Abstract Aim In this study is to examine the effect of kefir consumption on blood pressure, some blood parameters and anthropometric measurements in hypertensive individuals. Methods The study is a randomized controlled clinical trial. The mean systolic blood pressure in hypertensive individuals was taken as 145.2±19.2. The minimum sample size was determined as 30 for each group with a 95% CI and 80% power. The study was conducted by face-to-face interviews with a total of 100 volunteers, 35 male, 65 female, aged 18 and over, who were hypertensive and volunteered to participate in the study and applied to the internal medicine outpatient clinics of Akçadag Public Hospital between September 2020 and May 2021. The experimental (n = 42) and control (n = 58) groups that the patients are randomly assigned into, the experimental group was ensured to consume 250 ml/day kefir for 28 days. During the study, The study was completed with 56 volunteers. At the beginning of the study and the end of 4 weeks, blood samples, blood pressure, pulse and anthropometric measurements of the individuals were taken. Results When the anthropometric measurements were compared, the body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, and hip circumference of the individuals in the experimental group decreased significantly at the end of the study. There was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of glycemic parameters. While no significant change was observed in the lipid profile in the experimental group, total and LDL cholesterol levels decreased in the control group. There was no statistically significant difference in kidney function parameters in both groups. In addition, at the end of the study, there was no significant change in diastolic blood pressure and pulse in the experimental group, but systolic blood pressure decreased significantly. Conclusions Regularly kefir consumption has positive effects on systolic hypertension and weight control. Key messages • Regular daily consumption of kefir reduces systolic blood pressure and provides weight control. • Regular daily consumption of kefir did not lead to an effective result on blood and kidney parameters.


Abstract : Breaking waves are ubiquitous on the Earth's oceans and play an important role in air-sea interactions, which are important to global climatological effects. Of particular interest to the Navy, breaking waves can be a dominant source in the undersea ambient noise field. Although breaking waves have been known to be the source mechanism of this sound for some time, most predictive models have been limited to simply associating sound levels to wind speeds. Recently NRL has undertaken simultaneous measurements of the surface expression of breaking waves, via radar and video, and their subsequent acoustic emissions to understand the relationships between characteristics (size, duration, etc.) of individual breaking waves and the generated acoustic noise spectra.


This paper aims to establish how the subscription of the International Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances, by the Colombian State impacts within the legal system - once it is ratified and becomes effective , taking into account economic values generated from the globalization processes that Colombia is exposed to, as well as paradigmatic legislation changes that are being taken regarding these rights and creating emerging needs in Colombian society. It is aimed to verify the effective development of rights of performers within the Colombian system, in order to identify key points of differentiation from the proposed regulation by the signed Treaty, to put forward changes to the current regulation, that allow it have full implementation.


I handled the Berezkin case fifteen years ago. It was a boring, trivial affair: a theft is a theft, except that the unusual nature of the stolen object differentiated it somewhat from other, similar cases.


The materials commonly used to fabricate thermoelectric devices are tellurium, lead, and germanium. These materials ensure the best thermoelectric performance, but exhibit drawbacks in terms of availability, sustainability, cost, and manufacturing complexity. Moreover, they do not guarantee a safe and cheap implementation in wearable thermoelectric applications. Here, p‐Type and n‐type flexible thermoelectric textiles are produced with sustainable and low‐cost materials through green and scalable processes. Cotton is functionalized with inks made with biopolyester and carbon nanomaterials. Depending on the nanofiller, i.e., graphene nanoplatelets, carbon nanotubes, or carbon nanofibers, positive or negative Seebeck coefficient values are obtained, resulting in a remarkable electrical conductivity value of 55 S cm−1 using carbon nanotubes. The best bending and washing stability are registered for the carbon nanofiber‐based biocomposites, which increase their electrical resistance by 5 times after repeated bending cycles and only by 30% after washing. Finally, in‐plane flexible thermoelectric generators coupling the best p‐ and n‐type materials are fabricated and analysed, resulting in an output voltage of ≈1.65 mV and a maximum output power of ≈1.0 nW by connecting only 2 p/n thermocouples at a temperature difference of 70 °C.


756 http://neurology.thelancet.com Vol 6 September 2007 In their excellent review on Lyme neuroborreliosis, Pachner and Steiner describe various clinical presentations and the potential overlap with other neurological diseases, such as fi bromyalgia. With regard to the rare CNS manifestations of Lyme neuroborreliosis, the authors focus on encephalitis and encephalopathy. However, neurologists should be aware that a small, but important, number of patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis present with a classic neurological emergency that is not mentioned in the review: stroke. Stroke in patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis has many aspects. Patients might present with subarachnoid Unexplained cerebral vasculitis and stroke: keep Lyme neuroborreliosis in mind


Levels of nutritional care for patients in the community are difficult to gauge, but community nurses can make a difference to those at risk.


The Warro Gas Field is one of the largest undeveloped gas fields in Australia. Recent studies have estimated Warro contains between eight trillion cubic feet (tcf) and 10tcf of gas in place and 3tcf to 4tcf of recoverable gas. The field is located 200km north of Perth, Western Australia in the Perth Basin and 30km east of major natural gas pipeline infrastructure providing gas to Western Australia's robust domestic energy market. Four wells have been drilled in the field to date. Warro 1 and 2, both drilled in 1977, confirmed a 400m Gas column in fluvial sandstones of the Jurassic Lower Yarragadee section. Warro 3 and 4, drilled in 2009 and 2011, appraised the field and established that the sands could flow gas at potentially commercial rates. A new phase of exploration at Warro will be commencing in 2015 with the drilling of Warro 5 and 6.


In the study, the effect of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis on the stock markets was investigated with empirical methods. The sensitivities of stock market indices against CPI, CDS premium and 10-Year Bond Yield were estimated for the pre-crisis and post-crisis periods, and the results were compared between developed and developing countries. The findings show that the 2008 Global Financial Crisis affected countries with its severity and sphere of influence. In the study, it was determined that the sensitivity of the stock markets of developing and some developed countries (such as Italy and Japan) to the S&P500 index and CDS premium increased in general after the crisis. In addition, it is seen that these countries are vulnerable to the US markets and cannot isolate themselves from the negative conditions of the crisis stemming from the USA.


Objective: Explore the quality of life and influential factors among people living with HIV/AIDS( PLWHA) in Longchuan of Yunnan in order to provide evidences for further research. Methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted. Longchuan PLWHA were interviewed by general questionnaires and also the MOS-HIV quality of life scale. Results: As to the scores of quality of life measured by MOS-HIV,the physical summary score was 49. 12 ± l1. 14,and the mental summary score was 43. 40 ± 10. 05. Pain,energy and fatigue scores of antiviral treated group were higher than those in the untreated group. Women's score of general health perception is( 57. 88 ± 24. 78) which is higher than the male( 44. 13 ± 26. 85). Women's scores of role function and physical health( 72. 73 ± 45. 23) were higher than the male( 53. 18 ± 9. 18). Through multiple stepwise regression analysis,the minority physical health scores are lower than that of the Han; the more complications,the lower physical health score. Conclusion: Antiviral therapy can improve the quality of life on PLWHA. Sex,nationality and treatment were the possible influential factors of PLWHA.


The dependency on fossil fuels is growing day by day with the need of drastic energy demand. Due to concern over diminution of fossil fuels, many researchers have focused on the renewable and unconventional sources of energy in the last decades. Alternative Fuels for transportation are one of those areas of research. In this paper, a concise review of various biodiesel production methods have been presented. First of all, conventional method is presented based on the transesterification reaction and later, a few novel techniques such as microwave irradiation aided, solar energy assisted, ultrasonic cavitation etc. have been depicted and the later part of this paper is an effort to discuss the use of solar energy in the biodiesel production to make it a feasible option for future research in the field of biodiesel production on a larger scale in a cost-effective manner


Urban disadvantaged groups emerge in the process China's marketing urbanization.Urban disadvantaged groups have a strong effect on the urban competitiveness and have a close relationship of the urban balanced development quality and urban social development performance.Therefore,the study on the scale and trapped extent of urban disadvantaged groups,particularly the exploration of the potential mechanism for the anti-weakening of disadvantaged groups scale and energy,is a balanced urban development goal and objective to strengthen management of urban society and the building of a harmonious society important task for the city.This paper argues that the anti-weakening way does not rely on temporary,one-off social assistance only,but also needs a holistic approach to the anti-weakening mechanisms.


Objective To compare clinical effects of ropivacaine and hupivacaine administered in epidural space and study their pharmacokinetics and transfer across placenta. Methods Eighteen full-term nulliparous women aged 22-35yr, weighing 50-70 kg scheduled for cesarean section were randomized to one of two groups; group R received 0.75% ropivacame and group B received 0.5% hupivacaine for epidural block. Sensory and motor block, incidence of hypotension, blood gases of umbilical venous blood, Apgar score and NACS score of the neonates were investigated. Blood samples were taken from external jugular vein at 10, 15,30,60 and 120 min after epidural administration of local anesthetic and from umbilical vein for determination of plasma concentration of ropivacaine or bupivacaine by chromatography. Results The onset time and termination of sensory and motor block, the maximal height of block, incidence of hypotension, blood gases of umbilical venous blood, Apgar score and NACS score of the neonates were similar between the two groups. The plasma concentration of ropivacaine and bupivacaine peaked (613±90) ng.ml-1 and (51.3163.2) ng.ml-1 respectively, at 15-30 min after epidural administration. UV/ MV ratio was similar between the two groups (0.42 ± 0. 12 vs 0.48±0.15). Conclusion 0.75% ropivacaine and 0.5% bupivacaine administered in epidural space for cesarean section can produce adequate analgesia and equivalent clinical effects. Placental transfer of ropivacaine and bupivacaine are similar. The plasma concentration of ropivacaine and bupivacaine of maternal blood and umbilical venous blood are markedly lower than the concentration causing toxrcity, but safety margin of ropivacaine is wider than that of bupivacaine.


