The Src homology 2 (SH2) region is a noncatalytic do- main of Src-family tyrosine kinases and other proteins which participates in inter- and intramolecular interac- tions of tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins. A synthetic peptide modeled on the c-Src carboxyl terminus, which contains phosphotyrosine at position 527, binds recom-binant SH2 and the SH2-domain of c-Src which lacks phosphotyrosine 527. Unphosphorylated peptide does not bind detectably. Thus, the phosphorylated peptide is a specific probe for investigating SH2 accessibility. Since Src and other tyrosine kinases may participate in regulating events in mitosis, we used the SH2-binding probe to test the prediction that decreased tyrosine 527 phosphorylation would lead to increased accessibility of the c-Src SH2-domain during mitosis. Probe binding to overexpressed chicken c-Src was enhanced at least &fold during mitosis, indicating that the c-Src SH2-do-main is more accessible in this part of the cell cycle. This suggests that there may be mitosis-specific interactions of the c-Src SH2-domain with cellular proteins in vivo. c-Src) the c-Src of Tyr-527 of Tyr-527 The Src homology 2 (SH2) amino acid sequences 140-250 in c-Src, is in the Src family of closely related tyrosine kinases (6). SH2-domains are also found in a diverse group of otherwise unrelated proteins and have been shown to phosphotyrosine-containing determinants in a sequence-specific manner A model for of mutated at Tyr-527 in cell lysates, Src mutated Tyr-527 SH2-domain the same phosphopeptide is able to bind to isolated, recombi-nant Src SH2-domains Thus, this carboxyl-terminal Src can be used as a probe for measuring SH2-domain accessibility.


A retrospective study was made of medical absenteeism among 226 male, hourly paid employees of a manufacturing company for the nine-year period 1956 through 1964. Subjects were aged 55 to 59 in 1965 and were examined and interviewed regarding smoking habits at that time. There were significant associations of high absenteeism with cigarette smoking and equally or more significant associations of low absenteeism with cigar or pipe smoking. Considerable overlapping of individual absentee rates among groups divided by smoking habits suggested caution in drawing causal conclusions about these associations. Results might fit the hypothesis that adoption of the habit of cigar or pipe smoking by middle age occurred among men with constitutional and absentee behavioral characteristics tending to distinguish them from men with a lifelong cigarette smoking habit.


Objective To investigate the effects of different preoperative fasting water time on body temperature in preoperative children. Methods Divided 350 children into A, B and C group randomly and apply 4 hours preoperative fasting water, 4 hours fasting water added 250~500 ml fluid infusion and 2 hours fasting water respectively. Observe the condition of body temperature, thirst, fidget, crying and vomiting in these 3 groups. Results The incidence rate of preoperative fever in group A was significant higher than that of in the other two groups. The incidence rate of thirst, fidget and crying were significant higher in group A and B than those of in group C, while there was no significant difference among three groups in the incidence rate of vomiting during the course of operation. Conclusion It is a safe method of 8 hours preoperative fasting food and 2 hours fasting water for children, which can effective reduce the incidence rate of preoperative fever and then guarantee the operation.


This paper proposes a noble voice recognition method based on an adaptive MFCC and deep learning for embedded systems. To enhance the recognition ratio of the proposed voice recognizer, ambient noise mixed into the voice signal has to be eliminated. However, noise filtering processes, which may damage voice data, diminishes the recognition ratio. In this paper, a filter has been designed for the frequency range within a voice signal, and imposed weights are used to reduce data deterioration. In addition, a deep learning algorithm, which does not require a database in the recognition algorithm, has been adapted for embedded systems, which inherently require small amounts of memory. The experimental results suggest that the proposed deep learning algorithm and HMM voice recognizer, utilizing the proposed adaptive MFCC algorithm, perform better than conventional MFCC algorithms in its recognition ratio within a noisy environment.


Ultrasonography (USG) is becoming increasingly important in visualizing the musculoskeletal system. It is used as a diagnostic guide and in local injection procedures but is less frequently applied in visualizing deep joints and injections. The purpose of this study is to describe the results of USG-guided facet joint injection in a 19-yearold male patient with low back pain for the preceding year and a preliminary diagnosis of facet syndrome, together with a review of the literature. J Clin Exp Invest 2014; 5 (1): 125-127


Ti1−xSnxO2 nanoparticles with different Ti/Sn ratios (x=0–0.1 and 1.0) were successfully synthesized by the coprecipitation method, and its nanotubes were prepared from low-temperature chemical synthesis in NaOH solution. The influence of Sn dopant on the structures and the photovoltaic properties as dye-sensitized solar cells for these nanostructured TiO2 were investigated. The photovoltaic performance of Ti1−xSnxO2 nanoparticle photoelectrodes degraded with the addition of Sn. However, regardless of the absence of Sn, a conversion efficiency of TiO2 nanotubes made from Ti1−xSnxO2 (x=0–0.05) nanoparticles increased depending on the x value and reached to 5.98% for x=0.05.


Abstract Unlike most works of art familiar to conservators, installation art is often less object than event, existing initially only for the duration of an exhibition. Nonetheless, institutions and individuals acquire works of installation art for their collections, fully expecting to preserve them into the foreseeable future. While there are conventions within the conservation field for examining, describing, and preserving works of art that exist as objects, there are few such conventions for works of art such as installations that exist for a limited time, are dismantled, and may be re-created at some indeterminate future time and location. The conservation field has little experience in dealing with the preservation of the ephemeral physical components of many technology- based installations, such as electronic media and playback equipment, without which there is no hope of re-creating a piece in the future. This article describes the preservation challenges inherent to this medium, summarizes the current state of conservation practice in the field, and suggests broad guidelines and standards. It is a result of TechArchaeology: A Symposium on Installation Art Preservation.


Through the comparative analysis of Chinese famous ceramic caves and mordern ceramics, this essay explained why the former is the root of the latter. Acting as the creative root of the development of mordern ceramics, Chinese famous ceramic caves offered a new opportunity for popular research of modern ceramics and plural cultural innovation of ceramic industry in our country.


he terminology of cyberspace, undistinguished by more than a distant hint of linguistic nicety, will represent for some geographers a distinct challenge. Of course, in numerous minor ways geography's quantitative revolution offered its own share of vocabulary lessons: Most of the words-and symbols-were unabashedly lifted from statistics textbooks, topological discourse, or probability theory. There can be no doubt that academic geography has generated neologisms sufficient to lash Noah Webster to the tracks before the runaway onslaught of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine-the original mechanical (steam-driven) calculator. But when it comes to jargon cyberspace stands in a class by itself: The trendiest current or the most historically arcane variants of the geographer's patois cannot compare. And to have such linguistic innovation and imperialism foisted on an unsuspecting public amounts to a novel lexical challenge for modern times. Much language of the cyberrealm is resolutely technical in origin. It has slipped with minimal warning from the inner sancta of the coder and hacker into the starched-collar realms of the Times-New York, Financial, and Sunday-and the Economist of London, and it serves even to confound the robust Chicago Manual of Style. In fact, Eric S. Raymond's The New Hacker's Dictionary (1996) and, especially, Wired Style: Principles of English Usage in the Digital Age (1996) became mandatory companions in the assembly and production of articles on the geography of cyberspace in this special issue of the Geographical Review; Wired Style, a product of the distinctive Wired magazine editorial staff, must rank atop current guides. But let it be said: In the production process more than a few rules have been posited, revised, restored, rejected, and resurrected-evocation enough ofT. S. Eliot's "time for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse" (Eliot 1963, 4).


Video sequence stabilization permits an accurate analysis of the video originate from sources as video cameras or IR sensors. In fact, a system of video stabilization allows the availability of aligned image sequences and, consequently, to improve the operator analysis of the scenario. In this paper different image processing methods are analyzed to remove the camera unwanted motions and reconstruct a stabilized sequence for real time applications. In particular three methodologies are compared in term of computational load and of the expected scenarios to determine the best strategies to be applied in a real time system.


In a flexible switch circuit member is provided with an electrode on an adhesive sheet. A spacer sheet having a through hole which is located so that it corresponds to the electrode on the circuit portion is provided on the circuit portion. A front sheet having a projecting portion is provided on the spacer sheet, wherein a contact portion which is provided on the inside of the projecting portion is brought into contact through the through hole in the spacer sheet with the electrode on the circuit portion when the projecting portion is pressed. At least one of the adhesive sheet, the circuit portion, the spacing sheet and the front sheet has flexibility.


We develop and evaluate two methods aimed at enhancing the mechanical resistance and stretchability of bulk heterojunction active layers in organic solar cells while maintaining photovoltaic performance intact. These techniques...


Using our recently proposed method, we have identified three modes of runaway electron generation. This method is based on the recording of a dynamic displacement current using a current collector. It makes it possible to unambiguously interpret the dynamics of ionization processes occurring at the stage of formation of a high-voltage nanosecond discharge in a strongly inhomogeneous electric field and dense gaseous media. Simultaneous and separate recording by the current collector of a runaway electron beam current and the dynamic displacement current as well as the recording of discharge characteristics and high-speed framing of plasma glow at the breakdown stage made it possible to interpret the runaway electron generation modes in terms of the rate of ionization processes. It has been shown how the reduced electric field strength, the gas kind, the design and material of a high-voltage cathode with a small radius of curvature, the amplitude and rise time of a voltage pulse as well as the delay in the onset of the explosive emission process at the cathode affect the implementation of one or another generation mode.


Water molecules are interspersed within ribbons of face-sharing [PbI6/2−]∞ octahedra within the title hybrid phase in which the stacks of organic radical cations are less strongly dimerised and interact more with each other than is usually the case in β′ phases to achieve metallic conductivity at ambient pressure.


