Experiments were conducted on female, mongrel albino rats. Invertase activity was used as an indicator of the functional state of intestinal epithelium. The following pharmacological agents were used: amizil; hexonium; atropine; and octadin. The animals were exposed to radiation delivered by an RUM-11 unit in a sublethal dose (400 R). Pharmacological agents were given in the same doses 15 to 30 min prior to radiation. The data indicate that the direction of changes in membrane digestion (depression) when cholinergic influences are blocked on the central, ganglionic and peripheral levels (with the use of amizil, hexonium and atropine, respectively) coincides with the effects of these agents on cavital digestion. A different direction of change in invertase activity, an increase, is observed under the influence of the sympatholytic agent, octadin. All this indicates indirectly that there are central influences, via the parasympathetic and sympathetic pathways, that regulate processes of membrane hydrolysis and synthesis of intestinal enzymes. The radiation dosage used led to severe depression of invertase activity in both experimental variants. The enzymatic capabilities of the intestine were diminished 3-4-fold. A comparison of levels of membrane hydrolysis in rats irradiated without chemical protection and with administration of pharmacological agents leads to themore » conclusion that cholinolytic and gangliolytic agents have marked modifying properties. In animals protected with amizil, hexonium and atropine invertase activity was 1.5-2 times higher than in those irradiated without protection. Conversely, octadin aggravated impairment of hydrolytic function of intestinal epithelium. The fact that cholinolytic and adrenolytic pharmacological agents are capable of modifying radiation lesions to the intestinal epithelium is indicative of involvement of parasympathetic and sympathetic mechanisms in formation of its reaction to radiation. (ERB)« less


The article, based on authentic publications considered deontological originality of international standards of modern policing. Particular attention is paid to internal and external factors of the proper exercise of police's duties, multidisciplinary nature of the police's deontology. The author traces the formation of a deontological approach, and its reflection in documents of international organizations. highlights the basic requirements for police officers. Article useful for theorists and practitioners of the reform of law enforcement involved in the development philosophy of the Russian police.


Based on the heat transferring theory in the human-clothing-environment system, the heat insulation property and changing pattern of down jackets in relation to its down content is mainly dealt with. By the heated-manikin testing and the mathematical analysis to the testing data, the existence of the optimum down content is found. Furthermore the reason and mechanism of the relation between down content and clothing's heat insulation property are explained.


This chapter discusses the state of the art in dealing with the resource optimization problem for smooth delivery of video across a peer to peer (P2P) network. It further discusses the properties of using different video coding techniques such as Scalable Video Coding (SVC) and Multiple Descriptive Coding (MDC) to overcome the playback latency in multimedia streaming and maintains an adequate quality of service (QoS) among the users. The problem can be summarized as follows; Given that a video is requested by a peer in the network, what properties of SVC and MDC can be exploited to deliver the video with the highest quality, least upload bandwidth and least delay from all participating peers. However, the solution to these problems is known to be NP hard. Hence, this chapter presents the state of the art in approximation algorithms or techniques that have been proposed to overcome these issues.


Twelve new heteroleptic nickel(II) and copper(II) complexes of the type [M(L1–6)(Pfx)2] (1–12), where L1–6=2‐benzylidenehydrazinecarbothioamide (L1), 2‐benzylidene‐N‐methylhydrazinecarbothioamide (L2), 2‐benzylidene‐N‐phenylhydrazinecarbothioamide (L3), 2‐(4‐methylbenzylidene)hydrazinecarbothioamide (L4), 2‐(4‐methylbenzylidene)‐N‐methylhydrazinecarbothioamide (L5) and 2‐(4‐methylbenzylidene)‐N‐phenylhydrazinecarbothioamide (L6), Pfx=pefloxacin and M=Ni(II) or Cu(II) have been synthesised, and their structures were confirmed by different spectral techniques. The spectral data and density functional theory (DFT) calculations supported the bonding of pefloxacin drug molecule via one of the carboxylate oxygen atoms and the pyridone oxygen atom, and the thiosemicarbazone ligand via the imine nitrogen and the thione sulfur atoms with the metal(II) ion, forming distorted octahedral geometry. In vitro antiproliferative activity of the synthesized complexes was evaluated against three human breast cancer (T47D, estrogen negative (MDA‐MB‐231) and estrogen positive (MCF‐7)) as well as non‐tumorigenic human breast epithelial (MCF‐10a) cell lines, which showed the higher activity for the copper(II) complexes. The interaction of the synthesized complexes with an oncogenic protein H‐ras (121 p) was explored by in silico molecular docking studies. Further, in silico pharmacokinetics and ADMET parameters were also analysed to predict the drug‐likeness as well as non‐toxic and non‐carcinogenic behavior, and safe oral administration of the complexes.


This work presents a model that allows the study of research specialties through the manifestations of the specialty's social and epistemological processes in a collection of journal papers. Collections of papers are modeled as coupled bipartite networks interlinking 7 types of entities. Matrix-based link weight functions are introduced to calculate weighted bipartite networks and weighted unipartite co-occurrence networks in the collection of papers. These weight calculation methods, when used in conjunction with unweighted bipartite growth models, produce simple growth models for weighted networks in collections of papers.


Gains made from agricultural research internationally tend to transfer rapidly from one locus to another, wherever the need exists. For ACIAR, that means its projects haul a net benefit to Australia.


The effects of gastro-intestinal helminth infection on nutritional status of pregnant women was investigated in a semi-urban community, southeast, Nigeria. A total of 282 pregnant and 243 non-pregnant women were enlisted for this study. Stool samples were examined for intestinal helminths using formalin-ether sedimentation technique. Haemoglobin (Hb) and Packed Cell Volume (PCV) levels were evaluated in venous blood samples using Sahli's and microhaematocrit methods respectively. Anthropometry-based nutritional assessment of subjects was done to determine their body mass index (BMI). Nutritional assessment showed that only 34.4% of the pregnant women had normal BMI. BMI was found to increase significantly (p<0.05) with trimester of pregnancy. Haematological assessment showed that the mean Hb (9.66+ 1.22) and PCV (29.68 + 3.24) of pregnant women were significantly lower than those of their non pregnant counterparts (p<0.05). The prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women was 58.9%. Anaemia was found to be highest in the second trimester with a prevalence rate of 63.6%. The percentage of infected anaemic pregnant women (82.6%) was significantly higher (p<0.05) than those of the uninfected ones (54.2%). least level of nutrition during the first trimester and the primagravidae parity and anaemia was more severe during the second trimester. Greater public health attention should be paid to the impact of gastro-intestinal infection in pregnancy.


Let 𝑋 be a normed space and 𝑌 a sequentially complete Hausdorff topological vector space over the field ℚ of rational numbers. Let 𝐷1={(𝑥,𝑦)∈𝑋×𝑋∶‖𝑥‖


OBJECTIVE
To determine the incidence of abdominal pain and gastroduodenal injury in children with arthritis taking nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

METHODS
A retrospective review of the records of all children (570 patients) receiving followup care in an academic rheumatology clinic between 1991 and 1993 was performed.

RESULTS
There were 344 patients who used NSAIDs during the study period. Abdominal pain was recorded in 27.9% of patients taking NSAIDs and 14.6% of patients not taking NSAIDs. Abdominal pain in 47 patients (49%) taking NSAIDs and 14 patients (42%) not taking NSAIDs was evaluated radiographically and/or endoscopically. Among those patients evaluated, gastric or duodenal injury was found in 16 (34.0%) who were taking NSAIDs and 1 (7.1%) who were not. This represented a relative risk for gastroduodenal injury of 4.8 for patients taking NSAIDs (P = 0.09). The incidence of injury did not change when analyses were controlled for prednisone or slow-acting antirheumatic drug use. None of the children were hospitalized or died as a result of gastroduodenal injury during the 3-year period.

CONCLUSION
We conclude that NSAID use in children with arthritis frequently leads to gastroduodenal injury, with an estimated incidence and relative risk that are comparable to the rates found in adults with arthritis taking NSAIDs, but that hospitalization or death as a result of this injury is uncommon.


In this study, we developed a monocular stereo tracking system to be used as a marker-based, three-dimensional (3-D) motion capture system. This system aims to localize dozens of markers on multiple moving objects in real time by switching five hundred different views in 1 s. The ultrafast mirror-drive active vision used in our catadioptric stereo tracking system can accelerate a series of operations for multithread gaze control with video shooting, computation, and actuation within 2 ms. By switching between five hundred different views in 1 s, with real-time video processing for marker extraction, our system can function asJvirtual left and right pan-tilt tracking cameras, operating at 250/Jfps to simultaneously capture and processJpairs of 512 × 512 stereo images with different views via the catadioptric mirror system. We conducted several real-time 3-D motion experiments to capture multiple fast-moving objects with markers. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of our monocular 3-D motion tracking system.


