Traveling (O. I. Senkovskii) Ironic Masks and the Struggle for the Self (A. S. Pushkin) Conclusion: The Encumbered Gaze Notes Bibliography Index


The selection of hospital sites is one of the most important choice a decision maker has to take so as to resist the pandemic. The decision may considerably affect the outbreak transmission in terms of efficiency , budget, etc. The main targeted objective of this study is to find the ideal location where to set up a hospital in the willaya of Oran Alg. For this reason, we have used a geographic information system coupled to the multi-criteria analysis method AHP in order to evaluate diverse criteria of physiological positioning , environmental and economical. Another objective of this study is to evaluate the advanced techniques of the automatic learning . the method of the random forest (RF) for the patterning of the hospital site selection in the willaya of Oran. The result of our study may be useful to decision makers to know the suitability of the sites as it provides a high level of confidence and consequently accelerate the power to control the COVID19 pandemic.


The present invention relates to a method of making a cemented carbide or a cermet body comprising the steps of first forming a powder blend comprising powders forming hard constituents and metal binder. The powder blend is then subjected to a mixing operation using a non-contact mixer wherein acoustic waves achieving resonance conditions to form a mixed powder blend and then subjecting said mixed powder blend to a pressing and sintering operation. The method makes it possible to maintain the grain size, the grain size distribution and the morphology of the WC grains.


Objective To observe the effects of Rhizoma Paridis total saponins(RPTS) on the growth of human gastric carcinoma cell lines MNK-45 and MGC80-3.Methods MNK-45 and MGC80-3 cells were treated with 5,10,20,40,and 80 μg/ml RPTS for 24,48,and 72 h,and then methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium(MTT) assay was used to measure the growth inhibition rates of the two cells.MNK-45 and MGC80-3 cells were treated with 10 μg/ml RPTS for 24 h,and then acridine orange/ethidium(AO/EB) staining was used to observe the morphological changes of the two cells.MNK-45 and MGC80-3 cells were treated with 10 and 20 μg/ml RPTS,and then flow cytometry was used to determine the changes in cell cycles of the two cells.Results RPTS(5-80 μg/ml) had significant inhibitory effects on the growth of MNK-45 and MGC80-3 cells(P0.05 or P0.01),and the higher the dosage was,the longer and stronger the inhibitory effect was(P0.01).RPTS had significantly stronger inhibitory effects on MNN-45 cells than on MGC80-3 cells when applied at the same concentration for the same period(P 0.01).Both cells showed apoptotic features under a fluorescence microscope after being treated with RPTS.Treated with RPTS,MNK-45 cells were arrested in G0/G1 phase,and MGC80-3 cells in S phase.Conclusion RPTS can inhibit cell growth,induce apoptosis,and affect cell cycle in human gastric carcinoma cell lines MNK-45 and MGC80-3,but the effects on cell growth and cell cycle were different in them.


We report the second record of Symphyllophyton campos-portoi Gilg-Ben. in Brazil and the first records from the states of Maranhão and Tocantins, northeastern and northern of Brazil, respectively. The samples were collected in the Cerrado sensu stricto during the beginning of the dry season, within the boundaries of the Parque Estadual do Mirador, Maranhão, and on a farm in northeastern Tocantins. The finding contributes to the knowledge of the flora of these states and expands the known geographic distribution of S. campos-portoi. In this work, we present a description of the species, the first photographic record in this environment, and an identification key for the species of Symphyllophyton from Brazil.


As Systems-on-Chip size increase, the communication costs become critical and Networks-on-Chip (NoC) bring innovative solutions. Efficient stream-based protocols over NoC have been widely studied to address dataflow communications. They are usually controlled by a set of static parameters. However, new applications, such as high-resolution video decoders, present more data-dependent behaviors forcing communication protocols to support higher dynamicity. For this purpose, we present in this paper dynamic stream links for stream-based end-to-end NoC communications by introducing two link protocols, both independent of the transfer size, allowing to improve the hardware/software control flexibility. The proposed protocols have been modeled in a MPSoC virtual platform and the hardware cost evaluated. Based on simulations, we provide guidelines to exploit these protocols according to application needs.


Current network infrastructures are over-provisioned to increase their resilience against resource failures, e.g., bundled links and nodes, as well as congestion during peak hours. However such strategies waste resources as well as exhibit poor energy efficiency at off-peak periods. To this end, several energy-aware routing algorithms have been proposed to maximally switch off redundant network resource at low traffic load to minimize energy usage. These routing solutions, however, do not consider network reliability as critical back-off links/nodes maybe switched off. Henceforth, we aim to quantify the effects of five recently proposed green routing approaches, namely FGH, GreenTE, MSPF, SSPF, and TLDP, on the following two reliability measures: (i) 2-terminal reliability (ii) path reliability. Experiments using three topologies with real and synthetic traffic demands show that switching off redundant links significantly affects the 2-terminal reliability. Routing traffic through multiple paths has lesser reliability impact while reducing energy, especially when the paths are link disjoint. Interestingly, TDLP and MSPF have better path reliabilities than using shortest path routing.


This essay in the historiography of hagiography examines the writing of the biography of St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (1651-1719), founder of the Brethren of Christian Doctrine, or Christian Brothers. The biography was based on a single untested source and was written by clerics with no historiographical culture. It is modelled on the devotional cliche of the «Life of the Saints, a from of literature which remained popular until the end of the 19th century, and was re-worked by order of the superiors of the Brethren in the heated political and religious climate of 18th century France. The author of this essay, an experienced philologist and archivist, doesn't simply detail the short-comings of this biography but also suggests a critical methodology aimed at reconstructing the biography of La Salle, at least to the extent to which it is possible to recover La Salle's thinking from corrupt texts.


This paper covers a plan to build supply chain cooperation systems among stream of the textile industry to strengthen international competitiveness. To obtain the study objective, it has been reviewed the theoretical rationale relating to organizational cooperation model and discussion and performed the case study that analyzed stream group and participated firms to the textile stream policy project. The analyzed stream cooperative types that measured configuration of cooperative degree and productive type are new market creation, technology improvement, relation maintenance, and relation cease. Two types - new market creation and technology improvement - have significant effect of the textile stream cooperation. Key successful factors of these two effective types are the external intervention of specialized consulting organization and build internal coordination and integrated mechanism to the cooperative stream group and participated firms.


Excerpt The introduction of the nitrogen mustard compounds in the treatment of neoplastic disease opened the field of modern cancer chemotherapy and established the therapeutic effectiveness of the...


Parkinson disease (PD) has been linked to subsequent depression, but it remains unknown whether depression is a predisposing risk factor for PD or an


Serial hemodynamic changes following intravenous E. coll 0111B4 endotoxin were evaluated in 28 puppies, 1-18 days and 270-1800 grans. Serial cardiac outputs were measured by a modified reinfusion dye dilution technique. Heart rate and systemic arterial pressures also were measured. Changes were recorded at 5 min, 10 min and at 10 min intervals thereafter for 1 hour following endotoxin. Heart rate dropped from 210/min to 141/min at 5 min and stabilized at a slightly higher level thereafter (p < 0.01). Mean systemic pressure decreased gradually from 70 mm Hg to 42 mm Hg at 1 hour (p < 0.01). Cardiac index decreased from 266 ml/min/kg to 131 ml/min/kg at 5 min and continued to decline to 115 ml/min/kg at 1 hour (p < 0.01). Systemic vascular resistance rose from 0.467 unit to 0.846 unit at 5 min and remained elevated at slightly lower level at 1 hour (p < 0.01). Minute work decreased at 5 min from 0.301 Kg-m/kg to 0.134 Kg-m/kg and to 0.066 Kg-m/kg at 1 hour (p < 0.01). Mean ejection rate decreased from a control of 10.89 ml/kg/sec to 6.69 ml/kg/sec at 1 hour (p < 0.01). Puppies were divided into 3 groups by weight: 270-400 gm (group A), 401-800 gm (group B) and 801-1800 gm (group C). Cardiac function was comparatively more depressed in group C than in groups A and B. We conclude that 1) E. coli endotoxin has negative inotropic and chronotropic effects on the myocardium of newborn puppies, 2) depression of cardiac function is greater in the older, larger puppies.


Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contamination that has resulted from the recycling of electronic power capacitors and transformers could lead to deterioration in soil quality and high ecological risk. As microorganisms are generally considered to be the best indicators of soil pollution, the diversity of bacterial communities in the soil around an e-waste recycling workshop in the Taizhou e-waste recycling area of China was studied using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The results indicated that the PCBs content in the soil decreased with increasing distance from the recycling workshop. Moreover, a gradual change in soil bacteria diversity along the PCBs pollution gradient was observed. Furthermore, the predominance of Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes was found on the basis of sequence analysis and some highly similar subsequences of microorganisms were also found to be closely related to the catabolism of PCBs and other organic compounds. In a word, our results indicated that PCBs pollutants had an evident impact on the structure of the soil microbial community and the enriched microbes might serve to decompose PCBs in soil.


Resistance to conventional anticancer therapies in patients with advanced solid tumors has prompted the need of alternative cancer therapies.Moreover, the success of novel cancer therapies depends on their selectivity for cancer cells with limited toxicity to normal tissues. Bacteriotherapy is the treatment of disease by the use of bacteria or their products. It may have potential applications for cancer therapy as it is the most potential and promising strategy is bacteria based gene-directed enzyme pro drug therapy.


In the version of this article initially published, in Volume 21, issue 3, the first affiliation (affiliation number 1) was incorrectly stated as "Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Adnan Menderes University, Aydin, Turkey". The correct affiliation is "Department of Oncology, Shaoxing People's Hospital ,Shaoxing Hospital of Zhejiang University, Shaoxing 312000,China'. This error appeared only in the PubMed database and not in the print form of the Journal.


Babel is an open-source language interoperability framework tailored to the needs of high-performance scientific computing. As an integral element of the Common Component Architecture (CCA) it is used in a wide range of research projects. In this paper we describe how we extended Babel to support interoperable tuple data types (structs). Structs are a common idiom in scientific APIs; they are an efficient way to pass tuples of nonuniform data between functions, and are supported natively by most programming languages. Using our extended version of Babel, developers of scientific code can now pass structs as arguments between functions implemented in any of the supported languages. In C, C++ and Fortran 2003, structs can be passed without the overhead of data marshaling or copying, providing language interoperability at minimal cost. Other supported languages are Fortran 77, Fortran 90, Java and Python. We will show how we designed a struct implementation that is interoperable with all of the supported languages and present benchmark data compare the performance of all language bindings, highlighting the differences between languages that offer native struct support and an object-oriented interface with getter/setter methods.


where U = V k−mV k−m+1 · · ·V k−1. For the L-BFGS, we need not explicitly store the approximated inverse Hessian matrix. Instead, we only require matrix-vector multiplications at each iteration, which can be implemented by a twoloop recursion with a time complexity of O(mn) (Jorge & Stephen, 1999). Thus, we only store 2m vectors of length n: sk−1, sk−2, · · · , sk−m and yk−1,yk−2, · · · ,yk−m with a storage complexity of O(mn), which is very useful when n is large. In practice, L-BFGS updates Hk−m as μI , where μ = (s)y/∥y∥.


Abstract. As a result of globalization, the integration initiatives of the international financial markets cause various problems. Moreover, these problems are not only limited to the country in which they occur, but can also spread to other countries by snowball-effect or transmission. When we review the world financial history, countries have often experienced financial crises in recent years. At the same time, they have developed various methods to eliminate or reduce the negative effects of crises. Sukuk issues made in a country change the effects of the financial crisis that country is exposed to. This is mainly because of the fact that the Sukuk instruments are insensitive to interest. In this paper, the case study method has been adopted. In accordance with this method, it is intended to make an assessment of the sukuk applications in the world and in Turkey. Keywords. Sukuk, Capital movements, Global financial crisis. JEL. G10, G15, G20, G21.


Willerslev and Hebsgaard's comment on the evidence for the 250 Ma age of the halite, brine inclusion, and Virgibacillus strain 2-9-3 reported in [Satterfield et al. (2005)][1] comes at a time when earth scientists are busily searching for signs of microscopic life in ancient samples of permafrost,


The author, who is director of the Humanities Research Centre of the Australian National University has commented on Professor Henry Grattam's remakrs about the Centre. The attempt is to basically allay the fears that Dr. Grattan has regarding the centre.


Longevity of sensors and portable devices are severely limited by temperature, chemical instability, and electrolyte leakage issues associated with conventional electrochemical batteries. Batteries undergo self-discharge and permanent loss of capacity at high temperatures, exhibit lower voltage and capacity at low temperatures, and leak electrolyte shortening operating lives, corrosion of nearby electronics, and potential safety hazards in the form of burns and poisoning. Instabilities in lithium types often short resulting explosions, fire, and venting of hazardous gasses. Betavoltaics do not have these problems and can operate in a wide temperature range without permanent degradation and loss of capacity, will not explode, and be made safe. Betavoltaic technology is maturing with advances in radioisotope sources, semiconductor materials, and developments in low-power applications, and has been identified by Department of Defense as a disruptive technology that is needed and should be pursued. This study presents experimental and modeling research on the leading betavoltaic technology, recent developments and proposed advancements. The next generation 100 microwatt betavoltaic is introduced along with projected voltage, current, and power characteristics.


Generic LMWHs are available in several countries and several products are under review by the FDA. There are no regulatory guidelines for defining equivalence of complex biologic drugs. Multiple lots of Lovenox or generic enoxaparin were supplemented to human plasma in the absence or presence of protamine sulfate (PS). Anticoagulant activity was measured using the aPTT, Heptest, PiCT assays. Anti‐thrombin and anti‐factor Xa activity were assessed by amidolytic assays. Effects on thrombin generation and the activation of thrombin activatable fibrinolytic inhibitor (TAFI) were determined by functional assay. At prophylactic levels of LMWH, no differences in anticoagulant or antiprotease activities were observed between generic and branded LMWHs. At therapeutic concentrations, significantly higher anticoagulant and antiprotease activities were observed with Lovenox. Assay‐dependent variations in PS neutralization of antiprotease and anticoagulant activities were observed at higher LMWH concentrations. Significant differences were noted in the effects of these agents on thrombin generation and the activation of TAFI. Current generic LMWHs possess some differences from branded LMWHs in known biologic properties of heparin. Variations in PS neutralization raise the question as to whether the interaction with other plasmatic proteins also differs from that of the branded drug. These results emphasize a need to consider multiple functional parameters when defining bioequivalence of complex biologic drugs and underscore the importance of further pharmacologic studies involving animal models and human clinical trials.


In this study, the structure of computer program which solves the elastic and elasto-plastic stress analysis of machine elements that are manufactured isotrop materials or metal -matrix composites materials by using the finite element method, have been explained. An isoparametric rectangular element with nine nodes have been taken and Lagrange polynomials have been used as interpolation function. A computer program has been developed which solves the linear equation systems accurately by using optimum time and computer memory. In the calculation of plastic zone stress analysis initial stress method has been used. Two example solutions have been given for the related program. Fortran has been used as a program language.


This paper considers a heterogenous network HetNet where a macro base station (MBS) coexists with many small base stations (SBSs). SBSs can be deactivated and put to sleep to save energy and are equipped with two power sources, harvested energy (HE) source and a power grid source, where first the SBS will use its available HE to serve the associated users. Then, the SBS will request any shortage of its energy from other active or deactivated SBSs which have surplus of HE. Finally, if there is still shortage in energy, the SBS will use the power drawn from the grid. This transfer of energy is facilitated through the use of the promising technology of the smart grid (SG). We investigate the grid energy minimization problem by optimizing both the transmission power and activation/deactivation (Dynamic Sleeping) of the SBSs. Moreover, a decomposition of the problem into a convex optimization problem and users association according to the best SINR is proposed. Then, we derived a closed form of the optimal transmission power and use the IPOPT algorithm to find the Lagrangian variables. The results clearly show the advantages of our model operational strategy.


