Comprehensive care for the severely asthmatic child includes psychological as well as medical treatment. Family therapy is a recognized modality of therapy. Investigations have examined the role of emotion and asthma as well as psychosomatic asthma. Pharmacological treatment of beta 2-agonist and cromolyn prior to disciplining the child prevents psychosomatic asthma secondary to crying or shouting. Adherence to multiple asthma therapeutic modalities is imperative, and a psychological and medical team can address these important clinical issues in a high-risk population.


. To study the stress concentration factors (SCFs) of concrete-filled tubular Y-joints subject to in-plane bending, experiments were used to investigate the hot spot stress distribution along the intersection between chord and brace. Three concrete-filled tubular chords forming Y-joints were tested with different reinforcing components, including doubler-plate, sleeve, and haunch-plate reinforcement. In addition, an unreinforced joint was also tested for comparison. Test results indicate that the three different forms of reinforcement effectively reduce the peak SCFs compared with the unreinforced joint. The current research suggests that the linear extrapolation method can be used for chords, whereas the quadratic extrapolation method must be used for braces. The SCF is effectively reduced and more evenly distributed when the value of the axial compression ratio in the chord is increased. Furthermore, the SCFs obtained from the test results were compared to predictions from some well-established SCF equations. Generally, the predictions from those equations are very consistent for braces, but very conservative for concrete-filled chords.


Abstract The literature contains many theoretical solutions to the design of high-performance packet switches, related to buffering, selection, and routing functionalities. Different selection policies and scheduling algorithms providing 100% throughput, such as MSM, MWM, and the like, have been proposed. However, in practice many of them introduce a high complexity and are not feasible. In this paper, we suggest a simple cell selection policy implemented by hardware for an input-queuing architecture using a multistage interconnection network. The proposal is described and simulated using a VHDL language. Performances in terms of delay, throughput, and cell loss are evaluated.


This work aimed to evaluate the radial and axial variations of the Pinus elliottii Engelm. wood density with different ages. To this were felled ten trees of different ages, and discs to 10, 35, 55 and 75% of height the tree, and another at the 1.30 m. These samples were taken at three different positions in the pith-bark (near pith, central region and near bark) for density determination. It was observed a reduction in density from the bottom to top in the longitudinal direction, and the periphery to the center in the radial direction. Older individuals had higher density values.


The corrosion of a material results from its interaction with the surrounding environment, which can lead to physical and chemical changes in the material and the loss of its functional properties [...].


In this paper, we investigate a genetic toggle switch in Escherichia Coli, which models an artificial double-negative feedback loop with two mutually repressors. This model is a planar differential system with three parameters, one of which is an integer power \begin{document}$ n\ge1 $\end{document} , in the case that repressors 1 and 2 multimerize with \begin{document}$ n $\end{document} and 1 subunits respectively and its equilibria are decided by a polynomial of degree \begin{document}$ n+1 $\end{document} . Since one hardly solves such a polynomial equation, a known result on bistability was given by omitting some small terms under the assumption that the promoters are strong and the expression ratio between the ON state and the OFF state is large. In this paper, determining distribution of zeros qualitatively for the polynomial of high degree, we analytically discuss on the system without the assumption and completely give qualitative properties for all equilibria, which corrects the known result of bistability. Furthermore, we prove that there may occur in the system a codimension 2 bifurcation, called cusp bifurcation, which is a collision of two saddle-node bifurcations and manifests the transition between bistability and monostability. We exhibit the global dynamics of repressors in various cases by analyzing equilibria at infinity and proving nonexistence of closed orbits.


Two-dimensional superconducting arrays with combined direct and alternating applied currents are studied both analytically and numerically. In particular, we investigate in detail current-voltage characteristics of a square array with 1/2 flux quantum per plaquette and triangular arrays with 1/2 and 1/4 flux quantum per plaquette. At zero temperature reduced equations of motion are obtained through the use of the translational symmetry present in the systems. The reduced equations lead to a series of subharmonic steps in addition to the standard integer and fractional giant Shapiro steps, producing devil`s staircase structure. This devil`s staircase structure reflects the existence of dynamically generated states in addition to the states originating from degenerate ground states in equilibrium. Widths of the subharmonic steps as functions of the amplitudes of alternating currents display Bessel-function-type behavior. We also present results of extensive numerical simulations, which indeed reveal the subharmonic steps together with their stability against small thermal fluctuations. Implications for topological invariance are also discussed.


Knitting is an exciting textile technology of creating products with outstanding characteristics, such as: knitting to shape, great flexibility in production, controlled properties, and excellent formability. The modern developed electronic flat knitting machines are capable of manufacturing complex engineering structures using its flexible technical characteristics at low manufacturing costs. Among them, the 3D fabrics or fabrics with 3D effects exhibit a higher thickness, compared to the single yarn diameter and provide a great potential for technical applications. The paper presents an interactive lecture concerning the computer aided design of knitted fabrics with surface cells, obtained by wedge technique (partial knitting of rows). The pattern programming has been performed on the pattern station M1, Stoll GmbH, and the fabric with 3D effects has been produced on CMS 530 E6.2 knitting machine. The programming steps were recorded with the explanations so the learners can repeat it several times, according to their own training rhythm.


Since the post‐Second World War era, total quality management (TQM) has spread throughout corporations, including research and development. The first step in developing a total quality system in research and development is identification of the customer. Identifies who the customers are and defines the relationship between marketing and research and development within a TQM environment. Posits that the amount of attention focused on the customer often correlates directly with the success of an end‐product sell‐through. Highlights the importance of continuous improvement in the research and product development cycle.


Objective:To explore the value of semiconductor laser in partial inferior turbinectomy. Method: The clinical data were retrospectively analyzed in 56 patients with chronic hapertrophic rhinitis who were performed partial inferior turbinectomy by semiconductor laser.Results: Six months after operation,the total response rate was 94.64%.No complication was found postoperatively.Conclusion:Despite its contribution to simple operating and little bleeding,semiconductor laser takes good effect on partial inferior turbinectomy.


The coupling of adaptive numerical methods with large-memory parallel/vector computers has produced a powerful tool with which to probe flame structure. We have investigated numerically one such system— the axisymmetric laminar diffusion flame. The ability to predict the coupled effects of complex transport phenomena with detailed chemical kinetics in these flames is critical in modeling turbulent reacting flows, in improving engine efficiency, and in understanding the processes by which pollutants are formed. Compu tationally, we solve the governing conservation equa tions of mass, momentum, species balance, and en ergy with detailed transport and finite rate chemistry submodels. We utilize up to six processors of an IBM ES/3090 600J in parallel to obtain a discrete solution on a two-dimensional grid with Newton's method and adaptive mesh refinement.


The main specialized medical service modes were analyzed,and the continuous service mode was proposed from the concept,the organization and management mechanism,in which the specialized medical resources can be optimized in a region,and the high quality resources will reach the community service institutions.With this mode,the service quality will be improved and the expenses can be controlled.


Real-time power system simulator testing provides an invaluable means to evaluate relay performance under realistic conditions. Simulator testing has been, and will continue to be, essential for achieving reliable transmission line relaying and it is expected to contribute to improved designs in other areas of protection, as for example in transformer protection relaying. Examples of testing of line protection and transformer protection are described.


One and a half to six inches of gouge sharply separates Pliocene formations which are 11,300 feet apart in a normal stratigraphic section. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1717------------


The sphere decoder (SD) is a powerful algorithm to reduce the computational complexity for multiple-symbol differential detection (MSDD) of differential phase-shift keying. To further increase the quality of the transmission, soft-output sphere decoding produces reliability information in the form of LLRs which are fed into the channel decoder. In this paper, we compare the basic SD algorithm with two variants, centered metric computation and LLR accumulation, with respect to performance and computational complexity. We show that especially the latter is able to improve the performance significantly and additionally allows a flexible tradeoff between performance and complexity by adjusting the number of accumulated LLRs.


14088 Background: The majority of patients with biliary tract cancer present with advanced, unresectable tumors. Irinotecan and 5-Fluorouracil/folinic acid (FOLFIRI) have synergistic activity in gastrointestinal cancers. The aim of this study was to determine the tolerability and activity of systemic chemotherapy with FOLFIRI in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (CCC) or gallbladder cancer (GBC).

METHODS
This was a prospective, multicenter, non-randomised, open-label, phase II trial. Eligibility criteria: Inoperable adenocarcinoma of the biliary tract, measurable disease, age 18-80 years, ECOG PS 0-2. Patients received irinotecan 80 mg/m2 as a 30 min infusion, followed by folinic acid 500 mg/m2 over 2 h and 5-FU 2000 mg/m2 over 24h weekly × 6 followed by a 2 week rest. Treatment was continued until progression or limiting toxicity. Response to therapy was assessed after every other cycle according to RECIST criteria. Primary end point was response rate, secondary end points were overall survival, progression free survival and toxicity.

RESULTS
30 pts (CCC 17, GBC 13) were enrolled. A total of 387 doses (Median 12.9; 1 to 36) were administered with an overall relative dose intensity of 98%. 30 patients are evaluable for safety. WHO grade 3/4 drug related adverse events occured in 7 patients (23%): Leukopenias in 2, anemia in 1, and diarrhea in 4 patients. 14 patients completed 2 cycles and were evaluable for response. Response rates: CR 0/30, PR 3/30 (10%) and SD 3/30 (10%). 8 patients presented with disease progression at restaging. Median overall survival: CCC 166 days, GBC 327 days. Progression-free-survival: CCC 84 days, GBC 159 days.

