This article reports the experience in the context of an extension project dedicated to fight against fake news disseminated during the Covid-19 pandemic, whose aim was to promote scientific literacy in formal and non-formal educational environments. Titled "Chemistry, the Central Science", the project was developed over one semester, involving periods of research, elaboration and production of expanded abstracts and posters, and exhibition in different environments and contexts. The group was composed of five professors and five students from the graduation in chemistry course at IFGoiano – Urutaí Campus. The material prepared involved ten themes pertinent to chemistry present in everyday life and the exhibitions were held in different locations in pires do rio and ipameri, cities surrounding the educational institution. The project's execution provided the democratization of knowledge through the teaching of chemistry, as well as favoring the interlocution between community, science, and university.


Use of bull semen with high levels of sperm abnormalities, reflecting genital dysfunction, is not recommendable to use for AI since it most likely leads to subfertility. If sperm morphology deteriorates with age, it becomes a source of
concern when using ageing progeny-tested AI-bull sires. However, whether a relationship between sperm morphology and fertility after AI in progeny-tested bull sires is present remains to be proven and constituted the reason for a retrospective study of progeny-tested bull sires of the Swedish Red and White (SRB) and Swedish Holstein (SLB) breeds performed with data of 8 SRB and 4 SLB sires analysed in an University specialized andrological laboratory. Particular attention was paid to the influence of age and breed as well as the variation between- and within-bull for presence and level of sperm abnormalities. Sperm morphology differed between sires, ejaculates and breed, with 6/12 sires having ejaculates with more than 10% of morphologically deviating sperm heads, an used threshold for young AI bulls. However, with the exception of pear-shaped or narrow at the base anomalies, individual defect mean values were always within what is expected for a bull sire, and considered within acceptable limits. Breed and bull within breed age affected some semen (ejaculate volume) and most sperm morphology variables, while age significantly affected only few sperm morphology variables (nuclear pouches and sperm head contour). Estimated breeding values for male fertility output differed significantly among bulls and, when all ejaculates were accounted for, the percentage of morphologically normal
spermatozoa was positively related to fertility. Few individual sperm abnormalities in all ejaculates correlated significantly to fertility, as pear-shaped sperm heads.
When separated by breed, these correlations were restricted, in SRB bulls, to the normal spermatozoa in wet smears, or lost in SLB bulls, probably owing to the
reduced sire material examined. In conclusion, the presence of some relationships between sperm morphology and fertility after AI calls for routine, frequently done
assessments of sperm morphology in AI-stud bull sires during their entire active life.


Hybrid systems has attracted the attention of many researchers in the recent years because of their ability to capture the mixed continuous and discrete dynamics of many real systems. In the recent years many work has been devoted to the formalization of such models and to the control of systems presenting hybrid dynamics. But the identification of systems based on hybrid models has not coped as much attention as the control until recently. Still, some methods have been developed in the recent years which try to identify models of hybrid systems using diverse techniques. In the following sections we will try to present the problem addressed under the name of Hybrid Systems Identification, and do a brief review of the methods solving this problem currently available. A problem associated to the identification of hybrid linear systems is the formalization of the observability of such systems. This problem has also received much attention in the recent years and much literature [1, 2] is available for different models and assumptions on the systems under study. In this paper we will not include results in this area, but we will concentrate in the theory for identification/estimation of models and the algorithms to achieve that [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. In Section 2 we present a formalization of a general class of Hybrid Systems, Section 3 is devoted to the presentation of the general identification problem as well as different solutions to particularizations of it. In Section 4 some current open issues on the topic can be found. Finally Section 5 concludes the document with a short summary and conclusions.


We propose a novel method to improve the performance of existing three dimensional (3D) human face recognition algorithms that employ Euclidean distances between facial fiducial points as features. We further investigate a novel 3D face recognition algorithm that employs geodesic and Euclidean distances between facial fiducial points. We demonstrate that this algorithm is robust to changes in facial expression. Geodesic and Euclidean distances were calculated between pairs of 25 facial fiducial points. For the proposed algorithm, geodesic distances and 'global curvature' characteristics, defined as the ratio of geodesic to Euclidean distance between a pairs of points, were employed as features. The most discriminatory features were selected using stepwise linear discriminant analysis (LDA). These were projected onto 11 LDA directions, and face models were matched using the Euclidean distance metric. With a gallery set containing one image each of 105 subjects and a probe set containing 663 images of the same subjects, the algorithm produced EER=1.4% and a rank 1 RR=98.64%. It performed significantly better than existing algorithms based on principal component analysis and LDA applied to face range images. Its verification performance for expressive faces was also significantly better than an algorithm that employed Euclidean distances between facial fiducial points as features.


The deterpenation of orange and lemon oils has been studied by preparative adsorption chromatography using silica gel in glass columns of 43 cm length and diameters of 2.5, 5.1 and 9.0 cm.

The terpene hydrocarbons were eluted with n-hexane/ethyl acetate 25:1 and the oxygenated compounds were eluted subsequently with ethyl acetate. The eluted fractions were collected and analysed by gas chromatography. The influence of column diameter and product feed rate on the degree of deterpenation has been studied.

An empirical equation which relates the degree of deterpenation to the recovery of enriched oil and the product feed rate has been derived. This relationship can be used to predict the performance of any given system based on silica gel adsorption chromatography.


The need for an internationally standardized preparation of thromboplastin was stressed by Barker, Best, and Wright (1948). In the absence of such a preparation, there exist many techniques for the control of anticoagulant therapy. This paper presents a comparison of two commonly used techniques, namely, those of Quick and of Toohey. The comparison shows that the methods give different results. A modification of Quick's method is described whereby the thromboplastin preparations are rendered more stable.


This study was conducted to investigate effects of roughage sources on rumen fermentation characteristics, microbial growth rates and rumen metabolites. In vitro experiment rumen fluid was collected from a cannulated Hanwoo cow (Korean cattle) consuming italian ryegrass hay. In vitro fermentation in...


Social media data is rapidly evolving and accessible which presents opportunities for research. Data science techniques, such as sentiment or emotion analysis which analyse textual emotion, provide an opportunity to gather insight from social media. This paper describes a systematic scoping review of interdisciplinary evidence to explore how sentiment or emotion analysis methods alongside other data science methods have been used to examine nutrition, food and cooking social media content. A PRISMA search strategy was used to search nine electronic databases in November 2020 and January 2022. Of 7325 studies identified, 36 studies were selected from 17 countries, and content was analysed thematically and summarised in an evidence table. Studies were published between 2014-2022 and used data from seven different social media platforms (Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, Pinterest, Sina Weibo and mixed platforms). Five themes of research were identified including Dietary patterns, Cooking and recipes, Diet and Health, Public Health and Nutrition and Food in general. Papers developed a sentiment or emotion analysis tool or used available open-source tools. Accuracy to predict sentiment ranged from 33.33% (open-source engine) to 98.53% (engine developed for the study). The average proportion of sentiment was 38.8% positive, 46.6% neutral and 28.0% negative. Additional data science techniques used included topic modelling and network analysis. Future research requires optimising data extraction processes from social media platforms, the use of interdisciplinary teams to develop suitable and accurate methods for the subject and the use of complementary methods to gather deeper insights into these complex data.


Based on our earlier studies in Japan [1, 2], we understand that we need to be more tolerant for the gestational weight gain in Japanese woman than ever, especially in overweight women. However, we have not well examined the influence of the maternal pre-pregnancy physique on the perinatal outcomes in the overweight and/or obesity women in Japan. To date, some pre-pregnancy body mass indexes (BMIs; kg/m2) cut-offs have been examined to predict the high risk BMI levels as obesity associated with the adverse perinatal outcomes [3-5]. For example, in Japan, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (JMHLW) guideline has defined pre-pregnancy BMI of ≥ 25 as obesity [3], while the Institute of Medicine (IOM) guideline in the USA has defined pre-pregnancy BMI of ≥ 30 as obesity associated with the increased risk of both neonatal macrosomia and cesarean delivery [4]. In 2004, in addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the classification of pre-pregnancy BMI of ≥ 27.5 as obesity in Asian populations [5]. To (re-)assess the optimal pre-pregnancy BMI cut-offs for obesity in Japanese women associated with the perinatal outcomes, we examined the perinatal outcomes in Japanese singleton pregnancy of prepregnancy BMI 25.0 27.4, 27.5 29.9 and ≥ 30.0 compared with that of BMI 18.5 24.9 as control. The protocol for this study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Japanese Red Cross Katsushika Maternity Hospital. Informed consent concerning analysis from a retrospective database was obtained from all subjects. We reviewed the obstetric records of singleton pregnant Japanese women who delivered at our institute at ≥ 22 weeks' gestation from April 2012 through November 2016. Data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation or number (percentages). Cases and controls were compared by means of Student's t-test for continuous variables, and the X2 or Fisher's exact test for categorical variables. Differences with P < 0.05 were considered significant. Table 1 shows the clinical description and perinatal outcomes in Japanese singleton pregnancies based on the maternal pre-pregnancy BMI cut-offs for obesity according to the JMHLW, WHO Asian and IOM BMI guidelines. There were no significant differences in the clinical description such as maternal age, parity or maternal height among the four groups. To predict the incidence of maternal impaired glucose tolerance in Japanese pregnant women, the Japanese (JMHLW BMI) cut-off seemed to better than the other two cut-offs; however, to predict the incidence of other complications such as maternal hypertensive disorders, cesarean delivery and neonatal macrosomia, the other cut-offs seemed to be better than the Japanese cut-off. Based on the current observation, we may be also required to be more tolerant for the maternal pre-pregnancy physique than ever, especially in overweight women of BMI 25 27.4. To confirm these, a larger study is needed.


