In this paper, the energy balance analysis of diesel engine system is introduced, and a medium-speed diesel engine was used as a research object to build simulation models. The correctness of model was verified by comparing simulation data to experimental result. The energy balance on thermodynamic cycle is analyzed by combining the results of simulation data and theoretical analysis to evaluate the energy efficiency of this diesel engine. Factors of energy efficiency are pointed out by theoretical analysis, and the result of the research on effects caused by changes of parameters is been used to pointing out the path of improving the energy efficiency of diesel engines.


In this paper we present a quantum‐mechanical study of anions in water clusters, X−(H2O)n (X=Cl, Br, I, and n=1–6). Molecular orbital calculations at the self‐consistent field (SCF) level and at the second‐order Mo/ller–Plesset (MP2) level were performed using extended basis sets. Full structural optimization was conducted at the MP2 level for n=1 and at the SCF level for n=2–6. The energies and charge distribution of X−(H2O) were calculated at the MP2 level, while the energies of the X−(H2O)n (n=2–6) clusters were calculated at the MP2 level using the SCF optimized geometry. Calculations of total and sequential enthalpies of hydration and for the vertical ionization potentials were conducted for X−(H2O), the hydrogen bonded and linear isomers of X−(H2O)2, the pyramidal structure of X−(H2O)3, and the interior and surface isomers of X−(H2O)n, n=4–6. The calculated hydration enthalpies account well for their experimental size dependence for n=1–6. However, the isomer specificity of the hydration enthalpies ...


Recieved: 28/08/2020 Accepted: 10/12/2020 Google Glass is a prime example to learn how innovation is created and commercialized. More notably, learning from the making decision or acts of Google's expert entrepreneurs is invaluable on the journey to become future entrepreneurs and innovators. Therefore, this article will discuss types of innovation matching Google Glass, entrepreneurial approaches to create Google Glass, and the definition of an entrepreneur. Note that every explanation will be based on the Google Glass case study and evidence from scientific research.


The developm ent of the sk ill of writing is closely related to the approach to the comprehensive training for the teaching - le arning process of English with Specific Purpos es at the Higher Medical Education Centers in Cuba whose main goal is to enhance the linguistic com petence for the oral and written communication of the future graduates in the medical s ciences. The main objective of this paper is to lay the foundations of the importance of writing through the English with Specific P urposes for the students of medicine in the Higher Medical Education centers in Cuba.


Nursi's Risale- i Nur represents a unique system in education which acknowledges the human being, his abilities, longings, feelings and perceptions. In addition to taking care of man's physical and psychological needs as well as his personal and collective aspects - this system links man to his past, present and future. The advantages of this system entitle man to validity of education, proliferation and personal flourishing in the present and for a bright future and a better Hereafter. If the Risale-i Nur's approach in thinking and contemplating were implemented in educational and disciplinary institutions; many shortages in applied systems in our societies would be overcome, and many benefits would be attained.
Key Words: Risale-i Nur, Education, Human Needs, Society, Education Systems
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– ملخص البحث –
أ.د. آدم طاطلي
تمثل رسائل النور للأستاذ النورسي نظاما تربويا خاصا، يستوعب الإنسان في جملة ملكاته وأشواقه وأحاسيسه ومشاعره... وكل جوانبه المادية والمعنوية، ومجمل أبعاده الشخصية والجماعية، نظام يربطه بالماضي والحاضر والمستقبل، وتخول له ميزاته صلاحية التعليم والانتشار والتفعيل في الحاضر لأجل غد سعيد وآخرة أسعد، فلو فعلنا رسائل النور ومنهجها في النظر والتدبير والتطبيق في مؤسساتنا التعليمية والتكوينية لاستدركنا على نقائص الأنظمة التربوية المعمول بها في مجتمعاتنا، واستجلبنا بها خيرا عميما.
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Natural disaster risk assessment is one of the hot fields of the study of natural disaster.The key point is to identify the trend of significant natural disasters.The strong earthquake activity on the seductions zone shows the correlativity with the earthquake activity in Northeast area at space-time.It is of great significance to analyze the possible occurring time of the earthquake.Study on Tendency of Judgment of futures MS≥8 earthquake in north-western pacific plate seductions using the method of commensurability information extract and butterfly structure.We believe that there is a strong signal that the earthquake whose level is greater than the eighth grade will occur in 2013,2014 and 2017.It becomes more likely in 2014.From the earthquake migration,we find that the space distributions of epifocus have obviously symmetry.There is 6 times of migration from north to south and return.According to these,the MS≥8 earthquake will occur on the eastern side of 146°E longitude and northern side of 43°N latitude,the symmetry axis located demarcation between Japan Trench and Kurite trench.The physical mechanism of the spatial symmetry has not been figured out,further improvements are needed.


The invention relates to an installation (10) for severing of phosphate from phosphate-containing liquids and recovery of phosphate salts with one or more reactors (12) each comprising two electrodes of opposite polarity and span the a reaction chamber therebetween, wherein each reactor (12) a inlet (14) and an outlet (16), wherein the outlet (16) in a recirculation (22) and an effluent (24) is separated and the recirculation (22) some of the liquid of the flow (16) of the reactor (12) feeds the inlet of the same or a different reactor (12) as well as a method therefor and a biological purification plant and a process for their operation.


Cross-scene hyperspectral image (HSI) classification has recently become increasingly popular due to its crucial use in various applications. It poses great challenges to existing domain adaptation methods because of the data set shift, that is, two scenes exhibit huge distribution discrepancy. To tackle this problem, we propose a new domain adaptation method called hyperspectral feature adaptation and augmentation (HFAA) for cross-scene HSI classification. The proposed HFAA method learns a common subspace by introducing two different projection matrices to extract the transferable knowledge from the source domain to the target domain. To further enhance the common subspace representation, we propose to augment it by the feature selection strategy. HFAA can make full use of the original features from both source and target domains, and increase the similarity of the samples with the same label from the two domains. Our proposed HFAA method achieves compact but discriminative feature representations, which make it well suited for data sets with a large number of classes and huge interclass ambiguity. Experimental results on the Earth Observing 1 hyperspectral data set show that HFAA can produce state-of-the-art performance and surpass previous methods.


OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between the polymorphism of T1 locus allele in a disintegrin and metalloprotease 33(ADAM33) gene and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) in the Chinese Han population from Shandong Province.METHODS To determine the polymorphism of T1 locus allele in ADAM33 gene,we used polymerase chain reaction(PCR) based restriction fragment length polymorphism(RFLP) technique in 363 COPD subjects and 372 healthy controls.RESULTS The frequencies of genotypes AA,GA and GG at polymorphism sites T1 were 0.8265,0.1680 and 0.0055,respectively in COPD group,while 0.8763,0.1156 and 0.0081 in control group.Besides,the A type allele frequencies were 0.9105 and 0.9341 in patients and controls respectively,and the G type allele frequencies were 0.0895 and 0.0659 in COPD patients and healthy controls.There was no significant difference between genotype frequencies(P=0.117) or allele frequencies(P=0.090).CONCLUSION The polymorphism of T1 locus allele in ADAM33 gene have none association with the susceptibility to COPD in Chinese Han population from Shandong Province.


The paper makes summarize and analysis of five serious misoperation accident and its reason in substation of Qinghai power grid from 1985 to 2008,and makes overview on the operation status of error-locking prevention device of 110kV and over it substation in Qinghai power grid,as well as generally analyzes and evaluates subject matter of various error-locking prevention device,thus provides countermeasures and suggestions.


As a consequence of secular cooling of the Earth, there is generally no modern analog to assist in understanding the tectonic style that may have operated in the Archean. Higher mantle temperatures and higher radiogenic heat production in the Archean Earth would have impacted the thickness and composition of the crust. For this reason, well-constrained numerical modeling, based on the fragmentary evidence preserved in the geological record, is the most appropriate tool to evaluate hypotheses of Archean crust formation. The main lithology of Archean gray gneiss complexes is the sodic tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite (TTG) suite. Melting of hydrated basalt at garnet amphibolite, granulite or eclogite facies conditions is considered to be the dominant process that generated the Archean TTGs. Taking into account geochemical signatures of possible mantle contributions to some TTGs, models proposed for the formation of Archean crust include subduction, melting at the bottom of thickened continental crust and fractional crystallization of mantle-derived melts under water-saturated conditions. We evaluated these hypotheses using a 2D coupled petrological-thermomechanical tectonomagmatic numerical model with initial conditions appropriate to the Eoarchean–Mesoarchean. Based on the result of our experiments, we identify three tectonic processes by which intermediate to felsic melts may be generated from hydrated primitive basaltic crust: (1) delamination and dripping of the lower mafic crust into the mantle; (2) local thickening of the crust; and (3) small-scale crustal overturns. In the context of a stagnant-deformable lid tectono-magmatic geodynamic regime that is terminated by short-lived subduction, we identify two distinct types of continental crust. The first type is a pristine granite–greenstone-like crust with dome-and-keel geometry formed over delaminating–upwelling mantle which is mostly subjected to vertical tectonics processes. By contrast, the second type is a reworked (accreted) crust comprising strongly deformed granite–greenstone and subduction-related sequences and subjected to both strong horizontal shortening and vertical tectonics processes. Thus, our study has identified a possible spatial and temporal transition from pristine granite–greenstone-like crust with dome-and-keel geometry to reworked (accreted) crust forming more felsic gneiss terranes in the Archean. We suggest that the contemporaneity of the proposed mechanisms can explain the variety and complexity of the Archean geological record.


