The primary goal of radical prostatectomy is to ensure complete removal of the cancer with preservation of urinary and sexual function. The surgical dilemma involves whether it is safe to preserve the so-called neurovascular bundle (NVB) if there is a risk of extracapsular extension (ECE) and positive surgical margins (+SM). The authors are to be commended for providing a timely, succinct and thorough review of the recently published data on the utility and safety of nerve grafting and in the process have identified three main concerns that remain unanswered: First, is the lack of high-level evidence supporting the technique and the tremendous variability in the results reported. Bilateral grafts have been reported to result in recovery of potency of between 34% (ref. 25) and 72% (ref. 26) compared to 0 in men undergoing bilateral NVB resection without grafting. Both series used the Cavermap nerve stimulator to mark the proximal NVB before resection, which may have improved results. The Cavermap has been shown in clinical and experimental studies to allow surgeons to more accurately detect the NVB (1, refs 13, 27 and 40). However, bilateral wide resection is rarely required and with recent evidence of a survival advantage to adjuvant radiotherapy for pathological T3 disease many of these men will be offered radiation, further minimizing the likelihood of recovery. Furthermore, with the stage migration to more organ-confined disease occurring in the prostate-specific antigen era, a patient requiring bilateral wide resection will become very rare indeed. Increasingly patients with high-risk features will only be offered surgery as part of multimodality trials, including postoperative therapies, which will have a dramatic impact on the likelihood of recovery of potency. The series quoted report that between 58 and 64% of men recover after unilateral grafting carried out at open surgery, which does compare favourably to historical controls of unilateral wide resection of approximately 30%.1 The efficacy of unilateral grafts cannot be determined because of substantial confounders, including the lack of a standardized technique, the use of different conduits including sural or genitofemoral nerves, the reliance on historical controls with more contemporary grafted patients having access to phosphodiesterase inhibitors and aggressive rehabilitation. Genitofemoral nerves are smaller in calibre than sural and might be, as a very recent study suggests, both inferior in efficacy and associated with significant sensory deficit.2 However, proof of efficacy can only be determined by randomized trials, which are unlikely to be undertaken because of difficulties in blinding patients and clinicians, sample size considerations, limited access to the Cavermap nerve stimulator, adjusting for the Hawthorne effect and the changes in surgical technique. Currently our unit offers nerve grafting only on an ethics approved protocol with strict selection criteria and makes use of the Cavermap to identify the proximal NVB before resection with exclusive use of the sural nerve resulting in a +SM rate of only 4%. Second, is the anatomy of the cavernous nerves in humans. The authors discuss studies by Walsh and others (refs 19 and 20), but do not include elegant studies by Takenaka et al. on fresh cadavers, which have shown that the NVBs, covered by the lateral pelvic fascia, are located more than 20–30 mm below and more than 20 mm distal to the bladder–prostate junction.3 The erectile nerves tended to be located outside the NVB at the dorsolateral margin of the prostate. These authors concluded that 'In contrast to general clinical opinion, the NVB appears to supply few pelvic splanchnic nerve components at the bladder prostate junction with caudal pelvic splanchnic branches reaching the dorsolateral prostate more than 20 mm lower'. These authors suggest that the proximal placement of the nerve graft, therefore, could have a dramatic effect on the likelihood of success particularly if the Cavermap is not used to map and mark the proximal NVB. The authors acknowledge that the absence of the Cavermap in some series reviewed in this manuscript may account for the wide variation in outcomes reported as the proximal end of the graft may not be placed in the optimal position. Tewari et al. recently carried out similar studies of 10 fresh cadavers and described a trizonal neural architecture with considerable variability.4 Tewari et al. described a proximal neurovascular plate located 5 mm (3–10 mm) lateral to the seminal vesicles, 3 mm (2–7 mm) thick, 7 mm (5–25 mm) wide and 9 mm (4–30 mm) long. It was within 6 mm (4–15 mm) of the bladder neck, 5 mm (2–7 mm) of the endopelvic fascia and overlapped 5 mm (0–7 mm) of the proximal prostate. There was a predominant NVB, which varied in shape and size from the proximal to distal end, was thickest at the base and most variable near the apex. In 66% of cases, there was a medial extension behind the prostate, which converged medially at the apex in 33% cases. Accessory neural pathways were noted within the layers of levator fascia and/or lateral pelvic fascia on the anterolateral aspect and on the posterior aspect of the prostate underscoring the variability of neural anatomy. Clearly, these studies suggest that the variability in neural anatomy is significant and that results of grafting will be dramatically affected by the placement of the graft in optimal position. Our limited understanding of the anatomy should not be a deterrent to grafting but rather a stimulus to improve our understanding of the anatomy and thereby improve our techniques of partial NVB preservation or wide resection of the NVB with grafting if appropriate. Finally, the necessity of wide excision of the NVB at the time of radical prostatectomy requires consideration. Mancuso et al. importantly discuss the role of partial NVB preservation. As recent anatomical studies show that the NVB is located up to 20 mm away from the base of the prostate and on average 5 mm away in other areas. They and others suggest that perhaps it is possible to carry out partial NVB preservation, ensuring clear margins and complete removal of the tumour, but with preservation of enough NVB to allow recovery of potency. ANZ J. Surg. 2008; 78: 834–835 doi: 10.1111/j.1445-2197.2008.04674.x


The Local Bubble is generally presumed to be a hot superbubble generated by stellar winds and supernovae. Superbubbles are common in star‐forming galaxies, and while their origin from massive star feedback is generally accepted, their dominant physical processes and evolution still remain to be quantitatively confirmed. This paper reviews the status of our understanding on the most important issue, the energy budget for superbubbles.


describes the deleterious effects of the growth of the Hungarian and Croatian bureaucracies and of economic planning on the Croatian peasant after the Nagodba of 1868. Her analysis of agrarian legislation, particularly that relating to the sadruga, reveals how little was done to promote efficiency of production or to impede the fragmentation of holdings. Three authors investigate the incompatibility of agrarian interests and nationalist strivings. A. Paul Kubricht shows how Czech Agrarians and the Young Czech Party came to a parting of the ways over fundamental differences concerning the future course of Czech development. Stephan Horak is very critical of the Polish government's agrarian policies between the wars, arguing that they were intended primarily to support the Polonization of the minorities. With refreshing objectivity, Mary Samal traces the efforts of the Czechoslovak Republican Party of Smallholders and Peasants to solve the German minority problem between 1918 and 1939. The impossibility of the task, despite a remarkable consistency by the party in promoting agricultural interests as a means of transcending ethnic hostility, is painfully evident in the period of mounting Sudeten German agitation led by Konrad Henlein. Finally, two cogently argued pieces arrive at significant conclusions regarding fundamental problems of economic development in East Central Europe. Linda Blodgett's searching analysis of urbaria from the Rozmberk family estates in Bohemia reveals that there was no evolution from Grundherrschaft to Gutsherrschaft between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, suggesting, therefore, that it is inaccurate to talk of a "second serfdom" during this period. John Komlos argues that the emancipation of the peasantry in 1848 had much less impact on Hungarian economic development than has generally been assumed. He points out that serfdom could not have retarded Hungarian agricultural development significantly, because only a small percentage of available productive resources were not in use before 1848 and because per capita grain production grew at essentially the same rate after emancipation as it did before. One awaits with interest the appearance of new volumes in this series and the publication of longer studies by some of the authors of the present essays.


Abstract It is estimated that 20-30% of the annual Canadian healthcare budget may be wasted on unnecessary tests and treatments. is an initiative dedicated to addressing this problem. In Canada it has focused primarily on adult healthcare. To describe the development, implementation and initial impact of a departmental top 5 list on paediatric care at a Canadian childrens hospital. After key stakeholder input and review of current specialty society lists, an inventory of potential paediatric recommendations relevant to hospital care was generated. A survey was developed and broadly administered to rank items. Two hospitalist leaders independently scored top ranking items based on ease of implementation, measurement, alignment, and value. Five final items were chosen. Baseline measurement was achieved through various hospital databases, chart review or audit where appropriate. After appointing a physician lead and developing an implementation strategy for each recommendation, the top 5 list was launched in January 2016. Recommendations were implemented using various improvement methodologies. Early results nine months into the initiative show large improvements in reducing unnecessary care. For example: by not automatically giving IVIG as first-line treatment for children with typical newly diagnosed ITP, usage of IVIG has decreased from an initial baseline of 85% to 20%. In the emergency department, nasopharyngeal testing for respiratory viruses has decreased by more than 80% and routine radiography for children with low risk acute ankle injuries has decreased from 86% to 57%. Developing and implementing a top 5 list at a childrens hospital aims to promote a culture of quality, evidence-based and high-value care. We have plans for further improvements in the current project, sustaining the gains already achieved, and to expand the initiative to other areas in our institution. This model, along with lessons learned, is being shared with paediatric healthcare providers across the country through presentation at meetings and rounds, as well as publication in various media and high impact journals.


In the given work there are results of psycho semantic research concept of «money» with the method of semantic differential by C.Osgud. Influence of a gender and age on position of money in semantic space is revealed. The obtained results speak that the relation to money is the dynamical phenomenon which formed in development of the person and determined by psychosocial factors.


Artificial neural networks (ANNs) attempt to emulate the massively parallel and distributed processing of the human brain. They are being examined for a variety of problems that have been difficult...


We present a quasi-static fiber optic strain sensing system capable of resolving signals below nanostrain from 20 mHz. A telecom-grade distributed feedback CW diode laser is locked to a fiber Fabry-Perot sensor, transferring the detected signals onto the laser. An H(13)C(14)N absorption line is then used as a frequency reference to extract accurate low-frequency strain signals from the locked system.


