Background— Early postnatal experience shapes NMDA receptor (NMDAR) subunit composition and kinetics at excitatory synapses onto pyramidal cells; however, little is known about NMDAR maturation onto inhibitory interneurons. Methods— We combined whole-cell patch clamp recordings (n=440) of NMDAR-mediated currents from layer 4-to-2/3 synapses onto pyramidal and GFP-labeled parvalbumin-positive (PV) interneurons in visual cortex at three developmental ages (15, 30 & 45 postnatal days) with array tomography 3-D reconstructions of NMDAR subunits GluN2A- and GluN2B-positive synapses onto PV cells. Results— We show that the trajectory of the NMDAR subunit switch is slower in parvalbumin-positive (PV) interneurons than in excitatory pyramidal cells in visual cortex. Notably, this differential time course is reversed in the absence of methyl-CpG-binding protein, MeCP2, the molecular basis for cognitive decline in Rett syndrome and some cases of autism. Additional genetic reduction of GluN2A subunits, which prevents regression of vision in Mecp2-knockout mice, specifically rescues the accelerated NMDAR maturation in PV cells. Conclusion— We demonstrate: (1) the time course of NMDAR maturation is cell-type specific and (2) a new cell-type specific role for Mecp2 in the development of NMDAR subunit composition. Reducing GluN2A expression in Mecp2-deficient mice, which prevents the decline in visual cortical function, also prevents the premature NMDAR maturation circuit-based therapies targeting NMDAR subunit composition on PV cells may provide novel treatments for Rett syndrome. by an additional genetic manipulation to decrease GluN2A expression The mechanism underlying such rescue is still unknown. We utilized a circuit-based approach to investigate the NMDAR maturation in PV cells in wild-type mice and a Rett syndrome mouse model. We performed whole-cell patch clamp recordings in acute brain slices and array tomography analysis to characterize NMDAR at layer 4-to-2/3 visual cortical synapses and directly compared the development of NMDAR-mediated synaptic currents from pyramidal neurons and PV interneurons. We discovered that NMDAR maturation occurs more gradually in PV than pyramidal cells and that Mecp2 regulates the NMDAR subunit switch in a cell-type specific manner. Moreover, we reveal correction of NMDAR maturation in PV cells as a possible mechanism for the rescue of vision when reducing GluN2A expression in Mecp2-deficient mice.


Amendment have paved a way for active participation of women in local self government and accordingly we find the over the centuries women who were confined within the four walls are now rocking the world and are at par with their male counterparts. However, it is also a reality that women's participation is all not such a Midas touch as when women are fielded in politics it is widely criticized that her true participation in politics is ambigiuous as many a time they are accompanied by their family male members it is just the mind and thought of men and the tongue of women. Poverty, Illiteracy, economic insecurity, fear of being ridiculed, prejudiced patriarchal values, lack of support from family and community, lack of appropriate information, gender bias, backlash and traditional mind-set and insensitive legal systems stops a woman to actively participate in politics. Many a time women consider it tedious task to fight against men, and women's role over the years in the sphere of decision making and political participation also is at abysmal level. Political ambience is also male centric and only where the reservation exists women are fielded against any strong male leaders so that she can be easily defeated. She is regarded as decorative pieces, and her words are sidelined due to her feeble voice, weak stature and many other stances. But all these statements should not make us think that women are far from politics but instead politics has also become user friendly compared to our past days. Participation of women gained a momentum and recognition as a women's right. Thus in recent years we find women are creating a space for themselves panchayat to Parliament. It would be apt to quote Gandhiji's words "Real change in India comes when women begin to affect the political deliberations of the nation". The constitutional amend ment providing one-third representation to women in elected bodies as well as reserving one-third of the offices of chairper sons for them will have far-reaching consequences in Indian political and social life. More and more women are found to be participating in Indian rural politics.


Nanostructure, key to property alteration, has been widely diverse by using two-dimensional nanoparticle in different stages of polymerization. Molecular level self-assembly starting from nanoscale 2-D molecular sheet to optically observable microscale crystallite has been unraveled stepwise for thermoplastic elastomer for the first time. The nature of self-assembly can be tuned by judicious choice of polymerization procedure in the presence of organically modified nanoclay. The effect of modulated nanostructure and self-assembly has been explored for the unusual property enhancement including electronic, thermal, mechanical, barrier, and biological (genotoxicity). Both the stiffness and toughness increase in nano-biohybrid without any trade-off. The unique splintering phenomenon and its variation under a dynamic frequency have been investigated by changing the synthesizing route of nanohybrids using a fixed concentration of nanoparticle. For understanding the controlled cellular responses to the implant ...


None of these claims, let it be noted, has been made by Frye himself, and often one wonders whether his reputation, like the less durable reputation of his fellow Canadian, Marshall McLuhan, cannot be largely credited to the almost hypnotic fascination which in our age is exercised by those rare individuals equipped of course with a necessary charge of talent and originality who pursue their goals with single-mindedness and preternatural self-confidence. The perceptive critic of the critics can find many things in common between Frye and McLuhan, but the most striking of them is undoubtedly the extraordinary assurance regarding their own special theories, with which these two ornaments of the University of Toronto have faced the world. Yet there are significant differences, and since these help to sharpen our view of Frye, they should be brought out.


For the quantitative evaluation of the efficacy of Nitrogen through different plant nutrient sources in the growth and yield of radish, the field experiment was conducted from March 2020 to June 2020 in an Inceptisol with sandy loam soil of the research field of G. P. Koirala College of Agriculture and Research Centre, Gothgaun, Morang, Nepal. The experiment was carried out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with eight treatments (Biogas Byproduct, Poultry Manure, Goat Manure, Farmyard Manure, Vermicompost, Packaged Organic Manure, Recommended Dose of Chemical Fertilizer, and Control) and four replications. Forty Day (released in 1994 AD) variety of radish was used as a test crop. The recommended 100 kg N per hectare was supplied from each treatment, calculated based on the nitrogen content of each nutrient source. Results showed that there was a significant difference in almost all studied parameters from all treatments over control (P≤ 0.05). The highest total fresh biomass yield (123.415 Mt/ha) and highest delta fresh shoot yield (22.806 Mt/ha) were recorded from the application of a recommended dose of fertilizer, and the highest delta fresh root yield (30.127 Mt/ha) was obtained from the application of FYM. The experiment suggests that the application of FYM significantly increased root yield and was positively correlated with other parameters, which might be a good alternative for chemical fertilizers.
Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 9(3): 203-212.


A monoanionic, tetradentate p-diketiminate (BDI) ligand with pendant quinoline arms, BDI 0QH was coordinated to Pt(II) to yield the square-planar complex [Pt(BD100)]CI. This complex was characterized by NMR spectroscopy, ESI-MS, FTIR spectroscopy, UVVisible absorbance spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry. Computational studies, including geometry optimizations and frequency calculations, were carried out to further analyze the electronic structures of the complexes. In addition, the DNA-binding properties of the complexes were evaluated by UV-Vis titrations and an ethidium-bromide displacement assay. Our results indicate that the compounds interact with DNA, although the mode of interaction is still ambiguous. Fluorescence studies were also performed to investigate the interaction of the complex with bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a model protein. Finally, cytotoxicity data were obtained in a small panel of cell lines using the MTT assay. The complex has a toxicity comparable to or higher than that of cisplatin in the lines tested. Thesis Supervisor: Stephen J. Lippard Title: Arthur Amos Noyes Professor of Chemistry


Starting from citraconic anhydride, a three-step approach to fimbrolide congener is reported by taking the advantage of a regioselective Grignard reaction with an anhydride, followed by a dehydrative cyclization and double bromination-dehydrobromination sequence. Starting from N-(4-tolyl)maleimide, an eight-step synthesis of two natural fimbrolides is reported with good yields via the synthesis of requisite butylmaleic anhydride, its regioselective Grignard coupling reaction, and a bromination-dehydrobromination pathway.


Silicon carbide (SiC) fiber was synthesized from polycarbosilane (PCS) fiber by heat treatment after the electron beam irradiation curing. The reaction mechanisms for SiC fiber synthesis during heat treatment were investigated by gas analysis, free radical detection, and mechanical properties measurements. There was two steps in the major reaction; first step was 800-1200 K, where the chemical reactions related to Si atoms proceeded as the cleavage of Si-CH{sub 3} and Si-H, and second step was 1000-1600 K, where the reactions related to C atoms proceeded.


Discuss the nature of police reform, understood here not as any innovation within the police force but as a certain rate of change (high visibility as opposed to its previous opacity, role of actors outside police in front of its traditional corporatism, mainstreaming political issues in contrast to his "apolitical" insertion into globalized networks that instigate changes) and a set of mutations focused on bureaucratic and political aspects. We describe the experience of police reform initiated in Venezuela in 2006 and that despite the unique characteristics of its context, faithfully replicates many of the dimensions that are repeated in different processes and holding instances on moving globalized police. Finally, we try to briefly explain how it could be this reform process in Venezuela and explore the reasons for its possible failure.