This article analyses the levels of students' satisfaction and how institution provides infrastructure facilities in the field of higher education. Infrastructure is the fastest growing segment of the higher education scenario. Universities play a very vital role in a country in terms of their potential. It contributes to employment and growth. The basic objective of this paper is to look for students' satisfaction in Sri Venkateswara University. After a careful study of academic standards in higher education, an attempt is made to assess the student satisfaction in different categories of university colleges with regard to infrastructure facilities such as class room and lab facilities, amenities in the hostel, library, sports facilities etc., A framework was developed to examine the satisfaction issues surrounding university. The framework looks at the important interlinks among demographic characteristics, behavior characteristics, infrastructural facilities and overall customer satisfaction. Students first form expectations of service performance prior to purchasing or use. The customer then compares the perceived performance to prior expectations. Customer satisfaction is seen as the outcome of this comparison. The study area for this study was Sri Venkateswara University, Andhra Pradesh. The sample respondents were administered questionnaires randomly. The results of the study show that: appropriate statistical analyses such as factor analysis, correlation analysis, multiple regressions, multivariate analysis of variance, and multivariate analysis of covariance were used to fulfill the respective objectives of the study. This study also tries to highlight the importance of students' satisfaction assurance of service providers and using quality equipments in education. This paper can be useful to the planners and marketers in formulating strategies to maintain or enhance their competitiveness when compared with other universities.


The topology optimization of large and complex structures is important in theory and application. Based on the idea that finite elements with artificial material property are inserted around the cavities and boundaries of the structure to approximately transform the singular topology optimization model into a non-singular one, this paper has made a research on the topology optimization problem of large three-dimensional continuum structures considering displacement requirements. First, a criterion and a set of formulas of three-dimensional structures with displacement constraints are introduced. Then, in order to solve calculation efficiency problem of large structures with more than ten thousand degrees of freedom, a strategy and its algorithm of three-dimensional structural topology optimization designs are proposed based on analyzing the computation model of structural properties and combining with the iteration method of structural displacement calculations. Finally, several examples of typical and complex three-dimensional structural topology designs aregiven. These examples show that the proposed method is valid and effective for complex three-dimensional structural topology optimizations, and is of engineering application value.


Background: Parotidectomy has been traditionally done with general endotracheal anaesthesia mostly in tertiary institutions where there is adequate anaesthetic manpower. A lot of patients with parotid masses presents to other cheaper healthcare providers including medical outreaches where there is paucity of both anaesthetic manpower and gadgets. Aim: To share our experience in parotidectomy using local anaesthetics in medical outreaches where there is inadequate support of anaesthetic personnel and gadgets. Method: Patients counseled for parotidectomy had local anesthetic infiltration and nerve block with 1% ligdocaine in 1:100,000 adrenaline. Lazy-S incision was used starting pre-tragally down to the angle of the mandible. Branches of the facial nerve were gently separated from the mass which is delivered to the wound and shelled out. Wounds were closed in layers without drain. Conclusion: Parotidectomy with local anaesthetic agents is a safe option especially in settings of medical outreaches in resource poor countries with limited anaesthetic manpower and gadgets. The safety of surgery on day case basis and avoidance of use of hardly available nerve stimulator all the more make it an appealing alternative.


The author points out in this article that excessive depending on petroleum in energy consumption is a weak point of U.S.A′ s economy, and that we mustn′ t repeat the American mode of petroleum consumption. Instead, our strategic choice should be to economize the resources.


Knowledge workers today have a lot of digital documents to manage, and most employ some sort of organizational system or scheme to help them. Most commonly used software provides the ability to create a hierarchical organization, but the appropriateness of this structure for personal digital document management has not been established. This research aims to understand how people currently organize their documents, identify the strengths and weaknesses of current systems and explore the usefulness of other information structures. This should provide insight into how personal digital document management systems can be made more usable.


The state variables in a biodigester are predicted using an unstructured model, and this study offers an analytical design of a Non-Linear Logistic Observer (NLLO), subsequently comparing its performance to that of other prominent state estimators. Because of variables such as temperature, pH, high pressure, volumetric organic load (VOC), and hydraulic retention time (HRT), among others, biodigester samples can be affected by the use of physical sensors, which are not always practical owing to their sensitivity to the type of sampling and external disturbances. The use of virtual sensors represents one approach to solving this issue. In this work, we suggest experimentally validating a mathematical model, then analytically designing a novel NLLO observer, and finally comparing the results to those obtained using a sliding-mode estimator and a Luenberger observer. By including online CH4 and CO2 measurements as inputs to the proposed observer, the local observability analysis demonstrated that all state variables were recoverable. After showing how well the suggested observer performs in numerical experiments, a proof based on the Lyapunov theory is offered. The primary innovation of this study is the incorporation of a novel algorithm that has been empirically validated and has output resilience to input parametric perturbations.


Protocols in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy applied for individual or group for the treatment of anxiety and mood disorders has been found to be effective. Case conceptualization is relevant and essential in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy because it describes and explains patient presentations in ways that inform interventions. Yet the evidence base challenges the claimed benefits of case conceptualization. A systematic review of the literature has been conducted based on data from ISI Web of Knowledge and PubMed. Articles relating to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Protocols in both individual and group therapy procedures were selected. We reviewed 366 articles; we discarded 141, which were not in English, 86, which were reviews and 93 because of inadequate titles. After reading the abstracts a further 18 articles were excluded, leaving 28 to be fully evaluated. Finally, 19 were selected for the final review. These articles that describe Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy treatment for panic disorder, which were effective when patients were also treated by a psychiatrist. Depressive symptoms were only mildly reduced with cognitive therapy in patients seeking the acquisition of coping skills requiring deliberate efforts and reflective thought. Actually, changes in despair thoughts and behaviors require less rumination of negative interpretation of depressive patients. Finally, the Unified Protocol is an efficient procedure for group treatment in cases of generalized anxiety and mood disorders.


In order to develop students' innovative spirit and practice ability,aiming at the disadvantages and shortcomings existing in theory and practice teaching of aquatic animal diseases,an initial discussion of the reform measures was conducted,including optimization of the content and construction of teaching,establishment of the second class in teaching practice base and innovative methods in theory and practice teaching and so on.Finally,the direction to further reform teaching of aquatic animal diseases was put forward.


This paper studies a novel Radar and wireless communication fusion system namely, RadCom, using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing index modulation waveforms. From the communication perspective, information is conveyed not only through modulated orthogonal frequency division multiplexing subcarriers but also by the active subcarrier indices that are dynamically updated at the transmitted symbol rates. When compared with conventional orthogonal frequency division multiplexing communication systems, only a subset of subcarriers is activated in the proposed orthogonal frequency division multiplexing index modulation system, which reduces signal peak-to-average ratios, lead-ing to enhanced power amplifier efficiency. From the Radar sensing perspective, the Radar range-velocity profile obtained using compressed sensing approach is simulated and presented. It is shown that orthogonal frequency division multiplexing index modulation RadCom system can enhance the transmission data rates when low-order modulation schemes are adopted e.g. binary phase shift keying, and maintain similar Radar performance compared with the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing counterpart when the system is carefully designed.


