Numerous factors may lead to pulsatile tinnitus (PT), including atherosclerosis, benign intracranial hypertension, glomus tympanicum tumor, dural arteriovenous fistulas (dAVFs), abnormalities of the sigmoid sinus (dehiscence and diverticulum), and jugular bulb anomalies (glomus jugular tumor, diverticulum, high-riding or dehiscent jugular bulb). However, exact causes often cannot be found in many patients even after a detailed physical examination and extensive auxiliary examinations.[1] Moreover, no effective treatment is available for these patients. Patients with PT associated with multiple factors are seldom reported, and the condition is essentially intractable. Here, we reported three cases with PT involving multiple factors.

A 38-year-old woman presented with a chief complaint of PT on her right side for 7 years. The results of pure tone audiometry and acoustic immittance were normal. Her PT could be alleviated after compressing the ipsilateral jugular vein. Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) and computed tomography angiography (CTA) revealed a small diverticulum on the right-side of her sigmoid sinus, and a vascular malformation was found in the right frontal-parietal lobe. With a strong desire to relieve the PT and her consent, the patient was hospitalized to remove the diverticulum by surgery at the Department of Otolaryngology, Beijing Tongren Hospital, in April 2012. The diverticulum was skeletonized and reduced with extraluminal placement of the temporalis fascia and autologous bone pate. The patient experienced no change in the PT after this surgery, although the diverticulum was eliminated completely as shown in the postoperative CTA. Then, the CTA findings before and after the surgery were studied again. Extensive bone defects (dehiscence) were found in the right-side sigmoid sinus wall. She also had a high-riding and dehiscent jugular bulb, a possible underlying factor for PT.[2] With the patient's consent, a second surgery was performed under local anesthesia for reconstruction of the dehiscent wall of the sigmoid sinus and jugular bulb in December 2012. The patient experienced immediate resolution of the PT when the partial sigmoid sinus dehiscent wall was reconstructed with autologous bone pate. However, she was so nervous and anxious under local anesthesia that the surgery was discontinued. She had milder PT, approximately 30% of the loudness of the preoperative PT, immediately after the surgery. The patient's mild PT persisted stably at 15 months after the second surgery, when the last follow-up occurred. A postoperative CTA after the secondary surgery demonstrated that the dehiscent sigmoid sinus wall had been reconstructed partially, and the high-riding and dehiscent jugular bulb remained.

A 24-year-old man presented with a chief complaint of PT on his left-side for 5 years after a head injury by car accident. The results of pure tone audiometry and acoustic immittance were normal. CTA revealed a huge diverticulum on the left-side of his sigmoid sinus. To remove the diverticulum, an operation under general anesthesia was done at the Department of Otolaryngology, Beijing Tongren Hospital in March 2013, the surgical procedures were described in Case 1. The patient also experienced no change in the PT after the surgery, although the postoperative CTA shown that the diverticulum was eliminated completely. Then a DSA was done, through the DSA we found a cerebral dAVF on his left temporal lobe. After an interventional therapy in May 2013, his symptoms disappeared. This situlation lasted for 12 months when the last follow-up occurred.

A 54-year-old woman presented with a chief complaint of PT on her right side for more than 10 years. CTA revealed two dehiscence of sigmoid sinus wall and a mastoid emissary vein on the right side. She accepted the operation therapy under general anesthesia at the Department of Otolaryngology, Beijing Tongren Hospital in September 2011. Because the mastoid emissary vein pulsated obviously, we judged that the vein was the main factor to cause PT. Therefore, we closed the mastoid emissary vein by bipolar coagulator. After operation, the patient feel PT improved slightly. A month later, the intensity of the PT returned to the preoperative status. She refused our proposal for surgical exploration once again.

Pulsatile tinnitus may arise in arterial or venous abnormalities around the ear. The sigmoid sinus diverticulum (SSD), defined as a well-circumscribed sac where the sigmoid sinus focally protrudes into the adjacent mastoid area, is an increasingly recognized factor for venous PT.[2,3,4] It has been reported that most cases with SSD achieve complete resolution of PT by either transmastoid surgery[2,3] or endovascular coiling/stenting.[5] However, in this paper, the first and second patients experienced no change in their PT after the first surgery, although the diverticulum was eliminated. We speculated that the diverticulum may not have been the only factor causing PT in them. The first patient did experience immediate resolution of her PT when the dehiscent wall was partially reconstructed in the second surgery. The third patients with an untreated operation sigmoid sinus wall dehiscence (SSWD), resulted in postoperative tinnitus symptoms nonimprovement. These illustrate that SSWD was apparently a significant factor in the patient's PT.

In addition to part of the SSWD being unrepaired, two additional possible factors may have caused the residual PT of the first patient. She had a high-riding and dehiscent jugular bulb, and a vascular malformation had been identified in the right frontal-parietal lobe. In second patients, dAVF was proved to be an important factor leading to the PT. In third patient, although there are reports that mastoid emissary vein can lead to PT, but the operation result show that this patient's mastoid emissary vein is not the cause of the disease. Because of her refusal to reoperation, we cannot confirm whether the SSWD is the factor which caused the PT or are there other reasons?

For the diagnosis for PT patients, we recommend CTA as a preliminary work-up modality. CTA is noninvasive, and it demonstrates relationships between temporal bone and adjacent vessels, so it is of great value in detecting anomalies of the sigmoid sinus, jugular bulb, and internal carotid artery, such as SSD, SSWD, high-riding jugular bulb, dehiscent jugular bulb, mastoid emissary vein, and aberrant internal carotid artery. However, CTA cannot replace DSA if dAVF or another vasculopathy is suspected.

We gained some insights from these cases. First, patients with PT should be given a comprehensive evaluation preoperatively because the PT may be associated with multiple factors. Second, for patients with both SSD and SSWD, it is important to eliminate the diverticulum and reconstruct the dehiscent wall simultaneously. Finally, if massive bleeding and nervousness of the patient can be avoided during surgery, local anesthesia is preferable because the surgeon may be able to gain valuable feedback from the patient in this condition.


Myotonic dystrophy is a muscle disorder characterized by progressive muscle wasting and weakness associated with myotonia. It is a systemic disease transmitted in an autosomal dominant pattern. Myotonia may be precipitated by hypothermia, shivering, and mechanical or electrical stimulation. Furthermore, sensitivity to sedative, anesthetic and neuromusclular blocking agents may result in intraoperative and early postoperative cardiovascular and respiratory complications, as well as prolonged recovery from anesthesia. Therefore, a patient with myotonic dystrophy is at high risk for complications from anesthetic management. We report the successful anesthetic management of such a patient undergoing a total abdominal hysterectomy, in which we used an epidural technique for intraoperative anesthesia and postoperative analgesia.


To simulate the movement of a human during daily activities, such as walking, running, squatting, and kneeling, a novel parallel hip joint simulator whose key movement component is a 3SPS + 1PS parallel manipulator with four degrees of freedom (DOF) was proposed. SPS denotes the spherical-prismatic-spherical leg, and PS denotes the prismatic-spherical leg where only the prismatic joint is actuated and hence underlined. Firstly, the formulae for solving the inverse kinematics of the 3SPS + 1PS parallel manipulator were derived based on the unit quaternion method. Then, the parallel hip joint simulator was designed and finally developed by means of constructing the mechanical module, control module, hydraulic loading module, and data transmission module. In addition, three linear actuators are driven by the scheduled inverse displacement trajectories to enable the moving platform to output rotations about the Z-, Y-, and X-axes for representing flexion/extension, abduction/adduction, and external/internal rotations of the human hip joint. Simultaneously, the hydraulic loading module represents the dynamic loading as described by ISO 14242 Part-1 acting on the hip joint during the kinematic experiment. The kinematic experiment and dynamic loading experiment show that the fitting curves of the experimental results are consistent with the designed movement and loading trajectories. All these illustrate that the developed 3SPS + 1PS parallel hip joint simulator with effective design of all modules can substantially represent the designed movement and loading trajectories. The developed hip joint simulator can provide more reliable tribology test data for artificial prosthesis of hip joint.


A Neural Network Expert System is established when Neural Network is combined with Expert System,the core of system adopts BP Neural Network.The diagnosis of engine is regarded as an example,after obtaining diagnosis data,it adopts three layers BP Neural Network model to carry on the training to the network,after contrasting a few different network parameters,sets reasonable network training parameters,acquires the expected error margin worth 0.01 after training,and adopts person machine that the software of VB 6.0 designed the Expert System to hand over each other's interface,and the result provides the beneficial reference to Expert System in the application of the vehicle engine fault diagnosis.


The determination of milk casein content by the reference method (ISO 17997-1 I IDF 29-1), although highly accurate and repeatable is time consuming and not suitable for large-scale milk analysis. For practical reasons, the casein content is often estimated by applying a general conversion factor based on the protein content but this technique presents some limitations given that several factors, mostly genetic and environmental, can influence the casein content and properties. The dairy industry would benefit from a rapid, accurate and cost effective analytical method to predict the cheese yield potential of milk. The filter infra-red (filter IR) and Fourier Transform Infra-red (FT-IR) techniques are already extensively used for the determination of milk protein content. Their ability to enhance the casein prediction has been investigated. The principal aspects of the infra-red determination as well as the analytical performance of several direct and indirect infra-red methods and their calibration models and control are discussed. Critical aspects are highlighted. On bulk milk, the standard error of estimate (sy,x) of the direct and protein based casein infra-red methods varies between 0.025 g/100 and 0.057 g/100 g, and between 0.030 g/100 g and 0.076 g/100 g, respectively. On single cow's milk, the standard error of estimate is significantly higher and ranges from 0.056 g/100 g to 0.140 g/100 g and from 0.060 g/100 g to 0.183 g/100 g, respectively. The poorer accuracy on single cow could be attributed to the lack of specificity and calibration robustness of the infra-red methods. In several studies, the direct infra-red method did not meet the requirements of the IDF 141C:2000 on single cow's milk. In an extensive study, the FT-IR and filter IR techniques gave similar standard error of estimates on bulk milk with a s y,x of 0.057 g/100 g and 0.053 g/100 g, respectively. Overall, the infra-red differential methods gave the best casein prediction with a Sy,x x value of 0.020 g/100 g on bulk milk and a s y,x varying between 0.018 g/100 g and 0.050 g/100 g on single cow's milk but their implementation remains tedious. The repeatability (r) and reproducibility (R) values of the direct infra-red methods range from 0.014 g to 0.113 g/100 g and from 0.115 to 0.238 g/100 g, respectively. The poor results obtained with the direct casein infra-red method in several casein and whey protein recovery studies are a real concern and should be investigated further. The casein content in milk can be optimized to some extent by adjusting the feeding and monitoring the udder health. However, the casein content and milk coagulation properties are connected with the milk protein genetic variants and more specifically the protein phenotypes of the K-casein and β-lactoglobulin. Thus, it appears that the most effective strategy to enhance the casein number at the farm would be through breeding. In a given genetic environment, the protein content remains a very accurate indicator of the casein content, particularly on animals free of clinical mastitis.


