In order to trace the results of gymnastic training, the students of the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics are measured at regular intervals during the school year. The first measurements are taken at the beginning of the school work in the autumn; the last measurements are taken at the close of the school in the spring. At the beginning of each month those items which are most susceptible to change under the influence of the training are remeasured, and the change in which has most direct influence upon the working capac? ity and resistive power of the student, so far as is manifest in gymnasium work. The measures taken each month are the weight, lung capacity, strength of legs, back, chest, left and right forearm. At the beginning and close of the work 53 different measurements are taken in all, namely, the stand? ing height, the length, breadth, depth, girth of various parts of the body, taken at distinct anatomical landmarks. Besides these a series of tracings of the form of the chest are taken at the beginning and close of the year. These are made by means of the anthropometric machines, constructed for this purpose by Dimeny in Paris. They consist of, 1st, tracing of thorax in horizontal section, with chest in inspiratory ? repose ? and expiratory position ; 2nd, tracing of the median profile of the trunk with chest in inspiratory, repose, and expiratory position ; 3rd, the antero-posterior curve of the back; 4th, the mid spinal line. In the present paper we wish to present a part of the results attained by the study of the measurements of one hundred junior students of the school* The first observation


Fluorides and oxides are classical materials for optical coatings. At present fundamental improvements of film properties are necessary especially for optical components of high power excimer lasers and other applications in the UV spectral region. The optical properties and the laser damage threshold of the films are determined by the thin-film microstructure and by contaminations inside the films. Strong connections between optical losses and laser stability on the one hand and the film microstructure on the other hand have been shown. Therefore sensitive optical characterization techniques in the UV have to be used. We report on first results of deep UV spectroscopic ellipsometric measurement of fluoride and oxide films.


Introduction The aetiology of retinal dialyses in man has been closely linked with direct blunt injuries to the globe, but the mechanisms involved in the production of such lesions, especially those that give rise to retinal detachments, remain uncertain. Studies on cases that have received a non-perforating blow to the globe of sufficient severity to require follow-up ocular examinations indicate that traumatic retinal tears of this type occur infrequently in individuals with previously healthy eyes. More often, breaks at the extreme retinal periphery are associated with retinal cysts, a congenital weakness at the ora serrata (Tulloh 1968), or an abnormally posterior insertion of the vitreous base (Scott 1977). In these circumstances a history of trauma may well point to a provocative, but not the principal, causative factor. In prospective investigations, only two dialyses, both lower temporal in location, were detected in 52 patients who presented to hospital with traumatic hyphaema (Holmes Sellors & Mooney 1973), and retinal breaks at the ora serrata found in just 5 cases, 3 of which showed preexisting peripheral retinal abnormalities, in a series of 108 that had received blunt mechanical injuries (Eagling 1974). Dialyses in this latter group were shown to occur predominantly in cases where the missile had impacted locally on the anterior sclera. The results of retrospective surveys, on the other hand, have suggested that in patients noted to have retinal detachments secondary to dialyses, where a definite record of severe blunt injury in the past has been obtained, i.e. hyphaema, vitreous haemorrhage, angle recession, subluxation of the lens, etc., retinal tears were to be found mainly in the upper nasal quadrant (Cox et al. 1966, Hagler & North 1968), a site reasonably well protected from the direct effects of trauma. Retinal dialyses have been produced experimentally by firing relatively high velocity lowmass missiles at the apex of the cornea of enucleated pigs' eyes embedded in gelatine (Weidenthal & Schepens 1966). These authors believed that the transient distortion of the elastic outer ocular coats, induced while the projectile remained in contact with the globe, with shortening of the antero-posterior axis of the eye and increase in its equatorial diameter, resulted in the inelastic vitreous base exerting increased tension on tissues to which it was attached. The fact that after such injuries retinal tears were noted to occur nasally in the pig, in which the vitreous base is inserted into both the ciliary body and the ora serrata, whereas temporally it is only attached to the ciliary body, provided strong evidence to support this concept. Follow-up in vivo studies of these important experiments described above have, to the best of our knowledge, not been reported in the literature. In this paper the findings of such an investigation are presented and discussed.


An effective technique for the synthesis of microporous gels is developed along with correlations between synthesis conditions and microstructure. Such gels have substantially different properties than their nonporous analogues. Microporous hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) gels were prepared by heating aqueous HPC solutions above their lower critical solution temperatures (LCST's) while cross-linking the polymer with divinyl sulfone. The effective porosity of the gel increased from 23 to 76% by decreasing HPC concentration from 22.6 to 9 wt %, as anticipated from the system phase diagram. The pore size range decreased from 0.5−9.0 to 0.05−0.2 μm by increasing reaction time before phase separation from 1.5 to 25 min, demonstrating that cross-linking in the homogeneous state limits the extent of phase separation possible. Gel morphology changed from open-celled to closed-celled by decreasing reaction time in the phase-separated state, which limits cross-linking in the polymer-rich phase.


We congratulate Yamada et al. for their work, which chronicles a single center's experience over 25 years and includes 65 patients, a large case series for pediatric craniopharyngiomas.16 They report excellent results through the transsphenoidal approach, with a high rate of gross-total resection (GTR) and low incidence of postoperative obesity. Previous meta-analyses and other series have supported the notion that transsphenoidal resection (TSR) provides advantages over a transcranial approach with respect to GTR and recurrence.4 However, tumors amenable to TSR have traditionally been more likely to be smaller, be confined to the midline, and have a large sellar component, leading to selection bias that should be considered in the evaluation of these results, and some expert series have demonstrated comparable results using a transcranial approach.3 The authors note that they attempted GTR in all circumstances. In the setting of initial surgeries, there is a strong argument for this aggressive approach, as initial surgery seems to offer a superior opportunity for surgical cure of craniopharyngioma and may spare the child the negative risks associated with postoperative radiation.4,6,8,9,17 However, GTR is not without risk and often comes at the likely cost of diminished or complete absence of pituitary function, which may result in long-term medical dependence and worsened quality of life.15 In addition to resulting in pituitary deficits, resection of tumors involving the hypothalamus may place patients at risk for hypothalamic obesity when complete resection is attempted. Postoperative obesity in craniopharyngioma patients is quite morbid, also resulting in reduced quality of life as well as sedentary lifestyles, increased risk of cardiovascular complications, and cognitive deficits.2,9–12 In our own experience with 22 pediatric patients with craniopharyngioma treated through TSR, we observed postoperative obesity after 3 of 11 initial surgeries (an incidence of 27%),6 but the authors report an incidence of 9%, suggesting that low rates can be achieved despite hypothalamic involvement. Because of the risk of postoperative obesity in our own experience, our surgical strategy in the pediatric population has largely been determined by tumor origin in relation to the diaphragma sellae. Tumors that originate below the diaphragma sellae, which then expand the sella and grow intracranially, are generally considered amenable to GTR. However, if pituitary function is largely intact and the tumor is primarily cystic, a less aggressive resection is often pursued, with the patients being subsequently treated by radiotherapy. Those tumors that take origin above the diaphragma sellae and are wholly suprasellar without sellar involvement are most often treated with subtotal resection with planned radiotherapy. Radiosurgery can result in excellent tumor control (72.7% at 5 years for solid tumors), but it increases the risk of later development of panhypopituitarism.7 Furthermore, and particular to the pediatric population, radiation therapy is associated with a decline in cognitive function in children younger than 8 years of age.8 It should be noted, however, that the decline may be further exacerbated by aggressive resection, particularly in association with hypothalamic involvement, leading some surgeons to advocate for observation following subtotal resection rather than prophylactic radiotherapy.5,9,15 In support of this observational approach, recent advances in molecular medicine may prove to further limit the role of total resection due to the identification of unique mutations in BRAF and CTNNB1 among papillary and adamantinomatous craniopharyngiomas, respectively, and the development of targeted therapy.1 To this point, several reports suggest rapid and dramatic response to targeted therapy with BRAF inhibitors, which may provide surgeons with alternative modes of treatment for patients with these tumors.13,14 EDITORIAL Endoscopic endonasal surgery for pediatric craniopharyngiomas


a Prevention Research Collaboration, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia b Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia c The Australian Prevention Partnership Centre, Sydney, NSW, Australia d The Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise and Eating Disorders, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia e Corresponding author: email@example.com


The 100 mission lifetime requirement for the space shuttle orbiter vehicle dictates a unique set of requirements for the Thermal Protection System (TPS) thermal and heat flow instrumentation. This paper describes the design and development of such instrumentation with emphasis on assessment of the accuracy of the measurements when the instrumentation is an integral part of the TPS. The temperature and heat flow sensors considered for this application are described and the optimum choices discussed. Installation techniques are explored and the resulting impact on the system error defined.


This study is an analysis on the successful factors and performance level of government-supported Creative R&D Program in Korea. A regression analysis was conducted based on the result of questionnaire (120) on researchers who participated in the program. The result shows that the successful factors are leadership, information sharing, networking, autonomy, creativity and academic exchange which have influences on the research performance. Therefore, the success of creative R&D supported by government is dependent on R&D management including selecting project leaders. Additionally, a data analysis using the impact factors of journals (categories of Nature, Science and Cell) indicates that clear performance targets contribute to the good qualities of creative R&D.