The purpose of the thesis is to examine issues related to European Monetary Union (EMU). Firstly, in Chapter one we present the analytical and empirical literature which has been developed on Central Bank Independence issue and the factors that affect its relationship with real output, employment and inflation. In Chapter two, we study the structural interdependencies between the monetary and fiscal authorities in a monetary union under different regimes, and also we examine the role of shock asymmetries as monetary policy in a monetary union has stabilized effects only on aggregated variables. The third Chapter focuses on the enlarged European Union (E.U.) and specifically we study the degree of heterogeneity among the 27 member-countries. Also, we examine the degree of business cycle synchronization and the shock symmetry. The degree of heterogeneity is measured by Theil coefficients, and we use data not only for the period 1995.1-2005.4 but also for the two sub-periods 1995.1-2000.4 και 2000.1-2005.4 (pre and post the circulation of single currency). We use the SVAR methodology in order to measure the degree of macroeconomic shocks among the EU-27 member-states by separating shocks in demand and supply shocks. In Chapter four we examine the relationship between shock symmetry and trade integration, either it is related to total trade either to intra-industry trade by using data for the period 1995q1-2005q4. The trade intensity between two countries is measured as the ratio of the sum of imports and exports to the sum of total exports and imports of two countries, while we take the Grubel-Lloyd indexes to measure the intra-industry trade.


Congenital cardiovascular malformations are one of the major contributors to infant mortality in the United States today. Defects in the cardiovascular system are evident at very early stages in the developing embryo, yet there exists no substantial diagnostic tool(s) for recognizing defects at these early stages. Cardiac morphogensis occurs throughout the pre-innervated period of embryonic development. It is speculated that the flow of blood during the early embryonic stages plays an important role in the development of the cardiovascular system. Blood flow is a possible mechanism for communication between the heart and vasculature, contributing to cardiac development. The objective of this study is to investigate ventricularvascular coupling across the conotruncus and aortic arches using mathematical models to simulate experimental hemodynamic data from a Stage 21 White Leghorn chick embryo. Lumped-parameter hydraulic models of the embryonic vasculature are tested for their ability to predict experimental data using Least Squares minimization techniques. This research explores the use of linear parametric models as an effective tool in characterizing embryonic hemodynamics.


There are more than 7,000 known rare diseases, but pharmaceutical manufacturers developed treatments for only 500 of them. To improve the availability and accessibility of treatments for rare diseases, governments have introduced several programs including subsidies, exogenous pricing, and outcome-based payment schemes in recent years. What kind of subsidy programs and pricing mechanisms can improve patient access? Inspired by various pilot programs, we present a multistage game theoretic model to analyze different subsidy schemes proposed for rare diseases. In addition to the traditional setting in which the manufacturer sets the price, we consider an "exogenous pricing scheme" under which an independent consortium sets the price. We also examine an outcome-based payment scheme, which offers the drug for free if it is not efficacious. We formulate a four-stage Stackelberg game to determine whether it is optimal to subsidize the pharmaceutical manufacturer, the patients, or both. Our results offer several insights. First, we find that government subsidies are crucial to entice new drug development for rare diseases. Also, we find that the pricing scheme matters: The exogenous pricing scheme can improve patient welfare, but it reduces the manufacturer's expected profit. We find that this result is robust even when an outcome-based payment scheme is used. This paper was accepted by Jayashankar Swaminathan, operations management. Funding: This work was supported by the Dutch Science Foundation [Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek VENI Talent Scheme]. Supplemental Material: The data files and online appendices are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4634 .


The turn-off capability test for the single cell of power devices is of great significance to both the safe operation assurance and the destruction mechanism research. However, with present techniques, the device under test is supposed to be destroyed once the turn-off fault occurs. In this article, a robust nondestructive test scheme based on the multistage anode voltage detection for 4500 V single-cell turn-off capability of press-packed devices is proposed. Based on the proposed scheme, a single cell of IGCT is tested until a fault occurs. The result proves that a total bypass time is less than 100 ns for the 2200 V/5 A turn-off fault, and thus, the aim of nondestructive tests can be achieved with the proposed method.


A bi-directional bridgeless PFC converter (BBPFC) is fascinating topology for high power application among many bridgeless PFC converters due to small EMI filter size and simple control method despite of floating gate driver. By varying reverse recovery characteristics of diodes placed on the conduction path, it is possible to improve EMI characteristics without reducing power density. Therefore, when BBPFC is applied to high power application such as server power supply, it can be seen that it has the highest EMI performance and the highest power density. However, the way to improve the common-mode (CM) noise through this topology is difficult to actually use because of the patent already registered. In this paper, an improved bridgeless PFC converter (BPFC) for avoiding patent already registered is proposed. By using this proposed converter, the power system can achieve high EMI performance and high efficiency. Moreover, it is very simple to implement because the proposed converter is not required for floating gate driver. Also, when applied in DC input voltage conditions, the proposed converter has better characteristic due to utilizing only one switch for build-up operation. The principle and analysis of the proposed method are presented. The performance and feasibility are verified by analysis and simulation results from the high line, i.e. 230 VRMSinput, 800W/400V output prototype.


Rhythm plays an important role in language perception and learning, with infants perceiving rhythmic differences across languages at birth. While the mechanisms under-lying rhythm perception in speech remain unclear, one in-teresting possibility is that these mechanisms are similar to those involved in the perception of musical rhythm. In this work, we adopt a model originally designed for musical rhythm to simulate speech rhythm perception. We show that this model replicates the behavioral results of language discrimination in newborns, and outperforms an existing model of infant language discrimination. We also find that percussives — fast-changing components in the acoustics — are necessary for distinguishing languages of different rhythms, which suggests that percussives are essential for rhythm perception. Our music-inspired model of speech rhythm may be seen as a first step towards a unified theory of how rhythm is represented in speech and music.


Audit of hospital practice in remote areas and military practice indicates that it is possible to provide a high degree of patient safety with the advantages of care close to home in a small hospital with less than 100 beds. However such an approach requires strict attention to training and retraining, good clinical networking, attention to quality control and a well defined system for identifying those patients who need to be transferred to a specialist centre.


Category: Hindfoot; Midfoot/Forefoot; Sports Introduction/Purpose: Progressive collapsing foot deformity (PCFD) is a condition encompassing multiple interrelated, progressive bony and soft tissue deformities, often requiring surgical correction. Patients are often debilitated, with postoperative goals commonly cited as walking and low-impact activities without pain. However, some patients engage in sports and more rigorous activities. Surgeons may struggle to set expectations after surgery since few studies investigate returns to activity following flatfoot reconstruction and every patient is different. Existing studies are limited by small sample sizes, lack of data of activity-specific data, and cohorts confined to one or two of the many possible concomitant procedures in flatfoot reconstruction. This study aims to provide the first generalizable assessment of returns to sports and physical activity following reconstruction surgery in patients with flexible PCFD. Methods: Patients who underwent reconstructive surgery from February 2016-May 2019 for flexible-stage PCFD were identified by registry review and contacted with IRB approval. 70/119 patients (72/121 feet, 60%) were reached at mean 3.1 (range, 2.0 to 5.4) years post-operatively with mean age 43.5 (range, 18 to 59) years at surgery. Concomitant procedures were noted. Physical activity was evaluated with a previously published questionnaire that assessed participation in 15 sports and activities, allowed patients to list additional activities, and classified activities as high or low-impact. Patients specified postoperative number of sessions per week, session duration, return times to participation and maximal activity, relative pre/postoperative difficulty, and satisfaction with outcome regarding sports. Clinical outcomes were evaluated with Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) scores. Multivariable regressions assessed associations between PROMIS domain changes and survey responses and linear models measured association of sports participation with the most performed procedures, controlling for concomitant procedures. Results: Patients experienced significant improvements in all PROMIS domains except Depression and surpassed previously reported minimal clinically important differences for PCFD in Physical Function and Pain Interference scores. Patients reported participation in 21 specific sports and activities (Table 1). Compared to preoperatively, patients rated 16.7% (45/270) of activities as more difficult postoperatively, 33.3% (90/270) as equally difficult, and 50% (135/270) as less difficult. Median return times were 6-9 months for participation in activities and 13-18 months to reach maximum preoperative participation. Patients spent a median 7.6 (range, 0-29.8) hours/week engaged in physical activity. 3% of patients (2/72) were sedentary, 31% (22/72) were moderately active, 28% (20/72), were highly active and 36% (26/72) were extremely active. Improvements in Physical Function (P=.021), Pain Interference (P=.001), and Global Physical Health (P=.001) were associated with increased outcome satisfaction regarding physical activities. No associations were found between procedures performed and any PROMIS domains or return parameters. Conclusion: This is the largest and most comprehensive analysis of patient participation in sports and physical activities following flatfoot reconstruction. Results suggest that flatfoot reconstruction surgery generally results in good returns to physical activity in terms of return time, pre-postoperative difficulty changes, and satisfaction. Some patients reported increased difficulty or inability to return to their preoperative maximum level of participation, indicating that flatfoot reconstructions can lead to some athletic limitations. However, ninety percent of patients reported satisfaction with their surgical outcomes with respect to returns to physical activity, indicating that, for most patients, flatfoot reconstruction provides meaningful relief from debilitation.


