An experiment was conducted to determine effects of feeding levels on growth performance, feed utilization, nutrient deposition, body composition and apparent digestibility coefficients (ADCs) of nutrients for juvenile Chinese sucker (initial weight, 11.77±0.22 g). Chinese sucker were fed a practical diet from 0% (starvation) to 4.0% (at 0.5% increments) body weight (bw) day−1 for 8 weeks. The results showed that growth performance, feed utilization, nutrient deposition, body composition and ADCs of dry matter, protein and energy were significantly (P 0.05). Feed conversion rate was significantly lower at a feeding level of 2.5% bw day−1 than above and below the level (P 0.05). Protein contents of whole-body composition increased with feeding rate from 0.5 to 3.0% bw day−1 (P 0.05), whereas muscle and liver remained relatively stable with the different ration amount with the exception of fish fed a ration of 0.5% bw day−1, at which Chinese sucker possessed significantly lower body protein concentration (P<0.05). The ADCs of dry matter, protein and energy decreased with increasing feeding levels from 0.5% to 3.0% bw day−1 and then remained relatively constant over the level. Based on the broken-line regression analysis using WG data, the optimum and maintenance feeding levels for Chinese sucker were 3.10% bw day−1 and 0.45% bw day−1 respectively.


Significance Staphylococcal pathogenicity islands (SaPIs) are highly mobile and carry and disseminate superantigen and other virulence genes. Here we report a remarkable example of molecular parasitism in which the SaPIs hijack the packaging machinery of the phages they victimize, using two unrelated and complementary mechanisms. Phage packaging starts with the recognition in the phage DNA of a specific sequence, termed "pac" or "cos" depending on the phage type. The SaPI strategies involve carriage of the helper phage pac- or cos-like sequences in the SaPI genome, which ensures SaPI packaging in full-sized phage particles, depending on the helper phage machinery. These strategies interfere with phage reproduction, which ultimately is a critical advantage for the bacterial population by reducing the number of phage particles. Staphylococcal pathogenicity islands (SaPIs) are the prototypical members of a widespread family of chromosomally located mobile genetic elements that contribute substantially to intra- and interspecies gene transfer, host adaptation, and virulence. The key feature of their mobility is the induction of SaPI excision and replication by certain helper phages and their efficient encapsidation into phage-like infectious particles. Most SaPIs use the headful packaging mechanism and encode small terminase subunit (TerS) homologs that recognize the SaPI-specific pac site and determine SaPI packaging specificity. Several of the known SaPIs do not encode a recognizable TerS homolog but are nevertheless packaged efficiently by helper phages and transferred at high frequencies. In this report, we have characterized one of the non–terS-coding SaPIs, SaPIbov5, and found that it uses two different, undescribed packaging strategies. SaPIbov5 is packaged in full-sized phage-like particles either by typical pac-type helper phages, or by cos-type phages—i.e., it has both pac and cos sites—a configuration that has not hitherto been described for any mobile element, phages included—and uses the two different phage-coded TerSs. To our knowledge, this is the first example of SaPI packaging by a cos phage, and in this, it resembles the P4 plasmid of Escherichia coli. Cos-site packaging in Staphylococcus aureus is additionally unique in that it requires the HNH nuclease, carried only by cos phages, in addition to the large terminase subunit, for cos-site cleavage and melting.


This paper discusses classroom discourse in Tanzanian secondary schools in the light of English as the medium of instruction. There are several factors influencing classroom interaction inTanzania. This paper will be confined to the medium of instruction as the prime factor. Other factors will, however, be highlighted. The use of English as the medium of instruction inTanzaniasecondary school is a barrier to learning and in fostering classroom interaction. The language of instruction barrier contributes to a majority of students being excluded in classroom dialogue. Drawing upon the ideas of various theorists on classroom discourse and learning and from findings of recent studies, it is recommended that the use of a familiar language such as Kiswahili will promote effective teaching and learning and maximize classroom interaction. In addition, the need to improve learning conditions is highlighted so as to achieve the goal of effective classroom interaction. Suggestions are also given for strategies that can be used to promote interactive learning.


In this paper, we present filtering algorithms for simultaneous input and state estimation of linear discrete-time stochastic systems when the unknown inputs are partially known, i.e., when some aggregate information of the unknown inputs is available as linear equality or inequality constraints. The stability and optimality properties of the filters are presented and proven using two complementary perspectives. Specifically, we confirm the intuition that the partial input information improves the performance of the filters when a linear input equality constraint is given. On the other hand, given a linear inequality constraint, we show that the estimate error covariance is decreased but the estimates may be biased.


In view of the actual situation looms over journalism and over the political role of the media, we consider that is necessary make a reflection about the main normative principles in which mass media developed, linking to the democracy progress. In this paper we propose make an approach to the classical principles that encouraged the liberal theory of the mass media. We attend to the culture shift, the ideas in which the freedom of speech and press developed his main inspirators, and we outline the normative principles of the liberal media system. Then we carry out a critical valuation in which we believe that individualism has been one of the main causes of this crisis. To the media, this raises the urgent need for the public that recovers the sense of community.


In 2005, the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Germany submitted a sample of known activity of 222Rn to the International Reference System (SIR). The value of the activity submitted was about 1.1 MBq. This key comparison result joins that of Switzerland in the key comparison database that now contains two results, identifier BIPM.RI(II)-K1.Rn-222. Consequently, the KCRV and the degrees of equivalence have been evaluated. Main text. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by Section II of the Consultative Committee for Ionizing Radiation (CCRI(II)), according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA).


Critical Care Medicine • Volume 46 • Number 1 (Supplement) www.ccmjournal.org Learning Objectives: Most sepsis is present on arrival(POA). We asked:1)Does sepsis developed during hospitalization(NPOA) disproportionately contribute to adverse patient and financial outcomes (and therefore reflect a high-yield improvement target)? 2)What factors sufficiently explain differences? Methods: Secondary analysis of a prospective, consecutive sample sepsis/septic shock cohort at 9 New York hospitals over 1.5 y. Patients were POA vs. NPOA based on whether they first met clinical sepsis criteria before vs. after leaving the ED. Outcomes: overall prevalence, hospital mortality, ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, hospital total direct costs(TDC), and adjusted net revenue(ANR)(i.e., societal costs). We compared fixed vs. variable costs to extricate effects of greater LOS. We also compared time to antibiotics and fluids, fluid volume, and bundle compliance. We adjusted for demographics, infection source, comorbidities, organ dysfunction, and severity factors with logit and linear generalized estimating equations. Random effects controlled for site variation. Cost models corrected for insurer. Multilevel iterative modeling determined if resuscitation practices or case complexity ameliorated outcome differences. Sensitivity analyses modeled case mix index in place of baseline severity. Results: N = 11182 patients. 2509(22%) had sepsis NPOA. NPOA patients contributed 785(35%) of 2241 sepsis-related mortalities, 1762(34%) of 5185 ICU admissions, and 1241(38%) of 3265 mechanical ventilations. Adjusted odds-ratios were > 2.0 (and statistically significant) for all outcomes. Of $235M aggregate TDC, $95M(41%) were attributable to sepsis NPOA. NPOA contributed $123M(35%) of $358M aggregate ANR. Adjusted perencounter TDC and ANR were $10K[CI:$9,679-$10,439] and $9K[CI:$8,436-$9,533] higher for NPOA. All differences persisted when accounting for resuscitation care. Conclusions: NPOA sepsis reflected 22% of prevalence, but > 1-in-3 mortalities, ICU admissions, and mechanical ventilations; 41% of hospital, and 35% of payer, costs. Initial resuscitation, casecomplexity, and LOS do not sufficiently explain this difference.


A dynamic solution is presented for the propagation of waves in an electric-magneto-elastic plate composed of piezoelectric, piezomagnetic materials and elastic matrix. The electric-magneto-elastic plate is polarized along the thickness direction. The generalized displacements are expressed as the sum of the gradient of a scalar (dilatation wave) and the curl of a vector (shear wave). With the help of dynamic equilibrium equations and geometric equations, we can obtain dynamic equations of the dilatation wave and the shear wave. The conclusion that the types of the dilatation waves and the shear waves remain unchanged after being reflected by the boundary can be obtained through the analysis of these kinetic equations. The dispersion properties and phase velocity surface of the dilatation and shear wave can be obtained by solutions of dynamic equilibrium equations. Influences of the piezoelectric and piezomagnetic parameters on wave characteristics are discussed.


How different this seems from the desolate and malaria-ridden country widely portrayed by nineteenthand early twentieth-century visitors in the region, before the modern agricultural revolution changed the face of the landscape. At another time I hope to deal at length with the matter of cultivation in the Emathian plain in antiquity. At present, however, it may be useful to attempt to understand something of the physical condition of this plain, which was the heartland of the Macedonian kingdom. There are two immediate concerns: the incidence of malaria in the region in antiquity, and the topography of the plain itself.


Serum C reactive protein (CRP) remains a good marker of the severity of urinary tract infections in children, despite false negative results. Serum IL-6 is not a better marker; urinary IL-6 might have a better prognostic value as it is higher in patients with renal lesions due to infection, but low values are found in some cases. Serum procalcitonin levels are correlated with the importance of renal scars at scintigraphy, with less than 10% of false negative results. Further studies are needed to confirm the sensitivity and sensibility of these markers, especially for procalcitonin.


A new composite drink was made from bean sprout and bitter melon as the major raw materials. Through single-factor and orthogonal experiments, the optimal formula of the drink was determined as: bean sprout juice∶ bitter melon juice = 5∶1, compounded juice 22%, sugar 10%, citric acid 0.2% and xanthan gum 0.15%. Without layering and astringentness, the drink was featured by brown yellow color, uniform texture, delicate taste as well as the unique flavor of bean sprout and bitter melon.


