Several organizations around the world are focused on issues related to minority of women in Information Technology (IT) area. The development of this area is related to the development of science, technology and innovation of any nation or organization. However the IT area presents a lack of trained professionals. If we consider the participation of women in this sector, the lack is even greater. This work consists on the development of actions to attract high school women students to IT area. During 2014, this work held several meetings in a high school, including lectures, short courses and dynamics, introducing computing and programming fundamentals. These actions contributed to the students education, making them more prepared to work in a society where science and innovation play a key role. Until now it was observed that work aroused the curiosity of women students about IT area and most of them indicated that would like to participate in new projects focused on computing area.


The central region of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068 is imaged in the mid-infrared (MIR) using the Mid-Infrared Test Observation System on the 8.2 m Subaru Telescope. The oversampling pixel scale associated with the shift-and-add method shows 0.″1 resolution images with a high dynamic range after deconvolution. Along with an extended structure at a position angle (P.A.) of -10° with higher surface brightness, another structure extends wider with lower surface brightness at a P.A. of 20°. The central peak elongates north-south with FWHM of 0.″3 × 0.″2. Spectral energy distribution (SED) of the central peak is fitted to have the silicate absorption feature of τ9.7 μm = 0.9 ± 0.3. This is half of the absorption expected from the near-infrared (NIR) feature of carbonaceous dust. This suggests a temperature gradient of the absorbing dust along the line of sight. Another possibility, which is not distinguishable here, is the size distribution of dust different from our Galaxy. Intrinsic luminosity of emission from the central peak is 3 × 1037 W. The SED shows a hint of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission features. Although a high spatial resolution MIR spectrum is required, it suggests that the PAH carriers near the active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are sheltered from the high-energy emission from the AGNs and that the AGNs have nuclear starbursts. For the NIR disklike structures, no counterparts are detected in the MIR. The nature of the structures remains unclear.


An intelligent traffic system based on high speed cellular mobilecommunication is featured as utilizing mobile communication network as information transmitting platform, treating vehicle as mobile terminal of the network, assigning a global unique ID number to each vehicle for transmitting information of position, speed and tyre pressure to the network for obtaining various traffic information by the system so as to control traffic based on the received information.


This note describes and illustrates the seasonal adjustment method proposed by Ekkehart Schlicht and Ralf Pauly (1983) in the interactive computable document format (CDF). It requires the free CDF player available at https://www.wolfram.com/player/. It can also be opened and edited by the Wolfram Mathematica program https://www.wolfram.com/mathematica/.


Background The current medico‐economic environment has led to profound changes in our health care system and questions of physician surplus. These issues have particularly affected the academic health care system, as research funding and departmental support have decreased, and many young otolaryngologists are questioning academic careers because of these uncertainties. The current study was undertaken to assess the workforce environment for the academic otolaryngologist, particularly the young physician.


We study the high-speed rail (HSR) substitution for air travel through the demand shocks triggered by two HSR events: the launch of Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rails (the "Jing-hu" HSRs) and the Wenzhou train accident. One novelty of our data is that the HSR events are exogenous to the airline industry, alleviating the common endogeneity concern. Using a difference-in-difference approach, we find some evidence of substitution based on the pattern of airfare adjustments during the sample period. Specifically, compared to those in the control group, mean airfares for routes along the Jing-hu HSRs decline by 30.4 per cent upon the launch, but rebound by 27.4 per cent following the accident. Furthermore, the two events have a larger impact on low-cost carriers (LCCs) and regional airlines, on tourism routes, and on flights that depart during evening hours than their counterparts, respectively. Thus, we claim that the HSRs mainly serve as a low-end substitution for air travel in China.


The increasing number of people with social welfare problems has received serious attention from the government. The majority of people with social welfare problems are due to poverty. The mindset of beggars is also the mindset of the community, often when people see beggars they always feel sorry and pity. The government has taken many steps, one of which is the enforcement of laws and regulations regarding the prohibition of begging in public. This writing method is to use the normative method, namely research that focuses on the study of the application of a rule or norm in positive law. The reason for this is that the Regional Regulation (Perda) of Malang City Number 2 of 2012 concerning Public Order and the Environment still creates regulatory ineffectiveness. This step aims to overcome public begging which can disrupt public order. The statutory regulations issued by the Malang City Government to overcome these social problems are the Malang City Regional Regulation Number 2 of 2012 concerning Public Order and the Environment. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26905/idjch.v11i2.3640.


Meganema perideroedes Gr1 is a filamentous bacterium isolated from an activated sludge wastewater treatment plant where it is implicated in poor sludge settleability (bulking). M. perideroedes is the sole described species of the genus Meganema and of the proposed novel family "Meganemaceae". Here we describe the features of the type strain Gr1 along with its annotated genome sequence. The 3,409,949 bp long draft genome consists of 22 scaffolds with 3,033 protein-coding and 59 RNA genes and is a part of Genomic Encyclopedia of Type Strains, Phase I: the one thousand microbial genomes KMG project. Notably, genome annotation indicated the potential for facultative methylotrophy. However, the ability to utilize methanol as a carbon source could not be empirically demonstrated for the type strain or for in situ Meganema spp. strains.


The authors report on the stored light in an ion Coulomb crystal coupled to a relatively low finesse optical resonator. A two-species ion Coulomb crystal is employed in a linear Paul trap, where the laser cooled heavier ion-component sympathetically cools the lighter ion-component.


In July 2012, MOODY'S INVESTORS SERVICE "changed the long-term rating outlooks of six German states to negative from stable, citing the close fiscal ties between the regions and the federal government, whose outlook was downgraded two days ago". The change in outlook applied to the German states of Baden-Wurttemberg, Bavaria, (the two most productive states of Germany in terms of GDP/capita) Berlin (at the same time the largest city in Germany), Brandenburg (situated in former Eastern Germany and characterized by one of the least developed economies in Germany), North-Rhine-Westphalia (the largest state in Germany in terms of population and territory), and Saxony-Anhalt (like Brandenburg the state of Saxony-Anhalt is situated in Eastern Germany with relatively low GDP per capita).
MOODY'S change in outlook can be interpreted as decisive rethinking within the framework of German fiscal federalism as it puts the financial health of single regions (Laender) as independent entities on the spot. Prior to 2010 rating agencies such as FITCH had not even issued region-specific ratings due to assumptions that German regions enjoyed (unconditional) bailout guarantees of the federal government. Does MOODY'S action thus reflect changes in assessments of risks within Germany's system of fiscal federalism, which are going to increase borrowing costs of German regions? Some German politicians seem to think that this may well be the case. In March 2012, OLAF SCHOLZ the social-democrat mayor and head of state of Hamburg, the second largest city-state in Germany in terms of population, proposed the introduction of "Deutschland-Bonds", i.e. bonds that are commonly issued and guaranteed by German states and the federal government. SCHOLZ' approach was also promoted by RAINER WIEGARD, then Schleswig-Holstein's Finance Minister and a member of the CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC UNION. Politicians of other regions and the federal government followed suit. The first "Deutschlandbond" will be issued in 2013. As of the writing of this essay, their structure and volume has not been decided.
What will be the impact of "Deutschlandbonds"? Will they lower state-borrowing costs through introducing new federal bailout guarantees? Or will changes be miniscule as investors assume that these guarantees exist anyway? Viewing the financial crisis of 2008 - 2010 as natural experiment that tested investors' assumptions with respect to the existence of bailout guarantees on state-level debt in Germany, the essay discusses the question, in how far the introduction of "Deutschlandbonds" is likely to have a significant effect on borrowing costs of German regions. If investors perceived of federal and regional bonds already as close substitutes due to common bailout guarantees, then - so the reasoning of this essay - the introduction of "Deutschlandbonds" will be of limited effect to borrowing costs in regional debt markets.


Development of ICT is very helpful to increase performance and business processes of organization. It must generate usefulness in obtaining information for stakeholders, also assist organization to get feedback from stakeholders. It should assist manager of organization to make or support decision making. Changes in the shape of higher education institutions are expected to push each college to have a better management. It is necessary for the implementation of the concept of higher education institutions that are considered to be ideal, known as Good University Governance (GUG). One of the business processes that happen at ST3 Telkom Purwokerto is the management of human resources. One of HR management activities at ST3 Telkom is manage of employee attendance. Currently, System that manages attendance of ST3 Telkom employee still doesn't support GUG principle that can be used by stakeholders. The researcher intends and deems it necessary to develop the presence of information systems that support the concept of GUG using Waterfall method. Information system which has developed, has been testing by black box methods. The results show that the system is able to display the presence information of officials ST3 Telkom on information board (dashboard). It can be exploited by stakeholders in order to realize one of the responsibility principle of GUG. This system can be further developed and integrated for employee payroll system. Keywords: information systems, presence, waterfall, good university governance


With the constant development of modernized standard of file management, particularly with the emergence of digital file, the method of sort searching is getting more reasonable and utility. As one category, cadre personal records' searching means will be improved constantly and developed. In consideration of new demands of cadre file management, this paper discussed the regular of coding cadre personal records and made a conclusion that sequencer-coding method could adapt to the rapid development of information management.


PURPOSE: An apparatus for manufacturing vacuum glass is provided to automatically weld a sealing material to an air discharging hole formed at the vacuum glass by installing a sealing device in a vacuum tank. CONSTITUTION: Vacuum glass(20) is arranged in a vacuum tank(10), and a path is formed at one side of the vacuum tank. A housing is arranged around the path of the vacuum tank. A cylinder is installed in the housing. A moving part is in connection with the operational rod of the cylinder and linearly moves under the condition that the path is sealed. A heater fixing part is arranged at the upper side of the moving part and fixes a heating part heating and compressing a sealing material to an air discharging hole. An elastic force supplying part is arranged between the moving part and the heater fixing part and compresses the sealing material to the air discharging hole.


