We began the tour very early, I picked up the passengers at 07:00 a.m. and we headed directly to the South. We passed by several very interesting places, our first stop was in Salcedo, province of Cotopaxi, where people can get the best ice creams of Ecuador for only 50 cents.
Right after the stop we did in Salcedo, we continued our route towards the south, Ambato was located very close, in the province of Tungurahua, it is a commercial city and one of the biggest in the Ecuadorian mountain range. In this place we tasted a typical food at the public market; we tasted patties of wind with morocho which is very typical in the highlands.
After Ambato we headed for Balbanera's church, the first church in Ecuador, located in the province of Chimborazo, this place was the scenario of the foundation of Quito, which has three Spanish foundations, after touring the Church we headed to Alausi, a town that grew a lot thanks to the arrival of the train, this place was strategic for the railroad's construction, since it's locate in a strategic point between the highlands and the coast.


In work we propose a multi-channel active noise equalizer (ANE) that can deal with multi-frequency noise signals and assigns simultaneously different equalization gains to each frequency component at each monitoring sensor. For this purpose, we state a pseudo-error noise signal for each sensor of the ANE, which has to be cancelled out in order to get the desired equalization profiles. Firstly, the optimal analytic solution for the ANE filters in the case of single-frequency noise is provided, and an adaptive algorithm based on the Least Mean Squared (LMS) is proposed for the same case. We also show that this adaptive strategy reaches the theoretical solution in steady state. Secondly, we state an equivalent approach for the case of multi-frequency noise based on two alternatives: a common pseudo-error signal at each sensor for all frequencies, and a different pseudo-error signal at each sensor for each frequency. The analytic and adaptive solutions for the ANE control filters have been developed for both pseudo-error alternatives. Finally, the ability of the proposed ANE to achieve simultaneously different user-selected noise profiles in different locations has been validated by their transfer functions and simulations.


Suspension polymerizations were carried out at t atm of propylene in pentamethyl heptane using Mg(OC2H5)Idi-n-butylphthalatelfiCh-AIEt 3/di- phenyldimethoxy silane catalyst system . Active centre concentration (C) was determined by quenching and radio-tagging methods using tritiated methanol and carbon monoxide, respectively . Effect ofexternal donoronthe C' was studied . An investigation in the effect of temperature ( 50-80 °C) on C. , and propagation rate coefficient, k p, was carried out using the catalyst system. The optimum values of C were achieved at65-70 °C. The maximumrate of polymerization as well as the k values increased steadily with increasing temperature . The preliminary investigation involved the time needed for the tritiated methanol and carbon monoxide to react with the active centres to stop the polymerization quickly and completely . The amount of carbon monoxide and alcohol which were able to stop the polymerization was also determined . In the present work a five-fold of tritiated alcohol concentration to alkylaluminium was used.


Background: Multiple diastema is one of the most frequently encountered aesthetic problems related to patient confidence. This problem is still a challenge for the clinician to restore the gap between the teeth as desired by the patient. Indirect veneers have been approved as one of the treatment plans to deal with this aesthetic problem. Purpose: This case report aims to describe the management of multiple diastema in maxillary anterior teeth with indirect veneer restorations. Case: A 20-year-old woman came to RSKGM Universitas Airlangga with the main complaint of a gap between her upper front teeth. The patient was then explained about all the treatment options and agreed to a treatment plan for the indirect veneers restoration. Case Management: Treatment was carried out in 5 visits involving 6 maxillary anterior teeth. The teeth were vital and there was no discoloration. Post-treatment control was carried out one week after insertion. One of the advantages of bonded porcelain veneers is the minimally invasive treatment. Only 0.5 mm reduction was required on the incisal and labial surfaces. Conclusion: Indirect veneer restoration with minimally invasive techniques can provide good results in treating multiple diastema in the maxilla.


Under current conditions, the green economy concept has received a comprehensive response in achieving the sustainable development of regions. However, measuring green economic development progress is dynamic, quantitatively characterized by indicators reflecting various aspects. The difficulty lies in a comprehensive environmental sustainability assessment in a context that includes the territory's environmental, social, and economic factors. The study aimed to assess the progress of the Republic of Buryatia's (Russia) "green" economic development. The proposed methodology for constructing a composite index is based on five dimensions' aggregation—resource efficiency, environmental efficiency, environmental quality of life, natural assets, and institutional factors. The composite index helped generalize the complex processes of the region's environmental–socio–economic development. Its main feature is the reflection of the environmental specificity of the territory. We built a mid-term forecast of the composite and sub-indices, determined their future trend, and assessed the opportunities and conditions for the fastest transition of the Republic of Buryatia to a green economy. The developed composite index is a key tool for regulating green economic development progress, determining prospects, and region management. This paper attempts to fill the gap in a comprehensive assessment of the Republic of Buryatia's current situation using a composite index.


This chapter investigates the conceptual and empirical linkages between social grants and agricultural entrepreneurship among rural households in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Understanding the theoretical and empirical relationship between social transfers and smallholder entrepreneurship can enable policy makers to improve the design of rural development policy interventions and create synergies between cash transfers and poverty reduction by promoting enhanced agricultural productivity and production.


In this paper, we present a multimodal Recurrent Neural Network (m-RNN) model for generating novel image captions. It directly models the probability distribution of generating a word given previous words and an image. Image captions are generated by sampling from this distribution. The model consists of two sub-networks: a deep recurrent neural network for sentences and a deep convolutional network for images. These two sub-networks interact with each other in a multimodal layer to form the whole m-RNN model. The effectiveness of our model is validated on four benchmark datasets (IAPR TC-12, Flickr 8K, Flickr 30K and MS COCO). Our model outperforms the state-of-the-art methods. In addition, we apply the m-RNN model to retrieval tasks for retrieving images or sentences, and achieves significant performance improvement over the state-of-the-art methods which directly optimize the ranking objective function for retrieval. The project page of this work is: www.stat.ucla.edu/~junhua.mao/m-RNN.html .


The exposure of carbon steel to marine atmospheres gives rise to the formation of various corrosion products (lepidocrocite, goethite, magnetite, akaganeite, etc.) that present a wide variety of morphologies depending on the specific conditions of their formation. The literature on this topic is scarce and lacks a rigorous analytical characterization of the different morphologies seen in microscopic observation of rust surfaces under a scanning electron microscope. The research presented in this paper uses XRD and the powerful integrated SEM/Micro-Raman technique to characterize a series of morphologies commonly found in the rust that forms when mild steel is exposed to marine atmospheres. Two atmospheres with highly different chloride deposition rates (atmospheric salinity) have been considered. In the lower salinity atmosphere an adherent rust layer was formed on the steel, the outer surface of which layer exhibited a variety of SEM morphologies corresponding to lepidocrocite (mainly) and goethite. In the higher salinity atmosphere the thick rust layer formed on the steel was easily exfoliated (detached) and the morphologies on the inner surface observed using SEM were very different, corresponding mainly to akaganeite and magnetite.


Pharmaceuticals which are widely used in aquatic can easily migrate into the environment and aquatic animals, and can increase the risk of drug resistance and allergic symptoms if consumed by humans. In order to achieve high-throughput analysis of pharmaceuticals with different physical and chemical properties from complex matrices, we developed a new method for various types pharmaceuticals in fish and shrimp tissue. Series solid-phase extraction (s-SPE) with different adsorbents was selected for extracting and purifying analytes with different paddings. s-SPE were combined with ultra performance liquid chromatography triple quadruple tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) for the detection of 30 pharmaceuticals antibiotics in fish samples. This method was stabilized and reliable to determinate the pharmaceuticals in fish and shrimp samples. As the method combined multiple Chinese national standards method, it could be easily treat the multi-pharmaceuticals from the fish and shrimp samples once time. It provided for both quantitative and qualitative methods and they could be applied to single- or multi-residue methods.


Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species can regulate cellular processes fundamental for development such as proliferation, migration, differentiation and apoptosis. Brain cells at various stage of development can exhibit discrete changes in their parameters of oxidation and antioxidant defence. This review will focus on the role of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species and antioxidants in brain development. The following topics will be discussed: critical periods of the brain development, control of physiological functions by free radicals, especially the development process, participation of free radicals and antioxidants in brain development. Emphasis will be on changing in the activity and expression of antioxidant enzymes.


An aspect of the complex relationship between students homework and academic achievement (Cooper, Robinson, and Patall, 2006) was examined by correlating TIMSS 2003 mathematics results with the data about homework in 46 countries of the TIMSS study. The TIMSS results had no statistically significant correlation with the teachers' emphasis on mathematics homework or students' time for the homework. Students' achievement was significantly lower in countries, in which homework contributed marks, homework was frequently the basis for class discussion, students corrected homework in class, etc. The mentioned ways of class work may not be the most effective use of class time and students in many countries have the optimal amount of homework. Educational leaders can compare the practice of homework in their country with the international average and consider recommendations relaying on the correlation coefficients. The paper includes two tables, one figure, and seven references.