In this research, titanium dioxide and Al nanoparticles were purchased from a Chinese company, then the copper materials were added in three ratios that are (0, 1, 2, 3, and 5) wt.%. The use of dry press method through a hydraulic press from one direction, using a mold of diameter of 10 mm to obtain a ceramic compressed dimension that was firing at a temperature of 900 °C. The thermal conductivity is studied for all samples that include pure with the copper added proportions and compared between them when adding the proportions for copper the ratio of 2 wt.% is the highest conductivity among the used ratios. For the mechanical properties, which included the hardness when adding percentage from copper toTiO2 2 wt.% ratio showed is the highest hardness value between other ratios, the samples surface, taking surface pictures of the samples through an optical microscope.


The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a pipe, comprising: a rolling step of arranging a plurality of carbon threads such that the carbon threads tightly contact an outer surface of a mandrel; a heat-molding step of heating the mandrel in a furnace so as to compressively heat the carbon threads such that the latter are molded into a pipe; and a drawing step of removing a compression tape from the molded pipe, and separating the pipe from the mandrel.


Around 100 years ago, the ocean bottom was thought to be flat and featureless. But with the advent of modern echo sounding techniques the picture has significantly changed. The aim of shallow water bathymetry (measurement and charting of the sea bottom) is to provide navigational safety whereas deep ocean survey is generally of an exploratory nature. Rough mountainous terrain, including the mid-ocean ridge system, is known to cover larger portions of the seabed. In order to understand dynamic processes related to the shape of earth the seafloor bathymetric explorations are important along with the routine offshore explorations of mineral deposits, especially in the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ). The Earth works as an integrated system of interacting bio-geophysico-chemical processes which are influenced by the land topography and ocean bathymetry. Erosion and sedimentation rates are much lower in the ocean than on land. However, detailed bathymetry reveals the morphology and geological history. The understanding of the related geological and geophysical parameters which shape the ocean floor, are also essential for living and nonliving resource estimation. The ocean floor acts as an interface between the oceanic lithosphere and hydrosphere, and the interaction (i.e., exchange of mass and energy) zone for the processes are provided by the boundary layers. Evidences of the interaction effects in terms of the geomorphology can be seen in the seafloor sediment of ripple marks and bioturbation. Similarly, geological evidences can be seen in the development of manganese nodules and forms of past and present submarine volcanism. Generally, the two basic processes which shape the seafloor are known as endogenic and exogenic e.g. Seibold & Berger (1993). The large seafloor features (seamount, ridge crest, valley etc) related to the plate tectonics are due to the endogenic processes i.e., those deriving their energy from the earth interiors. Small scale features (ripple /abyssal plain etc.) due to erosion as well as deposition of the sediments are attributed to the exogenic processes i.e. those driven by the Sun a major parameter controls physical processes such as climate temperature and wind waves etc. In turn, these processes control fine-scale deep seafloor morphology. Two third of the earth surface i.e. 362 million square km (70 %) is covered by the ocean. In order to understand the seafloor various methods such as application of remote acoustic techniques (Lurton, 2002), seafloor photographic and geological sampling techniques are well established. Echo-sounding through use of hull mounted transducer became familiar during World War II. Advantage of this technique lies with the rapid depth data acquisition. Due to the improvement of the material science, the designing of the low cost but high quality


The experiment of happiness course in kindergarten is most imporant in terms of how to meet infant's most fundamental needs. While carrying out the experiment, the teachers should be aware of the fact that happiness is not equal to joy, but associated with overcoming difficulties. The education lays a foundation for the infant's life-long happiness and needs teacher's conduction.


The study on the black pigment from Vaccinium Bracteatum Thunb has been investigated for many years.However,the preparation has not been given sufficient attention,thus prevents its industrialization.The process of preparation has been analyzed in this paper.It showed that:the oxidation was the necessary condition for preparing black pigment from Vaccinium Bracteatum Thunb;moreover,the resin is a good choice to purify the black pigment from Vaccinium Bracteatum Thunb;and the last,it was not appropriate to use the content of total flavonoids to evaluate the content of black pigment from Vaccinium Bracteatum Thunb.


Fuzzy c-Means (FCM) clustering by entropy-based regularization concept is a fuzzy variant of Gaussian mixtures density estimation. FCM was also extended to a full-parameter model by introducing Mahalanobis distance and the K-L information-based fuzzification scheme, in which the degree of fuzziness of partition is evaluated comparing with Gaussian mixtures. In this paper, a new fuzzy co-clustering model is proposed, which is a fuzzy variant of multinomial mixture density estimation. Multinomial mixtures is a probabilistic model for co-clustering of cooccurrence matrices and the proposed method extends multinomial mixtures so that the degree of fuzziness can be tuned in a similar manner to K-L information-based FCM. Several experimental results demonstrate the effects of tuning the degree of fuzziness comparing with its corresponding probabilistic model.


Fire Detection system plays an important role in surveillance and security systems. Fire detection systems are primarily designed to warn occupants of fire so that they may safely evacuate the premises. Correctly maintained and operating systems are effective and proven life saving devices. The available methods are based on mainly color and motion based methods, which detects fire using the color and motion features of fire. We can also use several classifiers to classify the fire pixels from non-fire pixels. The combination of several classifiers for the training process will give high performance. The system which uses the complementary information, based on color, shape variation, and motion analysis, will give better recognition compared to other methods. KeywordsFire detection, Multi-Expert Systems, motion based methods, color based methods


Depressions of various lymphocyte and monocyte functions, shown during and after surgery under general anesthesia, are absent during and after surgery under epidural anesthesia. These findings might be of importance to postoperative resistance to bacterial infections and perhaps the risk of cancer spreading during surgery on malignant tumors.


Mid Day Meal is the world's largest school meal programme and reaches an estimated 12 crores children across 12 lakhs school in India. Mid Day Meal Scheme emerged out of the National Programme of Nutritional Support to primary education, a centrally sponsored scheme formulated in 1995 to improve enrollment, attendance and retention by providing free food grains to government primary schools. The main aim of MDM scheme is to reduce hunger, accelerate education in schools by providing cooked food to improve nutritional status among children, improve the enrollment level, and improve attendance level and retention rate in schools and in other educational centers. The cost of MDM scheme shared between the central and state government. The central government provides food grains to the state. The entire cost of cooking, infrastructure development, transportation of food grains, payment to cook and helpers is contributed by centre with the state government.Moreover, the central government provides greater share of funds. Whereas, the contribution of state government differ from state to state.Hence, in the present paper an attempt has been made to enlighten the aims, objectives and fund allocation towards MDM scheme.


This paper describes one of the new package cooling technology concepts using low melting point alloys in order to perform high density packaging. Two kinds of cooling alloy materials, Bi/Sn/In and Bi/Pb/Sn/In, whose melting points are less than 80°C and which are not expensive, were selected. Each experimental substrate sample was fabricated using greensheet technology on which a tungsten metallised heat resistor was formed. A kovar shell was attached to the back side of the substrate and filled with the low melting point alloy. The temperature distribution of the substrate was measured and it was confirmed that the substrate back surface temperature was fixed at the melting point for several minutes by thermal absorption while the alloy's phase changed. This new cooling technology is extremely useful for high-power circuit packages.


All energy scenarios show a shift toward an increased percentage of renewable energy sources, including biomass. In this study, pine sawdust (PSD) was added to coals to make coke used for blast furnaces. The influences of PSD additive on coke quality, tar composition, and non-condensable gas components were evaluated during coal/PSD co-carbonization. The experimental results indicated that the addition of 5% PSD into coals did not have an evident effect on coke qualities, such as abrasion index (M10), fragmentation index (M40), coke reactivity index (CRI), and coke strength after reaction with CO2 (CSR). It was also observed that the tar and coke gas yields were remarkably increased when the mass fraction of PSD was increased from 0 to 10%. Moreover, the addition of PSD favors producing low-molecular-weight compounds and improving the quality of liquid tar.


Abstract Purpose To assess clinical features, therapy, and outcome of the myositis associated with anti-MDA5 antibodies, and to propose a successful therapeutic protocol for rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease (RP-ILD) in anti-MDA5 dermatomyositis (DM). Methods A retrospective and descriptive study of three cases of anti-MDA5 associated myositis was conducted in the Department of Internal Medicine in the University Hospital Hedi Chaker, Sfax, Tunisia, between 1996 and 2016. Results From a series of 115 cases of myositis, three cases of anti-MDA5-positive DM were identified. They were three men with a mean age of 63 years. They manifested specific cutaneous manifestations including ulcers and palmar papules, mild muscular involvement, and RP-ILD. The severity of the disease was correlated to the ILD in all patients. Aggressive therapies were tried including high-dose corticoids, cyclophosphamide (CYC) cures, intravenous immunoglobulins, and rituximab (RTX), with a good outcome in the patient who received combined high steroids, CYC, and RTX pulses. The two other patients died because of a rapid worsening of their respiratory condition. Conclusion Anti-MDA positive myositis is characterised by a specific cutaneous phenotype, the discretion of muscular signs, and the correlation with RP-ILD. The poor prognosis of this entity is correlated to the high resistance of pulmonary involvement despite aggressive therapeutics. The combination between high-dose steroids, CYC, and RTX has shown good results in many reports, as well as in one of our patients.


The aero-thermal computation of the flow path of an entire gas turbine engine can be performed using multiple flow solvers, each specialized to a component of the engine. Here, we present an approach to integrate a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) solver and a Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solver. Challenges arise, when the LES solver is based on a low-Mach number approximation and can not deliver all variables needed for a compressible RANS solver. This study investigates the choice of boundary conditions applied to the RANS interface. We propose the use of inlet/exit boundary conditions and investigate the effect on simple pipe geometries.


The components consisted of roll, bearings, clutch and gearcase is typical parts in a paper machine. Their running conditions arecritical to the safe and stable operation of the plant. So it is benefiting to monitor and detect rotating machines by all means. This paperexplores the way to analyze the time domain amplitude spectrum , frequency domain power spectrum and inverse frequency spectrum todetect faults with AI technology, especially expert system.


It is necessary and feasible to make the application-oriented personnel training program of the independent college characteristic-rization.It could be implemented from the aspects of teaching programs,course systems,practice links,and the building consisting of teachers and textbooks.Only insists on the developing way of characteristic-rization,can an independent college have competitive strength,become a brand,and keep developing healthily.


