This report discusses the decommissioned Piqua Nuclear Power Facility which is located in Piqua, Ohio near the Greater Miami River. The Facility was built by the US Atomic Energy Commission (now U. S. Department of Energy) and was operated from 1963 to 1966. The reactor was retired prior to 1970 and the facility was leased to the city of Piqua for use as offices and equipment storage. In December 1991, a radiological survey was done of the facility to document its radiological condition. The data show that all radiological parameters measured were essentially the same as that found in the natural environment. The only exception was that low levels of radioactive contamination were detected in one drain on the 56.5 ft elevation, but the radiation exposure rate in that area was also typical of natural background.


Liberalized abortion laws have become effective in 4 Western countries during 1975. Details of the more liberal abortion statutes in France, Cyprus, Austria, and Sweden are presented.


Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) of propeller shaft via analysis of moment of structure represents a system of the shaft that helps students to know, understands, or stimulates a particular learning. As an instructional model, it was developed based on the items that were considered significant of the shaft items. Four out of nine items of the shaft were scrutinised through the SEM via the Analysis of Moment Of Structure (AMOS). It relied absolutely on the concept maps assessment test through which data was gathered and structured questionnaire developed by the researcher. The duo was believed suitable to determine students' academic performance. Four of the propeller shaft items denoted as (PSH1, 3, 5 and 6) out of ten were considered most significant for the system are: PLS1 (outer shaft connection to the gearbox), PLS3 (Flange assembly), PLS5 (Inner and outer shaft housing assembly), and PLS6 (functions of yoke shaft). These were verified after thorough AMOS. The findings discovered that students' academic performance after introducing the model for instruction was significantly improved. This article developed a prototype of propeller shaft for instruction in Automobile Engineering showing the most important items of the model as illustrated in a pictorial form Fig 1.


to CT using MRI as the reference standard is erroneous, especially when these findings do not correspond with instability, patient's neurologic status or change patient management. Interestingly, the one thing that one might assume would be correlated with neurologic deficits would be spinal cord edema, and the current study found no correlation. Also, interesting is that 36 patients in the study had cord edema, out of a total of 63 patients. Can the authors elaborate on this high number? Evaluation of neurologic deficits is difficult in obtunded patients—that is the reason some people advocate the use of MRI after a negative CT. Important to note is that only 12.7% of patients in this study could not be assessed in this study with patients having GCS < 8. The CT technique mentioned by the authors specifies 10-mm axial cuts. This is not the recommended technique or routine clinical practice [4].


A bacterium A7 with relatively high alginase activity was isolated from wakame compost and belongs to genus Gracillibacillus.Based on the activity detection of the fermentation liquid,the optimum conditions of alginase production were determined as follows: pH 9.5;temperature,30℃;sodium alginate and sodium chloride,0.5% and 0.5 mol/L,respectively;peptone as the principal source of nitrogen and culturing continuously for 72 h.


1 Interdepartmental Center of Environmental Science and Engineering (CINSA), University of Cagliari, Via San Giorgio 12, 09124 Cagliari, Italy; 2 Center for Advanced Studies, Research and Development in Sardinia (CRS4), Loc. Piscina Manna, Building 1, 09010 Pula (CA), Italy; 3 Department of Mechanical, Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Cagliari, Piazza d'Armi, 09123 Cagliari, Italy


The preparation of this list or catalogue of the flowering plants of Foochow City and its vicinities was originally aimed to serve as a check-list for dur students in Plant Taxonomy class. The mimeographed copies were first put out in 1953, and since then corrections have been made, and new plants have been added from time to time as they are being explored. Last year, because of the great leap-forward progress made by our country, especially in Industry and Agriculture, there came a great demand for the publication of this list to serve as a guide book for those who are searching for the natural resources. In order to meet the demand the secretary of the Party Branch of our department finally decided to let all the students of the Plant Taxonomy Class (1958) help us in making a more thorough search of the plants around Foochow, so as to bring this list up-to-date and publish it.
The present list comprises 1666 species, representing 853 genera, and 173 families. The herbarium specimens include those from the former Research Institute of Zoology and Botany of Fukien Academy, the former Fukien Christian University, and the former Hwa Nan College, together with those which we have collected during the last ten years. All these specimens are now kept in our herbarium.
The arrangement of the names of the plants in this list is primarily based on Engler and Diels (1936), but minor change has been made by putting the Monocots after the Dicots.
The area from which these plants have been collected extends a little beyond the old city limit, that is, to the north, we have included the greater part of the Greaer and the Lessor Baek Liang (大小北岭) and to the south, the Wu Hu Shan (五虎山) at the southern bank of the Wu Lung Giang (乌龙江). All efforts have been made to make our collection more thorough and extensive, but it is by no means that we could have exhausted the richness of the Foochow flora. As to the plants which have at present escaped our attention we shall continue to explore, and let them enrich our list in the future.


Flow modulation epitaxy (FME) has been employed previously to synthesize III-V arsenides and phosphides. However, the ability of FME to extend growth to lower temperatures than those required for conventional organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE) has only recently been explored for the synthesis of nitride based semiconductors. Because, in part, of the importance of low temperature growth to the synthesis of indium-containing group III-nitrides, this growth technique should be explored further. In this paper we report on the FME of group III-nitride compounds on sapphire and silicon carbide substrates.


The purpose of this thesis was to understand the changes that have been occurring in the last 15 years in areas, which we consider as periurban, located in the north region of Teresina City (PI). The focus on studying the formation of periurban areas is justified because it is a recurrent reality worldwide due to the increasing progress of the urban over the rural. The conceptual references related to the topic formation of periurban areas included discussions about: i) the transformation of the city from compact space into dispersed and fluid space; ii) aspects related to the process of periurbanization; iii) ways of life, new ruralities and new urbanities, always relating these discussions to the space of Teresina. According to the municipal administration of Teresina, the selected area to be studied is rural, where there are several villages, small farms and ranches that are about 3.22 km far from the capital city of Piaui, which can be accessed through paved roads, from which were chosen Sao Vicente, Santa Helena, Campestre Norte, Lagoa de Dentro, Taboquinha, Gaspar, Canto do Romao and Morro Calandi. We assumed that the proximity of rural areas in the north region of Teresina (PI) would be contributing to the formation of a periurban area there, affecting both the spatial reconfigurations and the way of life of its inhabitants. Considering this point, we ask the following question: would the existence of a certain centrality in the villages, represented by basic services offering, reduce the influence of Teresina's urban area on their residents? Empirically, besides visiting the region, we interviewed 36 people, who were 26 inhabitants of the villages and 10 other inhabitants of the area, who answered questions about their profile, the structure of the villages and the changes that have affected the area and their lives. The results revealed that the surveyed region is actually a periurban area, still in formation, whose occurrence is due to its proximity to Teresina and that all the interviewees — both the selected inhabitants of the villages supported by their respective centrality and other inhabitants of the area living in small farms, ranches and farms — are affected by the proximity to Teresina's urban area. Although the practice of agricultural activities used only for subsistence is still predominant in these areas, the research also points out that people have looked for ways to do activities comprising pluralities, especially in Teresina. These changes are expressed, above all, through what we call a periurban way of life, in which some traces of rural life are mixed, along with the new habits and customs related to the urban life acquired by both the inhabitants of the villages and other inhabitants of the area, highlighting new ways of consuming, thinking and feeling.


High-temperature resistant corrosion inhibitor GC-203L is composed of mostly quinoline quaternary ammonium salt and mannich quaternary ammonium salt,in which compound synergist also is an important ingredient.Corrosion inhibiting performance and inhibition mechanism are evaluated and studied by testing the dynamic corrosion rate of GC-203L at different temperature,different amount,different acid type and concentration.The dynamic corrosion rates of steel are 3.2 g /(m2·h) in 20%(wt) hydrochloric acid and 45.3g/(m2·h) in mud acid at150 ℃ by adding GC-203L.The results suggest that GC-203L have good corrosion inhibiting performance and the temperature tolerance is as high as 180 ℃.


The present survey has been carried out by analyzing the quality of e-content in Virtual Universities of Khajeh Nasir Toosi and Shiraz in 2011, through descriptive research and analytic study according to SCORM standard.The statistical population consists of all the BA and MA students of virtual electronic courses in Khajeh Nasir Toosi and Shiraz universities, the number of which reaches to 125 students in each university and the total number of 250 sample students for both. A researcher-made questionnaire was used. For the validity (content) determination, the discretion of masters in this field has been taken to account. And the reliability rate of the questionnaire estimated by Cronbach's alpha and SPSS software is 93%. Data analysis is achieved through descriptive and deductive statistics (t-student one-sample t-test for significant difference). As shown in the results, the average of the survey's main question is 3/38 and in assurance degree of 95%, it can be claimed that there is a significant difference between the sample mean and the theoretical mean; and according to the aforementioned students, the level of SCORM performance in their universities is above the average and in a desirable condition.


. This paper shows the technical aspects and the progress of manufacturing a lining concept with actuators and sensors for noise reduction within the cabin of aircraft with CROR engine. The structural integration, the repair possibilities and the serial production of such a lining are focused.


The bearing boundary elements are used to simulate the bearing contact elements,the Hertz contact theory is used to revise the contact widths of rollers with inner race and outer race,which the Fortran program of four-body elastic contact Bearing Boundary Element Method(BEM) is complied.When different thickness of trust face of shaft block is applied to the mill four-row conical roller bearing,the distribution of radial and axial load are simulated,with which the influence rules of thickness of shaft block to the load distribution of four-row conical roller bearing are obtained.The experiment proves the validity and effectiveness of using Bearing BEM to solve the load distribution of bearing.


