We present a magnetic noise rejection method using wavelet transformation (WT) and independent component analysis (ICA) for analyzing magnetocardiograms (MCGs). In the ICA, when the signal-to-noise (SN) ratio of the data is low, the accuracy of the noise rejection becomes low and the determination of the contraction dimension becomes difficult. For example, MCG has a very low SN ratio in patients who have a wire surgically fixed in their sternum. To solve this limitation, we have proposed a method to distinguish signal and noise components using Mahalanobis distance and WT as pre-processing for ICA. We carried out a simulation which attached a wire to a normal subject in order to show accuracy improvement of the noise rejection by the proposed method. The SN ratio of measured MCG was the -6dB. The correlation coefficient of waveform after noise rejection with control data (waveform without the wire noise) was calculated. As this result, it became 0.98 high value. The proposed method was effective for the wire noise rejection.


Objectives: Type 2 diabetes mellitus has an incidence that increases with age. Many factors affect the life qualities of geriatric diabetic patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of life in diabetic patients and to examine the effects of diabetic complications, biochemical parameters, and socio-demographic features on the quality of life. Materials and Methods: Biochemical parameters, socio-demographic features, and clinical characteristics of 208 diabetic patients at or above 65 years of age who were admitted to the Department of Internal Medicine of Erzurum Regional Research and Education Hospital between January 1st 2018 and December 31st 2018 were evaluated with the short version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale (WHOQOL-BREF). Results: This study included 208 subjects; 50% (n=104) of them were male and 50% (n=104) were female. The ages of the cases included in this study were between 65 and 88, and the mean age was 70.82±5.25 years. The mean glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) of the subjects was 8.33±1.86 (range: 5.9-14.5). The mean score of the cases from the General Health dimension of WHOQOL-BREF (TR) was 5.52±1.75 (range: 2-9), from Physical Health dimension was 16.63±4.52 (range: 7-28), from Psychological Health dimension was 15.26±4.08 (range: 6-26), from Social Relations dimension was Abstract


A dense TiS3 sample is prepared by solid state reaction of a 1:4 mixture of Ti and S (evacuated quartz ampoule, 600 °C) followed by spark plasma sintering in vacuum and subsequent hot press molding (600 °C, 50 MPa, 10 min).


Green marketing advocates enterprises to realize "green color" in marketing activities, that is to pay more attention to ecological environment Protection, improve efficiency of resources allocation and usage and promote simultaneous development of society, economy and ecological environment, which has become necessary alternative for sustainable development. Based on the practical situation, this paper analyzes the necessity and feasibility for Chongqing to promote green marketing.


Chapter addresses scope, features, and limits of consular
assistance to seriously ill and injured nationals and legal
framework for it.


This paper presents how to use the ultrasonic motor as an actuator in the robust control of the flutter of a two-dimensional airfoil section with control surface.The study begins with the combined theoretical and experimental modeling for the aeroservoelastic system with damping uncertainty in plunge and pitch directions and the modeling error of ultrasonic motor taken into consideration.Then,it focuses on the design of a controller using H_∞ synthesis.The numerical simulations and wind tunnel tests show that the H_∞ controller is able to suppress the flutter effectively and the critical flutter speed of controlled system is increased by 23.4%.


White and brown adipose tissue is present in the human body and is well described. As well as the effect of the type of fat on human health, in particular obesity, type 2 diabetes, insulin tolerance. The presence and distribution of different types of fat in pigs has not been adequately described. As well as the factors contributing to the "browning" of white fat and the ability to influence this process in pigs.


There has been tremendous growth in the population of adults with cystic fibrosis (CF). This demographic change has created the need for special clinics to care for adults with CF and has resulted in an awakening of interest in CF among physicians caring for adults. The protean and varied manifestations of CF disease in multiple organs call for expanded knowledge of the condition among physicians in a wide variety of subspecialties, including, but not limited to, pulmonary medicine, gastroenterology, hepatology, clinical nutrition, endocrinology, infectious diseases, rheumatology and andrology. This review will focus on disease pathobiology of the gastrointestinal and hepatic manifestations of CF disease which the internist is likely to encounter.

We will first examine the clinical manifestations of CF disease that are directly associated with loss of function of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) protein and then summarise those which are secondary. We will elaborate the challenges of establishing or excluding a CF diagnosis in patients who present de novo in adulthood, with particular attention to conditions with CF-like phenotypes that are associated with an increased frequency of mutations in the CFTR gene. Finally, we will briefly discuss emerging knowledge of the potential contribution of mutations in the CFTR gene to other complex genetic conditions.

Over the past three decades the most striking result of advances in the care of patients with CF has been the dramatic improvement in survival. Whereas median survival in the United States was only 16 years in 1970, it has risen to over 32 years in 2005. For patients born in the 1990s median survival is predicted to exceed 40 years.1 Of patients born in the United Kingdom in 1980, 82% were alive at age 20, whereas for children born in 1990, 96.5% are alive at age 15 (fig 1).2 As …


The study, on the one hand, presents the main elements and co-management of the requests for statistical data and the obligation to protect them and, on the other hand, introduces the data access channels of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office that provides balance between data access and data protection.


The anisotropies in the molar magnetic susceptibilities of OCS and GO2 have recently been recorded as -8 -4 x 10-6 e.m.u.1 and -6 x 10-6 e.m.u.192 respectively. Prom these data Taft and Daileyl predicted that the magnetio anisotropy of CS2 would be larger than that of OCS. In the present work we have used the CottonMouton effect to obtain an experimental estimate of the magnetio anisotropy of CS2. Solutions of carbon disulphide (b.p. 46") in carbon tetrachloride were prepared and were found to exhibit the following magnetic birefringences at 20" and with sodium light.


The classical tissue engineering paradigm comprises three elements: a support or scaffold material, bioactive factors, and cells. Engineers are presented with the challenge of how to leverage nanoscale phenomena in this tissue engineering model to gain better control over the inclusion of biofactors...


Avocado (Persea americana Mill) seeds, a rich source of starch and micronutrients, are a major waste product from the agroindustrial processing of avocados. ...


Conventional Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) warps the time axis (X-axis) only by considering the numerical similarity of time series, ignoring the offset on the numerical axis (Y-axis) and being sensitive to singular values, so the similarity of two time series cannot be accurately measured. Firstly, to solve "singularity" problem, this paper improves the local distance of traditional DTW, the new method is called CDTW (Combination Dynamic Time Warping), which combines the derivative feature with numerical feature of time series in the form of summation, the numerical feature K can be found by simple adjustment. Secondly, we integrate CDTW and KPCA (Kernel Principal Component Analysis) as KPCA-CDTW to reduce the dimensionality and the time complexity. Finally, we classify the time series by the nearest neighbor (1-NN) classification algorithm to test the validity of KPCA-CDTW, the experimental results on Coffee, Strawberry and other four datasets show that the new method has higher classification accuracy and much less classification time than other algorithms, which proves the effectiveness of this method.


he article provides a brief overview of the activities of Zhumabay Shayakhmetov during his time in the civil service - as secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, with the main emphasis on disclosing his contribution to strengthening the economic and spiritual potential of Kazakhstan in the difficult pre-war times. severe military and difficult post-war years, including his role in organizing the country's defense.


In order to achieve the purpose of the inner burning rapidly,high-energy ammonium nitrate explosive——RDX is added to the inner of variable-burning rate gun propellant.Meanwhile the mechanical properties of whole gun propellant have been affected with the introduction of RDX.Through the contrast of different tensile strength,shear strength and combustion phenomenon of the closed vessel test,the following results could be obtained.With the increase of RDX's content,the tensile strength and shear strength of variable-burning rate gun propellant decrease,meanwhile the properties of progressive combustion become good;with the growth of RDX's particle size,the propellant's tensile strength decreases,and the properties of progressive combustion become weak.


The Bactrocera dorsalis complex of tropical fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae: Dacinae), a group of insect pests of fruits and crops, contains 75 described species, largely endemic to regions of Asia, Australia and the Pacific. The taxonomic studies of B. dorsalis complex by morphological and genetic characters are reviewed. It is helpful to apply the molecular approach to taxonomic and phylogenetic analysis for the complex. And the outlook of phylogenetics and behavioral study of the complex will be focused in the future.


Customer relationship management (CRM) has drawn great attention across research areas. However, little effort has been made to reveal and evaluate new changes relating to customer relationship management (CRM) in the 21st century. Therefore, to address this gap, the paper adopts the literature analysis method to review 37 studies, published from 2010-2021. The results show that the interest of the scholars during this time focuses on the combination of information technology (IT) and customer relationship management (CRM) in terms of electronic CRM (e-CRM) or social CRM (s-CRM) to improve firms' performance in terms of marketing, finance, supply chain and so forth. The sectors of services and commerce (i.e., insurance, service, retail, and bank) also draw attention to the research of customer relationship management (CRM). However, there are few studies that focus on the theoretical perspective, relative to CRM in the 21st century as well as the attention of internal customer relationship management or the adoption of 4.0 technology in CRM. The paper is expected to provide an overview of the current stage of research on Customer relationship management (CRM). Meanwhile, it also offers recommendations for future research.


Are faculty trained at Christian institutions better equipped to integrate their faith with their professional work? This study uses a mixed methods analysis of Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) faculty survey data to analyze whether and in what ways faculty who graduate from Christian undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs are more apt to identify connections between their faith tradition and their course objectives. Findings show that faculty members prepared at Christian institutions are more likely to see this relationship and may conceive of it in more sophisticated ways. However, the gap is modest.


