Verdigris is a traditional artificial pigment reported on old research papers and according to the methods mentioned in the literature, it is manufactured by the corrosion of copper or copper alloys using vinegar and by further scraping the generated rust. Since the Three Kingdoms Period, various household products with copper alloys, such as bronze and brass, have been used, and pigment analysis of these cultural heritage items has revealed the presence of tin, zinc, lead, and copper in green pigments. Based on these data, five types of verdigris were prepared from copper and copper alloys, and analyzed. the analysis results revealed a bluish green pigmentation, and the chromaticity, particle shape, and oil absorption quantity of each verdigris differed based on the type of copper alloy used in its preparation. The main components of verdigris are Cu, Sn, Zn and Pb, and their proportions depended on the type of copper alloy used during manufacturing. However, the main constituent mineral of the pigments is the same as 'hoganite[Cu(CH3COO)2⋅H2O]', regardless of the copper alloy used. The result of accelerated weathering test for stability evaluation revealed that verdigris was discolored rapidly, thereby indicating that its stability was low, in particular, the pigments comprising lead presented relatively lower stability.


We consider numerical methods for solving the fractional-in-space Allen-Cahn (FiSAC) equation which contains small perturbation parameters and strong noninearilty. Standard fully discretized schemes for the the FiSAC equation will be considered, namely, in time the conventional first-order implicit-explicit scheme or second-order Crank-Nicolson scheme and in space a secondorder finite difference approach. The main purpose of this work is to establish discrete stability in both maximum and energy norms. In particular, we will show that the numerical results obtained by using the fully discretized schemes are conditionally stable: both the discrete maximum principle and the energy decaying properties are preserved under certain restrictions on the time step. Moreover, our analysis applied to one to three space dimensions. Numerical experiments are performed to verify the theoretical results.


A U.S. population geographer specializing in the former Soviet Union surveys the results of an October 2005 census conducted in a contested pseudo-state known as the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR). Data from the enumeration provide the first credible information about recent population characteristics, including nationality composition and migration from the war-torn republic. The data make it possible to ascertain the crude magnitudes of population losses in the republic's constituent rayons as well as changes resulting from deaths and expulsion of ethnic Armenians and/or Azerbaijanis. Changes documented since the last (1989) Soviet census in the region indicate that the current republic's population differs quite dramatically from that of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of Azerbaijan, complicating efforts to broker a lasting peace agreement between the pseudostate's two neighbors. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: J11, O18, R23, 1 figure, 1 table, 36 references.


Cold, dense subducting lithosphere provides the primary force driving tectonic plates at Earth's surface. The force available to drive the plates depends on a balance between the buoyancy forces driving subduction and the mechanical and buoyancy forces resisting subduction. Because both the buoyancy and rheology of the slab and mantle depend on temperature, composition, grain size, water content, and melt fraction, unraveling which of these processes exert a first-order control on slab dynamics and under what circumstances other processes become first-order effects can be challenging. Laboratory and numerical models of slab dynamics provide a powerful method for testing the combined effects of buoyancy and strength changes that accompany the slab evolution in the upper mantle, transition zone, and lower mantle. Recent studies have focused on understanding how rheologic variations (Newtonian versus non-Newtonian viscosity or water content), geometry (2D versus 3D), and plate motions (trench roll-back or advance) influence the evolution of slabs in the upper mantle and how they sink into the lower mantle. These models suggest that spatial and temporal variations in slab strength and the history of subduction determine whether slabs sink directly into the lower mantle or are trapped in the transition zone.


This paper concerns a random walk that moves on the integer lattice and has zero mean and a finite variance. We obtain first an asymptotic estimate of the transition probability of the walk absorbed at the origin, and then, using the obtained estimate, that of the walk absorbed on a half line. The latter is used to evaluate the space-time distribution for the first entrance of the walk into the half line.


A conducting poly(azomethine)ester was prepared by solution phase polycondensation of a preformed Schiff base, 4-((4-(4-(4-hydroxybenzlideneamino) phenoxy)phenylimino)methyl)phenol and isophthaloyl chloride (I). Different aliphatic/aromatic moieties were incorporated for examining their effect on the electronic properties of material. The resulting polymers (10−4 to 25 S cm−1) were doped with silver (10−6 to 10−2 S cm−1) and blended with polyaniline (10−1 to 13.4 S cm−1) to enhance their electrical conductivity. Polymer/polyaniline blends had superior conductivity even at low polyaniline concentration relative to the silver-doped chains. The data obtained experimentally were complemented by density function theory at the 6–31G/B3LYP level. The results showed that ΔE along with lowest unoccupied molecular orbital and highest occupied molecular orbital electron density accounts for the electrical properties. Spectroscopic (1HNMR, FTIR) and elemental analysis were used for structural elucidation. Structure–property relation in term of WXRD, SEM-EDX, atomic force microscope, LLS, and thermal behavior was studied. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40698.


Code clones have a negative impact on software maintenance. Code clone detection on large-scale source code takes a long time, and even worse, such detections occasionally aborted due to too much target size. Herein, we consider that we detect cross-project code clones from a set of many projects. In such a detection situation, even if a project is updated, we need to detect cross-project code clones again from the whole of the projects if we simply use a clone detection tool. Therefore we need a new clone detection scheme that rapidly detects code clones from a set of many projects with incremental detection functionality. In this paper, we propose an approach that rapidly obtains code clones from many projects. Our approach includes a strategy of multi-stage code clone detection unlike other clone detection techniques: in the first-stage detection, code clones are detected from each of the projects, respectively; then in the second-stage detection, the code clones detected in the first-stage are unified by using our clone curation technique. This multistage detection strategy has a capability of incremental clone detection: if the source code of a project is updated, the first-stage detection is applied only to the project and then the second-stage curation is performed. We constructed a software system based on the proposed approach. At present, the system utilizes an existing detection tool, CCFinder. We have applied the system to the large-scale source code (12 million LoC) of 128 projects. We also detected clones from the target source code by simply using CCFinder and compared the detection time. As a result, the clone detection with our system was 17 times shorter than CCFinder's detection. We also compared detection time under an assumption that each project of the targets is updated once. The experimental results showed that our incremental clone detection shortened the detection time by 91% compared to non-incremental clone detection.


The best way to learn grantsmanship is through the process of actually writing a grant, under the guidance of an experienced researcher, says Kevin Peterson, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Family Practice and Community Health at the University of Minnesota. Dr Peterson, who has chalked


Introduction GaAs field effect transistors (FET's) are common in pre-amplifiers for array coils; in common source mode, they combine a low noise figure with a large ratio of optimal source impedance to input impedance, making them apparently ideal for use in current blocking. However, a poster at this conference in 2008 [1] warned of possible loss of gain and noise figure in magnetic fields. The warning is in accord with scattered publications [2-4 are representative] and D.I.H.'s experience with the first GaAs FET's [5] in 1975. Hall effect is the culprit. In constructing a Cartesian feedback instrument for use in high magnetic fields, we check all components in fields up to 7 T, and in measuring the gain of FET's routinely used in our institute, confirmed in fields greater than 2 T a dependence upon orientation. The dependence is a function of electron mobility and conductor length; thus one would expect silicon bipolar devices to function well to fields > 7 T, albeit with poorer noise figure. Now there is a "rule of thumb" that the greater the ratio of the cut-off frequency of any transistor to its operating frequency, the better the noise figure is likely to be provided flicker noise is inconsequential. We therefore investigated SiGe bipolar transistors for they can operate at frequencies as high as 40 GHz. We report here on the successful employment of Infineon BFP740 (transition frequency fT ~ 40 GHz) at 123 MHz, but anticipate that it will be useful over the entire MR frequency range. Methods Preamplifier: The transistor's scattering (S-) parameters were first characterised in common emitter mode up to 1.5 GHz, the limit of our network analyser, and then converted to transmission (ABCD) matrices for use with numerical optimisation tools in Mathematica [6]. At 123 MHz, the transconductance was 0.14–0.009i Ω –1 and resonance analysis gave an input impedance of 1.54 k Ω in parallel with 1.5 pF. An initial estimate of optimal source resistance was made with a simple singletransistor amplifier: the collector load to + 5 V was 50 Ω coupled to a commercial low noise amplifier, and base capacitance was tuned out with an inductor at 123 MHz. A.C. coupling was used on base and collector and care was taken to keep all trace lengths as short as possible. Various surface-mount resistances were then connected between the base and ground and the noise output measured as a function of resistance. The data were fitted to a standard model of transistor noise [7] and an optimal source resistance of 100 Ω was returned. (During later noise figure measurements with hot/cold sources, this value was found to be accurate.) Thus current blocking of 1.54 kΩ /100 Ω ~ 24 dB was anticipated. In progressing to trial amplifier designs, it became apparent that the transistor easily oscillated at frequencies far beyond the limits of our measuring equipment. This was inferred by the antiquated method of monitoring the collector current as a finger was pressed on various circuit parts. A small surface-mount capacitor (a few pF) connected as tightly as possible between collector and emitter in conjunction with resistive collector loading < 150 Ω cured the problem but it is stressed that trace inductances must be the absolute minimum possible. A shield that bisects the transistor is also advisable. Cartesian feedback demands minimal group delay, which negates the use of simple collector tank circuitry. Instead, a π-section network was used to couple to a low-noise PNP output transistor as shown in Fig. 1. Note that the biasing of the first transistor is passed through the network in a feedback configuration. Noise matching from a 50 Ω source was accomplished conventionally with variable capacitors C1and C2 and inductor L1. With the transistor removed and resistor R1 = 100 Ω temporarily in place, the capacitors were adjusted for an input impedance of 50 Ω. Resistor R1 was then removed, the transistor replaced and capacitor C1 replaced with a fixed value. Finally, the design was optimised in Mathematica for gain, flatness, bandwidth and stability using the Rollett stability criterion. Transmit/Receive Switch: The switch in Fig. 1 is a nominal quarter-wave design using low-loss semi-rigid 50 Ω cable and is designed to handle 300 W of RF power at 123 MHz. The line lengths shown are the results of simulation but did not need adjustment. When transmitting, all PIN diodes are conducting. When receiving signal, line 2 and PIN diodes P2 and P3 form a T-section attenuator that greatly reduces leakage of noise into the pre-amplifier. Set-up: Line 1: with P1 conducting or shorted and P2 removed, line 1 is adjusted for maximum impedance at the probe terminal. Line 2: with P1-P4 conducting and P5 reverse-biased, C3 is adjusted for maximum insertion loss from transmitter to probe; Line 3: with all diodes conducting C4 (high voltage) is adjusted for minimal insertion loss. Note that ordinary diodes are placed on the first transistor base for further power protection. For compactness, the lines were wrapped into coils – that coupled with switched field gradients! Each green ground connection in Fig. 1 was therefore actually four 1 nF capacitors in parallel with 22 Ω resistors. Finally, the switch and pre-amplifier were mounted in an internally copper-coated plastic case. The copper's thickness was adequate for RF screening but thin enough to give only minor eddy currents and torque. Results No observable field dependence at 7 T. Spot noise figure at 123 MHz: with T/R switch 0.7 dB, without 0.6 dB. Gain: 30 dB over 73 to 163 MHz (-3 dB). Group delay: 5.4 ns. Overload recovery: time constant = 2 μs, but with onset of first-transistor conduction, feedback hastens recovery. T/R switch: isolation ~65 dB, insertion loss: ~1 dB. Current blocking: probe dependent, 18 – 22 dB with T/R switch. Conclusion A suitable replacement for GaAs preamplifier FET's has been found. References 1. Possanzini C, Boutelje M: Abstract 1123, 2008 ISMRM. 2. Rumyantsev S et al., in Noise in Devices and Circuits II, ed. F. Danneville et al., Proc. SPIE 5470, 277–285, 2004. 3. Daw E, Bradley RF, J. Appl. Phys. 82, 1925, 1997. 4. Onodipe BO, Guvench MG: Proc. 8 Microelectronics Symposium-Cat.-No.89CH2769-8 1989: 215-18, IEEE, New York, NY, USA. 5. Hoult DI: Electron. Lett. 11, 596 7, 1975. 6. Wolfram Research, Inc., Mathematica 7.0, Champaign, IL (2008). 7. Motchenbacher CD, Fitchen FC: Low Noise Electronic Design, Wiley, New York, 1973. Figure 1. The circuit diagram of a magnetic-field-tolerant pre-amplifier and transmit/receive switch for 123 MHz.