We report a large amount of experimental data on the stress overshoot phenomenon which takes place during start-up shear flows in a simple yield stress fluid, namely a carbopol microgel. A combination of classical rheological measurements and ultrasonic velocimetry makes it possible to get physical insights on the transient dynamics of both the stress σ(t) and the velocity field across the gap of a rough cylindrical Couette cell during the start-up of shear under an applied shear rate . (i) At small strains (γ w. Finally, by changing the boundary conditions from rough to smooth, we show that there exists a critical shear rate s fixed by the wall surface roughness below which slip at both walls allows for faster stress relaxation and for stress fluctuations strongly reminiscent of stick-slip. Interestingly, the value of s is observed to coincide with the shear rate below which the flow curve displays a kink attributed to wall slip.


The acquisition of the Venera 9 and 10 plasma probe data has provided further support for the notion that the shocked solar wind in the flank regions of the Venusian ionosheath interacts viscously with the local ionospheric plasma and that the resulting mixing region is rapidly forced into the planetary umbra. The measured velocities and flow directions suggest that the deflection of the mixing layer downstream of the terminator proceeds at a fast pace, as was predicted from the analysis of a suitable MHD analog proposed by Perez-de-Tejada and Dryer (1976). By measuring the apparent displacement of the mixing region within the planetary umbra with respect to the position of the undeviated ionopause (calculated from the inviscid flow model of Spreiter et al. (1970)) it is possible to obtain an order-of-magnitude estimate of the equivalent kinematic viscosity coefficient of the flow in the region. Some speculative comments are also given in regard to the behavior of the flow in the Venusian plasma wake, in particular, to the implications that the penetration of the mixing layer into the umbra may have for the formation of the nighttime Venusian ionosphere.


In this paper, one-sided and two-sided test procedures for comparing several treatments with more than one control with respect to scale parameter are proposed. The proposed test procedures are inverted to obtain the associated simultaneous confidence intervals. The multiple comparisons of test treatments with the best control are also developed. The computation of the critical points, required to implement the proposed procedures, is discussed by taking the normal probability model. Applications of the proposed test procedures to two-parameter exponential probability model are also demonstrated.


This article explores how girls and boys facilitate the establishment of permenent settlement in Mexican immigrant households. Through analysis of 68 interviews, three primary roles are identified: (a) tutors, when children serve as translators and teachers for their parents and younger siblings; (b) advocates, when children intervene or mediate on behalf of their households during difficult transactions or situations; and (c) surrogate parents, when children undertake nanny or parentlike activities. In addition, it was found that girls participate more than boys in tasks that require detailed explanations or greater responsibility. Boys, despite their involvement in household activities, did not have the same responsibility roles as girls did. Finally, the eldest child, regardless of gender, often took the lead role in assisting and caring for younger siblings. These findings advance the understanding of the interaction of immigration, children, and gender in household settlement.


Objective: to study the relationship between microvascular lesions of Diabetes Mellitus and alterations in the nailfold capillaroscopy. Subjects and Methods: cross-sectional study including 140 individuals (70 with Diabetes Mellitus and 70 controls). Epidemiological and clinical variables were collected from patient's charts. Fundus ophthalmoscopy, nailfold capillaroscopy, analysis of microalbuminuria and renal clearance as well as fasting glycaemia and HbA1c values were studied simultaneously.Results: capillary density was reduced, and vascular dilatation was increased in Diabetes Mellitus patients when compared to controls (both with p<0.0001). In diabetic individuals the number of dermal papillary capillaries/mm3 correlated negatively with microalbuminuria (p=0.02), patient's age (p=0.03), values of HbA1c (p=0.03). Patients with diabetic retinopathy and using antiplatelet agents had lower capillary density (p<0.0001 and 0.04 respectively). Capillary dilatation was associated with disease duration (p=0.04).Conclusion: microvascular disease in Diabetes Mellitus is reflected in nailfold capillaroscopy. Decreased capillary density, increased number of ectasias and increased presence of avascular areas were observed in patients with diabetes when compared to controls. In the present study, capillary density correlated/ associate with age, retinopathy, use of antiplatelet medication, HbA1c, microalbuminuria and diabetes duration. Ectasias or dilatations were related to retinopathy, glomerular filtration rate and longer disease duration.


A new method of estimating wave speed in a pipe is proposed. A continuity equation of pipe flow can be arranged so that wave speed is included in a coefficient term which relates differentiation of pressure with respect to time and differentiation of flow rate with respect to distance along a pipe axis. The wave speed will be calculated from the differentiation signals using a pipeline dynamics model, which is an optimized finite element model. Bootstrap algorithms are applied to estimation of wave speed included in the coefficient. Both simulation and experiment are carried out to examine the estimation method. The influence of experimental conditions and calculation parameters on the wave-speed estimation was investigated.


AIM:To investigate the relationship between sex difference of CUMS-induced depressive behaviors of rats and the expressions of monoamine oxidase B(MAO-B),5-hydroxytryptamine transporter(5-HTT)and norepinephrine transporter(NET).METHODS:60SD rats(30for each male and female)were randomly divided into following groups:male control group(MCG),male model group(MMG),female control group(FCG)and female model group(FMG).Chronically unpredicted mild stress(CUMS)with solitary condition was taken to establish rat depression model.The open-field test and forced swimming test were used to evaluate the behavioral changes of experimental rats.The expressions of MAO-B and 5-HTT in hippocampus and NET in pons were determined by Western blot(WB)and Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR,respectively.RESULTS:Significantly decreasing locomotor activity in open-field test and increasing immobility time in forced swimming test in MMG and FMG with remarkable difference between MMG and FMG were observed,compared with corresponding control groups.Expressions of obviously decreased 5-HTT and elevated MAO-B and NET also were found in both model groups with significant sex differences.CONCLUSION:Depression model is much easier to be induced in male rats than female by CUMS,which may be at least partly related to the different expressions of MAO-B,5-HTT and NET.


To solve the problem of parameter setups of double-tuned filter,a method for designing double-tuned filter was proposed based on resonance frequency. The relationship between the inductance and capacitance of the serial resonance branch in the double-tuned filter and the resonance frequency of single tuned filter and its capacitance was studied using the principle that the impedance of double-tund filter is equivalent to the impedance of two parallel single tuned filters.The inductance of the parallel branch was calculated because resonance frequency of the single tuned filter is the zero of the double-tuned filter,then its capacitance was calculated with the parallel resonance frequency. This method simplified the operation process of the double-tuned filter,the impedance-frequency curve of double-tuned filter designed in this study was displayed in a specific case,and simulation results show that the filtering of the double-tuned filter is good.


Since the American War of Independence ended, there were five stages for American Foreign Trade Policy. The pro- tectionism played a very important role at all times. Although free trade accidentally got the run upon, this so-called free trade was conditional and relative. It was a tool that the American government wanted to occupy the markets of the other countries under the camouflage of the reciprocity and the equity and the non- discrimination. The American government regarded the protectionism policy as the guide line at all times in order that the great bourgeois obtained the most interest. This trade policy was unconditional and absolute.


Through analyzing the nonlinear phase feature of the three-mirror G-T cavity, a novel unequal passband interleaver using a Michelson interferometer in which one mirror is replaced by an equally-spaced three-mirror G-T cavity is design by imitation. The device split an input beam with channel spacing of 50GHZ into two beams with channel spacing of 100GHZ. At -1dB, the odd channel and the even channel have unequal passband for transmission speed of 40Gb/s and 10Gb/s, respectively. The isolation is more than 30dB. All the possible reflection coefficients of the three-mirror G-T cavity with which the interleavers meet the above need of the DWDM system are searched out by optimization of the computer.


In the present study, we investigated the ischaemia‐related neurodegeneration in the main and accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) after 5 min transient forebrain ischaemia in the Mongolian gerbil using the acid fuchsin staining method. Between 5 and 15 days after ischaemia, acid fuchsin positive cells markedly increased in the external plexiform layer (EPL), mitral cell layer (ML) and glomerular layer (GL) of the main olfactory bulb (MOB), and in the mixed cell layer (MCL) and GL of the AOB. By 30 days after ischaemia reperfusion, acid fuchsin positive neurons were shrunken and showed low acidophilia in somata. Many necrotic vacuoles were found in the EPL and GL of the MOB 30 days after ischaemia. At this time, necrotic vacuoles were very few in the AOB. Therefore, our results suggest that the GL and EPL of the MOB are vulnerable to ischaemic damage at a later time after ischaemic insult, and that the AOB is more resistant to ischaemic damage as compared with the MOB.


The purpose of this paper is to outline a model of mode-coupled MHD compressional waves in the corona and solar wind. The eventual aim of this work is to be able to compute how MHD waves propagate through the corona and into the solar wind beginning with a source of Alfven or fast mode waves at the base of the corona. The necessity for consideration of mode coupling arises because of typical scalelengths in the corona. For wave sources, such as supergranulation, with wave periods of about a day, the different modes do no propagate independently, as in the WKB approximation, but are coupled because the ratio of wavelength to scalelength is of the order of one or greater.


The main goal of the study was to propose a practical evaluation tool for destination marketers to evaluate tourism market segments.An Preference-Competiton Matrix(PCM) was put forward based on the preference scale and the competiton state.Foreign travelers to Xinjiang were segmented based on PCM during 1991 and 2006.The results showed that Preference-Competiton Matrix approach may be a useful and objective tool for destination marke organization and can clearly differentiate the Xinjiang inbound tourism market.


As the city tunnel compared with mountain tunnel had higher environmental protection standards,the traditional tunnel exit centralized air pollution emissions difficult to meet the environmental protection requirements,this paper made deeply research on intake and exhaust air rate of tunnel each section,ventilation holes of top opening city tunnel using CFD means under different ventilation hole arrangement mode,compared the ventilation efficiency under various construction conditions,provided useful reference for actual engineering design.


