Two stresses which limit production of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in South Dakota are drought and wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV). Winter wheat plants (cultivar Arapahoe) were grown under greenhouse conditions. Plants were divided into two moisture treatments: one which was watered continuously and one which had all water withheld for seven days. The moisture groups were subdivided into four disease treatments. Plants in three of the treatments were inoculated with WSMV either at the two leaf stage (prior to drought), the day that water withholding was started (at drought), or one day after watering was resumed (post-drought). The fourth group of plants was inoculated with KPB to serve as a control. Two weeks after the post-drought inoculation, plants were moved to a cold chamber and allowed to vernalize. After the cold treatment, plants were moved back to the greenhouse and grown to maturity. All growth and yield characteristics measured were significantly affected by WSMV infection. However, only the number of kernels per tiller was significantly affected by drought. Inoculation with WSMV prior to or at the time of drought stress produced the greatest reductions in yield and growth characteristics.


We describe Hugo -- a service initially available on iOS that solicits a structured, semantic query and returns entity-specific news articles. Retrieval is powered by a semantic annotation pipeline that includes named entity linking and automatic summarisation. Search and entity linking use an in-house knowledge base initialised with Wikipedia data and continually curated to include new entities. Hugo delivers timely knowledge about a user's professional network, in particular new people they want to know more about.


For several years I had been observing the change of opinion regarding the authorship of the mosaics of the Mascoli Chapel, when the Fondazione Giorgio Cini entrusted me with the task of photographing the famous cycle, permitting me to choose the details.1


Sideflash is a kind of lightning striking on the side wall of tall buildings. This unexpected thunder stroke often leads to big property losses and endangers lives of people. However, the origin and development mechanism of this lightning stroke are still not clear. To simulate the sideflash, a 3-D numerical model of negative cloud-to-ground lightning is built which is composed of two parts: the thundercloud model and the stepped leader model. The thundercloud model is based on the 3-D dynamics and electrification coupled model. And the stepped leader model is based on the Dielectric Breakdown Model (DBM). The Poisson's Equation solved by the Successive Over-Relaxation method is employed to refresh the spatial electric potential field. Finally, some buildings with different heights are set on the ground. In the numerical simulation, some sideflashes are observed. Based on the comparison experiments, the origin of these phenomena is discussed.


Objective To analyze the relationship between malignancy of glioma and mRNA expression level of gene MT1-MMP and provide information for clinical diagnosis, therapy and prognosis of the evaluation. Methods The mRNA expression level of gene MT1-MMP in 34 gliomas and 7 normal brain tissues were detected with quantitative real-time RT-PCR and semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Results With Real-time RT-PCR method, the △△Ct value of normal brain tissue and grade II(low-grade)、III、IV high-grade glioma were 0.834±0.517, 4.063±2.309, 6.376±4.023,7.653±4.196,7.072±4.072 respectively. With semi-quantitative RT-PCR method, the relative value of normal brain tissue and grade II(low-grade)、III、IV 、high-grade glioma were 0.799±0.156, 1.142±0.158, 1.538±0.482,1.652±0.376, 1.600±0.421 respectively. There was the statistical significant difference between normal brain tissue and grade II、III、IV glioma, grade II and grade IV glioma, normal brain tissue and low-grade、high-grade glioma, low-grade and high-grade glioma. Conclusions The mRNA expression of gene MT1-MMP is up-regulated in glioma, and the mRNA expression of gene MT1-MMP increases with the malignancy of glioma.


Based on phased-gradient metasurfaces, an efficient method is developed to convert waveguide modes in a parallel-plate waveguide. An effective wavevector is imparted to the incident mode at each interaction with matesurfaces, resulting in the mode conversion. The numerical simulation indicates that the efficiency and purity of TE1-to- TE2 conversion can significantly reach up to 99.98% and 99.99% at 9GHz. The conversion between TM3 and TM4 is also achieved, which gives a fair verification of the polarization insensitivity. This work can provide technical guidance for compact modes control.


This study aims to describe teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) on Static Fluid and analyze its effect on students' concept mastery. Three teachers and three students participated in this study. The research instrument was a questionnaire, open-ended interview questions, and conceptual mastery problems. The interview was conducted with students based on the questionnaire results and the test they had done. Interviews were also conducted with the teacher regarding the learning that had been done so far. The results showed that the three teachers have different PCK profiles. The results also showed that PCK owned by the teacher influenced the mastery of the concepts of students. Students taught by Teacher-1 and Teacher-2 have a similar conceptual mastery, but the conceptual mastery of Student-1 is slightly better than Student-2. In contrast, students taught by Teacher-3 have the mastery of a much better concept than Student-1 and Student-2.


, ���� *** ������ **** ����� ***** ����� * Tatsuya MASE, Koichi HASHIGUCHI, Shoichi NAKAI, Katsuichirou HIJIKATA, Tatsuya SUGIYAMA and Fumio YAGISITA This paper describes the formulation of a three � dimensional elastoplastic analysis for a pile � soil system and its application to an actual in � situ test. In the formulation, the subloading surface model is adopted for the elastoplastic constitutive relation. This model falls within the framework of unconventional plasticity, in which the plastic strain rate due to the stress rate inside the yield surface is taken into consideration. Thus it is capable of describing smooth transition from elastic to plastic state, which is necessary to describe the softening behavior of a soil. In addition, the Mohr � Coulomb model is also adopted, in order to compare with a conventional model in which the interior of the yield surface is assumed to be elastic domain. These constitutive relations have been implemented in a three � dimensional elastoplastic analyses, based on which analyses of lateral loading test of a single pile


Limited herbicide options are available to adzuki bean growers in southwestern Ontario. Six field trials were conducted in Ontario during 2003 and 2004 to evaluate the tolerance of adzuki bean to dimethenamid (1250 and 2500 g a.i. ha-1), S-metolachlor (1600 and 3200 g a.i. ha-1), clomazone (1000 and 2000 g a.i. ha-1), and imazethapyr (75 and 150 g a.i. ha-1) applied pre-emergence. Dimethenamid caused up to 37% visual injury and reduced plant height, shoot dry weight and yield 27, 59 and 52%, respectively. Seed maturity was also delayed by dimethenamid at 2500 g ha-1. S-metolachlor caused up to 34% visual inj ury and reduced plant height, shoot dry weight and yield 27, 48 and 48%, respectively. Clomazone caused 53% visual injury and reduced plant height, shoot dry weight and yield 47, 84 and 78%, respectively. Imazethapyr caused up to 6% visual injury; however, this injury was transient with no adverse effect on plant height, shoot dry weight, seed moisture content and yield of adzuki bean. Based on these ...


The wide range of contamination sources is one of many factors contributing to the complexity of groundwater quality assessment. Contaminants containing different chemicals will pass through different hydrologic zones as they migrate through the soil to the water table. Mathematical analysis is presented for simultaneous dispersion and adsorption of a solute within homogenous and isotropic porous media in steady unidirectional flow fields. The dispersion systems are adsorbing the solute at rates proportional to their concentration and are subject to input concentrations that vary exponentially with time. In this study, the advection-dispersion equation has been solved analytically to evaluate the transport of pollutants which takes into account of distribution coefficient and porosity by considering input concentrations of pollutants. The solution is obtained using Laplace transform, moving coordinates and Duhamel's theorem is used to get the solution in terms of complementary error function. Mathematical solutions are developed for predicting the concentration of contaminants in adsorbing porous media for prescribed media and fluid parameters.


Current research interests in materials science are commonly aimed at composites or multi-phase materials because of the beneficial effects that can arise from certain combinations of otherwise unusable materials. An example of this type of combination is the Al-SiC system. Because of the high stiffness, creep resistance and yield strength of SiC the overall stiffness, creep resistance and yield strength of the composite is higher than aluminum. Conversely, the brittleness of SiC decreases the overall ductility to a level lower than pure aluminum. Trade-offs like these can be acceptable for specific applications, but often preclude any successful application. Other examples of this type of material are metal-metal and ceramic-ceramic composites. All of these material combinations have inherent problems related to phase distribution, interfacial bonding, secondary chemical reactions and misfit stresses that must be suppressed if the combination is to be useful. One of the most significant recent advances related to composite materials is the overall increase in yield strength and the suppression has been modeled extensively. The general approach has been to simplify the model of a cracked composite to either the case of a single crack and a circular particle, or a crack and an infinite interface. In ordermore » to more realistically approach composite failure it is of various shapes in a system with general elastic constants. The current project is therefore based on examining the effects of geometrical and elastic parameters in a cracked two-component system. The plane-strain problem that is of interest in this investigation is the influence of the elastic constants and shapes of a particle on the crack-tip stress intensity factor. The model is approached through finite element (FE) calculations and the types of plane-strain elements in use are both 6-noded triangles, and 8-noded quadrilaterals.« less


Forty‐two unselected ovaries from adult mares were examined histologically, and with histochemical methods for mucins. A considerable part of the surface of the ovulation fossa was directly covered by columnar epithelium, with many ciliated cells. This epithelium, which was distributed mainly on the anterior side of the ovulation fossa, closely resembled the contiguous epithelium of the infundibulum of the oviduct, was frequently folded, and gave rise to short clefts projecting into the ovarian substance. The remainder of the ovulation fossa was covered by non‐ciliated, low cuboidal or squamous epithelium, lacking folds or clefts.


Government research and development (R&D) are different from other type of organizations in various aspects. One main difference lies in the performance management of these organizations. Many other types of organizations measure performance using concepts such as profitability, market share, return on investments (ROI) etc. These measures do not explain the motivations of government R&D organizations because the goals of these organizations are quite different. The main goals of government R&D organizations include conducting basic scientific research that private sector avoids, providing expertise on various disciplines to other government organizations, conducting classified government research, developing industry standards etc. In this paper, we identify a set of metrics that can be used for performance management in government R&D organizations. An organization is able to manage and monitor the expertise accumulated using the identified metrics. While these metrics are develo ped mainly for government R&D organizations, they may also be used by other types of organizations.