CONCLUSIONS
FOLFIRI is a well tolerated regimen in patients with biliary cancer that can be safely administered on an outpatient basis. FOLFIRI has no substantial activity in CCC and moderate activity in GBC. Further studies are required to define a standard palliative chemotherapy for treatment of biliary cancer. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


The main objectives of the present study are to design steam plants using projected waste fission product canister characteristics, to analyze the overall impact and cost/benefit to the nuclear fuel cycle associated with these plants, and to develop plans for this application if the cost analysis so warrants it. The construction and operation of a steam plant fueled with waste fission product canisters would require the involvement and cooperation of various government agencies and private industry; thus the philosophies of these groups were studied. These philosophies are discussed, followed by a forecast of canister supply, canister characteristics, and strategies for Army canister use. Another section describes the safety and licensing of these steam plants since this affects design and capital costs. The discussion of steam plant design includes boiler concepts, boiler heat transfer, canister temperature distributions, steam plant size, and steam plant operation. Also, canister transportation is discussed since this influences operating costs. Details of economics of Army steam plants are provided including steam plant capital costs, operating costs, fuel reprocessor savings due to Army canister storage, and overall economics. Recommendations are made in the final section.


Objective  To characterize the social and environmental risk factors associated with the presence of Aedes aegypti in order to improve community dengue control.


I AM grateful to the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade for · inviting me to share my thoughts with you on the "Problems of Shipping and Export Strategy for the 'Eighties". Normally a keynote address tends to be a well-argued thesis in chosen words with several sophisticated nuances. You will forgive me, if I depart from the tradition. I do not propose to strike only the keynote. I propose to pose pointed questions and give pointed answers. It is thus possible that I may strike not only the keynote but many other notes which may be jarring to some ears.


Recently, the concept of Internet of Things (IoT) has become the most popular term through the widespread of its applications such as greenhouse and telemedicine monitoring. Actually, building IoT systems requires an accurate infrastructure planning. Furthermore, management and security of these systems are considered as the most important challenges facing system developers. Certainly, the IoT security is more than a technical problem as it needs series of regulations and faultless security system for common purposes. So, the study of IoT security problem is an emergent issue to be introduced in a research paper. In this paper, the traditional techniques are studied and evaluated. Accordingly, analysis and design of innovative general purpose system, which protect the IoT resources such as devices and data against hacking or stealing, are proposed. The idea of proposed system is based on adaptation of the traditional algorithms to be compatible with the nature of IoT infrastructure, in addition to combining new techniques with the adapted ones to handle the research problem. Furthermore, an environment to simulate and test the proposed system is constructed. Finally, the results prove that the proposed system is more robust and efficient, which lead us to standardization.


The apparent and steady-state etch rates of PECVD SiO2, HDP SiO2 and PECVD Si3N4 are measured both in a single thin film and a stacked film configuration. This is done for a HF:H2O/1:1, a HF:IPA/1:1 and a BHF solution. It is shown that etch rates vary with the used etch time, confirming the influence of both an incubation and a rinsing period on the average etch rate when performing typical ex situ etch rate experiments. Hence, this second part of a set of two papers provides the experimental evidence for part I where a general etch rate model was proposed. Furthermore this work shows that the etch rate varies whether it is determined on a single layer, in a stacked configuration or while under-etching a structural layer. This confirms the need of a straightforward characterization method for under-etching measurements at the sacrificial release stage of MEMS fabrication processes. Therefore, a new characterization method, using a suspended beam array and a surface profilometer, is proposed to determine the amount of under-etch after sacrificial release of surface micromachined devices.


During tumor treatment, effective imaging diagnosis can monitor the biological distribution of nanomaterials in vivo , so as to reveal the therapeutic effect of nanomaterials and provide comprehensive information of tumor tissue. In conventional cancer therapy, nanomaterials that fail to distinguish between tumor cells and normal cells often lead to adverse side effects and higher systemic toxicity. Therefore, more and more attention has been paid to the development of multi- functional nano-platform for a variety of biomedical applications. Aptamers are single-stranded oligonucleotide that can specifically recognize their substrates, such as metal ions, small molecule, proteins and even cells. Owing to their high specificity, aptamers can endow the delivery system with robust targeting ability and enhance the enrichment of drugs and imaging agents in tumor tissues, holding great promise in molecular diagnosis and cancer therapy. Here, we designed a NIR-activated optical imaging and target-recognition multifunctional nanoplatforms by the capsulation of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) coated NaYF4:Yb/Er/Nd@NaYF4:Nd upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs-PAA) within aptamer-guided liposome (Apt-Lip) to form UCNPs@Apt-Lip. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed that the composite nanomaterials had a uniform spherical structure, and the UCNPs nanoparticles were successfully loaded into the liposome modified by AS1411 aptamer, and the monodispersity of nanoparticles was good. The Dynamic light scattering (DLS) detected that the hydrated particle size of UCNPs@Apt-Lip modified by AS1411 aptamer changed from 165.6 nm to 209.5 nm, and the zeta potential (-22.7 mV) was lower than UCNPs@Lip (-20.5 mV), which further confirmed that the AS1411 aptamer was successfully connected to the surface of UCNPs@lip. Flow cytometry and targeted cell fluorescence imaging experiments show that UCNPs@Apt-Lip nanostructure has strong ability of target recognition and fluorescence imaging to MCF-7 cells. With the unique properties of movable cores, interstitial hollow spaces, and the functionality of shells, we believe that multifunctional nanoplatforms will have great potential for application in various fields, such as photocatalysis, nanoreactors, drug delivery and tumor treatment.


Recent advancement in miniaturized calcium imaging microscope enables monitoring the cell activity from hundreds of neurons simultaneously in vivo. However, extracting calcium traces from a large population of cells in real time under a strict resource and energy constraint remains a challenge. To overcome it, we design a customized accelerator on a low-power FPGA for fast calcium trace extraction. This enables us to extract calcium traces from hundreds of cells in real time with a short and deterministic latency. In addition, we propose a series of techniques, including the region segmentation, the double buffering and the fast forward mechanisms, to further reduce the latency with minimal overhead. Applying these techniques, our implementation can achieve real-time calcium trace extraction for a maximum of 1024 cells from a 512×512 calcium video with sub-ms latency, which is promising in support of closed loop neurofeedhack applications.


Cases of textile‐related dermatitis reported in the medical literature after the mid‐1980s are reviewed. Part I focuses on cases in which textile resins, fiber additives, or fibers were the causal agent. Studies which provide insight into understanding fabric‐induced prickle and itch are included.


It is well established that sex differences exist in the manifestation of cardiovascular diseases. Arterial stiffness (AS) has been associated with changes in cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) and cognitive decline in aging. Specifically, older adults with increased AS show a decline on executive function (EF) tasks. Interestingly, the relationship between AS and CVR is more complex, where some studies show decreased CVR with increased AS, and others demonstrate preserved CVR despite higher AS. We investigated the possible role of sex and hematocrit (HCT) on these hemodynamic relationships. Acquisitions were completed in 48 older adults. Dual-echo pCASL data were collected during a hypercapnia challenge. Aortic PWV data was acquired using cine phase contrast velocity series. A moderation model test revealed that sex moderated the relationship between PWV and CVR and PWV and EF. In addition, there was a significant effect of HCT on the sex differences observed in the moderation effect on EF. Together, our results indicate that the relationships between PWV, CVR and EF are in part mediated by sex and HCT. Highlights This study investigates the role of sex on cerebrovascular measures of brain health and congition Sex moderates the relationship between PWV, cerebrovascular reactivity and cognition Hematocrit influences the sex differences observed


Sobol' sensitivity indices,used in variance based global sensitivity analysis of model output,are compared with the Analysis of Variance in classical factorial design. Monte Carlo computation of Sobol' indices is described briefly, and a bootstrap approach is presented,which can be used to produce a confidence interval for the true,unknown indices.


In the past there have been many different cases of damage in prestressed concrete due to corrosion of the prestressing steel. This damage often only occurs in the structure after many years of active service. In the past, the extent of available technology has not allowed engineers to predict future damage. In order to detect warning signals initiated by the aforementioned damage types, tests have been developed to assess the sensitivity of the prestressing steel. The difficulties encountered during these tests are those associated with the realistic simulation of the site conditions in an accelerated test. Depending on the investigation method and type of steel used, the current standard test leads to partially contradictory signals, which do not coincide with experiences gained from the structure in every case.


Although most individuals are resilient, individuals who are exposed to trauma in mass casualty events have an increased rate of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), other anxiety disorders such as Panic Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and medically unexplained somatic symptoms. Risk factors for psychopathology include female gender, minority ethnic status, prior psychopathology, prior traumas, duration and severity of exposure as well as physical proximity to the disaster. Immediate interventions after a disaster should include attending to basic needs such as physical health, housing and reuniting families. The role of debriefings as an early intervention remains controversial. Later interventions include cognitive and behavioral therapy (CBT) and the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors for those who meet criteria for PTSD. Further research is required to determine whether Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing offers any additional benefits...


We have calculated the binding energy and the diamagnetic susceptibility(χdia) of the ground (1s) and few low lying excited states (2s and 2p±) in a GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs Triangular Quantum Well (TQW) for the Al composition of x = 0.3. Since the estimation of gives the carrier localization in nanostructured systems and also the calculation of (χdia) involves the , the same has also been estimated as a function of well width. The Schrodinger equation has been solved using variational technique involving Airy functions in the effective mass approximation. The results are presented and discussed.