Objective To compare different Nrf2 expressions in glioblastoma cell lines and glioma stem cells(GSCs) from xenografts and to study the concentration of Nrf2 in nuclear.Methods GSCs were analyzed by immunofluorescence and different expressions of Nrf2 in glioblastoma cell lines and GSCs from xenografts were detected with real-time RCR and Western.Results GSCs were successfully isolated from xenografts of U251 and U87 cell lines.The percentage of tumor stem cells in total cells was 1.24%,and that was 1.63% in xenografts.Immunofluorescence indicated that Nrf2 was overexpressed in GSCs as compared with that in glioblastoma cell lines.Conclusion Nrf2 may be a potential biomarker and rational therapeutic target for GSCs.


where Pv denotes the Cauchy Principle Value. The operator H is a bounded linear operator in L2(R), which is selfadjoint and unitary. It arises in a natural way as part of the nontangential boundary value (in L2-sense) of the well-known holomorphic Cauchy transform of f , considered either in the upper or the lower half of the complex plane. One may generalize this concept to higher dimension in the framework of Clifford analysis, since this is precisely a function theory generalizing the theory of holomorphic functions in the complex plane to a higher dimensional setting. It was Horvath who, already in his 1953 paper [1], introduced the "classical" Clifford-vector valued Hilbert operator, acting on an appropriate Clifford-algebra valued function (or distribution) f defined on R as


H. de Lubac is presented here as an eminent witness of the wealth of the great Christian Tradition. Having built up a theological work wholly centred on the problem of catholic unity in history and the relationship between humanism and supernatural, he proves here to be a churchman above all


It conducts the experimental study and withdraws the sample data by the quadratic general rotary unitized design,uses the Radial Basic Function(RBF) neural network to establish the process parameters model,and trains the network to realize the processing results intelligent estimating toward the processing conditions given.The examination results indicate the intelligent estimation system of WEDM processing results has stable performance,high reliability,and may promote the application in the actual production.


This article presents conceptions of internship and of teaching practice resulted from the research that aimed to understand what components make up the teaching practice in curricular internship. The empirical material consisted of Internship Reports. The results of the content analysis show that the internship is understood as a suitable space and time for linking theory and practice, while teaching is understood as an experience and an opportunity for building relations with students and elementary school teachers.


The vapour pressure and specific heat of LiBr-H2O solutions were measured at temperatures up to 250 °C and concentrations up to 66% LiBr by weight. The vapour-pressure measurements were performed using a 1000 ml stainless steel pressure bomb fitted with a borosilicate glass liner and housed in a gas chromatograph oven, modified to automatically cycle the temperature. The estimated accuracy of the vapour pressure measurements, expressed as a variation in dew-point temperature, is 0.5 °C. Specific heat was measured with a Calvet calorimeter running in differential scanning calorimetry mode with high-pressure closed cells. Estimated accuracy for the specific heat measurements is 2% up to 200 °C and 3% above 200 °C.


Producers of radioactive waste are increasingly required to characterize the nuclide specific activity inventory of their wastes to demonstrate compliance with the acceptance criteria of interim storages or repositories for the final disposal of radioactive wastes. Nuclide specific characterization of activity inventories for nuclides that are hard to measure in nuclear power plant wastes in general is based on calculations by fixed correlations to easy measurable intense {gamma}-emitters (key nuclides). This method is establish within a CEC project for LWR waste streams from four European countries. First experiences from this project in comparison to data from the US and to earlier evaluations for German LWRs are presented. The applicability of the method is discussed with regard to the measurability of radiologically relevant nuclides comparability between different reactor systems and waste streams, and the availability of the necessary data. All topics are illustrated by examples for individual correlations. Conclusions are drawn for the degree of necessary differentiation and the main factors responsible for these differences.


Carbon-14 is a radionuclide, which is a by-product in the operation of various nuclear reactor facilities. it also came from the interaction of cosmic ray with nitrogen and hydrogen in the atmosphere globally. This article elaborates the source of the 14C in High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor, the amount of 14C released to the environment, as well as the forms of carbon-14. Meanwhile, the author presents the environment impact of this radionuclide. This paper concluded that 14N (n, p) 14C reaction in the fuel spheres and coolant gas is major source, and CO2 is major release form. The conclusion could provide the references and suggestions for storage, disposal and release reduction of this type of waste.


A signal processing algorithm is developed for estimating the location of a discontinuity, e.g. a fault, on an electrical line. It is applied to sampled time-domain reflectometry (TDR) data and performs pecstral analysis of the transmitted and reflected pulse signals. The pecstrum algorithm is based on a transform similar to the one used in the well-known cepstrum technique, i.e. the time domain versus 'quefrency domain' transformation. It is demonstrated that the performance of the pecstrum estimator is significantly better than that of the methods proposed so far. This has been substantiated both theoretically and empirically. The proposed solution has been tested, is operational in industrial digital reflectometers, and has been shown to be robust and successful in practice. >


Now people life is becoming better and better, the demand for life also gradually increases. Based on the current situation of China's rising economic strength and large population base, the demand for construction has been expanded. Therefore, the construction industry has brought a lot of pollution and energy consumption. The solution to this problem is to insist on sustainable development, namely green building design. To carry on green design and better safeguard the purpose of the green design and humanized service, based on the powerful weapon Internet, we bring China's powerful weapon for China developed Internet, which is big data.


Aquaporins (AQPs) are found to express in myocardium and their involvement in myocardial water balance have been figured out quite well as they are primarily associated with the transportation of water and other solutes like glycerol and urea. In the present study, we investigated the levels of expression of AQP sub-types in normal myocardium and their changes in the process of edema formation and cardiac dysfunction following myocardial infarction by isoproterenol as well as after treatment with Terminalia arjuna methanolic extract. The qPCR analysis demonstrated an up-regulation of certain aquaporin genes like aqp1, aqp4, aqp5 and aqp7 in the myocardial infarcted group of rats induced by isoproterenol. Again, the treatment with methanolic extract of T. arjuna was found to down-regulate these aqp genes, thereby suggesting a possible co-relation between these two. In addition, the serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels were found to increase in the infarcted group of rats, followed by lowering of these two enzyme levels in the treated group. Histopathological study quite clearly demonstrated that the myocardium from infarcted group displayed muscle separation and infiltration of lymphocytes, whereas treatment of myocardium from infarcted group with T. arjuna extract revealed a decrease in the degree of muscle separation and inflammatory response. Thus, our findings suggest the possible role of certain AQPs in isoproterenol induced myocardial infarction and also the remedial effects of T. arjuna in reverting the condition back to normal by lowering their expression levels. The enhanced expression levels of the aforementioned AQPs are quite indicative of the fact that these can serve as prognostic markers for myocardial infarction.


27. Philadelphia, WB Saunders, 1975. 110. Kiely WF: Psychiatric syndromes in critically ill patients. JAMA 1976;235:2759-2761. 111. Fauman MA: Treatment of the agitated patient with an organic brain disorder. JAMA 1978;240:380-382. 112. Gerdes L: The confused or delirious patient. Am J Nurs 1968; 68:1228-1233. 113. Morris M, Rhodes M: Guidelines for the care of confused patients. Am J Nurs 1972;72:1630-1633. 114. Trockman G: Caring for the confused or delirious patient. Am J Nurs 1978;78:1495-1499.


It is investigated in more details, in this paper, about the characteristics of the Magneto-Rheological Damper (MRD) for its effective and efficient application for seismic reduction of buildings. The Bouc-Wen model is employed, in this study, for the further exploration of the characteristics of MRD; and a novel fuzzy sliding mode control strategy is proposed for the special structure of the control system. Numerical simulation studies were made on computer with MatLab to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control method to reduce the seismic response of a 4-storey building equipped with MRD under the recorded El Centro earthquake wave.


Gait analysis has become a hot spot in recent years, because it is proven that the status of a vast number of chronic diseases can be reflected by changes in gait. Furthermore, gait analysis can also help in improving the performance of athletes. Among the diverse gait analysis techniques, the piezoelectric-based insole technique has received broad attention due to its merits such as passive detection, high sensitivity, and low power consumption. However, the key coefficient of detecting plantar normal stress, the piezoelectric d33 coefficient, relies on the force frequency, which occupies a relatively wide bandwidth (1 Hz–1 kHz) during walking events. In order to get the frequency information of the signal, in this work, empirical mode decomposition is used to separate the gait signal into several intrinsic mode functions, and then the frequency information of each function is interpreted using the normalized Hilbert transform. In this way, the piezoelectric d33 coefficient is calibrated at every moment, obtaining higher accuracy (2.65% maximum improvement) in gait signal detection, promoting the development of gait analysis–based disease diagnosis and treatment.


1. Which option is the most accurate description of deep learning? (a) A computer science that involves creating machines with the aim to replicate human intelligence. (b) A process whereby a machine writes its own programming and learns to complete a task on its own using a support vector machine. (c) A learning process whereby a machine learns from data that already have correct answers. (d) A process whereby a machine writes its own programming and learns to complete a task on its own using an artificial neural network. (e) A process whereby a machine writes its own programming and learns to complete a task on its own using a random forest tree. 2. True or false? Artificial intelligence is not particularly suited for detecting eyes at risk of iatrogenic corneal ectasia (post-LASIK) as the topographical and tomographical data obtained are too convoluted to decode a pattern. 3. True or false? Machine-learning classifiers are roughly equivalent to the accuracy of human graders in detecting primary open-angle closure, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. 4. True or false? Current machine-learning classifiers detect referrable diabetic retinopathy by recognising individual clinical signs such as proliferation. 5. True or false? Too many images in the training dataset can make the machine-learning process less efficient and even reduce external validity of the resultant machine-learning classifier.


Atmospheric background monitoring sites are usually located in relatively clean mountains area.It is evident that the operation and maintenance of air monitoring instruments with low levels at background monitoring station should be much difference with those in urban monitoring stations.The national atmospheric background monitoring station in Wuyishan of Fujian Province is one of fourteen national atmospheric background monitoring stations.The station has been running from March 4,2011.Based on the operational experiences,this paper summarizes operational technologies and cautions including operating conditions,daily maintenance,fault diagnosis,data processing,and so on.The experiences of maintenance at Wuyishan station presented in this paper can provide guideline for other background monitoring station.