After a short introduction to on-line computing, we prove that the functions computable in on-line by a finite automaton are piecewise affine functions whose coefficients are rational numbers (i.e., the functions f(x)=ax+b, or f(x,y)=ax+by+c where a, b, and c are rational). A consequence of this study is that multiplication, division and elementary functions of operands of arbitrarily long length cannot be performed using bounded-size operators. >


We propose a Wilkinson power divider that suppresses harmonics using radial open stubs. By combining quarter-wavelength coupled lines and radial open stubs, broadband harmonic suppression can be realized. Simulation of the proposed configuration showed promising results.


The tourist potentials of the medieval fortresses in RN Macedonia as a medieval heritage in the context of cultural and historical tourism are often neglected, but the practice in other European and even in Balkan countries shows that this segment of history can be used at a very high level. The purpose of this paper is to explore the fortresses in order to enrich the tourist offer in RN. Macedonia. Archaeological excavations have identified about eighty medieval fortresses and other fortifications on the territory of the country. The mentioned fortified settlements appear in different time periods from prehistory, through antiquity to the Middle Ages. There is a generally accepted opinion that the formation of tourist cultural routes would lead to better protection and presentation of the cultural monument and their activation in use for tourist purposes. The formation of a new tourist product is a big step in the formation of an attractive tourist offer, and in this case it is the Macedonian medieval fortresses. In the framework of this paper, the research is aimed at a narrow selection of medieval fortresses that can offer attractive content to tourists. The analysis and evaluation uses known and recognized qualitative - quantitative and comparative research methods, procedures, criteria and activities for tourism valorization.


Based on the realist school of thought, which stresses, among other things, that national interests predominate in international relations and are the key determinants of foreign policy decisions, this article analyses Lesotho policy towards South Africa since the former's independence in 1966 to date. The central argument of the article is that Lesotho has been unable to pursue an independent foreign policy towards South Africa because it is a small state; especially if such a policy is injurious to South Africa's national interests. The small state theory as applied to Lesotho has been a resilient and convincing explanatory tool in Lesotho-South Africa relations. The article argues further that nothing has changed in Lesotho's policy towards South Africa or the relations between these two countries. Whether it is the apartheid government in South Africa and the authoritarian Basotho National Party (BNP)/military governments in Lesotho, on the one hand, or the democratically elected African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa and the popularly elected Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) in Lesotho on the other, their relations and indeed Lesotho's policy have been determined largely by South Africa's national interests; there appears to be little or nothing Lesotho can do to change this.


The concept of night is one of the poetic elements employed in Divan poetry extensively with its connotations. This concept is met in Husn u Ask as well including its all associative meanings. This is partly because of the literary school "Sebk-i Hindi" that the poet was influenced. The concept of night and related form are analyzed and interpreted here considering other Turkish sourcesin the concerned field.


World over SMEs are playing a major role in the sphere of socio-economic enhancement of lives of millions. In India, the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) contribute 8 per cent to the country's GDP, 45 per cent to the manufactured output and 40 per cent to the country's exports. They provide employment to 101 million people through 45 million enterprises. As an employment generator, MSMEs are the second largest employment opportunity provider only behind the agriculture sector. The MSMEs also act as a catalyst for social change by helping reduce the income inequality among various social classes as also between regions. Within MSMEs, the performance of the MSME manufacturing sector has been particularly worth considering. No study has been done yet to evaluate the elasticity of employment of the MSME manufacturing sector. Our paper aims to ascertain the value of employment elasticity in the MSME manufacturing sector by way of application of appropriate econometric techniques for the period 1973-74 to 2012-13.


A magnetorheological brake driven by shape memory alloy is presented in this paper. The shape memory alloy spring is used to push the magnetorheological fluid into the working gap under thermal effect. Herschel-Bulkley model is used to describe the constitutive characteristics of magnetorheological fluids subject to an applied magnetic field. The braking torque developed by magnetorheological fluid is derived to evaluate the braking performance. The results indicate that, the braking torque changes rapidly according to strength of applied magnetic field. Keywords-magnetorheological fluid; brake; shape memory alloy; braking torque


The chemical composition of a foodstuff provides a useful indication of its potential nutritional value. This chapter illustrates the main components of some typical natural and fruit yoghurts. It is evident that yoghurt could prove to be an important introduction to any diet, with the precise impact depending upon the type of yoghurt being consumed. Although natural yoghurt is based entirely on milk, stirred fruit yoghurts usually have stabilizers incorporated to reduce whey separation during distribution. Guar gum, locust bean gum, as well as the carrageenans and cellulose derivatives are long chain polysaccharides composed of regular arrangements of monosaccharide units and it is significant, in the present context, that the molecules cannot be attacked by digestive enzymes in the human body. The proteins in milk are of excellent nutritional quality, and both the caseins and whey proteins are well endowed with essential amino acids. Milk is a most valuable dietary component. The fact that the protein content of yoghurt is often elevated by concentration or addition of skimmed milk solids means that it is an even more attractive source of protein than liquid milk.


The growth of GaAs epilayers on silicon substrates with multiple layers of InAs quantum dots(QDs) as dislocation filters by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition(MOCVD) is investigated in detail.The growth conditions of single and multiple layers of QDs used as dislocation filters in GaAs/Si epilayers are optimized.It is found that the insertion of a five-layer InAs QDs into the GaAs buffer layer effectively reduces the dislocation density of GaAs/Si film.Compared with the dislocation density of 5×107 cm-2 in the GaAs/Si sample without QDs,a density of 2×106 cm-2 is achieved in the sample with QD dislocation filters.


GR, OWTH of plants is a function of the rate of their metabolic processes. An important effect of temperature on plants is associated with biochemical functions. Plant responses to temperature have long been studied but only limited information is available on relationships between temperature and nitrogen metabolism. Many plants accumulate nitrate to levels toxic to animals under certain conditions. The accumulation has been associated with many environmental factors including moisture stress, high temperatures, and reduced light intensity. From an ecological standpoint, it is difficult to separate effects of such individual factors. Therefore, a study of possible interactions of those factors in their physiological effects is important in understanding the physiological ecology of the corn plant. This investigation was conducted to obtain information on effects of temperature and its interaction with moisture stress and light intensity on nitrogen metabolism of corn seedlings.


Groundnut is an important edible oilseed crop of our country and edible oil economy primarily depends upon groundnut production. Secondary and micronutrient fertilization is essential for enhancing the productivity of groundnut crop. Calcium,
 Magnesium and Sulphur requirements are highest in oil seed crops followed by pulses and least in cereals. The response of groundnut to secondary and micronutrients was studied on sandy loam soils. Combined foliar application of secondary and
 micronutrients along with RDF recorded significantly highest pod yield of 2654 kg ha-1 and haulm yield of 3603 kg ha-1 as compared to RDF (1500 and 2551 kg ha-1 of pod and haulm yield, respectively) and also the highest uptake of primary nutrients
 (N, P and K) by haulm and pod at harvest which might be because of highest dry matter production with the combined application of all the nutrients.


Specimens of the centric diatom species Pleurosia laevis were collected from many natural habitats in Egypt and examined using LM and SEM. This work aimed to study the morphology of different valve types (Polymorphic types). The polymorphism phenomena observed in the in the species Pleurosira laevis investigated in this study. Four different morphological valve types exist side by side, normal vegetative type, long and narrow width vegetative type, the resting spore and the intermediate valve type in the same specimen. Full description of two types of vegetative cell structure, resting spore morphology and an intermediate form of valve structure were done and comparisons between these structures were recorded. Environmental conditions, which affect on the formation of the polymorphic structures, were discussed. Finally, the resting spore and intermediate valve types of Pleurosia laevis are recorded and described for the first time.


Aconventional hand-fed transplanter was modified to construct a multiple loading station transplanter. The performance of a multiple loading transplanter on sweet potatoes was not as favorable as Suggs' finding for tobacco, due to greater difficulty in singulating the tangled sweet potato plants. However, the multiple loading transplanting can be operated satisfactorily at 50 plants/min. Based on a four-row machine, as long as the planted area is greater than 2.72 ha, it seems economical to use the multiple loading transplanter instead of the conventional transplanter. Laboratory tests were conducted to study the effect of number of loading stations on the percentage of error as a result of skips. A simulation model for the transplanting operations was developed.


We compute the β functions of marginal couplings in projectable Ho ˇ rava gravity in 2 þ 1 spacetime dimensions. We show that the renormalization group flow has an asymptotically free fixed point in the ultraviolet (UV), establishing the theory as a UV-complete model with dynamical gravitational degrees of freedom.Therefore,thistheorymayserve asa toy model tostudy fundamental aspectsofquantum gravity. Our resultsrepresentastepforwardtowardsunderstandingtheUVpropertiesofrealisticversionsofHo ˇ ravagravity.


The translation of Vietnamese specialties or recipes is important since there is a very large community of Vietnamese who immigrate to France. Sharing the other's culture also includes culinary heritage in which translation plays an essential role in multiculturalism nowadays. Two short stories represent the basis of my study: they concern a popular Vietnamese specialty: the phở. This is a soup made of thin rice noodles decorated with different spices and beef, either cooked or rare; broth is the key point. The first one, which uses the theme of phở as a backdrop, tells a moving story of the two fathers who deeply care for their children. The second describes the phở soup and its various recipes. «Phở bò nhé? Tái hay Chính?» DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14195/978-989-26-1191-4_14 314 Minh Ha Lo-Cicero «Le phở au bœuf, hein? La viande juste passée dans l'eau bouillante, ou bien cuite ?» Why not translating tái by saignant (rare) instead of passée à l 'eau bouillante? The adjective saignant (rare) is general whereas the past participle expression passée à l 'eau bouillante is more precise: this difference lies in the cooking method. How to overcome the linguistic and cultural barriers to achieve an accurate translation is my objective in this article.