From the fourteenth century into the sixteenth century, there are numerous tales about the humorous sayings and witty remarks of artists. Generally, those stories convey the notion that above and beyond an artist's oc cupational skills, his verbal wit and sense of humor signal his personal worth. For exam ple, in the last years of the fourteenth centu ry, Franco Sacchetti (c. 1330-1400), in his Trecentonovelle (number 75) told the story of Giotto and some pigs, one of which knocked the artist to the ground. Getting to his feet, Giotto, undaunted by the event, asked, "Are they [i.e., the pigs] not right? For in my day I have earned many thousands of lire with their bristles, and never have I given them even a bowl of broth." Giotto, Sacchetti says, "was not only a great master of painting ... he was also master of the seven liberal arts." Sacchetti goes on to say that Giotto's remark was "held to be appro priate to a philosopher by men who have un


Alongshore sediment transport rate is usually produced by sediment carrying capacity of waves and alongshore current velocities based on energy principle.For general sandy coast with steep slope and narrow wave breaking zone,tidal current in the breaking zone is often ignored since it is much smaller than alongshore current.On the sandy-silty coast,which has gentle slopes,nearshore wave height and breaking depth are large and make relative wide breaking zone during storm surge,while nearshore tidal currents are strong as well.Therefore,calculation of sediment transport rate due to storm surge should consider the combined effects of wave and tidal current along such coast.A formula of composite alongshore sediment transport rate is derived according to physical modele of alongshore current and sediment transport.As a result,the general formula based on energy principle is extended to the calculation of composite alongshore sediment transport with wave-current interaction.The new formula is in good agreement with the results of physical model tests and field observation data.The formula can be conditionally applied to calculating composite alongshore sediment transport rate on the sandy-silty coasts.


Time behaviour of inorganic nitrogen and suspended solids concentrations in surface waters of small water courses is a very variable one in connection with the course of weather (season, precipitation intensity and space-time distribution, the length of the period without precipitation before effective rainfall, atmospheric deposition), soil and hydrogeological characteristics of the catchment, saturation of the soil profile (antecedent moisture / hydrological conditions in the catchment), time and intensity of fertiliser application, biochemical reactions in soil, land use and catchment morphology (Pačes, 1982; Webb and Walling, 1985; Burt et al., 1993; House and Warwick, 1998; Čížek, 2002; Haygarth and Jarvis, 2002; Withers et al., 2002; Doležal and Kvítek, 2004; Christopher et al., 2008; Turgeon et al., 2008). C–q hysteresis (loops) are observed in the case when a substance concentration is different for the same discharge on the rising and on the falling limb of a hydrograph. Meybeck, Chapman, Helmer (1990) describe some typical c-q relationships with the duration period from several hours to several days: (i) general concentration decrease with increasing discharge (dilution) – typical for main ions, more mineralised waters; (ii) confined increase connected to soil particles' washing out (organic solids, N forms) during runoff; (iii) concentration increase with increasing discharge, the concentrations' maximum follows their decrease caused by the dilution of matters' concentration in soil profile; (iv) exponential increase (suspended solids and connected components – metals, pesticides); (v) clockwise loop (suspended solids during floods), maximum concentration precluding maximum discharge; (vi) constant concentration caused by dominant portion of groundwater discharge (e. g. karst areas, water reservoir runoff ). Bond (1979, cit. Butturini et al., 2006) deliver the hypothesis, that hysteresis-course, -rotation and -extend are typical and periodical for each parameter and each catchment. Further explanation of the effect report House and Warwick (1998), Evans et al. (1999) and Rose (2003) when they describe the hysteresis as a result of two (pre-event and event water) or three (surface runoff, sub-surface-soil water, ground water) runoff components mixing; each component with different concentration prevailing in different parts of the event. Evans and Davies (1998, cit. Hornberger et al., 2001; Rose, 2003; Butturini et al., 2006) suggested c-q hysteresis classification on the basis of the hysteresis rotational pattern (clockwise, anticlockwise), curvature (convex, concave) and direction (positive, negative, null). The aim of this study is to investigate, if and how it is possible to characterise and quantify relations among rainfall – runoff (R-R) events and related concentrations (NO3 -, NH4 + and suspended solids) throughout different seasons of the year on the basis of detailed surface water sampling analysis and related discharges measurement, together with the evaluation of the antecedent hydrological (moisture) catchment's conditions. DYNAMICS OF STREAM WATER QUALITY DURING SNOWMELT AND FLASH FLOOD EVENTS IN A SMALL AGRICULTURAL CATCHMENT


Total reflection x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (TXRF) using high flux synchrotron radiation (SR) as the excitation source is a powerful technique for the non-destructive analysis of very small amounts of both metal and low Z elements on silicon wafer surfaces. Several different TXRF experiments were conducted at the plane grating monochromator beamline for undulator radiation of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) at the electron storage ring BESSY II, which provides photon energies between 0.1 keV and 1.9 keV for the specimen excitation. The lower limits of detection of TXRF analysis were investigated for some low Z elements such as C, N, O, Al, Mg and Na in two different detection geometries for various excitation modes. For the sake of an application-oriented TXRF approach, droplet samples on silicon wafer surfaces were prepared by Wacker Siltronic and investigated in the TXRF irradiation chamber of the Atominstitut and the ultra-high vacuum TXRF irradiation chamber of the PTB. In the latter, thin C layer depositions on Si wafers were studied, too.


In January 2012, the Mexican government reported that 47,515 people had been killed in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon took office in 2006. There are roughly 1,200 murders in Mexico each month. Mexican President Felipe Calderon has utilized a holistic approach and has focused on carrying out joint police-military operations to support local authorities and citizens, increasing the operational and technological capacities of the state, such as the federal police, initiating legal and institutional reforms, strengthening crime prevention and social programs, and strengthening international cooperation. These joint police-military operations approved by Calderon have successfully taken down some of the leaders of the major drug trafficking operations either through arrest or death. As a result, a majority of Mexico's most-wanted drug traffickers, 22 out of 37, have been put out of commission. The United States under the Obama administration is committed to many of the tools being advocated in Calderon's holistic approach to combat drug trafficking. The Beyond Merida Initiative, announced in 2010, provides Mexican law enforcement with equipment and extensive training. The United States has also requested extradition and has subsequently prosecuted Mexico's top traffickers utilizing the federal narcotics trafficking statute, Title 21, United States Code, section 959. The question is whether the United States' foreign policies in conjunction with the Mexican government are working and what can be done to improve the United States' efforts in Mexico. This Article specifically explores the United States' Merida Initiative policy and critiques its effectiveness. The Beyond Merida Initiative announced in 2010 revamped the prior 2007 initiatives, and provided more emphasis on additional training rather than equipment or direct financial aid to Mexico. Neither initiative corrects problems endemic to Mexico which limits the possibility of success. Corruption, anti-American resentment, and a drastically different legal system in Mexico hinder our efforts to become an effective ally in Mexico's war on the drug cartels. This article discusses the United States' strategy of extraditing and prosecuting high level Mexican cartel members by utilizing the federal narcotics trafficking statute, Title 21, United States Code, section 959. While these 959 prosecutions have some merit, the devil-behind-the-details reveal that there are weaknesses in these prosecutions, and additional tools need to be adopted before these prosecutions can be fully effective and more regularly utilized. The success Colombia had in the 1990's in combating their drug trafficking cartels is also discussed, and how their success story could translate into enormous benefits for Mexico as Mexico grapples with a similar landscape.


A Disabled person Welfare policy is systematic at a national dimension, and began to be enforced systematically in South Korea. A...


ii ABSTRACT Because few women were permitted to join professional orchestras before World a women's chamber orchestra, performed in New York City between 1933 and 1944 under the direction of conductor and violinist Frédérique Petrides. Over the course of its tenure, the ensemble became known for its unusual concert programs, which often juxtaposed contemporary compositions with more traditional classical repertoire. Using primary source documents from the Frédérique Petrides Papers collection at the New York Public Library and articles from New York newspapers, this thesis presents the ways in which Petrides promoted the members of her ensemble as serious musicians, despite gender bias and the economic difficulties of the Depression. By cultivating working relationships with contemporary composers such as Henry Cowell, David Diamond, and Paul Creston, Petrides gave female musicians a role in the development of American classical music. iii PUBLIC ABSTRACT Because few women were permitted to join professional orchestras before World a women's chamber orchestra, performed in New York City between 1933 and 1944 under the direction of conductor and violinist Frédérique Petrides. Over the course of its tenure, the ensemble became known for its unusual concert programs, which often juxtaposed contemporary compositions with more traditional classical repertoire. Using primary source documents from the Frédérique Petrides Papers collection at the New York Public Library and articles from New York newspapers, this thesis presents the ways in which Petrides promoted the members of her ensemble as serious musicians, despite gender bias and the economic difficulties of the Depression. By cultivating working relationships with contemporary composers such as Henry Cowell, David Diamond, and Paul Creston, Petrides gave female musicians a role in the development of American classical music iv


VIsgr. Paul Hanly Furfey in 1940 proposed a "supernatural sociology". Since sociology s the study of human society, and since the understanding of human society cannot be adequately achieved on the basis of statistical analyzes alone, Furfey points out :he need for knowing about the nature of man and the purpose of his existence to understand a society. Through divine revelation we learn about sin and hell, justice md charity, grace and love. This broad definition of sociology seems due for a rebirth It a time when similar broad definitions of sociology are defended by feminists and Homosexual and black liberationist sociologists.


Celiac disease stands out as a major health problem with a frequent association with many other disorders. Studies show an increased risk of developing pancreatitis and after that pancreatic cancer in patients with celiac disease. A frequent occurrence and a remarkably close association with the HLA-DQ2 and/or DQ8 gene loci represent main genetic characteristic of celiac disease. A particular association was found with chromosome 15q26 and 6q21-22. On the other hand pancreatic tumors are known for associations with CTNNB1, VHL, CDKN2A, KRAS, TP53, RNF43, SMAD4, GNAS, PRSS1, ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, STK11 and hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer syndrome genes. Recent genetic mapping suggests that a large field of opportunities exists for better understanding of both diseases.