This paper describes how a speaker veri cation task can be advantageously decom posed into a series of binary classi cation problems i e each problem discriminating between two classes only Each binary classi er is speci c to one speaker one anti speaker and one word De cision trees dealing with attributes of continuous values are used as classi ers The set of classi ers is then pruned to eliminate the less relevant ones Diverse pruning methods are experimented and it is shown that when the speaker veri cation decision is performed with an a priori threshold some of them give better results than a reference HMM system Acknowledgements This work was partially supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation


Beata ŚNIECIKOWSKA Institute of Literary Research, Polish Academy of Sciences Literature as an Excuse for a Literary Scholar Book review: Michal Mrugalski, Teoria barw Tadeusza Rozewicza ['Tadeusz Rozewicz's theory of colour'], Universitas, Krakow 2007. The book by Michal Mrugalski has been intended as a comprehensive analysis of the association between the art of painting and Rozewicz's poetry. It is, however, a hermetic erudite study focusing mostly on the complexities of philosophy and theory of art. The reviewer claims that the approach taken by the author, however interesting for the philosophically-minded readers, does not lead to a better understanding of the intersemiotic relations of literature and visual arts.


There are 450 slaughterhouses in Iran distributed over 24 provinces. 207 plants were visited in 19 provinces. 53.6% of the firms inspected are in residental areas, 61.8% have no lairage and in 88.4% a system of individual slaughtering prevails. Cattle were electrically stunned in 8.2 % of cases. About 16% of the premises have ventilation plant. Disinfection was carried out in 13% of cases and in 16.4 % of the slaughterhouses the meat was transported in refrigerated trucks. Large quantities of condemned meat, wastes and blood are destroyed because they are not further processed in spite of the fact that large amounts of meat and fish meal are imported annually for animal feed. The situation can be regarded as a factor endangering human health and helping to spread zoonoses.


The very feeling of being outsiders, the estrangement from both old traditions and new ways, the clash of generations as the children of immigrants remade themselves outside the traditions--all this has been the very stuff of literature for Americans, Italians and otherwise. (Helen Barolini, Chiaroscuro 127) How does a minority or "ethnic" author deal with this "very feeling of being an outsider" which Barolini discusses above? There are as many ways as there are genres of ethnic narrative. One of these ways is to compose an autobiography, to look back on one's own past as an "ethnic outsider" attempting to find a place in mainstream American society. But in a prior issue of MELUS, Petra Fachinger notes that such an ethnic autobiographer runs the danger of "creating an ethnic other," of deforming him or herself into some unattractive figure who cannot potentially take part in what she tells us that Bakhtinian scholar Jennifer Browdy De Hernandez called "a dialogue between collective ethnic memory and individual memory" (125). Certainly this critique of autobiography has validity; how many autobiographers are truly honest even with themselves, let alone with their readers, about themselves in narrative? Bearing in mind how difficult this honesty is, as well as how humorless much autobiography is, I would like to examine another way to characterize this ethnic otherness through the use of ethnic humor, an excellent means of coping with the individual experiencing such "otherness." An author can mitigate a sense of alienating otherness through the creation of a hyper-ethnicized narrator, a kind of "funkier-than-thou" wisdom or trickster figure who philosophizes about concerns relevant to all readers, not simply to those who are members of his or her own ethnic group. Recently, Fred L. Gardaphe has published Moustache Pete is Dead!: Evivva Baffo Pietro!, a compilation of columns which appeared in Chicago's Fra Noi, during the 1980s when Gardaphe was Arts and Culture editor. Fra Noi is a monthly Italian American newspaper distributed mainly in the Chicago area, so one can assume that this character appealed primarily to an Italian American audience. "Moustache Pete" was a creation of the author, based upon a first generation Italian American immigrant man. Like other colorful social commentators, this "pasta-box" philosopher offers his heavily dialecticized view of the American "new world" in contrast to the Italian world he remembers. Clearly, this hyper-ethnicized narrator is not a traditional autobiographical figure. Moustache Pete's origins can be generically traced to one of the greatest poet/authors of the twentieth century, Langston Hughes, and his own Harlem "juke-box" philosopher, the jazzy beer-drinking Jesse P. Simple. Like Moustache Pete, Jesse P. Simple is a hyper-ethnicized narrator, who appeared in a serialized column in both The New York Post and The Chicago Defender through the late 1950s and early 1960s. Jess Simple also presents a kind of folk wisdom about current events and fairly complex cultural realities. "Ace-boy Simple" appeared to a diverse audience via the mainstream Post as well as a primarily African American readership through the columns in the Defender. Through comparison and contrast of these two trickster figures, we will examine the purpose and function of the hyper-ethnicized narrator. (1) Besides formal and thematic similarities, these two texts can be compared on the grounds of their use of humor. Writing about the use of humor in an ethnic context, John Lowe stated, "The post-modern ethnic writer ruthlessly exposes social ills, but deflects the pathetic in order to focus on the absurd" (110). Furthermore, a relevant ground can be established for the comparison and contrast of Langston Hughes and Fred L. Gardaphe by examining the startling similarity between the critical receptions of each text. What happens when an author creates a narrator who is both a member of the author's own ethnic group but who also typifies the most extreme and visible forms of the stereotypes of that group? …


In Table I, the trap-limited space-charge field Eq and photogeneration efficiency ©p were calculated using a wrong value of the applied electric field. These values and the wrong value of the refractive index modulation amplitude for TPA at 532 nm should be corrected as follows. Corrected values are indicated by underlines. This correction does not affect the discussion and the conclusion of this work.


We rcview recent resull:;. conccrning (he quantum and c1assical dynamical propcrtics of hallistic c1cclrons in a ripplc channel. thcir transpon propcrties and its c1assical-quantum corrcspondcncc. In the classical rcgimc 01'a tinitc channc!. a signaturc 01'chaos is faund in the bchavior of the resistance. The classical-quantum correspondence is analY7cd in terms of "quantum Poincaré plots", energy level slatistics, and certain features of lhe energy-band speclra.


The paper states features and using method of outsourcing bonded steel enforcing technique,it states focal points and problem need attention of application of outsourcing bonded steel enforcing technique in practical project.The project reaches good effects through using of the technique.


In this study, we detailed our design for making a photoactive semiconductor/dielectric interface in order to study charge dynamics at the interface in combination with photoexcitation, using organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) as local probes. The photoactive semiconductor/dielectric interface is formed from a hybrid gate dielectric (polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and titanium oxide (TiO2)). Because the photogenerated electrons from TiO2 nanoparticles under UV illumination can serve as the trapping centers for quenching hole carriers, p-type semiconductors showed the decrease of the hole mobility. Interestingly, n-type semiconductors displayed symmetric, opposing photoswitching effects at the same condition, showing that the photogenerated holes can function as a local positive gate voltage for improving the electron mobility. On the basis of this understanding, a remarkable example of mirror-image photoswitching effects in a single ambipolar OTFT was realized. These results may offer grounds for the c...


An implicit assumption underlying previous interactivity studies is that every time people use a communication medium (e.g., website) or device (e.g., smartphone), they perceive its interactivity through analyzing it from scratch trait-by-trait. As psychologists have long shown, however, we quite often skip such an intensive analysis, and rely on our expectations or schematic knowledge to perceive/evaluate an object. This study is designed to develop a measure of individuals' expectation of interactivity toward a medium, called expected interactivity (EI). After specifying three conceptual dimensions underlying EI – sensory, semantic, and behavioral dimensions – scales for capturing them are developed, refined, and validated through multiple studies. Implications for future interactivity research are discussed.


Bevacizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets VEGF and its receptors to inhibit angiogenesis. It has been used in the treatment of several cancers, including breast cancer, metastatic non-small cell lung cancer and colorectal cancer (CRC), and off-label in the treatment of ocular pathologies that present neovascularization as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration and corneal neovascularization. Although anti-angiogenic therapies, such as bevacizumab, have improved the clinical outcomes in cancer, their efficacy is limited due to the non-specific biodistribution and low tumor penetration. This results in high doses that can lead to undesirable side effects. Also, the use of bevacizumab in the treatment of corneal neovascularization as eye drops yields low bioavailability (<5%), which implies frequent dosing. One possible strategy would be to develop nanoparticles that are able to encapsulate bevacizumab. This could overcome some of the aforementioned drawbacks by: increasing the accumulation in the tumor site, reducing the number of administrations and improving patient compliance. This may be accomplished through the use of human serum albumin (HSA). Albumin nanoparticles have been studied as drug delivery systems because they are biocompatible, biodegradable, non-toxic and they can incorporate a large variety of drugs. As a first approach, bevacizumab-loaded albumin nanoparticles (B-NP) were produced through a desolvation procedure and subsequent freeze-drying. The resulting nanoparticles were stable without any supplementary stabilization process (e.g., cross-linkage with glutraraldehyde) and presented a high payload of active antibody. In order to improve some of the capabilities of albumin nanoparticles these particles were coated with a hydrophilic polymer, polyethylen glycol 35,000 (PEG). These particles showed to develop mucoadhesive interactions with the corneal surface of the eye after topical administration. The efficacy studies of these particles in a rat model of corneal neovascularization revealed that albumin nanoparticles improved the ocular delivery of bevacizumab and its efficacy in comparison to the free antibody. Finally, the nanoparticles were evaluated in an in vivo model of colorectal cancer (CRC). The results revealed that the presence of PEG in the nanoparticles resulted in a more sustained serum levels over 'naked' nanoparticles. Also, pegylated nanoparticles were able to reach the tumor site to inhibit tumor growth, avoiding high antibody levels in the blood (which could lead to undesirable effects).


AbstractThe use of coatings having special properties for photothermal conversion or catalysis is often complicated by problems of high temperature stability. This study deals with the effect of aluminium, as an additional element inferritic stainless steel, on the behaviour of Fe–Cr–Al conversion coatings during their thermal oxidation in air up to 1000°C. X-ray diffraction and infrared spectrometry show that the main component of the coating is a chromium, aluminium substituted magnetite and that the presence of aluminium slows down the oxidation rate of the coating-substrate system mainly owing to the formation of mixed iron oxides containing aluminium and of alumina.MST/1400


In this essay we compare human and artificial intelligence from two points of view: computational and neuroscience. We discuss the differences and limitations of AI with respect to our intelligence, ending with three challenging areas that are already with us: neural technologies, responsible AI, and hybrid AI systems.