The problem of personnel adaptation is relevant in the theory and practice of management. An effective adaptation process in an organization requires the joint efforts of management, personnel management specialists and the employee himself. As a result of the implementation of an individual personnel adaptation program, an organization can receive a number of socio-economic effects: a stable professional staff, an increase in the financial component of the organization, a decrease in staff turnover, an improvement in the sociopsychological climate, organizational culture and an increase in staff loyalty to the organization. The adaptation process helps the employee to get used to the production team much faster, which helps to reduce staff turnover in the first year of staff work in the organization. The author notes that the Russian Railways company has considerable experience in organizing the process of adaptation of workers and specialists. A number of tools for activating and accelerating the adaptation of personnel are listed and characterized. It is emphasized that there can be no universal adaptation, a personalized adaptation program requires taking into account the characteristics of the position, the personality of the employee and the characteristics of the organization itself. The article analyzes the results of a survey of young workers about the organization of mentoring in the workforce. The article concludes that there is a need for systematic work on organizing the adaptation of personnel, about the informal use of the entire arsenal of adaptation tools in personnel management.


A first wall concept for the Laboratory Microfusion Facility (LMF) that uses carbon fibers in a brush- or carpet-like configuration is described. This material and geometric configuration provide an extremely effective way of absorbing the intense burst of soft x-ray radiation from the fusion energy pulse without damaging the underlying structure. The 2-cm-long carbon fibers are pointed at the target so that the x-rays illuminate the sides of the fibers at a glancing angle. The authors describe how the carpet-like configuration reduces the impulse due to the blow-off of material vaporized by the x-rays. Resulting stresses in the support structure are now low enough for the chamber radius to be brought in to 3 m, which is much smaller than a chamber with an unprotected first wall. The authors conclude that this is a viable and attractive concept for the LMF first wall.


Under China's "Dual Carbon" strategic goal, electric energy substitution on the energy consumption side and clean substitution on the energy supply side have become an important path to achieve peak CO2 emissions and carbon neutrality. Adjusting the energy structure and encouraging new energy to replace traditional energy is an important manifestation of China's energy supply revolution. Therefore, China's new energy companies have grown rapidly over the past decade. The development and growth of this industry is inseparable from government policy support. The profitability and economy are essential for the new energy industry to support its sustainable development., especially the choice of business models such as operation model and financing structures. Therefore, we build extended panel vector autoregression (PVAR) models with two-step system GMM(SYS-GMM) estimator which introduced predetermined and strictly exogenous variables to explore the dynamic correlation between financing structure and economic performance of China's new energy public companies. The number of patent approvals and financial leverage are introduced as exogenous control variables. The results show that although the increase in costs caused by financing behavior will have a negative impact on the company's return on equity in the short term, with the rational investment and utilization of funds, the negative impact will gradually weaken. Listed new energy companies can effectively use financing funds, and the use of different financing tools has different effects on company performance. Although debt financing can help promote the company's profitability, it is detrimental to its future growth capacity.


Review of arguments in refutation of Dyson's alleged prohibition against use of device physics as to determining if Gravitons can be determined to exist is followed up by use of a hot Plasma within a Tokamak in a redo of the amplitude of alleged Gravitational waves. This overlaps with gravitons, and we follow up with an analysis of the pertinent form of Gravitons, i.e. do we have massless or massive gravitons. In addition we also obtain GW of amplitude as low as five meters above the Tokamak center such low strain values are extremely close to brane world GW, and strain values in early universe cosmology. This is after our device analysis. Using Grischuk and Sachin (1975) amplitude for the GW generation due to plasma in a toroid, we generalize this result for Tokamak physics. We obtain evidence for strain values up to in a Tokamak center. These values are an order of magnitude sufficient to allow for possible detection of gravitational waves. The critical breakthrough is in utilizing a burning plasma drift current, which relies upon a thermal contribution to an electric field. Such low strain values are extremely close to brane world GW, and strain values in early universe cosmology. We conclude with statements as to comparing our basic results with those of Yan-Gang Miao, Ying-Jie Zhao as to their generalized HUP which gives support to the suppositions given in our comparison of the character of gravitons which are initially at the start of inflation versus those of our present era, as measured by the Tokamak.


Visa has been all around utilized and simultaneously its separating what's all the more particularly Deceptive cases have changed into a rising issues in the present cases in advancements. This paper tries to give the work that associates in watching the false card amidst exchanges and cautions the client concerning the crush. This paper in like course centers in confining the measure of false cautions. The likelihood of got estimation is a novel one in this application space. The estimation starts with multi-masses of discretionarily passed on chromosomes. These chromosomes experience the operations of choice, cream and change. Blend joins the data from two parent chromosomes to make new people, abusing the best of the present time, while change or conflictingly changing a touch of the parameters licenses examination concerning particular areas of the blueprint space. Trademark attestation by systems for an issue particular cost work guarantees that single the best fit chromosomes stay in the masses to mate and make the general open to come. Upon supplement, the got figuring meets to a general blueprint.


Experts using technology to enhance mathematics instruction have, through national standards, attempted to convey ideas concerning best practices. Research concerning Social Judgment Theory (SJT) has found many instances where expert judges, when asked, report one set of factors to be most important, but when making actual judgments, rely on a very different weighting of factors. We developed 20 profiles of actual computer-using mathematics teachers and asked experts to rank the profiles in the context of selecting a profile for a hypothetical award. We used regression analysis to predict the award winner based on experts' actual use of profile dimensions. Additionally, experts were asked to report weights of dimensions they felt they used in making judgments. Actual award judgments were highly predictable from profile dimensions (adjusted R-square = .98) with teacher actions being most relevant, along with student actions and the nature of the classroom environment. In contrast, what experts say is most important in influencing their judgments was less predictable (adjusted R-square = .25), with nature of the environment reported to be most influential, and nature of the task reported to be a negative influence. The implications for professional development are discussed.


Anti‐programmed death‐1 agents are an established option for advanced melanoma, but the anti‐programmed death‐ligand 1 (anti‐PD‐L1) antibody atezolizumab, an agent approved for the treatment of multiple solid tumors, was not previously evaluated. This phase 1b study cohort (NCT03178851; cohort C) evaluated first‐line atezolizumab 1,200 mg every 3 weeks in adults with BRAFV600 wild‐type, histologically confirmed, advanced or metastatic melanoma. The co‐primary end points were confirmed objective response rate (ORR) per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors v1.1 and disease control rate (DCR = complete response [CR] +partial response [PR] +stable disease [SD] at 16 weeks). Of 52 enrolled patients, most had lactate dehydrogenase levels lower than the upper limit of normal (77%) and PD‐L1‐positive tumors (55%). Investigator‐assessed confirmed ORR was 35% (95% CI, 22%‐49%) and included three CRs (6%) and 15 PRs (29%); DCR was 46%. Median investigator‐assessed progression‐free survival was 3.7 months (95% CI, 2.1–7.3). The most common any‐grade adverse events were anemia (27%), headache (19%), hypertension (19%), constipation (17%), diarrhea (17%), hypothyroidism (17%), asthenia (15%), and pain in extremity (15%). First‐line atezolizumab monotherapy is safe and tolerable and has antitumor activity in patients with BRAFV600 wild‐type advanced or metastatic melanoma.


Action movie has established itself as one of the leading movie genres which has been present in the film industry for a long time. However, action movie genre has been characterized as male-oriented. This study aims to reveal the issue of patriarchal society and women's position represented in action movie entitled Taken , directed by Pierre Morel. Research problems in this study are related to: (a) how is the superiority of men depicted in the movie, and (b) how is women represented as the secondary subject. To analyze the movie, this study used the theory of Simone de Beauvoir especially in her book, The Second Sex. The result of this study showed that Taken movie reproduce the stereotype of action movie genre as male-oriented and women is considered as the secondary subject. Keywords: Taken, Action Movie Genre, Patriarchal Society, Secondary Subject, Simone de Beauvoir.


This paper reviews evidence that serum total cholesterol predicts coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence or death in African American women. The NHANES I Epidemiologic Follow-up Study of over 1,000 African American women aged 25-74 and other published studies in African American women have yielded conflicting results concerning the association of serum total cholesterol and CHD. Perhaps due to the relatively small number of events in studies reviewed, the positive association of serum total cholesterol with CHD incidence in African American women was not consistently significant. Serum total cholesterol is a significant predictor of CHD risk in European American women especially at ages 25-54.


Speaking while doing another task is frequent in everyday life. While the effect of speaking on performing another task has been often studied, little is known on the effect of dual-task on speech, or on the bidirectional interference of one task on the other. Here, we investigate dual-task effects on both speech rate and on performances in non-verbal attentional tasks with a bidirectional approach. Task properties are varied for the type of speech task: counting vs. sentence production, the type of non-verbal tasks in terms of attentional demand (go vs. go-nogo), and mode of presentation of the stimuli. Speech rate is found to decrease under dual-task conditions only in the counting task, and with most of the concurrent non-verbal tasks. Processing of the non-verbal tasks is also modified when speaking, but the direction of the effect depends on the type of speech tasks and of non-verbal tasks.


Ap ply ing the mean value the o rem for def i nite integrals in the non-lin ear in te gral equa tion for Chandrasekhar's H func tion de scrib ing con ser va tive iso tro pic scat ter ing, we have de rived a new, sim ple an a lytic ap prox i ma tion for it, with a max i mal rel a tive er ror be low 2.5%. With this new func tion as a start ing-point, af ter a sin gle it er a tion in the cor re spond ing in te gral equa tion, we have ob tained a new, highly ac cu rate an a lytic ap prox i ma tion for the H func tion. As its max i mal rel a tive er ror is be low 0.07%, it sig nif i cantly sur passes the ac cu racy of other an a lytic ap prox i ma tions.