Metastable transfer emission spectronmetry (MTES) has been shown to be an extremely sensitive method for the determination of trace metals. In this work it was shown that MTES can also be used as a sensitive method for the determination of SO2 EDF and capillary sampling system were employed to determine the detection limit of the flowing afterglow system on the SO2 detection. The characteristic emission lines of SO2 (~a3B1 → ~X1A1) are used to detect the concentration of SO2 and also can be used to identify SO2 from other S-containing molecules such as CS2. In addition S02 in a flowing tube has been detected down to 45μg m-3 by means of metastable N2 (A3ΣU+) energy transfer emission spectroscopy. The linear measurement range is from 0.045 to 0.8 mg m-3. The capability of metastable transfer emission spectroscopy in the quantitative determination of S02 has been evaluated. And the lowest detection limit of S02 in the dilution gas N2 has been confirmed to be about 10 times as much as that in the air because of the great consumption of N2 (A3Σu+) by 02.


Introduction: In recent years there have been several X-ray fluorescence spectography instruments flown on lunar missions, and in the near future there will be more, both on missions to the Moon and beyond, for instance to Mercury. An X-ray spectrometer instrument can remotely detect the mineralogy of the surface of atmosphere-less terrestrial bodies by recording the X-ray fluorescence caused when the surface is bombarded by solar X-ray events. The Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS), which flew on ISRO's Chandrayaan-1 mission in 2008, was one such instrument [1]. Remote sensing with X-ray spectrometers samples only the upper few microns of the surface [2]. Clearly any surface feature or process that alters the elemental abundances of the upper surface will affect the signal received by such instruments, and may disguise the bulk mineralogy under investigation. More quantitative understanding of these effects will be useful for analysing C1XS data, and for planning similar up-coming missions. We have investigated two such sources of signal contamination: crater rays and surface/atmospheric volatiles. Lunar crater rays rank amongst the brightest and most impressive features of the Moon. A ray will typically consist of a long, bright feature stretching out from a source crater [3]. Rays are thought to consist of several types – immaturity rays, where the brightness is due to the relative youth of the overlying ray material; compositional rays, where the mineralogical content of the ray is different to the underlying surface; and combination rays, which are formed by a mixture of the two effects.


An efficient three-dimensional model of coastal currents and sediment transport has been developed. Simulations of tide- and wind-driven currents and sediment transport in the Mississippi Sound are presented. Results of a laboratory study on settling, resuspension, and deposition of sediment are briefly described. Wave effect on sediment resuspension is also addressed.


T H E following seven cases of laryngeal cancer were treated by " Window" resection. They represent the total number of patients I have treated by this method. All were unsuitable for thyrofissure and, had the "Wmdow" procedure not been available, total laryngectomy would have been the only alternative. For the majority of cases of early intrinsic cancer laryngofissure is the operation of choice. It will be seen from the description of these seven cases that a formal thyrotomy would have proved quite inadequate. When the posterior regions of the larynx are involved, the only operation which holds out any hope of a cure is laryngectomy. (I do not propose to discuss here treatment by radium and X-rays. In my opinion, ray therapy should be reserved for inoperable cases.) Having operated on such a small group of cases by the " Window" technique it is impossible to dogmatise, but there are one or two points which deserve attention :—(i) The incision should be made in such a way that a flap of the skin is turned aside from the larynx. This allows of more perfect healing and a fistula is avoided. (2) As with laryngofissure it is imperative to insert a tracheotomy tube before opening the larynx. (3) In advanced cases consent should be obtained from the patient to carry out a laryngectomy as, after exposure of the tumour, complete extirpation may be found necessary (Case 7).


We present an axiomatic construction of hierarchical clustering in asymmetric networks where the dissimilarity from node a to node b is not necessarily equal to the dissimilarity from node b to node a. The theory is built on the axioms of value and transformation which encode desirable properties common to any clustering method. Two hierarchical clustering methods that abide to these axioms are derived: reciprocal and nonreciprocal clustering. We further show that any clustering method that satisfies the axioms of value and transformation lies between reciprocal and nonreciprocal clustering in a well defined sense. We apply this theory to the formation of circles of trust in social networks.


Our lab has previously demonstrated that a physiological concentration (1 nM) of estrogen (E2) can downregulate voltage‐gated, L‐type Ca2+ (VGCC) channels in coronary arteries. The distal ends of coronary arteries obtained from hearts of female pigs were sectioned into longitudinal strips and incubated for 24 hrs in 1 nM E2, EtOH, an estrogen receptor (ER) α/β antagonist (ICI 182,780), and a G protein‐coupled ER antagonist (GPER; G15). The arterial strips were homogenized for Western blot analysis using an antibody reactive to the VGCC alpha1C subunit and protein kinase Gα. Our preliminary results suggest that the E2 induced VGCC downregulation is mediated through ER α/β, and not GPER. Furthermore, ER activation by E2 in endothelium intact arteries have an increase in PKG expression (known to inhibit VGCCs), decrease in VGCC expression, and less coronary arterial reactivity. Overall, our results suggest that the classical ERs can be therapeutically targeted in women to reduce the density of VGCCs. Support: NCRR of the NIH, Grant #P20 RR‐16460 and the Arkansas SURF program.


Prolactin (PRL) binding to specific receptors of cow milk fat globular membranes (MFGM) has been studied. The data obtained point to the existence of two PRL-binding sites on cow MFGM. The parameters of PRL binding to lactogenic receptors have been estimated for a two-binding-site model.


Acute brain ischemia causes neurotoxic cascades including NMDA receptors and NO. Propofol, an i.v. anesthetic, is thought to have a neuroprotective effect. We investigated the influence of propofol on NMDA/NO neurotoxicity using Shibuta's established model of primary brain cultures. Cortical neurons prepared from E16 were used after 13–14 days in culture. The neurons were exposed to various concentrations of propofol with NMDA or NO-donor. The survival rates of neurons exposed to 30 μM NMDA with or without 300 μM propofol were 12.1 ± 2.2% and 11.9 ± 2.2%, respectively. The survival rates exposed to 30 μM NO-donor with or without 300 μM propofol were 11.2 ± 4.2% and 14.0 ± 3.9%, respectively. These results suggest that neuroprotective effect of propofol is limited and propofol does not offer advantages over thiopental against NMDA/NO-induced cytotoxicity.


ABNORMAL sex ratios have been studied in a number of species of Drosophila. The mechanisms responsible for deviations from the Mendelian expectation of a 1: 1 ratio have proved to be various, ranging in time of action from gamete production to postzygotic death at virtually every stage. Among unequal sex ratios are a number in which the inequality has been attributed to some feature of meiosis (STURTEVANT and DOBZHANSKY 1936; ERICKSON 1965; HANKS 1965). The term "meiotic drive" has been used for these and other cases where unequal recovery of homologous elements is due to a meiotic mechanism ( SANDLER and NOVITSKI 1957). These have been of particular interest to population geneticists, because even when the more frequently recovered element has deleterious effects on viability, it may, if sufficiently favored in meiosis, increase in the population (SANDLER and NOVITSKI 1957). Abnormal segregations are in fact typically associated with both deleterious factors and modifiers altering the drive itself (DUNN 1956; STALKER 1961; WALLACE 1948; NOVITSKI and SANDLER 1957; HIRAIZUMI, SANDLER and CROW 1960). This has led to the concept of a complex genetic system regulating recovery in gametogenesis so as to produce the sex ratio optimum for a population (HANKS 1965; HIRAIZUMI, SANDLER and CROW 1960). The abnormal sex ratio described here appears to be another case of meiotic drive; it is clear, at least, that it is due to an alteration in some stage of spermatogenesis. Formally, it differs from previously described cases in that the aberrant genetic factor is an autosomal recessive. Cytologically it is characterized by abnormalities in development of the sperm head, but it is not clear haw these abnormalities are related to gametic function. The stock in which it first appeared was derived from a natural population of Drosophila simulans. The collection was made from a compost heap in Arcadia, California in February 1959. The second generation of brother-sister matings from one of the original females produced cultures in which females predominated. In one culture there were 6.3% males; in others, 11 %, 27%, and 30%; in still others, approximately 50%. Stocks were made up from a few of the sex ratio cultures and some of these proved to be true-breeding.


Lithologic identification of tight clastic rocks was one of the difficult problems in reservoir prediction,it was hard to be identified directly by using logging curve or elastic parameters.The longitudinal and shear waves data from logging were presented for calculating elastic parameters.Fisher discriminant analysis method was used to project the three types of lithologic samples of sandstone,mudstone and siltstone to the best direction for the highest separation.The experimental results show that the Fisher discriminant analysis can effectively identify the sandstone and siltstone of a higher classification rate,which provides a foundation for difficult producing reserves evaluation in tight clastic rocks.


A structured least square (LS) method for simultaneous estimation of the mutual coupling matrix (MCM) and directions of arrival (DOAs) of signal sources for uniform linear array (ULA) and uniform circular array (UCA) is presented. The DOAs and MCM can be simultaneously estimated by the proposed method when observations of at least two different DOAs are available. This method significantly simplifies the procedure of mutual coupling compensation and it can also be applied for the calibration of ULA and UCA. Simulation results demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method


Laihunite, an apparent nonstoichiometric olivine-type mineral, shows a 3C type superstructure. This mineral has a basic cell of a=4.805(2)A, b=10.189(9)A, c=5.801(3)A and α=91.0(2)° and the space group P21⁄b(a=unique axis) for the average structure. The basic structure has been studied by the single crystal X-ray method, starting from the model presented by Fu et al. (1979) with 889 reflections collected by four-circle diffractometry. The final weighted R and R factors are 0. 067 and 0. 075, respectively, after the three-dimensional least squares refinements. The mean T–O, M(1)–O, M(2)–O and V–O distances are 1.637(3), 2.185(1), 2.040(2) and 2.205(2)A, respectively. The site occupancies and the bond distances of M(1), M(2) and V sites indicate the following distribution of iron atoms; V (Fe2+ 0.20), M(1) (Fe2+ and Mg2+, ∼1.00) and M(2) (Fe2+∼0.20, Fe3+∼0.80). The chemical formula of laihunite in this study is, therefore, approximately     0.40Fe0.802+Fe0.803+SiO4, indicating nonstoichiometry of laihunite.