This paper presents assessment results of the technical and economic suitability of amorphous silicon (a-Si) solar photovoltaics (PV) to terrestrial applications of power generation and commercial remote power. The assessment covered a spectrum of a-Si production, PV system design and economics, operational performance, and market acceptance. Primary data were gathered from the operational PV production facilities, historical experience in the construction of utility-scale turnkey PV power systems and smaller industrial remote power systems, and large commercial users of PV systems. Performance reliability and conversion efficiency were given particular attention in the assessment of a-Si. Findings were: (1) a-Si has attained stability and environmental reliability comparable to conventional PV technologies; (2) PV conversion efficiency has a significant impact on system applications and economics only when there is limited area or very high transportation costs; (3) the low area-related costs and suitability of glass-on-glass a-Si as a building material enable a variety of building-integrated PV applications that provide high value to end-use grid-connected customers; and (4) the completion of large scale, automated production facilities has allowed a-Si to attain a significant manufacturing cost reduction.


This review is devoted to the problem of the development of "lampenflora" - phototrophic fouling communities in karst caves' areas with artificial lighting used for tourism purposes. The experience of domestic and foreign colleagues helps to understand the causes of its occurrence, the conditions for the formation and development of communities; describes the mechanisms of adaptation of individual species and communities to the complex conditions of underground ecosystems. Lampenflora is not typical for the cave environment, and in this regard, the adverse consequences of its presence are found in the form of an impact on the local biota and abiotic parameters of the environment. The review compares lampenflora and natural communities of phototrophs in the entrance zones of caves illuminated by sunlight.


Existing approaches to predicting tie strength between users involve either online social networks or location-based social networks. To date, few studies combined these networks to investigate the intensity of social relations between users. In this paper we analyzed tie strength defined as partners and acquaintances in two domains: a location-based social network and an online social network (Second Life). We compared user pairs in terms of their partnership and found significant differences between partners and acquaintances. Following these observations, we evaluated the social proximity of users via supervised and unsupervised learning algorithms and established that homophilic features were most valuable for the prediction of partnership.


Bivalve shells from shelf and slope environments of the Benguela upwelling system were examined for their state of preservation for the first time, and were used to test whether their preservation is a proxy for spatially variable seafloor taphonomic conditions that lead to different degrees of time averaging. Distinctive shell damage -profiles show increasing shell damage further from the center of the upwelling cells affected by anoxic conditions (opal and organic-rich) and towards the carbonate- and phosphate-rich facies (with slower sedimentation rates at the margins of the cells. Discrete taphofacies range from a very low damage profile (opal and organic-rich, facies 1) to very high damage (phosphate, facies 3), with elevated numbers of rounded, fragmented and bored shells as well as very little associated sedimentary matrix. This gradient in taphofacies is associated with a gradient from census assemblages with low damage to (within-habitat time-averaged) assemblages in carbonate and (environmentally-condensed) phosphate facies of moderate and higher species richness that are associated with increasing time averaging. This pattern follows the upwelling facies gradient of high opal and organic matter in areas of most intense upwelling cells and outward to aerated but food-abundant carbonate-rich seafloors and spatially coexisting phosphorite-rich concentrations. Thus, the taphonomic gradient ranges from stressful, oxygen-depleted seafloor environment under upwelling regimes that limit metazoan predators and borers (and thus minimize destruction), to well-oxygenated seafloors with increased predators and micro-boring animals that all foster post-mortem shell destruction. The rarity of encrusters is a conspicuous feature of these facies across the whole gradient that may reflect temporary recurrence of oxygen-depleting conditions even at the carbonatic and phosphatic facies. The state of preservation of these shells can serve as a modern analog for identifying similar settings in the geological record but also for Anthropocene settings affected by eutrophication and expanding oxygen minimum zones. Molluscan taphofacies with unusually low levels of skeletal damage from borers and encrusters can thus represent sensitive proxies of conditions affected by Anthropocene deoxygenation and eutrophication.

 Supplementary material at
 https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6294540


Forestry can help to mitigate climate change by storing carbon in trees, forest soils and wood products. Forest owners can be subsidized if forestry removes carbon from the atmosphere and taxed if ...


The term independent study means a learning situation within the school day which allows a student to develop personal competencies through experiences as an individual but in interaction with others when needed. It is characterized by freedom from constant supervision. Students read, write, contemplate, listen to records and tapes, view, record, memorize, create, build, practice, exercise. Independent study emphasizes the individual's role in learning. It implies that all students possess potentialities for selfinitiative, self-discipline, resourcefulness, productivity, and self-evaluation. In this respect, a student performing effectively in independent study is one who: perceives worthwhile things to do... personalizes learning... exercises self-discipline . . makes use of human resources... makes use of material resources... produces results... strives for improvement...1


Concerted cultivation practices are not only explained by parents' objective resources, but also by parents' cultural orientations, which are associated with social class. While cultural orientations of parenting styles in Western societies have been studied, the role of beliefs in social reproduction in other parts of the world is still under-researched. The aim of this study was to understand whether social class and meritocratic beliefs of Chinese parents affect their parenting style with regard to children's education and learning. Our findings suggest that both meritocratic beliefs and social class have a positive effect on concerted cultivation practices. The effect of parents' meritocratic beliefs on parenting style is stronger than the effect of social class for boys and urban schools. In addition, meritocratic beliefs reduce class differentials in rural schools, but increase them in urban schools. We discuss the effectiveness of meritocratic beliefs promoting child-rearing practices regardless of the social origin.


The Research Laboratories of the Upjohn Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S.A., have isolated a new antimicrobic complex pro duced under conditions of submerged fermentation by Streptomyces spectabilis, an Actinomycete isolated from a sample of soi! from Dallas, Texas, U.S.A. The laboratory designation of Antibiotic 10la bears the generic na me Streptovaricin and ha s subsequently been marketed under the trade name of Dalacin. Streptovaricin has been demonstrated to have a high degree of activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, both in vitro and in vivo, and it has also proved active in in vitro against a number of gram positive, gram-negative and saprophytic acid-fast bacteria. Under the same conditions of in vitro tests, Streptovaricin proved approximately 10 times as active as Streptomycin, 100 times as active as para-amino-salicylic acid, and half as active as isonzaiid. Streptovaricin proved highly effective in treating mice infected with M. tuberculosis (c37Rv). When the microbic enumeration tech nique was employed, Streptovaricin and isoniazid given together produced an anti-tuberculosis effect that was considerably greater than was achieved with either drug alone.I, 2, 3 4 ,


From the beginning of modern planning, images and frameworks have been used to conceptualize ideas and frame approaches. This paper develops a conceptual performance measure framework for integrating transportation and land use policy and planning with regard to evaluating various future scenarios and policy alternatives in relation to driverless and autonomous vehicles, placing a premium on using measures of effectiveness and overall street livability, before measures of efficiency.

As the performance dimension of effectiveness allows for measurements of both transportation as well as land-use derived demand management, it provides a more holistic approach than transport-only efficiency measures, and is therefore recommended to lead in determining performance in alternative autonomous vehicle futures. Efficiency does not measure how people are served and transported, only the relation of outputs to inputs—a large proportion of zero-occupancy vehicles traveling at high speeds, could score well in terms of efficiency. We recommend placing effectiveness, "Doing the Right Things", before efficiency, and "Doing Things Right"— we do suggest pursuing both, but effectiveness should clearly lead.

If we can move toward an automated vehicle future using fewer cars (through greater sharing), traveling shorter distances (through better land use planning), and at slower speeds (through policies), then we have a greater chance to achieve street livability objectives that are also likely to be more sustainable and equitable. This paper also outlines how this model would apply to certain street transects and how these relate to specific urban policies achieving sustainability, livability, and equity in future cities.


Introduction: Infection with human papillomavirus is the main cause of cervical carcinoma. In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) 556 cases of cervical carcinoma are diagnosed annually, and 141 women die from it. Aim: To determine the most common HPV type found in ASCUS and LSIL and progression, regression and persistence of lesions. Methods: In a retrospective study, 11 051 PAP tests, performed in several private gynecological practices located in Tuzla Canton from January 2016 to December 2019, were analyzed. In processing of data , X2 – statistical method was used. Results: 11051 PAP test were inspected. Normal findings were found in 90.48% (N-10002) and pathological findings in 9.49% (N- 049). ASCUS was present in 4.9% (N-544), LSIL in 3.04% (N-337), HSIL in 0.74% (N-84), ASC-H in 0.27% (N-30) and AGC in 0.49% (N-55) of cases. The most common is HPV 16, found in 50.5% (N-44) of ASCUS and LSIL. Monoinfection with HPV 16 was found in 40.9% (N-18) ASCUS (N-3) and LSIL (N-15), and a combination of HPV 16 with other types like HPV 18, 31, 33, 39 in 59% (N-26). Progression of ASCUS lesion in HSIL 1.6% (N-2), and LSIL 9.6% (N-12). Progression of LSIL to HSIL was found in 9.0% (N-10). HSIL progresses significantly more frequent from LSIL (p<0.05) than from ASCUS changes. Lesions that progress into higher grade HSIL are HPV 16 positive. Progression into HSIL is not found in patients with low-risk HPV 6 and 11 infection. Conclusion: Women infected with HPV 16 have more a frequent progression of a lesion into higher grade HSIL. They should be intensively monitored because of the increased risk for development of cervical carcinoma.


In large assembly, the smoothness is important for fluid dynamic configuration and installation stability and which is partly depended on the perpendicularity of rivet installation. Thus, the normal direction of a drilling surface is required to be measured online other than extracted from CAD model because of deflection between CAD model and real product for tool error, assembly deformation and other factors. Besides the normal direction, the local surface smoothness after rivet installation should also be taken into account significantly before drilling. To this end, a smoothness optimization method based on measured 3D point is proposed. First the structured-light-based 3D sensor is used for measuring the drilling surface profile; Second, the tensor voting framework is utilized to processing raw point cloud for denoising; Third, a quadratic surface is fitted on the TVF output unciformed points set and a novel smoothness metric of the surface with rivet installation is defined by continuity and consistency based on local fitted quadratic surface; Finally, the surface smoothness after rivet installation is optimized. The proposed methods are verified by experiments conducted on several simulation scenarios and the result shows effectiveness of the proposed method.


