Three novel carboxylate-bridged complexes incorporating the tripodal N,O ligand 2,2',2"-nitrilotribenzoic acid H 3 L of formula [Ca I I (H2L)(OH2) 4 ][(H 2 L)].4H 2 O (1), [Ca I I (OH 2 ) 4 ]-[Ca I I (L)(OH 2 ) 2 ] 2 .7H 2 O (2) and [Gd I I I (L)(OH 2 ) 3 ] 2 [Gd I I I (L)-(OH 2 ) 4 ] 2 .13H 2 O (3) were synthesized and characterized by X-ray crystallography. In all three complexes, the ligand H 3 L binds to the metal centre only by its three carboxylate donors, leaving the bridgehead nitrogen atom nonbonding. The calcium(II) ion in the monomeric complex 1 is distorted pentagonal-bipyramidal coordinated, the +1 charge of the complex cation [Ca I I (H 2 L)(OH 2 ) 4 ] + is balanced by an H 2 L - anion and both units are connected by hydrogen bonds. The polymeric compound 2 displays a one-dimensional chain structure, in which two [CaII(L)] 2 - units form a dimeric structure and are connected by hydrated Call ions. 3 contains two different [Gd I I I (L)(OH 2 ) n ] dimers. In one of them the two Gd I I I ions are linked by two monoatomic carboxylate O-bridges showing a short Gd...Gd distance of 3.99 A. In the second, a syn-anti carboxylate 1,3-bridge with a longer Gd...Gd distance of 4.96 A is observed. Magnetic measurements of 3 show paramagnetic behaviour with weak antiferromagnetic coupling.


Entrepreneurial decision models are a current hot topic, and their design has become a key to encourage the nascent entrepreneurs. In fact, decision model design is often associated with innovation. This paper aims to contribute to the knowledge of major venture creation decision models and their characteristics and, by explaining how it makes decisions. In fact, various conceptual studies have proposed links between decision model and entrepreneurial cognition. These types of decision-making models have very different cognitive components, how influence positively or negatively entrepreneurial behavior, so it becoming important to understanding how modeling, evaluate and developing entrepreneurial practices. Increasingly, this study focus on the entrepreneurial scripting process as new model qualified to explaining better the venture creation decision.


It is known that positive definiteness is not enough for the multidimensional moment problem to be solved. We would like throw in to the garden of existing in this matter so far results one more, a result which takes into considerations the utmost possible truncations.


Purpose. This study was undertaken to evaluate the usefulness of electrocardiographically (ECG)-gated multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) for the assessment of the coronary venous system and detection of its anatomical variants, in order to identify those suitable for lead placement in cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT). Materials and methods. We retrospectively examined the coronary MDCT studies of 89 patients (73 males, 16 females, average age 62.5 years, range 31‐79) referred for suspected coronary artery disease. The cardiac venous system was assessed in all patients using three-dimensional (3D) postprocessing on a dedicated Vitrea workstation (five patients were excluded from the analysis). Results. The coronary sinus, the great cardiac vein, the anterior interventricular vein and the middle cardiac vein were visualised in all cases. The lateral cardiac vein was visualised in 56/84 patients (67%) and the posterior cardiac vein in 63/84 patients (75%), never both missing. Along the postero-lateral wall of the left ventricle, only one branch was present in 44 cases, two branches in 21 cases and three or more branches in 19/84 cases (22%). Evaluation of the maximum diameter revealed that the lateral vein was dominant over the posterior vein in 20/40 cases. The small cardiac vein was visualised in 11/84 cases.


ABSTRACT Introduction: Neuropsychiatric diseases are responsible for one of the highest burden of morbidity and mortality worldwide. These illnesses include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression. Individuals affected by these diseases may present mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress. Additionally, patients also have increased peripheral and neural chronic inflammation. The Brazilian fruit, açaí, has been demonstrated to be a neuroprotective agent through its recovery of mitochondrial complex I activity. This extract has previously shown anti-inflammatory effects in inflammatory cells. However, there is a lack of understanding of potential anti-neuroinflammatory mechanisms, such as cell cycle involvement. Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the anti-neuroinflammatory potential of an açaí extract in lipopolysaccharide-activated BV-2 microglia cells. Methods: Açaí extract was produced and characterized through high performance liquid chromatography. Following açaí extraction and characterization, BV-2 microglia cells were activated with LPS and a dose-response curve was generated to select the most effective açaí dose to reduce cellular proliferation. This dose was then used to assess reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, double-strand DNA release, cell cycle modulation, and cytokine and caspase protein expression. Results: Characterization of the açaí extract revealed 10 bioactive molecules. The extract reduced cellular proliferation, ROS production, and reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines and caspase 1 protein expression under 1 μg/mL in LPS-activated BV-2 microglia cells but had no effect on double strand DNA release. Additionally, açaí treatment caused cell cycle arrest, specifically within synthesis and G2/Mitosis phases. Conclusion: These results suggest that the freeze-dried hydroalcoholic açaí extract presents high anti-neuroinflammatory potential.


Summary Novel microcosms were used to test separately the effects of aeration and humidity on the decay capacity, linear spread and survival of the dry rot fungus Serpula lacrymans. The application of a pumped air supply resulted in cessation of fungal activity in the microcosms at all but the lowest air flow rate. At this lowest rate marked growth tropisms were sometimes seen and linear growth of the fungus away from the air supply was accentuated. In both air flow and humidity experiments the loss of growth and decay capabilities was not always accompanied by a loss of viability. Larger scale growth chambers incorporating simulated flooring and plaster walling were developed in sealed aquarium tanks using both new and old building materials. Differences in growth rates and morphology of S. lacrymans were noted, with old materials generally being more favorable to the growth of the organism. Opening the growth chambers and applying a controlled air flow rapidly halted the spread of S. lacrymans resulting in the fungal mycelium shrivelling, discolouring and becoming susceptible to attack by moulds. Loss of viability of S. lacrymans in re-sealed chambers depended crucially on the instigation of a water-deprivation schedule. The results may have serious implications for the use of purely environmental strategies for the remedial treatment of outbreaks of the dry rot fungus in buildings.


Nowadays, the Internet delivers more than 1 zettabyte (or 1,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000 bytes) of data to more than 3.2 billions of users every year. As a consequence, network operators face difficult challenges due to the impressive (and continuously growing) quantity of data to handle. Upgrading a network infrastructure with better hardware, to accommodate such a growth, has a significant cost (in terms of money and time) that network operators are trying to reduce by improving the efficiency (and thus the lifespan) of their network infrastructures. Traffic Engineering is a domain of networking that specifically aims at providing network operators with tools to optimize their networks. This thesis focuses on the problem of increasing the efficiency of a network by controlling the paths on which the traffic is sent using a new network framework called Segment Routing. In particular, we present various algorithms based on Mixed Integer Programming, Local Search, and Constraint Programming techniques to solve this traffic engineering problem on large networks like the ones of major Internet service providers.


SPENDING A MONTH OR SO WITH THE HYPERTEXT ISSUE OF AQ BROUGHT back memories of the penultimate movie premiere scene within Arnold Schwarzenegger's LastAction Hero. Here, at the same moment Arnold's fictional, cinematic hero chases down the pathological child-killer who (like him) has jumped out of the movie into realtime, Arnold the actor-the "real" (?) Arnold--arrives, oblivous to the problem, to his assembled throng. As Arnold wades glad-handing, teeth flashing, into the crowd, Maria Shriver (also playing herself) pleads with him sotto voce, never losing her photogenic grin, "Please don't plug the restaurants ... I hate it when you plug the restaurants." For its sheer giddiness and cross-referencing, the moment seems positively hypertextual. In the instantaneous flicker between film viewing and synaptic communication--or upon reflection (I am prone, like most academics, to lying about which is which)--my mind builds links to related set-scenes: The Wizard of Oz's "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain"; Ronald Reagan's advisors giving the "cut" signal at a press conference; a cocktail-party list of discussion topics a graduate school friend of mine kept in his shirt pocket. For more links, click here. Amid the buzz and the chatter (and the crashes) of hypertext's ongoing premiere, it isn't easy to sort out one's reading, one's enthusiasm, or one's agoraphobia. But if these contributions by Castonguay, Westbrook, Thurston, Krasniewicz and Blitz do enable us to think past the hype and more seriously about the emergent relationship between hypertext and the practice of American cultural history, they will have performed a real service to American studies.


Objective To analyze characteristics of geriatric fracture.Methods 230 cases of operation patients older than 60 years were analyzed in treatment and characteristic during October 2003 and October 2006.Results 198 cases cured and 2 cases died,30 cases with complications were repored.Conclusion The treatment of geriatric fracture should be aggressive,the conplication and"gold time treatment" also should be concerned.


This paper investigates a dynamic fracture test that produces smoothly varying stress intensity histories of controlled amplitude and duration. A test configuration has been adopted in which a simple edge-cracked specimenis loaded in bending by impacting it at the midsection without supporting it at the outer edges. The stress intensity history is measured by a strain gage near the crack tip and has approximately a sinusoidal time dependence. The dependence of stress intensity amplitude and duration on the impact velocity and on the specimen material and dimensions has been determined both analytically and experimentally. The limit on the specimen aspect ratio to obtain a smooth stress intensity history controlled only by the first mode of vibration of the specimen has also been established. Stress intensity pulses of durations varying between 90 and 500 its can be readily achieved, and the maximum amplitude can be independently adjusted over an order of magnitude (20 to 200 MPa m 1 / 2 ). The new experimental procedure has been used to measure the dynamic fracture toughness of 4340 steel (HRC 50) at three loading rates. Comparison of the dynamic results with the value of the static toughness indicates little strain-rate sensitivity of the fracture toughness of 4340 steel in the range of loading rates investigated (quasi-static to 3 × 10 6 MPa m 1 / 2 s - 1 ).


In many our projects, we often met problems of recognition of simple geometric shapes (points, lines) in images where geometric shape boundary representation suffers from various inaccuracies caused by noise in the data. And it was often the first and crucial step for further processing tasks such as camera pose estimation and localization. In this paper, we discuss approaches to solving different problems and their relations to the tasks of the recognition. We present how such simple geometric computer vision based methods facilitate the shape recognition process by presenting several examples. Experiments and implementation show that our methods achieved very good results and can be used to solve common problems in each area.