The US Environmental Protection Agency/Environmental Response Team (US EPA/ERT) has used field-portable X-ray fluorescence (FPXRF) instruments extensively to characterize metallic contamination in soils and sediment, thin films and lead in paint. Rapid, on-site, multi-element analysis of large numbers of in-situ and prepared samples provides near real-time data to guide cleanup/removal activities at hazardous waste sites. Currently, there is a high level of interest in FPXRF Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) results, since FPXRF is a relatively new environmental analytical technique. Managing large amounts of FPXRF QA/QC data from many sites is difficult because it is typically stored in separate project reports. Electronic management and evaluation of FPXRF performance is desirable. A database, providing a means to store, summarize, compare, sort, and report FPXRF QA/QC performance, is helpful. Data is entered from the keyboard through picklists or by import of text files from other sources. A glossary is provided in the user`s manual, defining every database term and field which, along with the use of picklists, provides for consistent data reporting. Database functions provide easy access to manipulate and sort the FPXRF QA/QC data. Additionally, an output menu provides a variety of predefined report formats. This database quickly provides site-managers with realisticmore » estimates of FPXRF capabilities.« less


The two-phase flow field inside the ejector of the two-phase ejector refrigeration cycle(TPRC) system was simulated by ANSYS CFX,and the effects of the diameter of the mixing chamber and the throat diameter of the nozzle on the performance of the ejector were analyzed.According to the numerical simulation results,the ejector prototypes were manufactured.A series of experimental studies on the R134a two-phase ejector and the R134a two-phase ejector refrigeration cycle was carried out.The optimum matching between the throat diameter of the nozzle and the diameter of the mixing chamber was discussed under the fixed operating condition.The experimental and simulated results indicate that there is an optimal combination of the nozzle throat diameter and the mixing chamber diameter to maximize the entrainment ratio and the coefficient of performance(COP) of the TPRC system respectively under a fixed working condition.The entrainment ratio of the ejector reaches to the maximum value with the mixing chamber diameter of 16 mm and the throat diameter of 2.0 mm under the conditions of 55 ℃condensing temperature and 3 ℃ evaporating temperature,while the COP of the TPRC system is maximum while the throat diameter and the mixing chamber are 1.7 mm and 16 mm,respectively.The trend of the simulated and experimental results of the entrainment ratio and system COP is consistent,while the error between the simulated and experimental results is rather large.


We have sequenced the coxsackievirus A 21 polymerase gene and 3' noncoding region. The sequence is 98 per cent homologous at the amino acid level to the three poliovirus serotypes. This is comparable to the relationship between polioviruses and indicates a recent evolutionary divergence of the viruses.


Storytelling is central to human understanding and knowledge. Through listening, reflecting, and retelling a story, new discoveries can be made and an unconcealment, of something that would otherwise remain hidden, occurs. This article uses my experience of undertaking life story research with male ex-prisoners to explore a number of issues raised by Jewkes in her article on doing prison research differently. I suggest that concerns about research "contamination" impact how we do research and how we respond to the emotional experience of doing ethnographic research in criminology. The first potentially restricts modes of analysis, such as intertextual readings of interviews, while the second may prevent a more humanistic relationship between researcher and participant developing. Contamination, rather than something that we connect with polluting, spoiling, or dirtying, should be embraced as offering the potential for revealing new knowledge and ways of doing research differently.


This paper analyses the dynamic effects of aggregate demand, supply and oil price shocks on GDP and unemployment in Germany, Norway, the UK and the USA, and establishes the role of the different shocks in explaining output fluctuations over time. Symmetries of economic fluctuations across countries are also examined. The different shocks are identified by imposing dynamic restrictions on a structural vector autoregression model. For all countries except Norway, oil price shocks have significant negative effects on output. However, whereas the oil price shock in 1973–74 triggered off a global recession, the recession in the early 1980s was largely caused by other disturbances.


Lipase could catalyze the ammonolysis of trimethylsilylmethyl acetate in organic solvents and Novozym 435 was the best biocatalyst for the reaction. The influences of some factors on the reaction were investigated. Cyclohexane, n-hexane and heptane were found to be suitable reaction media and ammonium carbamate was the best ammonium source. The optimal initial water activity, temperature and pH value were 0.55–0.75, 35°C and 6.5 respectively, under which a substrate conversion of 97.6% could be achieved after reaction for 140 h.


This technical note presents a novel extremum seeking (ES)-based algorithm for global stabilization of unstable first order linear discrete-time (LDT) stochastic systems with unknown control directions. The probing signal is a martingale difference sequence with a vanishing variance. The controller parameter estimate converges almost surely (a.s.) to the optimizing value. The sample mean-square value of the output converges (a.s.) to the minimal variance.


OBJECTIVE To observe the effects of RNA interference mediated PIK3CA gene silencing on the proliferation and invasiveness of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma(LSCC) cells, and investigate the feasibility of PIK3CA gene as a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of LSCC. METHODS The lentiviral vector system expressing short hairpin RNA targeting PIK3CA gene(PIK3C-shRNA)was constructed and transfected subsequently into Hep-2 cells mediated by liposome in vitro. The expression of PIK3CA gene was detected by real-time RT-PCR and Western blot respectively. The proliferation of Hep-2 cells was measured by MTT, colony formation, and cell growth curve. The invasive power was determined by Boyden chamber model in vitro. RESULTS The lentiviral vector system expressing short hairpin PIK3CA- shRNA was constructed successfully. Compared with the control groups, the mRNA and protein expression of PIK3CA were significantly down-regulated(75% and 70% respectively)in the experimental group (P0.01). The cell proliferation and invasive power were significantly inhibited in vitro(P0.05). CONCLUSION The results suggest that shRNA mediated PIK3CA gene silencing can inhibit the proliferation and invasiveness of Hep-2 cells in vitro. PIK3CA has the possibility to be a new candidate gene for gene therapy of LSCC.


Abstract 'Feminine professions', such as infant school teachers, nurses, social workers and others, which emerged and grew as a consequence of a second stage in industrial development, through welfare state policies in times of postwar consensus, are under challenge because of liberal policies. In this article we want to reflect and clarify the contradictory situation of infant school working women, how they feel about their professional role, and their role as women and as workers. In order to make these points clear, we refer to research developed mainly with infant school teachers and nurses in Navarra, Spain, from 1993 to 1996. In this article, however, we are going to concentrate on women infant school teachers and, in particular, their professional perception, personal esteem, social role and satisfaction at work.


Anasakti, translated as "nonattachment" in English, is one of the important philosophical concepts of Hinduism and Buddhism. It has also been studied in contemporary psychology using various measur...


This reflective paper discusses how the micro-community strategy, including families, scouts and ecclesial communities, becomes relevant for shaping peacebuilding agents.  The paper draws upon a historical-hermeneutic research paradigm with a qualitative methodology and a documentary strategy. The findings show that the family micro-community helps develop individuals by teaching them ways to solve conflicts and assigning them roles. The education and training provided by the scouts, relying on constructivism, teamwork and the distribution of responsibilities, produce supportive individuals. In the case of lay communities, it can be seen that these micro-communities contribute to ethical judgement, the adoption of healthy customs, and in relation to character formation, through tough love, they produce autonomous and responsible individuals. In conclusion, micro-communities help educate for peace and conflict resolution, since they allow individuals to be proactive and forward-thinking change agents that promote the mutual wellbeing of their members.


This study examines whether the imposition of economic sanctions has relation to an increase in domestic terrorism, postulating that when sanctions impair the economic functioning of the target country, feelings of bitterness and despair are intensified among the poor who may then lash out by turning to domestic terrorism. A cross-sectional, time-series data analysis of 152 countries over the past three decades provides evidence that ceteris paribus, economic sanctions are positively associated with the incidence of domestic terror; this effect remains when reverse causality is taken into account. In order to clarify the role of poverty in this association, this study also introduces a two-step analysis in which sanctions are first considered a cause of poverty, and then predicted poverty levels are used to predict the occurrence of terrorism. This test for robustness confirms that economic sanctions do indeed lead to a rise in the rate of domestic terrorism.


OBJECTIVE
Recently, for the treatment of unresectable colorectal cancer with liver metastasis, hepatic artery injection of anticancer drugs suspended in degradable starch microspheres (DSM) is being performed. To predict its effectiveness, we did a retrospective study to see whether or not changes in CEA at early stages of therapy are significant.

