The unpredictable weather and the movements of the floating ships transform the marine environment into one of the most hostile working environments on the planet. Movements of lifting / lowering of vessels / platforms carrying cranes or drilling rigs, caused by the disturbing dynamics of the waves, varying in force, frequency, direction and amplitude, affect the precise positioning of the loads, lead to premature wear of the drilling holes, and endanger the integrity or even the life of the crew members. Due to the resonance in the cable of the load lifting system, caused by the movement of the vessel on a rough sea, the tension in the cable can increase more than 100 times. The safety and protection engineering solution is force compensation, that is the decoupling of the vertical movement of the ship from the one of the floating load. The authors present an experimental model, with the generator and the heave compensator at a small scale, which will simulate in the laboratory the operating modes of heave compensation systems very close to the real ones, existing on ships.


The WALDSCHMIDT-LEITZ modification of the polarographic Brdifka reaction yields results that are almost identical with the original reaction. After taking into consideration some earlier studies concerning other modifications, it may be presumed that not a modification can produce information different from that given by the Brdicka reaction, because the composition of the solutions after deproteinisation is identical or nearly so. Since our present knowledge of the composition of filtrates is rather scanty, we cannot expect polarographic analysis to be suitable for differential diagnosis. The reaction is merely a non-specific test for demonstrating an increase or decrease of glycoproteins in the serum. The polarographic determination of proteins can, however, be used to the best advantage in tests based on the proteolytic activity of some enzymes in the serum.


The message transmission of active users are a significant content of computer and communication network in multiple access channel.The multiple access channel models were constructed on basis of nonadaptive combinatorial group testing.It introduced an application on the message transmission of active users in the multiple access channel.


The paper briefly introduces the characters of warm extrusion and emphases on application advantages for parts of aluminum alloy shells and influencing factors on technological process.Warm extrusion technology is applied in batch production of parts forming,reduces 25% production cost and increasing 70% production efficiency.


Mumps, one of several once common childhood diseases, is targeted for elimination in the United States by 2010. To improve its ability to monitor mumps cases, the Texas Department of Health began requiring investigation and serologic testing of all mumps reports. During 1995-1996, of 500 mumps reports, only 14.4 percent were confirmed cases and they had a different demographic profile than unconfirmed cases. To accurately assess whether the nation achieves the Year 2010 mumps elimination goal, and to effectively direct elimination efforts, states must investigate and serologically confirm all mumps reports and use the case definition for public health surveillance.


Abstract Conflict between carnivores and livestock farmers affects human livelihoods and predator populations. Historically, successful mitigation of this conflict has been limited, sometimes because of a lack of participation among stakeholders to create and implement agreeable and effective solutions. Finding common ground between stakeholders can, however, be difficult, partly because of the range and intensity of values held. Using a novel combination of Q-methodology and the Delphi technique, I investigated whether a diverse range of stakeholders could agree on how to mitigate conflict between carnivores and livestock farmers in Namibia. A strong consensus was reached on using conservation education and husbandry training to reduce livestock depredation. Two narratives emerged: one group preferred non-lethal methods to manage the conflict, whereas a smaller group preferred lethal measures. This new decision-making exercise has potential to be applied to other conservation conflicts to assist with participatory decision making.


In this paper, a model reference adaptive controller (MRAC) with a RST control structure is employed to control the depth of the anesthesia. The polynomial coefficients of the RST controller are adjusted according to a fractional order normalized gradient based adaptation mechanism. The propofol infusion rate and the Bispectral Index (BIS) are considered as the system input and output, respectively. The propofol distribution in the patient model is described with a Pharmacokinetic-Pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) model. The PK-PD model parameters depend on physical specifications of the patient like age, weight, and gender. The proposed MRAC is employed to reach the desired BIS  in the presence of disturbance and the measurement noise for different patients. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.


Many (1-piperazinyl)-2 (1H)-quinolinone derivatives were synthesized and examined for positive inotropic activities on the canine heart. Among them, 3, 4-dihydro-6-[4-(3, 4-dimethoxybenzoyl)-1-piperazinyl]-2 (1H)-quinolinone (XVIIb-1) was found to have a very potent activity.


Abstract The Chelonaplysilla genus possesses a numerous bioactive diterpenes with anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic effects. The current study aimed to assess the chemical composition of C. erecta crude extract (CECE) based on its metabolomic profile that has been integrated with neural network-based virtual screening and molecular docking using liquid chromatography with high resolution mass spectrometry (LCHR-MS). In addition to the estimation of the antitumor activity of the same extract via anti-interleukin-17A (IL-17) action, along with its formulated spanlastics preparation. The CECE markedly displayed growth inhibition for HepG-2 cells at IC50 value 16.5 ± 0.8 μg/mL, whereas the spanlastic formulation revealed more eminent antitumor effect against Caco-2 cells (IC50 = 2.8 ± 0.03 μg/mL). Among the dereplicated compounds, macfarlandin F (16) and pourewanone (25) demonstrated the highest potential with co-crystallized ligand 63 O within the active site of IL-17A in molecular docking studies. These findings rationalized the antitumor mechanism of marine organism for future chemotherapeutic applications. Graphical Abstract


In this paper, we derive the optimal source and relay matrices of a multicarrier multi-hop multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) relay system that guarantee the predetermined quality-of-service (QoS) criteria be attained with the minimal total transmission power. We consider the linear minimal mean-squared error (MMSE) receiver at the destination node and show that the solution to the original optimization problem can be upper-bounded by using a successive geometric programming (GP) approach and lower-bounded by utilizing a dual decomposition technique. Simulation results show that both bounds are tight, and to obtain the same QoS, the proposed MIMO relay system requires substantially less power than that of the suboptimal relay scheme.


Thermoelectrics have a wide variety of applications, but their efficiency, typically stated in terms of the figure of merit ZT, must be improved before they become economical for non-niche applications. According to theory [1, 2], ZT can be improved relative to the bulk by constructing devices that feature nanometer-scale confinement in one or more dimensions. Here we describe transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations of cooling in heterojunctions constructed from 2D flakes of exfoliated bismuth telluride and bismuth-antimony telluride.


Results are reported of an experimental study of the electron energy distribution functions over the cross section of a discharge, and of the electron density, radial voltage profile, and axial field intensity in Ne and Ne+Cl/sub 2/ mixtures. It was established that in pure neon, the electron energy distribution function becomes depleted in high-energy electrons with increasing distance from the discharge axis, and the radial change in the distribution function is in agreement with conclusions from nonlocal positive column theory. It is shown that atoms are ionized chiefly by stepwise processes. In a Ne+Cl/sub 2/ discharge, the electron energy distribution function does not change significantly over the radius of the discharge. The absence of electrons in the energy range approx.16-17 eV is responsible for production of charged particles resulting from ionization of Cl/sub 2/. The relative fraction of negative ions was estimated to be ..cap alpha..approx. =0.1.


Design by Contract enables seamless software development by unifying software requirements with their implementations. In its pure form, however, Design by Contract leaves some problems with contracts' expressiveness, verifiability, and reusability open. These problems significantly reduce practical applicability of seamless development. The present article introduces seamless object-oriented requirements – a novel approach to seamless development that builds upon Design by Contract and now-available advanced program proving tools. The article explains and illustrates the new approach, concluding with a quantitative evaluation of the extent to which the approach fixes the problems of traditional contracts.


This session aims to synthetize watershed sciences in order to understand dynamical processes of materials transport and nutrient cycles in watersheds from headwaters to coastal seas focusing on human and climate impacts. The session will be integrating a variety of research disciplines including limnology, ground water hydrology, coastal oceanography, meteorology, pedology, sedimentology, forestry, agriculture, fishery, social science and more. The watershed sciences also challenge us to solve environmental issues emerged in the watersheds through our profound understanding of relations between humanity and nature. For instance, on one hand, human land uses alter water resources, dynamics of sediments, nutrients and pollutants in waters and soils on watershed scales, while changing climates may alter water cycle, the frequency and intensity of materials transport and natural disaster, sometimes having catastrophic effects on the watershed systems. This session also calls for ideas on new methods for the watershed sciences, such as tracer and molecular technique, hydrological modeling, paleontological approaches, laboratory and field experiments, social-scientific evaluation of ecosystem services and social-ecological systems, and so on, in order to elucidate physical, chemical and biological mechanisms for shedding light on natural phenomena and their changes over time in complex and dynamic watershed systems. Through this session, we would like to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration among participants to create new knowledge on watershed sciences. This study used hourly simulations in the SWAT model to research the water budget in small catchments on the Ikuchijima island. Satisfactory results were obtained for flow simulations in the small catchments using hourly precipitation data. The results show that R 2 and NS both above 0.5 during the calibration and the validation period. And |PBIAS| is below 10 in the both cases. Based on this result, we found that SWAT hourly simulations performed well in rainstorms in small catchment areas and it successfully simulated the flood in this catchment during the simulation period. Therefore, it is considered that SWAT model hourly simulation is reliable in rainstorm and flood forecasting. This study also analyzed water balance components such as surface runoff, lateral flow, base flow and evaporation in this small catchment area, and the results were consistent with the actual conditions of the catchment such as climate, vegetation and geology.


The Planck Mission, launched May 14, 2009, will measure the sky over nine frequency channels, with temperature sensitivity of a few microKelvin, and angular resolution of up to 5 arc minutes. Planck is expected to provide the data needed to set tight constraints on cosmological parameters, study the ionization history of the Universe, probe the dynamics of the inflationary era, and test fundamental physics. The Planck Education and Public Outreach collaborators at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the University of California, Santa Barbara and Purdue University are preparing a variety of materials to present the science goals of the Planck Mission to the public. Two products currently under development are an interactive simulation of the mission which can be run in a virtual reality environment, and an interactive presentation on interpreting the power spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background with music. In this paper we present a brief overview of CMB research and the Planck Mission, and discuss how to explain, to non-technical audiences, the theory of how we derive information about the early universe from the power spectrum of the CMB by using the physics of music.