Background Current standard neoadjuvant treatment for advanced ovarian cancer is 3-weekly platinum-based chemotherapy (CP3w). Patients unable to have interval debulking surgery (IDS) or with significant residual disease have a poor outcome to CP3w treatment. We investigated the outcome in patients who were switched to dose-dense chemotherapy. Methods: We retrospectively analysed 30 patients treated at UCLH in 2009–2013, who switched to dose-dense chemotherapy after neoadjuvant CP3w, having achieved a poor response/progressed and unable to proceed to IDS (n=21), or had >1 cm residual disease after IDS (n=9). Treatment was 3-weekly carboplatin and weekly paclitaxel (n=23), or both drugs weekly (n=7). For comparison, we included 30 matched patients treated with CP3w followed by IDS (n=24, without or ≤1 cm residual disease; n=6, with >1 cm residual disease). Time to progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS) were measured from the date of diagnosis until progression (CT scan or CA-125) and death from any cause, respectively. Results Baseline characteristics were similar in both groups. The response rate to dose-dense chemotherapy was 70% (Gynecological Cancer Intergroup criteria). In the dose-dense group, 24 patients had tumour progression and 16 died; the corresponding numbers in the control group were 24 and 11. Median TTP was 15.8 months with dose-dense therapy, higher than expected for this patient group, and the same as in the control group (15.7 months) undergoing IDS, p=0.27. Median TTP in patients with residual disease postsurgery was 16.5 months (dose-dense) and 10.8 months (controls), p=0.02. TTP in dose-dense patients who did not have surgery was 10.4 months. Median OS was 31.3 (dose-dense) and 59.6 months (controls), p=0.06. Dose-dense chemotherapy was well tolerated: only three patients interrupted treatment due to toxicity. Conclusion Switching to dose-dense chemotherapy in patients who failed to respond to CT3w neoadjuvant chemotherapy appears to be an effective strategy and requires further investigation.


Production of thiodiglycolic acid alkyl ester (I), comprises reacting a halogen acetic acid alkyl ester (II) with an aqueous solution of alkali sulfide or alkali hydrogen sulfide in the presence of an aqueous pH-buffer solution in the pH range of 5-8, optionally in the presence of a phase transfer catalyst. Production of thiodiglycolic acid alkyl ester of formula (R-OOC-CH 2-S-CH 2-COO-R) (I), comprises reacting a halogen acetic acid alkyl ester of formula (X-CH 2-COO-R) (II) with an aqueous solution of alkali sulfide or alkali hydrogen sulfide in the presence of an aqueous pH-buffer solution in the pH range of 5-8, optionally in the presence of a phase transfer catalyst. R : 1-10C alkyl; and X : Cl or Br.


A prospective ideology and a value system are the core of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the same is being disseminated through the welfare activities. Thinking beyond the mandatory requirements and getting involved with the lives of the people in the community to alleviate the social problems and thereby creating resilience is the true reflection of such a strong philosophical foundation. The much discussed Kizhakkambalam model had the true beginning as a CSR initiative of Kitex group and now this has grown as a model attracting the attention of policy makers, industrialists and academic community. The involvement of professional social workers and other welfare workers are very well evident in this model with the integration of community people. This article makes an attempt to document the model developed by Kitexgroup in Kizhakkambalam based on a case study. The overall methodology of the study reflects a mixed application of quantitative and qualitative techniques. A base line survey conducted by the Kitex has been considered to understand the target population in the area and the in-depth interviews and group discussions were conducted among the stakeholders, including professionals engaged in the CSR initiatives to study the model. Sufficient literature has also been incorporated to explain the background and theoretical perspective of this study.


The thirtieth anniversary of the 1956 Suez crisis has sparked renewed scholarly interest in this milestone in twentieth-century history. Current research on the subject has been spurred by the recent declassification of American, British and Israeli diplomatic papers from the period which provide unprecedented insight into the many questions still surrounding the crisis.1 Among these is the central issue of Egypt-Israel relations in the period leading up to Suez. Events arising from the Egypt-Israel conflict helped precipitate the political crisis (e.g. the influence of Egypt's continuing purchase of Soviet arms and resistance to Western peace initiatives on America's decision to withdraw financial support for the Aswan Dam), and provided a pretext for its military conclusion, the Anglo-French invasion of Egypt. The second Arab-Israeli war signified the culmination of over seven years of growing tensions on the Egypt-Israel border. The basis for this escalation lay in a subjective factor: conflicting Egyptian and Israeli interpretations of the Armistice Agreement, and two objective factors: deficiencies in the Armistice and the inherent instability of the Egypt-Israel border. The deleterious impact of these constant factors was increasingly exacerbated by changing circumstances on the domestic, regional and international levels: internal developments in Egypt and Israel, inter-Arab competition for regional domination, and Great Power rivalries and policies in the Middle East. The border war had its primary origin in the conflicting interpretations of the Egypt-Israel Armistice Agreement (EIAA), signed in Rhodes in February 1949. Egypt, together with the other Arab states, held to the strict definition of an armistice according to international law, viz. that such an agreement did not end a state of war but was merely a declaration of truce. This position, repeatedly


The grave situation with pancreatic cancer is illustrated in Figure 1 [1]. It shows that for the period of 1992-2011 [1], the number of incidences of new cases and the death are almost alike. This indicates the pitiful survival rate of pancreatic cancers. Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, with the highest mortality rate of up to 90%. In the US, it is the 4th leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women. The majority of pancreatic cancers are pancreatic adenocarcinoma, occurring in the exocrine cells of the pancreas [2,3].


Cascade function is a Boolean function which can be implemented by a so-called cascade network. An n input cascade network is a circuit built with n-1 two-input-one-output gates (i.e., dyadic operations) such that at least one input of each gate is a network input. By arranging the inputs in a proper order these networks can be presented in a "cascade" shape, which is the origin of the name. Cascade networks, and thus cascade functions have many interesting properties. Although the portion of cascades among all logic functions is small (the ratio approaches zero with growth of the number of variables), their remarkable properties and the practical significance of such networks has attracted many researchers in the fields of switching functions and logic design. There are several papers published that focus on the enumeration problem of cascade functions and networks. Asymptotic expression and a recurrence relation have been found for the number of all cascades, as well as for some subclasses. However, to the author's knowledge, until now no closed formula has been discovered which explicitly counts such functions. This paper presents an explicit formula for the number of all n-variable cascade functions.


In modern VLSI design, manufacturing yield and chip performance are seriously affected by via failure. Redundant via insertion is an effective technique recommended by foundries to deal with the via failure. However, due to the extreme scaling of feature size, it is more and more difficult to resolve redundant via insertion (RVI) with limited routing resource while obeying complicated design rules. In this paper, we propose an RVI enhanced concurrent detailed router, M-CFRoute 2.0, which effectively avoids design rule violations through a compact integer linear programming (ILP) model. The proposed router can not only route all nets simultaneously but also search for redundant via positions for all via simultaneously during routing stage. In addition, it proposes an RVI aware pin access allocation to further improve the routing performance. Experimental results show that our detailed router outperforms an industry EDA tool that it improves the redundant via insertion rate by 21%, while reducing design rule checking violation count, total wire length and via count by 47%, 4% and 14%, respectively.


Engineering and technology can have a massive impact on productivity and economic growth so it is important to track the likely course of new technologies as they grow from concept to maturity. Nowhere is this more important than in the case of nanotechnologies. This broad category ranges from incremental CMOS developments to highly speculative new materials with novel functionality. However, roadmaps for strategic development need to be built on more than hype and promises. This paper describes a simple tool to measure the maturity of new technologies in many economic as well as technical domains. It ascribes one of ten stages of maturity to fourteen different parameters. A review of non-volatile memory technologies is used as a benchmark. The tool has been used to demonstrate technology evolution within academic courses and it has also been applied within short industry courses. Project rationale and scope The appeal of nanotechnology lies in the sheer breadth and potential impact of its applications. However, these features are also its greatest weakness. Hardly a week passes without some new nano-product or material being touted as the miracle solution that will drive the next wave of high-tech development . The reality is that few of these claims will be realized in the form predicted. Even the developments that eventually succeed will have a tortuous and demanding evolution path. How does anyone make a balanced assessment of new technology that captures its novelty and the imagination of the innovators but at the same time acknowledges that realistic business criteria will also be applied? This paper describes a simple process to derive a measure of the maturity of new technologies in many economic as well as technical domains. It was initiated by a need to explain new technology in course work and has since been extended to research and development outcomes in several industry sectors. Technology evolution rests on a brutally Darwinian process that is based on the interaction of engineering, economics and market opportunities. This makes any long term planning difficult yet there is every reason to believe that the scope and impact of technical change will be as profound in the next thirty years as it has been in the last thirty. However, it is difficult to find a balanced view of any emerging technology. The advocates obviously dwell on its strengths and sometimes their enthusiasm can drift into unsubstantiated hype and wishful thinking. At the other end of the spectrum, those involved with mature technologies are too busy managing products and cash flow in highly competitive global markets to be seriously concerned about a technology that may be a decade or more away. A quantitative tool that measures the maturity of emerging technologies has a number of applications in the domain of Engineering Economics: P ge 13234.2 It can determine risk in research and development (R & D) investment. It may be used for technology roadmap preparation and analysis. It shows where and when financial and market comparisons should be made. It demonstrates the wide range of factors needed for technology success and the vulnerability to a weakness in any one of them. It is a useful framework for student projects where some reasoned case has to be made for the likely evolution path. Many parties have an interest in making objective assessments of the possible success of emerging technologies from investors to students pondering their career direction. To make the task more tractable, cases that are judged individually on merit have been excluded. This avoids the minefield of research project funding, venture capital and peer-reviewed publications. Instead, this paper concentrates on cases where there is no single project advocate. The goal is to determine the maturity state and intrinsic merits of an emerging technology rather than measure the capacity of an individual or group to make it a success. To be successful as a distinct technology, it will have to rise far beyond the level of individual enthusiasms. Background methodology New technologies (of any kind) face three major hurdles before they can be considered a success in the business world. 1. If they offer a radically new application or market opportunity, there are too few customers to provide the revenue needed to support mature development. We may now feel smug when we read Ken Olsen's 1977 statement that, "there is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home" . However, in the context in which it was offered, he made a valid claim and the 30 years it took to move from lab curiosity to household item is still typical. This is the most risky category to predict success since every facet of the market is new. 2. If the new technology is a replacement for an existing product, for example a new memory or a replacement for CMOS logic, there is a cost target to be met. The great advantage is that many features of the market and its growth are known. However, until the new technology can approach the market cost-per-function, benchmark comparisons will be poor 3 and there will be a natural reluctance to move away from the familiar technology. The association of nano-$ with nanotechnology is uncomfortable but cannot be avoided. 3. International standards relating to quality, safety, environment, ethical applications and warranty have to evolve and be met. It is a long slow process to establish the required track record in these areas but if they are not met, the technology will not progress to successful maturity . These three constraints are a formidable 'catch-22' that is rarely featured in technical papers and even less in degree programs. However, most of today's high-impact P ge 13234.3 technologies had to overcome similar challenges . The important message for students and technology executives alike is that innovation does not stop when the papers describing the original concept have been published. The typical evolution path starts with speculative funding (from government or private sources) and later proceeds to revenue and market-based support providing key conditions have been met. Unfortunately, there is a time gap between these funding regimes and it appears to be growing. It has been called 'The Valley of Death' 6 and is often one of the most severe bottlenecks in technology development. On the other hand, if an embryonic product or new technology can cross the Valley of Death, that becomes an important early indicator for further success. The concept of an all-embracing metric to measure performance or maturity is well known. Four examples serve to illustrate the variety of background applications we have examined. a. The Technology Readiness Index or Level (TRI or TRL) was developed by NASA more than 20 years ago . It is widely used by the defense industry. There are 9 levels with brief descriptions in figure 1. Figure 1. Technology Readiness Levels The TRI is important because it is accepted for risk identification and analysis. The levels are defined in great detail in the DOD literature but they can also be summarized concisely and usefully as shown in figure 1. The limitation of the TRI is that it was designed to assess components and cannot handle the diversity of concepts and expectations involved in determination of a whole new technology. It was the starting point for the work described in this paper. b. The risk attaching to new products and systems may be represented using conventions that are standard project management practice. The parameters Features Level Technology has successful mission operations 9 System technology qualified 8 System prototype in operational environment 7 Prototype product in relevant environment 6 Show components in relevant environment 5 Components or sub-systems in lab form 4 Lab studies to validate concepts 3 Concepts or applications formulated 2 Basic principles observed & reported 1