SUBJECTS AND METHOD
The subjects were 16 patients with unresectable colorectal cancer with liver metastasis (H3) who had undergone DSM therapy at least three times (mean age 65, male to female ratio of 10:6, 6 cases of synchronous metastasis and 10 cases of metachronous metastasis). Adriamycin (ADM) 30 mg and mitomycin C (MMC) 10 mg were suspended in 600 mg of DSM and injected into the common hepatic artery until embolization of the vessel was recognized (once/3-4 weeks). We examined the changes in CEA level (doubling time or half time) and the time to progression (TTP) of CEA after the third DSM treatment.

RESULTS
Of the 16 patients, 4 (25%) showed rise in CEA, of which 3 died within a year. In the 12 cases with decreased CEA, the half time was 20-526 days (mean of 80 days). When the TTP of CEA was compared for the group with CEA half time less than 80 days (n = 6) to those with more then 80 days (n = 6), the TTP was significantly longer in the group with half time less than 80 days (p = 0.02 logrank test).

CONCLUSION
To evaluate the effectiveness of DSM therapy, it is important to examine the changes in CEA at the early stages of treatment.


This paper focused on the degradation of 1-naphthol by heat-activated persulfate. Effects of different activation temperature,sodium persulfate(PS)dosage,initial p H and substrate concentration were investigated;Identification of free radicals have been done. The results indicated that under the condition(1-naphthol initial concentration 20 mg/L,temperature60 ℃,PS dosage 1.65 g/L,p H 5.8)1-naphthol degradation rate reached 86.30% after 20 min. The degradation rate of 1-naphthol increased with the increase of activation temperature and the addition of PS dosage. Furthermore,the radical scavenging experiments demonstrated the presence of SO4-·and·OH at the same time in the system,and they both involved in the reaction,and SO4-·played a leading role.


Cultural context and social factors are important factors in the process of language translation.By comparing the connotation of context and cultural context as well as the influence of cultural context and social factors to translation activities,it further shows that cultural context and social factors have played an important role in translation activities.


As a teacher in this specialty I would wish that any surgeon-to-be consider the medico-historical museum in the Josephinum in Vienna as a part of his education." 1 Two important anniversaries in 1990 remind us of the establishment of this magnificent collection of anatomical wax preparations commissioned in 1775 to serve as teaching aids for military surgeons: February 20 and July 29. The former date is the bicentennial of the death of Emperor Joseph II (1741-1790), whose private munificence provided the means for this collection 2 and the latter, the 190th anniversary of the death of the first director and protochirurgus of the Military Medical Academy Giovanni Alessandro Brambilla (1728-1800). 3 All the exquisite erudition of medical scholars in Italy back to Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) in Padua and all the proud tradition of Italian handicraft went into the production of more than 1100 wax preparations 4 over a whole decade. Anyone


Driven by the rapid development of information and communication technologies (ICT) as well as today's globally competitive environment for enterprises, service innovation has drawn considerable attention in such fields as supply chain management (SCM). Wireless sensor network (WSN) technology, which can provide a mobile, scalable, and reliable monitoring solution, has gone through rapid development in recent years. The objective of this chapter is to provide an overview about wireless sensor network technology and a discussion on how this technology can be applied to modern industries and especially bring service innovation to supply chain management. An overview of the history and potential applications of WSN is provided for the necessary background. The architecture, topology, standards, and protocols of WSN are fundamentally important and thus introduced in details. In a general sense, the impact of information technologies on supply chain management and service innovation is then briefly discussed. After that, much emphasis is placed on the possibility, procedures, and critical challenges of implementing WSN in supply chain management. In the end, two case studies are provided to illustrate the application of WSN for service innovation in both cold chain management and healthcare settings. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61350-101-6.ch604


CFD Modeling of Compact Offset Strip-fin High Temperature Heat Exchanger by Sundaresan Subramanian Dr. Yitung Chen, Examination Committee Chair Associate Professor, Departm ent of Mechanical Engineering University o f Nevada, Las Vegas This thesis deals with the development of a numerical model to predict the overall performance of an advanced high temperature heat exchanger (HTHX) design, up to 1000°C, for the production of hydrogen by the sulfur iodine thermo-chemical cycle. The present study considers an offset strip-fin type compact high temperature heat exchanger made of liquid silicon impregnated carbon composite (SiC). The ceramic matrix composite material (CMC) is manufactured by impregnating the silicon into the pores of the carbon composites. The prototype heat exchanger is designed to operate at a thermal power of 50 MW. The design is an offset strip-fin, hybrid plate compact heat exchanger. The two working fluids are helium gas and liquid salt (FLINAK). The offset strip-fin is chosen as a method of heat transfer enhancement because of its ability to induce periodic boundary layer restart mechanism between the fins that has a direct effect on heat transfer enhancement. The effects of the fin geometry on the flow field and heat transfer are studied in three-dimensions using numerical techniques, and the results are then compared with the results from the analytical calculations. The pre-processor GAMBIT is


We consider the problem of constructing a spanning tree for a graph G = (V,E) with n vertices whose maximal degree is the smallest among all spanning trees of G. This problem is easily shown to be NP-hard. We describe an iterative polynomial time approximation algorithm for this problem. This algorithm computes a spanning tree whose maximal degree is at most O(Δ + log n), where Δ is the degree of some optimal tree. The result is generalized to the case where only some vertices need to be connected (Steiner case) and to the case of directed graphs. It is then shown that our algorithm can be refined to produce a spanning tree of degree at most Δ + 1. Unless P = NP, this is the best bound achievable in polynomial time.


Perinatal mortality rates have dropped sharply in the past few decades, in the Netherlands as well as in all other European countries. However, as the decrease has generally slowed down since the 1980s, the Netherlands has lost its prominent position in the international ranking of countries with favourable perinatal mortality rates.


Introduction. Manufac-ture. Chemistry. Antimicrobial Activity. Interactions and Syner-gistic Effects. Resistance and Metabolism of Sorbate by Microor-ganisms. Mechanisms of Antimicro-bial Activity. Applications. Po-tential for Use in Meat Products. Methods of Analysis. Safety. Reg-ulatory Status. In-dex.


Abstract : This is the final report describing a four year effort to develop and apply phase contrast imaging based on transmission electron holography as a means to measure unstained multiphase polymer microstructure. The experiments involve a 200keV transmission electron microscope with a high-coherence field emission electron source. A Mollenstadt biprism was constructed and installed to perform holographic interference experiments, and a slow-scan CCD camera was installed to provide for linear and fully digital hologram recording. A technique was developed to measure the average electron-optical refractive index characteristic of amorphous polymers. This method exploited the model spherical geometry of tilde 50nm diameter polymer latexes. This geometry enabled specimen thickness to be decoupled from the refractive effects of the material as measured by characteristic phase shifts imparted on an incident electron wave. The key quantity involved in the average refraction is known as the mean inner potential (MIP). The MIP for polystyrene was determined experimentally and agrees with predictions of simple models based on electrostatic properties of the polymer. Similar measurements were made on amorphous and crystalline silicon nanospheres yielding a MIP in excellent agreement with LDA calculations of Spence et al. at ASU. Simulations of holographic phase imaging of two-phase polymer microstructure were performed which indicate that the technique is sufficiently sensitive to distinguish between subtly different polymeric materials where no amplitude contrast can be observed.


Imagine/Align is a site-specific, community-based art installation by Susan Skarsgard at the University of Michigan Nichols Arboretum. This project, which bloomed for the first time in April 2004, is a one-half mile long line of 20,000 yellow daffodils traversing the environment, mapping thought and inspiring contemplation on the often arbitrary nature of imposed lines and borders drawn on the earth.


Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) has become inevitable in future communication networks due to its pivotal role in latency critical and distributed services. New emerging services seek to further push the concept of MEC to user environments for localized, private and even quicker processing of information. Micro MEC (µMEC) fulfills such needs of emerging services. In this article, we provide an overview of the security landscape of the µMEC philosophy and technologies. Security challenges, potential solutions for those challenges are discussed and the missing gaps are highlighted to stir further research in this direction.


Satellites are not necessarily something huge and expensive. Small satellites have been designed (or are being designed) by several universities, as part of the engineering education process; they are mostly presented at SETC (Space Technology Education Conference, [1]). These satellites must fit within tight cost constraints, for the launch and the actual satellite hardware. They are usually launched using empty spaces available in the carriers of large commercial satellites (which makes launching costs affordable). Several such projects are under way and, to make possible design reuse and to keep costs as low as possible, some standards for the size and launch gear have been defined [2]. The educational benefits of small satellites for aerospace engineering education are already established [2]. This paper addresses the benefits for electronic engineering education, by describing the design and development of a small "educational" satellite named PicPot (acronym of the Italian words for Small Satellite of Politecnico di Torino). Emphasis is placed on the overall organization, design partitioning, some details of actual hardware, and the use of such projects in microelectronics education curricula.


With the development of information technology, the emerging new media have profoundly changed the ways of communication. The characteristics of the new media, such as diversity, immediacy, interaction, and prevalence, have brought changes to the communication models of educational management information among college students featured in "generalization," "fragmentation" and so on. Although college managers have realized that college students are lost in the information explosion and have started to improve information coverage through some new media platforms, communication failure still exists. Based on theoretical studies as well as practical surveys, this research identifies the current changes in the communication models of educational management information among college students from the students' own perspectives, and puts forward several strategies for improvement designed to lay a foundation for a more effective college education work.


This study aims to determine the performance of the bureaucracy in providing public services to the community at the Malunda Kelurahan office, Malunda Subdistrict, Majene Regency. Research using qualitative descriptive methods. Data collection through interview techniques, observation, and documentation. The results showed that the use of ADD in the preparation of development work plans was less than optimal. Village fund management from the context of planning, supervision and transparency as well as its impact on the community has been well implemented, but it is still not fully in line with community expectations even though in the preparation of village development planning the community involvement is quite good. Constraints found include; disbursement of funds is not timely, so the implementation is also delayed; frequent changes of management and workers so that the implementation of work is disrupted.