In order to get the maximum distribution attribute reduction rapidly in inconsistent decision information systems,a new decision maximum distribution binary relation was defined after analyzing the existing methods.And the judgment theorems for judging maximum distribution consistent sets were obtained,from which we can provide a new maximum distribution attribute reduction algorithm in inconsistent decision information systems.Moreover,the characterization of core attributes,relative necessary attributes,unnecessary attributes were discussed based on decision maximum distribution binary relation.Finally,a case study illustrates the validity of the method.


The properties of the reverse micelles formed by AOT,isooctane and water was studied.The result showed with??the amount of water increases,the W0 value increases;but with??the ionic strength increases,the W0 value decreases;with the AOT concentration increases,the volume of water which can be solubilized in the system increases. Sulphosuccinic acid bis(2–ethylhexyl) estersodium salt(AOT),isooctane and KCl solution reverse micelle system was used to backward extract soy protein,the experimental results lead to the conclusion that the highest forward extraction efficiency of soybean protein was reached at the pH 6.5,W0 value 15,temperature 45 ℃,KCl concentration 0.05 mol/L.


ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to analyze the institution of the Extrajudicial Usucapiao
as a form of misjudicialization. The deductive method was used, starting from a
general analysis of the institute in the Brazilian legal system, with an approach to its
general aspects, for a specific analysis on the Usucapiao procedure carried out in the
scope of the Extrajudicial Services, with the analysis of the institute in the
comparative law and Brazilian law. Legislative prediction was discussed, as well as
the recent changes, as well as doctrinal analysis on the subject. The innovation of
the New Code of Civil Procedure was dealt with in relation to the theme, the
importance of Law 13.465 / 2017 for its implementation, and also the standardization
of the procedure throughout the national territory, through the issuance of Provision
No. 65 / 2017 of the National Council of Justice. In the end, it was sought to expose
the feasibility and effectiveness of the extrajudicial misappropriation procedure and
its contribution to the judicial branch.


This paper presents a class of gain adaptive nonlinear feedback control for flexible SCARA/Cartesian robots. The controller is constructed by using vibration related nonlinear variables feedback and at the same time automatically tuning the feedback gains. Firstly, the closed-loop stability is proven for the original distributed-parameter system. Then, through explicitly solving the Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) of the system, asymptotic stability is obtained for the undamped truncated system, in which the distributed flexibility of the robot link is represented by an arbitrary finite number of flexible modes. Due to the non-model-based nature of the controller, some favorable features appear such as the elimination of control spillover and simplicity of actual implementation. Computer simulations are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the approach.


The diabetes epidemic in the United States (U.S.) has become a burden in regards to treatment, disease management, and associated costs. Key advancements in medical technology have been developed in efforts to mitigate this issue. We compare several types of glucose monitoring systems with respect to quality of care, management, and costeffectiveness for type 1 and type 2 diabetics.


The category of character D-modules is realized as Drinfeld center of the abelian monoidal category of Harish-Chandra bimodules. Tensor product of HarishChandra bimodules is related to convolution of D-modules via the long intertwining functor (Radon transform) by a result of [3]. Exactness property of the long intertwining functor on a cell subquotient of the Harish-Chandra bimodules category shows that the truncated convolution category of [21] can be realized as a subquotient of the category of Harish-Chandra bimodules. Together with the description of the truncated convolution category [5] this allows us to derive (under a mild technical assumption coming from [5]) classification of irreducible character sheaves over C obtained by Lusztig by a different method. We also give a simple description for the top cohomology of convolution of character sheaves over C in a given cell modulo smaller cells and relate the so-called Harish-Chandra functor to Verdier specialization in the De Concini-Procesi compactification.


Foreign facilities in the development of agriculture are very quick and high-tech and high-level, highly automated and intelligent direction will form a completely new technology emerging from the natural system. China′s agricultural development facilities late start, poor foundation and economic strength are not strong, and will gradually grow and develop. In the 21st century, the agricultural infrastructure facilities will be large, industrial production, standardization of the structure, scientific management and monitoring of intelligent direction. To this end, analysis of agricultural development facilities that existed problems in China, in order to promote the development of modern agricultural facilities and an effective way to be taken effective measures and methods.


High performance field-induced AC electroluminescence (EL) in a simple ITO/insulator/hybrid emitter/Au structure was demonstrated with efficient control of the brightness and colors based on solution-processed nanohybrids of CdSe-ZnS core-shell colloidal quantum dots and fluorescent polymers.


investigated temporal variations in the abundance and growth of and with in Our investigation conducted against the of the and Peatland Responses Under Changing Environments which (iv) a loss of mosses and (v) a decrease in black spruce aboveground biomass ( mariana In the present study, we focused on two automated, high-resolution minirhizotron tubes installed at the coldest and warmest ends of the experimental temperature gradient, respectively. The dark-green coniferous trees represent black spruce ( Picea mariana ) and the light-green and brown trees represent larch ( Larix laricina ). The small bushes represent ericaceous shrubs, the light-green plants represent Sphagnum mosses, and the light-green herbs represent graminoid species. The black root tips represent Cenoccoccum geophilum ectomycorrhizas that mostly associate with spruce while the light-colored root tips represent rhizomorph-forming ectomycorrhizas that mostly associate with larch. Created with BioRender.com


As the implementation of"Bohai granary"project has entered a critical period,evaluating the benefits of improvement and utilization of saline and alkali land,has important practical significance for promoting the "Bohai granary"construction. Using methods of general survey and typical sample survey,different subjects of agribusiness and land use( business) modes in the typical demonstration area of"Bohai granary"Shandong project were surveyed. The results indicated that the complex pattern of land use and premium brands agricultural products gained higher yields,science and technological investment and integrity of industrial chain had greater influence on yields,and the improvement and utilization of saline and alkali land had long-term benefit. The results also indicated that,the higher initial cost of improvement and utilization of saline and alkali land,the restrict of farmland water conservancy conditions,and the imperfection of agricultural industry chains and modern agricultural structure,are the important factors limiting the development of"Bohai granary"project in Shandong Province. Aiming at the existing problems,relevant proposals were put forward. The results can help government to take measures to accelerate"Bohai granary"construction,and help enterprises,farmers to take measures to improve economic benefit.


Abstract 1085 Reversal of anemia is the major target of thalassemia research, but studies of the molecular and cellular basis of the ineffective erythropoiesis of thalassemia are limited by access to donor progenitor cells. Here we demonstrate that thalassemic erythropoiesis may be recapitulated ex vivo by reducing the expression of hemoglobin in cultured CD34+ cells. Using lentiviral transduction of progenitor cells obtained from three healthy adult human donors, shRNA molecules were screened for their ability to reduce beta-globin gene and protein expression over 21 days in culture. Cells transduced with a scrambled vector served as donor-matched controls. Among the screened shRNA, one named HBB caused a consistent and significant reduction in beta-globin mRNA and protein. Beta-globin mRNA was reduced to levels Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


This article provides a more thorough analysis of the 1981 Canadian census data on religion than has heretofore been presented. The church-sect-cult model of Stark and Bainbridge as used by Nock (1987, 1989) is particularly called into question as providing an adequate explanation for religious group membership dispersal in the Canadian provinces and territories. Immigration patterns are suggested as stronger historical-cultural determinants of group membership strength than whether the group fits a particular organizational type or what the concentration patterns are of "conventional" and "unconventional" religion.


AIM To evaluate the feasibility of early postoperative enteral nutrition (EN) in colorectal surgery and compare the metabolic effects and histologic changes of colonic mucosa following EN or total parenteral nutrition (TPN). METHODS Patients undergone open elective colorectal resections were randomized to either early EN or control (TPN) group. Fifteen patients in EN group had a nasal jejunal tube inserted during the operation. The enteral feeding with a formula containing fiber started within the first 24 hours postoperatively and continued for consecutive 7 days. The full load of EN provided 0 18*!ng/*!(kg·d) and 104 5*!kJ/*!(kg·d) of non protein energy. Fifteen patients in control group received total parenteral nutrition via peripheral vein postoperatively and provided 0 10*!ng/*!(kg·d) and 101*!kJ/*!(kg·d) of non protein energy for 7 days. Anthropometric, biochemical parameters and visceral functions were monitored. Colonoscopic examination with mucosa biopsy were taken in 6 patients of EN group and 4 patients of parenteral nutrition (PN) group preoperatively and followed up for 8 days postoperatively. The microstructure of the colonic mucosa was studied. RESULTS Patients in each group were well matched with sex, age, type and duration of operations. All patients in EN group tolerated the early feeding. Total lymphocyte and prealbumin level maintained stable after the nutrition support in both groups. Serum transferrin maintained stable in EN group, however, decreased significantly in TPN group. By the end of the study cumulated nitrogen balance in EN and TPN groups was ( -19 2 ±15 7) *!gN/*!7*!d and (-27 6±12 4) *!gN/*!7*!d , respectively ( P 0 05). On the 8th day the serum level of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was significantly higher in TPN group than that of EN group (635±376 vs 418±147, P 0 05 ). An increased alkaline phosphatase (AKP) level was observed after TPN support, but not in EN group. No difference was found in total bilirubin and transaminase level in the two groups. No bowel anastomosis leakage was found in both groups. There were no statistical differences in wound healing, infective complications and duration of hospitalization between the two groups. The overall cost of enteral nutrition was significantly lower than that of TPN group ( P 0 05) . The audible bowel sounds and bowel movement recovered earlier in EN group than that in the control group ( P 0 05) . Histologic examination showed the colonic mucosa thickness and glands density decreased after seven days of TPN, but unchanged after EN. Postoperatively no significant changes were observed in ultrastructure of the colon epithelial cell in the two groups except for reduced microvilli, less mucus secretion and water transport in TPN group. CONCLUSION The early postoperative enteral nutrition was well tolerated in the patients undergone colorectal surgery. In comparison with TPN the metabolic effect was similar in EN with less disturbance of liver function. The early enteral feeding with formula containing fiber may help to maintain the bowel functions and gut integrity.