Grow-finish pigs (n = 192) were used in a 28-day experiment to determine if adding oregano essential oil to the water would mitigate the detrimental effects of heat stress. Pigs (initial BW = 51.9 kg) were blocked by sex and BW and randomly allotted to a 2x2 factorial arrangement of water treatment (oregano essential oil vs. control) and environment (heat stress vs. thermoneutral). There were 6 pigs/pen (4 barrows and 2 gilts/pen) and 8 pens/treatment. Pigs were given 15 d to acclimate to pens and water treatment under thermoneutral conditions (21.1℃). Following acclimation, one-half the pigs were subjected to a 3-day diurnal heat stress (12 h at 33.3℃ and 12 h at 26.7℃). On d 22 of the experiment (3 d post-heat stress), one barrow/pen was euthanized; jejunal mucosa scrapings were collected, flash frozen in liquid nitrogen, and stored at -80oC for subsequent RNA isolation and cDNA creation. Gene expression of CDKN1A, TP53, GPX1, SOD1, SLC2A2, SLC2A5, and MUC2 were determined by qPCR using SYBR green, normalized using housekeeper genes and expressed relative to the control treatment using the 2-ΔΔCT method. Data were analyzed as RCB using GLM procedure in SAS 9.4 with fixed effects of water treatment, environment, and the interaction. Heat-stressed pigs had reduced ADG (P < 0.003) and Gain:Feed (P < 0.008) during the 3d heat stress compared with pigs housed in thermoneutral conditions. Post-heat stress, ADG (P < 0.001) and Gain:Feed (P < 0.001) increased in previously heat-stressed pigs compared with thermoneutral pigs. There was no effect of oregano supplementation before or during heat stress. However, in the post-heat stress period, ADG was increased (P < 0.05) by oregano supplementation in the water for both heat stressed and non-heat stressed pigs. Oregano supplementation did not affect ADFI before heat stress. An interaction (P < 0.005) of heat stress and water treatment was observed for ADFI during heat stress and after heat stress. During heat stress, oregano supplementation resulted in reduced feed intake. Post-heat stress ADFI was lowest for non-heat stressed pigs with no oregano supplementation. Oregano essential oil increased water consumption before (P < 0.02), during (P < 0.03), and after heat stress (P < 0.02), with an overall increase in water consumption of 35% compared with control pigs (P < 0.04). No interactions of heat stress and oregano supplementation were observed for gene expression. SLC2A2 expression tended (P < 0.08) to be downregulated when oregano essential oils were added to the water and upregulated following an acute heat stress. SLC2A5 expression was increased in pigs given oregano compared with control pigs (P < 0.02), but was unaffected by heat stress. Water delivered oregano essential oil increased water intake and had a slight effect on intestinal gene expression but did not mitigate the effects of a short-term heat stress.


Vapour-phase reactions of chloroform with indole at 550 °C give mainly 3-chloroquinoline together with smaller proportions of 2-chloroquinoline and quinoline. C-Methylindoles similarly give the corresponding methyichloroquinolines and methylquinolines. The 2,3-cyclopentindole (20) gives mainly 3-chlorocarbazole and significant quantities of carbazole and 4-chlorocarbazole. In contrast, 1-methyl- and 1-benzyl-indole (7) afford mainly quinoline with some 3-chloroquinoline and in the case of (7) only, 2-phenylquinoline. Pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridines (24) and (25) give mainly the corresponding 3-chloro-1,8-naphthyridines (26) and (27), though in low yield.


Paradigm Uniformity effects can be formally characterized within Optimality Theory as faithfulness between related outputs. This raises questions concerning the exact nature of the relationships that trigger the Output-to-Output faithfulness and how they arise. This chapter addresses these questions, arguing that understanding the exact scope of Output-to-Output faithfulness requires the assumption that representations are 'distributed' as in a neural net, with similar representations intersecting over common units. This assumption is shown to result in two major effects, which the OT notion of Outputto-Output faithfulness conflates. One is attraction over distance: neighboring representations attract one-another to a degree that is inversely related to their geometrical distance. The other is the combinatorial constancy of affixes: an affix requires its stem to match an item of a certain type or category that independently occurs in the lexicon --a view that effectively treats morphology as a system of violable constraints. More traditional approaches to morphology are shown to be inadequate, as are 'derivational' means to account for Paradigm Uniformity effects, such as 'cyclicity'.


Objective To study the lipid change of SMC after CMV infection and ASON regulation in vitro.Methods To use CMV AD169 strain infected SMCs in vitro,and to build the model of CMV infection to cell.Total cholesterol(TC) and triglyceride(TG) of the cell were extracted and determined.And in the same time,to use antisense phosphorothioate deoxyoligonucleotid(ASON) and ganciclovir(GCV) acted with infected SMC at different time.Results As compared with the control group,CMV infection could all increase TC and TG accumulation in SMCs,at 48h after CMV infection,the level of TC was significantly higher than that of control group((49.8±14.6)mg/g vs.(21.3±9.6)mg/g,P0.01)).ASON and GCV reduced the level of TC and TG of SMC.Conclusion CMV infection can induced SMC lipid accumulation in vitro,and this may play an important role in the pathogenesis of AS,Both ASON and GCV can reduce SMC lipid accumulation,and this may as a new means to be used to against atherogenesis after CMV infection.


How quickly the US can decarbonize light-duty vehicle (LDV) transportation depends on the rates of change of electric vehicle (EV) sales, stock turnover, and grid decarbonization. We build a stock turnover model to assess how sensitive achieving 2050 LDV decarbonization targets is to these rates. We estimate carbon dioxide (CO2) reductions of 70%–85% by 2050, including emissions from vehicles and upstream electricity generation, provided that new vehicle sales transition to 100% EVs and substantial grid decarbonization are accomplished by 2050. This result is robust to continuation of long-term trends of increasing vehicle longevity, and to whether the timing of EV sales growth and grid decarbonization are coordinated. If the two key goals are met, the annual contribution of EV electricity use to CO2 emissions will be small over the entire period.


Abstract An experiment consisting of six dietary treatments in four replications: 1) control (C); 2) 40% rice bran (RB); 3) 10% poultry fat (PF); 4) 10% lard (L); 5) 10% restaurant grease; and 6) 10% animal-vegetable fat blend (AV), was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary energy on growth and carcass characteristics of growing-finishing pigs. Ninety-six crossbred pigs (48 barrows and 48 gilts) weighing approximately 25 kg were blocked on sex, weight, and litter, then assigned to treatments and fed their respective diets until slaughter at 105 kg. Pigs fed added dietary fat had improved ADG, FE, and lower ADFI (p Barrows grew faster (p 0.05). No differences were observed for ham or loin color, ham or loin firmness, loin marbling, or water holding capacity. Added dietary fat will improve performance without affecting pork quality; however, a decrease in percentage lean can be expected.


This article investigates the potential of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) for exploring students' achievements in writing, thus moving beyond "deficit models" of grammar in school English. It considers the semantic features of successful interpretations of examination narratives, using what I call the "symbolic reading". Halliday has suggested that we need to distinguish between grammar and grammatics, with the grammatics viewed as independent from but sensitive to language in use. In this article, I apply his notion of grammatics to analyze the linguistic basis of students' interpretive achievements. The article investigates three aspects of A-range interpretations of different narratives. These symbolic readings indicate a preference for relational transitivity of a synoptic kind, an ability to reformulate story significance through elaboration and rhetorical "spans" between material semiosis (in Theme) and abstract significance (in New). The analysis brings to light what often appears entirely intuitive on the part of successful English students but is nevertheless crucial to their success in examination English. The final section of the article considers some implications of the grammatics for teachers who want to prepare their students to read unfamiliar narratives symbolically.


The reaction of 2 equiv of LiNHAr (Ar = 2,6-iPr2C6H3) with 1,3-dibromopropane yields the diamine ArHN(CH2)3NHAr ((BAIP)H2, 1). The reaction of (BAIP)H2 with Zr(NMe2)4 yields the complex (BAIP)Zr(NMe2)2 (2) and 2 equiv of NHMe2. Compound 2 reacts with 2 equiv of [Me2NH2]Cl to yield (BAIP)ZrCl2(NHMe2)2 (3) and in the presence of excess pyridine affords the complex (BAIP)ZrCl2py2 (4). The base-free dichloride complex (BAIP)ZrCl2 (5) can be prepared from 2 and excess ClSiMe3. The alkylation of 4 or 5 with 2 equiv of MeMgBr, 2 equiv of PhCH2MgCl, and 1 equiv of NaCp(DME) yields the alkyl derivatives (BAIP)ZrR2 (6a, R = Me; 6b, R = CH2Ph) and (BAIP)Zr(η5-C5H5)Cl (8), respectively. The reaction of 2 equiv of PhMe2CCH2MgCl with complex 4 yields the η2-pyridyl complex (BAIP)Zr(η2-N,C−NC5H4)(CH2CMe2Ph) (7). An X-ray study of 7 revealed a capped tetrahedron geometry with the pyridyl nitrogen occupying the capping position. Complex 7 is likely formed via proton abstraction from coordinated pyridine. The catalyst syst...


The utility model discloses a multifunctional electric bedstead, which is formed by combining a bedstead body and an electric adjustment mechanism, wherein a shank supporting plate, a thigh supporting plate, a bottom plate, a waist supporting plate, a back supporting plate and a head rest plate are laid on the top surface of the bedstead body from left and right along the length direction; the bottom plate is fixedly connected with the bedstead body into a whole; the electric adjustment mechanism is built in the bedstead body, and comprises two push rod motors which are inversely mounted in the length direction of the bedstead body, an oscillating bar and a crank arm which are respectively connected with the push rod motors, and a connecting rod mechanism and an oscillating bar mechanism which are arranged at two ends of the bedstead body; the oscillating bar which is moved along with the left moving push rod motor is used for adjusting the form of the connecting rod mechanism; the crank arm which is moved along with the right moving push rod motor is used for adjusting the form of the oscillating bar mechanism. The posture of the median joint-coupled bedstead can be adjusted by the electric adjustment mechanism, a user can adjust according to needs, the remote control is easily realized by the push rod motors, self-operation can be realized by the user through remote control, and especially, self-adjustment can be realized by a bed-ridden user.