THERE are many instances where individual and group forms of a test may be correlated. The group form score is the number of items completed in a specified time period while the individual form score may be the time taken to compete a fixed number of items. At first glance these two scoring techniques appear identical. However, even if two tests were to vary identically it would be impossible to obtain a 1.00 correlation because of the nature of the scoring units.


The degree of entanglement between two spins may change due to interaction. Regarding this, we find that a wrong result in a recent work by Ge and Wadati [Phys. Rev. A 72, 052101 (2005)] would breach the basic principle.


Mechanical properties of fiber reinforced concrete from the type and quantity of polyolefin macrofibers were investigated in the paper. The dependence of fresh concrete workability from the macrofibers quantity and technique of macrofibers introduction into fresh concrete was determined. Dependences of cement matrix properties on mechanical properties of polyolefin fiber reinforced concrete (compression strength, tensile strength in bending, strength in uniaxial tension, elastic modulus, Poisson's coefficient) were stated. The increase of the bending tensile strength and the uniaxial tensile strength of concrete with polyolefin macrofibers reinforcement in comparison with the reference concrete was observed with the water-to-cement ratio decrease in the range of 0.50-0.30.


The 220 kV dual bus bar and dual segment bus protection of Beijing Thermal Power Plant has been upgraded from full current IC-based into domestic microcomputer-based bus bar differential protection.According to characteristics of bus bar connections and different microcomputer-based differential protections,this paper presents double scheme design principles for dual bus dual segment bus bar malfunction protection and establishes bus bar differential protection and malfunction protection in each plant and station.Schemes that combine RCS-915AS,RCS-918A and BP-2B are also presented,and some practical issues in the design process are also discussed.


In Zopf's (11) account of the capture of nematodes by Arthrobotrys oligospora Fres. and Monosporidium repens Zopf were de? scribed, apparently for the first time, instances of a biological habit comparable in part to the carnivorous habit of insectivorous flowering plants. More recently (1, 2, 3) nearly a score of additional fungi occurring in soil, in leaf mold, and in solid decaying materials generally, have been found to capture and consume nematodes in large numbers; evidently, indeed, subsisting in nature entirely through such predacious activity. By far most of these fungi are closely related to those dealt with by Zopf, being referable to a group of interrelated genera including Arthrobotrys, Trichothecium, Cephalothecium, Dactylaria, Dactylella and Monacrosporium (4). The relatively few nematode-capturing forms alien to this hyphomycetous series are conidial phycomycetes belonging to the Zoopagaceae, a family whose known members are mostly destructive to terricolous amoebae, some operating in parasitic, others in predacious relationships (5, 6). Of the few species preying on nematodes, only one, Stylopage hadra Drechsl., has hitherto been described in detail (7) ; so that the description offered herein, of a second species of like biological habit, may be of interest even in the absence of pronounced departures in morphology. The fungus in question was obtained in quantity from several samples of soil collected by F. L. Wellman in celery fields near Sanford, Florida, January 1935. Pinches of the soil were placed on old maizemeal-agar plate cultures liberally infested with nema? todes representing species of Rhabditis, Cephalobus and Acrobeles. After a period varying usually from 1 to 3 weeks, vegetative my? celium was found present here and there in fairly extensive tracts. In general character this mycelium resembled that of Stylopage


We report the effect of d-levels of vanadium atoms on the electronic band structure of ZnO. Polycrystalline layers of Zn_(1-x)V_(x)O with 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.08 were synthesized using magnetron sputtering technique. Electrical measurements show that electron concentration increases with vanadium up to x = 0.04 and then decreases and films become insulating for x > 0.06. Optical characterization reveals that the absorption edge shifts to higher energy, while the photoluminescence (PL) peak shows a shift to lower energy with increasing vanadium content. This unusual optical behavior can be explained by an anticrossing interaction between the vanadium d-levels and the conduction band (CB) of ZnO. The interaction results in an upward shift of unoccupied CB (E+) and the downward shift of the fully occupied E- band derived from the vanadium d-levels. The composition dependence of optical absorption edge (E+) and PL peak (E-) can be fitted using the Band Anticrossing model with the vanadium d-level located at 0.13 eV below CB of ZnO and a coupling constant of 0.65 eV.


Bit coin is widely regarded as the first broadly successful e-cash system. An oft-cited concern, though, is that mining Bit coins wastes computational resources. Indeed, Bit coin's underlying mining mechanism, which we call a scratch-off puzzle (SOP), involves continuously attempting to solve computational puzzles that have no intrinsic utility. We propose a modification to Bit coin that repurposes its mining resources to achieve a more broadly useful goal: distributed storage of archival data. We call our new scheme Perm coin. Unlike Bit coin and its proposed alternatives, Perm coin requires clients to invest not just computational resources, but also storage. Our scheme involves an alternative scratch-off puzzle for Bit coin based on Proofs-of-Retrievability (PORs). Successfully minting money with this SOP requires local, random access to a copy of a file. Given the competition among mining clients in Bit coin, this modified SOP gives rise to highly decentralized file storage, thus reducing the overall waste of Bit coin. Using a model of rational economic agents we show that our modified SOP preserves the essential properties of the original Bit coin puzzle. We also provide parameterizations and calculations based on realistic hardware constraints to demonstrate the practicality of Perm coin as a whole.


The explosive abilities of porous silicon (pSi) provide an alternative to existing carbon based explosives, in addition to the possibilities of explosions on a nanoscale. Here, an investigation into these explosive properties is conducted, by introducing an oxidiser onto freshly etched pSi with varying pore sizes. Explosions are triggered via the application of an electric spark. Light output and spectral data are collected to characterize the exxplosion. The energy output is observed via Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), and surface images collected using SEM and AFM.


A survey of over 2,000 second year high school students at 13 South Australian schools indicated that those who had received school dental care at primary school had fewer carious teeth and, in some respects, better oral hygiene habits. Whilst they were better informed on dental subjects than were control students, fewer had attended a private dentist since leaving primary school.


The literature dealing with the physiologic functions and reactions of succinic acid or its salts is far from justifying the possible significance that may be attributed to its constant and fairly widespread occurrence in animal tissues. The work that has been done seems to give rise to the idea that succinic acid takes an important part in the oxidations in the tissues. Batelli and Stern1report on the relative oxidizing powers of various tissues with respect to succinic acid. Thunberg2shows that the oxidative processes in muscle tissue are markedly influenced by the presence of this compound, and from this Mathews3appropriately points out that the physiologic properties of succinic acid should be further investigated. As an introduction to additional work on the subject, a study was made of the effect of the subcutaneous administration of sodium succinate on the leukocyte content of human blood from normal


Animation making of basic four-bar linkage is firstly presented in detail,and the conformation of the relationship of parent and children between the rods,the accession of dummy,and the application of IK are discussed.The animation productions of the door-opening mechanism and cylinder-rod mechanism are also introduced,and the general ideas and methods based on four-bar linkageare are proposed.


It relates to a PIP processing apparatus and method of an image display device that allows a variety of generating the shape of the PIP, the main screen and a video display device having an image processing unit, a user interface having a PIP processor for processing the video signal of the PIP in the image processing unit and the main display memory for storing image data to be displayed on the main screen, and a first format converter for processing by the main window, memory available signal displaying the image data stored in, the image data to be displayed on a PIP and PIP memory for storing, consists of a second format converter for processing by available display the image data stored in the PIP memory signal, the user selects the desired PIP shape through the user interface, it is to be displayed PIP of the shape PIP can for controlling the memory and the main memory of the image processor to display Depending on the microcomputer, a control signal of the microcomputer is configured to include a video display, characterized by configured by comprising: a display for displaying the video signal that is output from the image processor, because the user can display the various types of PIP desired , and simultaneously meeting the user needs an effect that can be configured to sense than the screen of the video display device.


Based on the investigation and research,the paper gives a testing method,which measures the taking off and landing distance of airplanes with the laser locating system for airplane's trace.And by way of the field measuring on plateau airports,we have got the integrated modifying coefficients of three kinds of airplanes'taking off and landing running distance such as H6.All of these provide scientific basis for the runway length design of the plateau airport.


Belief propagation (BP) have emerged as powerful tools in the realm of dense stereo computation. However the underlying brightness constancy (BC) assumption of existing methods severely limit the range of their applications. Augmenting BC with gradient constancy (GC) assumption has lead to a more accurate algorithm for optical flow computation. In this paper, these constraints are utilized in the frameworks of BP to broaden the application of stereo vision for 3D reconstruction. Results from experiments with semi-synthetic and real data illustrate that an algorithm incorporating these models generally yields better estimates, where the BC assumption is violated.


A proposal to detect in real-time all the ships navigating in one sea area which would be in danger was put forward and realized.The method is based on analyzing vessel' location and velocity by AIS message,using Red-Black Tree structure to divide the area into different region grids,combining the time and space's risk calculation method.The proposal can serve as the maritime department's navigation monitoring systems for real-time alarming to the dangerous vessels,also can be used as collision avoidance expert system for pre-screening,rapid traverse of all vessels surrounding the ship.