Despite the significance for wave physics and potential applications, high‐efficiency frequency conversion of low‐frequency waves cannot be achieved with conventional nonlinearity‐based mechanisms with poor mode purity, conversion efficiency, and real‐time reconfigurability of the generated harmonic waves in both optics and acoustics. Rotational Doppler effect provides an intuitive paradigm to shifting the frequency in a linear system which, however, needs a spiral‐phase change upon the wave propagation. Here a rotating passive linear vortex metasurface is numerically and experimentally presented with close‐to‐unity mode purity (>93%) and high conversion efficiency (>65%) in audible sound frequency as low as 3000 Hz. The topological charge of the transmitted sound is almost immune from the rotational speed and transmissivity, demonstrating the mechanical robustness and stability in adjusting the high‐performance frequency conversion in situ. These features enable the researchers to cascade multiple vortex metasurfaces to further enlarge and diversify the extent of sound frequency conversion, which are experimentally verified. This strategy takes a step further toward the freewheeling sound manipulation at acoustic frequency domain, and may have far‐researching impacts in various acoustic communications, signal processing, and contactless detection.


We show that if the private exponent used in the RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) public-key cryptosystem is less than then the system is insecure. This is the first improve- ment over an old result of Wiener showing that when is less than the RSA system is insecure. We hope our approach can be used to eventually improve the bound to less than . Index Terms—Cryptanalysis, lattice basis reduction, LLL, low- exponent RSA, RSA.


During the last few decades superconducting hot-electron bolometer (HEB) mixers have emerged as the most successful technology for extremely low-noise molecular spectroscopy observations at frequencies above 1 THz [1]. This is because, unlike SIS mixers, operation of HEBs is not limited by the superconducting gap and compared to Schottky diode mixers, their noise temperature is much lower. By far, the most extensively studied and used HEB mixers are based on phonon-cooled mechanism of nonequilibrium electrons. Despite of being state-of-the-art, the IF of NbN based phonon-cooled HEB mixers limits to 3-5 GHz due to about 12 ps of electron-phonon interaction time (eph). While MgB2 offers large IF bandwidth as a result of fast eph (1-2ps) due to its higher Tc of above 30K [2], it is suspected that its low sheet resistance (one order of magnitude lower than NbN) has been problematic in optimizing the low noise temperature. In the alternative approach pioneered by Prober [3], the mixer element is a nanobridge and in this configuration, the dominant cooling mechanism for non-equilibrium electrons is outdifusion through normal metal contact pads. For such diffusioncooled HEB mixers, material with lower sheet resistance and higher diffusion constant can be a suitable choice.


Introduction 1. The problematic literati self and autobiographical sensibility in the novel 2. The self masqueraded: auto/biographical strategies in The Scholars 3. The self displaced: women and growing up in The Dream of the Red Chamber 4. The self reinvented: memory and forgetfulness in The Humble Words of an Old Rustic Conclusion.


Nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) have advanced the technologies in a wide spectrum of fields, including nonlinear dynamics, sensors for force detection, mass spectrometry, inertial imaging, calorimetry, and charge sensing. Due to their low power consumption, fast response time, large dynamic range, high quality factor, and low mass, NEMS have achieved unprecedented measurement sensitivity. For optimized system functionalization and design, precise characterization of material properties at the nanoscale is essential. In this thesis, we will discuss three applications of NEMS: mechanical switches, using anharmonic nonlinearity to measure device and material properties, and mass spectrometry and inertial imaging. The first application of NEMS we discuss is NEMS switches, switches with physical moving parts. Conventional electronics, based largely on silicon transistors, is reaching a physical limit in both size and power consumption. Mechanical switches provide a promising solution to surpass this limit by forcing a jump between the on and off states. Graphene, which is a single sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal structure, has high mechanical strength and strong planar bonding, making it an ideal candidate for nanoelectromechanical switches. In addition, graphene is conductive, which decreases resistive heating at the contact area, therefore reducing bonding issues and subsequently reducing degradation. We demonstrate using exfoliated graphene to fabricate suspended graphene NEMS switches with successful switching. The second application of NEMS we discuss in this thesis is the use of mechanical nonlinearity to measure device and material properties. While the nonlinear dynamics of NEMS have been used previously to investigate the longitudinal speed of sound of materials at nano- and micro-scales, we correct a previously attempted method that employs the anharmonicity of NEMS arising from deflection-dependent stress to interrogate the transport of RF acoustic phonons at nanometer scales. In contrast to existing approaches, this decouples intrinsic material properties, such as longitudinal speed of sound, from properties associated with linear dynamics, such as tension, of the structure. We demonstrate this approach through measurements of the longitudinal speed of sound in several NEMS devices composed of single crystal silicon along different crystal orientations. Good agreement with literature values is reported. The third application of NEMS we discuss is mass spectrometry and inertial imaging. Currently, only doubly clamped beams and cantilevers have been experimentally demonstrated for mass spectrometry. We extend the one-dimension model for mass spectrometry to a novel method for inertial imaging. We further extend the theory of mass spectrometry and inertial imaging to two dimensions by using a plate geometry. We show that the mode shape is critical in performing NEMS mass spectrometry and inertial imaging, and that the mode shapes in plates deviate from the ideal scenario with isotropic stress. We experiment with various non-ideal conditions to match non-ideal mode shape observed.


Michelle Taylor-Robinson's book argues that since the poor are typically less capable than the rich of holding their elected representatives to account—due to the costs of monitoring and sanctioning—they rarely achieve effective political representation. The extent to which the poor nevertheless "count" in national politics depends on formal and informal institutions (electoral systems, nomination procedures, and forms of clientilism) that either mitigate or aggravate the political biases that the author identifies. One of her main points is that clientilistic representation— which is typically regarded as sham representation, inferior to its programmatic counterpart—is often the only form of representation for which the poor can hope. The first two chapters introduce the research problem and the main theoretical arguments. Chapter 3 examines the confidence that the poor have in national legislatures in nine countries in Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela). Chapters 4 through 7 are devoted to a case study of Honduras, and especially its National Congress, which is a legislative institution on which the author has worked extensively in the past. Chapter 8, the concluding chapter, investigates the policy implications of her argument by comparing the adoption and subsequent fate of conditional cash transfer programs in Honduras and Brazil. This is in many ways a book in the best traditions of comparative politics, examining the manner in which institutions, socioeconomic conditions, and political behavior interact. The author's willingness to engage with all these issues and theoretical literatures is commendable, making the book relevant to a wide readership: to students and scholars of political institutions, comparative political economy, inequality, and representation, and to those with a special interest in Latin American politics and society. In the course of her investigation of the interaction of political institutions, socioeconomic conditions, and political behavior, the author moves among several levels of analysis: individuals, parties, institutions, regions, and countries. The scope of the argument is really quite impressive. It also makes things complicated, and I did not always find the author's arguments easy to follow. For example, the book claims that institutions do not merely create different incentives for politicians, party elites, and citizens influencing the strategic interaction among these three types of agents; institutions also shape the identities and preferences of elected representatives (pp. 14–15). But it never explains how to combine these two different theories of institutions. The theoretical analysis in Chapter 2 is more or less exclusively rationalistic, deriving testable hypotheses from principal–agent theory and semiformal game-theoretic propositions (pp. 50–52). The empirical chapters, however, and particularly the two chapters on the Honduran Congress, are primarily concerned with the "roles" that politicians play (or see themselves as playing). It would have been helpful, I think, if the book had stated more clearly how incentives and identities combine to shape the political behavior of elected representatives. One way to do this would have been to examine empirically how political careers develop over time. How does it become a part of the identity of a politician to represent the constituents of a poor district, as opposed to defending the interests of a national party or protecting the integrity of the legislature as an institution (the other motivations that the author considers)? Which types of politicians do parties and voters select, and why? And how do different kinds of politicians respond to electoral victories and defeats? The cross-sectional research design in Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 is not well suited to answering these kinds of questions. The manner in which the theoretical claims of the book are formulated and tested is also less clear than it could have been. One of the author's main points—and I think it is a correct one—is that formal and informal institutions interact: "A key argument of this study is that it is not one but a combination of institutions that influences the sanctioning capacity of poor and rich people. . . . If we only considered one type of institution and the incentives it created (say electoral institutions) we would have an incomplete picture" (p. 8). This argument appears to have the form "the effect of x1 on y depends on x2," but Chapter 2 nevertheless examines electoral systems, nomination procedures, and forms of clientilism separately, and the discussion of how the effects of one of these factors (or sets of factors) might be conditional on the others is limited. Moreover, the comparative analysis of nine Latin American countries in Chapter 3 does not allow the author to differentiate between the effects of electoral institutions and the effects of clientilism, and the evidence seems to indicate that these variables are highly correlated (see the table on p. 63), which suggests that they may be causally related in some way that is not accounted for (although the author does discuss some of these problems on pp. 69–71). The claim that clientilistic representation is the only form of representation that the poor can hope for—and that clientilistic representation is better than no representation at all—is a provocative idea, with far-reaching implications. The question is how far-reaching. It occurred | |


Abstract The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of peat soil substrate governed by the hydrological type of mire, land use and state of anthropogenic changes on the fen soil structure in terms of the water retention curve, soil aggregates and topsoil strength. Our hypothesis was that morphological parameters of the peat soil landscape, like peat thickness and water table, are correlated with functional parameters of internal soil structure like water retention or cone resistance. These parameters were measured along several transects in fens of the Rhin-Havelluch and the Uckermark region. Results confirmed our hypothesis. The peat thickness was cross-correlated with the state of anthropogenic soil changes and soil structure. The type of land use (grassland, forest) had significant implications for the moisture status and structure in terms of density, strength, pore size distribution and aggregate sizes of topsoils.