Abstract AIM: To compare the sensitivity, specificity, predictive values and accuracy of detection of oestrus using a novel oestrus detection-strip (ODS) and a camera-software device (CSD) with typical farm management practices of visual observation and use of tail paint in dairy cattle at pasture. METHODS: Dairy cows (n=480) in a seasonal-calving herd managed at pasture under typical commercial conditions in New Zealand were stratified by age, body condition score and days in milk, then randomly allocated to one of two groups prior to the planned start of mating (PSM). Tail paint was applied to all cows and oestrus detected by visual observation of oestrous behaviour and removal of paint, by farm staff. One group (n=240) was fitted with ODS and also monitored for signs of oestrus using a CSD, while the Control group (n=240) was monitored using tail paint and visual observations only. Cows detected in oestrus were artificially inseminated (AI), and pregnancy status determined using rectal palpation and ultrasonography, 51–52 days after the end of a 55-day AI period. Results of pregnancy diagnosis were used to confirm the occurrence of oestrus, and the sensitivity, specificity, predictive value and accuracy of detection of oestrus compared between oestrus detection methods. RESULTS: The sensitivity and accuracy of oestrus detection in the Control group, using visual observation and tail paint, were low. Compared with the Control group, detection of oestrus using the ODS and CSD resulted in greater sensitivity (85% vs 78%; p=0.006), specificity (99.6% vs 98.0%; p<0.001), positive predictive value(PPV;88% vs 51%;p<0.001) and overall accuracy (99.0% vs 98.0%; p<0.001). Negative predictive value (NPV) did not differ significantly between groups (99.4% vs 99.3%; p=0.28). Pregnancy rate to first service was higher in the CSD group than in the Control group (72% vs 39%; p<0.05). Use of the CSD significantly increased the cumulative proportion of cows pregnant to AI over the breeding period (p=0.044). CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The ODS and CSD was satisfactory for detection of oestrus in seasonal-calving dairy herds grazing on pasture and could improve the sensitivity and accuracy of detection of oestrus in herds where these are low.


The article presents the laboratory studies results of enzyme-based complexes. It has been shown that to prevent a decrease in enzyme activity in reservoir conditions due to high salinity and temperature, it is necessary to include chelate compounds to limit the effect of metal ions. The results of the EDTA-chelate experiment showed that at EDTA concentrations between 2 and 0.8%, the turbidity of the enzyme solution decreased during the testing time, demonstrating the positive effect of using EDTA with enzymes in a salt water environment. On the basis of experiment the optimal enzyme solutions and surfactants concentration for the minimum surface tension value has been clarified. The optimal effect of the minimum surface tension value is 1.735 mN/m with components was obtained at the enzyme:surfactant ratio equal to 0.477:0.3. The thermal stability of the enzyme complex study results showed that the interfacial tension between the enzyme complex solution and kerosene is much less than the interfacial tension between sea water and kerosene (21.75 mN/m), and this is proof of the enzyme complex thermal stability at the reservoir temperature. Keywords: enzyme solution; thermal stability; wettability; oil recovery stimulation; surfactant.


Angiotensin II (AngII) infusion promotes abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) in both normo- and hypercholesterolemic mice, but the latter have a greater susceptibility, implicating a role of hypercholesterolemia in AngII-induced AAA. A recent publication demonstrated that high-density lipoprotein (HDL) administration prevented AngII-induced AAA in apoE -/- mice without affecting total plasma cholesterol concentrations. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between concentrations and characteristics of plasma cholesterol and lipoproteins and AngII-induced AAA.

 Three strains of male mice were studied: C57BL/6, LDL receptor -/-, and apoE -/-. These mice were fed either a normal diet or a saturated fat- enriched diet. AngII (1 μg/kg/min) was infused for 4 weeks through osmotic minipumps implanted subcutaneously. Total plasma cholesterol concentrations were measured using an enzymatic kit. Lipoproteins were resolved by size exclusion gel chromatography and non-HDL and HDL analyzed using Peakfit software. AAA was quantified by measuring maximal outer width of suprarenal aortas. In C57BL/6 mice, the fat-enriched diet modestly increased concentrations of total plasma cholesterol (114 ± 4 vs 99 ± 6 mg/dl; P=0.03) and HDL-C (98 ± 4 vs 81 ± 7 mg/dl; P=0.02), while did not change non-HDL-C/HDL-C ratio (0.21 ± 0.03 vs 0.24 ± 0.03; P=0.5) and AAA (1.1 ± 0.1 vs 1.1 ± 0.1 mm; P=0.6). In LDL receptor -/- mice, the fat-enriched diet feeding increased concentrations of total plasma cholesterol (1590 ± 58 vs 276 ± 9 mg/dl; P< 0.001), HDL-C (132 ± 5 vs 90 ± 3 mg/dl; P<0.001), non-HDL-C/HDL-C ratio (10.8 ± 0.3 vs 2.1 ± 0.1; P<0.001), and AAA (1.6 ± 0.1 vs 1.2 ± 0.1 mm; P=0.002), compared to LDL receptor -/- mice fed the normal diet. In apoE -/- mice, the fat-enriched diet increased concentrations of total plasma cholesterol (1261 ± 121 vs 348 ± 38 mg/dl; P<0.001), had no effect on HDL-C, increased non-HDL-C/HDL-C ratio (53.1 ± 5.9 vs 10.5 ± 2.0; P=0.016), and had no effect on AAA development (1.5 ± 0.2 vs 1.6 ± 0.2 mm; P=0.4).

 Hypercholesterolemia promotes AngII-induced AAA, while AAA has no clear relationship with either concentrations of total plasma cholesterol or HDL-C.


Vascular cognitive impairment is common and represents a spectrum of cognitive dysfunction associated with stroke and cardiovascular risk factors which may be slight, moderate or severe.1 Recently and as a major advance, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke—Canadian Stroke Network Vascular Cognitive Impairment Harmonization Standards Working Group published clinical and research standards for the description and study of vascular cognitive impairment.2 In this update we report advances in vascular cognitive impairment in the following areas: clinical trials and treatment, new risk factors, white matter disease, and genetics.

Cardiovascular risk factors such as blood pressure elevation and hyperglycemia are prime targets for clinical trial study because they are believed to cause negative effects on brain structure and cognitive function and may even influence risk of Alzheimer disease (AD).3 Results of recently published observational epidemiological studies have fueled controversy in relation to the role of blood pressure on cognition because some studies such as the Honolulu Asia Aging Study4 and Cache County Study5 suggest that antihypertensive therapy may reduce risk of dementia and cognitive decline or reduce incidence of AD, respectively, whereas the Religious Orders Study6 did not find an association between blood pressure and risk of AD or cognitive decline. Meta-analysis of patients with cardiovascular and/or cerebrovascular disease who received blood pressure-lowering treatment show a trend toward prevention of dementia and/or cognitive decline;7 however, a systematic analysis of 3 studies comprising 12 091 patients with hypertension who were treated with either medication or lifestyle strategies for at least 6 months show no evidence that blood pressure-lowering prevents dementia or cognitive impairment.8 Lack of definitive results in some of these trials may be explained by insufficient power to detect treatment effects, measurement error in cognitive end points, variation in treatment effects between …


The rapid growth of the space industry is creating an increasing amount of data in orbit, which at the current time is not matched yet by a corresponding increase in data download capacity. Using data analytics at the edge, i.e., data processing on-board satellites, holds the promise to significantly mitigate this problem. Newly available and highly efficient artificial intelligence (AI) hardware accelerators and other off-the-shelf compute-hardware has already been successfully exploited for demonstrating satellite on-board deep learning. Aggregating such components and technologies at scale and introducing resource sharing concepts beyond individual spacecrafts, will yield the equivalent of a space data center—a space-based system that will collect, process, store, and relay data from own sensors or from "client" satellites and work in orchestration with other SDCs in a network. In this paper, we outline new opportunities for such data- and compute-sharing schemes in space and how current limitations of existing systems can be overcome.


1. This note is supplementary to a paper recently published on the same subject. It extends the results so as to provide a complete table of forces between the monovalent and divalent ions of the inert gas type as well as between the inert gases themselves. The method follows that of the previous paper, in which the forces between ions are deduced from the forces between inert gas atoms by the use of published data on ionic refractivities. The table of force constants, which is given, should have numerous applications in theoretical calculations of crystal structures. It should, for instance, be useful in determining parameters in crystal structures, which are difficult to determine from X-ray measurements.


This paper studies the application of compact polarimetric (CP) SAR in the detection and identification of ocean internal solitary waves (ISWs). First, based on full-polarimetric ALOS PALSAR images, we construct CP SAR images and extract 26 CP features. Then, the ISWS-sea surface differentiation capability for the different polarization features is analyzed by using the Jeffries and Euclidean distances. The results show that <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\lambda _{1} $ </tex-math></inline-formula>, Entropy (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$H$ </tex-math></inline-formula>), <italic>Lambda</italic>, the polarimetric total power (<italic>Span</italic>) and the Stokes parameters (<italic>Stokesg</italic>0, and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Stokesg_{3}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) improve the ISWs detection results. On this basis, a <italic>k-means</italic> clustering algorithm based on CP features is introduced, and the results show that the ISWs detection and identification performance of the algorithm are superior to that of the traditional <italic>Wishart</italic> polarization clustering algorithm, which suggests that CP SAR has good application prospects in the detection and identification of ocean ISWs.


A b s t r a c t . The diet of the barn owl from three localities in Thessaly, Central Greece, was studied in the breeding and non breeding seasons over one year. A total of 420 pellets with 1.013 prey items were analyzed. Twelve small mammalian species were taken (94.9% by number and 96.1% by biomass), although Mus domesticus (26.3%), Crocidura spp. (25.3%) and Apodemus spp. (18.4%) were the main species predated by number. Rats (Rattus spp.), showed the highest frequency (11%) and biomass percentages observed to date in Greece, and their presence in the barn owl diet is also among the highest in the Mediterranean Europe. Birds (Passer spp. and Carduelis spp.) and insects (Acrididae) were also present (3.9% and 1.2%, respectively). Ecological niche values, seasonal and geographical differences were tested, the results pointing to the opportunistic feeding behavior of the barn owl in the croplands of central Greece.