In atmosphere circumfluence the development of hailstone is of law which will be implicated in the time series of the radar echo image if the Doppler radar is used to detected hailstone. Taking it into account that cloud is a kind of liquid, an algorithm for segmenting and getting potential hailstone cloud blocks is designed, the rules to estimate temporal relation among different clouds in different radar echo images are constructed and at last, a tracing algorithm of clouds based on their outer rectangles is given in this paper. By using these algorithms the knowledge of universality about developing hailstone weather is obtained, which is helpful to make hailstone weather forecast automatically as early as most.


Smart cities are currently becoming the trend of large cities in the world and large cities in Indonesia. As the center of human civilization, cities cannot do without the problems of excess capacity and comfort. More and more people are migrating from the countryside to the cities, which brings new problems to the cities. Cities need to change to survive in the future. Strong indicators are needed to support cities, whether in terms of natural environment, society, communities, infrastructure, and education. In this article, we discuss a systematic literature review of research related to smart cities. The systematic literature review is divided into three stages, introduction stage, demographic analysis stage and result analysis. The results reveal important indicators of smart cities based on the conclusions of previous research


The paper describes methodology for modelling and simulative estimation of sensitivity and range of ISM band Remote Keyless Entry transmitter-receiver system for automotive applications. The method is based on electrical simulation including PCB extraction data and parameters statistical distribution to evaluate best- and worst case scenarios. Both transmitter and receiver circuits are considered, as well as link environmental conditions. Examples of results are given for presented methodology.


With advances of cloud computing, seamless video streaming from video server to cloud client has been one of technical challenges for multimedia cloud applications. Especially in case that Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) as a major cloud application is deployed via wireless networks, it could raise a new set of issues to be addressed. To solve the problem, we propose a Cloud-based Context-aware HTTP Adaptive Streaming (C2HAS) agent located at cloud server. The goal of the agent is to maximize the video quality of seamless streaming perceived by cloud client, given a dynamically changing network context. From network context we derive a major metric for adapting and maximizing the video quality perceived by cloud clients, which is the throughput ratio of backbone networks and access networks. Based on the metric, we can provide a maximal quality of seamless video streaming to cloud users who might be connected via distant and/or lossy wireless links. The experimental performance analysis shows that the C2HAS agent could be a viable solution for cloud-based multimedia applications.


ABSTRACT Public education at the elementary through high school levels in the United States is in crisis. Market problems include general public dissatisfaction with perceptions of school quality and safety and a lack of correspondence between public desires and apparent school system achievements. These conditions present an opportunity to expand the province of marketing to a new field with new theoretical challenges. While a public sector marketing orientation can help school administrators to enhance relationships with their exchange publics, professional educators often resist a marketing perspective as impinging on professional stature. This study considers a social marketing orientation that addresses professional educator concerns and market needs. Public perceptions of educational systems in one southern state are then reviewed and data are presented on public school districts' superintendents marketing orientations and needs for support services.


Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have been a popular platform for cell‐based therapy in regenerative medicine due to their propensity to home to damaged tissue and act as a repository of regenerative molecules that can promote tissue repair and exert immunomodulatory effects. Accordingly, a great deal of research has gone into optimizing MSC homing and increasing their secretion of therapeutic molecules. A variety of methods have been used to these ends, but one emerging technique gaining significant interest is the use of ultrasound. Sound waves exert mechanical pressure on cells, activating mechano‐transduction pathways and altering gene expression. Ultrasound has been applied both to cultured MSCs to modulate self‐renewal and differentiation, and to tissues‐of‐interest to make them a more attractive target for MSC homing. Here, we review the various applications of ultrasound to MSC‐based therapies, including low‐intensity pulsed ultrasound, pulsed focused ultrasound, and extracorporeal shockwave therapy, as well as the use of adjunctive therapies such as microbubbles. At a molecular level, it seems that ultrasound transiently generates a local gradient of cytokines, growth factors, and adhesion molecules that facilitate MSC homing. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these methods are far from fully elucidated and may differ depending on the ultrasound parameters. We thus put forth minimal criteria for ultrasound parameter reporting, in order to ensure reproducibility of studies in the field. A deeper understanding of these mechanisms will enhance our ability to optimize this promising therapy to assist MSC‐based approaches in regenerative medicine.


What hath Thomas Szasz wrought? He has been published and assessed in the leading popular and middle-of-the-road magazines and press (Friedenberg, 1965; Lomas, 1970; Szasz, 1964). He has been seized on by the intellectual organs of the right (Brudnoy, 1970) and of the left (Teplitz, 1965); his work has been examined by psychiatrists (Lomas, 1970; Teplitz, 1965; Moss, 1968), sociologists (Friedenberg, 1965; Henslin, 1971; Halnos, 1962), psychoanalysts (Lomas, 1970; Storr, 1970), and


Is Junior bored with his plain white diapers?
 Try the magenta or orange....Or there's the subtle peach and lavender from the Los Angeles company's spring line of pastels.
 So it goes in the diaper derby, where color, fancy fasteners and other features offer the best bet for getting consumers to pay a premium for a rather mundane product.
 The stakes in the diaper war are high: Manufacturers sell $3.5 billion each year in the US alone. Kimberly-Clark's Huggies has 30% of the market, while P&G has 25% with Pampers and 24% with its Luvs brands.
 Prices of premium diapers have climbed between 12% and 15% in the past two years, and could rise a further 4% to 6% this spring, analysts estimate.


Objective To study the value of integrated detection of serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein(Hs-CRP),homocysteine(Hcy)and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio(LDL-C/HDL-C)in diagnosis of coronary heart disease(CHD).Methods Hs-CRP,Hcy and LDL-C/HDL-C ratio were analyzed in 165 cases of patient(CHD group) and 99 cases of control(control group)which were enrolled by coronary angiography.Results The concentration of Hs-CRP,Hcy and LDL-C/HDL-C ratio were significantly higher in CHD patients than those in control group(P0.01).The sensitivity of integrated detection of all the three markers(92.8%) was higher than the single marker detection of either Hs-CRP(83.7%),Hcy(80.0%)or LDL-C/HDL-C(73.4%),P0.05.Conclusion Integrated detection of Hs-CRP,Hcy and LDL-C/HDL-C is more accurate and reliable in the diagnosis of CHD.


This bachelor thesis will be devoted to better understanding a tax system and particular taxes which are paid in a company. The first part deals with the tax system in the Czech Republic. The second part describes paying taxes in certain company from both theoretical and practical point of view. The last part is a conclusion which is dedicated to the taxes paid by KOVO Jirasek, s. r. o. and their impact on the bottom line of this company. Finally,
a possible recommendation leading to tax optimization will be mentioned.


Galpha(i)‐coupled receptors comprise a diverse family of receptors that induce transformation by largely unknown mechanisms. We previously found that the Galpha(i)‐coupled dopamine‐D2short (D2S) receptor transforms Balb‐D2S cells via Gαi3. To identify new Gαi effectors, a yeast two‐hybrid screen was done using constitutively active Gαi3‐Q204L as bait, and tumor necrosis factor‐alpha (TNFα)‐induced protein 8 (TNFAIP8, SCC‐S2/NDED/GG2‐1) was identified. In contrast, TNFAIP8‐related TIPE1 and TIPE2 showed a very weak interaction with Gαi3. In yeast mating, in vitro pull‐down, co‐immunoprecipitation and bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) assays, TNFAIP8 preferentially interacted with activated Gαi proteins, consistent with direct Gαi‐TNFAIP8 coupling. Over‐expression or depletion of TNFAIP8 using antisense constructs in Balb‐D2S cells did not affect D2S‐induced signaling to Gαi‐dependent inhibition of cAMP. In contrast, antisense depletion of TNFAIP8 completely inhibited spontaneous and D2S‐induced foci formation, consistent with a role for TNFAIP8 in Gαi‐dependent transformation. To address possible mechanisms, the effect of D2S signaling via TNFAIP8 on TNFα action was examined. D2S receptor activation inhibited TNFα‐induced cell death in Balb‐D2S cells, but not in cells depleted of TNFAIP8. However, depletion of TNFAIP8 did not prevent D2S‐induced inhibition of TNFα‐mediated caspase activation, suggesting that D2S/TNFAIP8‐induced protection from TNFα‐induced cell death is caspase‐independent. The data suggest that Gαi‐TNFAIP8‐mediated rescue of pre‐oncogenic cells enhances progression to oncogenic transformation, providing a selective target to inhibit cellular transformation. J. Cell. Physiol. 225: 865–874, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


The light efficiency of high brightness LED was improved with TiO2-nanoparticle-mixed encapsulant in this study. Well-dispersed TiO2 nanoparticles with size of 2 - 6 nm was synthesized by lowering pH of reaction solution. The well-dispersed TiO2 nanoparticles were mixed with encapsulant and the light efficiency of LED was dependent on the dispersion of TiO2. The weight percentages of the TiO2 nanoparticles in encapsulant were 0, 5, and 10 wt %. The light efficiency of the LED package increased by 12.4 % when 10 wt% TiO2 nanoparticles were mixed with the encapsulant of the LED package.


Understanding the nature of intrusion attacks is critically important to the development of effective counter measures to anomaly traffic detection problem. Anomaly intrusion traffic attacks combined with traditional network intruders became most serious threats to network security. The existing work monitors available traffic attacks and take appropriate action to mitigate them, before they have had much time to propagate across the network. The proposed working model of statistical traffic anomaly detection method is carried out on the principle traces of non intrusive packet header data with quick detection rate. Traffic is monitored at regular intervals to obtain a signal that can be analyzed through statistical techniques and compared to historical norms to detect anomalies (change detection). The proposed methodology of anomaly intrusion traffic detection envisions statistical change detection theory for real-time data source extracted from Net Con server (Internet Service Provider popularly running at Erode Region). The experimental results suggest little use of address spoofing by attackers, which imply that such attacks will be invisible to indirect backscatter measurement techniques. The proposed traffic anomaly intrusion detection provides an improvement of 12% average through put compared to the existing ones. The propagation delay metric shows a reduction of nearly 9% with other methods of anomaly intrusion detection.