Abstract
In this paper we apply the techniques of decision analysis and a standard decision tree folding computer program to the problem of choosing treatment for a patient with an abdominal aortic aneurysm and severe coronary artery disease. Using this methodology, we are able to collate data on the surgical experience and survival of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms and patients with coronary artery disease, which allowed us to determine the expected utility of aneurysm repair in a patient with both of these diseases.


Background: 85% to 95% neoplasms of the head and neck are squamous cell carcinomas with most common sites being oral cavity, pharynx and larynx. The preservation of function, especially as it relates to speech, swallowing, and mastication, as well as cosmetic considerations, are considered essentials for determining the most effective management paradigm for squamous cell carcinomas of head and neck (SCCHN). The aim of this present study is to analyze the impact of 18F-FDG PET/CT in nodal staging and overall staging of recently diagnosed non-treated cases of SCCHN when compared with clinical and / or conventional imaging techniques such as CECT and MRI as and when available. Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted in the Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET CT, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Cochin, Kerala from November 2011 to May 2013. The study group comprised of non-treated patients of both sexes with age ranging from 20 to 81 years referred to our department with an established tissue diagnosis of SCCHN for 18F-FDG-PET/CT Whole Body scan for evaluation of disease status. Data including age, sex, primary site, levels of neck lymph node involvement at presentation, scopy (direct / indirect) findings, histopathology / FNAC report of primary site & lymph nodes and conventional imaging findings were recorded. AJCC 7th edition, 2010 was used for staging. Results: 37 patients were included in the study, male: female – 33: 4, mean age of presentation for males was 57.5 years and for the females was 55 years. Oropharynx was the most common site of primary tumour in 40% of patients (n=15). At presentation no nodes palpable, ipsilateral and bilateral neck lymph nodes were present in 32.4% (n=12), 48.7% (n=18) and 18.9% (n=7) of patients respectively. Most common pre PET/CT nodal staging, according to 7 th edition of AJCC in 32 patients (excluding 5 patients with nasopharyngeal malignancy), was N0 in 12 patients (37.5%). Post-PET/CT upstaging, downstaging and no change in nodal staging was seen in 11 (32.3%), 3 (8.1%) and 22 (59.5%) patients respectively. Overall change in staging was noted in 13% of patients when compared to conventional imaging techniques. Conclusion: 18F-FDG PET/CT accurately predicts nodal stage better than clinical and/or conventional imaging techniques leading to overall stage change in patients with SCCHN. Thus, it acts as a valuable tool in determining the exact nodal spread establishing the exact treatment plan.


We propose an effective modeling technique for a clock grid. This technique enables the delay calculation and the skew analysis of a large multiple-driven clock grid with speed improvements and no loss of accuracy while previously published algorithms cannot. Speed improvements are achieved by efficient calculation of "effective capacitance" and replacing many drivers of the clock grid with an equivalent driver model. The experimental results show that this modeling technique is two orders of magnitude faster than the iterative method using the superposition principle and several orders of magnitude faster than Hspice within 5% errors.


Certain of the cyclic cationic polypeptide antibiotics, polymyxin B, colistin, and tyrocidine, prevent the lethal effect of endotoxin for chick embryos when admixed with the toxin prior to intravenous injection. In this system, 25 ,ug of polymyxin B sulfate prevented the toxicity of 0.217 ,ug (241 LD50) of Escherichia coli endotoxin; an antibiotic-endotoxin weight ratio of 115:1. (D. Rifkind and J. D. Palmer, J. Bacteriol. 92:815, 1966). The present study was undertaken to determine whether polymyxin B will also prevent endotoxin lethality in a mammalian host system. E. coli 0111: B4 Westphal endotoxin (Difco), alone or mixed with polymyxin B sulfate (Burroughs Wellcome & Co., Tuckahoe, N.Y.), was injected intravenously, in a final volume of 0.2 ml in pyrogen-free saline, into 8to 10-week-old female Swiss-Webster mice (Simonsen Laboratories, White Bear Lake, Minn.). Lethality was scored at 48 hr, and the LD50 was estimated by the Reed-Muench method (L. J. Reed and H. Muench, Am. J. Hyg. 27:493, 1938). A 50-,ug amount of polymyxin B was used, as this dose produced no lethality (0 of 20), whereas 100 ,ug resulted in a 33% (23 of 70) mortality. The LD50 of endotoxin alone was 36 MAg, and this was not significantly decreased by the admixture of 50 Mug of polymyxin B (21 Mug, Table 1). The antibiotic-endotoxin ratio which could be tested in the Swiss-Webster mouse system, was, however, relatively small as compared with that which provides protection in chick embryos (see above). As the mice were relatively sensitive to polymyxin B, the antibiotic-endotoxin ratio could be increased only by decreasing the resistance of mice to endotoxin. This was accomplished by two methods, the first of which was blockade of the reticuloendothelial system with lead acetate (H. Selye, B. Tuchweber, and L. Bertok. J. Bacteriol. 91:884, 1966). A 1-mg amount of lead acetate, Pb(C2H302)2. 3H20, (Fisher Scientific Co., Fair Lawn, N.J.) was added to the endotoxin or endotoxin-polymyxin B mixture prior to injection. Sterile 5% dextrose in water was used as the diluent, since lead acetate precipitated in normal saline. Lead acetate decreased the endoTABLE 1. Influence of polymyxin B on endotoxin lethality for mice


With the opening of the telecommunication market and the emergence of low-cost and heterogeneous wireless access technologies, it is envisaged that next-generation network and service providers will not only vary in the deployed access technology but also in their business models and structures. Such providers will differ from large providers such as the current telecom providers offering multiple services and covering large geographical areas, down to small providers offering certain services such as conferencing or messaging only or covering small geographical areas such as a coffee shop or a shopping mall. Further, while in the current networking environment, a home provider of a user is usually represented by a large telecom provider; in such a heterogeneous environment, any trustworthy entity such as an application provider, a banking entity, or a credit card provider that is capable of authenticating the user and marinating his usage profile can act as a home provider. Towards this vision this article discusses the issues that concern the establishment of multimedia applications across heterogeneous networks.