[1] A new empirical model of radiation-belt electrons in the low-Earth-orbit region has been developed based upon decade-long in situ observations from several low-altitude-orbiting satellites. This model—LEEM—aims to provide the electron environment conditions that a satellite would encounter in a given low Earth orbit. This model presents electron flux values for five energy ranges (0.03–2.5 MeV, 0.1–2.5 MeV, 0.3–2.5 MeV, 1.5–6 MeV, and 2.5–14 MeV) within the space below an altitude of ∼600 km. Compared to the de-facto standard empirical model of AE-8, this model not only has a better data coverage in this specific region, but also can provide statistical information on flux levels such as worst cases and occurrence percentiles instead of solely mean values. The comparison indicates that the AE-8 model not only highly overpredicts the fluxes in the inner belt region in most cases, especially for the MeV electrons, which cannot be accounted for by the widely quoted error factor of 2 for AE-8, but also is unable to reflect the observed orders of magnitude variations in electron intensities. The LEEM model is carefully validated with both in-sample and out-of-sample tests. The characteristic electron environments along the International Space Station track and other virtual orbits are given as examples and as a demonstration of the use of the model.


1. In instituting a comparison between the blood-corpuscle, in its different phases of development, of the Vertebrata and that of the Invertebrata, it is obvious that the examples first taken for the purpose ought to be selected from the lowest class of the oviparous Vertebrata on the one hand, and from the highest class of the highest division of the Invertebrata on the other. 2. In accordance with this I proceed to compare together the blood-corpuscles of the Skate and Crab.


We describe a program package for the twodimensional numerical exact sL'Tiulation of planar MOS structures. The model is based upon the fundamental semiconductor equations (Poisson's equation, Continuity equations and current relations for electrons and holes) . To ensure maximum flexibility and low computing costs sophisticated prograrrun ing methods have been used.Dynamic memory managarnent feasi bility has been included to adjust automatically the memory require. ments to the number of grid points. Large parts of the solution rou tines are assembly coded and allow a very fast execution. The input processor syntax is easy to read and is shown to be fully compatible with a recently published proposal for a unified input syntax for CAD progra'lls. For one operating point typical execution times have been found to be between 15 and 60 seconds on a CDC Cyber 74 depending on bias values. The calculation of the current-voltage characteristics of a planar MOS transistor (10 operating points) in the subthreshold region can be performed in about 120 seconds CPU time. The program has been successfully tested for widely varying devices, geometries and bias conditions. Reasonable agreement between theory and experiment has been obtained in almost all cases.


In this work, through integrate that teaching management system, the learn mode of the O2O is used to build a learner‐centered frame of the teaching reformation. This frame is supported by the O2O learning platform, with themed practical teaching and O2O model as the main body, and the "Thousand questions plan" and "Teachers guiding" system as two guarantee supports. In order to achieve high quality results, specific implementation plan, including management system and implementation measures has been formulated in teaching reform of O2O platform. The questionnaire shows that this system has mobilized the enthusiasm of teachers and students. By comparing the practice results of the experimental class and the control class, the effectiveness of the O2O teaching framework is verified, and the teaching reform is successful. Finally, this paper provides teaching inspiration and future research direction for educators and researchers.


In recent years denosumab therapy has been widely used in the treatment of osteoporosis. However, since its first introduction to clinical practice, evidence has demonstrated discontinuation leads to rebound bone loss and risk of vertebral fracture. In view of this, guidance has been updated recommending transition to an alternative osteoporosis therapy. Given that osteoporosis management is largely managed in primary care, we performed this audit to investigate whether this educational message was being effectively relayed to primary care clinicians.

 In this study, we closed the audit loop of a previous study of the first 50 patients commenced on denosumab at University Hospital Southampton in 2013; we explored the percentage of patients remaining on denosumab 6 years later, using the hospital electronic system, which is linked to the general practice electronic system, to confirm prescriptions for osteoporosis therapy. In cases where it was unclear, letters were written, or telephone calls were made to general practices for clarification. Continuation of denosumab or use of an alternative agent was then recorded.

 Nineteen (38%) patients had died since the initial audit, reflecting the use of the agent in later life post hip fracture. Of 15 patients no longer on denosumab, 9 (60%) were found not to be on alternative bone protection without other information recorded, 1 (7%) had denosumab suspended by the GP (with the presumption it may be restarted at a later date), 1 (7%) had denosumab suspended due to recurrent cellulitis with the view to reassess in a year and 3 (20%) were on alternative therapy. One patient was recorded as being on a 'drug holiday'. Of 16 patients remaining on denosumab, 13 (81%) had pre-injection calcium level checks, and 12 (75%) had a recorded pre-injection renal function check.

 These data reflect inappropriate widespread discontinuation of denosumab without follow-on with an alternative osteoporosis therapy, suggesting that targeted education of primary care physicians is necessary. A high proportion of patients on denosumab are having the relevant blood tests in primary care as per clinical guidelines.

 J. Zhang None. M.A. Clynes None. C. Cooper None. E.M. Dennison None.


1. This document is FCS7043, one of a series of the Family Youth and Community Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date August 1, 1982. Revised August 1, 2006. Visit the EDIS Web Site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu. 2. Written by Katey Walker, former Family Resource Management Specialist and Nayda I. Torres, Professor, Family and Consumer Economics and reviewed by Josephine Turner, CFP, Professor, Family and Consumer Economics, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville FL 32611.


The Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing during September 4-15, 1995, was a major success. The platform for action adopted by consensus at the conference is comprised of the mission statement, a global framework, critical areas of concern, strategic objectives and actions, and institutional and financial arrangements. The conference was an extension of other large international conferences organized under UN initiative over the past 15 years. The Beijing platform of action aims to remove all obstacles to women's active participation in all spheres of public and private life through a full and equal share in economic, social, cultural, and political decision-making. The following concerns were defined by the conference: eradicating poverty, increasing school enrollment and eliminating gender inequalities in access to education, improving access to health care and eliminating gender inequalities in access to services, eliminating violence against women, mitigating the consequences of armed conflicts against women, securing equal access of men and women to economic resources and employment, providing equal participation of men and women in power structures and decision making, enhancing national mechanisms to promote the advancement of women, protecting the rights of girls and women, eradicating stereotypes about women, participating in the management of natural resources and environmental protection, and improving the status of girls.


The review examines the design considerations and challenges of anthropomorphic exoskeletons. There is an increasing demand for the design of exoskeletons for various purposes including rehabilitation training, human performance augmentation. There are several factors to be considered before actually manufacturing an orthotic device and it depends highly on the application of the device and requirement. This paper contributes to a comparative study of different methods of actuation, the effectiveness of the lightweight design, methods of force production, human-machine interface, and how application influences a design. It can be observed that exoskeletons are recently evolved to a stage of exosuits to provide comfort to the user, but there are situations where user comfort is sacrificed for other advantages. This study will help in better understanding the various design challenges and consideration to the design of a new exoskeleton. Five different designs are compared in this paper to better understand the validity of each design


Central to imagining the future of technology-enhanced professional learning is the question of how data are gathered, analyzed, and fed back to stakeholders. The field of learning analytics (LA) has emerged over the last decade at the intersection of data science, learning sciences, human-centered and instructional design, and organizational change, and so could in principle inform how data can be gathered and analyzed in ways that support professional learning. However, in contrast to formal education where most research in LA has been conducted, much work-integrated learning is experiential, social, situated, and practice-bound. Supporting such learning exposes a significant weakness in LA research, and to make sense of this gap, this article proposes an adaptation of the Knowledge-Agency Window framework. It draws attention to how different forms of professional learning locate on the dimensions of learner agency and knowledge creation. Specifically, we argue that the concept of "reframing oneself" holds particular relevance for informal, work-integrated learning. To illustrate how this insight translates into LA design for professionals, three examples are provided: first, analyzing personal and team skills profiles (skills analytics); second, making sense of challenging workplace experiences (reflective writing analytics); and third, reflecting on orientation to learning (dispositional analytics). We foreground professional agency as a key requirement for such techniques to be used effectively and ethically.


Compared with traditional coaxial multi-reflection imaging systems, the off-axis imaging system using optical freeform has many advantages, including high design freedom, small optical system size and high energy utilization. Nowadays, optical freeform surfaces have been widely utilized in imaging and non-imaging optical systems. But correspondingly, freeform machining is more difficult than spherical and aspherical optical reflectors. In the turning process, toolpath plays a critical role because it will determine the accuracy of the machined surface. The conventional methods to generate toolpath include constant-angle method, constant-arc-length method and the combination of constant-angle and constant-arc-length methods. This article proposes a new method based on an Adaptive Point Design Algorithm (APDA) to generate a series of cutting points. It will generate the cutter's toolpath based on the tangential height changes of the ideal surface. Through the simulation, the algorithm is verified that it can achieve the same accuracy when reducing the amount of data by about 40%, compared with the traditional constant-angle method. This makes freeform machining faster and provides the basis for precision machining of large-aperture freeform surfaces.