This study reports the effect of copper based preservatives treatment namely alkaline copper quaternary (ACQ) and copper azole(CuAz) on the mechanical properties of Moso bamboo glulam bonded with PF adhesives. Vacuum-pressure treatment was used for pre-treatment.Modulus of rupture(MOR),modulus of elasticity (MOE) and tensile shear strength of glulam were evaluated.Results show that the treatment has no significant effect on MOR and tensile shear strength,but has significant effect on MOE.Types of preservative have significant effect on MOE,while preservative concentration has no significant effect on MOE.In general,the MOE and MOR of the Preservative-treated bamboo glulam slightly decrease or stay the same,and the tensile shear strength slightly raises.


The analytical solution presented is based on the assumption that the deformed thickness of the plate is approximately constant. The nonlinear equations governing finite axisymmetric deformations of a circular plate made of neo-Hookean material are used in the analysis. The variation of circumferential extension ratio and the variation of deformed thickness are shown in graphs.


Trans‐spinal polarization was recently introduced as a means to improve deficient spinal functions. However, only a few attempts have been made to examine the mechanisms underlying DC actions. We have now examined the effects of DC on two spinal modulatory systems, presynaptic inhibition and post‐activation depression, considering whether they might weaken exaggerated spinal reflexes and enhance excessively weakened ones. Direct current effects were evoked by using local intraspinal DC application (0.3–0.4 μA) in deeply anaesthetized rats and were compared with the effects of trans‐spinal polarization (0.8–1.0 mA). Effects of local intraspinal DC were found to be polarity dependent, as locally applied cathodal polarization enhanced presynaptic inhibition and post‐activation depression, whereas anodal polarization weakened them. In contrast, both cathodal and anodal trans‐spinal polarization facilitated them. The results suggest some common DC‐sensitive mechanisms of presynaptic inhibition and post‐activation depression, because both were facilitated or depressed by DC in parallel.


Objective To study the influence of β-carotene on Ni 2O 3-induced DNA strand breakage of human lung fibroblast cells and to explore the application of single cell gel electrophoresis(SCGE) in detecting genotoxicity.Methods Single cell gel electrophoresis(SCGE) assay or comet assay was used to study the effects of β-carotene on Ni 2O 3-induced DNA strand breakage of human lung fibroblast cells.Results Ni 2O 3 could induce DNA double strand breakage in human lung fibroblasts cells as compared with the control group(P0.01),and the damage ratio clould descend singnificantly by using β-carotene and Ni 2O 3 in human lung fibroblast cells as compared with that of the Ni 2O 3 group(P0.01).Conclusion The doublestrand DNA breakage of human lung fibroblast cells can be induced by Ni 2O 3.β-carotene can degrade observably the DNA double strand breakage induced by Ni 2O 3.SCGE assay is a simple,convenient,rapid,sensitive and economic method in detecting genotoxicity.It can be applied to all levels of monitoring and studing environmental pollution and human diseases(Nickel pollution).


The "FORmation of MOLecules in the InterStellar Medium" (FORMOLISM) set-up, has been designed to investigate heterogeneous chemistry occurring at the surface of astronomically relevant materials. The main goal is a contribution to the study of molecular hydrogen formation processes on surfaces which mimic interstellar dust grains. For this purpose, two atomic/molecular beams are connected to a main chamber operating under ultra-high vacuum conditions. The samples are deposited on a copper plate attached to a cryo-generator allowing temperature regulation in the 8-800 K range. Desorbed molecules are monitored either with a high sensitive quadrupole mass spectrometer or with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer for REMPI (resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization) detection, allowing in the latter case quantum state selection. Currently, the surfaces consist of different phases of solid water ice films obtained by vapour deposition at low temperature. Water samples are considered to be good analogues of frozen mantles covering dust-grain particles in cold and dense regions of the interstellar medium. In a first set of experiments, we have investigated the interaction of molecular hydrogen with porous or non-porous amorphous solid water (ASW) and cubic crystalline water ice (Ic) by using temperature programmed desorption (TPD). A good knowledge of the binding energies of the molecules physisorbed on solid water ice films is essential for the determination of the molecular hydrogen amount which can be frozen on dust grains. This information is also necessary to interpret other experimental investigations of the atomic recombination process using TPD (Roser et al. (2002)). As shown by a recent study (Hornekaer et al. (2005)), TPD is very sensitive to the ice surface morphology and particularly to surface thickness and porosity. A broad distribution of binding energies for D2 monolayer on ASW was measured in this study. We have obtained complementary desorption curves as a function of D2 coverage. We show that the broad energy distribution obtained by the direct inversion of our TPD curves cannot satisfactorily give account of the whole set of experimental results on porous ASW films. The interpretation requires the development of models more correctly adapted to species weakly bound to the surface. We then propose an alternative approach, based on a statistical equilibrium of the molecules over their binding sites, in order to explain our experimental results . The ability of our model to qualitatively describe a strong isotopic segregation effect when both H2 and D2 are sequentially deposited on the sample, tends to support this approach (Dulieu et al. (2005)). In another set of experiments, the molecules released in the gas phase are ionized by a tunable UV laser. A (2+1) photons REMPI detection coupled to a time-of-flight mass spectrometer is used to selectively detect the molecules in their individual rovibrational quantum state. This allows the desorption kinetics to be investigated separately for orthoand parastates of the molecules. Preliminary results will be shown. Further experiments will be also carried out to investigate the internal energy distribution of the molecules (H2, HD or D2) that are promptly formed by recombination of hydrogen atoms on the surface. These experiments should complete other investigations of the atomic recombination process which have been previously studied using TPD (Hornekaer et al. (2003)), or which have been undertaken on other astrophysical relevant surfaces (Perry et al. (2002)).


An analytical solution is presented for water table fluctuation between ditch drains in presence of exponential recharge and depth-dependent evapotranspiration (ET) from groundwater table in a two-dimensional gently sloping aquifer. The groundwater head above the drain is small compared to the saturated thickness of the aquifer. A sound mathematical transformation is devised to transform the two-dimensional groundwater flow equation into a simple form, which makes possible to obtain an analytical solution. The transient midpoint water table variations from the proposed solution compare well with the already existing solutions for horizontal aquifer. A numerical example is used to illustrate the combined effect of depth-dependent ET coupled with a time-varying exponential recharge on the water table fluctuation. The inclusion of a depth-dependent ET in the solution results in water table decline at a faster rate as compared to the case when ET is not considered. With an increase in slope of the aquifer base, water table profiles become asymmetric and the water table divide shifts towards the lower drain. The height of the water table profiles increases on moving away from the boundary of the aquifer and the highest level of the ground water table is obtained in the central portion of the aquifer basin due to the presence of drainage ditches on the aquifer boundary. When the effect of ET is incorporated in combination with recharge, the analytical solution results in accurate and reliable estimates of water table fluctuations under situations subjected to a number of controlling factors. This study will be useful for alleviation of drainage problems of the aquifers receiving surface recharge and surrounded by streams.


A review is given of the level density formula in hadron physics, which has reached a completely developed state on the basis of the bootstrap equation. It is shown how the approximate formula can be entirely deduced except for the input parameters: D ~ 1 and mo ~ 138 MeV, the pion mass. Applications are sketched to large-angle pp scattering, to nucleon-antinucleon annihilation and to Ericson fluctuations in np scattering.


Acute Upper Gastrointestinal Bleed (UGIB) is a globally prevalent medicalemergency and is a major cause of mortality. It may manifest as Hematemesis, Melena orHemetochezia. The most common causes of UGIB are Esophageal Varices (EV) and PepticUlcer Disease (PUD). Upper GI endoscopy (EGD) is the preferred procedure for investigation.Objectives: This study was carried out to identify patterns of endoscopic findings in patientswith UGIB and its frequency according to age, gender and symptoms in our setup. StudyDesign: It was a single centered retrospective analysis. Setting: Endoscopy floor of LahoreGeneral Hospital, Lahore for evaluation of Upper GI Bleed. Period: January 2010 to December2013. Material & Methods: 3910 patients were brought to the GI Endoscopy. Data wascollected from the endoscopy records on demographics (age and gender) and history of UGIB.The endoscopic findings were then evaluated. Results: 58.3% were male and 41.7% werefemale; male to female ratio was (1.4:1). The mean age was 43.4 years for males and 46.9 yearsfor females. (58%) had hemetemesis, (21%) had melena, (19%) had both hemetemesis andmelena. (2%) had hemetochezia. EV (69.2%) was the commonest cause of UGIB followed byPUD (20.6%). 4.3% of patients had a normal endoscopy and 2.5 % had Growth in upper GI tract.Conclusions: EV was the commonest cause of UGIB in our setup, as compared to the westernworld, where PUD was more common. Probable reason could be the high prevalence of livercirrhosis in our population. A good number of patients had a normal endoscopy, suggestingphysicians to obtain detailed history prior to the procedure.


Introduction: in the work, the main attention is focused on the problem of the formation and development of professionalism among employees carrying out operational-search activities. The authors analyze the available scientific approaches and ideas about professionalism in operational investigative work, taking into account its specifics. The article identifies the factors that promote or hinder the formation of operational employees as professionals. Purpose: to identify the psychological factors of optimization of the process of development and self-development of professionalism among employees carrying out operational-search activities. Methods: general scientific research methods were used (analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization). The basis of the work was formed by the data of the survey, in which the employees of the operational services of correctional institutions of various territorial bodies of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia took part. Results: the study made it possible to identify a number of factors that negatively affect the productivity of operational employees (psychological; organizational; professional; social). The analysis of the results showed that the satisfaction index is high among operational employees with a high level of productivity in their professional activities. Conclusions: the productivity of the activities of the employees carrying out operational-search activities will contribute to the achievement of a high professional level in their work. The results of the study will improve the level of professional training of employees of correctional institutions, carrying out operational-search activities. The practical significance of this study lies in the fact that the results obtained can be used to improve the quality of training of operative correctional officers. Also, the data obtained can be used in the work of specialists of the penitentiary orientation, heads of penitentiary institutions in methodological developments.