Object detection is a fundamental task in computer vision, consisting of both classification and localization tasks. Previous works mostly perform classification and localization with shared feature extractor like Convolution Neural Network. However, the tasks of classification and localization exhibit different sensitivities with regard to the same feature, hence the "task spatial misalignment" issue. This issue can result in a hedge issue between the performances of localizer and classifier. To address these issues, we first propose a novel Dynamic Coefficient Loss to simultaneously consider and balance the performances of classification and localization tasks. To well address anchor label misjudgment issue in irregular- shaped object detection, we define a new classification-aware IoU metric to assign anchors intelligently. Finally, we further introduce the localization factor into NMS by proposing a Classification-Localization balanced NMS. Extensive experiments on MS COCO and PASCAL VOC demonstrate that our proposals can improve RetinaNet by around 1.5% AP with various backbones.


We report high-power continuous-wave operation of a ridge-waveguide AlGaAs/GaAs distributed feedback laser as high as 40 mW. It was realised by an appropriate design of a ridge structure and by facet coatings.


The fire behaviour of passenger cars, electronic cabinets, and electrical ignition sources has been studied by experimental, modelling and statistical methods. The research presented in this thesis gives new quantitative information on variables essential for estimating fire safety of these subjects and structures relating to them. Full-scale fire experiments on ordinary medium-size passenger cars, equipped as in practise with oil, four tyres, spare tyre and 30 litres of petrol in the fuel tank are presented. Rate of heat release by means of oxygen consumption calorimetry, mass loss and rate of mass loss, heat flux, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide production rate, smoke production rate, gas temperatures above the car and temperatures inside the car were determined as a function of time. The experimental rate of heat release curves are parametrised by superposition of one Boltzmann curve and three symmetrical Gaussian curves. The car fire is modelled by two fire plumes, one emerging from the centre of the windscreen of the car, the other from the centre of the rear window. Gas temperatures are calculated using rate of heat release for the model plumes and Alpert's equations for maximum ceiling jet temperature, and compared to experimental temperatures from the car fire experiments. The calculated and measured temperatures were found to be in good accordance. The results can be used in design calculations for car park buildings and other structures related to passenger cars. Electrical ignitions of fires in nuclear power plants are studied by analysing statistical information from incident reports, by modelling the most frequent physical ignition mechanisms, and by experiments on some scenarios. Statistical data indicated cables have a significant role in electrical ignitions. Modelling


Since the beginning of this century, historians have been advancing the thesis that the French nobility underwent an economic and social decline in the sixteenth and early seventeenth century. The object of this paper is to challenge the accuracy of this generalization about the fate of the nobility of Renaissance France. The paper's focus is the experience of the nobility of the election of Bayeux, in Lower Normandy, between 1463 and 1666. The classic description of the decline of the French nobility came from the pen of Lucien Romier in 1922. The first half of the sixteenth century, he wrote, witnessed a drastic decline in the real value of noblemen's income. By 1560 widespread impoverishment was forcing nobles to sell their lands and fieLs and "in certain localities entire groups of gentlemen were dispossessed. " Their lands and fiefs were acquired by an increasing number of merchants and officials, who


This paper discusses issues related to designing band-gaps in periodic plane grid structures. Finite element analysis is used to solve the dynamic behavior of a representative unit cell and Bloch–Floquet theory is used to extend the results to the infinite structure. Particular attention is given to the addition of non-structural masses that are introduced as design variables. These are used to create desirable features in the dispersion diagram. Physical insight is presented into the optimal choice of locations where masses should be added and the results of several numerical examples are provided to highlight this and other features of how band-gaps can be created and located at desired frequency ranges. The effect of the skew angle of the underlying grid structure is also explored, as are mathematical refinements of the modelling of the beam elements and the rotational inertia of the added masses. A scaling feature between the size of the reducible and the irreducible reference cell is exploited and the manner in which this can simplify optimization approaches is discussed.


Wind turbines are generally controlled based on two control objectives: turbine protection and the generation of acceptable power for the grid. In this paper, a robust control strategy is presented for switching between various operating modes of the turbine. The rotor angular speed is hold below the allowable speed in all operation time. It is also attempted to catch a constant power in a desirable amount during the most of operation time. For the elimination of model/environmental uncertainties, sliding mode controllers are used. For the objective of power tracking, the stability of sliding mode controller is proved for a set of sliding surfaces. Advantages and disadvantages of the selected sliding surfaces are discussed. Moreover, some operating conditions of the wind turbine are investigated to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed control technique. Implementation of the above proposed control law in its related electronic circuit of the wind turbine will be considered as the future stage of the current research.


I briefly outline a new physical interpretation to the average cosmological parameters for an inhomogeneous universe with backreac- tion. The variance in local geometry and gravitational energy between ideal isotropic observers in bound structures and isotropic observers at the volume average location in voids plays a crucial role. Fits of a model universe to observational data suggest the possibility of a new concordance cosmology, in which dark energy is revealed as a mis- identification of gravitational energy gradients that become important when voids grow at late epochs.


Considering some robot control systems which employ wireless networks to transmit sensor signals between the controller and the nonlinear controlled object, the fault detection is carried out. Firstly, based on T-S fuzzy model, the object is linearized. The fuzzy observer is designed and the error equation of the observer is given by using the fuzzy dominant subsystem rule. Secondly, the error equation is equal to the discrete switched system related to the hop count of the wireless transmission, and the stability of the error system is proved. Finally, a simulation example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in this paper.


In this study, the investigation of the effect of Begonia psilophylla Irmsch. leaf extract on the antioxidant defenses [catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity, ceruloplasmin level, and total antioxidant capacity (TAC)] in the equine erythrocyte suspension and plasma was undertaken. In relation to blood cells, circulating erythrocytes are regularly exposed to stress conditions and are especially vulnerable as they have no membrane repair mechanism or regenerative capacity. Freshly sampled B. psilophylla leaves were washed, weighed, crushed, and homogenized in 0.1 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) (in ratio 1 : 19, w/w) at room temperature. The extract was then filtered and used for analysis. A volume of 0.1 ml of the plant extract was added to 1.9 ml of clean equine erythrocytes or 1.9 ml of plasma. For positive control, the 0.1 M phosphate buffer was used. After incubation, the mixture at 37 °C for 60 min it was centrifuged at 3,000 rpm for 5 min with continuous stirring. Erythrocytes and plasma aliquots were used in the study. The presence of the extract during incubation of erythrocyte suspension and plasma caused a non-considerable increase of catalase and glutathione peroxidase activity, while the activity of glutathione reductase was not changed compared to control samples. At the same time, B. psilophylla extract caused a statistically significant decrease in ceruloplasmin level by 47.6% (p <0.05). The total antioxidant capacity in the equine erythrocytes' suspension and plasma after in vitro incubation with B. psilophylla leaf extract was non-significantly changed. Based on the collected data, positive trends were observed in the regressions of GPx activity against catalase activity (r = 0.809, p = 0.0005), and ceruloplasmin level (r = 0.553, p = 0.017) for in the equine erythrocytes' suspension after in vitro incubation with B. psilophylla leaf extract. Therefore, our study suggests that crude extract obtained from B. psilophylla leaves has an effective antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect after the treatment of equine erythrocytes. It could be interpreted that B. psilophylla extract showed the anti-inflammation effect expressed as decreasing the ceruloplasmin level in the plasma. The pronounced effect of B. psilophylla leaf extract, probably, could be attributed to its secondary metabolites content. However, the components responsible for the antioxidative activity of B. psilophylla extract is currently unclear. Therefore, further investigations need


of only about 40 per cent at the end of the storage period. Similar results are being secured with strawberries and raspberries. The organisms concerned include representatives of the Cladosporitum, Saccharomyces, Torula, Flavobacterium and bacillus genera. WIith cultures of these organisms in artificial culture media the effects of low temperatures were less striking, though a temperature of -10°C. was still more destructive than -20°C. It is believed that the CO2 arising from the respiration of the fruit in the airtight containers at the higher temperatures acted as a germicide, the organisms remaining on blanched vegetables not showing corresponding decreases. Ability to persist at low temperatures is not confined to spore-forming types. Viable cells of Aerobacter aerogenes have been found in spinach held for a year, and lactobacilli in peas held for 2 years at 1OC. Low temperature plus ice formation appears to be more destructive than cold alone. Growth of many organisms is inhibited at temperatures below 2°C., but species of Torula and Oidium have been found to grow slowly at -4°C. under some conditions.


The northern Andaman Sea (AS) continental shelf is unique due to the diverse marine ecosystem and existences of both hypoxia and internal tides, but limited in situ observations restrict our understanding of the hydrographic dynamic process. Based on the turbidity, mean volumes of backscattering strength (MVBS), we qualitatively studied the mean distribution characteristics and temporal variation in suspended matters on the northern AS continental shelf and their relation to hypoxia and internal tides. The results of both MVBS and turbidity revealed that the suspended matters exhibited a three-layer vertical structure. The upper and lower layers exhibited high values, while the middle layer had low values. The upper boundary of the high-value region in the upper layer descended below the surface to a depth of 30 m after sunrise and returned to the surface after sunset, indicating a diel vertical migration of zooplankton and micronekton. Daytime migration depth was likely constrained by hypoxia's upper boundary. In the lower layer, three MVBS enhancements and attenuations correlated with vertical upward and downward velocities, respectively, primarily driven by uplift or suppression. We proposed vertical velocity patterns resulted from internal bores, possibly triggered by shoaling semidiurnal internal tides.