The paradigms of service–oriented computing (SOC) and its underlying service–oriented architecture (SOA) have received a lot of attention recently and have changed the way software applications are designed, developed, deployed, and consumed. Due to these paradigms, software engineers can realize applications by service composition, using services offered by third parties. In the competitive market of composite services, the commercial success of composite service providers (CSP) is directly related to their ability to offer services at sharp price/quality ratios.
This raises the need to realize desired client perceived Quality of Service (QoS) levels at minimal cost. The problem of controlling QoS in SOC is complex in that the ownership of the services is decentralized, as a composite service makes use of services offered by third parties. Although a plethora of well–known QoS–control mechanisms exists for "atomic" Web services used for the composition, it remains a challenge how to exploit these mechanisms for QoS–control in SOA in a cost–effective way. The great potential for composite service providers to realize dramatic cost savings and/or revenue improvements by optimizing the QoS–control in SOA has not been exploited much so far. To address this issue, proper modelling of the effects of QoS–control parameters is required. Once the models are specified, analysis of these models to derive the optimal settings of the parameters is a natural next step.
This thesis contributes models and methods to address these QoS–control issues within SOA. We develop the models of the runtime end–to–end QoS–control mechanisms, that are used to satisfy QoS requirements of an individual composite service request (e.g. response time) while optimizing some long–term goal (e.g. execution cost minimization, expected revenue). These models, based on per–request, per–task service selection, facilitate development (using, among others, dynamic programming approach) of simple, yet effective optimal decision–making policies in order to satisfy specified QoS levels. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed solutions as well as significant revenue improvements by extensive numerical experiments. The derived policies have negligible overhead with respect to the decision–making process and control actions to be taken by the CSP. Besides, the implementation of these policies is relatively simple, e.g. as a lookup table. The control actions may be automated, and allow for fast reactions to the changes in the volatile service execution environment.
In our view this thesis presents a significant step forward to envisioned autonomous, economically profitable systems of services and applications of the future. Our approach opens many interesting opportunities for further research in the challenging area of QoS–control of such "system of systems".


Forest research has addressed the importance of an improved understanding of drought–stocks interactions in the dry edge of tree species range. Nonetheless, more efforts are still critically needed to link up the multiple ways by which climatic stressors can trigger tree mortality, including population‐level determinants and management. Here, we analyze the interactive effects of North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), a surrogate of climatic variability in southwestern Europe, and forest stocks on tree mortality in dry‐edge populations of the most widespread Eurasian tree species, Pinus sylvestris L., in the forest of Valsain (central Spain). Specifically, we use tree mortality data gathered since 1941 in six multiannual periods. Results suggest that the main mortality risks in these forests can occur either in positive or negative NAO phases, but that their relative impacts are critically mediated by forest structure. In NAO+ periods, commonly associated with warm–dry conditions in the Iberian Peninsula, a peak of mortality was found in closed forest sections, whereas the second peak, found in open forest sections, was related to NAO‐ periods, correlated with temperate‐rainy weather conditions. This finding reinforces the key role of management—through its control on forest structure—as a driver of forest vulnerability to climate. Accounting for the multiple ways in which stocks modulate tree responses to different risks emerges as a critical element when it comes to the design of efficient adaptation measures in managed dry‐edge forests.


A modified Few's method of the urinary 17-KGS determination, by which urinary direct 17-KGS was fractionated into 2 parts of 11-deoxy-KGS and 11-oxy-17-KGS, was applied in examining the pituitary ACTH secretion capability in children in whom adrenocortical 11-fl-hydroxylase inhibitor (Metopirone, SU-4885 CIBA) was administered. Several fundamental coditions were studied with the following results. Metopirone capsules, 250 to 500mg a dose, were administered 6-8 times for one day to a daily dosage of 2g. in children with body weight of 20kg or less, and 3g. in those over 20kg. 1. Changes in urinary 11-deoxy and 11-oxy 17-KGS, 17-OHCS (Porter-Silber Chromogen PSC) and pregnanetriol before and after administration of Metopirone were studied ; both 11-deoxy and 11-oxy 17-KGS seemed to show changes in level of 11desoxy-cortisol and cortisol secretion. (Fig. 2 and 3). 2. Increase in urinary 17-KGS and 17-0HCS (by Reddy, Jenkins and Torn's methods) after administration of Metopirone in 25 children of various conditions were compared. The author belives that the increase in 17-KGS excretion is a better index in evaluting the response to Metopirone than 17-OHCS which often showed a low increase and would thus give a false negative interpretation (Fig. 4, Table 1). 3. Calculating the 17-KGS increment per unit body suface after administration of Metopirone in 10 cases of normal children of 3 to 14 years of age, it was noted that no differences were seen in relation to the age, and 11-deoxy was 5.57-20.87 mg/day/m2 while the total (11-deoxy +11-oxy) was 4.49-21.44 mg/day m2 ; 11-deoxy/11-oxy ratio increased to the maximum of 3.4EL-1.10, Mean (M)-±Standard Deviation (SD). Using this level as the standard, the responses were classified as normal, hyporeactive (limited pituitary reserve, frank insufficiency) and hyper-reactive. Urinary total 17-KS was also determined at the same time ; the increase were less than 1 mg/day .m2 in chidren under 10 years of age, and the author thinks that this level cannot be used as a criteria in evaluating the response (Fig. 5, 6 and Table 2, 3).


In dealing with multivariate distributions such as the multivariate normal, it is convenient to extend the expectation and variance operators to random vectors.


Review of the book "Eυαγή και νοσοκομeιακά ιδρύματα στη βeνeτοκρατούμeνη Κρήτη" written by Anastasia Papadia-Lala. The book is reviewed by Irene Christou.


On completion of a successful first year, I must applaud the team efforts of all those who have exercised dedication for the publication of three issues in the first year of EJMCR. It needs lots of efforts from soliciting to the level of being referred. We are on the right track, rose up from soliciting to the present state, where EJMCR is now in the counting of medical journalism. There is good news for authors, readers, and for editorial board members. EJMCR has been accepted in ProQuest, ScopeMed, and MyScienceWork for indexing. Reports from the last year issues will also appear on these sites.


Summary.  Background: The tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI)/protein S anticoagulant system is a potent inhibitor of blood coagulation. TFPI and protein S are major determinants of thrombin generation (TG) tests determined at low tissue factor (TF) and at high TF concentrations in the presence of activated protein C (APC). Both TFPI and protein S protect against venous thrombosis, but the importance of the TFPI/protein S system in arterial thrombosis remains unclear. Objectives: To investigate the influence of the TFPI/protein S anticoagulant system on the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) in young women. Methods: The RATIO study is a case–control study in women under 50 years of age, including 205 patients and 638 controls. TFPI and protein S were quantified using ELISA. The TFPI/protein S activity (nTFPIr) and the APC sensitivity ratio (nAPCsr) were determined using TG tests. Odds ratios (ORs) adjusted for putative confounders and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were determined. Results: Women with MI had higher TFPI levels than controls (135.9 ± 40% vs. 124.2 ± 41%), resulting in increased TFPI/protein S activities and increased APC sensitivity. Furthermore, an increased TFPI activity was associated with MI [nTFPIr: adjusted OR Q1 vs. Q4 = 2.1 (95%CI 1.1–4.1)]. Additionally, an increased APC sensitivity was associated with MI [nAPCsr: adjusted OR Q1 vs. Q4 = 1.7 (95% CI 0.9–3.2)] Conclusion: Women with MI had increased TFPI levels compared with controls. Consequently, the TFPI/protein S activity and APC sensitivity are increased in women with MI. Whether this increase in TFPI activity acts as a compensating mechanism for an increased procoagulant state or is a marker of endothelial damage remains to be investigated.


Content-independent watermarks and block-wise independency can be considered as vulnerabilities in semi-fragile watermarking methods. In this paper to achieve the objectives of semi-fragile watermarking techniques, a method is proposed to not have the mentioned shortcomings. In the proposed method, the watermark is generated by relying on image content and a key. Furthermore, the embedding scheme causes the watermarked blocks to become dependent on each other, using a key. In the embedding phase, the image is partitioned into non-overlapping blocks. In order to detect and separate the different types of attacks more precisely, the proposed method embeds three copies of each watermark bit into LWT coefficients of each 4×4 block. In the authentication phase, by voting between the extracted bits the error maps are created; these maps indicate image authenticity and reveal the modified regions. Also, in order to automate the authentication, the images are classified into four categories using seven features. Classification accuracy in the experiments is 97.97 percent. It is noted that our experiments demonstrate that the proposed method is robust against JPEG compression and is competitive with a state-of-the-art semi-fragile watermarking method, in terms of robustness and semi-fragility.


It introduced an assembled hot-film probe applied in measuring the velocity of gas flow,which was based on the principle of heat transfer.A large number of tests on the temperature characteristics of the hot-film probe and experimental research on the temperature compensation performance have been carried out.The results of the experiments on measuring the velocity of gas flow using this probe have been gained,and the results proved that it is sensitive to measure the low velocity of gas flow using this assembled hot-film probe,which offsets the problem that pitot tube has high errors in measuring low velocity.