Recordable media, is recorded in the unique number of the media to the media inherent non-rewritable state. Recording device writes the encrypted content and the encrypted content key to be used for decoding the encrypted content and encrypted content key, and the media identification number that reflects the value of the generated permission information by using both the sides of the recording type media. The reproducing apparatus determines whether or not the reflecting both the media number and the encrypted content key and obtains the permission information, the art permission information is art media number and the art encrypted content key recorded in the recording type media, both reflected and only decodes the encrypted content key recorded in the recording type media, if any, by using the decoded content key to decode the encrypted content. Copyright protection system by this configuration is only playback of original content, and not to be reproduced clone.


Advent of mobile and wireless computing has changed traditional way of computing and communication based on wired networks. Users in mobile environment expect the same computing luxury which they used to enjoy in fixed computing environment. With a plethora of wireless hardware and software services present, the challenge is to determine how best we can utilize them. Service Discovery aims to simplify the use of mobile devices and services in a network by allowing them to be "discovered", "configured" and used by other devices with a minimum of manual effort. Also since there are number of service discovery standards, it will be beneficial if they can interoperate. This paper discusses various service discovery protocols along with the bridges available to make them interoperable.


Several studies(1–4) have reported that the relative risk of cancer in smokers, compared with nonsmokers, is greater in women than in men. These results have led to speculations about the biologic mechanisms underlying this difference, such as a molecular interaction between sex hormones and tobacco carcinogens. The news media have echoed widely such results, perhaps because anything suggesting that women and men are inherently different strikes a chord among the public. In this commentary, I suggest that the evidence from these studies is interpreted incorrectly, because of misunderstandings about the meanings of relative risk versus absolute risk and the meanings of statistical interaction versus biologic interaction.


The duskside of the polar region of Jupiter's UV aurorae, called the active region, sometimes exhibits quasiperiodic (QP) flares on timescales of 2–3 min. Based on Hubble Space Telescope Far‐UV time‐tag images, we show for the first time that the Northern Hemisphere also displays QP flares. The area covered by these flares can reach up to 2.4 × 108 km2 (i.e., the whole active region) but often only involves an area an order of magnitude smaller. Using a magnetic field mapping model, we deduced that these areas correspond to the dayside outer magnetosphere. In our data set, quasiperiodic features are only seen on half of the cases, and even on a given observation, a region can be quiet for one half and blinking on the other half. Consecutive observations in the two hemispheres show that the brightening can occur in phase. Combined with the size and location of the flares, this behavior suggests that the QP flares most likely take place on closed magnetic field lines.


CERES (Crop Environment Resource Synthesis)-wheat model (DSSAT v 3.5-Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer) was calibrated and validated for wheat cv. GW-496 at Anand using experimental data collected under different management practices (Date of sowing x Irrigation) during 1995-2007. Results showed that optimum sowing date (D 2 –15th Nov.) validation was found better as compared to early (D 1 –1st Nov.) and late (D 3 –30th Nov.) sowings. The validation of model for different irrigation regimes showed that the performance of model was poor in treatment having less irrigation (I 1 and I 2 ). The model performance was found good and satisfactory in treatments having 6-7 irrigations (I 3 and I 4 ). On an average, the performance of model for I 4 treatment was found good. This showed that model worked better under optimum sowing with optimum irrigation. The various test criteria for evaluation of model showed that highest correlation was observed in D 2 I 3 treatment. The lowest MAE was observed in D 3 I 3 treatment. Similarly, lowest MBE (12.77), lowest RMSE (46.04) and highest index of agreement (1.0) were observed in D 1 I 4 treatment. The error per cent by CERES-wheat model showed that in majority of the cases the models had underestimated wheat yield. Per cent error ranged between - 0.020 to -56.02. The average per cent error was found lowest in D 1 I 4 , D 2 I 4 and D 3 I 3 irrigation treatments as compared to other treatments. This showed that the model worked good in all model test criteria. In a nutshell, the validation results showed that the model worked better under optimum sowing with optimum irrigation as compared to early/late sowing and moisture stress conditions.


An engineering solution for development of smart composite materials is proposed. It is based on the implanting of piezoelectric sensors into the composite material during its manufacturing. Sweeping of sensor's input alternating voltage frequency enables tracking of sensors resonance. The resonance spectrum changes due to the changes of sensor's boundary conditions during cure of the composite material. Those changes are related to the degree of composite cure. Moreover, such design of composite constructions with implanted sensors enables monitoring of structural defects during explotation of those constructions. Numerical as well as experimental investigations validated the applicability of the described solidification monitoring methodology.


This study aims to: 1) To determine and test the direct effect of knowledge management and innovation on competitive advantage, 2) To determine and test the direct effect of knowledge management and innovation on organizational performance, 3) To determine and test the direct effect of competitive advantage on organizational performance and 4) To determine and test the indirect effect of knowledge management and innovation on organizational performance through competitive advantage. The research was conducted at the TVRI Jakarta office. The research sample consisted of 77 people consisting of supervisors, managers and directors. Consideration of sampling at midle and top management because they can provide in managerial decision making. Data analysis using path analysis.

The results show that: 1) there is an effect of knowledge management and innovation on competitive advantage, 2) there is knowledge management and innovation on organizational performance, 3) there is an effect of competitive advantage on organizational performance, and 4) there is no influence of knowledge management and innovation on performance organization through competitive advantage on TVRI Jakarta.


. A theOl:etical study is ;nade of t he depende nce of capacitance upon electrode temperature III an all· dl electn e capacItor. The posslblltty of constru cting a three-terminal sta nda rd whose capa.Cltance dt;pends <!~l~ upon the temperature of one electrode is pointed out, and some prachcal capacitors. utIhzmg the prmclple a re described. The temperature sensitive e lect!·~des of these capaCitors are constru~ted of, fu sed sili ca, which results in temperature coefflcl ents .of capacitance near 0.5 ppm/ C. 'I he temperature independent electrodes of these capac itors may be constructed of any stable metal, facilitating adjustment to nominal \Taille.


Three ISO speeds for digital cameras, yielding the minimum, typical, and maximum exposures recommended for use, are defined in International Standard 12232, which is under revision. The typical and minimum acceptable exposures are based upon signal-to-noise criteria, described in ISO 12232, in which visual (perceptually relevant) noise is computed as a weighted sum of variances from a luminance (Y) and two chrominance (R-Y, B-Y) channels. The weights of the two chrominance variances, C1 (R-Y) and C2 (B-Y), are in need of reevaluation because of: (1) changes in linearization procedures being introduced in the revision of ISO 12232; (2) the limited nature of the original experiment to determine C1 and C2 and (3) suspicion that the initial C1 and C2 values were too high, overemphasizing the contributions of chrominance noise to perception. This paper describes the image simulations, psychophysical experiment, and analyses conducted to determine new values for the chrominance weights to be used in the revised standard. The values obtained, C1 = 0.279 (standard error = SE = 0.025) and C2 = 0.088 (SE = 0.017), are approximately one-half as large as those in the original version of ISO 12232. Systematic variation of the weights with the color of noise-sensitive uniform areas in the scenes is observed, but the effect is small and does not have a practical impact on the standard.


Layout regularity will be mandatory for future CMOS technologies to mitigate manufacturability issues. However, existing CAD tools do not meet the needs imposed by regularity constraints. In this paper we present a new method for regular layout generation with Via-Configurable Transistor Arrays focusing on reducing the area overhead associated to regularity. Results for ISCAS85 benchmarks in the 45nm technology node are provided showing that comparable areas to the standard cell approach can be obtained.


There has been tremendous progress in the detection and diagnosis of hereditary neuropathies and while the genes responsible for these rare neuropathies have improved our understanding of the development of the sensory system, they remain clinical enigmas with rare occurrences and diverse presentations. In 1963, Swanson first described two brothers with congenital insensitivity to pain, anhidrosis and mild mental retardation. Several different types of hereditary sensory autonomic neuropathies (HSAN) have been delineated since then.


Model projections of CO2 and CH4 exchange in Arctic tundra during the next century diverge widely.  In this modelling study, we used ecosys to examine how climate change will affect CO2 and CH4 exchange through its effects on net primary productivity (NPP), heterotrophic respiration (Rh) and thereby on net ecosystem productivity (NEP) in landform features (troughs, rims, centers) of a coastal polygonal tundra landscape at Barrow AK. The model was shown to simulate diurnal and seasonal variation in CO2 and CH4 fluxes associated with those in air and soil temperatures (Ta and Ts) and soil water contents (q) under current climate in 2014 and 2015. During RCP 8.5 climate change from 2015 to 2085, rising Ta, atmospheric CO2 concentrations (Ca) and precipitation  (P) increased NPP from 50 – 150 g C m-2 y-1,  consistent with current biometric estimates, to 200 – 250 g C m-2 y-1, depending on feature elevation. Concurrent increases in Rh were slightly smaller, so that net CO2 exchange rose from values of -25 (net emission) to +50 (net uptake) g C m-2 y-1 to ones of -10 to +65 g C m-2 y-1, again depending on feature elevation. Large increases in Rh with thawing permafrost were not modelled. Increases in net CO2 uptake were largely offset by increases in CH4 emissions from 0 – 6 g C m-2 y-1 to 1 – 20 g C m-2 y-1, depending on feature elevation, reducing gains in NEP. Increases in CH4 emissions with climate change were mostly attributed to increases in Ta, but also to increases in Ca and P. These increases in net CO2 uptake and CH4 emissions were modelled with hydrological boundary conditions that were assumed not to change with climate.  Both these increases were smaller if boundary conditions were gradually altered to increase landscape drainage during model runs with climate change. The model was then applied to the entire permafrost zone of North America to project RCP 8.5 climate change effects on active layer depth and ecosystem productivity by 2100.