Inductive inference techniques that allow symbolic representation of the acquired knowledge facilitate knowledge validation, revision and understanding by human experts. EVOPROL v 1.1 (Evolutionary Propositional Logic) is an inductive, efficient, versatile system for supervised learning of logic rules using a genetic algorithm. EVOPROL contributes to computer assisted knowledge acquisition because it allows discovery of flexible and/or alternative rules from examples. The approach presented in the paper integrates sources of knowledge and establishes collaboration between the genetic searcher and the human expert.


When viewed the history of Islamic thought, it is seen that the scholars have made an effort to understand the nature of the speech of God and make sense of it. Essentially, understanding and grasping of the words of God are an effort to look from the physical realm to the metaphysical one. In spite of this fact, the scholars as the indomitable seekers of truth are in search of finding some clues to say about it. While some of them consider the "divine speech" as an attribute of God, many others view it as a divine act. It is also admitted by all of them that whether being attributive or act of God, the reflection of the divine speech is the Qur'ân. In this sense, three views have been put forward on the question of the belonging of the Qur'ânic words. According to the dominant and preferred point of view among these views, Qur'ân belongs to God in terms of wording and meaning. Accordingly, the revelation of the Qur'ân, which was revealed to the Prophet Mohammed consists of both wording and meaning. Therefore, there is no intervention or contribution of Gabriel or Muhammad in constituting of Qur'ân. According to the second approach, the meaning of Qur'ânic text belongs to God, however, its words pertain to Mohammed. This view signals that Gabriel revealed nothing more than the meanings of Qur'ân. Mohammed understands the meanings conveyed to him and then said them in Arabic expression patterns and phrases. According to the third approach, the meanings of Qur'ânic text belongs to God, however, its words pertain to Gabriel. In other words, only meanings of text were given to Gabriel, and its words are formed by him. In the present study, the mentioned approaches which are put forward by scholars about the belonging of Qur'ânic words will be examined in terms of the integrity of the Qur'ân and Tafsir rumors (riwâyât) of the classical period. In a nutshell, it can be said that there is no disagreement among scholars in the field of the belonging of the meanings of Qur'ânic text to God. The main disagreement is whether the Qur'ânic words belong to God, Gabriel or Muhammad. Considering the integrity of Qur'ân and Tafsir rumors regarding to the circumstances of sending down of the Qur'ânic revelation, it has been determined that the prevailing view is more consistent than the other two views.


Gonorrhea treatment has become a problem in most parts of the world and valid recommendations regarding treatment are an important control tool. In Central African Republic genital gonorrhea is one of the most common communicable diseases. In 1981 Penicillinase Producing Neisseria Gonorrhea (PPNG) was 1st isolated and, in spite of control measures, its prevalence reached 12% by the end of 1982. Effective and inexpensive treatment regimens are now needed as an alternative to the Procain Penicillin + Probenicid regimen currently in use. Since its introduction, many authors in industrialized countries have reported excellent results with Thiamphenicol (TAP) in the treatment of gonococal infections, particularly in the single dose oral treatment. Gonococcal infections caused by Penicillinase Producing Neisseria gonorrhea (PPNG) also responded favorably to the antibiotic. However, few careful studies were done in Africa. This study evaluates the efficacy of TAP compared with the standard regimen of Aqueous Procain Penicillin + Probenicid in the treatment of uncomplicated genital gonorrhea in men in Central African Republic. 380 such cases were used. Patients with coexisting genital ulcers and those treated with antimicrobics within the last 2 weeks were excluded. Gram stained smears were examined and a urethral swab was taken and cultured on a modified Thayer Martin medium. Blood specimens were collected for VDRL and TPHA tests. During a 3-month period 338 patients were treated with a positive pretreatment culture for N. gonorrhea. 242 (71.6%) presented at follow-up, with similar follow-up rates in both treatment groups (25 mg. Thiamphenicol and Aqueous Procain Penicillin G. + 1g. Probenicid). All failures but 1 in the APPG treatment group were due to PPNG infections. All of those cases were treated with Thiamphenicol regimen, 4 were cured and 6 lost for follow-up. Of 12 PPNG infections treated with Thiamphenicol, only 1 failed treatment and was cured with spectinomycin. Only few and mild side effects (diarrhea or dizziness) resulted from treatment. Thiamphenicol in single oral regimen is a low cost, effective therapy for uncomplicated gonococcal infection in males in the Central African Republic and may become potentially one of the recommended regimens if the prevalence of PPNG continues to increase.


It is shown that the technological safety ensuring is in demand in the modern world, the person and society interests protection is impossible without the environment preservation. The safety problem of socio-natural-technogenic systems is relevant in the territory of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The technological hazards specificity of the region's territory is determined by the extreme climate characteristics. Probable man-made hazards on the republic territory are shown and the main indicators of water pollution are given. Common technogenic dangerous objects on the Republic territory are established: production associated with the extraction, transportation, oil and petroleum products storage and tailing dumps. Social components determined by the traditional environmental management violation and the way of indigenous peoples' life are not sufficiently taken into account in the damages assessment. The basic principles of environmental policy are given.


The ESPrit 3G BTE processor is currently the speech processor of choice for recipients of a Nucleus 24 device. It is, therefore, important to know how the processor's function in terms of speech understanding differs from that of the former body-worn SPRINT processor. The ESPrit 3G's internal processing is, unlike the SPRINT processor, not restricted to a 760 Hz update rate; this should lead to better results when using stimulation rates above that limit.


PAS control system is a distributed control system based on client / server architecture(DCS)and the function block is the basic unit of PAS control system.On the basis of IEC61131-3 programming language,the function block library in VC++6.0 is designed.This paper introduces the process of function block design,the process of configuration and off-line simulation of the control system.Through observing and checking the running datas in the off-line simulation environment,the correctness and reliability of control loop design can be ensured.


In current ERP's architecture, the customization、integration with other systems、system maintenance and upgrade are very difficult. But the Service- Oriented Architecture is founded can make up these insufficiencies. Because the SOA has many advantages such as coarse granularity、loose coupling、reusable services and standard interfaces etc. In this paper, we bring forward a new design of ERP system which rebuilds the current ERP with SOA.


In this paper, we construct large‐time asymptotic solution of the modified Burgers equation with sinusoidal initial conditions by using a balancing argument. These asymptotics are validated by a careful numerical study.


Foreign investment is often touted as a driver of house prices, and a factor in unaffordable housing. This assertion raises the two questions. Firstly, does foreign investment have an impact? Secondly, if it does, is the government justified in intervening? To answer these questions, the article takes a case study approach to Australia, Canada and New Zealand and evaluates the issue according to background information, evidence foreign investment is driving house prices and a utilitarian based ethical analysis of government intervention. Although a lack of evidence makes it hard to draw real conclusions, there is a potentially small negative impact from foreign investment and if this outweighs any positive influences, then regulation is justified. With this conclusion, further discussion and research is recommended to ensure ethical policies are undertaken by governments.


A two-stage power amplifier for UWB systems transmitter was designed and simulated for implementing in standard 0.18-mum CMOS technology. Using cascode scheme and original biasing architecture allows to decrease a number of on-chip inductors and capacitors and simplify amplifier schematic. Amplifier can deliver 30 mW of output power with 48% efficiency in 4-5 GHz bandwidth with 1.8 supply voltage.


A highly soluble perylenediimide (PDI) dye with unusual polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) molecules was synthesized by the reaction of an aminopropylisobutyl POSS (POSS-NH2) and 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride in the presence of Zn(OAc)2. This material exhibits good thermal stability and high fluorescence quantum yield (ΦF = 1.0). Its fluorescence time profile displays biexponential decay, with fluorescence lifetimes of 9.27 ± 0.26 ns (79.7%) and 2.55 ± 0.03 ns (20.3%). Molecular modelling results show that the lengths of the molecular long-axis and short-axis are about 3.5 and 2.2 nm, respectively. The values of the HOMO, LUMO, ionization potential and electron affinity estimated from the electrochemical data are −6.05, −3.75, 6.45 and 4.16 eV, respectively.


Summary and Conclusions Cl. welchii was grown in a medium free from peptone or other substances of large molecular weight. Toxins were consistently produced which were equal to or more potent than those produced in glucose peptone beef infusion broth. The pH of the culture media did not fall below 6.0. This may in part be responsible for the higher potency of toxin obtained in this medium. The basal medium alone did not support growth; when it was supplemented with pantothenic acid, pimelic acid, nicotinic acid, riboflavin, or liver-extract, there was a marked increase of growth and toxin-production. The fact that the highest bacterial-nitrogen value was obtained in glucose-peptone beef-infusion broth, appears to indicate that the casein hydrolysate still lacks one or more chemical ingredients required for maximal growth. The work is being continued in an effort to identify a chemically defined medium for maximal growth and consistent toxin production by Cl. welchii.


Vortex‐induced response of a spring‐mounted circular cylinder was observed in a low‐speed wind tunnel. Vertical (lift) displacement of the cylinder and velocity fluctuations in the near wake region of the upper shear layer were recorded. The experiments were designed to provide insight into the effects of various control variables upon the evolution of vortex shedding and vortex‐induced vibration. Included in this study are the effects of homogeneous, isotropic turbulence in the incident flow, variation of mechanical damping, artificially fixed separation points on cylinder surface and different initial conditions for cylinder vibration. Also, in addition to the observation of the phenomenon of classical synchronization, manifestations of what may be termed "alternate synchronization" were also observed and recorded. This paper presents some of the new data in detail. The results from the analytical modeling effort are presented in the companion paper.