Liquefied wood-based activated carbon fibers (LWACF) were prepared from liquefied wood-based precursors (LWP) and liquefied wood-based carbon fibers. Microstructure and properties of LWACF were studied using analysis of X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and a microtensile tester. It was found that LWACF prepared from LWP (LWACF1) could form a larger crystal size and denser graphite-like structure than those prepared from LWCF (LWACF2). However, for LWACF2, micropores were more numerous and average micropore width was larger, leading to the conclusion that LWACF2 had smaller diameter and lower mechanical properties than LWACF1 and that the burn-off value of LWACF2 was larger than that of LWACF1. Furthermore, excess amounts of element carbon (C) and C bonded to oxygen-containing functions were found on the surface of LWACF2. In conclusion, postcarbonization could damage the graphite-like structure, resulting in expanded micropores and impaired mechanical properties. Postcarbonization brought about an increase in the amount of element C and in the relative content of C bonded to oxygen-containing functions.


Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine whether auditors interpret the risk of material misstatement (RMM) in accordance with current standards' definition of inherent risk (IR). It is argued that controls should not be presumed when assessing inherent risk and that inherent risk should be considered separate from and prior to control risk when it is practical to do so. Because auditing standards explicitly require auditors to assess IR without consideration of internal controls (i.e. control risk (CR)), RMM should not be adjusted upward for control deficiencies. Design/methodology/approach - The authors survey and interview practicing auditors to gain an understanding of current risk assessment practice. They then evaluate whether their understanding of risk assessment is in line with current standards. Findings - Contrary to auditing standards' definition of inherent risk, it appears that auditors presume some level of expected control effectiveness when assessing IR and they may increase RMM in response to internal control deficiencies. Such a presumption is inconsistent with the definition of inherent risk from the Auditing Standards Board (SAS No. 107), Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (AS 8), and International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (ISA 200). Such misinterpretation may be an inadvertent result of guidance provided by standard setters in the form of SAS No. 109 from the ASB, AS 12 from the PCAOB and ISA 315 from the IAASB, which suggest combining IR and CR into RMM. Research limitations/implications - The research is limited both by the small sample size and the small number of risk factors investigated. Practical implications - If auditors presume a level of controls in assessing inherent risk, they may reduce audit effectiveness by estimating a lower RMM than is appropriate. Originality/value - This study presents insights on the interpretation and assessment of audit risk in audit environments where inherent risk is no longer automatically set to be at the maximum. Namely that due to the definition of inherent risk, control information should have a unidirectional downward effect on the risk of material misstatement.


The contemporary city is widely regarded as being politically and economically weak and relatively powerless. This may well be the case but it need not be. The city has lost its function in meeting the economic and spiritual needs of its people. In consequence, while it has legal citizens, it lacks real committed citizens. On the existence of such committed citizens the city'sfuture depends. Turning the city into a cooperative for the economic and spiritual full employment of its people would provide a basis for a revival and a recovery of function.


This paper interprets the traditional Native American culture reflected in Louise Erdrich's novels,in which holding the life in awe,harmony and unity of all things are at the core of the value system. The paper argues that by focusing on ecological ethics in her novels Louise Erdrich aims at reconstructing harmonious coexistence between human and nature,between different ethnic groups. Today,with overall ecological environment deteriorating,the Native Americans' ecological wisdom highlighted in Louise Erdrich's novels can help us reflect the anthropocentrism tendency in modern culture,evoke people's reverence for nature,and provide a useful reference for the construction of modern ecological culture.


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Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), such as MoS2, are promising candidates for optoelectronic or catalytic applications. On that account, a detailed characterization of the electronic dynamics in these materials is of pivotal importance. Here, we investigate the temporal evolution of an excited carrier population by all-optical pump-probe spectroscopy. On the sub-picosecond time scale we observe thermal relaxation of the excited carriers by electron–phonon coupling. The dynamics on the nanosecond time scale can be understood in terms of defect-assisted Auger recombination over a broad carrier density regime spanning more than one order of magnitude. Hence, our results emphasize the importance of defect states for electronic processes in TMDCs at room temperature.


Pedestrian inertial navigation systems are nowadays integrated in all kind of location-based services. The orientation, particularly the heading estimation, is one of the most critical parts of the navigation system. The heading angle suffers from drift error. The algorithms proposed in the literature apply position corrections, which do not prevent the drift error to grow. We propose a novel landmark-based drift compensation algorithm, which allows the navigation system to generate drift compensated trajectories without the need of a post-processing stage. The chosen landmarks are corners and stairs, which are plentiful in indoor environments. Landmarks are seamlessly detected while the user walks. We test our algorithm with quasi-error-free turn rate measurements with known errors and also with medium-cost sensors. We provide in this work the proof of concept that the proposed algorithm is able to compute the underlying drift error and feed it back to the orientation estimator to generate drift compensated trajectories. Our algorithm is able to adapt to slow drift changes during the walk, thus suited for long duration walks.


We present a tool for the simulation of active and passive photonic integrated circuits (PIC) based on EME (eigenmode expansion) for modelling the details of circuit elements plus the travelling wave time domain (TWTD) technique for connecting the circuit together and modelling non-linear elements such as SOAs. We show how the two algorithms can be linked together using FIR filters to create a highly efficient PIC simulator. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the approach and illustrate it with the simulation of a variety of active and passive examples.


In service composition,due to dynamic changes in the environment and reasons for the services itself,the behavior of the Web services involved in service composition may evolve and influence the service composition results.An adaptive service selection framework is proposed to solve the problem.The information from public service registries is captured and recorded locally in the binding repository,then link analysis algorithm is applied to the binding repository to get the highly linked services at the moment for service selection.Simulation experiment results show that the framework and the algorithm can select high-quality services dynamically,and reduce the failure rate of service composition results caused by evolving Quality of Service(QoS).


This paper presents empirical findings on knowledge concerning pupils with special educational needs in primary school teachers. We identified the problematic areas as those with confirmed weaknesses. We also pointed out teachers' interest in education in the field of special educational needs. The main finding was that teachers missed some important information and knowledge of special educational needs in integrated pupils, and methods of inclusion. The paper documents the need to continually improve institutional education focused on pupils' special educational needs. Especially, increasing the quality of professional-methodological as well as generally-pedagogical preparation of future educators as a key role is most demanded.


Accurate data of the internal residual stress can not be obtained in the process of compression molding of aspherical glass lenses, so finite element method was presented to analyze inner stresshistory and predict residual stress distribution. According to the nature of glass at high temperatures which is similar to viscoelastic material, the creep response of 5-pairs general Maxwell model is incorporated into the finite element numerical calculation. Using advanced nonlinear finite element program of MSC.Marc, uniaxial compression of cylindrical glass and compression molding of aspherical glass lenses were simulated. Residual stress distribution in lenses compressed is obtained. On the basis of above mentioned, the effect of temperature and molding velocity on residual stress distribution in lenses was importantly analyzed. The experimental result shows that maximum residual stress occurs at the edge of the lens, and lower temperature and higher molding speed will increase the maximum residual stress.


Farm planning and enterprise selection have been studied by agricultural economists for many years. Detailed methodology has been developed to analyze the economic situation of farm firms and to project optimum combinations of resources used in producing selected enterprise activities. Programming techniques have been used extensively. They provided planning guidelines, with quality dependent on availability of data and completeness of the programming format. One area of concern arising from many programming efforts is that resource utilization and, ultimately, enterprise selection do not accurately project the general patterns of production observed in a specific area. Furthermore, there is little observable indication that farmers tend to move toward the programming solution. This problem is apparent when more variable enterprises are programmed with traditionally less variable enterprises. The more variable enterprises are frequently indicated to be profitable in the programming solutions, but farmers are not very interested in growing them.


Bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae is one of the most common and dangerous pathogens of human infectious diseases. The research of K. pneumoniae resistance to β-lactam antibiotics (cephalosporins), which are widely used in anti-infective therapy, is very relevant. The aims of the work is to study K. pneumoniae resistance to cephalosporins. Fifty strains of K. pneumoniae isolated from patients (sputum, lavage liquid, blood) of Irkutsk Regional Clinical Hospital and sectional material in 2015 were examined. Resistance to four antibiotics (cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, ceftazidime, cefepime) was determined by disco-diffusion method. 56.0-62.0 % of K. pneumoniae strains were resistant to drugs of III generation cephalosporins; 58.0 % – to drug of IV generation (cefepime). Klebsiella strains showed the highest resistance to cef- tazidime (resistance – 62.0 %; intermediate – 20.0 %). The spectrum of resistance to all four antibiotics was revealed in 52.0 % of strains, сross-resistance – in 64.0 %. The resistance of K. pneumoniae from the sectional material was higher than resistance of Klebsiella isolated from the organs and tissues of the patients. Klebsiella isolated from the lavage fluid more often (p < 0.05) showed resistance to cephalosporins compared to strains isolated from sputum. The research brought us to the conclusion that Klebsiella pneumoniae strains were characterized by a significant level of resistance to β-lactam antibiotics (cephalosporins).


This article investigates the impact of controlled imbalance levels on assembly lines, and its effects on two important performance indicators: throughput and work in process (WIP) level. Using a five workstations line simulation, with different degrees of imbalance and different configurations, we could conclude that there is a relationship between extra capacity added to non-constraints and average WIP level and line throughput. Simulation revealed that, using bowl shape configuration, the higher the imbalance, the higher the throughput, with less WIP. These results allow proposing new studies to create a framework for evaluating the feasibility of investments in extra capacity vis-a-vis those gains in resources efficiency.