The effect of processing parameters melt superheat, ΔT m , and substrate surface velocity. V s , on the width, w, and thickness, t, of chill block melt spun Fe 40 Ni 40 Si 6 B 14 glassy alloys and their subsequent viscous flow behaviour under continuous heating conditions at a heating rate of 20 K/min have been studied. It is concluded that melt superheat has no effect on the melt flow rate through the orifice, whereas it strongly affects the ribbon thickness. A twofold increase in V s exerts a stronger effect on the viscous flow behaviour of Fe 40 Ni 40 Si 6 B 14 glassy -alloy than the effect of an increase in melt superheat by a factor of 10


We developed a heighVdiameter curve estimation model for even-aged hinoki (enamaecyParis obtusa Sieb.) plantations to develop a heightdiameter curve that could be applied to any stands at any stand age using diameter distribution a d stand characterist{cs. Wl] used generalized allometric equation tor the height-diameter curve equatien and assumed that allemetric coefficient was equal to 1 (constanO and that maximum height was the upperasymptote of the site index curve. We perfermed stepwise multiple regression analysis to derive the remaining parameter related to the slope of curves (referred to here as the `shape parameter). For the multiple regression analysis, we used stand age, density, mean basal area and site index as explanatory variables. [[b validate the model, we estimated the mean tree height of each DBH class and compared the predicted and observed heights. Furthermore, we predicted stand volume by combining the height-diameter curve estimation model and a diameter distribut{on prediction system developed in a previous study, and compared the predicted and observed data. From the regression analysis, we obtained a linear equation for the shape parameter as a function of stand age, density and mean basal area lhe results of rnodel validatien indicate that the height-diameter curve estimation model is capable of estimating mean tree height for DBH classes with less bias, and weuld be useful for diameter distribution-based stand volume prediction. 'lhe results of stand volume predietion indicated that when initial stand age was greater tban 30 years, the prediction error of beth basal area and stand volume were small, while they were over-predicted when initial stand age was less than 30. These results suggest that the predictive error for stmid velume was dependent upon the diameter disnibution prediction system. ifeywortts: Height-diameter curve, pure even-aged hineki applicability to wlde region. (Chainaeopan's obtusa Sieb.) plantation, Stand variables, INTRODUCTION In a previous study, we developed a diameter distribution prediction system, or the "DDPS", for even-aged hinoki (Chamaempan's obtusa Sieb.) plantatiens, and validated the system using longitudinal data that were independent of the data used for model deve]opment (Hrmsm et al., 2002). DDPS predicts the number of trees for each DBH class in every year 'iLaboratory of Forest Environment and R" sources, Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences Nageya University, Furo-cho, Chikusaku, Nagoya, Aichi, 4648601, Japan, '"Japaii Science and 1lechnology AgencylCRESII Kawzguchi,332-OO12,Japan accerding to any treatment regime. We also estimated parameters of the DDPS for even-aged sugi (Cmptomen'a iaPonica D. Don) plantations and found that the DDPS couid be applied to sugi plantations located in various regions (HAyAsHT and YAMAMo'Iv, 2006) . [Ib predict stand volume based on DDPS, the mean height ef each DBH class was required. Once obtained, the rnean stem velume for each DBH class cotdd be estimated using an existing twe-parameter stem volume funetion ¢ E{E FoREslRy AGENcy PLANNING DEpAIa/MEN'1; 1970a, 1970b). Whi]e the heightdiameter curve has been used for estimating the tree height from DBH, the heighGdiameter curves in even-aged plantations have been observed to shift to upper right and produce more even curves as the stands grow (OosuMi, 1987; NAGuMo and MiNo-A, 1990; 'ilArgAKA, t992). Seme researchers have also investigated the relationships between the slope of the height-diameter curve and stand f Fbr, Rann,12;r-9eOO6) Japan Society of Forest Planning NII-Electronic Library Service apanSociety f orest lanning 2 ffayashi and lirmamoto ctraracteristics. KuNIsAKT et al. (1996) found that the slope of height-diameter eurves was c]ecreased as iiiean DBH increased for most grewth stages. KuNlsAet al. (1999) also found that the slope of height-diameter curves varied according to stand density control management. Conversely, INouE (2000) developed a simple model to describe the slopes of height-diameter curves for even-aged sugi a[id hinoki plantations, finding that the slope oi heighVdiameter curves were proportional to the mean dimension quotient Heightdiameter curves thus change according to growing stage (stand age) andlor stand characteristics. In this study we developed a "height-diameter curve estimation model" ior even-aged hineki that could relate tlie change in the height-diameter relationship to growing stage (stand age) andfor stand characteristics. iVe also attempted to prcdict stand volume by combining the height-diameter curve estirnation medel with both DDPS and an existing twoparameter stem volume functien CPHE FoREsTRy AcENcy P[.ANMts'G DEItAia'MEN'I; 1970a, 1970b), aiid discussed tlie utility oi this method to predict stand volume. DATA In this study, we used re-measurement data of permatient sample plots from in hineki plantatiens locatecl in the Utsunomiya IJniversity Forests at Funyu (Shioya-gun, 'Ibchigi prefecture, 36" 47' N, 139" 51' N) and private forests in Owase City, Mie Prefecture (34U 03' N, 1360 10' E) (Fig. 1). Assessed tree characteristics were DBH (cm) and height (m) of all living trees. In the Utsunemiya University Forests at Funyu, a total of 21 plots were establislied in hinoki piantations: two permanent plets, which were re-measured four times after plot establishment (NAITo, 1984, 1988, 1994, 1998; NAITo and MmsIJE, 2003a), four long retation forests, whlch were remeasured three times after plot establishment (FuJL"At(A, 1977; NArTo and Fium"RA, 1982; FiJJiwARA and NArro, 1987; FiJ,mi7tkx et al., 1993), eight growih experimental plets, which were remeasured three times after plet e$tablishment (NAITo, 1982, 1987, 1994; NArlz) et al,, 1996), and seven perrnanent plets on spacing effect (NAI'ro aiid MrvIsuE, 2003b). [[he planting


Smart Grids have been a prime focus of studies for the past few years on power systems. The goal is to make the power infrastructure more reliable and effective to cater for the needs of the future. Another goal for improving the power infrastructure is to incorporate renewable energy sources in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Solar PV penetration has increased drastically in the past couple of years with the increasing need for sustainable energy. The energy generated from PV modules is in DC mode. Also, most devices at home operate on DC. To integrate the solar home system within the power infrastructure, an AC-DC hybrid distribution system is being proposed in this paper. It simulates the operational feasibility of DC network along with its effect on the existing infrastructure. The results show a significant improvement in reliability and operation of the distribution network using this AC-DC hybrid infrastructure.


The detailed radial velocity field of the H ii region N 105, in the Large Magellanic Cloud, has been obtained for the H and (Oiii)5007 lines with a spatial sampling of 9 00 and spectral ones of 16 and 7 km s 1 respectively. The line profiles present complex splitting and broadening in several places. The peculiar velocity field and morphology indicate that N 105 con- tains four bubble shaped nebulae, and two bright distinct quasi spherical Hii regions, more or less coeval, embedded inside another large shell nebula. They are formed essentially by the action of the stellar winds of a few exciting stars, born deep in- side their parental cloud. This result is deduced from the energy added to the ionized gas by the stellar winds of early type stars and from dynamical simulations combining the effects of stel- lar winds with those of high density gradients inside the neutral gas. The size and the morphology of the Hii region are condi- tioned by the depth inside the natal cloud; the observed dynamic evolution of the Hii region starts at the moment of blow out of the molecular cloud. The kinematics agrees with the expected results from the stellar content and from the molecular studies. The positions of masers and of an infra-red (IR) source inside N 105 and the structure of this nebula suggest that such an IR source may be the consequence of star formation triggered by the surrounding wind pressure due to the progenitors of the presently evolved stars.


The application of online learning has utilized various digital media platforms to face challenges in the world of education during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study aims to determine students' perceptions of online learning in Islamic Islamic Education and Characteristics Class IX subjects at Sejahtera Kendari Middle School. This type of research is a mixed method, which is action-oriented by using both quantitative and qualitative methods in the process of implementing the same research. The sample of this research was class IX students at SMP Sejahtera Kendari where the sample was taken using purposive sampling. The data collection method used was a questionnaire on a Likert item scale and interviews. The questionnaire was used to find out students' perceptions of online learning in PAI and Moral Education subjects. Meanwhile, the results of the interviews were to find out the factors that influence online learning on the learning outcomes of Class IX students at SMP Sejahtera Kendari. In addition, researchers used data analysis techniques in the form of descriptive statistics through SPSS and Miles & Huberman's theory. The results of the study showed that the majority of students showed a positive perception of online learning in PAI subjects with the 'S' and SS' categories of 75%. In addition, the factors that influence online learning based on the results of interviews are (1) network constraints that do not support, (2) excessive assignments, and (3) lack of understanding of learning material


1. The time factor entering into the sequence of administering uniform doses of p -aminobenzoate and either of two typical phenyl arsonic acid derivatives to rats is found significantly to influence the survival rate of the group.

2. The prior injection of p -aminobenzoate up to three hours before the arsenical confers protection upon nearly all animals. In contrast, the injection of the arsenical thirty minutes before the p -aminobenzoate is associated with a distinct reduction in the group (or overall) protection, and this reduction proceeds pari passu with the increase in the time interval.

3. An explanation of this phenomenon in terms of the in-vivo reduction of pentavalent arsenicals to the trivalent "arsenoxides" is tentatively presented.


This case study provides a detailed analysis of one change process within an Aboriginal community-controlled health organisation. It was based on a process of reflective action research to inform ongoing service-development and quality-improvement through an established working partnership with university researchers. The focus was strengthening the original social and emotional well-being services and striking a balance between biomedical dominance versus the promotion of social and emotional well-being. The result was a model of empowerment processes and outcomes to guide organisational change and a range of benefits for the organisation. The study provides an example for others interested in similar processes and identifies some of the key success factors for community control.