Weaving and femininity are historically intimately connected withthe concept of Fate. In antiquity Fate was portrayed as a powerfulfemale principle controlling the cosmic system humans inhabited.However, as the antique religious world gave way to a new era,the role of Fate subsided under Christian dominance. This articleexamines how this change played out, and how the worldview thatwon prominence as Christianity prevailed gradually lost touch withthe presence of powerful female cosmic principles. It shows that thedisappearance of Fate from the prevailing world was seminal in thebirth of a new 'technology of the self'. In conclusion, the article placesthe disappearance of Fate in the context of a discussion of how theview of the self changed in the aftermath of Christianity, which hadbecome dominant. This discussion is related to the scholarship ofPeter Brown, among others, as well as a newly published posthumouswork by Michel Foucault (2018).


We generalize previous [1] work on the classification of ( C ∞ ) symmetries of plane-fronted waves with an impulsive profile. Due to the specific form of the profile it is possible to extend the group of normal-form-preserving diffeomorphisms to include non-smooth transformations. This extension entails a richer structure of the symmetry algebra generated by the (non-smooth) Killing vectors.


Clostridium beijerinckii is a spore-forming, obligate anaerobe that is capa ble of producing butanol, acetone and isopropanol. These industrial chemicals are traditionally known as solvents. The regulation of solventogenic fermentation is linked to the onset of sporulation, so that by the time the organism begin s to produce solvents, it is also entering into spore formation and metabolic slowdow n. The goal of this research project was to study the effect of placing the solvent-prod uction genes from C. beijerinckii under the control of constitutive promoters from other ge nes, in an attempt to allow an earlier start of butanol production during the growth phase than is the case with the wild-type cells. The aldehyde dehydrogenase from C. beijerinckii NRRL B593 (ald) and alcohol dehydrogenase from C. beijerinckii NRRL B592 (adhA) were placed under the control of the promoter from the acid-producing operon (the BC S operon) in one vector, and under the control of the promoter from the ferredoxin gen e i another. In both cases, aldehyde dehydrogenase activity was produced earlier in the growth phase in transformed cells, but alcohol dehydrogenase activity was not. The adhA gene from C. beijerinckii NRRL B592 was paired with the adhB gene from the same organism in a third vector, both unde r th control of the promoter from the


characterizes the rate at which the fusion reaction occurs; ei is the energy released per fission event; e£ = ko(l-a)c2€2In deriving experssion (9) no account was taken of the terms associated with ion injection, which is valid for TE « Tn, es ^ Tj (where Tn is the plasma particle life-time and es is the energy of the injected ions) [5]. Plasma losses through cyclotron radiation were also ignored. One can easily obtain the criterion which justifies ignoring such losses by using the results reported in Ref. [6]. It follows from expression (9) that n^g for a hybrid reactor differs considerably from the corresponding quantity for a thermonuclear reactor. For example, for an energy release in blanket II of 500 W/cm, a = 2/3, n = 10cm-, T1 = 10 keV, i/2 = 1 and ko =0.1, we find that C2 ~ 100 and


What is the effect of a tariff reduction that applies only to a subset of commodities subject to tariffs? This important question was addressed systematically for the first time by James Meade (1955 Ch. 13) in his classic work Trade and Welfare. After a careful analysis, Meade concluded, "[T]here is more likely to be a gain in economic welfare if the rate of duty is high on the primary imports which will come in in increased volume and is low on the secondary imports which will come in in reduced volume" (p. 208).' This result was proved formally by Trent J. Bertrand and Jaroslav Vanek (1971), who demonstrated that, in a small open economy, if the highest tariff rate is reduced to the next highest one, welfare will rise provided the import demand for the good with the highest tariff exhibits gross substitutability with respect to all other goods.2 Subsequently, following a different strand of the literature as exemplified in John Green (1961), Tatsuo Hatta (1973, 1977) and Peter Lloyd (1974) independently proved similar results in terms of Hicksian substitutability.3 In deriving their results, Bertrand and Vanek allowed for the use of final goods as intermediate inputs (i.e., interindustry flows).4 However, neither they nor the subsequent writers (including Hatta and Lloyd) allowed for the existence of "pure" imported intermediate inputs that are not produced domestically. Therefore, a natural question is whether the piecemeal policy prescription derived by them remains valid in the presence of pure imported intermediates. This question is particularly important for developing countries for two reasons. First, by far the bulk of the imports of developing countries are intermediate and capital goods. According to the World Bank, during the period 1975-1985 50 percent of developing countries' imports were accounted for by intermediate inputs, and an additional 30 percent were capital goods. A sizable proportion of both capital and intermediate goods are neither produced nor directly consumed in these countries. Second, the Meade-Bertrand-VanekHatta-Lloyd result has been the cornerstone of trade policy reform in many developing countries, especially during the last decade. In most countries, trade reform has been based on the so-called "concertina" approach, under which the highest tariffs are reduced to the next highest ones and then to the next highest ones, and so on. Thus, * Lopez: Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, and consultant, Trade Policy Division, World Bank, 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20433; Panagariya: Senior Economist, Trade Policy Division, World Bank, 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20433, and Professor, Department of Economics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the World Bank, its Executive Directors, or the countries they represent. The authors are indebted to two referees and Tatsuo Hatta for valuable comments on an earlier draft. IIn this quotation, "primary imports" refers to the goods on which tariffs are reduced, while "secondary imports" refers to other importables subject to tariffs. 2Robert Lipsey and Kelvin Lancaster (1956) had proved the basic result of Bertrand and Vanek in a one-factor, three-good model with a Cobb-Douglas utility function. 3More recently, Takashi Fukushima (1979) has proved the validity of the Hatta-Lloyd result when the highest tariff is shared by several commodities, while Rodney Falvey (1988) has done the same in the presence of quantitative restrictions on imports. 4Although Hatta (1973, 1977) did not allow explicitly for interindustry flows, his results can also be shown to be valid in the presence of such flows.


ABSTRACT Some regions in Europe that have been heavily supported by the European Union's Cohesion Policy have recently opted for parties with a strong Eurosceptic orientation. The results at the ballot box have been put forward as evidence that Cohesion Policy is ineffective for tackling the rising, European-wide wave of discontent. However, the evidence to support this view is scarce and often contradictory. This paper analyses the link between Cohesion Policy and the vote for Eurosceptic parties. It uses the share of votes cast for Eurosceptic parties in more than 63,000 electoral districts in national legislative elections in the EU-28 to assess whether Cohesion Policy investment since the year 2000 has made a difference for the electoral support for parties opposed to European integration. The results indicate that Cohesion Policy investment is linked to a lower anti-EU vote. This result is robust to employing different econometric approaches, to considering the variety of European development funds, to different periods of investment, to different policy domains, to shifts in the unit of analysis and to different levels of opposition by parties to the European project.


Objective: Passed using holistic nursing for child ren with ectopic uret er, reduced children patients' mental burden,decreased the occur of complicatio ns and improved the successful rate of operation.Methed:After children hospitaliz e ass essed children's situations, made a concrete plan and urged other nurse impleme nti ng plan all together. Result :There was no complicantions because of bed nursing during inhospital.Conclusion :It is one of important measures to improve operat ion successful rate that enhance mental nursing preoperation and postoperation.


Objective: We noted unusual cases of vocal fold polyps originating from the center of vocal sulci and propose a possible etiology for the development of these lesions. Materials and methods: Three patients presented to our office with acute onset dysphonia. Intraoperative examination revealed vocal polyps originating from the center of vocal sulci. Lesions were treated with microflap excisions and were sent for histopathologic analysis. Results: Pathology of the excised lesions showed a parakeratotic squamous epithelium with mild inflammation and with dilated vascularity suggesting an acute or subacute process. Patients had voice improvement without recurrence of the vocal-polyp or sulcus following surgical excision. Conclusion: We speculate that the observed lesions result from phonotrauma to congenital sulci and propose that partial prolapse of the epithelium is responsible for the formation of the observed vocal polyps.


A catalogue of ichneumoninae (hymenoptera:inchneumoninae) from Malaysia which listing 34 species under 10 tribes (Alomyini(=phaeogini), compsophorini,goedartiini, heresiarchini,ichneumonini,ischnojoppini,joppocryptini,listrodromini oedicephalini platylabini and 27 genera are presentes. The tribe heresiarchini has the greatest number of species (12) folled by ichneumonini with 6 species. Imeria is the largest genus which contains 3 species recorded from Malaysia. Type specimens of all species recorded in Malaysia was deposited in various museums or depositories around the world.