The utility model relates to a calcaneus restorer for medical use, comprising a bottom plate, a bearer respectively arranged on the two sides of the bottom plate, a connection rod hinged with the bearer, one locking bolt used for locking the connection rod and arranged on the bearer, a connection seat arranged on the upper end of the connection rod, one sleeve hinged with the connection seat, one locking bolt used for locking the sleeve and arranged on the connection seat, one connection axle inserted into the upper part of the sleeve, one locking bolt used for locking the connection axle and arranged on the sleeve, a support seat arranged on the upper end of the connection axle, a screw horizontally arranged on the support seat, one connection axle inserted into one end of the screw near to the middle position of the bottom plate, a pressing plate fixedly connected with the connection axle, a hand wheel arranged on another end of the screw, one sleeve vertically arranged in the middle position of the bottom plate and a support plate arranged on the upper end of the sleeve. The calcaneus restorer for medical use has features of simple structure, convenient use and obvious healing effect on the calcaneus fracture or malposition.


Lead is a heavy metal, dangerous for the environment that occurs in soil and also in water and with the effects of raining and precipitation can be passed into wastewaters. Therefore, the content of Pb needs to be substantially reduced in wastewater. There are several methods to remove lead from wastewater using ion exchange resins, chemical precipitation, electroflotation and reverse osmosis. All these methods are generally expensive. Another method how to eliminate lead from in wastewater is sorption. Magnetically modified biological material – waste from preparation of peanut husks was developed. Prepared material was characterized by using scanning electron microscopy. The content of iron, particle size and specific surface area were determined. Studies were focused to the sorption properties of newly prepared materials. The efficiency in Pb sorption from water solution was investigated under defined dynamic conditions. The Pb concentration in solution after its interaction with tested material was determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy with flame atomization. The changes of Fe content in magnetically modified material were observed. Scanning electron microscopy was used to study surface of material after sorption. The experimental data are tested by several types of isotherm models.


Low‐dimensional semiconductors provide promising ultrathin channels for constructing more‐than‐Moore devices. However, the prominent contact barriers at the semiconductor–metal electrodes interfaces greatly limit the performance of the obtained devices. Here, a chemical approach is developed for the construction of p‐type field‐effect transistors (FETs) with low contact barriers by achieving the simultaneous synthesis and integration of 2D PdTe2 with various low‐dimensional semiconductors. The 2D PdTe2 synthesized through a quasi‐liquid process exhibits high electrical conductivity (≈4.3 × 106 S m−1) and thermal conductivity (≈130 W m−1 K−1), superior to other transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) and even higher than some metals. In addition, PdTe2 electrodes with desired geometry can be synthesized directly on 2D MoTe2 and other semiconductors to form high‐performance p‐type FETs without any further treatment. The chemically derived atomically ordered PdTe2–MoTe2 interface results in significantly reduced contact barrier (65 vs 240 meV) and thus increases the performance of the obtained devices. This work demonstrates the great potential of 2D PdTe2 as contact materials and also opens up a new avenue for the future device fabrication through the chemical construction and integration of 2D components.


The assurance profession needs to evolve in order to address challenges, seize opportunities and lead change in this era of ongoing disruption. This report from ICAS and CPA Canada includes recommended actions from experts to help advance the value and relevance of audit.


Although continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD) systems have unconditional security in theory, there are still many cyber attacking strategies proposed that exploit the loopholes of hardware devices and algorithms. At present, few studies have focused on attacks using algorithm vulnerabilities. The low-rate denial-of-service (LDoS) attack is precisely an algorithm-loophole based hacking strategy, which attacks by manipulating a channel's transmittance T. In this paper, we take advantage of the feature that the power spectral density (PSD) of LDoS attacks in low frequency band is higher than normal traffic's to detect whether there are LDoS attacks. We put forward a detection method based on the Bartlett spectral estimation approach and discuss its feasibility from two aspects, the estimation consistency and the detection accuracy. Our experiment results demonstrate that the method can effectively detect LDoS attacks and maintain the consistency of estimation. In addition, compared with the traditional method based on the wavelet transform and Hurst index estimations, our method has higher detection accuracy and stronger pertinence. We anticipate our method may provide an insight into how to detect an LDoS attack in a CVQKD system.


This chapter surveys the world of literary translation in post-independence Indonesia, showing how individual translators with different backgrounds and motivations approached the production of translated works of literature. It begins with an exploration of the overall context of literary translation, in order to construct a picture of the networks, policies and ideologies that lay behind the production of literary translations. The questions addressed in the chapter include the types of works chosen for translation, the methods of selection, personal motivations and the networks that supported the process of selection. The chapter discusses the work of two prominent translators of the period, Trisno Sumardjo and Koesalah Soebagyo Toer. The author, by choosing to focus on these two translators, gives a preliminary indication of the role played by translators and their works in constructing a cultural bridge between Indonesia and the rest of the world during the Cold War period. Keywords: Indonesian society; Koesalah Soebagyo Toer; literary translation; Trisno Sumardjo


The aim of the paper is a retrospective analysis of formation of the 'musical taste' concept and its urgency in the contemporary society. The Methods of the research are: the theoretical analysis of the philosophical and musical literature on the approaches to the concepts "esthetical taste" (C. Batteux, D. Hume, C. Montesquieu, M. Zeltser, F. Hutcheson, A. Shafstbery, J. Herder), "artistic taste" (L. Kogan), "musical taste" (M. Marchenoka); the theoretical analysis of the psychological literature on the approaches to the problem of musical taste in the contemporary society (A. North, J. Charles & L. Sant-Kvinton, P. Rentfrow & S. Gosling); the empirical analysis of musical preference in the music education process (M. Marchenoka). The Results of the research are the following: in the research the essence of the musical taste is defined and is examined its urgency in the contemporary society and the empirical analysis of musical preference in the music education process.


Abstract : The feasibility for femto and attosecond pulse generation from diamond subjected to intense fs laser pulse with mid-infraredwavelength was explored by further investigating the non-perturbative scaling ofthe generated harmonics with the laser field and their bandstructure dependence since recent experimental and theoreticalinvestigations in the literature show that high harmonic generation HHG in wide band-gapsemiconductors (insulators) may lead to brighter sources due to the high laser induced carrier density and ability to withstand thedriving laser fields necessary for inducing strong nonlinear and non perturbativeeffects leading to HHG.


The principal results of the statistical and econometrical studying of dynamics and factors of income inequality across the regions of The Russian Federation (RF) during 1995 - 2007 years have been presented at the paper. The objects of investigation have been the 79 subjects of RF. They have been described by variables: (a) population; (b) income per capita (at average for all population, living at the subject); (c) structure of income: the share of total income, obtained at average of all people in subjects, by five sources (their sum is equal to 100%): (1) business (enterprise) activity; (2) wages (salaries); (3) social transfers; (4) property; (5) other incomes. As the first step of "space - time" analysis dynamics and differentiation of seven named above indicators have been studied. The same initial indicators let us to estimate Total Monetary Income (TMI) and its five component TMI(k), k=1, . . ., 5 for each from 79 regions of RF. The spatial distributions of new six variables and their evolution from beginning of transition up to crisis have been considered at the second step of investigation. The GINI and FUND coefficients have been calculated for TMI and for its five components. The subjects of TMI concentration have been determined by comparative level-dynamic analysis of these indicators. The same has been done for TMI(k) from five sources. It could say that practically each region of RF has had the different way of social - economic development. GINI decomposition by five sources of income, presented GINI as a linear combination of income structure and the Coefficients of Concentration, has been the next step of investigation. The results of decomposition indicated clear that two sources of income - (4) "properties" and (5) "other incomes" have been the main factors of interregional income inequality. There are "short lists" of subjects of RF, where the incomes from these two sources have been concentrated. The Decomposition method let us to discuss the different aspects of income inequality and make the emphasis at institutional factors of population economic activities and income redistribution.


If gendered discourse is narrated by a woman, the female voice becomes a trope of identity and power—transgressing, dismantling, violating the law, and speaking her violation. By linking corporeal violence and linguistic, textual, and critical discursive violence engendered in representation, one inevitably confronts the body as the contested site of horrific memory, resistance, defiance of invisibility, and de-silencing. In Nora Okja Keller's poetically complex novel, Comfort Woman, the voice of a Korean comfort woman recounts her individual past and the past of her collective self. Akiko speaks of her body, abused by Japanese soldiers, as the broken nation of Korea, as a link to other violated women, as well as to her mother, grandmother, and daughter, who remain alive in her confused mind and spirit. At the same time, her daughter tries to lead a modern life in Hawaii but is powerfully drawn into her mother's past and current life and body. It is through the voiced violated female body that the cultural identity of Korea confronts the historical authority of the Japanese occupation, but only in death can Akiko return to her rightful spiritual country.


Evidence suggests that transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1), a multifunctional cytokine, induces renal extracellular matrix production and glomerular hypertrophy. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of captopril on the expression of TGF-β1 mRNA in a rat model of chronic renal failure: five-sixths nephrectomy. Chronic renal disease was induced by removal of the right kidney and ligation of three blood vessels supplying the left kidney. Sham-operated animals were used as controls. RNA was extracted from the viable remnant kidney of rats 1 day and 1 and 2 weeks following five-sixths nephrectomy and from the kidneys of rats who underwent sham sugery. TGF-β1 mRNA was induced within 24 h of partial nephrectomy, similar to that reported for early-onset genes. Subsequently, TGF-β1 mRNA expression continued to increase over the next 2–4 weeks. The upregulation of TGF-β1 correlated with the degree of proteinuria. Both the increase in TGF-β1 mRNA and proteinuria were abrogated by captopril treatment. In addition, no change in expression of ALK-5 or type II TGF-β receptors following five-sixths nephrectomy was observed. These data suggest that captopril may protect against development of glomerulosclerosis and proteinuria by reducing TGF-β1 expression and hence matrix production.