Simple experiments for demonstration of paper manufacture and tests of physical and chemical properties of paper are presented. The experiments are suitable both for secondary and primary schools as well as for university teaching.


One of the main challenges in autonomous racing is to design algorithms for motion planning at high speed, and across complex racing courses. End-to-end trajectory synthesis has been previously proposed where the trajectory for the ego vehicle is computed based on camera images from the racecar. This is done in a supervised learning setting using behavioral cloning techniques. In this paper, we address the limitations of behavioral cloning methods for trajectory synthesis by introducing Differential Bayesian Filtering (DBF), which uses probabilistic Bézier curves as a basis for inferring optimal autonomous racing trajectories based on Bayesian inference. We introduce a trajectory sampling mechanism and combine it with a filtering process which is able to push the car to its physical driving limits. The performance of DBF is evaluated on the DeepRacing Formula One simulation environment and compared with several other trajectory synthesis approaches as well as human driving performance. DBF achieves the fastest lap time, and the fastest speed, by pushing the racecar closer to its limits of control while always remaining inside track bounds.


Correct localization of implanted markers represents a crucial step in robot-assisted surgery for the registration of CT-based computer models and the real world. While in the real world we can organize a suitable precise tactile searching by the robot arm, in the virtual image we can not rely only on the operator's judgement and skill. This paper describes our interactive approach to the correct localization of registration points on 3D computer images.<<ETX>>


To determine the effect of lizards on web—spider populations, we conducted an 18—mo field experiment in the Bahamas. Densities of individuals of each common spider species were about three times as high in lizard—removal enclosures as in control enclosures with lizards or in unenclosed plots with lizards; spider densities in control enclosures and unenclosed plots were nearly identical. In the most common spider species, Metepeira datona, lizards reduced juvenile and adult abundance, as well as adult female survivorship and prey consumption. Numbers of spider species were higher where lizards were removed than where they were present; hence, lizards did not promote spider species coexistence in this system. Numbers and biomasses of aerial insects caught in sticky traps were higher in lizard—removal enclosures than in controls; hence, higher spider predation on insects where lizards had been removed did not completely compensate for the lack of lizards. Comparisons between control enclosures and unenclosed plots revealed that the enclosures reduced insect numbers and biomasses. This study and others have demonstrated that lizards play a major role in structuring web—spider communities in the West Indies. Several lines of evidence indicate that predation is the major interaction between lizards and spiders, although some evidence for competition also exists.


We study the obstacles for a family of finite groups to having faithful permutation representations of arbitrarily small degrees compared to their respective orders. We show that the only obstacle is that each group has a cyclic subgroup of prime-power order and bounded index. Specifically, we show the following: Let μ(G) be the smallest degree of a faithful permutation representation of G, and let i(G) be the index of its largest cyclic subgroup of prime-power order. Then for a constant c > 0


After an introduction of crucial elements in comfort of dissoluble paper diaper,the article analyses the side-effect of paper diaper on body.


This study identified the existing ageism scales and reviewed the literature on ageism scales with an emphasis on the methodological issues. Most standardized ageism scales have focused on younger people's attitudes and beliefs toward older adults. There are relatively few standardized scales that assess how older adults feel and think about their experiences being stereotyped. Although significant efforts have been made to outline ageism's various dimensions and constructs, these efforts have not led to a common consensus on ageism and its characteristics. Lack of consensus, in turn, makes it harder to develop a standardized scale. The findings suggest that a new scale that applies only to measuring ageism as perceived by older adults and corresponds to the significant dimensions of ageism must be developed. The preliminary results of this mini-review will serve as the basis for further research on the ageism scale among older adults.


SUMMARY Long-term complication of protease inhibitors (PIs) includes increased cardiovascular risks in HIV-infected patients due to dyslipidemia. Ezetimibe reduces LDL-C without drug interaction to PIs and statins. Furthermore, addition of ezetimibe on statins is an optional treatment in HIV-infected patients with uncontrolled dyslipidemia. The objective of this study was to determine short-term efficacy and safety of adding ezetimibe to currently used statins. Thirty-two patients received ezetimibe 10 mg daily added to their ongoing lipid-lowering therapy for 18 weeks. Serum LDL-C, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), TC/HDL-C ratio and HDL-C were measured at baseline, week 6, 12 and 18. Safety parameters were assessed by adverse event reports and laboratory assessments throughout the study. The mean percent change from baseline to endpoint in LDL-C, TC, TG and TC/HDL-C ratio were -23.3% (p < 0.001), -15.0% (p = 0.001), -22.1% (p = 0.004) and -16.2% (p = 0.018), respectively. No adverse event or other abnormal laboratory occurred. Addition of ezetimibe to currently used lipid-lowering drugs in HIV-infected patients receiving PIs who had not achieved goal of dyslipidemia therapy had significantly improved efficacy in reducing of LDL-C, TC, TG and TC/HDL-C ratio, and the therapy was safe and well tolerated.


Ultra-Wideband Impulse Radio is a promising technology for industrial automation applications because of its inherent multipath robustness and coexistence features. In our efforts to deploy UWB-IR for industrial automation, we use an adapted version of the IEEE 802.15.4a PHY. In this paper, we present a way to improve robustness for low-latency sensor-actor networks with short cyclic packets of process data, as found in industrial control applications. Due to the low cycle times of the wireless network, which can be shorter than the application cycle, soft-bit combinations across multiple repetitions of a packet can be used to collect enough information to recover packets that would not be decodable by a single transmission. To determine if a packet is a repetition or contains different data than the last transmission, a change indicator is inserted into the packet by the sender. The findings are proven by simulation against IEEE industrial channel models and show a significant improvement.


The article analyzes the concepts of «evidence» and «proof» in procedural activities. Evidence is considered as facts, factual data and means of circumstances of a case. The process of proving makes up the major part of the procedural activity aimed at obtaining objective data necessary for fulfilling the task of the administrative proceedings.


Abstract The reliability of reinforced concrete (RC) columns in a fire situation is investigated in this paper by combining the General, Equilibrium, and Isotherm at 500 ° C Methods. The well-known Monte Carlo (MC) and the First Order Reliability Method (FORM) are used in a parametric study for the column's safety. The columns, in a biaxial bending-compression situations, are analyzed by an algorithm that takes into consideration physical and geometric nonlinearities. The dead and live load actions, steel and concrete material strengths, section geometry, model error, and temperature are among the random variables taken into consideration. The findings indicate that increasing the cover can dramatically reduce the probability of failure.


Beef cattle farming is a highly representative activity for the GDP of Brazil, rendering the country an important producer of beef. For Brazil to maintain this prominent position, sanitary management actions must be carried out, such as the control of reproductive diseases. This study examines the effectiveness of vaccination against reproductive diseases in bovine females. Data from 8752 Zebu cows on the status of vaccination against reproductive diseases, body condition score (BCS) and the subsequent result of pregnancy diagnosis were evaluated. With regard to BCS, primiparous was the category that most demonstrated the effect of body condition on pregnancy rate, with BCS 3.5 cows having a 30% higher rate than the animals with BCS 2. In the group of nulliparous cows, those with BCS 3.5 had a pregnancy rate of 58% vs. 46% in BCS 3 cows. The induced nulliparae with BCS 3.5 had a 9% higher pregnancy rate than those with BCS 3. Multiparous cows also had a 9% higher rate when their BCS was 3.5 as compared with BCS 2. Among the evaluated dams, 46.5% were vaccinated against IBR, BVD and leptospirosis. Of these, the primiparae showed a 21% increase in conception as compared with the non-vaccinated group; multiparae, 10%; nulliparae, 5.9%; and induced nulliparae, 7.8%. In conclusion, BCS directly influences the reproductive efficiency of bovine females, and the use of vaccination against reproductive diseases can be recommended. However, this indication must be based on epidemiological and animal-performance data of each farm.


In recent decades there has been a significant shift in decision-making centers to expand public participation in the decision-making process, with the aim of integrating the different perspectives and priorities of citizens and stakeholders in policy making and developing and implementing action plans, operational programmes etc. The ability for underrepresented or marginalized groups of the population to express their views and be heard, expands the scope and subject matter of public discourse, leading to a more accurate assessment of the public interest and better social choices. In other words, it contributes decisively to making right and fair decisions. In this respect, this paper aims to showcase a software-based platform that is designed to enhance public participation in the decision-making process, allowing all interested stakeholders and relevant beneficiaries to join decision makers for jointly designing and eventually selecting the most effective combinations of actions, customised to a specific pre-defined problem of energy or socioeconomic nature, using crowdsourcing techniques and methods of modelling, simulating and evaluating options using open data and global system dynamics.


The hot deformation behavior of QCr0.5 was investigated by Gleeble 1500 thermo-simulator,the flow stress at different temperature,different strain and different strain rate were observed,the model of the flow stress during hot deformation was set up by the modified algorithm-Levenberg-Marquardt(L-M) BP neural network.The results indicate that the BP neural network model can accurately describe the influences of the temperature,strain rate and true strain on the flow stress,and also provide basis for optimizing hot deforming process parameters.


