Introduction Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in mammalian and human brains. Noninvasive detection of GABA has been of interest in the study of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Proton MR spectroscopy (MRS) offers an useful tool for noninvasively measurement of GABA concentrations in human and animal brains. However, the narrow chemical shift dispersion of metabolites around 3 ppm leads to severe spectral overlap of resonances. Furthermore, inhomogeneous fields due to susceptibility gradients between different structures aggravate the overlapping. Several spectral editing methods including multiple-quantum coherence (MQC) have been proposed to selectively detect GABA from the overlapping with singlets. On the other hand, the zero-quantum coherence (ZQC) was also proposed for high-resolution global detection for J-coupled metabolites under magnetic field gradients. In the current work,


Over the past several months existing attack surfaces and new malware payloads were exploited in unique ways, using custom attack software. The E-ISAC developed the following recommendations for defensive capabilities in the Electricity Subsector with suggestions to improve the overall posture of network security and cybersecurity within our community. Security, if considered at all, is typically an afterthought for devices designed to be used as part of the Internet of Things (IoT). Cybersecurity practitioners agree that nearly all devices on the Internet are more likely to be attacked because of the general omission of security in the design process of these new devices. Due to the highly interconnected state of the IoT, the insecurity built into systems as mundane as consumer products and toys can now be leveraged against systems as critical as industrial controls, such as those used in the electric power industry.


Spinal cord injury affects more than 25 people/million annually in the United States and has significant economic, social and personal costs. Current research seeks to investigate the mechanical behavior of the spinal cord during high speed injury events. Knowledge of the column-cord interaction and its relationship to neurological injury could have implications for preventative strategies and clinical interventions as well as aid the development and validation of finite element and experimental models. The current study extended a previously developed in vitro animal model of the burst fracture process. In particular, this study investigated the effect of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) on the biomechanics of the cord when subjected to high speed transverse impact. The impact of a propelled bone fragment analogue with the animal cord model was recorded with high speed video and the images analysed to determine the deformation trajectory. Each cord was tested with dura and pseudo-CSF, with dura only and without dura. The trajectories obtained for each condition were compared by means of spatial and temporal descriptors. Cord deformation was significantly reduced, although not eliminated, in the presence of CSF when compared to the bare state. The time to achieve maximum deformation and the duration of deformation were generally increased in the presence of CSF; however, statistical significance was not indicated. This may suggest a reduction in the cord-fragment interaction force for a given impulse. The dura was found to have no significant effect on deformation behaviour. The difficulty in reconciling data to obtain quantitative measures of cord deformation when surrounded by dura and CSF is discussed. This study indicates that while the protective mechanism of CSF may not fully extend to the high energy impact characteristic of a burst fracture, it may contribute to a lessening of cord deformation and applied force.


"Choice architecture" is a metaphor capturing the idea that all choices occur within a structure of contextual and task features. These features in turn help to "construct" a person's choice. In this chapter we summarize the academic literature on three types of choice architecture tools – defaults, information restructuring, and information feedback – and document some real-world examples where these tools have been applied as successful "nudges". We end the chapter with a discussion of some key challenges and opportunities associated with this new field – including the need for customized choice architecture and the political acceptability of the use of choice architecture – and highlight some avenues for future research.


2772. Bryant, Vaughn M., Jr. PALYNOLOGY: A USEFUL METHOD FOR DETERMINING PALEOENVIRONMENT. The Texas Journal of Science. 1978, 30(1):24-42. Although a fairly new scientific discipline, palynology is now becoming one of the most common methods used in the reconstruction of paleoenvironments. Through the recovery and analysis of fossil pollen grains palynologists are able to reconstruct past vegetations, and through inference, suggest possible paleoclimatic conditions for the past. (journal)


2-Chloro-3H-indol-3-one condenses with some phenols having only one reactive position to give quinonoid dyes of the type previously described by Friedlaender. Of the two possible tautomeric forms of these dyes, the quinonoid structure is preferred on the basis of u.v. and n.m.r. spectroscopy and the Michael addition reaction with acetone. The ortho-quinonid dyes show intramolecular hydrogen bonding and are decomposed by alkali to give anthranilic acid and a 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde. The aldehyde recovered from this reaction in deuterium oxide has the aldehydic hydrogen atom replaced by deuterium. The para-quinonoid dyes are protonated by strong acids on the quinonoid oxygen atom and reaction with alkali causes opening of the heterocyclic system to give a benzil, which rearranges.


As part of the coastal Meteorological Studies, an extensive air-sea interaction experiment was conducted about 5 km off the south shore of Long Island, New York from May to October 1977. Instrumentation at the buoy measured mean meteorological variables, turbulence, wind profile, sea surface temperature and buoy motion. The data were telemetered continuously to the Shore Station at Tiana where they were recorded in magnetic tapes for later processing. Turbulence data were also obtained at a 24 m tower at the beach and the information recorded simultaneously with the buoy observations. Statistical parameters obtained by analyzing these data are presented in this report.


This paper examines the problem of rank ordering a set of players or objects on the basis of a set of pairwise comparisons arising from a tournament. The criterion for deriving this ranking is to have as few cases as possible where player i is ranked above j while i was actually defeated by j in the tournament. Such a situation is referred to as a violation. The objective, therefore, is to determine the Minimum Violations Ranking MVR. While there are situations where this ranking would be allowed to contain ties among subsets of objects, we will concern ourselves herein with linear ordering no ties. A series of examples are given where this requirement would seem to be appropriate. In order to put the MVR problem into proper perspective we introduce the concept of a distance on the set of tournaments. A set of natural axioms is presented which any such distance measure should obey, and it is proven that in the presence of these axioms a unique such measure exists. It is then shown that the MVR problem is equivalent to the minimum distance problem, which can be represented in several forms-in particular as a problem of determining the minimum feedback edge set in a graph and as a mixed integer generalized network problem. This opens up a wide scope of possible solution procedures for the MVR problem. An optimal algorithm is presented along with computational results. In addition, various heuristics are discussed including an improved heuristic referred to as the Iterated Kendall method.


SUMMARY The influence of the renln-angiotensin system on individual kidney function of two-kidney, one clip Goldblatt hypertensive (GH) rats was evaluated by determining renal functional responses during intravenous infusion of converting enzyme inhibitor (CEI) (SQ 20,881, 0J rag/100 g-hr) for 3.5 bourn. Rats were made hypertensive by placing a 0.25 mm silver clip on the right renal artery 3-4 weeks prior to study. Normal rats and GH rats were prepared to allow urine collections from each kidney. Mean arterial pressure of GH rats fell significantly from preinfusion levels of 153 ± 7 to 126 ± 4 mm Hg during CEI infusion. Despite this decrease in arterial pressure, the nondipped kidneys with reduced renal renin activity (14 ± 5 vs 293 ± 40 ng Al/mg-hr in the clipped kidney) exhibited dramatic increases in gtomerular filtration rate (GFR) (from 1.45 ± 0.06 to 2.56 ± 0.35 ml/mln), urine flow (4.82 ± 0.71 to 9.11 ± 1.19 μl/mln), sodium excretion (0.10 ± 0.02 to 1.15 ± 0.39 μEq/mln), fractional sodium excretion (0.05% ± 0.02% to 0.43% ± 0.18%), and potassium excretion (0.94 ± 0.08 to 2.50 ± 0.55 /<Eq/mln). Significant arterial-pressure-associated decreases In GFR, urine flow, and salt excretion were observed in the clipped kidney. In normal rats, CEI infusion produced reductions in arterial pressure and increases in GFR, urine flow, and sodium excretion that were of smaller magnitude than those observed in the nondipped kidneys of GH rats. Plasma renin activity was significantly higher in GH rats than in normal rats (24.0 ± 2.7 vs 12.8 ± 3.4 ng AI/mMir). The augmented renal responses to CEI by the nondipped kidney suggest that elevated circulating angiotensin levels exert a substantial influence on hemodynamic and excretory function of these kidneys even though intrarenal renin activity is markedly reduced. This influence may lead to fluid and electrolyte retention and may partially explain the apparent failure of the nondipped kidney to prevent the development of hypertension.


Among the hermit crabs collected by Dr. L. D. Brongersma, Dr. L. B. Holthuis, and Dr. M. Boeseman on the reef of Biak Island near New Guinea 1) there are five specimens bearing the Peltogastrid parasites dealt with in the present paper. They belong to previously described species but present some peculiarities supplementing certain data mentioned in other papers. Dipterosaccus indicus Van Kampen & Boschma Dipterosaccus indicus Van Kampen & Boschma, 1925, p. 3; Boschma, 1931b, p. 6; Van Baal, 1937, p. 25; Shiino, 1943, p. p. Material examined: No. 1331, length 8, breadth 3, height 4 mm (fig. 1g-i). No. 1326A, length 7 (in reality somewhat longer, the body showing a pronounced curvature), breadth 3, height 3 1/2 mm (fig. 1d-f). No. 1326B, length 7, breadth 3, height 3 mm (fig. 1a-c). No. 1327B, length 3, breadth slightly over 1, height 1 mm (fig. 1j, k). All specimens on Calcinus latens (Randall), from the reef W. of Sorido, Biak Island, January and February, 1955. Moreover, the following specimens, dealt with in previous publications, were available. Ati Ati Onin, New Guinea, reef (Siboga Expedition, Sta. 169), 1 specimen on Calcinus gaimardi (H. Milne Edwards), length 11 mm, breadth 3 1/2 mm (Van Kampen & Boschma, 1925; Boschma, 1931b). Pasih Ipah, Sula Islands, shore, Snellius Expedition, 3 specimens on Calcinus latens (Randall), one sectioned, length 6 mm (Van Baal, 1937). Wotap, Tenimber Islands, shore, Snellius Expedition, 1 specimen on Calcinus latens


This report describes mandatory spending, its composition and growth over time, and possible mandatory spending in coming decades, as well as relevant policy options.