Abstract Pairs of Melanoplus sanguinipes and M. bivittatus were reared in cages and the eggs produced by each female were counted. M. sanguinipes laid an average of 328.7 eggs per female, 9.4 eggs per day, and an average of 21.8 eggs per pod. M. bivittatus laid an average of 354.9 eggs per female, 11.0 eggs per day, and 43.3 eggs per pod. M. sanguinipes produced a pod every 2.3 days and M. bivittatus one every 3.9 days. Feeding M. sanguinipes only every second day approximately doubled the longevity and oviposition period but halved the number of eggs per day.


This study tries to examine long run and short run relationship of foreign exchange earnings from tourism and average expenditure of international tourists towards share of gross domestic product (GDP) of Nepalese tourism by using Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). A multivariate time series analysis has been applied from the period of 1991 to 2014 tourism data of Nepal. The results of Johansen test of co-integration indicates there is one co-integrated vector under 4 lags of length among the share of gross domestic product of Nepalese tourism, foreign exchange earnings from tourism and average expenditure of international tourist. The long run relationship based on vector error correction model has indicated that coefficient of GDP elasticity with respect to average expenditure per visitor is more elastic as compare to coefficient of GDP elasticity with respect to foreign exchange earnings from tourism. The results of Granger causality analysis have depicted that there exists bidirectional causal relationship between GDP and expenditure per visitor and unidirectional causal relationship exists between GDP and foreign exchange earnings from tourism.


A high performance concentric nebulizer (HPCN) was developed for sample introduction to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) at liquid flow rates of less than 10 µL min−1. The HPCN has a triple tube concentric structure and consists of a concentric type nebulizer body and a fused silica glass capillary (i.d./o.d.: 50 µm/150 µm) mounted in the center of the nebulizer body as a sample introduction capillary. The nebulizing performance was greatly improved by tapering the liquid capillary (tip orifice i.d.: 20 µm, tip wall thickness: <8 µm) and by setting the liquid capillary tip at a proper position. When the set position was recessed by 25 µm to 50 µm with respect to the nebulizer nozzle tip, a liquid jet was produced inside the nozzle by a flow focusing effect. This phenomenon gives a fine aerosol generation. At a liquid flow rate of 5 µL min−1 and a nebulizer gas flow rate of 1 L min−1, the Sauter mean diameter D3,2 of the primary drops generated by the HPCN (2.4 µm) was almost the same as that generated by the HEN-120-A.01 (2.6 µm) and was smaller than those generated by the HEN-90-A.01 (4.6 µm), CEI-100 (5.9 µm), and AriMist-HP (6.3 µm). The sensitivity in ICP-MS with the HPCN was over two-fold higher than those with the other microflow nebulizers, except for the HEN-120-A.01. The HEN-120-A.01 provides almost the same sensitivity as the HPCN, but it requires two-fold higher gas pressure than the HPCN. The HPCN can continuously and stably nebulize 1% NaCl solution for over 8 h without clogging. The HPCN combined with an on-axis cylinder chamber was applied to capillary liquid chromatography-ICP-MS, by which the speciation of eight arsenic compounds was demonstrated. We concluded the HPCN is a useful nebulizer for less than 10 µL min−1 sample introduction to ICP-MS.


The state-of-the-art Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) systems lack the ability to identify spoken words if they have non-standard pronunciations. In this paper, we present a new classification algorithm to identify pronunciation variants. It uses Dynamic Phone Warping (DPW) technique to compute the pronunciation-by-pronunciation phonetic distance and a threshold critical distance criterion for the classification. The proposed method consists of two steps; a training step to estimate a critical distance parameter using transcribed data and in the second step, use this critical distance criterion to classify the input utterances into the pronunciation variants and OOV words. The algorithm is implemented using Java language. The classifier is trained on data sets from TIMIT speech corpus and CMU pronunciation dictionary. The confusion matrix and precision, recall and accuracy performance metrics are used for the performance evaluation. Experimental results show significant performance improvement over the existing classifiers.


In this paper, we propose a method of designing a wideband printed monopole antenna (PMA) by loading metasurface on its back. The metasurface-loaded PMA prototype is a double-sided structure, with the printed monopole on the front side and the metasurface etched on the back side, respectively. Driven by the printed monopole structure in the near-field zone, the metasurface can behave inductively or capacitively. By adjusting the geometrical parameters, the impedance of the metasurface can be tailored so as to compensate the mismatched impedance of the original printed monopole in a wide band, leading to a wideband omnidirectional radiation. To verify this method, a light-weight PMA is designed, fabricated and measured. Analyses of the impedance and the surface current distributions are employed in the design process. The height of the proposed PMA is 20.0 mm, about 16% of the wavelength corresponding to the lowest operating frequency. Both the simulated and measured results show that the antenna can achieve highly efficient omnidirectional radiation in 2.50–4.75 GHz and the relative bandwidth achieves up to 62%. This work provides an effective alternative of designing wideband PMA, and may find wide applications in modern wireless communications.


• Cellular assays were performed after 2hr pre-incubation with compound or vehicle. Peripheral blood monocytes (PBMCs) and primary human moncyte derived macrophages (HMDM) were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). CD4+ isolated lymphocytes were stimulated with anti-CD3/CD28. Primary human retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) cells were stimulated with TNFα/IL-1β. Inflammatory cytokine release was measured by R&D ELISA


To the Editor.— The article by Eddy and associates 1 represents an invaluable contribution to the medical and epidemiologic literature. As a surgeon who is part of a group that deals with a large number of patients with breast disease, I was pleased to see that the authors demonstrated the cost-ineffectiveness of annual screening mammography examinations in women 40 to 49 years old. The authors cogently discuss the controversies of routine mammography screening, alluding to the lack of hard data that has resulted in recommendations for annual mammograms by such groups as the American College of Radiology and the American Cancer Society. 2,3 Two important issues that are not discussed in detail by the authors are the 70% to 80% incidence of negative (nonmalignant) findings on breast biopsies that result from "suspicious" mammograms. 4-5 There is also tremendous inconsistency in interpretation of mammographic findings by radiologists. It seems likely that


The voltammetric behaviour of four azo dyes has been compared at a glassy carbon electrode. It is shown that the azo dyes (e.g. Reactive Brilliant Red x-3b (RBR x-3b), Acid Red 6b (AR 6b)) with a hydroxyl group in the ortho position with respect to the azo bridge give rise to well defined, irreversible peaks for the oxidation and reduction process within a pH range of 2-12. In the case of the non-hydroxyl azo dye (e.g. Reactive Yellow x-rg (RY x-rg)), or azo dye with a meta hydroxyl group (e.g. Reactive Orange x-gn (RO x-gn)), the oxidation was comparatively tougher, and the peak was not clear or even invisible in the accessible potential range. The mechanism of electrochemical oxidation of RBR x-3b, as well as AR 6b is proposed. The reduction steps were only accessible when pH < 8 for RY x-rg and RO x-gn dye compounds. For the hydroxyl-substituted dyes, re-oxidation peaks were obtained in the subsequent scan, owing to the oxidation of reduction products-amine or hydroazo intermediates.


CJEU TO RULE ON EXTRADITION OF EU CITIZENS IN CRIMINAL ANTITRUST PROCEEDINGS The first European citizen to be extradited from Europe to the United States for criminal antitrust conduct recently…


Like many other spectacular monuments, Zimbabwe Ruins has attracted more attention through speculation than through research. Many of the so-called 'archaeological excavations' in the early days were little more than licensed treasure hunts, whilst the amount of unauthorized fossicking for gold which went on until 1902 (when the ruins were protected by legislation) destroyed acres of archaeological deposits. Two people only have published reports of widespread excavations on scientific lines at Zimbabwe: the late Dr D. Randall-Maclver, who dug there for a few weeks in 1905 and Miss G. Caton-Thompson, whose careful work during the dry season of 1929 forms the basis of our present archaeological knowledge of this site. Considering the great area involved—about 100 acres of actual buildings—and the obvious importance of the site, surprisingly little is really known about it. For the past 18 years the site has been under the protection of the Southern Rhodesian Monuments Commission and excavation has been very wisely discouraged, although on the other hand the exploration and excavation of other sites has proceeded apace. Both Maclver and Caton-Thompson agreed that the building was African. Maclver dated the 'Temple' (the principal single structure) as 'not earlier than the 14th or 15th century', but admitted that an earlier settlement prior to the present buildings was a possibility. Miss Caton-Thompson gave as her earliest date for the whole complex the 9th century A.D., or possibly a little earlier, and also considered a pre-ruin culture not unlikely. Wieschhoff after reviewing all the preceding evidence and undertaking excavations at a number of other sites found himself fully in agreement with Maclver as regards dating whilst the present writer, with still more field evidence from other Rhodesian sites, felt inclined to shorten Wieschhoff's dating still more.


Anisotropic superconducting flux-line behavior of single-crystal [kappa]-[bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiaful- valene][sub 2]Cu[N(CN)[sub 2]]Br has been studied with dc magnetization and vibrating-reed (VR) techniques. A peak at [ital T][sup *]([ital H]) in the temperature dependence of the VR inverse quality factor 1/[ital Q] exhibits a shoulder for magnetic fields 0[lt][mu][sub 0][ital H][le]0.5 T parallel to the conducting ac plane. The shoulder becomes unresolved near a kink in [ital T]*([ital H]) at [mu][sub 0][ital H][approx]0.7 T. Discontinuities in 1/[ital Q] and the VR frequency shift occur for 0.1[le][mu][sub 0][ital H][le]1.3 T applied perpendicular to the ac plane and temperatures [ital T][le]20 K, well into the normal state. These anomalies are preliminary evidence for a field-induced magnetic phase transition and unconventional superconductivity.


The following topics were dealt with: cardiac electrocardiography, cardiac mechanics, cardiac pacing; defibrillation therapy; cardiac ablation; heart rate variability; control of blood pressure; vascular and valve mechanics; haemodynamics; current issues on sleep apnea; cardiopulmonary engineering; critical care medicine; magnetic resonance imaging; image display and visualization; image segmentation and registration; image filtering, compression and analysis; and functional imaging.