By modifying buffer management scheme of BPLRU, we can improve the hit rate of buffer. While BPLRU manages the LRU list of the buffer by using only the one page's LRU state in the block, the proposed buffer management scheme manages the LRU list of the buffer by using average LRU state of whole pages in the block. With this buffer management scheme, we can leave the block which will be more frequently accessed in the buffer.


Analysis of the double-flared metallic strips loaded synthetic artificial waveguide-based electromagnetic horn antenna for X-band applications is discussed here. The complete design procedure and field analysis within the horn are also presented to better understand the proposed horn antenna. The analysis is also applicable for more number of flaring. The results in the form of reflection coefficients and radiation patterns in the operating band are presented to support the idea of a horn antenna using the SIW domain. The impedance bandwidth of 20.43 % (from 9.05-11.11 GHz) with respect to the centre frequency of 10.08 GHz is achieved. The gain performance of the antenna at all the frequencies is seen to be consistent (avg. 8.23 dB) with a highest value of 9 dB.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify factors that affect the time to the blindness of glaucoma patients. Design: This study was a retrospective, single-center cohort. Participants: The medical charts of 328 randomly selected glaucoma patients under the follow-up from January 2014 to December 2018 were included. Methods: A Cox proportional hazard model was employed to identify the risk factors of the blindness of glaucoma patients. Main Outcome Measures: Coefficients of the Cox proportional hazard models. Results: The Cox proportional hazard model showed that age (HR=1.018; P = 0.0344), had high blood pressure (HR=2.813; P < 0.0001), had diabetic disease (HR=1.595; P = 0.0442), the timolol with pilocarpine medication (HR=0.554; P = 0.0043), medium duration of treatment (HR = 0.0225; P < 0.0001), long duration of treatment (HR=0.0004; P < 0.0001), the cupdisk ratio greater than 0.7 (HR= 3.699; P < 0.0001) were a significant factor with glaucoma patients. Conclusions: The age, blood pressure, diabetic disease, type of medication, duration of treatment, and cup-disk ratio were statistically significant factors on time to the blindness of glaucoma patients. Therefore, authorities and other concerned bodies give greater attention to reduce the chance of blindness of glaucoma patients by creating a focus for patients approximately irreversible blindness because of glaucoma disease.


Physiological diseases such as a kind ofchilling injury, that is, internal breakdown, occur in the pulp of Starking Delicious apples during cold storage and atmosphere storage. Onthe other hand, chilling injury seldom occurs during cold storage and controlled atmosphere storage in the pulp of Rails Janet apples. To study the mechanism of this chilling injury, the phase change temperature was determined in the neutral, glycolipid, and phospholipid fractions of both cultivars by differential scanning calorimetry. The phase change temperature was observed at about 20°C in both cultivars just after harvest, and large differences did not exist. But after six months in cold storage, the phase change temperature was lower in both cultivars, and the phase change temperature in Rails Janet waslower than that in Starking Delicious. and controlled atmosphere physiological diseases such as


Pre-commitment is a relatively new harm minimization strategy for problem gambling. To date, its primary use has been in casino self-exclusion programs, a few Internet gambling sites, and to limit landbased EGM play in a few jurisdictions. Empirical research on it is quite limited, but does tend to indicate that it holds significant promise as an additional technique to promote responsible gambling and to limit the harms associated with problem gambling. Drawing on the existing research, as well as lessons of problem gambling prevention research, it is reasonable to surmise that the degree to which precommitment is voluntary, revocable, exceedable, of short duration, available for just some EGMs or some Internet sites, available for just some forms of gambling, and does not use biometric ID, is the degree to which the technique is primarily of benefit to non-problem gamblers (which may or may not translate into a decreased future incidence of problem gambling). In contrast, the degree to which all avenues for excessive gambling have been closed, is the degree to which the technique likely has broader utility for problem and non-problem gamblers. What is Pre-Commitment? "Pre-commitment" refers to a harm minimization strategy whereby pre-set limits on time, frequency, or money spent gambling are registered prior to the start of play. Precommitment usually refers to player-initiated limits, to distinguish it from the limits that may be imposed by the operator, government, or the actual gambling format. Pre-commitment is believed to be a useful harm minimization strategy because it a) allows the player to make more rational decisions about gambling involvement prior to actually engaging in gambling (Parke et al., 2008) and b) obliges the player to keep to these preset limits. Research indicates it is fairly common for regular gamblers (including problem gamblers) to have budgetary limits in mind prior to gambling (McDonnell-Phillips, 2006). However, research also indicates that these limits are often exceeded (McDonnell-Phillips, 2006). How is pre-commitment currently being used? Casino Self-Exclusion Casino self-exclusion programs represent a form of pre-commitment. Informal selfexclusion programs have been used by various casinos since at least the 1960s. The first formal program was initiated in 1989 in Manitoba, Canada, coincident with the opening of the country's first permanent, year-round casino. Since that time, many casinos and jurisdictions around the world have adopted self-exclusion programs (Nowatzki & Williams, 2002; Responsible Gambling Council, 2008; Williams, West, & Simpson, 2007; 2008).


INTRODUCTION
Increasingly patients are surviving after reconstructive surgery of the ascending aorta. These patients require follow-up to detect postoperative prognostic markers, such as persistence of the flow in a false lumen, intimal rupture, or graft complications. We conducted a study with transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography in order to detect residual abnormalities and establish the usefulness of this technique in a group of patients after Bono-Bentall surgery for ascending aorta pathology.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Twelve patients were studied with transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography, four after surgery for annulo-aortic ectasia with severe aortic insufficiency and eight for type A aortic dissection. The Bono-Bentall surgical procedure was used in all the patients with Cabrol's modification being added in three.

RESULTS
Seven of the eight (87%) patients with aortic dissection had residual abnormalities: five persistence of the distal dissection, one pseudo-aneurysm, and one peritubular haematoma. A residual lesion (pseudo-aneurysm) was found in just one of the four patients (25%) who underwent surgery for annulo-aortic ectasia. The ejection fraction was normal in those patients who had been operated on for aortic dissection and depressed in those who had annulo-aortic ectasia (60 +/- 9 vs 40 +/- 10; p = 0.005).

CONCLUSIONS
In patients undergoing surgery with the Bono-Bentall procedure there is a high incidence of residual aortic abnormalities, especially when the operation is for aortic dissection. Transesophageal echocardiography is an ideal diagnostic method for the detection and follow up of residual abnormalities after ascending aorta surgery. We believe this technique should be included in the periodic follow up of these patients.


We develop a semianalytic formulation suitable for solving the Navier-Stokes equations governing the induced steady, axially symmetric motion of an incompressible viscous fluid confined in a wide gap between two differentially rotating concentric spheres. The method is valid for arbitrarily high Reynolds number and aids in the presentation of multiple steady-state flow patterns and their bifurcations. In the case of a rotating inner sphere and a stationary outer sphere, linear stability analysis is conducted to determine whether or not the computed solutions are stable. It is found that the solution transforms smoothly into an unstable solution beginning with asymmetric vortex pairs identified near the point of a symmetry-breaking bifurcation which occurs at Reynolds number 589. This solution transforms smoothly into an unstable asymmetric vortex solution as the Reynolds number increases. Flow modes whose branches have not been previously reported are found using this method. The origin of the flow modes obtained are discussed using bifurcation theory.


ABSTRACT Both micro-paired and conical support type double-stage diamond anvil cells (ds-DAC) were tested using a newly synthesized ultra-fine nano-polycrystalline diamond (NPD). Well-focused X-ray sub-micron beam and the conically supported 2nd stage anvils (micro-anvils) with 10 μm culet enable us to obtain good quality X-ray diffraction peaks from the sample at around 400 GPa. The relationship between confining pressure and sample pressure depends heavily on the initial height (thickness) of micro-anvils, the difference of a few micrometers leads to a quite different compression path. The conical support type is a solution to retain both enough thickness and strength of micro-anvils at higher confining pressure conditions. All conical support ds-DAC experiments terminated by the failure of the 1st stage anvil instead of 2nd one. The combination of ultra-fine NPD 2nd stage anvil and NPD 1st stage anvil opens a new frontier for measurement of the X-ray absorption spectrum above 300 GPa.


In this study, the Life Table Method also known as the Cutler-Ederer life table
technique, was introduced and practicability of this technique for determining life period of
fish species of which natural mortalities were found by estimation using parameter of length
weight relationships has also been searched. The aim of this study is to show that life table
method used for human beings, can be also used to predict fish species. The data employed in
the present study is that of scaldfish Arnoglossus laterna (Walbaum, 1792) (Pisces: Bothidae)
obtained from the Aegean Sea. Life span of five years and its ages were directly taken into
account in the table prepared by the data concerned. Consequently, according to the data
estimated, the life expectancy of the species in the Aegean Sea is approximately 11 years.
Furthermore, the number of individuals estimated to live more than 5 years from the scaldfish
population including 1000 individuals was calculated to be some 970.