We introduce a nonconvex Mean Field Games system by studying a model with a large number of identical pairs of players who are all rational, and each pair plays an identical zero-sum differential game. We study existence and uniqueness of solutions for a simple system in this context.


b s t r a c t This paper presents the E _-C _ommerce through W _ ireless dE _vices (E-CWE) project that uses software agents in the design and development of an m-commerce environment. Users of the E-CWE environment are able to use their wireless devices, such as mobile phones, to undertake e-commerce transactions. Conducting these transactions raises new issues that vary from the limited bandwidth of networks to the small size of screens. To support such users, software agents act on their behalf. For instance, the agents search for the products, negotiate with providers, and last but not least keep users informed about their progress. The operations that these agents carry out constitute itineraries. A technique to specify itineraries in the E-CWE environment is also discussed in this paper. interests are related to software agents, wireless systems and mobile services. He received his MSc and PhD in computer sciences from Laval University in Quebec, Canada in 1995 and 1998 respectively.


Since its first demonstration, stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy has become a powerful chemical imaging tool that shows promise in numerous biological and biomedical applications. The spectroscopic capability of SRS enables identification and tracking of specific molecules or classes of molecules, often without labeling. SRS microscopy also has the hallmark advantage of signal strength that is directly proportional to molecular concentration, allowing for in situ quantitative analysis of chemical composition of heterogeneous samples with submicron spatial resolution and subminute temporal resolution. However, it is important to recognize that quantification through SRS microscopy requires assumptions regarding both system and sample. Such assumptions are often taken axiomatically, which may lead to erroneous conclusions without proper validation. In this review, we focus on the tacitly accepted, yet complex, quantitative aspect of SRS microscopy. We discuss the various approaches to quantitative analysis, examples of such approaches, challenges in different systems, and potential solutions. Through our examination of published literature, we conclude that a scrupulous approach to experimental design can further expand the powerful and incisive quantitative capabilities of SRS microscopy. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Analytical Chemistry Volume 15 is June 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


Abstract : It has been about 20 years since the first papers in A.I. appeared. In this period, A.I. research has produced many interesting ideas of which list processing is probably the most widely used. Other results of A.I. research include chess programs, etc. Progress has been slower than some people predicted. Therefore, there has developed a body of literature which claims that A.I. effort is misguided. In this paper I will reply to three prominent critics of A.I., Dreyfus, Weizenbaum, nd Lighthill. (Author)


ABSTRACT Eucalyptus wood from adult trees is used for several purposes; however, the wood of younger trees has limited use. This study aims to characterize and propose uses of two-year-old eucalyptus wood. Six two-year-old Eucalyptus grandis × Eucalyptus urophylla clones have been selected and their anatomical, ultrastructural, physical and mechanical wood characteristics evaluated. The wood of Clone A shows more robust fibers with better microfibril arrangement, resulting in better mechanical properties, and therefore, a better performance for structural use. Clone F showed a low variation of wood basic density in the radial direction, facilitating its machinability, and with the Clone B, showed a lower anisotropy, and therefore, the wood is recommended for locations with high variations of humidity. The heterogeneity of the wood characteristics of the evaluated clones confirms the need for further studies, to choose those most adequate to each use.


In this study, it is considered the problem of identifying the Boolean multiplex network. First and foremost, it includes all types of data collections which are obtained from practical problems. Moreover, a Boolean multiplex identification method is obtained based on the semi-tensor product and motivated by the identification algorithm of one-layer Boolean network. Finally, the proposed method is applied to identify the relationship between cell tissues of breast cancer patients by analyzing data.


The treaty of Lisbon introduced several significant institutional changes to the EU. The main research question of this thesis is therefore the following: How has the institutional changes in the treaty of Lisbon affected how the EU debates norms and what norms the EU refers to?
In order to approach the research problem this thesis uses a comparative case study design which looks at how the EU debate and refer to norms before and after the adoption of the treaty of Lisbon. The method used is a form of qualitative content analysis which analyses the transcripts of speeches made by the EU in the UN.
The results of this thesis are that we cannot observe any clear changes in how norms are referred to and discussed in the UN. This suggests that changes in formal institutions do not affect how actors debate and refer to norms. We should also not expect to see any changes in the immediate time period.


Summary Most patients with DiGeorge syndrome require surgery to their heart defect during infancy and are at risk of developing transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease if non-irradiated blood is used perioperatively. Because of its wide clinical variability, DiGeorge syndrome may not be recognized before surgery and thus a high level of vigilance is required. An infant is described who developed fatal graft-versus-host disease after receiving non-irradiated blood components during surgery for classical tetralogy of Fallot; the postoperative clinical course and autopsy findings were consistent with underlying DiGeorge syndrome. An informal survey of the 18 pediatric cardiology units in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland showed no consensus as to which patients should be screened for DiGeorge syndrome, which screening test to use and to whom irradiated blood components should or should not be given to prevent transfusion associated graft-versus-host disease. Assessment of T-cell numbers appears to be the preferred screening method to determine those who might benefit from receiving such therapy.


The complex physics and particle dynamics surrounding droplet and aerosol dispersion, as well as the limited evidence on infectious dose and virus viability within expelled particles, make it difficult to confidently quantify SARS-CoV-2 exposure risk based on distance. This evidence brief highlights specific literature on expelled droplet and aerosol particle dispersion distance published up to June 22, 2020.


Geldanamycin (1) had been isolated as a major compound from Streptomyces zerumbet W14; an endophyte of Zingiber zerumbet (L.) Smith. Two new geldanamycin derivatives; 17-(tryptamine)-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (2) and 17-(5'-methoxytryptamine)-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (3) were synthe- sized and their anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated in LPS-induced macrophage RAW 264.7 cells by investigating their effects on the inhibition of production of NO, PGE2, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-10. The data obtained were consistent with the modulation of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10 production by these derivatives at concentration of 1 to 5 μg/ml. A similar effect was also observed when LPS-induced NO release and PGE2 production were tested. The inhibitory effects were shown in concentration-dependent manners. From the obtained results, it was concluded that two new gelda- namycin derivatives possess anti-inflammatory activity on LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells. They could be useful for the management of inflammatory diseases.


Online travel forums have become an extremely popular platform for sharing travel information, with a large number of reviews being posted daily. Travel websites such as TripAdvisor and Booking.com have turned into very important resources for hotel operators and
travellers alike, for promoting hotel rooms, choosing hotels as well as for soliciting and sharing feedback. Criticisms, compliments, dissensions, etc., are now accessible anytime and anywhere on the web, and can be readily amassed, while opinion mining techniques have
developed rapidly. Together they provide the opportunity and capability to analyse and deduce factors that influence travellers in their choice of hotels. In this paper, we apply opinion mining on data collected from Tripadvisor websites. In total, 11,130 reviews on 4 hotels within the four-star and five-star categories in Kuala Lumpur are crawled, collected, and mined to identify the top-k most predominant information based on the most frequent and most related terms used in describing each of the chosen hotels. The results of this study would allow travellers to see the opinions of other travellers on these hotels, and hotel operators would be able to receive feedback to improve their services and in turn promote their hotels. This study is also carried out in view of future improvements in the techniques used and the analysis performed.


The resistance of present-day thermal barrier coatings to combustion gases found in electric utility turbines was assessed. The plasma sprayed coatings, both duplex and graded types, were primarily zirconia-based, although a calcium silicate was also evaluated. Both atmospheric burner rig tests and high pressure tests (135 psig) showed that several present-day thermal barrier coatings have a high potential for service in gas turbines burning the relatively clean GT No. 2 fuel. However, coating improvements are needed for use in turbines burning lower grade fuel such as residual oil. The duplex ZrO2.8Y2O3/NiCrA1Y coating was ranked highest and selected for near-term field testing, with Ca2SiO4/NiCrA1Y ranked second. Graded coatings show potential for corrosive turbine operating conditions and warrant further development. The coating degradation mechanisms for each coating system subjected to the various environmental conditions are also described.


in this aspect of the subject on the part of the members of the subcommittee, and indeed it is probably implicit in certain phrases, particularly the term "child health". However, an explicit reference to it would round off what is otherwise an admirable short statement. We hope that the recommendations will claim the attention of all who are responsible for determining the place of prediatrics in medical curricula in this country, and that they will lay


The architectural peculiarities of the Bent pyramid built by Snefru at South Dahshur are the subject of two currents of interpretation. The first one consists of seeing the symbolic and deliberate expression of a duality in the design, and the second one, modifications due to structural problems that occurred during the construction work. This article reviews the archaeological situation by bringing unpublished and additional observations into the discussion. Some details that have been unnoticed by commentators so far, as well as a structural pathology of the building, lead to confirmation that the builders changed their project several times, but also reveal the reasons for these changes. A complete revision of the history of the monument is then suggested as a conclusion. ENiM – Une revue d'égyptologie sur internet. http://recherche.univ-montp3.fr/egyptologie/enim/


To maintain the integrity of communication services and to protect the associated equipment, facilities and personnel, unique engineering considerations must be given to reducing unwanted potentials which might otherwise exist on a communication line in a power station environment. These potentials could be introduced on the network from Ground Potential Rise which can be caused by power fault conditions, induction, and lightning. Consequently, the electrical protection aspect becomes accentuated where reliable service is to be provided. Good reduction of Ground Potential Rise has been achieved by use of either Neutralizing or Isolating Transformers, or a combination of both. Neutralizing Transformers are connected in series with the communication line. Any potential difference impressed on the primary of the Neutralizing Transformer will induce on the secondaries, voltages in the opposite direction, and in this way, any potential rise appearing on the communication line is prevented; whereas the Isolating Transformer is in parallel with the line and isolates Ground Potential Rise. The main disadvantages in the use of Neutralizing Transformers for electrical protection lie with cost, bulk, and core saturation; while DC continuity is not available through Isolating Transformers. The new method presented here employs a "Relay Isolating Transformer" which has the same principle of operation as the Isolating Transformer, but, in addition, provides equivalent DC continuity through a relaying arrangement. Relay Isolating Transformers will maintain undistorted communication service into power stations during power fault conditions. The economical aspects are discussed; and a comparison is made between the costs of protection using the Neutralizing Transformer vs the costs of protection using the Relay Isolating Transformer.