Districts can be considered as a system of complex interconnections, interactions, relationships and flows. Therefore, a comprehensive approach is essential for effective decision-making with regards to energy efficiency improvement. When addressing interventions with a wider scale, the range of possible interventions is greater, as well as the possibilities of new business models to make bankable the interventions. However certain barriers can appear linked to the interactions among stakeholders, which are usually more complex than when tackling individual actuations. To overcome these barriers it is necessary to establish integrated and systemic methodologies able to support stakeholders to implement better collaboration approaches and carry out more informed decisions. These decisions should be based on a set of relevant indicators, calculated at district level, capturing the different stages that form the retrofitting process (from the diagnosis to the final assessment). This paper presents a holistic design methodology based on the application of a Multi-Criteria Decision Making approach that allows designing optimised solutions. This methodology is based on the evaluation of a set of District Sustainability Indicators while proposing an Integrated Project Delivery method improving the communications among stakeholders and, therefore, the decision-making process.


The New Millennium has brought a renewed focus onto China's abundance of world heritage sites. Up to now, 21 scenic spots in China have been included in the list of world heritage sites by the UNESCO and some others are in the process of application. Scattered over the country, these places are the gems of Chinese tourism resources. We have chosen two of them to offer to our readers. First is the unique charm of ancient Lijiang County in China's southwestern frontier province, Yunnan. Some time later, we will present another: the remains of Peking Man in Beijing's Zhoukoudian. All 21 sites are being actively promoted by the China State Tourism Administrative Bureau.


The overall Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) objective is providing a state-of-the-practice tool for the highway community to use in new and rehabilitated flexible pavement structure design and analysis based on mechanistic-empirical (M-E) principles. This paper is designed to provide an overview of selected study results regarding local MEPDG validation-calibration and compares different study local calibration values. MEPDG sponsors and developers realized the importance of local validation and calibration needs, and, in order to adjust predicted distress values, incorporated local calibration parameters.


This paper discuss a dependency analyzer employing Support Vector Machines (SVMs) for Japanese spoken language. Most conventional dependency analyzers target written texts. Thus, we use a currently available spoken language corpus and make the SVMs learn the corpus to build a dependency analyzer that targets spoken language. We used two types of corpora: one contains written language, and the other, spoken language. By repeating closed testing procedures via the SVMs, we cleaned the corpora. In addition, the cleaning raised the accuracy of the dependency structure analysis by two-fold cross validation over 1% for written language, and 0.25% for spoken language.


Nearly 50% of American 18-24 year olds are enrolled in college at least part time, and these years in college are often difficult, stressful times for students. In a study of over 200,000 first year college students, Iarovici (2014) found that students are reporting the lowest levels of emotional health in 25 years. Blanco et al. (2008) found that in a sample of students with mental illnesses, fewer than 25% sought treatment in the year before the survey, even though they were struggling, and this may be due to the stigma of mental illness. Stigma, according to Goffman (1963), is the application of negative characteristics to a person or group of people. This study sought to examine factors that may affect the stigma of mental illness. Variables examined included perceived public stigma, personal stigma, social desirability, locus of control, and stigma of depression specifically. The results showed a significant correlation between perceived public stigma of mental illness and perceived public stigma of depression and a significant correlation between personal stigma of mental illness and personal stigma of depression. Stigma of Mental Illness iii


We demonstrated a higher-order topological state in a three-dimensional photonic crystal for microwave. Shifting a part of the structure by a half period in two orthogonal directions provided different Zak phases, forming a hinge state.


When social scientists desire to conduct an experiment, they first develop a proposal. A proposal introduces the problem, purpose, and significance of a study as well as the experimenter's research question and hypothesis. It also gives a brief explanation of the theory guiding the study, a review of relevant literature pertaining to the theory, and the procedure for the experiment. The proposal should be written in American Psychological Association (APA) format and should include the following subheadings in this order:


OBJECTIVE To establish a method for determining ciprofloxacin preparations.METHODS In buffer solution pH=6.5 KCI-H 3BO 3-NaOH,a sensitivity incision due to the redox reaction of ciprofloxacin was observed on the dE/dt-E oscillogram,the incision height was linearly proportional to the drug concentration. RESULTS The linear range is 15.0~120 mg·L -1,the average recovery was 99.06% and RSD=2.3%,respectively. CONCLUSION This apparatus is simple with convenient operating and no interference was found.It can be used to control drug quality.


Conflicting reports of reduction in maximal exercise performance by beta blockade were examined with respect to the duration of drug administration. Two separate groups of healthy, young volunteers were studied with placebo and either the nonselective beta blocker propranolol (N = 8) or the cardiose


Introduction: Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) is a commonly treatment that decreases symptoms for people with allergic rhinitis (AR) and asthma (AA). Despite the wide use of AIT, the economic evaluation of AIT versus symptomatic treatment has not been well established.
Objective: To conduct a cost-effectiveness (CE) analysis of subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) versus symptomatic treatment for AR and AA, in the Greek health care setting. The consequences of treatments were evaluated from a 3rdparty payer perspective in a 10-year time horizon.
Method: A Decision tree model was used to reflect the natural progression and evaluate the CE of the comparators. Efficacy and safety data considered in the model were extracted from literature review and published studies. Utilities values were extracted from the literature. Direct costs were incorporated in the model reflecting the year 2018. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was conducted to account for uncertainty and variation in the parameters of the model.
Results: Discounted survival and quality adjusted survival of SCIT treated patients was higher compared to symptomatic treatment by 1.51 lifeyears and 0.89 QALYs. SCIT was more costly in terms of drug acquisition medications, but the total cost per patient was less costly for SCIT, due to lower cost of management of AR and AA. The total cost per patient was estimated at 7,522€, for SCIT and for symptomatic treatment at 10,230€. Probabilistic analysis confirmed the deterministic results.
Conclusion: Results suggest that SCIT may be a dominant alternative relative to symptomatic treatment in the treatment of patients with AR and AA.


Our research tries to find out if communication has been professionalized in the entities of the Social Action third sector, by hiring qualified personnel for it. The globalized use of social networks allows companies and organizations a communication that can help to strengthen the reputation of entities, make themselves known or simply keep users and relatives of those entities informed. Focusing on small and medium-sized entities at a local and regional level in the Murcia region, we find a mosaic of entities, with an increasingly professionalization, but which, however, the study shows us how on many occasions still it is not committed to a professional profile to develop corporate communication. We find that the intensification of technological change has caused a large presence of social media in third sector entities and has focused on obtaining greater interaction between them and society in general and in their users and families in particular, but it has not yet acquired the professionalization that good corporate communication needs.


This volume contains 50 articles describing severe, widespread, or unusual flooding in 28 of the 50 States during 1990 and 1991. Each flood is described to an extent commensurate with its significance and the availability of data on the hydrology and the damages. Each article includes one or more maps showing the general area of flooding and the sites for which data are presented. Most articles include tables of data that allow the reader to compare the described flood with past floods at selected flood-determination sites. The articles generally do not attempt to analyze floods or draw significant conclusions, except for a few cases in which the author had sufficient information for an analysis to be made. Flooding was widespread in Oregon and Washington during January 1990 and also in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida during February and March 1990. Separate reports have been published for both areas of flooding. Mississippi experienced severe flooding during January, February, March, May, and December 1990 and during February, April, May, and December 1991. Those floods resulted in loss of eight lives and hundreds of million dollars in damage. The most widespread and destructive flooding of 1990-91 occurred in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana during April and May 1990. Despite the reduction of maximum discharges at many sites by flood-control reservoirs, losses in the four-State region aggregated to 17 deaths and $1.3 billion. Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, and Ohio each experienced multiple floods during 1990, and Indiana and Nebraska also suffered flooding during 1991. Georgia experienced multiple floods during 1990 and 1991. Several other floods, from Hawaii to Maine, are reported in this volume. Flooding in the United States was more frequent and widespread during 1990 than during 199


Guaranteeing QoS of services deployed in clouds is a key issue in cloud environments. Cloud services rely heavily on sharing resources between tenants; users have only partial knowledge and control of them. Limited observability and controllability make guaranteeing QoS a challenging task. Many important classic approaches to QoS assurance cannot be adopted, as for a tenant resource arbitration is a black box. Unexpected changes in resource allowance and characteristics introduce novel risks for demanding applications, most importantly soft real-time ones. We introduce the concept of applicationintegrated early warning sensors – 'mystery shoppers' – to increase the observability of the platform performability state. Mystery shoppers are special, continuously running benchmarks that run as low footprint applications. They deliver fine-grained reports by simulating application resource usage and measuring platform characteristics. This enables inferring the hidden resource sharing characteristics of public clouds. The derived metrics can aid deployment planning and control application-level fault tolerance mechanisms.


We consider the problem of maximizing revenue when selling k items to a single buyer with known valuation distributions. We show that for a single, additive buyer whose valuations for for the items are distributed according to i.i.d. distributions which are known to the seller, the ratio of revenue from selling in a bundle to selling separately is at least 55.9% and this gap is attainable.


Hydrogen-rich fuel has become an important clean energy source because of its environmental friendliness. Syngas is a kind of hydrogen-rich fuel mainly composed of H2 and CO. It also contains N2, CO2, H2O, CH4 and other hydrocarbons. Its composition depends on the composition of the fuel source and syngas production process. Different combustion characteristics and pollutant emission characteristics of syngas with different composition hinder the wide application of syngas, and bring difficulties to the design and operation of the combustion equipment. The variation of syngas composition caused by coal and biomass gasification process greatly affects the design and operation of integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) system. The composition of syngas also directly affects the combustion process, which is especially important for the formation of NO in the flue gas. Therefore, it is of great importance to investigate the effect of syngas composition on the formation of NO to reduce the emission of pollutants.