A total of 362 bile samples from 104 patients with evidence of biliary tract obstruction were submitted for diagnostic cytology from January, 1989 to April, 1991. The patients were classified based on the obstructive cause, and the cytologic results were reviewed. 298 of the specimens were from patients with intrabiliary malignant structure, and 17 were from patients with extrabiliary malignant compression or benign biliary obstruction. Bile cytology was positive for carcinoma in 42 samples from patients with intrabiliary malignant stricture, and the diagnostic sensitivity was 14%. There were no false positive cases. We concluded that the cause of low sensitivity was degenerative change of cell due to prolonged sampling time. What is noteworthy was the high prevalence of Clonorchis sinensis eggs, being detected in 25 patients with intrabiliary malignancy, supporting the association between clonorchiasis and biliary tree malignancy.


................................................................................................................................iv Chapter 1: Background .......................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: New Neurons are Correlated with Timing Behavior ....................................4 Huntington's disease ..............................................................................................................4 Adult neurogenesis and its implications in Huntington's disease .........................................5 Basal ganglia pathology in Huntington's disease ..................................................................7 Hippocampal pathology in Huntington's disease ..................................................................8 Time perception .....................................................................................................................9 Timing deficits in Huntington's disease.....................................................................9 Corticostriatal circuitry underlies timing behavior ....................................................12 The hippocampus underlies timing behavior .............................................................13 Lateralization .............................................................................................................16 Aims ...........................................................................................................................17 Materials and Methods ............................................................................................18 Animals ......................................................................................................................18 Operant chambers ......................................................................................................19 Behavioral training .....................................................................................................19 Behavioral data analysis ............................................................................................23 Immunohistochemistry ..............................................................................................24 Microscope analysis ...................................................................................................25 Lateralization index ...................................................................................................26 Statistical analysis ......................................................................................................26 Cohort effects .................................................................................................27 Timing behavior .............................................................................................27 Age effect ........................................................................................................27 New neurons...................................................................................................27 Timing behavior .............................................................................................27 New neurons in the hippocampus and SVZ ...................................................27 Comparing new neurons between genotypes .................................................27 Comparing new neurons between hemispheres .............................................28 Comparing new neurons across subregions ..................................................28 Timing behavior and new neurons in the hippocampus and SVZ .................28 SGZ, hilus, SGZ+hilus, and SVZ ...................................................................28 Lateralization and timing behavior ..............................................................28


A light guiding apparatus including a first light guide and a second light guide is provided. The first light guide includes a first end surface thereon, a second end surface and a side surface thereon, wherein the first end surface includes a first light incident surface, the second end surface includes a first light emitting surface, and the side surface is located between the first end surface and the second end surface of the first light guide. The second light guide has a second light incident surface and a second light emitting surface connecting to the second light incident surface, wherein at least a portion of region of the second light emitting surface is a roughened surface. The second light incident surface or the first light emitting surface is a roughened surface, and a medium is between the second light incident surface and the first light emitting surface, wherein the medium has a refractive index smaller than that of the first light guide and the second light guide.


Traceability of the measurement units in fluid flow metering, as the state-of-the-art approach, is practiced as a so-called element-by-element method which relies upon the idealistic assumption that the measurement process in a flow calibration facility can be run under exact steady-state conditions, i.e. absolutely no fluctuations of the flow quantities are assumed to occur during the flow measurement process. Based upon this assumption, it seems to be sufficient that, for traceability purposes, solely those SI units are quantitatively taken into account which are the composing elements of the fluid flow measurands, the unit fluid flow rate or the total volume flow, respectively.


This article follows a criminal investigation for recruitment of child soldiers, by asking the following questions: how does one find child soldiers? How does one bring them onto the judicial stage? The article explores the different moments that marked the investigation by the Office of the Prosecutor in the first case brought before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, that of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. After describing the successive stages of the investigation, the article analyses the conditions under which former child soldiers testified before the ICC. None of their nine testimonies was judged credible by the ICC Trial Chamber I. The different moments that marked these legal proceedings bring to light the instability of the category of child soldier and the uncertainty that regularly threatens the labour of judicial elucidation.


ObjectiveTo assess occupational Stress and itInfluential Factors in scientific research group.MethodsA test of occupational stress,its Influential Factors,was carry out with revised occupational stress inventory (OSI-R) for 235 scientific research group and 319 controlsResults(1) Among the 6 items of occupational role questionnaire, the scores of role overload, role insufficiency,role boundary, role ambiguity,responsibility are obviously higher in the scientific research group (P0.01). The scores of vocational strain, interpersonal strain in the scientific research group are significantly higher(P0.01). The results of personal resources indicate that self-care scores in scientific research group are superior(P0.01).(2)Occupational role and personal strain were positively correlated (r= 0.726,P0.01), both of which correlated negatively to the personal resources (r=-0.331,P0.01). (4) The major influential factors of personal strain, interpersonal strain, physical strain were occupational roles, role boundary, rational, self-care. The major influential factors of vocational strain were occupational roles, role overload, education category, rational, physical environment, responsibility. The major influential factors of psychological strain were occupational roles, role boundary, personal resources, role ambiguity. ConclusionsDifferent measure should be take to reduce the occupational stress so as to improve the work ability of scientific research group.


Modern data mining and bioinformatics have presented an important playground for statistical learning techniques, where the number of input variables is possibly much larger than the sample size of the training data. In supervised learning, logistic regression or probit regression can be used to model a binary output and form perceptron classification rules based on Bayesian inference. In these cases , there is a lot of interest in searching for sparse model in High Dimensional regression(/classification) setup. we first discuss two common challenges for analyzing high dimensional data. The first one is the curse of dimensionality. The complexity of many existing algorithms scale exponentially with the dimensionality of the space and by virtue of that algorithms soon become computationally intractable and therefore inapplicable in many real applications. secondly, multicollinearities among the predictors which severely slowdown the algorithm. In order to make Bayesian analysis operational in high dimensio...


The purpose of this paper is to give some explicit formulas involving M\"obius functions, which may be known under the generalized Riemann Hypothesis, but unconditional in this paper. Concretely, we prove explicit formulas of partial sums of the M\"obius function in arithmetic progressions and partial sums of the M\"obius functions on an Abelian number field $K$. In addition, to obtain these explicit formulas, we study a certain finite Euler product appearing from certain relation of primitive characters and imprimitive characters in the present paper.


Optimal humidification in preterm infants during noninvasive ventilation or invasive mechanical ventilation is a crucial therapeutic target to help prevent severe critical care complications. Although, this approach is well accepted, there is very little quality of evidence available, including bench models, to evaluate the complexities of humidification. This makes it difficult to determine the clinical benefits and, or, adverse effects of different methods. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


—Human activities are embedded in the space. People need to know where they are and how they can arrive to their destination. They may use their spatial cognition in familiar space, or navigation aids (e.g., cartographic maps and satellite navigation systems) in unfamiliar areas for positioning and wayfinding purposes. Today, satellite navigation systems are widely used by even non-expert users. Dealing with cartographic maps, however, need prior knowledge and experience on map reading as well as enough spatial cognition. Enriching cartographic maps with the elements of spatial cognition could help to navigate more easily in unfamiliar environments. This paper represents the result of a research to enrich cartographic maps with features used by pedestrians for navigation in urban areas.


Identification and count of orchard pests is very important in monitoring orchard pest population. The pests trapped by high-voltage grid show different postures and incomplete bodies, which increase the difficulty of image automated identification. Currently, most researches of pest image identification focus on feature extraction based on standard posture samples, without considering the influence from multi-pose of pests in natural scene. Consequently, the identification rates of these methods are low in practical orchard application. Using Dichocrocis punctiferalis (Guenee) as research object, this paper is directed towards a posture classification method for the orchard target pest identification. It aims at intensifying the performance of multi-pose pest identification system by utilizing Zernike moments as descriptors of shape characteristics. The input image is cropped automatically and further subjected to a number of preprocessing stages. The outcome of preprocessing stage is one processed image containing scaled and translated target pest. Then, the template number is determined according to the posture of target pest and the corresponding template parameters are obtained from the cluster centers by fuzzy C-mean clustering method. Experiment results show that the proposed shape feature is robust to changes caused by pest image shape rotation, translation, and/or scaling. And the highest accuracy of posture classification is 92.3% for orchard target pest Dichocrocis punctiferalis (Guenee) with multiple postures. It outperforms the method in reference [2] where the highest accuracy is 86.6%.


In most cases, the routing policy of networks shows a preference for a static one-to-one mapping of communication pairs to routing paths, which offers adversaries a great advantage to conduct thorough reconnaissance and organize an effective attack in a stress-free manner. With the evolution of network intelligence, some flexible and adaptive routing policies have already proposed to intensify the network defender to turn the situation. Routing mutation is an effective strategy that can invalidate the unvarying nature of routing information that attackers have collected from exploiting the static configuration of the network. However, three constraints execute press on routing mutation deployment in practical: insufficient route mutation space, expensive control costs, and incompatibility. To enhance the availability of route mutation, we propose an OpenFlow-based route mutation technique called Polymorphic Path Transferring (PPT), which adopts a physical and virtual path segment mixed construction technique to enlarge the routing path space for elevating the security of communication. Based on the Markov Decision Process, with considering flows distribution in the network, the PPT adopts an evolution routing path scheduling algorithm with a segment path update strategy, which relieves the press on the overhead of control and incompatibility. Our analysis demonstrates that PPT can secure data delivery in the worst network environment while countering sophisticated attacks in an evasion-free manner (e.g., advanced persistent threat). Case study and experiment results show its effectiveness in proactively defending against targeted attacks and its advantage compared with previous route mutation methods.