The cellular mechanisms that contribute to the acceleration of atherosclerosis in diabetes are poorly understood. Therefore, the potential mechanisms involved in the diabetes-dependent increase in vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation was investigated. Using primary culture of VSMC from streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat aorta, cell proliferation assay showed two-fold increase in cell number accompanied with enhanced superoxide generation compared to normal VSMC, 2 days after plating. Both the increased superoxide production and cell proliferation in diabetic VSMC were significantly attenuated by not only tiron (1 mM), a superoxide scavenger, but also by diphenyleneiodonium (DPI; 10μM), an NAD(P)H oxidase inhibitor. NAD(P)H oxidase activity in diabetic VSMC was significantly higher than that in control cell, accompanied with increased mRNA expression of p22phox, a membrane subunit of oxidase. Furthermore, inhibition of p22phox expression by transfection of antisense p22phox oligonucleotides into diabetic VSMC resulted in a decrease in superoxide production, which was accompanied by a significant inhibition of cell proliferation. Based on these results, it is suggested that diabetes-associated increase in NAD(P)H oxidase activity via enhanced expression of p22phox contributes to augmented VSMC proliferation in diabetic rats.


Our general objective is to design carbon-based models of flowering and fruit quality. The first step of our procedure consisted in modelling carbon gains in mango, cv. Cogshall, using the biochemical model of C3 leaf photosynthesis of Farquhar et al. (1980). Data are presented about the temperature-response of the key parameters of photosynthetic capacity which was assessed in 17-month old mango plants. The temperature-corrected photosynthesis model was then coupled to the model of leaf diffusive conductance (gs) of Ball et al. (1987). Simulation results obtained over one year on recently matured leaves from 13 to 13-year old trees show that our model is apparently robust for leaves from vegetative shoots, in orchard conditions characterized by mild seasonal changes in temperature and non-limiting water supply. However, our model failed to simulate Anet accurately during the flowering period and periods of drought, as well as when the source-sink balance is modified as, for instance, in girdled branches at different fruit loads. Using results obtained over the 5 last years about the effects of flowering, fruiting and waterstress on photosynthesis in mango, we tested three modifications of our model: 1) the fixed parameters of the model of gs were replaced by adapted values for leaves from water-stressed trees and leaves close to inflorescences; 2) the total light-driven photosynthetic electron flux (JT) was corrected to account for the existence of electron fluxes towards alternative sinks in leaves close to inflorescences; and 3) JT was corrected to account for the inhibiting effect of starch accumulation in leaves from girdled branches. Simulation results are presented and discussed in the perspective of our modelling approach. (Resume d'auteur)


Abstract CoFe2O4/BaFe12O19 composite nanoparticles with a core/shell structure have been obtained. The core CoFe2O4 nanoparticles were synthesised via a self-flash combustion method, and the shell BaFe12O19 nanocrystals formed by precipitation followed by heat treatment at 1100°C. The morphology and crystal structure were characterised and the magnetic properties measured using a vibrating sample magnetometer showed promising values. The photocatalytic activity of the particles was studied from their effect on the degradation of Congo red dye. Isothermal reduction profiles in flowing hydrogen at 500–800°C show a topochemical mode of reduction. The Arrhenius activation energy for reduction was found to be 47˙57 kJ mol–1 in the initial stage and 32˙38 kJ mol–1 in the final stage, implying combined gaseous diffusion and interfacial chemical reaction in both stages, but with a stronger interfacial component as reduction proceeds.


We introduce a simple, easy to implement instrument for jointly eliciting risk and ambiguity attitudes. Using this instrument, we structurally estimate a two-parameter model of preferences. Our findings indicate that ambiguity aversion is significantly overstated when risk neutrality is assumed. This highlights the interplay between risk and ambiguity attitudes as well as the importance of joint estimation. In addition, over our stakes levels we find no difference in the estimated parameters when incentives are real or hypothetical, raising the possibility that a simple hypothetical question can provide insights into an individuals preferences over ambiguity in such economic environments.


The last 2 decades represent a period of demographic change in developing countries marked by decreased fecundity. In Mexico, 20 years ago the average women had 7 live children at the end of her reproductive years, a figure that was not expected to decline. The change is attributed almost entirely to increased use of contraceptives by married couples. In the early 1970's, the Mexican government adopted an explicit antinatalist policy, and acted to reduce the costs of contraception. The differential fecundity between urban and rural areas has increased from 13% in 1970 to 25% in 1976, and a similar change occurred for the differential fertility along educational level, due to the more rapid decrease in fecundity among urban and educated groups of women. Increased economic participation of women is also believed to have contributed to decreased fecundity. In 1968, there were 6765 children per 1000 women aged 15-44, which declined to a fecundity of 3755 children/1000 women in 1986, a 44.3%


In Cuba, more than 50 % of the electricity generation capacity is based on small-scale distributed power plants, which guarantee the energy supply demand from fossil fuels. Several negative environmental impacts are associated with this, including contamination by oily residuals. The purpose was to diagnose oily residuals management in Cubans distributed generation power plants from a technological approach. Ten generating power plants from Cienfuegos territory were selected as a case study. A methodological procedure, supported in the general method of problem solving was designed. The environmental audit was used as a fundamental tool for the verification of technical requirements regarding the containment, collection, evacuation, treatment, and final disposal of oily waste. For deployment of causes identified as evidence of auditory, failures modes and effects analysis (FMEA) were used. Hydrocarbon concentrations at sampling points in the external environment frequently exceeded the threshold. Hydrocarbon spills, clogging and waste load increased in the treatment system, were the most frequent failure modes and could manifest themselves from the occurrence of more than 150 causes. From this group, a set of common causes inherent to each power plant was identified. A package of corrective actions was designed, which constituted conceptual ideas for improving environmental performance. The procedure was generalized to other power plants in the country, contributing to sustainability in the generation of electricity in Cuba.


Xylem failure via gas embolism (cavitation) was investigated in Rhapis excelsa (Palmae). Embolism was detected using measurements of xylem flow resistance in excised stems and petioles: a decrease in resistance after the removal of flow-impeding embolisms by a pressure treatment indicated their previous presence in the axis. Results suggested that Rhapis avoids serious damage from embolism in at least four ways. 1) Xylem pressure potentials reached embolism-inducing levels (c. -2.90 MPa) only during prolonged drought. 2) When embolism did occur, it was confined to leaf xylem; stem xylem, most critical to shoot survival, remained fully functional. This is due in part to hydraulic architecture: 70 to 85% of shoot xylem resistance is in the leaf, and thus xylem pressures are much lower in leaves than stems. 3) Even during prolonged drought, the amount of embolism is probably limited by complete stomatal closure, which occurred at xylem pressure potentials of -3.20 ± 0.18 MPa. 4) Embolism is potentially reversible during prolonged rains, since embolism dissolved within 5 h at zero pressure (atmospheric), and xylem pressure potential can reach zero during extended rain.


An autopsy case of malignant granuloma of the nose with intestinal involvement was presented. A male, aged 24, who developed rightnasal obstruction and bleeding, visited us on April 10, 1974. On examination, necrotic granulom atous changes of the right turbinate were found . Repeatd biopsies of the nasal lesion, however, showed only inflammatory changes and necrosis. He did not respond to antibiotics and corticosteroid therapy, and malignant lymphoma of the nose was suspected. A satisfactory response was obtained by radiation therapy. Four months later, he had pain of the right eye and exophthalmus. Biopsy of the nasal lesion revealed infiltration of atypical histiocytes. Inspite of irradiation, antibiotics and corticosteroid therapy, he complained of severe pain in the orbit and over the abdomen. Laparotomy revealed many necrotic lesions of small intestine with a perforation, and microscopic examination of the lesion showed diffuse infiltration of atypical histiocytes into the muscle of small intestine, and also atrophy of the muscle. He died of bleeding from the small intestine after 6 months from the oncet. Autopsy disclosed diffuse infiltration of atypical histiocytes into many organs, stomach, duodenum, small intestine, pancreas, kidney et al. Based on the experiences of the similar 10 cases, the following points were stressed. 1) In the non-healing granuloma of the nose, there are at least 2 different diseases, one reticulum cell sarcoma or malignant reticulosis, another Wegener's granulomatosis. Initial changes of the diseases are similar and biopsies of the lesions show only the same inflammatory changes and necrosis. 2) One must consider malignant reticulosis rather than Wegener's granulomatosis in case showing no characterisic laboratory findings of Wegener's granulomatosis.........elevated BSR, Positive RA, decreased A/G ratio, elevated Ig, IgG, IgA and serum complement level. 3) When a patient with no definite histopathological features and laboratory findings develops abdominal pain, intermittent fever, jaundice or dyspnea in times, the infiltration of atypical histiocytes to the intestine, kidney, lung or pericardium should be suspected.


Synthesis of quantum dots (QDs) uses surfactants to enable its applications viable with minimum surface defects. The environmental benign method without a surfactant is a way forward for sustainabl...