Purpose:The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of -wave music and art appreciation on hand function in stroke with hemiplegia. Methods:A total of 32 stroke with hemiplegia participated in this study experimental group(16 subjects) received -wave music and art appreciation with general neurologic therapy. Control group(16 subjects) received general neurologic therapy. All subjects were assessed for hand function(manual dexterity, power grip, pinch grip, two point discrimination(parm, finger), tactile sense(parm, finger) using a purdue pegboard, dynamometer, pinch gauge, two-point anethesiometer and semmes-weinstein monofilament wire. The data were analyzed using paired and independent t-test. Results:The results were as follows : 1. In the experimental group, manual dexterity were significantly increased between pre and post intervention(p-wave music and art appreciation affect the hand function of hemiplegic side with regard to manual dexterity and tactile sense.


In materials that are subject to environmental reactions, one way to increase durability is to decrease the chemical interdiffusion rate. In metal systems, mass transport by diffusion is enhanced – if any change – with finer grained microstructures, because of the greater number of high diffusion interface and boundary paths. In non-metals, increased transport is not necessarily the case, as other mechanisms may control the overall diffusivity. C. Wagner [1] showed the theoretical basis of transport in certain nanocomposite cases based on space charge layers at interfaces. In an oxide-in-oxide nanocomposite, one can use the tools of bulk analysis to study the near-interface effects on transport. The immiscible pair, TiO 2 -SiO 2 , was used as a model system. Nanophase powders (50 and 200 m 2 /g, respectively) from flame hydrolysis were dispersed with high shear, then freeze-dried and hot-pressed to near theoretical density. Transmission electron microscopy was used to show 2 diffusivity for bars of about 10 times different square cross-section areas confirmed the interpretation of the conductance rate changes to be the result of bulk interdiffusion. The interdiffusion rate in the nanoscale dispersoid composites was more than 5 times lower than for same SiO 2 -fraction composites after coarsening which were like TiO 2 with no second-phase. Results are in qualitative agreement with models for impurity segregation to interfaces and for space charge layers near the dispersed nanoparticles.


This paper attempts to explain how a normally consolidated lakebed sediment can have an undrained strength ratio of approximately unity, when the lithic component of the sediment is less than 3% by...


The Regulation of Ministry of Education and Culture No. 23 of 2017 concerning School Day resulted in a tremendous wave of protest. The public takes part in different sides, the pro and the contra. This research uses a hermeneutical paradigm with causal historical analysis. The results of the study show that the refusal among the pesantren community is based on a robust doctrine of the fiqh rules as a form of orthodoxy and adherence to the values taught by the pesantren. Second, the government is playing with language on its policy. In the context of full-day school regulation, the government still uses euphemism as a strategy of education political ethic. Third, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) has a very central role in rejecting the five-day school policy.


Mobile ad hoc Network (MANET) consists of a group of mobile nodes and the communication among them is done without any supporting centralised structure. Routing in MANETs is a difficult because of their dynamic features such as high mobility, constrained bandwidth and link failures due to energy loss. The objective of this work is to implement an intelligent routing protocol by selecting efficient nodes for routing the information. To provide good throughput in the network, Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO) based enhanced energy-efficient intelligent routing is proposed. Selecting the best intermediate hop for intelligent routing includes ACO technique which greatly reduces the network delay and link failures by validating the coordinator nodes. Coordinator nodes are picked by validating their metrics and Best Coordinator Nodes (BCN) are selected among them as good intermediate hops for intelligent routing. The performance is evaluated for the proposed protocol and the metrics considered for evaluation are delivery and loss rate of sent data, throughput and lifetime of the network, delay and energy consumption.


This paper aims to provide an analysis of the profitability of audit firms in the Republic of Serbia during the period 2016-2018. The analysis is based on the data collected from the financial statements from all audit firms registered in the Republic of Serbia. The profitability analysis includes two goals. This paper will primarily provide a descriptive statistical analysis of the profitability of audit firms measured by return on assets and net income per employee. The following part of the research will answer the question of which factors have a significant impact on the profitability of audit firms. Profitability as a dependent variable is defined as return on assets and net income per employee, while independent variables include market share, current ratio, leverage, size, affiliation to the international network, etc. To answer this question, a regression statistics analysis will be conducted. The research result will indicate which factor can improve the performances of audit firms.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.


A few years ago, Grimmett, Kesten and Zhang proved that for supercritical bond percolation on Z 3 , simple random walk on the infinite cluster is a.s. transient. We generalize this result to a class of wedges in Z 3 including, for any ε ∈ (cid:2) 0 (cid:2) 1 (cid:3) , the wedge (cid:1) ε = (cid:5)(cid:2) x(cid:2)y(cid:2)z (cid:3) ∈ Z 3 (cid:6) x ≥ 0 (cid:2) (cid:8) z (cid:8) ≤ x ε (cid:10) which can be thought of as representing a (cid:2) 2 + ε (cid:3) -dimensional lattice. Our proof builds on recent work of Benjamini, Pemantle and Peres, and involves the construction of finite-energy flows using nearest-neighbor walks on Z with low predictability profile. Along the way, we obtain some new results on attainable decay rates for predictability profiles of nearest-neighbor walks.


In this paper, we suggest a multiple-collision trapdoor hash family under both integer factoring and discrete logarithm problems, and we present their security proofs. In multiple-collision trapdoor hash family, exposing multiple collisions of similar hash functions will not disclose the private key of trapdoor hash value. In the proposed multiple-collision trapdoor hash family, a pair of secret keys is employed for generating digital signature. Under the suggested trapdoor hash family, we present competitive online and off-line signature schemes that can considerably enhance the efficiency of online and off-line signature schemes. Moreover, in the proposed signature scheme, a trapdoor hash function can be employed for signing multiple documents. When a signer embraces this approach in the public-key digital certificate, there is no need to include an ordinary digital signature scheme to sign the hash function in the off-line part. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Orange wastage through postharvest losses has contributed to food scarcity, economic loss and massive importation of food items in Nigeria. The research was mainly carried out to investigate the determinants of orange postharvest losses among orange farmers in Konshisha Local Government of Benue State, North Central geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Primary data was collected from the orange farmers using structured questionnaires and key informant interviews. Descriptive statistics and Ordinal Regression model were used to analyse the data collected. The quantity lost was perceived at six (6) categories. The results revealed that most (63.7%) of the farmers were above 34 years of age. Also the majority (95.1%) were male, while 55.3% of the respondents' farm size was relatively large with 200 and above stands of orange. The farmers' literacy level was 73.6%. Those that belonged to farmers groups were 39.5. Further results established the use of probit link function in the ordinal regression modelling and that the significant factors affecting orange postharvest losses in the area are farmer's lack of education and farmers not belonging to any association or group. The only significant covariate with the postharvest loss quantity of orange is farm size. The test of parallel lines established that, the location parameters (slope coefficients) are the same across response categories.


As an initial and boundary conditions,the particle injection procedure strongly affects the overall accuracy of PIC(Particle-In-Cell)computation in three-dimensional fully electromagnetic simulations for high power microwave sources,where the random numbers are used unpredictable,which make it difficult to parallelize it.This paper investigates how the random numbers are used in this procedure,and finds it need share some random numbers from a single random number generator while distributing others on parallel computer.Which random numbers will be shared is unknown before the application runs.We provide a parallel randomized algorithm for particle injection to satisfy the requirements of sharing and distributing characteristic.Running the application using the parallel algorithm on hundreds of processors,the particle phase-space result agrees very well with the result of the serial program.


Some of the headings included in a monthly newsletter from the World Bank office in Kosovo are as follows: World Bank disburses €3 million to the deposit insurance fund; Kosovo most active in improving business climate in Southeastern Europe; and model school in Pristina sets standards for teaching and learning.


Take the mechanical properties of water pressure blasting experiment of FRP composite container,the acoustic emission signal of FRP composite material container in compression injury and in the process of blasting was collected by the acoustic emission testing technology. Wavelet packet is used to extract features of acoustic emission signal collected,feature vectors of the first eight frequency bands as wavelet neural network input samples. According to the sample library data to predict and validate the failure process of composite material container.


Not since the earliest days of the United States, during the time of James Madison's and Thomas Jefferson's fight for religious liberty in Virginia, has the intersection of politics, law and religion been so significant a question of American public policy. During the 2008 campaign, numerous presidential candidates touted their religious convictions as a core aspect of their appeals to voters. Mike Huckabee, a preacher turned politician, employed direct overtures to evangelical believers; Mitt Romney, a Mormon, was asked pointedly how his unique religion would influence the way he would govern. Barack Obama rejected the secular model of politics and made extensive appeals to his own Christian faith in winning the presidency. It appears religious viewpoints will play an increasing role in the general electorate's consideration of many of the major political issues of the day, from gay marriage and school prayer to school vouchers and abortion regulations, for many years to come.


It is a common experience that the manifestations nervous disease may comprise both loss of function and some positive outburst of excessive activity. Thus, in many cases of hemiplegia, the paralysed limbs tend to be more or less rigid and the reflexes are greatly increased. This spasticity, although due to a destructive lesion, was attributed to "irritation"; the morbid agent, or the conditions it produced in the nervous system, were supposed to have an "irritative" effect upon the tissues, and this was expressed in the positive signs and symptoms. But more than fifty years ago, Hughlings Jackson [11] laid down the rule that destructive lesions never cause positive effects, but induce a negative condition, which permits positive symptoms to appear. This he applied to all morbid expressions of nervous activity; but his most striking instance was the motor condition in organic hemiplegia. He showed that it depended on two factors. First, there was loss of voluntary power, especially in the fingers, the parts most directly under cortical control; this was the negative effect of the lesion. Secondly, the positive symptoms consisted of that massive overaction spoken of as "spasticity," the result of the unrestrained energy of lowere centres. It was not due, as was commonly supposed, to "irritation," but to release of such centres from the control normally exercised over them by those on a higher functional level.