The ITRS lists several areas where reliability technology needs development. This includes test methods for new materials and processes. However, perhaps the greatest change in reliability assurance is the requirement to place more of the responsibility for reliability assurance into the hands of circuit designers. This stems from the general compromising of reliability to obtain higher performance. Semiconductor processes can no longer be though of as reliable for all designs that pass a few simple design rules. Reliable designs can now only be produced with a significant investment in reliability simulations, cell library testing and advanced test structure development. Designers must look at effects due to parametric distributions, thermal limits, stresses introduced by packages and neutron and alpha particle radiation. The shift of this responsibility to circuit designers will change the traditional foundry/fabless relationship and will likely increase the demands for detailed failure analysis in the future


Efficiency is one of the most important factors in productivity growth, especially in agriculture. The purpose of this study was to measure the technical, allocative and economic efficiency and to identify the factors affecting them in dairy cattle stations of Moghan agro-industry company. The data of this research were gathered in by documentary study, observation and interview. In this research, Deap . and Eviews software were used for analyzing performance calculations and determining effective factors, respectively. In order to design a data envelopment analysis model, the main variables used in the research included the herd size per head, feed and concentrate in kilograms, manpower in terms of man-days, hygiene per day, milk production and manure production in kilograms and total revenues were determined. Efficiency calculations were carried out with the assumption of the daily operation of milk production stations in the form of firm performance and the results were obtained daily, monthly and annual. Tobit regression analysis and parents' statistics were used to determine the effective factors on the amount of efficacy. The results showed that the technical efficiency with constant returns was . and with the return on the variable of . . The company's scale efficiency was . , in which days performance of the company was recorded with a slower return to scale and days with incremental returns to scale. The technical efficiency value in the general condition was . , the allocation efficiency was . and the economic efficiency was . . In general, milk production efficiency was the highest in January and the lowest in April. Factors affecting the amount of technical efficiencies of feed and concentrate and health variables. The effect of feed and concentrate in livestock diets and the level of health has been negatively affected by technical efficiency. Effect of feed and concentrate variables on negative economic efficiency and positive health variable. In terms of the effectiveness of different efficiencies on the income of milk production, technical efficiency and allocation had a negative effect and economic efficiency had a positive effect.


Dynamic Performance Studies of Synchronous Generators of Independent Producers in Distributed Generation Systems via ATPDraw This work aims to analyze the dynamic performance of a synchronous generator and its controls in a distributed generation system, as well as evaluate the impacts of its operation when connected to the distribution grid, using for this task the ATPDraw interface/tool of software ATP. Within this context, it is firstly necessary to obtain suitable models to represent the synchronous machine control systems (voltage regulator, speed governor and stabilizer system) in ATPDraw. Furthermore, for stability analysis, it is developed a mathematical technique to calculate the machine power angle which is represented in ATPDraw by a device (icon). The adjustments of voltage and speed control system parameters are performed by some adopted procedures which are verified using two electric systems: the first one with a synchronous generator connected to the distribution grid; and the second with three distinct generators forming a multimachine system. In these systems some disturbances are applied such as load shedding and short-circuit to accomplish the studies. Finally, with the previous results, it is carried out some dynamic performance studies of a synchronous generator of an independent producer connected to a distribution grid so as to assess aspects of power quality (voltage magnitude), stability and to evaluate the influence of machine controls during the system response for a given load shedding.


In their article 'Transmedial worlds: Rethinking cyberworld design', Klastrup and Tosca show that the core elements of a Transmedial World are: Mythos, the lore of the world, the central knowledge necessary to interpret and successfully interact with events in the world; Topos, the setting and detailed geography of the world; and Ethos, the explicit and implicit ethics and (moral) codex of behaviour. Though other terms are used, in essence similar distinctions are made in game worlds and storyworlds. In this article, I will first discuss the game world and the storyworld and show that the storyworld in games is different from that in non-interactive narrative media. I then focus on the Mythos and Ethos elements in the world of the Assassin's Creed series as both govern the moral choices in the series and, by doing so, subtly direct the behaviour of the player.


This article defends a conception of the sensorial experience with conceptual content, which allows to support the thesis that it can play a role in the justification of beliefs about the empirical world. This position, based on a certain conception of the so-called primitive empirical concepts, can be characterized as weakly fundamentista and naturalized. In conclusion, it is done to note that this thesis supports a conceptual pluralism - distinct from an absolutist position and of relativistic positions - that allows to account for the diversity of milestones conceptual and traditions under which different human groups (and other animals) construct their representations and guide their actions and their interactions with the world.


Precision energy measurements on four gamma rays in the l~gGd -> ls~I'b decay were per- formed with a 2 m curved-crystal spectrometer. Energies of the other gamma rays and all gamma intensities were determined with a Ge(Li) spectrometer. A level scheme is proposed for X~aTb which includes a level at 854 keV. The status of the 617 keV doublet has been clarified. On the basis of these measurements a proposal is made concerning the nature of the 854 keV level.


Sharon Lamb hopes to inspire a national initiative toward ethical sexuality education that looks beyond the individualistic moral or health implications of one's individual sexual decision making and toward the broad ethics of living in and belonging to communities. In Sex Ed for Caring Schools: Creating an Ethics-Based Curriculum and the companion website, Sexual Ethics for a Caring Society Curriculum (www.sexandethics.com), Lamb argues for 'advanced' readings in sex education, including classical, democratic, and feminist philosophers of ethics and education. I consider the additional support teachers and students might need to engage in the ethical conversations Lamb imagines while also tending to the complexities of race, sexuality, and class. In response to Lamb's call for the ethical exchange of ideas, I offer suggestions of philosophers of color, explicitly working-class thinkers, and queer theorists who would represent meaningful additions to Sex Ed for Caring Schools and the online curriculum.


This report contains two literature reviews (prepared by Brookhaven National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory, respectively) on the available data and current mechanistic understanding of erosion-corrosion, and a failure analysis (prepared by Brookhaven National Laboratory) of a tee-elbow joint from the Surry Unit 2 reactor that failed by erosion-corrosion in December 1986. It also includes suggestions for additional research that should be performed by the USNRC to increase the capability to rank plants and/or locations within plants in terms of susceptibility to erosion-corrosion and to ensure that proposed inspection and mitigation programs are soundly based.


In type 1 diabetes (T1D), the influence of age at diagnosis and of the IDDM1 and IDDM2 genetic susceptibility loci on the profile of β‐cell autoantibodies has been demonstrated. We studied these associations in a group of 92 patients (children, adolescents and adults, aged 2–62 years) with newly diagnosed T1D.


Advanced persistent threats (APTs) have novel features such as multi-stage penetration, highly-tailored intention, and evasive tactics. APTs defense requires fusing multi-dimensional Cyber threat intelligence data to identify attack intentions and conducts efficient knowledge discovery strategies by data-driven machine learning to recognize entity relationships. However, data-driven machine learning lacks generalization ability on fresh or unknown samples, reducing the accuracy and practicality of the defense model. Besides, the private deployment of these APT defense models on heterogeneous environments and various network devices requires significant investment in context awareness (such as known attack entities, continuous network states, and current security strategies). In this paper, we propose a few-shot multi-domain knowledge rearming (FMKR) scheme for context-aware defense against APTs. By completing multiple small tasks that are generated from different network domains with meta-learning, the FMKR firstly trains a model with good discrimination and generalization ability for fresh and unknown APT attacks. In each FMKR task, both threat intelligence and local entities are fused into the support/query sets in meta-learning to identify possible attack stages. Secondly, to rearm current security strategies, an finetuning-based deployment mechanism is proposed to transfer learned knowledge into the student model, while minimizing the defense cost. Compared to multiple model replacement strategies, the FMKR provides a faster response to attack behaviors while consuming less scheduling cost. Based on the feedback from multiple real users of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) over 2 months, we demonstrate that the proposed scheme can improve the defense satisfaction rate.


xi rhenium(I) complexes. It is postulated that the rhenium mononuclear compound is an intermediate which can be isolated due to the slower reactivity in rhenium complexes, while the increased reactivity in manganese and technetium prevents the isolation of the mononuclear complex. The basic coordination geometry of the mononuclear complex resembles that of the dinuclear one with the metal atom sitting at the centre of an octahedron coordinated by three facially carbonyl ligands, the oxygen and nitrogen atoms of the bidentate chelate. The coordination is completed by a methanol molecule in the mononuclear complex (3), or by the bridging phenolato oxygen atom of the bidentate ligands forming a rigid coplanar system in the dinuclear compound. Rhodium(I) complexes [Rh(5,7-Diido-Ox)(CO)2] (7), [Rh(5,7-DiMe-Ox)(CO)2] (8) and [Rh(5-Me-Sal-iProp)(CO)2] (9) {where 5,7-diido-OxH = 5,7-Diido-8hydroxyquinoline, 5,7-Dimethyl-OxH = 5,7-Dimethy-8-hydroxyquinoline and (5-MeSal-iPropH = 5-Methyl-2-(isopropyliminomethyl)phenol} were synthesized and the electronic and steric effects on the potential assembly of one dimensional metallophilic interactions in the solid state were evaluated. Two classes of rhodiumrhodium interactions were observed from the single X-ray diffraction results. In the one type of interaction, an infinite array of metal-metal interactions occurs in the crystal lattice with a RhRh distance of 3.4602(24) Å for complex (7). In the other type, the rhodium-rhodium interactions are restricted between two neighboring molecules forming pseudo dimeric pairs with the intermolecular RhRh distance of 3.1345(17) Å and 3.6007(10) Å for complexes (8) and (9) respectively. The [Rh(L,L-Bid)(CO)(PPh 3 )] complexes, where L,L'-Bid is a monocharged bidentate ligand, are fairly well-behaved models in solution for study by P NMR, to correlate Rh-P bond distances from solid-state X-ray structural data with observed solution behavior. This study was extended to include solid-state P data and a reasonable correlation was obtained. Finally, a kinetic study was conducted to evaluate the reactivity of the rhodium(I) Schiff-base complexes of the form [Rh(Schiff-base)(CO)(PPh 3 )] towards the oxidative addition of iodomethane thereon. The Schiff-base ligands have varying


Bad meshes are a common problem in using computational electromagnetics codes. Often, much of an engineer's or analyst's time ids wasted improving a mesh until the solver finally converges. We investigate the problem as it comes up in integral equation methods, and observe that its effects can be detected by analyzing the singular values of the electric field integral equation matrix. Armed with this information, we automatically remove the undesirable degrees of freedom caused by the ill-shaped mesh elements, so that the iterative solver behaves as if they were not present, all without any extra effort by the user. An a posteriori error estimator is developed, which verifies the improved accuracy for test problems and also suggests potential future applications in adaptive mesh refinement for integral equation methods. Further numerical examples demonstrate the improved solution convergence.