Malaria has remained a dangerous disease that has been posing great burden to man and his wellbeing. Several factors influence the susceptibility to this disease including genetic and environmental determinants. The role of alcohol on malaria parasite infection and its complications is not well-defined. It is established that malaria infection and alcohol independently influence the immune system of man and other animals. Therefore, it is logical to reason that their combined influence may be additive. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of alcohol on determinants of malaria infection in mice. Nine groups of mice (n = 5) were used with group one serving as normal control, group 2 (alcohol control) received 12 g/kg b.w/d. of 50% absolute ethanol p.o only for 7 days and group 3 was parasitized only (parasite control). Groups 4-6 received 12 g/kg b.w/d. of 10, 30 and 50% ethanol, respectively for 7 days prior to parasite inoculation. Similarly, groups 7-9 were parasitized and thereafter received 12 g/kg b.w/d. of 10, 30 and 50 % ethanol, respectively 24-h after parasite inoculation till the next 7 days. In each case, malaria infection was confirmed 72-h post-inoculation. Thereafter, overnight fasted blood samples were analyzed for malaria parasitemia (malaria parasite density), hematological indices (hemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume and erythrocyte and leukocyte counts), lipid profile (total cholesterol, triacylglycerol, low and high density lipoproteins), and liver (alanine and aspartate aminotransferases and total bilirubin) and kidney (urea and creatinine) status using standard methods. The results of various analyzed parameters in alcohol exposed mice infected with malaria parasite were compared with mice exposed to alcohol and malaria parasite alone using one-way analyses of variance. The result showed that parasitized alcohol-treated mice had higher malaria parasitemia (34.33 ± 2.53, 39.49 ± 1.71 and 54.12 ± 2.76 x104 parasites/μL, respectively for 10, 30 and 50 % ethanol) relative to parasitized mice not treated with alcohol (22.01 ± 1.35 x104 parasites/μL). In addition, concentration-based reduction in hematological status (packed cell volume, hemoglobin concentration, and erythrocyte and leukocyte counts) was observed in alcohol-fed parasitized mice relative to parasite only and alcohol only controls. Furthermore, biochemical status indicating dyslipidemia as characterized by the elevation in total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein and triacylglycerol concentrations and decrease in high density lipoprotein level, hypoglycemia, renal and hepatic dysfunctions as indicated by increase in liver function markers as well as creatinine and urea levels in serum were observed in infected mice treated with alcohol relative to parasite only and alcohol only controls. In conclusion, this observation suggests that alcohol overuse exacerbates malaria parasitemia and suppresses immune response to malaria parasites, in a concentration-dependent manner, thereby promoting the progression and severity of complications associated with malaria. Further study to investigate the mechanism behind this preliminary observation is warranted.


Intraspecific flight encounters between raptors have been recorded for a number of species and the majority of reported incidents are considered to be antagonistic or aggressive in nature (Simmons & Mendelsohn, 1993). However, Borello & Borello (2004) describe two separate occurrences of talon-grappling and cartwheeling in Tawny Eagles Aquila rapax, one of which was a prelude to mating, and highlight that interpreting the behavioural significance of aerial displays can be inconclusive unless the full sequence of events is observed. In this note we describe an incident of talon-locking and cartwheeling between two Tawny Eagles that took place in Kruger National Park (25o 10' 23''S 31o 54' 59''E), South Africa.


The presence of cellular permeation pathways in human fetal membranes at term was evaluated. Electrical parameters (transepithelial potential [TEP], and conductance [Gt], and intracellular potentials [cell PD]), and water and urea diffusional coefficients (Pdw, Pdu), were determined in Ussing‐like chambers.


The invention discloses a polypeptide substance, preparation method and application thereof. The invention also discloses extraction process of two polypeptides, and determines molecular weight and amino acid sequence of the polypeptides. The polypeptides are synthesized by the chemical method, and purity analysis and molecular weight measurement results of the polypeptides indicate that molecular ion peak (m/z) completely satisfies theoretical molecular weight. Amino acid analysis result of the polypeptides indicates that amino acid content and the composition of the peptides are in accordance with theoretical values. Amino acid sequence measurement result of the polypeptides indicates primary structure thereof is in accordance with the designed sequence. At the same time, activity measurement result of the polypeptides indicates that the two peptides have activity, and remarkable effect on the treatment of myocardial ischemia, cerebral ischemia, and hepatic ischemia.


Introduction The difficulties in the management of the blunt chest wall trauma patient in the Emergency Department due to the development of late complications are well recognised in the literature. Pre-injury anti-platelet therapy has been previously investigated as a risk factor for poor outcomes following traumatic head injury, but not in the blunt chest wall trauma patient cohort. The aim of this study was to investigate pre-injury anti-platelet therapy as a risk factor for the development of complications in the recovery phase following blunt chest wall trauma. Methods A retrospective study was completed in which the medical notes were analysed of all blunt chest wall trauma patients presenting to a large trauma centre in Wales in 2012 and 2013. Using univariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis, pre-injury platelet therapy was investigated as a risk factor for the development of complications following blunt chest wall trauma. Previously identified risk factors were included in the analysis to address the influence of confounding. Results A total of 1303 isolated blunt chest wall trauma patients presented to the ED in Morriston Hospital in 2012 and 2013 with complications recorded in 144 patients (11%). On multi-variable analysis, pre-injury anti-platelet therapy was found to be a significant risk factor for the development of complications following isolated blunt chest wall trauma (odds ratio: 16.9; 95% confidence intervals: 8.2–35.2). As in previous studies patient age, number of rib fractures, chronic lung disease and pre-injury anti-coagulant use were also found to be significant risk factors. Conclusions Pre-injury anti-platelet therapy is being increasingly used as a first line treatment for a number of conditions and there is a concurrent increase in trauma in the elderly population. Pre-injury anti-platelet therapy should be considered as a risk factor for the development of complications by clinicians managing blunt chest wall trauma.


An experiment was carried out to determine the problems associated with the identification of nasal vowels in English in the context of vowel recognition using LPC‐based formant analysis. A number of tokens of three pairs of oral/nasal vowels [ae, ɛ, ɪ,] produced in similar phonetic contexts (such as in camp versus camp) were obtained from three male speakers. The first and second formant frequencies obtained as LPC spectral peaks from these pairs of vowels showed significant differences in distribution on the F1−F2 plane. The first formant frequencies of nasal vowels especially had apparent overlap with those of other nasal vowels, while oral vowels had no overlap with each other. The LPC spectra corresponding to the shifted formants and the pole‐zero pairs introduced by the nasal cavity coupling showed substantial individual differences in shape in the first formant region, including different bandwidths and number of peaks. These facts suggest the difficulty of vowel identification in (1) using the same...


ABSTRACT In this study, Elbistan lignite (EL) and manure were liquefied under catalytic conditions in an inert atmosphere. Red mud, tetralin, and distilled water were used as a catalyst and solvent, respectively. The liquefaction studies were carried out under catalytic conditions in the catalyst concentration of 9%, solvent/solid ratio of 3/1, reaction time of 60 min, waste/lignite ratio of 1/3, and at temperature of 400°C. Stirring speed and initial nitrogen pressure were kept constant at 400 rpm and 20 bar, respectively. At the end of liquefaction process, the soluble liquefaction products were separated by successive solvent extraction to preasphaltene, asphaltene, and oils. Oil products characterized by H-NMR to be able to differ hydrogen transfer from manure to EL surface. To obtain the hydrogen transfer way, liquefaction experiments conducted under inert atmosphere which does not related to hydrogen reaction, other above experimental conditions were kept same but only solvent type changed. The reason of using distilled water instead of tetraline is tetraline known as hydrogen donor but not water. Because water behaves supercritical conditions during the liquefaction stage. EL liquefied alone while using tetraline however EL liquefied with manure with using distilled water as a solvent. The obtained oil products form both experiments characterized by H-NMR. The radical groups diffraction and range values are not changed significantly shows that manure behaved as an hydrogen donor. So, EL with manure is the one great option to reduce cost of hydrogen source for direct coal liquefaction plant.


This is a study concerning Hegel's critic of Rousseau's common will and shows how Hegel's concept of freedom should be understood from this criticism. This is done first of all through a study of R ...


This paper analyses the rhetoric of Douglass North. After a brief discussion about the relevance of rhetorical studies for methodological purposes, we investigate the author's speech in Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance (1990) in two stages. The first deals with the way in which North delivers his theory — the main focus here is in the way he "talks" to his audience. The second shows the author's use of some of the classical rhetorical rules as proposed by Arida (1983). In the last section we discuss some aspects of North's work considering other studies with the same task in Brazil.


We consider a general Independent Component Analysis (ICA) model with non-Gaussian components with an unknown distribution, and Gaussian measurement errors. For the error covariance matrix, we consider the following structures: isotropic, diagonal, AR(1), and Markov simplex. We propose a two-step estimation procedure. In the first step, the unrotated components and loadings, and the error covariance matrix are estimated by least squares fitting of the model covariance matrix to the data covariance matrix. In the second step, the components are rotated to approximate independence by means of an ICA algorithm. The proposed method is a natural generalization of ICA with isotropic Gaussian errors in which the unrotated components are obtained via Principal Component Analysis. For diagonal error variance, the method is identical to using Factor Analysis to obtain the unrotated components. We assess the performance of the proposed method by means of Monte Carlo simulations.


The incorporation of a protein such as human growth hormone (hGH) into biomaterials may adversely effect its structural integrity. In this Thesis the delivery of bioactive hGH from a range of biomaterials has been investigated. The bioactivity was measured using the uniquely sensitive and precise MTT-ESTA bioassay system. Hormone damage was further assessed by determining the ratios of bioto immunoacdve hGH released. Only ~ 1 % of the total hormone incorporated into a range of methacrylate based bone cements was released in vitro. However, because high hormone loading doses were possible, even these low percentage recoveries provided physiologically sufficient concentrations in the eluates. Release occurred in two phases, with more than 90% being delivered in the first 24hrs followed by a prolonged slow release. Recovery and B:I ratios depended upon the formulation of the bone cements; recoveries were enhanced if combinations of monomers were used; no direct relationship with the water uptake properties of the cements was found. Greater recoveries (e.g. > 2 0 %) were obtained from a biodegradable material (poly(ecaprolactone)) and systems where the hGH was surface loaded such as porous polymeric scaffolds and hydroxyapatite coatings. The bioassay was adapted to assess the in vitro cytotoxicities of the biomaterials. All of the methacrylate bone cements, but not the biodegradable materials, proved to be cytotoxic. Monomer composition of the former greatly influenced the cytotoxicity. The colorimetric bioassay was also further developed. Use of the newer tétrazolium salts (XTT and MTS) combined with one of several intermediate electron acceptors yielded improved microculture tétrazolium assays (MTAs). Observations made during this optimization challenged common assumptions regarding links between changes in bioreduction of a tétrazolium salt and cell proliferation. In addition, the new MTAs were shown to depend exclusively upon the DT-diaphorase mediated electron-transfer pathway.