Background: Lifestyle interventions, such as fasting, diet, and exercise, are increasingly used as a treatment option for patients with metabolic syndrome (MS). This study assesses the efficacy and safety of fasting followed by lifestyle modification in patients with MS compared to lifestyle modification only. Methods: Single-blind, multicenter, parallel, randomized controlled trial in two German tertiary referral hospitals in metropolitan areas. Interventions: (a) 5-day fasting followed by 10 weeks of lifestyle modification (modified DASH diet, exercise, mindfulness; n = 73); (b) 10 weeks of lifestyle modification only (n = 72). Main outcomes and measures: Co-primary outcomes were ambulatory systolic blood pressure and the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) index at week 12. Further outcomes included anthropometric, laboratory parameters, and the PROCAM score at weeks 1, 12, and 24. Results: A total of 145 patients with metabolic syndrome (62.8% women; 59.7 ± 9.3 years) were included. No significant group differences occurred for the co-primary outcomes at week 12. However, compared to lifestyle modification only, fasting significantly reduced HOMA index (Δ = −0.8; 95% confidence interval [CI] = −1.7, −0.1), diastolic blood pressure (Δ = −4.8; 95% CI = −5.5, −4.1), BMI (Δ = −1.7; 95% CI = −2.0, −1.4), weight (Δ = −1.7; 95% CI = −2.0, −1.4), waist circumference (Δ = −2.6; 95% CI = −5.0, −0.2), glucose (Δ = −10.3; 95% CI = −19.0, −1.6), insulin (Δ = −2.9; 95% CI = −5.3, −0.4), HbA1c (Δ = −0.2; 95% CI = −0.4, −0.05;), triglycerides (Δ = −48.9; 95% CI = −81.0, −16.9), IL−6 (Δ = −1.2; 95% CI = −2.5, −0.005), and the 10-year risk of acute coronary events (Δ = −4.9; 95% CI = −9.5, −0.4) after week 1. Fasting increased uric acid levels (Δ = 1.0; 95% CI = 0.1, 1.9) and slightly reduced eGRF (Δ = −11.9; 95% CI = −21.8, −2.0). Group differences at week 24 were found for weight (Δ = −2, 7; 95% CI = −4.8, −0.5), BMI (Δ = −1.0; 95% CI = −1.8, −0.3), glucose (Δ = −7.7; 95% CI = −13.5, −1.8), HDL (Δ = 5.1; 95% CI = 1.5, 8.8), and CRP (Δ = 0.2; 95% CI = 0.03, 0.4). No serious adverse events occurred. Conclusions: A beneficial effect at week 24 was found on weight; fasting also induced various positive short-term effects in patients with MS. Fasting can thus be considered a treatment for initializing lifestyle modification for this patient group; however, it remains to be investigated whether and how the multilayered effects of fasting can be maintained in the medium and longer term.


We discussed relations between the full unitary matrix models and the Painlevé III. Coupling the Toda equations and the string equations, we derive a special case of the P III equation. From the Virasoro constrains, we can use the radial coordinate. The relation between t1 and t−1 is like the complex conjugate.


HIV-related stigmatization remains prevalent and harmful to HIV+ individuals. Guided by a dual process model of HIV-related stigma, this study examined the psychological factors governing stigmatizing responses and response adjustments toward HIV+ persons. Hypotheses were tested using a computerized stigma measure that simulated approach/avoidance behavior toward an HIV+ target. Findings indicated that initial reactions to the HIV+ target were predominately negative and associated with endorsement of homophobia. Conversely, subsequent response adjustments reflected greater acceptance of the HIV+ target and were associated with internal motivations to control prejudice. Findings confirm the need for innovative stigma reduction strategies.


The path-loss exponent (PLE) is one of the most crucial parameters in wireless communications to characterize the propagation of fading channels. It is currently adopted for many different kinds of wireless network problems such as power consumption issues, modeling the communication environment, and received signal strength (RSS)-based localization. PLE estimation is thus of great use to assist in wireless networking. However, a majority of methods to estimate the PLE require either some particular information of the wireless network, which might be unknown, or some external auxiliary devices, such as anchor nodes or the Global Positioning System. Moreover, this external information might sometimes be unreliable, spoofed, or difficult to obtain. Therefore, a self-estimator for the PLE, which is able to work independently, becomes an urgent demand to robustly and securely get a grip on the PLE for various wireless network applications.


2017 ABSTRACT The percentage of adults seeking orthodontic therapy has considerably increased during the last two decades. Many of these adults as well as younger patients may be on medications for various systemic diseases or local problems. Apart from the target tissues, these drugs will have a potential effect on paradental tissues as well, thus modifying their responses to orthodontic treatment. It is absolutely important for the orthodontist to be aware of the effect of these drugs for a successful outcome during orthodontic treatment. This review focuses on published data regarding the influence of each of these medications during orthodontic treatment. The effect of these medications from an orthodontic perspective has been presented in tabular format also for ready


This thesis looks into various extensions of the Dynamic Nelson-Siegel (DNS) model that
allow for time-varying volatility. A common shock component with time-varying vari-
ance in the measurement equation of the state space framework greatly improves model
_t. The inclusion of a second common component gives insight in how general interest
rate and stock market volatility are both priced in the yield curve. The total volatility in
the two component model is regressed on the VIX and a measure of general interest rate
market volatility to show this for di_erent maturities. Furthermore, various GARCH-
type processes are considered to account for the time-varying volatility in the yields and
in the factors of the DNS model. I study asymmetric volatility extensions and allow for
inuences of exogenous macroeconomic and _nancial factors in the GARCH equation.
The alternative speci_cations to capture the dynamics of the common volatility turn out
to improve model _t in volatile periods, but do not outperform the standard GARCH in
stable times. Allowing for time-varying volatility results in predictions that signi_cantly
outperform the naive random walk forecast for short maturity yields at medium and long
horizons. Parsimoniousness is key when forecasting is concerned and a model with the
common shock component in the state equation produces the most accurate predictions.


Thermobaric conditions in oil and gas wells require the use of backfill materials with special physical and chemical properties. Cement composites are subject to the requirements of fluidity (to ensure uninterrupted delivery to the cementing site), timely formation of the necessary mechanical strength (to prevent the interaction between the cement glass and reservoir fluids), corrosion resistance, impermeability and durability. Therefore, the composition of the cement slurry should be selected based on the mining and geological characteristics of the well.Wellbores wall are reinforced with protective pipes, which are attached to the well with cement or cement slurry. It is needed to protect wellbores wall from rock falls, gas, oil and water shows and to isolate productive formations. If this operation is carried out qualitatively, then the outer part of the casing string will be protected from the impact of the formation fluid. Otherwise, pipe corrosion may occur, which can lead to the destruction of the cement stone and, as a result, to accidents.


The research is focused on an analysis of bonds adhesive bonded with structural two-component epoxy adhesives by means of an electron microscopy. The paper deals with an evaluation of basic factors influencing an adhesive bond creation with an emphasis on a resultant adhesive bond quality. The adhesive bond quality was reviewed on the basis of an assessment of reached adhesive bond strength, a fracture surface and by a research on adhesive bonds cuts by means of the optical analysis (SEM). Evaluated criteria of the adhesive bond creation were: the adhesive bonded surface treatment, the time of an adhesive workability and the loading value at the fixation of adhesive parts. The results of SEM analysis proved an occurrence of impurities in the adhesive bond at omitting the chemical cleaning of the adhesive bond which get into the adhesive layer. The adhesive bond strength fall was more than 70 %. The strength and the quality of the adhesive bond depend on the adhesive bonded surface treatment, the adhesive workability time and the loading value of the adhesive bond at its creation. Above mentioned conclusions were proved by the mechanical tests and SEM analysis.


Lower‐bound limit and shakedown analysis of periodic composites with the consideration of kinematic hardening are carried out on the representative volume element level. In combination with homogenization theory, the homogenized macroscopic admissible loading domains are determined. Furthermore, the strengths of periodic composites by using elastic perfectly plastic, unlimited and linear limited kinematic hardening material models are calculated and compared. (© 2012 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


-1 produce the tallest plant and Chinigura without nitrogen application produced the shortest plants. The internode length and culm hollowness significantly increased with the increase in N fertilizer levels. The lodging score was higher with the higher amount of nitrogen fertilizer applied. The cultivar Shakkorkhora remained erect up to 60 kg N ha -1 . Lodging occurred at different stage of grain development, Kataribhog lodged within four days after heading at 120 kg N ha -1 while it took 26 days to lodge at 0 kg N ha -1 . Irrespective of cultivars and nitrogen levels, higher N dose produced higher number of tillers. Leaf area index increased sharply after transplanting attaining a peak at heading stage and then decreased gradually. In non-stacking plant, all the cultivars showed lower LAI at maturity stage than stacking plant. At heading stage the higher light interception was found in all the cultivars with the increment of N levels.


Using Hierarchical Folders and Tags for File Management Shanshan Ma Advisor: Susan Wiedenbeck, Ph.D. Hierarchical folders have been widely used for managing digital files. A well constructed hierarchical structure can keep files organized. A parent folder can have several subfolders and one subfolder can only reside in one parent folder. Files are stored in folders or subfolders. Files can be found by traversing a given path, going through different levels of folders and subfolders. Folders can be moved, renamed, copied and deleted to serve the needs of the changing working environment. However, previous research has revealed several problems with hierarchical folder structures. One important problem is that users frequently have to turn to desktop search to re-find files. Tagging is the activity of applying users' own descriptors to digital objects, such as web pages, photos, and documents. Compared with traditional indexing which enforces a controlled vocabulary, tagging systems give users freedom in describing digital resources. We believe that tagging may have the potential to improve information navigation and information organization. This research aimed at exploring the possibility of incorporating tagging into the hierarchical folder structure for file management, especially for the process of file organization and file re-finding. We studied users' behavior and preference of using three file management structures, a hierarchical folder structure, a tagging structure, and a hybrid structure with both hierarchical folder and tagging functionalities. We found that using tag alone or using folder alone generated similar results in file organization time, in file refinding time and in answer correctness. Combining folders and tags resulted in longer file organization time but no improvement in file re-finding efficiency. The tagging structure required the least number of mouse clicks in the re-finding process among the three structures. The primary contribution of the study is a comparison of three file management structures for better organizing and re-finding files in the desktop environment. Advantages and disadvantages of each structure were revealed from the study. Users' preference among the three structures


The ability of hydrolases to catalyze perhydrolysis, i.e. lysis of acyl substrates with hydrogen peroxide to form peroxycarboxylic acids, has been investigated. Lipases, esterases and cholinesterases were found to catalyze perhydrolysis but the preference of the enzymes for hydrogen peroxide relative to water as nucleophile was only 10–100 fold, even in the best cases. Hence, perhydrolysis proceeds with a very low efficiency in aqueous systems. Furthermore, all lipases, esterases and cholinesterases tested degrade peroxycarboxylic acids to the corresponding carboxylic acid and hydrogen peroxide. This reaction is most pronounced in the case of lipases while less so for cholinesterases. Consequently, cholinesterases are superior to the other hydrolases studied in catalyzing net formation of peracids in aqueous systems. In organic solvents, immobilized lipases efficiently catalyze formation of peracids from either triglycerides or the parent carboxylic acid. Proteases and phospholipase A-2 were found to neit...