Purpose: To assess dosimetric fidelity of Varian TrueBeam™ in flattening filter‐free (FFF) modes by dose measurements comparing high versus low dose rate irradiation, particularly for volumetric‐modulated arc therapy (VMAT) plans. Methods: Measurements with a 22cm‐diameter cylindrical PMMA phantom ScandiDos Delta4 multi‐diode detector system and Farmer‐type(0.6 cm3) and PinPoint™(0.015 cm3) cylindrical ionization chambers in rectangular Plastic Water™ phantoms were used to compare photon beam irradiation from 10MV(10XFFF) at 400 and 2400 MU/min and 6MV(6XFFF) at 400 and 1400 MU/min dose rates, respectively, on a Varian TrueBeam™. Two setups were studied: square fields and VMAT plans optimized for stereotactic body radiotherapy treatment of lungtumors. VMAT plans were tested both with and without periodic gating from the Varian RPM™ position‐management gating system. Quantitative comparisons were based on mean and maximum relative dosimetric error (RDE) measured between the two dose rates. Results: Reproducibility was very good for all measurements. For square fields, RDEs of 0.3–0.4% were found with ionization chamber measurements, with negligible contribution from recombination in the detectors. The Delta4 showed consistently higher mean RDE of ∼0.8% for 10XFFF square fields. For non‐gated VMAT plans, mean RDE was ∼1.1% for 10XFFF. Error was independent of delivereddose for square fields. For VMAT plans, RDE increased as dose fraction size decreased. Finally, comparison between gated VMAT plans at high and low dose rates demonstrated a maximum error in low‐dose regions, of 1.5% and 2.3% for 10XFFF and 6XFFF respectively. Conclusions: There is a dosimetric error of the order of ∼0.4 % for 10XFFF for TrueBeam at its highest dose rates. From measurements using the Delta4, VMAT treatment plan deliveries were found to be independent of dose rate to within ∼0.5%. Overall, very good agreement was found between irradiation at high and low dose rates across the spectrum of our measurements.


The large bandwidths and high sensitivity afforded by chirp edulse FTMW spectrometers allow for the detection of larg e molecules (10+ heavy atoms) and their isotopomers in natural abundanc e. With the isotopic information, an experimental structur e can be obtained by using Kraitchmans equations. Clusters of carboxylic aci ds are of interest because of the different possibilities fo r hydrogen bonding that lead to the formation of larger clusters. The first study of formic acid clusters by microwave spectroscopy was prese nted by Bauder and the formic acid dimer with one water molecule complexed w as identified. a Previously the formic acid trimer cluster was reported where the third formic acid attaches itself to the already fo rmed formic acid dimer. b Here we present the full heavy atom and partial deuterium Kraitchman substitution structure of formic aci d tr mer. In addition we have identified two new nonplanar for mic acid clusters formic acid pentamer and the cluster of formic acid trimer w ith one water molecule attached. For the latter, two tunneli g states with an energy splitting of 178 MHz are observed for the normal spe cies and 13C isotopomers. Candidate structures and the diffi culty of modeling these clusters by electronic structure theory wil l be discussed.


A method comprising a first step of determining the point on the flightpath wherefrom it is theoretically no longer possible to comply with the required time constraint by following a pre-established speed profile, and a second step of computing a speed change and determining a fresh speed profile obtained by determining segment-by-segment speed corrections from said point up to the last modifiable segment. The speed change in each segment is restricted to a maximum value and the new speed is computed on the basis of the curve showing the flight time t as a function of the speed V, said curve being converged upon by a curve corresponding to the following equation having three coefficients (c1, c2, c3): V = c1 / t + c2 / t + c3 / t . Compliance with time constraints may thus be ensured while meeting the requirements of the pilot and air traffic controllers.


Free speech is sometimes conceptualized as unhindered speech, sometimes as protected speech. On the first view, the protection of the law is just one of many possible means for removing hindrances to speech; on the second it is essential. Free speech is better conceptualized in the second way, albeit the first has become more popular in jurisprudence and politics. In that second conception, you cannot enjoy free speech by the gift or tolerance or indifference of others: to enjoy it is to have the robustly entrenched rights of a free speaker. That ideal fits better with traditional assumptions and has more compelling credentials. Let the right to speak be legally protected and speakers gain a publicly marked status as persons with opinions of their own; silence becomes enfranchised, so that someone's saying nothing can say a lot; and people cannot easily duck responsibility for what they choose to say or not to say. To illustrate them with a case study, these are benefits that argue, in the context of a suitable culture, for the importance of academic freedom.


241Background: Pathogenic variants of BRCA2 have been observed in a substantial subset of men with metastatic castration resistance prostate cancer (mCRPC). Prostate cancer (PC) patients with germline mutations of BRCA2 experience more rapid progression of their localized PC to mCRPC. This stands in contrast to other cancers where BRCA2 alterations do not appear to be associated with a worse prognosis. We identified homozygous and hemizygous deletions of BRCA2 in a subset of primary PC, which had been previously unrecognized. BRCA2 deletion in PC more frequently co-exists with RB1 deletion rather than alone. BRCA2-RB1 co-deletion in primary PC (TCGA and Taylor cohort) is associated with a shorter disease free survival and increased genomic instability in patients, indicating that BRCA2-RB1 null tumors are likely very aggressive in nature. Methods: To determine the underlying molecular and genomic consequences of BRCA2-RB1 loss, we CRISPR/shRNA-out these genes from human PC cell lines and subjected them to...


Through cause analysis for malfunctions of temperature protection occurred in recent years on turbine-generator sets at Mawan Power Plant, some effective measures, such as to increase the temperature-measuring points, expand appropriate time delay, add temperature variation ratio and load of generating sets as subsidiary criteria, was taken, ensuring the malfunction of said protection may be decreased as considerably as possible on the basis of non-occurrence of miss operation.


In this paper, dielectric ribbon waveguides (DRWs) are designed and characterized to work in the F (90-140 GHz) and G (140-220 GHz) frequency bands. High resistivity silicon (HR-silicon) due to its high transparency in these bands, and its low-cost fabrication process, were selected for the fabrication of these waveguides. The guided modes of DRW are studied using Marcatili and multi-line methods. A design procedure for optimal single-mode propagation was introduced. The wave attenuation inside the waveguide is discussed. Our experiments show that HR-silicon DRW has less than 0.087 dB/cm (0.01 cm-1) of loss over the guiding bandwidth. The designed DRWs were realized using microfabrication techniques. The measurements are in very good agreement with theoretical predictions.


Routing in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) plays a significant role especially when mobility of nodes is introduced. Although, the introduction of the concept of mobility in WSNs has expanded their range of applications but it influences significantly the connectivity of the networks. In a mobile WSN, the topology of the network changes dynamically, roads maintained by some nodes become invalid, because of mobility of nodes. The main restriction of mobile WSN is the energy consumption. Thus, all routing protocols must consider this constraint and require an enhancement to consume less energy. In this paper we are working with Ad-hoc On Demand Distance vector (AODV) as a routing protocol, we are presenting an enhancement of this routing protocol based on residual energy of each node to optimize the energy consumption and maximize the network lifetime. We named the enhanced protocol: RE-AODV for Residual Energy-AODV.


The use of medicinal plants for their therapeutic benefits is immemorial, leading to their
global acceptability. The pharmaceutical market is significantly influenced by medicinal plants and
herbal preparations as a source for pharmaceutical manufacturing procedures. Over the past few
decades, the mass production of herbal preparations at an industrial scale as well as the adulteration
of raw material and final products have raised serious concerns over its safety, purity, and efficacy.
Standardization of medicinal plants and their preparations as per the current WHO guidelines is of
prime importance to overcome quality issues. The guidelines aim at the identification of potentially
hazardous contaminants and assessing the quality of the herbal material by various qualitative and
quantitative means. Various methodologies, techniques, and procedures are prescribed in the guidelines for maintaining the overall quality of the finished herbal product. However, due to a lack of
research data and technical constraints many of the accepted limits in the guidelines are a reference
and extrapolation of research done in food science. Standardization is a crucial part of the quality
assurance program so as to set proper norms for the manufacture of quality products thus contributing to the benefit of mankind. The current review aims at highlighting various standardization
parameters and guidelines for the same.


This paper contributes to the design of a fractional order (FO) internal model controller (IMC) for a first order plus time delay (FOPTD) process model to satisfy a given set of desired robustness specifications in terms of gain margin (Am) and phase margin (Pm). The highlight of the design is the choice of a fractional order (FO) filter in the IMC structure which has two parameters (lambda and beta) to tune as compared to only one tuning parameter (lambda) for traditionally used integer order (IO) filter. These parameters are evaluated for the controller, so that Am and Pm can be chosen independently. A new methodology is proposed to find a complete solution for controller parameters, the methodology also gives the system gain cross-over frequency (wg) and phase cross-over frequency (wp). Moreover, the solution is found without any approximation of the delay term appearing in the controller.


When interpreting The Scarlet Letter from the point of ethical literary criticism and analyzing the psychology of Dimmesdale,we can find that Dimmesdale is always in the state of self-victimization.Meanwhile,he is trying to realize himself without knowing.However,with Calvinist Doctrine to rule his behavior,Dimmesdale,who lives a life of strict and rigorous moral discipline,does not and will never get self-realization totally.


A poppet means (2) for lifting during maintenance or repair means (1,5) from the wind turbine gearbox, comprising a frame structure, the frame structure includes a beam (4,6,8 interconnected fixed to the gearbox housing, the 8,10,12,20,22,24,26,28) for the housing portion is removed to provide an opening to the interior of the gear box, the lifting tool is fixed to the gearbox and further comprising a frame mounted on the structure of one or more pulleys (36), lifting the chain, cable, wire or rope extends over the pulley and the outer edge of the opening a plurality of modules can be attached to the interconnected parts of the gear box (1), comprising a frame structure.


In previous generations, two-career couples were relatively scarce. However, such a situation is now rather common place. In fact, it is somewhat common for the career couple to work for the same organization. However, the situation in which the couple works for the same firm, with exactly the same job is still something of a rarity. Nevertheless, this is exactly the situation many in academia face in today's work environment. While one might argue that the "couple-in-the-same-job" challenges are significant in all cases, such challenges are magnified in the world of academics. This research explores the challenges and opportunities regarding employment of couples in which both members of the couple occupy identical positions in the university environment. Specifically, the paper examines the perspectives of both the couple and the administration as they attempt to maximize the advantages while simultaneously minimizing the challenges of working with and as a "same job couple." Suggestions are given to both couples and administrators regarding effectively working in this challenging, but potentially satisfying situation.


reductase, NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase; SRS, substrate recognition site; Testo, testosterone; TFA, trifluoroacetic acid; T302V, Thr302 to Val mutation of 2B6; V367A, V367 to Ala mutation of 2B6; WT, wild type 2B6.