Silicon solar cells are known to suffer from poor emitter performance that is seen as reduced external quantum efficiency at wavelengths below 500 nm. This is due to common tradeoff between electrical and optical performance. Here we demonstrate that no such tradeoff is needed when optimized boron implantation parameters are combined with non-reflective nanostructures and atomic layer deposited Al2O3 surface passivation. As a result, in our solar cells the external quantum efficiency actually increases with decreasing wavelength and reaches even above 100% at short wavelengths. This result indicates that carrier multiplication caused by absorption of high energy photons could be utilized for energy production in solar cells.


Smart substation is a important power device on converting to voltage accepting and distributing electric energy control power flow and adjusting voltage in Smart grid,and it is the focus of power flow information flow business flow in Smart grid.So,substation intelligent is very important to construct strong smart grid.First,this paper introduce to the distinguishing feature among integrated automation of substation analyzed、digital substation、smart substation.On this basis,discussing two kinds of plan、analyzing and researching on the key technology of smart substation and the main problem that exists at present.


How to launch a certain supply chain to realize the customized products is a practical question needed to solute.An idea to integrate the activities and modularize organization is put forward based on system and modularization theory.And a practical measurement to modularize organization in terms of product configuration is provided.


Objective
To understand the detection rate of hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) and the occurrence of abnormal thyroid function in medical examination population in Huanghua City, Hebei Province.

Methods
Using the retrospective analysis method, the thyroid examination data of residents of Huanghua City who were examined in the Cangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine in Hebei Province from 2014 to 2016 were collected, the detection rate of HT and the occurrence of abnormal thyroid function were analyzed.

Results
A total of 4 413 people were examined, aged (45.76 ± 10.13) years old; including 2 099 males and 2 314 females. The HT detection rate of the medical examination population in Huanghua City was 6.55% (289/4 413), and there was a trend of increasing year by year(χ2trend=7.126, P 0.05). The incidence of abnormal thyroid function in HT patients was 25.61% (74/289), of which the highest detection rate was 34.74% (33/95) in the 40-< 50 years old group; the detection rates of HT with hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism and subclinical hypothyroidism were 3.11% (9/289), 6.57% (19/289) and 15.92% (46/289), respectively. The detection rate of HT with subclinical hypothyroidism was higher.

Conclusions
The HT detection rate of the population in Huanghua City has increased year by year, and some HT patients are associated with abnormal thyroid function, and their detection rate of HT with subclinical hypothyroidism is the highest. Early diagnosis of HT should be strengthened, and appropriate prevention and treatment measures should be taken in time to reduce the occurrence of HT with abnormal thyroid function.

Key words:
Hashimoto's thyroiditis; Medical examination population; Thyroid function


Subcutaneous injection of citrate-buffered epoetin alpha (EPO-α) causes pain. Substitution of citrate buffer with a phosphate buffer in the EPO-α resulted in a significant reduction in duration and severity of pain. It is possible that sodium citrate which is present in the EPO-α may be the agent that causes discomfort in the patients.


The biocompatibility of zirconia-reinforced lithium silicate (ZLS) (Suprinity; Vita Zahnfabrik, Germany) for CAD/CAM was assessed in vitro with human gingival fibroblasts polished in different stages compared to yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystalline's (Y-TZP) (ProtMatMateriaisAvançados, SP, Brazil) performance. Aim:The study evaluated 72 test specimens measuring 14mm of diameter and 2mm of thickness, being 18 Y-TZP; 18 ZLS crystallized; 18 ZLS polished before and after crystallization; 18 ZLS polished after crystallization. The specimens were tested for cell proliferation and viability using Trypan blue exclusion method. The results showed that the crystallized ZLS surface with no polishing favored cell proliferation within 48 and 72 hours crystallization) showed no significant difference from Y-TZP in the same period. Regarding cell viability, zirconia-reinforced lithium silicate crystallized only or polished before and after crystallization show results similar to those of Y-TZP, with a favorable biological profile for use in peri-implant regions. Experimental article (J Int Dent Med Res 2018; 11(3): 759-764)


The main motivation of using Error Detection and Correction Codes is efficient transmission and reception of data through channel such that as to reduce the ber (bit error rate). This technique called as channel Channel coding reduces the errors caused in the data due to the noise while transmitting through communication channel. Two important types of channel coding are there- Block coding and convolutional coding. Here in this paper we have compared the performance of hamming code, Reed Solomon code and convolution codes by using bit error rate(ber)V/s Eb/No performance using BPSK (Binary Phase Shift Keying). MATLAB R2010a Simulink is used for performing the simulations.


Self-adjusting data structures are a classic approach to adapting the complexity of operations to the data access distribution. While several self-adjusting variants are known for both binary search trees and B-Trees, existing constructions come with limitations. For instance, existing works on self-adjusting B-Trees do not provide static-optimality and tend to be complex and inefficient to implement in practice. In this paper, we provide a new approach to build efficient self-adjusting search trees based on state-of-the-art non-adaptive structures. We illustrate our approach to obtain a new efficient self-adjusting Interpolation Search Tree (IST) and B-Tree, as well as a new self-adjusting tree called the Log Tree. Of note, our self-adjusting IST has expected complexity in $O(\log \frac{\log m}{\log ac(x)})$, where $m$ is the total number of requests and $ac(x)$ is the number of requests to key $x$. Our technique leads to simple constructions with a reduced number of pointer manipulations: this improves cache efficiency and even allows an efficient concurrent implementation.


Distal sensory polyneuropathy (DSP) is the most common human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated peripheral neuropathy with a prevalence of 30-67%. Brief peripheral neuropathy screen (BPNS) examination is a non-invasive, fast, cheap, easy-to-do diagnostic method, and one of the clinical tools that can be used to diagnose HIV-DSP. This study to assess the BPNS diagnostic test as a DSP diagnostic tool in HIV patients. The cross-sectional study was conducted on HIV patients that allegedly having DSP. All subjects were examined by BPNS and nerve conduction study (NCS), then the results were analyzed by chi-square test of a 2x2 Table. There were 42 subjects enrolled in this study. The mean patients were 38.88±8.62 years and most of the male patients were 24 subjects (57.14%). Most of the patients had high school education by 20 (47.61%) subjects and did not take anti-retroviral (ARV) by 18 (42.85%) subjects. Most of the research subjects conducted BPNS disturbed examination by 27 (64.28%) subjects and examination of NCS obtained positive DSP by 30 (71.4%) subjects. The obtained sensitivity of 83% BPNS, 83% specificity, 93% positive predictive value, the negative predictive value of 67%, a positive likelihood ratio of 5.00, and a negative likelihood ratio of 0.20. BPNS examination with 83% sensitivity and 83% specificity can be used as a DSP diagnostic tool in HIV patients.


secondary schools" will receive any clear cut conception of the position and function of root hairs. It is, again, merely a question of adaptation. It is needless to multiply illustrations bearing upon the point under consideration. The book seems to be prepared for the teacher rather than the pupil. In the hands of a skillful teacher fairly versed in elementary botany it will be found of high value and exceedingly suggestive. In the hands of a teacher without previous laboratory experience its value would be greatly impaired, if not utterly destroyed. As an indication that the book was prepared for the teacher may be taken Appendix II, "Suggestions to the teacher," which covers 45 pages of the volume, the "laboratory practice" covering 129 pages. So large a proportion of space being deemed necessary for instructions to teachers furnishes at least indirect support to the view suggested above. It is a question as to whether pupils should be required to pay for suggestions to teachers, at least in such large measure. After all, this is a criticism of a condition in our educational system rather than of Dr. Setchell's book. Conditions are so variant in the secondary schools of the country that the work possible for them, either as to content or extent, cannot yet be determined. The wide range of subjects taught, save in extremely exceptional cases, by every teacher in the secondary schools, precludes for the present, at least, the introduction of many of the methods of the specialist as well as many of his problems. The tendency is as mistaken as strong which is in the direction of the introduction of college and university methods into secondary schools. The chief objection to Dr. Setchell's book lies in the fact that it intensifies this tendency, that it fails to recognize the difference in conditions, indeed the difference in purpose which exists between secondary schools and universities. The book will prove extremely helpful in elementary work in colleges and universities, and will find its way into the library of every teacher even though it does not entirely meet the needs of the secondary schools. Dr. Setchell is to be congratulated, not merely upon an honest attempt to solve a difficult problem, but also upon the production of a book which, both in form of presentation and content, is full of helpful suggestions.-S. C.


In this article, the effect of IMC thickness on the tensile behavior during Cu/Sn0.7Cu/Ni interconnects was deeply investigated. Meanwhile, the feature of crack formation and propagation under tensile stress was also in situ studied by synchrotron radiation real time imaging technology. The results show that the tensile strength of the Cu/Sn0.7Cu/Ni interconnects increased with the increment of the IMC layer thickness, and the fracture mode tend to change from ductile fracture inner the solder to brittle failure at the IMC interface. In addition, the tensile strength of full IMC interconnects are higher than the Sn containing interconnects for Cu/Ni systems, and their average tensile strength exceeded 50 MPa. The uneven interface between the interfacial IMCs and the solder also improved the tensile strength of the solder interconnects. Finally, synchrotron radiation experiments demonstrated that the bubbles at the interface as well as the stress concentrated corners may induce the failure of the solder interconnects under tensile stress. The influence mechanism of IMC thickness on tensile behavior and strength of the Cu/Sn0.7Cu/Ni interconnects can be used to obtain an appropriate thickness and morphology of IMC to improve the reliability of solder joints.