ABSTRACT The minute litter bug genus Corixidea Reuter, 1891 currently comprises nine valid American species. Herein, we describe Corixidea quaresmai sp. nov. from one of the last remaining remnants of Atlantic Forest in northeast Brazil. The new species is characterized by the distal extension of the anophoric process parallel and close to the left lateral margin of the tergites, and the elongated process of tergum 8, with a pectinate distal half and a filiform tip. We provide diagnosis, images of habitus and male genitalia.


A Hamiltonian which represents the interaction between a single Cooper-pair box and two quantized electromagnetic fields is considered in order to find new ways for quantum information. The wave function in Schrdinger picture is obtained. The evolution of the entropy of the box as a function of the scaled time is ploted to measure the entanglement between the box and the fields. It is found that the entanglement is sensitive to the detuning between the Josephson energy and the fields frequency, increasing the detuning can decrease the entanglement.


JBD57 is a nucleoside/nucleotide analogue that in human cells causes depletion of mitochondrial DNA by disrupting oxidative phosphorylation pathways leading to toxic accumulation of nonesterified fatty acids, dicarboxylic acids and free radicals. Human 26S proteasome is also a target for JBD57. Here we evaluated JBD57 citotoxicity in several human tumor cell lines in vitro. Human MM cell line RPMI 8226/S (CCL-155), human T-cell lymphoblastic-like (Jurkat) and human T-cell leukemia (1301) were grown in RPMI 1640 medium; uterine sarcoma (MES-S (CRL-1976) cells were grown in McCoy medium; HUV-EC-C (CRL-1730) cells were grown in 199/EBSS medium. Media were supplemented with 10 % FBS. Cells were incubated at 37°C in a water-jacketed incubator with 5 % CO2. To evaluate JBD57 citotoxicity in RPMI 8226/S, MES-S, Jurkat, 1301 and HUV-EC-C cells, 104cells/well were grown in flat-bottomed 96-well tissue culture plates for 24, 48 and 72 hr; JBD57 was added to the media in several concentrations (0μM, 32.25μM, 62.5μM, 125μM, 250μM and 500μM). At the end of the experimental periods, cell viability was determined by the MTT method. JBD57 inhibited the growth of MM cell line RPMI 8226/S in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Cell viability decreased progressively with increasing concentrations of JBD57 as well as with increasing time periods. The IC50 (inhibitory concentration at 50%) was 125 μM at 72 hr. The viability of the MM cells after 72 hr incubation with JBD57 500μM was 33%, whereas 100% viability was observed when no drug was added. On the other hand, JBD57 did not affect cell viability of any of the other studied cell lines (uterine sarcoma, Jurkat, 1301 and HUVEC-C). JBD57 promotes a significant human MM cell death in a dose and time dependent manner but do not affect neither normal cell HUV-EC-C nor the tumoral cells MES-S, Jurkat and 1301, at least in the studied conditions. These results suggest that the potent antitumoral activity of JBD57 observed against MM cells could be potentially useful in the treatment of multiple myeloma.


Padina minor had a good ability to bind and accumulate arsenic (As). This research aimed to observe the As accumulation and detoxification time, also the antioxidant defense activities. Each gram of P. minor was culture in various As contaminate media for 7 days, then reculture in As-free media for 14 days. There was an acute effect on thali by decreasing its growth slowly till final day with small amount accumulation at concentration 25 µg iAs g -1 . Meanwhile, direct attenuation impact was due at 50 and 100 µg iAs g -1 with massive accumulation. The thali starts to recover after reculture in health environment for 14 days. Only As 5+ was detected on the thali at day 7 and 21 were indicates internal oxidation of As 3+ was done before 7 days. Various antioxidant activities such as decreasing polysaccharide and increasing activities of DPPH and flavonoid at high level were observed. Those indicated that 50 µg iAs g -1 was optimum iAs level on P. minor . The results indicate that P. minor has ability to oxidase and methylate with antioxidant role as defensive activities against iAs, but it also needs more than 14 days to recover in high level contamination.


Humans are mainly different from each other. Their demands are not equal and their values, norms and beliefs are also different from each other. Therefore, we should look at the people around us such that everyone has some shortcomings like us and if others are important for us, we should try to remove and correct their shortcomings. An organization or a company is not excluded from this rule because tranquility, security, intimacy and unity will be certainly of the most important factors of success in each organization or a company. Motivation is one of the main subjects and concepts in human capital management and many works and writings about it have been introduced by different scientists. Theorists regard effective management of human resources as the key to organizational success and role of human has been considered as critical and strategic factor of organization despite rapid movement of organizations toward technology. For this reason, it is of special importance to secure consent of personnel and make them more interested in the job and fulfill organizational goals.


Abstract CERTAIN physical and sensory changes in dark and light meat from boneless turkey roasts were reported by Wilkinson and Dawson (1967). When cooked to temperatures from 60 to 88°C, light meat was more tender but less juicy than dark meat. Shear force for light meat also appeared to be adversely affected at the two extremes in temperature. Marion and Forsythe (1962) reported no changes in amino, TCA soluble, protein and total soluble nitrogen in pectoralis superficialis and biceps femoris muscles from turkeys during rigor; however, all values were higher in pectoralis superficialis than biceps femoris. Non-protein nitrogen in beef steaks was found to decrease 4 to 30 fold during cooking to 150°F. (65°C.) by Ginger et al. (1954). Husaini et al. (1950) reported that connective tissue in beef muscle, as represented by alkali insoluble protein, was related to tenderness; however, Wierbicki et al. (1954) reported that connective tissue did not . . .


The reaction of the saturated polyaza macrocyclic nickel(II) complex [NiL1][ClO4]2(L1= C-meso-3,14-dimethyl-2,6,13,17-tetraazatricyclo[16.4.0.07.12] docosane) with concentrated HNO3 in water–methanol (1 : 1) solution yielded the low-spin nickel(III) complex [NiL1(NO3)2]ClO4. The latter is further oxidized in the presence of the acid to produce the diimine complex [NiL2]2+(L2= 3,14-dimethyl-2,6,13,17-tetraazatricyclo-[16.4.0.07.12]docosa-2,13-diene). The monoimine complex [NiL3][ClO4]2(L3= C-meso-3,14-dimethyl-2,6,13,17-tetraazatricyclo[16.4.0.07.12] docos-5-ene) can also be prepared by the oxidative dehydrogenation reaction of [NiL1]2+ with HNO3 in water–acetonitrile (1 : 1) solution. The square-planar nickel(II) complexes of L2 and L3 were characterized. The crystal structure of [NiL3][ClO4]2 shows that the complex has a somewhat distorted square-planar geometry.


W e presentthe stellarcalibratorsam ple and the conversion from instrum entalto physicalunitsfor the24 (cid:22) m channeloftheM ultiband Im aging Photom eterfor Spitzer (M IPS).Theprim ary calibrators areA stars,and thecalibration factorbased on thosestarsis4 : 54 (cid:2) 10 (cid:0) 2 M Jy sr (cid:0) 1 (D N/s) (cid:0) 1 ,with a nom inaluncertainty of2% .W ediscussthedata-reduction proceduresrequired to attain thisaccuracy; withoutthese procdures,the calibration factorobtained using the autom ated pipeline atthe Spitzer ScienceCenteris1.6% (cid:6) 0.6% lower.W eextend thiswork to predict24 (cid:22) m (cid:13) ux densitiesfora sam ple of238 starswhich coversa largerrangeof(cid:13) ux densitiesand spectraltypes.W epresenta totalof348 m easurem entsof141 starsat24 (cid:22) m .Thissam plecoversa factorof (cid:24) 460 in 24 (cid:22) m (cid:13) ux density,from 8.6 m Jy up to 4.0 Jy. W e show that the calibration is linear overthat range with respect to target (cid:13) ux and background level.Thecalibration isbased on observationsm adeusing 3-second exposures;a prelim inary analysisshowsthatthe calibration factorm ay be1% and 2% lowerfor10-and 30-second exposures,respectively. W e also dem onstrate that the calibration is very stable: over the course of the m ission,repeated m easurem entsofourroutine calibrator,HD 159330,show a root-m ean-square scatter ofonly 0.4% . Finally,we show that the point spread function (PSF) is wellm easured and allows us to calibrate extended sources accurately;Infrared Astronom y Satellite (IRAS) and M IPS m easurem entsofa sam ple ofnearby galaxiesare identicalwithin the uncertainties.


Samples of δ-Si doped AlGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs HEMT heterostructures with GaAs quantum rings (QRs) on top of the quantum well (QW) were grown by molecular beam epitaxy and their properties were compared to the reference samples without QRs. The thickness of the QW was 6 – 10 nm for the samples with QRs and 20 nm for the reference samples. Photoluminescence measurements at low temperatures for all samples show at least two distinct lines in addition to the bulk GaAs line. The Hall effect and low temperature magnetotransport measurements at 4 – 320 K show that conductivity with and without illumination decreases significantly with QRs introduction, however the relative photoconductivity increases. Samples with 6 nm QW are insulating, which could be caused by the strong localization of the charge carriers in the QRs.


The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois, is planning significant layoffs to its world-class faculty in a cost-cutting move that threatens to erode its international reputation. The news has shaken the Field Museum9s scientists, and left researchers at other museums puzzled and dismayed.


Abstract : The recruitment branch and the political information branch of the German Armed Forces have always been separated. Now, in times of a continuously shrinking budget and several ongoing reforms that include a massive reduction of the personnel body, we must rethink this structure. Merging these two branches would mean savings on the budget. Furthermore, we can assign the released personnel to other tasks, where the forces are in need of highly trained personnel. This cost-benefit analysis evaluates the status quo exclusively for one German state, compares this status quo to possible alternatives, and gives recommendations for the future of the two branches. For the optimal distribution of staff and offices, this analysis employs optimization modeling. We apply the resulting recruiting model to Saudi Arabia and assess the results based on that. Saudi Arabia is interested in potentially adopting the German system and we use the developed model to recommend the best recruiting locations in Saudi Arabia.