At all the stages of European history, adultery has been considered a serious offence that jeopardizes the basic cell of society - family. As society has evolved, significance and the role of the family within it changed, as well as the attitudes towards marriage and adultery. This article aims to demonstrate, by analysis of Horace's and Juvenal's satires, how the emancipation of Roman women altered the vision of the adultery in Roman satire and how these changes have reflected on the language of this genre. .


Cache working-set adaptation is key as embedded systems move to multiprocessor and Simultaneous Multithreaded Architectures (SMT) because interthread pollution harms system performance and battery life. Light-Power NUCA (LP-NUCA) is a working-set adaptive cache that depends on temporal-locality to save energy. This work identifies the sources of energy waste in LP-NUCAs: parallel access to the tag and data arrays of the tiles and low locality phases with useless block migration. To counteract both issues, we prove that switching to serial access reduces energy without harming performance and propose a machine learning Adaptive Drop Rate (ADR) controller that minimizes the amount of replacement and migration when locality is low.
 This work demonstrates that these techniques efficiently adapt the cache drop and access policies to save energy. They reduce LP-NUCA consumption 22.7% for 1SMT. With interthread cache contention in 2SMT, the savings rise to 29%. Versus a conventional organization, energy--delay improves 20.8% and 25% for 1- and 2SMT benchmarks, and, in 65% of the 2SMT mixes, gains are larger than 20%.


Paper Knowledge: Toward a Media History of Documents. Lisa Gitelman. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2014. 224 pp. $22.95 pbk.When my mother died, I learned the importance of the certified-not an ordinary copy-death certificate. Every bank and insurance company required one as proof she was dead, and at a cost of $21 each, one rightfully would expect these certified documents to be worth their weight in gold.Indeed, as Lisa Gitelman observes in the preface to Paper Knowledge: Toward a Media History of Documents, death certificates today feature a "baroque complexity of security features" that make them "look official" and provide the aura of "serious documents." Gitelman, a professor of both English and Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University, points out that all of this elaborateness is part of an escalating governmental battle against "unscrupulous parties who might play dead" and use digital tools to get ahead in the scriptural economy. Documents, ranging from death certificates to Super Bowl tickets to university diplomas, "are for knowingshowing," and "[t]he epistemic power of the know-show function is indisputable." Documents, as such, are not meant so much for reading as they are for showing and proving.The book's subtitle (Toward a Media History of Documents) suggests that Gitelman's work is a sort of call-to-arms for media studies scholars to plumb a new area of study. She writes that her "focus on a particular genre [documents] works to decenter the media concept precisely in order to evolve a better, richer media studies." She makes clear her thesis too-"the project of this book is to explore media history further, not just by juxtaposing one medium with another but also by working a selective history of one especially capacious genre-the document-across different media."She divides that history neatly into four realms, each of which constitutes its own chapter. Chapter 1 starts around 1870 and concentrates largely on so-called job printers and job printing (as distinct from book printing and newspaper/periodical printing). Much ink is spilled here regarding printed blanks-yes, documents and forms with blank spaces meant to be filled in. Gitelman nails it on the head when she writes that "[b]y dividing mental labor, blanks make bureaucracy, directing and delimiting fill-in entries that form the incremental expressions of the modern, bureaucratic self." And she correctly points out that we frequently encounter such blanks today online "where the interface is often designed to look like nineteenth-century job printing on paper."Chapter 2 turns to the realm of scholarly expression starting in the 1930s and the typescript documents, while Chapter 3 focuses on the impact of the Xerox copy machine. She explains that while documents have a long history, "what is so important here is that in addition to reproducing documents, xerography both identifies and creates them. Xeroxing became a way-part of a whole repertoire of ways, really-of seeing documents as documents." Chapter 4 centers on digital documents, especially the portable document format or PDF. The book's afterward concludes by addressing amateur production of zines and other publications. …


The definition of pressure-volume work in irreversible thermodynamic process remains a contentious topic.There were two approaches in use to define pressure-volume works w.One is "surroundings-based" definition,which defined work by using the pressure of surroundings,the other "system-based" definition,which define work by using pressure of System.Different from above,from the work-energy theorem,a conclusion from our analysis was that "system-based" definition should be taken for compression work in non quasi-static process,while "surroundings-based" definition for expansion work.


Orientation of MgO underlayer deposited on various Cr80M20 (M: Cr, Ti, Mn, Mo, W) seed layers and grain diameter (GD) and thermal conductivity K of the Cr80M20 seed layer were investigated for the thermally assisted magnetic recording. Moreover, stacking structure for reducing the orientation of the MgO underlayer and controlling the K of the seed layer was discussed through the results. GD of the Cr80M20 film was varied from 8.7 (M: Ti) to 10.7 nm (M: Mn) and distribution of the MgO (002) orientation deposited on the Cr80M20 seed layer was varied from 10 (M: Ti) to 4.8° (M: Mn) by changing additional material. And the thermal conductivity of the Cr80M20 film was varied from 10.5 (M: Mn) to 29.1 (Mo) W/mK. These results indicate that K of the Cr80M20 seed layer can be varied throughout a range of approximately 10 to 29 W/mK while suppressing full width half maximum for MgO (002) orientations, by using a laminar structure of seed layer consists of K-controlled CrM layer/large-GD CrMn layer.


A method for liquefying a hydrocarbon-rich fraction, in particular of natural gas, described, said to be liquefied hydrocarbon-rich fraction to a separation of heavy hydrocarbons, in particular benzene, is subjected. According to the invention a) to be liquefied hydrocarbon-rich fraction (1, 2) prior to their liquefaction (L) adsorptively freed of heavy hydrocarbons (A), b) the cooled (in the regeneration of the adsorption process A) obtained, loaded with heavy hydrocarbons regeneration gas (5) and partially condensed (E1, E2, E3), c) the partially condensed regeneration (5) (in a fraction enriched in heavy hydrocarbons fraction 6) and a depleted in heavy hydrocarbons fraction (7, 7 ') separated (D) and d) the latter to be liquefied hydrocarbon-rich fraction (1, admixed with 2).


This paper first offers a brief summary of Heyvaert's recently published book A Cognitive-Functional Approach to Nominalization in English (2003). Then it discusses three fundamental concepts: nominalization, rankshift, prototype, and finally offers a tentative framework for the study of nominalization.


The effect of vacuum UV-irradiation on the energy characteristics for the surfaces of films prepared from fluoro-containing polymers, PTFE, and tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene copolymer and on the solubilities of a mesogen-containing acrylic monomer and a related LC polymer in these polymers was studied in detail. As a result of modification, the energy characteristics of the surfaces of fluoropolymer films approach the surface characteristics of the films prepared from the monomer and the corresponding LC polymer, while the solubility parameters for the components of these systems level off. The coefficients for diffusion of the monomer and polymer into the said copolymer at 160°C were estimated. It was shown that vacuum UV-irradiation causes a small increase in the diffusion coefficient of the monomer, which is two orders of magnitude higher than that of the corresponding polymer. The possible mechanism for the grafting postpolymerization of the mesogenic monomer on the fluoropolymer films is discussed.


The effects of trivalent and hexavalent chromium on root growth, cell division and chromosome morphology of Allium cepa were studied. The concentrations used of chromium nitrate and potassium dichromate were 2 × 10-1, 2 × 10-2, 2 × 10-3, 2 × 10-4, 2 × 10-5, 2 × 10-6, and 2 × 10-7M. The results showed that both trivalent and hexavalent chromium inhibit root growth and cause mitotic irregularities comprising c-mitosis, anaphase bridges, chromosome stickiness, and chromosome fragmentation and lagging. When compared with chromium nitrate on the equimolar basis, potassium dichromate showed a stronger inhibitory and toxic effect on root growth and cell division, respectively. The possible mechanism of the Cr poisoning of root meristem cells of Allium cepa is also briefly discussed.


Analyses of dissected tissues from corn and wheat indicated that the ferulates were associated mostly with inner pericarp tissues. This, plus their good stability, suggested that an assay for the ferulates in surface extracts of whole kernels could be used to measure degree of pericarp damage. Reported here are results with corn that show the potential usefulness of such an assay


BACKGROUND
Observational studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of a fluoroquinolone-based regimen to treat individuals exposed to or presumed to be infected with drug-resistant (DR)-TB. We sought to assess the feasibility of this approach in an urban setting in South Asia.

METHODS
From February 2016 until March 2017, all household contacts of DR-TB patients enrolled at The Indus Hospital were screened for TB symptoms at home. Children 0-17 years, symptomatic adults and those with an immunocompromising condition (HIV, diabetes or malnutrition) were evaluated for TB disease. Contacts diagnosed with TB disease were started on treatment. Contacts without TB disease (i) younger than 5 years; (ii) between 5 and 17 years old with either a positive TST or an immunocompromising condition; or (iii) 18 years and older with an immunocompromising conditionwere offered six month treatment with a fluoroquinolone.

RESULTS
One hundred households with 800 contacts were enrolled: 353 (44·1%) individuals age 17 years or younger with a median age of 19 years (IQR: 10-32); 423 (52·9%) were males. In total, 737 (92·1%) individuals were screened, of which eight were already on treatment for TB (1·1%), and another three (0·4%) contacts were diagnosed with TB disease and started on treatment. Of 215 eligible for infection treatment, 172 (80·0%) contacts initiated and 121 (70·3%) completed treatment. No TB disease nor significant adverse events were observed during 12 months of follow up in any group.

CONCLUSIONS
Fluoroquinolone-based treatment for contacts with presumed DR-TB infection is feasible and well tolerated in a high TB burden setting.


The onset and fluctuation of Maruca infestation on cowpea terminal shoots, flower buds, flowers, and pods was studied under field conditions. Four cowpea cultivars—IFE BROWN, VITA-5, VITA-3, and TVu 946—were used in the study. Infestation started in the terminal shoots around 21 days after planting but later spread to the reproductive parts as these were produced by the plant. The highest infestation was found in flowers > flower buds > terminal shoots > pods. TVu 946 consistently had the lowest number of larvae, and VITA-3 had the highest. It is suggested that TVu 946 may possess a low level of resistance that could be utilized in plant breeding programs.