This paper analyses Kevin Powers' The Yellow Birds (2012), Phil Klay's Redeployment (2015), and Roy Scranton's War Porn (2016) in terms of vulnerability of Iraqis' lives in the context of the 2003 War on Iraq. It aims at uncovering the differential methods implemented by Americans to approach the lives of locals in Iraq and culpability for war atrocities. It draws on Judith Butler's contention that Western societies address the lives/deaths of non-Western people in a differential method; the lives of Western people are prioritized at the expense of the safety and wellness of non-Western peoples. The argument is made through comparative analysis of selected works in two constructs: 'vulnerable lives,' and 'accountability and culpability in war'. This paper argues that Powers and Klay's works are more centred on soldiers' victimized status, whilst Scranton's is keen on showcasing Iraqis' vulnerable position and soldiers' accountability for their anguishes.
Keywords: Iraq War; Roy Scranton; Kevin Powers; Phil Klay; Ungrievable; War Novel.


We consider the problem of planning collision-free motions for a redundant robot whose end-effector must travel along a given path. Although collision avoidance is one of the main reasons for introducing kinematic redundancy in manipulators, the planning methods so far proposed for this particular problem are neither efficient nor complete. In this paper, we introduce some algorithms that may be considered as an extension of probabilistic planning techniques to the problem at hand. All the algorithms are based on the same simple mechanism for generating random samples of the configuration space that are compatible with the end-effector path constraint. Experimental results illustrate the performance of the planners.


Background: Associations between smoking and tuberculosis disease including death from tuberculosis have been reported, but there are few reports on the influence of smoking on the risk of developing Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. The aim of this study was to determine the association between smoking and M tuberculosis infection. Methods: In a cross sectional population survey, data on smoking and tuberculin skin test (TST) results of 2401 adults aged ⩾15 years were compared. Results: A total of 1832 (76%) subjects had a positive TST (⩾10 mm induration). Of 1309 current smokers or ex-smokers, 1070 (82%) had a positive TST. This was significantly higher than for never smokers (unadjusted OR 1.99, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.62 to 2.45). A positive relationship with pack-years was observed, with those smoking more than 15 pack-years having the highest risk (adjusted OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.28 to 2.81). Conclusion: Smoking may increase the risk of M tuberculosis infection.


Human activity has changed land covers on the earth surface significantly over decades, especially in urban areas. Mapping the urban typical land covers is critical for the analysis of environment and sustainable urban management. With the availability of various remote sensed data, urban typical land covers extraction at different scale has attracted growing attention. Linear spectral unmixing is a widely-employed technique in mapping urban land covers, which can estimate urban component abundance at sub-pixel scale, popular especially in medium spatial resolution images. However, it suffers from the endmember selection, including types and numbers of endmembers, due to the intra-class spectral variability and the inter-class spectral similarity in the feature space constructed of original spectral bands. In this paper, we propose a novel technique for mapping urban typical land covers under linear spectral unmixing model in GaoFen-5 data at 20 m resolution. A main contribution of our new technique is that we develop a new spectral analysis technique which uses the spectral trend between every two bands instead of arbitrary spectral values, demonstrated effective in spectral representation of different urban land covers. The feature space constructed based on this spectral analysis model is discriminative, which makes endmember selection effective and efficient. To validate the superiority of our new spectral analysis technique, the linear spectral unmixing was also conducted based on the original spectral bands. Experimental results illustrated that the newly spectral analysis technique show promising performance for mapping urban typical land covers in terms of RMSE and SE.


We provided a proposal using Linux and Java to construct the HAVi stack for information appliances. Two big advantages can be obtained from the use of Java. One advantage is that the transplant nature of programs between platforms is very high, and the other is that the native and Java code can be programmed in parallel. A big advantage of adopting Linux is that developers can use the same operating system for development and target platforms. The proposed HAVi stack aims the controller devices that provide the Java runtime environment. We divide the HAVi stack into several layers, where each layer contains several functional modules. These well-designed modules decreases the effort of building this architecture on the other platforms or communication media, and they also increase the possibility of introducing new features to the HAVi stack.


The subject of creation of simulation and mathematical models is nowadays more and more current and its application is in almost every aspect of life. The article deals with compiling a mathematical model of a pivoting arm using Lagrange equations of the second kind. Subsequently, the model will be created in the simulation program Matlab/Simulink. The simulation model will as well be assembled in the program Adams. The results of these simulations will be compared in the conclusion. This article presents a procedure for resolving a mechanical system from the beginning, from creation of a mathematical model through creation of a simulation model up to evaluation of the simulation results. This paper presents a procedure for resolving mechanical system from the beginning. Thus, it is done by creating a mathematical model through the creation of a simulation model to evaluate the results of the simulation. According to these simulations will produce a working model of the manipulator, which could be used for teaching purposes.


F. B. Dunning, T.C. Killian, S. Yoshida, and J. Burgdörfer Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Rice Quantum Institute, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005-1892, USA Institute for Theoretical Physics, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria, EU Abstract In this brief review, the opportunities that the alkaline-earth elements afford to study new aspects of Rydberg physics are discussed. For example, the bosonic alkaline-earth isotopes have zero nuclear spin which eliminates many of the complexities present in alkali Rydberg studies permitting simpler and more direct comparison between theory and experiment. The presence of two valence electrons allows the production of singlet and triplet Rydberg states that can exhibit a variety of attractive or repulsive interactions. The availability of weak intercombination lines is advantageous for laser cooling and for applications such as Rydberg dressing. Excitation of one electron to a Rydberg state leaves behind an optically-active core ion allowing, for high-L states, the optical imaging of Rydberg atoms and their (spatial) manipulation using light scattering. The second valence electron also opens up the possibility of engineering long-lived doubly-excited states such as planetary atoms. Recent advances in both theory and experiment are highlighted together with a number of possible directions for the future.


The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) imposes human rights obligations on Member States. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR or Court) in Strasbourg can hold these states accountable for violations of these obligations. In this respect it is irrelevant which public body, ie the legislator, the administration or the judiciary, has been the (primary) cause of this violation. This means that-on the international level-the ECtHR can hold Member States accountable for violations of the ECHR caused by the judiciary and can oblige them under Article 41 ECHR to pay complainants financial compensation. This is all very clear anddeserves no further attention in this contribution.Less clear, however, is the accountability of the judiciary on the national level for violations of the ECHR. Article 13 ECHR obliges Member States to provide effective remedies on the national level with regard to arguable claims that a violation of the ECHR has occurred. In other words, Article 13 obliges states to create means and ways by which public bodies that are responsible for human rights violations, or the state itself, can be held accountable on the national level. An interesting question is whether the national remedy requirement of Articles 6 and 13 ECHR also applies to human rights violations that can be attributed to the judiciary. This theme deserves further attention and will be the subject of this contribution.The central question of this contribution is whether the ECHR obliges Member States to provide a remedy on the national level to hold the judiciary accountable for violations of the ECHR.


Magnetic graphene oxide coated with amino acid ionic liquid (Fe3O4-SiO2-GO-AAIL) as a solid extractant coupled with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) has been developed for speciation analysis of...


Linezolid used for diabetic methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections are limited due to hepatotoxicity, lactic acidosis, anemia, and oxidative stress induced by diabetes and linezolid therapy. Silymarin is a hepatoprotective, antioxidant, antibacterial, and antidiabetic.

The research investigated the role of silymarin in linezolid treatment against MRSA-infected diabetic rats.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) was induced by a high-fat diet (58% calories fat) for 2 weeks followed by a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) 35 mg/kg into Wistar rats. The diabetic rats were rendered neutropenic and subcutaneously injected 106 CFU/ml of MRSA. Linezolid and silymarin were administered orally at a dose of 50 mg/kg twice daily for 14 days. The bacterial load/abscess, hematological, biochemical, enzymatic parameters, antioxidants, and histopathological studies were performed on the 42nd day.

The MRSA was confirmed by PCR assay. The minimum inhibitory concentration of linezolid was found to be 0.5-2 µg/ml. The linezolid treated MRSA infected diabetic rats showed 9.69 x 103 CFU / abscess bacterial count, decreased intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP), RBC, antioxidants, elevated lactate, and liver markers than diabetic rats. The silymarin treatment showed a decrease in the bacterial count (2.98 x 103 CFU / abscess), serum lactate, liver markers, increased IAP levels, and antioxidants in linezolid treated diabetic infected rats.

The research concluded that silymarin could be a better herbal therapeutic agent that attenuated diabetic and linezolid induced complications in MRSA-infected diabetic rats.