This review provides a summary and appraisal commentary on the treatment review by Fry, J., Millard, S., & Botterill, W. (2014). Effectiveness of intensive, group therapy for teenagers who stutter. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 49, 113–126. Source of funding and disclosure of interest: Rayne Foundation partially supported this study. Original authors reported that there were no conflicts of interest.


An integrated three dimensional finite element model of a typical fabricated PC hollow slab bridge was built by a general FEM program named MIDAS/Civil and a number of calculations were done.The strengthening effect was analyzed in theory by comparing changes such as the lateral load distribution influence line,the vertical displacements and the stress distributions before and after reinforcement of the bridge.The strengthening effect influenced by the magnitudes of the transverse prestress was also discussed.Calculation results show that(1) prominent strengthening effect can be obtained by this method,which can effectively improve the lateral load distributions,enhance the transverse connection between hollow slabs,and decrease possibility of the situation that a separate hollow slab bearing loads;(2) the magnitude of the transverse prestress applying to the bridge has little effect on the strengthening effect.This strengthening method is effective to solve the weakness transverse connection between hollow slabs in fabricated PC hollow slab bridge and the research conclusions can provide referential experience to the same type of bridges.


Case Report A 22-year-old chef had no atopic skin or respiratory problems in infancy, but started to develop rhinoconjunctivitis at 5–6 years. Since then he had also developed oral symptoms, i.e., itching of the lips and palate, and swelling of the throat, from apples, pears and nuts. He had had no skin symptoms before he started training as a chef. In his current job, he had developed itchy hand dermatitis, related to the handling of raw potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, and curry. Dermatitis also occasionally developed on the face, especially if juices of any of the above vegetables or spices splashed onto his face. When seen by us, he had been on sick leave, and was symptomless, except for mild paronychia. Patch testing was performed according to the recommendations of ICDRG with a modified European standard series (allergens mainly from Chemotechnique, Malmö, Sweden, and Trolab, Reinbek/Hamburg, Germany), a series of antimicrobials (Chemotechnique), spices (8), flours, diallylsulfide and allicin. All patch tests were negative. Prick testing was performed as described earlier (9). The following positive prick tests were found: in a series of environmental allergens including natural rubber latex (NRL), birch (13 mmπpseudopodia), alder (10 mm); in a series of vegetables, potato (9 mm), carrot (5 mm), apple (9 mm), parsnip (5 mm) and parsley (5 mm); in a series of spices and nuts, coriander (10 mmπps), almond (9 mm) and hazelnut (9 mm). All other components of curry were negative. Series of storage mites, molds and flours were negative. The control test with histamine 10 mg/ml had a diameter of 8 mm. Total IgE was close to normal (116 kU/l; normal ,110 kU/l). RASTs (Pharmacia, Sweden) to potato, carrot, tomato, onion and garlic were negative. We concluded that our patient had occupational protein contact dermatitis from coriander, raw potato and carrot. Protein contact dermatitis has previously been reported from potato and carrot (Table 1). Our patient also had symptoms of immediate allergy to curry and, based on prick testing, it was concluded that the spice in curry causing the symptoms was coriander. His specific sensitization had developed in less than 1 year from occupational exposure to coriander and vegetables. Based on clinical follow-up, we concluded that the patient could not continue in his job, and re-training has been recommended.


The fold and thrust belt of the northern Cuban oil and gas province is a relatively well known petroleum system where several oil fields produce mainly heavy oil. The highly deformed section includes all tectono-stratigraphic units deposited of the continental paleo-margin of North America described in northern Cuba from deepwater environment to large carbonate platforms. The main stratigraphic section is composed by Lower Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous rocks covered by synorogenic sediments of uppermost Cretaceous to Lower Tertiary. The main detachment fault runs along the lower part of the Upper Jurassic section. Other secondary detachments are located at Lower Cretaceous and Eocene levels. The main exploratory target are the hinterland-dipping thrust folds. The northern Cuban fold and thrust belt extends below the waters of Gulf of Mexico, partially covered by a thick Tertiary section. Seismic information shows an extended triangle zone with large folds associated to the Yucatan Platform in the westernmost area. Anticlines have been mapped also in the central section associated to deepwater sedimentary basins. In the western part, the Florida Platform is also highly deformed. The thrust belt includes several tectonic sheets composed mostly by southernmost tectono-stratigraphic units. Seismic images are largely deficient in the most part of the area, probably due to imbrications, faults, and high-dipping angles. Improvements in the seismic imaging and mapping have been achieved through special processing of 2D and 3D seismic data. The northern Cuban fold and thrust belt is a demonstrated exploratory play in the Gulf of Mexico.


General practitioners are confronted with many required preventive interventions. A solution to this problem is comb ining several interventions in one questionnaire. Almost no research exists on this subject. In this pilot feasibility study we examine whether a prevention strategy based on a questionnaire increases the number of preventive items in the patient's records, and we examine the response rate when this questionnaire is given to patients during a routine consultation.An evidence based questionnaire containing 22 questions concerning 11 topics was used in a practice of general practit ioners in a semi-rural co mmunity. 26 items were studied: the answers to the 22 aforementioned questions plus four more items relating to multip le questions. All were rated before and after the intervention using strict criteria.Of the 104 included patients 46 participated.After the intervention the availability of most items increased but it was only significant for eight items. This unique pilot study clearly shows us that a questionnaire which comb ines multip le prevention interventions improves the quality of our records. Handing over this questionnaire to patients during routine visits gives a high response rate.


We study how the presence of the middle class in the sense of Gevorgyan-Malykhin affects the value of income inequality measures including the Gini coefficient J and the Hoover index H. It is proved that in the presence of the middle class (1) $J \leqslant \frac{1}{2}\frac{{L'\left( 0 \right)}}{2}$ (where L is the Lorenz function), (2) $H \leqslant \frac{1}{2}$, (3) the longest vertical distance between the diagonal and the Lorenz curve (which is equal to H) is attained at ${z_0} < \frac{3}{4}$ A tight upper bound for P90/P10 ratio is found assuming L′(0)>0. Tight upper and lower bounds for the differential deviation in terms of the Gini coefficient are found as well.


The Nile Delta offshore is rapidly emerging as a major gas province. High-quality three-dimensional (3-D) seismic data, coupled with data from 13 consecutive successful deep-water exploration and appraisal wells, have highlighted clear phases of erosion and deposition within the upper Pliocene deep-marine slope channels. The gross reservoir architecture is spectacularly imaged by 3-D seismic techniques, both in time sections and through a variety of amplitude extractions, while an extensive program of core and wire-line log acquisition and analysis has enabled high-resolution definition of the channel-fill sediments. The channels were initiated by the introduction of coarse sediments to the shelf edge possibly at times of relative sea level fall. Initially, there was significant erosion, especially in areas up depositional dip, creating what we term slope valleys. Subsequent valley infill commonly commenced with debris flows, slumps, and slides, sometimes overlying basal, bypass-related sands, and progressed to amalgamated or stacked channels in packages of upward-decreasing net-to-gross sand ratios. This pattern was commonly repeated following reincision, which may have occurred several times. The different stages of channel development can be considered in terms of slope equilibrium with a reduction in slope gradient promoted by increases in flow size and density and decreases in grain size.


Using sea-surface temperature data for the post-war period, the Mediterranean Sea is divided objectively (principal components factor analysis) into subareas with similar covariances. This division is not the same in every season of the year. In summer, two subareas are found, the west and the east. In spring and autumn three, and in winter four significant subareas denote physical oceanographic and meteorological processes. The scores of the analyses show clearly the minimum of the late 1970s and then the warming of recent years somewhat delayed in the eastern Mediterranean.


Synchronized voltage generation has already been considered in the context of pulse width modulation (PWM). References prove that synchronized PWM substantially decreases subharmonics in inverter output voltage when operating with low switching-to-fundamental frequency ratio. This paper identifies problems of unsynchronized voltage generation in electric drives under six-step inverter operation. Guidelines for the synchronization scheme were formulated, considering both minimization of voltage subharmonics and drive control properties. A comprehensive algorithm for adjusting the voltage update rate in six-step permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drive was presented. Superior properties of the synchronized six-step voltage generation were demonstrated by simulation and experiment for an exemplary 5-kW PMSM drive.


Gelsolin is an 82-kD protein present in most vertebrate tissue that has been shown to affect the length of actin polymers in vitro. Gelsolin severs actin filaments, nucleates actin polymerization, and blocks actin monomer exchange of the fast-growing (barbed) ends of actin filaments.1 Calcium ions, pH, and polyphosphoinositides regulate these activities in vitro.2 Increased expression of gelsolin in fibroblasts, by stable transfection of the gelsolin cDNA, causes rapid cell movement in tissue culture.3 Moreover, adult skin fibroblasts from gelsolin null mice move slower and exhibit reduced membrane ruffling compared with wild-type fibroblasts.4 The amino acid sequence of the gelsolin molecule has six homologous repeats (G1–G6), and extensive studies using proteolytic fragments and recombinant truncates of gelsolin indicate that the various functions of gelsolin involve the cooperative interaction of the domains encoded by repeated sequences. The G1 domain appears to be essential for severing activity, and therefore G1 is regarded as an effector domain for the severing activity of gelsolin. Mutant proteins that lack a functional domain in their normal counterpart can be used to inhibit the activity of the native protein.5 We previously showed that G2-6 and G2-3, truncates of gelsolin lacking the G1 domain necessary for severing, but not for filament binding or monomer nucleation, function as competitive inhibitors of the actin filament-severing activities of both native forms of gelsolin and cofilin, another family of protein that influences actin filament remodeling.6 In this study, we transfected the cDNAs encoding gelsolin truncates to examine their effect in the cell.