Object: To determine the content of flavonoids from Leonurus.Methods: The optimal condition was determined by the orthogonal experiment,the content of flavonoids was measured by spectrophotometry._() Results:The flavonoids contained in the Leonurus is about 14.1 mg/g.Conclusion: The method is easy operation and its result is very accurate.


linear function with the changes in Vickers hardness, suggesting generally good tensile and hardness results. A multiscale microstructural characterization was conducted on the selected samples. The fractography, EBSD, and TEM characterization results are exemplified using a number of the selected samples. The TEM results reveal the general grain structure and the sizes and distribution of precipitates such as Cr-rich M 23 C 6 , platelet V-rich MX, and spherical NbN in the samples. Dislocation loops of both {100} and {111} types were present in the irradiated samples. G92-2b exhibits a few cavities after the ~720°C irradiation. Cavities were only observed in NF616 at 431℃ (D6: 8.2 dpa), which has only one third of the swelling in T91 at 430°C (A6: 7.8 dpa). In general, NF616 demonstrates better swelling resistance than T91. Systematic data analyses still progress, which will be used to establish fundamental correlations between microstructures and mechanical properties. (6.5dpa/295°C), as examples. The TEM results revealed the general grain structure and the sizes and distribution of precipitates such as Cr-rich M 23 C 6 , platelet V-rich MX, spherical NbN in the samples. Dislocation loops of both {100} and {111} types were present in the irradiated samples. G92-2b exhibited a few cavities at the ~720°C irradiation. Cavities were only observed in NF616 at 431℃ (D6: 8.2 dpa), which has swelling only one third of that in T91 at 430°C (A6: 7.8 dpa). In general, NF616 demonstrates better swelling resistant than T91.


The paper presents experimental findings on measuring metrological parameters of LOMO projections obtained with an atomic force microscope. The research has proved that gauge-producing technologies that consist in mechanical mirror cutting result in flood coating. The floods obscure the position of the marker point in the program of the coordinates that outline object dimensions. We have determined that, with equal deviations from the focus, the biggest measurement error is observed while using a LOMO gauge on the projection. The experiment has proved that, under the same conditions of the experiment, a gauge on LOMO transmission (photolithography technology) and a 2D Bruker projection gauge, which is produced by means of electronic lithography, cause much smaller measurement errors. This should be taken into account while choosing a microscope focus gauge.


This paper presents the modelling and simulation of a six wheeled three body modular robot in MATLAB Simulink. The modules are modelled as an independent differential drive wheeled mobile robot. Velocity and distance were measured using three different configurations: two wheel, four wheel and six wheel configuration. The simulation result was able to predict the response of the modular body in different configurations in terms of velocity and distance with contact forces acting upon it.


Thorough description of diaphragm size selection for detecting the intensity of laser beam scattered on surface of congelating cement was given. Also fluctuations of speckle-field and its connection with square derivative of intensity were investigated. Analysis was based on CCD images of speckle-field dynamics in process of cement hydratation.


The purpose of the study was to examine the role of environment as an intervining factor in conflict management in educational institutions performance in Kenya with a view to solving conflicts being experienced in organizations and make them more effective, efficient and conducive for the development of human resources. Both qualitative and quantitative research was used. The research design used was descriptive survey. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. The target population was 140 public secondary school principals across Machakos County Government. Using stratified probability sampling based on different categories of schools and non- probability sampling, an optimum proportion of 30% was drawn from each category of the target population of schools to satisfy these requirements of optimality and representativeness.  From each of the selected school, the principal that is the CEO was selected. Therefore, 43 principals were selected as the chief executive officers in-charge of management of the school organizations. Stepwise regression analysis was used. It showed zero significance between the role of environment in conflict management and performance of school organizations. These results were consistent with earlier empirical research on conflict management and organizational performance in organizations. In conclusion therefore, a two dimensional approach to conflict management, with concern for both high and low levels of being represented by the vertical axis, while maximum concern for both awareness of conflicts in an organization and approaches in handling conflicts is depicted along the horizontal axis. By pairing the two concerns and their value combinations we can identify three pure management roles, with each reflecting different systems of values. The fact that a chief executive prefers a given management role does not mean he or she will not use other management roles. Indeed, the model assumes that everyone uses each one of the management role at a time or another. However, the study proposes an environment role as being the intervening role under which the efficient and effective organizational performance is enhanced or achieved if practiced well.


. . . you had to have a place. Whether or not it did justice to whatever you felt you were about, there had to be some place to refuel and check your flaps. In times of need and great instability, the place sometimes became more a definition than the substance of why you needed it to begin with. Sometimes the retreat became the reality. . . . For some of us there was no one particular place, and we grabbed whatever we could from wherever we found space. (225-26)


Dear Editor, We thank Srirampur and Balijepalli[1] for their interest in our case report. We completely agree with their important comment on the mechanism of hydrophilic intraocular lens opacification after keratoplasty, particularly following endothelial keratoplasty in which air or gas tamponade is performed. However, we reported a case of hydrophobic intraocular lens opacification after penetrating keratoplasty, and to the best of our knowledge, this was the first time that this type of intraocular lens opacification occurred. Anterior segment surgeons should be aware of this rare complication, as advised by Srirampur and Balijepalli.


n est impossible que I Ie blesse aille chercher son ehiruroien; il taut done que Ie ehiruroien se porte au devant du btees« (M. Duval). IN this address I propose to omit much of the clinical side of surgery, and to concentrate instead on some other aspects of surgery in the field. My reason for this omission is that most surgeons working in forward areas find the actual operating the easiest part of all. On the other hand, the best surgeon in the world would be quite useless if he did not have his equipment, trained assistants and nurses to look after his patients.


In order to avoid the new contradiction occurred in countries on the tax management of transfer pricing,coordination and cooperation between countries should be enforced.Therefore,the problems on it should be analysed,such as the guideline and specialized methods on transfer pricing,the initial adjustment and contact on transfer pricing,the coordinative mechanism of the international dispute on the tax management of transfer pricing,etc.


Newtonian potential function is used to represent polygonal objects and obstacles. The closed-form expression of this potential field and other gradient-related quantities are derived. Such results not only eliminate the problems associated with the discretization of the object and obstacles in evaluating the risk of collision, but also make the search for the optimal object configurations efficient. The object skeleton, a shape description of the moving object, is introduced to guide the moving object through narrow regions while the search is done at different stages. The free space can then be divided by the narrow regions where the path planning takes place-a very simple free space decomposition scheme. Successful global strategies are developed to connect the local plans into a safe and smooth global path.<<ETX>>


Introduction: Italy in the EU Chapter 1: Italy and Agricultural Policy Chapter 2: Italy and Regional Policy Chapter 3: Italy and Regulatory Policy Chapter 4: Italy and Food Safety Policy Chapter 5: Italy and Equality Policy Chapter 6: Italy and Macroeconomic Policy Chapter 7: Italy and Social Policy Chapter 8: Italy and Defense and Security Policy Chapter 9: Italy and Foreign Aid Policy Chapter 10: Italy and the Strategy of Political Appointment Chapter 11: Italy and Constitutional Policy Conclusion: A Post-National Interest Paradigm?