Crystallizable runs of ethene in ethene-propene copolymers can be identified in 13C CPMAS NMR spectra as a resonance at 33 ppm. In the absence of spin diffusion, the variation in intensity of this resonance with a 1H spin lock will reflect the intrinsic TH1ρ. Spin diffusion leads to a more complex relaxation decay, which reflects the local polymer morphology. Simulations of the spin diffusion process have been carried out for a simplified two-phase model for the morphology with the aim of determining whether the lamellar thickness of the crystalline and amorphous regions can be found from the TH1ρ observed via the 13C NMR spectrum. Calculations covering the expected range of the input parameters, namely the spin diffusion coefficients, domain lengths, and intrinsic relaxation times, show that, providing the intrinsic relaxation time in the amorphous phase is known, an accurate estimate of the crystalline and amorphous lamellar thicknesses can be made. Analysis of simulated TH1ρ decays indicate that, in general, the time constant of the fastest decaying component can be identified with the intrinsic relaxation time of the amorphous phase. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


One of the well-known complications of immunosuppression is herpes simplex esophagitis and it is rarely found in immunocompetent patients. We present a case of a 75-year-old female known case of diabetes mellitus, hypertension and dyslipidemia with two-month history of dysphagia and odynophagia to solid mainly and cough tinged with blood. On esophagogastroduodenoscopy there was right side of oropharynx ulcer, edema and focal erythema with compression on the esophageal entrance. Biopsy confirmed esophagitis and findings characteristic of herpes simplex virus infection. After the diagnosis was made, the patient was treated with prednisone for 10 days and famciclovir for 14 days and showed significant improvement in a period of nearly 2 weeks. We recommend antiviral treatment even for immunocompetent patients for the clear acceleration of the recovery time and prevention of possible complications.


Dr. Fox's letter was referred to Dr. Kwitko who offers the following reply: To the Editor: Dr. Fox's letter is a welcome addition to the chapter on entropion in his book on plastic surgery since he (as well as other authorities 1-7 ) has until now failed to describe "this poor little tarsoconjunctival triangle" in his discussion on the treatment of entropion. Thus, if Dr. Fox (while throwing around all that Confederate money) wishes to pontificate on the virtue of an adequate review of the literature, he will find me an ardent listener. However, I would like to suggest that when preparing his chapter on entropion he might have included a description of "this poor little tarsoconjunctival triangle" so that his readers could be made aware of another procedure for correcting this very common problem. Why the Muller 8 or Butler 9 procedure (I decline Dr. Fox's compliment of associating this


In the past decade, Clostridium difficile has emerged as an important human pathogen with steady increases in incidence and severity worldwide. Current treatment strategies with broad spectrum antibiotics have some major drawbacks such as treatment failures with high recurrence rates and the destructive effect on the intestinal microbiota. In addition, antibiotic consumption is always associated with the fear of antibiotic resistance development. This has created the urgent need to find alternative treatment options. We isolated a Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain that is able to inhibit the growth of C. difficile. In this study, we characterized the anti-C. difficile activity of cell free supernatant obtained from a B. amyloliquefaciens SG1 overnight culture. Determination of the antibacterial spectrum indicated only a narrow spectrum of activity. The antibacterial activity was stable over a wide pH and temperature range. No loss of activity was observed after treatment of the supernatant with catalase, amylase, pepsin, protease P, protease K, chymotrypsin and pronase with the exception of only a minor loss of activity due to trypsin treatment. Overall, the antibacterial activity was relatively resistant to proteolytic digestion. The antibacterial activity was impaired by exposure to pancreatin and lipase indicating the presence of a lipid moiety. Lysozyme treatment affected the antibacterial activity weakly. The supernatant showed no hemolytic activity and was not cytotoxic towards IPEC-J2 cells. Next, the antimicrobial compound was purified using acid precipitation, solid phase extraction and reversed phase-HPLC. Mass spectral analysis of the antibacterial fraction revealed the presence of a major peak at 1036.65 Da. MSMS analysis indicated that this peak corresponded to the lipopeptide surfactin. Our results indicate that B. amyloliquefaciens SG1 produces at least one compound, the lipopeptide surfactin, with potent antibacterial activity towards C. difficile, making the strain or the lipopeptide a potential alternative treatment option for C. difficile associated disease. 106 Characterization of CFSN


Houses in Vanuatu are prominent artefacts that materialise people's links to the land, actualising their presence on places. Nowadays on Mere Lava, a striking emphasis is put on the building or re-building of the kitchen houses. Drawing upon recent theories of material efficacy that consider objects as potent media through which people think, this article questions the underpinnings of the major cultural part these buildings play. It suggests that their prominence is grounded precisely in the ways their material features relate to people's conceptualisation of the world, such as the notion of histri, 'history'. Key material features of kitchen houses as well as the values they embody are explored through the lens of the building technical process. The mechanisms that bind these artefacts to values such as balance and collaboration are highlighted, in order to show how artefacts themselves become a form through which histri is thought.


The transition of young migrant workers' marital behavior is the result of the social structural migration.At least four reasons contribute to the transition of young migrant workers' marital behavior,namely,the disparity of cultural visions,the expansion of social networks,the malfunction of household,and the separation of social system.Therefore,it is necessary to eliminate the system impediment,develop the rural economy,and raise cultural levels of the migrant workers so as to promote the construction of marital morals of these families.Only in this way can we provide easier surroundings for migrant workers and stabilize their marriages.


An investigation was carried out to study the impact of ferrocement geopolymer slabs with nano silica design conducting by laboratory accelerated tests and field exposure tests. The ferrocement geopolymer slab with nano silica slabs was made with weld mesh. The dimensions of the specimen are 700X250X25 mm. Ferrocement is a composite material made up of cement mortar and reinforcement in the form of layers of mesh.


Objective To study the expression and significance o f MT1-MMP protein in epithelial ovarian cancer. Methods Im munohistochemical staining (SP method) was used to detect the expression of MT1- MMP protein and MVD in 56 epithelial ovarian cancer, 15 epithelial benign tumors of ovary, and 10 normal ovary tissues. Results The expre ssion of MT1-MMP protein in epithelial ovarian cancer (67.9%) was significantly higher than those in benign ovarian tumor (4/15) and normal ovary(1/10)( P0.01). The expression level of MT1-MMP correlated with FIGO staging , differentiation, lymph node metastasis and MVD. Expression of MT1-MMP showed a significant influence on survival in univariate analysis. Conclusion Overexpression of MT1-MMP in epithelial ovarian cancer may play an important role during tumor angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis. Moreover, it may be of value in predicting the patients' prognosis .


According to WHO reports Hepatocellular carcinoma remains an Asian health problem. Its prevalence disproportionately shares large of the world's nearly 78%. Treatment options of HCC are limited and the effectiveness of treatment varies due to development of therapy-related adverse effects in Allopathic medicine. We report herein a case of HCC admitted to Sir Sundarlal Hospital, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi was treated with integrated Ayurvedic herbo – mineral medicine, with desirable results of improvement in QoL. The patient was treated with a holistic inter disciplinary approach i.e., Modern medicine treatment followed by Ayurveda, health education for cancer care and psychotherapeutic measures such as Yoga, psychological counseling etc. The symptoms were managed according to its clinical presentation and daily clinical evaluation. This paper demonstrates the findings of our experience in treating a case of HCC with Ayurvedic herbo mineral medicine as an adjuvant treatment for improvement of QoL. Moreover, it emphasized the needs to be explored Ayurvedic cancer management with more advance methodology.


ABSTRACT In some cases, the initial studies of biological traces collected by vaginal and anal swabs after sexual assault are unsuccessful and do not end in deriving the genetic profile of the perpetrator and explicitly proving the sexual crime. Here we present and compare a group of 133 samples from 65 cases of sexual assault, on which we carried out repeated studies, using DNA typing from vaginal and anal swabs. The initial studies of these materials had been unsuccessful and had not led to deriving the genetic profiles of the offenders. Based on the obtained results, we present an alternative practical approach to collecting the maximum amount of remaining biological material deposited on the swab handles to conduct repeated tests of vaginal and anal/rectal smears. The practical approach applied by us analyzes whole 2.5 cm fragments cut out from the middle third of the swab handles, where biological material from the entrance of the vagina or the anal sphincter could have been collected. This approach yielded a further increase in the overall rate of successful DNA typing of approximately 14% for vaginal smears and 8% for anal/rectal ones.


It is important to detect changes in software performance during development in order to avoid performance decreasing release to release or dealing with costly delays at release time. Performance testing is part of the development process at MongoDB, and integrated into our continuous integration system. We describe a set of changes to that performance testing environment designed to improve testing effectiveness. These changes help improve coverage, provide faster and more accurate signaling for performance changes, and help us better understand the state of performance. In addition to each component performing better, we believe that we have created and exploited a virtuous cycle: performance test improvements drive impact, which drives more use, which drives further impact and investment in improvements. Overall, MongoDB is getting faster and we avoid shipping major performance regressions to our customers because of this infrastructure.


In this paper a project, PROMETHEUS, is described in which fourteen of Europe's leading car manufacturers are to join with approximately forty research institutes and governmental agencies to make the traffic of Europe safer, more efficient and more economical. PROMETHEUS project is divided into seven areas. In this paper one of the seven areas, PRO-ART, is described. PRO-ART is aimed at clarifying the need for and the principles of the artificial intelligence to be used in the next generation automobile. After a brief description of the overhall project, the description of the seven years PRO-ART Italian research programme will be given.


If X is a continuous random variable with cumulative distribution function (cdf) $F(x)$, then the most direct means of generating a variate from this distribution is the inverse cdf transform, $X = F^{ - 1} (U)$, where U is a random uniform variate. If $f(x)$ is the corresponding density function then X and U, as defined above, must satisfy the differential equation, $X' = {1/{f(X)}}$. This differential equation is applied, first, in the high accuracy computation of distribution percentiles. The differential equation is then used to motivate an interpolatory Runge-Kutta algorithm to approximate the inverse cdf in the transform described above. Finally, the best discrete least squares cubic spline approximation to the inverse cdf is constructed for the approximation of the inverse cdf. Comparisons between inverse cdf approximations are made on the basis of accuracy, efficiency, and setup requirements for the normal, exponential, Cauchy and gamma distributions.