With regard to the article 'Surgeons' fear of getting infected by COVID19: a global survey' by An and colleagues, COVID-19 has become a pandemic that has spread worldwide, with a death toll already exceeding 1.5 million associated casualties. As stated in the aforementioned survey, surgeons' fear of becoming infected in their work environment has affected their everyday practice, posing a major psychological burden for healthcare professionals. Lockdowns have been implemented in order to flatten the infection curve, whereas the development of COVID-19 vaccines represents the 'holy grail' for global health organizations. Interestingly enough, based on recent surveys, surgeons' fear does not imply willingness to be vaccinated, with a significant proportion of the surgical community facing the gigantic effort to set up global vaccination programmes with scepticism. In Greece, recent data indicate that only 40 per cent of healthcare professionals are willing to follow this path. Furthermore, based on our experience in the University Hospital of Patras, a strikingly lower percentage of surgical staff (22 per cent) will have the vaccine. It is obvious that unwillingness of the medical community to comply with WHO recommendations for vaccination may have deleterious effects on how non-medical professionals and other community members face global vaccination campaigns. Physicians' reluctance to get vaccinated might prejudice other people who do not work in healthcare facilities against new vaccines. As a consequence, low vaccination rates may pose significant risks on the numbers of infected people and virus-associated deaths, with a possible increase in COVID cases; this situation could be avoided if greater numbers of people were vaccinated. Among surgical personnel who are non-compliant with recommended vaccinations, many respondents expressed concerns regarding the safety of a rapidly developed vaccine. Additionally, we all have witnessed the promotion of conspiracy ideas about harmful effects of new vaccines and governmental efforts to include the world's population in a huge experiment, not only on social media but also on television programmes and in newspapers. Therefore, it is imperative for the scientific community and surgeons worldwide to withstand this conspiracy pandemic that may have detrimental effects on public health. This highlights the need for early educational campaigns by global or country-specific health institutions, specifically targeting medical personnel. Parallel to their everyday efforts to treat virus-infected patients, doctors must convince people about the beneficial effects of vaccination. Physicians should lead the world in the fight against the pandemic and new vaccines seem to be the sole weapon.


adulthood. Consequently, physicians who primarily treat adults should be aware of this diagnosis in their evaluation of young adults with chronic pulmonary or intestinal problems. Cystic fibrosis is inherited through an autosomal recessive gene for which analysis of sweat sodium or chloride, or both, is the key diagnostic test. A sweat chloride value (obtained by pilocarpine iontophoresis) over 60 mEq per liter usually is diagnostic of cystic fibrosis. Nasal polyposis, chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis, evidence of pancreatic insufficiency or a family history of cystic fibrosis in a sibling are all indications for carrying out a sweat test. Pancreatic and pulmonary manifestations need not both be present in a patient to warrant a workup for cystic fibrosis because many patients are seen with either one or the other of these major manifestations. The detection of heterozygous carriers of the cystic fibrosis gene still remains an important research problem, since genetic counseling depends on the availability of such a test. A,factor that causes ciliary dyskinesia with rabbit tracheal cultures or oyster gills can be detected in homozygous and heterozygous blood, but this has not been entirely reliable for detecting the carriers. Other procedures are being investigated; one method that shows promise detects the carrier state by showing an abnormal response of protein, B-glucuronidase or ribonucleic acid (RNA) methylation in cultured lymphocytes to a stimulus by phytohemagglutinin. Cystic fibrosis is a genetic model that may be the key for understanding the pathogenesis of various chronic lung diseases, including chronic bronchitis and bronchiectasis.


The effective transmitted intensity of LEED is calculated to show a strong damping of the incident beam inside a crystal under surface state resonance conditions, and is compared with recently reported current image diffraction (CID) patterns. Good agreement between the transmitted intensities and CID patterns have been obtained, which shows that CID patterns originate mainly from surface state resonances. This result implies that CID patterns should be sensitive to surface states of a crystal.


Using the symmetry group that was found in [1] and further studied in [2], in this work we study the partial differential equation of the Black-Scholes model [3] and relate such symmetries with the Mellin transform to find the price of an european like investment option. We also consider the Black-Schoes-Merton equation in the non-linear case that models investments in which volatility is a function of transaction cost.


With the huge number of Islamic resources that emerged over hundreds of years, several difficulties were introduced when searching in this huge heritage. This has challenged developers to build computer applications to facilitate information retrieval from Islamic Resources. One of these applications is Al-Shamelah Digital Library (ADL), Al-maktabah Al-Shamelah, which is a huge database containing thousands of books in different disciplines. The search facility offered by ADL is mainly based on keyword matching, and does not provide semantic interpretations of Islamic texts. It also does not handle complex queries or extract implicit relations and meanings from text. Driven by these challenges, this work presents OntoADL, a system that supports semantic search over a section of Al-Shamelah digital library. At the core of OntoADL is our approach that leverages ontology-based annotations to produce highly relevant search results and to offer recommendations of related topics. The design and architecture of OntoADL is discussed, focusing on how ontology-based reasoning can result in intelligent results that meet the user's interests. The search service in OntoADL was evaluated by being compared with the search service in the conventional ADL. The OntoADL achieved 83% recall and 66% precision while the ADL system achieved 70% recall and 36% precision.


If in Die Leiden des jungen Werthers of 1774 Goethe produced the ultimate sentimental text, he also provided the ultimate anti-sentimental text in Der Triumph der Empfindsamkeit. Eine dramatische Grille.1 Written between September and December of 1777, this play was first performed at the celebration of Duchess Luise's birthday in Weimar on January 30,1778, and first published in the collected works of 1787. Though no longer dismissed by critics as Gelegenheitsdichtung, the play tends to be interpreted biographically, as marking a stage in the development of Goethe's psyche or artistic sensibility, rather than being appreciated for the fascinating literary critique that it expresses.2 And indeed, as the richness of recent critics' readings attests, the biographical matrix of this text is quite compelling, as Goethe draws (perhaps both consciously and unconsciously) on his own emotional life and social circumstances to build this complicated comic text, a text in which he clearly distances himself from the literary movement of Empfindsamkeit and from the figure of Werther. Yet this play is not only a biographical document but also a complex and sophisticated engagement with the movement of sentimentalism, particularly that movement's conception of the relationship between the artistic realm and the empirical. As Werner Vordtriede postulated over fifty years ago, the play's central theme is indeed the difference between art and nature, but (contrary to his suggestion) that fact does not render sentimentalism merely the temporal garment of that eternal theme.3 In fact, the play engages the question of the difference between art and nature through its engagement with sentimentalism, a discourse that (for its critics) tends to forget that difference.4 The tendency to forget the difference between art and nature we might generally refer to as the quixotic problem.5 Der Triumph der Empfindsamkeit presents the sentimental Prince Oronaro as a disturbed, quasi-quixotic individual: Oronaro substitutes the literarily inspired products of his imagination for reality. Whereas the literature of sentimentalism, from Geliert's Das Leben der schwedischen Gräfin (1747/48) through La Roche's Geschichte des Fräuleins von Sternheim (1771) to Goethe's Leiden des jungen Werthers, constructs the sentimental individual as a sincere and emotional character type, the critique of Empfindsamkeit in general attempts to unmask