The invention discloses recoil shaking equipment of a cap pistol, wherein a heavy body front end of the recoil shaking equipment is directly against and connected with a piston spring on the backside of a piston, and the prior connecting part is not arranged, so as to avoid damaging the structure caused by repeatedly impacting the front end of the prior connecting part by the piston, and also maintain emulational counterforce function of the recoil shaking equipment; moreover, a back wall of the recoil shaking equipment can be provided with an adjusting button, so that the size of the recoil can be adjusted.


Oertell J, Caballero C, Iglesias M, Chaux A, Amat L, Ayala E, Rodríguez I, Velázquez E F, Barreto J E, Ayala G & Cubilla A L
(2011) Histopathology 58, 925–933
Differentiated precursor lesions and low‐grade variants of squamous cell carcinomas are frequent findings in foreskins of patients from a region of high penile cancer incidence


Background: The myopathy of Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), a consequence of ischemia caused by atherosclerotic plaques in arteries supplying the legs, is characterized by myofiber degeneration and fibrosis of the vascular walls and extramyofiber matrix. In association with fibrosis we have found a robust expression of the profibrotic cytokine TGFβ1 in vascular smooth muscle cells. Additionally, we have observed microvascular endothelial "swelling" in PAD muscle. Published data indicate that inhibitors of the angiotensin system reduce fibrosis in multiple organ systems and improve walking performance, in diverse patient populations. We hypothesize that "swelling" of microvasculature endothelial cells represents abnormal accumulation of basement membrane Collagen Type IV (Col-IV) and that treatment with Ramipril will improve the microvasculature. Methods and Results: Gastrocnemius biopsies of PAD patients at Fontaine Stage II (N=5) before and after six months of Ramipril intervention and control patients (N=4) were labeled with an antibody specific for Col-IV. Images were acquired with an automated wide-field microscope and then processed with Image Pro Plus® and AutoQuant® deconvolution software. We used Col IV label to measure wall thickness and lumen diameter of 230 to 360 microvessels per patient, with a custom MatLab program based on the Expectation Maximization algorithm coupled with a Gaussian Mixture Model. Microvessel wall thickness was significantly greater (p Conclusions: The increase of microvessel lumen diameter with Ramipril treatment is expected to increase microvascular perfusion and thereby improve walking distance. Our study will be expanded to increase cohort size and evaluate the association of microvascular measurements with microperfusion determined by Contrast Enhanced Ultrasonography and with walking performance.


This study aims to determine the level of compatibility between the expected quality of service perceived by the student services STMIK ProVisi Semarang and explain the influence of the five dimensions of service quality are tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy student satisfaction and loyalty. Techniques used in the determination of the sample is purposive sampling while the data was analyzed with Importance-Performance Analysis and Regression. The results showed that 1) Based on the results of research on student satisfaction levels indicate that the Cartesius diagram pointing quadrant B means the service quality indicators consisting of five dimensions of well regarded by students of Semarang STMIK ProVisi means that the service perceived as expected student 2) Model prediction with regression showed value of  F calculate 7.532 and probabilities of 0.000 <level of significance ? = 5% = 0.05, meaning that the regression model is said to fit or worthy of study as a model prediction. 3) The five dimensions of service quality positively influence student loyalty


Tungsten is an important candidate plasma-facing material for fusion reactors. Its irradiation response, especially the post-irradiation annealing (PIA) behaviors need to be further investigated. In addition, the practice of the "inside-outside" contrast method for determining the characters of irradiation induced dislocation loops has not been applied frequently, and the current research serve as an example to present some practical considerations. In the current work, a tungsten thin-foil specimen was irradiated at 400℃ with 58 keV D ions to a final fluence of 1×1017cm-2, corresponding to a dose of ~0.1 dpa. The specimen was prepared through the electro-polishing method using a NaOH based electrolyte. The ion irradiation was carried out directly on the electro-polished specimen. The irradiated specimen was followed by isothermal annealing at 900℃ for 1 h. The as-irradiated and post-irradiation annealing modified defects were characterized with a transmission electron microscope (TEM) operated at 200 kV. The irradiation defects were characterized with TEM bright-field imaging for the same imaging field using different  g  vectors around the three major zone axis: the [001], [111], and [011] zone axis of the body-center cubic lattice of W. For each  g  vector, a ± g  characterization was performed, and the corresponding contrast-extinctions and "inside-outside" contrasts of selected dislocation loops were identified. The indices of the  g  vectors around different zone axis were assigned consistently with regards to the Kikuchi map. As a result, the D ion irradiation induced a fine distribution of dislocation loops with an average size of 11.10 ±5.41 nm and a bulk density of 2.40×1022 /m3. Voids were not obviously observed. The post-irradiation annealing caused the increase of loop size and decrease of loop density, with numbers of 18.25 ±16.92 nm and 1.19×1022 /m3, respectively. Through the contrast-extinction analysis, the dislocation loops in the irradiated and annealed specimen were identified to be  a /2<111> type dislocation loops. The post-irradiation annealing also caused the coalescence of large loops and formed large irregular-shaped dislocation loops. Voids with typical sizes of 1~2 nm were also observed in the annealed specimen. The PIA modified microstructure is consistent with the stage IV or stage V characteristics of classical PIA induced microstructures. Through the "one-step" inside-outside contrast method, the dislocation loops were identified as the interstitial type. The influcing factors for the "one-step" method were discussed and the importance of consistent indexing had been noted.


Upcoming ground- and space-based experiments may have sufficient accuracy to place significant constraints upon high-redshift star formation, Reionization, and dark matter (DM) using the global 21 cm signal of the intergalactic medium. In the early universe, when the relative abundance of low-mass DM halos was important, measuring the global signal would place constraints on the damping of structure formation caused by DM having a higher relic velocity (warm dark matter, or WDM) than in cold dark matter. Such damping, however, can be mimicked by altering the star formation efficiency (SFE) and can be difficult to detect because of the presence of Population III stars with unknown properties. We study these various cases and their degeneracies with the WDM mass parameter m X using a Fisher matrix analysis. We study the m X = 7 keV case and a star formation model that parameterizes the SFE as a strong function of halo mass and include several variations of this model along with three different input noise levels for the likelihood; we also use a minimum halo virial temperature for collapse near the molecular cooling threshold. We find that when the likelihood includes only Population II stars, m X is constrained to an uncertainty of ∼0.4 keV for all models and noise levels at the 68% confidence level. When the likelihood includes weak Population III stars, m X ∼ 0.3 keV, and if Population III star formation is relatively efficient, m X ∼ 0.1 keV uncertainty, with tight Population III star formation parameter constraints. Our results show that the global 21 cm signal is a promising test-bed for WDM models, even in the presence of strong degeneracies with astrophysical parameters.


Several existing compiler transformations can help improve communication-computation overlap in MPI applications. However, traditional compilers treat calls to the MPI library as a black box with unknown side effects and thus miss potential optimizations. This paper's contributions enable the development of an MPI-aware optimizing compiler that can perform transformations exploiting knowledge of MPI call effects to increase communication-computa-tion overlap. We formulate a set of data flow equations and rules to describe the side effects of key MPI functions so an MPI-aware compiler can automatically assess the safety of transformations. After categorizing existing compiler transformations based on their effect on the application code, we present an optimization algorithm that specifies when and how to apply these optimizing transformations to achieve improved communication-computation overlap. By manually applying the optimization algorithm to kernels extracted from HYCOM and the NAS benchmarks, we show that even when transforming these highly optimized codes, execution time can be decreased by an average of over 30%.


The aim of this study is to find out how the tv-program I Zlatans fotspar (English: In Zlatan's footprints) broadcasted on Swedish public service television represent the participating young player ...


Abstract : This report is provided as input for the overall Department of Defense net assessment study of U.S. and Soviet tank crew training. It will be incorporated into Chapter 2 of the MASSTER report 'Assessment of Tank Crew Training' as Section 2-3b(4). To facilitate incorporation without additional revisions, the paragraphs and figures have been numbered as they will appear in the final MASSTER report. This report consists of a description of the experimental crews in terms of their overall gunnery qualification scores, and a presentation of the analyses of company tank crew data across a variety of variables using several different analytical methodologies.


This paper presents forward and inverse Kinematics analysis of a specific class of series– parallel manipulators, known as 2(6-UPS) manipulators. As Forward kinematics problem of this kind of manipulators is a very difficult problem to solve because of their highly nonlinear relations between joint variables and position and orientation of the end effectors, Numerical methods are the most common approaches to solve. Nevertheless, the possible lack of convergence of these methods is the main drawback. Therefore, artificial neural networks (ANN) with their inherent learning ability as a strong method, was used to approximate the forward kinematics function without any knowledge of manipulator structure. In this paper, two types of ANN models were used. MLP (multi-layer perceptron network) and RBF (radial basis function network) have been used to solve the forward kinematics problem of this hybrid manipulator and results are obtained. Simulation results show the advantages of employing neural networks. Also, according to average percentage error, as the performance index, it was found at RBF gives better result as compared to MLP.


In this study, it was aimed to investigate that long-term clinical efficacy of modified synthetic capsule technique in treatment of coxofemoral luxation in dogs. As animal materials, six dogs which different breeds, sex and ages that detected coxofemoral luxation in clinical and radiological examination were subjected. As different from modified synthetic capsule technique, two cortical screws were inserted into the dorsal rim about 5 mm away from the acetabular edge at the 10and 12-o'clock positions for the left hip and the 12and 2-o'clock positions for the right hip. Also, the transverse hole was created in greater trochanter. Non-absorbable monofilament suture material was tied to the screw heads previously and then the suture ends were passed as crosswise through the transverse tunnel in the trochanter major. Subsequently, the suture material was tied on the greater trochanter by stretching following that the femoral head was placed into the acetabulum. It was seen that there was no complication related with the reduction or screws in clinical and radiological examinations of the dogs at fourth week. We determined that five dogs recovered "perfect" and one dog "good" end of sixth months.