Metformin is the preferred initial pharmacologic agent for the treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Although considered safe, it carries a potential life‐threatening risk of lactic acidosis. Metformin‐associated lactic acidosis is believed to be a consequence of metformin inhibition of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, and has a mortality ranging between 10–50%. However, its outcome is better than lactic acidosis of other cause with similarly severe acid‐base imbalance.


The Yuppie drama created by Fang Fang etc. is a type of chamber dramas adapted from contemporary classic novels,which not only inherits the unique "elegance"of literariness in novels but convey the mass with the soul comfort in the form of openness and interactiveness. In terms of artistic styles of the Yuppie drama,it takes on the three characteristics: classic and popularizing,profound and soothing,and open and interactive,which is to prove that the contemporary culture goes to the stage of diversification-driven growth from its preliminary interpenetration among different cultures.


Nowadays, children do not have enough time in physical activity at schools. Educators and parents should be aware of this need that creative dance is the key provide children an appropriate way to exercise. On the other hand, children can express themselves freely and naturally through creative dance, which also improves children's health and increase their creative thinking. A person's body is the most important property to a person. They also learn to appreciate the beauty of dance and life. Allowing children to have the opportunity to learn creative dance may improve their creativity. Most children love to leap and jump. Through dance, children may have better self-expression and have better understanding.


ABSTRACT Questions about how to plan and govern for future urban mobility are reaching a critical point as Australian cities are faced with disruption to transport and urban systems arising from new forms of shared mobility services and the rise of autonomous vehicles. An industry engagement workshop, drawing on the insights of participants from public and private sectors of the industry, articulated a large array of complex and interrelated questions highlighting the uncertainty and scarcity of knowledge. These questions are grouped into three key themes concerning how implementation may take place, what the impacts of the uptake of these emerging transport technologies may be and how to understand them. The resultant research agenda is vast and one of multi-complexity by space, time and institutionally.


If, as the Italian adage claims, traduttore traditore, translators might want to conceal their treachery. The owner's manual to a Toyota Prius or a Toshiba laptop does not identify the persons responsible for transposing turgid Japanese into turgid English. Even when title pages disclose the name of the translator, many translations aspire to invisibility, trying to lull readers into believing they are turning pages of the original text. Not so Translation is a Love Affair, whose very title puts the process of switching languages into question. Itself a translation of Jacques Poulin's 2006 novel La traduction est une histoire d'amour, it is a tender allegory about the relationship between a Quebecois author and the woman who translates him into English. Early in his career, Poulin, a leading French Canadian novelist, worked as a commercial translator, and he offers a translator, a free-spirited young woman named Marine as narrator of this, his eleventh novel. (His twelfth, not yet published in English, also sports a title that announces language as a theme; L'Anglaise n'est pas une langue magique (2009) translates as English is Not a Magical Language). The ventriloquism of using a woman's voice to tell the story is yet another instance of Poulin in translation. While studying translation at the University of Geneva, Marine acquired a copy of a novel written by a fellow Canadian publishing under the nom de plume Jack Waterman (who also happens to be a character in Poulin's best-known novel, Volkswagen Blues [1984]). Because it is about the Oregon Trail, which she had visited while hitchhiking alone across the US, Marine was especially drawn to the book and longed to translate it into English. When she returns to her native Quebec, Marine encounters Waterman in what Hollywood would call "meet cute." Standing before the graves of her mother, sister, and grandmother, she encounters an older man reading Ernest Hemingway on a cemetery bench. It is of course Waterman, and Marine, convinced that "If there was a way to get close to someone in this life—of which I was not certain—it might be through translation," elicits Waterman's permission to translate his Oregon Trail novel into English. He even sets her up to work in an idyllic chalet on Île d'Orléans, while he labors over les mots justes in the tower he inhabits in nearby Quebec City.


Activity and cytochrome P-450 (CYP) 2C9, specimen for evaluating the possibility of inducing inhibiting or CYP2C9 expressing CYP2C9 activity, describes a radiometric assay rapid and sensitive. Incubation, the stage of product separation and assays involving radioactive counts are all preferably carried out at a multi-well format, which can be automated.


An experimental study of nearly isothermal rarefied gas flow near the sudden contraction junction of a tube is presented in this paper. The measurements are performed with nitrogen gas flowing at low pressures in conventional tubes with sudden contraction area ratios of 1.48, 3.74, 12.43, and 64. The flow is dynamically similar to gas flow in a microchannel as the Knudsen number (0.0001 < Kn < 0.032) falls in the slip flow regime. The Reynolds number in the smaller section (Res) ranges between 0.2 and 837. The static pressure measurements are analyzed to understand the flow behavior. The static pressure variation along the wall and uniform radial pressure profile near the junction indicates absence of flow separation and vena contracta. The static pressure variation in both the tubes approaches the pressure variation as that of an isolated straight tube at a certain critical Knudsen number for a given area ratio. The velocity field is obtained through a momentum balance and using the flow measurements. Th...


The paper deals with increasing the precision by electrodischarge machining, aided by ultrasonic longitudinal vibration of the electrode tool. Increasing the dimensional precision of machined surfaces is strongly related to the decrease of volumetric relative wear. This essential parameter of electrodischarge machining depends on several input parameters, which are described in detail. Several optimization conditions, concer ning the technological input parameters, are elaborated, aiming at the maximization of the dimensional precision through volumetric relative wear. These conditions address overall parameters as acoustic pressure, discharge energy level and power supply of the ultrasonic chain. Several technological solutions are elaborated like the synchronization of pulses with tool oscillation semiperiods, decreasing the supply power of the acoustic chain and working with frontal flat surfaces of electrodes by generating complex surfaces through 3D technological movements provided by CNC machines. All these can lead to up to 50% decrease of volumetric relative wear.


With increasing use of information and communication technologies in education, students entering university need a basic level of computer proficiency to be able to access course material and complete assignments. At the University of Cape Town (UCT), all new first-year students are required to write an online computer skills test, so that those who lack the necessary skills can be identified and provided with basic training. This paper analyses the results of the computer skills assessments written by 4169 first-year students during orientation 2009. We conclude that there is a definite need to provide computer training for new university students, and that African students are most at risk of being disadvantaged by their lack of prior skills.


Hepatoma-derived growth factor (HDGF) recognizes cell surface heparan sulfate to promote its internalization though binding to its N-terminal HATH (homologous to amino terminus of HDGF) domain. HDGF-related proteins (HRPs) all have the HATH domain in their N terminus. In this study, we report on the commonality of heparin binding in all HRPs with a broad range of heparin-binding affinity: HRP-4 is the strongest binder, and the lens epithelium-derived growth factor shows a relatively weak binding, with binding affinities (K(D)) showing 30-fold difference in magnitude. With the HDGF HATH domain used as a model, residue K19 was the most critical basic residue in molecular recognition and protein internalization, and with its proximal proline-tryptophan-tryptophan-proline motif, coordinated a conformational change when binding to the heparin fragment. Other basic residues, K21, K61, K70, K72 and R79, confer added contribution in binding that the total ionic interaction from these residues represents more than 70% of the binding energy. Because the positive-charged residues are conserved in all HRP HATH domains, heparin binding outside of cells might be of equal importance for all HRPs in mediating downstream signaling; however, distinct effects and/or distribution might be associated with the varying affinities to heparin.


Assessment and referral of spinal disease in a primary care setting is a challenge for the general practitioner. This has led to establishment of spinal assessment clinic to insure prompt access to the patient who requires treatment by a spinal surgeon. These clinics are run by a trained physiotherapist who liaises with a member of the spinal team and decides the need for referral to the spinal clinic on the bases of the patient's history and clinical examination. In our clinic each patient is also assessed with Oswestry disability index, Short form-36, visual analogue score and hospital anxiety score (HADS), although these scores do not contribute to the clinical decision-making. The aim of this study is to assess the screening value of Oswestry disability score, Short form-36 scores in diagnosing acute spinal pathology. Sixty-nine patients who were referred to the spine clinic from the assessment clinic between March and December 2001 were recruited. Sixty-nine age and sex-matched patients were randomly chosen from five hundred and twelve patients who were seen in the spinal assessment clinic and did not need referral to the specialised spine clinic. The Oswestry disability score, Short form-36 scores and pain visual analogue scores between the two groups were statistically compared. The correlation between the level of psychological morbidity, length of symptoms and presence of past history of symptoms against the level of disability was statistically assessed. Although there was a significant increase in the level of disability in the referred group with each score (Oswestry Disability Score P


BrMedJ 1990;301:1446-8 "If it's significant it hits you in the eye; if it doesn't it isn't." This was spoken by a distinguished surgeon and has cheered up multitudes of hard working clinicians, suggesting to them that they need not after all under? stand the intricacies of statistical language. But they ought to know about the basic techniques for unless they do the danger is that they will just give the statisticians their data and be unable to take part in any discussions.


We have examined the ability of fertilized eggs of Ilyanassa obsoleta to form polar lobe constrictions and undergo cytokinesis in the presence of several local anesthetics and compared these effect...


This paper presents design and implementation of a real-time monitoring and troubleshooting system using Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) technology operating based on LoRa protocol. The main focus in this study was given to applications in industry, where most of the machinery are conventional and do not support modern digital data communication technologies common for factory networking. The general procedure and the details of implementation are presented through a prototype implementation performed on production machines of a food-processing plant. Proposed system consists of LoRA-based wireless motes that record the variations in operating temperature and vibrations on production machines through sensors and, wirelessly report summary data in real-time to a developed monitoring software interface for system diagnostics, troubleshooting and preventative maintenance.