Summary Bird song is used to attract mates and deter rivals, and also functions as a species recognition cue. It is a flexible trait affected by learning, hence the choice of song tutors may affect an individuals' singing. By interspecifically cross-fostering great tits (Parus major) to blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) in the wild, we have manipulated the species recognition of great tits, which in turn has influenced their song. In the present study, we presented breeding great tit and blue tit control males with playback of the aberrant song of cross-fostered great tit males and playback of the normal song of control great tit males. Blue tit males responded more to cross-fostered than control great tit song while great tit males showed the inverse response pattern. This shows that interspecific cross-fostering may affect both inter- and intraspecific communication. However, the response of males of both species towards the song of crossfostered great tit males was not of the same magnitude as the response towards ordinary blue tit song; thus, the real species identity is to some extent maintained in the aberrant song of cross-fostered males.


Tarkeshwar Temple is an ancient temple of Lord Shiva in Jaipur, built-in 1784 A.D. Temple is mainly composed of limestone, sand powder and marble. In this article, we discussed microbial diversity and deterioration of the temple surface. In this study, a total of 135 bacterial and 125 fungal colonies were identified among them Escherichia coli and, Aspergillus flavus most abundant one. Importance value index (IVI) of bacterial species revealed that the Escherichia coli show maximum IVI value (88.77%) followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (77%), Staphylococcus aureus (75.55%) and Staphylococcus haemolyticus (58.64%) shows least IVI value; and for fungal species, Importance value index (IVI) disclose that Aspergillus flavus shows maximum IVI value (84.3%) followed by Fusarium solani (68.38%), Aspergillus niger (56.98%), Aspergillus tubingensis (46.27%) and Aspergillus fumigation (35.5%) shows least IVI value. The degenerative potential of isolated bacteria and fungi with the help of FE-SEM was also analysed. This study helps to find the culturable biodeteriogens mainly bacteria and fungi which excreted most of the enzymes, acids and pigments to deteriorate the site and appearance. This study also helps to plan a strategy to maintain this heritage site and for providing a healthy environment for people who come to visit for prayers and admire the beauty of the ancient temple.


Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein complex consisting of a protein reverse transcriptase (TERT) and an RNA subunit (TR). Telomerase normally adds telomeric DNA repeats to chromosome ends. Here, we engineer human and Tetrahymena cis-telomerase RNAs, each having a DNA primer covalently linked to its 3′ end. We find that cis-telomerase synthesizes DNA with increased repeat addition processivity (RAP) but does not completely rescue the RAP defect of the L14A mutant of Tetrahymena TERT. This supports the conclusion that L14 has a function beyond binding the DNA primer and preventing dissociation during multiple rounds of repeat addition. By comparing cis-telomerases with various linker lengths, we find that a 5 nt linker gives near-optimal activity, indicating that the distance between the 3′ end of the telomerase RNA pseudoknot region and the 5′ end of the DNA primer is ∼33 Å. Even a 2 nt linker (∼14 Å) gives some activity, indicating a high degree of conformational flexibility in this ribonucleoprotein complex. More generally, the cis system will allow structure-function relationships of each RNA molecule to be read directly through the reaction that it performs on itself.


This article explores the process of 'identity erasure' that is a feature of domestic violence and abuse. Data are taken from semi-structured narrative-style interviews with 14 women who had experienced abuse from a male partner.
I draw on Erving Goffman's (1968) work on 'total institutions'. Goffman uses the term 'mortification' in describing the attacks on identity and self that occur in 'total institutions' such as psychiatric hospitals, prisons and concentration camps. These attacks take the form of: loss of contact with the outside world, ritual degradation, the removal of possessions, and lack of control. Their effect is to erase the inmate's prior identity, and render them compliant.
For the women who participated in this study, their abusers attempted to achieve compliance by adopting many of the tactics that Goffman describes. Drawing on participants' words, I discuss some of the behaviours adopted by their abusive partners: isolation from support networks, surveillance, deprivation of privacy, and dispossession. I argue that, for women, the home/abusive relationship becomes a total institution. Understanding the abusive household as a 'total institution' can help friends, family and professionals to more fully appreciate, and therefore provide women with more appropriate help to overcome, the barriers to leaving.


The present invention provides a method for implementing fast switching traffic in the H-VPLS, applicable to the UPE, which causes the main secondary PW share the same logical port number, the required primary or secondary PW switching back when cut, by modifying a public network to achieve the logical port table switching information so that the premise PW switchover is not perceived in the MAC address table, will flow rapidly through no fault of the PW forwarding on to the corresponding PE. The present invention also provides a UPE. Application of the present invention can greatly improve the PW switching speed and reduce the loss of flow.


The article presents the discovery of the first creamation cemetery of the Wyciąże group (late, Badenised phase of the Złotniki-Wyciąż group of the Polgár culture) at site 7 in Szarbia in western part of Lesser Poland. The cremation graves are accompanied by skeletons of the dead deposited in settlement features. The stylistic and typological characteristics of grave and settlement pottery as well as one 14C-date allow to determine the chronology of the described materials for the second half of 4th millennium Bc. the presented remains testify to the unusually long duration of polgár culture traditions in the Kraków area, subjected to quite superficial Baden influence.


We perform time-dependent analysis of quantum dynamics of dark matter particles in the Solar System. It is shown that this problem has similarities with a microwave ionization of Rydberg atoms studied previously experimentally and analytically. On this basis it is shown that the quantum effects for chaotic dark matter dynamics become significant for dark matter mass ratio to electron mass being smaller than 2 × 10 −15. Below this border multiphoton diffusion over Rydberg states of dark matter atom becomes exponentially localized in analogy with the Anderson localization in disordered solids. The life time of dark matter in the Solar System is determined in dependence on mass ratio in the localized phase and a few photon ionization regime. Various implications of these quantum results are discussed for the capture of dark matter from Galaxy and its steady-state density distribution. PACS numbers: 95.35.+d, 32.80.Rm, 05.45.Mt, 95.10.Fh Introduction.– The properties of dark matter are now actively discussed by the astronomy community (see e.g. [1]). Recently, a necessity of correct description of galac-tic structures, in particularly singular density cusp problem , attracted a growing interest to the ultralight dark matter particles (DMP) of bosons with a mass m d ∼ 10 −22 eV (see e.g. [2–5] and Refs. therein). However, the mass m d of light DMP is unknown and possibilities of its detection are under active discussions [2, 6]. At small values of m d (or its ratios to electron mass m e) the quantum effects start to be dominant [4, 5, 7]. Till present the quantum effects have been studied in the frame of static solutions of Schrodiner and Poisson equations.


Equivalent Transformation (ET) rules can be used to construct correct sequential and parallel programs, as they are inherently correct. One important method for making ET rules uses logical formulas. Among logical formulas, unsatisfiable conjunctions of finite atoms, each of which is represented by an atom set in this paper, are especially useful for making many ET rules that are used for constructing efficient programs. This paper proposes a method of proving unsatisfiability of an atom set based on computation by ET rules. The proposed method is recursive, in the sense that, during proving the given atom set, it may find a new atom set based on subset relation or inductive structure. Since our proposed method incorporates search based on subset and inductive relations, it can be used to prove unsatisfiability of various atom sets that cannot be proven by conventional methods.


The hydrogel strength of ampholytic hydrogels was improved by copolymerizing anionic acrylate polyurethane prepolymer (PU) with methacryloxyethyl benzyl dimethyl ammonium chloride (MAEBDAC) to prepare a series of ampholytic hydrogels defined as sample L1-L5. The differential scanning caiorimetry (DSC) curves of dried hydrogels sample L1, L3 and L5 with anion/cation molar ratios of 0. 3/3, 1/1 and 1. 3/1 had only one glass transition temperature, indicating only one phase. No pores were observed in the cross-section of dried hydrogel sample L3 with a freezable water content of 11.7% of the total water content. However, large numbers of pores were present in sample L1 and L5 with freezable water contents of about 50%. Moreover, the swelling properties depended on the nature of the net charge density within the hydrogels. Typical antipolyelectrolyte behavior in NaCl aqueous solution was noticed in sample L3. The hydrogel strength is improved with more PU chains in the hydrogel.


We report here on the development and testing of a 4 Tesla cryogen free superconducting magnet designed to fit within the Euler cradle of a 6 circle Huber diffractometer, allowing scattering in both the vertical and horizontal planes. The geometry of this magnet allows the field to be applied in three orientations. The first being along the beam direction, the second with the field transverse to the beam direction a horizontal plane and finally the field can be applied vertically with respect to the beam. The magnet has a warm bore and an open geometry of 180°, allowing large access to reciprocal space. A variable temperature insert has been developed, which is capable of working down to a temperature of 1.7 K and operating over a wide range of angles whilst maintaining a temperature stability of a few mK. Initial ferromagnetic diffraction measurements have been carried out on single crystal Tb and Dy samples.


Computer Assisted Audit Techniques (CAATs) refers t o the software ACL (Audit Command Language Version 9), is useful to calculate Profile, Statistics , and stratify automatically. It uses to know the whether the occurrence of anomalies in an Account R eceivable (AR) balances information. The field amount were used where the final balances of AR are stored. This research has discussed the 161 records from 772 records have negative balances or 27.72% of total AR Balances. The research has examined the company policy against negative balanc es. Does a negative balance can be converted into goods or collateral accounts. If a positive ba lance equal to a negative balance, the AR balance will be zero. This leads to miss interpretation of the AR and affect the credibility of sales informat ion, which the Information is as no sale occurred when csales did occurred.