In recent years, cadmium in wastewater and Industrial sludge has distributed in marine ecosystem and it has created many hazards to human and aquatics. Given this situation, present study aims to investigate the possibility of using Nickel based metalorganic framework as an efficient way to remove heavy metal cadmium from water. Additionally, the influence of important factors such as pH, time, and dose of absorbent has been examined in present study. The result demonstrates that all three elements have direct and significant influences on absorption process and the highest amount of cadmium removal is observed in pH =5.36 reaction time of 16.35min and absorbent dose of 0.03gr. In fact, pH plays a key role in the absorption of the element, and its interactions with the absorption time and dose can greatly increase the effectiveness of this method. According to the findings, increasing the contact time reduced the rate of adsorption efficiency and the adsorbent dose up to certain levels could have a significant effect on increasing the efficiency of the adsorption process. Also, Langmuir Research in Marine Sciences 719


In 1964, there were 458,083 cases of measles reported by the individual states and territories of the United States through the National Morbidity Reporting System and 300 cases of measles encephalitis. 1 in 1963, a total of 364 deaths were attributed to measles. History has recorded numerous devastating epidemics of measles attacking entire populations of susceptible individuals. In modern civilizations, measles has become accepted as an almost inevitable part of growing up, to the point where a safe and effective vaccine capable of preventing the disease has been accepted slowly for widespread use by the public. This has occurred in spite of the fact that few parents who have suffered through even an uncomplicated case of measles in their own children would deny that it is a severe disease. The most serious complication of measles is encephalitis, generally classified as a "postinfectious" encephalitis. The frequency of clinical encephalitis complicating measles


Mining data logged by intelligent tutoring systems has the potential to reveal valuable discoveries. What characteristics make such data conducive to mining? What variables are informative to compute? Based on our experience in mining data from Project LISTEN's Reading Tutor, we discuss how to collect machineanalyzable data and formulate it into experimental trials. The resulting concepts and tactics mark out a roadmap for the emerging area of tutorial data mining, and may provide a useful vocabulary and framework for characterizing past, current, and future work in this area.


This study employed the Random Effect Zero-Inflated Poisson model incorporating a first- order autoregressive structure to estimate the hospital production function. We specifically investigated the effect of nurse staffing on patient mortality in acute-care hospitals under Taiwan universal health insurance system. Our results showed that the probability of being mortality free in the high patient-to-nurse ratio group is 0.019 lower than that in its counterparts and those patients who were in the high patient-to-nurse ratio nursing unit generates 3.419 more deaths than its counterparts. These findings suggested that nurse staffing below target levels in acute-care hospitals is associated with increased mortality. The policymakers should consider healthcare policy that matches staffing with patients' need for nursing care through setting a shift-based, m


The invention discloses an insecticidal composition containing flutenzine. The composition is mainly characterized by consisting of an active component A and an active component B, wherein the active component A is flutenzine, and the active component B is any one of spirodiclofen, halfenprox and bromopropylate; and the weight ratio of the active component A to the active component B is (1:80)-(80:1). The composition can be prepared into wettable powder, a water dispersible granule, a suspending agent, a suspoemulsion, an emulsion in water, a micro emulsion, a micro-capsule suspending agent and a micro-capsule suspension-suspending agent. The composition can prevent various injurious insects on wheat, cotton, fruit trees, vegetables, tee trees and ornamental flowers, and takes a remarkable synergistic effect; the composition is low in pesticide consumption, safe to human beings and animals, free from drug injury and good in environmental compatibility; and preparation is strong in adhesion and is rain-washing resistant.


A comparison of joint strength of friction stir welded (FSW), friction stir spot welded (FSSW) and friction stir linear spot welded (FSLSW) 2 mm sheets of EN AW 5754 in a lap joint is presented. The optimal welding parameters were obtained based on maximal joint strengths at FSW. From the welds made using all three welding methods the tensile test specimens were prepared and the weld microstructure was analysed. The results show significant joint strength improvement when using FSLSW compared to FSSW. A FSLSW joint strength exceeded the strength of the base material at only small increase of welding time.


The change and development of GJB 1027 is discussed in this paper, with the emphasis on the technical preparation, guiding principles, participant institutions, and feedback comments during the revision process of GJB 1027. The paper explains in detail the revision principles, target users, the standard's applicable areas, the range of test requirements, the relationship between environmental test and reliability test, test tailoring, test condition's establishment, and prototype.


Title Morphological and Habitat Differences Between Two Forms of Japanese Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri Claparède (Oligochaeta, Tubificidae) (With 7 Text-figures and 2 Tables) Author(s) OHTAKA, Akifumi; MAWATARI, Shunsuke F.; KATAKURA, Haruo Citation 北海道大學理學部紀要 = JOURNAL OF THE FACULTY OF SCIENCE HOKKAIDO UNIVERSITY Series VI. ZOOLOGY, 25(2-4): 106-117 Issue Date 1990-06 Doc URL http://hdl.handle.net/2115/27986 Type bulletin File Information 25(2_4)_P106-117.pdf


A novel extrapolation selection finite state vector quantizer (ESFSVQ) has been devised. The state codebook selection algorithm is based on linear extrapolation predictions from the immediate upper and left neighboring blocks of each incoming source vector. It may be characterized as a vector quantizer with memory. The main accomplishment of ESFSVQ is to assure access to a large master codebook for quantizing purposes, and thus achieve high image quality, while utilizing the low bit rate of a small state codebook, for the purpose of specifying the block label. A master codebook of 4*4 blocks of size 256, 512 or 1024, state codebook sizes of 32, 64, or 128 vectors, was employed in implementing ESFSVQ. The results have shown that high image quality can be achieved, upon image reconstruction, at coding bit rates of 0.30-0.45 b/pixel.<<ETX>>


We investigated the feasibility of developing an in vitro abdominal aortic aneurysm model by mechanically stretching passive porcine aortic tissue after enzymatic degradation of its structural proteins. Individual arterial rings, taken from the thoracic and abdominal porcine aorta were exposed to specific concentrations of collagenase (to degrade collagen) and/or elastase (to degrade elastin). The specimens were then cut into flat strips and subjected to uniaxial incremental creep tests of increasing load amplitude. The plastic strain (strain at zero load) after each creep load cycle was recorded until specimen failure. The maximum plastic strain due to enzymatic degradation and mechanical loading in elastase treated specimens (mean+SD = 45.1±14.7%; p<0.001) was significantly higher than in untreated controls (19.4±7.61%). However, the plastic strain in collagenase treated specimens (18.4±10.3%; p = 0.79) was not significantly different from the controls. Because AAA is associated with a plastic deformation of 200–400%, the results suggest that it is not feasible to develop an in vitro AAA model by enzymatic degradation and biomechanical stretching of passive porcine aorta. Consequently, these findings suggest that aneurysm growth is unlikely to be solely the result of pressure induced passive stretch of a weakened aorta.Copyright © 2004 by ASME


Calcium and Magnesium are essential to human health. Studies by National Sleep Foundation (NSF), have confirmed these elements as being effective in the treatment of Insomnia. One of the sources of these elements is hard water. In this study, thirty five groundwater samples were collected using EPA standard procedures and analyzed using standard analytical technique. The results showed that 97.14% of the samples are very hard. Values recorded for calcium and magnesium ranged from 3.1±0.26 mg/l to 1524±131.06 mg/l with a mean value of 586.01mg/l and 21±0.59 mg/l to 1375±38.5 mg/l with a mean value of 342.83 mg/l, respectively. This indicates that groundwater from the study area could be a good source of calcium and magnesium for inhabitants of the area. The World Health Organization reported that, while the concentrations of calcium and magnesium in drinking-water vary astonishingly from one supply to another, mineral-rich drinking-waters may provide substantial contributions to total intakes of these elements in some populations or population subgroups. It may also be safer compared to most sleeping pills which when taken over long periods of time, can have multiple side effects. Some pills were also


This chapter is dedicated to the presentation of different examples of the application of solution NMR to the study of conformation, dynamics of sugar molecules (oligo and polysaccharides, glycopeptides and glycomimetics) including the investigation of glycan-related molecular recognition events. It is not our intention to be exhaustive, rather to highlight diverse examples since 2016. They are presented depending on the chemical nature of the saccharide molecule, and on the different methodologies that can be employed.


Tissue microarray which has widely applied in scienee research in recent years may has another main usage when com- bined with tradition pathology teaching.Prospective applications of tissue microarray in pathology course were discussed in this paper.


It is very difficult to diagnose foetal distress in time. various investigations have been suggested from time to time for determination of intrauterine foetal status. In recent ;years amnioscopic examination to see the physical character of liquor amnii is extensively practised. Saling's (1965) micro-sampling of foetal scalp blood and study of acid-base balance of the 'Same have also raised the interest in this field.


The knowledge-based configuration engine EngCon is presented which is developed in a cooperation of TZI Bremen and LENZE GmbH & Co KG Hameln, Germany. We discuss the system architecture and the configuration techniques used in EngCon. In our demonstration we try to focus on the differences to the LISP prototype KONWERK which was developed at the University of Hamburg, Germany.


The new title compound is synthesized in a modified Walker-type module from a mixture of Ho2O3 and B2O3 (7.5—11.5 GPa, 1200 °C, 10 min).


As a pioneer of the systematic construction of China's modern science cause,REN Hong-juan devoted himself to dissemination of science for all his life. REN's science outlook was a theoretical system with abundant connotations,profound views,and integrated structures.The basic frame of his science outlook contained science ontology,science methodology,science spirit,and science function.Studying REN's science outlook is a way of explaining his views and science trend of thought of the day.


At present fish processing industry is one of the most dynamically developing groups belonging to food industry in Poland. In the last ten years the sold production of fish processing industry increased over three times. Fish processing companies reveal a great ability to adapt to turbulently changing conditions of the market game. It happens this way, among others, as a result of creating competitiveness by widely understood consolidation processes and creating strong organizational and spatial ties of an international range. At the same time European market of fish processing guaranteed not only economic standards for already existing companies, but also became an impulse for creating new production units offering their products and services in the European Union market. The article attempts to determine the weight of factors and advantages of location for fish processing industry in Poland and their influence on the changes in the spatial structure. Besides the changes in distribution, the food processing companies in Poland were also characterized taking into consideration their concentrationin view of the theory of cluster.