Integrative writing tests are applied in such large-scale language proficiency tests as TOEFL,IELTS,NMET(2) of Guangdong Province and so on.The authors attempt at a comprehensive investigation of the definition,theoretical basis and its position in the assessment development period with a view to the background of the rising of such assessments.Challenges connected with integrative writing test tasks are multiple which might undermine the validity and reliability of such tests.One of the essential problems is whether integrative writing ability is a construct different from writing ability or reading ability.


In this article, linear transformations of coordinates to a superluminal inertial reference frame are presented. Even if there is no need to use imaginary numbers to maintain c invariant, these functions are just intended as a mathematical curiosity not necessarily having a real
 physical meaning. Possible applications to our world, if any, are left to the reader.


Tax revenue is influenced by many factors. Existing studies reveal that political stability, level of corruption, quality of the policy, income per capita, share of agriculture to the GDP, and market openness are some of the factors influencing tax revenue. This study aims to analyze the influence of governance by using some indicators, such as political stability, government effectiveness, quality of regulation, law enforcement accountability and control on corruption in tax area through empirical analysis of ASEAN countries. Descriptive analysis and causality methods are employed in this study. causality method is used to determine the relationship between observed variables using panel regression. The results of the study indicate that the controlon corruption, voice and accountability and political stability variables have significant negative effects on the tax ratio, while rule of law and quality of regulatory variables have positive impact on the tax ratio.


The ovules in Drimys winteri var. chilensis and D. lanceolata are consistently vascularized entirely by the ventral bundles, without contribution from the dorsal bundle(s) as generally assumed. The ovules are initiated in two rows, without any in "median" position. Post-initiatory differential growth of the carpel wall brings the lowermost ovules into apparently median position at maturity. The anomalous vascular supply to the lowermost ovules is thought to be related to concurrence of delayed initiation and development of these ovules with delayed differentiation of the vascular supply.


The genus Medmassa Simon, 1887 is revised in the Afrotropical Region. The type species is M. frenata (Simon, 1887) from the Philippines, described from a subadult female. The widespread, but previously poorly known M. semiaurantiaca Simon, 1910, appears to be the only congeneric Afrotropical species. It is redescribed, illustrated for the first time, and proposed as a senior synonym of M. hiekae Berland, 1922. Medmassa laurenti Lessert, 1946 from the Congo D. R. is proposed as a junior synonym of Mandaneta sudana (Karsch, 1880). Medmassa lesserti Strand, 1916 from the Congo D. R. is transferred to Procopius Thorell, 1899 and proposed as a senior synonym of Procopius quaerens Lessert, 1946. Medmassa nitida Lawrence, 1942 from South Africa is proposed as a junior synonym of Pronophaea natalica Simon, 1897. Medmassa proxima Lessert, 1923 and M. vidua Lessert, 1923, also from South Africa, are misplaced and their transfer to Pronophaea Simon, 1897 is proposed. The female holotype of M. nyctalops Simon, 1910 from the island of Bioko is lost and this species is considered nomen dubium. M. semiaurantiaca is recorded from Botswana, Central African Republic, Congo D. R., Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinee-Bissau, Kenya and South Africa. Field observations indicate that it is a fast-running nocturnal hunter that forages on the bark of trees, with a preference for those with smooth bark. Most of the material was collected by canopy fogging or active searching at night.


The continuous application and consequent discharge of dyes from a variety of industries cause severe ecological outcomes. The research reports the treatment of a vastly applied textile dye methylene blue (MB) by electrocoagulation (EC)/micro-crystalline cellulosic (MCC) adsorption combined process. The influence of operating parameters of pH (5–9), current density (7.40–33 mA/cm2), MCC dose (0–7 g/L), and dye concentration (25–75 mg/L) on the decolorization efficiency was studied. The MCC surface characterization with elemental composition and functional group detection was performed by scanning electron microscopy–energy-dispersive X-ray and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. A profound effect of MCC dose was observed on the decolorization efficiency with 87.56% at zero doses to 99.9% at a dose of 7 g/L in EC/MCC adsorption combined process in a pyrex glass reactor. At optimal conditions, pH 9, current density 22.15 mA/cm2, MCC dose 5 g/L, and C0 = 50 mg/L, the 98.75% MB removal efficiency was achieved. The study explored the effective performance of MCC in the EC combined process and potential for the abatement of dye effluents.


In the present paper, scale insects inflicting injury on the. tea plant at home and abroad were listed.Of the recorded species, 18 were found from Japan, 25 from Formosa, 23 from India, 22 from Ceylon, and 8 from USSR, and the former two were observed by the author.Certain species were serious pests to the tea plant in Japan, but in other countries they were not so serious. In Japan, Pseud-aulacaspis pentagons, Ceroplastes rubens, C. pseudoceriferus, Lopholeueaspis japonica and Pseudoaunidia paeoniae outbroke in a large area and gave serious damage to the tea plant and Pulvinaria okitsuensis and Lecanium persieae occasionally occurred in a smaller area.


The author examines the family name Tomb, which incorporated universal metaphorically structured deep meanings and value. The idea is that the family name Tomb focused in intself the synonymized "universal" sense of "crossed" roots *m *ch, which in turn evolved into different languages morpho-phonematic changes. The allegation that the family name Tomb is deep multicomponent mental construct suggests that analyte name in tongues was and remains cultoroligical bearer form.


A twelve-year-old boy was thrown against a tree when the brakes failed while he was bicycling down a hill. He did not remember further sacrum were diffusely tender, but no widening between the lumbar spin ous processes was observed. Neurological examination was normal. Initial standard roentgenograms . lateral bending roentgenograms, and laminagrams demonstrated a left-sided anterior dislocation between the fifth lumbar and first sacral facets (Figs. 1-A and I-B). An associated non-displaced fracture involved the left side of the first sacral vertebra and its superior articular facet. There were additional hairline fractures of the left first through fifth lumbar transverse processes and of the right fifth lumbar transverse process. Left and right bending roentgenograms


l Synthesized 'Solar' Jet Fuel: Renewable Kerosene from Sunlight, Water and Carbon Dioxide l New Imaging Technology: Phase Contrast X-ray l Engineers Develop New Materials for Hydrogen Storage l Genetic Basis of Pest Resistance to Biotech Cotton Discovered l Nanowire Bridging Transistors Open Way to Next-Generation Electronics l Flatland Optics with Graphene: Smaller and Faster Photonic Devices and Circuits l Fattening Gene Discovered by Researchers l Cybersecurity Researchers Roll Out a New Heartbleed Solution: Red Herring Creates Decoy Servers, Eentraps, Monitors Hackers l


Personal constructs are the "frames of reference" for individual to interpret and expect persons, events, and psychological realities in the world. The Personal Construct Theory and the triadic elicitation technique are applied to explore and identify the constructs and construct dimensions hospice nurses have to recognize the spirituality of terminally ill patients. A semi-structured interview was executed with all sixteen nurses in one hospice ward in central Taiwan to collect qualitative data. With the triadic elicitation interview, each nurse was asked first to identify 5 patients with unique spirituality status. These 5 patients served as elements and for a mathematic combination 3 out of 5, a total of 10 different triads were obtained. Each triad is constituted of 3 patients. Then, at each of 10 triads, the nurse was asked to divide the 3 patients listed (i.e. triad) into two groups. The verbal expressions for each division were recorded and transcribed as texts. Through the process of content analysis, personal constructs of each and every hospice nurses were identified. A total of 9 construct dimensions were found including religion, family support, personality, death perspectives, spiritual well-being, illness attitudes, meaning of life, social-economic status, and physical aspects. Personality/trait, other than family and religion, is considered an important spiritual construct by the respondents. It should be noted that there exist many narratives regarding the negative personality of terminally ill patients. It was found that meaning of life is a construct dimension overlooked by the hospice nurses. Results indicated that "meaning of life" dimension was relatively less employed by the investigated nurses. I addition, nurses' personal constructs of terminally ill patients' spirituality is dominated by a systematic perspective. Holistic and existential perspectives are relatively less salient. It is suggested that. It is also suggested that future studies should be focused on personal constructs of spiritual care of senior hospice nurses. By the identification of various construct dimensions and perspectives of spiritual care, hopefully, our knowledge and practice can be further advanced.


Osteopontin(OPN)is a secreted sialic acid-rich,non-collagenous chemokine-like protein,it belongs to the family of small integrin-binding ligand N-linked glycoprotein(SIBLING)members and it has important roles in determining the oncogenic potential of various cancers.The ligands of OPN are integrins and CD44.It was found in the present study that,OPN-CD44 interaction could significantly promote the proliferation of colorectal cancer cell lines,the mechanism refers not only to an increased expression level of enhancer of zeste homolog 2(EZH2)but also to an upregulation of EZH2 activity through trimethylation of histone H3 on lysine 27(H3K27me3)in the colorectal cell line HT29.Inhibiting OPN could block proliferation of HT29 cells in vitro,while GSK-126,a specific inhibitor of EZH2,could suppress the growth of HT29 cells in vivo.These findings provide potential clinical value in the treatment of colorectal cancers.


Drainage studies on an unbleached kraft pulp (kappa number of 30) have been made with two chemical additives, cationic starch and an anionic retention aid (silica sol). The drainage resistance of the pulp was determined by CSF measurements at various concentrations of lignin and sodium sulfate (pH 5.5). When cationic starch was added to the stock in the presence of low levels of salt and lignin, a significant increase of the CSF value was observed. However, with increasing salt concentration this effect of the starch diminished. This was also the case, though to a lesser extent, when the lignin concentration was increased. If the cationic starch was combined with the anionic retention aid, a very good drainage effect was obtained. This system of chemical additives is unaffected by high salt concentrations, but it is sensitive to the presence of dissolved lignin. The theoretical and practical implications of these observations are discussed.