The technological dimension formula is using Mathematical Analysis to describe the process route,it possesses many features,operating simply,optimizing easily and so on.This paper used the technological dimension formulas to optimization process technological scheme,Write technology dimension formula according to the known process route.Get the processing routes enabling some high precision target sizes easy to assure by changing the letter combinations and sequence of technology dimension formula.


The article analyzes the most spread offenses committed by citizens of Mongolia on the territory of the Siberian Federal District. Basing on the criminological characteristic of crimes the authors propose a series of measures on their prevention.


Final report submitted on July 13, 2012 by the NMRT Networking Director reporting on the involvement with the committees under her charge, projections for the future of NMRT and recommendations for the successor to this office


This paper describes the mobile object and conveyance architectures supporting the new service in a notional, net-centric SWIM (system-wide information management) environment, the many benefits and uses of Sensis SPM (surveillance performance monitor) data, and provide the development efforts required by other NAS (National Airspace System) system providers to link to this service or to develop a similar SWIM service with Topia mobile objects


Increased variability in lake and river water levels associated with changing climate, could impact the fate and effects of metals in redox sensitive sediments through the alteration of microbial communities, acid-base and redox chemistry. The objective of this study is to determine the influence of water level variability on metal speciation in pore water and predict environmental risk to high carbonate systems. Using experimental microcosms with sediments collected from four metal contaminated coastal freshwater wetlands in Michigan, we conducted water level variability experiments. Porewater and sediment metals (Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Zn) and important metal binding phases (iron-oxide speciation, acid-volatile sulfide) were quantified. In a short-term drying (seiche) experiment, there were decreases in all porewater metals upon inundation of saturated sediments. During a drought experiment, re-inundation of oxidized sediments increased porewater Cu, Zn, Mg, Ca for most sites. Porewater Zn increased upon inundation to levels exceeding the USEPA threshold for chronic toxicity. These data show the dissolution of metal carbonates and metal sulfates contributes to metal release after reflooding. These data show we may expect increased ecological risk to organisms present in drought sensitive regions where altered hydroperiods are likely to increase metal bioavailability.


Abstract The stability of cylindrically symmetrical line disclinations is examined by continum theory calculations and topological arguments, to show that these singularities can almost always be replaced by a continuous structure of lower energy. The calculations are applied to the four basic types of index ± 2 structures. Experimental observations are presented to support the proposed continuous structures as seen in cylindrical samples, and in the classical structures a fils and a noyaux.


Keywords: complement of graph ; subgraph ; minimum degree Note: Professor Pach's number: [019] Reference DCG-ARTICLE-1983-001doi:10.1002/jgt.3190070117 Record created on 2008-11-14, modified on 2017-05-12


Abstract.  1. A recent study comparing adult and exuvial odonate richness concluded that adult surveys overestimate the number of species reproducing successfully. The authors called this phenomenon the "dragonfly delusion" and recommended that only exuviae be used for biomonitoring and habitat quality assessment. However, they drew this conclusion from limited surveys and detection‐naïve analysis and failed to acknowledge that exuvial richness is typically biased low.


Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 19606T, which is often used in genetic studies as a routine model microorganism, belongs to sequence type 52 (ST52), showing beta-lactam resistance. We present the complete 3.996-Mbp genome sequence (1 chromosome plus 2 plasmids), generated by combining long-read (MinION) and short-read (MiniSeq) sequencing data. ABSTRACT Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 19606T, which is often used in genetic studies as a routine model microorganism, belongs to sequence type 52 (ST52), showing beta-lactam resistance. We present the complete 3.996-Mbp genome sequence (1 chromosome plus 2 plasmids), generated by combining long-read (MinION) and short-read (MiniSeq) sequencing data.


Gay, lesbian, and bisexual (LGB) populations are more likely to suffer from a specific kind of stress related to stigmatization. Therefore, LGB people are at increased risk of developing depression and anxiety disorders. This paper intends to illustrate the clinical approach with a 33 year-old single gay man, HIV+, college student, living in Rio de Janeiro. The client looked for therapy in an attempt to reveal his homosexuality to others. For evaluation and intervention purposes, the following instruments were utilized: initial interview; Beck Depression Inventory (BDI); Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). There were offered 25 weekly sessions, including initial evaluation, intervention and feedback sessions, as well as strategies like record of dysfunctional thoughts, cognitive restructuring, problem solving, role playing and increasing of familiar and social support. Results showed the client presented significative decrease of self-hatred (as well as more self-worth) and less use of hypervigilance and avoidance strategies. Besides, dysfunctional beliefs were weakened as new, more functional beliefs were developed. The client also adopted a healthier life style and revealed his sexuality to different social contexts. In conclusion, CBT claims positive impact on the client's process of self acceptance towards his sexuality.


S. M. Saperstone and M. Nishihama (6) had showed both continuity and stability of the orbital and limit set maps, K( x) and L( x), where K and L are considered as maps from X to 2 X. The main purpose of this paper is to extend continuity and stability for dynamical systems to general dynamical systems.


Software design is a complex activity. A successful designer requires knowledge and training in specific design techniques combined with practical experience. Designing a dimensional model for a data warehouse embodies this challenge. This research presents Dimensional Design Patterns (DDPs) and their application to the design of dimensional models. We describe a metamodel of the DDPs and show their integration into Kimball's dimensional modeling design process so they can be applied to design problems using a known practice. By providing a metamodel and a method for DDP use, we combine theory and a practical design technique with the goal of increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the software designer. The experimental results regarding the classroom use of DDPs revealed an increase in the correctness by 25% and the efficiency by 9% of students when designing a dimensional model. The DDPs are an effective method for the teaching and designing of a dimensional model. The next phase of research will apply the DDPs to dimensional models in an industry setting.


In 1963, before the slightest ripple even hinted at the possibility for a 'second wave" of feminism, Betty Friedan declared that American women lost themselves in the "feminine mystique" at least in part because of their ignorance of their past. To remedy this defect, she recommended Eleanor Flexnor's Century of Struggle, calling it the 'definitive history of the woman's rights movement in the United States." "In my opinion," she continued, "it should be required reading for every girl admitted to a U.S. college."' Today, a scholarly and linguistic generation later, Century of Struggle is required reading for students in women's history and women's studies classes throughout North America and abroad. Academics and activists who cut their feminist teeth on this landmark volume now offer it for the nourishment of their intellectual progeny. Proof of its ongoing popularity can be found in its publishing history: a paperback of the original 1959 edition appeared in 1968, and a slightly revised edition was issued in 1975. It has become the classic and essential text on the "first wave" of American feminism, the nineteenthcentury woman's rights movement. The enduring popularity of Century of Struggle derives from both its simple elegance and its scholarly reliability. In form it is a straightforward, wellcrafted, brisk narrative. After a summary chapter on women's lives, work, and legal rights in the colonial period, the first major section of the book details the emergence of a self-defined woman's rights movement in the years before the Civil War. Flexner stressed the emergence of gender consciousness from efforts made by women to organize themselves. Accutely aware of the significance of race, class, and place of residence in the lives and attitudes of antebellum American women, she carefully noted not only the efforts of women reformers, particularly within the antislavery movement, to claim for themselves the rights to speak and act but also the achievements of women workers fighting for better conditions of employment in the textile factories of early New England, and of black women seeking to elevate both their race and their sex. The middle third of the volume illuminates the late nineteenth century, charting the ebb and flow of efforts to broaden women's opportunities in education, trade unions, clubs, and, of course politics. Flexner details


The Asian chestnut gall wasp (ACGW) is one of the most important pests
 threatening most Castanea species. The best management strategy against this
 pest can be establishing new orchards with resistant cultivars along with
 biocontrol (parasitoid Torymus sinensis Kamijo (Hymenoptera: Torymidae)). In
 Turkey, ACGW was first detected in 2014 at Gac?k village of Yalova province.
 Bursa, ?stanbul, Sakarya, Kocaeli, Bal?kesir, Bilecik, D?zce, Giresun,
 Bart?n, Zonguldak, Sinop and ?zmir provinces are also infected with ACGW.
 This study was carried out to determine the levels of susceptibility of
 chestnut cultivars/genotypes to ACGW. The study was carried out in Yalova
 province between 2016 and 2018. In total, 15 cultivars/genotypes were
 involved in the study, including European (C. sativa) chestnuts (Albayrak,
 Alt?nay, ?Erfelek?, ?Osmano?lu?, Sal?pazar?, ?Serdar?, ??nal?),
 interspecific hybrids (?Marigoule? and BDB-L) and complex hybrids (?Aky?z?,
 ?Macit 55?, ?Ali Nihat?, A9, A55, A56) were tested in the study. In April
 2016, five- to seven-year-old seedlings were ?bark? grafted, and
 susceptibility to the ACGW was evaluated by recording the ratio of infected
 buds (%), visual assessment of the damage (severity), and calculations of an
 infestation index. Among the cultivars and genotypes tested in the study,
 the ?Aky?z? cultivar was determined to exhibit the highest resistance
 against the ACGW. To fully understand the resistance mechanism of the
 ?Aky?z? cultivar, molecular and biochemical studies should be done and
 compared with other results.


Television's confrontational reporting practices have made media training necessary for administrators and public officials. With practice, participants can learn to control unnecessary anxiety and appear more credible in media interview situations. Personnel and public relations coordinators can develop in-house media experiences, or choose among external vendors of media training.