As digital and immersive architectural installations and augmented reality applications generate new sensations, new digital dimensions and boundaries create new perceptions of our built environment. Digital architectural installations as immersive environments make data visible and tangible and give access to data as an experiential flow. Like the works of Refik Anadol, TeamLab or Universal Everything, digital architectural installations point to a neuroarchitectural and neurophenomenological atmosphere that refers to the understanding and measurement of embodied human experience, and how spaces affect people and how they behave in a given setting. The objectivity of the screen allows viewers to observe through screens, and the screen as an ambivalent object provides a physical interface that transcends the shadow of its materiality, transforming the viewer's environmental perception. Therefore, this article examines digital architectural environments that reveal the boundaries of architectural space, with particular consideration given to neuroaesthetics. In these data-driven environments, the human body is at the centre of multimodal perception. Therefore, these environments open the door to understanding the boundaries of architecture and invite the viewers to explore the boundaries of art and architecture that have become a fusion in the digital environment.


Geometric and electronic properties of the endohedral fullerene H 2 @C 60 and its dimmer have been studied using generalized gradient approximation of density functional theory. It is found that the two hydrogen atoms exist in the form of a molecule in the center of the cage for both H 2 @C 60 and its dimmer, and the hydrogen molecule can rotate freely at room temperature. The electronic structures of both H 2 @C 60 and its dimmer show that the formation of hydrogen molecule only affects the energy levels below the Fermi level from -8 to -5eV, while the other energy levels and the energy gap between HOMO and LUMO hardly have any change.


This paper reports on the adaptation of a well-esta bli hed foreign language anxiety scale for use in the Hungarian EFL setting; furthermore, the validation procedures aimed at testing the psyc hometric properties of the new instrument. Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope's (1986) Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) was adapted using the method of multiple t ranslators and back translation, and the Hungarian version of the scale (HFLCAS) was tested for respon e validity. The HFLCAS was administered to 117 Eng lish major and 66 non-English major students, whose resp onses were factor-analysed to test the scale's cons truct validity. Reliability was assessed using the intern al consistency method. The Hungarian FLCAS has been shown to be both reliable and valid in terms of the exami ned criteria. The results of factor analysis suppor t Horwitz et al.'s (1986) theoretical foreign language anxiety (FLA ) construct, hitherto unexamined in the Hungarian E FL context.


Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a leading cause of death in women. Although exercise mitigates CAD, the mechanisms by which exercise impacts epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) are unknown. We hypothesized that exercise promotes an anti-inflammatory microenvironment in EAT from female pigs. Yucatan pigs (n=7) were assigned to sedentary (Sed) or exercise (Ex) treatments and coronary arteries were occluded (O) with an ameroid to mimic CAD or remained non-occluded (N). EAT was collected for bulk and single nucleus transcriptomic sequencing (snRNA-seq). Exercise upregulated G-protein coupled receptor, S100 family, and FAK pathways and downregulated the coagulation pathway. Exercise increased the interaction between immune, endothelial, and mesenchymal cells in the insulin-like growth factor pathway and between endothelial and other cell types in the platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1 pathway. Sub- clustering revealed nine cell types in EAT with fibroblast and macrophage populations predominant in O-Ex EAT and T cell population predominant in N-Ex EAT. Coronary occlusion impacted the largest number of genes in T and endothelial cells. Genes related to fatty acid metabolism were the most highly upregulated in non-immune cells from O-Ex EAT. Sub-clustering of endothelial cells revealed that N-Ex EAT separated from other treatments. In conclusion, aerobic exercise increased interaction amongst immune and mesenchymal and endothelial cells in female EAT. Exercise was minimally effective at reversing alterations in gene expression in endothelial and mesenchymal cells in EAT surrounding occluded arteries. These findings lay the foundation for future work focused on the impact of exercise on cell types in EAT. Significance Statement Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a leading cause of death in women. However, the role of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) in the development of CAD in females and how exercise, which is recommended to slow CAD progression, impacts EAT are unknown. The effect of aerobic exercise on gene expression in EAT was investigated with RNA-sequencing, revealing significant alterations in fatty acid processing and immunoregulatory processes. This study provides valuable insights into the molecular and cellular changes induced in EAT by exercise in the context of chronic ischemic heart disease in females. These findings bolster current understanding of the impact of aerobic exercise on cardiac health in females and provide a foundation for future research in the field of exercise science.


Case 6: 22 februari 2004 – Liberty Bell park, Bus attack on line 14a. General information: The Liberty Bell Park bus bombing was the suicide bombing of Egged bus #14a in Jerusalem, Israel, during morning rush hour (8.30 AM on Sunday: begin of the work week) February 22, 2004. Eight passengers were killed in the attack and over 60 people were injured, many of them children on their way to school. [1]


The effect of weight on the buckling behavior of woven fabrics is investigated in this study. Using Timoshenko's elastica theory, the differential equation of the fabric is established, and numerical solutions under three different boundary conditions are obtained. This model explains the buckling behavior of the fabric as efficiently as the model using friction couple theory. In addition, the relationship between the weight factor (the ratio of fabric weight per unit length to bending rigidity times buckling length cubed) of the fabric and the load-deflection characteristics are discussed in detail. As the weight factor increases, the force to initiate buckling increases. For a fabric undergoing a large deflection, the effect of the weight factor w on buckling is strongly dependent on the boundary conditions of the fabric elastica. In many apparel fabrics, the weight factor is significant and cannot be neglected in the model formu lation.


A coupled numerical model with a 1'×1' resolution grid has been developed and used to simulate two typical typhoon storm surges in the Bohai Sea of China. Three main driving forces have been considered in this coupled model: wave radiation stress, combined wave–current bottom shear stress and wave-state-dependent surface wind stress. This model has then been compared with in situ measurements of the storm set-up. The effect of different driving force components on the total storm surge has also been investigated. This study has found that the coupled model with high resolution is capable of simulating the two typical typhoons better than the uncoupled models, and that the wavedependent surface wind stress plays an important role in typhoon storm surge–wave coupling in this area. The study has shown that the general coupling effects could increase storm set-up by 2–8%. Thus, it is suggested that to predict typhoon storm surges in the Bohai Sea of China, a storm surge–wave coupled model should be adopted.


The transition to civilian rule and the 1996, 1997 Presidential and National Assembly elections in the Gambia were characterized by worrisome practices that tilted an already uneven playing field even further in the incumbent military leader's favor. While both elections represent modest steps in the direction of democratic government from military rule, they are clearly a reversal of the First Republic's relatively democratic tradition. These elections are not likely to witness a permanent military withdrawal from politics. Instead, military involvement in the political arena is likely to increase with negative effects on democratization and the protection of human rights in particular. A serious limitation of the oppposition was its inability to win support of new political constituencies, in part, because of the military government's ban on political parties and their activities. Yet the newly formed United Democratic Party (UDP) must shed its restorationist public image, distinguish itself from the People's Progressive Party (PPP), and establish the needed institutions and alliances to effectively contest the next elections. Also, if the newly elected Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) party government fails to make a difference in the lives of Gambians or does not adhere to the siprit and expectations enshrined in the constitution, its already shaky legitimacy could be further eroded by political violence and economic instability.


According to the conditions of orthogonal wavelet construction, the complex wavelets are constructed by replacing the conjugate complex roots,which,compared with dbN real orthogonal wavelets,have the same amplitude spectrum and different phase spectrum. The relationship between the number of conjugate complex root and the number of complex wavelet that can be constructed is indicated. The conditions of constructing complex wavelets are given:if both the absolute value of imaginary part of conjugate complex root and its ratio to the absolute value of real part are less than 0.01,the valid complex wavelets can not be constructed. The dbN complex wavelets are constructed to denoise four typical simulative PD(Partial Discharge) signals. Results show that different types of simulative PD signal have different optimal complex wavelets and the application of complex wavelet in PD signal denoise is more favorable than the real wavelet.


No abstract but introduction: Groundwater resources are the most reliable source of freshwater on the planet, so long as they are sustainably managed. While serious groundwater depletion and contamination are well documented in several regions around the world, other regions have the potential to leverage under-developed groundwater resources to fuel local human development. Here, I argue for the importance of global perspectives in groundwater governance and management, introduce a recent global groundwater sustainability initiative, and critically reflect on the role of hydrogeologists in groundwater sustainability.


OBJECTIVE To study the comprehensive therapeutic effect of gatifloxacin in lung cancer complicated with respiratory tract infection.METHODS A total of 68 patients with lung cancer complicated with respiratory infection in hospital from Jan 2008 to Nov 2010 were selected as research object,and they were randomly divided into control group(cefoperazone and Sulbactam group 34 cases) and observation group(gatifloxacin group 34 cases).The improvement rate of various symptoms and signs after treatment at third and fifth day,incidence of adverse reactions and serum IL-2,IL-10,TNFα of two groups before and after the treatment were analyzed and compared.RESULTS The improvement rate of various symptoms and signs of observation group after treatment at third and fifth day were all higher than those of control group,incidence of adverse reactions was lower than that of control group,serum IL-2 of observastion group was higher than that of control group(51.02±8.01 vs 74.26±6.52)pg/ml,serum IL-10 and TNF-α in observasting group were lower than those in control group [(206.67±11.98)pg/ml,(87.64±12.21)g/L vs(174.26±13.39)pg/ml,(45.87±13.57)g/L],there were significant or very significant differences between the two groups.CONCLUSION The comprehensive therapeutic effect of gatifloxacin in lung cancer complicated with respiratory tract infection is better,and it is worthy of clinical popularization and application.