As the growth and development of various multimedia technologies in the field of CBIR many advanced information retrieval systems have become popular and has brought the new evolution in fast and effective retrieval. In this paper the techniques of image classification in CBIR are been discussed and compared. It also introduces classifiers like support vector machine, Bayesian classifier for accurate and efficient retrieval of images. KeywordsContent Based Image Retrieval, RLS classifier, Bayesian classifier, support vector machine, relevance feedback.


Gleaner in her Story of Margaretta (63). other chapters also explore this relationship between authoritative texts and their fictional counterparts: in chapter two, Weyler contextualizes narratives of seduced women such as Eliza Wharton with medical studies concerning madness and criminality by benjamin rush. in another chapter, Weyler explains that economic desires were also seen as surging out of control during this period. With the growth of commerce, authorities feared the loss of republican virtue, but fiction, she argues, offered an interesting palliative for this anxiety: fantasies of retirement in an agrarian idyll after a lifetime of trade reconciled unappealing economic realities with the American need for virtuous farmers such as Crevecoeur's James. Such fantasies displaced the vicious activity of trade onto the distant locale of the East indies and also, Weyler asserts, served the convenient function of gendering economic activity as masculine in a culture invested in the creation of the ideology of separate spheres. overall, Weyler's study is informative, thoughtful, and particularly useful for its examination of lesser-known early American novelists, both male and female. While offering detailed and substantive readings of Foster's and brown's better known works, Weyler also explores the cultural and political significance of such works as Sally Wood's Dorval; or The Speculator, rebecca rush's Kelroy, Caroline Matilda Warren's The gamesters, and Samuel relf 's Infidelity. For someone currently in the process of designing a course in early American literature, this book has proved invaluable. Weyler grounds these interpretations in strong close readings of the texts and situates herself clearly within the vast scholarship on the early American novel. there are moments, however, when the close textual readings might have been more smoothly integrated into the critical context. this lack of integration deprives readers of the opportunity to situate Weyler's arguments more smoothly into past debates on her important but often contested critical stance. Furthermore, while her focus on economic and sexual desires seems apt for the literature she discusses, Weyler may too easily dismiss the significance of race and class in these fictions. Such concerns, she claims, did not register with American writers until after 1814, with the publication of Walter Scott's Waverly (10). With this dismissal, Weyler consigns stories of slaves, servants, native Americans, and immigrants to scholars of the antebellum period without fully demonstrating her justification for such an exclusion. Her repetition of this assertion might be read as protesting a little too much. nonetheless, Weyler makes a valid point that it was indeed sentimental antebellum writers who adopted the cause of the marginalized "others." by granting interiority to these figures, antebellum writers tried to mark their subjectivity through sentiment, but, as she carefully notes, they also may have unwittingly reinscribed new hierarchies, silencing the voices of "unworthy" poor or angry workers and women. Such a measured assessment of the political value of literary texts characterizes Weyler's study, making it a worthwhile resource for those seeking a realistic assessment of the political potential of early American literature.


The photocurrent action spectra of S-doped anatase and rutile TiO 2 films were measured in a solution of 0.1 M HClO 4 mixed with 0.5 mM of the reductants such as hydroquinone, KI, KSCN, and KBr at the applied voltage of +0.5 V. For the S-doped anatase TiO 2 films, the incident photon to current efficiency (IPCE) was enhanced by the addition of hydroquinone or KI, while no enhancement was observed by the addition of other reductants. On the other hand, the IPCE for the S-doped rutile TiO 2 films was enhanced for all of the reductants. It was suggested that the doped states were different between the S-doped anatase and rutile TiO 2 films.


An effective applicant selection procedure for job roles is one of the most significant requirements for organisations Human Resources (HR) departments. Due to the high number of applicants it is necessary to short-list and rank submitted CVs based on their suitability for the job requirements. To reduce costs, error and time there is a strong desire from companies towards automating the two processes of: specifying the requirements criteria for a given job (experience, skills, etc) and matching between the applicants' profiles and the job requirements; to produce an applicants' ranking policy that gives consistent and fair results which can be legally justified.


Our hair is said to be 'our crowning glory'. Whether we like it or not, it is there for all to see. Good comments may make us feel good, adverse remarks may cause embarrassment and upset. Changes in hair growth and alopecia may be hard to hide and so there may be considerable distress at the onset of any obvious hair loss. Even a small patch of alopecia may lead to anxieties not only about the current loss but fears that the condition may extend and/or never recover.


Lowly accuracy in view of the present fire which exists, reporting mistakenly rate is high, as well as with difficulty giving alarm in time, this article has made the improvement and the analysis from many aspects. Regarding to the signal collected, based on the analysis of fire signal characteristic, I used FCM method to carry on the judgment, and used fuzzily clustering nerve network method to make the further improvement, unified the improvement effec of the method through the simulation and the experiment. In brief, through this article research, I surveyed the algorithm for the fire to carry on further inquired into that. It has the certain practical significance to the the development of the fire survey studies.


Airport simulation research can help the decision makers to improve the operating efficiency and reduce delay as well as enhance the quality and the level of airport services.We built a general model for the domestic departure process by merging submodels using ServiceModel.It can be used to evaluate different airports and gives optimization suggestion for according processes.


Germination of the dark-germinating seeds of 3 varieties of tomato is controlled by the phytochrome system. Germination is inhibited by far red radiation and repromoted by red applied after far red. At low temperatures, 17 to 20 degrees , a single, low energy far red irradiation is sufficient to inhibit germination in all 3 varieties. At higher temperatures far red is less effective in the inhibition of the germination of the tomato seeds. The phytochrome fraction present as P(FR) in the dark-germinating seeds of the Ace variety is about 40% of the total phytochrome present.


Multiple clinical trials and real‐world studies have demonstrated accelerated healing in diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) treated with advanced modalities, such as topical oxygen therapy (TOT). In addition to healing, the durability of wound closure is a crucial long‐term endpoint for DFU clinical trials: an advanced treatment that does not confer a reasonable ulcer‐free period will have limited clinical benefit and modest economic value. Preclinical studies suggest that DFUs receiving topical oxygen therapy will experience improved quality of healing: increased collagen deposition and angiogenesis. It is postulated that these changes will translate into a more long‐lasting closure for ulcers treated with TOT and SOC compared to ulcers treated with SOC alone. At the conclusion of a recently completed randomised controlled DFU clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of TOT and SOC compared to SOC alone, patients with healed ulcers were asked to enrol in a long‐term follow‐up study. Healed patients completed four questionnaires through text messages or phone calls within 1‐year post completion of the trial. Twenty‐nine patients consented to participate in the long‐term follow‐up trial (17 TOT/SOC and 12 SOC). Only seven subjects were lost to follow up (5 TOT and 2 SOC). This is a surprisingly low number when factoring in the disruption caused by the COVID‐19 pandemic that continued throughout the entire follow‐up period. In the remaining patients, 85% of the TOT patients and 60% of the SOC remained healed at 1 year. There was one major amputation, which occurred in an SOC‐treated patient. The numbers in the long‐term follow‐up were too small to reach statistical significance; however, there is a strong trend toward more durable closure in ulcers treated with TOT.


stances the employment of which is required by the special conditions, whether of temperature or moisture prevalent in India and the Colonies, and although the Council have decided not to delay the issue of the present volnme, they intend to publish an Addendum as soon as the necessary information is collected. This will be the most impressive and striking alteration of all, and it will be a fitting sequel to the Jubilee Pharmacopoeia. But the whole of the book is well worthy of its authors, and we can heartily congratulate the Council upon the care and sagacity displayed throughout it.


In patients presenting with clinically suspected deep vein thrombosis symptomatic pulmonary embolism is rarely apparent. To assess the prevalence of asymptomatic pulmonary embolism in outpatients with proven deep vein thrombosis, perfusion ventilation lungscans were performed in 101 consecutive patients at the first day of treatment and after one week of therapy. Fifty-one percent of these patients had a high probability lung-scan at the start of treatment. In control patients (n=44) without deep venous thrombosis but referred through the same filter, the prevalence of high-proba-bility scans was only 5%. After one week of anticoagulant treatment complete to partial improvement was observed in 55% of the patients while in another 24% of the patients the scan remained normal. It is concluded that lungscan detected asymptomatic pulmonary embolism occurs frequently in patients presenting with symptomatic deep venous thrombosis and that the majority of these emboli resolve within one week of anticoagulant treatment.


Objectives: This article aims to revisit the interrelationship between International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and International Human Rights Law (IHRL), in honour of their respective normative scopes and in order to carry out an analysis of their complementary or supplementary application, towards the construction of a more appropriate tool for the protection of human beings in extreme situations, as it occurs during armed conflicts. This is because, amid the multifaceted vulnerabilities that accumulate in today's conflicts, it is essential to provide the most effective source of protection - proportional to the demands for protection that are manifested today, particularly in military occupations around the world, whose occurrence will be the focus of this research. Methodology: As for the method of approach concerning the logical basis of the investigation, the hypothetical-deductive procedure method was selected, with a qualitative approach, and a bibliographic research and case analysis technique, insofar as the corroboration or falsification of the main hypothesis about the effective complementary and harmonious application of IHRL will be tested to cases of human rights violations in International Armed Conflicts in the military occupation modality. The exploratory aim was developed through the understanding of the Military Occupations as an ideal scenario to indicate the legal antinomies between IHRL and IHL. Results: In this investigation, specifically utilising the Military Occupations scenario, it was concluded that the most appropriate positions for the protection of the vulnerable should be substantially grounded on IHRL fundamentals regarding the still obscure area of transition between the two areas, aiming at the consolidation of a doctrinal understanding to base new consultative opinions in the future. Contributions: Given this framework, the core of this work lies in the understanding of the praxis for the complementary application of both aspects in armed conflicts, considering not only International Human Rights Law as lex generalis , but their effective overlap to the detriment of International Humanitarian Law, when it is most beneficial to human protection in the cases of Military Occupations.