Samarium powder was applied as a catalyst for single electron transfer-living radical polymerization (SET-LRP) of acrylonitrile (AN) in 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP) with 2-bromopropionitrile as initiator and N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine as ligand. First-order kinetics of polymerization with respect to the monomer concentration, linear increase of the molecular weight with monomer conversion, and the highly syndiotactic polyacrylonitrile (PAN) obtained indicate that the SET-LRP of AN could simultaneously control molecular weight and tacticity of PAN. An increase in syndiotacticity of PAN obtained in HFIP was observed compared with that obtained by SET-LRP in N,-N-dimethylformamide (DMF). The syndiotacticity markedly increased with the HFIP volume. The syndiotacticity of PAN prepared by SET-LRP of AN using Sm powder as catalyst in DMF was higher than that prepared with Cu powder as catalyst. The increase in syndiotacticity of PAN with Sm content was more pronounced than the increase in its isotacticity. The block copolymer PAN-b-polymethyl methacrylate (52,310 molecular weight and 1.34 polydispersity) was successfully prepared. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011


In this study the author conducted an experimental test of adult third language (L3) acquisition whose results provide concrete and clear evidence for the Cumulative Enhancement Model (CEM; Flynn, Foley and Vinnitskaya, 2004). The main research questions examined in the present study were as follows: (1) whether L1 or L2 has a privileged role in L3 acquisition as to syntactic transfer, (2) what particular categories of the syntactic knowledge in Korean were acquired most and least easily by those with previous experience; (3) if age factor matters with respect to syntactic transfer in L3 acquisition, and lastly, (4) whether syntactic transfer is limited only to the initial state of L3 acquisition. The current study reports data from three experimental groups as follows: (Group A) L1 English/L2 Korean, (Group B) L1 English/L2 Japanese/L3 Korean, (Group C) L1 Japanese/L2 English/L3 Korean. All subjects were tested on their knowledge of 6 different types of syntactic categories (10 subcategories) of Korean by the elicited imitation methodology (Lust, Chien and Flynn, 1987; Lust, Flynn and Foley, 1996) with Korean sentences of varying types.


Organic electrolyte interlayer has been widely used in organic solar cells (OSCs). However, previous reports mainly focused on conventional OSCs despite with poor stability. In more stable inverted OSCs, the application of organic electrolyte interlayer is rarely reported and the device efficiency is low. Here, a simple nonconjugated small molecule electrolyte (SME), ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid tetrasodium (EDTA-4Na), is successfully introduced into inverted OSCs as a cathode interlayer, leading to a high efficiency of 9.69%. Besides efficiency, the device stability is also improved and almost 85% of the efficiency can be maintained even after storage of 46 days. More importantly, EDTA-4Na tremendously alleviates the hysteresis phenomenon happening in organic optoelectronic devices based on ionized interlayer. As a result, stabilized power output of ∼9.5% is obtained in OSCs with EDTA-4Na. These inspiring results prove that electrolytes with simple structure can also achieve excellent performance an...


. Corporate criminal responsibility theoretically puts corporation as a subject of criminal law that can be accounted for according to criminal law. This position has not yet been sufficiently understood and taken into account in formulating criminal provisions against corporations, prosecution and punishment of corporations in criminal justice practices. The current regulations have not yet discussed the criminal liability of corporations, especially related to the guidelines for criminalizing corporations. This absence affects the prosecution and punishment of corporations. This descriptive analytical research employed normative juridical approach as the main approach, followed with statutory approach. Data were primary, secondary and tertiary legal materials which were qualitatively and normatively analyzed in a complete and systematic manner. It is confirmed in this research that there is no clear regulation concerning corporate crime in Indonesia in the Criminal Code. Nevertheless, the possibility of corporations committing criminal acts has been disseminated in various laws outside the Criminal Code, including the Law concerning the Eradication of Corruption. The formulation of the regulation is not supported by adequate formal law, but the absence has been compensated with the issuance of Perma No. 13 of 2016 concerning Procedures for Handling Corporate Crime. Unfortunately, the Perma is not a statutory level with the law, making it improper if the formulation of corporate crime in the regulation was only supported by formal law which level is lower than the law. This issue can be completely addressed if the Perma is upgraded to law or registered into the Draft Criminal Procedure Code that will be immediately applied.


APOBEC3G (A3G) is a host cytidine deaminase that serves as a potent intrinsic inhibitor of retroviral replication. A3G is packaged into human immunodeficiency virus type 1 virions and deaminates deoxycytidine to deoxyuridine on nascent minus-strand retroviral cDNA, leading to hyper-deoxyguanine-to-deoxyadenine mutations on positive-strand cDNA and inhibition of viral replication. The antiviral activity of A3G is suppressed by Vif, a lentiviral accessory protein that prevents encapsidation of A3G. In this study, we identified dominant negative mutants of Vif that interfered with the ability of wild-type Vif to inhibit the encapsidation and antiviral activity of A3G. These mutants were nonfunctional due to mutations in the highly conserved HCCH and/or SOCS box motifs, which are required for assembly of a functional Cul5-E3 ubiquitin ligase complex. Similarly, mutation or deletion of a PPLP motif, which was previously reported to be important for Vif dimerization, induced a dominant negative phenotype. Expression of dominant negative Vif counteracted the Vif-induced reduction of intracellular A3G levels, presumably by preventing Vif-induced A3G degradation. Consequently, dominant


Livestock animal are important for agriculture economy and biomedical research. They are sources of Milk, meat, carcass, organic manure and other products. The development of genome editing technologies, especially CRISPR-Cas have revolutionized the generation of gene edited farm animals. In this review, we briefly introduce the CRISPR-Cas9 technology and highlight its application on livestock such as human disease modeling, disease resistant animal, and generation of hornless cattle, animal welfare and other agricultural and biomedical related traits which enhance the livestock production in order to meet the increasing demand of food worldwide. The ability to transfer sperm-producing stem cells or spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) from a donor animal into the testes of a recipient male could have multiple applications. Production of BLG free milk in cattle provides a promising way to those who have allergy to cow milk. The knockdown of myostatin gene in different species like Sheep, Goat, Cattle and pig is very helpful in the economy of meat industry. Besides the several benefits of CRISPR-Cas9 technology, the risk factors and ethics issues related to this technology should be reconsidered before they enter into CRISPR era.


This paper studies strong convergence of fixed points iteration process for the non-self mapping T:G(?)B,which is called the asymptotically weak contractive mapping, by using the brand-new generalized projection method and modified successive approximation methods or the modified Mann iterative sequence method in Banach spaces.


To reveal the economic utilization value of the alien invasive plant Mimosa bimucronata,the in vitro antibacterial activities extracts from this species were studied in this paper.Water extract and alcohol extract from all parts of the plant(stem,leaf,and fruit) were produced through microwave extraction.Disk diffusion method was used to screen the antibacterial activity of the extracts against 9 common pathogens.The results showed that extracts from each part of the Mimosa bimucronata had antibacterial effect on Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella paratyphi.Extracts from different parts of Mimosa bimucronata had different degrees of antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli,Klebsiella pneumoniae,Shigella sonnei,and Bacillus subtilis.The inhibitory zone,MIC and MBC of water extract from leaves are 11.99 mm,15.625 mg·mL-1and 31.25 mg·mL-1,respectively.And the antibacterial material of the water extract from leaves existed in ethyl acetate and n-butanol phase.


Upgrading (updating) pension payments is the process of adjusting their amount in accordance with the current parameters of the socio-economic development of society in proportion to accumulated social security rights and using the correct set of principles, indicators, benchmarks, standards and mechanisms. Too often, however, achieving and maintaining a desired level of income and standard of living for pensioners is considered only from the perspective of underlying social patterns, without considering the specifics of the accumulation and transformation of social rights in the actual pension payments. The purpose of this paper is to highlight some guidelines for improving the mechanism for updating pension payments in Bulgaria based on a comparative analysis of the practice of updating pensions in social security systems in some European countries.


This paper reviews some of the concerns raised in the recent report by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts in respect of the Australian Taxation Office's Taxpayer Audit Group. It examines the audit-based risk managmenet strategy being applied to two particular categories of business taxpayers and queries the validity of the concerns raised.


Aluminum tetracarboxyphthalocyanine is adsorbed onto silanized silica particles at different dye to particle ratios. Diffuse reflectance spectra are measured and the equilibrium between dye monomers and aggregates is studied. Between 4.0 × 10−8 and 2.0 × 10−6 mol of dye g−1 of support, a simple dimerization equilibrium explains experimental results. Fluorescence spectra and quantum yields are calculated and corrected for light absorption by non-fluorescent dimers and reabsorption of emitted radiation. Once corrected, fluorescence quantum yields are of the same order of magnitude than in solution. Absorption spectra are also obtained for suspensions of the same materials in water. The hydrophilic environment enhances aggregation dramatically. Singlet oxygen quantum yields measured in suspension are lower than those found for the same phthalocyanine in solution of DMSO. Results are compared
with those previously obtained for similar materials.


The objective of the paper is to point out the importance of cooperation between companies in order to facilitate their internationalization, based on the example of Slovak-foreign joint ventures and to present institutions supporting these partnerships. According to the survey, the majority of companies are satisfied with joint venture performance and plan to continue their cooperation. Motives linked to the foreign expansion are among the most important for the joint venture establishment.