SIAR is a new type of radar,and wide array distribution is its character.Lightning protection calculation method is an alyzed in this article,and the general formula,and we put forward by using particle swarm optimization algorithm further light ning protection range of method,establishes the model and simulation test.The work will be of systems has guiding significance for engineering design.


Impurities found in active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and pharmaceutical products are of ever‐increasing interest. According to several regulatory agencies, purity and impurity profiles are essential. An impurity is defined as any additional inorganic or organic material, residual solvents other than the medicinal components, or undesired compounds that remain with APIs. Impurities and degradation products in bulk drug materials and pharmaceutical formulations are identified, their structures are clarified, and their quantitative determination is part of impurity profiling. Unrecognized, poisonous impurities are dangerous to health and should be identified by selective procedures to increase the safety of drug therapy, and impurity profiling has become more significant in pharmaceutical analysis. This review briefly introduces process and product‐related impurities and emphasizes the creation of cutting‐edge analytical techniques for identifying them. It discusses the use of analytical methods, particularly high‐performance thin‐layer chromatography, liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry (MS), ultrahigh‐performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography–MS, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for the identification of contaminants and degradation products. It has discussed the importance of the quality, efficacy, and safety of drug substances and products, including the origin, types, and quality control of impurities, the need for the development of impurity profiling methods, impurity identification, and regulatory aspects.


Theoretical and empirical accounts suggest that adolescence is associated with heightened reward learning and impulsivity. Experimental tasks and computational models that can dissociate reward learning from the tendency to initiate actions impulsively (action initiation bias) are thus critical to characterise the mechanisms that drive developmental differences. However, existing work has rarely quantified both learning ability and action initiation, or it has tested small samples. Here, using computational modelling of a learning task collected from a large sample (N=742, 9-18 years, 11 countries), we tested differences in reward and punishment learning and action initiation from childhood to adolescence. Computational modelling revealed that whilst punishment learning rates increased with age, reward learning remained stable. In parallel, action initiation biases decreased with age. Results were similar when considering pubertal stage instead of chronological age. We conclude that heightened reward responsivity in adolescence can reflect differences in action initiation rather than enhanced reward learning.


A review of Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker's testimony before Congress about the System's monetary targets for 1985, with an analysis of some current monetary policy issues.


Silica-supported Ni-Ag catalysts with a loading of 2·1·0.6% (w/w) total metal have been prepared using the precursors nickel dimethylglyoxime and silver nitrate by means of a simple impregnation method. The resulting catalysts were activated by calcination at 260°C in air, followed by hydrogen reduction at 450°C. They were then employed for soyabean oil hydrogenation at 1 bar H2 pressure and 160°C in a stirred batch reactor.

Characterisation of the catalysts using temperature-programmed reduction and electron microscopy indicated that alloying of nickel and silver had occurred, but metal particle composition, for a given overall composition, varied with metal particle size and smaller metal particles were nickel rich.

The hydrogenation activity and selectivity measurements revealed that the catalysts were more active and selective than a commercial nickel catalyst. Furthermore, the specific activities of the alloy catalysts were a maximum for alloys in the range 70–90 at. % Ni. However, the supported alloy catalysts also gave rise to greater trans isomerisation than the commercial catalyst. This is attributed to hydrogen deficiency caused by large triglyceride molecules blocking hydrogen chemisorption on small nickel particles (10–50 A in diameter), leading to enhanced cis-trans isomerisation.


A survey of experienced LIS professionals was carried out in order to discover some of their perceptions of new LIS professionals. The results demonstrate the need for new professionals to establish dialogues with their experienced colleagues, and some methods of forging links and starting conversations are suggested. These results were first presented in a paper delivered at the CILIP Career Development Group New Professionals Conference 2011.


Summary 1. Rickettsia burneti has been isolated from the tick Haemaphysalis punctata collected from sheep in an endemic area of Q fever in south-east England. 2. Isolation from one batch may have been due to contamination from the wool of sheep excreting R. burneti, but evidence is presented that isolation from another batch was due to the presence of the rickettsia in the tick tissues. We should like to express our gratitude to Mr R. D. Brown, M.R.C.V.S., Mr F. L. J. Kett, F.R.E.S., and Mr J. Carey, who helped to collect the specimens. We are also indebted to Dr A. D. Lees (Agricultural Research Council Unit of Insect Physiology) for his help with the identification of the ticks. Finally we wish to acknowledge the valuable laboratory assistance given by Mr P. C. Collings, Miss Z. Page and Miss K. Arnold.


Three structural provinces of this report, the Nepa-Botuoba High, the Angara-Lena Terrace, and the Cis-Patom Foredeep, occupy the southeastern part of the Siberian craton northwest of the Baikal-Patom folded region (fig. 1). The provinces are similar in many aspects of their history of development, stratigraphic composition, and petroleum geology characteristics. The sedi mentary cover of the provinces overlies the Archean–Lower Pro terozoic basement of the Siberian craton. Over most of the area of the provinces, the basement is covered by Vendian (uppermost Proterozoic, 650–570 Ma) clastic and carbonate rocks. Unlike the case in the more northwestern areas of the craton, older Riphean sedimentary rocks here are largely absent and they appear in the stratigraphic sequence only in parts of the Cis-Patom Foredeep province. Most of the overlying sedimentary section consists of Cambrian and Ordovician carbonate and clastic rocks, and it includes a thick Lower Cambrian salt-bearing formation. Younger rocks are thin and are present only in marginal areas.


We present a formal model of network protocols and their application to modeling firewall policies. The formalization is based on the Unified Policy Framework (UPF). The formalization was originally developed with for generating test cases for testing the security configuration actual firewall and router (middle-boxes) using HOL-TestGen. Our work focuses on modeling application level protocols on top of tcp/ip.


Guarantee Agreement (Bahia Health System Reform Project) between the Federative Republic of Brazil and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (with General Conditions Applicable to Loan and Guarantee Agreements for Fixed-Spread Loans dated 1 September 1999). Washington, 26 August 2003


In the randomized SELECT trial, vitamin E supplementation raised risk for prostate cancer compared with placebo (NEJM JW Gen Med Oct 25 2011). Now,


The widespread application of geographic information systems (GISs) at airports is detailed through surveys of U.S. airports. A recent survey conducted through the Airport GIS Committee of the American Association of Airport Executives indicated that more than 60 percent of airports use GISs or plan to use GISs within the next 3 years. The application of GISs for infrastructure management, environmental analysis, and airport operations is becoming commonplace at larger U.S. airports. Integration of infrastructure management in general and pavement management in particular with airportwide GISs provides far greater management capabilities than traditional infrastructure management systems. The development of integrated airport GISs and the availability of affordable, differentially corrected Global Positioning System receivers have resulted in a paradigm shift in methods of infrastructure management. As the new millennium approaches, the state of the art in infrastructure and pavement management is turning away from the traditional forms toward map-based systems that have sophisticated analytical tools. In the case of pavement management, the use of map-based analysis will overcome many of the shortcomings of the traditional MicroPAVER inspection process. The capabilities of the current state of the art in pavement management are detailed.


We study the cross-entropy method for diffusions. One of the results is a versatile cross-entropy algorithm that can be used to design efficient importance sampling strategies for rare events or to solve optimal control problems. The approach is based on the minimization of a suitable cross-entropy functional, with a parametric family of exponentially tilted probability distributions. We illustrate the new algorithm with several numerical examples and discuss algorithmic issues and possible extensions of the method.


The Harrison Horblit Collection at the Harvard University's Houghton Library contains a remarkable daguerreotype plate by the Boston firm Southworth & Hawes. It reproduces an engraving after Raphael's Transfiguration. Whereas reproductive printmaking normally seeks to produce multiples of a unique original, daguerreotype reproductions open a space of ambiguity between the categories of original and reproduction since daguerreotypes are unique objects. Much is lost in this translation, but what is gained? If reproduction of paintings normally renders the singular multiple, what happens when a painting is reproduced as a unique image? Why was this daguerreotype created? Southworth & Hawes specialized in portraits of celebrities and considered themselves artists. Why then did they make a daguerreotype of an engraving of a painting? And why this painting?Their image of an image of an image is at once simply duplicative and a meditation on photography itself – an expanded conception of photography that figures it as spiritual and conceptual practice, as is suggested in other conflations of image reproduction and transfiguration within Southworth & Hawes' oeuvre as well. The logic of the Southworth & Hawes' Transfiguration becomes less a conundrum when considered in relation to two of their other images, one of the branded hand of abolitionist Jonathan Walker, the other a self-portrait representing Southworth's torso as a classical sculpture. Translation, transfiguration, body, soul and image are closely imbricated in all three of these daguerreotypes, each produced during the height of New England Transcendentalism. While Raphael's Transfiguration epitomizes the intersection of the human and a divine being as Scriptural drama, The Branded Hand and Southworth as a Classical Bust allude to the spiritual realm through representation of the soul's transcendence of the suffering body rather than direct reference to scripture. The Branded Hand detaches subject from the context of the body as a whole; Walker's wound appears in the image as the silvery trace of the price paid for his abolitionist conviction. The portrait of Southworth separates an individual man's identity from the more allegorical presence, while presenting suggestions of sorrow as emblems of spiritual elevation. But beyond this, the transmedial daguerreotype of the print of the Raphael announces itself as visual metonymy; the transfiguration of Christ in the painting also conveys the transfigurative power of the photographic medium itself.