This article presents a review of recent important developments in the field of intelligent material systems. Intelligent material systems, sometimes referred to as smart materials, can adjust their behavior to changes of external or internal parameters analogously to biological systems. In these systems, sensors, actuators and controllers are seamlessly integrated with structural materials at the macroscopic or mesoscopic level. In general, sensors and actuators are made of functional materials and fluids such as piezoelectric materials, magnetostrictive materials, shape memory alloys, polymer hydrogels, electro- and magneto-rheological fluids and so on. This article is specifically focused on the application of piezoelectric materials, magnetostrictive materials and shape memory alloys to intelligent material systems used to control the deformation, vibration and fracture of composite materials and structures. This review article contains 188 references.


We describe a method, "Shortest Path Segmentation" (SPS), which combines dynamic programming and a neural net recognizer for segmenting and recognizing character strings. We describe the application of this method to two problems: recognition of handwritten ZIP Codes, and recognition of handwritten words. For the ZIP Codes, we also used the method to automatically segment the images during training: the dynamic programming stage both performs the segmentation and provides inputs and desired outputs to the neural network. Results are reported for a test set of 2642 unsegmented handwritten 212 dpi binary ZIP Code (5- and 9-digit) images. For handwritten word recognition, we combined SPS with a "Space Displacement Neural Network" approach, in which a single-character-recognition network is extended over the entire word image, and in which SPS techniques are then used to rank order a given lexicon. We report results on a test set of 3000 300 ppi gray scale word images, extracted from images of live mail pieces, for lexicons of size 10, 100, and 1000. Representing the problem as a graph as proposed in this paper has advantages beyond the efficient finding of the final optimal segmentation, or the automatic segmentation of images during training. We can also easily extend the technique to generate K "runner up" answers (for example, by finding the K shortest paths). This paper will also describe applications of some of these ideas.


Chirality is a key factor in the efficacy of many drug products and thus the production of single enantiomers of drug intermediates has become increasingly important in the pharmaceutical industry. Biocatalysis is now accepted as a one of key methodologies for the preparation of chiral drug intermediates and fine chemicals. The biocatalytic production of several key intermediates in the synthesis of antihypertensive, anticholesterol, anti-Alzheimer's, β3-receptor agonist, HIV-protease inhibitor, and other pharmaceuticals is described. These includes (1) the synthesis of L-6-hydroxynorleucine from racemic 6-hydroxynorleucine, (2) the enzymatic synthesis of (S)-allysine ethylene acetal by reductive deamination using phenylalanine dehydrogenase, (3) the synthesis of [4S-(4a,7a,10ab)]-1-octahydro-5-oxo-4-{[(phenylmethoxy)carbonyl]-amino}-7H-pyrido-[2,1-b][1,3]thiazepine-7-carboxylic acid (BMS-199541–01) by enzymatic oxidation process using L-lysine-ϵ-aminotransferase, (4) the enzymatic synthesis of the lactol [3aS-(3aα,4α,7α,7aα)]-hexahydro-4,7-epoxyisobenzofuran-1(3H)-ol and corresponding lactone, (5) the microbial synthesis of (3R-cis)-1,3,4,5-tetrahydro-3-hydroxy-4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-6-(trifluoromethyl)-2H-1-benzazepin-2-one, (6) the microbial oxygenation of 6-cyano-2,2-dimethyl-2H-1-benzopyran to the corresponding chiral epoxide and (+)-trans diol, (7) the enantioselective microbial reductions of N-[4-(2-chloroacetyl)phenyl]methanesulfonamide and (4-benzyloxy-3-methanesulfonylamino)-2'-bromoacetophenone to the corresponding (R)-alcohols, (8) the enzymatic resolution of racemic α-methyl phenylalanine amides by amidase, (9) the enantioselective hydrolysis of diethyl methyl-(4-methoxyphenyl)-propanedioate by lipase PS-30, (10) the enantioselective microbial reduction of methyl 4-chloro-3-oxobutanoate, (11) the enzymatic synthesis of ethyl (3S,5R)-dihydroxy-6-(benzyloxy)hexanoate, (12) the enantioselective hydrolysis of racemic epoxide 1-{2',3'-dihydrobenzo[b]furan-4'-yl}-1,2-oxirane by epoxide hydrolase, (13) the biocatalytic dynamic kinetic resolution of R,S-1-{2',3'-dihydrobenzo[b]furan-4'-yl}-ethane-1,2-diol, and (13) the diastereoselective microbial reduction of (1S)-[3-chloro-2-oxo-1-(phenylmethyl)propyl]carbamic acid 1,1-dimethylethyl ester. 1 Introduction 2 Antihypertensive Drugs 3 Thromboxane A2 Antagonists 4 Calcium Channel Blocking Drugs 5 Potassium Channel Openers 6 Antiarrhythmic Agents 7 β3-Receptor Agonists 8 Anticholesterol Drugs 9 Microbial Resolution10 Anti-Alzheimer Drugs11 HIV Protease Inhibitors12 Conclusion


Trifolium alexandrium L. commonly known as Berseem or Clover is an important leguminous winter fodder crop. It is appreciated as a forage crop due to its high protein content, soft leaves, tender stem, high leaf to stem ratio and also rapid growth. In comparison to other legumes and grasses, Clover provides forage with high nutritional value and quality. Biotechnology is a technique for the improvement of crop plants. The objective of the present study is to regenerate Trifolium alexandrium plants by tissue culture technique. A protocol for direct organogenesis was developed for this particular plant by inoculating the explants (shoot tip, cotyledonary node without cotyledons, cotyledon and hypocotyledon) on different media like MS and L2. Shoot tip was found to be the best responsive explants for direct organogenesis. Subsequently, it was found that 75% of explants produced shoots on L2 media supplemented with BAP (1mg/L) and IAA (0.1mg/L). The shoots were produced after 5 days of inoculation. Direct organogenesis from the shoot tip gives a pure line which can be utilized in genetic improvement of this crop plant. The shoot tip propagated plants are the stock for further production of large number of plant whenever necessary. This will cut down the conventional method of growing the crop by sowing and its subsequent growth. These plants grown by tissue culture technology can be preserved as germplasm.


In April of 2011, FFI led a sea trial near Larvik, Norway on FFIs research vessel the H.U. Sverdrup II with participation by representatives from Canada, United States, and France. One objective of the sea trial was to acquire a data set suitable for examining incoherent and coherent change detection and automated target recognition (ATR) algorithms applied to Synthetic Aperture Sonar (SAS) imagery. The end goal is to produce an automated tool for detecting recently placed objects on the seafloor. To test these algorithms two areas were chosen, one with a comparatively benign seafloor and one with a boulder strewn complex seafloor. Each area was surveyed before and after deployment of objects. The survey time intervals varied from two days to eight days. In this paper we present the trial and show examples of SAS images and change detection of the images.


This one-dimensional model exhibits a strong spatial collapse of the electric field when the self-consistent pump amplitude is held constant. The linear instability saturates if one allows for the self-consistent modification of the pump due to nonlinearities. The saturated state is characterized by relaxation oscillations and spatially localized electric fields of finite amplitude.


This test showed: the developing process of female and male gametophytes is identical with the former resolution. While what we found as follows: 1) Although stamen and pistil formed at the same time, the pollen grain and embryosac could be filled with a great quantity of starch and would be mature for fertilization under the condition of female and male gametophyte forming insimultaneously, 2) megaspore mother cell, megaspore, female gametophyte formed respectively more lately than microspore mother cell, microspore and male gametophyte by 0.5-0.6, 0.7-0.8 and 0.5-0.6 unfolding leaves; 3) for the male the micropore formed fast while the pellon grains developed slowly and for the female and megaspore grew slowly white the embryo developed fast.


ABSTRACT The nutritional value of two spray dry yeast (sugar cane – SCYSD and brewer+sugar cane – BYSD) and their inclusion effects on growing and finishing pigs feeding was studied. The DE (kcal/kg) values for SCYSD and BYSD were 3.496 and 3.901 and for ME (kcal/kg) they were 3.475 and 3.862. The values of digestible lysine, methionine+cistine and threonine for SCYSD and BYSD were: 2.66 and 2.64%; 1.11 and 1.03%: 1.95 and 1.92%. 40 pigs with initial weight of 34.39±7.57kg (growing) and 62.45±5.68kg (finishing), allotted in a completely randomized design with five levels of SCYSD inclusion were used in the performance assay. In the growing phase, there was an impairing on DWG and F:G, however, in the finishing phase, DFI presented a quadratic effect, being 3.32% the best level and linear reduction of DWG, F:G, slaughter weight, hot carcass weight, cold carcass yield and ham weight. The results suggest that increasing levels of SCYSD may impair the performance of growing and finishing pigs. Keywords: Brewer yeast, by-product, digestible amino acids, ileal canula, nutritional value


Background: Some authors consider the ultimate purpose of Assessment for Learning to be the promotion of pupils' autonomy. But the concept of autonomy is problematic and teachers' attempts to promote autonomy in the classroom can seem both vague and impractical. Purpose: In this paper, following Ecclestone (2002), I suggest that a full definition of autonomy includes children's independence, proactivity and critical inquiry in the classroom – which by their nature centre around the individual's capacity for self-directed learning and meta-learning in their lives. I illustrate how one teacher promoted all three aspects of autonomy through her classroom feedback. Feedback is conceptualised as all the comments made by the teacher as a reaction to any activity or behaviour by pupils. Design and methods: These examples draw on research data collected in 2009–11 in which nine 'profile' Year 5 (aged 9–10) children and their teacher were observed and interviewed about teacher feedback and ways in which it might promote autonomy. Five lessons across six months during 2010, which were video-taped, audio-recorded, observed and followed up by interviews with individuals, pairs or threes from among the nine profile children, have been analysed in detail. Findings: Findings from this detailed analysis of lesson and interview transcripts suggested that the teacher employed a range of skilfully crafted autonomy-promoting feedback. Categories for this feedback consisted of the teacher feedback during the five lessons encouraging the pupil's: independence, usually in the sense of the child cultivating a view that might stand out from the general view (23 instances observed); proactivity in learning, manifested through that child's unsolicited engagement with a topic (80 occasions noted); metasocial critical inquiry, which was subdivided into: firstly, metasocial critical inquiry into rules about life including assessment (60 instances); and secondly, metasocial critical inquiry into relationships, including social relationships occurring during learning collaboration (27 occasions); and finally, most frequently, critical inquiry into learning processes (94 examples noted). Conclusions: I conclude by noting that the teacher's feedback – whether intentionally or not – had the potential to inspire children's immediate and longer-term developments in independent learning, proactivity and critical inquiry.


Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how an efficient freight flow and a surface utilization of a warehouse layout can be achieved in non-manufacturing third party logistics compani ...


David Andrew Snider '93 has done Shakespeare in England, but his most winning role is as the producing artistic director and CEO of Young Playwrights' Theater (YPT) in Washington, D.C., a post he's held since 2005.


Recent findings of an inverse association between β‐cryptoxanthin and lung cancer risk in several observational epidemiologic studies suggest that β‐cryptoxanthin could potentially act as a chemopreventive agent against lung cancer. However, the biological activity of β‐cryptoxanthin and molecular mechanism(s) by which β‐cryptoxanthin affects lung tumourigenesis have not been studied. In the present study, we found that β‐cryptoxanthin inhibited the growth of A549 cells, a non‐small‐cell lung cancer cell line and BEAS‐2B cells, an immortalized human bronchial epithelial cell line in a dose‐dependent manner. β‐Cryptoxanthin suppressed the protein levels of cyclin D1 and cyclin E, up‐regulated the cell cycle inhibitor p21, increased the number of lung cancer cells in theG1/G0 phase and decreased those in the S phase of the cell cycle. Consistent with inhibition of the lung cancer cell growth, β‐cryptoxanthin induced the mRNA levels of retinoic acid receptor β (RARβ) in BEAS‐2B cells, although this effect was less pronounced in A549 cells. Furthermore, β‐cryptoxanthin transactivated RAR‐mediated transcription activity of the retinoic acid response element. These findings suggest a mechanism of anti‐proliferative action of β‐cryptoxanthin and indicate that β‐cryptoxanthin may be a promising chemopreventive agent against lung cancer. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Effluents collected from three industries rich in heavy metals were applied to soil and crop plants were grown. The plants were grown for ten weeks at which stage the leaves were sampled for the estimation of accumulated metal concentration. The impact of effluents on soil chemical properties is elucidated.


A generalization of the diagonal Weyl metrics, which is obtained by a Harrison transformation over the Ernst potential e, is presented. The Ernst potential is defined for a linear combination of the Killing vectors ∂τ and ∂σ. The cases which correspond to Kasner and Voorhees metrics are analyzed in some detail.


PURPOSE: A construction method of a CFT(concrete-filled steel tube) column is provided to construct a high-quality CFT column by enabling the easy management of concrete placed inside the column. CONSTITUTION: A construction method of a CFT column is as follows. A borehole is formed by boring the ground from a soil layer to a bedrock layer using boring equipment. A casing(110) is installed in the soil layer. Slime is removed from the bottom of the borehole. Column foundation concrete(200) is placed in the borehole. A hollow steel tube(120) with a buoyancy prevention unit(130) is inserted into the borehole, and the front end thereof is buried in the column foundation concrete. The column foundation concrete is cured. The buoyancy prevention unit is removed from the hollow steel tube, and concrete is placed in the hollow steel tube. The gap between the borehole and the outer surface of the CFT column is filled with soil, and the casing is removed from the soil layer. [Reference numerals] (a)) Forming a borehole; (AA) Underground water level; (b)) Placing column foundation concrete; (BB) Soil layer; (c)) Installing a hollow steel plate; (CC) Bedrock layer; (d)) Forming a CFT column; (e)) Completing construction


Abstract A study conducted in 1999 and 2000 determined the effects of B-Nine/Cycocel (daminozide/chlormequat chloride) tank mixes at 2500/1500, 5000/1500 (1999 only), and 7500/1500 parts per million (ppm) and Cutless (flurprimidol) at 50, 100, and 150 ppm on shoot length and shoot number of pruned and non-pruned Lonicera × heckrottii 'Goldflame' (Goldflame honeysuckle). In 1999, B-Nine/Cycocel suppressed shoot lengths of pruned plants linearly throughout the study 18–30% 2 weeks after treatment (WAT), 16–28% 4 WAT, 24–35% 6 WAT, 24–34% 10 WAT, and 19–33% 14 WAT compared to untreated controls. Similar shoot length suppression was observed in non-pruned plants from B-Nine/Cycocel treatments in 2000 with shoots 8–24% (2 WAT), 7–24% (4 WAT), 7–20% (6 WAT), 5–19% (10 WAT), and 5–20% (14 WAT) shorter than those of untreated controls. Cutless was ineffective in suppressing shoot length of Goldflame honeysuckle in either experiment, but did increase shoot number compared to controls 6 through 14 WAT in 1999. B-Ni...


The concept of wavelet transform and a kind of signal singularity detection method based on wavelet transform modulus maximum are introduced.Emulation is done with MATLAB.It is proved that wavelet transform is more efficient than the traditional Fourier transform.


Angelman syndrome (AS) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by severe intellectual disability, seizures, lack of speech, and ataxia. The gene responsible for AS was identified as Ube3a and it encodes for E6AP, an E3 ubiquitin ligase. Currently, there is very little known about E6AP's mechanism of action in vivo or how the lack of this protein in neurons may contribute to the AS phenotype. Elucidating the mechanistic action of E6AP would enhance our understanding of AS and drive current research into new avenues that could lead to novel therapeutic approaches that target E6AP's various functions. To facilitate the study of AS, we have generated a novel rat model in which we deleted the rat Ube3a gene using CRISPR. The AS rat phenotypically mirrors human AS with loss of Ube3a expression in the brain and deficits in motor coordination as well as learning and memory. This model offers a new avenue for the study of AS. Autism Res 2020, 13: 397–409. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research,Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


A presentation given to participants in Statistics Canada's Data Liberation Initiative (DLI) Ontario Training at Robarts Library, University of Toronto on December 5, 2017.


Book the Best London Apartments with Swimming Pool from Check-in-London. Lowest Price Guarantee. 10,000+ London Apartments & Free booking service online or by phone.


One of the current areas of interest of historiography is the study of the history of powers, stemming from the revalorization of political history which took place in the last decades. At the same time, the studies that are focused on local history faced some renovation, namely in their municipal aspect and in the social perspective. The operability of these two spheres of power (central/ local) has been framed in a dynamic process and in an interrelated way, as shown by the most recent studies.


Background Fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) are pivotal in the inflammation and joint damage of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). These cells acquire an aggressive phenotype; they migrate and invade articular structures perpetuating synovial inflammation. Also, they contribute to cartilage and bone damage by secretion of cytokines, metalloproteinases and cathepsins. The mechanisms modulating migration and invasion of FLS are not yet completely known. Recently, the role of the non-canonical pathway of Wnt5a has been highlighted in these processes, as well as, its contribution to osteoclastogenesis. Moreover, Wnt5a could be involved in other pathogenic aspects of RA, as suggested by its involvement in tissue inflammation through regulation of cytokine, chemokine and metalloprotease expression. Thus, the study of the non-canonical pathway of Wnt5a in the aggressive phenotype of FLS and the inflammatory response may provide new therapeutic targets for the RA. Objectives To analyse the involvement of Wnt5a in the proliferation, migration, invasion and inflammatory responses of FLS from RA patients. Methods FLS were obtained from eight RA patients. Expression of Wnt5a was suppressed by siRNA transfection (Dharmacon). Cellular proliferation was determined using the CellTiter-Glo Luminescent Cell Viability Assay (Promega). Migration was analysed by the wound-healing assay using Ibidi inserts. The occupation area was determined by Image J. Invasion was tested by quantifying Giemsa stained cells on the bottom side of Matrigel coated trans-membrane (Millipore). The expression of inflammatory mediators and metalloproteases was analysed by real-time PCR after stimulation with recombinant Wnt5a protein (rWnt5a), TNF and combined treatment. Results We analysed the effect of the absence of Wnt5a and rWnt5a on the proliferation, migration and invasion of RA FLS. FLS lacking Wnt5a showed a significant migration decrease, 27.9% in basal condition and 16.9% after TNF stimulation, when compared with FLS transfected with siRNA control. Accordingly, migration of RA FLS treated with rWnt5a was increased by 48.5% when compared with cells treated with the vehicle. No change in migration was observed in TNF-stimulated FLS. Invasive capacity was reduced, reaching 71.4% of that observed in FLS transfected with siRNA control in basal conditions. In addition, invasion in FLS treated with rWnt5a was 35.7% higher than in controls. We also analysed the effect of rWnt5a on the inflammatory response of RA FLS. We found a significantly increase of IL6, IL8, CCL2, CXCL5, MMP9 and MMP13 basal expression and the TNF-induced expression of IL6, IL8, CXCL5 and MMP3. Nevertheless, the lack of Wnt5a or the addition of rWnt5a did not modify the spontaneous or the TNF-induced proliferation. Conclusions These results indicate that Wnt5a contributes to the aggressive phenotype of FLS by potentiating their migration and invasion, and by stimulating the inflammatory response. Acknowledgements Supported by grant of the ISCIII/PI14/01660/RETICS Program, RD16/0012/0014/cofinanced FEDER. Disclosure of Interest None declared


This paper first analyzes the TCP / IP protocol stack,the principle of work,and then the linux system to simplify the order of the TCP protocol state,and finally achieved success by example in linux operating system,server and network communication between client and downloaded to the PC development board implements the communication between the development board.