TEM-1 β-lactamase is the most common plasmid-encoded β-lactamase in Gram-negative bacteria and is a model class A enzyme. The active site of class A β-lactamases share several conserved residues including Ser70, Glu166, and Asn170 that coordinate a hydrolytic water involved in deacylation. Unlike Ser70 and Glu166, the functional significance of residue Asn170 is not well understood even though it forms hydrogen bonds with both Glu166 and the hydrolytic water. The goal of this study was to examine the importance of Asn170 for catalysis and substrate specificity of β-lactam antibiotic hydrolysis. The codon for position 170 was randomized to create a library containing all 20 possible amino acids. The random library was introduced into Escherichia coli, and functional clones were selected on agar plates containing ampicillin. DNA sequencing of the functional clones revealed that only asparagine (wild type) and glycine at this position are consistent with wild-type function. The determination of kinetic parameters for several substrates revealed that the N170G mutant is very efficient at hydrolyzing substrates that contain a primary amine in the antibiotic R-group that would be close to the Asn170 side chain in the acyl-intermediate. In addition, the x-ray structure of the N170G enzyme indicated that the position of an active site water important for deacylation is altered compared with the wild-type enzyme. Taken together, the results suggest the N170G TEM-1 enzyme hydrolyzes ampicillin efficiently because of substrate-assisted catalysis where the primary amine of the ampicillin R-group positions the hydrolytic water and allows for efficient deacylation.


In an effort to increase payload capability of future commercial and military spacecraft, a program was initiated at Lockheed Martin several years ago to investigate Hall Current Thruster (HCT) technology. Lockheed Martin and Aerojet (formerly General Dynamics) entered into a long-term agreement in the Fall of 2000 to develop and qualify flight versions of the BPT-4000 Hall thruster, a power processing unit (PPU), and a xenon flow controller (XFC). In parallel with the development of flight hardware, Lockheed Martin has been pursuing a number of internal integration studies. The main emphasis of this comprehensive Hall Thruster Propulsion System (HTPS) development and integration program has been to gain quantitative information on the effects of the thruster plume on various spacecraft subsystems and mitigate risk associated with the introduction of this new propulsion technology on future spacecraft. Integration of Hall thrusters requires a detailed understanding of the potential effects induced by the thruster on satellite operations. Issues related to the thruster plume include: sputtering of spacecraft surfaces due to ion impingement, re-deposition of sputtered materials onto critical surfaces and surface contamination, transmission of bus and payload signals through the thruster plume, electromagnetic interference due to thruster radiated and conducted emissions, surface charging and electrostatic discharge (ESD) susceptibility, the effect of erosion/contamination on solar array performance, and a number of other concerns. This paper presents some of the major highlights of this effort and summarizes the work completed to date.


Intra-arterial (IA) and intravenous (IV) cisplatinum (CDP) were studied in a multiagent regimen of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for osteosarcoma of the extremities. Preoperatively two cycles of high-dose methotrexate (HDMTX) were administered, followed 5 days later by CDP and Adriamycin (ADM). MTX and ADM were administered IV, and CDP was delivered IA or IV. Postoperatively, good responders received 3 more cycles of the same drugs, while poor responders had a longer chemotherapy including ifosfamide. The rate of good histological response to chemotherapy was significantly higher in patients treated intraarterially (78% vs 46%: P < .004), while no significant differences in terms of disease-free survival were observed between patients who received CDP IA and patients who received CDP IV (55% vs 51%). In the IA group, however, there was only one local recurrence vs 5 in the IV group. The IA infusion of CDP is more active on the primary tumor than the IV infusion.


The authors investigated the correlation between variation of post-etch critical dimension (ECD) and etcher chamber condition during floating gate etching process. This paper presents the significantly effective method of utilizing the SF6/O2-based very long plasma-chamber cleaning or the novel Transformer coupled plasma (TCP) window temperature design not only achieves a stable gate CD (CD variation <; 2nm) but also simplifies etching process.


This paper was written as the Australian Science Curriculum settled into use in smaller Australian states, was being interpreted in different ways by statutory curriculum authorities in the larger ones and was forming the basis of adaptations of existing state-based resources by educational publishers. The paper takes the role of science educators of Christian commitment as its starting point. Such people operate at both secondary and tertiary levels and all face the challenges implicit in teaching a subject that is popularly supposed to conflict with their faith. What do the churning flows of influence, authority and power that characterise the contemporary Australian educational scene mean for such people? The article considers the constitutional framework within which this churn occurs and the impact that nominally Christian institutions have had on its interpretation. How did we come to this? It considers the tensions that characterise the present situation. What constraints are being applied and how much room will we have to move? The paper considers the possibilities those tensions open up. How may we best be true to the gospel we profess and the families we serve?


The paper considers deterministic communication in radio networks whose underlying reachability graphs are undirected 2-dimensional grids. Radio communication is synchronous and differs from other communication models in a way, how simultaneously incoming messages are processed. A node receives a transmitted message iff exactly one its neighbor transmits in a given time slot. In our setting, we assume that the nodes (networks stations) are spread in a region in a regular way. Particularly, they are located at grid points of a square mesh. Initial knowledge of a node is limited only to its unique identifier. The node is not aware of its position in the grid as it was assumed in other papers. We design an algorithm completing the broadcasting task in O(ecc + log N) rounds using total O(n + log N) transmissions, where ecc is the eccentricity of the source and N is an upper bound of unique integer identifiers assigned to the nodes. Moreover, we present a modification of the algorithm that solves a task of computation grid coordinates of each node in the asymptotically same time. All presented algorithms are asymptotically optimal according to both considered complexity measures.


The treatment landscape of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) has evolved over the last few years with six new drugs receiving USA Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval since 2017. One of these drugs, CPX-351, is a liposomal combination of cytarabine and daunorubicin, combined in a synergistic 5:1 molar ratio. This formulation alters the pharmacokinetics of the two major anti-AML therapeutics allowing for prolonged exposure and intracellular delivery into leukaemic cells relative to normal cells. It has been shown to significantly improve overall survival (OS) when compared to the standard daunorubicin/cytarabine combination ('7 + 3') for treating patients with AML aged 60–75 years with secondary AML, including those with prior exposure to cytotoxic chemotherapy and or/radiotherapy or antecedent myeloid malignancy. Another newly approved drug, midostaurin is an oral multi-kinase inhibitor that is active in patients with a FMS-related tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) mutated gene. Patients with FLT3-internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD) mutations have shorter complete remission (CR) durations and inferior OS when compared to patients with FLT3-wild type disease. In contrast to the worse outcome with FLT3-ITD mutations, FLT3 point mutations in the tyrosine kinase domain (TKD) are associated with an uncertain prognosis. Survival outcomes for all subtypes of AML with FLT3 mutations was improved when midostaurin was added to standard induction with '7 + 3' when compared to the placebo group [hazard ratio (HR), 0 78; P = 0 009]. In the CPX-351 Phase III trial, 18% of patients were FLT3-mutation positive. This population represents a particularly high-risk AML and an unmet clinical need. Currently it is unknown whether the combination of midostaurin with CPX-351 will be safe and improve outcome; combination trials of CPX-351 and FLT3 inhibitors are ongoing. In the present study, we report on three cases of secondary AML that were FLT3-ITD or FLT3-TKD positive and treated with a combination of CPX-351 and the FLT3 inhibitor midostaurin.


We demonstrate flat supercontinuum generation in a piece of highly nonlinear fiber pumped with a stable noise-like pulse mode-locked fiber laser. The compact all-fiber laser realizes mode locking based on a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror and emits noise-like mode-locked pulse with high peak power and high average power. The output pulse has a 3-dB bandwidth of ~35.8 nm with the central wavelength of ~1581 nm. Pumping a 102-m highly nonlinear fiber with the noise-like pulse mode-locked fiber laser directly, a flat and weak residual-pump supercontinuum spanning from ~1370 to ~2200 nm is generated. The spectrum within 1865 to 2200 nm contains more than 45% of the whole energy of the supercontinuum.


Semiconductors
The orientation-controlled growth of mesoporous channels in single-crystal semiconductors is extremely difficult but highly desirable in optical devices. Zhao et al. used a simple evaporation process to synthesize three-dimensional open mesoporous titanium dioxide microspheres with uniform size (~800 nm), well-controlled radially oriented mesoporous channels, and "single-crystal"–like walls. Dye-sensitized solar cells using such microspheres showed good power conversion efficiency up to 12%. This evaporation-driven approach may provide a path for tailoring the orientation and self-assembly of other mesoporous metallic oxides and open the door for their potential use in optoelectronic devices.

Sci. Adv. 10.1126/sciadv.1500166 (2015).


The surfaces of hydraulic structures may suffer erosion damages caused usually by abrasion or cavitation. Abrasive erosion is caused by the friction and the impact of water-solid mix and in cavitation erosion, bubbles implosions can lead to huge erosion, and many other related problems. In order to guarantee the safety of the structures, both effects must be analyzed. Different concretes may present several performances when exposed to abrasion and cavitation erosion. Therefore, this research evaluated the effect of differents coarse aggregates on concrete resistence to erosion by abrasion and by cavitation.


BL. PPAR (cid:1) agonists inhibit vasopressin-mediated anion transport in the MDCK-C7 cell line. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 297: F55–F62, 2009. PPAR (cid:1) agonists are synthetic ligands for the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor- (cid:1) (PPAR (cid:1) ). These agents have insulin-sensitizing properties but can cause fluid retention, thereby limiting their useful-ness in patients at risk for cardiovascular disease. The side effect etiology is unknown, but the nature of presentation suggests modulation of renal salt and water homeostasis. In a well-characterized cell culture model of the principal cell type [Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK)-C7], PPAR (cid:1) agonists inhibit vasopressin-stimulated Cl (cid:2) secretion with agonist dose-response relationships that mirror receptor transactivation profiles. Analyses of the components of the vasopres-sin-stimulated intracellular signaling pathway indicated no PPAR (cid:1) agonist-induced changes in basolateral membrane conductances, intracellular cAMP, protein kinase A, or total cellular adenine nucleo-tides. The PPAR (cid:1) agonist-induced decrease in anion secretion is the result of decreased mRNA of the final effector in the pathway, the apically located cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR). These data showing that CFTR is a target for PPAR (cid:1) agonists may provide new insights into the physiology of PPAR (cid:1) agonist-induced fluid retention.