Our perception is continuous and unified. Yet, sensory information reaches our brains through different senses and needs to be processed in order to create that unified percept. Interactions between sensory modalities occur already at primary cortical levels. The purpose of such interactions and what kind of information they transmit is still largely unknown. The current thesis aimed to reveal the interactions between auditory pitch and visual size in polar coordinates, two modality specific stimulus features that have robust topographic representations in the human brain. In Chapter 1, I present the background of cross-modal interactions in early sensory cortices and of the pitch-size relationship. In Chapter 2, we explored the pitch-size relationship in a speeded classification task and, in Chapter 3, at the level of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging activation patterns. In Chapter 4, we investigated the effects of actively learning a specific pitch-size mapping during one session on the speeded classification task. In Chapter 5, we extended learning over multiple sessions and examined learning effects with behavioral and neural measures. Finally, in Chapter 6, I summarize the findings of the thesis, its contributions to the literature, and outline directions for future research.


This pa per re fers to an ex per i ment of SO2 ab sorp tion to the par ti cles of sorbent CaCO3. Sam ple mass was 100 g with frac tional com po si tion of 500-700 μm and 1100-1300 mm. Dur ing the ex per i ment the tem per a ture var ied from 200 to 400 °C. The aim of this ex per i ment is to ex am ine the in flu ence of lower re ac tion tem per a ture, the size of sorbent par ti cles, and the re ac tion time to the de gree of SO2 ab sorp tion and de ter min ing the de gree of CaCO3 sorbent uti li za tion. The re sults show that at the re ac tion tem per a ture of ap prox i mately 200 °C and av er age di am e ter of sorbent par ti cles »600 mm, the ab sorp tion de gree of SO2 ab sorp tion to the par ti cles of sorbent is be tween 42-66%. Reach ing tem per a ture of 400 °C and with the same frac tional com po si tion of the sorbent, »600 mm, the ab sorp tion de gree of SO2 is slightly higher and it is some where around 45-78%. With greater di am e ters sorbent par ti cle of »1200 mm, ab sorp tion de gree of SO2 is a bit lower. The de ter mined de gree of uti lized sorbent CaCO3 is con sid er ably lower and it reaches up to 6.87%. The ac quired re sults in di cate that be sides CaO, Ca(OH)2, and CaMg(CO3)2 it is rea son able to in ject the CaCO3 sorbent, in the ar eas of lower tem per a tures i. e. in the flue chan nel of the ther mal power plant.


Morphology of the cortical reaction in the eggs of Penaeus penicillatus was studied with the light microscopy,scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The cortical reaction is divided into four stages. These stages are unreacted stages, early stages, corona stages and dissipation stage. The cortical rods were released and formed a jelly coating around the surface of the egg. The jelly coating remained until the first cleavage had finished. In the end, the hatching membrane appeared around the egg. It is believed that these cortical reaction are responsible for the prevention of polyspermy by both a chemical and physical block and that also may establish a microenvironment inside a touch chorionic membrane for the developing embryo.


Despite the dynamic advances in medicine, ovarian tumors still remain a serious diagnostic and therapeutic issue. There is an ongoing...


Very little information exists regarding how glutamatergic transmission within the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) of females might vary as a function of the estrus cycle. Spontaneous miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs) were recorded in caudal NTS slices (250μM thick) superfused with TTX (1 um) and gabazine (25 um) under voltage clamp. Female rats were studied at different stages of the estrus cycle determined by vaginal smear and the number of neurons studied at each stage of the estrus cycle is as follows: estrus n=16; metestrus n=14; diestrus n=22. Male rats (n=33) were also studied for comparison. All mEPSCs were blocked by superfusion of the slice with CNQX (10 um). The amplitude of mEPSCs was significantly lower in diestrus (16.53 ± 1.01 pA) compared to estrus (23.30 ± 2.12 pA), metestrus (19.95 ± 1.13 pA), and males (20.49 ± 1.29 pA) (all p<0.035). The frequency of mEPSCs did not vary across the estrus cycle in females however mEPSC frequency was significantly lower in males (2.74 ± 0.28 Hz) compared to estrus (4.23 ± 0.63 Hz, p=.010) and metestrus (4.34 ± 0.61 Hz, p=.005). The frequency of mEPSCs did not differ between males and females in diestrus (3.68 ± 0.54 Hz, p=.085). mEPSC rise time did not differ between the 3 female groups and males (all p>.111). mEPSC decay time was significantly greater in estrus (9.00 ± 0.75 ms) compared to males (7.50 ± 0.39 ms, p=.038) but decay time during estrus did not differ from that in metestrus (7.58 ± 0.61 ms) and diestrus (7.59 ± 0.41 ms) (both p>.088). These results suggest that glutamatergic transmission in NTS neurons in female rats can vary as a function of the estrus cycle. During diestrus plasma estrogen levels are rising and during diestrus we observed mEPSCs with amplitudes lower than during other phases of the estrus cycle or in males. This suggests that estrogen may have a post‐synaptic effect that reduces NTS neuronal responses to glutamatergic inputs. Preliminary whole cell recordings from 3 NTS neurons in a brain slice from estrogen receptor alpha‐td tomato reporter mice lend support to this interpretation as superfusion of the slice with 100 nm 17β‐estradiol reversibly reduced mEPSC amplitude from 19–29%.


Rachel Maddow interviews Bill Nye, the Science Guy, in refutation to Fox News claims that heavy snow fall in the Northeast region of the US is not the result of global warming


In the past decade, the AEC industry in Denmark has been increasingly exploring BIM intelligence, predominantly in the public sector and educational institutions. Since 2006, the School of Architectural Technology and Construction Management has been teaching a number of BIM technologies considered relevant both for the field of study and for the industry. In 2017, the school searched for smarter solutions within digital data exchange, with the scope of optimising the students' workflow in BIM, and for providing the industry with constructing architects skilled at the smartest digital technologies in the market. The same year, the department management initiated a collaboration with RIB, a software developer and vendor for smart digital solutions for the industry. The interest was the iTWO baseline digital platform, a technology that enables interactive 3D, 5D and 4D BIM in one single software. iTWO became implemented first in the 4th semester of the Construction Management course in spring 2018. The project was a success for all involved. This led to the inclusion of iTWO teaching in the 3rd and 5th semester CM programmes later on. Based on positive evaluations, one year later, the school entered a new contract with RIB on iTWO 4.0, a cloud based 5D platform, displaying a richer functionality for digital data exchange in projects. The paper presents the 4D and 5D work at the school before and after the iTWO implementation, including an outline of industry view about the software.


From an exceptional 50-year veteran of landscape architecture, here is a beautiful and practical guide to garden plans for a variety of properties. It offers detailed advice on planning the perfect garden, from choosing and combining varieties of plants to soil preparation and planting. 14 color plans; 110 color photographs.


The employment of current-source concepts in thyristor converters to obtain adjustable frequency and adjustable current waveforms is presented. The use of a dc filter choke and a current feedback loop to produce a regenerative current source is explained. The simplified inverter commutation circuit made possible by the current-source technique is also discussed. Finally, a brief review of the inherently rugged current-source converter's ability to provide wide range control of an ac induction motor is given.


Taking modern distance learning as a pillar for running a school,we should try to establish the instruction and management models with local characteristics.Wenshan Minority Nationality and Cadre School has made an exploration of the management model in the open learning,and proposed that the open education should continuously improve its management,instructional quality and services so as to ensure the instructional management to work normally,orderly and effectively.


Genetic variations of the four subgroups of m-type low-molecular-weight glutenin subunits (LMW-GS) genes and their associations with dough quality parameters were investigated through the groupspecific markers in 68 landraces of Triticum turgidum ssp. turgidum from China. The number of alleles were two, three, three and two respectively by the markers Glu3A.2, Glu3B.1, Glu3B.2 and Glu3A.3, which was one-to-one correspondence to the "MDTSCIP-", "MENSHIP-", "METSHIPS-" and "METSCIP-" subgroups of m-type LMW-GS genes respectively. Results from the sequencing of PCR products further confirmed m-type LMW-GS genes from tetraploid landraces. The widespread variation of dough quality parameters were observed in all accessions and their association with the alleles of m-type LMW-GS genes were also investigated by crosstab analysis. We found that allele variations in "METSHIPS-" subgroup of m-type LMW-GS genes were significantly linked with gluten index at (K=14.02, P<0.05), time to breakdown at (K=11.88, P<0.05) and protein content at (K=24.45, P<0.001) showed that "METSHIPS-" subgroup of m-type LMW-GS genes have profound effects on dough quality. Our results also suggested that group-specific markers for "METSHIPS-" subgroup of LMW-GS genes could be used in wheat quality improvement and marker-assisted breeding programs.

 Key words: Genetic diversity, landraces, m-type LMW-GS, quality, Triticum turgidum ssp. turgidum.


Sun Yat-sen regards the moral education as the important means of democracy revolution. The politic effect, the content and the means of the moral education in the traditional thought of moral education was used for reference by Sun Yat - sen. The use for reference served the subject of democracy revolution. The democracy and patriotism was the main content. Because the feudalism of the traditional moral education was antipathic to Sun Yat - sen's cause of democracy revolution, the use of reference was only superficial identity, and the deep meaning was the negative to the old ideal. Moreover, as the result of the nature of utility serving polity, Sun Yat - sen's use of reference of the traditional theory of moral education was't systematic and perfect.