Objective To explore the application value of four common indicators in patients with the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD).Methods From June 2011 to May 2012,COPD and COPD in acute exacerbation(AECOPD) in patients with 60 cases respectively were collected,and 60 healthy subjects as control group,Detection the content of white blood cell count(WBC),C reactive protein(CRP),brain natriuretic peptide precursor(pro-BNP) and plasma D dimer(DD),comparison and analysis the value of the four indicators in the diagnosis of COPD.Results Compared with the control group,content of the WBC,plasma D-dimer in patients with COPD was statistically significant(P0.05),content of CRP had significant difference(P0.01),content of the pro-BNP had no significant difference(P0.05);Compared with the control group and the COPD group,content of four indicators in AECOPD group had significant difference(P0.05).Conclusion Detection of WBC,CRP and pro-BNP and plasma DD,each with a different value of application in COPD occurrence,development process,which are effective indicators in diagnosis and assessment of severity of COPD.Four indicators can complement each other and contribute to treatment and prognostic evaluation of COPD.


Social Media platforms have become quintessential for user-generated content and consumer opinions. As a result, vast amounts of commercially and freely available sentiment mining tools have emerged, however it remains unclear how reliable these tools are. In this paper, I evaluate the reliability as well as the features of the sentiment mining tools Semantria and Social Mention. This study is a sentiment analysis of 12 different car models that were applied to both sentiment mining tools. In addition to presenting a comparison of outputs obtained from two different sentiment mining tools, an analysis was conducted that compares the sentiment and passion outputs for three social media platforms. The results show significant differences in outputs for sentiment mining tools. Furthermore, statistically signifcant as well as observational differences were also apparent for the outputs from three social media platforms. The results have theoretical as well practical implications for different groups, including academics and practitioners using sentiment mining tools as input for future research and decision-making.


Roger Sperry's Views on Mind, Consciousness, and Human Values: A Challenge to the World Community by Theodore J. Voneida List of Contributors Environmental Issues and Future Studies Some Remarks on the Human and Planetary Condition by Jerome Karle The Impact and Promise of the Cognitive Revolution by Roger W. Sperry Futures Studies and Sustainable Community Development by Jim Dator UNESCO and Future-Oriented Studies by Albert Sasson New Framework of Community Economy Sustainability and a MuRatopian Economy by Kaoru Yamaguchi The Community Land Trust Model by Chuck Matthei and Michael LaFontaine Cultural Paradigm Shift Towards Sustainability by Kazuo Mizuta Building Sustainable Communities Globally The Green Alternative: Towards a Future of Sustainable Communities in the USA by Brian Tokar Towards Global Sustainable Community: A View from Wisconsin by Belden Paulson Advanced MuRatopian Community Development in Japan by Hiroyuki Niwa Sustainable Philosophy for Global Community Development: A Korean Perspective by Yoon-Jae Chung The Development of Rural Communities in China under a Socialist Market Economy by Qin Linzheng The Operational Style of the Chinese Market Economy in the Twenty-First Century by Zhang Zerong New Centre of the Future Society: Prosperous Villages in India by Nandini Joshi Community Development and the Futures of Sustainable Communities in the Philippines by Cesar Villaneuva Micronesia Futures in Asia and the Pacific by Dirk A. Ballendorf Interconnecting Local Communities Globally: An Australian Perspective by Tony Stevenson, Ingrid Burkett, and San San Myint


It has become common to apply thermal barrier coatings (TBC) to hot gas path parts in gas turbines to increase thermal efficiency. However, some uncertainty about the delamination life prediction method for TBC still remains. The influences of mechanical parameters on delamination behavior were investigated through thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) tests to improve TBC delamination life prediction. The parameters investigated were loading pattern, strain range, ceramic coating thickness, and high temperature exposure processing prior to TMF tests.Delamination behavior with a simulated loading pattern seemed to better correspond to behavior under out-of-phase (OP) loading than that with in-phase (IP) loading. The OP loading pattern was better for evaluating delamination lives because of its shorter test period. The delamination lives became shorter under larger strain ranges. Of the specimens tested, the specimen with a 0.9-mm-thick ceramic coating had the shortest delamination life. The specimen with a 0.6-mm-thick coating had almost the same or longer life than the specimen with a 0.3-mm-thick coating. These results strongly suggest that an optimum ceramic coating thickness keeps the cooling performance consistent with delamination strength. Thermally grown oxides (TGO) are generally thought to be the main cause of TBC degradation in long-term operated gas turbine blades. The growth behavior of TGO was observed by exposing specimens to a high-temperature environment and it was suggested that the Larson-Miller parameter (LMP) could predict TGO thickness well. In addition, some specimens were exposed to high-temperature environments prior to TMF tests to evaluate the effect of TGO thickness on delamination lives. This high temperature pre-exposure seemed to accelerate the delamination growth rate due to sintering and TGO.


Channels with long impulse response often arise in high-rate digital transmissions due to severe multipath. This necessitates sophisticated equalization at the receiver. On the other hand, exploiting the available multipath diversity improves bit error performance. To collect the full multipath diversity, computationally cumbersome maximum likelihood sequence estimation (MLSE) is required. Although the Viterbi algorithm (VA) for MLSE is more efficient than the exhaustive ML search, its complexity increases exponentially with the channel length, which varies with the propagation environment. Since the computational power of the receiver is limited, VA becomes infeasible for long channels. In this paper, we develop a transmission capable of handling relatively long channels. The transmitter controls the computational complexity of MLSE at the receiver by periodically inserting zeros within information-bearing symbols, depending on the channel length and the computational power of the receiver. The optimal MLSE with reduced complexity becomes available at the expense of reduced data rate.


A study of the collective motions of nuclear matter has been made. We first give a purely classical macroscopic description of hydrodynamic waves in nuclear matter, an¢1. suggest some experimental consequences of their excitation. Next a quantum mechanical study of the collective eigenstates of nuclear matter is taken up. The starting point of this discussion is the theory of the nuclear ground state as given by Brueckner and his collaborators. The excited states are des.cribed by means of the method developed by Sawada to apply to an electron gas., We generalize this method so as to include the internal degrees of freedom associated with spin and i .. spin and to handle the momentum dependence of the levelshift operator K used by Brueckner. The connection between the quantum=mechanical eigenstates "and the classical hydrodynamic motion is established. As a consequence of the internal degrees of freedom, there exist not only the usu~l compressive waves, but spin, ispin, and coupled spin-i-spin waves. The i-spin waves can be associated with the GoldhaberTeller oscillations. We have investigated the corrections to. the Sawada theory. This gives rise to the damping of the stable Sawada collective eigenmodes, analogous to the viscous damping of a plasma oscillation. In some cases, however, we find not damped but· exponentially growing waves .. This seems to correspond to the system's collapsing on itself. This difficulty must lie in our description of the ground state and we can at the moment only speculate on the origin of this I""' difficulty.


The Pisa conference was also the occasion for presenting three of the ECPR's prizes. The first was the ECPR's Lifetime Achievement Award for an outstanding contribution to European political science, which went to an American: Philippe Schmitter (European University, Florence, and formerly Stanford University). Second, the annual Jean Blondel Ph.D. Prize was awarded to Tanja Aalberts (Leiden University) for her dissertation on the politics of sovereignty. Finally, the Mattei Dogan Foundation Prize in European Political Sociology went to Giovanni Sartori (professor emeritus, University of Florence and Columbia University).


While examining a bowl of rock dredgings from the Mewstone Grounds near Plymouth, on 10th December, 1926, my attention was attracted by a handsome Phyllodocid worm which had evidently crawled out of a crevice in the broken rocks. On closer investigation the worm proved to be of an unfamiliar species and, of much greater interest, to possess a small secondary tail arising ventrally rather more than two-thirds of the way down the body (Fig. 1). Scale drawings, made at the time from the living animal, have recently been carefully checked by examination of the preserved specimen; only a few slight alterations have been found necessary.


Selection of prognostic genes associated with tumor has been a subject of considerable research in recent years. In order to solve the high-dimensional gene expression profiles, the Lasso-Cox model has been proposed and widely used in survival analysis. Based on the sparse regression algorithm, the regularization parameter must be carefully tuned by cross-validation to optimize performance. In this paper, we introduce an algorithm based on simple Bayesian approach to replace the process of parameter selection, and the regularization parameter is determined adaptively in training. Simulation results show that variable selection of Bayesian-Lasso (BLasso) can be more accurate than that of Lasso method. We also apply our algorithm to a real dataset DLBCL, and the selected genes have been proven to have close relationship with the tumor.


A positive correlation between serum prolactin (PRL) and lupus disease activity such as IgG anti-DNA antibody deposition in the kidney has previously been shown. While the presence of immune complex deposition is required for the initiation of lupus nephritis (LN), renal MCP-1 expression and the subsequent infiltration and activation of macrophages ultimately results in inflammation and full-blown LN. The influence of PRL on the inflammatory component of LN has not been reported. Mice were 6-8 month-old males and were either C57Bl/6 wild-type (WT), C57Bl/6 PRL KO, or BcN (lupus strain). Renal proximal tubule cells were isolated and the PRL receptor expression was determined by RT-PCR and immunofluorescence microscopy. Renal proximal tubule cells from C57Bl/6 WT mice were stimulated with PRL and the amount of MCP-1 in the media was determined by ELISA. Cell surface expression and the mRNA expression of all 4 isoforms of the PRL receptor were comparable in the 3 genotypes. Proximal tubule cells produced significantly more MCP-1 when stimulated with 1000 ng/ml of PRL compared to 0 ng/ml (p<0.01). Our results indicate that PRL has the potential to directly stimulate proximal tubule cell MCP-1 production/release. Whether lower doses of PRL would have a greater impact in the presence of immune complexes is unknown. Because the renal tubule cell isolation technique most likely removes immune complexes, an in vivo model of SLE to ascertain whether PRL .....