Studies in Communication and Education have guided fundamental reflections on formative processes more affectionate to contemporaneity, as they point out the relevance of the presence of media languages in the classroom. In this sense, the formation of teachers is one of the determining factors for such languages to be inserted in pedagogical practice. Thus, the objective of this work was to analyze the master's degree dissertations, carried out by master's students teachers of the ProfLetras program, from UFTM, whose theme indicated the dialogue between Communication and Education. Researches developed from proposals of intervention in elementary school, which involved communication and educational processes for the teaching of Portuguese language and literature, were selected. Such researches revealed the concern of teachers in aligning theory with practice. And, although they have significant proposals for intervention with positive results, it would be important to offer specific subjects at the Communication and Education interface for a more effective dialogue.


A borderline Schwann cell tumour with common bile duct compression and jaundice is extremely rare. This paper presents the first report in the Italian literature of a hepatojejunostomy for a symptomatic lesion midway between benign and malignant.


Disconnected free surfaces (or interfaces) of a connected liquid volume (or liquid volumes) occur when the boundary of the liquid volume consists of two or more separate surface components Γi (i=1,…,m) that correspond to liquid–gas (or liquid–liquid) interfaces. We consider disconnected surfaces for which each component Γi is axisymmetric and crosses its own symmetry axis. In most cases, the stability problem for an entire disconnected equilibrium capillary surface subject to perturbations that conserve the total liquid volume reduces to the same set of problems obtained when separately considering the stability of each Γi to perturbations that satisfy a fixed pressure constraint. For fixed pressure perturbations, the stability of a given axisymmetric Γi can be found through comparison of actual and critical values of a particular boundary parameter. For zero gravity, these critical values are found analytically. For non-zero gravity, an analytical representation of the critical values is not generally po...


Staff salaries at physician offices rose again last year, several studies show, and unless something radical changes, they will keep climbing faster than the inflation rate for the near future.


The auction lawsuit arises when there is dissatisfaction with the debtor where the claim before the auction is intended by the plaintiff to delay the auction and the lawsuit after the auction has very diverse motives that cause it. The type of research used is normative legal research with analytical approach and legislation approach. (statute approach). Data processing is carried out in a systematic way on written legal materials. The purpose of this study is to explain the causes and explain the legal protection for debtors as well as the legal consequences for delaying the implementation of the mortgage execution auction. The results of this study indicate that there is a loss experienced by the debtor for setting a low limit value in the implementation of the mortgage execution auction which is carried out by the KPKNL as the Auction Body. Every limit price determination is required to use or use an appraisal service in accordance with Article 36 number 93/PMK/2010 concerning Auction Implementation Guidelines. There are objections to the low auction limit value, the debtor files a lawsuit to the court to postpone the auction, so if the court has given a decision that has permanent legal force stating the auction being held is invalid and null and void.


1. The lipid content of the cortex and white matter of brains at various ages has been assessed, with particular reference to the myelin forming constituents.

2. The neonatal brain contains considerable amounts of cholesterol and cerebroside, but negligible amount of sphingomyelin.

3. In the white matter no changes are recorded up to age 2 months, except in the sphingomyelin which increases. The cholesterol and cerebroside increase between 2 months and 9 months, and reach their maximum adult level somewhere between 9 months and 5 years. On a wet basis, the cholesterol, cerebroside and sphingomyelin reach about half their adult value at age 9 months.

4. In the cortex, the cholesterol and cerebroside reach adult value at age 2 months. The sphingomyelin reaches about a third of its adult value at 9 months.

5. The highest Adult/Infant ratios are recorded for sphingomyelin, and the lowest for lecithin.

6. The total phosphatide is the only Lipid which, when increased, does so only by virtue of the reduced water content.

7. There is some evidence that the sphingomyelin content (exclusive of Cephalin B) gives the best indication of the degree of myelination up to the age 2 months.


Introduction
The increase in depletion and extinction of the world"s biodiversity has led to a
greater interest from the global community to protect the environment and
safeguard natural habitats and thousands of species. In developing countries like
China and South Africa, factors like the growth and development of urban and rural
spaces – with negative effects of industrialisation on the environment – as well as
high population growth have added extra pressures to both countries" biodiversity
and natural environments. Consequently, protected areas and specifically national
parks have become increasingly important for conservation purposes. Beyond the
conservation value of national parks, they are, however, also a place for activities
such as education, tourism and relaxation.
National parks have a crucial role in the protected areas system in the world, as
they provide important environmental protection services for the natural growth and
life of ecological processes and habitats. For this reason, this study focused on
national parks as protected areas in China and South Africa, their roles in
biodiversity conservation, and the implementation of regulation in light of current
challenges as well as the special case of tourism.
Regulation and management of parks are critical as parks need to uphold the laws
and policy on biodiversity conservation and environmental protection. Most national
parks, like other protected areas such as nature reserves and national heritage
sites, fall within the laws and regulations of the state. They are important to regulate
as these areas are essential for the conservation of a country"s biodiversity.
Moreover, laws and regulation on biodiversity conservation ensure that the proper
management of the parks are ensured. This paper looked at where China could
learn from South Africa as well as vice versa in terms of protected areas and
dealing with current challenges.


Language learners' L1 transfer is an important factor in foreign language communication.This paper analyzes the common negative Chinese transfer features in English communication on levels of morphology,phrase,sentence and discourse and proposes coping strategies.


The only "absolute" method for determining the size distribution of cloud droplets is to collect the droplets in an immiscible liquid medium and carry out a size analysis under the microscope. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1961.tb00072.x


Tore Supra is dedicated to long pulse operation at high power, with a record in injected energy of 1 GJ (2.8 MW × 380 s) and an achieved capability of 12 MW injected power delivered by 3 RF systems: Lower Hybrid Current Drive (LHCD), Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ICRH) and Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH). The new WEST project (W [tungsten] Environment in Steady-state Tokamak) aims at fitting Tore Supra with an actively cooled tungsten coated wall and a bulk tungsten divertor. This new device will offer to ITER a test bed for validating the relevant technologies for actively cooled metallic components, with D-shaped H-mode plasmas. For WEST operation, different scenarii able to reproduce ITER relevant conditions in terms of steady state heat loads have been identified, ranging from a high RF power scenario (15 MW, 30 s) to a high fluence scenario (10 MW, 1000 s). This paper will focus on the evolution of the RF systems required for WEST. For the ICRH system, the main issues are its ELM resilience and its CW compatibility, three new actively cooled antennas are being designed, with the aim of reducing their sensitivity to the load variations induced by ELMs. The LH system has been recently upgraded with new klystrons and the PAM antenna, the possible reshaping of the antenna mouths is presently studied for matching with the magnetic field line in the WEST configuration. For the ECRH system, the device for the poloidal movement of the mirrors of the antenna is being changed for higher accuracy and speed.Tore Supra is dedicated to long pulse operation at high power, with a record in injected energy of 1 GJ (2.8 MW × 380 s) and an achieved capability of 12 MW injected power delivered by 3 RF systems: Lower Hybrid Current Drive (LHCD), Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ICRH) and Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH). The new WEST project (W [tungsten] Environment in Steady-state Tokamak) aims at fitting Tore Supra with an actively cooled tungsten coated wall and a bulk tungsten divertor. This new device will offer to ITER a test bed for validating the relevant technologies for actively cooled metallic components, with D-shaped H-mode plasmas. For WEST operation, different scenarii able to reproduce ITER relevant conditions in terms of steady state heat loads have been identified, ranging from a high RF power scenario (15 MW, 30 s) to a high fluence scenario (10 MW, 1000 s). This paper will focus on the evolution of the RF systems required for WEST. For the ICRH system, the main issues are its ELM resil...


Two satellite architectures for delivering broadband integrated services digital network (B-ISDN) service are evaluated. The first is assumed integral to an existing terrestrial network, and provides complementary services such as interconnects to remote nodes as well as high-rate multicast and broadcast service. The interconnects are at a 155 Mbs rate and are shown as being met with a nonregenerative multibeam satellite having 10-1.5 degree spots. The second satellite architecture focuses on providing private B-ISDN networks as well as acting as a gateway to the public network. This is conceived as being provided by a regenerative multibeam satellite with on-board ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) processing payload. With up to 800 Mbs offered, higher satellite EIRP is required. This is accomplished with 12-0.4 degree hopping beams, covering a total of 110 dwell positions. It is estimated the space segment capital cost for architecture one would be about $190M whereas the second architecture would be about $250M. The net user cost is given for a variety of scenarios, but the cost for 155 Mbs services is shown to be about $15-22/minute for 25 percent system utilization.


Archaeological evidences that the ship was a grave of king, with an only doubt: was he pagan or christian? noteworthy indications of the direct connection between suffolk and uppland.


We propose $S_4$ symmetric four-generation models for quarks and charged leptons. Although an $S_4$ symmetric four-generation model has been already proposed, there are some redundant assumptions and additional parameters in the model. We construct four-generation models with only requirement of exact $S_4$ symmetry. It turned out that at least one of the models is consistent with observations of masses and mixings.


Problem of three-point bending test for concrete beam with polymer flexible joint is described in this paper. The aim of this work is to present selected potential applications of flexible joint for concrete structures. The results of experimental researches for concrete beams before failure and after repairing with flexible joint method are presented. Behaviour of members repaired (bonded) with flexible joint is analysed in comparison to the test results of concrete beam before failure. Attention is paid to beneficial, due to a higher load capacity, stress redistribution in repaired element. Numerical finite element (FE) analysis of influence of polymer flexible joint on the behaviour of elements is conducted. Stresses concentration with their redistribution and displacement pattern are presented. In conclusion, beneficial influence of application of polymer flexible joints as a method of repairing concrete elements is highlighted. Furthermore, their potential applications in concrete structures are specified.