In dealing with biblical subjects (especially in dramatic production between 1910 and 1930) Croatian literary expressionism showed its potent artistic side. This paper attempts to identify active literary mechanisms used by Croatian expressionist writers in their works in order to mark the syntactic and semantic potential of the biblical text. The analysis of intertextual connections between the biblical original and new literary structures results in establishing the dichotomy between affirmation/reconstruction (M. Begovic, A. Cesarec, J. Kosor, T. Prpic, F. Galovic, S. Tucic, M. Ogrizovic) and negation/disputing of biblical contents, motifs and symbols (T. Strozzi, M. Krleža, J. Kulundžic, K. Mesaric). A frequent choice of Christ's character and events in connection with him for literary interpretation and the construction of structure and semantics of a new text gives evidence of functional overlapping and joining of a Christian myth on Jesus as a Savior of humankind and expressionistic myth on a New M...


Abstract This study aimed at testing the feasibility of employing artificial neural network (ANN)-based predictive and adaptive control logics to improve thermal comfort and energy efficiency through a decrease in overshoots and undershoots of control variables. Three control logics were developed: (1) conventional temperature/humidity control logic, (2) ANN-based temperature/humidity control logic, and (3) ANN-based Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) control logic. Performance tests were conducted in a thermal chamber for non-application of setback and application of setback of thermal factors. Analysis revealed that the ANN-based predictive temperature/humidity control logic generally provided greater periods of thermal comfort than that of the conventional logic, as well as a reduction in overshoots and undershoots. In addition, the ANN-based PMV control logic provided significantly better PMV conditions than both temperature/humidity based control logics. In more cases, ANN-based control logic demonstrated a reduction in electricity consumption, compared to non-ANN-based control logic, especially for a system with a large time-lag effect such as a radiant water heating system.


In the United States, the political future is constrained, for better or worse, by constitutional arrangements that have been in place for more than two centuries. Barring dramatic developments, such as nuclear war or major terrorist attacks, it is unlikely that the political system will change much over the next few decades. In China, by contrast, the political future is wide open. According to the formulation of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the current system is the "primary stage of socialism," meaning that it's a transitional phase to a higher and superior form of socialism. The economic foundation, along with the legal and political superstructure, will change in the future. For independent intellectuals, the only remotely plausible justification for the current system of economic liberalization combined with tight political control is that it is a temporary necessity given the need to provide social order during the disruptive period of economic development (and many would reject this claim). Nobody argues that the current political system should remain in place once the economy is developed.


Acharya, Amitav, "Made in America? Agency and Power in Asian Regionalism," 370-378, in "Roundtable: Peter J. Katzenstein's Contributions to the Study of East Asian Regionalism," no. 3 (Sept.-Dec.): 359-412. Aggarwal, Vinod K., and Min Gyo Koo, "The Evolution of Regionalism in East Asia," 359-369, in "Roundtable: Peter J. Katzenstein's Contributions to the Study of East Asian Regionalism," no. 3 (Sept.-Dec.): 359-412. Benson, Brett V., and Emerson M. S. Niou, "Economic Interdependence and Peace: A Game-Theoretic Analysis," no. 1 (Jan.-Apr.): 35-59. Chambers, Paul, "In Response to Michael H. Nelson," no. 1 (Jan.-Apr.): 159-162. Chu, Yun-han, and Min-hua Huang, "Partisanship and Citizen Politics in East Asia," no. 2 (May-Aug.): 295-321. Chu, Yun-han, Russell J. Dalton, and Doh Chull Shin, "Introduction: Parties, Party Choice, and Partisanship in East Asia," no. 2 (May-Aug.): 177-184. Dalton, Russell J., and Aiji Tanaka, "The Patterns of Party Polarization in East Asia," no. 2 (May-Aug.): 203-223. Dalton, Russell J., Yun-han Chu, and Doh Chull Shin, "Introduction: Parties, Party Choice, and Partisanship in East Asia," no. 2 (May-Aug.): 177-184. Dimitrov, Martin, "Review of China Rising: Power and Motivation in Chinese Foreign Policy, edited by Yong Deng and Fei-Ling Wang," no. 1 (Jan.-Apr.): 168-170. George, Timothy S., "Review of The Lost Wolves ofJapan, by Brett L. Walker," no. 2 (May-Aug.): 355-356. Haddad, Mary Alice, "Review of Citizen Power, Politics, and the 'Asian Miracle ': Reassessing the Dynamics, by O. Fiona Yap," no. 1 (Jan.-Apr.): 172-174. Haddad, Mary Alice, "Transformation of Japan's Civil Society Landscape," no. 3 (Sept.-Dec.): 413-437. Han, Chunping, "Review of Public Opinion and Political Change in China, by Wenfang Tang," no. 1 (Jan.-Apr.): 170-172. Hicken, Allen, "Omitted Variables, Intent, and Counterfactuals: A Response to Michael H. Nelson," no. 1 (Jan.-Apr.): 149-158. Higgott, Richard, "The Theory and Practice of Regionalism in East Asia: Peter Katzenstein's Value Added," 378-387, in "Roundtable: Peter J. Katzenstein's Contributions to the Study of East Asian Regionalism," no. 3 (Sept.-Dec.): 359-412. Huang, Min-hua, and Yun-han Chu, "Partisanship and Citizen Politics in East Asia," no. 2 (May-Aug.): 295-321. Jung, Heon Joo, "Review of Competition and Corporate Governance in Korea: Reforming and Restructuring the Chaebol, edited by Sung-Hee Jwa and In Kwon Lee," no. 3 (Sept.-Dec.): 508-511. Katzenstein, Peter J., "Regionalism Reconsidered," 395-403, in "Roundtable: Peter J. Katzenstein's Contributions to the Study of East Asian Regionalism," no. 3 (Sept.-Dec.): 359-412. Konoe, Sara, "Review of Globalisation and Economic Security in East Asia: Governance and Institutions, edited by Helen E. S. Nesadurai," no. 2 (May-Aug.): 347-349.


In thispaper,an adaptive-filtering policyfor Distributed Virtual Environments (DVEs)wasbrought forward. Ittookadvantages oftwotraditional filtering policies (static-filterin g policyand equidistancetransmission policy) andcould adaptively select thefittest filtering policycorresponding to current motion characteristic ofthevirtual object inDVEs.An experiment wasdesigned tocompare this filtering policy withthetwotraditional filtering policies on task performance. Objective (TaskCompletion Time,State Updates Transmitted andState Updates perSecond) and subjective (Filtering Quality) evaluations wererecorded intheexperiment. Theexperiment results showthatif meanstate updates persecond isequal orgreater than 20inthetask, SUT andSUPScanbedecreased by adaptive-filteri ng policywithout taskperformance affected obviously. However, ifmeanstate updates per second isaround 10inthetaskaccompanied with SUT andSUPSdecreased byadaptive-filteri ng policy, task performance also deteriorated badly.


The information on the Second Scientific Conference of the Urals Federal District in clinical toxicology with international participation, held in Yekaterinburg-city on 19-20 September 2013 is presented. The present state of toxicological services in the Sverdlovsk region, the epidemiology of acute poisoning in the Ural Federal District and other regions of Russia have been reported.


OBJECTIVES: To describe rehabilitation practice patterns among critically ill children with prolonged ICU stays and explore the association between institution-level utilization of rehabilitative services and patient outcomes. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study using an administrative database of inpatient clinical and resource utilization data from participating pediatric hospitals in the United States. Center-level utilization of physical therapy and occupational therapy among critically ill patients was used to divide hospitals by quartile into high utilization centers or standard utilization centers. SETTING: Fifty-one pediatric hospitals in the United States. PATIENTS: Critically ill pediatric patients with prolonged critical illness (defined as an ICU length of stay of at least 7 d) discharged from July 2016 to June 2017. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Seventeen thousand four hundred seventy encounters met criteria for study inclusion. Of those, 6,040 (35%) were not charged for either physical therapy or occupational therapy services. There was wide variability in center-level utilization of rehabilitative services while in the ICU, ranging from 81% utilization of physical therapy or occupational therapy services among high utilization centers to 46% utilization among centers within the lowest quartile. In univariate analyses, children cared for at an high utilization center were less likely to require discharge to an inpatient rehabilitation facility (1.7% vs 3.5%; p < 0.001) and less likely to incur a new pressure injury (2.2% vs 3.1%; p = 0.001). In multivariable analyses, the direction and magnitude of effects remained similar, although the effect was no longer statistically significant (discharge to inpatient rehabilitation facility: odds ratio, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.18–2.26; pressure injury: odds ratio, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.48–1.24). CONCLUSIONS: Institutional use of rehabilitative services for children with prolonged critical illness varies greatly in the United States. Further research is needed into the potential benefits for patients cared for at centers with high usage of rehabilitation services in the ICU during prolonged critical illness.


OBJECTIVE To prevent and control nosocomial infection in grass roots medical institutions.METHODS The current status of nosocomial infections management in grass roots medical institutions was investigated and analyzed to institute the countermeasures of prevention and controlling.RESULTS The nosocomial infection management was not standard and occurred several administration shortages such as supervising system,precaution consciousness,operating instruction,hand-washing compliance,contamination zonation,medical garbage disposal,etc.CONCLUSIONS Adopting comprehensive management,establishing relevant rules and carrying on standardized administration are essential for prevention and controlling of nosocomial infections in grass roots medical institutions.


This paper prompts to understand the analysis by usingusecase diagram and design by relational model of a task management system for a banking system. A soundly design task manager may play an important role to keep track of all assign tasks, pending tasks, completed tasks, due tasks, and impossible to complete tasks. In addition, it will help to get an instant list of all tasks, promote tasks efficiency and watch against missed deadlines, Balance personal workloads, Forecast work bottlenecks and promote consumer satisfaction with regular suggested deadline dates. Before designing a task manager, the requirement analysis should be accomplished by interviewing the users or reviewing the current system. General Terms Database Management System; Relational Database Management System


To test the hypothesis that magnitude images from cine displacement encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can accurately quantify left ventricular (LV) volumes, mass, and ejection fraction (EF).