The implications of using digital library software in educational contexts, for both students and software developers, are discussed using two case studies of students building digital libraries


This paper describes the development of a questionnaire for assessing an individual's problems in performing visual activities typical of everyday life. We were particularly interested in an instrument which would be useful with the elderly population, because eye disease is especially prevalent in this age group (Leibowitz et al., 1980), and even in the absence of significant eye disease, older adults can still experience losses in visual function (Owsley & Sloane, 1990). This type of instrument could be useful from a number of perspectives. First, in many research settings it is desirable to have some sort of metric for assessing the extent to which a subject is having problems in everyday visual tasks. Ideally it would be best to obtain performance measures on the visual tasks under study, but the reality is that this is not possible in many studies. Thus, researchers often resort to asking subjects about their self-perceived problems in performing the activity in question, but without a valid and reliable instrument, subjects' answers are often useless from a scientific standpoint. Examples of settings in which a psychometrically solid questionnaire might be helpful are: evaluating the effects of a treatment or procedure (e.g., cataract surgery) on visual functioning; assessing how self-perceived visual difficulties relate to an adverse outcome such as a vehicle crash or a fall; and gathering information about visual tasks especially difficult for certain subpopulations of older adults (e.g., those with age-related maculopathy). A second way a questionnaire may be useful is in collecting epidemiological data on visual problems in the elderly population. Epidemiological studies on eye health and visual functioning are costly, and from the standpoint of actually carrying out the project, these studies are not particularly challenging or stimulating for research oriented clinicians (see Ederer, 1983). Coren and Hakstian (1987; 1988) have suggested that a suitably constructed questionnaire could be a much cheaper way to obtain some types of epidemiological data. A third way in which a questionnaire instrument might be useful is in developing hypotheses about the mechanisms underlying vision problems in the elderly. When visiting the laboratory or clinic, older adults often articulate visual problems, and a questionnaire could provide them the opportunity to do so in a systematic fashion. Fourth, a questionnaire might also be useful to clinicians since subjective information from the patient can yield clues about an undiagnosed disease process or condition.


Objectives:The HIV-infected population is known to be oxidatively stressed and deficient in antioxidant micronutrients. Since in vitro replication of HIV is increased with oxidative stress, this study assessed the effect of antioxidant vitamin supplementation on lipid peroxidation, a measure of oxidative stress, and viral load in humans. Design:A randomized placebo-controlled, double-blind study. Methods:Forty-nine HIV-positive patients were randomized to receive supplements of both DL-α-tocopherol acetate (800 IU daily) and vitamin C (1000 mg daily), or matched placebo, for 3 months. Plasma antioxidant micronutrient status, breath pentane output, plasma lipid peroxides, malondialdehyde and viral load were measured at baseline and at 3 months. New or recurrent infections for the 6-month period after study entry were also recorded. Results:The vitamin group (n = 26) had an increase in plasma concentrations of α-tocopherol (P < 0.0005) and vitamin C (P < 0.005) and a reduction in lipid peroxidation measured by breath pentane (P < 0.025), plasma lipid peroxides (P < 0.01) and malondialdehyde (P < 0.0005) when compared with controls (n = 23). There was also a trend towards a reduction in viral load (mean ± SD changes over 3 months, −0.45 ± 0.39 versus +0.50 ± 0.40 log10 copies/ml; P = 0.1; 95% confidence interval, −0.21 to −2.14). The number of infections reported was nine in the vitamin group and seven in the placebo group. Conclusion:Supplements of vitamin E and C reduce oxidative stress in HIV and produce a trend towards a reduction in viral load. This is worthy of larger clinical trials, especially in HIV-infected persons who cannot afford new combination therapies.


Demotte, in whose possession it was in the early years of this century. Demotte broke up the MS and sold the folios containing miniatures separately—an act much bemoaned by the authors, whose task was certainly much complicated as a result of it: ' it was shameful that the manuscript was cut up and sold like pastry in a bakery ' (p. x). This is no doubt a valid complaint from the standpoint of the art historian, though it seems to me a good deal less than self-evidently so for anyone else, but be that as it may. In their painstaking assembly of as many as possible of the miniatures, the authors have made some interesting discoveries, e.g. that some of the miniatures have been removed from their original pages and pasted on to irrelevant text folios. This occurred because some folios had miniatures on both sides. The transfer therefore ' doubled the number of separate salable miniatures ' (p. 3). The whole chapter on ' the state of the manuscript ' (pp. 1-12) is a most intriguing piece of detective work. The result, when the miniatures are arranged in order according to the text, is that a MS of ' approximately two hundred eighty folios having some one hundred twenty illustrations' (p. 12), but unfinished, may be posited. The authors are able to offer black-and-white reproductions of 58 of these illustrations, each with a useful explanation of what precisely is being illustrated. Six are also reproduced in colour. I am quite unqualified to pass any judgement on chs. ii and iii, the specifically arthistorical sections of the book, and therefore proceed straight to ch. iv, ' Milieu and date of the manuscript' (pp. 46-55). It is generally agreed, on art-historical grounds, that the Demotte Shdh-ndma is likely to have been a product of the 1320s or 1330s. The authors of the book under review, however, believe it to be possible to be much more specific: ' We submit that the Demotte Shahnama was ordered, planned, and begun by Bashid al-Din's son Ghiyath al-Din between November 1335, when he organised the appointment of Arpa as sultan, and his death on May 3, 1336 ' (p. 48). The historical background, briefly, is this. In 1327, after the overthrow of the all-powerful Amir Chiipan, Ghiyath al-Din, son of the great historian and minister Rashid al-Din (killed in 1318), was appointed wazir by Abu Sa'id, last of the direct line of Hiilegu to rule as Ilkhan in Persia. In November 1335, AbS Sa'id died, leaving no son or obvious heir. He was briefly succeeded by Arpa Khan, a descendant of Chingiz Khan though not of Hiilegu ; both Arpa and Ghiyath al-Din were overthrown and killed in 1336. The authors' argument is that the miniatures reflect incidents that had occurred during Abu Sa'id's reign and perhaps earlier. This, they suggest, is supported by the curious fact that many of the miniatures illustrate minor events in the Shah-ndma, not usually illustrated; or portray them in an odd fashion, emphasizing surprising details. Thus the miniatures are appropriate, in some cases, more to the political history of the fourteenth century than to the natural main themes and events related in Firdawsi's epic. For example, scheming women, not prominent in the Shah-ndma'$ text, are much illustrated. These, it is argued, are references to the activities of such wellknown late Ilkhanid figures as Baghdad Khatun, daughter of Chiipan and wife (and perhaps poisoner) of Abu Sa'id. This is in itself an attractive hypothesis: the more so since the reign of Abu Sa'id is the most poorly documented period of the Ilkhanate, so far as contemporary sources are concerned. It would be nice to be able to add a new, and rather different, source. But a hypothesis, I am afraid, is all it is. The sections on the supposedly relevant miniatures are peppered with ' it is possible', ' could it not be argued ' , ' may well have been ' , ' perhaps '. If there was one reasonably secure fact behind all this theorizing, it might carry conviction. But there is not. Ghiyath al-Din is a perfectly plausible patron, and the MS may have been produced in 1335-6. So far as I can see, however, there is no actual hard evidence whatever for supposing that this must have been so. The whole argument is a succession of suppositions, any of which might be right but all of which may equally well be completely wrong. In conclusion, it is certainly heartening to see art historians making a serious attempt to relate their material to its historical context; but it is less encouraging to be shown what they apparently regard as evidence. The authors' reconstruction of the MS and their reproduction of its miniatures will doubtless be of permanent value. But their attempt to relate the miniatures to known historical events of the time of composition cannot, in my judgement, be regarded as anything more than fascinating guesswork.


Numerous cryptographic protocols and mechanisms have been developed to solve computer security challenges, and these techniques vary considerably with respect to security assumptions, performance tradeoffs, and applicability to problems. Secure hardware primarily uses the mechanism of isolation to solve a broad class of computer security problems, ranging from private information retrieval to verifiable computation. In this talk, I will contrast the two approaches by focusing on the application of remote outsourced computation. I will describe a spectrum of approaches that vary in their use of cryptography and isolation to achieve secure remote computation. I will end with describing challenges that remain in the deployment of secure hardware.


Abstract This paper draws on the preliminary results of the QADIS survey project, conducted by the University of Bologna and the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage since 2016 in the Qadisiyah province. The project addresses phenomena related to anthropogenic transformation of landscapes in a region that was at the core of the early Mesopotamian urbanization process. Building upon the seminal work conducted by R. McC. Adams in the 1960 s and 1970 s, we implemented an integrated documentation technique to reconstruct at regional levels the changes in the dense network of human settlements and artificial water infrastructures characterizing the evolution of this archaeological landscape over time. The aim of the article is that of providing a finer-grained regional picture of 4th and 3rd millennium BC urban developments which can be useful for better conceptualizing the scale and pace of early Mesopotamian urbanism.