Significance Here we present an unprecedented multiscale simulation platform that enables modeling, hypothesis generation, and discovery across biologically relevant length and time scales to predict mechanisms that can be tested experimentally. We demonstrate that our predictive simulation-experimental validation loop generates accurate insights into RAS-membrane biology. Evaluating over 100,000 correlated simulations, we show that RAS–lipid interactions are dynamic and evolving, resulting in: 1) a reordering and selection of lipid domains in realistic eight-lipid bilayers, 2) clustering of RAS into multimers correlating with specific lipid fingerprints, 3) changes in the orientation of the RAS G-domain impacting its ability to interact with effectors, and 4) demonstration that RAS–RAS G-domain interfaces are nonspecific in these putative signaling domains. RAS is a signaling protein associated with the cell membrane that is mutated in up to 30% of human cancers. RAS signaling has been proposed to be regulated by dynamic heterogeneity of the cell membrane. Investigating such a mechanism requires near-atomistic detail at macroscopic temporal and spatial scales, which is not possible with conventional computational or experimental techniques. We demonstrate here a multiscale simulation infrastructure that uses machine learning to create a scale-bridging ensemble of over 100,000 simulations of active wild-type KRAS on a complex, asymmetric membrane. Initialized and validated with experimental data (including a new structure of active wild-type KRAS), these simulations represent a substantial advance in the ability to characterize RAS-membrane biology. We report distinctive patterns of local lipid composition that correlate with interfacially promiscuous RAS multimerization. These lipid fingerprints are coupled to RAS dynamics, predicted to influence effector binding, and therefore may be a mechanism for regulating cell signaling cascades.


This paper describes availability model for an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) Cloud with multiple pools of physical machines (PMs). Indeed, we build monolithic mathematical model considering sudden failures of the PMs and deliberate malicious impacts on information resources of the IaaS Cloud, using stochastic Semi-Markov approach. In the model, we apply technical subsystem for monitoring states in order to solve task of determining and analysis of overall availability level for the IaaS Cloud during scope of the failures and negative impact of the malicious computer viruses. As characteristics steady state availability for the IaaS Cloud, failure rates and repair rates of the PMs were leveraged by us, too.


___________________________________________________________________________________________ Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), also referred to as matrixines, provide a group of proteolytic enzymes. They belong to the family of endopeptidases that break down elements of the extracellular matrix, resulting in its continuous remodeling. Their activity is regulated at multiple levels, while tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases play a major role in this process. Metalloproteinases play a significant part in neoplastic processes due to their contribution to local tumor invasion, the formation of distant metastases, as well as to angiogenesis Urinary tract tumors pose a significant diagnostic and therapeutic challenge and their incidence tends to grow every year. The aim of this second part of the review is to describe the urinary system structure and function, and to highlight the contribution of matrix metalloproteinases to the development of urinary bladder tumors.


Examination of Maestrichtian and Paleocene planktonic foraminiferal assemblages from DSDP Leg 73, Hole 524, revealed an expanded and apparently continuous sequence of sediments across the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary. Within the Upper Cretaceous section, Core 28 is assigned to the upper part of the Globotruncana gansseri Subzone of late middle Maestrichtian age, and Cores 27 through 21 are assigned to the Abathomphalus mayaroensis Subzone of late Maestrichtian age. The lower portion of Core 20 is assigned to the "Globigerina eugubina" Zone, and the upper part of Core 20 is assigned to the Subbotina pseudobulloides Zone. Integration of these data with the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary in Hole 524 as defined by calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy indicates that part of the "G. eugubina" Zone is of late Maestrichtian rather than early Danian age. Paleomagnetic analysis of Hole 524 shows that the paleontologic Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary occurs in the reversed portion of Chron C-29. INTRODUCTION Site 524 is located in the northern Cape Basin on a submarine fan derived from a submarine canyon cut into the Walvis Ridge (29°29'S, 3°31'E; water depth, 4796 m.). Three holes were cored at Site 524. Hole 524, which was drilled with conventional rotary techniques, was spot cored in the upper 47.5 m and then continuously cored below 47.5 m sub-bottom. In Hole 524A, two conventional cores were recovered from the top of the sedimentary section. In Hole 524B, which was offset 100 ft. from Hole 524A, attempts were made to acquire seven cores with the hydraulic piston corer (HPC). Core recovery was erratic, however, and coring disturbance was common. The cores recovered from Hole 524A and Cores 1 through 3 of Hole 524 were also too disturbed for magnetic polarity analysis. Cores 4 through 28 of Hole 524, however, recovered an expanded sedimentary section that yielded a reliable magnetic polarity record and contained stratigraphically diagnostic planktonic foraminifers. The purpose of this contribution is to establish the occurrence of the stratigraphically diagnostic foraminifers in Cores 4 through 28 of Hole 524 and to discuss the rationale for the age and zone assignments. HOLE 524 SEDIMENTS The sediments recovered in Cores 4 through 28 of Hole 524 vary from nannofossil chalk and marl to claystone to bioclastic and volcaniclastic sandstones. Turbidites derived from the nearby Walvis Ridge comprise much of the section, and the large turbidite component results in an average accumulation rate of about 30 m/m.y. Reworking was noted in many samples, and 1 Hsü, K. J., LaBrecque, J. L., et al., Init. Repts. DSDP, 73: Washington (U.S. Govt. Printing Office). 2 Present address: Tenneco Oil Co., Houston, Texas. foraminifers are poorly preserved in several intervals. Because of the problems with reworking and preservation, the section from Hole 524 was sampled only in enough detail to provide a basis for the correlation of the foraminiferal biostratigraphy with the magnetic polarity record. The correlation between the magnetostratigraphy and biostratigraphy in Hole 524 is summarized by Poore et al. (this vol.). The stratigraphic occurrences of the foraminiferal taxa identified in Hole 524 samples are plotted in Table 1. Abundance estimates were derived by examining washed residues equal to or greater than 63 μm in size. The categories used in Table 1 are defined as follows in terms of the number of specimens per sample: VR (very rare)—1 to 2; R (rare)—3 to 5; C (common)— 6 to 10; A (abundant)—11 to 50; and VA (very abundant)—50 or more. The foraminiferal zonations follow Pessagno (1967) for the Cretaceous and Stainforth et al. (1975) for the Paleocene. Maestrichtian Biostratigraphy The planktonic foraminifers recovered from the Maestrichtian section of Hole 524 vary considerably in occurrence and relative abundance (Table 1), with obvious indications of reworking particularly prevalent at and near the Maestrichtian/Danian boundary. The lowermost sample observed to contain Cretaceous planktonic foraminifers was Sample 28,CC, which yielded very rare individuals of Heterohelix glabrans (Cushman). Underlying sediments (Samples 524-29-1, 55-57 cm, 52429,CC, and 524-32-2, 54-56 cm) proved to be barren of planktonic foraminifers. The presence of H. glabrans (Cushman) in Sample 28,CC, as well as the fauna recovered from overlying samples in Core 28, including Planoglobulina brazoensis Martin, plicate Globotruncana contusa (Cushman), and the very rare presence of


The main goal of the Association Agreement signed between the European Union and Georgia in 2014 aimed to develop economic relations and integrate Georgia into the European Union market. It should be noted that the influence of the European Union on the agrarian sector of Georgia is particularly important. As part of the ENPARD project on the introduction of European agricultural development practices, a major financial contribution from the European Union was invested in the development of the agricultural sector in Georgia.
 The main goal of the program's measures was to implement the provisions defined in the association agreement, which ultimately focus on the proper use of natural and climatic resources, increasing competitiveness, and harmonization of the production process. The promotion of agricultural products without the active use of elements of the marketing system is absolutely impossible.
 The role of marketing is an increasingly important issue in Georgia's European integration and in the development of the agricultural sector. The reasonable realization of domestic production and the development of export markets is the main purpose of using aspects of marketing in the field of agriculture.
Keywords: European Union, marketing system, ENPARD program, competitiveness, regulations.


As the National Book Award winner of America in 2013, The Good Lord Bird plays an important role in depicting the inner world of ordinary people, especially slaves. The young slave narrator, Henry Shackleford recreates John Brown's raids on Harpers Ferry on the eve of the American Civil War. His role changes and choices in his life reflect the identical dilemma and awakening of the black slaves in that era. Based on Ethical Literary Criticism, this paper displays Henry's identical dilemma in The Good Lord Bird from two aspects of gender dilemma and social dilemma. It explores reasons for Henry's dual identical dilemmas and the ethical choices, which is to be a girl in bondage or a boy in freedom. Therefore, this paper reveals the inefficiency and blindness of the black slave's ethical choices in the context of slavery, representing the loneliness and alienation faced by the black slaves on the eve of American Civil War. It awakens people to recognize the hypocrisy and evilness of Slavery, and makes human beings re-examine history, giving important enlightenment to American racial issues.


The self-proclaimed "liberal" economic policies of Brazil and Mexico in the period of 1870-1910 emphasized, according to the conventional historiography, small government, foreign investment and free trade. We found, however, that the states in Brazil and Mexico, while graded by the theory of liberalism, in fact played central roles in economic development. Links to the international economy paradoxically forced some interventionist policies through new financial and monetary policies, raising tariffs, participation in commodity markets, and promotion of state enterprises such as the nationalization of the railroads. Officials were not driven simply by ideology and their actions changed over time. National sovereignty and political peace were as compelling as the balance of payments and per capita GNP. Markets did not run oar their own, they required states' guidance.


This paper is on the calculation model of VaR(Value at Risk), on two particular calculation model of VaR, and on relation between Duration of financial commodities of fixed earning and VaR etc. some better exploration for Application of the Technology for Risk Management (VaR) in Pension Funds Management, This lay down a solid foundation for the expansion of Pension funds.