Suspension culture of Taxus chinensis cells was carried out in aqueous‐organic two‐phase systems for the production and in situ solvent extraction of taxol (paclitaxel). Three organic solvents, hexadecane, decanol, and dibutylphthalate, were tested at 5−20% (v/v) in the culture liquid. All of these solvents stimulated taxol release and the yield per cell, though decanol and higher concentrations of the other two solvents depressed biomass growth significantly. Ten percent dibutylphthalate was the optimal solvent for improving taxol production and release with minimal cell growth inhibition. The time of solvent addition to the culture also affected taxol production, with the addition during the late‐log growth phase being most favorable. By feeding sucrose to the culture near the stationary growth phase, the cell growth and taxol production period was extended from 27 to 42 days. The combining of the two‐phase culture and sucrose feeding increased the taxol yield by about 6‐fold compared with the single‐phase batch culture, to 36.0 ± 3.5 mg/L, with up to 63% taxol released. This study shows that in situ solvent extraction combined with nutrient feeding is an effective process strategy for production and recovery of secondary metabolites in plant cell suspension culture.


Objective To explore the hidden cracked tooth in different period of treatment.Methods Selection 196 hidden crack tooth,dental hidden in accordance with different periods of pathological damage split into three groups.Group 1 hidden crack for early asymptomatic;Group 2 dentin allergies redquin appear attacker.Group of three for hidden crack late already appeared pulpitis symptom person.Group 1 using implicit crack place for grooved closed and move tooth close;Groups of two innings hemp downlink teeth and preparation,production sticky wear crowns,and finally temporary live pulp save full crown prosthesis.Group of three for hidden crack late already appeared pulp lesions apply make sticky wear temporary crowns,and root canal treatments after full crown prosthesis.Results After treatment four years of follow-up display: group 1 and group 2,group of three compared difference were statistically significant(P0.05).Group 2 with group of three than difference has no statistically significant(P0.05).Conclusions For different period of tooth hidden crack,should be early detection,timely sticky and wear temporary champions,and eventually full crown temporary restoratis kept alive with tooth and function pith preservation keep treatment with a safe and scientific method.


The notion of a creative class has been used to shape public policies promoting urban growth by building infrastructures and developing amenities (...)


Geometric programming problems are well-known in mathematical modeling. They are broadly used in diverse practical fields that are contemplated through an appropriate methodology. In this paper, a multi-parametric vector α is proposed for approaching the highest decision maker satisfaction. Hitherto, the simple parameter α , which has a scalar role, has been considered in the problem. The parameter α is a vector whose range is within the region of the satisfaction area. Conventionally, it is assumed that the decision maker is sure about the parameters, but, in reality, it is mostly hesitant about them, so the parameters are presented in fuzzy numbers. In this method, the decision maker can attain different satisfaction levels in each constraint, and even full satisfaction can be reached in some constraints. The goal is to find the highest satisfaction degree to maintain an optimal solution. Moreover, the objective function is turned into a constraint, i.e., one more dimension is added to n-dimensional multi-parametric α . Thus, the fuzzy geometric programming problem under this multi-parametric vector α ∈ ( 0 , 1 ] n + 1 gives a maximum satisfaction level to the decision maker. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the proposed method and the superiority of this multi-parametric α over the simple one.


(1981). Association between mineralization and zones of deep-seated faults in the Soviet Northeast. International Geology Review: Vol. 23, No. 11, pp. 1275-1281.


Under the new situation,the task and the claim of land change increasing constantly,the means strengthening constantly,the question of Time and heavy task need to be resolved on the current land use change investigating.To solve these problems,a new technical processes for dynamically changing is proposed in this paper,through in-depth study of land planning and implementation,comprehensive land management,cadastral management,farmland protection,law enforcement and other business and relationships,around five issues of " timely detection,rapid investigation,continuously updated,truthful reporting,sharing",supported by 3S technology,network technology,database technology,proposes the new ideas which based on the result of The second national land survey,detect changes from the land management business internally and to driving continuous dynamic change in routine of Land use information.Then,take Chengdu for example,carry out the applied research of Land use information dynamically changing which based on 3S technology in practical work,achieve the target of land use information's " a map with multi-purpose",and analyzed the results.


We predict that robust routing of slow-light pulses is possible between antisymmetrically coupled photonic-crystal waveguides. We demonstrate that for all pulses with the group velocities varying by several orders of magnitude, the complete switching occurs at the fixed coupling length of just several unit cells of the photonic crystal.


The utility model belongs to an automatic calibrating device for a volumetric method automatic water meter. The utility model has the technical characteristic that a workbench is fixedly provided with a supporting frame on which photoelectric sensors corresponding to all meters to be calibrated are arranged; an electromagnetic valve and a pipeline commutator are sequentially and respectively installed between a rotameter and a standard volume tank; a liquid level sensor is installed in the standard volume tank. The utility model can automatically control the calibrating apparatus by a computer, and adopts the photoelectric sensors to collect the data of the meters to be calibrated or obtain the data of magnetic transmission water meters to be calibrated by conversion interfaces, and the calibration of the meters can realize the automatic intelligent management. The utility model is suitable for the calibration of the flow data of various water meters, the error caused by manual control can be avoided, and the efficiency is high.


Evolution with mass segregation and the evolution of the rotation of cores are both discussed for self-similar core collapse. Evolution with angular velocity proportional to the square root of the density is predicted. On the Dynamical Main Sequence of globular clusters the energy emission from binaries balances the energy expended in expanding the halo.
Newton's exactly solved N-body problem is then given, along with recent generalisations, all of which have no violent relaxation, but a new type of statistical equilibrium is discussed.
Finally, we set the creation of streams in the Galaxy's halo in the historical context of their discovery.


Noise figure reduction of an erbium-doped fiber amplifier using loop mirror filter is demonstrated. Approximately 0.5-dB noise figure reduction is achieved at input signal power level below - 30dBm. Transferring energy from the amplifier spontaneous emission to the input signal compensates for the insertion loss of the loop mirror filter device. The insertion loss of the device approximately 1 dB.


Objective: To study the expression and significance of midkine in periodontitis.Methods: Immunohistochemistry and Western-blotting analysis for PTN were performed on 50 male Wistar rats which wered divided into inflammation group,recovered group and control group.Results: The positive products(brown-yellow grains) of PTN lied in the cytoplasm of gingival epithelium,gingival sulcus epithelium and junctional epithelium cells and occasionally in the nucleus of cells.Positive products expressed major in the spinous cell layer and granular cell layer in the inflammation group,and the expressions were weak-strong and mid-strong positive.Positive products expressed major in the spinous cell layer and basilar cell layer in the recovered group,and the expressions were mid-strong and strong positive.The expression was less in the control group.Western-blotting half-quantity analysis: there were obvious statistical significance between the inflammation group and the recovered group(P0.01).The result of immunohistochemistry was the same to the result of Western-blotting(P0.05).Conclusion: PTN has the functions of bringing about inflammation and promoting the injured tissue to recover.The function of recovery was more remarkable.


We consider the identifiability and stable numerical estimation of multiple parameters in a Cahn–Hilliard model for phase separation. Spatially resolved measurements of the phase fraction are assumed to be accessible, with which the identifiability of single and multiple parameters up to certain scaling invariances is established. A regularized equation error approach is proposed for the stable numerical solution of the parameter identification problems, and convergence of the regularized approximations is proven under reasonable assumptions on the data noise. The viability of the theoretical results and the proposed methods is demonstrated in numerical tests.


Lateral motion of the ultrasound probe could result in estimation errors in vertical displacement of tissues of interest obtained from M-mode ultrasound measurements. In this paper, the effect of lateral probe motion on the measurement accuracy of internal displacement is examined by means of numerical and phantom simulations. The displacement was obtained by tracking the speckle echoes with a phase sensitive method. The simulation results show that the phase estimation errors increases with the lateral probe motion greater than 10 μm per consecutive M-mode frames with the presented conditions employed. The error is also greater with the poorer signal-to-noise ratio of the speckle echoes. The moving average filter has been shown to be effective to reduce phase estimation errors due to random noise in acquired ultrasonic signals.


Developing advanced three‐dimensional (3D) structural supercapacitors with both high capacity and good mechanical strength remains challenging. Herein, a novel road is reported for fabricating 3D structural strengthening supercapacitors with adjustable capacitance based on urchin‐like Cu(OH)2 lattice electrodes by bridging 3D printing technology with a facile electroless plating and electro‐oxidation method. As revealed by the results, the 3D‐printed octet‐truss lattice electrode features a high volumetric capacitance of 8.46 F cm−3 at 5 mA cm−3 and superior retention capacity of 68% at 1 A cm−3. The assembled symmetric supercapacitor with a 70.2% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles possesses a 12.8 Wh kg−1 energy density at a power density of 2110.2 W kg−1. Additionally, the resulting 3D structural strengthening electrodes can achieve both high compressive strength and toughness of 30 MPa and 264.7 kJ m−3, respectively, demonstrating high mechanical strength and excellent antideformation capacity. With the proposed strategy, the electrochemical and mechanical properties of these novel 3D structural strengthened supercapacitors can be easily tuned by a simple spatial framework design, fulfilling the increasing demand of highly customized power sources in the space‐constrained microelectronics and astronautic electronics industries.


L AND REFORM is one of the cornerstones of agricultural policy in most underdeveloped countries. These reform programs or proposals usually have three basic objectives-mixed in different combinations depending upon political and historical circumstances. These are: (1) turning over ownership and management of the farms to those who actually "till the soil," (2) dividing up large holdings into smaller, more evenly distributed holdings, and (3) combining small operational units into larger, group units -i.e., "co-operative farms," "collective farms," "paysannat," "state farms." Even cursory examination of these objectives will show that they may be-and in many cases are-in conflict with each other. Steps taken to implement one objective may very effectively counteract steps taken to implement another. For example, many of the farms which could best serve as examples of realizations of objective one, i.e., farms fully managed and operated by the owner and his family, exceed the acreage ceiling and so would be broken up in effecting objective two. Furthermore, the achieving of objective three almost inevitably involves surrender, or at least radical change in the character, of objectives one and two. Paradoxically, local protagonists of "land reform" usually support all three objectives, while opponents resist all three. This testifies to the fact that progress on such reform has not been far enough to bring their divergencies into active conflict with each other.