Progress in toughening epoxy resin and epoxy adhesive in recent years was reviewed. This paper introduced methods and mechanism for toughening epoxy resin systematically, then summarized methods for toughening epoxy adhesives. Development tendency in toughening epoxy adhesives was directed finally.


Thin films (0.1–0.6 μm) of LiNbO3 have been deposited on silicon substrates by reactive rf sputtering. Under optimized deposition conditions the resulting thin films of LiNbO3 were optically transparent and adhered well to the silicon substrates. X‐ray diffraction showed the films were oriented polycrystalline with the c axis normal to the silicon surface. Rutherford backscattering and Auger electron spectroscopy were used to evaluate the physical properties of these films. Potential applications of this technology include nonvolatile electronic and optical memories, and optical detectors.


Synergism in the extraction of indium by a mixture of di-2-ethylhexylphosphoric acid and a P-diketone like thenoyltrifluoroacetone, benzoyltrifluoroacetone and dibenzoylmethane has been studied. The results indicate a new type of synergism in which the p-diketone replaces part of the alkylphosphoric acid. The nature of the complexes as well as their equilibrium constants have been evaluated. The effect of temperature on the extraction has also been studied and the thermodynamic parameters have been calculated. The results have been discussed in terms of the entropy factors involved in the extraction process.


In spoken dialogue systems, hyperarticulation occur as an effect to recover previous recognition errors. It is commonly observed that users of automatic speech recognition systems apply similar recovery strategies as in human-human interactions. Previous studies have shown that current speech recognizers don't cover hyperarticulated speech well. As an effect of higher word error rates at hyperarticulated speech, humans try to reinforce this speaking style which results in even more recognition errors. In this study, we investigate the use of articulatory features to compensate hyperarticulated effects. The underlying idea is, that acoustic models for articulatory features are more robust against variations in the speaking style compared to pure phone models. We present a streaming architecture which integrates articulatory features in a standard HMM based system. Using this approach, we achieved an error reduction of 25 . 1% for hyperarticulated speech and even 8 . 9% for normal speech without any use of hyperarticulated training data.


One potential future application of airships, especially "hybrid" airships is in heavy lift. "Hybrid" denotes substantial use of aerodynamics lift in addition to aerostatic lift in bearing the cargo and vessel. Designs lifting hundreds of tons have been advanced. However, the laws governing buoyant lift and aerodynamic lift do not scale proportionally to one another as scale increases. For a given flight condition, the heaviness fraction achievable drops as a given airship geometry is scaled up. The impact on the performance and operation of very large airships, and in particular, very large hybrid airships, is examined.


In this study, we first investigated the expression of wnt5a in tension sites during experimental tooth movement in rats in vivo . We then assessed the effects of wnt5a on the expression of bone marker from human periodontal ligament (hPDL) cells. Twelve male 6-week old Wistar rats were subjected to an orthodontic force of 10g in order to induce the mesial tipping movement of the upper first molars for 7 days. The expression levels of wnt5a proteins in the alveolar bone were determined using an immunohistochemical analysis. Furthermore, the effects of wnt5a on the gene expressions of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and type I collagen (COL1) were investigated using hPDL cells in vitro . Under the conditions of experimental tooth movement in vivo , the immunoreactivity for wnt5a was detected in the tension side on day 7 in the PDL tissue of rats subjected to the orthodontic force (10g). In the in vitro study, wnt5a treatment increased the gene expression of ALP and COL1 from the hPDL cells in a time-dependent manner. These results suggest that the wnt5a stimulates the alveolar bone formation in the tension side during orthodontic tooth movement.


This study was performed to examine the annual experience rate of musculoskeletal symptom and its related factors in rural farmers. Six-hundred and sixty one rural farmers were investigated by questionnaire survey through interview from July 1 to July 31 in 2000. The results were as follows; The rural farmers who had experienced musculoskeletal symptom during recent 1 year was 82.7% in male, 92.1% in female. The annual experience rate of musculoskeletal symptom by part of the body in male were turned out as back; 42.3% leg and knee; 36.4%, shoulder; 21.4%, arm and hand; 12.7%, elbow; 7.7%, hip; 6.8% neck; 6.4%, ankle and foot; 6.4% in order. The annual experience rate of musculoskeletal symptom by part of the body in female were turned out as back; 59.4%, leg and knee; 48.5%, shoulder; 20.2%, arm and hand; 13.8%, hip; 10.7%, neck; 6.8%, ankle and foot; 6.3%, elbow; 5.0% in order. The annual experience rate of musculoskeletal symptom, back pain, and pain on leg and knee were significantly higher in female. In male, the experience rate of musculoskeletal symptom was different significantly according to educational level, family size, economic status, status of smoking, duration of farming, type of major agricultural affairs. By the multiple logistic regression analysis for experience of musculoskeletal symptom, family size and economic status were the significant variables. It was higher in male with no or one family living together and low economic status. In female, the experience rate of musculoskeletal symptom was different significantly according to body mass index, perceived health status, type of agricultural affairs. By the multiple logistic regression analysis for experience of musculoskeletal symptom, body mass index, perceived health status, and type of major agricultural affairs were the significant variables. It was higher as female farmer's body mass index was increasing and when female farmer's perceived health status was not healthier, and it was lower when female farmer did livestock farming as major agricultural affair. The experience rate of musculoskeletal symptom was higher in the busy season for farmers and treatment methods for musculoskeletal symptom were physical therapy, medication, herb medical treatment, etc. In conclusion, because most of farmers experience musculoskeletal symptom, continuous systematic study on musculoskeletal symptom of farmers and active effort to prevent and manage musculoskeletal symptom of farmers are necessary.


Background: The global health burden from domestic violence against women in reproductive age group is about 9.5 million disability adjusted life years (DALYs). Women suffering from violence have more chances of suffering from physical, emotional, and mental problems such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. The objectives of the present study are to find the prevalence and awareness of domestic violence in an urban slum of Gurugram and to elicit associated risk factors and the reasons for tolerance of domestic violence.Methods: A community based, cross sectional study was conducted among married women (18-45 years) using a semi structured questionnaire in a rural area of Gurugram by systematic random sampling. Sample size collected was 900. Study population was enquired about the awareness regarding domestic violence, self-experience about domestic violence and about the form of violence experienced and the reasons for their tolerance. Data was entered and analyzed using Epi Info ver 7.Results: Total 980 subjects were enquired about their awareness and self-experience of domestic violence. Overall prevalence of domestic violence in the study population was 28%. Prevalence of domestic violence was statistically significantly associated with education, employment, duration of marriage (p value <0.05).The prevalence was highest of emotional violence (40.5%), followed by physical (33.4%), economic (21.4%) and sexual violence (4.7%).Conclusions: Public health professionals should emphasis on measures to raise public awareness so that women can talk freely about domestic violence and its consequences and help in mitigating this medico-social problem.


PLASTIC surgery is comparatively new among surgical disciplines. The surgical treatment of gynaecological prolapse has long employed principles now accepted as part of plastic surgery. It is reasonable to suggest that other techniques of plastic surgery may be applicable to the vagina. Mowlem has suggested that transposition or "Z" flaps might have a place in vaginal surgery. The purpose of this article is to illustrate two instances in which this technique may be used. "Z-plasty" is the popular name of this method of gaining length at the expense of general width (Gillies and Millard, 1957). At the same time, this procedure produces a suture line which is serpentine, and therefore not liable to contracture, as is a linear scar. A linear constriction is commonly divided across its length and the incision sewn up at right angles. When using a Z-plasty the constriction is incised along its length, with Z-shaped terminal extensions. Triangular flaps may thus be dissected free to their bases, and the points are interposed into the gap left by rotating the opposite flap.


In the title compound, C19H15Cl2N3O2, the benzotriazole ring system is approximately planar [maximum deviation = 0.018 (2) Å] and its mean plane is oriented at dihedral angles of 30.70 (5) and 87.38 (4)°, respectively, to the furan and benzene rings while the dihedral angle between furan and benzene rings is 74.46 (6)°. In the crystal, weak C—H⋯N hydrogen bonds link the molecules into chains along the b axis. π–π stacking interactions between the parallel dichlorobenzene rings of adjacent molecules [centroid–centroid distance = 3.6847 (9) Å] and weak C—H⋯π interactions are also observed.


The central bin (12◦C-15◦C) is omitted, providing a reference by which the impact of temperature deviations are evaluated. The bars indicate 95% confidence intervals, constructed using doubleclustered standard errors (by county and NOAA region-year). The x-axis spans the set of temperature bins, and the y-axis measures the estimated percentage change (log change) in per capita personal income in response to an additional day in a given temperature bin. The first column of table 2 prints out these same parameter estimates.1 ∗Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; 230 S. LaSalle Street, Chicago IL 60604. Email: email@example.com. †Columbia University, Law School. 435 W 116th St, New York, NY 10027. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com 1Our estimates are quite close to those of the paper by Deryugina and Hsiang (2014), even though our specification is slightly different (in first difference rather than in level with a lagged dependent variable). Hence, we confirm their results. Our standard errors are somewhat larger because we double cluster by county and NOAA region-year rather


Since 1999, the enlarging enrollment in China's universities has exerted some impact on the conclusion of the fixed quantity research of relationship between higher education and economy. The paper indicates that such factors as economic development, particular historic conditions, government decisions, social needs, educational ideology, the urge by system reform and the needs of universities for self-development can make influences, to different degrees, on the development of higher education, but the economy remains the most basic and permanent factors of influence.