Abstract This summary reports on a pilot of a novel, ontology-based e-assessment system in accounting. The system, OeLe, uses emerging semantic technologies to offer an online assessment environment capable of marking students' free text answers to questions of a conceptual nature. It does this by matching their response with a 'concept map' or 'ontology' of domain knowledge expressed by subject specialists. This article describes the potential affordances and demands of ontology-based assessment and offers suggestions for future development of such an approach.


The explosive growth of the Internet and the emergence of bandwidth-hungry applications have made asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) and gigabit Ethernet suitable network technologies to interconnect the machines and to implement high-performance distributed computing applications. We compare and characterize the performance of ATM and gigabit Ethernet over two computing platforms: Windows NT and Linux operating system. We use the NetPIPE utility developed at Ames Laboratory to compare the performance of one-way transmission (stream transfer) and roundtrip transmission (block transfer). We evaluated two parallel/distributed computing applications using the MPI message passing tool.


ABSTRACT The area under a receiver operating characteristic curve is a useful index of the accuracy of a diagnostic test. When the diagnostic ability of a new biomarker is of interest only in a certain range of specificity, the partial area under the curve becomes desirable. In this article, we extend Bamber's (1975) results and show that the partial area under a receiver operating characteristic curve is the probability of a constrained stochastic ordering. We then construct a 'weighted' Mann-Whitney statistic as an estimator of the partial area and investigate its statistical properties. A testing procedure is also developed to compare partial area under two receiver operating characteristic curves. The methods are exemplified with data from biomarkers associated with coronary heart disease.


Objective: to analyze the relationship between body image and sexuality in the elderly. Method: an integrative review of the date was performed in English, Spanish and Portuguese between 2013 and 2018, in the databases: LILACS, PUBMED, BDENF-NURSING, IBECS, Psychology Index-Scientific and Technical Periodicals, SCOPUS and Web of Science, performing the crossing of the elderly, sexuality and body image. Results: The application of concealment and publication indicators resulted in two qualitative research articles that evidenced a body image that may or may not influence sexuality in the elderly. It is possible to perceive other factors that affect the performance and the sexual desire, being, therefore, something singular that varies from old to old. Conclusion: A study of studies on the area was evidenced, being thus, in a substantial way, having as its main theme the first and best research on body image and factors associated with sexuality in the elderly.

Keywords: Aged. Body image. Sexuality.


ABSTRACT Considerable attention has been given to methods for knowledge estimation, a category of methods for automatic assessment of a student's degree of skill mastery or knowledge at a specific time. Knowledge estimation is frequently used to make decisions about when a student has reached mastery and is ready to advance to new material, but there has been little work to forecast how far a student is from mastery or predict how much more practice the student will need before he or she will reach mastery. This article presents a method for predicting the point at which a student will reach skill mastery within an adaptive learning system, based on current approaches to estimating student knowledge. We apply this technique to two popular methods of modeling student learning – Bayesian knowledge tracing and performance factors analysis – and compare prediction correctness. Potential applications and future steps for improving the method are discussed.


The counterfeiting of electronic parts is a critical issue that places the reliability and security of numerous systems, such as financial, defense, and aerospace, in peril. The global cost of counterfeiting is as much as $500 billion (USD) annually and negatively impacts the brand of the world's leading integrated circuit manufacturers. Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) rank third of the most fraudulently discovered electronic part. This fact is significant since reconfigurable FPGAs are practically ubiquitous in many critical systems and they possess a high resell value. A noninvasive low-cost capability to detect counterfeit FPGAs within these aforementioned industries' supply chains is imperative to the operational certainty of their respective systems. The authors proposed a novel approach to ascertain inauthentic FPGAs, in particular Intel [formerly Altera] Cyclone II devices though use of infrared (IR) analysis and machine learning.


1. Antipyrine (1000 mg orally) clearance was studied 3 days before treatment with either atenolol (50 mg twice daily), metoprolol (100 mg twice daily), propranolol (80 mg twice daily) or placebo, and at day 5 and 18 during treatment. Phenytoin (100 mg intravenously) clearance was measured on days 0, 7 and 21 during treatment. 2. Antipyrine clearance was decreased by about 20% after 5 days of treatment with either propranolol or atenolol and this decrease persisted after 18 days of treatment. Antipyrine clearance did not change during treatment with either metoprolol or placebo. Phenytoin clearance did not change during any of the treatments.


Abstract Projection is always an indirect process, of becoming conscious–indirect because of the check exercised by the conscious mind, by the pressure of traditional or conventional ideas which take the place of real experience and prevent it from happening.


Objective: To analyze the efficacy of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) plus standard of care (SOC) compared with SOC alone in reducing disease progression in Mild COVID-19 Design: A single centre, open label randomized controlled trial Place and Duration: Pulmonology department, Pak emirates Military Hospital (PEMH) from 10 April 2020 to 31 May 2020. Methodology: Five hundred patients of both genders having age between 18-50 years who were PCR positive and had Mild COVID-19 were selected. Patients assigned to standard dose of HCQ (400mg 12 hourly day 1 then 200mg 12 hrly for next 4 days) plus SOC were 349 while 151 patients received SOC comprising of Vit C, Vit D, and Zinc only (control group). Primary outcome was progression of disease while secondary outcome was PCR negativity on day 7 and 14. The results were analyzed on SPSS version 23. P value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: Median age of intervention group (34 + 11.778 years) and control group (34 + 9.813 years). Disease progressed in 16 patients, 11 (3.15%) were in intervention group as compared to 5 (3.35%) in control group, (p value = 0.865). PCR negativity in intervention and control groups were (day 7, 182 (52.1%) vs. 54 (35.7%) (p value = 0.001), (day 14, 244 (69.9%) vs. 110 (72.8%) (p value = 0.508). Consecutive PCR negativity at day 7 and 14 was observed in 240 (68.8%) in intervention group compared to 108 (71.5%) in control group. (p value = 0.231). Conclusion: Addition of HCQ to standard of care treatment in Mild COVID-19 neither prevents disease progression nor is it significantly associated with successive PCR negativity on day 7 and 14.


The invention provides a single mode optical fiber cable and having: - a chromatic dispersion between 3 and 14 ps / (nm km.) For a wavelength of 1550 nm, - a lower chromatic dispersion slope the absolute value of 0, 014 ps / (nm2 km.) for a wavelength of 1550 nm - measured bending losses for a radius of 10 mm lower than 400 dB / m for a wavelength of 1625 nm. The criteria proposed allow use of the fiber, in a multiplex transmission system in wavelength over a wide band of wavelengths. The low dispersion slope simplifies the management of chromatic dispersion in the transmission system.


Retention of students is an issue that challenges colleges and universities around the world and South Africa is no exception. A comparative look at Ireland and the United States shows that there are many similar tools used to retain mature students, and, at the same time, many different ones are used depending on particular situations. A brief retention literature review dealing with mature students is provided as well as examples of retention strategies used in both countries. While these strategies may not fit for South Africa, they may serve as a point of departure for similar activities there.


The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been seeking public comments about net neutrality. It is found that a great majority of these comments were written from format letters potentially provided by several campaign groups. Principle Components Analysis (PCA) was first used to visualize the data set and it is found that the data are obviously clustered. Based on this fact, several classifiers were built up based on k-means clustering, logistic regression, and Naïve Bayes event model to identify if a certain comment is written from format letters.


The microscopic mechanism of magnetization and polarization owing to the strong spin-orbital coupling of the electron gas in multiferroics is examined. Explicit analytic expressions are obtained for the magnetization and polarization of the electron gas in multiferroics.


There were lots of quality problems in the die-casting rotor, which had something to do with operation status of the die-casting machine, selection of processing parameters of the die-casting, construction of the die-casting mould, stacking of the rotor lamination and melting of the aluminum and its alloy as well as the various kinds of factors such as the operations during the die-casting process.


An interlaboratory assessment of the kinetic energy measurement of Auger electron peaks has been conducted using reference foils of copper, silver and gold. The results, involving data from spectrometers manufactured by seven companies, were received from 39 laboratories. The standard deviations of the data in both the direct and differentiated spectra were ∼60% of the values found in the ASTM-sponsored round robin in 1982, indicating only marginal improvements in spectrometer calibration since that time. By comparing the copper M2,3VV and L3VV measurements from the sets of returned data with the reference values from Part I, the energy scale and energy zero errors were calibrated for each instrument. Using these values and the relativistic term for the particular spectrometer, corrections to the respondees' values for the Ag M4NN, Au N6,7VV and Au M5N6,7N6,7 peak energies could be determined. The scatters of these calibration-corrected values were very low, amounting to ∼15% of the values in the ASTM round robin for all of the spectrometers tested, but reducing to only 6% for the high-resolution spectrometers. For both the direct and differential modes the calibration-corrected Au N6,7VV and Ag M4NN average peak positions diverged by less than the 0.07 eV standard deviations of their means from the reference values given in Part I. The copper reference values given in Part I thus appear to be suitable for calibrating AES instruments to an accuracy comparable to the measurement repeatabilities of the instruments concerned and seem to be quite sufficient for their overall energy calibration.


Agrotis exclamationis granulosis virus (AeGV), Andraca bipnuctata GV(AbGV), Clostera anastomosis GV(CasGV)and Pieris rapae GV (PrGV) are much different in morphological and biological characteristics. The four viruses were ehesen as the representations of the granulosis viruses in our study. Statistical method was used to analyse the correlation between the absorbanees(A) at the wavelength of 270nm and the eoeentrations(C)of pure granulosis viruses suspensions solutions in order to search for a eommon equat...