M/[OST physicians accept with complacent pride the descent of the medical profession from Apollo's son Aesculapius and the high priests of his cult. With less complacency we trace our lineage to the medicine men and shamans of primitive tribes, but the relation between magical spells and rites and the evolution of modern medical practices cannot be gainsaid. One specialty in particular, pathology, can trace its roots to the Roman haruspex, who prophesied future events by examining the entrails of sacrificed animals. Indeed, much of the discipline of today's experimental pathology consists of precisely that. Archeological retrieval of clay and metal representations of the liver in Babylonian and Etruscan remains (Figure 1) testifies to the remote origin of the haruspices and to the principal organ upon which their divinations focused, but the Romans never accorded them official status. There was no Royal College of Haruspices. For official divination the Romans relied on the guidance of auspices, who drew their inferences from the flight of birds and such melodramatic effects as flashes of lightning and crashes of thunder. The rules of practice for auspices were well codified and their nomenclature well standardized. But one contribution of magic to medicine has been largely overlooked, namely, the ancient Egyptian idea of weighing the heart after death. To be sure, the Egyptians weighed the heart for eschatologic purposes rather than for prophecy or application to medical judgments. The ancient Egyptians were far more concerned with the afterlife than the transitory and ephemeral concerns of life on earth. Orientation of their thought toward the hereafter probably accounts for such latter day judgments as, "One might imagine that the widespread practice of embalming the dead body would have stimulated the study of human anatomy, but it was not the case."1 Nonetheless, even as weighing the heart was an integral part of Egyptian religion, an essential element in the judgment of the dead, so at


We consider a flow of fresh and salt groundwater in a two-dimensional heterogeneous horizontal aquifer. Assuming the flow governed by a nonlinear Darcy law and the permeability depending only on the vertical coordinate, we show the existence of a unique monotone solution that increases (resp. decreases) with respect to the salt (resp. fresh) water discharge. For this solution we prove that the free boundary is represented by the graph x = g(z) of a continuous function. Finally we prove a limit behavior at the end points of the interval of definition of g.


The effect of prestretching on agehardening and tensile properties of Al5.3Cu0.8Mg0.3Ag alloy was investigated.The results show that the prestretching treatment decreased the agehardening and resist heat properties, delayed the precipitation, inhibited the precipitation of Ω phase on the {111}α planes, however promoted the precipitation of the θ′phase on the {100}α planes.


PORTUGAL, ONE OF the great pioneers in the overseas expansion of Europe, has been a colonial power for over four centuries. Despite the loss of most of her FarEastern holdings in the seventeenth century and that of Brazil early in the nineteenth, she today retains an extensive and valuable empire. Included in it are the Azores, Madeira, the Cape Verdes, Principe, and Sao Tome in the Atlantic, Angola and Mozambique in Africa, Goa in India, Portuguese Timor in the East Indies, and Macao in China. The combined area of these colonies is larger than that of Western Europe excluding Russia. For the study of her empire, past and present, Portugal possesses numerous and vast archives, which so far have been insufficiently utilized, particularly by foreign scholars. In Lisbon alone there are some twenty-five public archives,1 and every town hall and misericordia2 is a rich source of historical materials. All of the larger and many of the smaller cities have excellent museums and library collections, notably Oporto, Pvora, Braga, Guimaraes, and Setubal. Ancient monasteries, libraries such as that of Mafra, and university archives, especially at Coimbra, are likewise rich depositories of his. torical manuscripts and printed works. Besides the religious, state, and university collections, there are private collections and family archives.3 Such accumulations are often of considerable size and are frequently uncatalogued. It is not unusual to find large bundles and bound volumes of official papers in family archives, for it was once the custom of men in high public office to retain their official papers. Such archives are


A big cultural transformation is about to occur on the 101-year-old campus of little Salem College in the Appalachian Mountains. The Japanese are coming. Salem College, threatened recently with closure, has become Salem-Teikyo University. Seldom has there been an odder educational couple. Salem College is a school with some 500 students in the down-at-the-heels town of Salem, W.Va. Teikyo University, on the other hand, is an ambitious 20,000-student-body institution in Japan. It is also rich. Terms of the merger included a reported $20 million endowment by Teikyo. Transformation of the West Virginia liberal arts school will accelerate next year as Japanese students begin to arrive at the campus. Not only is the student body undergoing change, but almost the entire curriculum is slated for an overhaul. One of the departments feeling the effect is science. Wayne England, science department head, explains that recently students have been able to choose only a minor in chemistry, although ...


Selection from native and cultivated tree flora was the main objective in the Apricot Rootstock Breeding Programme, initiated in 1975, at the Fruit Research Stations in Constanta, Bihor and at the Fruit Research Institute in Pitesti-Maracineni. Research was conducted over 25 years on new rootstocks for apricot. Following the studies undertaken on research trials in the nursery and orchard, many genotypes were selected and tested in the Network of the State Institute for Cultivar Testing and Registration. Finally, many of these genotypes were released and registered in "The Official List of Cultivars (hybrids) Cultivated in Romania". The main specific features of the rootstocks for apricot, which were obtained and are used in Romania, are presented in this paper: Constanta 14 and Constanta 16 (from the Fruit Research Station in Constanta); Albe Mici (from the Fruit Research Station in Bihor); and Adaptabil and Miroper (from the Fruit Research Institute in Pitesti-Maracineni). Now, these rootstocks are used in the nurseries in Romania.


This bachelor work examines an issue of migration with focus on European Union member states and workforce migration flows. The aim is to indicate the connection among general aspects of migration and labour migration with other related subjects like for example migration theories, migration motivation factors and employment policies but also to point out key integration and demographic issues. An effort is also given to introduction of closely related practically oriented activities on international level. The opening theoretical part is completed with a practical one. The practical part includes questionnaire survey which focuses on labour migrants.


Tumbling motion is very effective for turbulence enhancement during compression process in the cylinder of 4-valve engines. In this paper the effect of tumble flow on turbulence was investigated using LDV (laser Doppler velocimetry) measured data under motored condition, and discussed with a newly defined turbulence enhancement factor.


This paper presents a methodology for predicting NOx emissions of a coal-fired boiler by using real operation data, coal properties and CNN (Convolutional Neural Network). Two building blocks are carefully designed following the practical guidelines for the light weight CNN architecture design. Furthermore, the building blocks are used to develop the deep CNN-based model for NOx prediction. A comprehensive comparison among different prediction models based on DL (Deep Learning) shows that the proposed deep CNN-based prediction model outperforms other prediction models in terms of RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) criteria. The results indicate that the developed deep CNN-based prediction model has more excellent accuracy and better numerical stability. Besides, the architecture design of the DL-based prediction model has a significant impact on the performance of the prediction model.


Smartphones have fueled a shift in the way we communicate with each other via Instant Messaging. With the convergence of Internet and telephony, new Over-The-Top (OTT) messaging applications (e.g., WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat etc.) have emerged as an important means of communication for millions of users. These applications use phone numbers as the only means of authentication and are becoming an attractive medium for attackers to deliver spam and carry out more targeted attacks. The universal reach of telephony along with its past trusted nature makes phone numbers attractive identifiers for reaching potential attack targets. In this paper, we explore the feasibility, automation, and scalability of a variety of targeted attacks that can be carried out by abusing phone numbers. These attacks can be carried out on different channels viz. OTT messaging applications, voice, e-mail, or SMS. We demonstrate a novel system that takes a phone number as an input, leverages information from applications like Truecaller and Facebook about the victim and his / her social network, checks the presence of phone number's owner (victim) on the attack channel (OTT messaging applications, voice, e-mail, or SMS), and finally targets the victim on the chosen attack channel. As a proof of concept, we enumerated through a random pool of 1.16 million phone numbers and demonstrated that targeted attacks could be crafted against the owners of 255,873 phone numbers by exploiting cross-application features. Due to the significantly increased user engagement via new mediums of communication like OTT messaging applications and ease with which phone numbers allow collection of pertinent information, there is a clear need for better protection of applications that rely on phone numbers.


Marine microorganisms are important resources for marine medicine. The growth characteristics and antibiotic action of Penicilliun sp.W02A isolated from Meretrix meretrix L. were studied. The result showed that strain W02A was a facultative marine fungus. It could grow and reproduce by production of spores in both seawater and freshwater. The optimal salt concentration and pH for the growth of strain W02A were 7% and 6.0 respectively. Its bioactive material produdced in solid fermentation exhibited antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria Bucillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus notably.


This paper describes an approach to the use of gradient descent search in tree based genetic programming for object recognition problems. To learn better partial programs, a weight parameter is introduced in each link between every two nodes in a program tree, so that a change of a weight corresponds to a change of the effect of the sub-program tree. Inside a particular generation, weight changes are learnt locally by gradient descent search, but the whole evolution process is still carried out across different generations globally by the genetic beam search. This approach is examined and compared with the basic genetic programming approach without gradient descent on three object classification problems of various difficulty. The results suggest that the new approach outperforms the basic approach on all problems. Author Information Will Smart is a postgraduate student in computer science and Mengjie Zhang is an academic staff member in computer science. Both authors are in the School of Mathematical and Computing Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.


Power engineering currently seeks, among other things, to use innovative energy-efficient technology and to benefit from the R&D potential associated with grids. Conventional solutions based on general design metho-dologies are a hindrance in this respect, as they prevent the strategic objectives from having the expected quan-titative and qualitative effects in full. Requirements to the reliability, cost-effectiveness, and performance of grid facilities are ever stricter, specifically those to overhead power lines (OPL). Next-gen power lines are pro-posed as a solution. What makes a power line design next-gen? An innovative wire of cost-effective cross-section, a special tower design, state-of-the-art insulation and ground wire, if necessary. The paper seeks to in-vestigate how innovative OPL components affect the design outcomes from the standpoint of common guidelines and standards. The research uses a systematic approach and presents the specifics of innovative next-gen OPL components to show that standards are sometimes obsolete and do not match the today's state-of-the-art solutions. The paper advocates the development of newer standards and guidelines on OPL design.


For solving the fixed point Brouwer problem in the non convex horseshoe zone, a constructing method of positive irrelative mapping is given. It is shown that the quasi normal cone condition holds, and an equation of combined homotopy is established. Form which the convergency of the homotopy equation is proved, and it converges to the Brouwer fixed point.


Background The aim of this study was to explore the association between glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level and albuminuria in young nondiabetic people with obesity. Material/Methods A total of 537 young nondiabetic people with obesity were enrolled in this cross-sectional study, which was approved by the Rui-jin Hospital Ethics Committee. Albuminuria was defined as a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) ≥30 mg/g. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the association between HbA1c level and albuminuria. Results Urinary ACR progressively increased across the tertiles of HbA1c level (P for trend <0.05). HbA1c levels were positively associated with the risk of albuminuria in the logistic regression analysis after adjustment for confounding factors. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for albuminuria was 3.72 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.25–11.00; P=0.017) when comparing between the highest (≥5.7%) and lowest tertiles of HbA1c level (≤5.3%). Moreover, an increment of 1 SD in HbA1c level increased the risk of albuminuria in a fully adjusted model (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.25–2.46). Conclusions These data suggest that HbA1c level was independently associated with albuminuria in young nondiabetic people with obesity.