The objective of the experiment was to know the effect ofjuice of betel
leaf (Piper betle Linn.) on pre-curing process and its effect on chemical
properties, peroxide value, total bacteria and sensory characteristics of processed
chicken. Chicken meat was soaked into betel leaf juice (0, 5, 10 dan 15%),
processed to become dendeng and stored at room temperature for 0 week, 2
weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks and 8 weeks. The variables measured included moisture,
protein content, fat content, pH, peroxide value and total bacteria. The
experimental design used was Completely Randomized Design (4 x 5)and
followed by Tukey test.The sensory data were analyzed by using Kruskal-Wallis
Hedonic test. The results showed that higher concentrations of Betel leaf juice
significantly affected (P<0.05) moisture, protein content, fat content, peroxide
value, totalbacteria and sensory characteristics of chicken dendeng that included
color, aroma, taste and acceptability. Storage times up to eight weeks affected
significantly (P<0.05) on pH, peroxide value and total bacteria. Interactions
between the concentration of juice and storage times on peroxide value and total
bacteria.The conclusion of this research was that the betel leaf juice could be
applied up to concentration of 15%because it could suppress peroxide value,
decrease total bacteria and extend storage times of the chicken dendeng.
Sensory analysis showed that the best quality of the chicken dendeng was
obtained at concentration of 10% with storage times of eight weeks.


We report Very Long Baseline Array observations of 22 GHz H2O and 43 GHz SiO masers toward the Mira variable RR Aql. By fitting the SiO maser emission to a circular ring, we estimate the absolute stellar position of RR Aql and find agreement with Gaia astrometry to within the joint uncertainty of ≈1 mas. Using the maser astrometry we measure a stellar parallax of 2.44 ± 0.07 mas, corresponding to a distance of 410−11+12 pc. The maser parallax deviates significantly from the Gaia EDR3 parallax of 1.95 ± 0.11 mas, indicating a 3.8σ tension between radio and optical measurements. This tension is most likely caused by optical photocenter variations limiting the Gaia astrometric accuracy for this Mira variable. Combining infrared magnitudes with parallaxes for RR Aql and other Miras, we fit a period–luminosity relation using a Bayesian approach with Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling and a strong prior for the slope of −3.60 ± 0.30 from the Large Magellanic Cloud. We find a K-band zero-point (defined at logP(days) = 2.30) of −6.79 ± 0.15 mag using very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) parallaxes and −7.08 ± 0.29 mag using Gaia parallaxes. The Gaia zero-point is statistically consistent with the more accurate VLBI value.


In terms of the battery management system of a mobile music speaker, reliability optimization has always been an important topic. This paper proposes a new dynamic redundant battery management algorithm based on the existing fault-tolerant structure of a lithium battery pack. The internal configuration is adjusted according to the SOC of each battery, and the power supply battery is dynamically allocated. This paper selects four batteries to experiment on with two different algorithms. The simulation results show that compared with the traditional battery management algorithm, the dynamic redundant battery management algorithm extends the battery pack working time by 18.75%, and the energy utilization rate of B1 and B4 increases by 96.0% and 99.8%, respectively. This proves that the dynamic redundant battery management algorithm can effectively extend battery working time and improve energy utilization.


Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, Department of Computational and Systems Biology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, Computational Chemistry and Molecular Biophysics Section, National Institute on Drug Abuse – Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, United States, Transporter Biology Group, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia


This course examines the history and current realities of international bilateral and multilateral development assistance. After placing globalization and development assistance in an historical context, we will look at different kinds of aid that exists, the debate over what is to be developed and how that should occur, the project planning and assessment process, and the rise in importance of NGOs in the aid arena today. We then review and critique the current aid emphasis on promoting democratization, civil society and human rights, and the mandates of the Millennium Declaration and the resultant MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) as well as the emergent Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The course culminates in our own aid consortium simulation, where students have the opportunity to experience the decision-making process first-hand. Our emphasis throughout is on the development process and its critics, which could lead to a greater understanding of both the possibilities and the constraints of aid.


In Indonesia, the provision of in absentia in the Money Laundering Crime Law raises problems if the crime act is originally conventional crime act. Conventional crime act should be handled based on the provisions of the Indonesian Criminal Law Procedures Code. On the one hand, the Money Laundering Crime Law regulates the provisions of the court in absentia and, on the other hand, the Indonesian Criminal Law Procedures Code does not recognize trial in absentia. This study covers the issue. To be precise, it reveals the possibility of a conventional crime act that is charged with the Money Laundering Crime Law to be tried in absentia based on the principle of formal legality. In addition, it discusses the strategy of prosecution of money laundering crime act in trial in absentia for cases that are originally conventional crime act based on the principle of due process of law. This study used analytical description research specifications and the normative juridical method. The data was collected through a document study. In accordance with the approaches, the data were analyzed in qualitative-juridical manners. This study concludes several points. The first, based on the principle of legality of formal law, the implementation of trial in absentia against general criminal acts cannot be carried out. The second, based on the principle of due process of law, the prosecution strategy in trial in absentia fur such cases are that (1) the prosecution of money laundering crime and original crime must be done separately; (2) the public prosecutor must delay the transfer of original criminal acts to the court until the accused is found and presented; (3) the indictment must be prepared in a single form; (4) the indictment must draw legal facts about the original crime; and (5) the public prosecutor can prove the legal facts about the original crime in the element of 'assets resulting from the crime' in the money laundering offense.


A protease–antiprotease imbalance is a feature of many chronic lung diseases, with concentrations and activity of several MMPs (matrix metalloproteinases) correlating with disease pathology. MMP-12 plays a prominent role in lung tissue remodeling owing to its capacity to degrade elastin and other extracellular matrix constituents but is also increasingly recognized for immunomodulatory functions central to the regulation of innate immunity. MMP-12 is elevated in patients with asthma and, in some instances, associated with more severe forms of disease (1, 2). Mouse models of allergic airway disease (AAD) have defined a central role for MMP-12 in driving airway remodeling and recruitment of innate immune cells (3, 4). However, the role of MMP-12 in regulating adaptive immunity in chronic lung diseases has been neglected. In a mouse model of house dust mite (HDM)-induced AAD (Figure 1A) (5), C57BL/6 wild-type (WT) mice showed a strong induction of airwayMMP-12, which was absent inMmp12 (KO) mice (Figure 1B). Although numbers of CD3 T cells were comparable betweenWT and KO animals (Figure 1C), lung B cells were significantly reduced in HDM-treated KO animals (Figure 1D). Numbers of B cells in the lung draining mediastinal lymph nodes (Figure 1E) and peripheral blood (Figure 1F) were not significantly different in allergen-exposedWT and KOmice, indicating the reduced B cell response in KO animals was lung specific. Chronic HDM exposure induces the formation of tertiary lymphoid structures containing ectopic germinal centers in the lungs of mice. Significantly fewer germinal center B cells were present in the lungs of HDM-exposed KOmice relative toWT control mice (Figure 1G), but T follicular helper cell numbers were comparable (Figure 1H). Histological analysis revealed a reduction in the number and size of pulmonary B cell aggregates (Figures 1I–1K), andMMP-12 concentrations correlated with total PAX5 area (r=0.5098; P=0.0013). Interrogation of precision-cut lung slices by confocal microscopy demonstrated the colocalization of germinal center B cells and CD4 T cells (Figure 1L) and validated that the number of B cell aggregates (Figure 1M) and the individual aggregate volume (Figure 1N) were reduced in HDM-exposed KOmice. In keeping with the diminished pulmonary B cell aggregates in HDM-KOmice, concentrations of airway total IgE (HDM-specific IgE below limits of detection) and HDM-specific IgA were also significantly reduced (Figures 1O and 1P). Systemic HDM-specific IgE was also reduced in HDM-treated KOmice (Figure 1Q), whereas IgG1 was comparable toWTs (Figure 1R). AirwayMMP-12 positively correlated with IgE (r=0.612; P, 0.0001) and IgA (r=0.482; P=0.002). Furthermore, mast cell protease-1, a surrogate for IgE-induced mast cell degranulation, was reduced in HDMtreated KOmice relative toWT control mice and showed a significant correlation with IgE (r=0.681; P, 0.0001). These data show that MMP-12 is important for functional B cell aggregate formation and local antibody responses during AAD. CXCL13 (chemokine (C-X-Cmotif) ligand 13) is a B cell chemokine demonstrated to drive aggregate formation in tertiary lymphoid structures in mouse models of AAD (6), and CXCL12 has been demonstrated to be important in distinct lung inflammatory models (7). MMP-12 can modulate the activity of CXC chemokines by proteolytic processing (8). Although lung CXCL13 (Figure 2A) and CXCL12 (Figure 2B) concentrations were comparable between HDM-treatedWT and KOmice, MMP-12 proteolytically cleaves CXCL13, but not CXCL12, in vitro (Figure 2C). Mass spectrometry analysis demonstrated that recombinant CXCL13 (9,812 Da) yields a product of 8,239 Da upon exposure to MMP-12. Deconvolution of these data suggested that MMP-12 cleaves CXCL13 between Ser-94 (P1) and Leu-95 (P1) at the chemokine's C-terminal domain (Figure 2D). MMP-12 cleavage of CXCL13 was subsequently assessed in vivo in allergen-exposed mice byWestern blot. Antibodies to CXCL13 frequently target its C-terminus and were thus found to bindMMP-12–cleaved CXCL13 with reduced affinity resulting in lower-intensity bands (Figures 2E and 2F). CXCL13 concentrations present in BAL fluid (BALF) and lungs of HDM-treated mice were below the limit of detection byWestern blot (Figures 2E and 2F). When BALF ofWTHDM-exposed mice was incubated ex vivowith CXCL13, it cleaved the chemokine in an analogous manner toMMP12; however, no cleavage was observed with KO BALF (Figure 2E). CXCL13 immunoprecipitations of lung homogenate fromHDMtreatedWT and KOmice were performed to enrich the chemokine. Full-length CXCL13 was detectable in immunoprecipitations of MMP-12 KOmice, whereas the truncated form was detectable inWT immunoprecipitations (Figure 2F). Therefore, MMP-12 cleavage of CXCL13 occurs in vivo in HDM-exposed mice. The excised fragment at the C-terminus of CXCL13 contains a binding site for the glycosaminoglycan heparan sulfate of the extracellular matrix (ECM) (9). Accordingly, MMP-12–cleaved CXCL13 demonstrated a reduced capacity to bind to biotinylated heparan sulfate (Figure 2G). Previous work demonstrated that cathepsin B operates within lymph nodes to cleave CXCL13 at a comparable site to MMP-12 and that ensuing cleavage-dependent This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License 4.0. For commercial usage and reprints, please e-mail Diane Gern (firstname.lastname@example.com).