Aiming at solving the problems in the welding process of AP1000 nuclear reactor coolant pump can in China, a laser welding technology with near-free-defect is proposed to achieve the good welding of Hastelloy C-276 which is used as the materials of the nuclear reactor coolant pump can. The effect of laser welding process on the microstructure is analyzed, and the tensile properties of weld joint at the different working temperature are evaluated. Also, by the electrochemical corrosion experiments of weld joint in acid, neutral and alkali solution, the corrosion resistance of weld joint is investigated. In addition, the welding deformation characteristics are calculated based on the finite element method, and the influence of transverse shrinkage distortion on the manufacturing accuracy is revealed. The results indicate that the pulse laser welding technology could achieve the good welding of Hastelloy C-276 without obvious welding defects. Under the condition of the can working temperature, the mechanical properties of welding joint is almost the same as that of base metal, which can guarantee the long using credibility. The corrosion resistances of the weld joint in the neutral and acidic conditions are better than those of base metal, which could improve the reliability of the weld joint. By the numerical simulation, it is found that the laser welding could cause the transverse shringkage distortion of the welding sample. But the distortion size is just 1/10 of the can manufacturing precision, so the welding precision completely satisfies the requirements of manufacturing precision of the nuclear reactor coolant pump can.


One of the key issues for imitation learning lies in making policy learned from limited samples to generalize well in the whole state-action space. This problem is much more severe in high-dimensional state environments, such as game playing with raw pixel inputs. Under this situation, even state-of-the-art adversary-based imitation learning algorithms fail. Through empirical studies, we find that the main cause lies in the failure of training a powerful discriminator to generate meaningful rewards in high-dimensional environments. Although it seems that dimensionality reduction can help, a straightforward application of off-the-shelf methods cannot achieve good performance. In this work, we show in theory that the balance between dimensionality reduction and discriminative training is essential for effective learning. To achieve this target, we propose HashReward, which utilizes the idea of supervised hashing to realize such an ideal balance. Experimental results show that HashReward could outperform state-of-the-art methods for a large gap under the challenging high-dimensional environments. The code is available on this http URL


Title Type green means go PDF green means living gently on the planet PDF halala means welcome PDF ishi means man PDF hijacking a war by other means PDF hmong means free PDF hijacking a war by other means 1st edition PDF in tennis love means nothing PDF idealizing means and methods PDF handbook of means and their inequalities PDF in the gap what it means to be a world christian PDF home 50 tastemakers describe what it is where it is what it means PDF inclusions as a means of gemstone identi PDF handbook of means and their inequalities 2nd edition PDF in the shadow of the hunter what it means to be a man revised edition PDF hmong means free asian american history c PDF graphoanalysis your handwriting and what it means a newcastle self enrichment book PDF individual preferences for various means of transportation by russell l ackoff PDF healing spiritual amnesia remembering what it means to be the church PDF improving language arts of bilinguals through audiovisual means PDF guidebook on cogeneration as a means of pollution control and energy efficiency PDF huzzah means hooray activities from the days of damsels jesters and blackbirds in a pie PDF graduate and continuing education for community college leaders what it means today PDF independent means a canadian womans guide to pensions and a secure financial future PDF handbook of hydropathy a popular account of the treatment and prevention of disease by means of water PDF implementation of the interethnic adoption amendments hearing before the committee on ways and means u s house of representatives PDF impact of energy production on human health an evaluation of means for assessment proceedings erda symposium ser PDF in the era of human capital the emergence of talent intelligence and knowledge as the worldwide economic force and what it means to managers and investors PDF implementation of welfare reform and child support enforcement hearing before the committee on ways and means u s house of representatives PDF hamiltons curse how jeffersons arch enemy betrayed the american revolution and what it means for americans today thomas j dilorenzo PDF impact of complexity in the tax code on individual taxpayers and small businesses hearing before the committee on ways and means u s house of representatives PDF iso 14001 an executive report a concise summary and analysis of the new standard for environmental management what …


Background: Jaundice defined as yellow discolouration of skin, sclera and mucus membrane resulting from increased serum bilirubin concentration. It is usually clinical visible when plasma bilirubin exceeds 3mg/dl. This study aimed at determining maternal and foetal outcome in women with jaundice complicating pregnancy. Methods: This prospective study was conducted on 58 cases of pregnant women with jaundice (serum bilirubin ≥3 mg%) admitted at Panna Dhaya Zanana Hospital (PDZH), RNT Medical College, Udaipur, Rajasthan from January 2016 December 2016. Results: The incidence observed in this study was 0.28%. 77.59% cases in this study were in third trimester of pregnancy. Serum bilirubin was >20 mg% in 5.18% cases. Haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelets (HELLP) syndrome, acute fatty liver of pregnancy, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, viral hepatitis and malaria were the causes of jaundice. HELLP syndrome was the most common cause of jaundice. Of 58 women 38 delivered vaginally and 12 were LSCS for obstetrical indication and 8 were undelivered. The disease is associated with high incidence of preterm labour, IUGR, birth asphyxia and foetal distress. Perinatal mortality was 38%. Maternal mortality in 11 cases i.e. 18.96%. Main causes of maternal mortality were hepatic encephalopathy, DIC followed by shock due to PPH, DIC followed by multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. Conclusion: Jaundice and pregnancy having a grave prognosis, resulting in a very high perinatal as well as maternal morbidity and mortality, and requires an early diagnosis and careful management.


This study was carried out to produce a complex coagulant containing aluminum and iron salt from coal fly ash by H2SO4 acid. An application of this extracted solution as a coagulant was also investigated by the jar-test process. Fly ash collected at the Electrostatic precipitation (ESP) system in Mong Duong thermal power plant are mainly round and fine particles with diameters ranging from 0.2-8 μm, containing aluminum and iron of 15 and 6% respectively. At a room temperature of 25oC, with 1 M H2SO4 acid solution and the retention time of 20 minutes, the maximum contents of around 60.16 mg.l-1 of Fe and 4.37 mg.l-1 of Al were the most favorable to convert aluminum and iron from mineral forms to sulfate salt-based forms. The produced complex coagulants from fly ash of the Mong Duong power plant are proved to be effective for total suspended solids (TSS) removal from wastewater where the highest efficiency achieved 83.6% at the coagulant solution ratio of 5% (w/w) with a concentration of TSS in the initial wastewater was 60 g.l-1. The positive results from this study open a meaningful approach toward a huge of fly ash produced from thermal power plants as well as other coal-burn-related activities in Vietnam.


artificial intelligence community, Interlisp has an extensive set of user facilities, including syntax extension, uniform error handling, automatic error correction, an integrated structure-based editor, a sophisticated debugger, a compiler, and a fiing system. Its most popular implementation is Interlisp-IO, which runs under both the Tenex and Tops-20 operating systems for the DEe PDP-IO family. Interlisp-IO now has approximately 300 users at 20 different sites (mostly universities) in the US and abroad. It is an extremely well documented and well


As UK Urban Development Corporations (UDCs) come to the end of their expected lifetimes it is now appropriate to embark upon an independent and comprehensive assessment of their overall impact. The article will seriously question whether the present system of DoE monitoring of specific UDC output measures has allowed for the provision of full and accurate information. It will be argued that the inconsistencies and definitional problems associated with the interpretation of output measures by individual UDCs has been compounded by the unclear, confusing and often quite bizarre presentation of such output figures by the UDCs and DoE. Such a state of affairs seriously undermines the quality of parliamentary and public accountability and fails to provide the basis on which a meaningful comparative evaluation of UDC performance can be derived.


A computational technique has been developed to study the fluid motion in a
baffled and unbaffled mixing tank. This technique was devised for a cylindrical
mixing tank using a Computational Fluid Dynamics code, FIDAP. Two model
analyses are presented in this thesis:
Unbaffled tank steady state analysis.
Baffled tank transient state analysis.
The method presented in this thesis uses subroutines incorporated into the CFD
program to impose the boundary conditions associated with each baffle in the tank.
These boundary conditions are rebuilt for each time step to capture the effects of
the relative motion between the baffles and the impeller. In addition, the use of
parameters in defining the coordinates of the geometry, the density of the mesh,
and the fluid properties allow a straightforward automation of the model. This
automation considerably reduces the time to create a new tank geometry from
scratch. Furthermore, the automation permits rapid model development to be used
in selecting optimal tanks and radial impeller combinations.


Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of "Chushi Zhiyang Mixture" in the treatment of eczema and its effects on IL-4. Methods Ninety subjects were randomized into three groups,30 cases in each group: Group A in which "Chushi Zhiyang Mixture" was given,group B in which Cetirizine was given and group C in which "Chushi Zhiyang Mixture" and Cetirizine were given,with a week in a course. The clinical efficacy and serum IL-4 were observed. Results The total effective rate was 83.33% in group A,63.33% in group B and 86.67% in group C; Ridit analysis showed that the effective rates were higher in groups A and C than group B(P 0.05),with no difference between group A and group C. After treatment,the serum IL-4 declined in group A(P 0.01),little in group B(P 0.05); there was a significant difference between groups A and B(P 0.01). Conclusion "Chushi Zhiyang Mixture" has positive effects on eczema and immunity.