Lakhan et al.1 should be praised for their account of the role of electronic media in neurology education. They balanced the progress with the pitfalls, which is always both welcome and wise. However, the article does not quite do justice to the myriad types of e-learning resources that are available, the roles that they can play, and the speed of change in this area. In the past, it may …


This article attempts to relate two important issues of regulating building height limit and sustainability of the natural environment. It is part of publications that document findings resulted from the so called fundamental research study, that was consecutively funded by the Indonesian Department of Education in 2008 and 2009. This study used hermeneutical research approach, which was observed through selective case studies. Within the last two decades, sustainability of our nature and life on earth have attracted a serious attention, not only from environmentalists, but also from economists, politicians, academics, as well as those who concern about socio-cultural development as a whole. In line with the intense environmental destruction\'s taking place in a speed which has never been anticipated, this aforementioned condition continues to require intensive actions. Architecture and regional planning, two disciplines that dedicate their focus of interests on building design and the management of spatial development, cannot turn their eyes away from such a world-widely spread phenomenon. Both disciplines utilize space – nature –, which consequently bring about impacts on the surrounding environment. In relation to local development, planning discipline especially, orients its activities toward developing various mechanisms in guiding and controlling development, as well as sanctioning violations of planning laws. Ideally, these attributes aim at balancing spatial need of numerous interests, mitigating potential negative impacts on the environments, and offering solutions in overcoming problems and conflicts. Contextualizing its discussions within the above circumstances, this article investigates three prominent topics of discussion. First, it examines the idea of development and sustainability. Second, it studies the implementation of sustainability to the context of spatial development. Third, it bridges the first and second sections with the issue of building height limit regulation at a global level. Before embarking on discussion over these three elements, this article draws an emphasis on the inextricable correlations between sustainable development, spatial development, and building height. Overall, this article critically summaries considerations and efforts in sustaining our life on earth by appropriately addressing considerations of either limiting or relaxing building height limit in a particular planned area.


Abstract Altered consciousness is a common problem encountered in the pediatric emergency department. Modified Glasgow coma scale (MGCS) has been widely used in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) for assessing the level of consciousness in children with various illnesses. To compare utility of alert verbal painful unresponsive (AVPU) scale and MGCS for assessing level of consciousness of critically ill patients admitted to PICU. A prospective observational study was conducted at Acharya Vinoba Bhave Rural Hospital in Maharashtra, India on children above the age of 30 days admitted to the PICU from September 2018 to August 2019, fulfilling the inclusion criteria, after obtaining informed consent from the parents. Level of consciousness of the enrolled patients was assessed using the AVPU scale and MGCS. One-way analysis of variance technique was used for data analysis. A total of 74 children were included in the study. A good correlation was observed between the two scales and mean MGCS score of 13.8 (13–15), 11.3 (11–12), 8.09 (7–9), and 3 corresponded to A, V, P, and U, respectively. AVPU scale was comparable to MGCS in assessing level of consciousness in children admitted to PICU. AVPU can be used for initial evaluation of level of consciousness in children presenting with altered consciousness. More detailed MGCS can be used to assess the improvement over time and to decide further treatment strategy.


The experiment using gray situation decision method was carried on a comprehensive evaluation of the biology charicteristics of 16 corn varieties.The results showed that the yield and biology characteristics of Gold fringe 2009,Yedan 19,Wuhe No.1 etc.which are in line with the results of their arrange order with adding power gray connection method.The experiments showed in the mean time that these 7 varieties adapt to grow in Yellow River irrigation area of Ningxia,and they can become the head selection cultivation varieties.


A series of geological surveys were completed in six coal mines in connection with a Bureau of Mines research program on methane control. The aim of these surveys was twofold: First, to study the overall geology of the coalbed, and second, to use the resulting data to evaluate the influence of the geological characteristics of the coalbed on safe and efficient coal extraction. This report explains the advantages of geologic maps and fence diagrams in coal mining and how the knowledge gained from such geologic investigations of mines can help control many underground problems.


The extraction behaviour of ~(95)Zr with TBP-Kerosene irradiated by variousgamma doses (10~2--10~6Gy) is investigated. The distribution coefficient of ~(95)Zr andretentive percentages of ~(95)Zr in organic phase after scrubbing by 0.01 mol/1 HNO_3and 5% Na_2 CO_3 solution are determined. The TBP-Kerosene used in these tests ispre-equilibrated with various HNO_3 solution(0.5--5 mol/1) before irradiation. Theexperimental results show that the distribution coefficient of ~(95)Zr and retained~(95)Zr in scrubbed organic phase increase as doses and concentration of HNO_3increase. At doses5×10~4 Gy, the extraction of ~(95)Zr sharply increase with doses.At doses10~5Gy, ~(95)Zr in the orgenic phase is difficulty stripped by 5% Na_2CO_3solution and emulsion is easily formed. At doses 2×10~6Gy and HNO_3≥3 mol/1,the retentive percentage of ~(95)Zr is 95%. Effect of seven degradation products added to 30% TBP-Kerosene on the extrac-tion and retention of ~(95)Zr are researched. The results indicate that the distributioncoefficients of ~(95)Zr with long chain monoalkylphosphate and hydroxamic acid arelarger than other compounds. When the organic phase is scrubbed with 5%Na_2 CO_3solution, the long chain monoalkylphosphate easily causes emulsion. But thehydroxamic acid is more difficultly scrubbed than long chain monoalkylphosphate by 5% Na_2 CO_3 solution.


Sea-ice segmentation is of great importance for environmental research, ship navigation, and ice hazard forecasting. Remote sensing (RS) images have been a unique data source for rapid and large-scale sea-ice monitoring. The 2021 Gaofen Challenge has offered a track of sea-ice segmentation based on optical RS images. For the initial competition, our team ranked 3rd place (deepjoker) in the accuracy leaderboard and the solution has been the most efficient algorithm to achieve a segmentation score above 97.79%. In this article, we briefly introduce our three strategies of the achievement including: 1) decoding the partial pretrained networks which can simultaneously capture the complex boundaries of sea ices and decrease the computational cost without the performance drop; 2) employing the classwise Dice loss for solving the gradient vanishing problem when most ground-truth maps are backgrounds; and 3) replacing the commonly exploited decoder with the one proposed by Silva et al. (2021). The main contributions are twofold: 1) an efficient and effective sea-ice segmentation method is proposed and 2) the gradient vanishing problem of binary Dice loss is investigated under some scenarios and solved by introducing its classwise version. Comparison and ablation experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method with respect to other commonly adopted deep segmentation models.


The methodology of discrete-event simulation provides a promising alternative solution to designing and analyzing dynamic, complicated, and interactive construction systems. In this paper, an attempt is made to extend the previous work of simplifying construction simulation by delving into the fundamental approaches for discrete-event simulation. A new simplified discrete-event simulation approach (SDESA) is presented through extracting the constructive features from the existing event/activity-based simulation methods; both the algorithm and the model structure of simulation are streamlined such that simulating construction systems is made as easy as applying the critical path method (CPM). Two applications based on real road construction projects in Hong Kong serve as case studies to illustrate the methodology of simulation modeling with SDESA and reveal the simplicity and effectiveness of SDESA in modeling complex construction systems and achieving the preset objectives of such modeling. They are a granular base-course construction system featuring both cyclic and linear processes and an asphalt paving construction system with complicated technological/logical constraints. As a general-purpose method for construction planning, SDESA enables practitioners to deal with what the CPM-based network analysis method fails to solve by offering discrete-event simulation capabilities. Furthermore, the SDESA can potentially be adapted to special-purpose simulation tools to tackle large and complicated construction systems of practical size that have yet to find convenient solutions with existing simulation methods.


The main hydrophysical characteristic (MHC) and hydrochemical parameters (interval of miscibility, exclusive water content) for a typical and southern heavy loamy chernozems, the latter with secondary hydromorphism, have been obtained in laboratory and terrain experiments on plots with 0.03 N calcium chloride solution application. Introduction of these data into forecasting models of water and salts transport alongside with the comparison with data of independent water and salt regimes investigations in vivo showed that a reliable parametrization, adaptation, and use of forecasting models for areas exceeding few square meters are possible only after a field model experiment describing the dynamics in consecutive layers for moisture, moisture pressure, boundary conditions in the solum, and labeled ion concentration (Cl - ). Laboratory methods to obtain MHC, filtration experiments, and the analysis of the breakthrough curve are thought to be nothing more than the initial quantitative information providing for the experimental background of moisture and salts transfer in soils.


This paper examines how educated Papua New Guinean youth perceive the West, and the influence that the media has on this perception.

There are hundreds of different cultural groups throughout Papua New Guinea. The educated youth studied in this paper come from across the country. They stem from a wide range of geographical and cultural settings. University students are the primary research subjects as these are the educated, privileged young people who will most likely move into positions of influence. Given this group's comparative educational advantage, this paper assesses their level of knowledge about international events and systems.

This paper examines the young people's perspectives on the West by focusing on two cases: the United States of America, and Australia. In particular, the war in Iraq is examined, as this is a high profile international news event from the perspective of Western media organisations, in order to provide specific insights into the dominant ideologies, philosophies and perceptions shared by the students.


A BASIC DESCRIPTION OF PATENT CITATION cycles is provided for 1,100 major companies and organizations covered by the TECH-LINEsM database. The average U.S. patent has five to six "references cited- U.S. patent documents." The properties of these patent citations are shown to vary widely from one technology to another. For example, patents in Office Computing and Accounting, a relatively hot area, are cited almost three times as frequently as patents in Organic Chemicals, a less active area of patenting. Similarly, technology cycle times vary widely-from five to six years in fast moving electronics areas to twelve to fifteen years in some of the slow moving areas of mechanical technology. Citations to earlier patents peak at patents three to five years old, rather similar to the peak citation time for scientific literature. Since these citation peaks and cycle times are relatively short, and represent the difference between current art and prior art, this indicates, in one sense, that the technological lifetime of an invention may be much shorter than its legal and commercial life times.