【Objective】This study investigated the inhibition effects of four herbs(Astragalus,Scutellaria,Rhubarb and Loosestrife)against TGEVin vitro.【Method】The effective components of four herbs were extracted by traditional water-boiling method and their maximum safe concentrations for PK-15 cells were determined.The inhibition activity of four herbs against TGEV infection was determined by cytopathic effect method.The minimal antiviral concentrations and inhibition indexes of the four herbs were tested by MTT method.【Result】The maximum safe concentrations of herbs Astragalus,Scutellaria,Rhubarb and Loosestrife were 50,12.50,6.25,and 6.25 mg/mL,respectively.Scutellaria and Astragalus inhibited the absorption of TGEV on PK-15 cells with the inhibition index of 8and 4,respectively.Rhubarb and Loosestrife inactivated TGEV directly with the inhibition index of 8.【Conclusion】Astragalus,Scutellaria,Rhubarb and Loosestrife all inhibited TGEVin vitro.


[Objective] To detect the DNA repair capacity of cancer patients after the exposure to radiomimetic compounds.[Methods] The peripheral lymphocytes of 20 cancer patients of different kinds and 20 healthy people were collected and treated with Bleomycin((20 μg/ml))for 30 minutes and repaired for 15 minutes.Comet assay was applied to detect the DNA damage before and after BLM exposure to assess the individual DNA repair capacity.[Results] The average DNA repair capacity of cancer patients by tail length and tail moment in Bleomycin challenge test were 79.42% and 75.97% respectively,which were significantly lower than that of control group(92.41% and 90.69 %)(P0.01).[Conclusion] Bleomycin exposure test combined with comet assay can rapidly assess the DNA repair capacity.It was found that the DNA repair capacity of cancer patients was significantly lower than that of the control group.


One of the most important factors for cost-effective SB-VAWT product is the selection of an appropriate airfoil to achieve desired aerodynamic performance and to optimise the overall dimensions of the SB-VAWT. Design changes related to airfoil also have the potential for increasing the cost effectiveness of SB-VAWTs. This research aims to perform a detailed performance analysis on a series of low Reynolds number (RN) airfoils selected to enhance the performance of smaller capacity fixed-pitch SB-VAWT. Three low RN airfoils have been selected as candidates for the blades of a smaller-capacity SB-VAWT. The research compares their performances with that of a conventionally used symmetric NACA 0015 airfoil. It was found that all candidate low RN airfoils produced higher torque than the NACA 0015 at lower tip speed ratios.


In this individual project the relationship between interests and moral in politics will be considered, taking into consideration the disintegration of former Yugoslavia and the processes of globalization. The starting thesis of the research is that the main actors of global politics are still guided by the modern principles of real-politics with interests as its basic category and power as its supreme value. In that context the main elements of external politics of USA as the key actor of the processes will be specially considered. In the concluding part of the research author will be argue in favor of the affirmation of a new model of global politics, matching the character and scope of the problems faced by humanity at the turn of the century and the millenium.


ABSTRACT: Puns are short humorous texts that play on structural ambiguity in order to create incongruous scripts. The perception of their humour requires considerable pragmatic manipulation, which ...


The form of communication between public health agencies and society has changed with digitalization. Health is one of the most sought after subjects, published and disseminated on the Internet. In these virtual spaces it is possible to find information disseminated by public and private educational and research institutions, governmental and non-governmental agencies, patient and professional entities, and users themselves


Supernatants of antigen‐activated T cells (ATC) were tested for their B cell‐activating potential in T cell‐deprived mouse lymphocyte cultures. Antigenic stimulation of ATC induced the simultaneous release of antigen‐specific and nonspecific factors. The effect of the nonspecific supernatant factor was restricted to the potentiation of antibody responses against fully or partially T‐independent antigens (dinitrophenylated aminoethyl dextran or heterologous erythrocytes, respectively). Expression of the nonspecific activity depended on a macrophage function, which could be replaced by 2‐mercaptoethanol, whereas the specific factor required the physical presence of the macrophage.


Child guidance approaches, models, and strategies impact the quality of the classroom environment through teacher-child interactions, positive and negative climates, and the development of self-regulation and autonomy. Teacher beliefs about guidance and their actual guidance practices impact teacher-child interactions which may be further hampered by the administrative decisions and policies regarding classroom management and child guidance. This study proposed to look at both the teachers' self-reported beliefs about guidance and their selfreported beliefs of their own guidance practices in early childhood guidance as measured by the Early Childhood Guidance Belief Survey (ECGBS-B) and the Early Childhood Guidance Belief SurveyActual Practice (ECGBS-AP) as well as the quality of teacher-child interactions as measured by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, Pre-K (CLASS Pre-K) for 46 Head Start and 10 non-Head Start classrooms within a metropolitan area. Correlations and hierarchical multiple regressions were computed to assess the strength of the relationships between predictor and criterion variables. Research question 1 asked about the relationship between early childhood teachers' self-reported beliefs (ECGBS-B) and practice (EBCGS-AP) about early childhood guidance and actual observed practice (CLASS Pre-K). Findings indicated that when teacher's beliefs and practices reflect more authoritative strategies of early childhood guidance CLASS scores were positively impacted resulting in greater positive teacherchild relationships. Teacher beliefs of early childhood guidance were found to be positively


Cissus vitiginea L. is a perennial climber with potent medicinal values and used in Indian traditional systems of medicines to cure wounds, diabetes, cardiovascular illness, cancers, particularly bone diseases and arthritis. This plant is kept under rare category in certain parts of India due to its imprudent harvesting from the wild. Assortment of literature on phytochemical studies of this plant shows the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, triterpenoids, steroids, glycosides, coumarin, tannins, sugar, proteins etc. The reported secondary metabolites have been reviewed to possess immense biological activities in living systems. In the present review, we have summarized the information concerning the botanical description, phytochemistry, toxicology, pharmacology and the traditional medicinal uses of C. vitiginea. It has been concluded that this plant has not been well explored for its various biological activities and the alternate methods of propagation to increase its natural population in the wild.