OBSERVATION OF BIS-1,3-BENZODIOXONE TYPE HOMODIMER SYNTHESIZED VIA PIPERINE OLEFIN METATHESIS CATALYZED BY NON-COMMERCIAL Ru(II) PRE-CATALYSTS. LN-1 and LN-2 are two Ru(II) complexes coordinated to the phosphine and amines simultaneously, each with two chlorides. PPh3 is the phosphine and the amine is piperidine (LN-1) and perhydroazepine (LN-2). The two compounds are complexes five-coordinated square pyramidal geometry, with the amine in the axial plane. LN-1 and LN-2 were tested for the first time as initiator for piperine self-metathesis olefin. The system variables chosen to this study were the reactional time (24, 48 and 72 h), catalyst:substrate ratio (1:1 and 1:10 mol) and temperature (25 e 50 ºC). Results were analyzed by GC-ME. None olefin metathesis product was noted in the experiments to 25 ºC for until 72 h, in any catalyst:substrate ration. However, to 50 ºC for 72 h, olefin metathesis product from piperine was observed. LN-1 presented yield of c.a. 29% of product in the mixture and LN-2 were c.a. 39%. The product is interesting and unheard, it has two 1,3-benzildiaxine groups, interleaved for one unsaturated carbon chain. In the experiments with catalyst:substrate ratio of 1:10 mol there was no product formation. The results were discussed in function of the electronic and steric properties of the ancillary ligand of LN1 and LN-2.


During kidney development the proper formation of the nephron, the functional unit of the kidney, is essential for normal kidney function. Nephrogenesis is the process in which nephron progenitors undergo cell shape changes and mesenchymal‐to‐epithelial transition to form mature nephrons. These cell shape changes are essential for the proper development of the nephron and for proper nephron function. Shroom3 is an actin‐binding protein that regulates epithelial cell shape. It regulates this morphogenesis by binding to F actin and interacting with Rho‐kinase. This leads to the phosphorylation of non‐muscle myosin II activating a signal pathway that causes contraction of the actomysoin network. This contraction causes the cell to form "pie" shaped cells, a process that is essential for tubule formation. Kidneys from shroom3 null mice have numerous abnormal nephrons with collapsing glomeruli at embryonic day E18.5, supporting a role for shroom3 in nephron formation. We hypothesize that Shroom3 is required for mesenchyme cells to cluster and form cell aggregates, pretubular aggregates, and renal vesicles. To support a role for Shroom3 in nephrogenesis we first localized Shroom3 expression. Shroom3 was highly expressed in the aggregating mesenchyme, renal vesicle, and parietal and visceral epithelial cells of the developing glomeruli. In contrast to wild‐type Shroom3 mice, E13.5 kidney histology of Shroom3 mutants demonstrated an increased distance of mesenchymal cells from the neighbouring ureteric bud tip cells (WT 3.85μm ± 0.30, MUT 14.80 μm ±1.22, n=9). These abnormalities were further observed by immunofluorescence (IF) using Six2 and Pax2, specific markers of the mesenchyme aggregates. In E13.5, the IF demonstrated an increased length in the cap mesenchyme (WT 179.6μm ± 24.96, MUT 306.4μm ± 33.30, n=9), and a lack of cap mesenchyme cell aggregation in Shroom3 mutants (WT 8804μm2 ±1250, MUT 12353 μm2 ±1504, n=9). In addition, E18.5 mutants displayed significantly less Six2+ cells in comparison to wild‐types (WT 149 ± 13.3, MUT 79.5 ± 7.47). The analysis for renal vesicles in Shroom3 mutants at E13.5 and E18.5 demonstrated abnormally forming renal vesicles that were few in number when compared to wild‐type (WT 3 ±0.58, MUT 1 ± 0, n=9). Taken together, our findings establish, for the first time, that Shroom3 is essential for the early stages of nephron formation, and suggest these early changes lead to improper migration and clustering of cap mesenchyme cells resulting in abnormal nephrons observed in null mice.


Impact of encounters with healthcare professionals on perceived ability to return to work in people on sick leave due to heart failure


Volcano observation is a basic to the fundamental research on volcanism and to the surveillance of volcanic activity for disaster mitigation. In this paper, the author reviews the history of volcano observation in Japan since +3th century, especially the history of volcano surveillance of the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) and the recent advancement of the monitoring technique of JMA. The volcano observation in Japan started by Prof. Sekiya on occasion of the eruption of Bandai volcano in +222. Prof. Omori carried out pioneering observation at Usu volcano in +3+* and established the first volcanological observatory at Asama volcano in +3++. Since then, national universities established observatories at several active volcanoes. Their recent volcanological researches have been endorsed by the National Project of the Prediction of Volcanic Eruptions that started in +31.. JMA's continuous volcano observation started in +222. JMA had started continuous observation at +* volcanoes by +3/*. In +30, 00, JMA divided active volcanoes into three classes (A, B and C) depending on the level of volcanic activity and the risk of disaster and installed seismographs at three and one stations for A class (. volcanoes) and B class volcanoes (+volcanoes), respectively, and organized mobile observation teams for B and C class volcanoes. Since late +32*'s, public concern for volcanic disaster mitigation has risen because of the eruptions at Izu-Oshima volcano in +320, Unzen volcano in +33+, Usu volcano and Miyakejima volcano in ,***. To promote the disaster preparedness, JMA strengthened observation system and established Volcano Observation and Information Centers (VOIC) at Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo and Fukuoka and centralized the volcano observation in ,**+. VOIC installed TV cameras, seismometers, GPS stations, tiltmeters and infrasonic stations at each volcano. Most of the TV cameras are as sensitive as to detect visual phenomena even at night. These data obtained at each station are telemetered to VOICs and are monitored on a real-time in ,. hours. Each VOIC has Mobile Observation Team, which periodically collects basic observational data from active volcanoes. The observations consist not only of the installation of temporal observation stations but also of periodical thermal, geomagnetic and geodetic surveys. They carry out temporal observations to enhance monitoring capability whenever an unusual phenomenon is detected at volcanoes. VOIC issues Volcano Information to the disaster prevention authorities and to the public to initiate and take relevant disaster mitigation measures. There are three types of Volcano Information, Volcanic Alert, Volcanic Advisory, and Volcanic Observation Report. Since November ,**-, JMA has introduced Volcanic Activity Levels as an additional index to Volcano Information for some volcanoes. To indicate the Level, JMA uses 0-level of numerical scheme to reflect an increasing order of unrest : * as dormant to / as large-scale eruption.


What does EU sex equality law mean for the new 'post-socialist' Member States of the EU? Against the context of the legacy of 'socialist emancipation', and the backlash which followed the 1989/90 revolutions, this article analyses the contributions made by EU sex equality law to the legal position of women in the new Member States, and the potential for EU sex equality law to improve the position of women in those Member States. Using the case study of Hungary, it analyses the measures taken by one such Member State to comply with the acquis communautaire on sex equality. The conclusions are that EU sex equality law brings much of value to women in the new Member States, but that the future challenge is to instrumentalize and embed the EU sex equality acquis so that its promise becomes a practical reality for those women.


We discovered by chance that the R28 T cell hybridoma has dual specificity. It responds to a peptide derived from ribonuclease presented by cells displaying Ak molecules and it reacts, in the absence of added antigen, to cells expressing Ak complexes with a single amino acid substitution at position 69 of the α chain. Modelling and functional studies suggest that residue 69 is a peptide contact residue, prompting the hypothesis that R28′s alloreactivity is a cross‐reactive response to an unknown peptide bound in the 'groove' of the mutant Ak complex. In this report, we employ a competition assay to confirm that this alloresponse involves a groove‐binding peptide, demonstrate that this peptide derives from or depends on fetal calf serum and exploit a panel of antigen‐presenting cell lines – each displaying an Ak complex with a different position 69 substitution – to establish that the alloresponse is not just a heteroclitic response to ribonuclease, itself. We speculate that much of the alloreactivity against murine class II molecules that is revealed in vitro may prove to be directed at bovine serum‐derived peptides, suggesting that in this context, alloreactivity is a misnomer.


We numerically and experimentally examine the polarization-insensitive bandpass metamaterial designs generated using a Genetic Algorithm (GA). We discuss about the flow and structure of the genetic algorithm along with the fabrication details of the structure. We further show the input polarization independence in simulation and experiments are in close agreement.


Social economy can play an important role in the development of social innovation in many policy areas, such as addressing the unemployment and the environmental protection, while it can combine profitability through solidarity and new job creation. European Commission places particular emphasis on the Social Economy sector during the current programing period (2014-2020). Main related policies focus to the promotion of the local and common interest, creation of new jobs, the enhancement of social cohesion and local and regional development by showing a particular emphasis on young unemployed people of mountainous areas. The paper presents a proposed supporting mechanism, under the name "AITHIKOS" for social entrepreneurship in mountainous areas of Greece. The project involves the development and implementation of a participatory methodology that requires the involvement of the beneficiary populations and the potential users of the infrastructure and services that the project will provide. The bottom-up approach nature of the proposed mechanism will allow identifying the emerging tangible and intangible needs of the target group, developing appropriate recommendations and solutions. Aus. Aca. Acc & Fin. Rev Vol 3(1), Jan 2017, P 28-36


1. By a letter dated 19 December 2011, the Registrar of the International Criminal Court transmitted a document entitled ―Discussion Paper on the Review of the ICC Legal Aid System‖ (the ―Discussion Paper‖), and invited comments on that paper by 31 January 2011. We express our appreciation for the invitation to comment on the Discussion Paper. As is acknowledged in the Registrar's letter of 19 December 2011 which accompanied the Discussion Paper, this consultative process with the legal profession (and all relevant stakeholders, including interested NGOs and States Parties) 1 is of great importance in ensuring the effectiveness of the legal aid system. We are hopeful, therefore, that our observations will be given due consideration before transmission of any proposed amendments to the Assembly of States Parties' Bureau and the Committee on Budget and Finance for consideration during its April 2012 session.