Neuroepithelial bodies (NEBs) serve a niche for lung stem cells and proliferate in a variety of pulmonary diseases. We hypothesize that NEBs play an important role in lung injury repair processes, such as during pulmonary fibrosis. To test this hypothesis, we examined NEBs in a bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis eywords: ouse euroepithelial body ulmonary fibrosis mouse model. We divided FVB/NJ mice into bleomycin-treated (BL) and normal saline-treated (NS) groups. Two weeks after intravenous treatment, we immune-stained NEBs with anti-calcitonin generelated peptide (CGRP) in whole mount preparations and found that the number of NEBs per unit area of airway almost tripled in the BL group (1.11 ± 0.28 number/mm2; n = 5) compared with the NS group (0.32 ± 0.14 number/mm2; n = 4, p = 0.001). The size of NEBs increased significantly in the BL group. Our findings support that NEBs play an important role in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis.


Dr Miko explains his rather grandiose title in his preface: fascinated, as he says, by 'Birkin's paradoxical role as an intellectual preaching anti-intellectualism' he felt the need to investigate what he saw as the development of this paradox in the earlier novels. Along the way he includes, appositely enough, an analysis of the Study of Thomas Hardy and The Crown, the latter work preparing the way for Women in Love to the extent that here Lawrence 'places both his creative and his destructive forces in a world of flux and


The US program for development of an advanced liquid metal reactor (ALMR) is discussed. The PRISM reactor concept originated by General Electric, in conjunction with the metal fuel cycle under development by Argonne National Laboratory, has been selected as the reference concept for the ALMR. The design emphasizes passive safety features, modular construction, factory fabrication, capability (when needed) to breed substantially more fissionable material than it consumes, recycle and burning of actinides to reduce the storage time requirements for long-life, high-level radioactive wastes, and testing of a full-size reactor prototype for design certification and licensing. The plant design is described, and shutdown heat removal, reactivity control and shutdown, fuel cycle and waste management, and economics are discussed.<<ETX>>


INTRODUCTION The English East India Company has long sat at the center of debates on the relative virtues of monopoly forms of organization and free trade. The Company figures prominently in the work of Supporters of the Company argued that monopoly rights were necessary to create and maintain the expensive infrastructure that made long-distance trade with Asia both possible and profitable. Free trade advocates attacked the Company as a boundary to the expansion of commerce. Arguments over the efficacy of the Company's monopoly continue to this day (Car-These debates have largely glossed over the fact that the Company was never a true monopoly. The English Company had monopoly rights in England, but had always competed against other European organizations in Asia— and happily traded with them. 1 The Company was known as a monopoly because it had exclusive rights to the East Indies overseas trade in England. However, all the East India Company's respective governments granted that privilege. The European companies competed both in Asia and in the European re-export market. The companies were attempting to capture a market long dominated by numerous, successful, and well-provisioned Asian merchants, better versed in the vagaries of their local trade. In England itself, the East India Company faced competition from the Levant Company, which held a charter awarding exclusive privileges to the overland trade of Asia. Even within its own purview, the Company ceded several of its monopoly privileges to its own employees. These employees engaged in what was called the private trade, trade upon their own account and in their own interest, while in the employ of the Company. The private trade allowances both contributed to and were a part of a larger pattern of decentralized decision making in the English Company. This book investigates No part of this book may be distributed, posted, or reproduced in any form by digital or mechanical means without prior written permission of the publisher. 2 CHAPTER 1 how organizational decentralization and the intertwining of private and Company interests aboard the voyages of the East Indiamen ships both encouraged exploration of new market opportunities and created a powerful internal network of communication that effectively integrated Company operations across the East. Monopoly rights were not the key to Company success; it was the partial abrogation of those rights that sustained Eng-land's commercial success in Asia. Some idea of the importance of the private trade has been apparent …


This research aimed toinvestigate the relationship between intellectual capital elements (human capital, customer capital and structural capital) and future performance of the listed companieson Tehran Stack Exchange. The Pulic Model was used for the intellectual capital and the EVA, P/E, Q, GR and ROA for the performance of the companies. Data required for calculating VAIC were collected from the annual reports of 111companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange during the years 2007-2012. The statistical test used for data analysis was liner multiple regressions. Eviews6 software was used for test the hypotheses. The results of this study confirmed that there is a significant relationship between intellectual capital and two of thefinancial performance indexes, namely P/E and GR. But no relationship was observed between intellectual capital and Tobin Q index of financial performance. Keyword: Intellectual capital (IC), VAICTM, financial performance, Tehran stock exchange.


Amorphous-crystalline transition in thick (0.2 mm) and thin (0.05 mm) melt spun ribbons, as well as cast O3 mm rods of Zr 40 Ti 10 Cu 50 bulk metallic glass was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction and microhardness tests. According to DSC data at continuous heating, glass transition at T g =380-390 °C was found for as-quenched thin ribbons and for pre-annealed thick samples as well. The interval of devitrification (T g -T k ) appeared to be about 30-40 °C. All samples show also two large exothermal peaks at T p (1)=433 and T p (2)=504 °C with activation energy E a (1)=516 and E a (2)=32 kJ/mol, respectively. After long time isothermal annealing at 380-420 °C, the magnitude of the first exothermal peak at subsequent DSC run decreased as increasing of annealing temperature, but no crystalline phase was found by X-ray diffraction. After long time annealing above 420 °C, the magnitude of the second exothermal peak diminished the same manner. It was accompanied by formation of Laves phase nanocrystals (MgCu 2 type, a=0.736 nm or its polytypes with crystallite size of about 15 ± 5 nm). Microhardness of annealed samples increased from 550 up to 780 MPa as annealing temperature increasing from 380 up to 500 °C. The possibility of formation of an only crystalline phase as a result of two stage crystallization of metallic glass via solid state syntactic reaction is discussed.


In consideration of actual situations of inadequate formation pore fluid pressure data, which is used frequently in research in Qaidam basin, prediction of formation pressure is carried out in Tertiary strata in the west of the basin, og which the strata are divided into normal compacted zone and uncompacted zone on the basis of sonic logging data Pore fluid pressure in some of the wells is predicted with regression method by using the principle of equilibrium depth and calculating with different mathematical models The models for predicting formation pressure in the region are summarized in different area The result of contrast with known predicting data shows that the effect of prediction is fine


Light-field (LF) imaging has various advantages over the traditional 2D photography, providing angular information of the real world scene by separately recording light rays in different directions. Despite the directional light information which enables new capabilities such as depth estimation, post-capture refocusing, and 3D modelling, currently available light-field datasets are very restricted in terms of spatialresolution and dynamic range. We address this problem by capturing a novel light-field dataset featuring both a high spatial resolution and a high dynamic range (HDR). This dataset should enable the community to research and develop efficient reconstruction and tone-mapping algorithms for a hyper-realistic visual experience. The dataset consists of six static light-fields that are captured by a high-quality digital camera mounted on two precise linear axes using exposure bracketing at each view point.


Behaviour of the pile–soil interface is important to correctly predict the response of floating piles in terms of displacement and lateral friction. Regarding energy piles, which couple the structu...


Abstract We study how model uncertainty affects the understanding of the interest rate persistence using a generalized Taylor-rule function covering numerous submodels via model average approach. The data-driven weights can be regarded as a measure of power-sharing across monetary policy committee members. We show that the model uncertainty is important in Canada, France, and Sweden, and the implied weights indicate that the U.K. and the U.S. have a lower model uncertainty caused either by an over-influential chairman or the consistent agreement of committee members. The importance of model uncertainty can be emphasized by sequential estimation during the 2008 financial crisis.


In implementation of sustainable development strategy,the decision of mineral deposit exploitation has been turned from the single object optimization used in the past into the multiple one. In this paper,by use of the method of object planning and according to the requirements of sustainable development of mining industry,the multiple planning model of mineral deposit to be mined is established,and the method of model solution is presented.


The dishing and the erosion were evaluated on the tungsten CMP process with conventional and new developed slurry. The tungsten thin film was polished by orbital polishing equipment. Commercial pattern wafer was used for the evaluation. Both slurries were pre tested on the oxide region on the wafer surface and the removal rate was not different very much. At the pattern density examination, the erosion performance was increased at all processing condition due to the reduction of thickness loss in new slurry. However, the dishing thickness was not remarkably changed at high pattern density despite of the improvement at low pattern density. At the large pad area, the reduction of dishing thickness was clearly found at new tungsten slurry.ᘍ㤀܀〰ㄮ㘴㬅K䍄乍


Contrary to the position of Raymond Suttner (2006) who expressed doubt on democratic consolidation under a dominant party system due to absence of competitive democracy, it can be observed that the absence of competitive democracy in Botswana strengthens the consolidation of democratic institutions including the anti-corruption agency, necessitated by an unfettered history of political stability in the country. Yet, the dominant party system but competitive in democracies like Uganda and Nigeria have exhibited a long history of political instability, leading to the centralization of political power which affects the functionality of the anti-corruption agencies in such areas such as financial autonomy. In Nigeria, though popular perceptions of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) indicate its viability, the dominance of the executive and its control of the establishment and finance of the anti-corruption agency set back the agency's performance. In this paper, the consolidation and deconsolidation of anti-corruption agencies in the three countries are analysed with the objective of understanding the role of absence or otherwise of competitive democracy and the impact of political stability or instability in the agencies' performance. Towards this end, the study adopts three strands of the theory of institutionalism: the rational institutionalism, normative institutionalism and historical institutionalism.