Attention to the systemic paradigm formation in project management. The requirements for the role of professional competence and their loads.


A spatial modulation (SM) scheme based on multi-strata space-time coding (MSSTC), called MSSTC-SM, is proposed. We allow two layers of MSSTC to be assigned unequal transmit power and phase, and codebooks composing the code set of MSSTC-SM to be assigned different rotation angles. Power and phase allocation as well as rotation angles are jointly optimized by differential evolution algorithm to maximize the minimum coding gain distance of the resultant MSSTC-SM. It is observed that the proposed MSSTC-SM outperforms other conventional transmission schemes in view of spectral efficiency and bit error probability with a comparable or lower detection complexity.


This paper presents an application of the maximum likelihood method and the Bernoulli distribution of selected rainfall intensity data. The parameter of the density of Bernoulli distribution was estimated by the maximum likelihood method (MLM), and Microsoft Excel Solver (MES). The calculated probabilities using the estimated parameter were evaluated statistically (analysis of variance (ANOVA), relative error, model of' selection criterion (MSC), Coefficient of Determination (CD) and Correlation coefficient (R). The study revealed that the Bernoulli probability distribution's parameter (p) is the mean of the natural logarithm of rainfall intensity using the MLM estimator. The parameter were 0.665 and 0.535 for Makurdi, 0.695 and 0.478 for Abeokuta using MLM and MES, respectively. The relative errors were 0.479 and 0.743, and 1.141 and 1.509 for Makurdi and Abeokuta using MLM and MES, respectively. The correlation coefficient for Makurdi and Abeokuta using MLM and MES were 0.876 and 0.800, and 0.269 and 0.341, respectively. It was concluded that the MLM parameter was better than MES based on the values of MSC, CD, relative error and R. MLM predicted Weibull probability of rainfall intensity better than MES. There is a need to evaluate MLM and other probability distributions


The demands to increase range, rate of fire, and muzzle velocity have resulted in increased wear and erosion problems in gun tubes. To increase the service life of gun tubes, a number of bore-coating systems are being considered for replacement of the current electroplated high-contractile chromium coating. Two such coating systems are cylindrical magnetron sputtered (CMS) Cr coatings and CMS Ta/Cr bilayer coatings. Cylindrical magnetron sputtering is a high-rate vacuum deposition process that has been applied to 120 mm tubes. Characterization studies of the electroplated and CMS coatings were completed to determine the applicability of these coating/substrate systems for gun bore protection. Each coating system is subjected to a series of tests, including adhesion, microhardness, compositional analysis, and vented erosion-simulation testing (VES). VES testing is completed via a laboratory combustion chamber that reproduces the transient thermal and chemical environments of tank cannon firing on small chord sections of 120 mm coated gun tubes. In addition to the aforementioned characterization tests, metallography, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectroscopy are conducted on each specimen before and after VES testing to evaluate the thermal stability of the coating and the severity of the thermal damage imposed. The mechanisms of damage are investigated, including void formation and micropit growth, oxidation and erosion, and thermomechanical cracking. In addition, methods to further increase resistance to thermal damage are discussed to increase the service life of future gun tube systems.


A pot experiment was conducted to study the effects of secondary metabolites released by decomposing Populus deltoides leaf litter on the growth and physiology of Brassica chinensis.In the main test four leaf litter application levels was set as 0,30,60 and 90 g / pot(respectively denoted as CK,L30,L60 and L90).Meanwhile,in order to test whether the physical form of the leaf litter could obviously influence the soil aeration,water permeability and even the growth of B.chinensis,the parallel blank test was performed with the steamed leaf litter,and the design of the test was set as same as the main test,namely 0,30,60 and 90 g / pot steamed leaf litter treatments(denoted as Z30,Z60 and Z90).Each pot contained 7 kg soil mixed with P.deltoides leaf litter and then sowed the seeds of B.chinensis.The height and physiological indices of B.chinensis were determined on 50 th,80thd after sowing.The results showed that:1) The height and fresh weight of B.chinensis with high leaf litter addition(L90) of P.deltoides to the soil was significantly inhibited on 50 thd,afterwards,the growth gradually resumed to normal on 80 thd,while the height and fresh weight of B.chinensis in the other two treatments were markedly promoted consistently during the experimental period; 2) After 50 days of sowing,the net photosynthetic rate(Pn) of B.chinensis was largely improved under low(L30) and medium(L60) addition of leaf litterrelative to CK.As time went by,there were no obvious differences between all treatments and CK on 80 thd.The variation trends of pigment contents on 50 thand 80thday were substantially the same,both slightly lower than CK,yet,Chl a / b almost remained unchanged for all the time; 3) The activity of Superoxidedismutase(SOD) did not change apparently in low and medium addition of leaf litter,but increased in high addition from beginning to the end in this experiment; 4) The content of Malondialdehyde(MDA) on 50 thand 80thday did not show any conspicuous differences whether there was leaf litter in soil or not,and no matter how much leaf litter was added to the soil within the amount range of litter designed in this experiment.In summary,the impacts that different amount of P.deltoides leaf litter militated on B.chinensis illustrated that:low and medium amount treatments of P.deltoides leaf litter mixed in soil stimulated the growth of B.chinensis,on the contrary high amount inhibited the growth.Besides,the result of parallel blank test showed that there was no evident disparity in regard to the growth and physiological indexes of B.chinensis among the steamed leaf litter treatments.On the whole,low and medium addition of P.deltoides leaf litter to the soil was absolutely conducive to the growth and physiological metabolism of B.chinensis,however,the suppression of allelopathic effect was remarkable with high addition of leaf litter in its initial decomposition stage.


Fatigue is a commonly reported problem for new parents. Considering that maternal fatigue is a risk factor for depression in the post‐partum period, and that post‐partum depression is associated with parent and child outcomes, it is important to investigate the relationship between fatigue, parenting, and child development. Further, given that research in areas other than parenting suggests that fatigue has a negative impact on performance via executive functioning, it is argued that parenting, being reliant on executive functioning, is likely to be disturbed by fatigue. Despite this, there is limited research investigating the relationship between fatigue, parenting, and child development. This paper applies the Optimal Parenting Development model to these constructs to propose a model for investigating the relationships between fatigue, parenting, child outcomes, and factors that may mediate these relationships.


Global learning is an emerging imperative for the higher education in the twenty-first century.  In the context of the work of Jane Knight, Susan Buck Sutton, and Daniel Obst towards internationalization, strategic partnerships, and collaborative degree programs, a UK and US institution are working through challenges to create a new kind of partner degree that could be a model for liberal arts colleges in particular.  With the standpoint that, as institutions of higher education work together to enhance global learning, they can be most effective by adopting a collaborative rather than competitive approach, international officers at the partner institutions are engaging faculty and departments across the institutions to formalize and streamline the bachelor towards master's degree across a number of disciplines.  Already in 2013, a pilot student who studied abroad in the UK while working on her undergraduate degree at a liberal arts college has returned to the study abroad site to complete her master's degree in museum studies.  It is hoped that the fruit of such efforts will attract domestic students interested in global learning as well as international students unfamiliar with the concept of a liberal arts college, and will form the basis of future collaborations towards curriculum integration, perhaps through technologically-facilitated learning.


ADEATER is a fully implemented browsing assistant that automatically removes advertisement images from Internet pages. Unlike related systems that rely on hand-crafted rules, ADEATER takes an inductive learning approach, automatically generating rules from training examples. Our experiments demonstrate that our approach is practical: the off-line training phase takes less than six minutes; on-line classification takes about 70 msec; and classification accuracy exceeds 97% given a modest set of training data.


Decreased signalling of insulin and Igf1 increases longevity across animal evolution, including mammals. The effects of insulin/Igf1 on aging are intracellularly mediated by the PI3K/Akt/Foxo pathway in worms and flies. Here, we have extended this paradigm to mammals by directly attenuating PI3K signalling in mice through moderate overexpression of the tumour suppressor Pten under its own transcriptional regulatory elements. Ptentg mice have lower levels of PI3K signalling, are protected from cancer, and present a significant extension of lifespan that is independent of their lower cancer incidence. Interestingly, Ptentg mice show an elevated rate of energy expenditure, which is accompanied by decreased adiposity and protection from highfat diet-induced liver damage. Accounting for the elevated energy expenditure, we found that brown and white adipose tissues from Ptentg mice express high levels of the uncoupling protein Ucp1 and its transcriptional activator Pgc1?, and the relative uptake of glucose by brown adipose tissue (BAT) is constitutively increased. Also, the BAT of Ptentg mice contains lower levels of phosphorylated Akt, which is a negative regulator of both Pgc1? and its critical partner Foxo1. In support of this, a synthetic PI3K inhibitor elevates the expression of Pgc1? and Ucp1 in vitro differentiated brown adipocytes, as well as, in the BAT of adult mice. Finally, Ptentg fibroblasts programmed in vitro with Prdm16 and C/Ebps, master factors for brown adipocyte differentiation, formed ectopic subcutaneous brown adipose pads more efficiently than similarly programmed non transgenic fibroblasts, altogether indicating that the effects of Pten on brown adipocytes are cell autonomous. These observations extend to mammals the evolutionary conserved modulation of organism survival by the PI3K pathway and uncover a role of Pten in promoting energy expenditure by brown adipocytes, thus decreasing the caloric input to the rest of the organism and its associated damage. . In an attempt to translate these results to a pathological setting, we have tested the ability of synthetic PI3K inhibitors (PI3Kis) to decrease adiposity in obese mice. Importantly, diet-induced obese mice treated for two weeks with (PI3Kis) showed the appearance of brown adipocytes within the white adipose tissue, a significant decrease in adiposity, reduction of liver steatosis, and, finally, a significant decrease in body weight. These results provide proof of concept for the therapeutic treatment of obesity with PI3Kis.


punishment and modern society a study in social theory is available in our digital library an online access to it is set as public so you can get it instantly. Our digital library spans in multiple locations, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Kindly say, the punishment and modern society a study in social theory is universally compatible with any devices to read.