The invention discloses a huge terahertz antenna array based on a semiconductor process. The terahertz antenna array comprises 10 to 10 orders of terahertz antenna array elements, wherein the terahertz antenna array is formed by arranging a plurality of terahertz antenna array elements, a terahertz phase-array antenna array is integrated on a silicon-based wafer by a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process to achieve space energy synthesis and beam forming, and a high-gain narrow beam antenna is formed; the size of a single terahertz antenna array element is 1 millimeter order, the disc-type antenna array with 1 meter order radius contains 3.14*(1000) (3.14 million) orders of single terahertz antenna array elements, so that a terahertz wave with the frequency of 300GHz provides gain of 60dB, and the beam width is 0.14 degree; and a plurality of silicon-based wafers also can be spliced to finally form the antenna array integrated with 10 orders of single terahertz antenna array elements. With the utilization of the characteristics of the terahertz wireless radio wave, a standard semiconductor process line is used for designing and achieving the antenna array with thousands, even millions and tens of millions of units.


A rivet nut comprising a body portion and a cylindrical rivet section, wherein the body part is a arranged a centrally disposed threaded cylinder, an annular bearing surface which is coaxial with the thread cylinder in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the threaded cylinder, and radially within the annular support surface and radially outside the cylindrical rivet section having axially directed annular groove, which passes on the radially inner side in the outer surface of the cylindrical rivet section, and wherein providing security against rotation are provided in the region of the annular groove, is characterized in that the annular groove, as seen in an axial section plane, has a U-shaped cross-section having a radially outer side wall which is made relatively steep and at the steepest point an inclination to the central longitudinal axis of the rivet nut in the range of about 45 ° to about -20 °, preferably from about 30 ° to about 0 ° has, and that the V is selected olume of the annular groove such that over a range of sheet thicknesses, which is adapted to the thread size, the volume of each folded portion of the rivet section has room within the group formed by molding the sheet metal part into the annular groove of the element ring recess and not via the annular support surface opposite side of the shaped sheet metal protrudes.


Travel time, or, more generally, level of service, has always been considered the main parameter with which to design roads, particularly in extra-urban areas where geometries and policies, such as speed limits, play a key role in the performance achieved. Unfortunately, this type of approach does not consider the impact on emissions that is obtained when only performance-based goals are pursued. The paper deals with the analysis of the impact on emissions and fuel consumption under different traffic conditions, and we present a new methodology for emission estimation based on the stochastic formulation of the fundamental diagram in a highway environment. The proposed methodology estimates the emissions using a stochastic adaptation of the CORINAIR methodology based on COPERT software on both specific vehicle types and the average Italian vehicle fleet. As expected, due to the convexity of the emission function, accounting for speed dispersion leads to an increase in energy consumption and emissions. Tests show that the stochastic component can lead to an increase in the emission estimation up to 5.5% and, therefore, it should be considered. The methodology has been applied by means of real trajectories, and the results of the application show that performance optimization strategies can contrast with sustainability and emission reduction policies. Results show that for some vehicular classes, emissions or fuel consumption are highly dependent on speed, with different proportionalities. In all cases, the minimum consumption is obtained at speeds ranging from 70 to 90 km/h. The analysis of the curves shows that an increase in speeds, even to reach low speeds, generally leads to an increase in energy consumption and emissions per kilometer traveled and, therefore, is independent of the decrease in travel time.


Riemann zeta function is the famous complex number infinite series consisting of a real and an imaginary part. Non-trivial zeros and Gram points are best seen as mathematically derived entities of this function when its variable Sigma has a value of $\frac{1}{2}$. The presence [but not the actual locations] of the complete set of infinite non-trivial zeros is characterized by the criterion that the sum total of the simultaneous real and imaginary parts in Riemann zeta function equates to zero. In an identical manner this slightly altered criterion for the presence [but not the actual locations] of the complete set of infinite Gram points is that this 'sum total' now refer to the lesser requirement that only the individual imaginary part in Riemann zeta function equates to zero. The key role played by Dimensional analysis homogeneity to rigorously prove Riemann conjecture/hypothesis has been fully outlined in our landmark research paper published earlier on Page 9 - 21 in the preceding Volume 8, Number 3, June 2016 issue of this journal. Those resulting methodology previously employed by us are now mathematically used in an analogical procedure to delineate its role in successfully supplying crucial explanations for Gram points. In this research article, we use the notation \{Non-critical lines\}-Gram points to signify those 'near-identical' (virtual) Gram points when Sigma value is not $\frac{1}{2}$.


Atomic oxygen is one of the predominant constituents of Earth's upper atmosphere. It is created by the photodissociation of molecular oxygen (O2) into single O atoms by ultraviolet radiation. It is chemically very reactive because a single O atom readily combines with another O atom or with other atoms or molecules that can form a stable oxide. The effects of atomic oxygen on the external surfaces of spacecraft in low Earth orbit can have dire consequences for spacecraft life, and this is a well-known and much studied problem. Much less information is known about the effects of atomic oxygen on the internal surfaces of spacecraft. This degradation can occur when openings in components of the spacecraft exterior exist that allow the entry of atomic oxygen into regions that may not have direct atomic oxygen attack but rather scattered attack. Openings can exist because of spacecraft venting, microwave cavities, and apertures for Earth viewing, Sun sensors, or star trackers. The effects of atomic oxygen erosion of polymers interior to an aperture on a spacecraft were simulated at the NASA Glenn Research Center by using Monte Carlo computational techniques. A two-dimensional model was used to provide quantitative indications of the attenuation of atomic oxygen flux as a function of the distance into a parallel-walled cavity. The model allows the atomic oxygen arrival direction, the Maxwell Boltzman temperature, and the ram energy to be varied along with the interaction parameters of the degree of recombination upon impact with polymer or nonreactive surfaces, the initial reaction probability, the reaction probability dependence upon energy and angle of attack, degree of specularity of scattering of reactive and nonreactive surfaces, and the degree of thermal accommodation upon impact with reactive and non-reactive surfaces to be varied to allow the model to produce atomic oxygen erosion geometries that replicate actual experimental results from space. The degree of erosion of various interior locations was compared with the erosion that would occur external to the spacecraft. Results of one cavity model indicate that, at depths into a two-dimensional cavity that are equal to 10 cavity widths, the erosion on the walls of the cavity is less than that on the top surface by over 2 orders of magnitude. Wall erosion near the surface of a cavity depends on which wall is receiving direct atomic oxygen attack. However, deep in the cavity little difference is present. Testing of various cavity models such as these gives spacecraft designers an indication of the level of threat to sensitive interior surfaces for different geometries. Even though the Monte Carlo model is two-dimensional, it can be used to provide qualitative information about spacecraft openings that are three-dimensional by offering reasonable insight as to the nature of the attenuation of damage that occurs within a spacecraft in low Earth orbit. As shown, there is more erosion on the side seeing direct atomic oxygen attack until a depth of approximately 5 times the width of the opening, where the erosion is the same on both sides.


100-200 words Most events depend on volunteers. But not all events should manage volunteers in the same way. In general, Mega Events, certainly when they organized every time in different locations, should apply a programme management approach in which volunteers have less autonomy and are placed in well defined assignments. Smaller local events, certainly if they are organized frequently, should apply a member management approach that gives volunteers more freedom to create their own assignments. Next to that, event volunteer manager should develop strategies to engage with the new providers of access to volunteer energy such as corporations, educational institutes, family volunteering and single volunteers. These dual or shared volunteer management systems offer easy recruitability but might influence the autonomy of the event organization. Commented [KS1]: Please add a short abstract


The paper explores the joint determination of economic output, wages, corporate culture, employees' ethical standards and monitoring intensity in an analysis of organisational dysfunction. Economic activities are frequently accompanied by unethical and socially harmful activity, such as corruption, sexual harassment and environmental degradation. The ethical sensitivities of managers and their employees are shaped through their social interactions and thus organisational dysfunctions can arise. Such dysfunctions may be mitigated through changes in government policies or social norms. These changes become particularly effective if they encourage the managers and employees to adopt more ethical narratives. Narratives align managers' and employees' recognition of the social harm from unethical activities, determining their objectives and thereby their economic behaviours. The intersubjective quality of narratives means that policy interventions may either be amplified or counteracted by how discussion unfolds around the issue.


We report on the fabrication and tunneling characteristics of pulsed-laser deposited LaSrMnO (LSMO)∕PbZrTiO(PZT)∕LSMO∕SrTiO3 multilayers, using PZT layer as a tunnel barrier. The trilayer films show magnetic onset at about 360K with ferromagnetic hysteresis at room temperature. The microscopic studies show that the effective barrier thickness is reduced due to the presence of defects in the barrier region. Our results suggest that the asymmetric deformation of the barrier potential profile induced by the ferroelectric polarization of PZT influences the tunneling characteristics and can be used for electrically controlled readout in quantum-computing schemes.


If a project is implemented using a project-finance approach, the debt service payment relies solely on the project cash flows and its assets. This paper identifies, quantifies, and evaluates major financial risks associated with project-financed toll road projects in Indonesia. Ordering payments by priority level, subject to cash availability, enables risk to be evaluated from the different perspectives of multiple parties involved. The paper makes use of Latin Hypercube simulations for risk analysis because they deal with problems involving large and complex systems. To better illustrate the concept, a case study is presented. A sensitivity analysis of the impact of delay-in-adjustment risk and of the adoption of a new regulation related to the toll adjustment is performed and discussed. Simulation results show that the project sponsor fares worse as delay-in-adjustment risk increases but that the creditor can fare better, given that the risk level is low or moderate. Output statistics also reveal that ...