Music with sacred texts is integral to the historical and modern development of the music education field, yet many who teach in public schools find themselves limited or banned from using sacred music. School divisions do not have a consensus opinion on how to handle this sensitive topic, and the law is not explicit. In this article, I provide an overview of the legal landscape on this subject and advice to help music educators in making informed and ethically sound choices about the role of sacred music in the public school setting.


ii Executive Summary iii Declaration vi Acknowledgements vii List of Tables & Figures x Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1 Research Aims 1 1.2 Thesis Structure 2 Chapter 2: Literature Review 3 2.1 KM in Public Sector 2 2.2 KM Barriers 3 2.2.1 People 3 2.2.2 Processes 5 2.2.3 Technology 7 2.3 Knowledge Transfer within Merging Organisations 8 Chapter 3: Methodology 16 3.1 Research Philosophy 16 3.2 Research Objectives 16 3.3 Adopted methodology 17 3.4 Research Phases 18 3.5 Data collection 18 3.6 Research Approach: Triangulation 19 3.7 Evaluation criteria 19 3.8 Questionnaire 20 3.9 Interviews/ Case Studies 21 3.10 Ethical Considerations 23 3.11 Summary of Methodology 23 ix Chapter 4: Findings 24 4.1 Questionnaire 24 4.2 Case Study: KM within Water Services and Planning Departments 29 4.2.1. Strategy 29 4.2.2 Tools 30 4.2.3 Barriers 31 Discussion of Findings 33 5.1 Strategy 33 5.2 Process 34 5.3 Structure/ Culture 35 5.4 KM Tools 35 Conclusions 38 6.1 Recommendations 38 6.2 Limitations of the study 40 6.3 Implications for further academic research 40 Bibliography 42 Appendices 46 Appendix A: Questionnaire 46 Appendix B: Semi Structured Interviews (Questionnaire Results) 54 Appendix C: Case Study Interview Questions 56


In this study, Aloe vera extract was used to evaluate its effects on hematological and immune parameters of Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii). A total of 360 Siberian sturgeon weighing on average 10.95±0.04 g were randomly distributed in four treatments including a control group and three experimental groups (each with three replications). A. vera extract powder at the rate of 0.5%, 1% and 1.5% were added to the food. The fish were fed for 60 days in fiberglass tanks. At the end of the first and second months of breeding, the necessary samplings for hematological studies were done. The physicochemical parameters of water were recorded every day. The results showed significant differences (p<0.05) in the amount of RBC, hemoglobin, MCV, WBC, lysozyme and ACH50 in the treatments compared to the control group at the end of the breeding period. The results showed that A. vera extract has the effect of a nonspecific immune system booster and using the extract in particular at the level of 1.5% as an immune stimulant in the diet of Siberian sturgeon can be effective in preventing disease in this species.


The consequences of schizophrenia are in many ways more malignant than those of cancer, where sympathy, prompt medical care, and preservation of friends and employment are assured. Also, unlike schizophrenia patients, persons with cancer are never hauled to jail, even when a slow-growing brain tumor causes erratic or violent behavior. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The outcome of schizophrenia has not improved much since patients were "freed" from state hospitals before the psychopharmacology era. Despite the availability of antipsychotics that can control delusions and hallucinations, few persons with schizophrenia achieve remission, let alone recovery. Although negative symptoms and cognitive deficits remain untreatable, the quality of life for persons with schizophrenia can be far less miserable if psychotic symptoms are fully remitted. So why do so many patients with schizophrenia suffer continuous or episodic psychosis that renders their lives a living hell and leads them to inexorable clinical, social, and functional deterioration? Based on 3 decades of clinical and research work with thousands of patients afflicted with schizophrenia, I have observed that most psychiatrists are not exploiting 2 treatment options that could effectively alleviate continuous or relapsing psychosis. Let me elaborate: * Continuous, unabated psychotic symptoms (delusions, hallucinations, bizarre behavior, and thought derailment) implies either refractory or treatment-resistant schizophrenia. This means that several antipsychotic trials already have failed to suppress psychotic symptoms. Only 1 drug has been proven to help such patients: clozapine. It was FDA-approved for refractory schizophrenia 22 years ago, and many studies--including the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials in Intervention Effectiveness trial--show that it also is superior to other antipsychotics for treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Yet while about 30% to 35% of patients have refractory or treatment-resistant schizophrenia, only one-sixth of that eligible pool receive clozapine. Reasons include the "hassle" of monitoring, the fear of agranulocytosis (which is rare), and concern about serious side effects. As a result, hundreds of thousands of patients suffer needlessly because they have not received clozapine (full response may take 6 to 12 months in some patients, but only 3 months in others). * For patients whose delusions and hallucinations do respond to non-clozapine antipsychotics, psychotic episodes are most likely caused by nonadherence to oral medications. All psychiatrists are aware that partial or complete nonadherence is ubiquitous in schizophrenia for multiple reasons, including lack of insight about being ill and needing treatment, suspiciousness (positive symptoms) about drugs, amotivation and avolition (negative symptoms), poor memory or planning ability (cognitive deficits), and toxic effects of alcohol and drugs. …


Trans eiver design for the outdoor wireless hannel: an information-theoreti perspe tive Upamanyu Madhow, Gwen Barria , Rong-Rong Chen Abstra t| In this paper, we summarize some re ent results on information-theoreti limits for the outdoor wireless mobile hannel, with the aim of deriving trans eiver design guidelines for fourth generation ellular systems. We onsider two main themes, as follows: (a) The ost and a ura y of hannel estimation must be fa tored into the derivation of information-theoreti limits for time-varying hannels. To this end, we onsider non oherent ommuni ation, interpreted as joint hannel and data estimation, over a at Rayleigh fading hannel. Results on both blo k and ontinuous fading hannel models are presented. (b) An investigation of information-theoreti limits for the outdoor wireless hannel must begin with hannel models that re e t the outdoor environment a urately, while yielding analyti al insight. We onsider an idealized hannel model, negle ting time variations, for wideband, frequen y-sele tive, outdoor hannels that a ounts for rapidly de aying power-delay proles for su h hannels, and provide results on outage rates and diversity. I. Introdu tion While information theory has provided fundamental limits on the performan e of ommuni ation systems sin e the time of Shannon, its pra ti al signi an e for the link designer has been ampli ed by the advent of turbo-like odes and iterative de oding, whi h o er the hope of attaining these limits for a variety of hannels. The purpose of this paper is to summarize some re ently obtained informationtheoreti insights into the outdoor wireless hannel, whi h attempt to provide design pres riptions as a fun tion of oarse system parameters su h as Doppler, delay spread, and bandwidth. The two major themes onsidered are hannel time variations and diversity. Time variations are studied in the ontext of a narrowband, at fading hannel in Se tion 2. A key departure from standard pra ti e is our advo a y of expli itly a ounting for the problem of hannel estimation and tra king via adoption of the non oherent paradigm, interpreted as joint hannel and data estimation. The standard approa h of hannel estimation via pilots, with separate demodulation and de oding, may be viewed a suboptimal implementation within this paradigm. The se ond theme of diversity on typi al outdoor hannels is studied in the ontext of wideband, frequen y-sele tive hannels in Se tion 3. We abstra t the vast literature on hannel measurements into an idealized model that aptures the key feature of rapidly de aying power-delay proles, whi h limits the available frequen y diversity. This work was supported by Motorola and the University of California Communi ations Resear h program, and by the National S ien e Foundation under grants NCR96-24008, CCR 99-79381, ITR 00-85929, and EIA-0080134. U. Madhow and G. Barria are with the ECE Dept., University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106. R.-R. Chen is with the Coordinated S ien e Laboratory, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801. II. Flat fading hannels We onsider the following dis rete-time omplex baseband model for single-antenna ommuni ation: Yn = HnXn +Wn where fYng is the output sequen e, fHng is the sequen e of hannel gains, unknown a priori to the re eiver under the non oherent paradigm, fXng is the hannel input sequen e, and fWng is the noise sequen e, assumed to be omplex White Gaussian Noise (WGN). Blo k Rayleigh fading: The hannel gains fHng are pie ewise onstant over T -length blo ks, where T is the oheren e interval. The gains on di erent blo ks are assumed to be independent and identi ally distributed (i.i.d.) zero mean, ir ular Gaussian, random variables. Figure 1 shows the a hievable rates for various standard onstellations as a fun tion of SNR for a blo k fading hannel, ompared with the apa ity for unrestri ted input in [5℄. Note that


Using the complex enzyme to break the cell of Cunninghamella elegant,the optimum process conditions were determined by studying the addition of enzyme,pH,temperature,reaction time. The optimum process conditions were as followed: enzyme dosage 0.3%,hydrolysis pH9,hydrolysis temperature 50℃,reaction time 4h, the final extraction rate reached 87.3%. The final process can serve as a reference for the corresponding industrialization.


This paper develops a fully distributed differentially-private learning algorithm based on the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) to solve nonsmooth optimization problems. We employ an approximation of the augmented Lagrangian to handle nonsmooth objective functions. Furthermore, we perturb the primal update at each agent with a time-varying Gaussian noise with decreasing variance to provide zero-concentrated differential privacy. The developed algorithm has competitive privacy-accuracy trade-off and applies to nonsmooth and non necessarily strongly convex problems. Convergence and privacy-preserving properties are confirmed via both theoretical analysis and simulations.


Several thermoanalytical methods such as the Freeman-Carroll differentiation method, the improved Coats-Redfern integration method and the Flunn-Wall-Ozawa method are adopted to calculate the dynamic parameters of four kinds of anthracites by using experimental data obtained from TGA tests. Results indicate that the thermoanalytical results are influenced by the thermoanalytical method used, by rate of heating and the section chosen for correlation, etc. Although the results obtained by the different methods can all show combustion diversities of different kinds of coal, but the discrepancy among results is remarkable, depending on the specific method of calculation used. With the differentiation method, correlation results vary with the reaction section selected. Whereas with the integration method, results vary with the heating rate under which the experimental data were obtained. With the Freeman-Carroll method, the smaller the heating rate of the TGA tests, the nearer the calculated results get to the real mean values. In case of a higher heating rate, the dynamic parameters obtained by the improved Coats-Redfern method deviate from the real values. Since the combustion mechanism of coal varies during the different stage of reaction, the dynamic parameters obtained by thermoanalytical methods are mean values of the whole combustion section. Figs 5, tables 4 and refs 12.