The limiter region of the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) must withstand nominal heat fluxes in excess of 10 MW/m/sup 2/ in order to protect the vacuum vessel from the plasma energy, and it must be designed to be remotely maintained. Because of its ability to meet the thermal and structural requirements, carbon-carbon composite material was selected over bulk graphite materials for the limiter design. The structural design concept consists of carbon-carbon composite panels attached to the vacuum vessel by a hinged rod/retainer concept. Results of the preliminary design study to define this inboard limiter are presented. The design concept is described along with the analyses of the thermal and structural response during nominal plasma operation and during plasma disruption events.<<ETX>>


This article presents a plastic architecture for the advanced 5G infrastructure based on the latest advances of SDN, NFV and edge computing. The novel approach consists of three levels of control, i.e. Device, Edge and Orchestration Controllers, fully decupled from the user plane and backwards compatible to current and future 3GPP releases. The proposed control layers implement a unified security, connection, mobility and routing management for 5G networks. The new concept of SDN-based connectivity between virtualized network functions (applications) enables multidimensional carrier grade communication paths without the utilization of tunneling protocols. Our architectural solution dramatically reduces the end-to-end latency for mission critical type of traffic, yet guarantying a large degree of freedom, dependability and reliability, which are the most important and stringent requirements of 5G.


Background: Health care reform proceeds differently in Belarus. The country has not followed trends
visible in most other countries. Financing and provision of health care is still in the hands of the
state. Health insurance funds are unknown, private practices are rare and operating outside the
system, and power of regional health authorities is limited. Besides, for political reasons the
country does not benefit from important international aid programmes. Nevertheless, some change can
be observed, particularly in Belarus primary care. A family doctor system is being implemented in
rural areas, where the situation of health care is poor. Since 1998 two subsequent Dutch-sponsored
bilateral projects have supported this development. This paper provides a state of affair of primary
care policy development in Belarus and presents first results from a national survey among primary
care doctors. Methods: Based on official documents and experiences from the authors, primary care
development in Belarus has been analysed in the light of the role of regional health authorities,
educational institutes, and the recently established association of family doctors. The national
survey among a random sample of primary care doctors (including newly re-trained family doctors) in
three regions of the country has been implemented in Spring 2005. The survey instrument has been
used internationally. Results: The do's and dont's of health care policy in Belarus will be
presented.First, results of the national survey among doctors in primary care will be presented, in
particular, on the provision of their clinical tasks and aspects of their workload. Family doctor
will be compared to doctors who have not been re-trained; Belarus will be compared with other
countries. Conclusions: Health care develops very slowly in Belarus, but the country cannot be
considered as the open air museum of the Semasko system. (aut.ref.)


(a) First, we want to consider formulating the projection with real inner products instead of norms. Recall that we defined the real inner product as 〈~u,~v〉 = ∑ i uivi = ~u >~v = ~v>~u. Use this to rewrite the matrix P~u just using inner products instead of norms. Use this to show that when we project a vector ~v onto a vector ~u, that the result is 〈~v,~u〉 〈~u,~u〉~u. Answer: Using that‖~u‖ = 〈~u, ~u〉,


The new cluster (PPN)(ClRu/sub 4/(CO)/sub 13/) (PPN = (Ph/sub 3/P)/sub 2/N/sup +/) results from the reaction of Ru/sub 3/(CO)/sub 12/ with (PPN)Cl in refluxing THF. It has been characterized by its spectroscopic properties and by a complete single-crystal X-ray diffraction study. It crystallizes in the space group P anti 1 with Z = 2 and unit cell dimensions a = 14.536 (2) A, b = 16.732 (3) A, c = 11.508 (8) A, ..cap alpha.. = 91.35 (3)/sup 0/, ..beta.. = 93.88 (3)/sup 0/, ..gamma.. = 64.79 (2)/sup 0/, and V = 2527 (2) A. Diffraction data (0/sup 0/ < 2theta less than or equal to 50/sup 0/) were collected with an Enraf-Nonius CAD4 automated diffractometer, using graphite-monochromatized Mo K..cap alpha.. radiation, and the structure was refined to R = 0.061 and R/sub w/ = 0.087 for 5924 independent reflections with I greater than or equal to 3.0 sigma(I). The molecule possesses a butterfly arrangement of the four Ru atoms with the chlorine bridging the two end metals of the open butterfly. Each Ru bears three terminal carbonyls, and one carbonyl ligand bridges the two Ru atoms which constitute the hinge of the butterfly.


Emotion may be treated as a special sort of message considering that communicative function is one of the basic functions of emotion. Moreover emotion serves as a message in two ways. In one way facial expression of emotion is a message to other participants of social interaction that contains information about the emotional state of the subject and thus plays important interpersonal role. It shows the subject's personal attitude and amplifies verbal messages or makes them more credible. Numerous empirical studies show that processes of generating and perceiving of facial expressions of emotions are autonomic and specific. In the other way emotion is an internal message containing information about the significance of events or thoughts and thus helping in making choices or taking decissions.


By adopting Hegel's historicist methodology,Marx stood on the reality of "material relations of production" to examine the dimensions of civil society to overcome its mysticism,in order to achieve the "ethical relationship" to "social and material relations of production conversion",thus creating a far-reaching impact on future generations of historical materialism.At present,China is in a critical period of modernization with a profound change in the pattern of social interests.Under the circumstances,to strengthen the study of Marx's theory of civil society can help us to clarify the relationship between the government and society,the correct treatment of the complex transition conflicts,and promote the early realization of social fairness and justice.


Using phytotron to simulate high temperature environment,the physiological characteristics of leaves of Simmondsia chinensis seedlings from different provenances(Z1: kehe in China,Z2: Condobolin in Australia,Z3: Phoenix in USA) under different degree of high-temperature stress(CK,T1,T2) have been studied.The results showed that with the increase of temperature,the leaf relative water content(LRWC),net photosynthetic rate(Pn),transpiration rate(Tr),chlorophyll(Chl) content,and sugar content decreased significantly.While the contents of praline(Pro),malondialdehyde(MDA),and relative conductivity(REC) increased significantly,with the enhancement of temperature stress.However,the effects of high-temperature stress on peroxidase(POD) and superoxide dismutase(SOD) activities were not consistent among different provenances.POD activities of Z1 and Z2 increased with the increase of temperature stress intensity,while that of Z3 first increased and then decreased.SOD activities of Z1 and Z3 increased with the increase of temperature stress intensity,however that of Z2 first decreased and then increased.The photosynthesis mechanisms of S.chinensis were different under diverse high-temperature stress.In high-temperature environment(T1),a part of plant stomata closed to reduce the water loss and maintain normal physiological functions.Extreme heat-enviroment(T2) broke the systems of ros generation and elimination,and further led ros abundantly accumulating,light oxidation,mda aggravation,plant cell dehydration,chl contents reduction,and the damage of photosynthetic organization.All of these changes brought about by high-temperature stress induced the decrease of Pn of S.chinensis greatly.Comprehensive evaluation of high-temperature resistance of S.chinensis seedlings of three provenances was conducted using fuzzy subordination method.The order of high-temperature resistance ability(from strong to weak) was Kehe in China(Z1),Phoenix in USA(Z3),and Condobolin in Australia(Z2).The results suggest that Z1 can adapt to the ecological environment of the arid-hot valley of Jinsha River.Z1 has a better capacity of high-temperature resistance after breeding and cultivation for decades.The reasons that different provenances have diverse high-temperature resistance abilities may be the combined impact of environmental factors on plant,and the adaptation of plant to environment in the long-term of evolution.In short,S.chinensis has a good capability of high-temperature resistance and can be cultivated in extremely hot and dry area.Among the three provenances in the present study,Z1 has a better ability to adapt to a high-temperature environment,such as the region of Jinssa River valley.


Of the two central axioms of Axiomatic Design Theory, Axiom 2, the Information Axiom, is the more powerful concept in directly addressing the performance issue that most plagues design efforts: product failures. Prior work has described a complementary relationship between Axiomatic Design and Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA). This paper proposes that failure mode analysis is more than just a complementary tool to Axiomatic Design. Failure mode analysis processes are an embodiment of the second axiom and a practical method of applying the second axiom during the decomposition process.


Abstract 2192 Poster Board II-169 Thanks to its striking effectiveness, imatinib (IM) is the current standard of therapy in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). However, Interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) has induced a low but reproducible curative effect in some CML patients, inducing durable remissions lasting even after therapy discontinuation. For this reason, the interest on the possible use of IFN-alpha in the treatment of CML is still substantial, and very recently some newer prospective studies from the French and the German Groups have proposed the re-introduction of IFN-alpha in the front-line treatment of early chronic phase CML (ECP-CML), in association with IM (Rousselot et al, Haematologica 2009;94:abs.1093; Hehlmann et al, Haematologica 2009;94:abs. 0478 ). We compared the response of 495 ECP-CML patients, enrolled into three different prospective studies promoted by the GIMEMA CML WP (419 treated with imatinib 400mg and 76 treated with imatinib 400mg plus IFN-alpha) (study protocols NCT00511121, NCT00514488 and NCT00511303). Cytogenetic analysis was performed by standard banding techniques and cytogenetic response was rated according to the European LeukemiaNet guidelines. Molecular response was assessed on peripheral blood cells by a standardized quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RQ-PCR) method on an ABI PRISM 7700 Sequence Detector (Perkin Elmer, Faster City, CA). BCR-ABL transcript levels were expressed as a percentage according to the IS. Patients were equally distributed by Sokal risk in the two cohorts. Median follow-up was 43 mos (range, 12- 67) in the IM group and 54 mos (range, 11-63) in the IM+IFN-alpha group. Compliance to IM was excellent in both groups, with 90 to 95% of patients receiving IM 400 mg/daily throughout the follow-up. Conversely, the proportion of patients continuing IFN-alpha dropped from 41% at 12 mos to 18% at 18 mos, 13% at 24 mos, 3% at 36 mos; by the end of the fourth year, all patients were off IFN-alpha. The number of patients in CCgR was higher in the IM+IFN-alpha than in the IM group at 6 mos (60% vs 42%, p=0.002) but not from 12 mos on (Table 1). The number of patients in MMolR was higher in the IM+IFN-alpha than in the IM group at 6, 12 and 24 mos, but not later on (Table 2). Also the number of patients with undetectable Bcr-Abl transcript levels was higher in the IM+IFN-alpha group at 12 months (15% vs 5%, p=0.003) but not later on (19% vs 18% at 48 mos). These data support the preliminary analysis of the French SPIRIT group, reporting a higher rate of MMolR after initial treatment with IM and IFN-alpha as compared to IM alone. The loss of the difference from 24 mos on could be explained by the fact that almost all patients had discontinued IFN-alpha during the first two years, pointing out that the low compliance to the combination may limit its utility in practice. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Italian Association Against Leukemia-lymphoma and myeloma (BolognAIL), The Fondazione del Monte di Bologna e Ravenna, The Italian Ministery of Education (PRIN 2005, No. 20050 63732_003, and PRIN 2007, No 2007F7 AE7B_002), The University of Bologna, The European Union (European LeukemiaNet). Disclosures: Pane: Novartis: Research Funding; Ministero dell9Universita/PRIN: Research Funding; Regione Campania: Research Funding; Ministero della Salute/Progetto integrato Oncologia: Research Funding. Saglio: Celgene: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria.