As we aim to accomplish desirable goals, challenges, and hurdles are omnipresent. These point to a discrepancy between current and hoped-for states, produce negative emotions and are aversive. Regret relates to one such discrepancy. Developmental theories postulate that opportunity to overcome these effects is plentiful in young adulthood. The main aim of this dissertation was to ascertain the emotional and motivational processes inherent in the regret experience across time in young adults. An additional focus lay in understanding the benefits of continued engagement in overcoming regret, despite pessimism in one's odds. Finally, these analyses were replicated in an older adult sample to assess their specificity to young adulthood.
Study 1 assessed the associations between intense negative emotions, regret engagement, implementation intentions, progress, and well-being measures over time among 121 young adults. Results indicated that regret intensity predicted increases in well-being and reduced intensity over time, through increases in regret-related progress. Additionally, increased engagement at onset and increased in implementation intentions over time mediated the increases in regret progress. This illustrates that emotional intensity can positively affect regret-related progress, and thereby well-being and distress over time, through its motivational effects.
Study 2 followed 121 pessimistic young adults to assess the benefits of continued regret engagement, despite reservations. Results showed that pessimistic participants who continued engaging in their regret displayed well-being improvements, which were mediated by improvements in their outcome expectancies over time. This points to the importance of continued pursuit in overcoming regret on well-being in pessimistic young adults.
Study 3 replicated these analyses in an older adult sample of 136 community dwelling recent retirees. Results showed that the experience of regret intensity was linked with increased intensity over time, but not with other variables. Additionally, pessimistic older adults who continued to engage in overcoming their regrets did not display expectancy or well-being improvements over time. This suggests that regret-related benefits are specific to young adulthood.
This research contributes to the literature on adaptive development across the lifespan. Findings on differing adaptive responses to the regret experience are explained with the use of developmental and motivational theories.


Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common in hospitalized and critically ill children. Apart from primary kidney disease, etiologies of AKI are usually related to systemic disease and nephrotoxic insult. This study examines the incidence, characteristics, and mortality risks of AKI in critically ill children without primary renal disease or previously known chronic kidney disease.


Grid Computing has already attained an established status and a future for everyone to venture into. Optimization of Grid resources at such a time requires a serious attention. Grid is a dynamic environment in which the type of resources and their locations are not known till the time of dispatch of a particular job. Hence finding the optimal resource suitable for the job is the most important activity in a Grid network. In this paper we model the resource optimization problem in Grid Computing as Multi-Objective Optimization problem. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is used to search the problem domain for feasible solutions. An algorithm named Functional Code Sieve is developed to obtain non-dominated solutions for the multi-objective problem and optimize and search the best Grid resources.


An experimental program was undertaken to investigate the effectiveness of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates as f lexural reinforcement of glued laminated timber (glulam) beams. Beams with and without reinforcement were tested up to failure in a four-point bending configuration. A comparison between the f lexural behaviuor of control unreinforced beams with reinforced beams is shown and discussed. The results demonstrated increase in strength, stiffness and ductility when CFRP plate is bonded at tension side of cross section. Research findings indicated that the use of proposed reinforcing solution improves utilization of the compression characteristics of timber. Based on the experimental observations, a theoretical model is developed to predict the ultimate moment capacity and bending stiffness of CFRP-reinforced glulam beams.


This study debates on Patrol Division System of community policing activity in Korea. Recently, It has been discussed that community policing is considered as an important social issue. The police box has caused inefficiency problems since the end of the Japanese colonialism. Accordingly, Korean National Police Agency has introduced new Patrol Division System combining 3-5 police boxes into one patrol division to enhance efficiency and to put in positive community policing since August, 2003. The aim of this study is to analyze the current operation Patrol Division System in Korean National Police. Also it suggests desirable alternatives on activating the operation of Patrol Division System.


1. Miligkos M, Papamichael K, Vande Casteele N, et al. Efficacy and safety profile of anti-tumor necrosis factor-a versus anti-integrin agents for the treatment of Crohn's disease: a network meta-analysis of indirect comparisons. Clin Ther. 2016;38:1342-1358. 2. Papamichael K, Cheifetz AS. Use of anti-TNF drug levels to optimise patient management. Frontline Gastroenterol. 2016;7:289-300. 3. Papamichael K, Cheifetz AS. Therapeutic drug monitoring in IBD: the new standard-of-care for anti-TNF therapy. Am J Gastroenterol. 2017;112:673-676. 4. Vande Casteele N, Feagan BG, Vermeire S, et al. Exposure-response relationship of Certolizumab pegol induction and maintenance therapy in patients with Crohn's disease. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2018;47:229-237. 5. Vande Casteele N, Mould DR, Coarse J, et al. Accounting for pharmacokinetic variability of certolizumab pegol in patients with Crohn's disease. Clin Pharmacokinet. 2017. doi: 10.1007/s40262-017-0535-3 [Epub ahead of print]. 6. Cornillie F, Hanauer SB, Diamond RH, et al. Postinduction serum infliximab trough level and decrease of C-reactive protein level are associated with durable sustained response to infliximab: a retrospective analysis of the ACCENT I trial. Gut. 2014;63:17211727. 7. Singh N, Rosenthal CJ, Melmed GY, et al. Early infliximab trough levels are associated with persistent remission in pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2014;20:17081713. 8. Vande Casteele N, Gils A, Singh S, et al. Antibody response to infliximab and its impact on pharmacokinetics can be transient. Am J Gastroenterol. 2013;108:962-971. 9. Arias MT, Vande Casteele N, Vermeire S, et al. A panel to predict long-term outcome of infliximab therapy for patients with ulcerative colitis. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2015;13:531-538. 10. Baert F, Vande Casteele N, Tops S, et al. Prior response to infliximab and early serum drug concentrations predict effects of adalimumab in ulcerative colitis. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2014;40: 1324-1332.


Using the concept of fuzzy spaces,we redefine semi-ring and fuzzy semi-subring and give theorems of them. This is an espansiveness of ordinary fuzzy semi-ring.


NTUITIVELY, the changes in homeostatic mechanisms induced by general anesthetics can be likened to the alterations caused by sleep. Both affect circulatory dynamics, hormonal levels, and neuronal output. Since, to paraphrase a Latin adage, "all roads lead to the kidney," it is not surprising to find changes in renal function during sleep and general anesthesia. These changes are often parallel despite some disparities in the mechanisms leading to them. A major component of the renal changes is due to the extrarenal effects of sleep and anesthetics. The latter, however, have in addition, direct renal effects that are not readily evident in the ma:ze of interacting extrarenal effector mechanisms. These direct effects, often contrary to the overall change in renal function, can be disclosed only when studied with isolated renal preparations or with analogues of renal tubules. In this article, I will review the effects of general anesthetics on transport mechanisms in vitro, and attempt to integrate those effects with extrarenal factors.


In order to evaluate the effectiveness of various mechanical and/or chemical treatments of woodlots on Amblyomma americanum (L.) populations, studies were initiated in Cherokee Co., Oklahoma during 1967 and continued through 1970. Six 0.45-ha plots were replicated 3 times and received one of the following treatments: (1) mechanical clearing of all undergrowth and enough of the larger vegetation to allow 70–80% sunlight penetration, (2) mechanical clearing with the addition of an acaricide, (3) mechanical clearing with the addition of a herbicide, (4) application of an acaricide to existing vegetation, (5) application of a herbicide to existing vegetation, or (6) no treatment. Gardona® (2-chloro-1(2,4,5- trichlorophenyl) vinyl dimethyl phosphate) 75% wettable powder was used as the acaricide and applied at 1 kg toxicant per ha in the test plots. The herbicide used was 2,4,5-T, OS applied at the recommended rate. Larval populations of ticks Were more susceptable than nymphs or adults to the various treatments involving mechanical clearing or herbicidal application. All developmental stages could be effectively controlled through the use of Gardona. It would appear that modification of existing vegetation, when compatable with other area uses, could result in economical, long-term control of lone star ticks, especially if practiced on a fairly large scale.


The utility model provides a hank cage structure for transposed conductor processing, installation, maintenance difficulty and the high problem of maintenance cost of maintenance that current hank cage structure exists can be solved to it to can guarantee transmission precision. Its a plurality of groups hanks cage dish group that includes the coaxial coupling, hank cage dish group including two hank cages dishes with connect the pivot, two hank cage dish coaxial arrangement on connecting the pivot, the connection pivot coaxial coupling of adjacent two sets of hank cage dish group.


The invention provides a conductive pressure sensitive adhesive with high-component carbon series materials and a preparation method thereof. The carbon series materials in the conductive pressure sensitive adhesive are carbon black silver composite microspheres, oxidized graphene and graphite nanosheets, wherein the carbon black composite material is carbon black silver composite microspheres, and mass fraction of the carbon series materials is not lower than 50%. The preparation method comprises the following concrete steps: adding carbon black nanoparticles into silver ion precursor solution, adding alcohol phosphate and tributyl phosphate, uniformly mixing, adding methacrylic acid monomers, heating and carrying out ultrasonic stirring, filtering, and drying, so that the carbon black silver composite microspheres are obtained; adding the oxidized graphene and graphite nanosheets into butanone containing an organic dispersing agent to form solution A, dissolving polyacrylate into the butanone to form solution B, uniformly mixing the solution A with the solution B, finally adding the carbon black silver composite microspheres, carrying out mechanical stirring for 15-30 minutes, uniformly dispersing in ultrasonic wave, and removing the butanone, so that the conductive pressure sensitive adhesive with the high-component carbon series materials is obtained. The prepared pressure sensitive adhesive has the advantages that the content of the carbon series materials is high, the carbon series materials are uniformly distributed and conductivity is excellent.


Two new antimicrobial cytochalasin derivatives, 6β,7β‐epoxydeoxaphomin C (1) and 12‐hydroxydeoxaphomin C (2), a new natural occurring product 24‐nor‐cytochalasin B (3), together with two related known analogs (4–5) were isolated and identified from an endozoic fungus Curvularia verruculosa CS‐129, isolated from the deep‐sea squat lobster Shinkaia crosnieri which was collected in cold seep region of south China sea. The structures of new compounds were elucidated on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analysis and ECD calculation. The spectroscopic data of 24‐nor‐cytochalasin B (3) were reported for the first time. All compounds were tested for their antibacterial activities against human and aquatic pathogenic bacteria.