Instagram is a growing social media platform that provides a means of self-expression and communication through creative visuals. Businesses are responding to this trend by using it as a cost-effective marketing tool. This paper examined the accounts of the leading food brands on Instagram: McDonald's, Taco Bell, Shredz, Ben & Jerry's, and Oreo. Photos were classified according to 11 elements: product, person and product, people and product, humor and product, world events, recipes, campaign with no products, user-generated, regram from a celebrity, and video. They were further analyzed along five dimensions of personality: sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness. Results presented common themes revealing that brands are using Instagram to promote their products and, more significantly, to colorfully express their personalities.


The article research the main tendencies of the development of museums of higher educational establishments in Ukraine. Museums, as a storage of memory and places of national consciousness shaping construct their exposition through narratives – a certain story about historical events. Determined that the despite the fact some documented collections were formed in the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and the University of Lviv (period of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), the greatest fl owering of university museums and collections took place on all Ukrainian territories in XIXth century. Based on the analysis of the existing research emphasized that the museums of history were the most affected by the transformation, because ceased to be an instrument of ideological and patriotic upbringing. The features of this period are the creation of memorial museums devoted to fi gures, which could not be presented through existing stamps in the Soviet period, the growth of the number of historical, art and branch "temples of muses". Instead, there was a decrease of the number and staff of natural museums. Itcoincides with the European tendencies of the university museums development. In addition, we analysed the experience of the Universitys in the introduction of educational courses on Museology and Protection of historical and cultural heritage. The expediency of introducing the international experience of the formation of the national museum network for activating the excursion activity in the tourist market is substantiated. The author concludes that the need to use modern technology in the organization of storage, registration, interpretation and use of museum collections. As it seems, it is time to introduce reforms in teaching of museum studies.


A nurse who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after being assaulted at work has won a record payout of more than £490,000.


In this article, a novel block-based visible image watermark VLSI architecture design and its hardware implementation in field programmable gate array (FPGA) is proposed. In this watermarking process, 1D-DCT is introduced to facilitate hardware implementation. Mathematical model is developed to reduce the computational complexity for the calculation of embedding and scaling factors, which are used to make the resultant image of best quality with uniform watermark visibility. The proposed architecture has a 12–stage pipeline. Parallelism techniques are employed in block level in order to achieve high performance. A single 8-point fast 1D-DCT is used to calculate the DCT coefficient values of the host image and the watermark image to minimize the resource utilization and power consumption. The hardware implementation of this algorithm leads to numerous advantages including reduced power, area and higher pipeline throughput. The performance of the architecture is studied by implementing Xilinx Virtex V technology based FPGA with DSP 48E. Throughput achieved based on this VLSI architecture is 5.21 Gbits/s with a total resource utilization of 4058BELs.


Present research seeks to include a review of the human resources (HR) study conducted over previous 12 yrs in discipline-based and hospitality-specific publications and to highlight important themes and strategies to advance potential studies. The paper resembles the form of a comprehensive analysis of current research in the fields of general training and development and HR administration in hospitality. This also investigates the linkage among HR policy and company strategy. A comparison of the findings shows a significant degree of association throughout the themes as well as outcomes that have been produced to deadline. Even so, many hospitality researches have established a variety of variables that tend to be especially important to the labor-intensive, service-centered system. Therefore, context-specific considerations will be taken into consideration in attempts to improve knowledge of how the HR systems of hospitality will affect the broad variety of individuals and organizational outcomes. The results provide a basis for furthering future HR research in hospitality.


Variable Valve Timing (VVT) system can be used to improve fuel economy, performance and emissions. This study is identified the effect of VVT in terms of wide open throttle torque, Residual gas fraction, volume efficiency. Engine cycle simulations are performed on 2.0L DOHC in-line 4-cylinder SI engine by using WAVE of Ricardo. Results of the simulations had good agreement with WOT torque experimental data, and helped to predict the tendency of performance as the valve timings change. WOT torque was higher when intake valves were closed early for low rpm and late for high rpm.


Embodiments of the present invention discloses a lifting device and a lifting system, wherein the lifting device comprises a receiving means is provided with a guide hole; a lift pin runs through the guide hole; a receiving base connector fixed to the lower end of the lifting needle, when receiving the base such that the external force is moved upward, the lift pin is moved upward in the guide hole; an electromagnetic control means, by an electromagnetic control line and the receiving base is connected to a control means for transmitting an electromagnetic solenoid to control an electromagnetic receiving the control line through the base signal, so that the lift pins move downward under electromagnetic control signal in the guide bore. The present invention is an electromagnetic suction lift pin when lowered by the electromagnetic control means to ensure that the needle can be lowered down to the original position, reducing the problem of poor manufacturing process and the risk of fragmentation.


The project-based group learning is a learning approach guided by the projects. Students complete the project through group cooperation in the learning process. So we adopt the project-based group learning in "Flash Animation". We first group students, then set up several projects. The group completes the project after the discussion and show their results and summaries. The final evaluation depends on the performance of the process and also the quality of the result. The project-based group learning promotes mutual assistance and cooperation between students, and fully mobilizes the initiative of each individual.


The sub-kilogram, "smartphone"-sized satellite is a transformative concept, inspired by the success of nanospacecraft (1–10 kg) and millimeter-scale wireless sensor network concepts. These ultra-small satellites, known as picosatellites (100 g–1 kg) and femtosatellites (<100 g), show potential to be less costly to manufacture and boost into orbit. Thus, it may be possible to launch them in large numbers, enabling unique capabilities. Organized "fleets" of picoor femtosatellites, however, will need a high level of coordination and maneuverability capability (i.e., propulsion). Also, many of these satellites can have a high area-to-mass ratio, which results in a short orbital lifetime in low Earth orbit due to atmospheric drag. In this paper, we summarize studies that found that short (few meters), semi-rigid electrodynamic tethers can provide 10-g to 1-kg satellites with complete drag cancellation and the ability to change orbit. We also present progress on the Miniature Tether Electrodynamics Experiment (MiTEE), currently in development. The goal of MiTEE will be to demonstrate miniature electrodynamic tether capabilities in space and study the fundamental dynamics and electrodynamics of the propulsion system.


We show how chromatic-dispersion-compensated MMFs allow to extend the reach of 40/100GbE links up to 400m and to bridge 150m distance at 25Gbps without equalization or forward error correction.


FOR THIRTY TURBULENT YEARS in the middle of the twentieth century one of the greatest political successes of Leon Trotsky appeared to be the amazing attachment of the faraway Lanka Sama Samaja Party (Ceylon's Equality Party) to his doctrine.* But that exotic phenomenon of Ceylonese Trotskyism came to an inglorious end in June i964, when the mainstream of the once heroic movement led by the weary ex-revolutionary Dr. N. M. Perera entered into a coalition with the Sinhalese liberal bourgeois-nationalist Freedom Party (S.L.F.P.) and the Moscow-directed Communist Party. That ideological about-face caused major changes in the political scene of Ceylon and aroused much bitterness among staunch Trotskyites throughout the world. Ernest Germain, the official spokesman of the United Secretariat of the Fourth International, described the decision to form that coalition as "a heavy defeat for the Fourth International." In his summary statement entitled "From Wavering to Capitulation, People's Frontism in Ceylon," he officially declared that "the world-wide Trotskyist organization decided unanimously to sever relations with one of its most important sections, because of this betrayal of the basic interests of the Ceylonese workers and poor peasants and of the basic principles of revolutionary Marxism."' Equally strong words were used by Wilfred Pereira, one of the last stalwarts of Trotskyism in Ceylon, who opened his article, "The Strategy of Betrayal," with the following reproach:


Almond is one of the most important nut crops in Iran. Due to the suitable climatic conditions, Iran is one of the most important growing centers for wild and domesticated species of almond in world. Native genotypes typically are early flowering, due to late spring frost, often; they have been damaged. So fros t damage to the flowers and early developing fruits is one of the most limiting factors in the most almond cultivation regions of the world. This study was undertaken to help understand almond response to fros t damage at different phenological stages, in order to develop criteria for the selection of cultivars with improved resistance to frost on the basis of field experiment with temperature fall (-4°C in 21 march 2010) was occurred naturally. In this stage, all early, medium and late flowering almonds damaged, but damage severity was different. Obviously, there was genetic diversity for cold resistant among genotypes and varieties of almond. Frost damage percentage of cultivars and genotypes after frost was measured at least 100 flowers of eac h cultivar with 3 replications. Results showed that the severity of frost damage was influenced by genotypes of almond and stage of flower bud development and other indices such as leafing stage. After the evaluating the 29 almond selections, based on flowering time and late frost spring resistance, they were divided into high cold resistant; medium cold resistant; low cold resistant and very low cold resistance. Also, it was found that one promising genotypes with high late frost spring resistant was medium flowering.


heavy pecuniary losses. But it has shown its inherent rigour in its volumes of " Transactions," some of which contain papers of inestimable value; and the pages of the Journal now proclaim something like the power and energy of manhood; and its Council Fund is in operation, and must produce good results; and many of its members are awaking from the lethargy which has oppressed their manhood; and all these things show that on this ground, there is no real excusean excuse by the, bye, remarkably put forward by those who have contributed nothing to the efficiency of the institution. Besides, admnitting all that is said against the society to be true, (which, however, I distinctly deny,) wlhat ground does it give for not subscribing to the Benevolent Fund, which has done all it could, as far as it was furnished with the means. g. There is, however, a considerable class, who hare not subscribed, and yet have not stated their grounds of non-compliance with the invitation sent them. Now, since it is impossible to suspect any one of our members of the intentional discourtesy of not replying to a writtexuote of application, it must follow, that they who have been silent, have probably been influenced by one of the above-mentioned motives, which they have not liked to state; or that they have been intending to respond to the application in a practical manner, when they paid their subscription to the general Association; or far, more probably, that it has been forgotten. In either case, let me from such, request a serious, impartial, and conscientious review of the grounds of objection to subscription, and I venture to predict an accession to our funds; and if, as I believe, the great evil has been forgetfulness, let me earnestly entreat the exter. mination of this enemy to all good; and let me close, in the words of the wise man, " Whatsoever thine hand findeth to do, do it with thy might," for " the night cometh when no man can work."