The fermentation process of alcohol and the fermentation kinetics were studied. The mathematical kinetic mo- dels describing the biomass growth and product formation were established on the base of the formula of the biomass specific growth rate (μ=μ(t)) and the biomass growth rate (dCx/dt=μCx). The comparison of test data and the model suggested a reasonable regression, which indicated that the model could reflect the fermentation process and the kinetics mechanism very well.(Tran. by YUE Yang)


BACKGROUND
To study the main risk factors associated with Clostridium difficile infection in a geriatric unit.

PATIENTS AND METHOD
Retrospective case-control study.

RESULTS
In a multivariate analysis, tube feeding (OR = 6.73; IC 95%, 1.01-45.35) and length of antibiotic therapy (OR = 1.15; IC, 95% 1.01-1.28) were independent variables which associated with C. difficile infection.

CONCLUSIONS
Antibiotic treatment, tube feeding and fragility are associated with C. difficile infection.


The usual techniques employed when probe microphones are used to measure sound pressures at the eardrum are shown to give results with a best accuracy of ±10 dB in the frequency range 10 kHz–30 kHz. Both the size of the ear cavity and the position of the probe within it affect the output from the microphone.


The author analyzes the needs of users of bilingual LSP dictionaries within the framework of the functional approach in Lexicography. The principles of compiling the user profile and existing classifications of the dictionary users are in the focus of attention. The survey results are analyzed and presented in the article.


Charge transfer has been demonstrated to be a cost-effective method to measure capacitive sensors with low-end microcontrollers. Here we apply charge transfer to measure the output of voltage dividers that include a high value resistive sensor hence extending the advantages of this method to a large group of sensors. By using two-point calibration, the maximal deviation obtained, referred to the Full Scale Span (FSS), is ±4 % for sensors between 100 kO and 1 MO, and ±5 % for sensors between 1 MO and 10 MO.


Typical sources of switched current mirror mismatch were discussed. The most important three parameter of mismatch: transconductance, threshold voltage and the sub threshold slope were analyzed, due to the switch current circuit adopts the width to length ratio characteristic for calibration design. SPICE model using Hspice platform and 0.18 um BSIM3_V3.1 were proposed for circuit simulation. The simulation and analysis of mismatch were executed based on two kinds of operating rules of weak inversion and strong inversion. The compensation ability for mismatch was provided by floating gate switch current mirror which was also verified by simulation. Analysis and simulation results of two kinds of operation rules were also given.


Education run by the local people had newly passed through 20 years in China.It has a considerable scale and has obvious characteristics.But there are some questions about it.Education run by the local people developed very slowly in recent two years.The paper has analysed its existence causes,and expected the trend of our eduaction development,and sought itself development of education run by the local people.Education run by the local people will go better and better as long as it catches good opportunities.


A ICP-MS method for determination of cadmium in egg was development.The samples were microwave-assisted digested by nitric acid at 180℃,evaporated to dryness at 160℃,and reconstituted by 2% nitric acid,then deterrminated by ICP-MS.The calibration curves of cadmium were linear in the range of 0.2~5.0 ng/mL.The average recoveries ranged between 88.5% and 95.7% from spiked eggs at the three concentration of 10 μg/kg,20 μg/kg and 50 μg/kg.The between-run relative standard deviation was the range of 1.8%~6.1%,and the inter-run standard deviation was the range of 1.8%~3.4%.The LOD was 3 μg/kg,and the LOQ was 10 μg/kg.This method was found to be suitable for trace analysis of cadmium in eggs.


STUDIES ON ISOTOPES OF SULFIDES, CARBONATES AND CRYSTALLIZATIONAL WATER OF GYPSUM IN MIOCENE ROCKS OF THE PRZEDKARPACIE REGION

Summary
This report presents new, more precise stable isotope data and their interpretation for evaporite sulfates, sulfur- bearing carbonates and water of crystallization of gypsum in the Miocene formation of the Carpathian Foredeep, SE Poland. The isotopic data (δ34S, δ18O, δ13C and δD) give further support for general model of epigenetic origin of the native sulfur ore deposits in this area and they cast some new light on geochemical processes which took place during deposition of gypsum and subsequent alteration.
S and O isotope abundances in evaporites are markedly uniform and consistent with their marine origin. Carbon isotopes in carbonates provide information on source of organic matter responsible for sulfate reduction, and it is concluded that the major source was methane generated in underlying strata, while oxygen isotope ratios show meteoric origin of water, in which underwent the deposition of the carbonates. The waters of crystallization of gypsum widely range in their D/H and 18O/16O ratios, depending on location, cristal size, and degree of erosion. The most negative delta values has been found in gypsum-anhydrite within Basznia deposit, which likely was due to partial regypsification of anhydrite in contact with water of glacial origin.


We utilize the Vernier effect to partially stabilize a pair of high repetition rate, octave-spanning Kerr solitons in silicon nitride microrings fabricated on the same wafer.


For a class of single-input and single-output discrete-time nonlinear systems,a nonlinear adaptive proportional-integral-differential(PID)control method was proposed by using neural networks and multiple models.Such control method was composed of a linear adaptive PID controller,a neural-based nonlinear adaptive PID controller and a switching mechanism.The linear adaptive PID controller was used to guarantee the boundedness of all signals in the closed-loop system,while the neural-based nonlinear adaptive PID controller was employed to improve the performance of the closed-loop system.By introducing a reasonable switching mechanism,the stability of the closed-loop could be guaranteed,while the control performance was improved.Theoretical analysis illustrated that the proposed control method could guarantee the boundedness of all signals in the closed-loop system,while the tracking error would convergent to any given compact set if the structure and parameters of the neural networks were properly chosen.Then the proposed control method was applied to a continuous stirred tank reactor(CSTR).Simulation result of CSTR demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed control method.Since the proposed control method was based on the incremental digital PID controller,it had a bright application prospect in industrial process control.


1. Let A be an n× n matrix with complex coefficients. Define trA to be the sum of the diagonal elements. Show that trA is invariant under conjugation, i.e., trA = trPAP for all invertible n× n matrices P. Proof. Let P be an invertible matrix. Let ~pk be the k-th row of P, ~qj the j-th column of P, and ~ ai the i-th column of A. The k-th row of the matrix PA is 〈~pk · ~ a1, . . . ,~pk · ~ an〉. So the k,k-th entry of PAP is 〈~pk · ~ a1, . . . ,~pk · ~ an〉 · ~qk. Hence


This study explores the learnability problems involved in the acquisition of English intransitive verbs by Chinese L2 learners. Specifically, the study investigates whether L2 learners distinguish between the two sub-classes of English intransitive verbs: the unaccusative verb and the unergative verb. Moreover, the study tried to research whether the same learners could differentiate the alternating unaccusative verb and the non-alternating one. The experimental study lends a support for the claim that L2 learners are sensitive to the abstract properties of argument structure when they construct their L2 grammars.


Background  Angiogenesis is essential for tumour growth and metastasis, and is coordinated by several classes of growth factors mediating their effect through receptors linked, in turn, to tyrosine kinase. These growth factors include angiopoietin‐1 (Ang‐1), angiopoietin‐2 (Ang‐2) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which act through receptors Flt‐1 and Tie‐2.


INTRODUCTION This page let us into the mind-set of the authors in embarking on writing this book. From here we discover that the book is divided into four main parts. The first part introduces the general public to the structures that make up the organ called the Eye. The second part treats refractive errors, which can only be managed with the use of lenses and not drugs. The authors referred to them as "Non medical problems of the Eye". The third part treats pathological cases of the eye, which can only be relived, with the use of drugs and/or surgery. The authors referred to them as "common medical problems of the eye". The fourth part deals specially with specialty areas of Optometrists. In all these parts the authors endeavoured to accommodate the targeted reading community in the use of language and terminology. This they admitted in the preface, when they wrote, "the book is written in simple user-friendly language different from what would be found in regular texts in optometry and ophthalmology. Technical terms are used only when they are unavoidable, the main objective being to demystify eye problems in general and their specific form(s) of treatment in particular". It will be interesting to know if this set objective would be achieved!


A new multilevel cellular automata networks model is developed to simulate the urban traffic spatiotemporal evolvement by means of computerized morphology analytical method. In the spatial structure of this model, the intersections does not take the faulty hypothesis that vehicles fly over them freely. The lanes are described by one dimensional cellular automata. The intersections are described by two dimensional cellular automata, But a m-legged intersection is decomposed into Cm2 of logical independent cells chains which are modeled by the multilevel Cellular Automata networks overlapped in vertical. At the micro networks dynamics, the basic state equations of Cellular Automata for traffic system are developed, and the complex networks dynamics equations are also developed in this research. The urban traffic behavior is simulated by iterations based on the updating procedure of system involvement for continuous ticks of the clock. Then a example is applied to illustrate the practical use of the multilevel cellular automata networks model. the simulation results shows the simulation is consisted on the theoretical. Despite the simplicity in the construction of the model, it produces rather complex behavior of urban traffic systems. The future applications of the model is expected.


Unsecured creditors in the insolvency of the debtor's creditors are those who do not have collateral security against the debtor's assets and who are not accompanied by liens privileges whose claims are current at the opening proceedings and claims us for current activities during observation. In the matter of the bankruptcy secured creditors set for secured debts are claims receiving collateral on the debtor's property, whether it is the primary obligor or third party guarantee to persons benefiting from collateral. The secured creditor's secured claim in the insolvency procedure is given by the value of collateral assessment arising after the opening of insolvency proceedings the debtor. These special legal provisions contained in the bankruptcy, derogating from the common law, they often generate different practical situations and have created jurisprudence. In judicial practice of insolvency have encountered situations where the creditor security budget, which requires to be entered in the final table of the debtor in the category of secured creditors, the debt claim, warranty claims for his claim is the universality of the debtor's assets. The study on which we focused includes analysis of these categories of claims in insolvency proceedings and the solutions adopted in judicial practice.