Single-event rates in space can include contributions from low-energy particles such that the LET is not constant. A rate calculation algorithm for such a situation is derived.


Municipal and regional budgets are decisive factors for fulfilling all of the compulsory and facultative tasks of municipal and regional managements and for sustainable development of municipalities. We have studied the range of disparities in economy and finances per hectare of the cadastral area of the municipalities in the Hradec Kralove NUTS III Region in span of time 2001-2009. The total incomes per hectare in the Hradec Kralove NUTS III Region ranged from 9,455 to 4.229,532 CZK 2 , median was at 51,697 CZK. The assets per hectare (at Jan 1st 2009) ranged from 6,571 CZK to 1.271,964 CZK, median value was 49,096 CZK. Bigger municipalities (towns) reached higher values of the total incomes per hectare of the cadastral area than smaller ones. Disparities among the municipalities and towns related per hectare of the cadastral area were significantly higher than those per capita we had found earlier. The inter-municipal disparities are often met in the same micro-region, i.e. in the same outer economic, political, social, etc. environment. Key-Words: Financials, Budget, Incomes, Expenditures, Municipalities, Towns, Regions, Disparities, Management. 1 The contribution was created in the frame of the WD-48-07-1 Project of the Ministry of the Local Development of the Czech Republic. 2 Currency ratios (at Dec 31 2009) were 26.465 CZK/€, 29.798 CZK/GBP, 19.875 CZK/100 JPY, and 18.368 CZK/USD.


Objective To investigate the relationship between the levels PreS2 antigen,anti-PreS2 antibody,IL-17,IL-18 and the amount ofHBV-DNA in chronic hepatitis.Method The levels of PreS2antigen,anti-PreS2 antibody serial marks of Hepatitis B virus,IL-17 and IL-18were tested by ELISA with monclonal antibody sandwich;serial levels of HBV-DNAcopies were dectected by quantitative PCR.Results The amount of HBV-DNA was positively related with the level of PreS2 antigen and negatively related with the levels of IL-18 in the chronic viral hepatitis.The amount of HBV-DNA significantly increased in the cases of e-antigen positivity while HBV-DNA was not detected in the cases of e-antibody and anti-preS2 antibody positivity.Conclusion It is valuable to detect the amount of HBV-DNA,IL-17,IL-18,PreS2 and anti-PreS2 antibody simultaneously in the diagnosis and prognosis of chronic hepatitis.


Recent work in comparative political economy has stressed that coordination of firm-specific investments is a necessary condition for the development of solidaristic policies promoting social welfare (Martin & Thelen 2007). In the absence of 'macrocorporatism' firms will be unable to maintain long-term commitments to employees and will withdraw political support for generous forms of social welfare. Other authors however have recently argued that institutions of coordinated capitalism may not be necessary for solidaristic policies to persist (Pontusson 2009). However, both views fail to properly account for the role that new types of investors – in particular foreign institutional investors – play in changes of European economies. This paper compares two models of capitalism known for the solidaristic forms of coordination – Germany and Sweden – in order to show how different types of ownership systems influence solidarism. We attempt to explain the puzzle that Sweden has managed to largely maintain the egalitarian and solidaristic nature of its economic system, while solidarism has declined in important ways in Germany. We argue that different types of corporate ownership and control may account for different degrees of change in the solidaristic features of these economies. We find that the particular structure and nature of the Swedish ownership spheres have proven to maintain a higher capacity for coordination than the German bank-centered ownership networks.


Background and Purpose— Astrocytes support neuronal functions by regulating the extracellular ion-homeostasis and levels of neurotransmitters, and by providing fuel such as lactate to the neurons via their astrocytic processes (APs). Whether injured APs are associated with neuronal survival/death is still an unanswered question. We investigated APs in the neuropil, especially those around astrocytes and normal-appearing, degenerating, and dead neurons in cerebral cortical regions peripheral to the cortical infarction (RPI). Methods— Stroke-positive gerbils were euthanized at various times after the ischemic insult. Ultrathin sections were obtained from the RPI sectioned coronally at the infundibular level. We counted the number of normal-appearing, degenerated, and dead neurons and astrocytes in paraffin sections, the number of cut-ends and mitochondria in APs in the neuropil on electron-microscopic photographs, and determined the percent-volume of APs by Weibel point-counting method. We compared the number of cut-ends and mitochondria and percent-volume of APs around astrocytes at 5 hours and 48 hours, and around normal-appearing, degenerated, and dead neurons at 12 hours. Results— Although the number of astrocytes did not change (average of 12.3±0.20%) during 0 to 48 hours, that of the dead neurons increased from 9.71±1.34 to 44.39±1.40% during 5 to 48 hours postischemia. The number of normal-appearing APs and mitochondria in APs decreased respectively from 13.49±0.65 to 1.61±0.14/28.20 &mgr;m2 and from 1.86±0.18 to 0.61±0.07/28.20 &mgr;m2 in the neuropil during 0 to 48 hours. The number of normal-appearing APs around astrocytes decreased from 12.3±0.19 to 1.7±0.05/38.33 &mgr;m2 with an increase in percent-volume of degenerated APs from 1.17±0.04 to 11.45±0.23%, from 5 to 48 hours postischemia. The number of normal-appearing APs decreased from 4.36±0.52 to1.56±0.17/38.33 &mgr;m2 with an increase in percent-volume of degenerated APs, from 2.41±0.52 to 12.55±1.0%, from around the normal-appearing to dead neurons, at 12 hours. Conclusions— In the RPI, heterogeneous degeneration of APs was closely associated with disseminated selective neuronal necrosis and the maturation phenomenon seen in ischemic neuronal injury.


Aggressive behavior is a form of behavior that can hurt other people. This behaviourcomes from cognitive processes that are disrupted. Students, in Islamic boarding school,who experience aggressive behavior, can become aggressive too. This article discusseshow teachers deal with students with aggressive behavior in Islamic boarding school. Oneof the ways, is to provide reward and punishment for them, who have aggrescive behavior.Aggressive behavior should not interfere with the growth and development of students.


ABSTRACT Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are continuing to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as it moves into its third year. The 'dynamic COVID-zero' policy adopted in China from August 2021 to the end of 2022 has inevitably put pressure on local SMEs, which makes the situation in Chinese SMEs not only different from the situation during the initial outbreak, but also unique in the world. In July 2022, an online follow-up questionnaire was conducted on SMEs in Sichuan Province to assess their performances, pressures, and requirements in this particular period of time and compare the results with our findings from 2020 to reveal the longer-term impacts of COVID-19. It was found that: (1) most SMEs had poorer revenue and profit performances; (2) while the pressure of increasing production cost and declining market demand has increased significantly, normal productions and operations are no longer as strongly disturbed; (3) SMEs require more financial support but less operating and employment subsidies; (4) and the SMEs' overall confidence has recovered and the willingness to invest is rising. The situation in different sectors was also analysed and compared, with the results revealing problems within the tertiary industrial sector (wholesale and retail businesses).


The paper deals with the values in the selective culture of the young generation in the field of literature, audiovisual and public art perception. The preferences of students in the field of literature, covering, in particular, the era of primary capital accumulation, the history of Russian wars is supported by eyewitnesses, family traditions. Science fiction influences directly the personal construction of the present and future. The role of the classical and modern literature, theater, painting, musical tastes also unveils the other side an organization of the cultural sphere: a degree of exposure to the national and Western culture being comprehensible to the minds and feelings of young people who will replace the outgoing generation of intellectuals. The study confirms a direct link between the financial situation of the family and selectivity in audiovisual resources. An inverse relationship between the prevalence of television viewing in the cultural consumption and financial situation of the family is established. The students of liberal arts proved to resort more often to literary sources, while technical students prefer mainly the audiovisual resources, though sharp differences are found in only three parameters: watching sci-fi movies, knowledge of classical composers and contemporary music groups. The student preferences in the field of literature and art revealed a mixed picture of their "human-size world".


Nanocarbons, such as carbon nanotubes and graphene, have had a remarkable history and impact on current applications. We briefly review the genesis and development of nanocarbons over the last 50 years, referencing key articles, including the role of catalysts in their formation. This issue focuses on the formation mechanisms and controlled growth of carbon nanotubes and graphene on substrates through catalytic processes. The five contributions in this issue review the mechanisms and theory of catalytic growth of nanocarbons (carbon nanotube forests, superaligned arrays, single-wall carbon nanotubes), the growth of large-quantity, high-quality graphene on metal substrates, and the unique and excellent properties for current and potential commercial applications.


We present our thoughts on the development and evaluation of novel interaction techniques for mixed reality (MR) systems, particularly those consisting of a heterogeneous mix of displays, devices, and users. Interaction work in MR has predominantly focused on two areas: glove or wand-based virtual reality (VR) interactions and tangible user interfaces. We believe that MR users should not be limited to these approaches, but should rather be able to utilize all available devices and interaction methods in their environment to make use of the most relevant ones for the current task at hand. Furthermore, we will discuss the difficulty in finding appropriate ways to evaluate new techniques, primarily due to the lack of standards of comparison. 1. INTRODUCTION The issues we present here have grown out of our experiences developing VITA (Visual Interaction Tool for Archaeology) [2], a collaborative MR environment that supports multiple users wearing head-worn displays and tracked gloves to visualize and interact with archaeological data. As we built our first prototype, it became clear that users would benefit from being able to regularly " context switch " between 2D and 3D representations of archaeological data. For example, a high-resolution 2D image of a pot does not allow a user to fully grasp its contours and overall 3D structure, which is much better accomplished through a 3D representation. Our first prototype, which relied in part on the traditional glove-based VR/MR user interface of our previous systems [6, 9], did not provide our users with usable and intuitive ways to perform these " cross-dimensional interactions. " This led us to develop new cross-dimensional gestures [1], an example of which is shown in Figure 1, which allow users to move objects from 2D images viewed on a projected tabletop to 3D objects experienced on a stereo see-through head-worn display.