Hypercholesterolemia is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol is an established risk factor for atherosclerotic disease, particularly coronary artery disease (CAD); therefore, management of high serum LDL-C levels is the most important goal in the treatment of dyslipidemia. Since therapy with statins alone fails to achieve the targeted LDL-C values with lesser side effects it is better to try a combination therapy having high efficacy and safety profile. This study compared the efficacy and safety of the combination of Atorvastatin 10 mg +Ezetimibe 10 mg versus Atorvastatin 10 mg alone in lowering LDL-C in newly diagnosed dyslipidemic patients. Besides, it compared the efficacy of the two drugs in lowering the TC, TG, and TC/HDL-C and LDL/HDL-C ratio. We also compared the increase in HDL-C in the two groups at the end of 12 weeks. This study was conducted on 60 hypercholesterolemic patients in SreeBalaji Medical College Hospital. The patients were randomly divided into two groups of 30each. Group 1 was given Atorvastatin 10 mg +Ezetimibe 10 mg while Group 2 was given Atorvastatin 10 mg. The Lipid Profile, biochemical and hematological tests, clinical examination were done on Day 0, 6th week, and 12th week and these results were compared the group and Original Research Article Philip and Elizabeth; JPRI, 33(21A): 41-49, 2021; Article no.JPRI.66780 42 between groups from 0 to 6th week and 6th week to 12th week and 0 to 12th week. The results from our study indicated that Combination therapy with Atorvastatin 10 mg + Ezetimibe 10 mg is superior to Atorvastatin 10 mg alone in reducing LDL-C, TC, TC/HDL-C ratio and raising the HDL-C levels at the end of 12 weeks. Thus the study implies that combination therapy is superior to monotherapy in the high-risk group of dyslipidemia patients.


Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is defined as the onset of acute heart failure without demonstrable cause in the last trimester of pregnancy or within the first 6 months after delivery.We report a case of PPCM (LVEF<25%) requiring caesarean section who was successfully managed with sequential combined spinal epidural anaesthesia.


In this work, we give sufficient conditions ensuring that the space SpPAA(R,X,
 ?,?) of (?,?)-pseudo almost automorphic functions in Stepanov?s sense is
 invariant by translation and we provide new composition theorems of (?,?)-pseudo almost automorphic functions in the sense of Stepanov.


Abstract Background Mental health of people living in rural areas is largely unknown. We aim to evaluate mental health of individuals aged 70+ in a German rural region. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study (2018-2019). Participants were a representative sample living in a rural area. Main outcomes for this study were depression and general health (assessed with the PHQ-9 and the GHQ-28, respectively). As independent variables we assessed socio-demographics and access to care. Results Of the 460 participants, 140 (30.4%) were 70+ years old and 320 were between 18-69 (69.6%). The older age group was predominantly male (63.6%) and did not have university degrees (71.9%). 2.2% were employed. 2.1% reported depression symptoms (younger groups: 7.8%, p = 0.019) and 11.0% distress symptoms (younger groups: 28.0%, p < 0.001). Depression and distress were inversely associated with financial worries (p < 0.001). Higher education status was positively associated with depression (p = 0.051). Discussion: Older age was associated with less depression and distress. Results suggest that financial worries in old age contribute significantly to mental health conditions in old age. Interventions to reduce financial stress in old age are needed. Furthermore, longitudinal research is needed to evaluate how depression risk develops in rural areas in different groups.


Political analysis in recent decades indicates that democratic politics, practices, and policy implementation in subSaharan African have taken a significant leap in the last five decades, especially since a good number of African countries gained independence. Significantly, political systems in the continent are striving consistently toward achieving a level of political sophistication that will ensure global recognition and respect. Fundamentally, campaigns, political parties and structures, elections, and voting process are being reconstructed to promote democracy, good governance, peace, and stability. Several countries in the sub-Saharan region have adopted or implemented constitutional measures and reforms that support political stability as well as strengthen democratic growth, checks and balances, and accountability in governance.


Instrument for removing depilatory properties formulations and depilated hairs 18 from the skin (20) is provided. The instrument (2) is moved in the direction of arrow (20) on the skin (20), the device comprises a fin (12) to remove the depilated hair depilatory properties formulation. During this operation, the non-depilatory properties formulations, to the skin, for example, from moisturizers and (or) impregnated sponge or fabric portion (24) and impregnated sponge or fabric portion located after the fin fragrance located in front of the fins (26) applied.


Radiographic testing is extensively used in non-destructive evaluation. However, the contrast of object defects in X-Ray images is generally weak compared to the image dynamic range, which limits defects visibility and makes the image inspection time consuming and tedious. To circumvent this issue, our work builds on a bilateral filter to extract and amplify the low-contrast local variations of the image, supposed to represent the object defects. A critical step of this approach lies in the selection of the bilateral filter range parameter, which sets a contrast upper-bound to the signals that are filtered out, to be scaled to a constant fraction of the rendering range. As an original contribution, we propose to set this parameter to maximize the tone-mapped quality index (TMQI) of the reconstructed image. Since the TMQI combines a multi-scale structural similarity criterion with a measure of image naturalness, its maximization both discourages the selection of a (too large) range parameter that penalizes structural similarity, and prevents the lack of naturalness associated to an excessive noise amplification caused by a too small range parameter. Image subjective quality assessment experiments not only demonstrate that our approach largely enhances defect visibility on real use cases, but also reveal that our recommended parameter is preferred by users to any reasonable alternative in a large majority of cases ( 90%). An objective evaluation based on the Image Discrete Entropy shows that the enhanced images compare favorably to the ones obtained with previous works devoted to High Dynamic Range image visualization


Automated and autonomous driving (AD) are automotive industry megatrends that will ultimately make driving more convenient, and safe. To achieve this end, connected cars are being equipped with HD maps or costly sensors (such as front-facing cameras). Despite huge improvements in the AD domain, the majority of driving is still done manually. In this paper, we show how modern navigation systems can leverage available vehicle sensors, even if the AD car is outside of its Operational Design Domain (ODD). This paper outlines how visual-inertial odometry, combined with HD lane and landmark information, leads to a precise 6 Degree of Freedom (DoF) pose. This pose is key for projecting navigation and guidance context precisely into an augmented reality (AR) scene. The provided guidance information can contain information such as: which lane the driver should use to reach their destination; when the car is too close to a lane boundary; as well as warning information that the car should slow down due to road users interfering with the planned trajectory.


A novel 3-UP3R parallel mechanism with six degree of freedoms is proposed in this paper. One most important advantage of this mechanism is that the three translational and three rotational motions are partially decoupled: the end-effector position is only determined by three inputs, while the rotational angles are relative to all six inputs. The design methodology via GF set theory is brought out, using which the limb type can be determined. The mobility of the end-effector is analyzed. After that, the kinematic and velocity models are formulated. Then, workspace is studied, and since the robot is partially decoupled, the reachable workspace is also the dexterous workspace. In the end, both local and global performances are discussed using conditioning indexes. The experiment of real prototype shows that this mechanism works well and may be applied in many fields.


[Objective]To analyze the implementation status of public functions in Center for Disease Control(CDC) and Prevention of Shanghai at different levels from 2002 to 2005.[Methods]General investigation was conducted on the implementation of disease control and prevention project,progress of the project and the completion of the project in 19 CDC of Shanghai in 2006.[Results]Only 80.36% of the 7 functions of CDC were carried out in 2005.82.25% of the im-plementation project of the public function were carried out with an increase of 16.22% than 2002(P0.05 or 0.01).65.99% of the project were completed with an increase of 12.74% than 2002(P0.01).[Conclusion]The implementation of 7 public functions in CDC of Shanghai at different levels was as the same as 2002 after 3-year construction of public health system.The implementation and completion were improved,but there was a difference in CDC at different levels.


PURPOSE: Aim of the study was to evaluate the safety and initial results of an anterior polypropylene mesh doubly anchored through the transobturator space for cystocele repair including assessment of the patient's quality of life and satisfaction. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Women with symptomatic stage II or greater anterior vaginal wall prolapse were included in this prospective trial. Follow-up examination was scheduled 6 weeks and 6 months after surgery. The patients answered one questionnaire preoperatively and one questionnaire after 6 months. RESULTS: An anterior mesh was inserted in 116 patients, with 5 institutions participating in the study. One bladder lesion occurred and one vesicovaginal fistula healed spontanousely after temporary urinary catheterization. One patient with urinary retention was treated with suburethral mesh mobilization. All patients participated in the first follow-up examination, while 2 patients missed the second examination. Recurrence of stage II or more cystoceles were seen in 3.6 % of patients with one of these patients needing treatment. Urinary stress incontinence was cured in 52.2 % and urge incontinence was cured in 37.9 %. De novo urinary stress or urge incontinence occurred in less than 5 %, respectively. Mesh erosion occurred in 13.8 % after 6 weeks and in 14.4 % after 6 months. The postoperative questionnaire was answered by 111 women. Among sexually active women, the rate of dyspareunia was 39.5 % preoperatively and 19.6 % after surgery. Quality of life improved in 89.6 % of patients and 98.2 % would undergo the procedure again. CONCLUSION: Anterior transobturator mesh is a safe method and yields good initial results for anterior repair.