The present invention discloses a sewage treatment method and its installation. Said method incldues the following steps: firstly, making sewage pass through settling pond to removing hard grain and suspension; then feeding the sewage into flowing bed in which the gravels are filled and the aquatic plant and hydrophyte are planted so as to further reduce suspension in sewage and reduce COD of sewage; feeding the sewage into downward flowing pond-upward-flowing pond, in the artificial wet land the gravels and fine sand are filled and aquatic plant and hygrophyte are planted to degrade COD in the sewage, remove nitrogen and phosphorus, remove heavy metal and special pollutants of exogenous biological activity substance and phycotoxin, etc., the feeding it into water-quality modification pond in which the fine sand layer is filled and hydatophyte is planted to modifying water quality, finally discharging sewage meeting requirements for discharge and recovering it to reuse.


Objective To determine the functional role of calcium oxalate binding proteins in the nucleation, aggregation and retention of calcium oxalate crystals under physiological and hyperoxaluric conditions.


This paper advances the debate concerning the future of market research by presenting nine new rules to guide thought and action in a period of transition. These become the market researcher's manifesto for change. First, they describe the new marketplace emerging as we shift from a production-driven to a consumption-led economy. In response, marketers have shifted their focus of activity from completing transactions to building relationships. This context then provides the background for discussion about the role of the market researcher.


We have succeeded in constructing water-soluble receptors with sufficient specificity to overcome the tendency of organic ligands to partition into the hydrophobic interior of a phospholipid bilayer


Provincial sports,with its status quo and yield rate,are directly related to the development speed and future trends of China sports.In order to improve competitive sports and preserve a healthy and sustainable development of China sports,it is of great necessity to make rational use of sports resources.Armed with questionnaire survey,qualitative analysis and comparative analysis,it is reviewed in this research the 50-year history of Ningxia sports.It is accompanied by the analysis of some problems persistent in many a sport areas in Ningxia.These aspects include its competitive sports ideas,its athletic talent's training,its performance evaluation system and its utilization rate of resources.Meanwhile,following the exploration of future development of Ningxia competitive sports are some ideas on how to make rational use of ports resources and how to let competitive sports resources play its own value.


The Brillouin scattering technique was used to study the local mechanical deformation of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). The extent of local stress concentration could be determined by measuring longitudinal hypersonic velocities in the close vicinity of a circular hole and a sharp single‐edge‐notch (SEN) in panel PMMA specimens under uniaxial tensile stress. Craze formation in PMMA is also briefly discussed in association with such a local deformation. Present studies demonstrate that the Brillouin scattering technique is a new and effective probe for such an investigation in transparent materials.


The present work uses α-conotoxin ImI (CTx ImI) to probe the neurotransmitter binding site of neuronal α7 acetylcholine receptors. We identify key residues in α7 that contribute to CTx ImI affinity, and use mutant cycles analysis to identify pairs of residues that stabilize the receptor-conotoxin complex. We first mutated key residues in the seven known loops of α7 that converge at the subunit interface to form the ligand binding site. The mutant subunits were expressed in 293 HEK cells, and CTx ImI binding was measured by competition against the initial rate of125I-α-bungarotoxin binding. The results reveal a predominant contribution by Tyr-195 in α7, accompanied by smaller contributions by Thr-77, Tyr-93, Asn-111, Gln-117, and Trp-149. Based upon our previous identification of bioactive residues in CTx ImI, we measured binding of receptor and toxin mutations and analyzed the results using thermodynamic mutant cycles. The results reveal a single dominant interaction between Arg-7 of CTx ImI and Tyr-195 of α7 that anchors the toxin to the binding site. We also find multiple weak interactions between Asp-5 of CTx ImI and Trp-149, Tyr-151, and Gly-153 of α7, and between Trp-10 of CTx ImI and Thr-77 and Asn-111 of α7. The overall results establish the orientation of CTx ImI as it bridges the subunit interface and demonstrate close approach of residues on opposing faces of the α7 binding site.


Tourism and industry are two sectors of the economy of nations, Algeria in post-independence, has focused on the development of industry particularly in the coastal strip and among the largest Algerian poles there is the industrial pole Petrochemical Skikda, installed and inaugurated in 1974 near the area of Arbi Ben M'Hidi which is a tourist area par excellence. Also, Arbi Ben M'Hidi has benefited from a tourist development program on the ZET of Arbi Ben M'Hidi - Filfla, which is part of the SDAT for the year 2030 The objectives of this study are to demonstrate, on the one hand, the importance and the extent of the tourist activity in the study area as well as the risks linked to this activity, and on the other hand, the tourist dynamics that the area is experiencing thanks to its natural potential, particularly seaside tourism, To this end, this study is intended to demonstrate the realities and paradoxes concerning this tourism-industry coexistence, which represents both a challenge for the local development of the area, and to achieve operational results aimed at the development of natural resources in the first place and the preservation of potentialities in a sustainable context. Therefore, in general, the study in question illustrates the reality and the consequences of this coexistence between tourism and industrial activity.


There has been much research and discussion on the principles of standards-based grading, and there is a growing consensus of best practice. Even so, the actual process of implementing standards-based grading at a school or district level can be a significant challenge. There are very practical questions that remain unclear, such as how the grades should be calculated. Common methods include a simple average, averaging only the more recent scores, mathematical models of growth over time, and basic teacher judgment. It is difficult to choose a single method that is justifiable in all circumstances. This article proposes a new method, the history-adjusted true score, that can be applied in a wide variety of situations. A rigorous method of evaluating each grading method is also described.


. I offer a critical treatment of the contrastivist response to the problem of radical scepticism. In particular, I argue that if contrastivism is understood along externalist lines then it is unnecessary; while if it is understood along internalist lines then it is intellectually dissatisfying. Moreover


Increased international travel and trade have been implicated for the resurgence of bedbug in Europe,American and the other countries,and bedbug is considered to be a pest of significant public health importance. As bedbug populations have strong survivability,hide easily,and are highly resistant to many insecticides,these make harder to eliminate the pests. However,sulfuryl fluoride has higher penetration,no response to all materials and is effective against all life stages of bedbug. The results of application show that fumigation with sulfuryl fluoride for control of bedbug may be an ideal option,when an insecticide or other treatment does not eliminate bedbug or in fast action.


The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has published a Group Specification document outlining Network Function Virtualization Management and Orchestration (NFV-MANO) systems, advocating an open environment for the purpose of integrating multiple vendor solutions into one NFV ecosystem. To align with this initiative, there is a need to transform the specification into real products with the necessary components and interfaces following the ETSI reference architecture. To support this effort, in this article we share our experience in the exploration of further refining and developing internal components of the ETSI NFV-MANO functional blocks with identified open integration interfaces. We focus on the detailed analysis of the life cycle management of the Virtual Network Functions (VNFs), which is the most fundamental and important functionality of NFV-MANO. Based on our analysis, we propose an abstract VNF Manager Integration Interface (VNFM Integration Interface) at the southbound of VNFM, to integrate with various clouds and systems to complete the life cycle management of the VNFs. In order to achieve advanced VNF life cycle management such as auto-scaling, a model-based monitoring solution is adopted for monitoring the VNFs across multiple layers of NFV architecture. To serve as a proof of concept, we automatically deploy and scale a sample VNF using the proposed software architecture and interfaces. With the prototyping experience using the VNF model as a plugin, to integrate with traditional virtualization and physical infrastructure hierarchy as a full topology model, we evaluate using a model-based monitoring system Dell Foglight™ for realizing NFV monitoring functionalities as part of NFV-MANO architecture framework.