Water is a valuable reserve that shall be efficiently treated for sustainable growth and development. Metal nanoparticles (MNPs) and graphitic carbon nitride (gCN) have received immense attention for several applications. In this paper, the facile synthesis of MNPs/gCN hybrid photocatalysts based on sonodispersion, and in-situ reduction and photodeposition is described. Photodeposition of two different metals, namely gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) and silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) with different loading ratios was studied. The morphological, structural, electronic, optical, and surface properties of the prepared catalysts were investigated. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared catalysts was evaluated for photooxidation of organic water pollutants under visible light irradiation using methyl orange (MO) and rose bengal (RB) as model dyes. The photo-and recycling stability, and the photoelectrochemical properties of a selected photocatalyst were also studied. The results confirmed the evident formation and characteristics of the prepared MNPs/gCN materials. The catalysis measurements revealed the promoting effect of the Au and Ag NPs toward the adsorptive removal and photooxidation of MO and RB. Overall, the Ag NPs demonstrated higher catalytic activity for dye oxidation compared to Au NPs. The Au/gCN resulted in adsorptive removal of 3.87-11.80 % of MO, whereas the Ag/gCN led to adsorptive removal of 66.45-85.33% of MO within 1 h in dark. Also, Ag/gCN catalysts exhibited an extraordinary adsorption ability toward RB that is six-time higher than that of Au/gCN. Interestingly, the Ag/gCN photocatalysts demonstrated the highest photocatalytic activity with 100% photooxidation of MO, and RB within 20 min, and 15 min under visible light irradiation, respectively. The high photocatalytic activity could arise from the coupled plasmon absorption, enhanced visible light harvesting, and efficient charge separation. Besides superior photocatalytic activity, the Ag/gCN catalyst expressed promising photostability, reusability, and photoelectrochemical responses. The obtained results indicate that MNPs/gCN materials could serve as efficient visible-light-sensitive catalysts for photocatalytic water treatment.


There are guided semiconductor alloy can be located very close to the channel region in the transistor, which provides a form of progressive cavity made in the following strain-strain, such as silicon by filling the cavity with the induction semiconductor alloy / germanium, silicon / carbon. For this purpose, there are two or more each other "one-time (disposable)" spacer element having a different etching behavior can be used to define different offsets in terms of the different depth of the cavity. As a result, the do improved uniformity and reduced transistor volatility hence with respect to the fine semiconductor device can be achieved.


The ultimate capacity of reinforced concrete box girders was calculated by degenerated three-dimensional solid virtual laminate elements.Considering the influence of geometrical and material non-linearity, the computation of ultimate capacity of reinforced concrete structures was programmed by the elements.During the course of numerical computation,the three-dimensional constitutive equations of concrete in the strain space which were set up by the multi-strengthening plastic model were employed;the orthogonally distributing crack model was applied to simulate the concrete crack;the steel bar was treated as an element segment,and assumed to be a perfectly-elastic plastic body.The computational results tally very well with the experimental results.Numerical results proved the validity and efficiency of the method and the program.Because the limitation of shell elements or beam segment elements is overcome,the method applied to analyze the ultimate capacity of reinforced concrete box girders has great advantages.


the surface mycelial threads and conidiophores are brownish. Our specimens would thus seem to belong either to a new species or to one not yet known to be pathogenic to man. On July 26, August 6, August 12 and November 28, 1918, further specimensof the discharge from the sinus were submitted in the hope that the AspergillUS could be grown. This was in every instance unsuccessfuland no further evidence of the presence of the fungus was detected.


Looking back in personal recollection on the teaching of Quincy Wright, I am struck by the extent to which he combined broad theoretical interests and concern for policies and problem-oriented studies. The criticism is frequently made by reviewers of the corpus of international relations literature that theorists are indifferent to problems and students of foreign policy care little for scientific or philosophical generalizations. It is suggestive to compare the situation in economics with that in international relations. Harry G. Johnson, in delivering the prestigious Richard T. Ely lecture at the 1970 annual meetings of the American Economic Association, made a "slashing attack on the Chicago school of monetarism." At the same time he indicated his agreement and differences with the "New Economists of the Kennedy-Johnson Administrations" (New York Times, December 30, 1970). Professor Johnson described monetarism as a counterrevolution to the dominant Anglo-Saxon economics derived from Lord Keynes. This counter-revolution was inevitable because the Keynesian approach failed to solve the problem of inflation. The cardinal tenet of monetarism was that moderate and steady growth in the supply of money was capable of solving both the problem of inflation and unemployment. The Friedman school had little doubt that monetary policies would determine the level of economic activity and of prices. They timed their counter-attack to coincide with the escalation of the Vietnam war and the apparent failure of the New Economists to control inflation. The Keynesian defense was that not their theory but the politicians, who spent too much and taxed too little, should be held accountable for inflation. Whatever the merits of these two contending views, the most striking characteristic about them both is a supreme confidence that their respective doctrines and views could be applied directly in the economic market place. Neither saw their theories as divorced from practice; both were convinced that direct and measurable effects would follow with respect to policies and problems. Few would make this claim for theories of international relations today. The link between theories of, say, decision-making or community-building or integration and what actually occurs in the field of policy is far more difficult to ascertain. For one thing, there are myriads of theoretical propositions competing with one another in any review of a policy question. The decision to intervene in Korea, or subsequently in Vietnam, must have been based on a wide variety of views and dogmas. More importantly, the theorist today claims for himself a certain measure at least of detachment and separation from the real world. The notion is widely held that theorybuilding or model-building involves the abstraction from reality of some portion,


This essay focuses on analyzing the problems of the educational model for Hotel English and introducing the objectives, contents, unique features and effects of the three-dimensional educational model for Hotel English.


ABSTRACT Herein, a QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) procedure together with liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry was applied to the multi-residue analysis of 203 pesticides in strawberries. To reduce the amount of co-eluents, we compared several dispersive solid-phase extraction cleanup procedures and found that cleanup using octadecylsilane provided the best recoveries. Spiked-sample recoveries of 70–120% with relative standard deviations of <20% were obtained for all tested pesticides except for quinmerac. Matrix-matched calibration curves exhibited good linearities (R2 > 0.99), and the limits of quantification (LOQs) were lower than the maximum residue limits recommended by the European Commission and Korea Food and Drug Administration. The developed method was applied to real samples, revealing that their pesticide contents exceeded the corresponding LOQs. The obtained results demonstrate that octadecylsilane-based dispersive solid-phase extraction is a rapid and high-throughput cleanup procedure for the multi-residue analysis of pesticides in strawberries.


This paper uses data from a longitudinal cross-national study to explore the multi-organizational translation of ideas. In examining the translation of a particular learning initiative over a seven year period, we demonstrate the role of plots and narratives in shaping the translation process. Through the analysis we identify and explicate the concept of translation work and highlight how the nature of translation work changes over time. In doing so we argue that translation is an ongoing and dynamic project that requires constant vigilance and negotiation. As such we contribute to our understanding of the translation of ideas first empirically, by presenting longitudinal data from a novel empirical context not usually considered in this field; second methodologically, through highlighting how an analysis of narratives and plots can demonstrate the role they play in the translation process; and third conceptually, by explicating what constitutes translation work where multiple organizations with a variety...


To the Editor.— I would like to make a comment regarding Dr. Harry Arnold's excellent review of the new paperbackLecture Notes on Dermatologythat appeared in theArchives(108:862, 1973). Unfortunately, the cost of the book is not $2.25 but 2.25 English pounds. I recently received an invoice from F. A. Davis Company, and the cost of the book in American currency is $8 plus usual postage and handling which amounts to 75 cents.


The athletes' speed of approach is essential to their long jump performance which takes 75% of performance.Based on the characteristics of students in Beijing Information Technology College,the distance,rythme,efficiency,speed strength and absolute speed of approach are analyzed in this paper.


The court examined whether a coach's failure to implement a safety device during pitching practice enhanced the risk to the athlete or resulted in a suboptimal playing condition, in the context of the assumption of risk doctrine.


To promote the high-quality independent audit demand after dual-class equity structure reform had been finished,at first it were analyzed that the research of independent audit demand in public corporations;then systematic study was conducted on independent audit demand of our national public corporations in this article.


In this paper a vital sign measurement system is presented based on 24G frequency modulation continuous wave (FMCW) radar. The radio frequency (RF) circuit is built with BGT24MTR11 operating 24-24.5G FMCW signal. However, to guarantee a sufficient frequency resolution for respiration rate (RR) and heart rate (HR) measurement most of the previous studies use long-period time windows more than 10s. This paper proposes a method based on Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT), with the sample time window less than 6s. Moreover an improved DFT is used to suppress the huge computation of DFT.


This article describes a knowledge oriented semantic parser designed for spoken dialog systems. It merges some syntactic and semantic aspects into a single frame to get robust and efficient analyses. The knowledge is entirely described withing an XML formalism. The parser takes as input either a string of words (the 1-best word sequence) or a word-lattice coming from an ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition) system. The output is a semantic structure of concepts representing the meaning of the utterance. From an algorithmic point of view, the parser uses a chart principle implemented with the CLIPS system, a rule-based inference engine. The article presents some results obtained by performing an evaluation based on the MEDIA French corpus. The parser is distributed as an open-source tool.