Hypertension and hypercholesterolemia are two common diseases that often coexist. The combined presence of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia increases considerably the risk for cardiovascular complications. Selexipag is used to treat symptoms of pulmonary arterial hypertension and Ezetimibe is a lipid-lowering compound that inhibits intestinal cholesterol and phytosterols absorption. The bilayer tablets of antilipidemic and antihypertensive can be employed for the treatment of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia together through oral administration of single tablet. The rationale for this fixed-dose combination is to co-administer two drugs acting by different mechanisms of action together, reduce dosing frequency, and increase patient compliance. In the present investigation we combine Selexipag and Ezetimibe. Immediate release layer of Selexipag was formulated using various superdisintegrants like Crospovidone, Croscarmellose sodium, and sodium starch glycolate, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Magnesium Stearate and Extended release layer of Ezetimibe was formulated using polymers and gums like Hydroxy Propyl methyl cellulose, Poly vinyl Pyrrolidone, Talc, Gaur gum, and Xanthan gum, Magnesium stearate. The disintegration and dissolution study of both layers showed that inclusion of surfactant to the tablet formulation (Immediate Release) and dissolution medium (Extended Release) enhanced the release of drugs from both layers.


Predictions on strategies 10 years hence are hazardous, because future scientific discoveries could revolutionize control strategies for any given pest. Nonetheless, attempts to predict future developments are indispensable to planning, and they are a basis for progress. To appreciate what control measures may be applied vs. spruce budworm in years to come, it is essential to discuss the bud worm problem, current control measures, and the ongoing research that may lead to new methods of suppression. These considerations motivated 3 addresses, given at the invitation of the Program Committee, on the subject of control measures vs. each of 3 major insect pests or groups of insect pests, including anopheles mosquitoes, cotton insects, and the spruce bud worm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens).


The Raman and infrared spectra of ClF3 and BrF3 have been studied. The spectra of ClF3 give strong support for a planar T‐shaped molecular model. The spectra of BrF3 are less complete but are sufficiently similar to that of ClF3 to confirm a like shape for this molecule. The fundamental vibrational frequencies of ClF3 observed for the vapor are 326(a1), 364(b2), 434(b1), 528(a1), 703(b1), and 752(a1) cm‐1. S0 for ClF3, calculated statistically at the boiling point, 11.75°C, is 66.60 cal mole‐1 deg‐1 compared to the value of 67.04 obtained from a revised calculation of this quantity from available thermal data. For BrF3 only two fundamental frequencies were observed in the vapor, 613(b1) and 674(a1) cm‐1; the others were estimated by a normal coordinate calculation. S0 for BrF3 calculated statistically is 70.86 cal mole‐1 deg‐1 at 43.11°C compared to a value of 71.90 calculated from available thermal data. Tables of the thermodynamic functions of ClF3 and BrF3 from 250 to 1000°K are given.


Smart urbanism is an established research area in geography and the social sciences. We draw on 'worlding-provincialising' strategies identified in an Urban Studies Special Issue from February 2021 to explore how smart infrastructures, a form of smart urbanism, disrupt representations of informality and urban development in new and productive ways. Focussing on the disruptive or troublesome implications of smart infrastructures reveals site-level considerations for developing policy and practice, where acknowledging the nuanced context for its use can present opportunities for not only understanding energy transitions in the Global South, but also creates opportunities for cross-learning. Drawing on our collective insights on a solar mini-grid project in Qandu-Qandu, Cape Town, we sketch out three ways the disruptive aspects of solar energy can be helpful for re-building knowledge on the informal city by: (i) re-positioning notions of 'formal' and 'informal' infrastructure(s) in urban planning and policymaking; (ii) highlighting new avenues for citizen autonomy; and (iii) recasting the informal city as a site for continuous innovation and learning.


A device for layer-wise assembly several layers of superimposed plates (100, 200) on a base body (G) with a first fastening element (10) establishing a first plate (100) on the base body (G), and a second fastening element (20) which establishing a second plate (200) on the first plate (100) with the first fastening element (10) is connected, wherein the first plate (100) between the first fastening element (10) and the base body ((G) and the second plate 200) between the second fastening element (20) and the first plate (100) can be braced.


The paper gives experiment theory and experiment method of neutron source multiplication method for site measurement technology in the nuclear critical safety. The measured parameter by source multiplication method actually is a sub-critical with source neutron effective multiplication factor ks,but not the neutron effective multiplication factor keff . The experiment research has been done on the uranium solution nuclear critical safety experiment assembly. The ks of different sub-criticality is measured by neutron source multiplication experiment method, and keff of different sub-criticality, the reactivity coefficient of unit solution level, is first measured by period method, and then multiplied by difference of critical solution level and sub-critical solution level and obtained the reactivity of sub-critical solution level. The keff finally can be extracted from reactivity formula. The effect on the nuclear critical safety and different between keff and ks are discussed.


The first step in a surveillance system is to create a representation of the environment. Background subtraction is widely used algorithm to define a part of an image that most time remains stationary in a video. In surveillance tasks, this model helps to recognize those outlier objects in an area under monitoring. Set up a background model on moving platforms (intelligent cars, UAVs, etc.) is a challenging task due camera motion when images are acquired. In this paper, we propose a method to support instabilities caused by aerial images fusing spatial and temporal information about image motion. We used frame difference as first approximation, then age of pixels is estimated. This latter gives us an invariability level of a pixel over time. Gradient direction of ages and an adaptive weight are used to reduce impact from camera motion on background modelling. We tested our proposed method simulating several conditions that impair aerial image acquisition such as intentional and unintentional camera motion. Experimental results show improved performance compared to algorithms GMM and KDE.


We derive a new result for exponential approximation using Stein's method of exchangeable pairs. As an application, an exponential limit theorem with error term is derived for jTr(U)j 2 , where Tr(U) de- notes the trace of a matrix chosen from the Haar measure of the unitary group U(n;C).


ABSTRACT There is a belief that allowing communities monitoring power over providers could be beneficial for improving service delivery and reducing corruption in service delivery. In community monitoring interventions (CMIs), the community is given the opportunity to observe and assess providers' performance and provide feedback to providers and politicians. This systematic review and meta-analysis appraises and synthesises evidence on the effects of CMIs on access and quality of service delivery and corruption outcomes in low and middle-income countries. The results indicate evidence of beneficial effects of CMIs on service delivery quality and on helping to curb corruption. The potential benefits of CMIs on access to and quality of services are likely to be higher when interventions are designed so that contact between both actors are promoted, and tools for citizens to monitor agents' performance are provided. However, more rigorous research is needed to address this hypothesis.


An experimental study on phase equilibria at 288 K in the quaternary system Na2SO4 + K2SO4 + Na2B4O7 + K2B4O7 + H2O was done by the isothermal evaporation method. Equilibrium solubilities and properties such as density, electrical conductivity, and pH of the solution were measured, and the equilibrium phase diagram was constructed in which there were two invariant points, six univariant curves, and four crystallization fields corresponding to borax (Na2B4O7·10H2O), sodium sulfate, potassium sulfate, and potassium borate quahydrate (K2B4O7·4H2O). No solid solutions or double salts were found.


The present work deals with determination of natural frequencies (fn) of a two component dynanometer in order to measure the dynamic forces produced during the mechanising process. The natural frequency is obtained by two methods, by means of finite element method (MEF), as well as by the experimental way , with the purpose of evaluate the finite element model, and demonstrate the possibility of this calculation tool. To accomplish this task the ALGOR finite element program Version 12. 06 14 WIN Jan 2000 (R) Superdraw III was used. From the results a practical coincidence between the experimentally values and those obtained by means of the MEF, within the rank of 10% of error are observed.


Byzantine Agreement is a paradigm for problems of reliable consistency and synchronization in distributed systems. This paper is a survey of recent work on algorithms and requirements for reaching Byzantine Agreement. The name Byzantine is applied to this work because no assumption is made about the behavior of faulty components except to quantify the maximum number of independent failures handled. Thus algorithms for Byzantine Agreement set a new standard for reliability and availability of distributed systems in an environment of potentially unreliable components. While there are many open questions and much implementation work still remains, the materials surveyed here have established that this standard can be met in an efficient and economical way and that such standards should be sought in all areas of distributed systems .


There is widespread interest in the relationship between the neurobiological systems supporting human cognition and emerging computational systems capable of emulating these capacities. Human speech comprehension, poorly understood as a neurobiological process, is an important case in point. Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) systems with near-human levels of performance are now available, which provide a computationally explicit solution for the recognition of words in continuous speech. This research aims to bridge the gap between speech recognition processes in humans and machines, using novel multivariate techniques to compare incremental 'machine states', generated as the ASR analysis progresses over time, to the incremental 'brain states', measured using combined electro-and magneto-encephalography (EMEG), generated as the same inputs are heard by human listeners. This direct comparison of dynamic human and machine internal states, as they respond to the same incrementally delivered sensory input, revealed a significant correspondence between neural response patterns in human superior temporal cortex and the structural properties of ASR-derived phonetic models. Spatially coherent patches in human temporal cortex responded selectively to individual phonetic features defined on the basis of machine-extracted regularities in the speech to lexicon mapping process. These results demonstrate the feasibility of relating human and ASR solutions to the problem of speech recognition, and suggest the potential for further studies relating complex neural computations in human speech comprehension to the rapidly evolving ASR systems that address the same problem domain. Author Summary The ability to understand spoken language is a defining human capacity. But despite decades of research, there is still no well-specified account of how sound entering the ear is neurally interpreted as a sequence of meaningful words. At the same time, modern computer-based Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) systems are capable of nearhuman levels of performance, especially where word-identification is concerned. In this research we aim to bridge the gap between human and machine solutions to speech recognition. We use a novel combination of neuroimaging and statistical methods to relate human and machine internal states that are dynamically generated as spoken words are heard by human listeners and analysed by ASR systems. We find that the stable regularities discovered by the ASR process, linking speech input to phonetic labels, can be significantly related to the regularities extracted in the human brain. Both systems may have in common a representation of these regularities in terms of articulatory phonetic features, consistent with an analysis process which recovers the articulatory gestures that generated the speech. These results suggest a possible partnership between human-and machine-based research which may deliver both a better understanding of how the human brain provides such a robust solution to speech understanding, and generate insights that enhance the performance of future ASR systems.