Twenty‐five patients with alopecia totalis (AT) or alopecia universalis and 124 patients with alopecia areata (AA) were treated with photochemotherapy, combining topical 8‐methoxypsoralen (8‐MOP) with UV irradiation of the scalp at a phototoxic dose. The mean energy required was 15 J/cm2 for AA and 42 J/cm2 for AT. Ninety‐four patients had multiple bald patches and 12 with AT had complete or > 50% hair regrowth. Positive treatment results did not seem to depend on the age of onset or the duration of the disease. Few side‐effects of topical psoralens plus UVA (PUVA) treatment were noted, except a for few days of slight erythema caused by the high dose of UV.


It is argued that there exists the only one inverse of the linear response function $\chi$, i.e. $\chi^{-1}$, which depends symmetrically of its spatial-times variables, see M.K. Harbola, and A. Banerjee, Phys. Rev. A {\bf 60}, 5101 (1999). Some brief comments on this consideration are presented. We show instead, that it is possible to construct the causal inverse also. At the same time we confirm the main statement of M.K. Harbola and A. Banerjee that in fact there is no contradiction between the symmetry and causality.


Context. Asteroid 21 Lutetia is the second target of the Rosetta space mission. Extensive pre-encounter, space-, and ground-based observations are being performed to prepare for the flyby in July 2010. Aims. The aim of this article is to accurately characterize the photometric properties of this asteroid over a broad spectral range from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared and to search for evidence of surface inhomogeneities. Methods. The asteroid was imaged on 2 and 3 January 2007 with the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) of the Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS) during the cruise phase of the Rosetta spacecraft. The geometric conditions were such that the aspect angle was 44 degrees (i.e., mid-northern latitudes) and the phase angle 22.4 degrees Lutetia was continuously monitored over 14.3 h, thus exceeding one rotational period and a half, with twelve filters whose spectral coverage extended from 271 to 986 nm. An accurate photometric calibration was obtained from the observations of a solar analog star, 16 Cyg B. Results. High-quality light curves in the U, B, V, R and I photometric bands were obtained. Once they were merged with previous light curves from over some 45 years, the sidereal period is accurately determined: P-rot = 8.168271 +/- 0.000002 h. Color variations with rotational phase are marginally detected with the ultraviolet filter centered at 368 nm but are absent in the other visible and near-infrared filters. The albedo is directly determined from the observed maximum cross-section obtained from an elaborated shape model that results from a combination of adaptive-optics imaging and light curve inversion. Using current solutions for the phase function, we find geometric albedos p(V) = 0.130 +/- 0.014 when using the linear phase function and p(V)(H - G) = 0.180 +/- 0.018 when using the (H - G) phase function, which incorporates the opposition effect. The spectral variation of the reflectance indicates a steady decrease with decreasing wavelength rather than a sharp fall-off.


Effects of silicon on growth and water use efficiency (WUE) in sunflower(Helianthus annuusL. cv. G101) plants were studied with hydroponic experiment. The objectives of this study were to find the effect of silicon on water use efficiency of sunflower plants, which is mainly through water loss from leaves and water transport in xylem. Under hydro- ponic experimental condition, water use efficiency was calculated in terms of dry matter produced per unit of water con- sumption. The transpiration rate and leaf conductance of plants with (1.5 mmol/L silicic acid) or without Si application were measured using LI-1600 steady state prometer. Flow rate of xylem sap was evaluated by calculating the volume of xylem sap per hour. The results showed that WUE of plants treated with 1.5 mmol/L silicic acid was 34% higher than that of plants without Si application. Silicon application did not significantly improve plant growth and leaf area, but sig- nificantly increase the SPAD value of the largest leaf. Silicon application significantly decreased the transpiration and leaf conductance of abaxial leaf epidermis, but had no effect on that of adaxial leaf epidermis. Comparing the flow rate of so- lutes in xylem vessels in plants treated with and without Si found that the flow rates in Si-treated plants was much lower than that in plants without treated with Si, which was due to the increase of affinity for water in xylem vessels induced by silica deposits in vessels. These results indicated that the increase of WUE was mainly resulted from the reduction of leaf transpiration and flow rate of xylem sap in xylem vessels induced by Si application.


The automatic identification of the woven fabric structures is usually based on the study of the fabric structure blocks. Generally, in the identification process of a textile fabric image which contains several different woven fabric structures, blocks of different woven fabric structures need to be located and extracted manually. This defect extremely limits the development of the fabric image's automatic identification. A set of method about the automatic location and extraction of woven fabric blocks from the whole fabric image is researched and implemented in this paper. This method consists of Gaussian blur, K-means clustering with human-computer interaction and the thought of maximization. It can automatically locate and extract several different woven fabric blocks in a textile fabric image.


There is a striking gulf between the formal legal doctrine of the British constitution, as usually presented, and the underlying values of legality and equality that underpin judicial decisions in particular cases. The formal doctrine of absolute Parliamentary sovereignty not only authorizes the infringement of constitutional rights, but is supposedly capable of abrogating every requirement of the Rule of Law. In practice, the opposite position obtains: form is largely displaced by substance. Courts interpret legislation in the light of the constraints of legality, protecting fundamental rights by recognizing implicit limitations to Parliament's legislative supremacy. Judicial dicta in the Jackson case (2005) illustrate the tension between form and substance, revealing the inadequacies of standard doctrine. Under the unwritten, common law constitution of the United Kingdom, the courts should, and usually do, uphold the basic requirements of legality on which the protection of human dignity and equal citizenship alike depend. Parliamentary sovereignty is itself a doctrine of common law and, therefore, subject to the principles of legality internal to common law thought.


The deformation process in copper and aluminium single crystals under shock loading is investigated using a multiscale model of plasticity that couples discrete dislocation dynamics and finite element analyses. Computer simulations are carried out to mimic loading condition of high strain rates ranging from 105 to 107 s−1, and short pulse durations of few nanoseconds involved in recent laser based experiments. The effects of strain rate, shock pulse duration and the nonlinear elastic properties are investigated. Relaxed configurations using dislocation dynamics show formation of dislocation micro bands and weak dislocation cells. Statistical analyses of the dislocation microstructures are preformed to study the characteristics of the local dislocation densities and the distribution of the instantaneous dislocations velocities.


The phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) from Vibrio costicola catalyzed a 14CO2-oxaloacetate exchange reaction with an unusual nucleotide specificity. ATP gave the higher apparent catalytic efficiency (Vmax/Km, 6.78), followed by GTP (1.30), CTP (0.87) and ITP (0.66). Maximal activity required a divalent cation; CdCl2 and MgCl2 synergistically activated the enzyme, when added in the presence of MnCl2. The sigmoidal saturation curve for MnCl2 (apparent n 2.11) was converted into a hyperbola by 0.01 mM CdCl2 (apparent n 1). The results suggest a double role of the divalent cation in the reaction mechanism, namely as part of the MeATP2- substrate and as free Me2+. Mn2+ would be the best for the first, and Cd2+ for the second role. Preincubation with 0.01 mM CdCl2 increased the activity of the enzyme assayed with MgATP2- through an increase in Vmax; addition of CdCl2 to the reaction mixture elicited further activation, through a 17-fold decrease in the apparent Km for MgATP2-. These results, together with the biphasic curve of activation by CdCl2 when used alone, suggest the existence of two different sites for free Cd2+ on the enzyme.


In this paper, we study in detail the Flight Level Assignment (FLA) problem and its chance-constrained variant. Like FLA, the chance-constrained FLA problem is strongly NP-hard, and solving it exactly is out of reach, even for moderate realistic instances. An efficient heuristic is therefore proposed to deal with the whole problem by solving iteratively the chance-constrained FLA problem separately for each flight level. The approach used to solve the latter problem consists in a constraint generation one which adds iteratively new constraints until reaching the probability threshold for the specific chance-constrained FLA subproblem. An essential aspect of this method is the fast feasibility probability estimation of the chance-constrained constraints of a given solution. Numerical results support our findings.


The perceptions of class teachers, who will deliver science education at the elementary school, of information and science are significant as these affect the quality of education received by children.  The aim of this research is to determine perceptions of prospective class teachers of science. The sample group of the research consists of 120 prospective class teachers. Quantitative research method is employed, word association test is used in the research for data collecting. Findings are presented with conceptual networks and frequency tables. It has been determined that prospective teachers can make associations among the concepts of physical science, science, technology, experiment and scientific method whereas they cannot associate science education with science to an adequate level, and they have a part of the elements regarding nature of science. Some recommendations are given based on the research results. Keywords: science education, perception of science, teacher education, prospective teacher.


To investigate whether high‐resolution images of necrotic regions in tumors can be derived from gadopentetate dimeglumine (Gd‐DTPA)‐based dynamic contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE‐MRI) series.


Some new observations are recorded on a captive specimen of the marsupial mole, Notoryctes typhlops. These include feeding habits, sleeping behaviour, temperature requirements, and suggestions for keeping in captivity.