This text provides an introduction to over 5000 years of mathematical history and problems. The third edition includes increased coverage of 20th-century developments as well as a more general history. More mathematicians are featured, as is a solution to Fermat's last theorem.


An 18‐year‐old female with mild mental disability (global IQ 69), febrile seizures with subsequent myoclonic/grand mal epilepsy, and subtle morphologic changes is described with del 5(q14.3q21.3) by karyotype and minimal DNA deletion of 21.08 Mb by array comparative genomic hybridization microarray analysis (arr chr5:83,592,798‐104,671,993 X1) that encompasses at least 50 genes. Included in the deletion interval is the MEF2C gene that usually causes severe mental disability when haploinsufficient, illustrating the complexity of clinic–cytogenetic correlation even with defined segmental aneuploidy. Interaction of MEF2C with the deleted febrile seizure (FEB4) and juveline myoclonic epilepsy (EJM4) loci plus the G‐protein receptor (GPR98/MASS1/Usher syndrome) gene may moderate the phenotype, perhaps through common regulation by calcium. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


In the main computer system coupled to the auxiliary display device, the auxiliary display device driver, interface set for the implementation to bind its driver to the auxiliary display platform is described. Commands received from the auxiliary display platform, such as a class extension object can be processed by an external driver code. For example, the class extension object, the commands received from the auxiliary display platform interpreted into a format understood by the driver code, and / or can be converted. Then the auxiliary display device driver can be supplied to the auxiliary display device via a transport command information corresponding including data. Event data, such as the corresponding event information is received in the auxiliary display device, so that it can be returned to the auxiliary display platform, it can be returned via the interface set from the auxiliary display device driver and the class extension object . .Field


Sentiment analysis is a tool used to guide critical business and engineering decisions. Such applications demand sentiment analysis specialized in specific domain areas. In this work we investigate the effectiveness of standard machine learning techniques and feature engineering that can effectively be applied in the industry. Further we investigate the use of labeled data from multiple domain areas to improve the results in a specific domain area in a product review setting. Finally we propose a method based on dimensionality reduction and clustering to reduce the size of the problem without loss in performance.


Understanding how the visual cortex builds invariant representations is one of the most challenging problems in visual neuroscience. The feed-forward, multi-stage Hubel and Wiesel architecture [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] stacks multiple levels of alternating layers of simple cells that perform feature extraction, and complex cells that pool together features of a given type within a local receptive field. These computational models have been successfully applied to handwriting recognition [1, 2], and generic object recognition [4, 5]. Learning features in existing models consists in handcrafting the first layers and training the upper layers by recording templates from the training set, which leads to inefficient representations [4, 5], or in training the entire architecture supervised, which requires large training sets [2, 3]. We propose a fully unsupervised algorithm for learning sparse and locally invariant features at all levels. Each simple-cell layer is composed of multiple convolution filters followed by a winner-take-all competition within a local area, and a sigmoid non-linearity. For training, each simple-cell layer is coupled with a feed-back layer whose role is to reconstruct the input of the simple-cell layer from its output. These coupled layers are trained simultaneously to minimize the average reconstruction error. The output of a simple-cell layer can be seen as a sparse overcomplete representation of its input. The complex cells add the simple cell activities of one filter within the area over which the winner-take-all operation is performed, yielding representations that are invariant to small displacements of the input stimulus. The training procedure is similar to [6], but the local winner-take-all competition ensures that the representation is spatially sparse (and the complex-cell representation locally invariant). The next stage of simple-cell and complex-cell layers is trained in an identical fashion on the outputs of the first layer of complex cells [7], resulting in higher level, more invariant representations, that are then fed to a supervised classifier. Such a procedure yields 0.64% error on MNIST dataset (handwritten digits), and 54% average recognition rate on the Caltech-101 dataset (101 object categories, 30 training samples per category), demonstrating good performance even with few labeled training samples.


Thomas Tracy has written such a wonderful and engaging paper, that my response could easily just be an encomium of its merits. Tempting as that may be, I have instead decided to engage two largely unrelated points in Tracy's paper that piqued my interest and could be fruitful points for further research inspired by Tracy's paper. The first point, regards his account of non-interventionist special divine action in terms of the indeterministic interpretation of quantum mechanics. Upon reading this, I began to wonder if other scientific theories might be concomitant to this account of divine action. To that end, I consider if emergence theory could be such a scientific theory. Second, I was intrigued by the refutation Tracy offers to the evidentialist argument regarding theodicy. I will propose two ways of interpreting Tracy's refutation of this argument and briefly consider the implications of each interpretation.


The use of GaMnAs as the emitter of an internal-photoemission (IPE) photodetector is studied. As a result of significantly high concentration of holes, GaMnAs-based IPE detector resembles a Schottky-barrier detector, which has the higher absorption and thus enhanced spectral response by comparing with the previously reported p-type GaAs/AlGaAs detectors. A GaMnAs/AlGaAs detector is expected to fully cover the 3-5-μm range of detection. The theoretical value of the responsibility is 0.0133 A/W at 3.5 μm.


Soil characteristics of Leucaena leucocephala stands with different densities were studied. The results showed that soil pH, total P and available K were significantly smaller than the controls, whereas their total N was significantly greater than the control in all density stands. Compared with the controls, soil organic matter was significantly increased in 2 trees·m2 stand, soil total K significantly decreased and available N significantly increased in 4 and 8 trees·m2 stands; Soil available P significantly increased in 2 trees·m2 stand. Soil Urease activity in 4 and 8 trees·m2 stands was significantly greater than the control, phosphatase activity was significantly smaller than the control in 2 trees·m2 stand, whereas catalase activity was significantly smaller than the controls in the three density stands.


In the early years of the Washington School of Psychiatry, Edith Weigert, one of the school's major contributors, was interested in existential theory and how it could complement the work of psychoanalytic therapy. In 1949 in this journal, she wrote "the psychotherapist looks at trees, the existentialist at the forest as a whole" (Weigert, 1970, p. 376). She meant that psychotherapists focus on individual patients, their unique histories, present experiences, and hopes for the future. By contrast, existentialists focus on the common conditions and themes of being human. Also, in contrast with many therapists, many existential therapists (e.g., Van Deurzen, 2010) prefer the term client rather than patient to suggest a different therapeutic process than implied by the medical model. In this article, I summarize some of the major themes of this two-day conference. It was designed to engage participants both cognitively and affectively, and the conference sessions included lectures, a case presentation and consultation, an experiential session on death anxiety, small-group work, and a plenary session. ON BEING PRESENT AND HUMAN: EXISTENTIAL THEMES IN PSYCHOTHERAPY AND LIFE


Heating of a conductive polydisperse powder by electrostatic discharge (ESD) is modelled numerically. Powder packing is described using a discrete element model; powder resistance is defined by geometry of particle contacts and properties of plasma produced by electrical breakdown between neighbour particles. A set of parametric calculations in combination with experimental data is used to determine necessary adjustable model parameters. The model predicts the temperature for each powder particle resulting from its heating by the ESD current. Location and packing of individual particles within the powder affects greatly their achieved temperatures and thus the likelihood of ignition. Consistently with experiments, a trend showing that smaller particles are generally heated to higher temperatures at a given ESD energy is detected for coarser powders; this trend becomes less clear for finer powders with particle sizes less than the breakdown distance given by the Paschen curve in air. Comparison of the experimental data and calculations suggests that the transition from single particle to cloud combustion occurs when the distance between the particles ignited by ESD becomes close to the flame size for the individual burning particle. This distance, inversely proportional to the number of ignited particles, is primarily determined by the ESD energy.


The use of computational simulations in the prediction of complex aerodynamic flows is becoming increasingly prevalent in the design process within the aerospace industry. Continuing advancements in both computing technology and algorithmic development are ultimately leading to attempts at simulating ever-larger, more complex problems. However, by increasing the reliance on computational simulations in the design cycle, we must also increase the accuracy of these simulations in order to maintain or improve the reliability arid safety of the resulting aircraft. At the same time, large-scale computational simulations must be made more affordable so that their potential benefits can be fully realized within the design cycle. Thus, a continuing need exists for increasing the accuracy and efficiency of computational algorithms such that computational fluid dynamics can become a viable tool in the design of more reliable, safer aircraft. The objective of this research was the development of an error estimation and grid adaptive strategy for reducing simulation errors in integral outputs (functionals) such as lift or drag from from multi-dimensional Euler and Navier-Stokes simulations. In this final report, we summarize our work during this grant.


Web integration systems are able to provide transparent and uniform access to heterogeneous Web data sources by integrating views of Linked Data, Web Service results, or data extracted from the Deep Web. However, given the potential large number of views, query engines of Web integration systems have to implement execution techniques able to scale up to real-world scenarios and efficiently execute queries. We tackle the problem of SPARQL query processing against RDF views, and propose a non-blocking query execution strategy that incrementally accesses and merges the views relevant to a SPARQL query in a parallel fashion. The proposed strategy is implemented on top of Jena 2.7.4, and empirically compared with SemLAV, a sequential SPARQL query engine on RDF views. Results suggest that our approach outperforms SemLAV in terms of the number of answers produced per unit of time.