The solid and block models of orebodies were built with 3Dmine software.On the basis of these models,3Dmodels of underground roadways and chambers were arranged reasonably,which systematically constitute a3Dassembly of underground mining.The design visually expresses and displays the orebodies information and the3Dof space and location relationship between underground roadways and orebodies,which provides more accurate foundation for resource optimizing development and improves the production and management efficiency.


The medical image registration by mutual information has been accepted as one of the most accurate and highlyautomated methods.For the mutual information calculated by partial volume interpolation method and Shannon entropy,certain local extremums are inevitable,which may lead to inaccurate registration.Weighted entropy instead of Shannon entropy to compute the mutual information is proposed in this paper,and it has been used in medical image registration experiment.The experimental results show that the method can smooth the local extremums of mutual information and reduce the possibility of wrong medical image registration.


The peculiarity of landscapes and main methods of their realization in descriptions of the prose written by I. Rozdobudko are analyzed in the article. Landscapes which are used in the belletristic works by the writer are showed in the correlations with the main ideas of the prose.


Abstract Parents of 116 first‐year pupils at an urban comprehensive school were studied by questionnaire and interview. They were asked about their educational and occupational aspirations for their children, their views on sexual equality and their children's out‐of‐school activities. Educational aspirations were found to be high, with little differentiation between the sexes. Parents were enthusiastic about their daughters studying physical science and neutral about craft subjects. Occupational aspirations were also high and although they tended to be sex‐stereotyped, parents were found to be generally supportive of non‐traditional choices. Class differences were few. Most parents were in favour of working mothers, equal pay and men helping with housework. However these egalitarian attitudes coexisted with more traditional assumptions about male breadwinners and a woman's main responsibility being to her children. Parents' own domestic labour and that which they required of their children was strongly s...


In this work, we conducted annual modulation search for dark matter with 2.7 years of data taking with the XMASS-I detector. A total exposure was 800 live days times 832 kg. When we assume Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) dark matter elastically scattering on the xenon target, the exclusion upper limit of the WIMP-nucleon cross section was 1.9×10−41cm2 at 8 GeV/c2. For model independent case, without assuming any specific dark matter model, we did not find any modulation signal with a p-value of 0.11 in the 1-20 keV energy region for the null hypothesis.


1 1 2 3 COMPOSITION AND METAPHOR IN DESIGN 1 2 Asst. Prof. Phd Ochkova-Dimitrova E. Technical University of Sofia, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Engineering Design, Bulgaria email@example.com 2 ABSTRACT 1 The Report refers to the conceptual and speculative design. It examines connections between disciplines in different scientific fields. Linguistic culture is expressed in the plastic art form and can be found in the material environment. Experiments in different directions are prone to happen while visualizing an idea. Language and Form coexist in composition, as two diverse essences, yet connected by a number of creative intersections of cooperation. Metaphor as a stylistic tool in language is intertwined with the idea of a form in design. Transformation and movement are analysed as categories of composition in language, art and design. Conveyance of different meanings created by metaphor can originate new possibilities for plastic solutions in the form. The Aim is to uncover alternatives in the design of innovative products. 1


This paper proposes a voice signal-based manipulation method for the Bio-Remote environment control system. The proposed system learns relationships between multiple candidate words' phonemes extracted by a large-vocabulary speaker-independent model and control commands based on a self-learning look-up table. This allows the user to control various devices even if false recognition words are extracted. Experimental results showed that the method accurately discriminate slurred words (average discrimination rate: 93.9±2.40 [%]), and that participants were able to voluntarily control domestic appliances.


Abstract : The physiological effects of kappa agonists on gastric function have not been fully elucidated. In the present studies, the effect of kappa receptor agonists (dynorphin(1-13), U50,488H and ketocyclazocine), a putative antagonist of the kappa receptor (MR1452 MS), and a nonspecific opiate antagonist (Naloxone) , on gastric emptying and secretion were evaluated alone and in combination. A marker dilution technique was used to measure, concurrently, gastric fractional emptying rate and secretion in conscious, chair-adapted rhesus monkeys during a fasting period and following the intragastric administration of an 80 ml water load (pH 7.4, 37 C). All values listed as significant had a p value of less than 0.05. The opioid agonists utilized in these studies inhibited gastric emptying. Unlike agonists that are active at mu (morphine) and delta (enkephalins) receptors, selective kappa agonists (dynorphin-(1-13); U50,488H) did not alter acid secretion, while the kappa/mu agonist, ketocyclazocine, significantly decreased it.


This invention relates to the production of cel lulosic products, and has for its general object the provision of certain improvements in carry ing out one or more of the processing steps in the production of such products. The invention is of Special advantage in the preparation and processing of viscose derived from chemically pre pared Wood pulp, and in this connection aims to improve the steps of shredding and filtering. The invention provides a method of processing chemical wood pulp comprising the incorporation of a cation-active amino compound in the pulp prior to the completion of shredding. The in vention also provides, as a new article of manu facture, a chemically prepared wood pulp product having incorporated therein a cation-active anino compound. This application is a continuation-in-part of our application Serial No. 321,695, filed March 1, 1940, now Patent No. 2,331,936. Chemically prepared wood pulps are extensive ly used in the industrial arts for the production of Such cellulosic products as rayon and other Synthetic fibers, nitrocellulose, cellulose acetate, gellulose ethers, Cellophane and similar cellulosic films or sheets, etc. Wood pulp is commonly pre pared and marketed in sheet form, and comminu tion or shredding is customarily one of the initial steps in its Subsequent processing. When wood pulp is used in bulk form, either wet or dry, shredding or comminution is frequently a step in Wolved in the subsequent processing. Since such Subsequent processing usually involves the con version of the cellulose of the wood pulp to some cellulose derivative and the solution of the de rivative in a suitable solvent, the purpose of shredding is to break down the sheet into a fluffy mass or crumb in which the individual fibers will be suitably exposed to the action of the deriva tive-forming reagent or reagents. Thus, for ex ample, in the production of viscose, the wood pulp sheet is customarily steeped in a caustic soda solu tion to form alkali cellulose, and the alkali cel lulose, after pressing and while still in sheet form, is shredded or comminuted to properly prepare the cellulose fibers for the xanthating reaction with carbon bisulfide. The resulting sodium cel lulose Xanthate is dissolved in dilute caustic soda to form the solution commonly known as viscose, 0.


Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Development (CD) are common techniques in software development. Continuous Integration is the practice of bringing together code from multiple developers into a single repository, while Continuous Development is the process by which new releases are automatically created and tested. CI/CD pipelines are available in popular automation tools such as GitLab, and act to enhance and accelerate the software development process. Continuous Deployment, in which automation is employed to push new software releases into the production environment, follows naturally from CI/CD, but is not as well established due to business and legal requirements. Such requirements do not exist in the Worldwide LHC Compute Gird (WLCG), making the use of continuous deployment to simplify the management of grid resources an attractive proposition. We have developed work presented previously on containerised worker node environments by introducing continuous deployment techniques and tooling, and show how these, in conjunction with CI/CD, can reduce the management burden at a WLCG Tier-2 resource. In particular, benefits include reduced downtime as a result of code changes and middleware updates.


Introduction: Proton density fat-fraction (PDFF) is emerging as a useful metric for fat tissue quantification using MRI. After addressing known confounding factors (T2* decay, T1 bias, spectral complexity of fat, eddy currents, noise bias), PDFF provides a platformand protocolindependent metric of tissue fat concentration, and is a fundamental property of tissue, making it a useful biomarker of fat content. PDFF is the ratio of unconfounded signal from mobile fat protons (primarily triglycerides) normalized by the total unconfounded signal from fat protons and mobile water protons. Unfortunately, gold standard reference assays that measure triglyceride content do not account for NMR invisible species, and therefore may not correspond directly with PDFF measured with MRI. The purpose of this work is to expand on past work that describes the relationship between true fat concentration and PDFF measured with MRI, and to validate this relationship in a fat-water-deuterium oxide phantom. Theory and Methods: In this work, we assume that all confounding factors have been addressed and that MRI has accurately measured the PDFF. In this case, the PDFF of triglycerides in tissue is: where mf and mw are the masses of fat and water, respectively. Importantly, it has been previously shown that the proton densities of protons in triglycerides and water are effectively identical, and therefore mass and volume are interchangeable in Eq. 1. The true tissue fat-fraction measured with chemical extraction assays can be written: where mo is the mass of "other", NMR invisible material. Comparison of Eqs. 1 and 2 show important similarities and differences. If the NMR invisible component is non-trivial then PDFF will overestimate the true concentration of fat. For example, in normal liver, the quantity of free water relative to total tissue is approximately 71%. If this value is known, a conversion between ηTissue and ηPDFF can be constructed. Specifically: is the fraction of free water, relative to NMR invisible material. Using Eqs. 3 and 4, direct conversion between true fat-fraction and PDFF can be determined, if the fraction of water relative to NMR invisible material (k) is known.