The relationship between structure and function of the nucleosome is an area of exciting and intense research, exemplified by the recent report of the first high-resolution crystallography data (5). The nucleosome, the basic unit of chromatin, consists of DNA wrapped around the core histones H3, H4, H2A and H2B. This structure serves not only to package and organize the two meters of DNA found in a typical human nucleus, but it also plays a role in gene expression and DNA repair (4,10,13,14). Acetylation of the N-terminal tails of histone proteins has long been associated with transcriptionally active chromatin, and recent studies have shown that transcriptional regulators contain histone acetylase and/or deacetylase activities (1,9). To demonstrate the specific effect of the nucleosome at the molecular level, it is essential to obtain a homogeneous population of nucleosomes reconstituted from their individual histone and DNA components. Although expression of histones H2A, H2B and H3 was described by Luger et. al. (6), expression of H4 has been problematic, even as a fusion protein, and has not been achieved without extensive alteration of the cDNA. Here we report for the first time, to our knowledge, a simple method for high-level expression of human histone H4 protein in E. coli without modification of the cDNA. The procedure involves a unique combination of the appropriate expression vector, bacteria host cell line and optimized growth conditions. Cloning. The coding region of human H4 cDNA (pF0002), kindly provided by Drs. Janet Stein and Gary Stein (12), was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using primers containing an NdeI restriction endonuclease site at the start codon and a BamHI site following the stop codon. H4 was subcloned into the pET-11a E. coli expression vector (creating H4: pET11a) in which protein expression is under control of the bacteriophage T7lac promoter sequence (Novagen, Madison, WI, USA). Thus, there is no background induction of expression during routine subcloning procedures in host cells that do not contain T7 RNA polymerase, such as DH5α (Life Technologies, Gaithersburg, MD, USA) and Epicurean coli XL-1 Blue (Stratagene, La Jolla, CA, USA), thus overcoming any direct toxic effects of histone protein. Expression. Once the sequence of H4:pET11a was verified by dideoxy sequencing, the construct was transformed into four bacteria host cell lines: (i) BL21(DE3), deficient in lon and


Students within the university sector are 'digital natives'. Technology is not 'new' or 'alien' to them, but rather it is an accepted and normalised part of everyday life (Simmons et al., 2016). With this level of expertise and competence, we could assume that university students are relatively happy with their online relationships. However, in recent years there has been a growing realisation that, for some students at least, the online world is a very dangerous place.The age of the students is of key importance here too, as those in higher and further education are young adults, rather than children in need of parental support. From this perspective, the university as an institution has a duty of care to its students in their learning environment regardless of their age. In this article, we consider the social and cultural contexts which either promote or discourage cyberbullying among university students. Finally, the implications for policies, training and awareness-raising are discussed along with ideas for possible future research in this under researched area.


After copying down several problems, the thirteen seventh and eighth grade students are given one minute to solve each problem in their identical workbooks. Once the minute is up, the class reads their answers out loud. Next, they move on to the another exercise, one in which they practice reading together the individual digits in three digit numbers. This is a typical exercise in the division Corrective Mathematics (CM) class.


Chemical beam epitaxial growth system has been developed for achieving good quality InGaAsN thin film, which will be adopted as a third material of four-junction tandem solar cell. Methylhydrazine, which was used as a N source, was decomposed on the growing surface. Between 400-420°C, N concentration had slight temperature dependence. The adsorbed N-related molecules hindered the decomposition of Ga precursor TEG on the surface, resulting in the decrease of the growth. Above 440°C, the number of N incorporated in the grown film swiftly decreased. The growth rate had slight temperature dependence and the quality of grown film became deteriorated although the amount of residual N decreased.


This paper describes the class of nonimaging concentrators that achieve the maximum concentration of light permitted by physical principles. Examples of the concentrators for different absorber shapes are shown, and the modifications necessary to make a practi-cal collector are discussed. The performance of an experimental collector is also shown.


The invention provides a magnetic suspension momentum sphere adopting magnetic wheel driving. The magnetic suspension momentum sphere is used for adjusting the satellite attitude and comprises three sets of stators and a rotor. The rotor is in a spherical shell shape and is made of a nonferromagnetic conductive metal material. The axes of the three sets of stators are mutually orthogonal. Each set of stators comprises two stators which are symmetrically arranged about the sphere center of the rotor. Each stator comprises a stator motor and a magnetic wheel which is installed on the stator motor and driven by the stator motor to rotate. The upper surfaces of the magnetic wheels are spherical surfaces concentric with the outer surface of the rotor, the spherical radius of the upper surfaces of the magnetic wheels is larger than that of the outer surface of the rotor, and air gaps are reserved between the magnetic wheels and the outer surface of the rotor. Suspended driving and rotary driving integration of the magnetic suspension momentum sphere is achieved. The magnetic suspension momentum sphere is simple and compact in structure, small in size, light in weight, low in cost and high in efficiency; as the suspension belongs to inherent stable suspension, suspension control is simple.


Data resembling either density dependent or density independent control of animal numbers may be generated by models that differ in degree but not in kind. See full-text article at JSTOR


INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: We sought to validate stage of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 8th edition, which eliminated pathologic T2 subclassification, comparing to AJCC 7th edition and to suggest prognostic T2 subcategory using percent tumor volume in biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate cancer. METHODS: A total of 1073 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy and had pathologic T2 stage were included. Exclusion criteria were neoadjuvant therapy. BCR-free survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox hazard regression was used to predict BCR. RESULTS: Median follow-up period was 27.6 months (interquartile range 13.1–41.1). On Kaplan-Meier curve, T2 subcategory of AJCC 7th did not show significant difference for BCR (p=0.502). Percent tumor volume was significantly correlated with initial PSA (beta: 0.10, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.05–0.15, p<0.001) and T2 subcategory of AJCC 7th (beta: 2.35, 95% CI 1.68–3.02, p<0.001). On multivariate analysis for BCR-free survival, pathologic Grade Group (2 vs 1; Hazard ratio [HR] 2.384, 95% CI 1.055–5.387, p=0.037, 3 vs 1; HR 4.474, 95% CI 1.958–10.225, p<0.001, 4 vs 1; HR 11.816, 95% CI 4.716–29.602, p<0.001, 5 vs 1; 5.283, 95% CI 1.706–16.359, p=0.004), surgical margin (HR 4.348, 95% CI 2.896–6.528, p<0.001), and percent tumor volume (HR 1.023, 95% CI 1.005–1.041, p=0.013) were significant predictors. On Kaplan-Meier curve, percent tumor volume (>7.5 vs <7.5) showed significant difference for BCR-free survival (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The T2 stage of AJCC 8th is more appropriate for BCR prediction than T2 subcategory of AJCC 7th. Percent tumor volume can classify the prognosis of BCR in pathologic T2 stage. Figure. No caption available. Source of Funding: none


Summary LONELY GUY (LOG) was first identified in a screen of rice mutants with defects in meristem maintenance. In plants, LOG codes for cytokinin riboside 5′‐monophosphate phosphoribohydrolase, which converts inactive cytokinin nucleotides directly to the active free bases. Many enzymes with the PGGxGTxxE motif have been misannotated as lysine decarboxylases; conversely not all enzymes containing this motif are cytokinin‐specific LOGs. As LOG mutants clearly impact yield in rice, we investigated the LOG gene family in bread wheat. By interrogating the wheat (Triticum aestivum) genome database, we show that wheat has multiple LOGs. The close alignment of TaLOG1, TaLOG2 and TaLOG6 with the X‐ray structures of two functional Arabidopsis thaliana LOGs allows us to infer that the wheat LOGs 1‐11 are functional LOGs. Using RNA‐seq data sets, we assessed TaLOG expression across 70 tissue types, their responses to various stressors, the pattern of cis‐regulatory elements (CREs) and intron/exon patterns. TaLOG gene family members are expressed variously across tissue types. When the TaLOG CREs are compared with those of the cytokinin dehydrogenases (CKX) and glucosyltransferases (CGT), there is close alignment of CREs between TaLOGs and TaCKXs reflecting the key role of CKX in maintaining cytokinin homeostasis. However, we suggest that the main homeostatic mechanism controlling cytokinin levels in response to biotic and abiotic challenge resides in the CGTs, rather than LOG or CKX. However, LOG transgenics and identified mutants in rice variously impact yield, providing interesting avenues for investigation in wheat.


The purpose of this paper is to determine the key drivers of innovative behavior of employees in hotel industry using evidence from a developing country. Measurement items were adapted from existing scales found in the organizational behavior literature. Academic colleagues reviewed the items for face validity and readability. The scales were evaluated for reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity using data collected in a survey of 3 and 4 star hotels in Tehran, Iran. A structural equation modeling procedure was applied to examine the drivers of employees' innovative behavior in these hotels. The research model was tested empirically using a sample of 241 respondents who worked at the hotels during the period of research. The paper found that social responsibility, employee treatment, job satisfaction, organizational support, and organizational commitment have indirectly affected innovative behavior through organizational citizenship behaviors.


The invention provides a method and a system for querying distributed multi-scale spatial data. The method for querying the distributed multi-scale spatial data includes S1, acquiring query request information; S2, determining index layers in primary indexes according to the query request information; S3, searching target data service of target data in the index layers according to target regions of the target data; S4, acquiring secondary indexes corresponding to the target data service; S5, querying network access addresses of the target data in the secondary indexes according to the target regions of the target data. The query request information at least contains the target regions of the target data. The index layers correspond to the target data, and scales corresponding to the different index layers in the primary indexes are different from one another. The method and the system have the advantage that spatial entity objects of mass data can be quickly retrieved by the aid of the method and the system.