Increase in the human population and the state of the economy more advanced, giving impact public awareness of health increase. Increasing visitors in the hospital, so the hospital have to increase the facilities to existing and improve the quality of services given. These are aiming that the patients will be served rapidly and well. Purpose of this research is to analyze increasing trend the number of patient visits in terms of marketing mix done Hospital HVA Toeloengredjo, Pare. This research using design descriptive research by analysis time series using moving average with a model ARIMA. Observational research methodology, with the subject is the medical record and marketing officer, as well as its object is the data on thenumber of patient visits new and old patient. The results of testing model got that model ARIMA (1,1,0) is a model that can be used to do a forecast or estimate of. The prediction of visitors keeps increasing, where predictions the number of visits all patients during 60th month (December 2016) is 10746 visits, the prediction of the number of patient visits new is 1660 visits, the prediction of the number of patient visits long been 9290 visits. With the results of the number of a prediction patient visits that rises this, is expected to help hospital for prepared an increase in-patient room facilities, free wifi in waiting room to add comfort visitors, prime service, the addition of medical equipment, extension worker medical or so far and also resources support to create customers satisfied who come to the Hospital HVA Toeloengredjo, Pare.Keywords : Marketing Mix, Time Series, Visit


Introduction From the standpoint of the relative activity of a number of enzymes in individual muscle fibers, the histochemical studies presented in a companion article 1 disclosed the presence of eight types of fibers in the calf muscles of the rat. The various types of fibers formed a continuum which could be arbitrarily divided into three groups. The gastrocnemius and plantaris were found to be composed of fibers of all the eight types. Within the gastrocnemius, the different types of fibers were found to have a definite topographical arrangement, some portions containing a majority of fibers of group I and other portions a predominance of fibers of group II. The soleus consisted entirely of fibers of group III. One of the aims of the presently reported combined histochemical and quantitative study was to obtain quantitative data on the activity of various enzymes in the three groups of fiber types. For


The article presents a direction of minimizing the risks of payment systems of banking institutions in the context of the development of digitalization of the economy and the impact of environmental factors on the functioning of payment market participants. In order to identify the characteristic features of threats to corporate banking operations under the influence of environmental factors, the category "risk of payment systems of banking institutions" is proposed. It is substantiated that unpredictable deviations from the expected results of using financial instruments in interbank money transfer systems, which provide money circulation through active-passive operations, reduce the volume of operating activities of banking institutions, their settlement processes for payments and transfers of participants and users of payment systems. It is proved that the division of risks into specific and individual allows to assess the state of the payment system in two directions: internal - on the technology of settlement operations, which depend entirely on the activities of payment system participants, and external, which does not depend on the behavior of payment system counterparties. It is proved that the process of minimizing the risks of payment systems should be considered in the form of a mechanism that allows determining the main aspects of the use of financial instruments and regulating the operation of cash regulators in banking institutions involved in this process. The categorical-conceptual apparatus concerning the mechanism of minimization of risks of payment systems of banking institutions is offered. A comprehensive approach to the formative process of the mechanism of minimizing the risks of payment systems of banking institutions, which clearly regulates the relationship of all its structural elements aimed at achieving the strategic objectives of banks' operations. The elements of the mechanism of minimizing the risks of payment systems of banking institutions are determined. The environment of action of organizational and economic components of the mechanism of minimization of risks of payment systems of banking institutions is detailed.


Geological tourism has been recognised as a new and distinctive form of nature-based tourism. Although geological resources have been promoted as tourism attractions, few studies have examined the geotourism market in Australia. This study aims to fill this gap by determining the profile of geotourism market segments. Visitors to the Flinders Ranges region of South Australia were studied using the questionnaire survey data. The results of a cluster analysis identified three segments: 'nature tourists', 'nature/geotourists' and 'geotourists'. Results from the study indicated that there were significant differences among the three market segments with respect to their demographic characteristics and travel behaviour. This study suggests that it is important for marketers to develop appropriate products and activities which match the preferences being sought by both passive and active geotourists markets.


Calorific value, as a key component for fuel quality assessment, directly affects the thermal power plants' efficiency. While high-quality coal is consumed as metallurgical coal, low-rank coals are used by coal-fired power plants. The high moisture content of the thermal coals significantly influences their heating values. In this study, the drying performances of the fixed bed and air dense medium fluidized bed (ADMFB) dryers were investigated under the superficial air velocity of 15-18 cm/s, inlet air temperature of 55-75 oC, and up to 80 minutes of operation. Low air consumption is an intrinsic characteristic for ADMFB, while a low-temperature range for drying air was selected to address the coal-fired power plants' waste heat. It was found that an increase in air velocity and temperature favored the drying efficiency of both systems (i.e., 18 cm/s and 75 oC), with the temperature being more effective than the air velocity. The ADMFB dryer removed comparatively more moisture than the fixed bed for the shorter drying durations. For example, for 10% moisture reduction at 75 °C, the ADMFB dryer needed 5 minutes less time than the fixed bed. The fitting quality and goodness of serval well-known thin-layer models for describing fluidized bed and ADMFB coal drying kinetics were assessed by several models and statistical evaluators, respectively. It was found that the Middilli & Kucuk model best describes the fixed bed coal drying (i.e., R2=0.999, RSE=0.001, RMSE=0.008), while the Page model much properly simulates the ADMFB coal drying (i.e., R2=0.998, RSE=0.002, RMSE=0.009).


Film thickness distribution control in magnetron sputtering systems is of vital importance to the researcher or process engineer, especially when performing cosputtering of superconducting and alloy films. It is time consuming to find the relative spatial position of sources, substrates, and rotational geometry by experiment to obtain optimum film uniformity. A mathematical computer model for film uniformity is developed to enable rapid prediction of optimum geometries using target erosion data. Aluminum films are deposited by rf magnetron sputtering from 100 and 75 mm diam sources at 5×10−3 mbar in argon onto flat rotating workholders at various source to substrate distances and with varying source offsets from the axis of rotation of the workholder. Film thickness distribution is measured by Talystep. Target erosion profile is measured and this information is used in the computer simulation developed to predict film thickness uniformity. Practical results and theory are in good agreement, demonstrating ...


We analyze the effects of poaching in vertical differentiation to compare with that in horizontal differentiation as in Fudenberg and Tirole (1999). We find second period prices are lower than the static equilibrium prices as in FT. However, the poacher's price of the high quality product in the second-period is strictly higher than the price of the low quality firm unlike FT. We show that the firm of the low quality product sets the price in the first-period above the static level. The same result as this in FT is only applied to the low quality product in vertical differentiation. We also illustrate that the firm of the high quality product may set the second period price above, or below, or equal to the price in a static case. The possibility that the poaching price in the first-period may be lower than the static price is similar to the standard switching-cost models. This paper is in the vein that the horizontal differentiation model is a special case of the vertical differentiation one. (Gremer and Thisse, 1991)


ABSTRACT Regional policies for innovation: the case of technology districts in Italy. Regional Studies. This paper studies a policy tool implemented in Italy in the last decade to foster local innovation activity called technology districts. First, it examines the characteristics of technology districts and those of the firms within them. Next, it assesses the performance of district firms. The South of Italy has more technology districts, but they are small, poorly sectorially diversified and far from the economic structure of the area. Firms that did join a district had previously been, on average, larger, more innovative and profitable, and show also higher leverage than the others. After the institution of a district the performance of the firms that joined it did not differ significantly from that of similar firms that did not.


In this paper, we introduce a methodology for determining the utility of agent architectures by comparing them in an architecture framework APOC, which allows for the definition of a notion of "cost induced by an agent architecture". Using this framework, it is in particular possible to compare the performance of affective agents to that non-affective agents in a unified way taking the cost of architectural components into account.


A method and a network element for processing signaling data and for controlling connections of Subscribers of a packet-switching communications network. A network ele ment actuates a concentrator interface using at least one connecting unit and makes resources available to it. Signal ing data for performing Subscriber signaling of a Subscriber of the packet-switching communications network is trans mitted between at least one packet control unit and the connecting unit via a message control system of the network element. The packet control unit converts the signaling data of the network element into signaling packets of the packet Switching communications network and vice versa. The signaling packets are transmitted between the network ele ment and the subscriber.


This paper deals with PID algorithm for the Modicon Premium platform from Schneider Electric. Based on real time samples meas ured by the PLC a model of the process was created in Matlab and then PID controll er parameters were designed. The verification of algorithms on a real system (co ntainer with an unobstructed drain) and the evaluation of control capabilities of the tested controller are introduced. Paper deals with theoretical and practi cal methodology, offering approach for control design and its successful appl ication.


Array processors are widespread in real–time systems. In the last ten years phase–locked loops (PLL) have widely been used in array processors as control devices correcting a clock skew. In this paper new type of floating phase–locked loops for array processors is designed. For the floating phase locked loops new stability conditions are obtained.