The purpose of this project was to find out how converting a small carburetted two
stroke engine to direct Injection would affect relevant engine performance parameters
such as emissions, power, fuel consumption, reliability etc. An engine based on a
Husqvarna 3120 118cc chainsaw was selected for modifications, and an automotive
piezo style direct injector from Bosch was picked for its precision and ability to
inject small amounts of fuel. The engine was modified in order to accept the direct
Injection system and required measurement and monitoring equipment. An Engine
management system was designed from scratch based on an Arduino Micro, in order
to time the injections and their durations. The carburetted engine was used as a
baseline, with the intention of doing a complete map of the direct Injected engine.
However, due to problems with wall wetting due to too wide a spray cone angle,
no results could be obtained over 80 RPS [4800 RPM]. Results obtained at 80 RPS
and at idle show a reduction in fuel consumption of around 40%, and a reduction
in hydrocarbon emissions of around 75%.
Additionally a literature study has been done regarding the topic of direct injection
on two stroke engines, and three different families of injection systems have
been found: High Pressure Direct Injection, Low Pressure Direct Injection, and Airassisted
Stratified Direct Injection. Several commercially available systems exist
both for the high pressure and air-assisted stratified systems, low pressure systems
however only exist as proof of concept systems made for various papers. The reduction
in emissions presented in said papers show similar numbers to what was
found experimentally, showing a reduction in fuel consumption of around 40% and
a reduction of hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions of around 80-95%.


Problems with the hydrologic and hydraulic studies of flooding in Lithgow, together with flood mitigation strategies and the economic and social implications for the City are described.


The problem of modeling complicated data sequences, such as DNA or speech, often arises in practice. Most of the algorithms select a hypothesis from within a model class assuming that the observed sequence is the direct output of the underlying generation process. In this paper we consider the case when the output passes through a memoryless noisy channel before observation. In particular, we show that in the class of Markov chains with variable memory length, learning is affected by factors, which, despite being super-polynomial, are still small in some practical cases. Markov models with variable memory length, or probabilistic finite suffix automata, were introduced in learning theory by Ron, Singer and Tishby who also described a polynomial time learning algorithm [11, 12]. We present a modification of the algorithm which uses a noise-corrupted sample and has knowledge of the noise structure. The same algorithm is still viable if the noise is not known exactly but a good estimation is available. Finally, some experimental results are presented for removing noise from corrupted English text, and to measure how the performance of the learning algorithm is affected by the size of the noisy sample and the noise rate. t~esearch supported in part by the National Science Foundation, grant CCR-9213881. Permission to make digital/hard copies of all oi pall of this material [br personal or classroom use is granted without l~e provided that the copies are not made or distributed lbr profit or commercial advantage, the copyright notice, the title of the publication and ils date appear, and notice is given tha! copyright is by permission of the ACM. Inc. To copy otherwise, to republish, to pos! on servers or to redistribute lo lists, requires specific permission and/or fee COLT 97 Nashville, Tennesee, USA Copyright 1997 ACM 0-89791-891-6/97/7.. $3.50 1 I n t r o d u c t i o n Modeling complex data sequences is one of the main problems in many research areas. Examples can be taken from computational biology [4, 6] (DNA or protein sequences), from natural language processing or speech recognition [9] (phoneme or letter sequences), etc. Most of the model building methods assume that noiseless training data are available. A natural approach is, however, to consider the observed data sequence as being the output of a string generation process corrupted by some noise. The knowledge of the noise structure may allow one to estimate the parameters for the underlying "clean" string generation model using a sample of noisy strings. The string generation process is often assumed to have only a finite memory, that is, the generation of the next symbol of the sequence depends on a fixed finite number of previous symbols and state transitions. Such models include Hidden Markov Models [9], FSM sources in data compression [10], and Markov chains with variable memory length [12]. In this paper we consider the case when the output of a Markov chain with variable memory length is passed through a memoryless noisy channel before observation. Among others, Lugosi [8] considered learning front noisy data and showed that consistent learning is possible in case of the binary symmetric channel even if the noise rate is not known. In particular, he proved that the use of a nearest neighbor or a histogram classification method is consistent, that is, the error rate converges to its minimal value (Bayes' error). Markov models with variable memory length, otherwise known as probabilistic finite suffix automata, were introduced in learning theory by Ron, Singer and Tishby who also described a polynomial time learning algorithm [11, 12]. Similar models have been studied in information theory as well '10, 13. 14, 15]. Other models in the learning theory literature include Hidden Markov Models [9] and probabilistic finite automata. They both have severe theoretical drawbacks. Abe and Warmuth [1]


Birefringence in fiber Bragg gratings can result from two distinct effects that combine with the intrinsic fiber birefringence: the birefringence induced by the UV photo-writing and the birefringence due to a transversal load. In both cases, it leads to polarization dependent loss and differential group delay inside gratings. This paper aims to provide a characterization, both theoretically and experimentally, of the polarization dependent loss and the differential group delay generated by uniform Bragg gratings written into single mode optical fibers. We demonstrate that the measured polarization properties can be accurately reconstructed by means of the coupled mode theory and the Jones formalism. We also demonstrate that the PDL and DGD evolutions contain information about birefringence and can thus be used for transverse force sensing purposes. Experimental results obtained on fiber Bragg gratings transversally loaded by an external force confirm the simulated evolutions.


The article departs from a specific case study: the response of Moroccan state institutions to the public health needs caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Its aim is to show the interest of reasoning with idealtype: it overcomes analyses marked by forms of exoticism and exceptionalism, it prevents to read the distinctive methods used by the Moroccan authorities as "dysfunctions" or "archaisms".


In this paper, the guided-text teaching method is introduced to the college physics teaching for improving the enthusiasm of studying college physics and cultivating the ability of independent studying. The college physics course is reformed by the mutual complementation mode of the guided-text teaching method and the conventional method. Teaching concept, teaching method teaching content and teaching evaluation are discussed in detail on this teaching reformation.


To overcome the upsurge of antimicrobial resistance that has emerged in recent years, there is a need for the development of newer hits having gratifying anti-infective activity. Hydrazides incorporated with an azomethine hydrogen account for a cardinal class of molecules for the development of newer derivatives. Hydrazide derivatives have gainedconsiderable interest of medicinal chemists owing to their diverse bioactivity. In the present review, we have attempted to compile the recent trends in the synthesis of hydrazides and their substituted derivatives. The structural features that lead to the desired antimicrobial activity are highlighted, which will lead the way for synthetic and medicinal chemists to focus on newer designs in this arena.


This article introduces data transfer and real-time processing technology on a new flight monitoring system.This paper gives the overall system design and module division with focuses on the choice of network protocols,amendments and related data processing algorithms of the real-time systems.


FMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) can measure brain activities in high spatial resolution. We have been investigating the brain areas activated by visuospatial attention using the fMRI. Several visuospatial attention tasks have revealed the significant activities in the parietal and frontal lobe.Our results showed that the superior parietal lobule (SPL) and the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) can be functionally separable,that is,IPS plays a central role in visuospatial attention while SPL is responsible to spatial attention shifts.FEF is shown to berelated to voluntary shifts of attention which includes not only spatial one but also attributes such as shapes or colors in visual stimuli.


Tetracycline has been reported to be a broad-spectrum bacteriostatic antibiotic that inhibit protein synthesis, but there is a dearth of information on its effect on blood chemistry and reproduction in female albino rats. This study was designed to investigate the effect of this drug on haematological and reproductive parameters in female albino rats. Tetracycline (5 mg/kg BW) was administered to the rats for 30 days for haematological and histopathological study, and 21 days for estrous cycle study. Distilled water (0.5 ml) served as the control. Red Blood Cell (RBC) and Total White Blood Cell (TWBC) counts were determined using haemocytometer. Packed Cell Volume (PCV) was determine by micro-haematocrit method. Differential leucocyte count was done using schilling method. Vaginal smears were stained using the Papanicolaou's staining technique. Routine histological technique was used in preparing the histological sections of the ovaries and uteri. Data were analysed using student's t-test at p <0.05. Treatment of rats with tetracycline caused non-significant changes in RBC, TWBC, PCV and differential leucocyte values relative to their respective controls. Tetracycline caused significant decrease in the proestrous phase and a significant increase in the metestrous phase of the estrous cycle relative to their respective controls. However, it produced no pathological effect on the ovaries and uteri. These findings probably indicate that tetracycline has a pro-fertility effect with no deleterious effect on the blood chemistry and reproductive parameters in female albino rats.


Corporate social responsibility(CSR) management has enjoyed new development along with businessmanagement practice recently.In the context of globalization,a more profound understanding and grasp of the CSRconcept based on sustainablity have been developed by transnational corporations,which highlights hormonizing interests of all stakeholders instead of the pursuit of maxmizing shareholder value.This paper,taking CSR managementand practice of Chevron as an example,reviews its history of CSR management practices,analyzes comprehensivelyits responsibility concept and management mechanism innovation,and digs out a new model of CSR management ofinternational oil companies(IOC) where a conclusion has been achieaved that transnaitonal corporations are changingtheir model of CSR management as result of fullfilling their economic,environmental and social responsibilities.CSRmanagement and practice of Chevron is of great significance for enterprises in China to fulfill their social responsibilities.


Recent developments in time-of-flight, single photon counting, 3D imaging lidar are presented. Preliminary results are presented demonstrating depth profiling and determination of the shape and size of tree canopies at a range of 9km.