Objective To examine the influence of insulin receptor substrate 1(IRS-1)gene silence on the mRNA and protein expression of CCAAT enhancer binding protein α(C/EBPα) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ(PPARγ)in 3T3-L1 preadipocyte cell,to observe the changes of its differentiation ability into mature cell when IRS-1 gene was silenced,and explore whether IRS-1 was a key upstream regulatory molecule of C/EBPα and PPARγ in preadipocyte cell differentiation. Methods Four recombination plasmids of IRS-1 shRNA were constructed and the most effective one was selected by Western blotting.The cells infected with the most effective IRS-1 shRNA plasmid were grouped as IRS-1 silence group and cells incubated with non-sense IRS-1 shRNA as control group.The cells were induced into mature cell after 24 hours′ incubation with transfection.The expression levels of mRNA and protein of C/EBPα and PPARγ were tested by Western blotting and real-time PCR,and the differentiation level was examined by red oil,respectively,at 72 h and 7 d after the differentiation. Results Compared with the control group,both mRNA and protein expression of C/EBPα and PPARγ in IRS-1 silence group had significant decrease at 72 h after the cells differentiation(Pa0.05),and the ratio of mature cells which was tested by red oil reduced obviously in IRS-1 silence group at 7 d after the differentiation. Conclusion Insulin can stimulate the expression of C/EBPα and PPARγ by IRS-1 in order to promote preadipocyte cells differentiation.


It is poetically acknowledged that the flap of butterfly's wings in China can set off a cascade of atmospheric events that lastly cause a tornado in the United States. If this is true, it is also true that the movements of the louse, an insect much smaller than a butterfly, has accompanied the history of mankind from its dawn, playing a crucial role in some historical facts and radically influencing their course. However, lice preceded by far the appearance of Homo sapiens on the earth, as demonstrated by fossils with an estimated age of 100 million years.


The authors consider the nonlinear difference equation where Ay, Y,+I Y,, {P,}, {q,}, and {rn} are real sequences, and uf(u) > 0 for u # 0. Sufficient conditions for boundedness and convergence to zero of certain types of solutions axe given. Examples illustrating the results are also included.


This thesis deals with the area of cultural diversity at the workplace. The theoretical part describes an individual{\crq}s influence on team{\crq}s effectiveness and negative impacts on the quality and productivity of a team caused by the lack of intercultural training. The practical part focuses on a brief introduction of a company and analysis of particular cultures presented in the copmany. The analysis is based on graphical illustrations, personal interaction, and using Hofstede{\crq}s outcomes. In conclusion, I am giving further suggestions and recommendations.


A holder for holding devices test samples during the movement of the devices you show test through a testing instrument automated sample, comprising: a body having a top and a bottom and first and second side portions ; receiving structures (202, 206) in said top to hold up to N, greater than one, devices test samples and to N test tubes containing test samples integer; a part comprising a handle (208) and the opposite side having a flat panel (215) for reception ofa seal machine readable; yN positioning elements for optical interrupt (212), placed each said deposicionamiento elements in alignment with one of said receptor structures, thus detecting one dedichos positioning elements by a sensor optical interrupt fixed in said deensayo instrument samples detects the position of the samples placed in the receptoracorrespondiente structure to said positioning element.


Pyrolytic cyclization of a- and β-methadol methiodides afforded cis and trans isomers of 2-ethyl-3,3-diphenyl-5-methyltetrahydrofuran, respectively. Catalytic hydrogenation of 2-ethyli-dene-3,3-diphenyl-5-methyltetrahydrofuran yielded the cis and trans isomers in a 2:1 ratio. The nmr spectra of these and structurally related compounds have been analyzed in terms of a half-chair conformation for 2-ethyl-5-methyl, 2-ethyl, and 5-methyl derivatives. An envelope conformation has been suggested for the compounds containing a double bond at C-2.


As the title implies, the book is on thermal measurements and inverse techniques. The main theme of the book is an elaborate and self-sufficient coverage of inverse techniques in thermal science. The book is primarily a reference book on the subject; however, it may be used as a textbook or as a source of further reading in a special-topic course in thermal modeling and inverse techniques. The topics covered may also be of interest to graduate students, researchers, and practicing engineers. The subject has been presented in a clear mathematical language. The readers of the book, however, need to be familiar with applied mathematics in certain chapters if they are to fully benefit from the book. There are three parts in this book: Part I is on Modeling and Measurements in Heat Transfer; Part II covers Inverse Heat Transfer Problems; and Part III is devoted to Applications. Parts I and II lay the theoretical foundations, while Part III is intended to demonstrate how the techniques are used in several practical test cases. The materials covered in the book are diverse. Part I is on modeling and measurement; it covers modeling in heat transfer, multiscale approach in predicting thermophysical properties of heterogeneous media, temperature measurement with thermoelectricity and microthremocouples measurements with resistive and heat flux sensors, and radiative measurements of temperature. Part II has nine chapters on inverse heat transfer problems and addresses a host of issues related to inverse techniques. This part covers topics such as least-squares estimation and ill-posed problems, regularization, nonlinear estimation, a survey of basic methods for optimization and response surface generation, adjoint methods, Bayesian approach and low-order models in inverse problems, noise and model reduction, and explicit formulations for radiative transfer problems. Part III shows the application of the models and methods of the first two parts in six different chapters ranging from error measurements to thermophysical properties and thermal radiation problems. With such a wealth of information, this book is an excellent source of knowledge on the theory and application of thermal measurements and inverse techniques. Heat and Mass Transfer: Fundamentals and Applications, 4th ed., Y.A. Cengel, and A.J. Ghajar, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2011.


Ovarian cancer (OC) is the eighth most common cancer in women, with 313.959 new cases and 207.252 new deaths in 2020 worldwide [1]. It is frequently called the "big silent killer", since most of the cases become symptomatic and are diagnosed in advanced stages, without any screening program being yet available. Sign and symptoms are absolutely general and vague: abdominal pain, early satiety, changes in bowel habits, abdominal pain [2], thus causing a delayed diagnosis. In extremely rare cases, ovarian cancer can only manifests through a paraneoplastic poliarthritis syndrome [3,4]. To date, only about twenty cases have been reported in literature, the first one in 1966 [5]. The median age of onset is 64 years [4].


The stereotype of the Japanese family system, centered on the ie, characterizes it as one in which succession follows a rule of primogeniture, and inheritance is impartible. But examination of population registers—the shumon aratame-cho ( SAC)—covering the village of Nishijo from 1773 to 1869 suggests that patterns of succession and inheritance were not fixed, butfluid. After addressing the question of defects in the SAC, the author discusses succession, the establishment of branch families, and household extinction. He shows that the successor was by no means alway the eldest son, and that women frequently headed households, especially when their husbands departed temporarily as migrants. Analysis of the division of landed property between households at the time of fission shows, first, that it was partible, and second, that the size of the portions was often nearly equal. The rate of household extinction differed by class, being greater in the lower ones, whose members favored maximizing a household's income by sending members off for employment over maintaining its continuity over generations. The relationship between upper-class branching and lower-class migration established a structure of interclass mobility which may have reduced social tension. This paper suggests the diversity of social patterns in preindustrial Japan and challenges the argument that customs of impartible inheritance contributed to Japan's industrialization by limiting population growth.


This paper estimates intergenerational elasticities across three generations in the United States in the late 19 and early 20 centuries. We extend the methodology in Olivetti and Paserman (2013) to explore four different channels of intergenerational mobility: fatherssons-grandsons, fathers-sons-granddaughters, fathers-daughters-grandsons and fathers-daughtersgranddaughters. We document three main findings. First, there is evidence of a strong second-order autoregressive coefficient for the process of intergenerational transmission of income. Second, the socio-economic status of grandsons is influenced more strongly by paternal grandfathers than by maternal grandfathers. Granddaughters, on the other hand, are more strongly influenced by maternal grandfathers. We propose two alternative theoretical frameworks that can rationalize these findings.


Various sensor networks have been increasingly deployed in the real world to help us observe our surrounding environment.However,it is common that the deployed sensor networks suffer from unpredictable faults.Hence,fast and effective fault detection,localization and repair are of utmost importance for sensor network debugging.Extraction techniques of system state information for sensor network debugging are summarized and compared after a brief introduction of debugging sensor networks.Representative debugging techniques and related tools are then surveyed from view of fault detection,localization and repair.The future research is discussed at the end of this paper.


Dementia is a debilitating degenerative disorder where the sufferer's cognitive abilities decline over time, depending on the type of dementia. The more common types of dementia include Alzheimer's disease and vascular or multi-infarct dementia. In this study, 20 subjects with dementia (9 of Alzheimer's type, and 11 with vascular dementia) were treated using qEEG-guided neurofeedback training. The Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) was used as the primary outcome measure. The results showed an increase of the MMSE scores for all subjects regardless of dementia type with an average MMSE score increase of 6 points, which was found to be significant. To our knowledge this is the first time the same modality was shown to be beneficial in both dementia groups.


Loggerhead sea turtle is considered a keystone species with major ecological role in Mediterranean marine environment. As with other wild reptiles, their outer microbiome is rarely studied. Although there are several studies on sea turtle's macro-epibionts and endo-microbiota, there has been little research on epibiotic microbiota associated with sea turtles' skin and carapace. Therefore, we provide the first identification of combined epibiotic eukaryotic and prokaryotic microbiota on Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtles. In this study, we sampled skin and carapace of 26 loggerheads from the Mediterranean Sea during 2018 and 2019. To investigate the overall microbial diversity and composition, amplicon sequencing of 16S and 18S rRNA genes was performed. We found that the Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtle epibiotic microbiota is a reservoir of a vast variety of microbial species. Microbial communities between samples mostly varied by different locations and seas, while within prokaryotic communities' significant difference was observed between sampled body sites (carapace vs. skin). In terms of relative abundance, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidota were the most represented phyla within prokaryotes, while Alveolata and Stramenopiles thrived among eukaryotes. This study, besides providing a first survey of microbial eukaryotes on loggerheads via metabarcoding, identifies fine differences within both prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial communities that seem to reflect the host anatomy and habitat. Multi-domain epi-microbiome surveys provide additional layers of information that are complementary with previous morphological studies and enable better understanding of the biology and ecology of these vulnerable marine reptiles.