Kaplan, L; Shorez, JP; Baker, KC; DeLandsheer, T; Verner, J William Beaumont Hospitals, Royal Oak, MI Senior author: firstname.lastname@example.com Introduction Antibiotic-loaded polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) bone cement spacers are currently used to treat patients with an infected total joint arthroplasty. Mixing antibiotics into PMMA spacers offers distinct advantages over oral and/or intravenous administration, including localized delivery of a higher concentration of antibiotics with reduced toxicity. Combining two, or more types of antibiotics within PMMA gives surgeons the ability to treat multiple infectious organisms, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Pseudomonas. Recent research has shown that the release of antibiotics from PMMA is dependent on a number of factors, including types of antibiotics incroporated within the cement. Penner, et al found that combining vancomycin and tobramycin in PMMA lead to a net increase in the rate of release of both antibiotics[1]. To the contrary, Klekamp et al found that if vancomycin and tobramycin were combined in the PMMA under vacuum mixing conditions, leads to a decrease in the release of tobramycin [2]. Klekamp sited differences in antibiotic molecular weight as a potential cause for elution properties. Understanding the relationship between antibotic molecular weight, concentration ratio and elution rates in PMMA bone cements and the resulting mechanical strengths must be thoroughly characterized to allow surgeons to effectively treat infected total joint arthroplasties. Methods Varying antibiotic ratios of daptomycin and tobramycin were mixed with 40g packets of Simplex P SpeedSet (Stryker Orthopaedics, Mahwah, NJ) in a commercially available vacuum mixing system. Antibiotics were combined in a binary fashion to examine several combinations of each antibiotic formulation ( 3.6g tobramycin, 2.4g tobramycin, 2g daptomycin, 1g daptomycin, 1g daptomycin and 3.6g tobramycin, 1g daptomycin and 2.4g tobramycin, 1g daptomycin and 1.2g tobramycin, 2g daptomycin and 3.6g tobramycin, 2g daptomycin and 2.4g tobramycin, and 2g daptomycin and 1.2g tobramycin). Antibiotic-loaded PMMA was then dispensed into molds and allowed to cure, which resulted in the formation of a minimum of 6 cylindrical samples with a diameter of 1.5cm and a length of 3cm. The samples were immersed in a saline buffer solution at 37degC and mechanically rocked. Three milliliter fluid samples were drawn at 1, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours. The fluid samples were then subjected to UV-VIS spectroscopy to determine the amount of each antibiotic eluted from the PMMA as a function of time. At the completion of the elution phase both eluted and non-eluted PMMA samples were radiographed to observe porosity. Following physical examination the samples were mounted in an MTS Bionix servohydraulic 15kN load frame for compression testing. Compression testing was conducted to determine the differences in ultimate strength and yield strength. Results Anitbiotic concentration variation resulted in different elution rates, ultimate strengths and yield strengths. Antibiotic elution rates varied based on the amount of daptomycin present in the formulations. Averaged over 96 hours, PMMA cement concentrations that contained any amount of tobramycin and 2g of daptomycin had a total antibiotic elution rate of 8.7 μg/(mL hr) which was 39% higher than PMMA cement samples containing tobramycin and only 1g daptomycin, 92% higher than formulations containing only tobramycin and 41% higher than formulations containing only daptomycin. However, PMMA cement samples that had higher concentrations of daptomycin resulted in decreased ultimate compression and yield strengths (figure 1). On average, samples containing 2g daptomycin resulted in ultimate compressive strengths of 66 MPa for non-eluted and 69MPa for eluted samples. Compressive yield strengths for PMMA samples containing 2g daptomycin corresponded to values of 49MPa and 51 MPa for non-eluted and eluted, respectively. PMMA sample formulations with 1g of daptomycin had an ultimate compressive strength of 71MPa for non-eluted samples and 75MPa for eluted cement samples (figure 2). Correspondingly, the compressive yield strength for PMMA non-eluted and eluted cement samples with 1g daptomycin were 53MPa and 57MPa, respectively. Discussion The inclusion of antibiotics into PMMA bone cement has been shown to effectly treat infection. The type and concentration of antibiotics has been shown to vary the elution rate and potentially vary the efficacy of the antibiotic cement spacer. Combinations of antibiotics containing a minimum of 2g daptomycin resulted in the highest elution rates. Similar to Klekamp, differences in anitbiotic molecular weight may explain the observed differences in elution rates (daptomycin mw = 1,620 amu, tobramycin mw = 485 amu). However, the addition of antibiotics into the chemical composition of PMMA has been shown in this study to reduce the mechanical properties of the bone cement. PMMA samples that contained the highest concentration of daptomycin exhibitied a reduction in ultimate compressive strength of 21% and reduction in yield strength of 33% after an elution period of 96 hours when compared to PMMA bone cement without antibiotics. Ultimately, patient selection is required in determining the optimum course of treatment for infection in total joint arthroplasty. Patients that require cement spacers with higher yield strengths may require the surgeon to alter the antibiotic composition in the spacer to provide optimum treatment and stabilitiy.


A web portal for car enthusiasts? The lessons learned from rev-heads were just some of the highlights of this year's Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) conference in Perth. Susie Kennewell reports.


In this contribution,
we successfully apply our recently developed
extractive catalytic oxidative desulfurization technology (ECODS)
for the removal of different nitrogen-containing compounds (ECODN)
from both gasoline and diesel fuels. Hereby, indole, 1-methylindole,
2-methylindole, 3-methylindole, quinoline, and quinaldine are completely
removed from different model fuels under oxidative conditions, i.e.,
120 °C and 20 bar oxygen, with the use of an aqueous HPA-5 catalyst
solution within minutes. Indole and quinoline species are oxidized
selectively to water-soluble compounds such as acetic acid (6–16%),
formic acid (4–13%), and oxalic acid (0–4%), which are
extracted in situ into the aqueous catalyst solution.
Moreover, mainly carbon dioxide (71–86%) is formed in the gas
phase. Our catalyst system is also very effective for denitrogenation
at ambient conditions. In contrast to the removal of N-compounds at
120 °C and 20 bar oxygen, the reaction at 25 °C and atmospheric
pressure produces solid N-containing compounds. By combining ECODS
and ECODN in one vessel, desulfurization and denitrogenation of different
model oils is possible in parallel. Interestingly, N-compounds present
in the fuel are found to significantly promote the desulfurization
reaction.


■ Needs analysis is an issue of major concern for courses of English, both for English as a Second Language (ESL) and as a foreign language (EFL). In my study, I examined two EAP programmes at two universities—in New Zealand and Vietnam—to see if needs analysis receives any attention in these two programmes, and, if so, how needs analysis is carried out and if the process works effectively. Based on the findings, both sides can learn lessons and implications can be suggested for similar programmes. I used data collected from class observations—with some sessions being videoed—and interviews in both cases, with a qualitative ethnographic approach. The findings show that, though in both of the programmes, student needs analysis was considered, the level of focus and practice was different. In the New Zealand case, needs analysis was a highlight of the programme through a series of systematic data collection tools. In contrast, in the Vietnamese case, students' needs were assumed by the course designers, suggested in informal exchanges with students, or based on teachers' personal observation and experience. The New Zealand needs analysis system could well be a model for the Vietnamese classes, where formal needs analysis has not been a common practice.


As a kind of daily necessities,clothing should not only achieves its functionality in life but also has some aesthetic value.clothing materials,as the carrier of clothing,directly influences the effects of design works.With the advent of the digital age,the standards of clothing material are becoming greater and greater,which enhances the fast evolution and enduring reform of clothing material.Clothing material restricts the form and results of costume design.Meanwhile,costume design also promotes the improvement and development of clothing material.


INTRODUCTION PART I: CULTURAL CONTEXT OF DEVELOPMENT 1. Misunderstandings 2. The social ecology of psychological development 3. Honor and Islam: Shaping emotions, traits, and selves PART II: PERIODS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT INTRODUCTION TO PART II 4. Childbirth and infant care 5. Early childhood 6. Late childhood 7. Adolescence 8. Early adulthood and identity 9. Mature adulthood 10. Patterns and lives: Development through the life-span Afterword: A research agenda


This paper explores the influence of external variables such as demographics, past user experience, consumer traits, system characteristics, facilitating conditions, and country effect, on online bank customers' intentions to use mobile banking services. The authors develop hypotheses based on the earlier literature and test them on a large data with 2.482 effective responses collected from Portugal and Finland. The results show that past user experience is the most significant determinant of the phenomenon in the overall data, while significant country differences exist.


This is an Engineering Ethics case study from the IDEA CETL. The scenario examines issues around the intellectual property of an idea possibly inspired by working at a company. The session is aimed at students who have not studied ethics before. Suggested teaching time is a one hour session, with small group discussions.


I read this article by Chia and colleagues with interest. The authors are to be congratulated on their study presenting a detailed assessment of patients who have had partial ulnar nerve or intercostal nerve transfers for reconstruction of elbow flexion after traumatic brachial plexus injury. The results using dynamometric measurements confirm that Medical Research Council (MRC) muscle grading alone is not adequate to fully evaluate outcomes and further emphasize the importance of formal measurement of outcomes (Giddins, 2016) when comparing different techniques. The use of surface electromyography to identify the muscles that are active during movement is interesting. An important finding of Chia et al. is that patients who have had partial ulnar nerve transfer are unable to flex their elbow without simultaneous contraction of the forearm muscles. This can even be seen by the flexed posture of the hand and wrist in the patient illustrated in their Figure 5(a) and (b). The co-contraction is related to the partial ulnar nerve transfer itself, with the patients being unable to separate the biceps action from the other muscle groups innervated by the ulnar nerve. While Chia et al. feel that the contraction of the forearm muscles may contribute to the strength of elbow flexion, a more important issue is that loss of independent movement of the hand while flexing the elbow is likely to have a detrimental effect on global upper limb function. Unfortunately, this problem commonly occurs despite selection of fascicles from the ulnar nerve, which predominantly innervate the flexor carpi ulnaris, and often continues despite rehabilitation (Hems, 2011, 2015). After nerve transfer, the movement being reconstructed will not be independent of the function of the donor nerve, so affecting control of the movement (Hems and Hart, 2019). This issue has often been ignored when considering nerve transfers and reporting outcomes. If the movement innervated by the donor nerve is synergistic to that of the movement being restored, then the rehabilitation is easier and reconstruction may function well (Tung and Mackinnon, 2010). For example, accessory to suprascapular transfer makes use of the usual stabilizing function of trapezius during shoulder abduction and external rotation (Hems, 2011). However, when the movements are not synergistic, the problem of co-contraction can only partially be mitigated by rehabilitation and relearning. The possible consequences of co-contraction should therefore be considered when selecting donor nerves for transfer. The outcome of less commonly used transfers for restoration of elbow flexion, including medial pectoral (Brandt and MacKinnon, 1993) and thoracodorsal (Novak et al., 2002) nerves, should be re-evaluated.