In this research work, the effects of fluid inertia forces in parallel circular squeeze film bearings lubricated with pseudo-plastic fluids are examined theoretically. In the analysis, the cubic equation obtained from the empirical flow curves for pseudo-plastic fluids is used as the relation between shear stress and rate of shear and the inertia term in the momentum equation is approximated by the mean value averaged across the film thickness. The effects of inertia forces on the pressure distribution of the circular bearings are discussed for various nonlinear factors of pseudo-plastic fluids.


A book review of Farhang Erfani, Aesthetics of Autonomy: Ricoeur and Sartre on Emancipation, Authenticity, and Selfhood (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2011).


In numerous internal flow systems the velocity field can undergo all flow regimes, that is, from laminar, via transitional, to fully turbulent. Considering two test conduits with local constrictions, four turbulence models, with an emphasis on low-Reynolds-number (LRN) turbulence models, were compared and evaluated. The objective was to identify a readily available LRN turbulence model with which incompressible laminar-to-turbulent velocity and pressure fields in complex three-dimensional conduits can be directly computed. The comparison study revealed that the renormalization group (RNG) κ-e and Menter κ-ω models amplify the flow instabilities after tubular constrictions and hence fail to capture the laminar flow behavior at low Reynolds numbers


The authors describe a new species of hynobiid salamander from Kuankuoshui,Suiyang County,Guizhou,China.The type specimens are kept in Zhunyi Medical College and CIB(Chengdu Institute of Biology,CAS).Pseudohynobius kuankuoshuiensis Xu et Zeng,sp.nov.Holotype No.7504023 an adult femal collected by JIN Da\|Xiong from Kuankuoshui,Suiyang County,Guizhou,(28°11'15″N,107°08'30″E),28 Apr.1975.Paratype No.760425 an adult male,collected from the same locality as holotype on Apr.1976;No.820810 an adult female,collected from the same locality as the holotype on Aug.1982.Three larvae,collected from the same locality as the holotype,25 Sep.,2001.28°12'N,107°10'E.Adult specimens are kept at Zunyi Medical College,and larvae are kept at Institute of Biology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Chengdu.Diagnosis.The new species is similar to its sister species P.shuichengensis.The new species has yellowish brown spots on the back of the body,tail and limbs,the limbs are rather short,and when the forelimbs and hindlimbs are kept close to the body against each other,the fingers and toes are only touched or slightly overlapped.While P.shuichengensis has no yellowish spots on its back of the body,tail and limbers.The limbers are long,and when the forelimbs and hind limbs are kept close to the body against each other,the front parts of metacarpus and metatarsus overlapped with each other.And the new species is also similar to P.flavomaculatus,the former has the near round color spots on the back,tail and limbs;the ratio of head length to head width is larger than 1.55 times;but the latter has the cloud strip spots on the back,tail and limbs;the ratio of head length to head width is smaller than 1.55 times.


Work related road traffic fatalities are the largest cause of work fatalities in the UK. It is estimated that 25% of UK road accidents involve someone driving for work. This risk profile makes fleet safety an important topic for study as it can have a significant impact on the overall road toll, and on worker safety. Although many regulations relate to the operation of large trucks and buses there are fewer special regulations for those driving for work in other contexts. Fleet risk management has traditionally focused on cost control rather than employee and public safety although this has been changing. Studies have shown that changing behaviours in both drivers and the rest of the organisation can make a large improvement in outcomes. This study has unique access to the detailed insurance claims data from a large UK telecoms fleet of approximately 40,000 vehicles since 2001 and information on interventions applied to manage this risk. The interventions have been developed from published work in the field of risk and behaviour management. The data represents a wide range of vehicle types from large trucks and white vans through to personal cars all or some of which could be used for work related journeys, commuting or pleasure. There have been ongoing and significant performance improvements. Interventions have included behind the wheel training, building safety into management performance metrics and risk assessments yet it is unclear as to which intervention shows most or any impact on safety outcomes. Data consistency issues have further obscured the investigation. The merging of this historic quantitative and qualitative information has shown that management strategies and the safety culture are worthy investments


The invention concerns compounds of general formula (I) wherein: X1, X2, X3, X4 represent, independently of one another, a hydrogen or halogen atom or a C1-C6-alkyl, C3-C7-cycloalkyl, C3-C7-cycloalkyl-C1-C3-alkylene, C1-C6-fluoroalkyl, C1-C6-alkoxyl, C1-C6-fluoroalkoxyl, cyano, C(O)NR1R2, nitro, NR1R2, C1-C6-thioalkyl,-S(O)-C1-C6-alkyl,-S(O)2-C1-C6-alkyl, SO2NR1R2, NR3COR4, NR3SO2R5 or aryl group, the aryl being optionally substituted; W represents a fused bicyclic group of formula (II) bound to the nitrogen atom by positions 1, 2, 3 or 4; A represents a five-or seven-membered heterocycle comprising from one to three heteroatoms selected among O, S or N; the carbon atom(s) of A being optionally substituted; n is equal to 1, 2 or 3; Y represents an optionally substituted heteroaryl; in base or acid addition salt form, as well as in hydrate or solvate form. The invention also concerns a method for preparing said compounds and their therapeutic use. ® KIPO & WIPO 2008


Sign Language is the primary source of communication for people with hearing disabilities. Communicating with people with such a disability is a challenge. An Automatic Sign Language Recognition system will reduce this communication gap and facilitate ease of conversing with people with hearing disabilities. In this work, we have compared the performance of 6 popular and recent deep neural network architectures for sign language recognition, namely DarkNet19, DarkNet53, InceptionResNetv2, ResNet50, DenseNet201 and VGG-19. Among these, DarkNet53 performed the best with our self-created dataset of 16,000 images from 60 classes with an average accuracy of 98.02%.


For a graph G, let D(G) be the set of all strong orientations of G. The orientation number of G is ~ d(G) = min{d(D)|D ∈ D(G)}, where d(D) denotes the diameter of the digraph D. In this paper, we consider the problem of determining the orientation number of three complete graphs with linkages.


Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory druginduced small intestinal inflammation mayhavean adverse effect onthejoints ofpatients with rheumatoid arthritis. We therefore assessed' smallintestinal andjoint inflammation in patients withrheumatoid arthritis before and after three toninemonths' treatment with sulphasalazine (n=40) andother second line drugs (n=20), while keeping thedosage ofnon- steroidal anti-inflammatory


The invention concerns a telecommunication network cross connect cabinet comprising a box (1) wherein are provided splitter modules (7) arranged in columns of modules (7.1, 7.2) disposed in planes mutually offset in depth in the box, the columns of two adjacent planes being mutually offset in width.


1M. Tech, VLSI D& ES, Dept. of ECE, Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering. Bangalore, India 2Professor, PG Co-ordinator VLSI D & ES, Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, Bangalore, India -----------------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------------Abstract – This paper explains design and simulation of OpAmp based Comparator for the analog application in Sigma Delta Modulator. The Op-Amp based comparator designed in this paper has been verified for static and dynamic operations. The comparator is designed for the required specifications of the Sigma Delta ADC. The CMOS design of the circuit has been verified using Cadence IDE simulator for 45nm technology node and the layout has been created with DRC and LVS verification. This module has been used in the sigma delta modulator operating on short radio wave frequency of 3.8MHz


The FDA has granted 510(k) clearance to Bausch + Lomb's femtosecond laser platform (Victus) for the creation of incisions in the cornea of patients undergoing cataract surgery or other ophthalmic treatments requiring incisions in the cornea.


This paper proposes a time-synchronous continuous speech recognizer driven by a context-free grammar that integrates generalized LR parser based phoneme context prediction and context-dependent HMMs. In this method, a phoneme hypotheses trie is introduced for the phoneme history representation of possible LR states, and an LR state network is introduced for LR path merging. Both techniques reduce the amount of computation. The experimental results show that this new method is more efficient than the conventional LR parser driven phoneme-synchronous continuous speech recognizer.