The purpose of this study is to detect the characteristics of the landscape change in the protected area environments by using Remote Sensing, GIS and landscape structure indices. Dilek Peninsula Big Meander Delta National Park of Aydin Province, Turkey is the focus of this case study. SPOT 2X and ASTER images are utilized in object oriented classification to detect changes respectively between 1994 and 2005. 5 landscape structure indices are applied to the classified maps. The results have displayed a decrease of the coniferous forests, high maqui, low maqui, grasslands, salt marshes and salt flats, and an increase of the moderately high maqui, garrigue, ar- able lands and permanent crop fields. Artificial surfaces have slightly decreased. Major drivers of the landscape change includes urbanization, grazing, fire, and clearing of original vegetation for agriculture. Subsequently, coniferous forests, and high and low maquis have been most negatively affected from fragmentation. Matrix utility index has yielded that Dilek Peninsula Big Meander Delta National Park has been subjected to increasing edge effects.


In the context of ongoing discussions about student costs of non-credit developmental writing, this study reports on the affordances of Basic Writing as a traditional, stand-alone course at a career-focused, four-year university. Participants were students who took Basic Writing and Composition 1 between Fall 2011 and Spring 2013 (N = 2,693) in order to give them 4-6 years to graduate. Binary logistic regression analysis indicated that students whose first class was Basic Writing graduated at a rate not significantly different from that of students whose first class was Composition 1. Additionally, students who passed Basic Writing received grades in Composition 1 and 2 not significantly different from those received by students placed directly into Composition 1. Once Basic Writing students reached Composition 1 and 2, however, they were statistically significantly more likely to graduate within 4-6 years. Covariates of gender identity, ethnic identity, first-generation status, and grades were accounted for in predictive models and are discussed in relation to localized Basic Writing program assessment at four-year and especially career-focused contexts. While Basic Writing remains under review across the U.S., this study indicates that, at the present research site, the additional time and experience students gain through successful completion of an additional writing course may contribute to timely graduation.


cooperation of some kind to the extent of 90 per cent of those included in the survey. Three-fourths accept the advisory regional council concept. More opposition was encountered in the small towns and the Norwich-New London area. The Hartford metropolitan area exhibited the greatest support for a council with substantive power. Surprisingly, though total support is small, more support was elicited for an expanded regional council concept and metropolitan government in the suburbs and small towns than in the core cities. There is also more opposition to these alternatives in the


Article Info ________________ Article History: Received in 13 October 2020 Approved in 29 November 2020 Published in 30 November 2020 ________________


Enhancing bipedal walking safety, robustness and
efficiency has led to design of compliant humanoid robots.
However, the links' interactions and coupling effects are often neglected in the design of their trajectory tracking controller.
Moreover, there is not a direct decentralized approach for
designing the PD-PID gains given a multivariable model of
the compliant humanoid robot. This paper proposes an LMI
formulation for designing decentralized PID gains in discrete time. It is shown that this method can be used to design a full state feedback for trajectory tracking which includes the compliance and links' interactions in the feedback design.
Numerical simulations for a compliant compass gait and a 10
DoF humanoid models are provided to illustrate the use of this method.


The use of an immunologic adjuvant to augment the immune response is essential for modern vaccines which are relatively ineffective on their own. In the past decade, researchers have been consistently reporting that skin treatment with a physical parameter, namely laser light, augments the immune response to vaccine and functions as an immunologic adjuvant. This "laser adjuvant" has numerous advantages over the conventional chemical or biological agents; it is free from cold chain storage, hypodermic needles, biohazardous sharp waste, irreversible formulation with vaccine antigen, undesirable biodistribution in vital organs, or unknown long‐term toxicity. Since vaccine formulations are given to healthy populations, these characteristics render the "laser adjuvant" significant advantages for clinical use and open a new developmental path for a safe and effective vaccine. In addition, laser technology has been used in the clinic for more than three decades and is therefore technically matured and has been proved to be safe. Currently, four classes of laser adjuvant have been reported; ultrashort pulsed, non‐pulsed, non‐ablative fractional, and ablative fractional lasers. Since each class of the laser adjuvant shows a distinct mechanism of action, a proper choice is necessary to craft an effective vaccine formulation toward a desired clinical benefit for a clinical vaccine to maximize protection. In addition, data also suggest that further improvement in the efficacy is possible when a laser adjuvant is combined with chemical or biological adjuvant(s). To realize these goals, further efforts to uncover the molecular mechanisms of action of the laser adjuvants is warranted. This review provides a summary and comments of the recent updates in the laser adjuvant technology.


During the past 2 years over 30 tissues received at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology have included distinct polypoid cervical lesions not previously seen. These lesions resemble cervical carcinoma and about 30% have been so diagnosed by contributing pathologists. They have occurred almost exclusively in women aged 19-38 years of age receiving oral progestinlike contraceptives. Most patients were under age 30. No single preparation has been correlated. Most patients had been taking the drugs for at least a year. Clinically the lesions were asymptomatic, discovered during routine examinations, and showed a small polypoid growth extending from the cervical canal. Follow-up in 10 cases confirmed that these are benign hyperplasias. Limited evidence in 3 cases suggests they may regress following cessation of the drugs. The appearance differs from polypoid lesions often found in the cervices of pregnant women and also from those lesions interpreted as adenocarcinoma. That the recent occurrence of these lesions may be due to reduced dosage of progestinlike agents used is suggested. A reduction in the antiestrogenic effect of the component may have resulted. They are considered to be without malignant potential.


Paper details the construction of a new hyperspectral sensor focused on the coastal environment. This sensor follows the same basic design strategy as its predecessor, the NRL developed PHILLS sensor.


The importance of acidosis in connection not only with diabetes but also with renal, cardiac and other diseases is being increasingly recognized. For practical clinical purposes it is essential, however, not merely to recognize the condition but also to be able to measure its intensity and to follow its variations— both those spontaneously occurring and those therapeutically induced. For this purpose, determination of the carbon dioxid content of the pulmonary air is rapidly coming to be recognized as the most accurate available method. In principle such a determination may be roughly said to assume that the sensitiveness of the respiratory center is normal and constant, and that the blood stimulus to it is composed of two factors, namely, carbonic acid (CO 2 ), and other acids (or deficiency of alkali). Whenever the former is found to be automatically decreased below normal, the latter is thereby indicated as above normal; in other


Providing sensible estimates of the mean incubation time for COVID‐19 is important yet complex. This study aims to provide synthetic estimates of the mean incubation time of COVID‐19 by capitalizing on available estimates reported in the literature and exploring different ways to accommodate heterogeneity involved in the reported studies. Online databases between January 1, 2020 and May 20, 2021 are first searched to obtain estimates of the mean incubation time of COVID‐19, and meta‐analyses are then conducted to generate synthetic estimates. Heterogeneity of the studies is examined via the use of Cochran's Q $Q$ statistic and Higgin's & Thompson's I2 ${I}^{2}$ statistic, and subgroup analyses are conducted using mixed effects models. The publication bias issue is assessed using the funnel plot and Egger's test. Using all those reported mean incubation estimates for COVID‐19, the synthetic mean incubation time is estimated to be 6.43 days with a 95% confidence interval (CI) [5.90, 6.96], and using all those reported mean incubation estimates together with those transformed median incubation estimates, the estimated mean incubation time is 6.07 days with a 95% CI [5.70, 6.45]. The reported estimates of the mean incubation time of COVID‐19 vary considerably due to multiple reasons, including heterogeneity and publication bias. To alleviate these issues, we take different angles to provide a sensible estimate of the mean incubation time of COVID‐19. Our analyses show that the mean incubation time of COVID‐19 between January 1, 2020 and May 20, 2021 ranges from 5.68 to 8.30 days.


Manganese poisoning (MP) is one of many chronic, degenerative conditions that result in spousal caregiver stress. Partners who were once fully functioning become strangers to those who love them. In time, spousal caregivers may come to view their erstwhile partners as patients, jailers, monsters, or bratty children. We explore spousal caregiver perceptions of loved ones with MP, based on the narrated experiences of five full-time South African carers and develop a typology of carer experiences, which contributes to an understanding of manganese poisoning, in particular, and to caregiving theory, in general. The findings contribute to practice by providing service providers with a rich understanding of carer stress and coping, in general, and the stress of those caring for partners with MP, in particular. Such richer understanding should extend service provider empathy and encourage appropriate, supportive intervention.


1. Posterior bone block of the ankle is productive of permanent satisfactory correction of drop-foot deformity in a high percentage of cases.

2. If possible, the operation should be performed when the patient is between ten and twenty years of age.

3. It should be done in conjunction with arthrodesis of the talonavicular, subtalar, and calcancocuboid joints. Care should be exercised to preserve the circulation of the talus.

4. Tendon transference should be done, when possible, after the principles laid down by Peabody and Crego and McCarroll. Better results are obtained when there is a balance of power between dorsiflexors and plantar flexors of the ankle.

5. We prefer an intra-articular block, placed immediately posterior to the talus, so that it will impinge on the posterior lip of the tibia.