Primary Hyperoxaluria type I (PH1) is an inherited inborn error of the glyoxylate metabolism in the liver. It is caused by mutations in the AGXT gene, a gene that codes the peroxisomal enzyme alanine-glyoxylate aminotransferase (AGT). As a result of AGT deficiency oxalate, which is an end-product of glyoxylate metabolism, is overproduced in the liver. In healthy individuals, oxalate is excreted into urine, but when it is produced at high concentration there is a tendency for calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystals to be generated and deposited in the renal parenchyma, where kidney stones can form. As a consequence, PH1 patients present with severe kidney damage and poor survival of kidneys, developing end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in most of the cases. The only curative treatment is liver transplantation, which is usually combined with kidney transplantation because of the loss of renal function. The main goal of this study was to develop new therapeutic alternatives for PH1 based on advanced genetic treatment.
In the initial part of this thesis we tried to improve PH1 gene therapy using adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors. First, human AGXT was codon optimized in order to improve the expression levels of the protein. In this case, the optimization of the sequence of the AGXT gene resulted in no therapeutic advantage in comparison to the WT version of the gene. Second, we worked on the optimization of AAV gene delivery to the liver in non-human primates (NHP) changing the route of administration. It was demonstrated that the direct administration of AAV vectors into the hepatic blood flow resulted in a higher transduction of the liver in comparison to the systemic intravenous route.
In addition, a completely novel approach based on gene editing using the recently discovered clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) system was designed and characterized. This treatment was focused on a substrate reduction therapy (SRT) strategy, i.e. the reduction of glyoxylate production (the precursor of oxalate). Glycolate oxidase (GO) enzyme is a liver peroxisomal enzyme in charge of the production of glyoxylate. The inhibition of GO synthesis is known to reduce oxalate production. Therefore, a specific CRISPR/Cas9 system was designed to target and disrupt the Hao1 gene (the gene that codes GO) in hepatocytes. Using this strategy we were able to efficiently reduce GO protein levels. Moreover, the treatment resulted in a significant reduction of oxalate production and of renal damage in PH1 mice challenge with oxalate precursors, in absence of toxicity.
In conclusion, several strategies to treat PH1 were developed and optimized during this project, which were able to reduce oxalate excretion in the urine of the PH1 mouse model.


The aim of this study was to establish a mathematical model of the relationship between fiber displacement and strain in the twisting process; the cross-section of yarn was taken at random. Based on the differential method, the plane stress was analysed mathematically, and stress and strain balance equations of the yarn cross-section were obtained. Then a geometry model of the cross-section was established using ANSYS10.0, which is a kind of Finite Element Analysis Software. Changes in the displacement can be simulated by this model, which reflects the relationship between the displacement and stress. The results showed that there are some relationships between the strain and displacement.


Two millions years ago human evolution started from … perhaps … the use of two stones for nut cracking. Last 30 thousand years resulted in production of advanced mechanical and electronic tools. The use of them became very complicated and thus engineering and ergonomics have emerged as disciplines, aimed to solve arrays of interaction problems between machines and human operators. However, recent progress in computers, informatics tools and electronic media provoked a range of new social and psychologic challenges, called sometimes as "digital dementia." They involve deep changes in human motivations, revolutionary changes in the employment, educational challenges, work with robots, self-driving vehicles and drones, and, last but not least, electronic invigilation of citizens and the use of autonomous weapon. Even a preliminary sketch of all these relationships requires reinvestigation of huge amount of data.


Knowledge of the internal taxonomy and actual or potential importance as vectors of malaria of the Anopheles hyrcanus Group in the western Palaearctic is reviewed. Means of studying these neglected disease vectors in this area are discussed. Present state of knowledge of the Byrcanus Group of species Anopheles hyrcanus (pallas), first recorded from the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, was shown to have a wide distribution extending from Iberia in Europe to east and south-eastern Asia including some of the off-lying islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It also became apparent that the taxon included a number of morphologically separable forms, and that some were involved in the transmission of malaria and filariasis, particularly in the Oriental Region and contiguous parts of the eastern Palaearctic Region. To date, the Hyrcanus Group has been shown to encompass a group of 29 currently recognised species (Table I). Of these, 26 have an Oriental or eastern Palaearctic distribution, with 4 being placed in the Lesteri Subgroup and 4 in the Nigerrimus Subgroup, whilst insufficient data have yet been collected to enable the others to be assigned to subgroups (Harbach, 1994; Nguyen et al., 2000). Only 3 currently recognised species have a western Palaearctic distribution, here defined as occurring in the part of the Palaearctic Region west of China and south of SOON.


Lately, there are various problems related to stack effect in high-rise buildings. Stack effect gives the bad influence to not only the function of the door opening and closing and the elevator's function, but also the pressurized smoke control system when firing. Therefore, it should be considered enough when the high-rise buildings are planned. This study tried to suggest the improvement method by analyzing the stack effect problems through the measuring on the spot and simulation, targeting C building in Gyunggi province. As a result, the integrated improvement method that all air passages are blocked at the same time was suggested. Namely, it was shown that improving the all doors' airtight + changing to the revolving door + installing the automatic door at the I underground elevator lobby + changing the velocity of the elevator for directors + installing the lobby at the elevatormachine room have the best effect in reducing the problems caused by the stack effect.


Introduction: Defective mineralization of osteoid matrix prior to physeal closure causes rickets. Poor calcification of the cartilage matrix in the zone of provisional calcification causes flattened skull, rachitic rosary, bowed legs, coxa vara and brittle bones. The recent literature has seen an increase in the incidence of the disease in both developing and developed nations. We evaluated behaviour of lower limb deformities due to nutritional rickets in 117 patients. Materials and methods: A prospective study was conducted from January 2009 to December 2011 for clinical and radiological evaluation of knee deformities in nutritional rickets. A total of 117 patients with 198 coronal plane knee deformities between 2 years and 12 years age of rickets were enrolled in this study. Results: In our study, there were 65 genu varum and 133 genu valgum deformities. Seven genu varum (10.7%) and 37 genu valgum (28%) deformities were regarded as failure. Fifty eight genu varum got corrected completely obtaining an average of 5° of valgum in an average of 6.3 months. The average rate of spontaneous correction was 1.9° a month. Ninety six valgum got corrected obtaining an average of 4.7 valgum in an average of 13.3 months. The average rate of spontaneous correction was 0.92° a month. Conclusion: Most of the rachitic deformities get corrected with age. Genu varum is having better chances and a faster rate of correction as compared with genu valgum. Early surgery may be indicated in late presenting cases. We believe varum above 4 years and 18° of valgum above 9 years usually do not correct and may require surgical intervention.


We demonstrate a 41.6 MHz, 1.3 ps, 140 pJ Ho:fiber oscillator centered at 2050 nm for seeding Ho:YLF amplifiers. RIN and timing jitter of the oscillator are characterized while comparing two commercial Tm pump lasers.


The purpose of this design is to provide encouragement to teens in overcoming the dangers of playing excessive online games. The design method used is the glass box method which is a rational and logical design, and through several stages that are considered by the designer.Designing interesting and well-conveyed motion graphics, the designer conducts research and data collection by observing, interviewing and studying literature. With this problem the solution to overcome the dangers of online games in adolescents is to socialize audio visual form of motion graphics about the dangers of playing online games for adolescents in the city of Padang. This design is supported by several supporting media such as: Poster, T-shirt, Totebag, Key Chain, Sticker, Notebook, CD Cover and CD Label.Kata Kunci : Motion Graphic, Game Online, ILM, a Teenager, Padang City.


This study is concerned with the control problem of networked non-linear systems with communication delay and data dropout. A networked non-linear predictive control scheme is proposed to compensate for communication delay and data dropout actively rather than passively. The stability analysis shows that the stability problem of the closed-loop networked non-linear predictive control system is converted to the one of a conventional non-linear control system without network. The simulations illustrate that the proposed scheme can compensate for communication delay and data dropout, and achieve the same control performance of the local closed-loop control system without network.


For symmetric top molecules a non-resonant absorption line was observed many years ago and shown to have a collisional broadening cross section far lower than the rotational absorptions lines of the same molecules. An "effective line model" explains this linewidth reduction as being due to collisional coupling between different ΔJ=0 rotational lines. The same model can be used for describing collisional coupling in infrared Q bands.


The article considers the problem of responsibility for executing an unlawful order, according to the regulations of the international criminal law, using the example of Dražen Erdemović, a soldier of the 10th Sabotage Detachment of the Bosnian Serb Army, who was accused of crimes against humanity, including his participation in the massacre of the unarmed Muslims from Srebrenica on 16th July 1995. His case deserves scrutiny as he pleaded guilty and thus adopted a certain line of defense strategy at the International Tribunal Court for the former Yugoslavia. The accused was aware of having violated the rules of the international criminal law and the charges filed against him accordingly, but – at the same time – he stated that if he had not executed the order, he would have been killed.


A robust and effective two-dimensional symbol code is developed that is decodable in a bottom-up fashion imposing minimal constraints from a priori models. For binary encoding of arbitrary data two equally sized, lattice-like arranged, quadratic symbols are proposed which only differ in their complementary brightness distribution. For symbol code recognition the orien- tation parameter of the symbols is estimated from their own higher level texture. Then, normalized matching with a single correlation filter concurrently detects both symbol types, whereby dependently the response is either strongly positive or negative. The filter output is the correlation score whose local maxima are adaptively extracted by morphological dilation. Finally, a fuzzy region-merging approach based on four-neighborhoods restores the encoded bit matrix. I. INTRODUCTION Most state of the art machine-readable symbol codes were invented for document management systems that support the electronic tracking of paper documents through imprinted data labels (1). Nowadays, different applications in automated manufacturing have emerged where physical objects of a diverse range of materials and geometries are directly marked with symbol codes in order to control intelligent production lines (2). Current symbol codes are originally unable to cope with the changed requirements, especially regarding reflective and non-flat component surfaces. Furthermore, minimal size constraints prevent current symbol codes from being applied onto tiny parts hindering the quest for miniaturization. Figure 1 outlines the problem and shows how the herein developed symbol code integrates into an automated part assembly.