Introduction: A national program of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) has only recently been established in Sudan. In the head center of this national program, six of the 67 peritonitis episodes that were diagnosed during its 30 months of function were fungal in origin (9% of all episodes, 0.12 episode per year at risk). Here we describe the clinical features, predisposing factors, and outcomes of these six cases.
Case series: Clinical presentation of fungal peritonitis did not differ from other cases of peritonitis. Among the six cases that were diagnosed in our center, five cases were due to Candida species and only one was due to Aspergillus. All patients had received antibiotic therapy within one month of diagnosing fungal peritonitis; five of them had received intraperitoneal (IP) antibiotics for a previous episode of bacterial peritonitis and one patient had received a course of oral antibiotics for exit site infection. Two of the patients were diabetic. All patients were treated with oral fluconazole, 200 mg daily, for three weeks, and all had their dialysis catheter removed. One patient died, and the others were transferred permanently to hemodialysis (HD). Two patients developed encysted intra-abdominal fluid collections 15 and 48 days after catheter removal.
Conclusion: Fugal peritonitis complicating CAPD is not uncommon in our center, which serves a major portion of the CAPD population in the Sudan. Most patients responded to oral fluconazole treatment and catheter removal, but two of them suffered from late complications.

Keywords: fungal peritonitis, peritoneal dialysis, Sudan


Bigger and more centralized municipal entities have been the trend in Europe for the past few decades. Expenditure reductions and efficiency gains are often expected to follow from municipal mergers, but evidence from the economic literature in this regard is far from unambiguous. Therefore, we analyze the effect of municipal size and institutional structure at the local level on efficiency in public goods production. An exceptionally detailed data set on the municipalities in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt allows us to identify the impact of different institutional settings. In contrast to previous studies, we choose the aggregate budget of municipal associations as the object of our analysis since important competences are settled at the joint administrative level. We perform a non-parametric efficiency analysis (DEA) and provide bias-corrected efficiency scores. Furthermore, we test for economies of scale and the impact of environmental variables using the bootstrap approach suggested by Simar and Wilson (2007). To our knowledge, this is the first study to use these techniques in studying this issue. The findings reveal a technology with variable returns to scale; a substantial number of observations operate under decreasing returns to scale. A centralized institutional setting is shown to reduce efficiency.


The standard works on Dissenting academies in general remain those of Irene Parker and Herbert McLachlan. They were pioneering studies of a hitherto neglected chapter in the history of education and the history of religious dissent. They have been responsible, however, for the growth of misconceptions and misleading impressions. Parker and McLachlan were concerned primarily with demonstrating that the Dissenting academies were the foremost educational institutions of their day. This approach has led to a concentration on the more academic establishments, to the virtual exclusion of those of lesser scholastic status. Moreover, by focusing on the education of the laity they have overlooked the real signi® cance of the academies as centres of ministerial training. Some of the more liberal academies such as Warrington, Manchester College and Hackney New College, and from an earlier age perhaps Northampton, were indeed progressive institutions o€ ering a broad curriculum to lay as well as theological students and may have ful® lled the larger claims of their admirers, but they were exceptions. After 1750 the vast majority of academies were small orthodox seminaries for the training of Nonconformist ministers. They suspected that the admission of lay students and the embracing of liberal and progressive teaching methods such as freedom of enquiry would lead to heterodoxy and student indiscipline. While they did include secular subjects in their curriculum these were, certainly until a liation to London University in the 1830s and 1840s, designed to reinforce the religious message rather than be studied as subjects in their own right. Most published works on the Dissenting academies have concentrated almost exclusively on those of the eighteenth century. Academies after 1800 have been sadly neglected by historians. To address this neglect and to attempt a comprehensive review and a realistic assessment of the lay function of the Dissenting academies of the period 1750 to 1850 is the purpose of this paper. The number of lay students educated after 1750 in the academies of religious Dissent was surprisingly small. At the beginning of the eighteenth century at least half of the academies were open to students who intended following careers other than in the ministry but of over 100 academies which can be identi® ed as being active


The paper is focused especially on presenting possibilities of applying artificial neural networks (ANN) at creating the system inverse models that are expected to be of use at designing control algorithm for non-linear dynamic systems. The paper deals with a quasi-inverse model which is intended to work as a controller of a non-linear dynamic system simulating an induction motor. The presented method of control takes advantage of approximating properties of multi-layer perceptron (MLP) networks. Obtained simulation results are a contribution to theoretical discussion of the problem.


Electron beams, accelerated by cathode ray guns, were used to calibrate Zero Gradient Synchrotron (ZGS) beam induction electrodes, without dependence upon the accuracy of RF instruments. Apparatus and technique are described and discussed.


The most distinguished historical novel in English in our time, and one of the most distinguished of any time, is H. M. F. Prescott's The Man on a Donkey. Published in 1952 in England, it received some enthusiastic or respectful reviews and in 1953 was given the Christopher Award in the United States; but it soon dropped into silence and an ill-deserved obscurity and is now in fact out of print. While it does not have the mythological power of Scott's best novels or of A Tale of Two Cities nor the sheer majesty, sweep, and scope of War and Peace, The Man on a Donkey compares quite favorably with, for example, Romola or Henry Esmond or The Betrothed, not to mention anything by Bulwer-Lytton or Kingsley or all the others. Looking to the twentieth century it is superior, in my opinion, to anything by Mary Renault or Marguerite Yourcenar (whose The Abyss comes closest) or Naomi Mitchison or Zoe Oldenberg or Robert Graves. If The Man on a Donkey had been written by George Eliot, which it could have been, it would now be regarded as a classic. Considered as a work of art, it is probably the equal or the superior to any other historical novel except War and Peace, and it is probably the great tragic historical novel. These are high claims, but I shall try to substantiate them. The historical hinge of The Man on a Donkey is the Pilgrimage of Grace, a series of uprisings in the north of England, principally in Yorkshire in the fall of 1536, protesting the dissolution of the monasteries by Cromwell and Henry VIII. The Yorkshire rebellion, which cut across class lines and knit together commons, gentlemen, knights, and lords, was led by Robert Aske, a squire and a lawyer, who always insisted that the Pilgrims were loyal to the Crown and wished only to save the Old Faith. An actual battle was never joined between this motley army and the forces Henry was able to muster against them. Aske, a man of great good will, sincerity and, to his woe, trust, was summoned to London where he was treated with courtesy and favor by the King. Aske explained everything, wrote out a deposition and protested once more his loyalty. Henry made certain promises,


Examples of a method of forming an electromagnetic interference (EMI) is the absorber, at least comprising the step of stretching the material comprising the absorbent particles EMI least along a first axis to align some of EMI absorbing particles.


When a steady wind stress acts on the rapidly northward-moving Gulf Stream, an intense Ekman divergence is produced at the axis of the Stream. This is primarily due to the fact that, at the axis, the effective Coriolis parameter, the sum of the earth's rotation and the shear of the Stream, changes by three-fold in a distance of 15 km. The magnitude of this divergence, when the wind is southerly, is two orders of magnitude larger than that in the regions outside the jet and results in intense upwelling.


In this paper, a 4D Lorenz-type multistable hyperchaotic system with a curve of equilibria is investigated by using differential geometry method, i.e. with KCC-theory. Due to the deviation curvature tensor and its eigenvalues, the curve of equilibria of this hyperchaotic system is proved analytically to be Jacobi unstable under a certain parameter condition, and a periodic orbit of this system is proved numerically to be also Jacobi unstable. Furthermore, the dynamics of contravariant vector field near the curve of equilibria and the periodic orbit are studied, respectively, and their results comply absolutely with the above analysis of Jacobi stability.


This article introduces a novel computing architecture, called space-aerial-surface computing (SASC), for intelligent data collection and offloading via multiple collaborative robots in massive Internet of Things (IoT) sensor networks. The effectiveness of the proposed architecture is justified, and a number of key issues relevant to the proposed architecture are discussed, including data-similarity-aware node selection and clustering, collaborative trajectory planning strategies, the collaboration of heterogeneous robots, and aerial computing-integrated data offloading schemes.


Abstract The method of cross determination of the survival time of red cells was used for the study of the pathogenesis of sickle cell anemia. When normal erythrocytes transfused into a recipient with a hemolytic syndrome survive normally, whereas the recipient's own red cells transfused into a normal person, have a considerably shortened life span, an intracorpuscular abnormality may be suspected. Contrariwise, when normal red cells transfused into the patient with the hemolytic syndrome are as rapidly destroyed as the patient's own cells, the presence of an indiscriminating extracorpuscular mechanism may be assumed. In this study, trait cells were transfused into patients with sickle cell anemia and anemia cells into healthy recipients harboring the sickle cell trait. Trait cells survive normally (120 days) when transfused into patients with sickle cell anemia, whereas the patients' own cells continue to be hemolyzed at a faster rate. Anemia cells, when transfused into trait carriers, have a shortened life span with an average of about one-fourth of the normal. Therefore the pathogenic principle operating in sickle cell anemia resides within the red cells themselves; no extracorpuscular mechanism can apparently be made responsible for this hemolytic syndrome. Trait cells can be used safely for therapeutic transfusions. An analysis of the known facts about the sickling phenomenon shows that the sickling process which is the expression of an abnormality of the stroma does not lend itself to a satisfactory explanation of the pathogenesis of the anemia. The hypothesis is formulated that sickle cell anemia develops because of an additional alteration in the cyto-skeleton which is qualitatively different from the structural anomaly responsible for the sickling phenomenon.