6. This operation should be reserved for those patients who can be rendered bracefree thereby.


Stem cells isolated from menstrual fl uid have mesenchymal stem cell like properties and have multilineage differentiation capacity. Menstrual fl uid has ease of access in collection and repeated sampling is possible in a noninvasive manner. Also, rapid culture of these is possible in numbers that are suffi cient for therapeutic use. They are, hence, looked upon as a novel innovation and are fi nding a place in the current medicine practice. Review Article Menstrual Stem cells Shuchi Lakhanpal1* and Bindiya Gupta2 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Senior Resident, Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital, Delhi University, India 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Assistant Professor, Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital, Delhi University, India Dates: Received: 31 January, 2017; Accepted: 20 February, 2017; Published: 21 February, 2017 *Corresponding author: Shuchi Lakhanpal, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Senior Resident, Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital, Delhi University, India, Tel: 9711504896, E-mail:


Both in aircraft and automobile construction, the transition from metals to fiber reinforced polymer resins is taking place with increasing regularity. Beginning with the wide selection of possible materials, definite examples of the mechanical properties of construction parts are discussed in this article. Different production possibilities based on fiber winding technology are shown. The application of robots in production is also considered.


The linear dependence of some solution f(z) and f(z+qω) for a periodic linear differential equation is a starting key of researches of complex oscillation, where ω is the period of coefficients, q is some integer. S. Bank and J. Langley proved an important result in 1992, but sometimes its dominant condition is not applicable. In this paper, we put forward the 'combined dominant condition' which is used to develop that reult and to extend its applicability greatly.


We use the spatial/temporal model developed in Oehlert (1993) to estimate the detectability of trends in wet-deposition sulphate. Precipitation volume adjustments of sulphate concentration dramatically improve the detectability and quantifiability of trends. Anticipated decreases in sulphate of about 30 per cent in the Eastern U.S. by 2005 predicted by models should be detectable much earlier, say, 1997, but accurate quantification of the true decrease will require several additional years of monitoring. It is possible to delete a few stations from the East without materially affecting the detectability or quantifiability of trends. Careful siting of new stations can provide substantial improvement to regional trend estimation.


Immobilization of phosphate by Fe (hydr)oxides is a promising method with low cost and high efficiency. However, the complicated synthesis process and particle aggregation limited their application. In this study,...


During 1997 a suite of borehole geophysical surveys were completed at the Dover National Test Site (DNTS), Dover Air Force Base (DAFB) to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of geophysical methods in determining the areal extent of cement bentonite subsurface barriers. Two barriers were emplaced as vertical walls keyed into a clay aquitard with a modified jetting technique. These barriers are denoted as the 'shallow' active' and 'deep passive' barriers extending to 5 and 13 m, respectively. The active and passive descriptors refer to the hydraulic and gaseous tracer work performed at the sites. Demonstrated methodologies included electromagnetic induction logging (EM), ground penetrating radar (GPR), electrical resistivity (ER), and borehole seismic. The geophysical instruments were deployed from boreholes or permanently emplaced vertical electrode arrays (VEAs).


The reactivity of surface paraspinal EMG was contrasted among groups of (1) patients seeking treatment for chronic back pain, (2) nonpatients reporting chronic back pain, and (3) healthy controls. The EMG response to the personally relevant stressor (all stimuli were 1 min.) tasks was greater for the patient group relative to the other two groups. However, the patients' magnitude of response elicited by the control task was nearly equal to that of the personally relevant task, suggesting that the task demand to "describe a recent event" may be the "personally relevant" stressor component rather than the emotional valence attached to the content of that description.


Data centers rely on virtualization to provide different services over a shared infrastructure. The placement of the different services and tasks in the physical machines is crucial for the performance of the whole system. A misplaced service can overload some network links, lead to congestion, or even connection disruptions. On the other hand, virtual machine migration allows reallocating services and changing the traffic matrix, leading to more efficient use of bandwidth. In this paper, we propose a Virtual Machine Placement (VMP) algorithm to (re)allocate virtual machines in the data center servers, based on the current traffic matrix, CPU, and memory usage. Analyzing the formation of community patterns in terms of traffic using graph theory, we are able to find virtual machines that are correlated because they exchange high amount of data. Those virtual machines are aggregated and allocated to servers as close as possible to each other, reducing traffic congestion. Our simulation results show that VMP was able to improve the traffic distribution. In some specific cases we were able to reduce 80% of the core traffic, concentrating it at the edge of the network.


Current treatments for retinal detachment create scar tissue that subjects the surrounding tissue to mechanical strains leading to re-detachment. A novel PEG-based adhesive polymer, developed by Medicus Biosciences, aims to re-attach the retina, preventing the complications of current treatments. To avoid additional mechanical strains upon the surrounding tissue, the mechanical properties of the polymer must be similar to those of the healthy retina. A comparative evaluation of the mechanical properties of the Medicus Polymer to that of healthy intact retinal tissue in intact harvested porcine eyes by static and dynamic testing was done. Results reveal similar yield and failure strengths, as well as resilience, but the Medicus polymer (2160 ± 923 kPa) is stiffer than the intact retina (278 ± 158 kPa). The dynamic testing gave a contradictory result with the intact retina's modulus at 116 ± 72.7 kPa compared to 54.5 ± 25.2 kPa of the polymer sealed retina.


Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid gland (ThSCC) is extremely rare. It accounts for less than 1% of thyroid malignancies with an aggressive behavior and poor prognosis. We report a case of an early stage ThSCC revealed through the histopathological findings of a total thyroidectomy for a non-toxic multinodular goiter. A 49 years old women presented with two years history of nodular goiter. Ultrasonography confirmed an enlarged thyroid gland with multiple nodules, one was ranked EU-TIRADS V without enlarged cervical lymph nodes. The patient underwent total thyroidectomy. Per operative exploration found few enlarged central lymph nodes that were harvested. Pathology examination found SCC proliferating in the thyroid gland staged pT3 N0. The patient received an adjuvant radiotherapy. Post treatment course is uneventful after one year follow up. Although there is a large agreement regarding the management of advanced ThSCC stage, the management of early stage disease is still controversial.


Parliament may by law make provision for conferring upon the Supreme Court such supplemental powers not inconsistent with any of the provisions of this Constitution as may appear to be necessary or desirable for the purpose of enabling the Court more effectively to exercise the jurisdiction conferred upon it by or under this Constitution.


The ESS elliptical superconducting Linac consists of two types of 704.42 MHz cavities, medium and high beta, to accelerate the beam from 216 MeV (spoke cavity Linac) up to the final energy at 2 GeV. The last Linac optimization, called Optimus+[1], has been carried out taking into account the limitations of SRF cavity performance (field emission). The medium and high-beta parts of the Linac are composed of 36 and 84 elliptical cavities, with geometrical beta values of 0.67 and 0.86 respectively [2]. This work presents the latest vertical test results on ESS medium and high beta elliptical cavity prototypes equipped with helium tank. We describe the cavity preparation procedure from buffer chemical polishing to vertical test.


The transinformation measure is used to define the average information supplied by data samples. This is maximized by suitably positioning the samples, which optimizes the data collection process. The application of the scheme to a linear imaging system is demonstrated.


A simplified computational model for super resolution effect in optical discs is proposed and simulations are compared with experimental results, providing basic understanding of this phenomenon. Simulations show that resolution beyond the diffraction limit is achieved and signal destruction occurs at some frequencies when the super resolution layer is activated.


Implementation of electronic medical record (EMR) in some hospitals, especially in West Java has entered the stage more advanced, which is not only applied to large hospitals, but has also been deployed in some hospitals of type C or D even at the level of the clinic. Resistance to new technology is certainly no doubt will always appear. It is caused by all stakeholders must involved through the adaptation process is not always easy. This research aims to determine the level of acceptance of EMR technology from the perspective of doctors (both general practitioners and specialists) at the General Hospital in West Java. The method used for data collection is by computer-based questionnaire using Google Forms and email sent to prospective respondents. Number of questionnaires distributed a total of 287, and the back and deserves to be treated as many as 73 pieces with a response rate of 25.44%. The research model used is a modified version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The final results of this research indicate that the usefulness factor being the biggest influence on the interest of doctors using EMR, while the ease of use factor is still the smallest influence. Keywords: doctors, electronic medical record, general hospital, TAM


Theocritus, Idyll 26 is short, starkly dramatic, and highly puzzling. Gow (1952) and his predecessors generally regarded it as bad, or even un Theocritean; and many of its details remain obscure. Lines 27–32 in particular present acute problems; and, as Gow (1952) II.475 wrote, 'no explanation of the poem as a whole can be satisfactory unless it accounts for these mysterious lines'. No ancient scholia survive (except for scraps in P3), and Idyll 26 in isolation offers scant indications of a cultural or social context. In consequence any new attempt to increase understanding of Idyll 26 must inevitably be speculative, particularly when it moves from text-based, literary aspects to more general questions about the idyll. Such an effort may, however, seem more worthwhile nowadays, when the characteristics of professional hellenistic poetry can more easily be recognised in Idyll 26.


The definition of art and culture is wholly embedded in the traditional architecture of the Yoruba people of the south-western part of Nigeria. This paper therefore highlights the relevance of culture and the artistic norms of the Yoruba regarding their much cherished traditional architecture with special reference to the artistic elements (figures, symbols, patterns etc,) as used to meet the aesthetic and creative ingenuity of their architecture. African traditional architecture encompasses interpretation and adaptation of cultural emblems that relate to the communities where found. When discussing African architecture generally, we are indirectly referring to art and culture that should be considered as a part of a whole. This paper mainly focuses on the kings' and chiefs' palaces where most of these artistic and cultural values are clearly spelt. These traditional structures are best referred to as galleries of creativity, which are gradually turning into ruins. The palaces are the custodians of artifacts, which could as well be tourist centers and can also be used to establish and interpret cultural sequence and history of the people.