Objective To understand the use of antiepileptic drugs for children with epilepsy in our hospital and provide reference for clinical medication individualization.Methods The varieties of antiepileptic drugs,the blood drug levels and the situations of symptom control were analyzed from 526 outpatients with epilepsy in our hospital.Results Sodium Valproate and Carbamazepine were used mostly in our hospital.The blood drug levels and the epileptic symptoms were under control in 86% children with them.Conclusion The use of antiepileptic drugs was reasonable basically in our hospital.Pharmaceutical Services and clinical medication individualization should be strengthened during the processes of antiepileptic treatment.


....................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... ii List of Illustrations: .................................................................................................... iii Map of Travelling Inspector's Route ..................................................................................... vi Preface: Wahda Looking for Jaal ............................................................................. vi


Based on the obedient theory of channel members,the relationship among channel members and the functional mechanism of their behavior are illustrated from the perspective of enterprise culture,then the reasons for the obedience are analyzed and the path analysis of perspective on channel members and puts forward an 11-C annular cultural mode of countermeasures are put forward in order to build up a good control of the channel cooperative relationship.


For decades we have been using Chomsky's generative system of grammars, particularly context-free grammars (CFGs) and regular expressions (REs), to express the syntax of programming languages and protocols. The power of generative grammars to express ambiguity is crucial to their original purpose of modelling natural languages, but this very power makes it unnecessarily difficult both to express and to parse machine-oriented languages using CFGs. Parsing Expression Grammars (PEGs) provide an alternative, recognition-based formal foundation for describing machine-oriented syntax, which solves the ambiguity problem by not introducing ambiguity in the first place. Where CFGs express nondeterministic choice between alternatives, PEGs instead use prioritized choice. PEGs address frequently felt expressiveness limitations of CFGs and REs, simplifying syntax definitions and making it unnecessary to separate their lexical and hierarchical components. A linear-time parser can be built for any PEG, avoiding both the complexity and fickleness of LR parsers and the inefficiency of generalized CFG parsing. While PEGs provide a rich set of operators for constructing grammars, they are reducible to two minimal recognition schemas developed around 1970, TS/TDPL and gTS/GTDPL, which are here proven equivalent in effective recognition power.


Most insults to the sciatic nerve arise from intervertebral disc conditions or spinal stenosis. However, beyond these common etiologies for sciatic-nerve problems are a host of other, rarer causes. This month's "Case Connections" explores 4 such peculiar examples.

In the October 12, 2016, edition of JBJS Case Connector, Lee et al. reported on 3 patients who had persisting sciatica due to entrapment neuropathy caused by acetabular paralabral cysts. All 3 patients were managed successfully with arthroscopic decompression.

The 2 men and 1 woman (mean age, 46.3 years) presented with radiating pain to the posterior aspect of the lower extremity, plus foot soreness or numbness. The symptoms had begun at a mean of 18 months prior to presentation but recently had become aggravated. None of the patients had range-of-motion limitations, but all had tenderness of the sciatic notch.

In all 3 patients, MRI showed compression of the sciatic nerve by a perineural cyst arising from a paralabral cyst (Fig. 1) that extended into the greater sciatic foramen. Imaging showed no other abnormalities of the lumbar spine in any of the patients.

Fig. 1
Axial MRI showing a paralabral cyst forming a perineural cyst around the sciatic nerve (arrow).

All patients underwent arthroscopic decompression, during which surgeons incised and drained the perineural cysts by cutting in the same direction as the nerve with an arthroscopic knife. Surgeons observed drainage from all the perineural cysts after decompression, and postoperatively, all patients experienced marked reductions in pain. Two patients reported complete relief after a mean postoperative follow-up period of 52 months. The third patient reported partial relief, with some persistent mild pain and hypoesthesia. MRI scans that were made 2 years after surgery showed either no evidence of perineural cyst recurrence or only a small, clinically insignificant remnant.

While Lee et al. conceded that "total …


Lung ultrasound is used to detect various artifacts in the lungs that support the diagnosis of different conditions. There is ongoing research to support the automatic detection of such artifacts using machine learning. We propose a solution that uses analytical computer vision methods to detect two types of lung artifacts, namely A- and B-lines. We evaluate the proposed approach on the POCUS dataset and data acquired from a hospital. We show that by using the Fourier transform, we can analyze lung ultrasound images in real-time and classify videos with an accuracy above 70%. We also evaluate the method's applicability for segmentation, showcasing its high success rate for B-lines (89% accuracy) and its shortcomings for A-line detection. We then propose a hybrid solution that uses a combination of neural networks and analytical methods to increase accuracy in horizontal line detection, emphasizing the pleura.


In turbomachinery the wake flow together with the inherent unsteadiness caused by interaction between stator and rotor has a significant impact on efficiency and performance. The prediction of the wake flow depends largely on the turbulence modeling. Therefore in this study the evolution of a viscous wake downstream of a linear turbine cascade is experimentally and computationally investigated. In a transonic cascade test stand Laser Doppler Velocimeter (LDV) measurements of velocity and turbulent kinetic energy are done in several axial planes downstream of the blade trailing edge. Two different turbulence models are then incorporated into a twodimensional Navier-Stokes solver to calculate the turbulent wake flow and the results are compared with the experimental data to test the quality of the turbulence models. The large discrepancies between measurement and calculation are assumed to be caused by the periodic vortex shedding from the blunt trailing edge which is not taken into account by the turbulence models. But further research is needed to resolve this issue.


Effects of small-scale fluctuation of neutrino radiation on supernova explosions are examined. We found that there were large differences between the results of globally anisotropic neutrino radiation and those with fluctuation. As the number of modes of fluctuation increased, the shock positions, entropy distributions, and explosion energies approached those of spherical explosion. It was concluded that global anisotropy of the neutrino radiation is the most effective mechanism of increasing the explosion energy when the total neutrino luminosity is given. Subject headings: shock waves—hydrodynamics—stars:neutron—supernova:general


According to this study: • Important differences exist in the organizational structure and function of rapid response teams (RRTs) at top-performing versus non–top-performing hospitals for in-hospital cardiac arrest survival. • Top-performing hospitals tend to have dedicated RRT staff who collaborate with bedside nurses in the surveillance of at-risk patients, both during a rapid response activation and afterward.


The invention uses sucrose or white sugar as material to treat and separate and prepare crystal fruit sugar with high yield more than 80% for given sucrose quantity. Wherein, it relates to hydrolysis, simulated moving bed adsorption and separation, isomerization, condensation, crystallization, centrifugal separation and drying.


The ways of the landscape as cultural carrier were discussed from the macro-view,middle-view,micro-view three perspectives.The macroscopic level performance was integrating the culture into the urban landscape planning stage,the medium level performance was establishing reveal city culture characteristics of public green space and micro level of performance was designing environmental facilities that reflecting urban culture everywhere.


BACKGROUND:The intricate balance between immune defense and inflammation in the gut is a highly regulated process that requires interactions between the intestinal epithelium and the underlying immune system. Lymphotoxin beta receptor (LTbR), a member of the TNFR superfamily of cytokines, has been shown to play a critical role in the regulation of mucosal immune responses. LTbR-dependent production of IL-22 by group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) is essential for protection against mucosal bacterial pathogens. However, the mechanisms whereby LTbR signaling contributes to protection during epithelial damage remain poorly understood. METHODS:To define the function of LTbR signaling in intestinal epithelial cells, we have generated mice with specific inactivation of LTbR in intestinal epithelial cells (Vil-Ltbr−/−) mice, by using conditional gene targeting approach. We used a mouse model of epithelial damage and inflammation induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) administration. WT, Ltbr−/− and Vil-Ltbr−/− mice were treated with 3.5% DSS in drinking water for 5 days followed by normal water thereafter. RESULTS:Compared with control WT mice, DSS-treated Vil-Ltbr−/− mice displayed increased body weight loss, reduced survival, reduced colon length, and severe colon inflammation. Expression of IL-22 and IL-22 dependent mucins Muc2, Muc4, and Muc13 was reduced in the colons of Vil-Ltbr−/− mice. Additionally, Vil-Ltbr−/− mice displayed impaired proliferation of intestinal epithelial cells, and reduced expression of anti-apoptotic factors Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL. These results indicate that LTbR signaling in epithelial cells is critical for the induction of IL-22-dependent tissue protective responses. Accordingly, stimulation of LTbR signaling in WT mice with an agonistic antibody promoted IL-22 production during mucosal damage induced by DSS. We further found that LT-expressing RORgt+CD4–CCR6+T-bet– lymphoid tissue inducer (LTi) cells were a predominant source of protective IL-22 during epithelial damage. Since IL-23 is the principal cytokine required for induction of IL-22 in the gut, we hypothesized that LTbR expression in epithelial cells may be required for IL-23 production. Indeed, we found that IL-23 expression was significantly reduced in DSS-treated Vil-Ltbr−/− mice. Furthermore, by using IL-23 reporter mice and bone marrow transfer approaches, we found that epithelial cells were capable to produce IL-23 for mucosal protection in a LTbR-dependent manner. CONCLUSIONS:Our results suggest that LTbR signaling in intestinal epithelial cells induces IL-23 which is required for IL-22 production by LTi cells following epithelial damage. These results support a novel mechanism wherein LTbR-mediated cooperation between epithelial cells and LTi cells regulates intestinal homeostasis to limit mucosal damage. Thus, manipulation of LTbR signaling may represent a novel therapeutic pathway to limit epithelial damage and promote mucosal wound healing.