Abstract 1467 P-glycoprotein (Pgp) is the product of the multidrug-resistance-1 (MDR1) gene and actively transports various molecules across the extracellular membrane. Previous studies demonstrated that activated lymphocytes decrease Pgp activity and preferentially retain the photosensitizing agent 4, 5-dibromorhodamine 123 (TH9402, Kiadis Pharma, NL). We evaluated a photodepletion technique to achieve selective depletion (SD) of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) alloreacting T cells in 24 HLA-identical sibling stem cell transplants. Donor lymphocytes were activated by 72 hr exposure with irradiated in-vitro expanded recipient T lymphocytes and pulsed with TH9402. Alloactivated T cells preferentially retaining the photosensitizer were eliminated by light exposure. The transfused cell products were then analyzed for T cell subset frequency. After SD preferential CD4+ T cell depletion occurred with an inversion of the CD4+/CD8+ ratio. Within the CD4+ compartment a significant depletion of naive (CD27+ CD45RO-), central memory (CD27+ CD45RO+), and effector (CD27-CD45RO+) populations was noted. Conversely, CD8+ naive and effector subsets was relatively conserved with depletion occurring predominantly in the central memory population. Additionally, an 80% reduction in B cells occurred, with a 60% reduction of cytotoxic NK cells (CD56+CD16+) and a relative expansion of regulatory NK cells (CD56+CD16-). We compared outcomes of 24 SD transplants with 34 patients receiving a T-cell depleted transplant. All patients with hematological malignancies were conditioned with fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and total body irradiation and received a CD34-selected stem cell allograft from an HLA identical sibling. SD recipients also received 5×10 6 /kg SD donor T cells. Low-dose cyclosporine was used as the only post-transplant immunosuppression. Median follow up was 14.5 months. The probability of severe acute GvHD (grade III-IV, 13%) and relapse (25%) was low for all patients. On day 100 post-transplant SD transplant recipients had lower absolute CD4+ counts, and increased rates of CMV reactivation requiring treatment (median 2 vs 1 reactivations within 100 days, p Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Instagram was founded on October 6, 2010, by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger taken from the words instant and telegram. This merger means that Instagram is a social media that can display photos instantly and quickly. In Indonesia, the number of Instagram users until July 2021 is 91.77 million users. The largest users are in the 18-24 year age group, which is 36.4%. Instagram is the third most used social media platform, after YouTube and WhatsApp. The high number of active Instagram users in Indonesia makes Instagram not only a platform for delivering information. However, it has the potential to become a platform for the online game lover community in Indonesia, which has a fairly wide community. Currently, quite a lot of esports teams in Indonesia have Instagram accounts for online gaming communities, for example, the most successful esports team in Indonesia. The 7 Most Successful Esports Teams in Indonesia, including Onic Esports, PG. Barracx, Aerowolf, Bigetron Esports, Boom ID, RRQ, and Evos Esports. This study uses a quantitative exploratory method, which will calculate using the ratios on Instagram. The results of this study indicate that the RRQ esports team has better account credibility for Instagram account performance compared to other esports teams.


Recent kinetic simulations have revealed that electromagnetic instabilities near the ion gyrofrequency and slightly away from the equatorial plane can be driven by a current parallel to the magnetic field prior to the arrival of dipolarization fronts. Such instabilities are important because of their potential contribution to global electromagnetic energy conversion near dipolarization fronts. Of the several instabilities that may be consistent with such waves, the most notable are the current‐driven electromagnetic ion cyclotron instability and the current‐driven kink‐like instability. To confirm the existence and characteristics of these instabilities, we used observations by two Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms satellites, one near the neutral sheet observing dipolarization fronts and the other at the boundary layer observing precursor waves and currents. We found that such instabilities with monochromatic signatures are rare, but one of the few cases was selected for further study. Two different instabilities, one at about 0.3 Hz and the other at a much lower frequency, 0.02 Hz, were seen in the data from the off‐equatorial spacecraft. A parallel current attributed to an electron beam coexisted with the waves. Our instability analysis attributes the higher‐frequency instability to a current‐driven ion cyclotron instability and the lower frequency instability to a kink‐like instability. The current‐driven kink‐like instability we observed is consistent with the instabilities observed in the simulation. We suggest that the currents needed to excite these low‐frequency instabilities are so intense that the associated electron beams are easily thermalized and hence difficult to observe.


In this paper, a relativistic scalar particle under Lorentz symmetry breaking effects in the presence of a scalar potential is investigated. We introduce the scalar potential by modifying the mass via transformation M → M+S(r) in the wave equation and analyze the behaviour of a scalar particle. We see that the analytical solution to the KleinGordon equation can be achieved, and the energy eigenvalues and the wave function depends on the Lorentz symmetry breaking parameters as well as potential


In this paper, we are going to deal with computations of Residues and Poles for the complex functions . We are also going to investigate a new numerical procedure theoretically and its implementation numerically to compute the residue of complex analytic functions with high order poles. The paper needs the knowledge of computing the complex improper


Factors considered important for predicing attrition were extracted from the research done on university dropouts for the past twenty‐five years and integrated into a conceptual model. Stepwise discriminant analysis coupled with logit regression analysis of freshman data from Brandon University yielded six variables: student status, residence, financial sources, distance of hometown from the university, goal fulfilment, and satisfaction with overall university atmosphere, which were useful in prediction. Several recommendations are made for minimizing the withdrawal phenomenon.


We consider general, stable nonlinear differential equations with N inputs and N outputs, where in the steady state, the output signals represent the payoff functions of a noncooperative game played by the steady-state values of the input signals. To achieve locally stable convergence to the resulting steady-state Nash equilibria, we introduce a non-model-based approach, where the players determine their actions based only on their own payoff values. This strategy is based on the extremum seeking approach, which has previously been developed for standard optimization problems and employs sinusoidal perturbations to estimate the gradient. Since non-quadratic payoffs create the possibility of multiple, isolated Nash equilibria, our convergence results are local. Specifically, the attainment of any particular Nash equilibrium is not assured for all initial conditions, but only for initial conditions in a set around that specific stable Nash equilibrium. For non-quadratic costs, the convergence to a Nash equilibrium is not perfect, but is biased in proportion to the perturbation amplitudes and the higher derivatives of the payoff functions. We quantify the size of these residual biases.


In this definitive book on the advanced techniques of the tonfa, weapons expert Tadashi Yamashita covers gripping, flipping, blocking, striking, block and counter, a karate kata adapted for tonfa, kumite, self-defence, and a traditional tonfa kata.


It is generally considered that an atomic nucleus is always compact. Based on the isospin-dependent Boltzmann nuclear transport model, here I show that large block nuclear matter or excited nuclear matter may both be hollow. The size of the inner bubble in these matter is affected by the charge number of nuclear matter. The existence of hollow nuclear matter may have many implications in nuclear or atomic physics or astrophysics as well as some practical applications.


It may be time to put surgical-style checklists to use in the office. This article, which details one of the author's own experience, explains why.


How do different institutional designs in diplomacy affect the formation of the national interest in trade negotiations? While current evidence suggests that institutions influence such a process even when societal groups dominate policymaking and international factors limit state choices, it remains unclear to what extent domestic institutions shape bureaucrats' perceptions of both domestic and foreign constraints. Building upon Brazil's case during WTO's Doha Round between 2003 and 2008, I address that question through process-tracing and the triangulation of semi-structured elite interviews with archival and secondary sources. I focus the analysis on the diplomatic bureaucracy, understood as the institution at the forefront of international bargaining. I argue that if such a bureaucracy blends political and economic issues, being responsible for diplomacy in general, foreign constraints prevail. That was the case of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE) in the period under analysis. A counterfactual exercise suggests that, should the diplomatic bureaucracy have been an economic-focused one, Brazil's liberalizing impetus at the multilateral level would have been tamed with the pursuit of preferential trade agreements (PTAs).


The present research project and redesign of the steam distribution network system of FABRILFAME S.A, was developed and proposed with a boiler with a steam supply of 0.126 kg / s.
After the field investigation it was observed that the system has deficiencies of hydraulic and thermal energy.
In order to correct the problems detected within the current system, the respective analysis of each section comprising the steam distribution network was carried out, considering all the losses existing in them.
In addition, the relevant calculations were made dealing with the critical radius of the insulation, resistance by conduction, convection and radiation, percentages of flash steam, hydraulic losses, energy losses by heat transmission, percentage of thermal efficiency and consumption of the equipment that make up the steam distribution network, quantifying the entire amount of heat required, which enabled the redesign of the steam distribution system to be improved, improving the thermal efficiency of the process.


Digital repositories are the green road to implement Open Access. Digital repositories are composed of many elements that would be impossible to address here. This article attempts to answer the following questions: What are digital repositories, and what kinds of digital repositories are, and what content can have a digital repository, and what benefits does the implementation of a digital repository? And how visibilizamos our repositories?.


The Bamboo Songs of Xizhou were the works created by Tujia scholars in the middle and late Qing dynasty in Xizhou. The works are poetic expressions,which have recalled the history of Tujia people, and have truthfully portrayed the productive activities,customs and recreational activities in that area after the replacement of hereditary local chieftains with nonhereditary appointees from the central government,so they have high historical and cultural value.


PERCEIVED LEADERSHIP PRACTICES ACROSS TWO GENERATIONS OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE DEANS: "BABY BOOMERS" AND "GENERATION XERS" Donna J. McCauley Old Dominion University, 2016 Director: Dr. Alan Schwitzer The purpose of this research study was to examine what Illinois community college academic deans perceive to be important leadership practices to enhance faculty effectiveness. A sequential mixed-method study was performed with academic deans at Illinois community colleges across the state. In Phase I of the study, 70 of the 164 academic deans in Illinois completed an anonymous online survey ranking importance of leadership practices that enhance faculty effectiveness. Eight of the academic deans who are Generation X volunteered to participate in the second phase of the study which consisted of in-depth, one-on-one interviews to identify what leadership practices they employ to enhance faculty effectiveness. The results of the study were generated from analyzing the descriptive data from the surveys and the interviews with each of the non-random purposeful participants. The results of the surveys identified the top five leadership practices: (1) leading employees, (2) straightforwardness and composure, (3) resourcefulness, (4) building and maintaining relationships, and (5) participative management. Descriptive data were gathered from the interviews and analyzed using the constant comparative analysis. The main results of the research included 29 themes that identified leadership practices Generation X academic deans employ to enhance faculty effectiveness.