I. MOTION This section describes two types of models. The first performs simple motion measurement. The second integrates motion spatially to obtain a more global percept. . Motion perception is locally ambiguous as illustrated in figure (1). Short-range motion suffers from the aperture problem while long-range motion has the correspondence problem (long range motion will be covered in the next lecture). Prior models of plausible motion are required to resolve these ambiguities. We briefly describe the history of the slow-and-smooth prior to illustrate how justification has become more quantitative over time. Fig. 1. The aperture problem arises for short-range motion of contours (left) where only the component ~v · ~n of the velocity normal to the contour can be observed and the tangential component ~v ·~t is unknown. The correspondence problem arises for long-range motion because there are many ways to match the dots at time t with those at t+ 1. The human vision system typically prefers slow-and-smooth matching (center panel) although other matches are possible (right panel). The input to motion measurement is a set of images. Some of the earliest work was done by Reichardt et al. who developed a correlation model based on studies of the fly and beetle visual systems [?]. Later, mechanisms of directional selectivity were studied in vertebrate retina of the rabbit [?]. Some phenomena of human motion perception can be explained by modified versions of these early correlation or correlationlike models [?], [?], [?], [?],[?]. We describe the basis of these types of models in section (I-A). Early computational studies (Ullman [?]) showed that several perceptual phenomena of long-range motion could be described by a 'minimal mapping' theory that, in Bayesian terms, assumed a slowness prior. Subsequent work showed that smoothness priors accounted for findings on short-range motion (Hildreth [?]), including the surprising fact that an ellipse rotating in the image plane is perceived to move non-rigidly. Yuille and Grzywacz [?] showed that a slow-and-smooth prior could account for a large range of motion perceptual phenomena – including motion capture and motion cooperation – both for shortand long-range motion. Weiss and his collaborators showed that slow and slow-and-smooth priors (Weiss and Adelson [?], Weiss et al. [?]) could explain other short-range motion phenomena, such as how percepts can change dramatically as we alter the balance between the likelihood and prior terms (i.e. for some stimuli the prior dominates the likelihood and vice versa). These theories are discussed in section (I-C). A. Motion Measurement: Spatio-Temporal Filters Spatio-temporal filters are biologically plausible ways to measure motion which agree with properties of cells in the visual cortex. The standard model suggests two classes of cells where the first are spatiotemporal filters which are sensitive to the directions of motion while the second combine outputs of these filters to estimate the motion itself [?] (Grzywacz and Yuille, Simoncelli, Schrater et al. refs!!).


Identifying areas of forest loss is a fundamental aspect of sustainable forest management. Global Forest Change (GFC) datasets developed by Hansen et al. (in Science 342:850–853, 2013) are publicly available, but the accuracy of these datasets for small forest plots has not been assessed. We used a forest-wide polygon-based approach to assess the accuracy of using GFC data to identify areas of forest loss in an area containing numerous small forest plots. We evaluated the accuracy of detection of individual forest-loss polygons in the GFC dataset in terms of a "recall ratio", the ratio of the spatial overlap of a forest-loss polygon determined from the GFC dataset to the area of a corresponding reference forest-loss polygon, which we determined by visual interpretation of aerial photographs. We analyzed the structural relationships of recall ratio with area of forest loss, tree species, and slope of the forest terrain by using linear non-Gaussian acyclic modelling. We showed that only 11.1% of forest-loss polygons in the reference dataset were successfully identified in the GFC dataset. The inferred structure indicated that recall ratio had the strongest relationships with area of forest loss, forest tree species, and height of the forest canopy. Our results indicate the need for careful consideration of structural relationships when using GFC datasets to identify areas of forest loss in regions where there are small forest plots. Moreover, further studies are required to examine the structural relationships for accuracy of land-use classification in forested areas in various regions and with different forest characteristics.


Objective:To observe the effect of Naotong Capsule on the learning and memory abilities,and the synaptic plasticity in CA1 region of the hippocampus on vascular dementia(VD) rats.Methods:The vascular dementia models were established by modified Pulsinelli 4 vascular occlusions method(4VO).Morris water maze was used to test learning and memory abilities of rats.And the ultrastructure of synapses in CA1 region of the hippocampus was observed by transmission electron microscope.Results:Compare to the model group,the escape time was shortened and times of spanning the previous platform increased in Naotong Capsule large-dose and middle-dose treatment group(P0.05~P0.01).In model group,both presynaptic and postsynaptic membranes were not clear.Synaptic gaps become narrow.The length of synaptic interface shortened,the thickness of postsynaptic density decreased,and the synaptic vesicles appeared darkly or indistinctly.In sham-operation control group,the ultrastructure of synapse was normal.Naotong Capsule large-dose and middle-dose treatment group showed the similar situation as sham-operation control group.Conclusion:Naotong Capsule can improve learning and memory abilities of VD rats by decreasing synapses injury in CA1 region of the hippocampus.


Surface coated composite powders made by the mechanical powder modification system were prepared in order to investigate the basic sintering behavior of the composite powder, as well as the strengthening and function enhancement of the porous sintered materials made from the composite powder. The sintering behavior of fine alumina or fine titania coated alumina powder was examined. Alumina powder coated with fine alumina powder ground away from coarse alumina material powder surface during surface modification process was also examined. The results obtained were summarized as follows:(1) It was possible to coat the alumina mother powder surface with the fine powder of alumina or titania by the mechanical powder modification system.(2) It was possible to coat with fine alumina powders ground away from coarse alumina material powder surface during the surface modification process.(3) The sintered compacts made from surface coated composite powders show markedly high bend strength compared with that made from untreated powder. The strength of the compact made from alumina coated powder was double, and that made from titania coated powder was 8-fold that of the compact made from untreated material powder.(4) Porosity and pore size distribution hardly changed, even if the strength was improved by the modification of the powder.These results show that this method is effective for the fabrication of high-strength porous sintered compacts.


Aim: Carbapenems are one of the last resort drugs against drug-resistant organisms and carbapenem resistance (CR) is increasingly being reported. The present study evaluated the CR pattern in general Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a tertiary care hospital in India. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of data collected from May 2011 to January 2012 of 40 patients admitted in the general ICU with a stay of more than a week. The clinical and demographic data, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, need for mechanical ventilation, antibiotic sensitivity reports, and outcome were assessed. The results were statistically analyzed using Student′s t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test, Chi-square test, and Fisher′s exact test, where appropriate. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Acinetobacter baumanii was the most common organism in tracheal samples, Pseudomonas aeruginosa in blood samples and Escherichia coli in urine samples. CR in fresh episodes was seen maximally with Acinetobacter baumanii (79%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (70%). Meropenem resistance (MR) was more common than imipenem resistance in CR organisms. High sensitivity among CR organisms was observed to tigecycline and colistin, and among carbapenem sensitive organisms to tigecycline, piperacillin-tazobactam combination, and levofloxacin. CR was prevalent with age >50 years (P = 0.002), ICU stay of >15 days (P = 0.002), mechanical ventilation (P = 0.003), and ventilation >10 days (P = 0.008). Mortality was more common among mechanically ventilated patients (P = 0.002) and those with higher SOFA scores on admission (P = 0.012). Conclusion: Carbapenem resistance is high in microbiological cultures of ICU patients with a stay for over a week. Acinetobacter baumanii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were the most common CR organisms. MR was more common than imipenem resistance.


In this note, a upper bound for arctanx is obtained. We would point out that the numbers 80/3 and 256/π 2 are the best constants in Shafer-type inequality.


Measuring think tank influence is crucial to explain policy outcomes and to assess the action of think tank. This article therefore presents a new method for measuring this type of influence, drawing on quantitative text analysis. By comparing think tanks' policy position with the final policy output, one can assess the preference realization of think tanks in the decision-making process. The method is illustrated by a case regarding the influence of environment think tanks on Obama Government.


R. Saranya, MCA., M.Phil., Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, Dr. SNS Rajalakshmi College of Arts & Science, Coimbatore . M. Ragul, Department of Computer Science, Dr. SNS Rajalakshmi College of Arts & Science, Coimbatore .ABSTRACT The photos are shared through Social Media may influence in excess of one client's protection — e.g., photographs that portray numerous clients, remarks that say various clients, occasions in which different clients are welcomed, and so forth. Computational instruments that can blend the security inclinations of various clients into a solitary strategy for a thing can help take care of this issue. In any case, blending numerous clients' security inclinations isn't a simple errand, since protection inclinations may struggle, so strategies to determine clashes are required. In addition, these strategies need to consider how clients' would really achieve an understanding about an answer for the contention keeping in mind the end goal to propose arrangements that can be satisfactory by the majority of the clients influenced by the thing to be shared. The Modern methodologies are either excessively requesting or just think about settled methods for conglomerating security inclinations. In this paper, we propose the primary computational component to determine clashes for multi-party protection administration in Social Media that can adjust to various circumstances by demonstrating the concessions that clients make to achieve an answer for the contentions. We additionally present consequences of a client contemplate in which our proposed component outflanked other existing methodologies regarding how frequently each approach coordinated clients' conduct.


The article deals with the main results of the analysis of the initial period of the tractor production in Kharkov's Comintern Locomotive Plant in 1922-1925 years. It also examines details of the process of the production organization at the plant and the historical background to the choice of the German prototype for the first tractor of the Plant. The conclusion shows that the workers of Kharkov Locomotive Plant made a serious technical breakthrough because the development of the tractor production allowed them to completely rebuild and re-equip the Plant to release tractors needed for the country instead of low-margin (at that time) locomotives. That is, a completely new production was mastered under the most difficult conditions in a short time, which determined the further development of the Plant. Some of the data used in the article are archival documents, never published before.


Classical problem of the motion of two bodies under gravitational interaction will be analyzed and simulated in GeoGebra. The two-body problem will be reduced to the single-body problem in central force field. Solutions of the single-body problem will be mapped onto solutions of the two-body problem and their correspondence will be analyzed. Finally, simulation of the two-body problem in a moving frame will be shown.


The paper presents an analysis of the economic relationship between the two most important economies in Asia. Over the last decades, the Chinese and Japanese economies have become more economically interdependent, a development which will, in the long run, impact the countries' political relationship. The paper seeks to answer the question: How can China and Japan gain from the current economic situation, further enhance their relationship and increase their synergies for regional economic development? Data on trade and Foreign Direct Investment are used in combination with primary data from interviews with Japanese and Chinese companies on how they perceive the current business situation and future potential. The result of the data analysis shows that the countries have much to gain from their economic interdependence. The firms see great potential in their respective markets but are concerned about political turbulence. Three possible scenarios for the future economic relationship are presented, including fierce competition on all markets and a leveraging of resources for mutual development between Chinese and Japanese companies.