This paper investigates the impact on both sales price and marketing time of offering a bonus to the selling broker of property. Recognizing and controlling for the different incentives inherent in pricing versus exposure listing strategies, this article employs hedonic pricing and time-on-market (TOM) estimations to uncover the relationship among property price, property TOM and salesperson bonuses. The results suggest that properties offering a bonus experience both a price discount and extended TOM.This article is the winner of the Real Estate Brokerage/Agency Manuscript Prize (sponsored by the Center for the Study of Real Estate Brokerage/Agency at Cleveland State University) presented at the 2003 American Real Estate Society Meeting.


The IUPAC-ThalesNano Prize in Flow Chemistry and Microfluidics is to be awarded to an internationally recognized scientist, whose activities or published accounts have made an outstanding contribution in the field of flow chemistry, microfluidics, micro fabrication, and micro systems engineering in academia or industry.


Excerpt To the editor: This letter is in reference to the article by Inouye and Sox (1), "Standard and Computed Tomography in the Evaluation of Neoplasms of the Chest." At the end of the article, t...


This special double edition of Kybernetes, guest edited by Ranulph Glanville and Ben Sweeting, comprises papers from the 2010 Conference of the American Society for Cybernetics 'Cybernetics: Art, Design, Mathematics - A Meta-Disciplinary Conversation' held at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY, USA. The conference featured cyberneticians, artists, musicians, architects, designers and mathematicians and explored and developed connections between these different fields through structured discussions and the open exchange of ideas. Two themes focused the discussions and papers: (1) the relation between abstract and actual and (2) cross over processes/ trans-, intra-, meta-.


This paper describes an acoustic method of combined monitoring of properties of multilayered liquids, based on the analysis of an ultrasonic signal following a waveguide from an acoustic emitter towards the top of the tank. In order to improve accuracy in the waveguide, reflecting markers are installed in certain intervals to reflect part of the acoustic wave back to the transmitter. Analysis of the amplitude and propagation time makes it possible to determine the speed of sound, density and viscosity in the interval between adjacent reflecting markers. We provide two methods to calculate viscosity: for a specific case of certain dependence of the density on the speed of sound, such as with petroleum products, and for the general case. The reflection rate of reflecting marker is analyzed to find the most preferable value, depending on number of reflecting markers. We developed a signal processing algorithm and made a prototype model of a system that demonstrated errors of combined measurement to be 0.1% for level, 5% for density and 20% for viscosity when using a single acoustic transducer.


The tendency of a series of acyclic nucleoside analogues 1a-f to undergo intramolecular cyclization reactions was investigated. All compounds, when treated with NaOD, were in equilibrium with the bicyclic compounds 2a-f, arising from Michael addition of a hydroxy group to the C(5)=C(6) bonds. Derivatives of 2,4-pyrimidinediones (1a,b) had the highest tendency to undergo intramolecular Michael addition when treated with triethylamine, whereas the cyclization of 4-amino-2-pyridones (1c-f) proceeded best with acid. The exocyclic double bond of was essential for the cyclization to occur. Commonly used N-protecting groups as the benzoyl- and the dibutylaminomethylene group enhanced cyclization. Under acidic anhydrous conditions 1b and 1e cyclized to the 2,4'-anhydro compounds 1b and 1e.


Fully updated to include case studies from a range of industry sectors, the 2nd edition is a concise, thorough and enlightening textbook that demonstrates how organizations can take advantage of �strategic windows� to improve their positions.


Abstract ALTHOUGH methods for the actual measurement of thyroid hormone secretion have not been available until recently, it is generally assumed from indirect evidence that the thyroid gland undergoes seasonal cycles of activity, being most active, under natural environmental conditions, in winter and least active in summer. Recent investigations on certain goitrogenic compounds, typified by thiouracil and thiourea, have resulted in the development of a technique whereby either the average thyroid hormone secretion of animals can be estimated, or the thyroidal activity of unknown compounds can be assayed. This method was first outlined by Dempsey and Astwood (1943) for rats, and applied to day-old chicks by Mixner, Reineke and Turner (1944). In this method sufficient thiouracil is given to inhibit the formation of hormone by the chick's own thyroid, permitting an increased output of thyrotrophic hormone by the pituitary and compensatory enlargement of the thyroid gland. If thyroxine is injected at . . .


In n–i–p–i and multiple quantum well hetero-n–i–p–i structures, semiconductor depletion regions, and hetero-Schottky barriers, as well as in photorefractive materials, transport of optically induced carriers within internal or externally applied fields alters these fields. Field-dependent effects on optical transmission such as the linear electrooptic effect, electroabsorption, and electrorefraction cause effective optical nonlinearities which may be very large and materials very sensitive. As an example, in the hetero-n–i–p–i structure, refractive-index changes as large as –0.01 occur at intensity levels of only 0.7 mW/cm2.


The paper presents a prototypical tool to support the documentation of medical discussions. The development of this tool came after a long phase of requirement specification and prototyping activity, which allowed identifying two main functionalities for the tool, corresponding to two components. A first component is devoted to support the user in documenting clinical discussions, exploiting a graphical notation tailored to physicians' habits. A second component exploits argumentation schemes in order to analyze documented discussions, possibly bringing to light weaknesses in the reasoning process.


BACKGROUND
 The widespread adoption of mobile and smartphones provides researchers with expanded opportunities for implementing behavioral and health-related interventions. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funds competitive technology-based grant applications to support health promotion consistent with its mission. Funded grants represent the state-of-the-art science and therefore are expected to anticipate the progression of health promotion and disease prevention research in the near future.

 OBJECTIVE
 The objective of this paper is to examine the different kinds of smartphone-based intervention apps funded through NIH Institutes during the five-year period between 2014 and 2018.

 METHODS
 We queried the public domain NIH Reporter to identify candidate grants that addressed mHealth and involved implementation of smartphone applications. From 1,524 potential grants, we identified 399 that met the requisite of including an intervention app. Grants from 20 Institutes under the NIH umbrella were included. Each grant's abstract was analyzed to understand the rationale behind the app and focus of intervention, in addition year of funding, and first-year award amount, type of activity (e.g. R01, R34, etc.), specific strategy, intended outcome, and target population were also noted.

 RESULTS
 We identified 13 categories of strategies employed in the different intervention apps. Most grants included either one (36.6%) or two (37.8%) intervention approaches. These included cognitive and behavioral therapies (67 apps), enhanced motivation (49 apps), mindfulness training (17 apps), norm setting (7 apps), skills training (84 apps), gaming and gamification (56 apps), social support and social networking (58 apps), facilitating, reminding and referring (60 apps), education and information (84 apps), monitoring and feedback (191 apps), contingency management (23 apps), artificial intelligence (57 apps), and bionic adaptation (33 apps). The most frequently observed grant types included SBIR/STTR grants (40.9%) and R01s (26.1%). The number of grants funded increase through the five-year period from 60 in 2014 to 112 in 2018.

 CONCLUSIONS
 Smartphone intervention apps are increasingly competitive for NIH funding. They utilize a wide diversity of intervention strategies and substantive foci that collectively have significant potential for use in applied health promotion settings.


Objective To evaluate ICU nurse's compliance to abide by the aseptic technology of sputum suctioning. Methods The direct observation method and the questionnaire survey procedure were used to analyze sputum suctioning technique of 76 nurses several 482 times to find out the sections easily be polluted. Results ICU nurses had relative serious problems in the times of washing hand before the operation, the nurses who had shorter work experience of ICU had a relative high rate of pollution. Conclusions Through improving the nurse~ awareness of the concept of sterile, the ICU nurse's compliance to the aseptic technology of sputum suctioning is advanced.

Key words:
ICU nurse;  Aseptic technology of sputum suctioning;  Compliance


The structural features and thermal calculation method of large capacity tower type boiler is analyzed in this page.The different of thermal calculation method between tower type boiler and П type boiler is also pointed out.Use the oriented-object method to analyze the design pattern of thermal calculation program,and depends on these patterns,write the program by visual basic 6.0 which is based on object.In the end of the page,calculate a 1 000 MW tower type boiler by this program and get the furnace exit gas temperature,different kinds of empirical coefficient and the heat absorption of extra-surface.


We have observed direct time domain exciton-polariton oscillating emission from a single-quantum-well GaAs microcavity. Observed oscillation periods of 21.7 ps were in good agreement with the spectral splitting of 0.12 nm. Such observations are consistent with the view that recently observed thresholdless coherent emission is not resonant Rayleigh scattering but rather exciton-polariton emission.


A treatise on the nature, purpose and meaning of architecture, relfecting the author's search for the archetypal basis of the act of building. Seeing architecture not merely as the expression, but as the precondition of human culture, Hans van der Laan believes that its principles must be sought within architecture itself, rather than in technological, social or ideological factors.


Piezo proteins are a group of important mechanical-responsive ion channel proteins, which play an indispensable role in the normal physiological process of the organism. Therefore, Piezo proteins have attracted many researchers to develop relevant studies. In this work, an evolutionary tree of the Piezo1 gene was constructed using the gene sequences from National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Using MEGA, the ancestral gene sequence was constructed and the conserved and variable regions of Piezo1 protein were marked. According to the tree, the evolution of Piezo genes can be analysed, and then it is possible to predict the direction of gene mutation. The pathogenic mutation site to the corresponding regions was also mapped. Although there is still much work to be improved, the efforts to analyze the Piezo 1 gene from an evolutionary perspective is valuable, which might be helpful for future disease diagnosis and individualized therapy.