MCM-36 zeolite was prepared with initial Si/Al molar ratio of 50. The MCM-22 zeolite with Si/Al ratio of 50 was prepared for comparison. Both zeolites were characterized by several techniques: Chemical Analysis by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Textural Analysis by N 2 and Ar Adsorption, Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM) and Infrared Spectrometry (IR). The MCM-36 material is obtained from pillarization of the MCM-22 zeolite precursor material with Si. It was observed that pillarization process provided an increase of basal spacing from 27,5 to > 45 A and of specific superficial area from 430 to 810m 2 /g. The MCM-36 material is formed by layers, with a porous system formed by sinusoidal channels of 10MR, separated by pillars that provide a formation of additional mesoporous in a range of 25 A.


Introduction. The universal and state importance of history is dissonant with the inertial methods of its institutional and academic study, which are often inadequate to modern media culture. This requires updating educational historical practices, integrating popular media texts that can increase interest in historical knowledge and offer new rhetorical modalities. The purpose of the article is a comprehensive, comparative-oriented analytics of the use of Digital Game Based Learning in history education. Materials and Methods. Theoretically and methodologically, the work draws on the concepts of "procedural rhetoric", "cybertext," and "rhetoric of simulations," as well as the method of narrative research of cultural artifacts, comparative analysis, and classification approach. The practical part utilizes the methodological principles of Digital Game Based Learning strategy formulated by M. Prensky, the qualitative-case study approach of R. Stacke and the media-phenomenological educational principle of S. Freitas. Freitas. A set of quantitative and qualitative methods are also applied to investigate the level of motivation in learning and to compare academic performance. Results. The conducted research revealed that within the framework of DGBL practices video games, their narrative and gameplay content, represent a special interactive cybertext that transmits new knowledge and procedurally forms multiple competencies. According to the type of realization of historical information in video games, they are divided into three main types: conceptual, narrative and aesthetic. The dynamics of the obtained results indicate that the use of DGBL methodology increased on average by 36% the degree of interest in the study of history. The vast majority of students (83-86%) found history classes using the DGBL methodology useful for them. At the same time, a rather high (about 50%) degree of distrust in using the DGBL method was found among teachers and parents of students. Conclusion. Based on the results of the study, it was determined that video games can be legitimized as educational cybertexts with innovative mediarrhythmic tools. Our experiment demonstrated that the use of narratively relevant video games in the system of institutional-academic study of history markedly increases students' motivation and allows them to better understand and explore the essence of historical development as a multifactorial and multimodal process. However, taking into account the identified difficulties and problems in the implementation of DGBL, it is concluded that this method should be extended, first of all, to optional educational practices and the sphere of independent work of students. At the same time, in order to achieve a positive educational effect, it is important that familiarization with a particular video game should have additional educational and methodological support.


A new 238 U(n,f) prompt fission neutron spectra (PFNS) measurement has been recently performed at the WNR facility of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The measurement allows one to explore the dependence of the prompt fission neutron energy spectra on the incident neutron energy. The experimental setup couples the Chi-Nu scintillator array to a newly developed fission chamber, characterized by an improved alphafission discrimination and time resolution, a reduced amount of matter in the neutron beam and a higher actinide mass. The dedicated setup and the high statistics collected allow us to obtain a good precision on the measured fission neutron energy, as well as to explore the low energy region, down to 650keV, and the high energy region, above 5 MeV, of the emitted neutron spectrum. These are indeed the regions where discrepancies in the evaluated PFNS data are found. We present here the first preliminary results of the experiment.


Chongqing's animation industry has made great progress since Chongqing became the municipality but still lags behind the developed cities at home and abroad.Chongqing should closely combine emerging animation industry with deep nationalities culture of Ba and Yu and pave a road with regional characteristics for animation industry.Through studying the characteristics of Chongqing's nationalities culture,this paper analyzes the influence and effect of nationalities culture on animation industry development,briefly points out the problems in animation industry development and makes suggestions.


Hyderabad - 500019 Abstract: Biological systems function with the aid of large number of proteins involved in complex network of chemical reactions. Interfering with the expression of proteins native or foreign leads to overall changes in the functioning of the biological systems . Manipulating the expression of proteins responsible for the manifestation of diseases has therefore been an interesting area for alternative efficient therapautic possibilities. Proteins are expressed from the correspondig genes involving the trancription and translation of messenger RNAs . Interfering with these RNA has emerged as an effective method of silencing unwanted genes. This project deals with designing effective methods for gene silencing through RNA Interference. RNA interference (RNAi) has emerged as an effective method of silencing gene expression in eukaryotic cells. This technology allows scientists to study the phenotypic effect of reducing expression levels of individual genes, and essentially negates the arduous task of producing single gene knockout or dominant negative expressing cell lines. RNAi has very quickly been utilized both in basic science and medical research. Among its many applications are the characterization and regulation of gene function, signaling pathway analysis and target validation. The potential therapeutic value of RNAi is indicated in recent studies showing that the RNAi pathway is functional in mice and is effective against a variety of infectious diseases including HIV and Hepatitis B. Since the early work describing the use of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) for post-transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) by Fire and Mello and the application of short interfering RNA (siRNA) to induce specific gene suppression in mammalian cells by Elbashir et al., there has been a flurry of RNAi-related developments and applications. The vast number of recent scientific journal articles, the scramble for intellectual property, and the formation of multiple biotechnology tools, kits, reagents and therapeutics companies all reflect the power and popularity of this technique. In 2002, Science voted RNAi scientific breakthrough of the year. This paper talks about a novel method of finding efficient siRNA targets on the mRNA sequences. It consists of two parts. In the first part program was written to select suitable targets based on the Elbashir's guidelines. In the second part involves prediction of secondary structure of siRNA antisense strands of the targets predicted in the first part and also the secondary structure of the mRNA sequence, and using these results to further filter the targets.


The events of September 11, 2001 and the not-too-subtle style of the George W. Bush administration have introduced new uncertainties in U.S. security policy toward Korea. However, strategic considerations that have inclined successive U.S. administrations toward restraint and engagement with North Korea in the post-Cold War period continue to operate and the Bush administration is not immune to these forces. That is, U.S. security policy toward Korea in the post-Cold War period has been conditioned by an implicit strategy of husbanding U.S. primacy through a posture of reassurance toward potential great power competitors. No doubt, the Bush administration will continue to support the status quo on the Korean peninsula to reassure Japan and China that the United States is a "responsible hegemon.


Recognizing that the French distrust political parties, the paper explores the reasons for such a rejection. It shows that the parties and, more broadly, the system of political representation have always been perceived as problematic. But the seriousness of the parties' difficulties has increased in the context of the global economic crisis and the transformation of State sovereignty. Apart from this phenomenon, which is common to most long-established democracies, a few French specificities are making the situation in that country even worse.


We use the hydrodynamic EAGLE simulation to predict the numbers and masses of supermassive black holes in stripped nuclei and compare these to confirmed measurements of black holes in observed UCDs. We find that black holes in stripped nuclei are consistent with the numbers and masses of those in observed UCDs. Approximately 50 per cent of stripped nuclei with $M>2 \times 10^6 M_\odot$ should contain supermassive black holes. We further calculate a mass elevation ratio, $\Psi$ of the population of simulated stripped nuclei of $\Psi_{sim} = 1.51^{+0.06}_{-0.04}$ for $M>10^7 M_\odot$ stripped nuclei, consistent with that of observed UCDs which have $\Psi_{obs} = 1.7 \pm 0.2$ above $M>10^7 M_\odot$. We also find that the mass elevation ratios of stripped nuclei with supermassive black holes can explain the observed number of UCDs with elevated mass-to-light ratios. Finally, we predict the relative number of massive black holes in stripped nuclei and galaxy nuclei and find that stripped nuclei should increase the number of black holes in galaxy clusters by 30-100 per cent, depending on the black hole occupation fraction of low-mass galaxies. We conclude that the population of supermassive black holes in UCDs represents a large and unaccounted-for portion of supermassive black holes in galaxy clusters.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of relaxation therapy to reduce anxiety level among spinal anesthesia surgery patients. Methods: The study employed a quasi-experimental pre-and-posttest design with nonequivalent control group. The experimental group was provided with the 15-min muscle relaxation therapy on the day before the surgery and an hour before the spinal anesthesia. Data were collected from 44 patients (22 in experimental and 22 in control group) who were planned to have spinal anesthesia surgery from an orthopedic surgery department at a general hospital in Seoul from January 13 to March 21, 2006. Results: The experimental group reported lower level of state anxiety after the surgery (23.18 vs. 33.64) than did control group but was not statistically significant. There were no significant differences in blood pressure or pulse rate between experimental and control groups after surgery. Conclusions: The further research should be conducted to polish the muscle relaxation therapy for various types of patients and to create more comfortable environment setting for application of the therapy. The muscle relaxation therapy may be a convenient and useful nursing intervention to reduce anxiety among spinal anesthesia surgery patients if more studies prove its effectiveness.


In order to formally model and theoretically analyze grid scheduling of super-peer model, we propose a kind of new resource scheduling algorithm allowing a grid user to put forward the task's expected execution deadline, cost limit and the weight parameters between them. Then, we use hierarchical colored and price timed Petri net to model and simulate the dynamic process of grid scheduling, mapping tasks, grid resources, super-peers and QoS constraints to the Petri net. Lastly, we construct reachable task graph of Petri net model to verify the effectiveness of the algorithm and analyze the system's scheduling performance, such as throughout capacity, load-balancing, scheduling time and cost through an example. The study can provide a standard for evaluating grid systems of super-peer model.