Chapter 6 discusses the historical development of universal human rights protections during warfare through the establishment of International Humanitarian Law. It critically assesses the challenges posed to such protections by powerful states, geo-political considerations and the changing nature of war and conflict. It examines the operation of the International Criminal Court, the role of the UN Security Council and the geo-political manipulation of the UN by the USA and others, using the case of the Israel/Palestine conflict as but one example. In a world where most armed conflicts now involve non-state actors and casualties are overwhelmingly civilians, it also critically assesses attempts to reform IHL through, for example, the 1977 Protocols and the limitations of such reform.


ABSTRACT Many research studies have been conducted on the ultraviolet (UV) ageing performance of asphalt and asphalt mixture, but the superposition relationship between the loading time–temperature and the aggravation of UV ageing degree is still lacking. In this research, the dynamic modulus of styrene butadiene styrene (SBS) polymer-modified asphalt mortar, under different UV intensities, UV ageing time and loading temperatures, was obtained by the dynamic modulus sweep test at different temperatures. The results showed that the dynamic modulus decreases with the increase of temperature, and increases with the increase of UV ageing time and intensity. To further evaluate the UV ageing of asphalt mortar, the time–temperature superposition has been expanded to incorporate the UV ageing time and intensity, and the dynamic modulus curves of asphalt mortar under different UV ageing time or intensities and temperatures were constructed through superposition shift equations. The results showed that the reduced UV ageing time or intensity increases with the decrease of test temperature. Based on the superposition relationship of time–temperature–UV ageing degree (radiation time and intensity), the comprehensive shift factor functions were determined. These superposition equations conducted in this research provided meaningful predictions for different UV ageing time and intensity conditions.


Background:  Previously, we reported that most gastrointestinal tumors could be distinguished with the Light‐Induced Fluorescence Endoscopy for GastroIntestine system (LIFE‐GI system) using a fiberscope. However, the quality of the fiberscopic images was inferior compared with videoscopic images. Therefore, we developed a new Auto‐Fluorescence Imaging (AFI) videoscope system (manufactured by Olympus Corp.).


Sophisticated investors rely on scenario analysis to select portfolios. The authors propose a new approach to scenario analysis that enables investors to consider sequential outcomes. They define scenarios, not as average values, but as paths for the economic variables. And they measure the likelihood of these paths based on their statistical similarity to the historical sequences. The authors also employ a novel forecasting technique called partial sample regression to map economic outcomes onto asset class returns. This process allows investors to evaluate portfolios based on the likelihood they will produce a certain pattern of returns over a specified investment horizon. CONTRIBUTORS Mark Kritzman Founding Partner and CEO Windham Capital Management email@example.com Ding Li Senior Vice President Economics and Investment Strategy GIC firstname.lastname@example.com Grace (Tiantian) Qiu Senior Vice President Economics and Investment Strategy GIC firstname.lastname@example.com David Turkington Senior Managing Director Head of Portfolio and Risk Research State Street Associates email@example.com


This article is devoted to Nikolai Sergeevich Korotkov who suggested a method of blood pressure measuring one century ago. Details of this invention are described. The value of the method for the development of medicine is disclosed. It is also reported how the memory of this national scientist is kept in contemporary conditions.


1. The carbamate (HbCO2) concentration in oxygenated and deoxygenated human adult and foetal red blood cells was estimated at a constant pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO2 = 40 mm Hg) and various pH values of the serum. The Donnan ratio for chloride and bicarbonate ions was used to calculate the bicarbonate concentration in the red cells. With this figure the carbamate concentration was calculated as follows:


In order to deal with the discontinuity and deficient availability of indoor positioning, a private cloud platform of location service was built in this paper, and a hybrid positioning technology was realized. In this platform, dynamic deployment, elastic computing, and on-demand cloud computing services was implemented by the hardware resource virtualization. The limits in large users online service and data communication were overcome by utilizing microservices management and its cloud-push-service component. In the hybrid cloud positioning, a method of beacon node correction and autonomous trajectory estimation was proposed. This method could improve continuity and usability of indoor positioning, and reach a positioning accuracy of 2m approximately. At last, by integrating indoor map and hybrid indoor positioning, the cloud software and terminal application had been developed for public location service.


It was a brilliant article written in the mid-sixties (Mazumdar, 1965) that really fuelled the farm size productivity debate soon after its inception by Sen (Sen, 1962,1964). There seems to be reawakening of this debate for underdeveloped agrarian economies in the recent years ever since the publications of fresh results that are based on more recent data on farm level economic characteristics and application of some new methodologies. The latest debate has been based on the alleged confirmation of inverse relation in agriculturally advanced zones (Khan, 1979; Carter, 1984; Dyer, 1991,1998; Chattopadhyay and Sengupta, 1997,1999). The basic argument is the ability of small farmers in reaping the benefit of new technology (Sharma and Sharma, 2000). In the traditional logic, new technology is heavily biased towards rich farmers because of the large setup cost involved in adopting such technologies (Dyer, 1998). However recently several studies have felt that there are certain aspects of new technology (such as efficient use of water resources, proper selection of crop mix, etc.) that might benefit even the small farmers (Chattopadhyay and Sengupta, 1997,1999). However, the debate remains as yet inconclusive. The arguments advanced in this debate, so far, are however highly unsatisfactory. Firstly, the analysis was not carried out properly for different types of crops as well as all crops taken together (Dyer, 1998; Sharma and Sharma, 2000). The large farmers tend to diversify in order to alleviate risks involved in agrarian production. Small farmers with their limited resource ability concentrate only on a few crops. As such comparison between these types of farmers should involve inter-crop variation. Secondly, the distinction between the so-called advanced and backward zones is not rigorous (Dyer, 1998). It appears that these distinctions are made on subjective basis with some a priori assumptions. However, in statistical sense, such distinctions must be based on the observed sample characteristics and derived from them properly. Thirdly, the very basis of the debate is questionable. As argued by Lee and Somwaru


Five patients with obstructive pulmonary disease developed generalized fits, coma, and multifocal central nervous system excitation following vigorous correction of chronic hypercapnia. Clinical improvement occurred prior to the onset of neurological symptoms. Alkalosis with persistent elevation of plasma bicarbonate concentration was the outstanding biochemical abnormality. Two patients recovered when their arterial CO 2 tensions were allowed to rise. Alkalosis should be avoided when treating pulmonary decompensation. Since hypoxia can be corrected rapidly by oxygen therapy, the hypercapnia can be corrected more gradually by successive increments in ventilation.


PURPOSE
Robot-assisted laparoscopic pyeloplasty (RALP) and laparoscopic pyeloplasty (LP) are both minimally invasive surgical options to correct ureteropelvic junction obstruction in children. There are limited data reporting surgeons' experience of switching from LP to RALP and comparing the outcomes of the two procedures.

METHODS
We conducted a retrospective study on 63 consecutive children who underwent either LP or RALP by the same surgeon in a tertiary center from January 2008 to November 2016. LP had been the standard practice until January 2014 when it was replaced by RALP in short transition.

RESULTS
Thirty-seven LP and 26 RALP were successfully performed in children aged 2 months to 16 years. There was no difference between the two groups in age, body weight, laterality, clinical presentations, preoperative imagings, primary/reoperative repairs. The overall success rates were 34/37 (91.9%) and 25/26 (96.2%) for LP and RALP, respectively (P > .05). RALP was associated with shorter length of stay (3.1 days versus 4.0 days; P = .03). Surgeon-in-training participation was greater in RALP group (P < .001). There was no difference in operative time, complication rates, and analgesic requirement between the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS
Surgeons proficient in LP can adapt quickly to RALP, achieving comparable outcomes. Robotic technology may facilitate training on minimally invasive pyeloplasty.


That occlusion of the external auditory meatus results in increased sensitivity for bone-conducted sound was known as far back as 1827, when Wheatstone noted that a tuning fork placed on any part of the head sounded louder if the ear canals were closed. Several investigations which verified this finding followed. The article by Kelly and Reger 5 gives an account of these earlier studies. More recently further research has been done on this phenomenon of increased bone-conduction sensitivity. For example, Pohlman and Krantz 6 observed the effect of occlusion on bone-conduction thresholds as a function of the frequency of the sound stimulus. They showed that closing both ears with wax lowered the thresholds for frequencies 128-1024 cps, as shown in Table 1. At 2048 cps the effect of occlusion was found to be negligible. Kelly and Reger 5 reported the effects of occlusion on the thresholds of 26 normal


The use of mobile payment applications is on the rise. There are a variety of mobile payment applications that attempt to offer value to increase the market share of merchants that provide them. However, many users are likely to stop using apps if optimal utility and customized services are not correctly delivered. This study proposes that offering contextbased services that indicate customization and personalization of services will improve the perceived utility of mobile merchant payment applications and in turn, increase continued intention to use it and customer loyalty to the merchant. Our results also show that the reputation of mobile vendors significantly enhances the perceived utility of mobile merchant payment applications. The findings of this study can be valuable to researcher, merchants and mobile application developers.


The invention relates to a technology to make biology diesel oil from animal oil or vegetable oil that uses fatty acid, high acid value or neutrality animal oil or vegetable oil as raw material to make diesel oil substitute fuel. It combines esterification, continuous carrying water, methanol rectifying and gasification together to achieve the effect of fast lowering acid and improving the efficiency of esterification reaction. The methanol is circularly used in gas phase and the efficiency would be improved. The steps of esterification reaction include: using primal ester exchanger reaction for raw material, recycling methanol after reaction; then using water vapor to distill refine diesel oil.


2017 witnessed one of the most widespread and successful anti-government protests in Belarus since its independence. People flooded the streets of at least 17 cities. Some of these cities did not experience this kind of mobilisation for 20 years or more. This year, two campaigns attracted the significant numbers of attendants and attention of the public. They are the Anti-tax protest movement and the Kurapaty defence movement. In this article, I will show in what way and why these two protest waves were unusual for Belarus and to what implications for the country they led.