The Chang Xiang Zhi is an art song composed by Shi Fu according to the ancient poem Shang Xie in Han Dynasty.The word signification expressed deeply a girl's feeling of love each other with an undying affection;and the tune was fully filled with the colour of tragic and heroic,which usually found in the martial music or fighting songs.The papers discussed the song with its relationship between the words and tune,singing and breath,such as combines harmonious the words,tune,pitch,rhyme and passion,as well as singing expressing the feeling,cotronling breath to beautify voice.


A non-dissipative single-sensor measurement technique has been proposed as a new and effective sensing technique for power electronic systems. By using only one current sensor to sense the inductor current, the proposed technique can provide all necessary information for feedforward and feedback control and parameter monitoring. In this paper, this technique is extended to a nonlinear compensation scheme taking inductor's magnetic saturation into account. A practical compensation scheme has been successfully implemented. Practical details for the circuit implementation of the nonlinear compensation scheme is included and explained. Measurements have confirmed that the compensation scheme provides more accurate estimated results than the standard scheme when the converter inductor gets into the nonlinear region.


Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Chapter One: The American Woman Movement Meets the Disingenuous Orator: Harriet Beecher Stowe's Pink and White Tyranny Chapter 3 Chapter Two: Pink and White Tyranny and Harriet Beecher Stowe's Ambivalent Views on Authorship Chapter 4 Chapter Three: The Wild and Distracted Call for Proof: Harriet Beecher Stowe's Lady Byron Vindicated and the Rise of Professional Realism Chapter 5 Chapter Four: Gendering Gilded Age Periodical Professionalism: Reading Harriet Beecher Stowe's Hearth and Home Prescriptions for Women's Writing Chapter 6 Chapter Five: The "Least Drop of Oil": Locating Narrative Authority in Harriet Beecher Stowe's The Minister's Wooing Chapter 7 Chapter Six: Kitchen Hierarchies: Negotiations of American Nationhood in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Oldtown Folks Chapter 8 Chapter Seven: New England Tempests? Harriet Beecher Stowe's The Minister's Wooing and The Pearl of Orr's Island Chapter 9 Chapter Eight: Ecstasy in Excess: Mysticism, Hysteria, and Masculinity in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Dred Chapter 10 Chapter Nine: Harriet Beecher Stowe's Marianettes: Reconstruction of Womanhood in The Minister's Wooing and Agnes of Sorrento Chapter 11 Chapter Ten: Mapping the Environmental Ethical Dimension in Harriett Beecher Stowe's New England Novels Chapter 12 Chapter Eleven: To Market! Consuming Women in Harriett Beecher Stowe's My Wife and I and We and Our Neighbors Chapter 13 Notes on Contributors Chapter 14 Index


Water stress, one of the environmental stresses, is the most significant factor restricting plant production on majority of agricultural fields of the world. Wheat is grown on arid-agricultural fields and drought often causes serious problems in wheat production in these fields. So, the present study was conducted to investigate whether the application of salicylic acid (SA) and zinc (Zn) could regulate the relative water content (RWC), membrane stability index (MSI%), electrolyte leakage (EL), soluble carbohydrate content, soluble protein content, proline content, activities of antioxidant non enzymes and enzymes as well as ameliorate the adverse effects of drought stress on wheat. The magnitude of reduction, increased by increasing the drought level. Drought stress at grain filling stage significantly decreased plant height, spike length, number of grains/spike, 1000-grain weight, relative water content, but significant increases were observed in the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POX), catalase (CAT) and glutathione reductase (GR) in wheat plants. Both salicylic acid or zinc treatments had greater changes in most of the assayed parameters. The adverse effects of drought as regards the growth characters and yield components were significantly mitigated by SA and Zn supplement. Application of SA or caused great variations in the activities of antioxidant enzymes. Under the normal irrigation condition, addition of SA or Zn markedly increased the activity of both SOD and CAT, however the activity of both POX and GR was significantly decreased. Addition of SA or Zn markedly reduced the increases in the activities of SOD, POX, CAT and GR observed in drought stressed plants. Statistically, Pearson correlation showed there were positive correlations between weight of 1000 grains and morphology, biochemical assay. However, there was no correlation between weight of 1000 grains with proline content and GR activity. Generally, it could be concluded that SA or Zn has (to more extent) a beneficial regulatory role in plants grown under drought stress conditions.


SPMicros has promoted 47 Annual Congresses and participated in several other initiatives such as regional courses and seminars during its activities that began in 1966. The main mission of SPMicros has always been to provide its members with an accessible way of interacting with their colleagues and achieving a high level of discussion and publication of their research. This is brought about in a complementary way by National and International Congresses and Seminars and by the publication of their work in top ranked journals in the field such as "Microscopy andMicroanalysis". We are very happy to realize that this XLVII Congress of the Portuguese Society for Microscopy "Microscopy in Research" has raised a wide interest not only in Life and Materials Science that usually constitute our meetings, but also in new areas like Archeology, Conservation and Restoration that are now featured in a significant number of communications. This volume illustrates a selection of papers from the XLVII Congress demonstrating the diversity of fields that are increasingly interested in Microscopy methods among the Portuguese research community. It is apparent from the communications submitted to this Congress that the role of microscopy as "the eyes of the researcher" is again being recognized as an essential aspect of scientific endeavor.


Background: The expression 'topical fluoride treatment' refers to methods that provide a high concentration of fluoride to exposed tooth surfaces for a local protective effect. The most popular topical fluoride agents are toothpastes (dentifrices), mouthrinses, gels and varnishes that contain fluoride. These may be used separately or in combination. Topical fluoride application will be a simple but important procedure that is nominated by dental care professionals. Topical fluoride applications using fluoride varnish are recommended between two and four times for children annually and twice for adults for treatment of dental caries. Materials and methods: The study was done as an online setting, the responses were obtained from 110 dental professionals from the Chennai sub population. A self structured questionnaire comprising about 12 questions and circulated as a link to the participants. The responses were exported to google sheets and data was retrieved and analysed in SPSS software version 26. The results were obtained from SPSS software. Results: From the results analysed, it has been found that male participants (57.27%) and undergraduates (77.27%) took the majority party in the study.


Many studies of the determinants of economic growth rates across countries use a measure of schooling quantity, such as mean secondary school enrolment rates, to proxy for the rate of human capital accumulation. This approach ignores the contribution of schooling quality. We augment the growth model of Mankiw, Romer and Weil (1992) to include schooling quality, derive the relevant steady state income and growth rate equations, and then estimate the model. We find that differences in schooling quality across countries are probably more important than differences in schooling quantity in explaining variations in economic growth rates.


We compiled and merged in situ observation data from several sources, creating a comprehensive unified monthly air temperature and precipitation data set with 457 stations in central Asia (CA). Stations with a valid data rate higher than 80% were selected, and the remaining gaps in selected station time series were filled with an iterative‐principal component analysis (PCA) gap‐filling method. The result is a gap‐filled station data set for the period 1951–2010, with 369 and 381 stations for air temperature and precipitation, respectively. The cross‐validation shows that the iterative‐PCA gap‐filling algorithm provides stable and trustworthy estimations of gaps, with mean root mean squared error (RMSE) of 0.03 °C (in the range of 0.01–0.13 °C) for air temperature, and mean RMSE of 0.60 mm (in the range of 0.10–1.99 mm) for precipitation. A gridded data set was created by interpolating the gap‐filled station data set with the geographically weighted regression method. Comparison of the gridded data set with the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis data set shows that though both data sets present the long‐term mean climate situation similarly, the gridded data set exhibits less annual and monthly variability. And the gridded data set has stronger correlations with stations time series than the reanalysis data set (mean correlations are 0.994 vs 0.975 for air temperature, and 0.787 vs 0.515 for precipitation), especially for precipitation in high mountain stations. The gridded data set is more suitable for climate and hydrological studies in CA, especially in high mountains regions.


The article discusses the analysis of large phased arrays containing thousands of elements, large phased array covered by a radome with non-commensurate periodicity, the design of multiband antennas using fractal concepts and the design of wearable communication antennas. Several challenging issues are highlighted. (2 pages)


In order to analyze vibration of high-speed railway tracks with geometric irregularities,receptances of the vehicle at the wheelsets and the track at the wheel-rail contact points are derived,an analytical model for moving vehicle-track vertical coupling vibration is established by considering moving axle loads and track irregularities.In the model,moving vehicle is modeled as multiple rigid body system connected with spring and damper,ballasted track structure is simulated by the continuous elastic three layers beam,and wheel-rail contact is linear Hertzian contact.Vibration of the ballasted track structure caused by a TGV high speed locomotive is analyzed in the numerical example.Dynamic wheel-rail forces due to track irregularities and the maximal vibration acceleration of each component of track structure are produced.Influences of train speed,track irregularities,and stiffness of sub-rail foundation including rail pad and fastening,ballast,subgrade on the track structure vibration are investigated.The computations show that vibration responses of track structure enlarge with increases of train speed and track irregularities;stiffness of sub-rail foundation has a great effect on the vibration of sleeper and ballast,and has little influence on rail vibration.