RSS (really simple syndication, rich site summary or RDF site summary) is a dialect of
XML that provides a method of syndicating on-line content, where postings consist of
frequently updated news items, blog entries and multimedia. RSS feeds, produced by
organisations or individuals, are often aggregated, and delivered to users for consumption
via readers. The semi-structured format of RSS also allows the delivery/exchange of
machine-readable content between different platforms and systems.
Articles on web pages frequently include icons that represent social media services
which facilitate social data. Amongst these, RSS feeds deliver data which is typically
presented in the journalistic style of headline, story and snapshot(s). Consequently, applications
and academic research have employed RSS on this basis. Therefore, within the
context of social media, the question arises: can the social function, i.e. utility, of RSS be
enhanced by producing from it data which is actionable and effective?
This thesis is based upon the hypothesis that the
fluctuations in the keyword frequencies
present in RSS can be mined to produce actionable and effective data, to enhance
the technology's social utility. To this end, we present a series of laboratory-based case
studies which demonstrate two novel and logically consistent RSS-mining paradigms. Our first paradigm allows users to define mining rules to mine data from feeds. The second
paradigm employs a semi-automated classification of feeds and correlates this with sentiment.
We visualise the outputs produced by the case studies for these paradigms, where
they can benefit users in real-world scenarios, varying from statistics and trend analysis
to mining financial and sporting data.
The contributions of this thesis to web engineering and text mining are the demonstration
of the proof of concept of our paradigms, through the integration of an array of
open-source, third-party products into a coherent and innovative, alpha-version prototype
software implemented in a Java JSP/servlet-based web application architecture.


One of the state-of-the art techniques of Cloud Computing is the type of distributed computing system and derives its features. It has been unanimously used by all the organizations as its yields enormous benefits and its features. The scalability and heterogeneity features make the Cloud most suitable for computing scientific workflow tasks as the workflow comprises thousands of tasks and deals with huge amount of data. Many scheduling algorithms have been proposed using different methods to compute the workflow tasks in cloud with different objectives such as minimal makespan, minimal cost, maximal resource utilization etc. In spite of that this paper proposes an algorithm namely Improved Workflow Scheduling using ACO (IWSACO) with variance in WFSACO (WorkFlow Scheduling using Ant Colony Optimization) using one of the swarm intelligence techniques of ACO to obtain better performance.


In a Nebraska VA hospital, a patient with a tracheostomy was unable to communicate or breathe after accidental disconnection from the ventilator. A nurse had switched the alarm off to suction the patient, and failed to turn it back on. The patient died. In another hospital's CCU, a ventilator-dependent patient became disconnected. Apparently the alarm had been turned off, and the disconnection went unnoticed until the patient's cardiac monitor alarm signaled an arrest. Resuscitation attempts failed. Ten days later, a similar incident occurred in the same hospital, where it is reported that standards of nursing care are high, staffing is excellent, and "respiratory care is above average." In an ICU, a patient on a rotating bed became disconnected from the ventilator. The alarm sounded but was mistaken for the alarm indicating detachment of the ECG leads (a frequent problem for this patient). In the confusion, the separation of the adapter from the connector was not detected. Staffing was adequate, but the patient had been screened off because of the rotating bed. The motion of the tubing from the bed's rotation was found to be the cause of disconnection. The patient died as a result of this incident. These cases represent a small sample of the data collected for the Food and Drug Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in an attempt to better define the problem of accidental disconnections from breathing systems. FDA contracted Arthur D. Little, Inc. (ADL) to study the nature, frequency, and severity of disconnections and to recommend solutions. To that end, the firm compiled and analyzed the medical and scientific literature, characteristics of breathing system components, standards relevant to the disconnection issue, FDA correspondence files, insurance liability data, incident reports, correspondence collected by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, and personal interviews with critical care clinicians (nurses, physicians, respiratory therapists) and manufacturers of breathing system components. Findings, outlined in an interim report to FDA, address the following nursing problems: * Disconnections are common in critical care and anesthesia. * A substantial number of preventable injuries and deaths result from disconnections. * Disconnections consume nursing energy and divert attention from other aspects of patient care. * Disconnections occur most frequently at the connection of the tracheal tube to the breathing system, primarily at conical (tapered) fittings. * Many factors-human and mechanical-contribute. * Alarms are fallible. * Clinicians rarely use anti-disconnection mechanisms. * Documentation of disconnections, their causes, and preventive measures is for the most part inadequate. The absolute frequency of accidental disconnections is impossible to determine. Some documentation of serious injuries and fatalities exists; however, most disconnections are considered minor events, rarely recorded in incident reports unless injury, gross human error, and/or equipment failure are also involved. In fact, the critical care clinicians interviewed by ADL admitted that disconnections occur so often as to be considered routine. The clinicians' level of concern was relatively low, because disconnections are usually detected and corrected without incident, and because they consider easy access to the airway a priority. Some clinicians also identified the need for a "circuit breaker" in the system to prevent accidental extubation. The probable underreporting of disconnection-related deaths and injuries Mary Jane Janowski, RN, is an associate editor of the American Journal of Nursing. The following acted as consultants: Diane C. Adler, RN, CCRN, MA, RRT, FAAN, clinical director of critical care nursing, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Susan Zori, RN, CCRN, MA, critical care instructor, Lutheran Medical Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Leon C. Lebowitz, RRT, technical director of respiratory therapy, Lutheran Medical Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.; and George Brdlik, biomedical engineer with the Office of Training and Assistance, National Center for Devices and Radiological Health, FDA, DHHS.


Identifies one reason why proponents of hate-speech regulation encounter resistance -- often, it is the stubborn manner in which we frame the two core values at stake, equal dignity and freedom of speech. Illustrates the shortcomings of judicial balancing as a way of resolving the tensions between these two opposing values. Uses narrative theory to show how society prevents canonical ideas and social structures from undergoing rapid change. Explores routes that reformers may take that may circumvent these obstacles.


THE PROBABILISTIC THINKING OF PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS IN CYPRUS: THE CASE OF TREE DIAGRAMS Iasonas Lamprianou & Thekla Afantiti Lamprianou University of Manchester In this research work we explored the nature of 9-12 year old pupils' responses to probabilistic problems with tree diagrams. It was found that a large percentage of pupils failed to respond correctly even to very simple problems that demanded the identification of 'possible routes/paths' in figures with tree diagrams/mazes. The results also revealed the existence of subjective elements and other errors in pupils' thinking. The data were generated in year 2000 when the new mathematics books were introduced extensively in the primary schools. Comparisons are done by age and gender. The results of the study form a general overview and build the basis for further and more focused research because the relevant literature, especially regarding Cyprus, is very sparse. INTRODUCTION The probabilistic thinking of primary school pupils has been the center of much research during the last decades. One could claim that Piaget and Inhelder (1975) initiated a vast amount of research into pupils' capacity to compare two probabilities. Other researchers followed and studied pupils' probabilistic thinking (Green, 1983; Fischbein & Gazit, 1984; Kapadia & Borovnik, 1991; Canizares, Batareno, Serrano & Ortiz, 1997).


Synopsis--A method is presented for the analysis of some non-ionic surface active agents by gas chromatography. The components of these agents are converted to their volatile trimethyl silyl ether derivatives prior to analysis by reaction with hexamethyldisilazane and trimethylchlorosilane. The volatile derivatives of the surface active agents may then be easily separated by gas chromatography. This procedure has been found to be applicable to a variety of glycol esters and sorbitan esters which are frequently utilized in cosmetic and toiletries formulations. In addition, the method could be utilized to provide information concerning the chemical properties of a surface-active agent. Rapid analysis for mono-ester and di-ester concentrations, free glycol, and fatty acid composition is possible through use of this technique.


Abstract:  Background:  Although cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death after renal transplantation (Tx), predictors for cardiovascular events have not been well defined. Aims of this cross‐sectional study were first to assess cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in stable renal Tx patients, and to identify predictors for cardiovascular events during long‐term follow‐up.


This research presents an experimental and theoretical evaluation of the effect of poly-composition thermal barrier coatings on the performance and emission characteristics of the compression ignition engine. This work investigated the thermal and physical behavior of thermal barrier coating. The thermal barrier coating was coated into two layers, and the thermal plasma spray method was used to make the coating. The first layer is AT13, and the top layer is Yttria-stabilized zirconia. The coated and uncoated pistons were analyzed in the Ansys, and it has shown the temperature distribution of the pistons. The experimental report shows that the brake thermal and volumetric efficiency was increased by 7.52% and 1.06%, brake-specific fuel consumption was reduced up to 18.91%, emission of carbon monoxide was reduced by 50%, and hydrocarbon was reduced by 52.38%.


Students' learning activities cannot be separated from various factors. The purpose of this study was to determine how project citizen model developed students' pro-social awareness. This study was motivated by diminishing pro- social awareness among students. This study was conducted qualitatively by using case study. The results showed that through project citizen model, students' pro-social awareness could develop. Besides, project citizen model could help students think critically about social reality. This study recommended to maximize the use of project citizen as a learning model that could develop various potencies of students.


The present invention relates to an antimicrobial peptide and Vespa preparation method and application, it belongs to the field of biomedical technology. Vespa antimicrobial peptides isolated from Chinese arthropods wasp venom of a single-chain polypeptide, the molecular weight of 1316.6 daltons and an isoelectric point of 8.59, the full polypeptide sequence: NH 2 -IDWKGIAAMAKI-COOH . The preparation method comprises: electrical stimulation wasp venom collected precipitate was removed by centrifugation, after separation and purification to give after exchange chromatography and reverse phase high pressure liquid chromatography by gel filtration column chromatography, ion after lyophilization. Antimicrobial peptides wasps, fungi inhibition of bacteria, viruses and tumor cell growth Qiang Lie activity, and further has the advantage of no hemolytic activity, plasma coagulation activity and the like, can be prepared as a therapeutic agent pathogenic microorganism infections and cancer therapeutic applications of drugs.