Portal hypertension is the most common complication in opsy needle, or by direct puncture of the mesenteric vein at laparoscopy. Significant disadvantages of these techniques cirrhotic patients. It is characterized by a chronic increase of the portal venous pressure, formation of portosystemic collatare their invasive nature and the potential need for anesthetic or sedative agents, that modify the splanchnic and syserals (varices that may bleed), and development of ascites. Normally, portal pressure ranges from 7 to 12 mm Hg, and temic hemodynamics. Myers and Taylor first introduced the indirect measurethe pressure gradient between portal and hepatic veins ranges from 1 to 4 mm Hg. Pressure values above these limits ment of portal venous pressure by measuring the wedge hepatic venous pressure (WHVP). They demonstrated that define the presence of portal hypertension. The formation of esophageal varices requires a pressure gradient above 10 mm WHVP and portal pressure measured directly were closely correlated. The principle of the technique is that if a catheter Hg, and it has been proposed that the development of ascites requires a gradient above 8 mm Hg. is introduced (usually through the right femoral or jugular vein) into a hepatic venous radicle until it can go no farther, The measurement of portal pressure gives useful information in several clinical situations. The finding of a high portal the pressure measurement represents that of the next point of free communication with the hepatic circulation—thus, pressure will confirm the presence of portal hypertension and may also be helpful in determining the cause of hemorthe sinusoidal portal pressure. The wedge position is verified fluoroscopically by the absence of reflux of contrast material, rhage in bleeding patients. Furthermore, it may be useful in the follow-up of patients after surgical or transjugular and pressure measurements are taken in the free and the wedge positions (WHVP). The HVPG is the difference beportal systemic stent shunts, and in the assessment of the response to the drug therapy for the prevention of variceal tween the wedged and free pressure and reflects the gradient between portal vein and vena caval pressures. bleeding. In addition, it can offer important information about the cause of portal hypertension, because a normal A modification of the conventional method, the balloon catheter technique, was described later. With this hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) is strongly suggestive of a presinusoidal obstruction. It has also been sugmethod, the free hepatic venous pressure and the WHVP are obtained by deflating and inflating a balloon in the tip of gested that the finding of a heterogeneous pressure gradient from one vein to another should trigger a search for the presthe catheter. This method is the most commonly used today because it has an almost 100% correlation (r Å .98) with the ence of hepatic tumor. It is well established that the portal pressure is correlated older technique for HVPG, and it offers several advantages. Firstly, inflation and deflation of a balloon is much with the severity of cirrhosis assessed by liver biopsy or by the Child-Pugh classification. The latter is the most comsimpler than moving the catheter into and out of the wedged position. Secondly, it permits repeated pressure measuremonly used prognostic test to assess survival. However, in routine clinical practice, portal pressure is not used as a prements more easily. Thirdly, injections of contrast media to confirm the wedged position are not required, which, when dictor of survival, although, in recent years, several studies have shown that it offers significant information. The purrepeated, might result in a false negative increase in pressure. pose of this review is firstly to briefly describe the technique of hepatic venous pressure measurement most commonly Rezeroing of the basal line pressure should be performed before measurement in each patient, and the equipment used today, and secondly to evaluate the available data regarding the prognostic significance of portal pressure meadamping should be inspected regularly if using electrical transducers. A paper record of the pressures should be rousurement for survival and bleeding in cirrhotic patients. tine. The measurements are recognized as being very reproHEPATIC VENOUS PRESSURE MEASUREMENT ducible with an error of {1 mm Hg, but there is no published data on this. In our last 20 patients (each measured three To evaluate portal pressure, several direct and indirect times), the coefficient of variation was 7.8%. techniques have been described. The direct measurements Although it is well established that WHVP is identical to are all invasive procedures involving catheterization of the portal pressure in cirrhotic dogs and alcoholic cirrhosis in portal vein. This can be performed by umbilical vein catheterhumans, the early published studies were unable to conization, percutaneous transhepatic or intrasplenic puncture, firm the same relationship in nonalcoholic liver disease. by the transvenous approach using a transjugular liver biHowever, two recent but smaller studies showed an excellent correlation between portal pressure and WHVP in hepatitis B– and C–related cirrhosis and suggested that the meaAbbreviations: HVPG, hepatic venous pressure gradient; WHVP, wedge hepatic venous surement of HVPG reliably reflects the degree of portal pressure. hypertension in posthepatitic cirrhosis; thus, direct measureFrom the Liver Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Medicine, Royal Free Hospital, Lonments of portal pressure may not be necessary in these padon, England. Received January 29, 1996; accepted June 17, 1996. tients, but more data must be published. There are no comAddress reprint requests to: A. K. Burroughs, M.B., Consultant Physician and Hepatoloparative studies in primary biliary cirrhosis, autoimmune gist, Liver Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Medicine, Royal Free Hospital, Pond Street, cirrhosis, or primary sclerosing cholangitis, which, although London NW3 2QG England. all have a presinusoidal component, also have a significant Copyright q 1997 by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. 0270-9139/97/2501-0045$3.00/0 sinusoidal component in the cirrhotic stage.


A bow-tie antenna with asymmetrical and overlapped arms printed on the top and bottom of a dielectric substrate is proposed and tested. By adjusting the asymmetry and overlapping of the two arms, return loss below −10 dB, quasi-omnidirectional radiation characteristics, reasonable gain values and beam tilt can be achieved at GSM/CDMA and 3G/WLAN bands.


Compared to previous years, the period from October 2008 to March 2009 showed marked reductions in species number and population size in the butterfly community of the Maheshkhan Reserve Forest, Nainital District, Uttarakhand. Desiccation of pupae due to abnormally low atmospheric humidity after the failure of seasonal rains appears to have been a major cause of this reduction. The drop in humidity also appears to be linked to the unusual spread of fires affecting broadleaf forests, one of which in May 2009 wiped out the remaining Maheshkhan butterfly community.


Current state-of-the-art supervised word sense disambiguation (WSD) systems (such as GlossBERT and bi-encoder model) yield sur-prisingly good results by purely leveraging pre-trained language models and short dictionary definitions (or glosses) of the different word senses. While concise and intuitive, the sense gloss is just one of many ways to provide information about word senses. In this paper, we focus on enhancing the sense representations via incorporating synonyms, example phrases or sentences showing usage of word senses, and sense gloss of hypernyms. We show that incorporating such additional information boosts the performance on WSD. With the pro-posed enhancements, our system achieves an F1 score of 82.0% on the standard benchmark test dataset of the English all-words WSD task, surpassing previous published scores on this benchmark dataset.


Abstract. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) present on or generated by
particulate matter (PM) have been implicated in PM-induced health effects.
Methodologies to quantify ROS concentrations vary widely, both in detection
and collection methods. However, there is currently an increasing emphasis on
rapid collection and measurement due to observations of short half-life ROS.
To address this problem, this paper details the design and
characterization of a novel instrument for the measurement of PM-bound ROS
named the Particle Into Nitroxide Quencher (PINQ). This instrument combines
the 9,10-bis (phenylethynyl) anthracene-nitroxide (BPEAnit) ROS assay in
conjunction with a purpose-built aerosol collection device, the insoluble
aerosol collector (IAC). The IAC continuously collects PM regardless of size
or chemistry directly into a liquid sample with a collection efficiency of
> 0.97 and a cut-off size of < 20 nm. The sampling time
resolution of the PINQ is 1 min, with a limit of detection (LOD) of
0.08 nmol m−3 in equivalent BPEAnit-Me concentration per volume of
air. This high sample time resolution and sensitivity is achieved due to a
combination of the highly concentrated IAC liquid sample, minimized liquid
sample volume, and the rapid reaction and stability of the BPEAnit probe.


Abstract A research program was initiated to evaluate the stability of selected organic compounds collected on porous polymer sorbents during combustion source sampling. This type of study is necessary to determine if destruction and removal of hazardous materials waste has occurred during incineration and not as a result of the sampling and analytical approach used. Two compounds, hexachlorobenzene and toluene diisocyanate, were selected for study. Due to difficulties encountered in preliminary work, studies on toluene diisocyanate were discontinued. Hexachlorobenzene sorbed onto XAD-2 resin at the 1 μg level was exposed to the following conditions intended to simulate hazardous waste incineration stack samplin: moist air, moist air in combination with HCl (two concentrations), and warm air. Recoveries following exposure were determined for each of three trials. The results indicate that hexachlorobenzene sorbed onto XAD-2 is stable with respect to the conditions routinely encountered during incineration...


According to Dr. Neil Goodman, an increase in body weight after liposuction profoundly changes the procedure's outcome... in predictable ways. He offers three tips for achieving the post treatment ideal.


Investigations were made on the temporal and spatial development of partial discharges (PD) in spherical voids (/spl oslash/: 1 -5 mm) in clear epoxy plastic. Two very different types of discharges were found with respect to charge image, luminosity and propagation time. The electrical signal simultaneously displayed on a 1 GHz real-time oscilloscope, showing pulses with rise times in the ns and sub-ns range of varying magnitude and shape. Pulse phase/height analyses were performed showing a uniques pattern for all voids. A relationship was established between the shape of the detected pulses, pulse phase/height analyses and optical characteristics of the discharge phenomena.


Under the market economic condition,it is important to realize how to reduce the enterprise cost and improve the competitiveness and economic efficiency of the enterprise.Aiming at this problem,the paper proposes some new ideas and methods of reducing cost from several aspects.


This article is partially a review and partially a contribution. The classical two approaches to robustness, Huber's minimax and Hampel's based on influence functions, are reviewed with the accent on distribution classes of a non-neighborhood nature. Mainly, attention is paid to the minimax Huber's M-estimates of location designed for the classes with bounded quantiles and Meshalkin-Shurygin's stable M-estimates. The contribution is focused on the comparative performance evaluation study of these estimates, together with the classical robust M-estimates under the normal, double-exponential (Laplace), Cauchy, and contaminated normal (Tukey gross error) distributions. The obtained results are as follows: (i) under the normal, double-exponential, Cauchy, and heavily-contaminated normal distributions, the proposed robust minimax M-estimates outperform the classical Huber's and Hampel's M-estimates in asymptotic efficiency; (ii) in the case of heavy-tailed double-exponential and Cauchy distributions, the Meshalkin-Shurygin's radical stable M-estimate also outperforms the classical robust M-estimates; (iii) for moderately contaminated normal, the classical robust estimates slightly outperform the proposed minimax M-estimates. Several directions of future works are enlisted.


Lithium trans-alkenyltrialkylaluminates, prepared by the hydroalumination of alkynes followed by treatment with n-butyl-lithium, react with epoxides to produce β-hydroxy-substituted trans-alkenes, which are readily convertible into βγ-unsaturated carbonyl derivatives.


We read with interest the letter of Gonzalez-Mancera et al. [1] regarding the percentages and absolute numbers of doublepositive T cells (DPTs) in the peripheral blood of a normal Italian population. In a previous article by our group, the DPT population was evaluated in one hundred suitable donors from a Colombian blood bank using flow cytometry. Our main findings showed a median DPT value of 2.6% and a higher percentage in women.


Intraoperative monitoring of motor evoked potential (MEP) is a modality for preventing spinal cord injury during spinal surgery. However, inhalation anesthetics and muscle relaxants depressing MEP responses, must be restricted for monitoring MEP. Therefore, anesthetic management needs careful attention for preventing recall and unintentional movements during surgery and special techniques for monitoring adequate MEP. We report here on 7 cases of successful intraoperative monitoring of MEP with total intravenous anesthesia using propofol and remifentanil for scoliosis surgery in adolescent patients.