With a national shortage of special education personnel, including assessment personnel (Caranikas-Walker; Shapley, Cordeau, 2006; Karr, 2005), rural communities face serious challenges in retaining and recruiting highly qualified special education staff due to limited access to university training programs (Hausman & Hausman, 2003; Knapczyk, Chapman, Rodes, & Chung, 2001). This article presents research-based methods that rural school districts can use to recruit and retain assessment personnel. Many of the steps that are helpful for recruiting and retaining assessment personnel are either not utilized or underutilized (CaranikasWalker et al.; Simpson & Lynch, 2005). Factors for assessment personnel that influenced their decision to accept a position and to stay in their positions are


We have experimentally extracted the virtual-source electron injection velocity, v<inf>x0</inf>, of various III–V HFETs at room temperature. This is the carrier velocity that matters for logic applications of these transistors. Sub-100 nm devices with μn ≫ 10,000 cm2/V-s exhibit v<inf>x0</inf> in excess of 3 × 107 cm/s even at V<inf>DD</inf> = 0.5 V. This is over 2 times that of state-of-the-art Si devices at V<inf>DD</inf> ≫ 1. We have verified our extraction methodology for v<inf>x0</inf> by building a simple charge-based semi-empirical model for the I–V characteristics of III–V HFETs. This model yields an excellent description of the entire I-V characteristics of the devices from subthreshold to inversion and from linear to saturation regimes with fitted electron velocities that are very close to those independently obtained through our proposed extraction methodology.


The process of excitation of Cherenkov electromagnetic radiation by a laser pulse in an ionic dielectric waveguide, is investigated. The frequency spectrum and mode composition of the Cherenkov radiation are determined. The spatio-temporal structure of the Cherenkov electromagnetic field is obtained and investigated.


The Southwest Oncology Group conducted a trial of intraarterial cisplatin (150 mg intravenously every 21 days for 2 doses) administered concomitant with or before radiation therapy. Because of technical difficulties cannulating the artery, 27 of 33 eligible patients were able to receive the cisplatin by arterial injection. Five patients died before completion of the study, and 11 patients in each treatment arm were evaluable for response. Three patients (27%) had an objective tumor regression in each treatment arm. Thromboembolic problems complicated 8 of 57 (14%) chemotherapeutic courses. The median survival for the 33 eligible patients was comparable for both groups: 10.8 months in the concomitant treatment arm and 9.6 months with sequential therapy. Problems related to drug administration and toxicity made it impossible to determine the role of intraarterial cisplatin in the initial management of primary high-grade gliomas. Cancer 1992; 691220-1223.


This study is to determine whether titin alternative splicing is regulated by insulin and angiotensin II via a muscle‐specific splicing factor, RNA binding motif 20 (Rbm20).


There is widespread concern about rain forest removal but there are still few facts available on the extent of the resource and its actual rate of disappearance. Moreover, little is known about the global importance of rain forests and their function. It is very difficult to make soundly based recommendations on the use of land under rain forest, since even when the ecologist has assembled the best information, there remain formidable problems of implementation. Some important advances have been made in several recent publications (notably Sutton et al., 1983) about rain forest conservation and these are discussed in this


Mechanical behavior dependency of the poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogel related to the amount of initiator, crosslinker, and nanoparticles was investigated. An experimental approach has been undertaken to observe these dependencies and assess the amount of initiator (ammonium persulfate), crosslinker (N, N′-methylene-bisacrylamide), and nanoparticles (graphene oxide) on the macroscopic responses of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide). Different amounts of initiator, crosslinker, and nanoparticle were used to manufacture specimens for the compression test. The specimens were subjected to compressive loading up to breakage to investigate the breaking behavior of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide). The responses of these specimens indicated that the mechanical behavior of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) was highly nonlinear and depends on these ingredients. The mechanical responses of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) were simulated using the ideal network model. The simulation results of the mathematical model substantially complied with the experimental data of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide). In addition, a more in-depth microstructural analysis was performed on these specimens. The analysis results allowed us to correlate the dependent amounts of the ingredients on the nonlinear, mechanical behavior of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide).


Chaotic optical communication based on conventional external cavity semiconductor laser is a very promising solution for physical layer secure communication. However, the intrinsic time delay signature (TDS) associated with the external cavity length and the potential direct linear filtering (DLF) or synchronization utilization attack greatly threaten the system security. In this work, we propose and numerically demonstrate a novel scheme for TDS suppression and security enhancement of chaotic optical communication based on external temporal self-feedback hardware encryption and decryption. In this scheme, the confidential chaotic modulated signal is temporally scrambled in the time domain by two optical dispersion components and an electro-optic self-feedback phase modulation loop between them, which simultaneously conceal the TDS and enhance the security against malicious attacks. Proof-of-principle demonstration for a security enhanced chaotic optical communication system with error free transmission is successfully achieved. The proposed scheme may provide a promising way for pure-hardware based physical secure chaotic optical communication systems.


Target audience This work should be of interest to people studying astroglial reactivity and neurodegenerative processes using proton spectroscopy and CEST imaging. Purpose Astrocytes are the most abundant glial cells and are key players in brain function. In response to pathological conditions such as neurodegenerative diseases or ischemia, astrocytes display morphological and physiological changes, which are referred to as astrocyte reactivity or activation [1]. Even if functional consequences of astrocyte activation remains poorly known (both protective and deleterious effects have been described), the presence of activated astrocytes could be a surrogate markers of alterations in the brain. Therefore, the possibility to monitor and characterize astrocytes status in situ is primordial and could offer a valuable tool for clinical research. In order to evaluate astrocyte reactivity as potential biomarker, we used a model of selective astrocyte activation by overexpression of the cytokine ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) [2]. It has been demonstrated that CNTF could trigger specific astrocyte activation without neuronal dysfunction [3]. Moreover, very reproducible variations of several brain metabolites were recorded using H spectroscopy, especially increased myo-inositol (Ins) and total choline (Cho) and decreased N-Acetyl-Aspartate (NAA) and glutamate (Glu) [4]. In spite of the robustness of this result, it suffers from a lack of spatial resolution. Thus, we propose here to use Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) imaging of glutamate (gluCEST) [5] in order to precisely monitor spatial extension of astrocyte activation. Methods Animal model: Experiments were performed using a rat model (n=9) of astrocyte activation induced by stereotactic injection of a lentiviral vector encoding for CNTF (lenti-CNTF) into the right striatum [2]. The contralateral striatum was injected with a control lentiviral vector that encodes for beta-galactosidase (lenti-LacZ). NMR experiments: MRS data were acquired on a horizontal 7T Agilent magnet in two voxels positioned in each striatum (Fig.1). A LASER (Localization by Adiabatic Selective Refocusing) sequence with echo time TR/TE=5000/25ms was used. Chemical shift localization error was less than ±5% over the 2-4ppm range. Glutamate concentration was calculated relative to total creatine (tCr) with good precision (Cramér-Rao lower bounds <5%) using LCModel. GluCEST experiments: GluCEST images of 5 rat brains were acquired on the same magnet using Turbo Spin Echo (TSE) preceded by a frequency-selective continuous wave saturation pulse. Sequence parameters were: TR/TE=2000/50ms, 5 slices (1mm thickness) centered on stereotaxic coordinates used for lentivirus injections. The duration of saturation pulse was 1 s with an intensity B1 of 3 μT applied at frequencies between -5 ppm to 5 ppm with a step of 0.2 ppm from bulk water. B0 inhomogeneity was corrected using WASSR technique [6]. An unsaturated image was also acquired in order to calculate asymmetric Magnetization Transfer Ratio (MTRasym). Results Injection of lenti-CNTF induced selective and extended astrocyte reactivity in the right striatum, as demonstrated by the overexpression of the reactive marker vimentin (Fig.2). No toxic effect or abnormal feature was detected in neurons (Fig.2). Moreover, previous electrophysiological and histological studies demonstrated neurons integrity and even protective effect of lenti-CNTF injection following noxious insults [2, 3, 7]. Spectra acquired in LacZ and CNTF striata (Fig.1, blue and red squares respectively) showed a clear decrease of NAA and Glu in the lenti-CNTF side. A 18%-decrease of Glu concentration was measured in the whole animal cohort (Fig.3, n=9, paired t-test, **: p<0.001). An example of gluCEST image is shown on Fig.4. The difference of MTRasym was visually evident between both hemispheres with a net decrease of gluCEST contrast in the CNTFtransfected striatum The average decrease of gluCEST contrast in a volume similar to spectroscopic voxels was 16% (n=5). Postmortem vimentin staining confirmed activated status of astrocytes in this area. Discussion Even if biological processes are still unknown, it seems that CNTF-induced astrocyte reactivity in absence of neuronal damage can be characterized by a significant decrease of Glu concentration. Importantly, the area of astrocyte activation (Fig.4, dotted line) matched precisely with the area exhibiting lower gluCEST contrast. This observation suggests that the decrease in glutamate concentration measured in the large MRS voxel is not due to a local CNTF effect of in the immediate vicinity of the injection site, but really occurs in the whole volume exhibiting astrocyte reactivity. Conclusion In this study, we demonstrated the potential of gluCEST imaging in order to accurately monitor spatial extension of astrocyte activation. Combined with metabolites quantification using spectroscopy, gluCEST imaging could be a valuable tool to follow in vivo progression of neurodegeneration or treatment efficiency. References [1] Escartin et al. Mol Neurobiol 2008; [2] Escartin et al. J Neurosci 2006; [3] Beurrier at al. PLoS One 2010; [4] Carrillo-de Sauvage et al. Proc. ISMRM 2013; [5] Cai et al. Nat Med 2012; [6] Kim et al. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 2009; [7] Mittoux et al. J Neuroscience 2002. Fig.1: Position of voxels in the striatum injected with lenti-LacZ or lenti-CNTF (blue and red squares respectively) and corresponding spectra


Despite the tremendous improvements in transmission techniques, bandwidth is still a scarce resource as new services are introduced and user expectations grow. For this reason, optimization algorithms are required to efficiently exploit the diversity gain intrinsic in orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) access networks. In a multiuser packet based multiservice environment, other issues that must be addressed relate to maintain some degree of fairness and service quality constraints. In this paper we introduce some algorithms at different complexity levels to adjust channel allocation and power in a 802.16e access network mixing different real-time and non-real-time services.