Cluster analysis is a useful statistical tool for data exploration. It can help to identify groups of similar objects (e.g. countries) according to selected variables (e.g. economic indicators). The created groups (clusters) can be characterized based either on the variables used in clustering or on some other variables. The problem with using the methods of cluster analysis is that the analyst can obtain different results (assignments of objects into clusters) by different methods, and moreover, he needs to determine the number of clusters. Many coefficients for solving this problem have been proposed until now. However, the suggestion obtained by a certain coefficient can differ from another suggestion obtained by another coefficient. In addition, values of a certain coefficient can differ depending on the implementation in the software product. In this contribution, different approaches to the silhouette coefficient calculation are discussed. They concern the implementations of calculations in the R language and IBM SPSS Statistics system. It is analyzed how the different results influence decisions of an analyst in terms of both the choice of the suitable assignment of objects into clusters obtained by different algorithms, and the determination of the suitable number of clusters. The studied problems are illustrated using selected methods of cluster analysis applied to the EU countries characterized by the gender indicators.


Maximizing system throughput and bandwidth utilization while guaranteeing fairness among users is a core technical challenge in the design of next generation cellular networks. In this context, fractional frequency reuse (FFR) is a helpful tool if it is flexible in terms of resource and power allocation as well as scheduling. Complementary to this tool, a well-chosen association of users to base station sectors can yet be another important factor, particularly when users are distributed unevenly in space. Here we propose a load balancing scheme that combines flexible FFR with an unrestricted association of users to sectors or base stations, thereby effectively increasing the user data rates in the dense regions of the network. In a first step, we perform virtual joint power allocation and scheduling so as to determine the best sectors for maximizing the throughput for a given user. In a second step, users are actually associated to the best sectors, which are not necessarily the ones providing the strongest signal. Simulation results show that our proposed mechanism provides fairness by load balancing while still maintaining the throughput over all users.


This study aims to examine the effect of perceived effectiveness on consumer economic benefits in predicting sustainable consumption interest, by contributing to adding moderating variables, namely technology anxiety, resistance to change, and pandemic fear in e-commerce users during the Covid-19 pandemic in Bandung City. The research method used is a quantitative method used to test the causal relationship between variables that form a structural equation model. The survey was conducted with five Likert scales for 20 question items. Data were obtained from 330 respondents, and analyzed using SmartPLS 3.2.9 software. The results prove that perceived effectiveness has a positive effect on economic benefits, economic benefits have a positive effect on sustainable consumption interest, and perceived effectiveness has a positive effect on sustainable consumption interest, but technology anxiety, resistance to change, and fear of pandemics cannot moderate the relationship between perceived effectiveness on economic benefits and economic benefits on sustainable consumption interest.


Most studies that examine the academic writing skills of freshmen students point to a gap between the writing skills of entering freshman students and the requirements of academic writing. This study describes a research tool designed to assess the academic writing skills of entering students. This tool, known as the Test of Academic Writing Skills (TAWS), was developed by breaking down the criteria of academic writing into measurable components that can be explicitly interpreted, thus enabling accurate identification of the weak points in students' academic writing. The results achieved using this tool reinforce the dichotomy between basic writing skills, including reading comprehension and summarization, and higher-order academic skills involving the synthesis of information. The results also make it possible to assess levels of basic skills and higher-order writing skills.


This paper presents evidence that members' perceived motivation towards the group is an important determinant of the influence and status they attain in task-oriented groups. Following Meeker and Weitzel-ONeill (1977) and Ridgeway (1978), it was suggested that people who enter a group with low external status characteristics (e.g., women in mixed sex groups, blacks in interracial groups) can use the communication of group-oriented motivation in combination with reasonably competent task contributions to overcome the fundamental inequality ("interaction disability") they would normally face, and achieve reasonably high levels of influence in the group. Results of an experiment using mixed and same sex groups showed that while group-oriented members are generally more influential than self-oriented ones, as predicted, the size of motivation's effect is dependent upon the members external status characteristics. Females in male groups (low external status members) achieved fairly high influence and status when they appeared group-oriented, but very low status when self-oriented. As expected males in a female group (high external status members) achieved high influence regardless of their motivation.


This paper investigates and analyzes the use of echoing performance in Japanese TV talk shows. Based on the dialogues of 17 people aged from 20 to 70, the types, usage rates, frequency and position of echoing performance are analyzed. There are a variety of echoing performances, among which 115 kinds are investigated. The most variegated is the "そう series" and the most frequently used is the "うん series". At the same time, this paper also makes clear the position where the echoing performances appear, and that gender difference will lead to the use of different echoing types.


Abstract The risks to older adults in nursing homes (NHs) and assisted living communities (ALCs) exposed to disasters are evident in prior research. However, little research has been conducted to understand the factors related to facilities' vulnerability. This research examined NH and ALC experiences during Hurricane Irma in 2017. Qualitative interviews were conducted with representatives of facilities (N=100), transcripts were analyzed using Atlas.ti version 8. Team members met to reach consensus on codes and major themes and subthemes, which they analyzed using a conceptual model designed to identify factors related to the disaster vulnerability in long-term care (LTC). We found physical factors (e.g. location, physical characteristics) are important, but physical strength is not enough. Multiple social/organizational factors are critical. Results indicate managing a major disaster and protecting LTC residents involve social and organizational connections across a range of groups from staff and family members to emergency mangers and neighborhood associations.


Objective To study the angular dependence of four different mammographic dosimeters to monoenergetic X-ray beams and observe the variation tendency in angular dependence to different energy X-rays and to discuss the evaluation of average glandular dose(AGD)in digital breast tomosynthesis(DBT)system.Methods One ionization chamber and three semiconductor dosimeters were exposed by four kinds of beam quality.The signal of each dosimeter was tested over an angular range of 0° to 90°.The dosimeters were exposed for three times at each selected angular position.The measurement at each angle was normalized to the appropriate measurement at perpendicular incidence.Results The responses from all the dosimeters had a maximum at 0° and decreased with increasing angles.When the radiation incidence angle was 10°,the angular dependence were 0.99,0.99,0.96 and 0.96 for dosimeters A,B,C and D,respectively.And the angular dependence decreased to 0.96,1.00,0.78 and 0.52 when the incidence angle was up to 25°.For semiconductor dosimeters,no signal was recorded when incidence angle was beyond 45°.For ionization chamber,the magnitude of the angular dependence generally decreased with increasing energy.Conclusions All of the dosimeters will underestimate the dose if used in DBT.In order to minimize the error due to the rotation angle of X-ray tube,correction factor of mammography dosimeter should be used for the measurement of AGD in DBT systems.

Key words:
Digital breast tomosynthesis; Mammographic dosimeters; Angular dependence; Correction factor; Average glandular dose


Abstract Over the last decades, attempts at empowering student voice have captured, cross-culturally, the attention of educators as a means for improving educational landscapes. Hence, students have been repositioned as invaluable resources in schooling, research, and reform movements. To this aim, this study is to capture how the Iranian MA TEFL students' voice is realized regarding syllabus development. The data was collected through an open-ended questionnaire responded by 47 students majoring at eight state universities. The results of running a thematic content analysis showed that the constructs of student voice, i.e., students' interests, background knowledge, culture, styles, and gender, have become tokenistic and simplistic in practice. Students were treated as marginalized agents with no determining role in syllabus designing, while the instructors' voice acted as the sole leading factor. This study suggests that it is possible to envisage a situation wherein "student voice" is projected into syllabus development. It underscores that Iranian instructors should set the ongoing process of syllabus development open to modifications inspired by students' voice. In view of the findings, it is also discussed that student voice constructs refer to a more wide range of practices including "needs analysis," "students as decision makers," and "reciprocal humanistic appreciation." Finally, the study provides the educators as well as TEFL instructors with some implications both on how to be more cognizant of the challenges of student voice and how to project that awareness into syllabus development so as to reform the educational structures and build new spaces for exercising educational democracy.


NVP-AAM077 was kindly provided by Dr. Yves Auberson (Novartis, Basel, Switzerland). We thank Philippe Ascher and Boris Barbour for comments on this manuscript.

Over 20 years of pharmacological, physiological, and genetic studies have established that NMDA receptors (NMDARs), a subtype of ionotropic


The enormous potential of enzymes has been recently applied to polymer material synthesis and modifications. This recent application has made biocatalysis a popular topic for polymeric research in academia and industry. Enzyme catalysis has provided a new synthetic strategy for useful polymers most of which are otherwise very difficult to produce by conventional chemical catalysis. This paper overviews our recent work on the use of a variety of enzymes in the synthesis of novel pegylated multifunctional polymers for applications in drug and gene delivery.


In this paper the author analyzes the singnificance of cost accounting in higher education,and the relevant methods,so as to tighten the management of higher education.


The initial stages of Au deposition (0.3 ML) on a vicinal Si(111) surface misoriented by 4\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} toward the [$11\overline{2}$] direction have been studied using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). We have found that the Au adsorption transformed bunched steps into well-ordered Au-adsorbed (111) terraces, while the 7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}7 structures were still present. A 5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2 unit cell was a good match for the Au-adsorbed terraces. At the domain boundaries of the 7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}7 and Au-adsorbed structures, only one unit of the 5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2 structure grew from the step edge of the 7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}7 terrace. This boundary structure played an important role in forming the well-ordered Au-adsorbed terraces. Each step edge of the Au-adsorbed terrace was reconstructed into a two-unit cell. A model of the Au adsorption and step-edge reconstruction based on STM observation was proposed.


COMPOSITE MATERIAL WITH STRENGTHENING OF CARBON FIBER TAKEN MATRIX EPOXY IS MADE BY THE STACK LAYERS ALTERNATIVE FIBRES10 IMPREGNATED RESIN AND CLEARING FILMS11 POLYESTER AND STACK OF COMPRESSION BETWEEN TEMPLATE FOR A LOWER TEMPERATURE FIRING TEMPERATURE RESIN. THE COUCHES10 11 THEN ARE SEPARATE AND FILM IS DEGAGEMENT11 DISCARDED. AFTER BEING A NEW STACKED THE LAYERS FIBRES10 ARE CAST IN AUTOCLAVE BAG ON A TEMPLATE FORM APPROPRIATE AT A TEMPERATURE WHICH THE COUCHES10 TO STRENGTHEN AND COOKED Resin.