This paper studies the impacts of ionospheric scintillation on geosynchronous SAR (GEO SAR). A phase screen model is used to simulate the influence of ionospheric scintillation on GEO SAR. In this model, the ionospheric scintillation status (i.e. the thin phase screen) is generated by employing the Rino equation and the climatological paramters (such as CkL, p and L0). When wave passes through the phase screen, it will add a phase disturbance and then propagate in the free space, which is the split step solution of the parabolic wave equation. Then the ionospheric transfer function is derived and used to modulate the SAR echo effected in time-domain. Finally simulations are carrired out to analyze effects of ionospheric scintillation quantitatively. In order to better understand the impacts on GEO SAR imaging, we construct a two-dimensional phase screen based on GEO SAR system parameters, and analyse the influence of ionospheric scintillation on GEO SAR when it operates at different positions. The results indicate that there exists inclined streaks in GEO SAR images cauesd by ionospheric scintillation. The inclination of streaks is different and related to the local magnetic heading of radar beam.


Media scholars across the globe agree that the media has some kind of influence on its audiences. However, the nature, direction and extent of this influence remain a source of argument and disagreements. Nigeria, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and a major crude oil exporter has remained largely un-developed because of endemic corruption which has led to perversion of societal values and ethos. The Nigerian media though faced with many internal and external challenges has a rich history of activism. This activism was made manifest during the struggle for political independence in the 1960s and years of military dictatorships spanning over thirty years (1967-1999). The performance of the Nigerian media during the dark periods in Nigeria's history has resulted at times, in a high level of media believability among Nigerians although this has not been consistent. Aspects of the Nigerian media appear to retain some this activism today. Consequently, it is on the bases of this residual activism that this paper attempts to explore the capacity of the Nigerian media to successfully lead a values reorientation effort in Nigeria.


Based on multiscale wavelet analysis and fast Fourier transform,metal magnetic memory signals were processed for welding cracks.A criterion feature to identify the existence of welding cracks was found out.Corresponding threshold value of the feature was established.Field inspection indicated that welding cracks could be accurately identified with the criterion feature.


The dynamics of the thylakoid membrane components has been invoked in several contexts, for instance during assembly and turnover of the photosynthetic apparatus, regulation of light� harvesting and photosynthetic electron transport. To date, mobility of the certain photosynthetic membrane proteins has been studied either by indirect means or directly on bacterial thylakoids. However, there are very few experiments involving dynamics of photosynthetic membranes from green plants. In this study we develop a new direct approach to probe the mobility of chlorophyll–proteins in system much closer to the situation in vivo – the thylakoid membranes of intact chloroplasts isolated from spinach ( Spinacia oleracea ). We can visualise the chloroplast intactness by specifically staining the outer envelope with the lipophilic dye (BODIPY FL C 12 ) following application a fluorescence recovery after photobleaching technique (confocal FRAP) to bleach out the chlorophyll fluorescence of a single granum. We can then track a fluorescence


The New Zealand government has signalled an intention to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2050. By 2025 the aim is to have 90% of electricity generated from renewable resources including between 20-30% generated from wind (Electricity Authority (EA), 2010). Electricity generation expansion scenarios that would achieve these targets also include significant geo-thermal build which is classed as "must run" base load and offered into the spot-market at a price of zero, as is wind and must run hydro such as run of river. Thus the renewable electricity generation scenarios for New Zealand will likely include large amounts of electricity offered into the spot market at a price of zero much of which is intermittent. The New Zealand Electricity Authority models generation expansion scenarios based on: expected demand; fuel and carbon prices; a merit order using long run marginal costs; combined with various constraints including security of supply constraints. However the Generation Expansion Model (EA, 2010) does not model actual price formation. The first aim of this work is to model price formation to understand the impact of large amounts of intermittent wind on the electricity market. Prices are expected to become much more volatile as thermal plants can only recover their fixed costs by capturing higher prices when they are running. There are some suggestions that market power will exacerbate this (Green and Vasilokas ,2010). Volatile prices change the risk profile and investment incentives for new generation especially for capital intensive generation such as wind. A further consideration for a market such as New Zealand, which has locational pricing, is the impact of wind and intermittency on the grid. In particular attractive wind farm sites tend to be geographically proximate which may lead to line congestion and large variations in nodal prices. Thus we also investigate the incentives to site wind in places where the power is needed (rather than where it can be generated most efficiently). Spot prices may well be zero for a significant fraction of the time. It is not clear that the generation scenarios with large amounts of renewable generation will result in market prices that allow for cost recovery. There may well be a missing money problem which means less investment and a lower than desired security of supply security – a trend which may be exacerbated by change in the risk profile discussed above. The rise of intermittent generation in electricity markets has given rise to a renewed interest in capacity markets for security of supply, driven by the underlying assumption that the increased price volatility caused by intermittent generation will not provide sufficient revenue to incentivize construction of peaking generators sufficient to ensure security of supply. The growth of intermittent generation such as Wind and Solar in electricity markets requires increased investment in peaking capacity to ensure security of supply. In 'Energy Only' electricity markets such as New Zealand's, these investments are made on the basis of the expected revenue peakers generate on the spot market in periods of high demand. It is well known that in the short term at least the merit order effect will depress average prices. Hence an ongoing concern is that energy only markets cannot guarantee sufficient investment in peak capacity to ensure security of supply. However, this assumption has not been well tested in the academic literature with any degree of rigour. Another issue that is starting to emerge is the ability for firms to exercise market power during periods of low wind. In this paper, we use an agent-based model combined with a generation expansion model of the New Zealand (energy only) electricity market to determine a long run equilibrium capacity mix and examine the interaction between long run capacity mix, the merit order effect and market power as wind penetration increases dramatically.


For certain shapes of inclusions embedded in a body, the field inside the inclusion is uniform for some boundary condition. We provide a construction scheme for inclusions of general shapes having such a uniformity property in two dimensions based on the conformal mapping technique for the potential problem. Using this complex analysis method, we also design non-elliptical neutral coated inclusions with anisotropic conductivity. Neutral coated inclusions do not perturb a background uniform field when they are inserted into a homogeneous matrix. Although coated inclusions of various shapes are neutral to a single field, only concentric ellipses or confocal ellipsoids can be neutral to all uniform fields. This paper presents our work relating to the construction of non-elliptical coated inclusions with anisotropic conductivity in two dimensions that are neutral to all uniform fields, where the assignment of the flux condition on the boundary of the core depends on the applied background field. Using these neutral inclusions, we obtain cylindrical neutral inclusions in three dimensions, with no flux applied to the boundary of the core and with the anisotropic conductivity function of the shell given in accordance with the background uniform field.


Acrylamide can be formed during heating of cereals. Oats have the second highest acrylamide forming potential of rye, wheat, barley and oats. Several studies have found high levels of acrylamide in oat products that exceed the benchmark limits within the EU. These limits might be strict limits in future which every food producer needs to follow. Reactions between reducing sugars and free asparagine is the major contribution of acrylamide in food. Free asparagine is not incorporated into proteins and might thus easily react in the Maillard reaction and form acrylamide. It has been shown that free asparagine is the determining factor for acrylamide formation in cereals. Free asparagine accumulates in cereals when there is an excess of nitrogen and at the same time a deficit of sulphur. Proper fertilising and selection of crops with low levels of free asparagine might be the key to lower acrylamide formation in oat products. During processing, salts, other amino acids than asparagine and asparaginase may be added to lower acrylamide formation in various baked products. Some of these additives and especially salts have however bad impacts on health as well as product quality. Acrylamide formation is also affected by pH, where a higher pH produces more acrylamide. Antioxidants might inhibit acrylamide formation, but some studies have found the opposite and theorises that some antioxidants prevent further reaction of acrylamide with other compounds. It is known however that antioxidants can in-hibit lipid oxidation and by extension lower the formation of acrylamide, since some lipid oxidation products such as acrolein might react with asparagine. Longer fermentation time of yeast doughs have been shown to produce bread with a lower acrylamide level since the yeast consumes the free asparagine. Sourdough as leavening agent is not as effective at consuming asparagine, probably due to compe-tition from bacteria that impairs the yeast in the sourdough. If sourdough is to be used it is however better to use one based on oat or barley compared with rye or wheat flour since bread baked on oat or barley sourdoughs has been shown to have the low-est acrylamide content. Acrylamide formation occurs in oat products, but the process is not as well studied as in other foodstuffs and more research is needed. This report aims therefore to list mitigation strategies to lower acrylamide formation in oat products.


The lower structure of hydropower station is easily cracking because of complexity and mass concrete.With the finite element method of unsteady temperature field and stress field,the simulation of construction and operation period is applied for typical hydropower station lower structure poured in different seasons.According to the computation results of temperature field and stress field,the cracking cause of dangerous area is analyzed and the reasonable temperature control and crack prevention methods in construction are proposed.The paper offers helpful reference to the designing and construction of the lower concrete structure of hydropower station.


Abstract Among the factors impeding the development of the discipline of psychology in Latin America, emphasis must be given to the lack of infrastructural conditions. Also important is the lack of social, economic, and political stability, leading to inadequate administrative and financial support for research. The high degree of uncertainty as to the future of societal outcomes leads to short-term planning, and weakens the possibility of sustained lines of research. Yet, the same economic and political crises have positive consequences: A growing awareness of social problems and a realization of the utility of psychology in their solutions. The resultant job opportunities for graduates, and a generation of "engaged" professionals, are all helping the growth of an indigenous psychology. Increasing participation of Latin American psychologists in international congresses, particularly those of the Interamerican Society of Psychology. has had laudatory effects on the development of the discipline in the re...