Using an SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the contractile protein contents were examined in the animal model of dilated ureter and human dilated ureters. In the animal model, the amounts of contractile proteins were measured in both the ureteral tissue and the ureteral muscle coat. In the tissue the myosin and actin contents were inconsistent with histological findings of the rabbit dilated ureters. Compared with the rabbit normal ureters, the contractile protein contents of the muscle coat showed no change in the dilated ureters. These findings were consistent with the results that in the dilated ureters the maximum active stress per muscle unit area was the same as that in the normal ureters. Based on these results obtained from the animal experiments, the contractile protein contents of the human ureters were examined only in the muscle coat. In 12 human normal ureters, the amounts of the contractile proteins were fairly constant (myosin: 6. 33+ 1. 07 mg/g, actin: 7. 08+ 1. 17 mg/g) while in 12 dilated ureters they showed a great variation. Based on the actomyosin content (myosin plus actin contents), all dilated ureters could be classified into the three groups: the high, normal and low content groups. The histological finding of the high content group showed muscle hypertrophy. This group also showed a significant increase in both the myosin and actin contents per one smooth muscle cell, indicating an increase in the contractile strength of the dilated ureter. In the low content group, muscle atrophy was observed histologically and the cellular amounts of contractile proteins were significantly decreased, suggesting a complete loss of ureteral contractility. Regarding the normal content group, the cellular contractile protein contents were almost the same as the normal ureter. Although cellular ability to contract was not so impaired in this group, the contractility of the whole ureter seemed to be decreased because collagen proliferation was observed around muscle cells. It seems from these results that the contractile protein measurement is a usefull method for predicting the contractility of the dilated ureter.


The traditional approach of student attendance monitoring system in Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia is slow and disruptive. As a solution, biometric verification based on face recognition for student attendance monitoring was presented. The face recognition system consisted of five main stages. Firstly, face images under various conditions were acquired. Next, face detection was performed using the Viola Jones algorithm to detect the face in the original image. The original image was minimized and transformed into grayscale for faster computation. Histogram techniques of oriented gradients was applied to extract the features from the grayscale images, followed by the principal component analysis (PCA) in dimension reduction stage. Face recognition, the last stage of the entire system, using support vector machine (SVM) as classifier. The development of a graphical user interface for student attendance monitoring was also involved. The highest face recognition accuracy of 62% was achieved. The obtained results are less promising which warrants further analysis and improvement.


We carry out quantum and semiclassical numerical simulations of the dynamics, particularly diffusion, of atoms in an optical lattice. We consider specifically the situation of a $J=1/2\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}J=3/2$ atomic transition, whose experimental counterpart can be realized in ${\mathrm{Mg}}^{+}$ experiments. The semiclassical results, which cover a larger range of parameters than would be practical for fully quantum calculations, confirm and extend the work of Marksteiner et al. [Phys. Rev. A 53, 3409 (1996)], characterize the transition from normal to anomalous diffusion and the atomic trajectories which give rise to it, and provide a physical explanation for the difference between these two regimes. The full quantum calculations reveal uniquely quantum features of individual atomic trajectories, and in addition, predict significantly lower diffusion, by a factor of 1.2 to 2, than their semiclassical counterparts.


ion to the point of irrelevance. Business however is not perfect. Nor should it be. Equally so, neither should a theory of business ethics. The most significant criticism to the thesis presented in this paper is the risk of inconsistency due to the combination of normative theoretical accounts of business ethics. Would such a set of requirements result in inconsistency however? Consider a demand is placed on our CEO to make a budget while adhering to a corporate value system that promotes ethical business practice. Now consider that selling the product is not possible due to a lack of interest by customers at the current selling price and the CEO will forego a bonus she was to use to take her family on a long-promised vacation. Is it conceivable in such an example that in a stakeholder model of business, within a contractualist paradigm that is contextualised in virtue ethics, unethical business practice may still transpire? In theoretical terms, and precluding criminal intent, it is difficult to imagine how this would be possible. To be sure the CEO may be tempted to a selfish act, for example by the interests of her family, such that another stakeholder's entitlement claim is harmed. Stakeholder theory however would restrain self-interest by ensuring that all interests are regarded in egalitarian terms and, where there is conflict, it is the role of management to frame the issue in a contractualist paradigm that ensures, through a process of justification, that acceptance, or at least non-rejectability, is possible. Virtue theory neutralises the deficiencies inherent within both stakeholder and contractualist theory ensuring the accommodation of the CEO, the act and the outcome. And the


Objective Understanding the social representation of breast cancer and how it has influenced breast cancer prevention and self-care practice in a group of women from the city of Medellin. Methods This was a qualitative study using 19 semi-structur ed interviews with adult females who had not had breast cancer, using maximum variation criterion as sampling technique. The analysis was orientated by grounded theory.


Fig. 1. Palatal view of the skull of Echidna. A.l.p. alisphenoid lamina of the periotic bone; Boc. basioccipital bone; B.8ph. basisphenoid bone; ERpt. echidna-pterygoid; REpt. 1, E.pt. 2 echidna-pterygoid with the outer table of the bone and the tympanic component removed (1, the portion of the bone which contributes to the cranial floor; 2, the portion fastened to the venter of the periotic, and suturing with the basisphenoid, basioccipital, pterygoid and palatine bones); F.ov. foremen ovale; Pal. palatine bone, cut away on the right side of the skull to show the position of the pterygoid; P.al. processus alaris; Pt. pterygoid bone.


The present invention relates to a bicycle control device comprises a mounting member coupled to a bicycle, the control unit mounted on the mounting member, and is detachably mounted to the battery cell above the control unit.


Purpose – Of the unintentional injuries sustained by 20‐25 year old Asians, one‐third have been attributed to road traffic crashes. This study seeks to examine stakeholders' perceptions of Asian youth injury prevention behaviours in Auckland, New Zealand.Design/methodology/approach – Information was collected through face‐to‐face individual interviews, with key stakeholders who were aware of youth injury prevention and road traffic safety issues. Analysis used the statements of the discussants as the basis of describing the findings.Findings – Risk‐taking behaviours, environment, and individual variations in attitudes influence the occurrence of injuries among Asian migrant students. Domestic injuries of students from affluent backgrounds were linked to their inexperience in domestic or kitchen work. Injuries also resulted from unprovoked race‐related street assaults by locals. Road traffic injuries may be attributed to the driving quality of some Asian youths and are influenced by traffic orientations of...


pen access to information is animportant and relevant discussionin the field of library andinformation science. Open access (OA)publication refers to the free availability ofscholarly literature without any accessrestrictions or fees. Currently there are twomodels of open access publishing – the"gold road" and the "green road." In thegold road to open access, the publicationmodel is drastically changed. Either theauthor must pay for publication orpublication costs must be covered by grantsor institutional contributions. Green-roadopen access follows the traditionalsubscription-based publication model, butallows authors to make their articles freelyavailable by self-archiving or by contributingthem to their institutional repository. In2008 the


This study aims to examine the determination of the disclosure of carbon emissions in companies in Indonesia. The population in this study were companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for the period 2017 – 2019. The sampling technique was carried out using the purposive sampling method and resulted in 26 samples of companies. Hypothesis testing in this study is multiple linear regression. Based on multiple linear regression analysis and t-test shows that competition, type of industry, environmental performance and institutional ownership affect the disclosure of carbon emissions, while for profit growth, managerial ownership, company size and profitability do not affect the disclosure of carbon emissions.

Keywords: Disclosure of Carbon Emissions, Profit Growth, Competition, Type of Industry, Environmental Performance, Managerial Ownership, Institutional Ownership, Company Size, Profitability


The causative agent of Legionnaires' disease, Legionella pneumophila, governs interactions with host cells by secreting ca. 330 different "effector" proteins. The facultative intracellular bacteria replicate in macrophages and amoeba within a unique compartment, the Legionella- containing vacuole (LCV). Hallmarks of LCV formation are the phosphoinositide (PI) lipid conversion from PtdIns(3)P to PtdIns(4)P, fusion with endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-derived vesicles and a tight association with the ER. Proteomics of purified LCVs revealed the presence of membrane contact sites (MCS) proteins implicated in lipid exchange. Using dually fluorescence-labeled Dictyostelium discoideum amoeba, we reveal that the VAMP- associated protein (Vap), the PtdIns(4)P 4-phosphatase Sac1, and the large fusion GTPase Sey1/atlastin-3 localize to the ER, but not to the LCV membrane, and that these ER-resident proteins promote intracellular replication of L. pneumophila and LCV remodeling. Moreover, oxysterol binding proteins (OSBPs) preferentially localize to the ER (OSBP8) or the LCV membrane (OSBP11), respectively, and promote (OSBP8) or restrict (OSBP11) intracellular replication of L. pneumophila and LCV expansion. Furthermore, the PtdIns(4)P-subverting L. pneumophila effectors LepB and SidC also promote LCV remodeling. Taken together, the Legionella- and host cell-driven PtdIns(4)P gradient at LCV-ER MCSs promotes Vap-, OSBP- and Sac1-dependent pathogen vacuole remodeling.