In the context of efforts to increase the sustainability of the current agri-food system, a particular focus has been meat consumption, which is associated with public health problems and environmental damage. One proposed means of reducing meat consumption in Europe and the US (the 'West') is the use of insects as a high protein, resource-efficient alternative to conventional meat. Western interest in the area has increased in recent years and various insect-based foods are now available, yet uptake remains low. The issue of public acceptance of insects as food remains problematic. However, what exactly public acceptance involves, and how it may be achieved, have been unclear. Academic research investigating the topic typically propounds a highly individualistic notion of public acceptance. Further, little has engaged with consumption of insect-based foods in a 'real life' context. This thesis addresses these limitations, investigating the public acceptance of commercially-available insect-based foods in the Netherlands (the foremost Western country in the research, production, sale and advocacy of insects as food). Drawing on theories of practice and actor-network theory, it advances an account of public acceptance as geographically and socially embedded, rather than deriving from individual attitudes and beliefs. The thesis is based on empirical research into both consumption of insect-based foods (using interviews, food diaries, and accompanied shopping, cooking and eating) and their production (using interviews). Key themes include an expanded notion of 'acceptance' of foods, in which successful novel foods are conceptualised as being embedded within a coherent framework of culinary practices; the highlighting of 'edibility' as something that is achieved relationally by both producers and consumers; insects' uncertain ontological position, and the implications of this for 'ethical' consumption; and the introduction of two new practice-theoretic concepts for social-scientific research on food consumption. Key contributions are identified for academic debates, business, advocacy and policy.


The relaxation following a change in temperature of amorphous polymers near the glass transition has been calculated. The calculation uses a chain model consisting of cis and trans backbone rotational states. The relaxation is assumed to proceed by localized conformational changes whose rates are controlled by the fractional free volume in small enough regions of the polymer that thermal fluctuations need to be considered. The relaxation is treated as a stochastic process, and an approximate solution is obtained for a finite set of relaxation environments. Using what is believed to be the most plausible set of parameters for polystyrene, relaxation curves are computed for the internal energy that are very similar to the curves obtained by Kovacs and others for the volumetric relaxation of poly(vinyl acetate) and polystyrene.


This study aimed to identify elementary school teachers' perceptions of various aspects of physical environments of a classroom. For the purpose, a survey questionnaire was administered to 982 classroom teachers(female 82.2%) working at 67 elementary schools(Seoul 55%) located in Seoul and Busan. According to the analyses of the survey data, 50.8% of the respondent teachers suggested 20-25 as an optimum class size. Also, 57% of the teachers were positive about the current size of a classroom(67.5m2), but evaluations of a classroom size were divided between the teachers who had more and less than 30 students in class. Furthermore, three factors, labelled as 'uniqueness', 'residential stability' and 'visually pleasing', were extracted from a factor analysis of the Semantic Differential Scale consisting of 24 adjectives evaluating a classroom environment. Teachers from Busan tended to rate higher in the uniqueness domain while female teachers scored higher in the domain of residential stability, respectively, compared to their counterparts. Overall, the teachers perceived their classrooms having no particular characteristics, but rated highly in terms of stability. In addition, it was found out that the teachers' requests for the improvement of a classroom environment were not so much as the increased size of a classroom as a reduced class size as well as educational facilities that are corresponding to a variety of instructional methods. In summary, this study confirmed that elementary school teachers' perceptions of a classroom environment varied according to such factors as sex, teaching career, grade of their concerned class, and class size. 키워드:초등학교, 교실환경, 학급당 학생 수, 교실크기, 어의차이척도법


State Bank of Pakistan SBP BSC (Bank) Faisalabad invites sealed quotations from approved GST registered firms / suppliers of Pak P.W.D, M.E.S. Provincial P.W.Ds. Quasi Government Bodies, State Bank of Pakistan or any other reputed organizations experienced in the captioned job / supply. The amount of Earnest Money for the job is 2% of the amount quoted in the Tender which should be deposited by the bidder either in cash or in the form of Bank Draft / Payment Order in favor of State Bank of Pakistan SBP BSC (Bank), Faisalabad. The BOQ and other terms & conditions of the supply can be obtained on payment of Rs. 200/- (Non -refundable) from the office during office hours on or before 18-4-2011. The tender with requisite Earnest Money and documents of experience in similar supplies executed etc; addressed to the Chief Manager State Bank of Pakistan SBP BSC (Bank) Faisalabad should be submitted in a sealed cover duly signed and marked with the subject, either personally or through Registered Post / TCS so as to reach in the office of the Chief Manager on or before 19-42011 at 11.00 am. Tenders will be opened on the same day at 11.30 am in the presence of those bidders who may like to be present. Bidders are also required to submit the status of their firm/company with evidence along with their tenders. No tender document shall be sold / issued on the date fixed for opening of tenders. Incomplete, conditional and tenders without earnest money shall not be considered at all. Rates quoted should be inclusive of all prevailing taxes and should be valid for a period of at least 90 days. This is only an invitation to offer and the Bank reserves the right to reject any or all tenders as per PPRA rules. The supply time is one two weeks from the date of receipt of supply order.


The synthesis of new derivatives of 3-azabicyclononan is one of the urgent tasks of modern synthetic organic chemistry. 3-Azabicyclononan is a structural analogue of the cytisine alkaloid, which is a strong agonist of acetylcholine receptors. Among synthetic heterocycles containing a 3-azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane fragment, compounds with different types of biological activity have been discovered at present: analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and others. The introduction of a fragment of azabicyclononan into the amino acid structure can lead to a limitation of the conformational mobility of a new molecule, as a result of which the activity and selectivity of its interaction with the receptor will increase. We synthesized 2-(1,9-dinitro-8-oxo-6,11-diazatricyclo[7.3.1.02,7]trideca-2,4,6-trien-11-yl)acetic acid and 2-(1,9-dinitro-8-oxo-13-(2-oxopropyl)-6,11-diazatricyclo[7.3.1.02,7]trideca-2,4,6-trien-11-yl)acetic acid by the interaction of annionic σ-complexes 5,7-dinitro-8-hydroxyquinoline with glycine under Mannich condensation in high yield. At the beginning, when 5,7-dinitro-8-hydroxyquinoline NaBH4 was applied in DMF or acetone carbanion in DMSO, the corresponding anionic complexes were synthesized. The resulting adducts were isolated from the reaction mixture, dissolved in cold water, and an aminomethylating mixture consisting of formaldehyde and an amino acid was added. As a result, 3-azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane derivatives are formed, annelated with a pyridine ring and containing an amino acid residue. By the methods of NMR and IR spectroscopy, as well as high-resolution mass spectrometry, the structure of the obtained compounds was proved. Thus, in the 1H NMR spectra of the synthesized compounds, a signal of the proton of the carboxyl group in the form of a broadened singlet is detected in a weak spectral region. Equatorial and axial protons of an alicyclic fragment form a characteristic system of signals in the range δ 3.20-3.60 ppm. In the IR spectra of these molecules, the vibrational bands of carbonyl groups at ν 1720 cm–1, as well as the vibrational bands of the C–O bond of the carboxyl group at ν 1198 cm–1, are fixed. The m/z values in the high resolution mass spectra correspond to the molecular weights of the synthesized diazatricycclotridecans.


Developmental educators in higher education are caught in a crossfire. On one side, researchers, organizations, companies, non-profits, practitioners, and to some extent, the public, are clamoring for massive reform in developmental coursework in higher education (American Association of Community Colleges, 2018; Edgecombe et al., 2014; Complete College America, 2012). One such reform is the push for integrated reading and writing (IRW) courses. According to Armstrong et al. (2019), this is the promise of IRW: "Integration is an approach that values literacy-based academic communication processes equally and that coordinates those processes purposefully for new-to-college learners." All of these groups present a compelling argument, but that argument is founded upon a small body of research and practices that work in some situations and with some populations when implemented with fidelity. In spite of that lack of research, some states have forced colleges to develop and implement IRW courses, but Maryland has not.
On the other side, researchers and organizations that have been the backbone of developmental education paint a different picture (Goudas, 2023; Goudas & Boylan, 2012; Saxon et al., 2016a & 2016b). They argue that change and evolution are needed, but not such dramatic, massive reforms, which may sound like quick and easy fixes, but actually create new barriers and disservice to students, and moreover make a good deal of money for those researchers, speakers, and organizers.
The pressure for redesign of developmental reading and writing programs is intense, but other transformations in higher education are also shaping the future of developmental education. For example, as a result of joining Achieving the Dream's core program in 2019, the College of Southern Maryland (CSM) made a commitment to shift the majority of courses to a compressed 7-week format by fall term of 2021. Part of the Achieving the Dream (2023) mindset is that "Before we can help your institution transform, we have to understand where you've been," which begins with exploring, "your student demographics; your legislative environment; mission and theory of change; past initiatives and student success efforts; and more." Thus in 2020, the time was ripe to take a deep dive into CSM's past practices and data and to cull promising practices from the published literature. This dive was the beginning of an 18-month redesign process.


A study is made of the step-by-step integration of ordinary differential equations of the first order by means of formulas obtained from the Gregory-Newton backward interpolating formula. Tables of relevant constants are presented.