The selection of letters written by Professor Stuart Ramsay Tompkins to his wife Ednahe wrote more than four hundred and kept a diary that constitute A Canadian's Road to Russia cover the period October 1912 to April 1919, with the majority devoted to his observations and thoughts during military service in Canada, England, France, and Russia. A brief introduction summarizes Tompkins's life and postwar academic areer, and puts into perspective his interest in and contribution to Russian studies: four books and other


The large vibrations of two cracked, fixed-free structures, respectively beam- and plate-like, are here reported and investigated. Both the consequences of damage and the nonlinear effects of geometrically-induced stiffening are considered and addressed. These latter terms are caused by the large deflections of the structure itself; they become non- negligible when the driving force's amplitude is (relatively) high. In turn, the damage was considered as a local source of bilinearity, arising from a breathing crack behaviour. The two case studies here proposed have been simulated by means of the finite element models of a steel beam with squared cross-section and of a thin, light-weight aluminium plate. Both the prismatic elements were considered as damaged with a single transverse edge crack, penetrating all along the structure's width. This simple preliminary study shows how, accordingly to the structure's material and cross-section, geometrical nonlinearities may or may not be safely neglected when characterising the damage-induced effects. A comparison of the wavelet levels of the response with and without geometrical nonlinearities and/or crack presence is also provided as an effective tool for damage detection in this context.


The article discusses the conceptual aspects of applying various approaches to talent management. It should be noted that most of the methods and technologies of talent management described in science are quite inflexible, since they do not take into account the influence of modern trends and are more focused on long-term strategic planning. The main focus of this paper is to attain a clear picture of global talent management as an integral part of personnel management in the conditions of Industry 4.0 enablers and barriers, and to establish the link between application of the concepts of exclusive and inclusive approaches in modern conditions. Conclusions are presented regarding their compatibility and feasibility of application in a modern organization. Based on the concepts of action analysis authors isolated the main destinations, which must determine the development of talents management theory. This has made possible the human-machine interconnection in Cyber-physical systems context utilizing the information generated from different smart devices. Under current conditions in this article these are the trends of the modern economy, including digital transformation and the exponential pace of development affecting the management mechanisms within the organization, which must also quickly adapt to new conditions. With regard to talent management, this means that the personnel management system should increase its flexibility in assessing and developing the potential of employees.


This study investigated the effect amount of maltodextrin as a carrier agent in production of Kaffir Lime powder. Pure concentrated Citrus Hystrix juice with maltodextrin as carrier agent has been spray dried at constant inlet temperature of 140°C, outlet temperatute of 70°C and pressure of 40psi and pump speeds at 1 rpm with different percentage of maltodextrin. The highest amount of Kaffir Lime powder, 23.43 g was obtained at 40% of maltodextrin added to the juice.


PURPOSE
Robotic-assisted retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (R-RPLND) in patients with testicular cancer (TC) is controversially discussed. Lately, unusual recurrence patterns with adverse outcome have been published after R-RPLND. Aim of this report is to determine the feasibility, safety and early oncological outcome of R-RPLND in patients with small volume metastatic TC.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We retrospectively evaluated 27 consecutive patients with small volume metastatic TC (10/2010-11/2019) who underwent R-RPLND (unilateral modified template). Intra- and postoperative complications as well as early oncologic outcomes are reported. Surgery was performed in the primary metastatic setting in 22 (81%), post-chemotherapy in 4 (15%) and for late relapse in one patient (4%). Initial clinical stage was IIA for 14 (52%), IIB for 12 (43%), and III for 1 (4%) patient.

RESULTS
Median operative time, blood loss, and length of hospital stay were 175 min, 50 ml, and 4 d. Expectedly, viable tumor was found in 21/27 patients (78%), 6 patients (22%) showed fibrosis, necrosis or no tumor. Overall, 3 (11%) patients experienced intra- (Satava II) and 1 (4%) patient postoperative (Clavien-Dindo IIIb) complications, respectively. The median follow-up is 16.5 months (3-69), 3 (11%) patients experienced relapse outside of the surgical field after 12, 22 and 36 months.

CONCLUSIONS
In highly selected patients with low volume metastatic TC R-RPLND may be indicated and appears to be technically feasible and comparable with open surgery in terms of complications and early oncological safety. Prospective data collection in larger series are necessary to clarify the role and specific indications of this approach.


Micro electrical discharge machining (EDM), enhanced with ultrasonic vibration, is explored and assessed as a new technology for developing microelectrode array, for microelectrode array fabricated by LIGA has shortcomings such as complex technology and high price. Based on the mechanism of micro-EDM, micro-hole array discharges to fabricate microelectrode array by reverse copying. First, process for the micro-EDM technology of reverse copying is planned. In the process of reverse copying, the thicker rod electrode can't rotate, resulting in electric arc and short-circuit easily, so it is necessary to add ultrasonic vibration on the plane plate electrode. Then, influence of ultrasonic vibration is analysed from the way of vibration mechanics through theoretical analysis and experimental observation. Compared with machining without ultrasonic vibration, single discharging energy decreases 1/2, discharge frequency improves four times, machining efficiency increases two times and better surface quality is achieved. Finally, 3×3 arrays of microelectrode and micro-hole made by these microelectrode arrays are got, the diameter of single electrode is less than 30 μm and height-to-width aspect ratio is more than 10, moreover these arrays of microelectrode and micro-hole have very good surface quality.


To insure the successful use of writing exercises in the first-year language course, students must be asked to write only what they can understand and speak, and written work must be evaluated with an objective grading design. A three-point grading design used for evaluating single sentences and a five-point grading design appropriate for student-produced dialogues allow for that objectivity. Measuring the written work of students against predetermined criteria enables the instructor to examine analytically the contributions of students who are developing at individual rates of progress without making favorable or unfavorable comparisons among students. The objectivity and reliability of the grading design was tested in an experiment in which three instructors each evaluated thirty themes. The correlation between the three sets of grades was determined to be 0.93.


The essay starts mentioning Giorgio La Pira, member of the Italian Constituent Assembly,
who reeommended inter-religious dialogue as a way towards the World's pacification. Then it deals
with the evolution of post-Counciliar Catholic Church and its struggle in favor of religious freedom,
both individual and institutional, as a fundamental right of the human being. Comparing religious
freedom as guaranteed in the documents of the International community and the protection accorded
by Islamic declarations, the Author points out the difficulties of a dialogue between Christians and
Muslims. The political community should create the conditions in order to develop such dialogue
without controversies and should verify that in every society reciprocity is granted. The article includes
with the Pope Benedict's invitation to Abrahamic religions to enhance the dialogue of everyday
life and of intellectuals.


In many situations within environmetrics, investigators deal with bivariate measurements. While each of the components might have its own extreme characteristics, frequently there is a need for insight into the simultaneous happening of two or more extreme events. First a few theoretical aspects are dealt with on how to model the dependence and the location of more information in the literature is indicated. Some specific applications of bivariate extremes within an environmental context are then described.


This IOT Based Street light System is Automated , power efficient and smart system. This Paper will be focused on energy saving, which is main point of this whole system which will help in conserving energy. The system uses Arduino microcontroller(ATmega-328P), for managing the system functionality. System makes the street light ON/OFF by giving power to the system. The ON/OFF state of the system depends on the intensity of Infrared(IR) in the atmosphere. This system uses IR receiver which sense infrared in surroundings and also it has microwave Sensor which is used to detect motion of the object. Arduino has been connected with a proper circuit to perform desired tasks. Arduino contains the C++ code which serves as the instruction to Arduino to perform tasks i.e. system functionality.


Objective To investigate the correlation between the gene Arg778Leu mutation high frequency spot and clinical manifestation in Wilson′s disease(WD) Methods Arg778Leu gene mutation point in exon 8 was measured by fluorescence PCR in 66 patients with WD and 30 non WD individuals 66 patients with WD were divided into two groups, those with gene Arg778Leu mutation in one group and others in another group Try to analyse and explore the correlation between gene mutation and clinical manifestation in WD patients including sex, age, first symptoms, serum copper, serum ceruloplasmin, and copper excretion in 24 hours urine, etc Results Among 66 WD patients, Arg778Leu gene mutation as the homozygous (also called homozygote) have been found in 5 cases and compound heterozygous (heterozygote) found in 21 cases, and 40 patients were found without gene mutation The onset age in gene mutation group (18 58 years old, n =26) was significantly older than in the non gene mutation group (14 61 years old, n =40) ( P =0 03) There was no relationship between patients′ sex, first symptoms caused by liver and brain, serum copper levels, serum ceruloplasmin levels, copper concentration in 24 hours urine and Arg778Leu gene mutation, respectively (all P 0 05) Conclusions Arg778Leu mutation was related to the onset age in patients with WD, but not to patients′ sex, first symptoms and copper metabolic disturbance Arg778Leu mutation is suggested to postpone the onset age of WD patients


Graphite reacts with potassium to form lamellar compounds of different stoichiometry depending on the precise conditions of the preparation.' The best known is the potassium-graphite intercalation compound of stoichiometry C,K, in which each interlayer space in the graphite is occupied by a layer of potassium atoms, i.e. the so-called 'first stage' intercalate. The well defined three dimensional arrangement of potassiumgraphite intercalate, C&, is characterized by a highly ordered structure that enables selective reactivity in comparison to dispersed potassium.' The capability of C8K as a catalyst and reactant in organic synthesis has been a subject of interest.2 This intercalate has already been applied as a reducing agent to a wide variety of reactions, e.g. reduction of double bonds in a,P-unsaturated ketones, carboxylic acids, and Schiff's bases,, alkylation of carbon acids such as nitriles, esters4 and i m i n e ~ , ~ reductive cleavage of carbon-sulfur bonds in vinylic and allylic sulfones and reductive coupling of aromatic acid esters,,


The effect of trees on the rearing of river buffaloes was studied in two units or farms with 30 dairy cows each and their calves, and the technology of rational silvopastoral system with Leucaena leucocephala was compared to a grass monocrop. An initial diagnosis was carried out to learn the characteristics of each unit and the floristic composition of the areas. The dry matter availability of the pastures was determined monthly in order to regulate the stocking rate in the pastureland and during four consecutive years the productive and reproductive indicators, as well as the economic incomes, were measured. The results in the tree system were higher in 0,72 kg of milk per cow per day; 279,8 kg/lactation; 1,49 kg/ha/day and 42 more days of lactation; nevertheless, the most significant aspect turned out to be the daily milk production per hectare in the system with trees, which tripled that of the grass monocrop (2,24 vs 0,75 kg), as a consequence of a higher availability of dry matter and nutrients. This allowed to increase the stocking rate, which was reflected positively on the incomes for the milk sale. All the indicators analyzed favored the system of leucaena with the technology of rational silvopastoral system.