Spacecraft measurements and MHD simulations strongly suggest the following conclusions on the role of waves, turbulence, and structures in the heating and acceleration of the solar wind: If waves heat and accelerate the solar wind, whether or not by a turbulence mechanism, these waves are not those observed in situ at 0.3 AU and beyond; the relevant waves will have been mostly dissipated by then. The solar surface is not likely to be the source of waves that heat or accelerate, because the surface motions do not produce flat enough spectra. Finally, the wave heating and acceleration picture is a highly constrained, finely tuned version of the "microflare" scenario because a wave source in the lower coronal or below must tap magnetic field structures or bulk flow energy and microflares are the most natural source of these. The main problem for wave and related models is that of finding an energy source for short time-scale fluctuations.


In this paper a new reference signal generation control technique is proposed for integration of Unified Power Quality Conditioner (UPQC) with Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) for overcoming voltage sag and other voltage fault conditions on wind farms which is connected to grid. The interaction of wind generators and grid causes increased short circuit current which leads to instability during fault conditions. The new control technique which generate reference signals for series active power filter (Series APF) and shunt active power filter (Shunt APF) of UPQC by using PHEV as an Energy Storage System (ESS) which will take care of all types of voltage faults occurred in the system and provide energy storage to DC link between Series APF and Shunt APF parts of UPQC. The control scheme proposed also maintains transaction of active and reactive power of Wind Energy Conversion System based on Squirrel Cage Induction Generators (WECS-SCIG) and grid. The fuzzy logic provides fast and dynamic response to clear faults occurred in the system.


This article which is based on nearly 20 years of experience at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, attempts to answer the questions as to why, when, what, where and how instrumentation can be used. Instrument applications are categorized in 4 groups (evaluation of soil parameters; construction control; performance measurements; and large scale tests) and their use in the measurement of various parameters (deformation and movement; pore pressure; loads and strains in structural elements; in situ stresses and earth pressure) is discussed with special reference to the problems that may be encountered. Keypoints that need to be considered in the organization of an instrumentation project are listed, and factors that could lead to its success or failure are discussed. Comments are made on the future role of instrumentation.


Chapter 14 pulls together many of the concepts by carrying out the beginning designs for several different applications. This appendix provides the programs that were used to obtain the calculations and the outputs of those programs.

The first example is the night-driving system. There are two programs for this, one for photon detectors and one for thermal detectors. The first program is for the photonic night driver. The standard format I like to use is to provide all the input values in the Setup subroutine. CLS and SCREEN clear the screen and set the monitor for SVGA in case I want to plot. For some reason this BASIC does not know the value of 7E. So I give it and the atomic constants that will get the first and second radiation constants for the Planck equation. Note that c, is in terms of c and h. A multiplier of 10 16 is necessary to get it in terms of centimeters and micrometers. Then I set the efficiencies and the transmissions. I use the last two lines alternately. If the last line is REMARKED, then the system works in the LWIR; if not, in the MWIR. I think the geometry and BANDWIDTH subroutines are clear. There are a lot of printing instructions to make sure things are the way they should be as the program proceeds. The SENSITIVITY subroutine uses the INTEGRATION subroutine that calculates all the blackbody functions. This same subroutine can be used for all the programs. Then there is a little optics calculation using the scheming equations.

The second program is for ambient-temperature, thermal detectors. The inputs are a little different. The specific detectivity is given and so are some of the properties of the optics. Only the one spectral band is used. Most everything else is the same.

The same scheme is used for ICBMs, but now the required values for out-of-field rejection and system temperature are determined from solar and terrestrial irradiances on the aperture. Then an iteration is used to get the temperature at which the system must be operated.

The PEACEKEEPER program uses a different method for calculating the bandwidth, since it is a strip-mapper, but it follows the textural prescription. Great similarities will be found in the other subroutines and this is no coincidence.


Abstract : NIDAS provides interactive blending and overlay capabilities for a broad range of environmental data types and formats. The product output of NIDAS is a three-dimensional gridded field of temperature and salinity constructed from (1) data derived by the user internally within NIDAS by synthesis and (2) data obtained from external numerical models, observations and climatological databases. NIDAS operate using numerous oceanographic data categories stored in an installed version of the Naval Environmental Operational Nowcast System (NEONS), a relational database management system (rdbms) which employs the EXPRESS proprietary rbdms are performed externally. NIDAS retrieves and stores data to/from the rdbms but exercises no direct internal control over the rbdms or its configuration.


Abstract Extensive research of recent decades has revealed manifold metabolic functions of adipose tissue, beyond its purpose as a simple storage organ for fatty acids. Consequently, proinflammatory mediators have been identified that actively promote atherosclerosis. This review therefore highlights the complex interactions between selected cytokines and mediators originating from adipose tissue and atherothrombosis.


Electronic textile research often centers on the concept of introducing electronics to apparel such as shirts jackets, gloves, and health vests. Another less researched concept incorporates electronics into large textile surfaces such as carpets and upholstery. In this paper we explore methods and challenges of building a large surface area electronic textile floor for cooperative mobile device interaction. We systematically construct both a 100 ft by 50 ft textile simulation and a 3 ft by 8 ft working prototype using readily available materials. We introduce the broadly applicable embedded workload of human gait tracking as a means to defining the requirements for the textile physicals, networked computing node, and distributed execution environment subsystems. Through this effort we begin to establish a working model for combining inexpensive electronic textiles with a scalable execution environment that supports mobile device to floor interactions.


This integrated study focused on developing an innovative workflow to populate vintage reservoir grids with seismically derived properties in a heterogeneous carbonate reservoir. The COHIBA workflow of time-depth model adjustment was the foundation for the joint porosity inversion and generation of high-resolution porosity realizations in the reservoir model. The multi-realization down-scaling workflow provided porosity realizations at the fine grid scale that fit the seismic information and can be further used in geomodelling workflows.
 The initial step of this integrated study workflow was a global update of the existing reservoir structure using the COHIBA methodology to model depth surfaces taking into consideration the uncertainties in the input parameters. The resulting depth surfaces were then used to build the reservoir grid. Deterministic geostatistical inversion was used to jointly invert for impedance and porosity. A downscaling workflow was added to obtain 100 porosity realizations, honoring well data, under control of low-resolution inverted porosities from seismic. The best ranked realizations were assessed against the porosity populated in the reservoir model using conventional gridding methods.
 After the depth horizons were adjusted by integrating all vertical and horizontal wells, the velocity model and depth prediction were successfully updated. Resulting depth surfaces gave an improved and more reliable structural model. The updated velocity model ensured the transfer of the depth prior models to the correct position in time. As a results from inversion and downscaled porosity realizations at the fine grid were consistent with the updated reservoir grid which helped realizations to be directly utilized in the reservoir grid. A ranking exercise was performed on the reservoir's global pore volume to select a subset of 25 realizations out of 100 realizations. This allowed working with less realizations while still representing the global distribution and variability.
 The results were further assessed by generating alternative reservoir models populating the log porosities using conventional gridding algorithms and comparing those with the selected group of derived porosity realizations. Zone wise comparisons showed good correlations between porosity realizations & porosity derived from the conventional methods, specifically, in the areas of good seismic data quality. Additionally, results were checked using blind wells. Based on the outcomes of this analysis, the porosity trends were used to constrain the porosity population in reservoir modelling.
 This workflow provides a more reliable structural model and depth prediction. Joint inversion allows better integration of uncertainties on the computed porosity volumes. The multiple-realization down-scaling workflow provided porosity realizations at the fine grid scale that correlates with the seismic data.


Actin is a ubiquitous and highly conserved protein found in eukaryotic organisms. In this study, we describe the cDNA cloning and mRNA expression of an actin gene from the mulberry longicorn beetle, Apriona germari. The A. germari actin cDNA is 1524 bp containing a complete 1128 bp open reading frame that encodes a polypeptide of 376 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular weight of about 41.5 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence of the A.germari actin cDNA showed 99% protein sequence identity to Homalodisca coagulata actin, differing at only two amino acid positions, and 92-98% protein sequence identity to known insect species actins. The predicted three-dimensional structure of A. germari actin revealed the four residue hydrophobic pulg loop characteristic of the actin family. Northern blot analysis showed that A. germari actin is highly expressed in epidermis and muscle, and less strongly in midgut, but not in the fat body of A. germari larva.


During the summer of 1987, color coded mailback questionnaires that identified belted and unbelted North Carolina drivers were handed out at the 72 sites that constitute the probability sample for determining the belt use rate in North Carolina. By obtaining identifying information ostensibly to determine the winner of a $500 prize from among the respondents, accident and violation records from North Carolina driver history file were linked to the belted and unbelted respondents. Analyses found that non-belt users are overrepresented in accidents and violations.


ABSTRACT This article reports on what three white critical whiteness scholars learned about the ways white supremacy was affirmed and resisted during a two-day improvisational, critical whiteness workshop. The authors relied on critical literacy to theorise the castle as a sign or text with implicit, racial meaning. Furthermore, the authors use improvisational theatre to design and make sense of critical pedagogy intended to disrupt the ongoing production of white supremacy. They consider how theatrical improvisation, as a pedagogical tool, might be used in critical whiteness pedagogy to disrupt the affirmation of white supremacy through signs and symbols.


Various methods, systems, and apparatuses in which a wavelength-division-multiplexing passive-optical-network includes a first broadband light source and a second broadband light source. The first broadband light source supplies an optical signal containing a first band of wavelengths to a first plurality of optical transmitters. The second broadband light source supplies an optical signal containing a second band of wavelengths to a second plurality of optical transmitters. A fiber is used for bi-directional transmission of optical signals in at least two different wavelength bands.