Similar to countries with arid and semi-arid climates, Morocco faces problems of degradation of the quality of its environment and more specifically the quality of groundwater. In this work, we approached the physico-chemical characterization of the raw effluents of three industrial units in Fez city, namely the textile industry (U 1 ), the copperware industry (U 2 ), olive oil industry (U 3 ) chosen for their degree of pollution and their environmental impact, the aim of which is to highlight the degree and nature of the pollution generated by these effluents, and their biode gradability during the winter period January to February of 2018, when the waste water treatment plant (WWTP) is malfunctioning. A set of samplings and measurements of different physico-chemical pollution parameters were carried out such as: temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, turbidity, salinity, chlorides, BOD 5 , COD, suspended solids (SS), Ca 2+ , K + , as well as heavy metals. The results show that the U 3 effluent is highly loaded in organic matter with high COD (37600 mg O 2 /L) and BOD 5 (13000 mg O 2 /L), while the U 2 effluent contains very high concentrations of heavy metals (Pb, Ni, Zn, Cu, Cd) 91,8, 71, 55,4, 53, 28 mg/L, respectively. on the other hand, the U 1 effluent is characterized by high SS contents, and concentrations of Ca 2+ , K + exceed Moroccan standards. The COD/BOD 5 ratio shows that U 1 and U 2 effluents are difficult to biodegrade even if their organic loads are low. In the light of these results, it is recommended that these discharges be pre-treated before they are discharged into the liquid sewer system.


This chapter first discusses the way body and brain mechanisms achieve comfort by the control of temperature, and how moisture plays an important role in this process. Measurement techniques for fabric heat and moisture transmission behavior are also described which allow the user to make an informed choice of fiber type and processing to provide the optimum comfort level achievable.


It is known that RAGE-mediated mechanisms play a role in ischemic myocardial injury through triggering RAGE-dependent cellular activation, inducing oxidative stress, and promoting inflammatoryproliferative responses leading to vascular dysfunction [3,6]. However, few studies have addressed pivotal roles of RAGE signaling in acute stroke. Activation of RAGE may play a role in neuronal damage and neuroinflammation associated with brain ischemia. Based on the evidence from animal studies and the presence of increased high mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1, a RAGE ligand) in the serum of stroke patients, Mennini T at al. find that soluble RAGE (sRAGE) increase in serum after ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke and that the levels decrease with patient improvement [7]. The secreted isoform of the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (sRAGE), can neutralize the adverse effects of RAGE signaling by acting as a decoy.


Background: Puerperal infection is an infection of the reproductive tract during labor or puerperal period, which is largely caused by Staphylococcus aureus infection resulting in Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS). The prevalence of postpartum infection has increased over the past three years, coupled with an increase in Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Methicillin Resistant, resulting in high treatment costs and high morbidity and mortality rates. Objective: This study aimed to determine the effect of Lactobacillus reuteri on the percentage of Th17 cells and the level of IL-17 in Staphylococcus aureus-induced puerperal BALB/c mice. Methods: Mice were divided into 4 groups with each group consisting of 4 mice in puerperal period and 4 mice in three days postpartum period; Group I (mice were induced with Staphylococcus aureus at 0–12 hours postpartum), Group II (mice were administered orally with Lactobacillus reuteri), Group III (mice were treated with Lactobacillus reuteri and Staphylococcus aureus) and group IV (control). The percentage of Th17 cells was measured by Flow cytometry method, while the level of IL-17 was measured by ELISA method. Results: The results showed that the administration of Lactobacillus reuteri significantly influenced the percentage of Th17 cells and the levels of IL-17 in Staphylococcus aureus-induced puerperal mice. Conclusion: In summary, Lactobacillus reuteri may act as a preventive agent of puerperal infections in Staphylococcus aureus-induced mice during the puerperal period and three days postpartum.


Breathing is a critical body function and its motion is a telltale signature for the living. However, in animation, respiration and its deformation of the torso have remained stylistic and are often overly simple or ignored entirely. We present an anatomically inspired, physically based model of the human torso for the visual simulation of respiration using a mixed system of rigid and deformable parts. Our system combines a custom deformable simulation system, that preserves volume based on pressure, with an available rigid-body dynamics solver.


The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of surfactant composition on the physical properties of nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) containing wheat germ oil (WGO) and to investigate the influence of both surfactant composition and pH on the oxidative stability of WGO encapsulated within the NLCs. The results showed that the smallest particle size (52.7 nm) was related to the NLC with the poloxamer-to-lipid ratio of 1:1 (Polox-NLC-1). Polox-NLC-1 not only showed good stability during storage, but also indicated a suitable physical structure from differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis. The oxidative stability results indicated that the NLCs were more successful than O/W emulsion in protecting the WGO from oxidation. Additionally, the oxidative stability of the NLC with the poloxamer-to-lipid ratio of 2:1 (Polox-NLC-2) looked promising. Furthermore, NLCs prepared with the surfactant of poloxamer as a non-ionic surfactant had greater oxidative stability at high pH, and NLC prepared with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as an ionic surfactant had greater oxidative stability at low pH. These findings indicated that NLC could be an effective delivery and protection system for the WGO as a source of bioactive compounds.


This chapter argues that there is a persistent imaginative connection between birds and letters in Bishop's work. Taking examples from throughout Bishop's oeuvre, although focusing primarily on Bishop's time in Brazil in the '50s and '60s, it looks at the way that images of birds and letters dovetail. The chapter focuses on two Brazilian birds that became emblematic for Bishop—her beloved toucan Uncle Sammy and 'the tiniest green hummingbird' of 'Questions of Travel'. Bishop's invocation of 'the tiniest green hummingbird' in 'Questions of Travel', a bird that migrates between North and South America, mirrors the path that her letters take, imaginatively connecting the spaces of Brazil and Nova Scotia. It is also reminiscent of Dickinson's hummingbird poem-letter 'A Route of Evanescence'.


A real-time optimization control method is proposed to enhance engine thrust response and enlarge its maximum thrust during emergent flight. This real-time optimization control is model based, and the on-board engine predictive model is devised by a multi-input multi-output recursive reduced least squares support vector regression method. Two emergency engine control modes during engine emergent acceleration process, the overthrust mode and the faster response mode, are redesigned by specifying relative objective function with engine operation constraints. Namely, the overthrust mode is for getting much bigger maximum thrust, and the faster response mode is for obtaining faster engine response. In the initial engine acceleration stage, the two modes have the same objective function for fastest thrust response within necessary operation constraints. After that, the objective function varies to maximum thrust in the overthrust mode, whereas the faster response mode keeps the objective for fastest response unchanged. For solving the online optimization problem, a feasible sequential quadratic programming algorithm is utilized here. The simulation results demonstrate that, first, engine response ability can be improved in faster response mode. Second, not only more thrust was provided over the maximum value but also fast response ability was achieved in the overthrust mode. Moreover, compared to conventional operation nowadays, argumentation of compressor guided vane angle control and broadening operation restrictions were deeply studied and verified in the new schemes.


In a laboratory study, the effectiveness of combined tartrate and citrate as photocatalyst in solar photocatalytic oxidation and removal of arsenic from ground water was studied and a method, using a naturally occurring tartrate-citrate photocatalyst that can be used at the household level to treat small quantities of drinking water was developed. Kinetic tests performed with 250 μg/L As(III)-spiked ground water in presence of 5 mg/L Fe(II) and 50 μM photocatalyst, showed equal efficiency of tartrate and citrate in combination for oxidation and removal of arsenic from ground water in 6 h solar illumination. Presence of silicate moderately decreased the removal of arsenic, while phosphate had more drastic effect on arsenic removal. With the increase in initial As(III) concentration above 250 μg/L, 5 mg/L Fe(II) did not achieved the removal to below 50 μg/L, although the maximum removal efficiency was 80%. Extract of tamarind (fruit of the tree Tamarindus indica), a natural source of tartrate-citrate (equivalent to 50 μM tartrate and citrate) achieved the arsenic oxidation and removal from 250-260 μg/L arsenic-bearing water to below 50 μg/L. The method performed within a 1-L closed PET bottle showed similar removal and can be applied at the household level to treat small quantities of drinking water.


TO THE EDITOR—We read with interest the paper by Narendran and colleagues [1]. The authors suggest that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)–infected patients who receive thrice-weekly antituberculosis therapy are at higher risk of acquired rifampicin resistance compared with HIVuninfected patients, despite the use of combination antiretroviral therapy. We emphasize the need for studies that investigate the possible effects of HIV on antituberculosis therapy, particularly in light of the emergence of drug resistance that results in difficult-to-treat multidrugresistant and extensively drug-resistant cases. Both in vitro and clinical data show that low area under the concentration-time curve and maximum plasma concentration of rifampicin in relation to minimum inhibitory concentration were associated with the occurrence of resistance [2, 3]. Therefore, it seems relevant to collect pharmacokinetic data in clinical studies. The pharmacokinetics of rifampicin are highly variable; especially in case of tuberculosis–HIV coinfection, reduced rifampicin exposure is not uncommon [4]. It can be expected that low drug exposure, after thrice-weekly dosing, is likely to have a higher impact on clinical outcome than after daily dosing. The World Health Organization therefore now discourages thrice-weekly antituberculosis therapy in cases of tuberculosis–HIV coinfection. We have demonstrated that therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) in combination with drug susceptibility testing may help to optimize treatment in individual patients [5]. Since low rifampicin plasma concentrations are so strikingly common [6], we argue in favor of routine TDM in tuberculosis–HIV coinfected patients. We recognize that obtaining full pharmacokinetic curves is not feasible in most routine settings. However, optimal sampling strategies to estimate drug exposure in combination with dried blood spot analysis may provide a feasible alternative [7, 8]. Dried blood spot analysis provides sample stability and easy logistics at low cost per sample, making TDM available in lowand middle-income countries [7]. Further, we speculate that the rifampicin resistance in the study by Narendran and colleagues could be influenced by cotrimoxazol use. Earlier data showed that cotrimoxazole was active against tuberculosis [9] and increased efficacy of rifampicin treatment [10]. In their study, HIV-infected patients with a CD4 count <350 cells/μL were given cotrimoxazol. The median CD4 count in the HIV–highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) group was