The purpose of this work is to compare two methods for time estimation of useful life for a small and shallow reservoir, located at Pirassununga's Municipal District, in Sao Paulo State/Brazil: sedimentometry and bathymetry. The model indicated a useful lifetime around 50 years for the studied dam. The values are between 51 year for the initial years of 1998/1999, and 46 year for the final years of 2004/2005, having an oscillation between years of 1999/2000, of 27 years, and 2000/2001, of 76 years. These differences probably are due to global climatic changes phenomena, and anthropomorphic activities in the region. The obtained results showed that it is possible to foresee useful lifetime for small dams through the sedimentometric method knowing the correction coefficient value (K'). The coefficient is calculated using time values of useful lifetime calculated by the sedimentometric and batimetric methods simultaneously, during the period of one year.


Microwave Ga-As F.E.T. characterization, starting from internal geometry is presented and extended to power F.E.T.A computer program, solving the transport equations for charge carriers in the channel versus biasing conditions and geometrical parameters, gives static characteristics and the equivalent circuit. Calculation of the saturation current and the breakdown voltage gives the maximum output power of the device together with the optimum load impedance. From these results, dependance of gain versus output power is derived. Comparisons between theoretical and experimental results are presented at 10 GHz.


Shock-induced oscillations (SIO) are a pure aerodynamic problem that can occur over rigid airfoils as a result of the development of instabilities caused by the boundary-layer separation and the shock-wave interaction. This problem is extremely important because it can lead to the buffeting phenomenon through the mechanical response of the wing structure. A detailed description of the physical features of SIO is given by Lee. Computations have been essentielly done over thick airfoils to investigate the SIO problem. Numerically, the local time-step technique, which is efficient to accelerate the convergence towards the steady state, cannot be applied for unsteady computations that imperatively need a global time step. This constraint drastically reduces the method efficiency because of the Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy stability criterion. To overcome this difficulty, the dual time-stepping approach has been proposed by Jameson. It has also been used recently by Furlano and Renaud for SIO computations. In the present study a wall law approach is used to relax the mesh refinement near the wall and therefore to increase the value of the global time step. Then, the computational efficiency of the explicit method is restored. Providing large CPU cost savings, the wall law approach has also proved to be attractive for the quality of its results in computing separated flows and for the robustness improvment it brings. Moreover, the eddy viscosity models based on the linear Boussinesq relation are known to be unable to capture the boundary layer separation and unable to take into consideration the nonequilibrium effects. A consequence of these weakness observed for unsteady computations is the over production of eddy viscosity,which limits the development of natural unsteadiness and modifies the flow topology. In this Note, we show that the turbulence model behavior can be remarkably improved by limiting the eddy viscosity with the shear-stress-transport (SST) correction associated with a wall law approach.


Historically, livestock and poultry diseases have been introduced into new areas by the uncontrolled importation of animals and trade (including smuggling), through the movements of people and wildlife, and by vectors. Some diseases spread widely in the past. Rinderpest or "cattle plague," for example, devastated farms as it was transported across continents by invading armies and their cattle, as well as by trade, the development of railways, and other factors. Other pathogens remained fairly localized for various reasons. Most of the parasites that cause African animal trypanosomiasis, for instance, must be transmitted by tsetse flies, and these insects have not become established outside the "tsetse fly belt" of Africa. As livestock production became more sophisticated, countries with sufficient resources set up border controls and surveillance to prevent the introduction of new diseases. Many nations have also eradicated serious diseases such as classical swine fever, highly virulent Newcastle disease, foot and mouth disease, glanders, and bovine babesiosis. However, some countries do not have the resources or the veterinary infrastructure for such efforts. In these areas, diseases that are exotic to the rest of the world remain a persistent problem, causing illness and deaths among animals, loss of productivity, and in some cases, human disease. Through international travel, livestock trade, and other routes, such agents can be accidentally reintroduced to nations that have become disease free.


In many application domains, it is useful to be able to represent and reason about a user's preferences over sets of objects. We present a representation language, DD-PREF (for Diversity and Depth PREFerences), for specifying the desired diversity and depth of sets of objects where each object is represented as a vector of feature values. A strong diversity preference for a particular feature indicates that the user would like the set to include objects whose values are evenly dispersed across the range of possible values for that feature. A strong depth preference for a feature indicates that the user is interested in specific target values or ranges. Diversity and depth are complementary, but are not necessarily opposites.

We define an objective function that, when maximized, identifies the subset of objects that best satisfies a statement of preferences in DD-PREF. Exhaustively searching the space of all possible subsets is intractable for large problem spaces; therefore, we also present an efficient greedy algorithm for generating preferred object subsets. We demonstrate the expressive power of DD-PREF and the performance of our greedy algorithm by encoding and applying qualitatively different preferences for multiple tasks on a blocks world data set. Finally, we provide experimental results for a collection of Mars rover images, demonstrating that we can successfully capture individual preferences of different users, and use them to retrieve high-quality image subsets.


: Lobato's fiction permeated moments of praise and attacks, according to the social, political, and cultural realities through which Brazil also passed. Its connection with children's literature and its dissemination by the mass media gave it a special value. However, irrespective of the views that may be attributed to it, Lobatian literature covered several fields, nourishing itself on telluric folklore. Along the way, he found the fantastical, though critics don't always notice it.


IEICE Technical Workshop on Network Software, BS-26-2.I have proposed environment-adaptive software that automatically converts the description code according to the destination device and operates it with high performance. Currently, for environments where GPUs, FPGAs, and manycore CPUs are mixed in the cloud or so on, all offload destination performance is verified and the fastest migration destination is selected, and it takes a long time. In this paper, I use the Arithmetic Intensity of the application loop statement to verify whether it is possible to select for GPU or manycore CPU.


The invention relates to a stable solidification treatment and sanitary landfill disposal method for polluted soil. According to the stable solidification treatment and sanitary landfill disposal method, a corresponding medicament solution is prepared by adopting a solid medicament or a liquid medicament through a stable solidification treatment system of the polluted soil according to pollution properties of different types of heavy-metal polluted soil; the soil which is severely polluted by heavy metals including Pb, Zn, Cu and the like is rapidly treated; the medicament solution and the heavy metals in the polluted soil are subjected to a series of physical and chemical processes by agitating, so that free-state heavy metals which can move easily in the polluted soil are changed into an insoluble state or an indissolvable state. The treated soil reaches sanitary landfill entrance standards and is conveyed into a sanitary landfill to be filled; the soil is filled by layers, is compacted layer by layer and is subjected to daily covering treatment, so as to realize sanitary treatment disposal of the polluted soil. The stable solidification treatment and sanitary landfill disposal method for the polluted soil is wide in applicable range, rapid in reaction speed, short in repairing period, good in flexibility, safe and stable to operate and is economically feasible.


This paper presented research on the aging kinetics characteristics of asphalt binder by using softening point and n-pentane asphaltene content, respectively, as parameters. Sasobit additives were added into two matrix asphalt binders to prepare the warm mix asphalt binders, and then were aged at different temperatures and time. The softening points and contents of n-pentane asphaltene were measured. Results indicated that the softening point was improved by adding the additives. Both the softening point and content of n-pentane asphaltene increased with aging temperature and aging time, and the increments of matrix asphalt binders were bigger. Taking the softening point and content of n-pentane asphaltene as the parameters, respectively, the aging kinetics models were established, and the reaction rate constants and reaction activation energies were calculated. It was found that warm mix asphalt binders had lower reaction constants and bigger reaction activation energies, that is to say the anti-aging property of warm mix asphalt was better. The anti-aging properties could be better evaluated by the aging kinetics models based on the softening point for its higher accuracy and testing convenience.


The city of Kota is located in the south-eastern parts of Rajasthan state at 23 0 45'to 25 0 53 ' north latitudes and 75 0 9' to 77 0 27' east longitudes. Chambal River is a perennial river which flows 960 km. from its


The existence of an isotropic component of the high-latitude radio sky has been recognized for nearly fifty years, but has typically been assumed to be Galactic in origin. We use receut radio observations to test whether the observed 111~;U-j,4L! nent could originate within either an extended Galactic halo a more compo"bubble" structure. The lack of polarization from the isotropic component, combined with the lack of significant correlation with the Galactic far-infrared emission, rule out an origin within the Galaxy. We conclude that origiu the only vialternative for the bulk of the isotropic high~latitude emllSS:lOll. The extragalactic ,,"Z"'''IJ'Vucc,,< is 2-3 times brighter than local the Galactic COIlSis:terlt with a law in frequency with 24.1 2.1 = 2.599 0.036 reference frequency 310 MHz.


In the modern social world, there are various trends associated with digitalization, aimed primarily at the development and implementation of digital technologies in various spheres of society. Civil servants as a socio-professional group are developing, adapting to new unknown digital technologies. Currently, there is a problem of insufficient development of digital literacy among civil servants. This is evidenced by ongoing research, regulatory documents. The purpose of the study is to assess the level of digital literacy of civil servants, the subject of the study is the features of digital literacy in public administration. The scientific article used the methods of empirical sociological research: analysis of documents, the purpose of which is to study currently possible studies, scientific publications on the topic of digital literacy of civil servants and testing, the purpose of which is to assess the level of digital literacy among civil servants of the Government and the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation. The results of the study are as follows: the analysis of respondents' responses showed that the respondents' most pronounced competence is "The ability to collect, process and analyze information data" (71.03%). The reason for this was the forced work with a large volume of incoming information in government agencies. The competence "The ability to use digital tools to ensure the cybersecurity of state structures" was the least important (38.11%). This suggests that most government employees are not familiar enough with the tools of using antivirus programs, two-factor authentication systems, password protection and do not take the existing threats to government systems seriously enough. The following recommendations are proposed based on the results of the study: to include in the programs and plans for the professional development of civil servants of a practice-oriented nature aimed at the formation and development of digital literacy, to develop competency models for specific categories of civil servants, to develop a special motivation system for civil servants, including material incentives, as well as non-material motivation.