Syahidah T, Rizali A, Prasetyo LB, Pudjianto, Buchori D. 2020. Short Communication: Landscape composition alters parasitoid wasps but not their host diversity in tropical agricultural landscapes. Biodiversitas 21: 1702-1706. The diversity of parasitoid wasps and their hosts in an agricultural landscape is affected by crop management and habitat conditions around crop fields. The composition of agricultural landscapes that are dominated by non-crop or natural habitats are assumed to be able to support the presence of parasitoid wasps as biological control of pests. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of landscape composition on the diversity of parasitoid wasps and their hosts in agricultural landscapes. The research observations were conducted on six fields of long-bean cultivation located in Bogor District, West Java Province, Indonesia. Parasitoid wasps were collected by hand-collecting of their hosts (lepidopteran larvae) within 60 m distance transect to each long-bean field. In total, 17 species of parasitoid wasps and 12 species of lepidopteran larvae were found from all agricultural landscapes. A parasitoid wasp, Microplitis manilae was found in all longbean fields (except Bantarjaya) and only parasitized the tobacco cutworm (Spodoptera litura). The tomato looper, Chrysodeixis chalcites had the highest associated parasitoids and was also parasitized by Braconidae sp5 which was also a parasitoid of S. litura. Based on the analysis results, the patch numbers of natural habitats had a positive effect on the diversity of parasitoid wasps and had no effect on the diversity of lepidopteran larvae. In conclusion, landscape compositions with patchy natural habitats have an important role to preserve beneficial insects and maintain ecosystem services in tropical agricultural landscapes.


e16560 Background: ASCO's QOPI is a program that requires manual data abstraction of medical record data to measure quality of cancer care, a necessary component of quality improvement programs. Improving quality of care for veterans is a long-standing goal of the VHA. The VHA's electronic health record (EHR) is a fully integrated health information system used in all VA healthcare settings. It is unknown whether automated data extraction from the VHA EHR is feasible to assess quality of cancer care.

METHODS
Using non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as an example, we examined the quality measure data elements needed to assess the fall 2010 QOPI measures. We then determined which data elements could be electronically collated from the VHA EHR. To complement and improve upon this method, we designed and implemented a note template in the VHA EHR at the Durham VA Medical Center. This template allows the oncologist to enter at the time of care delivery those required data elements not currently electronically retrievable from the EHR in a structured format suitable for automated retrieval.

RESULTS
Based on data currently in the EHR not including data in the note template, data elements for 7/25 (28%) core measures, 7/9 (78%) symptom/toxicity management measures, 9/16 (56%) end-of-life measures and 0/9 (0%) NSCLC QOPI measures can be obtained automatically. Combined with data from the note template, data elements for 16/25 (64%) Core measures, 9/9 (100%) symptom/toxicity management measures, 14/16 (88%) end-of-life measures and 100% (9/9) NSCLC QOPI measures are able to be obtained electronically.

CONCLUSIONS
A majority of data required to assess adherence with QOPI measures are readily available in the VHA EHR, particularly for measures common for all cancers. A note template is useful for structuring and capturing electronic data for cancer-specific measures. A comparison of manually abstracted data from the Fall 2010 QOPI data collection to electronically captured data will be available by June 2011. Embedding quality measures into the VHA's EHR system will allow real time quality assessment and improvement in cancer care.


If a business built a plant to produce products without first designing a process to manufacture them, the risk would be lack of capacity without significant plant redesign. Similarly, lacking a software engineering approach and tools for designing e-business connections before creating them, can risk: designing the business partnership incorrectly; not implementing the connection quickly enough; or having operations that cannot adapt to changes in business direction. This paper presents a software engineering tool for developing process-oriented Internet applications that implement e-business connections. It gives an approach for using this tool in conjunction with standard commercial IDEFO tools to create adaptable connections. It is organized to match a formal demonstration that shows the step-by-step usage of these tools, and cites software engineering principles that, when applied, ensure adaptability.


This study presents a comparison of the intrapartum care of women suitable for midwifery-led care in four neighbouring maternity units. The computerized maternity data were systematically reduced to exclude: previous medical history; multiple pregnancies; present pregnancy abnormalities; previous operative or instrumental deliveries; inductions and elective caesarean sections; as well as home births. The differences in ethnic distribution led to the exclusion of non-Caucasian women. This meant that out of an initial 12856 women 4203 cases remained. The rates of normal, instrumental deliveries and caesarean sections were compared in association with the use of augmentation of labour, electronic fetal monitoring and epidural analgesia. There were major differences between the four units in the rates of these three interventions. A higher rate of intervention was associated with higher rates of instrumental deliveries and caesarean sections in the first stage of labour.


This article is a scientific examination of two metal plates found in 1986 in present-day Romania. The Latin text on the plates dates them to the year 109, in the reign of the emperor Trajan. The authors explain how the authenticity of the two plates was determined and describe the plates' physical composition. They determine that the metallic composition of the plates compares favorably with ore sources of Roman coins and metal objects. The content and significance of the plates are described in an article by John W. Welch and Kelsey D. Lambert in the same issue of BYU Studies .


Summary An ERT survey has been carried out in an area of Hoganas municipality, Sweden. The aim of the survey was to locate old mine shafts where coal was previously mined. The result should be used as a basis for facilitating the municipality's detailed planning work so that future exploitation of buildings is carried out in a safe manner. The ERT survey consist of four lines performed with gradient configuration and a electrode separation of 2 meter. The direction of the mine shafts is presumed to have a north-easterly direction. All ERT lines have been placed to measure perpendicular to the direction of the mine shafts. The result show anomalies that initially was interpreted as mine shafts and later verified with geotechnical drilling. The inverted resistivity model of line 1, 2 and 3 indicates a low value in residuals. Line 4 indicates high residual that probably is caused by high conductive material in the ground in or close to the line. The results from this investigation have not shown clearly that the mine shaft consist of a cavity in the rock, but rather a change in the quality of the rock, probably have the mine shafts been filled and/or have collapsed.


Primary carcinoma of the ureter is a rare pathologic occurrence. Still rarer is its diagnosis in life, because a large percentage of the cases reported in the literature were diagnosed at necropsy. In 1921, a very extensive review of the literature was made by Judd and Struthers, 1 at which time they found that twenty-five cases of primary malignant tumor of the ureter had been previously reported, not including their own case. Up to March 7, 1924, the date of a personal communication from Dr. W. F. Braasch, the case reported by Judd and Struthers was the only case of primary epithelioma of the ureter in which an operation had been performed at the Mayo Clinic. We have been able to find only two additional cases in the literature. Knack 2 reported a case of papillary carcinoma of the left ureter in a man, aged 73, in which the diagnosis


A new-type energy-saving filter is applied to clear up ferriferous ion in the steam water condensate under the complex process conditions.This product utilizes uniquely designed technology,which is named pulse recoil controller composed of compress-air and water,and uses high temperature compound ceramic as filter material.The problems are solved well that waste a lot of water and pollute filter material.It has ensured the quality of water condensate.The client has gained directly economical benefit on energy-saving through the recovered water condensate.


We demonstrate that in Otoa−/− mice, in which the inner‐ear‐specific protein otoancorin is absent, excitation of the outer hair cells and cochlear amplification is normal. This finding is remarkable because the tectorial membrane (TM), although remaining functionally attached to the outer hair cell bundles, is completely detached from the spiral limbus. Therefore, as in ancestral vertebrate auditory organs, where inertia provides the excitatory force to the hair cells, it is the inertia of the TM that must be important for exciting the outer hair cells, setting the sensitivity of their transducer conductance, and determining the precise timing of cochlear amplification.


Objective To explore neuroprotective effects of astragalus on neuronal apoptosis and c-fos expression after focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats.Methods The model of focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury was made by occluding middle cerebral artery(MCA) for 2h and reperfusion for 24 h.24 male wistar rats each weighing 280~320 g were randomized into astragalus group,ischemia-reperfusion group and sham operation group.Astragalus group received an i.p.injection of astragalus(200 mg/kg body weight) at very onset of ischemia,sham operation group and ischemia-reperfusion group same doses of saline.The brains were removed 24 h after reperfusion.Apoptosis and c-fos expression were observed.Results Apoptosis was observed in ischemia group and astragalus group,while no TUNEL positive cell was founded in sham operation group.Compared with ischemia,the number of apoptotic cell decreased significantly with astragalus tretment,and c-fos expression was decreased.Conclusion Astragalus could inhibit apoptosis of cortical neurons after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats,partially mediated by down-regulating of c-fos.


Everybody needs abalanced diettomaintain a their nutritional datahardenough, butthere areother factors healthy body.An unbalanced dietmayleadtodisease and thatcancomplicate thedietselection process. Forinstance, sickness. Medical nutrition therapy (MNT)isimportant in there maybeseveral limitations onhowmuchapatient can preventing diabetes, managing existing diabetes, andpreventing, consume acertain nutrient depending ontheir age, gender, and or atleastslowing, therateofdevelopment ofdiabetes . complications Th.otcmo a o ibtsEuaost health. Thus, howtoeffectively process andextract nutrition complications. Themostcomnnon wayforDiabetes Educators to knweg rmfo aahsbcm nicesnl informdiabetes patients oftheirnutrition therapy isby knowledgefr foodataihas be anyincreasingly introducing foodsubstitution. Patients aretaught toreplace food important subject formedical nutrition therapy. items fromthesamefoodgroupbasedonthequantity ofthe Thispaperisdivided intofoursections. Section II desired nutrients. However, this methodmaynotprovide thebest introduces theontology technology, therelationship between results because itdoesnotaccurately takeinto account ofallthe nutrition anddiabetes, andthecurrent foodontology. Section foodcharacteristics, diabetes diet-care requirements, andthe IIIdescribes thelocal Taiwanese foodnutrition composition relationships between thedifferent types offood. Thegoal ofour database usedinourstudy andtheproposed foodclustering studyistopropose a foodclustering analysis mechanism for analysis mechanismforpersonalized diabetes diet-care. personalized foodreplacement and recommendation. Our Finally, section IVdrawstheconclusions ofthis study. proposed approach will behelpful tonutritionists increating new foodgroupsand personalized foodreplacements and recommendations.