The finite difference time domain method for numerical simulation of two-dimensional solid gas Affirmative phononic crystals bandgap characteristics based on the structure, filling rate and the lattice constant influence on the band gap characteristics of the calculation, the formation of the band gap filling rate at f=0.8, the research conclusions provide theoretical basis for structure design of phononic crystals.


Major depressive disorder (MDD) has been regarded as the most common psychiatric disorder among hemodialysis (HD) patients. However, few studies have investigated MDD in HD patients in Mainland China. This study sought to investigate the prevalence and treatment of MDD, as well as the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics in this population.


In order to explore the characteristics of ecoclimate effects, the annual variation of meteorological factor was analyzed by using the meteorological data from Taibai Weather Station which located in Ziwuling forest region, Huachi Weather Station and Qingcheng Weather Station which located in the boarder of forest area. The result showed that the temperature and evaporation in Ziwuling forest region in each month were obviously lower, and meanwhile, the precipitation in May, July and September and air humidity from April to September were higher than that in the surrounding area. The rain days in forest region were more than that in the surrounding area. It means that the climate in Ziwuling forest region was cold and humid.


Recent studies on elementary collision processes by laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy are reviewed. This technique can reveal nascent rotational, vibrational and translational distributions of products under single-collision conditions. These findings disclose the dynamical mechanisms of the elementary processes. Excitation, ionization and dissociation processes induced in electronmolecule and atom (ion) -molecule collisions are described as examples.


We studied the effect of the antecedents of the buy-online-pick-up-in-store (BOPIS) service on consumer's BOPIS choice and shopping behaviour. The convenience of BOPIS benefits retailers and consumers; therefore, we used online surveys of consumers and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology 2 (UTAUT2) model. The results of the study show that performance expectancy, trust, compatibility with BOPIS shopping, hedonic motivation and social influence affected the behavioural intentions in omni-channel BOPIS. However, price value and effort expectancy were not considered to be important factors in choosing BOPIS shopping. A moderating effect of the different age generations was analysed in the model. The managerial implications and the limitations of the study are also discussed.


The problems involved in the design of the proposed underground repository for high-level nuclear waste call for novel design approaches. Guidelines for the design are given by the Mission Plan Amendment in which licensing and regulatory aspects have to be satisfied. Moreover, systems engineering was proposed, advocating a top-down approach leading to the identification of discrete, implementable system elements. These objectives for the design process can be integrated in an engineering design methodology. While design methodologies for some engineering disciplines are available, they were of limited use for rock engineering because of the inherent uncertainties about the geologic media. Based on the axiomatic design approach of Suh, Bieniawski developed a methodology for design in rock. Design principles and design stages are clearly stated to assist in effective decision making. For overall performance goals, the domain of objectives is defined through components (DCs) - representing a design solution - satisfy the FRs, resulting in discrete, independent functional relations. Implementation is satisfied by evaluation and optimization of the design with respect to the constructibility of the design components.


Recent ab initio calculations suggesting that covalent NF 5 and even NF 6 - are vibrationally stable and might be experimentally accessible prompted us to critically evaluate the presently avaible theoretical and experimental data for NF 5 and to carry out experiments on the stability of ionic NF 4 + F - .


A case of Uthiravathasronitham (Rheumatoid arthritis) had been treated with a classical Siddha preparation Rasa chenduram (100mg) along with Thirikadugu choornam (1 gm) for 3 weeks and with Pinda thailam as an external application. The patient condition has been assessed by a validated simplified disease activity measurement tool for Rheumatoid arthritis by Disease activity score (DAS) with 28 joints and formula using Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) as recommended by EULAR (European League against rheumatism) criteria. The functional status of the patient was evaluated by administering the Health assessment questionnaire disability index (HAQ-DI) and Visual analog scale (VAS) score before and after treatment. The treatment yielded moderate improvement in the patient's health condition.


In high energy exclusive processes involving leptons, QED corrections can be sensitive to infrared scales like the lepton mass and the soft photon energy cut, resulting in large logarithms that need to be resummed to all order in $\alpha$. When considering the ratio of the exclusive processes between two different lepton flavors, the ratio $R$ can be expressed in terms of factorized functions in the decoupled leptonic sectors. While some of the functional terms cancel, there remain the large logarithms due to the lepton mass difference and the energy cut. This factorization process can be universally applied to the exclusive processes such as $Z\to l^+l^-$ and $B^-\to l^-\bar{\nu}_l$, where the resummed result in the ratio gives significant deviations from the naive expectation from lepton universality.


Electricity power systems are critical to any country's economy and security. Blackout, the most severe form of power loss to a relatively wide area, posting tremendous societal consequences, could be resulted from different causes from failure fault at a power transmission line to an intentional attack. Therefore, it is of importance to study the behavior of power grid(a complex network) during power blackout with its failure pattern. Based on these findings, we can find the suitable plan for normal daily management/expansion, emergency response and restoration after blackout. However, there are many schools of scholars using different ways to model the Blackout phenomenon, with different conclusions. Since those researches are done over several decades, it is important to organize them in a systematic way so that it could help the future research. Also, several minmax optimization models are proposed with different scenarios to represent the impact of blackout. ( en )


The nonlinear interaction, due to quantum electrodynamical effects, between two electromagnetic pulses and a radiation gas is investigated. It is found that the governing equations admit both modulational and filamentational instabilities. The instability growth rates are derived, and the results are discussed.


Synthetic diamond, deposited by Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD), is becoming an interesting alternative for ZnSe as a window material for high power CO lasers. Although the infrared absorption of CVD-dianiond is higher than of ZnSe, this drawback is largely overruled by its better thermal conductivity, leading to smaller temperature gradients in the window and hence a less distorted laser beam. Electronic Speckle Pattern Interferometry (ESPI) is applied to study the on-line deformation of ZnSe and CVD-diamond anti-reflective coated output coupler windows exposed to a high power CO laser beam. It is seen that a ZnSe window already starts deforming at moderate beam power (100 W), while a diamond window does not deform considerably up to a beam power of 700 W.


This study aims at providing a comparative evaluation of tomato processing
by-products, i.e., seeds and peel. A pilot scale process has been demonstrated for
extraction and drying (both freeze and cabinet drying) of tomato seeds and peel.
Various aspects of dried tomato seeds such as its protein content, amino acid
profile, calculated protein efficiency ratio (PER), presence of antinutritional
factors, polyphenol contents and antioxidant activities were evaluated. In this
study, the total polyphenol content in the hydrophilic extract as well as antioxidant
activities of tomato peel were found to be 66.5 and 38.2% higher, respectively,
than that of the tomato seed meal showing importance of the former from a
functional point of view. Tomato seed protein isolate (92%) prepared from
tomato seed meal had a calculated PER of 2.66. The protein isolate contained all
essential amino acids (including lysine), meeting the minimum requirements of
reference protein for preschool children aged 1–2 years (WHO/FAO/UNU). The
tomato seed protein isolate showed negligible levels of phytate (3.48 �g/g) and
trypsin inhibitory activity (2.655 TIU/mg). This study clearly highlights that
tomato seed, a by-product of tomato processing industry, is a rich source of
high-quality plant protein together with intrinsic polyphenols and antioxidant
activities, although the functional properties being less dominant than the
peel counterpart. Therefore, tomato seed meal with unique protein quality
could be regarded as a potential source of protein-rich adjunct in various food
formulations.
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
With the increased industrial demand of protein sources, there has been an
upsurge of research efforts in recent years to extract dietary proteins from plantbased
sources. By-products of oilseeds, fruits and vegetable-processing industries
can be sustainable low-cost protein alternatives, which are available at no additional
cost and can find commercial valorization in food formulations. As an
example, this study identified a pilot plant setup to produce tomato seed protein
isolate and investigated protein quality, antinutritional factors as well as compared
the polyphenol content and antioxidant activities in the context of its counterpart
by-product tomato peel. This knowledge will facilitate the use of tomato seed
protein isolate as a low-cost protein-rich adjunct with functional benefits in food
formulation. Most importantly, this study highlights that high-quality plant
protein isolates can be recovered from agro-industrial by-products, thus adding
commercial value to them and allowing their industrial exploitation.


How cells respond to different external cues to develop along defined cell lineages to form complex tissues is a major question in systems biology. Here, we investigated the potential of retinoic acid receptor (RARs)-selective synthetic agonists to activate the gene-regulatory programs driving cell specialization during nervous tissue formation from P19 stem cells. Specifically, we found that the synergistic activation of the RARβ and RARγ by selective ligands (BMS641 or BMS961) induces cell maturation to specialized neuronal subtypes, as well as to astrocytes and oligodendrocyte precursors. Using RAR istoype knockout lines exposed to RAR-specific agonists, interrogated by global transcriptome landscaping and in silico modeling of transcription regulatory signal propagation, revealed major RARα−driven gene programs essential for optimal neuronal cell specialization, and hijacked by the synergistic activation of the RARβ and RARγ receptors. Overall, this study provides a systems biology view of the gene programs accounting for the previously observed redundancy between RAR receptors, paving the way towards their potential use for directing cell specialization during nervous tissue formation.