While understanding the long-term slip rate of active normal faults is essential for the comprehensive assessment of seismic activity, it is difficult due to the absence of age control in the erosional bedrock region. The preserved sequence of wave-cut platforms in granite allows exploration of the long-term slip rate in the footwall of some normal faults. We investigated wave-cut platforms in the southern Pearl River Delta (PRD), a coastal delta transected by the seismically active Littoral Fault Zone (LFZ) in the northern South China Sea, to derive slip rates and their impacts on the seismic hazard potential. We mapped a flight of four wave-cut platforms (T1–T4), dated the T2 and T4 platforms by 10Be cosmogenic nuclide dating, and used the absolute age to correlate the un-dated platform to global sea-level highstands. Our results allocate the ages of 128 ka, 197 ka, and 239 ka to the upper three wave-cut platforms and yield temporally various uplift rates ranging from 0.30 to 0.38 mm/a during 239–128 ka to 0.09 mm/a since 128 ka. A decrease in the uplift rate, which coincided with a decreased subsidence rate within the PRD in previous work, implied a weakened differential uplift onshore of the LFZ system. Our findings infer that the transgression event occurred as early as marine isotope stage (MIS) 7 in the PRD, consistent with the view that Pleistocene sedimentation began in MIS 5 or earlier in the PRD.


In the context of information extraction, a person's name is one of the important named entities to be extracted which are applied to the question-answering and summarizing tasks. However, the boundary of a person's name is still ambiguous since there are several writing patterns of a person's name from online public data sources such as news, events, and researcher corpora. To extract, identify, and unify the person's name, discovering the name prefix can be applied as clue words or phrases to such processes. In this paper, the name prefix discovering framework is proposed for collecting the integrated researcher corpus from various data sources and extracting name prefix patterns. Four main functions of the proposed framework are collecting data from data sources, tagging entities, preprocessing the researcher's names, and finding the pattern of the personal name prefix. In this work, six data sources are gathered and ten entities related to the research domain are focused. The preprocessing data uses three sub-processes to provide the researcher's name. The result shows that the 408 personal name prefixes are extracted. Moreover, the API development for extracting a person or researcher's name is implemented using a Flask Python framework. The output of this work can be used to support the researcher's name identification from the integrated researcher corpus.


We consider the task of suggesting related queries to users after they issue their initial query to a web search engine. We propose a machine learning approach to learn the probability that a user may find a follow-up query both useful and relevant, given his initial query. Our approach is based on a machine learning model which enables us to generalize to queries that have never occurred in the logs as well. The model is trained on co-occurrences mined from the search logs, with novel utility and relevance models, and the machine learning step is done without any labeled data by human judges. The learning step allows us to generalize from the past observations and generate query suggestions that are beyond the past co-occurred queries. This brings significant gains in coverage while yielding modest gains in relevance. Both offline (based on human judges) and online (based on millions of user interactions) evaluations demonstrate that our approach significantly outperforms strong baselines.


A year before his untimely death in 1980, in the days before the internet, before /■ even the minitel bleu or rose, Roland Barthes compared the personals at that time still print-basedof two popular French dailies. On the one hand, the advertisements in Le Nouvel Observateur belied artifice, he noted. The information their writers shared publicly with potential mates revealed a certain banal artificiality. Despite the obvious effort the creators of the ads had put into catching the eye of possible matches, in spite of the care with which they had weighed the words before ultimately selecting them and the metaphors underpinning the printed communication for inclusion in the classified section, in the eyes of France's foremost semiotician at the time, a characteristic anthropomorphism all too often functioned as a euphemistic code that got in the way so much so that it made reading these personals awkward. As a result, Barthes saw in them "une espece de redaction enjouee, a pretention spirituelle, avec des metaphores un peu sophistiquees, en meme temps qui sont toujours les memes [....]" ("Mes petites annonces" [111:1092]). On the other hand, more natural than the ads placed for instance in Le Nouvel Observateur by the likes of wolves wistfully yearning for youthful pussycats ("Jeune loup cherche jeune chatte..."), were those published in the pages of Liberation. They were for Barthes eminently more readable than the ads of Le Nouvel Observateur. They were even more enjoyable to read if considered in sequence, if perused one after the other as part of a larger whole. Moreover, they were in their earnest simplicity their near clumsiness also decidedly original, if not quite modem. To read through the personals of Liberation was, Barthes suggested, not only to experience great pleasure but also to piece together, to link the disparate parts of an exemplary novel that had been split apart in a literary big bang. It was to experience the renewal of a genre:


Pedestrian detection is an important part of assisted driving and automatic driving. This paper proposes a pedestrian detection method based on improved SSD (Single Shot MultiBox Dectector) algorithm for the problem of the detection accuracy in pedestrian test tasks. We reconstructed the feature extraction network of the SSD model. The MobileNet and ResNet (Residual Network) were used as the basic network of SSD to build the SSD model and improve the detection capability of the algorithm. We conducted experiments on public pedestrian detection data sets. The results were evaluated using mAP and FPS. The experimental results show that the mAP of the SSD algorithm after introducing the residual network reaches 85.00%, which is 11.92% higher than the original SSD algorithm, and the FPS reaches 39.31%, which effectively improves the accuracy and speed of pedestrian detection.


LetXk={a1, a2, …, ak},k>1, be a subset of N such that gcd(Xk)=1. We shall say that a natural numbernisdependent(onXk) if there are nonnegative integersxisuch thatnhas a representationn=∑ki=1 xiai, elseindependent. The Frobenius numberg(Xk) ofXkis the greatest integer withnosuch representation. Selmer has raised the problem of extendingXkwithout changing the value ofg. He showed that under certain conditions it is possible to add an elementc=a+kdto the arithmetic sequencea,a+d,a+2d, …, a+(k−1) d, gcd(a, d)=1, without alteringg. In this paper, we give the setCof all independent numberscsatisfyingg(A, c)=g(A), whereAcontains the elements of the arithmetic sequence. Moreover, ifa>kthen we give as an application, a setBof maximal cardinality such thatg(A, B)=g(A) and each element ofA∪Bis independent of the other ones.


In this article we examine corporate and state actions implicated in manufacturing the extension, and precipitating the collapse, of the fictional distance separating production from consumption in contemporary agro-food systems. We investigate this phenomena via the case of the U.S. beef industry. Specifically, we examine regulatory initiatives and corporate responses aimed at addressing the two most important issues confronting the industry today: bacteriological meat contamination and an over-reliance on Latino immigrant labour. We focus most intently on two U.S. government regulatory initiatives and accompanying strategies of resistance. The first of these regulatory initiatives is Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, or HACCP as it is commonly called. HACCP was designed to enhance meat safety regulations inside packing plants and in the face of a rising number of bacteriological infection outbreaks. The second initiative, 'Operation Prime Beef', later re-named 'Operation Vanguard', was launched by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) responding to public pressures to eliminate meatpacking as a powerful 'magnet' for undocumented workers. State efforts to introduce new regulatory requirements in meatpacking plants, especially in the current neoliberal climate, are met with intense resistance by meat corporations - often successfully. However, these regulatory activities, the public debates that often surround them, and the increasingly dense and politicized networks they engender, also serve to mobilize social actors interested in alternative food provisioning systems. The analysis is informed by an eclectic combination of insights from Political Economy and Post-structural approaches such as Actor Network Theory or ANT


Multipath-assisted indoor positioning (using ultrawideband signals) exploits the geometric information contained in deterministic multipath components. With the help of a-priori available floorplan information, robust localization can be achieved, even in absence of a line-of-sight connection between anchor and agent. In a recent work, the Cramér-Rao lower bound has been derived for the position estimation variance using a channel model which explicitly takes into account diffuse multipath as a stochastic noise process in addition to the deterministic multipath components. In this paper, we adapt this model for position estimation via a measurement likelihood function and evaluate the performance for real channel measurements. Performance results confirm the applicability of this approach. A position accuracy better than 2.5 cm has been obtained in 90% of the estimates using only one active anchor at a bandwidth of 2 GHz and robustness against non-line-of-sight situations has been demonstrated.


Water is one of the fundamental resources which possess extra ordinary ability to dissolve a broad range of substances. The salinity of oceans is a directly connected to result of water's ability Because of water's high heat capacity, evaporation is more and prevents extreme temperature. The human body (75% water by volume) water is critical to maintain constant body temperature. The Earth's atmosphere contains 0.02 to 4 % water by volume, varies from location to location. Sources for precipitation, atmospheric water evapotranspiration to reduce ultra violet radiation.


Carnduff field produces light oil from the Midale and Frobisher Beds of Osagean (Mississippian) age. Core work has revealed significant occurrences of paleokarst in the Midale Beds, which are documented in this paper. Carnduff field is situated at the updip erosional limit of the Midale Beds. A preWatrous paleo-geology map reveals the presence of NE-SW trending truncated anticlines and synclines. The synclines preserve relatively thick Midale Beds below the unconformity. Each of the five (5) main sub-units is exposed and porous beds are cemented with anhydrite on the flanks or crests of the anticlines. From oldest to youngest, the five mapped sub-units of the Midale Beds are: (1) Frobisher-Evaporite: nodular anhydrite and tight dolomite; (2) Lower Vuggy: interbedded skeletal lime grainstones and packstones and stylolitic, fractured lime mudstones; (3) Upper Vuggy: mainly fractured lime mudstones; (4) MD1 (Lower Marly): massive porous skeletal lime packstone-grainstone; and (5) MD2 (Upper Marly): regionally dolomitized original skeletal wackestone. Sub-units 25 are informal members of the Midale Carbonate, designated strictly for this study. Paleokarst in the Midale Beds in SE Saskatchewan is not currently well documented. In Carnduff, well logs and core offer ample evidence of Midale Beds paleokarst apparently concentrated along the paleo-highs where fractured Upper and Lower Vuggy were exposed. In core there is a continuum of expression ranging from solution enhancement of fractures to minor bedding plane controlled caves infilled with anhydrite, to major caves with complex fill and dolomitized country rock. Paleokarst features are highlighted on the pre-Watrous paleogeology map and core descriptions along with photographs are presented for three examples. At unconformity time, karstification had increased porosity in the Midale Beds substantially. Unfortunately, the high permeability network also facilitated the influx of gypsum precipitating fluids in Upper Watrous (Jurassic) time and most original void space (and adjacent country rock) is solidly cemented.