In Australia, a significant number of landfill sites used for waste disposal do not incorporate measures for the collection and treatment of landfill gas emissions. The performance and behaviour of passive landfill gas drainage and biofiltration systems was observed to be affected by a number of factors including the landfill gas loading, the methane loading, the characteristics of the media in which the process is occurring, and the local climate. However, the primary factors affecting the performance of a passive biofilter in the field are considered to be the landfill gas (and methane) loading and oxygen supply.


An interval value model is established to solve the slab design problem in steel plants.The interval value means that the demands of customers about width and weight are variable value in some definite scope instead of fixed number.A heuristic algorithm is developed based on the order-slab matrix to solve the model.An example and the computing numerical experiments are given to validate the proposed algorithm.


For three phases of dredger fill consolidation,i.e.primary consolidation,secondary consolidation and drying,this paper discusses the influence factors of primary consolidation rate from microstructure.Double electrode layer thickness,penetration characteristics,electric potential,water potential in soil and intergranular force are the main influence factors of primary consolidation rate.


Abstract Arteriovenous malformations of the brain can carry considerable morbidity and mortality in the setting of rupture. The complex angioarchitecture and hemodynamic alteration requires careful consideration in diagnostic and management approaches. In this review, the authors define the pathophysiology, outline diagnostic methods, and highlight current management approaches.


Dynamic stability and system response and steady error of intelligence electronic hydraulic actuator are analyzed by Nyquist criterion. It provides emulation model of electronic hydraulic regulating system of turbine with intelligence electronic hydraulic actuator. The operating condition of the combine of generator to power system and all the load shedding are simulated. The results of simulation show that application of intelligent electronic hydraulic actuator to steam turbine DEH control system is feasible. Application of it can improve safety and reliability of regulating system.


Experimental results showed that use of relatively high temperatures improved the performance of activated carbon impregnated with KOH and Na_2CO_3 (ACNaK_(2.5)) as a catalyst for removal of NO and SO_2 from waste gas under appropriate conditions.Further study indicated that the optimum temperature for simultaneous removal of NO and SO_2 was 120?℃.Pressure did not have a significant effect on the removal of NO and SO_2 under the experimental conditions employed.Repeated cycles of adsorption and regeneration showed that the catalyst had good stability when used at 120?℃,2000 h~(-1) space velocity,and ambient pressure.Analysis of the fresh and used catalysts confirmed that the structure of the catalyst was unchanged after adsorption.


A general dispersive and nonlinear equation is considered. The equation is given in the form of pseudo differential operators. Some examples of dispersion and nonlinearity types are discussed. Taking a special case of the dispersion and nonlinear terms, the equation leads to a well-known Korteweg - de Vries (KdV) equation. A derivation of the linear wave packet evolution is also discussed. This will put a fundamental step for deriving a Nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation for more general dispersive and nonlinear terms. NLS equations are in the interest of applied mathematics, theoretical physics as well as engineering.


Cotton was planted 15 Apr at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station annex farm in Mercedes. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with 5 replicates. Plots were 2 beds wide and 40 ft long with 2 beds of sorghum between plots and 20-ft alleys between plots in rows. Applications were made with a tractor-mounted CO2-powered sprayer that delivered 20 gal/acre. Three nozzles were used for each bed, 1 over the top of plants and 1 on a drop on each side of the plants. All plots were treated with cypermethrin (0.01 lb [AI]/acre) at 7-d intervals to induce secondary pest population increases. Experimental treatments consisted of applications of Curacron 8 EC (0.75 lb [AI]/acre) to control secondary pests at various action threshold levels based on survey counts of pests from the previous week. Surveys were conducted at 7-d intervals by collecting the third fully expanded leaf down from the terminal of each of 3 plants/plot. Leaves were returned to the laboratory and mites and aphids were counted.


Leadership is a focal concept to the functioning of all modern organizations. The leader of an organization is the architect required to create vision and strategy. Management and leadership, the third ranking of administration, is a motivating and guiding Human Resource (HR) in order to contribute effectively to achieving the objectives of an organization. A military service is a complex living mixture of body collections, roles, rules and culture. In terms of numbers, the Greek Army has hundreds of hierarchical structures and about 70,000 active personnel. There is a clear gradation of hierarchy and a code of ethics. At the same time, there is individual leadership, where a military leader commands his/her unit with a distinct and personal style. This research aims at seeking a leadership style based on a personal level to be exercised within the framework of strict structures of HR, that, when effectively exercised, helps younger military leaders improve themselves and also to be used as a proper model in a common basis for thinking and learning about leadership. Fifty officers provided relevant information by filling-in a corresponding number of Multifactor Leadership Questionnaires (MLQ) with fourty five close-ended questions, which count the extent of leadership styles as Full Range Leadership: Transformational, Transactional and Avoidant. The MLQ also examines Leadership Outcomes: Extra Effort, Effectiveness and Satisfaction. Data elaboration and statistical analysis were performed. The dominant leadership style and potential vision resulting from this style are indentified.


Acidic gases (mainly hydrochloric acid, HCl; and sulphur dioxide, SO2) are the common pollutants released from the incineration of municipal solid waste (MSW). To meet the stiffening emission limits on incineration process, the dry scrubbing process is now widely accepted as one of the preferred methods for treating acidic gases. This work focuses on the optimization of a Ca-based sorbent (Ca(OH)2) for acidic gases. The effects of the pellet size, the concentration of acidic gases as well as the addition of fly ash were studied. Sorbents before and after reaction were characterized by using the X-ray diffraction (XRD) to identify the solid species. Together with different particle sizes (100 up to 425 mm), it was found that only internal kinetic phenomena are of importance. External transport processes can be considered as infinitely fast. It was observed that the behavior of HCl and SO2 is completely different. While SO2 removal can really be described by a shrinking core model, the reaction of HCl is much more complex, and influences the diffusivity of the SO2. This was observed by adapting the HCl/SO2 ratios. Furthermore, fly ash was investigated as sorbent or additive for acidic gases removal. Fly ash itself showed very low activity for HCl and SO2 removal. However, when it was added as additive to Ca(OH)2, the removal efficiencies of Ca(OH)2 for HCl and SO2 were enhanced dramatically. More experiments will be carried out to further investigate this improvement. The systematic experimental study in this work helps us to better understand the reaction network between the Ca(OH)2 sorbent and the acid gases in flue gas cleaning process. A mathematical model for the combined removal is under development, both for the industrial entrained flow reactor as for the lab packed bed set up.


This study is carried out in order to understand the basics of soot lubrication using a ring-on-disk wear tester. When soot is introduced between sliding surfaces made of ceramic materials, it works most effectively in frictional conditions at around 300 C with SiC, Si3N4 and Si3N4-TiN. Ceramic surfaces rubbed with soot are smoother than the original ones, especially in the case of non-oxide ceramics. Reaction products formed on the surfaces are analyzed using an electron probe X-ray microanalyzer (EPMA). It is confirmed that SiO2 is produced on the surfaces of non-oxide ceramics during friction and wear, and the soot deposited on the sliding surface forms a thin film that reduces the wear rate and friction coefficient. 9 refs.


In order to delineate a threefold relationship among communication variables, identity problems, and depressive symptoms, a structural equation model involving sequential relationships from communication competence, communication apprehension, and assertiveness to personal-relational, personal-enacted, and enacted-relational identity gaps to depressive symptoms was estimated with a sample of 475 participants. In the estimation, communication competence and communication apprehension significantly predicted all three identity gaps. However, assertiveness significantly predicted only an enacted-relational identity gap. Then, all three identity gaps had significant effects on depressive symptoms. In the analysis checking mediation effects of the identity gaps between the communication variables and depressive symptoms, the three identity gaps significantly mediated effects of the communication variables on depressive symptoms, suggesting that the identity gaps are a necessary linker conveying effects of communication problems to depressive symptoms.


The reactivity of vascular smooth muscle in helical strips from femoral arteries of normotensive, spontaneously hypertensive, renal hypertensive, and deoxycorticosterone acetate— (DCA-) hypertensive rats was studied. Spontaneous rhythmic contractions occurred in 25 of the 30 strips from the three groups of hypertensive rats and in only 2 of the 10 strips from normotensive rats. Strips from renal and DCA hypertensive rats had lower thresholds to epinephrine and potassium chloride (KCl) than did strips from spontaneously hypertensive and normotensive rats. Lanthanum (2.5 mM) caused contraction of all 10 strips from spontaneously hypertensive rats but failed to cause contraction of any strip from the other three groups of rats. Strontium (5 mM) caused contraction in 8 of 10 strips from spontaneously hypertensive rats but caused contraction in only 7 of the 30 strips from the other three groups. The optimal calcium concentration for tension development in response to a KCl stimulus was approximately twice as high for strips from hypertensive rats as it was for strips from normotensive rats. Strips from DCA-hypertensive rats showed less tachyphylaxis to angiotensin II than did strips from the other three groups of rats. These results quantify our earlier observation that the reactivity of vascular smooth muscle from hypertensive rats is importantly different from that of normotensive rats. In addition, the study delineates individuality in vascular smooth muscle reactivity in different types of experimental hypertension. The results suggest that the cell membrane of the vascular smooth muscle in the hypertensive rat is more labile than that in the normal rat.