The purpose of the work is to assess the reliability indexes of the rubber-metal shock damper of the seismic isolation system of the ball tank at the design stage using ANSYS software. An algorithm is given and the reliability calculation of the damper considering the probabilistic distribution of its strength and design parameters has been completed.The purpose of the work is to assess the reliability indexes of the rubber-metal shock damper of the seismic isolation system of the ball tank at the design stage using ANSYS software. An algorithm is given and the reliability calculation of the damper considering the probabilistic distribution of its strength and design parameters has been completed.


Methane emitted from ruminants is a significant contributor to greenhouse gases.Reducing methane emission is of great significance to alleviate global warming and to protect the environment.This paper reviewed measurements,predictive models and nutritional management of methane emission from ruminants to provide a clue for further research on prediction and mitigation of methane emission.


ABSTRACT Algebraic reconstruction algorithms are a better choice compared to transform-based algorithms whenever projection data is limited in nature. High computational cost and huge memory requirements are two major downsides of iterative reconstruction methods. Among all algebraic techniques, the Multiplicative Algebraic Reconstruction Technique (MART) is most popular because it maximizes the entropy (of the image) in the limiting case. In the present work, our ultimate goal is to reduce computational complexity and cope with the huge storage scenario of the MART algorithm. We propose a new sparse MART algorithm (Sp-MART) and test it with two-dimensional and three-dimensional (2D/3D) numerical data. A more accurate and efficient geometrical formula for calculating intersection length is also presented. Experimental projection data of human tooth and drip irrigation pipe is processed for further validation of the Sp-MART algorithm. Reconstructions of real specimens are also done using the FDK algorithm. The difference between two algorithms are investigated by calculating the structural similarity index (SSIM) and the L2 error of the results.


Centrifuge model tests for single pile buried in saturated dense sand were carried out to investigate the behavior of pile foundation subjected to unidirectional and bidirectional cyclic lateral displacement loadings separately. The results indicate that the reaction force rises with cycles of lateral displacement loading,and it becomes stable after 10 cycles gradually. The bending moment varies with the reaction force linearly,and the biggest moment's position is at around 1 /3 buried depth. With the increasing of lateral displacement and cycles,the rotation center stables at around 2 /3 buried depth.


The main purpose of this study is to ascertain the amount of current technique in the decision making of a capital budget in the Islamic banking sector, Pakistan, which include real options, and make the result perfect.  In Pakistan, a survey of the largest 5 banks and their branches in Faisalabad through e-mail and questionnaires was conducted.  Sophisticated techniques tendency have been continued; however, DCF not used by 17% large banks. Among those which did, most of them prefer IRR and NPV. Most of the banks from a selected sample that used DCF were not so effective at it and also ignore real options. Only 8% banks use real options.  First limitation is, survey doesn't show why managers are continually using those capital budgeting techniques for decision making, which are less developed. Second research is conducted in Pakistan using a small and convenient sample size of Islamic banks located in Faisalabad.  The basic area where management focuses more is a real option. Other improvement areas are administrative procedures   using WACC, adjustment of weighted average cost of capital in different projects/divisions, employment of market values or target for weights and excluding interest expenses from the cash flow of the project .The minimum number of managers feels that there is a need   that DCF start using. It is clear from the evaluation that theory practice gap still remains in real options, and in the decisions technique of DCF capital budgeting. Moreover, it is precious to capture stock of views that has been improved in many years. What this study suggests is a fine-grained analysis of decisions making on investment, a composition and completion of different papers on DCF where novel illustrations are made, advice was given to managers to improve the opportunities of investment by making good decisions.


Study design: To examine the factors considered in the selection of therapeutic methods, and the methods for accessing postoperative clinical outcomes, in degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis. Objectives: In this retrospective study, patients who had taken only posterolateral fusion, and with a posterior lumbar interbody fusion, were evaluated. The analyses of the preand post-operative factors associated with the clinical outcomes of the surgery for degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis were also performed. Materials and Method : Of the patients who had received the surgery for degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis, between January 1995 and December 2000, there were 59 for whom follow-up observations were possible, and these were selected for the present study. The patients were comprised of 19 males and 40 females, with ages ranging from 42 to 74 years (58.4±8.4 years old). Of the 59 patients, 39, and 20, received a posterolateral fusion, or both a posterolateral fusion and a posterior lumbar interbody fusion, respectively. In the present study, the pre-operative factors considered were the surgical method, sex, age, L1 axis S1 distance (LASD), lordosis angle and the degree and duration of spondylolisthesis, with the degree of fusion, the lordosis angle of the fused body, the lordosis angle at the final follow-up and the lordosis angle of the fused body at the final follow-up, used as the post-operative factors. Each factor was statistically tested to see if it had a significant correlation with clinical outcomes (Recovery rate by Hirabayashi's method). A value of P < 0.05 was considered as being statistically significant. Result: The posterolateral fusion group showed a significantly lower recovery rate with an LSAD over 35 mm, a degree of spondylolisthesis over 10 mm and a pre-operative lordosis angle under 20 o , indicating that an additional posterior lumbar interbody fusion would provide a good clinical outcome. At the final follow-up, both groups showed significantly lower recovery rates with a lumbar lordosis angle under 20 o , and the posterolateral fusion group showed significantly lower recovery rates when the post-operative lordosis angle of the fused segment was under 18 o , and with a lordosis angle of the fused segment was under 18 o


October 2006. Vice-President Robert Bertin welcomed the night's speaker, Dr. Jill Bubier from the Environmental Studies Program at Mount Holyoke College. Jill has studied wetland ecology for many years in North American peatland communities, including bogs in Canada, Alaska, and New England. She spoke on the topic: ''Effects of Nutrient Addition on Carbon Cycling in a Boreal Peatland.'' Peatlands contain one-third of the global pool of soil carbon, and bogs comprise most of the peatlands in North America. They have been long-term sinks of carbon since deglaciation because of their cold, water-logged soils with slow decomposition, but with a warmer and perhaps drier climate, bogs could become weaker carbon sinks or even carbon sources. Dr. Bubier and her colleagues are examining how changes in climate and nitrogen deposition will affect the carbon sink potential of peatlands. She has collaborated with Tim Moore of McGill University for several years on a fertilization experiment at a longterm research site at Mer Bleue Bog in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Mer Bleue is a large raised bog at the southern end of a belt of peatlands that extends south and east from Hudson Bay in Canada. Mer Bleue Bog is dominated by ericaceous shrubs; the dominant moss is Sphagnum capillifolium. It is a relatively dry peatland, with the water table 30–40 cm below the surface. Peat cores have shown that the site was originally a fen that changed rapidly to a bog as peat accumulation isolated the wetland from groundwater. Jill's study area is a 28 km area within this huge peatland system. Jill began her presentation by comparing rates of atmospheric nitrogen input in North America and Europe. European rates of nitrogen deposition are very high (up to 5 g N m y) compared to the highest portions of eastern North America (downwind of Midwestern power plants). Mer Bleue rates are 0.8–1.2 g N m y. Long term eddy covariance tower data at the site have shown that in the spring the bog takes carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere; then by late summer and early fall rates of accumulation level off depending on drought conditions. By the fall, the peatland becomes a source of carbon as decomposition exceeds plant production. In most years the bog is an overall carbon sink, but in some years the bog becomes an overall source of carbon to the atmosphere. Although six years of measurement show RHODORA, Vol. 109, No. 937, pp. 111–116, 2007 E Copyright 2007 by the New England Botanical Club


Drawing on the way international financial institutions, development organizations, and the state have "discovered" the investment possibilities of diasporic populations, this essay suggests new directions for a reinvigorated approach to Caribbean studies, one that is well placed to historicize the ways the diaspora is approached, and one that can also engage reflexively with how contributions in the field have created the conditions of possibility for the current official romance with diaspora.


Introduction: Circumcision is a minor surgical operation that cuts the foreskin at the tip of the penis. Pain and anxiety are problems that all children who undergo surgery experience. This study aimed to review virtual reality game interventions to reduce pain and anxiety from pre, intra, and post-circumcision in children.Methods: Literature study using four databases (Scopus, Science Direct, PubMed, and Google Scholar) using quantitative research with RCT and quasi-experimental designs, using virtual reality, audio-visual and game interventions which were limited from 2018 to 2022 according to combination of keywords and using English. The framework investigation using PICOT, guidance protocol with PRISMA, and accessing the eligibility of articles systematically by checking for duplicates, titles, and abstracts and determining the eligibility of the full text according to the study of the goals.Results: Thirteen articles met the inclusion criteria. Of the thirteen articles, 1074 children were circumcised. Circumcision causes pain and anxiety in children, so non-pharmacological interventions are needed to overcome it. Virtual reality games are a distraction technique to reduce circumcision pain by diverting the child's attention and reducing anxiety by providing interventions that children like using audio-visual media and games, with virtual reality or not.Conclusions: Virtual reality games intervention is a distraction technique to reduce pain and anxiety in circumcised children. The combination of interventions using traditional games or the latest technology must be considered to improve service quality.
Keywords: anxiety; children; circumcision; distraction technique; pain


A major problem of reinforced composites is that the interfaces between the fiber and matrix become a limiting factor in improving mechanical properties. The effects of reinforcement on the thermal and morphological characteristics of the low density polyethylene/maize cob ash particulate composite are studied. Morphology of the maize cob ash by scanning electron microscope (SEM) with energy dispersive system (EDS), revealed that the maize ash particles were solid in nature but irregular in size. The EDS scan reveal that the microstructure for the maize cob ash consists of only carbon, silicon, oxygen, aluminium and calcium (C, Si, O, Al, Ca). The incorporation of the maize cob ash particles into the recycled low density polyethylene (RLDPE) matrix increased the thermal decomposition temperatures and the residual yields of RLDPE/MCSp composite, and this enhancing effect was more pronounced at higher heating rate. This result indicated that the presence of maize cob particles (MCSp) could lead to the stabilization of RLDPE, resulting in the enhancement of the thermal stability of RLDPE/MCSp composite.