This study aimed to show the flotation behavior of a nickel sulfide ore in a cyclonic flotation column. The flotation experiments were carried out using a sample of nickel sulfide ore obtained from a mineral processing plant of China. Representative samples collected from the feed, concentrate, tailing, and circulation middling were sieved using a cyclonic particle analyzer to collect different size fractions for analysis. The function of the column cyclonic zone of was evaluated by comparing the quality of tailing and circulation middling. The flotation results showed that the concentrate with Ni grade of 1.78% and recovery of 65.56% was obtained under given test conditions. The content of main sulfide minerals and coarse particles in the circulation middling was higher than that in the tailing. The results indicated that, unlike conventional cyclone classification, separation achieved in the cyclonic zone of the column was not dependent on the particle size and density. Sulfide minerals with good floatability were easily captured by bubbles and moved toward the center of the column, even if these particles were coarser and heavier.


We present a governmental-academic collaboration that aims at modelling flood impact for both theoretical and forecasted flooding events over all populated river reaches of meridional Quebec. The project, funded by the ministère de la Sécurité publique du Québec (Quebec ministry in charge of public security), consists in developing a diagnostic tool and methods to assess the risk and impacts of flooding. Tools under development are intended to be used primarily by policy makers.


Salivary gland tumours are rare, comprising less than 3 % of all neoplasia of head and neck region. Pleomorphic adenoma is the most common salivary gland tumour, accounts for 60- 80% of benign tumours of salivary glands. Usually they are found as solitary unilateral, firm and mobile, painless, slow growing mass. Management involves surgical resection by superficial or total parotidectomy.


ABSTRACT Objective: This study presents a cost-minimisation analysis of moxifloxacin compared to combination treatment with levofloxacin and ceftriaxone in patients hospitalised with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in Germany. Research design and methods: In the MOTIV study, 738 adult patients with CAP requiring hospitalisation and initial parenteral antibiotic therapy were randomised to sequential IV/oral therapy with either moxifloxacin (n = 368), or levofloxacin and ceftriaxone (n = 365). The primary effectiveness endpoint was the proportion of patients demonstrating clinical improvement 5–7 days after the completion of study treatment. Subgroup analysis considered patients with severe CAP according to pneumonia severity index (PSI) risk class IV and V, microbiologically proven infection, a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and a history of cardiovascular disease. The analysis included the cost of study medication, hospital stay, readmission and inpatient procedures and diagnostics. Event frequency in the study was multiplied by German unit costs to estimate per-patient expenditure. The analysis was conducted from a hospital perspective. Sensitivity analysis investigated the effect of costing from an insurer perspective. Results: No significant difference was found in the percentage of successfully treated patients. Average per patient cost was €2190 for the moxifloxacin group, and €2619 for the levofloxacin + ceftriaxone group (difference –€430, 95% CI: –€138, –€740; p < 0.05). Variability in total costs was wide, with some patients accruing up to €18 000. Medication cost was significantly lower with moxifloxacin than levofloxacin + ceftriaxone (–€470, 95% CI: –€522, –€421), and accounted for between 15 and 30% of total costs. Conclusions: In this analysis of patients hospitalised with CAP in Germany, treatment with moxifloxacin was significantly less costly than treatment with levofloxacin and ceftriaxone.


Despite growing recognition of the critical role of parents in children's early development, parenting education programs and interventions typically have had limited impacts on children's outcomes. To design programs and policies that are more responsive to families' needs and constraints, policymakers need a better understanding of the lived experiences of families. In this article, we argue that qualitative video-ethnographic approaches offer an innovative and useful supplement to policy researchers' usual tool kit. Taking a holistic approach to parent–child interactions and filming families in their natural environments over an extended period provides policy researchers with new data to inform future parenting initiatives. To assist researchers interested in undertaking a video-ethnographic study, we discuss our experiences with the New Jersey Families Study, a 2-week, in-home video study of 21 families with a 2- to 4-year-old child. This is the first time anyone has attempted an in-home naturalistic observation of this breadth, intensity, or duration. We highlight the potential of this method for policy relevance along with its associated challenges.


Next 2018 the University of Salamanca will reach its 8th century anniversary, so we have searched into the celebration of the VII Centenary of its foundation during the academic year 1953-1954 of the last century. Besides of looking into the rituals and ceremonies that were carried out at the moment, our research deepens into the essential meaning of the event. The folders and bundles of the University have documents that have let us do a reconstruction and reflection of the event th took place during the Francoist Dictatorship and in which the Dictator got an Honorary doctorate. However the VII Centenary was also the prelude and the beginning to get some University honours such as the recovery of the delivery of the doctoral degree, the devolution of the precious codex from the old «Hall of residences» or the proposal of getting a special academic system for the University of Salamanca.


Resumen en: Language for Redundant Test (LRT) is a programming language for exact real number compu-tation. Its lazy evaluation mechanism (also called call-by-need) ...


A trail was carried out to investigate the effects of the incorporation of rubber seed meal as sources of plant protein on the performance, feed intake and the carcass of poultry birds from day-old chicks to 12 weeks under traditional system of management. Unsexed 300 Jupiter chickens were randomly divided into 4 groups each of 75 birds. Four diets representing different levels of Rubber Seed Meal (RSM) and Blood Meal (BM):R0 with 0% RSM and 0% BM; R10 with 10% RSM and 8% BM; R20 with 20% RSM and 6% BM and R30 with 30% RSM and 4% BM were fed ad libitum throughout the experimental period. Results showed significant differences between treatments indicating the superiority of the diet supplemented with 30% RSM and 4% BM.


The digital data are transmitted using the Internet. So digital data must be secure, copyright protected, and authenticated at the same time. This paper proposes an algorithm to protect digital data by embedding watermark that is encrypted by DES algorithm. Two level discrete wavelet transformation (DWT) is applied to the original image. This ensure robustness of the proposed scheme. DES encryption to the watermark with a key and iterating operations ensure security of the watermark information. Encryption and decryption key is same for both the process. If we want to extract the watermark image, we must obtain the secret key. The experimental result shows that the watermark is robust against various attacks.


Fluoride has been shown to benefit patients with osteoporosis, but the dosages used (about 50 mg a day) have sometimes caused gastric problems. These investigators studied the effect of a single 20-mg dose of fluoride (given as 20 ml of sodium fluoride) …


Academic degrees in modern universities were conceived during the Middle Ages in Europe. The three degrees in modern universities , i. e, bachelor, master, and doctor had already existed in medieval European universities, They were fixed and standarded gradually with the development of universities. And the whole process to get degrees as we know today matured in medieval European universities. The degrees of medieval European universities has laid the foundation of degree system in modern ones and also reserved the tradition df esteeming knowledge, intellectual and scholarship.


We investigate the potential of a slit grating structure on a silver film embedded in a high index dielectric film, as a Plasmonic optical antenna in infrared region. Using FDTD calculations it is demonstrated that the transmission properties of the structure has strong dependence on the dimension of dielectric film. By tapering the height of output gratings directionality of the emitted beam has been improved. We propose the application of the Plasmonic antenna and examine its performance in axial injection of light from single mode fiber to photonic crystal waveguide.


A single-molecule imaging study reveals that heparan sulfate chains in the pericellular matrix present a structured network of binding sites that controls FGF2 transport.


A detailed understanding of a protein's structure can offer scientists a wealth of information – revealing intricacies about the protein's biological function and suggesting new ideas for drug design. Researchers often rely on x-ray crystallography to determine a protein's structure – bombarding the molecule with x-rays and analyzing the resulting diffraction pattern to piece together its structure. But not all proteins are amenable to this timeconsuming technique, and those that are do not always yield the atomic-level data researchers would like to have.


The MSC/NASTRAN finite element analysis (FEA) code is used in conjunction with the ADAMS mechanical system simulation (MSS) program to simulate the structural behavior of the airframe of a commercial aircraft maneuvered beyond its design limits during a landing. FEA-generated linear elastic structures are subjected to non-linear boundary conditions in the MSS analysis to simulate the initial structural failure of the airframe. The analysis results are compared with crash site evidence and subsequent, independent engineering analysis.


Objective: High glucose-induced apoptosis in vascular endothelial cells contributes to the accel- eration of atherosclerosis associated with diabetes. We hypothesized that -linolenic acid (ALA) might attenuate high glucose-induced apoptosis in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Methods: HUVECs were cultured at 5.5 and 33 mmol/L for 72 h. ALA with different concentra- tions was added with defatted bovine serum albumin as a carrier for 18 h before incubation with high glucose. Results: Exposure of HUVECs to high glucose media for 72 h significantly increased the number of apoptotic cells compared with normal glucose control, as evaluated by flow cytometry and terminal deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end labeling assay. Pretreatment with low concentrations of ALA (10, 50, and 100 mol/L) significantly attenuated high glucose-induced apoptosis of HUVECs, but increasing ALA to 200 mol/L exerted the opposite effect. Furthermore, high glucose reduced phosphorylation of Akt and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) with subsequent nitric oxide production, whereas ALA treatment attenuated the reduction caused by high glucose. Pretreatment with phosphatidylinositol 3=-kinase kinase inhibitor LY294002 and eNOS inhibitor N G -nitro-arginine methyl ester eliminated ALA's antiapoptotic effect. Conclusion: ALA exerts an antiapoptotic effect by the phosphatidylinositol 3=-kinase/Akt/eNOS pathway in HUVECs exposed to high glucose and thus may represent a candidate therapeutic agent for diabetic cardiovascular complications. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.