The spleen is the most frequently injured abdominal organ. In hemodynamically stable patients, conservative nonsurgical treatment is actually the standard of care. In some cases, because of the severity of the splenic injury, total splenectomy is unavoidable. This treatment increases the risk for bacterial infection, particularly that caused by encapsulated organisms. Autotransplantation of splenic tissue occurs habitually to preserve immune function of the spleen. The viability of autografts can be easily evaluated with Tc-99m sulfur colloid liver-spleen scintigraphy. Reticuloendothelial function is better in cases with colloid uptake in the autografts compared with those with no uptake.


The photolytic re ac tions of 2-substituted allyl chlo ride with t-BuHgCl in dif fer ent sol vents were in ves ti gated. The re ac tions pro ceed the SH2 re ac tion mech a nism ex cept the substituent is a strong elec tron-releasing group. The elec tron trans fer pro cess be comes more com pet i tive with the rad i cal ad di tion pro cess when the substituent is a strong elec tron-releasing group. When the substituent is a strong elec tron-releasing group such as -CH2SiMe3, the re ac tion in CH3CN shows pro nounced elec tron trans fer pro cess while the re ac tion in DMSO or THF in volves both of the SH2 and the elec tron trans fer pro cesses. The re ac tion is sol vent de pend ent. An elec tron trans fer mech a nism is dis cussed.


A design method of high precision Thermometer which is based on AT89C52 was presented in this paper. To improve system accuracy, dual current source bridge and linear interpolation algorithm were used. And a new test way which is combined hardware and software method was proposed.


With the growing contradiction between environmental pollution and energy utilization patterns, people pay more attention to the combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) microgrid, which is based on gas turbine and renewable energy sources. This paper investigated the optimization operation of a grid-connected CCHP microgrid, which consists of gas turbines, PVs, WTs, waste heat boilers, absorption refrigerating machines, electricity storage devices, and heat storage devices. The algorithm of chaotic partial swarm is used to determine the optimal operational condition of the CCHP microgrid. A numerical case study is carried out to illustrate the feasibility and accuracy of the adopted method. The simulation results show that the gas turbine almost supply the entire power load, which brings both economic and environmental benefits. In addition, the heat storage devices can also coordinate with the gas turbines to determine the optimal outputs, and consequently reducing energy losses and operational costs.


The current investigation cross-nationally examined the relationship between adolescent reports of family or parenting processes and a series of developmental outcomes in a sample of adolescents (N 58,417) from Hungary, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States. Based on confirmatory factor analyses and tests of scalar equivalence, results suggest that the Adolescent Family Process Measure (AFP), which assesses maternal and paternal closeness, support, monitoring, communication, conflict, and peerapproval,wasvalidandreliablefor males,females,middleadolescents, and late adolescents in all four national contexts. In addition, based on model-free LISREL analyses, findings suggested that the relationships between these family processes and measures of adolescent externalizing (alcohol use, drug use, school misconduct, and total deviance) and internalizing (anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and low well-being) behaviors were similar cross-nationally. Findings are discussed in terms of their importance for the conceptualization and measurement of family and parenting processes. In the current investigation, three important gaps in the literature were addressed. First, consistent with arecent call issuedby Gray and Steinberg (1999; Steinberg, 2001) to ''unpack'' the most frequently studied parenting typologies (e.g., authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive; Baumrind,


We study a piecewise linear version of a one-component, two-dimensional reaction-diffusion bistable model with partially reflecting boundary conditions, with the aim of analyzing the decay of metastable states in spatially extended systems. We have studied the dependence of systems' Lyapunov functional in terms of a control parameter: the reflectivity at the boundary. Through the knowledge of this functional, we have computed the mean first-passage time for the decay of metastable nonhomogeneous stationary states, providing in this way dynamical information on the changes of the relative stability between attractors.


WHO announced the Covid-19 as Global Pandemic in early 2020? This condition immediately urged universities to migrate their instructional process to fully online learning as a result of the suggestion of physical distancing. This situation indeed results in the shock of the culture of learning and teaching. Following its shock, of course, questions arise related to the readiness of higher education in implementing fully online learning. This study aims to measure the readiness of lecturers and students of the Faculty of Economics, Universitas Negeri Medan (Unimed), in implementing digital learning. This study investigates the readiness from the normative belief perspectives. Normative belief is one of the critical antecedents of behavioral intention, as explained in The Theory of Planned Behavior [1]. The respondents of this study were lecturers and students at the Faculty of Economics, Unimed. This study uses simple random sampling to select the sample. With the snowball technique, this study collected 226 responses. 85 respondents were a lecturer, and 141 was a student. Data collection was carried out with an electronic questionnaire designed with 5-Likert scales. This study examines the differences of responses between lecturers and students as well as between men and women to avoid response bias. The results of this study indicate that lecturers and students have firm beliefs regarding their readiness to migrate learning activities to the online platform. Likewise, the findings of this study also indicate nervousness in the migration. The results of this study provide challenges for learning researchers and Education technology to produce recommendations for learning models that are suitable for implementing quality learning on digital platforms. The same challenge is faced with universities and regulators to develop best practices in teaching practices and regulations that urge innovation in teaching practices.


1. From Sail to Steam, 1815-40. 2. Midcentury Transitions, 1840-55. 3. The Emergence of the Armored Warship, 1855-78. 4. Torpedo Warfare, Cruisers, and the Jeune Ecole, 1878-89. 5. The Battleship Renaissance, 1889-1906. 6. The Dreadnought Era and First World War, 1906-22. 7. The Interwar Period and Second World War, 1922-45. 8. European Navies in the Era of the Cold War, 1945-91. 9. The Present and Future of European Navies.


Fluoroquinolone antibiotic agents have demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of respiratory tract infections. This analysis was designed to examine the relationship between drug exposure, as measured by the free-drug area under the concentration-time curve at 24 h (AUC 24 )/MIC ratio, and clinical and microbiological responses in patients with community-acquired respiratory tract infections involving Streptococcus pneumoniae . The study population included 58 adult patients (34 males, 24 females) who were enrolled in either of two phase III, randomized, multicenter, double-blind studies of levofloxacin versus gatifloxacin for the treatment of commu-nity-acquired pneumonia or acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis. Clearance equations from previously published population pharmacokinetic models were used in conjunction with dose and adjusted for protein binding to estimate individual patient free-drug AUC 24 s. In vitro susceptibility was determined in a central laboratory by broth microdilution in accordance with NCCLS guidelines. Pharmacodynamic analyses were performed on data from all evaluable patients with documented S. pneumoniae infection using univariate and multivariable logistic regression; pharmacodynamic breakpoints were estimated using Classification and Regression Tree analysis. A statistically significant ( P (cid:1) 0.013) relationship between microbiological response and the free-drug AUC 24 /MIC ratio was detected. At a free-drug AUC 24 /MIC ratio of <33.7, the probability of a microbiological response was 64%, and at a free-drug AUC 24 /MIC ratio of >33.7, it was 100% ( P < 0.01). These findings provide a minimum target free-drug AUC 24 /MIC ratio for the treatment of infections involving S. pneumoniae with fluoroquinolone antibiotics and provide a paradigm for the selection of fluoroquinolones to be brought forward from drug discovery into clinical development and dose selection for clinical trials. target free-drug AUC /MIC ratios are used in conjunction with stochastic modeling techniques, these findings may be used to support susceptibility breakpoints for fluoroquinolone antibiotics 24 /MIC. For the clinical evaluation, patients were classified as cured or the treatment was classified a failure as previously de-scribed. For the microbiological evaluation, eradication and presumed eradica- tion of the organism were considered successful outcomes; the persistence and presumed persistence of the organism were considered unsuccessful outcomes. Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis (as implemented in S-Plus 2000 professional release 2) was used to select a breakpoint(s) which partitioned patients' responses on the basis of free-drug AUC 24 /MIC ratios. Model bias and precision. Model bias and precision were evaluated using drug concentration data from the subset of patients from whom actual drug concentration data were obtained. The plasma-sampling schedules included two steady- state time points (peak and trough) and were measured using high-performance liquid chromatographic assay (9). A plot of free-drug AUC 24 s estimated using these concentrations in plasma in conjunction with demographic data versus free-drug AUC 24 s estimated using demographic data alone was made to validate the regression equation used in these analyses. The slope, y intercept, r value, median bias, and level of precision for AUC prediction were calculated.


The paper describes the construction of Physics Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center in University of Science and Technology of China According to the core of the reform of teaching contents and curricular system,the innovative research platform for experimental teaching with the keynote of "students taking the main factor,teachers playing the leading role,delaminating,opening and innovative research" is constructed The good teaching effect has been obtained


We introduce edgeless photonic-crystal resonators, creating photonic bandgap atop one azimuthal mode. The bandgap affects re-balancing of resonator Kerr-shift to enable spontaneous soliton generation, which we demonstrate by tuning laser onto resonance with the mode.


The use of immune checkpoint inhibitors has dramatically improved the chance of surviving malignant melanomas; however, the effect comes at the cost of toxicities that are difficult to predict. Immune-mediated hepatitis is the most common form of liver toxicity, but fatal outcome is uncommon. We report the case of a 70-year-old female with metastatic malignant melanoma who developed severe liver toxicity characterized by bile duct injury and cholestasis. The condition progressed despite potent immunosuppressive treatment, plasmapheresis, and intensive supportive care; and the patient died while still having tumor response.