Close attention to spirituality and change are necessary for a fuller understanding of how Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) works. This paper draws upon the conceptual tools of the anthropology of religious healing to interpret AA's program for recovery, the Twelve Steps. The Twelve Steps are described as a fundamental component of AA discourse, and as a rhetoric of transformation. The Twelve Steps outline a rhetorical process which moves the alcoholic from drinking to sobriety by means of a rhetoric of predisposition, of empowerment, and of transformation. AA discourse is spiritual, in that members are persuaded to interpret the world, their lives, and their affliction in sacred terms. Healing is not cure, but a new way of attending to the world and engaging with others, including God, or a 'Power greater than ourselves'. There is a God, and it's not me. Let go and Let God. I had to change. The same person would drink again.   – Three Alcoholics Anonymous slogans


Infrared (IR) spectroscopy enables direct comparison of dust in space with interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) in the laboratory [1,2]. The Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) has provided new data about circumstellar, interstellar, and cometary dust. One of the most important findings of ISO is the detection of crystalline Mgrich silicates (together with glassy silicates) around both young and old stars and comet Hale-Bopp [3-5]. (Comet Halley's dust also contains Mg-rich silicates [6]). The ISO findings are very significant because Mg-rich silicates are rare in primitive meteorites (and polar micrometeorites) but abundant in IDPs, specifically the fluffy chondritic porous (CP) subset of IDPs some of which are almost certainly from comets [7]. Together with glassy silicate grains (i.e. GEMS), submicrometer enstatite (MgSiO3) and forsterite (Mg2SiO4) are the major crystalline silicates in CP IDPs. Some of these crystals exhibit morphological, crystallographic, and/or compositional evidence of vapor phase growth [7]. It has been proposed that GEMS are surviving presolar interstellar "amorphous silicates" [6]. If true, the IR silicate features should be similar to those observed in astronomical spectra.


Abstract:The concept of syncretism has often been at the receiving end of much scholarly criticism and scrutiny. In this article, we explore the politics and poetics of Hindu-Muslim syncretism in select cultural traditions from the Indian subcontinent. Poulomi investigates the religious ecosystem of the Bonbibi cult of Sundarbans in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. Akhila studies the ritual healing practice of Teyyam in the North Malabar region of the South Indian state of Keralam. Dipanjali reads three mystic poems/songs from three different geocultural contexts (by Lal Ded of Kashmir, Azan Fakir of Assam, and Kabir of the Northern Indian subcontinent). Through the lens of cultural, performative, and poetic/lyrical spaces, this article acknowledges and analyzes the organic yet contradictory forces of hybridity and acculturation prevalent within these syncretic traditions. The arrival of rigid institutionalized Islam and the larger cultural appropriation of popular folk myths by Hinduism in India have accentuated existing social conflicts. In the light of this emergent crisis, this article also foregrounds how syncretism has often been used as a rhetorical strategy to cover underlying religious and political frictions.


Jensen integral inequality has got much importance regarding their applications in different fields of mathematics. In this paper, two converses of Jensen integral inequality for convex function are obtained. The results are applied to establish converses of Hölder and Hermite‐Hadamard inequalities as well. At the end, some useful applications in information theory of the obtained results are given. The idea used in this paper may inculcate further research.


The digital transformation of finance begins with shared services. The major changes in the information technology environment have subverted the cognition of traditional finance and enterprise management. More enterprises have adopted Financial Shared Services(FSS). The impact on enterprise performance that helps enterprises make decisions on whether to adopt or optimize the Financial Shared Services Center. This paper takes the enterprises listed on Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchange from 2018 to 2021 as the research sample. Then this paper conducts empirical research through hypothesis tests and regression analysis. Research findings: within the scope of this study, there is a transition period in the implementation of FSS, and it is needed that enterprises make reasonable adjustments.The enterprise value and the FSS are significantly positively correlated.This research provides a reference for the enterprises that have implemented FSS in the initial stage or companies to implement this policy.


In 1998, during the archaeological excavations in the Kremlin of Kazan (Tatarstan) a harness mount was found in a mixed layer of the 16th century. It was made of silver, ornamented with a rosette and gilt background. This type of mounts frequently occurs in ancient Hungarian graves of the Carpathian Basin from the first part of the 10th century. The author tries to prove that the Kazan piece must also have been made in Hungary and transported by merchants to Volga Bulgaria. The trade between mediaeval Hungary and Volga Bulgaria is often mentioned in written sources and well documented also by the presence of archaeological finds of Hungarian origin in former Volga Bulgaria and 10th-century Muslim coins of Bulgarian provenance in ancient Hungarian graves of the Carpatian Basin.


HUNT, J.N. & PATHAK, J.D. (1960). The osmotic effects of some simple molecules and ions on gastric emptying. J. Physiol. Lond., 154, 254-269. McLEOD, G.M., FRENCH, A.B., GOOD, C.J. & WRIGHT, F.S. (1968). Gastrointestinal absorption and biliary excretion of phenolsulfonphthalein (phenol red) in man. J. Lab. clin. Med., 71, 192-200. OCHSENFAHRT, H. & WINNE, D. (1973). The contribution of solvent drag to the intestinal absorption of tritiated water and urea from the jejunum of the rat. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch. Pharmac., 279, 133-152. SCHANKER, L.S., SHORE, P.A., BRODIE, B.B. & HOGBEN, C.A.M. (1957). Absorption of drugs from the stomach. I. The rat. J. Pharmac. exp. Ther., 120, 528-539. SCHANKER, L.S., TOCCO, D.J., BRODIE, B.B. & HOGBEN, C.A.M. (1958). Absorption of drugs from the rat small intestine. J. Pharmac. exp. Ther., 123, 81-88. TIDBALL, C.S. (1964). Intestinal and hepatic transport of cholate and organic dyes. Am. J. Physiol., 206, 239-242. TIDBALL, C.S. & PETERSON, K.K. (1961). Changes in intestinal net water movement and phenolsulphonphthalein absorption produced by ethylene diaminetetraacetic acid. Physiologist, 4, 121. TRINDER, P. (1954). Rapid determination of salicylate in biological fluids. Biochem. J., 57, 301-303.


Vascular leakage is a hallmark of sepsis, a life‐threatening condition induced by systemic microbial infection. Mortality rates for severe sepsis are high, due to the lack of available effective treatments. The aim of this study is to define the key signaling pathways that promote endothelial barrier stabilization to identify new cellular targets that can be manipulated to reduce vascular leakage. Activated protein C (APC) is an anti‐coagulant protease that was previously shown to promote endothelial barrier protection through protease‐activated receptor‐1 (PAR1), a GPCR. Activation of PAR1 by APC stimulates Rac‐1 activity, which enhances endothelial barrier stability through modulation of the actin cytoskeleton and adherens junction integrity. In addition, PAR1 appears to require the sphingosine 1‐phosphate receptor‐1 (S1PR1) to promote endothelial barrier stabilization, but how signaling by the two receptors integrate to promote endothelial barrier stability is unknown. We previously demonstrated that APC/PAR1‐mediated endothelial barrier protection requires compartmentalization in caveolae and is dependent on β‐arrestin‐2 and dishevelled‐2 (Dvl‐2) scaffolds. However, it is unknown whether β‐arrestin‐2 and Dvl‐2 are required for PAR1 and S1PR1 signaling crosstalk via APC. Here, we report that PAR1 and S1PR1 co‐localize in endothelial cells and co‐segregate in caveolin‐1 enriched fractions, consistent with PAR1 and S1PR1 signaling from caveolae. We found that APC treatment of endothelial cells results in SK1 translocation to membrane fractions and activation. In addition, we show that loss of β‐arrestin‐2 expression causes a significant loss in APC‐induced SK1 activation. Thus, we hypothesize that endothelial barrier stabilization induced by APC/PAR1 and S1PR1 is integrated by β‐arrestin‐2 and SK1.