(51) Int. Cl. HOIL 2L/66 (2006.01) HOIL23/00 (2006.01) (52) U.S. Cl. CPC ................ HOIL 22/10 (2013.01); HOIL 24/13 (2013.01); HOIL 24/11 (2013.01): HOIL 24/14 (2013.01) (57) ABSTRACT A package structure is disclosed. The package structure includes a die; a Substrate disposed corresponding to the die, wherein the Substrate comprises a first dummy pad and a second dummy pad on a first Surface of the Substrate; and a first solder ball and a second solder ball on a second surface of the Substrate and electrically connect the first dummy pad and the second dummy pad respectively.


The Strait of Malacca is the busiest in the world. It happens because the Malacca Strait is one of the essential keys in energy trading. It started from being the target of pirates and armed robbery to the target of foreign intervention in the Malacca Strait. Feeling that its sovereignty was threatened, Indonesia did several things to maintain the sovereignty of the Malacca Strait as part of Indonesian territory. It was starting from the refusal to cooperate with foreigners to cooperate with the littoral state. This paper will explain the importance of the Malacca Straits in world trade and why Indonesia's sovereignty is threatened due to foreign activities in the Malacca Strait. This paper is based on Indonesia's geostrategy and National Resilience which is part of Indonesia's geostrategy itself.


The friction and wear properties of Sic Ceramics/ 45 Steel under the condition of alternating vibration load are researched on the friction and wear tester by ring-block means of contact, which is compared at the same friction power under the condition of static load. And The friction and wear properties is compared at different frequency. The results of test show: the friction coefficient, wear quantity is larger than the wear rate at static load; with frequency increasing the friction coefficient and wear volume increase too, but the extent of wear quantity increasing is smaller; at the lower frequency, the wear is mainly abrasive wear with less fatigue loss and micro-crack; at the higher frequency the wear turns to be dominated by fatigue flaking with less cracks and furrows.


This Response or Comment is brought to you for free and open access by the Library Faculty/Staff Scholarship & Research at Digital Scholarship@UNLV. It has been accepted for inclusion in Presentations (Libraries) by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact firstname.lastname@example.com. Repository Citation Iannuzzi, P. A. (2010, June). Delta Project on postsecondary costs, productivity, and accountability: A campus perspective – University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Presentation at AAC&U Greater Expectations Institute, Nashville, TN.


Abstract In this work we consider two hyperconvex diversities (or hyperconvex metric spaces) (X, δX) and (Y, δY ) with nonempty intersection and we wonder whether there is a natural way to glue them so that the new glued diversity (or metric space) remains being hyperconvex. We provide positive and negative answers in both situations.


The present invention relates to a 'pressure transfer device for (5,5 power assist braking system (1,1)'). Input of the transmission device (6, 6 '), the power-assisted braking system (1, 1') brake master cylinder (4, 4 ') and the liquid is pressure acting couplable, the output portion of the transmission device (7, 7 '), the power-assisted braking system (1, 1' wheel brake cylinders (8, 8 '), 13, 13') and the liquid is capable of binding a pressure action. Pressure transfer device (5, 5 ') includes an accumulator (15) has a link mechanism (16), the link mechanism is input unit (6, 6' between) an output unit (7, 7 ') by transmitting a pressure differential to said accumulator (15), characterized in that to accumulate it in the accumulator (15). .FIELD 1


Background: The most important side effect of epidural anesthesia is hypotension with functional hypovolemia. Aggressive infusion therapy can reduce the hypotension effect. However, in conjunction with cardiopulmonary bypass, it can increase acute lung injury. We hypothesized that epidural anesthesia, by reducing cardiac sympathetic tonus, with subsequent better pulmonary flow, does not increase lung interstitial fluids. Methods: Sixty patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) were randomized to combined general anesthesia with epidural anesthesia / analgesia, (EA) group, and to general anesthesia with i/v opiate analgesia, (GA) group. Patients in the EA group received a high thoracic epidural, preoperatively. Intraoperatively, 0.25% bupivacaine 8 mL/h was infused and general anesthesia with sevoflurane was followed by bupivacaine infusion for 48 hours postoperatively. General anesthesia in the GA group was with sevoflurane and fentanyl 10 - 12 µg/kg and analgesia with pethidinum 0.1 - 0.4 mg/kg i.v. postoperatively. Global end-diastolic volume index (GEDI), intrathoracic blood volume index (ITBI) and extravascular lung water index (ELWI) were measured before anesthesia, before CPB and 15, 60, 180, 600 min. and 24 hr after CPB. Duration of mechanical lung ventilation was registered in both groups. Results: ITBI and GEDI were significantly higher in the EA group at all time points of measurement (ITBI 945.6±146.4 ml/m2 and 870.6±146.5 ml/m 2 vs. 1118±153.2 ml/m2 and 1020±174.9 ml/m 2; GEDI 720±96.19 ml/m2 and 775.0±159.5 ml/m 2 vs. 805.4±97.59 ml/m2 and 888±117.3 ml/m 2). GEDI was significantly lower in the GA group compared with baseline (801.9±132.4 ml/m2 vs. 695±169.2 mL/m2). ELWI was significantly higher in the GA group (7.233±1.35 ml/kg and 7.333±1.32 ml/kg vs. 8.533±1.45 ml/kg and 8.633±1.71 ml/kg), but without significant changes in the EA group. Duration of mechanical lung ventilation was shorter in the EA group (663.7±98.39 min. vs. 362.2±33.72 min.). Conclusions: Epidural anesthesia / analgesia does not increase interstitial lung fluids by increasing intrathoracic blood volume or the amount of infusion fluids in patients undergoing cardiac surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass. There is, also, a decreased duration of mechanical lung ventilation.


Perovskite quantum dots (QDs) with high photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs) and narrow emission peak hold promise for next‐generation flexible and high‐definition displays. However, perovskite QD films often suffer from low PLQYs due to the dynamic characteristics between the QD's surface and organic ligands and inefficient electrical transportation resulting from long hydrocarbon organic ligands as highly insulating barrier, which impair the ensuing device performance. Here, a general organic–inorganic hybrid ligand (OIHL) strategy is reported on to passivate perovskite QDs for highly efficient electroluminescent devices. Films based on QDs through OIHLs exhibit enhanced radiative recombination and effective electrical transportation properties compared to the primal QDs. After the OIHL passivation, QD‐based light‐emitting diodes (QLEDs) exhibit a maximum peak external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 16.48%, which is the most efficient electroluminescent device in the field of perovskite‐based LEDs up to date. The proposed OIHL passivation strategy positions perovskite QDs as an extremely promising prospect in future applications of high‐definition displays, high‐quality lightings, as well as solar cells.


The exposure to acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH) produces a long‐lasting increase of phrenic and sympathetic activities in anesthetized rats. In the present study we aimed to evaluate the effects of AIH on baseline expiratory motor activity as well as the role of retrotrapezoid nucleus in the AIH‐induced sympathetic and respiratory changes. In the in situ working heart‐brainstem preparations of juvenile rats (n=4), AIH exposure (10 x 5‐7% O2 for 30 s, every 5 min) increased baseline phrenic (Δ: 20±6%), abdominal (Δ: 65±30%) and sympathetic (Δ: 89±48%) nerve activities (P<0.05) that was maintained for at least 60 min after the last hypoxic episode. In conscious adult rats (n=9), AIH evoked an increase in baseline arterial pressure (Δ: 7±2 mmHg), associated with enhanced sympathetic‐ and respiratory‐related variabilities (P<0.05). In adult urethane‐anesthetized rats with intact vagus (n=5), AIH increased baseline arterial pressure (Δ: 9±1 mmHg) and abdominal muscle contraction amplitude (Δ: 412±117%), which were reverted by pharmacological inhibition of retrotrapezoid nucleus (P<0.05). These data indicate that AIH promotes a sustained increase of expiratory activity, in addition to inspiratory and sympathetic activities. Moreover, AIH‐induced sympathetic and expiratory long‐term facilitation may involve, at least in part, the activation of the retrotrapezoid nucleus.


Genetic diversity among fifty two "new plant type" lines including four improved cultivars was studied using Mahalanobis D2 statistic under shallow lowland ecosystem. The genotypes were grouped into 10 clusters showing fair degree of relationship between geographic distribution and genetic divergence. Cluster I with 33 genotypes was the largest, while cluster III, IV, V, VII, VIII, IX, X were monogenotypic. Genotypes in cluster VI had highest intra-cluster divergence followed by cluster II and I while highest inter-cluster divergence was between cluster VI and IX followed by VII and X. Maturity duration contributed the maximum to the total divergence. Other traits with appreciable contribution to total divergence were spikelets per panicle, grain filling (%), panicle number/m2, panicle length (cm) and harvest index (%). All the minimum and maximum cluster mean values were distributed in relatively distant clusters. The member of the clusters VII, X, VI and I may be further evaluated as these clusters were observed to possess high cluster mean for grain yield. Further, it is suggested that cross combination of IR73964-120-5-3-2 x IR72164-110-1-2, IR73964-120-5-3-2 x IR72967-12-2-3, Naveen x IR71701-28-1-4-3, IR75268-45-2-5-3 x IR71676-106-10-3, Naveen x IR72967-12-2-3, IR73964-120-5-3-2 x IR71701-28-1-1 showing high D2 matrix value are expected to produce superior progenies.


This letter proposes a combined inputand crosspoint-queued (CIC) switch in which virtual output queuing (VOQ) is used at each input port. This CIC switch has a large buffer at each input port and a small buffer at each crosspoint. It does not require high-speed memory access or high-speed internal cell transmission lines. Since the performance of the CIC switch depends on the scheduling algorithms, we propose new scheduling algorithms for the CIC switch. Numerical results show that the mean cell delay time performance of the CIC switch using the proposed scheduling algorithms is better than that of an inputqueued ATM switch. In addition, the required buffer size for the CIC switch using the proposed scheduling algorithms is smaller than that for a crosspoint-queued ATM switch. key words: input-queued ATM switch, crosspoint-queued ATM