The study was done to investigate the effect of individual predictors (enjoyment in helping others and knowledge self-efficacy), organizational predictors (top management support and organizational rewards) and technology predictors (information and communication technology use) on knowledge sharing processes and if the predictors lead to innovation capability. The result of the study indicated that one individual factor (knowledge self-efficacy) and two organizational factors (top management support and organizational rewards) significantly affect knowledge sharing. Future research can investigate how individual traits (such as age, education level, and work experience) and organizational characteristics (such as organizational size and type) may either mediate or moderate the relationships between knowledge enablers and processes. From the managerial viewpoint, the associations among knowledge sharing enablers, processes, and organization innovation capability may shed a light on how organizations can motivate knowledge sharing culture among their employees to maintain their performance. The results of this research provide a conceptual foundation towards the body of knowledge in the field of knowledge sharing and can also be utilized to investigate the relationships among knowledge sharing predictors, enablers, processes, and innovation capability. In terms of practical perspective, this research provided several predictors that are necessary towards successful knowledge sharing, and discussed the implications of the predictors in order to develop organizational strategies that encourage and improve knowledge sharing among employees.


Background : Morphometric studies are important as they increase our knowledge of anatomical relationships and facilitate treatment planning and device development. Aim of Study: to determine a reference range of renal artery measurements by using MDCT angiography and to find association of renal artery measurements with side of artery and gender in Aswanian population. Patients and Methods : The study includes 106 patients who underwent abdominal MDCT angiography. Images were evaluated for the level of origin, length, diameter, gender& side variations of renal arteries. Results : the most frequent level of origin of the renal arteries was lower third of L1, followed by disc between L1-L2. The diameter of main renal artery was (4.83±0.88 on right side& 5.04±0.82 on left side), the renal artery diameter in males was wider than females (p-value = 0.022). The length of the right renal artery was (3.57±1.07) longer than the left (2.87±0.83). The diameter of the main renal artery in kidney with single renal artery was wider than kidneys having multiple renal arteries (p-value < 0.000). Conclusion: The renal arteries present a broad spectrum of variability in their morphological expression respecting their length, level of ramification, diameter and emergence.


Management, treatment, and survival of patients with some of brain tumors as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and brain metastasis have been remained the greatest clinical challenges despite recent advances in neurosurgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Stereotactic interstitial brachytherapy (IBT) using iodine-125 seeds (I-125) can deliver high doses of radiation to a tumor with only low doses irradiating surrounding tissues. It has a rich history in the treatment of central nervous system tumors since the first treatment being carried out by Hirsch et al. in 1912, and iodine-125 was first used for stereotactic iodine-125 brachytherapy, in 1984 by Gutin and colleagues 1. This iodine seed can be used to treat several types of cancer including prostate, lung, ocular and brain. Recently, iodine-125 seed was made in Iran by Atomic Energy Organization of Iran under supervision of International Atomic Energy Agency. Hence, this letter aims to highlight the merits of iodine-125 brachytherapy in treatment of brain tumors. A literature review by Schwarz et al., indicated that, survival rates with relatively low complication rates and a good quality of life were observed after IBT using I-125, for highly selected patients with newly diagnosed or recurrent primary or metastatic brain tumors 2. Recently, Barbarite et al. showed that patient outcomes and overall survival improved with more aggressive radiotherapy parallel with increased risk of radiationrelated complications. They reported that IBT using I-125 for GBM can be used alone or in combination with other therapies such as surgery, external beam radiotherapy and chemotherapy 3. Raleigh et al., reported that IBT using I-125 was an effective strategy for achieving local control of brain metastasis 4. They indicated that with careful patient selection, this treatment regimen was associated with minimal toxicity and could result in long-term survival for some patients. In addition, Romagna et al. reported iodine-125 brachytherapy as upfront and salvage treatment for brain metastases 5. Majdoub et al., indicated that IBT using I-125 achieved local control rates comparable to surgery and radio-/chemotherapy treatment for patients with oligodendroglial brain tumors 6. Magill et al., recommended adjuvant brachytherapy as an option for patients with recurrent high-grade meningiomas 7. In addition, Shahzadi et al., reported that long-term results for patients with circumscribed and relatively small size tumors appeared to be a safe, feasible, and minimallyinvasive treatment. They also prepared a guideline for patients' selection to perform this modality 1. However, Iodine-125 brain brachytherapy in Iran is facing a number of challenges issues including lack of dedicated operating room, anesthetists, equipment, radiation oncologists, medical physicists, radiotherapy technologists and stereotactic radiosurgery experts. Furthermore, cost effectiveness in addition to efficacy and risk is uncertain. Therefore, getting a personalized and individualized care such as brain brachytherapy has some limitations and the brain brachytherapy treatments has not received first priority for reimbursement. The achievement of self sufficiency in the field of brachytherapy depends on production of iodine-125 seed for brain brachytherapy. Consequently, the development of a remote controlled HDR machine in the country and the development of the treatment planning software are recommended.


In this work, the impacts on the mineralogical composition and on the physico-chemical properties of two representative categories of Brazilian soils - a vertisol (V) and a kandiudult (P) - after treatment with Fenton reagent were studied. The clay minerals presented in the V (rich in 2:1 expansive clay) have been degraded with this reagent application. In the other, P, rich in kaolinite, there was no significant change in its clay mineralogy after this treatment. Furthermore, the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of V was dramatically diminished and consequently can cause the soil infertility by the reduction of water and nutrients retention.


The Swedish National; Road Administration has embarked on the first phase of a major modernization of its 700-station road weather information system


This paper describes a thermoelectric waveguide power sensor for the frequency range 75-110 GHz, which has been calibrated in a waveguide twin-type microcalorimeter. The sensor is suitable as a transfer standard to provide traceablity for high-frequency power calibrations. The design and calibration of the sensor are described. The calibration is based upon a novel measuring quantity, referred to as generalized efficiency. The results of mirocalorimeter measurements and sensor performance are given. The new transfer sensor is tested against conventional thermistor waveguide sensors in a direct comparison setup, showing good agreement within the estimated uncertainties.


Introduction FLT3 is a receptor tyrosine kinase that plays a role in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell proliferation and survival and is frequently found to be mutated in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Mutations that lead to constitutive activation of FLT3 (such as internal tandem duplications of the juxtamembrane domain or point mutations involving the kinase domain) are associated with a poor prognosis. This poor prognosis is in part due to an increased relapse rate after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT). Several compounds that inhibit the activity of FLT3 in vitro, including ASP2215, midostaurin and quizartinib, are now being studied in clinical trials for the treatment of AML. Inhibition of the formation of phospho-FLT3 has been correlated with clinical anti-leukemia effects and remissions. Methods In this pilot study we use immunohistochemistry to measure the levels of activated FLT3 in bone marrow biopsies of patients prior to and during treatment inclinical trials at our institution to determine the efficacy of these FLT3 inhibitors and correlate it with patient outcomes. Results The different FLT3 compounds tested had a heterogenous effect on activated FLT3 levels. In some patients, ASP2215 caused a decrease in levels of activated FLT3 (indicated by brown nuclear staining), which corresponded to a decrease in leukemic blasts (Fig 1). Other patients, however, showed similar amounts of activated FLT3 both before and after treatment, which corresponded with no significant change in leukemic blasts. (Fig 2). Other FLT3 inhibitors also showed differences in their effects. Midostaurin reduced activated FLT3 levels, which correlated with a positive clinical response. In contrast, one patient receiving quizartinibshowed little to no decrease in activated FLT3 levels, despite remaining in clinical remission. This suggests that this FLT3 inhibitor may have alternative targets, such as the tyrosine kinases AXL or LTK. Conclusions The heterogeneity in the responses to ASP2215, midostaurin, and quizartinib suggests that there may be other targets for these compounds that are not currently accounted for in the clinical studies. Immunohistochemicalmeasurements of activated FLT3 in bone marrow sections before and after treatment with FLT3 inhibitors was not predictive for clinical response. Disclosures Larson:Pfizer: Consultancy; Ariad: Consultancy, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy.


Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) is an engineering process for accurately identifying the quality of subsurface utility information needed for highway plans, and for acquiring and managing that level of information during the development of a highway project. his project explains SUE, SCOOT's solution to getting utilities involved so these roads can be built.


Among many methods in tumor treatment, ultrasound hyperthermia is characterized by non-invasiveness, and it has been proven very effective for clinical treatment. But the problem of monitoring temperature limits its development. MRI-based temperature mapping techniques are safe compared with invasive methods and have been applied to detect temperature changes for a variety of applications. Among these techniques, the proton resonance frequency (PRF) method is relatively advanced. With a temperature measuring experiment and experiment conducted on tumors inside rabbit legs, the effectiveness of PRF method has been proved. This paper is to introduce an MRI guided ultrasound superficial tumor hyperthermia instrument based on PRF method.


Network computing and programming frameworks are two factors that make us think about two different fields related to engineering system, but now, under the high amounted experience, it is gladly present to you a fixed-couple between the new framework named PureMVC, used for Software development, and the Next Generation Networks architecture, the newest of networks technology and communications, through the methodological guide which extract the PureMVC design pattern, and explain in detailed way its composition, for apply it in the network topologies design, as a networking arise, manage and development solution.