Significance The function of tissues is controlled by complex biological processes, in which transcriptional mechanisms play a fundamental role. The transcriptional coactivator PGC-1α is a prototypical regulator of adaptive responses evoked by environmental and internal cues (e.g. exercise-adaptation in skeletal muscle). Here, we found that PGC-1α-RNA–binding is central to assemble multiprotein complexes controlling gene transcription. Interestingly, PGC-1α-RNA–binding also regulates chromatin recruitment in transcriptionally active liquid-like nuclear condensates. Collectively, our findings unravel mechanistic insights into the regulation of complex transcriptional networks by PGC-1α, which we demonstrate to be essential to enhance the expression of key genes controlling skeletal muscle oxidative metabolism. Plasticity of cells, tissues, and organs is controlled by the coordinated transcription of biological programs. However, the mechanisms orchestrating such context-specific transcriptional networks mediated by the dynamic interplay of transcription factors and coregulators are poorly understood. The peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) is a prototypical master regulator of adaptive transcription in various cell types. We now uncovered a central function of the C-terminal domain of PGC-1α to bind RNAs and assemble multiprotein complexes including proteins that control gene transcription and RNA processing. These interactions are important for PGC-1α recruitment to chromatin in transcriptionally active liquid-like nuclear condensates. Notably, such a compartmentalization of active transcription mediated by liquid–liquid phase separation was observed in mouse and human skeletal muscle, revealing a mechanism by which PGC-1α regulates complex transcriptional networks. These findings provide a broad conceptual framework for context-dependent transcriptional control of phenotypic adaptations in metabolically active tissues.


In the United States, there are four methods for submitting a case to a jury: (1) the general charge, (2) submission of factual issues for a special verdict, (3) the general charge with interrogatories on some issues, and (4) submission of the whole case as a series of interrogatories. l The last of these four methods, known as "special issue submission,"2 has a long history in Texas civil procedure. 3 The basis for such submission is found in the former Rule 277 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. The rule stated: In all jury cases the court may submit said cause upon special issues without request of either party, and, upon request of either party, shall submit the cause upon special issues controlling the disposition of the case that are raised by the written pleadings and the evidence in the case, except that for good cause subject to review or on agreement of the parties, the court may submit the same on a general charge. While it is "discretionary with the court whether to submit separate questions with respect to each element of the case or to submit the


Adolescent (cisgender) sexual minority males (ASMM) face multiple mental health disparities. Yet surprisingly little is known about use of mental health care among ASMM. The current study examined mental health care use among ASMM, both lifetime use and during the COVID-19 pandemic. ASMM (N = 154, ages 14-17 years) enrolled in Spring 2020 for a pilot randomized controlled trial of an online sexual health intervention. Participants were assessed at baseline and 3-month follow-up. Participants reported lifetime (at baseline) and recent (at follow-up) mental health care use. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were assessed at both timepoints. Differences in care use by sociodemographics, health care access, and mental health symptoms were established. More than half of participants reported clinically significant anxiety and depressive symptoms at baseline and at follow-up. Of those youth, 53 percent reported lifetime mental health care use, whereas only 28% reported recent care at follow-up. Being out to an accepting guardian (aOR = 4.0, 95% CI [1.9, 8.4]), having a primary care physician (aOR = 2.6, 95% CI [1.0, 6.7]), and having clinically significant symptoms (aOR = 3.1, 95% CI [1.5, 6.5]) were each independently associated with greater odds of having received lifetime mental health care. Findings indicate that many ASMM in the sample received mental health care in their lifetimes. However, more participants endorsed clinically significant anxiety/depressive symptoms than received care at both timepoints. This disparity was even more pronounced approximately 5 months into the COVID-19 pandemic. Research and practice efforts must reduce care barriers and augment facilitators for all ASMM, with particular urgency during COVID-19 and its aftermath. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement Mental health disparities are well documented among sexual minority adolescents, although little is known about their use of mental health care. We found that many adolescent sexual minority males use mental health care, but more youth reported psychological distress than received care, and use of care declined during the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)


A group selective dealkylation reaction of a bridged ketal with trimethylsilyl iodide serves to control stereochemistry at carbon centers that are separated by five atoms. In combination with the iron/copper promoted fragmentation reaction of a hydroperoxide, a new synthesis of (+_)-syn-4,8-dimethyldecanal has been achieved.


[Objective]To rapidly and easily determine dimethyl fumarate in cake. [Method]UHPLC LC-30A and API 4000 triple quadrupole mass spectrometer was established for determination of dimethyl fumarate content. [Result]The results showed that a linear relationship dimethyl fumarate was y = 0. 972 7x + 0. 001 2,the linear correlation coefficient of 0. 999 4. Six times precision experiments were conducted on the same concentration of dimethyl fumarate. The range of recovery rate is 98. 4%- 101. 5%,RSD is 1. 2%,detection limit is 0. 01mg /L. [Conclusion]The method is accurate,rapid and simple,which can be used in quantitative analysis of dimethyl fumarate.


Recent developments and applications of laser surface modification, i. e. laser surface melting, laser surface alloying, laser cladding and laser multi-layer cladding were reviewed in detail. The problems and research direction were also indicated.


Viscosity of whole blood and plasma from Antarctic fishes were compared over a temperature range of −1.5 to 5°C; human samples and water provided reference values. Blood viscosity of nototheniids was greater than that of the haemoglobinless icefish, reflecting differences in packed cell volume, being 5.27 v. 3.27 cP at 0°C for Notothenia coriiceps and Chaenocephalus aceratus, respectively. The reduction in MCHC, rather than haematocrit, in nototheniids suggests that selection pressure has not acted at the level of oxygen transport. However, icefish plasma viscosity was similar to human, but greater than that of Notothenia spp., suggesting that viscometric influences on cardiac afterload may be adaptive for the latter. Indeed, handling stress induced a significant increase in viscosity of both whole blood and plasma which may impair cardiovascular performance. Such a response was not observed in icefish, and in view of the large blood vessels it is unlikely that viscosity plays any significant role in limiting activity of this species.


Soybean [Glycine max (L.)] Merrill is one of the most important leguminous crop belonging to family Leguminoceae, sub-family Papilionoceae. It is the world"s largest source of animal protein feed and the second largest source of vegetable oil. It is considered as pulse crop but due to high oil content, now it is placed in oilseeds category. It originated from China (Nagata, T. 1960) where it also called "yellow jewel" and introduced in India during 1870-80 (Andole, 1984). The Indian neem tree, Azadirachta indica (Meliaceae), is a promising source of botanical insecticides. Due to their relative selectivity, neem products can be recommended for many integrated pest management programs (Biswas et al., 2002). Kambrekar (2015) reported that, the trap cropping is a useful strategy in the management of several pests in various cropping systems. It offers significant economic and environmental benefits and it can successfully integrated with cultural, biological and chemical control methods. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 7 Number 12 (2018) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com


In the purpose of analyzing and checking time constraints in business processes, we propose to model and simulate them in the "discrete event system specification" (DEVS) formalism. The proposed model will contain atomic DEVS models representing the activities, supervised by, other DEVS control models, and based on one to one mapping. Hence, guaranteeing a close concordance with the temporal requirements. Thus, the simulation of the model results in outputs about the successful execution regarding to the temporal constraints soundness. Therefore, the modeler will be able to predict unsuitable temporal behavior. Thus, the model responds to the lack of modeling tools that do not offer enough formal specification of time constraints at the earlier phases of design as in, the standard "business process management notation." The proposed model handles different type of time constraints in business process such as intra‐activities, inter‐activities, and inter‐process time constraints. The proposed model is implemented into JAVADEVS using DEVS‐Suite platform.


Gaofen-3 (GF-3), the first Chinese spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) in C-band for civil applications, was launched on August 2016. Some studies have examined the use of GF-3 SAR data for ocean and coastal observations, but these studies generally focus on one particular application. As GF-3 has been in operation over two years, it is essential to evaluate its performance in ocean observation, a primary goal of the GF-3 launch. In this paper, we offer an overview demonstrating the capabilities of GF-3 SAR in ocean and coastal observations by presenting several representative cases, i.e., the monitoring of intertidal flats, offshore tidal turbulent wakes and oceanic internal waves, to highlight the GF-3's full polarimetry, high spatial resolution and wide-swath imaging advantages. Moreover, we also present a detailed analysis of the use of GF-3 quad-polarization data for sea surface wind retrievals and wave mode data for sea surface wave retrievals. The case studies and statistical analysis suggest that GF-3 has good ocean and coastal monitoring capabilities, though further improvements are possible, particularly in radiometric calibration and stable image quality.


A modelling approach to optimize a multiresponse system is presented. The approach aims to identify the setting of the input variables to maximize the degree of overall satisfaction with respect to all the responses. An exponential desirability functional form is suggested to simplify the desirability function assessment process. The approach proposed does not require any assumptions regarding the form or degree of the estimated response models and is robust to the potential dependences between response variables. It also takes into consideration the difference in the predictive ability as well as relative priority among the response variables. Properties of the approach are revealed via two real examples—one classical example taken from the literature and another that the authors have encountered in the steel industry.


Food production and global economic stability are being threatened by climate change. The increment of drought episodes and the increase of soil salinization are major problems for agriculture worldwide. Chenopodium quinoa (quinoa), as a resilient crop, is capable of growth in harsh environments due to its versatility and adaptive capacity. Quinoa is classified as an extremophile crop, tolerant to salinity, drought and low temperature. Furthermore, quinoa is recognized as a pseudo-cereal with outstanding nutritional properties. The phytohormone ABA is a key regulator of physiological responses to salinity and drought, among others stressful conditions. In this article we want to revise recent discoveries regarding ABA perception and signaling in quinoa, and evaluate its implications on stress-tolerance breeding of this pseudocereal and other crops.