This paper describes an experiment designed to search for a new form of nuclear matter—a bound η‐nucleus system. The (π+,p) reaction was used to study the possible formation of an η‐mesic nucleus. No narrow η‐nuclear bound states were observed using Li, 12C, 16O and 27Al targets. The results of this experiment have now been published elsewhere by Chrien et al.


For the complexity of constructing Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), a flexible application framework was proposed, based on multi-layer application service architecture. Some advanced technologies, such as object-oriented analysis for business process, event-driven mechanism with business rules and business engineering analysis, were used to achieve reconfigurable organization, scalable business processes and customizable business rules, which increased the development flexibility of MES software systems. At last, one instance was analyzed and realized by using the framework.


A system level power/jitter reduction technique of all-digital phase locked loop (ADPLL) design has been developed. The architecture to memorize the repetitive control signal pattern of digitally-controlled oscillator (DCO) during lock state and to regenerate the pattern, achieve the reduced power consumption compared to conventional mode from 14.4 mW to 9.51 mW in 1.0 V supply at 12.2 GHz and concurrently reduce jitter from 1.86 ps to 1.56 ps. The prototype PLL has been fabricated in 65 nm CMOS process and occupies 0.16 mm chip area.


A velocity sensor known as the Microflown measures particle velocity from a difference in temperature between two MEMS‐scale wires. With a small precision microphone in a package the size of a matchstick, simultaneous measurement of particle velocity and pressure can be accomplished in a tiny space such as the mouthpiece of a brass instrument. Traditional measurements of input impedance rely on a constant flow provided by a capillary tube or feedback loop control of the driver. This velocity sensor eliminates these technical requirements. The apparatus and calibration procedures will be described, and results of measurements of several instruments will be presented. In an easily used device, this approach could benefit instrument designers, makers, and repair technicians.


Iskandar Shah, the outlet manager of WRC Auto Sdn Bhd, was an authorized local car dealer who was facing challenges that he never anticipated throughout his working experience. On March 11, 2011, an earthquake and tsunami occurred in Japan and Perodua's main supplier, Daihatsu, was affected seriously by this natural disaster. Later on, Perodua, officially, stopped their production temporarily for Viva and Myvi. The car components were not enough to supply to the Malaysian car producers, which caused a shortage of new cars in the country. The manufacturers in Japan had estimated 3 months to recover their business operations. Iskandar knew that sales of Viva and Myvi would drop and he needed to plan other alternatives to sustain the business during the 3 months' supply shortage. He had to come up with a different strategy while waiting for the supply chain to recover in July 2011.


The invention relates to a minodronic acid tablet and a preparation process thereof. According to the preparation process, a direct tabletting method is used, Flowac100 type spray-dried lactose is used as a filling agent and polylactic acid is added at the same time, so that the prepared minodronic acid tablet is uniform in content and favorable to release; and compared with the prior art, the direct tabletting method is capable of solving the problem that the minodronic acid tablets obtained via powder direct tableting are easy to crack and not good for coating, so that the medicine quality is ensured.


The craftsman spirit of employees has a direct impact on the core competitiveness of enterprises. As a popular talent development program, can mentorship help cultivate the craftsman spirit of employees? The purpose of this paper is to reveal the positive effect of mentoring on protégé craftsman spirit, as well as its mechanism. Based on mentoring theory, we explored the intermediary role of protégé deliberate practice and investigated the relevant boundary condition. Using a three-stage questionnaire survey, we collected data from employees in Chinese enterprises. Finally, 370 questionnaires were effectively obtained. We utilized data analysis software such as Mplus and SPSS to test the hypotheses. The empirical results showed that mentoring has a significant positive effect on protégé craftsman spirit. Deliberate practice of protégés mediates the relationship between mentoring and protégé craftsman spirit. Mentor advice-seeking behavior can reinforce the positive effect of mentoring on protégé deliberate practice and strengthen the mediating effect of deliberate practice between mentoring and craftsman spirit. In conclusion, we provide a theoretical explanation for mentoring to cultivate the craftsman spirit of employees, as well as relevant management insights for talent management practices within enterprises.


The electrochemical behavior of Li-graphite intercalation anodes in ethylene and diethyl carbonates (EC-DEC) solutions was studied using surface sensitive Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and impedance spectroscopy in conjunction with standard electrochemical techniques. Three different solvent combinations, four different salts: LiBF{sub 4}, LiPF{sub 6}, LiClO{sub 4}, and LiAsF{sub 6}, and the influence of the presence of CO{sub 2} were investigated. Graphite electrodes could be cycled hundreds of times obtaining a reasonable reversible capacity. The best electrolyte was found to be LiAsF{sub 6} and the presence of CO{sub 2} in solutions considerably increased the reversible capacity upon cycling. This improved performance is due to precipitation of the ethylene carbonate reduction product, (CH{sub 2}OCO{sub 2}Li){sub 2}, which is an excellent passivating agent, on the electrode surface. Aging processes of these surface films and their influence on the electrode properties are discussed.


We give several theorems that can be used to substantially reduce the state space that must be considered in applying finite-state verification techniques, such as model checking, to parallel programs written using a subset of MPI. We illustrate the utility of these theorems by applying them to a small but realistic example.


This study investigates the effects of individuals' ethics on perceptions and responses to a company's crisis,Drawing on Moral Foundations Theory, it empirically tests a theoretical model of crisis attribution and emotional reaction with two antecedents (i.e., individualizing moral and binding moral) on three outcomes (i.e., crisis attribution, emotions, and boycott intentions), using more than 4000 samples from four culturally-diverse countries - the U.S., South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. The study finds that individualizing and binding moral foundations have significant effects on attribution, emotional reaction, and behavioral intentions related to corporate irresponsibility, but that their effects are distinct and vary across countries. Individualizing moral foundations lead to boycott intentions through their positive direct effects and indirect effects via blame attribution and emotional reactions. However, the effects of binding moral foundations is multifaceted. They directly inhibit boycott intentions while invoking boycott intentions through their positive indirect effects via attribution and emotion. (149 words) crisis management and corporate communication by offering findings related to the differing effects of two types of moral foundations in the context of global business ethical issues. This study further provides insights into activists' consumerism in four culturally-diverse countries. We believe our study contributes to filling the gap in previous MFT scholarship that mainly focused on the differing effects of a different set of moral foundations pertaining solely to political and social contexts. Previous scholarly attempts have been made to uncover cultural influence on crisis management and corporate communication that contributed to our body of knowledge in a diverse regional context, via employing ethnographic method or case-studies. Further along this previous approach, this study contributes by testing a research model that specifies theoretical links between moral foundations and collective/activist behaviors against a firm, using large-scale multinational data. Moreover, by developing a cross-culturally valid theoretical framework focusing on consumer ethical traits in the context of crisis attribution, we hope this study provides scholars and managers with the means of improving their understanding and handling of multinational consumers' responses to a corporate crisis.


In the paper, the effect of discharge switch of ESD simulator to ESD immunity test is discussed. Using grounded metal mesh enclosure, which ensures waveform parameters of ESD current are within the specification of IEC61000-4-2, the transient fields and the values of the characteristics of the discharge current have been measured, and electrostatic discharge immunity test has been also carried out. Experimental results show that the intensive electromagnetic fields can be produced during the switching process of the ESD simulator, which will affect the results of ESD immunity test. This indicates that, while keeping the presently set peak current and rise time, the relevant standard should specify the discharge current derivative and the transient field in detail.


New heterobinucleating ligands for heme−Cu O2-reactivity studies feature a variably appended tridentate chelate {N,N-bis[2-(2-pyridyl)ethyl]amine} possessing an already established copper(I)/O2 chemistry. Reduced metal complexes have been synthesized and characterized. (3L)FeII (1a), a heme−Fe(II) empty-tether complex, binds O2 reversibly. Heme−Cu complex [(4L)FeIICuI]+ (2b) forms a peroxo level adduct [(4L)Fe−O2−Cu]+ (4b).


The mixed isocyanide/carbonyl complexes cis- and trans-[Re(CO)3Br(CNArDipp2)2] (ArDipp2 = 2,6-(2,6-(i-Pr)2C6H3)2C6H3) can be synthesized from reactions of [Re(CO)5Br] and CNArDipp2 depending on the conditions applied. Reduction of the neutral Re(i) species gives the monoanionic complex [Re(CO)3(CNArDipp2)2]- or the neutral [Re(CO)3(CNArDipp2)2], which contain rhenium in the formal oxidation states "-1" and "0", respectively.


The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the UN member states, are considered as ambitious developmental goals for any country to be achieved by 2030 for the larger development of the society. These require for effective planning strategies with governance reforms along with adequate resource mobilisation which needs to be aligned with national developmental objectives. India, since adoption of SDGs
has prioritised the implementation of the 17 indicators both nationally and locally. The country is becoming fast urbanised and SDGs for urban settings (as explained in Goal 11) require inclusive, liveable, safe, and sustainable progress. The real-time monitoring of programmatic interventions of SDGs, realisation with locally focussed results or developmental outcomes can deliver effective results. In this backdrop, the authors have attempted to study the SDGs intervention in the cities of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to draw inference that such interventions can reposition urban agenda through sustainable outlook. The cities of J&K are increasingly urbanised and that necessitates huge pressure on urban infrastructures and urban local bodies to deliver services.
The paper attempts to analyse the SDG indicators of some of the preceding years and finds that there is increasing trend and gradual improvement in J&K's progress in SDG achievement in the cities of J&K post annulment of the Article 370.