Due to the high incidence of disability amongst their contemporaries, older people are likely to be involved in informal caring relationships. Due to the limited nature of post-retirement incomes, such carers are also likely to be relatively poor. In spite of this, little attention has been given to the role of older carers of disabled people or to the influence of poverty upon this role. It is therefore the purpose of this paper to help to redress this neglect by examining the influence of material circumstances on the role of older carers aged over sixty. With this aim in mind a sample of 34 older co-resident carers were asked a series of questions relating to their access to resources and their caring role.


The purpose of this paper is to study the group ε(X) of homotopy classes of self-homotopy equivalences for the total space of a S-principal bundle over S (n^6). Since this group acts on the set of all homotopy invariants it must be useful in the homotopy theory to clarify the group structure and it's action. However, as stated in [1], any finite group can be realized as a subgroup of ε(X) for suitablly chosen space X, so it seems to be difficult that we clarify them in general. Many authors have computed the group ε(X) for various type of spaces. Especially J. W. Rutter has determined ε(X) in our case of n—Ί in [4] and also N. Sawashita and M. Mimura treated our case under some additional conditions in [6] J. W. Rutter's results were complete except one sub-case because he could use the speciality of n—Ί, however, our results are weaker compared with his ones because of generality. In our theorem the group structure of ε(X) is only clarified up to extension, and to determine extensions is left as problems.


In this study, the chemical composition of Al-0.8Mg-0.8Si alloys was modified with the addition of 0.1 and 0.2 wt.-% Zr. The billets were manufactured by direct chill casting method, homogenized at 560 C for 6h and then extruded in order to obtain profiles having hollow and circular sections. Recrystallization layer (shell) became narrower due to the addition of Zr. This was attributed to the formation of very fine precipitates (Al3Zr) within the matrix. The mechanical properties showed that both yield and tensile strengths increased as a function of Zr content. Tensile fracture surfaces were examined by scanning electron microscope and the fractographs reflected the effect of grain structure on the fracture behavior of studied alloys. All fracture surfaces indicated typical dimple ruptures, however, the size of dimples were observed as finer structures as a function of Zr content. As seen in cross-sectional graphs, as the Zr content increased the grain structure was refined due to Al3Zr precipitates. These fine precipitates caused the formation of fine and shallow dimples under loading.


Abstract We investigated factors influencing differences in the rookery distribution patterns between northern fur seals and Steller sea lions in the waters of the Russian far east. The limited distribution of northern fur seal rookeries observed during 1991–2001 resulted from the need for shallow tide pools near the shore for pups to practice swimming. In addition, the large and concentrated populations of the seals required large flat areas and a high degree of natal site fidelity. In contrast, in the case of Steller sea lion rookeries observed along the Kuril islands in 2001, the pups were able to swim under maternal care, and their populations were smaller and had a lower degree of natal site fidelity. So, from our observations, their rookeries, unlike those of northern fur seals, are therefore widely distributed across diverse topographical conditions in the waters of Russian far east.


In 1940 Woods and Fildes (1) showed that p-am inobenzoic acid was able to inhibit the action of sulfanilamide on the growth of haemolytic streptococci in vitro. Since then the anti-sulfonamide activity of p-aminobenzoic acid was demonstrated in several species of bacteria both in vitro and in the animal body. For instance, Selbie (2) showed that p-aminobenzoic acid, administered by mouth, could inhibit the curative action, of sulfanilamide in experimental infections of mice with group A haemolytic streptococci. Findlay (3) confirmed the same inhibitory action following both intracerebral and .intraperitoneal inoculation of haemolytic streptococci in mice. Rubbo and Gillespie (4) showed that p-aminobenzoic acid inhibited the bacteriostatic action of sulfanilamide on Clostridium acetobutylicum. Landy and Wyeno (5) reported experiments which demonstrated that p-aminobenzoic acid was capable of inhibiting the effect of sulfonamide drugs on the growth of streptococci, pneumococci and staphylococci in vitro. Strauss, Dingle and Finland (6) showed that p-aminobenzoic acid inhibited the anti-bacterial activity of sulfathiazole on pneumococci. McCarty (7) reported that p-aminobenzoic acid (given subcutaneously) was found capable of nullifying the curative effect of sulfapyridine (given peros) for type I pneumococcus infection in mice. Kimming (8) showed that the effect of sulfonamide compounds on gonococci in vitro was reversed by p-aminobenzoic acid. Kuhn, Moller and Wend


We conduct a field experiment to measure cooperation among groups of sports fishermen at a recreational fishing facility. The parameters are chosen so that group earnings are greater when group members catch fewer fish, in a manner similar to the Voluntary Contributions Mechanism (VCM). In contrast to received VCM laboratory results, however, we find no evidence of cooperation. We construct a series of additional treatments to identify causes of the difference. We rule out the subject pool and the laboratory setting as potential causes, and identify the type of activity involved as the source of the lack of cooperation in our field experiment. When cooperation requires a reduction in fishing effort, individuals are not cooperative, whether the reduction in fishing translates into more money or into more fishing opportunities for the group. JEL Classification: C72, C92, C93. We are grateful to the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, NWO, for financial support as part of the Program on Evolution and Behavior. We would like to thank Ad and Thea van Oirschot for use of their fishing facility, and Stef van Kessel and Mike Groels for excellent research assistance. We are grateful to Niels van den Broek, Machiel Driesser, Patrick Hullegie, Sander Tuit, Alexandra van Geen and Peter van Oudheusden for their help in conducting the field sessions. We also thank Wieland Müller, Jan Potters, John List, Amrita Ray Chaudury, Eline van der Heijden, David Voňka, Cees Withagen and especially Amos Zemel for their comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this paper. Tilburg University, Department of Economics and CentER, Tilburg, the Netherlands. Tilburg University, Department of Economics and CentER, Tilburg, the Netherlands. VU University Amsterdam, Department of Spatial Economics and IVM, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Tilburg University, Department of Economics and CentER, Tilburg, the Netherlands.


Universities generate a significant volume of daily commuting, in addition to being a favorable environment for development of new habits and behavior, as result of the influence among those who attend them. This study addressed a survey, based on Theory of Planned Behavior and Theory of Human Motivation, to UFRRJ students in order to identify the factors taken into account in travel decisions and to collect their perceptions about the transportation system in metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. The results were achieved by exploratory factor analysis and interviews. The findings corroborate the already consolidated application of Theory of Planned Behavior on travel research and confirmed the existence of a hierarchy of transport needs suggested by the Theory of Human Motivation, which denotes its potential as a tool for transport policies design. The study also revealed the importance given by students to travel time over other needs, the strong influence of the safety attributes on decisions and a high awareness of the social and inclusive role of transport.


Epigenetic modifications are under increasing scrutiny in research of health and disease states. The most commonly researched epigenetic modification, DNA methylation, is associated with familial forms of dementia, developmental delay syndromes, and disparate cognitive phenotypes. This thesis investigates the relationship between nucleotide methylation and brain disease using three distinct approaches.

The majority of the thesis focuses on a genetic variant located within a DNA methyltransferase, DNMT3L R278G, which had previously been associated with intelligence scores in a Scottish birth cohort. Data was utilised from the Oxford Project To Investigate Memory and Aging, specifically the VITACOG cohort of individuals who have mild cognitive impairment and who received B vitamin treatment over a two-year period. It was discovered that minor allele carriers of the R278G variant who received B vitamin treatment showed improved visuospatial associative memory, but diminished verbal semantic memory. These effects were reflected in rates of brain atrophy for these individuals over the course of the two-year study. In silico modelling suggests that the R278G variant disrupts the DNMT3A-3L complex required for de novo methylation.

Investigation of genetic variants in methylation genes was by examining next-generation sequencing data from the UK10K project for multiple intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder cohorts. Thirty DNA and RNA methylation genes were investigated to identify rare coding variants these cohorts. Case-control analysis of these intellectual disability and autism cohorts compared to the TwinsUK general population controls identified four rare missense variants associated with risk for disease. As these variants were found only in individuals with intellectual disability comorbid with psychiatric disease, the findings suggest that these variants contribute to disease risk for a specific clinical population.

DNA methylation is a dynamic process where demethylation of 5mC results in the formation of further methylation marks including 5hmC and 5caC. An optimised immunohistochemical method was used to detect 5hmC and 5caC modifications in multiple regions of human brain tissue. Initial characterisation confirmed the near-ubiquitous presence of 5hmC in the human brain. Further, substantial 5caC staining was recorded in the human cerebellum that was absent in all other brain regions, signifying an as-of-yet unidentified relationship between this methylation mark and cerebellar function.

Taken together, the different strands of investigation carried out in this thesis have substantiated the importance of nucleotide methylation in dementia progression, intellectual disability, and healthy brain function. Our use of well-curated cohort studies provides the basis for further investigation into methylation patterns and their role in the pathogenesis of multiple brain diseases.


We have investigated elemental and isotopic compositions of noble gases in the Kobe (CK4) chondrite by a stepwise heating method. The previously observed inconsistency in cosmic-ray exposure ages derived from cosmogenic 21Ne and 38Ar was eliminated in this study, and the averaged value of 38.2 Ma was obtained. Based on neutron-produced 80Kr, a pre-atmospheric size of Kobe is estimated to be larger than ∼23 cm radius, whereas the results from cosmogenic radionuclides indicate a pre-atmospheric radius of ∼10 cm. These results indicate a two-stage exposure history for the Kobe meteorite. The release pattern of the primordial noble gas from Kobe indicates that Kobe has lost its primordial gas by thermal metamorphism. However, the observed Q-Xe concentration is lower than that expected from the HL-Xe as a carbonaceous chondrite, indicating preferential loss of Q-Xe. This cannot be explained solely by thermal metamorphism, suggesting that shock events at high temperature have caused the preferential loss of Q-Xe over HL-Xe in the Kobe meteorite.