The present study investigated the relationship between sexual coercion, theoretical love styles, and adult romantic attachment styles. College men were grouped as either: not having experienced sexual intercourse (n = 25), consensually experienced with intercourse only (n = 56), or sexually coercive (n = 42), based on self-reported sexual history. Comparisons were made on six love styles, three adult attachment styles, and self-reported experiences in love relationships. Results replicated earlier research, finding that men who had been sexually coercive endorsed a manipulative, game-playing orientation toward intimate relationships to a greater extent than both other groups. Although sexually coercive men did not differ from the other two groups in their romantic attachment styles, they did report less happiness, friendship, and trust in their romantic relationships. Results suggest that avoidance does not characterize sexually coercive men, but rather manipulation and deception appear to form the link ...


A method for zonal isolation in a wellbore involves the use of a completion system where an inflatable packer (36) causes expansion of an expandable packer (55) mounted externally of the inflatable packer (36). A control line (29) may be used to deliver fluid to the expandable packer (36) and a sensor or fibre optic line (24) associated with the inflatable packer (36) may be used to monitor pressure in the inflatable packer (36).


This research aimed at searching for the method to promote our nation"s beautiful story of intangible cultural asset throughout the world. In order to visualize the beauty of intangible cultural asset, the researcher discovered esthetic factors based on the advanced research theories, also, defined this as retelling, as the method of visualizing by engrafting design elements in the principle. To conduct retelling, the researcher selected Kim Sowol"s Azalea among the poetry, which is popular among the intangible cultural asset, and the meaning thereof can be easily known. For retelling of Azalea, the researcher understood appreciation manner and interpretation through the advanced research and arranged musicality, formative property, and implication as the esthetic elements. And expressed three arranged elements into metallic sculpture by the design elements and principle along with narrator"s sensitivity. Through metallic sculpture, Azalea was retold, also, this research became an opportunity to understand the possibility of retelling of various intangible cultural assets.


Today, we live in an enforcement environment of coordinated multi-jurisdictional raids, interrelated leniency programs, and truly draconian corporate and individual penalties. Donald C.Klawiter (Sheppard Mullin)


The invention relates to a device for assisting in driving a vehicle, comprising a programmed set of speed selector (Vi), characterized in that it also includes an automatic update system, according to the location (Pi) of the vehicle, at least a programmed setpoint speed (Vi) of the selector.


We study the effect of the inclusion of muons and the muon neutrinos on the phase transition from nuclear to quark matter in a magnetized proto-neutron star and compare our results with those obtained by us without the muons. We find that the inclusion of muons changes slightly the nuclear density at which transition occurs. However the dependence of this transition density on various chemical potentials, temperature and the magnetic field remains quantitatively the same.


Robert Gabriel Mugabe resigned as the President of Zimbabwe in 2017 after being in office since 1980 when Zimbabwe gained independence from British colonial rule. Mugabe implemented various policies that impacted on the urbanscape of Zimbabwe. Using a desktop approach that is based on bibliography research, the study examines Mugabe's urban legacy through the lenses of postcolonial theory and the concept of Mugabeism. The results show that power was a dominant feature in Mugabe's legacy, as he used it to influence the socio-spatial configuration of the urban scape whenever he saw it befitting. His power was rooted in corruption, clientism, patronage, state capture and sanctioning of opponents. Essentially, Mugabe perpetuated the colonial city, in that the postcolonial city was a replication of the socio-spatial segregation which existed during the colonial era, yet this time round it was based on class and not race.


Ultrawideband (UWB) (3–10GHz) radar imaging systems offer much promise for biomedical applications such as cancer detection because of their good penetration and resolution characteristics. The underlying principle of UWB cancer detection is a significant contrast in dielectric properties, which is estimated to be greater than 2:1 between normal and cancerous tissue, compared to a few-percent contrast in radiographic density exploited by x rays. This article presents a feasibility study of the UWB imaging of liver cancer tumors, based on the frequency-dependent finite difference time domain method. The reflection, radiation, and scattering properties of UWB pulses as they propagate through the human body are studied. The reflected and back-scattered electromagnetic energies from cancer tumors inside the liver are also investigated. An optimized, ultrawideband antenna was designed for near field operation, allowing for the reduction of the air-skin interface. It will be placed on the fat-liver tissue phant...


This diploma project is focused on marketing communication of Hotel Flora in Trencianske Teplice. In the first part I provide theory about marketing communication in general and specifically about hotel management. In the practical part I present SWOT analysis of Hotel Flora and competitive hotels comparing prices, capacity and marketing communication. Analysis of communication is based on interview. Concluding from analysis mentioned above was created the proposal of communication mix of Hotel Flora. Using communication tools it tries to differentiate service offerings of Hotel Flora from the competition and interpret the filosophy and values of wellness hotel to the customers. In conclusion is time schedule of implementation for specific communication tools, human resources, cost and risk analysis.


Set in an atmosphere of mystery, this novel tells of Marlow's journey up the Congo River to meet the remarkable Mr Kurtz. The other three tales also appraise the glamour and rapacity of imperial adventure and display insights into human nature and the bases of civilization.


The influence of smoke on THz imaging was examined. We tested experimentally a passive THz camera TS4 from ThruVision Systems Ltd. The camera detects natural human radiation at a frequency of 0.25THz. The distance camera-target could be 3-15 meters. Moreover, Time Domain Spectroscopy was used to investigate the influence of the amount of smoke on transmission in the (0.1÷2.5)THz range. Electromagnetic radiation from different ranges is widely applied in military and civilian security to prevent and detect threats. Optoelectronic systems are commonly used not only by the army but also by the police or the fire service. Optical detectors of smoke and fire [1] utilize radiation from ultraviolet (UV), visible (VIS) and infrared (IR) ranges. The above mentioned detectors are usually connected into one fast automatic system for fire detection and extinguishing. These systems are commonly used in server rooms. Detectors based on optical scattering and absorption are applied to identify unknown gases and materials. For example, multiwavelength lidars are used to identify air pollution. X-rays, UV radiation and IR cameras are applied to find the cause of ignition during investigations. A specialized search and rescue group successfully applies cameras with speculum (VIS), IR cameras or seismic and acoustic devices (like geophones) to find people in a fire environment and after building disasters. Currently, scientists and institutions from around the world are working on terahertz (THz) radiation in order to apply it in the security area. The development of terahertz technology is connected with unique properties of terahertz radiation. The terahertz region of electromagnetic spectrum is defined as (0.1÷10)THz or (3000÷30)μm [2] and is located between the domains of infrared and microwaves. These waves are long enough not to be absorbed by nonpolar, nonmetallic materials but still short enough to form an image using optical components [3]. The second advantage of the THz radiation is that it poses a minimal risk for human beings because of the fact that photon energy is very low (1THz radiation coresponds to 4.4meV). Another advantage is that the radiation could be used to detect dangerous * E-mail: email@example.com materials. Because of the fact that the emissivity of many explosive materials such as Hexogen (RDX), Penthryte (PETN), Octogen (HMX) has some characteristic transmission features in the THz region [4, 5]. Fig. 1. Pictures in visible range (CCD camera) a) before c) after smokiness and in THz range (TS4) b) before d) after smokiness. In our work, a screening camera TS4 from ThruVision Systems Ltd. [6] operating in the THz range was tested in a smoky environment. The number of pixels in the THz image is 80x50. The working distance of the camera is 315 meters. The camera operating frequency is 0.25THz, The influence of smoke on THz imaging Paweł S. Jung, *1 Mirosław A. Karpierz 1 , Norbert Pałka 2 and Elzbieta Rurka 2 1 Faculty of Physics, Warsaw University of Technology, Koszykowa 75, 00-662 Warszawa, 2 Institute of Optoelectronics, Military University of Technology, S. Kaliskiego 2 , 00-908 Warszawa Received August 27, 2012; accepted September 23, 2012; published September 30, 2012 doi: 10.4302/plp.2012.3.04 PHOTONICS LETTERS OF POLAND, VOL. 4 (3), 94-96 (2012) http://www.photonics.pl/PLP © 2012 Photonics Society of Poland 95 thanks to the fact that the camera could be used to detect natural human radiation. Clothing transmits well in this range and it is also possible to observe dangerous objects hidden under clothing, such as guns or knives. In our investigations, a TS4 camera connected with a small visible camera (CCD) was used to observe the scene. They were connected to a computer and software. The images can be recorded independently or a THz image can be superimposed on a visible image (Fig.1). Smoke aerosol particles were produced from paraffin in a smoke generator. It is a popular method during exercises of the fire service. The aerosol has similar properties like real smoke: the visibility in visible light deteriorates, particle sizes are similar and it is safe for human beings. The distance between the camera and the target (a man) was about 6 meters. The results of the experiment are seen in Fig. 1 (Figs.1a, b before and Figs. 1c, d after smokiness). The man in the experiment was in a marked position in both cases. Figure 1a presents a visible image of the man. A THz image superimposed on a visible image is shown in Fig. 1b in the yellow frame. The image in the THz range has a lower quality than from the one from the visible camera, but the contour of the man is still seen. The reason of this is that performance of the passive THz camera is still limited due to insufficient resolution and sensitivity in comparison to the visible camera. In Figs. 1c and d one can observe the influence of a certain amount of smoke on images in both considered wavelength ranges. In the visible range (Fig. 1c), the image has a lower contrast, but still the man is visible. The man is not seen in the THz camera. In simulated fire conditions, the emission of large amounts of smoke could deteriorate the THz image due to scattering or absorption. The efficiency of scattering depends on the diameter of particles and used radiation. The diameters of smoke particles are from 0.01 to about 10μm, depending on a burnt material. Since the particles are smaller than the operation wavelength of the THz camera (0.25THz~1.2mm), we can conclude that scattering does not influence the transmission. Its influence is only in the visible and near IR range. We think that the lack of visibility in the THz range is connected with absorption. In fire (smoke) conditions,THz radiation is absorbed mostly by water vapour and carbon dioxide   2 CO and less by other gases like hydrogen cyanide   HCN , carbon monoxide   CO , hydrochloric   HCl , nitric oxide   NO , and sulphur dioxide   2 SO . In the examined case it was not only the pure paraffin but also water vapour. In order to check the influence of smoke on transmission in the THz range, we exploited Time Domain Spectroscopy (TDS) [2, 4, 5] . The TDS gives us opportunity to measure transmission in the (0.1 ÷2.5)THz range. In the experiment setup we applied a spectrometer TPS Spectra 3000 from TeraView [7]. Time Domain Spectrometry setup with pulses generated by an 800nm femtosecond Ti:Sapphire laser (a pulse duration less than 100fs, repetition rate of 80MHz, and average power of 300mW) is presented in Fig. 2. The laser beam is split into a pump and a probe and directed through a system of mirrors to an emitter and a detector which is based on low temperature grown GaAs dipole antennas. The pump beam is focused on the biased emitter antenna to generate THz pulses through a photoconductive phenomenon. Such pulses last about 1ps (Fig. 3) and have a broadband spectrum, usually in the 0.1-3.0THz range or more. The transmitted THz beam can be detected by means of a detector antenna gated using a laser probe beam and a mechanical delay line. A lock-in amplifier and some software are used to collect and process data. The system is purged with dry air to eliminate water vapor. Fig. 2. Setup of Time Domain Spectroscopy. The analyzed sample had the shape like a cylinder. It was filled with particles of aerosol produced on the basis of paraffin, the same as in the previous experiment. The sample was sealed on both sides with polypropylene foil, transparent to THz radiation. In all cases, the humidity inside the sample was measured. The sample was placed in the middle between the emitter and the detector, perpendicularly to the THz beam (Fig. 2). Figure 3 presents impulses measured for the sample as well as the reference impulse acquired for the empty chamber. It is clearly seen from the inset that smoke inside the sample changes the main peak only in a limited way. The main influence of smoke is observed for the position doi: 10.4302/plp.2012.3.04 PHOTONICS LETTERS OF POLAND, VOL. 4 (3), 94-96 (2012) http://www.photonics.pl/PLP © 2012 Photonics Society of Poland 96 of the delay line longer than 39.7mm. The reference impulse is flat in this region while the smoke inside the sample causes characteristic disturbances. Fig. 3. THz pulses used in TDS: the reference and the sample (parameters of the sample: the volume 196cm and the humidity 52%). Fig. 4. Measured spectra of absorbance for the sample like above. The transmission spectra of a sample can be presented as absorbance A:


Periodontal disease is a chronic, multifactorial, inflammatory disease associated with dysbiotic biofilm of the plaque, and is characterized by progressive destruction of dental attachment apparatus.The goal of periodontal disease treatment is to achieve complete regeneration of the periodontal tissues (cementum, periodontal ligament, and bone). In recent years the advent of Nanotechnology has provided a promising insight into field of Dentistry and in particular Periodontology and Implantology. Due to the small size of nanoparticles, they are able to deliver the drug to particular tissues, cells or pathogens in the periodontal pockets and also act as a regenerative material. This review focuses on the experimental studies of various authors and their usage of nanomaterial in managing periodontal diseases, including diagnosis and treatment.


The invention relates to a log collecting method and system of an application program. The method comprises the steps that when it is detected that the application program is abnormal, an abnormal signal generated when the application program is abnormal is captured through a log capturing device which is installed in advance; an abnormal log is generated according to the captured abnormal signal. According to the log collecting method and system of the application program, when it is detected that the application program is abnormal, the abnormal signal is captured through the log capturing device which is installed in advance, the abnormal log is generated according to the abnormal signal, so that effective capturing of the abnormal log is realized so as to provide information for analyzing abnormity of the application program, convenience is brought to abnormity repair for a developer, and therefore the stability of the application program is improved.


Graph-based neural network models are gaining traction in the field of representation learning due to their ability to uncover latent topological relationships between entities that are otherwise challenging to identify. These models have been employed across a diverse range of domains, encompassing drug discovery, protein interactions, semantic segmentation, and fluid dynamics research. In this study, we investigate the potential of Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) for medical image classification. We introduce a novel model that combines GNNs and edge convolution, leveraging the interconnectedness of RGB channel feature values to strongly represent connections between crucial graph nodes. Our proposed model not only performs on par with state-of-the-art Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) but does so with 1000 times fewer parameters, resulting in reduced training time and data requirements. We compare our Graph Convolutional Neural Network (GCNN) to pre-trained DNNs for classifying MedMNIST dataset classes, revealing promising prospects for GNNs in medical image analysis. Our results also encourage further exploration of advanced graph-based models such as Graph Attention Networks (GAT) and Graph Auto-Encoders in the medical imaging domain. The proposed model yields more reliable, interpretable, and accurate outcomes for tasks like semantic segmentation and image classification compared to simpler GCNNs


People learn from various sources. Traditional sources involve learning from people or objects. Recently, people have started to learn more from computerized instructions that blends the natural properties of people and objects. For example, virtual environments include computerized people. Learning can even occur with life-sized humanoid robots. The chapter proposes a new learning partnership between people and Technological Boundary Objects (TBO). TBOs are artifacts that simultaneously belong to mutually exclusive categories. For example, a robot dog would simultaneously reside in categories of animal and machine. TBOs that involve human-related categories typically have a human-like appearance and behavior. Appearance and behavior elicit strong social responses in TBOs that invite active engagement and can develop peerlearning relationships. Ideally, TBOs will support AbStrAct


A description is given of the Engineering Skills Assessment Program (ESAP), whose purpose is to provide guidance for engineers seeking to evaluate their skills in an electrical engineering field, as the logical starting point for professional development to advance one's career objectives. The IEEE conducted an experimental program over two years and is now in the early implementation phase. The components of ESAP (field-specific knowledge inventory, self-assessment test, and guidance information) and its implementation are discussed.<<ETX>>


Abstract : The absorbed power concept offers certain advantages over pure acceleration for helicopter ride quality evaluation. First, it takes into account multi-frequency, multi-axial vibration across a broad frequency range. Second, it provides proper weighting functions for all frequencies and axes according to body response. Third, it is applicable to random as well as periodic accelerations. A larger data base and further experimentation is required for full validation of absorbed power as a means for quantifying helicopter vibration ride quality. Further in-flight data will be collected to expand the vibration/noise environment data base, repeating measurements on the aircraft mentioned here, and add further aircraft. Already underway is a program to take measurements on US Navy air craft types. Data have been recorded on a Sikorsky RH-53D and a Kaman SH-2F. The subjective response experiments will be continued for correlation and validation of the absorbed power and NASA Ride Comfort Model.


Two letters from pilgrims arriving from north and central Italy to Jerusalem at the end of the 15th century are translated here into Italian. The name of the pilgrims are R. Yose da Montagnana and R. Yis˙aq Latif from Ancona. These letters are translated for the first time from the original.


In allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), devising new strategies to separate GVHD and GVL responses is of critical importance. However, this is a difficult task, as GVHD and GVL rely on the same recognition of allogeneic MHC by donor-derived T cells. CD8+ T cells are key effector cells that mediate both GVHD and GVL. In mouse models of allogeneic HSCT, the infusion of donor-derived CD8+ T cells eliminates tumor growth but also causes severe GVHD. The activation of CD8+ T cells can be potentially manipulated by perturbing the signaling pathways downstream of the T cell receptor (TCR). TCR signaling depends on the formation of a proximal multimolecular complex, which is nucleated by adaptor proteins such as SLP-76. The phosphorylation of the Y145 residue of SLP-76 is critical for activation of the downstream enzyme PLCg1. As such, a YaF mutation at Y145 of SLP-76 (Y145F) causes decreased TCR-mediated signaling and attenuated T cell function. Here, we investigated how the SLP-76 Y145F mutation in CD8+T cells may impact GVHD and GVL responses in a mouse model of allogeneic HSCT.

We employed a major MHC-mismatch mouse model of GVHD involving the transplantation of C57BL/6 (B6)-derived bone marrow (BM) into lethally irradiated Balb/c mice (B6aBalb/c). BM-transplanted mice were also injected with FACS-sorted CD8+ T cells either B6 wildtype (WT) mice or Y145F mice. Recipients of Y145F CD8+ T cells showed significantly (p<0.001) less weight loss, lower clinical score, and improved survival compared to mice injected with WT CD8+ T cells. Next, to determine whether the Y145F CD8+ T cells could mediate GVL effects, BM-transplanted Balb/c mice were additionally challenged intravenously with 1 x 105 luciferase-positive A20 leukemia cells. As expected, BM-transplanted Balb/c mice succumbed from A20 tumor growth, whereas mice injected with WT CD8+ T cells cleared the tumor but developed GVHD. Surprisingly, mice receiving Y145F CD8+ T cells eradicated the leukemic cells but did not develop GVHD. These data suggest that the Y145F mutation in CD8+T cells may be able to separate GVHD from GVL effects.

In addition to defective TCR signaling observed in peripheral T cells of Y145F mice, a majority of Y145F KI CD8+ T cells adopt a memory-like CD44hi phenotype through exposure to high levels of IL-4 produced in the thymus of these mice. To test whether the CD44hi CD8+ T cell phenotype was necessary and/or sufficient for the separation of GVHD and GVL effects, BM-transplanted Balb/c mice were injected with FACS-sorted CD44hi or CD44lo CD8+ T cells from WT or Y145F KI mice and challenged with A20 leukemia cells. While BM-transplanted mice receiving CD44hi CD8+ T cells from Y145F mice displayed intact GVL responses without causing GVHD, mice injected with CD44lo CD8+ T cells from Y145F mice displayed impaired ability to clear the tumor cells. Moreover, recipients of CD44hi or CD44lo CD8+ T cells from WT mice cleared the tumor but exhibited severe GVHD. These findings were corroborated with data obtained with an inducible system, whereby CD8+ T cells are affected by the Y145F mutation only after full maturation and thus do not display a CD44hi phenotype (Y145F conditional knock-in mice). Bone marrow-transplanted recipients receiving Y145F conditional knock-in CD8+ T cells developed GVHD and exhibited an attenuated GVL response, suggesting that the Y145F mutation needed to be present during T cell development. Together, these data suggest that either the Y145F mutation or CD44hi phenotype alone in CD8+T cells is insufficient to separate GVHD from GVT.

Our data demonstrate that perturbation of the TCR signaling pathway downstream of Y145 of SLP-76 in CD8+ T cells results in separation of GVHD from GVL effects. Experiments to mechanistically test how the Y145F signaling mutation synergizes with the CD44hi phenotype of CD8+ T cells to allow for the separation of the GVHD and GVL effects are currently underway. Our novel and unexpected finding could lead to a novel therapeutic strategy for treatment of acute GVHD after allogeneic HSCT.

Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Abstract We prove that allk-configurations of points in P 3have the extremal resolution for a Cohen–Macaulay scheme with the Hilbert function.


ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects people across the entire lifespan, yet most of the research identifying the health and medical needs for autistic individuals have been among minors. As individuals with ASD transition to emerging adulthood, the services, already limited, become less available. This study aimed to identify the use of services for Latin American adults on the spectrum. We surveyed 295 caregivers of adults with ASD from six Latin American countries. Comparing the results for all the possible services observed in this study, the adults in our sample were primarily underserved: 84.4%–95.9% were receiving zero hours per week, 3.7%–12.9% 1%–10 h, 0%–1.7% 11–20, and only 0%–1% above 20 h of services. Almost half of the sample used medication, and neurologists were the most consulted health providers. Next to inexistent health care usage in Latin American adults with ASD highlights socioeconomic and health disparities in service provision for ASD in the region. The lack of services places adults with ASD in Latin America at a higher risk of worse symptom severity than autistic adults from regions with broader access to services.


Dayak Onion is a typical plant of Central Kalimantan. This plant has been traditionally used by the Dayak community as traditional medicine. Empirically, Dayak Onion bulbs are known to have properties to treat boils or skin diseases. The purpose of this study was to determine the ability of inhibition of Dayak Onion ethanol extract in inhibiting Staphylococcus aureus bacteria and to determine the effectiveness of the inhibition of Dayak Onion ethanol extract and concentration that could inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. This research was carried out by testing the antibacterial activity of Dayak Onion extract at levels of 1%, 5%, 10%, and 15% using the Disc Diffusion (Kirby-Bauer) method by using disc paper. The results showed that Dayak Onion ethanol extract was able to inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and effectively inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus at concentrations of 1%, 5%, 10%, and 15% with inhibitory zones of 14.3 � 2.5 mm ; 16.6 � 1.7 mm; 16.2 � 2.0 mm; and 18.0 � 1.7 mm.


The use of subcarrier multiplexing/multiple access (SCM/SCMA) is a simple and cost effective alternative to time division multiplexing/multiple access (TDM/TDMA) for creating multipoint connections in lightwave networks. The SCM/SCMA technique can be used in all- optical networks to produce a significant increase in throughput and connectivity. However, when the signals from two or more lasers operating in a WDM/SCM system are combined at a detector, optical beat interference (OBI) occurring at a frequency equal to the difference in optical frequencies of the lasers can potentially severely interfere with the information being transmitted. Thus, to achieve satisfactory performance, the optical carriers must have the correct spacing, their individual wavelengths must be precisely controlled and the subcarrier frequencies carefully selected to minimize OBI. Our experimental work focuses in studying the OBI and its effect as the optical carriers are moved closer in frequency. Our results provide the minimum spacing needed to achieve a 10-9 Bit Error Rate at both 3 Mbps and 200 Mbps. We also discuss an interesting application for the above scheme on the Optical Network Technology Consortium's all-optical testbed.


In this paper, we discuss the political culture and the ways in which the dominant model of political culture influences the functioning of party pluralism in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Political culture is a concept that combines psychological aspects such as political attitudes, orientation, political behavior and social activity, as well as sociological dimensions as social effects of political attitudes and patterns of behavior. In that sense, political culture is one of the most important conditions for establishing and normal functioning of party pluralism and democracy in one country.


We compared relationships among distribution patterns of recruits, juveniles and adults of 3 different coral families with distinct life history traits at multiple spatial scales in an insu- lar, fragmented reef system characterized by recurrent disturbances to better understand recruit- ment and maintenance processes of reef corals. The goal of our study was to detect at what scale most abundance variation occurred, and if this was consistent among life cycle stages and life his- tories. Results demonstrate a very high spatial variability of recruitment rates at the re gional, insu- lar and local hierarchical levels, with some locations displaying much higher recruitment rates than others, in 2 successive seasons. Juvenile and adult abundances were less variable, and most of the variation occurred at a local level for these life cycle stages. Recruit assemblage composition dif- fered from juvenile and adult ones, which were much more similar. Moreover, abundance variation of recruits was unrelated to variation of juveniles and adults, but juvenile abundance was signifi- cantly correlated with adult abundance across all levels. These results have important implications for conservation planning, showing that some locations have better recovery abilities, and reveal- ing the paramount importance of events occurring during the first weeks and months after settle- ment on the distribution of adults at regional, island and local levels, thus confirming the signifi- cance of local processes in shaping coral assemblages distribution and maintenance.


Objective To explore the clinical characteristics and MRI manifestations of abdominal Castleman's disease combined with paraneoplastic pemphigus(PNP).Methods Five cases of abdominal Castleman's disease combined with PNP were confirmed pathologically.MRI features of all patients,including location,shape,size,number,margin,signal characteristics of tumors and dynamic enhanced MR images were respectively analyzed.Results Hyaline-vascular type Castleman's disease was found in abdomen in all 5cases,4in retroperitoneum and 1in right iliac fossa,all presented as solitary,oval and well-defined mass,iso-or hypo-intense signal on T1WI and hyper-intense signal on T2WI.On dynamic enhanced MRI,marked enhancement(n=4)or moderate enhancement(n=1)presented in the late arterial phase.All cases showed persistent enhancement in equilibrium and delayed phases.One tumor homogeneously enhanced on dynamic enhanced MRI,the other 4showed inhomogeneous enhancement,and intratumoral hypo-intense areas gradually reduced or disappear.Conclusion MR examination plays an important role in the detection and qualitative diagnosis of abdominal tumors associated with PNP Castleman's disease.


The aim of the Realizing Artificial Intelligence Synergies in Software Engineering (RAISE) series of workshops is to provide a forum for researchers and industry practitioners to exchange and discuss the latest innovative synergistic AI and SE techniques and practices. Namely, we are interested in AI solutions to SE problems and SE practices to answer AI obstacles, and techniques that could benefit these realms bidirectionally. This report summarizes the First International RAISE Workshop and indicates some future activities.


Abstract : A search was conducted to define all potential spectrometric approaches for conducting wear metal analysis in engine lubricating fluids. The techniques identified were subjected to an analysis of their design and performance characteristics. The resultant data were used to determine which methods had sufficient potential for meeting the needs of the Joint Oil Analysis Program (JOAP) through the year 2000. The most promising candidate techniques were then ranked through a factorial analysis on the basis of the following criteria: analysis time; elemental capability/range; reliability/maintainability; size/weight; unit cost; consumables requirements; sample costs; safety; automation for sampling, calibration, and data reduction; simplicity of design; simplicity of operation; environmental operating limits; CRT, printer and data system capabilities; particle size capabilities; self-diagnosis/modular construction; reduced operator dependence; data management methods and capacity to interface with current JOAP data bases; and logistics and maintenance costs. An inductively coupled plasma simultaneous atomic emission spectrometer with auto-dilution and auto-sampling was found to be the best instrumental approach for supporting JOAP needs through the year 2000.


Fork head (Fkh) is the only fruit fly ortholog of the FOXA subgroup of FOX transcription factors. Recent studies on the role of Fkh in autophagic cell death during Drosophila metamorphosis identified Fkh as a competence factor for steroid-induced cell death. Microarray analyses suggest that, in addition to controlling essential apoptosis genes, Fkh controls autophagic and cell survival pathways. The data support a model in which Fkh promotes cell growth and survival by coordinating the cell's ability to respond to death and autophagy-controlling signals. Addendum to: Liu Y, Lehmann M. Genes and biological processes controlled by the Drosophila FOXA orthologue Fork head. Insect Mol Biol 2008; 17:91-101.


As presented in [1], the technique requires the use of a var iable in a module, thereby making that module incapable of concurrent use. In [I], the module Gener icTree def ines the generic b inary tree type, and module Tree makes use of the exports of module Gener icTree to def ine a b inary tree with a par t icular element type. Module Tree cannot be used by more than one process at a time because it contains a var iable (Param). The presence of this var iable creates a need for mutual exclusion. When one process, in the course of execut ing a Tree procedure, gives the variable a value, no other process may execute a Tree procedure which changes that value before the f irs t process completes its procedure.


The experiences of World War II bomber crews indicate that, unlike some scholars have theorized, distance from targets did not lessen the combat and other trauma resulting from prosecuting targets in the European theater. An analysis of Dave Grossman's five factors of the likelihood of killing finds these air combat crews experienced significant psychological trauma, including moral injury, in the execution of their missions.


Objective To understand the prevalence and cause of eye diseases in the middle and old aged population in community was of important significance for the prevention and treatment of relevant diseases.The present study attempts to survey the prevalence of common eye diseases and conditions of blindness and low vision in 50 years and older population in community of Beijing.MethodsThis was an ophthalmologic epidemiology survey.The 2 833 target population was included and registered in Western Chang'an street community in door-to-door and questionnaire manner between October,2006-October,2007.Multiple factors,such as demography,general conditions,lifestyles,education degree,economical status,medical status and the awareness of relevant ophthalmic knowledge of participants were recorded and evaluated.Relevant eye examinations including uncorrected visual acuity,pinhole visual acuity,non-contact intraocular pressure test,slit-lamp,funduscopy and optometry examinations were performed in Beijing No.2 Hospital by trained ophthalmologists.Blindness and low vision were evaluated based on WHO criteria.The causes of leading-blindness and low vision were analyzed.Oral informed consent was obtained from all of the subjects.Results2 410 individuals of 2 833≥50-year-old participants received complete surveys according to the designed process in this study with an examined rate of 85.07%.The incidence of blindness and low vision in examinees was 0.79% and 5.64% respectively.The positive factors related to blindness and low vision appeared to be age,education and an awareness of relevant ophthalmic knowledge (χ~2=26.62,18.28,21.32,P<0.001).The primary causes of blindness in examined population,in order,were cataract,glaucoma and retinopathy,and those of low vision were cataracts,refractive error and diabetic retinopathy.ConclusionIt is emphasized that early prevention and treatment for cataract,glaucoma,diabetic retinopathy and refractive errors can reduce the prevalence of blindness and low vision in people over 50 years in the Western Chang'an street community of Beijing.

Key words:
community; epidemiology survey; blindness; low vision