Arabic dictionaries suffer from several drawbacks that render them mostly inadequate for learners. The advent of mobile digital devices, especially the smartphone platform, has made it possible to significantly enhance the language learning experience in hitherto unavailable ways. This paper describes a series of tools designed to aid learners master Arabic in a pedagogically effective manner. The first is an Arabic learner"s dictionary fine-tuned to the special needs of learners that presents abundant lexicographic information in a user friendly manner available in two editions: as a printed dictionary (CALD) and an mobile application (iCALD) that takes advantage of the superb features of the smartphone platform. The second is an Arabic verb conjugator application (CAVE) for the smartphone platform that provides instant access to Arabic conjugation paradigms in a user friendly manner. Finally, the paper presents an innovative phonemic transcription system (CARS) designed specifically for learners that is used both in the two dictionaries and the conjugator. 1 LEARNER'S DICTIONARY


This link will take you to Schedule 1B of the Marriage Regulations 1963 on the ComLaw website, where you can find the circumstances for authorising a marriage despite late notice.


Due to the development of the 5th generation network, the high power wireless devices, such as Internet of things network devices, have become part and parcel of some new domain. The simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) system can transmit information while harvesting energy. Although introducing massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technologies into SWIPT systems can reduce propagation loss, there still exists the bottleneck about a trade-off between energy and information, that is, the information decoding users suppress interference while the energy harvesting users take advantage of it. In this paper, we propose a time-division (TD) transmission scheme and a power-splitting (PS) one, which all can increase Rate-Energy (R-E) region, a novel method to evaluate the system performance. We find the optimal allocation factors for schemes, which are crucial in balancing data rate and harvest power. Simulation results demonstrate that the PS scheme has larger R-E region for massive MIMO enabled SWIPT system, which represents a better energy efficiency.


When economists research on the relationship of Foreign Direct Investment and agglomeration,they also reference the respect of new economic geography and lead agglomeration fact into it. With thorough research,economists find agglomeration fact has an important fact influenced FDI location choice. The paper arranges and comments on the location theory of FDI from the respect of agglomeration;The paper researches FDI agglomeration from industry and regional economics,which make a new respect about FDI location choice.


: "Kissing molars (KMs)" is a rare condition in which the root apices of two impacted molars face opposite directions so that the occlusal surfaces come into contact and the crowns are located within a single follicle. We encountered a 29-year-old man in whom panoramic radiographs and computed tomography scans revealed impaction of the left mandibular third and fourth molars. The occlusal surfaces of the impacted molars were in contact with each other with the root apices facing opposite directions, and clearly delineated, unilocular, round and cystic permeation was observable surrounding the same crown. KMs are classified from Class I to Ⅲ at the site of impaction. In our patient, the third molar and the fourth molar (supernumerary tooth) were classified as Class Ⅲ. Tooth extraction and extirpation were performed with the patient under general anesthesia and the histopathological finding was a dentigerous cyst. The postoperative course has been good with no recurrence of the lesion for 18 months.


Polyphenolic compounds are known for their many beneficial effects on health, mainly from their antioxidative properties by scavenging free radicals and by chelating metals. The problem with some polyphenolic compounds is their effects on reducing absorption of iron, and possibly other metals, when included in the diet. However, there is very little information on the effect of dietary polyphenolic compounds on the trace element status other than iron. We examined the effect of epigallocatechin‐3‐gallate (EGCG), green tea extract (GT) and grape seed extract (GSE) on the absorption of 65Zn in intestinal Caco‐2 cells. GSE significantly (P< 0.05) reduced zinc transport across the cells, and the decreased zinc transport was associated with the reduced apical zinc uptake. However, EGCG and GT did not change zinc absorption. To test whether GSE decreased the basolateral zinc release by decreasing the intracellular labile zinc concentrations by increasing MT protein expression, we assessed cellular MT protein expression. Our western blot data showed no changes in MT protein expression by GSE. The GSE‐mediated inhibition of zinc absorption was associated with the decreased apical zinc uptake but not MT protein expression. The inhibition of zinc absorption may be due to the presence of procyanidins in GSE, which bind zinc with high affinity, and block the transport of zinc across the apical membrane of the enterocyte.


MOTIVATION
Genomic imprinting plays an important role in both normal development and diseases. Abnormal imprinting is strongly associated with several human diseases including cancers. Most of the imprinted genes were discovered in the neighborhood of the known imprinted genes. This approach is difficult to extend to analyze the whole genome. We have decided to take a computational approach to systematically search the whole genome for the presence of mono-allelic expressed genes and imprinted genes in human genome.

RESULTS
A computational method was developed to identify novel imprinted or mono-allelic genes. Individuals represented in human cDNA libraries were genotyped using Bayesian statistics, and differential expression of polymorphic alleles was identified. A significant reduction in the number of libraries that expressed both alleles, measured by Z-statistics, is a strong indicator for an imprinted or a mono-allelic gene.

AVAILABILITY
The data sets are available at http://leelab.nci.nih.gov/leelab/jsp/IGDM/IGDM.html


The key objective of the Mexican general environmental land use management program1 (programa de ordenamiento ecológico general del territorio, POEGT) is to minimize environmental conflicts resulting from sectorial land use, by means of appropriate and balanced spatial planning of Federal Public Administration (Administración Pública Federal, APF) activities. In Mexico, environmental planning is a policy instrument designed to describe, diagnose and propose ways of using land and its natural resources, using a rational and diversified use perspective with the consent of the population (SEMARNAP, 2000). In the case of Mexico, this need to reach a dynamic balance between availability of natural resources, the expectations of the population, the development of the interests of the country's different social and economic sectors, and the self-recovery or restorative capacity of the biophysical environment, is legally and administratively supported by the regulations set out in the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente, LGEEPA) (SEMARNAT, 1988, 2003), which establishes the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, SEMARNAT) as the body authorized to devise the POEGT, with the participatory consent of the population. This program is obligatory throughout the country. The aforementioned law stipulates that the process of environmental land management comprises different stages: 1) description of land system; 2) integrated diagnosis of land system; 3) forecast (public participatory debate); 4) proposition of general environmental


The importance of the concept of generation in demographic analysis is examined. The study of generation interaction and replacement in the investigation of concepts such as age group family formation and cohort is discussed. (ANNOTATION)


Electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a bus connecting the first controller, second controller, and the first controller and the second controller. Electronic device has a first signal line between the first controller and the second controller, the first controller providing a first signal at a first signal line to the second controller to wake up the second controller from the low-power mode.


Background:Gingival recession is the exposure of tooth root surface due to gingival margin migrates to apical avoid the Cemento Enamel Junction (JEC). Prevalence of gingival recession in Indonesia is 95.5%. Tooth brushing is important for dental and gingival health. The fault in tooth brushing behavior or the hard of brush bristles will result in significant wound on the gingival. Gingival recession can cause sensitivity on the tooth roots, cementum erosion, root caries, and aesthetic disruption.
Purpose: To investigatethe tooth brushing behavior toward the occurrence of gingival recession
Research Method:This research was descriptive method with cross-sectional design. Sampling technique wastotal sampling. This research was conducted in Kebonharjo sub-district, Klaten. The number of sample is 35 people. Data collection used questionnaires of tooth brushing behavior and measurement of gingival recession with periodontal probe.
Result:Most of the respondents have tooth brushing behavior in medium criteria (60.0%). Respondents with gingival recession mostly in low criteria (51.4%). Respondents with poor tooth brushing behavior have low gingival recession (66.7%).
Conclusion:Respondents with poor tooth brushing behavior have low gingival recession.

Keywords: ToothBrushing Behavior, GingivalRecession


We discuss the effect of electromagnetic environment on laboratory measurements of the nuclear fusion reactions of astrophysical interest. The radiation field is eliminated using the path integral formalism in order to obtain the influence functional, which we evaluate in the semi-classical approximation. We show that enhancement of the tunneling probability due to the radiation correction is extremely small and does not resolve the longstanding problem that the observed electron screening effect is significantly larger than theoretical predictions.


The invention relates to a process for producing copper from copper-containing raw material such as sulphide concentrates, scrap and precipitates. The raw material is dissolved by being dissolved in several stages in a chloride-based solution. The copper-containing solution which results from the dissolution process is subjected to reduction and solution refinement, after which copper which is present in the solution is precipitated out as copper protoxide using magnesium oxide. Magnesium chloride solution which is formed when producing the copper protoxide is fed to pyrohydrolysis, in which the magnesium chloride is regenerated back into magnesium oxide, which is used both in the solution refinement and the precipitation of the copper protoxide. Hydrochloric acid which is formed in the pyrohydrolysis is used for dissolving the concentrate or other raw material. The precipitated copper protoxide is reduced to metallic [lacuna] using a suitable reagent.


A 44-year-old man was seen in the urology clinic because of a penile lesion that had been enlarging for 6 months. Examination and imaging revealed an ulcerated mass and enlarged inguinal lymph nodes. A diagnostic procedure was performed, and management decisions were made.


This paper introduced important significances of developing biogas,the problems lying in biogas building work were analyzed such as the simple rural biogas development model,uncomprehensive utilization of biogas resources and the imperfect service system.The countermeasures of biogas development were summarized,such as enhancing the government organizational leadership,increasing the investment,nichetargeting development patterns and developing biogas association to perfect the service system,etc.


In coded telemetry systems symbol synchronization must be performed at low symbol signal-to-noise ratios ( ST/N_{0} ) with negligible degradation from the perfect synchronization case. A digital transition tracking synchronizer which operates with less than 0.03-dB degradation at ST/N_{0} = -3 dB and at rates of 5.6 bit/s to 250 kbit/s is described.