With the rapid development of the information age, mobile communication networks have gradually entered people's lives. The emergence of 5G networks has accelerated the convenience of people's communication and contact, and has become an advanced information technology that has been widely used in various fields. Although the emergence of 5G networks is beneficial, the remote transmission quality of communication signals has also caused many problems. The optimization of remote transmission quality can effectively improve the operational stability of the communication network. There are many ways to optimize the transmission quality of communication signals. For example, when signal interference needs to be reduced, calculate the average value of signals in various places, set the interference reduction threshold function, and complete the remote transmission quality optimization of communication signals. The existing method is to use microblogs with hard and soft thresholds to decompose the signal quality through multiple scales to provide interference reduction thresholds, but ignore the calculation of the average value of the subband signals, so the signal transmission quality is optimized The effect is not satisfactory. It is recommended to reduce the interference in the network communication process based on the anti-window. First, the input communication signal is Pulley converted, the frequency domain interference detection is performed on the communication signal, a low-pass prototype filter is formed, the average value of the signal in each place is calculated, the interference reduction threshold is set, and the network communication process is completed. The weakening of interference realizes the optimization of transmission quality. This article conducts research and discussion on the optimization of the long-distance transmission quality of the communication signal of the 5G network. Experimental research results show that by demonstrating the optimization of the quality of the 5G communication signal transmission process, these demonstrations can ensure the quality of the communication signal, and people's demand for the network is already indispensable.


The Study on Zhaohun is one of the important subjects on study of Chuci.From Han Dynasty to present,the Studies on Zhaohun have experienced a process from few topics as the author,the man to be called back from hell and whether it is live or dead spirit of or dead to all aspects.This paper divides the research findings on Zhaohuninto three stages and makes objective statements.The purpose is to benefit further studies on the subject.


For FY-1C meteorological satellite radiation calibration at Chinese Satellite Calibration Test Site and establishment of the quantitative relation between the output of sensor and the known standard radiation., calibration of absolute spectral responsivity for ASD Field Spec Pro FR spectrometer made by ASD(Analytical Spectral Device) company has been done in the radiation calibration lab of Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, with the radiation calibration system of standard lamp, at the same time, the result of the calibration has been compared with the calibration of ASD company in American. In this paper method of procedure and results have been introduced, simultaneous source of uncertainty has been analyzed in detail. The uncertainty of the result is about 1.9%~6%, which has reached the request of the National Satellite Meteorological Center.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explain how sociability and usability enhanced members' satisfaction, and how such satisfaction in turn, influenced their continuance intention of knowledge sharing in academic virtual communities (AVCs). Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on social capital theory and technology acceptance model, this study proposed a theoretical socio-technical model, and the partial least squares method is used to examine the proposed model, based on data collected from 431 subjects in a well-known academic community in China (i.e. ScienceNet). Findings – Both sociability and usability were important to improve members' satisfaction with knowledge sharing in AVCs. Specifically, social interaction ties, trust, reciprocity, shared vision, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness are antecedents of members' satisfaction, which in turn positively affects their continuance intention of knowledge sharing in AVCs. Practical implications – This study provided insights that can ...


I began to study philosophy about 30 years ago.1 It is clear to me, as it is to every philosopher who has lived through the intervening period, that the way in which philosophy is practiced today is very different from the way in which it was practiced then. The obvious outward sign of this difference in practice is the greatly increased probability that a philosophical journal article or book will discuss or cite the findings of some kind of empirical investigation, usually a science, but sometimes a branch of history. The difference itself is the (partial) so-called naturalization of many branches of philosophy. Reflection on the contemporary practice of, say, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, philosophy of language, moral philosophy, and even political philosophy suggests that the findings of empirical investigation play two main roles when philosophy is naturalized. First, they serve as evidence intended to confirm or disconfirm philosophical theses, theses that may themselves be quite traditional. For example, such findings have recently been used to cast doubt on the traditional claim that we have infallible knowledge of our own current experiences; and other findings to support an approximately Humean sentimentalism about moral judgments.2 Second, such findings play the role of object of philosophical inquiry, in effect generating new philosophical questions. For example, the perplexing results of experiments performed on patients whose left and right cerebral hemispheres had been largely disconnected have generated much


To elucidate the tempo‐spatial effect and the corresponding mechanism of hydraulic fracturing on gas desorption, the experiments of the hydraulic fracturing in the field and the gas adsorption‐desorption in the laboratory were carried out, respectively. The difference of the effects on the total amount of gas desorption, desorption proportion, moisture content, and in situ gas drainage concentration of the original and fracturing coal samples were studied. The results show that coal moisture increase in the 29 m area of hydraulic fracturing, the greater moisture content and the smaller amount of gas desorption, and the 9 m coal samples moisture content is 2.77 times greater than that of the original coal samples, and whose total amount of gas desorption for 29.8% of the original coal samples. In addition, the closer to the fracturing borehole, the smaller the desorption velocity, which is the fastest in the initial 5 minutes. The desorption velocity of the original coal samples is 5.6 times greater than that of the 9 m coal samples. The desorption proportion of the coal samples is high in early stages, η30 min is 64% (ηi is the proportion of the instantaneous total of gas desorption to the total gas desorption, %), and for η6 h‐12 h is 10%. The tempo‐spatial effects of desorption characteristics can be expressed as the time‐delay effect and a space‐reduction effect. Furthermore, the upper limit of deformation of the coal seam is 3.3‰ and the ability of gas desorption in coal seam significantly decreases. The time of gas drainage concentration exhibits more than 30% increases from the 10 days in the nonfracturing area to 90 days in the fracturing area. Finally, hydraulic fracturing crushes coal, replaces absorption gas, increases the moisture content of coal, reduces various stresses, makes coal shrink, and ultimately achieves the effects of pressure relief and permeability improvement.


The method (100) for fabricating an electronic device (240), the method comprising: • applying (102) an electrode on growth layer (226) or a layer structure by means of an atomic layer deposition method; and • applying (104) a transparent electrode (232) on the electrode-growth layer (226), • wherein the transparent electrode comprises a metal layer (232) with a film thickness uniformity of ± 10%.


The ability of agents to learn to communicate through interaction has been studied through emergent communication tasks. Previous works in this domain have studied the linguistic properties of the emergent languages like compositionality, generalization, and as well as the environmental pressures that shape them. However, most of these experiments require a considerable amount of shared training time between agents to communicate successfully. Our work highlights the problem of sample inefficiency of agents in population-based referential games and proposes an Action Advising framework to counter it.


We present here a theoretical model to account for the stellar initial mass function (IMF) as a result of the composite behaviour of the gas and dust distribution functions. Each of these has previously been modelled and the models tested against observations (Casuso & Beckman 2002, 2007, 2010). The model presented here implies a relation between the characteristic size of the dust grains and the characteristic final mass of the stars formed within the clouds containing the grains, folded with the relation between the mass of a gas cloud and the characteristic mass of the stars formed within it. The physical effects of dust grain size are due to equilibrium relations between the efficiency of grains in cooling the clouds, which is a falling function of grain size, and the efficiency of grains in catalysing the production of molecular hydrogen, which is a rising function of grain size. We show that folding in the effects of grain distribution can yield a reasonable quantitative account of the IMF, while gas cloud mass function alone cannot do so. When we observe the mass distribution function of stars in a galaxy, we obtain the present-day mass function (PDMF) which is not the mass function of stars at their birth (the initial mass function, IMF) but the distribution resulting from the accumulation of stars since the first star formation occurred in the Galaxy. In this process, whether the star formation is continuous or sporadic, the most massive stars with their short lifetimes are more quickly eliminated and the masses of all the stars are reduced secularly by mass-loss, while the stellar population may be augmented by the arrival of stars from outside the Galaxy in accretion events with dwarf galaxies. The local IMF is a basic function in the study of the chemical evolution of our Galaxy, as it is the measure of the number of stars formed in a given mass interval in the solar neighbourhood (Scalo 1978, 1986; Tinsley 1980). The origin of the IMF is a fundamental problem in the whole of astrophysics because it determines the photometric properties of galaxies, and the dynamical and chemical evolution of their interstellar media. Salpeter (1955) was the first to note that there appears to be a power-law relationship between the number of stars observed in the Galactic field and their masses, and it was his work which gave rise to our concept of the IMF.


Exposure to interpersonal and structural racism may increase the risk of adverse cognitive aging in racialized groups. Physiological deterioration may lie on the causal pathway leading racism to cognitive aging, but this potential mediating role has never been investigated. We quantified the extent to which the racial disparity (a proxy measure of exposure to racism) in cognitive status was mediated through physiological biomarkers of inflammation, glucose homeostasis, cholesterol ratios, and renal functioning.


This paper explains the connotations and superiorities of information pushing technology,and from aspects of the reference service,books acquisition,and books circulation,etc.introduces in detail the application of information pushing technology in the library.


Objective: The objective of this study was to retrospectively evaluate 21 cases of tracheal stenosis that underwent surgery due to benign tracheal stenosis. Methods: A total of 21 patients who underwent surgery due to benign tracheal stenosis in our clinic between 2010 and 2017 were retrospectively evaluated. The patients were analyzed in terms of age, gender, surgical indication, surgical approach, comorbidities, length of the trachea resected, postoperative complications, the duration of hospitalization and development of restenosis. Results: Out of 21 patients, 12 were male and nine female. Surgical indication was postintubation tracheal stenosis in 15 patients. The mean age was 39.6 (10-83) and the mean length of resection was 3.33 cm. Collar incision was performed in 16, collar and sternotomy incision in 3, and sternotomy incision in 2 patients. Complication rates were high in patients with comorbidity. Conclusion: Tracheal surgery is mostly applied due to benign disease in addition to the malignant diseases of the tracheal surgery is mostly performed with low rates of morbidity and mortality, and the outcomes are usually satisfactory.


The belief that curved spacetime gravity cannot be simply and correctly presented results in such misleading presentations as elastic two-dimensional sheets deformed as they support heavy objects. This article attempts to show that the conceptual basis of curved spacetime gravity can be simply and correctly presented, and that the spatial curvature of a deformed elastic sheet is very different from the spacetime curvature underlying gravity. This article introduces the idea of a "splittable" spacetime that has spatial curvature, but is missing most of the manifestations of gravity. A section in which no mathematics is used is directed at students who have studied no more than introductory physics. A separate section, for students who have taken only an introductory course in general relativity, gives mathematical arguments centering on splittable spacetimes.