Ethnomathematicsis considered as a new study in mathematic education. As a study, numerous regions in this world starts to explore through ethnomathematics, including Indonesia. As the intersection between mathematics and mathematical modelling and culture, ethnomathematics exists in various society's cultural elements, including in the Balinese Hindus' festivities. To find the mathematical concept used in determining the festivity days, the researcher(s) conducted ethnographic research in Bali Mula society in Kintamani District, Bali. Participation observation, in-depth interview, and literature and documentation were used in collecting the data. As the result, the researcher(s) revealed that the mathematical concept used is integer operations, least common multiple, mixed fraction, and number sequences. Since it contains mathematical concept used in junior high, thus ethnomathematics of "4-hindu's festivities" may be used as context in mathematics learning. By using ethnomathematics as the context, the researcher(s) expect that it will help teachers in motivation their students to learn mathematics.


Microscopic observations of the chemically etched prismatic (100) faces of single crystals of KDP (KH2PO4), grown from modified double diffusion gel technique, revealed the presence of hillocks and etch spirals. Both edge and screw dislocations were clearly identified with suitable etchants. Influence of various alcohols and acid concentration on the pit morphology has also been observed. The features have been presented and discussed mainly from examination of optical micrographs.


The invention discloses a brackish water desalination method and a brackish water desalination device. The essential of the technical scheme of the invention is as follows: the brackish water desalination method comprises the steps of cleaning and filtering treatment, ultrafiltration treatment, pressurization treatment, reverse osmosis desalination treatment, reverse osmosis thick-water nanofiltration softening treatment, nanofiltration thick-water energy recovery treatment, nanofiltration thick-water ultrafiltration backwash treatment, ultrafiltration backwash wastewater drainage treatment, product water mineralization and carbonation treatment, product water sterilization and taste improvement treatment, purified water drainage and the like. The invention further discloses a brackish water desalination device. According to the brackish water desalination method and the brackish water desalination device disclosed by the invention, the problems of high production cost brought by addition of lots of chemical agents, low economical efficiency brought by low product water recovery rate, low health drinking performance brought by no deep aftertreatment on product water, and the like in the existing membrane-method brackish water desalination process are effectively solved.


The synthesis, X-ray crystal structures of neutral dimeric europium, samarium and monomeric lutetium complexes, and selective extraction properties of a new 1,3-acid-diethyl amide substituted calix[4]arene ligand L are described.


The Internet of Things (IoT) has already emerged as one of the most popular directions in today's information and communication technology (ICT) domain. With its advancement over different application areas, such as smart home, smart healthcare, industry 4.0, etc., a huge amount of data has been generated by billions of IoT devices, which aggravates the shortcomings of the network layer (IP)-based networks, such as limited expressiveness of IP addressing, inefficient support for mobility, and in-network caching. Building IoT on top of information-centric networking (ICN) is believed to be a promising solution to tackle the above challenge, especially the in-network caching of ICN can significantly benefit IoT in terms of reducing data and saving IoT devices' energy. However, caching IoT data is more challenging than caching traditional Internet content, e.g., video, because IoT data are usually valid within a certain period of time, and IoT devices are typically constrained with battery. Hence, in this survey, we first review the current implementation proposals of ICN-based IoT (ICN-IoT). Next, we present the conventional caching decision policies and replacement policies which could be adopted to mitigate the aforementioned challenges, e.g., reducing IoT traffic, saving energy, and reducing data retrieval latency. Further, since leveraging machine learning (ML) techniques have the potential to further improve the caching efficiency by dealing with uncertainties, e.g., predicting unknown information, adaptively interacting with the environment, we also demonstrate the recently proposed ML-based caching schemes for ICN-IoT. In addition, we outline the open research issues and point out the future opportunities of caching in ICN-IoT.


This experimental work is an effort to seek the possibility of improvement in thermal protective performance of firefighter
protective clothing at different levels of heat flux density. Improvement in thermal protective performance means
enhancement in the time of exposure against the heat flux, which will provide extra time to firefighters to perform their
duties without suffering from severe injuries. Four different multilayer combinations of firefighter protective clothing were
investigated. Each combination consists of outer shell, moisture barrier and thermal liner. Aerogel sheet was also
employed as a substitute to thermal barrier. Initially, properties like thermal resistance, thermal conductivity, and water
vapor resistance of multilayer fabric assemblies were investigated. Later on these combinations were exposed to
different levels of radiant heat flux density i.e. at 10, 20 and 30 kW/m2 as per ISO 6942 standard. It was noted that those
combinations in which aerogel blanket was used as thermal barrier acquire greater thermal resistance, water vapor
resistance and have less transmitted heat flux density values.


Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is defined as human parasitism caused by Taenia solium in its larval stage, when the parasite is located at the central nervous system of the human beings. This disease represents a serious public health problem in developing countries. Neuroimaging studies are usually abnormal, but in most cases, not pathognomonic. Serological diagnosis of NCC is made by means of tests using crude antigens or semipurified fractions of T. solium cysticerci or the use of recombinant antigens that have improved the sensitivity and specificity of the diagnosis. Treatment of NCC is based upon the use of cystocidal drugs, namely: praziquantel and albendazole. Some vaccines to prevent porcine cysticercosis are in advanced stages of investigation, but they are not to be used in humans. Nowadays, the T. solium genome sequence will allow to create a rational design of new healing and preventive drugs. A vaccine for human taeniosis use could be developed in a short term. The aim of this review is to describe the most important clinical aspects of the NCC with emphasis in immunopathology and immune diagnosis.


The ozone decline in both hemispheres accelerated up to the 1990s. A number of interesting facts are presented that use objective characteristics, such as ozone mass deficiencies (O3MD) from the pre-1976 averages. In the mid-1990s the major decline in the lower stratosphere was better understood and the essential role of the stratospheric temperature and dynamics affecting the Arctic ozone decline was confirmed. In 1993 and 1995 in the northern latitudes (>35°N) the cumulative winter–spring O3MD was surpassing the deficiencies over Antarctica for the corresponding season. Total ozone deficiencies of 4–6% from pre-1976 averages continue to be observed over extra-tropical latitudes. There is no decline in the tropics only (25°N–25°S). The decline is much stronger in winter–spring than in the summer season and is very much influenced by the meteorological conditions at nearly equal concentrations of ozone depleting substances. The largest spring O3MD over Antarctica was in 2006; the intensity of the loss per unit surface within <220 DU area increased during the past decade and there are no signs of reduction of the ozone losses there.


The Western Ancestral Mississippi shelf-margin delta fed the Bryant Canyon/Fan Turbidite System in the intraslope basin province of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) during the Penultimate Glacial (MIS 6) lowstand of sea level. The Bryant Submarine Canyon links a chain of 15 fill-and-spill mini-basins on the continental slope. On the upper and lower continental slope, these mini-basins are narrow (1-3 km), elongate (3-6 km), and follow salt ridges. On the middle slope, the mini-basins are larger (8-15 km), semi-circular basins. Interpretation of seismic facies displayed by the mini-basin deposits reveal three main depositional facies: (1) ponded turbidites (T), (2) mass transport-deposits (MTD), and (3) bypass channelized turbidites (C). These deposits are capped at many locations by thick deposits of intrabasinal, muddy MTD wedges sourced from the high-relief walls of the mini-basins. These intrabasinal MTD wedges are interbedded with the externally derived basin deposits. Extrabasinal MTD deposits were derived from shelf-margin delta or canyon-wall failures and then transported through bypass channels to the mini-basin depocenters.


This paper designs an intelligent solar energy storage system for off-line electronic devices, which collects solar energy through solar panels and stores it in a storage system. The energy storage components include a set of supercapacitor and two sets of lithium-ion battery packs. An intelligent energy storage and discharging optimization strategy is adopted to allocate energy effectively between the supercapacitor and lithium-ion battery packs, which enabling the two sets of lithium-ion battery packs to alternate between energy storage to achieve uninterrupted power supply for the load system. The experimental results show that the total conversion efficiency of the intelligent power distribution system (including the self-powered system) can reach up to 89.32%.


In this course participants are introduced to the theory and practice of Participatory Design. The course offers an overview of state of the art Participatory Design literature, practices and methods, and provides participants with the opportunity to work practically on a Participatory Design case. The instructors have substantial experience in Participatory Design research and practice and have been active members of the PDC community for several decades.


It is shown empirically that the cost of equity capital estimated from the dividend discount model and Tobin's q are negatively related. The theoretical relationship between these variables is exploited to determine alternative estimates of the cost of equity capital and Macaulay's duration without having to estimate the growth rate in the conventional manner. This new approach can readily be implemented for large firms reporting SFAS No. 33 data.


Numerical solutions of the Vlasov and Poisson equations for the expansion of a plasma with O+ and H+ as the constituent ions are presented. The self‐similar nature of the expansion is examined by comparing the numerical results with available theories. The formation of a plateau in the expansion region, when the H+ ions are initially minor, is investigated by varying the electron to ion temperature ratio. The numerical results show that self‐similarity holds in the quasineutral regions of the plasma.