In the article the propaedeutic phase of teaching Physics is scrutinized, the results of scientific research on this problem are analyzed. The basic types of the content elements of the course of Physics at primary and basic schools are revealed. The author considers that it is advisable to organize students' learning activities on mastering the elements of physics on the basis of the activity approach. The content model of the propaedeutic phase of training is described. The conclusion about the possible forms of propaedeutic training students is given.


: In traditional secret sharing schemes, all shared images containing secret segments are needed to recover secret information. In this paper, a reversible data hiding scheme based on Shamir secret sharing is used. Secret information can be recovered even if only part of the encrypted sharing is owned. This method can reduce the vulnerability of traditional encryption sharing schemes to attack. Before uploading the secret information to the cloud server, embed the encrypted n segments of secret information into n different pictures. The receiver downloads t images from the cloud server (t < n), extracts the encrypted information using the watermark extraction algorithm, and obtains the original secret information after decryption through Shamir secret sharing.


On reading the title of an article the reader can sometimes wonder what the author is trying to say, as the title seems so far removed from the research covered in the article.  Do such authors forget that many readers of health and medical journals browse the list of contents (in a paper or electronic format) and use titles to select the article that attracts attention? Academic authors are often not clear enough in the titles of their articles, and hence may not attract as large a readership as possible.   Any author would want their article to be read and cited, and to stand out in a crowded Table of Contents or a list of papers found in a search on electronic databases. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/nje.v4i1.10138 Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 2014;4 (1): 344-347


Annotated catalogue of the stone and terracotta images from Bihar and Bengal, 6th-12th c., kept in (now) the Museum of Asian Art, Berlin


Introduction and Objectives: The goal of cementless endoprosthetic hip surgery is to improve bone attachment. The gold standard method for evaluating periprosthetic bone characteristics is densitometry. This study was designed to compare periprosthetic bone mass in 2 groups of patients: less than 3 years and more than 3 years after implantation. Materials and Methods: A total of 195 type ABG-II total hip prostheses were implanted from November 1997 to March 2003. This implant is a hemispheric cup coated with hydroxyapatite, which can additionally be anchored with screws and a short anatomic stem with metaphyseal fixation. DeLee and Gruen zones were analysed. Results: During the study period, patients with implants less than 3 years old showed no significant changes in bone mineral density around the stem or the cup. In area 7, a statistically significant reduction was noted after 3 years (0.5218g/cm3, p Discussion and Conclusions: In cup studies, a statistically insignificant increase in density was observed in zone I after 3 years. Noteworthy findings included a loss of function in DeLee zone III and Gruen zones 1 and 7, which has not yet had clinical consequences (at a maximum 6 year follow-up time).


Dynamic signature is an important behavior based biometric. Dynamic features of human signature are available in case of on line signatures. Spatial Co-ordinates, pressure, azimuth, altitude variation w. r. t. time is analyzed in this paper. The signature feature vector is extracted from the captured feature points using transforms such as DCT, FFT, WHT & kekre's Transform. Derived features such as Velocity, Acceleration, velocity & Acceleration angle as well as Row & Column mean of pressure is used for analysis. Finally the performance is compared for above mentioned variations.


The repellent and anti-oviposition effect of twelve polymeric seed coats containing azadirachtin-A alone and another twelve coloured polymeric seed coat containing both azadirachtin-A and anthocyanin were evaluated against Callosobruchus analis. The polymers used are amphiphilic in nature and used for coating seed of soybean (Glycine max). The study revealed that repellency effect was higher in azadirachtin-A containing formulations than the coloured formulations. The highest repellent effect (94%) was found on the malic acid and polyethylene glycol-1000 based polymeric formulation containing azadirachtin-A (P2M2-AZA). All polymer coated seed significantly reduced oviposition of C. analis. Coloured polymeric seed coats exhibited higher oviposition-deterrency against C. analis. No choice test for oviposition-deterrency was recorded higher number of eggs laid than free choice test. The least number of egg counts was detected in succinic acid and polyethylene glycol-1000 and 1500 based polymer coats containing both azadirachtin-A and anthocyanin (P2S-AZA-ANT & P3S-AZA-ANT).


Quantum image processing represents an emerging image processing technology by taking advantage of quantum computation. Quantum image processing faces the first question: How is an image stored in and retrieved from a quantum system? To solve the issue, the authors provide six quantum image representations, which can be divided into three categories. The first, second, and third categories store color information using amplitudes, phases, and basis states, respectively. Next, they design their circuits to implement the storage of quantum image. Then, retrieval methods are introduced. The storage and retrieval technologies of quantum image are the basis and premise condition to process quantum images.


Child care is perhaps the most protean of social policies taking a variety of forms and being amenable to numerous rationales. Provisions can be justified in the name of gender equality child development welfare reform labor market needs or demographic crisis and can take the form of anything from universal state-subsidized child care centers to day-care mothers to privately employed nannies. These wide variations present a challenge to scholars making it difficult to track and especially to compare child care policies over time and across cases. Scholars have tried (and often found wanting) several different typologies ranging from Gosta Esping-Andersens welfare state regimes (1990) to Rianne Mahons (2002) models for current welfare state redesign in Europe. Feminists have of course criticized Esping-Andersen for ignoring gender but they have also discovered that even when gender is built in his three types cannot account for variations in policies toward women among cases within specific regimes. (excerpt)


Abstract While the recent interest in affects and emotions in world politics is encouraging, the crucial relationships between affect, emotion, and discourse have remained largely under-examined. This article offers a framework for understanding the relations between affect and discourse by drawing upon the theories of Jacques Lacan. Lacan conceptualises affect as an experience which lies beyond the realm of discourse, yet nevertheless has an effect upon discourse. Emotion results when affects are articulated within discourse as recognisable signifiers. In addition, Lacanian theory conceptualises affect and discourse as overlapping yet not as coextensive, allowing analyses to theoretically distinguish between discourses which become sites of affective investment for audiences and those that do not. Thus, analysing the mutual infusion of affect and discourse can shed light on why some discourses are more politically efficacious than others. The empirical import of these ideas is offered in an analysis of American affective reactions to 11 September 2001.


In this study, a real-time controller implementing closed-loop space vector modulation (CLSVM) technique combined with DC bus voltage control is applied on a three-phase four-wire three-level neutral point clamped (NPC) inverter to be used in sustainable energy conversion systems with higher efficiency and lower switching frequency than conventional two-level inverters. The redundant switching states of CLSVM is dictated based on the voltage feedback obtained from DC link in order to constantly balance the DC bus capacitors voltages under various load conditions. The main feature of this technique is the use of only voltage sensors for balancing the DC capacitors voltages in four-wire system which makes the algorithm act fast, while permitting reduction of DC bus capacitors voltage ripple significantly and therefore smaller capacitors are used. The NPC inverter has been modelled and effects of redundant switching states have been analysed mathematically on DC capacitors voltages. Comprehensive experimental tests are conducted on a four-wire three-leg NPC operating as uninterruptible power supply application for sustainable energy conversion to validate the designed approach and the dynamic response under various load conditions including linear, non-linear, balanced, unbalanced and motor loads.


Peyronie's disease is a connective tissue disorder of the penile tunica albuginea that results in the formation of a palpable scar or hard plaque. Studies on Peyronie's disease have found varying prevalence rate that is influenced by the method of survey, the sub population under study and the presence of co-morbidities among the study subjects. These studies seem to suggest that Peyronie's disease is uncommon in people of black African origin. This formed the basis of Medline and a Google Scholar data base search of existing literature to find variations in the demography, clinical presentation, aetiology, plaque characteristics, treatments and outcomes of people of black ancestry with Peyronie's disease. Very few publications on Peyronie's disease with racial stratification and comment on parameters of interest were found. Existing cross-sectional studies does not seem to reveal any difference in the percentage prevalence of Peyronie's disease in people of black African origin compared to Caucasians (p = 0.923; p = 0.504). A report indicates a variation in response to intralesional collagenase clostridium histolyticum injection in African Americans compared to Caucasians.


We analysed the effects of forest fragmentation on the flock structure of insectivorous forest passerines (Parus, Aegithalos, Certhia, Regulus, etc.), and on the anti-predator behaviour and energy management of blue tits in these flocks. We surveyed flocks in Central Spain during two winters. Flocks in fragments comprised fewer individuals and species than flocks in unfragmented forests. The most abundant species in forest flocks (blue tit, Parus caeruleus, and firecrest, Regulus ignicapillus) were also the most abundant in fragments, while the rarest species in the area never occurred in small woodlots. We investigated how fragmentation and related changes in flock structure affect anti-predator behaviour of blue tits, a widely distributed species in the area. In fragments but not in forests, blue tits increased scanning rates with decreasing flock size. Vigilance was relaxed when great tits, Parus major, were abundant as flock mates, suggesting that the absence of this dominant species in fragments could intensify anti-predator behaviour of blue tits. Blue tits enhanced anti-predator behaviour in the second winter parallel to an increase in the abundance of raptors. This behavioural change was stronger in fragments, where blue tits foraged deeper in the canopy and increased scanning and hopping rates. Under increased predation risk, birds are expected to reduce body mass to improve predator avoidance. On average, blue tits weighed similar in fragments and forests the second winter. However, they accumulated fat along the day in fragments only, and adjusted body mass to body size more closely in that habitat type. This suggests that blue tits perceived fragments as unpredictable habitats where fattening would help avoid starvation, but also as dangerous sites where overweight would further increase the risk of predation. In summary, our results support that fragmentation affects individual behaviour of blue tits, and show the potential of behavioural approaches to unravel how different species face the advancing fragmentation of their habitats.