This paper presents the non-behavioral module of EconLav, a new microsimulation model of the Italian tax-benefit system which is coordinated by ISFOL with the support of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Labor. First, we describe a number of data quality issues which often arise in the development of a microsimulation model and the strategies adopted to cope with these issues. Then, we discuss the most important features of our model including estimation of incomes from work hidden to tax authorities, simulation of accounting rules embedded in the Italian tax-benefit system, software implementation and other relevant computational issues. Model's performances are assessed by comparing weighted predictions of the main tax aggregates with the corresponding figures from administrative tax data. Furthermore, we use the non-behavioral module of EconLav to compute marginal effective tax rates (METRs) for different groups of the Italian population.


A miniature WLAN frequency notched printed microstrip antenna with inverted T shaped DGS having a frequency response from 4.66 GHz to 10.99 GHz is suggested in this paper. The general size of the antenna is 19mm× 12mm × 1.6 mm simulated using HFSS. The suggested antenna comprises of rectangular patch of size 13.5 mm × 8 mm as a front view with microstrip feed of size 5mm ×2.8 mm. On the rear side we have Defected Ground Structure (DGS) of inverted T shape. The execution of the recommended antenna is investigated by utilizing HFSS.


The association between elevated blood cholesterol levels and adverse coronary events or mortality weakens in older populations or even disappears. This observation suggests that statin therapy after myocardial infarction might be less beneficial for older patients than for younger patients.

Researchers used …


In this paper I argue for recognizing the moral duty to participate in research. I base my argument on the need for biomedical research and the fact that at some point studies require human participants, what I call collaborative necessity. In presenting my position, I argue against the widely accepted views of Han Jonas and all of those who have accepted his declarations without challenge. I go on to show why it is both just and fair to invite and encourage people to participate in studies. It is just because research participation is the necessary means to achieve the broadly shared goals of preventing and curing disease and alleviating disease symptoms. Mutual love requires us to be willing to do for others what we would want them to do for us. It is fair because the approach treats similarly situated people in the same way. Research participation is morally required because failing to do one's part in the collaborative project of advancing biomedical science would be free-riding. People who exempt themselves from participation while eagerly accepting benefits from others doing their part are taking advantage of their compatriots and treating themselves as more deserving than others when they are not.


In this paper, the scattered field from a perfectly conducting fractal surface by Finite-Difference Time-Domain(FDTD) method was computed. A one-dimensional fractal surface was generated by using the fractional Brownian motion model. Back scattering coefficients are calculated with different values of the spectral parameter(S0), fractal dimension(D) which determine characteristics of the fractal surface. The number of surface realization for the computed field, the point number, and the width of surface realization are set to be 80, 1024, 16λ, respectively. In order to verify the computed results these results are compared with those of small perturbation methods, which show good agreement between them.


Power leakage constitutes an increasing fraction of the total power consumption in modern semiconductor technologies. Recent research efforts have tried to integrate architecture and compiler solutions to employ power-gating mechanisms to reduce leakage power. This approach is to have compilers perform data-flow analysis and insert instructions at programs to shut down and wake up components whenever appropriate for power reductions. While this approach has been shown to be effective in early studies, there are concerns for the amount of power-control instructions being added to programs with the increasing amount of components equipped with power-gating control in a SoC design platform. In this paper, we present a Sink-N-Hoist framework in the compiler solution to generate balanced scheduling of power-gating instructions. Our solution will attempt to merge power-gating instructions as one compound instruction. Therefore, it will reduce the amount of power-gating instructions issued.We perform experiments by incorporating our compiler analysis and scheduling policies into SUIF compiler tools and by simulating the energy consumptions on Wattch toolkits. The experimental results demonstrate that our mechanisms are effective in reducing the amount of power-gating instructions while further in reducing leakage power compared to previous methods.


Summary A study was made of the quantities, composition and some of the properties of materials from various sections of the alimentary tract of newborn calves. Data are presented on total weights of contents obtained, on dry weights of contents, on pH and on proximate composition of materials from the stomach, small intestine, cecum and colon. Substances identified in the ash of contents of both the small and the large intestines include 12 of the minerals regarded as essential in animal nutrition. The possible relation of the alimentary contents of the new-born calf to its prenatal nutrition is discussed.


The present invention relates to a Recirculating form system capable of reducing the carbon dioxide that is the root cause of the lowering of the pH can be bred in the breeding process of circulating, Is provided with a degassing device for removing carbon dioxide can be bred, after that removing the carbon dioxide can be bred introduced from the water storage tank, the carbon dioxide contained in the number of breeding reused through the circulation structure to send the number of breeding the carbon dioxide has been removed back into the reservoir to reduce the features.


Objective To evaluate the efficacy of intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide for serous retinal detachment of Harada disease.Methods Twelve eyes of 6 patients diagnosed of Harada disease with serous retinal detachment were treated with ivtravitreal four milligrams of triamcinolone acetonide.Visual acuity,intraocular pressure,complications,fundus oculi changes and the situation of retinal reattachment were observed.Results retinal reattachment occurred in all treated eyes with Harada disease after 3 weeks' follow-up.In two weeks eleven eyes got retinal reattachment and visual acuity improvement to a certain extent.The average visual acuity improved significantly at one month(P0.05).The symptoms of anterior uveitis reaction alleviated or disappeared.One eye developed lens opacification,no other complication was found.Conclusion Intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide can accelerate retinal reattachment,alleviate anterior uveitis reaction and improve visual acuity towards serous retinal detachment of Harada disease.


The procedures for risk assessment of micronutrients are described based on recent researches and the difference between the methods for risk assessment of micronutrients and for traditional generic risk assessment is also analyzed in this article. In order to further perfect the method of risk assessment for micronutrients and provide scientific basis for the adjustment of enhancement strategy of food nutrition and the revision of related regulations and standards, models for determination of acceptable intake range of micronutrients and disability-adjusted life-years methods are introduced to tradeoff between risk and benefit based on the latest research development in this field.


To reveal the effects of confinement and curvature on the jet mixing in a supersonic cross-flow, large eddy simulations were conducted to study the jet in supersonic cross-flow in a channel and a pipe at a Mach number of 2.7. The comparison was based on an equal friction Mach number, friction Reynolds number, and Prandtl number. The synthetic eddy model was utilized to generate the inflow turbulent boundary layer. Our study shows the major counter-rotating vortex pair (CVP) was higher in the pipe than in the channel, while the trailing CVP was larger and appeared within the recirculating flow. The pipe had a stronger shock train than the channel due to the confinement and curvature of the pipe. The jet penetration of the pipe is 18.4% larger than that of the channel at x/D = 10, and the stream velocity of the pipe is much more reduced behind the jet than in the channel. Three reasons for the higher mixing efficiency of the pipe are revealed according to our findings, including the larger and higher major CVP, the higher penetration, the stronger shock. The mixing efficiency of the pipe is 4.68% higher than that of the channel due to the above reasons at x/D = 10.


Background: COPD is a disease of accelerated lung aging and is associated with elevated cellular senescence. Increased senescent fibroblasts are seen in small airways of patients with COPD, which may contribute to disease progression via progressive fibrosis and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. However, mechanisms by which senescence is induced in these cells are unclear. Aims: To investigate the role of miR-34a in small airway fibroblast (SAF) senescence in non-smokers and COPD patients. Methods: SAFs were isolated from human lung resection tissue from non-smokers and COPD patients and the expression of miR-34a and senescence markers measured by qPCR. SAFs were treated with miR-34a inhibitors or mimics and changes in senescence markers compared to the scrambled control. Senescence was detected using β-galactosidase staining and iCELLigence technology used to assess cell proliferation. Results: COPD SAFs (n=5) showed increased expression of miR-34a (2-fold), p21 (6-fold) and p27 (2-fold) compared to non-smokers (n=5). COPD SAFs displayed elevated β-galactosidase staining and impaired proliferation compared to non-smoker SAFs. In non-smoker SAFs (n=3), a miR-34a mimic suppressed SIRT1 expression by 44% but increased p21 and p27 by 1.3-fold. Similarly in COPD SAFs, SIRT1 was reduced by 37% and p21 and p27 elevated 1.4 and 1.7-fold, respectively. Conversely, the miR-34a inhibitor (antagomir, n=5) reduced p21 by 15% and 25% in non-smoker and COPD SAFs respectively. Conclusions: These data suggest greater senescence in COPD SAFs compared to controls, with miR-34a contributing to changes in senescent markers, therefore suggesting miR-34a as a future therapeutic target for accelerated aging disease such as COPD.


During the past half century, my academic research, mainly restricted to Lu Xun studies and modern prose history and style, did not turn out to be much productive. Later, some papers were published concerning teaching and research and comparison between Chinese and foreign cultures. Comments and opinions from the academic circles have given me much enlightenment.


We have extended our model of the single rabbit sinoatrial node (SAN) cell, to simulate cellular responses to bath applications of acetylcholine (ACh) and isoprenaline (ISO), as well as the effects of neuronally released ACh. Our modified model represents the single SAN cell in its normal milieu (an extracellular cleft space is provided containing a random distribution of parasympathetic neural varicosities). The model is utilized to predict the well known phase-sensitive response of the SAN cell to aperiodic and periodic pulses of ACh, in the presence and absence of the /spl beta/-agonist ISO. It has also been used to predict the response of the SAN cell to longer periods (5 sec) of periodic vagal stimulation, which results in the cessation of pacemaking. The model-generated responses under both of these conditions, agree quite closely with experimental results.