Abstract /Summary In light of the widely discussed issues on the modernization and industrialization of East Asia, it is sometimes overlooked that there has been a constant exchange of knowledge between East Asia and Europe. This "transfer of knowledge" during all known times was associated with the traffic of humans, animals and goods and had an input on skills and techniques, too. And it were not only goods, skills and knowledge, but religions, world views and cultures that were exchanged. Thus is it productive to speak of an "transfer of knowledge"? Is it not rather productive to speak of a constant exchange and thus of an "interchange of knowledge" - and so of a steadily ongoing process of giving and taking? So is the real question what separates East Asia and Europe or what they have in common? It is precisely this general problem that is to be pursued in a special question in time, for which there are no written sources. So it is about the earliest history, possibly even the origin of exchange processes between East and West, which can be achieved with most modern methods. Are the latest methods and results of archeology providing us with information on whether, as of when and in what areas, an exchange of knowledge between East and West existed before the time of writing? This question is being examined in a central region of the exchange, namely the "Oasis Silk Road" with the "bottle neck" of the Taklamakan. The present study / presentation is only a small, highly incomplete "florilegium" - a selection of flowers. Pilot studies with precise questions would be needed. Such preliminary investigations and pilot studies could also be made for other regions of knowledge exchange and cultural interaction in East Asia in general. On the methodical side, all methods of historiography and archeology have their specific advantages, but also their specific disadvantages. In the issue "Eurasian Interchange of Knowledge in Times before Writing", the combined results of historiography, modern archeology, and recent natural scientific and (molecular) biological archaeology are the basis for our current state of knowledge. On the long run the different methods and results from a variety of different scientific areas have to be evaluated in their meaningfulness, reach and validity for the historiography of human action. On the basis of the results from historiography and archeology in the widest sense, can be assumed that there has been an exchange of materials, products, skills and creatures - animals and humans - since the beginning of the early agrarian culture in the Neolithic Age. Exchange processes in the widest sense in the later times of writing therefore seldom meet an almost untouched field. Rather, exchange processes usually build on existing cultural peculiarities, which are already an amalgam and thus an inseparable mixture of previous exchange processes.


A neuroeconomic decision-making model identifies risk-preference as the basal parameter of economic behavior. Other studies show that persons differentiated by weak, medium, and strong risk-preference have separate behavioral patterns. However, general personality psychology identifies five different personality types. A study of the relationship between risk-preference and personality type shows complementarity and strong correlation between risk-preference and extreme personality types "extravert" and "risk-averter." The moderated personality types "open-minded," "respective," "agreeable," or "conscientious" behave risk neutral with an internal order according to degree of flexibility. The integrated model of neuroeconomic psychology operates in three complementary cognitive tools: general skills to differentiate between the five types of economic agents is relevant for collaboration; the substance of the moderated personality types is the dual thinking process; and to handle stress the action-mechanism of classical mantra-meditation is explained as reinforcing open-mindedness.


Along with this rapid expansion has come an equal increase in construction and demolition (R and D) projects and, of course, a large amount C and D debris. The most recent figures from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) show that about 25 million tons of C and D is generated each year, comprising 24.2% of the state`s municipal solid waste (MSW) stream--one of the highest percentages in the nation. On average, about one-third of this C and D fraction is recycled, DEP says. Anticipating the vast potential of these wastes, Atlas Environmental, Inc. (Plantation, Fla.), a soil remediation company, has, for the past few years, sought to capitalize on the Florida C and D market that, until recently, has been fragmented and uncoordinated. After purchasing several materials recovery facilities (MRFs) and landfills in Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and Collier counties in the last two years, Atlas claims it is the largest C and D processor in the state, handling 4,000 tpd, employing 200 workers, and reaping $28 million in revenues for 1995.


Being an important task of talents cultivation, psychological crisis prevention and Intervention are the sacred mission of colleges and universities to care for the development of students and keep the safety of students, and reflect the educational theory of people-oriented. The five-stage mechanism is an innovation in psychological crisis prevention and intervention. It shows the overall caring for students and can effectively promote the mental health of students, and keep the safety of students.


The internationalization of curriculum is the important carrier and effective method of the internationalization of education.During the implementing process of the internationalization of curriculum,we should start from the need of school because the situation of school is the strategic basis and cross-cultural adjustment is the implementing method.After the adjustment of Chinese and American curriculums on the level of cross-cultural communication,we adapt both import and export strategies in our educational program.We combine the importing of American curriculum and sending students to study in American schools.We use Chinese and American curriculums to complement each other and combine the contents in textbooks.By learning from the advanced American teaching method and absorbing the valuable experience from both China and America,we create a curriculum culture which fits the core value of our school.We also pay attention to equiping students with cross-cultural ability and evaluating their academic achievement with both Chinese and American standards.


A probe into various natural and geographical factors influencing national dress colors reflects the profound geographic brand on the human clothing physiology and psychology.A brand-new geographical point of view was adopted to elaborate the formation,development and changes of national dress colors.


Cryogels have potential for applications in water and wastewater treatment. However, maximum levels of exposure to both incorporated materials in cryogels (i.e., nanoparticles [NPs]) and monomers, as a result of leakage, must be established before cryogel composites can be implemented in the large-scale treatment of water. Other factors, such as cost and reuse, must also be studied for each specific adsorbent. One of the greater advantages of cryogels is the flexibility of their preparation. The material can be prepared as monoliths, discs, beads or particles, to suit specific requirements. Results on a laboratory scale may be different from those obtained when treating real water and wastewater due to differences in scale and water chemistry. The social acceptance of the technology and its overall environmental impact must also be assessed. This chapter starts with describing how cryogel materials have been developed from their initial applications in water treatment to more recent developments. This is followed by current published results obtained from the treatment of water from different sources, including both lab-scale evaluations as well as real water samples. As the main application of cryogels within water treatment today is as adsorbent materials, these will be given the main focus for this chapter but still include more recent research results from applications regarding disinfection and oil absorption. The main pollutants of interest for this chapter are inorganic pollutants such as metals and metalloids (e.g. cadmium and arsenic), but organic contaminants are also mentioned. Future challenges in this area today, regarding cryogel applications, cover the need for system regeneration, the deposition of the pollutant and, finally, the total cost of the treatment. (Less)


Departamento de Ciencias, Facultad de Artes Liberales,Universidad Adolfo Iban˜ez, Diagonal Las Torres 2640, Pe˜nalol´en, Santiago, Chile.(Dated: October 19, 2010)When magnetic monopoles are introduced in plasma equations, the propagation of electromag-netic waves is modified. In this work is shown that this modification leads to the emergence of aponderomotive force which induces a magnetization of the plasma. As a result, a cyclotron frequencyis induced in electrons. This frequency is proportional to the square of the magnetic charge.


Collagen XXIV is a non‐traditional member of the fibrillar collagens expressed in bone. The density of wild type (WT) and knock out (KO) mouse femurs was analyzed by micro CT. Femurs of 3 and 5 month old null mice were found to be osteoporotic as compared to those of WT mice. As a first avenue of investigation to understand this, the expression levels of mRNAs involved in the regulation of osteoblastogenesis were examined. cDNA was made from 7 days, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year and 1.5 year old femur RNA extracted from WT and KO mice. qPCR was used to evaluate the mRNA levels. GAPDH mRNA levels determined from the qPCR were used to normalize the results. Factors examined were RANK ligand (RANKL), Runx2, Lrp5, Indian Hedge Hog, FGF18, BMP4, Hey1 and Notch1. These mRNAs encoding osteoblastogenesis factors generally exhibited a greater expression level in the KO mice than in the WT mice. This was true for almost every time point. Since collagen XXIV null mice have osteoporotic bones, yet the bone cells express higher levels of osteoblastogenesis differentiation signals, we suggest the KO bones attempt to compensate for the cells' inability to make good mineralized bone. Future work will examine whether steps in bone remodeling is affected in KO mice. This work was supported by NEI EY009056, NIEHS ES005022 and NIAMSD AR055073


The objective of this research program has been to determine experimentally the extent to which horseshoe vortices modify turbulent convective heat transfer along a flat plate downstream of an appendage. The importance of appendage shape on the heat transfer behavior was evaluated by taking Stanton-number measurements downstream of both a cylindrical body and a streamlined body. The results indicate that a region of augmented heat transfer occurs near the centerline downstream of both obstacles, with Stanton numbers 10 to 50% over the undisturbed values. The streamlined cylinder produces the strongest modifications in heat transfer.


Objectives — Left ventricular hypertrabeculation (LVHT), also known as noncompaction, has been previously reported in a female patient with Turner syndrome (TS) with X0-karyotype, but has not been described in a male patient with a Turner mosaic. Case report — In a 45-year-old man with short stature, facial dysmorphism, cryptorchism, hypospadia, but normal intellectual performance, TS was diagnosed upon cytogenetic evaluation and fluorescence in-situ hybridization revealing the karyotype mos45, X(28)/46, X,+mar(21)/47, X, + 2 mar(1). During an episode of heart failure at age 41 LVHT was detected in the posterolateral region on echocardiography also showing a slightly dilated left ventricle, severely reduced systolic function, and a moderate mitral and tricuspid insufficiency. On cardiac MRI LVHT was additionally seen in the lateral and anterior regions. Under adequate therapy, heart failure completely resolved but LVHT persisted. Conclusions — LVHT may also occur in association with a mosaic TS with male phenotype. In such patients LVHT may not be accompanied by other congenital cardiac abnormalities but may be associated with severe cardiomyopathy resulting in rhythm abnormalities and heart failure.


After thirteen years of incubation, the Chinese government eventually enacted the Anti-Monopoly Law (hereinafter AML), yet at a time when China's economy was still in transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. Discussion of China's experience in antitrust is important in at least two respects. On the one hand, as a country with newly established antitrust regimes, its experience will certainly contribute to the understanding of antitrust issues among antitrust agencies in other jurisdictions all over the world. On the other hand, and perhaps more importantly, due to the unique experience that China has achieved remarkable economic successes in the absence of a comprehensive competition law, it will contribute to both policy and academic debates clarifying whether antitrust has any role to play in promoting economic development.1 Similarly to the competition laws in other jurisdictions, the AML consists of three bodies of substantive legal rules against monopolistic/collusive agreements, abuse of dominance conduct, and anticompetitive merger and acquisitions. However, while it has been three years since the AML came into effect, on 1 August 2008, its enforcement has developed slowly and unevenly. Merger control is probably the most advanced enforcement area. For example, several hundreds of cases have been completed by the Anti-Monopoly Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), China's merger review agency, and several high-profile cases have been decided. Thus, it may be more valuable to review the enforcement of AML with a focus on merger control. As the cases have accumulated and more decisions have been released, it is a good time to take stock and revisit